Hello yellow.

As I mentioned, the week or so leading up to my brother's surprise 40th birthday was, as I like to call it, full.  Charlie has another name for it--he calls my pre-party crunch mode 'FLAIL EX'.  I have no idea if that's how he would write it but it's a military thing to put 'EX' behind something, standing for exercise.  I am getting the feeling that this is not translating well, but believe me, it's funny when a Marine says it (unless, of course, it's said during FLAIL EX).

So back to the crazy week before the party.  I decided we needed--and I do mean needed--a nice sized table to set up an appetizer station.  I was determined to make people mingle, after all, most would not have their children hugging their legs like a koala pencil-pal.

Hello 5th grade--remember these? Image from Giggle Time Toys.

(We interrupt this post with an important aside:  I have always wanted to dress up for Halloween as a pencil, with our toddler dressed as a koala hugging me.  I have yet to actually do it.  Could someone else, please?) 

Since a new table was not in the budget, I went scrounging in the garage and happily unearthed an old patio table bought in my apartment days.  For the last few years it has served mostly as a surface for DIY projects.  And it had the paint splotches, burn marks, and gouges from the hacksaw to prove it--not pretty.  But after some elbow grease and a couple coats of Rust Oleum Ultra Cover Gloss Sun Yellow, it was more than presentable.

I have no pictures of the staged room to share; isn't that sad?  But here's one with some half empty trays of appetizers (the biggest hit were the gorgonzola stuffed apricots wrapped in bacon--yum).

Once I introduced the yellow (which I picked because I have lots of pretty bowls, service ware, and linens in yellow), I decided that the rest of the room needed a dose of it, too.  So I whipped up some pillows.  And I should probably mention that my 'must have yellow' moment came to me the night before the party.  If you have ever witnessed FLAIL EX, you saw that coming.

The trick to pillows, generally, is to make them the same size as your form, otherwise you get a slouchy pillow.  But the trick, specifically, to churning out five pillows in less than an hour and a half is to be flexible.  The bow tied around the round pillow happened because my free-form circle was anything but round and I went with the ruched pillow because I was too lazy to get up from my sewing table and remeasure the rectangle form.  I of course now pretend that both of these details were by design.  Also, decide whether you want matchy-matchy or coordinated but asymmetrical.  Since I have three boys who think throw pillows are named as such for a reason, I went with the asymmetrical look.

William obviously approved of the yellow. 

Happy Friday!

xoxo, Sandra

Half marathon, check.

  

I love how the above photo has 'proof' plastered across it.  Yes, it's a photo proof I screen-captured (and then pixelated our race number) from the online gallery of the race.  But I smile because it says exactly what I think as I look at it--proof that I did the Marine Corps Historic Half marathon last Sunday.

I got to run with Charlie and my friends Hallie (that would be Halliefest-scone Hallie, btw) and Stephanie.  They were rockstars!  And my goodness did they keep me moving.  On my long training runs, I always took a bit of a walk break when I hydrated--something along the lines of a minute or so every four miles.  But I don't think I walked more than 10 seconds over the entire 13.1 miles of the race.  

When I started training 10 weeks ago (remember, I could not run over a mile without walking), I thought to myself that beating 2 hours and 30 minutes was a lofty goal.  So I am pleased as punch to report that I came in at 2 hours 6 minutes and 58 seconds.

So does it make me a runner?  Well, all I can say is that three days post race, with a right calf still too tight to run, I was online researching Fall races.  I think they put something in that race water.

xoxo, Sandra

Train love.

Another thing that added to our very full weekend was a birthday party for my dear friend's son, Elliot, who turned 3.  He had a train party, which is always a hit with my boys.  I think we did trains for one of Max's school parties and another may be in our future because of William--he is suddenly very into all things Thomas the Tank Engine.  He was in pure heaven at the party.

