Cover that bleach splatter!

Sooo...remember this seriously cool tunic-y top from my GCC score? 

Woo hoo!

I finally got around to trying it on and maybe it's the bloated feeling talking but I'm totally digging this shirt as is. I mean, doesn't every girl need a few pieces that are perfect for bloated days? Well, this piece is going to be one. 

The smocking panel is the same on the back as it is on the front so it actually pulls it in just enough to show that a waist line does in fact exist and I'm not simply giving up on my body. But it's so roomy that I can't bear to even mess with the sides right now. Yes, it makes me look like I'm in the early stage of pregnancy but I don't give a flip. I'm bloated and nasty feeling and I just want to be comfortable and I'm not. (Want cheese with that wine?)

As I was trying it on and wanting to sleep in it I immediately noticed 2 things. 

One- the tag would not lay down in the back! The top is simply too big and the back gapes between my shoulder blades and that tag just flips out and dangles there like a dog on a hot day. Ugly. So off it came. 

Pick pick pick and toss. 

Next is a little more serious. Bleach splatter. Yep, four of them. How did I miss those?! Gah! But no fear here. I can totally cover those up. 

What. The. Heck. ?!?!?!?!?

Enter Tulip Fabric Markers. Black to be specific. This top may be navy but remember my last experiment with black and how it made the blue all better? Well, I'm applying the same principle here. 

Don't forget to use that 40% off coupon code @ Hobby Lobby. 

All I did was just use my lessons from Daycare- color inside the lines. Let it dry 24 hours and then washed and dried. Just looky..

Ready to wear. 

I must say so far I'm impressed. I was about to just use a sharpie but decided against it when I read that the black ink can leave a yellow ring after awhile. I didn't want to risk it so I figured this was the best bet. 

I even did another top that I bought at GCC and was willing to put some effort into it considering that it's linen and Cubavera brand. D has one of these shirts and loves it, it's classic and the style is characteristic of Ybor/Tampa. 

And here is that shirt: 

I refuse to give up on this!

Color. 

Much better!

Hope this helps. 

Hugs, 
A.

I insist upon finding the good

Over the past few years, I've noticed a change in myself. I'm more apt to cry when I see something that bothers me. I hate to see how bad the world can be. It brings me to sobs. But today when I heard about the young soldier attacked and killed in London right after seeing news about the EF5 Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, sometimes I need to look through the rain and see the blue skies. I have to tell myself that. 

I feel as though I'm the Little Engine-That-Could and keep telling myself "The world is still good, just keep looking." Just keep looking. It's not as hard as it seems.

I think that's what everyone and everything should look for when things seem at their worst. 

Granted, I'm grateful for not having to witness horrible people run innocent people down and demanding that their message be video taped. I'm grateful for a warm home still standing. I'm grateful for being able to do something as simple as stand on my own two feet. 

That silver lining is so important. The small things in life. Those are the important moments. They add up to make a lifetime. I want mine to remember the little moments. 

The rain is steady while I'm typing this; the sound is soothing. So as the sad thoughts ran through my mind, I go outside and stand on the front steps in the rain. The water feels good. The neighborhood was quiet when I stepped outside. Peace.

Thank goodness moments of peace ground me. 

And then something caught my eye. 

Hope. 

Perseverance.

This little plant is making it despite the odds against it.

Imperfectly perfect. I'd want it no other way. 

Keep looking. You'll find the good. It's the little moments. 

Hugs,

A. 

P.S. As soon as I clicked 'Publish' and walk to the window to check on the rain, I see that it's stopped and instead am greated by this. 

Definitely brought a smile to my face. 

Breakfast Re-do

I've been in a rut lately and I've fallen off of the bandwagon of Weight Loss. I got really sick and was out of commission for 3 weeks and then add overtime at work, etc- that meant I was MIA at the gym.

Now that my health is getting a lot stronger (hey, I was strong enough to brave the Florida heat and humidity for those ducks and didn't collapse after doing so) I'm cutting out coffee and breakfasts from our cafeteria at work. Yes, I was good most of the time- omelet with tons of veggies and meat and feta cheese but my energy isn't what it was before getting really sick.

I'm needing to spice up my meals so I stumbled across a breakfast sandwich recipe that can be made for a full week on Sunday and frozen until the day of. Microwave it and BAM! Breakfast. Done. Healthy.

Taralynn McNitt @ Undressed Skeleton shared the recipe I decided was totally worth duplicating.

