These Four No More

Playing Outdoors

2013-05-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Can you tell he's so stinking proud he snagged his sister's juice?

Oh yeah, he thinks it's hilarious!

The most beast swingset ever

Did you take the picture already???

Multi-tasking

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

Emma & Axl

Random ghost like picture of Natalie running after Uncle Daniel's truck

Corbin & Aunt Anna

We got to watch our neighbor make hay today. It's so cool that we live out in the "country", yet a half mile away from every type of shopping center imaginable.

Last Day of K3

2013-05-17T16:20:00.005-04:00

Today was the girls' last day of K3. Their teacher made the most adorable movie of all the kids throughout the year, and gave each child a copy. How special! I really need to buy each kid a little memory box to store some of the things that they make each year in school. I still have my ceramic bust of George Washington from Kindergarten, lol. Anyway, we also got to eat a picnic with their classmates, but since it started at 10:30, I thought cupcakes would be more appropriate (and yummy!).

Kelly's Korner Kid's Clothing Sale

2013-05-17T14:25:00.000-04:00

In an effort to give poor Corbin his own closet space, I'm cleaning out the kids' "fancy" clothes that we really don't ever wear. Sure, we live in the South, but it's way too hot for the girls to wear smocked clothing most of the time, and they've gotten to the point where they don't like to wear it, anyway. So...my loss & your gain! If you're interested in purchasing anything, simply click the Paypal button to the side. All prices include shipping - just please make sure you have your correct address during checkout! You can always shoot me an email at nbjenni@gmail.com to double check that everything went through. I've set it up so once an item is purchased, it will simply redirect you to my blog. Anything that is new, never worn is $20, and everything that's in EUC (worn once, most likely for a photo shoot, lol) is $15. We have a smoke free & pet free home.

Edit: Wow, thanks helping a gal out! I've gone ahead and removed the description and paypal button for items that have sold. Will be shipping out a lot of items tomorrow morning!

NEW Dolce Mia "E" Christmas dress in size 3T

EUC Dolce Mia "N" dress in size 3T

EUC Capri Alligator set by Z*U in size 3T. I have two for sale.

NEW Mudpie Pumpkin longall in black corduroy - size 2T/3T. One for sale.

EUC Dolce Mia smocked "N" dress in size 2T. One for sale.

EUC Dolce Mia smocked "A" dress in size 2T. One for sale.

EUC Minnie Mouse dress by Smockaroos in size 4. I have two for sale.

NEW Nativity Longall by Smockaroos in size 2. One for sale.

Wizard of Oz dress by Smockaroos. NEW, never worn. I have two dresses in size 5 for sale. The dress features a light pink/white candy stripe fabric with the Lion, Tin Man, Dorothy, Toto & Scarecrow.

Wordless Wednesday

2013-05-15T10:44:00.002-04:00

A (Belated) Mother's Day Post

2013-05-14T09:53:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day started with me waking up to a bed full of children - Corbin kicking Audrey in the head, and slapping Natalie....in his sleep! But at least they let me sleep until after 8. We lazily ate breakfast and got dressed, and they presented me with my card & some pretty flowers before heading to our Mother's Day lunch tradition - Mexican! One of our favorite restaurants does a great job for Mother's Day, handing out roses to all the moms that visit. Plus it's the one type of cuisine that all of us love to eat, and Corbin enjoys flirting with the patrons.

After lunch, we drove about 30 minutes to a little botanical garden that I'd never heard of before. The weather outside was perfect, in the 70s, with a light breeze. The kids had a great time exploring all of the different paths, plants & flowers, finding birds, turtles, and even a snake (I could have done without that last part, to be honest).

All in all, we had a great weekend and I feel very blessed to be called mom. (Except at 3 in the morning to change poop, then I want to hide under the covers and go back to my college years)

My Mixtape

2013-05-08T23:03:00.000-04:00

Remember those days gone by when the sign of one's true love was to create a mix tape of affection?

In fact, I'm pretty sure I still own the first one I received. And since I was a late bloomer, it was definitely a mixed-CD. With songs created this century.

I got to thinking the other day...what music do I really enjoy? I listen to a lot of things, mainly a LOT of Barney & Yo Gabba Gabba. But there are a few songs that really sing to my heart/soul/being. And these are them.....

