“Life changing?” we will see

May 2, 2015May 3, 2015 | mollyeleen

So I have a little secret. Wait! Nothing like my Sneaky B secret (although she was a secret to us all) this is minor compared to that moment in life. This is a hidden secret.

99 percent of the time our home is picked up and relatively clean. Should you eat off my floors?- No. Could you pop in and I not be mortified? – YES! However if you open a closet I just might die of embarrassment. No really – it’s bad. See-

Did I just post these pictures? Wow. I mean really… the holiday closet if off the charts of crazy. (OMG I really can’t believe I just shared this)

Pause – side note- this is the only closet you can open. Our bar. We turned the random coat closet in the living room into a bar. Fun right!

Back to crazy.

I think about these disaster closets often; thinking “today during sneaky b’s nap I will clean out the office closet.” I get mental prepared, gather garbage bags and boxes. Then I open the door and think of 500 other things that I need to do more, close the door and walk away.

A few days ago I found this book “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kondo. Okay maybe I should find time to read this and maybe it will work. Maybe this is yet another form of procrastination? Of course it is. But maybe it will be “magic.”

After reading the book let’s just says it’s a little on the crazy side. A lot on the crazy side. I’m not so sure about thanking every item in my closet for the work they have done for me. I already feel I need a straight jacket somedays, this might just put me over the top. Then after thinking about it- maybe it will work. Truly Marie Kondo is famous in Japan. And her clients have had life changing experiences from her method of tidying up. And I do like a new “gimmick” Okay it’s on.

Tomorrow morning I start. NO this is not yet another procrastination. The books says it’s best to start working early in the morning when your energy and your things energy have been rested. So I take on my closet. I will share. We will see how life changing this is… fingers crossed

What!? Easter…

April 11, 2015 | mollyeleen

Hello strangers. Remember me? It seems I have forgotten all about blogging. Over the last few ~~days~~, ~~no weeks~~, months life has been crazy busy. And all because I like to make sure everything is perfect. I say “yes” I can help – way to much. I am a volunteer. I guess it’s my “new normal.” But I need to slow down and not make my family so crazy. This morning I made a big note to myself. “Find just Molly time!” Those four little words say a lot don’t they.

I have been thinking about this little note all day. And it occurred to me, that when I took a few hours to sit at the computer and blog it is really Molly time. It might not be what I “should” be doing. And some might think it’s a waist of time. I might not be all that good at it. And you might think my life is boring. To me, it’s a moment of quite. A moment of not doing for everyone else. Imagine that! Amazing. I have said it before and I will again… I am going to do this more often. Blogging is almost therapeutic. It’s been 4 plus months (almost 5) since my last post. MY GAD! That really sucks! And I have a lot to share –

Shall we get on to the goods… I think so. How about Easter? Hubby and I hosted a lovely Easter brunch this year. Of course this meant making sure everything was perfect (because that’s what I do). And of course, that doesn’t mean just the meal and the table setting. In my world that meant painting our bedroom the weekend before Easter and making an odd coat closet in the living room into a bar (I will share both next time). You know what ever sane person does before family comes over – on top of all “normal” life things.

As you know, Pinterest is an addiction. And when it comes to holiday’s – forget about it, you can find anything. I found a how to by Urban Comfort on making these beautiful little flower baskets for the table… out of coffee filters! WHAT? YES! Making them was super easy to. The overall effect was a little Martha, but I secretly like that.

For brunch we served crepes of all kinds! Well okay- two kinds. A sweet crepe bar with cream cheese mousse, a Nutella mousse and fresh fruit and a savory crepe torte. The second best thing about this meal (the first being it was delicious!) was that ninety percent of it could be made the day before. We got together with the family and my sister in law made crepes for hours (seriously at least 3) and I made the mousse’s, cut the fruit, prepped the sauces and other items for the torte. It was fun to stand around chatting and cooking. The kiddos dyed the easter eggs for the easter bunny to take and hide the next morning. Hubby and my mama chatted with us and there might have been a cocktail or two involved.

easterfun — (Can we just say how stinking cute Sneaky B is in this outfit? I mean really…)

The day was wonderful. The food delicious. The company fantastic. The stories hysterical. The best part – was all of it. Really, I just love to entertain. I love the process… even though I might just make my family bonkers for a few days. Hopefully next time I won’t be painting a room the weekend before, I am pretty sure we are good now on that end, well there is the play room…

A suitcase and a Deli Doll?

