Friday, October 31, 2008

More Embroidery

I'm still as excited today about the embroidery Zazzle just came out with as I was yesterday. I've been so busy today with Halloween and handing out candy to all the little ghost and ghouls at my daughter and son in law's house that I haven't had a chance to add any new items to my stores, but I hope to get more up this weekend. I was poking around in one of my friend's shops just now and noticed she added some awesome college and university customizable hoodies and sweatshirts to her shop TeeShirtsTShirts Awesome Tee Shirts and Gifts. I am sure my son who is in college would love one of these as they are classy, sharp, and yet simple. You can easily add your name and your college name or initials and you can change the product itself to another item, change the embroidered thread color, the product color, etc. These college and university shirts and hoodies are sure to be a hit with the young but great for anyone of any age! Check them out for yourself!


TeeShirtsTShirts Awesome Tee Shirts and Gifts is a member of Union Eight .

Zazzle has real embroidery!

Wow, and wow again! Zazzle just came out with real embroidery! It's beautiful so far as I can tell, although I admit to not yet seeing it in person. I've been playing around with simple text designs so far though and I am sure this is going to be of great interest to so many people who are looking for quality, customizable, embroidered items. So far I have created some bride, future bride, and groom items with several monogram initial tote bags, hoodies, and hats. This embroidery is amazing and you can even watch a little video demonstration of the design being embroidered. Not only did Zazzle come out with this awesome embroidery, they also added a whole lot of new products at the same time including many different hoodie styles, polo shirts, new tote bags, and more! Take a look at my Weddings Are Us gallery and see some of the new text embroidered bride and groom hoodies, hats, and tote bags I've added to my gallery. I'm so excited about this embroidery as I have had so many future brides email me to ask if we have embroidery and I can finally say "why yes we do!". So if you are a future bride, bride, maid of honor or friend looking for monogram initial tote bags, an embroidered text bridal hoodie, or other embroidery item we have what you are looking for at Weddings Are Us!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Celebrating Dad

Often, like now, when I'm working memories pop into my head, memories of times spent with my dad when he was still alive. He died as a result of pneumonia, often common with alzheimer patients, about five years ago. I miss him so much, but the memories I have are good ones that make me smile and make me feel that he's really not so far. He's in my heart.
Dads have a way of making their children feel special, and even though there are seven of us kids, I think he somehow managed to make each one of us feel like we were his favorite. My sister and I joke about that sometime.
To everyone who still has their dad, celebrate him! Let him know you love him, care about him, and make him feel special, not only at Christmas or Father's Day but every day. I found some really nice Dad shirts, mugs, mousepads, bags, and other items for Dad at TeeShirtsTShirts Awesome Tee Shirts and Gifts, a member of Union Eight. Hope you like them as much as I do.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Geo What?

Geocaching.
GPS.
Travel Bug.
Cache.
If you know what these terms are you have probably been geocaching or know someone who has. I've only been geocaching twice in my life, and I have to say it was great fun. I have an online friend who is big into geocaching and so I've heard quite a bit about it. He has several caches he's put together in Colorado and some travel bugs that have travelled not only all over the USA but to other countries as well.
If you don't know what geocaching is, basically it's a treasure hunt game that is played with the aid of a GPS (global positioning system) and people all over the world, from children to the elderly seem to enjoy it. You can find a cache with the help of your GPS, you can also place a cache for others to find. A cache is basically a container you hide somewhere for another geocacher to find, pinpointing it's location using your GPS and then sharing it's existence and location online for other geocachers .
Geocaching.com is the official Global GPS cache hunt site. Once on the site you simply type in the zip code of the area in which you wish to look for a cache. Choose a cache from the list, enter the coordinates for the geocache into your GPS unit, then go out and have a blast trying to find it! Once you find it, there will be a logbook inside the container. Some caches have little trinkets you can take or trade, a camera to take a photo of yourself and the others in your party, and some have what is known as a travel bug. A travel bug is basically a tag that is attached to an item for instance a little stuffed bear. It normally has instructions such as it wishes to travel to several countries or wishes to travel to a specific location. If you take a travel bug from a cache you should track that as well online and not hold on to it too long so it has a chance of reaching it's destination. It's interesting to see online where a travel bug has been and the route it takes to reach its destination.
There are many different variations of geocaches including a single cache which is at minimum a log book inside a tupperware container, ammo box, or other waterproof container. There is multi-caches which normally ends up with a physical container at the end, usually with the first cache giving you hints as to finding the second cache, etc. There are virtual caches, mega event caches, even Cache in Trash Out events which is basically a clean up litter along the trails and dispose of it event!
No matter where in the world you are, you can enjoy this hobby/sport. Some caches require a lot of exercise, some require minimal exercise, so it's a great hobby for anyone! If you already enjoy geocaching or know someone that does, check out these awesome geocaching design T-shirts and ties and hats from Mainstreet Shirt Gifts And T-shirts, a member of Union Eight. They make great Christmas gifts too for the geocacher you know!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Beauty is a Light Switch Away

