Happy birthday to me!

I turn 27 today. Pretty weird to think, because I often forget how old I am to begin with. Tonight we'll be celebrating by going to a local Japanese restaurant called Hana it's a really innovative all you can eat restaurant where you pick from the menu and they bring you what you want. But, if you don't eat what you order, you get charged for wasted. Pictures will follow!

Again, I forgot to post on Monday, but here's my Mani Monday photo!

Here are the cupcakes I made; orange cupcakes with vegan almond icing. 366 calories of amazingness.

Think Pink

Tomorrow is the first day of October, and I've persuaded my boss to do some charity work to raise money for breast cancer research. As of right now the only thing set in stone is that we will be doing a "pink package" - mani, pedi, 1/2 hour massage, and cut for a discounted price of $125; $25 of that going right to charity. We will also be selling "I heart boobies" bracelets, and having a deal on pink loop and lock extensions.

I'm hoping we will also have time to plan an event, which would include things like "how to" classes (blowdry/style, makeup, etc), food and drinks, a silent auction, deals on services and retail, and have a nurse from the health unit come in and do a self check class, as so very few doctors actually do this, and  especially not on the younger crowd. I kind of waited till last minute to suggest this though, so we will have to wait and see. I'm just excited that my boss wants to make it an annual event!

The main thing I wanted to post though, is I intend to colour my hair pink for the entire month! It's not uncommon to see someone "like me" with pink hair, but even if it gets one person to comment and I can inform them of the hard work I'm putting together to help raise awareness, then I've succeeded.

Mani Monday! Ok, Wednesday...

Again, forgot to post on Monday! I did some shellac on myself at work yesterday. I didn't do that great of a job, but I'm learning!

As well, I've began my weight loss journey; I'm hoping to be down 100lbs in the next 12 months, and so far I've lost 11lbs! Pretty excited!

We've been using the My Fitness Pal app on our phones to track our calories. Here's a photo of this weeks breakfast.

Mani Monday!

I've decided in an attempt to post more frequently, that I'd have a few 'theme' days! So here's the first; Mani Monday! I know it's no longer Monday, but I just figured out how to write on my phone. 

So here is my nails I did on Monday, I had seen a Chanel mani that was super cute, so I used it as reference. I normally don't do 3D art on my own nails because I'm so rough on my hands, so I tried to keep it simple. For polish I used; Alpine Snow - OPI, Black Onyx - OPI, two Wet N Wild glitters (Kaleidoscope and I can't recall the other's name), a Franken I made, as well as Luxe and Lush - China Glaze on the tip of the ring finger, and Love Your Life - Nicole on the middle finger.

Work, spend, sleep, repeat.

Work is picking up for me, I've had a few really good weeks where I've done a head of extensions every day, and had some really slow weeks where I've only made like $100. I sometimes wish I wasn't commission based, but when I see those huge pay cheques I'm not one to complain.

At the salon we decided to have a giveaway, for a "hair to toes" makeover with a value of $700 worth of product and services. We've been getting a ton of fans on our Facebook group, and a bunch of entries. We're going to see how this one goes, and if it works out well, we plan to eventually work up to one a month. Several new customers coming in for our half of waxing wednesday special, and general inquiries about other services we offer. I'm going to learn to wax and do nails as well I think, because if I have a slow day, though I won't make much on some services ($2.50 for an eyebrow wax for example) at least I can take some walk-ins and maybe use my magical upselling skills and get them in for extensions.