So here are the ingredients I used:

I wanted to use up some veggies that were getting close to having to be thrown out so I grabbed them and ended up using the red jalapenos, red onion and tomatoes. I love veggies. Love them! Anywhere I can use them, I definitely want to.

Got the pan filled with bacon and froze the rest. Freezing ensures I'll use it next week and not let it go bad.

Cooked everything till it was done and then start the assembly line.

Press in the Panini Thingy.

Cool off.

Freeze.

Sorry, Taralynn- I'm not making any labels. My OCD would kick in and I'd  have to organize them to where they'd be in order otherwise I'd make sure I'd grab the right day. Plus I have some other things in the works. As in 4-5 things and I gotta get going.

Otherwise heat it up and eat on the run.

After enjoying it, I'd have to say that I really enjoyed it! The veggies of course made it super delicious and the best part? I wasn't noshing on all of the wrong things this morning.

Yumm!

Hugs,
A.

Clean that Thrifted Purse

I finally found a straw purse that I like. The price of this GCC find is what I like. And it's pretty classic. It'll do for summer. 

But, as I've expressed on my little corner of the internet, I get super duper heebie jeebies thinking about what could be lurking on the items. 

So follow along and I'll show you how I clean stuff up pretty fast with just a little bit of elbow grease. 

First: a good look at the purse: 

le sac

Pretty faux tortoise latch piece. 

derriere. Not bad, huh?

This is actually more scary than the rest of the bag.

Alright, to clean the outside: I'm going to use the following: 

Leather cleaner, paper towels and Lysol Disinfectant Spray.

Spray the entire outside with Lysol. 

Then clean all the of the leather. 

I like to spray on a towel and then rub onto the leather. 

Yuck!

Now the really narly part- cleaning the inside. 

I used the following: 

Just drizzle it on and then start working into the lining of the purse with the nail brush. Wet your brush so as to make sure the color safe bleach spreads over the entire surface. 

Leave on for 10 minutes and then rinse. 

Then hang up like so to allow the lining to dry. 

Once dry then hang up like so with some weight in the purse to straighten out those whompy jawed straps. 

It doesn't have to be a lot, just enough

After that, use, use, use! 

Hugs, 

A. 

Dye Dammit Dye!

So I've been bitten by the RIT Dye bug. I first dyed a pair of white shoes a lemon yellow over a year ago and have come back into it recently after realizing no local fabric store sells navy blue knit- wth?! Thanks to Jill @ Refashionista I decided to DIM- do it myself. There's only one hang up though. I refuse to dye in my washing machine. My washing machine is my baby and I refuse to do anything to it out of the ordinary. 

After some research and lots of posts about how Navy failed- I decided to actually follow Rit's directions- Stove Top Method. My white knit material turned out a perfect Navy Blue. Funny how following the directions actually worked! 

Here's my arsenal that I built for the Stove Top Method: 

What you see is a stock pot, a spoon and pair of gloves. Keep this in mind: If you use a pot you cook with- you have to sanitize it with bleach after using it for dye. Rit's Rules- not mine. 

I bought my stock pot at Goodwill for $4 (The regular one not the Clearance) and the spoon is from Dollar Tree. The gloves are courtesy of Daddy- thanks Daddy!

Alright, now let's get on with the tutorial: 

Black Rit Dye  (Ooooh- Spooky! Well, it really isn't. If you can master Navy Blue, Black is pretty darn simple, too.)

Here are the two test items I chose: 

Yowza that's a busy. Eesh... but nice comfy material!

Another man's t-shirt that I really liked. All except the spots all over it. Look closely. 

Alright, now down to business! But first- completely soak the item you're about to dye in warm water. Ring and shake out so that's it's loose. (Per Rit. Again, I've been successful with their directions so just humor them, okay?) Now add to the dye bath. 

First up was the skirt. Now I didn't want to change the stripes, I just wanted to tone down the busyness of it. So I decided I wasn't going to give it a long bath. Just enough for the white color to change to gray. Follow your instinct- it's usually spot on. 

Skirt in the bath: 

It's not as scary as it seems. After about a minute and a half in the bath I felt pretty good knowing that it was done. 

Now rinse completely where there is no more dye coming off, I'm serious when I say this. Unless you want a mishap in your washing machine. Then it's all on you. And no rinsing in plastic bathtubs; it will stain. Porcelain you *might* have better luck with but do it at your own risk. I prefer a stainless kitchen sink. 

