Note to self... check exposure...

So I was trying to get some photos of Claire in her 1st 'Halloween Outfit' yesterday. It wasn't until after I uploaded the photos that I noticed the exposure was off. I was shooting lighter colors time before, and like a dummy I forgot to change it back afterwards. Awe fooey.

She was having such a good time trying to 'cross her legs'

Then a really loud car drove by and scared her

But the sweet girl bounced back pretty quickly

I hate liars

Really. I do. I decided that today.

Like... I hate when people say:

• 82% of our vendors return every year
• I found you through a friend (but can't quite remember) and love your work
• Anything under $50 just flies through the door
• There might be 3-4 hair accessory booths but they'll be so spread out you'll never run into each other

When in reality it's really like:

• Just about everyone was a 1st time vendor
• Pretty sure my name was taken from a list of vendors from a different show I did. Because I find it strangely coincidental that so many of us attended the same show back in April, and here we all are as first time vendors at this show... being quoted the same statistics
• Anything under $5 WALKED through the door... not necessarily 'flew'
• Awesome. 3 of us selling basically the same thing. And we're all pretty much right next to each other. Fantastic

While some of the lies might not be completely detrimental, the fact is, a lie is lie. And I ask specific questions before doing a show because more than likely, if I had gotten TRUTHFUL answers to my questions, I wouldn't have done it.

So what's a girl to do? Well, I already sent off an email explaining my 'frustrations' and they can expect to receive a phone call in the morning as well. I'm just not 'down' with their 'business tactics'.


But I guess good news for everyone else is that I have a TON of stock to get rid of. So a sale on my etsy site will be up pretty darn soon.

New photo of some felt hair goodies I have

THE TRUTH:
While I LOVE the 'artistic' approach to this photo, it was completely unintentional and happened purely by luck.

Sneak peek of what's to come!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I feel like my life today is easily summed up in 3 parts...

The Good
I'm FINALLY done setting up

The Bad
I'm waiting for my bags to be brought up...
could be a while...

The Ugly
My Face.
I literally look tore back right now

My super great helper Gina and I arrive at Bally's and head over to our booth ready and excited to get started. It's actually pretty fun to see a blank space and know that in a couple of hours (or more like 8) you'll have a fun little space to sell your wares.

As we're setting things up, we start to notice the other booths around us. ALL of them have these REALLY nice, professional displays... with professional signage... and I start to freak out. I feel completely out of my element and realize that in the hopes of saving money by NOT shipping out 'freight' (and instead fit all my supplies into 2 large suitcases - and a couple of 'flat rate' mailing boxes) I have actually done myself a dis-service as now my booth looks like a 2nd grade craft project (and to any 2nd graders reading this - I'm not 'hating' on you, but when you're 33 you have different goals) and I kind of feel like crying a little bit - or fainting since I hadn't eaten anything.

The Good
I take a break and get something to eat
(and start brain storming a 'Plan B')

The Bad
My idea requires finding a Joann's,
buying new supplies & sewing new 'decorations'

The Ugly
Nothing like spending $150 on items you already have at home
Oh - and tack on $80 for the cab ride. Awesome.

If there's one good thing about today - it's that God allowed me to find 2 print fabrics that coordinate with the Blooms that I had already made. So it was able to be pulled together without looking like I did everything last minute (at least I think I'm pulling this off) We spend another 5 hours sewing, ironing, cutting, breaking, hanging, taping, sticking, folding, clipping, arranging and it turns out like this:

You may not notice a huge difference, but the difference is huge to me. I will say that I knew going into this that it would be a 'learning opportunity' as I have never done a show like this before. One main thing - is that I didn't bring enough product, or ways to display it. But hey - what are you going to do. Lesson learned.

So now I'm headed off to bed to get some much needed sleep. I'm hoping that my some-what salvaged booth will not be a total turn off to potential clients, and they'll still come and talk to me anyway.

