Life of Lyndsey

Gorgeous Bird Mobiles

2010-02-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

After so many requests for my bird mobiles I am finally putting together a website to order them from! They are all hand-made from and one of a kind customizable. Each bird has two different fabrics, one for the body and one for the belly. These can be color coordinated or totally random, whichever you choose. The birds are delicately balanced on real tree branches and make a beautiful addition to any room, especially the nursery!

-Original mobile comes with 11 birds and 3 levels. $95

CUSTOMIZABLE
-I can design to any color scheme you'd like. Just enter your required information in the order and we'll customize your mobile specifically for your room.
-Change the number of birds or levels
*add or subtract a level for $10
*add or subtract a bird for $8
- Painted white natural branches, painted white or natural wooden dowels also available

*Your mobile will not be created until you order it! It is totally customizable, just leave your preferences, color schemes, etc in the email when you contact me at lyndseyco@gmail.com

*Please add $8 for shipping and handling

Piece will be sent to you fully assembled and ready to hang.

**THE MOBILE AND BIRDS FEATURED IN THE PICTURES IS JUST AN EXAMPLE AND IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR SALE. EACH BIRD AND MOBILE IS CREATED WHEN ORDERED AND TO YOUR SPECIFICATIONS.

This is an example of a custom version sold for $37.

Contact me today! Lyndseyco@gmail.com

Photoshop Tutorial

2009-10-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

Having had a baby, Ricky and I now take an average of 100-200 pictures a week. Of course we don't have to save all of them thanks to the beauty of digital photography. As I was browsing through our picture cache online for a great shot for our announcement I thought I'd Google to see if there was a good photoshop tutorial on how to optimize the perfect picture. Sure enough, I came across this site on Photo Retouching and here are the results:
Before

After

7 Year Anniversary

2009-08-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

Next month is our 7 year anniversary, although we've been together almost 9 years now! I thought it would be fitting to post these pictures now because in the next week or two our family is going to be a threesome! Ricky and I had our first wedding celebration in Las Vegas with just the two of us. After scoring a suite at the Luxor we checked out the yellow pages to find the perfect little chapel. We chose the all in one package that included the limo drive to downtown to the courthouse, and the drive-thru ceremony afterwards. I wouldn't change it for the world!

Our "official" cerimony, 2 months later, was with our close family on the beach in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. Ricky's father officiated and my Moms and Sister in Law put together my bouquet. Perfection!

William Thomas Sutton

2009-07-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

We have a new nefew! Ricky's twin sister Cristi, her husband Kevin, and big brothers Patrick and Jack welcomed little brother WILLIAM THOMAS SUTTON to the family July 23rd! Congrats, we can't wait to meet the little guy!

Happy Birthday Sydney!

2009-07-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Our good friends Stefan and Summer welcomed a baby girl, SYDNEY JAMES REST, into the world July 26th at 11:10 PM. She weighed 7.2 lbs and was 21 inches long. Congratulations to the happy family, we look forward to many camping trips and family vacays in the future! (I LOVE LOVE LOVE her name!)

Ocean Beach Randomness

2009-07-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

Ricky and I recently attended the 30th annual Ocean Beach Chili Cookoff and Streetfair a couple of weekends ago. It is one of the biggest occasions for our community because they shut down the entire business district from Sunset Cliffs Blvd to Abbott ave on Newport for live music, great food, and street vendors. These pictres are of a community block painting you could buy into for $5 a square. I have noticed numerous murals all around town before but never knew where they came from.

On our walk home, I snapped a picture of a new additon to our neighbors yard. This plywood cutout stands about 10+ feet tall and his message changes every week or so. This one says "Will work for Peace".

Octopus Baby Bedding

2009-07-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

I finished my crib bedding a couple of weeks ago and have yet to post pictures to show off all my handiwork! I picked up a pattern for the bumper and bed skirt, and made a quilt and bed sheet from my own design.

Judahs Big Day

2009-06-25T09:57:00.003-07:00

Today is Judah's 6th Birthday that makes him the big 42 in human years. He has brought us so much joy and affection the time he has been with us that I really can't imagine what life would have been like without him. We took a special hike down by the cliffs for his birthday treat this morning, check out the pictures HERE.
The pictures above are from the breeder we picked him up from in Hemet 6years ago.

Judah

2009-06-25T09:57:00.001-07:00

Tutus

2009-06-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of my family members are having girls so I decided to make little baby tutus. They are adorable for pictures and just plain girlie fun. I found a ton of tutorials online if you'd like to make one of your own. The first one I made on the left I used twice the amount of tulle by doubling up the layers as I tied it around the waistband it turned out super cute and HUGE. I'll probably cut it down in length so it won't swallow the baby. The one to the right is single layered and a little less full. You can see how I alternated the colors from the shot in the center. I had Judah try one on as a collar but he wasn't in the mood to pose for a photo, bummer.

Meet the Golden Girls

2009-06-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't introduced our chickens yet! Meet from left to right; Dorthy, Rose, and Blanch. It's actually pretty surprising that I haven't posted any pictures of them yet since they are such a big part of our life, and by big I mean loud. When we started our gardens last year Ricky and I decided that we needed some chickens roaming around as well. After doing alot of research on the topic we drove out to a farm store in El Cajon and picked out 3 different breeds based on there temperament, egg production, size, and availability. You can read more about there life here on Farm Coburn on our blog Follow the Sun.

