4 Months!

I've fallen into bad updating habits again! 

Piper is 4 months old now!!

Her pediatrician appointment was earlier, and she is 25.25 inches long, and a whopping 15 lbs 4 oz! 80th percentile! 

She is holding her head up like a champion now. She talks and coos and giggles and screeches like a dinosaur! She rolls over back to front, and front to back. She tries to sit up, but still needs a little help there. 

I love her more every day!

Should Have Bought Stock In Kleenex

Last Monday, April 16th, I started back at work. After being off for FOUR. WHOLE. MONTHS. 1 month of bedrest pre-Piper, and 3 months post partum. I was NOT prepared for how hard it would be to leave the house without her. I cried the entire week leading up to D-Day. She would smile at me, and I would start crying. She would coo, and I would start crying. Someone would mention the W word, and I would start SOBBING. 

I barely slept a wink the night before, which is bad when you have to leave the house at 330 AM to get to work. My alarm went off 3 hours after I went to sleep, and I'm fairly certain I woke up crying. I tried to distract myself, get dressed, get my crap together, make my lunch. Walked back into the bedroom to grab my phone charger, and took one glance at her and started sobbing so hysterically that it woke my husband up, and my dog hid from me. How was I supposed to just leave that precious face? It has been over a year since I really had to do anything without her with me. And not only that, but my work day with commute totaled 13 hours. The longest stretch I'd been away from her for was 4 hours, when Scott and I went to see the Hunger Games movie. Which I also cried through. Stupid hormones.

Work was awful. Everyone was asking about the baby and how I was doing, and every time she was mentioned I started crying. And I had NO. CONTROL over it at all. It was embarrassing really. The day dragged on and on. I didn't eat anything, all I did was pump myself full of coffee, and talk to my mom friends on Facebook when I wasn't with a patient. I must have called my brother and dad, who were both watching the baby for me, around 10 times. She was fine every time. And I was hearing her giggle and coo in the background. She was fine without me. While this was comforting, I also felt like she would forget me, or start to love me less, which I know is ridiculous.

Finally at 3 PM, one of the charge nurses offered to let me leave early, since we had a pretty light patient load. I started crying yet again, and thanked her profusely. 3:30 PM rolled around and I sprinted to my car, and sped all the way home. I walk into the house, and there is my dad laying on the floor, and Piper laying on her playmat. Wearing the most ridiculous looking outfit I'd ever seen. Apparently my father does not know how to dress a child. She was wearing a jersey jacket with 3 buttons near the neckline, tucked into a pair of grey fleece pants, and a pair of pink and black striped socks. There was no onesie under the jacket, so my father had tucked the ends into the pants. She looked adorable, but ridiculous. The key here though? She was giggling, and kicking, and playing. She was happy as a clam.

So, as much as it pained me to not be able to be with her all day, and every day, she didn't NEED me to be with her 24/7. She can be happy without me around all the time. She doesn't get scared when she is left with someone else. It's good for her to get to play with other kids, and family members. 

Tomorrow starts week 2. I work 12 hours on Monday, 11 on Thursday, and 10 on Saturday. This will be my set schedule from here on out, and hopefully it will set my mind more at ease, since every time I work, I have the day before, AND the day after off. 

I wish someone would have warned me how hard it would be to go back. People are right though, it does get easier everyday. I'm hoping by the end of this week I will make it through a full workday without tears.

After all, does this look like a face that should make someone cry?

My good friend babysat for us last Tuesday, and this is the photograph she sent for me 6 hours into my work day. She was clearly having a great time playing with R, and her 1 year old son :)

Ultimate Blog Party 2012! April 13-20

It's that time of year again! I always look forward to it! Wait for it......

CLICK HERE

Ultimate Blog PARTY!!! Hosted by 5 Minutes For Mom. I love this time of year because it's so easy to find new blogs, already sorted by category and everything.

For those who might be stopping by for the first time, I'll do a short intro post :)

My name is Victoria, and I am 29 years old. This year will be my dirty 30 birthday, and I'm actually not afraid of aging anymore. I've been married to my amazing, though sometimes irritating husband since July of 2009. We became Puppy parents in 2009 as well to our gorgeous yellow lab/white shepherd mix Riley. On January 15th of this year, our lives changed in a huge way with the birth of our first child, a daughter lovingly named Piper Harlowe. She has literally turned my world upside down, and I did not know it was possible to love one person THIS much. It's insane.

