Farewell Rapunzel (Part 1)

It was a stormy sky when this was taken

Princess is adamant that she wants her hair cut. She wants it short, like mine (above her shoulders). Right now her hair is down to her waist, and curls slightly at the end. We've cut her hair 5 times in her 4 years on the earth - once was when she was a week old and Hubbyman's grandpa passed away (I cut a small lock for his casket). Once was her first "official" haircut when she was about 14 months old - a dear friend of mine who's a hairdresser evened out her baby hair (the front was longer than the back) and gave her cute bangs. I then gave her 2 bang trims shortly after that, and then a month or two ago I trimmed the ends of her hair and took no more than an inch (if that) off.

But she wants a BIG change. She wants to chop off her 16" ponytail, and she wants to have short hair just like her mommy! We've actually even talked about donating said ponytail (in reality we'd probably cut off just over the 10" needed for Locks of Love) to a child in need.

I might have hinted to it before, but I don't handle change well. And while everyone has told ME that "it'll grow back", I'm still hesitant. I'm not too afraid that she'll regret it - she has been asking for this since October, and I've shown her countless pictures of short hair. I think I might be worried that she'll like it too much and want to keep her hair shorter. She's always had this long, flowing hair. She's always needed a hairband, clip, braid or ponytail. 

But this Sunday, we're heading out for a long-awaited playdate with the same friend who gave Princess her very first haircut, and her daughter. And at some point, I'll say farewell to my Rapunzel! ;)

Wordless Wednesday - Dance Practice

So This is Love...

Sometimes I think my life is a Disney movie ;)

Le sigh...

I'm in love, ladies. IN LOVE.

And I'm not just talking about my husband ;)

We have been house shopping! We went on Friday, and again tonight. Friday we looked at 6 houses from a list of 12 that I sent our Realtor throughout the week. We looked at 2 older houses in one neighborhood (literally right down the block from The Common Sense Crusader!!), 2 older houses that were just minutes away from there, a new house in a BRAND NEW development, and a newer (12 years old) house in a newer development. It was a great chance for us to see in person the houses that had caught our eye online.

Today our Realtor honed in on our comments from Friday, and picked out 4 more houses in the last neighborhood we looked at on Friday.

I am in LOVE :)

The neighborhood mixed all that we love about older neighborhoods (the homes aren't quite so cookie-cutter, lots of parks, schools and rec centers nearby, and the trees along the street are a little bigger) and newer developments (newer houses, open floor plans, and lots of young families).

The last house in particular that we saw was lovely :) It was 1800 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms. The basement is unfinished, but there was a HUGE bonus room upstairs, and a nice backyard. As soon as we walked in, we started daydreaming. We felt a little like we did back when we were house-hunting for our first home - newly engaged, fantasizing about starting a family someday. It's been on the market for awhile, and so my fingers are crossed that when we sign the papers to list (in 2 weeks, as long as everything goes well!) that the house might still be available when we're ready to sign (we were NOT ready to put an offer on it today).

There was also another one we saw today. 4 bedrooms (one in the finished basement), 3.5 bathrooms (again, one in the finished basement - a perfect guest suite!) a beautiful bonus room, and a HUGE deck in the backyard, with enough space to still fit in some sort of play structure for the kids (a newer item on our wishlist). Apparently they have been getting a LOT of showings, but at least we know that we have some good options out there when we go to list! We also have a few more neighborhoods to look at. I don't think they'll be as perfect as what we saw today, but they could definitely still meet our needs (and a few are cheaper too!)

On that note, just 2 weeks left! Eeek! We've said goodbye to the red paint in our livingroom and kitchen (I'll show before and after pics soon!) and the blue wall in our bedroom has gone taupe as well. (SUPER impressed with our painter. He was inexpensive, and did kitchen, livingroom, and bedroom in just under 6 hours! He's coming back at the end of the month to do the basement).

It doesn't feel like our house anymore with all of our personal touches neutralized, but that's ok :) Tonight I found some pretty awesome places we can personalize instead ;)

Fascinating Fascinators Sparked My Pinterest!