Third Trimester

2009-06-17T06:29:00.000-07:00

I've made it to the last leg of the race, the 3rd trimester! Only 12 or so weeks to go! Jeez that seems kind of long now that I think about it, but I'm sure that it will fly by like the rest.

Week in Review

2009-06-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since the last post, we've had a fairly busy week with lots of work and friends. Ricky's buddy Steve aka "Conejo" stopped by for a week after a surf trip in Fiji. Conejo always has great stories to tell of his travels and living in Costa for the past 10+years. So much so that a movie script is in the works based loosely based on his life! I always love when we have guests in town to because that means we get to visit all our favorite restaurants... Southbeach, Hodads, Shades, Lighthouse Icecream, Thai Time. Lots of good eating for sure!

Ricky and I also started our Baby Classes a couple of weeks ago. We are attending a Birthing From Within class that is located at the Best Start Birth Center in Hillcrest. It is 4 weeks long and each class is 3 hours. After researching and comparing the options out there I thought that this format would work best for us. Personaly I like that it opens the door for us to discuss what we may be thinking about birth and becoming parents but may not say to each other without the prompting of a class exercise or discussion. We have attended two classes and I feel more confident about the whole birthing thing already.

I also attended a baby expo that was going on downtown on Sunday to score some free loot. It was well worth my time and I enjoyed going to see all the newest baby gear. I learned alot about using cloth baby diapers and got to see all the different brands and styles available which was pretty interesting. I am not sold completly on them yet, but may buy one or two styles to use at home and interchange with the disposables.

Our friends Sean and Stefanie also welcomed there baby Ford Michael Leonard into the world last Tuesday June 9th at 8:59PM! Congratulations to the new family we are so excited for you!

Baby Daddy

2009-06-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

My little brother Wes is going to be a daddy! I just found out a couple of days ago that Wes and his wife Dana are expecting there first baby in February 2010. How exciting for the whole family, our little ones will be around 5 months apart.

Wes just finished building their house from the ground up in Edmond, OK about a year ago so they have plenty of room for a baby to call home. He lives close to my Mom and Dad and I'm sure that they will love having a grandbaby so close to spoil and do things with. I only wish that everyone would realize that beach living is where it's at and move to California to be closer to us!
CONGRATULATIONS Wes & Dana!!!

Time for a Trim

2009-06-02T08:54:00.001-07:00

So it's almost been 9 years since I've had my dreads, which means time for a little trim. I've "cut" them before, and by cut I mean "twisted them off" at a weak point so it basically was a natural haircut. It had been getting really heavy when I had it pulled back or piled on top of my head and was bringing my look down. I'd been thinking about it for a couple of weeks and after browsing through our old photos I decided to do the deed. This was the first real cut I've ever attempted and I am really happy with the results.

All in all I took about 5-6 inches off and it felt lighter immediately. In the picture to the left I have the top half pulled back so that's why some pieces look a little shorter. Ah, so much better.

Family Photos

2009-06-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

My Mom recently forwarded me some pictures of her older sister Paulette who passed away at a young age. It got me into looking at some other photos I had lying around so I thought i'd share.

This picture is of my Grandma Stansberry (my Mom's Mom) at around 20 years old, holding my Aunt Paulette in 1948. My Aunt Linda thinks her and I have a resemblance.

I LOVE this picture! Aunt Paulette is the one on the Left with her Cousin Karen.

My Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Paul, Unknown, and Uncle Marty.

My Mom in High School.

Me and Dad chillin at the lake.

Grandpa and I doing a little fishing, I love my fishing pose! And finally one of Me and my Radio Flyer wagon. I would love to find one of these for next year when we drag the family down to the beach.

Keeping up my "shape", even if the current shape is Round

2009-06-01T07:09:00.000-07:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ca/san-diego/377445770"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Sunset Point Run&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/ca/san-diego"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Runs in San Diego, California&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
WOW, June 1st already! It is hard to believe I'm already 7 months into this pregnancy with only 3 more to go. It is so crazy and amazing to watch the body that you've lived in your whole life change to create another human being. I often forget how obvious it is to other people when I'm out until I catch my reflection in a window and can't believe that the person looking back is actually me. I have been exercising daily, as was my routine before baby, but cut out the running and stick with fast paced walking and hills to keep in shape. I used to run all the way to the end of the cliffs and back, but now my route must pass by the public restrooms for the inevitable pit stop. Stretching everyday as well as squats, push ups, and sideways crunches keep me feeling good and will help my body bounce back after labor. Map my Run.com is one of my favorite ways to keep track of how far my routes are and provides lots of cool information on elevation, carbon offset, gas saved, and other fun facts.

Etsy makes it Easy

2009-05-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot of searching the web for fabrics lately to find the perfect prints for the baby bedding. There are so many fabric sites to look through but the absolute BEST place to search for fabrics is ETSY.com. Etsy is an online marketplace that supports all things handmade and vintage. There are numerous ways to search for what you are looking for and just browse the thousands of unique listings. Be warned though, it is very easy to get sucked in!