Ooohhhh- I like!

Next the t-shirt. I decided since those dark stains were refusing to come out, I had a feeling if I tried navy blue dye the spots would still be there so I figured black and hope it goes well. Ha! Take that stubborn stains. I'll show you.  

Do everything the same except let the shirt stay in the bath for a good 15 minutes. Stir constantly. 

Take out and do the same as the skirt: Rinse. Start unballing it and voila!

Screen printing isn't affected by dye. 

Now, go wash the items in the washing machine. Use other dark clothes that can take any minute bleeding (I'm paranoid, what can I say?) and when done washing hang to air dry. 

I'm serious when I say this to everyone- dying is not hard. It's scary yes because I was initially worried that it was going to turn out horrendous. But it's really not, especially when I'm using items I found at the Goodwill Clearance Center for pennies. Now I will wear both without any hesitation. 

See?

Who knew?! Bright blue + black = navy and gray. 

I wanna wear it now!

The navy looks brand new! Sweet!

I don't see any funky spots. 

Now go try it and take your time. You can do it! I have total faith in you. 

Hugs,

A. 

I'm the Lucky Duck...

This Sunday started out like any other awesome one. Got to sleep in and wake up when I was fully rested. I decided was going to run to Starbucks so we could have coffee with our breakfast. 

You know how sometimes you take a different route than you expected? Yeah, well I did that. I took a turn at the light and decided to get to the Starbucks via the Lowe's Home Improvement Parking Lot versus the shortcut I was originally planning. 

Thank goodness, I chose a different path. I saw a duck right next to a grate. "Oh, no," I thought. I decided to get the two coffees and decided if she was there when I was done, I was going to check it out. 

Still in my nightgown and no bra (I know, but I wasn't going to be getting out the car so I figured I was safe.) I stopped my car in the loading zone and walked to where she was. I looked down and lo and behold- there were her babies, all huddled together for safety. 

I decided I wasn't going to let this go. I wasn't going to let someone else handle it. What if no one does? Then they'll likely die and I'll feel crappy for not taking it upon myself to get the job done. 

So I started off and called all of the following: 

-Sheriff's Office, who told me to call: 
-Fish and Wildlife, who told me to call: (heart is sinking lower) 
 (I also called Lowe's: the manager who answered said she wasn't able to help me and there's nothing anyone could do) Wow, just mind-numbingly apathetic.  
-Animal Clinic, who wasn't open and had a number for: (heart is on the ground)
-Another Animal Clinic, who gave me a number for: (heart starts rising a little bit)
-Hillsborough County Animal Services (Then got a call from D wondering why I'm not back with any coffee.)

A-ha! Finally. I stayed on the emergency line and hoped that it was an emergency to them, too. It was. They dispatched Officer Adams. 

I was home by this time and he called me directly and said he was on the way. I scarfed down the rest of my breakfast and got dressed like a normal person should be to meet him there. 

I arrived at the parking lot before him and there was no sign of Momma Duck anywhere. Her babies were still in the drain. Shit.

I walk around and there are ducks flying over head in the direction of the retention pond and there are too many ducks for me to tell if the one I saw this morning is the one. I do see another Momma Duck and spot one duck staying close to her. It almost looked as though she were inspecting the ducklings. Hmmm. 

So I walk back to my car and wait for Officer Adams. He shows up and was able to see the ducklings himself. He told me he doesn't have the necessary equipment BUT Fire Rescue can and will get them out. Sweet!

He gives me a number and tells me to call (and he'll call, too) and when I call I'm told that Fire Rescue won't come out. What?! Thankfully Officer Adams was still in the parking lot and I walk over and tell him what they said. He told me he called and Fire Rescue is on the way. Thank you!

Officer Adams tells me to wait there since I'm the one who's made all the calls and gotten the ball rolling. I do and when I see the Fire Rescue squad show up, I see a Lowe's employee stop the truck, talk to them and pointing to the drainage grate. Grrr. I go over to the only female in the truck and say, I'm the reason for all of the trouble. They park and when they get out to look she said she can't see them. I told her they're right under the pipe and the Animal Services Officer was able to see them. 

