A Prayer

Dear Higher Power,

Please help my in-laws become clean and sober. It would greatly help in the "Embarrassing and Awkward Moments" category of my life.

It would also potentially save their lives and others on the road.

(I'm totally serious this time. There is very little sarcasm involved.)

Your Humble Servant,
Me

Baking Presents

With my new cookbooks in hand I decided to bake up some goodies for my stepmother's 70th birthday party tonight. I mean, what else does a 70-year-old need besides something good to eat and some family and friend love?

I was also really excited to try out this new double boiler that I got from the Pampered Chef early in the year. I found an easy recipe for Peanut Clusters. All you need is a package of butterscotch chips, a package of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 3 cups of salted peanuts.

Here are the chips:

I totally love this part:

Mixing them all up:

Finished products:


I also decided to try my hand at some Macaroon Cookie Bars. Yum!


And what would any baking be without peanut butter chocolate chip cookies? My Dad is actually a HUGE peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie freak. I usually make him a batch when he comes to visit. Last time I completely forgot so I hope this more than makes up for my lapse.


Here they are all wrapped up pretty!! Total cost for this gift was definitely under $20. And well worth the 2 hours bake time as I will get to enjoy some of these goodies, too.

Garage Sale Finds

The garage sale was a success! Our parents group raised over $500 from all the donations. It was a lot of work but I did find a few rewards...

First let me say this: almost no one I know wears a size 10 shoe. Everyone is an 8 or a 9. I've never been able to "share shoes" with anyone. So imagine my surprise when I found some quite lovely shoes in MY size in our garage sale!

Now, these lovelies below were not found in the garage sale. Rather, I visited an old friend of mine last week for dinner. She has a fabulous house and fabulous clothes and fabulous shoes. Despite my jealousy at her expansive wardrobe I love it when she hands-me-down great things. One of the things she gifted me with was this pair of Via Spiga shoes. Swoon. (And, yes, she is a friend who wears my size.)

The silly part about this is that all three pairs are heels. And I never wear heels. I can't even walk in heels. But I collect them for some odd reason. I think they are pretty and I imagine myself one day having an outfit and a place to go worthy of such lovelies.

Finally, here is my last find. "Vintage" cookbooks. Okay, well maybe not super-duper vintage but definitely from the 1980's. These actually came from my mom's closet. She was selling them at the garage sale. I swooped in and grabbed these awesome holiday cookbooks. I am baking as I type this post (more on that later).


So, dear readers (all three of you), what do you think?

Knotted Up

Goodness gracious it's hot outside! The kids and I have stayed inside all day long. The good news is: they are tired out. The even better news: I finished a project.

Remember these fancy things I was coveting?

Well, TADA! I finished one. And it was super easy...sort of. I did get some help from the lovely folks at my local yarn shop (LYS). They helped me learn how to "pick up stitches". The possibilities with this pattern are endless.


But now my fingers are tired!

On another news front, we have just two weeks left until the school year starts for the kids. I can't explain how enthusiastic I am for this. My big boy starts kinder and my little boy starts preschool. And this tired Mama will have some time to herself after five long years.

I actually think I may tackle the boys' room. They need something on their walls and about half of their toys donated. I just can't stand to go in there anymore. Maybe with four hours of alone time I can actually keep up on something.

Just a Few Things

Last night I made some sweet cupcakes for our friend Natalie who is entering kindergarten. She will be moving on from our weekly playgroups and entering the big kid world. In honor of her departure I whipped up some delicious back-to-school cupcakes. (I wish I could remember the blog I stole these from but, alas, I don't.)

I also found out my post about my latest adventures in thrifting was featured on the Thrift Town blog. This makes me very, very happy! Mainly because I really like thrifting and I want the world to know that you don't have to buy things at the mall to look good. And when you are a family of four living on one income you need to be mindful of all your pennies. Especially now since apparently I cannot shop at Target.

