Off days and Smoothies May 5, 2009

I woke up to a depressing sight this morning, it was horrible…I had left my homemade orange chicken out on the counter last night.

Ughhhhhh I dreamed about the yummy leftovers that orange chicken and sticky rice would have gave me. Yum! But no, FAIL on my end for getting side tracked by cuddling on the couch and playing Video Games with my husband to even run to the kitchen and put up that sticky, amazing, heaven filled chicken in a tub o ware container where it would sit in our fridge tell this very second when I could have ate it for lunch! The worst part about it was I was going to share it with you!

Well the truth is that I was being lazy last night and did not take pictures.  I had planned on using those yummy leftovers to make a beautiful plate of delicious orange chicken and taking lovely pictures to show you. But, since all I have to show for last nights yummy meal is now icky not as pretty mess I guess we will have to console ourselves!

This is where I decided to make a quick smoothie before baking something new to share with you today. But, that quick smoothie turned into an hour long proses of me spilling milk, almost breaking our blender by somehow managing  to put the bottom part on all wonky and wedged all sorts of wrong… therefor taking me 30 minutes to get it out and put it on correctly, and then cutting myself with a butter knife of all things! Well when I finally had my delirious smoothie in my hand I decided the last thing I needed to do today was touch the oven….so here you go, SMOOTHIES!

I like to buy a few box’s of strawberry’s while on sale so i can slice them up and wrap them up tight and pop them in the freezer. This makes it so I always have strawberry for quick fix smoothies! Plus the frozen strawberry’s makes your smoothie cold and delirious. I then just grab any other fruits I have on hand that sound good….today bananas… and add those with the strawberry’s, top off with some milk and honey (or sugar if you would rather..I just like the healthy sweetness the honey adds). Sometimes I’ll even add a spoonful if Nesquick or a few mint leaves from my garden! YUM!! I never really measure for smoothies, I just throw stuff  until it looks good!

And the lesson of todays post… Sometimes it’s better to just drink a smoothie on your off days rather then risk burning down your home!

The Monday Pick Me Up: 10 things that make my life great May 4, 2009

Sometimes you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and you really can’t think of  a single reason to crawl from your warm comforting dreams and into the real world. Times like these call for remembering those tiny things that make you happier then anything in life. I’m not talking about expensive jewelry or going on elaborate vacations… no we are talking about the tiny every day things that make your life amazing!

Stop and take a second to sit down, yes right now…I’m talking to you. Write down those small, tiny, happy details in your day you can always look forward to. Do it now, don’t wait… when your done put them in the draw by your bed or tack it to the wall this way you never have an excuse to stay on the wrong side of the bed!

What a better way to start off your week!

Now without further ado here I am practicing what I preach. Here is inspiration in the form of my list!

10 Tiny Things That Happen During My Day That Make My Life Great and Worth Living!

1) When my husband hugs me tight and kisses me the forehead for no reason other then the fact that he loves me.

2) When one of our kittens crawl in my lap for a snuggle

3) Opening the windows in my kitchen, turning on fun music, and baking something

4)  Laying in the patch of sun that comes through my window and onto my cool bed with an amazing book

5) Anytime I get a chance to play with kids, especially Toddlers…makes life fun!

6) Plugging in my hot glue gun and take a few moments to create something fun

7)Sorting through my colorful button collection

8 ) Putting on a silky vintage slip under a girly sundress with some adorable heels… even better if I have an excuse to wear an apron with it!

9) The way it feels after you work hard to get the kitchen clean and it is sparkling

10 ) Laying down at night with my husbands arms around me and kitty’s at my feet reflecting on all the good things!

The Monday Pick Me up: Dear Rain! April 27, 2009

Dear Rain,

I think you need a change in image! I know I’m probably over stepping my boundaries when I say this, but I think the dreary, icky, groggy reputation you have going on is an act!

I saw your softer side this morning Rain, I’m on to you! I woke up this morning to you softly caressing my window, kittys snuggling at my feet, and my husbands head resting on my chest. One word…Perfect! You did that Rain, and I want to thank you and say keep it up!

