Hot Mess Mama

2016-02-24T21:20:00.001-05:00

It's been a long time since I've blogged on this guy... A really long time. I've grown up a lot.

Funny how when I read my previous blog posts, I am embarrassed beyond all get out. Such language! And I worried about the dumbest things. I was skinny! But I didn't know that then (so typical).

2 kids later & my Mama-pooch is at an all time high (Er - low).

It would take a book to tell you all the things that it happened since I blogged last. So I'm not going to go into everything. The short version is: two kids, two practices, a move, and a lot of life lessons learned.

In the meantime, I have bombarded my Facebook friends with a ridiculous amount of pictures in their newsfeeds. It occurred to me that maybe everybody doesn't want to know what I'm doing or what I'm eating or what funny thing my kid did. I really loved blogging! It was fun! I have a platform where I can blast out what ever I want and those who want to listen, listen. So, in any spare time that I have to do something for fun, I'll blog.

But first a few (re)introductions:

Here's me

Previously on this blog you have known me as Haylen. That was because I was unsure if I felt comfortable being a medical professional and Blogger at the same time. So my pseudonym was Haylen. Life is too short... So here goes...my name is Haley. I'm an eye doctor in Asheville North Carolina.

Here is Aaron, a.k.a. Hubs.

He used to work with me in my practice. He helped me get the first one started. We talked about work a lot at work and at home. After a trip to Las Vegas in 2012 where we attended an eyeball conference together, he got offered a job in pharmaceutical sales. This was his dream job. He took it and never looked back. This threw me into a downward spiral of business craziness. I didn't know anything about running a business. All I knew was eyeballs. When he was there, he determined the schedule and what went in QuickBooks. I hate QuickBooks! A multitude of life lessons came from being thrown into this experience. But, with the help of many friends in the industry, I'm proud to say that I have grown as a business owner a bit. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm finally enjoying this ride!

This little chick is who you previously have known as "Bella". Her real name is Isla.

She is now 8 years old and in the 3rd grade. This little girl is such a blessing. She has taken me on the craziest ride all by herself.

And this, is Evie Jane.

She is 3 & is the opposite of her sister in SO many ways. Her little personality reveals itself more and more every day. She’s a jokester and much more serious/OCD than her sister.

So that’s us! I hope to get back to blogging more and sharing all of the crazy stuff that we do & lessons learned along the way!

❤️Haley

Great 4th of July Fun Food

2012-07-01T23:20:00.000-04:00

God Bless America...aren't these cute?!? And healthy too! What a fun thing to make during the week of 4th of July! Check em' out here.

A broke Mama's recipe(sorta): save your scraps!

2011-10-18T16:24:00.001-04:00

Its fall, y'all! That means soups, cuddly blankets, fired and pumpkin ale (yay!)
These days, everybody pinches every.single.penny that they can. We are no exception (I've got big plans for world domination,& I gotta try to fund that somehow, ya know?) I am truly proud of how little I can actually live on. If you know me personally, you know how hard of a year I had last year. If you don't know me, well, I suppose you'll never know the true story (I would get sued majorly for defamation...so, these lips are sealed).

My family of 3 (1 of which was in diapers) lived on less than $200 a month for our groceries, diapers, makeup, toiletries, EVERYTHING. And we didn't starve. I actually hosted a party during that time. I called it "struggling gracefully"...but talk about being a duck- if I looked calm and collected on the surface (which I probably didn't) I was fighting tooth and nail for financial survival underneath. I digress..this is a post about soup, not sob...

I saved EVERYTHING. Including the stumps of asparagus tips, onion peels, the stumps of carrots, the green parts of green onions that you don't really use. Chicken bones that I had cut most of the meat off of. Everything. And threw it in a bag in the freezer. When I had a full bag of scraps, I voiled it all in a pot to make stocks for soups or a DELISH base for rice/pastas/etc. Even though times are better, I still do it. I feel like...Betty Crocker in an episode of Little House on the Prairie. Try it!

Tear free bath tub paint for your toddler.

2011-10-12T19:34:00.001-04:00

If you are pinterest crazed like I am, then you may have seen the floating around the internet: bathtub paint aka shaving cream with food coloring in it that your toddler can use to paint the bathtub walls with.

