Friday, May 29, 2015

Teacher Gifts & My First Giveaway


The excitement I had (notice past tense here) earlier in anticipation of sharing photos of the beautiful card sets I created as teacher gifts waned as the morning wore on.  It's been that type of morning.

First, I get Meg to school only to discover that we totally forgot to bring in the above said gifts. *SIGH*  I'm only home a few minutes before my cat decides it's time to do some projectile vomiting ALL over the house.  *MAJOR CUSSING* (I'm about ready to donate him to Catherine's infamous wall of DDTs.)   In the midst of my gagging I received a call from Meg asking if I'd ordered her a yearbook.  Well, I thought I did.  They're saying I didn't.  *SIGH #2* So off I go to the school with teacher gifts and yearbook cash in hand.

I eventually was able to sit down and view the card photos I took the other day only to find out that they are horrible.  *SIGH #3*  Our house is a cave, I swear.  There is absolutely no good spot for photos.  I'm frustrated beyond belief right now so I'm just going to show you what I have and call it a day.

I created seven sets of 4 bar cards, one design per set.  It was my intention to give each teacher a different set of cards.  In the end I decided to mix it up creating each set using one card from each design.

Design 1




Design 2




Design 3




Design 4




Design 5 (All made with same colors)




Design 6 (Assorted silver foil)




And Design 7 (Assorted Gold Foil)









Six teachers and seven card sets means I have one extra set.  Since my morning was so horribly lousy I thought it would be nice to make someone else's a bit brighter.   I'm going to give away the extra set below (one card each of all seven designs) to one lucky reader.





I know from emails and private messages that I have far more readers than comments but to have a chance at winning, I need you to leave me a comment on this post.  With the help of random.org, I'll announce the winner on Wednesday, June 3rd.  (You have until then to "enter".)





Thursday, May 28, 2015

Finley Firsts


We had a nice surprise over the weekend.




Jay and his family decided to spend some of their precious post wedding vacation with us.  It was a quick trip (Friday afternoon until Saturday night) but they managed to pack in a lot of Finley Firsts.

First up, of course, was Fin's first overnighter and I'm so happy it was with us.   Grandma had no problem putting the little guy to sleep while his parents enjoyed an evening out.





The next morning Aunt Meg introduced him to his first search for the Florida Swamp Ape.




I doubt that he was as excited about the show as she was but he did humor her for the duration.





As another fun first, Finley was introduced to the pool.







And after a nice nap (post pool naps are the best!) little Fin got to experience one of his daddy's most favorite places in the world, the beach.   (Photos courtesy of Jay and Colleen).









We ended the evening with dinner out which of course included his first "let's explore the the restaurant while everyone finishes eating" walk with Grandpa. It is sure to be the first of many, many more to come.






It was a full day of Finley Firsts and by the time we got home, the little guy was just plum tuckered out.





It was at this point that his parents agreed not to tempt fate, deciding to make the two hour drive home that night rather than waiting until morning.  No doubt a very wise decision but we were so sad to see them go.









Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Catching Up


I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  I have a bit of blog catching up to do and hope to post a little something every day for the remainder of this week.

The focus of today's post is to share additional wedding day photos with my family (and any friends who care to view, of course.)  We'll start with a pre-ceremony "where in the world is Mama?" photo...









A post ceremony photo of Meg, Jay and a less than impressed Fin.







And a few photos from the post wedding celebration...











As for this week, the 2014-2015 school year is winding down.

* I subbed yesterday, my last day until fall .  The kids are a bit hyper but I finished the year on a good note.

* Meg has finals this week leading up to her 8th grade Moving Up ceremony next Tuesday.

* The end of the year means gifts for favorite teachers.  Meg was very fortunate to have awesome instructors for every class this year.  I'm busy finishing up gift card sets for her to take in on Friday.

I'll be back tomorrow with some new little guy photos.







Friday, May 22, 2015

Best. Wedding. Ever.


From the first day that I met her, I have loved my new daughter-in-law.  She's lovely in so many ways but she won my heart immediately for her low maintenance personality.  I knew she was perfect for my son.

They set yesterday as their wedding date in celebration of their three year anniversary.  Meg and I arrived a couple of hours ahead of time so we could help in whatever way we could.  Colleen was smart though, or at least it seemed.  She left Jay and Fin on their own so she could get her nails, hair and makeup done without the distractions of home.  If you knew her, you would know what a big deal this is.  She's a "wash and wear, ready at on a moment's notice" kinda girl.  I was so happy that she was making the day special.

The courthouse they chose performs marriage ceremonies between the hours of 2 and 4 PM. At 1:00 she texted to say she'd be home at 2:30.  Well, 2:30 became 3:00.  At 2:45 she was still stuck in traffic.  They live a good 30 minutes from the courthouse so it became clear she wasn't going to make it.  (I would be seriously remiss if I didn't mention here that Jay was surprisingly very calm throughout all of this.  I'm sure it helped that he had Aunt Meg and two Grandmas to play "pass the Fin-Man" while we waited.)  Colleen must have suggested that we meet her there (rather than her coming home to get us) because the next thing I knew, we were all piling in the car.  Halfway there I casually asked "Did she wear her dress?"  Jay very matter of factly said "Nope."

"INSERT HUGE BULGING MOTHER-IN-LAW EYEBALLS HERE!"

So of course I asked what she had on. "Shorts."  uh-oh.  We were too far away to go back for a dress so I decided I'd switch clothes with her as soon as we got there.

She had arrived a few minutes before we did and greeted us at the entrance, totally cool and calm. Beautiful hair, makeup, nails....and shorts.  She politely refused my offer and said "They called our number but apparently we both have to be here to get married!  They made me take another one."  ROFLMBO!!!  We waited maybe 15 minutes and then "they were up."

