I dream of blythe

You know,

Even if they say "it's a man's world out there", I find that being a woman has several advantages. One being that we can display stuffed animals and dolls on our desks without looking like a nerd. :-)

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We all played with dolls when we were little. Some of us had the cabbage patch doll with the yarn hair, others  had rich grandmothers who bought them an american girl doll.

Now, a different doll has been capturing our attention...

the Blythe doll.

Did you know that "Every year there is an Annual Blythe Charity Fashion Show in Tokyo, where leading designers from around the world create tiny versions of their outfits for Blythe to wear as she is carried down the runway by white-glove-wearing models." -source

This doll here is on my wishlist, but with a price-tag of $165...it may be a while before she shows up at my front door.

In the mean time click here to download some Blythe wallpaper, and here to see Blythe with...
get this...
Johnny Depp!

Charlie Brown

I am the owner of a fat little mutt named Charlie Brown.

(We call him Charles when he's in trouble.) 

He's lazy, eats almost anything, and I love him terribly.

My mom named him after her favorite cartoon character, and he's been her little shadow ever since. 

Even though Mom never wanted a dog, she and Charlie became the best of friends.

Whenever I'm sad, Charlie can be found scratching at my door whimpering. He loves to comfort people with little kisses and snuggles.

I know that dogs aren't people and that some just don't understand how you can "love" an animal, but Charlie is special to me and will always have a place in my heart.

Giveaway!

Good morning readers and happy Friday!

For the past week or so, Wild Olive has been hosting a 'tea-party' with a blog full of baking and crafting tutorials. As a grande finale, she's giving away a miniature tea-set painted by the blogger herself!

How cute is that? 

I love the colors that she chose and the little faces add character to the whole set.

"It's the Wild Olive way!"- Wild Olive

The contest ends tomorrow so don't dottle around.

Fresh Look

Hey Yall,

I JUST finished giving the Miss Yellow Shoes blog a little face-lift (tehee...I just typed 'facelip')!

I didn't do any major changes, just wanted to do a little bit of spring cleaning.

There may be a few tweaks here and there over the next few days, but overall I am very happy with the result.

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The older blog was too chaotic and cluttered (kinda like my cork board). This new look should help you readers get where you want to go quicker than ever before!

No more searching through the sidebar for that printable! No more scrolling past picture after picture just to get to my twitter link!

Everything is nicely organized in it's own little category.

Proud of me? 

Yes?

Put on ur yoga!

Honestly, I used to think that people who did yoga were weeeird.

What was up with that "find your center" "become the grasshopper"

uh...ok?

But once I tried the different poses, stretching and pulling my muscles, I found that yoga can be quite enjoyable. In fact, its my favorite part of my workout!

Every night, I roll out my blue yoga mat and do up to 200 crunches. 

Nope, that wasn't a typo. I really do 200 crunches every night. After a few push-ups and squats I curl up into a little ball and start my yoga routine. 

I recently downloaded a yoga app for my iPhone so I could learn new poses.

Did you know?

 Yoga not only helps with flexibility, but also tones all the muscles in your body.

Yoga was designed to "quiet the mind", something we all could use once in a while.

Yoga can help relieve muscle pain and reduce stress levels.

Here's a cute printout you can use to jump-start your own yoga routine!

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Just for the record, yoga really isn't as hard or wimpy as it looks.

The majority of beginner poses are simple but take calm breathing and concentration.

You have to feel your muscles working and stretching to know that you're doing it just right.

Smart Meal Planning

"Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon."  

~Doug Larson

Sadly, we don't live in a dream world were vegetables taste like ice cream. It's up to us to pick and chose what we will eat and why we are going to eat it. 

Lately, I've really been watching what I put in my stomach. 

"Do I REALLY need 2 cookies? I bet I could just eat one slowly and be just as satisfied."

"I'm craving something sweet, how about I swap the ice cream for some strawberries!"

" I need some munchies, I'll ditch the chips and go for some baby carrots instead."

See how easy it is?

You don't need to not eat, you just need to eat better!