Taken when Piper was just 8 weeks old

I work as a PCT at a dialysis center. I'm glad blood does not make me squeamish. I was put on bedrest towards the end of my pregnancy on December 17th, and I return to work this Monday, April 16th. I am terrified that I won't remember how to do my job! And I'm sad just thinking about not being with my precious babe all the time. But 3 long days a week means I get 4 full days off with her, and that is definitely manageable.

On the side I enjoy taking pictures, crafting, and designing invitations and site banners and buttons in Photoshop. I love coming up with a finished product that is unique!

On this blog there is pretty much everything. You will see product reviews, recipes, photos, parties I've thrown, and just posts about life in general! I'm super sarcastic, and an open book :)

Please leave me a comment letting me know you stopped by and I will do my best to return the favor in a timely fashion!

I Have Someone I Would Like You To Meet

My little angel has finally arrived! Piper Harlowe made her entrance into this world on January 15th, 2012 at 6:03 PM, weighing in at 8 lbs even, and 19 inches long. I have never seen anyone so beautiful in my whole life. Hard to believe she is already one month old and thriving! Sorry it took so long to update, but it's been hectic with a newborn!

I was scheduled for an induction on 1.16.12. We were planning on that. Saturday I went and walked around stores with my mother for 4 hours, and then came back home. Cleaned house a little bit, and then laid down to re-read The Hunger Games. Just as the games were about to start in the book, BAM. I felt a weird gushing sensation, so I got up to go to the bathroom. My water had broken. It was 9 PM. My husband got everything together and in the car for the hospital while I called our mothers and my doctor.

We arrived at the hospital around 10 PM, and got settled into our room. I was still only dilated to a 1 at this time. They started me on pitocin, since my contractions were irregular and not progressing my cervix at all. They got them down to a nice pattern, but by the next morning at 7 AM I was only at a 3. They checked again at noon, and I was still at a 3, but my contractions were becoming painful, so they went ahead and gave me my epidural, which was HEAVEN. All I felt was little twinges of discomfort, and was finally able to get some sleep.

Cut to 4 PM. I was in and out of sleep when all of a sudden my contractions got HORRIBLY painful, and were all directed at my back on my right hip. I was literally screaming through an hour and a half of these, and we did everything we could to get me to progress further, but we were definitely stuck at a 5 and I was screaming and crying. I stayed like this for 90 minutes. 5:30 hit, my OB showed up at the hospital, and they took my BP and temperature, and I had managed to spike a fever of 101.2, which concerned them because at this point my water had broken about 21 hours prior, and they were worried about infection. So they gave me a dose of antibiotics, and told me that we were going to have to do a c-section, which broke my heart. I was really hoping to avoid surgery. At that point though, baby girl had to come out and we all knew it. And all I really wanted was a healthy baby in my arms.

They prepped me for surgery and gave my husband his scrubs to change in to. At 5:45 I was being wheeled off to the OR, where they gave me another dose of pain meds via the epidural since it had started wearing off. I wasn't even aware that they had made the first incision when my husband came to my side. He held my hand as I shook and shook and shook, and then all of a sudden we heard a HUGE baby cry, and my doctor say "Hey Hubby, did you want to see your little girl?" So he peeked over the sheet and the first words out of his mouth were "she has the chubby cheeks you were hoping for" and then he started crying. He went over to the babys side while they started stitching me up and 3 minutes later they walked the baby over to me and put her to my cheek. At this point I completely lost it and started sobbing.

The anesthesiologist snapped a couple pictures with my phone during our first meeting, and then they took Piper to the nursery to get measured and weighed, and hubby went with her while I stayed to get stitched up. As it would turn out, the reason I was unable to progress enough to deliver without a c-section was because my little darling had flipped sunny side up, and the way she was positioned her head was tipped back onto my back in my right hip. There was no way for her to get any further into the birth canal in order to put the necessary pressure on the cervix in order to dilate the rest of the way.

