The Life of Bebe Dulce

A Day in The Life

2011-03-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

There are those days when my husband comes home from work and asks me what I did that day and I say "I don't know, just regular stuff". Yesterday I thought about it for another second and this is what I did...I'll have to say that, it makes me more tired thinking about it rather than actually doing it.

Get up, fix breakfast, eat
Clean up breakfast
Take shower, get ready
Get kids ready
Go to the Grocery
Go to the Bank
Stop by see husband at work
Take Alea to dance class
Come home, make lunch
Put Emme down for a nap
Clean up lunch
Remember that I have groceries in the car
Unload and put away groceries
Prepare taxes
Clean off desk in office
Get order ready to ship and another order ready to drop off
Put load of things for the thrift store in car
Snack for kids, I get ready to go to work (I work 2 evenings a week at a Fitness club)
Husband comes home, I leave
Go to Post Office to ship order
Drop off things at Thrift Store
Drop off another order
Drop off taxes
Go to Club and work until 9:15 pm

And really that is just an overview. It doesn't include cleaning, laundry and all the little things.

Honestly I have no idea how Mom's that work full time get anything done...really.

What have you been up to lately??

2011-03-04T20:20:00.001-07:00

The day my Mom got here both of my kids got a cold. They seemed to get better by the time she left but the day after I noticed Emme was wheezing, so the next day I scheduled a Dr's appt. In the meantime Alea started crying that her ear hurt. Took them to the Doc, Emme has RSV, 2 ear infections and they think she is Lactose intolerant, Alea has an ear infection. So I have quarantined them for the past couple of days. It kills me to stay at home all day, it just makes the day forever long and I go stir crazy. Plus it has been snowing so we couldn't really go on a walk either. So what else is a Momma suppose to do???? Cook, Bake & Eat...

So me and my little helper got down to business and this is what we have made the last 2 days.

Homemade Salsa, Here is a similar recipe from The Pioneer Woman. We had this with corn tortillas & rotisserie chicken. Tigey cam home for lunch yesterday and I had a whole mexican lunch. He was surprised to say the least. I don't "cook" lunch.

Banana Bread, I will post the recipe later, it is from this cook book. If you don't have this cookbook, I highly recommend it. Great Stuff!

Homemade Pizza, I made my first pizza crust from scratch when my Mom was in town. I had leftover ingredients and decided to make another. I got Fleishman's yeast packets and just followed the recipe for the crust on the back. When my Mom was here I made one with turkey italian sausage and shredded mozzarella cheese and another with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. Last night I just did shredded mozzarella because that is what I had left. For the sauce I just used a can of crushed tomatoes and added italian seasoning. Yummmm!

Today I made Peanut Butter Bread. You can find the recipe here.

Chocolate covered strawberries & Chocolate covered peanuts. I meant to make the strawberries for Valentine's Day but that never happened. I had bought chocolate covering and decided to use it. Typically when I make chocolate covered anything I just use chocolate chips but they were/are both super yummy. I just happened to have a thing of strawberries and about half a tin of peanuts.

Beans & Rice with Chicken, I cooked black beans and added rotel, then just cooked brown rice. I added feta cheese to mine and Tigey had cheddar cheese and sour cream. I think his version was better but I opted for a lower calorie version.

Plus Homemade Mac & Cheese, For this I just added freshly shredded cheddar cheese, half a block of cream cheese, about 1/4 of a cup of milk and spoonful of butter. I heated everything on the stove until melted. Transferred it to a baking dish, topped it with a little more cheddar cheese and plain panko bread crumbs. Baked for about 30 minutes, so good. We each only took a bite because we were too stuffed from the beans and rice. I am sure it will be even better for lunch tomorrow

So basically I was stir crazy and couldn't stop myself from making anything I had the ingredients for. Next time you see me I might be 10 lbs heavier....

8:20 on a Friday night and I am blogging.....

It's Been A While....

2011-03-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a while..2 weeks almost...I have a whole list of excuses...but I will spare you. My Mom left today, she was visiting for the past week. I had big plans (huge plans to be exact) to get a ton of things accomplished. None of them happened. She came, watched my kids and I did...well I'm not sure what I did but I can tell you for sure it wasn't much. My mind and body went on vacation. It was fabulous. Thanks Mom. Now I have to come back to reality.

One thing I have started working on, is that I am challenging myself not to buy the girls any clothes at least through the summer. They have several things that I picked up on sale last summer and of course Baby Cutie has loads of clothes passed down from her Big Sis. Anything they need I am going to make it or refashion it. I have made a couple of things so far and once I get a few pics taken I will share. I am super excited about challenging myself. I can't promise that I won't buy anything because..well I just flat out like to shop and purchase things. No promises but I am gonna try to try!

The weather is beautiful so I am off to enjoy it. Hope to chat with you sooner rather than later :)

Sorry I got lost....

2011-02-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

It has been over a week since my last post (gasp!). I have a millions things on my mind but haven't really felt like putting them out there. Life and motherhood takes over and well...I just get lost in life sometimes. I just feel like I go and go all the time (because I want to not because I have to) then I make and create new things often and I am just on auto-pilot. Then I breath and take time to enjoy life. The weather has been beautiful here the past several days, so we have enjoyed the sunshine and warm (45 degrees feels warm these days). Unfortunately when I am soaking up life, I take a break from virtual life. Anyway, I am back today and thought I would share a few pics of the loves of my life....

My baby cutie pushing a baby around that is practically the same size as her.

My big cutie getting ready for swim class.

Big cutie doing her chores while Mommy naps...if only but she LOVES to vacuum with her tongue out.

She likes to keep her tongue out while swimming too.

Then my hubs decided to be romantic..... this is what I woke up to after my girls night out...

It said, I love you more but it must have rubbed off while she was sleeping, dang baby!!

Anywho, I hope everyone had a fabulous LOVE Day.

Valentine's Day Fun

2011-02-08T13:59:00.001-07:00

Okay, so LOVE Day is less than a week away and I am finally getting motivated to do a little decorating, crafts and baking. Here are some really cute projects that I am looking forward to.

Remember Mad Libs when you were a kid, check out this cute little printable from In Between Laundry. A little adult version of Mad Libs. I think I am going to print out several and maybe do a countdown to LOVE Day for the hubs. I just might print him out a couple too, so the love is full circle :)

I also loved this project from Martha Stewart and set out to do it last week when I was gathering the supplies and realized....ummm....we don't have a single crayon in this house. Remember this post. Well I really wanted to do this project because #1 it is easy #2 it is fast #3 it will be pretty hanging in our window. So I broke down and bought a small pack of crayons, not to keep, just to use this once.

Next I am going to make a couple simple heart pouches to hang on the back of our chairs to put little goodies in. I don't have a link, just something I thought of. I am going to cut out 2 felt hearts per pouch and then just sew up the sides, attach a ribbon and hang. Then throughout the day add little goodies. I will post pics once I make them.

I have many things that I want to bake. 1. basic heart sugar cookies and decorate with powdered sugar icing, sprinkles and anything else we can find to go on top. 2. chocolate covered strawberries, yummm Maybe with a bottle of champagne for me and the hubs :) 3. Valentine's Day Pops, really? Where have you been all my life? I love caramel and chocolate!

I also want to make these Berry Gummy Hearts. I found the recipe in Parents Magazine but didn't find it online so here it is. Puree a 12 oz bag of frozen, thawed berries. I am going to use strawberries. Strain to remove seeds. Pour 1 cup apple juice into microwave safe bowl and sprinkle with 5 packs of unflavored gelatin. Stir lightly to moisten and let stand 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup light corn syrup. Microwave, stirring often until the sugar and gelatin are melted about 1 1/2 minutes. Mix in the fruit and 2 tbs lemon juice. Pour in an 8" x 8" pan. Skim with paper towel to remove foam. Chill at least 3 hours until set. Dip bottom of pan in warm water and flip onto a cutting board. Use cookie cutter to make your favorite shape, hearts of course! Keep refrigerated until serving.

So that is what I have on my list. Maybe I will throw in a few more things if I can find the time and energy!

What are you making for LOVE Day.

Super Bowl Easy Recipes

2011-02-06T07:29:00.001-07:00

Super Bowl Sunday!! I decided on my menu last night. We might have a couple of people over no big deal. If you want to know the truth, I am not really into either team, so this year I suppose I'll just watch for the commercials and eat the yummy food. Any excuse to eat for the heck of it!

So I am going to slow cook a pork shoulder, have cubed sweet potatoes, salad and roasted red pepper hummus with veggies for an app. The best thing about all this is that everything will take me no longer than 30 minutes to prepare.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Can of garbonzo beans, jar of roasted red peppers. Dump them in a blender, food processor or whatever you have. Add salt & pepper if needed and voila! Now just cut a few veggies and your done!
Yummy Salad dressing

Take balsamic vinegar about 5 tbsp, 3 tbsp olive oil, and jam or jelly (I like to use raspberry preserves but use whatever you like or have) plus salt, pepper and garlic powder, stir it up and your done!

Pork Shoulder

Okay, if you have never slow cooked a pork shoulder before, go get one at the store now. I'm telling you this is one of the easiest if not the easiest thing to make and your husband and any guests you have over will be kissing your feet after taking a bite of this bad boy. You can just grin and revel in the joy and success of knowing that you did basically nothing to get this love from all.

You can either cook it in a crock pot or the oven. The crock pot is good if you aren't going to be home through the cooking (I personally don't like leaving the oven on when I am not at home but will leave the crock pot? Probably doesn't matter just one of my things..) Another thing is that my crock pot although big sometimes doesn't hold the huge pork shoulder plus the crock pot cooks much slower so if you are limited on time, go with the oven. Either way, I rub the entire shoulder generously with salt and pepper occasionally I add a little paprika but that's it. If you want you can take a skillet and brown all sides, that helps hold the flavor in and makes the outside crispy. I don't always do this because well, it is still really freaking good anyway and sometimes I don't feel like it :) If you are using the crock pot just toss that baby in and turn on high. You will need at least 6 or 7 hours. I like to turn on high and then check it after 5 hours, you can always turn it down if it is near done. For the oven I use a big roasting pan with a rack on the bottom, make sure the shoulder is covered completely, either with a sealed lid or aluminum foil. I use aluminum foil almost always. Put it in the oven on 300 if you have plenty of time. if you don't have plenty of time turn it up to 350 or 400. You can gook about an 8 lb shoulder at 400 in about 3 hours. You can also turn the temp up in the oven to 400 or 425 and crisp the top, I usually do this at the end. Your shoulder is done when you can stick a fork in it and the meat literally falls apart. The outside will naturally be more dry than the inside, so don't worry that just means the inside will be just right. Plus there is more inside than out! Now you can add BBQ sauce and make sandwiches or just eat that bad boy plain, such goodness! Later if there are leftovers you can put on a tortilla and make a little pork taco too, yum!

Cubed Sweet Potatoes

I peel and cut the potatoes. When cutting try to make sure to cut the potatoes all about the same size, so they will cook at the same rate. Then I just get a cookie sheet, dump all the pots in, drizzle with olive oil ans sprinkle with salt pepper and the garlic Mrs Dash. Bake on 350 for 15 minutes, take out stir around and bake for another 15 or until a fork slides easily in.

Happy Super Bowl!!

Eat, Eat, Eat, Ham & Beans with Cornbread + Peanut Butter Bread Recipes

2011-02-04T13:47:00.001-07:00

So basically it has been really cold here this week. I'm not talking about a little cold or below freezing, I am talking about Antarctica cold, like -25. Yep, I turned on the weather channel Wednesday morning to -25 current temp. Definitely didn't feel like going outside even if it was to get in the car, which by the way my car battery and the hubs truck battery were dead from the beyond freezing temps. So what else to do when you are stuck in the warm house beside cook, bake and of course EAT. Needless to say this week hasn't been good for my diet. Oh well at least I stayed warm, right?

Ham & Beans with Cornbread

I had a leftover ham still on the bone that I froze at Christmas. You know it was just the chunk of ham that you probably throw out because that is the chunk that they didn't slice for you... So I put the ham with bone still intact in a big pot of water (cover it completely or as much as you can), boil for an hour or two or until the ham easily comes off the bone.

Next I transfer about half of the water to another pan and dump the rest. You could definitely save the broth but I didn't this time.

Remove the ham from the bone and dice or shred, I kinda prefer it shredded. Discard fat and bone.

In the big pot I add a couple tbsp of olive oil, diced garlic and onion and saute until the onion and garlic are opaque. Add the ham and beans, cook about 10 minutes on medium heat. Add the broth, add as much as you like (soupier add more, chunkier add less)Bring to a boil, them reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Yum!! but don't forget the cornbread!

Cornbread

Okay, so I didn't do anything special here except follow a recipe and add jalapeno. I use the recipe on the back of the cornmeal container, shhh don't tell anyone.... then added diced jalapenos. If I was going to make it again I would definitely use buttermilk instead of regular milk although it was still delicious anyway. I like to just crumble the cornbread into my bowl. Seriously, so freaking good.

Are you ready for this super hard recipe? Seriously even with a 3 year old helping it took about 5 minutes or less.

Peanut Butter Bread

The best thing about this recipe is that I can pretty much bet that you have all the ingredients in your pantry right now.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (I am sure creamy would be just as good minus the crunch!)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray bread pan with cooking spray. Combine flour, sugar & baking powder. Add milk and peanut butter. Pour in loaf pan and bake for 35 minutes.

Top with jelly, jam, honey or just eat it plain. So good!!

So get to cookin' and Have a Great Weekend!!

Never Give Up On Something You Can't Go A Day Without Thinking About.....

My Big Girl

2011-02-03T11:38:00.003-07:00

My big cutie is in dance class once a week. I will have to say that every Monday morning it brings a smile and typically a big laugh to my day. It starts the week off in the right direction...minus the whirlwind it takes to get there.

Crazy pic of the little girl next to my big cutie..huh?

When far away we are all little dots but when up close we are shining stars!

I got this from this adorable etsy shop, just.lovely.things via one of my favortie blogs, Little miss Momma. If you haven't had a dose of LMM before, you should definitely check her out....now.

It is still freezing here, okay well BELOW FREEZING. It is currently -5. I think I will just put on my string bikini, close my eyes and dream of the beach...okay minus the string bikini add the Mama style tankini.

Tips on Creating Your Own Biz

2011-02-02T09:06:00.001-07:00

I have people ask me often, how do you...... regarding having your own business. So I wanted to start writing tips on having your own biz-nass. You know I don't know everything but I have learn a lot mostly through trial and error. If I can save anyone a little time, I will gladly tell you what I have learned or wish that someone told me because if you are like me your time is limited.

So first off, if you want to start an e-commerce website. As most of you know I have had several websites. The NEW site is definitely the best so far, I really like it and really like the features. It is also very easy to use on my end and on the consumer end too.

So my current site is powered by Merchant Moms (the host). This is the brains of the site, the insides, this is where I add all my info, products, registry, etc.. The other inside, the shopping cart, the money, etc.. is powered by Mal's. This is where you set up how people will checkout as well as gift certificates, discount codes, etc.. Currently my payment method is Paypal. I just link my Paypal account to Mal's shopping cart. You can get another company to just process your credit cards, I don't currently have that 1. because it is really expensive 2. because I am not doing a lot of business outside of my website right now and don't need to process cards separately but if you plan to do shows or fairs and need to type credit card #'s in you will want to get a credit card processor. I have used quickbooks in the past. They do a credit check for this so if you don't have good credit, be aware.

Next for the design, the outside the style of your site, you can google website templates. There are hundreds, many are free. I got mine from Boutique Mama, it is very affordable. The prices range from free to several hundred $$. Once you buy it the designer or company you buy it from will install it for you. So you will go to your control panel (mine through Merchant Moms) and add your products, check out your site and viola, it is all pretty and perfect!

I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that if you pay someone loads of money (starting at about $7,000, when I checked into it) to make you a custom site, you are getting the same thing that you can buy from a template website designer. Even if you pay someone loads of $$$ you still have to take all your own pics, add all your own products and do all the inside of your site yourself. If you pay someone loads of $$, you will still have to pay a monthly or yearly fee for someone to power/host your site. They only give you the design, the outside. Another company that does hosting and has designs is Pappa Shop (I almost used them but liked the features of Merchant Moms better).

So now with using Merchant Mom's, Mal's & Paypal, I have a very affordablele yet professional website.

So if you haven't already checked out my fabulous new website, check it out NOW. You can use code site20 for 20% off EVERYTHING!!

Feel free to comment with your questions, I will make sure to answer them to the best of my knowledge. OR if you have any good tip, share them!!

Do you have your own blog? Well I finally figured out how to make a button!! Check it out! Feel free to post the code on your blog. If you do, let me know and I will reciprocate! Thanks in advance!

The code is up there in the right hand corner....

Silhouette Fun

2011-01-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I finally got the chance to sit down and begin to figure out my new BFF, my Silhouette. I will have to say that their instructions aren't great. They just don't give good details on how to get started and get the paper lined up to cut. After a few waisted pages and a little frustration, I figured it out. Many I should have started with something a little more basic but..well...I just can't do that. That would be easy and well I'm not easy...no pun intended :0

As you can see the shirt on Emme really isn't very good. It was my first try. Alea is wearing her owl shirt today and it is cracking. I have yet to find a heat transfer that doesn't crack :(

Anyhoo, I love my Silhouette and they are offering 20% off until the 3rd (code is on their home page). I can't wait to get used to it and start cranking out loads of fun creations! I really want to make a subway art something.....

