Cooper

My husband Eric volunteers with the local Sheriff's department doing radio support. He really wants to volunteer with Search & Rescue, so when the opportunity to adopt a Hound/Lab mix came along we thought it sounded like the perfect dog!

Unfortunately, Eric doesn't have a whole lot of spare time so instead of a working dog for him we got a pet for me. 

This is Cooper. Eric named him after the font Cooper Black. (If I had my way he'd be named Sirius.) 

He's a super sweet dog, but he's also a pain in the butt. Let me tell you all about him. 

First of all, we had to kennel train him. He is a chewer. He also gets separation anxiety. Even with the kennel, we can't even leave the room without him getting upset. When it's bed time I either have to kennel them right as I'm going to bed or put one of the kids in my bed or he will freak out. 

He's very vocal. That's the hound in him. He knows when it's time to get up and he will whine until we let him out of the kennel. There is no such thing as sleeping in. If somebody gets up and lets him out then I can grab a few more hours, otherwise I'm up at 6:00 every morning. Oh, and he doesn't understand Daylight Savings Time. It takes him a few weeks every fall to adjust. Not fun for me. 

Did I mention he's a chewer? Oh yeah. Anything left down is fair game. He rips apart normal dog toys. Even ones made for "Power Chewers". The only thing we found that he can't completely destroy is deer antlers. They're pricey, but worth it. We have a hard time keeping him out of the garbage. If he isn't right next to me then it's a good bet he's gotten something out of the trash and he's hiding somewhere trying to eat it. 

He has an affinity for rocks. I can't even begin to understand this one. Every once in a while he'll come in from outside carrying a rock about the size of my fist. 

This is one of his smaller ones.

He'll just carry it around the house. Sometimes he brings it to me. When I'm knitting he'll try and bury it in my lap. Usually he curls up next to it. Eric hates it, but I actually like when he's rock obsessed. It keeps him from getting into other kinds of mischief. When he's got a rock in his mouth it means he isn't eating something else! Oddly, he doesn't chew on the rocks. Thankfully! I don't know we could afford to deal with broken teeth.

Lately we've been having a problem with Cooper's ears. He shakes his head so hard that the tips of his ears split and bleed. I keep finding blood splatters all over the walls. Dexter would have a field day analyzing this place. (We've taken him to the vet and there isn't much we can do about it.) 

We clean his ears, then bandage them. Unfortunately the bandages don't stay on their own. Either he shakes them off or sits down and scratches them off. We have to lay his ears down and wrap them against his head. 

First we started with an elastic bandage, but he would rub his head against the floor until it scooted down his head far enough to let his ears out. Now we use athletic tape. 

I feel so bad for him, but it's the only way to get his ears to heal! 

He's a major pain, but he's also great to have around. He's a world class cuddler. If I let him, he sleeps right on top of me. If not on top, then as close as he can get. 

This was a day when Joey was home sick from school. 

He's great with the kids. He'll fetch a ball until I'm scared he's getting heat exhaustion. When we take him to the dog park he becomes a dog possessed. All we have to do is turn the corner heading towards the dog park and he starts going nuts. We have to muzzle him when we're in the car. He just gets so excited!

Basically that sums him up. He's just so excited. All the time! 

Pubbies!!

No really. I do. All the time. I frequently interrupt myself to point out a dog. I have been known to pull my car over just so I can stop some poor, innocent person who is out walking their dog.

The last dog I pulled over to meet was an adorable gray poodle named Velvet Blue. She is a certified therapy dog, so I guess she's used to crazy people. She was a doll and put up with my baby talk and cooing with great poise.

Yes, I am one of those people. I remember the name of a person's dog and forget the name of that person. I have friends on Facebook who I only know because I fell in love with their dog. I started a Facebook group for the local dog park. I make playdates for my dogs with strangers. I go to PetSmart or Petco with the flimsiest excuses just in the hopes that I might meet more dogs.

I have a few breeds that I love more than others, but that just means I'm more likely to gush over that dog and spend more time asking questions to the owner. If it's remotely canine and on a leash I will ask to pet it. (Of course I always ask first. I have no problem standing back and baby talking to a dog that the owner doesn't want petted.)



Note: The art for this post came from the tumblr Nation of Amanda. This is the link for her store. 

Northern Utah Fashion Expo

Saturday I had the opportunity to volunteer at a local event here in my amazing town.

A friend of mine, Stephanie, joined up with some other amazing people and put together the very first Northern Utah Fashion Expo. It was a showcase for local fashion and accessory designers, complete with live music and three fashion shows.