I made some two nights ago. Iz had a fabulous time, but I was a nervous wreck. I just knew that a paintbrush was going to go flying in the wrong direction and soap was going to end up in my child's eyes.
A
So, tonight I decided that making it with tear-free foaming soap would be better. Foaming soap isnt really thick enough to withstand the painting process. My solution was to make it thicker by adding more tear free liquid soap. (Really, all you need is tear free liquid soap & any ole foaming soap container like the ones pictured below). The result is fabulous. My child can't tell the difference, I am not a basket case, & clean up is WAY easier. AND she doesn't have "man smell" all over her after her bath...awesome. If you're gonna give this a try, do yourself a favor and make it in a mini muffin pan. This avoids several minutes of mixing paint together AND a temper tantrum because you just can't stand it any longer:

(Amongst screams)
"I know there is still paint in the pan, but this bath has taken forever, and its like 3 hours past your bedtime!"

Have fun getting clean!

Weight Loss after livin it up on a cruise

2011-10-11T17:31:00.001-04:00

I didn't gain a pound! Whoop!

Hair-Do how-tos for fancy-pants girls and beach bums.

2011-10-08T14:35:00.009-04:00

I went on a cruise. And it was awesome. I thought cruises were for bubbas and Floridian used RV salesmen. And they are. But it was still awesome. 7 total days of NOTHING to tend to. I got a tan, hung with my man, and made NO plans. (sigh)

I am sad to say that Weight Watchers went down the drain on the trip (how could it not? with all of that lobster, and steak, and [in Mexico] chips, salsa, and margaritas?) I am back on the

WW bandwagon, and am ready to get svelte. I feel so energized and ready to rock the face off the rest of 2011...bring it.

I miss those college days of getting ready with your girls. Remember blaring the music, pre-party drink either in your hand or on the bathroom counter, laughing, fixing each others hair-I miss you girls! [I am notoriously terrible at keeping up with old friends]. I miss those days. I freakin' love to fix hair. In another life, I was a hair dresser. Since I had the time (and since I am donating this mane to Locks of Love on Tuesday!), I had a little fun with mine on the trip. The requirement: take as little time as possible.

The Pool Braid:

I have rocked this one so much this summer that my friends have donned it "the lake braid." Its easy and keeps me from looking like a total grease bucket (ya know, since I'm not that into washing my hair?)

Grab a section of hair from the crown of your head forward and braid it back. Make sure to hold the hair in the direction of where you will be pulling it while you braid so as to keep from having weird fly-away bumpy spots. Have your boo, your friend, your kid hold it while you smooth the rest of your hair back. Gather the braid and the rest of your hair together and make your favorite knot.

This is knot a hard up-do

I found this one via Pinterest (thank you Lauren Conrad). Part your hair on the side and make two low braids at the nape of your neck. Think: Wendy's or Swiss Miss girls. Then, take the two braids and tie them in as many knots as you can. At the end, you'll be left with two little "rat-tails" (remember those? No? was that just where I grew up in the sticks? Oh...) Gather them

together and tie with a hair band. This now looks like a braided mess with a turtle tail. Use

bobby pins to tuck the tail where it can't be seen.

Done. Love it....red eyes much? Yes. Margarita much? Yes...on this boat...yes....

I'm the captain of tying knots

The knotty situation turned out so well, that I was very inspired to try it another way on our "casual" night, this time, half up. Part your hair on the side. Pull the top half up like you regularly would for a half-up do. Twist both section back. Tie the twists in a knot and pin them under the knot with bobby pins in an "X". Curl the rest. Then, later, when you're ready to hit up the club and wanna keep the hair whipping to a minimum, you can pony it...and it still looks awesome.

Husband liked it too.

The twist braid.

I can.not french braid on myself. I am so jealous of girls that can. I think this one would look awesome french braided too. To make this easy to understand, look at this tutorial here. I "twist-braided" my hair into a side ponytail and banded it with a hair band. I then wrapped it with hair from the underside of the pony tail and pinned it.

So there ya go! Hope this helps you rock your locks off. Mine are bidding you goodbye, but for a good cause. I am crossing off "hair donation" on my bucket list and getting a short bob! Pics to come! Love, love!

Birthday Pillowcase Shirt

2011-10-05T06:30:00.000-04:00

Bel's bday fell on the wedding day of a great friend = dilemma. I had to go to this wedding. It was our last "college buddy" to get married! Who knows when our ENTIRE college crew might get back together again? But, I couldn't be away from her on her birthday! So, I took her with me (along with her Granna, who watched her at night while we still went out with friends).

