Red Shoes blog

Sunny Side UP please!

  It's that time of year when even my EGGS better be sunny!
  Ask ANY Michigander and they will tell you that they are pretty much SICK of winter and need sun!
  Thankfully the past couple of days (in between a big snowfall) we had some Sweet, glorious SUNshiney rays.
  We spent a good part of Sunday outside, and even though it was around 35 degrees,  the sun was out, and so were we.  it was like crawling out of a cave into the light,
we definitely needed that.
We walked around Kensington Park, if you live local and haven't been there,  you should check it out,  It's HUGE!
They have an outdoor skating rink on the lake that is groomed and has music piped out on it so you can skate to some nice tunes.  very old school,  i like it!
   The trails are groomed, so it's nice for walking the dog, or just going for a walk your self.
  In fact the day was SO beautiful I couldn't bear to be away from the sun,  so I made Ian pack up the kids and take me for a country drive so I could watch the sun set.
  (i know that's not very enviromentally conscious to be driving around.....but it was very mentally needed!)
  I love that not even 5 minutes from our house you can see large fields and barns......







sunny shadows were cast on silos and 
the sky was so amazingly blue....

it just made your eyeballs feel good just looking at it!

it left us with a last little glow of cotton candy pink before it finally went down.
  So the past couple of days I've tried to re-create that sunny feeling and surround myself with sweet springy fabrics,  because I just NEED it.
I even bought myself a little patch of grass at the local market because I also NEED a little bit of green!

unfortunately even though I was surrounded by fabric-loveliness, I only managed to make 4 pillows!
I am definitely stumped creatively at the moment
(even though for the past 2 nights in a row I have woken up at 4 A.M. with my thoughts racing over projects! UGH!)
So here are my 4 little pillows.....
it's a start

the pretty Heather Bailey, and Amy Butler fabrics are just so yummy.

just working with them makes you feel all springy inside!

these pillows would look so nice on MY bed,  but I am faithfully bringing them down to the shop today.
lumpy and all!
(my pillows aren't perfect that's for sure, they're handmade, so i guess that's part of the package, RIGHT?)
:)

but collectively, I think they look O.K. together, So
please forgive them of their sins won't you?

i DID pay a lot of attention to detail in other areas!
now honestly, I can't remember life without the B.S.R. foot!  (the bernina stitch regulator)  it allows you to sew free-form.  I am totally in LOVE with this product.
Mind you,  I still need lots of practice,  but I've gotten my toes wet,  and I LOVE it!
  Well,  on that note,  I should end this post,  gotta get the kids dressed...and head to work.
  I will be bringing the Birds back to the shop today for all of you locals who missed them.
Pierre and Tulip will be finally back to the shop to chirp and sing for your pleasure in their new deluxe cage.
I can tell even THEY missed being there and having people talk to them.
  They definitely give the shop a springy feeling.
Enjoy your day all!
xoxoxo
c.



 

Quandary

  I was in a state of that yesterday.....what to do!
Now usually when I am out hunting for vintage treasures and goods it's purely for the shop.
  I really don't have any room at home for more STUFF.
  The Bad thing about it is,  I buy what I love,  then in turn share it with you, So Sometimes the things I find ARE hard to part with, because I truly do only buy what I would have in my own home!
  Thankfully most times I have discipline and control myself, I faithfully clean them up and bring the goods down to the store to sell.
Yesterday was Not the case.
I had weakness.
I had no self control
I lost all ability to think clearly.
I fell in love.

Now when I spotted this I initially gasped out loud and was VERY excited,  not only at the good price, but where I was going to put it at the store.
I also thought I was going to give it a nice sanding and paint it another color,  perhaps a bright blue.
  But the bad thing is that I brought it home and put it in my garage.........and started thinking.
(that's always a bad thing)
Then of course,  being the type of person I am,
I literally carried this THING into my house,  BY MYSELF. right that minute.  I am very determined you see.
I can't wait.
because if I had waited for Ian to come home and help me, he would have tried to talk me out of bringing it inside.  he would have insisted that it go down to the shop.
that's why I don't listen to him. ;)
because see how cute it looks right here....

it perfectly holds all some of my books, and favorite trinkets.
things I NEED to surround me for inspiration.