If you've been reading any of my twitter posts in the past couple of months you probably noticed that I have been doing a lot of walking on my treadmill. I got my treadmill soon after I moved here which is close to a year now, and I walked on it quite a bit for the first couple of months, but then got so busy with work (ok, yea, I know, excuses!) that I sorta quit doing it this spring. But I started up again a couple of months ago, well, actually it was about mid July I think so it's been about three months that I've been trying to walk on it every day, but of course there are days I miss for whatever reason. I try for one of those reasons NOT to be because I just didn't feel like it or I felt too lazy to.
My daughter told me tonight that she read somewhere that Lance Armstrong was asked about his training and what he did on the days it rained. His reply was something along the lines of "I put on my raincoat and go". NO excuses. He didn't say "oh well, on those days I just skip" or some such thing. No. He has no excuses. It made me think how easy it is to make excuses. I was too busy. I had to work. I had a headache, was too lazy, too tired, had somewhere I had to be, my toe was sore, my foot was sore, my knee was sore. Not anymore. For the past three months I have missed very few days and the times I did miss, I really did have a good reason (notice I said reason, not excuse? lol).
I have found that the more I walk, the more I want to lose weight...fast. I imagine myself being slender and gorgeous, and then I remember that I'm now over 50 and if I ever do get slender, I certainly won't be gorgeous. I'll take the slender! Gravity and mother nature can be brutal on a girl! I saw these funny T-shirts at SagArt T-shirts and Gifts that cracked me up and had to share them with you.


Lousy Beautician T-Shirt shirt

Lousy Beautician T-Shirt
by sagart1952


Instant Beauty T-Shirt shirt

Instant Beauty T-Shirt
by sagart1952

So if you're looking for humor T-shirts, you know you can find them at SagArt T-shirts and Gifts which is a proud member of Union Eight .




Thursday, October 23, 2008

Here Again, Gone Again

When my niece was here yesterday with her twin babies, we did a bit of shopping. Well, we tried to do some shopping I should say. We struck out however. She wanted to check the stores here as the shopping where she lives is rather horrendous ie no choice of stores, and there was a couple items she hasn't had luck in finding. One of the items was a baby ring, the kind you put a baby sitting inside of while in the bathtub. The other item was a size 12 month snowsuit for each of the twins. No problem I said! First we went to Kohls and I was pretty confident they'd have what she was looking for. I was surprised they didn't have either item. Seeing we were already at the mall I suggested we try Younkers and JCPenney, confident we would at least find the snowsuit. Again, no such luck. There was lots of fleecy snowsuits in a size 6-9 months, snowsuits that started in a size 24 months, jackets, etc, but no actual snowsuits in a size 12 months. I was really surprised that nobody carried them. And she had already tried her local wally world so we didn't bother even going there.
As we were walking through Kohls I found it rather funny for some reason to walk first by displays of Halloween candles, towels, placemats, etc, and then immediately after walk past turkeys and fall harvest items for Thanksgiving, and then right on to the Christmas ornaments, lit up trees, and other Christmas holiday decor. It took me a few seconds to go from holiday to holiday. Now it got me to thinking just how fast that time does fly between the holidays in real time. It seems to me that once Halloween arrives, I blink my eyes and it's Thanksgiving, blink again and it's Christmas. And so I started thinking more seriously about Christmas, and presents for loved ones.
If you have someone on your holiday gift list that loves to cook and has a great sense of humor, may I suggest to you some of the funniest aprons I've seen available at Cowpie Creek which is a member of Union Eight !

