Madsen Kiddos: things I want

what's Up?

Most days I feel like the baby will literally fall out of me. Then I realize this is impossible, if I remember labor correctly it feels like a cross between death and some other horrible fate where you wish you were dead.
something like that. Maybe i will go run a marathon tonight. John tells me with my luck I would just be uncomfortable and go well past my due date. He is probably right.

I distract myself from all this positive thinking by pondering things I could get for Christmas if I was totally rich. Other than a deck there are a lot of cool things out there. Things I will probably never own but like to think about.

More things I want:
Cooling racks
wire whisk.
my mom tells me I need these things.
She is right.
A bookshelf.
a pedicure.
a ticket on southwest.
to visit my grandma again. I love visiting her. She is amazing.

I just realized the other day I haven't really been paying attention to Christmas- since I am totally unprepared for it. Now there are no more pink fijits in the world, so Danielle will be a sad girl.

John finally sent me a list:

USMLE Step 2 Secrets by Theodore X O’Connell and Adam Brochert (Newest version – it’s blue)

Basic Ophthalmology for Medical Students and Primary Care Residents by Cynthia A. Bradford

Practical Ophthalmology: A Manual for Beginning Residents by Fred M. Wilson

Paula Poundstone – I Heart Jokes

Aziz Ansari – intimate moments for a sensual evening

Other awesome comedy cd’s or books on cd

Amazon.com credit

you guessed it- I am buying him cologne and a sweater. Maybe I'll sign him up to run a tough mudder race.

Birthday List. I'm turning 30.

well today is mother's day. complete with that creepy story about the mom who breaks into her son's bedroom his whole life. Please tell me I'm not the only one who can't get over how creepy this story seems? Maybe because the first time I heard it a creepy teacher read it- I don't know. I'm just really glad for mother's day that my mother in law doesn't just REALLY want to rock her sons to sleep still. She's super nice, but not in a creepy over involved way.
Also, at least two of the people we sent mother's day flowers to today did NOT get them. Fail.
Yesterday I was talking to my little sister (who is 25) about mother's day and and she asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Perfect. I love talking about stuff I want. Then mom asked me. and I realized I hadn't made a huge blog list for all my friends to look at and ignore.
This is like a portion of my birthday. I've talked a lot about the awesomeness of birthday lists. Maybe I should try to start making a mom shopping guide. and when i say mom I mean just make extensive lists of stuff I want.
So here are some things I want. I decided to leave off the traditional car since I want a new car for John and the Deck, because if you've ever spoken to me you know I want a deck, and that I won't get it for my birthday.

Stuff that is awesometastic.

White Pottery Barn Frames. I want 3 8 by 10 s and some 4 by 6 single opening frames.
Bulbs from Dutch Gardens. I want the Pink Estate Quantities. and the Cartouche Tulips. I also really want some irises.
Fabric. I really Like Japanese echino fabric. I always think I will make things for my etsy shop with it but really it's too precious for that so I don't. My favorite seller of this fabric on etsy is MountainoftheDragon. You should check out her shop.
A cushion for my outdoor glider in Delray Azure from Ballard Designs. OK or any blue fun color. The link is to the right size.
A copper trellis for my beans.
Wireless Remote Grilling thermometer from Williams Sonoma
Barnes and Noble gift cards. I have a nook and I LOVE it.
A Grilling brand from Williams Sonoma. How FREAKING cool is that?
Kitchen Towels. You could even buy them from me...
Kitchenaid. I want a teal one. or a blue one. Or a green one... or whatever.
Electric pepper mill.
New cookie sheets
Family Photos
a massage
a haircut and color.
Decorative Packing tape. I also love all paper products. Love.
makeup.
Hair Elastics
Perfume- I want cool water for women and Chanel Allure and Eclat d'arpege
Ceramic Jonathan Adler fox.
A jigsaw.

service I want- like a million things. OK really this is a to do list. No one would ever be able to do all these things. Which is why they would end up on my list.

all my dandelions pulled up
the raspberries tied back.
My trellises installed.
Dirt spread around the back flower beds.
stairs to the basement finished.
batteries in my kitchen scale.
my bathrooms cleaned. and my kitchen floor. I hate cleaning the kitchen floor. maybe because I have to do it several times a day...
Garage shelves moved.
Toilet installed upstairs.
Roses planted
Raspberries planted

Ridiculous stuff I wouldn't really ever ask for but wouldn't it be cool if I was rich and got this stuff?