Of course Fun "Some Nights" leads my list. I grew up listening to Queen, and I find them the hipster version of my parents' generation - soothing to my soul. Perhaps its the Civil War throwback, or the high pitched voice - or maybe it's because the whole "what do I stand for?" really resonates with me. Either way, I'm a fan.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - "Wings". And really? Everything Macklemore has put out in the last few years. I'm not ashamed to say that my #1 rapper from early 2000 on was Eminem. I mean, what suburban millennial kid didn't listen to his lyrics? But Macklemore? The social commentary is profound. Sure, you think "Thrift Shop" is all about the cool stuff you find at Goodwill, but actually listen to the lyrics. And then check out his other songs. "One Love"? It speaks to me - the lone liberal in SC.

Because N Sync led to Justin Timberlake, need I say more? And that leads to...

Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake - The History of Rap #4 - be sure to check out #1-3.

I have more to add, but Charter internet sucks and I can't use more than one Chrome window at a time without my computer shutting down so I'll leave it at this. What are your favorite mixtape songs?

Rambling & Yet Another Phone Dump

2013-05-08T12:33:00.003-04:00

I'm sorry, y'all. Life has been hectic, and will continue to be hectic, these last few weeks of school. We're smack dab in the middle of property value increase testing, I mean, PASS testing. The girls are finishing out their year in K3 next week, and we have orientation at their Elementary school for next year - as well as their year end picnic. Corbin is in to everything, and has new words almost every day. The husband & I are trying to decide if we want to move, though the space we need in this area is at the top end of our budget, or add on to our current house since we have the land, and increase the value of our house. We love our area, the schools the kids will attend, and we're close to family. Ideally, we're thinking of adding a larger master suite to the back of the house, and giving the twins our current master bedroom. Anyway, just some thoughts - and here are some recent phone pics.

The girls have been obsessed with my maxi dresses, so we had to go out and buy them their own

Darn, she caught me!

Rainbow after an insane amount of rain this past week

The girls are terrified of Yoda - they have to remove him every time they play in Corbin's room. I've found him in the shower, in my bed, and in the trash can before.

Audrey played, and won, Bingo at my school

This is what hyped up 17 month olds do at 11 at night

And this is what said hyped up 17 month olds do at 8:00 in the morning when you need them to wake up

Goofy boy

Please, please click below. We've fallen out of the top ten. Thanks :)

Room Re-decorating

2013-05-06T13:17:00.000-04:00

This weekend, Eddie & decided to change up our room a bit. It's been painted blue since shortly after I bought the house in 2007, and I grew tired of it. When I had picked out the paint, I was hoping for that nice, steel blue/grey color - and instead got a dark robin egg blue. Paired with the dark brown curtains, the room often felt like a cave. So we picked Pantone White Asparagus for the walls, and found some new, light blue curtains for sale at Lowes. After patching a few holes and painting all day, we're really happy with our new room. You can't beat an entire room face-lift for less than $50. I also found a neat shelf for the kids' bathroom at Target - on sale for $24 from $82!

Say "OshKosh B'gosh" Video Contest & $50 #Giveaway

2013-05-01T16:03:00.001-04:00

“Disclosure: Post and giveaway sponsored by OshKosh B’gosh, but all opinions are my own. Please see below for additional disclosure.”

Ok, we already know I'm a huge fan of OshKosh B'gosh, and my kids obviously love wearing their clothes. We can't beat the price, cute styles, and wear-ability. Which is why I'm a huge fan of the contest that OshKosh B'gosh is currently running.

Hury, last chance! Submit a video entry of your B'gosh kid saying "OshKosh B'gosh" for a chance to win the grand prize - a $5,000 OshKosh B'gosh gift card. Do you know how long that would clothe my kids? Ok, maybe through Kindergarten, but hey - I have 4. Hopefully you'll have better luck getting your kids to say "OshKosh B'gosh" than I did, lol.