In July is The Sarnia Baby Show, which I have rented a booth for - it was a complete steal at $60 for the vendor fee, I've found a tent at Walmart for $25, and the local rental place I can get 4 tables and 2 chairs for $50. I mostly plan to advertise, as I don't know if I'll have enough time to make a ton to sell, but I intend to have a bunch of displays and business cards for people to view first hand what it is I do. So I'm finally going to get around to finishing my belly cast, and the one my friend Lindsay let me make for display purposes, I intend to have images of all the previous commissioned baby name canvases I've done, I've been working on patterns for felt food, and I'm currently waiting for my fake nails to come in the mail so I can start painting up sets for sale. I also intend to have brochures for the salon, a giveaway box (for whatever my boss wants to donate), and maybe if she's alright with it, I'll have coupons for $5 off extensions or something to hand out. I'm hoping this helps keep me busy, because the more money I make, the more that can go into our savings account, and the sooner we can buy a car.

Originally we were saving up to send Eman to Hamilton for a week for a barbering course, and then he would take a 2 month apprenticeship at a local ABA shop, but finding and funding living arrangements doesn't seem like it will work in our favour. BUT I got chatting with my boss, who's husband has a barber shop over in Port Huron (state side), and she said it's too bad we don't have a car because he could go learn from her husband. So now the plan is to get a car and his passport, and then he can travel everyday to go learn, and then hopefully once given the go ahead, we could have the upstairs room at the shop turned into a barber shop. Not entirely sure ho we would work childcare for Pinxit into the mix at the moment. I also was thinking today that there is a room that they intend to use for foot cleanses, but no one has even asked about them, so IF my art picks up to the point it's interfering with my job, I might suggest moving the foot cleanses into the pedicure room, and ask to rent out that room. That way I can be at work if a walk in comes in, but if not, I can work on my art.

It was such an annoyance today; I have a regular who is a total sweetheart and would give you the shirt off her back, but, she's also known for forgetting her appointments even though we give her an appointment card, and call all our customers the night before to remind them. I had my entire day booked out for her to do highlights and redo her extensions, and she never answered any of the calls… Today would have been perfect for me to be able to just pop upstairs, and spend the 6 hours I spend sitting around playing around with my phone working on something else instead. I would have gone home had I not had a client at 3:15 (and actually did consider going home and coming back, but the manager told me to wait around and eventually it didn't feel worth it to walk all the way home and back again). I also was kicking myself because I took my book out of my purse thinking I would be busy all day, so not to bother.

In other news, we recently scored some awesome stuff for cheap off a local "mommy market" Facebook page - for Mother's Day we got a Wii for $100 I think with 4 or 5 games, and then yesterday the Wii Fit board and game - brand new still sealed for $70 I think, an iPod today for $40, Eman's gotten himself some cd's, we had gotten a male Boston Terrier but he wasn't a good fit with Vincent and we contacted the owner trying to give him back the next morning and she already spent our money… So we found a friend in London to take him - which we also found a dog crate for $30 on there too so we included that with him. He seems to be a perfect fit for them, so we're really excited for him, he's such a nice dog. 

What else… At the end of the month I'm finally getting my "Momma" tattoo. Been waiting at least a year to get it, and it keeps getting pushed back, which is a huge bummer. First time was because my friend didn't give me enough of a heads up that she couldn't take me to get it done (though she was the one who brought me to my consult so I assumed she would be bringing me back), and couldn't find anyone mid-week to take me, and by the time we called to change the appointment, and what time my FIL had available, all her Saturdays were booked up, so it was moved to the 23rd. But now I think we have to move it back another week because the artist is getting a new liner machine. I really hate getting tattooed in the summer, so I hope I can get it all done in one sitting (front of my ribs, not sure if I can sit for 3 hours), because I don't want to have to wait till October to finish it…

On Saturday I'm going to see Hawksley Workman at Artwalk (part of my Mother's Day gift as well) - pretty freaking excited, except my husband bought two tickets and doesn't plan to go with me now, so I have to find someone to go… Not easy when you have little amount of friends, and none that like the same music as you. I was going to ask my MIL to go with, but there's been a recent family crisis and I don't think she'll be up for it. Maybe I'l just walk around and ask people in the crowd if they'd like a free ticket…

My sleep schedule is pretty messed up right now, which is quite ironic I find, as last weekend I wrote out a daily schedule to fit in working out, homeschooling, outdoor play, etc into our days. I've slept in almost every day, and then today I came home and napped for 3 hours… Hence why it's now a new day and I'm writing this instead of sleeping. I blame it on Eman turning our bedroom into a freezer box blasting the AC - I have the hardest time (like most) getting going in the winter mornings because who wants to get out of a nice warm bed? I literally have slept with 2 blankets a few nights because it's that cold… I'm just waiting for the day when he burns out the motor and it's the middle of August and we are melting.

