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Project 366: Week 4

2012-01-27T15:02:00.001-08:00

Aiieeeee . . . I struggled this week. The Meyers had the never-ending fever from hell and it threw us off big time, all week long. I am not so proud of the photos I have from this week, but whatevs. I took them. All with a real camera. I'm pleased I stuck with it, even if the photos aren't my best work.

I really sold that, didn't I?

Day 20: Cupcakes at the mall (Sigma 17 70, Bower Flash)

Day 21: Peterson Automotive Museum (Sigma 17 70)

Day 22: Swinging (50mm 1.8)

Day 23: Nail polish (Sigma 17 70, Macro ring light)

Day 24: Goodies from the set of the Harry Potter films. (Sigma 17 70)

Day 25: Bottoms up (Sigma 17 70)

Day 26: Peas n' tots (Sigma 17 70)

Day 27: Hot pink lipstick (Sigma 17 70)

Dear Rhyser

2012-01-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Rhyser,

You are 20 months and 25 days old today. 20 months, 25 days, and about 101 degrees, unfortunately. You've got a bit of a virus . . . or maybe just a bit of 2 year molar induced angst and woe, as your upper set seem to be breaking through your gums at the moment.

Yesterday, when we were home sick from work, you took to following me around the house at one point shouting "MAMA!!!" every minute or so. I offered you fruit, snacks, water, trains . . . everything I could think of but you shook your little head each time and said "No . . . " After a few minutes, I knelt down and got eye level with you and said "Tell Mommy what you need, Rhys. You can have anything you want." You took my face and cradled it between your two, chubby toddler hands, rested your head on my shoulder and sighed. Just Mama, that's all you wanted . . . and I was so happy to oblige. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the sofa together watching cartoons and snuggling.

Your use of sentences has really been blossoming lately. This morning as we tried to wake you for the day you told me "Lay down, Mama . . . do more mana!" (mana is your word for nursing). We've also heard a chorus of "no shoes, Rhys boots!" lately . . . you love your rainboots. Fiercely.

Your interest in trains is also pretty fierce. You love your wooden train set, your stacking trains, a wind up train you got in a kids' meal and the plastic trains we have as bathtub toys. Pretty much anything can pinch hit as a train too: The other day we took you to the Peterson Automotive Museum and, while in the gift shop, you grabbed a bunch of toy cars and lined them up like a train. You had a row of about 10 going when a pair of little girls stooped next to you and asked me "What is he DOING?". I told them you like trains more than cars, and you were pretending the toy cars were trains. They were pretty smitten . . . one of the girls patted you on the head.

You have a pretty stunning effect on little girls. They flock to you on playgrounds and at parks. The older ones want to hold you, lift you or help you down a slide. The younger ones have been known to run up to you out of nowhere and steal a hug. I can't say I blame them . . . you're pretty darn cute. I try not to think too much about the implications your cuteness will have when you reach junior high and high school age . . . hopefully we'll have taught you empathy effectively enough that you won't be too much of a heartbreaker. Not a cruel heartbreaker, at least.

Your current gaggle of girlfriends at daycare are a nice group of girls. This morning, your dad and I thought you were over your cold/virus/teething/whatever and I drove you to daycare and attempted to drop you off. You wouldn't have any of it, you clung to me and cried. I sat down on the step to cuddle you and, before long, I had Aly sitting on our left patting your arm and El-nor sitting on our right starting to cry herself. Empathy shouldn't be that tough to teach, come to think of it . . . you're in with a truly golden group of kids!

You're just the sweetest, smartest, most gorgeous child in the universe, Rhys Owen. That's just all there is too it. I love you more than anything in the world.

Love,
Your Mama

Galaxy (Nail) Quest

2012-01-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

First blogging via iPad experience, as I'm holed up on the soda watching "choo choo train pirate" with Mr. 102 Fever Pants.

I cant even remember how galaxy nails came to my attention, but they are So! up my alley. Space, nerdiness, nails, craftiness...

I watched a great, clear video on YouTube by cutepolish, bought a few inexpensive polish shades and got cracking.

I started with a base of Orly Bonder and Sephora by OPI What's a Tire, Jack?

Next, and this was way way easy, I tore up a bit of makeup sponge and used it to dab on first a yellow (Milani Lemonjello), then a sea foam green (Spoiled Toad-ally Amazing) and a nude pink (SpoiledShow Me Some Skin). This created the base of my "nebulae".

Then I used the same sponging method to highlight with a gold (Milani Gold Dust) and blur out the nebulae edges with navy (ButterLondon Royal Navy)

Lastly, I dabbed on white stars with a white nail art pen, layered on a cost of glitter (Wet n Wild 469) and a clear topcoat.

PHEW.

Sounds way more complicated and time consuming than it was, I swear. The whole process took about 30 minutes, including dry time for the black base coat.

And just looooook at the coolness!

Project 366, Week 3

2012-01-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

Still fighting the good fight at Week 3!

14
My sweet, sweet boy. He spotted me taking photos of LPs for daddy's Ebay shop and ran over all "Mommy! PICTURE! CHEESE!!!" (Sigma 17 70 with Macro Ring Light)

15
Hey! Here's a train! (Sigma 10 20)

16
Zing! At Kidspace Childrens' Museum (Sigma 17 70)

17
Choo choo: The center of my existence (Sigma 17 70)

18
Baby and his mama (Sigma 17 70, Bower Flash)

19
Pretty pretties (Sigma 17 70)

Review and EOTD: Wet and Wild Comfort Zone Palette

2012-01-19T14:18:00.000-08:00

Dirty secret time? I have lots of eyeshadow palettes. I have everything from a cheap e.l.f. 100 palette (used rarely, if at all, but somehow the fact that I have bright red and cobalt blue shadows at my disposal is comforting) all the way up to Tarte and Urban Decay palettes, with a slew of smaller palettes in between (Too Faced, NYX, MUA, you name it). But, lately? This unassuming, $4.99 palette is the one I reach for most often. Yep, more often than my $50+ palettes.

Wet and Wild shadows have a lovely, soft, blendable consistency that makes them just a joy to use. The ones I've tried have ranged from adequately pigmented to whoah! that's pigmented! Good things, all around. Surprisingly good, given the price point!

This particular palette is well worth your $4.99 (if you're reading this before 1/21, you can get it at Rite Aid for $2.99, as they're running a 40% off sale on Wet and Wild and the moment. I don't think I need to elaborate on what an amazing deal that is.)

The internet seems to be in agreement that the definer shade on the right hand side is the standout of the palette. It is a lovely duochrome with a red brown base and teal/green shimmer. I've only used it as a liner so far, and it reads mostly red brown in that application, but I can imagine it used to stunning effect from the lashline to the crease to create a smoky eye.

To me, the real standout of the palette is actually the browbone shade on the right hand side. It is the color of aged linen, old books, dusty curtains . . . GOOD THINGS. It is pale without being bright. Antique looking. GORGEOUS. I've used this shadow as a base under other, higher end shadows . . . but I like it just fine used with shades from either column of the Comfort Zone palette as well.

In my opionion, the browbone shade on the right hand column alone (can we get some names for these shades, Wet and Wild?) merits the $4.99 price tag of this palette. It is especially unique . . . in all the eyeshadow palettes I own, I don't have a single shade to compare it to. That's saying something. That's saying quite a bit, actually.

Here's an EOTD:

Project 366: Week Two

2012-01-12T14:03:00.001-08:00

I'm finally getting past the anxious feeling that I might forget to take a photo . . . and I'm actually pretty pleased with my submissions this week!

SATURDAY: A cake for my parents' friend Ron's birthday (Sigma 17 70)

SUNDAY: In line for Small World at Disneyland (Sigma 10 20)

MONDAY: Puddle stomping (Sigma 10 20)

TUESDAY: Mana in the car after school/work, shortly after my boy uttered the most perfect sentence in the history of the English language: "Mama! Mana! Birds nigh nighs tree, puddle! Car! Mama drive car! DADDY!" (Canon 50mm 1.8)

WEDNESDAY: Choo-chooin' (Canon 50mm 1.8)

THURSDAY: Dinner at Mel's Diner to celebrate the 3 year anniversary of our Vegas (legal) wedding. Cause we're classy. (Sigma 17 70)

FRIDAY: Handful of brass coins (Sigma 17 70, macro style)

2011 Recap

2012-01-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

A little late to the game, am I? Pshaw . . . it isn't even mid January yet. Thanks to Sundry for the awesome questionnaire!

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
I took (two!) international flights with a toddler, threw a first birthday party, hosted a big family event at our house (a combo Easter day brunch / baby shower), learned to use a DSLR, took a family vacation to Lake Arrowhead and bridesmaid-ed (twice!).

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? 
Resolutions for 2012: made. I don't actually remember making any resolutions last year, thanks to not having blogged them (that's the value of blogging, right there, in a nutshell).

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? 
Nope, but a few babies are due this year!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Boy's paternal grandmother, the matriarch of the Fischer clan. She lived an amazing, full life and is leaving the most incredible legacy I can imagine: a large, close-knit family of people who predominantly like each other.

5. What countries did you visit?
England

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A cushier bank balance.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 30th, my son's first birthday. April 29th, the royal wedding (SHUT UP). November 6, the day we flew to England.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 
Finding a little more balance between working and momming and finally feeling like I'm doing both things (or, all three things, rather, as I consider running my Etsy shop to be working as well) at a solid, respectable level.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not sticking to our budget (although I'll admit, we had a damn good time ignoring it).

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Several barfing illnesses (thanks, TODDLER!) and a sinus infection or two, but nothing earth shattering.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Toss up: Our DSLR or our king size bed.

12. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage, daycare, The Gap.

13. What did you get really excited about?
Our trip to the UK!

14. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Everything on the upcoming, as yet unreleased Jealous Sound album that I got my hands on early because my husband is teh awesome. It is fucking incredible.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you: 
– happier or sadder?: Happier. See above re: work/mom balance
– thinner or fatter?: Thinner! I finally lost all my baby weight (and then some). THANK YOU BREASTFEEDING AND CRAZY, RAMBUNCTIOUS TODDLER!
– richer or poorer?: Poorer (GAP!!! *shakes fist*)

16. What do you wish you’d done more of? 
Playing with my boy, reading.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of? 
Worrying.

18. How did you spend Christmas?
Like this.

19. What was your favorite TV program?
Game of Thrones. BY A LOT.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?
Gah, this is so embarrassing, but I'm not even sure I can claim having read a whole book. I'm resolved to read more this year . . . and I'm duly ashamed. I read lots of blogs though, in my defense. My brain hasn't entirely turned to jelly.

21. What was your favorite music from this year? 
Jealous Sound, every 90s emo band I loved that is now easily accessible via Spotify.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?
We've had more of a Netflix year than a theater year. I loved The Kings Speech and Time After Time. I realize one of those films is as old as I am. GO WITH IT.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 32. On the day itself, I picked my son up early and we stopped by a park on the way home. Then my son, husband and I had breakfast for dinner at a local diner. We then celebrated my and my mom's birthdays jointly with an overnight trip to Disneyland.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More time to spend with my boys.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Jeans and striped shirts.

26. What kept you sane?
Coffee.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. 
Time spent worrying is time hopelessly wasted.

And now for a bonus photo a month parade:

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Wet and Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio: Silent Treatment

2012-01-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

After my positive experience with a Wet and Wild eyeshadow single, I decided to try out one of their much lauded Color Icon trios. I like taupe eyeshadow, and the internet is all abuzz with excellent reviews of the taupe shade in the Silent Treatment trio, so it was a no-brainer to pick up that trio first.

The trio includes a peachy pink highlight shade, a deep brown crease shade (that I actually think is dark enough to use as a liner) and a sweet, lightly frosted purple leaning taupe. The softness is incredible, especially considering the price point, and the pigmentation is, while not the best I've ever seen, assuredly above-par. Staying power is nothing spectacular on its own, but definitely workable over primer.

I LOVE the look I created using these shadows. I followed the "instructions" and used the taupe as a lid shade, whereas if left to my own devices, I'd probably have used the peach on the lid and the taupe in the crease. Turns out, I really like the slightly smokey look of a darker lid shade.

You have to assume I bought more of these shadows . . . right? And I did! And I'll review them!

Project 366, Week One!

2012-01-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

I should confess that I actually decided to do project 365(6!!!) on January 2nd, I was just lucky that I had taken a gorgeous picture of my sleeping New Years' morning beebs the day before (FTW!).

1) Sweet sleeper (Sigma 17 70)

2) My dad on the Mine Car ride at Knotts (Sigma 10 20)

3) My boys reading my old childhood books, after work (Canon 50mm 1.8)

4) My first "flakie" nail polish: Essie Shine of the Times over Sephora for OPI Caffiene Fix (Sigma 17 70, cheap LED macro ring light)

5) My boy pouring water (Sigma 17 70, Bower flash)

6) New necklace (Sigma 17 70)

Dear Meyers

2012-01-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

You are 20 months and 4 days old today. TWENTY months. I'm shocked by the sound of that. You're well on your way to being two. Two! My baby! TWO!

You are a talk-o-potomus if I've ever heard one. You parrot practically anything you overhear, and I'm consistently surprised by the extent to which you remember most of what you've parroted.

You seem to have picked things out of the ether, learned them and memorized them for use later. Just the other day, you pulled a penny out of the change slot of a vending machine and held it up to me, proudly proclaiming "Money!!!". I had no idea that you knew the word. You guarded that little penny fiercely . . . stopping to pick it up each time you dropped it. We taught you to put it in your pocket and asked you throughout the rest of the day where your money was. You always answered "Money, pocket!", and patted your pocket to make sure it was safe. When we got home, we showed you how to put your money in your piggy bank. We uncorked the bank and showed you all the change we'd collected for you there . . . we counted it, sorted it, you put it all back.

You love any activity that involves lots of fine motor control: puzzles, shape sorting, block stacking, bead threading. You also love trains. Like, whoa, with the trains. We have a wooden train set and you adore putting the track pieces together to make bridges, then swooshing your three linked train cars down the bridge incline. You like cars a little, but trains are your first love.

You are so creative in your play . . . your favorite things to play with are often not toys at all: a stack of boxes, a handful of kitchen utensils, a dish towel, my keys. One of your favorite things to do is to make forts out of blankets or pillows. Sometimes mommy is allowed in the fort . . . sometimes not. You're an independent little guy, but there are often times you want me with you and my heart just sings when you hold your still-chubby hand out to me and say "Mommy, num!!!".

You still nurse in the morning, evening and at naptimes and I'm so pleased with us for sticking it out this long. There have been times, in the last few months especially, where all of your little friends at playschool have been sick, I've even been sick, and you've been just fine. I know that nursing is making you stronger and healthier, and it gives you and I guaranteed quiet time each day to snuggle and be together. Nursing is so wonderful that I'm actually sometimes sad for you, thinking you won't ever get to nurse a baby yourself. Sometimes, though, when you're nursing your dad will come lie down and cuddle with us . . . we make a Meyers sandwich with you snuggled in the middle. That, you'll be able to do with your own little nugget someday . . . it makes me happy to think of it!

