so, what's the plan?

happy hump day!

My daughter is actually sleeping long enough for me to shower, get ready AND check my email. While I would say I don't know what to do with myself, that would be inviting catastrophe of the worst kind and my to-do list is long enough to drape as the scarves that are currently fashionable.

I got these new capris at Target yesterday. I'm not really a capri kind of gal since the bottoms don't encircle my calves evenly- they lean out at the back and in the front, lie smoothly against my shins. So, big deal. Even though these guys do this, I really loved the rest of the fit and am willing to go out on a limb since my fashion schooling from my utterly cosmopolitan sis. At her wedding in Cali early this month, we went through all my clothes and she taught me how to layer and accessorize, and I'm so glad! I feel so much more put together now and so much more attractive, which is really important when you have a rather spirited, adventurous toddler, a grumpy 80-lb dog and a new hormonal cycle. Gah!

Forgot to mention yesterday that I've resumed drinking both Raspberry Leaf and Dong Quai teas to assist in said hormonal difficulties. RL supports the menstrual cycle, helps tone the uterus and aids in cramp relief. Dong Quai ("the Queen of Herbs") is a hormone-regulator. So far, the first menses is pretty ok- no real cramps to speak of and the flow is low. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, though, so I'll post when/if things change.

OT, I just downloaded the new Lady Gaga and the (kind of) old Fergie albums. I've been trying to hit the treadmill and firm up my mama belly before my beach trip in May, and Fergalicious is the bomb for being up in the gym just working on my fitness.

return to innocence (read: insanity)

Started menstruating again. Two years without and it's kind of exciting, like I've just started and I'm thirteen again. I can definitely do without the drama, though; I'm feeling generally pissed off, though I know in part it is because of the big storm we finally had. All that boiling atmospheric energy coming our way, and that's a good description of my internal forcast; tightly wound, unexplainable antsiness, like I'm going to snap at any given time. To quote a great kung fu warrior, "get ready to feel the thunder!"

To celebrate, I've ordered some cloth menstrual pads from VulvaLoveLovely on etsy. I'm also thinking of trying Crea8tiveMama's bounty, though I want to test the first set prior to ordering more. I just like it that she says every month is a party in her panties. Ha!

So Max has been a bit of a basket case since Monday, and that's another gauge on which to stay appraised. He must be picking up on my instability- come to think of it, so is Tabby; she's been running around like a lunatic and doing things she knows she's not supposed to do, all the while watching me with this gleeful, shit-eating grin. Little turd.

And she just woke up an hour early. shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

happy...

Saint Paddy's Day!

guiness float ala marthastewart.com

morning!

hi there! Thursday morning over here is grocery/errand day. Woo, I get out of the cage for a couple hours!

holy smack!

My Guayaki package arrived yesterday with two new niceties- Organic Energy Shots! The hubs and I split the two different flavors this morning and dayayayayamnisthisshitunbelievable!!! Obviously, um, it works. I've already accomplished so much that I think I need to take a break, but OH I still have so much energy to burn, I could go on and on, and really oooooon, so I'll try very hard to leave it at this:

If ever your getupandgo is either broken or out of gas or you need to concentrate and you just can't at all... Just try this stuff. Seriously? It'll knock your socks off. It'll knock them into next week. So drink up and enjoy the time travel!

--
Amendment!
by 3pm, I was totally wiped. Let this be a lesson to all ye caffeine hawkers! Only use it if you reaaaaaally need it. Gah, I'm going to bed.

homemade butcherblock countertop butter

For those who recall, our little family of three resides in the gorgeously renovated space that is my in-law's basement. Someday I will provide pictures proving that this is indeed a fulfilling and rewarding arrangement, but for now, be sated with the following series detailing our foray into homemade butcherblock countertop butter.

melting beeswax

Up until now, we've been cooking in the big kitchen upstairs while researching sustainable, edible and safe ways to seal the rather costly butcherblock we have both in our kitchen and bathroom. The hubs located a great recipe you can find here that suggests four parts beeswax to five parts food-grade mineral oil, melted together and applied about twice a week until the thing is sealed. Pretty serious application, eh? We thought so, too, and ordered enough of the stuff to seal our entire apartment. Darn, I think I'll just have to be making beeswax candles at some point! 

The setup

We found beeswax from localharvest and the mineral oil at lehman's; both amazing resources for countless items, by the way, and lastnight, my hubby and I melted it down, whispering and trying not to clang the blasted double boiler, as our daughter's doorway is just beyond the arch of the kitchen to our bedroom. {a nice planning whoops} Wonderfully, it came together in just under an hour, clean-up included. I would recommend putting everything in the pot at once, instead of adding cold mineral oil to warm, melty beeswax. Duh!

jars filled

This morning, the jars are a lovely light yellow and when I butter the counter later this afternoon, our wee kitchenette will finally become the center of our bustling household! Well, upon buttering and if I ever get around to sewing the heavy curtains for our girl's doorway. Just looking at those jars makes me excited about canning season.

labeled, capped and cooling off

some pretties

While my child is busy turning the tv off and on during our daily The Cat Returns viewing, I thought I'd post the gorgeous calligraphics I found while researching favor packaging ideas for my sister's wedding. Enjoy!