About 20 minutes later I was wheeled into my recovery room, and 15 minutes after that my hubby came in with a nurse and the baby in the bassinet. We immediately tried breastfeeding, which seemed to go really well. Then our parents came in to meet their new grand daughter.

So, long story short. Scheduled an induction for my due date, water broke 2 days before said induction and baby was born the night before her due date at 6:03 PM. 22 hours of labor ended in a c-section, but it doesn't matter now because I have the most precious gift in the world in return for it.

It's That Time Again!

Christmas cards anyone?? I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by! It seems like a whirlwind since I got pregnant, and I can't believe in 2 months I will get to meet my sweet baby girl! Unfortunately she isn't set to be here by Christmas, so I had to find other ways to incorporate her into our photo card for the year.

Last year I joined the Shutterfly promotion for free holiday photo cards in exchange for a blog post. I was SO happy to see that they were doing it again this year. Especially since there were so many card designs that I loved. And I'm a big fan of the cards with multiple spots to put your photos, and Shutterfly did not disappoint in that department either!

Two of my faves were:

 Mod Merry Ornaments

Flurry Of Snowflakes (available in 4 colors!)

This year I decided to go with this card:

Cheers Filmstrip

They showed up a few days ago and they look amazing as usual. Shutterfly has never disappointed me with the quality of their photo products before, and this year is no different.

In addition to cards, Shutterfly has a lot of other holiday gift options! More and more people are going the route of personalized gifts :) 

Some of Shutterfly's Holiday Products available include:

FLEECE Photo blankets (how cool are these?!)

Holiday Greetings

Invitations

And of course my favorite:

Holiday Photo Cards! Go browse through their amazing selection :)

Time's A Wasting!

When oh when will life slow down for a few?!?! First off, Baby Camera Happy is 25 weeks 3 days today.

My belly is protruding quite a bit more now, I think little one had a growth spurt this week. We had our 20 week anatomy scan, and baby is measuring right on track, and is quite playful! She continuously kicked the u/s wand on my belly as the tech moved it around, and we even got to see her stick her tongue out at us! She's also quite the diva, as her foot was in front of her face, one hand under her chin, and the other hand behind her head. It was adorable, and we love her to bits and pieces already!

In more recent news, we are moving! We found a great old apartment (it's in a big old house that's split into 3 apartments). 2 Bedrooms, 1 bathroom, we get a parking spot in the garage, and the best part? It has a huge fenced in yard and deck, so Riley can be outside playing with the upstairs neighbors dog. We met them on Monday when we did our final walkthrough, and both the neighbors and their dogs seem great! Our moving date is set for October 15th! So there is a lot to be done in a short time span. But it'll be worth it to have a nice separate nursery for Baby Camera Happy to enjoy :) Will post pictures of apartment when we move in, and then as we update it :)

Past events? My birthday was yesterday! DH and I celebrated by staying in, eating chinese food, packing, and watching TV.

Upcoming events?

 - October 12 - My glucose challenge test! Wish me luck!

-October 15 - Moving day!

 - October 16 - Maternity Photo Shoot

 - October 23 - My best friends baby shower (she's due on December 27th!)

 - HALLOWEEN!

 - November 6th, my family baby shower

- November 13 - My friends shower

 - November 18th - BREAKING DAWN PART 1! Can't wait :)

Check In:

• How far along?: 25 weeks 3 days

• Total weight gain: I was up 15 lbs at my last OB appt.

• How big is baby?: Little one is the size of an eggplant this week

• Maternity clothes?:A Million times yes. I don't think my tummy will fit into normal clothes for a while!

• Movement: Baby is a party animal. She's relatively motionless when I'm up and walking around, but when I lay down to fall asleep she starts kicking, and if I'm sitting and eating she kicks as well.

• Stretch marks?: Not yet! Fingers crossed!

• Sleep?: I am still tired all the time. I fall asleep with no problems at strange hours.

• Symptoms?: Nausea has stayed away pretty well. I have troubles bending over to tie shoes or put on pants or socks. I grunt like an old man when getting into or out of my car. I feel kind of like a turtle, and have begun to master to art of rolling off things when I need to get up.