It all started with a last-minute trip to a local farmer's market last night, and specifically a stop at a vendor with amazingly adorable hair accessories - mostly clips, bows, flowers, and bands for little girls. Since chopping off my hair (it was almost down to my waist when Tobes was born!) I have been known to steal a flower clip from my daughter to tame an unruly curl on occasion.

I couldn't resist, and I bought Princess yet another flower clip (bringing her count up to 3, as well as a pretty pink chiffon headband from the same vendor on a previous visit) and picked out the brown lacy flower for myself (as seen in the photo).

And then I got to thinking - with my new fab 'do, I want to play around with fun accessories. Maybe not flowers all the time, but fun headbands, and dammit - I want a fascinator! (I may or may not have obsessed over the royal wedding, and I may or may not be desperate to try one myself). I had so much fun searching ebay and etsy which led to my next thought...

I'm a crafter...! What's to stop me from making my own pretties?? So I have started to round up all sorts of awesome DIYs and Tutes for beautiful barrettes, heavenly headbands, and yes - a few fascinating fascinators have made that list ;)

And to organize it all? I have stumbled onto an AWESOME website - www.pinterest.com. It's basically just a place to collect and organize different links, ideas, tutes, recipes, and more! You can make inspiration boards of different pins (for outfits, home decor, menus, etc) And as you build your boards, you can browse other people's for inspiration and share ideas.

It's PERFECT for my crafty self, and as I've started browsing, I'm getting GREAT ideas for the new house too!

So check it out, and find me on there - you can find my new follow button just under my profile on the side of my blog :)

Feeling a Little Displaced

If you've seen my house before (those who know me in real life), you almost wouldn't recognize it now!!

I've cleared the livingroom walls of all pictures in anticipation for this weekend, when our crayon-red walls get painted a nice, neutral taupe. We'll put a few pictures back up, but for the most part it's all staying down. The blue accent in our bedroom is going taupe as well (to match the rest of our walls). Thankfully we're leaving the murals Hubbyman painted in Princess and Tobe's rooms (he put a LOT of effort into them!)

We've got a storage unit for the extra furniture we have, and the basement is being measured for carpet on Wednesday (we've been promised installation by the end of July).

We have 3 weeks until we're hoping to list. We have 3 weeks left of certainty. I don't know how long it'll take to sell. We're hoping to be in a new home by Christmas, but that's just 5 months total from start to finish. How long will it sit on the market? How many offers will we get? What will the final price be? We built our first home, so the process was WAY different - we found the house, got the move-in date, and arranged our leases based on it.

We've obviously never done this before, so the thought of trying to orchestrate selling, buying, move-out and move-in dates. I know people do this all the time, but it's still new and scary exciting and daunting!

Eeep!

Why I Like "Crappy" Music... (and make no apologies for it)

All you people, can't you see, can't you see, NKOTBSB!!! :D

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Backstreet's Back (alright!) and have joined up with New Kids On The Block for every teeny bopper's dream concert! They'll be in town this Tuesday! I have seen Backstreet Boys EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. they've come to town, minus last year, when Tobes was a newborn and I had to make the choice between breastfeeding and Backstreet Boys (it was a tough call, ladies!)

My e-mail account used to be closetbsbfan @ hotmail dot com. I have loved BSB ever since I first heard "Get Down" in grade 9 (1996!). Nick was my favorite at first, but that later changed to Brian, and he's forever been my favorite since.

I make no apologies for my "horrible" taste in music (I like a lot of pop music, though I wish not to disclose other artists at this time ;)) and despite being teased incessantly, boy bands make me happy :)

It's certainly not the deep, soul-stirring lyrics ("You are my fire, my one desire...") or the synthesized music (let's call a spade a spade. Pop stars are NOT musicians. They are pretty faces who can sing and dance and sell magazine covers and put on amAZing shows) that gets my heart racing.

When I listen to my BSB playlist, I feel 14 again. I'm having sleepovers with my friends, and we're buying magazines, taping specials on our VCRs, and saving up allowances for CDs,  posters, and concerts. I had some AWESOME summers with the Backstreet Boys, and I go back there whenever I hear "Backstreet's Back" or "As Long As You Love Me".

So I'll be at that concert on Tuesday night. And I'll lose my voice screaming every time Brian comes on stage ;)