into the woods

If you've seen the movie or this musical before you probably have had those three words stuck in your head for the better part of the week. Someone should do a count, how many times are the words "into the woods" said in Into the Woods? I would wager somewhere in the hundreds. At least.

I actually don't mind the movie. Letty quite likes it, but surprise surprise there... it has singing! This old soul of a little lady has had a thing for musical numbers since well, birth I imagine. Her first musical was when she was two and a half and she hasn't stopped yet. She's already looking forward to when Beauty and the Beast comes to the Fulton in November and December. We have quite a way to wait my love.

Letty was quite anxious that we would be late for the show even though I assured her that we would be a good thirty minutes early, leaving plenty of time to hang up our coats, hit the bathrooms and find Uncle T and Miss/Aunt/Uncle Sadie (depending on who is speaking at the moment). She was skipping so fast heading in to the building that I could barely keep up. Once in the gym she grabbed my hand and pulled me around searching for her uncle, worrying he would be late. I assured her that Uncle T is cut from the same cloth as mommy and well he just cannot be late. And he wasn't! 

We got our seats and she had her permagrin on and enjoyed herself some singing! Over three hours of it if I'm being exact. 

She would move from one leg of mine to the other, standing, or sitting, or sitting on her knees, but she stayed quiet which is all I personally care about. And probably next year she will be too big to sit on my lap.... which I won't think about. Also won't think about? How a day might come where going to a high school musical with your mom and your uncle isn't so cool and fun anymore.... THAT day can just never ever come. Ever.

And then as per tradition dictates we had to stop and get this little lady a milkshake, cookies and cream this time. I was so parched I broke my one soda a day rule and got the largest most magnificently ridiculous fountain soda I could find. At 10:30 p.m.

And by morning, this little night owl required only a little prodding to get out of bed and dressed for school. Christmas miracle!

Last year's musical documented here... 

But these photos though! Yes they are grainy and dark but... Such a great tradition.

Phantom of the Opera, 2015:

Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, 2014:

Beauty and the Beast, 2013:

|| TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || BLOGLOVIN || PINTEREST ||

diy yarn wall hanging

I have been wanting to make one of these for quite some time now, it was just a matter of yarn getting here from amazon (because the thought of hitting up Michael's with three in tow sounds downright tortuous) and the availability of my crafting partner of choice. When the stars aligned we had ourselves a grand old time drinking some wine and catching up, all whilst crafting. It was almost therapeutic. 

You'll need a twelve inch dowel. I spray painted two gold, one for each of us, but that's up to taste obviously. Yarn in any color you see fit... scissors, packing tape, and twine. [dowels. mustard yarn. gray yarn. white yarn. gold spray paint.]

I figure that you need about sixty pieces of yarn to get the full look I have below so I decided to cut 24 pieces of gray, 24 pieces of white, and 12 pieces of mustard. I started by just measuring twice the dowel rod, but found out pretty early on that the mustard yarn was just odd and seemed to curl up itself a bit so longer would have been better. 

Once cut then it was time to start knotting. I just pinched both ends of a single piece of yarn in one hand, and then used my right hand to open up the loop, feeding the ends through it. Pull it tight and you have yourself a knot! After oh I don't know, about fifteen knots I realized it would be much easier to tape the rod to the table, letting a few inches hang out over the side of the table, perpendicular style. It was so much easier to knot and slide the yarn up that way. Mindless, as it were.

Once all sixty strands were tied on there then I tried to make my shape. I had originally wanted a triangle but, see paragraph above about the mustard yarn. Bree suggested I do an inverted triangle and so I did. Mostly just eyeballing it and drinking more wine. 

We decided one hanging wasn't enough and so made ourselves each another one! Super easy and cheap and fun! I just tied a bit of twine to the ends of each rod for hanging needs.... I needed some clear Command hooks before hanging but Matt took care of that for me the very next day. Oh and that last image is of Bree's. The one on the right she knotted one piece of yarn at a time. The one on the left she knotted two pieces of yarn at a time. I like how much fuller it looks yes?

Anyways. Martha Stewart (wink wink) over and out.

|| TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || BLOGLOVIN || PINTEREST ||

the guy behind the blog

I sort of enjoy getting Matt to answer some questions after some wine and so when I found a link up where they do this sort of interviewing (with or without wine I'm sure) I immediately had to do it. It's like a monthly thing, apparently. And here we go.

//Do you have a good luck charm or ritual? (like a lucky coin, or you always used to listen to a certain pump-up song when you played sports in high school or college?) Answer: I honestly don't think I do. But now I almost wish I did. Everyday before I ran track I listened to Freak on a Leash but that was high school and forever ago. On my iPod. No one had an iPod then. (thinks a bit) I HAVE to have coffee when I wake up. I can't do much else before coffee...

//What is your favorite dish that your wife makes for you?  Do you have any fun memories of a time when she tried to cook and it totally flopped or does she get it right every time? Answer: Meatloaf. And she kills it every time. Never once has she screwed it up. (I hate meatloaf, dear readers)

//What did you want to be when you were growing up? I always remember wanting to be a firefighter or an astronaut. And now I love the whole space thing.

//Which of the five senses is your strongest? Taste.

//Would you ever run for president? Ew no. They don't make enough money for all that stress.

