I love Jmac

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The Race Is On

What a day it will be...Cinco De Mayo and the Derby on the same day! I've always wanted to throw a party but it always sneaks up on me too fast. This year would've been good too; I could've decorated with hats, derbies, top hats, frilly hats, silly hats...sometimes I hate not being organized. I finally have a desk but since we decided to move my "home office" into the guestroom I have been shoving things in there,taking up every free inch, and now it is unuseable. Speaking of my "home office", I just found out today from my husband that my best friend and business partner may be moving away. I was going to shamelessly advertise my business on my blog, but now that I am unsure of it's future I think I ought to hold off. I hate being in limbo. Nice of her to tell me, huh? Well at least I have some fun events coming up. Incase you couldn't tell, all of the paintings I've posted are done by none other than John Gwinn, yes, the same John Gwinn who is having a show in NYC next week!!!! Please visit the website for more info.www.johngwinn.com. If any of you can make it to the opening Thursday the 3rd, I will be there. I think I am wearing my TS Dixon black and pink tunic with black pants. That reminds me I need to get a sitter!!!! OK, I am starting to lose focus now so i think I should get some sleep. Bon nuit!

Pictures

So, this is my newly acquired art. The Saratoga hangs in our garage, as it did in my Grandfathers garage forever. The abstract painting hangs horizontally over our bed. It looks fabulous.

Pics

Hair, Hair Everywhere

Please help, I need advice. I have an unbelievable amount of thick wavy long hair. Yeah, yeah, people would pay millions for what I have. I hear it all the time. But it is also crazy frizzy and I know it sounds weird but it is HOT as in it's like wearing a winter hat all the time. Since McDada only likes long hair I have grown it out and now only wear it up. It seems ok when I am at the beach, I agree it can almost look sexy. But when I am dressed for an event I can never get it to look polished. I have tried straightening irons and every product imaginable. A friend from NYC who has similar hair had that Japanese Straightening done and she looks incredible. My hair dresser says it will be too flat and my husband says I will still wear it up so what is the point. It is pretty expensive, not to mention the trip into NYC to get it done and the babysitter for the kids. It will turn into a $600 day. What do you all think? Here is another issue I almost forgot about, I have a lot of grey that will just become more prominent. Yeah, I could have it colored after the treatment but that adds another $200 at least!

To Save Or Spend?

That is the question! The moving sale was a success this weekend! Now I have a pile of money! Oh, what ever should I do???? I have to start by saying that I am trying to lose the baby weight for good! I have vowed not to buy any new clothes until I go down a size. But that doesn't include accessories...I do need me some new sunglasses! My little monkey lost mine this weekend, luckily not until Sunday. Speaking of sunglasses, oh what a glorious weekend!!!!!! My parents live on a river that because of the flooding appeared to be a lake. It was so sparkly! And sooo close. I joked that we could do swan dives off the roof. Anyway, we arrived late Thursday and of course got no work done, then Friday I tried to get some work done but my boys were running and crawling in opposite directions. Everything for the moving sale was in the basement of my parents house and needed to be brought to the garage. So many breakable items!!! Not safe for kiddos to be around not to mention the river, the stairs, and the road. So, I didn't get much done because although they tried, my parents weren't the most reliable babysitters. It was frustrating to say the least! So, I finally got some work done but never had the walk through with my parents to gather more things for the sale, ie: furniture! So, we sold a lot of china, crystal, silver and art. The ad in the paper said: Sat 9-2 no early birds! I had a couple show up Friday night! I did let them in though, I am a pushover. But i made a good sale! My husband arrived late Friday night with a truckload of furniture and stuff from our house, that pretty much all was sold. Yay, less junk to clean! I got what I wanted to, a beautiful 8' x2' abstract paintingof my Uncle's, An antique wall mural of Saratoga Springs, an antique desk and a desk chair. Those were the main things, lots of small things too. All in all a great weekend. So, I hope you all had a great weekend too!!!

Spring Summer Must Haves

OK, I am leaving shortly to go back to my parents house for the weekend. Mcdada and I are running their moving sale Saturday and Sunday. So I won't be posting until Sunday night. I thought I would leave you with some v cute items I spotted whilst surfing... The tote is Rita Wilcox, the sandals are Tori Burch, the skirt is Talbots and the earings are Tina Tang! Enjoy! Have a good weekend.

Check me out!

I am totally learning! I am so proud of myself! I added a playlist! And now it's 3am! Oh how time flies when you are having fun! I love music. All I was planning on doing was writting a few notes on how great the Monkey and the Fox are. The Fox is learning to walk and is quite a show-off. He says two words besides mama and dada, Yoohoo, and gooddog! It is pretty darn cute.

