Slightly Intrigued....

It is 11:00 pm and I have been looking for ideas for my sister's baby shower online and I somewhow got sucked into the internet's black hole and am up way past my bedtime (especially on a school night). While looking for cute stuff on Etsy, I came across some banners that I thought would be cute:

And, I thought to myself...obviously there is an easy way to do this that does not involve cutting too much, which led me to the infamous cricut. Now I want one. I don't scrapbook (nor do I have any desire). But how cute would my future parties be??? Does anyone have one? I must know more.

Tchotchkes

I cannot stand tchotchkes (aka logo crap given out at trade shows and events). I only like a trinket if it has use. And by use I do not mean another calendar, notepad or chip clip. I think working in marketing has jaded me. But, I do like a well thought out, clever giveaway item.


So, today while perusing the Tulsa World I saw an article about the 3rd anniversary of the Linnaeaus Teaching Gardens (located behind the Tulsa Garden Center -- for those of you who have not visited it is really nice). Next week they will be having an anniversary event and have an awesome giveaway:

Linnaeus Teaching gardens Third anniversary celebration

when: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 6

where: Behind the Tulsa Garden Center, 2435 S. Peoria Ave.

what: First 500 visitors receive hydrangea plants. At 10:30 a.m. free lecture from Wayne Penata, from Ball Seed Co. of Chicago. Also, plants for sale, including some offered for the first time in Oklahoma. Light refreshments will be served.

For more: 746-5125, tulsaworld.com/tulsagardencenter

Now that is a good giveaway! I will totally be there!

A post about nothing...

Tonight Tommy and I went to see Jerry Seinfeld perform at the PAC. I had seen his show once in OKC probably 8 years ago and he did not disappoint.

I so wish I was funny. My delivery is horrible. But, I have accepted the fact that this is something I am not good at. I can move on. At least I don't try. Nothing's worse than someone unfunny that thinks they are funny.

Also, I don't get out much. I am always amazed that I actually know people when I go out in public. And, I am so not used to crowds. What do I live in? A bubble?


The opening act was Tom Papa. He was actually really good! Being a comedian would be terribly hard.


And, for those of you Seinfeld fan's here is a little YouTube video for you:

I would put something funny here but as previously mentioned, I got nothing.

Little Houses (Made of Ticky Tacky -- shout out to those of you who watch Weeds)

Today I was perusing the OKC NBC affiliate's website and came across a feature on a book about tiny houses. Tiny houses = miniatures. I am so on it. And, according to this book, Tiny Houses, a mini house are those 1000 square feet or less. My house is 1350 sf, so basically I live in a miniature. I have always thought it was cute (and tiny).

A little narrow.
From the front:
From the side:

Both of these remind me of living in a tree house:

This post is not for the claustrophobic.

Run in with the law

Got pulled over this morning. I saw it coming. I had the foresight last week (Thank God!) to get my 2-month expired tag renewed. Even though I have had a good week to put it on, I got out of my ticket by showing the nice officer my new license plate and kindly explaining that to put on the new tag requires a power tool. And, really who has one of those just sitting around?

He had a good laugh. Tommy did too.

Guess who now has a little motivation to change the tag?

And, on a completely seperate note...I am also very motivated to get this new housekeeper. But, really have no idea where to begin (yes, I can Google ; ) but would like like to get a recommendation. So far I have looked up Clean Freaks...anyone used them? Anyone else? Hmm...this might be a potential business venture for someone -- an online housekeeper referral service.

Jennsylvania

I am not sure what has taken me so long to get on the Jennsylvania train but I am all aboard. I had heard about Jen Lancaster's blog from a friend and never really checked it out. But, while scouring the aisles of Target before my trip (and after a glowing testimonial from someone I work with -- thanks Angie!), I decided to invest my $13 and time into her book, Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending Egomaniacal, Self-Centered, Smart-ass OR Why you Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office. (Kelsey, I will bring this to our next girl's night. You must read before Dax gets here!) Because I was so amused I about missed half the small towns on my car trip through Europe...so much so, that for a few hours Tommy even hid my book from me.

Disclaimer: For those who are easily offended and can't handle a little off-color humor (you guys know how prude I am-so, you are most likely safe) this may not be the site/book for you. So, enter/read at your own risk.

