Oregon Trail and a Smartphone

Whew! What a summer! It seems to be flying by; and I've been keeping busy making bee soaps galore, for weddings and baby showers all over the country; which makes me feel really *fancy*; who knew a year ago; when I found the bee mold at the thrift shop; on the clearance rack; marked down to a dollar, that it would facilitate my business! Serendipity indeed!

I'd been so busy all summer; that last week; when I had a lull in my business, and all packages shipped, and nothing pressing; I jumped on the opportunity to take my boys on a little day trip. Now up to now; I'd never driven too far from home; I had a terrible fear of the interstate; and would use surface streets whenever possible. But driving from Las Vegas to Barstow in the middle of the night on our way to San Diego gave me much more confidence in my driving abilities; and I wanted to take my boys somewhere far(ish) away; all by myself. So we set out in the morning with a picnic lunch; and my new smartphone proved it's mettle; as I was able to respond to a customer who contacted me on etsy; and got another wedding favor order while out! We arrived just in time for a gold panning demonstration, in a water trough that was seeded with real gold; although the park ranger reminded us that if we DID find gold; we would not be able to keep it!

I gave it a try myself; it's surprisingly tiring; the heavy pan of sand and water has to be swirled around and around, and then filled back up with water as it becomes dry. All my boys gave up fairly quickly and started playing with the water instead; except Bentley; who was determined to find the gold and stuck it out the longest. After his arms got tired, we went back inside to look at all the exhibits; which are very moving.

I've always wanted a sunbonnet, ever since I was a little girl who was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder; and at the gift shop they had a huge selection of authentic sunbonnets; in fun fabrics; and I just had to have one! I actually loved it so much I wore it the rest of the day, to the embarrassment of my children, and the amusement of the employees of the restaurant we stopped at in Baker City! But, it's one of those things that I HAD to do, on my bucket list!

I'm determined to squeeze every last drop out of summer; because when school starts again my schedule is going to be nearly impossible; so I've been neglecting my little blog! I have kept up with the blogs I follow, though; and I loved this recipe from the first blog I ever followed,  The Vintage Wife and I plan to make it tonight, with a few variations. If it turns out; I'll be posting my "new" recipe later in the week!

Happy Wednesday!

I Can't Believe I Forgot About This!

Just popping in to let you all know about a giveaway I agreed to do shortly before my vacation; which I promptly forgot to promote! I feel like such a jerk! I don't usually post about my business on my blog, but this is an Awesome Giveaway; you can win a Crunchy Mama Vegan Vanilla Gift Set!

I'd love for one of my blog followers to win, so please go and comment! Nothing to lose, soap (for someone) to gain!

I hope to have a vastly more interesting post later tonight, have a great evening!

Blogging is a Girl's Best Friend

Thank you all so much for all your well-wishes during my vacation! I'm so happy to be back, we had quite a harrowing experience on the drive in, we ran into both a torrential downpour near Provo, Utah; which when combined with some road work delayed us a bit, and an actual blizzard, which threatened to derail the whole trip! I was driving from outside Salt Lake City, when the rain began to pour. Strangely, there was tons of traffic; couldn't figure out why, because it was 8 pm on a Saturday night! Finally, after white-knuckling the steering wheel for a few hours, the rain became so heavy I couldn't see which lane I was in! I pulled over and switched with James; thank goodness! Shortly thereafter, the rain turned into snow! Semi trucks were creeping along, and we saw lots of cars pulled over and even a huge accident. It was terrifying! We made it safe and sound; albeit with snow covering the bins of clothes on our luggage rack! I didn't get to sleep until 5 am, but James let me sleep late, so I'm reciprocating by letting him snooze for a bit right now.

I feel like I've gained a lot of perspective while I was gone. Although I love my etsy shop and plan to be successful, it's not the be-all and end-all of my life, nor even of my soap career. I think I spent too much time obsessing over it, and feeling like a failure when I didn't perform to my own expectations. I was surprised to find that when I was separated from my computer; what I missed the most was blogging, which I do strictly for my own pleasure; and I hope the enjoyment of others! I was able to do some soul-searching as well, and some of you wonderful followers may have sensed there's more to me than the proud mother and wife I am now. After a lot of considering and thinking, taking into account possible ethical and legal ramifications, I've decided to start another blog; anonymously; which tackles some tough subjects. It will be both darker and more inspirational that this blog, which I love and will continue to do. I felt the need to have it anonymous, in order to avoid either embarrassing or libeling people involved; I still have to consider how best to promote it without connecting it to this blog, or to me personally. Any ideas would be welcome!

