"Hi, My Name is Angie, and I'm a Burrito-Aholic"

This afternoon, I had a picnic lunch with my friend Julie, over at The Reason for My Insanity.  It was an interesting afternoon, to say the least.

You see, Julie couldn't quit talking about these burritos at a local Mexican food place.  I've driven past the place, and honestly, it didn't look like a place I would ever go into.  One of those hole-in-the-wall, hidden gem kind of places.  I just don't gamble with food poisoning, you know?  Well, it turns out that these burritos are so good she's blogging about them.

I told Willie about them tonight and he says "I guess I know what we're having for dinner!" So, there, Julie.  You've worn me down.  I'm taking your burrito challenge.

We had a burrito each tonight (and 2 tacos for Willie). Umm....I kinda want another ;-)

I guess I've failed the challenge.

Hi, my name is Angie, and I'm a burrito-aholic.  Go try one! I'll meet you in the first room down the hall on the right for our weekly Burritos Anonymous meetings.

Blog-Aversary + A Giveaway!!

The time has come.  I can hardly believe it myself, but one year has passed since I found blogging.  I know...I mean, who has only been blogging for a year?!  Me.

On that fateful day of May 7th, when I decided to write my first blog post, my world kind of changed.  Okay...more like my online world changed.  I didn't know much about blogging.  I mean, what do you write about?, but I wanted to give it a shot.  I enjoy writing, and needed a place to get my thoughts and ideas out there.

Through this past year, you have seen my journey through the first year of motherhood.  My writing has evolved with my experience.  I started by posting funny little anecdotes about parenting, and gradually branched out into my ideas on green living, my ideas on discipline, healthy recipes, and now even some crafts.

Thank you to all who have been reading my blog for this last year.  It's kept me going.  It's kept me sane.

I'd like to offer a give-away to celebrate my one-year mark in the blogosphere, and I'd like to open it up to anyone that would like enter.

So, here's the nitty-gritty.

What you get

1 $20 credit to CUTEure Creations to choose any item you like.  Nothing is off limits (in my shop)! This is $20!! It's *almost* like cash in your hands!  You can use it towards a larger purchase, or purchase several smaller items that add up to that amount.

How to Enter (Comment once per entry.)

-Mandatory entry: Comment on my blog, telling me what you would choose to buy with the $20 gift card, should you win. 

-Extra entries: Facebook, Twitter, or Blog about my give-away, including a link to this post. (each promotional venue counts as another entry, therefor, another comment on this post and another entry into the give away).

-"Like" CUTEure Creations on facebook.

Limitations: You may enter once for posting on Facebook (per page: i.e. fan page & personal page each count), once for tweeting (per day), and once for blogging (per day).

When it Ends


All entries should be submitted by May 14th at 9 p.m. Pacific Time (Midnight EST).

How I'll Choose

On May 15th, I will submit all of the comments on this post to random.org and a winner will be randomly selected.  This means the more ways you enter, the better your chance to win!

How Will You Know?

Check back here between May 15-16 to see a post announcing a winner!!

I think that just about covers it!! Good luck to everyone who enters!!

CUTEure Make-Over Phase 1 ::Re-Organizing::

This past week, I have been on a mission.  CUTEure has been doing okay with sales in the last month or two, but I'd really like to step it up a notch and start making some actual money.

Now, I don't consider myself a dummy, but I certainly know as well as anyone that I have a lot to learn about running a business, especially online selling.  So much competition! How will I ever get seen?!  I will get seen by making it to the Holy Grail of internet searches.  The ever-elusive first page of Google.

It's not going to be easy, and I certainly can't do it alone.  I luckily got the help of an amazing shop owner on etsy.  She gave me some very in-depth answers to my questions and wrote up a report with what should change in my shop.

It was a lot of stuff.  A lot.

Two days and many many hours later, Phase One :: Re-Organization:: is complete.  Strangely enough, all I was trying to do was increase my Google visability, and then I was going to re-organize and stream line later, but somehow, the changes I made to optimize SEO in my shop really gave my products a more stream lined look.

Now, instead of just looking for something for "Little Ladies", you can search my shop by clicking on Girls Hair Clips, Childrens Hats, Crochet Booties, New Baby Gift Sets, and Legwarmers.

