Minnesota meets California

Creating Cards!!!

2012-01-15T22:05:00.000-08:00

Back in the late 80's, early to mid 90's, Rubber Stamping was the craze!! Then it was Scrapbooking.

While I'm not a very good Scrapbooker, I love to make Cards. One of my friends, Callie, she is an avid scrapbooker and she creates some great lay outs! I just can't seem to grasp the creativity in scrapbook layouts. My forte is Cards. I love making Cards!

Callie and I have partnered together and joined Close to My Heart. Close to My Heart is a Scrapbooking/Rubber Stamping Direct Sales Company whose mission is:

We show you how to celebrate relationships through discovering your creativity, to preserve and share the moments that matter most.

Today, I had the pleasure to attend a Card Workshop where we had the opportunity to make as many cards as we wanted in a two hour time period. I've never been to an event like this, and I haven't rubber stamped in such a long time, so needless to say I was a little intimidated for the first 20 minutes or so.

We were told everything would be supplied. The papers, embellishments, stamps, ink pads, the works! And they were! However, I see these women walking in with baskets or totes with all sorts of Scrapbooking material.....and then I started worrying even more. Several more women walked in empty handed so then I started to feel a little better. Those other women, they were just over achievers...LOL.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you some of the cards I created today!! Now remember, I am very rusty at this so....please excuse all the little misgivings you may find! :D

If you're interested in checking out our Website, please feel free to do so. Here's the link: --------> Scrapin' Girls ~ Close to My Heart Independent Consultants

If you're a Scrapbooker and would like to join our Virtual Monthly Club, please email me at: scrapingirls@gmail.com

How our Monthly Club works: You're committing to a monthly purchase of a minimum of $15 from our Close to My Heart Idea Book; there will be one month where YOU will be the hostess and reap all the Hostess Benefits ~ Free Product, Half Off Items as well as the Stamp of the Month for FREE. Again, it's only a $15 minimum order per month and in return you have the opportunity to be the Hostess during a month or perhaps two throughout the year. Currently we have 8 ladies participating. There's still time to join in for January ~ or you can start in February if you'd like!!

Hope to hear from some of you Scrappers out there!!! Until then...Happy Scrapping & have a Scentsational Day!!!!!

Sneak Peek at February's Warmer & Scent of the Month

2012-01-13T12:27:00.000-08:00

"Flutterby"

FEBRUARY WARMER
Flutterby
Conjure the magic of the first green signs of spring with
Flutterby. Fanciful butterfly cutouts cast delightful
shadows on the wall when lit.

For the month of February, you can own one of these for $31.50
which is 10% off the regular retail price!

February's Scent of the Month
Pixie

Start your pink pepper journey with Pixie, a
mischievous moonscape of pink pepper,
mandarin, and heliotrope, deepened by exotic
teakwood and vanilla oak.

Enjoy this month’s fragrance at a 10% discount.
Scent Circle $2.70
Scentsy Bar $4.50
Room Spray $7.20
Scentsy Brick $18.0

If you're interested in earning "Flutterby" for FREE, please contact me for more information and we'll get you on your way to getting you your very own "Futterby" Warmer!

Close to My Heart Monthly Club

2012-01-05T23:06:00.000-08:00

Do you love Close To My Heart Products as much as I do?

Are you new to the scrapbooking / card making hobby and want to learn more and increase your product stash?

Do you already place at least a $15 order monthly or a $30 every other month?

Would you like to receive at least $25 in FREE product?

If you said YES to any of these questions than I have a great deal for you!! I already have two clubs going, but I may have a few people interested in a third one. So if you missed out the first couple times around or you want a double dipping and want to sign up for this one too let me know. I would like to get this rolling by

January 15th.

What does the monthly club entail you ask?

(This is a VIRTUAL Club)

* The minimum monthly order is only $15 (plus shipping & tax) if we have 12 ladies which works out to a 12 month commitment.

(January - December).

If we have less than 12 ladies we would need to divide $150 by the amount of ladies we do have, and the monthly commitment would be reduced.

As this is a "virtual" club, we don't physically meet anywhere. It's just a way to order CTMH products each month and earn earn FREE product when it's YOUR month to 'host',

without having to do anything.

Benefit: This helps you budget your supplies a little at a time.

* Each month you will take turns being the Hostess.

You will earn at least $25 in FREE Close To My Heart products when it's your turn to be the hostess.

You can choose from stamp sets, paper packets, ink pads, markers, cardstock, acrylic blocks and more.

Benefit: When it's your month you can collect outside orders from friends and family to increase the amount of FREE goodies you get.

You can be the Hostess of a Home Gathering,

where I come to your house or you and your friends come to mine, we play a few games for prizes, tour the idea book and make a card.

Then they have time to place orders.

Those sales would count towards your Hostess Month.

However, you do not have to do this to join the club...it's just a way to earn even more FREE goodies.

The rewards get better as the orders increase in amount.

When you hit $350 in sales you will earn $60 in FREE product and one half priced item or a Hostess Collection!!

In addition to being the hostess, all members will receive:

* FREE Idea Books before other customers -

-Autumn/Winter 2011 (Current) and

-Spring/Summer 2012

* A FREE gift just for joining!

* Stamp of the Month for FREE during hostess month

* One month of being the hostess earning at least $25 in FREE products.

Hostesses average $40 or more and as much as $200 or more in FREE Product plus half-priced items.

* Periodic sales, challenges, sample products and goodies from me!

* At the end of the club (December 2012) you will receive a mini stamp set as a Thank You for participating!

** January's club order needs to be placed by Sunday, January 15!! **

If you have any questions please send me an email at scrapingirls@gmail.com

Sign Up Today!!

Scentsy Mystery Host Party!!

2012-01-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

How would YOU like to earn FREE Scentsy Products?!?

It's very simple!!

I am currently having an

**ON-LINE MYSTERY HOST PARTY**

Anyone that places an order on my Scentsy Website via this link:

Mystery Hostess Party

will have the opportunity to earn

ALL the HOSTESS CREDIT

and

HOSTESS HALF PRICE ITEMS

Not to mention that exclusively ONLY in January

we have

BRING BACK MY BARS

So, don't let this pass you by!!!

Woot woot! I'm back!!!

2012-01-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

WOO HOO!!! 2012 IS HERE!!

Let's see if I can discipline myself to go back to blogging on a daily basis!!!

For me, 2011 wasn't a very eventful year. Although we did go on an impromptu, last minute Cruise in October, that's about all the traveling that we did. Which is quite unusual for us. We normally go to Minnesota at least twice during the year, however this year we didn't even go once! The year flew by so quickly ~ and when the Holidays rolled around, we totally were not in the mood

to do ANY celebrating whatsoever! We did host our Annual Gile Holiday Party, which was an amazing success, complete with awesome White Elephant Gift Exchange!

I made some wonderful new friendships with some pretty amazing individuals which I am truly grateful for! So in that sense, I don't regret 2011.......yet I don't think it'll go down in the books as

an "awesome" year for the Gile family here in California!

With that being said, here's the last page in our book of 2011.

So, let's talk about what's new! There are several 'important' new beginnings for me:

1) I have been a Scentsy Consultant for 4 months now.

2) I'm a very new Paparazzi Jewelry & Accessories Consultant

3) I will be treating both the above businesses as my 'REAL JOB' (as some people say I don't have)

In 2010 it was one of my yearly Goals to read 100 books in the year. I accomplished just that.

Last year, despite the fact that I listed all my 2011 Goals & Wishes for the year,

(which you can read -----> here.)

Seldomly did I even attempted to reach said goals.

THIS YEAR, I am going to strive to simultaneously accomplish all of my goals I set

as well as cross things off of My Bucket List!!

In a completely separate Blog Post, I'm going post the following lists:

* 2012 Goals & Wishes

* My Life's Bucket List

Here's to hoping you all can help keep me accountable for everything on my lists!

Have an AMAZING 2012!!

Types of Scentsy Parties

2011-12-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

Love Scentsy Warmers?

Love earning FREE Scentsy? We have 4 different ways

you can earn FREE Scentsy!

HOME PARTY

A traditional approach is a Home Party. You invite several of your friends & family to your home for a fun night!! I’ll arrive a few minutes early to set up a beautiful display. When your guests arrive, I will spend just a little time and demonstrate how Scentsy works. This is a great approach if Scentsy is new to you or your friends. We’ll talk briefly about the variety of warmers and scents, how SAFE a warmer is, and how to use and change a Scentsy bar. It won’t take long to show you just how easy it is to fill your home with the latest Scentsation!

OPEN HOUSE

For more of a casual like atmosphere or if your guests are already familiar with Scentsy, an Open House is a great option. Together, we’ll determine a two to three hour period of time to hold your Open House. I’ll arrive about an hour early to set up. Once your Open House starts, we'll spend some time talking with guests as they come and go sharing scents! This is a fun, casual and low-pressure way to share Scentsy with your friends, neighbors and family.

BASKET PARTY

This is a compact kit which contain mini testers in all 80+ Scents that we currently have available. It's so compact that you can carry it in one hand, keep in your purse or take to your office and from home to home as you visit friends and family. My Basket Party includes the fragrance testers, order forms and everything you need to host a Scentsy Basket Party. Use the kit for a few days or a week, and then return it to me and we’ll close your party! A Scentsy Basket Party is great if you don’t have the time or space to hold a more traditional Home Party.

ONLINE PARTY

This is the simplest of all parties. It’s like an Open House but online. We will create a Facebook Event page to invite your guests local or out of state to visit your specific Online Party Link on my website. Your guests are free to order at their convenience until the designated party closing time.

If any of these appeal to you, please do not hesitate to contact me so we can get your Scentsy Party scheduled today!!

Michele Gile

(209) 417-5410

www.scentbyscent.com

michele@scentbyscent.com

Diabetes Awareness Month

2011-11-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Not only is is National Blog Posting Month, but more importantly, it's National Diabetes Awareness Month as well!

Diabetes is not a fun thing to have to deal with on a daily basis. I should know. For me, what started out as the usual Gestational Diabetes when I was pregnant with my first child. He ended up weighing 10 lbs. 5 oz. at birth. Yes...and I was only 115 at the time. After childbirth, my diabetes went away. Only to return during my second pregnancy. Again, after the birth of my daughter, the diabetes went away. She was 9 lbs. 2 oz. at birth. Six years later with the pregnancy of my third and final child, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes yet again. Although my youngest daughter was my smallest weighing only 8 lbs. 5 oz., the diabetes never went away. I now have Type 2 Diabetes and have been weaned off of the insulin after a few years and am just taking medication and monitoring my diet & nutrition. I do have to check my blood sugars (or am supposed to) three times a day, and I can usually make any necessary changes in my meals as needed.

Diabetes leads to many other medical issues, and this I also know personally.

Here's some startling but interesting facts about Diabetes:

With nearly 26 million children and adults in American living with diabetes, and another 79 million at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, the disease is taking a devastating physical, emotional and financial toll on our country. Yet, most Americans don’t consider diabetes a serious matter. They feel it is someone else’s responsibility; someone else’s problem.

Recent numbers by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paint a desperate situation of where we are at, and where we are headed:

"Every 17 seconds, someone is diagnosed with diabetes.
Diabetes kills more people each year than breast cancer and AIDS combined.
Recent estimates project that as many as 1 in 3 American adults will have diabetes in 2050 unless we take steps to Stop Diabetes.
Now is the time to act."
(source)

Here's how you can help with the fight against this disease:

Become Involved in American Diabetes Month® 2011

November is American Diabetes Month, a time to rally individuals, communities and families to Join the MillionsSM in the movement to Stop Diabetes®. This year, the American Diabetes Association is asking individuals to take a pledge and raise their hand to Stop Diabetes.

Beginning November 1, the public can take action by taking the American Diabetes Month pledge on Facebook.

Here are other ways you can become involved:

* Attend an American Diabetes Month event in your area

* Visit www.stopdiabetes.com

* Call 1-800-DIABETES

* Text JOIN to 69866 (standard data and message rates apply)

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2011-11-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

It's National Blog Posting Month!! Although NaBloPoMo is now a monthly occurrence, it officially kicked off back then just for the month of November. However, more and more bloggers wanted to continue the Monthly Blogging on a daily basis so....National Blog Posting Month is pretty much every.single.month.

"It's that time again; time to commit to posting every day for a full month by joining in with NaBloPoMo. The point? Well, beyond the endurance factor -- of becoming a writing athlete -- there's the benefit from daily writing. I use it as a way to warm up before getting into book writing. And then there's the community aspect: joining NaBloPoMo is like joining a gym. You're writing in a group and feeding off that for motivation rather than writing alone."

For those who have difficulty trying to figure out what to write about, NaBloPoMo offers bloggers a daily 'prompt' to give you a jump start. Even if you only write a simple paragraph regarding their prompt, it usually leads to blogging about other things in general. So, if you want to jump on the bandwagon and join other Bloggers, NaBloPoMo is the perfect place to get direction!! :)

This is today's Prompt:

For me, my favorite part about writing is the fact that I can journal my daily, weekly or monthly highlights of my life and have somewhere to go to reflect back on those memories. When I started this blog, I was in a new relationship...and it pretty much documents my life from that point on. This blog ended up focusing on the planning of our Destination Wedding...and I'm glad I shared every little detail with my readers. I've had tons of people ask me for direction on re-creating some of the crafty things I did. Quite honestly, the majority of my ideas came from a very amazing group of ladies who were a part of a Destination Wedding forum I was (and still am) a part of. It's nice to be able to pass on the ideas that were passed to me. :)

Of course after all the hoopla was over, I neglected my blog something fierce! However, I'm going to be getting back on track, and hopefully I'll be able to post daily now that I'm committed in participating in the National Blog Posting Month this month!!

In other news....DID YOU SEE MY CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN at the top of my blog?!? Christmas is coming in a month and 23 days!!! Yikes!!!!

I can proudly say that I'm officially DONE with Christmas Shopping!!

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Guess what's coming in just about a week and 2 months????

2011-10-16T23:42:00.000-07:00

Yes!!! I'm talking CHRISTMAS!!!