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Auntie Me!

Today I had the pleasure of getting to know my little great niece and nephew better. The babies are just 7 months old and full of smiles and giggles. It's interesting to watch two babies the same age as one another and how they interact. They really don't seem that interested in each other for the most part, but I did notice the baby girl was all smiles until she heard her brother start to cry from another room and she began to cry too. I believe she was upset that he was upset. I noticed that she is more free in general with the smiles and when she smiles they are big wide mouth open smiles, holding nothing back. He on the other hand smiles a bit less freely and when he does, it's a smaller, more reserved kind of smile. And as young as they are, they want what the other one has! If she has the Pooh rattle, he wants it. If he has the ball, she wants it. I guess it works quite well that they want what each other has!
Tomorrow they will drive back home again and it will probably be a number of weeks before I see them again. I'm sure the next time I see them they'll have perfected their rolling over and grasping toys, probably even have another tooth or two. I'm lucky to have spent this time with them and look forward to them visiting auntie again!

Aunt and Uncle Gifts is a proud member of Union Eight!


Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Friday Night Date Recap

I had a date last Friday night. He's kind of short, but he has a great smile. His manners need some working on, but he is a great conversationalist. He's a really good cook, or perhaps I should say baker. He's funny and fun to be with, and he adores me like not too many people do. My date for the evening was my four and 1/2 year old grandson, and we spent Friday night having a cupcake bake off!
Now, like most four year olds, he loves cake and candy. Did I say love? I mean he LOVESSSSS cake and candy! And like most four year olds, he's not allowed to have either very often. Mommy and Daddy limit the treats and dole it out as though it were gold, so the idea of heading over to grandma's house without mommy and daddy present had to be elation and excitement to the max! First, he knows that grandma will probably not limit how many candies he can put on a cupcake. (I know, bad grandma slap slap!) He also knew that he'd get to eat a cupcake full of these delectable candies. So... this smart little four year old put two and two together and realized that to maximize his cupcake and candy fill, he needed to load on the candies! Which he did. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you cannot fit a half pound of candy on a single cupcake. Any four year old will prove you wrong!
About midway through the big cupcake bakeoff we couldn't take it any longer. I poured two cups of milk and we sat together each eating a cupcake, his with a half pound of candy, mine with two sixlets and three skittles of various colors. It's the best Friday night date I've had in years.
The little preschooler might be getting one of these cute aprons from TeeShirtsTShirts Awesome Tee Shirts and Gifts for his birthday along with a box of cake mix and a promise of another cupcake bakeoff!


TeeShirtsTShirts Awesome Tee Shirts and Gifts is a subsidiary of Union Eight .

