the one where I post about all the other stuff we did on our trip

So we started off Friday morning for Vegas-stayed the night with Rory's sister who lives there. The girls did really good in the car that day. Rory is a champ and drove the whole time. Go honey, go honey....it's yo birthday! okey....

Read this in about 5 hours...it was really good, can't wait for the second one to come out this week!

The second day we hit a bad snowstorm in Utah and ended up stuck in traffic, not moving, for about 2 hours. Add a flat tire a little while later and we were all super cranky! We finally got to Orem (3 hours later than planned!) and had a nice dinner with my sister, brother, and their spouses and kiddo.

We then spent the rest of the week stuffing out faces with delicious food....Cafe Rio, Chick Fil-A, Tucanos, sushi.....

I made some pretty darn amazing cupcakes for my sister's birthday! (the recipe) WOW these were good, and quite the show stoppers.

I was able to meet up with the awesome Shauna from Shwin and Shwin, at Hobby Lobby, and we chatted for a long time about sewing, blogging, kids, and random stuff. I had so much fun, Shauna!

 

After the SNAP conference was over, we got ready to drive back to Vegas for the night...and then onto.....DISNEYLAND!

 

We kept it a secret from the girls...well, Sadie, and she had no clue up until we walked in and told her. lol! We kept asking...do you know where we are?...and she'd shake her head.

 

She was very very excited and insisted we go on the teacups and dumbo-PRONTO. (this was a daily occurence)

 Charlotte was happy to go along with anything-except holding our hands and walking next to us. Grr. We forgot our stroller, also, so we had to rent one. They're not too bad, but sheesh...I missed my double wide jogger!

She was on cloud 9!

 As you can see, sitting on the Mickey ears was one of her favorite things to do. ;)

Rory said she was driving this all by herself-pressing on the gas included! I'm impressed.

Day two: Sadie had a mini meltdown and so C and I went on the Casey Jr. train. She loves trains but I'm not sure she figured out she was on one. lol. Every time the monorail went by she yelled at it though. "BYE BYE TRAIN!"

These girls are such good little friends. Until Sadie gets too affectionate, if you know what I mean, and it ends up in a stranglehold.

We had great weather! the crowds weren't too bad either, though they were the best Wednesday morning of course...when we were leaving. :(

Sadie was a trooper and walked a lot, but when she got tired she hopped on the front of the stroller and it worked quite well with two!

I was really excited to wear my Minnie Mouse dress I'd thrifted awhile ago...the darn wind kept blowing it around though...wish I'd brought a slip.

I think we went on this carousel 3 times in a row. One of the sweet employees kept making a big deal out of Sadie, calling her princess, and such...and Sadie was eating it up!

We also went on the Ferris Wheel, which we weren't sure the kids would like, but it turns out Sadie is a little crazy...and loves heights. (agh, she did not get that from me!) She LOVED seeing the park! or as she put it, "THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, MOM!"

And thank goodness for these awesome Mickey stickers they gave us while we waited in line. The girls did really well waiting, but these definitely helped.

I had to get a pic of my favorite window on Main Street!

Bye bye Disneyland! See you in September!





Before we got on the road, we hit up Cafe Rio once more and I got my favorite, the steak salad. You better believe I ate it all. yum yum. I get to scarf it down it again this week when we head back down to Long Beach for Time Out For Women! Anyone going?

Fabric Warehouse Direct discount code!

 Hey guys, let me introduce you to Fabric Warehouse Direct! They have a HUGE selection of quality Designer closeout fabric and wallpaper at big savings to you, the customer. Many of their fabrics range from $100-$200 at retail but they themselves sell for $10-$30 a yard on average. Nice discount if you love those designer brands! They have some really unique prints, too!

Wallpaper:

 

This would be adorable lining the back of a bookshelf!

Ditto for this one, maybe in a dining room hutch?

And I would LOVE this in a bathroom, hung above some bead board.

and some of their Fabric:
 

This would look so classy on an armless chair..

and actually I could definitely use this for Charlotte's cowgirl party in June!

I LOVE this adorable airport fabric-this would look awesome in an aviation themed bedroom....maybe around a lampshade or on a quilt or pillowcase. So many ideas!

Their tagline is "Designer Fabrics Below Wholesale Prices" and I can tell it's true. We're talking deep discounts, folks. :)

They've set up a discount code for you lovely readers! 

Use the code Crafty25OFF at checkout for 25% off  your order! (minimum $25 purchase)

It is valid from 4/30 to May 6!

Tidy Crafts/Ribbon Retreat review and giveaway!

***This giveaway is now closed!***



Hey there! I've got a great review/giveaway for you today! Two of my sponsors merged together to create a fabulous, customized giveaway just for one of you lucky readers. :D

Tidy Crafts and The Ribbon Retreat!

(I met Shirley from Ribbon Retreat in person last week at SNAP-she is so, so nice! It was fun to put a face to someone I'd spoken with so much via email! We had fun browsing the Queen Bee market together!)

