you're dying because of what??

we were driving home after a funeral this weekend,
and apparently Ingrid had drank a LOT of water at the luncheon thingy after the funeral.
she had to PEE SO BAD
she was in the back seat doing a potty dance...
"i'm gonna die, i'm gonna die!"
she kept shouting because she had to pee so bad.
"i'm going to die from PEE-ness!!!"

really? you're going to die from PENIS?
jeremy and I were busting out laughing the whole way home...

i LOVE these cray cray kids!

love fresh raspberries

OK, this belongs on fail blog or lame book or something like that...
it actually came from my very own facebook feed
from my very own ummm... someone related to me...
be sure to read the 1st comment...

who knew loving raspberries could raise up such hellish fury?
this is what i think about sometimes as i pick raspberries...
i feel bad for the guy whose wife calls him a disgusting fat puke
(yes, that was his wife that said that *forehead slap*)

but back to the subject at hand:
raspberries!

aren't they the best??!!
once, when i was about 10, i was walking home from school and i walked past a bush with beautiful red ripe raspberries and somewhere deep in my subconscious "must have raspberry bush when i grow up" became part of my bucket list.

i love picking raspberries off of our bush that started out small and now takes over a 50 square foot area.   Picking raspberries is like a treasure hunt.  A sunny, delicious treasure hunt.  It makes me feel like a kid again :)

i love to put my fresh raspberries on top of a yummy brownie with a scoop of ice cream.
and if that makes me a disgusting fat puke i'm okay with it.
have a beautiful, delicious, non-disgusting day mmmmkay?

Red, White & Chambray

we had to go to this pretty place to "help" daddy with some scenery photos for a painting he's working on.
as soon as we got there, i had one kid dancing around about to pee her pants, another kid peeing on a rock, and another child peeing in her pants (nope, i'm not naming names...but she's kinda little and her name rhymes with bofeeya) all in all, a grand time.
we're off to a parade today then maybe we'll head back up the canyon for some more family togetherness, that is, if the parents don't go crazy first!

chambray rompers: old navy, ross

chambray shirt: old navy

red shirt: downeast

tan shorts: thrifted

red sandals: kohls 

linking up with Lindsey for what i wore wednesday

have an awesome, safe, dry panties type of 4th of July, mmmkay?

the big reveal...

come on into my home,
make yourself comfy
i'll get you a big bowl of cookie dough ice cream...
or i have some skinny cow ice cream sandwiches if you're watching your weight...
or, i have oodles of easter candy, if you're lactose intolerant.
we can talk while the kids fight over an etch a sketch


i've been re-doing my front room for a while now, & i'd love to show you, now that it's done.
it's a small space. only about 10 feet wide and 12 feet deep.

the motivation for the makeover was this here brown couch.
it might look ok, but it turns into the devil when you want to sit or lay on it.
it wasn't terribly uncommon for a cheek to fall asleep while sitting on it because it has bars under it that hit you in all the wrong places.
it's super uncomfy. and brown.
quite frankly, it was boring in there.

i had to find the perfect couch that would fit the room and fit our budget.
we were searching for a grey leather couch with a vintage modern vibe.
it had to be leather, because of it's proximity to the kitchen (and inevitable spills)
and it had to be 35" deep or narrower
it had to be comfortable
and hopefully under $1000.
(which is a hard price point when looking for super adorable grey leather couches)

our search ended when we found this pretty leather number.

I added some random, pretty grey and turquoise stripes to the wall.
I had all these paint colors on hand and didn't have to go buy any, which was nice.
I'm loving the stripes.

1. We found the leather sofa at Macys.com 
it's the Claudia sofa in Taupe
we had to wait about 3 weeks for the sample to come in the mail.
we were worried the taupe would be too brown.
but, when the sample came it was a nice warm grey so we went for it.
and, since we have a history of getting credit cards and never activating them, 
we decided to go ahead and get the macys card to save an extra $100
it ended up being $899 plus tax and shipping (around $1000)
(which is waaaaay better price-wise than the other sofas I had looked at)
2.  Pillow from Moxie Mandie more info HERE
3. IKEA
4. Pillows from Mindy Mae's Market (they sell all sorts of awesome stuff at discounted prices online...follow them on facebook & you won't regret it!)
5. Oh, how I love these paintings! Jeremy (my husband who is an artist) painted these of each of our kiddos :)  They make me happy!  To see more of his work click HERE

I kept the same Danish Modern side chair because the chair wasn't too terribly uncomfortable, and i happen to LOVE danish modern furniture.