The Baby Cage

2009-05-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

I picked up the crib on Saturday morning up in Carlsbad. It is everything I hoped it would be. Margarita and her 4 year old daughter Selena were super nice and helped me to load it into the back of my car. It barely fit! The thing is freakin HUGE! It came with all the parts in perfect condition and includes crib, mattress, toddler rail, and base boards for the full bed conversion. All in all it would be around $1000+ if we purchased it brand new. I came home and set it up myself in under an hour. Pretty easy to assemble and it looks great in the corner of our bedroom until he is a little older and we'll move him into the other bedroom.

Now I am working on finding some really cool fabrics to make the bedding for it. I want it to coordinate with the colors on my bedspread which is orange and white. As with everything I'm purchasing for him I don't want it to be to kiddy or cartoonish, ie Winnie the Pooh. I like the idea of using a color theme of turquoise, lime green, white, orange, and brown. Kind of a tropical feel. Here are some fabrics I like.

Baby Crib Bargain

2009-05-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't had a post in awhile, it's been pretty busy around here the last week or so. Some exciting news though...I'm going to pick up my crib tomorrow! I have been obsessively checking craigslist postings for white convertible cribs with a tall backboard for the past month or so. To make it even trickier I wanted it to include a nice mattress and be in practically new condition, all for an unbelievable price. Oddly enough my patience paid off. Here is the post:

BABY CRIB SPECIAL PRICE 2DAY ONLY!!!! - $150 (La Costa, Carlsbad)

BEAUTIFUL, WHITE Sorelle "Maxine" crib for sale. SPECIAL OFFER!!!!! MUST SELL BEFORE WEEKEND!!!! Includes brand NEW Mattress, Toddler rail, and Conversion kit. This BEAUTIFUL crib Converts to a FULL size bed. First 150.00 takes it!!!! IN PERFECT CONDITION!!! MUST SEE!!! Sacrifice at 150.00 Paid $800 NEW!! Please Call 000-000-000 I WILL DELIVER!!!!!!

First I did my research and looked up the brand online here, and sure enough it was everything I wanted. I called, thinking it would be snapped up already, but talked with a really nice and super talkative single mom. I got the cribs back story from beginning to current day as well as her relationship status and her plans for the weekend! WHOA TMI :) I pick it up tomorrow morning in Carlsbad, a little bit of a drive, but whatever it's a terrific deal. Can't wait to start posting pics and searching for the perfect bedding!

Time to give my jeans a break

2009-05-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

Man, I am really feeling the effects of the extra weight I'm lugging around. You wouldn't think an extra 15lbs would make much of a difference but jeez! So of course I made the BIGGEST mistake you could possibly make when pregnant, I measured myself! Weight is one thing, of course I expected to put on the pounds, but for some reason actually seeing the numbers on the measuring tape made my eyes pop out of my head! So word to the wise, NEVER MEASURE YOURSELF WHEN PREGNANT! So in order to set
things right I am planning on purchasing a pair of lululemon yoga pants. All my friends swear by them and they are supposed to make your butt look amazing, I'm sold.

(Unrelated picture...Super cute alligator puppet and monkey I picked up at a garage sale for $2!)

Derby Day Onsie

2009-05-16T06:32:00.000-07:00

Another cute little gown to add to my collection. I had heard at a baby shower that these were great to have on hand because you don't have to fumble with buttons or pants and they are easy on/off.

It's Obvious

2009-05-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

I'm officially "obvious", at least I've passed THIS stage. You know the one when a woman looks a little heavy in the middle but people are afraid to say anything because she could or couldn't be expecting. So at least once a day now people are starting to ask when I'm due.

May Gray go away

2009-05-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

May Gray has descended upon coastal cities in California, boo. If you've never visited during that time, your not missing out. My Dad actually says that the coldest he's ever been in June was the week he visited us one year. May Gray/June Gloom is a marine layer that covers the entire coast for a few months in Spring and makes the whole day colder. It's really not that bad until your BBQ/beach day/other outside event, is brought down by all the fog. Sometimes it breaks during midday for a few hours but mostly its just gloomy. This is a picture of Torrey Pines during June Gloom. Bummer.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it.

"June Gloom (also May Gray) is a California term for a weather pattern that results in overcast skies with mild temperatures during the late spring and early summer. The condition is prevalent in many parts of the world where marine stratus or stratocumulus clouds are common, particularly off the western coasts of continents—especially off Peru, Namibia, Western Australia, and California. Such cloud systems are persistent year-round off the coast, yet in certain seasons they blow ashore and create the gloomy "May Gray" effect on land. The June Gloom phenomenon has also been known to occur during the early fall in California.

Early mornings during this period are typically foggy, with an occasional drizzle. The fog turns to low clouds by late morning and early afternoon. Finally, by late afternoon, solar heating is sufficient to evaporate the clouds. Often the overcast will be evaporated ("burned off") quickly inland, but will linger along the immediate coast.

In California, the number of days from May to June that are gloomy vary from year to year. Cooler ocean temperatures, associated with La Niña, usually foretell a more gray period.

June Gloom has been reported by some Californians to bring on symptoms consistent with seasonal affective disorder. It is often cited as a time of depression."

Spoiled Rotten

2009-05-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

Our dog spoiled, no way! THIS is what he does all day when we aren't home.

Mental Roller Coaster Ride

2009-05-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days I've felt kinda blah. A little mental and a little physical. I think it's just my crazy pregnancy hormones playing tricks on me but I felt a little off. Not wanting to get out of bed, being lethargic all day, headaches, and being overly sensitive to little things that normally wouldn't effect me. Fortunately, I have an understanding husband and great friends to make me feel better (and feed me awesome food) when I need it most! Thanks Guys!