So really this thing has purpose, it's HELPING me become a better person.
in fact i am feeling so inspired right now just LOOKING at those books filled with ideas and goodness.

I could just sit here all day!
with you know who, of course.
xoxoxoxo
c.
p.s.
thanks for the cheeto love,  you made me feel so much better!

Drumroll please.......

  Well,  not only was I having technical difficulties with my typepad account, but my printer failed to operate last night!
  Do I have a black cloud hanging over me?  :)
SOoooooo I used one of those random number generators on the web.
boy is THAT easy!  Love it!
   the random number was 10!
and the lucky winner is Sara from Girland!
yay Sara!
  I will email you later today and ask you a couple of things!
   I am actually going to go right back to bed
for a tiny bit,  it's winter break this week,  so I don't need to race off any where this morning..... everyone's still sleeping...(including the dog) so shhhhhh!  don't tell anyone i'm being lazy!   ;)
talk soon
xoxoxoxo

nothing in particular....

 

Are you like me,  where you try and come up with some sort of title or caption to you blog entry that's relevant, or funny, or somehow ties into whatever you're trying to say,  which sometimes 'aint a whole lot?
  well,  if you were like me,  you would kind of obsess over these things.
Because now that I've been doing this whole blog thing for over a year now,  my mind and life is now strangely
just blog fodder.
I am constantly thinking in blog terms.  "ooh,  that would be a good one"  "i'll have to remember that!"
What does that say about me?
  Well today's title could have also been
"life with A.D.D. and a lot of O.C.D. with a little G.E.R.D, and LOads of L.O.L'ing in between"
   Or perhaps  "What I'm putting off doing today!"
or my favorite "Here's a Tip: don't eat cheetoes while sewing on White fabric"
Because if you were an incredibly intelligent person like me,  you'd do that.
  Now I hate to admit that I was even EATING cheetoes,
because to me those just seem so "low class". 
I mean that color is NOT in the natural world folks.  I wouldn't be caught dead with those in my shopping cart,  unless of course I bought the organic natural cheetoes.
i could do that,  because somehow that seems to make me  a MUCH better person who'S above it all!
  But now you know I am a CLOSET-eating brilliant orange chomping cheetoe-muncher.
(Ian Had these left over from his trip up north with the guys to the cabin, clearly he's not fazed by the stigma cheetoes have....or maybe it's just me?)
Anyways,  WHile I was working on those Number pillows
on bright white fabric I was obviously in a cheetoe-induced stupor because I TOUCHED the fabric and smeared a nice orange smudge on the pillow!
Horrified at not only the fact that I just ruined something that took me a while to produce,  I was amazed at my depravity.
  Oh how low i've sunk.
Now you know my secrets, Because I know a lot of you appreciate the honesty.....don't you just feel Oh-so much better about yourselves?
Really,  I'm here for you.
it's o.k.
  So today I am BACK to the shop,  and I am going to try and FOCUS and upload some new stuff to the website today.
It's a GOAL,  and I Love to Have those.

  OH, By the way I also thought that in appreciation for all of your generosity and kind comments,  (not to mention I'd like to see all who crawls out from the woodwork) (and I mean this in the nicest way)
I am going to do a RANDOM give-away!
I have NO idea what I will be sending you,
but it will be something fun,  and sweet,  perhaps tailored to your own personal style that I will attempt to decipher once you've won, and I have asked you a few questions!  (see this will be both FUn AND challenging for my brain!)
so drop me a little note won't you?  I will do the drawing on Sunday!
xoxoxoxoxo
c.

UPDATE*

Houston, we have a problem!

not all of your comments are coming through to my email for some reason.....which means I don't have emails for all of you in order to respond to you comments....or contact you should you win SOOOOO...
  I will end this little contest tonight at 11:00pm

and print out all of the comments, do my old school style drawing and choose one of you,  post the comment

should it be one of the ones that is not showing & get in touch with you!

