New Sparkle Jewelry

I have a few new pieces that I will be adding to the Sparkle Line this month. The Sparkle Line has been so popular, and I have to admit it's really fun to add the color to the pieces through the birthstones. People seem to really enjoy being able to personalize their pieces with both names and birthstones.

This picture is of the new Sparkle Birthstone Bars. I have been wearing that necklace every day for the past month and they are certainly my current favorite. I love wearing necklaces with multiple charms on them - something about the way they move and layer is just really fun. I also have bars with my anniversary (with a diamond colored stone) as well as my daughter's birthday (with a pink stone). Sometimes I just wear our names, and other days I wear all five pieces together. I think the Sparkle Birthstone Bars will be great mix and match pieces. The bars will also be available in a non-sparkle version as well.

I will also be adding a Sparkle Rectangle. The rectangle is nice in that it allows for longer names, and there are a number of different ways the stones can be embedded into the piece. One of my good friends just had her fourth child (a beautiful baby girl), and I am currently creating a necklace for her as a gift, that has her and her husband's names on it, as well as the birthstones of all four children. She's a great mommy, and they are so happy to finally have their family of six (all of them under age five - she's super woman!). I think it's a great new mommy gift. I will post a picture of the necklace before wrapping it up for her.

Back to work!

We just got home from a great week over in Carlsbad, CA. It was a blast, though I have to say it was quite a shock to go in the summer (we've always gone in September) - I could not believe how crowded it was. 9am on a Tuesday and you were hard pressed to find a spot on the beach. I'm the type that goes to great lengths to avoid crowds, but with Bella starting kindergarten next month, we didn't think it would be very wise to yank her out for a trip in September. But it was a great time regardless, and it was so nice to escape the oppresive Arizona heat for a few days. Now it's time to unpack the bags, do load after load of laundry, hit the grocery store, and all that other post-vacation not so fun stuff. Back to the real world! A few pics...

Ice cream for dinner, always a hit...

Lots of fun in the pool...

Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas

Beach Babe...

Every year she has to pick a few hibiscus flowers...

Face painting at Legoland...

Museum of Making Music

Sand anyone?

Speaking of kindergarten - it's offical - it's starting, in two weeks, no denying it! Our "I'm On My Way To Kindergarten" packet arrived while we were away. I am still in denial that my little girl is old enough to attend kindergarten. It seems like such a monumental milestone, the end of the baby, toddler and preschool days. I'm sure she'll do fine, me on the other hand, that I'm not so sure of.

This week we'll pick up all the supplies on the supply list the school sent, attend a school tour, go for our meet the teacher/assess your child's skills meeting, and try to hunt down a princess "tote" bag (we were specifically told to get tote bags and not backpacks, so much for the cute Tinkerbell one she picked out while we were on vacation). This might work, but I'm thinking she's best off with something that closes at the top. Maybe we could velcro it shut? I'm sure we can come up with something.

Scrapbooking

I do not scrapbook nearly as much as I should or I would like to. Heck, I barely manage to get my photos printed more then a few times a year. There just always seem to be other things that need to be tended to, but sometimes I need to remind myself that capturing these memories IS a priority.

One thing I have been trying to scrap are calendar months - one page - many memories. At first I tried it with paper scrapping, but never made it past the first month (I think that was March 2007). I've been digital scrapping for a few years, and really prefer it (no mess on the kitchen table!). When Heather Ann came out with her Monthly Memories Kit at Heather Ann Designs, I knew that I had found my solution.

I still don't manage to scrap nearly as often as I should, but I have been trying to keep up at least the calendar pages. Granted, I'm a few months behind, but it's better then nothing! Somehow I always seem to need a new kit to use before I can scrap, even though I have file after file of them. :) I just picked up this adorable "Twirl Collection" at The Shabby Shoppe that I used to put together my March 2008 page.

A peek at Jan & Feb...

Sneaking a little healthy in... under the chocolate that is.

My daughter is by far THE pickiest eater I know (the runner up is probably me, hey - at least I'm honest). Luckily she does great with fruits, veggies, chicken, turkey and dairy, so honestly it could be worse. I don't think I have EVER managed to get any red meat in her - before she was two she was picking the ground beef out of spaghetti sauce. She's also dead set against trying any new foods - heck, even new candy gets rejected. And, she loves her sweets and carbs (bir-cake - for birthday cake - was literally her 3rd word, right after "no" and "mama"), so I'm always trying to find a way to balance it all. I've picked up both of the "hiding purees in your kid's food" books (sweet potatoes & carrots in the mac & cheese is big around here, as well as pureed white beans tucked into mashed potatoes).