For the gift, I was tipped off as to which Thomas trains were missing from the birthday boy's collection.  And to make it more fun, I decided to make a coordinating bag.  I ended up slip covering a canvas tote with some Thomas fabric and added a patch to clue everyone in on what's inside. 

I hear it was a hit!

And speaking of hits, the boys loved the train ride at the party.

Though the older boys got a bit nervous riding in the seat by themselves--they held hands during the entire ride...

 

And William got a bit grumpy when I got up to shoot a few shots, but got over it as soon as I sat down and he heard the whistle...

Thanks for a fun morning Elliot (and family)!

xoxo, Sandra

p.s.  And thanks also to Elliot's folks who made it to the surprise party for my brother later that night at our home.  Kristin has known my brother as long as she's known me (good grief, is it 25 years??!!!) so naturally she and her husband were there.  And whenever we get together, we have fun!  A friend posted this shot of us on facebook so I downloaded and tweaked it vintage style.  I think I used just about every effect Picnik offers...

Yay.

I am pretty shocked--but very tickled--that my little sewing adventure made it as one of the Top 60 spring tops in Made by Rae's sewing contest.  Actually, shocked is putting it lightly.  The reaction was more like:

Thud.              

Stand up. 

Brush, brush, brush.

If you haven't been voting during Spring Top week, here's the low down.  Each day this week, 12 tops go up for voting.  Voting lasts for 24 hours and the winner of each day moves on to the final vote over the weekend. 

My top is one of the 12 tops up for voting for Day 5 (which is today!)--so please head over to Made by Rae to check it out.  And if you are so inclined, please consider voting for my top.  But only if you like it (scroll down to find the button for 'ruffled tie-neck top by Sandra' on the right sidebar).  And yes, I now sort of regret bashing it on my previous post.  Sorry, spring top.  But I did make it up to you, right?  By wearing you beyond the bathroom photo shoot...I took you to the lake, remember?

And we sure did have fun that day, didn't we?  A dinner playdate with friends, complete with grilled pizza and build your own sundaes (thanks Kris!) and a gorgeous weather walk so the kidlets could feed fish... 

And I promise to make you a friend very soon...maybe that will be my Mother's Day present to myself.  I'm certainly inspired to try out some things from the flickr pool.  Happy Friday everyone!

xoxo, Sandra

Running update, no. 2.

Did you catch what I said about running in my last post?  11 miles, folks.  And you could knock me over with a feather.  I have one more long training run (12 miles) this week.  And then the blessed "tapering" I've heard so much about kicks in.  I think I'll really enjoy the tapering.

I've devoted a few posts to running for a couple of reasons.  One, this may be a fleeting fancy, so I want to document it.  And second, just in case there is anyone else out there who is thinking of starting--but are not because they have a voice inside them telling them how much they hate it.  Just know that I have that voice inside my head, too.  But quite honestly, I stopped listening to it.  I still cannot say that I love running, but I am starting to sort of like it.  There, I said it.  I think in my case, I will fall in love gradually and I'm okay with that.  I mostly appreciate the sense of accomplishment it is giving me.  Exactly two months ago today, I went out for my first training run.  And even though I consider myself as fairly fit, I could not even run beyond the first mile without stopping!  And this week I go for 12.

Now I know why Nike's "just do it" ad slogan is so successful.  Seriously--if you've ever considered running, just get out there.  And run.  Give yourself a few weeks and push past the doubt and run.  Yes it takes time and you will probably think about the mountain of laundry you need to get to.  Or the countless errands that remain on your list.  But you'll also know you are doing something to make you stronger and healthier.  It's really a gift to give yourself as well as your loved ones--we, moms especially, often forget to take care of ourselves.  I speak from years of experience, but I'm trying to be better.  Okay, pep talk over. 

p.s.  this doesn't have to be about running--just get out there and move your body.  Yoga, walking, pilates, whatever.  As an added bonus, it means you can eat more cake.  Which is exactly what we did all morning long.

Happy birthday Leo! 

What do grown ups eat?

