Bag It Up!

Spied via People magazine. I'll take one in black and green, please! Pre-order here!

Sleepy Baby

I couldn't resist sharing these photos. I love this dog so much! : )

Who Are The Ad Wizards That Came Up With This?

Attention faithful readers of Nuestra Vida Dulce, your regularly scheduled blog has been hijacked! That's right ladies and gentlemen, Dave of DaveandJoi is making his voice heard. You may be asking yourself, "what does that mean for me, a fan of Nuestra Vida Dulce?" This means no mention of home decor or the like, but rather something that really matters: French Onion Dip.

Not too long ago I was sent out to get some gas, chips, and french onion dip. So I went to the local gas station where all three could be purchased and I succeeded....or so I thought. Upon returning home, I discovered that there are 2 different types of French Onion Dip, and they are not similar, AND I got the wrong one. I had purchased Lays French Onion Dip when I was sent out to purchase Dean's French Onion Dip.

I was immediately sent back out to correct my mistake. Comedian Mitch Fatel explains this phenomenon much better than I can. Watch, enjoy, and learn.

Now the fault of this event does not fall with me not knowing which of the two different products with identical names, nor is it the fault of my wife for not specifying which of the two different products with identical names I was supposed to buy. Nay, faithful readers, it is the fault of the "man", the ad "wizards", the "suits", the "powers that be" that allow these two products to coexist in a world to confuse simple-minded, non-condiment using people like myself.

We need a grassroots campaign to make our voices heard, our voices that are saying "We will not allow two different products to share a name and mislead consumers who are only trying to make the right purchase for their wives/husbands/loved ones. We will not stand by and allow our grievances to go unheard!" We may want to shorten what our voices are saying to "Don't mislead because of your greed!"

I now place the emphasis on you, yes you! It is now your patriotic duty! We must end this travesty at once!

Spain, Here We Come!

D-day came and went and we got enough kids signed up to go on the Spain trip! 12 kiddos {and maybe more will sign up tomorrow} are going to take a trip of a lifetime with me and my former co-workers from EHS with 24 of their students in June of '09!

The sites we'll see are sure to blow our minds and make us never want to leave. We'll be taking a 13 day road trip through Spain's finest sites! Also, we'll be gallivanting in Morocco for a day! Yup--that's in Morocco, Africa my friends!

I feel so blessed to be going on this dream trip! I feel like someone needs to pinch me and wake me up--- I really can't believe I'll get to see and experience all of this for the low, low price of $0!!!! I am so giddy you can almost feel it, can't you???

Here's our proposed itinerary!

: (

Remember my too-good-to-be-true sofa--those legs, rolled arms, and dreamy shade of creamy white??? Well I was on the hunt for it this weekend and almost convinced myself that I was going to buy it when I didn't have to convince myself anymore. The only Value City in the area that was "supposed" to have one, sold it a few weeks ago. And, it gets worse, it's been discontinued!

Oh, well, I still got my mirror that put me on cloud nine! Who needs a new sofa anyway ;-) ?

Deal Or No Deal !

The mirror is mine! I am so happy to report that the Bellesol mirror that I've wanted for so long is happily hanging in our guestroom today. But, the most exciting news of all is that I found it at Home Goods for less than 1/2 the price! I am positive it is the exact same mirror and almost peed my pants when we saw it yesterday.

I had posted on DecorPad multiple times {sorry, guys!} about how much I wanted this mirror and one of the members said she found one at Home Goods.

I decided to look up some Home Goods in the area and there was one in St. Peters, so off Maw Maw, David, and I went! We have lots of TJ Maxx and Marshall stores but very few Home Goods in my area. I was very hesitant that I would find the mirror because these types of stores are usually a hodge-podge of items, but it was there and it was the only one left! My sweet Maw Maw spotted it and I literally let out a shriek of happiness. You would've thought I won the lottery--I was that excited. : )

Here she is! Isn't she gorgeous???

Sarah's Here!

No cutesy title, no long winded post! I'm just excited that I get to see my bestie tonight. We'll catch up over dinner and lots of gossip before she leaves again on Friday for a wedding in Missouri.

I ♥ you Sarah Jean! Leave Houston and move back home! Uggh--I love and hate nights like these because they make me miss her so much!

☮ Out Cancer

Maw Maw made it through all her chemo treatments with grace, style, and determination. She was a rock of strength and a picture of absolute beauty. She went to the doctor today and he said her next round of the cancer kicking regime will consist of 25-33 radiation treatments.

