Happy Halloween!

This is just a little late, but better late than never!
O is a bit under the weather this week, but last weekend we finally made it to the pumpkin patch!

We had a great time and we got a little pumpkin for our pumpkin.

I'm not super big on Halloween, but we did get O a costume.

I think we've started a food theme with her so far. Dunno, if we'll keep it going again next year...perhaps...

:) Cheers

Time Heals All Wounds

Today is the two-year anniversary of our best friend Eric's suicide. It is not a nice day. I still can't believe I have a friend who committed suicide. Seems like something out of an after-school special. But, no, it is true, and real, and painful.

I miss him everyday. We used to chat on-line from our respective work-places. The last email I had from him was on November 3, 2008. We had Thanksgiving with our friends every year instead of family. I was starting to plan what pies to bake. He liked pumpkin. I sent him this image.

He replied: "That is so perfect! Cheers, E"

I keep the email saved in a special folder. It is the last thing he ever said to me.

Eric had a lot of struggles in life. I knew this. We were there for him when he needed us. I wish he had needed us more. I hope he is no longer in pain. I hope he is at peace. It just sucks that he had to leave us behind.

:) Cheers

In the Middle

I officially turned 35 on Saturday. I'm at the top of the hump of the 30s. But I have a feeling the ride down the other side on the way to 40 will be OK.

To celebrate my birthday we had planned a family trip to Portland to visit friends while W went to a coin show with his dad. Unfortunately, our friends got sick, so O and I stayed home. But the next day W had something up his sleeve. W is a wonderful man, but sometimes lacks something in the gift department. This year he out did himself. He planned a treasure-like hunt of events for me, ending in a great dinner with our friends and WITHOUT the baby! It was great. I got to hang with my best friend, eat and drink great food, and shop! It was great. Oh, did I say that already? It really was.

This week the weather is CRAPPY and COLD. I'm not physically or mentally prepared for winter. I still need some more fall. Winter just makes me want to sit in our condo, listen to the rain, and watch reality tv.

Halloween is this coming weekend and we have a great costume for O. Pictures will be posted! We never got to the pumpkin farm this year. It just never worked out and then the weather got bad. Oh well. Next year.

This is what O has been up to lately. She is growing leaps and bounds and learning things everyday.

Budding Artist

MMMMMM red

Getting her morning quotes

Fluffy Bunny

I guess that is all from the homefront.

Cheers :)

In the Year 35

Image from ETSY http://www.etsy.com/shop/finchandhawk?ref=seller_info

Inspired by this lovely gal at Making it Lovely, I have created my 35 in the year 35 list.

Nicole at Making it Lovely just turned thirty and she gave herself 6 months to complete 30 things before thirty. Amazingly, in addition to running her online business/website, expecting her second child, being a top blogger, and keeping an amazing home, she completed nearly all of her 30 items. (Her site is amazing, you should check it out!)

I have to be a little more realistic. I'm kinda lazy compared to her. I have a lot of things I'd like to do, but need more time to complete them. I'm turning thirty-five in October, so I thought I would try and come up with 35 things I could try and accomplish in the my 35th year. I'm having a bit of a mid-thirties crisis. It seems like a big number to me for some reason. I feel like I need to accomplish something concrete; move my (our) life forward. I think this list will help...If nothing else it will get a lot of things done around the house.

So with no further ado:

35 in the year 35

1.       Finish painting the trim in living room and hallway

2.       Paint bedroom

3.       Get two new dressers for our bedroom (Give back antique dresser to Mom)

4.       Paint afore mentioned dressers to match bedroom (green)

5.       Clean and organize craft closet

6.       Clean and organize hall closet

7.       Paint and cover hall closet doors

8.       Finish sewing curtains in bedrooms

9.       Find linings for living room curtains and finish sewing them too

10.   Replace air conditioner in living room

11.   Install air conditioner in Olive’s room

12.   Install ceiling fan in dining room

13.   Install ceiling fan in Olive’s room

14.   Paint bathrooms

15.   New mirrors, light fixtures, towel racks in bathrooms

16.   Replace all four doors in condo

17.   Price and save money for new toilets, sinks, and flooring in bathrooms

18.   Purge storage unit of all unused stuff

19.   Start using my aerogarden again

20.   Be a vendor in the Christmas Meet Your Maker with new product

21.   Finish up surplus craft projects

22.   Start embroidery pattern business

23.   Make my Blog bigger and better

24.   Spend a long weekend in a house on the beach

25.   Take a romantic overnight trip with my husband and WITHOUT the baby

26.   Get grocery spending down to $50/week

27.   Pay off credit card

28.   Start saving again

29.   Carve Pumpkins

30.   Decorate for Christmas

31.   Make all Christmas gifts with stuff I already have (or with very minimal purchase)

32.   Solve CD/record storage problem

33.   FINALLY get fish for vintage blender fish bowls I made 4 years ago

34.   Get sewing machine fixed

35.   Be ready to work on kitchen in the year 36

Bonus Tracks:

Curb my addiction to lattes (iced or hot)

Write a children’s book

Start exercising regularly again

I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing.

:) Cheers

Steal This Blog!

I have several hundred blogs in my Google Reader. I don't ever get around to reading them all, but there are a dozen or more that I read religiously!

Today I want to tell you about a blog you should be reading. A blog that I often wish was mine.

Candace at Sparkle Power combines the perfect amount of personal life, crafts, design, business, and great looking photography to give you a true sense of who she is and how she lives her life.

I must admit I'm just a little stalkery about her blog. It is one I always look for on my reader feed, and one that has inspired me to do many things. She is super crafty and has an amazing design sense.

I've purchased three prints from Sparkle Power's ETSY shop to put in Olive's room.

And another three prints from her husband Dylan's ETSY shop for our music nook in the living room.

And Candace's experience with swagbucks.com encouraged me to try it for myself. So far I have more than 2,200 swagbucks just by searching the internet and doing silly stuff online I would normally do. I'm going to trade them in for amazon.com dollars and buy supplies for my much, much neglected aerogarden.

Psst. (You can check out swagbucks yourself by using the little button here on my blog. If you do, use me as a referral and we¹ll both earn bucks just by dicking around on the internet!)

Finally, Candace is a mother of two beautiful little girls, and from what I can tell by reading her blog, a thoughtful, kind, and loving mother. But, also an honest one, who tells it like it is in good and bad times. As someone who is just learning this motherhood gig, it is so nice to read about the paths other moms have already forged.

So, check out Sparkle Power! I think it is worth it.

Cheers :)

Good Intentions

I have a lot of good intentions these days. I make a lot of efforts, but can't seem to feel like I accomplish any one thing. So it goes for most working moms I know. I truly admire the ones that seem to have it together. Or maybe things are not quite what they seem?

Anyway, I want to start writing here again. It is fun to do and I want to be more serious about it. I have several hundred blogs in my google reader that I drool over on a daily basis and wonder "why can't I be a better blogger?"

So, here I am, trying to be a better blogger.

Olive turned one almost two weeks ago. Looking back on the last year I can't believe we made it out alive. Becoming a family has been one of the most intense experiences of my life. I can truly say it is both wonderful and awful at the same time (more wonderful than awful, but there are some truly awful things about it).

Motherhood has been a hard adjustment for me. And continues to befuddle me at times. Some days I don't know how I get from sun up to sun down, but I do. Other days it is effortless and fun even.

Olive is a wonderful little girl. I can say that now. She is a little girl. No longer a baby really. She is on the verge of walking. And talking will soon follow. Some days I look at her and can't believe that she is my baby. Everyday she surprises me with how smart she is. The other day I realized she had figured out how to open and close a drawer in the kitchen without getting her fingers in the way. It astounded me.



I haven't been too happy with my workplace lately. I don't think it has anything to do with the business itself. Just with me trying to find my place in this world after Olive. But, I'm starting to wonder if it is the life-long career I once thought it was. There are so many other things I want to pursue that if given time and effort (there is that word again) could become my occupation.

Crafts have really taken a back burner. I have had a few moments to do some new t-shirts to consign at CD World and some little hankies for the store in Alaska, but many of the projects I want to do just have to wait.



Anyway, I hope this is the first of many more entries in this much neglected little blog. Please follow me or leave an encouraging comment so I feel like others would like to hear what I have to say.

I'm trying, really I am.

:) Cheers

Otherwise occupied...

We're busy this summer...

Beach Baby, Beach Baby

On Mother's Day my wonderful husband took me to the coast for lunch and a visit to the beach. It just happened to be Olive's first time in the sand as well.

