State of the Heart

Ok, so that blog post title is so punny it almost makes me want to vom, but because it's clever, I'm not.  I'm all... well, I'm kinda like this clip from Jurassic Park 1 at 0:52 seconds:



But besides that gratutious JP1 clip, there is an actual point to this post.  A little while ago, I happened to come across Atlases of the United States in the dollar spot at Target, not gonna lie, I bought like 4 of them-- totally to Jim's dismay.

After collecting lots of dust in the office, I decided that it was now or never to get my craft on with these things.  So I started simple.  I have seen this done many different ways, but here's the inspiration.  Of course I don't have access to such sophisticated editing software and printing equipment, so I busted out those atlas maps and here's what I managed to come up with:

What you'll need:
1. A map- I have an antique map waiting to be used for the perfect project, I'm not sure if this is it, but the nicer the map, obviously the nicer the project will turn out.
2. Needle and thread and a pencil.
3. A frame.

Here's how to do it:

First, take your pencil and draw a heart on the opposite side of the paper on where you want the heart to appear, I didn't do it this way the first time and you can still see the pencil guidelines.  Then start sewing away, using your guidelines on the back.  Please keep in mind that paper is incredibly unforgiving and cheap paper even more so.  Therefore, use your guideline meticulously or you'll end up ripping the paper and the project will be a bust.

After you've got the first few stitches in, you're pretty much home free.  Once you've got your heart complete, then you can secure it in the back, I did this by threading my string through the knot at the end of the thread.  Next, you should frame it and then either display on a table, or hang.

Wha-lah, here's my handmade heart map- please note that I don't live in Washington, nor have I ever been, I chose a random state and a random city.  So, if your're from Clarkston, Washington and would like a heart-map of your city, let me know; I'll mail it to you.

Also, and I think I've said this before, but I'm always so torn as to whether or not I actually want "home-made" projects to look that way or not.  In this case I actually think it adds to the character- like I said that quality of the map leaves a little to be desired, but that can be remedied pretty easily.

I hope you make a hear-map of your own and that your friends and family enjoy seeing your handiwork.  

Even More Commitment

I've talked a little bit about my 30 before 30 goal of maintaining some sort of overall wellness plan here and here, but I continue to struggle with consistency.  I've taken some expensive steps throughout this year that haven't really worked out, ahem Weight Watchers- it's a great program and lots of people have had long-term success with it; however, I will never be one of them.  So, keeping that in mind, I fell back on what works for me: hittin' the gym.

For the last 14 years, I've sporadically gotten myself into shape and every time, it's been by working out- the food part is what I struggle with, so this week, I decided to join a gym and here's how it's going:

Day 1: Didn't happen because I got stuck working late.

Day 2: Total fear, I was pretty sure that it was going to go something like this, my crying and being all embarrassed because I was so out of shape and all of the youngsters there were lappin' me big time:

But in reality, it was more diverse.  There were people of different shapes and sizes and I was somewhere in the middle.  And I gotta give mad props to all of the 60+ crowd that's working out- I hope that I have the same ability and commitment as they do when I'm their age.

Day 3: Not scary, not scary at all.  I had the distinct feeling that I can do it.


This morning, I've realized that I'm getting back into the groove and I'm on track to cover about 900 miles by the end of December, just in time for my big Par-tay, which is amazeballs for me.  And for the record, I've also come to grips with the fact that should I ever become a size 6 (hey, it could happen, right?) I wouldn't care if my head looked too big for my body; as my family would say, "this is a risk I'm willing to take!"

#17 Set Up A Home Office

One of my 30 before 30's is to set up a home office.  As you can see below, I now consider this: accomplished.  As someone who's always struggled with not being organized, I realized that it was important to at least concentrate our junk and messy activities in one room.  Since it's been about 6 months since I did this and the room is looking quite messy today, as is the rest of the house, I'm not sure how well that worked out, but the office itself looks amazing.

