Paying it Forward in April! Hello to EnviousTakeOff

Good Saturday Morning! This is one day early, but I was so excited about my April theme. I decided to post it early. Several Etsy shop owners have been super helpful to me with advice, promotion, etc. So I decided I wanted to pay it forward. In April, I will be featuring some awesome Etsy sellers! There will be guest posts, giveaways, shop features, and much more!

If you love all things handmade, crafty, artistic, and unique - make sure to follow along this month!

To kick off the month, I'd like to introduce you to Janelle from EnviousTakeOff.

Going from scenestress to seamstress, Indie rock music publicist by day and fashion designer by night, Janelle Rogers lives by the motto “green light go” (which is also coincidentally the name of her music pr company). While incorporating a vintage flair and a touch of whimsy, her clothing and accessories line, Envious Takeoff, often merges that rock and roll life style driven by the clients she represents and the favorite bands she hears. Her ultimate dream: to see one of her dresses worn by actress and songstress, Zooey Deschanel.

Taking the term “reduce, reuse, recycle” to heart, all of our fabric and notions, down to the very scraps are found a home within the creations. Once a clothing design is created materials are continually utilized down into smaller items which result in handmade purses, wallets, embellishments and hair accessories. What this means for you is a limited edition design with the added bonus of playing a small part in being kind to planet earth.


My absolute favorite item in Janelle's shop has got to be her business card holders!
This is just one of the many adorable ones in her shop.

Another favorite of mine are these fabric covered button barrettes.

And this beautiful clutch!

Make sure to check out Janelle's shop HERE
Follow EnviousTakeOff on Facebook HERE
Follow EnviousTakeOff on Twitter HERE
Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!


~Ricki~

Cherished Jewels : A Giveaway!!

Let me start by saying, I truly love the Etsy community, and all the great people I have gotten to meet through Etsy. Jessica is one of them!
Meet Jessica from CherishedJewels!

My name is Jessica and I am 19 years old. I LOVE crafting in anyway that I can (I get it from my grandmothers!). I taught myself how to knit when I was a freshman in high school and I have enjoyed getting better and better at it over the years. I mostly knit baby and child things because they are always so cute and fun to make. After I make something new, I go and make it a bunch more times just in different colors and styles. :) I just opened my etsy shop, Cherished Jewels, in January 2012 and I am so excited to watch is grow!

Jessica has so kindly offered one of her items for our giveaway. The winner will get to choose one of the two cute hair clips below.

Pic 1: Pink and brown yarn flower hair clip This clip is made up of a light pink yarn and a brown yarn. It's diameter is about 3 inches and has two layers. It is glued onto a brown clip that does not have teeth which is perfect for a baby's sensitive head yet still strong enough for an older girls' hair.
Pic 2: Light pink tulle flower hair clip This clip is made up of light pink tulle and has one gem in the middle. It has about a 3 in width to it and is glued onto a pink alligator clip that does not have teeth which is perfect for a baby's sensitive head yet still strong enough for an older girls' hair.

You can view Jessica's shop on Etsy and some of her other adorable items HERE
Enter below through Rafflecopter. Entries taken through Sunday, April 1st. No purchase necessary.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rogue Baby's Closet

When I started Rogue Baby Boutique about a year ago, the dream was to open a brick & mortar store that carried new & used baby clothing, gear, and my handmade items. Being the cautious person I am, I decided to build my e-commerce up prior to trying to cover $800+ per month shop rent, etc. But I didn't come to my senses before accumulating mass amounts of children's clothing, shoes, socks, etc. (A lot of great name brand new with tag items.) I opened an account to sell BabyLegs, Trumpette, Hatley, etc. Right now I'm working on liquidating some of the clothing to free up more room in my "office" and to keep fresh inventory.