This is a little bitty pair of Chuck Taylors I picked up at a garage sale for like a dollar, they make me smile every time I see them. So naturally they have been sitting on our kitchen table for the past week!

Lil Vampire

2009-05-06T09:49:00.001-07:00

Ha Ha, how funny are these pacifiers!!!
Check out there other silly selections at Billy Bob Pacifiers.

Where I've Worked

2009-05-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was browsing through some old photos and came across some shots we took of our old stores in Dallas, TX. Over the past 9 years we have opened 4 of our own stores and helped numerous others start theirs. Here are a couple of pics of the stores past...

This is a picture from the back of our first store in Deep Ellum looking towards the entrance. The Deep Ellum Store was open from for October 2000-January 2007. It is also where Ricky and I met and started "dating". It was our most profitable store and also the coolest in my opionion. We had to close down because the neighborhood went into a decline and people were afraid to come to the area. When we first opened we would be open until 1:00+ on Friday and Saturday nights and were pumping with business nonstop. Over the years the media got ahold of some unfortunate circumstances and less and less people visited the neighborhood. Business closed down left and right and we were one of the very last retail spots to oporate. LOTS and LOTS of awesome memories, Ricky even had an apartment behind the store for the first couple of years.

After noticing the decline in the Deep Ellum neighborhood we decided to open a second location at a new shopping center called Mockingbird Station about 3 miles away. Here we did the entire finish out to the spot which was a MAJOR undertaking. Installing a window front, bathrooms, AC unit, pretty much everything as it was a blank box to begin with. This location was open for about 3 years and we sold it when we decided to move back to San Diego in 2007.

Factory Vintage was our warehouse/store located next door to the Deep Ellum location. For the first year we just used the space to ship and pack orders and oporated our Particle Reconstruction line. But after we closed the doors to the Deep Ellum Store next door, we expanded and let people shop the warehouse and extremly low "bulk" prices. This was by far a biggest location at 10,000+ sq feet. It had an room for a few offices, a large particle workroom, a darkroom, screenprinting room, skateboarding half-pipe ramp, and tons and tons of racks and bins. There were even a few classic cars on display throughout the warehouse, a Jag and a Mercedes. We were oporating three locations at once in Dallas at one point and had a payroll fluxuating at about 20+people and interns.

These days we are running one location in Bay Park that houses Dust Factory Wholesale, Factory Vintage Retail, and Particle Reconstruction Clothing. It makes it much easier on us to have it all in one place. Check us out if you are ever in the area.

Pickles & Ice Cream

2009-05-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

So far I have felt like this food craving thing that pregnant women were supposed to get was nonsense. I've had a few cravings: chocolate cake, smores, Hodad's veggie burger, but nothing that I couldn't just forget about till later. But today I craved coconut! I was thinking about it all day, at church, cleaning up around the house, on my walk, etc... I just could not get coconut out of my head. The weird thing is I never eat coconut. I went online to allrecipes.com to see if anything looked great, but I don't really feel like making a big amount of food. I went to People's Co-op to see if they had coconut pudding or something...NOPE! I finally ventured down to the new DIY frozen yogurt place they opened on Newport. You can choose from 16 flavors of frozen yogurt and pile it high with as many toppings as you please. I choose a squirt of peppermint, coffee, and vanilla yogurt with fresh mango, rasberry, 1 oreo, and TONS of coconut shavings on top! Perfection, craving averted, for now.

So Many Projects, So little Time!

2009-05-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Growing up I was surrounded by arts & crafts. My mother and grandmother were both very crafty, hands on, project type ladies... So it's only natural I follow in their footsteps. My grandma (my mom's mom) only lived a block away so I would walk to her house almost every day growing up to go paint ceramics. She had the whole setup, tons of paints and brushes, and even a kiln to fire the finished pieces in. It was so fun and year after year we would paint different little decorations for all the holidays. She was SUPER into holidays, but more on that in another post ;)

My mom was always into sewing projects. She too made everything under the sun holiday related. Stuffed life sized skeletons, reindeer wall hangings, and quilts for every season decorated our house year round. It was always cool to see what she would come up with next, and still is. So now that I have a "reason" to finally jump on the crafting bandwagon I can't stop it! I am in the middle of at least three projects excluding all the orders I fulfill at work.

The first project is a baby quilt I'm making out of blue, green, black, brown, and white patterned materials. It is my first quilt and I think it is coming along quite nicely. So far I have it all sewn together and have the sides evened up, I just need to buy some backing material and sew on a border and stitch it all together. I thought it up after not loving anything on the market as far as baby bedding goes, so I thought I'd do it myself.

Another cool project I'm working on is to embroider some blank baby onsies. I've hand embellished stuff before but never with any fancy stitches so I've been doing some research. I came across this cool site called Sublime Stitching and they have tons of patterns and designs you can order off there site. But being the I-want-it-right-now and I-don't-want-to-pay kind of person I decided to make my own patterns. After much thought on what would look cute on my little boy I've decided on doing an alphabet design across the front with a different color for each letter. First I hand drew the alphabet and then I scanned it in and traced it in Illustrator. Now I have to figure out how to reverse it and iron it onto the onsie to get a guide for my stitches. I'll post more pictures as the project nears completion.

