What really happened to Cinderella…

by Natasha on August 3, 2012 in mommy blog

Last night we played a lovely game of musical beds. You know, the dance where you, your spouse & your children all rotate beds during the night?

At around 1a Sam came into our room, I don’t remember what she was crying about but I do recall being so tired that I made the foolish decision to pull her into our bed. After about the third time she rolled over & smacked me upside the face I decided to get up and stumbled into her room in hopes of salvaging a good night’s sleep. Around 3a Soph woke up crying. Which she never does, & I’m now fearful a grimy childhood virus is lurking. P & I quite literally ran into eachother in the hallway & I gave him the nod of “I got this, you’re welcome.” Did I mention he has strep? Yep, strep. Might as well stick a fork in him. I did the whole dance of patting her, slowly lifting my hand off her back one finger at a time & then slinking out of the room in ultra stealth mode. Each time that little head popped right up as I was making it out of the door & the wails returned. Once I even tried crawling out. ON MY HANDS & KNEES PEOPLE. Oh if only we had video cameras to capture this stuff. At some point I brought her to bed with me, Sam’s twin bed that is. This was around 4ish. At 6:30 I heard Sam at Sophie’s side of the bed, “WHAT are you guys doing in MY BED?! I want to play Barbies, you have to get out. NOW.” Turning four has given her a new false sense of authority, we’re gonna have to work at that. Goodness knows we tried but at this point everyone was up & the only logical thing to do was start brewing coffee. I tell you all of this because I had so many lovely ideas for the blog this week but my fatigue has left me to resort to cheap humor for web hits.

My friend Kelly texted me this at just the right time. Perhaps I have a tacky sense of humor but this totally turned my day around. My ass didn’t quite fall off but it certainly came close. P required an explanation of that last line…LMFAO, get it? I’m hoping you got it & the bacteria is just slowing his brain down.I have a feeling you’re snickering right now too. Go ahead, it’s funny people.

Have a great weekend my friend, I’ll meet you back here Sunday night. I’m hoping this next week on the blog I’ll have a ‘light’ chicken marsala recipe, a new Pinbusters video (DIY Beach Waves Spray anyone?) some more decorating makeovers & maybe, if I’m feeling brave, I’ll delve into my two cents on the whole chick-fil-a controversy. Nugget addiction vs. Ethics, c’mon now.

Oh & I totally got all your comments requesting more info on my at home gel manis after the DIY Chevron Mani post, ask & ye shall receive! Next time I do my nails I’ll video it & give you all the dirt, probably end of next week.

PS- I just had to take some quick photo booth snapshots of the green snot monster on my lap. She’s “doing my hair” while I type & just got a big blob of boogers on me. She’s lucky she’s cute.

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chevron nails tutorial (using pony stickers!)

by Natasha on August 1, 2012 in beauty

Chevron print is so hot right now & so is having an ‘accent nail’ in your mani. I knew I wanted to somehow marry the two but wasn’t sure how…& then it hit me, pinking shears & the edge of a sticker page! If you aren’t familiar pinking shears are scissors that cut in a zig-zag shape, they’re used for cutting a fabric edge that won’t fray but in this case they make the perfect mini-chevron maker. (you can purchase mine on Amazon here)My polish is actually gel (pink is Harmony Gelish ‘Shake It Til You Samba’ & the grey/purple shade is Harmony Gelish in ‘Princess Tiara’) but I think this would work just as well, if not better, with regular polish. Just make sure each layer is completely dry before starting the next & top the whole mani off with a nice shiny topcoat.

Anyone doing a little accent nail on their ring finger? I first saw my sitter Amy sporting this look with a black mani & fuchsia ring finger nail, I loved the look. I’m not too old though right?? I don’t think so…

Like what you see? Please like, pin or tweet this tutorial below!

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Sleeping Beauty Birthday Party::Sam’s Royal Beauty Parlor

by Natasha on July 31, 2012 in party

My little princess turned 4 this past weekend & I just can’t believe it.

When we asked her what kind of party she wanted no one died of shock when she said a ‘Princess Party’. I was impressed however with her idea to have a girl’s only beauty parlor party. Different & pretty easy to pull off as long as it’s a small party, I like the way she thinks.

