I woke up with a headache and sore throat and chest congestion this morning.  I’ll be totally honest with you, I’m being lazy.  I think the circumstances warrant it today.

So while my kids are parked in front of Sesame Street for a minute (ZOMG TV ROTS BRAINZZZZ) I am browsing around on etsy.  A little retail therapy never hurt anyone!  (I mean… other than in the wallet. Because, seriously, just TRY browsing around on here and not finding 9348348230 things you like!)

Some of my favorite finds today:

OWL PURSE!  So totally cute.  Actually, everything from XcessRize is cute like whoa.  Like this or THIS!!  Oh, yes.

Ok, now.  For the kids…

EEEE!  So cute.  I’ve bought from Tiddlywinks before, gifts for a friend’s kids- and I can tell you firsthand, their work is incredible.  They were the absolute cutest dolls I have ever seen.  They also do these little mini playsets where you can dress up the doll in different outfits.  Hailey would so dig that.

And wouldn’t your little angel look adorable wearing this?

I’m not just partial to this because it’s made by my friend Leila (that I went to California with? Remember?) of Jaylie Bean’s. It is quite literally the cutest thing ever.  (Leila also runs JuJuBaju which has equally excellent things for women, like cosmetic bags and slippers.)

Now, something for the home:

How about these cute fabric storage bins from Sewing Mama?  I really, really, really love this idea!  We have those stupid big plastic storage bins and they break all the time, plus they’re so ugly.  These are so much cuter and they come in tons of designs.

What better way to show your best friend you love her than giving her your hot dog? Yeah, that sounded kinda dirty, huh? Ok, here’s what I really meant:

Hamburger and hot dog best friends necklace set from Pumpkin Pye Boutique.  These crack me up!  They’ve got other things besides food accessories, but their stuff like chocolate chip cookie earrings, pancake necklaces, and peanut butter and jelly best friend necklaces are the absolute best!  This is the solution if you have a hard-to-buy-for friend, for sure.

Speaking of gifts…

I know that I would love to receive a journal. I am big into paper journaling, and this is such a pretty one.  Watermark Bindery is such a neat shop, and they also do photo albums and guest books.

One more, because this is the best shop EVER.

Terri Taylor Design makes the absolute funniest greeting cards, tags, recipe cards, and notepads!  (Be warned, some are for ‘mature audiences’ due to language. I’ll admit, I laugh hardest at those ones.) And it’s not limited to just funny stuff either, they do have ‘normal’ stationery as well.

So there you go. Those are just some of the many ways you can spend your money on etsy. Now, hop to it!

Tomorrow morning, we are going to Reno. If you’ve been reading me for a while, you’ll remember that I live “two hours from anywhere”. The town we live in is so small that we don’t even have any real clothing stores (we do have a few boutique stores though!). So when we want to do some major shopping, we hop in the car and settle in for a thrilling two-and-a-half hour car trip. Highlights include: whining! fighting! dropping stuff and then screeching til someone hands it back! somebody needing to pee every fifteen minutes (ok, that one is me…)! meltdowns!

To add a new twist to the Reno pilgrimage, we are taking Tim’s new truck. Which is a diesel. And thus, loud. And it is lifted, like six inches higher than a normal pick up truck. We are taking it because we need to go to Home Depot for some fencing supplies… but we’re also doing some major kids’ clothes shopping, so we have to cram an entire season’s worth of clothes for two kids into the cab with us, since the bed will be full of wood and stuff. This should be an adventure!

Both kids are now at the age where they care about what they wear. I don’t recall Hailey caring as much at two and a half as Keegan does. He absolutely melts down if I pick something he deems unsuitable. And since he’s newly potty trained, that limits us- no overalls (I actually cried over that one, I lovelovelove overalls on little kids!), no pants with a zip/snap/button waist, and no rompers (cried over that one too).

Hailey- well, of course she’s choosy about what she wears. She’s four and a half, going on fifteen. Here are her criteria:
1. It must be a dress. (Seriously, you should see what happens when we suggest pants. Holy cow.)
2. Preferably pink or purple.
3. No ‘boy colors’, bllllerrck.
4. It can’t be ugly.

