Antique and Thrift Stores

I love finding treasures. The past couple of years, I took an interest in finding cool stuff in antique and thrift stores. Yesterday was a lil rainy and cloudy, so the kiddos and I went to the Antique store. Matthias and I went a while back, it was his first time going and he absolutely loved it. He was excited on the way there. Arabella on the other hand never been before and mysteriously "didnt feel good" as soon as we got there.

I loved this 1950's vintage dress with this hat. I wanted to get it so bad, but we were only looking today.

I fell in love with this lavender living room set. hahahaha There was alot more stuff this time around than before especially furniture. I was also surprised how crowded it was, normally its so quiet and usually barely any kids are there.

Matti ran into the camera as I was admiring the table behind him

I have had my eye on this for a long time and she wont sell it...its for "display only" I HATE THIS!!!!!!


Matthias thought this was sooo cool. Do you remember these? I used to have a red one!
Vintage sewing kit I found

Look at this adorable kids chaise lounge!!!!!

Humungo Pirate ship!!!!
Old Schooldesk, it matched his Captain America Shield

For some weird reason I love this white and blue chair and the painting on the wall.
The kiddos went to their sisters birthday party, and I got an oil change and then cruised over to a few thrift store. I found a few things.


Photobucket I love the star print shirt and the glittery striped shirt. The patterns are for Bella so I can teach her how to sew. She is so excited for me to teach her. I found this super hero picture frame for Matthias and then these two angel wall decorations that I plan on repainting here soon. Maybe a DIY project.

What kind of treaures do you find when you go to antique and thrift stores? Anything awesome, weird or cool?

Wiggin Out

Wiggin Out Yellow
I went back to work this past friday. Im doing better, but I have to take motrin for the pain. My body is recovering, still achey and my hormones are all out of wack. But it was good to go back even though it is for one day. (Im off on the weekends) Friday are a lil low key, not all employees work on Friday, so I didnt feel so overwhelmed. 

When I walked in, almost everyone was wearing Wigs! I found out it was "Wiggin Out Friday". So, to join in the fun, I grabbed a few wigs and snapped a few pics! haha

Wiggin Out Alien


Wiggin Out 2

I think I love the blue and green bob wig! It was less hot to wear than the other wigs I had on. hahaha

Wiggin Out I also worked on customizing 18 pairs of heels! Yes! 18 pairs! It takes a lil while, so of course I am doing one at a time. Here is the first set of shoes I did for a client. They were alot of fun to make! Purple and black rhinestones with black and purple feathers.





Im working on the next set of heels this week, it is American Flag inspired. Perfect for 4th Of July coming soon in the next few months.

At Xotic Eyes, we are starting to do more custom work. In the works now are plans for "Glitter and Rhinestone" Parties where you and your family or friends can come in and customize something whether its a pair of shoes, wine bottles, picture frames or whatever your hearts desire that isnt too monstrously big. haha I cant wait to do one, I know the kiddos would love it! What do you think? Would you want to do something cool like that? Leave a comment below!



Grab MY Button

While recovering today, I decided I needed to tweak my blog and put some more lovin' into it. Many bloggers that I follow or read have buttons on their pages. I wanted to get one for my page so anyone could link me to their blog or whatever they wanted to use it for.

It took me a while to find a tutorial that I understood. I am not a coder or a computer whiz. I mean, I get by with what I know. I wish I wouldve finished my graphic design degree then I would know ALOT more. hahaha  Here is a link of the tutorial I found the best to describe how to make a button.



I found this site and instructions super easy. I ended up setting up a FLICKR so I can have another site host besides Blogger, which I think goes through Picasa? I cant remember. It took me awhile to understand some of it, but I  think because her examples were color-coded, it helped alot because I am more of a visual learner!

The photo-editing software I use is Corel Paint Shop Pro, since I cannot afford Photoshop, this is almost next to best and I find it easier to use than Photoshop. Its been awhile since I used PS anyways since 2009 when I attended The Art Institute of Colorado in Denver. Man, I miss that school!

Here is the button I created for my blog. What do you think? Not bad huh? And if you are looking for cool, FREE Fonts, I got mine at http://www.fontspace.com. They are easy to download, all you do is unzip the file, then copy and paste it into your fonts and use it in your editing software!

IMG_20111219_145324
Sweet Surrender Art

And Max California, if you are reading this, I totally was inspired by you to make a button for my page and I put one up for your page for my readers too! Thanks for being supportive with what I am going through! If you are a creative person and love to do DIY projects, check out her page! She is awesome!

I hope this helped you or anyone else reading this on how to make a grab button for your blog! I had fun making this for mine! Feel free to grab and share!