Right now, I have listed a less than half of my clothing inventory on our facebook page HERE . Hoping to add fresh items weekly.
Clothing is separated by:
Boys Clothing
Girls Clothing
Girls Shoes & Accessories and
Boys Shoes & Accessories

Want to purchase something? Or want to see if I have something in a specific size (i.e. short sleeve onesies in size 6 months.) Send me a message on Facebook with the items you would like to purchase and your email address. I can send a Paypal invoice. Shipping is actual cost (I try to stuff as much in flat rate priority boxes as possible) or free shipping on purchases $25 and up. Mention this blog post and receive 10% off your first order.

All items are in either New with tag condition or excellent used condition. All items are from smoke/pet free homes.

I Love My Online Friends Blog Hop

It's a pretty lazy Sunday afternoon in my house. Making the last minute preparations for my big sister coming to visit tomorrow. I've lived in Oregon for nearly 10 years, and this will be the first time she's coming down here to our house, and I'm hoping myself, and Southern Oregon make a good enough impression she may decide to relocate her family (including my adorable niece & nephew)down here! I would L-O-V-E to have more family nearby.

If you're lazily browsing around the internet, as am I. Check out this cute blog hop hosted by: The Things We Find Inside & Holly's House.

Recipe: Bananas Gone Coconuts Muffins & My Saturday Afternoon

In my house, we tend to always have bananas in the house. We all like them when they are still a tinge of green, so once they start to get those brown spots, they are destined for banana bread or to be frozen for protien shakes. But not anymore! Those bananas have found a new purpose.
Introducing... Bananas Gone Coconuts Muffins!

These sweet babies are made from just about as "scratch" as you can get. And are pretty easy!
Here's what you will need:
3 cups flour
3 ripe bananas
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 sticks salted butter (melted or room temp)
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk (evaporated or coconut milk would be a good substitute)
1 cup shredded coconut
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas. beat in sugars, eggs, and butter. Then blend in flour, baking soda, vanilla extract, and milk. Lastly mix in the coconut.
Makes 24 standard cupcake size muffins. Boo Boo calls them cupcakes, and my hubby agrees, a good homemade cream cheese frosting would turn these quickly from "muffins" to cupcakes!


My husband decided to try his hand at a new recipe today as well. For a few days now, he's been jonesing for some martinis. So we picked up the fixings, and wah-lah. Classic Gin Vermouth Martinis.

Here's what you will need:
5 parts Gin
1 part Dry Vermouth
Green Olives (optional)
Shaken over ice, or stirred.

And when I am not eating cupcakes or drinking martinis on a Saturday afternoon, I am busy turning these....

Into these...

Happy Saturday! And look out for a great giveaway coming up next week!

Couponing Crazy-ness!

Are you a couponer? Do you know a couponer? Have you watched those crazy couponing shows where the person has a stock pile of 50 shampoos they got for pennies on the dollar? At what point is couponing too much? One of my favorites sites to follow for couponing is Hip2Save (www.hip2save.com). Personally though, I had to stop reading the daily newsletter and following the site, because I found although I was getting some amazing deals, I was actually spending more, buying more items I did not need. It is great to buy items you need with coupons to SAVE money, but are you really benefiting yourself if you stockpile cheap items you didn't really "need" ?

I definitely believe in going through the Sunday coupons for items that you already plan on buying. That makes sense. Especially for groceries. Aside from grocery purchases, I make a good portion of our purchases online.

One thing I strongly believe in when shopping online is searching sites such as www.retailmenot.com for coupon codes. I cannot count how many times I found a percent off or free shipping coupon code to save me a few bucks on an online purchase I was already going to make.

Another online money saver I have found is: Ebates.com
sign up here: http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=R7PvDXRMHAeOhcmMGE9Sgg%3D%3D

You can earn cash back on purchases at qualifying online merchants. Some sites I earn the most back at are: Diapers.com (where I order all of Boo Boo's diapers and have them delivered to my door step next day) and The Children's Place (where I order a good majority of her clothes!)

Do you have any sweet ways you've found of saving on every day purchases without going to couponing extremes??

Welcome Spring & Hello Cotton

Welcome to the first day of Spring 2012! I absolutely LOVE spring! All the new flowers, the fresh air, and eventually, the S-U-N-S-H-I-N-E! I plan on doing some much needed spring cleaning this coming weekend! Check out these cute new spring items I added to the shop last weekend. A beautiful hot pink / fushia hair flower with rhinestone center. And an adorable shabby chic wipes case with chiffon rosette and eyelet trim.