I will check back with you soon,

and post the winner tomorrow morning!  (Monday Feb 25)

Sunshine and Rest.....

  Makes ALL the difference in the WORLD!
Thanks to all of you who left me sweet comments and commiserated on the whole parenting thing....we all have our stories now don't we?   Makes life so much fun!
  I spent the majority of the weekend in BED and got lots of rest,  then spent Sunday with kids and play dates.....worked on cleaning the house and doing laundry.  It's funny how those mundane things can really,  HONESTLY make me feel better.
  Having a clean home, even though it literally lasts a day (or really a few hours)  can make my head feel a little less foggy.
  Well, That is until I met with my adorable accountant yesterday!
I have to tell you,  I have the greatest accountant,  he is very laid back,  Hippie-groovy really,  charges VERY reasonable rates and always gives me fantastic tips on how to run my Quick books program or how to cut corners and save money,  not to mention that he is very patient with me,  and can deal with my very dis-organized ways without being mad at me!
  He's also in a band which makes me think he is very cool indeed.
  But I have to tell you,  In spite of all of the wonderful things he is,  when he starts to talk numbers to me,  and inventory, and itemizing things I start to glaze over and become POLYESTER......completely NON-absorbent!
  I absolutely HATE this time of year,  counting things.
But thankfully I have HIM,  and ANN who counted EVERYTHING in the shop for me,  and wrote it down neatly in a book.  they truly are saints and I could not  do this with out them.
  I know where my strengths and weaknesses are!
So today, Since I have them dealing with that crud,  I will be home  trying to finish up these little projects I have been working on.......
  I recently stumbled back onto that fabric you can put into your printer and print photos onto.
   I actually have used it before,  but sometimes you have one of those "aha!" moments and a NEW project comes out that inspires you!  so this is what I was working on
this week!

I took vintage classroom flashcards and printed them onto fabric to make pillows!  I love these huge graphics! I didn't see any copyright marks on them either,  so I think I am o.k. But If I end up in jail over these pillows,  you'll know why.
what a fun technique though!  I love this stuff!


I'm also working on using my OWN artwork for some of these projects, because this truly is a very versatile thing.
  The only one complaint I have about it however is that the paper backing didn't really come off of the fabric that easily,  Thankfully I didn't have a brain-hemorrhage from the rage I experienced at trying to peel that junk off,  because when you have a 5 hour window of opportunity to create something,  the last thing you want to be doing is peeling off little bits of paper!
grrrrr!  so anyone out there know of a good product,  please let me know!
  I also started working on those number pillows and should have some uploaded to the site in the next 2 weeks.

it all takes time, but I am faithfully working on it all.....now on a side note, check out my new little cat-eye glasses aren;t they so cute?  I bought them at Plum market.  Yes,  that place is becoming a bit of a problem for me. I really LIKE it there a lot.
  I actually saw another fellow blogger there, and unfortunately she gave me a great tip about lotion,  which of course led me down another dangerous aisle, and I had to buy!
So if you are shriveling up like me and need a great lotion for your skin,  because you are having a mid-life crisis and feel like wrinkles are sprouting everywhere and your trying to stop it as best you can try this lotion......it works!
thanks Heather,  you really made my day.....
which leads me to another Topic and something that I have been totally remiss at reciprocating because,  well you know,  life has a way of doing that to you....
but 2 other bloggers were so kind and generous at giving me this little award

The sweet Karey all the way over there across the world!,  and the very talented and Kind Anne over across the big lake, (check out her dogs,  they are adorable!)
You guys are VERY kind to give me this award,  but unfortunately i am the WORST person at doing these kinds of things because the whole premise is that you are supposed to then choose 5 other blogs that make YOUR day and list them and do links etc.
well,  this is just too much for me, i can't do it!
I would hate to leave anyone out because you ALL inspire me and make my day every time you come and visit, or stop by and give me an encouraging word.
SO just know that I nominate ALL of you for that award o.k.!
Which of course leads me to the next and constant
guilty topic of email.
i will just be honest with you and say,  If I get more than 3 comments in my box, in addition to the other pile of email in my in-box,  I again become polyester and can't absorb. can you tell I am easily overwhelmed?
but you all know I have problems!  :)
So if I don't respond,  just know it's not personal.
because you know I have to reiterate that oh,  about every-other blog post,  because I care!
  Now my LAST thing for today is this......
look what just rolled into the shop yesterday!
control yourself,  the cuteness may be too much....
Ann herself was doing a LOT of hugging and squeezing yesterday, I'm not kidding.

aren't they so flippen cute?!  oh my!  and the prices are amazing,  just $12-$14!
they come with these little adorable outfits...

and the shoes,  now don't even get me started!