I'm now on to working through my huge bins of dirty laundry, and grocery shopping, and I hope; making a nice dinner for my boys and men after so many days of restaurant food! I also lost a crucial part to my sewing machine in the days leading up to our trip, so I have to go about replacing it before I can begin on my new projects, of which I have many! Including, by the way, a wedding dress for my mother, who announced her upcoming marriage in May; and asked me to make her a wedding dress that is not too formal for the beach, and both stylish and age-appropriate. I found a wonderful champagne-colored silk/satin; which will look great with her complexion; and honestly; her figure is more youthful than mine! We even joked that I should pass on my size 4 wedding dress to her; since I have no doubt it would fit her!

Happy Sunday, I hope you all have had a great weekend!

Viva, Las Vegas.......(and San Diego)

Did you see the snazzy new picture on my sidebar? It's a award given by 1950's Atomic Ranch House to all the bloggers that read her blog ; I have had the pleasure of getting comments on my blog by her, so I feel honored....and I love the button!

Well here we are....San Diego!

This taco shop was what James has been waiting for! We enjoyed a nice lunch there, and he even went back in afterwards to tell the staff how much he enjoyed his Chipotle fish taco, and how glad he was that the food was still the same!


The weather's been a little iffy; I think we brought a little Idaho with us, because we were greeted by a monsoon while driving down the I-15 from San Bernardino, and the sun has been hit and miss. Yesterday when we left my father-in-law's house the sun was finally shining, and it was beautiful!

We spent the afternoon driving to all of James' old haunts, and we discovered that sadly his childhood home is all boarded up and about to be demolished. He wanted me to take a picture anyway, but I won't post it because it's sad. Seeing his old hometown made him nostalgic and introspective, and he wrote this lovely piece about it. I hope I won't embarrass him too much by publishing it, but I'm proud of him and want to share:

Boise vs San Diego

by James Arnold on Friday, March 25, 2011 at 6:55pm

I love living in Boise.  Transplanting my family from San Diego to the "City of Trees' was the best decision I could have made.  But being in San Diego still feels like home.  These are my people.  They're a crazy, rude, impatient lot.  I'm pretty sure its more important for them to try and kill themselves and each other on the interstate than to get where they are going.  In Boise, turning on your blinker lets the person in that lane know that you would like to move over, and could they kindly allow you to do so.  In general, they do.  In California, a blinker means, "Go _____ yerself! Let me over and I swear it'll be the last thing you do, you jackwagon!" 

I drove past my High School (Go Titans).  Its a little different now, but I remember almost every day I spent there.  We went to go see the house I grew up in.  Its on a little dirt cul-de-sac called Sycamore.  The tiny house I have so many memories of is boarded up and sad.  The front deck is gone.  The yard, not nearly as big as I remember, is overgrown and muddy.  My next door neighbor, and best friend, on Sycamore is dead.  He was about a year older than me and he died in a motorcycle accident about 8-9 years ago, his name was Matt .  The house he grew up in is gone.  There exists an empty lot where the 2nd house I grew up in used to stand. 

The point is, I sat there in my Explorer saddened by the state of my childhood stomping grounds.  The best years of my childhood were spent on Sycamore.  I'm not "from" this state anymore.  I don't recognize the parts of it that were the most important to me.  Those parts exist only in my memories. The things that are most important to me now, are all with me here and they're from Idaho.  They change, but only for the better.  I have friends and family in Idaho, and I love them all.  Idaho is my home now.  San Diego is just a bitchin vacation spot.  I like it that way.

Isn't that sweet and sad? I'm so happy we were able to visit, it's been almost five years since he was able to come back and visit, and I know he sometimes misses it. I've often been afraid that he wasn't happy in our poor little Idaho home and that he didn't feel like he belonged yet. I'm glad to know that he considers himself an adopted Idahoan! 

Ok, I can no longer avoid doing this; I've been talking about my new clothes forever; it's time to woman up and post a picture of myself, although the very idea makes me cringe! After a few failed attempts to get my son Andrew to take a picture of me while I was not talking; and since James refuses to take pictures of me because he claims I'm never happy with them....I took a ridiculous picture of my reflection in the mirror. High-tech, huh? Well, I felt absurd, but I love my new wrap skirt and sweater. And my green shoes, though the quality of the picture is awful:

Our messy hotel suite is in the background, and I think the glare from the window adds a nice touch. Oh well, the skirt is really comfy and has pockets! I'm also thrilled with the versatility of the sweater, I'll be wearing it constantly, I'm sure! Underneath, I'm wearing a nursing camisole so it's a pretty baby-friendly and comfortable outfit! 

Oh, I almost forget what I intended to post about.....Viva Las Vegas! Yes, because I'm an overachiever and possibly a masochist, I've decided to tack on an overnight stay in Las Vegas to our return trip! When we drove through, at 3 am; the boys were amazed at all the bright lights, and it seemed like an opportunity too good to pass up; it's not often we will be passing though Las Vegas, and it will also break up what is a grueling drive! Circus Circus, here we come! 

Have a great weekend!

Vacation! And Jean Harlow.....

