Get the ** out of town…..

My blog is moving to it’s new home!! So excited. Right now it doesn’t look like much but as the weekend gets here and I have some time you will see a new home for my wise words of wisdom.

foreveracupid.com

My new blog. So happy.

Ch-ch-ch-changing…..

So remember how I said I was going to start changing my style? Yup. I have truly started. I am loving me. I have always wanted to have a better personal style I’ve just never had the guts. I would love to say it was financial or because of my ex (it’s nice to blame him for everything but really except for the cheating he really isn’t a complete douche) but that wouldn’t be honest, it’s all me. I have lacked the confidence in me to really explore my own style. I’ve never really been comfortable in my own body and now I am. We can all pretend that it’s some huge self realization and that I’ve grown as a person who is all self actualized but that would be such bullshit. The fact of the matter is I have an fantastic partner. My Cowboy loves my body so much it has made me reexamine how I feel about my own body. This is a man who seriously GROWLS when I walk by him in a room. I can not walk passed Cowboy without him reaching out an grabbing me. He is in love with every curve on my body. And in turn I am now in love with every curve of my body. This man WANTS me. Not a little bit but completely. So yeah if you’re wondering why I always have such a huge smile on my face, that is why.  Well that and the sex.  Lots & lots of sex.  Anyway,  now I feel amazing about my own body. I’ve stopped hiding it under bulky clothes, I’ve stopped wearing just grey. I have decided that loving my body is in fact, easier than hating it. There are a few other things that have changed my outlook. I belong to an online community of Curvies who only speak positively about themselves and their bodies. I can now look in the mirror and say “damn i look amazing”. And I’ve learn a VERY important lesson, when you dress your body well and feel good in the right size clothing you then FEEL better about yourself and your body. You carry yourself better, you feel more confident and in turn you look more attractive and you look sexier. This then results in my partner grabbing me even more…it’s a win/win.
So what’s new in my closet? Well I bought a dress and a few shirts off a style icon. Okay she’s not really a style icon she’s a new friend that I met in my online group who has a clothing trade group for curvy girls. I stalked her for a bit and realize that she has the coolest personal style. Then she listed a dress that made my heart stop. So I bought it. A dress I would normally see and think “oh i can’t pull that off” instead I bought it and I LOVE it. I don’t even care if no one else does, it’s 100% adorable and it’s all mine. She also sent along a few other pieces and there started my new closet. I know I need some staple pieces and so on the recommendation of the great Brittany Herself, I bought a denim dress from Old Navy. To bump up to free shipping (still a tightwad) I also bought a beautiful navy striped wrap dress from ON that is DA BOMB. At the same time one of my fellow group members told me about a store called EShakti. Such a great premise. You order clothes and you can customize EVERYTHING. You put in your exact measurements and the dress is made for you and sent to your door. Want a cap sleeve then you can customize any dress to have a cap sleeve. Ok, um….side note, can we just agree that NO ONE looks good with a cap sleeve except Jillian Michaels and little girls with stick arms. I’m 44 years old and a size 14/16 on top.  Designers, stop making cap sleeves in my size, they look all cute on the hanger or in pictures but you know and i know when I put those babies on I will look ridiculous. Stop making them…But anywhoo that was just an example, you can change to any type of sleeve you want. You can change the length, whether or not you want pockets. Just about anything. AND it’s decent prices. My first purchase with all the adjustments, shipping 15% off special pricing was under 50 bucks. For a fully customized dress. What the fuckity fuck? How did I not know about this possibility before? It’s my new favourite website. I will have a closet full of their dresses by the time summer hits.

^^^Look!  COLOUR!! ^^^

So from a closet full of grey to a colour wardrobe that better reflects who I am as a person and how I feel about myself. Such a fun goal and I’m having a hell of a lot of fun getting to know who I am what looks good on my beautiful sexy body.

 

* this picture is from today…no shower, no make-up but too damn excited to wait to try on my FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC new dress.

We Need to Talk….