OOOOH!
  SO on that note,  I better put this incredibly LONG and sorry post to rest, go park myself next to the window in the sweet sunshine and get back to work so I can actually show you some more FUN things soon!
As always,  thanks for stopping by
You really ALL do make my day!
xoxoxo
c.






 

Do-over

 

Can I have one of those?
I should NOT have posted yesterday because I was Indeed in a funk.  But many of you appreciate my honesty,  so I should just roll with that.
  Funny thing is about this blogging business is that I really do care about what you think of me.
  Here I go and put myself out there,  wanting approval,
seeing if everything I am doing is all right.
we all need that I suppose.
we all want to know that we're o.k.
  So Today I wanted to let you know I am back to work at the shop,  it feels good to be back here. I'm o.k. today. (for now)  :)
I am going to try and get some photos uploaded to the website and do things like that,  but if it doesn't happen,  I am going to let myself be o.k, with that.
I think a lot of times we women put too much pressure on ourselves.  silly really.
  but don't think I won't be heading over to my little local hangout after work for my vodka-tonic.
it is friday night after all. :)
  Now speaking of Honesty,  my friend Ann said I should tell you what's really going on at home....
so you could have a little peak into my REAL life.
  it's always exciting.
I usually just give you the G-rated version of my life because I don;t want to give TOO much information.
but I think you guys like it when I keep it real.
  So here goes.
Part of my stress of course comes from being a working woman,  and raising children.
Kids don't come with handbooks and instruction manuals,
so we all just muddle through as best we can.
My children are so special in that they like to crank things up a notch and make it extra-tough for me to parent.
The past few weeks Fiona has been quite challenging.
is this what happens when kids turn 5?

Last week she was obsessing,  and i mean OBSESSING about germs and handwashing,  and was completely tearful about having things touch her,
for example,  "mom,  I accidently peed on my shirt,  and my shirt was in my backpack, which touched my boots,  which touched my coat,  which touched my stuffed animal,  which I touched,  so I have to wash my hands,  and you have to wash everything else too"
this went on for 8 days.  there were lots of tears,  and tantrums,  it was ridiculous,
then it stopped suddenly and was replaced by
"mom,  I am afraid my middle finger is going to flip up at you!"
she kept saying this over and over,  like her finger had a hair trigger and may go off at any moment.
crazy I tell you.  that one lasted 3 more days.....
then we switched to penises.....and the fact that she thought about them everyday,  and wished she had one.
I could go on in explicit detail about the way she obsessed over that one,  but I won't bore you with that.
just suffice it to say things aren't boring over here.
  Thankfully we do a lot of laughing,  otherwise we might be jumping off of buildings!
  I will leave you with this one,  which happened last night,
I thought it was hysterical.
  Ian was trying to get Jackson to eat his green beans,  of course Jackson was griping about it and saying NO!
  Ian was starting to get irritated and Looked at him and kind of shouted
"Jackson, I'm just asking you to eat 3 GREEN Beans!" 
at which point a kernel of rice shot out of his mouth and onto Jackson's plate.
needless to say the meal ended right there.
we died laughing.
So I guess that's not TOO bad,  but when you are in the middle of it,  it can feel a tad overwhelming.
So this hopefully explains MY tantrum yesterday.
  I know people out there have it worse than me,  so i shouldn't carp.  but you know the deal.
  ANyhoo.
I will leave you with these images.....
jewelry I managed to finish.
because I know some of you like eye candy,  and I do aim to please.






