Here is my October list of ten “things” I love, including a few random musings:
1. My very favorite nail polish color is Chinchilly by Essie. It’s a mix of purple and gray, and it’s gorgeous. And the best part? Every time I paint my nails in this color I paint them perfectly. It’s insane. And I love it :)
2. Having a stocked fridge and pantry makes me feel like supermom, like I can accomplish anything the kids throw my way because, WE HAVE FOOD!, and meals will be served!, and eating solves all varieties of hangry! Amen.
3. Having Zack out of the country for 12 days (I thought it was 11, turns out it was really 12 #snort) has taught me so much about parenting. Like how much more difficult I can make my day when I start throwing around expectations. For example, who cleans up the kitchen, or who does baths, or who gets Natalie up from her nap so she doesn’t wake up Max? — those kinds of expectations. And I’m about to type something kind of crazy, but: it was actually easy having Zack gone. I thought I was going to have day after day of personal meltdowns, but I was fine! Seriously! I think most of the success came from me already knowing what was ahead of me. I knew I needed to stay on top of groceries and diapers and laundry and meals, so every day I made sure each of those areas was maintained; I knew I needed to get my rest; I knew I needed to schedule fun things for myself and fun things to do with the kids. Confession: on the morning of my OB appt I booked our babysitter a couple extra hours so I could have some time for myself ;D And while I’m grateful we had a smooth 12 days, we sure are happy to have Zack back home!
4. Our November book club read has me stalking my inbox for my library hold notification. Have you read it?
5. A thought process we talked about at bible study last week: addressing the women in our lives as, Dear sister in Christ. Just thinking about them in that light instantly gives them a positive charge. It’s a good reminder for myself, too, that that is how I want others to address me. To give one other all our grace and love, to always assume the best — this was a beautiful reminder.
6. ICED TEA! Since we’re still having hot, hot summer days, iced tea is where it’s at! I recently made a pitcher of ginger pear (from Trader Joe’s) and of course Max was interested in trying my “new drink”. After a long sip I asked him if he liked it, and he said to me all breathy, “nooo”. Then he walked away and said, “I need a sip of water. I need to get this out of my mouth.” I about died. Hearing him speak in complete sentences is so rewarding, and a total LOL ;)
7. So grateful for this testimonial on our ebook, Building a Business: how to dream, plan, make, sell and share your online shop:
“I am in love with this book! Although I have been working at my business for a while, this book is giving me the direction I need to get noticed. I am currently updating my business practices, and am using Building a Business as my go-to guide. This was the kick in the pants I needed to go from a hobby to a business. Maggie and Elise have done a great job of providing relatable advice and great resources to figure out the nuts and bolts of running a business. The advice given is invaluable!” — Naomi Blom
8. Natalie has mastered the eye squint, nose scrunch, ear-to-shoulder, all teeth showing GRIN! It’s such a big, happy smile, her entire soul lights up when she smiles and that makes my own soul do cartwheels. I want to remember the way she shares her happiness with me forever!!!
9. Are you reading my blog on a mobile device? I finally made my site mobile friendly! Hopefully the larger text makes reading (and leaving comments) much easier.
10. Motherhood Maternity is having a huge sale right now: buy 3, get 1 free including clearance items! On Friday I bought floral skinny jeans, three tank tops (this John Lennon graphic print and this striped print in pink/white + black/white), and sleep shorts — all for less than $56. This is totally not an ad, just a fun PSA I wanted to share.
What’s going on in your life that is making you super happy? Leave a comment below, I would love to know.
PS. I need to make the binding for Maxwell’s quilt, then it’ll be finished. Do you have a tutorial to share?
(Past “Ten things I love” posts can be found here.)
Here are some quilt binding tutorials that I have pinned:
http://www.sewmamasew.com/2013/01/machine-quilt-binding-tutorial/
http://quiltingintherain.blogspot.com.es/2011/05/binding-blind-stitching-tutorial.html?m=1
http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2009/05/finishing-quilt-tutorial.html
http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/2009/06/quilt-along-week-7.html?m=1
Thank you Lisa!!! Can’t wait to click around :)
This is my favorite binding tutorial: http://www.prettyprudent.com/2011/11/by-craft/machine-quilt-binding-101-quilt-binding-diy-2/
Totally second this! Did both my kids quilts with this one!!!
