GTL

From the Urban Dictionary:  GTL stands for "gym, tan, laundry."  Must be done everyday to achieve maximum potential.  Side effects may include fist pumping.

Eh, close enough!

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Sew crazy (and a giveaway!)

{I've been bit by the sewing bug, big time.  It helps that I've been having some incredibly great luck out thrifting--a few weeks ago, I came across some beautiful light turquoise pre-quilted fabric that was only $1.99, so I bought it with the hopes of eventually turning it into a toddler-sized blanket for Sammy.  Sammy and I went to the fabric store on Sunday--I had some coupons burning a hole in my pocket--and he picked out some awesome Hello Kitty fabric that went with the pre-quited fabric perfectly.  I managed to sew it all together Monday night after Sammy went to bed so I was able to surprise him with it first thing Tuesday morning; he promptly grabbed it and curled up on the sofa with it.  I think that means he likes it.}

{Speaking of thrifting and sewing, I had recently come across a great tutorial over at The Sewing Dork on how to turn two pillow cases into a cute tote.  Armed with this information, I soon found some adorable vintage pillowcases at my local thrift store that would be perfect for this little project, which brings us to today's giveaway:}

{Your very own, one-of-a-kind tote bag! After I finished sewing everything together, I decided that the bag was missing a little something something on the strap; I came across a tutorial over at Mom 4 Real on how to make fabric rosettes and voila--I had my something something.  (Don't worry--it's affixed using an alligator clip, so you can remove it to wash the bag or wear it in your hair if you're feeling fancy.)  The bag measures approximately 12" wide by 10" high (not including the strap)--just the right size for a quick trip to the store; there's even a little pocket in the interior where you can stash your keys or your chapstick.  Disclaimer: I'm definitely a novice when it comes to sewing, so the bag isn't perfect, but that's just one of the quirks of handmade, right?}

{Okay, so here's the nitty gritty on how to enter:

Mandatory entry: You must be a follower of my blog. Just leave me a comment telling me you are.

{Optional entries--please leave a separate comment for each entry}
1. Answer this question: What will you carry in your new bag?
2. Like my blog on Facebook.
3. Tweet, Facebook, Google+ or blog about this giveaway (include the link in your comment, please).

This giveaway will end Sunday, April 22nd at 11:59 PM MST and the winner will be contacted via email, so please make sure that I have a way of contacting you.  Good luck everyone!}

This giveaway is open to all of my readers and is sponsored by L to the third (me!).

Shake it, don't break it

I realize it's been awhile since I posted a video of Sammy doing something that is either cute, ridiculous, or some combination of the two; I believe this one will fall under the latter category in that it's ridiculously cute.


I'm not really sure who should take the credit for Sammy's awesome dance moves, but I have the feeling that he's picked up a lot of his skills from his dad as evidenced by this heretofore unpublished photo of Captain Husband cutting a rug a few years back.

Sitting pretty

I never thought the day would ever come but Captain Husband finally relented to my pleas and agreed to get a new sofa and love seat set for the living room.  Our former set was pushing eleven years old and had been purchased by CH when he lived in El Paso the first time around; while they weren't in horrible shape, they had definitely seen their share of wear and tear thanks to a rotation of feline friends and a spit-happy baby, not too mention a slew of bums sitting on them to the point that there were permanent dents in the cushions.  Not exactly the most comfortable things to sit on anymore (and to be honest, they were never really my style, anyway).

Last Tuesday Sammy and I were out and about running some errands; we drove by Room Store, which is going out of business, and I was suddenly struck by the urge to stop and check out the remaining merchandise.  I was hoping to find a twin mattress to use with the trundle bed in the guest room, but I wound up finding this lovely living room set that had been marked down a whopping 70% off of its original price and made a mental note to mention it to CH later that night.

Fast forward to Thursday last week and I convinced CH that we should go and check it out before Room Store completely closes down and so off we went; to my surprise, the set was still there and CH actually liked it.  We walked around the entire store just to be sure we weren't missing out on any better deals and decided to just go for it.  The sofas were delivered yesterday and we couldn't be happier with them--at first, I was afraid that I was going to suffer from some major buyer's remorse, but I'm too busy enjoying the cushy chenille upholstery and comfy seating that they afford.