See? I had to bribe first

And may have resorted to saying "OshKosh B'gosh" myself

Entering is quick and easy. You can take a video (30 seconds or less) with your mobile phone and upload it directly HERE. There’s nothing OshKosh B’gosh loves more than the sight (and sound) of real kids saying “OshKosh B’gosh!” Say it six times fast, say it with a silly dance, say it slow or fast....have fun with it! Once you enter, you’re eligible for a chance to win! o One Grand Prize Winner: $5,000 OKBG gift card
o Four Runner’s Up: $500 OKBG gift cards (total $2,000)
o Fifty Random Winners: $50 OKBG gift cards (total $2,500)

And guess what? One of YOU can win a $50 OshKosh B'gosh gift card NOW! To enter, simply do the following:

In the comment section below, tell me your favorite style on OshKoshBgosh.com

After you answer the prompt, enter using the RaffleCopter widget to record your comment, and earn extra entries. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Phone Dump

2013-04-29T12:35:00.002-04:00

If y'all don't hear from me regularly these next few weeks, I apologize. I've already gotten the 8th grade dance out of the way, and tomorrow night is Pizza Bingo at school. Which only leaves another million things to do before our last day of June 10 (yes, JUNE flipping TENTH). On the home front, I took Corbin in to the doctor today because he's had an upset tummy for almost a week. The bad news? He's on the upward swing of Norovirus. The good news? It's already gone through most of us here, and I had just attributed it to my cooking, ha!

We took the girls to the Peace Center to see Rapunzel! Rapunzel! They had a blast - and loved meeting Socrates the dragon

My husband is trying to grow facial hair. It's not going so well, ha!

I'm a unicorn!

Bubble beard

There's a reason we keep child proof knobs on closets around here...

My homeroom students took almost 4 months to complete this puzzle

Salley's Senior Pictures

2013-04-25T14:09:00.000-04:00

I took senior pictures of my co-worker's daughter, Salley, yesterday. Her friend, Tanner, came along to help with clothing changes, and I snapped a few pics of them together. Gah, she is just too pretty (she gets it from her momma)! It's funny, though, because I remember her coming through our middle school not that long ago, and now she's getting ready for Prom this weekend, graduation, and packing up to go to Alabama in the Fall.

Things I Should Never Have To Say

2013-04-24T12:32:00.002-04:00

Loaner Lens

2013-04-23T09:43:00.002-04:00

I'm taking senior pictures of my co-worker's daughter, so my friend Rachael was kind enough to let me borrow her Tamron lens. I think I might be in love, ha. I tried it out yesterday in the backyard while the kids were playing. It's so nice not to be able to zoom with my hands instead of my feet (I typically keep my prime lens on my camera).

Anyway, yesterday was the last day for the kids to dig in the giant sand pit (from our pool last year). Eddie & I did some upgrades to our front yard this past weekend, and we plan on doing a few things to the backyard hopefully this coming weekend - including planting grass. We're also going to Babies R Us to pick up the sandbox/picnic table combo I ordered for kids.

And if you could spare 2 seconds, please click below to vote for us :)

Mother's Day Silhouette Gift - For Under $6

2013-04-22T13:00:00.000-04:00

I worked on this project last year, and let me just say - I'm so stumped on what to make this year! Seriously, all of our moms & grandmas loved this, I'm not sure how to top it. We have a lot of moms in our family, so I knew anything we did for Mother's Day would have to be inexpensive, but I also wanted it to be something that our moms and grandmas would cherish.

Growing up, I remember my grandma having silhouettes of my mom, aunt, and uncles hanging in her house. I always loved how simple and timeless they were. So I decided to try my hand in making some of our kids. But instead of the old fashioned shadow against dark black paper, and hours cutting out the tiny details in scissors, I turned to my computer.

First, I bribed the children (except Corbin, he was easy) to stand REALLY still and look at the wall. It helps if you use a background that doesn't appear in their skin tone or hair color. I had read a tutorial that said shooting a picture against a window would work, but Emma's was probably the hardest to do because the sun washed out some of her features and made them harder to select.

Then I opened up paint.net (which is a free download) and used the magic wand tool to select their profiles. It was definitely hit or miss, and took about 5-10 minutes to do. Once I was happy with the selection, I pasted it onto a white background, and filled it with black. I zoomed in to make sure I had filled every part black, and that it looked decently smooth. I chopped off their profiles at the shoulder, and saved the files.

I had purchased frames from Walmart that already came with the matting - $5 for the ones with four 3.5 x 5 slots, and $3 for the one with two 3.5 x 5 slots and the one 5 x 7 frame. I purchased scrapbook paper for about $0.22 a sheet at Hobby Lobby. I tried to pick colors I knew would match the decor and tastes of the moms I made the presents for.

