Merry Christmas to All...

 I hope you all have a wonderful and joyous holiday.  Peace be with you.

Having fun in my El Naturalista Shoes

I am a fan of shoes.  Shoes and socks are my favorite clothing items.  No matter what, I can find shoes and socks that fit me and my style.

Recently I heard about El Naturalista shoes and using their store locator I found a store in Ann Arbor- Fourth Avenue Birkenstock- that sold them.

I was intrigued by El Naturalista because they're comfortable and yet attractive.  And I like the "road" they follow. "Naturalistas" start their journey observing everything that surrounds them. They travel through the world and observe it, becoming impregnated by its textures, its colors, its lines... and after a thousand journeys, real and imaginary, they discover that a single idea brings us together. Whatever our race or culture... we all walk in search of happiness.  It is that simple. And that complicated.

The philosophy of El Naturalista reeks of my What If beliefs.“Naturalistas” are sincere. They analyze life and the world around them with the intensity of a thoughtful observer. “Naturalistas” enjoy every moment of every minute, and every minute of every moment.

Of course they also make cute shoes, in great colors of green, red, orange and purple.  Iggdrasil is my favorite collection and exactly what I found on Fourth Ave.  I tried on clogs and Mary Jane's and when the weather is more reliable I think I will be going back for these.

The folks at Fourth Avenue Birkenstock were extremely helpful.  It has been A LONG time since anyone helped me try on shoes.  I felt like I was back in my hometown at Miller's Shoe Store getting corrective shoes as a child, with a golden egg surprise when I was all done.

In the end I went with Cobalto Mary Jane style El Naturalista's.  They are a dark, normal color, but they are not brown, or black, and with my need for new shoes that I could wear a lot they fit the bill.  They are super comfortable.  In fact, I have worn them for two long periods of time with no trouble at all.  They have breathable, anatomic, removable insoles, and are made of hand-stitched, soft pull grain leather.

I also love the sole of this shoe.  It's made of recycled rubber.  It has a decoration all of it's own and it's firm, but not hard.

I really like these shoes, and aside from one instance of a shop on their store locator being no longer in business, I really liked shopping for them.  It led me to Fourth Avenue Birkenstick, a great local store, with friendly, knowledgeable staff, and I felt important from the minute I walked in until the minute I walked out.

And now I feel important because I have comfortable, well-made shoes that still have a funky look to them, and that's alright with me.

More check-ins at Fourth Avenue Birkenstock

Powered by Whrrl

I have finally made it

I am officially an adult.  In fact I have never felt more like an adult that I do when I look at this picture.

I've always kind of felt like I was pretending at this adult stuff.  Get married, buy a house, have a kid, accumulate debt, yada, yada, yada.

As my children have grown I've still felt at times like they belong to someone else.  No one in their right mind would allow me to have kids, would they?

What if they did?  What if 10-and-a-half years ago today I gave birth to this bald, cone-headed, eight-pound, five-ounce little being?  And she was deceptively sweet, until the crying began.  Then when it stopped after several weeks we liked her again.

What if she has a heart of gold and eyes of bright blue?  What if she is caring, and silly, and moody too?  What if she has my allergies, bad eyes, and crooked teeth?  What if she has her dad's hands and feet?  What if two weeks ago we put braces on her teeth and the feelings began?  The feelings of- I am an adult and I am responsible for this young person's teeth.  This young person who is four inches shorter than me and wears a size seven shoe?  What if after years of struggling in school she has finally found her groove and gets awesome grades and reads like a crazy girl?  What if today she left for Fifth Grade Camp? Ten-and-a-half years to the day she came into the world, she dropped her gear, said goodbye, and ran off to her friends without looking back.  Four days of no mom, and no dad, except for when we visit of course.  What if she's having the time of her life?  I hope she is.

Coffee with The Ladies

This morning "The Ladies" came over for coffee, breakfast and a some much-needed chat time.  The sun was shining, the coffee was brewing, and I had Nutella gift bags for everyone.  It was just like Christmas!  Kind of. :)

I offered whole grain english muffins, mini-bagels, and bananas, and a big ole' jar of Nutella to spead on whatever they wanted.  Some of the ladies were already fans, some had never tasted the stuff before (like me prior to the package coming in the mail) and some were allergic.  Oh no! Be careful.

One 13 oz. jar of Nutella has more than 50 hazelnuts in it, so we were careful and didn't go flinging it about.  We flung the chat instead and 6 ladies with little kids have a lot to chat about!