The royal attendees came dressed as their favorite princess & then had their hair & makeup done by Snow White as well as glitter tattoos & manis by Cinderella. (Tip- hire your babysitters for party entertainment & make them wear cheap costumes from Amazon. Also I ordered this Princess and Hearts Professional Glitter Tattoo Kit, it was awesome)

The decor colors were pink, pink & pink with a splash of pink for accent. Our house looked like someone projectile vomited glitter pepto bismol everywhere…Sam was ecstatic.

Poor Kim, er Cinderella. Eventually us moms were even jonesing for a glitter tattoo. (And I didn’t even serve us alcohol, I swear!)I thought Sam would like it if I dressed up & yes, perhaps I liked having an excuse to partake in a little princess gown indulgence. It was also finally a reason to wear my pink poofy Forever 21 dress that has been stashed in the back of my closet since 2001. My mom said if I put a crinoline underneath it would look like Carrie Bradshaw’s famous tutu dress. Hmm, perhaps I’d be brave enough for that one day, perhaps. But probably not.

I don’t know what I was talking about when P took these pics but it certainly looks like an exciting story. “and then, I walked into the clearance aisle at Kmart & found DORA NIGHTGOWNS FOR FOUR DOLLARS!!”

We kept things simple with food trays from Chick-fil-a & a bakery bought cake & cupcakes. How amazing is this cake you guys, & seriously, it was crazy delicious! (‘pink velvet’ flavoring, yum!)Oby from Bim’s Cakes did a PHENOMENAL job, I highly recommend using her for affordable custom made cakes. She actually works in New Jersey but bakes from Maryland occasionally as well. I met her as a bloggy friend over a year ago & was thrilled to finally order one of her creations, you can check out her blog here.

Also amazing was Sam’s Sleeping Beauty dress. I ordered it from ‘My Fairy Godmother’s Closet‘ on Etsy & couldn’t be happier. If you’ve ever spent the money on one of those scratchy, horrible, pricey Disney Store dresses (raising hand) then please take the time to look into a custom made dress from a seamstress on Etsy. It’s beautifully crafted, hand-made in the USA & will absolutely be a keepsake she can hold onto for a very long time.I have no doubt however that Sam’s favorite present was having her Nana & Aunties here.

My mom & sisters Rebecca & Maggie all flew up from Florida for the weekend & it was wonderful. We’re sad to see them go. That’s why you haven’t heard much from the me the past few days, we’ve been crazy ~~shopping~~ spending quality time together. (PS- there’s an amazing sale going on at the Juicy Couture store in Tyson’s, I’m talking $300 dresses for $50 & bags for even less!)

At the end of the party Sam threw her arms around me & said, “Mommy, this is the best birthday party EVER!” Ugh, those are the moments my friend that make every bit worth it. Love that kid, happy birthday my beautiful big girl.

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DIY Princess Aurora Glitter Shoes

by Natasha on July 26, 2012 in tutorials, vlog

Ok, so I know they’re my kids & there’s a smidge of bias but these girls CRACK ME UP in this video!

Click on the video tutorial below to see how Sam, with a bit of help from me, turns some plain ballet flats into a pair of very special pink glitter Sleeping Beauty shoes. Just in time for her princess dress-up party!

Here is the link to the duct tape hairbows tutorial that I mention, however you don’t need to add the clip since we’ll be gluing these bad boys right on the shoes. Also here is the link to the toddler glitter shoes I made Sam when she was a little sprout.

Hope you make your little princess (or yourself) a pair in your favorite color, I might just have to do this to a pair of my heels a la Kate Spade Karolina…oooooh, tempting!

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Bunny Ranch Part 3- Mealtime

by Natasha on July 24, 2012 in Uncategorized

Here’s a little snip-it as to what life is like with the 3 week old buns. I’m still bottle feeding them twice a day but it’s getting tougher. They do seem to really like the dandelion & clover I’ve been picking for them, I guess they’re weaning.