Smile! You never know who is falling for you!

Very Cute & Fun Craft

2011-01-29T11:47:00.001-07:00

We are heading out the watch the X Games today but I wanted to share a super cute and quick craft. I found saw these earrings on one of the blogs I read, Sutton Grace. I just had to have those rose cabochons. So I looked up the seller Pretty Lovelies on etsy and had at it. Bought a bunch of different things. Here are the rings I made.

Love them. I made earrings & bobby pins too. I got tons of compliments plus several friends wanted to buy some for presents. I sold them super cheap but still made a few bucks.

{EDIT} I use E600 glue to adhere the flowers. It helps to file the metal first. You can get the glue in the craft section at Wally-world.

For the rings or earrings themselves I would just search etsy. I bought from 3 different people. Bunny Sundries is good too.

Have a fabulous day!

New Website + Giveaway

2011-01-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how excited I am about the new site especially the new features! Baby registry, buy gift certificates online, very user friendly. If you haven't check it out already. You must check it out NOW.

Since I am a little off my rocker this week with all the fun that is happening I am offering the best deal in town with all orders! No minimum order, any order, any size, until this Sunday, January 30, 2011, I am giving away a FREE $25 gift certificate!

Can you tell I am excited??

Wait there is more...

You can't launch a website without out a giveaway, right?

So I am giving away your favorite item from our newest collection, Late Winter 2011.

Pretty cute, huh?
How can you win?

Here are the details....

Go to our website and sign up for our newsletter. It is available on several pages, find it and add your email address. Now you are entered. If you are already signed up for our newsletter, just let us know.

Want to increase your chances?

For another entry...

If you don't follow your favorite blog yet, Follow The Life of Bebe Dulce! See that little follow button down there on the right? Click it! Perfect, now you have another entry!

More entries...

*Like us on Facebook.

*Go to our website and leave us a comment on the contact page.

Now you just need to tell us what you did. Leave us a comment here, or a comment on Facebook, or a comment on our website and let us know that you want to WIN and what you did to enter.

Now just cross your fingers.

Contest ends Sunday, January 30, 2011.

My Mom is the best, seriously...

2011-01-25T16:02:00.002-07:00

You remember a couple of weeks ago I posted this and I talked about these cool things that I wanted. Well today imagine my excitement when I opened my front door to this!

It wasn't a total surprise although it was a "surprise". After she read my post she said that she thought she should get me a Silhouette.... for Mother's Day. An early Mother's Day present from the best Mom EVER. I can't even tell you how excited I am to get to know this bad boy. Unfortunately, neither one of my darling kids decided to nap this afternoon so I guess my date with my new bad boy will have to be post-poned. But until then I will just be happy and grateful that I have the best Mom EVER.

If you have never seen this amazing machine, check out their website.

Challenge #7

2011-01-21T11:01:00.002-07:00

Okay, since I have skipped the challenge for about a month now! Total slacker, I know!! Ha-ha. I am now going to just number them instead of using weeks, just in case I need to skip again. Not that I am planning to but just in case...you know to cover my a*s...

Frame It Friday..has a nice little ring to it, huh? So I had several picture frame ideas that I brought to life both were simple, simple, simple.

First, I really needed to decorate the girls room. The walls were pretty bare and if you remember my post last week regarding the wall colors in our home, well I will refresh your memory, they are all off-white. Sooo in my office I had a stash of basic black picture frames that I had bought on clearance at Bed, Bath & Beyond. They sell them in sets of 4, I had bought them a couple of years ago as I made a wall collage of pictures. I had several left and sitting not too far was an enormous stack of Alea's art work. I also had paint that I bought (craft paint from Wal-mart) when I was decorating Alea's nursery. So I just slapped a couple of coats of paint over the black frames, inserted fabulous 3 year old daughter's art work and Viola!

I made 7 of them and I will have to say, I love them! Love seeing her artwork!

Next, I have this piece of art (my Aunt's) via my grandmother. I love this piece. As you can see the frame is mostly gold. Clearly it was framed many a years ago. So bust out my black craft paint from Wally-world and here you go.

Very happy with the result! Have you done any easy, fun projects lately? Tell me about them!

Happy Friday! I have a newborn photo session next week and this week I happened to be reading one of my favorite blogs The Pioneer Woman and one of her guest's posted about this incredible photographer. I can't wait to get my lens in front of that baby next week now. I will definitely be drawing a little inspiration from Kerrianne Brown. Can you say AMAZING? Love her style!

I'm a Mom!

2011-01-20T20:08:00.001-07:00

You know my 3 year old is constantly "Mommy, Momma, Mom." telling me everything that possibly comes into her mind. We go through life and everything happens so fast. Then out of the millions of times Alea says "Mom", I stopped and think, "Holy Sh*t, I can't believe I am a Mom." I am finally here. I am one of those girls that always wanted to be a Mom. I mean I probably "played" house until I was way too old. I couldn't wait to be a Mom. And now I am here, I'm a Mom, exactly what I want to be.

What is even funnier is that today was a really hard day. They just wore me out, Alea was relentless. Now they are finally in bed maybe it's just that I am enjoying the quiet just a little too much.

They make me smile.

Super Mommy Tip #8

2011-01-17T13:54:00.001-07:00

Super Mommy Tip #8, Only Do What You Can Handle Part 3:

I think every Mom dreads doing laundry. I mean it piles up before we ever get to the bottom of it, it never stops, never a day (or hour for that matter) goes by that you are tossing something in the basket. Quite frankly I am lucky if I finish a whole load in one day from start to finish. I always tell myself that I will get better about it and not let it stay in the dryer for a day or two but I am still waiting for myself to listen. Anyway, I have decided since laundry is never ending, that I can only handle 2 loads at a time. Yep only 2! Anymore and well I get buried, overwhelmed and nearly depressed. Choose how many loads you can do at a time in order not to get buried beneath the never ending pile. If that means picking out your favorite things, then do it and don't do ANYMORE that what YOU can handle! Don't overwhelm yourself by dirty laundry.

PS. One of the best decisions I ever made (and this was before I had kids) was for my hubs to do his own laundry. When we first moved in together I took over all the laundry, folding, putting away all his clothes, being the perfect little house-girlfriend. Well it took me about a month before I realized that...well that he can do his own laundry. 6 years later he still does his own and I am still patting myself on the back for the great decision. So sorry husbands but ladies, try it! I promise this is not one that you will regret.

The Golden Rule

2011-01-13T11:27:00.001-07:00

I am sure everyone remembers "The Golden Rule", "Treat others as you want to be treated". I am sure many of you remember your parents telling you this and I do as well. Like many of the other things our parents told us over and over, we quickly forget these very important , yet simple phrases that were etched in our brains growing up.

We all are very aware of the tragedy in Tucson this past weekend. In the past few years it seems as though similar tragedy's are becoming all too common. It is beyond sad, beyond senseless. beyond disturbing that people have so much hate inside them that they want to hurt someone else. Most of the time it is people they don't know and have never met before.

Why do people have so much hate? Regardless of who you voted for President, we all got Obama. Whether you like him or not, HE IS OUR PRESIDENT. He is in charge of our country. There is nothing anyone can do to change that until the next election, so why can't we remove the hate from our minds and our hearts and work with what we have. Remember this little phrase "united we stand, divided we fall" (translation: divided we fail). Right now as a country we are failing, we are failing each other, to many are showing more and more hate. As individuals, as family members as friends, as a country we must learn to tolerate each others differences and unite as one.

Personally I try to teach my kids everyday to love everyone. Life is too short, there is no room for hate in our hearts or our minds. When we show LOVE, we spread LOVE, we receive LOVE. Obviously, therefore when we show hate, we spread hate and we receive hate in return.

If you want to make a difference and feel that the world is too big for little ol' you to make a difference, start right now, start with the person sitting next to you, with the next person you come in contact with; show them love. Love is contagious. The world is big and the problems are even bigger but change must start somewhere. Why not let it start with you, right now, this minute, this second. The hate has grown and continues to grow. We CAN stop the hate. Start NOW. Show others LOVE, compassion, caring.... embrace each others differences and learn to work together, open your mind and listen to others; treat them as you want to be treated. What we put out into the world is what we will get back. Personally I want love back. If you aren't feeling loved, show more love to others, I promise it will come back to you.

Unfortunately I did not get to see Obama's speech last night but I did look it up and read it. I think there are things he said that are extremely important if we would like to live in a more loving world.

"We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us."
"At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized — at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do — it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds," the president said.

He spoke of decency and goodness, declaring: "The forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us."

Make your mind up today that YOU want our country to change. You want our country to stop the hate. Start right now, this moment and start showing more love to each other especially when people are showing you hate..

"Love one another."

This post is in no way meant to be political. I do not voice my political views on this blog. I am not claiming to be for or against either political party.

Blah, Blah, Blah

2011-01-12T14:59:00.003-07:00

I am in need of a little motivation these days. Most people start off the New Year with a bang but I am different if you haven't noticed. Since I have had my own business and I am busy throughout December, January seems to be my laziest month.

I

MUST

GET

MOTIVATED

AGAIN

SOON

......................

Okay I just called my hubber and informed him that I will be painting our bedroom sky blue (that color just came out of the top of my head but blue is a definite possibility). The funny thing about this is that the 2 homes that we have owned together, every wall has been painted off-white. Why, you might ask? Well we can't agree on paint colors. So imagine his dismay. His response, "that is a waste of money". Ha. Ha. Why is his response funny you might ask? My husband is not money conscious and NEVER tells me not to spend money. I manage our finances, therefore I am the one saying not to buy this or that. If I ever ask him if I should buy something, he ALWAYS says yes. Maybe I will pleasantly surprise him with a new bedroom color here soon :)

Then I told him I also want to frame out our bathroom mirror. Like this. http://showandtell-sausha.blogspot.com/2010/05/framed-mirror-tutorial.html

He then asked me if I thought I was Martha Stewart. I told him he could call me Martha if he wanted to.....
I will keep you updated on my progress.

Don't hold your breath.

On a side note. I believe in angels.

I am not sure why but those simple 4 words (which I totally believe) have been in my head all day, you know like a song that is stuck in your head.

I believe in angels.

Dream a Little Dream

2011-01-11T15:10:00.003-07:00

In case you were wanting to buy me a fabulous gift for the New Year, I thought I would give you a few ideas. He-he just kidding (sort of :) I just thought I would share these amazing items that are on my want list, you can slap me later for making you want them too.

Can you believe this lady made this? Awesome! I might have to get the hub-ster on this for Alea's birthday or Christmas.
http://suttongrace.blogspot.com/2011/01/mod-doll-house-plans.html

I REALLY, REALLY want this. I know that once (yes I said once) I get it, I won't know how I ever lived without it. http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/whatcanitdo.aspx I am just waiting for one of those days when I need to buy something fabulous to make myself feel better because the Silhouette will do just that.

Not that I quit but think how fast you can cut out cute little flowers, circles and anything else my heart desires. There is a smaller, less expensive portable version but since I am wishing/dreaming, might as well dream big right? http://www.accuquilt.com/Studio-Cutter-C457.aspx

Out of all these this is probably what I will get/make first, although I have until the end of March for the babes bday. I must have it done by then. http://www.howdoesshe.com/birthday-wreath

Or maybe I will make this next for my bed. The only thing is that I want them to be REALLY big. One, because I saw a pic in a magazine years ago from a Nate Berkus ad and they were amazing. I couldn't find them for sale anywhere. Two because our bed is gi-normous so they need to be REALLY big to make them look good. The only issue is that I don't know if I can find sweaters that are big enough to make them out of. No big and tall stores around these parts. So that leaves me to knit them myself which takes the project to a whole other level. I do know how to knit although it has been a few years, oh yea 3 years ago to be exact before my first bambina was born and I had a few extra minutes during the day. Wow that was a long explanation, oops. http://brassyapple.blogspot.com/2011/01/diy-sweater-pillows-cozy-up.html

And this! http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2010/03/creative-guest-remodelaholic-pottery.html I likey.

Can't forget this. Expect to see a new design this summer with this amazing fabric. LOVE http://www.rufflefabric.com/ Which one, which one to choose.

Okay, last one I promise. I pretty much LOVE (no pun intended :) everything from this shop but this is my favorite. http://www.etsy.com/listing/39947047/unique-love-sign-because-everyone-could

Just giving you a little glimpse of what I am dreaming of today....

What fabulous things are you dreaming of??

Dreams come a size too big so we can grow into them. -Unknown

Super Mommy Tip #8

2011-01-10T10:31:00.002-07:00

Do your own salon manicure & pedicure. For most of us Mom's the days of heading to the salon every week or two to have someone else massage, rub and paint our hands and feet are just a distant memory. Time just isn't on our side to pamper ourselves as we once did. So if you are anything like me, well hopefully not because I am a little obsessed with having perfectly filed and painted nails, and want salon-looking nails here are my tips for doing your own salon mani - pedi.

1. Get salon grade polish. Every salon sells polish. My favorites are OPI & Esse. Personally on my hands I like a pale color, madamoiselle (Esse) and privacy please (OPI). I like pale colors on my hands because if I do mess up a little you can't really tell. For my feet I get brave and use a variety of colors because they are a little easier to do.

2. You will also want to get a base coat polish and a top coat polish (they do make these combined). These you can get from the drug store. For the top coat make sure you get one that is shine or extra shine.

3. You need either toothpicks (beak the point off) or bobby pins. You will use these to get the excess polish off your cuticles.

4. All optional: pumice stone, foot bath, salt scrub. If you have time, I typically do the scrubbing when I am in the bath. Or just ask your husband, I am sure he will be happy to rub your feet :) ha-ha

Okay, to get started, file your nails and trim your cuticles. If you don't have the tools, invest in them from you local drug store. They are cheap. I like clippers, a cuticle trimmer and a file. Once you finish that, you will start at the center of the nail and work your way out with the polish. You want an even, light coat. You will do 2 coats, so be sure not do it too thick. After you paint each nail, take your toothpick or bobby pin and run it along your cuticle to grab any excess polish.

For my hands, I sometimes only use one coat of polish but for the feet I always use 2 coats. I also like to make sure the polish is completely dry before I put the top shine coat on. Voila! Only you will know that you didn't spend hours at the salon getting those fabulous nails, something us Mom's only dream about these days!

Remember practice makes perfect!

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

2011-01-06T14:09:00.002-07:00

I try to tell myself this constantly. Probably every hour when I am at home with my kids, mainly when Alea has colored on, cut, or otherwise destroyed yet something else. I try to take a deep breath and think "is this really a BIG deal?" Yes I don't like what happened but is it really the worst thing that could happen? My answer is no, natta, nope, it clearly could be worse.

For those of you that don't live in a tiny little resort town that is bombarded by crazy tourists that don't have a clue how to drive in snow and ice, let me just tell you that these tourists can drive you crazy if you let them. They drive like they are in NYC, cutting people off, gunning it from light to light, definitely not stopping for pedestrians. During the "season" everytime I drive into town, I repeat to myself "is it really a big deal". Yet again my answer is "nope". If it is makes that person feel better to cut me off then so be it. It is clearly not the worst thing that could happen to me that day. Is it going to affect my life in the long run? No. Do I want it to turn my otherwise good day, bad? Definitely not. Maybe they are having a bad day and they need a little wiggle room. Fine.

The reason I am bringing this up is I see so often people get incredibly upset over the small stuff. Although I try and tell myself not to sweat it, sometimes I just do. I constantly try not to because if I do sweat it, well it changes my mood, my outlook and my outcomes. By outcome I mean that when you emit positive energy you receive positive energy. Therefore when you sweat the small stuff you are emitting negative energy and you got it...receiving negative back. Why would you want some dumb tourist or anyone for that matter to cause you to receive negative energy? Of course you don't. So just remember to let it go, blow it off, take a deep breath and don't sweat the small stuff.

Today I am attempting to make homemade rolls for hamburgers for dinner. I will let you know how it turns out. I haven't bought bread for myself since the beginning of November. I love making my own bread. If you missed my bread recipe post check it out. I got it from Weight Watchers! So it must be good for me, right? :)

"The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up."

— Mark Twain

New Year, New Me

2011-01-04T15:02:00.001-07:00

....well sort of.... Same me with a new look. Okay not really a new look for me but for my cyber me. You have probably heard me say before I like change. Change seems to brighten me up a bit and keep me on my toes. I guess you can see the first thing I changed was the look of fabulous Mr. Blog. What do ya think? Not too bad, huh? The second thing that will be changing is good ol' Mr. Website. You know since I stated my website 2 1/2 years ago I have never been super happy with the features and look. Hopefully that will change soon. I have been working on a new site on and off for about a month now. I am probably about half way done and hope to finish it up sometime this month. I will offer a registry, gift certificates and fun, new fabulous products, clothes to be exact. Beyond cute dresses, pants, shorts, shirts all in adorable fabric. I can't wait to show you. I actually have the new items that I am going to launch with the new website already finished, now I am just waiting to finish the site. Chop, chop Claire!!