Five Words

I am following instructions from Ms Landcruiser and given five friends a homework assignment. They each must describe me in ONE word! All words are in...

Warm
Sweet
Dependable
Laid-back
Thoughtful

The other words I got were: Fabulous, Witty and Multitalented!

Thank you to my wonderful friends.
Back when I was single I used to think of myself as "32 flavors"
Now, I'm not sure. I am a good mom, a horrible wife, and a great friend. Those are just the facts.
I still have a wild side, it's just that there are so few appropriate situations in which to unleash it. Besides, after having two kids, my wild side isn't as sexy as it used to be. But I am working on it. Ok I have to go to bed, I am exhausted!

Speaking of Art...

Any art lovers out there? Anyone from the NYC area? My uncle, John Gwinn is having a show at the Caelum Gallery in Chelsea. The show starts May 1st-May 19th. The opening is May 3rd from 6-8. I can't wait!!!! Ahh, a bit of culture, a nice diversion from my current Curious George, Bob The Builder life. Check out his site, www.johngwinn.com. He is very talented. He does have some stuff that is out there, but as with all art, keep an open mind and keep looking, you may find something you love. I am lucky enough to have a couple pieces in my house.If you are a fan of horses and riding, there are some beauties.

Speaking of horses, anyone having or going to a Derby party? I was thinking of it, mostly because I love hats!!! Alright, I am starting to babble because I am sooooo tired. I'll post some pics tomorrow!

Fun

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I tag myself

Three things...

Three things that scare me
1) Anything bad happening to my kiddos
2) Losing my parents, brother and or friends
3) Sharks

Three people who make me laugh
1) Myself
2) My Monkey (my 21/2 year old)
3) My Fox (my 1 year old)

Three things I hate
1) Doghair!
2) Politics
3) Evil

Three things on my desk
1) Family pictures
2) Stationary
3) Skiing trophy

Three things I am doing right now
1) Blogging
2) Emailing
3) Whatching Tivo'd Oprah

Three things I want to do before I die
1) Run my own business
2) Waterski
3) Play with my grandchildren

Three things I can do
1) Sing kareokee SOBER
2) Parallel park
3) Write good thank you notes

Three things to listen to
1) Yourself
2) Your parents
3) Your children

Three things I'd like to learn
1) To sew
2) Photoshop
3) The secret to motivate to excersize

Three favorite foods
1) Bread pudding
2) Sushi
3) Grapefruit

Three shows I watched as a kid
1) Silver Spoons
2) Three's Company
3) Chip and Dale cartoons

Three things I regret
1) Not believing in myself more
2) Not graduating from College
3) Not financially supporting myself while I was single

Anthropology

So, I finally checked out the Anthropology site. I haven't been to the store or looked at the site for probably a couple years. They just weren't preppy enough. Well they do have a few cute things now, but when did they get so expensive??

Easter Pictures

Monkey and the red egg.
McDada and the Fox.

Weekend Wrap-Up

So, we drove to my parents house for Easter Sunday. My brother and his family were there. We had an easter egg hunt for the boys, my two and my brother's three. My boys are still a bit young, but next year will be perfect. I love easter. Mostly the egg decorating part. I say egg decorating, because I usually paint elaborate designs on my eggs. Very Martha Stewart if you ask me. I wish I had pics, but alas I don't. We did basic egg coloring here, and only five eggs, five different colors, it was Monkey's first time. I will post pics later. Anyway, it was a very short visit. Short but sweet.

Contest

I am so excited about the Crane Stationary contest. I am a letter writer. I am also a stationary fanatic! But I am also a sentimental sap, I keep every letter ever written to me. I do. Believe me, I just had to go through them all when I had to get them out of my parents house (they are moving) I can't wait to go through them all again to find the perfect one to send in for the contest. I wonder if I should use the eight page letter my now husband wrote to my parents basically asking permission to marry me. That's a good one. He asked in person too! But in his fashion, it was written on a yellow legal pad. Do you think the entry has to be on good stationary, or crane stationary? I have to go to bed now. I wish I had more time. I did get the laundry done today, but not put away. I did not paint or even get the last bag out of my car from last weekend!!! I took a very long rewarding nap today. But, ugh now I feel behind. OK, off to bed!

Update Already

Does anybody else hate it when you find a cute new designer and then they never update their site? Case in point, Stephen Stolman. I love his clothes and want to see more!!!! These items are to die for, they are also from the summer '06 collection. Anyone know if he has anything more recent???