While the bride, groom, and wedding party had wedding day festivities, we had "Bella's Day", which included a trip to the zoo and to Monkey Joe's. I wanted it to be obvious that TODAY was her birthday. So, I made her a birthday shirt.

In the same way that I made a pillowcase dress for Bella baby, I made a shorter version with a "2" on it.

She pretended to love it and dutifully presented a squity-faced cheese for Mommy's camera.

Get your life together, girl...getting organized! Organizing your Kid's Clothes

2011-09-30T18:03:00.002-04:00

"So, Haylen, where ya been?"

I have been a freak about getting organized. I have literally spent almost every night at home working on organizing every.single.nook-&-cranny in my house (from the garage to bills...it all has a designated place). It is finished. And it is awesome. I'll be sharing these organization tips with you over the course of the next few months. I will say that life is easier when you are organized. Fo-real. Gone is the chick in glasses running around like a freak with no sense of direction (for now...ya'll know me).

Hopefully these ladies are gonna keep me strait: I Heart Organizing, Organizing Made Fun, & Organizing with Sandy. These are women that HAVE.IT.TOGETHER! They have inspired me SO much! I am lovin' all the organization around here. Even hubs commented on how great things look.

I thought I would first share how I'm organizing Bella's clothes. She is growing out of them so fast, and its hard to keep up with what fits now, what I want to keep but is too small (for baby girl #2...one day...a long time from now...unless and act of God rips this IUD outta my body without my permission), what I want to give away, & what I want to keep because it might fit next year. We are over run with clothes, and I am pretty sure that I have gotten rid of a few things that I adored (there are just some stuff you can't throw away...ahhh memories). So, here was my solution:

First of all, for the stuff that fits now, I put it all in her armoire and labeled her drawers and doors with pictures of the clothing that goes in them. She's 2 now. Developmentally, kids this age learn to sort things. What this means to me is that she can start learning how to put stuff where it goes! It has really worked well and the "clean room" situation is at an all time high (not perfect, but better than the huge messes that I was required to clean up before). We are potty training, and in the event where she has an accident in her panties, I clean her up and say, "now, go upstairs, and put on some new panties." And she does it! I've labeled baskets in her toy box with similar photos so her toys will stay organized, but that's for another day and another post.)

With all of her current clothes in her armoire, her closet is an empty abyss. So, I put larger toys, her shoes, and this clothes organization in there: For the stuff that doesn't fit or needs to be saved for later, I used 3 reusable grocery bags (These are perfect, because if I am ready to take them to the thrift store, I can grab the bag and go. I don't have to repack it in something I don't feel bad about getting rid of.

The three categories that you see are "Favorite Shoes that we can't part with" (like her first pair of Mary Janes that she wore at Christmas), "Clothes & Shoes to Give Away", and "Clothes that may fit next year". I just vacuum packed her old clothes that I can't bear to part with, but I am sure that a 4th bag of "Favorite Clothes that we can't part with" will show up soon. I labeled them with cardstock held by ribbon that is stapled to the bag. Like Jen says from I Heart Organizing, "make it pretty, and you'll like it, so you'll want to keep it that way." :-)

Happy organizing, Friends!

I am leaving the country for a week on a much deserved vacay... I will be back, refreshed, and ready to devote more time to the blog! Check back in the second week in October!

Weight Loss on a Wednesday

2011-09-28T07:16:00.003-04:00

Well, folks, its been 1 week since I started Weight Watchers. I am proud to say that I am 3 lbs. down (yahooo!!!) I am considering it a success...if I can do that every week this month, I'll be almost halfway toward my goal!

I weighed in at a meeting last Tuesday at 5:30 fully clothed and with shoes on (I'm too embarrassed to tell you how much I weighed...maybe one day when I'm totally skinny hot and am a WW Success story, I'll tell you, but for now...that's between me and my fat bum...literally). So, on Thursday morning when I weighed completely naked and the scale said I had lost 7 lbs., I was all, "Yahhhhoooooo!!!!!!!" and tootin' my own horn on Facebook. Naturally, I was Pi$$ed when I had only lost 3 yesterday (sigh). But, after thinking about it, I'm still really proud! 3 lbs. in a week! And I don't feel deprived at all. I had pizza and beer last night with friends with my bonus points, and I'm still on track. This rocks.

