Silhouette Giveaway!

Jen over at tatertots and jello are hosting a silhouette machine giveaway! Go check it out. Not only is the machine amazing but so are Jen's crafty ideas!!

Crafting, etc.

I've been going tutu crazy lately and today I needed a change. I decided to take a little doe charm I found at Hobby Lobby the other week to create a necklace. The charms a little small to be alone so I decided to tweak it a bit. I attached it to a eye pin. Then I placed a glass heart bead onto the eyepin along with a flower bead and voila!



I ran out of chain so I'm going to have to wait til I can run to the store to get some chain before I can wear it. However it came out soooo cute! I love it.

I'm getting metal jewelry stamps for my birthday so I'll be sure to post some of those creations later!

Tutu's galore!

I've found a new love of tutus!



They're so much fun! I made a coworker one for her daughter just to try it out and they've taken off! I've got 4 on request and I'm thinking about opening an etsy shop. I love making them! They're very girly and perfect for anyone. I've also got two adult tutu's on order. Weeeeeeee! I love crafting and finding new loves to make.

If you've got any ideas on my shop name let me know! I need some help with that. Plus whichever name I pick (if it's from a comment) I send you a tutu!

Isn't life grand?

I adore hanging out with my dad. He's my best friend and makes every day insanely fun. We do the most ridiculous things and cry so hard we laugh at our silliness. He's one of the only people I can truly be myself around & it always ends up being a great day with him. I've got girlfriends who just don't understand being able to spend the entire day with your parent and not want to claw someone's eyes out. Dad and I've always been close every since I was a little girl.

Today of course was not any different. We went to drive around, which usually entails getting a drink at the convenience store then heading to Watkins Mill to let the dogs run around. Of course as we're headed back home dad tells me to take a left instead of right (which lead to the house) I immediately knew it was a off the beaten path day. Dad LOVES taking back roads and seeing where they go. I however am not as adventurous as he is plus I'm slightly terrified of gravel roads that I don't know that well.

So off we went. We finally arrived home around 2 1/2 hours later but we had a blast. We ended up at Wallace State Park where we sat on the bench by the water trying to capture a gorgeous blue butterfly on camera that kept flying around us. It was determined to land on dad. Bella on the other hand was determined to eat said butterfly. So enjoy some pictures from today :)






All in all it was a amazing fall day <3

How to be alone.

I saw this on craftzine, and it's very true.



Here's the full poem:
HOW TO BE ALONE by Tanya Davis

If you are at first lonely, be patient. If you've not been alone much, or if when you were, you weren't okay with it, then just wait. You'll find it's fine to be alone once you're embracing it.

We could start with the acceptable places, the bathroom, the coffee shop, the library. Where you can stall and read the paper, where you can get your caffeine fix and sit and stay there. Where you can browse the stacks and smell the books. You're not supposed to talk much anyway so it's safe there.

There's also the gym. If you're shy you could hang out with yourself in mirrors, you could put headphones in (guitar stroke).

And there's public transportation, because we all gotta go places.

And there's prayer and meditation. No one will think less if you're hanging with your breath seeking peace and salvation.

Start simple. Things you may have previously (electric guitar plucking) based on your avoid being alone principals.

The lunch counter. Where you will be surrounded by chow-downers. Employees who only have an hour and their spouses work across town and so they -- like you -- will be alone.

Resist the urge to hang out with your cell phone.

When you are comfortable with eat lunch and run, take yourself out for dinner. A restaurant with linen and silverware. You're no less intriguing a person when you're eating solo dessert to cleaning the whipped cream from the dish with your finger. In fact some people at full tables will wish they were where you were.

Go to the movies. Where it is dark and soothing. Alone in your seat amidst a fleeting community.
And then, take yourself out dancing to a club where no one knows you. Stand on the outside of the floor till the lights convince you more and more and the music shows you. Dance like no one's watching...because, they're probably not. And, if they are, assume it is with best of human intentions. The way bodies move genuinely to beats is, after all, gorgeous and affecting. Dance until you're sweating, and beads of perspiration remind you of life's best things, down your back like a brook of blessings.

Go to the woods alone, and the trees and squirrels will watch for you.
Go to an unfamiliar city, roam the streets, there're always statues to talk to and benches made for sitting give strangers a shared existence if only for a minute and these moments can be so uplifting and the conversations you get in by sitting alone on benches might've never happened had you not been there by yourself

Society is afraid of alonedom, like lonely hearts are wasting away in basements, like people must have problems if, after a while, nobody is dating them. but lonely is a freedom that breaths easy and weightless and lonely is healing if you make it.

