The Queen of England's got nuthin' on me!

this is my gram, she's 102-1/2!!  In this picture she's only 101-1/2.  she's quite a lady, let me tell ya!  her entire adult life she ate the same thing every single morning for breakfast: bowl of grape nuts, 1/2 glass prune juice (don't ask), 1/2 glass OJ, 1 cup coffee, 1 piece of fruit.  she is a woman of order and consistency!

she was also quite the fashion plate back in the day...

dresses, heels, gloves and...HATS!

 guess who was lucky enough to get her hat collection?!  

 this one is best viewed from the top, otherwise it looks like i have a plate clipped to my head!

 the net is not so comfortable in the eyes!

 ummm, not so sure about this.  X marks the spot?

oh wait, i think that's the way it goes!

so this is only 1/2 the collection but you know i posed with them all, so come on back to see the rest!  Have a happy weekend! xoxo

the 25 million $$ woman

last year i had a tooth implant and invisalign braces, the cost was insane.  in fact, my dental work cost over 3 times what my car cost.  ok, in all fairness, i am NOT driving the $85,000 white range rover that i dream of

 i am driving a 1993 volvo station wagon, but still...

tuesday i had gum surgery, so add that to the total and my mouth is now the most valuable thing we own, it will have to be handed down as a family heirloom!  i had a tooth where the gum had receded so far back it was grossing me out so yesterday they took some "donated skin" and filled it in.  it was not fun, i spent 2 hours AWAKE (but numb) in the chair while they did only Lord knows what!  when the surgery started the surgeon started explaining to me what she was doing,  i quickly put an end to that!  i told her very politely that she did NOT need to tell me what she was doing, just go ahead and do it!  Ewwww, i do not want to know what's going on, as long as she does, we're good!

so i am laying low and working on my Twinkie Chan cupcake hat

i started it on the plane when we went on vacation but then sunday i realized i wasn't doing it right and tore out over 24 rows.... UGH!!! i hate that!

here is my puffy little face, enjoy!

 i'm going to go pop another pain pill!

can i brag?

of course i can, it's my blog!  

i turned 43 on friday and on saturday the mister and i ran in the 3rd annual Winter Blast 5k.  

 no, that is not an optical illusion, i really am that much shorter than the mister!

ok, here comes the bragging....

I GOT FIRST PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP!!!

yep, i even beat the lady on my left, the one that is 2foot taller than me!

i ran a 24:31!

when the gun went off i thought "oh man, i'm running FAST" and as i came around the corner towards the first mile marker i could see that it said 6 something.  holy cow!!!  by the time i got to the 1 mile mark myself, i was running a 7:20 (beating my fastest mile by 4 sec!).  i knew that when i got to mile 2 i wanted to have a 14:40 but it was 15 something so i said to myself "there is no way you're going to keep slowing down. you're running fast and nothing is hurting so get your butt moving you little twit"  i'm a real motivational speaker on the course let me tell you!

if you run and haven't ever done a race, i'd really encourage you to!  the runner's high is real and the feeling of accomplishment isn't bad either, plus the free snacks and medals-it's a win~win!

the bad part of my story, i had gum surgery tuesday and can't run for the next 10 days...

i'm off to snuggle with my medal on the couch!

well, it happened again...

i got another year older!  my daughter says to me last night "i was looking at that picture of us when you got me in China and you look so different then".  yes, my dear, i was 34 then and now i am 43... you look different too!
(ok, so it wasn't THIS picture because that is the back of my head, which still pretty much looks the same!  i only have a print of the picture she was looking at and i don't feel like doing confusing computer stuff, like scanning, on my birthday!)

June of 2004, in china!

i went out and ran 5 miles this morning, without the use of a motorized scooter (not too bad for an old chick),  the sun is out in MI  (so much so, that i can HARDLY see my computer screen!), i have a great husband (who is running a 5k with me saturday morning), and an awesome kid so turning 43 isn't so hard after all!!  Hope you have a great weekend and feel free to raise a glass in MY honor!  

Happy Birthday to ME!

Back to reality... boo!

we spent a FABULOUS week on a gorgeous tropical island in the country of Turks & Caicos... and now it's back to laundry, school work, teen mom 2, and cleaning.  let's live in the past a bit though, 'cause it's just too good to let it go...

My pictures will NEVER do this place justice!

 snorkel, snorkel!

