fit for a princess

saw this in a magazine & thought it was brillant! the designer sketched the "armoire", enlarged it & then traced it onto particle board. It was then cut, painted & hung to replace the conventional closet doors. what a fun idea for any kid's room!

sometimes i wonder...

what happened to all the people i knew once upon a time. you know, the boy i sat next to in third grade, the girls that played on the tennis team with me, the first boy i ever kissed, the girl who was student body president, my crazy roommates from college, boys i've dated... just about anyone i've ever come in contact with. where are they now? what are they doing? where do they live? do they have kids?

so, if anyone out there has a crystal ball, i'd love to borrow it...
& do a little snooping.

11 months?!

how is it even possible that my baby is 11 months old? next month he'll be a year... heavens! he is growing & changing so much before my very eyes! it's crazy though, owen still doesn't have any teeth... they like to pop through & visit for a day or two, before disappearing completely. he is super fast at crawling & scuttling about. he goes up & down and up & down our stairs. (now that he has finally realized to turn around, he practically slides down.) he & gav are little buddies... they finally are really starting to play together. we joke that o is like a puppy, because he just trails after gavin & is always just underfoot. and just last week, little o realized that he could stand all on his own, which has resulted in quite a few bumps and bruises... but is oh so much fun to watch. after he stands, he likes to clap for himself! i can't wait to see how much he changes this next month!

so obviously i'm not prego... but maybe you are!

if so, i found THIS cute dress for you while strolling through target! it's simple & classy, & i love it. i just don't love that i have to be prego to wear it. but hopefully someone else, out there in the blog-o-sphere, may get some good use out of it. i guess i could always get it for "the future"... you know, in case i ever dare to take the plunge again! seriously though, all those of you who are preggers, check it out, i don't think the picture does it justice!

i broke a cardinal rule last night...

i served something i had never ever made before to a guest. ahhh! i wasn't planning on it, in fact i wasn't planning on a guest, but it just worked out that way - and i had already started dinner. so, i crossed my fingers & hoped the zesty crock pot chicken lived up to the rave reviews... i'm happy to report it did! thanks mique, it is definitely a new favorite!

ummm... no, i'm not, but thanks for asking.

jeff says i need to get over it & i'm sure i will... eventually. but as a woman, it's not something you can simply just forget. what am i rambling on about, you ask? well... someone at church on sunday, asked me when i was due! hello?! i'll admit that my shirt may have been more baby doll than slim fitting, but come on! i may have had two kids, i might not have a six pack, but i definitely don't look like i'm prego! i've worked way too hard to have people asking me such silly silly questions.

i think my luck's run out.

it was bound to happen, with two little boys, i expected a few bumps & scrapes. but it's been a LONG week and it's only tuesday. one gash to the head, two busted lips, three sickies (including me) & one teething baby. gavin suddenly thinks he is spiderman & climbs everything in sight (from counters to the fridge... you'd think his "accident" would have slowed him down), owen has realized he can stand all on his own, so both are constantly falling & hitting their heads, arms, or whatever body part happens to cushion the fall... we're a sad bunch these days.

on a happier note, we're having THIS for dessert.

image via flicker.

three...

that's the number of staples it took to close the gash in gavin's head yesterday. he was jumping from the couch to the chair, & missed, catching the corner of the end table with the back of his head. it bleed like crazy, but most head wounds do. lucky for us, we made it to the urgent care right before it closed, avoiding the ER (thank heavens)!

pretty up your walls.

the idea is definitely not new, but i still love it! check out what i stumbled upon while wandering the halls of ikea (not exactly my best photography, but what can you expect with a camera phone?)... take a fun piece of fabric (like these new ones from ikea. did you know they did fabric too? what don't they sell? ) & turn it into art work for your walls. cheap, quick & easy... my favorite combination! stretch it around a piece of canvas or frame it up. what really caught my eye was the unexpected ways the fabric was framed.... teeny tiny frames with just a fraction of the print, a huge print with four different fabrics patchworked together (click on the pictures to get a closer look). the ideas are endless! go ahead, have some fun with it. the best part of it... when you grow bored or tired of your fabulous art, you get to go shopping for new fabric, i love that part!

something big is coming...

a day at the beach

what's better than sand crusted faces and salty hair?

thought for the day

"Be the change you wish to see in the world…" - Gandhi

i'm almost embarassed to admit this...