Baby Bump

2009-04-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

I'm finally starting to really notice the bump. It is kinda unavoidable. It's there in the morning when I want to roll over onto my tummy. It's there when I bend over to pick up something off the floor. It is even there when I lean over the sink to wash dishes. And it's only going to get BIGGER! I'm not really complaining, it looks adorable; ) It's just that I am having to find new ways to get everyday things done.

It has also occurred to me that since I am at the halfway point, it's only another 20 weeks until I meet the little guy; and boy did those first months go by fast! It's fun to imagine what life will be like, but I know I really have no clue. What will it change between Ricky and I? Will Judah adapt well to being in 2nd place? Will everything be okay? I am the type of person who likes to research and prepare, but with something as life changing as this, I don't think you really can.

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

2009-04-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

This is another baby vintage reconstruction t-shirt I made last week. I am getting pretty quick at banging them out now. I had actually made a few more, but forgot to photograph them before I gifted them to our friends Sean & Stef. I like to call this one our Jimmy Buffett onsie. He's definitely going to have to wear it whenever we go on our sailboat.

Ever since I was little I grew up listening to Jimmy Buffett tapes in the car, VERY reluctantly at first but then grew to love it as I got older. Since then my family and I have made it to 3 or 4 Buffett concerts over the years. You could definitely call my parents "parrot heads". So much in fact that a few years ago my Dad asked me to draw him a parrot for his very first tattoo, it turned out amazing! I drew the parrot and another artist (Dean, from Elm St Tattoo in Deep Ellum Dallas, TX) did the background that looks really tropical and rainforesty.

Good Weekend

2009-04-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

We had a really nice weekend with lots of friends and get-togethers. On Friday our friend Chad and his girlfriend Marissa stayed the night in their rad pop-up VW van. They are on a cool So-Cal style Vacay just traveling the coast and hitting up all the good surf spots along the way. We had a great time, very chill.

Saturday we hit up the Roots & Folk Festival. Just your typical arts/craft vendors lining a few blocks with music stages setup on every corner. Adams Ave is a really hip part of town and Ricky and I decided that we need to hit it up more often. I also stopped by a couple of garage sales and scored some awesome deals. I picked up a Baby Bjorn baby carrier in navy blue, excellent condition, for only $3! I also got a few story books, baby toys, and onsies; but unfortunately both sales were all girl clothes, and tons of them.

On Sunday we drove up to Huntington Beach for our good friends Sean & Stefanie's baby shower for the girls and BBQ for the boys. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we both had a great time. We also found out that they are using one of the names that we had on the top of our very short baby name list...FORD!!! It is such a cool/cute name that I'm glad they are using it. Great minds think alike!

Registering for Baby

2009-04-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

I know that I still have 141 days to go, but how can you resist picking out cute little baby necessities when you have a free afternoon. Buying for baby can be very overwhelming at the store, so I decided just to go at it online at Baby's R Us. You can check out My Page Here. By registering online I am also able to check comments and ratings from parents who have used the product themselves thus hopefully preventing any dud purchases. It also gives me a reference point when I am garage sale shopping or browsing on craigslist.

Being one of the first moms out of my group of girlfriends living in San Diego it can be tough to get tips and recommendations from first hand experience. But I've come across some pretty cool blogs like RookieMoms.com that have put together helpful articles on some of the must haves. They list some of the Must Haves, Nice to Haves, and Total Luxuries as well as some other useful topics.

Ricky and I are planning on traveling/moving to Costa Rica after the baby is born so that adds another little hurdle as far as collecting to much stuff. I want to be smart in my purchases but at the same time it is hard to resist that "nesting" urge that makes me want everything to be ready for when baby arrives. So if you have any tips/recommendations on great stuff to buy or pass on please bring on the advice!

Welcome to My Neighborhood

2009-04-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map
I LOVE living in San Diego, but I especially love our little community Ocean Beach. It is just North of Downtown and has great Hwy access. Though it feels separate from the city because we are blocked in by Point Loma/Harbor Bay to the South and Mission Bay to the North. Ocean Beach is an eclectic mix of all types of people and has a definite "hippy" vibe. Lets have a look...

This a view looking West towards on our downtown main street Newport Ave. It's where the famous OB market is held every Wednesday afternoon. I always get kettle corn, flowers, and cookies!

Here we are at the end of Newport right next to the parking lot next to the pier, you can kind of see it to the left. This is where the bums and street kids love to hang out and come up with clever little signs to ask for money.

Now we are looking East towards Ocean Beach above the Ocean. Our house is located in the upper left corner of this shot if you could zoom in.

Hey Mr. Pelican! A view from the end of the fishing pier.

This is an aerial view of Sunset Cliffs where Ricky LOVES to surf and I love to layout on the private beach. It was gorgeous this weekend so we hit up private beach "garbage" and the main beach by the pier as well.

Here's the close up view of the beach called "No Surf" from the aerial shot above. We love to go here because it's usually just locals and you have to take a "goat trail" to get down to it. Judah even gets to go sometimes, and once in December he even pointed out an Octopus to us at low tide!

Succulent Planter

2009-04-20T06:15:00.000-07:00

Succulents are my favorite type of plant and since we live in beautiful San Diego I am able to enjoy many different types growing in my own backyard. Succulents are water retaining plants that usually grow in dry arid climates. They store water in their leaves, stems, and roots and that gives them their fleshy swollen appearance. Most people will recognize the cactus as a succulent although it is just one of many different breeds.

