Over the past two weeks our chicken, formally Miss Chicky, has been finding it hilarious to lay eggs anywhere but in her nest box. So not only do we have no eggs in the refrigerator but a potential dozen or so rotting away some where in our back yard. Lovely!

The Culprit
Every day when I leave for work she’s safely tucked within the confines of the garden… no doubt biding her time until the coast is clear. I’ve seen her escape a few times but Miss Chicky is always back where she belongs by the time we get home from work. Every day the nest box is empty and a sign of a nest is nowhere to be found. We have a really big back yard and have been searching all over with no luck, but wouldn’t you know it all this time she was just on the other side of her fence- safely hidden within:

I made it my mission this morning to watch her until she escaped and went to her favorite spot- without fail she led us right to it….

We scooped her up off of her nest and put her back into the nest box on the coop, she was pissed! She came out and after a few minutes, flew over the fence and made a break for her nest but I was faster. I don’t want her to get in the habit of laying out in the yard once we let her free range, she should be laying her eggs in the nest box… The second time back in the box did the trick and she finally laid her egg where it belongs. We’ll have to see how tomorrow goes and I don’t even want to think about when we’re not home.

I put the eggs in a bowl of cold water one at a time to check for freshness; sinkers are good, floaters are bad. All 11 eggs were good with the exception of the one I crushed while drying (doh!)
May 22nd, 2010 | Tags: chicken, eggs, free range | Category: 4 legged | Leave a comment
Click here & leave a comment to be entered in Random Stitches’ goody giveaway: items she scored at Stitches!!
April 24th, 2010 | Tags: knitting, link | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Just a test post to see if this site is still alive!
April 17th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
I picked up my wedding shoes today!! I custom ordered them from Toe To Toe Dance Wear which is an awesome place and less than two minutes away from work. They have a ton of models you can see in person and lots to try on to get that custom fit, plus a sample book of all the fabrics and trims which helps make ordering a lot less stressful. Orders take about 6 weeks to come in, mine made it in five! Woohoo 

(Mental note- tan legs & feet!!)
They are ‘Katia’ by Celebrity Dance Shoes. I added a street sole for an additional $25- which is unique to the Celebrity line, at least compared to the other brands the shop carries.
So far I definitely need to break them in. They are really comfortable but I can feel some tight spots around my toes that need a little stretching. I think Toe2Toe recommended getting the leather wet with rubbing alcohol & wearing them until they dry, so I may give that a shot. I also noticed that there is a considerable amount of give in the arch which will take some getting used to. A standard heel isn’t designed to move and flex like a ballroom shoe. I’m feeling like some additional arch support is probably going to be in order.
Next Saturday is my first dress fitting. I have the undergarments & shoes ready to go… Sorry- no bra photos!
July 9th, 2009 | Tags: ballroom, sandals, shoes, shopping, wedding | Category: shopping, wedding | Comments (3)

I just finished assembling our invitations- as much as possible for now. I still need to number each response card according to the guest list to help eliminate any RSVP confusion and the envelopes will be addressed next week; then I can begin stuffing them. I plan on using a wax seal which I’ve already bought (and am looking forward to trying out!!) to close up the envelopes.
I’ve been debating adding a liner to the inside of our envelopes, which are just a standard cream. Here are a few I’ve found so far:





The above are from paperstudio.com and this last one is from papermojo.com… I found a lot of prints I really liked on papermojo that weren’t wedding related, maybe for just general crafting. There is a lot of really nice paper out there!
Of course I’m still searching… There really isn’t much of a common thread ‘theme-wise’ here. I guess I’m still at a point where I can take it any direction I want.
July 3rd, 2009 | Tags: craft, invitation, paper, wedding | Category: crafts, wedding | Comments (1)
A few weeks ago I read an article on Betty Confidential about how Marisa Tomei used Hoopnotica (music warning) to get in shape for The Wrestler… I was highly intrigued and checked out their site but made myself think it over before just busting out my credit card. It’s been on my mind ever since so I finally caved on Friday and ordered one.

This is the Cure hoop… 10% of the proceeds go to breast cancer research and it glows in the dark. Sweetness. I bought the special which means I also get the 1st & 2nd beginner DVD’s, and an e-book of some sort plus access to the forums. They even shipped my stuff on Friday. Nice! I can’t wait for it to get here, I am actually really excited. The press page is pretty impressive and I figure standing up and wiggling around is much more of an activity than being parked on the couch for way longer than I care to admit.
I will definitely keep you posted on how it works out. Keep your fingers crossed though, I am about 4 months late in starting a diet/exercise regime! As of right now there’s only 6 months, 4 days and 17 hours.
March 14th, 2009 | Tags: exercise, hoopnotica, shopping, wedding | Category: shopping, wedding | Comments (2)
As I had mentioned my wedding dress is officially on order, due to arrive in mid-July. Now as much as I would love to share pictures with all of you, I know Chad pops in here once in a while, and I just can’t risk it. But to tide us all over, here is a little snippet:

I also love my veil! It’s being made in England and should be in some time in April… I can’t wait, I want to wear it at all times. Soo pretty!

Two of my bridesmaids were able to go dress shopping this past Saturday and we found a potential winner… It’s the pink dress on the left, which the lovely, headless Char is modeling for you. But the color will more than likely be in cinnamon, which is on the right. I don’t know how true-to-color the cinnamon picture is, it seems to me it was more reddish in person, maybe not.
I’m really pleased that their dress is the same material as mine, taffeta, and it thrills me to no end that they all wanted to wear the same thing and be uniform. The option was totally up to them but I’m so happy they made the right choice, hardy har har. Here’s a close-up of the bust detailing… I think it will be flattering for all three girls.

Random weird thing that happened… it has really been raining a lot around here lately and while we were on the way to the first dress shop Jamie started getting dripped on in the back seat. The map lights in my dad’s Acadia were actually full of water, we could see it sloshing around. So what’s the best way to stop that?
Answer:

Which then made great spit wads…

March 10th, 2009 | Tags: dress, gown, wedding | Category: wedding | Comments (1)