“We need to talk.”

Nothing strikes fear into a relationship like those four little words.  Many a couple has been brought down by that simple statement.  I swore up and down that I would rather stay single than be in a relationship where I was unable to communicate open and honestly with my partner.  I hadn’t had that before..the middle of the night conversations about the hard topics that can end in hurt feelings and misunderstandings.  Those conversations that need to be said but most couple avoid out of fear that they will ‘stir things up’.  I wanted those.  No, I CRAVED those.  I figured that if I wasn’t going to get to be 100% myself then why bother with a relationship at all.  I could settle for getting my superficial needs met by dating and not give a toss about having to deal with the day to day bullshit that a relationship entails.  So a win/win.   But then I met this guy.  You know the dude.  I heart him so much.  I understand why people roll their eyes when I talk about all the amazing things that my Cowboy does for me.  He’s a remarkable man who treats me with such respect and love it’s hard to believe he’s real.  But he could stop all that today.  The flowers, the crazy amounts of food, the treats from the states.  He could stop all the superficial spoiling because he does one thing.  What?  Well last night I had an issue. It’s an issue of communication when he’s on the road.  It wasn’t a big deal but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.  I get nervous bringing up things that might upset him.  NOT because of him, I realize now but because I have my own baggage.  In my other relationships me bringing up an issue would result in a huge blow up.  “oh i’m a terrible person” or “I guess I just suck as a mate” or “well I did that because you did this”.  Not with Cowboy.  He listened quietly and then said “I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was doing that.  I’ll try to remember but could you point it out to me next time I do it so I know what you’re talking about?” and then he said “you know I hate hurting your feelings, right?”.  And that ladies and gentlemen is why no matter where we end up in this crazy life I will end up next to this crazy Cowboy.  Cause no one does understanding and communication like him.  And THAT is worth more to me than any flowers or presents he could possibly give me.

 

 

Plus when he’s home he lets me take silly pictures of us even when he’s super tired and has been stuck in the truck up north in 28 below zero with no phone.

 

 

 

Luckiest girl on the planet.  No lie.

Help the needy….

So I love my Cowboy.  He’s a rockstar in so many ways.  Our dryer broke the other day and before you could blink he had that son of a bitch in a million pieces, found the broken fuse thing a ma bob and had it up and running.  THAT my friends is dead sexy.  All my life I’ve gone for the intellectual conversationalist with a dry and witty sense of humor.  Turns out those guys can’t usually hold a screw driver without almost putting an eye out.  But a Cowboy truck driver who not only doesn’t care about the difference between there, their and they’re but will roll his eyes and say “darlin’ I can’t imagine why that matters even a little bit” when I go off on some spelling error as I’m reading facebook.    Yeah, that guy?  He’ll  jump on the roof and fix all that is broken in your house without breaking a sweat.   Now maybe that’s a huge generalization but it’s what i’ve found in my short and varied experience with men.  I think men in the Olden Days used to be more well rounded.   They learnt how to do shit with their hands more.

However.

There is an area that my dear sweet man fall far short.  I think we all remember the mutton chop fiasco that was his attempt at beard growing.  No?  Well when I met dear Cowboy he was sporting what can only be described as an ‘unfortunate’ beard/mustache combo.  He also owns a collection of Harley Davidson t-shirts that is envied the world over.  Envied by whom I have no idea but that can be the only answer as the dude has HUNDREDS of them.  So the other day as I was looking at my beloved Cowboy as he stood at the door I was pretty happy.  There he stood with a collared flannel workshirt, a vest and long leather jacket.  He had on dark denim and a pair of black cowboy boots.  Topping off the outfit was a black cowboy hat.  He looked frickin’ gorgeous and I told him so.  His response?  Oh darlin’ I’ve always dressed like this!  Um what?  No.  No. No.  I DID THIS!  YOU were a cheap bugger who just bought anything in bulk that you thought looked ‘cowboyish’.   You saw nothing wrong with buying $10 light denim jeans at Walmart because they fit and were TEN DOLLARS.  I classed you up you crazy Cowboy.  Do not make me go all crazy on your ass.  And by crazy I mean post proof positive on my blog so others can laugh and judge you from afar.