Weight Watchers has a new plan now. I have done it in the past, and everything was assigned points values.

OLD WEIGHT WATCHERS:
You had a certain number of points that you could use in a day. If you didn't use them, you could "bank" them for later. A donut had 4 points and a banana had 3 points. Spinach had no points, and Italian dressing had 1 point. I avoided bananas like the plague, and at spinach until it makes me sick to think about it to this day. I would eat whatever I wanted and have basically no points left by 2 o'clock. Then I would starve for the rest of the day.

NEW WEIGHT WATCHERS
"healthy foods" are assigned the lowest points values and fruits and veges are FREE. You can eat as many bananas as you want. If you fill up your plate with 75% vegetables and a piece of chicken, all you have to count is the chicken. This new plan is a guide to overall healthier eating. You can have 49 "bonus points" to use on ANYTHING (in addition to your regular daily points) in a week. Thus, you can have your cake and eat it too, and not feel deprived! It's awesome! I love it! And, I love going to the meetings. I was previously an "onliner" because I was too embarrassed to go to the meetings! But the women are awesome. They're all so funny - one woman who had lost 60 lbs. said she cried because her boobs were smaller - she "loved those boobies!" The support of it all I believe will actually really keep me on track this time. There are "lifetime members" (women who have already reached their goal weight and kept it off) that still come to these meetings - these women are HOT, but they want to make sure they don't add it back on. I hope to be one of these women!

Basically, I suggest WW to ANYONE! I'll keep you posted on my impending hotness :-)

MsGotItAllTogether's Get it Together for Fall

2011-09-24T12:41:00.002-04:00

Yay! It's time to get it together for fall! Pinterest is SO FUN (if you're not addicted yet, you're gonna be). Here is what's piqued my pinterest. Click on any of the pictures to see their original sources.

Holidays are SO much more fun when you've got a kid! Right now, we are learning about Halloween... this looks perfect to countdown until time to Trick or Treat!

Cute for a party!

Omg...I need one of these for my office!!!

We are making these tonight!! (with Weight Watchers friendly ingredients of course.)

I'm not sure how Weight Wathchers is gonna feel about the above cheesecake...eesh...might have to save up some points for this one.

On my list of to-dos: Make leggings for B for fall.

Speaking of to-dos, how about a fall to-do list.

This would be super easy to make! Just glue leaves to a letter and ribbon. I have to have one of these to replace the current one on our shelf for fall.

Since I'm gonna get skinny and all, I need some hot fall fashion in my life.

Yankee Candle's Pumpkin Spice makes our home feel cozy. Nestled in some candy corn would make it even better.

My home doesn't have a fireplace, but that doesn't mean it can't have a mantle!!! Where can I find one?!? (a must-find a thrift store pronto!)

The Pinkalicious Shoe 2nd Birthday Party (mega Photo heavy)

2011-09-23T23:29:00.002-04:00

I have posted and reposted and added pictures and readded pictures and blogger has been so MEAN TO ME!!! UGH! So, here it is…FINALLY! Party planning is a lot of stress! I would like to say that I will have a much lower key bday next year for Be

lla...but I probably won't... I already have visions of inflatables dancing in my head.

I have to say this...has it REALLY been TWO YEARS?!?

I didn't even want kids...and now, I am obsessed with this little girl! God has amazing ways to impart his will in our lives, and thank heaven he does! He certainly knows what he is doing better than we do!

My dream family picture: flannels, sweaters, fall colors...

I always said if I ever had a little girl, she would have lots of tutus...her first one came at less than one month old. I couldn't find one to fit her, so I tailored this one for her.

Scheming from day 1

How did I, a brunette with dark eyes, have this gorgeous blonde blue eyed child!

First trip to the beach.

first birthday photo shoot

first "interactive" snow fall

Mother's day 2011

Ok, I'm tearing up...its been an incredible 2 years and I am blessed beyond all belief to have such an amazing kid. She makes me a better person! Thank God for Little Girls :-)

Ok, enough of this sap & on to the party. My step dad and hubs put together her new playground. The instructions said that it would take 8 hours to put together. Thus 2 days before the party, they started. They finished putting it together the morning of the party (I was a nervous wreck! What if it didn't get finished?!) We wanted Bella to get to see it before her guests got there, so we had a "big reveal"

This face was completely worth all of the work.

