team pretty - team washi

I like to pretty.   

I've always decorated around me.

rewind  - I'm 3.
My mom bought a brand new bathroom 'cover set' ..  one of those awful 80's sets of shag carpet covers for 'prettying' bathroom stuffs.  One on the toilet, one onto the back of the tank, and a couple matchers on the floor. Then, BOOM!  your bathroom is totally matching .. totally hideous

As a toddler and lover of anything colorful - I found her new pure white pieces offensively boring .. so I decided I needed to decorate for her.   

what can I say ? 

I've ALWAYS been a giver.

I took her brightest, prettiest, reddest nail polish and flung the liquid stain EVERYWHERE!  Making sure to not miss a single spot on her lovely carpet decor. 

WHAT?!?!?

I thought it was pretty.  However, she screamed and cursed a lot more than I would expect coming from someone who had just received a free bathroom makeover.

fast foward - I'm 6.

My mom hasn't changed the curtains in my room since I was a toddler.  

I don't LIKE Winnie the Pooh, ANYMORE !! So ..I randomly poked 42 billionty holes with a metal nail file.   

Voila!  

Now they are 'fancy' and let the sun into the room. Clearly not the kind of 'fancy' my mom likes.  I know this, because the next day she went out and purchased me 'whole' curtains again; throwing away my 'refashioned' curtains; without regard for all my efforts in redecorating.

fast forward 30 something years later : 

 we laugh about these stories, until we cry and/or snort.

it's apparently just in my nature to pretty :) 

and yes - I sometimes use 'pretty' as a verb .. don't judge me.

so, in my recent efforts to pretty the world - I joined the washi tape movement. 

I'm a little late on the 'craze' - but I'm Danielle and I'm far from trendy.

so what if washi tape was ''cool'' last year .. that means I'm cool this year !! right!?!?! >_<

wrong - but who cares?

moving on ..  I know someone just said - 'What is washi tape?'

it's a cute, fancy, japanese tape with the feel of masking tape. 

I may or may not have gone a little mad after seeing so many Washi crafts on Pinterest ..  which may or may not have led to me ordering a box filled with $50-60 worth of washi tape ..

special thanks to both WillowWashi as well as Consumer Crafts for contributing to my craftaddiction.

Once I opened up my box of pretties, I realized I needed somewhere to store the sticky cuteness.

sticker nails and cracker chips .. yay.

I don't often do it .. but I did.
I stepped outside my box.
I tried TWO new things this week.

yes, I want a medal AND a cookie for that - thank you.

In an effort to continue to shrink my size without effort .. (make sense?)
I tried some Ritz Cracker chips.

effort without effort just means I don't actually excercise
because that means I have to sweat and that's gross.

definition : all I did was cut down how much soda I drink on a regular basis, drink more water, and buy the occasional low-fat item.  lol like sour cream and 2% milk instead of whole milk, chips that aren't chips, etc.  BABY STEPS !!

Anyway - I tried these and they were YUM !!



I also tried these 'sticker nail' things .. omg they are AWESOME !!

Not only did they stay on all week, including working EVERY day; but they protected my nails from chips and dings. YAY !!
NOT THOSE CHIPS UP THERE .. duh :)

so - 2 steps outside the box - 2 thumbs up.
DOUBLE YAY !

mad world

As a full-time mom and part-time control freak - I've always liked chaperoning school field trips.  It's a lot of fun (mostly) and there've only been a handful of trips we've missed over the girls' years in school.

By we, of course, I mean myself and the besterest husband ever created.  Fourth grade and teenage boys tend to have a problem listening to a woman shorter than them; so I'm glad the G. man is so awesome.

Over the last week I've been having a hard time wrapping my head around something that rocked our tiny town of 5,500.  Two boys that we've 'watched over' in the past, were responsible for taking someone's life.
There was no accident .. it wasn't something that ''just happened.''
They planned, plotted, and repeatedly shot the boyfriend of one of their ''moms.''
To top it all off - this ''mom'' helped them get rid of the evidence.

The man they killed was a guy we worked with in the past, the brother of an acquaintance, as well as a 'friend of friends.'  I guess in this town it's impossible to not ''know'' someone, which makes something like this even harder to accept.

With life in our tiny town, I don't mean to, but I get complacent.
I start to think stuff like this only happens in the city.

But then along comes a reality bitchslap like this to remind us what a mad world we live in.

I've been locking my doors at night for the first time in years .. :(

the Easter pretties

 super cute chicks and fluffy, little bunnies

toys and chocolate as far as you can see

family time and a hunt for colorful eggs .. 

who doesn't LOVE Easter!?!?!?

fine fine fine!

I KNOW the answer

"billions of people all over the world who aren't Christian"

fine !

I guess all that matters today is we do !!

I totally adore these shiny, happy bunnies !! 

they're too cute for words

&
 I waited until they were on "Easter's Over" clearance :)
I might adore 75% off even more than shiny, happy bunnies.

I had planned on 'cropping' this picture to be square around the bunnies;
but Senor Owl's photo bomb made me laugh...so I kept him. :)

click here for the high-quality print version of my 'oh hoppy day' print

 and of course .. I made Easter Subway art ..

focus on the good

I'm not even in the same zip code as perfect, but I make an attempt to better myself, everyday. 

I've never been a bony little size 3 - but I still classify myself as pretty damn cute.  (if you find me aesthetically pleasing or not .. is neither here nor there - this is about ME :)
I may not have a 'dream job' - but I'm good at what I do and I like it; I don't know that there is much more I could ask for.  ok, other than a billionty dollars - but you get my drift, smartass.
I don't have a billionty dollars & every silly little thing I want; but I have all I need and even lucky enough to even have a little extra.
Besides .. who needs a billionty dollars when you're rich in love?

I guess I'm ranting and made the print below, because I'm just exhausted by all the whining.
I'm tired of people boobing around about how hard life is.  I've had enough of the housewives on tv bitchin about their hard lives; "omg - what ever will I do with all this money and time on my hands?" .... blah blah blah.
Go spend a month in a 3rd world country without your luxuries; then let's talk about how hard your Louis Vuitton drenched life is .. PLEASE.

focus on the good.

just do it.
don't sweat the petty stuff and definitely don't pet the sweaty stuff.it's gross and as far as hand sanitizer goes ... 'I don't have a square to spare.'

I'm happy, I'm healthy, my kids don't run away from me, my husband still wants to hang out with me, my customers at work miss me on my days off,  I even GET days off, I HAVE a job to get days off from, I can read/write/hear/see/smell ... jeez - have a little perspective, people.  

click here for the full size printable of "focus on the good."