randoms..

--i really love this picture i took at the fair. not so much the bald dude with sunglassess, but whatevs.

--how i know i'm old:: the last few times i drank, admittedly too much..it now takes me 2-3 days to recover. ouch. PS:: tequila=no bueno

--currently obsessed with nail polish, specifically sephora by opi's metro chic. <3

but i also love lincoln park after dark.

--so excited about fall being just around the corner. makes me want to cook and bake and clean the house. i think art is probably excited about this prospect as well. heehee.

--saw boys II men in concert last friday. they sound exactly.the.freaking.same. wth? then they went on to say that they've been together for 19 years. wha?? yeah. like i needed another reminder about just how old i am. sheesh. yes, i did take pictures. and a video. and they all suck ass. i hate my camera. i have *one* picture that might be freaking legible. wait, is that the right word? who knows. anyway, i'll post those next time i blog. so..like in 2 months lol.

--also, i've been doing some fall window shopping. ahh.. how i love to spend money. however, i'm going to try to be very, very good and not get too much new stuff. we'll see. i'm trying to tell myself that i need want what i have and not what i dont. i know theres some kind of like saying thats like that. but i cant think of it off hand. you get the idea.

--and since i'm trying to be all like budget wise and shizz, i'll maybe do a post of my favorite fall findings again. like i did with the spring stuff. only because i need a reason to blog :D

xoxo

once a year..

went to the fair yesterday..here is what we did:

-had pizza, philly cheesesteak, hot dogs, churros, slurpees, deep fried twinkies & caramel apples

-watched the girls having a blast inside all the fun houses and sliding down ginormous slides

saw the strangest things ever, thanks to art, who indulged me and actually paid for me to see all of it =)

*worlds smallest woman (really just a dwarf. with dreads. i was disappointed. i dont know what i expected though)

*worlds smallest horse (a pony? lol. the sign said it was only 10inches tall when it was born. hmph.)
*a snake with a head of a beautiful girl (hahaha. yeah right. it was an old lady with a head sticking out of a platform. no snake body. oh yeah, and i think she smoked. her voice was really raspy, and the girls were too afraid to talk to her hahahaha)

*2 nosed cow (yes , really)

*6 legged steer

*2 headed cat (in a jar. gross.)

anyways..a good time was had by all..and my feet still hurt. and the sham wow guy..there is almost always the same hot british guy there. yeah..not this year :( i was sad. and didnt buy any this time lol.

xoxo

i know, i know.

*i'm a horrible blogger. i can admit that. and admitting it is half the battle, right?

*summer went too fast. so many things i still didnt get to do..like, camping. i tried to convince art. but he wasnt feeling it. maybe next year?

*cut my hair. colored it. had to get rid of the purple. i mean, i'm so 3008 and that hair was so 2008. hehe. so yeah. now, my hair is black on top..red on the bottom. and i have super short fringe-y bangs. love it. makes me feel kinda fresh, modern. its nice.

*been playing with www.rollip.com love it. almost as much as i love www.picnik.com
almost. but..i guess it would help if i took some damn pictures every once in while.

*speaking of which..i'm contemplating going to the sb expo. yeah i said sb expo. i mean, i havent scrapped since like, what, february? so what.

*something random: i often blog in my head at night, when i'm supposed to be going to sleep. i have all these rad things to blog..and then yeah. the next day, not so much. what gives?
i wish i had something witty or interesting to talk about it. but yeah...nope.

until next time..
xoxo

dedicated to you, mom

one year ago today, you left this world. left all the pain and hurting behind. i've dreaded this day, for weeks..maybe months. the thoughts of you lying there, hurting, and there was nothing i could do, but to hold your hand and whisper i love you's in your ear. let you know that you werent alone.

i contemplated making a list of things that you've missed in this year that youve been gone. but i decided against it. this is a list of things that will forever remind me of you--whether they are movies, sayings or smells. you're always with me.