Oh yeah, one more thing... if you happen to notice that the pictures are slightly crooked, or un-even, or something looks out of place - please don't tell me. I've totally come to an almost 'good place' about what we were able to get done and I really can't take any bad news... I don't have the energy - and sadly, I'm not kidding either.

Can You Guess How She Got Wet?

So I was over at my friend's house today as Claire plays really well with her son. Although we've learned that if they're being too quiet something must be up... We just finished uploading some photos from my camera to her computer when we walked out and found Claire drenched....

Actually, it was more like this:

I quickly said, 'CLAIRE! WHAT are you doing?!'

Yeah... she said she was drinking Rosco's water... and yes, Rosco is my friend's DOG!

Sorry Claire. But it isn't lady like to drink water out of a dog's bowl.
(no matter how much fun you think it might be!)

Our Trip to the Zoo

First, I have to start off by apologizing for that horrendous Mickey Mouse song that I had posted for a few weeks. Ugh. It was so annoying I didn't even want to come to my own blog. So I deleted all the music for a MUCH needed break. But I'm sure sooner than later I'll be posting a new soundtrack to my life.

Anyway, today Claire and I went to the Zoo and Fairy Tale Town. Now, I went to the zoo... oh... a couple of months ago (?), but I haven't been to FAIRY TALE TOWN in like... 25 years (yes, I'm that old) We went with some of my 'mom friends' and the kids had a great time. Needless to say, I'm WAY tired.

When we were getting ready to leave the zoo and head over to FTT (yeah... that's what the cool people refer to it as) we passed a booth where you could get free face painting done. Claire has never had that done so I thought she might enjoy it.

They had these little examples of the different choices you could choose from. So of course I'm like, 'Claire - do you want a butterfly? Do you want a lady bug?' And in true Claire form, she immediately points to the one she wants. No doubts about it!

Claire opted for her 'face painting' to go on her arm.
(I'm guessing she was going for a tattoo effect)

Here's the finished product!!!
Yeah. I know. I was like, 'WHAT?! You want the WALRUS?'

Checking it out - making sure it was as 'life like' as the example was.

I kept asking her, 'Claire, do you love your Walrus?'
And this was the look she gave me.

But in all honesty, I think she loved it. She showed it off proudly telling everyone (including herself) that she had gotten a Walrus.

SOMEONE WENT TO DISNEYLAND....

...and all they brought me was this headband!

Yeah... you read that right. Bob and I went to Disneyland and left Claire at home (actually, it was with the Grandparents). We had gotten these Disney 'hopper tickets' that were good for 3 days, and you had to use them within 45 days. The first time we used them we DID take Claire with us but it was a miserable experience for anyone who was in earshot of us. Let's just say the concept of 'waiting' was not something that Claire has mastered at this point. So I'm thinking we're not bringing her back until she's 4. Okay, so maybe 3 1/2 if she's lucky.

Since Bob and I had our 6 year anniversary on this past Sunday - we justified going without Claire by telling ourselves it was an anniversary trip. And honestly - we had a GREAT time. We flew down Monday night and stayed with my cousins, and then we all went to Disneyland together on Tuesday. They have season passes (and in the wise words of Napoleon Dynamite, 'luckyyyyyyy!') and even a parking pass. So it was smooth sailing. Honestly, I felt like we got to do everything we wanted, never waited longer than 30 minutes for a ride, and I was introduced to this magical goodness known as 'Dole Whips'.

There was a 'low point' to the day though. And thankfully, it was only once, and I rebounded from the event faster than I thought I would...

It all started when we were in line for The Pirates of the Caribbean. There was this group of 6 or so in front of us, and they kept taking pictures as we were going through the line. (It appeared to be a 'mom' and then siblings - maybe around the teenage years or so) We ended up in the same boat as them; directly behind them. Well, as soon as our little boat took off, they started up with the picture taking again. And for those of you who haven't been on the ride, IT'S REALLY DARK IN THERE. So if you take photos using a flash, you are going to BLIND EVERYONE IN THE BOAT. Seriously - they took a MINIMUM of 3-4 photos PER SCENE. So every time we pulled up to something new, flash... flash... flash.. flash... at one point they even turned around to take a photo of something behind them and it flashed directly in the eyes of my cousins. CRAZY!

