Happy Fridays

What makes me happy:  Fruit and Vegetable Edition

A menagerie of smiling faces

Friends who help in the kitchen

Fun cards from favorite sisters

Asparagus Festival 5 for $10 jackpots!

Fun stickers

Fruit sponges from an Asian dollar store (courtesy of Sommer)

More fun magnets (also from Sommer)

fruit *love*

Muppets

Vegetables singing silly songs

Yo Gabba Gabba's dramatic carrots:

"There's a Party in My Tummy - so yummy! so yummy!" 

Singing muppet food

Posing in giant size vegetable cutouts

This guy...

who doesn't fancy real fruits and vegetables unless they're puree'd. I only hope he's not getting his green veggies and fruit in this format until his 10!

Camera Straps and Artwork

A few recent projects:

Remember when I said I wanted a fun strap for my camera? Well, even though I still don't have the camera of my dreams, I decided to forge ahead and make a strap on the cheap for my current camera. Times are tough, so I'm trying to just love my little Canon Powershot for what it is. I decided not to do anything crazy. I got some wide ribbon from Michael's and hot glued the edges around my strap. (That way, if I ever get tired of it I can just cut the ribbon away without harming the original strap.) It's fun, it's polka dots, and I kind of love the simplicity of it!

 

I have some wall space in the dining room that needs a little something. I thought it would be fun to do a name letter sign. I searched each letter on flickr and printed out my favorites on my photo printer. I didn't feel like spending money on a new frame, so I found an old wooden frame we weren't using anymore, busted out my acryllic paints and turned it into a basic black frame for my project. I specifically looked for red and yellows in the letters to play off of some of the colors in my dining room. It's a little bit funky for my current decor, but I kind of like it.

Lastly, a friend's little boy is turning one next week. They're checkered vans (the shoes) kind of people, so I told her I had the perfect idea for a fun 1st birthday shirt. I bought the checkered fabric at Michael's (it was a bandana, actually) when I made a shirt for Luke's birthday invitation photo shoot last year (I ended up going with b/w polka dots for Luke's instead.) I picked up a piece of yellow felt for 20 cents and used a plain black t-shirt already owned by the birthday boy and made this fun shirt. I handstitched the letter and the lightning bolt. I'm hoping to conquer the sewing machine this summer, so little things like this will be a bit less time consuming. I can think of a few things I'd do differently next time to make it a higher quality product, but overall I was really happy with how it turned out!

Visiting the Fishies

 My wonderful aunt got us season passes to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, so we decided to take advantage of them and take a day trip as part of Justin's birthday weekend. It was a beautiful day on the coast and we had a short, but fun time visiting the fish and other sea animals. I was particularly fascinated by the giant octopus. It was huge! Special thanks to Auntie Sommer for coming along and for all the fun photos.

Family pictures tend to involve a lot of pointing these days.

*I hate that we are those parents who put their kid on a leash. I totally feel judged when we use it, but it allows him to have some controlled freedom and he definitely loves his monkey friend. (An intensely-expressioned monkey friend.)  

Justin grew some beautiful tulips in our yard this year. They're on their last legs now, but they really brightened up our yard for a few weeks.

I just love spring!

This may change my life

I'm not really into handbags. I buy (maybe) one purse a year from Target or somewhere equally inexpensive. Designer bags just aren't my thing. My requirements:  Bag must be super cute and under $25. The giant pink monstrosity mentioned in the last post came from my mother-in-law when she worked for a boutique handbag manufacturer a couple of years ago. I used to have a corresponding black one, but it ripped ages ago. (Sad day!)

That being said, when I saw someone mention the Miche Big Bag yesterday on a style blog I read, I immediately went to the website. It was being heralded as a replacement for a diaper bag, which I quit carrying a couple of months ago when I realized that the giant pink purse was a suitable substitute. As much as I love "pinkie," there is a time and a place for a giant pink patent bag. Case in point, yesterday I was wearing a tangerine cardi with a soft floral print top and linen skirt. I shiver at the sheer tackiness of this lovely ensemble paired such garish floresence! I do have an old silver purse I can bust out, but who likes changing purses day after day? (I'll choose tacky over time consuming any day!)

Behold, the purse which could possibly turn me from my anti-handbag ways!

The Miche (Mee-chee) Big Bag!

First, you buy the "base bag" (above)

Then you buy the corresponding shells. They go over the base bag and connect by magnets. A new purse look everyday without the hassle of moving items from bag to bag!