i don't know about you, but i'm a huge fan of the teeny-bopper shows... the oc, laguna beach, one tree hill, dawson's creek, the hills, just to name a few. so it's no surprise that i loved gossip girl.
there's only been one episode & already i'm hooked. is it the best show ever? no. will it win any awards? of course not, don't be silly. but it's definitely entertaining, in that "there's no way life is really like this" kind of way.

yo ho yo ho, a pirate's life for me!

at least for today, that is, because it's national talk like a pirate day! so break out your eye patch, maybe add a little swagger to your step & incorporate a few of these words into your vocabulary. (if you are more of a visual learner, check out THIS video).


ahoy! - "hello!"
avast! - stop & give attention. it can be used in a sense of surprise, "whoa! get a load of that!" which today makes it more of a "check it out" or "no way!" or "get off!"
aye! - "why yes, i agree most with everything you just said or did."
aye aye! - "i'll get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over."
arrr! - can mean, variously, "yes," "i agree," "i'm happy,"that was a clever remark you or I just made." & those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of arrr!

need a little more help? maybe you want some more advanced lingo? pirate pick up lines? pirate games? whatever it is your little heart desires you can probably find it HERE.

if i was stranded on a desert island...

and could only bring one thing, it would probably be someone to do my eyebrows. and when i say "do my eyebrows" i don't mean waxing or plucking... i'm talking about threading. (never heard of threading? check out the video HERE to get a better idea.) see the way i figure, i can grow my own food, i can make my own clothes, but i need professional help when it comes to my eyebrows. i look back at pictures of me growing up & i don't ever want to see those big bushy eyebrows again. (how is it that i managed to live almost 23 years before taming the wild beasts? they were HUGE! why didn't any one show me the light?)

so there it is, my little secret. out there for the entire world to know. yep! i get my eyebrows done. (almost every other week... just a little obsessive you think?) so what little splurge could you not live without?

i need a hero!

tonight my family is so thrilled i read elizabeth's blog... thanks to her we had a delicious dinner:

Meatball Hero Sandwiches

2 lbs frozen meatballs, italian style
2 loaves bakery Italian bread, or hoagie rolls
1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 dash garlic powder
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

in a large pot combine frozen meatballs and spaghetti sauce. heat over medium until meatballs are heated throughout. meanwhile, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Italian seasoning, pepper, garlic powder & set aside. slice Italian style bread loaves horizontally with serrated bread knife. cut loaves into three- or four-inch sections to make small sandwiches. spread cream cheese mixture on insides of each sandwiches' tops and bottoms. preheat oven to 350°F. when meatballs are heated, spoon onto sandwiches and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. put sandwich tops on and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.

bake about 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

note to self...

next time you are trying to jam the beaters into the hand mixer while simultaneously plugging it in, make sure it is turned off! fingers caught in whirling beaters does not feel good!

is your house haunted?

if you aren't already thinking about halloween here are some ideas to get you started... soon you will be decorating & baking up a storm!

- oh no! looks like the witch crashed on the front lawn!
- easy paper lantern pumpkins that you can use again & again.
- don't send your child out to collect candy with an old pillow case, make these instead.
- quick and easy decorations the kids can help make... pumpkin garland.
- who says you have to carve a jack-o-lantern? try baking one of these jack-o-lantern cakes.
- get the whole neighborhood involved with the halloween phantom.
- use this pumpkin cooler to keep your drinks cool at your halloween party.
- carving a pumpkin can get messy, try these drilled hole pumpkins instead.
- serve these at your next halloween get together... creepy crawly cupcakes.
- you can have the scariest yard in the neighborhood thanks to these mummies.
- looking for something pretty to grace your front door? try making these pumpkin topiaries.

are you a fan?

who doesn't love ok go? if you aren't already a fan, then their unique part-glam, part-geek rock fashion sense & self-produced, low budget music videos will make you one, instantly. what you haven't seen their videos? check them out HERE & HERE. these days YouTube has hundreds of copycats, but this on is my new favorite...who knew you could do so much with legos!

marriage meme

all this talk about love & marriage reminded me that lindsey had tagged me for this marriage meme.... so here it goes.

where did you meet your husband?
i met my husband at sundance. it was the semester after i had graduated from college & i was avoiding life in the "real world" by teaching snow boarding. jeff was another one of the instructors & we kind of hit it off. although, if you were to ask jeff this same question, he would have a totally different answer. according to him, he first saw me at a local snow board shop that he worked at. a girl i knew worked there, so i had stopped in to say hi. after i left the shop jeff started quizzing her about me... he decided to apply for a job up at sundance after finding out i worked there. (good thing i didn't find this out until after he had swept me off my feet, otherwise i think i might have been a little freaked out!)