I just added some bright reddish orange-ish color fabric and more pillows from ikea and some chevron from MMM. (since re-upholstering this, i've noticed this color ALLOVER the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Price  (& if you don't know what SCDP is, i feel so sad for you.))

Dont' look too closely at my reupholster job...it was my first crack at sewing upholstery with piping...yeah, it's perfectly imperfect, just the way i like it ;)

Then, I wanted to add a little extra seating for when we have company.
With only the sofa and side chair, there just wasn't enough.
So, I went on the search for a table/bench that could be used as a coffee table OR a small bench for the kids to sit on.  I found the perfect one at IKEA

IKEA Molger bench in brown

it's decorated with another snazzy pillow from IKEA..(did I mention that I found those pillows for $2.99 each?? crayzay! that may be why there are 3 in this small space) and here's the third beautiful copper item that i was talkin about the other day...and some adorable vintage childrens books and some coasters.

The armoir also got a makeover, making it a lovely shade of yellow.
open it up, and it's (surprise, surprise) turquoise :)

some things we kept the same:
the turquoise table with our copper antiquities (no way i was getting rid of that!)

our collection of ebony elephants that we've been collecting each year on our anniversary, our lamp we bought when we were first married, our vase from downeast

 and some cool Aesop's fables illustrations from Jeremy's dad

and, in an effort to keep it real, i'll show you what it will really look like when you stop by:

so, come on over.  we can watch an episode of the new girl, or what not to wear (as seen here), or once upon a time ( i have them all recorded on our dvr :)  or, maybe we could watch madmen...or just gossip about WTFreakityFreak is going on with Don Draper...hope to see you soon!

bashed over the head with signs

well, geez...
sometimes ya just need to be bashed over the head with a sign from above
in order to receive it, right?

I found the best ticket deal to hawaii after searching & planning for weeks.
delta was holding this itinerary for 24 hrs,
after which, it became obsolete.
so, we thought about it overnight.
thought & prayed
and decided to book the flights.

when i entered our credit card #
it resulted in a "terminal error"
i was in a panic
because the deal was expiring during the error

i called delta, begging them to extend the deal another 7 minutes while i re-entered my credit card #
"sorry the deal is over
but, i can look for a similar deal for you"
longest minute of my life.
i was pretty sure i was out of luck
no more good deals to be found.
luckily, she was able to find a deal for us
only $20 more.

best news ever, right?
but i tried to pay for the tickets over the phone
"sorry, this credit card was denied"
"sorry, this credit card was denied"
"sorry, this credit card was denied"
every.time.

you see...
last fall i lost my credit card.
well, it was lost for a few hours & then found.
but, in the mean time, i cancelled the card.
didn't know if the card had fallen into the wrong hands or whatnot.

discover card sent us replacement cards.
but i never bothered to activate them
i don't usually use credit cards anyway
plus we had an american express card
if we had to use it

fast-forward 7 months.
there was some weird activity on my american express card
i don't remember buying flowers in canada over valentine's day
(umm, it's 'cause i didn't...)
so, what better thing to do
than cancel that card?

I just didn't even realize that we were credit card-less..
until i tried booking our flights to hawaii.

i tried everything in my power to buy those tickets before they expired again
i had plenty of money in my checking account
and presumably several thousands of dollars allowed to be spent via credit
but alas, no credit card number, no tickets...
i even have a debit card that they could have used,
but the bank puts a limit of $1000/day
(for our safety, of course)
& by the time i thought of calling the bank to expand that limit
it was 5:15
and the bank was closed.

so, we considered borrowing a credit card
& writing a check to whoever would be so kind...
take a loss, considering all the "points" or "miles" we'd earn.
but, we decided after being bashed over the head with signs,
that we would just wait until our new cards came in the mail
& then try again to get tickets.