Jim and I dedicated one whole day to cleaning out, then cleaning up the office.  Followed by moving everything in and installing all of the projects (yes, 2 of which were featured on Monday and Tuesday).  By the end of the day, we had a functional and family friendly office that still met the goal of getting more organized.

The total cost of the make over was around $350 ($388.94 to be exact), here's how it turned out:

I don't have a good picture of the desk, but here it is, $135.99 via Target.

The rug we had, but it was about $100 from Pier1; however, it's no longer available.

$16.99 via Target.

I tried to find this online, but it doesn't seem like it's available any longer.  We got this for about $50 via  Target.

This is no longer available either; however, it was about $20 via Target.

I love these simple pictures that I picked up at Ikea for $7.99 each.

The frames were purchased at Ikea for $9.99 each.  This also meets my 30 before 30 #21 since these were the pictures I was referencing when I wrote that goal.

As I noted on Monday, this was about $10.

I love this idea too.  The baskets were purchased at Target for $1 each, then I bought crayons and markers and hung them with 3M hooks so the kids would have quick, easy access to the supplies they needed.  Total cost, about $10.

As I mentioned yesterday, this was about $10.

#11 Travel to a New State

I'm still (slowly) checking things off on my 30 before 30 list.  While I posted pictures from Nikole's big day, I forgot to mention that this also met one of my 30 before 30's since her wedding was in Connecticut and I've never been.

My crew and I were literally astonished with how absolutely lovely Connecticut and the greater New England area are; the people are fantastic, the food is delicious and the houses are legit cottages.  As in these tiny little bungalows that are set just off of the woods-edge that all seem to have little patches of wild-flowers-- nestled right beneath their perfectly shuttered windows, that are so perfect it's overwhelming.

For us that are almost smack dab in the middle of the East Coast, it seemed almost like a different country.  After visiting Connecticut, one thing's certain, I'm looking forward to exploring more of New England whenever I get the chance.

A Small Technicality

Today's post is brought to you by the number 25.

This weekend, when we were strolling through tearing up and down the aisles of Home Depot, I remembered that one of 30 before 30's is:

#25: Grow herbs.  Any herbs will do, just so long as they were planted by my little, fat fingers.

Originally, I had intended to cultivate these herbs from seed to product, but instead, I figured I would take the easy way out and broaden the scope of my goal and buy pre-planted, guaranteed to succeed plants.  (It's a small technicality, but I'm not going to let it stop me from considering this goal accomplished.)  At first, I only saw tomatoes and peppers, both of which I think are gross and disgusting, which is aslo definitely why Cullen refers to tomatoes as "barfy tomatoes," so I found two options that I do like: apple mint and strawberries.

Cullen and I spent a few moments outside getting dirty and repotting the little plants before we brought them inside and put them on the counter near a large window.  Fingers crossed- actually, fingers majorly crossed, that these little green strawberries turn into big, fat red ones that we can all enjoy.  When I went to water them this morning and realized that Jim had already done so, I was thinking, "Wow, these suckers actually have a chance!"  but then I remembered that's usually how it goes for the first few days; then we slack off and poof, all the plants we've ever owned are dead within a week or two.

Here's to hoping that I get to make some strawberry shortcake in a few weeks with my home-grown produce.

This One Little Thing

Today's post is being brought to you by the number 114.

Remember in 7th grade when everyone was experimenting with hair dye, they were all, "I'm gonna go red!" and then the next day they'd come in a nice shade of orange?  I do.  I was never allowed to dye my hair, nor did I want to, so that rule sorta worked out for all parties involved, but I did feel left out.  I wanted to be a part of the "red dye didn't really work out, but it'll look good in a day or two (sob!)" club, I wanted to sun-in my hair like crazy; I wanted to have a head of hair that people noticed and that they liked.  In fact, I had none of these.

I was a blonde curly-headed mess.  I didn't understand how to take care of curly hair and I didn't really want to either, because I wanted straight hair.  I wanted stick straight hair, with hot curling iron curled-to-the-max bangs.  I wanted to have the hair of the girl who sat in front of me in 7th grade biology, who would come in with her tiny Bath and Bodyworks brush and lotion and comb her hair and bangs and dab on a little juniper berry and she was done.  I, on the other hand, would take a shower the night before, comb my hair and then go to sleep, waking up to a knot-ball mess.  And yes, I know what you're thinking, there were scissors involved some mornings...

