Melonie Johnson

A Sweet Giveaway

September 21, 2010Blogroll, Cool Stuff, ProductsWrite a comment

Last Friday I posted a plethora of giveaways flyin’ around cyber space. Guess who won one of them? (say that fast, love those homophones!) Yes, me, I won. One. Of them. Prizes, that is. A little birdie dropped by to tell me that the Miloushka necklace I admired is mine for the taking! Yippee! (This week that same Birdie is hosting a free “takeaway” of some cute Halloween printables.)

Since I won that one (do you see how I’m trying to work those two words into as many sentences as possible?) I may have to buy the bracelet and earrings to match. It’s like when I have a coupon for a free drink at Sbux…I end up leaving an extra big tip.

Gaze upon my prize with envy (I’m kidding! If you like it, go buy one, her prices are very reasonable!)

Add this win to the Sara Barielles tickets I won last month, and I’d say I’m having a streak of good luck! Maybe I should run out to the store and buy a few lotto tickets, hmm? I’m hoping my luck continues and I win the giveaway currently being hosted by Indie Tot, a website devoted to helping parents find cool unique stuff for their kidlets.

Indie Tot is giving away a $15 gift certificate to the Etsy Shop: Lil Lollipops Designs.

Now, this candy corn tutu Indie Tot posted is freakin’ adorable:

But once I paid a visit to Lollipop’s store, I fell in love with these:

They’re called capelets, and I LOVE them! They remind me of the little poncho I found for Lil’ G when she was a baby:

Except a little more sophisticated. And without the hood. But still, really REALLY adorable.

The owner of Lil Lollipops Designs is a delightfully friendly mama to two girls and she really impressed me with her customer service – she is working with me on designing a custom capelet for Lil’ G – I can’t wait to see what we finally decide on, and don’t worry – I’ll be sure to post all the cuteness here when the package arrives!

Sidenote, I fear I may be developing an addiction to Etsy.

With all the cute things Lil Lollipop has to offer, I could really use that gift certificate; I’m not greedy though, so go enter the contest too and see if my luck rubs off on you ;).

Sit for a Bit

September 20, 2010Blogroll, Cool Stuff, Monday Muse, ProductsWrite a comment

Now that Miss A is back in school, Lil’ G and I have resumed our daily walks together. I am a total outdoors girl, and since birth, Lil’ G is as well. When she was still a little baby, the husband and I coached Miss A’s flag football team (ok, THAT was a learning experience, one that I don’t think I shall ever repeat). My folks were kind enough to come over and watch Lil’ G while we were at weekly practices. Lil’ G did not like this arrangement too much, and stridently made her displeasure known. The only way my parents were able to keep her calm, quiet, and relatively happy was to take her outside and push her in the stroller. As the fall nights progressively got cooler they tried bringing her inside, but no can do – the only time she ceased her ear-drum rattling screams was when she was outside.

So what I’m saying is, Lil’ G and I, we really relish our afternoon walks. We both get some fresh air, and it seems to be the only time she’ll settle down for a real nap. I strap her into the jogging stroller, load her up with snacks and a drink, tuck a blanket around her legs, and head out. We usually truck it for anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half (about 4 – 6 miles), enough time for Lil G to get a decent nap, and for me to make decent headway into whatever audiobook I currently have dialed up on the ipod (right now it’s The River Knows by Amanda Quick – I am really enjoying it, and the narrator is awesome!)

It also allows me to not feel guilty if I don’t get any other kind of workout in for the day.

Anyways, on one of our recent treks, I happened across an interesting lawn ornament – it immediately made me think of Monday Muse Miss Aimee, who always seems to find the most unique things whenever she is out and about. So I made a point to bring my camera with on the next walk, and snapped a few pics.

chair — Strolling down a side street, I came across this interesting little piece of furniture.

sit for a bit chair — It was quite an adorable little thing.

sit for a bit — And what a friendly invitation!

Now, whenever I choose to head that direction on a walk and pass that chair, I smile and think of Ms Aimee over in Artsyville. Speaking of, Artsyville is aptly named, and Ms Aimee’s walks are much more fruitful in the funky and fun dept. Case in point, check out her post from today, in which she shares with us her most recent discoveries while out on a walk with her own small person in a jogging stroller. We mamas have to find our inspiration where we may!

Baby Legs Innovations

September 18, 2010Kids, ProductsWrite a comment

I was pretty lucky with Lil’ G…aside from all the wonderful things about her health, beauty, brains, etc (no, I’m not biased in my opinion, why do you ask?); and aside from the fact that she is a wonderful go-to-bed-at-nighter and sleeper, I was lucky with Lil G’ because she was born in the same season as Miss A…and of course I saved almost all of Miss A’s outfits…so I had very little to do in the way of shopping for baby #2. In fact, I probably could have avoided shopping at all (well, except for diapers – I never could get into the whole cloth diapering thing).

Little girls are notoriously fun to buy for though, so Lil’ G’s wardrobe acquired a few new things here and there. Most notably, her collection of Baby Legs. As I mentioned in a post awhile back, I LOVE BabyLegs…I developed a bit of an addiction to them, I’m afraid.