The prices are a bit out of my comfort zone - $40-$45 each for the base bag and shells, but not horribly offensive when purchased one at a time or received as gifts. :) So, dear family readers, this may be a bit tacky, but if you need good birthday present ideas (June IS less than 2 months away) - look no further! I will gratefully accept any of the above shells to go with my new bag. :)

In the Bag

 

Just for fun, I thought I'd play the "What's in My Bag" game. I realized yesterday that I had a bunch of random crap in my giant pink purse. Let's look inside:

1 diaper (clean)
Small plastic wipes case
2 tiny plastic cars
1 dinosaur
1 plush rooster (with cockadoodledooing action)
Snoopy fridge magnet note pad
Polka dot coffee cozy
Shout wipes
Camera
Apple
Rubber duck
Animal crackers (for me actually)

Baby sunglasses

Baby socks

Sesame Street disposable placemats

Pack of orange earplugs (always prepared for loud environments) :)

Bib

Conference nametag and lanyard

2 lipglosses, Mary Kay lipstick and super fun earrings

Tiny board book

Restaurant crayons

Goldfish cracker crumbs

No pens

I'm sure I'm not the only one out there. What random things are in your bag?

Someday He'll Hate Me For This...

A friend's daughter wanted Luke to wear a purple tutu and I allowed it. It's the closest thing I'm going to get to tulle for awhile. Ha ha. He reminded me of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 1.

"I'm Mrs. Nesbitt!"

(Bonus points if you understand random Pixar references.)

Justin was not pleased when he discovered these on the camera.

Friendly Neighborhood Superhero

It was a beautiful spring evening and Luke had a late nap, so we thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to frolic in the backyard.

Of course, every super hero needs a cape of some sort.

Even the terry cloth variety.

 

Mini mud puddles are all kinds of fun.

Simple moments like these bring me so much joy!

Shine

Over a year ago I started thinking about my "One Word." The University where I work developed a student project a few years ago called the "One Word Project." Students are asked to pick one word that best describes their ideal self. The students choose their word and write a brief explanation about their choice. Student photographers then take a black and white photo of the student depicting their word. (Check 'em out at the link above - they're really cool!) As staff members and alumni, we've been asked to think about what we would choose as our word. I've never really shared my word with anyone because I was a little embarrassed to be so transparent. After Wednesday's  post, I decided it was time to share my word and start living it.

My word is Shine.

If you read the last post, you'll remember I talked about how much I love the "shine like stars" reference in the Bible. This word encompasses everything I would like to see in my ideal self. Not in a Rachel Berry gold star chart, uber-success achieving kind of way, but in bring light to the world and make people smile kind of way. :)

The other day I was reading random blogs (some things just can't be helped) and I came across a woman who has a similar philosophy that she is taking to the next level. She has created "The Shine Project." Every week there are different challenges to help you bring light to the world.  Things like, give a compliment a day or love your neighbors. It's kind of awesome. She describes this idea of "shining" much more eloquently than I ever could on her blog. She also created a "Shine" necklace and $1 from each sale will go into a scholarship fund for inner city kids. I think I know what I want for Mother's Day (hint hint).

Do you have a "one word" you'd like to share? If you don't, something to think about!

Happy Friday! Let your light shine today.

Pursuing Joy

There's been a lot of talk about happiness in our house lately. Where does it come from? Do we have it? Why or why not?

Out of this discussion, and some research on Justin's part (for another endeavor), we've discovered that there's a big difference between "happiness" and "joy." We are hardwired to seek after things that bring happiness. The world encourages this behavior and I think our instincts crave it. The problem with "happiness" is that it is a temporary emotion, fleeting. Sure, there is a part of our genetic makeup that leads us to be either be a generally happy or unhappy person, but a lot of our day to day mood is based on circumstances beyond our control or the choices we make to bring us happiness. According to Justin's research, significant events in our life can give us a big jolt of happiness (or conversely, sadness), but over time we will always even out to our normal emotional state.

This helped me realize why I haven't felt "happy" lately.  After Luke was born I was over the moon, riding high on a major dose of happiness. After that high wore off, I've been looking for ways to get back to that place of incandescent happiness. It's not that I walk around with a sad face or negativity in my heart, I just haven't had that happiness high for a long time and I haven't been able to explain why.