Ipad. hello, awesome.
Lamb Shoes from Piperlime.
Tucker Panel Dress. It's so fun and colorful. and expensive. I love it.
Nook Color. I love my nook, but I love the color one more... what a greedy waste of money, right?
Breville Toaster Oven. It got the highest ratings, you know.
A Canon Camera. I have a Nikon. My son destroyed it. Thanks, Mark.
a deck.
a shed.
Amy Butler Rug
Amy Butler wallpaper
personal training

Stuff I want to do.

Go to the movies
Go out to dinner with my friends.
Go on a bike ride. (so I guess those tires need to be blown up...)
Cheesecake Factory. OK maybe I'm craving that now...

Insomnia and Sick Kiddos.

Tonight Danielle and I are up. she has a cold. I have some weird pain in my face. Just the left side. I think it's my sinus and I just hope that it's not from my teeth. Se we are eating a snack and watching little bill on TV. Time to make my Christmas List!
Middle of the night Christmas Lists are the best. You can imagine how thrilled I was when someone asked me the other day what I wanted. It was my sister. Bless her awesome heart!
I find making a Christmas list almost as exciting as actually getting the presents- plus I get to spend A LOT more money on my imaginary list.

My Christmas List:
1. Darling dipping dishes from HopeJohnson on Etsy
2. Kate Spade China in June Lane Gold
3. Barnes and Noble gift cards.
4. Brown High Heels size 8.5. I can't seem to find a pair. With closed toes.
5. Minky Fabric from Minkydelight.com
6. Laminated Cotton fabric like Nicey Jane or Michael Miller or Amy Butler (or any cute oilcloth fabric)
7. Echino fabric I like SuperBuzzy to get it. I want some of the new ones SO MUCH. I don't have any of the Fall 2010 fabric and it makes me sad.
8. A Serger.
9. The Living Room Painted.
10. The garage painted. I know that sounds silly but I love the idea of a painted garage.
11. Stockholm products from the containerstore like the drawer.
12. A deck.
13. Amy Butler rug- Wallflower large rug. wow it's beautiful. and expensive.
14. To go to the Biggest Loser Resort. I've been watching the show with my friend Suzy and I think it would blow my mind. in a good way.
15. A bound cookbook with my mom's recipes- complete ones, not the drafts.
16. A white tub instead of the yellow one.
17. A stereo for the basement.
18. A new computer- with CS5 from photoshop- or lightroom.
19. A clean house that someone else cleaned.
20. Board Games. I love them SO MUCH.

End Positive Post #20

Bathroom Ideas

So I want to re-do some of our bathrooms (read: all of our bathrooms.) The house is in such good condition but really- having an all yellow bathroom is an eyesore. With original Mustard Yellow Toilet! We have proof that they never broke a toilet seat since you can't buy that color anymore. Since all the homes in this neighborhood sell for way more than we got our home for I thought we had a great opportunity on our hands.
I read somewhere that the easiest way to increase the value of your home is to re-do the bathrooms or kitchen. Then I read that it was to keep your lawn looking nice. Then I read that it was to put in hardwood. Or put in a new front door and garage door to increase the curb appeal. Too much reading...

When we bought this house I was excited at the prospect of picking new things for a bathroom and personalizing it a little. Our bathrooms are TINY though. One of the bathrooms needs a new cabinet since I accidentally spilled bleach toilet bowl cleaner all over it and burned a HOLE in the cabinet. No wonder those things can clean toilets.

I like the Harrison Magazine Rack from Pottery Barn but it's not really a need. OK but wouldn't this be cool to hang fabric on too? Maybe not in the bathroom... I want one. and they are on clearance. They also have a shelf and a towel rack. A while ago a train rack was on clearance but I didn't get it. sigh.
I love the idea of white subway tile on the bottom half of the bathroom and a painted blue wall. This is my plan for the sink in my bathroom. and I'm thinking about getting a pedestal sink. OK honestly I'm thinking about not spending money on anything because I don't have any but that's no fun and who wants to blog about how they have no money? boring. We already have a medicine cabinet we just need to mount it. I thought I could do this but then realized it is an option to put them IN the wall- I LOVE that. so it is still in our basement.