To incorporate the playground into my theme, I used the setting where Pinkalicious and Peter

visit the park, and her friend Allison doesn't notice Pinkalicious because she blends in with the pink peonies.

I taped two small contact sheets together and glued them to foam poster board. Then, I free handed the picture, first with pencil, then with paint, trying to mimic pictures in the book. I planted fabric flowers and pink/silver windmills in front of the cut outs to give it a fun whimsical feel and mimic "pink peonies".

Of course, the adults had some fun with this too.

"Peter's got a beard!"

My mother used glittery foam and made Bel a crown and magic wand (in Bel's terms: a "maggot wannnn")...the magic wand isn't pictured because I'm sure some little boy used it as a sword and now my dog has eaten it or something random.

I loved the crown...buuuuuuutttt she never wore it.

She was all over the place in her official pinkalicious dress and her pink Converse All Stars that I replaced the laces with pink and cupcake themed ribbons.

This wreath was created by NWDesigns (want one too? Read on!).

It greeted our guests after they had walked through a maze of balloons like this one (I forgot to take a picture of it, but this is the pinterest photo that gave me the idea).

From nibsblog.wordpress.com

The favors were on our buffet in our foyer.

On their way out the door, the kids received a bag of "green food" - the way to cure acute pinkititis. I copied pages from the book and framed it so the kids would have an idea of why they were getting green food at a pink party.

The decor of course was pink, Pink, PINK!

Instead of making poms this year, I went with "pre fab" packaged ones from Party City. I used square modern pink polycarbonate plates from Party City to serve chicken salad sandwiches, pink pasta salad (READ ON for the recipe!!), pink wafer cookies, & a red veges (as close as I could get to pink) like tomatoes and red peppers for the adults.

Making this banner myself instead of ordering it on Etsy saved me $44.

Thank you Pillsbury for making the dough for these cookies for me. If I tried to make everything from scratch like I did last year, I might have killed myself. You saved my life.

Since it was a shoe party, I had to incorporate shoes somewhere.

My solution was rain boots as vases. Rain boots that are def too big for Bel now, but she can grow into. And they're cute. And they were cheap.

Remember those prom dresses? I covered embroidery rings that I had (why did I have large embroidery rings? Yeah, I don’t know either) to make large "2"s to hang on the wall.

2 Shoes with candles to blow out topped my cupcake tree that was covered in Pinkalicious cupcakes and shoe cupcakes.

The lady that makes them is FABULOUS, and if you live in the Gastonia area of NC, she is AWESOME. Message me and I'll get you her info. Check these out:

AND, they were INCREDIBLY delicious!

In researching parties, I found tons of custom labels all over the internet. I had to have em’!

Thank you Etsy! The only other beverage that I offered was pink lemonade (duh).

The party was a huge success!

She had a blast, and I am so satisfied!! Nothing but all the best I can give/make/afford for my little BellaBug!

Here are a few fun "extras" from the party!

Easiest Pasta Salad Recipe (EVER): Adapted from Sandra Lee’s Semi-Homemade Cooking

Poppy Seed dressing

Food coloring

Fun shaped noodles

Grapes (yes, grapes)

Red peppers

Prepare noodles per package directions. Quarter grapes and slice red peppers (side note: I cut my into the shapes of lightening bolts with kitchen scissors…I wanted to appeal to the boys here, but you could cut it into anything to go with your theme: Mickey Mouse head, spiders, stars…) Dye your poppy seed dressing and pour it on.

The result is sweet and EVERYONE loved it and wanted the recipe. (Just some poppy seed dressing is ALL!)

If you want a funky fun ribbon wreath, NWDesigns is giving MsGotItAllAllTogether readers a 15% discount on orders placed between 9/1/2011-12/1/2011!! These would be great for tons of occasions!:

Decorate your front door for the upcoming season!

Decorate your front door for the holidays!
Decorate your’s/someone you love’s hospital and/or front door for their new arrival!
Put a wreath on your front door and let everyone know what football team you are rooting for this season!
Decorate your front door to celebrate a loved one’s birthday!

FOR PRICE INQUIRIES OR ORDERING:

Please contact Natasha Wilson of NWDesigns

828.302.3177

nwilson111887@gmail.com

She rocks and her wreath does too! Thanks for reading about all the details! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Wanna see how I planned it? See this post here and here, here and here!