As for a New Years resolution. I actually try all year to be a good person, happy, loving, caring. I don't really wait until the New Year do well, anything. Right now I am really trying to be more patient. I need patience. Having a 3 year old tests anything and everything I have in my body and mind. So I will say if I am going to choose a resolution it will be to take deep breaths and be patient. Ahhh I feel better already :)

Stay positive, think positive, be positive and you will receive positive outcomes.

Don't Forget To Eat Your Luck This New Year

2011-01-01T20:26:00.001-07:00

I like to make black eyed peas for New Years. I mean they are suppose to be good luck and I am all for any and all luck I can get. So I made black eyed peas with ham. I can't believe how good it was, black eyed peas aren't my favorite but this year I got it right. Plus it was super easy. So if you haven't had your black eyed peas yet, get started.

I sauteed garlic and onion with a little olive oil. Cut or tore ham into pieces. I probably had about 2 cups of ham. Add that to the pan. Dump in 3 cans of BEP's, do not drain the peas. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

I also made corn bread with jalapenos. Beyond Yummy!

The other recipe I made was for a BEP dip! I found it on one of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman. If you don't know about the Pioneer Woman, you must check her out. She rocks. I could go on and on about how much I like her but check out her blog and see for yourself. She is addicting. She has great recipes that never disappoint. Click here for the Black Eyed Pea Dip. So delicious.

Happy New Year. I hope this year brings everyone laughter, love and fun!

Crayons Are the Devil

2010-12-29T13:53:00.002-07:00

If you have a 3 year old or 2 year old or probably 4 year old (I just haven't gotten there yet), you have probably had this thought too, "crayons are the devil". Seriously, they do NOT come off of things easily and if your darling child is anything like mine, she will mark on everything possible. I have had this thought, "crayons are the devil", for quite some time but I assumed my kid would listen at some point to my non-stop harping, that you "only color on paper". I have now realized that my kid will color on anything and everything and under no circumstances listen to me ALL the time or even some of the time for that matter. So yesterday I had to take matters into my own hands immediately after my darling colored ALL over her new baby she got for Christmas in purple crayon. Thank goodness I didn't splurge on the American Girl doll. I did it, yes I was a little upset when I did but I will have to say that even now, over 24 hours later, I have no regrets. I threw every crayon I could possibly find (and believe me I looked everywhere) in the TRASH. Ahhhhh, (sigh of relief inserted here). Don't judge, I am a good Mama, I just couldn't take the crayons anymore. I will have to say it was exhilarating. I can deal with markers, I can deal with paint, I can deal with play dough (sort of) but I couldn't handle the crayons. Crayons just don't come out of the couch, carpet, walls, dolls, more walls, toys, clothes like washable markers and paint. I am glad they are not in my life anymore for the time being, like I said it has been a mere 24 hours.....

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that someone actually wrote a book on things their kids have destroyed. Sh*t My Kids Ruined is a real book plus they have a site where you can submit things your little darlings have ruined too! http://www.shitmykidsruined.com/

Super Mommy Tip #7

2010-12-27T13:38:00.001-07:00

This week's Super Mommy Tip: Keep 2 bags in the kid's closet at all times, one for keeping out grown clothes and one for donating. I don't know about you but the daunting task of going through all the girls clothes at once can be overwhelming therefore I put it off for as long as possible. Now I just keep a bag or box in their closet and just toss things in as they outgrow them, one to keep and one to donate. Once the box gets full I store it or take it to the thrift store. Now I no longer have that task at all, eliminated!!

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday! I know I did. Now I just need to get all these sweets that I can't stop eating out of my house! I wonder if the thrift store will take a bag of treats?? HEHE

Merry Chrstmas to Me!

2010-12-23T14:59:00.002-07:00

I have been wanting to get new throw pillows for our couch, well since we bought it a mere 3 years ago. We just used the ones that came with the couch. They weren't the worse things but they were exactly the same as the couch, so they just blended in. Last time I was browsing for fabric, I found some I liked so I make the pillows or rather pillow covers. With my crazy busy, messy kids I need to be able to wash the covers. I actually took the old pillows apart because they had piping around the edge and I thought it would make the cover look weird over it. So I took the pillows apart, removed the piping, re-sewed the pillows, then made the covers. Whattcha think?...3 years in the making..not too shabby!

This is the back where I made the slit to remove the covers. I think it is called a french pillow case.

If you have been thinking about doing the same thing, just sit down and do it already! I thought about it for so long but it only took me 2 hours to make all of them!!

Merry Christmas!!

Fun Christmas Craft!

2010-12-22T14:42:00.002-07:00

Every year when I was growing up we made Christmas ornaments. Simple ones out of flour and water. I remember them so vividly and it was something I loved doing. So this year now I have been wanting to make them with Alea. She is very into the ornaments this year. I finally got around to remembering to ask my Mom for the recipe. She loved making them. While they baked, I let her play with the extra dough and the cookie cutters, you would have thought she was on Top Chef. She did make a big mess but it kept her occupied for a several hours which was super nice.

Mix 2 cups of flour & 3/4 cup of salt. Make a well in the middle and add a cup of warm water. Knead, roll out and make the shapes you want. I then took the end of a pen, took the end off and put holes at the top so I could attach with ribbon to hang. Bake at 325 for 25 minutes or until hard. Once they have cooled, paint, color, decorate. I used simple ribbon and made a circle to hang from the tree! Super fun! Remember to write their name and the year on the back. My Mom said the oldest on she has now is 1981! How cool!

Fudge, Fudge, Fudge & Easy Last Minute Gift

2010-12-21T14:17:00.003-07:00

Another one of my favorite things to make for the holidays is FUDGE! Love it! The recipe I use is

Rachel Ray's 5 Minute Fudge.

1 bag of morsels (that word makes me laugh and I'm not sure why), I prefer milk chocolate but you can use dark, semi-sweet or whatever you like.
1 can of Sweetened condensed milk
nuts or anything else you want to add in or you don't have to add anything

In a double broiler (I just use a bowl on top of a pot) melt the morsels (!) and the add the can of milk. Once everything is melted add in your extras if you have any. FYI you don't want to continue to heat the mixture once you add nuts or whatever because that will make soft and not crunchy. Get a pan (I like to use my toaster pan), spray with cooking spray. Pour mix into pan. I refrigerate for an hour but it sets almost immediately so you don't have to. Just wait a few minutes and cut and eat!

Great to put in small bags and give to teachers, neighbors, friends....

Do you have a kid on your list but don't really know what they are into? My back-up plan for all kids gifts is ART SUPPLIES! You can't really go wrong, pretty much all kids boys and girls love to draw and color. I keep a box stocked with markers, crayons, paint, construction paper, etc... Whenever I need a kid's gift at the last minute, I just fill a bag up from my box! Also a great idea when your kids are driving you crazy and you really need to finish something. Let them pick from the box. Alea actually has a big bag with tons of supplies and I let her have at it. FYI washable paint and markers are 100x easier to clean up or get out of things than crayons! So if your kid get carried away and likes to mark on the floor, walls, couch...give them markers and paint, NO CRAYONS :)

So Much to Say!

2010-12-20T13:13:00.003-07:00

Since I have been a little MIA the past couple of weeks trying to get all my Christmas orders out, I am now bursting at the seams! I have so much to talk about, here is what I can get out today and I have the best kept secret...Super Mommy Tip!

So because I have been so busy, I haven't really gotten my hub anything for Christmas, just a couple of small things. We don't do big presents for each other anymore but I like to give him nice but practical gifts. I have definitely making him a silhouette of the girls. For those of you that don't know, I am a thrift store addict, almost...I love the thrift store. It might have something to do with where I live, you can find things at the Aspen Thrift store that you won't find at any other thrift store but that works for me. A few weeks ago I found a pair of croc shoes, brand new with tags similar to this for $10. They are regularly $50 shoes. He has gone on and on about how comfy they are, so I wanted to check out their other styles and get him shoes for Christmas. So just this morning I got around to crocs.com and realized that they have many different shoe styles. Right now they are offering FREE express shipping on all orders over $100, plus many of the shoes are buy one get a second for 50% off. Perfect! I got him 2 pairs and realized that my total wasn't $100, so I just added a cute pair of boots for myself (how could I not they are the Claire boots for goodness sakes). They will be here by Christmas too!

I know there are several men that read my blog, so I wanted to give you a couple of tips. If you want to do something to make your wife REALLY happy...hire a cleaning lady, don't tell her, you have to arrange everything on your own and just let her come home to a sparkling clean house. If she is a stay at home Mom you will have a little more work to get her out of the house but I promise her happiness will be worth it. Remember this and this is very important, this is not a present for your wife. Let me repeat, this is in no way considered a present for her. It is your home too and although she probably does the majority of the cleaning it is not her job to clean the house. This is something that will make you both happy. i.e. She will be glad the house is clean and you will be glad she is not pestering you to help out.

Okay Ladies, this is for you. Are you ready? This is one of the best kept Super Mommy Tips EVER.
So I have always pretty much thought I had a fat back. Yep, a fat back. Many areas of my body I am pretty happy about but I have always been self conscious about my back. A couple of months ago, I have no idea what I was watching or reading but I remember that it was talking about buying a bra that fit correctly and yada, yada, until I heard the words....Your bra should be lower in the back than in the front... hummm....check your bra, yep sure enough mine was even too, I also recall sometimes it even crept up in the back! Go now and look in the mirror, do you see back fat? Okay now pull the back of your bra down about an inch or 2. Viola! It is gone!. I have no idea why no one ever told me this either. I guess just naturally I assumed that your bra should be even in front and back, nope, remember lower in the back. I could have saved myself years of agony over the fact that my back was fat, actually I had come to terms with the fact that it was something I could not change. But I could and I did and I no longer have a fat back!

Oh the Holidays....

2010-12-15T14:10:00.002-07:00

I love all my little side businesses...they keep me going. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have all these hobbies turned businesses. Then the holidays arrive and all my fabulous side jobs make my head spin...I can barely keep up...I am exhausted...I am not complaining...I love my life...I am glad I have work.....I love everything that I create....even my children....my children make my head spin. Ohmmmmm...Deep Breath

Just to give you an idea. Yesterday I edited photos from a shoot, made candles, made lotion, made shea butter, tutus, baby hats, onezees all while being a Mom. I am grateful my friend Sarajane watched Alea in the morning, so that I could try and catch up. Today I have made lotion, candles, and bread. If I can make it through this week on my feet I will be grateful.

I am not complaining, I am happy. I think I forgot that I have one more kid than I did last holiday season. I will keep singing Jingle Bells and hope that my kids decide to take naps.

I will leave you with my favorite gift idea this year. Of course it is do-it-yourself. Make it for your hubby, your parents, in-laws, yourself, anyone, I am pretty sure they will love it!

Scroll down to the bottom of this page and watch the video.
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/index/main,book-info/store,books/products_id,8942/title,Silhouette-Art/

Same thing basically as above.
http://www.lepapierstudioblog.com/2010/12/diy-tutorial-silhouette-ornaments.html

I am going to do mine on canvas and frame it. What do you think?

White Chocolate & Peppermint

2010-12-10T14:35:00.001-07:00

What a concept, white chocolate and peppermint! For years I have seen peppermint bark and I am not even sure I have ever tasted it....not sure why, I just never had any. Since I am always looking for new recipes, in particular easy, new recipes, I decided to look up the recipe for peppermint bark. It is hardly a recipe! It is the easiest, best, yummy thing to make! It is perfect for the holidays! I just made 2 batches (only because for some unknown reason I only bought enough white chocolate for 2, believe me if I had more I would make more, I will make more as soon as I get back to the store) and it made enough for me to make 8 small treat bags as gifts and a double small treat bag for...well, me...oh yea and I might share with the hubby.

1 bag of white chocolate chips (I used Nestle)
4 candy canes, crushed (just put them in a Ziploc, cover with a cloth and pound out all your frustration from your 3 year old)
Wax or parchment paper
cookie sheet (I used the pan from my toaster and it was the perfect size)

I used a bowl on top of a sauce pan to make a double broiler since I don't have a fancy one. Put about an inch or so of water in the pan. You don't want the water to touch the bowl because when it starts to boil the water will rise. Turn the burner on medium and dump the chips into the boil. Don't turn it up too high because the chips will burn, you want them nice and creamy. Once the chips have melted.

Remove from heat. Test chocolate to make sure you didn't get a bad bag. Add your crushed peppermint.

And stir. Test again to make sure the peppermint and chocolate are loving each other. Next cover your pan with the wax paper and dump the goodness onto the paper.

Put it in the for about 2 hours. Once it comes out just break it apart into chunks.

Pick the biggest chunk and test to make sure everything is just as delicious as it was when it was melted.

Great for a sweet desert after your holiday party with a big cup of coffee, mocha, latte...
Put a couple bowls out if you have guests over, just make sure to leave some for your guests.
Put in treat size bags and give to your friends, neighbors, teachers for the holidays.
Bribe your 3 year old into taking a nap by giving her a small taste beforehand.
Have a couple of chunks so you are plenty wired to write your Christmas cards.

Seriously, I don't know why I didn't make this years ago. Enjoy.

A Little Chunk of Heaven

2010-12-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

I LOVE caramel. Love it. A couple of years ago when I went home to visit my Mom and family and friends, my Mom made this incredible cake. I don't remember what we were celebrating but I remember this incredibly delicious cake. White cake with caramel icing. I am going to share this chunk of heaven with you, you will wonder why you ever made any other cake.

First secret, I use box cake almost all the time. I make homemade icing ALL the time. To me the most important part is the icing, I mean I love the cake but when you make a killer icing nobody can tell you cake is from a box. Shhh, don't tell anyone.

Caramel Icing, I like it best on white cake but I am sure it will be great on anything. It is also pretty damn good straight off the spoon too.

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 cup light brown sugar
2 cups powdered sugar (you can sift this but not completely necessary)

Melt butter and brown sugar in sauce pan over medium heat, stir constantly until it just starts to boil. Add milk and bring back to boil. Reduce heat to medium low and slowly add powdered sugar. Pour over cake. If it starts to harden before you finish icing, just return to heat for another minute or 2. Lick your fingers, lick the spoon and then cut a chunk of cake. Yes you are in heaven.

When you show love, you receive love.

What happened to my child?

2010-12-08T16:10:00.001-07:00

Seriously, she turned 3, barely 3 weeks ago and my sweet little girl has vanished. I now have a 3 year old that acts like she is 15. She is something to be reckoned with. I think I am going to lose my mind. Terrible twos were nothing compared to the last 3 weeks.

Deep breaths, ohmmmm

Thank you, I just had to get that out.

The Best Sweet Potatoes EVER, I swear

2010-12-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

I can promise you this is seriously the best sweet potato recipe EVER. If you are like me I don't like the traditional sweet potato casserole, you know the one with marshmallows on top but I love sweet potatoes. We have sweet potatoes at least once a week, the regular baked, I also like to peel them and cut into about 2" squares, sprinkle with salt, pepper and a little Ms. Dash (the garlic one), cut them into fries and bake, yum, yum. But for the holidays when healthy pretty much can go out the door, I make this "to die for" sweet potato casserole.

Depending on how many people you are cooking for...I would use about 6 medium to large sweet potatoes.
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

For the Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Peel and cut your sweet potatoes into about 2-3" pieces. Put in a large pot and cover with water. I put about 2" of water over the potatoes. Cook for approximately 30 minutes or until a fork easily goes into one of the larger pieces of potato. Drain the water and mash the potatoes. Next combine all ingredients (except for the topping of course) Transfer to casserole dish. In a saucepan melt butter, then add remaining ingredients. Pour/Sprinkle on top of potatoes. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the top is slightly brown.

Have these at your holiday meal or take them to a party. Everyone will love them and remember you are eating sweet potatoes and they are healthy! Forget all other ingredients while getting seconds!

Don't forget to tell the ones you love how much they mean to you. Even if you know they know how you feel, it is always nice to hear.

Super Mommy Tip #6

2010-12-06T13:30:00.001-07:00

Super Mommy Tip #6, the quickest way to make your bathroom sparkle when you don't have time to clean it. Is your holiday party just minutes away and you've spent all your time on everything else but your bathroom didn't make the list? First clean the mirror, use at least 3 or 4 paper towels. Then wipe around the sink with those same paper towels, wipe around the toilet and check the floor. Re-wet the paper towels if necessary and last light a candle. Viola, your bathroom is sparkling in 2 minutes!

Hope this helps with the stress of your holidays.

For those of you wondering about my weekly sewing/craft challenge. Unfortunately I have to put it on hold as I get all the holiday orders out. I do have a couple of great things in the works but unless I miraculously get extra time, it will probably be after the holidays until I can post again. Don't worry or fret I have many other great, fun things to post about, so stay tuned.

***Remember 20% off all orders until the end of the month plus FREE shipping! You must order by December 15 to receive your order by Christmas.

One more thing, please keep George Aldrich and his family in your prayers. He went missing in Aspen last Saturday night. It just started snowing today and is suppose to snow 4-6 feet in the next couple of days. If they don't find him immediately, I am afraid it will be a long time before they do.....