• Food cravings:  Changing all the time. My biggest desire the last two weeks is chocolate milk. I have no idea why, since I hate milk....
• 
  
• Food Aversions: Red meat still skeeves me out. And the smell of popcorn is enough to turn my stomach.

• Belly button in or out?: Hanging on as an innnie by a thread! It's now very shallow, and wide. I'm glad I took my belly button ring out early on!

• What I miss: I miss being able to go out for drinks with the girls, I also miss being able to go out. I'm always too tired to do anything.

• What I'm looking forward to: I am looking forward to lots right now. I can't wait to move into the apartment so I can begin the nesting process. I can't wait until October 16th for our maternity photo session. Most of all I cannot WAIT to meet Baby Camera Happy.

• Best Moment this week: Our final walkthrough on the apartment, and getting told by the landlords that they had absolutely no issues with us painting :)

A Surprise On Mother's Day!

I know it's been ages. Sorry blog world! There's been a lot happening in my life, and I intend on catching everyone up today!! Which basically means this will be long long long!

Let's start with mother's day. Was just like any other day, when suddenly something amazing happened!

I was in SHOCK! I was questionable about certain symptoms I'd been having which is why I took the tests, but I was definitely not expecting a positive. Let alone 5 of them, since my natural worrying personality couldn't trust just one test. or two. I took 5. All different brands.

I called my primary care doc that day and left a message on the machine there asking if I could come in for a  blood pregnancy test, they referred me to my now OB, who I have my first official appt with on June 8.  I got 3 beta tests done to confirm the pregnancy! 1st test was at 3 wks, 5 days : 321. Second was 4 wks, 1 day : 1104. The third was at 5 wks 6 days: 27290. The doctors said my numbers are phenomenal.

Unfortunately that didn't keep me away from having a couple trips to the ER. On May 22, out of nowhere my blood pressure plummeted and I nearly fainted. I had also been having some abdominal cramping. We took me up to the ER, where they monitored me, gave me fluids, and gave me an early ultrasound to make sure everything looked okay with the pregnancy. The ultrasound was great, and we even got to hear a faint heartbeat at 5 wks 6 days, which blew my mind! I cannot wait to hear the heartbeat now! The md determined that the low blood pressure was just a symptom of my being pregnant, and told me to monitor myself carefully, and eat salty snacks like pickles if I started to feel lightheaded. So far the blood pressure has been stable. Still a lot lower than it usually is, but not totally unmanageable like it was that couple of days.

My second trip to the ER was on May 25th. I had been throwing up nonstop for over 48 hours. I couldn't keep ANYTHING at all down. even water. Once my vomiting turned to vomiting up a decent amount of blood, my dear husband decided it was time for another trip to the ER. They ran my labs up there, gave me fluids once again, and gave me the most amazing thing ever to happen to morning sickness. Zofran! It's an anti-nausea medication available by prescription that is safe during pregnancy. Dissolve one tablet on your tongue every 8 hours and you are golden. I actually have not thrown up at all since I began taking it. I'm hoping to be able to stop taking it soon. I am weary of any medication during pregnancy, but it's either this, or starve, and at least this way I'm able to get nutrients to the baby.

My Estimated due date is January 16th, 2012. This dates me at 7 weeks and 3 days today.  We are very excited, and hopeful for a healthy and happy pregnancy!

Weekly Check In:

• How far along?: 7 weeks 3 days

• Total weight gain: Won't know until June 8th.

• How big is baby?: Little one is the size of a blueberry this week!

• Maternity clothes?: I had to switch to maternity bras almost immediately. When they say sore boobs, they mean business! My poor girls couldn't take regular bras another day. I also bought a maternity dress on clearance that can work even if one isn't pregnant. Since I wear scrubs for work and have not gained much weight, I have not deemed it necessary to make the change over to maternity yet.

• Movement: I can't wait until I can report something in here!

• Stretch marks?: Nothing yet!

• Sleep?: I am tired all the time. Not only am I tired all the time, but I find I have the ability to sleep for 14 hours if I don't have to go to work or anything.

• Symptoms?: Exhausted, sore sore sore boobies, I'm extremely queasy when I don't have Zofran in my system. I'm peeing at least twice as much as before.