Color, color every where!!

 we saw REAL dolphins swimming in front of our boat!! i've never seen dolphins that weren't in a tank!

 the "kitty kat cruise" or was it "kruise"?  anyway, we took this gorgeous boat out to a private island.  darling and i found a shells and coral to bring back (plus a baggie of sand) to make one of those vacations-in-a-jar that are all over pinterest.

 F is for freckles!!  and i wore 70SPF every single day!!!

 the mister and i- livin' the life!

the mister in the air, darling and i stayed ON the ground, in the boat.  the name of the boat was "gettin' high", it may have been the employees philosophy also...?

 best thing at the resort: swim up bars!

worst thing at the resort: butt sniffing dogs!

Now... i'm off to do the mounds of laundry!

We'll chat again soon!

Ever heard of a little island called Turks and Caicos?

well, that's where i'm heading....SOON!

i'm packed

i'll miss you...but i'll survive!

Gettin' my organizer Nerd on!

i LOVE to organize!  

no seriously, i do!! i've often thought (semi-seriously) about starting an organizing business.  i'm not a huge fan of maintaining it, but i like to dig through and sort.  so last night i had an attack of the organizers...

i'm one of those girls that when i get interested in something i feel the need to have it ALL.  shocking, i know.

 when i started crocheting a couple years ago, i started collecting patterns. 

i had to have them all!!

  i get 

source: Crochet Today

 i'm part of www.ravelry.com , i've bought patterns from etsy, i download them from red heart and, if you follow me on http://pinterest.com/chinamommy/, you know i pin patterns there too.  yes, i am aware i have a problem.  

 needless to say i have too many patterns in too many places.  last night, thunder struck and i gathered ALL my patterns and a 3 ring binder full of clear sleeves:

i started tearing magazines apart, knowing i would NEVER in a billion years make everything in there.  honestly, i felt a little guilty "ruining" my magazines... oh-my-gosh...what is WRONG with me? tell me i'm not alone!!

so this is my project to finish today!!  i'll also be making dividers so i can keep separate: hats, scarves, home items, cute items...etc.

are you a crazy organizer? or just a crazy hoarder?  are you trying to get things in order for 2012?

Big super duper Giant crepe paper DIY flowers!!

aren't those pretty!?  HOP on over here to see how to make your very own!!

Running Club

i've had this on my mind for over a year, does that mean i'm suppose to do it? me thinks so!

  i want to start a running club! 

i love to run, but not alone.  anyone that watches as much true life crime as i do couldn't possibly be comfortable running alone, even when one is armed with their pink can of pepper spray!

plus i look cra-cra talking to myself and i just bore myself to death!

source

i want a running club that is:  full of other chicks that want to run, and a club full of girls that don't mind listening to my chatter for 3-10 miles!  i ran with 3 chickies this morning, i told them my idea and... they were kinda excited!  one of them even suggested we get together after my VACATION (Ooooooo, Soooooo excited about this one, more on that later, i promise!!) and brainstorm!   we definitely need a name for our group, but we are nice girls  so no names like "skanky sneaker sluts"! but what else goes with sneaker...??? swanky...!?!  if you have any ideas, leave it in the comments!!! 

So there is my idea, now i just have to act on it!

Subway art, it's DONE!

i can honestly say i am probably more thrilled with how this DIY subway art project turned out than any other DIY i've done!

i found a canvas that fit the saying i wanted to paint, i painted the canvas turquoise, cut out contact paper letters with my cricut, stuck them on, painted black over all of it, let it dried, peeled the letters, stamped some stars, and hung that baby up!

 (yes that ID in the top corner is my TV turned to my favorite channel, full of those crime shows i'm addicted to!)

 i used an old credit card to spread the paint, i actually did 2 different colors of turquoise and left it a little splotchy.

 i was so inspired after this project i did a couple small paintings.  as i was doing the subway art above, i realized that i would never be able to put these in my shop (chinamommy ) due to the cost of labor alone...it took a long time to stick all those letters on that canvas people!

so, instead of words, i did birds!

yep, i stuck a bird on it!

turquoise and brown

 and another in turquoise and black

 shabby cottage style all ready to hang! both will be in my shop soon!

chinamommy

if you try the subway art, leave a link in the comments so we can check it out!  if you have any questions, let me know and i'll try to answer it!

~happy tuesday~