Happy Belated Birthday, Uncle Dean!

Work.

I stayed up late last night (again) trying to get a PDF portfolio together for my rep at Creative Circle. FINALLY, at 2:00 a.m. I was done and figured out how to make the file small enough to send to her. It was quite a process.

I am busy today researching ways to advertise my business. I am looking into setting up a booth at the Heart of Texas Arts + Crafts Show here in Garland in September. I am also attending a mixer Thursday night (hosted by TheBump.com) to network with other small business owners that target moms and pregnant moms-to-be to get my name out there I do scrapbooks and birth announcements.

I have a list of advertising ideas going...anyone want to add to them? I know some of you are creative....come on! It's easy to post a comment....I would love some input! (ahem, Melissa, my advertising guru!)

it's a hot one.

just would like to point out my weather temp on the right site here...it's reading 101 in Rowlett, Texas. Phew!

Another birthday...

I believe I have another Uncle who's birthday was yesterday....don't think you got out of it that easily, did you Uncle Dean? Picture coming! Stay tuned.... :)

Happy Belated Birthday!

To my Uncle Rick! I won't post your age, don't worry. Hope you had a great one!

I wonder who Dakota looks like in the family...

and where she gets that open mouth thing?

She already knows...

...what she wants for her birthday!

Clearly not a green thumb.

I try to be a domestic goddess. I really do. But being a green thumb just apparently isn't for me. I have tried. The one time I had a plant in our old townhouse, Layla destroyed it. Dirt everywhere. I had an "African Violet" (not really sure if I would call it that, more like a dead weed) for the longest time in my window sill. We tried to plant a little garden with tomatoes. The green onions got so big that they overtook the garden and became weeds because I never pulled them. My rose Jared got me was the only thing that survived the doom of Erin. I didn't touch that thing, and it would bloom religiously every spring with hundreds of beautiful buds. When we moved into our new house, I thought it would be fun to plant a lot of flowers. After 2 months of residing here, the only thing left standing is my palm tree.

Not really, but it's getting dangerously close to plant funeral time here. My rose is looking really, really sad. I thought it was going to overcome the traumatic 500-mile move, but now it's looking brown again. My hanging baskets are a wreck, I water them, the leaves turn yellow, so I stop watering them, and then they basically die. My house plant my mother-in-law graciously gave me for Mother's Day is still hanging in, but every time I turn around, there is a brown leave hanging off of it. My African Violet will not bloom. YOU GET MY DRIFT.

So I spent a significant amount of time this morning outside, weeding and watering and feeding my plants. But, alas, my good old palm tree! That thing loves to be tortured and neglected and I love it! It does have a dead leaf on it and I'm not sure what to do about it. Do I leave it or cut it off? Can't find much online.

I am really sad because my mint plant is almost dead. I'm not sure what happened, but I really wanted to use my mint for mojitos. However, the good news is my jalapeno plant is still going strong and I even picked a bright red jalapeno today! I might just use it in my taco salad I'm making tonight for dinner. I guess I should be thankful for a good jalapeno, since the salmonella scare and all.

Perhaps next spring I will save my money and buy some other yard decorations besides flowers.

Coach update.

#236...and I'm now on the newly popular list. I gotta get to the top 100 to be considered by Coach representatives and possibly be chosen...keep spreadin the link love!

Introducing Erin Lee Creative.

My business has officially launched! Check it out here:

http://www.erinleecreative.com/

Coach...

#326....

Coach design!

I suppose it's the little things in life. Either that, or I get easily excited. Yesterday, I entered myself into the design a Coach tote contest. Fully knowing there is no chance I would ever win, I love playing around with my new design software, and this was a great project to allow me some practice. And of course, I love designing. Anyway....I just went to the page and my tote is already ranked #954 out of 2267 entries! I'm not sure if that really even means anything, but it sounds promising, since yesterday it started out at the very bottom. And someone (even though it was probably one of my beloved blog readers) made a really sweet comment on my bag. Sweet!

