SAVE FERRIS!!! And Other Newly-Awesome Shirts

We went to lot of galas last weekend.  =)

Friday was my 5th anniversay with my Mister, and we celebrated by taking Took to Railroad Park in Downtown Birmingham to play for a while.  The thunder and threatening rain took us home sooner than I would've liked, but all in all I was REALLY happy we went, because the Small Boy LOVED IT.

I mean:  LOVED.  AND.  WAS.  ALL.  ABOUT.  IT!!!!

This was the moment he discovered the slide, please see below:

 

 

 

 

So that was Friday.  =)

 

Saturday night we attended a surprise birthday party for a dear friend of ours (HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGIE!!!!), and I giggled and drank two simply FRIVOLOUSLY touristy-looking Pina Coladas, and ate chimichanga until I was pretty sure I was going to regret it.  Then we all went to Lou's Pub, sat around and talked and giggled some more, and I drank one drink (and no more) so that I was SURE I would not regret it.

 

=)

 

Then we attended the FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY of two dear friends' daughter, drank more punch, ate FABULOUS cake, and protected Took from the two perfectly docile puppies roaming the grounds.

 

A great time was had by all.  =D

 

BUT.

 

During all this "Great-Timey-ness". . . I came upon a rather startling and horrifyingly disturbing truth:

 

I have nothing to wear.

 

For.  REALS.

 

In the winter, it is different and less stressful, because all you have to have are a couple of drawers full of jeans and sweaters and such, and YOU ARE SET!!!

 

But it is NOT winter yet, and thus I have simply nothing to wear.

 

(Nothing "acceptable" to wear, that is . . . oh, I have PLENTY to wear if we were in, say, a "Let's stay at home and play with finger paints" kind of place today, or if there was a gala coming up, and the dress code called for "Back Yard Play-Doh Chic with Two Lifesavers Stuck to the Hem".  I also have SEVERAL different items that would look perfectly suitable for going out to, say. . . fill the car up with gas.  Or to pick the cat up from the vet, or to wear to Hobby Lobby on a watercolors-run.  I think you can see where I am going with this. . . it is NOT a subtle point that I am attempting to make.)

 

So. . . directly before one or another of the Dress Like A Relevant Human events of last weekend, as I was throwing item after useless, frilly, too-tight, too-hot, uncomfortable, ridiculous item out of my closet. . . I happened to find a few tshirts that I LOVE, but have never worn.

 

So, even given my past history with scissors, and the bleakness and tales of woe to be found therein (***at several points in my life, and for no logical reason whatsoever, I have decided to give myself BANGS.  It has yet to turn out well.  . . .and yet I always believe that THIS TIME!!!  THIS will be the time it will look AMAZING!!!  Never.  Happens.***), I pulled out the closet pair of scissors and went to cutting.

 

I don't even think I have to tell you:  For a few moments there. . .

I WAS EDWARD SCISSORHANDS!!!

 

 

And so, without further ado. . . HERE are my projects from last night!!!!  =)

 

(Maybe took 8 minutes total to do all three.)

 

 

HERE is what the SAVE FERRIS shirt looked like before:

 

 

 

 

(Obviously a really cute shirt, but the cut looked stupid on me.)

 

 

AND HERE IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE NOW!!

 

 

 

 



And from the side. . . check out the sleeve bow.  =)

 

 

 

 

 



The LOW BOW!!!!

 

 

 

 

 



 

So, after all this UNBRIDLED success with the Ferris tshirt, the only reasonable take-away was that I WAS A SECRET TSHIRT RESTYLING GENIUS.

 

So, being a woman of action, and NOT one to squander this great gift/responsibility that I had been given, I quickly scavenged through every dresser drawer I have and came away with two more tshirt treasures.

 

The first:  A Jack Skellington.

 

An awesome shirt, to be sure.  But the sleeves are just a tad tight for me, and so I always end up sweating right through them.

 

A snip here, a snip there. . . . the visual in my head:

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . .aaaaaand voila!!

 

 

 

 





 

 

Finally, the last top to undergo surgery was a Beatles shirt that I got a few months ago from Plato's Closet, and have only worn once.  And I LOVE the shirt!!!  . . . but the sleeves were all weird for my body type, and it ended up just looking strange and slovenly and . . . did I say slovenly already?    (Just checking.  Because it TOTALLY did.)

 

So I cut the arms off entirely, widened the neck (because I LOVE off-the-shoulder tops), and THIS is how it turned out:

 

 

 

 

I.  AM.  PLEASED.

 

(Pleased as PUNCH!!!  For REALS.)

 

NEW SHIRTS!!!  I had three shirts that I admired from afar but never wore, and NOW I have THREE SHIRTS THAT I CAN'T WAIT TO WEAR!!!!

 

I MUST be a genius.

