Sneak Off

I am avoiding my responsibilities. I'm avoiding chores. My insta-bestie Bethany is coming to visit me for the weekend and she arrives tomorrow morning! I'm oozing with excitement, I cannot wait for her to get here! In addition? My sister and her family are arriving today to stay for the weekend, too! This weekend hasn't even happened yet and it's already one of my favorites. The chores I speak of? That I'm dodging? Ugh, I have to clean my house. I have to do laundry and put things away and clean and dust and vacuum and scrub. Quite frankly, I have no desire to do any of it. Not that that will get me out of it - if I don't do it, who will? So until I buckle down and start polishing my floors, lemme fill you in on what's occupying my thoughts:

These little beauties.

Saucony makes the most comfortable shoes. Ever. I have owned said style of shoe twice, both times there were red. Loved them. Years ago my sister's sister-in-law (got that?) was wearing these shoes in this color combo.

Um - I instantly fell in love. White and Navy. So simple, so basic, SO cute. That was easily 7 years ago that I saw her in them and I have looked off and on for a pair like that since. Only to discover that they are NOWHERE to be found! Blast.

I'm getting desperate, BC peeps. I have found this version...

...which is close, so close in fact that I'm seriously considering painting the black stripe on the side blue. Yeah. It's ridiculous, I realize this.

On the other hand, they have some that come in sky blue.

Have I revealed my weakness for sky blue? Oh man, I love it - you could paint a smelly diaper sky blue and I would be tempted to showcase it in my living room.

So the hunt goes on, but I will own me some Saucony Originals in the extremely near future, be they painted or otherwise.

The Importance of Being Earnest!!

We opened our show this past weekend and it has been a smash hit!! We had a great turn out opening night - the audience was great and super responsive (which is always nice). Saturdays' show was even better. We're all having a ball, I'm loving every minute of this.

It was a little chaotic getting everything together for the opening, but as per usual everything came together and we have a delightful show. The COSTUMES are to die for. For reals. I can't post pictures until after my sister sees the show this weekend (I'm making her wait - the suspense is killing her, I know. Also, she's bringing her family up from Vegas to see the play, what's your excuse?). The cast is second to none - probably my favorite I've ever worked with. I'm paired with Jeff Thompson again, my (favorite ever) leading man from 'And Then There Were None'. He is such a stellar chap. Bert and Charlie (who play Cecily and Algernon) are a newly married couple and a total blast, Dennis is a PGP regular and I worked with Debra (who plays Miss Prism) a few years back and I absolutely adore her. Then of course, is Tayva Patch. My mom is timeless and SO good in this play, I'm so lucky to do this with her I could pop.

My Dad came to opening night and surprised my Mom and I with ginormous bouquets before the show. Here we are in our tiny dressing room.

I was so touched by all the texts and messages I received from friends on opening night. Thank you so much! You're all marvy. Now get your tickets and come see the show!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

What am I loving?

This lady. April Smith.

Her voice is so beautiful, my oh my. She has some MARVELOUS songs, so go have a listen!

Here's what I know...

1. My play opens in less than two weeks. Commence freak out.

2. If '5 Hour Energy' has sold more than 1 billion bottles, they should have plenty of funds, right? Couldn't they spend it on better commericals?

3. I know it's cold outside, we're all cold, but would you mind wheeling your grocery cart to the cart return? Honestly.

4. I'm seriously considering painting my art room pink.

5. We have now told Cole that if he goes potty in the toilet, we will let him drive. Yes. It has come to that.

For Love of a Good Man

Valentine's Day did not disappoint this year, BC lovers. It started Sunday night when I created Cache's Valentines box for his class. It was a bit of a challenge, I mean - how do you create a frilly love box for a boy? Apparently I went about it the wrong way. I wrapped a shoe box with some wood grain wrapping paper (because wood=tough, right? Maybe...except mine was silver) and then covered the top with blue paper. I put hearts on the corner and decorated the top...bah, I don't know. I painstakingly applied a bunch of tissue 'flowers' to the top, only to remember that I had intended to use silver tissue paper instead of pink. Bah.

Cache loved it and was very proud taking it to school, but I realize I should have had a game plan before I started making it. Maybe I can make him a monster truck one next year.