Can you believe it?!?!? OMG. I've been preparing for this Holiday Season almost the entire year!! Not only have I got most of my Christmas Shopping done, I'm already getting my Goals for 2012 prioritized. :) That's called getting ahead of the game I'd say!!!

Well, it's been a LONG time since I've blogged but let me tell ya...it's been pretty crazy busy for me this past three months! School was kicking my butt; I went on a last minute cruise; (and I mean very last minute...like two days before before sailing, last minute!!)

I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things again!! I've missed tons of blog posts from a lot of great bloggers out in blogesphere, but fear not...I will be catching up!

For now...have you guys checked out One Kings Lane lately? If you haven't signed up, leave me your email and I'll send you an invite to join! You'll receive a free $15 credit just for doing so!!!

Until next time..... have a good night everyone!!!

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Week 3 Give Away Winners!!!

2011-07-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Winners!!

Winner #1 is Sherri!!!

Winner #2 is Ash!!!

Both winners will receive a confirmation email from me, you have 48 hours to resond or new winners will be selected.

Again, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

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Christmas in July ~ Week 3 Give Away

2011-07-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

We're back!!

Thanks for being patient guys! Things have been a little hectic here and I've been experiencing some medical issues ~ but no worries!! This week's Give Away is full of some great goodies!!

We're going to have not one, not two, but THREE awesome gifts to give away this week!! AND we're going to have not one, but TWO amazing winners!!!

Without futher adieu, it's:

TIME!!! Lucky Winner Number One will receive the following: This lovely set of Finger Tip Towels is perfect for your guest bathroom during the holidays!

Lucky Winner number Two will receive the following:

A cute little Christmas Dress for your favorite newborn baby girl!

Both Winners will receive the following:

A collection of boxed Christmas Cards. Get a jump start on your Christmas Cards this year!
An array of Revlon cosmetic tools! This collections includes two of everything you see pictured! Keep a set for yourself, and give a set as a gift during the Holidays!!

A Dessert Collection of Mixes from The Gourmet Cupboard. This collection includes a Heavenly Chocolate Pie Mix, Snickerdoodles Cookie Mix and a Dreamcicle Pie Mix! Very delicious!!!

And, as always, each winner will also receive a $5 Gift Card to Target and a $5 Gift Card to Starbucks!!! Good luck to everyone!!! Mandatory Entries:

You must be a public Google Friend Connect Follower of my blog to enter this giveaway. The widget to follow my blog is in the right sidebar. Hop on over to The Gourmet Cupboard Website, browse around and tell me what your favorite mix you'd like to try would be! (It can't be any items from the Dessert Collection pictured above).

(Don't forget to leave an e-mail address so I know where to contact you if you win! You only need to post your e-mail on one entry.)

Extra Entries:

(Please write a new comment for each additional entry. If something is worth 2 entries, be sure to leave two comments. For example: "I follow you #1" and "I follow you #2" should be two different comments. All entries are worth 1 entry unless otherwise noted.)

-Make a Gourmet Cupboard purchase of any kind, (being sure to list me as the Rep when ordering). Save your confirmation email, I will check if this is a winner entry. (worth 10 entries)

-Network with me. There are three ways to do this- Twitter, Facebook, and email subscription. Buttons and links are on the left sidebar on my blog. (worth 1 entry per method, up to 3 entries total)

-Tweet about this giveaway. You can use this Tweet or write your own: Win in the Christmas in July Give Away with Magic Senses & Target! (2 Tweets per DAY- 1 Entry per Tweet)

-Grab my button and add it to your blog's sidebar and comment with a link to your blog (worth 3 entries)

-Follow my Clever Confections Facebook Fan Page! (worth 2 entries)

This giveaway is open to my readers who are 18 year of age or older with a US mailing address and will end on Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 at 5 p.m.Pacific Time. The winners will be chosen via random.org and will be announced online and via e-mail and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected. Good luck, everyone!

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MIA

2011-07-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well, please forgive me for missing this past Friday's Christmas in July Week #2 Give Away post. I had some medical issues, but no worries, this week we will be having TWO great Give Aways!!

Stay tuned for some awesome goodies!!!

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Christmas in July Give Away Week #1 Winner!!

2011-07-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations fellow Blogger Meghan @ Hailey's House!
You're our Christmas in July Week One Winner!!!

I will be emailing you, so please be sure to reply with your correct mailing address. You will receive your two Butterfly Soaps directly from Magic Senses
. Further information will be provided in this email, so if you don't receive it by Friday, please let me know!!

Again, Congrats!! And be sure to check back tomorrow for Week 2 of our Christmas in July Give Aways!!!!

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Last day for our Christmas in July Give Away #1

2011-07-13T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Today at 5 p.m. PST ends our Week 1 Christmas in July Give Away!!
The lucky winner will receive a Starbucks Gift Card, a Target Gift Card, and two beautiful Butterfly Soaps from Magic Senses!

Be sure to check it out by clicking here: Christmas in July Give Away

The winner will be chosen by Random.Org and will be announced tomorrow!!!

Good luck everyone!!

And....don't forget to check back this Friday for Week 2 of our Chirstmas in July Give Aways!!!!

Up for grabs will be a Revlon Gift Basket filled with some Revlon Cosmetic Tools, a Gift Bag of yummy Mixes from The Gourmet Cupboard, and another Starbucks and/or Target Gift Card!!

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Friendly Friday Blog Hop

2011-07-08T07:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Friendly Friday!

Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier, Christi at Frugal Novice and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect - this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.

When people comment on your blog and let you know they're a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it's a win-win situation. We would love for you to also grab our Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post - the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

Spotlight on Friendly Friday Followers!

We love your participation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we'll select three blogs at random and will feature links and a write-up for those blogs in the content of next week's Friendly Friday post. There are so many seriously wonderful blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight some of those each week. Say hello to the lucky chosen 3 for this week (and feel free to stop by and give them a little extra love):

Jennifer at A Self-Confessed Foodie lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is a consultant for an IT consulting company. She has two blogs, enjoys photography, reading, traveling, scrapbooking, crafting, and playing with Maddy, her 3 year old Golden Retriever. Jennifer shares her recipes, restaurant reviews, product reviews, entertaining tips and much more! She says she "loves feeding people and frequently uses her friends and colleagues as guinea pigs." She has some great tips and tricks for lemons!

The Life of Jennifer Dawn is where Jennifer shares about her life, her husband and toddler. They are expecting their second child after having two "heartbreaking miscarriages." She is not only a wife and mom but also a teacher, and she juggles all of this while still enjoying her hobbies, crafts, and blogging. Jennifer shares these on her blog along with recipes, tutorials, and designs from her Etsy Shop. Her favorite times are spending time with her family, and she feels truly blessed!

Sara at "Deal"icious Mom is a wife, mom, and and a Special Education High School teacher. She's very busy but still has time for deal hunting and sharing her great buys, "deals and steals," and freebies. Sara also gives great tips on coupons and in-store and online deals. Her tips include places such as Amazon, Target, Hobby Lobby, McDonalds, The Disney Store, just to name a few. She is constantly searching for deals and invites her readers to leave comments if they know of a deal and would like to help.

Now that you know about these 3 wonderful blogs, it's time for you to join in! Add your family-friendly link below and we'll see you back here every Friday! And don't forget, you can get the InLinkz code to share the link list on your blog, too.

All three hostesses appreciate followers through Google Friend Connect AND Twitter and we'll follow you back - just leave a comment with your URL and/or Twitter username. Have a great weekend, everyone!

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Christmas In July Give Away #1

2011-07-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Product Review and Give Away #1 ~ Magic Senses, Target Gift Card and a Starbucks Gift Card!!

I'm pleased to have the opportunity to work with Magic Senses! Their products are amazing and I especially love their Body Butters!! They have a variety of glycerin soaps with amazing designs!! In this review I'll be sharing with you their Gardenia Body Butter, my favorite!!

All of their Body Butters are hand whipped to perfection! They contain 20% Naturally Refined Shea Butter to moisturize and soften the skin that you love! It is light, fluffy, rich and creamy and a little bit will go a long way. It absorbs very easily preventing dryness and leaving your skin very soft and smooth. We recommend it for all types of skin. The Gardenia fragrance wasn't too intense, but did leave you smelling good for several hours!

BUY IT!

Know someone who could use a little pampering, some love, or just a special gift from you? Or how 'bout getting a jump start on some Christmas Shopping? Check out all the amazing products, including some great Gift Sets that Magic Senses has to offer! Your recipient will be every so thrilled to receive some of these awesome soaps!!

There are a variety of sizes, scents and designs of their amazing soaps, as well as some great flavors of Body Butter. Their prices range from $3.15 to $16.95 and as I mentioned they carry a variety of Soaps!

They also carry these cute Scrubbies and Puffs for Kids!

WIN IT!

I will be giving away two Soaps in Magic Senses 'Butterfly Collection' to one of my lucky readers!! A Cheerful Butterfly in Blue and a Cheerful Butterfly in Pink!!

Along with these two beautiful soaps, the winner will also win a $10.00 Gift Card from Target!!

The lucky winner will also receive a $5.00 Gift Card from Starbucks!!

Mandatory Entries: Take a jump over to the Magic Senses website, browse around and tell me which product is your favorite and why!
Also, you must be a public Google Friend Connect Follower of my blog to enter this giveaway. The widget to follow my blog is in the right sidebar.

Don't forget to leave an e-mail address so I know where to contact you if you win! You only need to post your e-mail on one entry.

Extra Entries: (Please write a new comment for each additional entry. If something is worth 2 entries, be sure to leave two comments. For example: "I follow you #1" and "I follow you #2" should be two different comments. All entries are worth 1 entry unless otherwise noted.)

-Make a Magic Senses purchase of any kind. Save your confirmation email, I will check if this is a winner entry. (worth 10 entries)

-Network with me. There are three ways to do this- Twitter, Facebook, and email subscription. Buttons and links are on the left sidebar on my blog. (worth 1 entry per method, up to 3 entries total)

-Tweet about this giveaway. You can use this Tweet or write your own: Win in the Christmas in July Give Away with Magic Senses & Target! (2 Tweets per DAY- 1 Entry per Tweet)

-Grab my button and add it to your blog's sidebar and comment with a link to your blog (worth 3 entries)

-Follow my Clever Confections Facebook Fan Page! (worth 2 entries)
This giveaway is open to my readers who are 18 year of age or older with a US mailing address and will end on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 5 p.m.Pacific Time. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected. Good luck, everyone!

*No purchase necessary.
*Please make sure you leave a comment for each additional entry so you get credited.
*Also, please make sure you typed in the correct email address so we can contact you in case you win.
*The winners will be chosen via random.org and will be announced online and via e-mail.
Good luck!!
Fine print...
I was NOT provided with a free product for the purpose of this review. I was under no obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for any product. All opinions expressed are my own. I was not paid to write this review.

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CHRISTMAS IN JULY GIVEAWAYS!!!

2011-07-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right! Every Friday in July, beginning July 9th, we will be hosting a "Christmas in July" Give Away!! There's great products which you can either use for yourselves, use as gifts since Christmas is right around the corner, or gift to friends or family members!!!

We'll be giving away Beauty Products/Tools from Revlon; Christmas Themed Baby Clothes; Christmas supplies, Christmas Cards, Gift Bags of delicious dips/mixes, and lots more!!! Here's a sneak peek at a few of the products being given away:

What's even more exciting is that on several of the Give Aways, there will be more than ONE winner!!! :)

Be sure to check back as we will be posting the Give Away on Fridays with a closing date for each Give Away the following Wednesday at 5 p.m. PST with the winners being announced on Thursdays!!

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Happy 4th of July!! :)

2011-07-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

Wishing all of you a very HAPPY and very SAFE 4th of July!!

Please stay tuned for my CHRISTMAS IN JULY Give Aways!!!! There will be one Give Away listed every Friday, so be sure to check back and enter to win!!! :)

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I'm back!!!!! And sharing an awesome Give Away from a fellow Blogger!!

2011-07-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hi there!! Long time to 'talk'!! It's Summertime and everyone's on the go these day!! Here too! But, I wanted to check in with all of you all, and share an amazing Scentsy Give Away that a fellow Blogger is having on her Blog!

I did a similar Give Away last year and had an amazing response, so when I saw that this blogger was doing this one, I knew I had to share with my readers!!!

This is what she's giving away:

And...

Here's all the details: Scentsy Give Away from blogger Mrs. to Mama

Her blog is a great read too. She shares couponing tips, as well as some FUNNY daily themes! Like 'Seriously? Thursdays' and I love her 'Let it Out Peeps...anonymous bitching' days!! So funny!!!

So...go check out her great Give Away she's hosting! Grab a Margarita or glass of wine and browse through her old blog posts...you're going to get a chuckle or two!

Until then..... have a wonderful Saturday everyone!!!!!

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

My New Motivation...on my way to a skinnier me!!

2011-06-22T06:57:00.001-07:00

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Happy Tuesday

2011-06-14T08:29:00.001-07:00

So, the past weekend was super crazy for me. I had a bad baking Friday and a disastrous baking episode on Saturday but 8 dozen graduation Cupcakes and a two tiered birthday cake later, it ended on a positive note.

On Sunday, we spent the afternoon at some friends of ours who had a "Mortgage Burning" get together!! That was fun just finally sitting and relaxing and eating some light appetizers! I'd never been to a "Mortgage Burning" party so I had no idea what to expect - so it was a very welcomed relaxing day!! Can't wait for the day we get to have one of these!! :D

This weekend should be another crazy one for us as well! Brian's Beer Tasting Themed party is on Saturday. :) What I envisioned months ago to be a big tadoo, has now been scaled down to a smaller, less work event for me. :) I'll be serving light appetizers and finger foods and just keeping it simple!

Sunday, of course, is Father's Day!! Again, we'll be keeping it low key and simple. Since Brian's birthday is next Wednesday, we'll be celebrating Father's Day along with his Birthday on Thursday in San Francisco at a Giants game. :) We'll be driving into Dublin and taking BART into San Francisco ~ gonna be fun!!!!!!