I was invited to have this Nutella Party by MommyParties and they sent me goody bags for all of my friends, as well as some great info that I did not know.  Such as...

Nutella hazelnut spread does not contain peanuts or peanut ingredients, nor does the product come in contact with peanuts during manufacturing.  Nutella is kosher, contains no artificial colors or preservatives and is low in sodium.

European families have enjoyed Nutella for over 40 years, it became available in the U.S. in the 1980's.

I did not know any of that. I have heard people rave about Nutella for years.  Why it took me so long to try it I do not know.  I admit I am a HUGE peanut butter fan, and I also enjoy almond butter, so maybe Hazelnuts with Cocoa was more than I could fathom.  But I tried it and I like it.  The taste is great but the texture is a little strange to me.  My friend described it like "putting hot fudge on your toast" and it does have that thick but not necessarily creamy texture.  I think of it as pudding, only a little thicker.  Is that wrong?

In additon to the Nutella we went through two pots of coffee.  You know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it literally breaks the fast!  Anywho we had fun and they loved their bags.  If you look at the pic below you can see why.  Great stuff and a coupon!

The ladies REALLY like the genius spreader! See the tip on that thing?  It's perfect for getting under the lip of a jar.  You know, the place the Nutella and Peanut Butter hide?

Each guest also got info on breakfast, recipe ideas, a travel mug and a Nutella sample.  Yum!

We did have fun and it was nice way to change up Friday morning coffee.  I love free stuff and I love to give my friends stuff.  So it worked out nice for everyone.

Along with the sunny day, it was the perfect start to what I hope is a great weekend.

I was provided with all of the Nutella items you see in the pictures above to share with my friends.  However, all opinions of this product are mine and mine alone.  The texture gets me, but the taste is great.



Time

The broken clock is a comfort, it helps me sleep tonight.  Maybe it can stop tomorrow from stealing all my time.

Ti-i-i-ime is on my side...

Time, where did you go?   Why did you leave me here alone?

I love the changing of time, but I hate the time change.  Does that make sense?

I think changing, implies gradual.  I love bright sunny days and bright sunny evenings.  I just hate losing the hour of "time" in the process.  It's so abrupt and I don't deal well with abrupt.  I don't mind change, but I hate instant change.  Such as the instant Standard Time becomes Daylight Savings Time and my whole household is up too late and grumpy when poked in the morning.

All week long I have felt jet-lagged.  No energy, can't sleep when I am supposed to, and generally just off.  My girls are the same.  My husband is right there with us, only he had to be somewhere bright and early on Sunday morning.  Work!  Ewwww.

I know I should just shut up.  I have discussed my winter blahs here and they are finally disappating thanks to the day lit evenings, and bright, somewhat-warm days.  But I'm tired.  I've lost an hour and it will take more "time" to recover from the loss.  Or a nap.  But then I won't sleep tonight.  Sigh.

ABCs of Me

Shamelessly stolen from Lori!

Age: 38.92

Bed size: Queen and it used to seem SO big before the kids and the dog.

Chores I dislike: Mopping the floor.  Thank goodness for the Swiffer WetJet!

Dogs: Maxx, our pretty, wide-assed, son who is an Australian Shepherd / Gold Retriever mix.

Essential start to your day: A banana.

Favorite color: It always changes.  Right now I am loving orange.

Gold or silver: Silver.

Height: 5'4"

Instruments you play: I played the violin.  Sometimes I wonder if I still could...

Job title: Self-employed Jill-of-all-Trades.  Writer, blogger, Social Media User, Rights & Licensing Manager, Thirty-One Consultant.

Kids: Ryann Emily, 10, and Jayden Grace, 7.

Live: Livingston County.  Transplant from the Prison City.

Mom's name: Judith :)

Nickname: Stace.  Jojo.

Overnight hospital stay: Many as a child, and two as an adult for each of my girls.

Pet peeves: Attending an event with your child and having your own conversations in the back of the room.  Commenting on your kids behavior, weight, grades, but enabling it at the same time.

Quote from a movie: "He's gonna use your ass and throw you away.  God, I would have died for you."  ~ Duckie Dale, Pretty in Pink.

Righty or lefty: Righty, thanks to Granny taking the pencil out of my left hand and putting it in my right.

Siblings: Oh my.  Bob-Rob, 30, Kasey, 27, Eric, 24, Betsy, 24, Kyle, 19.

Time you wake up: 7:30 during the week. Whenever is necessary on the weekends.

Underwear: The normal kind.

Vegetables you don't like: Brussel. Sprouts.