Buns are getting pretty big & somehow the fatter they get the wilder they become. They bite me whenever I put my hand the cage, even my sweet Leila. These are definitely wild animals & seeing their instincts kick in makes any sadness I had about setting them free disappear. I’m thinking next weekend I’ll put their cage in the backyard by the bushes & will leave the cage door open so they can come & go as they please. Mama’s little babies are gonna be all growns up.

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Beach Table Makeover

by Natasha on July 23, 2012 in tutorials

This has been a remodel in the making for about…ohhh, two years.

It was one of those projects that I half finished & then never got back to. It’s been sitting, half spray-painted, in our bedroom for TWO YEARS. So much for a sanctuary.

After our beach trip I came home inspired & found a new will to finish this baby off & actually induce a sense of seaside invitation instead of junk yard furniture graveyard in our master bedroom.

The tray, candles, candlesticks & glass hurricane are all from Target. The shells, sticks & rocks are from our beach vacation & the sand is from the girl’s playtable. (Shhh, I’m hoping people will assume it’s from an exotic beach.)

I was very lazy with this table (at first) & didn’t take the time to sand off the old finish. I told myself if I used spray paint I could skip the sanding & priming. It didn’t quite work that way but the teal spray paint did make a nice base for the coat of aquamarine latex paint I put on top. (the spray paint just didn’t look right on it’s own) After the paint dried I roughed it up good with some ultra fine sandpaper & then rubbed some mission oak stain over the entire piece, paying special attention to the sanded edges. It still didn’t have an authentic worn look to it so I took a chance & used a brown sharpie to darken up the very edges of the sanded areas. Worked like a charm. I’m definitely going to have to remember that tip. I still need to rub a coat of polyurethane sealant over the entire piece to protect it but that will have to wait for another day. (or another 2 years)

Also of course the ‘before’ pictures are what make these remodel posts great but alas I cannot find the darn things. I did find this pic online however that’s pretty similar to what it looked like before, albeit bigger…

Now I’m off to finish 100 other errands I have to get done before Samster’s birthday this weekend. It’s a girls only princess dress up beauty parlor birthday party. You’re shocked at the theme, I know. Hope it’s a good Monday for you my friend!

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In bed.

by Natasha on July 20, 2012 in Uncategorized

Hey, just wanted to send you a quick little note letting you know I’m sick & am going to take the weekend to rest so no posts until Sunday. I’ve had this cough sticking around for a few weeks & then yesterday I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. Turns out I have ‘walking pneumonia’. Is it called ‘walking’ pneumonia because you’re still able to mobilize yourself? If so than I guess I’m lucky not to have regular ol’ pneumonia. Then again, maybe immobilized would be a nice break… (please don’t send me a comment saying that you cannot walk & I should really appreciate my ability to do so BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE CAN’T & I’M NOT BEING VERY SENSITIVE) Sorry, I get SHOUTY when I don’t feel well. And yes, you can complain comment because I should exude a little more sensitivity now & then.

As for the buns it turns out Slick Tim is still here & the one bunny I hadn’t named yet is the one that escaped that last time. He hasn’t come back, that I know of, so best of luck to you bun, I really hope you didn’t leave because I hadn’t named you & you felt unloved.

Slick Tim, Leila (my favorite, she actually climbs in my hand & let’s me pet her) & Bambi (the runt who I originally was calling ‘Rudy’ but Sam insisted he be ‘Bambi’…so Sam has said it, so it is done.) are doing well. I swapped their cage out for a hamster cage with less width between the bars & that seems to have resolved the break-out issue. Last night we had a crazy monsoon-ish rainstorm come through & poor P had to go bring the bunnies in at midnight, in the POURING rain & crazy lightning because I have pneumonia so obviously I get a pass on that one. It’s a good thing he did too, they had a good 1″ of standing water in their cage (and that was under an umbrella!) & I’m sure would not have fared so well sitting in that much water all night. It’s still raining today so they’re currently residing in our home office. Rose keeps pacing back & forth outside the glass doors to the office, stalking them much like the weird tiger does when small children come by his enclosure at the National Zoo. I hate that tiger. Pending no more freak rainshowers tonight I think they can go back out on the deck tomorrow…

Have a good weekend my friend, cough syrup cheers to you!