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Hamster Tales

I was browsing around Small Potatoes Designs Cartoon T-shirts And Gifts just now and saw this really cute hamster T-shirt and it reminded of me when we used to have hamsters years ago when my son was growing up. My son was and still is crazy about those little critters. I have some hamster tales that you'd probably not even believe to be true, but I swear they are. We had several hamsters, the first one being Hammy Sammy, which lived the longest and had to be the world's toughest little hamster dude ever. He could have come complete with ninja gear for all the escapades he had in his lifetime. He lived with us about 2 1/2 years I believe before we found him one day having difficulty breathing and we knew he was about to leave us. My son and I cried the entire night and I'm ashamed to say I cried more over the death of that hamster than a lot of things in my life. That's difficult to explain, let me just sum it up by saying he was the best friend a boy ever had, and my tears were because I knew my son was hurting so bad over it. But, on to the happy stories!
My son would make Hammy Sammy these really cool mazes out of empty toilet paper, paper towel, wrapping paper rolls and cardboard boxes. They would span across entire rooms. That hamster didn't lack when it came to getting out of his cage to have some fun and explore the world. I don't think my son owned a shirt that wasn't full of holes from the hamster gnawing at them. Hammy Sammy often came with us on vacations, one time actually swimming in the lake while on a camping trip with us. For real, hamsters can swim, or at least Hammy Sammy could.
My son played hockey from the age of five until he was a sophmore in high school. I always went to the practices and games, and one day at a practice in the dead of winter I reached into my purse to get my wallet or something, not sure now what I was reaching for but my hand felt something warm and soft and then IT MOVED! I screamed of course, had no idea what living thing was inside of my purse. It was Hammy Sammy. My son had put him into my purse hours earlier and forgotten to take him out. Poor thing! He had chewed his way halfway through my wallet and lining of my purse, and I wasn't exactly being careful with my purse as had no idea there was a living, breathing, beloved pet inside it! He spent the rest of his time at hockey practice inside a big empty candy cannister and seemed none the worse for his adventure. I believe he liked adventures!
One school morning we awoke to find that Hammy Sammy had escaped from his cage during the night. My daughter, my son, and me all searched the house for him, both kids being very late for school because of it, and we couldn't find him. Then my daughter noticed that there was a pile of his seeds on the opposite side of the basement door, so we knew he had somehow managed to fit himself underneath the door through the small crack. I was worried at this point we would never find him because the basement wasn't exactly a neat tidy place with nowhere to hide. My daughter then heard a small scratching sound coming from ....coming from...wait..shhhh....quiet a sec...yes, from inside the basement wall! Oh yes, somehow he had managed to find a crack in the wall where a stone had dislodged from the concrete and he was now burrowing through sand deep past the wall trying to either get to China or make a great escape. Seeing he never really seemed to like Chinese food all that much we figured he was trying to make a great escape. I'll never forget the sight of peeking into that hole with a flashlight and seeing his little sand covered furry face and whiskers, beady little eyes looking back at me. Because the hole wasn't very big and because my son was the only one whose hand would possibly fit into that hole..he was elected to grab Hammy Sammy out before he got any further and we lost him forever. My son reached into the crack in the wall and got hold of Hammy Sammy and started to pull him out. I'm not sure if it hurt the hamster, if he was mad, afraid, or what, but he started to squeal. We had never, ever heard him squeal in all the time we had him so at that moment I panicked a bit that ..what if it wasn't hammy sammy but a big ole' rat my son was pulling toward him. In one fell swoop my son had his hand with hamster out of the hole and gently dropped the hamster to the floor, not at all sure either what was in his hand. The sight of that hamster so full of sand was the cutest thing, and we were just all so relieved to have found him and know he was still alive and well.
Hammy Sammy lived for about a year after that escapade and got loose one other time. This time he left a pile of seeds inside my daughter's cross country ski boot to make amends for having chewed it up. lol He was full of adventure and fun. We would give him cheerios and everyone who came to visit enjoyed counting how many cheerios he could fit into his cheeks. The most he ever fit was 52 cheerios! Not bad for a little dude!
My son told me just last week he's thinking about getting a hamster. I told him I thought it would be a good idea. I love those things as well! My son would have loved this shirt from Small Potatoes Designs Cartoon T-shirts And Gifts when he was a boy. He probably still would actually!