So as soon as the summer weather tipped a bit towards the chill of fall, I eagerly dug into my supply of BabyLegs and decked Lil’ G out.

It seems Lil’ G has begun to have an opinion on fashion, and doesn’t hesitate to “adjust” her outfits, as she did here:

Lil' G ala flashdance — Remind you of anything? Let me help jog your memory...it's the 1980's, there's a movie about a girl who loves to dance, buckets of falling water may have been involved.

Turning all her “tights” into leg warmers Jennifer Beals would weep with envy over was only the beginning. Next, Lil’ G figured out a way to make her clothing more useful:

Stashin Angel cake — She discovered they function conveniently as toy holders.

Angel cake stash — Lil' G seems quite pleased with the spot she found for Angel Cake to hang out.

I can’t wait to see what other uses she comes up with for her BabyLegs.

Thanks to the buying bonanza I went through last year, she’ll have plenty of opportunities.

Open Call for Healthy Halloween Snacks

September 17, 2010Blogroll, Celebrations, Cool Stuff, Kids, RecipesWrite a comment

Sometimes I wonder why I chose to teach high school rather than the primary grades, since I love all the crafty fun stuff a primary teacher gets to d. I ended up indulging this part of myself by putting stickers on my high school students’ tests – yes, even the Seniors – and yes, they still liked it! And…I love putting together kid parties. So I had no problem volunteering to organize Miss A’s class Halloween party. A craft, a game or two, some fun decorations…and treats. While I welcome ideas for all categories, it’s the latter I need the most help with…if you’re like most people, Halloween is all about (as Garfield would say) “Candy, candy, CANDY!!!” However, at Miss A’s school they have a party treat policy: only 1 “indulgent” treat is allowed, the rest of the offerings must be healthy.

So when I say Amy’s post today over at Living Locurto, I thought it was adorable, and then I thought about how I could make it work in Miss A’s class.

Here’s the original treat:

Amy called it an “Owl Smore” – a graham cracker with marshmallows, yellow candy melts and chocolate chips for the eyes, and a candy corn nose.

I think these are clever and fun, and a great idea for the party; but while I can get away with the graham cracker under the heading of “healthy” the rest, not so much…so here’s what I came up with:

Replace the marshmallows with banana slices

Substitute pineapple or nectarine circles for the candy melts

Swap out the chocolate chips for raisins

Leave the candy corn nose, cuz honestly? It’s one freakin’ piece of candy corn.

I’m thinking I’ll make the fruit circles ahead of time, but wait to slice the bananas til the actual party (brown bananas = GROSS!) and then let the kids arrange their own owls. (Snack + craft = WIN!)

So…any other healthy Halloween treat ideas? Let me know!

Defining One’s Self

September 16, 2010Life, UncategorizedWrite a comment

Book Binge, a fun review site – is having their annual month long Back-To-School book giveaway. Each day they offer up a selection of novels as a prize – all you have to do is leave a comment to enter. Each day’s prize comes with a different conversational question…today’s was: Were you part of a pack aka clique or were you more of a loner?
Answering this question somehow provided me with a definition of myself I had never thought of before – but once writing it down, it really seemed to fit – it just seemed right. In high school, I had a variety of friends from different traditional cliques – I had my sporty friends I would hang out with in the Commons since, as Varsity players, we got to skip P.E. I had my brainy friends from the Honors classes I was taking (it was pretty much the same group of kids in all the various A.P. classes, so we got to know each other rather well). Then I had my friends from theatre – and these were my closest pals – the ones I stayed in touch with long after high school.

facebook pics_0006 — That's me on the far right (yes, I was wearing jean shorts with nylons - don't ask) with my closest high school pals, clearly we all had more than our fair share of dramatic flair.

So, looking at my interests, my passions, my friends – I decided that I was an eclectic soul…and really, that pretty much sums it up.

Next time someone asks me to describe myself, that’s what I’ll say: “I have an eclectic soul.”

And then I’ll say I’m a red head.

Because that in itself says a lot.

Singing and Driving

September 10, 2010Cool Stuff, IMO, Music, ProductsWrite a comment

You know those songs that make you tap your fingers on the steering wheel, pump your foot (hopefully NOT the one on the gas/brake) and just sing at the top of your lungs? Love those songs. Love how it makes me feel better, even when I’m stuck in the purgatory of Chicago-land traffic.

Sara Barielles is one of those artists who consistently puts out songs that make me feel this way. I LOVE her newest release, King of Anything, off the album Kaleidoscope Heart (just came out this past Tuesday!)

Guess what? Last month I won two tickets to see her at The House of Blues in November!!! It’s the first time I ever won a call-in radio contest. (Well, I guess that’s not too surprising, considering the last time I entered such a contest was when I was 11 or so and trying desperately to win tickets to see New Kids On the Block.)

And yes, if you’re wondering, at the concert I will probably be singing right along with Sara. At the top of my lungs. I apologize to my husband in advance.

So, ok, fess up – who makes you want to belt it out while on the road?