November 16, 2014November 16, 2014 | mollyeleen

A deli doll- yes you read that correctly. “Deli Doll”…what on earth? Let me start at the beginning

Today the girls and I spent the afternoon at my moms home. Today was no unpacking, no lifting boxes and no moving furniture day. If you recall she moved in August and we moved in September; it seems all our spare times goes to unpaking, lifting and rearranging furniture. But today we sat on the sofa and looked at vintage magazines that my mom found in this suitcase. Relaxing and hysterical.

Shall we start with a little holiday decor, for the exterior of your home? Christmas is right around the corner. “For nighttime hospitality, and to create a dramatic effect, here’s the ultimate in professionally ability. Frame your door way with a pink flocked tree that fits flatly against your house.” Okay can we just agree on how fabulous this is! And if anyone actually did this… kuddos! I would love to do this to our home. However, I am pretty sure Hubby would think I had gone over the deep end of crazy town. And where do you find a pink flocked tree that big. Obviously I would have to make it and I definitely do NOT have time for that. If anyone does this, you are my hero and I want pictures!

How about some crafting? We all love a little of styrofoam crafts don’t we? This stelar little book has some nifty ideas; not sure which is my favorite. A few of these like the Santa’s and the chimney scene could have potential. Like on the so tacky it’s cool scale. Not even sure what the top left is supposed to be. We guessed an ornament of some sort, but not really sure.

Now my favorite. The recipe books. Really it’s amazing. Truly amazing what people used to eat. Maybe some still do, but in my world WOW! Shall we start with a round of “Ring Around the Tuna” from the “Cooking with Jello” book circa 1960. “Ring Around the Tuna” would be a delightful salad for any dinner party. Salad? How is this salad? It contains lime jello, canned tuna (drained of course), pineapple, green stuffed olives and celery. Maybe the garnish of curly endive and radish roses make it salad? YUM! (okay really I can not even imagine what this tastes like). Next comes the Viking Ship Sauce Dish carved out of a cucumber… very creative. Honestly I might just be crazy enough to do this one day. I will share if I do. And can we just take a moment to look beyond the Viking ship cucumber and notice the tinsel garland on the table. Okay that looks pretty. Why didn’t I ever think of that?

Then we have the desert spread. Lot’s of delicious looking cookies, popcorn balls and a lovely cake. We started reading what kind of cake this was, looks like some kind of lemon, raspberry cake…But wait! It’s not an actual cake on the dessert table- oh no. It’s a sandwich “cake!” My mom and I where in complete hysterics at this point. Sandwich cake? Yes of course. It’s a ham and egg sandwich made to look like cake. Plus it has cream cheese “frosting.” If I was at this party and chose to have what looked like a lemon raspberry cake and took a bite to discover it was a ham and egg sandwich– I would probably get sick. If you make this Poinsettia sandwich cake, please don’t put it on the dessert table. Right?

And now the best thing ever. Yes I am being facetious. Very in fact. No party can be complete without the Deli Doll. Yes The Deli Doll!!! Yes this “conversation-sparker with her skirt of tempting cold cut meats” is…. I don’t even know what to say. The article says “The deli-doll is attractive featured by herself or on a tray surrounded by more cold cuts or breads” I… yes. I still don’t have the words.

The reality is, the ladies of the past where very creative and innovative to say the least. I thank them for bringing an afternoon of laughter of my mom and I, we enjoyed every minute of it, maybe not the way the ladies of the past intended but still. There where so many other tempting bits that I didn’t share here, like the Spanish Polenta that didn’t have one spec of polenta in it or the brain patties (yes), plus there was an assortment of egg cart flowers to make and tulle christmas trees! I am thinking a “Tasteful bites and crafting of the 50’s and 60’s Party” is in the near future, we just can’t let these delicious recipes and crafts go to waste. I am not being facetious this time either 🙂

It should be…

October 6, 2014 | mollyeleen

the 31 days of October challenge. For the past two years I have blogged, as a collective challenge with The Nester, every day of October about a specific topic. I chatted about “Preparing for my first craft show” and last year was “Sprinklings of my reality” . This year, I am learning to say “I can not add one more thing to my plate” Okay I am really trying to say it. But it’s so hard. The guilt of not doing “things” for others is getting to me. But I have to say no for me otherwise… hello straight jacket!!