what was the first thing you said to your husband?
i have absolutely no idea. probably "hi." sometimes i'm not exactly outgoing, especially in big groups (like a bunch of new snow board instructors). i tend to get pretty shy and quiet. to be totally honest, i was probably intimidated my jeff, because i was pretty intimidated by all the other snowboard instructors working at sundance. they were all really good at snowboarding, and i wasn't. i'd bet money that i wasn't hired so much because of my skills on the mountain, but because i was a girl.

where was the first kiss? First date?
i have to admit it wasn't love at first sight, at least for me. at the time, i had an on again off again boyfriend (that my family absolutely hated), & a couple of other boys on the side, that were keeping me entertained. so jeff and i started out as just friends, but he quickly became my best friend. before i knew we were hanging out all of the time. we drove to work together, did a lot of snowboarding, ate almost all of meals together, watched movies every night... we were pretty much inseparable. but it's not like we ever really went on a first date. i don't think he ever even asked me out on a date, we just were always together.

i'm the first to admit that when it came to boys, i was clueless. my roommates were always telling me that jeff liked me, but i never believed it, we were just friends. or at least that's what i thought. then one night, while we were watching the movie blast from the past, jeff turned toward me & kissed me. from there on out, i was smitten.

did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?
we met in january of 2000, started kissing in late february of that same year, got engaged in april of 2001 & we finally tied the knot august 11, 2001. i don't really know if that is long or short. compared to a lot of people i know, it's a long courtship, but then, i also know people who are engaged for years!

where did you get engaged?
we spent that first winter working, playing, kissing & doing lots of snowboarding. when summer came, i told him i was moving home to california. so, he followed me. the only problem was that we lived about an hour and half away from each other. so, we spent the next several months shuttling back and forth between our two homes. by christmas time we knew we wanted to get married, but we didn't get engaged until april. after months of planning a wedding that i knew would be happening in august, i started get antsy to get a ring on my finger. finally, one day in april, i came home from work to find jeff's car parked outside my house. because it was the middle of the week, i knew there was only one reason why he would be there... so it really wasn't much of a surprise. i was so excited, i just wanted him to propose there in my living room. but, he knew better. instead he took me to the beach, which is where he finally made it official.

where did you get married?
we got married in the los angeles LDS temple.

How did the reception go?
okay, i'm going to do a bit of bragging here, so i apologize in advance... but, my reception was AWESOME! i absolutely loved every minute of it. i had always imagined my reception being a big party... lots of food, music, surrounded by my nearest & dearest. it was all of that, and so much more.

i grew up in thousand oaks, ca (which is north of LA), jeff is from orange county. so we split the difference & had our reception in marina del rey on a yacht. everything was absolutely perfect. we had a ring ceremony while cruising the harbor during sunset, an intimate sit down dinner & then we danced the night away. i never wanted that night to end, i was enjoying myself so much!

How was the honeymoon?
we spent our first night as husband and wife at the famed beverly hills hotel & then we jetted off to romantic bora bora. we stayed in an over water bungalow with the lagoon at our finger tips. we spent our days relaxing in the sun, feasting on gourmet meals & taking in a few activities... shark feeding, jeep exploration & a catamaran cruise to name a few.

i tag mama jo, kat & anyone who wants to join the fun!

30 years...

happy anniversary mom... wow! 30 years. that's a long time. oh dear, if you folks have been married for 30 years, that means in just over 9 months i too will be 30. yikes! i don't want to think about it.

maybe dad will make it back from his "business trip" in time to celebrate. probably not though, he is a dedicated employee. at the very least i hope he buys you some nice jewelry, you deserve it!

now on a more serious note... thank you for always being such an incredible example of love, commitment & absolute devotion. i am so glad you married the "bad boy" all because of the cute kids he promised you would have. (you can read about in my mom's own words HERE.) now you have four wonderful children (the eldest being extremely beautiful & the others are also fairly good looking), three grandchildren & a lifetime of memories. i love you!

what's worse than a mullet?

owen is in major need of a hair cut... his hair is long on top & very lacking in the back. it looks like he is sporting a toupee or a comb over! which reminds me of one of my favorite snl commercials... nelson's baby toupees. (by the way, if you're jealous and want your baby to have her or his own baby toupee, you can buy one HERE.)

baby toupee | Funny Jokes at JibJab

need to feed your fix?

do you have a swap addiction? because i certainly do! if you're looking for a little swap action to hold you over... check out the i {heart} swap & the halloween swap. both promise to be lots of fun, but hurry! deadlines are approaching fast.