I loaded the paper in my printer (I bought standard printer paper size, or cut the 12x12 paper down), and selected to print the 3.5 x 5 pictures. I cut them out, and then taped them behind the matting.

Voila. A timeless, cherish-able, and inexpensive (less than $5.50) Mother's Day gift!

A New Little Friend

2013-04-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

The kids found a caterpillar outside yesterday. At first, there was a bunch of squealing and jumping, but eventually Audrey was brave enough to let it crawl on her hand, and Natalie even pet it once. I love that the weather has been in the high 70s and mid 80s the past few weeks. With a few days of rain, our garden has really taken off. It's been a great learning experience for the kids, and they've enjoyed helping me harvest the herbs for dinners, and can't wait to pick the veggies when they're ready.
Also? Little man is 17 months old! I took the trio out to Mexican last night by myself, and received multiple compliments about how well they were behaving. Which, just like my Murphy's Laws of Parenting, meant that something had to happen. Apparently, Corbin was really watching closely when we watched How Animals Eat Their Food a few days ago. He loudly shouted "moooo!!" and smashed his face into his plate of rice. I'm pretty sure soda spewed out of the nose of the middle school kid sitting at the table next to us, lol.

Phone Dump

2013-04-15T15:31:00.002-04:00

Girls' night (our husbands just so happened to be with us, but I'm pretty sure they ran and hid after we "mom danced")

Bed head

Intro to Mario Kart 64

Audrey was so proud of herself for writing this

Always check treat bags for contraband

Yep - these are size 4t pants and a 3t shirt

My kids have good taste in tv, lol

And I've fixed my voting image below so you'll be able to vote and not pin to Pinterest :)

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2013-04-12T10:46:00.003-04:00

After spending some time thinking of what I wanted to do with the kids over Spring Break, and what we could do together this summer, I finally decided a garden would be perfect. It would give the girls a great opportunity to see how hard work can pay off - in the form of fresh, home made salads & salsa! Eddie spent an evening digging out a place for our box, which we made sure is right near a water source. He put down weed paper and soil, and I picked out what to grow (this website really helped me figure out what would work best with kids). The girls have been so excited to "farm" so far! We go out daily to water and make sure there are no weeds. We've already used some of the cilantro in our dinner last night. I also made some labels to modge podge on to garden stakes so we can identify the plants. I was going to just write on popsicle sticks, but Audrey said "mommy, we can't read", so we went with pictures, too. (I've had several people asking for them, so here's the PDF) We're going to have to build another box, though. I couldn't fit the potatoes, garlic & pumpkin (I'm not going to grow a whole patch, just one or two). I'm still waiting for my red potato to sprout in the kitchen, though - so no rush. Do you have a garden this year? What are you growing?

Murphy's Laws of Parenting

2013-04-10T17:31:00.001-04:00

Your children will be able to go to the bathroom in public in a perfectly normal manner - in an empty bathroom. Only when the restroom is completely occupied will they shout "mom, did you poop?" and attempt to turn the sink into a splash park.
After a lesson on anatomically correct body parts, the only one your children will ask the teenage drive-thru worker at Chick-Fil-A about is a penis. Why not elbows? Why??
After spending an afternoon cleaning one room in your house, you realize your children spent that time destroying the others.
You can spend 6 days stuck on level 65 of Candy Crush Saga, only to have your 4 year old snatch your phone and beat it for you - making you feel like the dumbest person ever.
You may spend years trying to get kids to listen to your favorite genre of music, instead of Barney or Fresh Beat Band. Inevitably, they'll pick the most obnoxious song known to man to memorize and repeat endlessly.
You spend months planning the most awesome Ariel birthday party ever, only for your kid to change their favorite princess to Rapunzel the week before.
After months of begging you to take them to Chuck E. Cheese, your children turn in to stage 5 clingers when the giant rat approaches them while eating pizza.
Just when you think you've perfected table manners for your children, you take them out to eat and are worried about the traumatized people who sat within nuclear meltdown tantrum range.
When you look over to see your children sitting down reading books, don't praise yourself just yet. Make sure they aren't drawing butts inside library books.
When you think you've figured out a certain age or stage, it changes. Until they're 18.

