handmade:modern by elizabeth rosemond (the blog)

hello saturday

Clearly, I lied here when I said I'd have a Wellness Wednesday post up this week. In truth, I did draft one. I rambled and moaned about my weight loss (or lack thereof). By the end, I was frustrated and irritated, so I decided to keep it to myself for awhile :)

BUT, today is Saturday! I took my husband up on his offer to keep an eye on the littles so I can have a break. Amen. 

Last night = a little shopping and sushi (so good)

Today = a walk, testing out the "best cold brew iced coffee in Dallas", tacos (!!!), catching up on a big project, some business planning and some basketball watching.

Exciting stuff, right? It is, though. When you have 2 little ones underfoot (not to mention the big one on my back, asking for $$, food and rides), it's difficult to form complete thoughts, let alone run a business or take a shower without an audience ;)

Have a great day everyone! We are expecting weather in the high 80s today, so I better get to walking before it gets too hot!

xo,

e 

monday monday* | stuff to share

* yes, i'm aware that today is tuesday. it's taken me more than 24 hours to complete this post. i have so much going on that stringing more than one sentence together is painful ;)

Hiya!

I hope you guys are having a great Monday. Our air conditioning unit downstairs (where I spend 90% of the day with the kids) is broken. It's only 82 degrees outside, but I'm sweaty and restless. Even though I have a large project (my first wholesale order!) to work on, I've been online a ton. Since I'm feeling inspired, I thought I'd share :)

• even though I didn't participate in a Week in the Life this year (I never finished last year's), I loved looking at Ali's completed album. She's seriously a class act
• my favorite online supplier of washi tape will be having a huge shop udate in a few weeks. in the meantime, they're having a special preorder party (their tapes tend to sell out super fast). check it out.
• i've seen a ton of craft rooms online, but this is my all-time favorite. seriously.
• i'm in love with this post by Ez. i'm slowly working my way through all of the contributing articles (check the bottom of Ez's blog post). 
• i've been obsessed with korean tacos lately. we used this marinade to some with strip steak on Mother's Day. YUM.
• i can't wait to try these quinoa collard wraps. maybe this weekend.
• i recently bought this shirt. now i want one in every color. no joke.
• woodgrain wrapping paper? yes, please.

I think I hear the littlest Rosemond stirring upstairs (long nap today!). Join me tomorrow (Wednesday, not Tuesday) for Wellness Wednesday.

xo,

e

right now

listening: to the Whitney Houston tribute episode of Glee (my DVR hasn't been recording it for some reason). The a capella version of "How Will I Know" is officially my Glee favorite.

eating:  hard-boiled eggs on wheat toast

drinking:  COFFEE

wearing:  gym uniform (yoga pants, tank, cross trainers)

feeling:  stressed. I have SO MUCH stuff rattling around in my brain

weather:  73 and overcast (expecting it to be in the 90s all week) 

wanting: to finish up this large custom project. I've been working on it for almost a month. I'm ready to move on to something else (like catching up on Project Life + cleaning my studio!)

needing: for the dryer repair dude to show up. Stat. I have a little one to pick up from school in an hour.

thinking: about all of the laundry I'll have to do once the dryer is fixed!

enjoying: the fact that my husband has returned home from his business trip (he was gone for almost a week)

wondering: when I'll get back into the groove of blogging. I have about 10 half written posts in the queue and it's taken me half of the day to write this post and hit publish.

Happy Wednesday ;)

xo,

e

 

saturday morning

Saturday has to be better than Friday. Right?

Friday: 

• broken dryer
• cranky teenager
• cranky mama
• cranky toddler
• cranky four year old
• broken cabinet door
• totally unproductive
• not fun

Saturday (fingers crossed):

• decent weather (forecast = mid 80s; hoping for some sun too)
• clothes drying outside in the fresh air
• happy children dipping their toes in the kiddie pool
• no fights
• no messes
• healthy meals
• awesome coffee
• more awesome coffee
• liters of lemon/lime infused water
• extreme productivity (I might be pushing it a little here)

Miss Lauryn just told me "it's go time, Mama". 

Let's go! Have a great Saturday :)

xo,

e

prom night 2012

I remember my prom like it was yesterday.

It was held at a fancy hotel in downtown San Francisco. I wore a rented dress (I couldn't afford any of the dresses I loved, and I was unwilling to compromise). One of my aunts did my makeup and made us a salmon dinner.

My date and I fought the ENTIRE night and only danced to one song (picked a good one!).

Spolier alert - my date and I continued to fight for about four or five more years.

But last night, 18 years later, I sent our daughter to her first prom.

What I know for sure = my girl deserved this. Moving and being the new kid at school? A nasty (and rather public) breakup just before Christmas? Like water off of a duck's back.

After she hopped onto the party bus, it ocurred to me that I'll we'll have to do this all over again next year. Her boyfriend is a senior. She is not.

