My family is coming to town!!!

Alright, there is one aspect of living in Baltimore that I don't like- my family lives hours away. Yes, I know that the hubs and my brother-in-law are family, but every once in awhile I want to be part of the red head majority and not the token red head of the group.

But, that dynamic is changing today, baby! That's right. My family is finally making a trip down to visit me, which is awesome because they haven't been down since August 2007 (aka, they came down for the wedding, and I thank them for that!). (Correction- Ev and Bob are awesome and they've been down to visit- twice, actually. Mom and Dad, you're in second place behind Ev and Bob. Not like I'm keeping score or anything like that.)

Okay, there was a tiny white lie in those statements. My family isn't really coming down to see me, but instead my "little" brother is graduating from college tomorrow. In reality, the family is coming down to cheer him on and then they're being forced into manual labor. The family is all chipping in and helping my brother move to his new place, which is fantastic because it's a whopping 20 minutes away from my place. After everyone one is good and tired out from the move, I'll offer refreshments at my place. I have to bribe my family with food in order for them to visit (I kid, I kid!).

Actually, my sister and nephew are on their way at this very moment and they're sleeping over at my house. Tonight, we're heading down to Camden Yards to catch a little baseball action, which hopefully will include another shaving cream pie ceremony (Matt Wieters is in the lineup!!!!). My nephew has been to Skylands Park quite a few times, but I'm guessing the grandeur of Camden Yards will impress the little guy.

In a nut shell, I'm super excited. I haven't been able to sit still all morning. Okay, the extra cup of coffee might be partially to blame, but I'm just excited. One, I get to see my family. Two, my brother is graduating. Three, he's moving close to me!!!

I need to stop writing. I have the attention span of a gnat at the moment and my sentence structure is suffering because of it.

Ikea: Almost a rite of passage

I'm 99.9% certain that my parents don't own a single thing from Ikea. I never even stepped foot into an Ikea until I was a junior in college. Knowing those two things, it makes it funnier that now I don't have a single room in my house that isn't chocked full of Ikea goodies. The hubs and I went on somewhat of an Ikea splurge when we first moved in together, but I am looking forward to the day when I don't have to rely on an Allen wrench to put my furniture together (or the day when I don't even have to assemble furniture!). Anyways, without the cheap prices at Ikea I think it's safe to say that our first post-college apartment would have been pretty bare.

With that information in mind, I sent my brother an e-mail last week informing him of some big sale Ikea was holding over the Memorial Day weekend. He doesn't graduate from college for another week, but I know he's moving once he graduates. At first he was like, "nah, I don't need furniture yet because I haven't really seen what my roommate is bringing to the apartment." Okay, that sounds reasonable enough, but then he saw that the Expedit bookcase was on sale for $50. He wanted the bookcase and so did I.

Saturday afternoon, the three of us made a trip over to Ikea and hoped to pick up a bookcase. My brother was amazed with the cheap prices and kept commenting, "okay, once I move in I am definitely coming back here. $13 for a side table!"

I did notice quite a few early twenties looking individuals perusing the various aisles at Ikea on Saturday. I'll go out on a limb and say that quite a few of them just graduated from college and are thinking they need furniture for their apartments, but Pottery Barn just isn't in their budget. Trust me, I've been there. Plus, you can find a ton of smaller furniture pieces at Ikea, which is perfect for those small apartments.

The hubs was the sour puss of the group and I wasn't able to persuade him that we did indeed need a bookcase. So, we left empty handed. Grrrr! He did however eye up a new coffee table. One of the first things we bought at Ikea was a plain brown coffee table and I'm not longer a fan of it's traditional look. So when the hubs said that he liked the modern black coffee table I was ecstatic. Hopefully, that means we can start buying more modern pieces and start ditching our old traditional looking furniture. Sweet!!!

Why hello there pretty

I found this baby hiding out behind my shed. Well, the vase wasn't. I definitely don't remember these flowers last spring, but they could have been hidden underneath some unruly azalea shrubs. I have no idea what this flower is called, but I think it's gorgeous! Plus, that is one big bulb.

Hmmm, maybe putting the flower on the living room entertainment center was too subtle of a hint that the hubs should randomly surprise me with flowers every once in a blue moon. I guess I'll just have to wait and see on that one.

(Anyone know what this flower is called?)

Update- My gut instinct was telling me that the flower was a peonie, but the pink streaks were throwing me for a loop. My neighbor has the same flowers and she said they were peonies. Then, Pigtown Design showed pictures of some peonies she picked up at the farmer's market and mine look just like hers. I know that isn't the most exact and scientific of rationals, but I'm going with it.

Hilarious video

I'll be the first to admit, sometimes the Funny or Die videos aren't that funny. Then, there are other times when they are ridiculously funny (The Landlord takes the cake!).

Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds and Betty White combine for a pretty funny video. Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds: Behind the Scenes of The Proposal - watch more funny videos

I may have a problem

I made another purse.