Needless to say, the rest of this week will be dedicated to doing things around the house....preparing for the party on Saturday....finishing some DIY projects....and spending time with my baby girl!!

Well okay, she may be 14 and she may be going into her Sophomore year of High School, and she may be taller than me, but she's still my baby girl!!!! (And always will be).

Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Blogging from My Phone

2011-06-09T22:32:00.001-07:00

Technology these days amaze me. I'm learning almost every day something new whether its on my handy dandy Droid HTC or something new that I can do on any one of my blogs.

Also, I'm amazed at all these different websites that's out there in cyber space!! I'm loving all the neat "stores" I've recently found or websites like My Fitness Pal, or Pinterest, or PaperbackSwap....simply amazing!

So, I'm giving it a whirl tonite by posting this from my phone. Let's see if it worked. **Fingers Crossed**

Scotty McCreery

2011-06-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

I LOVE YOU THIS BIG

Pinterest!!!!

2011-06-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

This is the latest craze!!! I love Pinterest!!!

For those of you who aren't familiar with what Pinterest is, here's a blurb from their website describing what it is in their words:

What is Pinterest?

Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by people with great taste.

People use Pinterest to collect and share all sorts of things -- wedding inspiration, favorite T-shirts, DJ equipment. You name it, people are pinning it.

We know you have great taste in something. Our mission is to make Pinterest the best place for you to share your taste with the world.

Here's a link to one of my 'Boards'. This one happens to be titled "All Things Apothecary" <----- Thank link will show you what I've 'pinned' on that specific board.

In fact, here's the link to my entire Pinterest where you can view all of my Boards! You'll see I even have one dedicated to my Steelers!!! Woot woot!!! Just click ---------> Here!

If you don't already have an Pinterest 'account' (which, by the way, is FREE), just leave me your email address in the comment section of this post, and I'll send you an invite!! Trust me...it's addicting!! Not just looking at everyone else's boards, but pinning photos on your OWN boards!!!

I mean you can make one for 'Home Decor Inspiration' if you're thinking of redecorating; you can make one for and upcoming event or party you're having.....just pin photos you've seen while surfing the web so you can picture everything in one place. It's awesome!! Especially for brides who are planning their wedding!!!

Enjoy!!!!

Fun DIY'ing it Myself

2011-06-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

So, my latest DIY projects are as follows:

Cupcake Toppers

Gift Tags

Happy Birthday Banner

More cute Gift Tags

Cupcake Push Pops and Display

***************************

So, today wasn't a very good day in my weight loss journey. Well, it wasn't a bad day either. I'm on pace to stay under my maintenance calories, however, I didn't eat breakfast, nor did I eat lunch either. Which I know is not good.

We had friends come over for dinner and I knew it would be a TON of calories that I would be consuming...or at least I thought I would!

I made homemade Lasagna, Tossed Green Salad, and Garlic Bread. For dessert, we had Strawberry shortcake, Angel Food style. Yummy! I think I did pretty well because I ate an extremely small portion of Lasagna, and stuck to one slice of Garlic Bread...well, once slice cut in half. :)

So, before my after dinner snack......which usually consists of popcorn, here's what my food journal for the day looks like:

I have 353 calories remaining. That is mostly a result of not eating breakfast and lunch, and splurging during dinner!! I mean the one slice of Lasagna alone was over 300 calories!! Yikes!!

Tomorrow is a new day...(I seem to be saying that a lot lately). I'm going to step up my daily exercise routine and commit to sticking with whatever plan of action I some up with tonight.

While I'm not going to go into detail of my weight loss journey here on this blog, just snippets here and there on my progress (or lack thereof), however, if you're interested in tagging along with me, please feel free to check out my Weight Loss Journey blog..... just click here --------> Shelli's Ramblings

Enjoy!

Time for Change!!!

2011-06-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

So, I finally decided to get my hair cut! It's been giving me nothing but hassle lately because it's soooo long. Not only that...but I had major split ends!!!

Here's a before picture:

{I don't know if you can really tell by the photo, but the ends were really dry and brittle. Lots of split ends!!}

Here's about 6 inches off the length:

And here's an after picture:

Big difference let me tell you!!!

It feels so much lighter and hopefully I'll remember to get about 1/4 of an inch trimmed every 6 weeks or so.

June 30 Day Photo Challenge {a few days late}

2011-06-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I stumbled upon a fun little blog late last night and decided to join in on their June 30 Day Photo Challenge. I know I'm 4 days late in starting, but I'm jumping on the bandwagon and joining in on their fun!!

And here's their 'rules' for participating in this fun Challenge:

COME JOIN US!!! You DON'T have to take amazing photos, you don't have to be a photographer, and you don't need a high-end camera. Use your crap phone, smart phone, point & shoot, SLR, whatever you have - this is not a competition - just an 'art' thing. It's your own personal interpretation of the subject matter.

Get creative! Your self portrait could consist of you wearing a spandex leotard and a feather boa - who cares?! {well...maye I would care...spandex is just gross...} But you get the point, right?!

AND...these photos have to be taken ON THE DAY SPECIFIED - or one day before and posted on the day specified. No old photos are allowed. No cheaties. So since the challenge starts June 1st, you can take your self portrait on May 30th, edit it that night, and post it on June 1st. Make sense? Otherwise, take pictures & post them on the specific day.

So, excuse me if I post my first FOUR photos here in this post! :)

Day 1 - Self Portrait

{dislclaimer....it was very early this morning when I took this photo so please excuse the ultimate Asian, just woke up look.}

Day 2 - Your Favorite Shoes

Now, these shoes are currently my all time favorite of those that I own. I have tons of shoes and they're all my favorite, but for now, these happen to tickle my fancy!!

Day 3 - Hands

Hands, paws...they're all the same! Here's Duke trying to get a toy that I have hidden underneath my hands. He's pretty smart....I couldn't fool him!

Day 4 - Clouds

Well, heck....since we're supposed to take a photo "on the day specified", and it's pouring down rain at the moment, not to mention the fact that the entire sky (from where I'm viewing it) is nothing but clouds......this is what I got from my patio...I'm not stepping out in that downpour....sorry!!

Yes....that's nothing but total cloud cover. Not the best picture in the world, but I refuse to go out there!!

So...now that I'm all caught up with this, let's see if I can keep up with it!

Hope you all join in the fun!!! If you do, please be sure to leave me a comment here and I'll follow your blog and check out your photos!!!!

Being Creative is Fun!

2011-06-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

So I tried my hand at several things over the past couple of weeks. With being so wrapped up in Finals and a Wedding in which I coordinated, officiated, did all the flowers for the 16 member Bridal Party (including the Bride & Groom) created the wedding programs and MC'd at the Reception, I actually found time to 'relax'. My way of relaxing that is. By experimenting.

Here's the first thing I played around with:

Earrings.

Cute Dangling Earrings.

The ones above are solid black and the ones below are crystal looking.

While I'm no master at Jewelry Making by any means, I am quite proud of these two pairs of earrings.

Here's another one of my DIY projects I made:

A Birthday Banner for the Hub's upcoming Beer Tasting Themed Party!

Not bad for my very first banner ever! Needless to say, I have had a few requests for these!!! So, to my Etsy Store this went!!

And here's a yummy treat I experimented with:

Cake Push Pops!

Adorable huh??? These happened to be French Vanilla with Strawberry Filling. Yummy!!!

I have a few tweaks to work out before I add these to my Etsy Store, however, I have already received an order for these!!! So exciting!!!

And the wedding...well, the wedding was what it was. Here's a few photos.
(Disclaimer: I didn't realize how fat I actually looked until I saw these photos!!)

(Notice the big pooch in my belly)

I have to mention, not only did the Groom wear his this Baseball Cap on backwards the entire ceremony, one of his Groomsmen had on an Oakland Raiders Cap on. Yes, seriously.

Anyway..... check this out:

I finished today ~ my first day ~ back on my weight loss journey, with 316 calories to spare!

GO ME!!!

I would have had more, but I didn't do a complete work out today. But tomorrow's another day!!!

And so it begins.........

2011-05-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm re-starting my journey in losing weight and eating healthy.

(I wanna look like this photo)

Yeah right, but one can hope!!! In all seriousness, I've been gearing up to start watching my eating habits. I'm back to 1200 calories a day!! I'm also back to my daily workouts (thus burning more calories to add to my daily calorie intake!!)

This is one of the reasons......

Do you see that?? Do you see what that says?

OVERWEIGHT.

O.V.E.R.W.E.I.G.H.T.

Yikes. That right there, in addition to my ever present MUFFIN TOP.

It kinda looks like this:

(Source)

So, in the last week, I've been preparing myself for going healthy! I've got my menu planned out for the first 15 days of June and have a daily exercise plan in place. My goal is to lose at least 14.5 lbs. but ideally, I'd like to lose 19.5 lb. total. Honestly, losing the weight would be wonderful, however I'd like to lose major inches around my waist and the flab in my arms.

(source)

I belong to a wonderful website called My Fitness Pal which has a number of tools to help me track my daily calorie intake as well as calories burned thru excersing! It has a HUGE data bank with a variety of foods which accurately lists calories, fats, proteins, sugars, etc. for everything!

I absolutely love My Fitness Pal. Check out their website, and join me on this journey!! I officially start tomorrow, June 1st!!

The Semester is Almost Over!!!

2011-05-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

While I've been neglecting this blog for just about the entire Spring Semester of classes, I can tell you all that I'm one week away from finally getting to relax for the summer!! Woot Woot!

I'm taking the Summer Semester off and will be able to catch up on my blogging - sharing with you all things that have gone on the last 5 to 6 months, as well as any of our Summer adventures!

With school and business booming a bit, I've hadn't had a great deal of time to devote to blogging as I used to (and like to), so I'm going to re-prioritize my days here in the next week or so and make journaling something daily here!! :D

With that being said, I'm hoping you all have been doing well and I'm going to go catch up on all of your blogs now!!!

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!

One Year Ago Today.................

2011-04-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

This was me on the Carnival Elation making my way to the tender that would take me to Catalina Island where...........

Brian was waiting patiently for me!!

Beer Tasting Themed Party

2011-04-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

So, with Brian's big FIVE-ONE coming up here in June, we're having a big shin-dig to celebrate! Last year we were in Minnesota for our AHR so we weren't able to celebrate with a lot of his friends here in California so they asked me to make sure we did something for him this year.#

I've decided on a 'Beer Tasting' theme! I got the inspiration from a fellow DW Bride, who shared this blog with me. I love everything about how she hosted her party and I'm getting tons of ideas from her!!

Here's the invites I did:

And what I'm going to put on tiles for coasters:

I also wanted a Happy Birthday Banner and found this on Etsy:

But in these colors perhaps:

I don't know if I should give it a whirl at making the banner myself, or just breaking down and spend the $30. ($27 plus $3 for shipping). Hmmmm.

For now, I'm wanting to create a Save the Date though so people keep that Saturday open. I know it's the day before Father's Day, so I need to get the word out NOW! You would think I'd have thought of the Save the Date BEFORE everything else, but nope. Not me. I tend to do things backwards.

I am also in the planning stages of my daughter's Sweet 16. It's not for another 18 months, however, I'm a planner, and this is going to be a very special occasion so...... I'm planning away!!! Wait till you see what I've found so far!!!

Happy Sunday!

Vote for Hines!!!

2011-03-30T06:13:00.000-07:00

Vote for Hines Ward on Dancing with the Stars!

It goes without saying that I absolutely love the Pittsburgh Steelers. No doubt about it. However, as with everything in the sport of Football, there seems to be a time where every once in a while, a player comes along who embodies the personality and character of the organization he represents. Hines Ward is one such player.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have long been known as a blue-collar team. They win games by grinding it out the old-fashioned way, and they don’t put up with diva behavior. Hines, who has a resume worthy of future induction into the Hall of Fame (To date he has on record 11,702 receiving yards and 83 touchdowns), is as blue-collar of a player as there is.

In a league full of wide receivers who think that their individual statistics are more important than the numbers in the win/loss column, Ward has remained refreshingly humble and continues to play hard on every down, whether it’s to receive, block, or be the moral leader. He never stops smiling and isn’t afraid to sacrifice his body in order to take or dish out a hard hit.

In addition, his active involvement and dedication to the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation is commendable. In 2006, after a trip to his birthplace of South Korea, Ward donated an initial $1 million to the foundation “to help mixed-race children like himself in South Korea, where they have suffered discrimination.”

During a press conference before he returned home, Ward said, “I will make the struggle to end bi-racial discrimination my chief cause, for which I will devote my time and resources, both in the United States and Korea.”
His Helping Hands U.S. Foundation “focuses on improving literacy among children and will provide programs and services to better equip them for achieving and handling success in life.”

Thus, I have decided to sponsor VoteforHines.com in honor of his appearance on “Dancing with the Stars”. Ward has long been one of my favorite players on the team; I hope every Steelers fan feels the same way and participates in the voting process.

Ward agreed to compete because “it looks extremely challenging” and said, “I am always up for a good challenge and would love to see what I can do in a field completely foreign to me. Besides, if Emmitt (Emmitt Smith won in Season 3) and Jerry (Jerry Rice finished second in Season 2) can do it, so can I.”

Ward has already shown off his dancing skills with a fantastic rendition of the John Wall dance after a catch on Monday Night Football against the Cincinnati Bengals last season.

Please support Ward throughout the show so we can help him make that final push for victory by calling 1-800-VOTE403 or registering to vote online at ABC.com. Also, be sure to follow him on Twitter @mvp86hinesward and tweet using the hashtag #VoteForHines.

Getting In Shape! (For reals!!) Physically and Mentally!!

2011-03-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

So, sometime last year I went on a 30 Day Shred kick.

I was totally inspired by a fellow DW Bride to be who was in the process of planning her wedding the same ime I was.

The picture on the left was taken around the time she started to do the 30 Day Shred on a daily basis. The picture on the right was three weeks later. Big difference in three weeks wouldn't you say???