• Food cravings:  They honestly change daily. Yesterday I decided I wanted a beef sandwich from the pizza place. The day before that the thought of meat made me want to vomit. Today it's been fruit. Bananas and canteloupe to be specific
• Food Aversions: Anything sweet. Chocolate, ice cream, candy. ICK.

• Belly button in or out?: Still an innie.

• What I miss: I'm missing my Coca Cola. I figured by this point I would miss my cigarettes too, but that wound up being easier to quit than I had expected!

• What I'm looking forward to: My first official prenatal appointment on June 8th.

• Best Moment this week: So far it's been all the time my husband and I have spent together dreaming up names and talking about baby.

• Milestone: Baby is about 1/2 an inch long this week. Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs, and the brain continues developing. Baby has an appendix and pancreas.

A New Adventure

It's official!!!

I was offered a new job yesterday, and I'm starting work on September 13th! The job is at a dialysis clinic, and I will be working as a patient care technician. I'm sad to see the people of my current job go, however, this opportunity is better than anything else they have to offer me.

So that's why there are no updates. I've been doing interviews, phone calls, registering for classes, and finishing out my two weeks! I'm very excited. Tomorrow I'm going to take my drug screening test, change my last name at the local college, and then go shopping for some scrubs.

Those of you that know me in real life, know how much I ADORE pajama time. Scrubs are like pajamas, and it's acceptable to wear them to work, which makes me a happy little beast!

Be on the lookout for my first blog giveaway coming soon! As well as more updates now that I will be working steadier hours!

XOXO

-V

Meet & Greet Monday

Today is a complete rarity for me. I have not had a Monday off of work since October 2009. And I'm off today. I am truly baffled by this! Definitely not complaining!

Through Swaptree I have received about 6 books now. 

I started reading Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin first, and I LOVED it! Have any of you read it?? Did you also feel a little dirty rooting for Rachel? Or am I alone there?

The day after I finished Something Borrowed, Something Blue, also by Emily Giffin, showed up. I read the ENTIRE book last night. I couldn't stop!

Aside from that life has been pretty boring! Not a whole lot going on! 

If this is your first visit - HI!! I'm usually not so boring, so feel free to poke around some of my past entries!

Getting To Know You

I sincerely apologize for my lack of updates this week. I've been really sick, and sleeping a lot. I'm starting to feel better, but still waiting on lab results from the doctor to get to the bottom of what is wrong! And on top of that, my car? The one I just put a new engine in a couple months ago?

Definitely broke down again Friday night, and wouldn't start. It has been towed back to the repair shop, but they weren't open all weekend. So I'm stuck with my brothers death trap until mine is fixed. I know I should be grateful that he's willing to let me use his car, but he hasn't gotten in repaired in  years, so now it has no AC (not a big deal for me), no BLINKERS, the stereos don't work, and the brakes are going. Lucky for me I remembered the arm signals they taught us in drivers ed, but people don't pay attention to those anymore. I've gotten more middle fingers and car horns honking at me this weekend, than I have had in all the years I've been driving! My fingers are officially crossed for a quick and easy repair.

I'm linking up to Getting To Know You this week!

The Questions
1.If you had 5000.00 to spend on plastic surgery what would you have done? 

I would probably get a nose job. I've always hated my nose. Either that or a breast reduction. These suckers are obnoxious!

 

 

 
2. Do you watch Soap operas and if so what is your favorite and why? 

I don't. When I was younger I used to watch Days Of Our Lives though

 

 

 
3. Favorite clothing brand? 

I don't have a favorite brand per se. I don't care where it comes from, if it's cute, and not ridiculously priced, I'm a happy camper.

 

 

 
4. An afternoon shopping spree at your favorite store or maid service for a year? 

I would take the shopping spree. Our house doesn't get messy enough to warrant a maid service!

 

 

 
5. would you ever vajazzle? 

 Not going to lie, I had to google this, and quite frankly I'm a little creeped out by the whole idea of it, so I would have to say no...

 

 
6. Favorite Disney Princess? 

 Snow White

 

 
7. Last movie that made you bawl your eyes out? 

I didn't bawl my EYES out, but I did have a good cry at the end of Remember Me. And anytime I watch a Lifetime movie I'm usually guaranteed to bawl...