Down time.

It's 9:02. The toys are picked up. The kitchen is clean from the spaghetti buffet. The laundry is in the wash. Dakota is fast asleep. Jared and the dogs are fast asleep. The plants are watered. (The outcome of the rose is still TBD.) I sit in my office, where I have spent the past couple of weeks working late at night. I feel so at home in here. Looking at my desk, I'm trying to figure out what to do first: make a few last adjustments to my website, get my PDF portfolio together I promised my recruiter today or fill out some lovely government paperwork to get my social security card, passport, birth certificate and marriage license. (That's a whole other story.*) The night is mine. But so much to do.

This afternoon after getting ready, doing my hair and actually putting on dress clothes (and heels! gasp!), I ventured downtown to meet with a rep from Creative Circle. They are a placement agency for "creatives" in Dallas. They also have offices in Chicago, LA, Miami and New York. I was excited, not nervous, to get back into the advertising game and show off my work to someone that pretended to be interested in my 32-page annual report, among other work. She seemed impressed by my book and is going to send out my credentials to her contacts. Basically a "hey Dallas, there's a new copywriter in town" ploy. The position I initially went in for I was told is for a crazy huge agency where they make their creatives work 100 hours a week and she said I would never get to see my daughter. Um, no thanks. NEVERMIND. Not worth it. Even with the high salary she threw at me. So we will see where it gets me, perhaps nowhere. She said it will be hard finding work for someone that wants to stay at home. WHAT? News flash: this is not news. But at least I know I still got the right stuff, as NKOTB would say.

So, back to business. I am so excited to get my website finally up and running, and I am working hard and quickly to get it DONE. I can't wait to start advertising my business, getting some creative work and being a real business owner. Setting my own hours and making some money. Yee haw!

*Regarding my insane new obession with getting all my "legal" documents together...last night, as I was compiling stuff for my interview, I realized I had nothing to prove I was actually a U.S. citizen. My driver's license was it. And it wasn't even current. I have my passport, with my old name. No social security card, lost that months ago. No birth certificate. No marriage license. What? Where was all this stuff? So...needless to say, I am working like crazy to get all this stuff back into my possession. Unfortunately, the smart government is not so smart. Because to get your social security card, you must have your driver's license. And to get your DL, you must have your birth certificate. And to get your birth certificate you must have your blood drawn and urine sampled. And to get your passport updated, you must have your marriage license. And to get your marriage license you have to have your social security card. You get my drift. AKA NOT FUN AND RATHER ANNOYING. Oh, and FYI to those newly married - GO GET YOUR NAME CHANGED ON YOUR PASSPORT NOW. If you don't do it within a year of getting married, you have to apply for a new passport and pay the lovely $75 to get a new one. What a crock of crap. OH well, it's not like I will be traveling abroad anytime soon. But I need these documents because well, they prove I am an American. And an American who can own a business here in the states. (Gotta register my business with the county.)

Ok. Rant over. Back to work!

holy smokes, batman.

The Dark Knight was incredible. Or I should say, Ledger was incredible. I cannot believe what an outstanding job he did playing the Joker. Amazing. Incredible. Insanely good. Too hard to describe in words. It's a real shame we lost such a talented actor. It's also a real shame that some couple in front of us decided it would be a good idea to bring a baby about Dakota's age to an insanely loud, late night movie. WHAT? I had a nice bitch session with the mom next to me, so luckily Jared didn't have to listen to me for 30 minutes before the movie started. I couldn't believe it.

But, as I read today in the news, Christopher Bale is apparently NOT the hero we all took him for in real life. Assaulting his mother and sister? Nice. What in the world, he was so innocent in Newsies.

