10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. movie monday. monday's are always a big catch up on laundry from the weekend day for me. so the boy and i have started a loose tradition of movie mondays. he's happy and entertained for at least 2 hours so i can tackle the mountain of washing and folding. this week we even got a new movie....robots, it's cute.

2. tuesday nights tuna melts

3. having 200+ page views in one day. you guys are so awesome, and i couldn't have done it without you. we also did an impromptu giveaway, just because i was so excited!

4. the hubs took an afternoon off this week so that i could go surfing. i was really excited about some buzz that i heard about possible waves. mind you i had not been surfing in about 7 years. the waves were crap. choppy with a strong rip current. i didn't stand up. mostly tried to keep my head above water. but it was worth every second of it. there is something about the stoke.

5. homemade bath salts for little miss humble bumble b (she was the winner of the 200+ giveaway). bath salts are so easy to make and are such a great gift. be on the look out for a tutorial on making your own coffee & cinnamon bath salts.

6. two play dates in one day. the boy has two different groups of friends and i love it when days fall in line and we have two dates. we had an a.m. science museum date and then an afternoon swimming session. such a fun day.

7. one of the best foodie blogs i have seen in a while, my new roots. not only does the food look delicious (and i am not even a vegetarian), but the pictures look delicious too. i am dying to make these raw vegan brownies.

8. a quart of super grandmas homemade ranch dressing. i think i have put on 10lbs this week because i just can't get enough of this stuff.

9. super fun daddy and boy time. i was very busy this weekend, which meant the hubs and the boy got to spend a ton of quality time together. they had a blast with new additions to the train set, long bike rides, and lots of side walk art.

10. a family photo session with the burton family. check out all the fun we had!

proud

i couldn't be more proud of my sister paige.

congrats on your high school graduation!

and thank you for sharing your beautiful music.

this is what we had for dinner.

you know, sometimes the hub's favorite meals are things that are completely unplanned.... and a bit of a pantry clean out. tonights dinner was just one of those nights. the chicken that i had defrosting in the fridge was still frozen, and pizza just wasn't an option. so after some pantry contemplation i came up with these delicious tuna melts.

joys of parenting: a boys best friend

everyday at 4:30 on the dot socks, the neighborhood cat, starts his strut down the street to the neighbors house for dinner. and everyday at 4:31 when socks passes our house stella barks. she barks as if she were saying, "get away from my house! i hate you! hurry up, why do you walk so slow!" like face pressed up against the glass, attack dog style. and everyday at this time i tell stella to shut up. (which started when she was a pup and there was a great all girl punk band called "shut up stella")

well today was just like every other day. socks was right on time, stella lost her mind, and i yelled "shut up stella" from the kitchen.

except today stella had someone else on her team. from the kitchen i heard "bark bark bark" & "go away cat". this is what i came out to see.

stella sure is lucky to have a best friend that always has her back.

thrifty finds.

this weeks thrifty finds come from a new thrift store adventure.

a few months ago, on the quest for the perfect bike shop, the hubs discovered a consignment shop that i had never heard of. well, the catch is that he couldn't really remember the name, or exactly where it was, he just knew that he saw it. gotta love that man. so for months now every time we were in that area of town we searched without any luck.

well i just found it! i wasn't even looking. isn't that how it always goes? and oh is it ever glorious!

anyway this is what my $4 got me.

this little dress is about as sweet as can be. it's vintage. it's handmade. and it doesn't fit. isn't that fantastic? i am having a bit of a moral dilemma... do i alter it to fit me? or do i leave it alone in it's perfect condition and let someone with a micro-waist love it as much as i want to? oh and did you notice the adorable buttons that go all the way down the back?

i love linen. i love pencil skirts. the only thing i love more than a linen / pencil skirt combo is a bright yellow linen pencil skirt. i got this for a mardi gras costume, but you can bet your bottom that you will see it on me again and again and again!

because you guys are awesome!

alright, i asked all my fb family to help out with hitting some numbers, and you guys blew it out of the water. i wanted to hit 1000 views for the month....you guys made it 1080, such over achievers. i love it.

so lets get crazy, today turquoise violets has had more total page views than any other day in our history (last time i checked we were at 145). if we hit 200 posts today i will send a homemade surprise to 1 random fan.

come on guys, who doesn't like free stuff!

UPDATE: Congrats to little ms. humble bumble b.....she's the big winner chosen my random.org.

i want to seriously thank everyone that reads and helps to promote my blog. i literally just jumped up and down in my living room with excitement.

erin trumble photography: kaleb

easter in pictures

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. easter bunny shopping....with the boy. it's trickier when they are two. turns out my "look....there's a dino!" trick doesn't work that well anymore. i tried so hard to hide all the stuff, but i guess i wasn't that smooth.

2. a killer bike ride to the local watering hole with the boy.

3. lake lytal playdate with the ladies and all the boy's best buds.

4. the 3 hour nap the boy took after that playdate. love those extra hours.

5. a night time drive across the state with the family. we went to lakeland for easter weekend. we took our normal s.r. 60 route, but we did it at dusk. it was really interesting to see the so called night life. took an amazing picture of the sunset. i'll post it later.

