say my name, say my name....

yesterday i went to go pick up my suburban from the body shop (yep, the body shop-that's a whole different post about 17 year old drivers we will save for a rainy day...) and when i went in i had the loveliest reception from the guy at one of the desks.

it was really nice. you're walking in getting ready to write that $500 deductible check so already you're rollin' in not super excited right?

so, the guy has a huge smile and from his seat at his desk bellows out, "hey, you're kendra right?" without waiting for me to answer he exclaims, "you're on our short list for baby names", and proudly points to a girl at the next desk over.
girl smiles and points to her baby bump which basically just looked like maybe she had a large thanksgiving dinner the night before-i mean seriously, am i the only one that looked like the grinch with a round low slung belly when i was pregnant?

pregnant me (minus the fur and i wore clothing-most days)

up she jumps and comes to the front desk and with a slight roll of the eyes proceeds to tell me that how after i dropped my car off the week prior all she has heard about is, 'how nice that kendra girl was and wouldn't that be a great baby name for them?!'  she leaned in close to me and said, "that was after he commented on how he liked how you had your hair and how maybe i should try the bobby pinned bangs on my hair. i reminded him i have done that before and he never liked it." with another eye roll and a fairly impressive sigh she said, "yep, we may have a little crush here, i will have to see what the real story is later, i will get to the bottom of it. anyway, so how do you like your name kendra?"

uh....i stammered. i'm sure my eyes were humongous. i was actually unsure how to answer. is she annoyed that her husband may have a crush on the girl with the jacked up suburban bumper or was she cool and they had that sort of 'i will call your ass out in front of strangers' playful relationship?

i went with the latter and as i glanced past her to see her husband (yep, still smiling pretty darn huge back there at his desk) i gave her a yes??? i realize it was more of a question. i wasn't sure if she wanted me to answer yes or no. you don't mess with preggo chicks. you just don't. i know the capabilities of a hormonal soon to be momma annoyed at her husband. i mean, it's HIS fault she is in the condition she is in in the first place!
im with you girl!!!!

anyway, her face softened and she smiled. phew! she started to tell me how she has literally spent the last 3 or 4 days saying my name and rhyming it with every possibility to ensure her little kendra could never be made fun of on the playground.
hmmmm...interesting and only slightly uncomfortable.
i looked around the office and every person was looking up at me. honestly, they were probably thinking, 'who in the heck is this kendra girl we have all had to help pregnant co-worker girl rhyme crap with all week?!"
i think as much as smiling daddy to be liked me everyone else just wanted me to pick up my new sparkly suburban and drive safely off into the future.

momma to be then asked me if i had ever been made fun of for my name. i told her never and that i genuinely liked my name. i did decide to leave out the information that there is a dumb shit playboy bunny and pretty begrimed looking porn star with my name only because the timing just didn't feel right.
i stand by that choice.

i hope they choose my name. i am honored that i left that good of an impression in the 5 minutes it took to drop off my car the week prior that i would even be on mr. dad's short list. i guess it pays to always try to be pleasant huh??
my name has been good to me over the years, i can't recall ever wishing i had been named anything else, even through the whole farrah fawcett craze and that's huge- check out those feathers!
kinda makes you wish your name was farrah huh?

hat up!

occasionally i will make proclamations on certain days. there is no rhyme or reason- why should there be?!

there has been boy band dance day, talk like a valley girl day, so naturally there should be hat day.

ok, not really a hat but how does one resist?

nope- that dude behind us isnt wearing a hat- thats his hair. yeah! love him! oh, and 

that is an eiffel tower coming up outta my head- in case ya wondered!

wear your hat(s) today!!!

whose afraid of a lil old doll??

another estate sale find.
i swear i can go for-eva' without finding a thing but when i do it's awesome! well, i do realize that this is my awesome and many would never buy these but i had to- i just had to!

these marionette dolls were crafted by doris robbins a lady that use to create and work in the animation department for disney. here they laid for years in this old steamer trunk in her nieces attic with other old discarded dolls.

 i have no clue what the marionette dolls were for or if they were ever used but i just thought they were cool enough to come home with me......annnnd hang in a closet. 
sigh. 
my kids are terrified of these. 
i didn't even think of them as being scary. my kids aren't tiny anymore and i thought they would think they were cool. nope. even oatey the cat wasn't accepting them.