Yum, Yummy Pot Roast

2010-12-01T10:08:00.003-07:00

I will have to say, I love a good Pot Roast. Not only is it tasty but it is so easy to make and the left overs are so delicious. One of the times my Mom was in town and I made a pot roast the next night she turned it into a stew and well since then I make and like pot roast about 10 times more. Remember when buying a beef roast the more fat that is on the meat the more tasty. I have tried getting a lean roast and let me just say it was disappointing to say the least. I aim for a medium amount of fat. I don't want to pack on the calories but I also don't want to compromise taste and goodness. If you are using a lean roast you might also want to add about 1/2 cup of water. I cook my potatoes and carrots with my roast.

-I use a crock pot, generously cover the meat in salt and pepper. I do use a good amount of salt but the salt helps make the meat tender.
-I also cut up one onion usually a white or yellow, I cut it into large pieces because I don't eat the onion I just want the flavor.
-I also add a few garlic cloves, which I typically leave whole or cut in half because I do not eat those either.
-If you work out of the house you can put this on first thing in the morning on low and add the potatoes, I would leave the potatoes whole. Then I buy the pre-cut and peeled carrots and add those when you get home from work and turn the crock pot on high when you add those. It should take about an hour to an hour and a half. If you don't have that long I would just steam the carrots. You can add some of the juice from the meat in your water for steaming to add flavor.
-If you work in the house I typically start mine around 11 am on high and I do not add the potatoes. Then about 2 hours before I want to serve I add the carrots and cut potatoes in about 2" squares. It is important that your potatoes are all about the same size so they will cook at the same speed. Many times I will put the carrots and potatoes on the bottom and cover them with the meat.
-Everything is done when you can put a fork in it and they easily break apart. The meat should literally fall apart. If it doesn't turn it up and cook it longer until it does.

Now the 2nd best part, the leftovers. I chop everything up into bite size pieces, the meat, potato and carrots (garlic and onion too if you like). Add a can of diced tomatoes and one big can or two small cans of tomato sauce. Add extra veggies if you gobbled up too many with the roast. Here I added peas but didn't have the diced tomatoes), green beans are good too.
Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Enjoy! Soooo delicious!

Be the person you want to attract. If you want happy, positive friends then be a happy, positive friend.

Super Mommy Tip #5

2010-11-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

Freeze it! Many times when I make dinner, I make double the amount and freeze the extra. Then when I don't feel like going to the store or just don't feel like making dinner period, all I have to do it take out ready made food from the freezer and toss it in the oven, throw it on the stove or heat it in the microwave. You can pretty much freeze any type of food. Some of my favorites are lasagna, chicken casserole or any casserole type of dish. I bake it first, then take the portion I am going to freeze, let it cool, then I wrap it in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, then a Ziploc bag. I do all those steps to avoid any kind of freezer burn. I also freeze lots of soups and chili. For those I just cool first and put it in a Tupperware to freeze. I like enchiladas too, for those I just cook the chicken or meat, wrap up the tortillas with cheese or your favorite inside goodness and then wrap with plastic, aluminum foil and a Ziploc. When you take them out just put them in your dish and cover it with enchilada sauce and bake. Yum!

So next time, make a little extra and toss in the freezer, you will be glad you did!

-When you exert positive energy you will receive positive.

Remember 20% off all Bebe Dulce orders plus FREE shipping.
Shop for your favorite sweet baby at Bebe D! www.bebedulceaspen.com

*I will refund the 20% after the order is complete via your payment method.

Week 6 Challenge

2010-11-28T13:53:00.001-07:00

Okay, sorry I am late posting...I am not sure what I have been doing the past couple of days...So for Week 6 Challenge I decided to make use of some old t-shirts that are no longer flattering on my lovely Mommy figure, we will just say that the tummy isn't quite as flat as it used to be. I had a whole bag of t-shirts I assume I was keeping just waiting for my stomach to be like it was 4 years ago. Since the shirts were pretty tight, I decided to make 1 shirt out of 2. The shirts were both where brown, one was long sleeve and one was short sleeve. I took the short sleeve shirt and cut a panel out from the center front of the shirt, it was about 8 inches wide. I then sewed clear elastic to the neckline of that piece. I cut straight down the middle of the long sleeve shirt and sewed my panel into the cut area of the long sleeve. I then cut strips out of the short sleeve shirt about 1 1/2" wide and sewed clear elastic down the center of the strips. Then I pinned and sewed the ruffled strips down my 2 seam lines on the front of my shirt and around the neck. Now it is comfy and doesn't hug my belly!

Not too shabby, huh?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Remember the more love you put out in the world the more you get back! Happy Sunday!

And the winner is.....

2010-11-27T08:42:00.001-07:00

Straight from the bunny rabbit....WWillows6/Lisa G!

She won our Super Fabulous Dress Giveaway!!!! Please contact me to claim and personalize your prize!!! I was so excited to see who won, yes I drew at 8:30 am on a Saturday morning. I can't wait to see how Lisa wants to design the dress! Congratulations Lisa and a huge thank you to all that entered. More giveaways coming soon!

In the meantime take advantage of our 20% off sale on all orders plus FREE shipping!!! http://www.bebedulceaspen.com/

Super Mommy Tip #4

2010-11-22T15:43:00.002-07:00

Only do what you can handle, Part 2. Getting your baby to sleep can be a daunting and dreadful task. Some babies drift off into dreamland with no problems. Other babies it takes a prayer and a miracle to get them to finally let go and relax. So many people say, "Let them cry it out, you have to do it!" Well I can tell you that when Alea, my first daughter was born there was no way on earth I was going to let my precious new baby cry. Absolutely no way. I rocked that kid to sleep until my arms fell off or she fell off my arms, since she was 2, I was pregnant and she no longer fit :) I will say that when she was about a year and a half I did try it a couple of times but I thought that I had to let her cry for an hour or something to make the whole CIO work and I just couldn't last an hour listening to my baby scream. When baby #2 came along, I was determined to get her to fall asleep on her own when she was too small to realize what was going on. I will have to say that I got a blue ribbon for that accomplishment. They only thing that I didn't realize is that she would not drift off into dream world every time I decided to lay her down without a fuss. Yes, some days I can lay her down and she is fast asleep before I leave the room but other days well, it takes a lot more. So here I am letting my precious baby #2 CIO...sort of. What I discovered with baby #2 and the whole CIO stuff is that I don't have to let my baby cry for an hour before it works. Several books that I have read say, let them cry for an hour, even our pediatrician, who I love dearly says to let them cry for an hour before comforting them. That doesn't work for me. Why? Because I can't handle it. Yea, it might be great sometime, somewhere but hearing or even knowing that my baby was crying for an hour sends my anxiety to a whole new level. What I did decide was that I can handle 15 minutes. No more. Some days I can't even handle the 15 minutes, sometimes it is 10 minutes and guess what? That's okay because I can only do what I can handle. So set a time that you can handle and work from there. Just because Dr whoever tells you in his book or your beloved pediatrician tells you you have to wait x number of minutes, guess what? You don't. What worked for them doesn't always work for you. Just because you can handle something one day doesn't mean you can handle it the next. Baby #2 goes to sleep just fine the majority of the time but sometimes I can't handle it and I don't let her cry at all. So set your time limit at what you can handle, on that day and at that time. Don't force yourself, I promise everyone will be happier in the long run.

Another thing I taught myself with baby #2 is that if she is having a tough time falling asleep go do something where you can not hear her. My favorite thing to do is take a shower right after I put her down. I relax and take as long as I want and need in the shower and 99% of the time she is asleep when I get out. And the best thing about it is that I have no idea if she even cried at all. I also vacuum or find something to do outside for 15 minutes. It helps a lot because I know if I am just sitting on the computer or doing something quiet, I definitely can't last the 15 minutes because I end up just staring at the clock.

So just figure out what you can handle and do just that! Good Luck!

And don't forget to enter our Thankful Giveaway! How cute will that sweet little girl in your life look in this adorable dress?

More Great Recipes

2010-11-21T14:15:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was Alea's birthday party, I got many compliments on the menu, so I thought I would share. I have been baking bread quite a lot lately so I decided to make sub sandwiches, pico de gallo & of course cupcakes. I also bought a few more things, veggies with dip and more chips.

I had been wanting to make bread for a really long time but for some reason I thought I either needed a bread machine or some special something and I didn't have either. I got a new cook book a couple of weeks ago and it had several bread recipes and once I read through them I realized that I didn't need anything special and it was super easy. The only thing I needed that I didn't always keep on hand was yeast.

White Bread

1/2 cup warm water (105- 115 degrees) + 1 teaspoon + 1/4 cup warm water for high altitude, I used 1% milk
1/2 cup warm milk (105- 115 degrees)

4 teaspoons sugar
1 envelope dry yeast (I found that rapid rise works best for high altitude)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt

Combine the yeast, 1/2 cup milk,water and sugar. Let sit until foamy. This takes about 10 minutes.

FYI, I did all mine by hand. I just put a Kitchen Aid mixer on my Christmas list, even though this is easy I can't imagine how much easier it would be with a nice mixer! Add the flour and salt and stir until doughy. I added the additional 1/4 cup of warm water here for high altitude. Sprinkle flour on your work surface and cover your hands in flour. Lay out your dough and knead for 5-10 minutes until well mixed, smooth and no longer sticky.

Spray a bowl with cooking spray and put your ball of dough in your bowl. Spray the top of your dough with cooking spray and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Let sit for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Sprinkle work surface with flour and punch down the dough (yep I literally punch!). Now decide what you want your bread to look like. For the sub sandwiches, I just used a cookie sheet but use a bread pan or whatever you want. If you want small individual sandwich bread cut your dough accordingly. I left mine and just made it into a long rectangle for the subs. This pic was taken a different day when I made a bakery loaf and sandwich bread. Spray your pan with cooking spray as well as spray the top of the dough. Loosely cover with plastic wrap.

Let sit about an hour or until or doubles in size. Remove plastic wrap and brush with the teaspoon of milk. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. This is high altitude baking time. Just watch it and once it browns, remove and tap, if it sounds hollow, it is probably done. The outside will be hard but will soften once it is removed.
Eat Up, so yummy!

I sliced my bread length wise. I made with turkey and swiss and ham and american subs with tomato and lettuce. They must have been good since we didn't bring any home!

I also did a Honey Wheat Bread.

1 cup warm water + 1/4 cup warm water
4 teaspoons honey
1 envelope yeast
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt

Combine the yeast, water and honey. Let sit until foamy about 10 minutes. See pics above.
-Add both flours, salt and additional 1/4 cup water if at high altitude. Stir until doughy.
-Sprinkle flour on your work surface and cover your hands in flour. Lay out your dough and knead for 5-10 minutes until well mixed, smooth and no longer sticky.
-Spray a bowl with cooking spray and put your ball of dough in your bowl. Spray the top of your dough with cooking spray and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
-Let sit for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

-Sprinkle work surface with flour and punch down the dough. Decide what you want your bread to look like. For the sub sandwiches, I just used a cookie sheet and made a rectangle but you can use a bread pan or whatever you want.
-Spray your pan with cooking spray as well as spray the top of the dough. Loosely cover with plastic wrap.
-Let sit about an hour or until or doubles in size. Remove plastic wrap and brush with the teaspoon of milk. --Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. This is high altitude baking time. Just watch it and once it browns, remove and tap, if it counds hollow, it is probably done. The outside will be hard but will soften once it is removed.
-Enjoy!

Pico-de-Gallo

Diced onions, I used about half of a white or yellow onion but you can use more or less depending on how much you like
Diced tomatoes, I use approximately 3 medium size any kind is good
Chopped Cilantro, again use as much as you like
Lime, I squeeze about half of a super juicy one or all if it is not so juicy

Salt, pepper, coriander, garlic salt or powder
2 teaspoons Canola oil

Stir everything until combined. This only is good for about 24 hours. Perfect with chips. It is great on any type of tacos, I especially love it on fish or shrimp tacos. Enjoy! So incredibly delicious and healthy too!

Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 cup softened butter
8 oz package of cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar (use can use the whole bag if you like, I prefer almost the whole bag.
food coloring in your kids favorite color

Mix it all up and adjust the color as the birthday girl sees fit. I also have a icing bag to apply the icing. It makes it look soooo much nicer than just using a knife.

I didn't take any pics of the whole spread, actually I didn't take many pics at all but here are a couple.

Hope you like these easy recipes. I am all about easy! Happy Sunday!

And don't forget to enter our giveaway!

Thankful Giveaway & Week 5 Challenge

2010-11-19T10:39:00.001-07:00

This week I made my girl's dresses for up coming holiday parties.

Of course they had to be just alike! Alea now loves to dress like her baby sister :)

I promise that even though these dresses are o'so cute in the pics, they are 100% times better in person. Bet you want one of these for the sweet little girl in your life too, huh? And guess what? I am going to give you a dress just like these. Yep! I have enough fabric for just one more! I am thankful that you are reading this and that you support Bebe Dulce. I can make any size from 3 months to a 4T and I will even let you customize the embellishments satin ribbon bow, rosette flower, cinched sleeves, long sleeves, 3/4 sleeves).

ANYONE can enter, this is what you gotta do to get your name in the pot for this fabulous dress.

Mandatory entry: Leave a comment here and tell me who would wear this dress if you won.

5 Extra Entries: Purchase something from our website http://www.bebedulceaspen.com/ (remember we are offering 20% off all orders too plus FREE shipping. Once your order is complete, I will refund you the 20%)

Extra entry: Suggest 20 people to "like" Bebe Dulce on Facebook. Leave a comment here that you did.

Extra Entry: Tweet @bebedulceaspen that we have an incredible giveaway happening NOW and

everyone should enter!

Extra Entry: Post a photo of your sweet baby in their Bebe Dulce on our Facebook page.

Extra Entry: Go to our website, on our contact page tell us your absolutely favorite Bebe Dulce item.

Giveaway ends next Friday, November 26.

Thank you for reading our blog, shopping our website and liking us on facebook!

We are here because of you!

And don't forget, get the sweet babies in your life Bebe Dulce for the holidays!

20% off all orders plus FREE shipping.

(Once your order is complete, I will refund you the 20% via the way you paid)

http://www.bebedulceaspen.com/

Give Your Sweet Babies Extra Hugs & Kisses

2010-11-18T13:46:00.002-07:00

I had something completely different I was going to post about today but since I can't stop thinking about something else, I think I will share it.
Emme and I went to the grocery this morning to get the food for Alea's birthday party on Saturday, TIgey met us there to play with Emme. There is this girl that works there, I think we are about the same age and she had a baby the same time I had Emme. This girl and I have known each other for years (being such a small town), we call each other by name and when we were pregnant at the same time and had our babies within weeks of each other, we had even more to chat about in the checkout line. The grocery store has been closed for 3 weeks for remodeling and today was the first day I had been back in there. When I was checking out, the girl came up and started bagging my groceries and we were chatting as usual. Tigey was holding Emme and we were talking about Emme not feeling well and I think she is coming down with a cold. I asked the girl how her baby is doing (she had a boy) and she says "Didn't you hear? He passed away." My heart instantly broke, what? She said he died 3 weeks ago from SIDS. Of course I hugged her several times and told her how sorry I am. She has photos of him in her pocket and Tigey and I are both in tears. I am in shock. I can't believe it. Once we get outside and are loading the car, the girl comes outside and says that she has a bunch of formula coupons and she is working Sunday and she will bring them in for me. Really? What a kind soul.

I absolutely can not imagine what she is going through. I am devastated for her. Please say a prayer for her, her name is Marlene. If you live in Aspen and know who she is, give her an extra smile and maybe a hug.... she needs it.

Bet I can Make You Laugh

2010-11-17T14:14:00.001-07:00

Since my husband's job isn't very stable, yes he did get a new one but it isn't great money, so we are still looking for jobs for him or myself, which ever comes first. So last week I received a phone call from one of the owners of a company I am hoping to get a job from, luckily both girls has just gone down for a nap...or so I thought. Just a few short minutes into the conversation I hear Alea yelling from downstairs "Moooooommmmmm, I pooooooooped!" Oh my goodness, what do I do, I am on a very important phone call and can't possibly let this man hear my daughter yelling for me to wipe her butt. Seriously. "Mooooommmm, I pooooooped." Oh good God is right. What am I going to do? "Excuse me sir, Can you please hold for a moment while I wipe my kids butt?" or "Can I call you right back I have some poop to clean up?" I could not get off the phone and the man was basically interviewing me over the phone. How is this happening? I could barely focus, all I could hear was POOOOOOPPPPP. Poor little missy had to wait nearly 15 minutes on the pot before I could get to her. Once it was all over, I think I laughed for pretty much the rest of the day and now the mere thought of the situation sends me into laughter.

Smile.