People around me often complain about you, I never got that! To me your relaxing and fun. You are a blast to jump around with, you make splashy puddles, the sounds you make are relaxing, plus you have given me great kisses with husband (we love kissing in the rain).

I know sometimes you throw fits and make storms, but don’t we all? And Rain, I think that is natural! It does not make you bad! In fact I like the sass!

Lets brighten that image up Rain! Lets add some color and some fun. Look at these amazing goodies I have found for our adventures together!

Rain, I love you! You make everything green and beautiful. You make life fun!

Love,
Bethy

So as promised to Rain I have found some really cute rain accessory’s that I love such as Daisy Girl Creations embellished umbrella. The cute idea’s of daisy girl can be found on Etsy at daisygirlcreations. etsy.com . This “Let it rain” umbrella is adorable! She has it in other colors to!

Taken by Daisy Girl

I also love those big see through bubble umbrellas such as the ‘ Totes Unlimited ‘ ones at Target! They have them with cute designs such as rain drops, flowers, and polka dots…but also plain classic all clear! You can find these at Target.com !

Pictures taken from Target Website!

And for those of you with kids you may want to check out the Etsy store ‘ Baby Toppings ‘ for the cutest hand painted rain boots! Puddle jumping adventures at warm spring time, a great memory for my dad and I! These are extremely cute and will hopefully keep there little feet dry! Plus with them being so cute you may hardly even mind them being left in the middle of the floor! For these cool and cute hand painted rain boots check out babytoppings.etsy.com !

Picture taken by Baby Toppings!

HAVE AN AMAZING MODAY!!

Note:                                                                                                                                                                                                                         What is Monday Pick me up? Go to the About Shambles page to learn more!

Welcome to you! April 26, 2009

I’m so excited I don’t even know what to say! Well, first I guess I could introduce you to me… ya I think that’s a nice and polite thing to do.

My name is Bethy. I guess I’m a very random, clumsy, happy person for the most part. I love doing things around the house: cooking, baking, crafting, and playing with kittys all included. I also love really girly dresses, video games, and going on adventures! I’ll be honest… I’m a big geek, but I like to think it adds character!

I live in a small, old fashion, comfortable, upstairs corner of a big house that has been turned into a 4 plex. It’s actually super cool, it’s almost like a tree house. Plus, it’s in the historic district so I have beautiful dream homes surrounding me! I live with my cats and my super geeky, creative, and might I dare say handsome husband. No kids just yet, but that is not to say we are not trying!

Ok, now down to business. When I say business though I hardly mean number crunching and paper …inless it’s pretty scrapbook paper. No, I mean lets talk cookies! Don’t we all love making them? And even better then that is eating them. Well, like most domestic home blogs we will have lots of that,I mean where do you think the “smile” comes from silly?

But, how about some shambles? That is where the occasional burning of that cookie…or maybe eating to many cookies comes into play. See, I don’t always do things perfect. Sometimes I will do wonderful things, sometimes I will mess them up and we can learn from our mistakes!

We also get to explore how to make the “shambles” into “smiles”! I want to enjoy the simple things in life? Don’t you?! We will have things like “The Monday Pick me up!” that gets us excited about the good in the week ahead and shows you some fun stuff to get us smiling and ready for a new week!

All this is the fun marshmallow fluff that goes along with the crafting, cooking, baking, organizing, family, and other home things that this blog is about!

Lets have “Series on Wednesdays”, which is where I’m hoping to start a new more in depth topic at the start of every month. It will be an on going series on that topic that will come out on the blog ever Wednesday for a month! Who knows what I will come up with, we will see! Lets also come up with a better name then “Series on Wednesdays” while we are at it! I will admit that my naming skills did not make the grade for that one…any ideas?

And because sometimes we need to have even more fun there is “Saturday Sunshine”. This is where I will come up with a cool, unexpected, and maybe offbeat activity for you to try! It may be something you can go do with a friend, maybe something the kids will love, maybe a romantic adventure with your love, or maybe even something to do alone!

These days will give us something to look forward to. But, the days in between will be filled with stories, recipes, crafts, tips, and lots more!

So I hope you stay! I don’t want to be lonely so comment and throw out suggestions!

Love and Smiling,

Bethy