Wishful Wednesday

motivation

creativity

energy

patience

and this purse...

It's a purse. It's a diaper bag. It's a fashion statement. It's Spring! I love it. It looks like it would just fit so well under my arm. It reminds me of a buttery, yummy crescent roll, but better, because you can enjoy this crescent over and over again. :) I like to carry a purse as a diaper bag every once and a while. It makes me feel a little more fashionable and a little less bound by my "Mommyness." Like the new word I made up?

This bag isn't in my budget right now, but I still like looking at it. So lovely. Want it for yourself? Shop Fuchst Bags on Etsy. (of course it's on Etsy.)

Random. Random

I never win anything, but I won a contest on YouTube! The contest was to celebrate a girl getting 200 subscribers to her channel. She asked her subscribers to create a makeup look for spring using all drugstore products except one. The prize was a $10 gift card to E.L.F. makeup online. That might not seem like much, but when there are so many options from E.L.F. that are only $1, $10 goes further than you would think. (Darn shipping costs!) I got 11 things for a total of $8 and some change including shipping. It shipped today and I can't wait to try out what I ordered!

Why are all my cool fonts gone from my blog!!!? I hope it's not permanent. I might have to invest in a real blog design if they don't come back soon. I do not at ALL remember how I programmed them to show up in the first place. Whatever I did, I know it was complicated and took several hours. I am NOT doing that again...

I have lost 6 pounds in the month of March! Apparently I had not hit that much of a plateau. I just needed to be more active and cut down the fat intake a bit. We'll see how long I can keep up this pace without having to eat only salads. (Which I could not do.)

N.M.M.

I did not take off a perfectly good three coats of hot pink nail polish that I was very much enjoying looking at on my nails to put on a khaki/mushroom grayish color that I really don't care for just because I heard that it was a spring trend for nails. I never follow trends over my personal preferences.

I do not need the motivation of mild depression over the inability to shop for what I consider to be cute things in order to keep me going to the gym. I am completely self-motivated.

I am not considering going blonde even though I said I would never do that because of how much it damages your hair. My curiosity over how I would look as a blonde (even though I know it would probably wash me out) would never cause me to actually attempt it.

Flowers In Her Hair

I used to wear flowers in my hair almost every day while I was in college. Just picking up stems of blooms I liked at Michael's and trimming them down was all it took. No pins, no clips, just a basket full of various sizes and colors of flowers waiting to adorn a french twist, bun or braid. I hated going to dance class with the same ol', same ol' hairstyle day after day, so this was one way for me to be creative. I don't know why I don't wear flowers in my hair much any more, except that I do wear it down a lot more than I did back then (but that's what clips are for, right?). Most moms are the other way around I think. They used to wear their hair down until baby came and pulled it out and then toddler came along and made so much mess that mom needs her hair out of her face to clean it all up... etc.

All that was an intro to a new online shop called Poor Man's Wife that I discovered through Today's Giveaway and I love, love, love their flower hair accessories. They have taken it to the next level by adding the sophistication of fabrics and their products are totally customizable, which is my favorite part of anything I buy these days.

You can buy things straight from Poor Man's Wife through this link and/or you can click here to enter to win a hair pretty from them. Go look and be inspired.

Next Stop on the Makeup and Skin Care Train...

That title is almost longer than this post, huh?

Here's my latest makeup and skincare update if you're interested. Of course, it's a YouTube video. If you have about 10 minutes and you want to know the latest on Bare Minerals and trying to get clear skin, click here.

A Trio of Twos

Awwww.... 2 months, 2 weeks and 2 days until our 5th anniversary. Just wanted to note it before it changes.

I guess 5 months, 5 weeks and 5 days until our 5th anniversary would be cooler, but that's kind-of impossible, isn't it?

Favorite Friday

I had a vision. I had a vision to create something wearable out of a shirt that I loved on the hanger, but just didn't look at all right on me. A few snips, a few stitches and voila! a new life for a neglected shirt.

My very favorite thing this beautiful Friday morning?

An easy-peasy 15 min. refashion with the end result being a dress I LOVE. (possibly more than anything else I've made... except the birthday dress. That one takes the cake. hehe)

I have a pattern for refashioning men's dress shirts three or four different ways into little girl dresses that I can't wait to try, but this is very satisfying for now.

Wishful Wednesday

My wish for today is to receive a package in the mail. Isn't it always so exciting to get a package? I got a package in the mail last week that had my jacket in it that I had left at my parents', but that doesn't count.

I signed up for several free samples today, so, in a few weeks my wish will come true. I'm getting shampoo from L'Oreal, a coupon for a free sandwich from Corner Bakery, and some Crest White strips. Yea for free samples! About a week and a half ago, I got my free Mario Badescu samples, which I have been faithfully using. Yea for free samples in quantities enough to last more than one use!

N.M.M.

I am not in pain whenever I do anything today just because I danced in church yesterday... for part of a song. This is certainly not an indication of my fitness level.

I did not actually think that my daughters were collaborating in fussiness day before yesterday. I know there's no way they could do that.

I did not stay up for 2 hours after feeding Arielle because I was upset with my husband for not getting up to feed her as he said he would the night before.... when it turns out, even though I thought I had woken him up, I hadn't. Not me.

I do not throw away at least one thing a week by accident. My brain would not just randomly shut down like that. Not my perfectly functioning tarp as a shack brain.

Bravery + Determination = .... We'll See

Here it is. My body.

I told myself I wouldn't beat myself up this time about whatever shape my body was in after having Arielle. And I didn't.

But it's been 3 1/2 months and it's time to get my butt in gear and leave some of it behind at the gym.

We have a beach trip scheduled in June and I'd like to get excited about packing my swimsuit. So here goes nothing. I'll show you the after video, whenever I feel like there's an "after" to show.

Favorite Friday

Mustela products... specifically, the diaper cream. It's called Vitamin Barrier Cream and it has Zinc in it, which I find to be the best ingredient to look for in a diaper cream. This stuff is just a pleasure to use. It smells nice, not fragranced, just nice. It's really creamy, not goopy or sticky or pasty. And, best of all, it protects my girls' bottoms without clogging up my cloth diapers.

I didn't think I would ever find a suitable alternative to Arbonne's diaper cream, which I still love, but this stuff is the answer. It's affordable, it's portable and it has shea butter and vitamins to soften the skin and encourage cell regeneration while the zinc oxide protects.

Another Mustela product I really like, but that isn't so affordable is the wipes. It's the smell again. Mustela products have a signature smell and it's just lovely. So soft. They even make a perfume that I really would love to have... for me AND for my babies. Of course, my girls don't care how they smell, but a fragrance just adds more layers to your memories and experiences and I don't see anything wrong with wanting everyone around me to smell nice.

Ok, it's a little wierd to perfume your baby.

If you haven't been able to try Mustela, you should give them a chance. I think it's worth taking a step up from the drugstore brands to something I really, truly enjoy getting the chance to use.