We've applied to a preschool we'd love for you to go to, and we'll know in the Spring whether you'll be going there in the fall. I know that the months between now and then will fly by . . . and that you're learning, growing and developing at warp speed. You speak mostly in 3-6 word sentences and phrases now as it is . . . in 9 months we'll be having full-fledged conversations. I can't wait to hear all the things you'll have to tell us when you get home from school each day!

There's no slowing you down, so this year I'm going to make an extra effort to slow me down instead . . . to give myself more time to enjoy you. You're a wild, glorious and wonderful little hurricane of toddler exuberance . . . whizzing by all too quickly. I can't wait to see who you grow up to be, Rhys Owen, but if I could slow down time and snuggle my sweet boy a bit longer, I would.

Love,

Your Mommy

MUA Extreme Metallics Eyeshadow Quads: #3 Starstruck

2012-01-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

This is one of the quads that gave me pause before I clicked the "Buy Now!" button on Ebay. I'm not much of a color person when it comes to eyeshadow. I like taupe, grey, shimmering neutrals, black, plums or khakis on occasion . . . but I've never (outside of halloween) worn anything as audacious as the mint green in this quad.

I was swayed, however, by the fact that even the "out there" color quads in this line contain at least one or two wearable, neutral shades. Starstruck actually contains three wearable neutrals, in addition to one frosty mint chip ice cream green, From the right they are a sparkling chocolate, a shimmering sand beige and a sweet pink that actually leans very peach on my skin tone:

. . . and swatched (bare skin, no primer, applied with a finger):

The first time I used this palette for an eye look I used the green as a lid shade, the chocolate in the crease, the sand as a highlight and the peach to blend. The green went on opaque and frosty and the feedback I got from my husband was . . . unenthusiastic.

The second time, I tried using the green as an inner corner highlight, blended and faded into the peach in the outer corner. The sand as a highlight and the chocolate in the crease. The results were much more subdued and wearable:

I was ultimately surprised by the versatility of that green, and the wearability of the pink/peach. A winner that I never would've picked up in a store . . . I'm happy to own this little gem.

A whole new year

2012-01-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't call them "resolutions", since that would imply that after I'd buggered each one up already (and I have!) that I'd have no incentive to keep trying, but the usual, ongoing stuff applies for this year: I want to be the kind of mom Rhys deserves, be nice to my husband, count to 10 before snapping, worry less, take on less, unplug more often, make healthier food choices, etc. etc.

I'd also like to do a few, more concrete things:

1 - 101: I'd like to check every item off of this list of 101 Things To Do With Your Toddler.

102) I'd like to read more . . . my reading has fallen by the wayside since I've become a mother (and, I'll admit, since I've become an iPhone owner). To keep this from being a wishy-washy "resolution", I'm going to say that I'd like to read SIX books this year. My self of 4 years ago absolutely scoffs at that number, but there it is.

103) I'd like to read to the Meyers more too. He isn't a fan of the "bedtime story" . . . when he's ready for nigh-nighs, he's READY NOW!!! So while he enjoys reading books, we have trouble finding the right time to do so every day. I'm going to set my bar low at 10 stories a week.

104) I'd like to spend less money on stuff. I'm setting myself a budget of $30 for clothes/makeup per month for January, February and March. No spending whatsoever seems kind of unrealistic to me (What if I run out of mascara?). $30 gives me a teensy touch of wiggle room without giving me so much that I might fall down the internet shopping rabbit hole.

105) I'm doing my own little "Project 365" this year, and I want to see that through to the end. I guess I should say "Project 366", right? Anyhow. I want to take a shot a day, with my real camera. I'm not above popping an iPhone photo in there now and again, but I want to limit that sort of thing to the extent possible.

106) I'd like to learn to use my 10 20 lens to take gorgeous, wide angle shots.

107) I'd like to post here once a week, at least.

108) I'd like to make, photograph and list new items for my shop at least once every two weeks.

109) I'd like to perfect my mini-light bokeh necklace photo setup.

110) I'd like to take stock at the end of each month and make sure the following things are organized: Rhys' toys, My car, My closet, My makeup/bathroom drawers. This would be in lieu of freaking out for weeks on end because our stuff is in shambles and I can't find anything.

. . . and I'd like to keep this list on my sidebar, maintain it, and add to it whenever the whim strikes. At the end of the year, I'd like to see a sea of strikethroughs.

Wish me luck.

Our Christmas Morning

2012-01-03T15:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning is kind of a new concept to me. When I was growing up, my family celebrated Xmas EVE, not Xmas day (Santa came while we were out to dinner or in my room reading The Night Before Xmas). BOTH of my parents actually grew up celebrating the eve not the day . . . my mom's family we think did so as a ploy to keep the kids awake for midnight mass; my dad's family just because. Kind of a bizarre thing to have in common, right? Together, of course, there was no question then that they'd celebrate the eve. I also grew up in Los Angeles whereas none of my extended family lived even in the state of California, so Xmas-es were a family of three affair. Ergo, teensy, tiny Xmas eve: it's my norm.

Now that I'm married to Boy, who has quite a bit of family living nearby, my Xmas-es are becoming a little more complicated. They're multi-tiered affairs involving Xmas Eve, Morning, Day and Day/Night. We visit family for parts, we host parts . . . my very favorite part, though, has turned out to be Xmas Morning proper: waking up with the Meyers, just the three of us, and opening his presents from us and from Santa. Even though we gather around the tree during the day instead of at night, Xmas alone with just our little family feels "right" to me. It is the closest I can come to giving Rhys the tiny, insular family Xmas experience that I grew up with and loved.

This year's Xmas morning? It ruled. Rhys' favorite presents were his new Muno shoes, oodles of Duplos, a Buzz Lightyear watch and a wooden pirate ship pull toy. He got books, flash cards, alphabet games, and, of course a BIKE-A!!! (<- that's Meyers for "tricycle").

Here are some of my favorite shots from the morning (No denying, the light is better for Xmas morning shots than for Xmas eve ones!):

Snap Happy

2012-01-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite, FAVORITE, things to do is to take Rhys to a park with a camera in tow. If we're there around 4pm and the sun is just starting to get low and golden . . . and I've got my 50mm lens on me, all the better. Here are some shots I'm really proud of from a recent park outing.

I feel like I'm really getting there with this whole photography thing. I'm getting at least a few shots I love on almost every photo taking outing, I'm confident with my camera and putting it in Manual (as well with as not feeling like a jackass for putting it in AV or Auto when I can't be arsed) (<- that's actually huge progress.). I'm learning about light and how to use it to take the kinds of photos I like to look at. I'll always be learning new things, but I'm pretty happy to say that 6 months or so in, I finally feel like I know how to use my camera. And I'm pretty proud!

My Choo Choo

2012-01-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

It all started quite suddenly. Rhys got a little wind up train with a snap together circular track in a kids meal. It blew his mind. After lunch, he took a nap and when he starteld awake he called for "MY CHOO CHOO! MY CHOO CHOO???" Mere hours later we went to a park where one climbing/play apparatus was train-shaped, which sealed the whole deal.

My boy: loves trains.

We remembered that my father in law had gifted Rhys a starter wooden train set with three cars, a bridge and a few sound effects last Xmas. Since he was too young for it at the time, we put it in the closet. The night of the "MY CHOO CHOO" incident, we pulled it out. It was love at first chugga chugga . . .

Any boy mamas out there? Questions! Why do Thomas trains cost a zillion dollars? Are most of these wooden track setups interchangeable? Know of any cool add-ons for an existing train set (like bridges? stations? etc.?). Is Thomas Tank's claim to fame seriously just being a "really useful engine"? Cause that's kind of lame . . .

Magnetized

2011-12-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

Have you guys seen magnetic nail polish? The only company that sells it in the US (so far) is Nails Inc., and while their version is cool, it is also $16. And I am cheap.

I figured out at some point before our trip that magnetic polish is widely available via drugstore (ahem, CHEMIST) brands in the UK, and so magnetic polish became subject #1 on my trip purchase wishlist.

I picked up a bottle by 17 at Boots in a black/silver shade called Gunmetal. At 6 Pounds w/ a 3 for 2 offer, I'm kicking myself for not having bought every shade they have (although I did get 2 other rad products that are in heavy rotation, so just as well I suppose). This stuff is AWESOME.

You get such a huge effect payoff for truly minimal effort. Using magnetic polish takes just a few minutes more than using regular polish . . . you lay down a base of polish without using the magnet, then on coat two you hover the magnet over each freshly painted nail for 10-15 seconds. The magnet hovering process adds 2-3 minutes to the overall manicure time, but I find this polish to be extremely quick drying, which evens things out time wise in the end.

This polish benefits quite a bit from a topcoat, which deepens the black areas of the nail and adds a ton of shine. It is best to wait as long as possible between magentizing and top-coating, in order to preserve the integrity of the design. I've been painting at night then top-coating in the morning, which has worked well.

Four gold stars, Boots 17. I can't wait for magnetic polish to become a fixture in the US!

MUA Extreme Metallics Eyeshadow Quads: #2 Go Getter

2011-12-30T10:26:00.000-08:00

Next quad up is "Go Getter". This is the quad that spawned all six for me, the one I picked up at Superdrug in York. While almost all the quads contain at least one or two solid neutral shades, this is the most neutral overall of the six, comprised of a opaque and shimmering pale pink; a truly "extremely metallic", warm leaning silver; a shimmering sable brown and a rich chocolate brown with light shimmer:

. . . and swatched (bare skin, no primer, applied with finger) . . .

Once again, these shadows are uber impressive on the pigmentation front, the pale pink and sable most notably. The silver has a flaky texture and is a bit tough to work with and blend . . . however I've used it mostly patted on top of a base of the pale pink and sable and have loved it as a highlight in that application. The chocolate brown makes a great liner, and I experienced an impressive lack of fallout when using it that way.

Here's an EOTD:

Teensy, Tiny Walgreens Haul

2011-12-29T15:25:00.000-08:00

All of two items, yo. I thought I'd share my thoughts on them though, since I did have pretty strong opinions on both.

First up, a Wet and Wild Color Icon single shadow in Nutty (on clearance for $1.29, FTW!). I haven't had experience with Wet and Wild eyeshadows pretty much ever and I've been intrigued by all the decent buzz I've seen about them out there in blogland. I figured for a little more than a buck it was time to take one for a test drive. Nutty is a warm leaning taupe with a slight shimmer.

When I first ran my finger across the surface of the shadow to swatch it I *gasped* This stuff is super soft, like butter, so finely milled. I was shocked, SHOCKED, by the softness.

The pigmentation, however, was kind of meh . . . and the staying power was reasonable, but certainly not earth shattering. This shadow will probably get some use, but it isn't my new BFF. What it has done, however, is convinced me that Wet and Wild is a brand worth a little more investigation. for $1.29 I didn't expect to like much of anything about this shadow, and was pleasantly surprised that I did!

Up next, one of the new Jordana Color Effects eyeshadow duos. I'd read via Nouveau Cheap that these shadows were similar in texture to Urban Decay's . . . since Urban Decay is my gold standard, it was a no brainer to test these out. I picked up Splitting Image:

The duo consists of a shimmery medium/dark brown and a metallic true gold. The shades work well together, are decently soft and blend well. The true fun here comes from both their pigmentation (like, whoa) and their staying power. I wore these over primer, but my cheap e.l.f. mineral primer, and FOURTEEN HOURS IN, they looked EXACTLY as they did immediately after application. FTW. For serious.

Here are all three shades swatched (bare skin, no primer, applied w/ a finger), Wet and Wild at top and Jordana beneath:

MUA Extreme Metallics Eyeshadow Quads: #1, Smokin'

2011-12-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest joys of our vacation (besides blowing the Meyers' mind, eating scones and cream and not having to drive in bloody LA traffic for nearly two weeks) was shopping. Makeup shopping, more specifically. In case you haven't noticed, I REALLY LIKE MAKEUP. I also really like bargains. Like, a lot. And there are some tremendous bargains to be had in the makeup departments of both Superdrug and Boots, the UK's two predominant drugstores. Or, "chemists", rather.

I'm not sure if the draw is that the brands carried in the UK are different from US brands, or if (as I suspect) they're actually measurably better. On the whole, that's up for debate . . . but as far as MUA's Extreme Metallics Eyeshadow Quads are concerned, we're dealing squarely with "better" and not simply "different".

I picked up one such quad ("Go Getter" . . . to be reviewed later!) in York and loved it so much that I searched Ebay and found a seller who was offering a set of all 6 quads for a reasonable price. Not quite as reasonable as the 3 Pounds w/ a 3 for 2 offer I scored in York, but reasonable nonetheless. I ordered that set of six quads and I'll be reviewing and swatching them all on this here blog.

The shadows are creamy, pigmented and, indeed, EXTREMELY metallic. They wear well, even with my inexpensive e.l.f. Mineral Primer (rather than my gold standard Too Faced Shadow Insurance). The colors are interesting and unique. The shadows are blendable and soft with minimal, manageable fallout . . . there's little not to love. I did have an issue with this quad in particular breaking up after a very short (4 inches?) drop to a carpeted floor . . . the aftermath of which you can see in the photo above). All of the others have held up well so far, though.

The quad in question today is Smokin', a collection consisting of: pale pearl white, pale silver, gunmetal and matte black:

And swatched (bare hand, no primer, applied with finger):

And on the eye:

The palest shades in particular (in this quad and the others) apply like a dream . . . I used the white here with a flat, paddle type brush on the lid, building the shadow up to near opacity . . .then used the same white shadow spread on the back of my hand and picked up with a blending brush and applied very lightly as a browbone highlight. The black had super minimal fallout and has been going strong on 7 hours now as a liner.

All of these quads get the IndieHomeEc stamp of approval . . . can't wait to share the others with you!

Copper Leaves

2011-12-27T13:02:00.000-08:00

I came up with the idea for these pendants as part of our effort to have a less commercial, mostly handmade Xmas this year (at least as far as the adults on our list are concerned). About halfway through our vacation, in Potter's Bar, Boy's cousin showed me some maple leaves that a friend of hers had smithed from iron. They were beautiful . . . textured and realistic. These particular leaves were much more "ornament" than "jewelry", but they got me thinking that leaf pendants to wear could be fun . . .

While on our forest walk, I kept an eye out for small-ish, unusually shaped leaves and picked a few up, still unsure how I'd make the leaf pendant idea a reality. I remembered leaf pendant that I had as a teenager which had been plated in metal, but plating isn't in my repertoire of jewelry making skills.

It eventually dawned on me that copper would make a perfect metal match for the leaves I'd picked up, and that, while I don't have plating experience, I certainly have metal sawing and filing experience. And sheet copper, too!

I continued to collect leaves on our trip and, once we were home, I painstakingly traced a few onto paper. I used rubber cement to adhere those paper tracings to small, roughly cut sheets of copper and then used my metal saw and bench pin to cut the images out:

I used metal files to smooth the edges, a ball pein hammer and steel block to create texture and bend . . .

. . . metal black and a polishing cloth to create an aged effect and a metal hole punch to make space for a simple, jump ring bail.

I had great plans to present these finished pendants to you as an "easy, inexpensive" kind of metalsmithing project, but looking over that list of supplies needed and checking prices for all that stuff on Fire Mountain Gems (over $150, before metal costs and findings!), "inexpensive" maybe isn't the best word. Easy, though, fits the bill perfectly. And I'm really pleased with how they came out in the end!