I like this shower curtain from Viva Terra. I got their catalog in the mail one day and I love it. They also have a butterfly pillow that I would die to have for my bedroom. I like it so much I still have the catalog and I look at it every now and then and plan to get it for my bedroom.

Peter and Kathryn had the most beautiful octagonal white bathroom tile on their floor. I would love that. and I would love heated tile in the bathroom because that would be so fun. Rambling Renovators has a really classy white palate and it looks like they might have floor heat. I have a dream of learning how to put in floor heat. Then I could put it in my bathroom and my kitchen.

maybe I should start this once the wall isn't plastered with potty posters...

China

My sister in law has china. My siblings have china. jealous. John said i could pick a pattern.
I love the kate Spade "June Lane Gold" China. You can get it a Macy's.

I also like blue and white china. They have nice patterns at Horchow.com

The blue and white dinnerware is nice for my house and had lots of patterns. The Porcelain blue dishes are on sale now.
Picking china is difficult. I feel peace now that I have a pattern- but I don't know that I will ever get any. China is expensive.

Sunday Thoughts

image from lavishbodyhome.com I WANT THIS CHAIR. but I want the 350 dollars it costs more. especially since I don't have it.

Today I dropped my baby girl off at Mark and Sara's and we drove back home. I made it in time for the church meeting I needed to go to. So what did I think about making? A list of things that I want for mother's day/my birthday.
I think it has been interesting thinking about how we come to marriage with different expectations. My first memory of Christmas with John's family was everyone getting an over sized gift bag with no tissue paper in it. The bags were identical with red poinsettias. John's oldest sister opened up the present and showed everyone and then John's dad asked for all the bags back so he could use them again the next year.
I had only been married for four days. Probably we should have just spent Christmas with each other. I will never forget the shocking impression- what the heck was this? Not the heavily steeped in tradition Christmas that I was used to. We all had our own colored wrapping paper for the presents under the tree and a coordinating print for our stockings.

Early on John and I realized we would need to plan our own traditions and meet somewhere in the middle. Or maybe even more detailed than anything we've ever known before.
Traditions for Mother's day and my birthday are also still in development. Part of me wants some grand gesture- like a fancy chair I've always wanted or some fancy jewelry.
Then I think about all the progress we've made with our budget.
Guess I'll just have to live out my dreams on out little blog.

Some fun Birthday Ideas and mother's day ideas. I hate that my first mother's day ever fell on my birthday. YUCK.

I like it when John make's me Red Velvet Cake. I love Red Velvet cake- my grandma makes it, my aunt Michelle makes it. wouldn't a mini cake look great on a little cake plate from vesselsandwares.etsy.com?
a fancy anything from lavishbodyhome.com
a massage- there is a great girl at alexander's spa that I like. Wow they have some terrible reviews online. I like that girl though. Doesn't that seems like something that should happen on mother's day? I still have bad back pain from after Mark was born. sigh. today Diane showed me something that will probably help- it's awesome to have friends that do physical therapy.
My family used to let you pick what food mom made you on your birthday- how cool. Too bad it's TONS of work. I think my mom was trying to make these holidays impossible to live up to.
Fabric- oh how I love fabric. If i love it too much I can't sew with it because I have to keep it. I like the orange minky from minkydelight.com and I always do a google search for good coupon codes. Fabric.com also always has great deals and coupon codes. I am also totally in love with Echino Japanese fabric and little Japanese ribbons. Mountain of the Dragon is a great place to get the fabric. I had some Echino Damask fabric but it is out of print. and so, so many others....but fabric is a difficult present for a birthday- and would it offend people if I just kept it in a box on my desk? Maybe...
my sister in law made a turquoise serving bowl I want- I have a similar one and would die to have two. her little etsy shop needs tons of support. I love the idea of supporting family and giving things to each other- like buying my sister in laws hair things from my sister for their birthdays. (so tell me what you like guys.)
I love shoes- I am size 8 and a half.
I love photography- I would like to take a class and learn how to really do it someday. Wouldn't it be nice to sign someone up for a photography class? Or a dental hygienist program? I would love that.
I would love to have a room in the house painted.
I would love ANYTHING from ZGallerie.com How cool is that place. also they have greek key bedding- which makes me die a little from happiness.
how about a Jade bird bowl from Jonathan Adler. Or any of his white pieces. ZGallerie has some cheaper ones too. I would love a rhino on my mantle- or even a ceramic deer. I don't know if John would go for that- and my funkiness might decrease with time... it's so nice to collect the things I want and write them down- what a nice row of happiness.

well this idea list will have to be continued tomorrow. I am crazy tired.

