Last minute schedule change… I’m going to be assisting the great Jet Set today at the Salt Lake Tribune Home + Garden Festival Cupcake Competition from 2-3pm today at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah. My man and I went last night (the parking lot was FULL, the place was PACKED) and put aside FREE-ENTRY TICKETS for four of my Lucky Red Hen fans!
Want one (two, three or four)? Leave a comment specifying how many you would use (today 10a-10p or tomorrow 11a-6p) and I’ll put your name(s) on the first four to pick-up at Will Call. (Hurry, because I will be leaving in a few hours and won’t be able to check my comments while I’m cupcaking!)
On to my hair. It might look different during cupcake assisting today… we’ll see!
I want to look as gorgeous as my sweet friend Mama Leisha
(even when she makes funny faces she’s still beautiful)…
And my cut looked like hers, but didn’t act like hers (bangs made me sweaty)…
Even with the bangs shoved away, sweat still happened so I decided to whack it…
by myself, in the mirror (you know that thing REVERSES the image?!?)…
which resulted in several accidental cuts of my FLESH instead of HAIR…
and a messy mess all over the bathroom (I’m one person,
why do I have so many scissors out for my hair?)
The day after my solo hair cut, it looked like a duck butt
when I took a pic with Studio 5’s Brooke Walker.
P.S. I don’t want to look like a duck butt.
But remember, I don’t know how to cut my own hair so no laughing!
Then I got a wild hair/hare to go platinum.
Luckily yours truly was smart enough to go to a professional.
Sitting in the bleach stings. But NO PAIN, NO GAIN, right?!?
Then under the dryer makes it hot stinging…
But Brooke and her Blue Steele face made the pain worth it.
This is my chop job before, and Brooke’s fix and style after.
If I want, I can resemble The Incredibles villain, Syndrome…
But it really doesn’t matter what it looks like, right? We’ve all looked at someone’s hair and thought, “Hmm, I don’t like it.”
So what if I don’t like how you do your hair, what you wear, or the other choices you make? As long as it’s not hurting or affecting someone else, it is not my business. Unless you ask for my opinion, I should say something nice or keep it to myself. Do you agree or am I way off base?
The other day on The Talk, Sheryl Underwood ripped off her wig (man her wigs are cool) and I shouted HOORAY! Good for her to be transparent and real about her beauty. That moment was my confirmation that I’m not the only one who feels comfortable enough to not care what other people think of how I dress, what my hair looks like, and the choices I make. I’d rather dress comfortably and not worry if my hair doesn’t look amazing.
Moral of the story: be yourself, do good things, and worry not about the opinion of others.
My cute friend at Entirely Eventful thought it’d be nifty to share the same artwork with other blogging friends to see what craftiness we’d come up with and share it with you! Lucky you, right?
Who doesn’t like getting personally written love in their postal box? NOBODY, that’s who.
Designed in Illustrator (I’m still practicing) into 4 x 6 sized post cards, these little guys want to rush through the post office system from your heart to another’s.
Want one? Leave a comment at the end of this post and I’ll pick someone to receive a love note from ME :) Yay!
(You guys, I hope SOMEONE wants one and comments. At least ONE person, huh?)
Want to make your own? Download the following PDF file and print to your hearts desire! It’s all ready to be sent to your favorite printer so they can lovingly (I hope they’re gentle) apply the design to a 28 x 22 white poster board as many times as you want. Then you’ll cut, round the corners if you want, add some love notes, address it, stamp it with a postcard stamp (as of today it’s just 33 cents), and stick it in the mailbox. Easy peasy, lemon squeazy!
I often get asked where Lucky Red Hen came from and wish I had a fun story to tell.
The process of elimination was grueling. My actual name is already taken by a comedic actress and an accessory to a murder (two different people, not a murdering actress), so using my name was out.
Two-word phrases that I liked were already taken, so I moved on to three and made sure they didn’t come up in existing searches online. Do a Google search for “Lucky Red Hen” and I’m all that comes up for pages and pages…
Although I don’t believe in being LUCKY, per se, I like the word a lot (obviously). Being ‘blessed’ is the alternative term, but there is no way I’m going to use that word in my description/logo. {shiver}
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
– Thomas Jefferson
“Life is not easy. We all have problems-even tragedies-to deal with, and luck has nothing to do with it. Bad luck is only the superstitious excuse for those who don’t have the wit to deal with the problems of life.” – Joan Lowery Nixon, In The Face of Danger
RED is a powerful color, and known in China to be lucky. Traditionally, a red envelope is given as a gift is about 2.5 x 4 inches, are often printed with metallic gold ink with a picture of a lucky thing (such as carp, peonies, Zodiac animal or Chinese characters for positive thoughts/wishes) and should contain an even amount of money, avoiding the number four (which pronounced sounds like the Chinese word for ‘death’). You are welcome to send me a money-filled red envelope; click on the red envelope in the upper right corner for my address. P.S. Avoid giving a Chinese person money in a white envelope because they are believed to be unlucky.