And this is a more recent picture of her over a year later!!! She looks absolutely fabulous doesn't she??

Yeah, well my 30 Day Shredding days was very short lived. I'd say it lasted several weeks and then I gave up. Don't get me wrong, it was very difficult! I think I was able to get through Level 1, but when I attempted Level 2, I absolutely threw in the towel! It was kicking my behind BIG TIME!!!

Soooo........ after taking the last oh.......11 months off of any type of real exercising, I'm going back on my fitness regime! Yes I sure am! I have a Yoga CD that I've tried a few times which I'm going to start back up with along with the dreaded 30 Day Shred! This is gonna start TODAY!! I'm gonna be Jillian's B**CH for the next 6 months or so!!!

Along with working out / excercising, I'm going healthy all the way around including eating!!! I know I've said that cooking healthy was one of my Goals for the year and well....there's nothing wrong with getting a late start!!

I recently came across a few blogs that have great meal planning tips and recipes. I'll be sure to share any of the recipies that I try. I'm also going to try something a little different as far as my meal planning goes. Currently I plan my meals on a weekly basis. This seems to work perfectly fine, but I'm gonna try to plan meals on a monthly basis!! I know, I know.....some of you may think this is crazy, but for some people it actually works great! This will also save my household a little bit of $$$$ as I'll be able to stock up on ingredients if I see them on sale even though the meal I'd be using it for is a week or two out. Plus I'd be less likely to have repeats. :D

Stay tuned for tips and suggestions on Meal Planning!!!!

Here's a random photo of my me with my oldest and middle child!! This was at my daughter's 21st Birthday Dinner.

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies!!!

2011-03-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent the day just lounging around the house. I didn't have any classes, no errands that I *HAD* to run, so I slept in and just had a great morning.

I did, however, decide to get up and bake. I baked a variety of Cut-Out Cookies. :D No particular reason, I just felt that I needed to have a stress free day!! And here are the results......... please keep in mind that towards the end of the decorating, I was getting pooped out. So little details were left out on purpose. Like I could have put an Olive in the Martini.....I could have put a colored sash on the Wedding Dress, you know....little details of that nature.

Just a little 'mental' day since the weather here in "Good 'ole Sunny California" has been nothing but wet and windy!! I had fun, got all my baking bugs out and I get to spend the day making a Tu-Tu with my 14 year old!! Then, it's doing research for a 2 page paper that's due in Biology on Monday by 4 p.m. Wish me luck people!!!!!

Spring Forward!!

2011-03-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year!! We lose an hour of sleep, however we gain an hour of daylight!!

It didn't really make that much of an impact on me last night. I woke up this morning feeling refreshed despite the fact I lost an hour of my beauty sleep. :) AND... I was suffering from insomnia yet again so I didn't get to sleep until well after 2 a.m. Ugh.

With Spring, I get to look forward to the pretty, beautiful flowers, nice Spring colors, and my stupid, ugly, darn, dumb ALLERGIES!!! And I get them really bad! Really bad where my eyes are constantly red and puffy; my nose leaks all the time.

This is what I look like:

Source

Despite the fact that during the Spring/Summer, I'm always sniffling and sneezing, etc., I'm so looking forward to the next several months!! We just had Brian's best friend come visit for a week from Minnesota and in about a month Brian's brother and sister-in-law will be coming from Minnesota for a week as well! We have so many fun things planned, I'm so excited!!!

Ironstone Vineyards is one place I've never been to and am excited to be going to when they come out. Here are a few pictures from their webiste:

It's so beautiful there! They also have a picnic area down by the lake where I can't wait to have a nice little lunch! :)

Another place we're going to go for sure is Shadowbrook Restaurant.

It's one of my favorite restaurants ever! Brian's brother is going to be treating us for our one year anniversary a week early and this is the restaurant he chose. He knows it's my favorite! Here are several pictures from their website:

And since we're going to be there on a Friday night, check out their Happy Hour Specials:

Here are few pictures of Yosemite; we may take a trip up there as well:

Happy Sunday everyone!! :)

Woo Hoo, It's Friday!!

2011-03-11T12:30:00.000-08:00

How yummy do these Cake Pops from Starbucks look? This is the Rocky Road one and I'm going to get me one of these babies this afternoon!!

Thru tomorrow, you can get a free Cake Pop if you order a drink anytime betweet 2 and 5 p.m. at participating Starbucks! I missed out yesterday, so you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to get one today! That's for sure!!!

Remember my list of 'Goals' I wanted to accomplish in 2011? Well, for those of you who missed it, you can view it here. I was on such a good roll until classes started! In the beginning I thought to myself, 'oh, it's gonna be like this only until I get a routine down then things will be back on track'. Yeah right. Two monnths later, I'm still as discombobulated as the first day of classes!

Here's what my list looks like today:

Lifestyle Goals ~ 2011

Take time to stretch and work out every morning
Cook and Eat Healthier
Stick to my weekly menu planning
Read the Bible in 90 days
Read 125 books
Blog on a daily basis
Keep in touch with family more often
Create & Stick to a Daily Household Chore List
Continue to pursue my BA
Take mini-vacations with Brian more often
Continue our Date Day Thursdays
Purchase at least one Christmas gift a month
Stick to my Word of the Day
Attend and get involved with Church
Put $20 away a month in a "pickle jar"

Around the House Goals ~ 2011
De-clutter the DenGet the Den cleaned and organized
Get my Clever Confections business supplies organized
Re-theme the bathroom
Re-organize kitchen cupboards
The highlighted items are those that I've accomplished and/or am on pace with. Not too exciting huh? Well, it's a start.

Can I just share with you guys what I just purchased the other day? I'm so excited and can't wait until I get it in the mail!!!

Isn't this so cute?!?!? I can't wait to make these cookies!! I have several weddings coming up, so I may have to make these as a surprise for my brides!!! I wish I had these!!!

On another note....We finally got our Desk Top up and running so now I don't have to fight with the hubs over our little Netbook. :) It's amazing how much of a difference just the monitor alone makes!! That and the fact that I can type a whole lot faster on a regular keyboard than that itty bitty one on the Netbook. I personally like the Netbook because it's so small, handy and convienent for me. Yes, I have to squint sometimes to read certain things, but all in all, it serves its purpose just fine.

Anyone have exciting plans for St. Patrick's Day? Other than making a gazillion Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes, we don't have any real exciting plans this year. I think it's because we have so much going on for the rest of the year, we've been too busy to even think about it!!!

Classes.....Ugh!

2011-02-22T08:15:00.000-08:00

So....I had an Exam in my math class last week. An EXAM, not a simple quiz, but an EXAM....which accounts for 60% of our grade at the end of the semester. There are 6 Exams plus our Final. How did I do you ask? Considering there were only 10 questions, I SUCKED. I got a 70%. HOWEVER, we were given the opportunity to take our results home and work out the problem(s) that we got wrong for an extra point. So in the end, I will have an 80%. I'm not happy with that...not at all.

On a brighter note, on our "pop" quiz in my Medical Terminology class last Wednesday, I received 100%. SWEET!!

Ya wanna see what my schedule looks like for the rest of the week??

Not too crazy busy for a change! And I'm glad that Brian will be taking a few days off when his best friend comes into town!! Next week will be a pretty busy one for us as we have tons planned!!

How's YOUR week look????

All things Cupcakes including Cupcakes that are really Cookies :)

2011-02-21T23:50:00.000-08:00

Cupcakes.....it's been the craze the last several years. And oh, how I love to make cupcakes!

Margarita Cupcakes

Better than Sex

Caramel Filled with Caramel Buttercream

Chocolate with Swiss Meringue

Irish Car Bomb

Mudslides

Red Velvet filled with Cream Cheese

These are some of the most popular flavors that I offer thru my Clever Confections & Gifts business.

Look at the most recent fun "Cupcakes" that I got to make this past week:

Aren't these too cute!?!?

I also got to make more of these fun Baby Onesie cookies as well:

It was a very crazy busy weekend for me, and it seems to be non-stop!!

But no matter what, I love doing what I do!

It's been a long time!!!!

2011-02-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

I'M ALIVE!!!

I've been neglecting my lovely blog for weeks. Ever since classes started, I've been crazy busy caught up in school, my Etsy store AND life.

But guess what?!? Don't these look YUMMY???

And look how cute this precious baby is.....

She is at the moment un-named. I found her today. Wandering around in the parking lot on Campus. Very dirty, very hungry and very young!! No collar, no tags, nothing.

I asked a few people if they may know if she belonged to anyone. I asked Security if they were alerted for a missing dog(s). I was told that if I couldn't or didn't take her, they'd have to call Animal Control and well, you all know darn well what would happen to this pretty little thing.

She had a buddy with her. He was much older. Duke wouldn't allow this male dog in my home; he had a BIG problem with another male dog in HIS house, so my friend/neighbor has taken him in for the time being.

After I got the pretty little baby home earlier today, I gave her a bath and fed her. We took a ride to Petco and I got her nails trimmed and I bought her a collar & that pretty little dress. :) Cute isn't she??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, school is into Week 4 and I'm pretty much still not 100% in sync. I did, however, drop a class so I'm down to 5 classes. I had 21 Units and now I'm at 16. Perfect!!

I have: Medical Terminology, Biology, Math, Psychology, and History.

Let me share an article with you all that I had to read about in my History Class. Let me know your thoughts. I'm positive they'll be quite a vast difference of opinions here. :)

*****************

Eric Kasum

Founder of PeaceDog

Posted: October 11, 2010 01:43 AM

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Columbus Day? True Legacy: Cruelty and Slavery

Once again, it's time to celebrate Columbus Day. Yet, the stunning truth is: If Christopher Columbus were alive today, he would be put on trial for crimes against humanity. Columbus' reign of terror, as documented by noted historians, was so bloody, his legacy so unspeakably cruel, that Columbus makes a modern villain like Saddam Hussein look like a pale codfish.
Question: Why do we honor a man who, if he were alive today, would almost certainly be sitting on Death Row awaiting execution?
If you'd like to know the true story about Christopher Columbus, please read on. But I warn you, it's not for the faint of heart.
Here's the basics. On the second Monday in October each year, we celebrate Columbus Day (this year, it's on October 11th). We teach our school kids a cute little song that goes: "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." It's an American tradition, as American as pizza pie. Or is it? Surprisingly, the true story of Christopher Columbus has very little in common with the myth we all learned in school.
Columbus Day, as we know it in the United States, was invented by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal service organization. Back in the 1930s, they were looking for a Catholic hero as a role-model their kids could look up to. In 1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, Congress and President Franklin Roosevelt signed Columbus Day into law as a federal holiday to honor this courageous explorer. Or so we thought.
There are several problems with this. First of all, Columbus wasn't the first European to discover America. As we all know, the Viking, Leif Ericson probably founded a Norse village on Newfoundland some 500 years earlier. So, hat's off to Leif. But if you think about it, the whole concept of discovering America is, well, arrogant. After all, the Native Americans discovered North America about 14,000 years before Columbus was even born! Surprisingly, DNA evidence now suggests that courageous Polynesian adventurers sailed dugout canoes across the Pacific and settled in South America long before the Vikings.
Second, Columbus wasn't a hero. When he set foot on that sandy beach in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492, Columbus discovered that the islands were inhabited by friendly, peaceful people called the Lucayans, Taínos and Arawaks. Writing in his diary, Columbus said they were a handsome, smart and kind people. He noted that the gentle Arawaks were remarkable for their hospitality. "They offered to share with anyone and when you ask for something, they never say no," he said. The Arawaks had no weapons; their society had neither criminals, prisons nor prisoners. They were so kind-hearted that Columbus noted in his diary that on the day the Santa Maria was shipwrecked, the Arawaks labored for hours to save his crew and cargo. The native people were so honest that not one thing was missing.
Columbus was so impressed with the hard work of these gentle islanders, that he immediately seized their land for Spain and enslaved them to work in his brutal gold mines. Within only two years, 125,000 (half of the population) of the original natives on the island were dead.
If I were a Native American, I would mark October 12, 1492, as a black day on my calendar.
Shockingly, Columbus supervised the selling of native girls into sexual slavery. Young girls of the ages 9 to 10 were the most desired by his men. In 1500, Columbus casually wrote about it in his log. He said: "A hundred castellanoes are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand."
He forced these peaceful natives work in his gold mines until they died of exhaustion. If an "Indian" worker did not deliver his full quota of gold dust by Columbus' deadline, soldiers would cut off the man's hands and tie them around his neck to send a message. Slavery was so intolerable for these sweet, gentle island people that at one point, 100 of them committed mass suicide. Catholic law forbade the enslavement of Christians, but Columbus solved this problem. He simply refused to baptize the native people of Hispaniola.
On his second trip to the New World, Columbus brought cannons and attack dogs. If a native resisted slavery, he would cut off a nose or an ear. If slaves tried to escape, Columbus had them burned alive. Other times, he sent attack dogs to hunt them down, and the dogs would tear off the arms and legs of the screaming natives while they were still alive. If the Spaniards ran short of meat to feed the dogs, Arawak babies were killed for dog food.
Columbus' acts of cruelty were so unspeakable and so legendary - even in his own day - that Governor Francisco De Bobadilla arrested Columbus and his two brothers, slapped them into chains, and shipped them off to Spain to answer for their crimes against the Arawaks. But the King and Queen of Spain, their treasury filling up with gold, pardoned Columbus and let him go free.
One of Columbus' men, Bartolome De Las Casas, was so mortified by Columbus' brutal atrocities against the native peoples, that he quit working for Columbus and became a Catholic priest. He described how the Spaniards under Columbus' command cut off the legs of children who ran from them, to test the sharpness of their blades. According to De Las Casas, the men made bets as to who, with one sweep of his sword, could cut a person in half. He says that Columbus' men poured people full of boiling soap. In a single day, De Las Casas was an eye witness as the Spanish soldiers dismembered, beheaded, or raped 3000 native people. "Such inhumanities and barbarisms were committed in my sight as no age can parallel," De Las Casas wrote. "My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature that now I tremble as I write."
De Las Casas spent the rest of his life trying to protect the helpless native people. But after a while, there were no more natives to protect. Experts generally agree that before 1492, the population on the island of Hispaniola probably numbered above 3 million. Within 20 years of Spanish arrival, it was reduced to only 60,000. Within 50 years, not a single original native inhabitant could be found.
In 1516, Spanish historian Peter Martyr wrote: "... a ship without compass, chart, or guide, but only following the trail of dead Indians who had been thrown from the ships could find its way from the Bahamas to Hispaniola."
Christopher Columbus derived most of his income from slavery, De Las Casas noted. In fact, Columbus was the first slave trader in the Americas. As the native slaves died off, they were replaced with black slaves. Columbus' son became the first African slave trader in 1505.
Are you surprised you never learned about any of this in school? I am too. Why do we have this extraordinary gap in our American ethos? Columbus himself kept detailed diaries, as did some of his men including De Las Casas and Michele de Cuneo. (If you don't believe me, just Google the words Columbus, sex slave, and gold mine.)
Columbus' reign of terror is one of the darkest chapters in our history. The REAL question is: Why do we celebrate a holiday in honor of this man? (Take three deep breaths. If you're like me, your stomach is heaving at this point. I'm sorry. Sometimes the truth hurts. That said, I'd like to turn in a more positive direction.)
Call me crazy, but I think holidays ought to honor people who are worthy of our admiration, true heroes who are positive role models for our children. If we're looking for heroes we can truly admire, I'd like to offer a few candidates. Foremost among them are school kids.
Let me tell you about some school kids who are changing the world. I think they are worthy of a holiday. My friend Nan Peterson is the director of the Blake School, a K-12 school in Minnesota. She recently visited Kenya. Nan says there are 33 million people in Kenya... and 11 million of them are orphans! Can you imagine that? She went to Kibera, the slum outside Nairobi, and a boy walked up to her and handed her a baby. He said: My father died. My mother died... and I'm not feeling so good myself. Here, take my sister. If I die, they will throw her into the street to die.
There are so many orphans in Kenya, the baby girls are throwaways!
Nan visited an orphanage for girls. The girls were starving to death. They had one old cow that only gave one cup of milk a day. So each girl only got ONE TEASPOON of milk a day!
After this heartbreaking experience, Nan went home to her school in Minnesota and asked the kids... what can we do? The kids got the idea to make homemade paper and sell it to buy a cow. So they made a bunch of paper, and sold the paper, and when they were done they had enough money to buy... FOUR COWS! And enough food to feed all of the cows for ONE FULL YEAR! These are kids... from 6 years old to 18... saving the lives of kids halfway around the world. And I thought: If a 6-year-old could do that... what could I do?
At Casady School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, seemingly "average" school kids raised $20,000 to dig clean water wells for children in Ethiopia. These kids are heroes. Why don't we celebrate "Kids Who Are Changing the Planet" Day?
Let me ask you a question: Would we celebrate Columbus Day if the story of Christopher Columbus were told from the point-of-view of his victims? No way!
The truth about Columbus is going to be a hard pill for some folks to swallow. Please, don't think I'm picking on Catholics. All the Catholics I know are wonderful people. I don't want to take away their holiday or their hero. But if we're looking for a Catholic our kids can admire, the Catholic church has many, many amazing people we could name a holiday after. How about Mother Teresa day? Or St. Francis of Assisi day? Or Betty Williams day (another Catholic Nobel Peace Prize winner). These men and women are truly heroes of peace, not just for Catholics, but for all of us.
Let's come clean. Let's tell the truth about Christopher Columbus. Let's boycott this outrageous holiday because it honors a mass murderer. If we skip the cute song about "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue," I don't think our first graders will miss it much, do you? True, Columbus' brutal treatment of peaceful Native Americans was so horrific... maybe we should hide the truth about Columbus until our kids reach at least High School age. Let's teach it to them about the same time we tell them about the Nazi death camps.
While we're at it, let's rewrite our history books. From now on, instead of glorifying the exploits of mass murderers like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, and Napoleon Bonaparte, let's teach our kids about true heroes, men and women of courage and kindness who devoted their lives to the good of others. There's a long list, starting with Florence Nightingale, Mahatma Gandhi, Rev. Martin Luther King, and John F. Kennedy.
These people were not adventurers who "discovered" an island in the Caribbean. They were noble souls who discovered what is best in the human spirit.
Why don't we create a holiday to replace Columbus Day?
Let's call it Heroes of Peace Day.