 

 

 
8. Have you ever broken any bones and if so what? 

 

I've broken a toe in soccer when I was younger, but other than that I am break free! 

Twee Poppets Tuesday Tag-Along, May 25, 2010

Linking up to Twee Poppets TTA again today! More and more blogs keep showing up on it, and I love me some reading material! 

Current projects : Sorting through all our STUFF to see what I will be putting up for sale at our garage sale at the end of June. Setting up an appointment to get my hair done. Heading to the chiropractor in a few. General cleaning. And of course, the desk is still a work in progress. Although it's almost done. Need another trip to Home Depot :)

"Music is What Feelings Sound Like"

For as long as I can remember music has played a huge part in my life. I remember being a youngin, no more than 10 I would guess, and being on the playground with two of my friends that lived in the same condo my father is now, and we would sing sing sing. Then when I hit 4th grade, I decided to join band. I tried out all the different instruments. My parents were rooting for the flute or the clarinet. I was torn between the trumpet and the trombone. I wound up choosing the trumpet. I remember thinking they were a little disappointed in my decision. As it turns out, they were just gunning for the quieter instrument. 

I loved my trumpet. I played it all day every day. And I was GOOD. I mean GOOD. Once I hit middle school, I was placed in all the bands. The sixth grade band, concert band (7th and 8th graders), and the jazz band (extracurricular, practiced before school in the mornings). I got solo after solo in the songs we were playing atthe school concerts. I won solo contests, and had medals and trophies galore. I had never seen my parents more proud of me. I picked up playing the french horn, and the keyboard bass as well. Just couldn't get enough music!

Then it happened. In 8th grade, I got the dreaded braces. The trumpet players kiss of death. Playing hurt so bad that I wound up finishing out 8th grade, and leaving band behind to enter high school. Once I got to high school, I opted for choir, since it didn't hurt to sing.

This all being said, I found a connection with music, and to this day still love finding new music!

Some of my favorite bands?

Damien Rice (#1 - love to pieces!)

Iron & Wine

Terra Naomi

Tsunami Bomb

Bright Eyes

Postal Service

Death Cab For Cutie

Stray Cats

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

I just got my iphone a month ago, and have yet to load a full aresenal of music on it! 

Anybody have any suggestions or recommendations on bands or artists they love and can't get enough of?

I'm all ears. I'm craving something new!

A New Baby Is Always Exciting!

Been a busy few days! It's really nice to finally have a few to sit and relax, after catching up on some much needed sleep!

Baby Luca came into this world on April 28th at 8:02 AM. 8 lbs, 3 oz. and 20 inches long. I'm so excited for my best friends to finally have the baby they have been trying for for 3 years now :) I'm also excited that he was wearing a Chicago White Sox onesie when I arrived :)

There he is! The lil peanut! I love his little smushy face!

We may be doing his photoshoot today to get some pics for his birth announcement, but we will see how mom, dad and baby are doing first, since they just went home last night.

Still waiting to hear back on the job I applied for a couple weeks back. The meeting that was supposed to be last week Thursday, got moved to just this past Thursday. My fingers are still crossed!

Riley got to play with the hose again the other day. MAN how he loves that hose. It was nice and hot out, so we figured let's let him have some fun!

Can't wait until we have the yard fenced in! Hopefully this spring :)

Bored Inc!

I'm not going to lie, there are so many tshirt sites on the internet to buy shirts from, that Bored Inc somehow slipped right past me! Then I stumbled upon a giveaway for a Bored Inc shirt at Cake Mom (Thank you again!!!) , so on a whim I decided to enter, and I won! Much to my surprise, as there were over 120 comments.

I chose this shirt:

Mainly because it cracked me up and made me smile. There are a TON of adorable and hilarious designs and sayings to choose from, in everything from t-shirts to belts to tote bags to magnets to onesies for babies. A couple other faves:

It showed up today while I was at work! The shirt is amazingly soft and the print is crisp on the front. I put it on to make sure it fit, and it fits perfectly. Then my dear husband came out of the shower and cracked up.

