It's my Blogiversary!

Good morning, my wonderful blaaaahg readers!
All your comments and emails have been so thoughtful and flattering.
I'm definitely doing a giveaway!
Ok, here's how it's gonna work: readers have until midnight tonight to leave their comment to this post, my last post, or send me an email.


All the email-ers will be assigned a number and entered into the drawing along with the comment-ers. (Wow that's some bad grammar.)


And as for the PRIZE:

It will be something old, something new, something chocolate, and something you.
Suffice it to say, it will be a Curly prize tailored a bit to the winner.




So there ya go! I will announce the winner and their prizes tomorrow.
Hope everybody has a great day!

One Year, Baby!

Monday is the One-Year Blogiversary of Just A Curl!

Yes, it's been a whole year of the chitlins,


thrifting,



Weight Watchers (well, that's been less than 6 months),
(Remember my mother's day shiner?)

outings,



and of course flowers.


I was going to do a giveaway to promote my etsy shop, but decided just to keep it about my blaaahg friends instead. (I'll do a giveaway later.)

Thank you for wanting to keep up with my small family. I love having a place to share the wonderful, hard, funny, and sometimes gross parts of my life.

So now I want to ask you a favor. I'm not going to post again until Monday, so leave me a comment and just say Hi. If you want to get ambitious you could tell me what your favorite thing to read about on here is or what you'd like to hear more about. I know there are a lot of you who never comment, and that's fine, but you can't blame a girl for being curious about who's out there!
Or, you can go ahead and click "Follow" on the right and you can keep up with my posts via Google Reader (you should check it out if you have gmail-- I love using it!). If you don't want to leave me a comment but still want to say Hi, you can send me an email at cayce.davis@gmail.com. Who knows, I might end up doing a giveaway on Monday after all, and those of you who comment will be entered in the random drawing. ;)

Anyway, the year's been a blast and I'm glad you guys invited me to share it with you!
Here's to the 2nd year of Just A Curl! May it bring new adventures and lots of chocolate flowers!

GoodWill Hunting

Last night I went to Goodwill hoping to pick up a pair of jeans in my new size.
Oh heck, I might as well say it cause y'all know I'm up there. It's a 12, okay?
Anyway, the jeans...
I never look at clothes at thrift stores because it is just too hard, frustrating, and mostly disappointing. They sort by gender and color. I mean, really. I know it's a lot easier for them but when you have a stroller-strapped toddler and an antsy little boy, that's just not something you're even going to attempt. I didn't want to invest a lot of cash in new pants that I would only wear a few months until summer, though, especially because I already have one pair of nice, good-fitting jeans.
So I left after BabyCakes went to bed and began my hunt. (J was of course home with BigBoy.)

Turns out it wasn't so bad. There just simply weren't any jeans in my size.
None.
Nada.

Ninety-nine percent of the hundreds of jeans I looked through were a size 8 and below.

Am I just that much bigger than everyone else? Or are the other sizes just more desired so they get snapped up more quickly? If the majority of Americans are overweight, I have a hard time believing that my community is 99% filled with women under a size 8.

What I ended up learning:

1. Way too many woman have held on to stonewashed jeans for way too long.

2. I never knew there were so many "designer" brands of jeans with rhinestones.

3. It just isn't worth it to me to dig for clothes. I will either wear my one pair I love or go to Target and buy one more pair for a decent price.

In the end I did get a pair of barely-touched Bandolino sandals for this summer and also a piece for my etsy shop, so it wasn't a total bust.

So yeah, I'll thrift with the best of 'em and dig for a "treasure" but stonewashed jeans circa Seinfeld are no treasure to me!

Holy Molars!

Today was supposed to be a peaceful day. The weather was "soupy" as my friend Melissa describes it. It was supposed to be a nice, peaceful day indoors enjoying quiet play and working on chores.



I've often mentioned how content a child BabyCakes usually is.

But then came the molars.


of them, to be exact.
Today she made her final transformation into a Toddlersaurus Rex.


(Funny, I think that's about the same number of teeth her tiny mouth has now. I mean the T-Rex, not the number 4. She has 12 teeth.)
No part of the house was safe.
BigBoy and I just tried to keep all the important things protected.



I really do feel horrible for her. It's so clear that she's miserable.
She's been inconsolable all day, except for a brief nap after lunch. Right now I am typing as fast as possible while I sacrifice yet another "Better Homes and Gardens" in the name of maintaining my blaaaahg. You should feel honored.

(The above photo was added Friday morning but I think her face says it all.)

Uh oh, time's up. She's moving on to the bathroom and there's nothing good that can come out of that.

*I am editing this to add that BabyCakes actually has SIX teeth coming in. I was checking her upper molars this morning (Friday) when I discovered her gums white and bulging where her canines will be. Poor thing...

WW Wednesday

So there's this mom at BigBoy's preschool that's lost 41 pounds -- Oh no wait! That's ME!

