Lesson #155 - Everyone Needs The Harvester

Have I mentioned that Halloween is my most favorite holiday?!

WELL IT IS!!

This year the yard is going to be a fabulous array of horror and animatronic wonderfulness...including this guy on our door step!!



I can't wait to start putting everything up!! Usually I start on October 1st, but due to the high $$ amount of the entire set-up (around $1k in total) I am going to put it off until the last minute! Don't fret my lovelies...I will post pictures ASAP!

{Wordless Wednesday - Feeding Bubba}

Lulu is such a huge helper!! She even loves to feed her little Bubba - while we eat on the kitchen floor (because that is a great place for a snack, apparently)...

The snack...plain yogurt...

One spoonful...

...and another...

Getting the drippings

Trying to finish swallowing

Yeah...that is the face of a satisfied customer!

Lesson #154 - Fiberglass Is A "B" To Cut Through

My Halloween projects are in full swing...horray!! The other day I was able to find - and purchase - some new tombstones for the yard. While this might not sound exciting for most of you...I promise you, purchasing five realistic looking tombstones for the rock-bottom price of $10//each is a treat for me! The only issue with said decor is its weight.

The weather around my favorite holiday tends to be crappy...booo...so I had to find a way to weigh these things down without spending a ton of money. So, off to the local hardware store to find a cheap solution to my tombstone issue. I ended up purchasing a bag of sand and a 10 lb bag of concrete. This is how the project turned out:

 My new toys about to get a makeover!


My dad used a hole saw to cut through the fiberglass (and it ate up quite a few of the blades)


The new hole


Mixing the concrete (the kind without rocks)


Adding a little more (dirty) water to the mix


Filling it with concrete

The one step I couldn't get a picture of was filling the tombstones with sand - for weight. Had they been filled to the top with concrete, they would have weighed a TON...so we decided to fill them 3/4 of the way with sand to add weight, but not make them so heavy that I couldn't carry them.

I am so proud of the finished products...no sneak peaks...pictures will be posted closer to Halloween!

Lesson #153 - Fashion and Motherhood Have One Thing In Common – Both Take Effort and Its Worth It

Hi everyone! It’s DC Fashion Gal from Fashion Gal in DC writing a guest blog post for my fabulous and stylish blogger friend, Working Mommy. I am so flattered that Working Mommy asked me to provide a ‘Lesson Learned’ on the topic of fashion (my favorite topic, of course!) and of course, I
wanted to write something that combined both of my loves: being a mom AND being a fashionista. As every mom out there can attest, motherhood takes a lot (and I mean A LOT) of effort each and every day whether you are a working mom (like myself) or a stay-at-home mom. And as every fashionista
can attest, fashion takes a lot of effort especially as a woman gets older and can no longer look cute wearing UGGs and cut-off denim shorts (okay, if you are Giselle Bundchen, you can but that’s another story.)

I absolutely love being a mom to my two beautiful children and feel blessed every day to have them in my life. I also love wearing a gorgeous Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress, a pair of 3 inch round toe heels and my vintage Burberry trench and feeling like a million bucks. With both of my babies, I definitely went through the normal post-partum period of feeling whether I would ever fit into my normal clothing again and more importantly, think about anything other than breastfeeding, the color of baby poop, and how many minutes my baby naps per day. Luckily, after about 6 to 8 months, I got my fashion groove back and delved right back into the glorious world of fashion.

To me, fashion is an escape from the real world. I love the art of dressing up each and every day based on what I’m feeling. Some days I feel a little saucy and want to wear a great dress and high heels. Other days, I feel a little more hip and put on my 70s inspired bell bottom J Brand jeans, Milly chiffon peasant blouse and faux fur vest. I love it all. As I’ve said in my blog, fashion isn’t always about trends and what’s in and what’s out. Fashion is about having fun with your clothing, breaking the rules and wearing what makes YOU feel best because every single mom out there IS WORTH IT.

Ciao!

Lesson #152 - A Talking Man Haunts My Mind

Sometimes I feel as though my parents' house is haunted (who knew so much blog fodder could come from a 5 day trip to my parents' house, right?!) because I hear a man's voice while sitting on the couch typing on my laptop - writing blog posts like this one.

Voice: "No, I didn't know you were going to do that...but I already turned off the light!"
Me: *looking around like a schizophrenic*

5 minutes later...

Voice: "I told you I already turned the lights off...what else did you need?"
Me: *Wondering what the heck was going on - in the dark*

15 minutes later...

Voice: "Stupid dogs keep biting my ankles - what did I do to deserve this?!"
Me: *Hits hand to forehead*

Then I realize it is only my dad...who frequently falls asleep while sitting in his la-z-boy...talking in his sleep...

 {Although this does look like my dad...I couldn't get a good shot without risking him waking up}