Nail Fail

2011-12-26T11:54:00.000-08:00

When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Which has never stopped me from glomming like a lemming onto Fabulous! New! Products! Nutra Nail Gel Perfect 5 minute, UV free gel nail color was no exception.

I like my gel manicures. LOVE them. They're shiny, they are dry as bones the second I walk out of the salon (no smudges!) and they last up to three weeks (when all is going well), and at least a week chip free even when everything goes awry.

What I don't like about gel manicures? Having to fit in a salon appointment and paying $35 + tip.

Nutra Nail Gel Color was a seemingly perfect solution . . . gel that costs around $10 and that I could apply at home. I tried Peony first, a gorgeous metallic, candy apple red:

The instructions were clear and easy to follow. The polish did indeed set rock hard in 5 minutes. The shine was off the charts. The color was gorg. All seemed totally well . . . until I made my first chip, I shit you not, TWO HOURS after polishing. I hoped that chip was a fluke, but the chips kept coming. I experienced even more chipping than I typically do with regular polish (although there was no tip wear, which was surprising, but didn't make up for the chipping issue). And then when the time came, the polish was a bitch and a half to remove.

I went on to try a creme shade next, Dhalia, thinking that perhaps the formula might be a little hardier.

Dhalia went on a little less smoothly, but was still rock hard and super shiny within 5 minutes of polishing. This shade made it through day one looking pretty good, but by day 4 I had this:

UV free, at home gel: great idea, but no dice just yet. SADLY, since I'd have loved for this product to be a winner! I'll still be among the first to try out the next at home gel product, but this one, unfortunately, is a dud. Save your $10.

Merry Merry

2011-12-25T10:15:00.000-08:00

As this posts, I'll be home enjoying my family and our happy Xmas traditions, and I hope you are as well. Since I was way late in the game getting my trip posts up, I very nearly ran out of time before the holiday to show off the wreath I made on Thanksgiving day. I'm pretty proud, both of how it looks and of how quick and easy it was to make. The hardest part was actually wrangling my wreath form away from El Toddler-pants:

The original idea came from where all good things come from, Pinterest. I thought it'd be easier to use ribbon to achieve a striped look, rather than felt as was pictured. In searching for striped wreaths just now I see that ribbon is NOT an especially original idea, but it was, at the time, self-generated and I'm still proud, even if I can't claim the idea was mine alone. I used one spool of wide white ribbon (and ran out 7/8 of the way through, which you can probably see in the upcoming photo), one spool of 1 inch black grossgrain ribbon, hot glue and a handful of gold and red glittery things from the craft store. Initially I thought I'd make a bunch of flowers for the wreath "corsage", but once I was actually at the craft store looking around I got sidetracked by GLITTER, and that was that.

From sitting down to craft to taking photos of the wreath hung on the door, this project took about 45 minutes (including time spent unwinding and rewinding the too short white ribbon, freaking out about said too short white ribbon and holding the glitter balls in place for(seemingly)EVER waiting for the hot glue that affixed them to dry). Not counting toddler wrangling time, of course. Which left me pleanty of time leftover to trim our tree with this little dude:

Wreath . . . FTW!

The Last Day

2011-12-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

By this point in the trip, I'm not going to lie, we were ready to go home. Two weeks is a long time to spend away from home, especially with a wee guy in tow. Planning your own international trip with a toddler? Take note: a week would be too short, two weeks two long, 10 days sounds just about right.

We finally made it out to the Tate Modern on this day . . . Boy has been wanting to go there for THREE TRIPS now. Patient saint that he is, we thought it was high time he made it out. The first room we went into contained THIS: a two story black wall on which a crazy cool art film was being projected. We spent about half an hour trying to get Rhys to stand in the middle of the room for a photo. TIME WELL SPENT:

We followed that up with lunch (My boy. He likes fish sticks. And crayons.)

After which we saw a random bench that they Meyers fell in love with. "GUYS! This is my favorite exhibit! It speaks volumes about my existence as a baby. Really. Guys! Guys?"

Another pretty rad day!

As for the flight home . . . MEH! But we lived . . . and I'm glad for the whole thing. Glad for the photos. Glad for the memories. Glad for making my boy's world big. Glad for stamps in my toddler's passport. Glad for my little family and getting to spend two weeks just being a mom and a wife. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

A Very Full Day, Indeed

2011-12-23T08:58:00.000-08:00

We followed up our epic York day with another jam-packer. We stayed in London and visited the Golden Hinde, a scale replica of the ship Sir Francis Drake took around the world.

It was . . . small. And stoop-y. And I'd really have liked to get a guided tour to hear all the stories of how people lived on that boat (for years!), but a) the only guide was busy with a school group while we were there and b) the Meyers was in no mood:

He had his charming moments too, to be sure:

After the ship we met up with Boy's cousin's family (but not Boy's cousin herself, as she was working) and took a ride on a Thames Clipper. It was incredibly fun! Super inexpensive (and we got a discount using our tube passes, as the clipper is part of the London Transport system). The ride was scenic, comfortable (room to run, a snack bar and bathrooms aboard!) and a ton of fun:

. . . requisite moment of toddler angst notwithstanding:

We finished up the night with dinner in Covent Garden, a quick hello and goodbye with Paul's cousin and her kids:

. . . and dessert at Snog, a pop-tastic-ally decorated frozen yogurt bar that we visited EXPRESSLY to take photos in (although the yogurt was pretty top notch, too).

York

2011-12-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh . . . York. One of the most awesome places on Earth. For serious. York has it all: history spanning the Roman, Viking and Medieval eras, awesome shopping both modern and antique, spectacular pubs, delicious food, a glorious cathedral, museums and attractions galore. In fact, the only bad thing about York was the fact that we'd only have about 12 hours to spend there.

Anyone who has ever met a toddler can probably assume that scheduling a jam packed day is a recipe for disaster, so naturally I was a little concerned with both our short time frame in York, as well as the set in stone departure time train tickets we'd bought. The trains, those went well. We had varying success with the rest of our schedule of events.

I wanted to start the day off at Dig, an archeology museum where visitors actually hunker down with an archeologist and excavate recreated dig pits, touch artifacts and interact with history. I knew going in that Meyers was too young to fully appreciate the experience, but I thought the whole digging thing would go over well, which it did:

. . . until it didn't:

Another main goal for the day was to take our Sigma 10 20 to York Minster . . . which we did, but with less than stellar results. I love that lens, but it makes me feel like a n00b sometimes. I just don't really know how to use it to its full potential. I got a couple of shots I like though, between Meyers wranglings.

After lunch (Rhys' first sausage roll . . . ftw!) the Meyers took his nap (oh, glorious nap!) thereby allowing Boy and I an hour to go antique store browsing in peace. We did a quick run through of the Jorvik Viking Center (the Meyers was less than enthusiastic about a creepy, dark gondola ride through a smelly, menacing recreation of a Viking village . . . who would've figured?) and ended up the night with a pub dinner and a sprint (literally) back to the cathedral before our train departure in order to get a couple of shots of it floodlit in the dark.

Worthwhile run-back, yes?

The Diana Playground and Hamleys

2011-12-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

Our next day in London was one of my favorites. We started off the day with a bath for the Meyers, after which I took the best picture I've ever taken of him. (Thank you. I am very proud.)

We took Rhys to visit the Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens. This playground, guys. It was Fully. Realized. So many different themed areas for kids to play . . . a teepee village, a pirate ship, a camp with forts . . . all done in subdued wood and green tones, which set the stage perfectly for imaginative play. We expected to spend an hour here but spent nearly two, and even then I'm not sure we covered each play area.

After playing, we sat down for a snack and this starling flew up and stole a bite of muffin STRAIGHT OUT OF RHYS' HAND. Being the awesome mother that I am, I took a photo before comforting my poor, shaken son who was shouting "NO NO BIRD!!!"

When we were done at the playground and El Meyers was ready for his nap, I strapped him to me in the Ergo and we took off on a beautiful, long walk through Kensington Gardens towards Oxford Circus. We stopped for lunch at the McDonald's on Oxford street, which, I know . . . kind of a lame choice, but that's a sentimental location for me since we stayed in that area on our first trip to London when I was a kid and I had many a chicken nugget there. That McDonalds is also famous for being the one that Princess Diana took her boys to. In any event, it seemed a fitting spot for Rhys' first McNuggets (which he loved). After lunch we did a little shopping for us (Boots! Uniqlo!) and a little for Rhys at world famous Hamley's.

A pretty perfect day.

Potter's Bar

2011-12-20T11:54:00.001-08:00

Oh, hai blogland! Remember how I said that the Xmas dust had yet to be kicked up a few weeks back? Well, it got to kicking! And now here I am, late December, with 3/4 of our November trip unblogged and a bit of time on my hands. I'll endeavor to get to it!

The next day of our trip, the day after all the museums, was spent in Potter's Bar with Boy's cousin and her family. This was the sleeper highlight of our trip! I knew we'd have fun catching up and letting Rhys play with his cousins, but the fun quotient wound up being just off the charts. Clara had made fabulous scones which we had w/ real cream and tea, followed by a walk through their woods to a pub near their home, a detour through a church graveyard to visit a spooky tree, a walk home, a home cooked dinner and a Dalek cake birthday celebration for Corvis. Internet, it was rad.

More Bumming Around London

2011-12-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

Our next day in London was spent not sleeping (WOE!) thanks to a certain toddler who decided 1am-3pm was prime song-singing and apple-eating time. We weren't at our best, Saturday morning, but our outlook improved significantly by Saturday afternoon, thanks to having hauled our butts straight back to bed after breakfast. We spent Saturday afternoon attempting to recreate the famous Abbey Road photo, with less than stellar results:

After which we had a nice lunch followed by a visit to the Regent's Park playground, which The Meyers adored:

We finished off the evening with a quick viewing of the Lord Mayors' Show Fireworks from Embankment station:

A nice dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and a scenic walk home:

What started off as a "low" day ended on a high note! (Major assist on that goes to our NAP, OH! GLORIOUS NAP! What is a vacation without a few naps, anyways?)

Museum Hopping in London

2011-12-01T14:42:00.001-08:00

Moving right along . . .

Our first day in London was spent visiting both the Natural History Museum and the London Science Museum, both of which were right by our hotel.

The Natural History Museum is in a spectacularly beautiful building. See?

We took a few photos, checked out the gift shop and an exhibit or two, then got horribly lost among a thundering rain exhibit that was freaking the Meyers the heck out while looking for the exit. Also notable at the Natural History Museum: Rhys asked for an "apple", so we handed him a packet of applesauce and he bellowed "NOOOOO!!!" while arching his back and flailing. So, I oddly did have an actual apple in the backpack (how I got so lucky, I don't know) which I peeled WITH MY TEETH and handed to him. He chomped on it happily for half an hour. The kid eats whole apples. WHO KNEW?

After the NHM we walked next door to the Science Museum which I'd heard has a great play area for kids under 5. Guys? "Great Play Area" doesn't even come close. This thing was HUGE. Expansive. There was a water play area w/ waterfalls, boats and SMOCKS to keep kids dry(ish). There were MASSIVE brick sized Legos with wheelbarrows to cart them around in. There were alphabet games, number games, musical instruments . . . it was a toddler wonderland. Rhys played down there for several HOURS.

After which we went back to the hotel for a nap before heading to the Tower of London to witness the Ceremony of the Keys. It was quick, hokey, fun and FREE! Especially considering the "free" part, I'd recommend it highly. Our Beefeater spent the half hour before the ceremony explaining the history of the event to us, repeatedly referencing how we'd hear a bugle player who was really a drummer. Meyers was asleep in the Ergo this whole time yet, lo! When that drummer with a bugle started warbling (he really couldn't bugle!), Rhys woke up all "Whoa, what the . . . , who? where? WHAT IS THAT NOISE?!" A few minutes later, we took this picture:

Hampton Court Palace

2011-11-28T16:11:00.000-08:00

Hey! How've you been?

All of the vacation dust and Thanksgiving dust is finally settled, the Xmas dust has yet to be fully kicked up, and I finally have time to get down to what's really important: mah blog.

I'm going to gloss over the "10 hour flight with a toddler" bit (We lived. It wasn't as bad as it could've been, but it wasn't "fun" by any means) and move right on to Hampton Court!

We spent the first four days of our trip staying at Hampton Court Palace, which is kind of an odd thing to do, but I've written about it here and here for reference. Basically, thirteen years ago, my parents rented an apartment inside the Palace via the Landmark Trust as a special, one time only anniversary present to themselves. They've gone on to rent it again pretty much every year since, and I've joined them staying in the (four bedroom) apartment for quite a few of those years. The apartment is in the Tudor section of the palace, just off the Tudor kitchens in "Fish Court". While staying at the Palace, we have the run of the (purportedly very haunted) courtyards at night, access to the full palace and grounds during the day and a cozy, comfy place to call home for the duration of our stay. It is awesome.

Hampton Court really was an ideal place to stay with a toddler. Rhys had the run of the grounds, which was fantastic for him (and for us!), we had a kitchen and a little fridge which made meal and snack prep easy and we had access to HCP's amazing custody staff who we've become friends with over the years, one of whom even brought a few of his grandchildrens' toys for Rhys to play with during our stay. We felt right at home!

As for the jet lag . . . it existed! Rhys woke up at 3am once or twice to sing songs and ask for apples. He is a happy baby, even when he's all turned around time wise. I had expected we'd have to wrestle him awake from too-long naps during the day, but we never did. He was a trooper, I think he adjusted easier than I did myself, to be honest.

Some highlights of Rhys' first visit to the Palace include his first taste of scones with cream and jam (heaven!); running around the landing of the Queen's Staircase at night and giggling at the echo of his voice in that cavernous room; first tastes of crisps (cheese and onion got a thumbs up, but it was a no go on salt and vinegar), English sausages, Wagamama chicken and Jaffa Cakes and puddle stomping in his new red rocketship wellies.

Highlights for Mama include all of the above plus being told Rhys has "a little American accent", a meander trough the Hampton Court Antiques center and a long walk to The Bell pub, and a few quick solo photo sessions while the Meyers napped.

Boy and I also spent one evening out on our first date since Rhys was born. I don't know whether to be proud or embarrassed by that, but there it is. We went into London to see Electric Soft Parade, one of the bands on Boy's indie label (my husband is way, way cooler than I am, if you were keeping score.) We spent much of the night talking about the Meyers, watching videos of the Meyers on our phones, telling other people about the Meyers and emailing my parents back at the palace to inquire about the Meyers. Rhys had a little meltdown right before we came home, but all in all did an amazing job on his first evening without The MommyDaddy.

Pictures? I thought you'd never ask!

e.l.f. Liquid Liner in Plum

2011-11-17T10:55:00.000-08:00

I had seen swatches of this liner that made it look red-ish and shimmery, so I was kind of disappointed when I got this super dark, flat looking liner:

That is, until I realized, the color is actually LINCOLN PARK AFTER DARK. Once I realized that, I was all over this stuff like a 17 year old boy on prom night.