Sorry bout the in-your-face jubilation, but come on. I'm a little happy about this. If I'm going to share the ugly weeks, you better believe I'm going to HAPPILY share the wonderful ones. :)
So, yes, I had a loss on the scale this week. A very very nice rebound loss from last week.

Want to know something else? This morning I bought a size Medium pair of pants (the cotton kinda-workout mom-on-the-go kind).

Medium.

Seriously?



Medium. I still can't wrap my head around it. Now granted, that's about the ONLY thing I'm a medium in, and I don't think I'm close to being a mediumish size in jeans, only forgiving cotton pants. (Let's not even discuss my upstairs size issues.)
But I'll take it all the same. :)

I think my success from this last week was adding more activity like fast strolls with the baby and slow strolls to the park with both kids and the neighbors. (Have I mentioned how much I am ready for Spring? Um, yeah. Maybe once or twice.)
I also cut out a lot of the snacking even though I might have eaten a lot of BigBoy's learning our numbers M&M's . Bad mama!.

Mostly I think I just gave myself a break from the pressure and remembered that this is supposed to be something that is GOOD for me. After I let up a bit, I no longer felt the need to be a perfectionist and think "WW=bad/hard/sad, No WW=happiness/freedom."
How I've learned to eat via Weight Watchers HAS given me freedom.



It's a marathon, not a sprint, baby! One bite doesn't determine your next.

Goal for this week: stop making stupid numeric goals for myself. Just make the right choices and if I slip, get right back up. Hopefully the people who read my blaaaahg genuinely care about me, so why should I be concerned that they judge how slow my pace is? Hopefully they/YOU just want me and mine to be happy and healthy, which is all I want for you as well.



As always, thank you SO MUCH to those of you who continue to show your support. Each and every word, action, and prayer is remembered and appreciated, and strengthens me for the rest of my (cringe) journey.

P.S. The random children pics are from this morning. BabyCakes had on one of the sweaters Miss Stacy made her, and of course BigBoy had to get in on the camera action. Gramps insists that a blog isn't really a blaaaahg uness there are baby pics involved.

Little o' this, little o' that...

Today has really felt like a Monday to me. J was home yesterday because of the holiday and BigBoy was home today because it was a teacher workday. It was the usual blur of laundry, wishing Kodi still lived here to clean up BabyCakes' flung food fragments, etsy listings (I made 6 sales this weekend - woot!),




strollering, and Tom & Jerry.
BabyCakes was into everything, as usual. She especially loves digging through the desk drawer, which of course contains nothing she can have.

I have about .05 seconds until I must start dinner/clean the wreckage of the toddler tornado/ unload the dishwasher/ go over words for Speech.

And that fragment of the second is now gone.

See y'all tomorrow for WW Wednesday!

My First Etsy Treasury

'The Serene and Green Traveler' by JustaCurl

Let's go... anywhere.

The Tortoise Shell Aviator S... ampeefyed $23.00	World Traveler Bangle - Irel... kimiko611 $20.00	retro vintage beware pickpoc... buckaroosmerca... $8.95	Soft baby sky blue pashmina ... ClassyWedding $28.00
Vintage Postcard - Convair B... PaperMoChez $3.99	Vintage 1950's German Vo... JustaCurl $45.00	Avignon France vintage postc... PartsForYourAr... $8.00	Vintage Winter Garden Linen... VintageScraps $12.00
Vintage 1938 French Maps Set... VintageScraps $12.00	Round, Vintage, Aqua Soda Bo... JustaCurl $6.00	INTO THE WOODS... Remixed Vi... judythejazzcat $70.00	antique Binolux 7x35 binocul... theartfloozy $39.00
Dew Drop Earrings - Pale Blu... BlueSkyStudios $20.00	8x10 "Fixies" Prin... hellocherie $25.00	Vintage Bird Print ImageSouth $12.00	WATCHES ladies timex and lor... dustylorraine $14.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

Here's my 2 cents, well 2 dollars, anyway

On a recent trip to Payless during their BOGO half off event, I found a pair of shoes (I'm trepidatiously trying wedges for the first time)I wanted and then headed toward the kids section to find my half-off item.
That's when I saw this cute purse. You see, I so rarely have the occasion to be in need of a bag not containing diapers, that I have to make those moments count. Somehow this led to a mini-collection of fun clutches. If I have no children, but MUST have a bag, it's going to at least be cute and small. This bag would be a little bigger than my others and I like the "vintagy look" my friend Melissa described it as having.



The price was right: marked down from $34 to $12 and then I would get half off that.
But there was a problem: It was "broken."
Two of the magnets that keep it closed had come out of their slots and stayed attached to the opposing magnet.