I've found that succulents are very easy to grow since they require little to no reminder to water them often. So last year when I couldn't keep all my potted flowers alive the whole summer I switched them out with cuttings from my yard and they are still thriving today. I made this succulent dish using a few different types of cuttings from my backyard and It took all of 10 minutes or less. Here's how to make your own.

1. Select a shallow dish, I used the water collector part of a pot I wasn't using. Fill it 1/2 an inch from the top with potting soil.

2. Choose a few different types of succulents from either cuttings or potted plants from your local garden center. If you use cuttings like I did, all you need to do is shove them in the soil and your good to go. For potted plants, dig a little hole and cover them as needed.

3. Vary the placement of the plants putting low lying plants near the edges and taller ones near the center. Mixing textures and colors throughout.

4. Water after you get all the plants arranged to your liking, then only once a week or so thereafter.

5. All done, Now you can enjoy your beautiful succulent centerpiece!

Custom Creations

2009-04-19T07:19:00.000-07:00

You can purchase our designs at our store DUST FACTORY or custom design your own on our Zazzle website by clicking on the following link...

"For the past 10 years we have been sifting through thousands of pounds of recycled clothing a day to pull out perfect gems that can be resold in the ‘vintage clothing industry’. This by no means makes us experts in the fashion industry, but it does make us experienced. We see what fashion has done, good or bad, and through the years have developed a style of our own inspired by these relics from the past. We don’t feel that our Original designs are even on the same playing field as authentic vintage clothing. However we feel, as many do, that there is a ridiculous amount of companies that are putting out new t-shirts each year with designs that are just crap. We know that by the time they hit the used market, if they don’t end up in a land field there is no other place for them to go put be turned into a rag. We knew it was time to help bring t-shirt design back to its roots where it is focused on an element of design, not a brand, or a shirt that makes the person wearing it look like they were sitting under a flock of seagulls after they just ate. We know that most of our customers are creative so we felt it was important to give you a platform to decide where and how you wanted our design to appear on your tee. We also wanted you to be able to choose what color and type of t-shirt blank our design would appear on. We would prefer that everyone use the organic and bamboo t-shirt blanks, but we understand that in today’s economy not every body can afford them. Regardless a small portion of proceeds for each item in Dust Factory Original Collection sold will be donated to the Surf Rider Foundation in supporting their cause to keep the ocean clean.

Rocking Out

2009-04-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

After sitting in one at a baby shower in December, and talking with our friends with a new baby, the glider is where its at. It is a great place to sit to rock the baby for late night feedings when you want to be sleeping yourself, and it can be used up until the baby's arrival. Being the bargain hunter that I am I waited until I found the top brand at the best deal online. I scored this Dutailier Glider and Ottoman originally purchased for $600 (she had the receipt) for only $75 in Perfect Condition!!!

Scrabble Night

2009-04-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

For the last few months a couple of my girlfriends and I have been getting together every other Thursday night for a game of scrabble. Each week a different person hosts at their house and makes something yummy to nosh on.

We've had baked ziti, a couple types of fresh bruschettas, Asian style egg rolls with sweet & sour soup, pear & Gorgonzola pizza (my night), and last night was an all raw menu, it was DELICIOUS! Abra made "tacos" using all types of nuts and beans to make the mock meat and cheese. Dessert was equally tasty as a nut based coconut pudding with fresh berries, I have to say I was quite impressed...and FULL: )

So far it had been some super fierce competition with some really good words, one game Katie scored 50+ points for one word! We've deducted that the person who plays first usually wins the game. Not true last night though, Brooke came in first but I WON THE TOURNAMENT!!! We have played about 5 games to date and because I have come in 1st and 2nd in two games I won a gift certificate for a pedicure in North Park, SCORE! I can't wait to go get pampered!

Free as a Bird

2009-04-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

I must have caught the "nesting" bug recently because I've been making all these cute little baby things. My most recent is this adorable little birdie mobile to hang over the baby's crib. I think that it looks much cooler than anything you could buy at the store. First I made about a gillion little birds from a pattern you can find here, they are simple to make but time consuming to fill with stuffing. I bought the sticks from Ikea when my mom was in town. To finish out the project I went to the hardware store and purchased a bunch of tiny little screws with eye tops. Ricky help me cut the sticks into sections, then I went about assembling the whole sha-bang. I'm really happy with how it turned out and can't wait to make a few more to give as gifts and sell in the store!

Baby Vintage Reconstruction

2009-04-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

I have been dabbling in designing baby clothes since I now have the opportunity to outfit a little one. I made this baby onsie using a vintage tee from the store and made a pattern from an outfit that I already had. It took the most time designing the pattern, but once that was done I did a mock up and then started working on this cute little thing. It turned out perfect! The tee was originally a XL long sleeve mens shirt with the mermaid on the front pocket area, and the waves on the back. Now I'm going to start looking through our old tees at home that we never wear anymore do to stains, or ill fitting size and turn them into baby clothes! I'll also make a pattern for a long sleeve, t-shirt style, and make them in a few different sizes. Once I get a few made up I may even advertise to make custom ones for sale. FUN!