Happy Birthday Alea

2010-11-16T10:37:00.001-07:00

Today is Alea's birthday! I can't believe she is the big 3! I remember when she was just a few weeks old I told my Mom and husband that we all should write down what we think she will be like when as she gets older. Unfortunately we didn't, but I can tell you that I would have never imagined that she would be who she is. Her personality is so endearing as well as dominating, she lights up the room the moment she walks in. She can convince you to give her whatever she wants in seconds. She is so happy and so loving. She is extremely friendly and likes to chat with anyone and everyone she passes on the street. If she has been bad and I try to give her a treat of some sort she tells me that she can't have it because she was bad. She potty trained herself 6 weeks after she turned 2 (I seriously didn't do anything except buy the little potty) Seriously she is one of a kind and I can't imagine what my life would be like without her or what my life was like before she came along. Here are a few pics of my princess #1.

Here she is moments after she was born.

Here she is at 1.

And at 2.

Of course here is the first time she laid eyes on her baby sister.

And one of my all time favorites. For some reason she calls Emme, Bella, no earthly idea why. We don't even know anyone named Bella. And by the way she is the BEST big sister I could have ever ask for.

And yesterday (she is a fairy princess in case you are wondering).

She can definitely make me loose my mind but she can also be the sweetest most kind little person. Yesterday she was being particularly not so great and I didn't feel good, so it was a rough day to say the least. After the husband came home I went into my office to finish up a couple of orders. A few minutes later she came in and looked at me and said Mommy, I am sorry I didn't listen and didn't take a nap today, I promise I will be a good girl tomorrow. Awe... and then proceeded to give me a huge hug and kiss (she gives the best hugs EVER).
And this morning it was 7:30 and I had not heard a peep out of either one of the girls which NEVER happens, so I decided to go check on them (and make sure they were still alive) Alea was in Emme's crib and they were both awake, just playing, I have no idea how long they were awake because nether one of them had made a sound. I love that she loves her baby sister so much!

Happy Birthday Alea.

Super Mommy Tip #3

2010-11-15T13:44:00.003-07:00

Only do what you can handle, Part 1. For our Super Mommy Tip this week, I am starting another small series within the Super Mommy Tips titled, "Only do what you can handle". As "Super Moms" we try to do too much most of the time. The thing is we don't even think twice about going above and beyond. Unfortunately, constantly going above and beyond makes us stressed, overwhelmed and frustrated and we don't accomplish what we set out to accomplish. Ultimately things go array in one way or another.

Over the summer after having baby #2, I was determined to loose the baby weight ASAP. I forced myself to workout atleast an hour a day. Once August came I lost my momentum and couldn't get it back. I just couldn't find an hour each day to go to the gym and I was becoming more and more frustrated. About 2 weeks ago, I read an article in a magazine and it was a small workout plan that you can do in your house that is spilt into a 10 minute, 20 minute and 30 minute programs. For some reason after reading this it dawned on me that I didn't have to work out an hour each day because I didn't have an entire hour but I could find 10 minutes, 20 minutes or even 30 minutes to exercise. So I started this small interval training program and also decided that I would take the kids on a walk for cardio as often as I could (even if it was only a day or two a week) it was better than nothing. Each day I would only do what I could handle for that day if it meant only the 10 minute program or a 30 minute walk or any variety of my plan, as long as I did one thing each day. I have lost just a couple more lbs but I can feel the difference in my body, my stomach is slowly shrinking (very slowly but you have to start somewhere, right?) Most of all I am not frustrated about not doing anything anymore. Before I thought just because I couldn't commit an hour, then I just wouldn't do anything when all I had to do is what I could handle. I didn't have to wait for my husband to get home to watch the kids, finish dinner, clean the house and the huge list of things that needed to get done.

So decide what you can handle, start slow at whatever you are trying to accomplish and you will see better results! Good Luck and smile because you are Super Mom!

Tamale Casserole

2010-11-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for this delicious recipe? And guess what.. It is healthy too! Seriously. Don't let the ingredients fool you. Try it I promise it does not disappoint! I am all about eating as healthy as possible but I do not sacrifice taste. I would rather eat a little of something good than a lot of something not so good. You must make this ASAP.

Tamale Casserole

Canola Oil
1/2 to a whole green bell pepper (depending on how much you like)
1 red onion (again use as mush as you like)
1 jalapeno pepper (as much as you like but you are sauteing it so it will loose a little of it's bite)
1 clove garlic
1 lb ground turkey breast (just pretend like it is beef, you will forget it is turkey the moment you take the first bite)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can corn
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt (to taste)
4 cups water
1 1/2 cup of corn meal
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese (I used pepper jack 2%)

Preheat oven to 350. Heat the oil over medium heat. Saute the bell pepper, jalapeno, onions, garlic until soft. Add the turkey, salt and chili powder, cook until brown. Stir in the tomato sauce, corn and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered, stirring a couple of times until the sauce starts to thicken about 15 minutes. Transfer to 13x9" dish. Bring 2 cups of water to boil in separate pan. Meanwhile pour other 2 cups of water into a bowl and add the cornmeal and whisk until dissolved. Reduce heat of boiling water and slowly stir in the cornmeal mix stirring constantly until thick and forming large bubbles. Spread on top of turkey mix in dish. Bake 25 minutes, remove and cover with cheese. Bake additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving meanwhile forgetting this is remotely healthy. Dig in and enjoy.

My husband does not like when I fool him with turkey. Many times he asks if it is turkey, not this time! It ate 2 helping for dinner and then a huge helping for lunch the next day before I let him in on the secret. He almost didn't believe me!

Week 4 Challenge Part 2

2010-11-12T16:15:00.001-07:00

Okay, I was feeling a bit lame about this weeks challenge (since it took less than 5 minutes!) so I decided to add a second lame part. Lame meaning it took me way less than 5 minutes for this part. Definitely not lame in what I did because it was exactly what I needed/wanted.

So I took the same sweater that I made the neck warmer for Alea and sewed above the neck seam all the way around the turtle neck. Cut off the turtle neck. Folded the end to hem to the width I wanted and made myself a ear/head warmer. Those of you who know me at all know that I wear my hair up pretty much everyday. The only problem with that in the winter is that putting a hat on means taking my hair down and then immediately putting it back up once I secretly take the hat off. I needed something to cover my ear and head and be able to leave my hair up. Note this is for me I'm just quite as good of a model....

Pretty cute, huh? Please ignore the sour face, the shadows and the food/dirt or whatever is on the wall. Have a great weekend!

Week 4 Challenge

2010-11-11T15:40:00.001-07:00

Well, before I get to the Challenge project. What do you think about the new look? When I logged on this morning to write my post, I guess I was feeling a little frisky and decided to update the look. I like change. Something fresh and new since the only thing new around here is more snow. We haven't gotten much but the last 3 or 4 nights we have gotten a few inches each night. Anyway, I hope you like the new look!

This weeks project came to mind when we are getting all bundled to go outside. I like scarves and where them pretty much all year except for the few super warm months (which is mainly June, July and August here) even those months, if I get out at night I wrap a scarf on. Well, since my precious daughter wants anything and everything that I have, she MUST wear a scarf as well. After a couple of times of playing outside and her playing with her scarf and it falling into the nasty mud, where the snow has melted, I decided it was time she have her own scarf. I almost just made her a scarf with a button or something but then it dawned on me the new trend of the neck warmer scarf. Of course I headed straight to the thrift store and bought this fabulous sweater.

I made sure to get acrylic so that it would be soft not itchy and since I am slightly anal about things matching or at least going together. I got one that will go with pretty much everything. So all I did was sew a zig-zag seam straight across under the armpits all the way around. Then cut the top part off . There you have it, a cute little neck warmer that will not drop in the mud!

Does it count if as my project if it took less than 5 minutes?

My God Box

2010-11-10T15:53:00.003-07:00

Last week I was reading the lastest edition of Real Simple Magazine (love it!) and read this article about a woman whose mother kept a "God Box". Basically every time that someone she knew needed a little (or big) prayer she would write it on a scrap of paper and put it in her God Box. The woman states that when she was having a hard time and her mother told her that she would put it in the God Box it made her feel relieved that she no longer had to worry. She knew that God had her prayer in His hands and that He would do whatever she truly needed. When her mother died and the woman had to go through her mother's things she was surprised my ALL the "God Boxes" her mother had, each one filled to the rim with prayers. I loved this story. You can read it here.

Since having kids my weekly church attendance has disintegrated unfortunately. Getting 2 kids under the age of 3 dress, fed and to church by 9 well is an act of God in itself to say the least. I know that many of you do it and I am not trying to make an excuse and many of you have more than 2 little ones but I have fallen in this category. Of course I still pray everyday and read excerpts of the Bible (thanks to my phone that sends me verses daily ;). I love the God Box and have just started my own. Other than just praying and talking to God I think it is good for the soul to write things down. I believe that writing things down many times allows the body and mind to release their worries.

I hope this helps makes you smile, maybe you will start your own God Box and release your worries and give them to God. If you need me to add anything to my box let me know.....

Super Mommy Tip #2

2010-11-09T12:13:00.003-07:00

Okay, so after the last Super Mommy Tip, I actually had a couple of people tell me that their husband gives their children a bath and quite frankly there was no way their husband was going to jump on cleaning the bathroom at the same time. Totally understandable.
So if your house is run anything like mine, I pretty much do all the cleaning. #1 because I work from home and therefore I have to look at the mess constantly. #2 because my husband doesn't clean very often. I mean he is happy to if I kindly ask him but that usually entails vacuuming or doing the dishes. So the way I get him to do things a little more often and EVEN sometimes without me having to ask (gasp, yes sometimes I don't even have to ask!) Is that I Praise the hell out of him when he does something. Yes I know, why should they be praised for something that we have to do daily (and get 0 praise), or that it is their house too, yea, yea, yea. A couple of years ago we went to see a marriage counselor and one of my issues was that I did everything around the house and he didn't help out (this was when I worked full time as well). She told me, you have to praise him. At the time my hard-headed-ness said their was no way no how I would "praise" him and tell him thank you for doing something I was expected to do. As time went on, I get it. I want the help, he doesn't see "clean" the same way I do. He doesn't see the dirt like I do and quite frankly if I don't want to do it all by myself, suck it up and say, "Oh my goodness, the rug looks so great, thank you so much for vacuuming!"

So my Super Mommy Tip #3 is to Praise your husband for helping clean around the house! This tip might be hard to swallow in the beginning but trust me it will help you in the end! Try it a couple of times and I can almost guarantee results.

There are also a couple of products that are tried and true in my house. I tried countless different products until I found these gems, so I thought I would share them.

If your daughters hair looks like this in the morning and you have to spend a half an hour combing it while she screams her head off you need this product!

So believe me when I say I have tried countless products for this child's hair. My answer is Biolage. I use the shampoo, conditioner, and most importantly the detangler. The detangler is a rinse out after you condition but I promise no matter how matted your kids hair is you can comb right though those tangles! Biolage is more expensive than your regular drug store shampoo but you can get it at Target. I promise you will save many tears. In addition to that on the days I don't wash her hair, I use Biosilk Kids Tangle Buster spray. You will not need the spray if you have just washed her hair. The Biolage also makes her tangles much more manageable, meaning a lot less screaming and crying and holding her down :0 And that right there makes the day better for everyone.

And your babies hair will look like this no no time!

My other can't live without product is Aquaphor. You must get it if you don't already know it's magic. I have never used a diaper rash cream on either one of my kids. At the first sign of a red little bootie, slap a layer of this magic and viola! Happy butts everywhere. I also have a tube in my bag for lips since it will cure dry, chapped lips in no time. A rash of any kind, anywhere and it is clear in a day! Yep, I get the biggest tub they make and it lasts forever!

Unfortunately, I was not paid or given any free goodies for this post :) Just wanted to share and make your day a little brighter.

Week 3 Challenge

2010-11-06T16:20:00.001-06:00

So for a while now I have been designing new things for Bebe Dulce. I am going to start adding more boutique style clothes to Bebe D in the Spring. So currently I am making samples and choosing fabric. I also wanted to make dresses for the girls for the holidays. I made the first round with extra fabric I had, as not to mess up the "real" fabric since I was tweaking a pattern. Here they are! I am really happy with the way they came out. I can't wait to make them in the "real" fabric. My only issue is that it is nearly impossible to take pics of your own children. My kids just don't seem to want to cooperate, Alea especially. Emme just can't sit still long enough. I promise I am a better photographer than this :)

What do you think? Both girls wore their dress yesterday and got tons of compliments as we shopped and strolled through town! They were perfect with leggings underneath!

Super Mommy Tip #1

2010-11-01T10:52:00.000-06:00

I have decided to do a series of tips for Moms. I think it is a fun way to share what I have learned from being a Mom and things that people have told or taught me to be a better, more efficient Mom and the secrets to being or appearing to be a Super Mom.

Super Mommy Tip #1: Clean the bathroom while your kids are playing in the bath. Once I started doing this my bathroom suddenly became a much cleaner less dreaded place. The last thing I want to do in my free time is to clean the bathroom. Plus Alea is always up for spending as long as possible in the tub. I can clean everything except the inside of the tub while she is in it, then when she gets out all I have to do is wipe out the inside! I do recommend using non-toxic green cleaning solutions or if you spray the sponge outside of the bathroom and then use it to clean, so your not fuming up the bathroom while your little one is in there :)

Feel free to comment or contact me with your fabulous Mommy tips, then I can share them with everyone. If I use them there just might be a fabulous prize in store for you from Bebe Dulce!

Week 2 Challenge

2010-10-29T14:19:00.001-06:00

Okay for week 2, I decided to make a sweater dress for Alea. I love sweater dresses for kids and when Emme wore one of hers the other day, Alea said that she needed one like it. I had gotten this sweater at the thrift store for $8, it is 50% cashmere and 50% silk, sooo incredibly soft. I was originally going to re-design it for myself...but you know how that goes.

First thing I did was wash and dry it. The main reason I did this was because the care label says "Dry clean only" and I wanted to see what washing and drying would do. I can tell you that there is no way I am going to make (or buy for that matter) my kids any clothes that I will be dry cleaning. So, I think it barely shrank, it seemed just barely smaller, maybe.

I tried it on Alea and luckily the length was perfect and the neck opening was good too. So I have a basic dress pattern that I made out of one of Alea's dresses and then I adjusted as needed.

I cut off the sleeves on the dress side of the arm pit. I marked and sewed the dress width to fit. Then I took one of Alea's long sleeve shirts (the dress pattern I have is short sleeve) and matched it up with the sweater sleeve. I matched up the cuffs, so I would not have to mess with making/changing the cuff. I cut the sleeve where needed and trimmed up the width to fit. Then I re-attached the sleeves and viola! There was my dress!

Of course I had to embellish it a little. So I took some cotton/linen type material and cut 3 pieces the width and length of my yard stick. I sewed a strip of clear elastic down the center of one of the pieces and then sewed it around the dress in the waist area. Then I took the 2 other pieces of my fabric, sewed them together to make one long strip , then sewed clear elastic at the bottom edge of the fabric. I rolled that fabric together to make a rosette. Then hand sewed the bottom of the rosette, hand sewed a piece of felt over the bottom of the rosette and hand sewed the rosette to the dress. It took about an hour, so it's definitely a nap time project. When I do projects, I time them by how many nap times I need to make it :)

What do you think?? I made it a little big so she could were it all winter and also so she could wear a t-shirt and leggings underneath.

And if you are wondering where my Mom's challenge projects are, well they are coming. She is not so great with computers...we are working on sending me the pics and info :)

Please ignore the goofy poses, this is the best I could get :) Have a great Halloween weekend!

Week 1 Challenge

2010-10-22T10:34:00.002-06:00

This week I made several things since I got so inspired by these great sewing and crafting blogs, my favorite is this adorable Ruffle dress with leggings made out of these shirts I got on sale at Gap. It is all about "re-fashioning" clothes. Now I have a huge pile of tees, sweaters and anything else I could find in my closet to redesign.
I made my own pattern from a dress and leggings that Alea had in her closet. I used the hem of the shirts for the hem of the dress and leggings. I just cut strips of fabric and made the ruffles. I just added the ruffles where-ever. I have been dying to figure out how to make these rosettes out of fabric and found a website tutorial that explained it. So I definitely had to add a rosette. The shirts were super soft, the first thing that Alea said when she put it on was "this is soft, Momma!" This outfit only took about 2 hours from start to finish. The only thing I wish I would have done better was lining the stripes up. Next time I will. Here are a couple of the websites where I got my inspiration. Be full-warned that you will be going through your closet and finding things to redesign! I hope you are inspired!

Sutton Grace

How Does She

Recipes! Yumm-O

2010-10-19T21:28:00.000-06:00

Yum! Tried and true recipes!

Lasagna Florentine with Turkey Sausage

You know I only make lasagna every couple of months. It just takes too long to prepare. This was until I discovered no-bake lasagna noodles. I have always known they made them but had never used them. I guess I just thought they wouldn't taste as good. Well they taste just as good and they make lasagna so easy to prepare! This is my favorite lasagna!

1 package turkey Italian sausage (I use Jeanie-O, they come in links and I promise you it doesn't taste like turkey)
2 jars spaghetti sauce
1 box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 15 oz low-fat ricotta cheese
3 cups part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1/4 to 1/2 onion (I like yellow)
2 tbsp olive oil

Chop garlic and onion. I use a large pot and saute with olive oil until opaque. Cut casing off of sausage and put in pot and crumble it as it cooks. Once sausage is cooked add spaghetti sauce. Mix 2 cups of mozz cheese, ricotta cheese, spinach and egg. get large pan and layer starting with sauce, then noodles and cheese, repeat layers ending with sauce. Top with remaining cheese. Grab a piece of aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray (So the cheese won't stick). Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 min. This is so yummy and good! The no-bake noodles make it sooo easy!

