Daily Mish Mash

I’d like to thank Jen for introducing me to the wonderful world of Polyvore.  This is a website where you can put together outfits complete with all the matching accessories. (My friend Kate will LOVE this!!)

When I first started playing around with it, I made up a few outfits and then got bored with that.  So, the logical next step was to begin to fantasize about what I might wear on a date with Ryan Gosling. 

Well, don’t even really bother looking at the outfit because I lost interest in that real quick (Clothes are not my thing at all.  Do you believe that skirt retails for almost $1800!!!  CRAZY!!).  So, I began adding other “elements” to my scene.

Here is how I see our date unfolding:

He picks me up and takes me back to his place in NYC.  Of course there are flowers waiting for me.  He cooks me dinner and it is the most delicious meal that I have ever eaten in my entire life.  Naturally, there is lots of wine and chocolate.   After dinner he reads some poetry to me and then we go up to his rooftop loft (remember it is NYC) where we dance the night away.  Yes, it starts raining.  So, of course there is lots of kissing. In the rain.  On the roof.  And that is where I will leave this fantasy. 

So, I’m tagging anyone else who would like to play along.  How would your dream date go?   What would you wear?  Where would you go?   What would you do?  Go over to Polyvore and make up a fantasy of your own.  Have fun, but don’t include Ryan because he’s mine all mine (trying hard to forget about his new girlfriend).  Don’t forget to come back here to let me know if you played along. 

It really isn’t a question of whether or not my kids will be in therapy when they are older. The question is more of how much therapy they will need.

Reason #589 That My Kids Will Need Therapy:

I forgot to put my boobs (no they aren’t chicken cutlets) away and my son came into my room and saw them sitting on my dresser.  

This is actually one of my strapless bras in the summer.  I like it because it doesn’t have a back so you can wear it with low-cut or backless dresses.  Plus it is great to wear under a regular bra for a little extra cleavage.  And it is almost like getting a boob job without the whole being sliced open and stuffed with implants part.

Now I don’t mind sharing my beauty (hehe) secrets with the entire internet world but I did not need my 8-year-old son seeing this.  I feel like I’ve scarred him for life.  And my daughter couldn’t stop touching it so I don’t know what that means.  I really need to learn to pick up after myself better.   

Reason #590 That My Kids will Need Therapy:

I was working on this extremely important project when my daughter came in the room. I tried to click out real quick but she saw it. (Like I was looking at porn or something.  As if!!  Well, unless you know of an uncut, unrated version of The Notebook…I’m just saying.)

BABYMAKER.MAURYSHOW.COM…because making babies is fun.

Now, I know Ryan Gosling and I wouldn’t make the prettiest baby (no baby should ever have facial hair!) but I’m now more convinced than ever that we would make a really cute couple!  Don’t you think?  Although I think I may have scared him away with the chicken cutlet bra, but whatever. 

Ryan, don’t pay any attention to the weird bra, freaky baby or the fact that I’m already married.  Just focus on how cute we look together.

I think the funny thing about this isn’t really the picture, but the little line at the bottom.  “Because making babies is fun…”  That just about sums up The Maury Show and why I don’t watch it.  Ever.

This now concludes this edition of Reasons My Kids Will Need Therapy. 

We took yet another trip this weekend.  Before I share a few pictures from this getaway, I’d like to let you in on a little secret.

On the outside this may look like a child size rolling suitcase:

Up until a few days ago this Teletubbies (whatever happened to those freaks anyway?) bag acted as something much more important.

If you guessed pillow carrier, you’d be wrong. 

Allow me to introduce you to our Hooptie, otherwise known as the laptop case:

This stylish, ultra-padded carrier transported our laptop safely through two trips to the beach, one trip to Virginia and a weekend at the lake.

I guess other people didn’t appreciate or see the ingenuity of our Hooptie Carrier, because lo and behold, this much more boring sleek and compact laptop case made its way into our lives a few days ago via a freebie from my friend’s husband’s work.

While I’m appreciative of any gift that I receive, I have to admit that I will miss the Hooptie.

We had a good ride, but our time together has sadly come to an end.  I’ll always remember the good times and all the laughs I had every time I used you.  RIP Hooptee, RIP.

Now, here are a few pictures from our trip to the beach this weekend taken with my very fancy cheap Kodak Easy Share camera, so don’t expect too much greatness in the way of the photography:

This one is a shot I got of my eight year old son body surfing.  He has really gotten into it this summer.  I like watching him but get a little freaked out when he gets completely engulfed by a wave like this one:

It wouldn’t be a vacation post on my blog without some damn birds.  Here is a seagull and what I thought were her babies.  I was later told that the little ones were actually just sandpiper birds and not her babies.  This fact makes the picture much less cute, but I’m still showing it.  Just pretend that they are babies.

We discovered a little beach bar that does 2 for 1 drinks at Happy Hour.  I couldn’t resist taking this picture.  Yes, I photograph my alcoholic beverages.  Do you have a problem with that?

How was your weekend?    What did you do?

Dear Mr. Mayer,

Just in case you do, in fact, google yourself, I thought I’d throw something out there to you (or the Universe since I fully believe in the power of “The Secret“). 