I'm not sure we'll be able to top that dress.

xo,

e

she

 

1. was the largest of all of my babies at 8 pounds, 3 ounces
2. slept in my bed until she was about 11 (when I met my husband)
3. is the reason why, at age 19, I had to become a grown-up
4. is the most resilient person I know
5. was the Maiden of Honor at our wedding almost 5 years ago
6. is finishing up the first year of a very special 2 year fashion design program at school
7. is very eager to start driving
8. was one of the happiest children I've ever known
9. is attending her very first prom Saturday night (her boyfriend is a Senior at a rival high school)
10. is kicking her ADHD in the rear!
11. had to see me through a great deal of heartache in years past
12. has her heart set on Southern University
13. is very creative
14. is adored by her siblings
15. walked in her very first fashion show a few weeks ago
16. is the oldest of 6 children (1 half brother, 3 half sisters and a stepsister)
17. is named after one of my very favorite bands
18. turned eighteen today 

Happy 18th birthday to my sweet, funny, gorgeous and sassy girl!

xo,

mom

the aftermath

This sweet little window sits in the hallway between the front door and my studio. I love it so much that I've filled the windowsill with some of my very favorite things: a photo of me and my mom in 1976, a ceramic fleur de lis ornament (given to me by my mother-in-law), my favorite vase and an antique antique metal frog (which holds a Kenner Road card and another favorite photo from the '70s).

This is the only window in the house without blinds. So when the tornado sirens were blaring yesterday, this is where I stood. I don't really know what I was looking for; perhaps some sort of indication that the tornados were truly heading our way (the sirens really should have been enough).

We had a tornado scare last year, but yesterday was different. Yesterday, I found myself home alone with the little ones (my husband was keeping his students safe at work and my teenager was taking shelter under a lab desk at school). Yesterday, the three of us spent an hour in the closet under our stairs (I'm so thankful that I keep their extra games and toys in there). Yesterday, I made a mental note to profusely thank Lauryn's preschool teacher for preparing my West Coast baby girl how to handle herself during a "tomato" warning; my girl had her flashlight ready ("Mama, it's tomato time!") and didn't stand up once in that closet.

Yesterday, those tornadoes came super close (reminder = we live in Plano):

This photo was taken about 45 minutes before we took shelter in the closet. By that time, the yellow areas had Plano surrounded on two sides.

Yesterday we dodged a bullet. Yesterday, in many ways, the Dallas/Fort Worth area dodged a bullet. To have 6 to 12 tornadoes touch down without a single life lost (as of this morning)? Amazing.

Many thanks to all of our friends who checked in with us to make sure we were safe.

Today our thoughts and prayers go out to those who must begin rebuilding.

xo,

e

fever!

It definitely isn't fun when one of the kids is sick. I think it's worse, however, when one isn't quite sick but has an unexplained fever of over 100 degrees.

Over 100 degrees = no school.

So that has been the story here. Miss Lauryn has been sick enough to stay home from school for the past two days, but not nearly sick enough to sit still. Yeah.

This morning we entertained ourselves playing percussion instruments in the kitchen:

This afternoon, since it was warm, we spent a few minutes outside pulling weeds smelling the flowers (yes, still in pajamas - no judging):

I'm sure she'll be feeling better tomorrow.

There's no school tomorrow, of course. It might be time to buy a few more pot lids :)

xo,

e

 

spring breakin'

This week is Spring Break in Texas (yup, most of the public schools in the state are on the same schedule)! Mother Nature isn't fully cooperating (it's warm but muggy and overcast), but I plan on enjoying myself.

Miss Lauryn went on a road trip with her dad, so I only have to care for one little person until Sunday (plus  a teenager who is mostly self-sufficient). To a busy stay-at-home mama, this feels like heaven. Espcecially since the child left behind takes 3 hour naps and sleeps over 12 hours at night :)

I have a thousand things to do in my free time:

• spend some one-on-one time with this little guy (who is sporting a brand new big boy haircut)

• organize and back up my photos (i've been meaning to do this for a long time)
• finish Project Life for February
• catch up on the 30 days of Lists project
• organize my side of the master bedroom closet
• go through some boxes in the garage (we've been in Dallas a year and I have a few boxes that I haven't opened. They must go)
• blog about Lauryn's 4th birthday before I forget all of the sweet little details :)
• catch up on season 2 of Luther (Idiris Elba shirtless? yes please!)
• do some reading. I currently have 3 books on my nightstand. I'm starting with this one. It has almost 500 pages, so I have no idea when I'll get around to reading the other two :)
• watch a ton of College Basketball. March Madness is upon us, folks. The women's tourney doesn't start until Saturday, so the men will have to entertain me until then.
• finish binding a stack of journals for the shop 

Right now, I'm rushing out the door to head to an evening class at The Bar Method. I usually go in the morning when Lauryn is in school, but I thought it would be nice to change things up a bit.

Have a great night!

xo,

e

since i've been gone:

• i've endured 2 rounds of steroids
• i took 2 rounds of 2 different antibiotics
• i experienced the worst sinus-related facial pain ever
• i turned 37
• michael turned 18 months
• we celebrated lauryn turning 4
• i completed project life for january (i just did this today, so i'm feeling successful) - photos to come
• lauryn played in her first 2 soccer games
• i saw one doctor, 2 nurses and a nutritionist
• dallas had some extraordinary weather (which ended today)
• we said goodbye to someone close to us
• i have not been to the bar method

Yeah, it's been a crazy few weeks. My strange cold turned itself into the worst sinus infection I've ever had (hence, the 'roids). HORRIBLE. Two weeks later I'm far from 100%, but I'm so grateful to be on the mend.

My to-do lists are bursting at the seams, so I'm going to take advantage of my newfound enegy and get off this computer!

I have a ton to share, so I'll be back soon :)

xo,

e