Weekend Update…

This weekend was productive and…full of sickness…

We are redecorating our house a little, so on Saturday we switched out pictures and posters…I took a break, and went over to my brother and sister in law’s house, to help out my brother, and when I came home, my Mom was throwing up, and had been ever since I left…

My Mom hates being sick, and this flu type illness has just completely drained her of energy…she’s been sick all weekend…poor thing…on Monday she seemed to have a little more energy than she has had for the past few days…

My Mom keeps all of us, and this house running smoothly, and when she’s sick, us and the house just don’t run quite as well…she keeps everything together,and does SO much for all of us! I just can’t state that enough…And I appreciate my Mom so much, and I am so thankful to have her as my Mom…
Hopefully she is on the road back to health!

By the way, my parents and I watched “Forever Darling” the other night, and it was good…all Lucille Ball movies are!

I wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day!

I also wish you lots of health and joy!
~Michelle

An Overdue Update, Sorry… ;)

Last week, I had my 3rd round of dental surgeries…which went well!

I watched the 1st of many classic movies…I watched “Breakfast At Tiffany’s”. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, but it was good! I think Holly’s character was hard to relate to at first, but in the end, you understand her, and you realize why she acted the way she did…

The next few movies on my list are “Forever, Darling”, “Sabrina”, and “Move Over, Darling”.

I recently joined the website “Pinterest”! Oh, boy! I could waste so much time looking at all of the interesting things people have “pinned”! So many good blogs, ideas, crafts, and fashion styles!

I adore this show called “The Amanda’s” on the Style Network. It is fascinating! I thought that I was obsessed with organizing, apparently I got nothing this girl!

On Wednesday, I did a funky French Manicure… I used a very light tan nail polish, and a coral polish for the tips…I think it turned out cool and different!

I really like the look of a French Manicure (the traditional style), so I’m going to try and do my own, who knows, maybe that will be my go to nail style!

By the way, I’m now am iPhone user! I switched from a Blackberry Curve to an iPhone…its taking some getting used to, but so far, i love it!

Wishing you health, joy, and hope!
~Michelle

Project “Watch Classic Movies” Is Under Way…

So, I enjoy reading, but just felt like I didn’t have enough time. But now I’m trying to read whenever I can, like on the elliptical, before bed, various lulls in the day. I have a kindle, which I LOVE! I love the fact that I can read all the books I want, and not have a ton of books on bookshelves!

Anyway, I’m reading a book called “The Secret Lives Of Dresses” by Erin McKean. So far, the book is really good! Well, part of the plot involves a vintage clothing store. Reading about the clothes at this store, and one of the characters sense of style, reminded me of a promise I made myself at the end of last year.

The promise/goal, is to watch the “classic” old movies, Gone With The Wind, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Pillow Talk, and any other “classic” movie that speaks to my soul! I am really bad at watching movies, because I never watch them! I just don’t have time, but I’m determined to make time!

Ever since I watched Doris Day’s hollywood story, I just admire her, same with Audrey Hepburn, Lucille Ball, all of the really iconic movie stars from back in that era. So, I definitely want to watch any/all of their movies!

I have already seen My Fair Lady, The Long Long Trailer, Yours Mine And Ours (the original one, with Lucille Ball), all of which were fantastic! On Christmas Eve of 2011, was the first time I have ever seen It’s A Wonderful Life, which was long, but good! I understand why it’s a classic.

I’m going to try my best to make time to watch them, I might even pop one in the dvd player while I’m working out, that way I’ll enjoy the movie, while keeping my mind off of the fact that I’m working out!

I know it’s a silly goal, but I’ve been wanting to watch these movies for years, and plus, I’m obsessed the time periods that several of these movies came out!

If you have any favorite “classics”, please comment about it, I’d love to read what it is!

I’ll post on every old movie I watch, and let you know what I thought about it! Keep in mind, watching all of these movies, will take me awhile, but I’m going to do my best!

Well, I’m off to search Netflix!

Wishing you Joy, Health, and Glamour! ~Michelle

Going Green…AND A New Hairstyle!

Hey everyone! Last Wednesday, my Mom and I made homemade laundry detergent, fabric softener, homemade house cleaner, and furniture cleaner!

You can check out my Mom’s blog for the homemade detergent recipe, and homemade fabric softener, the other cleaner recipes are on the way!

http://www.laundryisontheline.blogspot.com/

My Mom’s friend kind of urged my Mom to make homemade laundry detergent, and fabric softener…my Mom looked up the store bought kind we had, and read about some pretty bad chemicals, and that it can cause some health problems! She also looked up the dryer sheets we used…not good either!

