Little Models and Back to School fashion

This week the girls have been asked to model some back to school fashions on a local t.v. program. We went today for their fittings at Gymboree. So many cute and funky things on the walls and racks! As their mother I know their style and personalities so of course I saw certain outfits that I knew they would ROCK! I'm used to my funky fun Ebay boutique fashions like Ivylane, Lilyplum, Limevine and the like...so after those fantastic clothes I have to say Gymboree sort of of pales in comparison but they did have some new fun lines.
Well it was a little chaotic due to other fittings ending when we arrived and we were the last two to be fitted so I'm sure the gals that were in charge of the segment were ready to call it a day! I wanted to add my two cents in on what would look good on the girls but they were the professionals so I had to take a back seat. This is the outfit they chose for G




When I first saw the dress I thought it was adorable, it is from the Equestrian Club line, very Ralph Lauren looking. But on her it just looks sort of eh. I like a longer dress and this style is above the knee which is totally fine but I'm not used to her looking so "school girl" ish!! The whole outfit reminds me of something my mom would have put me in for school in the 70's! And I guess with that retro feel everything has right now it is right in fashion. G wanted desperately to wear the leopard rain slicker and leopard rain boots that they had and she was also begging to wear the rock sweater that was pink with the blinged out crown on the pockets so that tells you a little bit about her flare for fashion!

This is what they choose for Little One





Loving the shoes and the vest, so stinkin' cute!! And she can pull the knickers off although I can't picture me having her wear those to school! Again so retro, I had numerous pairs of regular and courd knickers with the too cool argyle socks. I even had a courd blazer to match the courd knickers in grade school!! I think back and laugh at this little business person outfit with a blazer!
The whole outfit, also from the Equestrian Club line didn't really go together if you ask me? But it had also been a long day and I had to truck from one end of the valley to the other to get them to the fitting and both girls were tired and so maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me? The most hilarious part are these cork screw clips that they are going to put on Little One that are about the furthest thing from anything I would ever stick on my girl!!

This is the kind of hair accessory I would and will buy for my girl! Jen's new hair accessory line is killing me!


Look at
this one!


So much cuter than any corkscrew clippies at Gymboree!!!!

Monday Night and All Is Well

I just adore browsing on Etsy. If they had an "I heart Etsy" bumper sticker I would....well, I wouldn't put it on my car, but I would hang it in my office to remind me of what an enjoyable site it truly is!
One of my favorite things to look at on Etsy is the art. There are some amazingly talented artists that deserve to be seen. One of my favorite artists is Alicia Block . The things she accomplishes with her camera(s) amaze me.
The colors are lucious, the images so memorable. This particular image of the single light is availabe in her shop as a card only. I own this card! Before purchasing it I found myself coming back to her shop to look at it over and over again. Something about it just struck me. I hope that at some point she will have it available in a print, I would love to frame it and hang it in my home!
Another unique artist is Badbird. With his/her whimsical designs that make you smile.
I adore this one called "Suspicious Bird". Check out that face on that little bird! I love the placement of the characters in Badbird's art. Sometimes there is a large space and this tiny little rabbit or bird sitting just so. This is Badbird piece that I have considered purchasing because it reminds me of Little One. It is called "Bunny Girl". I don't know why it reminds me of my Little One.....she does not have a bunny hat....I think it is the way the child is standing that reminds me of my girl. Or maybe the expression on her sweet little face.
The last two nights Bri has been watching the second movie in the triology of Lord of The Rings. I freaking love those movies! I am soooooooooo not a "middle earth" type of gal. My brother was obsessed with the J.R.R. Tolkein books when we were growing up so of course anything that interested him I wanted nothing to do with i.e. Lionel Richie, Pink Floyd, Watership Down, camoflauge clothing and things of that nature.
But the Lord of the Rings movies are stellar! I could watch those movies over and and over and have watched them over and over. I remember when Little One was a newborn the third movie of the triology had come out on DVD. I actually looked forward to her getting up to eat so that I could watch the movie while I waited to see if she fell asleep. So tonight was fun to remember how great Viggo was and to marvel over the supreme acting skills of Sir Ian Mckellen! I believe at one point tonight I actually said the words "I want to marry Galdalf!"