Carlsbad Flower Fields

2009-04-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

Mom and I visited the Carlsbad Flower Fields on Easter yesterday morning. I had always wanted to check it out, but it's one of those "girl" things that I would never be able to drag Ricky to. It was much larger than I had anticipated, 50 acres in total, of ranunculus flowers. We decided to go ahead and pay the $10 extra so we could ride the wagon around the entire field and get the total effect. It was a beautiful way to spend Easter Morning. We also enjoyed some shopping at the Carlsbad Outlet Mall right next to it, Score!

Baby Shopping

2009-04-12T08:32:00.001-07:00

It's a BOY!!! So I was a little off, oh well, we are super stoked! Since mom is in town we've been shopping everyday (thanks Mom & Dad) and I've picked up some super cute stuff. She brought out these little baby Christmas and Halloween outfits with her before we knew which gender to buy for. The little Christmas outfits also came with a Santa and a reindeer puppet that I'm sure will get lots of "personality" when the time comes.

Of course I am a bargain shopper and have to do plenty of research before I purchase anything, it HAS to be a good deal! The first item I bought was a stroller online for a discount of around $40. I will go and pick it up at the store next week.

Then I purchased this brand new infant car seat with base on craigslist from a couple who had received two as gifts. It was the brand I was interested in, and I got it for half of what you would pay in the store, SCORE!

Doing some garage sale shopping we picked out these little boy outfits for size 0-3 months from a cool couple who live a few blocks over.

Shopping for baby stuff can be SO overwhelming, especially if it's your first. I've been doing plenty of online research and asking friends and family what there recommendations are but you just never know. So to date, i've only spent $200 and I can't wait to see what bargains are coming up next.

Gammy 's In Town

2009-04-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

My mom is visiting us this week and I am so happy she's here. We don't get to see each other often enough with me living so far away from Oklahoma and all. I am so blessed to have such an awesome relationship with her. I know she wishes we were closer, but at the same time she's always excited to come out to beautiful Sunny San Diego as well. On our list this week of fun things to do:
~Go baby shopping! I haven't bought a single thing yet, although I know there is a ton of necessary baby gear we need to acquire. It's just really tough with ALL the choices out there!
~Watch our wedding video that I had remastered onto a DVD from a VHS tape that was accidentally turned sideways off and on through the ceremony, though fixed by a wonderful student on craigslist.
~Go out to eat at South Beach restaurant for the best fish tacos in Ocean Beach, her fav!
~Visit the Carlsbad flower fields.
~Shop at Pangea Outpost in Pacific Beach, it has this booth with little trinkets from all over the world that my mom just loves. She has a cool dia de los muetus wall at home that she likes to add to every time shes out here.
~Read lots of magazines, we especially love to read Birds and Blooms.
~See what kind of trouble Judah can get himself into when we leave the house. This time wasn't so bad, he got into our Tupperware cabinet and chewed on a few containers!?!
~Drive down to sunset cliffs to watch the sunset.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH MOM!!! Thanks for coming to visit!

Where is my Mind?

2009-04-07T10:54:00.001-07:00

I am starting to notice some effects of the "pregnancy brain fog" they say happens when your body is busy making a baby. I've locked myself out of the house (and had to crawl in through the window), put things back in odd places (what, the chips don't belong with pots and pans?!), and just plain forgotten what the heck it was that I was doing. Here is what What to Expect says of baby brain fog:

"Didn't realize that feeling like a ditz was part of being pregnant? Here's why you've suddenly become an airhead, and what you can do about it.

What it is: Pregnancy-induced brain fog, a true (and truly frustrating) hallmark of pregnancy. You may forget appointments, what you just walked into the store for, where you left your purse, whether you turned off the stove — and maybe, your phone number.

What causes it: As usual in pregnancy, it's just your hormones having some fun, this time at the expense of your memory. And believe it or not, your brain-cell volume actually decreases during the third trimester of pregnancy (which could explain why you can't remember what you just read about in that last paragraph). Not to worry, your brain will plump back up a few months after delivery.

What you need to know about it: First of all, pregnancy forgetfulness is completely normal — and extremely common. It's also temporary — you'll have total recall again long before you start to have your "senior moments." And try not to be too hard on yourself, as stress will only cloud your brain even more.

What you can do about forgetfulness:

Write it down. If you really need to remember something — an appointment or to take your prenatal vitamin, for example — leave a big note in an obvious place. You might also stash a notepad and pen in easy-to-remember spots like your purse, your car, and your bathroom.
Turn high tech — using your Palm Pilot, Blackberry, laptop, or other electronic organizer to help keep you, well, organized and less forgetful.
Reduce the number of things you need to remember — cut down on what you're responsible for by delegating some jobs to others. Easier said than done, but worth a go. (You'll forget about the less important stuff, anyway.)
Have a sense of humor about this airhead stage and encourage your partner to do the same. Who cares if you left the car keys in the refrigerator?
Forget about taking the herbal supplement gingko biloba. This "memory-booster" has not been proven safe for use during pregnancy.
Expect the haze to hang in during the first weeks after you give birth. Fatigue may take the place of hormones as the primary culprit, but that too shall pass."

50/50 Chance

2009-04-05T07:09:00.001-07:00

I have always been a very vivid dreamer and usually recall most of my dreams upon waking. Many times I have felt that my dreams are communicating to my waking self and acted upon that feeling. Other times I have felt that my dreams are preparing me for events to come, or even guiding me in my decision making when I'm unsure about something. In fact, 2 days before I took a pregnancy test, I had a dream that Cristi (Ricky's twin sister) and I were both pregnant at the same time. Turns out we are about a month apart!

