too far

For my birthday last year, my mother got me a wonderful gift:

My hope was that I would follow in her footsteps and be a natural.
I'm not.
In fact, I tried to make a skirt and it looked like a small tube top of sorts.
Last week I got an itch to sew.
So I decided to make a tube. 
That's right, a tube.  Aim high, right?
I went in search of the perfect fabric, and came home with this:

There's a story behind it.
Several months ago I visited a sweet little antique store in downtown Forest Grove.  I had been looking for a new lamp (I 'needed' one.  Last time I 'needed' a lamp, I came home with this) and stumbled upon an amber colored swag lamp.  I loved everything about it, except for the heaviness of the chain.  Which was okay, because it was priced at $48.  Too much. 
Several weeks later I learned the store was going out of business and dropped in on the closing sale.  I picked up a few things here, here, and here.
The swag lamp had a new price tag...$5.  For that price, I was willing to overlook the heavy chain.  I knew it was a must-have.
And that is when my love for retro went too far:



the 'tube'

Today a friend said it reminded him of his grandma's house.
And he didn't mean it in a 'cool vintage-y' kind of way.
I think I'll retire my sewing machine for a while.

xo,
tracy

ps: anyone in 'need' of a swag lamp?



firsts and festivities

This last weekend was full of firsts for our family. 
We decorated Easter eggs and had a hunt with friends.  I was thrilled to have someone else host the festivities. 
You read that right...someone was crazy enough to invite our entire herd over. 
Crazy Generous, right?? 

serious business

waiting...waiting...waiting

the finished product

The egg hunt:

hiding the eggs

ready to be found



the contestants



beckham was stopping after each find, opening the egg and eating the candy

digging for treasure



beckhams first hunt

success



mission accomplished



The hunt was a first for our kids...they loved it, of course. 

There was also this little first between siblings:

Harper usually would have stolen the candy for herself (she is my daughter, after all).   

Instead she took the candy, but then unwrapped it for Beckham. 

Definitely a first...because we don't share...especially Reeces.

Right after the Easter festivities, Dylan took us on a surprise outing. 

We drove and drove without knowing where he was taking us. We pulled off the freeway in Woodburn and I immediately thought we were going to the outlet malls...I was beyond thrilled.  We ended up at the Woodburn Tulip Festival, which was equally as exciting and a first for our family.  Ever since I learned about the festival, I've been counting down the months until we could go.

It really was all I hoped it would be. 

(note: if you are uninterested in a much-too-long recount of our day and 20,000 photos of flower and our family, you should navigate away from this page right now...because that's what is following)

there were millions and millions of tulips, in every color

on the tractor

don't mind the drowned rat look, it had been pouring rain

more tulips

this photo was actually a candid...she would have never been this cooperative by choice

it was so bizarre...there were thousands of hazelnut shells all over the ground

we actually got 2 family photos on this outing, a new record.  notice the look of joy on harpers face

wooden shoes

the things i put up with for a good picture

beckham seemed confused

the rain let up for a bit...we hurried to squeeze in some pictures

harper choosing her favorite flower...don't worry, we didn't let her pick it

what a handsome guy

they had hilarious wooden cut-outs all over

running through the field over to the market/carnival area

We let each of the kids pick one of the activities to do.  They had bungee trampolines, face painting, inflatable slides, jumpy houses, and pony rides:

dawsons choice

even though it was raining, he had a blast



harpers choice

this is a REAL smile people...success

on her pony, 'lagger'

beckhams choice...he got a ride too, but not nearly as excited as a pony

we finished out the day with a treat...2 scoops of sherbet and 2 scoops of huckleberry

We were all exhausted by the end of the weekend.  It was full of fun firsts for our family (say that 5 times quickly). 

xo,

tracy

ps: ice cream really does make everything better...even the Tulip festival.

the bins

This last week the stars aligned and the heavens opened...and I had a few free hours...all alone. 
It was glorious.
I knew just where I wanted to do with my time:
visit the bins.
You know... glorified dumpster diving.
The last 2 times I've been there, it's been a total disappointment. 
Something about leaving empty-handed, makes you feel that digging through other peoples underwear is NOT WORTH IT AT ALL (and maybe a touch disgusting). 
I decided to try my luck again this week though, because I've had some really great finds there.  I only had an hour so I didn't have time to make it through everything (think 35 dumpster-sized bins stuffed FULL of garbage treasures) but I did find a few things:

fossil purse

giant barbie coloring book, for harpers Easter basket

jeans for beckham...although they look light-washed and ugly in this picture, they're actually really cute and in perfect condition

Additionally, I got a Steralite plastic bin (in perfect condition) in Harpers closet and stores her shoes for next year.
I spent $2.98 on all 4 items.  
Awesome.
Even though the bins are disgusting and organized and busy and chaotic and filthy...
they're so wonderful.
And my faith in the bins was totally renewed, thanks to my most recent finds.
After experiencing the disarray and unorganization at the bins, I felt claustrophobic by the condition of my bathroom and decided to organize it and change it up a bit.  Because of the layout, I couldn't even open the 1 cupboard.  And the 1 drawer was so full and unorganized that we could barely find what we needed.

metal rack, $14.99, goodwill

$3.24, target

zen

the towel bars in the bathroom were placed horribly, so i took them down and made my own...by 'made' i mean stuck a tack in the wall and hung the hand towel on it.  fancy.

my only decoration in the bathroom

extra hand towels...i'm sure they'll be unrolled and used as superhero capes or baby blankets by days end

It's not perfect, but it is more functional.
And it's organized.
And it's clean.
And it's not other people's underwear.

xo,
tracy

ps: just to clarify...I don't touch the underwear...I just dig around it.