In lighter news, I GOT A JOB INTERVIEW. HOLY CRAP. I am pretty excited. A recruiting firm here in Dallas, Creative Circle, places creative talent in ad agencies and companies. This particular position they have called me in for is a Mid-Sr. Level Interactive Copywriter. Their client was impressed with my portfolio. The job description lists working on big brands at a big agency. Sounds really fun. And what's even better is I emailed the person that contacted me and told him I was looking for a part-time work-from-home position and he said "we should be able to swing that for you". Cool! So I'm off to my first interview in Dallas tomorrow, and regardless of whether I get the position or not, it's a good feeling to be wanted. So my work is good and I do have talent. PHEW.

So I'm off to go update my portfolio. The last time I updated it was before my interview at Garmin. Consequently, I have to get 2 years worth of Garmin work in there. It's going to be a long night ahead.

Coach design contest.

Took a nice creative break today to enter this contest. Please vote if you think it's good! I LOVE COACH!

Design a Coach Tote Sponsored by Coach

back to routine.

Well, the weekend is over. Dakota is finally napping, and so is Jared before he has to go into work for his night shift. This weekend was a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa Osburn. Dakota was spoiled and now the fun is over. I unfortunately had no time to work on my business, but such is life. I plan on getting the website ready to launch before July 22, 2008. We shall see what I get done tonight. Crossing my fingers.

Unfortunately, I have ZERO pictures to share with you all from this weekend. We were too busy shopping for Dakota's entire fall wardrobe :)

Happy Anniversary to me.

Well, I get to deal with some fun stuff on my anniversary. While Jared is sitting in lecture, no doubt bored, I get to deal with....





Yep, you guessed it...

FLEAS.

Last night, I saw one hopping around on Addison's belly. I thought no big deal, dogs get a flea, whatever. This morning, I saw TWO FLEAS on her belly. So I immediately went into freak-out mode. Addie has now had a bath, a haircut, another bath and her flea, tick and heartworm medicine. After I wrote this post, I am headed to the laundry room with her pet bed.

AND NOW MY HEAD ITCHES.

Yay for anniversaries!

Tomorrow, Jared and I will be celebrating our 4-year anniversary. We are very excited! Celebrating an anniversary is better than celebrating a birthday. You get to celebrate with the one you love. I can't believe it's already been 4 years. Time flies, really.

Dad is driving down as we speak and mom flies in Friday. Tomorrow night, Jared and I are going to hit Uptown (a trendy restaurant+bar+nightlife area near downtown that we love) and enjoy a nice meal out and drinks afterwards. We are really looking forward to it, since we really haven't had a date night in quite a while. We'll also hoping to sneak out Saturday night super late to catch the new Batman movie while everyone at home sleeps. And what's even better is Jared has the weekend off! YAY!

New venture.

Well, I am slowly emerging from my cave I like to call my office. I've been up until the crack of down (okay, not really, but super late) working on my business. Setting up my website. Getting samples together. Brainstorming ways to advertise. The legalities. You name it. When I put Dakota down for the night around 8, I immediately lock myself in my office with a Coke and a handful of Jolly Ranchers and go to town. I am super, super excited about this business venture, and I can't wait to share it with you all once it goes live. This business is exactly what I have dreamed of: combining my quirky writing skills and my love for graphic design, all while bringing a smile to someone's face. My goal is by Friday to have the website up and running. I have to go register with the county and fill out a "Doing Business As" application, but that will have to wait a few weeks until I get A. my new social security card B. my driver's license C. the form. It's been a lot of work trying to figure out each and every logisitic of how this business is going to work, but no one said it was going to be easy. Stay tuned....

A good weekend.

Despite a few minor hiccups (Erin ruining her bathroom rugs and Jared taking a dip in the pool WITH his cell phone), we had a great weekend. It was nice and relaxing and great to have Jared home for a few days. This should be an exciting week - Grandma and Grandpa Osburn are coming to visit and we will be celebrating our 4 year anniversary!

hooray for weekends!

