My Seven Day Nutshell

My Last 7 days in a nutshell:

Tuesday: Sick as sick as could be with a kidney infection

Wednesday: Me + my bed with lots of water

Thursday: worked most of the day but in major pain

Friday: Went to the doctors for the second time that week and was given painkillers and told it was Sciatica and the kidney infection. Need an ultrasound

Friday Afternoon: Got a call an hour after ultrasound. Found a mass on my kidney. "WHAT"

Friday evening: Tears. prayer. scared family. prayer.

Saturday morning: Fowl CT Scan drink. CT Scan. Waiting. Shopping. Waiting.

Saturday Night: Email from Doctor. Mass wasn't there. Must have been a tech mistake....

Sunday morning: Woke up with a smile on my face. God worked a miracle!

Sunday Afternoon: Church. Thanked God big time.

Sunday evening: Dinner with my family

Monday: Work (after missing 4 days) oh joy.

Monday afternoon: Car accident. Not too bad. Not my fault.

Monday night: Pain. more pain and pain.

Tuesday morning: Whiplash and painkiller. Loopy Me.

Happy Week All. :)

Color Coded Monday: Dresser HELP

I am going to veer off the path I've been taking with "Color Coded Mondays" and ask for some much needed HELP.


I am buying this piece of furniture. Near my home we have this warehouse where furniture from model homes is taken to and open to the public for purchase. You can find very high end items for a fraction of the price and this is where I found this nicked dresser. It being nicked up only added to the charm that I was looking for.


Excuse the horrible picture... I was kinda in pain and in a rush.

I love the wicker drawers and can see this painted a bold color to fit right in with my vision.

One issue. I am not handy. I am the person that would pay whatever to hire someone to do the job, even if I was capable of doing it myself. In this case, I am putting aside the fact that I have to pick up tools and get a little dirty and I'm going to make a go of this. And because funds are tight.

So my blog readers, help me pick a color and if you have any tips for this girl who knows nothing about painting a dresser, I could use them... bring the help on!

I want something bold since the room is white. These were some colors I was looking at (not all together).

Birth in Photos

I mentioned before that I was in the delivery room when my niece was born. I was able to capture it all with my camera.

Holding my brother's video camera in one hand and my camera in the other and calming my brother down was quite a feat. To say the least.

Some of these won't be posted on the website or on the facebook pages but I thought I'd post them here for those that have known me for a few bloggy years. A little peek... ;)

Shortly after my SIL was settled in her room, the room with a view. Oh what a view. Newport Beach, glorious and beautiful at dusk. Not only was it a spectacular view, the room overlooked the bay and yatch where my brother and SIL were married.

Below is a picture of the Grandma to be, known as Marmie (let's see if anyone can pick up where that's from), waiting for her first grandbaby to be born.

The Room with a View

Minutes after 'baby girl' was born... baby girl since she didn't have a name until three days later.

Her first bath


Cuddled with her mama... getting used to the sounds and smells.

I'm off to snuggle with this little 'baby girl', Rylie Drew.

How to talk your nurse out of giving you a shot...

Or not.

I had been having back pain for a couple of weeks, juts thought I needed a massage or to see my chiro.

Come Sunday, my body just went a little nuts on me. I'll spare you the details.

Held off going to the ER and took a painkiller instead.

Monday morning rolled around, called the doctor's office and they had me come in right away.

Some test done, symptoms relayed and they knew what it was. A severe kidney infection.

Oh joy.

Doctor than says, "We're going to have to give you a shot in the butt." My thought, 'no way'.

Doctor left and said that the nurse would be in shortly.

As I waited I begin to make a plan in my head.

(Pay attention because this may be valuable to you someday)

My first thought was - I'm getting oral antibiotics anyway, why do I need the shot (I knew why)?

Second thought - tell them I can't deal with needles. (not true)

Third thought - tell them I can't deal with needles in my butt. (true)

Nurse comes in and says, "You doin' okay?"

I stared at her for a moment, looked down and saw the needle the size of Texas and said, "uh no".

She then left the needle on the counter and walked out for a few minutes. I stared at it for a good 2-3 minutes and tried to come up with another plan before she came in...

Maybe I could stash it somewhere...

Maybe I could just walk out...

Maybe...

And then she walked in.

She told me how she was going to give me the shot while I tried to stall her with questions...

By the time I was leaning over, I had run out of time and realized, I wasn't so good at talking anyone out of anything...

Pain. Burning. Pain and more pain.

In my mind it was something like this...

They kept me for a few minutes to see how I reacted and I of course was in pain, back pain, kidney pain, butt pain...

I dragged my leg limped out and was in pain all day...

Goes to show you, I don't know how to talk a nurse of giving a shot... so don't listen to me.

Color Coded Monday: crème de la crème

Romantic, earthy and basic... Cream

I love thee.

(I thought these frames would be a good to test out the fabric craft?)

Links:
Distressed Wood Frames
Rosette Pillow
Knitted Handbag
Baby Booties

Love for Espresso

I am not a coffee drinker. Never have been.

But something has happened.

White Chocolate Mocha.

Creamy and hot.

$4.50 per cup.

I loathe this new love because it's just unhealthy. On so many levels.

We may have to part soon... tear.

Or

We may have to give up food instead.

I'm for the latter.

Color Coded Monday: Mellow Yellow

I have long since given in to my love for yellow. It snuck up on me and for now, I gravitate towards it. Cheveron printed chair, birch pouch and owl tacks... love these, want them.

