So Jazzed about swappin'!

I am having a blast with this! Cupcakes are so fun, and lovely :) At the end of the day, there's nothing like sitting down with a little peace and quiet and some art supplies. i get carried away most times though when I work at night. There are no interruptions, and sometimes I'll look at the clock and find its 2 in the morning *eek* I love mornings, but am so not a morning person. I could stay up all night though :)

I meant to say before, if anyone is having trouble with the new shipping increase, or has not yet heard from their partner, please let me know, and I'll do whatever I can to fix it, or assist in any way.

Off to visit some blogs!


PS Here is the flickr page where you can share your swap photos :D :D
http://www.flickr.com/groups/348353@N24/

New kid in Town

My cousin Liz has just joined up and got herself a blog! She makes the most beautiful purses, diaperbags, and clothes. Her skirts are out of this world! She's over there under AWESOME BLOGS, Elizabeth Gwen Originals. She'd love it if some of you popped in to say hi!




She is so talented, and she is far away in Maryland, and I miss her so!!!
Welcome to Blogland, Liz!

I can't believe this!

WOW. I just got back from the Post Office, and the "small price increase" nearly knocked me over!! I had a small international package to send, (that 1/2 dozen cupcakes in a box down below) and the cheapest rate was $50.00! The next highest was $75.00.

I have a feeling this is going to hurt a lot of people who sell on eBay and Etsy :( First gas prices, then the Electric Company raised their fees, and now this. Where do they think people are suddenly going to come up with all of this money to spare? Especially with all of these increases right on the tails of one another.

It seems like before long, there will no longer be a middle class. I hate to see what's happening to the regular working stiff. I know I'm soundind very dreary, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

My husband is a Carpenter, and fortunatley he's never been laid off in the 17 years that he's been working. We know plenty of guys though that go through it every season, and it always happens in the winter when the work runs out. I don't know how people manage.

I have been lucky to be a stay at home mom for most of my children's lives, and it's been great. I think now its time for me to get a job. My youngest will be in Kindergarten this fall.

Hubby and I have gone over our finances, and between gas for the cars, electricity, and gas for the house, our cost of living has gone up almost 40%.

I know we're very fortunate. I don't know how others are managing, especially single moms, or anyone that is injured or ill. It's very scary.

Wow, Monday again!

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day! If you joined the Cupcake Swap and haven't heard from your partner yet, please let me know :)

I'm so looking forward to this!

Monday's Musings

I won!! Shannon, over at Paint Mine Pink (under Awesome blogs over there -> ) had a giveaway for her cutie little candies, they are just precious, I'm so excited :D Thanks again, Shann!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, and keeping in tradition, the party was at my house, and I did all the work LOL
I had wandered over to The Feathered Nest (also under Awesome Blogs over there) and Dawn had posted a Sour Cream Pound Cake recipe. It had to be meant to be, just in time for the birthday!! I made it, and not only was it DELICIOUS, but also there was not a single crumb left!

There's my mom with her cake, and her cupcakes (which everyone , and I mean EVERYONE asked whether they were real! Like I'd make my mom fake cupcakes *insert raspberries*

Thanks Dawn, for your yummy recipe!!

There are 2 days left if anyone would like to join the Cupcake Swap! We have a pretty good group going already! I'll send you all your partner's info by Friday.
I can't wait to see pictures!!

Getting into cupcake spirit (yeah, its really hard LOL) I made this today

Tagged...times two!

Shann over at Paintminepink.blogspot.com has tagged me, and I stole the rules straight from her site LOL:

So heres the rules... each player starts with 7 random weird facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I hate white food. Mayonnaise, sour cream, cream cheese, dips...GAG! If it has sugar in it though (frosting, whipped cream) then its OK!

2. I met my husband when I was 16. I went up to him and asked him to marry me the moment that I saw him. We've been together ever since, and I still love him to bits (usually)

3. I love the Wiggles!! When my son Liam was three, he was a Wiggle-maniac, and we got to meet Murray, Jeff, and Anthony! I still think Anthony is way hotter than Brad Pitt!

4. I read my books over and over again. Rereading a book is like visiting an old friend, you get to know them better and better each time. I must have read all of the Harry Potter books about 5 times each.

5. I took improv training at Second City two years ago. I love being on stage, singing, dancing, and acting like a nut! When you're on stage, all those things are encouraged!! In real life, not so much LOL

6. I love show tunes! Rent, Wicked, Sound of Music, Joseph, Annie, My Fair Lady...I always tell my husband that I'm a gay man trapped in a woman's body LOL (I hope no one takes offense to that, I love most gay men, they are so fun to hang out with)

7. I love old TV shows. Green Acres, the Brady Bunch, Get Smart, The Honeymooners, The Patty Duke Show, Dobie Gillis...They used to be on Nick at Night, and I miss them!