After many summers trying to make melt-in-your mouth ribs, I have finally perfected my recipe. Since they are so freaking good, I want to share the love. Try these bad boys!

Melt-in-Your Mouth Ribs

2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 onion powder
1/2 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Mix all spices in bowl and rug on top and bottom of ribs. Put grill on low setting. Grill ribs about 10 min each side. BE CAREFUL, brown sugar burns easily, keep a close eye and make sure not to burn! Take a cookie sheet and cover with aluminum foil. Then lay another large piece of foil and wrap ribs tightly. Oven to 350 and cook for 2 hours. Pull ribs out and bast with sauce both sides and flip ribs upside down. Cook for 20 minutes. Pull ribs out, pull on one rib in a thick area. Rib should easily fall off if done. If they aren't quite done, cook additional 20 min. Repeat process until the ribs fall apart when you try to flip them over. Top with any remaining BBQ sauce. Seriously these are amazing. I used to get ribs when we went out to eat, never again, these are better than any restaurant! Thanks Mom for the cooking help!

The Challenge

2010-10-17T12:34:00.001-06:00

Most people know that my Mom is very crafty. I learned to sew, make, create and everything in between from her. I grew up making things constantly and I of course still love to. Since our lives tend to be so busy, many times you find it has been weeks even a month before you realize that you haven't made anything for fun. Obviously, I do make things for work but unless I am designing something new, I don't count it. This past week I have come across a few awesome websites/blogs where these incredibly talented women talk and write tutorials on what they create. Well I was incredibly inspired to get back into the fun, designing world. So, I called my Mom up and asked her if she was ready for a challenge! Each week we had to make something for fun. Every weekend we would email each other pictures of what we made. The one stipulation was that you could not buy anything, you had to use materials that you already had. The exception to this rule was you could go to the thrift store (you will understand more in later posts) Just a little something to keep us creating, since it is what we both love and enjoy. Well this was Friday afternoon, I sent her a couple of the links of the sites that I was inspired by (I will share them all with you as I post things similar). Needless to say neither one of us slept a wink that night excited to create new goodies. Well I finished my project in an hour and a half Saturday afternoon. I have been wanted ot make these wide leg pants from this fabric that I like. I got a pair of my pants that were the style I wanted to use and made a pattern from the pants. Actually I didn't make the pattern (If you know me I am a little impatient and that takes too long but now I love the pants and wish I had the pattern on file). Anyway the pants turned out super cute, just what I invisioned! Here are a few pics, I promise they are MUCH cuter in person. It is hard to take a pic of yourself! and I am not a great model! They are your basic wide leg pant with a wide waistband. I know the fabric is a little funky but I love them!

I did it!

2010-10-14T10:11:00.001-06:00

You know when Alea was a baby we rocked her to sleep until she was nearly 2. Yep every nap and every bedtime. Finally when she almost 2 I decided since I was pregnant and she was running out of room on my lap that she needed to go to sleep on her own. Thank goodness she took to it pretty well and it wasn't too painful. I meant to have her go to sleep by herself much younger it was that before I realized it she was 1 and could scream Mommy, Daddy come get me! That was all it took for us to go get her and continue to rock her. Now that she is nearly 3, you just never know what you are going to get. Sometimes she is so tired and will drift off into dreamland before we shut the door. Other times, well it sounds like there is a full-on circus in her room. Did I tell you about the day she somehow, somewhere found an old bottle of spray tan? Yep, her body, her clothes, the floor, the bed.... And don't forget the time she got into the laundry room and got a bottle of Downey fabric softener (thank God it was almost empty) and dumped it in her bed? Just in case you were wondering Downey stains when used without water. Needless to say her room smelled great!

When Emme was born I decided that she needed to go to sleep on her own much earlier. I have much less time and I remember the countless hours I spent rocking Alea. So when Emme was about 5 months I started her. Luckily she took to it pretty well and most of the time falls asleep without even a whimper. The other times (since she has just sprouted one tooth and has another just about to pop through) she cries and I bring her back upstairs and it can be quite the ordeal.

If you are wondering my point... there are those days when both girls give me a break, take a nap at the same time and fall asleep without a peep. I sit on the couch with a huge grin on my face and think I did it! I definitely don't turn on the TV, sometimes I work and some days I don't do anything, I just revel in my accomplishment! Sleeping children is such a sweet reward!

Sleep Deprivation at It's Finest!

2010-09-16T09:55:00.002-06:00

So Emme was a great sleeper about 2 months ago. She was waking up once a night and drifting right back into dreamland once she was feed! Ahhhh those were the days! Now she is nearly 6 months old and wakes up at least 3 times a night. Her last wake up is a 5am, yes 5am and she doesn't want to go back to sleep! I am a walking zombie to say the least and lets just say it is catching up with me. So last week I went to Target and if you aren't familiar with the Aspen area, Target is 1 hour away (so is Walmart and anywhere else to buy household supplies in family size quantities). So I had just been to Target 2 weeks prior (I try to only go once every couple of months) and even though it wasn't on my list (which I try to stick to my list as much as possible) I bought an enormous thing of toilet paper. Although I forgot about 3 things that were actually on the list. What do I make a list again? Of course once I got home I realized I already had an enormous thing of TP, so I now have TP EVRYWHERE. Seriously, our house is small and I have TP in both mine and Tigey's closets, under the sink, in the laundry room, EVERYWHERE. Whatever small mistake and it will get used eventually.

Saturday rolls around and we have a birthday party at 10am, the party is a half hour away. I am rushing around getting everyone ready, getting the presents together (it was a double bday party). Tigey and I are bickering, Alea is not behaving. Finally we get in the car at 10:00 on the dot. Drive to where I think the park is but can't find it, drive around some more and then decide to stop and ask someone, all the while Alea is freaking out because she is so excited. We finally find the park only to discover there is a soccer game and no party! WTH? I will just check my email on my phone, Nope forgot the phone at home. GRRR So we go to a friends house 10 minutes away and I use her computer. THE PARTY IS ON SUNDAY NOT SATURDAY! Really??? If you know me you know I typically never do things like this. I am organized and under controlled 99% of the time....

Sunday morning rolls around and luckily we are prepared for the party right? I am in desperate need of coffee and go to make my usual 2 mugs. I sit on the couch and anxiously wait to here to coffee pot cut off. I get up and walk in to the kitchen only to discover coffee EVERYWHERE and I mean EVERYWHERE. I put enough coffee and water for 2 giant mugs but only put one mug under the pot! Lovely....

Sunday afternoon I have a friends baby shower and completely forgot. The shower started at 6pm and at 8pm I finally realized once I saw her gift sitting on the table... Sorry Lori!

Monday morning comes and after I get out of the shower, I am trying to brush my hair and wondering why my hair is not soft and smooth....I forgot to condition!

I could go on and on. I just keep my fingers crossed that my sleep-deprived mistakes stay minor and that my head stays on.

Anyway, I am happy to report that Emme only woke up twice last night! Things are looking up!

Paint, Paint and Decorate!

2010-08-30T14:28:00.000-06:00

If you haven't gotten fabric paint yet, go get some! There are so many cute projects to do. Pick up a couple of plain shirts (any color will do), it is your turn to make shirts! I was looking through this Disney Fun magazine and this adorable little owl was on the front, so with owls being a "hot" style for kids these days, I just had to make the girls shirts this weekend. While I was busy doing my project, I let Alea make a shirt for her Daddy (which he loved of course)! Here are a few pics.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Since I didn't do the eyes great I just used silver glitter paint instead of leaving the area blank. Here is a direct link to the templates. I printed the templates out on card stock and then used an exacto to cut the owl out. You can leave lines to contect the eyes so you will have a stencil and then go back after you remove the stencil and touch up the areas. I used a paint brush, to give the shirts a nice smooth finish. They almost look like silkscreen! For the baby's shirt I just reduced the template before I printed it. Remember to put a piece of paper in the middle of the shirt so the paint won't bleed to the back. Let me know what you think and Have fun painting!

Bebe Dulce

Just Call Me Martha and Be Inspired!

2010-08-27T13:22:00.000-06:00

I will have to admit, I really like Martha Stewart in so many ways. I admire her entrepreneurial spirit as well as all her amazing craft ideas (not that they are all her idea but you know what I mean). She was actually part of my inspiration to start Bebe Dulce. I love looking through magazines and getting inspired to create. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to create all my ideas that come into my head so I have decided to start sharing them so hopefully others will make and create as well.

Before Emme was born I started hand-painting shirts and onezees for babies and kids. I used to have them on my website and I might put them back on, but right now I need a website break after the makeover! Anyway, when I was pregnant I had Alea paint a onezee for Emme. I had the onezees and the fabric paint and Alea loves to paint, so I thought it was a perfect idea and it was! She also made one for Tigey for Father's Day which he loved as well! It is so simple even if you are not crafty. Go to Walmart and get fabric paint, I recommend 2 or 3 colors anymore and the kids will just saturate the shirt. Pick up a pack of onezees. The kids can use their fingers (hand prints are great) or a paint brush, both work well. I folded a piece of paper and slid it in the middle of the shirt to absorb the paint and so the front doesn't stick to the back. Let the kids have at it!

Here is Alea with the onezee she made for Emme. She just loved that she created something special for her baby sister. I even let her wrap it and "give" it to Emme at the hospital. I also let her make one for herself, which she loved, as well as telling everyone that she made it herself! Here is a pic of the one she made Emme.

Be sure to "like" Bebe Dulce on Facebook so you don't miss out on any discounts, new crafts or fun news!

In Love

2010-08-19T09:04:00.000-06:00

Last month I had the pleasure to shoot Sarah and Adam for their engagement photos. It was really fun, they are such a cute couple and were up for anything. Here are a few of my favorites! Congrats you guys!

Am I Being Tested or What?

2010-08-07T19:10:00.000-06:00

So we just got back from a great vaca in Nashville visiting my family and friends. When we got on the plane leaving Aspen we sat there for 2 hours. The de-icer light was on and we could not fly even though we clearly did not need de-icer for any reason! It was HOT (not as hot as what we were about to experience in TN but pretty darn hot). Finally after the LONG 2 hour wait, with 2 kids on a very small plane with no air, the problem wasn't fixed but we got the okay to fly with the malfunctioning light. By the time we took off we had already missed our connection in Denver. Boooo! When we got to Denver we had to race to customer service and cross our fingers that there was another flight with 3 seats available to Nashville. Luckily there was and a mere 4 hours later we were happy and sweating in Nashvegas.

We had one of the best trip I can remember. Saw lots of old friends and had tons o' fun! Yea!

A quick week later we were on our way back to Colorado. We get on the plane and take off without a hitch! We have about 20 minutes left on our flight and the captain comes on the mic and tells us that Denver airport is closed due to thunderstorms. We are now going to circle around Denver until it re-opens..umm okay. Almost an hour after that, the captain comes back on, tells us that the airport just re-opened but there are 30 airplanes waiting to land and we are out of fuel and can't wait for our turn. So we are off to Pueblo to refuel! Seriously?! The airplane turns and 5 minutes after that, we turn again and we are told that they are letting us cut in line and land in Denver!! Yahoooo! We land at the exact time that our plane to Aspen was suppose to take off. We are not too worried since the airport was closed and we doubt our plane is ready to take off. Sure enough our plane has not taken off and we are waiting for the plane to come from Colorado Springs. So we wait and we wait and a mere 3 hours after that our plane arrives! Yipeee! or so we thought... Before we know it they cancel our flight because the pilot is over his hours and there is no one to fly our plane. Just in case you don't know the flight from Denver to Aspen is about 30 minutes....He can't fly for 30 more minutes? It is now 9 pm and I am just about to loose my head. The Frontier lady tells us that we have to go to customer service to re-book, they will not re-book anyone there (there is a 9:30 flight and that is the last flight of the night) and there are a few seats on that flight, so the entire flight takes off running to customer service. I tell Tigey to run as fast as he can. The customer service desk is seriously about a 1/2 mile away from our gate at least. I can feel myself about to fall apart. We have one more diaper left that I had been saving in case of a poop (poor Emme was in a pee diaper for way too long), no more snacks and I just think there is no way we can stay in Denver for the night. I am going to cry..but I don't! I go up to the lady at the gate (the one that say she is not re-booking anyone) and BEG her to please re-book us on the 9:30 flight, please I have 2 kids and we have to get home. She says YES but don't tell anyone else and give us seats on the flight! I want to hug and kiss her, thank God for this woman! Meanwhile Tigey calls my phone and says "the good news is that he beat all the people from our flight to customer service!" I have such a fast hubby! The bad news is there is approximately 300 people already in line for customer service from other flights. No worries, this lady has completely taken are of us! Another hour goes by but we are finally on our way to Aspen. We land, no bags came with us but we are home, it is 11:30pm and I could not be happier to be in my bed! I don't care about anything else at that point, just sooo happy to be home!

I will have to say that my kids were awesome during our airport delays and Tigey and I didn't even argue (typically we argue while traveling, stress I guess). We made it, whoever and whatever we were being tested for as a family during our traveling, I'd say we passed! I feel strong and happy that we made it through and quite happily I might add.

Thursday morning I get up and am getting ready to go to the airport to look for our bags and Tigey calls. His boss just told him he has 30 days left of his job. Her business isn't good (she is in real estate) and she can't pay him after this month!!??!? WTF! Oh My God! Really!?! I guess our test isn't over after all. He has worked there for the last 13 years! WOW!

I spend the rest of the day looking for jobs for either one of us in Aspen (there are about a total of 15 jobs in the paper, none of which are anything we are qualified for) and in Boulder/Denver (I have been wanting to move for a while now and since there are no jobs in Aspen....) Well there is hardly anything there either. Unfortunately my photography biz and Bebe Dulce are not full-time income since I have 2 kids at home. I apply myself for 3 random jobs and there really isn't anything for Tigey. He can do just about anything and has many qualifications but there are NO jobs!

I guess our test as a couple and a family are not over. I have no idea what is going to happen in the next month or so... until then I will keep looking for jobs and keep my faith that we will pass yet another test, happily as a family!

Quick, Yummy and Kinda Healthy

2010-08-06T07:53:00.001-06:00

Quick, yummy and kinda healthy, that is the recipe for my recipes. I say kinda healthy because most of the time if you get too healthy the yummy part goes out the window! Quick is just essential for anything I do that doesn't involve my kiddos. Although Alea does like to help in the kitchen with her helping if it isn't quick without her than it will take forever with her, if you know what I mean. So here is a recipe I found in a magazine and changed it up a little. Yummo!

I love muffins because they are so quick and easy snack or part of a meal with kids.

Peanut Butter, Banana Muffins

1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup fat-free milk
1 ripe mashed banana
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
optional: ( I made mine without any of these)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup brown sugar

In a large bowl combine the first 7 ingredients. In a small bowl combine the eggs, milk, bananas, peanut butter, applesauce and vanilla. Stir the the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in any optional ingredients you like. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Fill greased or lined muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until toothpick is clean when inserted.

Enjoy! Without the optional ingredients they only have about 50 calories per muffin!

Cutie Pie Luca

2010-07-24T09:06:00.001-06:00

A week or 2 ago I posted a photo session giveaway on Facebook. All you had to do was go to my photography website http://www.claireeads.com/, contact me and leave me a comment. Aja was the winner (I actually picked 2 winners, so she was one of the two) and I got to photograph cute little Luca who just turned 2 a couple of weeks ago. He is so sweet and cute it is hard not to take a good pic of him. We met at a nearby park and these are some of my favorites!

Things are a changin'

2010-07-16T13:17:00.001-06:00

Well as you can see I have changed the look of my blog. I am getting ready to give several things a makeover and thought I would start with the easiest first. Next, I am going to redo the Bebe Dulce website. I paid someone to do it last year and I never liked it. I am unable to change the pictures and am very limited to what I can change. I like to change things up a bit every once in a while and can't wait to start designing my new site! Along with the site I am going to do several photo shoots so I have some fun and fresh images to look at. I am also going to decrease the size of the appliques on my onezies and sew them on with a thicker stitch and colored thread. I think this will just freshen them up a bit. I am also going to add flannel wide leg pants for the fall and possibly add solid flannel appliques as well. Wow, I have a lot of work to do! Plus several photo sessions coming up and we are going back to Nashville in less than 2 weeks for a week! Now I just need to figure out where to start! I love change!

I Love My Girls

2010-06-08T21:34:00.001-06:00

I have to say that having 2 kids is AMAZING. Seeing the sister bond between Alea and Emme is incredible. I never knew that their relationship would bring me such joy. Alea is so nurturing and calms Emme down by simply holding her hand and Emme just smiles at her so sweetly. Although Emme is just 10 weeks, Alea finds ways to plays with her. I love it!

Here are a few pictures of my pretty girls, dressed alike of course! I swear I could eat them up!

