Romantical

I have spent the last several minutes trying to think of a way to flesh this out into something truly blog-post-worthy ('several minutes' being far more time and preparation than normally go into this internet grab-bag/wasteland that I call a blog) and am coming up empty. Which probably means this is not worth blogging about.

But riddle me this: what am I supposed to do when my dear sweet husband presents me with an anniversary mix tape full of songs that have "special meaning" (his words) to us as a couple? And when track 3 of said mix tape of romantic sap turns out to be Gold Digger, that quintessential love song by the deep-feeling and ever-emotional Kanye West, am I not supposed to share this precious golden nugget of sentimental drivel with anonymous strangers on the internet?

This is what blogs are for. And such is the idyllic, poetic, romantical nonsense of a 5-year marriage.

Shop Sale!

The Queen Bee Market has come and gone, I’m slowly catching up on the housework that I willfully neglected for the past few weeks while I sat crocheting instead, I’m admiring my own purchases . . . but I’ve got some leftover stock on my hands that didn’t sell at the Market! (I can almost hear what you’re thinking: those nutjobs at Snap Conference didn’t wipe my booth clean?! I know, I know. I’m thinking the same thing.)

But their loss is your gain . . . all my items that didn’t sell at the Market have been marked down and placed in my Etsy shop for you to snatch up! Yay! They’ve already been discounted (up to 30% off regular prices!) so you don’t have to worry about applying a coupon code to get the savings . . . the markdown has already been taken off the listing price. Hurry and check it out—I just added the sale items and they’re already flying off the proverbial shelves. All of the sale items are listed in the “Baby Ready to Ship” and “Women Ready to Ship” shop sections (the sections are located on the upper left hand side of the shop), so you can find your clearance goodies there! Here are some of the treasures you’ll find:

These large flower headbands were one of my personal favorite items from the show— a great way to add some color and fun to a simple spring/summer outfit! Marked down from $14 to $11. (Plus, they’re fully adjustable . . . they tie in the back, so they’ll fit anyone and any head size, from baby through adult.)

I made a mountain of these button beanies with interchangeable flowers in sizes all the way from teensy newborn to child and have a pretty good variety of sizes and colors remaining. Each hat comes with 3 flowers (pick your own colors!) so you can easily change up the look. I love ‘em! Marked down from $26 to $20.

(And because you have to see how cute they look on a little bebe:)

(Awwwwwww!)

Another personal fave . . . I really love wearing these slouchy hats, and would secretly not be very disappointed if I ended up having to keep a lot of them for myself. I might be biased because I made them myself (not unlike the mother who swoons over even the most hideous of her child’s photos), but I am of the opinion that they look great on everybody and go with just about every outfit. Win win win win win. Marked down from $28 to $20! I can hardly believe I’m selling them that cheap. I’ll try not to change my mind about it.

I’ve also got a handful of these little elf hats (from newborn through toddler sizes):

 

And just a few bear hats:

I love these little headbands—a total steal at $8 each—in sizes from newborn through toddler and a whole rainbow of colors:

And of course, these headwraps are always a popular item—I love that they’re cool enough to wear in warm weather, but they’ll definitely still be useful in the fall and winter. Marked down to just $14:

Whew! I think there are a few stragglers I’m leaving out, but hopefully that’s enough motivation for you to head on over and shop your lil’ heart out. When they’re gone, they’re gone, and jumping back up to my normal prices, so if you’ve got your heart set on something, it would be wise not to wait too long.

(All of these items are available as custom orders as well—you pick the size and colors—but the discounted items are all ready-made and ready to ship out!)

This and That

1) I'm guest posting over at See Kate Sew today, sharing the ruffled duvet cover that currently graces the ol' marital bed. You know what adds a nice dosage of awkwardness to a blog post? Referring to my bed as my marital bed. You're uncomfortable, aren't you? So am I. But here's a picture of the bedspread, which shows almost none of the bedspread but is more well-lit and attractive than any pictures that do show the bedspread:

 Click on over if you want to see/read a little more about it. And wanna hear something neat? I met Kate over the weekend. She's, like, so cute in person I almost can't stand it. And in case you're wondering, I did not mention my marital bed in my conversation with her. That was just a special treat for you, reading at home.