I'm gonna get skinny

2011-09-20T19:08:00.001-04:00

My new motto is "no more of this filth I wannabe a milf".

Weight loss updates to come!

Don't give up on me

2011-09-20T17:26:00.001-04:00

I'm still here. I still consider myself to be a blogger. I keep putting off doing other blogs because I keep telling myself that I have to post bella's birthday party. This is taking me forever due to time constraints as well as heavy picture uploading. I'm on my way to a weight watchers meeting... too many pink cupcakes have done this booty in. Will post soon. I promise. Haylen

Working Mama Recipe: Crock pot cornbread & chili

2011-09-12T08:53:00.001-04:00

Sorry its been so long since I've blogged! We had a crazy busy week & weekend with Bel's bday party (details to come!) I'm determined to eat at home more instead of going out. So, despite the fact that I was exhausted, last night I sluggishly poured all of the ingredients into two crock pots for our dinner this evening (today is our long day: work until 6 with an hour ride home after that).

The result for this meal is fantastic...y'all, I MADE CORNBREAD IN A CROCK POT (go me!).

MsGotItAllTogether's Crockpot Turkey Chili
Ingredients:

1 lb. ground turkey

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

15 oz. can tomato sauce

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 (15 oz.) can baked beans (i have 1000 cans of baked beans so this is what I used...you might prefer red kidney beans)

1/4 c. water

Cook ground turkey in skillet until brown. Mix all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low over night (~7 hours). Makes 8 servings

MsGotItAllTogether's Crock pot. Cornbread

Ingredients
Box sweet corn bread mix
Can of cream corn
Splash of water

Spray your smallest crock with Pam. Mix all ingredients in a bowl (should have a thicker but "creamy" consistency). Pour in crock pot. Place 2 dish towels over crock and put the lid on top (this catches the moisture and insures that you wont have soggy cornbread). Make sure the lid is down by weighting it with a plate on top. Cook on low for 3.5 hours. Because I cooked mine over night & didn't want to wake up to cut this crock off, I used a Christmas tree timer set to cook for 3hours & 15 minutes (I figured it would remain hot & would cook a bit after the pot turned off.)

So, I woke ip this morning to a completed meal! I packed it up & we'll eat it on our way home! Perfect!

Workin' Mama's Recipe: Crock Pot Tacos

2011-09-01T13:51:00.001-04:00

From smartbottomenterprises.blogspot.com on Pinterest

Lemme be honest here. I didn't follow the recipe of the above tacos at all. But they look pretty don't they? It was the night of the realization of the last time that I cooked a meal. I hadn't been grocery shopping in what seemed like forever. I rummaged through my incredibly unorganized pantry and fridge (more on that in another post...its not unorganized anymore!) I had all the right stuff to make tacos: cheese, jar of salsa, 12 soft taco shells, lettuce and onion (that, by the grace of our Heavenly Father had someone not rotted or slimed in the depths of my fridge), some frozen chicken, half a pack of leftover taco seasoning. Determined not to have dinner out again, I threw the jar of salsa, the chicken (frozen and all), and the taco seasoning in the crock pot and turned it on.

I got home, chopped the lettuce and onion, sat everything out on the table, and sat down and ate within 15 minutes of getting home...sighh... and it felt great.

As a side note, I'm freezing the tomatoey chicken broth that resulted from the crock pot cooking. I'm thinking this will make the perfect base for a tortilla chicken soup when the air begins to chill in a month or so. Lesson learned: planning ahead is for winners.

The Workin' Mama's recipes

2011-08-31T13:30:00.004-04:00

I am a workin' Mama. I work an hour away from home, and on Mondays I work until 6. My kid goes to bed at 8. I get 1 hour to spend with her on Mondays, and don't want to spend a ton of the time in the kitchen when I get home from work on the other days either. I want to go outside and play, color on the drive way with chalk, or take a walk to our ice cream stand. Last week was brutal for my ego. I have since calmed down and gotten a game plan to not suck so bad at life, err, I mean, meal planning. I wanna relax with my girl AND still feed my family. So here are my new rules for my game plan:

Rule #1: every working mama needs a crock pot (several actually)

Rule #2: said mama needs to actually use the crock pots in rule #1.

Rule #3: it would behoove you to use your Sunday afternoons to throw a few casseroles together to freeze for nights when you're exhausted and didn't remember to do rule #2.