Most of us have way to much going on everyday. Why is that? Why do we like to overload ourselves with things to do? I have no idea. Like I said I am trying not to have to much on my plate everyday so I can just enjoy the day with out the “we need to go here,” “I need to do this,” and the “we need to speed it up or we will be late!” I really just want to be “okay, what shall we do today?” But let’s be real, that is not going to happen every day. It just won’t. No matter how much we say “no I can’t do that,” it just won’t happen. At least I can not see it happening.

You know what I do see happening, those stay at home mama’s with 5 kids all perfectly dressed and clean, following mom like a little row of ducklings. They go to the market, to swimming, to soccer, to baseball and out to dinner with out a single “we are going to be late” moment. How the heck do those mama’s do it? How do they have the perfectly clean home (and kids) with dinner on the table at 6pm with out any one child screaming in the process? How can they look completely pulled together all day long? Robots? Maybe…

In my world, we are usually not late. We are never perfectly clean. We are never ever a little row of ducklings (it would be a very small row with only two kiddos). We are not at swimming, soccer or baseball everyday, and I still struggle with keeping the house picked-up. Notice I did not say clean. It is clean around here but not that “perfect all the time clean” but more of a “i will not roll over in my grave of embarrassment if you happen to stop by clean.” I struggle with finishing a project the day I started it (or the same week) because other things have to be done.

I know. I know. We have young kiddos and I should not be adding any pressure to myself for these silly “things” but guess what. I do. I do want to come home from doing errands all day into a clean, picked up home. I do want to have time to finish a simple project when I start it. I do want to have clean kiddos- okay well let’s be realistic here- Kiddo draws on herself daily, loves mud and climbing trees and SneakyB is one. So the reality here is they will not be pressed and proper in their clothing- probably ever. They are “clean” as in bathed – usually- okay twice a week maybe three times. Does running through a sprinkler count as a bath?

What is all this rambling on about. I don’t know. I guess it’s just my moment to share that I feel overwhelmed, sometimes, as a stay at home mama and wonder how others get it all done. The reality is this. My kids are happy. They are fun to be with (most days). They make my world awesome (usually). I am thankful to be a stay at home mama. I do miss my design career sometimes, especially when the girls are screaming and whining in the produce section of the market. But I would not trade it for anything at all.

This October instead of the 31 days to something, so I don’t feel guilt-ridden for not blogging, I am going to commit to four times this month of just checking in with you all and rambling about something. Fingers crossed I finish a project and can share that with you. That would just be amazing!

the garage sale gods where shining on me!

September 27, 2014 | mollyeleen

Hello all! It’s been awhile. We finally moved… we are still unpacking… but we are in our new home and love it. Moving just sucks. Really there is no other way to say it. The last minute push to get everything done… I was crying cleaning the old place. So over it. So done. So exhausted. And then, to make it all better (yes sarcasm) we got to the new place and there was a huge construction trailer in the drive way because we where getting a new roof and “they” decided to start 4 days early. Holy hell was I mad. I don’t get mad very easily, but I was pissed as Kiddo says (okay she should not say this, I know, but she does). Anyway we are in the house now, construction trailer is gone, we are unpacking… I never want to see stuff again. ever. but….

I had the need, yes need, to go garage sale-ing today. Boy howdy am I glad I did. I truly think this was my best ever garage sale day. I am still giddy. Yes giddy.

First garage sale of the morning, a multi family for charity sale, first persons table and score… awesome carved wood mirror. I have wanted an ornate oval mirror for years and this piece of pure awesome was only $20!

Then a fun wool black and white rug and two cute avon bottles… Next a few dud sales… not to worry though I knew there was one more big find out there. A box of valentine making supplies for the daisy scouts (oh yea, did I tell you I am now a girl scout leader- more one day), a neat ball made from drift wood- not sure what I am going to do with it, but I needed it. A free- yes FREE- vintage looking chrome phone. The old school kind that hangs on the wall with a cord… I promise you it looks amazing in our little late 50’s house. (thanks Ash!)

But still there had to be something else. Then, the last sale on my way home, and there it was. An amazing bar cart. A gold-ish smoked glass bar cart with clean lines and all. $15 done. But wait, there was no way it could fit in my car. The people who’s sale it was said, they would help me get it in the car and if it fit they would sell if for $10. Well guess what it fit!