What makes you run late: Facebook.  The Internet.  My computer.  Like right now.

Xrays you had: Lungs, arm when I fell rollerskating.

Yummy food you make: My Mama's meat loaf.  Pot Roast.

Zoo animal favorites: Monkeys.

If you do this too, post your link in the comments!  Have a great day!

Can you beat me in the MurphyUSA Bracket Challenge?

Probably.

I picked my teams the way kids pick books.  Because they're pretty.

OK, I used a little more logic than that.  Very little.  If I recognized the team, they had an advantage.  If I know someone who attended the school and/or is a major fan, the team had a bigger advantage.  If they are in the mid-west?  Ca-ching!  Total science I tell ya.  You should enter the MurphyUSA Bracket Challenge for two reasons:

1.  Prove that you know a whole lot more than me by winning the challenge.
2.  A chance to win free gas for a year, and who doesn't want that?

So give it a whirl.  Enter by the 15th and let me know how you did.  When it's all over and the fat lady has sung I will show just how magical my team picking method really is.  Or isn't.

iPhone 4, Smurfs & Castaway Bay

Almost two weeks ago at my request, the Fed Ex man dropped off an iPhone 4.  My iPhone 4.

You see, the stars aligned for me.  I needed a better phone, my LG 2 was a bit of an embarrassment, and as a blogger with an ever growing presence in the world of social media I needed something with an app or two, or 40.

At first I was not happy with Verizon for not letting me upgrade earlier.  In my many years of cell phone ownership and experience I have always been allowed to trade up a month or two in advance, but for some reason Verizon wasn't budging.  So I would visit the various Droid models at the store and dream.  Droid 2 or Droid X?  Bedazzled case or one with a profound quote showing my intellectual side?  And then I heard THE news.  The iPhone 4 was coming to Verizon.

It was scheduled to arrive on 2/10.  Existing customers could order online 2/3.  My contract expired on 1/29.  The Stars.  Aligned.

The iPhone 4 was a better choice for me because of my music collection.  I know there are bigger iTunes collections out there but my 6,000 plus tracks were already iPhone compatible.  Plus I wanted Instagram.  And Stickybits.  And apparently Smurfs.  OK, Jayden wanted Smurfs.  It was the first game we downloaded.  She has quite the little village of blue creatures growing, and they happen to be something I adored when I was around her age.

This morning my youngest wakes up all sleepy eyed after a crazy 24-hour period of indoor water slides at Castaway Bay and a birthday party and the first things she says to me is "Mama, did you check on my Smurfs?"  I got an iPhone so she could have Smurfs.

This past Friday I was invited to represent Detroit Mommies at Cedar Point's Castaway Bay Mommy Blogger Event.  I got to take Hubs and the girls and we had a quick, little getaway.  I will be posting all about our trip on Detroit Mommies later this week.  But it was great fun.  Friday night they hosted us Moms at the spa area and while we weren't given facials and pedicures as a group we were able to check out the facilities and they were quite nice.  It's nice to know that when we head back to Cedar Point that the Castaway Bay Spa is available for me to get my feet rubbed after walking around the park.  The park that my girls want to go to SO bad.  The park that I visited faithfully in my youth but now in my old age most of the rides make me feel ill.

But I have given birth to a couple of coaster freaks, who like Smurfs.  Who can also build them villages on my iPhone.  My iPhone.

I Love My Dog

This is what I brought home almost one year ago.  His name was Quinn, we changed it to Maxx.  He was about three months old and everybody wanted to adopt him.  But the rescue picked us.

Now he weighs about 80 pounds and I love every pound of him.  So much.

Right now he's curled up on the ottoman.  The ottoman that my beloved and our two girls all have their feet on while they play video games.  But Maxx found some room amidst the six feet.  He's even laying on a book, but he doesn't care.  He's with his family.

He is a big baby.  At bed time he squeezes in bed between my husband and me and looks at us as if to say "What?  Is there a problem?"

On the mornings when Cory is home at bus stop time Maxx starts jumping all over.  He knows Daddy will take him along, and he can sniff every mailbox post, and sniff the neighbor dog's butts.  I would love to say that he leaves his mark on those mailbox posts, but this big fluff ball- my baby boy- still doesn't lift his leg to pee.  I wish I could say we were working on that, but really, how do you work on that?