I love Moab

2010-05-17T20:22:00.001-06:00

So Friday, Tigey and I decide to head to Moab, UT for the weekend. We get up Saturday morning and are off by 9am, it is about a 4 hour drive and we made it without any headaches. This was are first time we have gone away with 2 kids. Luckily, the kids were great and besides Alea only napping a total of 30 minutes the whole weekend everything went smooth9she was great just a little on edge at times!). We had a wonderful weekend and the weather was perfect. Not too hot definitely not cold, it finally felt like winter might end soon! I got some great pictures that I am excited to share. I had been probably 10 years since I had been to Moab and I forget how absolutely beautiful and breathtaking it is. Most of these pics are at Arches National Park. So if you have never been to Arches or Canyonlands National Parks, they are definitely worth going the sheer magnitude of the rocks are simply amazing!

Photos of Max

2010-05-14T09:14:00.001-06:00

Meet adorable Max. I had a great time taking his picture and when Alea came home at the end of the session, his smile grew. They really liked each other and Alea has not stopped asking me when he is coming back! Thanks Angela for the cute model!

Mother's Day

2010-05-11T10:19:00.001-06:00

So for Mother's Day I decided I wanted to go to a couple of spots and take pictures of Tigey and Alea. I wanted to check out a few locations as well as tune my photo skills. It was a beautiful day, a little too sunny and windy for pics but I worked with what I had. We had a great time, Alea got to run around and go from open space to a pond to the park and Tigey likes nothing more than having his picture taken with his cute little munch.

I hope everyone else had a great Mother's Day no matter what you did or didn't do!

Here are a couple of my favorite pics (I always find it hard to pick my favorites but I guess that isn't a bad thing!)

Things Have Changed

2010-05-07T20:48:00.001-06:00

So I have been a little MIA, since January from what it looks like... A lot has happened since then, new baby, new business. Sweet little Emme was born March 29 and I could not be more in love. It is amazing what a new baby can do. I don't think I have stopped smiling from the moment she was born. On top of that seeing Alea with her little sister is the most memorable and sweet thing I have ever experienced. To say the least, I am a lucky woman!

Now the new business, Claire Eads Photography. Photography has always captured me in many ways and I have always enjoyed capturing those special moments in time that we don't ever get back. I took classes at FIT but was working with a manual camera. Since getting into digital, I have dabbled more into nature shots (how can you not living in such a beautiful place like Aspen) but I am ready to take my hobby to the next level. One of my reason other than the pure love of amazing photos is that you can not get affordable quality photos in this valley. I know so many Mom's around here that have never had professional pictures of their kids taken because it is unaffordable. So here I am ready to capture spectacular photos of beautiful children!

Stay tuned, I promise to post photos and talk all about my new venture. If you are wondering about Bebe Dulce, it is still going strong. So you can still get great gifts too!

Great, Easy Recipe

2010-01-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

Once again it has been awhile since my last post. I will have to say one thing, this week my daughter has RSV (a respiratory virus) and she can't go to school all week! She only goes 2 days a week but those days keep me sane... apparently. I have such respect for full-time stay at home Mom's, I honestly do not know how you do it. It is by far the hardest job EVER! So any of you that do stay at home full time pat yourself on the back and pour yourself a glass of wine because you deserve it!!

I wanted to share a great and super easy recipe with you because whether you are a stay at home Mom/Dad or a working Mom/Dad we all need a super quick and yummy recipe, right?

a clove or 2 of garlic
1/2 an onion
1 rotisserie chicken from the grocery
2 or 3 cans of white beans
chicken broth
salsa verde (green salsa) if you like it hot, get it or I usually get mild and add extra to mine

In a soup pot saute the garlic and onion with a little oil until opaque. Pull the chicken off the bone and toss in the pot. Drain and rinse the beans, add to pot. Add the chicken broth and a couple cups of water (less if you like it more chunky, more if you you want it more soupy. Add anywhere from a 1/4 cup or more of the salsa verde. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until you are ready to eat. We usually add tortilla chips, cheese and/or sour cream. YUMMM This is tooo good!! Enjoy!

Ahhh, The Last Day of 2009....

2009-12-31T10:02:00.002-07:00

So it is December 31, 2009....what a year! It was a great year over-all for me and for Bebe Dulce. A lot of work, a lot of fun, a lot of lessons learned and a few surprises. I think my biggest accomplishment personally is having a good and loving marriage, even though getting Bebe Dulce off the ground has made it tough and having the cutest 2 year old EVER. She is so amazing and fun and sweet. Just this morning when she was finished with her breakfast I gave her a wet paper towel to wipe off her face and hands, she said "thank you, Mommy!". I just have to pat myself on the back every time she says please and thank you without being prompted, I love it! As for my biggest accomplishment business wise, just having a successful business in this economy is a pretty good accomplishment. I am also very proud of my marketing and PR, which as you have heard me say before I knew NOTHING about before this Fall. I did a lot of research and work and I am now very proud of my extensive Press page on my website! I hope that page continues to expand in 2010! I hope everything expands in 2010, personally and professionally!!

So here is to everyone (I have to make a toast now because I will definitely not be awake at midnight), for those who had a tough year, I hope 2010 brings you what you need for success and happiness and for those that had a great 2009, I hope 2010 brings you more success and happiness! Cheers!

Yumm! Lemon Blueberry Bread Recipe

2009-12-18T09:17:00.001-07:00

Okay, I have been baking this bread for a couple of years now and I am ready to share the recipe. Every year I forget how good it is!

8 oz package of cream cheese (reduced fat is you want)
1 1/3 cup of sugar, divided
2 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon extract
1 1/2 cup biscuit baking mix (you an use any mix, even reduced fat or make your own, I have done both, make your own is a little better, just google the recipe for bisquick)
1 lemon, you will use the rind and the juice
1 1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, if frozen do not thaw)

Preheat oven to 350. Coat non-stick loaf pan with cooking spray.

Beat the cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and lemon extract, beat. Add the biscuit baking mix and lemon rind just until blended. Carefully fold in blueberries. Bake for 45 min -1 hour. In a bowl in the microwave (or saucepan on the stove combine the juice of the lemon and the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar until sugar is dissolved. Take a toothpick and poke several holes in top of bread. Pour sugar and lemon mixture over the top of hot bread. Enjoy! Sooo good!!

This is also a good bread to freeze for another time!

If you use the reduced fat version, it really isn't that bad for you either!

Happy Holidays!

Poor Neglected Blog....

2009-12-14T20:44:00.001-07:00

My poor neglected blog....Life has been busy the past month or two and unfortunately Baby Blog is the last on the list of things to do. Bebe Dulce has been featured in many blog, magazines, editorials, etc... You can always check them out on our press page. I do encourage everyone to check them out, you can win free products on almost all of our reviews!!

I was just "tweeting", when I came across a tweet that a woman's 2 year old drowned in a pool this afternoon, so very sad. When I followed that tweet a little more I came across another woman who gave birth to a beautiful little girl on Nov. 30 (that was Alea's due date) and five days later the baby died in her mother's arms of CHD (Congenital heart disease). Both stories are unbelievably devastating. I can't imagine what these poor women are going through. I can't even begin to comprehend. What this brings me to during this holiday season, is that we can get so wrapped up in the "hoopla" of the holidays and our busy lives (as mine has been so extremely busy the last month) and just cherish our kids. I know we all do but give them an extra hug and big smooch. Be grateful for what you have...your child.

Happy Holidays!

FREE Bebe Dulce Product!

2009-11-23T15:06:00.001-07:00

Get FREE Bebe Dulce products! I have been doing a marketing campaign for Bebe Dulce in the world of Mom Blogger's and Reviewers. What happens is I contact the blogger/reviewer or they contact me and ask to do a review of our products. The blogger/reviewer writes a blog about Bebe Dulce and the product they received, so that their readers can get the inside scoop on new, fun and hip products. When someone does a review on Bebe Dulce I like to add a giveaway contest to the review. This adds a little fun and excitement to the review and also gives people a chance to win FREE products! And what is more fun than getting FREE goodies?? So here are a few of our latest reviews, check them out, enter the contest, you could be the next winner of some awesome Bebe Dulce loot! There is no catch, we pay for shipping and all!!

Posh Little - Win a FREE Peek-a-Boo Clip

The Gerber Babies - Win a FREE onesie of your choice

Mommy PR - Win a FREE Peek-a-Boo Clip

Fabulous Fun Finds - Win a FREE onesie of your choice

This is all for now, many more to come in the next few weeks. I will keep you updated so you can win more Bebe Dulce!!

Livin' The Life...

2009-11-08T20:37:00.002-07:00

Wow, it has been awhile since my last post! I have been swamped with marketing and PR and loving every minute of it! I have gotten great responses from almost everyone I contacted! The Peek-a-Boo Clip is doing well and will hopefully be doing even better very soon! I little marketing tip that I thought of is to give the local hospital (there is only one here) a bag of Peek-a-Boo Clips and let them give them to new Mom's. I really want to get the buzz going about the Peek-a-Boo and I think this will definitely help. I mean anyone so far that has heard of it loves it but I don't know everyone and don't have access to new Mom's, so this is my idea. Keeping my fingers crossed!!

A couple of days ago the new issue of Aspen Peak Magazine came out and there is a sweet, little article about Bebe Dulce!! Wayhooo!!! Our first magazine feature! Plus Start Up Nation called a couple of weeks ago and interviewed me regarding my entry into their 2009 Home Based Business Competition. My first interview!! I didn't win the competition but was one of the "Top Winners" (as they describe it) meaning we were interviewed and mentioned in 2 articles on msn.com. Marketing and PR is alot of work but it is definitely starting to pay off!!

Get a head start on your Holiday shopping, use code earlybird until Nov. 12 to get 20% off your entire order plus FREE shipping and a FREE Peek-a-Boo or Paci Clip for all orders over $50!!

Coming next week at http://www.bebedulceaspen.com/ peppermint scent for lotion, candle, shea butter, relaxation pillow, and sea salt! I just made it this week end and let me just say the lotion is "to die for", it makes your skin tingle! You know like when you put a toner or cleanser on your face! Amazing! Can't wait for you all to try it!!

Go Big or Go Home?

2009-10-29T21:50:00.001-06:00

I have this email in my inbox from a marketing/PR company that I am on their e-newsletter list. The email was sent probably a month ago and I have yet to open it. I like it the way it is, in bold letters since it is unopened, so it catches my attention at least daily. I love answering the question each time I see it. Of course, GO BIG! It inspires me when I see it and can perk me up if I am having a bad day! So if you are debating whether or not to do something.... ALWAYS GO BIG!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.

Living the Life of a PR Mama

2009-10-22T22:08:00.001-06:00

In the past week since the launch of the Peek-a-Boo clip I have been doing non-stop promoting. I have been in contact with magazines, online magazines, blog reviewers, Le Leche, Mom PR websites, etc... I will have to say I wish I did more diligent promoting sooner, it really works! Just in the past week, I have probably gotten responses from nearly half the people I have contacted. I feel like the Peek-a-Boo clip is getting me in the door but then everyone wants to see mainly gifts sets for gift guides. Everyone seems to love the Peek-a-Boo clip idea but for some reason no one seems to currently be nursing?? I am just trying to look for people that are nursing to review the Peek-a-Boo, is nursing a thing of the past?? I don't think so.

PR is fun and I feel like I am really getting the hang of it considering I have not an ounce of experience!

The Peek-a-Boo Clip

2009-10-16T13:28:00.001-06:00

Wow! It has been a busy life here at Bebe Dulce. I have just launched the "Peek-a-Boo Clip" and I couldn't be more excited! My own invention, finally comes to life! I thought of the Peek-a-Boo about a year and a half ago when I was nursing my daughter. Everyone raved about the "Hooter Hider" but I never really used mine. My diaper bag was always full and the last thing I wanted to do was to stuff my Hooter Hider in the bag as well. I knew I could just use the blanket because I always had a blanket with us even though "flashing" strangers was always a possibility! Well needless to say the Peek-a-Boo clip was a dream and I am bursting at the seams that it is now a reality!

So now that the Peek-a-Boo Clip is ready to help new Mom's everywhere and I am busy pitching the Peek-a-Boo to the media. I met with a PR person yesterday and got some great tips on top of the loads of PR/marketing research I have already done. So now it is pitch, wait, pitch, wait, hope!

Off to do more pitching but before I go I have to give a BIG THANK YOU to Shop with Me Mama who blogged about the Peek-a-Boo even before I did! Thanks Kim, you rock!

Pursue your Dream. Live your Dream.

Holding Hands

2009-10-05T18:33:00.002-06:00

This weekend Alea's school had their annual Fall festival. We went and although Alea knows plenty of people she wanted to hold my hand most of the time. She typically never wants to hold my hand, I literally have to force her when we cross the street. I will have to tell you that the fact that she wanted to hold my hand was one of the best feelings. She wanted to hold onto me and walk around, at times I lead her and other times she lead me.

So many times through the struggles of being a business owner and being a Mom I realize that sometimes I just need someone to hold my hand. At times I feel like I have great direction and know exactly what I want and how to get it. Other times I feel lost and feel like I have no idea what I am doing. Regardless of the reason everyone needs someone to hold their hand from time to time, it just makes you feel better!

Determination

2009-09-22T20:38:00.001-06:00

You know my Mom is constantly telling me that my daughter acts just like I did as a child. I know I wasn't the easiest child, everything had to be my way and I would stop at nothing to get it. I tell my Mom, every child acts that way, every child wants everything their way! My Mother insists that I was different, I was beyond determined and I really stopped at nothing to get what I wanted. So I finally asked her a few weeks ago when we were visiting, so is this a good thing or a bad thing, my determination as a kid? She told me that growing up, of course I was very hard to deal with but she knew in the back of her head that it would hopefully turn out to be a good characteristic as an adult.

Well, I will have to tell you through my adult life my determination had gotten me through more than I can believe. I get down on my "luck" just as much as the next guy. Sometimes it will take me a day or two to perk back up and get back on track but one thing is for sure I will stop at nothing to succeed. Bebe Dulce is like another child to me, it is my baby. I created this company and have worked endlessly raising what I want more than anything to be a big success. I get this incredible opportunity to live out this amazing dream and I am determined to make the most of it!

So cheers to being determined to follow your dreams and determined to be successful!

Burrr It's Monday

2009-09-21T19:20:00.001-06:00

Mondays are always tough. Although I work on and off through the weekends, Mondays are still Mondays regardless of the fact that I work at home for myself. Mondays are just made to catch up and work hard to get the week started. Last Monday started my week off with a bang! A great review, a magazine requesting info about Bebe Dulce it couldn't have began much better. This Monday, 4 stores that are extremely late on their payments, calling them just to get blown off, sending late letters, just not the fun and exciting bang I was hoping for. Oh Well, you win some, you lose some. Plus it snowed today and it is freezing, it is suppose to get down to 30 tonight! Burrrr, I wasn't finished with Summer.

Anyway, I have 2 large orders for stores to finish up this week. When I watch the news I feel fortunate to have work right now. There are so many people without jobs and so many companies closing, it is so sad. I hope Bebe Dulce continues to grow so I can hire people without jobs. What I think is even more sad is that Simon from American Idol is making (I think I heard right) $45 million this season! REALLY?? What is this world coming to?

Off to a Great Start

2009-09-15T10:38:00.001-06:00

I love it when the week starts off GREAT! Typically, Monday mornings are dreaded, family time is over and rountine life begins. Well this week I've had "pots of gold" thrown into my routine and I couldn't be happier!! First thing Monday morning, I got an email from a magazine needing pictures for their Bebe Dulce write-up, then someone else contacted me checking facts for the article. Today, I was looking through a couple of Mom websites when I clicked on Mommies With Style and viola! Bebe Dulce review! What a pleasant surprise and what a Great review! Be warned that they are changing a couple of things that are incorrect, like my name. I couldn't have asked for a better review! Thanks Mommies With Style!

Plus, Bebe Dulce just turned one and I just launched my new website!! So in celebration I am offering a 15% discount (code birthday15), a FREE tote bag on all orders over $75, both of these offers are good until this Sunday the 20th. On top of all that I am offering FREE shipping on all orders over $50 (good until the end of the month)!! Celebrating always makes me feel generous! I just really want to jump start this new year in business and jump start my new website that I have worked so hard on!!

Well, I hope everyone else's week is off to a great start as well, if not make yourself feel better with a little retail therapy at Bebe Dulce and take advantage of our fun offers!!

Slacking & Working Hard at the Same Time

2009-09-09T20:27:00.001-06:00

Well, I am sad to say it has been a week since my last blog. I am a slacker, okay not really, I have been working my buns off but a slacker in the blogging department. I have been completely sunk in my new website. I just have to finish it and the company I choose to help design the site, well stinks to say the least. I chose the company based on price and I guess as everyone knows, you get what you pay for. Through all the frustration I just keep telling myself how much money I am saving, although I am not 100% loving the site, it has features that I need to grow Bebe Dulce. Right now that is all I can afford. I just want to love my site and I don't, I liked my old one better but the old site can't give me the features I need. As Bebe Dulce grows I will just gradually adjust and upgrade. Anyone that is paying someone to build an e-commerce site, be full warned it is VERY PRICEY! Hopefully it will pay for itself sooner rather than later!

