‘Etsy’ Articles at Sweetnicks, Page 2

Weight Loss: Loving Your Closet Again

December 6, 2010 · Narrative

Back in my early 20s, I loved getting dressed every day for work. Not only a different outfit every day, but even a different hairstyle. Sometimes up or with a barrette or curled. I enjoyed it all. But then I got engaged, got married, had kids, and gained weight through it all. Playing in my closet became way less fun. The color black started to invade my wardrobe. I defended it (and still do, because I happen to like wearing black no matter my weight) as classic, but truth be told, I had just lost interest in the fun of getting dressed and black was easy.

Quite honestly, when you’re overweight, you’re quickly relegated to shopping in just a handful of stores. Stores that are devoid of the latest fashions or trends, adding insult to injury. How could I be interested in fashion?

And now? Some fifty pounds lost? It has seriously become a joy again. I have discovered J. Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch and even Lauren Conrad’s line of clothes. More importantly, black is no longer the focus in my closet. There is color, and lots of it, although I do still frequently break out the black, it’s now more often paired with a light purple, pink or some other fun color of the rainbow spectrum, not black on black on black.

I couldn’t even fit into J. Crew clothes before, now I’m a medium. A Lauren Conrad sweater I bought a few weeks ago was actually a small. It doesn’t cease to thrill me on a daily basis. The time when it took me forever to get dressed because I felt like I had nothing to wear, and nothing looked good, is gone. Unfortunately it has been replaced with the fact that it now takes me forever to get dressed because I have choices … and now I just have a hard time choosing. ‘Tis a good problem to have. This is the first year in I don’t know how long that I actually bought an outfit to wear for Christmas, right down to accessories.

The weight I have dropped this year has brought me happiness in so many different and unexpected areas, and having choices when I get dressed in the morning is a big one. It frustrates me a little to know that this was, of course, well within my reach the whole time, but I didn’t do anything about it. I just wasn’t ready to make the leap, and I missed out because of that. I hadn’t had that “magic moment” when I finally motivated myself properly enough to turn the corner and fix me.

Onward and upward, folks, onward and upward.

Project 365
December 6, 2010, Photo #247
It was about the time that Madeline was starting to rifle through the doctor’s drawers, both she and Nick started kicking each other and the yells of “You’re a weirdo.” “No, YOU’RE a weirdo!” escalated that the doctor finally came into the office to rescue me.

P.S. Last year, I watched as a number of my favorite bloggers raised money to build wells for clean water in Africa. This year, I joined in. A call went out for interested bloggers and crafters to donate items to an Etsy shop, and the shop opened up today. 100% of the proceeds are going to build wells in Africa. Last year, enough money was raised for two wells. What will this year’s efforts bring? I donated three prints from my own Etsy shop, and as of this afternoon, was thrilled to see one of them has sold already. The Water4Christmas Etsy shop just might be the perfect spot to get something for that hard to shop for person on your gift-buying list.

Summer Bucket List: Sonic

July 22, 2010 · Narrative

Tonight was a night the kids won’t soon forget. Remember what I said about balance last night? Yeah, we’ve got that covered. Late afternoon plans today led to a late unplanned dinner and a plea for cheese fries from Sonic. We have now managed to cross Sonic off our Summer Bucket List … twice. Once while down the shore a few weeks ago, and again tonight.

Usually we go through the drive-thru, but tonight the kids wanted to eat there. We placed our order at the little kiosk thing and within minutes a roller-skating waitress popped up at our car window with our order. The kids loved it. And then, a few minutes later, another car hop came by offering condiments, napkins and such. Excellent service.

About twenty minutes and many slushies later, we readied ourselves to leave. I turned the key in the ignition. Nothing. Deader than dead. Wonderful. Or as my Facebook status said, “classic.” A call to AAA got me in the service queue with a tow truck and jump promised within an hour. Luckily the customer service agent heard the kids in the background and asked if I wanted her to rush the service as best she could. Yes, please!

Fifteen minutes later, the tow truck arrived. Or I should say, the first tow truck arrived. He spent so much time trying to start my car, his truck ended up overheating and he now needed a tow. I was seriously looking around for Allen Funk and his Candid Camera crew. In the meantime, I got to see the pictures of the tow truck drivers’ teething daughter. All was not lost.

To say we were creating a bit of a scene in Sonic’s parking lot would be an understatement. A woman nearby complained about the tow trucks being in the way. Seriously? Because if there was another option, we wouldn’t have chosen it? I chose very kid-friendly language and politely told her what I thought.

