The Royal Wedding is like my Super Bowl.

I will be among the millions watching the Royal Wedding on TV tomorrow morning. Early tomorrow morning.  I've asked for the day off work.  I've decided to keep Bean home from school.  And I am ready to see a wedding dress!

I have been obsessed with the Royals since the day Charles and Diana announced their engagement. I remember my Dad had on the World News or something one evening.  They were talking about a Prince and a beautiful girl that was going to be a princess.  What? You can BECOME a princess?  I was instantly bitten with royal fever.

I would beg my mom to buy every single magazine with Diana's picture on the cover.  I still have them all.

I have books, magazines, dolls, porcelain palaces.  My most prized Diana possession is a hard bound edition of the Dresses auction catalog from Christie's.   No one is allowed near it but me.  I know the power of a toddler so this is stored away high above her head.

theweddingtiara.com

I remember my Dad getting up early with me to watch the wedding.   I look back now and think this is completely out of character for my Dad but at the time I didn't even question it.  He probably fell back asleep in his chair while I watched but we were still there together.  He died two years later.

royalwedding2011news.com

I followed the trials and tribulations of Princess Diana all throughout her royal life.  I remember the day Prince William was born.  I was at my grandmother's and I would keep going in the house to check on the news to see if the little baby was there yet.  It sure seemed to take a long time for William to finally show up.

nydailynews.com

I honestly could not believe it the day the Palace announced that Charles and Diana were divorcing.  I had read hundreds of books on the British monarchy by then and just did not see how that would ever be allowed.

I remember being so upset when I heard the news that Diana had been in the car accident. I stayed awake all night watching CNN for more information.  Then when the word came that she had died, I was simply devastated.

Some people find that bizarre that someone would feel so strongly over a celebrity's passing.  But I did.  I think a large part of it was that my own mother had died suddenly four months prior to Diana.  I missed my mother so much.  I can tell you that there wasn't a single day for a year after my Mom died that I did not cry for her.   And then to hear the news that Diana was gone was heart wrenching.  Diana was something my mother and I shared.  She started my Diana collection for me by bankrolling all the magazine and book purchases until I was old enough to do it myself.  If she ran across a magazine she didn't think I had, she'd bring it home to me and we'd look at Diana's pictures and talk about her.   With Diana gone, that was another connection I had lost with my own mother.

Even though I was in my twenties by then, I just remember my heart aching for those boys.  To see them face her death and for them to be so strong reminded me that I had had a lot more years with my Mom than they would ever have with theirs so I needed to be grateful for that.

And, of course, the person that Diana was with the people that she met was extraordinary.  We miss people like that when they are gone.  She was a privileged girl who fell into a relationship of great wealth and importance but she did bring joy and awareness to a lot of people in her life.

And now that her first born is marrying, it just reminds me of all the things that I've experienced since discovering royalty so many years ago on that news program.  Tomorrow morning I will be watching as this beautiful couple begins a life together.  I will think about the times I have shared with these royals.   Engagements, weddings, babies and funerals.  I lived through some myself and I witnessed many of theirs.

It will make me remember my Dad and my Mom and I will smile.  And cry.  I'll definitely cry, too.  Doesn't everyone cry at weddings?

The hairbows of my dreams.

This contest is now over.  The winner is announced HERE.  

 
I've messed around a few times trying to make some hairbows for Bean. I've dabbled here and there but really haven't cared for most of the ones I've made.

Thank goodness then that there are folks out there like my friend, Barbara, who is the owner and bow maker at HairbowsandMore.com.  I've known Barbara for a few years.  We "met" in a message group and have been Facebook games friends ever since.  Barbara recently contacted me through ye olde Facebook to ask if I would "like" her Facebook page for her hairbow shop.  I had no idea Barbara had a hairbow shop. She had mentioned to me back when Bean was just a wee little thing that she made hairbows and offered to send me some.  I, being a complete idiot, laughed it off because there simply was no hair for me to attach a bow to.  Bean's hair did not start growing until just about her first birthday. I kept wondering if any would ever show up.  Baby wigs aren't just internet jokes, people.  That's all I'm saying about that. 