Funny Hamster shirt

Funny Hamster
by smallpotatoesdesigns

Friday, October 17, 2008

I Love Coffee

I admit to loving coffee. My tastes and coffee drinking habits have changed over the years. There was a time when I needed to have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. I would drink it black and weak. Then one day, I tasted cappuccino for the first time, and although I thought it tasted like poison (still dislike hazelnut cappuccino to this day) I later tried a vanilla latte' and I loved it. I think it was about that time I found I needed to start putting milk in my coffee. Then one day I discovered the liquid flavored coffee creamers and was hooked. I still love them but now stick to the fat free ones only. I also noticed for a time that I could go the entire day without a cup of coffee but enjoyed drinking it in the evening and night. Perhaps that is why I'm such a night owl. (caffeine?) Lately I noticed that when I wake up, I need to have a cup of coffee to start functioning. I suppose I could manage without it, but I admit I love coffee and one of the first things I do when I get up is put a pot of coffee brewing. (see my coffeemaker here) I love coffee, and I love this I Love Coffee T-shirt from SpeakUpDesigns T-Shirts.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

You Big Turkey!

I just looked down and saw that it's 30 degrees right now according to my weather bug, which is always right incidentally. 30! Thirty! That is technically cold enough to snow! It's not that uncommon at all where I live in the UP of Michigan to get snow before Halloween. I remember several Halloweens when it was an absolute blizzard. It usually melts and then arrives back again sometime mid November to stay. And then we'll see plenty of the white stuff right through April at least. I'm not exactly looking forward to it. Icy roads, more flu and colds, chapped lips and hands, heating bills, shovelling, scraping ice off windshields, what's to love? Well, there is the first snow, that's always very pretty. And of course there is building snowmen, sledding, the taste of big soft snowflakes falling on your outstretched tongue, the way the world seems to just slow down, moonlight on a clear winter night, the glisten of the sun off a frozen, iced branch. Ok, there are some good things. And then, there's always Thanksgiving and Christmas!
I have some good memories of Thanksgiving. It's always been a tradition in my family for someone to have big meal and have everyone over for dinner. The past several years my daughter has been the one to invite everyone, and things change as families change, but one thing is always a tradition with my family and most perhaps on Thanksgiving, and that is having a big dinner complete with turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. The smell of a turkey cooking while watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade...yum!
It kind of makes one wonder just how many turkeys are cooking that day across the US. I'd imagine quite a few! And so I did a bit of research to find out. According to Turkey Trivia at infoplease.com, the US Department of Agriculture says more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving—that's one sixth of all turkeys sold in the U.S. each year!
It's no wonder the turkeys are revolting! It's no wonder they are threatening to hide the murder weapon and hiring lawyers! No, I haven't gone insane, but I have had more than my share of laughs looking at these hilarious Thanksgiving turkey designs offered by Thanksgiving T-shirts And Gifts!

Mens T-Shirt - Thanksgiving Turkey Lawyer shirt

Mens T-Shirt - Thanksgiving Turkey Lawyer
by thanksgiving_tshirts

The Fix

This is an absolutely true tale. My son loved his wallet. He loved it so much he didn't want to get a new one. It was his favorite wallet ever! But alas, this much beloved wallet had seen it's days and was falling apart at the seams, and I do mean every seam. My son had this ingenious thought one day that proved to me he had become a man. He duct taped his wallet together! I wish I had taken photos of it, I'd love to show you this wallet. Nowhere was there any semblance of it actually, at one time, having been a real leather wallet. It was totally covered, inside and out, with duct tape. He had designed perhaps the first duct tape wallet. Or had he? I mean, let's face it, men do love the stuff and he probably wasn't the first or only male walking around with a duct tape wallet. In fact, his dad was a bit the same in that it was a staple tool to have around the house. We all love duct tape for certain things, but there are times it just should not be used! Duct tape is perfectly fine to tape wires down out of the way. Duct tape is not fine to use as a big bandaid. Duct tape is OK to roll into a ball and use it for a hockey puck (ball?). Duct tape is not OK to use for reattaching the car's rearview mirror, to use as a ski binding, or to patch the hole in the canoe. There are a lot of people who believe duct tape can fix anything. I'm not one of those people. For those who "believe", Cowpie Creek has the perfect T-shirt for you!