Thanks to Betsy and Laura Jean for hosting this link up!

 

|| TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || BLOGLOVIN || PINTEREST ||

what's in my makeup bag (drawer)

Have we established I'm a bit nosy? Have we also established that I have had the same makeup routine since I was 17? So with those two things in mind as I recently cleaned out my makeup drawer I thought ha! Document my weirdness! My lack of creativity! My brand loyalty as it were! So here is what is in my makeup drawer... Because that's where I store it, not in a bag no, but in a drawer surrounded by Matt's pills and our toothpaste. Riiiiight there.

Starting right off with the uber important, exactly six different shades of lipstick. These would be worn on only the very special ish of occasions and so normally end up in the very back of the drawer behind the pills.

When I say I have literally been using these same products since high school I actually mean just that. I never try a new shade. I never mix it up. Most of the year I don't even use the Aquasmooth thing, foundation? Makeup? Whatever you want to call it... I usually reserve that for winter months only so it lasts like... forever. The bronzer and eye shadow happen daily, no matter what. Forever and ever.

You might query why I would have three tubes of mascara... and well that would be because they are all on different levels of emptiness... One is practically a dried up old hag of a bristles and I had been using it to fill in my eyebrows when I was growing them out..... And I just never threw it away. So what I'm saying is I only use one of these....

For those thankfully rare days when what Steph and I like to call a Peter Pettigrew just happens to show up on our faces....

Again with the multiples. But to me eyeliner is right up there with mascara as far as importance and so I probably got worried the one was getting towards the end of her life and so had to have a back up. Fact.

Repeat the same thought process as far as my Chapstick goes. I also have one in the kitchen, and one in the diaper bag. One can never have enough Chapstick back ups.

I stopped using any sort of moisturizer last year when I finally got on the essential oil train. Now I just use this mixture of fractionated coconut oil and several (like 10-15) drops of lavender. Such a lovely smell first thing in the morning.

Uhm so yeah.... two makeup brushes.

And of course the aforementioned toothpaste.... my beloved tweezers... and hair ties and mini claw like things.

Aren't I just the most ridiculous excuse for a girl? Laugh with me here...

|| TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || BLOGLOVIN || PINTEREST ||

just a girl trying to catch some dreams

The Olsens seem to tend towards having very active dreams. Matt, his one brother, his father and his uncle have all had quite serious "night terrors" as we call them. Sometimes even getting up and moving things or what have you. This was a trait I would have preferred be not passed on to my children but alas, it was out of my control. Letty and David both suffer from night terrors. Letty more so than David. Normally he just takes a quick kiss and a stuffed animal and he's on his happy dreaming way. Letty has always been more of the active nightmare type. Standing up in the middle of her bed, going right back into the nightmare, remembering she had one in the morning, etc. 

Enter me looking on Pinterest for how to make a dreamcatcher. Believed by the Native Americans to catch the bad dreams, allowing only the good to filter down to the dreamer. The bad dreams perishing at dawn. Now I don't really believe in such a thing but I am a firm believer in the placebo effect. I thought one she could make herself would be more fun for her and I found this kit here. 

Let me tell you. Not for a five and a half year old, this craft. I was barely able to figure it out myself and I still don't think it turned out right. But the kit had everything! The ribbon to wrap around the hoop.... Lovely silver thread that was looped and looped and looped. The beads to string on it. The feathers to glue. The glue to glue. I just added a bit of ribbon to hang it and that was that. 

So far: no nightmares for Letty. But now I may need to get one for David.... I'll probably just end up buying this one here and say to heck with diy.

|| TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || BLOGLOVIN || PINTEREST ||

looking forward to

I know it's sort of wrong to want to rush time a little bit, and logically I'm really not all about that... but there are some things coming up here that I am just really looking forward to! Such as!


The return of Outlander on April 9. This show has been off the air for over a year which is just mean as far as shows go. Season two here we come!

 

The new Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Part I and II digital release.Yes it's true! It's a thing! I can't exactly hop across the pond and see the play but I sure will be soaking up this!

Spring walks. They are my jam. I really miss just taking the kids out every day and checking out the new homes coming up in our development. Everyone could use some fresh air and we are all stifling over here in our cabin fever.

Finishing our garden! Yes! Our old house had a killer garden and after two summers here we definitely missed having it to look at. We got some things on end of season clearance but it's going to need some plumping out come spring. And mulch. Definitely mulch.

Fuller House return on February 26. I know, I know. It will probably be terrible! Doesn't mean I won't be watching!

Allegiant coming to a theater near me in March.  I know, I know. It will probably be terrible! But I have committed. I need to see this series through. And hello Four...

Kitchen remodels potentially coming our way. Not quite as drastic as the word remodel implies but we are definitely replacing our floor and also maybe potentially painting kitchen cabinets and putting up a black splash. Or two! Maybe brick. Maybe subway tile. Maybe!

The first trip to Hersheypark the first weekend of April. It'll be here before you know it! I love that we get to hit up the park that early in the year.

Getting all three kid's passport photos taken. Yeah okay so this is more of a sarcastic one. I've been slowly whittling away at filling out all the paperwork but actually getting the photo sort of stresses me out.

What about you? What are you looking forward to?

|| TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || BLOGLOVIN || PINTEREST ||