i was going to hang them on my walls in my living room but left them resting on my bookcase handles while i was working out my design details. during this time my kids really started to gripe telling us there was no way they could have them in the house. "they are creepy", they complained. aside from the clear case of rosacea on their cheeks, i don't find them creepy??

well, if i wasn't gonna get to display my cool vintage find then we were gonna have a little fun before retiring these dolls to the depths of the dark closet.

so, shane and i did what any good parent would do-we changed the dolls pose every so often throughout the day when my kids left the room. as they entered back through the room they would glance over and see the new pose and freak out.

now i know what you are thinking. we are cruel cruel parents that will someday have a hefty therapist bill but see my whole thought process was that they would get it and laugh and somehow see these dolls as just dolls.

plaster, wood, wire, paint.

it worked.

kinda.

they laughed.

the dolls are in the closet.

sigh.

silent sunday

beating the wheel

there are times when i feel like this little guy.

running on a wheel, exhausting myself.
almost there then ya feel a foot on your head and you're not there after all.

but like this little guy, im gonna remember to shake it off (or clean my face rapidly with jedi quick paws) and give it a go again because i know, from experience, you can beat the wheel.

don't get off your wheel. keep goin!
but not today, it's aloha friday yo!
relax and kick back.

my days are numbered...

gosh. 

364 more days as my loving oldest sister reminded me.

that's what i got until i am 40.

why is this so major? 

i guess i will know the answer to that question in 364 more days.

for now....imma rock 39 like its the new 21- (except for that whole drinking hurricanes on bourbon street episode).

ok, who forgot their underwear???

my house is so damn dirty right now.
you would *think* with the littles being back in school it would stay a bit tidier.

basically the blankets have been replaced with backpacks.
the slippers with soccer cleats.
the dirty lunch plates (stacked up in the tv room) with books and papers.

oh, and this morning i walked past the desk and saw a pair of underwear sitting there??
im hoping this doesn't mean what i think it might......no, i mean, were taking about my kids here. im sure all my kids have gone to school wearing underwear.
im sure of......oh crap.

mmm...chicken pox lollies

gag.
that should be the end of this post. i should just hit publish from here.

mmm....wanna lick?

im really big on not judging other moms.
really big.
how you raise your family or what parenting decisions you make are none of my biz.
i believe in supporting and sharing over judging and casting.
now, if i see you blowing second hand smoke in your babies face, i will judge. so when i start to carry on here in the next few moments about the dangers of ordering chicken pox infested lollipops in the mail, please know it comes from a place of concern and it's just my opinion that i would never, could never, do this.
have i said "gag" yet?

i have been hearing all about parents holding chicken pox parties and/or ordering chicken pox lollipops in the mail. facebook actually use to have a "find your pox party" page until it was removed after a child died from receiving a lollipop and a CBS affiliate reported a story on it. however, parents were signing up (in surprisingly large numbers) to attend a party or to have another parent with an infected child, send infected pops and clothing through the mail so they could give it to their child. basically that whole "don't ever take candy from strangers thing" went out the window. parents were paying up to $50 bucks for a nasty stranger licked pop!

thanks mom for taking me to this party!

let's imagine for one moment that you decide you would like for your child, the one you go to great lengths to keep safe and healthy, to be infected with the pox viral infection through this channel.
let's say you feel it's better for them to get it this way and fight it off naturally rather than get it as an adult or receive the vaccine. maybe you are against vaccines for your children. fine. no problem.

so, you find a facebook page, or you go to craigslist or you can even google and find a random page where a complete stranger has set up a magical party for you to bring your healthy baby to.
oh, and instead of leaving with a party favor you get to leave with a disease that your child can enjoy for weeks to come. so fun!
cant find a party in the area or your schedule is too busy to attend? that's ok,  just order up a germ pop and it arrives in the mail, all licked and sucked and ready for you to simply pop in your kids mouth.
i mean, whatever is most convienient really.
when your pop arrives in the mail i wonder if you could you do it? i wonder what kind of parent could do it? yep, i am judging those parents right now.