So we're hosting a honest-to-goodness adult party at our house in a few weeks.  Er, when I say it like that, it sort of sounds X rated.  And I can assure you that that is not the case.  But!  There will be wine glasses and ladies in heels and fancy finger foods and nary a platter of chicken nuggets.  And there will be candles out!  Not just ones to top cakes and vex little lungs on demand (Max can never blow out all of his birthday candles) but actually out out--like on the coffee table.  And they'll be lit!  Just for ambiance!  But first I have to find them and dust them.  It's been a while.

I was pretty excited about this event until I started looking at our house with a critical eye.  Our house is outfitted for playdates, not grown up dates.  I will save the details until after the party in case a certain somebody reads my blog...but I don't think she does.  Besides, before I hit the cookbooks to plan the menu (my favorite part of party planning) I have roughly a hundred things to clean.  First up, the slipcovers from our couch and love seat.  Peanut butter comes out, right?  Even if it's set in for a few years? 

p.s.   I know a lot of you come here for craft stuff.  So you probably already know about Dana & Disney's Celebrating Mom series.  I am so excited--I have no doubt I'll try just about every craft they put up.

Some good news to (almost) share.

 typical nightime crazies before bedtime

I don't talk very much about my husband on my blog.  It's pretty strange when I stop and think about it--because off of my blog I'm always prattling on about "Charlie this" and "Charlie that."  He's just always on my mind.

Charlie keeps to himself, is pretty private and reserved--not boastful, not show-y.  So if he had a blog, he would never post about some good news he recently received in his professional life.

But me?  Well, when it comes to these things, I'm pretty much the polar opposite to him.  And so I would like nothing more than to shout to the world all the details, including how proud I am of him. 

But I can also compromise.  So I'll just put a hint out there--and it'll make sense to all of my military friends who check in (hi guys!).  A wetting down will be in order soon.  Insert proud goofy wife grin here.

After asking everyone to settle down. And I really wish I could say that it is unusual for Max to use Will's head as a footrest.

Birthdays 2010.

The boys' birthday party was yesterday and it was a lot of fun.  We've never before held it outside of the home--definitely a new experience.  It takes A LOT of planning to make sure you haul everything with you.  But the zero post-party clean up was awesome.  Really awesome, actually.  And so I'm on the fence as to what we'll do next year.  Luckily, the boys have a year to decide--a fact they are none too happy about ("a whole year momma?").

The mini-theme I alluded to was 'spring'.  Not much of a theme, I know.  But we are planting a garden this year (Charlie just finished the raised garden bed!  More on that later...) and the boys are pretty excited.  So I made dirt cupcakes with mini shovel toppers.  To make the shovels, I assembled two types of pretzel bits to fashion a handle and used a cinnamon toast cereal bit for the blade.  It sort of worked...

Many shovels broke en route to the party, grrr.  The dirt cupcakes also sported sprinkles for 'seeds' and lots of gummy worms...

And because I was not 100% sure that the cupcakes looked even remotely like what I was shooting for (little garden plots), I put out a sign to hopefully clue everyone in...

 

For the favors, the boys helped me put together planter buckets.  We found tins in the $1 section at Target and we punched drainage holes in the bottom.  We threw in some rocks, bags of potting soil, and rounds of seed blanket (a butterfly garden mix that we cut down to size.  Found it at Home Depot--really hope it works!).

To top off the instructions on how to plant the seed blanket, I put together a "photo strip" of the boys with a little message (idea from Young House Love).

Once everything was assembled, I realized that some kids might be let down that there was no candy.  Specifically, my kids.  So I caved and added some gummy worms.

 

At the party, which was held at The Little Gym, the boys enjoyed stretching their muscles and running around like crazy ("run inside, momma?  Reeeeallly?!").

    

I completely forgot to take pictures of the decorated party room, but the background in some of the shots reveals that  the bunting did indeed make it.  Bunting makes me happy. 