Lately I have been having many dreams about our future child and what being a mother will be like. I feel it's as if my subconscious is mentally preparing me for the changes to come. In particular I have been dreaming that our baby is a girl! Good thing we have an ultrasound appointment next Thursday or I am tempted to start making some tiny little girl clothes today!

Looks like the Ancient Chinese Gender Prediction table says we'll be having a girl as well. (26 years of age/conceived in December.)

Greener Pastures

2009-04-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

After going through the winter without a single blade of green grass in our yard thanks to you-know-who, I am super stoked to finally have a lawn again. Ricky and I had been contemplating putting in a walkway for a few months when a couple of weeks ago we discovered we already had one! It was buried beneath last years sod by a few inches. It was strange because Conrad, our landlord, was even going to help us lay one down. When we told him we dug one up, he came to look at it and was like, "oh yeah, that's right, look at that". As a bonus it is WAY better than one we would have done ourselves.

But now, in order to keep the grass actually alive this year, we are going to extreme measures to keep the "farm" away from the tender new grass until it's established. That means NO chickens for awhile, and especially NO DOGS ALLOWED! Judah really did a number last year, in fact we thought he might have been communicating to us through the pee stains that looked like rudimentary cuneiform come Fall time.

It's to bad I came across the Penta-Lawn 2000 website after we had already put the sod down because it looks like it might be up to taking a beating from whatever Judah could dish out.

Four Legged Baby

2009-04-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

Now that we know we have a little one on the way, we are preparing our current "baby" for the changes to come. Judah, our Labrador Retriever has been with us for six action-packed years now. He has stuck by our sides through thick and thin. He has traveled to Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, on road trips, camping trips, airplane rides, and even canoe rides.

Judah has been a wonderful pet and friend and we aren't to worried about how he will react around a new baby. He has been around plenty of young children who have chased him, rode him, and pulled his tail to which he usually just rolls over for a belly rub. What we may be concerned about is a little bit jealousy, and maybe some diaper "interest". So in order to get him ready he hasn't been invited on as many car rides and has been staying at home a little more than usual. Don't worry about him though, he gets a long walk and plenty of love every day.

Easter Bacon Basket

2009-04-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

With Easter on the way I thought I'd post a little treat I made last year for our Easter Brunch. I am actually not a red meat eater myself, but loved the idea of making a festive bacon basket for my friends. They turned out perfect and everyone was really impressed. I used arugula and grape tomatoes from our friends garden. If you'd like to make bacon baskets to impress your loved ones this year you can find the instructions here.

Vintage Buy Trip

2009-04-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

Went to LA today for a buy trip. I needed to pick up a bunch of dresses and tees for our reconstruction line Particle. Buy trips in LA are one of my favorite things to do in this industry. There is SO much clothing to sift through and I usually end up finding a couple of pieces for myself. Most of the womens clothing is in HUGE bins that I crawl up into and toss everything out that I don't need and the rest ends up in a barrel about 4 feet tall.

Today I spent 3 hours sorting through Antique dresses and 80's elastic waist dresses. I filled up two barrels which means it was actually a very small buy. Dresses are really hard to come buy because women are really picky when it comes to what they wear. Antique dresses in particular because I pick dresses only from the 40's-60's, which means they are a minimum of 40 years old. They also have to be in near perfect condition and of current size.

So now I have my work cut out for me for the next few days, literally. I will be washing, cutting, and sewing to fulfill Spring Orders. It's alot of work but I love what I do, and I am so fortunate to be able to work for myself.

Being Busy Bouncing

2009-03-31T08:58:00.000-07:00

After Ricky and I found out we were expecting, we decided to make some changes around the house to accommodate a young'un. We live in a fairly spacious two bedroom house by beach living standards that serves us just fine. Add a baby to the mix though, and we are looking for a little extra space were we can find it.

So after some rearranging, Ricky and I "switched" offices. I say switched hesitantly because I was the only one occupying an office while he was stationed at a couch with a t.v. tray and his laptop. He moved all his stuff in the small office off our bedroom and I set up shop in the guest bedroom after some creative maneuvering of the furniture.

All in all I was very pleased with the switch except that the chair I had been using seemed infinitely more comfortable in the other room. Now, whenever I would sit for even a few minutes at the new desk, as soon as I would get up, I would double over with a back pain. After considering a new chair, I decided on going with an exercise ball instead. There are tons of benefits of sitting (and bouncing) on a ball all day and I am super happy I made the switch.

Pregnancy Pains

2009-03-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

So I am right about 16 weeks pregnant to date and I’ve been pretty lucky about avoiding typical “pregnancy side-effects” up until now. I totally bypassed the morning sickness routine, but did have some food aversions. Absolutely NO Salmon and beans didn't do the trick for awhile either. During a morning walk with Ricky the other day; I started to get a sharp pain in the front of my pubic bone. It totally hurt to stand, let alone walk. Regardless, I “walked it off” and cut the walk a little short. After work I googled to see what could be the problem, and called the doc to be sure. Turns out the hormones in my body are causing the ligaments in my pelvis to loosen and expand to prepare for labor, technically called pubic symphysis diastasis (diastasis means separation). Good to know I’m not falling apart, only separating at the seams a little!