So, both my Mom and I looked up how we can make our own house cleaner, and furniture cleaner, to use in all the rooms of the house…

More recently, I’ve noticed whenever I’ve used a store bought cleaner, the smell of it would just make me feel sick, and the smell would stay with me for hours after I used it! I’m looking forward to using these new “green” cleaners!

We aren’t going too extreme to become “green”, we are just taking simple, easy steps. We are trying to eliminate unnecessary chemicals. We are going to look into recycling! We are taking it one step at a time, tackling one challenge at a time!

One of my personal goals, is to cut down on my use of paper towels! I’m going to see if I can do this gradually, one step at a time! It’s one of those “out of sight out of mind” things, I see the paper towels, and forget about the towels that are in the drawer!

Here’s an update on my little dachshund Maddie, she is walking/running around! She is not 100%, yet…Every time that I try to put her in her cart, she resists, because she knows that she can get around on her own, now…I’m still crating her, and anytime that I see her walking around, I try to get her back on her pillow…she is a headstrong dog, what can I say?

Last Friday, I got a new hairstyle, and it’s awesome! I think this hairstyle is gonna be a keeper! This style is totally me, and I’m so glad that I got it cut! I don’t even think that I will get highlights, I think having all brown hair makes it more “striking”! My stylist did a great job! I just feel so much better! The style isn’t super short, it’s long enough that I can curl it, and have a bit of versatility! It isn’t a very dramatic change, but before I got it cut, the back of my hair was doing this very weird flippy, thing…it felt like I had a shelf on the back of my head! Only when I spent a ton of time straightening it, would it be semi-manageable…Now, my hair is cut short in the back and is like an angled bob, really cute, and I love it!

Here are some before & after pictures

BEFORE: Front view of my old hairstyle…

BEFORE: View of the back of my hair…it took a lot of straightening to get it like that…

BEFORE: Side view of my hair…my hair was just begging to get shaped up!

AFTER: Front view of my new hairstyle!

AFTER: A side view of my new hairstyle!

AFTER: The back of my new hairstyle!

Wishing you Joy, Health, and Positivity!
~Michelle

When Will I Learn?

For the past 4 years, I have had short hair…and I like to change my hairstyle often, with highlights, different styles, etc..but every now and then, I have the ridiculous idea to grow my hair long…

So, in September of last year, I decided that I wanted to grow my hair long, again…

I don’t know why I think that long hair will work for me…it just doesn’t! It brings me down, and I don’t look or feel as polished, and as put together as I like to be!

I’ve grown my hair out for 4 months now, and I’ve decided to call up my stylist, and get my hair cut!

In my opinion, short hair is chic, cute, sophisticated, and I think that styling is pretty easy! Don’t get me wrong, long hair can look cute, if it’s flattering to someone’s face shape, and if the person styles it with styling tools and product…but back in 2006-2007, I’m ashamed to admit that I had long hair, and didn’t style it, I was what you’d call a “wash & wear” type of person…but with short hair, I just love to style it!

With my face shape, and with the fact that I just don’t have the time to style long hair, short hair just suits me better…so, I just need to accept that I’m just not a long hair type of person, and that’s ok!

I’ll share before and after pictures, when I get my hair done! I’m excited to get my hair cut, I’m looking forward to looking put together again, because right now, I just feel very “blah” with how my hair looks now!

Wishing you positivity, joy, and great hair days!

~Michelle

Trying To Be Creative & Crafty…

Yesterday afternoon, I busted out the sewing machine, and made 2 pillows!

The pillows were made out of my Mom’s old Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, and a shirt of mine that somehow got a hole in it.

I could just see this Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, becoming this awesome, semi-vintage looking pillow!

I wanted to make the pillow that used to be my shirt, into a funky pillow..

Well…it turned out a little too funky for my taste….so I cut it apart, and did a little hand stitching, and I think it turned out cool, like I’d hoped!

I’ve not sewn in awhile, so I was a little rusty, but I think that both pillows turned out pretty neat…

Last night, I started to make a little nail polish holder/display using this little 2 tiered stand that we got awhile back…I would have just used it the way it was, except nail polish bottles kept tilting.