I've never been SO annoyed before (actually, I probably have, but this was a pretty severe case). Once we got off I had a slight headache. And I was totally waiting for the Disney police to jump out when they got off the boat to confiscate their cameras... but no such luck. I did try and throw my meanest mad-dog look their way, but they never looked at me. Aw fooey.

But other than that, we had a super great time. We were in Southern Cal for less than 48 hours, so the time just flew by. I'm sad that it's over, but I'm SOOO glad we went. Here's to another 6 years with my man (and another 6 after that... and another 6 after that... and another 6 after that... and a... well.. I think you get the idea!)

*** SIDE NOTE: I forgot to mention in my last post that we're doing the Korea program and we're hoping for a little girl. Holt received our application and we had our initial phone 'interview' with the branch manager today. Looks like we're moving forward! Ah yes... let the rainfall of paperwork commence!

Awesome

So it's looking like I'm not able to post more than once a month. UGH. What is wrong with me?! I've totally committed myself to updating my other blog almost daily, but for some reason I just keep putting this one off...

BUT NOT ANYMORE!

I'm so thrilled to say that I now have a REASON to blog more. And what is that reason you ask? Well, it's to help keep my sanity as we start another ADOPTION journey!

* please note that is not a photo of me and Claire - but simply another Asian & child *

Okay, so here's the deal-lio: We decided to go with an International Adoption this time. Why? Well... many reasons actually. As most of you know, we had a really great experience adopting domestically with Claire (of course there were many 'hard parts', but overall it would probably rank in the top 5% of 'Smoothest Adoptions Ever') but there are many factors that we didn't have to 'experience' last time, that chances are, we'll have to this time. I'm a part of an online 'adoption group' and I can't tell you the amount of 'failed adoptions' that have been happening lately (and this is in a group of about 15 or so). Not to mention the cost. Honestly, I have a friend who went through 2 failed adoptions and just adopted her son literally days ago. Her bill? $40K. And there's still probably more to come with finalization, etc. I know this sounds like an extreme example, but sadly, it's not. Birthmother expenses are something that can really add up, and there's no 'hard rules' on what they will be. For us, we just can't take that chance.

We did look into Fost/Adopt and wanted to move forward with that, but again realized with all the 'rules' and 'red tape' that's involved, it wasn't going to to be an option that would work well with our lifestyle (basically meaning I can't handle the stress of all the documentation of any minor scrapes and bruises, background checks of anyone/everyone who MIGHT be a babysitter for us, etc). I so admire those who are able to Foster and I hope that one day we'll be able to do it as well.

So that brings us back to where we are now. Back in January of '08 we actually had started the process but put a 'hold' on it before we really got the train moving. A few days ago, I was talking to my sister about adopting again. (Actually - she was asking me if we were thinking about it again or not) I had all these reasons as to why we weren't sure, or 'what if' situations, or that we're just plain busy. Not to mention we don't have and extra $25K sitting around that we don't know what to do with. And in her true form, she basically gave me a pep talk that totally changed my mind. Now, it's not like she twisted my arm and said, 'you should adopt or I'll punch you in the face', but more along the lines of showing me that it's totally feasible and possible to do it.

Seriously, that conversation made me think 'why in the WORLD was I even hesitant before?'. I'm not worried about the timing (it could take about 2 years), I'm not worried about the process (just a bunch of paperwork and waiting), and I'm not worried about the money (Etsy here I come!) I'm super excited to see how God brings this all together and I'm PUMPED to get started. Oh, and when I brought it up to Bob, he jumped RIGHT ON BOARD. (of course - he's fabulous like that).

So the application is being put in the mail tomorrow (Monday) and our phone 'interview' with the Holt Branch Manager is scheduled for Wednesday. I can't wait to start my little 'time line' that I see all these other Adoptive Parents do on their blogs. It's like I'll be a part of new club. Cool.