We didn't want Sandy Cat to feel left out, so we also got her a new scratching post with built-in sleeping pad on top (we're hoping that it'll keep her from scratching up the new couches); I'm pretty sure she likes it almost as much as we like the new look of our living room.

This post has been kid-tested and zombie-approved

This post is sponsored by Country Crock. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own. 

I don't know about you guys, but I often feel as though I'm stuck in the middle of a huge rut when it comes to meal planning.  I know there are so many new and different things out there to try, but it seems like I keep coming back to the same old tried and true recipes.  Of course, it's not easy experimenting with dinner when you have a somewhat picky toddler (and husband) on your hands.

I'm always on the lookout for healthy family-friendly recipes that are made from ingredients that I already know Sammy and Captain Husband enjoy; I was recently sent a link to a free cookbook by Clare Crespo that's filled with twenty-five veggie recipes sure to entice even the most picky of eaters and found something that I, as a huge lover of all things creepy and zombie-related, just had to make--hashbrains.

Captain Husband and I had decided earlier on in the week that we were going to have grilled salmon for dinner last night, so I thought hashbrains would be the perfect side to go along with them.  They were super simple to make and I already had most of the ingredients on hand--they smelled so good while they were baking that I could hardly wait to have CH and Sammy try them out, even if they did look more like squashed footballs than brains (I think I need to practice my free-hand brain-molding skills).

CH eagerly agreed to taste-test the hashbrains fresh out of the oven and gave them two very big thumbs up (and then went back for seconds); now we just had to see how they went over with Sammy.  I watched him as he eyeballed his plate--I had added a tiny bit of ketchup to his hashbrains as enticement--and it wasn't long before Sammy was chowing down, even going so far as to lick his fingers between bites.  I think we have ourselves a winner!

Are you looking for quick and simple tips and recipes to make serving veggies more fun? Download the free Clare Crespo Cookbook here for fun and whimsical recipes your family is sure to love!

Texture Thursday: By any other name

Captain Husband and I were so thrilled by the appearance of roses in our backyard that we went out to Lowes two weeks ago and picked up some mulch and rose food and have been diligently watering the bushes every other day in the hopes that some more buds would make an appearance.  I was unloading the dishwasher yesterday morning and looked out the kitchen window and was very pleasantly surprised to see that the smaller of the two rose bushes was now boasting a rather lovely bloom on its uppermost branch.

Like many of my photographer friends, I've been mourning the impending loss of one of my favorite online editing sites, Picnik; I've been using Picnik for nearly all of my photo editing and design work for the past year and a half and, well, I'm kind of freaking out a little bit over here at the prospect of no longer having it around.  But fear not--the creative minds behind Picnik have come together to create a new editing site--PicMonkey.  It's still in the initial design phase, but it has many of Picnik's awesome features as well as a bunch of new ones.  I played around with some of its texture overlays and frames and came up with the photo you see above.  I'm pretty excited to see what else PicMonkey can do, especially since it's so similar to the Picnik setup that I know and love.  Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Preggo Pals

{My sweet, kind and loving mother arranged for my oldest and dearest friend, Aubree', to fly down to El Paso for a few days so that we could spend some quality time together before our respective spawn are due later this summer.  We're only a few weeks apart (she's winning) so we spent a good deal of time comparing our various symptoms and the realities of dealing with babies.  It also helped to have a walking, talking example of things to come in the house, too.}

{We've been friends since junior high and it's kind of amazing to have known someone for that long and to have remained such good friends regardless of the many changes our lives have undergone over the years--we're actually closing in on having known each other for two decades.  DECADES, people.}

{It sucks that we live so far apart, but our friendship is the kind that doesn't require close distance or even frequent contact to thrive.  We could probably go for a year without talking and get together and it would feel as though things never skipped a beat--although I would never want to abstain from Aubree' for that long.  Hopefully we'll be able get together over Thanksgiving if the stars can align for us to both be in Pennsylvania with our families at the same time.  Fingers crossed!}