I really enjoy the new look.

I'm also working on a more stream-lined product line.  My crochet bunny booties were a big hit, so I've been playing off of that idea and making a few different styles of booties.






What do you think of the new styles? I really love the pom poms, myself! What type of bootie (or any product) would you like to see?

Allergies- An Update

So, we're now close to 2 weeks into our "food challenge" with Addison.  2 weeks of no onions, garlic, or tomatoes. 

If you're a bit confused during this blog post, and not quite sure what you may have missed (I mean, why are we doing food challenges? Why do I have a blog post about food allergies at all?), you may want to read this post.

Since it's been close to 2 weeks, I thought it was time for a small update on the situation.

If you remember, I was very confused about Addie's rashes and what could be causing it.  I was very frustrated and overwhelmed, knowing I was thisclose to figuring it all out but just couldn't.

The first week of food challenge was all about trial and error.  She was slipped some onion on occasion.  We just weren't in the practice of keeping it away from her. 

On day 3, I was just raving over how great her face looked.  It was still patchy, but healing.  I mean...I wanted to cry it looked the best it's ever looked.  Then dinner happened.

I found this really yummy recipe for Spanish tortillas-something I've been trying to find a recipe for since my vacation to Spain 3 years ago!  Unfortunately, the recipe called for onions, and lots of them.   I decided since I wanted the full effect, I would just keep Addie's tortilla mix separate from mine and Willie's (and our friends'). 

It seemed totally do-able (despite 2 separate frying pans, 2 separate  bowls, 2 separate whisks, & 2 separate spoons) until I sliced the first onion open.  Addie was sitting on the kitchen floor playing and keeping me company, and all of a sudden she started whining and squirming...getting worse and worse.  Then she started scratching.  Like all over her body!  Her face was suddenly red and scaly again, her back and tummy were itchy, and she just wouldn't stop crying!

I ran her out to Willie so she could get some fresh air, and just felt like crap.  I mean seriously.  Who knew??  Apparently an onion allergy is similar to a peanut allergy in that you can't be in the room with them (at least I think I've read that about nut allergies).

So, now I know.  No more onions or garlic in our house-at least until this experiment is over.  One good thing did come from that episode, though.  I am now way more aware of what is in food and remembering to check every label, and omit anything that contains any of the 3 ingredients.

Since then, things are going better.  Her face is clearing up again, although we do have random bouts of rashi-ness-specifically on her back & sides where her diaper and pants sit.  That may just be from chafing and dry skin.  I'm not totally sure.  I do know there are some environmental issues that cause rashes for her sometimes-harsh chemical cleaners being one of them.  She's been mildly exposed to those the last few weeks with this new play date we go to in a childrens learning center.  They use bleach to clean their large toys and diaper area.  In fact, the day I wrote my original post was our first trip out there, and she did get a diaper change there, so hindsight is telling me that could be what caused the rash that prompted my blog. 

We're still in the middle of the food challenge.  I'm really nervous to start introducing foods- even though I know technically she's having mild reactions.  I'm just dreading it, but I will do it to help narrow down what's causing this.

We may still try eliminating gluten/wheat from her diet as well after this is said and done, just to see if it's another cause, since she's still kind of rashy.  We will see.  Maybe she just needs more time for everything to get out of her system. 

Here is a picture of Addison 2 weeks ago, roughly.  It's un-edited (yes, I usually edit out some of the worse rashes.  It gets really old hearing "what happened to her face?!" when I show photos to family).

Check out this picture of Addie today.  No editing, just Addie. 

We're still learning, and we're still dealing with flare-ups, but over all, she looks better than she ever has, basically!

The Good Wife

Lately, I've been trying to think of what makes a good wife.  I've really been struggling with this.  I stay home all day with Addison, so really, the house work, cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing is all up to me.   I should be better at it. I'm going to begin that journey now.

Willie tries to help, but I do start to feel guilty when he does.  He works a full time night position job plus working on a nursing degree full time.  On top of that, he comes home and he is a husband and dad.  Who am I to ask him to put away clothes or wash dishes for me?

Granted, I work.  I work really hard.  I'm trying to start a business, which takes a lot of time and energy.  I'm raising a toddler which means that not every day can I focus on anything other than her.  It's hard, but I'm trying.  Other moms do it, so I know I can, too.  I just can't help but feel overwhelmed by it all some days. 