I know it doesn;t look like much,  but really I WAS working,  honest.
o.k., now I am going to rest.
gotta go head over to EBAY to check on some of my auctions.
I was obsessing over this one.

Is it crazy to almost pay $20 for a vintage band aid tin?
I love that symbol of the cross.
so much so in fact that i bought some of these T's over at SUndance.  shame on me.

I also bought this little camera one too.

I love what it has written on Back,  because,  well,  i need to be reminded of THAT!

so I guess I should go do that now.
but boy,  when you are in a funk, shopping feels so good doesn;t it?  :)
I'm also eyeballing these puppies

tsk, tsk.
thanks to all for listening to me gripe,  for actually wanting to come visit here, and dealing with my rollercoaster emotions.
I know you all can relate about that one.
love to you all.
xoxoxo
c.

will you be my Valentine?

Happy Valentines Day to you all!
I hope you are all surrounded by love and warmth today.
I want to thank you all for the nice comments about my Boy,  thank you thank you!
  He Actually was supposed to be my Valentine baby,  that was his due-date  but since he was so big they decided to make things happen a little faster.
but the funny thing is,  he is always surrounded by hearts,  he finds them everywhere,  it really is kind of sweet how it really does happen.
  I have written about it before, but it's wild how those hearts follow him,  they will show up in a potato chip,  on a bubble in the shower,  he had a heart-shaped pickle the other day on his hamburger,  no joke.  he has hearts around him everywhere.
  I always tell him it's because he is truly loved.
and he is.  So thanks for sharing that with me,  you are all very kind.
  Today we are just going to hang out as a family,  no big plans,  my husband and I don't really celebrate valentines day,
I know he loves me,  and vice-versa.  I certainly don't need any chocolate,  or flowers,  not the diamond type either.  so lucky for him he has a cheap date!
  We will probably just watch a movie,  and I am O.k. with that!   looking forward to it actually. I am pretty tired.
I have been working lately on jewelry,  but I am going to take a break.
  Don't know what I will be working on today,  but I will show you whatever I come up with soon.
Life has been wild lately,  so I haven't been around much.   In fact I think I need a break period.
  I am feeling a little overwhelmed and need to get my noggin straight.
  I feel like I am going in a million directions and not getting anywhere fast.
Yesterday was nuts,  had to take Jackson to the Doctor,  then whip home and make valentines for 32 kids in Fiona's class and then 18 for his class,  get kids fed, guitar lesson for Jackson, whip over to Fiona's preschool for an Art night,  race home get kids bathed and read them a book then bed...... in between it all throw in trying to make things and running the store...
  Sometimes it really is too much.  I question why on earth I do it.  blah, blah, blah.
  I hate to be a drip,  but I totally am. Sorry.
So you see...I need to go away for awhile so I can come back on the sunny side of things.  you don't want to hear me gripe!  You want COlor,  and Art work, and painting tips,  maybe even a tutorial or two.
I'll work on it.
  Now I don't want you to think it's all gloom and doom,  or to paint this picture that we are this perfect family hanging around singing kumbaya together,  but Something that we have been doing lately together has been wonderful.
We have been all piling in on our bed at night and reading a chapter book together out loud.
  every night we read a couple of chapters....  this week it's been the book "because of Winn Dixie"
what a great book!
  It's been great being together reading and listening,  my husband and I taking turns reading aloud.
It reminds me of the old days when people would sit around on front porches telling stories.
  My mother always used to do that with us when we were kids at the dinner table,  and I remember how special it was.  In fact the other night I was driving home somewhere with the kids, and decided to tell them a ghost story.  they were fascinated......they kept asking to hear more stories,  completely spellbound by my words.   the great thing about it too was that they stopped fighting for a minute and actually listened!
I will admit the sad thing is,  I don't have that many stories,  or at least ones I can remember.
  My mothers life was rich with stories from her childhood growing up, basically wild in Texas.
  She would tell stories about her Grandfather who was an herbal Faith healer or cunandera,  whom people would travel from Miles around to visit because he was so amazing.
  She would speak Of the times she would drive the car when she was only 12 years old,  of picking ripe oranges off the trees and eating them right there in the fields while staring up at the clouds....watching chickens laying eggs,  and many other adventures she would have.
  I know these don't sound too exciting to you,  but to me they meant everything.
  So if I can leave you with ONE positive Thing today...
that would be
Try telling your kids a story,  or reading them one,
you will be amazed at what happens! 
if nothing else,
you will be amazed at just what spending a little bit of time can do for them and you...it truly will make your heart swell,  and that folks is really what it's all about.
  Hope you have a great Valentines day.
love to you all!
xoxoxoxo