The grate was lifted and the lady climbed down. Lowe's was generous enough to supply a box, free of charge thankfully. (sorry, for my sarcasm considering how I was treated by the STORE MANAGER.) While the ducklings were brought up and placed in the box, two things happened: One, a Lowe's employee came right up and told Fire Rescue she's the one that called them (BIG, FAT LIAR) and took a picture of the ducklings in the box like it was a carnival and two: I call Officer Adams. Poor guy, he's had enough of me, I'm sure. I tell him that I'll take them where ever they need to go but I need help in where. He called me back and told me Blue Pearl Animal Clinic is known for rehabilitating animals, or at least knowing who will, etc. 

By now all of the ducklings are safe and in the box and I tell the Fire Rescue Lady that I'll take care of them. Her smile was so nice that I couldn't help but be thankful for her to go down there and help them and me. 

The Lowe's employees were saying they saw Momma Duck go off in the opposite direction of the retention pond (I officially have decided at this point that I'm never going to shop at Lowe's again- thank you crappy employees of Lowe's.) I dubiously walk all over the parking lot and the babies are calling out but no dice. I go over to where Officer Adams and I both agree the best place to see if Momma Duck was around: the retention pond. I let the babies call out from their box and I see one showing more interest and but I'm obviously too close for comfort so I back up and Momma Duck (?) flies over the fence and lands too far away. Crows scare her and another duck away (Daddy Duck?) back into the pond. 

Momma Duck and Daddy Duck keep pacing the retention pond and I make a decision that I was super uncomfortable with. I have to let one of the Ducklings out to see if she'll come back and claim it as hers. 

It works! Baby Duck 1 hauls butt down to the waters edge and Momma Duck meets in at the same time as other Ducks come around. Uh-oh. She gets rid of the others by keeping attention off of Baby 1 and is swimming around all crazy (Baby Duck 1 is trying to keep up, so cute!) The others leave and Momma Duck seems super happy but before I can reach in and get the others, she swims off. Baby Duck 1 still close to her side, she goes to eat, etc. 

I decide to let the others out, to see if they'll call to her but no dice. Hmm...so I sit there for another 15 minutes trying to let everything happen on it's own. Nothing's happening so I start trying to get the babies to move. I crackle pine cones, make scuff sounds with my flip flops against the concrete curb and it's working, but slow going. 

All the while, Momma Duck is making her way back around. Whew. And finally they all start running to the waters edge, Momma and all of her Babies are reunited. No rehabilitation services needed. 

I call Officer Adams and thank him for all of his help and efforts. I call my Daddy and start getting all choked up. By the time I call K- I'm crying. Poor thing, K doesn't know if it's good or bad. I finally am able to explain the babies are back with their Mommy. Tears of happiness and relief. 

Thank you Hillsborough County Animal Services Dispatch and Officer Adams for taking me seriously and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue for bringing them out and entrusting them to me. 

A happy ending I'm happy to share. Here are pictures: 

Box full of ducklings. Staying away so they would keep calling out to Mommy and Daddy.

Someone's attention has been captured!

They actually flew to try to get closer but my dumb self was too close for their comfort.

After the one was released, I let the rest go. One was so happy  to get away it tried to go through too small of an opening and I had to pull the baby out and put it through a regular opening in the fence. 

Close for comfort. But they're moving. 

Slowly moving away

Inch by inch, they're moving. 

When I say inch by inch, I mean it. :) But I don't mind. 

Wa-hoo! They're marching. 

Mommy and Daddy making a beeline for their babies. 

I zoomed on this one. Momma and the one baby coming closer. 

Mommy and Daddy with open arms and the babies are hauling butt with their short little legs. 

Almost to the water's edge. 

Reunited. 

After all united again, happily swimming on the other side pond. Close to tears at this part. I was at the whimpering stage at this point. 

After seeing them swimming, I looked down and actually smiled at the bird's messing the box. 

Bawling at this point, I turned and looked back at the temporary, empty nest  and just smiled through the tears. 

Some may wonder why I didn't take a picture before letting them go. I honestly didn't want a picture of the nice people of Hillsborough County doing their job nor of the scared littles in a box- this wasn't a carnival or a freak show. I'm a firm believer that a a wild animal belongs just there: in the wild. I don't enjoy taking pictures of animals in captivity. Some may argue that I take pictures of my cats- who are domesticated pets, I might add. Okay, okay- so I compartmentalize. Whip me with a wet noodle. I'm still against it. 

Some may say those ducks were lucky that I kept at all of my efforts. I'd say with an experience like this, I'm the lucky one. Thank you, God, for putting me in the right spot at the right time. I'm so grateful for an experience like this. 

Hugs, 

A.