But let's get back to Barbara...I went right away and took a look at her site for myself.  I was amazed!
There I found the bows I had always wanted for Bean's hair. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say I have looked at hundreds of hairbow sites and bows and I haven't found very many that rival the ones Barbara makes.  [The others that I do like are already friends of this blog because I've hounded them down and begged them to be my friend.]

Just take a look at these bows!

 

They are all so pretty!

After I gushed to Barbara, she offered again to send me some bows as a gift for Bean.  I told her that I would love to see them and would mention her shop on my blog.  Well, when I received the bows, I thought they deserved more than a mention so she's getting a whole post dedicated to her beautiful bows!

Here are some pictures of the bows she sent us.   My pictures don't do them justice really.

Bean has a favorite.

So do I.

See.  I told you she needed a haircut.  She's also tired of me taking her picture.

You like what you see, don't you?  Well, Barbara has been so kind to allow me to do a giveaway to her shop for a $15 gift certificate.  The winner can pick out any hairbow(s) of their choosing, any style, any color.  That's an awesome gift!

To enter the contest, all you have to do is visit HairbowsAndMore.com and take a look around.  Let me know which bow design you like the best.

I am changing the way to enter my giveaways.  They will now be run via a survey, which means comments on this post do not count (and will be deleted). In the long run, this is quicker for you if you go for extra entries.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER GIVEAWAY CONTEST.

There are 5 possible entries! Here’s what you can do to win:

1. *Mandatory entry: What is your favorite bow design from HairbowsAndMore.com?
2. Subscribe in a reader or via email to Pinkie and The Bean (or tell me if you already do).
3. “Like” HairbowsAndMore.com on Facebook (or tell me if you already do).
4. “Like” Pinkie and The Bean on Facebook (or tell me if you already do).
5. Tweet about this giveaway along with the link to it. (Email subscribers can forward their message.)

Remember, comments here DO NOT COUNT. You must use the survey form.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER GIVEAWAY CONTEST.

I will use random.org’s integer generator to choose the winner, who will be announced on the blog and will receive an email.  The giveaway is open to U.S. residents.  Entries will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. EST on Tuesday, May 3 and I’ll post the winner the following day.

Good luck!

Happy Secretary's Day to Me!

Today was Administrative Professionals Day or as some of us regular folks like to call it "Secretary's Day". I don't have to have a fancy-schmancy title to make me feel better. I just need that signature on the paycheck to show me you care!

My bosses gave me these beautiful flowers today to say thanks for all my hard work. Aren't they purdy?

I think the fellas did a nice job in picking out such pretty flowers for me.  So to all the other secretaries and/or Administrative Professionals out there - enjoy your day and keep up the good work!

Pinkie's Picks - April 20, 2011

I've been trying to catch up on all the posts in my Google Reader. I'm reading but the number sure doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. Here's the latest batch of webby goodness I've found.

Since I haven't done a Spring sensory box for Bean this month, I thought I'd share one of the prettiest ones I've ever seen. This one is by Pink and Green Mama.

I want to try this recipe for Cinnamon Honey Butter by Kevin and Amanda.  Cinnamon.  Honey.  Butter.  I doubt I could get that wrong.  (Wishful thinking.) 

This paint chip egg garland by Nap Time Crafts makes me want to run down to Home Depot right away. I wonder how many women they have to escort off the paint aisles for taking only the paint chips?

I've decided I want a mermaid birthday party.  Do you think that would be too weird for a grown up? Probably, but "weird" has never stopped me before.  Check out this post about a mermaid birthday party at Living Locurto. (She's also having a giveaway for this collection. If you enter and win, please invite me.)

All I can think about when I see these Peep S'mores from Eclectic Recipes is "those poor bastards".  Maybe this is better though than the slow death I inflict by chomping off one ear at a time.

If you are like me and are thinking of trying to learn how to sew, this tutorial on "How to Thread a Sewing Machine" by Tip Junkie might be a good place to start.   I think it's probably a good idea to have thread in a machine when you're sewing.  (Nothing gets by me!)