Okay, technically, I made two purses. See, I bought some very pretty fabric and there was only another half of a yard left on the bolt. So of course I went ahead and purchased the remaining fabric for 50% off the retail price. That extra fabric allowed me to mess up royally and still have plenty of fabric to cover up my sewing shortcomings.

Anyway, I saw this adorable pleated purse over on How About Orange. Jessica makes it sound like she's not the best sewer in the world, so I figured that this might be a somewhat safe project for me to tackle. The pattern found on My Spare Time is really easy to follow and free to download (score!).

I had every intention of giving the finished project to my best friend, but that didn't happen. Let's be honest, I'm somewhat of a crazed perfectionist and I know my friend's mom is a phenomenal sewer. Therefore, in my mind there was no way I could give my friend a bag that had uneven seams and some odd fabric match ups. So, I kept the bag for myself. BUT, I decided that the bag is still super cute and with my extra fabric I should definitely make another bag.

I took my time, learned from my previous errors and didn't even have to use my seam ripper once (which is a drastic change from my first attempt). The finished product was super cute. As in too cute that it made me hate my first bag and I had to get that new bag out of my house ASAP!!!

(insert bright idea light) Mmmm, I should give this bag to my mom for a Mother's Day present. I had that idea while I was making it, but I kept doubting myself. Really, I thought I was a bit old to be giving my mom a handmade present. Then, I got thinking and thought it was actually kind of endearing since my mom did give me the gift card that I used to purchase my sewing machine. Okay, it seemed logical in my mind. Plus, my mom liked her gift. Ha! Victory is mine!!!

Apparently, I'm a sucker for pleated purses. This bag is much bigger than the famous Buttercup Bag and I'm amazed with how much stuff I can cram into this baby.


Closeup of the fabric, which I fell in love with at first sight.


So here's my problem, I'm somewhat of a purse whore and I'm worried that if I keep making my own purses that my hubs and sister may stop buying me nice purses. I don't know if I'm quite ready to have my designer purse fix drastically cut, but I really do enjoy sewing. I'm already eye balling a few Amy Butler patterns. Eeeek!

Ouch!!!

Am I over examining this or do you notice a difference between those two hands????

Being friendly is still cool

Last night the hubs and I found ourselves at yet another O's game, but don't worry this post isn't really about the game (well, it is to a point). Anyway, we met up with a few (okay, more like twenty) of the hubs's co-workers for a fun Thursday night at Camden Yards. As we were wandering around the right field pavilion a woman came up to one of the hubs' coworkers and asked him if he would mind partaking in quick survey. He shot her down, which was very cold.

The woman then approached me and asked me if I would be willing to answer a few questions. She was decked out in O's gear and it was pretty obvious she was an O's employee. Sure, why not. A few minutes later I finish her survey and she hands me two tickets to a game later in the month.

The hubs of course oversaw this entire exchange and says to his co-worker, "SUCKER!!!!" My brother-in-law returned from his beverage run just in time to see me get handed two tickets and he started whining, "I want free stuff. How come she gets free stuff????"

Okay, the hubs is not helping me prove my point, but my point is that you should be nice to people. The hubs likes to make fun of me for talking to just about anyone, but my friendly personality just scored us two free baseball tickets. Granted, the O's give away as many tickets as they can, but that's not the point. I was nice to a stranger and received something good in return.

So with that being said, I hope you all have a very nice weekend. Remember to call your mom on Sunday and wish her a happy Mother's day.

That wasn't funny

I called my best friend and this is a rough rundown of our conversation:

Me: Hey, I have good news. Guess what?

BF: You're pregnant?!?!?!

Me: (action- fall to floor). What? NO!!!! Oh my goodness, why the heck would you say that?

BF: I don't know, isn't that what married people do?

Me: Some married people have kids, but you know I'm not thinking of any little ones until I'm 30. (continue on a rampage of how the heck could she suggest I was pregnant)

BF: So, is the good news that you're pregnant or that you're not pregnant????

Me: The good news is that I'm NOT pregnant and I found a race for us to run. That's it, nothing earth shattering.


Later in the evening, the hubs and I joined my best friend and her boyfriend for dinner. B, my best friend, says to the hubs, "Did Heidi tell you about our conversation from earlier today?" He hadn't heard, so she proceeded to tell him the story. Without missing a beat he goes, "B, that's not funny! You can't just drop the pregnancy bomb into an everyday conversation. That's really not funny." Of course, B's boyfriend agreed with the hubs on this one.

I, of course, did what I do when I'm around my extended family and made sure to have an alcoholic beverage within my grasp for the rest of dinner. Nothing says, "no babies here!" like a few glasses of wine or a few bottles of beer.



(For the record, the hubs and I adore kids, but we're just waiting until an SPF 500 sunscreen is invited. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that two pale people equals a ridiculously pale baby.)