Purse Fashion

I'm in search of a new purse.  Always.  To post about purses.... first I need to post pictures of my current purses. Up first.  A cute little number I picked up this weekend at Ross for $25.  I'm returning it.  It is cute and buttery soft but that clasp comes out the second you grab it by the handle. 

 

Next up.  My 31 purse.  From Elle's collection.  I like the squareness but the pattern is a little much for "official" work stuff.  Still a fun purse.

My redneck purse.  I don't use this one much but it is still fun.

My official work purse.  Big enough to put files in it if needed.  It didn't photograph well but it is classic black leather 9 West.  

 Who doesn't love Haiku?  I love my Haiku wallet.  I don't adore this purse... it doesn't sit quite right and it is a little heavy and I don't like the buckle clasp.  But it is cute.

And what am I putting IN my purse?  My haiku wallet, my organizer, my pink mesh bag of goodies & the striped bag of current stuff (ipod, lip gloss etc.)

I also like Kavu purses and Fossil.

So what is your current purse obsession?  What are you hauling around and what would be your perfect purse?

Cell Phones and Little Projects

Over spring break I had a few things to cross off my list.  Those things that are on your list so long you kind of just think you will never do them.  Those things. 

One was to get the cell phone booster off the roof and test it.  I finally read the instructions and it turns out putting it on the roof with a long cable run (with questionable quality cable) isn't the best plan in all cases.

And when the roofers were here (Um... TWO YEARS ago) they hooked it back on sideways.  And I know that ain't right.

But.  To fix this.  I need to crawl to the top of our two-story house.  And my husband told me to just put it on his list and he'd do it for me.

Did I mention TWO YEARS???

So one afternoon (when Hot was not around) when the wind wasn't blowing I handed the cordless to Sweet and crawled out the girls' bedroom window.  First stopping, of course, to admire the insane collection of bugs in their window.  Damn.  We REALLY need new windows.  And windex.  And someone to clean them.

But back to the story.  I was dressed for the occassion.... comfy jeans, traction-y sneakers and a knife.  Walking around from the bedroom was no problem.  But then I had to figure out how to get up on top of the windows in their room.... hmmm.  I ended up climbing the part of the roof that makes that darn chicken coop ceiling in the bathroom and hopping over onto the top of our window.  No problems so far so I scramble up to the peak and start scootching over to the antenna.  It's a long scootch and I don't want to put pressure on the roofing materials over the peak so it was fairly entertaining I'm sure.

At this point I holler for Sweet to make sure he is paying attention.  His instructions were, "If you see me fall off the roof... dial 911 and stay on the line."  Seems responsible, right?  I look down and there is Tuff... with the flip camera.  Her mother may end up with a broken back but she's determined to submit it and win 10k. 

I finally get the antenna down and track back around and get off the roof.  I'm pretty proud of myself for doing the whole thing without a ladder.

Now my to-do list has "test cell phone booster" on it... maybe next week.

You know... a round thing... in 3-D

Sometimes there are words I can use in a sentence but I have no idea how to pronounce.  The challenges of being a reader, right?  writhe.  That's the only one I can think of right now. 

This morning Sweet set himself up for disaster trying to say Odysseus and the Odyssy.... which I will have to google to see if I can even spell....

In the car on the way to school he kept talking about a "suf-fear" and had Tuff discussing it as well.  I listened for a while and absolutely could NOT decipher what they were talking about....  Finally Sweet says, "You know mom... a suf-fear.  Like a basketball?" 

Oh.  A Sphere.

CELBRITY SIGHTING

Yes, people, we have a celebrity comment at the Homestead.

The one and only and oh-so-talented CATHE HOLDEN commented on THIS POST.

Seriously.... check out her website if you are at all inclined to beautify the basics. 

Also.... she's working to convert an old barn into a studio...

Sound familiar?  By the way... I have some status updates on Studio B.  I may have figured out a way to reclaim the cabin as a studio instead of a playhouse for the kids.....

AND... she picked out the same flooring I picked for my house so we must somehow be soul sisters. Ok, yes, her flooring is actually delivered and the dream is becoming the reality and I'm still living with flooring that resembles a corelle ware plate. But it has to be a sign.



 

Weekend in Review

Yes.  It snowed at our house on Sunday.  Yes, it was a lot. Yes, I had clothes on the line.  Yes, they are still there.  I like to call it "double-rinsed with mountain freshness" and leave it at that.

Yes, the girls and I went shopping at Ross on Sunday.  We bought two pairs of aviator sunglasses for $15.  Something that has been on my "style" list for YEARS now.

Yes, we played outside and went for a walk on Saturday.  Yes, it was lovely.  Yes, I did dig a little in the flowerbeds... just a little grass needed pulling... there's a lot left to dig. 

Yes, I made a pot roast with veggies and a batch of rolls for dinner on Saturday.  Yes, it renewed my husband's faith in his choice of life-mate.  I even made it his favorite way... which is not my favorite way. 

New Organizer

I got a new organizer.  I know.  Get a smart phone.  But I'm still a paper girl.  So I picked up this ARC notebook at Staples.  It is half-sheet sized.  I also got some dividers, a little notepad, a folder and a zipper pouch.  It was on sale so I made it out of the store for less than $20.

Cute, right?  I took most of the extra paper out to save weight.  And I printed tiny white labels on clear tape for the dividers. 