My first eBay purchase years ago was a 42′ wooden rooster from Africa and it’s usually the first thing newcomers to our home comment on (the thing is seriously HUGE), but I’m not a guy so I adapted to use HEN instead of rooster. The rooster is a symbol of vigilance, courage, trust, bravery, and a good omen. To U.S. Christians it signifies the Passion of Christ. Jesus predicted Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed the following morning, which he did.
All three words are easy to pronounce, spell, read, and comprehend; which is important when coming up with a business name. Some people think LITTLE Red Hen instead, which is forgivable, because at least it’s not FAT Red Hen. Am I right?
THE GIVEAWAY! The neat folks at www.VeryJane.com have fun stuff at discounted prices every day for your shopping pleasure. Since it’s the season for giving (when isn’t it a good time to give?), they gave me a RED bubble necklace to giveaway to one of my LUCKY readers!
If you want it (for yourself or to give as a gift), leave a comment at the end of this post. Want more luck? I want more readers! Share this post with your Facebook and/or Twitter friends for an extra entry each (leave another comment for each). The winner will be announced next Monday (since it is a U.S. holiday and busy weekend), so you have plenty of time to spread the word!
Incredible lighting on this portrait, yes? This was in my empty living room after we’d moved back to Seattle and were trying to sell our house. Luckily, it didn’t sell so we could rent it for several years and move back to this beautiful light! Maybe you think it’s silly I get excited over light, but when you have great lighting the photos almost take themselves.
Because of this yummy light situation, I’m toying with the idea of shooting head shots for some kizzash, moolah, dough, but mostly, cash ;)
$100… 10 minutes, 1 web file, 1 print
$200… 30 minutes, one clothing change, 3-5 high res + web files, 5 prints
$40 non-refundable prepayment to reserve your session that goes toward your package price (unless you don’t show up, then I keep it). The remaining balance is due at your session.
Want a deal? Okay! Reserve your session back-to-back with a friend, come together to my house in Utah Valley, and you both save $20! Depending on where you eat, that’s worth a free dinner or two lunches.
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment on this post for your chance to win a FREE 10 minute head shot package (or you can put the $100 value toward the bigger package). Winner must be able to come to my Utah Valley home.
My husband suggested we take the kids down to Las Vegas.
Images of drive-by boobies and booties (stripper ads on top of the taxi cabs); inappropro text on t-shirts, g-strings, and shot glasses; and the creepy sidewalk card clickers flashed through my head.
He insisted there’s plenty kid-friendly activities in Las Vegas, we just have to look for them. After scouring endless Google suggestions, we settled on the seven following activities (Get it? Seven is a lucky number!):
[something’s wonky with the picture captions, forgive me]
1. Circus Circus for one night because it was supah cheap (I want to say $25/night). But, folks, you get what you pay for; it was gross and I don’t recommend it (unless, of course, you like gross). Parking is confusing and getting around the place isn’t easy. Checking in with an English-is-my-second-language clerk was frustrating, even though he was very nice (as far as we could understand; maybe he wasn’t but we couldn’t tell). We waited 20 minutes in the stinky hall for a replacement room on a different floor that had chunks of drywall missing from the walls AFTER we were sent to a dirty room. The beds weren’t comfy and the walls are thin. The arcade where kids can play carnival games wasn’t like I remember as a kid. There are random, fun performers throughout the carnival area, and even less people to multi-player against. I so hoped it would be memorable for my kids like it was for me (it was, just not for the same reasons.)
She spied a stuffed animal her sweet friend has and asked me to send a picture to her. (We miss you, Lily!)
2. Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay $18 adult, $12 kids. Look for the round entrance that’s not near the main hotel & casino entrance (it’s to the left around the corner next to a giant parking lot). You may think it’s weird that I’m explaining where the entrance is, but we drove ’round and ’round looking. The one cool thing about asking an old security guard was his accent. I swear he used to be a huge mob boss and is using the mall-cop job as a cover up. He was adorable (so maybe drive around a bit and maybe you will run into him and enjoy listening to him give you directions.) It’s smaller than you think it’d be, but well done. You get to cruise through a tube surrounded by swimming creatures, mostly sharks. We liked the gift shop where the kids selected a reasonably priced stuffed animal skin and got to watch them stuff it.
The kids had their own camera devices and had a blast taking pictures of all the cool stuff they saw.
