The Herb Gypsy Boutique

My life is all sorts of crazy (which anyone who knows me at all realises already). At the moment, there is a giveaway featuring one of my Blackberry Sage candles on blogspot! So go here: http://christopherandtia.blogspot.com/2009/03/monday-suck-day-take-21.html and try to get it :-)

Speaking of my candles....the new shop is coming along awesomely! Here are some pics:

Our awesome, hand-painted signage (some young ladies made this for us!) :-) What other store do you know has peacock feathers coming off of their sign?

Upon entering, you see our counter, our aprons, and my jewelry display! The chair in the front gives you a teeny tiny peek at our little consult area (for herbal issues & tea enjoyment issues).

When you look the other way you get a view of our giant shelf (thanks to Nic's dad!), our herb weighing station, the clearance rack and my tote display!

Here is a close up of my tote diplay! I love old shutters..they're far more useful than the people who threw these out believed!

I hate that this next picture came out all dark...the wood is really bright and natural! This is our bulk herb shelf (we are herbalists after all)/candle display! Pretty soon I'll have to spread the candles out a bit....my scent line is GROWING!!!

Close up of the jewelry display! The basket on the bottom conatins bath fizzies....SO much fun!

As we really are herbalists, we do love our herbs...and blending them into teas! We ALWAYS have a pot of tea going....my favorite is the Yerba Mate Breakfast Blend! It smells like waffles! On this day it was Peppermint Orange Tea.

And where to drink the tea? In the afore-mentioned tea area of course! You have to take my word for it...it's in this picture :-) But most prominent in this picture is what makes the shop so awesome.....my business partner Dawn, my boys, and Dawn's awesome daughter Maggs! Family owned and run all the way :-) And boy do the children LOVE to help!

So there you have it, a very quick tour of The Herb Gypsy Boutique! We are quite proud of what we have accomplished! So if you ever get the chance, come on down and see us!

I Wants It....I Wants It SOOOOOO Bad!

Anyone who knows me well also is quite aware that when it comes to spending money....I hate it. And when I do spend it, it's RARELY on myself. Even when I buy fabrics it's generally to make things for others. This does not mean that I don't have a huge list of things that I want... oh, I do....but it does mean that I don't get them because I feel guilty spending money.



Now bring in life issue #2. I have 5 more pounds of baby weight to lose. If I actually tried I could do it in a relatively short amount of time. But, to be honest, I haven't given it more than a half assed approach.



My solution to both issues? I lose my 5 pounds I get to buy myself something that's on my 'want list'. I even have it picked out already! Yeppers! An awesome woman (http://christopherandtia.blogspot.com/) I met through this whole blogging thing makes these awesome, smile-inducing recipe boxes and recipe cards with her other half! Go look at them!!! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5687581 (and follow her blog, she does give aways every Monday from other crafters who make awesome handmade thing!)



I wants the raven one...it's become my very own precious (oops, my inner dork leaked out).



So it's back to bellydancing with me! I went Monday night and did drills hardcore. It felt SOOOOO good! And now Sabrina (my teacher) wants me to perform in October! WOOT! This is my mission. I have chosen to accept it. Damn, now I just want something to self destruct!

My Brain is Leaking.....

At the presant moment, my brain is going in about 12 directions at once. This happens FAR more often than I would like, but alas, such is my life. So, to clear my brain a bit, I am sharing my disorganized thoughts with the world...er....you guys at least.




-The longer I live with my beagle, and the more I hear about other people's beagles, the more I think the entire breed in braindead. Therefore, it really shouldn't mystify me when my dog pees in her crate, and instead of drinking the nice clean water in there with her....she drinks her own pee.



-Uh...if you ever come to my house, you probably shouldn't let the dog lick you. The whole saying that "dog's mouths are cleaner than humans" does not, in ANY WAY, apply to my dog.



-I have recently become completely and possibly irrivocably addicted...to what? Making baby shoes and PJ pants. The flannel just comes in so many colors that my mind overloads at the fabric store and I just end up buying everything.



-There's a ghost in my house. She's a little girl. I'm starting to think she's more annoying than my 3 year old. And she apparently hates the show Ghosthunters......go figure.



-Nic got rid of his mohawk....*tear*



-How is it that my 3 month old already thinks that farts are funny? He farts, then he laughs. It's the cutest, stinkiest thing ever. See, this picture was taken while I was holding my nose:



-Calling Syrus "Mr. Stinkypants", apparently motivated my son to call the cashier in Wal-Mart the same. Lucky for me, he liked kids. :-)

That's about it for now. I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but my brain is fried.....damn, I could really go for some fried ice cream.....

NO MAMA! I can do it!

I am such a proud Mommy today! Gaven invented 2 things this month (not bad for a 3 year old lol!). He invented a new drink for Mommy made from cranapple juice, pineapple juice, orange juice and gingerale. This came about by asking me to mix togeather things in the fridge (he loves helping me cook).




Well, from there he decided that he wanted to put the same juice into the popsicle molds we have :-) He poured all the juices togeater into a big pyrex measuring cup, mixed them himself, and even poured them into the molds by himself (my kitchen floor and counter top can attest to that lol!). Then he put the sticks in and carried it to the freezer.





Later that day we had.....





Oh yeah... that is one Proud Gaven!

Awesomeness With Fabric Scraps

As I continue on my quest to shun major clothing stores (because I am Supermom! and can make my own damnable clothing!), I have jumped yet another hurtle! SHOES! Sure, I still have to buy Gaven's shoes because he's all walking and stuff, but Syrus isn't! I did my first attempt at shoes with the outfit in a previous post....they are now my favorite thing to make :-)

As you can see from my previous "Sing Along with Ozzy" post, I am already raising one Mini-Metalhead. Well, thanks to a free online pattern, scraps of polar fleece from making Gaven some pants, and scraps of fabric from the quilt I made Nic for Christmas/Yule, I give you the finished product:

I plan on making many more pairs! He also has some plain black ones and some plain Navy Blue ones....but these are my favorite :-) Here are the black black ones on little baby feet:

The possiblities are endless now! And if you're a friend of mine with a small child...they will be recieving them too! MWAHAHAHAHA!!! *ahem*