I have two more wonderful photo shoots edited and three to do and then I'm caught up for this weekend. I'm looking forward to the canyon shoot, it is always nice to get some fresh air....let's just hope I can refrain from complaining about the heat and sweating so profusely that people wonder if I might actually disolve into a puddle right before their eyes!

It's still hot! (and a book review)

Yes, it is still hot and YES I am still complaining!
Honestly this heat is ridiculous. And the fact that we have a swamp cooler and not yummy A/C doesn't make it much better! I keep hoping that temps will start to drop and then the fantastic ten day outlook flashes across the screen with the triple digits and pulsating sunshine graphics and I just wanna puke. The weatherman on one station was quite excited that we might beat the twenty one day record of triple digits! WOO HOO I'M SO EXCITED TOO!!!!

Summer has been busy with lots of fun photo shoots as well as my #1 job which is being mom to these girls. G has been taking tennis lessons as well as a nature camp and on off weeks from the nature camp she has been doing a musical theatre camp. I'm not sure which one is her favorite, she seems to be an equal opportunity participater in each event and loves them all the same.
Little One has been taking swimming lessons and doing quite well. G is not a fan of swimming, it requires her to put her head under water and she doesn't not think that is such a good idea. A terrible pool experience a few years ago just made the whole situation worse so we just take it slow.
I think I thought that summer would be a time to kick back and relax but it has seemed more hectic than the school year, with all the acitivites and playdates and trying to squeeze work in here and there when I can.

I've been reading quite a bit, finising up "The Tender Bar" which my reivew is "Eh". That is my basically my whole review, just a half hearted "Eh." It was a book that I wanted to love. When I put it down I always wanted to get back to it and see what his life would become. But slightly more than halfway through it just became a chore to finish the book. Here you have this man writing this memoir about his life and he ends up going against the odds of his upbringing to go to Yale and what does he do.....nothing. He just throws away this opportunity because he can. It made me so frustrated. And when he finally did get his act together and do something and start working for the newspaper you just think "you idiot." I guess the moral of the story was you sometimes are doomed to repeat the failures of those around you? I don't know? But the first half of the book is really quite touching and has some lovely characters that this boy had come in and out of his life, although the bar (which was his safe place) was about the least appealing of all the things he clung to to feel safe.

So anyway onward and upward! I started to read "Ninteen Minutes" by Jodi Piccoult but then was sidetracked by a lovely little read that was chosen for my book group.....



"Twilight" By Stephenie Meyer.
People are passionate about this book, it has been so fun to see peoples reaction when I talk about starting to read it. I was more than halfway through when I went to book group and can't wait to finish. It is a young adult read and it is about Vampires which at first I went "Ummmmmmm" but it isn't like your typical Vampire book. It also has a sequel as well as a third one coming out in the next few weeks.

G and I also started the Harry Potter series. Apparently I am the only human being who hasn't read the six books. So together G and I started with book one and so far we are liking it and she is really following along as I read so that makes it fun!

My pal Windsay Benning (wink wink to Windsay from Qusan) has set me up with a sweet new pocket pc for which we had our first training session today. So I'm off to try and edit more pics which I'm loading to the photo blog, complete my assignment that Windsay has given me and read some more chapters of "Twilight".

:)

Happy 3rd Birthday Little One!

A Barney Birthday fit for a fanatic. Painted fingernails, a birthday dress that twirls and twirls and my Little One growing up.

Hope Everybody Had A Happy 4th!

G: Mom guess whose birthday it is today!

Me: I don't know, who?

G: Africa!! It's Africa's birthday!!

Bri: Africa?