The brush? It is not this liner's best feature. It is kind of a felt tip applicator, which isn't great for drawing thin lines. I have a black version of this liner and it has a more brush-y brush which I love. Maybe e.l.f. is phasing out the felt tip? I hope so. I've had some success applying the Plum liner with a stand alone eyeliner brush and also lining then going over lightly w/ an e.l.f smudge brush to conceal the wiggles in my line.

Do you need this? For $1, you could do a hell of a lot worse. I'm going to say yes!

London Over The Years

2011-11-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun assembling my Hampton Court over the years post that I decided to put together a London version as well, in honor of the fact that we're in London as this post publishes.

This one is from my first trip to London. I was 8-ish, I think? The pose, I don't know. I was probably encouraged into it by my parents. THANKS, GUYS. The high tops are unfortunate, but the oxblood leather jacket? I'll stand beind that . . . wish I still had it!

Early 90s half side ponytail with scrunchie, FTW!

These were taken on a trip I took with my oldest and dearest friend right after we both finished high school. We were eighteen and on our own in the world for the first time. It was GLORIOUS. Still some of my fondest memories ever.

Post-collegiate backpacking through Waterloo station

More from my unfortunately red-haired era.

With the hubs, back when he was the bf.

About 5 yeas ago with my college friend Becca, who was living in London at the time. This was the trip where a combo of jetlag and an allergey med that (unbeknownst to me at the time) caused insomnia left me a snivelling wreck a week into the trip. Not my best trip, but spending time with Becca was super fun!

Our wedding trip!

Trick or Treat

2011-11-11T10:26:00.000-08:00

My boy, you guys. We took him trick or treating with his daycare friends, which was just spectacularly convenient because the westside to valley route is notoriously traffic-y on Halloween night and trick or treating from daycare saves us precious evening daylight time. Plus the Meyers got to share the experience with his friends.

He was BEYOND adorable in his knight costume. I mean, really.

He was so earnest, with his little bucket walking up to each house on the block. We got him to say trick or treat, but not always at the appropriate moment. We wanted him to say "thank you" at each house, but thank you is still a bit tough for him to say (although "please" he uses regularly and approrpriately). He said "BYE!" instead, which got a few laughs.

His haul included a ton of Skittles and Tootsie Rolls . . . we were completley willing to let him eat some of his candy, but he picked mostly chokable things, unfortunatley. He did come home with one Three Musketeers bar which we let him dig into. As we opened it up he said "Yeah . . .yeah . . .YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!" and stopmed his little feet around in a happy dance kind of way.

This big boy . . . I'm so lucky to be his mama.

Blogging from the Past

2011-11-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

By the time you read this, I'll be on VACATION! A long anticipated, much deserved vacation. Our first "real" one with Rhys . . . "real" meaning more than a few days long and involving a flight. We are in England for 2 weeks . . . first for several nights at Hampton Court Palace and then for about a week in London.

I wanted to schedule a few posts for the time I'll be gone because I've been on a roll blogging lately, even though I think my readership number suffered dearly during my long postpartum blog-lapse. Can that be a word? I like it. Bloglapse.

In honor of the "from the past" theme I'm talking myself into here, how's about a photo round up of past visits to Hampton Court Palace?

This is the earliest photo I had readily available (the caption is my parents', not mine. Although I agree, I'm adorable). We visited Hampton Court on this trip, but didn't stay there (we didn't know we could yet!). I'm probably 11? Festively attired in a 90's era loud sweater and puffed heart necklace.

Here I am at HCP in 2001 or thereabouts, in the summer for the first and only time ever (it is cheaper in the fall, so that's when we typically go). I visited Hampton Court as part of a whirlwind, post college backpacking trip through London, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague and Munich.

Next up! I'm early twenties here, on my first trip staying at the palace. Check out my coat! No, seriously. Check. Out. My. Coat. I still have it. Can't bear to part with it!

Mid 20s, red hair, hot pink scarf (I've had better fashion moments, I must say), on the roof.

About 4 years ago, on my first trip with my "boyfriend" (whom I later promoted to "husband" and ultimately "baby daddy")

And lastly, most recently, on our WEDDING TRIP!

That was fun! I hope you enjoyed it even half as much as I did.

Bento Roundup (. . . and the mystery of the missing Bentos)

2011-11-05T10:03:00.000-07:00

I'm missing a photo again! One I know I took! ARGGGG . . . ANYWAYS. Here's Monday through Thursday:

Monday
Spicy Bean Soup (broth strained off for ease of finger feeding), a hunk of white cheddar, half a parmesan and rosemary roll, clementines, blueberries, strawberries and a homemade pumpkin muffin. I had high hopes of packing a festive Halloween Bento with my new Williams Sonoma jack o lantern cookie cutting kit ($2.99 on sale the day before Halloween . . .I KNOW!), but Rhyser isn't so into sandwiches yet. Next year!

Tuesday

This was the day after Halloween and we'd gone out for pizza after Trick or Treating, so I had no leftovers. I really felt like I was phoning it in with this lunch, but in retrospect it doesn't look too bad. Mac and cheese (Easymac, made in the microwave then poured into the box), frozen peas, two Quorn nuggets, strawberries, blueberries and a cinnamon twist cookie.

Wednesday
A clementine, homemade apple cinnamon muffin, concord grapes, broccoli, zucchini cakes, baked potato cubes with butter and cheese.

Thursday
Strawberries, Halloween cookie, grapes, stir fried carrots peppers and onions, brown rice with soy sauce and tofu chunks.

Friday I am missing pictures for (!!!) but I packed wheat pasta with cheese sauce, broccoli with onions and tomatoes, zucchini cakes, and some fruity/muffiny goodness.

We're off to the UK for two weeks as of tomorrow! I've got a few posts lined up, but it'll be radio silence on the Bento front for a few weeks. Cheerio!

The Happiest Place on Earth . . . again.

2011-11-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. It is getting silly. HOWEVER, I promise not to go back for at least a month (which is due mostly by the fact that I'll be on VACATION for two weeks of November, but WHATEVER).

On this trip we went with my hubs' cousin, who is also a Disney fanatic and passholder. Rhyser rode Dumbo for the first time (says Rhys, in line, "Mama . . . mama . . . MAMA" (craning his neck to press his nose up against mine and make sure I'm paying attention), Me: "Yes, sweetheart?", Meyers: "DAT!" pointing at the ride. Dat, indeed, Rhyser!)

Rhys rode Astro Blasters with daddy, thus manning his very own gun for the first time!

We rode the carousel, and got the lead horse!

Took a spin on the Casey Jr. Trains, one of Rhys' favorite rides . . .

And scored our very own boat on Small World!

A grand old time was had by all.

Need proof?

Magpie Wednesdays

2011-11-02T16:26:00.000-07:00

I love nail polish. LOVE! In high school, I had such an extensive collection that I cataloged it on notebook paper complete with swatches. I KNOW.

The thing is, while I'm fairly good at applying polish, I'm so hard on my nails that a manicure barely lasts a week. It is hard to amp myself up to paint my nails when I know I'll have a chip by lunchtime the following day.

See? I'm totally talking myself out of this stuff.

Isn't it gorgeous? The polish is embedded with magnetic particles that move in response to a magnet contained in the polish cap, creating striped designs. How cool is that?

My inner magpie is singing.

Halloween Carnival Photos

2011-11-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

We live across the street from the elementary school I went to which, while kind of odd, has it's benefits. Benefits like the school's annual, open to all, fundraising Halloween festival which they throw a few days before Halloween each year. We've gone the last two years and it is a huge thrill for me to walk around my old stomping grounds, marvel at how SMALL everything looks, show Rhys the sights and, most importantly, have an excuse to dress Mr. Meyersy up in his costume. Yay!

I practiced restraint this year, and only bought the Meyers one costume . . . but what an awesome costume it was! He was a knight, in shining, medieval chain maile. I KNOW.

The fair had a few massive, 25+ foot inflatable slides. I don't remember these things from my own childhood, we had to make due with modest bouncy castles. They're all the rage now, along with inflatable obstacle courses. Meyers was eyeing the slides something fierce, and we saw one other mom slide down with her baby on her lap. I can't say it was the safest thing we've ever done, but the Meyers? It Blew. His. Mind. He loved it so much that after our first slide down he broke away from me and tried to climb back in through the exit.

We also enjoyed a beautiful rainbow cupcake from the PTA bake sale. Somebody's mom is an overachiever! ;)

It was a rad time! I'm looking forward to next year's fair.

Bento Round Up, Week of 10/24

2011-10-31T16:29:00.000-07:00

I have to say, this wasn't my proudest Bento week ! I had a pretty hectic (and soul sucking) week at work, lots of busyness in our personal lives and a case of the blahs. We've got two cheese pizza days, a day I know I took a photo, but clearly forgot to upload it before deleting it from my SD card, and a broken hotshoe flash resulting in craptacular photos, including two iPhone photos. Bleh, gripe, moan. On to the lunches!

Monday 10/24
Two little slices of cheese pizza, two Quorn nuggets, peas, strawberries, clementines (which I craved like crazy while pregnant, and lo and behold! Meyers LOVES), homemade blueberry muffin.

Tuesday 10/25

Baked potato mashed with cheese, veggie burger wedges, baked beans, peas, grapes, strawberries with kiwi, homemade blueberry muffin, cinnamon twist.

Wednesday 10/26
No photo, but as I remember, it was whole wheat angel hair pasta w/alfredo sauce, broccoli with alfredo, peas, fruit and some kind of baked good treat.

Thursday 10/27
Cheese pizza, Quorn nugget, corn, half a banana, grapes, homemade pumpkin muffin

Friday 10/28

Half a veggie burger on a wheat bun with bbq sauce and cheese, extra cheese, tots (yep, TOTS), a clementine, graham crackers, grapes.

I'm happy to report that Rhysappotomus gobbled his bentos up happily, despite his mama's malaise. Huzzah!

Magpie Wednesdays

2011-10-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

I'm all out of Assvice, for the moment, so I thought I'd come up with a new Wednesday feature. As the hubs and I spend like 90 jillion dollars a month on daycare now, we've had to cut back in other areas. Or, rather, we HAVEN'T cut back, and as such have seen our once healthy bank balance dwindle. *BIG SIGH* In an effort to reign in shopping (especially shopping of the too-easy internet variety), I'm going to post things I'd like to buy here instead of clicking "order now".

One place I'm forbidden from visiting anymore is The Gap. We've got a Gap card and they send us coupons CONSTANTLY. A quick stop at Gap on my lunch break, pop in on the weekend to see what's on sale . . . next thing you know my Gap card bills have surpassed our mobile phone bills and are rivalling our grocery budget. No bueno.

And it really is too bad . . . since if I weren't sworn off the Gap I'd be running over there this very second to buy this hoodie. I love everything about it: Thumbholes! Black! Slimming! It'd be absolutley perfect to wear on our upcoming UK trip.

Rhys' Toddler Room Makeover: Round Up

2011-10-25T15:34:00.001-07:00

We hung our Tim Burton numbers print over the weekend, and now I consider Rhys' toddler room to be "complete". Here are a few favorite shots:

Another Day, Another Trip To Disneyland

2011-10-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

Guys? I can't blog these fast enough. As of the time this posts (I schedule posts, so I'm blogging FROM THE PAST . . . ooooohhhiiieeeeeee), I'll ALREADY have another trip to Disneyland under my belt (and on my SD card). I'm going to roll with it though . . . I'd hate for you to miss even one second of Meyers' Disney fun-time.

One of the things I love about Disneyland is that families who visit the park a lot tends to have thier own "traditions" (i.e., Ride Pirates first! Get DoleWhip, however long the line is! etc. etc.). Two of our traditions from when I was small were to scream bloody murder when the lights go out in the Haunted Mansion stretching room and to try and catch the lead horse when riding the carousel. One of my and Paul's traditions from our years visiting the park before Rhys was born is to eat lunch at the Country Bear restaurant and feed the ducks our leftover hamburger buns. We've kept up with those traditions, and have recently added another. . . root beer floats at the Golden Horseshoe. In all my years visiting the park with my parents, and with Paul before Rhys was born, we never once in my memory had root beer floats at the Golden Horseshoe (which has been there since the park opened in 1955). Of late? We have root beer floats on every visit:

After our floats we made our way to It's A Small World (part of our regular roation now, since Rhys loves it), where we played with all three of our lenses (including the 10/20, with it's spectacular self-photo-taking capabilities), and we mocked the baby for teething (sorry, Rhyser, but you look kind of silly with your whole fist in your mouth! :)):

Also in our regular DLand rotation now is Toontown, where Rhys can run and play. On this trip he had fun climbing the four steps to the slide and sliding down by himself (My big, big boy . . . you guys!):

It was a fun, quick trip!

Bento Round Up, Week of 10/17

2011-10-21T09:59:00.001-07:00

Monday:

Bean salad, whole wheat quesadilla stars, Quorn "chicken" nugget, strawberries, kiwi, grapes, a homemade pumpkin mini muffin.

Tuesday:

Whole wheat angel hair with alfredo sauce; broccoli with alfredo sauce; Tofurkey sausages with peppers, onions and tomatoes; toast, nutella and strawberry star sandwich; grapes; berries.

That star sandwich was a pain in the butt to make, but it was cute!

Wednesday:

Two zucchini cakes, two butternut squash ravioloi, peas, grapes, half a banana, mini pumpkin muffin

This is going to be a recurring Bento . . . Rhys loves zucchini cakes and squash ravioli. We have a variation on this meal probably once a week.

Thursday:

Two wheat mini pitas stuffed with Tofurkey slices and cheese, cheese stars, snap pea chips, hummus, pumpkin muffin, grapes, blueberries.

This was the Bento of FAIL. Rhys ate nothing but the grapes. I don't think he really likes the sandwich concept, which is funny because all of the three sandwich ingredients (cheese, "meat" and pita) he likes a lot on their own. This lunch almost got him kicked out of daycare for the day, since they assumed he was sick. He's not, though . . . he went on to eat three pieces of pizza for dinner that night. He's just a picky nugget!

Friday:

Two crustless slices of cheese pizza; zucchini, peas and tomatoes sauteed with shallots and olive oil; quorn "chicken" chunks; half a banana; concord grapes; cinnamon twist cookie

We were on a roll with pizza, so I'm hoping Rhyser eats his lunch today!

Browsing

2011-10-20T15:08:00.001-07:00

It has come to my attention of late that my eyebrows don't show up in photographs. Behold the browless wonder.

Since we'll be off to the UK in a few weeks, where a heck of a lot of photos will be taken (some of them even of me!), I figured I should remedy the brow situation. Since I'm not into the idea of dropping $50 at Sephora at the moment (see above, re: UK in a few weeks. See, also: Dollar to Pound exchange rate.), I started my brow remedy search with e.l.f. I picked up a $3 Studio Line Brow Kit in Ash (since, despite dabbling in black and fire engine red hair dye, I'm actually nearly blond naturally).

The night the kit arrived I watched a few brow plucking tutorials and had at mine with a pair of tweezers. I measured where my brows should start, end and arch and marked everything off with a pink lipliner pencil (says husband: "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR FACE?!"). In so doing, I realized that my brows were actually horribly misshapen and that I've been walking around looking like a bizarrely brow-ed troll all my life. Why hasn't anyone told me?!