We were led to a pretty little room off the main lobby where a clerk administered the ceremony.

Colleen didn't miss a beat.








She was so genuinely happy to be marrying my son, she didn't give a hoot about what she was wearing.  How can a mother-in-law not love her?










I laughed throughout the whole two minute ceremony.  Best. Wedding. Ever. Seriously.


We went back to their place where she changed into her dress for more photos and dinner out with family and friends.





(Yes, Jay wore flip-flops.  That's how they roll!)












Fin doesn't know it but his mommy and daddy just had the most memorable wedding day ever.  I hope it a sign of many wonderful days to come.




Wednesday, May 20, 2015

A Big Day for a Little Man


Little Finley turned 5 months old on Sunday.   Our family is in agreement, he has always looked liked a little old man.  Even his mama calls him Finley Man.

He's getting to be such a big little guy.






His mama bought him a new outfit yesterday.




Doesn't he look all Tommy Bahama?  Or maybe Tony Soprano, mob boss?  I can't decide.  LOL!




The new duds are for a very special occasion.  Tomorrow this little guy's parents are getting married. They decided to have a courthouse ceremony and chose tomorrow as it's their three year anniversary. Meg and I will be in attendance along with Colleen's mother and of course, little Fin.  It's going to be a very good day.  




Monday, May 18, 2015

Drumroll Please!


The big dance was Saturday night and while I realize that I'm totally biased, Meg looked absolutely stunning.





The new rollers worked like a charm and I was even able to convince her to wear a bit of makeup.  (It took two hours of pleading but it was worth it.)  Even she agreed that she liked it but not before telling me that "I feel broken inside." LOL!!!

Here's a view of the back of her dress.  She did a lot of primping and admiring, as she should.






Gavin's mother brought him over so we could get photos of the beautiful couple together.  He was looking pretty darned sharp himself.






Meg is 5' 8 1/2" and had on 2" wedges so you can see Gavin is quite a tall young man for fourteen.


And because I'm a paparazzi mom I took lots of photos.  :-)













They had a wonderful time and will no doubt look back on this night as a very special time in their young lives.  Love you pretty, pretty princess!






Friday, May 15, 2015

Julie's Black Hole


aka, Target.  Yes, I openly admit it.  I absolutely {heart} Target.  While there yesterday to get makeup for Meg I couldn't resist wandering into the baby section.  We have a family get together coming up this summer which will require bathing suits and I want little Finley to be the best dressed baby on the beach.  And when you can't decide on one, buy them all.





In order to travel a bit lighter I also purchased a compact umbrella stroller.  I dug through the stack to find a good boyish color.



Imagine my delight when I discovered that the only canopied stroller on the shelf was a shark.  :-)



A fin for a Fin.  Gotta love it!





Thursday, May 14, 2015

Practice and Preparations


Meg's big 8th grade dance is this Saturday.  Her dress was altered to perfection and now she's trying to decide just how to wear her hair.  Her first choice was a loose, sideswept French braid with curls but unfortunately her mama never mastered the art of French braiding.  So that leaves either 1) flat ironed or 2) soft curls.  We've never had much luck with electric rollers but I did find a long forgotten set of 20+ year old steam rollers in my closet.  We soon discovered that while the curl was far superior, the foam rollers were disintegrating in my hands.  As luck would have it the exact same brand is still in existance and through the magic of Amazon we had a new set in under 48 hours.






These things work AWESOME!








She's still deciding on which route to go but doesn't this look fabulous?



Next up were her nails.  She decided on a French manicure lined in silver.  Very pretty.





So that just leaves her face.  Apparently her friends are all after her to wear makeup this weekend. which could be a stretch for my ala naturale girl.  But I did buy some eyeshadow and brownish-black mascara this morning so I imagine we'll be doing a bit more practicing before Saturday night.

Switching topics....my brother is only an occasional reader here but I wanted to wish him a very happy 50th birthday.  (That's so hard for me to fathom.)  Love you bro!

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

JulieWorld Math Lesson #2



You may remember this post where I talked about the incredible amount of miles I've put on my new SUV.  To date my odometer has recorded 10,400 miles with two weeks to go before it's one year anniversary.

When searching for my SUV last May I ultimately decided on a "new" Volvo XC90.  I use "new" in quotations because while it only had 75 miles on it, being the last 2013 on the lot long after the 2014s had rolled out, it was already a model year behind.  At the time I was told by the saleman that Volvo had decided to skip the 2015 model year in order to make some major technology updates. Well, the 2016 model is rolling out tonight.  (I know this because I have received two emails, a snailmail postcard and a personal phone invitation for the unveiling party at the dealership this evening. LOL!)  I can't attend because I will want it *wink* but it got my JulieWorld brain ticking.  (Can you guess where I'm going with this?)

Read this carefully....

Now that the 2016s are out that makes my eleven and a half month old 2013 technically three years old.  So doing a quick bit of JulieWorld math....10,400/3 means that, for resale purposes, the actual annual mileage on my SUV is only 3,467 miles, not 10,400.  :-)

It's a gift people.  A gift.




Monday, May 11, 2015

Another Quick Card Share


Yesterday I shared the card Meg created for me on Mother's Day.  Today I'd like to share the ones I made for my mother and mother-in-law.

This first one went to my mother-in-law.  I apologize for the poor photo.  The silver foiling threw off the lighting.  The sentiment and embellishments were die cut from pink glitter paper and the Mother's Day was stamped in black.







This one went to my mom.  Fortunately it photographed a bit better.  The flowers were stamped, heat embossed and then fussy cut.  The sentiments were die cut from black glitter paper/stamped.  I do love silver but I'm totally into gold right now.






I really love the way they both turned out.  Special cards for special ladies.