nobody knows what lies ahead for each of us
but i do know the God directs our paths.
i may never know why we weren't supposed to buy those tickets yesterday
but i know we weren't supposed to buy those tickets yesterday

and...
since i was on the phone with delta or credit card companies all day yesterday
i didn't have a chance to post my what i wore wednesday...
so, happy belated wednesday, friends...
may your signs be bashed over your head
(it is, arguably, the best way to receive them)
and your credit cards be active ;)

dress- Old Navy
jeans- H&M
shoes- Kohls

oh, and, if you're still here...
just thoughts i'd let ya know,
i'm loving all these photo tips
from ruche
they're worth a look-see
:)

an unforseen bit of fortune

I've been a little crafty mama as of late...
I'm redecorating our front room.
It's almost done, just need to refinish one more chair cushion :)

anywhooo...I wanted to show you a little sneak peek of what's going on in there,
I have had a beautiful little turquoise table in there
a gift from my sisters last year
and I've been looking and looking for weeeeeks trying to find something to decorate this table
something the children wouldn't destroy
my 1st thought was something made of metal, ya know like copper or brass or something...
it's pretty hard to destroy...but everything online was out of my price range

my 2nd thought was a matryoshka doll
they could play with them and then put them back and they'd look real pretty and colorful

via

so, I went to work searching for something cool and not breakable
i checked retail stores, discount stores, thrift store, antique stores....
basically a LOT of shopping
with no luck
We spent the 4 days before my birthday scouring SLC for something cool and not breakable
then, my birthday came around and we were exhausted
there's only so much shopping a 3, 5, & 7 year old can handle
But, it was my birthday & it was time for lunch..
and, heck, i didn't want to make lunch on my birthday, right?
so we headed to Panda Express
after a delicious meal of orange chicken and honey shrimp
my fortune read "an unforseen bit of fortune is heading your way"
& I was able to talk the kids into one more last ditch effort at finding something cool and not breakable
we headed to an antique store I'd never been to before
and there we searched for a good 45 minutes....
and, finally we found the holy grail of beautiful copper pieces!
there were 3 pieces ranging in price from $20-$65  that we were trying to narrow down
trying to figure out which one we I couldn't live without.
then, the owner of the store came over and said
"you're in luck, the guy who owns this booth just decided to mark these down
everything in this section is 50% off"
she said if we would have come in an hour earlier, we would have missed this sale!
wowza! i was so excited!
I told the lady (with tears in my eyes) that i felt like i had just won the lottery
which was only slightly awkward for her
anyway,
I decided to get all three of the beautiful copper pieces i had been eyeing...
and altogether, it was $65
score.
there was my unforseen bit of fortune, yo!
I found this beautiful copper tea kettle

 I adore how it's turning turquoise in all the right places
ooooh baby

and I LOVE the handle on this copper pitcher....it's screams art deco to me :)
and the antique pewter bowl I already had,
we inherited it from Jeremy's grandpa
I am glad to have a place to display it now :)

and the same awesome sister that gave me this purty turquoise table
gave me a pretty platter that was perfect for setting this whole scene on
it looks breakable, but it's not (it's from target, me thinks)

I love the look!
and my kids can't break anything!
yay!
so, if you're keeping track,
I've shown you only 2 pieces of copper awesomeness
but I bought three
I'll share with you the other one later this week
when i reveal the room in it's entirety
stay tuned!

ps: all of this talk about copper reminded me, i still have a coupon code for 20% off my shop when you use the code LUCKYPENNY

bow chicka wow wow

broke my glasses playing naughty librarian, haha,jk
but i am getting new glasses
whattaya think?

yes, i made my hubby go glasses shopping. on valentines day. i'm nice like that.

and jeremy knows the way to my heart is through shopping and food

so he took me to lunch with sofia

she's head over heels for her daddy

 I know the way to jeremy's heart is to go climbing, so we stopped and took a little climb after lunch.

sofia's first time at the climbing gym

I tell ya, nothing's hotter than a guy that cares about his family!!

so, we went out to lunch...and out to dinner...and out for dessert, too. (spoiled)
and dinner was at cafe rio (mmm, sweet pork salad, my fave!)
and dessert at another restaurant where they have ginormous hot cookies with ice cream and chocolate and caramel syrup on top.
He's so good to me.
Also! If you are Kelly-Marie you won the necklace giveaway from Pretty Little Me! Email me asap :)