I have a fake front tooth.
A fake front tooth that makes me crazy.
Especially since I should not have it.

Come take a walk with me down memory lane.

I am twenty one.
I have the most amazing dental coverage under my parents' insurance.
I am at the dentist.
A very busy and popular dentist.
He mentions to me that one one of my front teeth is a fraction longer than the other one.
He asks if I would like them to be the same.
I think
HECK YES!
I did not rock braces at junior prom to have janky teeth!

thankyouverymuch.

So I scheduled an appointment to get it fixed.

Pretend that you are a dentist.
A busy and popular dentist.
What would you do to fix my teeth?

Because if I was a dentist this is what I would do:
shave the longer tooth down a millimeter so it matches the shorter tooth.

Apparently I did not go to dental school.
Wondering if Mr. Popular and Busy did.

Because this is what he did:

Shaved my shorter tooth into a vampire point.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Why didn't I say anything?  
I did. 
He assured me that this was the way to go.
He is a busy and popular dentist.
I am some dumb English major college student.

Then he capped it.
To make it longer.
Like the other tooth.

I am not kidding.

So I went from a perfectly good, yet marginally shorter tooth to a fake tooth.
On top of a vampire tooth.
We all know how I feel about vampires.
Really.
Then the cap chipped.
I got it fixed.
It chipped again.
Then again.
(Did I mention that I am a gnarly teeth grinder? IF by some miracle I am actually sleeping, chances are gnashing of teeth is involved.)
So finally after 3 new caps in two years,
on what was a great tooth,
I got a veneer.

IN THE WRONG COLOR.
Then my insurance ran out.

The end.

Wah wah.
But there is a silver lining.
In real life it doesn't look so bad.
For some reason it just looks crazy in pictures.
Pictures that I always pull into Picnik.
There I fake up my fake tooth with their amazing whitening tool.
I heart you Picnik.
I do not heart you busy and popular dentist.



I love necklaces.
I cannot leave the house without one on.

I love buttons.

The two were destined to meet and fall in love.
All you need is:

pretty silver buttons,
glue,
{pretty sure that there is jewelry glue, but I had this left over from the debacle.}


Dab some glue on the round part of the bail,



Press it against the button.
Let dry.



Slide the happy new charm on a chain.


Take an obnoxious amount of self portraits with your phone until you find one that you hate the least.
Done.

New necklace.
Sew cute.
Sew easy.



I love me some spicy food.
Really.  Really.  Spicy.
Sadly, no other family members share this particular quirk.

So lately I have been making family approved meals and adding fire to my portion.

My new fave is tweaking the lunch time staple of Mac & Cheese.
Mind you, this is not rocket surgery.
Just a simple change to get you through yet another day of toddler friendly food.

First I serve the picky and dramatic children.
Then I put the pot back on the stove, stir in some kicky mexican cheese and a palm full or so of cayenne.
I am hardcore.
But it is so good.
The critters are happy, I am happy, my eyes are watering, it is a good day. 


All is well with the world!

Drew {because she is RAD!} sent me
a giant package of the best dishes

EVER!!!

I now have totally forgotten about the cabinet debacle because

HELLO!!!

Hannah Montana!!!
Mardi Gras!!!
Strawberry Shortcake!!!
Tiki Guy!!!
Cute Dog!!!
My Little Pony!!!

How can I be sad eating on these?
Seriously!

Thank you so very much Drew.
You really made me smile and laugh today.
Plus, my kids are STOKED!


Now it is time for Me! Me! Me!

Easy questions today.
I am too giddy about my rad new dishes.
Plus I am meeting a group of new people tonight and trying not to have a panic attack.

Do you have siblings?

I have a younger brother who lives nearby with his wife and sweet little girl.

Do you have a favorite author?

I am a nerd and a brat.  I hate almost everything that I read.
Plus I am pretty sure that my book club hates me for this month's selection.

But my favorite book of all time is
A Farewell to Arms
by Ernest Hemingway.
I read it every year.

The best book that I have read recently is
Crazy Love
by Francis Chan
It messed me up  in the best possible way.

Were you born and raised a Cali girl?

Yes.  Born in Orange County.
Lived here every minute of my life sans a little detour to Missouri for my freshman year of college.
That is a whole extravaganza in itself.

I know you got a new camera.  What camera did you get?


My husband abundantly spoiled me with the Canon 50D.
I adore it.  I snuggle it.  It is lovely.

That is all.
Gotta go breathe and flat iron my hair.

Peace out.


Before you go thinking that I have it all together.
That losing all of our dishes.
The ones from our wedding.
The ones that we have shared thousands of meals over.
Was no big deal.
It is a big deal.