It has Finally Arrived

The Candy Purge

Well Everyone- It has finally arrived. It started Tuesday when we had to put Danielle to bed at 6:30 and she wouldn't eat her dinner. Of course I think a few days after Easter every parent laments their lives, but I am sick of Danielle not eating. We lock her in her seat, she makes aliens with her peas.
It is so hit and miss with her- she will eat all sorts of healthy foods sometimes. Other days I am wondering when she will wake up in the middle of the night to eat.
When we moved to Scranton she lost five pounds. I took a child development class that said you shouldn't really force kids to eat- you should give them healthy options. I have always tried to have healthy food available for her- I've never seen a kid that liked peppers as much as Danielle. But five pounds is way too much for a toddler to lose. We started forcing her to eat. Then I found out she was anemic. She has gained weight though, and is back up to the original weight. I guess moving was really stressful for her.
The first day after the candy purge- Danielle found Daddy's candy on his desk from Easter
Day two- Danielle got the Nutella off the counter.
Day three- Danielle found leftover starburst from the diaper bag.
Day Four- She climbed on the desk and found some chocolates I had from Valentine's day. Really- I still had chocolate?

If I ever want candy I will ask Danielle where to find some.
I think all of our candy is gone.
I don't know who misses it more- me or Danielle.
probably me.

Cooking Lessons with Maunifa

My friend Maunifa is from Syria. She is super awesome because she is bossy and opinionated. I like bossy people. She seems to think I need someone to come and clean my house every week. I totally agree. Also I shouldn't eat salad dressing because that makes you fat. And one day a week I should put my kids in daycare so I can have a day to myself. I wish I lived in her world.
Maunifa loves to cook. She is teaching me.
Carlie tells me that good photos make a good food blog. Since I am not a food blog I don't have to take great food photos, but really food is one of my major loves in life. I think about it probably about 60% of the time. Or more. The first time Maunifa cooked for me she made something with rice and lamb and okra and a spice mixture she made herself. I was almost as excited as I was about the turkey at the Nelson's house. I LOVE TURKEY. Needless to say I have a huge mom crush on her- who just makes Syrian food every day? Someone from Syria. This is food I would pay a lot of money for in a restaurant. She is teaching me how to make it. Next week I am going to get a lamb at the Arabic store. I don't know how I feel about it- since I wish I was a vegetarian I decided to never eat lamb again- then she fed me something wonderful and now I ordered some. That 7 year long fast ended soon.
It is good for me to have to prepare the foods though- that makes me want to eat meat less. Just imagine if I had to hunt the animals or clean them. I would never eat meat. I think our society let's us be more emotionally detached from food with our production and food supply.
The last Syrian Meal- Falaffal and pitas with onions, lettuce, tomato, and a mixture of parsley tomatoes and other stuff. Quite healthy.
except the deep fried part. Maybe I need a deep fryer. Everyone seems to have one- just like everyone has a crock pot. Or a dirty festering stink pot, as I like to think of them. How else can I deep fry my falaffel and cook my lamb for four hours- then act like I just whipped it up in no time. Also how the heck do you spell falaffel? falafel falafal fallafel whatever.