Cowpie Creek has some other really funny T-shirts, mugs, mousepads, and other items as well. Here's a couple more I found funny, hope you do too!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

It's Tough to be 4

My grandson attends preschool three days a week. He loves it. He doesn't get to play with a lot of other kids on a regular basis except for his baby sister who he loves but let's face it, a one year old likes to destroy the castle he works to build and loves to rip the paper pages of his favorite books, so there are days he doesn't think of her as his best friend. In fact, there are days he'd probably think this was the perfect T-shirt for her!



Cute but Kind of Evil shirt

Cute but Kind of Evil
by

teewitbaby

Mommy and Daddy, and ok yes, grandma too, think this one more appropriate for the little book tearing, castle breaking, loves to mess up his stuff gal.

You can find both designs at Tee Wit Funny Baby T-Shirts and More!

Not Just for Boys

I'm not sure why but when I think of skateboarding, I think of it as a boys sport. Perhaps it's because my son and all his male friends loved to skateboard, in fact, my son is 23 and still loves it. I was rather surprised earlier this evening to see a group of girls skateboarding. I'm not sure why it surprised me, it's not as if I don't know girls also participate in the sport, perhaps it was more to see an entire group of them. Like I said, I think of it predominantly as a boys sport for some reason.
I was just driving by, so I'm not sure what kind of skateboards the girls have, but it did get me to wondering what type of skateboard design a girl would choose. I'm pretty sure she'd like one of the great designs found at TeeShirtsTShirts Awesome Tee Shirts and Gifts, like this one...


Pink and Black Argyle Plaid skateboard

Pink and Black Argyle Plaid
by TeeShirtsTShirts
What girl wouldn't love a pink argyle skateboard? How much more creative and cool can it get than that? I think that a teen girl would also love this one...
Actually, I think her boyfriend would love that one as well!





Monday, October 13, 2008

Love music?

If you love music, play in a band, sing in the choir, are a pianist, a harpist, a cellist, a composer...you're going to love Mad Conductor Music T-shirts & Gifts ! This shop is totally amazing! There are numerous designs for every instrument you can imagine on T-shirts, mugs, tote bags, even ties!
My daughter played the flute when she was in high school and I'm sure she would have loved one of these awesome flute T-shirts!


I love the grunge design T-shirts this shop has!
When I was in high school I played the trumpet so decided to see what the Mad Conductor Music T-shirts & Gifts shop has for trumpet players. I found one that I totally love, almost enough to make me pick the trumpet back up again even though it's been years and years..and years!
Check out this awesome design for trumpet players!
This shop is just amazing, so if you know someone who loves music pass the link along to them. If you have music lovers on your holiday gift list, this is the place to get those unique music T-shirts and gifts you won't find anywhere else!



Saturday, October 11, 2008

Rubber Duckie

Rubber duckie, you're the one! You make bath time lots of fun! Rubber duckie I'm so awfully fond of you!
Ok, I admit it! I like rubber ducks! What's not to like about them? They are cute, and yellow, and make me smile! Do you remember the Rubber Duckie song that Ernie from Sesame Street sang? Well, that song made rubber duckies very popular. Until then they were just yellow rubber ducks, just an inexpensive toy that nobody paid a whole lot of attention to, but after that song became popular they were never quite the same again. A lot of people started to collect rubber ducks and so many variations of the original rubber duckie began to appear. There are bride and groom ducks, devil ducks, reindeer ducks, duckies with sunglasses, duck soap dishes, duck slippers, duck robes, duckie costumes, you name it! Personally, I like the simple plain ones.

If you are a rubber duckie fan you might like these cool Ked's shoes with rubber ducks available at Custom_Shoes ! Check these out, they are just way too cute!

Rubber Ducky Keds Women's Shoes kedsshoe

Rubber Ducky Keds Women's Shoes
by Custom_Shoes

They also have them in children's sizes!