You could stand, swathed by groups and mobs or hold hands with your partner, look both further and farther for the endless quest for company. But no one's in your head and by the time you translate your thoughts, some essence of them may be lost or perhaps it is just kept.

Perhaps in the interest of loving oneself, perhaps all those sappy slogans from preschool over to high school's groaning were tokens for holding the lonely at bay. Cuz if you're happy in your head than solitude is blessed and alone is okay.

It's okay if no one believes like you. All experience is unique, no one has the same synapses, can't think like you, for this be releived, keeps things interesting lifes magic things in reach.

And it doesn't mean you're not connected, that communitie's not present, just take the perspective you get from being one person in one head and feel the effects of it. take silence and respect it. if you have an art that needs a practice, stop neglecting it. if your family doesn't get you, or religious sect is not meant for you, don't obsess about it.

you could be in an instant surrounded if you needed it
If your heart is bleeding make the best of it
There is heat in freezing, be a testament.

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater.

AMAZING! What is there more to say about this book. I could cuddle up with it all night and be blissfully happy for eternity. Sam & Grace's relationship never seems to amaze me. How Maggie can write exactly how they're feeling and make you feel the EXACT same way is being phenomenal. Authors seem to have a difficult time topping their first book in a series, but not Maggie. Linger was ten times better than Shiver and I definitely cannot wait til Forever comes out.

Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #8)

** spoiler alert ** This was absolutely my favorite BDB book. John & Xhex's story was phenomenal! These books always look extremely long but once you start them you can't put them down. I loved that we got to see part of Tohr's background along with John's dad, Darius which was also Xhex's story. It tied together well & I loved it.

I like how sneaky JR is with adding new characters all while tying them into the book's story line. You don't feel like they were thrown in there just because she needed someone else. Plus it gets you to thinking about how they're going to figure into the story in the end. I really want to read Murhder's story now!

My next book is either Spirit Bound or Dear John, decisions decisions.

Solar System Necklace

My faves? Your faves!

Here's a short way to share our faves, so I'll post mine & be sure to share yours!

Name:
Location:
Five movies:
Five tv shows:
Five Books:
Five stores:
Five objects:
Four actors:
Three animals:
Two restaurants:
One quote:

Here be mine ;)

Name: Tracy
Location: The Midwest
Five movies:
1. You've got mail
2. Pocahontas
3. Chisum & Rooster Cogburn
4. BBC Pride & Prejudice
5. Wizard of Oz
Five tv shows:
1. Survivor
2. Amazing Race
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Vampire Diaries
5. NCIS
Five Books:
1. Thirteen Reasons Why
2. Hunger Games
3. Lone Survivor
4. Pride & Prejudice
5. The Alchemist
Five stores:
1. Barnes & Noble
2. Target
3. Best Buy
4. Kohls
5. Fashion Bug
Five objects:
1. Cellphone
2. Laptop
3. Flip Mini
4. My Nikon :)
5. iPod
Four actors/actress:
1. Robert Downey Jr.
2. Gerard Butler
3. Jake Gyllenhaal
4. Kate Winslet
5. Queen Latifah
Three animals:
1. Beethoven
2. Bella
3. Axle
Two restaurants:
1. Jose Peppers
2. Olive Garden
One quote:
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Linger trailer = love

Staying positive!

Has been extremely difficult this last few weeks. Dad however has been amazing, which I had no doubt about, with keeping me up & making things ten times better than they would be. I had a couple of co-workers come to work sick & I caught what they had. Last week after taking Friday & Monday off I came back to work Tuesday thinking I'd got over the cold. WRONG. Tuesday night I started coughing up blood & went back to the doctor Wednesday. Well I have strep throat which caused everything to be swole so bad that when I coughed I popped a blood vessel. I got put on amoxicillin for the strep & went on my merry way. Saturday I started Yaz for my PCOS & started having stomach issues. These have continued til today when finally I got fed up and went back to the doctor. It seems that I now have bronchitis PLUS the amoxicillin and yaz were causing the stomach discomfort so I had to switch medications. Hopefully that will help my stomach settle down & make the stomach problems go away. *fingers crossed* I'm extremely tired of going to the doctor and/or having some sort of illness. I just want it to be fixed. Which I know is easier said than done. Here's hoping that the next few days brings a happier stomach to me :)

Ketchup!