ANYWAYS.

After cleaning my brows up I used the angled brush (included in the brow kit) to fill them in and encourage them into an arch with the light powder. The color is actually quite light, lighter than my brows even. This worked well though, since I was going for 'natural' and 'groomed' rather than 'painted on with a stencil and liquid eyeliner'. I used the rounded brush end to go over my powdered brows with the slightly darker brow wax and presto! I had eyebrows!

Here is what I look like first thing in the morning, no makeup (the things I do for this blog):

And here's what I look like after makeup and brow powder:

The e.l.f. Stuido Eyebrow Kit is firmly filed as a WIN as far as I'm concerned. My brows look clean, natural and well groomed without appearing fake or overdone. Worth your $3, for certain!

Do you "do" your brows? What product do you use?

Dear Meyers

2011-10-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Rhyser,

You are 17 months and 12 days old today, almost one and a half! I've realized over the last few days that you are for certain no longer a baby. You walk. You talk. You have opinions and you know how to express them. You will consent to be snuggled once in a while, usually when you're tired, but you aren't all for full time lap sitting and cuddling like you were 10 months ago (and I'll admit that I miss it). A few weeks ago you had a little 24 hour stomach bug and, I'm so guilty admitting this, but I almost enjoyed that day because all you wanted to do was sit on my lap resting and watching Disney movies. I built us a little nest in the crook of the sofa with cushions and blankets, set us up with drinks and snacks and just spent the day holding you. It was the sweetest thing ever.

I'm loving watching you learn to communicate and craft ever longer and more complicated sentences and requests. Yesterday, in the car on the way home, you got a bit whinge-y (as you sometimes do, in traffic) and I tried passing you a toy knight. You said "No, book!". I offered you your Julius monkey book and you said "No, ELMO book!". You were beyond thrilled with yourself when I passed you the correct book. It was so exciting to see! Later on in that same car ride you held up your little hand for me and said "Eat!", so I passed you a cookie. Just four or five months ago, we might have wound up pulling over to the side of the road, you hysterical in your carseat and me nursing you in the backseat to ease your frustration, without really knowing why you'd gotten worked up in the first place. Now, when you want something, more often than not you can tell me. It is huge. Everything is different now.

Your favorite activity lately is playing with water. Whenever I'm working in the kitchen you hold your little arms out to be picked up asking for "Wash?" Sometimes I set you up with an assortment of cups, sitting on a towel, and give you little slurps of water to pour back and forth between containers. You'll spill it all and ask for more "Wawas?" and I'll say "What do you say?" and you'll ask "Wawas, pease?" You also love taking baths, and you'll play your pouring water between cups game in the tub as well. You stare so intently at the cups as you pour . . . I like to think that you're teaching yourself all about geometry and volume. It wouldn't surprise me at all if you go on to study math or science . . . you are so intent and focused when you play.

Your current favorite books are "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb", "Goodnight Baby", "The Star Trek Book of Opposites", "Sleep And Dream Of Happy Things (Yo Gabba Gabba!)", "Only In Dreams (Julius Monkey)" and all of your "Play A Sound" books. I'm always hard on myself, thinking we don't read enough, but we must be doing something right because you love to look at books in the car, you have specific favorites and I've read lot of those favorites enough times that I have them memorized. Something tells me you'll probably grow up to be just fine, even if some days we read only one book instead of four.

You are a good little eater, except for when you aren't! You're on a nice streak of eating anything we put in front of you lately, which has been fun. Last night you devoured the zucchini and Parmesan cake I'd made for you in seconds flat and were asking for "More, more, more!" before your dad had even sat down at the table! ("More" is always asked three times, by the way. With a little arm flapping motion thrown in for good measure. It is precious.) Particular favorite foods include strawberries, pasta, pizza, zucchini cakes (apparently!), tofu, any kind of meat (you're an equal opportunity eater, like your dad), yogurt and carrots.

On the nursing front, you seem to be making a move towards giving up your post school/work nursing session, which will leave us with bedtime/early morning nursing only. I still pump twice a day in order to provide you with one cup of my milk for naptime at daycare, but my volume is decreasing and I'm only planning to continue pumping for a few weeks more. I've got it in my head that since I've made it this far, I'd like to say I pumped for a round 18 months, so that's what we'll do. I'm so glad that we've continued nursing this long, and that we'll continue to nurse. At the same time, I'm proud of you for gradually giving it up. You're turning into a big boy, and I'm so lucky to get to watch you grow up at your own pace.

You've made friends with all the little kids at daycare, and can say all of their names. You're sweet to the baby and you share your toys with the big kids. Then again, sometimes, you bite, snatch and shout "Miinneeee!". You're a toddler . . . it happens. Almost every day when I come see you at lunchtime or come to pick you up, you're playing happily with one of the other kids and it makes me so happy to see. Daycare is a necessity, Your dad and I have to work and so you have to go. We've reached the point in your life though where I think spending time with other kids and with other adults has value . . . for you to have opportunities to play with kids your own age, see other styles of authority and learn from people other than your parents. Preschool is right around the corner, we'll actually be interviewing a few in the next month or so. My baby . . . preschool! My head spins just typing it.

As always, you're the sweetest, smartest, most beautiful child ever to live and I love you more than I ever though possible. Even though every day I think I love you more than anything in the world, the very next day I love you even more. There's some physics loophole by which you've created a supermassive black hole of baby love. See? You're an astrophysicist already.

You are my universe, Bubs.

Love,

Your Mama

Pinterest Rules My Life: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies

2011-10-18T14:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not even going to pretend that I made these using REAL pumpkin, bought at the pumpkin patch and lovingly hand cut, baked and pureed. I bought a can, like a real live working mom. It was can of organic pumpkin, at least, so two gold stars for me!

Anything pumpkin is a good time. Anything with cream cheese icing is also a good time. So, it stands to reason that these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Whoopie pies would be a REALLY good time. And they were!

I modified the recipe a tiny bit to use sugar instead of Splenda, unbleached wheat flour instead of white and olive oil instead of vegetable oil. I also halved the cream cheese icing recipe and wound up with about double the number of cookies the recipe suggested I'd have, so my pies were lightly iced inside which made them, although a tad less fun, easier and less messy to feed to mr. toddler pants.

I'd make these again in a heartbeat . . . in fact, I plan to bring them for Thanksgiving dinner this year!

Have you made any good recipes from Pinterest lately?

Pumpkin Fun

2011-10-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

Although it is like a bazillion degrees here in LA (actually 90 at the moment I type this, lest you think I'm exaggerating), we are fast approaching mid-October and I finally gave in and admitted that if I were to hold out for Fall weather, Rhys might not visit the pumpkin patch AT ALL this year. Since skipping it entirely would've been completely unacceptable, we trekked out there in 85-ish weather. UGH!

We had a fun day, in any event. Playing with our camera (I used two of my lenses . . . the Sigma 10 20 and Canon 50 1.8):

Rhys panned for gems:

Met a few goats (he was unimpressed):

We took a hayless hayride:

And even rode a carousel:

I'll try not to grumble too much about the weather, because really, other than the oppressive, un-festive heat it was a pretty perfect day having fun and hanging out with family. I'm just oooovvveerrrrr the high temperatures and boring old sunshine, day in and day out. I'm sure if I were further north I'd be grumbling about the oppressive never-ending rain . . . or maybe not, because I'd be happy to be wearing my rain boots every single day. I'd imagine I'd amass quite the rainboot collection, if I lived in Seattle. That actually sounds fun.

How is your Fall going so far? Does it feel like Fall to you yet?

Round Up: Rhys' First Week of Bentos

2011-10-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here are photos of the Bento lunches I made for Rhys this week:

Monday:

Whole wheat mac and cheese with tiny cheese stars, peas, strawberries, blueberries, homemade pumpkin cookie.

Tuesday:
Leftover Quorn cacciatore, whole wheat pasta with Parmesan and olive oil, cream cheese "toast ghost", blueberries, grapes.

Wednesday:
Two zucchini and leek pancakes, broccoli, two butternut squash ravioli with Parmesan and butter, a section of homemade pumpkin waffle, half a banana, strawberries.

Thursday:
Peas, two crustless wedges of cheese pizza, a halved zucchini pancake, blueberries, strawberries, graham crackers.

Friday:
Peas, brown rice, two veggie potstickers, two veggie pancakes (halved), grapes, strawberries, a cinnamon pastry twist.

He ate well each day, but I'm told Thursday was a real favorite. He polished off every single bite! So far preparing Bento lunches has been quick and almost as easy as preparing regular lunches. I think we'll keep it up! My only issue has been that Rhys gets SO EXCITED seeing me pack food in his panda after dinner that he kinda wants it then and there. Maybe we'll get him a dinner box too?

Rhys' Toddler Room Makeover: The Mouse Door

2011-10-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am fairly certain I first saw the idea for this project on Oh Dee Doh way back when I was pregnant with Rhys an didn't know yet whether he'd be a boy or a girl (although, I will have it known that I ALWAYS thought he was a boy, and said as much on this here blog).

ANYWAYS.

I had figured I'd save the "fairy door" idea for a girl baby sometime down the road, but when we started redoing Rhys' toddler room and I realized I could simply call it a MOUSE DOOR instead, I decided to go ahead and install one now. I used Ebay as my shopping resource and picked up a door, a knocker and handle set, and a little articulated mailbox with a hinged lid. Our local OSH hardware store sells little sample pots of paint that were perfect for this project . . . I bought one in cream and one in red and set to work transforming my little unfinished pine door:

Once I had the door painted, I did some research on dollhouse adhesives. I wanted everything to be UBER secure since, while Rhys isn't big on putting stuff in his mouth, the handle, mailbox, etc, are all potential choking hazards. I discovered that "gap fill" glue was considered the best for dollhouse hardware adhesion and picked up this Locktite glue from Fire Mountain Gems. I also picked up a tube of Gorilla glue to use affixing the door to the wall.

As it turned out, the Locktite was my choice for affixing the door, since I was worried about Gorilla Glue's expansion properties and having glue seeping trough the doorjamb. I did, however, have to use Gorilla Glue to attach the mailbox, as the Locktite wasn't making enough contact to bond (and Gorilla Glue in that application WAS very seep-y and leak-y . . . but I managed to clean up the glue mess with Q-tips before it dried and all looks fine in the end, I think).

Rhys really got a kick out of seeing the door for the first time! He knocks on it, opens and closes the mailbox and even calls "MOUSE!?". Although I feel really badly for whoever buys our condo down the line, because that door is SO never coming off, I am happy we took the mouse door plunge and I think Rhys will continue to get a kick out of the door as he grows.

As fidgety as the project was, what with taping tiny corners, multiple paint coats, etc., I'm actually itching to make another door. Maybe a mouse door would make a nice baby shower gift? Packaged with a tube of glue to install? What do you think?

Assvice Wednesdays

2011-10-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

AW #13:

Make these. Stack them up with sheets of wax paper between each. Stick them in the freezer. Once frozen, break each in half and store in a freezer bag. Pop a half in the toaster each morning. They taste amazing, they're actually pretty darn healthy, and your kitchen will smell like fall every morning from now through Halloween.

Socially Inclined

2011-10-11T16:44:00.000-07:00

A quick, drive by post to let you know that I've set my Etsy shop up with a Facebook page and a Twitter account. I plan to use both to share previews of new items, behind the scenes photos of my workspace, alerts regarding especially cool new listings and coupon codes. Internet ninjas will note, a coupon code has already been made available.

The thing that I've always loved most about Etsy is the personal angle. When you buy from an Etsy seller, you aren't buying from a faceless multi national corporation . . . you're buying from (if I can get away with projecting a little here) a working mom who fiddles around with beads and coins in the dark every night purely because she loves doing so. I hope to share a little bit of that creative process through these two new outlets.

Please stop by on Facebook or Twitter to say hi!

Bentotastic

2011-10-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

Back when I was pregnant with Rhys I came into a copy of this adorable book on Bento Boxes for kids. I became OBSESSED with collecting cute Bento ideas and that year for Xmas, the hubs bought me a sweet little panda box and a pair of hard boiled egg molds.

Thrilled as I was to get those Bento fixings, they've been shelved in a cupboard until just now. While I knew I wanted to be the kind of mom who made cute little Bento lunches for her kidlet, I didn't have a real-food-lunch-eating kidlet until recently. And when Leah posted a link to Wendolonia's Bento blog on Friday, it was just the kick in the butt I needed to pull the panda out of storage.

I packed Rhys his first Bento for lunch today. I'm told he liked it quite a bit.

Along with the panda box, I used a bunch of silicone baking cups that I'd received as wedding gifts but never used (they're adorable, but typically when I bake cupcakes I bring them somewhere and, as such, am not in a position to ask for the wrappers back!). Rhys had homemade whole wheat mac and cheese from the night before, paired with a cup of peas and studded with tiny cheese stars that I cut out using a punch that came with my Zoku popsicle maker. The second tier of the panda was fruit themed and included a stack of halved strawberries, a pile of sliced blueberries and a homemade (whole wheat and olive oil based) pumpkin bread cookie.

I'm pretty pleased with the aesthetics of the box, for a first attempt! I'm looking forward to trying out a few more ideas (mini wheat bagel sandwiches filled with crushed blueberries and cream cheese? whole wheat quesadillas cut into star shapes? Mikey Mouse pancakes?) Bento sharing might become a regular feature around these parts!

Do you know of any good Bento idea resources? Are you interested in seeing the lunches I come up with for Rhys?

Rhys' Toddler Room Makeover: Fort Meyers' Command Center

2011-10-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

So! The two holes in Rhys' play tent that face the wall were just crying out to be filled with something fun and gadgety for Rhys to use for imaginative play. Initially I thought I'd put wall decals up so there'd be images visible through the portholes, but my husband did one better by suggesting some sort of hanging toy apparatuses.

I did lots of searching for wall mountable toys but, if they exist, I sure as heck didn't find them (in any form other than $300+ doctors' office waiting room toy form which, just . . . no.) I had started drawing up plans to build something using wood knobs and beads, having rejected a plan to install non-working light switches and dimmer knobs (I was grasping at straws!), when I realized we had the perfect solution sitting in our house the whole time.

An abacus from Ikea that we gave Rhys for Xmas which never got played with much because the stand isn't sturdy enough to keep it upright during spastic toddler play sessions. I tacked it to the wall with two command strips and presto, Fort Meyers had a command center.

We filled the smaller hole with a tap light purchased from the hardware store for about $6 and also held in place with a command strip.

Rhys is just starting to get into make-believe and I hope he appreciates these little touches as he grows! I know that my inner 5 year old practically peed her pants when she saw the tent all gadget-ed out in all its glory. I only hope Rhys likes it as much as she did!

The Meyers and I Take Disneyland By Storm

2011-10-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

It was kind of a crazy idea, but I'm glad we went for it. While my husband was in New York on business, Rhys and I went to Disneyland, just the two of us.