G: (exasperated) Yeah, you know, Africa.....the city? Audrey told me that on the 4th of July we celebrate Africa's birthday! So Happy Birthday Africa!!

**(Big shout out to the talented Eva of Fresh and Vintage for Little Ones fantastic 4th of July dress!!)

My Chemical Romance Wednesday

Ooooh I realized that I haven't posted a "My Chemical Romance" picture lately. Since Megan does "Wordless Wednesdays" I decided this week to do "My Chemical Romance" Wednesay *snicker*.

So let's see, I'll post their picture and then say a little about them.....well first off Gerard does not have blonde hair anymore. So here is my updated version of him.



Now, at this point you are asking yourself "does she not have anything better to do with her time?" and the answer is NO! :) For once in a long time I have absolutely nothing better to do with my time! The girls and Bri are taking a nice afternoon nap. The house is fairly clean, my work is all caught up and it's hot! So I'm enjoying digi scrapping, listening to music, surfing the net and cracking myself up doctoring pictures of "My Chemical Romance" for fun!

Well, time is up! The girls are awake so now I have something better to do.

So for My Chemical Romance Wednesday you have learned that Gerard now has black hair!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

It's too hot!

Okay, it is waaaaay too hot. The girls and I ventured out for a few hours today and by the time we came home we were all miserable and sweaty and grumpy. Even G finally said "let's just go home to our house where it's cool and watch our library movies!" Which is exactly what we did.

The heat has melted my once thriving garden, now the plants all look yellow and brownish and the blooms have wilted away *sigh* and the world outside my window smells like fireworks.

I don't know if it is the heat or just our fair city but man everywhere I went today the customer service sucked. At the library I wanted to see if they had more Jodi Picoult books availabe. The County and City Libraries are laid out differently and shelf their material in different ways so after trying unsuccessfully to find the author I went to the information desk. The girls and I stood there waiting while the woman behind the desk ignored us and continued stuffing cd's back into their boxes. Even when I said to G "Hang on I just need to ask a question" she continued to ignore us despite the fact that we were standing three feet in front of her? Finally she glanced at us.

Me: "I'm looking for Jodi Picoults books?"

Library Dud: "They're under P." (reply said in a put out annoyed voice."

Okay DUH. As if I didn't check under P! That was the first place I checked. I didn't know if they had their books in sections like mystery, fiction, romance etc. So their system is any book by someone with the last name starting with P are all grouped together?! After letting her know that I had already been smart enough to check P she replied "Well, they must be all gone."

GEEZ THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!!! She really takes her job at the INFORMATION desk seriously doesn't she!

Then we go to check out and that gal behind the desk also goes on about her business as if we aren't even there? Were we invisble? Had the sun blazed so brightly today it blinded everybody??

I HATE it when people don't acknowledge you. HATE HATE HATE it. That is one of my pet peeves. Just a polite "One moment I'll be righ with you". Is that too much to ask?? I don't think so considering their jobs are listed in the CUSTOMER SERVICE FIELD!!!!

Finally she stopped whatever she was doing and checked us out and I kid you not when the three of us next walked into Panda to pick up some Chinese to go the lady there did the same thing!!! The three of us stood there hot and irritated as she stirred the vats of food, wiped the counter, shook the vats to mix up the food. We were the only people at the freaking counter, I know she saw us! But she was going to take her own sweet time and not let us know that she saw us, she just didn't want to help us until she felt like it.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They should just make everything self serve from now on so that nobody has to actually be in customer service and help anyone. We could just check out our own books, get our own food, ring up our own clothing. Heaven forbid anybody interact anymore. Maybe the next president should run on the platform of every person for themselves!

LAME.

And the new book is.......

In a place that inspired Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby, young J. R. Moehringer lives with his single mother and mercurial grandfather in a cramped home with a rather-too-colorful cast of strident aunts, down-on-their-luck uncles, and their various offspring. It is 1970s Manhasset, Long Island, and J.R. is lonely and adrift.