Luckily for me, an aloof male teen was manning the checkout and I told him "I was going to buy this but noticed it is broken." (I showed him the issue) He said "Oh, sorry about that," and went to put it behind the counter. When I said "Would you sell it for a reduced price?" he said "Sure, how's 2 bucks?"
Umm... Yes please! I bought BabyCakes a pair of shoes that would be half off and payed the $2 for my broken clutch.
I knew I had something at home that would fix it in 5 seconds flat.


Good as new, Gorilla Glue!


Lessons to be learned here: It doesn't always take much to make a situation a lot better. Also, it never hurts to ask. (politely, we are in the South now)

I'd forgotten Corinthians

THANK YOU to those of you who have offered your support to me these last few days. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It's why I started blogging about this struggle in the beginning.

So now: The pity party's over, the sun's coming up, and today's a new day.



1 Corinthians 10:13 -- No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

(Thank you, Kelly!)

WW Wednesday

I don't want to write this. Not again. Not another "well it was a rough week."
But it was and I am.
Yep, this morning I realized my suspicions were justified by the number on the scale.
I was up. Not scary-up but up all the same.

I don't really have anything else to say right now but I wanted to get that "WW Wednesday" post out of the way.

I guess if I had to learn a lesson this week it was that I should be turning to God more often.
Know what? I don't even feel like elaborating on that right now.

Ok, I hope you people have a good afternoon. Today is J's birthday so I'm going to try my darnedest to sew on a smile. Goodness knows he deserves a happy birthday.

Blogging sucks.

Know why? Because you're exposed. Yes, it's easy to pick and choose the parts of your life and mind that you want to share, but sometimes you regret it. Like I am today.

I regret this post.
You see, if I hadn't shared my concern over my weight-loss journey (I'm cringing over that phrase, btw.), I wouldn't feel bad about it getting hard and eventually giving up. Again. That's what I would have done if I hadn't shared that post. Maybe not today, but one day I would have.

But I'm not giving up. As I've said before, I have put checks in place so that I don't give up, and one of them is blogging about it on WW Wednesday.

I've got to be honest right now. I've been at it for almost 6 months. I'm tired. I'm cranky.
Change is hard, even when you want it. Unlearning what you knew for almost thirty over twenty years can get tiring. Sometimes you just want a break before you break down.

This is where I am right now. I am NOT giving up. I am HERE and I am REAL. Call me weak, but this is me. You can stop reading at any point.
I probably won't hit that 40-lbs lost mark tomorrow like I was hoping for. I've done nothing to deserve that achievement.

I just didn't want to dread my post for tomorrow, so I'm showing you my cards today.
The game is getting harder but I'm not going to fold.

Yep, blogging sucks. Thank you for that. :)

Okay, now I'm going to go gaze at my beautiful tulips.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My sweeties brought me tulips and chocolate home from the store on Friday so I could enjoy them all weekend.
J knew I would prefer these gorgeous tulips over red roses. He said BabyCakes was the one that wanted me to have the Hershey Kisses and there may or may not be only 3 left this morning .




I mean come on, how gorgeous are these?



Speaking of gorgeous :) -- here's a short video of BabyCakes walking this morning. She even has a heart-covered sleeper for you. (For my email recipients, you have to go to my actual blog to see the video. Click on "Justacurl" at the bottom of your email.)



Happy Valentine's Day!

WW Wednesday

I hope everyone's doing well today. It is deceivingly beautiful outside here in NC. We even have snow showers in the forecast. Ehh...

Anyway, I had my Weight Watchers meeting and weigh-in today as usual. I even wore my new, smaller-sized jeans today instead of my light-weight "active pants." ( I don't do yoga, so I don't know how to refer to these cotton pants. I think you get my drift. They are staples in my mom uniform.) I had some new pink flats I really wanted to wear and -- okay, I'm rambling. On to the weigh-in: I was down. A nice amount that I could be proud of. :) It was a good week. I still haven't hit that 40-lb mark but that's okay. I will next week. :)

Lesson learned this week: Sometimes exercise can break a bad cycle of eating. Just changing things up can be more helpful than you expect.

Goal for the week: Just stay the course. Hopefully staying the course will help me get to that 40-lb mark!

P.S. On a side note, I hope that you all realize that the thing I hope to teach BabyCakes most is not ACTUALLY to stay away from perms. While that is important, it was a joke. :)

My #1 lesson

Sweet BabyCakes, there is a lot I hope to teach you in life. Today let's just start with the number one thing I hope, no pray, that you take away from having me as your mother.



My mother didn't know it.
I didn't know it.
I want you to listen closely...




NEVER GET A PERM!!!



It will not "control" your curly hair.



What it WILL do, however, is make it bigger.
Huge.
As in, "my perm ate my homework," HUGE.

In the 5th grade I looked like Cousin IT on roller skates. (But hopefully a little cuter.)
At least my hair helped cushion my (many) falls.


I am fully aware that you will curse me for your curly hair when you are 12 and thank me around age 20.
I'm okay with that.
Really, I've been there.
You can cut it, straighten it, color it, whatev.



Just never.

Ever.

Perm it.