The cool thing is the rings there.....  The paper is cut in a mushroom shape so you can take pages out and put them in somewhere else. 

Here I am in design phase....  Trying to figure out what to keep in it.  My tabs are:  schedule, books & movies, places to go, medical & reference.

I didn't like how it was opening up in my bag so I put two paper-punch holes in the back and ran a strap of narrow black elastic around it and then stapled them after threading them through the holes.  Slick.

Pinterest Inspired Pantry Organization

First.  I LOVE CATHE HOLDEN.  I used her fantastic (and free) labels for this project.

My "pantry" is a big cabinet in the laundry room.  It looks like this:

 Well... it looks like this today.  Some days it looks better and some days it looks worse... much, much worse.  Let me take you on a short tour.  We've got a shelf with the roasting pan/crock pot/wafflemaker by the blue basket with the stick blender & accessories, electric knife, and salad shooter accessories.  There's the salad shooter in front.  Don't laugh.  I love that stupid thing.  An old applesauce jar of baking soda.  Then a basket of individual snack chips.  Raise your hand if you ever swore to not buy individually packaged food because it is so much more expensive.  Yup, me too.  Welcome to Camp Hypocrite.  Then we have a shelf of food (important mommy chocolate there in the front), rice cooker and a stack of plastic containers.  I think that bottom one has light bulbs and the top one in napkins and plastic silverware.  The stuff in the pink cup gets used to dole out cat food.  Ew.  TMI?  The bottom is more food, a brown box of condiments and stove top and a blue sweater box of things I'm afraid the mice would like.... cereal, grains, beans, brown sugar.

Anyway.... the point of the sidetrack tour was to see the jars of "white sauce" that my kids adore.  And next to them.... the latest project.  Also... bonus points to those of you who knew me in college.... yes.... still the same rice cooker.... still missing a handle......

We love rice.  I've always used the "dump in the rice and add water until it is at the first knuckle" measuring method.  It drives my husband insane.  BUT.  We recently switched to brown rice.  It requires more water and WAY more cooking time.  So I wasn't making it very often.  By the time I got out the rice, measured, measured more, cooked.... it just wasn't working.  So I actually read the rice package and learned 2 cups of brown rice need 4 1/2 cups of water.  Well.... 2 cups of rice just HAPPENS to be exactly the size of the empty alfredo sauce jars.  Out to the recycling bin I went.  A little goo gone and a run through the dishwasher and I was ready to go.  I put 2 cups of rice in each jar.... and realized it would never work because Hot often starts the rice and wouldn't know about the water..... so I found these cute labels by Cathe Holden and fixed them up.  At the same time I was spray-painting some plastic bins in the garage (note to self:  Do NOT spray paint things that are lattice-work and not solid... it takes forever and two cans of paint.) and had a bit of lovely "lagoon" spray paint left over.  So I gave the lids a blast and attached the labels (cut out by hand.... I should get a punch) with a little scotch tape.  Ta-da.

Simple.  I know.  But if it gets dinner on the table 3 minutes faster (and without boiling over the rice cooker and sliming starchy goo all over the counters) then I call it a win.  Bonus that it keeps the mice out and reuses some jars.

Spring Break

Had to take a break for spring break and a few health things.

I want a new term for Bucket List.  I get it.  The movie.  Kick the Bucket.  Whatever.  I still want a different term.  Anyone?

So the spring break bucket list

1.  EAT DESSERT BEFORE LUNCH DOWNTOWN.  We went to lunch at the new Taco Del Sol location..... Tuff wants to have her birthday there because, "LOOK mom... they already have a pinyata in the window!!!"
2.  BIG DIPPER.  We had to sit outside and wait until they opened at 11.  So worth it.  Followed by lunch.
3.  DAIRY QUEEN.  Sweet had his first Blizzard.  Reece's PB cup.  A new obsession.
4.  EXPLORATION WORKS. I had a pass for one kid for Exploration Works..... it was still fairly pricey for what it is... in my opinion. 
5.  SKIING:  Fail.  The day we were planning to go the wind was blowing mach 3 so we skipped it.
6.  GO TO THE MOVIE THEATRE.  We saw the Lorax.... complete with giant bag of popcorn.... and it was daddy's idea.  This was our most expensive outing.  I think tickets were $5.50 for the matinee so $27.50 to get in and then about $10 for popcorn and a pop for daddy.  Yes, I smuggled in water bottles. 
7.  MCDONALD'S.  Green Lantern Toys.
8.  THREE PARKS.  We did Pioneer Park, the fairgrounds & the school.
9.  MOVIE NIGHT(S).  We did several.  We watched HOP.  We ate spaghetti on tv trays.  We went all out.
10. SWIMMING.  One day we were slightly delayed for a quick freak snowstorm.  Yes, the pool is outside.  Yes, we went anyway.
11. PLAY DATE AT DAYCARE.  The bigs love daycare.  They did a playdate and lunch date to see their buddies.  And it gave me a chance to sneak to Target and get some Easter stuff and run to the office for a bit.
12. LIBRARY.  Including a visit upstairs in the elevator to see the turtle fountain.

The girls and I even did a strolling trip down the walking mall on a day when Sweet went hiking with his dad.  They couldn't decide which store to go in first.... the toy store or the kitchen goods store.  Seriously.  They love the kitchen store.  We didn't take any good walks but we did play outside quite a bit.