3. The Bellagio (super expensive hotel and casino) has several free things to see. The outdoor fountains, visible as you drive by, erupt to music and lights every 1/2 hour or 15 minutes depending on the day/time (I’ve added a video at the end of this post so you can see a snippet for yourself). Inside the main entrance above the lobby is the colorful ceiling of blown glass by Dale Chihuly (shout out to the fellow Seattleite, WOOT) and just beyond that space is the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens that changes theme with the seasons (by one hundred and forty (!) expert horticulturists). Down the hall to the left is a chocolate fountain wall at Cafe Gelato where they serve delicious frozen treats (and crepes, meh). We like to take our treats down past the water wall at Sensi (exquisite dining, but not too stuffy) where there are small seating spots.
Inside the Bellagio Botanical Garden Exhibit and the GIANT SWAN!
He saw the orange watch in the window and wanted to know how much it is (the kids had spending money). So I kindly asked a salesperson if she’d tell him about the watch and how much it costs. It was a wee bit out of his price range. You should take a guess and leave it in the comment section :) I’ll send something to the person who gets closest without going over.
The chocolate fountain down the hall from the Botanical Garden exhibit.
This work of art is made up of live flowers and plants (much more amazing in person, I love all the picture taking.)
4. The Blue Man Group was highly entertaining (and family friendly) for our kids. Next time I’d like to see one of the Cirque du Soleil shows (check out the O preview here). If you know a local Las Vegasite that is willing to pre-purchase your tickets for you, you’ll save about 1/2 price (thanks, CB!)
5. The Aliante Station Hotel is waaay off the strip (NW Las Vegas) and totally worth the drive and the extra room rate. It was as if we had the place to ourselves, the pool was deserted (and clean), and the accommodations were top notch. The buffet is VERY nicely done and reasonably priced for breakfast, or sign up for their Player’s Club (it’s free) and you get two breakfasts free each day (I think; don’t quote me on that, so check first). They have other specials that make it worth the few minute extra drive and getting off The Strip calmed my overprotective motherly nerves ;)
Breakfast buffet at the Aliante Station Hotel is delicious, nicely decorated, staffed with friendly servers, and includes reading material for you to stay current on world events.
6. Have wonderful friends to visit, play in their pool, enjoy a meal together, and lounge in their back yard oasis while your kids entertain each other. Alright, maybe you can’t fulfill this one. Maybe you should MAKE a friend who lives in Las Vegas so you can :D
7. And the piece de resistance… El Dorado Canyon Tours at the historic Techatticup Gold Mine that’s 45 minutes outside of Vegas. You must call ahead to reserve a spot for the one-hour tour: 4 person minimum (can be combined with other groups/people), adults $12.50, kids <12 $7.50, open seven days a week. Other than the Blue Man Group, which was pretty amazing for kids, this was the favorite activity. Billy, our tour guide, is well-informed on the folklore and history of the mine (and his mustache is for reals, not a fad). Several movies were filmed in the area, leaving parts of the set (like a half-crashed plane) on site for photo ops! As a side note: use the restroom inside the main building for several laughs (and see if you catch the typo).
[This activity was so awesome that I’m saving photos for a separate post dedicated to the mine COMING SOON!]
The trip was complete with a chance encounter with Spongebob Squarepants (in a smokey casino, of course.)
AN EXTRA TIP: If you’re driving to Las Vegas via I-15 southbound (out of the Salt Lake City area), swing into Sonny Boy’s Barbecue in Cedar City for my favorite (I just salivated thinking about it)… Fried Cauliflower. Their BBQ is delicious, too, but the cauliflower… OH BOY!
P.S. Don’t forget to leave your guess of how much the orange watch costs!
This ALMOST became a gift for a far away friend. A Texas themed armadillo stapler! But we decided to just take a picture of it instead. Aren’t we nice? :)
Around here, the birthday person picks whatever dessert their heart desires… hot fudge sundae with sprinkles, bananas and whipped cream (in a can).
The birthday boy hoped for a box from Amazon.com arriving ON his birthday, and that’s EXACTLY what he got (with something inside, of course)! See his excitement over a BOX?!?
And today we get to announce another Giveaway winner! Woot woot! Another gift giving :) My internet was down this morning, so this should’ve happened sooner (sorry about the delay). With only two entries (where my people at?) the odds were high (better than the lottery, that’s for sure)… 50% chance of winning :)
* TIFFANY *
Send me an email to claim your Nie Nie Dialogues Calendar PRIZE! Wee!
After getting my zombie post all typed up, photos added, and ABC checked (isn’t that cuter than “spell”?), I realized it was TOO HEAVY to post on such a light holiday, especially with the NieNie Dialogues Calendar giveaway. But the good news is that I already have a full post ready with photos and stories!
Saturday we braved the crummy Seattle weather to beach comb for the Conversation Love Rocks, um, rocks (I couldn’t just say Rocks rocks, could I?) Traffic was a BEAST (pouring rain, even though Seattle is used to it, isn’t fun to drive through, and being a passenger in it is stressful) and I-520, the floating bridge, was packed as cars slowed because of the gusts of wind that made the bridge sway and threw water onto the eastbound traffic.