Remember in school when you'd have "ketchup" or catch up days? Here's the Tracy version of a ketchup blog! Work has been all consuming for me so very little has been getting read here at my house. The latest book I'm reading is:

So far this book is extremely riveting. I can't put my finger on exactly what's going on & that's a good thing. Luce has had an incident involving shadows she's seen all her life & a boy she was crushing on. They were hanging out and the next thing Luce knew that he was on fire and she couldn't stop it. Afterwards she's sent to a reform school where she meets Daniel, a guy she knows she's met before. The shadows begin showing up more & more and Luce is determined to face them this time.

I decided since I like the Vampire Diaries TV series so much I'd try reading the series by L.J. Smith.

A word to the wise, they're extremely slow! I got through the first two books before I put them down. I'll come back to them later I'm sure but for now I'm content on just watching the TV show :)

Sunday Saga

Yesterday was a complete and utter disaster. I got up at 10 and couldn't find Bella. Mom had let her and Beethoven out so I thought maybe she'd snuck back out since she has this bad habit of coming inside then shooting back out the door & you never realize that she's out until later. We promptly flipped out it was extremely cold outside and she's so small. After tearing the house apart we found her under the recliner hiding, which was strange. I finally got her out and she got sick & wasn't acting right. We called the vet and the vet thought maybe she'd ate something she wasn't supposed to and was just passing it. After about 4 hours I realized we had a bigger problem then her just eating something. It was sleeting & snowing outside and I wanted to go to the vet before it got too bad. As soon as we got to the vet & I took Bella out of the carrier she had a bowel movement from the stress of the vets office. The vet immediately said, "She has parvo, that's the number one sign of it" & I started crying.

We always get our dogs vaccinated but because of my job issues I've not had the money to get them done so she'd only had the first round of puppy shots. I was planning on taking her this Friday when I got my first check since going full time (because I only get paid once a month). Well needless to say I was upset that a simple vaccination could have prevented this whole ordeal and that she could die because of it. The vet gave her a shot to keep a secondary infection from coming in and killing her. She also said because Bella was still able to stand up and move around plus she wasn't dehydrated yet that she had a 50/50 chance if she made it through the night then if she made it to today she had a 75% chance of making it. The vet also said there'd been an outbreak of it recently which was abnormal since it's winter....

I left with orders to get pedialyte and to give her a syringe full of it hourly until she urinated then I could do it every four hours, needless to say I knew I was in for a long night. We headed to Wal-Mart which was right down the road to get the pedialyte and headed home. Well it was snowing extremely hard and the roads were a mess by the time we got home we couldn't get up our hill. After going to the police department and getting no help from them & then trying to get up either way to our house for an hour we weren't very happy. Eventually we called my Uncle Joe who lives a few houses down from us and he came down and pulled us up the hill.

When we finally got home & I got Bella out I was surprised to find she had only had one accident in the carrier and we'd been in the car for quite awhile. We got her settled and began her hourly dose of pedialyte. I went to bed around 11:30 and mom & dad stayed up giving Bella the pedialyte til 4am then dad woke me up and I took over. Finally around 9am Bella had to pee & we began the every 4 hour dosage instructions. I made her a poached egg which she gobbled down at around 9:30am and she went number 2 at 11am. I was ecstatic. I called the vet and let her know what was going on and all she could say was "I'm impressed! You did so well". I cried again. She said to keep giving Bella bland foods for the rest of the day and that tomorrow she could start her normal diet and to keep the stress on her to a minimum for another 3-4 days. Then in 2 weeks she can get her vaccination. Needless to say I feel like it's all been a dream. She's doing really well & I'm just happy she's ok. I don't want to be to optimistic but I think she's going to be fine.

Yesterday I couldn't stop crying because I knew a simple shot could have prevented the entire ordeal but I also know that we weren't able to do it financially. I'm just glad my little buddy is ok :)

Book Review: Vampire Diaries.

After falling in love with the CW series I decided to check out the books. I have to say they're decent. Nothing that I "love" but they're a good read. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is about them but they're interesting and sometimes aren't. They're a quick read and aren't all that predictable which is nice. However sometimes the writing seems too simple and a little dull. I'm now reading the 2nd book & we'll see how that goes.

In other news they've hired a screen writer for Shiver. Hopefully this comes full circle and becomes a movie! I know Maggie Stiefvater, the author, is psyched as am I.

Linger.

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack.  And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.