Report From Panoply

Even with the nasty storms that rolled through Alabama this past weekend, I did make it to Panoply on Friday night after teaching class.  Panoply is a local outdoors arts and crafts festival that is celebrating its 29th year in Huntsville!  This was my first year in attendance, but I was very excited, especially since my favorite artist, Deona Fish, was one of the featured artists. I would finally get to meet her in person!

I think that the storms scared a lot of people away, especially since it had already been announced that Panoply would be closed on Saturday due to the weather.  And I wondered as I walked through the tents, if several of the artists had not set up yet.  There were not as many participants as I thought that there would be.  But it was organized very well, and there were lots of food and art tents for older kids.

I found Deona’s tent easily and introduced myself.  I am sure that I sounded like a gushing fan girl.  Especially when I tried to talk a pregnant lady into buying a piece.  What can I say, her work would be gorgeous in a nursery.  And she had new pieces with new colors to unveil:

 

 

 

This one reminded me of the Fat Dog.

 

 

 

 

I wanted the Bride so bad:

 

 

 

I just love the colors and the whimsy in Deona’s work.

 

 

 

Here is Deona with the piece that I chose:

And here is yours truly with her new love.  As always, I had the hardest time deciding, but the little girl smelling the sunflower so reminded me of Little Kid:

 

 

 

Check out my new Sarah Palin glasses. 

 

 

 

 

 

Deona’s owl was my first piece and hangs in our guest bathroom.

 

 

 

Thank you,  Deona!  It was so nice to meet you and your adorable little boy!

The sky was starting to look angry, so I headed back to my car.  As I was leaving, I stopped in a tent that featured some fun and creative animal art.  This bird spoke to me:

 

(Don’t you love the reflection of Yoga Gal in her jammies in this photo?  I can see The Cotton Wife just shaking her head in resignation with my subpar photography.)

 

 

 

I think it was saying, “I have had too much to drink.”  Maybe that it why I loved it so much, it reminded me of myself after one glass of wine too many.   Nevertheless, I had to have it.  If you are a pet lover, you must check out Cathy Daily Designs.  She has more happy birds, snooty cats, and dogs that are very Fat Dog-esque. 

So I would consider Panoply a success!  Especially since I made it back to my car with my treasures before the sky opened up.  Of course, I am already planning my next Deona acquisition.  As my friend Joyce (who introduced me to Deona last year) says, it is an addiction (but one of the better ones). ;)

A Fail of a Magnitude Never Seen Before

So Little Kid and I went to the gym today.  I dropped her off in playcare and headed for the bathroom.  With me I had my usual gym accessories: my Bose earbuds, a People magazine, and my iPhone.

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I used the facilities- just #1, (which I know is very TMI, but important to the story) and picked up my stash, preparing to leave the stall.  As I turned around, I leaned over to flush the toilet, and my Bose earbuds slid off the mag and into the flushing toilet. 

Without even thinking about it, I reached into the toilet (see I told you the TMI was relevant) UP TO MY ELBOW to try to pull them out, but they were gone in a flash.  I just stood there in shock.  These were not your standard run of the mill earbuds.  These were BOSE.  Top of the line, and a 30th birthday present from my husband.  They cost $100, and I just flushed them down the toilet.  This fail is beyond the Fail Whale.  This fail is EPIC.



So I stumbled out of the bathroom (after washing my hands- and arm, of course) and called The Engineer.  Thankfully, he is the sort who laughs at me, instead of berating me for basically just flushing a hundred bucks down the drain.  He did point out that at least it was not my phone that I had dropped.  I probably would have fainted in the stall if I had dropped my phone into the toilet.  Of course, he then had to let me go so he could go tell his co-workers about the spazz whom he had married.  Happy 8th Anniversary!

I almost packed it up and went home.  I was so despondent.  But I have been eating like a truck driver this weekend and was in dire need of some cardio.  So I was on the elliptical, sulking, and I stop dead in my tracks.  It hit me that I had reached into the toilet- the industrial strength flushing toilet- WITH MY LEFT HAND.  My left hand that was wearing my engagement ring and wedding band.  It could have easily sucked my rings off of my finger.  I grabbed my rings just to make sure that they were still there.  Whew!  My earbuds I can lose, but I cannot fathom losing my rings- on my wedding anniversary, at that.

Strangely, that made me feel better.  I realized that it could have been so much worse.  But I am still convinced that I do not need to own nice things.  Because whenever I own nice things, I either sit on them or wash them in the washing machine or throw them away in a McDonalds bag- in a different state, so I cannot even go back through the garbage and retrieve my Ray Ban sunglasses later when I realize that they are missing.  Now, I can add flushing down the toilet to my list.  So I have decided from now on, I will be exclusively shopping here as penance for my follies.

Do you think that they sell earbuds?

Happy Anniversary

What I remember about eight years ago today:



My complete lack of cold feet.  From The Engineer’s and my third date, I never wavered in my certainty that we were supposed to be together.




