No Whining on Wednesdays or some things you "surely" do not want to miss

Um - let's just say if your mother was named after ---->

and you were named after your mother,

you might just want to use your middle name, too ...

Congrats to Cathy, Kate and Katie - all three figured out my little riddle and instead of drawing for a prize winner I'm just going to give a locket to each of them - the Partridge family mom trivia was so obscure that everyone deserves a prize for that one!

This is Not a Real Whine, Really

Anyhoo, hubby and I took a little unplanned road trip this past weekend and I realized just how bad a certain someone's memory has become.

me (reading mapquest printout - yes, we have a GPS, but it is even less trustworthy than mapquest) - okay so we are on this road for 120 miles and then we take exit 27

hubby - ok

hubby - (10 minutes later) you said exit 14?

me - no, exit 27

hubby - (7 minutes later) how long are we on this road?

me - until exit 27

hubby - (20 minutes later) that was exit 29?

me - *crickets*

It is not an exaggeration to say this scenario was repeated at almost every road change - I am not sure what this means - but this is getting scary since I am counting on his memory to make up for the ever increasing gaps in my own ...

And
, even though it was just the two of us in the car, once a mom always a mom, so in addition to sunscreen (yes, the zinc kind), I brought hand sanitizer, wet ones, tylenol, band aids, paper towels, tissues, a box of teddy grahams and grapes - because "we need to eat some fruit".

So, I learned from this trip some important things:

1. When the road signs in South Carolina say 65 mph they actually mean 65 mph

2. How to talk with a mouth full of teddy grahams

3. Where to get three cases of diet pepsi for $10

4. GPS will always let you down - BRING A MAP

5. The same man who always instinctively knows when he is facing north, west, etc (yes, even when blindfolded and spun in a circle - I've done it) - cannot remember one road or exit from the next and can no longer be counted on to NOT GET US LOST

6. I have set up my life so that Every Single Thing needs to be done by me and I need to change this SOON or my head will explode

(we actually saw some evidence of the exploding head syndrome on our road trip and I am certain these animals had set up their lives to do everything themselves and were unable to delegate and had no one to delegate to and so were forced to make that final trek across the highway themselves - it did not end well for them)

road trip print by Dolan Geiman

Tuesday Trends - Military Inspiration - Function, Utility, Simplicity

Tomorrow, I will announce last week's giveaway winner and the answer to my little name puzzle, in the meantime let's talk Tuesday trends.

The military fashion trend has been around a couple years now and doesn't appear to be going anywhere.

It does continue to evolve though from a historical infatuation toward a more modern focus.

In 2008 and 2009 the military trend was more focused on the uniforms of the Victorian and Georgian eras while the current trend is all about 20th century's focus on functionality and utility.

How and if you might work this trend into your own work is up to you, but here is what a few Etsy peeps and others are doing:

1. Flying rabbit wings pin by Cosmic Firefly
2. Sleeveless jacket by Malam
3. Wallet by Urban Heirlooms
4. Kevlar wallet by RAGGEDedgeGear
5. Drink charms by Clinks
6. Hand embroidered jacket by RiordanRoache
7. Vintage wallpaper triple switch plate by Fondue
8. Giuseppe Zanotti boots

GIVEAWAY - Plucking Pendants - Recycled Guitar String Necklace!

AND THE WINNER IS:

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max:248 Result: 41 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

MEGAN!

Plucking Pendants creates amazing recycled guitar string jewelry! When I saw Ashley's gorgeous work I fell in love!

(plus I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, but am a bit dexteritiously - uh, something like that - challenged)

Ashley grew up in a small town in southern New Hampshire where she spent lots of time in her mothers craft store.

(can a girl get any luckier than having a mother who owns a craft store?)

She has lived many places since then and is now settled in Oregon where she loves seeing live music, rivers and beaches, creating things with her hands, watching trashy TV, and hanging out in her studio space!


We are so lucky to have one of her amazing pieces for this week's giveaway!

WHAT YOU GET:

One lucky winner will receive this gorgeous mixed metal shiny circle of goodness made from a retired copper guitar string! It is 1 1/4" and hangs from a 18" antique brass chain that closes with a copper lobster claw clasp- so perfect!



HOW TO WIN:

Visit Plucking Pendants and check out her amazing work - then come back here and leave a comment letting her know which piece is your favorite!

For additional entries:

(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post
(5) Follow my blog

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone.

DRAWING:

Enter by midnight, Sunday, September 19th! Good Luck! CLOSED