This is Kellie!

Doesn't she look fun? If you ever get a chance to meet her, you'll know she totally is - and so is her shop! It's called Kellie's Gift Boutique and it's in Fairfield, Virginia. Her personality definitely comes through in her shop and this woman has creative ideas out the wazoo! If you're a vendor of unique items in the Southwest Virginia area, you definitely need to talk to her about business opportunities!

I had lunch with her there yesterday and snapped these photos in between bites of the best sandwiches from Blue Sky Bakery.

I can't go into her shop without getting something! Check out my cool shades and the necklace and earrings! I snapped up a couple of Lil'Kinz for Valentine's Day (50% off). My favorite purchase yesterday, these fun shoelaces from Little Missmatched. Check 'em out!

I think my daughter's birthday party is going to have a mismatched theme. The possibilities are endless!

She also carries jewelry, purses, home decor accessories, candles from Beanpod Candles, yummy chocolates, I could go on and on but instead, let me just show you a few displays I snapped:

Valentines and sunsets

I was steeling myself for the Valentines project next week until I opened my son's homework folder today and the assignment was, "Address all your Valentines and return them to school on Friday." Yikes! I had to switch into high gear and get them printed out on the computer. Thank goodness I had a Powerpoint file ready to print and cardstock on hand to print them on, and the crayon hearts already melted and cooled! Guess what? This time the perfect world in my head meshed with reality! My son addressed them all happily and assembled them without a hitch! So you know what I say to the manufacturers of Sponge Bob Valentines? HA!

On a sidenote, I must also share this beautiful sunset I captured out our front window today.

Valentines

Last year I spent entirely too much time making my kids' Valentines. In my mind, it was supposed to be me gathering all the pieces/parts and them putting them all together but, of course it never plays out like what I imagine in the perfect little world inside my head. The kids lost interest after two or three and I was happy that they did because they weren't doing it right anyway (translation: the way I wanted them done). The little bugs said "I don't mean to 'bug' you, but will you be my Valentine?" Check out the squadron we amassed!

The bubblegum men had mouths made of Smarties and said, "Stick with me!" Very corny humor only appreciated by elementary aged children. We had a battalion of these guys too but they were hard to stand up and get a picture of. Did their classmates appreciate getting them? I have no idea. I hope that they at least took them home for their mothers to admire!

The lesson learned? Keep it simple, right? So why can't I just go to the local drug store and buy a silly box of Spongebob valentines and be done with it?! There's something inside me that won't let it happen. Plan B? Buy silicone heart shaped molds and peel about 100 crayons and break them up to melt in the heart molds. My fingernails are wrecked! I still have to print out the card stock that will say, "You color my world" or alternately "Be my Valentine for 'crayon' out loud!" Then my angelic children will assemble them and address them, right? We'll see. I'll post pics soon! :)

Yes We Can!

Come on American! Let's all make the right choice on this Super Tuesday!

I'm the Heely Nazi

Ever since Christmas Break, my son has been asking if he can wear his Heelys to school. I could just picture him flying down the hallways at break neck speeds to impress his friends and have repeatedly told him no. Recently, he has started reporting the daily list of kids who wore Heelys in order to get me to change my mind. I didn't believe him until I saw it for myself one day! I emailed the principal that very evening and asked what the school policy was and she said that it was allowed as long as you didn't roll with them. Give me a break! What six year old is going to wear wheels on the bottom of his shoes and then tip toe around all day without using them?! I knew I'd be setting my son up for failure, if I let him wear his so, what did I do? I got the principal to change the policy to ban them altogether! She joked and asked me if she could say the rule was initiated because of me. I had to laugh. My kids would be shunned by every kid in school for sure! As a kid, I used to live in fear that my parents would do something like this and I'd lose what little popularity I had. In my reply to my children's principal, I recommended that she not only plaster my name on the new policy but she should also threaten that any kid caught with them on would have their Heelys confiscated by me and I would throw them in my boiling cauldron! I should also have suggested the post script, "Any parents who thought it was a good idea to send their kids to school in Heelys in the first place should get a clue." That way, not only would my kids be unpopular but I could join them in being ostracized.

A day with the girls

I was invited to a Mary Kay party yesterday. I wasn't really too interested in the makeover and just wanted an excuse to get out and be social. The others there were all from my exercise class at work and this was the first time I got to see them in another setting and get to know them better. They were so much fun and it was a great way to talk and "be girly" and have a good time. Check out Denise's lashes! (sorry, Denise, I gotcha before you had a chance to wipe off that extra mascara on your eyelid ;)

Denise was our hostess and uses the product but the main reason she hosted the event was to get this watch. These companies are always dangling something that you can't get any other way except to hostess. It drives me crazy. It is a pretty watch, though....

One of the women brought her daughter who is sixteen years old. She was so sweet! I love it when a teenager can hang out with adults and not act like they're being tortured. She has a cell phone and showed us the creative way she takes close-up pictures of things to put as her wallpaper on the phone kinda like this (it's a Mary Kaye box):

When the make-over session was done and the Mary Kaye lady finished schpeel about hosting a party or becoming a consultant, blah, blah, blah, we all started talking about how hungry we were and made a break for the local diner. The diner was a perfect ending with good food and good company. I have to show you their most popular desert because this blew me away.



It's the fried twinkie and oreo cookie! How bad can this be for you!? Something made out of artificial everything, covered in pancake batter and dunked in grease. After that they drown it in chocolate and strawberry syrup and whipped cream. I actually saw one of 'em come out of the kitchen and it was a sight to see!

The Famous Stacie

I love this girl! I just watched three of her videos and this one totally cracked me up! I also loved her Stay at Home Mom Superbowl RAP. I could be her, if I got a nose and chin job, and lost about 30 pounds, and started wearing colored contact lenses, and became cool, etc., etc., etc. I definitely relate to what she's saying here! Go check out her YouTube channel for yourself here!