I was going to take a picture of all the chaos around my house; and my pin-curled and covered with a scarf head...but I decided Jean Harlow is much prettier!

For a classic movie aficionado, I've somehow managed to avoid ever seeing a movie starring Jean; probably because my taste in classic film runs more to the mid-to late 40's Film Noir up to the early 60's; and poor Jean died at the absurdly young age of 26, in 1937 (a fact that I had to google, after trying to figure out why I had never seen a Harlow film). Last night, while folding laundry and packing, I watched a movie I had DVR'd; "Hold Your Man" which starred Clark Gable, whom I love. It was a very early film, 1933; and I was amazed to see the styles of hair and clothes, and how much life has changed (and not changed) in 78 years. The vernacular was too funny, several characters, including the train conductor said Cincinnati like this "sin-sa-NA-ta"; which is something I've never heard before and found interesting. Could those two people act or WHAT! The chemistry was amazing, I love Clark Gable and hated him in "Gone with the Wind", because I think it wasn't the best casting choice, both for the fictional Rhett Butler, who I heart, and Clark Gable, whom I also heart to pieces.

Anyway, I'm standing here in my kitchen, blogging; when I should be loading the car; but I wanted to pop in and post because I probably won't be doing a whole lot of blogging in the days to come. Although, who knows, I may blog my head off about Disneyland!

Have a great week everyone, and wish me luck while I drive for 16 hours with five children across the wilderness!

I Write with a Goose Quill Dipped in Venom

Isn't that a great line? It's from one of my favorite Film Noir movies; Laura. I watched it last night while working on my sewing since I just figured out how to watch movies from Netflix on my laptop. I know, people have been watching movies on their computer for centuries; but since I had no computer until last December, this is all new to me! I'm no movie expert, but I've been a fan of classic films since I was a little girl watching old movies with my mother. I'm like a kid in a candy store! So many movies I've never seen, or some of my favorites that are hard to track down. Since I have a laptop, it's easy to have it set up on my worktable, start one of the classics and get to work!

This was the view from my kitchen last night; I got to work resizing my vintage swimsuit pattern, a process I started the night before. Although when giving the resized pieces a second look last night, I realized that I had made them far, far, too big! It must have been because of the late hour, after taking a few measurements, I realized I made the swimsuit front several inches too big, the top picture shows the front piece, in a Junior size, and the white material is the pattern material, which is printed in one inch grids. You can see I had to add quite a bit, including adding length from top to bottom, for coverage and modesty. After I took this picture of the piece which I had just reduced in size, I still needed to remove a few more inches in width. I felt like Alice in Wonderland, trying desperately to achieve the correct size! The lower picture shows my workspace; the kitchen table, covered in sewing stuff; which is the worst part about sewing, at least for me; because I don't have a dedicated space, and have to carefully put away everything despite the late hour; otherwise my boys will have a field day in the morning! For some reason, my littler boys are fascinated by my sewing machine and equipment, and when I leave my sewing machine out, I always have to check it carefully; since they usually have changed all the settings!

A few weeks ago, a fellow etsian on my team did an interview with me about my shop; she published it today; check out her blog; By the Book Paper

It's a great Monday; since my boys are out of school for President's Day; I'm hoping to have a very laid-back day today; Happy Monday!

I Heart Free, Day-Old Baked Goods.....

My blog has a new look! It's totally revamped; I'm liking how bright and cheery it is! There's a not-funny story about that......*embarrassing*. Let's just say, I'm a bad, bad, blogger! So any of you tech-savvy people see me k do anything (else) that violates the Internet Laws That Everyone Follows Except Me, please let me know before I get into any <more> trouble!

Enough about that, look at the fun cake in the picture! It was free! Every week or every other week, we are the recipients of the baked goods from a local bakery; the ones they can't sell. There's a lady who works there that distributes them around town to anyone that can use them, and of course; we can use them! Some weeks it's lots and lots of bread and rolls, but my boys love it when there are lots of "treats". This being after Valentine's Day, there were lots and lots of treats; this cake, cupcakes, etc. It was a much-needed surprise, since yesterday I committed the capital offense of forgetting to make a dessert, and having a bunch of things in the freezer helps out immensely on days I can't get it together to make bread or rolls for dinner, much less a dessert. I've even come up with ways to use the items that are stale; I make garlic bread or little toasts with the baguettes that have seen better days; last time I was out of garlic and made an artichoke spread, then toasted the rounds in the oven. You can make French Toast with stale sliced bread; and for the donuts; James makes an awesome donut bread pudding that uses up tons and tons of stale donuts; although it is not exactly health food, so we save it for special occasions!

I have a hopefully productive weekend of sewing and soaping ahead of me; I've decided to switch my sewing strategy and start with the "must have" items for my vacation, since it's only a little over a month away! Aaak! I received that darling pattern I posted about earlier, it will make a great everyday dress, and I hope to use the fabric I already have for it.

Happy Weekend!