Here are the invites I (stole from my sister) made for Cache's class.

They were very simple and easy, but you know what? They were the only custom ones. I know! Apparently preschool is much more cutthroat than Kindergarten. Cache's owlvines were in a sea of store bought cards.

Cody had the day off, so my dear friend Celine watched my boys while Cody and I went to lunch. He then took the kids to the gym and ran some errands which left me the afternoon to read through some magazines, nap and relax. My goodness he's a great man. Once he got home we thought it'd be fun to take the kids to get a movie and grab some pizza.

Before we left, however, Cody gave me a tight hug and was holding something behind his back. It was a little box...with this inside.

I. Love. It. Isn't it SO pretty?! Oh my, I never want to take it off, it's so beautiful. (ps - My Dad made it, so I can get you one if you want!).

We sent the kids down to the play room with their movie and Cody and I feasted on pizza and watched some of our shows. A very simple Valentine's Day, not even roses. But my husband carved our initials in a tree, isn't he a Prince?

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day!

What a week I'm having!

Forgive my lack of posting! It's only been a week, I know, but I must admit - the longer I wait to blog the harder it is. I have good reason for my absence, there's much going on. At least it felt that way when they were going on...

First of all, it's February! The month of love! Love me some Valentines Day. Have you any plans? Neither do we. Don't know that we'll do anything spectacular, sometimes just having dinner together is the greatest thing. Cache has a Valentine's Day party next week and we get to help him (i.e. I'll be doing all of it) make his own mailbox to receive Valentines. I'm so excited! I also have to get all creative and make custom Valentines to take to his class. See, remember last year? Turns out that won't cut it. I have to get crafty. Now accepting ideas.

"The Importanct of Being Earnest" rehearsals have been a total ball. I'm having so much fun! We never want to end because we're having such a great time. The show is going to be so, so funny. You MUST come and see it. Along with being in the show, I'm also in charge of costumes. Normally I can just ask the cast to use some of their own wardrobe for their costume and I just supplement with some pieces the theater has. However, this play takes place in 1895. I can't really...just put stuff together for that era. I knew from the first that all of our dresses would have to be made (do you have any idea how expensive it can get to just rent some of that stuff?). Fortunately, my genius of a Mother is helping me with that and I have relied on her wealth of costume knowledge more times than I can count! We have been to just about every fabric store in the state, gushed over ribbons and trims, fallen in love with super expensive velvet and picked some truly gorgeous material to use for our dresses. You remember Gloria, right? My Mom's best friend and master seamstress? She is making our costumes and I am SO excited to see how they turn out. Here are some of the costume sketches.

Yes - my Mom did those. Free hand. Because that's how she rolls. The sketch she's holding up is for my dress in the second act.

So amazing, right??

Here is my material for my first dress, the 'Tea Scene'. It's this beautiful gold/yellow trimmed in teal. That gorgeous striped satin is for the ruffles on the front of the dress.

This is for my second dress: A taupe satin, stripes for the ruffles in the back and hot pink accents. Gorge.
And that's just the dresses, just wait until our hats are done. I'm ALSO designing the posters for the show, too. Because apparently I need to get my hands into everything. The show opens 3 weeks from Friday (what the what?) and I'm sort of freaking out about that. There's no time to lose!

My dear friend Melissa's 30th Birthday was this past weekend and her husband asked if I would make 60 cupcakes for the party. I wish I'd had more time to work on them! They turned out fine, but you know...I wanted them to be fantastic. She's a dancer (she choreographed 'Singin' in the Rain') so I made some little toppers for her.

Her favorite color is purple and she wanted lemon cupcakes. I had to miss the celebration due to a bridal shower and rehearsal, but I heard the cupcakes went fast.

Saturday morning we had a Patch Family Bridal Shower for my cousins' new little wife. It was so great to see all my Aunts, I love them all so dearly. Afterwards my Mom and I had lunch with my Aunt Lora and her friend Jeannie (both are hysterical). It was a blast, we laughed so hard and chatted non-stop. Love them. Family rules.

Finally, my son Cole is hilarious. If you have a spare cello case lying around, here's some ideas on how to use it:

Hopefully this week runs a little smoother, but I have many Valentine crafts planned and lots of rehearsals...so we'll see. I'm off to a costume fitting - yay!