This weekend is very exciting. Jared has today, tomorrow and Monday off! He heads back Monday night for his first overnight shift. We are really looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend. I have spent the past few nights working on my business until the wee hours of the morning (and now have roughly 48 + ounces of caffeine in my body) and Jared has been working really long, tiring shifts. Jared was able to sleep in this morning, which was nice. Then, we helped Dakota with her very first tooth brushing! She has 2 teeth now, and they recommend you start the habit early, so here she is, brushing away! Jared is playing golf with Scott and then we are grilling steaks (yum!), shopping off fireworks (yes, from the 4th) and I am making some peach cobbler. I plan on having a nice, refreshing mojito tonight. Tomorrow we will probably do something fun as a family and Monday we are going swimming! I love weekends when Jared is off. Have a great weekend!

today.

today I have a new outlook. back to normalcy. and back to business. now I just need a babysitter so I can work on the business. HA.

I think D and I are going to head up to the library after she eats her fruit. It's free! And will kill time until Dad gets home around 1 today. YAY!

a high note to a crappy day.

You know how you can just tell it's going to be an off day? Like nothing really goes right and it seems as if everything is fighting against you? That was today. I knew it was going to be that way when I couldn't sleep last night. Jared was running late this morning and he still was fighting that stupid cold. My new phone wouldn't read my micro card and Dakota was to fighting me to eat. I was a little emotionally annoyed about my work/hobby situation. Nighttime was a little rough. Dakota had a really hard time getting to bed, I really just wanted to relax and watch SYTYCD, Jared was way late and I had no dinner plans. Finally, at 8:30 I laid Dakota down and she didn't fight the sleep. Just a few short minutes later, Jared called and was on his way home. I don't give my husband enough credit where credit is due. He is literally my rock. I am so blessed to have him as my teammate and husband. He knows just what to say, even when he is ending a 14-hour shift dealing with sick patients and telling one he has cancer. The first thing he told me was how the brownies were a huge hit at the hospital and all the nurses loved them and couldn't believe how good they were. That was nice to hear. He then proceeded to talk to me about my struggles with finding work. And like the supportive, caring husband he is, reassured me that I could do anything I set my heart on and to go for it. So that's what I'm going to do. Thanks also to everyone that gave me some encouragement today. It really helps to have friends and family lookin out for me. It turns out my life isn't bad at all. I am very blessed and lucky to lead the life I live. Loving family, friends who I can turn to at any time, a great husband, a beautiful daughter, 2 fun doggies and lots of laughter. And an opportunity to stay at home with my daughter and raise her to be an awesome, caring and passionate person as a full-time job. And lots of creative ideas to boot. Good night!

think time during baby nap time.

so...yeah. the preschool music teacher thing didn't pan out. shocking. they have daycare, but for 12 months and up. oh well. but the good news? i was told to keep them in mind "next time". What?

i'm done with the countless hours of job searching online. i am done applying to copywriter positions, rambling off my qualifications and then sneaking in the line "oh by the way, I would like to work from home and part-time, please" in small, fine print. Welcome to the 21st century, employers. Good Lord, it's not that complicated.

i have so many ideas of what i want to do to make money. i've done cakes. i've schemed blogs. i've started a marketing business. i've done articles. i've started writing a children's book. i've made onesies. i've designed business cards. i've created scrapbooks. i'll think i'll just blame it on my crazy creative ways. i have so many wheels spinning in my head and i love doing them all, it's hard for me to choose.

so it's time to really crack down. our family needs the money. i need the creative outlet. soooooooooooooooo...back to work!

what do you guys think? can i do more than one thing? can I have more than one profession? what should i do?

new blog.

so...i've started a new blog. i have so much to share as a mom: recipes, products, bargains, deals and "momisms". I'm hoping to earn a few dollars with advertisements and trafic to the blog. Hopefully, a few people will be interested in what I have to say. If not, it will be fun anyway.

Click here.

will work for food.