I started boycotting WalMart ten years ago and have only slipped up once. Target, however, is one of my most favorite chain stores. If I can't find it thrifting then I'm headed to Target. What irritates me the most about these boycotts is that I would guess that most of the people involved in the boycott aren't trying to raise large families on limited budgets. I would like to see a family get by on day-to-day items without shopping at a large chain store. Ugh.

I digress.

On a happy note, our neighborhood Parents Group is having a huge yard sale on Saturday to fundraise for next years' activities. All donations have been dropped off at my house. See the evidence below:



We received generous donations from friends and neighbors. I wish I was having a new baby because there are some really awesome finds including cribs, high chairs, booster seats, toys, kites and puzzles.

And you want to know what the best part is? I get to have my friends over tonight for a pricing event. We shall eat lots of pizza, price items, and get some good girl-talk in. What an wonderful way to end a week!

Some Things I Love

Log Cabin Washcloths via Whit's Knits.

I'm sooo going to make these this week.

Peanut Butter Bars via Make It Do.

Looks perfect for the Labor Day Weekend festivities.

Campfire Orange Cakes via LJC. The tutorial is awesome!

My kid enjoying being a kid.


Giants baseball and two goofballs.

Thrifting and Vintage Finds

This summer I have found some great things at thrift and antique stores. So far I don't think I've bought any clothing from Target or other chain store. I've been committed to shopping locally.

On a wonderful trip to Thrift Town my total came up to $48 for four fall tops and a pin. I thought it was a bit much but luckily I'm a VIP shopper and had some free merchandise coming my way. With all my discounts and a very helpful salesperson my total came down to $23. Wow!

Cowl neck sweaters for fall via Thrift Town

Two Talbot's tops in wonderful condition via Thrift Town

A recycled bike for the little guy. He even got to pick it out himself! We found it at Bike Builders on Franklin Blvd. As the reviews on yelp will attest to, it's kind of a shady place. A "junkyard" for bikes. But the whole family went and Austin got to plow through mounds of broken bikes to pick out the frame. The dude didn't talk much but he promised to fix him up a cool bike. We got to watch him clean it and fix it up. We even traded his old, broken Huffy bike for this new bike. Overall, it was a good deal.

Two wonderful pieces that will soon become necklaces. The vintage gold key was found at The Antique Company. I adore The Antique Company. They had so much fabulous vintage jewelry that I had to keep my hands in my pockets. The rooster was a pin from Thrift Town. My friend Bob took off the pin on the back so I can use it as a necklace charm.

Ribbit

That's what knitters say when they have to unravel, undo, or completely toss a project. "Frogging it" means unraveling your stuff. A frog says, "ribbit" like you are "ripping" your work apart.

And it sucks.

I got about 15 rows into a big project when I realize my stitch count was completely off. Then I kept trying to fix it. But I'm not talented enough to fix anything. So I ended up with the end of two rows that weren't even connected to the rest of my project.

Sigh.

My girlfriend who crochets warned me, "Don't start a big project until you are super confident. Otherwise you will get frustrated." Well, I'm frustrated people. This is the second project I've had to completely unravel and set aside.

I definitely need to join a knitter's circle or go down and get some expert advice when I run into problems. Otherwise it's like fumbling around in the dark for a light switch and bonking your head on the wall (repeatedly).

But I'm going to follow the parenting advice I give my own kids, "You have to keep trying. Otherwise you won't ever get better."

Ten Reasons

Ten Reasons I Like Boys:

1. They can pee standing up.
2. They LOVE their mamas.
3. They adore gross jokes. Especially farting and use of the term "butt".
4. They do not require hair care -- you just buzz it off and forget it.
5. They could care less about what their clothes look like.
6. They always compliment my outfits and hair.
7. Even when they are goofy they are cute.
8. They do not require Barbies, princesses or the color pink.
9. So far they are not embarrassed to be with me.
10. I don't get tripped up on projecting old childhood "girl angst" onto them.

Really, really liking this boy-mama thing these days.

Another Bit of Lovely

We headed up to North Lake Tahoe with some friends this weekend. It was a short trip for us. But, oh, how I love Tahoe. I especially love that we introduced the boys to skipping rocks AKA throwing stones. Thank you to our friends who included us!