He isn't going to do another PET scan of her whole body {and while that concerns me} because her blood tests look good and I assume he knows the cancer was/is being rid of. He is the doctor after all!

I am so proud of her and hope these next couple of weeks will fly by for her. : )

Twilight {Zone}

I gave in to the temptation of teeny-bopper lit. I can't have practically all my female students talking about this series and not be in the know.

I'm happy to report that I am almost done with the first book and have three more to go after it! I haven't read a book for pleasure in years, pretty sad, I know.

What the book has:

suspense √
love story √
vampires √

Wow--I bet you're just thinking that probably makes the perfect book, right? ;-) Who wouldv'e thought?

Now I'm getting set for the movie debut in December, and I don't even like movies. Hopefully it won't disappoint! Check out the trailer:

It's Come To This

With gas prices over $4 in our area, David and I made the mutual decision to have him spend the night up in Pana at least one night a week. You see, he's a teacher and in case you live under a rock, we don't make that much. We live a good 70 miles away from Pana which adds up to at least 700 miles a week being put on his car. He gases up at least two times a week at approximately $40 a re-fill. I, myself, don't live that close to my school either. I drive about 70 miles a day and gas up twice a week, too.

We spend quite the pretty penny on gas. We don't like it, but we deal with it. We've always joked that if gas got above $4.00 David would have to have a slumber party with his Pana co-worker and his family. His friend recently renovated his basement and they jokingly refer to it as "David's suite." Well, all joking aside, David is spending his first night away from home in his suite this school year.

This decision is not something we wanted to do--we kinda like each other's company ;-). But, we realize it's best for our pocketbooks and better for the environment, too. It's likely that I'll be shacking up with my family at the end of the week in GC to save money, too. The things we do...

We're making it work, begrudgingly. So it seems Niko and I will be up for random nights of watching the best reality drama tv can offer and working on school stuff. Trust me, I'm not the only one who's gonna miss Dave.

Check out the story the Suburban Journals did on David and some others about rising gas prices last year {his part is at the very end}.

Guest Room Update!

Thanks to my girl, FC, I fell in love with this gorgeous and thrifty Urban Outfitters chandelier.

You can see it here, in her lovely office, and now one also resides in our guest room. I love it!

¡Viva España!

I reallllly want to go to Spain. Like, real bad. My besties from my old school set up a trip with students for this coming summer! If they get 12 kids total, then they go for free, and if I get 6 kids, I go for free.

Tonight was the parent meeting to go over all the small details, and one girl signed up on the spot. Woo-hoo! If five more kiddos sign up, it's a go! It may not seem like a lot of kids to get, but it's a $3300 trip and who's got that kinda dough just lying around?

I'm cautiously excited because we tried to take a trip to Mexico last year and we didn't get enough kids. So be a dear and say a little prayer that my kids and I get to go!

Couch Crush

I think I'm in love with this sofa. Yes, I know I already have one, but that one might look pretty nice in the basement and much more comfy than the futon currently down there. At $499, this really is such the bargain, right? I guess it really can't hurt to just take a quick peek at it this weekend. ;-)

I think it's the legs---I'm smitten!

Put A Cork In It

I turned a piece of cheap art from Garden Ridge into a chic cork bulletin board frame to gussy up the office.

I found the 'art' for less than twenty bucks and removed it, the glass, and the backing which was attached with insanely heavy duty staples.

I then cut my roll of cork {purchased at Office Max} to fit the size of the cardboard backing and inserted it onto the backing via liquid nails.

Ta Da-the finished product!


Hanging in the office waiting to be filled!

My Best Friend's Wedding

Let me preface by saying I'm a bad blogger. I did not take nearly enough pictures to justify this post, but I wanted to share the ones I did take with those of you that want to see them. Cause I know you're out there ;-)

In my defense, though, the wedding was outdoors and standing room only. Also, it only lasted 10 minutes and the pic I did get...well, see for yourself, you can't see much!

However, I did manage to snag the handsome groom for a quick pic with yours truly.

And, while the speeches were going on I caught this pic of Lauren and Brett, not the greatest, but it'll have to do!

Brett and Lauren making it official!

I was able to catch Ty in his best man's speech which was perfect!

