Summer Ambitions

I'm working on my list of things I want to get done over the summer. I'm trying to be very realistic and trying to include things that have been needing to be done for a very long time. So, I quickly had to remove tasks like planting a garden and refinishing my kitchen cabinets because they just weren't priority.



1. Paint my bedroom (has been pending for about 7 years)


2. Paint my bathroom(see above)


3. Get floors put down in my bedroom and bathroom.


4. Get garage cleaned out (its a total disaster)


5. Get wisdom teeth removed (pending for about 12 years)


6. Get Invisalign, or at least get started with getting Invisalign.


7. Sew myself a dress


8. Lose 10 pounds.


9. Read at least one fiction book, a book purely for fun. I never do this.


10. Camp outside with my kids.


11. Go to the beach for at least a long weekend.


12. Host a mini summer camp with the cousins.


13. Have fun with my kids!


I love this list pulled together by Crystal. We'll try and complete a few of these activities as a family this summer as well!

Inspiration

Lots of inspiration going on this weekend. I am on a mission to redecorate my house. Well, not completely, there's just too much here already that I love and can't get rid of. My mission started out with me telling the hubby that I wanted to redecorate in a cottage chic look. He looked at me like I was insane, knowing that that is totally, totally not me. But he went along with it and even humored me with looking at some pictures and ideas on the internet. As I searched the same decor caught my eye over and over, the same decor that I have loved since we got married and got our own place. I just CANNOT get enough of Tuscan style decor. I LOVE IT! I love the natural stone and wood, the plastered walls, the earthy colors, the wrought iron, the archways. It all just literally makes me giddy. Source

My dream home has always been a Tuscan villa-type home. Something like this actually:

Source

But unless we win the lottery, we won't be getting that house anytime soon. And since I don't play the lottery, there's not a good chance we will win.

So I just decided to fill my house with old world treasures, paint my walls, redo my bedroom floors (we currently have none). A lot of the colors, accessories and light fixtures that I already have go perfectly so I'm just going to be adding to what I already have. Cecil made me promise that I would buy a little at a time, 'cause he knows how I am. When I see something I love, I have to have it right then, because, you know, it's the only one like it in the whole world and I'm sure it won't be there much longer. Yep, that's me.

Okay so my other bit of inspiration came from this cute little lady at La Vie Petite. Isn't she just adorable! Anyway, she made this dress. And I love it. It's actually a skirt and top, but it looks like a dress.

I have sewn for my kids and for my home and for others. But the thought NEVER crossed my mind to sew for myself. I guess I could never see myself in a pillowcase dress so I never entertained the thought. But there are some really great patterns for women out there.

My goal for this summer is to make myself a stylish outfit that I will actually wear. Thank goodness for summer vacation.

Last night I picked up a cute dress pattern and some blue and white summery fabric that is so super classy-looking. And I can't wait to get started. I will post pics when it is done.

Have a great day everyone!

Angry Birds Cake

One thing I really enjoy doing is making and decorating cakes. But it's so time consuming for me. Plus, I make such a mess that my husband just kind of rolls his eyes when I start to make one. But when a friend asked me to make an Angry Birds cake for her son's birthday, I couldn't turn it down. We love Angry Birds in our house, so I was so excited to make it.

I made each of the birds and pigs from fondant. I used to make my own fondant but I have recently found Duff fondant and its soooo much better. I just wish it wasn't so stinkin' expensive.

I have never made a cake for anyone but my family so I had nooo idea what to charge. I stressed about it all morning before I delivered the cake. Yes, next time I will establish that little detail before I make the cake. But when I delivered it, they loved it and made the whole payment thing easy for me.

Two lessons were learned:

1. Always spend as much time as needed to ensure that the cake is perfectly level.

2. There is always a backside to the cake.

I didn't level it perfectly, which would have been fine had I not stacked the brown blocks. But when I did, it just looked completely wonky. So I had to do some reconstruction. All in all I was pleased with it and I think the family was too.