That is not to say that I was not a huge bundle of nerves on April 27, 2002.  But my nerves stemmed from everything going off as planned.  The wedding felt like a house of cards, and I was certain that if anything was to go wrong, the whole production would collapse.  Then later by the reception, I was so exhausted and happy (and more than a little delirious from not sleeping in two days), that I probably would not have noticed if the inn caught on fire.

I remember how serious and quiet that the Engineer was in the limo (he looks pretty excited in this photo though).  I was cracking wise while he appreciated the huge step that we had taken.  Either that or he was contemplating a jump and roll at the next red light.

I remember as we left the church after saying our vows, I turned to The Engineer and joked, “Wouldn’t it be funny if the limo was not outside waiting for us?”  Then we walked out, and the limo..was not outside waiting to take us to the reception.  Turns out it was stuck in traffic on the interstate.  I remember placing an angry and slightly hysterical phone call to the limo company from the dressing room.  Not one of my more elegant moments.  But it arrived, and only 30 minutes late.

I remember being totally thrilled with the bride’s cake- thank you Blackberry Patch!  If you are in the Middle Tennessee area and need a cake - look no further.  But I was totally bummed that I never got a piece of the groom’s cake.  People kept coming up to me saying, “The groom’s cake is so delicious!” I actually did not have a piece of the main cake until our one year anniversary, and those people who claim that year old cake is just as good as fresh?






I remember at the reception, my matron of honor leaned over to whisper in my ear, “I can see your underwear through your dress.”  Brides to be who plan on wearing a sheath to your wedding: please learn from my foibles and invest in a slip.  There are many, MANY pictures of me from our reception posing with my silk handbag in front of my unmentionables.  Doesn’t Gramma look pretty here?

I remember worrying about my beloved basset hound, Jake, although I knew that he was in great hands at our friend Joyce’s home.

I remember being excited beyond belief about our eleven day honeymoon cruise through the Hawaiian islands.  To this day, no trip has topped that one.  Here we are, getting the heck outta there:

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But when I think back to our wedding day, the one thing that I know with certainty is that I would do it all over again - in a heartbeat.  And that I am a very, very lucky gal.

Thank you, Marc.

Tune for Tuesday: Steely Dan

I always feel like I should be in a smokey bar sipping a high ball when listening to Steely Dan:

"Deacon Blues", from the album Aja (which was released the same year I was born)


This is going in Sunday Song over at Five Minutes Just For Me. Click on the box to check out some great music. Natasha is a cool chick!



Fun fact: I can't say the answer because it is NSFW, but the band's name "Steely Dan" has an interesting origin. And, one of the early incarnations of the band featured Chevy Chase on drums. There is your music trivia for the day,

Crime Spree

When the Big Kid was itty bitty, we called him “Dr. Destructo”.  Mainly because of episodes like this:

Well, he is almost six now, and too cool for school, but it looks like his sister is continuing the cause.  She is taking advantage of her new big girl bed and newfound naptime freedom to demolish her room pretty much every day.  Great!  Exactly what a mom of two kids needs, more stuff to clean up.

I can put her down for a nap with a spotless room, shut the door, go to the bathroom (which is across the hallway), and when I come back and open her door, find this:

 

She is very efficient.  Not only this, but she also enjoys removing all of her knobs from her furniture (why that is fun, I have no clue):

If I were a two year old with 10 hand painted knobs, where would I store them?  In a white fuzzy boot, of course:

Notice the two chubby toddler arms trying to grab her precious knob stash.  Well, Mommy fixed her wagon and hot glued all of her knobs back on.  Yoga Gal: 1, Little Kid: 0.

And I promise we don’t always make her sleep on a foldout bed.  This was our Temporary Solution, until her big girl bed arrived.

It has since arrived and believe me, I am going to blog the fire out of it, but I don’t have all of her bedding yet.  She calls it her “Pretty Princess Bed”.  Little Kid is so girly.

And you should see our playroom right now.  We always clean it up every Sunday night amidst lots of complaining, cajoling, and an almost-certain declaration from Yoga Gal that she is NOT the family servant and someone needs to help clean this mess up!  But last night, it was even too much of a challenge for Miss Type A herself and we left it for a new day.  Unfortunately, that new day has arrived.  So I better close it down here and head up to pick up all the little High Ho Cheerio choking hazards that litter the floor.  It sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays…….

Guest Nook

One of the few things that our home is missing is a place for guests to stay the night.  We started out having my SIL, Aunt Dana, and my MIL, The Nana, sleep in Big Kid’s room.  Which worked…..OK.  He does have a queen sized bed.  But then Big Kid would sleep in the playroom, and be up at 6am because it is not the most comfortable rest in there with no shades to keep the light out.  Plus, the air mattress is squeaky.  And I did not feel good about having them stay in a space whose major decorating theme is Batman.