Tidy Crafts is located near the Snake River in beautiful Shelley, Idaho. They are known for their fabulous craft storage supplies at great prices!

For reals, guys...they have got it down pat. They sent me this awesome spinning organizer-which fits most of my jewelry making stuff. Can I tell you how nice it is to get it all out of those tiny plastic bags? It's nice. The little containers are super easy to pop out also, and I love that it spins.

Makes it uber easy to get to the bead you need...with speed.  (oh yes I did.)

They also sent over one of their wooden spool racks-now I have two-sah-weet! Time to fill 'er up. A lot of their products come with free add-on storage pieces which is fab. Freebies rock!

Tidy Crafts also sell a ton of LED lamps for your lighting needs! I can tell these would be really useful for those dark nights when you just can't stop crafting!  

So, onto the goodies!

Tidy Crafts and The Ribbon Retreat have partnered up to bring you some must-have craft supplies in a fab spinning craft organizer giveaway!





INCLUDED: ($30 value)

Black 24 cup Stow-n-Go Spinning Organizer
•3/4" White Felt Circles
•Flip Flop w/ Sunflower Resins
•Cupcake Resin
•Minuet Flowers in Orange, White, Shocking Pink & Red
•Single Prong Clips
•Antique Silver Bottle Caps
•1" Paci Clips
•20mm Pink Rhinestones
•14mm Red Pearlies
•Various 3/8" Ribbons -- perfect for scrapbooking, hair bows, etc.

To enter: (two chances!)

1. Subscribe to the Ribbon Retreat Blog.

2. Subscribe to Tidycrafts newsletter on their website.

 Then come back and leave a comment on this post letting me know you did so! (one for each entry)

Please leave an email address with at least one of your comments!

I'll choose a winner Sunday evening, the 29th.

 Good luck!

The winner is....Ashley Reece!

SNAP! rocked

Kristen, me, Kirstin, Heidi, and Kate

 Well, the SNAP conference came and went, and it was a blast! There were so many lovely bloggers there to chat with-and I learned a lot in the classes I went to. There were a couple I missed, and am hoping they post recaps of the classes online somewhere. 

I wish I'd taken more pictures! I lugged my Rebel around but barely took it out. So most of them are from my iphone/instagram. 

Kate and I were conference buddies-we're both kind of quiet and shy so we knew we'd hit it off right away! And we soo did-there were many times when we turned to each other and were like "ha! we're exactly the same!" I am so glad she was there and that we could get to know each other better. We even ditched a class to see the new Zac Efron movie and had slurpees...such rebels, I know. It was so nice to be able to talk blog stuff with her...it's not something I can do with most people...mainly Rory when I get desperate!

 pic from Kristen Duke Photography

Don't you love how we all color-coordinated so well? lol! This group of ladies is a-ma-zing. We had such a blast together! Kate and I didn't stay at the hotel but we heard the rest of them had a few late nights....which sounded super fun but I'm not the kind of person who can do less than like 8 hours of sleep a night. Kristen was sweet enough to take head shots for whoever wanted them and I can't wait to see mine! She is so talented! When I grow up I want to take pictures like her. Heidi is a ball of energy and it was so fun to be around her! Kirstin is SO sweet! I walked into the first class of the conference and saw her-I didn't know she was coming so it was an awesome surprise! It was so fun to talk party planning/blog stuff with her and she is so thoughtful and even grabbed some treats for Charlotte's cowgirl party I'm planning! You'll have to wait to see what they were...

For lunch each day we got a cute boxed up lunch with a sandwich, apple, chips, massive chocolate chip cookie, and lollipop or caramel, plus a drink. YUM.

First class of the conference-SEO...long but informative. I also sat next to Brooke from The Crafting Chicks. She is SO nice! I also met my pal Gwen from Gwenny Penny but we didn't get a picture together!

Officially at SNAP!

The Snapette team-they were all amazing and I was a little star struck with some of them...too shy to introduce myself even. lame, I know!

Forgot my lanyard the second day!

They gave us these hole punches and rings for business cards. Smart! 

The Queen Bee handmade market was awesome! 

The meals were scrumptious! We never remembered to take a pic until we had already scarfed it down. My favorite part-a mozzarella/tomato/onion salad. YUM.

They had a dance the last night which looked like fun, but I wasn't feeling the greatest that night so I skipped out. I did tap my foot for a few minutes, does that count? lol

There was so much work and love put into this conference and I think we all had an amazing time!

KCWC-little tie top

So I made this #fast and #easy (Can I tell you a secret? I may or may not know what the whole hashtag thing is all about....heavy on the may not) little top for Sadie from a thrifted tee. I love using those-it's already hemmed so it makes it so fast to refashion into a new top. I added a little tie at the collar-it turned out pretty cute I think! The only bummer is this little gal only wants to wear dresses and skirts.

 All. the. live. long. day.

Which is mostly fine, I just love making tops since they're so quick. Best case scenario: Charlotte will still get to wear them, right? Unless she starts having an opinion on what she wears....yikesabee.

Hey, just in case you missed the Olay review-the giveaway is still open!