My Baby's 6 Months Old!

Obviously not my big baby! 

He's almost 5, which is another mind blowing fact.

The younger, sweeter baby which I am referring to….

Sparkle & Stone.

It struck me the other day, 

after my very first Colorado market,

that all of this crazy snowballing dream was really 

coming to fruition.

All of my hard work and literal bloody stumps 

and endless chipped and broken nails

were for a reason.

Something was really happening here,

and people were actually liking it.

Thinking about the fact that it's only been 

6 months since our very first market makes my jaw hit the floor.

While it seems like just yesterday, it also feels 

like we've been doing this for so much longer.

 

But the point of all of this isn't to 

boast about how awesome the past 6 months have been.

(although they have been pretty fucking awesome!)

The real point of all of this is to recognize the 

real reason behind all of the success.

First and foremost,

I have to thank my husband.

Not only was his choice to shake up our family 

dynamic a huge catalyst for me finally 

getting off my ass and chasing down my dream,

but it was also a great use of his free time to be my 'do boy'.

This man has run the gamut for me.

I have had the craziest of request 

for construction work on table displays.

He has sat countless hours at markets by my side 

selling things to all kinds of crazy bitches.

And all the while with a giant smile on his face,

most likely cursing me through his teeth, 

but a smile on his face none the less.

If it were not for him,

I literally couldn't do this.

The second person, 

my original baby, Ash.

This kid is a champ.

I will leave out all of the bribes and threats 

that I've delved out to this kid over the past 6 months,

and say this….

All those long hours and shit eating grins,

the boy has done 'em too.

Not many kids could pull it off like he can either.

Trust me I've seen it.

He's become quite the salesman,

and loves nothing more than being my 

"assistant" on market days.

You can tell by the crazed look in his eyes

in the picture above that sugar is involved.

Lots of sugar.

Lastly, You guys.

All my Bitches.

(I mean that in the least threatening kind of way.)

The people that love me and support me 

are really the reason that 

all of the time and work has become a success.

I have met some really amazing people in the past few months.

You guys are the inspiration and the drive.

There isn't a single market that goes by that I don't 

leave with a new friend/customer.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I can't thank you all enough for all of this.

While I am throwing out thank you's,

I also have to give a great big shout out to 

a new friend/customer, Lauren Defilippo.

Lauren is also new to CO,

descending from NYC.

As soon as I learned this about her,

found out she was a photographer,

and realized how totally awesome she was,

I knew we had to be friends.

Lauren was at the Denver HaHo,

photographing the event and was so kind to share these 

images that she captured of our booth.

Thank you so much Lauren for capturing something that I 

never have time to, and for being totally RAD!

Check out her website…

www.laurendefilippo.com

...and while you are perusing the inter webs…

click the "SHOP" button above to head over to 

Sparkle & Stone 

Project 52

Teach your children young to value the things that you yourself value.

The hubs and I have a passion for bringing "treasures" back to life.

I am so crazy excited that the you ran inside to grab your

goggles and a sheet of sand paper, and rushed

right back out to get your DIY on with me!  

Joys of Parenting: I love you, but I don't have to like you.

This morning I walked in on the boy about to chuck a skate board at my cowering dog.

Is it any wonder why she's starting a new regime of Prozac?

Honestly, I am not sure how I have remained Prozac free till this point!

Anyway back to the cowering dog....

In an instant I was scared for her safety,

mortified in thinking that my son might be a serial killer, 

(because I have seen every episode of Dexter, and isn't this how it all started)

and I was screaming "STOP" at the top of my lungs.

All of those emotions were wrapped up in a general feeling of WTF is going on here.

Needless to say, a time-out was in order, which was pre-ceeded by one of the boys current hobbies:

"The Balls to The Wall, I am going to Fuck Your Day UP, Mega Tantrum"

While lengthy, that is actually the official name.  This tantrum will have you pacing the kitchen wondering why people have children.  You will start thinking of all your kid-free friends, jealous of what they are doing on the sunny Friday morning.  Because what ever it is, it's got to be better than this.

After I had taken my punches and scratches, and warngled him back into his room for a "big time-out"came the onslaught of "I hate you"'s and "I want a new mom"'s.  Really kid?  What have I done wrong here? 

 I have learned that the best way for me to cope with this is to stand directly on the other side of the wall, well out of sight, and then just give him the old double bird.  That's right folks, I flick my kid off when he's not watching.  And it helps.

I then pro-ceeded to deep clean my kitchen and mop the entire house.  If you live under the Trumble roof, you know that the more vigorously I am cleaning, the more pissed I am.  There is a direct correlation.  This is when I think of all you non-breeders again.  Your damn happy hours and adult conversations. 

One 20 minute temper tantrums, and One clean house later, it all changed. 

One stinking Facebook Status turned my day around.

It dropped into my lap like a gift from above...

A sign of hope.

Word that a fellow Mommy of an almost 4 year old boy understands.  It's like she's sending me smoke signals.  It either translates: 

It's O.K!

I want to kick his ass.

or

We will be O.K!

This too shall pass.

I am not sure, I was never to good with smoke signals, or morris code for that matter, but I am pretty sure it was the latter.  Either way, I knew I wasn't alone.  Her little dude was giving her a run for her money.  And whether she realized it or not this meant that we were in it together.  She gave me hope.  We could do this. We could get passed the whole WWF dog situation.  We could start fresh with our day.  And I'll be damned if we didn't turn that B around.  

In the end I realized two things,

1.  I will always love you little boy, but I don't always have to like you.

2.  No matter how pissed you make me, you always know how to turn that around.

And hey, the silver lining, my kitchen is spotless!

Project 52

I am not sure what it is about you two.

All day I have to repeatedly tell you two to separate.

I have to break up growling matches,

and try and prevent nips on the hand and wads of fur being removed.

I can see it in her eyes that you driver her crazy 

constantly chasing her around.

I am sure that it drives you crazy that she just won't let you

keep her in a choke hold.

Either way,

there is a definite air of frustration between you two.

But then it's it bath time,

and she won't leave you side.

There is a tiny sense of protection mixed with a sheer love for water

that I am sure ignites her desire to be half way in the tub.

But I'll be damned that if in those 20-30 minutest that you are soaking

in your own filth,

she is your very best friend and you are hers.

the boys collection

There is something about a boy and his cars.

It doesn't matter that you only have two hands to play with,

you need an infinite amount of hot wheels.

So we made use of that huge collection.

The boy and I sorted them all by color.

We placed them all in rows.

We counted how many we have of each color.

We put them in order from least to most.

And we photographed them all.

DIY: Pot O'Gold Terrarium

This weekend I put my boys to work

to help me make a 

"Pot O'Gold" Terrarium

just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

Here's What You'll Need:

A medium sized vessel 

medium sized rocks (enough to fill the bottom)

High quality spray paint

gold decorative glass

cacti or succulents

soil

painters tape

a rubber band

A rock to be painted

Step 1:

Use the rubber band to mark a guide line

around the outside of the jar.

Begin taping the inside of the jar, 

using the guide, making sure 

not to leave any gaps in the tape.

Tap all the way to the top rim and create an

overlap to shield from overspray.

Step 2: 

While holding the glass up to the light,

spray in 5-10 very light even coats on the inside of the inside of the jar.

Make sure to let each coat dry before applying the next.

This is the part where you really need to pay attention.

Be very cautious of your paint running.

Note that we are using a very high quality paint,

NOT Rust-O-leum!

Step 3:

While the hubs was literally watching paint dry,

I had the boy paint a beautiful rainbow

on a white rock.

Step 4:

You are now ready to put it all together,

I would highly suggest waiting a full 24 hrs

before adding your rocks and soil.

You can find a full list of direction 

on assembling a basic terrarium here.

After everything was all together we added 

our rainbow to our "Pot O'Gold"

we are ready for the Leprechaun's to come.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

30x30

Do you know who attended Day 15's activity?

Just me and the hubs.

Thanks right, just the grown ups.

We don't really "go out" much, 

and I couldn't remember the last time that we ate a meal in public with out the boy.

Day 15....Brunch Date.

It was a beautiful south FL winter morning at the beach.

No one minds waiting 45 minutes for a table when this is the view.

Brunch was delish.

The conversation was amazing.

The boy loves his new babysitter.

All was right in my almost 30 world.

30x30

Day 17 was declared 

"Ashyr Day"

I told the boy that he could pick 3 things to do.

Anything that he wanted. To an extent.

That sweet little boy of mine could only think of one thing.

Playing with one of his best buddies, Tosh.

(I had honestly expected him to come up with some elaborate plan 

to get me into a chuck e cheese.)

So, he informed to that he wanted to have a picnic at the park.

Check.

He wanted to play at the park with Tosh.

Check.

And he would "tell me the 3rd thing later."

His day went on with playing and laughter.

As the day got later and later I anxiously waited for him to "let me know" 

what his 3rd thing would be.

As I tucked him into bed and kissed him good night, he said:

"Mommy, the 3rd thing that I want to do for 'Ashyr Day' 

is go to Legoland...with Tosh...Right now!!!"

Nice try kid. Nice try.

30x30

Day 18 was kind of a test run for something I would love to do on a more regular basis.

The boy and I had a silent reading date at Starbucks.

We started off with a lovely stroll through downtown.

We meandered our way into the Lake Worth Public Library.

After choosing our loot, we headed up the street to our local Starbucks. 

He did such a great job, although he felt the need to read the stories out loud.

We put a 15 minute cap on it, I didn't want to push him

to long and put a negative ending on it.

Over all it was perfect! We will for sure make this a regular date! 

Some last minute magic

My sweet little boy has been wishing for snow on Christmas morning all month.  Well low and behold, living in the tropical climate of south Florida, I can pretty much promise that it isn't going to snow.  But thanks to this super easy #anthrohack the boy will wake up to a snow flurry in his room on Christmas morning.

So here is this very easy DIY.

you will need:

parchment paper

glitter

glue gun

lots of glue sticks

fishing line

Lay out your parchment paper.

Once your glue gun is good and hot, start making snow flake doodles.

Don't worry about glue stings, they can be removed at the end.

tip: you want them to be on the thicker side so they don't break.

Before the glue has a chance to set, douse those suckers in glitter.

I did about 4 at a time.

Allow the snow flakes time to set and dry the entire way through. 

Remember we made them kinda thick, so allow for extra drying time.

Carefully peel them off of the parchment paper, and 

remove any unwanted glue strings.

Attach the fishing line and they are ready to hang.

I made close to 40 glue gun snow flakes and I can't wait to sneak into the boy's room tonight and hang them from the ceiling.

Merry Christmas!!!

Wynwood Part 3

Wynwood Part 2

As promised, another round of my favorites from our last trip to Wynwood.  In these pictures I really focused on the simple messages.  Not all the wonders of Wynwood are huge, insane murals.  There are a lot of positive messages, sweet stickers (or slaps as they are known in the graffiti world), shout outs to lost friends, and even really cute homeless kids....oh wait, no that's my kid, filthy and taking a street nap.

thankful thursday

(source)

Today was one of those days.  I felt it in my bones.  My joints ached before ever making myself vertical out of my bed.  Getting both feet on the floor was like moving a ton of bricks. 

I got a bit cynical thinking about "thankful thursday".  Gratitude shamtitude.  I would be grateful for a few more hours of sleep and no responsibilities for the day.  Well, once I decided to get over my one person pitty party and face the facts...well, lets just say, it all starting spinning out of control.  And by "it" I really mean the boy.

You see when he's not feeling well, he's wild.  He doesn't listen, acts out, and tortures anyone and anything that gets in his path.  It's hard to feel sorry for the little bugger,  but you have to do what you have to do.  By about 3pm, I wasn't sure who was going to snap first...me or the poor dog (she been taking a beating from the boy lately - although, that bitch....she can go hid and take a nap whenever she wants).

So 3pm.  We've all lost our cool.  The boy is crying for no reason at all, the dog is hiding, and I wanted to find myself in the fetal position in the corner rocking like a crazy person.  And the it occurred to me....THE BEACH! Here comes the gratitude bit.

I quickly strapped on the suits, slathered the sun screen, and dragged the boy out the door.  It was time to send all that crazy out with the tide.  Something about the ocean, the waves, the sand in unmentionable places, the sun, it heals us both.  We took a day that could have defeated us both and turned it into one of the best evenings.

There is not much that can't be cured with a little salty air and being buried in the sand up to your neck.  Today I am so thankful that I have to ocean to wash away the weight of the world.

Joys of Parenting: (Super)Hero

This morning I was shaken from an almost perfect nights sleep by a little boy foot drop kick to the face! Rise and shine! All of us piled on top of each other.  Trying to regulate a grouchy dog, a grouchy mom, a grouchy dad, and a wide awake toddler has become sort of a regular morning routine.  So I started with the bribes and threats.  I was trying to buy myself just five more minutes, when my little monster informed me that he had a tummy ache.  "Mom, my tummy hurts so bad because I am so hungry." says the boy.

So as the guilt hit me like a ton of bricks at the realization that maybe I hadn't fed him enough the night before, I pried myself from my cozy nest of pillows and blankets to make him something to eat.  Like a zombie I dragged myself to the kitchen, wondering why the sun wasn't up yet.  I threw some frozen pancakes into the toaster oven and proceeded to the coffee (which I always manage to mess up when I am that tired). Ding. Now I had pancakes and strawberries on the table, coffee grounds on the floor, and my eyes still closed.

Breakfast ended after three half eaten bites.  Three. That was all.  Then I was informed that he was too full.  I wanted to scream! But settled for cartoons and coffee that was too hot to drink.  As we sat there snuggled on the sofa, the bot turned up and looked at me and said: "Mom, you are my hero!"

I was in disbelief. His hero? What did I do? So I asked him.  Well turns out that hero keep people from starving to death! So there it was.  I stood there over my next steaming cup of coffee, donning my imaginary tights and cape, saving the universe at 6am....one half eaten pancake at a time.

my week in instagrams

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. broken car A/C i wish i had car A/C
2. the hubs did the easter basket shopping this year.  i just couldn't find the time to get alone and too the store. but i will tell you what...he may be doing it every year! he got great stuff for the boy, but here is the kicker....he knew that we were not going to be able to fill that basket full of candy with out devouring some our self, so he bought candy for us to eat while we were playing easter bunny! love that man! he knows me and my sweet tooth far too well!
3. i borrowed a pattern for some super cute shorts from a friend...they are almost finished!
4. i had a great all day date with the boy on wednesday.  gym, coffee, story time, happy meals, thrift store, ice cream....it was a great day!
5. i can't tell you how excited i am about my amazing vintage kitchen ware finds! i was so lucky this week! i can't stop starring at the cabinets! haha
6. we met up with my dad, stepmom, and baby sister on thursday at Seaworld! it's my new/old favorite place! it was my favorite as a kid and now it's my favorite place to take my kid!
7. the hubs had a friend over for a paint/skate man-date. it was so nice to see him getting "him" time.  doesn't hurt that his buddy sam is a great guy!
8. surfing is not like riding a bike. it's been around 8 years since i have surfed on a regular basis. needless to say it felt great to get my board in the water on sunday, but i got my butt kicked! drank a lot of sea water. at one point when the life guards started blowing their whistles at me i thought it was because they were going to come rescue me....they just wanted me to move. i felt a bit defeated and the hubs had to have a conversation with me about my "bad attitude" (which i was later able to laugh at - i was really embarrassed by my poor performance). moral of the story....i need to surf try not to drown practice more.
9. i can even begin to tell you how lucky i am to have a husband that is good in emergency situations.  the dog ran full speed into the boy last night, resulting in a face slammed into the concrete.  needless to say there was a skinned face, busted lip, and a whole lot of tears.  what do i do? panic, turn white at the sight of the boys blood, and have to leave the room while the initial assessment is made so that i don't freak the poor kid out. the hubs, on the other had, must have been a paramedic in a former life. he just jumped right into that bloody mess and saved the day.
10. we had the most unconventional easter sunday supper of my entire life.  after all the chaos settled down with the boys face, we were hungry and it was late.  too late to really start cooking dinner. a good fact to know: chinese take out delivers on easter.

noodle dogs

so i saw these on pinterest the other day and knew that i had to try them out for the boy! they were super easy and he loves them! and i quote: "mommy, you are hilarious!" exactly the response i was hoping for!

simple insert raw pasta into raw cut up dogs...cook... and viola! noodle dogs!

10 things i couldn't live without this week

1. this week i marched my butt into a gym and signed up for a membership.  i have been feeling fat and tired lately and there is not point in just sitting around in my misery.  gyms are really intimidating to me and especially now that i am older.  it seems that the older i get the more insecure about myself i am becoming.  walking into a gym to me is like that classic movies where girls are being hazed by their sorority sisters and they are circling all the fat on their bodies with markers. ugh.  all the hard bodied girls who wear makeup to exercise and have a more fashionable gym attire than my normal everyday wear. yikes. well i decided that i wasn't going to let any of it get to me. i was going to face my fears and insecurities and i was going to exercise. in a gym. with other people.
2. one of the best things about being a gym member is having access to group fitness classes! and i took the best yoga class this week.  i can't wait until wednesday so i can go back for more.
3. my crafting productivity has been at an all time high lately.  the hubs and i have been powering through some projects. keep your eyes peeled this week for my new jewelry hanger, magnetic make up frame, and next week i will share some goodies that i made for a friends baby.
4. i have been trying to cut back on my diet coke consumption. and surprisingly i am doing very well. i am down to one a day and killing it! and best thing about it....i am substituting all that diet coke with about 64 extra oz of water a day.
5. we have been having some crazy weather lately. i am not going to lie... i really love it. we went for a hand full of days with constant rain, then a few days of 90° blue skies and today we woke up to some very chilly 40°.  mother nature is keeping us on our toes down here in south florida.
6. we had a super family fun day saturday. we woke up early and headed to the city diner for breakfast, scooted over to bed bath and beyond, then decided that it was the perfect day for the beach.  we got home threw together a picnic and cruised down to the ocean.  this was the first time this year that the beach was genuinely packed with people. holes were dug, waves were rode, sandy sandwiches devoured.  a great day was had by all.
7. the hubs and i went on the best date night ever saturday! i think that we agreed that it really was the best date ever. we met up with some friends for dinner at an awesome burger joint, burgerfi. then we went to see the dropkick murphy's at the pompano beach amphitheater.  this was the first show the hubs had been to since before the boy was born. and boy we were going out in style.  my girlfriends, who are long time friends with the band, got us all access backstage passes. we were on stage, in the green room, and post show hanging out at the busses drinking the band beer. it was all a dream come true for the hubs and i was so happy that i could make it all happen for him! best date night ever!
8. oh and where was the boy this whole entire date night? at his first ever slumber party. my fantastic friend christine offered to take the boy. he proclaimed her little girl to be his girl friend. so cute! he spent the night with their family, partied it up, and from what i am told was an angle! he was so tuckered out the next day that he actually passed out on the sofa....so cute.
9. the boy and i had some serious luck garage sale-ing this weekend. he scooped up a hand full of matchbox helicopters and airplanes, and i found an adorable mid-century side table....for only $1. it needs some serious work, but for a dollar....i'll buy that project!
10. my friend christine passed me on some seriously amazing vintage fabric for my birthday! i am so excited of it's possibilities! and there is a lot of it too so i am thinking that there may be some larger projects in my future! can't wait to share them with you!
9.

10 things i couldn't live without this week

1. the easiest grocery shopping trip i have had since the day the boy was born. this kid has a new fascination with my iphone. he actually asked if he could sit in the cart and play the pbs kids app.  which is a far different tune then his recent wanting to walk on his own and raise a ruckus at the store. so i went with it. and he was an angle!
2. we met up with our new friends, tracy and sinjin, at their hotel pool for a swim date. it's been a while since we have been in a pool and i have to say....i have missed it so so so much! we may be trying to get to the lake lytal pool soon if the weather stays this warm!
3. the hubs has been completely over worked this week (trying to insure that he get to take his vacation... un-interrupted) but can you believe that man of mine has still found time in his crazy morning routine to make me coffee before i get out of bed....did i mention that he doesn't drink coffee....he's so good to me.
4. and while i am on the topic....i love it when the hubs has my back. he totally went off on this girl for making fun of my "cliche" mustache tattoo. he verbally ripped her a new one, and shut her up real quick by commenting on her coy fish tattoo...."so, speaking of cliche, are you asian?" i love that man.  he's always go my back.
5. do you guys watch up all night? it's quickly becoming our new favorite show. the hubs and i want to meet the writers - we are pretty sure that they might be getting some of their material from us. watching that show is like looking in the mirror. sometimes the roles are reversed, but for the most part the relationship that christina applegate and will arnett share is just like me and the hubs.....now if i only had their house and her waredrobe! hehe
6. it's been a long time since we've had an at home play date, but we invited sinjin and tracy over to play in the sprinklers and drink coffee.  the boy has forgotten how to share his toys with others, so we are going to have to do these dates more often, but it was so much fun playing the yard.  they also brought a serious goodie bag full of birthday treats for me. i mean just too sweet! it was full of mustache paraphernalia and some really beautiful goodies for the house! all wrapped up in the coolest re-usable shopping bag - which i will most definitely be sporting as a purse!
7. i made one of my favorites this week for dinner - raw veggie pizza. it is really hands down one of the easiest most delicious meals! and i had too many chopped up veggies so i made veggie burritos the next day for lunch.....but the kicker this time was some {to die for} sweet corn relish made by my friend kelly hogrebe.  i seriously can't stop thinking about how good it is. it's taking a lot of will power to not eat the entire jar in one sitting! she should seriously quit her day job and start selling this full time!
8. the hubs vacation started saturday! we kicked off the week of adventures by making the trip to my mother in laws house. the hubs sister was in town from atlanta. we had a blast hanging out with her and his brother.
9. we dodged rain drops and made it over to hollis gardens and barnett park. the boy had such an awesome time. and i snapped instagram pics like it was my job. barnett park looks like it popped off the pages of a dr. seuss book. it's one of the coolest parks i have ever seen. the colors and shapes are just crazy. the boy loved it. and hollis park was breath taking. beautiful plants and flowers lined perfectly manicured lawns, and you would not believe the size of some of the produce that is landscaped into the mix. just stunning.
10. today we are up bright and very very very early! when the hubs asked me what i wanted to do for his vacation i knew that i wanted to take a trip to webster antique and flea market. so her were are, 5:30am ready to go find some treasures! needless to say, i didn't sleep a wink last night. i am so excited.

happy valentine's day

finished making the boys valentine's goodies for his friends! 

hope you are having an amazing lovely valentine's.

and for all the haters....hope you have lots of 

chocolate ice cream!