Here is what my sweet man looks like NOW after we had the conversation about how I don’t want to change him per se but that he needed to spend a little bit on his clothes so he didn’t look homeless.  This look makes me go weak in the kness and is likely to have me rippin’ a Cowboy’s clothes off before we can get out the door.

This is the shirt he was trying to convince me was a dress up shirt that would be completely acceptable going out with me and my friends.

This is (WAS) his FAVOURITE dress shirt.  And YES the horses go all the way around for maximum effect.  Oh and it’s short sleeved.  He had the decency to look at least a tad ashamed when he asked if this would work for a function we were attending.

All that is wrong in the world can be described in this sweatshirt. What i’m not going to go to the mall with you while you wear a grey crew neck sweatshirt with a bull on it?  I’m as shocked as you are!

So yes, he is dressing exactly as he did before we met, if by exactly you mean not at all.

Would you like that sweater in grey or grey?

Here’s my dilemma.  I’ve always wanted to be bold when it comes to fashion and home decorating.  I see someone in a gorgeous fuchsia pink dress with a bold statement necklace and I think “Oooo I LOVE that, it would look great on me!”.  But then I go shopping and slowly but surely my choices get less trendsetter and more grey.  I’m not being figurative here, I seriously come home with bags full of grey clothes.  The internal dialogue starts off with ‘oh my god, I could totally rock some orange’ and ends with ‘what a nice comfy grey cardigan’.  I do the same thing with decorating.  I totally want to do something bold and before I know it I have a house in various shades of tan.  I am stopping this for 2014.  Last year I declared 2013 the Year of Awesome.   i think we can safely say I knocked that son of a bitch out of the park.  This year it’s the Year of Style.  I don’t just mean with my clothing, i mean with the new house, the way I dress, everything.  Yeah whatever, it sounds shallow, but trust me it’s not.  It’s about accepting whole self, loving my whole self and allowing my exterior to match my interior.  I’m not a dull person.  Why the hell do I wear grey all the time?

This get even more interesting because I need new glasses.  NOT just new glasses but fucking progressives.  Ooops didn’t mean to drop the F-bomb there but when the hell did I get old enough for progressives.  Sigh.  The optometrist is hot so at least I got to enjoy the visit while he told me “yep you’re old, your eyes say so”.  Well it came out more like “there is a slight change but it’s really not that major” but I know what he meant.

So I’m trying to order glasses that make a statement.  I KNOW this will take me ages to decide but I really want to find a pair that is a little ‘out there’ and not the normal rectangular brown glasses with a small detail on the side that I ALWAYS order.  These are the cutest green frames, the only problem is they have gold on the arms and I don’t wear any yellow gold.  But I do love the shape of the glasses.  I’ve always wanted cat eye glasses but they just don’t look good on my face at all .  But I AM going to get something kick ass….

I came home and showed Miss Thing these pictures and lets just say she was less than impressed with the direction I’ve decided to go in.  Why oh why doesn’t my teenage daughter see how cool I am???

Girls are bitches….

*inspired by my girl at Webb Chronicles…go give her a read.

Last night while sitting on my couch watching tv with my youngest I was listening to Miss Thing and her buddy chatting away while baking in the kitchen.  They were giggling and laughing and making caramel.  It was a great.  It was the opposite of some of the conversations I overhear between teenage girls.  They can be very catty.  I’ve often wondered why it is that girls are so damn judgemental of each other.   There is no problem stabbing another chick in the back.  You like this boy? Let me go sit on his lap.  Junior high girls have some serious game.    And they start is YOUNG.   There is some drama in kindergarten class y’all.   It almost seems like women come out as natural competitors.  But that can not be the case, can it?