Everyday, I search online for a perfect opportunity where I can work from home making a small amount of money to support our family. It's hard. I have pretty impressive qualifications in my field, but no one really loves the idea of part-time from home. Today, I have applied for a part-time (9 hours) preschool music teacher at a local church. It would be so fun but I'm not sure what I would do with Dakota. We will see if I hear anything....

I also applied to be a blog writer with my very own motherhood blog. It would be perfect.

Getting all geared up to send out my freelance copywriting letter to some local companies. It's hard tracking down contact names and addresses for the companies I want to email my resume to. I think I'll take a break and clean up the house and make dinner. I'm really hoping Jared gets off on time today. Rrrrriiiiigggghhhhtt.....

t-mobile saga.

Well. I was willing to accept the $9.95 shipping charge. I really was. Until I went in there today to find a case for my phone. And the lady told me told me to "just call customer support and they will wave it for you". So, I called. I mean, I might as well try to make back $10 today, right? After speaking with 3 representatives, I finally reached the big supervisor. And I think I got the lady at the store in trouble, because it is "not procedure to remove the shipping fee". But alas, he did it for me. Awesome.

the big wide world of blogging.

So today has been a little overwhelming. In my few minutes of down time, I have started researching more about how you can make a few bucks blogging. From Google AdSense to reviewing products and linking them to your blog, there are millions of opportunities to earn a little extra cash. Hmmmm.........

Day 1: Success!

So, it's 8:45 and I can successfully say I have spent $0. Okay, well not technically...I had to fuel up on the way to Scott's, but that was a necessity. I managed to score some free lunch at Dickey's BBQ (thanks Scott!) and we had a great time swimming.

The afternoon/evening proved to be a bit difficult. For some reason, Dakota kind of had an off day so it was a challenge, but we made it through! With no impulse buys online. And I got my new phone, which was a plus.

Onto day 2....

My reward.

If I can make it through the work week not spending any money, I am rewarding myself with this over the weekend. Ice cream AND Girl Scouts thin mint cookies? A perfect match. It looks amazing!

have it your own way.

So, recently I 've been slacking on making Dakota's food. I was doing most of it myself before the big move and then it got busy so the jars were easy. Well, I'm back onto making my own. It is soooooooo easy and so much better for her than those jars packed with preservatives. And not to mention much cheaper. Anyone that says it's hard doesn't really know what they are talking about, or can't use a stove, not sure which. It does take some time. But by "time" I mean about an hour. It's a perfect Sunday activity when you are getting ready for the week ahead. I have Jessica Seinfeld's book "Deceptively Delicious" and I pull ideas from there. Currently, I have butternut squash in the oven.

Easy steps:
1. Buy a butternut squash.
2. Cut off stem.
3. Cut squash in half, lengthwise.
4. Scoop out seeds.
5. Place halves on baking sheet, flesh down.
6. Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until soft.
7. Blend in food processor.

Next on the list today is sweet potatoes, green beans and mixed veggies.

a challenge.

After discussing my recent purchases, it's time to shift gears. Today, I have decided to give myself a challenge. It's going to be a really difficult one for me, but I'm excited to try it. If all goes well, I think I will do it one week out of every month. We'll see how it goes. Yesterday, as Jared and I were discussing our financial situation, it hit me. It's not so much bad that I don't have an income, but it's rather my spending that is going to get me in trouble with staying at home. DUH. If I don't spend money, I don't need to make money. I mean, yes, there are things we need to buy. Gas to get around. Groceries to eat. Dog food. Electricity. Water. The staples. But, I do not need to go shopping every other day and find it necessary to buy a new clock for the office or a new dog collar. Dakota will survive without those cute pink sunglasses and probably will never even know when she is 30 she didn't get them.

So, after this morning of grocery buying and picking up some formula, (and one more last Starbucks drink) I have hereby halted the money spending for the entire week. No shopping. No Starbucks. No shoes. No cleaning supplies I don't really need. No candles. No fast food. No Coach wallets. You get the point. Instead, good old fashioned fun. There is plenty to do that is free.