I can just see this chalk board purse idea coming back to bite me in the patooty if Bean were to mistake her purse for one of my vintage Coach purses.  And by "vintage" I mean 7 -10 years ago when I had money to blow on a purse.  Chalk and Coach do not mix!

These Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas from HowDoesShe are probably something in the kitchen that I couldn't screw up.  (More wishful thinking.) 

And could you imagine dressing like this...everyday...in the Georgia heat?   No wonder there were so many fainting ladies way back when.

Courtesy PecanneLog blog.

Enjoy!

A Shabby Thank You

I wanted to make a present for a nurse at my doctor's office that helped me so much through my recent health scare. She made all my appointments for me and helped me to get fasttracked through the whole process. She is so very sweet every time I go in. I knew she deserved a special thank you for all she did for me.

But what do you get for someone when you don't have a lot of extra money to thank them the way you'd like to and you're not really sure what they like and don't like?

I decided to make a shabby picture frame for her. We all have pictures of loved ones that we like to sit on our desks or mantels or where ever.

I started with basic materials (I did take a picture of all this but when I tried to email it to myself, I deleted it instead):

Supplies: 

Wooden frame (I got this one at Michael's)
scrapbook paper
acrylic paint
embellishments (these flowers came from Stampin' Up)

Tools:
sponge applicator
exacto knife
scissors
Modge Podge
sand paper
hot glue gun

I started off by painting the whole frame with some acrylic paint. The color is called Caribbean Blue. Doesn't that sound nice? I also painted the inside of the picture window pink for a little contrast.

I had the paint and the scrapbook paper on hand. This is one of those crafting times when everything just falls into place. The paint I picked up a few months back and the paper has been sitting in my office/craft room for about a year. The colors just matched perfectly.

Once the paint was dry on the frame, I Modge Podged the front and placed the scrapbook paper on. I placed a large square on the frame and lined it up with the corners and one edge. Then I went back and cut out around the frame. Once that was finished, I took the exacto knife and cut out the center square. I'm sure more skilled crafters could have measured and cut the correct sized strips in the first place but we all know who we are dealing with here so that didn't happen.

Once the paper was lined up, I Modge Podged it to seal it all around on the frame.

This is when I should have sanded the edges and sides but I put on another coat of Modge Podge before I remembered I wanted to sand it all down a little. It worked but not as well as I would have liked.

I then hot glued the flower embellishments onto the frame. Once everything was dry, I just placed the cut out center back behind the glass instead of the one that came with the frame. I liked how it all lined up nicely.

I hope my friend likes her gift and I hope she knows how much I appreciated all she did for me.

Meet Me on Monday

Today I thought I'd do something different and join in on a linky party called Meet Me on Monday hosted by  Never Growing Old.  I got the idea from the Cakeologist at Cakeology.

Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post that helps people get to know a little more about you.  Here are this week's questions.


Questions:

1.  Caesar Salad or Garden Salad?
2.  Will you be watching the Royal Wedding on April 29th?
3.  Last thing you spent lots of money on?
4.  Window seat or aisle seat?
5.  Do you know your blood type?
---------------------------------------------------------------
My Answers!

1.  Caesar Salad or Garden Salad?

I prefer a garden salad with ranch dressing usually.

graciousrain.com

2.  Will you be watching the Royal Wedding on April 29th?

courtesy of singlegalnyc.com

 (See, they laugh at my jokes, too!  Bless 'em!)

Does a bear...? Never mind.

The answer is yes, yes, yes!  I am a big old Royalholic.  I have been since I watched Princess Diana on her wedding day.  I have a collection of Diana memorabilia and other royals items in my home that no one but me is allowed to touch.  I have already asked for the day off work.  One of my bosses does not want to give me the day off now because he is leaving the next week for vacation.  I told him it was his error because he failed to check the royal engagement calendar before he made his travel arrangements.  But truthfully, the day the wedding date was announced, I asked for the day off work which was well before he even decided to go on vacation.  I'll have to update you all on the outcome of this showdown.