The calm north end of the lake vs. the choppy south side never ceases to amaze me. Rarely is the scene on each side the same, smooth calm. When it is, you’ll see kayaks, paddle boards, row boats, and standing surf paddling.
Luckily the rain let up long enough for us to find the rocks the kids needed for their Valentine’s. The far end of the beach area had lots for us to choose from as well as barnacled stones to inspect, giant climbing boulders, and photo ops.
Our time spent at the beach was little, so we hope to go more often when the weather is more comfortable for hanging out on the sand and in the water. Hopefully that will be sooner than later.
MONDAY GIVEAWAY! How about this week we giveaway NieNie’s 2011 Wall Calendar?!? Yay! I ended up with an extra calendar, so I’ll pass along my goof ;) If you don’t already have a 2011 calendar or want another, leave a comment to this post telling me what your FAVORITE MONTH is! Mine is October, because I dig fall and Halloween. Here’s a photo of the actual calendar (and shipping envelope). This will be shipping from a Seattle, WA, USA area post office, so make sure I can ship it to you for under 5 bucks, ok? I don’t have advertisers or sponsors paying for shipping. This is coming from my sweet little home (and wallet) to yours :) Winner will be announced Thursday and with the this Saturday night as the deadline to claim the prize or another winner will be chosen (so come back, mkay?)
Oh! how I love to happen upon a blog that brings me joy! That’s how I found Color Me Katie (fun, colorful, happenings that she creates in her city and photographs to share), Another Lunch (think Bento box for kidlets) and Michael Naples (complicatedly simple still life small paintings almost daily).
[We announce the Monday Giveaway winner today, at the end of this post!]
Today’s side track brought me quickish, kidlet-friendly projects at Red Bird Crafts as well as a brief heart warming read about her Nanny Ruth’s legacy. Wish I was as diligent as Ruth about documenting life so that one day it may be a treasure to those who read it. Some day, perhaps. [sigh]
When I saw her Conversation Love Rocks post, I just KNEW my daughter might want to make them instead of the Dr. Seuss Valentine’s in a Box we were going to buy. Surprise to me when my 11 year old son wanted to make them too! Psst, parents/friends at my kidlets school, please don’t spoil their Valentine surprise, mkaythanks :)
Our plan is to hunt for the perfect rocks this Saturday. My kidlets have already decided on what fabric they want to use for this friend and that friend. The 7yo has been creating poems, too! [squeal, she’s really good at it, but even if she wasn’t it’d still be precious!]
Thanks to our quilty neighbor down the street, Laura, for giving us free range on your scrap stash!
[Side note: Laura and I were at a service project Tuesday night, making lap quilts for some assisted-living elderly folks, when she tried laughing at me for stock piling the scraps. In my defense, we needed some big enough pieces to hand embroider each recipients name to make labels/tags for the quilts… but I DO love me little pieces of fabric/paper swatches. When we got down to it, she admitted that she, too, keeps little bits, figuring that one day she’ll sew them to each other to make a true Scrap Quilt. She offered to let us come pilfer through her stash whenever we want!]
And now, on to our Monday Giveaway winner of Elena’s 3-Day Green Smoothie eGuide is…
wait, I should also mention that
for the next 48 hours (until Saturday afternoon)
my Lucky Red Hen readers can use code 3DGSLUCKY
for 20% off the eGuide in Elena’s store
* AUBREY *
Congratulations, Aubrey! Send me your email (click on the envelope in the upper right of my blog) so Elena can get you your FREE eGUIDE… WOOT! I hope you like the smoothies as much as I do… actually, I’m going to go make one now for an afternoon snacky snack :) On hand I have apples, frozen bananas (always have those in the freezer), frozen blueberries, grapefruit, spinach, hemp seed and aloe juice. I haven’t used grapefruit before, don’t really eat it by itself, but it’s good for me and smells delicious so I’m going to give it a try!
P.S. Need a wall calendar (I remember one year going two months without a wall calendar because I couldn’t find THE PERFECT one; maybe you don’t have one yet or want/need another)? Like reading NieNie Dialogues? Next Monday’s Giveaway is NieNie’s calendar, brand new, never been used, still in celophane wrap in case you want to gift it to someone else! (I happen to have an extra one; this giveaway is in no way endorsed by NieNie or her peeples, in case I need to say that for some reason… and it will be shipped/delivered from me.)
Last minute schedule change… I’m going to be assisting the great Jet Set today at the Salt Lake Tribune Home + Garden Festival Cupcake Competition from 2-3pm today at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah. My man and I went last night (the parking lot was FULL, the place was PACKED) and put aside FREE-ENTRY TICKETS for four of my Lucky Red Hen fans!