10

  Tomorrow my baby is going to be 10.
it's hard to believe that life can go by that fast.
one day he's a little baby,  and the next he's into the double digits.
  I wish I could show you pictures of him when he was a little baby, (actually he was a GIANT baby.....9pounds 11 oz. at birth) OUCH.  but that was before the digital age hit me,  and I would have to scan some photos....we'll see.
Maybe i'll get some wild hair and get motivated to do that....upload photos.
You see,  I'm not like you scrap booking people out there,  and I know there are a TON of you out there!
I am the type who stores her precious photographs in a giant rubbermaid tub,  down in the basement.  where they can be exposed to moisture and all of that good stuff,  because,  remember,  I am VERY RESPONSIBLE.
ugh.  maybe someday i'll grow up and do the right things.  in fact,  HE'S probably more grown up than I am!
  Too much so.
I will now give you a  little photo documentary of my boy in celebration of his  being a DECADE  older now.
(he likes to tell me this a lot...."mom,  I'm a DEcade!"
yes, I know,  and I can feel myself shriveling up  by the second each time he mentions it)

when he used to like having his face painted....
now don't even think about touching him with a ten foot pole with face paints,  unless of course it was eyeliner.  like they wear in punk bands.

when he was sweet and loving with his little (bald) sister,  now it would be big time wrestling moves and rib jabs.

when we could get him to wear respectable clothing without a lot of tears and screaming.  he now prefers pants that look like he's worn them for months stranded on a deserted island....all frayed at the bottom complete with holes too.  so nice.

when he used to act like a pixie and be so sweet and silly, ..... wouldn't touch this hat if you paid him a million dollars today.....it would mess up the "hair"
for crying out loud!

no matter what he's still my sweet boy so full of mischief and wonder....

even though I know that right around the corner
little bubble beards....

will be replaced by real ones..

and he may not want to be around me anymore.

but for now....I still see little glimpses of the small boy who still loves his mom and wants to be with her.
He had his first sleep over at a friends house last night!
Hard to believe it was his first,  but in actuality my son is a bit of a prima-donna and hasn't done this only because he likes the comforts of his own queen-sized bed with Egyptian cotton sheets (i'm not kidding,  my mother bought him those)  he hates sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor and won't settle for anything less than what he has.
  SO last night was his first time out,  of course being the neurotic mother that I am I worried about him,  said to him a milion times "if you want to come home,  you can call me at ANY hour of the night and i'll come get you"  I also had to throw in there the "don't sleep on the top bunk if you can help it either"  thing.  because I think of these things,  I am QUITE efficient in my worst-case-scenario situations.
it's quite comical actually at how bad I can get,  but that's a WHOLE different story!
  It's amazing what your mind does to you the minute you have children.
  I probably would have never signed up for it had I known how much a heart could ache with worry or fear,  but then again,  I wouldn't have had it any other way  because in the same breath I could never have also felt my heart swell with pride and joy over them too.
  So my sweet boy

I hope you have a wonderful 10th birthday,  and many more to come....
I wish you nothing but happiness and the ability to let your wings stretch and for you to FLY!

I just hope I have the ability to survive it all!  ;)
love you!
xoxoxoxoxoxo
c.

p.s.
click here to listen to Jackson's (and My)
current favorite song.
a nice cheerful little number (sorry)

Pheww.....