Need a kick start? Check out this sweet Meal Planner by Heartmade.

"So, to say good bye to the bad habits + get serious about my health, I've created this super cute meal planner, because I'm a little too obsessive + intense when it comes to plans + commitments. For some reason when I write it all down, it works + I commit to it."

- Mayi Carles

Be sure to stop by Mayi's blog and thank her for making this cute planner free!

Healthy Lifestyle

If you remember a little while back, I made a post about kick starting a healthy lifestyle with my week's challenge. I also made this printable list for you guys.

I've really been working hard with staying healthy. Since I've started yoga and eating smarter, I've really noticed a change in my body.

I feel better, have more energy, and have lost some weight (yay me!).

This week, we'll focus on getting healthy...together! Let's start with those 8 glasses of water we should be drinking every day.

Wild Olive made this super cute check-sheet to help us all keep track of how many more glasses of H2O we have to go!

Click here for download!

Graduation Pictures

I'm so proud of Mike for graduating; and we're both really excited about him teaching History in South Carolina this year!

We've decided on a wedding date, but I won't post it until it's official. 

I can't wait to really get cracking with wedding diy projects and take you along for the ride.

:-)

On the road again...

Hello Readers,

Just thought you should know that I'm currently on the road so it may be a few days before a new post is up. 

Be back soon!

Graduation Day!!!!!

"I'm going to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in History Education this Saturday! and because i'm graduating Magna Cum Laude, i get a cool gold cord!"

-Mike's facebook status

Today, Mike will receive his college diploma and start a new chapter in his life.

I'm so proud of my fiancée for giving his best even when he was sick,tired or frustrated. He never gave up and always reached beyond the set goals.

He's always been a fast learner and was 0.02 points away from a perfect 4.0!

(Impressive huh?)

Not only did Mike get amazing grades, he also worked, took care of me, and participated 

in several plays and a music group.

I can't wait to post pictures from today with Mike all dressed up and ready for graduation!

I love you Mike, I'm so proud of you.

Wedding- Did you know?

Did you know?

1. You may stick a penny in your shoe for luck, but a sugar cube in your glove will sweeten your union according to Greek culture.

2. The engagement and wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was believed that the vein from that finger lead straight to the heart. 

3. In 1840, Queen Victoria set the white dress standard. Before then, girls just wore their best dress.

4. The custom of layered cake started when the bride and groom would play a game at the reception. The goal? To kiss each other over the cake without knocking it off the table!

5. In 1995, a French bride was arrest for stabbing her new husband with the knife they had JUST used for cutting the cake.

6. A bride had to kiss the minister before kissing her new husband if she was married in the Church or England. 

7. Brides stand on the left side if the groom so that the right hand is free to grab a sword in case of a fight. 

8. Forget throwing rice or seeds, people used to tear off chunks of the bride's gown for good luck.

Wedding- Bride Bouquet DIY 2

Oh Hello There!

Back for MORE wedding posts?

Today I'll be featuring another bridal bouquet (also by rocknrollbride.com)...

Isn't it pretty?

This bouquet is a little simpler than yesterday's but still totally gorgeous!

Here's the teaser...

Materials:

Fabric flowers & assorted flower hair-clips (I would have loved fresh flowers but I wanted to have something I could keep forever)
Cotton twine
A few scraps of wool
Scissors
An egg beater/whisk (as you can imagine, it was such a ‘light-bulb’ moment when I thought of using it for the stem!)

Step 1:
Hold on to the whisk as shown on the image and with a little force, try to deform it into a oval/circular shape. You can use tiny wires or something to tie on the criss-cross parts to keep them stay in shape if you need to.

Step 2:
Stuff the scraps of wool inside in whisk. This will help form the shape of the bouquet.

Can you believe you’re almost done? I told you it was easy!

Click here for the rest of this easy tutorial.

This week is all about weddings so be sure to stop on by tomorrow!

Wedding- Bride Bouquet DIY 1

Good Morning!

I'm in the wedding mood as you will see in this week's posts...