okay, i do have quite an imagination. yes this is true. so, my thoughts go straight to safety.
not the obvious safety that its a federal offense to mail a contagion. duh!
not the realization of what happens if your kid has to be hospitalized but the thought of where this pop or vial of spit (yep, parents have ordered vials of spit) or wet clothing have actually come from?
do you know for a fact that you are *just* giving your kid chicken pox? furthermore, (hold on my let me hoist myself up on my soapbox here) do you understand that you are knowingly giving your child a disease that can be deadly?

im gonna get real dramatic.
there is absolutely NO way for you to not believe that some weirdo freak isn't sitting at home infecting lollipops and clothing and spitting in vials infecting your child with god knows what! you could be infecting your child with absolutely anything and everything! who is held accountable if thngs should go terribly wrong? the dude you ordered the pop from? you? why would one take that chance?
not everyone in this world has good intentions. not everyone would try their best to keep children safe. some people are sick. some people want to hurt kids. some people are not right in the head.
uh, who trusts a stranger to give your child candy anyway? sure as hell not me!

im not gonna go into all the statistics or why it is better to get the pox vaccine over allowing infection to take place naturally. that's not what this is about for me. i don't wanna debate that coz it's your choice.

i know of some parents, who back in the day, sent their kids on play dates with other kids because they knew they had the pox and wanted their children to get it. im really not talking about those parents. i know some of those parents and they are fantastic parents. back then they didn't know what they know now. back then we didn't know about second hand smoke or seat belts. now we do.

it is definitely better for your kid to get the pox when they are younger, this we know.
i just cannot get on board with ordering up an airborne disease for my kids period. i don't care what it is. i think i will just stick to ordering clothing online. ohh, or shoes- have you ever checked out zappo's? great site, free shipping both ways and nobody gets sick!!

girl ain't techie

i really have no business messing around on my blog, ya know, like trying to add technical things. when my 17 year old isn't home (damn, i have a 17 year old???) and i want to add something or "adjust" something i can sometimes get a false sense of my own abilities. i can sometimes tell myself, "oh, its easy, all the kids do it", and i log on and go into the interiors of my blog. i see templates, layouts, codes, boxes and i do stuff.

when i say i 'do stuff' i mean i mess stuff up.

i do not have that side of the brain. 

i have the side of the brain that makes stuff pretty and bakes cookies 

that will literally make you fall in love with me.
see.

i can't set up blogs and "grab buttons" and code stuff! 

i took typing in high school not computers!

and by the way, saying 'grab my button" really gives this magical illusion that is like i will just sorta be popping in for a glass of lemonade then on my way out the door i will grab your button like a goody bag.

smoke and mirrors!!!!

every time i try to grab your little colorful ridiculously cute and perfectly color coordinated button to my blog it fails. it tells me i have an invalid link or some technical load of crap that is basically code for, "hey ya big dummy, why are you trying to do computer tech stuff when you know you're better at just baking a cake?!" 

i know! hurtful right?!

so, i will tell you about recently when i succeeded to not succeed.... again.

i completely believed that i could add the facebook comment section to my blog.

i know, i know, next thing ya know i will think i can fly and make wings out of tissue paper and spit. upside is at least you will know i am the dumb shit stuck in the tree with 2 broken legs and you wont have to wonder who it is. 

ok, so i log on and i get all sorts of confidence on my side and i start to add, cut, paste, pray, cry, all my usual basics. and bam! there it is.
i totally freaking did it.

i am thee most awesomest form of myself that i will probably ever be.
(basically, now is the time to be my friend.)

i hit my peak, everything else from here is downhill.

so, unfortunately i see that somehow i have indirectly managed to add this sign above my comments box that says "we love comments". cute, ok, i mean i do love comments so that's cool.

then today i started to look at the "we love comments" thingy and i started to feel a little....well...desperate. 

first, i do love comments but the heart in the "we love comments" is a jumbo heart.

it is red and it is in fact, quite jumbo.

it feels needy and i didn't even put it there (on purpose-coz you know even IF i tried i couldn't do it) and who is "we"? there is only me. its just my blog. there is no "we".

every time i see my big jumbo needy heart plea for you to leave me a comment i feel sort of embarrassed and i think i should change it but really, i have no business messing around on my blog, clearly. 

but i do heart your comments......jumbo time!

tissue paper votives

this was really fun and ended up being so pretty.

i thought my girls would love to do this but when i gathered all the materials

and asked them if they wanted to craft with me they both gave "the face".

so, i started on my own...i know my girls...they would come around soon. i mean, i have pink tissue paper and doilies ova' here!!!

what you need :

-glass jars with a smooth area the same size or larger of your doilie. i actually bought glass tumblers that were about 4" tall. my doilies were almost 4" in diameter so it worked out perfectly.