Superbowl Bound

2011-01-25T10:42:00.000-08:00

I know I've been MIA since classes started last week,

but I HAVE to acknowledge my team's VICTORY!

WOOT WOOT!!! SUPERBOWL BOUND!!! Once I get through this first couple weeks of school, I'll have to resume my wonderful past time of blogging.Both reading and catching up as well as writing!!

One game away!!

2011-01-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

Next Sunday, January 23rd @ 3:30 p.m. PST

GO STEELERS!

Zebra Cake Photo

2011-01-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

I had a busy Friday evening baking my heart out.

I had two cake orders for local pick up and and a couple of Etsy orders to ship.

Here's one of the cakes.

Cakes were Strawberry with Cream Cheese Filling

Iced with a white (vanilla) Butercreme

The Bow / Ribbon was made with Homemadw Marshmallow Fondant

Let's go Steelers!!

2011-01-14T14:53:00.000-08:00

Well, for the third time this season, the Steelers will meet the Ravens tomorrow.

First game we lost, second game we prevailed.

This game is a very important Playoff Game. The winner will advance to next week's game against the Patriots for the opportunity to play in Superbowl 45!

The Steelers' biggest division rival is none other than the Ravens and I was not a happy camper when the Chiefs couldn't pull off a win last week against the Ravens.

Tons of friends (who has cheered AGAINST ME the entire season) are actually pulling for the Steelers to win tomorrow, only because they want to see a
Steeler / Patriot match-up.

Personally, I do too!

So, Good Luck to the NFL team who has THE MOST SUPERBOWL WINS!!

Reading Challenge 2011

2011-01-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love reading. I enjoy it tremendously! Last year I set out to read 100 books and I accomplished that goal! Granted, I was on pace until our wedding cruise in April.....then I kinda sluffed off big time. Slowly but surely, after all of our traveling was done, I picked right back up where I left off and was able to read 100 books by the end of the year!!

A great blogger friend, and new mother of twins, Kallay, author of Kallaydoscope shared with her readers about a 2011 Book Challenge!

The blogger hosting the challenge is:
Chocolate Reality

I joined the challenge! My goal I set for myself earlier this year was to read 125 books in 2011. To date, I have three books read, and just started my fourth one.

You can read about and join the challenge by clicking HERE.

Hope you join the fun!!

It's that time of year again......

2011-01-12T15:00:00.000-08:00

Classes start again next week. Ugh. Back to having a busy weekly schedule!! That's okay though. It's another step closer to fulfilling my goal of pursuing my Bachelor's in Criminal Justice!

I currently hold an Associates of Science Degree in Administration of Justice and an Associates of Arts Degree in Behavioral and Social Sciences.

(Yes, and I'm a Cake Decorator)

My educational goals are to complete my transferable classes and receive my Bachelor's Degree. It may take me until I'm a

senior Citizen, but I will do this!!

My 21 year old keeps teasing me that we'll probably end up graduating at the same time. Probably so, perhaps not. I have a feeling she may graduate with her Bachelor's before I do, but you know what? As long as I accomplish MY goal, I'm not worried about how long it takes me. In the long run, I will be happy regardless!!

Happy Hump Day!!!

Follow Me Back Tuesday Blog Hop!

2011-01-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

It's everyone's favorite day of the week again, Tuesday..

So that means it's time to link up & follow for

Follow Me Back Tuesday

Hosted By:

Survey Junkie, Little Yaya's & Boobies,BabiesAndABlog

This Week's Guest Host's Are...

Crystal from My Life As Mom And Wife,

Kimberly from A Day In The Life of an Air Force Wife and Mommy of 2

How it Works

•Follow all 3 Hosts & Guest Host's - Spots 1-5 leave a comment w/ a link to your blog so the hosts can follow you back (only leave a comment that you follow if you actually follow )

•Snag the F.M.B.T button & make a F.M.B.T. post.

•After you post, use that link to add your blog to the hop along with your blog name

( NO BLOG HOPs & GIVEAWAYS PLEASE ) These entries will be deleted.

•Follow the blogs you like & Follow Back who follows you ( Remember to leave a comment so you can be followed back )

•And most importantly - Have Fun and Come back and see us every Tuesday !!

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes Special Offer!!!

2011-01-10T21:33:00.000-08:00

It's early I know, I know, but it's never TOO early for getting in on a great deal!!

Check out

Clever Confections & Gifts

to take advantage of an awesome early

St. Patrick's Day treat!!

Now thru March 1st

Pre-Order your Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

for

$15.00 a dozen.

(That's a $5.00 savings!!)

Ship dates: Friday, March 11th & Monday, March 14th; shipped Priority Mail ~ delivery by Tuesday the 15th & Wednesday the 16th.

Local Delivery or Pick Up on Wednesday the 16th by appointment!!

AND

Keep checking back daily for an opportunity to

win a free dozen!!!

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes:

A Chocolate Cupcake with Guiness Beer filled with a Baileys Chocolate Ganache, topped with Baileys Buttercreme. Very Delicious!

Happy 21st Birthday!!!

2011-01-09T15:01:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure this photo was taken last night / early this morning sometime after midnight, and after the bars closed.

My daughter turned 21 today, Sunday, January 9th. After stalking her Face Book today, it's been confirmed that her along with a bunch of her friends went out right at midnight to celebrate.

She's having a nice dinner tonight with a bunch more of her friends at Tex Wasibi's

One of Food Network's own, Guy Fieri's resturants.

(Guy is most notable for his "Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives" show)

It should be a fun and interesting evening as Brian and I will probably be amongst a group of early to mid-twenty somethings.

More pictures to come!!!

Parties Galore!!

2011-01-08T07:41:00.000-08:00

We have SO MUCH going on in the next few months, it's extremely mind boggling! With that being said, let me share a couple of the invites for our upcoming parties / events we're hosting!!

Coming up the first weekend in February is our SUPERBOWL party!

I'm hoping that my STEELERS will make it thru the playoffs next weekend, so they'll be one step closer to the big game, however, if they don't, we're still celebrating!!

Here are our invites:

What do you think? They're pretty cute if I may say so myself.

I bought the PDF file from an Etsy Store and am very happy with the final product.

(I'll be doing a COMPLETE review of Etsy Stores in a very near future post, so you'll get the info on where to purchase invites)

Two weeks after the Super Bowl, I'll be hosting a very special Baby Shower! I'm so excited because not only are the parents very good friends of ours, but Brian and I were asked and are honored to be Baby Jason's God Parents!! :)

Here are the invites for the shower:

Aren't they just simply adorable? I found this invitation on Etsy as well, however I had a very good friend of mine (who does anything party related with regard to invites, favor tags, Hershey Kiss labels, Candy Bar wrap around labels, and much, much more) see if she could replicate it, and she did!!

I'll be doing an enclosure card which will contain their registry info.

I also found these cute Umbrella & Tear Drop confetti on Etsy to sprinkle on the cake and food tables!!

Super Cute huh??

I'll definitely be updating my blog as the party planning gets into full swing!

Happy Saturday!!!

Yay for Friday!!!

2011-01-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

Check out Smart and Trendy Moms' Blog for this awesome Blog Hop.

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We're a week into this New Year, and how've you done with any of your Resolutions, Goals or Wishes?

I'm into book number 3 for the year. With two books read under my belt, I've got 123 to go. Pacing myself perfectly.

Book #1 was:

Book #2 was:

I've also been working on my weekly menu planning and actually sticking to said menu. :) So far, so good. I think we strayed one night, but for the most part, we're on track with that goal as well.

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My "PROJECT" for the month of January going into February is to de-clutter and re-organize our den. Plain and simple.

I have a TON of beach wedding stuff I have to get rid of. So, I'll be listing everything wedding related on a few Wedding Planning Forums.

I'm going to organize all of my baking pans.

(And believe me when I say I have close to 75 or so pans of different shapes and sizes).

After the den is completely organized and looks awesome, I'm headed to the kitchen. Re-organizing the cupboards for sure!!

I want to use these SnapWare containers.

I will be sure to take before and after pictures of my de-cluttering and re-organizing projects.

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What do YOU have on your plate this weekend?

As for me, I have a cake & cupcake order for Saturday; a two tiered cake order for Sunday; my daughter's 21st Birthday dinner on Sunday AND, somehow I have

to squeeze in FOOTBALL both days!! Yikes!!

Happy Friday and GO STEELERS!!

Frugal Fridays & Friendly Friday Blog Hops

2011-01-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Frugal Fridays!

Frugal Fridays is a weekly link-up hosted by The Frugal Free Gal and co-hosted by Inspiring You To Save. The hop includes links for Google Friend Connect, Facebook, Twitter, Giveaways, and Your Favorite Post of the Week.

Here's how it works:

Become a follower of Inspiring You to Save and The Frugal Free Gal.

Add our Frugal Fridays button on your blog somewhere.

Link up, visit other blogs, and make new friends!

Welcome to Friendly Friday!

Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog too! Just click “Get the code here…” at the bottom of the list. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way for everyone to get even more traffic to their blog.

Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Christi at Frugal Novice, Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect – this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.

When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it’s a win-win situation. We would love for you to also grab our Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post – the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

Spotlight on Friendly Friday Followers! We love your participation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we’ll select three blogs at random and will feature links and a write-up for those blogs in the content of next week’s Friendly Friday post. There are so many seriously wonderful blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight some of those each week. Say hello to the lucky chosen 3 for this week (and feel free to stop by and give them a little extra love):

Fair warning: If you have never visited Twinsomnia before, I almost guarantee that you will spend the majority of your afternoon going from post to post and nodding in agreement and/or cracking up. From hilarious or moving stories about her three kids aged five and under (including adorable identical twin boys) to photographs that look like they’re straight out of a magazine, Megan takes precious time that should be spent sleeping and writes a blog that you won’t want to miss.