PS - For those as celeb obsessed as me, check out her post from yesterday about Vince Vaughn.

Yard Work

This weekend Tommy and I worked on the yard. I have a hard time keeping flowers alive but I have high hopes that this will be the year for me.

Now, I have no idea why it never occurred to me to move our patio set to our patio instead of leaving it in front of our garage (where it was so super convenient - ha). I think it looks very inviting. (But, again, I am partial.)

I will keep you posted on how long I can keep this alive. Hopefully for the sake of ever planting flowers again without hearing my husband complain about my brown thumb, they will make it throughout the season.

The streets of Europa

So, this first picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post...except for the fact that technically it was taken on the street and I am somewhat proud of my "artistry" in snapping this shot. Is this dog begging for food not too cute?

So, now for the real "meat" (stupid pun intended) of my post. (And, luckily for you guys I am running out of theme posts of my trip.) But, one my favorite things about being in Europe was that looking down each street was an architectural surpise. And, you know I love surprises.

These are from the streets of Munich, Salzburg (my FAVORITE), Innsbruck and some other little cities. Aren't they all just amazing???

Flowers

Today I helped my sister do some flowers for a baby shower she was hosting. I love to watch an arrangement go from this:

To this:

Shopping

Like every other woman in the world, I love to shop. Shopping in Europe was even more fun. I only wish I could have done more of it.

The confections were always so artistic. Two of my favorite things put together candy + flowers. Adorable!

How beautiful are these petit fours?

And, I was obsessed with the store windows. (You will be see as you scroll down...)

Swarovski. I went to the factory in Austria. I do have to say...there was not that much more than what you can find here. But, it was fun to be where my little collectibles are made!

Christmas tree made entirely of Swarovski.

Isn't a dierndel even cuter when it is miniature?

I loved the candy windows.

These are all Christmas ornaments made of eggs.

I know this isn't a store window, but my grandmother's maiden name was Provenza. So, I had to have my pic taken in front of this restaurant.

Seriously, the traditional dress when tiny is so cute.

Are you sick of all of my pics yet? ; )

Creative Gift Wrap

In honor of my sister's birthday, I thought it would be fun to do a post on easy and creative gift wrap. I will be honest...I wish I was better at this. I am usually fishing under my bed to find a gift bag that someone has given me to throw the gift into. But, maybe I will make a mid-new year's resolution to do cuter gift wrap....yeah, we will see....who has the next birthday? : ) I think it is my mother-in-law. I will let you guys know if I stick to this resolution.

Here are some really cute ideas from Real Simple:

I have a special affinity for beach related things since that is where Tommy and I got married. I think I could pull this off, though. Looks easy enough. I am a TERRIBLE gift wrapper, though. I think that is probably why I stick to bags...

I love this idea. It is just taking tea towels and wrapping them around a bottle of wine. Two gifts in one!

I especially love this. It is a real fresh flower bloom on the top of the package. I think a realistic looking faux (an oxymoron?) gerber daisy would be really cute too.

This idea is to take an old calendar and use it as gift wrap. I will give it an "A" for creativity and eco-consciousness for the recycling aspect...however, I must admit I don't think I have ever seen a calendar quite like this. Even those huge desk calendars have lines.

But, I guess at the very least these got me to look at wrapping a little differently. Oh, while I am thinking of it, I do believe a little ribbon goes a long way. Right now at Target in the dollar spot they have really cute spools of ribbon that would be cute to dress up packages!

Marketplace

You guys are going to be so sick of me and my Europe trip (that is if you are even still reading this...) by the time I am finished filling you in. But, hey, I am sure I won't be going back anytime soon. So, I will be back to my regularly scheduled programming in no time.

One of my favorite things about my trip was the marketplatz (one of only about 15 German words I know) in each town. I love to see the fresh flowers. And the bread. And the cheese. And, really anything that you can eat.

We picked up some fresh flowers on our last day for our lovely hosts. My mother-in-law's cousin's graciously fed us (fabulous food, at that) and let us stay for 3 nights.

The finished product. Not my best work. But, still it was fun!

I mean look at all these flowers. Don't you just want to buy them all??

And, the pretzels. Have I told you how I love pretzels? (Especially Auntie Anne's in the mall....)

Cheese. Have I told you how I love cheese?

As I am sure you are just dying for more pics...I will share more tomorrow.