Rule #4: if said mama is feeling really fancy pants, get crock pot meals together on Sunday like this (and possibly freeze them as well)

From mamaandbabylove.blogspot.com on Pinterest

Rule #5: If it has to be assembled after work, it has to take less than 20 minutes.

Rule #6: You can't go out to eat for dinner more than 2 times in a week.

Rule #7: EAT. YOUR. LEFTOVERS.

Thus, be on the look out for the "Working Mama's Recipe" label for some crock pot cookin', casserole eatin', quick fix-to-table meals.

Hooray!!! I'm gonna be featured! (Whoop!)

2011-08-30T00:00:00.002-04:00

I am so stoked, ya'll... I am going to be featured on one of my FAV (bolded and italicized...I wasn't lying that I.heart.it) upcycling blogs Reduce, Reuse, UPcycle! She is one of the girls that has made me so obsessed with turning everyday crap into everyday fabulous!

Remember the story of the jewelery I painted?

This was my idea that is being featured.

Maybe I should change the name of this blog to: MsKindaLoveTaPaint... since I painted jewelery, and shoes, and more shoes, and light fixtures too...eeesh....I'm kinda high on all this paint...whaaaaIiiiiiii think you should check out her blog. Cause' its awesome. Do it.

Revamping your light fixtures on the cheap

2011-08-29T14:52:00.001-04:00

Remember the 90s? Remember the fav home decor colors and fixtures of the time? Baby blues and mauves and wall paper covered in ducks? (Gag...my mom's house was covered in ducks). Yeah, that was my house that I live in now. Every door knob, light fixture, and hinge is brass. Among a new paint job, I had to change a few things. I am especially proud of the savings I had from painting this bad boy.

This was identical to the one that hung above our dining room table. I was so over it. I wanted "old world bronze," like this

Sea Gull Lighting 5-Light Bronze Chandelier from Lowe's

$271.62

but I can't afford to replace all of them now & I'm really impatient. So, I decided to paint it.

I used Rustoleum Bright Coat Metallic Finish Spray Paint in "dark bronze" to paint the metal.

The glass was so clear on my 90-esque ugly fixture. So, to fix that, I needed to frost it. So, I used this:

The Look for Less Results

My cost (for this fixture and 4 hallway fixtures too) $6!!!!

Eventually I hope to repaint my door hinges (I would paint the door knobs, but think that would look too obvious,

"Ohmahgah huunnnny, Look, this gurl dun painted her door knobs. We ain't buyin' this house,"

We live in the country south.

I figure if I repaint the hinges and replace the knobs, then I'm still saving a hunk of dough and still get the look for less!

Painted shoes for Pinkalicious and Homemade chalkboard.

2011-08-28T14:37:00.000-04:00

I have painted 2 other pairs of shoes... I'm kind of addicted (Note: you can only paint suede or cloth shoes...don't even try other stuff).

In an attempt to find tons of pink shoes in ANY size for Bella

to tromp around in at her birthday party (she is going to be in shoe heaven, I CAN'T WAIT!), I found these orange ones at a thrift store.

I also found this "duck disc" (I guess this was someone's idea of art) and had an idea.

The shoes were really dirty, but I saw their potential. After dropping them in the washing machine and sitting them out to dry, I painted them pink, Pink, PINK!.

I used chalk board paint to paint the duck disc. Since I had the pink paint out, I added a few dots around the edge.

This will don our front door for her party in the center of a Pink Ribbon Wreath like this one.

After the party, it will announce to our hallway that "This is Bella's Room" :-)

It's kinda fun to upcycle for a cute party. And, I'm buying this stuff from thrift stores that help others out - double win. :-)

Will paint shoes for food

2011-08-27T13:07:00.000-04:00

This is what I chose to do instead of cook this week. (Warning: crappy cell phone pictures ahead.)

In case you haven't heard, mocassins are IN this season! Yay! I heart mocassins.

I had this pair in college (the last time I can really remember that they were "the thang" to have)

I wore the crap out of them.

They were in the pile of stuff to get rid of from my recent purge (I am desperately trying to get organized).

After seeing these from Tods

, I thought, why not paint them? So I did :-)

I am a failure...

2011-08-26T12:00:00.004-04:00

Some of you may remember "Thick to Think Thursdays?" I am still 30 lbs. overweight! I go to McDonald's, and they don't even offer the apple slices to me - they know I want french fries. Yeah, girl, ask me if I want a large again... I will punch you in your face.