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Fugitive Rabbit: Updated!

by Natasha on July 18, 2012 in Uncategorized

I’ll make this a quick update because I’m sure a few of you are starting to get sick of the bunny posts & I have a fantastic furniture remodel I want to show you today…

We’ve got a slick little mother scratcher on our hands. The biggest of the bunnies, crazy Tim I call him, has escaped…again. Yesterday he chewed his way through where the plastic base of the cage & the wire bars meet. He slipped out during the night & at some point two other bunnies followed his lead. The next morning we found one right away in the girl’s playhouse on the deck but the other two were no where to be seen. I had just changed into my grubby clothes, grabbed a flashlight & prepared myself that I was going to have to conquer my fear of what icky, gooey creatures must live under our deck & crawl under there to look for the bunnies. (just the thought gives me the willies, I know I’d come out with spiders in my hair!) I was literally on my hands & knees going in when Lucy started digging & squeaking up a storm on the other side of the deck, I ran over to her & she was pawing at an old deflated baby pool that was piled up under the deck. I dug through the water soaked pool, prayed for no snakes to pop out & sure enough the runt bunny, Rudy, was soaking wet, stuck in a fold in the pool. I dried him off & returned him to the cage with his siblings. We were still missing crazy Tim though. My babysitter Amy & I were just starting the search again when Lucy ran over to one of our basement windows & started squeaking again ::SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEEEAAKK!!!:: Down in the 2 ft deep, aluminum sided hole that goes down to the basement windows was crazy ass Tim. He never would’ve made it out of there, stupid rabbit would’ve roasted by the time the sun came over that side of the house. Lassie, I mean, Lucy had found both bunnies. I’m furious with myself for not videotaping the whole ordeal! We’ve always said that what Lucy lacks in smarts she makes up for in heart. Perhaps she’s not quite as mentally inept as we thought. Sadly crazy Tim got out again last night despite my attempts to patch up his hole. That rabbit is determined to be out in the wild, which of course is what’s best, just not quite yet. I’ve just started offering them some hay, clover & other bunny friendly grasses from around our yard in between their bottle feedings. I estimate them to be just shy of 3 weeks old, most bunnies don’t leave the nest until 5 weeks.

I took Lucy out this morning & told her to find the bunny! She just cocked her head to the side & gave me that look of “I hear noise coming out of your mouth but it doesn’t make any sense. Maybe you’re gonna pet me?! Yes, pet me!!” Tail goes ::WAP WAP WAP::

Apparently her Lassie moment was fleeting & Timmy’s going to stay in the well.

UPDATE: At 11am this morning I was just about to leave the house when I had a nagging feeling to go check on the buns. I went outside & all looked good so I started to go back in. Just then I looked to my left & I couldn’t believe it, crazy Slick Tim was wedged between the grill & the wall! I scooped him up, gave him a bottle, (lil bugger was starving) & put him back in the cage with his siblings. I ran some errands for a few hours including a trip to Petsmart to buy hay for the buns. At around 1pm I went outside to offer them the hay & couldn’t believe it, SLICK TIM WAS GONE AGAIN! This rabbit is freaking Houdini reincarnated. I have NO CLUE how he’s getting out. I kind of shrugged my shoulders & kept on with the hay when, HoP! HoP! Slick Tim ran right across my lap! I tried to catch him but he bolted, jumped off the deck & sprinted into the yard. That rabbit has a deathwish. Whatever little dude, best of luck to you my friend!

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All Growns Up

by Natasha on July 17, 2012 in mommy blog

Sorting through outgrown baby clothes has to be one of the worse tasks on Earth. I honestly let the pile of too tiny clothes grow & grow until it gets to the point of truly intrusive. Then I spend a few hours going through both girls closets, sorting & bagging. This was my task this morning, but some reason it was much harder than usual.

Going through Sam’s stuff gives me a bit of a pit in my stomach, I just can’t believe she’s outgrown her favorite doggie shirt already, but at least I know I still have a tinier one waiting in the wings. Sorting Sophie’s closet however was just plain gut-wrenching. Newborn, 0-3 mths, 3-6 mths, 6-12 mths, 12-18mths & even 18-24 mths. She’s gone through them all. The entire infant section is completely done.