(LOVE LOVE LOVE the chair!)

Links:
Cheery Yellow Chair
Corduroy Pouch
Owl Nest Tack Pack

Garlic is food gold

Who doesn't like garlic? Okay, so some don't... sad, but true. Garlic is definitely overused by me. I.love.garlic.

One of my favorite garlic infused foods is none other than Garlic Cheese Bread. Give me bread and garlic and I'm a happy girl.

As my faithful followers/follower knows, I am a Pioneer Woman fan as are so many others. I love her recipes and found this one that is a must try.

View the rest of the steps and recipe here: Garlic Bread

As a garlic lover, I could just eat it alone... yes alone. That is how much I love it. Breath mint anyone?

I've never roasted whole heads of garlic and these photos from the Pioneer woman make me want to head to the grocery store, buy bags of garlic and head home... and pick up some Listerine as well.

View the rest of the photos and recipe/technique here: How to Roast Garlic

All photos taken from The Pioneer Woman

Happy garlic cooking and watch out for that killer breath.

I ♥ Fabric

Fabric has become my new love. I love it but I can't sew. I've always wanted to, but everything on my plate I haven't sat down with my mother and learned. To tell you the truth I don't see me having the time soon so I'll settle for working with Fabric in another way.

Framed fabric. genius.

I've been trying to figure out what to put on my walls, in addition to the frames I mentioned here. I came across a blog with a link to Woman's* Day* craft project.

Woman's Day Fabric & Wallpaper Art

Color Coded Monday: Tiffany Blue

This post has nothing to do with babies. Just thought I'd put that out there.

As you know, I have been consumed with Etsy and while this 'love' last, I see us having a long long future, I thought I'd post a color coded Monday. Monday could always use a pick me up, right?

Tiffany blue is one of my all time favorite colors. So what better color to pick for my first color coded Monday...

You'll notice I picked two dressers because this is what's currently on my mind. I'm tired of storing my clothes in piles. Maybe one of these will be the one? or something like it?

Links:

Owl "Thank you" card

Pumpkin Pincushion

Rosette Pillow

Vintage Dresser

Dresser with Mirror

Baby Stuff

You can't say I didn't warn you here.


Not only has she stolen my heart... my pocket book is emptying quick. ;)


Not being able to fit into newborn clothes just yet (she fits perfectly into preemie clothes except for her long arms), I've held off on buying these elaborate outfits. But I love them! They are all from La Bella Flora and I must win the lottery soon or else I just may being pushing a cart around... at least I'll have a beautifully dressed niece.




I have spent a lot of time on Etsy lately. I could browse through all the categories all. day. long. But what has me hooked is the baby category. Some things I can get but others, like the bottom right headband is way out of my budget, $55 for one. So I'll have to try to make my own version.

The wipey case was purchased this past week, it matches her bedding... how could I not get it?

(Etsy links: Snazzie Drawers (patterns), Fab Flower Headbands, Hearts Smile, Jenny Candy Designs )

I'm a sucker for elaborate headbands and will be making some tonight for Rylie's newborn session tomorrow. Sure to be long but I can't wait to photograph her sweet face and post some here.

All this going on and on you'd think I was the parent. Loving her is not hard to do... especially when I don't have to stay up all night. I'll leave that to her mommy. ;)

A Country Baby Shower

The Saturday before my niece was born, we gave my sister-in-law a baby shower at our home. My SIL's sister was in charge of the food, I was in charge of the decor.


I collected mason jars of all sizes before the party and by the time the day came I had a pool table cluttered with jars.

I had a vision in mind of a country, shabby chic party and I wanted pale shabby chic roses but couldn't find them. So I went with a country pale pink mix and loaded up the mason jars.

For the centerpieces, I grouped three different sized mason jars and filled them with flowers. I then took pictures from the maternity session I did for my sister-in-law through Bumble Photography and tied them with ribbon the largest jar.

I added a little country doily accent on the edge of each picture to give it that country look.

We didn't want the traditional cake or cupcakes so my mom baked up a storm with her delectable creations. We had cookies, spiced breads, apple cakes and an assortment of pies.

I made these little stick with the pictures at the last minute that morning. Used some vintage scrap book elements and glued them on scrap paper and them dirtied the edges with my vintage ink. Added it to a dowel and they were now an added decoration for the arrangements on the food tables.

I didn't get very many pictures of the food, but it was yummy:

• Sliders
• BBQ Pork Sliders
• baked beans (my grandmothers decades old recipe)
• Salad
• Potato Salad (my mom makes the absolute best!)
• Homemade Mac n' Cheese

For the guestbook, I purchased this childhood favorite of my brothers. Growing up this book was past to each of us and I believe to this day it's all our favorite childhood story.

Guest signed the front and back and someday when baby girl's mom and dad read her this book it will have more of a meaning.

Rylie Drew

Rylie Drew is here. On July 30th at 10:22AM, she came 3 1/2 weeks early and caught us all by surprise. :) We're not complainin' though.

She weighed 5lbs, 13oz - 19" long. She is absolutely beautiful and has a full head of dark brown hair with red and blonde highlights and blue eyes, but we'll see what those turn into.

I photographed the birth and a ton of photos after but I haven't even looked at my photos yet. Things have been a little busy.

Mom and baby are healthy and very happy. Dad is nervous but in love with his new girl. :)

Pictures to come very soon.