It's taken us a while to find dog food that Maxx really likes, and while some would call us bad fur-parents we have found that like his late big brother C.J., Maxx loves Kibbles 'n Bits.  Actually C.J. loved Kibbles 'n Chunks but they stopped making that and he ate the regular.  But now, they have something new- Kibbles 'n Bits Bistro Meals dog food.  Maxx loves it, and he's featured on the back of the bag.  (Not Really)

It has a resealable, zipper top bag, and I love that he loves it.  'Cause when my baby's belly is full he sleeps good.  No matter where he sleeps.

I wasn't prepared for the love I feel for this dog.  He's so comical, and fluffy, and soft.  I just want him to be happy and healthy and from what I can tell when he hogs the couch in the evenings- he is.

 Disclosure:  I was compensated for this shop, whrrl, and blog post by Del Monte.  All thoughts and opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

Snow Day?

Come on Mom.  Let's go play!  There's snow.  Come on!!!!!

Good Morning Mama.  There's snow outside.  There's no school.  Whatta we gonna do today?  Mom?  Are you awake?

Hi Mom.  Can I call my friends?  Can I go to my friends?  Can I go outside?  What's for breakfast?  Where are all my jeans? Mom?

At least if they go to school I can nap!  Geesh!  LOL!!!

Some people think I'm crazy

I'm not crazy.  Well, at least not in this respect.  I am what you call ambitious.  Maybe.

I recently signed up to be an Independent Consultant for Thirty-One gifts.  The reason is simple- I like the products and I like what the company stands for, enough said.

I also love that they personalize some of their products.  I am a huge sucker for personalization, so this is right up my alley.  If you'd like to check out Thirty-One then visit my site.  You can order anytime just by clicking on one of the current events in my listing.  Or shoot me an email and I can take your order that way.

But if you were interested in hosting a party there are some cool specials in December.  You can see them in my whrrl below :)

More check-ins at The UPS Store #4254

Powered by Whrrl

Old Lady Crush Reborn

Wednesday night I helped chaperon 15 tweens to the Drive-In for our Girl Scout fun day.  The girls worked really hard to earn their Journey badges this year and have concluded the process by volunteering at Recycle Livingston this past week. (Which is really hard work, let me tell you!)

So they voted and off to the Drive-In we went.  To see Nanny McFee Returns and Charlie St. Cloud.

The new Nanny McFee was great, as expected.  Very cute, great cast, good message, lots of humor.  Charlie St. Cloud caused me a little concern because it was PG-13, but it starred Zac Efron, and well... he's Troy.  And he's dreeeeaaaaammmmmmyyyyyyyy.  OK, so no one really says dreamy anymore.  They say yummy.  Yes, he's yummy.  Call me a cougar.  Hear me RAWR!!!!

My cause for concern was limited to a few cuss words that mean poop, and the common insult of calling someone Richard, or well... you know what I mean.  Of course there is a scene with Yummy's shirt being removed from his body, but hey I'm not complaining about that.

It's a sad story but a good one, and Zac Efron cries which only made him that much more yummy.  Oh and Kim Basinger plays his mom (where has she been?) but that didn't decrease his yumminess, and she seemed sober, so it's all good.  Again good message, trust your instincts, we are all here for a reason, yada, yada, yada, blue eyes, cute nose, great teeth.  RAAAWWWWRRRRRR. 

The tale of the neglected blog

Yes, you've been neglected.  Yes, I feel guilty about it.  No, you haven't called or written to me either, but I'm conditioned to be the one who feels bad about it, not you.  The longer we are apart, the higher my anxiety level rises.  Yes, it would be easier to stay in better touch, but my life is not my own.  It belongs to three other humans and two dogs who live in my house.  Oh and if my paying work gets nutty my blogging goes by the wayside.  Can you guess how the paying work has been going?

Anyway, enough with the apologies.  I love you all and want you to keep stopping by for reasons other than an occasional contest.  Tomorrow is my birthday.  I will blog and announce the Thomas winner.  That is my birthday gift to you all.  What did you get me?

Denial

It's funny how long it took me to remember that I had a cassette single of Achy Breaky Heart somewhere in my "storage".  But as I folded laundry with my first born and watched the episode of Hannah Montana where Oliver is sick, and Miley can't make it back for Lily's birthday.  You know the one, the one where Robbie Ray talks about his failed rap career as "Ludagrits" or something like that?  Well anyway I remember that I have this cassette single.  Yes, cassette single, and they are in fine condition, let me tell you.

So I wander down to the "storage", find my treasure and take it to my daughter.  I naively thought she was rant and rave about how cool it was, after she asked how you listened to this contraption with tape inside of it.  But no, she looked at the picture, read the name and said "That is not him."

"Yes honey, that is him.  From about 18 years ago.  Pre-Miley."