have i told you lately...

that i'm a crappy mom? seriously! oh by the way... next time you are out of hair product & need something in a jiffy, use marsh mellow! little O got some in his hair today & boy does it hold a style!

just a suggestion...

next time you are buying something, and they offer it in micro-suede... get it! you never know when your two year old might use your benetint (liquid blush) to "paint" with. if the object he happens to "paint" is upholstered in micro-suede (my family room ottoman), there's a good chance you'll be able to get "most" of it out.

just peachy!

we bought these big beautiful peaches at the farmers market yesterday which got me thinking about making peach cobbler. here's the recipe for one of jeff's favorite desserts (although, i have to say, it actually tastes better with peaches of the canned variety!)

2 cans of fruit (drained)
1 stick of butter
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cup flour
½ tsp salt
¾ cup milk
cinnamon (to taste)

- melt butter in 9 x 9 pan
- mix baking powder, ½ of the sugar, flour, salt and milk.
- pour fruit in the pan with the other ½ of the sugar and cinnamon.
- pour batter over & sprinkle with additional cinnamon
- bake at 350° for ½ hour - 1 hour.

serve warm with ice cream & or cool whip.

dear diary...

there is something special about a blank notebook. i don't know what attracts me to them... maybe it's the image of filling them with new & exciting thoughts & ideas, or maybe it's just that they are pretty. either way i was excited to come across THIS tutorial for making your own photo journals and notebooks. all you need is two photos, some paper, glue & few other odds and ends that you probably have lying around the house & viola! you have yourself a handy dandy little notebook!

required reading

recently, mama jo, little miss whit & i were discussing books. now mind you, i wasn't always such an avid reader. in fact, i think i struggled with reading until about third grade. it was then that a very wise grandma introduced me to a girl name nancy drew, from that day i was hooked. lucky for me, i grew up in a houseful of books, so feeding my addiction was never a problem.

so here it is. my list of all time favorites. some are classics, some aren't. some will make you think & others are just fun to read. they probably aren't your favorites, but you might find a book or two that you like. enjoy & happy reading!

shadow castle
anne of green gables
the once and future kingthe mists of avalonpride and prejudiceballet shoesgood to greatthe power of positive thinkingthe giving treeemmato kill a mockingbirdgone with the windlittle womenthe secretcatch 22hatcheta wrinkle in timethe chronicles of narniaalexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

so what are your favorite books, the ones you read over & over?

so here's a question...

how much do you pay your baby sitter? since jeff & i have had our little kidlets, we haven't done much "dating." we've made it out the door without any children thanks to our wonderful parents who babysit occasionally. but other than, we don't really get out much. but this past weekend a baby sitter was hired & we went to the movies with my mom and some family friends. on the drive home, we started wondering, how much do we pay? you want to pay enough so that they will want to come back, but you don't want to break the bank... so, how much do you pay your baby sitter?

don't forget to say please & thank you!

a darling jar filled to the brim with brightly colored gumballs. attached was a card that read: thank you for "chews"-ing us! what a fun way to say thank you... it would definitely brighten any one's day. it certainly was a thrill for all of us, who spent the next several days chomping away, blowing bubbles!

as close to the red carpet that i'll ever get!

thanks mique for nominating me for a great tip award! it makes me feel all warm & fuzzy inside knowing that someone out there actually likes my ideas & thinks i'm special! as in blogging fashion, it's my turn to nominate three people. this was not a task i could take lightly. heavens! everyone out there in the blog-o-sphere is creative and brilliant... & i can choose just three? well here we go!

• my aunt marty. she is the queen of organization. she has amazing ideas for creating really useful living spaces. most recently though, she has taught me the finer points of creating and organizing my wardrobe. check out her tips HERE.

• my awesome cousin-in-law christie. if you haven't read her blog yet, go now... she is a crack up! her blog is full of hilarious accounts of life & incredible home decorating tips (i love all of her before and after shots). but, i'm nominating her for her "getting to know me" (for lack of a better term) posts. reading posts like THIS and THIS really help me think about my life, how i got here & where i want to go. thanks for making me think... (even if it makes my head hurt!)