 

Or a sorceress. . .

 

There really is no other logical explanation. . .

 

====================================

 

 

I made that little line up there to signify that THAT topic, the one found ABOVE. . . has ended.

 

(I did not want you to feel that perhaps I had gotten bored, and was simply wasting your time with drawings of really long earthworms in love.  This is not the case.  I am simply introducing a new topic of conversation. 

 

Consider this my way of easing you into it.)

 

(**You're welcome.**)

 

 

In lieu of a better title for this section, I have decided to call it:

 

 

**So I Decided To Take Pictures of My House Today**

 

(But I am going to try to top it.)

 

 

So today while the baby was napping, I did some round-the-house repurposing.  I hesitate to call it "redecorating," because it was nothing near that grand. 

 

Besides, everybody knows that "redecorating" costs money.

Basically, this was just moving SOME of my stuff around with some OTHER of my stuff.  It was fun.  More importantly, it was FREE.

=)

 

 



 



 

 

 

This is our kitchen table/breakfast nook/ place for me to stack my paints and brushes and easels when I feel the urge to paint. 
(We also use the table to play with crayons on, and Play Doh, as they are allowed nowhere else in the house.  =)

 



 

 

 

 

 

Our bar table, where I like to stow (prettily, I like to think) art supplies and  fairies I've made.  =) 

 

 

Paints and brushes and stuff.

My Mouse I Still Need To Finish, and my Bert and Ernie I Still Need To Finish, behind the awesome Japanese-looking teapot I found on a thrift store hunt.  And smell-goodly candles.  =)
                                               



                                         


Only one of many.  Our bookcases are precious.




                               



Repurposed candle holder with rice for the window ledge in the bathroom.  I am in LOVE with this right now.

 

 

 

And I don't even care that Took has arranged the bed pillows on the couch, or that he's brought down about 4 of his stuffed animals from upstairs. 

 

 

Took's Nook.  Complete with Caillou's Treehouse, and MY Fisher Price garage that I used to LOVE PLAYING WITH as a kid!!!  Underneath the Bench We Used To Use For Sitting are storage bins:  one holds all his musical toys, and the other holds nothing but cars.  They ARE a favorite.  =)

 

 

This looks like the coat rack of a home inhabited solely by Circus performers. . .

 

Big Bird chair.  From MY childhood.  SERIOUS.  OLD.  SCHOOL. 

I AM STREET FROM WAY BACK.

 

. . . I do not even care that this is my den, even though I SWORE I would NEVER be one of "those types of people" that had a child and suddenly they were letting that child CONTROL THE HOUSE. 

I always just KNEW that *I* would let a child play with a few things at a time, put them away, and then play with more.  No muss, no fuss.

And yet THAT is my living room.  It could pass for any play room at any day care center ANYWHERE.  . . . and that kind of makes me happy. . . to think that a kid might feel at home here.  =)

The Books.  In the Winnie the Pooh hat box. 

 

And finally, we went to the Dollar Tree today, and THIS GREEN BUCKET turned out to be the PURCHASE OF THE DAY!!

I originally bought it to be used as a waste basket in the upstairs bath. 

But then I realized that there was really no use for one up there, and so it became. . . .

TOOK'S CLEANING SUPPLIES BUCKET!!!!

. . . .

And so this has been a glimpse into our lives.

Ta-DAAAAAAAA.

 

 

 

 

 

Brief List of Random Thoughts Winging Round My Brain

**Michael is feeling sick, and he is a little dehydrated, so I am making him sit up in bed and drink sweet tea.
He is also clearly delusional, because he is watching the news and facebooking on his phone, and has just expressed irrational dismay over the fact that he had not posted a swear word in the comments on Fox's facebook page so that it might be seen on the air. Also: He gets popsicles.

**I'm sitting here eating the black-eyed pea dip that I simply HAD to make because. . . because I was really craving it. (Woke up from our nap with a super-strong craving. Who am I to question?) We didn't have all the ingredients, and so I've had to substitute some stuff, but it is still delicious. . . . I need to remember to one day devise a recipe for a black-eyed pea dip that contains soy sauce and chinese hot mustard.

. . .pretty sure that would REALLY be where it's at.


**Michael just shared that he knows someone that drives a nice car. (Not unheard-of nice, but nice.) And this person is so preoccupied with the maker of this particular car, and the status that they obviously believe that it represents, that they go out of their way to find excuses to work it in to conversations and/or statuses.

This is one of my biggest peeve-buttons.

(I hate it when people do this.)
I fully believe that behavior of this nature makes you a perfect twat of a person.

(I feel pretty strongly about it.)


**I made the boys a fort in the kitchen. It is completely kick-ass, and even better than the last one.

Because I RULE at fort-planning and execution.

(I think it is important to recognize your strengths.)