All the sweet, little, softie early walker shoes…in the giveaway bag. The soles are worn through & elastics stretched out, I’ve put two kids through each of these items & now it’s time to let them go.

When I actually tied all 8 bags of my little laundry memories I was surprisingly ok. I think I was well distracted by being uber pleased with myself that I could actually see the closet floors & successfully open & the close the dresser drawers. When it came time to actually unload the bags at the donation center however, I started to break. I think it was seeing Sam’s pink elephant onesie through one the bags. Yes, I know they’re going to some sweet little girl who needs them but they were still mine. My memories. My babies. All grown up. I dropped them in the bins, got in the car & caught a quick reflection of myself in the review mirror. I saw the furrowed ‘I’m about to cry’ brow & immediately decided I was too hormonal & needed to suck it up. In the end they are just clothes. I’ll always have the memories & while I it’s ok to give yourself a minute or two to mourn the time that’s passed, anymore than that is just taking away from time you could truly be savoring the wonderful age your child is now. Unless your child is a 14 year old hormonal girl. That can just suck & you can cry.

Am I just a sentimental wreck or do you have a hard time donating your children’s stuff too??

PS- I didn’t give away EVERYTHING, I’m allowing myself one tub (the biggest Target sells) to keep my favorite items. My plan is one day when my girls are big & busy with their own lives I’ll take all their tiny clothes & sew myself a quilt. It will be like a memory album that you can wrap yourself in.

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The Bunny Ranch- Part 2

by Natasha on July 16, 2012 in mommy blog

If you check out my FB, Twitter or Instagram (my name is Samstermommy) then you already know my secret selfish wish came true. Mama bunny did not come back & I had a legitimate reason to buy that teeny tiny kitten bottle I always see at Petsmart. (you can read the original bunny story here)

I do feel kind of bad, like I put some bad baby mama bunny joo-joo out there. Let me also say that as much as I oohed & awed about how fun it would be to help raise them I absolutely knew (know) that it would be best for the mama to raise her little ones & let nature be. In fact, the more P & I read up on hand-rearing cottontails the more we really hoped she’d come back. These little guys are apparently the worst orphans to get, they have very delicate immune & digestive systems while their worst trait is their schitzo personalities. They’re very easily stressed out & we even read about some people who’s wild bunnies committed suicide by throwing themselves into walls because they were so freaked out about living in the house. How can something so cute be so screwed up? I’m calling it the cute to crazy ratio. The cuter something is the more mentally inept it probably is. Kind of like how the hottest girl in the bar is usually also the psycho. Such is the balance of life.

In the end however mama did not come back. We watched with our motion activated nanny cam for two nights & nothing. I couldn’t just let the poor little dears starve to death right on my back doorstep so I had to suck it up and do this…Awful right? I just have to drag myself to do it. Ugh, poor me!

Once again, STUPID CUTE. Feeding these little ones is like free therapy.

We think the bunnies are about 2 weeks old & I’m hoping that in the next week they should start exploring around their nest. (Crazy Joe already is) At that point I can leave some clover, hay & other grasses from our area out for them. (don’t worry, our yard isn’t chemically treated) For now they’re eating 2 parts kitten replacement milk (cat formula) & 1 part heavy cream, twice a day. The plan is to keep the door on the cage shut until they’re a little heftier & then eventually start leaving it open so they can leave if they want to. I think because the cage is up on our deck & by the back door predators will be unlikely. Then again, I never thought a pregnant rabbit would come give birth in my doorstep flowerpot. Crazy ass rabbits.

I’ll give you another update at the end of the week, these little suckers grow up fast. Since we discovered them last week their eyes have opened & ears have stood up. Only 2-3 more weeks until they’re fully grown & leave the nest. My little babies are all growns up!

PS- Say a prayer for the runt. The other 3 seem to be doing decent at feeding but the tiny one is slow & not great at taking food. Poor little guy.

PSS- We’re also not involving the girls a whole lot so they won’t get too attached in case one or two don’t make it. Sam has just now stopped asking about Parker & if I’m going to go to heaven with him. I am not opening that box again, those questions give me the worst pit in my stomach.

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