I know, to some, all this might be crazy. But I loved this morning. I spent $50 and got all this awesome. How could you not like that?! Even though I wanted nothing to do with bring anything else into the house to unpack or unload from the car, it was my garage sale day. I have big plans for these items. I will be sharing our new home soon with these finds interspersed through out. My only question for the remaining part of the evening is to paint, to unpack or to have a cocktail…

Designing, Crying and a little change

August 28, 2014August 28, 2014 | mollyeleen

Utter Chaos. We are living in utter chaos. Not only is Kiddo starting kindergarten today and Hubby started back to school two days ago but we are moving in 10 days! TEN.

In true me fashion, I am procrastinating. Procrastinating packing. I just spent days and days and days helping my mom pack and now we have to pack… procrastination is calling my name! How do you ask? Well,

I’m blogging today
I am designing my mom’s new kitchen in her new home (more in a bit)
My partner in “crime” Magazine Mom and I are working on a new business (more to come in the future but let’s just say is extraordinary!)
I am studying to be a girl scout leader (who new right) and
I have decided to rename my blog and my little business (WHAT!?- yes. more in a bit plus a bit)

Shall we review- number one. Well this is obvious. I am typing away in the middle of cardboard, tape, plastic wrap and boxes. (“Ignore it all Molly”)

Number two- Redesigning my mom’s new kitchen. As you recall, my mom just moved up to our area. The house is great, the kitchen not so much. Not my mom. Not designed well. Not anything to be kept. So I am helping her redesign it. It feels good to get my designer hat back for a moment. Use my designer brain, it’s been rusty for awhile. To use the computer for drawing and not pinning or checking status, etc. happy day!

Reality check. It’s really hard to work while the girls are up. We spent a few hours yesterday at mom’s house. The girls where “locked” in the den. Okay to clarify, I put a baby gate across the doorway so that Sneaky B would not go up the stairs. Kiddo was “babysitting” while I worked and I would sneak a peak every now and then. It was working great until the crying, screaming and tears started. Kiddo says nothing happened- I believe her, she was crying and screaming too. We have so much change right now, I sometimes wish I could just sit in a room and scream and cry.

Number three- It’s extraordinary- moving on

Number four- Girl Scouts- Daisy’s to be exact. A few months ago it was “decided” that I should be a girl scout leader with all the girls from pre-school and other kindergartners and first graders. I thought, no problem. That would be fun. Wow- I had no idea what it takes to be a leader! It’s going to be fun and I am excited but it’s a lot to learn. I am up for that challenge!

Number Five- Renaming the blog! This one I have been thinking about for a long time. Why Vintage Princess by ME? That’s the name of my little clothing business. Why did I name my blog that? NO idea. A few months ago I thought I was going to name the blog Pumpkin & Pearl… did you notice this:

Yeah- not quite right. I think it’s cute, but no… So now Vintage Princess by ME is:

Why? Well simply because that’s who I am. I am Molly B (it’s what my grandmother used to call me) and I like to create and share my journey. It simply covers everything. I will be updating the blog look soon- let’s hope it’s not during another procrastinating session- unless it’s procrastinating from UN-packing. I am changing the little business name too, again, let’s wait to we move. I can no longer ignore all the boxes…

One already

August 18, 2014August 18, 2014 | mollyeleen

Can you believe it? Sneaky B is already one year old. Doesn’t it seem like yesterday that I told you all I was preggers? Seems like it to me. This year has flown by!

We had a little party for Sneaky B over the weekend. Just a few friends and family in the park. It was a lovely day and I have probably to many pictures to share. As you know I never do anything simple, it’s a party, why do simple right?

Thanks to my obsession with pinterest, I found way to many ideas for this little party. Like red wax cheese “carved” to look like ladybugs, porcupine watermelon (can’t believe I made this for many reasons) and awesome felt critter mask patterns from illistyle — So stinking cute! Any easy to make. (You can try them too, by following the link)

Simple cupcakes with vintage mushrooms. While baking the cupcakes I had a minor freak out moment… What was Sneaky B going to have for her cupcake?