When you hear the title Grandma, you might picture a sweet old lady in a rocking chair knitting… but that’s not what you’ll find at Grandma’s Guide to Life. Carli writes about working out, shopping and her love for couponing, bargains and saving money. Whether you’re looking for freebies (she has great Mailbox Mondays posts), store deals, giveaways, family talk, craft ideas she has come across and more, this Grandma is blogging her way through it all.

Journaling their daily adventures, Holly’s posts at Popsicles and Pigtails range from visits with family to shopping trips to fun blog hops (present company included) and more and feature her warm personality and great photos of her gorgeous daughter, Darbee. A sweet compilation of reasons why Holly is blessed to stay home and watch her daughter grow up, these memories are ones that she will have captured online forever.

Now that you know about these 3 wonderful blogs, it’s time for you to join in! Add your family-friendly link below and we’ll see you back here every Friday! And don’t forget, you can grab the code to share the link list on your blog too.

All three hostesses appreciate followers through GFC and Twitter, and we’ll follow you back – just leave a comment with your URL for GFC. I haven’t been able to follow everyone back because of not having the URL.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Super Duper Savings & Date Day Thursday!!

2011-01-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

I saved $242.88

What? How? Huh?

Well, what's my most FAVORITE store in the world? Target! And I've been stalking their Seasonal items since the day after Christmas. Yes, they went 30% off, then 50%, and then 75% And I bought Christmas stuff every.single.time I went!

I bought Christmas Wrapping paper, Gift Bags, Christmas Cards, and all kinds of stuff!!

THEN..... I get a phone call from the dear Hubs while he's on his morning break. Guess what? At HIS store, (not his his, but his) their Seasonal went 90% off! Say what? Ohhhhh Yeeeahhhh.

I say: "Hey hon, how 'bout I come and have lunch with you?" :)
My way to go check out what they have left in their store for 90% off. Hehehe.
Oh, yeah, and to have lunch with him too, of course.

Check this out!!

Did you see that??

$242.88

I saved $242.88 Yes I did. And if you look carefully, I only spent $40.66.

I'll take pictures and show you all what I bought and for how much!! :)
You're going to be extremely amazed!!
So stay tuned for that!

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Date Day Thursday

Ever since Brian & I started dating several years ago, we've spent Thursdays as our "Date Day".

Every.Single.Thursday we used to go to Panera Bread for a late breakfast, early lunch. Brunch. Brian would get Breakfast, I would get Lunch. :)

Here's my favorite ~ Asian Chicken Salad and a half Asiago & Roast Beef Sandwich.

Since our big Wedding Cruise, we've been going to:

We now go at 7:45 am for their "Gator Special"

$1.99 for 2 eggs, hashbrowns, and choice of toast, biscuits & gravy or pancakes.

Not bad eh???

Our Date Day today, will also consist of shopping! I have two cake orders for this weekend and two for next weekend, so a shopping expedition to the Cake & Candy Supply store is definitely in order.

Gotta love going shopping on Date Day Thursdays!!

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My niece asked if I'd make 100 flower cookies for her daughter's 2nd birthday.

Said birthday party is in Guam.

So, I had to get crackn'!

I took pictures.

Here they are baked, cooled, and outlined with Royal Icing:

Here they are filled in with thinned out Royal Icing:

And here they are completely decorated:

NOT

Why? Because I was in such a rush to get these babies packaged and shipped! HOWEVER, I'm sure my lovely niece will take tons of photos and I'll be sure to share them with you!!

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Hope you have a great day today!

I'll be thinking of you all as I enjoy my Date Day with my love!

Twitter Hop Thursday!!

2011-01-05T23:45:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Twitter Hop Thursday, hosted by Simply Stacie, The King’s Court IV, Little Yaya’s, Kelly’s Lucky You and Dear Crissy.

Would you like more Twitter followers and be introduced to more neat blogs and businesses out there? Come and join us!!

1. Add your Twitter to the MckLinky (you only have to add it to one and it will appear on all).

2. Click on the Twitter for the four hostesses and follow each of them on Twitter. We will follow you back.

3. Follow as many people on Twitter as you like, but make sure to leave comments with links so they’ll know where to follow you!

Spread the word and add this MckLinky to your blog! Write your own post or copy and paste this one. Below the MckLinky box, you’ll see “Want to be a part of this Blog Hop? Click here for instructions and code”. Have fun Twitter-Hopping along!

We have selected a Twitterer of the Week from last week’s entries and the lucky winner is Coupons Equal Cash! They will be in the #6 spot! We will choose next week’s winner from everyone who participated today.

Please only add your Twitter url. All other entries will be deleted. Thank you!

This is a Blog Hop! 43 entries so far... you're next!

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Parties, Parties, Parties!!

2011-01-05T08:57:00.000-08:00

Gold Leopard Print; Princess Crown with tons of Bling; Zebra Print with Pink Accents; Cupcakes Galore

The above are themes of cakes I'll be making this month. One cake (or cupcakes) every weekend of January. Now, keep in mind these cakes aren't plain 'ole sheet cakes, but these are tiered cakes.

One gal celebrating her 21st Birthday (happens to be my lovely daughter) - 20 + people;
another gal celebrating her 24th Birthday - 20 + people; one is having Bridal/Lingerie Shower - 50+ people; and the Cupcake Cocktail Hour will be having approximately 20+ attendees.

It's going to be a busy month, especially with classes starting again on the 18th for me, as well as potentially starting a new job.

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Since we were talking parties, here's what our social hosting calendar has in store for us (Bri and I) in 2011 ~ I love celebrating, especally hosting parties!!

February ~ Superbowl Party
March ~Steph's Baby Shower
April ~ Anniversay Party
May ~ Happy Birthday to Me Party
June ~ Beer - Tasting Birthday Party for Brian
*July ~ Christmas in July BBQ*
(*Tentative for now*)
December ~ Annual Christmas Party

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I can't forget my daughter's Sweet 16 Celebration which will be in October of 2012. Yes, she's already talking about it. Yes, the event planner in me is taking over! I thought it was nuts to even think about a party which is 21 months away, HOWEVER, it takes just as long, if not longer, to plan a wedding. Not that this Sweet 16 Celebration will be as extravagant as a wedding, but come on....it's my baby...I'm an event planner...I like to be organized, so......it's on my list. :)

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Word of the Day:

proselytize

:verb:

to induce someone to convert to one's faith

to recruit someone to join one's party, institution, or cause

Example Sentence

Eliza is a staunch environmentalist who always feels the need to proselytize to anyone who doesn't recycle or drive a hybrid automobile.

2011-01-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Wandering Wednesday! Wandering Wednesday is a weekly link-up hosted by Inspiring You To Save! and Paisley Passions. It was created for socializing and to get new followers, subscribers, and readers. Every Wednesday a new linky will be posted. Here's how it works:

Follow the hostess and co-host (first and second spot on the linky)

Leave a comment if your a new follower with your web address and I will follow back.

Grab the link-up button and post "Wandering Wednesday" on your blog to help spread the word.

Link up your blog post for "Wandering Wednesday". The more people that know, the more that will join in, the more fun it will be!!

Have fun!

Thumbnails: This is a Blog Hop! 14 entries so far... you're next!

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Word of the Day:

netroots

\NET-roots\

noun

:definition:

the grassroots political activists who communicate via the Internet especially by blogs

:example sentence:

Inarguably, it was the campaigning by the netroots that helped the senator get elected.

Do YOU take life for granted??

2011-01-03T13:25:00.000-08:00

Counting my Blessings

1) New Beginnings

2) Good Friends

3) Amazing Children

4) Grateful Family

5) Most caring, understanding, best friend ever!

Isn't it amazing how much we take for granted in life every.single.day? I mean we all love our significant others and children but do we really show them how much? Do they know how much they mean to us? How much we really love them?

Your good friends.... do they know how much you treasure their friendships? Do they know how much you appreciate them being your friend?

Often times we all get so caught up in this crazy thing called LIFE that we tend to take for granted some of the things we have in our lives. Both physically and materialistically.

Often times it's a little too late to tell that person how much you love them, or too late to show your friends just how much their friendship means to you.

Life is just too darn short for us to "forget" those special people in our lives. You never know what the day holds for you, so be sure to tell those you love that you love them; tell your friends how much their friendship means to you; be sure everyone who is a part of your everyday lives know exactly how important of a role they play in your life.

It's important not just for you to say it, but for them to hear it.

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Today's Word of the Day is:

concrete
(adjective)

Definition:

1: naming a real thing or class of things

2: formed by coalition of particles into one solid mass

3: relating to or involving specific people, things, or actions rather than general ideas or qualities

4: relating to or made of concrete

2011 Goals & Wishes

2011-01-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

While I used to make New Year Resolutions every year, they usually ended up being epic fails. So last year I started my "New Year Goals" list. It was a list of things I WANTED to accomplish, but they were more of a "get as much crossed off the list as you can" type of thing. And with the wedding, cruise and vacations thrown in there, I knew it was going to be tough.

I found this excerpt from a fellow blogger, and it totally surmizes the same exact ways I was feeling, and expresses what I wanted to say:

I have spent the last couple of days pondering the difference between a goal and a resolution. It is a strange thing to ponder, but I think knowing the difference helps me to establish what I want to set for myself this year.

Merriam-webster defines a resolution as : a formal expression of opinion, will, or intent voted by an official body or assembled group. A goal is : the end toward which effort is directed.

I am not good with resolutions. I never stick to them because there never seems to be an end, and going by the definition it is just an expression of opinion. I like the idea of goals. I am stating the end point where I want to be. I looked through my goals that I set for myself last year. I accomplished some, but not all, but I completed something.

I am excited to have goals for this upcoming year. I know that I won't accomplish them all, but if I don't set my threshold high, then I won't strive for any of them. I am going to actually print out my goals this year and post them so that I can make sure to work through the list. I think that is partially why I didn't complete so many from last year.

So, this year I have a list again. A list that I want to slowly but surely have things crossed off. My "goal" per se, is to cross as many things off said list as I can.

This year, I've separated my goals & wishes into two categoties: Lifestyle Goals & Around the House Goals.

Lifestyle Goals ~ 2011

Take time to stretch & work out every morning
Cook and Eat Healthier
Stick to my weekly menu planning
Read the Bible in 90 days
Read 125 books
Blog on a daily basis
Keep in touch with family more often
Create & Stick to a Daily Household Chore List
Continue to pursue my BA
Take mini-vacations with Brian more often
Continue our Date Day Thursdays
Purchase at least one Christmas gift a month
Stick to my Word of the Day
Attend & get involved with Church
Put $20 away a month in a "pickle jar"

Around the House Goals ~ 2011

De-clutter the Den
Get the Den cleaned & organized
Get my Clever Confections business supplies organized
Re-theme the bathroom
Re-organize kitchen cupboards

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I'm sure I'll be tweaking these lists as the days roll by, hopefully crossing things off as they are achieved and /or accomplished.

Let me leave you all with today's Word of the Day!

flummox

It's a verb, and it means confuse.

Here's an example of the word used in a sentence:

Ruth was flummoxed by the angry outburst and wild accusations that greeted her mild complaint.

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

Yay! It's a New Year!!

While 2010 was such a great year, I'm glad it's finally over!! It flew by so fast for me; perhaps the fastest year for me that I can remember!!

We had so many memerable milestones this year ~ some good, some bad. I loved every second of my life in 2010, but I'm so very ready for the New Year!

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The hubby and I got married in April on the beach of Catalina Island! We were fortunate to have 40 of our closest friends and family members cruise with us on the Carnival Elation for a 4 night, 5 day cruise down Baja Mexico. While in port at Catalina Island, we had our ceremony on the beach!

It was simply AMAZING!!

In May, we celebrated with our family and friends at an "At-Home" Reception in California, followed by another Reception in Minnesota four weeks later in June.

We had a very busy but exciting couple of months of traveling! It was an awesome time, that's for sure!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unfortunately, our happy times cme to an abrupt halt. A week after our return from Minnesota, we were informed that Brian's only Uncle had passed away. So, instead of flying back on short notice, (flights were actually up to $800 plus per person), we rented a car and road tripped it 2000 plus miles back to Minnesota for the funeral.

We got to see some of Brian's family members who he hadn't seen in years and I was able to meet some of them as well.

Needless to say, we were in Minnesota for our Reception, Brian's 50th Birthday as well as his Uncle's Funeral. Our June and July was full of traveling!

Three months later, my grandfather in Hawaii passed away. So, in October, Brian and I flew to Hawaii for my grandfather's funeral. We were there for about a week and despite the fact tht we were there for the funeral, it was Brian's first trip so we were able to take him around the island and do some touristy things as well.

Again, for the funeral, I was able to see lots of family members that I haven't seen in decades!!! I was even able to actually meet some that I've never met before.

My brother flew in from Guam and I hadn't seen him in about 5 years. Also, Brian was able to meet my father! Along with my brother and all my other family members!

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So yeah, it goes without saying, our 2010 had some very memorable moments and events!

I hope 2011 brings everyone lots of joys and memories!

Happy New Years!!!

Facebook Like You Back

2010-12-29T06:53:00.000-08:00

This is a new "Blog Hop" that I recently found on a Blog that I absolutely love. It's Simply Stacie, and you can find her HERE.

I 'linked' my Clever Confections Facebook page to this blog hop hoping to get my Clever Confections business spread throughout the States!

Click on the links below to check out some fun Facebook Pages!!

Happy Hopping!

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Welcome to Facebook Like-You-Back hosted by Kelly’s Lucky You, Coupon Mommy of 3, Simply Stacie, Stockpiling Moms and Heavenly Mommy!

Are you looking for new Facebook pages to follow and new friends who like your page? Then join us!

1. Add your Facebook page to the MckLinky (you only have to add it to one and it will appear on all).

2. Click on the Facebook link for the five hostesses and “like” them on Facebook. Leave a comment on their wall and they will like-you-back.

3. Like as many more Facebook pages as you want, leaving comments with links so they’ll know where to like-you-back.

It's almost the New Year!!