I figure the best way to survive the week is to plan ahead. So tomorrow, Dakota and I will be headed to the pool at Scott's to swim. Tuesday, we need to be here to await the UPS man with my new phone, so I'm planning on DVR'ing Diego and Dora. Wednesday, we are headed to the library to pick up some books and hopefully a few kids movies. Thursday, Jared has the afternoon off so I plan on using the fireworks we didn't use on the 4th. I have bubbles so we can play outside and swing. I plan on baking some cookies for Jared to take to work. And tackling the huge pile of laundry in the bedroom. Taking the dogs on walks. Cooking and trying a few different recipes.

It should be interesting....wish me luck.

splurge. last one for a while.

This past weekend, my good shopping pal Darci and I ventured to the Outlets in Allen. Our first stop was of course the new Coach outlet. Amy and I have been in much anticipation of it opening ever since we saw it was coming the spring of 2008 online about a year ago. I drool everytime I'm in there, and yes, I'm a conformer to society, becoming infatuated with those little C's that cost such a pretty little penny just because someone decided to say they were cool so everyone wants one. So kill me. The fact is, yes, everything in the store is pricey, but I love it. Good quality product and carrying around a handbag or wallet you just are in love with...well, there is nothing better. I am a sucker for handbags and wallets. Sorry. Call it a downfall. I could be a sucker for cigarettes, so it could be worse.

As we were browsing the goodies, I came across a wallet in the 50% section. There was ONE. Sitting all by its lonesome. I quickly checked the tag, wondering what the damage was. Every other bag or wallet I had looked at gave me severe sticker shock. It was a good sized wallet so I thought there was no way. The original sticker price...well, let's just say it was in the triple digits. But then, I noticed the glorious handwriting in red ink...marked down to double digits...and then...looking up, saw it was marked 50% off. It couldn't be true! I quickly tracked down an associate and I think she was a little frightened by my mad dash at her to ask, "Is this really 50% off???? There are no more like it, it was the only one over there!" She saw my excitement and walked over to the section. Looking around, she proceeded to tell it was in fact 50% off and that I had found a really great deal, there weren't anymore left. She even looked in the drawers and found nothing. She said, "Don't put that jewel down!" Thinking to myself, are you crazy? No way. I had a death grip on that thing. I think she was a bit jealous she didn't see it first.

So long story short, it's mine. I look at it all day. Everytime I get out my wallet to pay, I smile. It is so cute and it makes me feel happy. Yes, it's a wallet. I know. But it's the little things in life, right? I will probably use it until it starts literally falling apart. Here is a picture of my little feel-good.

shoes.

Okay, so I showed everyone the precious Chucks at gap.com I wanted to buy for Dakota. Well, I haven't got the money right now to justify $25 on a pair of shoes she is bound to grow out of in a month. Not yet ,anyway, until I get some freelance work going. So, I opted for these two pairs instead on clearance at Target. These two totaled about $8.50. A steal of a deal. I thought the brown ones would be super cute for fall. And yes, I'm discussing shopping on my blog. If you don't like it, don't read it. I enjoy shopping and finding good deals make me happy.

4th of July blues.

Darn. Dakota's first 4th of July was not really one to remember. She got a cold. It kind of started the night before, but we thought it was probably either her allergies or that second bottom tooth coming in. The morning was a bit hectic, trying to get Jared out the door (he had to be at work by 11), packing dinner, making lunch, etc. I was able to snap this picture before Jared ran out the door to try and capture some memory of the 4th:

Notice the smile on her face, because it quickly disappeared. Darci and I tried to make the day exciting, so we got ready to go eat lunch and get a few small fireworks. We got some snakes, smoke bombs and sparklers and headed to lunch. Lunch was CRAP. That's okay, it wasn't going to ruin our day. A few days ago, I had purchased a inflatable pool for her to swim in in the backyard. I felt really darn bad for her because she was getting noticeably sicker as the morning progressed. So I decided to return the pool since she couldn't even enjoy it being sick and managed to find a cool table toy. Which she loved. For a few minutes.