*the smell of your hair (pantene)
*the color green
*the ocean
*13 going on 30
*bon jovi
*playing air guitar and drums while jamming out to poison's 'talk dirty to me'
*willy wonka
*cher
*refrigerated ding dongs
*terms of endearment
*my hands
*sunday night pot roast
*tuna fish with pickles
*xmas fudge and popcorn balls
*steel magnolias
*yellow vw bugs
*big fluffy clouds
*merle norman makeup
*sayings like 'tushie, mommala, bubba,oy vey, the bomb, oh my god!, jesus christ!, its all good
*scrapbooking, painting ceramics, making handmade soaps
*yard/garage sales
*chai teas on lazy sundays
*the tv show roseanne
*feathered bangs (took me years to convince you to change your style!)
*online contests, ads and games (you were always a sucker for free stuff)
*the smell of coffee brewing
*tone soap
*bobs big boy
*pink sugar perfume (the only kind you ever liked me to wear because it didnt bother your asthma)
*girly girl time with olivia and maya. a daily tradition you started with the girls, that i try to continue with them

i hope that you are peaceful..that you are enjoying watching the girls grow up, that you are with your mom; i hope you know that you are missed every second of the day.
LGP 12/30/58-08/02/08

xoxo

'member? you 'member!

*turned 31 last week. or as i like to call it "the one year anniversary of my 30th bday"

*had a fabulous party that art threw for me. it was a sort of surprise. sort of.

*i 'member parts of it. some i dont. thats how you know i had a good time :D

it took me until monday to feel normal. damn jello shots and pineapple vodka. oh yeah..and that empty stomach of mine.

*i got every single thing i wanted for my bday. yes, i'm spoiled. and by everything single thing, i mean that everyone i wanted at my party, showed up. i am loved :)

*speaking of ppl i love that came to my party: miss marissa is one of them. love her to bits. and i miss her already.

*also, on an unrelated note: sunday morning/afternoon we discovered that our toilet seat was broken. another sign that the party was great, i think.

*um..lets see. my hair is still purple..but it still doesnt photograph well as witnessed below:

its way brighter in person. lame.

*i really dig blogging bullet style. so much easier than forming actual paragraphs. i mean, who does that anyway?

xoxo

monica

things on my mind as of late

*this summer is going by too fast. scratch that. this entire year is.

*olivia turned 8, yet is acting 18. pffft.

*im missing my mom more than ever.

*the one year anniversary of my 30th bday is just days away..

*this time of year is proving more difficult than i expected. or its exactly what i expected.

*i miss scrapbooking, yet cant bring myself to do anything about it. it hurts too much to put down on paper everything that my mom has missed this year.

*being a dog owner is rewarding and sweet..but also annoying, 24/hr maintenence. im lazy..so you can imagine how much i enjoy being at sugar's beckon call.

*i desperately want a new phone, yet dont want to pay for it. specifically the mytouch 3g. its identical software wise, yet waaaaay hotter than my g1. as an aside, why why why cant tmobile have 3g in my area?? ps: thank god for wi-fi.

*addicted to watching makeup tutorials on youtube.
*also addicted to MAC. its sad that the girls at the nordies counter know carolyn and i when we go in.

*seriously considering taking makeup artist classes next year.

*part of my hair is a bright purple, would love to post pics, yet my camera doesnt think thats a good idea.

*playing freecell before i go to sleep seems to help me wind down. i find this strange.

xoxo,
monica

stuff..

finally updating. i know. sorry its taken so long...but i'm a procrastinator extreme!

*we got a new doggie. her name is sugar, and she's a cocker spaniel. super loveable and sweet..and super teething. but shes great with the kids :)

*maya graduated from kindergarten! it was a really cute program, of which we missed most of due to other inconsiderate parents :P

*olivia is officially a 3rd grader! omg. where has the time gone??

*11 is the number of days until olivia is 8. shoot me now. i'm so ooooooold.

*working at home again, full time. shoot me 2x. because i'm now home with 2 kids, 1 puppy and i'm trying to actually work on top of that?? yeah..we'll see who actually survives the summer ahahahaha.

*sims3 now rules most of my free time. so rad.

*no scrapbooking lately. its too hard. its a hard time of year. everytime i try..it just reminds me that she's gone. i have a hard time even wanting to photograph anything..making memories without her=heartbreaking :(

*blogging in list form is actually easier than forming real sentences. i must remember that the next time i update :)

xoxo


p.s.... i apologize for the craptactular photos..i'm too damn lazy to edit them (see list above ^^ as to how i spend free time now)

uhh..what? **warning..long story**

so on wednesdays, we've been watching my nephew play baseball at the park by our house. its been really fun(i think i love the hot dogs and fries the best), and its nice to do something fun with the kids during the week. anyways, so we're sitting in the bleachers, watching the game, when all of a sudden there is this ginormous crash--definitely a car accident. btw, we live on a super duper busy street, so accidents happen here and there. but when I heard it, I was like, omg, that sounds like its right in front of our house! so art goes running out to the street to check out, and comes back. says he didnt see anything.