2010-12-29T06:06:00.000-08:00

This past year has absolutely FLOWN by for me! It seems like it was just yesterday when I posted this post entitled "20 in 2010". In fact, I'm not even sure if I accomplished all of my 'goals'.

Here's that list again, with the highlighted ones that I've accomplished!

1. Read 100 books.
2. Purchase one Christmas gift a month. (So I can have a relaxing December)
3. Shred 6 days out of the week utilizing Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.
4. Read the Bible in 90 Days. Thank you to Kallay & Mandi for this idea!
5. Cook and eat healthier.
6. Invite a Guest Blogger at least once a month.
7. Stop deleting my Word of the Day daily emails and actually utilize the word in my daily conversations.
8. Spend more time with my family. (Kiddo's, Aunts, Uncles & Cousins that are here in California & local to me)
9. Attend and get involved with Church.
10. Go back to school & pursue my Bachelors . <-------(I'm 41 years old ~ this should be interesting!)
11. Stop worrying about what other people think about me.
12. Put $20 a month away in a 'pickle jar'. (Just to see if I can be disciplined enough to do it)
13. Pay off my Credit Card debt.
14. Write in my blog once a day.
15. Share one NEW photo a day with my readers.
16. Become more Eco-Friendly & Frugal within my household.
17. Have my children come for dinner at least once a month throughout the year.
18. Expand my Cakes 4 Fun as the year progresses.
19. Get married in April on Catalina Island. (Ha! This one's a given)
20. Learn to conquer my OCD traits I have. (I seriously have this problem with washing my hands about 100 times a day unnecessarily)

So, we see how much I accomplished! Lol! I didn't realize the wedding would be so time consuming, and well, with not one, but TWO 'At-Home Receptions' to deal with, yeah...we were traveling for a while there!!!

I'll have to go into detail when I do my "YEAR 2010 RE-CAP". :D

So, while I relish in a Vikings win from last night, (since you know, the hubs is a Vikings fan and all) I'll start my Hump Day off by doing some much needed laundry while I catch up on some new blogs I've been putting off lately! (Thank you new Followers!!)

Have a great last "Hump-Day" of 2010!!

Crazy Busy Christmastime

2010-12-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

Whew! Christmas is over! It's been a very crazy, weird Christmas for me this year. I don't really know why, but besides the fact that I've been CRAZY BUSY baking wise, this year, the Holidays have been a little "blah" for me. I'm usually organized and gung ho into the Christmas season, but as I said, this year was just alright for me.

Christmas Day was a very quiet but joyful one! My two older kiddo's came down from Sac Town and we had Christmas Dinner here. We usually have Christmas Dinner at our place and I hope it's a tradition we continue for years to come!

Here's a photo of my daughters, with my son's girlfriend in between them.

Ya wanna see my most favorite, ever, ornament I received this year was? Can you just guess?!?

You all know I'm a DIEHARD Steeler's fan and this just made my day!! I also received a Steeler's Shirt from a friend in Kansas. ♥

My baby, Elyssa, and I have had a blast the last week or so while she's been here, just doing a whole lot of nothing, but everything! We can be so silly together where only the two of us can. Fun nights together are memories to last a lifetime! This is us on Christmas Day.

Yes, I'm shorter than my 14 year old. Way shorter. But that's okay. Like I tell her, I'm not short.... I'm just "fun size". :)

We've had fun nights of her doing my hair...my make up...and staying up late eating junk food. Fun times.

Taking random silly photos while out and about.

Christmas Eve I had three local pick up orders. ALL Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes. Needless to say, because I've been so "blah" during the last couple of weeks, I waited until the last possible minute to do these orders. So, Christmas Eve morning I was baking my little heart out.

My kitchen was smelling like Chocolate Cupcakes infused with a little Guinness Beer. Then making the Chocolate Bailey's Ganache made the room smell even more heavenly!! On to the Bailey's Buttercream. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Baking was lifting my spirits!

Here's a photo of some Irish Car Bomb Mini Cupcakes (without the Ganache filling).

These were fun to make and from the feedback I received from my clients who ordered these, they were a hit! Yay! I made some extra ones (of course) and boy, let me tell you... I don't really care for Chocolate, let alone sweets, and these were the perfect size for me. Not too much Chocolate and not too sweet. :)

I hope you all had a great Christmas! For those of you traveling, be safe on your journey home! Safe travels to all!

It's almost 2011!!

2010-12-14T19:53:00.000-08:00

With the Holidays looming around the corner and 2011 just about upon us it's been a really crazy busy last couple of months!!

This past weekend, I participated in a small Vendor Fair and had a good time. It wasn't quite as busy as I'd hoped for, but it was fun nonetheless! I *once again* forgot to take good pictures with my camera, so all I have is a few snap shots with my Cell Phone.

I did sell some stuff, and received orders which was my goal, so I'm glad that I participated!!

When we were done for the night, and removing things from the Club House, two kids decided they would come in and be a bunch of punks!! They dumped my leftover Cupcakes all over the floor in the Kitchen.

This is the container the Cake Bites were in and the square pan the Cupcakes were in.

I'm participating in a much bigger Fair this Saturday so I'll be crazy busy the next couple of days replenishing my inventory of Coasters. This is how far I got to this point.

I need to do several more sets, then start on my chocolates!! :) I love making them! Between the Pretzels and Peanut Clusters, I'm starting to like them more than cupcakes!!! :D

On the Agenda for Cupcakes are: Margarita, Irish Car Bomb and also Caramel.

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So, I didn't realy do very well with my 100 books in 2010, or my 101 things in 2010, so..... do I try to do it for 2011??? I think so. I'm going to be thinking of realistic goals that I can achieve, places I can realistically visit, and tasks I can realistically complete!

Stay tuned for my lovely list!!!!!

What a week!!!! T Minus 18 Days!!

2010-12-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

I was consumed with all things baking and candy mking!!!!!! I tell you what!! Unfortunately I was so caught up with everything, I didn't get a chance to take photos of our dessert bar and food table from our party Saturday night!!! Boo!! The Chocolate dipped Rice Krispies were fun to make, and the Cake Bites.....OMG... so much fun and they were a HIT!!! So many compliments!!! I'm going to for sure make them more often and perhaps even put them in my Clever Confections & Gifts Etsy Shoppe!

I suppose I'll have to re-create some of the goodies, be sure to take pictures, then share with you all!!!! BUT... I did remember to take a few pictures of a Baby Shower cake that I did yesterday.

However, before I show you the pictures, let me first tell you guys how insanely agonizing my sleepless nights have been for me!! I've been suffering from bouts of insomnia the last several months, it's pathetic!! There's been nights where I lay awake not being able to sleep, and the next thing I know, it's 4:30 a.m., and my husband is getting up to get ready for work. Really.

Now on to some re-cap!!! We hosted our first annual Holiday Party Saturday night!! It was so much fun!! We did get a lot of last minute cancellations, but it was an awesome turn out nonetheless!! Here are a few snap shots of some of our guests.

For our hot finger foods we served Meatballs in a BBQ Sauce, Smokie Links in a BBQ Sauce, Chicken Wings and Won Tons. I was busy frying up the Won Tons fresh as guests were coming so they'd be nice and hot!! 150 of those babys...all gone in less than an hour!! They too, were a hit!! (Not to mention the fact that my son called dibs on the leftover filling and package of Won Ton wrappers to take home with him.)

We had a White Elephant Gift Exchange and it was so much fun!! There's always a few in the bunch who are so competitive, it's funny!! There were several awesome gifts that got "stolen" the allotted three times almost immediately. They were a Heated Neck Massager; $20 worth of Scratch off Lottery Tickets; a set of Travel Coffee Mugs; and a cute cozy Fleece Blanket!! Other gifts included Gift Baskets of Wine and Chocolates, a Roadside Emergency Kit, A cute Hummingbird Feeder, a Gift Basket of Tastefully Simple products, Chocolate Monopoly & Trivial Pursuit Games, and tons more!! We all had a blast!!

After our fun filled Holiday Party, a few friends gathered back at our place for some wine and chit chat until about 2 a.m. or so. Of course, we *had to* end the night watching some Michael Jackson videos and Brian showing off some of his moves. It's a tradition of sorts.

In fact, I know I've shared this video before, but for those who haven't had the honor of seeing it, here's a video of my wonderful husband, sharing his Michael Jackson dance skills at Mango, Mango in Ensenada, Mexico on our Wedding Cruise.

Isn't he absolutely CRAZY????

Needless to say, it was an exhausting night for me and I actually didn't get to sleep until a little after 4 a.m. again. Only to have to wake up bright and early to start on a Baby Shower Cake! I started baking at 9 a.m. and was out the door with the cake and cupcakes by 1:30 p.m. UGH....talk about pressed for time!!! I wish the photos were bigger but this is all I got!

So, my agenda for the rest of the day today is to do a little damage control in my kitchen, get a few Etsy orders shipped, and then RELAX!!!

After a week of baking for Etsy Orders, 50th Birthdays, a Baby Shower and goodies for our party, I'm pooped!! Another round starts on Friday, so I'm going to take the next few days and get my place decorated for Christmas!!!

Speaking of which..... I've received some CUTE ornaments from friends spread all over the U.S. Here are a few of them!!

OHH!! One last thing! I almost forgot!! You all know I'm a Football Fanatic right?!? And my all time FAVORITE team is the STEELER'S!! Well, how 'bout their HUGE win last night?!?!?!

Happy Monday everyone!!! Hope your start to this week is great!!

22 Days until Christmas!!

2010-12-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

I know, I know..... it's been FOREVER since I blogged. But really, it's for great reasons!!

I've been extremely busy with my Etsy Orders. Orders thru my Etsy Store and orders through word of mouth business. Needless to say, I've been baking my little heart out as well as making candies and shipping. CRAZY busy I tell you!!

This weekend is going to be just as busy! Brian and I are hosting our first annual Holiday Party tomorrow night. Finger foods, and a dessert bar! Our desserts will include:

Caramel filled cupcakes with Caramel Buttercreme

Milk Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sticks

Also on the Dessert menu is:

* Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Rice Krispies
* White Chocolate coverd Cake Bites
* Peanut Clusters
* Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
* Better than Sex Cake
* Pumpkin Roll

I will be sure to post pictures of everything after tomorrow night!

I also have 2 cakes for a 50th Birthday Party that's being picked up Saturday afternoon!! AND.... I have a tiered Baby Shower Cake with 24 cupcakes to do for Sunday afternoon.

What else is new?? Pretty much that's it. I've been keeping busy and am enjoying it! I'm more excited of the fact that IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!! Woot woot!!

Well, back to baking!! Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Back to Blogging!

2010-11-12T12:29:00.000-08:00

Wow!! Life has really consumed my days, and I've been really distracted the last couple of weeks which has led me to neglect my blogs. :(

But HERE I AM!!!

What has gone on and what have I done these past 6 to 8 weeks???? Well, the major event in my life was our trip to Hawaii. It wasn't the greatest of circumstances of reason for our otherwise awesome trip but we made the best of it!!! My grandfather passed away early October and we flew tothe islands for the services. It was thouroughly bittersweet! Brian got to meet my father and my brother for the very first time!! I got to reunite with so many family members that I hadn't seen for YEARS!!!! Some I hadn't ever met before!

It was Brian's first trip to Hawaii and we got to take him sightseeing a couple of days while we were there even though doing the touristy thing wasn't on our agenda this trip. (We've been planning a trip to Hawaii for April of 2011).

Here's few pictures of our trip.... Me with a Life Guard at Magic Island :)

The next couple of photos are family photos taken at my Grandfather's services..

Me, my younger sister Alicia, our dad, my oldest sister Kim, step-sister Jalynn and our bother Wayne.

Me, Alicia, Kim and Wayne

Grandpa

The "Cabo's"

I've also been busy with wedding cakes, Etsy Orders (an unusual amount of orders!!) and trying to catch up with life in general!!

The Holidays are upon us and that means I'm going to even that much more busy! Brian and I are hosting our firdt annual Gile Holiday Party! This year it's going to be on a Saturday, December 4th. 9 days after Thanksgiving....3 weeks before Christmas. So, I've got that to get put together!!

The day after our Holiday Party, I have the honor of making a Baby Shower cake for an awesome couple!!! It's a Jungle theme and the mom wants a Mod Monkey cake. So this should be fun!!!

I'm also participating in a "Vendor Blender" on December 12th so I have to prepre for that as well!! This is an event where vendors come together and display their products.. We'll offer products to purchase right there on the spot or customers can place orders as well.

So...it's going to be a busy, busy life for me fo the duration of the year!! :)

I'll be sure to blog more often and share more photos!!

xoxoxoxo

My newest addition......

2010-10-18T23:20:00.001-07:00

To My Etsy Shop!!

Be sure to visit Clever Confections & Gifts for the upcoming Holidays!!

Our newest listing is CERAMIC COASTERS!

These are our Pink Damask Coasters

These are our Pink Butterflies & Flowers Set

And we have the Black Damask

We also do custom personalized Photo Coasters as well

Randomness via Photos

2010-10-16T09:04:00.001-07:00

~ Geocaching ~

2010-10-08T02:56:00.000-07:00

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a (GPS) to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container or zip lock bag (usually a small plastic weather proof container) containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value.

Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica. Currently, there are 1,208,480 active geocaches around the world.

These "caches" are hidden in boxes ranged in size of a small film canister to a toaster sized metal box. Some boxes had small "trinkets or treasures" in them which could be taken as long as you left something equal or greater in value. What is in all the boxes is a log sheet which you would sign your name and date on, signifying that you've found that particular "cache". Then when all is done, you would re-hide the box in the same location you found it and you would log it in as "found" on geocaching.com, the home site for this scavenger hunting game.

I first was introduced to this "geocaching" hobby by my old high school friend Kenna about a year ago. She told me how she and her kids, along with her husband would hike all over to find these hidden boxes using her GPS. It never really sparked my interest back then, however another friend of mine, Amanda, mentioned Geocaching the other day and I thought...hmmmm...this could actually be a little fun!!

