A Southern Accent

Seriously, I'm having a rough week. It's still January - will this month ever end? Had a fight with my boss (and cried in his office - hate doing that). Have no money because I caught up on all my Christmas bills and first-of-the-year taxes. P.M.S. (see zits in above self-portrait) Last night I decided to turn things around, so I made giant, triple-chocolate cupcakes, just because. And we ate them for dinner. All of us - including the dog. Needless to say, the little guy was bouncing off the walls at bedtime, but we were all in much better spirits. This morning I was all pouty and weepy and Mike just hugged me and said, "if I was your boss, I'd give you the biggest raise I could." That lifted my spirits - almost as much as the chocolate. Almost. "When life gives you PMS, make giant, triple-chocolate cupcakes. For dinner."

In researching printing options for my own Etsy shop, I've reached out to a couple of other wonderful Etsy sellers for advice. The prints in their shops are adorable and I wanted to understand how they produce their items. Both PersimmonandPink and PrettySmitten were very kind to respond to my questions and were both willing to contribute to a giveaway for you guys! PersimmonandPink PrettySmitten I'll be giving away two prints: an 8 x 10 print of your choice from PersimmonandPink and a You Are My Sunshine print from PrettySmitten . Be sure to visit these great shops, and leave a comment here by February 1 to enter. Good luck!

My wonderfully creative friend Molly (of Happikins fame) invited me to a girl's night out at the LabourLove Art Gallery in downtown Durham Saturday night. I arrived around 6:45 and got to tour some of the artist studios located in the area, and I felt all artsy and chill and big-city like. We received a mix-media art lesson from the gallery owner, Kelly Dew, and learned how she uses scraps of patterned paper to create these beautiful paintings. Then we were let loose to attempt our own "masterpieces" of birds and insects. Kelly has a southern accent, a two-year old, and decided in 2009 (year of the recession), along with her husband, to start this art gallery. She's super talented, and laid back. She offers art lessons for kids on Saturday, and I'm definitely going to sign the little man up for classes ASAP. I'm just so excited about getting back into art and can't wait for the next night out at the gallery!! I'm hoping Kelly will start having...

I'll admit, I sometimes censor myself when I sit down to write posts. There's so much great work fodder I could write about, but then I'd probably get fired. So I won't, but let me just say it would be a very entertaining read. Then there's my whole separated parent's thing, but my mom would rather me not talk about it to the masses, which I understand and respect. Or how about the crappy floors downstairs in the extra bedroom - in which I ripped the carpet out in a fit of rage because I was sick of the dog peeing in the house. I'm getting hardwoods this year if I have to eat beans and rice and rice and beans every night for dinner. Then there's the 50lbs I want to lose this year. Ha! It's been the same new year's resolution for the past 10 years. I only did it once and I put it all back on. And I thought I was fat in high school!!!!! I'd give anything to be that size again. Maybe it's the January blues getting me - they get me ev...

Here are just a couple of the Valentine's I've done this year for friends. E-mail me if you'd like one, or leave a comment here! They are only $20 and you can print 25 for $5.00 through a photo printer, or print yourself!

I haven't commented on pop culture on the blog lately, but couldn't resist when I saw the pics of the "new" Heidi. Is it just me, or does she kinda look like Whitney now? She actually said in her interview with Good Morning America this morning that she believes, "beauty is all about what's on the inside." Another report read: Her chest is now a "triple D," but she still wants to go bigger. "F. I like the F. I actually want H for Heidi." It's sad that she is only 23 years old and she has already had all of this work done. She's gonna look like Joan Rivers by the time she's 35. What do you guys think?

We had a great weekend. Although it rained a lot, the temperatures finally warmed up a bit so we could spend some time outside. Mike works a lot on the weekends (cause that's when people like to play golf) so my little guy and I often venture out on Saturdays if we don't have plans. I try to keep it fun and look for local things to do. We headed to the flea market in Raleigh this past Saturday. I love looking at all of the old treasures and the little man likes it because he can get lots of toys for only five bucks. He actually said this weekend, "this place is better than Target mommie!" I'll share more pics from our weekend later, but for now, here's one I snapped at the market (tons of dogs there). Loved this guy - his name was Mike and he's only two years old. Just looking at this picture makes me laugh...if we could all be this laid back...happy Monday y'all!