With the Fpies and not many safe foods that could become any form of a cake, I had no idea! I was a sad about this. In fact it was the first time I have been sad about her Fpies dignosis. I have not had a moment to metally process the fact that she has Fpies. This was the first…

But then my dear friend Kayce came to mind. She and her husband own a company “Miss Roben’s Allergy Friendly Mixes” (they are working on creating a website, I will share once it’s up and running) that makes food mixes that do not include the top ten allergens. YES, maybe one of these would work! Since I have not yet tried any oils, I thought maybe I could use the Chocolate Fudge Frosting (which contains corn free powdered sugar!) mixed with coconut cream. Sneaky B hasn’t tried chocolate yet, but I thought let’s just bite the bullet and see what happens. I made a little “cupcake” of frosting and she loved it! I mean what’s not to love- this frosting is delicious. And happy day no reaction 🙂

For a moment while working on the party I thought why am I doing this? Maybe we should have waited till after we move (in 17 days!). She’s only one, she will not remember this party. But the reality is, we needed a day off. We needed to spend time with family and friends. We needed to not think about packing and unpacking and packing and unpacking. It was delightful.

And now we are back to packing. In the next 17 days, we have a lot going on. Kiddo starts kindergarten. Hubby starts school too. We are moving. I am very excited to move; not so excited to pack, but excited to move!

2 PODS, 2 twenty foot trucks & 2 mini vans!

August 6, 2014 | mollyeleen

I haven’t even had a moment to process Sneaky B’s FPIES diagnoses. For the past seven days I have been packing, carrying, dusting, and cleaning. My mom has sold our childhood home and is moving 8 minutes away from us. I am super excited to have her close! And sad to see the house go.

My mom is a collector. I do tease her about being a hoarder. She has a sign in her office that reads:

Ha! I guess that is true- to a point. But really anyone who lives in the same place for 37 years is bound to have a ton of stuff. For days we packed and carried and organized a huge yard sale. We tossed out the crap. Donated the unsellable. I collected a big pile (okay huge) for our place.

Saturday night we had the last family dinner in the house. A cook-off of sorts. Who could make the best meal from what was in the freezer and pantry. We opened every bottle of wine and “taste tested” them all. We went through boxes from the attic that where my dads, grandfathers and grandmothers. We laughed. It was fantastic!

Sunday so many family and friends came to help out. We loaded the second POD container (the first was loaded before the house went on the market). We loaded the first of the 20′ trucks. We loaded one mini van (most of this is ours). Over the next two days we loaded the next truck and mini van. WOW! That is a ton of stuff!

Through out these seven days I knew the time would come when I had to leave for the very last time. This house is where I grew up. I had slumber parties on the back lawn. Hubby and I got married in the back yard (so did my brother and sister-in-law). My dad was there. It was a tear filled drive down the dirt road the last time leaving the house. I knew it would happen one day, I guess you can never fully prepare.

My mom’s new house is fantastic! It will be fun to help her decorate and remodel the kitchen. Two of my favorite things. First, I guess, comes the unpacking. Ugh. Not sure which is worse the packing or unpacking. “Luckily” for us, we get to do it all over again in 4 weeks. In four weeks, we are moving out of our tiny apartment into a little house. I am so excited…

Drum roll please….

July 30, 2014July 30, 2014 | mollyeleen

“Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome” otherwise known as Fpies. To put it very simply- a person with Fpies can not process the proteins in certain, many or most foods.

Never heard of it? I hadn’t. Until a few years ago when one of my best friends Ashley (aka Magazine Mom, my sidekick) discovered her son has it. Poor little man. It was a crazy time in there lives. My heart ached for them.

This is what Sneaky B has. Fpies, although acute.

sneaky&hb.jpg — Fpies kiddos- can they be any cuter?

Okay can I say what we are all thinking. What are the freaking chances of this happening? Two friends with new babies a year and a half apart. Both have this random never heard of syndrome? There has to be a mathematician out there who can tell me the odds. Maybe we need to hit up Vegas?

I do feel fortunate though. Lucky for me I have a friend I can go to for any questions I have about this Fpies. Lucky for us, we are go getters when it comes to our kiddos. Somehow I think we will be planning something big, yet again, for Fpies kids. Lucky Fpies. Lucky us!

I have a lot to learn still. LOTS. She will probably grow out of it. She will most likely always be intolerant to corn which is her biggest trigger (using Fpies wordage: “trigger” food that causes reaction). Now that we know she has Fpies, I feel good. Not knowing, for me, is the worst. Now we can look Fpies in the face and take it on. We accept this challenge.

molly b

creating, stitching, designing, thrifting

life in general