The poor girl was so sad. She would cough, then her nose would run. Then she had a stuffy nose.

She finally went to bed around 6:30. No fireworks. A pretty sad 1st 4th of July. But luckily, today, she feels a lot better and I can tell the cold is leaving. Thank goodness!

Cracked-out Blackberry.

So, this morning...as I was reading an email....my phone just decides to freeze up. The screen goes black and the little white pearl is glowing all by its lonesome. I take out the battery, charge the phone, try everything. Nada.

I proceed to load up Dakota (not what I wanted to be doing this morning!) and head over to T-Mobile. Thankfully, the store is not very far from our house and it was empty. She tests my phone, and I was just waiting for her to say, "I'm sorry, you are no longer under warranty and your phone is dead. You will have to buy a new one." But instead, she proceeds to tell me that it's not my battery, and the water damage signal is not showing, so behold! I get a new phone! After of course I have to jump through more hoops and call the specific Blackberry tech support.

I managed to weasel my way into getting a white one (hopefully: fingers crossed!) because I'm a little burnt out on the red. I am still a little annoyed because even after my great haggling skills, I had to pay $9.99 plus taxes (thank you) to have it shipped. In 7 days. Because I didn't opt for the warranty. Oy. Whatever. Just send me my dang phone. Luckily I still have my good ole trusty pink Razr. It's kind of nice going back to basics, although texting now is a little slower than usual. Gotta get used to it on this phone again.

In other news, Jared had a great first shift yesterday for those who were wondering. He worked from 7 a.m. until about 8 p.m. but he said he didn't mind the 12 hour shift. He said it was great to be in the ER and I got an email at about 5 p.m. stating he loved his job! So that was a positive. He also told me last night it was pretty cool to hear over the intercom system: "Dr. Schreiner, paging Dr. Schreiner to the front desk" and also thought it was cool that nurses were asking him for approvals. Finally, the hard work is starting to pay off! Today may be a different story, though, as he may get yelled at by an attending claiming he is a stupid intern. Who knows. But still, it's pretty cool to see him excited about being a doctor. It's been a long time coming. (And he looks pretty cute in his black scrubs that say Dr. Schreiner Emergency Medicine on them.)

I am getting ready to go pick up my good friend Darci from the airport. She is here until Saturday and I'm sure we'll find plenty to do to cause some trouble. i.e. lots of Mexican food, Ikea and Coach outlet shopping.

Have a safe and great 4th, everyone!

WIPEOUT = GREAT SUMMER TV.

Everyone should tune in to Wipeout on ABC tonight....8/7 c. It's good, clean family fun and last week Jared and I laughed our butts off! The writing is fabulous.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/wipeout/index?pn=index

80's flashback, anyone?

This was one of my favorite commercials growing up. I loved it and probably always begged my mom to buy the cereal. Ah, good marketing at work....

splurge?

I know. $25 for a pair of baby shoes. You are kidding, right Erin? Well. Not really. These are so precious, I just might have to purchase. But I probably won't. But I want them! They are Converse All-Stars from the gap! Wouldn't Dakota look so cute in them?

Creative space.

For those who haven't seen the office/craft space, here is a picture of my set-up. I love it!

Bedroom.

Here is the master bedroom. We had to do dark on one wall to save a lot of time and hassle trying to cover up the old green. I love the way it looks, very "airy" and nautical.

paint pictures

Here is a picture of the guest bedroom. We finished it last night, and I am really excited about the results. We were a little bit nervous about getting that line perfect, but decided if it didn't come out great we would put some crown moulding up there. Well, it came out perfect! It's definitely a little um...lively, but we love it. Now all we need is a new ceiling fan to replace "Stumpy" and a new nightstand to replace the one we have from the 70s.