2) Speaking of things that are so cute I almost can't stand them, do you happen to read One Dog Woof? ChiWei just started blogging pretty recently and I love her style and projects. She's doing her first giveaway ever, and up for grabs is a little crochet giraffe so precious I almost want to put him in my mouth and eat him up. (Tell me I'm not the only one with the weird instinct to put cute things [like giraffes and my child] in my mouth.) Go check it out and show her some love!

3) The long-awaited/long-feared Queen Bee Market was this past weekend! I'll do a real post about it later, but for now, enjoy this picture of me Vanna-White-ing my booth:

If this whole crochet business doesn't work out, I'm fairly certain I have a bright future in Creative Gesturing.

4) In case you've been wondering how goes the house-hunting, the answer is: still rather sucky. For those of you keeping score at home, tally up two more homes that we've made offers on and lost to higher/faster bidders, bringing the total to three houses we haven't gotten. Jeff's facebook status on the subject sums it up rather nicely:

Whoever said it's better to have loved and lost is a real idiot, I have loved and lost three houses and it's horrible.

5) Since I am an angelic model parent who would never exploit her child's beauty for material gain or worldly fame and honor, I certainly did not enter him in THIS beautiful baby contest where he could win a super-sweet outdoor playset. And I certainly would not encourage you to head over to this page and vote for child #520 if you have a spare moment and want my outdoors-obsessed child to love you forever. But because I believe in fairness, I am compelled to inform you that my true, unbiased opinion after hours of scrutiny and careful deliberation is that child #520 is the best-looking of the bunch. Or just ever. Anywhere.

Queen Bee Market

The day I've been looking forward to and dreading, in equal parts, is almost here! Are you coming to the Queen Bee Market at Snap Conference this weekend?

It's going to be cool. Let me count the ways:

1) All handmade goodies. You know how sometimes you go to "craft shows" and they're mostly cheap jewelry or somebody selling maple syrup or flea market booths with sellers who just wanted a space to get rid of the crap in their basement? Well. All the vendors at the Queen Bee Market had to apply and be personally approved by the organizers, so it's all handmade goodies, all quality items, no unrelated booths that have no business being in a craft show.

2) No door charge. Who wants to pay before they've even picked out any treasures? The Queen Bee Market is free and open to the public, so just waltz on in and only part with your money once you're good and ready and have some fun new stuff to show for it.

3) I'll be there. Yes sirree Bob, I will. I might be quivering in fear since I've spent the better part of two months procrastinating and worrying about this, or I might be completely overshadowed by the bigger badder booths who make a living out of events like these (while I, a mere frumpy hobbyist mother, am just doing this for fun), or giddy with excitement over all the fun items I plan to buy. Whether quivering from nerves or excitement, I will be there. And there will be quivering.

4) Check out the vendors ahead of time . . . get excited. There are so many awesome vendors lined up! You can see a full list of vendors right HERE and browse some of the merchandise ahead of time. I'm honestly a little concerned that I'll spend way more than I make. 

So if you're in Utah and up for some fun shopping this weekend, mark your calendar and head out. The Market is at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi,  in the show barn, from 7-9 PM on Friday and 9 AM to 3 PM on Saturday. Visit the Queen Bee Market's website for more info. And leave a comment if you're coming . . . I want to know who to look for!

My eardrums are bleeding.

I’ve said it before: I’m not much of a captions-on-baby-photos person. I guess I should say I never thought I would be, but here we are. There’s a big fat checkmark next to this one on the list of Things I’d Never Do As a Mother. That embarrassing list keeps getting shorter and shorter.  But heaven help me, this ridiculous boy keeps giving me pictures that are just begging for captions. Truly, how can I not stick some goofy quote onto a photo like this?

If I knew anything at all about sports, I’d try to come up with a funny basketball caption to pop on that one, but I’ll save myself the embarrassment. It would probably say something about a touchdown and a basketball costume (can’t figure out why Jeff acts annoyed that I think they’re called costumes, by the way) and maybe a home run.

I bought Forrest that little basketball outfit at a garage sale when I was pregnant, shortly after we found out he was sporting boy bits, and have been waiting all this time for it to fit him. Worth the wait. He looks so stinking cute I almost can’t stand it. I thought I’d have to be satisfied with boring reading photos until he picked up that phone. This boy may not have a lot to say yet, but what he does say must be said at full volume.

If you have a caption suggestion, I’d love to hear it.