Off Topic Tuesday - My New Haircut

That's right. I had my fabulous stylist, Kim, from A Touch of Plasch, chop it off this past Saturday. I do about every two years, so it was about time. I went with a nice, short, easy-to-manage cut inspired by a couple of celebrities!

and this, for one of those need-to-get-out-of-the-house-NOW! days.

You'll be disappointed to know that I forgot to have my husband take a picture of my hair before he left on a quest to buy a wood chipper (I'm such a nice and loving wife!), but I will have him do it when he gets home. Here's a picture from a three weeks ago, when it was still long.

I feel like it's a bit short to achieve the exact look from the styles in the pics, but it will grow. And I have naturally wavy hair so I won't even have to use a curling iron! And I'm far from being a celebrity, but at least I have fun trying ;)

And now for the crazy lady montage (taken in rapid succession)! Because who doesn't like to make weird faces.

Off Topic Tuesday - My New Full-Time Job

Wow! It's only Tuesday and it's already been a LOOOOOOONG week for me! I started a full-time job as a technical writer yesterday, and I have to say it's HARD to go from being a SAHM to a full-time work-away-from-home mom.

Don't get me wrong. I love being able to leave the house every day for something other than errands. I just wish, maybe, that it wasn't quite so early. I also really like the people I work with. Everyone is about my age and is super-friendly. Lots of smiles around the office! My boss is pretty awesome, too. Very easy to talk to and always happy to help me out with something.

On the flip side, it's SO HARD to leave my kids at daycare every day. I know it's only been two days, but it's really tough to come home to "I really missed you, Mommy." And there's nothing tougher than leaving my 4.5 month old. She's so smiley in the morning and I hate missing it.

I've been a SAHM since Katie was 6 months old. That was three years ago.

And dinner = nightmare! We all get home at the same time and we're all so hungry RIGHT NOW!

And I hate only getting to see them for 1.5 hours before they go to bed.

I would love to hear your comments on how you do it. Does it get easier once there's a routine? Good, fast meals?? Any advice is always welcome!

Off Topic Tuesday - My Happy Mother's Day

And what a happy day is was!

Having discussed it the previous night with the hubs, I woke up and immediately headed down to my sewing area. I cleaned up and organized and prepared and pinned some pattern pieces for an order. While I was organizing, I realized I had left my hot glue gun on since...Wednesday...so that's, what, 4 or 5 days? Who's awesome??? This gal!

Then I went back upstairs and chilled out with the fam. (but really I was on the internet most of the time). After lunch I headed out for some Kohl's shopping to finish off a gift card from Christmas. I tried on a bunch of clothes while I was there and just ended up disappointed, so I thought maybe a new bra would make me feel better. But then I didn't want to try any on.

I detoured over to the shoes because you really just can't ever go wrong. Shoe shopping for me is rarely disappointing. I got two pairs for $55. Killer deal. Killer shoes.

 

I really dig super high heels. The second pair has 5" heels. And I can wear both with this dress I'm about to make to wear this weekend.

 

...from this fabric. It's a linen blend. I fell in love with it the second I saw it. Neutral, summery, light, perfect.

And then I came home to this:

Heartwarming and a total surprise that my husband thought to have them do it. And then I made dinner. HAHA!

Hope everyone out there had a lovely and relaxing Sunday as I did!

Off Topic Tuesday - The Winds of Change

They're roaring! But I can hear them loudest when I open my closet door.

Up until now, I've been pretty happy over the last three years to not have to change out of my pajamas if I didn't feel like it and I wasn't going anywhere. Big, soft cotton tees became my best friends, along with my favorite pair of yoga pants.

Three years, three girls, and a few pregnancy-induced body changes later, I need an entirely new wardrobe to accommodate a new job I've just been offered (Whee!). But don't worry. I won't leave you. I love to share on my blog and I love to sew and since I usually do both at night anyway, I don't suspect much of a change in that aspect of my life.