O.k. where to begin?
I am back to work...spiraling as usual,   but seriously trying to focus and get things done today!  I am on a mission.....do you think I can do it?
  Because in reality,  there seems to always be some sort of roadblock in my life these days.....am I willing these things upon myself?  I don't know...
  I have had nothing but problems dealing with people lately,  namely service workers,  and doctors offices.
I am usually quite patient, basically rolling over like a dog on it's back taking whatever crap they dish out,  but this week,  I had an attitude, and let some verbal jabs fly.  At first it kind of felt nice,  but really that's not how I do things. it's not nice!
  hopefully now that i am back to work everything will settle back down into some sort of "normalcy"  which of course is never the case in my life,  but you know what I mean.
This week I basically just worked on Jewelry because Fiona was home sick the better part of this week,  and that's what I could handle. because I am NOT kidding,
this is what was on my LAP...like all day.

and of course wherever SHE goes,  this one follows too

you gotta love a dog that can handle a choke hold and still love your child no matter what.
(really,  no dogs were harmed in this picture,  I promise,  I would never do that)

so in spite of having these two clowns on my lap...
i managed to turn this messy pile

into these......


that's the thing about beading.....it's addictive!
my mind is twirling with ideas,  and once I have some of my paperwork done I might do some more at the shop today.
  because yes,  I am OLD SCHOOL,  and still have to enter in EVERY SINGLE SALE INTO MY COMPUTER BY HAND.

(I blotted out my home address...you know,  just in case.)
  now this paperwork has to be entered in,  AFTER i enter in all of the inventory slips for all of the items purchased.....

each vendor has it's own code,  which I must remember,  along with the item when i plug in a sale,  yup,  that's 145 vendors and THOUSANDS of items.  my brain hurts just thinking about it.
so lots of times I just let this little ole task just SLIP a few days,  you know,  i'll get back to it soon....like in a few days when it becomes an unmanageable pile.
  cause that's how I work.  i'm efficient at being NON-efficient.
  This week we also get to tackle inventory....counting every single one of those 1,000's of things. 
again...i'm feeling a nap coming on.
  Today I also wanted to work on cleaning up the messy shop basement....getting this...

organized and packed away into this little chest somebody gave me.

Lofty goals I know,  but I am a dreamer and always filled with hope!
  So on that note I am going to leave you with some pictures of the sweet little things we have here right now...tons of them,  waiting to be counted.



i'm crazy about eggs,  can you tell?
and birds too!


yup...gotta count all of these  *sigh*

why don't you come down to the shop and buy some lotion so I have less to count?!  because if you are like me during these cold and wintry months your body wants to crack like an eggshell and you NEED MOISTURIZER!

o.k., enough rambling...  I will try and blog again soon,  but you know what i will be doing, and today I am going to actually try and STAY AWAY from my computer to accomplish these tasks,  even though it can be SO hard!
for example...look what I found on Etsy the other day...
so cute!

unfortunately i can't remember where I saw this!
darn!  i need to leave myself a little trail of breadcrumbs...
speaking of which.... (ohmigosh,  enough already!)
the new Plum market opened in my neighborhood this Morning!  OH my!
not only can you find bread crumbs,  but you will find a million other things that are amazing!  it's modern, and fresh, and beautiful...just remember to bring your WALLET!  PHEWW!
my husband is already starting to cry.
o.k.,  i'm done.
XOXOXOXOXO
talk soon!
c.

out of the office: Auto reply

Just kidding...well sort of...I HAVE NO COMPUTER!!!!!!!! (well, one that I like!  i'm using the family one out of desperation,  but I don;t have much patience with it!)
MY accountant has borrowed my laptop for the weekend and I won;t get it back until tuesday night,
so I am out of the blogging loop.   can you tell I am having big-time withdrawals and feeling all twitchy?
   It Could be from that 2nd. cup of coffee I had today from my little red French Press.
Have you ever used one of those?  I just learned how today!  I felt so european,  it's  absolutely precious.
  i will share more once I am back to my old computer again,  and back to being creative.
  Sick child HOME AGAIN today!  UGH.
  I did manage to make some jewelry,  that's one thing you can work on when you are cozy in bed with child watching the tube.
  Speaking of which...I got's to go,  my husband has a sub-titled movie for us to watch,  and I have to go pay attention for a change!
  Will catch up soon!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox