Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Sleigh Bells Ring, are Ya Listenin'

Yeah, Christmas was December 25th, and today is March 31st.  I realize this okay.

I received a Christmas present today.  No it's not an early Christmas present, it's a late one.  I sure hope you are not confused.

Sean's Christmas present to Tim and me was to paint an old sofa table that was my Mom's.  This table was in awful shape and I was planning on doing it myself.  But Sean, is much better at this furniture refinishing thing than I am.  Tim is good too, but, I use him for other household repairs and improvements.

A little backup.  The sofa table is replacing a sofa table that already is in my home.  I use it as an entry table.  This one...

Yes, it's out of place but that's because I just removed it from where it sits to make room for my new guy, I don't place furniture in the middle of an entryway and think it looks good, trust me, I don't.  No matter what the picture might say.

Notice that it's missing a piece of glass?  Guess who broke that piece...

I'll give you three guesses.

Or, I'll just tell you.  Riley did it.  Want to know how?  Okay, I'll tell you.  She dropped a baseball from upstairs straight down and perfectly in line with my keys that were resting on the middle piece of glass.  It shattered.  I had a Mommy meltdown moment.  We know not to throw things downstairs, but sometimes, we disregard everything that Mommy has ever said to do something that seems like it will be really, really fun forget what Mommy has told us.

It's been broken for months, months even before Christmas.  I think she broke it in like September of last year.  I remember, having the new sofa table painted was on my list of things to get done before Madi's first birthday party in October.  Obviously that job didn't get done.  I won't tell you what else was on the list to get done because then you'll just think I'm a slacker, because some of it is still not done.

Here I go rambling again.  So, (do I say so a lot?  I think I do but I like that word, if it bothers you, I can start using a thesaurus The Saurus - that's what my brother calls it, long funny story but I've already started rambling and you are probably sick of it at this point, that and my run on sentences, so I won't bore you.) Sean dropped the table off this afternoon.  I LOVE it!!  Sean, you did such an amazing job and it matches everything perfectly.

What do you people think??  Like it???

A closer look...



Did you say you wanted to see another angle?


Please excuse the decor items that I have on the table.  I'm planning a Home Goods/Tai Pan/Kirkland's trip soon for the front room, I need things for the top and I'm thinking I need an ottoman for underneath.  Also, I'm thinking that the mirror is looking not so hot anymore.  What do you think if I replaced it with this...


Remember him?  He's supposed to go on a different wall, the one leading up the stairs.  I think I like him better here...


Of course I need to hang him up and everything but, I like it. 

Do you like it? 


Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Attack of the Big Green Monster

Not really, but kind of...

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Riley's new thing is coloring on herself.  This is not the first time she's done this.  She got a set of markers with her easel for Christmas and I remember taking those away from her and hiding them somewhere.  I guess she found them and has now hid them from me.  I honestly don't know where they are and didn't even think that she had all of them.  It started with the red marker late one night.  Tim ran upstairs because Riley was screaming and he walked in to see Riley's arms covered in red, crying, "It hurts Daddy, so bad."  Tim thought it was blood and when he brought her downstairs to show me, I thought it was blood too.  Plus she was saying that it hurt.  Well, it was definitely marker and what hurt was that she had been upstairs trying to rub it all off and she rubbed her skin a little too hard.

I bet her markers are all hidden in the same place she kept her pacifiers.  I'm going to have to go on a marker search today I'm hoping to find the mother load. 

I've been a little upset with Riley lately.  She is the sweetest thing until her sister wakes up, and then, she's mean.  She's very mean to Madison and I hate it.  She yells at her for no reason whatsoever and tells me that she doesn't like her sister.  So fun.  Really.  So fun.  I'm really struggling with the sister squabble thing and I really don't know what to do about it.  I've tried everything with Riley, talking softly to her, screaming at her, putting her in her room,  I'm tired of it and I know what you are going to say, get used to it.  I'd be okay with it if it was every once and a while, or I was breaking up a few fights a day, not every five minutes of everyday.  It can start to wear on you.

Riley's preschool teachers only have good reports, except for the one day that she kicked a little boy because it was her turn to go down the slide, you can imagine how happy I was to hear that news.  I think I was distraught for a week.  I meant to blog it but never got around to it.  Now she knows we don't kick, hit, or bite the other kids at preschool, we give hugs.  There has not been another incident.

I know what you all must be thinking.  Oh my gosh, she is mean to her sister and she beats up the kids at school.  What a menace, Kristi needs Super Nanny.

Well, I don't need Super Nanny.  I'm not telling you all about the good times when she wants to help her sister and hold her hand and give her hugs.  Or when she gives me millions of hugs and kisses in the morning.  Or whenever she sees anyone outside she says hi to them.  She is a sweet, sweet girl.  And she is three and has a hard time controlling her emotions.  As we speak, she just gave Madi a kiss on the back and came over to hug me.  It's just when she is mean for no reason that is hard to handle.

I was not intending for this post to go in this direction.  I was just planning on posting the green monster and all of that fun stuff.  I guess I just needed to get it out.  I've talked to my sister and mom about it a bit and that has helped but I have yet to find a solution.  Riley is a tough cookie.  It seems like she will only listen to me once I raise my voice.  I hate that, I hate raising my voice and getting so upset with her that I feel like I am acting more like a child then she is.  You know, this raising babies thing?  I thought I had it all figured out.  What I didn't add into the equation is personality.  Who knew that these kids would have one of those bad boys?  And determination, and stubbornness, and, and, and...

It's a good thing I have this blog to vent on.  It's good for my marriage.  Tim doesn't have to hear it all.  There are many things that I like about the blog, but at the same time, I hate the blog.  I hate sometimes what people can turn blogging into.  I almost went private the other day because I felt like I should.  I've had some weird hits on my blog and it's a scary world out there.  Plus, there are just some things about blogging that I could go without.

That's a completely different subject so I'll stick to the one at hand.  Riley will be starting 3 days of preschool starting in the fall.  I've registered her for summer, we'll be sticking with the 2 days, but come August (I think it's August), she'll be doing 3 half days.  She is definitely ready.  She has been asking me every Monday for a few weeks now if it was a preschool day.  When I tell her no, she gets pretty upset, and says, "What about tomorrow?  Tomorrow a preschool day?"  That four day break is rough.  I'm not looking forward to paying $300+ for tuition, but, it's for the best.  I think she'll be happier.  Her teacher was very excited to hear that Riley would be going 3 days instead of 2.  She told me she's doing really well and is such a sweetheart.  Honestly I think they are just excited because Riley brings a lot of cupcakes to class with her, with an occasional box of petit fours.  I'm just sayin...

So in conclusion of this all over post, I do think that day by day, Riley is getting better with the sister thing, but I wish I could figure out what to do to speed up the process.  Preschool is a good break for the both of them and I think the 3 days might help.  We will see.  Thanks for listening, and if anyone has had, or is having the same kind of problem with siblings, I'd love to hear what has, or what is working for you. 

I'll leave you with...

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Monday, March 29, 2010

Sad News

I just went to go pick up a few cake supplies down at Dizzy Desserts for a small cupcake order due tomorrow, and Barb told me some really awful news.

If any of you watch cake shows you would have seen them on Amazing Wedding Cakes.  They are the Cake Girls.  Seriously, these woman make the most beautiful cakes I have ever seen.  They are such an inspiration to me.  I want to be Mary.  Seriously, I do.  The girl's talents are unbelievable.

Well, their bakery burned down, click here if you'd like to read about it.  I think it burned down this morning and I'm sure those woman are devastated.  They've lost everything, they had no back up.  I'm sure that they will come back stronger and everything but to see your place of business go up in flames and to see your employees out of work for the time being has got to be very hard.  I don't even know these woman but I've already prayed for them.  I thought maybe you would like to do the same thing.  I know on the bright side there were no injuries or fatalities, but those woman need some encouragement.  I would be devastated if it happened to me and could use all the support I could get.

Picture taken from the Chicago Breaking News Center blog.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

My Husband Can't be Trusted.

Period.

Can't be trusted.

This morning the hubby popped out of bed with extreme amounts of energy telling me that he needed to go to the bank.  What?  The bank?  I said all that in my head by the way, hence the no quotes.  "Why?"  I asked.  Thinking the worst, I thought he had ran out, put thousands down on a dirt bike and didn't tell me.  He already knows that  is grounds for divorce.  If we can't return the bike that is.  We have a spoken agreement.  I was thinking that he had done that though, and was watching my dreams of granite rapidly diminish.

So, what did he do, you might be asking yourself.  I know you are all at the edge of your seats reading this post.  I know, I write intriguing things.  I'll just come out and tell you.

Last night, the hubby apparently couldn't sleep.  The TV was on in our room.  What do you usually watch on TV at 3:00 in the morning?  Yes, if you said Infomercials, you would be correct.

They suckered him in.  They did.  Those infomercial people.  He purchased $160.00 worth of workout DVDs.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  $160.00 worth of DVDs.  What is wrong with him?  Seriously?  And, he thought he HAD to go deposit his paycheck in case we didn't have enough money in our account.  See, that's why I handle the account, and the bills, etc.  I like to keep him in the dark about how much money we really have.  It's what all good wives should do.

Well, that's not even the worst part.  He's expecting me of all people to do this with him.  They are not normal workout DVDs.  They are insanely difficult reshape your body in 60 days workout DVDs.

I told this to my brother this morning when we went to go get some lunch.  Sean has tried them.  He told me that Tim made an excellent choice.  What?  My brother is behind my insane husband?  I really was thinking that I could be dreaming.

Sean tried them, like I said.  He tried them for 3 days and then quit.  This was right after his baseball season, he was in pretty good shape.  He couldn't hang.  He couldn't hang with these DVDs.  Tim, is weird, like weird like I can run 3 miles straight even if I haven't done any kind of physical activity in 6 months weird.  He has energy like that.

I, don't.

I don't really like to work out, which is weird because I played college sports.  That's all you do, workout, play, workout, play, workout, play, I could keep going with this but I think you get the point.

I'm going to die.  Tim has been trying to motivate me all day.  He says that we can motivate each other.  We can do this.  "You are competitive, that should help," he told me.  We will see.

The DVDs get here in a week.  Apparently Tim was one of the first 500 callers so he received free priority shipping, woo freakin doo.  Now I get to start working out like an insane person in a week.  He, is, going, to, kill, me.  Or is trying to.  Maybe I should get an insanely huge life insurance policy out on him and take him to the limit.  We'll see whose trying to kill who then, right?  Am I right? 

So wish me luck.  The competitive part of me says I have to at least make it four days.  Then I beat my brother's record.  Or, I stick it out to the end and kick my husband's @$$ the whole way through.  We'll see.  I'll let you know how it goes.

In the mean time, check out the link to our workout DVDs.  Then tell me if you are scared for my life or not. 

Click me.

And now, just wish me luck.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Buttercream

I love buttercream.  I really do.  It's fantastic.  It is glorious.  And, tastes much better than fondant.  I love buttercream, and I'm happy that my clients like it too.  I like to ice a cake in buttercream and make it smooth, it makes me happy.  I like it when I color too much buttercream and there is enough left in my bowl to cover some cupcakes.  Because then I make a batch of cupcakes, and I eat them.  I eat them because of the buttercream.  Riley is always a fan too.  We like buttercream over here.

So, take a look at some of the things I've covered with buttercream lately.  My most recent sweets.  I won't bore you with all of them, I'll just show you my favorites...

This first one is a cake I made for a woman who just graduated and is now a police officer.  She loves Snoopy and my client who ordered it for her wanted Snoopy on the cake somewhere.  Now I did this cake for a friend of mine, so the best thing to do was to go to her house and take a look at the Snoopy stuff that she had.  I found this great cartoonish cop car and thought, how great would it be to have Snoopy laying down on the top of the cop car like he does his dog house?  So that's what I did.  Threw a little cop stuff on the cake and voila.  This cake also feeds 30, it's one of my favorite two tiers to do.  They are the perfect size!

I had a hard time getting good pics of this cake.  My lighting was horrible (took these at like six in the morning).  I'm definitely no pro.  Guess it's time to read that book.







Second is a cake and cupcake birthday celebration.  We went to set this up at our client's GORGEOUS home.  I mean gorgeous, stunning, I've never seen anything like it.  She is a very talented gardener and I don't want to put her name on here, but she's very well known for her gardening in Riverside.  I wanted to take pictures of her yard.  Oh right, back to the sweets.  I got a little lost.  Colors, were lime green and grape purple.  It was my Mom's idea to do the top cake with a tipped over flower pot pouring out some of the things that our client loves.  Well, it ended up being the conversation piece of her party.  Everyone loved it, especially the birthday girl!!










Next up my first Tiffany Box cake.  I've done a number of box cakes but have not had any requests for a Tiffany cake.   So, I know there are many ways to do a Tiffany box cake, search images on yahoo or google, there are millions!!  So I picked a few that I liked to email to my client.  This is the cake that she choose that she wanted me to "copy"...



You can follow this link to see the cake on the cake artist's flickr page.  I don't know his/her name but I want to give credit where credit is due, it's not very often that Your Sugar Rush does a "copy" cake. 

My client liked the simple bow and it was her idea to put the bride's future last name on the tag with Co., instead of Tiffany & Co.  My client Tawny, did the shower in a Tiffany theme and it turned out gorgeous, if you'd like to take a look, click here, it looks like it was straight out of a magazine, that girl has skills!  Back to the cake, I added a few buttercream dots to the ribbon because I'm not used to doing just a plain cake with no artistic work to it.  But, I don't think it turned out plain at all and was very pleased with it!  Here she is...
All buttercream cake with a fondant lid.  I place the lid on a cardboard square and put dowels in the cake to hold it up.  This way my clients get the look of a fondant cake, but the taste of a buttercream cake!  It is all about the taste right???





My client was using these little diamond rings on the tables at her shower so I put one on top of the cake.



So which one do you like the best??

Have a great weekend!!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Mail Box

March 24, 2010

To Whom it May Concern,

What is the best thing that comes in the mail?

Maybe a birthday card from a best friend?
A tax refund? 
Something that you've ordered and can't wait to get?
A new catalog to your favorite store?
Your magazine subscription?

I'm going to go with none of the above.  Yeah, the birthday card is great, and the tax refund?  It's my money anyway - break post: get your hands off government (sorry for the outburst, I'll try to contain my real feelings about what is going on these days).  Resume post:  An order received?  Very cool but not a surprise.  Same thing with the catalog and magazine subscription. 

So what is the best thing that comes in the mail you ask?  This...


A package to Riley and Madison from their cousin for Just Because Day.  Just Because Day, is just that, because, because I love you and miss you, because I feel like doing something wonderful for you today, just because.

Riley was so excited she went straight to the family room to open it.  FYI, everything happened so fast that I just grabbed the camera and tried to take some pics.  A lot of these are blurry, and I didn't have time to switch back to my regular lens.  I had the zoom on so the pics are practically taken from our neighbor's house ;)  Not my best effort.


What is it??  What is it???

Inside the package were a few toys and books from Bella to the girls,

Olivia!!

Madi's turn...





...and the best part, is Bella made a beautiful Just Because Day card all by herself out of love for her cousins.  Is this not the sweetest thing? 


and the inside...


As a kid wouldn't this just make your day? I remember loving getting things in the mail. This, is a great idea! Good job Stacy, we can't wait to send something back to Bella!!

It was even worth the mess...
nothing a little vacuuming can't handle!!

So, the best thing that comes in the mail for us, is mail that comes just because.

We love and miss you Bella!!  Can't wait to see you soon!! 

Sincerely,
The Rush girls.
XOXO

P.S.  We loved all of the stickers!!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Home Improvements

I've been feeling home improvements lately.  Painting, landscaping, etc.  We still have so much to do to our house but like most, we have a budget that we need to stick to and it's so hard to decide on what we should do next.  If only I had a million dollars right?

A few Thursdays ago, I had an itch, an itch to paint something.  So I did.  At 4:30 pm, I packed up the girls, grabbed my kitchen inspiration clock (that I had bought before we had even gotten an offer accepted on a house) here I'll show you what it looks like really quick:
it was a Tai Pan find.

run on sentence continued: ran to Home Depot, picked out a color and grabbed a roller and some brushes.  Riley was my color helper.  She helped me pick out the perfect color for our kitchen.  Or half of our kitchen I should say.  When we first moved into this house, I wanted to paint the back wall of our kitchen a rusty red.  I've decorated the whole kitchen/dining/family room in rusty reds, browns, creams, and yellows/golds.  But, it's not enough.  It's not enough color.  I knew it wasn't when we moved in but I shut my mouth.  Tim and I had help, help that wanted to stick to two colors throughout the house just to get it done.  I was lucky enough to get them to rinse out their brushes to paint Riley's room blue.  I asked if we could just do one wall red, and my Dad said no, not if you want my help.  Boo Hoo.  I'm sure I probably blogged about it when I posted all of the painting that we did a little over a year ago.  I'd try to find that post myself and link to it, but I don't feel like it, feel free to peruse my archives and let me know if you find it.  Then I'll link.  Anywho, for a few weeks I had been asking Tim what he thought about painting the back wall a rusty red, and he just said, yeah that could be cool.