And, to top it all off, we have to get shoes. For both kids.

And then haul them both through Best Buy and then Home Depot. And then back into the car for another two and a half hours home in the rumbly diesel monster after that.

Oh, heaven help us.

I am leaving for my trip on Saturday morning! I am very excited. It’s supposed to be pretty nice, I think, in the Napa Valley while we’re there, in the high 60′s. I am taking dresses. Bare legs!!! That’s the big thrill in my life. CRAP when did I get so boring?

The kids and I ran to the grocery store tonight armed with Tim’s list of stuff he wants to make while I’m gone. Let’s just say… I am not thrilled at his choices. But I’m not gonna bitch about it, I get a kid-and-husband-free vacation where people will massage me and rub weird things on my face and I will get to eat meals out while having adult conversations completely free of people stabbing one another with their forks. (Unless Leila gets really pissed at me, you just never know with her.) So therefore, if the kids eat corndogs three times a day for four straight days… oh well. We’ll get back on track when I get home.

Our tax return is taking its sweet time getting here, which is probably because it’s $$$$$$$$. (We bought a house!) We are spending most of it on the yard, but we’re also planning a little shopping trip in Reno to get spring/summer clothes for Hailey and Keegan. They need clothes badly and OH HEY we still live in Winnemucca where the only store we have for kids clothing is Wal-Mart. Which hardly counts at all. So we get to drive 170 miles to Reno to hit the Gymbo, Children’s Place, and Carters outlets. At least the upside is that we can stay in a hotel.. oh wait, no, that’s not an upside. I’ll be up all night with whichever kid I get to share a bed with, turned sideways so that a foot or an elbow or a knee is shoved into my spleen. Ok, there is an upside somewhere, I’m sure of it. Hang on, thinking. Oh yeah, right, food! (Hello, this is ME, of course my upsides always include food!) We get to eat something besides Chinese or Mexican food and we will probably even go out for breakfast. We never ever ever ever go out for breakfast unless we’re traveling, so it’s a novelty for all of us.

WELL the highlight of my night was picking up a napkin to wipe my face and instead, smearing caramel sauce all over my nose. It’s still sticky. I’m tired. I’m going to wash my face and do some crunches and go to bed.

My good friend Leila and I got to go to Reno without kids on Wednesday. Also, it should be noted: without husbands. I’m not sure who is more ill-behaved at the store, Tim or the kids. I totally don’t blame them though. If you’ve ever shopped with my mom, you’ve done the impatient sigh at least once. I hated going shopping with my mom when I was a kid. Wait, I still do! So does my dad! That’s when he sneaks over into the lingerie department and comes back with the world’s most enormous bra on his head, and encourages me to strap on the other helmet cup, Weird Science style.

The thing is, I don’t even really enjoy shopping either, but it has to be done. The other alternatives are, of course, going around naked (too cold!) or just buying stuff at Wal-Mart without trying it, and then returning what doesn’t fit and keeping what does fit. And then looking like white trash because each piece of your WHOLE DAMN WARDROBE is Faded Glory brand, cost seven dollars and eighty-eight cents, and lasts through no more than four washes. Not that I know from experience or anything.

So anyway- we got to shop without people whining about it taking too long, or they’re bored, or they need to eat/drink/pee/poop/sit down/take a nap, and without people hiding in the racks and pulling stuff down off hangers- and that’s just Tim, don’t even get me started on how the kids behave. (Ha, ha!) It was terrific. It’s amazing how much quicker you can just get done without having to tell people to shut up and be still eighty-five million times. PLUS we got to talk about girl stuff. AND we got to go to Joann’s. I’m pretty sure Tim would rather spontaneously combust than go into a fabric store.

I even found pants that make me look skinny less fat. I know, right? Amazing. I am thrilled. I think I am offically DONE with my fall/winter shopping for myself and the kids. It feels nice. That means that for our vacation in Kansas in December, I actually do not need to shop for clothes. At all. THIS IS A FIRST. Tim may wet himself with excitement. I am feeling very pleased with myself.