Morning folks.

So, I have been perusing through the runnersworld and trifuel websites, and absolutely agonizing over how I can't swim, bike, and run like I want to! Bah! I cannot wait to start increasing my fitness once again. I swam 1000 yards yesterday, and will probably just do 500-700 today. Hopefully it will make my arms look super svelt, bc we know other parts of me aren't! These days I am burning just as many calories swimming as I am running, simply due to the fact that I run so slow now. At my old pace, I would be burning way more. However, if I just stay in the pool for 30-45 min now I burn just as many. Running typically burns WAY more calories than any other sport, but I guess being pregnant and slogging along while I run isn't really doing too much for me. If anything, I just get out there once a week now so I remember what it feels like to run. Loooove swimming, though. It makes me feel active and happy.

Pregnancy related ~ I am just on cruise control! I see my doc in a week, then every 2 weeks and then every 1 week from here on out. Things are just sailing along, nothing bad to report. Logan has been rolling around all day, and tends to "sleep" at night. I hope this is the pattern he has when he is out in the world! I'm storing fat in my rear, though. Oh well, guess I have to keep the fat cells somewhere...boooo.

Okay, and for the fave Etsy item of the day!! I have been wanting some cool pottery for my house - bowl, vase, anything - so I found these CUTE vases on Etsy from jjceramics shop. The vases can be seen here. They are tall and skinny with a glaze finish. They would look totally cute with just one or two flowers in them on my kitchen table, sitting on a linen tablecloth. The shop has really cute and creative things in it, so if you are into pottery have a look!


Tiled Mug - now that's a tall cup of joe!

Happy Memorial Day!

Gooood morning! I have been really messing around with my blog, so it may look a little different. Also, my featured Etsy seller for the week is in the sidebar to the right - what a fantastic shop! I will be doing a weekly feature of an Etsy shop and will get it posted either Sunday or Monday of each week. This weeks featured shop drew me in with the soaps! I will definitely be buying some skin care from the shop - take a look here. They have soaks, oils, creams, you name it. At a great price, too! After looking through this shop and many others, it is safe to say I will probably buy most of my soaps/skin care off of Etsy from now on. No more store-bought junk with chemicals. Since I started making and using my own soap, I have noticed a huge change in my skin. Any irritation I had went away, and it is overall smoother and softer. Plus you feel special using pretty soap ;-). My current favorite face soap is the lavender soap I made (pictured).

I got ZERO sleep last night. Yesterday I jogged/walked three miles and biked for 20 min, then helped Mike in the yard and clean out the garage. My back was in so much pain I just couldn't get comfy. Slept on the couch, booo, and woke up at about 5:30AM when he went to work. Grrr. I soo want to take a nap but I am meeting people to go swimming soon...maybe I'll just lounge around and read my book and splash in the water, rather than swim laps. Sounds nice, it's a gorgeous day out today.

I snapped more pictures of some new jewelry this morning so I will list those this afternoon, and I started working on a mosaic mirror as well. Not sure if I will keep it for myself or list it in my shop. We'll see how it comes out.

Time to rouse myself and get to the pool. Yeah, will definitely plan on just sitting on my butt!

I tend to post pictures of items I like, SOOO I decided I will do a regular "Favorite" for each post I do...today I found this printed french market bag that I LOVE. I love bright colors and this bag just jumps out at you. You could use it for anything...beach bag, shopping bag, purse...whatever. The picture is below, and click here to get to the Etsy seller's shop!

I have insomnia, again.

Ugh. Uugggh. I have this issue lately where I just can't go to sleep at night. Hubby passes out (as usual), and I get up and pace around, drink some water, play online, watch tv...bleh. I mean, I am exhausted, yes, but I just can't fall asleep. Plus little man is booting me from the inside like no other. Oh well. I don't mind that much, actually, because it gives me some time to just chill and relax with no other tasks awaiting me. I was just sitting in bed reading, looked down to see my belly move around, and just couldn't believe that my stomach has actually gotten THAT big. The fact that it is capable of doing that boggles my mind. Then I think, wow that thing is really stretched out, can't WAIT to see what it looks like when the baby isn't even IN there anymore. THAT is a whole differen't story. Tummy tuck any one? Just kidding, I would probably never do that. I just hope I "bounce back" relatively quickly.

Still trying to keep up this gym thing. This week was kind of lame, I had zero motivation. I still went, did skip a day, though. No running, just eliptical and bike. I rarely run more than once a week now. It is just uncomfortable and I feel like I am going to pee all over the place. So, I can still jog which makes me happy. If I can run at this weight, I have absolutely NO excuse to fly when I get back down to a normal weight. They say after women have children they can become better runners (for various reasons that I am not sure of at this moment). SO hope that is true. I am super pumped to work out at a decent intensity again...I crave it...I miss it. I am no "exerciser". I train. For the sheer joy of it (I like pain?).

Happy Friday night all, until next time. Some red "thingies" below!!! Just for fun...

Work, work all day long!

Today I headed to the BEAD shop, picked up a few new findings and other "necessities" and headed home to WORK. I designed several new pairs of earrings, got some new ideas for a couple bracelets, photographed some new items, listed them on Etsy and worked SUPER hard on devising good descriptions, promoted in the forums, re-listed some things...and then did laundry and cleaned the kitchen in the middle of all this. I'm still sort of poking around Etsy promoting myself, reading up on articles...but it is soon time for me to make some din din, fold up the last basket of laundry, and **sigh** maybe make the soap I meant to do today? Grrrr. I TOTALLY missed my yoga class...too busy to drive all the way down to the gym. So I will probably just pop in a video here at home and do some "relaxing" of my own. Lord knows I should...I have a hard time focusing lately, though. Instead of focusing on my breath during yoga, I focus on Logan rolling around in my belly, making one side stick up...it's like helloooo I am trying to relax here and you choose now to wake up? And he's not even out yet...oh sheesh.