Ever since Addie came along, I've been struggling with keeping that balance.  It only got worse when I started making stuff to sell.  This week, I decided to get some sort of routine started in order to keep this house clean and organized.  Just one more step towards being Super-mom....or the good wife.

I wrote down the schedule to hopefully keep me on track.  I'm on day two of my schedule and so far, so good.

Here it is.  Maybe it will inspire some other work-at-home moms that are also trying to do it all.

Dailies: Pick up toys, Dishes

Sunday: Bathrooms

Monday: Kitchen Scrub, Floors, & Addie's Room

Tuesday: Living room, organize toys (rather than tossing them in the toy box), carpet, dusting, craft room

Wednesday: Our room, laundry

Thursday: Outside

Friday: Dailies, family time (Weds-Fri are my weekends with Willie's schedule)

Saturday: Laundry

When I write it down like this, it looks really do-able.  Wish me luck!

Earth Day and Green Living

Image found browsing Google Images

Earth day seems especially important this year. It's on everyone's mind.  Seeing as how the Earth is trying to shake us off like a wet dog lately, I can see why taking better care of our planet is more of a top priority this year than ever before.

There are many things you can do to live a greener life.  Most of them are really pretty simple and can even save you money.  That sounds like a no-brainer to me, especially in this economy!

I'm going to tell you about these few simple steps to green up your life, and hopefully you can learn a bit from my post.  I hope to continue posts like these, and share a few tips at a time, so as not to overwhelm anyone just starting to think about this life style.  Baby steps, my friends. Baby steps.

The first (and simplest) thing you can do to live a greener life is to use re-usable grocery totes.  These days you can find them in most grocery stores for a really great price.  Most stores even give you a small discount for each re-usable tote that you use to replace a paper or plastic bag.  We usually get .05 off per bag, and on a big grocery run, that can add up.  It's not a lot, but if you do it every time, you'll even save money on groceries.  Plus, just think of all the plastic bags you'll be saving from the dump!  Those days that we do forget our re-usable totes, we make sure to re-use our plastic bags.  We use them for small trash bags, cleaning out the cat litter box, and for disposable diapers while we are out in public.

Another way to go green is to cut down on driving.  I know this sounds very daunting to many of you, but really, there are many ways you can do this.  Car pooling to work or play dates, walking to the corner coffee house, or riding your bike to the park are all ways to cut back on your driving.  A bonus is the money you will save on gas! See, didn't I tell you many of these would save you money?!

My absolute favorite way to live a more eco-friendly life is to use green cleaning products.  There are many options depending on your level of commitment.  The easiest and most convenient way to do this is to buy products from the store that are green.  Many brands now offer green lines that are more eco-friendly.  While I prefer to make my own cleaners so I know exactly what goes into them (with Addie this is a priority of mine), buying from these brands increases the demand, and boosts the support of these brands, encouraging more green products, and hopefully spreading the word to more and more buyers that green is the way to go!  If you are interested in making your own cleaners, there are several sites dedicated to green cleaning that can give you a recipe for any life style! The bonus to making your own cleaners is that most of them can be made with products already in your house!
My favorite cleaning products are white vinegar, lemon juice, eucalyptus oil, Borax, Baking Soda, and water.  All things I keep in my house anyway.  Keep your eyes peeled for a post dedicated to making your own cleaners if you're interested.

Lastly, Buying local or growing your own produce is great for the environment and your local economy.  Willie and I have been buying produce from the local stand near our apartment for two years now.  It's fresh, it's tasty, and it's even cheaper for us to buy there than the grocery store.  While the produce may not be organic, it's at least not shipped in from other places in the country (or the world) to sit in my grocery store.  I always find a better selection of fresh fruits and veggies at the produce stand than I do in most stores.  We've moved this year and can't visit the same produce stand, but luckily, our landlords are big into gardening, and even started a second community garden right in our front yard!  I can't wait for it to all start growing.  For anything we can't get in our front yard, we'll visit the produce stand down the road or the local farmers market once a week for the freshest selection.

I hope my tips help someone to lead a greener, more environmentally friendly lifestyle.  We all need to do our part to take care of our home, before our home has had enough.

Speachless..