OK, I've also been tagged by Jessie purplecucumbers.blogspot.com to name 10 favorite blogs. There is no way I can pick 10! Each blog I visit offers new beauty, and I can't tell you all how much I enjoy everyone's pictures!

Don't forget to sign up for the Cupcake Swap if you are interested! There is still time :) (Feel free to use the Cupcake image over on the side if your particapting)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Anyone up for a Cupcake Swap?

I have so much enjoyed seeing the photos from all of the swaps, and I have sadly missed them all by a day or two *sniffle* The last one I was in was at Christmas, and it was really fun.

So I thought, why not have a Cupcake Swap? Who doesn't love cupcakes! Let's do it, and share the sugary goodness that is the cupcake. There are so many great things out there, especially in the artsy world. Cards, tags, collages, heck, cake mixes, frosting...the possibilities are endless (and yummy looking :D)

If you would like to participate, please Email Me your name and mailing address by next Wednesday, May 9th. I'll email you your partner's info by Friday, May 11th. Please don't spend more than $15

Please have your swap in the mail to your partner by Monday, May 28th. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Don't forget to drop by Shann's blog. She is over there under Awesome Blogs, as Paint Mine Pink, she is hosting a great goodie giveaway!

Also, tune in soon, for a SWAP! Cupcake Swap that is!!






Finally we're enjoying some good weather! We had our opening day baseball parade yesterday, and my son Brendan's first game of the year. He pitched, and played wonderfully!

My cousins were supposed to come over yesterday evening and I had to cancel. It would have been so great, I was really looking forward to it, but then hubby caught the darn strep that we've been passing to each other. All six of us are now on medicine, and we can hopefully knock this out! We've been sick off and on since Easter, and none of us are particularly nice people when we don't feel well.

My cousins are so much fun, we are of the same breed, and that is...

BOARD GAME JUNKIES!!! Especially those of the Trivia Variety. I'm never competitive until I get around my cousin Tim, and then all bets are off ;) He brings out the worst in me! And I love it!!

Little known fun fact about me (as if the entire internet is just crawling with people who know any facts about me, let alone fun ones *heehee*)- I took an art class in college in Two Dimensional Design. The teacher had us create a board game as our final exam, and I created "Brady Bunch Trivia" complete with 1500 questions. I got an "A" and my teacher wanted to come over and play it with his girlfriend :D

I even spoke to Sherwood Schwartz (the executive producer), and his son Ross, about getting it made into an actual game, but Mr. Schwartz (and what a sweetie he was) said that Paramount now holds all the rights to anything Brady. If anyone is ever up for a game though, come on over!! :D And if you think you can stump me with any Brady questions, well just give it a try! :D :D

Ooh, yeah...funny story. I had put in some calls to the Schwartz's about the game, figuring I'd never hear anything. A couple of months later, the phone rang, and it was Ross. I tried to remain composed, but I was SO excited. Anyway, he no sooner tells me who he is, than my son Brendan (3 years old at the time) projectile VOMITS across the kitchen! I was holding Bren's head over the garbage can, trying to sound professional...Ah, kids...gotta love 'em!

Finding my Mojo

Today was going to be one of those rare days that I get to work while the kids are at school, ah bliss! Happy joy joy!! Then it rained, and in walks my hunny and wrecks it all LOL






He got rained out, but he cleaned the carpets upstairs and brought me a Dunkin Donuts Coffee, so I let him stay.

I got to go thrifting last night, what a great time! I found some enchanting little treasures, which I will post later on. I even found a pair of American Girl pj's for $5, and some little levi's for my son for $4. Can't beat that!




You know its funny, my little brain can think of all of these things to occupy myself, and all of these things that I can't wait to blog about, and then when I'm actually here, zip. Zilch. Nada. I know there's something going on upstairs, I just can't seem to find it LOL

Filth flarn flarn, Filth

I was going to attribute that statement to Bill Cosby, but I think it was actually Eddie Murphy doing an impression of Bill Cosby LOL

Anyway that's what my house was the last couple of days. I was really sick with some kind of flu, and in those two days, my house took on a life of its own. The dust bunnies must be more like dust rabbits, because they multiplied. The pile of dishes in the sink seemed to have hit puberty, it just grew and matured over night. Seems like just yesterday that it was just a tiny pile of cups *sniffle*

I was really suprised that they all weren't naked and starving when I was able to get moving again. Funny how no one notices how much you do until you don't do it ;D

I wanted to post some pictures of my new stuff, but I am having camera problems (again!!) so here are a couple of my kids bedrooms. My daughter, the baby and only girl, had to have a princess room. She has stuck wallies stickers over parts of it now, but this is the basic idea:






My son Brendan's room was a Harry Potter theme. We did it about 5 years ago, and its Liam's room now, and he would like to change it to a skateboard room. This is the closet




Have a great day all, make sure to pop over and see Lori at the Faerie Window (side bar under awesome blogs) she's having an amazingly adorable and cute giveaway!