-colored tissue paper and/or white. we ended up using the white which turned out to look like frosted or etched glass.

-paper doilies

-food coloring. you will make a shallow "color bath" by putting about 1 1/2 cups of water and adding as much food coloring as you'd like until you have a good color. i added about 20 drops of food coloring to my green bath.

-mod podge or glue

place your doilie in your color bath. i let mine sit for maybe 5 minutes.

while your doilie is soaking, coat your glass with mod podge or glue. cut a strip of tissue paper about a 1/4" larger than your glass to wrap over the top of the glass opening and 1/4' to wrap under the bottom of the glass.
while placing the tissue paper be careful that it doesn't tear as once it hits the glue it becomes very soft and rips easily.
mod podge over the top of the tissue.

then scoot on over and put the supplies in the middle of the table for all to share. well, this is what i did because i suddenly had 2 girls asking if they could make one.....mmmmhhhmmm.

once you have your desired color take your doilie out and set it on a paper towel and dab lightly to soak up any extra liquid.

mod podge or glue the back of the doilie.

place doilie on the glass then modge podge over the top of it to seal it on.

keala's votive is on the right. she found a sparkly 'k' sticker in the craft closet and placed it in the center of her doilie. shocker huh???

maile's votive is on the left and mine is in the back.

after my doilie dried i decided to experiment. i wanted to see if i could paint food coloring directly over the freshly mod podged doilie and make a sort of tie dye effect. it worked. i really like how mine turned out.

we all can't wait to make more of these!!

i want to do a brighter set for our outside table to compliment my garden flowers. i'm thinking orange tissue paper with pink doilies or purple tissue and green doilies! 

oh the possibilities are endless!!!

cell phone children

i was recently at a birthday party when i had a mom ask me if my 12 year old reallllly had a cell phone.

it was a question that had the attached accusatory tone of, "oh my gawd, you are a sucky mom coz you have handed your child her very own cell phone (gasp), a toxic, evil device that can ruin her for life and make her a social mute. it will probably explode in her hands and i am wondering why you are so lame as to hand this tiny innocent child a device that should only be in the hands of a responsible adult".

yea, i know. that tone. the tone i dont do so well with.

clearly you could see my 12 year old across the room, cell phone in hand, taking photos of the birthday boy with it.
was this a trick question?? i was tempted to answer and say, "why no, of course she doesn't", just to mess with her. i would then just deny it was even in my daughters hand slowly making party mom crazy and believe that she was seeing things. i mean, how else do you entertain yourself at a kids party?!

ok, so this is how i really handled it which i think you will agree is MUCH more mature of me.

me: "yep, she sure does". then, because i am me, i added, "and its an iphone4."
her: "uh, really" ?
(ok, why is she asking again???- now this is just her asking it again so she can drive home how wrong she thinks this is and how much i suck).
me: "she has had a cell since she was in 4th grade".  blink. blink. (now i am just having fun)
her: she put on her biggest wide eyes and gave the whole, whoa, wow i think you're a mess look.
me: grin

its not like the cell phone came attached with a pack of cigarettes and a shot of whiskey.
it came with a side of safety, and a side of comfort knowing you can always get to me or your dad if you should need us and vice-versa.

here is my thing on cell phones. it may not be your thing and that is okay.

i actually do not believe every young child needs a cell phone.
the child that starts a new school that is a 45 minute bus ride away, that she takes alone, without her 2 older siblings, as a 4th grader, needs a cell phone.
mom and dad need her to have a cell phone.

oh, and it's nunyobiz!

i also let my kid wear dangerous 4" heels too! well, not really but a girls gotta learn sometime- might as well be in the safety of her own home right under my superior supervision dontchathink?

baked s'more bars

did you know that last friday was national s'mores day and i missed it?
me- the girl with about 20 different s'more recipes?

i'm so disappointed in myself!
feel free to talk behind my back.....

anyway, today i make up for it.

in southern cal it's still that time. time to sit by a campfire, time to roast your marshmallows, time to lick melting chocolate off your fingers, time to make a big sticky mess.

or..... you can preheat your oven to 350 and follow the recipe below.

this is a very easy recipe and really really good. i thought maybe after they cooled like the next day that they wouldn't be as good but shane liked them better the next day and the kids, well, the kids will eat them morning noon and night.

grease a 9x9 pan

in a large bowl cream together:

1/2 cup butter

1/4 brown sugar

beat in:

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

add:

1 1/3 cups flour (you can use wheat flour)

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp. baking powder

-divide dough in half and press one half into the bottom of the 9x9 pan.