3.  Last thing you spent lots of money on?

Ummm....lots of money?  Ummm....I have absolutely no idea what that is.  I guess the last thing was when my Jetta decided she didn't want to cooperate with me any more and stopped that whole running thing she was supposed to be doing.  I had to go out and take on a car loan.  We brought our 2006 Escape home in December of 2010.  I really haven't come up with a cute name for her still.  I guess Essie is what I call her but it's not that creative.  She looks like this one.

4.  Window seat or aisle seat?

courtesy of meaningfultraveler.com

Ugh, whichever one comes with an IV drip of Valium.  I hate to fly.  I get so freaked out by every sound.  And the banking!  Good gravy!  For some reason, I just always assumed that planes went up, flew in a straight line and then came right back down.  On my first flight, the first time the plane banked to one side, I almost passed out.  I just knew we were crashing.

5.  Do you know your blood type?

If'n I'm remembering right, I am O+.   But anyone that knows me knows that I am definitely not an "Oh positive" type of gal.  This is just another one of God's inside jokes.  Like the fact that I came into this world a month early.  Yeah, that's never happened again since.  "Positive" and "early" are definitely not my redeeming qualities. 

That's what you get for leaving the door open.

When I got home from work last night, there was a small gift bag on our entry table. I looked it over and asked Hubz where it came from. He looked at me and said, “well, there’s a story behind that bag.”

Uh oh. Maybe I should sit down.

Yesterday, Hubz picked Bean up from Nanny Red’s for me. When they got home, they decided to hang out outside for a bit. Bean wanted to get in her swing on the front porch, so, of course, Hubz complied.

The swinging didn’t sit well with Bean and after a bit, she got sick to her stomach. When I say sick, she got sick all over herself and her Daddy. Ewww...glad I was at work.

So Hubz wrangled her out of the swing and quickly rushed her into the bathroom and chunked put her in the tub. Hubz stripped Bean down and while the water was running, he took off his shorts and shirt. Now, don’t start calling DFACS on him yet. He had his undershirt and briefs on. He wasn’t doing any flashing.

But later on as he’s telling me this story, he says “you know when I was bathing Bean, I thought I heard something in the house.” Really? Why?

“Oh, I was in such a hurry to get her in the tub, I just left the front door open.”

(Loud sigh. Eyes rolling.)

“And then when I got her outta the tub and dressed again, we came out and that bag was just sitting there inside the door.”

(Panic.) Oh no.

See, we’ve been going to a new church for about three weeks now. The bag was from a deacon from this church. It’s a Baptist church and Baptists just loooooove to drop by.

Hubz believed that the bag dropper came to the door and knocked. When they saw the front door standing wide open with no one answering it, they probably did what any character in any standard horror movie does and came walking on in, only to see Hubz in his underoos bathing our puke-covered toddler. They probably were mortified and turned and ran as fast as their blessed little feet would take them.

Now, I’m mortified. We just can’t seem to make new friends.

I guess we’ll be trying another new church this weekend.

Gone campin'

Last week we had a night of really bad lightning, thunder, wind and raid come through our area. I get a little freaked out when it is lightning outside. I always have. This storm was truly unlike anything I have ever heard.

There were a few times where it felt like the thunder was coming up out of the ground instead of from the sky. I can't explain it any better than that except to say when it did this, the sound went on for 30 to 45 seconds at once. It was like the ground was growling.

Bean and Hubz had already long gone to bed and I was up working on world peace. Okay, fine, I was watching some Real Housewives but they need peace, too! When this storm started, I shut everything off and unplugged what I could. When I was 12 or 13, lightning struck a cable that had been run from the outside of our house through my bedroom window along the wall and down to my tv. The curtains and my pillow caught fire.  If I had been in my bed that night, I was told that I wouldn't be here today.  Needless to say, I was cowering in fear in my mom's bed at the time.  So I have a "thing" about storms and unplugging stuff and all that.