Good Morning

When did Sleep become the greatest gift anyone could give me? Danielle is currently inviting me to come sit with her and watch a show. I hate her shows. They make me want to poke my eyes out. Did you know that kid shows are unbearable? If she ever goes into another room I turn the shows off. I wish I could turn on the television and have her watch it in the morning while I sleep. But she does lots of other non-approved things- like finding the hidden scissors and cutting things up, or opening the pantry and feeding all the cereal she can find to the dog, or unlocking the deadbolt and letting herself outside to play. As someone who has photo evidence that I woke up early and covered myself and lots of other surfaces with Sharpie marker I know how excited she must be about these activities.
Why is it that yesterday when I said I couldn't find the scissors Danielle said "wait wait wait- just a sec" and produced them in under two minutes? Also after you build a fort and leave it that fort will deteriorate into a HUGE MESS. I knew it would happen and it did.
When we lived closer to family sometimes people would watch Danielle. Like anyone who had a young baby we would tell them we were going on a date, drive back to our apartment and sleep the entire time they were watching her. I don't live close to family anymore but I keep trying to figure out how I could invite someone over to watch the kids then go upstairs and sleep. I could feed Mark when he wakes up and then go right back to bed because they would hold him/play with him. Maybe they would swiffer my kitchen floor, or disassemble the living room fort.
John watched the baby a lot of the night last night while I sat in bed thinking I must have some kind of infection. No- just a cold and exhaustion. I realized yesterday that I must be easier to wake up than John. He watched Danielle and Mark while I took a nap and when I woke up he told me how hard it was to keep Danielle from waking me up. Some mornings I try to get Danielle to wake up John and she always refuses. "Daddy sleeping- he real tired." is what I get if she actually goes upstairs at all. I try almost every weekend. I don't enjoy waking him up- the man is GROUCHY when he wakes up. (although the grouchy he is now is much smaller than when we first got married). I guess the refusal to wake people up doesn't extend to mommy.
Anyway I love sleep. I made it a love poster.
now maybe I will get some sleep before John leaves for school.

Resolutions

It took me a while to develop New Years Resolutions. I think I have some good ones.
1. Be able to park one car in our garage. I remember growing up my parents had dog bones in our garage. In our last place we had a one car garage and you couldn't park in it and get a car seat in and out of the car. I have never actually lived in a place where you can park any cars in the garage. As soon as the cement for our fence leaves the garage I have big plans for it.
2. Be done with our kitchen redo. I will be posting more about this later. I don't like redoing our kitchen. It makes me realize why people have outdoor kitchens and dining rooms. If you are going to paint your cabinets do it in the spring.
3. Be completely unpacked and have an organized basement. I gave myself permission to avoid the basement since it is freezing cold right now. But it is a goal so I will do it.
4. Run a half marathon in May. I have already wanted to quit and I've only been running for two weeks. This is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.
5. Cook one new meal a week. Well as soon as I'm done painting the kitchen.
6. Have all the pictures up.
7. Teach myself more about photography- get a book or something.
8. Figure out how to use my screen printer. Maybe I will make shirts for the family vacation this year.
9. Have a fenced yard and work in the yard at least three hours a week. I like gardening and Danielle does too. Right now it is too cold but soon we will be out there again. I just got one of my favorite garden tools and I am excited to try it out.
10. Paint the front door and re-do the entry. I guess there is a quarry nearby where they give extra pieces away- so I might get some pretty reasonably priced rock for a new pathway. Now I just have to learn how to pour concrete.

When Jen visited she seemed concerned that our house would burn down. So I made shorter drapes for the office. I actually got cafe window drapes from Target and added fabric to them- total cost of about $22.00 which is pretty good for a window treatment. Claire you will notice the beautiful orange magazine holders which I love. Thank you. And my covered books. This week's projects make me smile.

Running

Workout Plan
I have always liked to work out and suddenly find myself a little wobblier and floppier than before. I guess having a child does that to some of us. So I made a goal.
It involves something I am terrible at- running. Claire signed up for the Provo Half Marathon. Who does that? She blogged about it. I have always wanted to be a runner. I feel like if I even look at a treadmill my heart rate shoots up to 180 bpm. My throat closes- my feet go numb- my mind screams- how much longer. I proudly step on and after a warm up bump the speed to a whopping 5.5mph. I go as long as I think is humanly possible- almost an eternity.
It is twenty seconds. I almost never go more than twenty seconds without checking the time. Has anyone in the world ever made it through an entire ipod song without checking to see how far they have gone. In theory I know I can't run three miles during one Linkin Park song but that doesn't mean I'm not surprised when it doesn't happen.
I have always wanted to be a runner. My obvious lack of talent leaves me with girl crushes on runners. Once I had a friend who asked me if I wanted to go on a 50 mile run with him. I wasn't sure if I should just die in shame or question his intelligence. I want to be a runner- I want to fake it. One of my most vivid London memories is going running in Hyde Park with Nancy. After a few moments Nancy said- "boy, you really are slow," and ran without me. Not the first time it has happened.
But one of my life goals is to run a marathon. I made it in High School so I know it is important. I signed up for a run on May 1st here in PA. (It is only a half marathon) Claire pointed out that it doesn't matter if I am bad at it. She claims she is not a good runner. I know she is lying but it made me feel good. If I really want to do this I will have to practice. I am doing a training program. It is going horribly and I hate every minute of it. But I am confident that I will hate it no less in five years.
Maybe...