She would not believe it.  "It doesn't look like him!"  Ok, well, age and parenting a Hollywood Superstar will add some lines to your face, but I think he still looks a lot like he did "then".

She went to show her Dad and get his opinion.  After my husband recovered from the reality we have been avoiding- our daughter is a fan of someone who is the offspring of someone from "our day".  He assured her that it was in fact Miley's dad on Mama's "kuh-set" not CD.

I still don't think she believes me, but her denial isn't as disturbing as what I predict happens next.  At some point she is going to want me to play that song.  And then she will want me to play it again.  And her sister will want to hear it.  Then they will both want to hear it again.  And soon they'll be line dancing their Achy Breaky Hearts all over my house. *sigh*

If you blinked

you may have missed it.  But here is my favorite ad from the Superbowl.  Ok, it's more of an ad-ette, and Boost Mobile's Superbowl Shuffle was classic, but I love me some Dave, and Oprah, and ok Jay can come to this party too.

Not so epic fail

Ok, so I lost 4 days of blogging.  The weekends are always hard for me and we were super busy both days. 

My girls didn't have school on Monday so I took them to see The Squeakuel and then I had other writing jobs the rest of the afternoon.

Yesterday?  Well yesterday was other work, another kind of work, and then homework with my oldest all night.

So here I am and I just found this on Post Secret.  While, it is not entirely true for me, it is a big time suck that takes me away from things I should be doing.  In fact I had better check on my crops right now...

Team Dave

I love Dave.  Karma's being good to him right now.  I respect Conan for his decisions.  I predict crappy ratings for Jay.  Just sayin'.

Ahhhh, heaven.

Roughly 140 miles.  About 3.5 hours in a board room.  Icy roads.  Exhaustion.  A last minute post.

Arriving home just before midnight, putting on flannel pajama bottoms and a too big long-sleeved t-shirt and crawling into my cozy bed.  Ahhh yes, heaven.

Introducing...

... the new My Life of What Ifs. Please take a few minutes to tell me what you think, and stay tuned for an awesome giveaway later today!

Thanks so much Courtney at Judith Shakes Designs. It's beautiful!!!!

The beauty of my first born

This post is admittedly overdue. I had planned to write it two days after my last post- on her actual birthday. But yeah, you've been neglected. I spent September living the dream. I was a kinda-sorta stay-at-home-mom with kids in school all day. (Every day. Did I mention that?)

If you ever have the chance to live that dream I will warn you. It can be a shock to your over scheduled system. It's hard to prioritize, or it's hard to accomplish rather, umm...anything, if you seem to have endless time to accomplish tasks. So short story long, I didn't blog about my beautiful firstborn's 9th birthday.

Ryann Emily was born on September 29, 2000 at 9:49 p.m. Despite my mother's humorous attempt to get me to push her out faster by saying "you could have your baby at 9:29 on 9/29!" she arrived 20 minutes later weighing 8 lbs., 5 oz., and was 21 inches long. That night her name was Ryann Grace. The next day she was Ryann Nicole. And damn it come Sunday as I filled out endless paperwork, she was finally Ryann Emily. Ryann because I always liked the name Ryan for a girl. We added the extra N to match our last name, and it was Cory's idea. I was so excited he had an idea that I ran with it, much to my chagrin now. Emily was my great-grandmother's name, it's a name I love, and a name I may have used as a first name if only my husband hadn't had a dog or known a dog with that beautiful moniker.

So she was born following an induced labor that lasted ALL DAY!!!! (But obviously not every day!) and she had a cone head. But we loved her just the same. That love has grown, and grown, and now I look at her and can't believe she's mine. I can't believe I had a hand in creating this stunning, beautiful, lovely young lady. Yes, she has her moments, but so do I. She has beautiful blue eyes, and thick (often snarly) brown hair. She is girly beyond girly and yet can kick a soccer ball with those long, strong legs, like no one's business. She can be shy, she can be silly, she can be harsh and overly-sensitive. She values cuddling with Mom and Dad as much as sleeping over at a friends' house. She sometimes wishes her little sister wasn't her little sister, but then always hugs her good morning and good night.

She is nine now. One year shy of double digits, and just a little too close to being a teenager for her Dad and me. She is my shopping partner, my fellow music lover, and my future best friend, at least one of a couple :) I wish a child like her for anyone, and I only hope I can continue to guide her through life in a way that's healthy, and that helps her become a strong, independent, loving woman. Life is short, and she is one of my two proudest achievements. I hope I can help her be all that she can be.