Simple Mom "Project Simplify" week 2 challenge - Kitchen

Week two, and I found there wasn't a whole lot for me to do. Being that we just moved, we haven't really had much time to mess up the place - not that that's a bad thing...

Our kitchen is very lacking in storage and size, so we have things kind of everywhere. We had to put our red IKEA locker thing (I think it originally was a tv stand) in the dining room for extra storage and put our microwave, coffee maker, and toaster on top of it. I store almost all my baking things inside. Our counter is only big enough for a dish rack on one side, and a small cook space on the other, so we've got things in some pretty creative spots. We also took one of our IKEA shelves and use it as a pantry.

IKEA locker

IKEA shelving as pantry

My only area that needed a bit of attention was our one food cupboard. I recently bought some club size staples and hadn't gotten around to putting them in their canisters, so I took this week to do that. I didn't realize how many containers we were up to, and when I started switching over to them I just used some painters tape to label. Wasn't pretty, but it did the job. Well now that it's en vogue to do this, I went on Etsy and found this cute shop, and purchased some reusable chalkboard labels and a chalk marker (as well as a bunch of things for Pinxit's upcoming birthday). Unfortunately they're not here yet, but at least you can see how I tidied up the cupboard.

before

after

I also cleaned up our spices. I found this idea a while ago (I think possibly on Simple Mom), where you put spice jars on a tray or in a container. In my case, I went with cake pans. I also ordered labels for these.

spices

after

I'm most excited for the next two weeks - closets, counter tops, and drawers because we really need to do something about our bedroom closets, and the last is our pick. I've decided to do my art space. It never gets fully unpacked and organized, which makes it hard for crafting.

Simple Mom "Project Simplify" week 1 challenge - Kid's Stuff

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been hard at work trying to do some decluttering and purging in Pinxit's room. Pre and post move we always go through everything and try to get rid of everything we can. We really hate how much stuff we have.

At least this time we've made a huge dent in things.

Pinxit's closet was packed to the gills with boxes of clothing; hers (outgrown and to grow into), mine, Eman's, boy clothes (you know, for that baby we don't have), baby blankets and bedding, etc. On Monday morning I pulled out something like 10-15 boxes and as a family we all sat down and went through everything. It was really hard on me to go through her baby clothes - there was one and a half large boxes (3x3x1 in size) jam packed of her stuff, and I was able to get rid of half.

girl clothes we kept

girl clothes we donated (before folding)

Eman got rid of almost everything he had in storage and that same day we had a friend come by and take nearly all of it, and all the baby girl clothes we gave to a friend the next day for her sister who is expecting. 7 boxes of stuff in total (4 of them clothing), and we still have 4 to get dropped off.

all the donated clothes

When it came to the rest of her room we didn't have much left to donate, so it was just a bunch of cleaning, organizing, and rearranging.

before

before

before

before

And of course, what we've all been waiting for, the after photos.

after

after

after

after

The easiest way I could organize without spending anything, was to use Ziploc bags to sort and store all of her little toys. The funny thing, the prize for this challenge, are these really cool Lay-n-Go activity mats which have a draw string on them, allowing you to lay out the toys, then scoop them up as a fast way to tidy up toys! I showed these to my husband and he said when we're able to, we're going to buy her a few. The baggies are only a temporary solution, and I know with time they're going to tear apart, so I can't wait till we can get ours.