Have your own to add? Leave a comment!

Phone Dump

2013-04-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

2 hours after bedtime and this is what I find. It's not like there's 4 mattresses in there or anything, lol

I hate when my babies are sick

Corbin can climb up in Audrey's bed and I often find them cuddled together. So sweet!

Proud of himself

Waffle House pancakes FTW

After months of begging and saving her money, Audrey got her ears pierced. Natalie told everyone in ear shot she wasn't getting hers pierced until she was older than Audrey. Good luck, kiddo!

Look what the Easter Bunny brought us!

Delicious

Raiding the Easter clearance at Target

Audrey helping us by pulling the clay pigeons

Easter

Natalie...petting a dog...pod person?

Sometimes Natalie stops pretending she's the baby and is nice to Corbin. Sometimes.

Audrey sang little man to sleep in their tent

We're gonna need a bigger cart

Bubble

2013-04-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

I’m going to blow a bubble

Watch me while I blow

See it’s getting bigger

Watch it grow & grow

Do you think it's big enough?

Maybe I should stop?

For if I give another blow, my bubble may POP!

Crock Pot Sriracha Teryiaki Chicken

2013-04-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

If you've been on the internet for any length of time, then you know that the two food items people are obsessed with are bacon and Sriracha sauce. My love for Sriracha even inspired my husband to buy me a cookbook with recipes using the sauce. However, I found most of the recipes were for seafood, and we don't eat much (if any - and I don't cook it) of that. So, I decided to take some of my regular recipes and kick it up a notch with Sriracha. And because I like to set it and forget it, this recipe is for the crock pot (though I'm sure you could mix it all up & bake it in the oven after marinading in the fridge). I served it with some asparagus (recipe below) and boxed rice. The extra sauce makes a wonderful dip and "gravy" for the rice.

Sriracha Teryiaki Chicken Ingredients

1 pound chicken breasts (I used 4 frozen ones - no thawing necessary)
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced (I use the little jar of garlic)
1.5 cups reduced sodium soy sauce (if you only have regular, that's fine - it's a preference in taste)
1 tablespoon Sriracha (more if you like the heat)
1/2 cup brown sugar
Optional dash of Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Place the chicken in the crock pot
Cover with onion and garlic
Mix the soy sauce, Sriracha, and brown sugar. Pour over the chicken.
Cook on low for 4-6 hours, or high for 2-3 hours. The longer you cook at a low temperature, the more tender the chicken will be.

Balsamic Roasted Asparagus Ingredients

1 bunch of fresh asparagus
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 400
Spray a pan with cooking spray
Lay the asparagus on the pan. I usually have to cut the ends off to make them fit
Salt & pepper to taste, and spray lightly with cooking spray
Roast in the oven for 10 minutes
While roasting, put the butter, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce in a small pot. Heat over medium
When the asparagus is finished, pour the mixture over and serve
Tell your children they are eating miniature trees that will make them see like a princess

Feel free to click the Pin This button on the picture to save to Pinterest. I know when I cook, I usually have my laptop pulled up in the kitchen, following recipes I've pinned. It's really cut down on the amount of cook books I have cluttering my kitchen.

Favorite Kid Books

2013-04-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

Some of my favorite books to read to my children are books I grew up reading. I'm pretty sure I wanted my very own Corduroy bear, and purple crayons were always my favorite. I know my mom loved to read Love You Forever, and she reads it to my girls - Natalie has it memorized. As a baby, she'd sit me in my high chair and read the Little House books. While I've not started reading those to the girls yet (and might have to skip a couple of the parts I didn't realize were so bad back then), I'm looking forward to taking them on a journey to the prairie with Laura. As a pre-teen, my summers were filled with trips to the library, where I'd devour every single American Girl book available (you know, the originals - Molly, Kirsten, Samantha & Felicity). I was so excited when Addy came out, because it meant more books. My more recent additions are the Star Wars books by Jeffery Brown. Corbin has Darth Vader and Son and it's a hilarious & cute story of Darth & Luke as a boy. His book, Vader's Little Princess, comes out this month and I've had it pre-ordered for some time now. What books do you enjoy reading to your children? The girls still have very short attention spans, so even though I try to read chapter books to them, Audrey's usually playing with her dolls and Natalie's hanging off her bed. I just hope they pick up a love for reading like I have!