Two and a half hours later from when we first pulled into the lot, two trucks later, many slushies later, and two very hot, very tired and on their way to cranky kids later, they finally got my car started and I yelled many thank yous out the window as we made our way to drop it off at the mechanics for an early morning surprise for him. There are certainly way worse places the battery of my car could have chosen to konk out, so we’re going to go with the “thankful for small favors” route. That, and that there was an easily accessible and clean bathroom for my two-year-old. We don’t need much.

Before I leave you for the weekend, just a quick programming note. You may have noticed a new little ad in the sidebar. I opened up an Etsy shop a few weeks ago and started stocking it with some of my photos. If you’ve seen a picture here on Sweetnicks that you would love to have for your very own, now you can. Just click on the picture below (or the ad in the sidebar at any time), and you can purchase a print. New photos added weekly.

Project 365
July 22, 2010, Photo #132

This is one of those line entry items you’ll see when I do the July Recipe Round-Up at the end of the month. It will say “Black Bean and Brown Rice Cakes. Not repeatable.” Easy enough to make, healthy ingredients, promise, but not good. Thick, pasty and a whole lot of nothing.

Recipe: Fat-Free Refried Beans

June 2, 2010 · Narrative

Out of all the things I could miss about being married, you wouldn’t think The Ex’s cooking would be on the list. But it is. Of course it’s not the tippy-top thing, but he had a few core dishes that I definitely have a hankering for every now and then. A wonderful yellow rice with green olives that he usually made with roast chicken. I craved that a lot, particularly the olives, when I was pregnant with Madeline. Cuban black beans. The kids adore his black beans over white rice. And when I was in the mood for it, picadillo. And now? I got nothing. I think I can work out a trade though. The yellow rice for a batch of his favorite mini cheesecakes. What can I say? Food is still a universal language, even through the twists and turns of relationships that end in divorce.

When I spied a recipe for black beans in a recent issue of Delish’s Easy Low-Cal Meals, I tore it out, knowing that even though it wasn’t The Ex’s version, the kids would eat it up. It’s a crazy simple recipe, and while it isn’t identical (I have a few recipes that are a bit closer), it was close enough for a trial run. I added cumin to it (force of habit since The Ex always did and most recipes call for it) and skipped the liquid smoke (mostly because I could swear I had some, but it seems to have disappeared). I would do less onion next time because it saves Nick painstakingly picking them out of his portion. And am personally not a fan of recipes that call for 1-1/3 cups of black beans, because that’s one full can and a little bit. Seriously, why can’t they alter the recipes’ yield so that it calls for either one full can or two? The little bits leftover, by the way, would be great in a quesadilla with melted cheese and some chicken. But aside from all that, I would make the recipe again, and it was perfect alongside some tri-tip steak and roasted asparagus. I might have eaten the whole bunch of asparagus myself. Once I start, it’s so very hard to stop. Good thing it’s uber-healthy.

Project 365
June 2, 2010, Photo #104

The hunt for rerows has been challenging at best. After checking a ridiculous amount of stores, I headed off to look for transfers or patches that I could put on plain shirts. We went to Michael’s, Wal-Mart, and A.C. Moore. Would you believe none of them sell rainbow appliques? Craziness. I swear I’m going to start making rainbow shirts and stock an Etsy shop.

The current issue of Parents magazine has a rainbow bathing suit featured on the cover, and I found that it is sold at Gymboree. After a visit to the store, they, of course, don’t have it, but they did have it in shirt form instead. While it’s not a *true* rainbow given the colors shown, it was close enough that Madeline would wear it. My mom has had some success recently at Kohls and TJ Maxx, finding her two pairs of pajamas and a short set, and in the meantime, I have bought a bunch of fabric and am going to attempt to make my own rainbow shirt. If I’m successful, you can bet I’ll let you know when the Etsy shop launches! Until then, the search continues.

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Bribery and Etsy

October 27, 2009 · Narrative

I never noticed her cheekbones until these pictures. Now they just melt me every time I look at them. I’ve been trying to grow out Madeline‘s bangs lately, to see if that helps tame her wild locks just a bit. All that is fine and good, but she hates barrettes. Well, she actually doesn’t hate them, she just refuses to wear them.

When I put them in, I usually try and distract her so she forgets that they’re there.

Sometimes a bribe works.

Once she realizes she has something in her hair (even a handband or a ponytail holder yields the same results), she pulls it out and hands it to me. Uh oh, the jig is up.

My Dad always asks, “Can’t you put a barrette or something in her hair?” Um, yeah, tried that. Hair Accessory: FAIL. She looks so cute with them in, banishing the street urchin look completely, that I’m hoping this is just a phase that she outgrows. A couple people have told me that their daughters did the same thing, but eventually turned the corner. Here’s hoping….