This past weekend, I went shopping with my mother-in-law. She's a shopper. I'm not. My most favorite place to shop for professional clothing is EXPRESS. I hadn't been in one since probably 2009. As soon as I walked into that store I had what I like to call EXPRESS overload. Everything looked immaculate and trendy and oh-so-fabulous. As I tried on regular length pants (way too long for this short-stuff), waist-peplum tops, and some of the flow-ier summery clothes, it all came crashing down and I realized I just can't wear the same things I could wear 3 or 4 years ago.

With this in mind, I've begun a search for trendy, professional clothes to sew for myself. I'd like to add at least one or two perfectly fitting pieces to my closet every month, which might be a pretty hefty goal at first. But I did walk out of EXPRESS, Macy's, and Target with some cute tops, pants, and even a dress and a sweater to get me started.

I plan to take a couple of Craftsy classes, maybe some private sewing classes, and from some alterations sites I've come across. If you have any suggestions for web-sites, online classes, or even cute office-appropriate outfits, I would love for you to leave a comment.

***Oh - and don't forget - tomorrow we welcome Wendy to the blog as a writer! Look for her first post!

Off Topic Tuesday - The Necktie Onesie and Owl Bib

Yes, this post comes a day late - I've had a lot to coordinate lately (a good thing)! But I've also been trying to concentrate on gift-worthy items for boys. I have a whole outfit planned out right now. Look for that coming up sometime in the next few weeks, too, among other boy-focused items.

Don't you just love how androgynous babies are until you clothe them?? Ivy makes a good boy model :)

Off Topic Tuesday - Let's Talk About the Weather

Weather is a topic people often revert to when they need some small-talk to fill a little bit of awkward silence. But around here, the weather is usually an actual topic. We get a lot of it. And we've been getting a lot of it lately.

Here are Duluth's fun weather facts:

• Not only is this snowiest April ever recorded in Duluth, it's the snowiest month ever recorded in Duluth.
• We've had 51" of snow this April, which is more than we got last year total.
• Our seasonal snowfall this winter is 129.4" (so far), making it the 3rd snowiest winter recorded.
• We're less than 3" from being the 2nd snowiest winter, and 6" from being the1st.
• The snow-depth currently stands at 22" which is a new record for late April.
• We've had 91" of snow since February 1st, another new record, beating the previous record by 25" (in 1950).

Here's what we're expecting:

1-2" on Wednesday, and highs in the low 60s on Saturday. Spring *might* be on its way (finally!).

Off Topic Tuesday! - Maltese Macaroni Recipe

Happy Tuesday, everyone!Let's get a little off-topic.

My dad is from Malta, which makes me half Maltese so today I'm going to share a family recipe: Maltese Macaroni.

It's savory, a super tiny bit spicy, and a little sweet, too. And it's basic enough that you should have pretty much everything on hand.
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What you'll need:
-1/2 pound of ground beef
-1/2 pound hot Italian sausage
-1 large onion, chopped
-1 can of tomato paste
-1 tsp sugar
-1 1/2 cups water
-1/2 - 1 tsp curry powder
-dash oregano
-1 T flour
-8 oz elbow macaroni, cooked

What you'll do:
Cook macaroni and set aside in large oven-safe bowl.

Brown the beef and sausage. Add the onion until softened and translucent. Drain. Add in the tomato paste and sugar. Add 1 C water, curry powder, and oregano. Add flour and 1/2 C water. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes. Stir into macaroni and bake uncovered at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Alternatively, you can substitute tomato soup (or sauce) for the tomato paste and omit the flour and water. I add about 1T of curry 'cause we like it so much.
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Give it a whirl. It's delicious. :) And then let me know what you think of it, or what your version would be.

Introducing Off-Topic Tuesday!

I really want to start sharing more, but who wants to be so heavily buried in one topic? Not me! Creativity comes from all kinds of places - and likely from places we don't expect!

So for the first Off-topic Tuesday, here's what I've got!

April (snow) showers bring May (frost) flowers? Earlier the snowflakes were 2+ inches in diameter. This was taken Saturday. I'm not sure how I feel about this HAHA