We checked out the Halloween decorations on Main Street:

Met Jack Skellington (Rhys was less than enthusiastic):

Posed in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle (Speaking of, our new Sigma 10 20 is THE lens to use for taking selfies!):

We ran around Toontown:

Rhys carried his new toy hammer around for much of the day:

Saw Disney Junior Live On Stage (I won't be winning any photography awards with this shot, but just look at the expression on my boy's face as thousands of bubbles fell from the ceiling. PRICELESS!):

And when the day was almost done and Rhys was fast asleep in his Ergo, I took in the ever spectacular Haunted Mansion Holiday.

It was a bit schleppy being responsible for wearing Rhys in his Ergo, holding the diaper bag and manning the camera, I think we did well though! If I had it to do over again I'd have left our sweatshirts in the car (we didn't need them! And, if we had, we could've just bought sweatshirts in the park.) and maybe left my 50mm 1.8 lens at home (I didn't use it, but it didn't take up much space in the bag so I didn't mind terribly that I'd brought it for no reason). All things considered, I'm going to pronounce this one a resounding success, the keys to which were a) our Ergo, b) packing a light diaper bag, c) the Sigma 10 20 and d) my baby just plain being awesome.

Assvice Wednesdays

2011-10-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

AW#12

Bundle up your kidlet in a few long sleeve layers, a jacket and a hat . . . wrap him up in a baby carrier . . . throw a coat over the both of you . . . open up an umbrella . . . and take a walk in the rain. He'll love it. Guaranteed.

Solo

2011-10-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last week the hubs was away on a business trip to New York for four days. Aside from it being the first time he and I have been separated since our marriage, it was the first time that he'd been separated from Rhys overnight. And, although I spent the majority of my maternity leave taking care of Rhys solo during the day, Rhys was smaller and less active then and I still had my husband to back me up during those evenings.

I was apprehensive, is what I'm trying to say. I didn't know how I'd shower, or get dinner on the table, or wash my pump parts every night, or, you know, pee.

As it turns out, spending time one on one with Rhys for a few days was so much fun, and I did manage to successfully attend to all of his and my needs on a (pretty much) daily basis. I got nice, long-ish showers every morning (3 of the 4 mornings Rhys slept later than I did and on the one morning he woke up with me, I plopped him down on the bathroom floor with a pile of books and he browsed happily until I was out of the shower), Rhys and I were both fed nightly (on the first night I cooked, the other three nights we went out or picked up takeout), the pump parts got cleaned (in the dishwasher once or twice, but they were clean nonetheless) and I did ample pee-ing (occasionally with Rhys banging around in the bathroom cabinets while I did so, but whatever.)

I wrote myself a free pass or two but, at the end of the day, I was surprised at how manageable it was to take care of Rhys on my own. I was even able to get a slew of work on my Etsy shop done in the evenings after Rhys went to bed each night. Heck, one night I watched a whole movie !

Guys? I even took him to Disneyland. By myself! I know! But I'll save that story for another post.

Of course I'm thrilled my husband is back, so is Rhys! But I think, despite all the freaking out I did when I learned the hubs had to make this trip, that it was a positive thing for Rhys and I to spend a few days tuning in to each other and for me to really flex my mommy muscles. I'm proud of what we accomplished that week . . . the routine things like laundry and straightening up (folding shirts has never felt so heroic!) and, more importantly, the extra one on one play time Rhys and I shared (sorting through his new toy tools, reading books, visiting playgrounds, blowing bubbles, splashing in the tub).

My baby, guys. I'm so lucky to be his mama.

Nail Art Pens

2011-10-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

The sleeper success story of my recent Cherry Culture was a pair of Amuse Nail Art Pens that I picked up soley because I was trying to work my way up to the free shipping order value threshold. At $1.99 each, I wasn't expecting much, since I'd seen similar pens at the drugstore selling for up to five times that price.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that these pens perform admirably. Each pen comes with two application options: A teeny, tube shaped nib which can be operated by lightly squeezing the bottle (the bottle is ergonomically designed to make squeezing and drawing at the same time a cinch):

. . . and a long, thin liquid eyeliner style brush:

The pen end is great for dots, freehand drawing and the easiest, quickest french manicure ever:

And the brush end makes quick, easy stripes:

I'm 100% satisfied with these pens and can't wait to try them in more colors. If you've been eyeing the drugstore pens, as I was, but haven't taken the plunge yet due to their price, get ye to Cherry Culture's site and buy these Amuse pens, stat!

Our Halloween Library

2011-09-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned before that I love Halloween? No? Well, I LOVE IT. And I'm trying my darndest to foster a love for Halloween in Rhys as well. While I'm sure that won't be a hard sell once he gets to full on trick-or-treating, candy nomming age, for now I'm aiming to indoctrinate him with the use of a little reading material.

Our Halloween library includes:

(clockwise from top left)

Biscuit's Pet and Play Halloween - A gift from my parents last year, purchased at a time when Rhys was really into exploring textures.

The Haunted House - A book from my own childhood collection, with an audio tape included!

The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat - A gift from Rhys' Uncle last Halloween

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown - Which I picked up for Rhys last Halloween

and

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse's Trick Or Treat (Play A Sound Book) - Which I picked up for Rhys a few months ago, since Play A Sound Books are great for keeping him occupied in the car.

I'm thinking it'd be nice to add a book or two every Halloween season. This year I've got my eye on The Haunted House (Mini House Book) by Bill Martin. It is a board book about a haunted house that is extra chunky and, when fully closed,looks like a real little haunted house. SWOON!

What are your favorite Halloween books for kids?

NYX Pigment and Soft Matte Lip Cream

2011-09-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

Wanna talk makeup? OK!

I placed an order from Cherry Culture several weeks ago that included my NYX Nude on Nude palette, Milani Blush and a few other goodies which I've yet to write about, among them, an NYX Chrome Eyeshadow in Antique . . .

. . . and a tube of NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in London.

I had honestly hoped to be blown away with both products. The lip cream had first come to my attention via a blurb in Lucky Magazine, which was promising, and the eyeshadow looked in the online swatch to be a gorgeous, green gold patina/verdigis shade which very much appealed to my old metal and coin loving sensabilities. (Have you, uh, seen my Etsy shop?)

However, on my lids the shadow was more pale green than punchy gold green. The lip cream . . . ugh, it made me look like a corpse. It was matte (which, hello, it is called Soft MATTE Lip Cream, I knew this going in), but matte lip colors aren't especially flattering on me. I will freely admit that I chose the color, London, for the name, which is a silly strategy as something a bit more vibrant, like Sao Paulo, may have looked better on me. Unless I wear it with a sign proclaiming "My lipstick color is called London!!!" (which isn't a half bad idea), this shade (on me) has little else to recommend it. Actually, it smells and tastes like buttercream frosting, so it has that.

Here's a FOTD. Bleh, right?

You can't win them all, I guess.

Halloween Wreath

2011-09-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I've actually carried through and completed a Pinterest project, but this one was just so overwhelmingly cute, and it looked super simple . . . I couldn't help myself!

The original idea came from Better Homes and Gardens. I don't normally consider myself a "wreath person", and I don't know if it is the goth-y looking organza ribbon, the simple, unfussy design or just the fact that I LOVE HALLOWEEN, but this wreath spoke to me. It said "MAKE ME! MAKE ME NOW!"

A spooky twig wreath form, a bag full of plastic mini pumpkins, hot glue and a spool of wired, black organza ribbon. This project couldn't have been easier! I had the wreath hanging from my door within 20 minutes of getting home from the craft store.

It makes me smile every time I see it!

Rhys' Toddler Room Makeover: Meyers, Inc.

2011-09-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

So, remember how I was being all accidentally Montessori with Rhys' makeshift floor bed arrangement? Once I realized that, I started perusing the internet for photos of Montessori kids' rooms and noticed that most included a small table and chair. Aside from being completely adorable, I thought a table and chair would be really useful for Rhys as he grows.

In the corner by Fort Meyers, we had just enough space for a small desk set up. I bought this simple, blond wood and white laminate table and chair set from Ikea and figured that I could just stain it to match his existing, dark wood and white furniture. While in Ikea and high on whatever form of Swedish crack they pump through the air vents in that place, I figured staining would be a really simple procedure that could be handled the way most simple procedures are handled, which is to say: MAGICAL ELVES.

However! As it turns out, staining a piece of furniture is actually fairly involved. I was lucky in that the table was unfinished, so I didn't need to do any sanding. I did, however, need to take the table apart (after having put it together initially to make sure it fit our space), remove the white boards to keep them clean, reassemble the table without the boards, rub in a coat of stain, wait 2 hours for the stain to dry, rub in a second coat of stain, wait 2 hours, brush one one coat of poly, wait 2 hours, brush on a second coat of poly, let dry overnight and finally reassemble the table. OY! It was 8:30pm when the first coat of poly went on and I was so not into the idea of extending the paint and wait agony into a second day . . . so I stayed up until midnight to get the second coat on before bed.

While I can't say I'll be quick to stain another piece of furniture, I am very pleased with the way the table and chair turned out. It matches Rhys' existing furniture really well!

Rhys is really into photos lately, so we decided to accessorize his 'desk' with framed photos of him and us and finish things off with his toy phone (totally cute, right?) and a stack of books. When he isn't running around pretending to use it as a phone, his calculator lives on his desk as well.

It is an excellent place from which Rhys can conduct his baby business.

Assvice Wednesdays

2011-09-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

AW#11:

If your toddler is WAY into daddy's toolbox, as ours is, and you're not so into the idea of having him running around the house with real screwdrivers and hammers, get him a fake tool set like we did at Costco last weekend and (here's the real assvice:) pick up a REAL toolbox to store everything in. A toolbox that looks like daddy's goes a long way towards suspension of toddler disbelief, and it keeps all the little bits and bobs in one, tidy place.

Rhys' Toddler Room Makeover: Fort Meyers

2011-09-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

So! Once we got rid of the huge white chair and ottoman in Rhys' room, we had a great big corner of space to play with. It was actually my husband's idea to get Rhys a tent and a tunnel. We'd been experimenting with building little forts for Rhys in the living room with couch cusions and blankets . . . he really seemed to love them!

We have an awesome space tent that we initially intended to use as a base for Fort Meyers, but it is, sadly, a little too big for the space we have. We wound up buying a new, smaller tent at Ikea, along with a matching collapsable tunnel. The tunnel is just fantastic: it is quite long and takes up a lot of space in the room, but it collapses in on itself and holds itself closed with velcro while still attached to the tent. Which makes it super easy for us to pop the tunnel out when Rhys is using it and fold it back up so it isn't an eyesore when he isn't. WIN.

Rhys loves it!

The only addition we might make are a few knobs attached to the wall for Rhys to turn thorough the holes in the tent that face the wall . . . something that he might be able to use for imaginative play (spaceship controls? submarine knobs? You know . . .that kind of thing!)

Rhys' Toddler Room Makeover: A Big Boy Bed

2011-09-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

We're in the process of converting Rhys' room from a nursery to a fun, big boy space. *cries because MAH BABY IS SO BIG!*

I'm a little surprised by how emotional I became over this whole room makeover. It is just that I worked so hard on Rhys' baby nursery . . . it was the project that I funnelled most of my energy into during my pregnancy, and I was so, so pleased with how it came out.

The simple truth, though, was that the nursery no longer suited our needs. For one, cosleeping has turned out to work best for our family. Rhys spends precious little time in his crib, and when I did try to nurse him to sleep in his room in the armchair and transfer him to the crib, the results were usually disastrous. Picture me in the chair in the pitch black dark nursing a wriggling, restless Rhys for 30 minutes or so, he finally falls asleep, I try to transfer him, he wakes and cries, repeat, repeat, repeat . . . until it is 11:30pm and I give up and take Rhys into our bed because now I'M TIRED TOO. And, I'm not ashamed to admit, more than a little frustrated.

We eventually worked ourselves into a routine whereby I'd lay out a bunch of blankets and pillows on the floor of Rhys' room in order to lie down with him and nurse him to sleep there. I can't say I'm proud of our arrangement, but the floor had a few big advantages: a) I didn't have to move Rhys once he was asleep, minimizing the risk of waking him, b) there was no roll-off risk like there would have been if he'd been put to sleep in our big bed and c) I was more comfortable (yep, more comfortable ON THE FLOOR than I was in the big Ikea chair). I believe Rhys was more comfortable as well, as he did a lot less restless wriggling on the floor than he had in the chair.

A few weeks ago, I saw this post on a Montessori nursery and I realized a) I wasn't being an ineffective mom, I was, in fact, being MONTESSORI (declared with only a slight trace of irony) and b) I totally should've done this floor bed deal from the get go.

It occurred to me that our existing crib came with a toddler bed conversion rail, and even though, at 16 months, Rhys may seem a little too young for a toddler bed, he wasn't using the crib anyways, so I figured a switch was worth a try.

Guys? Best. Decision. Ever.

I can actually curl up comfortably with Rhys in his toddler bed, nurse him to sleep and sneak out without waking him. The whole putting to bed process takes 20 - 30 minutes max and Rhys has been staying asleep in his big boy bed on his own for several hours, giving my husband and I time to ourselves and time with each other before Rhys eventually wakes up and wants to come to bed with us.

While I'm totally fine with Rhys coming to bed with us at some point in the night (I'm a working mom. Gotta get those baby snuggles when I can.), I do hope that sometime within the next year or so, Rhys will be spending most of the night in his own bed. By the looks of it, the toddler bed may help him accomplish that, since in the week or so since we've made the switch, Rhys has stayed asleep in his own bed a little longer each night.

When he wakes? We have a handy dandy video monitor, so we've been able to observe that in detail. The first night, he sat up and said "Get down. Get down? I wannnttt Getttt downnnnnnnn . . . ." for several minutes before finally realizing that he wasn't stuck. He climbed out of bed, toddled over to the door and tried to reach the knob on his tippy toes, but couldn't in the dark. Thereby we learned to leave his door open. On night #2, Rhys wriggled out of bed without so much as a token "get down?" and toddled out into the living room calling "mama?". Last night was the first night Rhys woke and we were already in bed, instead of in the living room. He sat in bed whinging for a bit, finally stood up . . . and when we eventually called to him in hopes that he'd come find us, he started crying in earnest, so we went in to rescue him. I think it'll be a process, Rhys learning to come find us when he wakes . . . but if the worst case scenario is that he cries, we hear him and we come rescue him, then that's fine with us.

He seems pretty proud of his toddler bed . . . and it has made our lives easier so far. Huzzah!

As you may have guessed, we also removed the big chair . . . stay tuned for further posts on Fort Meyers, Meyers, Inc. and Rhys' new artwork!

How old was your little one when you made the toddler bed switch? How did the experience go for you?

Labor Day Disneyland Trip

2011-09-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

It turns out that our Disneyland passes are not in fact blacked out on Monday holidays, which fact I realized on the evening before Labor day. And since my hubs and I get to claim Labor Day as our own, being part of the workforce and all, we decided we'd celebrate ourselves with a quick trip to the park.

We caught the Disneyland Band marching past Snow White's wishing well beside the castle:

We rode quite a few rides, including Pirates (which is now closed down for almost two months for refurbishments, SOB!), Casey Jr's Circus Train and The Storybook Land Boats. We posed for pics in a Dumbo ride car, but didn't actually take our first flight (although we should soon ... right? Maybe? 16 months, too young for Dumbo???)