And every year, after the party, I am reminded of a certain quote.  Some of you quote wise, historic figures.  But my mind holds onto quotes like these:  from over a decade ago, when my law school roommate, Jenn, and I were watching a Letterman interview with Janeane Garofalo (remember her?).  And in discussing her recent and significant weight loss, Ms. Garofalo revealed that her weight was a constant battle because she often "disguises the sin of gluttony in the nobility of not being wasteful."  Amen, sister.  I have more than a dozen cupcakes left over from the party.  And being wasteful is a terrible thing...

p.s.  I'm linking up to DIY Day over at A Soft Place to Land. 

Retail therapy.

I think you must know by now that Liberty of London launched at Target.  And if you do not know what I'm talking about, it's not a bad thing.  Not at all. Because it means you do not have to ban yourself from Target.  But me?  For me, it has required a self-imposed ban simply because I know I would not be able to resist picking up many, many things in one of Liberty's iconic floral prints.  I was doing pretty great, really.  My plan was to wait it out a bit, ponder what I really wanted, then just dash in for a few melamine plates or maybe a cute teapot.  The problem with my plan is that things are selling out left and right.

So when we headed to Cincinnati and I forgot to pack a swimsuit (a problem because we had planned a day at an indoor water park), I did not put up a fight when we headed to Target for an emergency suit.  "Get in, get the suit, get out," I said to myself.

And I'm happy to report that I did not spend our summer vaction fund on an entire line of Liberty dining and serving ware!  Okay, fine.  I can't actually claim that with any degree of smugness because truth be told, Charlie grimaced every time I held anything up and headed for the cart.  It just wasn't going to happen.  But I could not, would not, leave without the tunic  pictured below.  Charlie says it looks exactly like something his grandmother wore--to which I replied, "exactly!"

It's technically a swim cover up but I'm loving it as a belted tunic.  It even works tucked in because it is such a light fabric and doesn't get bulky when bunched up.  I just looked to see if it's available online and it's showing up as sold out--and it's going for almost twice retail on Ebay (which is where I snagged this photo...my tunic is in the wash because I may or may not have worn it four times in the past week).  Snatch one up if you see one.  It puts a spring in your step, I promise. 

p.s.  While on the swimsuit hunt in Cincy, we also stopped into Sears to check out Lands' End.  Ummmm, hello?  When did their Canvas line launch?  Holy moly.  I am now banned from there too.

And we're back.

Actually, we got back late last week and rolled right into Easter.  And we are never doing that again.  It's not that the boys weren't great on the trip to OH (they were), or that we didn't have a great time visiting family (we did)...it's just that I had no time at all to do any Easter crafting.  And that makes me a sad sack because I just love Easter.  Hmmph. 

We did manage to dye some eggs.  Last year, we used all natural, homemade, dyes.  But it takes a long time for the eggs to take on the colors from natural dyes (think beets/dissolved paprika/boiled spinach or red onion skins/coffee)--we had to let a lot of the eggs sit in the colored concoctions overnight.  But this year, in the interest of instant gratification, we went PAAS + crayons all the way.

We also managed an egg hunt.  The phrase "elbows out" came to mind when watching the older boys go at it...

We assigned my mother as Will's bodyguard and she led him to some discoveries... 

I should also mention, before I forget, that we had a wonderful time in Cincinnati.  I did eat my fair share, but I also got in the two training runs I hoped for--one was an easy 3 miles and the other was the longest run I've done yet--8 miles.  (Gah!  Cannot believe I just typed that.  Please remember that I am not a runner.)  It really helped that we ran at a lovely park--Whitewater, or something, I think.  Charlie's folks entertained the boys while we ran.

Then we all had ice cream.  With sprinkles.  They evidently don't skimp on sprinkles in Cincy.

I have lots more to share about the trip but I must turn to getting a few things ready for the boys' bday party this weekend.  Busy, busy, busy...and btw, how is it April already?!!