Friday, April 30, 2010

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Redding Handmade

N244782410838_2381 Things are really heating up with my Redding Handmade Etsy Team!  The creativity amongst the group is incredible and I look forward to lots of fun events in the coming months to keep us all busy.  The month of May sees a sort of collaboration with Redding Handmade, the Sweetspot and the Fabulous Fabric Shop...every Thursday that month will be a fun evening out.  (Check here for more info about Oh!Carousel!)  Coming up first on May 6th is our first Sweetspot "Rotation." Redding Handmade Rotations will feature 4 artists displaying their goods at the Sweetspot in Redding from 7-9pm.  You will get to meet the artist/designer/creator behind the products as well as purchase items.  This show is just in time for Mother's Day. 


The featured designers for May are:


NCharshaf's Handmade Notebooks & Stationery
Julie Packer Designs
Chrystalyn
Oh Baby! Redding


(My turn at Rotations is in July!)


And speaking of my Redding Handmade Etsy Team, I wanted to show you just some of what the Team has to offer...please support them and all handmade artists! 
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Upcoming Jewelry Shows

The next couple of months are going to be so fun due to some upcoming jewelry shows I'm a part of and hosting!  Fun but a lot of work too!  Here's a quick run-down of where I'll be...as things get closer I will post more information. 

May 1 - Enterprise High School Sober Grad Night Fundraiser Fair 9am-4pm. 

May 18 - Collaboration with Premier Designs Jewelry - Open House at my house!

May 19 -

July - Sweetspot Rotation with 3 other Artists from my Redding Handmade team.

The Children's Reaction

Dcr0705lNot good.  As promised I said I would do a post on how my children are taking this new way of eating healthier.  Eh, not ideal.  At least tonight's meal didn't go over too well.  We made chicken fajitas, cilantro lime rice and black beans, all from the Food Revolution book.  Aaron and I thought it was excellent, a restaurant quality meal.  Kids not so much.  Initially it started good, they each tried everything on their plate, but in the end only ate the tortillas.  The new rule is this:  Eat what's on your plate, figure out a way to make it edible if you don't eat it as served, OR make yourself a PB&J.  That's it.  No cereal, no bagel bites, no ice cream.  That's it. 

They're not going to starve however, I've resurrected a previous idea and they are excited about what they'll find in the muffin tin everyday.   

Past Post: New Approach to After School Snack 

At least there will be smiles, until dinner that is.

Healthy Living: Moving into Phase 3, it's a big one!

Last month I moved into Phase 2 with my Healthy Living 2010 plan...the food part.  The exercise part is going well, I'm doing it regularly...yes, even running.  Not to the point I have the urge to enter a race, but getting it done.  I started the food journey with what I know works, but got bored and other food started sneaking into the mix.  With the recent popularity of Jamie Oliver and his New Food Revolution, I decided to investigate what he had to offer.  I'm completely impressed.  I love that his focus right now is on the kids and getting them to eat healthy.  My ultimate, ultimate goal is not just myself feeling healthy and fit, but for my kids to grow up feeling good and not having to break themselves of the horrible processed food, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup and all the other icky stuff out there. 

On Wednesday, Aaron and I spent ALL DAY clearing out the kitchen of basically everything, making a shopping list of what basics we needed  (we used the essentials list in Jamie's Food Revolution--beautiful book BTW) and pretty much getting rid of (throwing out and donating) everything else.  We had chocolate pudding mix that expired in 2006!  If it's not good for us and we're not going to eat it, why store it? 

I forgot to take a before picture but here's a couple of afters.  We are so proud of what we accomplished!

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We got the basics from Jamie's list and the ingredients for tonight's dinner and it really wasn't that expensive.  I'm excited and happy to truly learn to cook from the beginning and in a clean way.  This is what we are making for dinner tonight, along with cilantro lime basmati rice and black beans...mmmmm. 

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Somehow however, this snuck into the cart and home...IMG_0671


Uh, AARON!!!! 

Coming up in a future post....the children's reactions to this food revolution!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Back to Reality....

Last week was Spring Break for the kids and we took a trip to Las Vegas and Phoenix to visit Grandpa.  I want to sit and reflect on our trip but that will have to wait...in the meantime here's a quick sneak peek and then I'm back to work!

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Saturday, April 03, 2010

My Name is Lisa and I am an Appleaholic

The iPad came out today.  I've been so excited about it, it's not something I need.  It's something I want.  It's something I covet. 

I watched an illegal feed when they announced it in January.  I resisted and did not pre-order when it became available to do so in March.  We do not have an Apple Store locally.  I planned to JUST LOOK when we are on vacation in Las Vegas and Phoenix this upcoming week for Spring Break. 

The thought occurred to me today that Best Buy may have them locally. I thought it was a long shot. To absolve myself, I had Ella call and ask.  (Yes, I'm that sick I enlist a 6 year old to do my dirty work).  She chats with the person who answered the phone for a few minutes.  She hangs up and says they have them.  My heart stops for a minute. OK, maybe we should just go and look at it.  After patiently waiting for the teen fanboys to stop hogging the display models, I get my moment.  A woman comes over and asks if I have any questions.  "I have no questions, I want one."  2 minutes later I'm walking out the door with iPad in hand. 

Photo-2

Now if that wasn't enough to signify a problem.  A problem with Apple products and restraint.  This is part 2 which demonstrates my obsession (though please note I share this obsession).  So I'm packing for our vacation.  We leave tomorrow for 7 days.  This is what we are bringing:


  • MacBook Pro

  • My new iPad

  • My iPhone

  • Aaron's iPhone

  • Jacob's iTouch

  • 30GB iPod filled with music for the car

  • iPod Nano for running

  • ...plus a couple of Nintendo DS's

  • and a Garmin


OMGosh!

Friday, April 02, 2010

4 People, 12 Times - March Edition

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Photo taken 4/1/10 before my brother's birthday dinner (he's in April Fool's baby!)...what I notice...we look tired...or maybe just me.  The 'outhouse' is in my mom's backyard. We made it for her a couple years ago after being inspired by one we saw in Lancaster, PA....Amish Country.

March Notes:

Coming soon.....(I'm exhausted at the moment)....