Nope.  I think it’s a completely learned behaviour and I bet 90% of you think you’re not contributing to this behaviour.  You are.  Sorry but you are, and worse yet you think that you’re not so there’s no ability to check yourself. Want to know if you are here’s a quick test. Bottle vs. Breast.  Work outside the home vs. Stay at home Mom.  Circ vs. Non Circ.  Vax vs. non Vax.  Pro choice vs. Pro Life.    Whatever side you’re on the ability to support another woman on the other side seems almost non existent.  We beat up the woman on the other side like she doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together.  How COULD she feel that way?  Oh my god, I would NEVER do that?  Clearly she doesn’t love her husband/partner/children/job/life as much as I do!  We attack and demean the woman for her choices.  The VERY choices all the women before us fought to give us. I don’t think this is what Susan B. Anthony meant at all! I think those suffrage women were like “Come on girls!  We are sisters and strong and in this together!”  Maybe this is why we will never truly…..no fundamentally and to our very core be viewed as equal to men.  Not really, because the argument will always be that well if they can’t even support each other, why they hell should we support them.  I mean sure, we talk a good game.  Equal pay for Equal work!  Women are as good at X and a man…blah blah blah.  We may give it lip service but as a people I do not believe that we truly believe it.  So  want to divide women?  Just find out how they feel about abortion and point them at the group that feels the opposite way.  They will destroy each other.

When someone parents or lives different than me I don’t try to change them.  I assume that they are doing the best that they can.  Their choices are their own and they alone have to live with those choices.  Do I cringe on the inside sometimes?  Sure.  But  I make sure that I say that I support their ABILITY to make a choice that is good for them.  Because what we are saying when we attack another woman is that we don’t think she has the ability to make a good choice that works for her and her family.  We are saying that she hasn’t thought through the process and come to the best decision for HER.  A woman doesn’t need a doctor or a pastor to know if she is able to continue a pregnancy and raise or release a child.  A woman doesn’t need outside help on a decision to know if her passion is to be at home or work outside the home.   A few months ago two of my VERY close friends and I got into quite the in depth conversation about a parenting issue.  All three of us would handle very differently.  There were opinions flying all over the place, from one extreme to the next.  It was a healthy debate about parenting from three very different types of parents.  We were respectful and loud and hilarious through the whole thing.  At no time did any of us doubt the ability or intent of the other and in the end we didn’t change who we are or what we believed. What we did do is understand why others make decisions differently and we supported each other.  In the end we all made the best decision WE FELT for our own kids.  It was healthy, it was loving and it was mature.  If only we made sure to model that behaviour on a more consistent basis for our girls.  Cause ladies, we seem to be dropping the ball on that one….

Practise it with me “I support you in whatever decision you make.  I believe that as a strong, intelligent woman you have the tools to make a decision that is best for you”  Oh wait, go say that in the mirror a few times first.  That might be the best place to start.

Why I love vintage…or justification in a post.

Today was a NON pyrex hunting day.  This is because Christmas is next week and I do NOT need any more pyrex until the New year.  Notice what i did there?  i didn’t say I didn’t need anymore pyrex, I said I didn’t need anymore THIS YEAR…it’s December 16th…Shut up, I’m an addict.    So anyway, I went to the Second hand store…. you know, just to look.  Sadly there was the sweetest little promotional Golden Tulip sitting on a shelf that did NOT know that I wasn’t buying any pyrex.  I tried to reason with the little bowl.  I walked away and left her on the shelf but clearly this was NO place for such a sweet bowl.  So anyway next thing I knew the bowl was in my passenger seat…See?

Anyway, as my delusional self was at the till I looked up and saw this…

 

I mentioned to the thrift chick at the till that it was a really nice Christmas tree and she said a long time customer/donater brought it in as a gift.  His wife had died and she loved to collect vintage brooches and jewelry.   Instead of trying to sell it all or donating it back to the thrift he made the beautiful tree with vintage Christmas lights and gave it to them as a gift.  How sweet is that?