I went into survival mode when this storm started.  I went into our bedroom and started trying to figure out the best place to cower and who or what I was gonna take with me into the cowering zone.  We don't have many storm hidey holes in our house.  I finally decided on the walk-in closet in our bedroom.  And when I say walk-in, you can walk in, turn around and walk right back out.  So it's not that big but it would do for some cowering.

Now, what to take with me. Hmmm...

Hubz?  He was yelling at me for making so much noise and waking him up.   He quickly got assigned a third-class ticket on the Titanic for saying I was being stupid.   Don't cross a cowerer. They remember everything.

Laptop? Well, it is one of my prized possessions, but I figured if it got sucked out of the house, then I could get a new one.  Don't tell my insurance company I said that.

Oh, yeah, what about Bean?  Winner, winner! Chicken dinner!

So I proceeded to make a pallet of blankets and pillows in the floor of our closet for Bean and I.   I had to throw a lot of shoes out of the way to get us in there.  I made a note that if the house was still standing in the morning that I was gonna have to do some shoe organizing.

I grabbed Bean up outta bed and took her to the closet.  She woke up and whined and said "dis 'under scares me".  Yep, she's my kid.  I told her that she and I were gonna camp out in the closet until the mean old storm was gone.  She thought this was a grand idea but she wasn't going in alone with just Mommy.  Nope! Bean had her own possessions she wanted to save.  Yep, my kid again.

So after I arranged Bean, four stuffed animals, six books, and her purse with Lord only knows how many lip glosses, I was able to get in the cowering zone, too.   Hubz was still in bed telling me how stupid and idiotic this all was.  The earth growled again and his mush-mouth ramblings were drowned out.

By the Grace of God, everything turned out to be fine in the morning.  Well, my back and neck weren't too fond of the night's activities and reminded me of that often the next day.  But our house was still standing, my laptop was still there and Bean enjoyed it all very much.

She said "Mommy, I want to go camping with you again!"  Hold your tongue, kid.

Card Class - Tweet Birthday Wishes

I've been attending a monthly card class for awhile now that is given by my favorite Stampin' Up demonstrator, Pollyanna. This Saturday we did a Birthday Stamp-A-Stack which is a special class where there are usually 3 or 4 cards that you are able to make 3 or 4 of each design. This is one of the birthday cards we made. I will share the other two designs later this week. I call this one Tweet Birthday Wishes.

I tried to completely cover up that evil looking bird but he's still sticking his scary little head out.

I know my pictures don't show you how truly cute this card is but trust me, it is cute.  It didn't take long to make this one as there aren't any real involved techniques used.  Every once in awhile Pollyanna will make us learn a new technique that has us all using bad words after a few minutes. 

I love making cards and stamping.  I'm still fairly new to the whole stamping world.  I usually look at these stamps and don't see what's possible with them until I see how others have used them to create beautiful cards. 

Givin' back.

Spring has sprung! And with spring's arrival, I think we all are doing some spring cleaning around our houses. One of our spring cleaning tasks is to tackle Bean's toys. She's been around now for three whole years and there are some things that she has decided she is too big to play with. Um hum. That's the tune she sings until I go in and try to box and bag things up. Then all I hear is "that's mine".

Courtesy of rogans.org.

While trying to figure out what to get rid of and what to keep, I realized just how many stuffed animals this kid has collected. It surprised me because she hardly ever plays with these things. She has one or two she will always go back to, even one that she five-finger-discounted from her cousins. Shush. Don't tell 'em. They all already think Bean is the biggest klepto around. She can be but we are trying to discourage this behavior.

We have a mound of stuffed animals that have never really been played with. I don't want to toss them. I don't really want to give them to Goodwill, either. I don't know of any other family out there that is in need of these things. What do you do with them?

I started searching online for places that might accept them as donations. After beginning my search, I just had a "duh" moment. There are quite a few charities out there that can benefit from your mound of stuffed animals. I thought I'd share the information I found with you all.  I know our house isn't the only one out there overrun with these furry loveables.  Just think if you could bring a smile to a homeless child or a child in distress or a child that is stuck in a hospital somewhere, that would be the best gift of all, right?