I've always had a thing for old stuff, you could say I'm a bit of an old soul, so I love the whole vintage movement that's happening with decor. After finding this great vintage-inspired baby shower invitation on tinyprints.com , inspired me to create a vintage baby shower board. My head was whirling with all kinds of fun ideas, but here are a couple of pics I found that represent what I envision as a retro/vintage baby shower for a girl. I think the vintage tin containers are adorable for centerpiece decorations, and you could keep the theme going with vintage toys on the tables, etc. The poms over the dining table are great too - I've been seeing these a lot on party planning websites and you can buy them at Michaels. For additional decor I thought a vintage candy-shop bar/buffet could be lots of fun, and guests could fill up little bags of the candy to take as favors. The hostesses can all wear vintage aprons (love them!) to add another level to the theme. As ano...

I'm offering custom Valentine design again this year. For $20, you'll get a cute, custom Valentine that you can upload to a photo printing company (Kodakgallery.com for example) and order prints just as you would prints of a photo for pretty cheap (for example, 20 prints at Kodakgallery.com are $4.50) I've done these the last two years for my little guy at pre-school and the kids (and parents) love them. I always have parents ask me about them. I'll also include a piece of candy or a little toy with the valentine as well. I know the days will soon come when I receive the demand to buy the Transformer Valentines, but I'm going to try to get away with it one more year. Please e-mail me (asuthernaccent at aol.com) your photo and copy you'd like to include if you're interested! I bill via PayPal upon completion of your order. I've already started recieving some orders for this year, so get your order in before the time fills up! If you have pets you...

Basketball season is upon us yes (go Heels!), but this will be my first season as a mom!!! My little guy starts practice tomorrow night and he is so excited. So is daddy - daddy, that went out and bought him a brand new NCAA junior-size basketball Saturday. That ball barely left our little four-year-old's hands, and after daddy demonstrated how he used to sleep with his basketball every night, it found its way under the covers of our own bed as well. My two guys have recently turned our kitchen into a basketball court, because it's too freakin cold to do anything outside right now. After dressing himself in full-on Tar Heel attire, the game was on. The whole family decided to get in on the action - check out these moves: (Please forgive my singing and cheering - I'm just a proud mama! BTW - this is also your first chance to hear my real southern accent!!!!)

Looking for a place to vacation this summer? My family has a condo at Indian Beach for rent starting this spring and throughout the year. It's my in-laws condo that they have been living in for the last two years, but they've bought another place at the beach, so this one is now vacant, cute and ready to be loved by you! The condo is located in Indian Beach (between Atlantic Beach and Emerald Isle in North Carolina) and you can go here to visit the property managers if you're interested in renting it . You can also look at more pictures of it online here . It is a fabulous place for kids, you can walk to putt putt, car racing, etc. They have a pool, jacuzzi, grills, tennis court, basketball court and the most beautiful views of the beach around! It has two bedrooms and two baths. Master has a king, second has twin beds. Couch is great to sleep on too (trust me, I've done it a million times, with the sliding door open and the beach breeze blowing in...ahh...

While playing in his room, the little guy looks up at me and says "Mommie, who's your best friend?" Not sure where this is going, I say,"Well, you know that - it's Daria." Pouting, with his bottom lip out, he says,"But I thought I was your best friend." "You're my best friend too sweetie, but you're the love of my life." With a sly look on his face, he responds "No mommie, I'm the trouble of your life..." Then he giggles and walks out of the room.

I've been wanting to replace the old nasty kitchen faucet since we bought our house, but other projects had taken precedent until just recently. With my Christmas gift card to Lowes, I picked out a new faucet while being convinced by the Lowes guy that installing your own faucet is fairly easy. I really didn't want to pay $99 for installation, so I figured I'd give it a try. Here's the before shot, as reference. So, I put on my handyman hat and climbed under the sink to turn off the water, unscrew the existing lines and take out the old faucet. It was fairly easy, with a bit of manipulation on my part to reach things. Mike got an action shot, plumber's crack and all (edited, of course - this is a rated PG blog). Sidenote: I couldn't find a flashlight, so I had to light up the Yankee candle to see. Mike hates anything DIY, so I was trying to be self-sufficient and do it all by myself, but one of the old screws was too tight for me to budge, so I had to ...

I always wanted a trampoline growing up, but my mom and dad insisted they were too dangerous. Now they manufacture these great trampolines with safety nets all around and thanks to my dad, we now have one in our backyard. We've had a ball with it so far, too bad it feels like minus 100 degrees outside, but you can certainly warm up on one of these babies. If you recall my pee issues, I can't seem to stay on it too long without having to run to the bathroom, but I'm hoping to get that issue resolved this year through some sort of surgery. For the time being, my little guy thinks it's hilarious when mommie pees all over herself and has to run to the potty. Mike says the last time he was on a trampoline, he broke a bone. He seemed to enjoy it as well. No broken anything as of yet. Here's to jumping into the new year! Happy 2010 everyone!