**I have decided that I am going to be more patient with people. Not because they deserve it, but because I am not a complete asshole.

And I'm pretty proud of that.


**Seriously.

This dip is awesome.

=)

Why I Am So Tired

So I should really be writing a post about our recent family vacation right about now.

We went to Gulf Shores.  The beach.  All the kids were there.  We stayed for a week.  It was great fun.

And ONE of these days. . . I will probably actually compose a post about it. 

But that day is not today.

(Or, as the Aragorn in my head says:  ". . .It is not THIS day!")





Either way. . . it's just not happening right now.

Vacation-times were GREAT times!  . . . but they were like seven DAYS worth of great times!  And that's a lot to remember.  And edit.  And fix photos in. . . you get the idea.

And I'm tired.

It's only 8:00 p.m., and I'm tired.

(Don't judge me.)

So instead of humorous anecdote-filled vacation posts, I'm instead going to post about why I am tired right now.

WHY I AM SO TIRED RIGHT NOW

I GOT UP AT LIKE 5:30 THIS MORNING.

Michael got home around 5:30 this morning, and I knew it as soon as he opened the door, because there was panic in his voice when he said:  "Danielle??"

Turns out that the storm last night broke our gate to the back yard.  (I was unaware of this.  I just knew that it had stormed really loudly.  And as I was lying there, waiting until the next boom of thunder woke the baby up. . . I fell asleep.)  All Michael knew was that, when he pulled up, the gate was wide open and the latch was on the ground.  He was naturally concerned.

But after that, I was awake.  Got up and started the coffee.


I EXERCISED.  BECAUSE I DO THAT NOW.

That's right.

I've been at the Y once a day since we got back from vacation.

(I have seen no "results" as of yet.  I am trying to stay positive.  Morale is fickle, but basically remains high.)

So after we got to the Y this morning, and after I said a really crappy-feeling "Goodbye!" to my bawling son in the kids' room (he has not grown fond of these forays into being social just yet), I spent 25 minutes watching Supernatural as I turned the wheels on the Jogging Machine That Goes Nowhere But Has A Cup Holder.

(It was a really good episode.)

Then I spent 15 minutes in the Really Hot Wooden Room That The Sign Says To Wear A Coverup In (like I wouldn't anyway), and did crunches.  Hot crunches.

Suprisingly enough, they feel great.  =)

. . .unless someone else happens to be in the Really Hot Wooden Room.  Then I wait them out.

(Seriously.  I can have the patience of a zen master.)

Then I go flop around in the pool for a bit, while I watch the older people do their Flop Around In the Pool For A Bit Class.

(I have a natural ability.  In 30 years or so, I could totally be an instructor.)

Then I go back to the wooden room, finish my crunches, and head on over to The Room Where You Shower In Flip Flops.

Then I get dressed and go pick up my boy.

Who, so far, has been more inclined to greet me with a look of extreme hatred than he is to smile and look as though he is pleased to see that I have returned.

Then we go home, get juice and graham crackers, and watch Sesame Street and take a nap.

Which brings me to my next point. . .


I ONLY GOT TO NAP FOR AN HOUR TODAY.

That's right.  Just one brief hour.

I thought this was AMERICA!!!

Seriously though, I would like to remind you that we were on vacation last week.  And in that time, I became very much accustomed to napping with the baby for 1 1/2 - 2 hours every day.

And yet TODAY. . . I was only able to sleep for ONE HOUR.

I think we can all see where this would have the potential to be problematic.

My point has been made, so let's just move on to


I CLEANED OUT PADAWAN'S CLOSET TODAY.

The emotional trauma ALONE would've broken a lesser woman into pieces.

Sterner stuff, folks.

Sterner stuff.


I HAD MY FIRST LIGHTSABER BATTLES WITH TOOK!

He's been playing with the lightsabers for a while.  (They light up, make sounds. . . they're awesome.)  But tonight he actually figured out what they were FOR. 

And so he got them both. . . brought them to me. . . and held one out to me.  Urged me to take it.

So I did.  Looked at in confusion.

Turned it on.

Let the evil grin transform my face in the glow from the plastic tube.

Cackle maniacally.

=)

. . .my lightsaber battles are. . . VIGOROUS.

I do not phone it in.

Which brings us to. . .


I AM A BIT OF A TURD.

While this entire post has been completely factual, the REAL reason I am complaining about being so tired is because my husband worked 12 hours last night.

Then he came home and slept for maybe an hour.

And then he left to go work 12 more.

And he didn't complain. 

(Except for just a little bit.  I told him he would probably feel better if he just cried in his truck, but he didn't act as though he was really even considering it.)

And I think complaining about MY sleepiness, especially when compared to HIS lack of sleep, is funny. 

REALLY funny.

=D

But I've been told that I have a weird sense of humor.