The box

Lately I've been feeling like every day is my birthday or Christmas from selling Lia Sophia. It seems that our condo door has become a rotating door which is great because it means business is good but it also means lots of deliveries. I love it because well, I like getting mail...unless it's bills but I think most people feel the same way. So with the all that has been happening, every day is Christmas here in the Cullins household. I have most of the items being delivered to my in laws because they have a place for UPS to leave the boxes. It's so exciting when Keith's mom or dad calls saying that something has been delivered. (And yes, I know I'm a dork). If I can, I rush over and my mother in law and I ATTACK the boxes like two five year old on Christmas morning. Oooookaaaay, maybe I ATTACK a lil' more than her but I know she gets a kick out of it too. :)

In amidst all the crazy fun, her and I have both noticed the ridiculous amount of waste comes along with the jewellery being delivered in a RIDONKULOUS sized box. It's like there's all thiiiiis iiiitttty biiittttyyy jewellery in this BIG BOX. Now I'm not saying I'm a saint and recycle left, right and center and I'm not saying that I haven't occasionally littered in my youth by throwing an apple core or banana peel out the window but I do what I can, when and where I can. I also NEVER litter anymore - who knew keeping a bag in my vehicle for garbage would make so much sense? lol. However, my biggest issue is when people waste. If I'm not in a room, the lights aren't on. When we're not home, we turn off the air conditioning. If there's leftovers from a meal, they get eaten. Either way, you get my point, waste not, want not.

What does this all mean, it means that today, I draw a line. It means today, I write a letter. I'm not trying to bad mouth anyone about anything, it's just that when I see waste my only option is to write a friendly letter saying, why oh why, couldn't you send this (the following picture) in a bubble wrap envelope?....

When instead, they sent it like this.....

A letter is in order, right?! RIGHT!

Cry me a River

Okay - so I've been like waaaaaaay emotional lately and it's maddening! I cry about everything and it's gotten to the point where I'm just finding myself ridiculous. I seem to go through these phases every now and again which I can usually handle but when I get teary eyed over an email or commercial it is time to draw the line! I want to blame it on pms or something but that would be VERY early pms so that excuse it out. I have some friends that have had some exciting things happening so I'm going to place the blame on that. Have I ever mentioned I'm REEEEHHEEELLLY good at displacing the blame?! HA!

One of my long time gal pals went and had herself a baby girl! And ooooohhhhh is she adorable! I know it doesn't seem like a lot but my friend has been in baby mode for a couple of years now so it makes me warm and fuzzy to see her get something she's wanted so badly. Another one of my long time gal pals has gone and met herself a nice fellow and seems to be on cloud nine! Who knows where it may lead but it's comforting and exciting to see her get that sparkle in her eye when she talks about this guy. I look forward to meeting him and possibly telling him embarassing stories about her - you know, for fun. teehee.

I love seeing good things happen to those around me - now if only it would stop this 'crying' phase!!!

My week in a nutshell!

It's been quite the week with being here and there and e-v-e-r-y-WHERE!
I had two Lia Sophia shows this weekend which alone kept me busy in a VERY fun way and bonus, I got to hang out with family and friends WHILE helping people pick out pretty jewellery. Ah, life is good!

Today I have attacked our dishes as well as our laundry and other odd ends around the condo. Keith went off to the Jaw for the afternoon to do some random shopping 'cause he's 'cool' like that.lol.

Marley has apparently decided he's a monkey and now hangs from the roof of his cage instead of just biting at it. I wish I could get a picture because he looks ridiculous...not that he would care but I sure get a kick out of it.

The biggest thing thus far is that Keith GOTAJOB and won't be hanging around aimlessly at home anymore. Oh, sorry, I'm not sure if playing games is considered aimless to everyone else in the world.lol. No offense. hehe. However, he did other things, like dishes (thank you baby) and applied for jobs and looked at options for continuing his education. Maybe I should take the 'aimlessly' comment back.....nah, he did have some pretty uneventful days.
Even he can't argue with that (although, he may try)!!!

And as always, I married myself a keeper! I already knew that but every once in a while, he reconfirms it.lol. Who else would wake up next to me, see my hair LIKE THIS (see below), and still say 'You look so beautiful'???

In my defense, HOLY HUMIDITY! lol.

Homemade Marshmallows - Who knew???

For some reason (possibly b/c I'm weird), I had an odd thought the other night. I wish I could say I knew where it came from but I honestly don't know. I was out on the balcony thinking about how my uncle was saying at brunch that the new word on the street is: burnt food can cause cancer. Then (oh wait, now I'm starting to remember my thought process on this) I thought of how I LOVE burnt marshmallows. From that thought I went to 'mmmmmm marshmallows', kind of like how Homer does the whole 'mmmmmmmmm donuts' thing. And out of nowhere I was like BAM and a light bulb came on. Not on the balcony but like in my head. I asked myself 'Is there a way to make homemade marshmallows'? And you know what ladies and gents, THERE IS!

All I can say is, you're welcome. :)

Ingredients:

3 cups white sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions:

Generously coat a 9x13 dish with cooking spray.
In a large saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, salt and water. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (112 to 116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Remove from heat and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.
Chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight. To cut, loosen edges with a knife. Dust surface with confectioners' sugar, and turn out onto a waxed paper lined surface. Dust with confectioners' sugar again and cut with a knife.