And what else am I up to? I discovered this great site: www.hellocotton.com. It allows you to find and follow all sorts of blogs / bloggers. You can search by theme. Let me tell you, I think this may just replace pinterest as my current time waster! In the 15 short minutes or so I played around on it this morning when I signed up, I saw some amazing blogs with great recipes, craft ideas, etc. I have a feeling I will be talking about it A LOT more in the very near future.

Find RogueBaby on Hellocotton

Also, we are accepting sponsors! Buy up your ad space now.

Migraines & Missing in Action

I am so disappointed! Wednesday was to be my first "What's Cookin' Wednesday" post. Tuesday a.m. I started getting a horrible migraine. My migraines do not just consist of the typical insanely painful headache and sensitivity to light. I also have visual "aura" which usually means I pretty much go blind during an episode. It comes and goes in waves during the migraine episode. It is beyond frustrating. It is usually the precursor warning me that a migraine is imminent. Of course, my computer screen and fluorscent lighting in my office at work do not help the situation.

So about 15 minutes into the aura Tuesday, my left hand and arm go numb, and eventually my face, tongue, nose, etc. Then the intense pain kicks in. I took it easy the rest of Tuesday and woke up Wednesday feeling ok. Had a fairly bad headache all day, crazy day at work, picked up Boo Boo late, went grocery shopping, and pulled into the driveway pretty much right when the second major episode hit. It carried on into Thursday, so I finally went to the doctor Thursday afternoon. The doctor prescribed some Imatrex, but it took 6 more hours for the pharmacy to have it ready, so finally late last night I was feeling some relief.

Today, I am a bit better. Still numb in my left hand and left side of my face. Some aura here and there. And a dull headache. I am exhausted!  I really feel like I've been whining, and that wasn't really my intent. I wanted to explain my MIA status this week, and get back on my blogging track. I did want to ask my readers though...

Do you have experience with migraines? If so, what types of triggers have you found for yours? What treatment do you use?

After ten years, multiple doctors, neurologists, CT scans, MRI's, and various medication, I am still no closer to my answers than when I began!

Ohhhh, and I will be participating in Spring Fling on April 2nd. Posts to follow! =)

Tuesday 10 Link Up

Welcome to Tuesday 10! This week's theme is Top favorite 10 Photos.

 Picture 1: Boo Boo's 9 week old feet in Papa's hands. So precious!

 Boo Boo's gotten hold of the camera and shares her Mama's love for shoes!

18 months, peeking through the fence at our  new house.

One year old photo shoot.

36 weeks pregnant. I believe this is the last photo of me taken pregnant.

7 week old "Boo Boo" the sheep.

First professional family photo shoot. Her face is priceless!

Enjoying a sunset on the Oregon Coast.

One of my favorite places to visit on the coast!

And... Tide pooling at the coast.

Thank you to Mom2MemphisAndRuby for this weeks Tuesday 10!

Feeling Old & Irrational Fears...

Today, my baby sister turned 15! I was 13 and in the 7th grade when she was born. She was soooo much fun! In so many ways, she is the reason I didn't get into a lot more trouble as a teenager (well more than I was already getting in.) I'm not quite sure, if it wasn't for her, that I wouldn't have really fallen off the deep end. Ran away, went to live with friends, etc. She always gave me a reason to come home, and was always so happy to see me.  I'm not sure she will ever know how much it meant to me.. the way she looked up to me, the way she was my little shopping buddy. The way I still randomly call my own daughter "Haillie" instead of Ella.. out of habit. Hard to believe you're 15 already Hail-bob! I love you!

Baby Haillie - 1997 with Cousin Clay

2002 - Big Sister comes to visit! (Littlest sibling Lukers also pictured.)