6. trying to explain easter egg hunting to the boy. then trying to talk him down off a ledge by reminding him that the easter bunny only brings baskets to the good kids. then listening to him recite the entire contents of his future basket. yeah, this was friday. guess i wasn't so smooth after all.

7. getting to see my mother in law for the weekend. she is such a kind and loving woman.

8. sitting up late on the floor and crafting with the hubs. we got to do this twice this week. we made tp tube chalk for the boy earlier in the week. we haven't tried them out yet, but i think if the rain stops it will be happening first thing in the morning. we also started working on some masks for the hubs annual conference. they are having a mardi gras themed party, and we volunteered to make masks for a small group of friends. they are so much fun.

9. finely meeting baby kaleb. he is such a sweet and calm little boy. he actually reminded me a lot of the boy when he was that age. i also got to see the bumpers and blanket that i made for him in action. they look so great in his little pirate room. big congrats to chris and kelly! kaleb is amazing.

10. easter morning with my amazing little man. watching the amazement and wonder in his eyes while searching for eggs in nana's magical backyard and changing a plain carton of eggs into a colorful party in a box was a huge reminder of what it's all about.

happy easter!

so i know that i should be finishing up my "10 things" list, but i am far to distracted by the cuteness of this little boy! edit edit edit! i promise a list tomorrow, and some new photography.

by the way, you may notice how adorable his bedding is.....not to toot too loudly, but i made that! hehe. so happy to have finely met you kaleb.

momma bird

"the frenchie" tote giveaway!

CONGRATS TO KELLY! YOU ARE THE WINNER OF THIS ADORABLE TOTE!

random.org chose the comment:

"What I love most about Turquoise Violets is the inspiration it provides me to be a crafty, creative mom!"

here it is folk, the fist ever turquoise violets giveaway!

this is "the frenchie" tote. made just for you.....you lucky winner! this tote is great for the market or the beach. handmade by me.

the exterior is an olive cotton twill, with a hand embroidered mustache. the mustache was screen printed by the hubs. so cute. the handles are red and cream scraps (from another project you will see soon) of a super soft jersey. they are so comfortable.

the interior is a whimsical white polka dot.

here are the rules:

1. you can enter up to three times for this giveaway.

• for your first entry, just leave a comment telling me what you love the most about turquoise violets.
• for your second entry, sign up to be a follower. then leave a comment telling me what you want to see more of from turquoise violets. for those of you that are already followers, just skip to the leaving the second comment second comment. only entries submitted by "followers" will be accepted.
• for your third entry, post a link of facebook. tell all your friends how much you love this blog and then leave one last comment with a link to your post. only entries submitted by "followers" will be accepted.

2. you have until april 30th at 11:59 pm.

3. the winner will be chosen by random.org first thing may 1st.

4. thanks for playing and good luck!

check out my new buttons

with all the advances of rss feeds and such, i don't feel like enough people actually see the blogs that the read often. you should check out not only my new layout and graphics done by the talented Jess of birdlime fame, but also check out some of my new buttons!

i entered a crafting contest, wish you guys could voted for me to win (because i know you all would), but judges are in charge of this one. hop on over to At Second Street to check the contest out for yourself and check out my competition. i entered my diy toddler pj pants. maybe i will get extra credit for sustainability?

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. a well spent $10 at world thrift. this exceeds my normal couple dollar budget, but i just couldn't turn these down. after doing a little research i think the fiesta ware purchase might be the buy of the year. i priced out one cup and saucer set at about $40. that was a very good $5 spent. and then the linen blazer that i got the hubs fit's like it was tailored for him. my trick worked! and the hubs got some sweet new digs for his birthday to wear under that blazer.

2. getting to see all my lake worth mommy buddies. i love all these inspiring and talented ladies! their maybe a surprise here in the future.....all depends on what the mommy ladies say.

3. swimming pool playdates.

4. turquoise violets first ever homemade giveaway. don't forget to enter for your chance to win.

5. my impromptu trip to orlando for two important ladies.

6. lady #1. my momma. sometimes i need my momma, but sometimes my momma needs me.

7. lady #2. my favorite lady, Ms. Z if ya nasty. we had a mini farewell party at house of blues to see the Darling Cavaliers. they were amazing. saying goodbye to Jess was not. i take that back. in the past few years she and i have become so much closer than friends. she is my teacher, my shoulder, my colleague, my therapist, my inspiration. and i could not be more proud that she is doing it. she is jumping out of an airplane without a parachute, and she is going to land on one foot with so much laughter and grace.

8. the hubs birthday. when i met the hubs there was a strictly enforced "no celebrating the birthday" rule. it brings the utmost joy to my heart to see how much he enjoys his birthdays now. i have worked hard over the past 5 years to make it that way.

9. some fantastic haircuts given out by your's truly. now if i could just corner the boy....he's looking like he needs a trim.

10. auditioning for the one month to win it contest. keeping my fingers crossed.

DIY: toddler pj pants

yesterday the hubs brought me this pile:

a stack of old boxers that have been buried away at the bottom of his under ware drawer. never warn. as he explains, "they are too skinny, someone made them wrong."

since i have been on such a up-cycling clothing mood lately, all i could think was i could make these into pj's for the boy. this is such an easy alteration. it literally took 5 minutes to convert one pair.

here is a little updated picture of the boy in his new pj's

thrifty finds.

with all the vacationing and company i've been a bit behind with everything else. so this is two weeks worth of thrifty finds.

the first two were from my favorite kind of garage sale, "the cleaning out of the old lady house". i scored this cutie pie dress and a to die for pristine condition vintage purse for only $2.

then today i hit up my favorite local thrift store and found this linen sport coat for the hubs. for $4, it looks like it's never been worn and it's a perfect fit. and icing on the cake this week was the start of my fiesta ware collection. for years now i have been wanting to start picking up piece by piece, until i had a bit of a collection. i didn't realize that everyone and the mother was collecting and how pricey some of the pieces could get. so i vowed to collect, slowly, and on a budget. i found this set of 8 tea cups and 9 saucers for $5.

have you found any thrifty finds lately that you are proud of?

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

sorry for being a day late here guys. this week was so full of travel and company, beach and family. it was a great week. hope you all enjoyed the week without words. it was a lot of fun for me, had so much fun taking all of these pictures.

1. road tripping with my boy across s.r. 80. growing up in fl, and having family spread out all over the state, i think that i have taken every back road from hear to the pan handle. i can now check s.r. 80 off my list. lots of fields, lots of singing with the boy with the windows down, lots of cows, and a whole lot of nothing. it's so amazing to me how so much of florida is still real land. i drove through a town called belle glade, and the city motto read "the richness is in her soil". i want to farm.

2. lot of long, slow walks on the beach in search for the perfect shell.

3. late night chats with my sisters. i am considerably older than all of my siblings. there is a 20 year age difference between my youngest sister and i. but they are finally getting to the age where i am the cool older sister, and not just someone that they really couldn't relate to.

4. celebrity. this is my all time favorite group game. and there is no box required. it's my families favorite night of vacation every time. we laugh, we all swear that my dad makes people up, it's full of stupid one liners and me saying "um" a lot.

5. greek tacos. i'll post the recipe soon.

6. surprise visit at the beach house from my family's best friends, the burgess's. betty burgess is my idol. her confidence, her humor, her effortless yet supremely chic sense of style....and on top of all of that this woman is one of the most caring people that i have had the pleasure of getting to know over the past few years. this woman has got it all. oh and did i mention that she is a designer? talk about dream homes!

7. the boy got to see almost all of his grandparents in one week. while on vacation at the beach we saw 3 sets of great grandparents, plus his patchie and lala (my dad and stepmom). then we got to meet nana (the hubs mom) for brunch on saturday. the only one missing was my mom.

8. matt and sandy came for a visit, finally. they are some of our closest friends from orlando and we have been missing them very much. it was so great to spend a couple days with them catching up and soaking up the sun.

9. eating the first pepper from the new plant, and some of my tomatoes on a turkey burger that was so loaded up with veggies that there was a complete upper bun blow out (yes, that's the technical term). they were some amazing burgers though.

10. getting to see the hubs after being gone all week. that was for sure the best thing that happened to me all week.

sometimes the beauty is really on the inside.

i love the ocean

bliss

rainy day on our beach vaca

family fun at the dq

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. a very long, sleepy, pajama and movie filled monday.

2. sewing sewing and more sewing time.

3. my very first tankini

4. doing things as a mother that i swore i would never do (i.e. wear a tankini)

5. 2 pairs of pants for the price of one. took a pair of thrifted pants and turned them into a pair of shorts for me and a pair of pants for the little man.

6. $2 yard sale finds. i am getting good at making $2 stretch pretty far.

7. the most delicious tomatoes i've ever had.

8. new additions to the garden. we now have tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, and pineapple.

9. seeing my grandparents for dinner tonight.

10. sanibel island sunsets. arrived today for our week vacation with my parents and sisters. keep reading this week for "a week without words".

my momma always said....

so i have been finding myself lately discovering that no matter how hard we try, eventually we turn into our parents. my mother has always been one to see something that she wants or needs and then figures out how to make it. i have been in the making mood lately. and i fell in love with a dress. and call me a megalomaniac, but i can't help but love that this etsy model looks like she could be me, weird.

as my mother once told me, "all crafting really is, is ripping off other peoples ideas and putting your own spin on it."

so i figured out how to make this dress.....

i am so in love with this dress. and i must admit, it didn't work out right the first time. i have a bad habit of rushing through projects that i am really excited about. i was really annoyed with the dress when i put it on for the first time and it was completely wrong, so i put it away for a few days. well i pulled it out yesterday, and i accidentally put it on backwards. well wouldn't you know if it wasn't a perfect fit. i also dropped the draw string in the waist down about 4" and through a belt around it. i can't say enough about how much i love this dress!

thanks mom for helping me work it out! love you.

this is what we had for dinner.

these where the best stuffed mushrooms i have ever made. stuffed them with a broccoli puree and pork tips. so good!