I base a lot of my "happiness" on other people. I seek approval and validation from others to make me feel good (happy). I don't like this reality, but it's true. As a kid and a college student, I was lucky enough to get a ton of validation from my parents and my teachers. Every test, every paper, every "success" was a little boost of happiness. Same thing as a young professional. There weren't a lot of twenty-somethings excelling in their careers, so I always felt validated in my work and my community involvement. Now all of a sudden, I'm in my 30's, with a good job, but now there are new 20-somethings that are zooming past me into big "important" jobs that I wouldn't even dream of chasing because of my changing priorities. My big happiness doses - marriage, new careers, babies, are few and far between these days. The validation and approval doesn't come at every turn like it once did. For the first time in my life I feel average. I see other people who are exceling at things like blogging, photography, crafting, cooking, working out, home schooling their kids, advancing in their careers, writing books, or otherwise making big life accomplishments and I feel like that part of my life has passed me by. Being pulled in multiple directions as a working mom and a wife have left me feeling pretty mediocre; not really excelling at any one specific thing.  I miss the kudos. I miss the praise. I miss the euphoria of being recognized as really good at something.

Then we had the "happiness" discussion. I realized that I have been missing those little jolts of validation and approval that brought happiness, albeit temporary. We haven't had any new jobs or major life changes to bring us those happiness highs lately. Our financial situation, while better than some, still doesn't afford us many luxuries (a bi-montly house cleaner and semi-regular appointments to the salon would be at the top of my list). We're underwater on our mortgage, like most of the nation, with credit card debt to boot. Still, I feel really blessed and fortunate for all of the really great stuff in our life. Family, friends, a husband who loves and supports me (even in my ugly and hurtful moments), jobs that haven't been furloughed, the ability to pay our ridiculous mortgage and still go out to dinner and take trips to visit Jeff in SoCal. And with all that going for me, what's not to be blissfully happy about? What is wrong with me? These questions have plagued me for weeks.

This weekend we finally figured it out. In the Bible, Jesus doesn't say much about happiness. He does however, talk a lot about joy. Joy. Oh  how I love the word joy. I constantly pray that Luke will have a joyful spirit and that he will bring joy to others. How could I have forgotten that so easily in my own life? For the past 10 years or so, my favorite verse has been Philippians 2:2 where Paul tells the church to "shine like stars" and to be a light in a crooked and depraved generation. I've never been big on evangelizing, but I've always hoped that the light and the hope of Jesus would shine through me. It used to, I think. But, somehow the everyday trials of life have dimmed it and I'm pretty sure it hasn't been very bright for a long time. I've been asking myself and God how to get it back for a few weeks now.

Then we started talking about joy and I realized that I have been wasting so much time these last few months chasing happiness that I forgot about the joy. No, I'm not all of a sudden ridiculously happy or anything, but the joy is there. It's still buried under some crap and feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, but it's there. Like a little green bud popping through the surface reminding me that spring (both literally and figuratively) is here and that life is ultimately good. It also serves as a reminder to stop chasing temporary happiness in 5-minute caffeine highs or in approving blog or facebook comments and to do things and make decisions that will bring lasting joy. Excelling at my job for the 8 hours a day that I am there. Taking trips and making memories with my 1-year-old. Appreciating the time I get to spend with my family. Being a good friend. Finally finishing those photo books of Luke that I can enjoy forever rather than wasting time reading a bunch of blogs of people I don't know. Embracing my life as it is now and participating in things that will bring lasting joy rather than striving for the little things that will bring temporary happiness.   

What can you do that will bring lasting joy to your life today?

Too Much Talk

That's the way I feel about blogging about losing weight. Remember when I said I would post every Friday about my weight loss accomplishments? Well, this whole weekly update thing feels counterproductive and like too much talk. So, forget it. I'm going to quit talking about it and get back to you in 10 weeks to let you know how I've fared in reaching my June goal.

In the meantime, I'll focus on my blogging strengths - cute pictures of my kid, family updates and the occasional musings on life (which may not really be a strong point, but I'm going to do it anyway).

Retail Therapy

I've been feeling really down the last few months. I have no good reason for feeling this way. Life is generally good and, for the most part, I feel extremely blessed in my life. Despite all these blessings, I've just felt a little "off" for a few months. That feeling of "off-ness" came to a head this morning. A blah meeting at work mixed with gray skies and flooded streets left me in need of a pick me up. I decided that I hadn't had a good retail therapy session in quite awhile (months!) so, armed with a 30% off coupon and my favorite co-worker, I braved the elements for a trip to Old Navy on my lunch hour. Once inside, I was overcome by the bright spring colors and the sale prices and got a little bit carried away in the heat of my endorphin-filled shopping frenzy. Here are a couple of my poorly thought out purchases. Which I am convinced may just turn out to be the absolute best kind of purchases.

It's a shame that winter decided to roll back into California, because all my spring-y purchases will have to wait.

What's your cure for the blahs?