So I came up with this AWESOME new idea. I am designing a new line for my shop. TripleL Chakra Collection. Chakra's different colors all mean something different...and I think it is a fantastic idea to create jewelry out of these different colors. People can choose whichever color speaks to them at the moment and wear that jewelry! It's extremely inspiring and spiritual, and I believe in it. Yellow = optimistic, alert, confident...great color to sport when you want to portray a good-humored aura. Green = compassion and generosity. Is that why I love green so much? ;-) Anyway, my shop has new Chakra Collection items up, and more will be coming soon, so take a look! Just go here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7296013

I also listed new soaps! So browse through those as well!

My fave TripleL Chakras so far are the ones pictured above.

Boy, Logan has not stopped moving all DAY. I definitely am guilty of going through the baby stuff on Etsy - so many cute things out there! As this last trimester draws to a close, I may have to buy some little goodies. I have been really good about NOT doing that, as we have gotten a ton of stuff from friends. But...I want to choose some things myself! The blanket category gets me every time, I LOVE handmade blankies! I came across this one: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24124582

Adorable! Perfect for a little guy! So, props to snugabugblankets, what a cute little Etsy shop!

Soooo it's about that time, must make dinner now. Before I get the "what's for suppah?!" question. Haha.

Weary Wednesday

Goood morning all. Or is it afternoon? I have been up forever because I just couldn't sleep. Hardly slept last night. SO tired right now. Eyes are all swollen and blaaahhh. Ugh. Anyway.

Here are some posted pictures of my soap, and a new necklace. I am finally going to list my soap in my Etsy shop, it has just been a long time coming. I am hesitant to put my lotion up there...I will make some more then think about it. I have been using my face lotion with spearmint, avocado, cucumber, shea butter, and lavender...and so far I really like it! Spearmint is amazing for refining pores, and I could always use refined pores ;-) The shea butter and avocado oil is great for moisturizing...really absorbs into the skin. And here in New Mexico it is SO dry that I can use all the moisture I can get. I'll continue to use the face lotion and body lotion and then I'll get them up on Etsy!

I love the pendant necklace...it kind of has an earthy feel to it. Plus, I love the red. Hopefully other people will too!


~~Today I need to go grocery shopping, continue getting prepared for the craft sale next weekend, finish the laundry, make that apple pie I've been meaning to bake, and do some sort of workout (a swim, maybe?) Really wish my eyes weren't ready to close up on me...~~

Have a wonderful Wednesday all! I'll perk up tomorrow :-)

Just another Monday

So before I clean up and head to the library then gym...I figured I'd pop in and sayyyy hellooooo.

OMG - yesterday I was like a walking zombie. Friday night and Saturday night I got about 5-6 hours sleep each, which these days is just not sufficient. I made soap, lotion and packaged it Saturday morning while Mike was on an 11 mile run, and then we went to Lowe's to pick up stuff, came back and waterproofed the new tile in the bathroom, then went down to Old Town so I could hit up a couple bead shops. I got some great, pretty beads! It was weird, one of the shops was absolutely packed with people, a few from out of state and so they were taking their time picking out things they needed. Some Texans in front of me in line took about 20 min to check out. Mike was a good boy, though, and waited outside and checked out a couple stores while I milled around.

Then we went to St. Claire's winery and had some gnoshes and appetizers before we went to our friends' house for dinner. I was exhausted by the time we made it home.

Yesterday we got up at 5:30 AM so Mike could get to Santa Fe for the century ride, but he just rode the 50 miles instead of the 100...and then we hung around the plaza, I got a pretty turquoise and sterling silver ring from one of the vendors out on the street. It is beautiful! She sold it to us for 20 bucks instead of 25 which was nice. We came home...took a nap (I ended up doing things on Etsy, though. I really should have napped). Then we went to see a movie. By the end of the day I was a slug, carrying my huge self around, being whiney, UGH. Totally worthless!

Good weekend but sooo tiring for me. Bottom line is I need more sleep than that to function and be a happy pregnant lady. Only 7 weeks of being huge! I hope it doesn't drag by. Things have been moving along quickly, though, so I have a feeling that the rest will fly by. Crossing my fingers!

~~~ At the bead shops I bought some Opalite - which I think is a beautiful stone. Not sure what I will do with it yet, but now I have it to play with! I also got some freshwater pearls. I love how they are all unique in their shape. I bought a bunch of other semi-precious gems so I am super excited to see what I can make out of them. ~~~

Fabulous Friday!

What a great day outside here in New Mexico! Sunny and blue skies! The little guy in my belly has been squirming all day ;-). He must know it's lovely out.

So I am in the midst of making soap, making labels, making earring hang tags, and packaging soap right now. Yikes. My kitchen looks like a science lab. I REALLY wish I had a HUGE workspace for myself! My jewelry corner is just fine and relatively organized (a corner is all I get in our house, I think we need a bigger house). As for making soap and lotions and body products? Not so much. I can't just leave it out of course, I can't make dinner next to melting oils and such?! Booo.

I made some new jewelry, a bracelet in particular that I love. (in the picture) I still don't have my soap on Etsy yet, that is happening soon. I am trying to sell it locally as of right now, but I think Etsy is calling it! All day I have agonized over packaging. It needs to look pretty, right?! I love pretty packaging personally - even a little band that covers the soap is good enough. (such as in picture). I will get some shots of my packaged soap and post 'em up here soon to see what you all think. Ya know, if they look alright! I love your feedback!

It is off to finish my work (finish? okay...just continue I guess...) Have a wonderful Friday and weekend and see you back in a couple days!