Well, one of my 30 before 30's was to get a new do'.  Mission accomplished in January.  However, shortly after I got my look, people started asking me what I was going to do next and I was sort of curious too.  All of a sudden, I went from the girl who'd never dyed her hair until she was 29 to the girl who wanted to change it up again.  I think it's like the feeling that some people get after they get their first tattoo, they can't stop and count down the days until their next one.  I. can't. stop.  That 7th grader is finally getting to have her chance to dye all the hair she wants and it's pretty glorious.

This weekend when I went back to the salon, I decided that I was really going to change it up.  In like the biggest of big ways.  I wanted to go dark... and I wanted bangs.  Not side swept or can be tucked behind an ear if they get in the way, I wanted blunt bangs.  The hairdresser cautioned me that he didn't think I should do it.  He said that it's a really drastic change and that I should go for an interim bang style.  I declined his offer and told him to chop it off, blunt bangs or bust!

So he did it.  In theory, I wished that when he turned the chair around, I instantly fell in love- which is exactly what happened when I got my hair dyed for the first time, I loved it.  But this time, not so much.  It's an acquired taste I guess, because today I like it a little better.  I think it has to do with the fact that I styled it and it's not so helmet head looking, but I gotta admit, I'm probably not keeping it.

Reactions have been mixed and poor Arden was petrified.  He literally went mute for a few hours and I saw him tense up as I approached, his little hands clutched to his chest; he literally wanted nothing to do with this strange new mom.  I think that was the hardest reaction and I realized that I can't be this drastic ever again- or at least until the kids are older.

Because I didn't ask the hairdresser what color he was using- I have a history of doing impulsive things without using the questioning approach common sense, like the time I bought a car without taking it for a test drive, I don't know what color my hair is, so I googled Clariol hair color and determined that the color looks most like #114- Natural Light Ash.  Not sure that I like this color either.  It's nice and all, but somethings missing and I'm not sure if I want to go lighter or darker.

Overall, it's been a weird 48 hours.  I sometimes love it, sometimes not.  I sometimes think I will keep the bangs for more than a hot second, but then I start thinking about it and I think, probably not.  At any rate, Easter proved to be a good time to be able to take nice pictures so take a look at the new look.  It's a little crazy, but so am I.

He loves me again!

p.s. I don't know where to fit this in up above, but I think the reason that I go back and forth is because I really like pictures 1, 2 and 4, but in picture 3, it reminds me of baby doll hair/70's mom hair.  I'm just still so undecided.

Update- my cousin pointed out that the 3 pictures I like are the ones where my hair appears to be darker... So, I'm thinking I might go darker, but that could change 20 minutes from now, because that's just how undecided I am.

Consistency

Surprisingly enough, this delicious looking lunch is on my overall wellness plan.  

So far, I've been stepping it up with the walks and have stopped eating line a linebacker.  

I've been documenting it via pictures, hopefully I will be able to see some results soon!
Posting this gives me motivation and accountability, so thanks for reading!

Inspiration

It kinda takes a lot to win me over, just ask my husband.  But, when I see something I like, I get it.  (Kinda like I got him!)  As part of my 30 Before 30 challenge, I've decided to get back on the ol' treadmil and sweat my ass off... literally.  But, girl needs to look fly while she's doin' it and here's how: I will buy these shoes.  I found them the other day and I'm over-the-godamn-moon about them. 

Q: How sick are they? 
A: Words can never express how truly sick they are.

New Balance 890

New Balance 1400



30 Before 30

So every year I try and do New Year's Resolutions and they don't really turn out that well.  This year, I was inspired by Jaime (thanks, girl!) and decided to do a spin on the resolutions and make my 30 before 30 list. 