• caroline: first off she is an incredible jewelry designer (i wish i had that kind of talent!) so it's fun to visit her blog & get glimpses of her newest creations. but she is always posting fun projects and tips. she's crafty, organized & a good cook to boot!

now i hope you girls will spread the great tip love!

you saw what i got, now see what i gave...

here are the goodies isent off to sweet sarah. i'm most excited about the little craft utility apron i made. i have to admit i had a hard time giving it away. i saw one somewhere (i don't remember where, otherwise i'd definitely give credit), & knew i could make one. i'm not the brightest when it comes to sewing, so it took me a couple tries & lots of ripped seams, but i eventually figured it out. hopefully sarah enjoyed the package!

look into my eyes...

so can you see it? not the zit on my forehead that my bangs are covering, but my new eyeliner tattoo! this is me totally and completely au natural. now that the swelling has gone down, i'm loving it. the line is so fine, you hardly notice it. yet my eyes just sort of pop, with no effort at all on my part! i just wake up looking beautiful, sort of. go ahead, click on the picture, take a closer look at my baby blues (although you wouldn't know since the picture is black and white!) so now what do you think?

back2school

with all this back to school chatter, i have to admit, i'm a little jealous. on one hand i am THRILLED that i am done with school, that my hubby is done, and that are little ones haven't even started. but on the other hand... there are so many fun things involved with the start of a new school year. new school clothes, new friends, new experiences, new boys and the best of all... new school supplies! so of course i was thrilled when the famed miss marta announced her back2school swap. i was even more excited when i got my swap partner... sarah - she is absolutely amazing! she is a mom of three, a confessed craft junkie & crime fighting hero. check out her blog HERE. today i got sarah's package, and let me tell you, it is awesome!first off, check out the incredible packaging... so detailed! and i love the alphabet stamps, it definitely set the mood. inside i found so many wonderful goodies: velvetly soft alphabet stickers, puffy ink pens, beautiful oragami paper. On top of all that, sarah sent me the cutest stationary ever! It's stationary and envelopes all in one! All I have to do is write, fold, lick and stamp. how did she know nancy drew is one of my idols?

would you call yourself accomplished?

often times i wonder if we demand too much of ourselves these days, as women. i don't know about you, but i find myself "wanting it all" and wondering if this is really possible. sometimes i dream of living in an earlier, simpler era... that is until this past weekend. the girls in my family were watching pride & prejudice (the short version). the following conversation really struck a chord this time around:

``Oh! certainly,'' cried his faithful assistant, ``no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.''

``All this she must possess,'' added Darcy, ``and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.''

``I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.''

i guess i really shouldn't be worried. compared to those ladies, i don't have much to live up too! too be honest, i feel pretty accomplished if i'm dressed before noon and actually cook dinner. so what qualities do you think an accomplished woman might possess today?

toes i can be proud of.

this weekend i had to opportunity to indulge myself in a rare treat... a manicure & pedicure. (not that exciting for most of you i'm sure, but i don't get out by myself very often.) anyway, i had just dipped my footsies into the warm, bubbly foot spa and had reached around to grab a couple of magazines. imagine my surprise when all that was available were popular science & computer games. seriously?! all i wanted was a little frivolous fun. where was the latest issue of us or people?

did i mention i'm blonde?

i often do dumb things. whenever i do, i just blame it on being blonde. the latest? we were getting ready to go to disneyland (by the way, i've discovered that disneyland on a holiday is awesome! this summer we went on both memorial & labor day and the park was practically empty. i don't know why... maybe it was the heat, or everyone was scared of the holiday crowds, but walked on every ride!) anyway, back to my story... the kids were strapped in the car when i remembered that the tires on the stroller were a little low on air. so we got it out, pumped up the tires & got on our way. halfway to disneyland we realized we forgot to put the stroller BACK in the car. so we had to flip around and pick it up. seriously, i must have the shortest attention span. how did i forget the stroller i had just been working on?

pumpkins & ghosts, oh my!

halloween is just around the corner. lucky for me i found the fabric for this cute quilt already cut! with the hard part out of the way, all i had to do was sew this puppy together & send it off to be quilted! easy as pumpkin pie!

in case you were wondering

the ink from gel pens rubs easily off a leather chair. at least it did this morning, after gavin created his masterpiece. too bad it didn't go with our decor & i had to clean it up.

and the winner is...

jessica who said:

I never win either Kelly. And yet I still leave comments on all these giveaways. I guess it's the (tiny) optimist in me.

congratulations! email all your particulars to me at accordingtokelly@gmail.com
& i'll get your package in the mail!

thanks everyone for participating! look for more give aways...
that was fun! the crazy thing is... not long after posting this giveaway, i actually WON one over at design mom! it must be good karma at work!

something i wouldn't recommend:

making the long trek from utah to california when both kids are sick & one is teething. no matter how late you leave, it isn't going to be a fun trip... just in case you were thinking about it.