-take 2 large hershey bars and lay on top of the cookie dough layer. (next time i will use the smaller thinner hershey bar and layer with those so it's not so chocolaty even though my family loved it)

-spread 1 jar of marshmallow fluff (don't over analyze what is in marshmallow fluff or you will waste at least 7-8 minutes like i did-it's one of those "better not to know" things) over the chocolate bars. regular marshmallows don't work the same.

-place remaining dough over the marshmallow layer. because it will be hard to layer put this last part of dough into a large ziploc or plastic bag and roll out by using a rolling pin. cut open two sides of bag, carefully peel it back and place your dough layer on top.

bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

enjoy!

* recipe courtesy of baked perfection. yep! it's perfection alright!!

wahhh, i gotta start making school lunches again!!

here it is, the first day of school.

i got my sad face painted on.

we were given a very short summer this year but i am really trying to look at the

good and positives over here.

here's what i got:

-although it is august 14th which is dead summer to us-my littles will not only get out of school on may 31st but we will get a week off at thanksgiving leaving masses amount of time to make paper turkeys in the shapes of our hands. oh, i can hardly wait. blah.

-with my littles back in school i wont have to sit at work and wonder what they are eating for lunch. i am well aware that my littlest little probably dips popsicles in the sugar jar and calls it lunch.

-when my littles arrive home from school i will know that the dirt (and god knows what else) on their faces and/or hands came from school and its straight to the bathroom to wash up. 

this saves me a huge amount of time wondering where in my home have they tracked this mystery germiness.

-when that first sigh and whine of, 'im booooored' occurs i have a spectacular answer: "go do your homework and please don't tell me you have none".

-with them not getting home until 4pm. there is less time for "loaching."

loach is my made up word used solely for my middle little.

my definition of loach: a 14 year old that spends his days in the same clothes he sleeps in, laying on sofa with one leg on actual sofa and other leg either hanging off the side or lounged over the back end of sofa. this is a tricky position but trust that it can be done for hours, upon hours, upon hours........

-we live very close to a middle school so our cat will go back to his attention-whoring with all the school kids on the corner and quit being so needy at home. this is a real problem at our house but not as much of a problem as when the school calls and tells me my cat is at school (again) and won't leave.

-because it is a million degrees in the valley i didn't have to spend too much money on back to school clothes as they are wearing mostly shorts however, if you saw my staples receipt you will see that clearly, i have spent the money either way.......hmmm, maybe this does not belong on my positives list after all.....

-again, although it may feel like summer, look like summer, smell like summer and be 105 in the valley, we will start to train our brains to think fall.

this means no more nightly ice cream cones. basically yours truly's booty will start to shrink back to normal sizing and we will crinkle up our summer rules paper, throw it to the ground and probably spit on it for good measure. it's the only way to truly transition and not look back otherwise rules will be broken and we know i am NO rule breaker.... (insert the face of a huge liar).

I will miss our summer moments and don't even have anything poetic to wrap up with because i don't like summer being over. i know it sounds bratty but i don't like it.

 

i will miss our long summer walks full of discoveries

playing with good friends who know us better than anyone

visiting family that you love so dearly

doing things that we maybe weren't so sure of

froggy hunting

bbq's with a hawaiian bartender

signs on doors that alert your sisters you're kinda done with their hormonal craziness

our lunch dates

more bike rides than a mom can count

not pictured:

many melting ice cream cones

swimsuits a plenty

naps on the sofa, on the floor, in the car

dress up parties just because

flea market sundays

rollin 5 deep through airports

back to school- and hating every second of it!

no, that's not toilet paper my kids stole from the bathroom at staples.

you will never hear me say this again but, i wish that was toilet paper my kids stole from the bathroom at staples. 

meet our back to school staples receipt. lets just call him ridiculous shall we?

i have nothing else to say.

aloha friday-oh, and i was nominated for the sunshine award

 normally for aloha friday i wrap up my week and write about all the things that are awesome and the aloha i have received throughout the week.

well, sapir from smellthewildflowers happened to nominate me for the sunshine award. how sweet right? thank you sapir, you made my aloha friday!

so really anything else i might share with you would pale in comparison coz i got questions to answer up in here!

