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Handmade fishhook earrings, 2" dangle

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Wordless Wednesday

Happy Hollieween!

29 weeks

Cravings

Fruit, fruit juice, fruit flavored candies. fruit flavored soda... fruit anything.

Physical Symptoms

I'm feeling pretty decent these days. 

Emotions

I've been impressively stable this week!

Fashion

What am I wearing?

Tank and skirt: Target

Leggings and cardigan: Wal-Mart

Necklace: handmade by me

Boots: Super old worn out hand-me-downs from mom's closet (my favorite shoes ever!)

Baby Movement

"He's" running out of room to do his acrobatics. He's mostly just kicking and squirming.

What the Midwife Says
At the last visit: we did a blood test to check for gestational diabetes and anemia. I haven't got my results back yet, but I pretty sure everything is just fine.

Halloween Party

Here are a few shots from my Halloween party Friday. 

My husband seemed a little antsy to help with the pumpkin carving so I gave him a pumpkin to drill holes in like how I saw on Pinterest. A manly pumpkin project.

The spread from the party. Notice the green deviled eggs? I made those and they were superb  Just add blue food colors to turn your filling green.

I kind of invented the dip with the chocolate chips on top. It's so amazing. Natural chunky peanut butter,  marshmallow fluff, melted margarine and chocolate chips. Serve with pretzels or graham crackers. 

Put it in the microwave for a few seconds and you've got yourself one naughty treat.

This is Gilligan! We rescued/adopted him Friday afternoon. He was a hit at the party.

Me and the husband dressed as Axl Rose and Slash. I'm trying my best to do the sexy Slash smirk but I just look ridiculous.

dressing nifty-thrifty this Saturday {28 weeks}

Hopefully I'll be able to do more fashion posts before the baby comes. I don't have the best camera in the world so catching the right time of day to get some good shots isn't that easy. By the time I get things done around the house and get dressed to go out to run errands the sun is swiftly running away from me.

Anyways, here's my outfit from today. I'm so cheap!!

I have no idea what the camera was doing here. I fixed it the best I could.

Where was I going?:

PetSmart to buy toys for our new bunny

Target to begin registering for baby items and to do a lil' bit of clearance rack shopping

Sushi dinner date with husband

Headband:

Sash taken from a vintage dress purchased on Etsy from Blythe Hopes Vintage

Sunglasses:

Just a Dollar. They were just $1. Hee hee!

Earrings:

1-ga spirals from Ebay, $2

Necklaces:

Pink crystal - found by husband in abandoned trailer along with many other

Wire wrapped stone - bought from a merchant at my Renaissance Faire for $5!

Dress:

Ross Dress For Less, $8

Cardigan& Leggings

Wal-Mart

Purse:

Local thrift store, $1.50

Boots:

Mom's closet, still dusty from the Faire.

STOP! bunny time!

One of my husband's tenants moved out and left behind some of her belongings- including a bunny. Her roommates didn't want the him so we took him in. It looks like he's never been brushed and his nails were super nasty long. Luckily at our Halloween party last night a couple knew how to trim bunny nails so they took care of him. When he warms up to us a little more, he's going to get a good brushing and a bath to wash off his extra loose hair. He's shedding something awful!

So his previous owner thought it was a girl and simply called it Bunny, but lo and behold... Bunny's got big bunny balls!

We're struggling with coming up with a cool name for this precious fellow...

So what should we name him?? Submit suggestions below!

super easy veggie flat bread pizza

So I made a couple of these flat bread pizzas for lunch for me and the husband the other day. As I've mentioned before, I don't follow recipes, I just do what looks (and smells) the best. 

Here's what I used:

Wheat flat bread

basil pesto

generic Italian blend cheese

fresh tomato

raw mushrooms

baby spinach

In order, I spread the pesto on the flat bread then sprinkled on a thin layer of cheese- I added the veggies (the more the better!) then topped with more cheese.

I baked the pizza on 350 for no more than ten minutes. I actually kind of forgot about in the oven but managed to catch it before it started to get too crispy. In my opinion, giving it a couple of extra minutes did no harm. I was pleased with the level of crisp! 

If I ever make this again (I'm sure I will) I will put the tomatoes on top so they'll be exposed to more heat and cook a little better to enhance their flavor.

Friday Funny

28 weeks

Cravings

Pizza, super cold fruit juice.

Physical Symptoms

I'm still sleeping 11-12 hours a night. When I sleep, I sleep so hard it's almost scary. 

Emotions

The mood swings have calmed down a lot. I hope they go away completely and never come back. I HATE mood swings!!

Baby Movement

WOW! The baby is a maniac in there!!

What the Midwife Says
I'll have visits every two weeks now. The drew blood at my last visit Tuesday to check for gestational diabetes and to check on my anemia. I'll get results in a few days. Wish me luck!

no words this Wednesday

Exhausted and grumpy at the midwife's office for a checkup.

5 years of cheap awesome DIY costumes

I love to dress up in costumes. I will look for any reason to wear one. In fact, I think if I lived in New York any other open minded place I would some sort of costume or themed outfit every day. I can't do that in this East Texas town- I'd get put in a mental institution real quick. So here's some of my costumes from the past five years. Not all of them are Halloween costumes.

Renaissance Faire 2012: As the owner and director of this faire I knew I had to look good for this- really good. I scored this gown from Etsy for $150!!! The gown came with the French hood and matching purse.... for $150!!! The undershirt (Etsy) was $17 and the necklace was $1 ($1 Jewelry Store). Petticoat and boots worn under the gown were my own and I had to buy the cape from one of my vendors (Briar Patch Garb) for $65 because of the HORRIBLE drop in temperature that day. I got pregnant shortly after the I purchased the gown and the weight gain and growing bump was already taking it's toll on the dress. I cut the sleeves off the gown and that gave me so much freedom in movement. Later as the bump continued to grow, I sewed one the of sleeves into the back of the dress to let it out.