I was asked to be the person who welcomed people to the event and handed out swag bags to the first 100 people who came. It was a job I'm made for. I got to chat with a bunch of people, and met lots of new faces. I had a blast!!

I only spent two and a half hours there, the expo went from noon to 8:00 pm. I only stayed for the first part, then came home and crashed. I'm such a lightweight!

Sunday I had a terrible shock. I went to Pinterest, like I do eight or nine times a day... Only this time my home page looked like I'd just signed up! None of the boards I usually follow were there and there was a prompt to start setting things up! I went to "My Boards and Pins" and all my "Followers" and "Following"s were gone! I was freaking out!! I restarted my computer, tried logging out and logging back in, nothing helped!! I shot an email off to the help department and then tried to think about other things.

Thankfully, when I got up this morning I had an email from Pinterest. They suggested clearing my browser and cookies. I did it and like a miracle, it worked! WHEW!!

I would have been upset to lose all my followers, I get a real self-esteem boost every time I get a new one, but I was really upset about losing all the boards I follow. There is no way I would be able to remember all 800 of them! I follow some really great boards and would be devastated to never see them again.

Even that I could live with as long as my pins and boards are still there. It's a bonus to me that people follow me, the most important thing is that I use Pinterest. I use it to organize my recipes, crafts, sewing patterns, shopping lists, so much! I have basically stopped using browser bookmarks. I'm a visual person, so Pinterest is exactly what I need. If I lost my pins I would be completely lost!!

(For the sake of honesty I will say that I do have one board that I curate only for my followers, Long Hair Style Ideas. I started it when I still had long hair and considered not posting to it any more, but I have a bunch of followers so when I find something cute I just go ahead and pin it.)  

Nails

Hi.

My name is Heather and I have an addiction.

I am obsessed with nail polish.

I've always liked my hands, and I consider them by far my best feature. They're small and dainty, but my fingers are nice and slim. Usually though, I just leave my nails bare or paint them clear. If I was feeling particularly sassy I might go for a light pink or off white. My nails are kind of soft and polish chips really easily. Chipped nail polish is one of my pet peeves, so I stuck with things that don't show chips easily.

Now that has all changed.

It started with my darling friend Kristin raving about Nail Thins on her Facebook page. I'd seen them on Etsy and even had some saved in my favorites, but wasn't sure about actually buying them. Once I got the endorsement from Kristin (my make-up guru) I just knew I had to try them.

Nail Thins are these little decals that go over your nail polish and come in about a kagillion different designs. I was immediately sucked in with the Harry Potter set. I mean, come on... I had to have those. They are super easy to use, and they look amazing.

Remember how I said my hands are small and dainty? Well, freakishly tiny would also be accurate. The Nail Thins I got were too big for all but my thumbs. (Insert sad face here.) This is not where the story ends though, no way. I messaged Jenny, the Nail Thins lady and mentioned that I thought it would be cool if she offered smaller sizes for little girls and people like me. Not only did she agree that it was a good idea, she also sent me smaller replacements FOR FREE!! Seriously, you guys need to go get some of these.

Anywhoo... The nail thins look cool on their own but they really "pop" when they're applied over polish. The Harry Potter decals got me thinking, and I thought it would be super cool to get blue and bronze so I could have Ravenclaw nails. (Because Pottermore put me in Ravenclaw and we all know that Pottermore is the authority on such things.) One thing led to another and I found myself collecting enough shades to have all the Hogwarts houses. I don't have a picture of my first attempt, because it was such a complete disaster, but I am undaunted and will try again!

The next step to my complete addiction came in the form of more peer pressure. My friend Bethany (who I met through Kristin!) posted on her Facebook about a site called Ipsy.

Ipsy is a really cool subscription beauty service. You fill out a profile on their site, and for $10 a month they will send you a cute little make-up bag with 4-5 different beauty products. I'm going to dedicate a whole blog post to them in the future, so stay tuned for that. The part that's relevant to this post is that in my first bag I got a bottle of purple polish, Odette by Zoya. It's completely unlike something I'd normally buy, but it looked really good with my skin tone. One more step on the road to addiction.

I also invested in some decent base coat and top coat. They definitely add to how long it takes to do my nails, but my manicure now lasts at least a week. When I was just using two coats of polish I'd be lucky if I got two days! Spending time doing my nails doesn't seem like such a waste when I can get it to last so much longer! Plus, having so many coats of polish on my nails makes them stronger. I have far fewer rips and breaks. Such a nice bonus!