THAT in a nutshell is what I love about collecting vintage items.  They have a life before I find them.  I see value in that life and want the items to continue serving their purpose.  I love kitchen vintage especially because I get to keep using them.  They aren’t in a drawer collecting dust of getting damaged by dishwashers (le sigh) they are well made beautiful items that have many more years in them.  The pyrex bowl above was made in 1962 or 1963!  It’s 50 years old and it’s stunning, still as beautiful as when it was new.  I bought it for $6 at a second hand store.  I think that’s awesome.  But I also think it’s sad….sad that there are so many others who don’t see the value in these old things.  But there is one old widow who took his wife’s passion for vintage jewelry and made sure that there is a reminder that these old things are not only beautiful but should be cherished and remembered.  I hope someone does the same for my beloved pyrex….

Yes sir, that’s my baby…

This is my little buddy.  He is weird and wonderful and I love nothing more than when we have the opportunity to hang out just the two of us.  Tonight we decided to have lettuce wraps because there was no one else joining us for supper.  When we sat down to eat he said that he wanted tortillas instead of lettuce wraps but still insisted on calling them lettuce wraps.  Arguing with Mr. Magoo is like trying to staple jello to the wall.  Pointless.

So the other day I made the worlds best chicken fingers.  Thankfully I was smart enough to actually “pin” the recipe and document the making of said chicken fingers because trust me, I will be making these again.

The secret to these chicken fingers is buttermilk.  Here are the chicken tenders in the marinade (which I left in the fridge for 2 days because I got distracted making other things.  Next to it is the flour pack.

The recipe gave me the BEST advice ever for flouring.  Simple said, use one hand in the wet mix and one in the dry.  Why the hell hadn’t I thought of that before.  Sheesh.

Next I got to use the amazing deep fryer that Cowboy bought not too long ago.  This would be more dangerous if I remembered that we own it more often.

Sorry the picture is so blurry I have no idea what happened, but the chicken fingers were amazing.  Both kids have already asked me to make them again.  Which I will, but not for awhile cause I can’t imagine they are low cal in any way shape or form!

You can find the recipe I followed at Once Upon a Chef it’s called Buttermilk fried chicken tenders and it’s nothing short of perfect!

Next up the Christmas chocolate making challenge against Webb Chronicles stay tuned…me and Miss Thing are going to kick their asses….well not really we’re just hoping not to end up with chocolate in our hair.

Lazy midterm break….

This is how our ‘whats for lunch’ conversation went.   Me: What do you want for lunch Elijah Elijah: chili Me: I don’t have chili, how about chicken noodle soup Elijah: Oh!  Pea soup Me: I don’t have pea soup how about chicken noodle soup Elijah: Why didn’t you say “we’re having chicken noodle soup for lunch?” Me: I wanted to give you a choice.  Elijah: I’m busy, can you leave my room?

Who says being a parent isn’t fun?  You just have to make your own entertainment….

We only have early dismissal one day a month and because of that, the kids get a lot more PD and other breaks throughout the year.  Today is one of those ‘extra’ days.  So even though the kids spent the weekend with their dad I still get almost 2 full days off with them at home. Score!  I would have loved to go vintage hunting but Mr. Magoo put the kibosh on that fairly quickly….so instead we are hanging around at home.  Miss Thing is going out with a boy later so this evening will just be me and the very cool 10 year old.  I think we’ll run into town and grab some sushi for supper.

Snow has fallen in our little corner of the world.  My dude is currently on  a trip south but luckily he got a taste of it before he left.  There is NOTHING more enjoyable than coming in from shovelling cold, wet & heavy snow to a text with a picture of sunny Texas with their green grass and him in a t-shirt bitching about how it was soooooo hot he had to turn on the air conditioning.

As soon as it starts getting cold he starts itchin’ to go south.  Sadly for him our little Molly isn’t in the truck for the forseeable future.  She is staying home with me!!