All in all, if you haven't heard of Bored Inc, you should for sure check them out for all kinds of adorable-ness!

Potential Job offer!

I've been working in retail for the last year, after getting my massage license and being unable to find any work in that field. My friend works at a renal dialysis clinic, and her boss asked me to fill out an application there to become a Patient Care Technician.

I find out the end of this week, if I will officially be offered the job.

This job would mean so much to me and my hubbs. We've been struggling monetarily for months now. My hours at work dropped off, his did too, so we were barely working and not bringing in enough money. 

Please keep your fingers crossed for me! 

I've wanted to begin working in the healthcare field for a while now, and this could be a great step into it for me!

UBP2010 After-Party

So the UBP 2010 is officially over! I had a fabulous time, and I'm very much glad I participated in it! I've gained a few new followers, found a ton of blogs I was excited to follow, and hopefully can form many more friendships through it all!

Blogs I found out about through the UBP:

1 - Chi-Annie: at the table - I haven't had much luck finding bloggers from roughly the same area as I am in, and I came across this blog  :)

2 - Handbags & Handguns 

3 - Bitsy Baby Photography - I love photography and this blog has some amazingly beautiful shots in it!

Now that's just 3, but I have found and begun following WAYYYY more than 3. I look forward to updates from all of you in your blogs!

Tagged!

Kate over at Some Dreams Come True tagged me in a couple of fun posts! I'm going to do what she did and combine them into one post :)

First - a handwriting game. Grab a piece of paper and write down:

1. Name / Blog name
2. Right handed, Left handed or Both
3. Favorite letters to write
4. Least favorite letter to write
5. Write: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
6. Write in CAPS-CRAB-HUMOR-KALEIDOSCOPE-PAJAMAS-GAZILLION
7. Favorite song lyrics
8. Tag 7 people
9. Any special note or drawing

 

And Secondly - some questions!

1. Who is your style icon? 

I don't really have one, but I do generally love the way Alyson Hannigan dresses!

2. What is your favorite book?

I'm a big fan of the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty

  And of course the Twilight series (I'm addicted!)

3. Favorite Party Theme?

Luaus are always fun! I love 80s parties though!

Me & 3 of my friends went to Awesome 80s Prom in Chicago before I met my now husband.

  

4. Go to Halloween costume? 

I generally just pull out an old costume and tweak it a little bit. This bee one has been pretty popular for me!

5. Extravagance You can't live without? Not sure if this counts, but my camera!

6. Living person you admire? My best friend David. He was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2006. Went through chemo and radiation for months, and he is doing just fine now. 

7. Greatest Fear? Either losing somebody I love,drowning, or not being able to have children.

8. Trait(s) you deplore in yourself? I am constantly worried about something, sometimes for no reason. This leads to me biting my nails. A LOT. Hate it. Ack!

9. What talent would you most like to have?

I would LOVE to be able to play the guitar.

10. What is your greatest achievement?

Ya know.. I'm not entirely sure I know. If I had to answer right away, I would say passing all of those horrifying anatomy classes during massage school. Ironically now I LOVE reading about anatomy and learning more things, and am debating on going BACk to school :)

Same group of bloggers tagged! Hope to see some fun answers soon! 

New Year, New Business Venture

After many sewing lessons with my mother, and just general crafty experimentation, we have decided to try opening an etsy shop together. I'm very excited about this! I've wanted to have some creative outlet to clear my mind on the days I am off from my other jobs, so this seemed like the best thing for us!

I'm having so much trouble coming up with a name! I didn't think it would be that hard, but it for sure is!

We went and hit Joann Fabrics, and Hancock Fabrics big sales last weekend, to stock up on some fabric, and we are starting the actual sewing tomorrow. We are going to start out with purses. Totes, clutches, and hobo bags. We can watch how that goes, and then expand later on!

Once we have built up a decent amount of items, we are considering entering some of the craft fairs around our area in IL. My boss crochets, and said she would be willing to split booths/tables with us to lower costs for all parties involved if we want, so that was a sweet offer!

I've been slowly catching up on all of your blogs. I'm sorry to have been so absent lately!

Hope everyone is doing well!

XOXO
-V