We don’t really have space in the study to set up a guest bedroom, and sofa beds that will fit two comfortably are almost a thousand dollars (Holy Moly!).  So I was pretty relieved to stumble across this:

Ikea Sylling Foldout Bed, $100.  I ordered it quick because Aunt Dana was due to arrive for a visit that weekend.  With a little help from Target and TJ Maxx, I turned this space:

Into a Guest Nook:

 

 

Quilt: TJ Maxx

Sheets: Target

I have to tell you, these Target sheets are so soft! 350 count and the whole set was $18.99.  They are nicer than the sheets on our bed!

 

Confession: The side table is our safe with some left over plaid material draped on top.  With such a low bed, I could not use a traditional bedside table.

My one piece of advice if you decide to buy one of these: invest in a nice mattress pad.  As you can probably guess, the mattress that came with the bed is mondo flimsy.  I have an egg mattress and a pillow topper on this, and my SIL told me this morning that it was very comfortable.  Yay!

We also found another fabulous use for this bed.  We were thinking about transitioning Little Kid out of her crib and into a big girl bed, but did not know if she was ready yet and were hesitant to bust out our full sized mattress and box springs and lug them upstairs.  So we set up the bed in her room for a one week trial run:

She loved it!  We did not hear a peep out of her the first night.  Little Kid is enjoying her freedom a little too much though. She likes to pull out everything in her room when she is supposed to be sleeping. *sigh* In fact, I think I hear her right now dragging something across the floor.

This bed is also extremely portable. It folds very thin, so when Aunt Dana heads home this evening, I will just strip the bed, fold it up and carry it down the hallway to the attic and the room will once again be a study.  You just don’t get any easier than that!  We are going to take it with us when we travel to Memphis in May.

I am entering my room transformation in the weekly blog parties and will be adding the links as they open up.  First up:

The Sunday Showcase @ Under The Table And Dreaming

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Talented Tuesday @ My Frugal Family

Nifty Thrift Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

DIY Project Parade @ The DIY Showoff

DIY Day @ A Soft Place To Land

Toot Your Horn Tuesday @ A Silly Little Sparrow

And finally,

Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage

If you are new to Yoga Gal, welcome!  Pull up a chair, if you like hound dogs, yoga, decorating, crazy kids, or music, then this is the place for you!  If you are a returning viewer, let me pull out my Neil Diamond impression: “Hello again, hello.”  Welcome back. 

Don’t forget that the The Great Gift Card Giveaway is happening on Saturday.  If you are a Blogger follower, Facebook Fan, or Twitter Follower of Yoga Gal, you could possibly win a $25 gift card!  We give a different one away on the first day of each month, it is very exciting.  Please click on the link for more details.

“And I know it's late
But I couldn't wait
Hello.”

You Ain’t Nothin’ But A Hound Dog

How does something so loveable smell so bad?

 

 

  

I am referring to the dog, but the Little Kid can be quite the stinker.  So does anyone have any tips on how to keep your home from smelling like Dog?  I, like the Fat Dog, am all ears.

Playlist

I don’t know about you, but I have to change up my workout music often or I get bored.  And if I get bored then I am less likely to go to the gym which spirals down into a sluggish, grumpy Yoga Gal whose pants don’t fit.  So I update a lot. 

Here are my current cardio faves.  If you have some favorite workout songs of your own, I would love for you to leave them in a comment!

1. Green Light, John Legend

2. PYT, Michael Jackson

3. I Gotta Feeling, Black Eyed Peas

4. God Put A Smile On Your Face, Coldplay

5. Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, The Police

6. Love, Sex, Magic, Ciara and Justin Timberlake

7. When I Grow Up, The Pussycat Dolls

8. The Pretender, Foo Fighters

9. Land of Confusion, Genesis

10. Jump Around, House of Pain

11. Let It Rock, Kevin Rudolph and Lil Wayne

12. If I Never See Your Face Again, Rhianna and Maroon 5

13. Morris Brown, Outkast

14. Peg, Steely Dan

This should get you through a one hour workout.  And if you want to Try Before You Buy, I made you a Playlist to test them out:

Now go get your groove on!

A Spectacular Win or a Monumental Fail

What in the world is Yoga Gal doing with a large hoop?

Little Kid, modeling the hoop:

 

 

 

Notice the missing knobs behind her.  That is tomorrow’s post.

 

 

 

 

I can tell you with certainty that I will not be quilting with it.  This secret project could be awesome…..or it might be a black hole of cash and ridiculousness.  You will just have to wait and see………

Shout Out

I had a couple of projects that were featured over at Under The Table and Dreaming last week, so I get to add to my button collection. I love buttons. I love being featured. I love Stephanie Lynn's blog and her very creative, very detailed projects! What I don't love is the three loads of towels that are looking at me right now.

Click on the button for some DIY goodness- the first link is all party ideas and the second is Before/After projects:






And so this entry is not completely MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEEEEEEE!, I give you.......

Banker Cat.



I don't know why, but this cat just cracks me up.