Ten on Tuesday (link party)

I'm keeping it simple for today's Ten on Tuesday link party - my favorite 10 websites currently (in no particular order):

1. Babycenter: As a mommy of young-uns, this site is the go to for just about everything. Info on pregnancy, development, sickies, etc. And if they don't have the answer to your question, one of the mommies will!
(Shout-out to my BBC mommies - Holla!)

2. Zulily: This is a recent addition to my favs. I have found some of the best deals on the cutest stuff here. My daughter and her pink Cat in the Hat flannel pajamas thank you, Zulily.

3. Budgets Are Sexy: I can sum it up best as budget porn for nerds. No seriously folks, J. Money is probably one of the best financial bloggers I read or have read. Very honest, very understandable, and very cool. Check out his blog and geek out. It's awesome.

4. Silhouette Blog: I check this thing daily to find out the free downloads for the week and cool projects to do with the Silhouette. Awesome stuff!

5. Facebook: A necessary daily evil.

6. Its a Crafty Life: Gotta have my daily craft inspirations. Makes the long day go faster :-0)

7. Pandora: Because life needs a soundtrack.

8. Etsy: This is not only where one of my shops is located (the other is here), but it's also where I find some of the coolest, one of a kind handmade items for my home and the homes of others. Best gift locator ever.

9. Pick Your Plum: Have you seen this new website? Its one item a day, and when its gone, its gone. All stuff for creating your own crafted goodies at home.I really love this one!

10. TriedAndTrueDesigns: This is one of my new favorites on Etsy. I am mad crushing on every item in here. how do I pick just one? I can't.

And with that, I'm outties.

Happy shopping!

Jen

P.S. Don't forget, help us get to 50 followers for a big giveaway! It's gonna be a pretty good one!!

Linking up to:

Happy Weekend!

Have a great weekend, and don't forget - once we hit 50 followers there will be a BIG giveaway! Spread the word :-)

Happy Crafting,

Jen

New 20% off Blurb Coupon

For those that haven't heard of it, Blurb is an awesome! Since having kids, photo and photo gifts have become my number one go-to gift for birthdays and holidays. The grandparents love getting them, and it saves me a TON of time.
Blurb free online bookmaking tools provide you with everything you’ll need to create and publish your own professional-quality book. A Blurb photobook is the perfect way to turn your vacation snapshots into a travel coffee table book, wedding pictures into the wedding album you always dreamed of, recipes into a bookstore-quality cookbook you’d be proud to give as a gift, and more. With Fathers Day coming up quickly, this is a wonderful gift for the special men in your life!
Create your own Blurb photobook today and receive 20% off when you order by May 31st with code NEWBLURB!


And don't forget - this is a limited time offer so act quick!

*This is a sponsored post

Operation Ugly Backyard

Ok, first off, I should be clear. Its not that my backyard is horrific. It's not. It's just, well, horribly plain. Insanely plain (think track home plain - gasp). We have done nothing special to it since we moved in 2.5 years ago (hey - we're busy!). We decided this summer is going to be the one where we start doing some improvements to the yard. We're on .25 acre, so its not gonna be an easy feat. but we have some simple ideas to get started on.

So Mr. Chickypoo decided our side yard needs a garden of some sort. A couple of months ago, he purchased a bunch of seeds and he planted them all in starter containers and covered my nice dining room table with these little round dirt pods. Fast forward a few weeks and he had a ton of super green thriving little plants ready to go in the ground. So after some nagging suggesting from me, out they went to the side yard where they were going to be planted the upcoming weekend.

And then the heavy windstorm hit.

That weekend.

And all the little plants went off to plant heaven.

So round two of the 2011 garden has begun. Off to the store went Mr. Chickypoo cursing to round up some already started plants (that didn't look near as good as the ones he had started on his own).

And rounded up an insane amount of dirt (those bags wrap around the entire yard!)

And off to work he went. Planting, planting, planting.

I am so excited for all the yummy goodies coming our way:
Cucumbers
3 different types of tomatoes
4 types of bell peppers
habanero peppers
2 types of jalapenos
various herbs (yay for cilantro!)
a few other peppers that I can't recall at the moment...
Too ambitious straight out of the shoot? I don't care. I'm super exicted!

Happy (belated) 3rd Birthday E!

I took a few days off from blogging for a very special event. My sweet princess E turned the big 3! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. It feels like yesterday that we were just meeting her for the first time.

She was the chubbiest little thing I had ever seen (and weighed in at 9lbs, 6oz no less!) and I was in love. She is now a fiercely independent little girl with her own ideas and opinions, and while challenging most of the time, I couldn't be prouder of the strong little girl she is.

And this little girl wanted an Olivia the Pig party. You got it, baby girl.

Her actual party was held at the local zoo, so I did a bunch of Olivia decorations at home (balloons and streamers) and lots of presents. For the party at the zoo, I had my cousin at Sugar Bug Sweets make some super yummy Olivia cookies.

Aren't they adorable?

And one more...

These were the perfect favors for our party guests!

Miss E also got her big girl bed as a surprise, which turned out adorable (and made mommy cry a bunch).

Fit for a princess. A very-much-in-love-with-pink princess.

So there you have it. The reason for my absence for a couple of days.

And if you get a chance, fan Sugar Bug Sweets on Facebook and check out the other amazing dessert designs done by Terra!

Happy Crafting!
Jen

New giveaway coming!

In an effort to boost the traffic, we're announcing a giveaway! Details will be announced once the blog hits 50 followers. So....spread the word, get everyone you know to follow along, and once we hit 50, there's going to be a BIG giveaway :-)

(trust me, you will not want to miss this one!)

Oh and....Happy belated Mother's Day to all! I was busy enjoying my little chickypoos this weekend, so I hope you all had a special day.

Happy Crafting!
Jen

NEW - Featured Fridays!

Today's featured business is one very near and dear to me: It belongs to my sweet friend Alli and her business You Take The Cake.
Now, you have not seen adorable until you've seen these:

Her embroidered bloomers and boxers (oh yes, the boys get some of the fun too!) are the most adorable little baby items I have found and I am so excited to feature them this Friday!

Take a peek at a few of the other cuties from her shop:
This one is my current favorite - I have the perfect tutu to match, so I may have to get Miss E into it pronto.

See told you! Boys get to have some of the fun too (and isn't the model adorbs? ;-) This is a pair of boxers she made for me before Mr. R was born to match his surf themed nursery. I just want to pinch his sweet little baby cheeks.

Know what makes her stuff even more adorable? She's one of the nicest people you'll meet.

So go show her some love at her shop here
and grab up some of her beautiful stuff!

Happy Crafting!
Jen

Linking up with:

http://Tidymom.net

It's a Cinco de Mayo Celebration!

...And not just because its Cinco de Mayo today. But because I got my new Silhouette in the mail. And I am so stinkin' excited to bust it open! For those that aren't familiar (how could you not be??), here's what they look like:

Minus the laptop, of course. You hook it up to your trusty computer, log onto their silhouette store, and start shopping! It's different than other machines because you don't have to buy an entire cartridge of fonts and/or pictures! You ONLY buy what you want. Insanely smart, these people are.

Cinco de Mayo Printable (FREE)

Ole!
Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and what a fun way to celebrate! These printables are available for free over at The Tomkat Studio, one of my favorite blogs! These are perfect for sprucing up the drab old office fiesta. Enjoy!

Happy Crafting!
Jen