So, without further ado, here are 30 things I would like to accomplish before I turn 30:

1. Write a children's book.  Seriously, I'm doing this, not sure if I want to make it just for my children or as a real deal children's book.
2. Host a red party.  If Kyle and Diddy do white parties, I'm going to do a red party.  Criteria to enter: be fab and wear red.
3. Volunteer at least once.  I really need to start giving back and I realize that 1 time in 365 days isn't enough, but it's a start.
4. Participate in 5, 5ks.  Determination and lots of huffing and puffing and this shall be accomplished.
5. Organize my closet.  Shoes, old fashioned telephones and bubble gum machines... only one of these things belongs in a closet, so why are all 3 in mine?
6. Follow a general wellness regime: eat less, walk more, etc.  2012, year of getting healthy.
7. Get a new do'.  This scares the C-R-A-P out of me, but I'm going to do it.
8. Go on an old fashioned picnic, which includes a gingham table cloth.  Because, I mean who doesn't love a freaking picnic.
9. Make my lunch at least once a week.  My lunch consists of an $8+ meal a day (what can I say, I like my lunches), which adds up.  ($2080 to be exact.  Cringing, totally cringing.)  If I "packed" my lunch 1 day a week, it would equate to a savings of $416.  (Insert "joey woah" here.)
10. Attend a professional soccer game.  World Cup fever is where it's at; if refined Europeans can get into this, so can I.  I'm refined, dammit!
11. Travel to state that I've never been to before.  I've been to most of the bordering states, but I would like to go beyond...
12. Learn 50 words in Polish.  I'm talking about the text book words here, like: toilet and sock.  I'm not talkin' about no conversational Polish.
13. Read at least 5 books.  The amount of books I read is inversely proportional to the amount of children I have; therefore, this may not sound like a lot, but it will be 5 more books than I read when I was 28.
14. Watch the sunrise at least once.  When the time comes to do this, I'm imaging it will probably go something like, "Enh, I could go either way about watching the sunrise, but it's on my 30 before 30, so I've got to do it!"
15. Plan a surprise weekend for my husband.  Like, a real nice surprise weekend.  He's always doing nice things for me, it's the least that I can do.
16. Get a family portrait on the beach, I'm talking jeans and white t-shirts here.
17. Set up a home office.  Instead of having bills and important papers "strewn about" I am determined to get some sort of chic organizational system.  I smell a before and after blog post.
18. Publish 200 blog posts.  Roughly 17 blog posts a month... a little scary, but if anyone can do it... it might be me.
19. Get Arden to sleep through the night.  Honestly, the 2 1/2 years of being up all night long, has got to stop.  I'm exhausted.
20. Learn how to do a smoky eye.  I think there are tons of video tutorials about this on youtube, so perhaps I will do a smoky eye for my red party.
21. Hang up the portraits of the kids that I got blown up a while ago.  My kids are adorable and they deserve to be all over the walls of my house.
22. Become more educated about cars, so as to avoid getting ripped off.
23. Research and map out my family tree on both sides.  I'm fascinated by geneology, I desperately want to be on the show Who Do You Think You Are.
24. Create a finger print necklace.  Like this, only cheaper and more hand-madey.
25. Grow herbs.  Any herbs will do, just so long as they were planted by my little, fat fingers.
26. Rent a surrey at the beach and have the kids sit in the front basket.  If you don't know what a surrey bike is, you're missing out.
27. Plan the ultimate 30th Birthday Party.  Spoiler alert: the theme is Living My Life Like It's Golden.
28. Create a piece of art work.  Any kind, pick a kind.
29. Expand the recipe section of the blog.  I really enjoy cooking.  So does Jim.  Together we can cook a "mean" anything and I think it's a good idea to tell everyone about it!
30. Do one thing special just for me.

So, so I need to do 2.5 things per month.  Hell, maybe I'll be proactive and do 3 things for the first 10 months and then I will be ahead of schedule... or maybe I will do 20 things in December of 2012 and do like I always do: wait until the last minute and then try and cram everything into a week.