The Mall

I went to the mall today. I had to get some new jeans.I had a credit at Lord & Taylor, so I went, it's about an hour away. So, when I gotr there I realized that I had forgotten the credit!!!! Ugh, I hate that!!!! On a lighter note, I also picked up this super cute skirt. It was on sale. I bought it in white. I want to wear lots of skirts this summer, but I really should think about skorts cause I am very active chasing around two kiddos. Anyway, now I have two very cute skirts, the other one is a red and white paisley one I got at a boutique in Florida. Anyway, I am trying to post a pic for the first time, so we'll see how it goes, bear with me.

Morning Pain

Why is it so hard to get out of the house? I guess it doesn't help that it's a cold grey day. I just finished making two mix CD's for friends, but I have lost my glue stick. I don't know if I can live without my trusty glue stick. I will check one more place-the tool box in the supply closet. Nope, not there. Ugh, now I have to go buy a new one. Maybe I will just use tape for now. Atleast it will be done and I will be able to get going. So, if you are wondering why I need a glue stick I will explain. I make a mix on Itunes, then print out the song list: plain black and white then I choose a cover. I have collected over time pictures, cards, quotes, wallpaper and wrapping paper scraps in the shape of a jewel case. Then I afix the song list to the picture and Voila, a unique custom mix CD. One of my current covers I cut out of an old Barney's catalog. It says: " picture yourself learning latin and greek from a professor named igor who's name should be adonis" Isn't that cool? Would you like to know what is on the mix too? OK
Days Like These - Janis Ian
She's Only Happy In The Sun - Ben Harper
It Feels Like Home To Me - Chantal Kreviasik
All The Ways I Want You - Bruce Cockburn
Butterfly - Corrine Bailey Rae
Never Gonna Leave Your Side - Daniel Beddingfield
Songbird - Eva Cassidy
All the Right Reasons - The Jayhawks
Fireflies - Faith Hill
All At Sea - Jaime Cullen
It Looks Like Love - Josh Rouse
I Want You - Alana Davis
Today - Joshua Radin
Thinkin' About You - Norah Jones
I Melt With You - Nouvelle Vague
Please - Ray LaMontagne
Dream Big - Ryan Shupe
Paperweight - Schuyler Fisk
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
That's it.
The other mix is better, but I have to go now, have to get out of the house.

What's In A Name?

Ever since I can remember I have been obsessed with names. I used to go through the social registar and write down all the names I liked. Girls names and boys names. I filled up notebook after notebook, list, list, list. I would do it for pet names, house names, business names, boat names. Maybe it was because when I was younger i didn't like my name. Who knows, I just love names. I have the pleasure of suggesting boys names for my best friend's unborn child. Dutch names, because she is Dutch. It's funny because both my boys ended up with Dutch names. One of which was the name of her grandfather which I didn't know at the time, and now she is thinking of using the name but is a bit dissapointed that I used it first. I totally did not steal it. I had no idea when we came up with it that it was dutch or that it happened to be the name of her grandfather. Growing up I only knew him as Opa. Who calls their grandfather by his first name? I never would have known. So anyway, I told her to still use it. I don't have a problem with that. We do live in different states. And who knows, she could have a girl. Anyway, I am only to the "p"'s in my list, so I really ought to get back to it.

Spinning Brain

Well the kiddos are supposed to be sleeping and I can hear them playing. I am back home from my weekend at my parents house. My husband, McDada is home from his trip. I feel overwhelmed. I am in the process of starting my own company, (more on that later), helping my parents move, which includes inheriting lots of stuff, (they are downsizing), and working on being a better wife, or should I say having a better marriage. So, I am home, trying to get back in the swing of things, cleaning, doing laundry up the wazoo and I have friends coming for dinner tonight!!! Plus I just got off the phone with a new client, who's job sounds a bit daunting. Now that I have written it out i am seeing that it doesn't look or sound all that overwhelming, so why am I freaking out? I guess it's also the fact that I have now taken on this responsibility of blogging, which is really just an outlet for me, but when do people find time? Hey other mothers, are you out there? when am I supposed to do this? I also forgot to mention a couple more things. One, I am painting the two front rooms in the house and two, I am moving my office from the kitchen to the guest room for more privacy, but I don't have a desk yet!!!! UGH! It's as if i go through my life on autopilot and then all of a sudden I just short circuit. So, I am thinking my posts are going to be short for a while, atleast until the painting is done. Well thanks for letting me vent. Off to continue cleaning.