 Rules:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award

2. Answer the following questions about yourself

3. Choose 10 bloggers you follow and link their blogs to your post

4. Be sure to let them know that you are nominating them for the award

5. Copy and paste the award to your blog!

 Questions:

1. Favorite Color? I would have to say yellow because its so bright and cheery, but i never wear yellow because i don't think its the most complimentary with my skin tone which is white with a tint of white and white undertones.

2. Favorite Animal? Monkeys! i actually think i may have married my husband because he kinda sorta might  look slightly like a monkey- so cute!

3. Favorite number? 
tough one. 7?
did i just ask you there?


4. Favorite Drink? gonna go with coffee. i can't start my day without it so it deserves the honor of being my fav. im actually one of those people that cant wait to go to bed because i know when i wake up i get coffee- yaya!

5. Facebook or Twitter? im goin' with facebook. my daughter set up a twitter account for me a few years ago and i have never used it because i don't get it. im still trying to figure out how to "grab buttons", one thing at a time here.

6. Good Book or Good Movie?  
book! love when i find something worth spending my precious free time doing. whats free time you say? oh, its those 10 minutes before you nod off and drool on your kindle.

7. My Passion. this is a funny question. my UPS guy asked me this about a month ago. yes, my UPS guy likes to hang about and ask me questions. this was one of his. i had no real answer. i have lots of things i love to do but passion? uh.....im gonna make it my mission to come up with a passion. coz i got nuthin' over here!

8. Giving or Getting Gifts? personally im a giver. i have always loved to pick out special things for people. i am not so good at putting those special things in an envelope and/or box and actually getting them to the person. im working on my gift giving follow through.

9. Favorite Day? oh, must you even ask?! why that would be aloha friday!!! everything is better on aloha friday. you can read all about aloha friday on my blog. if you aren't on the aloha train i would do somethin' about that like, yesterday! or do you mean favorite day ever? i cant really answer that-do i pick my wedding day, the day i had my babies? those seem too typical right? ok, let's just go with aloha friday. done.

10. Favorite Flower? i love hydrangeas.they have always been a fav but another contender might be the hawaiian pikake flower-tiny but so sweet smelling.





  the 10 blogs i nominate are:

localsugarhawaii 

noelsbeautifulife.blogspot 

clairejustineoxox 

crazy-mama-drama 

gwenmossblog

strollerparkingonly

delirious-mom

ladiesholiday 

aruraljournal

anewview365

these are really fun blogs and if you are unfamiliar go check 'em out- im sure you will love to read up on them daily just as much as i do! 

go on now- click the link!

to my fabulous nominees:

 of course there is no obligation to participate, but if you do please send me the link to your blog post - I would love to read your answers coz i think you're pretty awesome!

random thursday

i've admitted it before-i kind of suck at being a girl. i'm not a tomboy and i clean up ok i just am not the best at being a girl.

i don't wear make up most days, if i leave the house in heels you can bet they are off and i am barefoot by noon, i will go 4 or 5 days without washing my hair (yes, i shower), need i go on or did i paint a good enough picture here at my lamo girly-ness??

i got all excited to go on over to random thursdays and link up with them until i saw the topic.
favorite beauty products.
crickets.
hmmm......i could talk about my blush but i really just use whatever is in my make up bag-or not.
i could discuss the foundation that i forget to use almost every day. shoot, that's not good.
oh, i thought i could share the good facial care system i got while under the influence in las vegas but then i felt ashamed that i spent what i did on it and decided i cant reveal that misdemeanor.
i was getting nowhere fast as you can see.

just when i thought about bailing on this weeks link and posting a photo of my new bracelet (yep, that will excite y'all huh?) i realized i totally have a favorite beauty product!!
well, i am not sure it falls under "beauty" so much but i do use it everyday and it does help me look a little more like beauty and less like beast-ya know what i mean?