New Blog Design

Since I am at home, resting and healing. Theres not much more I can do in bed besides sleep and after hours of reading other blogs and surfin Pintrest, I decided it was time to redo my blog design. Its been awhile since I have updated it. I didnt really have the patience to design my blog banner like I did the past few designs. So I chose a template from this website:  http://btemplates.com/

It was pretty easy to do, eacxh template is different. I found quite a few I liked, so I downloaded them for future use. OH yea! Did I mention these templates are FREE? yes. I said it FREE! Such a rare thing!

I have a thing about stars and the color blue, so when I came across this NIGHT SKY theme, I had to use it.  It is similiar to these photos below I used in my last design.





I dont even remember where I got these images, but I just love it. I love how big the sky looks with its clouds and stars and the moon. It almost reminds me when I was deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq and how the stars looked over there. That was about the ONLY peaceful thing about being over there.

I plan on eventually switching to WordPress soon sometime this year, but with everything going on, that is just on the back burner for right now. I am pleased on how this templete worked out. I did have to tweak some of my widgets and get rid of some. One thing I do not like is that I cant really choose the way my layout is.

Try it out or google some other free blogger template, but this website isnt bad at all. Try it and add some life to your blog!


TWIN ANGELS

This post may be a lil too personal but I wnted to post this anyways to release what I am feeling. Last Sunday, my husband and I learned that I was pregnant. If you are a usual reader, you already knew that by my posts the past week.


I sadly had a miscarriage this morning. The past 5 days I was bleeding and cramping really bad. I went to the ER and the clinic about 5 times in the past few days. I kind of got the run around and I wasnt getting any answers and I knew something was wrong. My other two pregnancies were not like this and the pain was different, it felt like I was in labor.


I passed two very large sacs, indicating that I had twins. This morning I passed the first small sac. Then half an hour later, I passed the second. My husband and I had a hunch that I was going to have twins, along did my brother and sister. My body had shown so fast preparing for the babies to grow. There are twins on every side of my family: my dad's, my mom's and on Jermie's side too. Its not comforting that we lost them, but it is somewhat good to know that we can get pregnant and we can have twins. As crazy as that may seem, we want twins.


I found a blog dedicated for women who have had this same experience with twin miscarriages. I read so many stories and cried along with them for their babies and our own.You can check out the blog here at Hope in Miscarriage. I took comfort and peace knowing I am not the only one going through this. I am sad but I am strong. I believe everything happens for a reason and that God has a different plan. Im ok with this. My husband and I are sad, but we will get through this together. We are just thankful that we can have children and that twins are possible in the family. We are planning on getting twin matching tattoos-something to symbolize them so we can remember this experience and grow from it.


If anybody you know is going through a miscarriage or a loss of a child during pregnancy or after given birth and the child has passed, there is an website you can visit where a photographer will write your child's name in the sand and photograph it during a sunset. She suffered a loss as well and begun taking pictures to help love and remember those whom we have lost. Her website is http://carlymarieprojectheal.com/  I think this is an awesome healing project and there are many links you can go to from her page.Her photography is simply breathtaking just go see her site.


I do not want anyone to be sad for me or for my husband. My husband thinks I shouldnt post this, but the way I feel about it is I have to talk about it. Talking about it helps me to process what is happening. I dont want pity but I want those close to me or who feel a connection to me to know what is going on and they can be supportive or not. If you dont know what to say, its ok, dont say anything at all. Just say a small prayer in your heart for all the families, and mother and fathers going through this. I also found a site about what you should NEVER say to a woman who has had a miscarriage. I dont feel this way about what people say, but I can see how some women will be sensitive to it. Check it out Here

I will leave with this poem I thought was so perfect for how I feel.

My Angel

Don't let them say I never lived,
Though something stopped my heart,
I felt the tenderness you gave,
I loved you from the start.

Although my body you can't hold,
It doesn't mean I'm gone,
This world was worthy, not, of me,
God chose that I move on.

I know the pain that drowns your soul,
What you are forced to face,
You have my word, I'll fill your arms,
Someday we will embrace.
You'll hear that it was "meant to be
God doesn't make mistakes",
But that won't soften your worst blow,
Or make your heart not ache.

I'm watching over all you do,
Another child you'll bear,
Believe me when I say to you,
That I am always there.

There'll come a time, I promise you,
When you will hold my hand,
Stroke my face and kiss my lips,
And then you'll understand.

Although I never breathed your air,
Or gazed into your eyes,
That doesn't mean I never "was"
An angel never dies...