Rubber Ducky Kid's Shoes kedsshoe

Rubber Ducky Kid's Shoes

I decided to check out "rubber duckie" on wikipedia. I found a little trivia about rubber duckies that I found interesting and decided to pass it along.
During a Pacific storm on January 10, 1992, three 40-foot containers holding 30,000 Friendly Floatees plastic bath toys from a Chinese factory were washed off a ship. Two-thirds of the ducks floated south and landed three months later on the shores of Indonesia, Australia, and South America. The remaining 10,000 ducks headed north to Alaska and then completed a full circle back near Japan, caught up in the North Pacific Gyre current as the so called Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Many of the ducks then entered the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia and were trapped in the Arctic ice. They moved through the ice at a rate of one mile per day, and in 2000 they were sighted in the North Atlantic. The movement of the ducks had been monitored by American oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer. *taken from wikipedia.com*
Kind of interesting isn't it?


Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Brrr, yea it's here!

Brrr! I've got the chills. It's only 43 degrees right now, and I was outside walking today when the temperature literally dropped from the 60s to the 40s. What started out as a leisurely walk on an autumn evening in the 60s quickly turned into a power walk back to the van we drove to the nature trail with, temperature now in the 40s. It was a beautiful walk though all in all. The colors of the season were everywhere. The red maple leaves, the golden orange oak leaves, the yellow aspens and the white birch bark left a pallette in my memory I shall not soon forget. I love this time of year, the air so crisp, the sound of geese as they fly over, the beautiful colors, the world seems to slow down in anticipation of the long winter ahead.
And so now, with a bit of chill in the air I'm browsing online and sipping on a cup of coffee with vanilla Coffeemate. Yum! I came across these cute shoes at Shoes For You that are perfect for wearing this time of year! They're made by Keds so you know they're comfy and made well!
I also found this cute coffee mug at Christmas Mug Gifts which has tons of mugs for every day and for Christmas too. This one is so cute for coffee lovers like myself!





No Coffee, No Function Stick Figure Coffee Bean mug

No Coffee, No Function Stick Figure Coffee Bean
You can change the mug style on the spot, if for instance you don't want the red inside, you can have it plain, or you can have it green, black, or any of a number of other colors as well as on a travel mug or frosted glass mug in several mug sizes! You can even add your name! Easy to customize, ready to order in seconds!

Maternity Gone Wild!

Being pregnant has it's benefits. Well, there is first and foremost the obvious...at the end of pregnancy you get this tiny little adorable creature that you look at for the very first time and your heart melts in a way you never imagined could happen to you. But...what about before that moment? What about during all those months of crazy fluctuating hormones that cause you to be happy one moment and cranky the next? What about all those insane cravings in the middle of the night and the desire to eat things you didn't even like until now? Swollen ankles, aching back, being very tired, and oh, let us not forget morning sickness! What can possibly make it worse is unsolicited advice and questions from strangers! If it's not bad enough to be terribly ill with morning sickness, the last thing you want and need is for every mother you know telling you either that they had it worse, or that they were never sick a moment during their entire pregnancy. I can only wish that when I was last pregnant, 23 plus years ago, I had found the TeewitMaternity Shop! This shop has a comeback for everything!
Let them know right from the start that you are suffering from fluctuating hormones and so perhaps they should just back off! Here's a T-shirt to say just that!


Back Away from the Pregnant One! (2) shirt

Back Away from the Pregnant One!
Suffering from morning sickness? Here's one for that as well!


Does this Nausea Make Me Look Green shirt

And, if you're tired of being told you are HUGE...here's a T-shirt to let them know, if they are about to say such a thing, just don't!
Perhaps the worst thing to hear when pregnant is someone else's labor "horror" stories. Just what a mom to be wants to hear! Even if you did have a tough labor or delivery, it's definitely the time to remember the saying..."If you dont' have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Wedding Party Gifts