so we go on watching the game. about a half hour later I decide its time for me to go home and start dinner, so I bring the kids with me so they could get ready to shower as well. typically, I go in our front door, but for some reason when we left, we used the back door, so thats where I went. I get inside, I'm making dinner(tacos), and watching the very last episode of Friends..which I havent seen since the original airing years ago--so I'm totally enthralled in watching Rachel and Ross get back together lol. Olivia comes running 0ver and tells me there is someone at the door, which I didnt hear bc the tv was up loud; so its my neighbor. He speaks spanglish--which I'm not too fluent in. He's asking if we are okay, and then points to the street saying something about an accident. I tell him, that yes we're fine, we'd heard the accident, but didnt see anything. at this point, I'm kinda confused, bc we werent in the accident, so I dont know why hes asking if we are ok.

anyways, he goes on, saying something about his wife crying--and then he points to his house. thats when I see it. our fence. its on the ground. i'm like..uhh what? so I go outside, and there is their F150, IN my house. yeah, IN it. I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but she drove through my fence, into the house, where our bedroom is. Thankfully she is fine, no one was injured (save for the fence and house). now the fun part. it seems that he doesnt want to go through the insurance. which, would be his auto insurance. we called our home owners ins. ppl, and they said that they cant do anything. I'm kinda pissed, bc the guy is saying that he wants to fix it himself--which, hey, if he were a licensed contractor or something, I'd be all for. but I'm pretty sure hes not. I know he does do lots of stuff around his house, but that isnt good enough to me. anyways, I'm all stressed out--I mean, there isnt like a ton of damage inside; the wall is cracked right where my window sits, so the sill is like coming apart, I guess. the crack goes all the way down to the baseboard, right where our outlet is at. Its not exposed to the outside though, so I guess thats good. but what if the frame is all jacked up or something? i keep going through what if's. urgg. so, that was my week..and here are pics of all the excitement. oh, and as an aside, he moved the truck before I could get pics of it actually in my house. lame.

uh..yeah.

so, real life keeps getting in the way of all the things i'd rather be doing. work. play. work and play some more. so goes it, right?

little recap of the goings on here:

-maya is officially a redneck. just kidding. she just recently lost both of her top front teeth though, so she definitely resembles one lol. she even got to partake in a little photoshoot, highlighting such tooth loss, as witnessed above ^^

-olivia is doing great in school, sassy as ever. i swear that child is 25 and not 7, ha!

-art has been working lots, so i dont see him much, and when i do, hes usually preoccupied with his new BB 8900. happy early fathers day!

-i've been suffering from severe allergies, mostly in my eyes. its horrible. i've been taking allergy pills, as well as using drops. but still, its a PITA! i miss being able to wear eyeshadow without watery stains on it hahahaha. gross.

-here are some more pics of the photoshoot i mentioned before. tina in the same mommy group as i am, and she is just amazing! i loved watching her work with maya. anyways, here is her blog, definitely check her out if youre local to SLC.

this one of olivia and I, can I just tell you, bribing a 7yo is serious business! we tried bribing her with McD's, baskin robbins. nada. she wasnt interested in the least. finally she agreed to ONE picture, and it had to be with me. lame.

but, i have to say, she does look beautiful!

i'm off to get some work done, maybe. and hopefully to get my hair did. hehe.

xoxo

monica

and then..

so the MM warehouse sale. i got the carousel for $10. i was so stoked. and it looks lovely on my desk. dare i say, that i actually need more stuff to put in it? lol. i walked out of there with 4 items: the carousel, an album and 2 rubons/stickers. thats it. i know, crazy. i usually get ribbons and stuff, but i was on a strict budget that day, and it worked out. i dont feel like i missed out on anything great, except for maybe the slice, bc they had those for $99. oh well. maybe next year.

lets see..oh yeah. i scrapped. and i've been doing the LOAD at 2peas again. its nice seeing friendly and familiar faces there still. i hate that at sistv, i dont really recognize anyone anymore. so i guess 2peas will be my new/old home again. we'll see if i can keep up with the LOAD lol.

also, i got PSE 7..and i have no clue what i'm doing. i'm trying to get better at editing, but i'm not sure where to begin. I was okay with PSE 4, but its been about a year since i've used it..i've been just using Picnik, which is fine, but there are a ton of actions i'd love to put to use...so i've been spending a lot of time online trying to find tutorials to help me along the way.