We enjoyed root beer floats aboard the Mark Twain:

We had lunch at The Hungry Bear and did our traditional feeding of the ducks:

We let The Meyers run amok on Tom Sawyer's Island (which, despite it's pirate retheming, will ALWAYS be Tom Sawyer's Island to me!):

And, from the island, I got two photos of which I'm very, very proud:

It was a pretty perfect quick Disneyland day. Days like this one make me really glad we have annual passes. We can run down to the park, paying only for parking and lunch, and cherry pick what we'd like to do for the day. There's no $100 ticket looming over each of our heads, causing us to rush around like crazy people trying to fit in every single ride. We can take time to feed the ducks, to ride small rides, to skip things when lines are too long. Our passes let us relax and truly ENJOY Disneyland. I hope we keep getting them as often as we can, as Rhys and his (SOMEDAY!) sibling grow.

Assvice Wednesdays

2011-09-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

AW#10:

The best time to let a toddler paint is right before bathtime. The best outfit for painting in is a diaper. Amen.

To Dupe or not to Dupe . . .

2011-09-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

Do you ever fall down the internet rabbit hole? It usually starts out innocently enough . . . searching for a black down vest, checking prices on camera lenses, etc . . . then the next thing you know, you've Googled "does breastfeeding make you sweat more?", remotely set your TIVO to record Mickey Mouse's Space Adventure and planned a Disney World vacation straight through to the booking and confirmation stage without actually meaning to book or confirm anything.

These aren't specific examples, of course.

It was on one of these such meanderings that I stumbled upon a few beauty blog entries regarding color dupes; the general idea being that there really are only so many possible blush, eye and lip colors out there and, as such, there could very well be a $2 eyeshadow that is the EXACT SAME COLOR as your $22 favorite shade. A great resource for finding dupe shades can be found here.

Before my wedding trip, I bought a pan of Nars famed Orgasm blush, which I love and use almost daily (Yes, I know, I should've replaced the blush after 2 years or so, but at $27 for the pan, I couldn't bear to toss it! Please don't tell the makeup police on me!):

It is widley purported online, via the Temptalia resource linked above and elsewhere, that Milani's Mineral Blush in Luminous is a solid dupe for Nars Orgasm.

So, I took the plunge and bought a compact of Milani's Luminous. They look pretty darn similar side by side in thier pans:

However, on the skin, they aren't quite the same, in my opinion:

The Nars blush is on the left, closer to my wrist. It comes across as a sheer wash of peach with shimmer. The Milani blush is a little lighter, a little more opaque and a touch powdery, compared to the Nars. It doesen't have the same clear, sheer, wash of color effect. It looks more like "makeup", sitting on top of the skin rather than glazing over it. On the cheeks, the Milani does look remarkably similar to the Nars, but it doesn't wear quite as long.

Is Milani Luminous VERY CLOSE to Nars Orgasm? It is, indeed. Is it an exact dupe? Nope, not in my opinion. Would it be worth it to buy the Milani instead of the Nars given the $21 savings? Maybe. I wear this shade of blush more or less every day, and my Nars blush is still about 1/2 full 2 1/2 years in . . . so figuring cost per wear, it is worth it to me to have the slightly nicer color of longer lasting blush. I don't regret having bought the Milani at all, and I think it would be a great alternative for someone who wanted the Nars Orgasm look just once in a while, or for someone who wanted to try out the shade before comitting to a $27 pan of blush.

It is all relative, I suppose, but, in sum: Milani Luminous vs. Nars Orgasm . . . Nars wins (which may or may not mean you should fork over your $27).

Dinos . . . RAWR!

2011-09-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

I assume we've all seen at least one of the Night at the Museum movies, yes? I LOVE them and I can't wait until Rhys is old enough to enjoy them with me. We can watch a movie . . . then go to our very own Los Angeles Natural History Museum which, while it probably won't come alive, is still jam packed with awesome, awesome exhibits.

I actually have a whole list of movie tie-in activities to share with Rhys when he is a little older . . . watching Ratatouille / making ratatouille, watching Pirates / riding pirates, watching old school 50s movies / making recipes from my 50s Betty Crocker Cookbook for Kids.

BIG SIGH . . . it'll be so much fun.

ANYWAYS.

We visited the Natural History Museum a little while ago. And it was rad.

Dear Photograph

2011-09-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Have you guys seen DearPhotograph.com? No? GO LOOK. It is rad. I'll wait here while you check it out.

Awesome, right?

When we were at Disneyland for the birthday extravaganza (YEP, a month ago and I'm still blogging it. WHAT OF IT?), I asked my parents to pull out a few of our old Disneyland photos in order to try our hand at replicating the effect. Here's what I came up with:

What do y'alls think? Should I submit one to DearPhotograph.com?

NYX Nude on Nude Palette

2011-09-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

You know how I'm a sucker for Urban Decay eyeshadows? Well, I REALLY REALLY wanted the Urban Decay Naked Palette. I couldn't, however, justify spending $48 on something I, frankly, need only a little more than a hole in the head. I stumbled upon a few glowing reviews of the NYX Nude on Nude palette, however . . . some even claiming it was BETTER than the Urban Decay palette . . . and at $20.99 with a 20% off coupon, well . . . $16.79 I could justify, is all I'm saying.

Here's the palette:

I'm pleased as punch with it. The shadows are all wearable neutrals, not one weirdo among them (I'm looking at you, URBAN DECAY!), and while they aren't buttery like UD's shadows, they are totally acceptable in terms of pigmentation, blendability and wear time . . . above average for a drugstore brand but not quite luxury brand caliber, I'd claim. I especially love that the tones lean more grey/taupe than brown. I'm not a huge fan of brown shadow and there's really only one shade here (out of TWENTY!) that I'd call "brown". The rest are variations of grey, taupe, gold, even a antiqued looking green/gold that I can't wait to try.

The palette also includes 10 lip colors, none of which look all that outstanding in the pans. They're kind of meh . . . the only thing I could say about them is that if I were taking this kit on a trip (and I shall!), it might be nice to have those 10 lip color options if I get a bee in my bonnet and decide I want red lips for a night. Otherwise, I don't think they'll see much wear, which is less a testament to their quality (*admits I haven't tried any of them*) than a testament to my own pickiness about lipstick.

And speaking of lipstick, I also picked up an NYX jumbo lip pencil in Copper Pink. I was kind of hoping it'd be similar in texture to my new True Blood for Tarte pencil, but ALAS, it is not. It is a fairly greasy feeling yet reasonably long lasting lipstick in an ok color. Is it just me, or do cheap lipsticks often have a weird opaque, white-ish cast? I remember myself complaining about that in some of my e.l.f. picks, and I see the same cast here. Which isn't to say it is unwearable or won't get much use, just that it isn't a new favorite.

Here's a fotd using the Nude on Nude palette and the Copper Pink lip pencil:

I've had it for about 2 weeks now and of those 14 days, I'd say I have used the NYX Nude on Nude palette maybe 10 of them. That thar's a solid recommendation, I think.

Assvice Wednesdays

2011-09-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

AW#9

Buy this skirt. It is insanely cheap, has a foldover waist (like yoga pants!) that is extremely comfortable and would even work as maternity wear (I'm NOT PREGGO, for the record. HI MOM!), and it is longer than it looks in the photos online . . . it hits just above the knee for me.

Baby in a Suit!

2011-09-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

Ready for the rest of the photos I took at my brother in law's beautiful wedding? OK!

For starters, the groom picked awesome 16 sided die cufflinks as groomsmen's gifts. Here's my hubs modeling them:

Little Man made a new baby friend . . . :

. . . he behaved himself admirably, playing with Grandpa Allan for hours on the stairs while bridal party portraits were being taken. . . :

. . . and he looked quite dapper in his suit:

Mama and Dada didn't look half bad either:

The bride and groom looked gorgeous showing up for their reception (at their home! how incredibly fun!):

The best man had really appropriate hand tattoos:

The babies enjoyed a little sci-fi inspired story time:

And the whole evening was just plain gorgeous:

Wedding Portraits

2011-09-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

My brother in law got married last weekend. Instead of using a bridal room for us all to get ready in, my new sister in law decided to get ready at home and arrive at the church minutes before the wedding. Because the real photographer was with the bride, when I arrived at the church early as part of the groom's party, I had a captive group of nervously excited, dressed up people with 30 minutes to kill. Guess what we did?

Here's a bonus shot of us in our finery, taken by my dad:

I was so thrilled to be able to play photographer. I'm happy with the shots, and, more importantly, my family seems to be too! All shots were taken using my 50mm 1.8 lens, no flash, inside a fairly dark church. I may have been able to do more if I'd had my tripod, reflector and a shutter release remote with me *shamefully hangs head* I honestly didn't realize I'd have such an amazing photo taking opportunity, though *kicks self* I'm going to take this opportunity to remind myself of the old Girl Scout motto . . . BE PREPARED! I have a spare tripod at home, it is going to live in the trunk of my car from now on!

Meyers Approved: Rhys' Favorite Books

2011-09-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I posted about three of my favorite childrens' books to read to Rhys, today I'm showing the flip side of the coin, three of Rhys' own favorite books. This isn't to say Rhys dislikes the books I chose as my favorites, only that the three books below are ones he REALLY, REALLY, REALLY loves. As in claps and smiles and giggles when he sees them.

Goodnight Baby by DK Publishing

I can honestly say I don't really get it. This book is illustrated with pictures of averagely attractive babies photographed on simple white backgrounds performing steps in typical bedtime routine, along with accompanying descriptive text (i.e., "First brush my hair . . . Then find my book . . . "). Rhys is absolutely gaga for it . . . we read this one practically every day (and at least 3x per sitting, when we do read it).

How is Mona Lisa Feeling (Art From The Start)

A simple book featuring reproductions of various famous artworks that depict people expressing different feelings, along with appropriate captions (The Mona Lisa is "Mysterious" . . . The Scream is "Scared" . . . etc.). I am certain Rhys loves this at least half because of the silly voice I use to say "Mysterious", but love it he does, all the same.

I Spy With My Little Eye by Edward Gibbs

This one almost made my Mama's favorites list . . . huzzah for preferences aligning! A simple "I Spy" book about animals with beautiful illustrations and a baby approved cutout page gimmick. The last page reveals a hole inviting baby to see what they can spy with their little eye . . . hilarity ensues.

Which are your little one's favorite books?

Mama Approved: Beautifully Illustrated Childrens' Books

2011-09-08T08:08:00.000-07:00

Rhys and I try to read at least four books per day: the quick book we try to fit in when he wakes up, the several we sit down with after his post work/daycare nursing session and our occasional, usually unsuccessful attempts at a bedtime story (When Rhys decides it is nigh nighs, it is NIGH NIGHS, BITCHES!)

We've been lucky to receive a slew of gorgeous, hardcover childrens' books as gifts for Rhys. A few of my favorites, for sweet, simple story content and beautiful illustrations that I never tire of admiring, are:

Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton

Did you realize that a sixteen month old can't always sit through an entire Dr. Seuss or Little Golden Book story? I didn't! And the first time I tried to read Are You My Mother? in its entirety, Rhys was at the other end of the room trying to stuff a toy truck between the slats of his crib by the time I hit page 13. This book has a similar story line to Are You My Mother?, but it gets to the point in far fewer pages. Plus, I just adore the crafty aesthetic and jewel tones of the illustrations.

Cars Galore by Peter Stein and Bob Staake

Uber-cute, mid-century style illustrations and a really well composed rhythm . . . this book is one of our favorites! I'd imagine as the Meyers gets older, he'll continue to enjoy this book as he learns to point out the various cars described in the text, all of which are featured as adorable illustrations.

Spartacus the Spider by Etienne Delessert

This book, man . . . beautiful illustrations, a sweet story written using words that are accessible enough for children, yet really kinda grown up in theme and tone, and a spider in a centurion helmet. Could it get any cuter? I think not.

So! There are MY favorites. Stay tuned tomorrow for a post on Rhys' personal favorite books.

What are YOUR favorite childrens' books? Are they the same as your kids' favorite books?

Disneyland Central Hub Bokeh Fun

2011-09-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

When we were at Disneyland for the ol' birthday extravaganza last month, we spent the hour Rhys napped in his Ergo taking pictures in Disneyland's central plaza. I pulled out my 50mm 1.8 and got some shots I really love:

I just love playing with our 50. It is tiny, and fits in the diaper/camera bag so easily. It, of course, isn't an all purpose lens, but I've gotten some amazing shots with it when I've had the time to pull it out and play for a few minutes. I'm making an effort to remember to use it at least once per photo-heavy outing.

Do you have the "nifty fifty"? What are your favorite shots taken using it?

Assvice Wednesdays

2011-09-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

AW#8

If you're going to be out late with your baby or toddler (as we were on my brother in law's wedding night, pictured below), bring a set of baby jammies. When you change your last diaper of the evening, dress baby in his jammies so that when he (inevitably) falls asleep in the car on the way home, you stand half a chance of transferring him to bed for the night without waking him.

TokyoMilk Goodies

2011-09-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

I'd been lusting after this perfume for years based on the description alone: Romantic & Ethereal: Deep Vanilla, Exotic Wood, White Orchid, Ebony. Swoon, right?! I had the chance to actually smell it a few months ago while at a Beauty Collection store and immediately fell deeper down the object lust rabbit hole.

Fortunately, my husband was in attendance when I spritzed myself and, it being quite close to my birthday at the time, he took note! Unfortunately, he only took note of the fact that a) the perfume smelled earthy and b) that there was a skull on the bottle. He spent several days quizzing women in his office about where he might be able to find an earthy perfume with a skull on the bottle to (of course) no avail. He finally Googled around until he found the store we'd been to and went from there. FOUR GOLD STARS for him!

Isn't it gorgeous?

He also picked up two of the most gorgeously packaged soaps I've ever seen:

I'm using Dragonfly now and it is delicious. I'm not sure I'll be able to bear tearing into the packaging of Waltz, though. It looks too good on our bathroom counter!

Three cheers for my boy!

Shop Freebies

2011-09-05T08:33:00.000-07:00

I spent a little time the other night tinkering with my inks and stamps in an effort to make a few promo freebies to enclose with any upcoming Etsy orders. Several weeks back, I ordered a "Thank You" stamp with both of my shop urls encircled in a beautiful, ornate border, topped with a crown. The intention was to make enclosure cards of some kind for my outgoing orders, and I did make a few right off the bat. I lost steam on the idea though, and hadn't picked it back up until now.

I made five each of two types of freebies . . . business card sized ATCs and longer, rectangular bookmarks.

The ATCs fit the crafty vibe of my shop, and I LOVE the kraft paper I made them on, since it coordinates well with my existing jewelry packaging. I typically save the ATCs that come with items I've ordered on Etsy and post them either on one of my ribbon boards in my craft area or on my desk at work. I do, however, worry that customers who aren't particularly craftily inclined might look at one and think "Nice business card!" . . . then toss it.

A bookmark, on the other hand, might be viewed as a more useful object and, ergo, a "better" freebie. You could, obviously, use an ATC as a bookmark, but I think the elongated shape of these "official bookmarks" ensures that customers will at once realize what they are and, hopefully, be likely to use them.

What do you think? If you ordered from my shop, would you be happier to find an ATC or a bookmark included in your package?