Believe me.
I have cried.
I have complained.
I have really, really wanted to hurl the broken pieces at the wall.
Would it feel great to do that?
Yes.
For a minute.
But they still would be broken.
I would have to clean up all over again.
Plus, my wall would be jacked up.

So I don't.
I have really one choice.
Accept and move on.

Whether or not one of the three parties involved takes responsibility and reimburses us.
Or if we have to buy cabinet and dishes on our own.

They are all replaceable.
All but one.

The one that really made me cry.
This one.
In college I worked at a paint your own pottery shop.
Dishes and serving pieces were not on my radar at the time.
If only I knew what my grown up self would want I would have painted dishes and bowls every day.  

But I did paint one bowl.

A bowl that is very special to me.
I bowl that I use every time I eat my favorite meal.


So out of the rubble I picked out the pieces. 
This bowl needed to be rebuilt.

A memory of this time.

Piece by piece I glued.
Little by little it took on a shadow of it's former shape.
I hate puzzles and it came out somewhat crazy.
But I like me some crazy.


Now it has a new purpose.
A bright and happy purpose.
All full of cracks, gaps, and mismatched pieces.
My bowl.
Different.
But still my bowl.

Later on this week I am going to get a babysitter.
Take myself to a pottery studio and make a new bowl.
A better bowl.
A memory that beauty can come from disaster.

It will be aqua.
It will be amazing.

I can't wait.




I think as one embarks on a construction project there is always the understanding that something unexpected will come up.  

An unexpected waterline that had to be re-routed.
An unexpected extra 1/2 inch on the bullnose edge of the countertop which made it impossible to open the fridge door.

We budgeted for the unexpected.

We prepared for the unexpected.

We did not prepare for this.
Yesterday as I was getting the girls ready for the day I heard a crash.
Actually a crash does not begin to define what I heard.
But I knew exactly what it was.
Immediately I knew.
I put Halley in charge of Janey and gave the girls strict instructions to NOT come downstairs.
I needed some time to assess the damage.
To cry a little.
To pray.
To get my camera.
To clean up the mess.
To get it together before they saw me again.

Because after all, these are only dishes.
It was only a cabinet.

All are replaceable.
We were safe.
The granite did not break.
The new floor is now scuffed, scratched and distressed just like the old floor.

I might just have an excuse to buy these that I have been really wanting, but not really needing.

Earthly goods.
Earthly goods.
Now I have three tubs of materials to make a mosaic.
A memory.
That what seems like a catastrophe now can be made into something else.
Different.
Unexpected.
To remind me that if faulty cabinets and broken dishes are the worst of my problems than I really don't have it all that bad.  


With your pretty colors.
Kelly Ripa.
Her endless perkiness.
The promise that I could be even more amazing.

I will not be swayed.
Because NOBODY has a laundry room that looks like this.
Nor would eye candy appliances solve all of my washing and drying woes.


But most of all,
your turquoise fabulousness could never take this blah ivory shirt


and a bottle of Rit,
combined with my 10 year old top loader,


 and make me something teal and fabulous.

So there.

My white Whirlpool suits me just fine.
Thankyouverymuch.


We took a wild animal out to eat and lived to tell about it.


Little Miss Sunshine is helping me figure out my new camera.


Stair gates may be in her future.
ER visits are not.


For the first time EVER!!! the little Valentines treats are packaged and ready to go.
Two days early.  Not at 2am the night before.
{sticker cuteness from Autumn Leah}

Bethany from Love, September is having a Haiti fundraiser where all proceeds from her pattern sales go to Haiti relief.
I have made a bunch of these a.dor.a.ble Cinch Skirts for birthday gifts and I am smitten.
In the time that it would take to pack up the kids, drive to Target, pick out cluttery plastic gift, thrown in the 10 other things that you didn't know you needed while you are there and come home, you could have made an easy, unique, and heartfelt handmade outfit.
For less money.
Plus, you are helping Haiti.
Her patterns are fabulous and so well written and illustrated and I promise you that you will fall in love with what you can create from them.

Plus it is raining today.
I am one happy, coffee drinking girl.




Meet my happy little coffee space.
The start of each day begins here.
Sometimes multiple times.
It needs something, something funky, unique, handmade...
I love shopping for art on Etsy.  There I can be guaranteed pages of beautiful prints, sometimes fodder for laughs, but most of all, affordable art that can't be found in 100 other people's houses.

Would you be willing to cast a vote for your fave?
Because I want to buy each and every single one, but fear that the tiny wall could not accommodate all of them.