The Giving Tree // Oh, the Places You'll Go // The Very Hungry Caterpillar // Love You Forever // Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day // Harold and the Purple Crayon // Corduroy // Little House Books // Felicity American Girl Series // Vader's Little Princess // Darth Vader and Son

Spring Break Ramblngs

2013-04-04T15:25:00.000-04:00

Spring Break for us is winding down, and I feel like time has just slipped by. All 3 kids are napping, so I figured I'd get in a quick list of what's happening in our house right now.
First off, Corbin has yet another ear infection. He's getting in 4 teeth (making a total of 16, my goodness) and we'd just chalked his low grade fever up to that. Except yesterday my happy little man was very cranky and running a high fever, so I took him in to the doctor. We've been ear infection free for almost 3 months, so I was sad to see another one in my poor baby.
The girls are starting a new school next year! They are in a local church K3 right now, 3 days a week for 3 hours a day. I had planned to put them in the 5 day program there for K4, but it filled up quickly. I knew it was a long shot, but we applied for the public K4 program through our school district, and they got in! They will be in the only K4 class at the elementary school they will attend K5-5th grade. We've been searching for new big girl back packs and lunch boxes, ha.
Eddie built us a little raised garden bed last night. I did some research and figured out what crops the girls will help me plant. I wanted stuff that they could easily see results from, would be fun to grow, and we could use in the kitchen. This website had a lot of great information, and I think we'll go with everything but bush beans (maybe, I'm on the fence - Eddie & I don't like beans, lol).
We had a small above ground pool last year, just one of those Intex things. We took it down at the end of the season, but had put a lot of sand under it to attempt to make it even. Well, this year the kids are obsessed with digging in that sand. I'd prefer if we could grow some grass over it and make our back yard look decent again, so I ordered the kids a sand box yesterday. It comes with a picnic table attached, and I'm hoping it will make our back yard more fun to play in this spring & summer.
I've turned off the anonymous commenting on my blog. I got really tired of penis enlargement & miracle wrap hawkers commenting inane things on posts, and had a random internet bully incapable of differentiating between you're and your. So, if you don't have an account that you can leave blog comments with, please feel free to email me at nbjenni@gmail.com, or leave a comment on my facebook page.
I think that's it for now. I hear singing coming from the end of the hallway, so that means Natalie's awake. Thank you for continuing to read, and clicking below to vote for us on Top Mommy Blogs!

Grandma & Tattoos

2013-04-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

My Grandma and Uncle are in town from Michigan for the week. I haven't been North to visit them since the girls were 10 months old - so they really don't remember that trip at all. When they came over to visit, it took the girls a good 20 minutes to warm up before turning to their usual antics. Corbin? He walked right over to my Grandma and let her hold him, ha. The girls also got a kick out of my Grandma's tattoo, so naturally, they wanted my Uncle to put their Easter tattoos on them. Even Corbin needed a tattoo.

Natalie the last time we were in Michigan. Yes, she does look like Corbin!

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Calavera Swimwear Giveaway

2013-04-02T12:45:00.002-04:00

When a representative for Calavera Swimwear contacted me to do a review & giveaway, I instantly got excited. I haven't purchased a new swimsuit that wasn't maternity or something cheaply made from Target or Old Navy since before having children. Seeing that I've recently lost 26 pounds, I knew I'd need something for our blazing summers here in South Carolina, and something I could chase 4 kids around in. Calavera offers swimwear that is technically driven, stylish, and known for "stay-putness" - meaning, you'll never tug at your swimsuit pulling out those wedgies, ha. All swimwear is also made in California.

I'll go ahead and be honest - I totally flubbed up my measurements when ordering. I got all excited about my recent weight loss that I purposefully bought a size down, because I still have 5 pounds left to go. So, no pictures of me IN my suit - maybe next month :) The top fits so comfortably. I'm used to having straps dig in to my neck or shoulders, so the cross back ties felt so light weight (I ordered the Glam Twist Top & Hipster Bottom). The bottoms feature a drawstring inside so you can custom fit your tightness - meaning no more elastic that wears out or leaves marks on your torso. Sound like something you'd like? Then enter to win your very own Calavera Swimwear in the widget below. a Rafflecopter giveaway