 

Note the ‘winter’ cowboy hat in the picture.  I just looked over at his cowboy hat holder and realized he didn’t take a summer cowboy hat with him.  LMAO.  My boyfriend is weird.  But since he comes back most trips with pyrex I’ll put up with him.  The other day I was asking one of my local pyrex groups what is their DREAM piece and how do they want to acquire it.  It got me thinking.  I have many pieces I would love to add to my collection.  I would love the full Friendship set.  I want to have every pink piece ever made.   I love all yellow pyrex (especially Daisy) but my dream piece is the Twin Buffet Promotional set from 1959.   I want the whole thing WITH bracket.  AND I want it for the most hilarious reason ever.  I want if as a dog dish for Molly.

You can see them on Pyrex love.  I refer to them as the twins.

I would pay what they are going for currently on Ebay but because what I want them for I’d feel silly.  So I keep looking for them in the wild, hoping to stumble across a still IN BOX set at some old ladies house.  I have this ongoing fantasy that I’m at a local knitting group and I mention how much I love pyrex.  One of the old ladies invites me back to her house were she then gifts me her entire collection.   This fantasy usually goes into high gear as I’m on my knees in a 2nd hand store trying to dig for a missing lid for some slightly damaged piece of butterfly gold that I already own because I’m jonsing for a pyrex fix.

 

Oh one last thing….I’m addicted to contests but I haven’t won something big in a LONG time.  There is one running on a sex toy site that I HAVE to enter…it’s low entry AND it’s a super high end site.   Toy with Me is a high end fantastic site with honest reviews on some very expensive but GOOD pleasure items.  I don’t know if it’s your cup of tea but I don’t care.  I’m linking the contest because dammit, I want to win something FUN for a change!  I have enough soup & tea to last a year from the last few contests I’ve won LOL.  Toy With Me Contest!

Vintage kitchen renovation….

So my beautiful home is just getting more beautiful every day.  I love everything about it.  I am so proud to show it off and Cowboy is the most amazing guy for letting me do whatever I want to decorate it.  Oh wait…that is not true.  He complains and whines and says it doesn’t make sense and then I do it anyway and he says that he knew all along that it would be perfect.  So the kitchen is all vintage and retro  I love my pyrex and I’m starting to expand to other vintage items that I like.  My idea is to collect and display vintage mixers on one wall of the kitchen!  Today I got my very first one.  Her name is Matilda and she is beautiful.

I’ve assured Gertrude (the kitchenaid) that she is in no danger of being replaced.  These old girls have done their duty for 40 or more years and are just here to look pretty.  She is the kitchen work horse.  I’m hoping to get matching bowls that glasbake made for most of these old mixers along the way as well.  We’ll see.  I have a nice set of white bowls already so I’ll use those for now.

So to treat myself after finishing the final day of clean up at my mothers condo I went to a couple of thrifts and Value Village.  Oh did I mention that in the last 10 days I sold and cleaned out my mothers condo?  Yeah.  So the only way I could stay motivated was to tell myself that when I was done I could do some thrifting.  I’ve been on a ‘no thrift’ diet for a few weeks so this was a much needed treat.  This is the pile from today!

The 403 yellow is either from an all yellow set or maybe reverse primary?  The pink is in rough shape but it’s a good size so I’ll use it with my everyday dishes.  The reds are made in canada pyrex and in perfect shape.  The blue 401 is unnumbered, I didn’t know I already had one but that’s okay I love unnumbered primaries so the more the merrier. The tupperware container with lid has 6 compartments and is already in use as the veggie & dip tray going to school with Mr. Magoo tomorrow!   The little dots bowl is adorable….I’m branching out from pyrex LOL.

I also found this adorable enamel cookware today as well.  I see them quite a bit but this pattern was just too good to pass up.  How 70’s kitsch is this??  LOVE it!

OH vintage kitchenware, I just adore you.    Glad I’ve found my ‘thing’ when it comes to collecting.  And I’m really glad that my partner doesn’t think I’m nuts.  Well not when it comes to vintage kitchenware, everything else is another matter.