each house has a baggie inside with its parts

various toys separated by type

large dolls on top

large loose items on the bottom

various toys separated by type

everything in the closet

I used the smaller bins we had to put all her dress-up clothes, and her pretend food in. There was also a tiny bin, which now houses her dolls. Again, with all the loose pieces in a baggie.

under the bed

kitchen toys

dress-up clothes 

dolls

accessories in a baggie

 I didn't really want to get rid of any of her movies, but more importantly I wanted all her books in her bookshelf (in one of the before shots you can see a ton of books in a green milk crate and all around it). The compromise, I went through her books, got rid of anything I didn't enjoy reading, or enjoy the wording or subject matter (for example, books that use the word 'fat' or make fun of anyone, or "Hooper Humperdink...? Not him!" by Dr. Seuss - because I'm sorry, though at the end he finally does include him, I feel it's a horrible book; you can't at the last moment include the child and think it's ok...), I did not read every book though, so there may be more to weed out at a later date now that she's not so obsessed with reading the same 5 books. I also took out exercise books and put them aside for when we start homeschooling. I then put all the movies that were not Disney into the milk crate and tucked them up on her closet shelf - that way she still has them, but they're not cluttering up her space. She now even has a spot for her shoe collection.

bookshelf all redone

All in all, things turned out great. I unpacked and went through every box, unpacked all her wall decor and even put some of it up, and have plans to get rid of one of her large activity toys that she never plays with. Next step will be to paint and get her a big girl bed (as we had to leave her last one in Ottawa for my sister who moved in as soon as we moved out) and bedding, work on some art for her walls, and to finish decorating.

Same old song and dance...

Quite a bit has happened since I last posted; most predominant, the fact that my father kicked us out. I really don't want to get into the details, but the main point is that my father was linked to this blog - most likely by my sister - and because I spoke ill of him, he told us after we returned from our trip to Wallaceburg and Sarnia (a 9 hour drive away) that we had a week to move. We were able to resolve several things before we left, but we did not feel secure staying there, and decided to leave as soon as possible. I haven't heard from my father since we left, even though I've made contact twice. I've given up. Like I promised myself with the resolutions, I have let go of the past, and I am weeding out 'the bad'. I don't need the heartache.

...

Fast forward almost two months; we moved into an acceptable apartment that's not in the best condition or the best neighbourhood about 4 weeks ago (after sleeping on people's couches since just after New Years), and we're still trying to get settled. There's a ton of things just lying around waiting to be purged or find a place to stay in our home. We had to borrow $1,200 from a friend as well as all the money I had saved for Eman's schooling to afford the move, so we really don't have anything to play with to help organize or beautify the space.

I have gained employment, we sort of... There is a salon and spa that is in need of stylists, but it is commission based only. Being that I have no clientele, this could be a problem. I do however, get to choose my own hours. I'm trying to stay optimistic about it all, but when there's no extra funds for advertising or to upgrade some of my tools I've given away or that have broken over time, it kind of puts a damper on things. I do however, have a few really great ideas on how to bring in some clients, so hopefully they work out.

Pinxit's 3rd birthday is in a month, and I have slowly begun the party planning procedure. She has asked for a Toy Story birthday party. I've pretty much got everything figured out with the help of Pinterest, it's just a matter of waiting for funds to come in to purchase items needed. It's going to be really amazing I think. Also, she is now fully self-led potty trained, and only needs protection at night. She has even successfully gone on an outing without an accident. I'm happy we no longer have to keep her naked (the only way she would sense she needed to go), and people will feel comfortable around her again.

I will soon be posting photos of our apartment, starting with our 'spring cleaning' inspired by Simple Mom - I have been a follower of this site for the last two years, but this is the first year I'll be actually participating. This week the target zone is kids rooms. I can't wait to post at the end of the week what we have been able to do so far! I even have Eman on board helping (which normally I wouldn't allow). Please, feel free to head over to the site and join in! It's more exciting when you have someone to share your hard work with I find.