SAFE - Stuffed Animals for Emergencies. SAFE takes your donated stuffed animals, baby blankets, and books and distributes them to children in emergency situations like hurricanes, fires, and floods. They also distribute items to police agencies to hand out to children who find themselves in situations like child abuse, accidents, and in times of separation from their parents or families.

Ronald McDonald House Charities. All I can say about The Ronald McDonald Houses are Thank God we haven't had to use their services but Thank God they are there for families that do need them.

Project Night Light. Project Night Light only has a few chapters right now but they do accept toy donations from all over. They donate their Night Night Packages to homeless children in shelters to make their stays and their lives feel a little more secure. The packages include a stuffed animal, a book, and a blanket.

You can also donate your items to local women's and children's shelters, local police agencies and local children's hospitals. Just start looking around your area and I'm sure, unfortunately, you will find places in need of these items.

If you know of any other worthy charities that accept stuffed animal donations, please leave the information in the comments section below. Also, if this post inspires you to donate your items, please post that as well.  It is always wonderful to hear about people taking the time to help.

Gettin' back to normal.

I've been playing around with titles for this post and can't decide which one is best.

I always try to see the humor in situations but I don't want to offend anyone so this title made me sweat a little bit.

"Now that I know I don't have cancer, I guess I gotta get a haircut."

Let's try another one. I thought of this title while watching MTV. No, I'm not a looney. I watch it solely for parenting educational purposes only. I don't enjoy it. (Love ya Snookie!)

"I'm back, b*tches."

But that's too profane and ain't a single one of y'all a 'b*tches' so I don't want to use that one.

Okay, what about a movie reference.

"Needles! I don't need no stinkin' needles. I got three stickin' outta my neck already!"

Too graphic!

Then I thought okay, let's just go with sweet and simple.

"Thank God it's over and I can get back to normal - or the only normal I know."

I wrote last week that I was going through a medical issue and was having a hard time dealing with it all. I promised to be back to share it with you all that decided to stick around. For those of you that are reading this, thank you for being here to read it. I know that we all have so little time in our lives to devote to online activities and if one blogger is gone, there are 100 to take their place. So thank you for sticking it out with me. You all rock!

So for the facts, here they are. A few weeks ago I went for my annual (even though it's been 3 years since I went) gynecological exam. Yes, that's right.  I haven't had an exam since Bean was born.  I know that was wrong.  It was a scary gamble.  But just for background, I had been in and out of doctor's offices for almost three years straight and I was frankly tired of making those visits.

In a nutshell, I started off trying to figure out why I couldn't get pregnant to finding out I had a baseball-sized mass on my liver to having half my liver removed to finding out I was pregnant to endless maternity doctor visits to a c-section.

It was a lot.   But I do know that it is nothing compared to what some people have to go through.  But for me personally, I was worn out.  So I made the decision to keep ignoring the passing days that turned into passing years.  Finally, I knew it was time.

During the exam, the doctor found a lump on my thyroid.  I had never felt it before.  Blood work proved that my levels were normal so I was sent to have an ultrasound of the area.  The ultrasound found the mass to be questionable.  I was scheduled for a fine needle aspiration biopsy.

The results are that the mass is benign.  Thank God.  It is an adenoma on my thyroid.  The mass on my liver was an adenoma as well.

I will have a follow-up visit with my doctor.  I need to know more about why my body keeps producing these things.

During this whole ordeal, I wasn't up for much blogging.  All I wanted to do was spend time with Hubz and Bean.  I just wanted to take them in.  I knew that the chances were low that it was something really bad but as soon as someone mentions the word "cancer", it scares you.  So I spent my time laughing and hugging and kissing my two babies.  I'm sure I got on their nerves.

So there's my story.  That's why I haven't been around much.  I want to thank all of you for your prayers and good thoughts.  I know that it helped.   I can't ever tell you all how much those prayers and each of you are appreciated by me.

Now...let's get back to posting super cute pictures of Bean and making fun of Hubz!