so i dont have lots of items but i have this item and it's hugely important!!

baby powder. its my staple.

i use it every day in my hair. this is what lets me move about in my everyday laziness and look like i spent hair time in the bathroom- but its all a facade.
i just shake a little on my hairbrush and brush it through my scalp-mostly my temples.
my hair smells awesome and it soaks up any natural oil in your hair and you look all fresh.
it doesn't really work as well on brunettes but works awesome on blondes and waaaay better than any dry shampoo on the market, oh and 1 bottle will last you like almost 47 years so what is that a penny a month?!

so there it is. how i keep myself downright gorgeous. you wanna try it don't you?

sometimes ya gotta bust a move!!

sometimes you're in the park
sometimes there is a michael jackson tribute concert playing
sometimes you're just comfortable (or strange) enough to....

dance like nobody's watchin,
'cept i am, and im video taping.

i really should name my next born mac....

looky what i got for my birthday!

exciting huh??
i didnt even ask for it- i guess i didnt even know i wanted it, but i did and i do and i love it!! it was also very unexpected because there are 2 other macs in the house i could use.
oh who am i kidding? i did a little of my mental lady magic on the hawaiian husband and ta-da!!
oh, and almost 3 weeks early!!!!  dang i should teach a seminar!!!

oh, by the way my birthday is on the 22nd, ya know, in case you're takin' notes and markin' calendars and such.

here was the old laptop situation: shane and i shared a mac laptop which was a huge pain because he is a total laptop hog!!
oh sure, he will try to convince you otherwise but it's kinda one of those, "i know i hog the mac but i will try to put on these big brown eyes and glamour you into thinking that's really not the case" deals. by the way, don't trust a tall hot hawaiian with pretty eyes and strong arms, next thing you know you will have 3 kids and about 20 minutes a day with your laptop. real life.

so back to biz. "our" laptop was only about 3 years old but it had started to have issues with a hinge short when you opened the lid. sometimes the screen would appear and sometimes it wouldnt light up at all. if i am being honest here, it was truly the excitement of my day when it lit up first try. like, so exciting!

anyway, apparently my sighs and groans and rampant complaints about how life wasnt fair with a half ass working laptop finally paid off.
see, mr hawaiian husband man had bought himself a new mac a few months ago and so kindly handed me the gimp laptop with a sort of, 'look what you get to use whenever you want' flair to it. yes, this is a man of many looks we have on our hands here.
well, this prompted smart wife to give her best devil eyes and quickly surmise the above, apparently quite successful plan.

i would like to thank the academy.......

marilyn-50 years later.....

yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the death of marilyn monroe.
this shocked me. fifty years? that seems crazy.

a little something most don't know about me.
i've had a slight obsession with marilyn monroe since the 4th grade, i even dressed up as her for halloween when i was 12 years old. when all other kids my age were getting on the bus in their witches and wonder woman costumes i was stepping on in my heels, glitter dress and blonde bob wig.
can you believe kids actually asked who i was?? psssht, i mean, heeeelllo, whaddya live in a cave?!!!

somehow the local mall (wassup Everett mall) asked me come to one of their evening fundraiser events as marilyn and introduce the president of some company to the crowd.
well, of course i will!!!!
i got all into character. i stepped up to the mic to give the introduction and in my best sexy 12 year old voice i started to sing, "happy birthday mr. president"... (im so freakin' embarrassed even recalling this story) then, stopped mid sentence and in my best dumb blonde voice said, "ooops, wrong president".
i got some laughs, totally thought i rocked it and really felt like ms. monroe for the evening.
gawd i was a weird kid!

when i was being the 12 year old marilyn the real marilyn had already been gone 23 years. its crazy how she could be so influential 23 years and even today 50 years later and on a young girl nonetheless.

i tried to remember back to what i found so captivating about marilyn at such a young age and i cant put my finger on it. i wasn't really aware of the whole jfk scandal until much later so that held no interest.
i believe i just thought she was beautiful.
she looked so ethereal in all her photos. she never really seemed real to me and yet i was influenced enough to dress as her at halloween and, by the way, take it way seriously.

i just couldn't let the day go without a little ode to norma jean. sometimes, lights go out early but her flame still burns bright- or whatever elton said.
i'm being weird again aren't i?.