well, its nice out, so the kids are having otter pops and playing outside. think i'll go join them :)

xoxo

umm..

so i scrapped the other day. i've had this serious urge to ever since art and i rearranged my little scrap area. i sit here everyday and work, and whilst i'm working, i glance to the right..see the beautiful light streaming through my windows--gorgeous. and, it highlights all my thickers hanging on my clip it up! hahahahaha. i think thats the real reason i want to scrap, the thickers beckon me. and, can you believe that i actually used stamps on this damn thing? apparantly in the sunlight, i found out that i own a lot of stamps LOL. i'm sooo not a stamper, but i do like to collect them. theyre so pretty and hard to resist.

so, since i've been wanting to sb, it also makes me want new stuff---which is perfect timing bc the MM warehouse sale starts this saturday. i'm so there. i'm going in search of one of these:

the carosel. sigh..i've coveted this for years. i think the original i wanted was a pottery barn version. they do typically have these at the sales, but its still like $25, which is a lot of money for me to drop on 1 item. i'm a bargain hunter. last year, i got one of the rolling totes, it looks like this:

except mine is lime green. the inside is black with white polka dots. sooo freaking cute. anyways, i guess they retailed around $89-$199 depending on options and what all was inside. i got mine for $20!! thats the kind of deal i'm talkin about! the only unfortunate thing with the sale is that they really dont have any of their newer lines there. its mostly old foam stamps, paints, metal embellies--but they do have their ribbons for a good deal. so, i mostly go for tools and ribbons lol.

i think that might be enough ramblings for now..i'm off to find a new online home. i feel so weird posting my LO's at sis, or even at 2peas. i mean, i think i feel more at "home" at 2peas, bc i still recognize the ppl there, but i havent posted in the pub in over a year. the thing with sis, is that i like the notifications of my faves and when they post new LO's. i dont know what to do, but if i do start sb'ing more often, i defintely need to find somewhere. i feel homeless hahahaha. its like i became an online hermit. is that possible? lol.

anyways, happy greys day!

xoxo

day dreaming...

i havent been able to focus much lately. i blame the gorgeous spring weather utah is having :)
so, i've been window shopping online..and you know, its not easy being a fat girl and dressing cute/trendy/fashionable. seriously..as far as B&M stores go, I can like shop at about 4: Target, Old Navy, Lane Bryant and Torrid. and come on, seriously? i'm only 30, and LB's stuff is just not my style. though i do get my undies there. torrid--I think they have *some* things i like, but again, not really my style. so that leaves Target and Old Navy. not a whole lot of selection. Why can't forever 21 sell my size? or urban outfitters? is the solution here really for me to stop being fat? LOL. maybe. but until then, I'd like to look cute...so i browsed around some places online, and i thought I'd share my spring wishlist :)

all of the clothes posted are plus size..just an fyi

**some of them i dont remember where i found, but i looked at alloy, delias,target, old navy, and etsy.

so..denim. my bestfriend. right now, i'm really loving skinny jeans. i know, i know. i swore i'd never wear them, but i actually love them--i dont think that they look too bad on me. found these ones at alloy i think--but old navy has cute ones too.

dark denim bermudas--actually, any kind of bermuda i'm really loving.

and love love the distressed roughed up look of these:

I found this tunic over at etsy..she has them in all different colors/designs. check out her shop:

rainbowswirlz

love this back!

navy blue has been my secret love for the past 3 years--im so happy to see it popping up all over the place now. this is at old navy.

and my favorite staple: long lean tanks. perfect alone or layered. especially in this pinkish/salmon color. so hot.

again, with the grey..and some navy thrown in. found this at delias

this one is from a local retailer, but they have an online store as well. they have the simplest, easy going styles. i saw this dress on display at one of their stores, and i really really want it. like now. find them here : downeast basics

now for my favorite part of the list: accessories and shoes :)

i've been looking for a necklace like this forever. i'm not big on necklaces, but i love the simple, long design of this one. check out shopbop if you like it :)

these earrings i found at downeast basics, they were $5. no lie. i love them and wear them with everything. theyre a dark wood, i know you cant really tell in the pic.

these are my sunglass, they are jessica simpson--i think they are normally about $50, but i found them at TJ Maxx for $14.99 love a bargain :)
and these are earrings i've been looking for all over the place, and i wish i could find something like this locally.

a lot of the shoes that ive posted are going to be either Jessica Simpson or Fergie. and if they arent...then i dont know where i found them LOL. these ones are JS

i would wear these with some ripped up denim bermudas, and that yellow shirt up, and the feather earrings.

also JS.