Etsy Baby Shower- Cute Hat!

I love Etsy. Twice a year they have a baby shower for new or expecting moms. You can participate if you adopted a baby as well. Normally I donate to some mom. They started a blog for the baby shower and you should definately check it out. This time I signed up and Mark got lots of super cute baby items. One of the shops was Spinklewithsugar from etsy. they make knitted hats and cupcakes and even iphone holders. I LOVE the hat that they gave me. I love how etsy tries to get people involved and support each other.

Here is Sprinklewithsugar's Etsy Profile:
"So glad that you have dropped by for a visit! While I love staying home taking care of my three children, it is clear I have a problem. I can't stop knitting. It began in University and I have never looked back. I adore creating things for babies and feel it is so special that parents choose my creations for someone so precious. There are not enough hours in the day to create all the stuff swimming around in my brain.
Etsy has given me so much more then a place to showcase my work. I love meeting the amazing people that come on here and chatting with them. My Chemo Cap has also led me to meeting some very brave women who I think about often. I feel very blessed to have found Etsy and I hope my shop continues to grow...."

Thank you so much for your generosity- Mark loves his hat!

Greedy Greedy

Here are some things I want for Christmas. You should buy some of them for yourself too because they are FANTASTIC. So fantastic I haven't purchased them yet. sad. My list is ridiculously long. Also I would like lots of things not on the list. The other day we went to someone's house for Thanksgiving and I brought a hostess gift because I saw a commercial on TV about hostess gifts. I guess I am susceptible to consumer suggestion. Sometimes I stop fast forwarding the DVR to see a really exciting commercial.

1. grapefruit countertop cleaner from Williams Sonoma
2. Tablecloths- 70 inch round 90 inch round - 70 by 90 and a matching floor mat. I really like having a tablecloth on the table and I love having options. I don't have any round tablecloths.
3. White frames.
4. Amenity Home floor pillows with orange in them.
5. Mint Meltaways- yum.
6. Nook. So cool. I like Barnes and Noble- they give So many points through Mypoints. I like mypoints. Every year I do most of my online shopping through them and get free gift cards. Love it.
7. Scarf.
8. Greek Key frame.
9. Illume candle in Pineapple Cilantro. they were on sale at Borders in the stores.
10. Amy Butler Rug. Rugs are such a luxury item- Although they also save your carpet which I could use. I love these rugs from Amy butler. Any Rug any size- when are rugs ever on your needs list though? Never.
11. Hartwell Sofa in Black Leather. Let me guess- you weren't planning on spending enough on me to get a sofa. Probably you weren't planning on getting me anything. This is why the sofa is on a list rather than in my home...
12. Pink Laquer tray or figurine of any kind from Jonathan Adler. Or customer designed pillows titled Janae- designing pillows is a great waste of time I think.
13. Yellow Pegboard Panels
14. Stockholm storage products in Orange. Two document boxes- two letter boxes and six magazine files. Or any of them- they are so exciting- I love the container store. I have a crush on it.
15. Japanese Echino Fabric or Japanese ribbon- you can find it on etsy. Or lots of places. I love ALL OF IT.
16. Fabric from Minkydelight.com I pretty much just love fabric.
17. A nice bracelet. I like Lois Hill jewelry. and I don't have any bracelets. It is hard to find cool bracelets- so I don't have any.
18. Stationery- I have a great love of all paper products.
19. Wall Art or letterpress cards from sweetbeets- they are great.
20. Wall hanging clock from Decoylab in lime.
21. Knobs from Anthropologie- the calico frog knob or Bazaar Aisles Knobs in the Orange Motif. I want 4-8 of both of them. I love the cute knobs at Anthropologie.
22. Dewpoint Blouse. So cute.
23. Fluevog shoes.
24. Lamb Juva Shoes. So hot and so expensive.
25. Toyata Highlander or Honda Pilot. Lovely cars.
26. To sell lots of stuff on Etsy. To have 2 hours a day to sew things.
27. For someone to organize my basement and paint the walls.
28. For a 4 hour nap one day.
29. for tile in the Kitchen rather than the linoleum. It's true.

also there is this great chair here that is white and bright pink. I want it. It costs 350.00. I will probably never have it.