The Last Of My e.l.f. Goodies

2011-09-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

So! We've discussed the e.l.f. eye pigments, the hot pink blush, the mineral eyeshadow and the dud lipglosses. I've got just a few items left.

A trio of eyeliners:

Essential Shimmer Eyeliner Pencils in Boldly Bronzed and Gunmetal and Essential Liquid Eyeliner in Copper

Here they are swatched:

The shimmer eyeliner pencils are just ok. They're lightly pigmented and, for me, don't function well as true "liners". They do, however, work well to create a smudgy base over which to layer shimmery shadow for a smokey look. I was wearing this liner in Gunmetal underneath the charcoal grey mineral eyeshadow in my last post. I don't feel they're smooth and blendable enough to create a nice smokey eye on their own, which had been my hope.

The glitter liner was a bit of a surprise. I didn't spend much time investigating swatches before I added this liner to my cart, and so I expected a metallic. I spent about half a second feeling put out when I realized this liner was in fact full on glitter . . . then I got over myself and couldn't wait to try it on. It didn't disappoint! Since the glitter catches the light and shimmers when I move, it was the dickens to photograph. Here's as close as I came, but these photos in no way convey the full effect of this liner's sparkle:

And the rest of the face, using e.l.f. Eye Pigments in Naturally Nude and Baked Brown:

For $1, you could do a hell of a lot worse makeup wise. Sure, this eyeliner isn't an everyday shade . . . but it is FUN and it SPARKLES. It wore admirably, with no discernible flaking or shifting during a normal, 11-ish hour day (on top of Too Faced Shadow Insurance). I plan on whipping it out every time I need a little lift.

Lastly, a heroic little sleeper, e.l.f. Essential Nourishing Cuticle Pen:

Here are my nails before the pen:

And again after:

I'm pretty pleased with this little pen! It is quick and easy to use. I've been keeping it in my car for touch ups while stuck in traffic and I do think using the pen has helped stop hangnails in their tracks. I wouldn't rush out and order from e.l.f. for this pen alone, but certainly if you're already ordering, toss one in your cart!

Thus endeth my blabbering about my e.l.f. haul, the second.

Have you ever ordered form e.l.f.? What are your favorite products?

The e.l.f. Saga Continues . . .

2011-09-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

I've got a trio of topics today:

1) e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow. I love my Bare Minerals eye shadows, so I was excited to try e.l.f.'s (MUCH cheaper!) version. I ordered Smoldering, a shimmering charcoal grey:

and swatched (bare skin, no primer):

I was impressed. Really impressed. The shadow had a smooth texture, tons of mineral shimmer (but not glitter) and it blended and wore pretty much exactly like my Bare Minerals shadows do. Well played, e.l.f.

2) e.l.f. Studio Blush in Fuchsia Fusion

I was REALLY excited to try this blush. I've always wanted to try a hot pink blush, but never felt like I could justify spending Sephora style prices on something that may or may not look good on me. I'm a sucker for the Nars copycat packaging too:

I'm happy to report that I like this blush. It is bright, happy and glittery. Not something I see myself wearing every day, but fun to pull out on occasion.

3) e.l.f. Mineral Lipglosses (in Night Owl and Trophy Wife), Studio Lip Stain (in Mysterious), Pout Perfecter and Essential Feather Proof Moisturizing Lip Liner (in Bark and Mauve Luxe)

Here they are swatched:

From left to right: Liners in Mauve Luxe and Bark, Lip Stain in Mysterious, Pout Perfecter and Mineral Glosses in Trophy Wife and Night Owl.

There's just no polite way to say this, but they were all duds. That may be unfair. Let me revise: The Mineral Gloss in Night Owl is ok enough that I'm keeping it on my desk at work for random mindless touch ups. The rest? I doubt they'll see any wear.

The liners have an unflattering white-ish cast and one has scratchy wood bits around the product tip (the diameter of the product is narrower than the diameter of the hole in the pencil, so sharpening won't rectify the situation). Trophy Wife is neither here nor there . . . not sparkly enough to be cool and with no pigment to recommend it otherwise. The Lip Stain in Mysterious is pale and chalky and the Pout Perfecter, while the concept is pretty cool, refuses to stay put on my bottom lip, resulting in random flecks of holographic glitter smattered all over my lips.

Aside from the fact that e.l.f.'s website doesn't seem to adequately represent these lip colors (they're all much, MUCH more sheer and/or light than they appear on my screen), I think the formulas could all use some improving. Needless to say I'll be ordering very judiciously when it comes to e.l.f. lip products in the future (although I won't say I feel "had", by any means . . . These products cost $1, $1.50 a pop at most, since I ordered during a sale.)

Here's a FOTD using many of these (and a few other) products, full list below:

* Stila Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer in Light
* Ulta Mineral Foundation (as concealer)
*** e.l.f. Studio Blush in Fuchsia Fusion ***
* e.l.f. Studio HD Powder
* Too Faced Shadow Insurance
* e.l.f. Shimmer Eyeliner Pencil in Gunmetal
*** e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow in Smoldering ***
* Bare Minerals Eyeshadow in Celestine
* Maybeline Brow Pencil
* Revlon Custom Eyes Mascara in Black
*** e.l.f. Lipliner in Mauve Luxe ***
*** e.l.f. Mineral Lipgloss in Trophy Wife ***

I e.l.f.-ed Again . . .

2011-09-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help it!!! They were offering 50% off of all Studio and Mineral line cosmetics and I was dying to try some of their eyeliners, lip products and eye pigments.

The pigments? They did not disappoint!

I ordered Naturally Nude, Baked Brown and Magical Maroon. Naturally Nude was more of a warm beige gold, not at all what I'd call "nude", but in a good way! I LOVE this shade! Baked Brown was darker than I had expected and Maroon was less purple, more burgundy. Here they are swatched:

The shadows each come with a tiny little brush that is too small to be useful and sheds like crazy. I tossed the brushes, and kind of wish they hadn't been included at all since they cheapened the whole experience. These shadows are actually REALLY spectacular . . . densely pigmented (what you see in the tub is what you get on your lids) and long wearing (I wore them over Too Faced Shadow Insurance, but was still impressed by how little they faded over the course of the day).

Here's a FOTD using Naturally Nude and Magical Maroon (with a cameo from my husband, in the background chasing the Meyers around trying to get him shod and sunblocked for the day):

Assvice Wednesdays

2011-08-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

AW#7:

If you're trying to use a small diaper bag and you're pressed for space, tuck a folding nylon grocery bag into one of the pockets. That way, if you acquire any extra paraphernalia while out for the day, if your spawn removes his jacket, if you decide to take off your baby carrier, etc. you'll have something in which to carry said excess stuff. This can be handy, since if you're trying to wrangle a rabid toddler, you won't have a spare hand free!

Dear Meyers

2011-08-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

To my Sweet Buttery Boo:

You are 16 months old today. SIXTEEN MONTHS! When that happened, I have no clue. Thursday is the one year anniversary of the day I went back to work, a/k/a, the worst day of my life. No offense to my job, but it is true. Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done, hands down.

It might be a coincidence, but just these last two weeks you've developed a spot of separation anxiety. We'd gotten into a routine of setting you up in a high chair with a breakfast Nutri Grain bar in the mornings. I'd get you settled, put your lunch bag in the fridge, put your backpack in your cubby then come back for a kiss and a wave goodbye. You'd kiss, smile, wave back and shout "BYE BYE!!!" as I walked down the driveway. A few times recently, though, you've lifted up your little arms to be picked up out of your high chair, stolen a few extra minutes of snuggles then, heartbreakingly, cried when I've passed you off to Maria. Thankfully, all of those times, I've paused at the end of the driveway and listened to find you'd stopped crying. I had a chat with you while you nursed in the car after pickup yesterday evening . . . I promised I'd always come get you (except, of course, for the times when your daddy would). You looked up at me intently with your huge baby eyes, and I like to think you understood. You didn't cry this morning, in any event.

You are wicked smart. Seriously. You blow my mind practically every day. The other night, you were putting away your toys in the bath and you knew that the bottles should be lined up on the ledge while the toys went in the mesh bag. At one point, a big plastic bathtub book was filling up the entire opening of the toy bag and, in order to get a smaller bathtub book in, you took out the bigger book, put the smaller book in, then put the bigger book back. Maybe I'm easily impressed, but I seriously thought that was the craziest, smartest thing I've ever seen a wee toddler do. Your other tricks include being able to place all 5 shapes in your shape sorter, stacking up to 6 blocks and being able to open all the childproof locks we've tried for our kitchen cabinets.

Your vocabulary is . . . like, whoa. You can say about 45 words and you understand hundreds. You've been putting together a few simple sentences. For example, you used to say "down" when you wanted off the big bed or out of your high chair. You started saying "get down" about a month ago and, lately, it has become "I want get down". Your newest "word" is "Ummm", which is HILARIOUS. We'll ask you a question and you'll say "Ummm . . . DAT!!!" or "Ummm . . . DES!!!"

Last night your dad and I were playing with you in your room before bedtime. Your dad attempted (quite successfully, actually) to juggle, which made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe. Then we set you up with three different drums and a pair of drumsticks. You passed your dad a whistle and me a harmonica for a little playtime jam session. I thought that simple nights like that one, where we were all having fun together, were the ones I wanted to remember. We've got piles of photos from big days out and trips away, but 30 years from now, when you're grown and maybe even married with kids of your own, the moments I'll want to remember are much smaller and simpler than the ones we have documented.

I'm going to keep your happy giggles, wet baby kisses and 1,000 watt smiles locked in a box in my heart.

Love,
Your Mama

Fabric Rosettes

2011-08-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Recently, I hosted a crafty bridal tea for my soon to be new sister in law. We ate scones, watched the royal wedding (leftover on my DVR!) and made fabric flowers finished off with barrette and brooch findings. Super fun!

I've made tons of singed edged fabric flowers, but I was itching to try something new and, having recently cleaned out all of my crafting materials, I knew I was sitting on a pretty huge stash of linen fabric. I found this tutorial for making shabby chic, rolled fabric roses and it didn't disappoint! I cranked out two roses easily (while hosting a bridal shower and minding my one year old!). If that isn't proof positive that these roses are easy and fun to make, I don't know what is! I'm already itching to make a few more:

Tarte for True Blood . . .SWOON!

2011-08-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

Because I have the bestest husband and baby EVER, I was gifted with the following Tarte for True Blood items on my birthday (I KNOW, right?!?!):

Tarte for True Blood Limited Edition LipSurgence

A perfect, bright cherry (almost coral tinged) red in an awesome, super pigmented balm style formula. This lipstick lasts longer than most and doesn't feel at all sticky. It has a cool mint tingle and flavor. I'm not gonna lie, I kinda want one in every shade now.

And (drum roll, please) the Tarte for True Blood Limited Edition Palette

(Have you keeled over dead from the awesomeness yet?)

I'm a sucker for a good film/tv makeup tie in. I have and love the Alice in Wonderland Urban Decay palette, but I have to say, I think this Tarte has Urban Decay beat with this one. The shadows are more wearable, neutral shades (if you're into that sort of thing, and I am), the kit includes arguably the best mascara I've ever used and a stick of Tarte's famous gel eyeliner.

The kit also included instructions to replicate four looks. I went with Luminous Fairy below (worn with the True Blood lip color):

I'm loving playing with my new goodies!

Halloween is Coming!!!

2011-08-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fat dork who loves Halloween. And, as such, every year I anxiously await the arrival of Halloween related merchandise in stores. The day before my birthday last week I got an email from Bath and Body works about their new Halloween line and, internet?, I was in a store snapping things up within about 12 hours. Here are some of my purchases:

Halloween Anti Bac Hand Soaps

We've got a baby, We need anti-bac soap ANYWAYS. Might as well make it festive for the holiday!

Halloween Themed Body Lotion in Sinful Vanilla

Frankly? I wanted them all. I settled for Sinful Vanilla though: a fresh, clean smelling vanilla in a to die for adorable red bottle. I detect a faint whiff of mens' cologne in this one . . . I was kind of hoping it'd be more creamy and puddingy (like the original B&BW vanilla bean . . . anyone remember that? It smelled EXACTLY like pudding. I loved it!). Still, nice all the same.

Bat Pocket-Bac holder with Skulls Pocket-Bac

Are you seeing this? Is this not the cutest thing EVER?! I fully intend to keep my bat tethered to my son's diaper kit YEAR ROUND. It is adorable and just the right dash of creepy. SQUEE!

Halloween Lip Glosses in Bad Witch and Vampire Vixen

These . . . well . . . I don't know why I keep buying Bath and Body Works lip glosses. Actually, I do. It is because they're adorable. But they're on the pricey side and, while I tend to love them intensely for about a week and a half, after that they get sticky, goopy and smelly and I wind up tossing them into the bottom of my makeup drawer never to emerge again. These two glosses are probably going to suffer the same fate, but I'm liking them right now. Bad Witch is a color changer that goes on clear but turns into a jelly, sheer fuchsia. Vampire Vixen is shown on my lips below:

Fun stuff, right? Do you geek out on Halloween?

The Revenge of the Disney Birthday Extravaganza

2011-08-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

So! Where were we? Oh yes, just finished up watching the Disneyland fireworks from my parents' balcony and off to bed the night before our big DISNEYLAND day!

We kicked off day two with another McDonalds' breakfast (Disney and McDonalds' brekkie . . . they just belong together!) and headed into the park. We made a beeline for the all new Star Tours and it didn't disappoint! We used the rider switch option (poor Meyers . . . too small for Star Tours!) and funnily, even given 50 possible ride combinations, we all wound up going on the same adventure! All well though, Hoth was rad!

While we waited for my parents to make their Star Tours Journey, we let Rhysapotomus run around the Star Trader gift shop:

Then we all went on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters together . . . and I scored my personal best, 496,100 points. Seriously! I even ranked . . . I had the 35th best score for the day so far (It was only about 10am . . . but I'm still proud!):

After Buzz, the hubs and I took a quick, baby-free trip on Space Mountain . . . we'd gotten FastPasses earlier and I was so excited to ride, since in the last 2 years we've had Disneyland passes I've either been pregnant or had a wee Meyers strapped to me through our whole visit, so I haven't been able to ride anything big. Whee!!!

By the time we finished Space Mountain, Rhysosaur was pooped and happily fell asleep in the Ergo. We used the downtime to play with our camera and lenses in Disneyland's central plaza:

After which The Meyers woke up, we had an excellent lunch at the Hungry Bear (Fried Green Tomato Sandwiches! Sweet Potato Fries!) and headed on in to New Orleans Square, my favorite part of the park, for a little Haunted Mansion action:

Sang "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for RHYS!":

And shared a mint julep:

We headed into Toontown next to let Rhysaroni run amok:

We met the big cheese himself (Rhys was unimpressed):

After which Rhys and I visited the (awesome!) Disneyland baby care center for some nursing privacy. Rhys fell asleep and consented to be passed off to Grandma and Grandpa for a bit so that the Boy and I could ride Indiana Jones together:

The Meyers finished off the day on a high note, by stealing Boy's corndog:

So! There you have it! An exhaustive, photo laden account of our trip to the Mouse House. I loved every second of it!