I want to be all "Sandra Lee skinny" but instead, I'm all "Ina Garten curvy cause I made rich food" & stickin' my fingers in the batter to taste it because I just can't help it. Except that until last night, I hadn't cooked a meal at home in 2 months for every. single. meal...(read: I'm broke now). There were days (as in: more than one) when my child's breakfast consisted of a doughnut and juice from the gas station on the way to drop her off for the day. My two year old can't drink from a 12 oz. bottle of juice!! And did I bring sippy cups (even after I learned my lesson the first time?) Nope. Did I even have a change of clothes for when she made an absolute mess? Nope. Do I ever carry a change of clothes or even diapers with me these days? Nope, - I forget them because she's doing so well with the potty training at home. So last night, when I was in the middle of Wal-Mart holding her, and my belly starts to feel sooooo warm, and pee runs from her little bum down my pants (coulda been worse...coulda been diarrhea), did I feel like a good mom? NOPE. I. am. a. winner.

The past 2 months have consisted of late nights, travel, and putting down those mother f'n hardwood floors (my house is upside down from "that room's" furniture being in "this room"). I can't find peace at home or at work!

I mourn the death of ABC Summer...what a great idea that was...(sigh)

I have managed to make stuff for Bella's bday and craft a lot (stress reliever), but should have been cleaning, or meal planning/grocery shopping or being a good mother and wife! I need to live instead of survive, and I don't feel like I've been doing much of either lately.

When it comes to child, husband, making work work, renovating home, volunteering at church, volunteering for town, volunteering for schools, getting ready for birthday party, I. AM. OVER.WHELMED. I do not make this look good (this hair is going on a record 7 day no washing spree...George Washington would be stupid-proud at how much powder is in my hair right now).

Ya'll, I just want to finish something that I start, ya know? Like... you name it, I have begun a major project and somehow fail to follow through to make it this great thing in my head. And no one can do it as good as I think that I can, so you can forget that I might delegate it on to someone else.

I just can't do it all. But I want to so bad!

So all that to say. Sorry I suck at blogging. Sorry I'm a complaining B*tch. Sorry I just cussed.

And I'm totally raggin' right now.

Pass me at tampon...and a french fry.

How to deal with a crazy traveling partner.

2011-08-17T17:32:00.001-04:00

Do I look a little bleeery?

We are south dakota bound to help the inlaws move to wyoming. I HATE flying...lurv to travel...hate ta fly.

I stare in envy at these black clad business folk that sip from their starbucks cups and type on their computers while making appointments and conference calls in airport waiting areas. Do they not realize our lives are about to be put in someone elses hands a bazillion miles above earth???? Worse than that, we. are. probably. about. to. die... in 2 of the worst ways possible: falling and burning. These are the thoughts of a half crazed traveling mama like me.

I just wanna see my kid again. So I drown my sorrows in airport bar after bar after bar until I am happy, and blogging, and annoying my husband with the 1000s of pictures that I take of him.

I love Bella and Jesus. See you in heaven. Stay thirsty my friends.

I'd rather have a beer...the story of the upcycled painted necklace

2011-08-16T08:15:00.004-04:00

Once upon a time there was a fabulous friend that owned her own marketing company. She planned events for a living, so she had lots of pretty clothes and jewelery, this leaf necklace being one of them.

This necklace was spotted by yours truly while we ate at a Taco Mac near Atlanta. She had purchased it at Forever 21 for a whopping $4. I like it a whole lot...but pay for it? Nah...She is a crafty mama herself. The next 30ish minutes were spent sipping on a beer we've never had before (taco mac has 150 droughts on tap!!!!!!!!) And brainstorming remaking this necklace. Our simple solution was....fingernail polish.

I had these two pieces in mind.

This process took all of 30 seconds.

Just make sure you paint on a thin coat.

Sassy.

Check out my other upcycleing projects: I painted shoes, andmore shoes, and light fixtures too!!

Another upcycled pillowcase dress

2011-08-12T09:30:00.001-04:00

This one is made from a jersey knit pillowcase...super comfortable!

You can see how to make one here!

We're holding onto the last days of summer here

2011-08-11T20:40:00.001-04:00

In the war of housework vs. Perfect temperature/ice cream shack run, ice cream wins.