When I get the balls to try this out, I'll let you know what happens!!!
MMMMMMMMmarshmallows. teehee!

Lia Sophia Jewellery

So, it's official! I'm going to 'plug' my new thang in my blog. I will spare everyone from constantly posting about it but I figure I'll lay the ground work since it's a new and exciting thing.

I've started selling Lia Sophia Jewellery and I plan to post the monthly customer specials to keep everyone in the loop. I am attaching the link so my 'blogpals' can see what we have to offer.

http://www.liasophia.ca/

If you like what you see, you can email me at k.howe@sasktel.net to either place an order, book a party, or discuss fundraising opportunities. The July special is:

*Buy 1 item at full price and get 2 items at half price. Your full price item is the LEAST expensive item you want* OR, buy 2 items at full price and get 4 for half price – again, your LEAST expensive items are what you pay full price for.

The above special is for anyone that wants to place a direct order meaning you want some jewellery but have no interest in hosting a party.

If you decide to have a party, the above special is for your guests through the month of July. You, as a hostess with a qualified show ($250 in sales) would receive 20% of your total sales (before taxes) in free jewellery. On top of that, you can select 4 items out of the catalogue at $16.50 and on top of that, you can then choose 2 items at half price. The hostess does not have to take advantage of all the hostess bonuses unless they want to.

As I mentioned earlier, I can also do fundraisers. This means that if you have a child graduating; are on the board of an organization or do any activities that involve fundraising, I can work with you to get that much closer to your fundraising goal! :)

As I said, feel free to email me if you have any questions. I'm really pumped about the fundraising opportunities out there and hope to be of help to anyone in need of an easy and fun way to fund raise.

The end! lol. That is my personal 'plug' and I hope I didn't go too overboard. I just get really excited once I get talking about it. :)

Mother of the Bride and the Tiara Trio

As most of you may already know, my sister and my brother in law plan on tying the knot in September 2011. I know that technically they aren't married yet but I still refer to Devon as my 'bil'. They've been together forever and referring to him as my sister's bf just sounds to 'teenagie' for me.
Just yesterday we went on a mission to try to find what might be our bridesmaid dresses, a dress for my sister and as my mom requested, something for her to wear. She wasn't with us for this adventurous shopping day so no matter what we picked, we felt like we did her a favor and for that, she should be thankful (insert evil laugh). :)

While I think we were able to nail down the bridesmaid dresses I believe the wedding dress is still to be determined. However, we did discover two things. First of all, us bridesmaids want to wear tiaras. Well, okay....mostly I want to wear a tiara and I do believe I shall be allowed as I aaaammmm the maid of honor after all. Even if my sister poo poos the tiaras, we may disobey because don't we look goooygeeeeous?!

The second thing is, I DO believe we found a dress for my mom in the role of mother-of-the-bride. She WILL be the talk of the ball that night. No?....

AHAHAHAHAHA, I can't help but laugh when I see this. My Aunt Nancy did such a wonderful job modelling it for us. :)

Another thing I think we (aka, me) decided on is that...and I mean this in the kindest way possible, my sister should NOT wear a tiara. Now this could be the angle or the way her hair was or the lighting or what have you but I think anyone that views this picture will agree. Does her head not look oddly HUGE, or is it just me?

All I can say is that it was a fun day and as much as I am relieved that my sister can check some things off her to do list, I hope it doesn't go by too fast. It's not often that I get to spend days like that with her any more now that we're older. And, despite the tiara thing, she's going to make the most beautiful bride. :)

Love you sis!!! <3>

Happy Canada Day!

Okay, so I'm a little late on the Canada Day thing - don't judge me! lol.
I always find myself doing the most random things for Canada day. This thought brings back the memory of when me and a couple of friends had a 'white trash' Canada Day. We opted to have a potluck supper in my friend's backyard because we knew the park would be too crowded. We had discussed going to a nearby pool but figured that would be busy as well. All this plus the fact that there was a chance of rain that day....not that that is any surprise. It was the best time ever as 'lame' as it was but really, I thought it was one of the greatest days EVER. We sat around in camping chairs and put our feet in a little kiddy pool and didn't do a whole lot. The rain that was called for never came and I actually ended up getting burnt, like BAD! Oh, and we got a little tanked too. teehee.

This year, we did a whole lot of nothin' much. Keith did dishes (thank you baby) while I went to see some family that is in town for the week/weekend. From there I went to run some errands and then we headed to my sister's for supper which involved a significant amount of wine. Thank you sis! :)
After all of that we came home to watch a movie and sure enough, I hear this loud noise thinking our neighbours upstairs were closing their balcony doors. I turn my head only to see the whole sky light up like crazy! I got up to look out and it looked a tsunami was taking place in the field behind our house. Sure enough our power went out about 30 minutes into the storm. From there I proceeded to get the flashlight and ended up stubbing my toe and stepped on the buckle of one of Keith's belts which hurt like hell. Once I found it we basically went to bed and I was out just like the power.lol.

All this has got me to thinking of a few things. First of all, I've never had an 'off' Canada day. Even when I plan nothing I end up being where I find I want to be and am thankful for that. Is it because I have the bestest friends and family in the world? DEFINITELY....but I also think it has to do with the fact that I'm in Canada - and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. And my other thought was, it's time we put a request in to change our year from having 4 seasons, to possibly 5. I officially call this season of wind, rain, hail, heat and humidity the season of 'WTF'. lol.

CHEERS! :)