Steampunk Christmas Ball 2011: I threw a Steampunk Christmas Ball as a fundraiser for my Renaissance Faire. The only thing I bought for this costume was some decorative gears. The skirt came from a bridesmaids gown. The corset belt was from my Mrs. Lovette costume and I just added some chain to it. The vest was a jacket that was too small for me- I painted the trim gold, added some gears and lace.

Halloween 2011- I partnered with a local coffee shop and threw a giant Halloween bash/ zombie walk/ fundraiser. I dressed as Autumn. I bought a long crushed velvet skirt from Salvation Army, cut off some length and used that material to make straps for the dress. Then I covered the dress in autumn leaves picked up from various dollar stores. My makeup was AWESOME!!! Too bad this is the only photo that was taken of me. I was too busy giving "zombie makeovers" all night, I couldn't leave my little corner to pose for photos.

New Years 2011: My first Steampunk party. I wasn't even that familiar with steampunk at the time. We were invited to this party the day before. I looove a good challenge. The only thing purchased for these costumes were swim goggles (painted gold), gold paint and some chain.

The next two costumes: I lost these photos when my laptop crashed last year. Sad face.

2009 Homemade Superhero Girl

2010 Mrs Lovette from Sweeny Todd

Halloween 2008: I had just lost about 40 lbs (just diet and exercise) and I was ready to dress up as something a little more feminine and sexy. Heh, so I went as Amy Winehouse. That costume didn't cost a dime. My mom is a fan of wigs and hair pieces so I took two of her old pieces and made my own Amy wig and just scrounged up the rest of the outfit: tattered white undershirt, skinny jeans and back stilettos. I even drew on some crappy tattoos with Crayola marker.

Halloween 2008: This was my 2008 "day time" costume. I didn't feel that going as Amy Winehouse while working at Texarkana's largest and most prestigious banks was appropriate so I dressed up as a "personal" secretary. The dress was from my own vintage collection, the wig belonged to my mom and I borrowed the glasses from a friend.

Halloween 2007: I wish I could find more photos of this outfit. If you can't tell, I'm Hunter S. Thompson! The only thing purchased for this costume was the shirt and the fly swatter.

easy & delicious couscous... stuff

So I was totally craving couscous the other day... 

the things is, I've only had it twice. The first (and only) time I made it, it smelled and tasted kind of old and cardbaordy. But something in me made me want more of the stuff. So I bought some  couscous from a different store in hopes that it would taste little more fresh than last time and bought some shrimp, green onion, black olives and mushrooms to add in. I wasn't following a recipe, I just bought what sounded good.

If you want to make this delicious dish here's how I did it:

Start heating up your water for the couscous first. By the time it's reached boiling, you should be done cooking the shrimp and other goodies.

I cooked the shrimp in grape seed oil with a teaspoon of margarine for taste and seasoned it with sea salt and Mrs. Dash Mediterranean seasoning blend.

Then I added the olives, mushrooms, and green olives into the pan with the shrimp and continued cooking on a lower heat, seasoned those with a little sea salt as well. Be careful not to cook your veggies to long or they'll start to lose their natural flavors.

When the couscous was done I simply blended all the ingredients together.

I feel that there was WAY too much couscous in the dish and not enough of everything else, so next time I make it I'm going to just use half a box.

I served it with warm wheat flat bread just to give my husband some more substance for dinner. He might be a skinny guy, but MAN he requires a lot of food.

There's still some in the fridge right now. This makes a LOT of food (if you use the whole box of couscous). This dish would be great for a party or potluck because there will be plenty!

a trip to the pumpkin patch

I'm 27 years old, married and pregnant and I've never set foot in a pumpkin patch before.... until today.

Me and the husband went to a pumpkin patch today and I had a blast! The weather was perfect and the world around us sang sweet songs of autumn. The pumpkin patch wasn't really what I imagined. It was just a ton of pumpkins in front of a church. When we pulled up we actually thought about just leaving at first, but we changed our minds. Once I stepped out on the lawn covered in brilliant orange pumpkins of all sizes, I was in heaven! I LOVED being surrounded by pumpkins and seeing my husband pick out perfect little baby pumpkins. What a wonderful day!

Perfect little baby pumpkins!

the autumn dilemma

It's Saturday. And you know what that means? It's house cleaning day. I haven't cleaned the house in a couple of days and around here that's WAY too long.

I don't know who's been making a bigger mess in the house: me with my new found jewelry-making hobby or my husband... who just doesn't clean up after himself. I'm looking at a sea of bits of silver wire, sea glass, dirty dishes, random bits of clothing and shoes... all on our tiny living room floor.

Today's dilemma: should I start getting dressed and make myself look cute for my FIRST EVER trip to a pumpkin patch, then clean the house when I get home (if I feel like it)... ooooooorr..... clean the house first and then go to the pumpkin patch if I have time left over...

I like the first option.

It's autumn. It's beautiful outside. I want to celebrate. TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH!

I made some jewelry!

So I was bored and feeling pretty crafty yesterday, so I bought some jewelry making stuff from Michael's and decided to try my hand at some simple jewelry making. I've never had much of an interest in making jewelry, I just wanted to try something new. Now, I'm not a hardcore steampunk fan but I do appreciate the aesthetics and Steampunkish Victorian items were easiest to find- plus I had some gears leftover from a costume that I wanted to get rid of. Since I went wacko last night making about 25 pieces total, I decided to list  some of the pieces on Etsy at a low price just to see how they'll do.

Friday Funny