happy friday.

i will...



{ always }

- put my family, especially my children, first

- hate people who hurt animals, distrust those who don't like animals

- love pandas, and cry when i see them in person

- believe in God, no matter what happens

- be a Carolina girl at heart, regardless of where i may live

- want/need/crave art in my life

- need my Mommy

- pray, and trust that miracles happen

- love books and have millions of them



{ sometimes }

- need my hubby to feel sorry for me on my bad days

- like my hair, but not often

- like living in california, but not often

- wish i were rich

- be way too stressed, way too anxious, and way too paranoid

- cry, because i cannot believe how much i love my babies

- want more and more pets

- want more kids

- wish i could sleep longer

- wish i had a bigger office + studio



{ never }

- regret marrying young & having children young

- live without an animal in the house

- disown or stop loving any of my children, no matter what they do

- stop trusting in God

- live in California if given the freedom to choose

- live in a place that snows, i can't tolerate the cold

- give up, because admitting defeat doesn't sit well with me



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( thanks to Jessica + Danni for this! )

Baby Panda Salad Recipe.

Since I recently found out that I am expecting again, I have been trying to eat a lot healthier for the sake of the little growing baby panda. I'm also always starving, so I eat much more often during the day and need stuff that I can make quickly (otherwise I turn into an evil monster somewhat resembling the Incredible Hulk). So I decided to start incoorporating more salads into my meal plans. I have no idea if this salad is an actual recipe already- nor do I care. I call it my Baby Panda Salad Recipe, because it was so good and I was proud of myself for throwing it together.

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{ what you need } *feel free to substitute stuff*

- white vinegar

- olive oil

- 1 small tomato

- 1 large red radish

- 1/4 cup of green olives

- Half of 1 small onion

- 2 tbsp feta cheese

- 1 cup fresh spinach leaves

- 1/4 cucumber

- salt

- pepper
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{ instructions }

1. Chop up all the veggies

2. In a salad bowl, mix your olive oil and vinegar, adding salt + pepper to taste. (taste it, if it's too tart for you, simply add a dash more olive oil)

3. Drop everything into your salad bowl and stir until it's nice and covered in the dressing.

4. Grab a fruit and a drink, Enjoy!
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Easy. Peasy. Yummy.

ABC's of Me

"Mein Haus" - Original Mixed Media Art Block, $28




ABC's OF ME: (courtesy of ArmyWifeBlogger)



A-Age: 22

B-Birth date: December 1, 1986

C-Chore you hate: Vacuuming, Dishes

D-Dog's name: His name was Rocky (r.i.p. baby)

E-Enter or Exit: Enter

F-Favorite color: I have a few. Pink and brown are obviously among them.

G-Gold or silver: Silver

H-Hair color: Dark Brown

I-Instrument: I played the Viola

J-Job Title: Artist & Designer Extraordinaire, Owner of Sugar Panda

K-Kids: 1, and another on the way!

L-Living arrangements: Base Housing

M-Monkey or Moose: Moose. Monkeys are ugly and annoying.

N-Nicknames: Anthony calls me Val. Alina calls me "Mam or Mama"

O-Odd thing about you: hmmm...I don't know

P-Pet Peeve: People who chew with their mouths open or make any kind of nasty mouth noises when they eat. It makes me homicidal. I think I need therapy for it, it's beyond a pet peeve for me.

Q-Quote from a movie: I suck at remembering stuff like that.

R-Right/Left Handed: Right

S-Siblings: 1 younger sister, 1 younger brother

T-Time you wake up? Between 8:30 - 9:30 am

U-Underwear: always

V-Veggie you dislike: I love them all.

W-What makes you run late: kids

X-X-Rays: Teeth, foot, chest, back, neck, left knee, head

Y-Yummy food you make: Spinach Lasagna from scratch and Schnitzel

Z-Zoo Animal: Panda!

Renegade Craft show in L.A.

So yesterday, Jessica and I headed up to L.A. for the Renegade Craft show to meet Danni from Oh, Hello Friend. The drive up was nice, the traffiic wasn't too bad and there were lots of laughs on the way. It was the first time we got to meet Danni in person, up until yesterday we had only talked online. Meeting new friends is always exhilirating and it was a very pleasant experience. I'm usually very shy and introverted until I get to know someone, so actually meeting people isn't always easy for me. We also met Steppie, she was sharing a booth with Danni (and she has super ridiculously cute stuff!).

The spoils of my Renegade Craft show shopping experience. I went with a very strict budget of $25 and I stuck with it. I came home with these goodies though, and love love love them all! The postcard by Oh, Hello Friend was free, but it's so pretty I'm gonna frame it and hang it up in my studio/office.

This thing was hilarious. A lady sat inside with a microphone and once you slid in $2 she made all these sound effects while she "processed" the money and you chose which kind of postcard you wanted...it was cute, and she definetely got a lot of attention! Jessica gave Danni money to see what the Postcard Machine was all about.

Danni's brother brought his Photo Booth machine to the craft fair so we couldn't resist taking pics. Mainly we couldn't stop giggling long enough to take a decent picture, so in 99% of them somebody is making a funny face. :)

Etsy had a booth set up there as well to promote the website. I got a free sticker and a button. =)
You can see more pics of yesterday on my flickr.

summer, new friends, and news

Summer is my favorite season of the year. Hands down. I love the heat, I love the sun, I love the beach...so it's no surprise to me that summer puts me in a happier mood and gets my creativity back on track.

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We took Alina to the beach over the 4th of July weekend, this was only her 2nd time. She's finally old enough to enjoy it, so this will have to occur much more frequently. I got some great shots of her playing in the sand, some make me all teary eyed because of their cute factor.

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I can't remember if I've mentioned it officially on my blog (but nowadays I can't remember much of anything), hubby and I are expecting our 2nd child in January 2010! This was a total surprise baby, but we're happy and hoping for a healthy baby and pregnancy. Thankfully, we won't have to worry about finding a larger place because we qualify for a 3 or 4 bedroom house on base now. We'll be moving again as soon as one opens up. Weird, moving only after living somewhere for 6 months...oh well, part of military life I guess.

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Oh, and how could I have forgotten to mention: I met JessicaJane on Etsy over a year ago, and we've been talking regularly online and texting for a while. Her husband recently got stationed at the same base as mine, so we finally met in person! It's weird, how I was super nervous on my way to her house, but once I got there it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought. It just felt like reuniting with an old friend. I guess it helped since we talked online so I already knew what to expect from her. It's such a wonderful treat to not only meet someone as talented as Jessica in person, but to finally get to hangout with someone who is a Marine wife like me, artsy, and business owner! I finally feel like I've met someone that has the qualities I've been really missing in a friend, and it's a great feeling.

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This Saturday, Jessica and I are driving up to L.A. to meet Danni from Oh, Hello Friend! I've only talked to her online, so this will be exciting too! If you haven't already, you should really check out Danni's blog. It's wonderful, pretty, cute, inspirational...a very addictive read! :)

Sorry for the long long blog post, but it's been a while and I guess I had a lot to get off my chest.

Happy friday

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xoxo valerie