Desperate to escape, J.R.'s mother takes him on long drives, where his dreams are fueled by the sight of the deep, plush lawns and dazzling, gated mansions that served as Fitzgerald's East Egg. But it is J.R.'s introduction to the local pub and its vibrant constellation of characters that would have the greatest effect on him. A panoply of discordant human notes, by turns raucous, witty, vulgar, and wise, these men -- who never quite grew up themselves -- became, for the forlorn young J.R., a veritable symphony of human succor and safety. As J.R. becomes a man, however, he realizes that the bar doesn't grant wishes as much as fill needs in a place where accepting the inevitability of failure is a defense against future disappointment.

I have chosen this book to read next simply because I cannot put it down! I started reading it to see if it would cut the mustard as my next book choice and now I must finish!

It's a Perfect Day.....Tubing, scary or not let's discucss....and book review

"Oh, it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spend it with you
Oh, such a perfect day"
~Lou Reed

As I was going through these pictures this part of the Lou Reed song "Perfect Day" popped in my head.


What a fun evening with our friends in this gorgeous mountain setting. Carin called to see if we wanted to tag along to take pics. She had created these fantastic tutu's and wanted to try them out with some gorgeous evening sun, now my G is not a fan of the photo shoots. She would rather eat a bucket of squid than have her pictures taken, BUT when I told her she could see E she perked right up. "Okay," I explained "Now if you choose to go you have to let us take pictures because that is why Carin and E are going. Is that okay?" and G replied with a big smile "If E is there I'll just be happy to be with her so, you can take my picture."





Now saying something and doing something are two different things. Needless to say the two little monkeys wanted to run wild, dance and sing and flee as far away from the photographers as they could go! I think my favorite thing of the whole evening was when E and G were talking as they sat together about how much they hated photographers. "I just hate photographers, let's throw stuff at them." Was E's classic line that had me in stitches. Carin and I felt like the paparazzi chasing after Paris and Nicole outside of The Ivy!

These pictures are definitely titled "When Children Attack". This would be at the point they had decided to throw stuff at us!





They danced and chased dragonflies and even turned the cameras on us for a bit, and played a game where they lived in "Tree Hollow" (which I changed to Turkey Hollow for my own enjoyment) a place where they had to shoo the photographers away from them so that they could live peacefully. So all in all despite the annoyance of having their pictures taken both girls were AWESOME and it couldn't have been more fun!






Yesterday we went boating with some friends (don't laugh Carin!) I wish I had some pictures from this adventure but Bri would not let me lug my camera and new lens on the boat where it could get wet or tossed in the lake, which was probably wise. Some others had cameras though so I hope to raz them for the pictures to post! Anyway as I've mentioned before I did not come from a camping or outdoors type family. My parents are not that way and their parents were not that way either (well, my moms dad was a hunter and outdoors sort of guy but clearly she did not get ANY of that from his side of the family!) I knew the girls would be over the moon to be with their friends and the moms and dads that they love so despite Bri needing to get some work done we headed to the lake for the afternoon through evening and did some boating and had fun.

Eight kids and six adults is an awesome load for a boat and I must say everybody did quite well and really there weren't any major freak outs aside from myself when I braved the open waters for some tandem tubing. First up I hit the two seater tube with Lisa. She made me believe I was brave and that I could do it and because I trust her I knew she would call the whole thing off if my life became in danger!

We were laughing so hard that she let out some of her fantastic snorts that made me laugh even harder. Now because Jeremy was behind the wheel of the boat I knew at some point he was going to have to scare me and of course he did. When we started zipping across those wakes I started to get slightly nervous and at one point I was sure Lisa had flown out the tube and I had taken air and was about 30 feet up headed into the clouds....this would be because I wouldn't open my freaking eyes for fear I would actually see the carnage of myself flying off and slamming into the water. My hands were gripped on those handles so tightly that my hands and forearms and upper arms hurt so bad today I feel like I've been lifting weights!! Now of course nothing happened and Lisa was still beside me and after awhile when I could catch my breath I was ready to cut it off and be hauled in before Jeremy decided to snap me like crack the whip up onto the freeway!