On Sunday, July 13th, you will be performing a concert in Columbia, Maryland.  This venue is only a mere 30 miles from my house.  I would love, love, LOVE to attend your concert, but I am a chronic procrastinator and put off buying tickets until today.  And guess what?  Your pavillion seats are sold out.  Congrats to you. :)   Boo for me. 

Since you are John Mayer and probably could get your hot little hands on a few of the tickets, I am putting a request out to you (and the Universe) for just two measly tickets.  (Preferably front row center, but of course I would take anything at this point.)  (Accept the lawn because why bother, really.  I could just youtube you performing if I wanted to see you that far away.)

July 13th, the date of said performance,  just happens to also be my 11th wedding anniversary.  We are both HUGE fans (well actually he loves U2 a little more than you but it is U2 so I think you can forgive that, but you are my #1 favorite singer, songwriter, guitarist, music person EVAH!!!!) so this would be like a gift from you to both of us.  

I know you haven’t appeared on my Friday Eye Candy, and for that I am truly sorry.  You are #4 on my laminated list (behind Ryan Gosling, James McAvoy, and Leonardo DiCaprio).  I mean how could you not be:

To summarize: you… me… concert tickets… please.  Thanks for your time.  Have a great day.  I love you.

Love,

Jen ( A real Goonie)

PS You can get in touch with me by email:      dailymishmash (at) gmail (dot) com.

PSS  To all my loyal readers, I apologize for Playlist.  I am trying to score some John Mayer tickets and I want him to think that I always have his songs playing on my blog.

_____________________________

To everyone here from POW–You can read An Open Letter to John Mayer Part 2 right here to see whether or not he gave me the tickets.

I woke up today still reeling from yesterday’s news and all the chocolate I consumed last night trying to get over it.  (Remember I’m a stress eater by nature.)

In order to climb out of my pit of despair, I have reconsidered cleaning out the pantry.  This will keep me busy today and away from the ice cream. 

I need to be busy today of all days.  Today is the Campus Progress day in DC and I’m not stalking.  I’m organizing.  So, I guess that’s progress.

Another thing I am by nature is an angry cleaner.  I usually do my best work when I’m upset about something, so today is this pantry’s lucky day. 

Stay tuned…I’ll post some after pics later tonight.

Edited to add:  Here are the updated pictures of the pantry:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER: (My favorite part!!!)

So, I didn’t get to meet Ryan or help figure out ways to save Darfur, but I think I did manage to accomplish something today.   So, I’d call that progress.

Oh and when those kissing photos of Ryan and his new girlfriend do surface, I’ll be ready.  Look what I found along the way:

Fondue mix, Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate Mix and 2 whole bars of Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate!!!  I’d say I hit the jackpot, wouldn’t you?       

To see what other people are tackling, head on over to 5 Minutes For Mom.

Welcome to the July Movie Madness Carnival!

I hope you will join us as we discuss our love of movies. 

To participate, all you need to do is write a movie-related post.  Here are some ideas (but feel free to be as creative as you would like, just as long as you stick to the theme): a movie review, a list of your favorite movies in a genre, a video clip of your favorite movie scene, etc..  

 The post could be something you wrote today or one you may have done recently that you would like to highlight.  Please mention the Movie Madness Carnival in your post and link back to this post here at Daily Mish Mash.  Feel free to grab the banner for your site if you’d like.

A little about spoilers…I think it goes without saying that you don’t want to include spoilers in your post.  If you must include them, please give fair warning that you are doing so by putting a bold MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS at the beginning of the post. 

I FINALLY figured out how to put up a Mister Linky and I can’t tell you how happy this makes me.  Please leave your movie post title and url below.  Here is how to do this:

This is going to sound really mean but I’m going to write it anyway. 

I don’t really enjoy playing Pretend/Make Believe games with my kids.

There I said it.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy them as people.  I just have a really hard time taking off the “I’m a responsible adult” hat and putting on the “I’m a carefree child again” hat.  Give me a board game or a book to read aloud and I’m there in a heartbeat, but pretending is something that I just struggle with. 

My least favorite of the bunch is playing cars.  How does one even do this?  I didn’t really enjoy playing cars when I was a little girl, so I really can’t wrap my mind around it as an adult.  You drive them around, say vroom vroom and then if you want to get crazy, you can make them crash.  Is there more to it than that?  Please tell me if I’m missing something.

My daughter asked me to play pretend with her the other day.  She gave me ‘the look’ when she asked.  You know the one.  The look that says “You are the worst mommy in the world if you don’t play with me.”  I fall for it everytime.

So, we start playing.  She wants to play princesses who have pets.  I picked a black cat (Webkinz–becaise they have taken over our house) named Salem.  

Of course now that I’ve picked the black cat, I wanted to be a witch.  Now this is a role that I could really sink my teeth into.

My daughter isn’t thrilled with the idea, but I convince her that it will be fun.  (I also promise to be a nice witch.  This isn’t my first choice but it’s her game so I reluctantly concede.)