She LOVED it! I can't wait to take her again when it is warmer and less windy!

:) Cheers

YART Sale, YART Sale!

What is a YART Sale?

Yard Sale + Art Sale = YART Sale!

My friends and I are having a YART Sale on June 5th and 6th. There will be a ton of really cool stuff there. All of us are cleaning out our closets and our studios and making it available to the public for some great prices.

If you are in the Eugene area please come on by and check it out!

:) Cheers

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day, originally uploaded by lucky lisp.

This is my first Mother's Day! But really, I think it should just be Women's Day...There are so many Aunties and Grandmas and Girlfriends that care for us all. We are blessed to have so many loving women in our lives, those with kids and those without.

Whether you birthed, adopted, foster, acquired, or generally just care and love others....Happy Mothers Day to You!!!!!

:) Cheers!

Playing

Olive is learning to play on her own a bit...She has recently discovered the joys of emptying her toy box one toy at a time...It is too cute!




:) Cheers!

Swagbucks

I've been reading about Sparkle Power's adventure with Swagbucks for some time, and now have decided to try it myself. It is free to set up an account and all you do is use the Swagbucks search engine when you surf the Internet and earn points. Then trade those points in for gift certificates and other things you might already spend money on. There are other ways to earn points by signing up for free things, taking surveys, or referring friends and family to use the site. I've started a separate email address to handle the junk mail I'll get from doing this stuff.

Anyway, if you want to give it a try, tell them I sent you by using this referral link: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/LuckyLisp

I'll let you know how it goes...hopefully it will just make all the time I already spend on the Internet more lucrative!!!

:) Cheers

My daughter...

It still sounds weird to me when I say that... my daughter...

More Button Necklaces!

A few more button necklaces in the shop! These are a little bit bigger and rockin!

Where has the time gone?

7 Months Old Today!

Four Years Ago...

I married the man of my dreams... and began the rest of my life.

Shop update, FINALLY

Hey everyone,
I am FINALLY coming out of the fog maternity leave and babydom and able to think about crafting again!

So, I am clearing out a lot of stock to make room for new and exciting craft ideas I've had brewing for the last few months.

I've listed some necklace/brooch embroidered pieces that are super cute on my etsy site!

I love how you have the option to wear it as a necklace or as a brooch depending on your mood and outfit!



I have a few more of the necklace/brooch combos to list and some straight brooches/pins as well in varying sizes. I'll have those up later this week.

Check back soon for other hand-stitched goodies. I'm clearing out tons of back stock, so there will be all kinds of stuff from wall-hangings, to onesies, to blankets and much more!

Cheers :)

I can fly!

I can fly!, originally uploaded by lucky lisp.

Gimme a Hug

Gimme a Hug, originally uploaded by lucky lisp.

Blogging has totally dropped off the radar for me. As have crafts. I really hope to get back on the band wagon very soon for both, but for now, my priorities seem to be getting this little peanut to sleep (not a big sleeper), keeping my house from totally falling into chaos, getting our diabetic cat stabilized without spending thousands of dollars we don't have, and, oh, yeah, trying to do the job I get paid for full time....

All in all, things are going well in the Kennedy household. We had a rough January, with a little girl who decided that sleep is for loosers. It is getting better, thanks to a new KING size bed. She is sleeping with us now and it is working better for everyone. I guess we'll deal with getting her to sleep on her own later. Choose your battles eh?

Working from home is a struggle most days. Baby O takes up a lot of time and because she doesn't really sleep in long intervals, fitting it in during naps is pretty much not happening. But, I work for a great company and there is another mom with a little boy the same age who is doing the same, so somehow we are making it work. Eventually I want to be in the office more, but for now it is what it is.

Baby O is growing by leaps and bounds. She is rolling over and wants to sit up so badly. I need to get her one of those cool Bumbo seats so she can sit up on her own. She talks non stop and recently developed a high pitched screech that goes directly to my brain. It can be cute...sometimes...

So, my hope is to start blogging more and get some flippin crafting going! Oy! I miss stitchin...soon, very soon, I hope. I've got a million and ten ideas rattling around in my little head.

Cheers :)

Happy New Year!

It has been a big year for our household. We survived pregnancy and labor and delivery and those first 6 crazy weeks of newborn-ness. Now we look forward to all the new and amazing things that await us in this next year.

A new decade--a new family!

:) Cheers