According to smartmoney.com, the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is a whopping $21,000 to $24,000! Purchasing gifts for the wedding party members can become quite expensive, as well as a huge chore for a bride to be. Trying to choose a gift that they will love, that keeps you within budget, and that is useful is quite a task for a busy bride to be. I saw these cute, useful, and easily within budget priced tote bags at TeeShirtsTShirts Awesome Tee Shirts and Gifts and think they would be a great gift for all the girls in the wedding party!
These cute wedding party tote bags are available for the bridesmaids, maid of honor, flower girl, and of course the bride! You can add each person's name to the bag on the spot using the customization tool available if you like too! It's up to you if you want to give the bags filled with special things each girl loves such as flavored coffees, bath oils, candies, a book, whatever you think she'll like, or if you want to just give it as is, it's still a great gift. She can reuse it for shopping trips, as an overnight bag, a library bag, and she'll always remember the day she took part in your wedding! Present the bags to the girls before the big day so you can use them together at the salon, for carrying your things to the church, or if you're having a girls bachelorette weekend they're perfect for that as well. And the cake design is so pretty in pink and chocolate brown! This pretty cake design is also available on pretty postage stamps and cards that would be perfect for sending out the bridal shower invitations, on T-shirts, magnets, and more!

Bride Cake stamp

Bride Cake

Monday, October 06, 2008

Kids Love to Cook

As a mom and grandma, I know that kids love helping out in the kitchen, especially with the cooking and baking. I have also found that if it's something they love, like pizza, they enjoy it even more! Who doesn't love pizza? There are so many varieties of pizza now, the days of the classic cheese or pepperoni and sausage are gone. Now you can find everything from spinach and chicken, to breakfast pizza, to cinnamon swirl pizza! Personally I love them all.
But, seeing I am constantly trying to watch my fats I admit to not ordering pizza nearly as much as I'd like to. Making your own homemade pizza gives you better control over what goes on it, and how much fat goes into it. And, if you have kids or grandchildren who love to cook and who love to eat pizza, it's also a fun activity to do together!
Pillsbury makes refrigerated pizza dough in a can that you can easily roll out and press onto a baking sheet. How simple and quick, and it's not bad tasting either! Your child will have a blast adding the sauce, sprinkling the cheese, adding the pepperoni, mushrooms, onion, whatever you decide to put on it. And you can substitute turkey pepperoni for regular to cut down on the fat, or make an all veggie pizza using low fat cheese. Healthier for you, healthier for your child too! Another thing you can do with the Pillsbury dough is cut circles with a round cookie cutter and make mini pizzas. This is fun to do with several children as each has total control over what goes on their own pizzas!
Kids who love baking and cooking and love eating pizza will delight in wearing one of these cute aprons and Tshirts from CHEF T-SHIRTS AND GIFTS . These cute Chef's Helper aprons are available with both pink and blue designs and would make a lovely Christmas present, especially if you add the makings for pizza and a promise to get together for an evening of making and eating pizza together!


Cute Little Chef Helper shirt
Don't forget the Pizza Lover Tee, available in many styles and colors!



Pizza Lover Kids T-shirt shirt

Pizza Lover Kids T-shirt
by

chef_tshirts
These designs are also available on magnets, tote bags, T-shirts for adults, and a whole lot of other cool items! Check out the other awesome chef designs as well at CHEF T-SHIRTS AND GIFTS!

Friday, October 03, 2008

I'm Getting Married!

Ok, I'm not, but perhaps you are! Or perhaps someone you know is getting married. If so, you might want to point them in the direction of these awesome customizable T-shirts at SpeakUpDesigns T-Shirts . It's easy to customize these shirts for both the bride and groom and what's really cool is you can change the year and select different shirt styles easily.

What's really great about these T-shirts is that they can be customized for all kinds of different occasions, or if you're on a basketball or hockey team, you can add your name and number! And it's not limited to T-shirts, you can also put the design onto hoodies, like this one!

Personalized Sports Numbers T-Shirt shirt

Personalized Sports Numbers T-Shirt
And for a child who is having a birthday, instead of the traditional birthday shirt with candles, balloons, and confetti, how about a shirt he can wear the entire year, like this one!


SpeakUpDesignsT-Shirts has many great designs so go over and check it out, I'm sure you'll find something you'll love!