I got my three boys together before we left, too! : )

Going To The Chapel

and HE'S... gonna get married! It's that time, the time that I thought would never come...one of my best guy friends from high school is getting hitched tomorrow. Brett and I have been friends since freshman year and he's always been such a great looking guy, a sweet friend, and every parent's favorite {just check out those dimples}--yes, he's that guy and by tomorrow around 3:30 p.m he'll be off the market for good. Sorry ladies!

Here he is {all the way to the left} at my wedding reception with my other boy BFFs. Yup, I just used the term BFF!

I'm honored to see him say his "I do's" and I welcome him into the world of the marrieds!

Paint Swatch Art

As you may know, the guest room is getting a major overhaul. Things are coming along quite nicely and I just need to get another lamp shade, new mirror, and west elm block art {which has been ordered, but is on back order until November!}.

Tonight I took on another DIY art project from which I drew inspiration from my favorite little DIY magazine that I've raved about in previous posts. Who knew I could be so crafty?

Here are the magazine scans showing you the paint swatch art above the bed. Basically, it's as obvious as it looks....arrange some paint swatches in the colors and sizes of your choice and voila--new art! I took a couple different trips to Lowe's and Home Depot so I didn't look like such a freak taking 100's of swatches at once. I loaded up on all sorts of shades of creams, whites, greys, yellows, some pinks, taupes, tans....and well, the list goes on and on.

I liked the way the magazine had the art set up in a mosaic form on the left and a bigger block form on the right--I'm not one to mess with a good thing, so I pretty much followed their lead!


Here are the finished products in all their framed glory! Let me tell you, the little squares one was the most tedious to space out correctly {dang math--that's why I'm a Spanish teacher, folks!} and glue on just right!

And here they are hanging in their new home. I thought I wanted to paint the frames white, but I'm kind of digging the black--oh and David chimed in saying white "would look dumb." Don't you just love a man's opinion? It's a slow process for me to be OK with everything not being so matchy-matchy, but I'm coming around : ).

Whoa-oh We're Half Way There

woahhhh-oh, livin' on a prayer! Guess who's done with chemo treatments as of today??? My sweet Maw Maw, that's who!

Thanks to everyone for their prayers, thoughts, comments, cards, calls, texts, emails, etc! She made it and now, in a few weeks, the second half of the journey begins which will include radiation treatments. However, word on the street is that these will be much more manageable than chemotherapy.

We are all so proud of her courage, strength, and beauty throughout these past few months---she is our inspiration and one tough cookie! ♥

Treasured

It's here and made it all in one piece. My lovely piece of custom pottery {sounds so money, right??--hehe} arrived safe and sound and is absolutely stunning. Thanks to the posters from my previous post who offered up their ideas on the words I could choose.

I decided to go with "treasured" because it symbolizes how I feel about my engagement ring, wedding band, and the ring my best friend, Emily, used to wear everyday.

If you would like a little birdie of your own, visit Paloma's Nest on Etsy.

They Say It's Your Birthday

Well, it's my birthday, too! First, let me start off by saying this should be the last post dedicated to my birthday as I'm sure ya'll aren't as giddy about my day as I am. However, I couldn't help but steal the spotlight once more to brag on my sweet students and thank my family and friends who in some way made my day great.

So, a big thank you to all the calls and and internet wishes that came my way today. I truly love each and everyone of you who knows how much it means to me that you called or wrote : ).

Also, thanks to my sweet 1st, 2nd, and 3rd hours for surprising me with a cake and cards each different hour. I adore them. As a teacher you never expect gifts at any holiday--let alone gifts in the first month of school, so needless to say, I felt really loved today from my kiddos!

You Don't Know Jacques

I wear nail polish sometimes, but I'm by no means a connoisseur. However, I found a shade I'm really loving from OPI's French line. It's called "You don't know Jacques" and it's a fun shade of grey. Yup-grey for my nails! I figured since I'm loving the color grey so much right now for my walls, that I wouldn't discriminate and go ahead and share the love with my nails, too. : )

Here's a pic on mis uñas!

Las Tres Amigas

My favorites and I made our trip out to eat at the new 'Los Tres Amigos' restuarant in Eville. It's a super cute little place and it has some tasty food. The latest love of my life has been Mexican food--I can't get enough.

We all met for dinner at 5 and like I said yesterday, we stayed until 8! We talked and vented and talked some more--very typical of Melissa, Jeannie and Joi : )