We start playing and the game is me (the witch) helping her to find her prince (Remember I’m a good witch).  Here is the conversation we had:

Me:  So what color hair would you like your prince to have?

Her: Black

Me:  Ok.  What color eyes would you like your prince to have?

Her: Brown

Me: Would you like your prince to be tall, short or medium?

Her: (whispering in my ear since she is breakingout of character) How tall is daddy?

It was right there and then that I learned an important lesson.  I was once again reminded that she is only going to have these sweet thoughts for just a little bit longer.  She’ll one day, in the not so distant future, be off looking for her real prince.  And her dad and I will be faced with constant worrying and anxiety that comes along with having a teenage daughter.  Part of me wishes she would never stop wanting her dad to be her prince, but then I realize that isn’t the way it is supposed to be.  She is supposed to grow up, date, get married.  We just have a short time of innocence and I want to cherish every minute of it.  

Happy Father’s Day to all the Princes of the World!!

Before becoming a stay at home mom, I was a teacher.  At the end of each school year, many of the students would give me a gift.  I was always appreciative of anything I received, but do you want to know what I loved the best?  

The best gift of all was when a student would hand me a card with a message that they wrote all by themselves.  In it, they would tell me why they enjoyed being in my class and maybe mention a favorite activity we did. 

This “almost free” gift meant more to me than any of the coffee mugs or shower gels that I ever received.  There isn’t anything wrong with these items, but they get lost with all the others. 

Save your money and have your child write a note to their teacher.  Trust me, this is one gift that will be very much appreciated!  

For more Works For Me Wednesday tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer. 

P. S.  If you are coming over from WFMW and haven’t read this post, stop by and read it.  I’m trying to get the opinions of other bloggers on a “situation”.  Please have a look and let me know what you think. 

I’m in the process of doing some redecorating.  You know, just trying to do my part to stimulate this darn economy (Oh let me tell you, I’ve found numerous ways to spend this check).  The problem is that I’m no Design Star, so I could use all the help I can get.  That is where you, my readers, come in.  I’m sending out a cry for help to anyone that has any sort of eye for decorating.

My first area of concern is my bathroom.  It is in dire need of a makeover.  The paint/wallpaper is peeling, the light fixture is hideous and the rug and shower curtain have seen better days. 

I’m thinking that I want to do something with a blue/brown color combination.  I’m also going for a beachy/spa feel.   Here are a few that I don’t hate:

Linens and Things Urban Living Sea Glass I like that this one is light and airy, but I don’t know about the shimmer.  Do I really want shimmer in the bathroom?  Are we even shimmer people?

Linens and Things Croscill Tassy Shower Curtain  I love this one but in person it is actually a lighter brown.  Almost more the color of poop.  The bathroom sees enough of that already, so I’m not sure about this one either.

Bed Bath and Beyond Capri Stripe  I don’t know what to say about this one.  It’s probably the safest choice of all three.  But also the most boring.  Will the stripes annoy me after a few months?  Will they make me dizzy when I look at them? 

At this point (if you are still reading) you are probably muttering to yourself, “Just pick one” or “You’re too picky” or “You’re thinking way too hard about this; it’s just a shower curtain for pete’s sake”.  Well, I agree.  I overthink everything!!  I believe I have OCD when it comes to shopping.  It drives my husband CRAZY!!

A few more things to keep in mind–My bathroom (like the rest of the house) is tiny.  We have white wainscoat on the bottom and will paint the top a color to coordinate with the shower curtain.  That’s about it.

 Thoughts?  Suggestions?   I’d greatly appreciate any decorating advice you have for me.  

I recently blogged about shopping for a dress for a wedding we were invited to attend.  Well we went to the wedding this past weekend and it was a nice enough affair.  The bride looked beautiful, the ceremony was short and sweet, the dinner was delicious and to top it all off, it was open bar.  Who could ask for anything more, right?  Me, of course.

As the reception kicked into full gear, I went up to the dj to request the ultimate party song–The Chicken Dance.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I just love this ridiculous spectacle.  If you’ve never seen it ( you must be reading this blog from some other planet) scroll down for some video examples at the end of this post.

I was not at all expecting that he would decline my request.  Yes, he said he couldn’t play it.  I asked him if he had it and he said yes, but he wasn’t allowed to play it.   It was on the “no play” list.  Along with the Electric Slide.  Now, I get the ‘Slide’ being on the list, but the ‘Chicken’?  Come on now.

What kind of monster puts the chicken dance on the “no play” list I asked.  Oh, the bride and groom.  Hmmm.  Well isn’t that something?  I guess they are now on my “no friend” list.  There would be no point in trying to convince them to change their minds, since it was their day and everything.  So I did what any drunk normal wedding goer would do.  I went out on the dance floor and did my own chicken dance to whatever song was on.  Luckily a few other drunk supportive friends came out to join me and we just all thought we were so funny. 

But it just wasn’t the same as the real thing.  Sadly, they never gave in and played the stupid song.  So, I had to get my chicken fix on youtube.  First, I present you with an instructional video:

And here it is in action at a wedding:

And this one is just plain disturbing:

 So what do you think?  Are you pro-Chicken Dance or not?