2010- My Baby Sis, holding my Baby Ella <3

Today, I was walking outside my front door and being as it's spring, and flowers are blooming, the bees were a buzzing. My first inclincation was to flinch and run, as I always irrationally have. But this year is different. Boo Boo is observant. She is impressionable. I do not want to pass on irrational and unfounded fears to her. No offense Mother, but snakes and fish probably wouldn't mortify me the way they do, if you hadn't passed those fears on to me. =)

So today, I resolved myself to keep my irrational fears as hidden as I can, until Boo Boo can develop her own opinions to the world around her... well, that is, until she wants a pet snake or something....

Don't Forget Daylight Savings Time...

Don't forget, we get one less hour of sleep tonight!

Big Girl Beds & Neon Colors

Today was a beautiful day. It was low 70's and sunny! For early March, it doesn't get much better here in Southern Oregon. When Boo Boo and I got home from work/school, I decided to finally do it.... Convert her crib to a toddler bed. She's 22 1/2 months and I think it's time. She was so excited to hop in and out of the bed on her own. She even made Papa try it out...

And now for "neon colors." I am an 80's child, and I fondly remember the neon color craze of my youth. Today, while buying some supplies for my Etsy shop.. I stumbled upon some very bright and fun supplies for some upcoming items I will be posting this weekend. Stay tuned. They are gonna be rad!!

Personal Confessions & What I think...

I confess... I am a woman, and I enjoy a good microbrew. (Which could be part of what led to the need for Operation: Fit Mama...)

I confess... I haven't had my hair cut or trimmed in nearly a year. Long over due for sure.

I confess... I am a pack rat, but am learning to let things go, so I don't turn into one of those crazies you see on "Hoarders."

And now on to "What I Think."

Don't shoot the messenger. It's just good manners folks. 

To illustrate... Imagine this... All week you've been looking forward to a steak dinner at your favorite restaurant. Friday night rolls around and you go to your favorite steak house, go to place your order, and the server tells you they are out of steak. Do you freak on that server, asking why they didn't order more from wherever the steak comes from to anticipate for your steak needs? or better yet, accuse them of being incompetant  at their job due to this horrible error? or even better yet, accuse them of having steak, but just not wanting to serve it to you? Does it really make you feel better to belittle the server and ruin their day? Really? Where does it get you? Didn't your Mama teach you better?

Now, I don't work in a restaurant, but the principle applies in many settings. In the big scheme of things, from the person serving you your food to the person taking your mortgage application.... We really don't have a huge amount of control over the way things are done. We don't set the rules. We don't take the inventory and drive the truck, making sure the food shipments are in on time.  Get over yourself and your right to entitlement. If the steak ain't there for you, I assure you, it's not there for anyone else either.

Purple Tootsies and "Currently"....

My sweet adorable daughter is 22 months old. She caught me off guard this morning, when she noticed I had painted my toe nails yesterday. They are a fun teal'ish color. She sat down pulled her socks off and said "Pull-pull tootsies!" She wanted me to paint her little toes purple! How cute is that!?!? I just had to share.

Currently Counting Down To: My big sister visiting at the end of the month!

Currently Super Proud: of my husbands mad carpentry skills and enthusiasm for our home remodel.
Currently Broadening: my blogging abilities.

Currently Concluding: that Monday's are a creation of the devil.

Currently Reading: (Nothing! Which is odd for me) Although I am tempted to start The Hunger Games.
Currently Thinking: I can't believe I brought work home with me tonight. Am I crazy?
Currently My Kids' Favorite Thing: Puppies, Elmo, and the color purple.
Currently Saving All My Pennies For: Home remodel.
Currently Wanting To Travel To: Anywhere warm & tropical.
Currently Wanting In My Cupboard: Watermelon. I'm antsy for summer fruits.
Currently Wanting To Learn: How to cram more hours into the day.
Currently Drooling Over: The leather sectional I saw in the Costco ad.
Currently Confessing: I am failing at Operation Fit Mama thusfar when it comes to working out.
Currently Listening To: Silence. Going to start a movie soon. "Real Steel." Don't know anything about it. Husband picked it up at Redbox today.
Currently Obsessed With: Making my Etsy shop a success.
Currently 1st Place Comedic Genius: Two Broke Girls
Currently Addicted To: Pinterest
Currently Fantasizing About: Summer and kayaking!
Currently Sad Because: I would love to be a stay at home Mama.
Currently My Motto: "No fear. No distraction. Let that which does not matter, truly slide."
Currently Dreaming Of: Vacation.
Currently Needing To Update: The light fixtures in the house. Brass gawdy-ness oh my!
Currently Want To See In My Closet: Lots of new shoes!
Currently Enjoying: my new camera.
Currently Have A Girl Crush On: Emma Stone
Currently Shopping: nowhere! but when I do it's always for BooBoo (my daughter Ella)
Currently Discovered: Smashbox Cosmetics! <3
Currently Redecorating: The entire house!!!