Congratulations for surviving 12 days without your man! Rich traveled a lot when the kids were tots and I enjoyed doing my own thing with the kids. Evenings were longer because I didn’t have to wait to serve dinner at 6, we could eat at 4. Kids to bed early…a few down hours for me.
Don’t feel bad at all for booking extra hours for the babysitter.
What makes me happy right now? My son is 16 today…what?what? Soccer and Football seasons are coming to an end and Wrestling + Indoor Soccer or their sports for the winter. I love to watch them play. I bring a cowbell to football games. It’s not appropriate for soccer, so “they” say! lol
One night while he was gone we were talking on the phone, and I asked if we could end the call early because I really, really, really needed to spend some time on myself. I’m grateful I had so much patience during the daytime, but oftentimes I needed *me* time at the end of the day to prepare myself for tomorrow. xoxo
One thing I love: I’ve made myself accountable on Facebook for edifying reading. I’m a Children’s Pastor, and Dave Ramsey said that if you’re in any kind of leadership position, you should read at least 10 leadership books every year. Therefore, I posted a commitment on Facebook and have asked all of my friends to hold me accountable. Every time, I start a new edifying book (i.e. spiritual, ministerial, or leadership), I post it. My main fear before doing this was that the obligation would put a damper on my love of reading, but it’s done just the opposite! I feel so accomplished when I finish a book and can’t wait to get to the next one! If I need to take a break, I post that too. Chances are, most of my friends could probably care less what I read, but I’m loving the accountability!
oh, GREAT IDEA!
Hurray for mobile sites! It looks great – so glad it worked!
I’m happy for middle school half days this week so I get to spend one on one time with my 12 (gasp!) year old…
This is my go-to quilt tutorial link. Amanda Jean is fabulous!
http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/p/quilt-making-basics.html
I bought that same polish for my daughter last Christmas. It’s her favorite, too.
Chinchilly is SUCH a good color. I probably wore it for most of my life last year and then I had to throw it out. Time to get another one! ;)
Having the hubs gone with small kids can be so hard. Although my husband doesn’t travel a TON, maybe once a every other month, minimally. To keep my sanity last time, I tried to keep a balance of keeping ourselves busy (read: tiring the kids out) by going to new parks and just hanging out at home.
I want to strike a balance between running them *slightly* ragged and us not being on the go 24/7. Trying out new parks or ones we hadn’t been to in awhile kept them engaged a lot longer so it worked this last time! :)
Yep, exactly. Keep the schedule new and exciting, with a little bit of extra physical activity. You’re yawning? Oh, it must be time for bed… ;D
I’m impressed you managed 12 days alone with 2 babies. My man left town for 5 days and I was struggling the entire time.
I used this binding tutorial for my first (and only) quilt: http://smileandwave.typepad.com/blog/2013/09/make-your-own-quilt-binding.html It’s easy to follow and seems faster than a lot of the tutorials I’ve seen around. I ended up making a thicker binding and then did two rows of stitching.
Wellllll, it wasn’t our first time at home without Zack. The first was manageable, the second was awfully hard (I was newly pregnant/nauseated, and it was unbearably hot out), and the third (most recent), was really really good :) Here are some things i learned after we survived his first work trip.
Love that Essie color – same deal, they always turn out perfect, ha!
My husband is on a TV show in manhattan beach – and we live in Burbank, so I totally relate to what you said about having a game plan. The weeks he’s working 80 hours are hard, but when I have my head on right the boys and I do much better.
I hope you like Girl on the Train better than I did! I had to finally give up on it after realizing how much I disliked the female characters. Good luck!
Maybe we should meet up some time for coffee? I host an LA meet-up every couple of months and would love to have you join us. Email me! :)
What is making me happy today… the new calendar I’m making is sitting on my desk… and it looks amazing! I’m super-happy that it’s almost ready to list in the shop!
I’ve gotten through 15 days of a 31 day project.. longest I’ve made it yet! (Your guest post will be live tomorrow!!!)
Also, the prospect of a soak in the tub, which is going to occur as soon as I’m done reading my blog feed. :-D
Thanks for the encouragement… I had a ROTTEN day today, the kids have been acting like someone fed them espresso. Coming on here & reading about the things that are making you happy has reminded me to choose joy, even in the crazy.
~Katie
Ohhh this post has me wanting a nice cool glass of iced tea! Have a great weekend, Maggie!
Omg! I need a glass of iced tea too! Thank you, read this in my iphone and it was so friendly