This set of stickers is to die for. Look at that thick stack! I sent the link to my sis during our conference yesterday and we're totally using it! All the DIY instructions are here at the new 100LayerCake blog. Check it out, it's complete wedding love! I'll have pics of ours at the end of March, when we'll be wrapping all the favors and room baskets up the week before the wedding in lovely Monterey, CA. Jealous much?!  

favor stickers from 100layercake

I love the personal quality of this Moroccan Iced Tea note. Check out the love, jenna site for more beautiful script.

moroccan tea detail from love, jenna

Hello Handmade is Betsy Dunlap and Shanna Murray, two amazing women doing what they (and I!) love. While they don't have anything for sale at the moment, stay tuned to their etsy shop for their next amazing venture. In the meantime, please visit Betsy's page for more of the same quirky longhand.

hello handmade personalized valentine

Wonderful haiku from carmelscribe.

piece from carmelscribe's photostream on flickr

 

bravo!

Went to a Women's Gathering at my friend Beth's house on Friday night. It was exactly what I hoped it would be, with intelligent conversation, articulate women, healthy snacky food and tea- with coconut powder and agave nectar! Hello, this is what I've been looking for! Kindred womenfriends are around!

On a side note, this is the third thing I've done without my daughter, and, as I distance myself in small ways from her, the wonderful, fulfilling and guilt-ridden whirlwind that is the mother's paradox settles in. The beginnings of Relaxation upon leaving, Elation upon realizing these chics are the bomb and it was totally worth the time and pain of moving my movie date with the hubs, Fulfullment when I get in the car to come home, Hope that it will repeat itself someday soon, Utter Willingness and Happiness as I get out of the car to positively reinforce my husband's role in the evening... then Disappointment and Guilt as I hear her crying from outside the house! Apparently, she was ridiculously gassy and needed some Mama pronto. Ahh, it does feel good to be needed, though Daddy was doing a champion job keeping up with her. (Yay Hubs!)

Back to the gathering, all the women there, save one, were parents in relationships. The unnattached happened to be the most well-spoken of us all. She was extremely intelligent and flung vocabulary like my honors English teachers. *I was going to interject some amazing words I remember hearing, but I fargen can't; I was just so offended that she was that well put-together without appearing elitist. Okay, I may have looked up snobby on thesaurus.com to come up with 'elitist,' but it's not like I have access to that in the middle of someone's living room discussing herbology and midwifery! Besides, my issue is certainly not with her, because I fear she would be a lovely woman with whom to be friends, it is with myself- Where is my brain and how can I access all those grand words I used to employ before children and home stole all sence of verbal variance! (didn't look that one up!)

I guess I just have to work on using those dang words. I know I've got them in there, it's just easier to use the old standbys (awesome. cool. great. fabulous.) when doing near anything with a toddler in tow.

And now I must go have a wedding conference with mom and sis using Microsoft Live Meeting. So professional. Meeting the Hubs and Lincoln for a Sunday matinee; Watchmen at 3:30. So much fun to do things sans bebe!

Have a great afternoon!

ps- I ordered these awesome checks last week- Jane Evershed's Womankind.

Womankind

a common nirvana

I had a revelation about the Universe yesterday.

I was thinking about the websites I'm working on and the communication, or lack thereof, with each of my clients. I can tell when they've been pondering a design because I can feel the push of their energy and the intention behind it. I pondered yesterday if that's all asking the Universe for something is, or just thinking about something with intention is: the intentional push of physical energy from you to someone/thing else.

I told my husband about my bodhisattva experience and he laughed! Turns out that it's a common scientific theory that the amount of energy in the universe is finite, making a transfer of energy from one being to another necessary, thereby backing the monumental connection in my head. I probably learned that in elementary school studying light sockets and batteries in my GATE Electronics class. But it was pretty darn cool figuring it out!

Some delicious lyrics and music from my fave yoga music babe, Deva Primal.

Om Purnam II

Om purnam-adah purnam-idam
Purnaat purnam-udachyate
Purnasya purnam-aadaaya
Purnam-eva-avashishyate
Om shanti shanti shanti
This is perfect.
That is perfect.
From the perfect springs the perfect.
Take the perfect from the perfect and
only the perfect remains.
May there be peace, peace, peace.

Agahgaghaghaghghaghahgahg.gm.....mmm.

Slowly, so as not to frighten the touchy fella, I am trying to eek my way back into the land of blog. (can you feel the echo?) We've been in the midst of what most new parents know as Terrors of deh Tiny Teefs. Dem teefs; so tiny, yet so terrible. So terrible, I had to write a terrible haiku.

Ode to dem terrible teefs:

I see tiny buds
on the gums of my daughter.

and the baby's crying. An unfinished haiku- oh the craptasticness of it all! If you haven't guessed already, this is just one of the many irritating parts of parenthood. I just wanna post! But she wins, afterall.

dangit.

are you there god? it's me, margaret.

hello, blog. I am not dead. I am visiting a friend of mine, who's got too much on her plate for blogging these days. Ok, the friend is me, but it's ok cause she's taking good care of things. I guess all the brilliant post ideas I've written in my head over the past, ohh, thirty days, will just have to keep bumping around in thars.

siiiiiiiiigh. eventually I will return to new-post land. GAh.