Nursery

I found a perfect clock for the nursery. It is from Anthropologie, which I love.
Now where can I find the money to buy it?

Lemon Jacquard Tablecloths, Lemon | Williams-Sonoma

Lemon Jacquard Tablecloths, Lemon | Williams-Sonoma

Shared via AddThis

The Next Ten

Well future friends, it is time for you to invite us over to your house for a wonderful meal. Or just drop by some muffins. If you are always complaining about your spouse or talking about how you have a new get rich scheme I am not interested. But I will participate in your child's fund raiser. Especially if they are a girl scout or selling world's finest chocolates- does anyone do that anymore? I could literally cry about the lack of mint meltaways in my life. the one's from World's Finest Chocolates. YUMMY.
I was happy to see comments from my last post- but did Brooke just say she was a right wing nut job? I don't know how to respond. maybe with more questions.

Here are some more important questions.
1. How many pairs of shoes do you own? What do you think about "comfort shoes?" Just yesterday I was looking online and saw what looked like the perfect pair of brown closed toed high heeled pumps. but they are $365.00 so I decided not to buy them. Just like the shoes I fell in love with in New Jersey that were $700.00. and pink.
2. How often would you say that you shop online?
3. How do you feel about dogs?
4. What type of pizza do you like to eat?
6. Ice cream?
7. What is your favorite board game?
8. Do you like to work on projects? Name five things on your project list right now.
9. Do you live in superlatives? That can be quite amusing. We have a friend with the BEST AND BIGGEST LIFE EVER! Of course our other friend with the HARDEST AND WORST life ever doesn't like them. Strange how that works out.
10. Will you make me muffins or cookies? When?

Stay tuned for the third and final installment of questions....

Cheap

Once again I found some things I want. The first is a pair of shoes that is on sale for only 329.99. Too bad it is only in size 6.5. Oh wait, that doesn't really make a difference. But they are beautiful.
the second is a book that my sister in law Carlie sent me a link to. The Author was featured on NPR. It looks really interesting. here is a quote from the NRP site:
"In the world of Cheap, "design" has become a stand-in for quality. Companies such as Target, H & M, and Zara offer consumers the look they love at a price they can live with — but at what true cost? I n Sweden we visit IKEA, the global furniture retailer made famous and fabulously successful by a scheme of designing not just for low price but to low price. The consequences of this are both obvious and subtle. IKEA makes furniture available to all at a low price, which means college students, young couples, and others on a budget can furnish their homes in style. But IKEA does not overly concern itself with what Homer Simpson calls "fall-apart." The company designs for easy construction, uniformity, cheap production, and transportability around the globe. Ultimately, what it markets is disposable, with everything that implies. The genius of IKEA and other cheap-chic purveyors is that they have made fashionable, desirable, and even lovable objects nearly devoid of craftsmanship. The environmental and social implications of this are insidious and alarming."
There is an interview with the author on NPR that you can listen to. I thought of this because I finally caved in and bought some of those adjustable height table legs at Ikea. They were 25 dollars for each side of the table and can be tall enough that Danielle can't get them. Also maybe parents of toddler's need some disposable furniture? Danielle and her friend have convinced me that all furniture should be subjected to crayon tests before purchasing. Why is it so easy for kids to learn bad habits from other kids? Her friend can also say a lot more than Danielle but that's not what she picked up- send her into a room and no matter where it is, this duo will find a pair of crayons. Even if you already went through and tried to remove all of them. I remember having lots of cheap bookcases when we first got married. Then we moved to pennsylvania and didn't take the bookcases with us since they were broken in some way. Now we just don't have bookcases. Sometimes I miss the cheapies with their broken handles and shelves and drawers you had to use a spatula to open. My boycot of crappy furniture has also meant that Danielle doesn't have a dresser, which has been interesting. Her clothes which should be in their bins frequently end up on the floor.

