as tina fey would say....i want to go there....

So I'm hearing the buzz that airline tickets are CHEAP. Cheap. So being bored and having the entire interweb at my disposal I decided to check out orbitz on a lark. And LO AND BEHOLD, tickets are not only cheap, they're practically free.

It took some real scouring, but I actually found a deal for TWO tickets, PLUS six nights hotel from Philadelphia to FREAKIN' MAUI for get this....$911. No f'in way, I said but it's true. You couldn't buy one ticket to Oahu for $911 a couple months ago, let alone two tickets AND hotel during peak season. With the economy as it is, it's still unfortunately out of our reaches which is why I'm guessing they're cheap to begin with. But man oh man. For only $455 per person I should find a way to go. Don't you think?

Oil is to water as chocolate milk is to ________

Blog meet bain of my existence.

Bain of my existence meet blog.

You've probably already been introduced.

I know, because I can't be the only one who struggles with this on a daily basis? A nearly brand new off white adorable blouse, ruined by a malfunctioning sippy cup. My kids practically live off chocolate milk. I swear, they'd inject it in their veins if they knew how. So I'm always coming across a favorite pajama or shirt that has one of these and they are virtually indestructable!

Soo, does anyone out there have some sort of secret weapon against these nemeses of cute clothes? I've used bleach on the white stuff which works pretty well but it's the colored clothes that test my sanity. Please won't someone help?!

Hellouu to Miss Vu

Hellouu,
Miss Vu.
My new,
favorite place to,
visit all that you,
do.

LOST!

i'm just wondering who out there isn't watching Lost and why not?
I'm going to go on a limb and proclaim that last night's premiere was the best episode....evah! So many questions were answered. So many revelations revealed. So unlike previous season premieres.
I'm really digging the whole Daniel Faraday character and his (not so) secret love for red haired girl (who is totally on her way out, don't cha think).
Who do you think is the real baddie? Ben or Charles Windmore? My bets are on Ben.
Oh and, who else laughed when Hugo threw that burrito at Ben?

Bread crust and Canons

Oh heavens! I'm totally smitten with my new digital SLR. I've wanted one for I can't tell you how long. I finally scored one off Craigslist for a reasonably used price. Yesterday evening I spent the entire night reading through the manual and learning the various functions. Taking pictures of me in the bathroom waving my hands with a slow shutter speed, taking pictures of me waving my hands with a fast shutter speed. Oooo, I can see my hand in the second one!

Now, I'm thinking about all the cool extras I need. That is, a cool remote control for taking photos in front of the camera. A cool telephoto lens for taking extra blurry photos. A super cool speedlite, so my pictures don't look as if a nuclear bomb just exploded in our faces.

There was one disappointing drawback that I wasn't aware of. That being, only newer digital SLRs have live view. Something about mirrors and sensors. Was I the only one who didn't know that? It's taken some adjusting but I think I've gotten the hang of it.

When I'm holding my new camera I feel just like a real professional:) It's heavy and feels important in my hands. I imagine my camera laments over having such an amateur owner. Maybe that's because when we're in public it tries to pretend we're not together. What's that all about?

Test shots. The second one is water running out of the faucet, fast shutter speed(If you click on the photo you can actually see the bubbles in the water). Cool huh?

Grosgrain here I come!

I'm Ga Ga for Ga Ga

I'm totally Ga Ga for Ga Ga for Garlands. Imagine an entire blog devoted to garlands. If you possess a fingertip of creativity go check it out!

I love a bargain.

I just bought these above sailor jeans at a steal!
For their prices, Forever 21 has the cutest jeans
....AND the ugliest.

I know I shouldn't care but....

Grosgrain is now the first entry that comes up in google when you type in grosgrain! Lame? Maybe. But it makes me giddy. Suck on THAT FreeDictionary!

Red is the New Red

I know I'm decades behind the curve but I'm really digging the whole red revolution. I always thought I wasn't the kind of girl who could wear red makeup. I have an olivey skin tone and for almost a decade now I've ONLY worn nude shades so now whenever I slick on my new juicy hue I feel like I'm wearing a new dress or carrying a new handbag. Thank you nieniedialogues!

My Clara Bow Impression

My super stylish friend Chelia and I were talking a couple weeks ago, lamenting the lack of theme parties nowadays. I had just finished watching 'Fever Pitch' and told her how I longed for a 'Great Gatsby' themed party. And surprisingly, she totally agreed. In fact, she went a step further and started planning one. And now I'm giddy with excitement! Every time I see a fur or feather I'm inspired to make a costume, despite the fact that there's no date in sight. Here are the goodies at my local fabric shop that have been getting my wheels turning....

On a similar note....these stores have made me drool:
NevaPlume & ban.do

Ban.do's prices are pretty ridiculous but in their defense they are also quite exquisite. But if you're living on a budget (like me:) you might want to take a look at the second photo, you'll see they sell similar feather pieces. For Christmas I bought a couple and made headpieces for Brian's sisters for under $5. Even better....they were beyond simple to make! Here's what I did:

1. Buy a simple (no embellishments) headband at the dollar store

2. Spray paint the band black (to match my hair) you can paint your's yellow or red or brown, whatever

3. Hot glue the feather to headband. Glue from stem to middle of feather. Try to glue the stem as close to where the headband starts at your ear. See left pic. (For this to work the feather must already have a piece of cloth glued to the back to keep all the feathers in place. The ones I bought already had one but if your does not cut a piece of fabric in the shape of a wide leaf about half or 3/4th the size of the feather. Glue it to back so that none of the feathers can move.

OPTIONAL 4. Cut a piece of felt in the shape of a 2 inch leaf. Hot glue it to the underside of the feather and headband to hide the ugly hot glue for a softer finish.

5. VOILA!! You're done for about $30 dollars less than what you'd pay on etsy. Not to mention about $130 less than ban.do!

If you don't have a cool feather store down the street from where you live, you can find them for a reasonable price here and here. So go make your own!

Goodbye

Don't contact the police. No, I haven't died, been abducted or fallen off the face of the earth. A number of events have come up that have caused me to take some time off from blogging.

I'll start off by quickly mentioning that I've been sick since Christmas. Back in October I developed what I thought was a UTI which hasn't subsided. No antibiotics will help and none of my doctors can figure out what is wrong. Interstitial Cystits perhaps? I'm scheduled to have a cystoscopy later. On Christmas I started feeling nauseous and fatigued with headaches (no, I'm not pregnant:). I don't know if these two things are related but it's caused me to become very weak and run down putting a nix on my sewing spree.

Then sadly, my grandmother passed away early Wednesday morning. She had been in a nursing home for some time and on Tuesday we received a call that she would not make it through the night. My sister and I drove up to Wilkesbarre to see her and say goodbye.

Here she is above with my sister and dad. To the right she is pictured with my uncle and father (middle). I think she was quite beautiful as a young mother.

I had never been to see her in the nursing home before Tuesday. When we sat down next to her bed my father handed me some pictures she kept in a frame on her dresser. They were of my daughters, myself and sister, happy, smiling. It was then that I felt my heart break for the fact that I hadn't come until now, until her passing. She was heavily sedated and in a great deal of pain. It was very questionable as to whether she was aware of our presence. In those few moments I wanted the chance to be alone with her to remind her of all the memories she had made in my life and let her know that she had been loved by me. But I didn't have the courage. I hope that in death she can know that although I am not a person comfortable with exposing emotions, I loved her dearly.

During the funeral service my uncle joked that my grandfather was probably celebrating one crazy New Year's party and told her to come on up. I thought that was funny and sad and sweet. I think she would have agreed.