So, I cut some cardboard, covered it with material, then spray painted the pieces to give them a cool finish! Not a huge project, but I think it was pretty creative, if I do say so myself…

So for the past 2 days, I’ve just been a crafty little bee! Ha, ha!

I do enjoy it when I get bursts of creativity, and craftiness…it makes me feel like Miss Martha Stewart, at least for a few minutes!

By the way, I’m so proud of my home team, the Baltimore Ravens, on their win yesterday! They are going to play the New England Patriots next Sunday…hoping my Ravens will win, I’d love for them to make it to the Super Bowl!

I don’t follow sports, the Baltimore Ravens are the only team that I try to follow, what can I say, I love my home team, even if they lose…

Wishing you peace, happiness, and a little bit of creativity!

~Michelle

Sweatshirt about to be turned into a pillow!

The finished pillow!

The tiered stand before

The tiered stand, turned into a nail polish display!

My shirt, turned into a pillow!

Ok, It’s Catch Up Time!

Ok, let’s start in June of 2011, I decided that I would participate in our local Farmer’s Market! I wanted to sell baked goods, and my brother came up with a logo and a name, Aunt Mimi’s Morsels!

I was very excited/really nervous, but I enjoyed doing it, and meeting some really wonderful people!

Doing the Farmer’s Market, was tough on me physically, It was 2 days a week of selling, but I spent 7 days a week, planning, baking, packaging, keep in mind I was baking a lot of stuff…

Not to mention that I was out in the sun, with the temperature mostly above 100 degrees…then I’d come home and get ready for the next Market…it was exhausting!

But, in September, I was ready to relax, and so I stopped participating in the Market, about a week before it was done. I enjoyed it for the most part! I loved meeting some fantastic people, but my energy was really low, I needed time to rest…

Then, I attempted to make my niece’s birthday cake for her 3rd birthday…it was a cake that had fondant on it. I had never made a cake with fondant, so this challenged me. I wasn’t just covering the cake with fondant, I made a fondant pirate girl, palm tree, and a cat…I also made cupcakes, and cookies in the shapes of anchors. It was a pink girl pirate party, by the way!

Now, I am no artist, so this cake was pretty difficult…and I was so afraid that it wasn’t good enough. But, when I put it all together, at her party, and I saw her face, it made all the hard work worth it! She loved, and so did her parents, my parents, everyone! I am very proud of that cake, too!

I had a pretty calm October and November, and an awesome Black Friday! What can I say? I have to go to shopping on Black Friday! Of course, shopping actually started on Thanksgiving…The adrenaline is just amazing, not to mention seeing people go crazy over sheet sets!

December was a very busy month, I had orders from customers, to which they tipped me very generously, thanks ya’ll!

I also had some dental surgeries, which made me not feel so good, then I caught the flu! I felt terrible for a long while!

I am now finally feeling better, thank goodness! My body does not handle stress well, and my body can get pretty run down easily…so believe it or not, Farmer’s Market really did run this girl ragged…along with some other events that happened this Summer…

But, right now I’ve got a pretty positive attitude, I’m back to my workouts, and feeling pretty decent! I’m looking forward to the future…and I always remember what a friend and my Mom both say, “everything happens for a reason”!

I also have a new niece or nephew on the way! Exciting!

I’m happy to report that Maddie seems to be on the mend, she tried to walk a little today! But, she needs much more rest!

I need to mention something that happened in June of 2011, it affected the whole Summer, if not the rest of our lives…

A few days before my first Farmer’s Market, we lost 2 of our neighbors, 1 passed away, and the other was charged with her murder…but since then, this has been resolved. I believe that this outcome is the best outcome to come from this very tragic incident…

Oh, by the way, I’ve got to show some home pride…GO RAVENS!

Wishing you Peace & Happiness, have a great week!
~Michelle

The cake that I made for my niece’s Birthday!

The Cupcakes I made for my niece’s Birthday party!

The anchor cookies that I made for my niece’s party!

Wow…It’s REALLY Been Awhile…

First off, I want to apologize for not posting for months! I ended up being very busy from May through the end of December!

I will explain what I have been up to in another post, but for now let’s talk about this super nice Saturday!

