Sass and Sippy Cups

Little peanut has been going through a"girly-girl princess" phase. As much as I was hoping the tomboy streak would prevail, I've decided to roll with it. So now she has a mirror and a tiny vanity with a brush, comb, and pretend makeup. What else could a princess need? Why, a castle, of course! So of course, I took to Pinterest. And of course they have some awesome stuff. Now I've mentioned before that we live in a small apartment. As much as I would have loved to make those cool castles and houses, they would take up too much space. So I would have to get creative and make it collapsible. Which also would require nagging my husband every week to bring home big cardboard boxes from work... I'm sure he loved that, BTW. But of course, anything for his little princess! Here's how I did it: I used 4 20"× 20" boxes A 30" × 30" box Electrical tape Contact paper (yes, more contact paper) Popsicle sticks Velcro 1. Cut the flaps...

Baby Registry Do-Over As their children get older, parents often think about things they could have done differently. One thing I wish I could re-do is my baby shower registry.   Parenting magazines and websites like to make you think everything is either necessary or will save you space or money, when the opposite is true for a lot of things.   These are the products I either wish I had registered for or wish I had skipped. Skip: Convertible Crib Don't fall for it!   In theory these things are great, and you can get a good deal on them sometimes. However, the majority of them will not save you money in the long run.   Many of them are upwards of $300, and that doesn’t include the conversion rails, which you have to buy separately. The one we got was almost $400, and you had to buy the rails which cost another $300! It might save you some space, but in my opinion, it’s not worth the investment in the long run. Register for: More newborn cloth...

Nefertiti Get ready for a long one, folks. In this edition of “Badass Women in History” we’ll be discussing without a doubt, one of the most powerful women of ancient Egypt: Queen Nefertiti. If you’ve ever had to take a World History class, chances are you’ve seen the above photo in a textbook somewhere. The woman depicted in this bust in Nefertiti.   She is most known for her famed beauty (her name literally means “the beautiful woman has come”) but behind the fair façade, she was a much more complex character, which is why many historians can’t agree on the role she played in history. What We Know for Sure Nefertiti ruled alongside Akhanaten as Great Royal Wife (as I mentioned in the last post about Hatshepsut, the pharaohs were almost always polygamous) during a time of great religious and political upheaval. This was because her husband decided to replace Amon, who was Egypt’s chief god, with another, Aten, restructuring society to revolve around this n...

Spring in Bloom  Mother Nature may not have gotten the memo, but it’s officially spring! I’m trying my best to remain hopeful and look forward to warmer weather, the smell of flowers and freshly mown grass, and outings with the little one. In the spirit of my positive spring attitude, I’m bringing you a pretty spring tutorial with subtly shimmery eyes, barely there liner, and a pretty pink lip color. 1.       First I used my trusty Skinvincible Moisturizer to prime and help my foundation and concealer glide on better. 2.       Then I used Rimmel’s Match Perfection foundation in Classic Ivory to even out my skin. 3.       Time to cover up the fact that I’m breaking out and have a clingy, teething toddler.   I used NYX Undereye Concealer in Light to clear up my dark circles and Avon’s True Color Concealer in Neutral on any red spots. 4.       I then...

Adult Coloring: Supplies Before it was cool, and before I even started teaching preschool, I was guilty of going to Walmart and buying kids coloring books and the biggest sets of crayons I could find… FOR MYSELF. I’ve never been good at any other types of art, no matter how many times I tried. But I just love color, and coloring has always mellowed me out. When adult coloring became popular, I tried for the life of me to get into it. I just couldn’t. I hated the tiny, detailed patterns that were absolutely impossible to find something skinny enough to fill them in with. Far from being relaxing, it made me want to throw all my coloring pages in the shredder. That is, until recently when I decided to give it another shot. I watched some YouTube videos on the topic of adult coloring. I learned what you can use to color, and techniques to make my pages look like they were colored by an adult and not a child.   I’m still new at this, and I’m by no means an art student or an expe...

When it comes to the paranormal, I refer to myself as an “agnostic skeptic.”   This means that I don’t know if it’s real because I’ve never had any experience with it, but I would love to put in the work to find out. I love stories about people in history, especially those that might still be trying to be heard years after passing away.   For example, my husband took me to Salem, MA and proposed to me at Hammond Castle in Gloucester, which I actually saw on an episode of Ghost Hunters.   The following are the top 5 “haunted” places I’d love to check out. The Stanley Hotel- Estes Park, Colorado “Heerrrrrreeee’ss Johnnnyyyy!” Yep, this place inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. The building has had tons of reported paranormal activity, including apparitions of children, former owners, and even a piano playing on its own in the Concert Hall. Pretty much anywhere in New Orleans I have always wanted to go to New Orleans. I love the way that i...

 Self-Care Experiment Check-In Back in January I posted about what I was calling “The Great Self-Care Experiment of 2018.” I figured now would be a good time to follow up on how it’s going. For starters, I am not being as rigid about it as when I first started. At the beginning, I wrote down everything I intended to do as a way of making myself accountable. All that did was give me more anxiety and I would feel bad when I wasn’t able to accomplish everything on the list. I realize now I was being a little unreasonable. I have an active, fussy, easily bored toddler… OF COURSE I wasn’t getting everything done. I was making my own self-care feel like a chore, and I have a hard time getting all those done too! Some aspects of my self-care I sneak in when I’m doing other things. For example, when I’m cleaning, I am BLASTING my music.   I color my hair at home, and I can’t see without my glasses. So I would normally just end up bored while the color is processing. Now, ...

Hi folks!   I’ve realized that I no longer want to confine myself to writing about the same topics over and over again because I’m worried I’ll eventually run out of things to say. So I’ve decided to use this as more of what I’m calling an “informative journal.”   This means I’ll use it to write about whatever fun things I’m doing, random thoughts I’m having, things I’ve learned about recently, or things I think someone reading this blog would like to learn about.   For example, I’ve been in an exceptionally crafty and creative mood lately, so you’ll probably be seeing some DIYs coming up.   Speaking of which, let’s get on with today’s post. DIY Doll Cribs The Easter Bunny brought the little princess her first “real” baby dolls this year. I’m calling them the first “real ones” because she does have a baby rag doll (that one is simply called “Baby”) that she sleeps with every naptime and every night. I think she feels these dolls look more like real babies t...