Add in all the cute nail ideas I've been finding on Pinterest and you end up with a full blown obsession. I've been to Ulta more times than I'd like to admit, and my polish collection has grown to alarming proportions. I've been having a lot of fun coming up with new polish combinations! I plan to post new pictures when I'm particularly proud of my creations, consider yourself warned. My addiction has also affected my children. Today I forced Betty to sit and let me do her nails! Is there rehab for cosmetic addictions? (I'm actually updating this while she's drying between coats. If her nails turn out cute I'll try and get a picture.)

Even Joey is getting in on the action. He wanted blue nails, so he got blue nails. For the record, I didn't force this on him. He practically begged me to paint his nails while I was doing mine.

This is what my nails look like today. I started with one coat of OPI Natural Nail Strengthener as a base coat. I then did two coats of Essence Color & Go in 146 That's What I Mint! (It might look blue in the picture, but it's actually pale green.)

When that finally dried I did two coats of OPI Let's Do Anything We Want! (Muppets Collection! Woo! Love those Muppets!) This particular glitter polish was rather hard to deal with. There are large white pieces that want to settle to the bottom of the bottle. I had to shake up the bottle between every nail. You can see those white chunks best on my pointer finger in the picture.

The Cardinal Rule of glitter polish is that you want to dab on the first layer of glitter. If you brush it on like regular polish you won't get an even distribution of glitter. So, that's what I did. Once the first, incredibly thick layer was dry I added another layer.

This all took hours. Letting things dry between coats is a total pain, but at least smudges don't show with glitter polish! My normal M.O. is to surf Pinterest while I'm letting coats dry. Thank goodness I can still work my mouse with wet nails!! I waited until the next day to add two layers of OPI Top Coat.

I really like the mint green and pink sparkle. It's got a cheerful, Sprintime-y look that I'm kind of craving right now.

31 Days of Halloween

An amazing local artist that I am acquainted with started a fun project called 31 Days of Halloween. He's given us a list for the whole month and every day is a new idea to create art around.

October 1st is Haunted House. Here's my version.

Pen and ink, wax crayon, and watercolor on paper. (I colored the whole sky blue, but obviously I didn't push hard enough on the crayon.)

Forehead

I did something stupid on Tuesday.

A few months ago I bought a facial cleansing brush at the dollar store. This in itself was a stupid idea, but I took it even further.

On Tuesday I used the thing. In the shower, on my face.

It felt nice. I was really gentle, and used circular motions, all the things you're supposed to do.

Apparently I missed some fine print somewhere on the package. This was not a facial cleansing brush. Not unless the face you're cleansing is on an outdoor statue!

It turned my forehead into ground beef!!

I got out of the shower and a minute later my forehead felt like I'd gotten a sunburn. I looked in the mirror and saw a huge red welt and a couple of small shiny patches. The kind you get when you skin your knee. I had taken layers and layers off my skin!!

I put some cocoa butter lotion on it, just to get a little relief from the stinging, burning pain and hoped that I wouldn't scab over my entire forehead.

The past four days it's felt like I'm getting over a nasty sunburn, and I hadn't washed my forehead. I wanted to give it time to heal before I put anything else on it!

Today, I washed my face. I took a picture of the result with my webcam. It's pretty gross, so if you want to see grody peeling skin you can go to this Photobucket link:

http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz136/TooFewShoes/Forehead1.jpg

Face Rules:

Rule #1: Never Buy Facial Products From Dollar Stores.

Rule #2: Do Not Use Facial Products From Dollar Stores.

If you ignore these rules you will suffer greatly. I am proof. 

Back To School

I have been super busy getting all three kids ready for school. My youngest has started Afternoon Kindergarten this year. Since my kids go to a charter school 20 minutes away, I spend two hours a day just driving.

Joey eats lunch at home still, but this year Betty and Joshua are eating lunches brought from home. Last year the school lunches just weren't big enough for them. For Betty it was because the gluten free offerings were just kind of pathetic, and for Josh it was because he heats like a grown man. So I've been stressing over what to pack them for lunch. So far they've loved everything I've sent, so I think I'm doing okay.

I've been running around like crazy for the last two weeks, and it's definitely catching up with me. Yesterday I was running a fever, and I'm not feeling too much better today. I went to bed early last night, and the fever is gone now. Hopefully I was just a little worn out and not actually coming down with something. I'll try to rest up this weekend and see if I can't feel better to tackle the second week of school starting on Monday.

Favorites Friday: Tiaras

There aren't a lot of truly elaborate things I really love. I tend to like simple things, basics, clean lines.

Even in my jewelry, I like things to be simple. I'd much rather have a pair of pearl studs over a pair of glittery chandelier earrings. A simple silver I.D. bracelet over a diamond tennis bracelet, or going completely unadorned to being garish.