Today's post features a fabric bridal bouquet from rocknrollbride.com!

1. Fabric

2. Tools: Scissors, Rotary Cutter, Self-Healing Mat, Ruler, Compass, Glue gun with lots of glue.

3. Notions: Felt, Embroidery Thread or Regular Thread, Green Cloth Floral Wire, Buttons, Embellishments.

For this tutorial I decided to make my bouquet nautical themed so I choose a lot of red, blue, white and yellow fabrics and found buttons and some gold rope that made perfect embellishments.

First thing you need to do is create your flowers. I like to use two types of flowers, (Yo Yo Flowers and Ruffle Flowers,) but you can also add any other kinds of flowers; crocheted or knitted flowers, felt flowers, etc.

1. To make Yo Yo Flowers you will need to cut out circles in varying sizes. I like to use a compass so I can make many different sized circles without having to cut out different templates. I recommend circles that are no smaller than 3” in diameter.

2. Using a needle and thread sew around the edge of the circle. You don’t have to be too careful here, just try to stay close to the edge.

3. Continue sewing around the circle, the fabric will gather as you go.

4. Once you get all the way around knot your thread and you’re finished!

See the rest of the tutorial by clicking here.

Have a happy Tuesday and take time to make something beautiful today!

Good Monday!

Hello Awesome Readers!

Did you have a good Mother's Day? I hope you did something special for your mom. 

They really deserve more than one day a year don't they?

This is my mom at a St.Jean Baptist get together last summer. Isn't she pretty?

And this is my soon to be mother-in-law. 

I was so happy to get a quick visit with her on Saturday!

Well I'm very very busy this week, but drop by tomorrow for a wedding diy tutorial ok?

See you then!

I laughed out loud

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Hello College Students,

Just wanted to pop in with a light hearted post and encourage you to keep going strong with your studies! You're near the end, the finals are coming and graduation is in sight.

Remember that the last leg of the race is always the hardest. 

May you cross the finish line victoriously!

Why we may not have a flower girl

I'm sure that most of you have seen this picture around the internet...

(sorry for those who are sick of the royal wedding)

And this is exactly the reason why we just might not be having a ring bearer or flower girl at our wedding.

Surely, you are thinking, surely this little flower girl is an angel and was caught on camera at the wrong moment!

Nope...

And here she is again on the left...

(click image to enlarge)



 

Hmmm, I'm not sure if Mike and I are daring enough to take a chance on a toddler having a "good day".

The Ultimate Calendar

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That's right, it's a bubble wrap calendar.

I honestly don't know if I could discipline myself  to popping just one bubble a day.

Could you?

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All I have to go on with this calendar is the picture you see above. Looks like a bottle of dye of some sort with slow absorbing paper? How do they get it to absorb one day at a time?

With my clumsiness, that bottle would be knocked off the wall in no time.

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Why just cross off a day? What if your calendar could record your moods?

Well here's the calendar for you!

Of course, no one would want to look back on a week of sad faces...

Have a Happy Tuesday!

DIY Flower Projects

What better way to welcome in the Spring than with some crafty flowers?

I've rounded up some sweet tutorials...check em out below!

DIY Napkin Flowers

Pretty Pansy Turotial

Button Flower Bouquet

Paper Flowers Tutorial

Two Felted Flower Pins

P.S.

One of my favorite things about Spring is that I can walk barefoot outside again.

What's your favorite thing?

Wedding Dates?

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Last Friday, Mike received the call we both have been waiting for.

After applying to over 200 high-schools, and an agonizing wait, Mike was offered a teaching and coaching job in South Carolina!

This means two very exciting things.

1. Mike can start his teaching career right out of college

2. We can now set a wedding date

Since I will be in school for another year, Mike and I have decided that it would be best to wait until the summer of 2012 to tie the knot. 

July is looking very nice...

I am so proud of my fiancée and I know that he will do an amazing job teaching History.

I will be sure to keep you all up to date on our new life plans and wedding projects.

Even though its a year away, the excitement is building!