It's taken me a while to actually paint that wall b/c personally, I really want granite and a tile backsplash.  When you see pics of it in a minute, you'll see how small of a space I'm talking.  I want a tile backsplash that goes all the way up to the cabinets.  But, back to the budget, I was not really sure if we'd be able to do it any time soon.  So, I said to my self, "Self, let's just do it.  We don't need the hubby's approval and maybe he'll help when he gets home from work."

So, that's what I did.  Luckily for me, my friend from college was in town and she stayed with us and helped me paint.  I tempted her with a bottle of wine, she was a cheap date.  She was in.  So, here'ssssssss, wally.


If you are wondering if we painted the cabinets black ourselves, the answer is no.  No we didn't.  When we bought the house, they were already black, and the entire house was gray.  You know I think I am going to post back to those so that you can see what it looked like and our improvements along the way, I'll do a few here



I originally painted the back wall and then realized that i needed to wrap around to behind the fridge.  I did this one Thursday later.  Oh yeah, and I did it in the dark, it still needs a second coat.



I didn't stop there, I did behind the china hutch...

Views from the family room...


I love it.

So you know how I'm always saying that I'm tired because of my daily load?  Well, I'd be less tired if I didn't throw painting a few walls in the mix.  I did this on Thursday night when I had 3 orders due for the weekend.  Yeah, I told you I am sick in the head.

So now that I've painted and feel like my itch isn't completely scratched, Tim and I have been discussing what we should do next.  It's either the backyard or the bonus room or granite in the kitchen.  My vote was for granite because I spend A LOT of time in there.  Plus, it would be great for rolling fondant.

I hate tile, no let me rephrase that I hate grout...

We've decided to price granite and see how much it would be to do our whole kitchen.  If it's way too expensive, then I want to do just the island.  The plan for the island?  You want to know?  Okay I'll tell you, granite in a warm gold tone, and I want to bead board the base:
 and paint it red.  The same red that's on the walls.  And I don't want to stop there, I need some hardware on the cabinets, and a new window treatment. And, and, and....I need...I need...I need...

Okay, should we move away from the kitchen for a sec?  I'll show you the other improvements I'd like to make.  See this banister?

Of course you see it, there is a picture of it right in front of your eyes. 

We're gonna paint the top railing an espresso and leave the rungs (sp?) white, I've had the paint for about a year now.  I think it's time I cracked that can open and went to town on the banister.

Okay, next, see this back wall?  The back, back wall that leads down the hall upstairs?


Yeah, I want to paint this the darker color that is in our kitchen/fam room. I think it'll add a nice contrast.

Check out the painting i found for that wall too...
I still need to find something else to hang next to it, either a shelving unit, mirror thingy...

And, one more painting project, this wall behind my desk...
I don't really know if you can see it, I was too lazy to walk all the way up the stairs to get the picture.  I took this standing on the couch.
Guess what color?

No, not red.

Blue!!  A darker blue, like I think my Mom said, a colonial blue.


Are you sick of hearing about the painting yet?  I'll take you outside...


See this nasty tree?  I hate it.  A lot of people like it.  If you want it, you can have it.  I want it out.  And I want a walk way here.

Please use Riley as a marker.  She is standing where the walkway would be going straight down to the sidewalk, I see not just a walkway too, a pretty planter, some brickwork, etc. etc.

And I want to tear this out...

Please use Riley again as a marker, I'm talking about the concrete right there.

See these....


Hate these too.  They will be moved to the backyard hill and will be replaced with pretty flowers.


So I guess this brings me to the backyard...


Yuck right?

Plans:  Patio cover, exposed beams, cutting into the hill, leveling, jacuzzi (IMD - in my dreams, I just made that up.), pizza oven, etc.  That's why I want to do granite first.  Probably less expensive, don't ya think?

Well, thanks for sticking it out and seeing all the improvements I want to do.  Hopefully we will get a lot done this summer. 

Do you have any home improvements you are dying to get done??
 

Me

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I'm Kristi, the wife of one very lucky and handsome husband, and mother to two beautiful little girls. I'm honest and sarcastic, funny and easy going. I love to eat and love to hate that I love butter. And wine. And did I mention butter? I'm always learning new things, happy to lend a hand, and love my life. This is a blog of my family and the day to day crazy that we call Rush Hour. I hope while you are here that you enjoy yourself and come back often!

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The Rush Family

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