Last week I set out to find a "healthy" but very tasty muffin recipe. I have a few good ones (pumpkin in particular) but she's already rejected those - all it takes is her finding one nut or one piece of oatmeal, and that food is OUT of rotation, even if I remove them the next time. Well, I managed to find a recipe that was easy to alter, had tons of positive reviews, and it came out delish.

I altered it by using all white whole wheat flour, oat flour in place of the cooking oats and oat bran, flax seed meal in place of the wheat germ, egg beaters for the eggs, and mini chocolate chips instead of the blueberries (hey, I wanted her to WANT to eat these!). I also added a scoop of some protein powder, just for kicks. :) Bella thinks they are some decadent treat she's having the good fortune to eat (I think the mini-chocolate chips should take credit for that one). Mission accomplished. Sure, they aren't exactly like sitting down and eating a plate of green beans, but with protein and whole grains, they sure beat the other snacks she typically requests.

Sentimental Silver has a new website...

After what seems like forever (though probably more like a month) our new website for Sentimental Silver has launched. While not drastically different, we've made many changes which I am very excited about, including a new shopping cart system for our customers. I'm really excited about the changes, and to celebrate we are having a 20% off sale... just use the discount code "NEWSITE" at checkout. There are a few new pieces of jewelry up on the site, with more new personalized pieces to come this week.

Visit Sentimental Silver and check out our brand new site! Enjoy!

Summer...

It seems like summer is flying by. Well, as fast as something can fly by when you live in the desert and the daily 110+ degree heat that is. We had a little break from the heat up in Pinetop, AZ for the Fourth of July. We spent the holiday with my parents, grandparents, siblings, niece and nephews. It's become an annual tradition that we really enjoy. Not only do we get away from the heat, but we get to leave the hussle and bussle of "city" life behind for a few days. We watch the small town parade, take the kids for little horseback rides, race go-karts, play a few rounds of horse-shoes, eat ice cream on a big old blanket while watching fireworks, and just enjoy being outside.

Bella had a blast, she's usually quick to try adventerous things, and was THRILLED to get to ride in a go-kart for the first time. I fear my darling daughter will want to sky-dive at age 12 - she's an adrenaline junkie! Reports from the track were that she was screaming "Go faster Grandpa we need to WIN!". Did I mention she's a bit competitive as well?

She was very excited to go horseback riding again this year. It's more like a quick stroll through the parking lot at the stables at this age, but it's enjoyed just the same.


The parade was cute as always, though Bella and her cousin seemed to only care about one thing, the candy being thrown out. My sister and I joked (kind of) that next year we could just stay home and throw candy at them and they'd probably be just as happy.

Wow, I look at that photo and swear that five is the age where there's no baby, no toddler, no preschooler left in them, it's all kid now. Sigh.

While I have been working this summer, Bella has been having a blast at a summer dance intensive at her dance studio. She absolutely loves it. I was a bit worried that dancing most of the day would be too tiring (ha!) or become boring, but nope - she's loving it.

Each week has had a theme, and so far last week's was my favorite... "The 80's". Each Friday they do a performance for the parents, and she dressed up as an "80's girl". She loved it - bright crazy colors are so her. She performed to "Two of Hearts" "We're The Kids In America" and "She's Got The Look". Adorable.

She's enjoyed her dance time so much this summer that we are thinking of letting her try out for the dance studio's performance company. She was in pre-company this past year, and enjoys and looks forward to every peformance, so I think it'll be a really positive outlet for her.

This weekend we celebrated my birthday. Low key but really enjoyable.

Rick took Bella shopping and I guess she wanted to buy me jewelry (of course!). Her style is a bit more, well, colorful, then mine is. So Rick took her to Claire's and let her pick me out five things. She was so excited to give them to me - they are all QUITE colorful, but really quite cute. I've worn them the past two days which has thrilled her. She's already begging to wear them, so I'm thinking she had a master plan that included her wearing each piece. Just maybe. Rick totally surprised me with a gorgeous new Michael Kors handbag. I'm a sucker for animal prints, and this one is just stunning. He did a fabulous job. :) Love love love it!

We finished off the weekend having dinner at El Encanto, a really unique restaurant in Cave Creek. They have a duck pond in the center of the patio area - filled with not only ducks, but turtles, koi and a big old goose. I was a bit worried, I mean outdoor dining in the summer here is not very appealing, but we really lucked out. Clouds came in along with a slight breeze, and the temperature dropped into the 80s. Certainly a rare treat in July.