As I have said before I love my job! I couldn't be happier with my career and the success of my business but I will say one thing, this job is hard. I say hard in a challenging way. There is just so much to running a business much less making the product as well and you can't slack in any department. I am challenged constantly, so much so my brain hurts. I wouldn't trade it for the world but damn this is hard work!

I will honestly say one thing, I think I have learned more in the past year of having my own business than I have learned any other single year in my life. Luckily I have something successful to show for it. Bebe Dulce's official one year anniversary (from the day I launched my website not the first day I started working on Bebe Dulce :) is this Friday. We will celebrate then, so be sure to check back as I know I will be feeling generous!

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
— Mahatma Gandhi

Honoring Anna Rose

2009-09-01T09:26:00.001-06:00

I am so excited about this month's "Shop 2 Share" organization! I feel very privileged to honor Anna Rose Votey. Anna Rose was born to my cousin Stacey and her husband Chuck. You can really tell by reading Anna's story that she touched so many lives in so many ways. Please take a minute to read her story at Bebe Dulce's "Shop 2 Share" page. I can't believe it has been over 5 years, I remember when Anna was born and vividly remember email updates from Stacey and Chuck on Anna's status. So needless to say, I am honored to honor Anna!

More Bebe Dulce...

Through talking to my sales reps in the past couple of weeks the summer has been VERY slow for most of our stores :( August was pretty slow for us on our website also. So... we are now offering FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50. We want to lend a hand as we know the summer was tough. I haven't put an end date on the free shipping yet, as I haven't decided how long to let this promo go, 1 month, 2 months, till the end of the year???? We will see!

Have a Great Day!

What a Great Weekend!

2009-08-24T20:04:00.001-06:00

We went to Nashville this past weekend. I had a trunk show on Friday night and my Grandmother's 90th birthday on Saturday. The trunk show went well and the new designs were a hit. Recently I have redesigned the tutu, designed an adorable onesie to match the tutu with tulle flowers and added new embroidery hats. I still have a list of new items that I want to design, I just have to find the time to actually make the products!

My Grandmother's birthday was Saturday and she had a huge party. It was very fun and great to see my extended family. We have a big family and we are rarely all together, I think the last time was at my wedding, 3 years ago!! Anyway, this big birthday really got me thinking about many things, the first is when I am 90 what will I remember most about my life and what will I be most proud of. Then I received an email from a woman who is an artist that I am "friends" with on Martha Stewart's website "Dreamers into Doers". A month or two ago I complimented her artwork and suggested that she market herself to interior designers, I have a great friend that is an interior designer and she has mentioned to me how she searches far and wide for beautiful, unique artwork for her clients. Anyway, the artist emailed me and thanked me for motivating her to get brochures made up and get a website up and running. It was such a nice email and is still making me grin from ear to ear just thinking about it.

That is one of a few things that I want to remember about my life when I am 90, that I helped people in some way, whether it is motivating them to achieve their dreams, helping people through Shop 2 Share or even just lending a hand when someone needs it.

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough" — Mae West

My, How Time Flies When You Are Having Fun Working!

2009-08-15T13:10:00.001-06:00

Wow, it has been almost a week since my last post! That is the longest I have gone without posting! I guess things have been busy this week. Busy in a good way, of course. Orders are still coming in and I am filling them as quickly as possible. On top of that I am researching places (websites and blogs) to review my products, re-designing my tutu's (just for a fresh fun look!), designing a new onesie to match the tutu's (so cute, I can't wait to post pics for you to see!) and adding my products to my new website (I feel like I will never finish :). All in the name of a fun, good growing business! WhoooHooo!

I get so inspired by looking at other websites and seeing how they "do" things. I hope that someone, anyone gets inspired by looking at my website and reading my blog, (crossing my fingers :)

We have a big trunk show planned in Nashville next Friday, so excited! I think it will be grand! Until next time, keep on working, researching and having fun (not in that order!) !

Oh and how could I forget! My "Shop 2 Share" blog post was featured on 5 minutes for Mom! Check it out!

Some Things Just Don't Happen as You Expect....

2009-08-09T20:28:00.001-06:00

Since this winter I have wanted to take Alea to the zoo. She LOVES animals, loves dogs, cats, monkeys, ducks, cows, etc... I just couldn't wait to get her to the zoo to see all the amazing animals there. Well, things didn't quite work out as I planned. We get to the zoo and she immediately gets in the stroller (SCORE!) she hasn't ridden in the stroller since the spring, I think this will be the perfect day. We get in the zoo and immediately see kangaroos and ostrich's, I take her out of the stroller for a better view (BIG, BIG mistake). Now all she wants to do is stand next to the stroller and play with the straps on the stroller. So now we can't walk or even move for that matter. To distract from the stroller straps, I give her a bottle of water and a straw, we can walk again but someone has to hold her so we can actually walk and she can still play with the water bottle. Quite frankly she could have cared less about the zoo, the only thing she cared about the entire day was the water bottle and straw which did not leave her hands and spilled all over everyone that came near. She did not get back in the stroller except when I bribed her with ice cream but that only lasted until the ice cream was gone!

Despite the dis-interest of my child, the zoo was still fun and I definitely learned "things just don't happen as I always expect!"

What I do know is the Dallas market starts Tuesday and our sales rep will be there. I am trying not to expect anything for fear of not living up to my expectations. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed that it exceeds my expectations! Stay positive and have confidence in my products but even if it doesn't end up as successful as I hope, it's life, and I will learn from the experience, just as I learned today at the zoo. Don't get down if things don't happen as you expect!

Gotta Love It When The Hard Work Pays Off

2009-08-06T21:41:00.001-06:00

I have been non-stop marketing and I feel like it is really paying off. I now have companies contacting me instead of me always contacting them. I mean I don't have people knocking down my door or anything but it is nice to have people contact me wanting to connect or wanting us to attend their show, etc... I really just have to pat myself on the back as the hard work does payoff occasionally. The main key to marketing is that you can never stop. I want to find as many places as I can to market Bebe Dulce and now "Shop 2 Share". I really want "Shop 2 Share" to be a huge success and am researching every outlet in order to ensure that it is a success and we give as much money as possible to those in need.

Now I just need to finish the new website.....what a daunting task!

Going to Denver this weekend for a party and taking Alea to the zoo. I am soooo excited to take her to the zoo or maybe I am just excited myself!

"Shop 2 Share"

2009-08-03T09:40:00.001-06:00

I am so excited to finally launch "Shop 2 Share"!! After much debate and consideration about the name, we have finally chosen "Shop 2 Share". I think the name suits the program perfectly, When you SHOP Bebe Dulce you are SHARING with those in need. It is really simple but so powerful in what the program can do. My goal of this program is to CONSISTENTLY give. Sure it is easy when someone emails me for silent auction donations to send them a few things or when a friend emails or calls me to ask to donate to this walk or that run. The thing is, that's not consistent. Programs that operate ALWAYS give, they ALWAYS SHARE. I want to ALWAYS SHARE too. I don't want to hound people with my favorite quote, but that is what inspired me to start this program and I hope it inspires you too. It is short and simple, just what I like...

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."
— Mahatma Gandhi

So here's to the success of "Shop 2 Share"! I hope we can give more than I ever expected.

My Day Was Made

2009-07-31T22:32:00.001-06:00

Of course I love hearing that people love my products. I love when people email me after they have received their order and tell me how much they like everything. Yesterday I got an email from "Rachel" with a video attached. An adorable 3 year old little girl twirling in her new tutu. The title of the video was "Guess who won the best gift award". I am glad this cute little girl loves her new tutu as much as I liked making it.

It is late and I am still working on the details of "Give Back" or "Give Always", I can't decide on the name. I only have until tomorrow, I think I will sleep on it. I am so excited to launch this program and give to those in need while also helping my customers give!

Never stop researching and never stop marketing, so important for your business!

I Love My Job

2009-07-29T20:28:00.001-06:00

Really, I love what I do. I just feel so lucky to be able to do what I enjoy. One of Tigey's friends asked me a couple of months ago if I could have any job in the world what would it be? Honestly I am doing it! Don't get me wrong starting your own business without a lot of money and doing basically every part of it myself is TOUGH but beyond rewarding. I truly feel like this is what I was meant to do with my career.

So with marketing Bebe Dulce I have met a whole new community of people on different websites that I find inspirational and helpful. I am a member of Martha Stewart's Dreamer into Doers social networking site. Today I cam home from a long day to get an email from Beth (a fellow Dreamer into Doer) and she mentioned this here lovely blog on her blog! What a nice surprise. Beth has a great blog that gives helpful marketing info to small businesses. Thanks Beth. http://www.minibizbuzz.typepad.com/

The next marketing avenue that I am exploring is to send in our products in to "review" blogs and websites. There are many out there. I have a handful that I will begin sending press kits to in hopes of having my products reviewed. First I need to write another press release. I want to change my pitch a little to focus more on the quality of craftmanship you get from handmade products as well as the great customer service that we provide being a small business. When you give someone a unique, handmade gift with great quality and style it has more meaning than buying the same blanket or outfit everyone else buys from Target.

Don't forget I am launching "Give Back" on August 1. I am just working out a few more details and then this great program will take off. I am so excited to help others in this way as well as help my customers give just by shopping Bebe Dulce.

My wish for all of you is that you find a career that you truly enjoy.

Where Do I Begin

2009-07-27T19:15:00.001-06:00

Well, for starters, today is my birthday. You know I don't really like my birthdays anymore, I feel like they are destined for disappointment. I don't want to seem like a downer because I try really hard to be positive in most situations. I just feel like the expectation that the day should be perfect makes it entirely imperfect. Just like New Years Eve, I don't know if I have ever had a great one. You make all these fancy plans get a new dress and then the night turns out to be a flop. Today was a fine birthday, nothing exciting. Sometimes I just wish birthdays were like they used to be, when I was a kid I literally felt different than I did they day before. Now they are just another day. Next year I want to celebrate like I used to!

So we went to Austin. It took a very long time. We left Wednesday night and drove to Denver, everything went fine, our hotel was actually much nicer than I expected. Thursday morning we get to the airport only to find out out flight has been cancelled. Frontier does not have another flight with available seats for 4 days to Austin. Okay. So they say they can switch us to United but the flight doesn't leave until 8pm, it is currently 8:30am. Breath. They say they can put us on stand by for 2 other United flights. The next flight leaves at 1:30pm. Luckily the bags are on the 1:30 flight, so if I can't make it for the trunk show at least my bags will get there and Jen can have merchandise for the show. We miss the 1:30 flight. We get on the 5:00 flight, after the longest day of my life (being in the airport with a 1 1/2 year old for 8 1/2 hours SUCKS), we get to Austin at 8:00pm, the same time the show ends. Still bummed I missed the show.

What I will say is that we ended up having a spectacular time in Austin thanks to Jen and Derrik. Such a fun, fun weekend. Drank wine, played in the fountains, laughed, kids played and didn't miss a beat with a great friend I haven't seen in 6 years. It was great.

2009-07-22T16:07:00.001-06:00

What a day already and we haven't even left for Austin yet!! I have been running around like crazy trying to finish up last minute orders, packing, cleaning and a million other things. I am so excited to go I can barely think straight. Then I check my email and Austin Kidbits featured us in their newsletter today! WhooooHoooo. It was a great little bit on Bebe Dulce and mentioned our trunk show Thursday night. Okay, now I really can't think straight. My wonderful brother came over to watch Alea so I could go into town and run errands. I needed to go to the post office and the bank. I mail everything at the post office and then head to the bank, only to realize that I left my deposits at home!!! Dang it!! Good thing we live in a small town and we are only 5 minutes away from town but geez, today has loads of excitement and my brain is not working!! So now I am sitting on the couch, having an early glass of wine and blogging. Whew. Not sure the glass of wine will hurt me or help, who am I kidding??? Of course it will help, wine ALWAYS helps!! HEHE

Cheers! We are off to Austin!

Visit us at Sanctuary Thursday night if you are in Austin! 6-8pm

Goin' ta Austin!

2009-07-20T12:57:00.001-06:00

Well, Jen has done it again! She has gotten more orders! We will soon be in stores in southern Cali! I love expanding our market. Once we ship the orders, we will let you know where you can find us in SoCal!!

We are headed to Austin, Texas this weekend. Bebe Dulce will be having a trunk show at "Sanctuary" for their anniversary party. This is our first trunk show, hopefully the first of many to come, and we couldn't be more excited. Plus I will be seeing my long-time friend and now sales rep, Jen who I haven't seen in 6 or 7 years! We are in for a fun-filled weekend! My how times have changed. The last time Jen and I saw each other we both lived in NYC and went to all the best "hot spots", now we are both married with kids and have little time for ourselves much less hitting all the "hot spots"! I am sure we will make time this weekend though! I will tell you all about it next week.

Jen and I will also be heading to several of the Austin stores that carry Bebe Dulce baby gifts. I love seeing my products displayed in stores. Hopefully, I will remember to take pictures of the displays for everyone to see!

Marketing Pays Off & My Baby Girl Rocks

2009-07-17T21:27:00.001-06:00

You know about a month ago I decided to concentrate on marketing Bebe Dulce. I had been really busy with store orders but my internet business had slacked off. So I started researching marketing techniques, everything from internet based to handing my business card out more. I have been so focused on this. I have learned lots of things from doing loads of research. I will have to say all my hard work is paying off. I have been really busy with internet and "word of mouth" orders. I will also have to say that I really enjoying marketing, I am kinda surprised by that.

This afternoon I took Alea to town and we were at the fountain playing, well she was playing. Lots of kids are constantly there. Alea loves it. She is so social, although she barely talks in public, and loves other kids. Anyway, there are always balloons there for the kids to play with and of course Alea was playing with a balloon. There was another balloon a couple of feet away from her, she walked over to the balloon, picked it up and took it over to a 10 month old little girl standing with her Mom and gave her a balloon!!! I am so proud of her. I work so hard on making sure she shares and today made it all worth it. What a good girl :)

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away."
— Maya Angelou

Random Thoughts, FREE Pillow

2009-07-16T13:28:00.001-06:00

Random Thoughts...

Just a little exercise tip, when you go walking or hiking, bring your ski poles or a couple of walking sticks. Why? You burn 25% more calories when walking or hiking with poles because you are moving your arms as well, therefore getting a full body workout.

I should have started this blog, joined facebook, twitter and all the other social media sites when I worked for someone else. It was so much easier to waste time on someone else's clock rather than my own. Damn it!

I don't know why I dream of being on Oprah!? I can't even talk in front of 20 people much less the whole world. I think I will change my dream that my company, my products will be on Oprah, not me in particular.

Let's have a little fun.
Okay, now if you message me today, this means by midnight tonight, Thursday July 16. I will send you a FREE relaxation pillow. Yep, totally FREE, FREE pillow, FREE shipping.

What you need to do is visit my website http://www.bebedulceaspen.com/ and fill out the email list on the home page. Include your shipping address and what scent of pillow you would like. To find the scents visit the Mom's relaxation products page on the site.

Ready, Go, Have a Great Day!

"Give Back"

2009-07-14T20:38:00.001-06:00

I am itching for more marketing and PR techniques. As of now I have sent out press kits to a few publications. Unfortunately, since sending them we have only been able to get in touch with one person. That person was of course the one person I almost didn't send a press kit to because they don't really do stories on businesses and people, they are strictly "news". Bummer. We will keep calling though. In the meantime, I will be writing another press release to send out, one that is more "news worthy" vs. informational on Bebe Dulce as a company.

I have a new program that I hope to launch August 1. It will be called "Give Back". Give Back is a program that I wanted to create to help give back to the community, non-profits, charities and organizations. Bebe Dulce will give a percentage of our sales to a chosen organization. We will let our customers choose the organizations where they can also honor someone. I chose the program "Give Back" because we want to give to organizations in need. I also want to give back to my loyal customers for shopping Bebe Dulce.

I hope that "Give Back" is a success and we can give LOADS of money to people that need it.

"The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up."
— Mark Twain

Bebe Dulce Business Tip

2009-07-13T12:30:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I want to start giving tips on how I am increasing business for Bebe Dulce. I am just learning and I do a lot of research but other than that I am new to the business game (as of last year).

So my Bebe Dulce Tip of the Day...

Recruit your friends as sales reps. I knew that I needed a big jump-start to my business. I only planned on doing "word-of'-mouth" advertising for my internet based business. Well, that didn't work. I mean I got a couple of orders a week but that wasn't cutting it.

My awesome friend Jen really liked my product and would help me brainstorm on how to get the word out. Before we knew it Jen was my first sales rep! I then asked a couple other friends and now I have 4 sales reps. One is a stay at home Mom and the others work either full or part time. They love it because they can make their own schedule and work as much or as little as they want, plus they make extra cash! I love it becasue they make commission only and they pay for their samples they "use" to sell. I researched loads of sales rep jobs to figure out what was common practice and then added in what worked for me. So far, this has been an incredible jump-start for Bebe Dulce. We are currently in over 20 stores in 3 states!!

If you want to be a sales rep or if you have a business and would like more info about hiring sales reps, just send me a comment.

Enjoy your day!