JS

Fergie
*as a side note, i didnt even know she had shoes until yesterday. lol. but i love them :)


i would marry this color if i could. and i love juicy's leather purses. they are always so comfy on the shoulder

and this little gem i found at urban outfitters. love this brown carmel color. and the pockets.



okay, i think i'd better wrap up this post..its gotten awfully long and i didnt even post all the shoes/bags i love hehehe. but, i do still have to work today..so maybe i'll post more next week :)

xoxo

happy weekend!!

ps---i read an article in the LA times yesterday that forever 21 is coming out with a plus size line launching in May! can't wait for it!

the review..

so..Vegas. I can't believe that was just a week ago. I feel like I just barely left! Here's a sort of breakdown of our couple of days there...



first, is the obligatory stop at Jack in the Box--I like to refer to it as "jack in the crack". dont know why, besides the fact that its fun to rhyme. :D
And really, its not in Vegas, its in St. George, but it typically means we're close. I had to snap a photo of my cup to rub into Art.. he LOVES jack in the crack, and we've often joked about driving to St. George (its about a 4 hr drive from SLC) JUST to have jack in the box lol.

this was from the second night we were there..we were standing on one of those elevated walkways...this one was in between the Wynn and the Fashion Show mall. I'm kinda surprised that it even came out well considering the huge glass windows that I was trying to take it through :) The Wynn was gorgeous--by far had one of the nicest, cleanest bathrooms I peed in while there LOL. We also stopped in a Manolo Blahnik store..yeah. I've never been in one before, I mean, I've never even seen a pair IRL before. I'm not even sure if there is a place in SLC that even sells them lol. Anyway, we went in, just had to. Couldnt resist, especially after seeing the shoes that Carrie had left in her closet in the SATC movie. So we browsed around..and then left feeling completely underdressed/inadequate to even be in there hahahahaaa. Oh, and I tried on a couple of pairs for the first time too. Not there though..we were at the Neiman Marcus outlet, felt a little more in place there :)

I took this one for the girls. Last summer when we drove through Vegas, Maya was all excited when she saw the castle, so I thought I'd take one at night when it was all lit up. Again, through the glass window of a walkway. Not bad from my phone! We didnt go in the Excalibur though..we were just passing through. I'm always in awe of all the lights there. Kinda makes me sad when we come home to SLC, I'm like on a neon light high, and then BAM! normal city. :(

And here was one of the reasons we even went to Vegas..yes, to shop! C and I dont really gamble..our forte is makeup..and then purses and shoes. In that order :)

So Saturday we headed down to this really cool outdoor mall (not pictured) that had a Sephora. Huge deal, because we dont have one of those in SLC..so we of course went there first. I love all the makeup. I could literally spend HOURS just looking at it and trying it on. So then we headed off to MAC, which really, in hindsight, we didnt need to go to, since I can buy it at Nordstroms, but I really like being able to go into an all MAC store. So after we had all the makeup we came for, we headed down to Primm, I think, which is on the stateline of Nevada/Cali. I dont know why I prefer these particular outlets, but I do. Michael Kors, Juicy, Neiman Marcus and Guess are where we hit..and I really wish I had tons more money to spend!!

Me and C on Saturday night. We standing in front of Treasure Island..now called 'TI' I guess. I was all excited to see the show since they re-did it..We stopped last summer, but it was still under construction. Anyways..long story short, this show is not kid friendly anymore. It was a little disappointing--I mean, most people bring their kids to see the pirates and the huge ships..and yeah. Nothing but girls in their booty shorts and bras. The pirates though, not bad :)

I didnt really get many pictures of Me and C, she wasnt really happy about the camera anyway lol. Most of our shots look like that one ^^

::SIgh::: I love this sight. I love this particular spot in Vegas. The Eiffel Tower and the Bellagio fountains across the street..its just so beautiful, day or night. love love love.

So, that was it! Glad to be home..the traffic and all the walking had definitely taken its toll on me by Sunday. I was sooo grumpy when we left! I guess 2 days is plenty of time for me to see everything there!

Well, I'm off to work..happy friday.

xoxo