Garage Sale Fever!

It's official. I have garage sale fever! After nearly 10 years of renting, we bought our first house last September. When renting, it's easy to "not decorate" because it's not really YOUR home. You never know if the living room you end up with next will fit that amazing hutch or oversized couch. But now, it's our house. And boy do I have garage sale fever.

Craigslist isn't a sufficient fix. For one, Craigslist sellers usually ask higher prices and aren't as anxious to sell as someone wanting to get something out of their garage or off the driveway. Nothing beats the exhilaration of finding an amazing deal at a garage sale. That just right piece of furniture, even if you have to refinish or paint it. You know it's going to be just right in your home! 

We are about to embark on some pretty big renovations in our home soon. New interior paint, wainscotting, all new flooring, interior doors, trim, etc. I'm talking full on customization! I am so blessed to have a very talented carpenter for a hubby!

The funniest part, I'm not even really sure what I'm looking for as far as garage sale finds. Our house could certainly use some more wall decor and art work. I guess that is what is so fun about it, not knowing what you are going to find. SPRING... get here soon! I'm ready to go "sale'ing"!

Operation Fit Mama

So this post is personal, non-business related. I feel accountability is key in reaching goals, and what greater accountability than sharing my goal with the "world!" Operation Fit Mama commenced today, March 1st.

I am a strong believer in good old fashioned working out and eating smart. I've never been thin. I've never been skinny. I've always had body image issues. At 25, I reached the heaviest of my life, at about 175! (Yikes, that's tough to even type!) But 3 years ago, I shed 40 pounds in 3 short months! I worked out all the time. I woke up at 4:45am to be at the gym when it opened at 5am. I'd workout for a good hour to hour and a half, go home get ready for work, and then return to the gym after work for another hour or so of cardio on most days. I was addicted, and it felt good!

About 6 months after getting fit and feeling the best I had in my adult life, I got pregnant with our daughter. And thank goodness I started pregnancy feeling good and being fit. I believe that my pregnancy and delivery went as smooth as it did, due to being in good health. I only gained 18 pounds during pregnancy. Just days after our daughter was born, I weighed 132 pounds. The least I'd weighed in my entire adult life. While I was breastfeeding, the weight stayed off. It has been nearly a year now since I stopped breastfeeding, and slowly, the pounds of crept on. Today, I weighed in at 164 pounds. Yup, just admitted that to the world. That's a tough thing to do.

I didn't work out today. That's ok. There aren't always enough hours in the day to be homemaker, wife, mama, and full time worker outside the home. Tonight, the dishes needed done, lunches needed prepped for tomorrow, laundry needed folding. I do suppose instead of sipping my green tea, cuddled on the couch writing this, while my hubby watches a movie... I could be on the treadmill. I started Day 1 of Operation Fit Mama by getting my diet back into check. For me, that means eating lean, healthy protiens and lots of fruits and veggies. And the hardest thing for me to do: Drink water!!!

For dinner tonight, I would have loved to have a big bowl of pasta. Carbs are definitely my weakness! Instead, I had grilled chicken breast, zucchini, asparagus, and green tea. Day 1 is in the books, and I feel good. My goal for March is to lose 14 pounds. But honestly, the number isn't important. It's getting fit, and being able to RUN again and feel strong. To feel confident and happy in my skin.