Glitter doesn't rule my life. Normally I prefer a soft sheen.

Unless we're talking about tiaras!

A tiara is basically as elaborate as it gets. It is the polar opposite of everyday wear. It takes a seriously special occasion to break out a tiara, and they're seriously pricey, so they're also very rare.

Opulent, over the top, and completely unnecessary, there is a special place in my heart for tiaras.

This week I've found a bunch on Etsy for my Favorites Friday. Maybe in the future I'll do a post on my favorite royal tiaras, but for now here's ones you could actually own yourself. Watch out though, these are mostly quite expensive. Don't fall in love only to be heartbroken by the price!

I'm starting with my absolute favorite. I cannot tell you how much I wish I'd found this when I was shopping for my wedding. This tiara is absolutely my idea of perfection.

Silver and Pearls Princess Tiara by KeshiJewelry $360

Isn't it gorgeous!?!!

Okay, now that I've wiped the drool off my keyboard, here are the rest of my favorites. In no particular order.

Victorian Look Rose Cut Diamond and Pearl Tiara by TraditionalJewels $1,349.11

Drusilla Tiara by AncaPeelma $640

Queen's Rose Cut Diamond and Pearl Tiara by Suratcarat $699

Crystal Circle Tiara by MadisonLaneBridal $25

Art Nouveau Zarina Tiara by Castens $1,360

Diamante Bridal Tiara by HelenCurtisTiaras $83.03

Pearl Sterling Tiara by gurlygirl $620

Extraordinary Rhinestone Tiara by yesteryearglam $68

Frederika Gold Tiara by OliviaHeadpieces $76.47

Craftiness

I haven't forgotten about my blog! I haven't been lost, I've been busy!

Okay, I admit that last week I wasn't feeling very well so I went light on the posting. I was a little lazy.

I relaxing on the couch, trying to feel better, binge watching Netflix, and playing on the internet. Mostly Pinterest... as usual...

Then I came across a thread on Craftster. All about Harry Potter.

If you've been paying attention you'll know that I love Harry Potter. I have read all the books over and over, I've literally lost count of how many times. I've seen all the movies; first in the theater, then at home on DVD. I'm on Pottermore, proudly sorted in to Ravenclaw. I read the fan fiction. I named my cat Molly because my husband wouldn't go for Minerva. My kids and I all have wands. I've finished all the levels on Lego Harry Potter, all the years. I even won a trivia contest once.

I love Harry Potter.

So when I came across this thread on Craftster I got excited. Really excited.

It's all of my favorite things. The internet. Crafting. Harry Potter.

Photo taken from pinkleo and the Harry Potter Craftalong on Craftster

Basically it's Hogwarts. There are all the classes, each giving me an inspiration for crafting. Alchemy is all about peacocks. (You know how I feel about those!) Astronomy is focused on the Summer Night Sky. Care of Magical Creatures is about the Jobberknoll, so the craft needs to be blue or feathered. They go on like that.

Seriously cool! The wheels in my head are totally spinning. I have so many ideas!!

When you've finished a "class" you earn a badge and points for your house. I am way, way too excited about those badges.

I only have a month before this "semester" ends, then a new one will start with new inspirations.

I started two different projects over the weekend. This post is long enough for today, so I'll go into more details later. I'm really excited though, so stay tuned for more fun!

Favorites Friday: Harry Potter!!

There are not enough words to express my love for Harry Potter. I adore those books. I want to live in that world.

I'm a total geek. Midnight launches for books, opening weekend for movies. I have my own wand.

Thanks to Pottermore I know that I am a Ravenclaw, "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure!"

Betty was just sorted, and she's a Ravenclaw too. I could not be more proud. Joshua was sorted a while ago and he's a Slytherin. Not really surprising, he's really competitive. I even forced Eric to be sorted, he's a Hufflepuff! When Joey starts reading I'll get him sorted too. If he's a Gryffindor we'll have one of each house in the family!

Wednesday happened to be Harry's Birthday. Jo Rowling's too. Neville's was on Tuesday.

Like I said, I'm a total geek!

In honor of Harry Potter and the amazing world that Jo Rowling created, this week's Favorites Friday is all about Harry Potter Wizarding!

(I apologize in advance if these are a little heavy on the Ravenclaw, most come in the other houses too. I think you can see why I'd be a little biased! I also kind of have a thing for Ron...)