Ok, first a little back story, in October of 2010, my dachshund Maddie slipped a disc or something, and her back/hips/legs gave out on her…she was pathetic, she wouldn’t get out of her crate, she didn’t want to eat or drink, and was depressed…my Mom and I tried to get her to eat as much as we could get in her, and after almost a month, which was a very difficult time, she got better! But since then, we would notice her legs slip from time to time, and we’d try and get her to rest…

But almost 2 weeks ago, her legs were starting to give out, and we would crate her for a little bit. After a few days, she seemed better, and then she jumped up at our kitchen gate, yelped, and since then her legs/hips have given out again…

Anyway, yesterday, my Dad attempted to make Maddie a little cart to take the stress off of her back end. The first try didn’t work, Maddie was scared of it. But, today he tried again, and it was a success! Maddie LOVES it! She won’t be in it all the time, only when she really wants to play, it lets her get her energy out! But then she is going to rest! I’m hopeful that she is going to get better, but even if she doesn’t, I still love her!

Her attitude is so much better than the last time this happened! She is just so happy, especially in her awesome new cart! It just warms my heart to see her run around and play, and be so very happy!

Maddie’s ready to roll!

Today, it just was nice and relaxing! I can’t think of what I did today, but I can say that I haven’t stopped all day!

Today, I got back to working out, after not doing it for awhile. I’ve had some dental surgeries, then got a nasty flu. But today, I have finally felt like getting back on the fitness train, choo choo!

I hate to say it, but I did miss working out, it was kind of a nice break though! I do miss doing my Zumba dvds, looking forward to those again!

Well, thank you for reading my blog! I’m going to be posting more often, like several times a week! I really have missed being a “blogger”!

Wishing you Positivity & Happiness!
~Michelle

It’s been awhile…

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile…things have just been super busy! With the weather getting nicer, we’ve been doing yard work. We have also decided to put the house on the market…it’s been something that we’ve all talked about, and we just decided that now is the time.

More recently, I’ve been wanting to become a better person…I don’t want to let little things stress me out anymore! Life is too short, and there are no guarantees that there will be a tomorrow…I am so lucky to be alive, as we all are, but to think that I have fought to live not just once, but twice! I want to remember to appreciate everyday for what it is/was, no matter what I did or didn’t do. I want to take negative things, and turn it into something positive!

I guess I’m looking at the sale of the house to be kind of a “clean slate”. A lot of things have happened while we’ve been at this house, some positive, others we’re pretty negative…

I feel like I have lost myself while living at this house, but a year or so later I found myself again…there has been joy and pain here, there have been laughs and tears…

I hated this house when we got it, I just didn’t like anything about it. But over time, it became a home to me.

I didn’t help with much when we first moved in, but in the past few years, I helped peel wallpaper, I painted every room in the house, I even helped decorate. Heck, I even helped with some yard work! (I used to hate being outside, eww bugs!)

It was a big decision, but we have all decided, if it sells great, if it doesn’t, that’s fine too. My Mom likes to say, “everything happens for a reason”, and I have kind of adopted that as my new mantra. If the house doesn’t sell, then I don’t think it was the right time.

Even if the house doesn’t sell, I am still going to change myself. I know that I always say I’m going to be more positive, but this time it feels different. I’m really thinking about the bigger picture…I mean, I have been in a hospital bed twice, and I am letting petty, annoying, little things, get to me? That’s crazy! I am fortunate enough to be breathing right now, I don’t want to take that for granted…

There are things that I can forgive, but not forget, and then there are things that I know I can never forgive…but all I can do, is accept that it is one of my many “scars”, and try and be the best me that I can!

I’m not going to try and get people to like me, if you don’t, you don’t, if you do, that’s great, I like you too!

There are things that I’ve done in the past, that I can’t change, some I’d change if I could…so I’m going to leave my regrets in the past, and put my best foot forward…

Sorry if I got a little too serious, I’ve just been thinking about a lot of serious stuff, the past few days… Thank you for reading my ramblings! Have a great week ya’ll!

~Michelle

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Post Easter Decorating!

Howdy! I hope that everyone had a fantastic Easter weekend! Today I took down all of the Easter decor, and put up some post Holiday decorations. I wanted to share some pics, it’s still a work in progress, but you get the idea of what we’re going for…enjoy!

~Michelle

We replaced our Spring floral arrangement with this plant.

This is the basket of moss balls with a mini bench (yardsale find) and a blue lantern on it.

The mantle; black and white urns/vases. Wicker, and moss balls.

A neat cage we found at a yardsale with 3 candles in it.

An old school bench (yardsale find). We got it for only 20 dollars! Great buy!

This is what’s on the shelves of the baker’s rack in the dining room.

The center piece of the dining room table, it’s a rosemary plant.

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