Family ZOO Time

Saturday afternoon the kids and I took Jermie to the airport, right now he is out in Arizona visiting his Dad, brother and the rest of his family he hasnt seen in a long time. He's only be gone for two weeks, but I miss him already. haha ok ok, enough lovey sappy-ness.



After the airport, the kids and I decided to take a trip to the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk. The kids recently went on a field trip there and wanted to take me. I havent been there since I nine years old I think. I barely remember it. It was nice to take advantage of the weather because now its rainy and cold!

Im only 6 weeks preggos and Im already showing!
I didnt realize how BIG the zoo was, we did a lot of walking around and I wish I had worn shorts, but I cant fit in any of them!


We saw all sorts of reptiles, birds, lions, giraffes, tigers and all sorts of other animals! We walked and explored gardens and took a train ride around the zoo. The kids were so excited for the train ride.



Arabella and her hat she just had to have from JCPenny's!
I am so thankful I brought my water bottle, I kept having to take lil breaks! We had icecream too which was sooooo yummy!




We wished Jermie couldve been there with us, but he will have to catch the next family outing when he gets back!

This lil momma needs to go to bed, I am going in for my check up and get everything set up with the doctors for this pregnancy!

Giraffes and Ostritches,  your Cecilia Marie XOXOX

Im SEW in Love

A few months back, I blogged about the Singer 160th Anniversary Sewing Machine and how awesome it is. It resembles the vintage black and gold sewing machine but it completly digital and electronic.
(see my original post here)


I came home and didnt even notice a package in the front room until my husband called me downstairs. My hubby was in on the surprise with my dad, I had no idea that he got me this sewing machine! I dont know if it was my pregnancy hormones or my state of shock, but I started crying tears of joy when I saw this box sitting there. 

I havent used it yet, surprisenly, I opened it up and pulled everything out, but with everything going on, I am waiting till things quiet down so I can enjoy it. Arabella was more excited I think to see it, she wants to learn how to sew, and now with another baby on the way, she wants to learn to make baby blankets. How cute!!!

I am thinking about doing some DIY projects on here using my new sewing machine ( which I need to name) hahahaha.

Do you geek out over sewing machines too, or am I the only one?????

DOCTOR Confirmed

I wanted to share this with you the second I found out last week, but I wanted to confirm it with the Doctor. Yep, you guessed it, Im PREGGOS! Im still pretty early, only 6 weeks. This makes #3 for me, but #1 for my hubby. I have to go to the doctors tomorrow or sometime this week to get the ultrasound and get everything started. Its been 6 years since my last pregnancy, so I gotta get caught up on all the new stuff!



Im thinking about starting up again a personal blog for family and baby things so I can keep this blog art, fashion and beauty related. What do you think???

Just a quick update I wanted to share! Thanks for stopping by!

Hot Rod Beach Weekend

The weather this past weekend was so nice! A lil hot but it felt good to feel the sun on my skin! I need a lil bit of vitamin D! Im too pasty for my taste! hahaha The fam and I headed down to the beach before all the tourists come stalking our beaches! We ended up catching a car show, which made hubby practically jump out of his skin in excitement! Matthias and Jermie bonded over all the muscle cars (Jermie is the kids stepdad) so I was so happy that we could all be together!

This was my fav out of all of them! I loved the pinstriping!
Cars were lined up the entire boardwalk. Cars came from mainly up and down the east coast. Matthias's favorite was this souped up camry that had a computer and a playstation 3 in it! It looked so awesome at night!



We went to Dairy Queen and pigged out on icecream! It has sort of become a tradition to go down to the beach on a summer day/evening and lay on the grass overlooking the boardwalk and eat our icecream blizzards fast before they melt into milkshakes.

We even rented one of those bikes that a family can bike together in. I gotta say its been a while since I even rode a bike let alone a bigger bike like this! But I have always wanted to ride one and be a tourist in my own city! The kids rode up front and Jermie and I peddled our hearts out trying to beat all the other people on the bike path.




The kids love coming to the beach and looking up at the big Neptune statue! They always throw their socks and shoes off and go running to the beach to dip their feet in the water and throw sand at  the waves!




Burying our toes! Matti looks so mad, he didnt want me to take pictures
Once the sun went down, we went to one of the carnivals that is set up at the beach. The kiddos won a few prizes and Jermie tried his hardest to climb this rockwall to win $100. He didnt get it, but it was funny to watch him try to climb the wall like Spiderman.

"In truth a family is what you make it. It is made strong, not by number of heads counted at the dinner table, but by the rituals you help family members create, by the memories you share, by the commitment of time, caring, and love you show to one another, and by the hopes for the future you have as individuals and as a unit." Marge Kennedy