My husband and I have "Date Day Thursdays" every Thursday as it's his only day off during the week, along with every other weekend. Yesterday after our weekly breakfast at a local restrauant, I decided I'd like to try out this Geocaching thing.

I looked on the geocaching site and I found that there were thousands of caches hidden in my surrounding area and a several hundred right in my home town.

I quickly downloaded the Geocaching app on my Android HTC, and did a little searching. I then had to go to my PC and gather more information on "finding caches" so I at least knew what I was doing! With info in hand, along with my handy dandy Cell Phone, we set out to find our very first cache! It was an easy one. The GPS on my Phone took me right to the place I needed to be.

It was located in a stip mall type of location a two blocks from our home. I read the description of this specific Geocache that the person who was responsible for hiding this "cache", and it was called "Nice Landscape". In reading the online log from previous finders, we were able to narrow it down to either a Del Taco or an Applebees. Once I figured out the coordinates and matched it to the compass on my GPS, it was determined that it was somewhere behind the Applebees. I told Brian we were there...we were at ground zero. We just had to search high and low for "something". We didn't know what exactly we were looking for, and honestly, I didn't know how big or small it would be. This was, of course, our first hunt!

After several minutes...well, okay..maybe it was closer to 15 minutes than just several minutes...of searching, I just happened to find it in a low bushy tree! It was hanging in a little round green container which blended in very nicely with the color of the leaves in the tree! I gave Brian the little container, and he quickly opened it and inside was a scrolled up piece of paper which I took out. On it was a bunch of names of the people who found it before me. I signed our name (our Geocaching "handle") along with the date and returned the canister back to it's original hiding place and off we went with anticipation of finding our next cache.

Our next adventure was a little tougher than the first one because of it's location. Nonetheless, we found it...it took a little longer than our first one, but we were both bound and determined to find it.

After a half hour of walking in a field of dead grass and tons of those prickly stickers that poke in your shoes, I was ready to give up. Not to mention the fact that we were literally ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY! In the ditch area. Okay...so the coordinates took us to the OTHER SIDE of the fence, however, after reading the many clues left by previous finders, we determined that we of course, had to go to the highway side of the fence. Yikes. Granted, there was a thin little inner fence there, but still...we were like just about on the highway itself.

As I was feeling like a failure, and walking back towards the vehicle, Brian shouted.. "I think I found it". I ran over to him and there was a little brick...totally out of place considering the area was a total dead field with dry grass galore! He said he just happened to nudge this piece of brick over with his shoe and viola!

The person who hid this one did a magnificent job of hiding it! Very clever idea! He had drilled a hole in the brick and super glued the metal tube into the brick. Again, inside this "cache" was a simple log.

I'm determined to find one that has some goodies in it! Like these:

Boy, this geocaching hobby is addicting. It's the challenge of finding what is hidden from you. It's the mystery of the hunt and the satisfaction of the find.
My suggestion to you if you decide to try geocaching is to map it out before you leave. Try not to do it alone. Bring a cell phone. Bring gloves, water and some snack food. Have fun. Oh...and most of all, DON'T WEAR FLIP FLOPS on these adventures, no matter if they're just "right around the corner" from your home or not!!! Trust me!

This is a web site where you could learn all about Geocaching and how to get involved. Seriously, it's so much fun!!

http://www.geocaching.com/

Football, Baseball.. oh..and Duke Photos!!

2010-10-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy week this last week, and I'm emotionally exhausted!! My Steelers loss on Sunday was kinda the topping on the cake!!

However, boy do I love me some Hines Ward!!

Despite the fact that the Steelers lost on Sunday, they're still doing well without Big Ben! We're 3-1, not too shabby! Most predicted that we were going to be 0-4 without Ben!!!

I knew going into the game against the Ravens it was going to be a tough one for both teams. I represented my team!!

It was a great game and unfortunately, we lost. But that's okay...we'll be seeing the Ravens again in December! Hopefully we can get a win out of it!!

Let's not forget Baseball's 2010 National League West Champions!!!

The San Francisco Giants!!! Woot woot!!

And wow! Buster Posey?!? He's a phenomenal baseball player for such a youngster at 23 years old!! He's the same age as my son!! In such a short period of time playing in the Big Leagues, he's made a name for himself!! What a little cutie!!

He made his major league debut on September 11, 2009, and after playing a third of the 2010 season in the minors, was called up to the Giants on May 29, becoming the team's starting catcher on June 30. In July 2010 he earned both NL Player of the Month and NL Rookie of the Month honors.

But my FAVORITE, ALL TIME Giant's player is none other than.....

JT Snow!!

Wanna see some cute Duke photos?!? Here's a few from the last couple of days...

All things Sweet!

2010-09-29T05:54:00.000-07:00

Margarita Cupcakes

Oh how I enjoy making these. Between these delicious Margarita Cupcakes and the Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes (which by the way are my two most favorite Cupcakes to make) I love, love, love, the Margarita ones a tad bit better!!

I spent most of morning yesterday making several dozen Margarita Cupcakes. And no...I didn't take any swigs of the Tequila...AT ALL. :)

For some reason, I enjoy making these particular Cupcakes the most. Perhaps it's because I love Margaritas in general. Oh yes, I believe that's probably the number one reason why.

These Margarita Cupcakes are a yellow cupcake, made from scratch, with hints of lime flavoring from the zest of limes. They're topped with a Lime Buttercream also infused with Lime flavoring and lime zest. This delicious buttercream also contains Tequila which gives it that extra flavor which, combined with the lime is ABSOLUTELY TO DIE FOR!! A true "Margarita" tasting Cupcake!!!

On Monday, I spent the morning making these amazingly tasting Chocolate Covered Pretzels! They are the BEST!! You have that salty taste of the Pretzel, yet the sweetness of the Chocolate..... a very intoxicating combination!!!

I made Milk Chocolate with Sprinkles......

And White Chocolate with Sprinkles......

I also made some Milk Chocolate with Crushed Oreos.....
They didn't look all too appealing, but they tasted DELICIOUS!!

How would you like to sample some of these goodies?!? Well, be sure to keep coming back to check because there's going to be opportunities coming up in the next week or so for you to receive a gift basket from Clever Confections!

In the mean time, go check out my Etsy Store
Clever Confections and Gifts

Happy Wednesday!!!

FOOTBALL SUNDAY!!!!!

2010-09-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

I am all about FOOTBALL!! Especially the STEELERS. The 6 time Super Bowl Champion Steelers. The ONLY team to have won 6 Super Bowls. Seriously. I am a Steeler Fan Junkie!

However... I do have to say I like Football in general. I guess it's because I grew up watching NFL games every.single.week!

Growing up in the Bay Area of California, it was either the 49'ers or the Raiders. Despite the fact that we lived in a City two minutes away from Oakland....ten minutes from the Oakland Coliseum, you'd think my mom would be a Raider fan right?!? Nope. She was a DIE HARD 49'er fan through and through!

She was a petite, 4 ft., 9 inch Chinese/Filipino who could whoop and holler with the best of 'em. Cussing up a storm every few minutes... oh.. yes... how I miss those days!! We'd have BBQ Sticks like these:

And of course Won Tons like these homemade ones my daughter and I made:

Mmmm.. those were the days!!!

These days, my Sundays consists of spending it from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. (sometimes earlier if I get tired.. or later if my Steelers are still playing) at either Cool Hand Lukes (because you know, it's the Coolest Joint in Town)

Or this local Pizza Parlor that is most famous for their incredibly delicious Chicken Wings! This place has been open for 35+ years and still going strong! Quite honestly, I don't quite care for their pizza, but boy, those Chicken Wings are TO DIE FOR! I usually order them with some Fries and this is what I get:

Well, onto this week's Steeler's game. This is what I have to say about that!

Both teams are going into this game 2 - 0, so its going to be a good game. I think the Steeler's defense can hold the Bucs, but their offense (Steeler's) need to do some fancy dancing early on!!! I have faith! I have faith!

Now, here's an awesome photo to leave you all with.... this is a true Steeler Fan! I should have worn my Steeler Scarf, and had my Steeler Football with me in this picture. Ah... maybe next time! :)

Potpourri of Thoughts!!

2010-09-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

That is me...this evening...after two Washington Apples, a portion of a Strawberry Daiquiri and a Red Headed Slut....well actually, the Red Headed Slut was the drink in my hand.

Nothing like having a drink at the Coolest Joint in Town (Cool Hand Lukes). And yes, for those of you who don't know me, I don't normally drink more than one drink....EVER. But today was a special occasion. I had a lousy day, people irritated me, and sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Anyway... on Wednesday I decided to try a Martha Stewart Cupcake Recipe. The recipe I tried is her Hi-Hat Cupcakes. (Meg, I know you'll appreciate these!!)

These are the cupcakes with the Vanilla Meringue Frosting. Don't they look delish?!?

And here they are after I dipped them in the Chocolate.

Not quite as appealing as Martha's but oh well! I tried! I'm actually fine with it as it was only my first attempt at this recipe.

On Thursday Brian and I stopped at our local Hallmark Store and guess what I found?!? You know Christmas is coming soon right?!? (Three months from today!!) Anywho...... lookie lookie!!!

A Troy Polamalu Christmas Ornament!! How awesome is that?!?

And for you Twilight fans....here's one for you..... Edward and Bella

Here's a few more photos of more cupcakes. These are Margarita Cupcakes. They have Tequilla in the Lime Green Frosting. And though I normally don't eat any sweets, I just had to taste these babies and let me tell you....they were soooo good. The cupcake itself had a lime taste to it ~ subtle there; and the frosting....mmmmm. Yummy!!!

(Meg, you're going to love these too!!)

And how about these?!? Chocolate Covered Pretzels. These particular ones are dipped in Milk Chocolate sprinkled with nonpareils.

Yep.. I can tell Christmas is around the corner! I've had several orders on my Etsy site and more people emailing me requesting goodies!

Christmas is around the corner!!

2010-09-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

Three months and three days until Christmas!!! I'm so excited!!

I love Christmastime! It's my favorite Holiday of the year. Granted, I love all Holidays, but Christmas is the best!!

Here's some questions for you.....

When do you set up your Christmas tree and decorations?
Do you buy for everyone in your family or do you all pick names?
Have you started Christmas shopping yet?
Do you go shopping on Black Friday?
How long do you leave your Christmas tree and decorations up?

This year we're going to host a Holiday Party. Not necessarily a "Christmas" Party per se, but since the date we're looking at is three weeks before Christmas, we're calling it a "Holiday" party.

We're going to do a White Elephant Gift Excahnge so it'll be fun! Tons of hors d'oeuvres, wine, finger foods, more wine, Holiday music, desserts, friends, fun!! Love it and can't wait!!!

You should see the cute little invites we're going to use. Here's a scanned image of it!

I had a wonderful friend who lives in Chicago do these for me! She's awesome!!
If any of you have suggestions for DIY Holiday themed decorations, be sure to pass them along! I've got to get started on things, especially if I'm going to DIY them!!

I'll be sure to share photos along the way. :)

30 Day Blog Journal = Epic Fail

2010-09-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

Although I was so on a roll, it's unfortunate that because our Internet went out at home, I got behind..... then I started posting from my Droid Phone (which by the way was a PITA).... then I gave up altogether.....

Now that our Internet is fixed and our WiFi signal is strong, I'll have to resume my 30 Day Blog Journal Posts.

Minnesota meets California

Creating Cards!!!

Sneak Peek at February's Warmer & Scent of the Month

Close to My Heart Monthly Club

Scentsy Mystery Host Party!!

Woot woot! I'm back!!!

*Types of Scentsy Parties*

Diabetes Awareness Month

Guess what's coming in just about a week and 2 months????

Week 3 Give Away Winners!!!

Christmas in July ~ Week 3 Give Away

MIA

Christmas in July Give Away Week #1 Winner!!

Last day for our Christmas in July Give Away #1

Friendly Friday Blog Hop

Christmas In July Give Away #1

CHRISTMAS IN JULY GIVEAWAYS!!!

Happy 4th of July!! :)

I'm back!!!!! And sharing an awesome Give Away from a fellow Blogger!!

My New Motivation...on my way to a skinnier me!!

Happy Tuesday

Blogging from My Phone

Scotty McCreery

Pinterest!!!!

Fun DIY'ing it Myself

Time for Change!!!

June 30 Day Photo Challenge {a few days late}

Being Creative is Fun!

And so it begins.........

The Semester is *Almost* Over!!!

One Year Ago Today.................

Beer Tasting Themed Party

Vote for Hines!!!

Vote for Hines Ward on Dancing with the Stars!

Getting In Shape! (For reals!!) Physically and Mentally!!

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies!!!

Spring Forward!!

Woo Hoo, It's Friday!!

Classes.....Ugh!

All things Cupcakes including Cupcakes that are really Cookies :)

It's been a long time!!!!

Eric Kasum

Columbus Day? True Legacy: Cruelty and Slavery

Superbowl Bound

One game away!!

Zebra Cake Photo

Let's go Steelers!!

Reading Challenge 2011

It's that time of year again......

Follow Me Back Tuesday Blog Hop!

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes Special Offer!!!

Happy 21st Birthday!!!

Parties Galore!!

Yay for Friday!!!

Frugal Fridays & Friendly Friday Blog Hops

Super Duper Savings & Date Day Thursday!!

Twitter Hop Thursday!!

Parties, Parties, Parties!!

Do YOU take life for granted??

2011 Goals & Wishes

Happy New Year!!

Facebook Like You Back

It's almost the New Year!!

Crazy Busy Christmastime

It's almost 2011!!

What a week!!!! T Minus 18 Days!!

22 Days until Christmas!!

Back to Blogging!

My newest addition......

To My Etsy Shop!!

Randomness via Photos

~ Geocaching ~

Football, Baseball.. oh..and Duke Photos!!

All things Sweet!

FOOTBALL SUNDAY!!!!!

Potpourri of Thoughts!!

Christmas is around the corner!!

30 Day Blog Journal = Epic Fail

Types of Scentsy Parties

The Semester is Almost Over!!!