Seriously.

Danielle got a beautiful hat from Rachelle and her roommate the other day. She likes wearing it around the house and asking for hat.
Baby Madsen number two likes to kick me in the bladder. One of my greatest fears is peeing my pants while pregnant and I swear this child will do it. He also likes to move around so much I give up on sleeping and make blog posts.
I like these shoes. They are available at Piper Lime. They would look beautiful with my linen skirt. why are the shoes I like always so expensive? I was looking at piper lime and found a beautiful pair of shoes- which was on sale for 500 dollars. Seriously? who buys these shoes. I guess not that many people since they are on sale. Some days I wish I was one of the people who had enough money to buy five hundred dollar shoes.
Maybe you have to be born that way.

On the Road

We are driving back from Georgia. I liked visiting Paul and Brooke. Their ward on Sunday was dead silent in Sacrament meeting. Since Danielle talks continuously through church I was a little embarassed, especially when she tried to dive over a sleeping baby Lucy to get to Sam. Danielle loves Sam.
When I retired to the hall I found how the meeting was so quiet- about 3 families playing in the foyer. Danielle asked to come home that day- I didn't know she could ask to go home but it was super cute. If only she could have Sam and home.
So far today I was almost 6 feet tall at a gas station. The little tape measure on the door of the gas station never lies. I didn't realize that just sitting in the car would make me taller- maybe I just shrink more than the average person during the day.
We worked on taking photos of Brooke's Etsy shop while we are there. Brooke doesn't believe in blogs- how can you not believe in blogs? My blog is super unknown and I still believe. I totally think her stuff is blog worthy. While I was working on her photos I found some photos of Danielle- one from when she was a floppy little baby and the other from when she went to the hospital because her allergic reaction looked like some infectious disease. I still never got a picture where the rash was brown and dark purple like it really was. Danielle is so cute.

Sunday Thoughts

Easter Sunday

Each Sunday I like to spend more than a little while dinking around and considering which high heeled shoes I should wear. Luckily today I had my outfit planned already. (the picture features the shoes I wore that I am happy to say I got for under 30 dollars- check out the link for the original price.) I think the prenatal samples from this week had some kind of vomit-inducer. Maybe they are designed to help you loose weight. When John came to wake me from my lucky nap I guess the bed looked really comfy so he climbed in with me. I was reminded of growing up as I threw on clothes and brushed my teeth. Danielle got to wear her super cute dress and new White hat. We forgot the hat and I was really upset. Can you really drive back to the house for a white hat when you live 30 minutes away from the church building? We didn't have an egg hunt in the morning- we decided to have the Easter egg hunt Saturday and try to focus on the religious part of Easter on Sunday (plus Saturday was the say Mark and Sara could come for the hunt). Of course I had a terrible time listening to our beautiful lesson and Danielle cried for the part of sacrament meeting where she wasn't trying to get her friend Miranda to stomp on the floor and scream. I was honestly happier with the stomping than the crying, but I don't think Miranda's parents feel the same way.
Also musical programs in sacrament meeting, yes or no?- discuss amongst yourselves. I vote no. Maybe it is that the songs aren't that pretty. I went to a musical program once at St. Paul's cathedral and it was fantastic. Why can't we have that music? Also growing up Brother Pond had a pretty amazing voice for the dramatic reading and it just isn't the same now. as in it wasn't good. If you just showed up and had an almost two hour meeting with lots of mediocre choir singing it wouldn't be so bad- but when you know what you are getting yourself in to it is discouraging. I thought about coming an hour late but they would have had me anyway- the singing was the second part of the really long meeting. At least Danielle looked cute in her dress.
I managed to stay through relief society. It is difficult to be in Sunday School with John in Primary because I have so many stupid comments and I don't get to say any of them without John or one of my sisters. I was trying to figure out how much the hand outs cost in Relief Society and Jayna helped me realize a cheaper way of making them. Can you ask the teacher how she made the hand outs? Can you then ask for specifics about which store she went to in order to determine the cost? I can imagine me going up and saying- hey nice lesson on Joseph Smith being a peacemaker- I was wondering if you made these handouts the expensive way I thought of or the cheap way Jayna thought of. Since it said on the handout "we mind our own business" I controlled my urge.