Don't Let the Muggles Get You Down Mug by AfternoonCoffee $18.70 

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans Bracelet by SammysBeadworks $27

Hogwarts Crest Necklace by wordsandwonders $23.99

Deathly Hallows Bracelet by piperandrory $5

Lumos Font Address Sign by AtlasSignsAndPlaques $196

Bookmark Buddy by bethydesigns $3.11

Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem Inspired Necklace by MyVintageVanity $65

Custom Wizard Charm or Figure by HunniBadger $1.50

Painted Ron Magnet by recTangles11 $7

Nimbus 2000 Custom Car Emblem by Empira $15

Hogwarts Bunnies by TheNaughtyRabbit $20

Friends, Friends, Friends: Small 8.5x11 Art Print by CaseyRobinArt $25

Radish Earrings by NeatEats $18.64

These are just a few of my favorites. I didn't even have to go looking for them, they were already in my Etsy Favorites list. This is only a fraction of the ones I've found. I may just have to do another Favorites Friday dedicated to my favorite books!

Welcome!

According to my blog stats I get quite a few views from Ukraine. If you guys are out there actually reading this,

Ласкаво просимо!

Hope fully that says "Welcome!" in Ukrainian. I had to use Google Translate. I know a tiny bit of German and Spanish, but if it isn't English then I'm usually completely lost. I've just got my fingers crossed that I didn't just say something insulting!

Favorites Friday: Pearls

I love pearls. I think they are so elegant and classy. As you can see from my profile picture, I have a small collection. Of course, the ones in that picture are faux. I do have some real ones too.

I also like the way natural pearls are made. A mollusk gets something irritating under their shell and turns it into something beautiful.

That's something I try to keep in mind. I look at the irritations in my life and try to see the good in them, or how I can change them into something good. It doesn't always work, but I think it helps with my overall state of mind.

So in honor of shelled mollusks who give their live so women can look fabulous, here are my Favorites for this Friday:

Glass Pearl and Rhinestone Necklace and Earring Set by LaKokette $29.95

Two Mermaids Ring with Pearl by SheppardHillDesigns $45

Pearl Thumbtacks with Silver Frame by JennifersCloset $8.50

Backdrop Pearl Necklace by dreamdaydesign $119

Antiqued Silver and Pearl Earrings by Cigarboxearrings $15.95

Pearl Cat Collar by jeweledhorizons $25

Pearl Leaf Personalized Necklace by RoyalGoldGifts $20

Wire Wrapped Silver Pearl Bracelet by AmbersCrafts2 $13.50

Sterling Pearl Bracelet by CallaJewelry $23.40

Silver Rose Brooch with Faux Pearl by TheHeirloomBoutique $5

Classic Pearl Evening Case by GentleMadness $22

Pearl, Diamond, and Topaz Tiara by VintagefromETSY $875

Summertime Santa

You guys!!

I solved the mystery!!

I know what Santa Claus does in the off season!!

He drives a cab in Ogden, Utah!!

Cleaning the Cleaning Machine

I went to the Farmer's Market again on Saturday, but I totally forgot to take pictures! I was wearing shoes that while completely cute, were small torture devices. All I could think was how bad I wanted to get home and change my shoes.

The rest of the day was spent doing housework. Mostly dishes and laundry.

So much laundry.

I've been having a problem lately with my whites not coming out looking clean. It seemed like no matter what I used or how I used it they'd keep coming out dingy and gray.

While playing on one my favorite sites, Pinterest, I came across a tutorial for cleaning my washing machine. I clean the outside all the time, but I never thought to clean the inside. I mean, dirty clothes go in and clean clothes come out. I thought that meant the inside of the machine was getting cleaned too!

The dingy whites were proof that I was wrong.

I am a terrible blogger, and I didn't get pictures! You're just going to have to read my florid description.

The first thing I did was turn the washer on the highest load and the hottest water. While it was filling up I poured in about a pint of bleach.

After the machine was full but before it could start agitating I pushed the button in and made it stop while the barrel was full. I left it sitting like that for an hour.

When I came back after an hour the water was gross. Seriously nasty. It was gray and I couldn't even see the bottom of the machine. No wonder my whites were coming out dingy!

I pulled the button back out and let the machine run through the rest of the cycle.

Then I did it all again, only this time I poured in vinegar instead of bleach. When I went back after an hour the water was beautifully clear and clean!

The last thing I did was just run the machine one last time, no soaking, nothing added. Just hot water. I did this to give it a final rinse. I didn't want the next thing I washed to get accidentally bleached!

I haven't washed any whites in the clean machine yet. I'd just done a huge load the night before I washed it, so I won't know if it makes a difference for a while. After seeing that nasty water, I can't see how it wouldn't!