It was actually really fun, aside from the fear factor when we hit the wake. I was so proud of G, she even went in the tube with Lisa and her kids and Lyssie Lou. Now G is even more fearful than I am so for me to do it and show her it was okay, and hide my overwhelming fear was a big deal. And for her to go in there for the two minutes she stayed before asking to be brought back in was HUGE. I was so proud of her! I was totally freaked out about her going out there but everyone told me not to show my fear and I knew that my friends wouldn't put her in danger.

Of course that is another story when I went out with Stacy. She was laughing so hard at my freaking out that I thought she would wet her pants!! Of course her hubby made this ride even scarier although she claims not! I had my eyes shut so tightly as we whipped around! She kept saying "aren't you going to open your eyes?!" Ummmm HELLS NO I'm not opening my eyes. When it started to get so frightening to me I could feel my heart in my throat I screamed at her to make them stop!!! Now her version is that I freaked out the minute he even gave the boat any gas but I'm SURE that there was danger involved and had I had my eyes open I could have had cold hard facts to prove my point!

I would also like to point out that EVERYONE assured me that you couldn't tip those boats no matter what and then the next two groups out, due to crazy boat drivers were flipped like there was no tomorrow! I took my job as flag girl very seriously when the bodies hit the water, G still says her favorite part was when "Stacy flew over Jeremy and hit the water!" and then Jim and Josie flew out next! I won't even go into Brians ride on the tube, except to say that rolling five times on top of the water before you hit the deck is not the way to disembark a tube!!

All in all it was really fun and Stacy made such a fantastic dip to nosh on that even if I would have ended up in traction from being thrown to the rocks from a wayward tube it would have been worth it!





While we were away in the woods I finished my book "Vanishing Acts" By Jodi Picoult. Okay I have to say that Sarah was absolutely right when she told me that Jodi Picoults books just leave you drained. After the fantastic "My Sisters Keeper" I couldn't get into another book because I felt like I needed to go back into Jodi Picoults world again, nothing else lived up to roller coaster I had just been on! And "Vanising Acts" was no different. The topic was very interesting and believable in so many ways. I loved the main characters, the fact that the three of them Delia, Eric and Fitz had grown up together and remained as The Three Musketeers their whole lives. I loved the emotions that Delia went through as she learned the truth of her real exsistance and what had happened to her in her early childhood.

Once they headed to Phoenix I felt like the book was slightly disjointed. I didn't really understand the importance of the Ruth storyline and I felt like it kept getting in the way of what was happening with the other characters. I wanted to shoo Ruth out of my way like a pesky fly! I found that whole part of the book to be filler.

Now the jail parts were CRAZY!!!! At first I found myself rolling my eyes at the intense way it was portrayed and whatnot but then I realized hmmmm this is jail and I know it isn't a picnic! It was so interesting to see the way Delias father got through that time and how he had to become what was around him to survive.

I don't know how I felt about Fitz and his feelings for Delia. I understood them definitely, and I could see why she loved Eric. The descriptions of Eric and his personality were perfect, and the flaw that he carried was also wonderfully written. Especially in light of his mothers own battles with alcohol.

Now the end....the way it all wrapped up? Gotta say I was a little like "WHAT?" I had a feeling we were leading up to Victor playing a part in the whole thing but did he or didn't he? That car ride at the end with Delia and her father left me wondering if I had just been played by the author or if it was a case of you figuring out for yourself from the evidence presented if the right decision was made?

I have often wondered how many of our memories of life are actually our memories and how much are things we have heard so many times it is easy to make them our memories?

Really good read, infuriating at times but hey I kept going to the end so that means it kept me interested.

What book will I read next? I don't know! I'm trying to find one so any suggestions I would love to hear :)