After running a couple errands during preschool, BabyCakes and I came home so she could grab a nap. We had a bit of a rough night (I may or may not have gotten up 4 times with her -- dang teething!) so I knew she could use a snooze.

Personally, I'm not a napper. Never have been. (You're welcome, Mom and Dad!)
I decided to play around with my new table instead.

This old cheese dome was found at a thrift store for $1. I chucked the 1970's marble base and kept the top. All the other items I already had on hand.



The photo of BigBoy and I was from a really sweet day I spent with him when I was newly pregnant with BabyCakes. It was one of those days I was very aware of the fact that soon it would no longer just be the two of us all the time. We had a special day and at one point we jumped in a photo booth.


No one tells you that you don't just love your children. You fall in love with them.

WW Wednesday

Hey there, campers! I'm back again today for this week's edition of WW Wednesday.



Last week I talked about giving myself a break and I did the same this past week.
Now, I didn't eat horribly and sit on the couch all day. I just tried to keep it all a little more fluid -- more instinctual.
I felt I needed a breather to prevent getting burned out.
This week's weigh-in reflected that, too. I had a tiny loss on the scale, but that's okay. It was still a a loss, after all. About the equivalent of a good haircut, but ya know whatever.

To be quite frank, I was surprised. I was so proud of myself for everything I did yesterday (3 walks and a 70 minute bike last night), that I just KNEW I was going to have a decent drop. I was so cocky that I wore my new jeans instead of my lighter pants for the weigh-in, thinking I had plenty of weight-off to spare!

Well, life has a sense of humor and the scale doesn't lie.
And I'm glad.
It put me in my place.
Just because I had one day of exercise and didn't do "horribly" in the eating department didn't erase the fact that I had T-bone steak on Saturday AND Sunday for dinner! (come on, I almost never eat steak, it was on big sale, and it was too gorgeous NOT to grill out) I might have also had a krispy kreme. Or two.
Maybe I got a little carried away...



But that's life. And it's okay to get carried away sometimes. Just not for every meal.

In the end my minimal loss will prove to be beneficial. My parents will be in during the next WW week, we have a date night planned, and we are also having some friends over on Saturday - all things that will easily tempt me to go overboard.
But now, now I'm dressed and ready for the game. Bring it OWN, biatch!

So, lesson learned this week: I was right that I would rather wear clothes I actually feel good in to my weigh-in, than have that extra half pound of loss on the scale. I'm not a slave to that number. That number works for me so I can track my progress. Besides, why not enjoy the superficial benefits of losing weight as much as the important ones?
Also, I'm tired of the sidelines. I'm ready for the second half to start and everyone knows that's when the game really gets interesting.



Goals for the week: Come to the game with eyes wide open, treat my body with the respect that the mother of my children deserves, and show this mutha who's boss.
(Also, don't eat any more of BigBoy's reward M&M's. It's so not cool how many I have had.)

Strawberries and Strollering

Oh yeah, Spring is here!

Ok so maybe in reality we still have a few weeks. No one told the pear trees, though.


You go, bradfords! Get yo bloom on!

Team Shorty's ready for it! (I'm the Captain, natch)
It's making us a bit wild, actually.



This brief pre-bug/pollen/scorching-heat-and-humidity time period will be over before you know it and I'm making the best of it.
Yesterday we went for a walk with the neighbors, then walked to the playground for lunch, then for another afternoon walk. (Yes, this is a very blessed life I lead. I am acutely aware of that fact.)
The last one finally did BigBoy in.



Check the strawberry dress.



People keep saying "Oh what a cute little WATERMELON" and I'm like "No. It's a strawberry. Duh." (I know that in reality it could pass for a watermelon, but I won't admit it.)


I haven't forgotten my "Portlin" roots. :) BigBoy also had on a purple shirt, if you noticed -- over a Clone Wars t-shirt, of course.

"Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land."
Song of Solomon 2:12 NIV

And the winner is...

Alesia!



Alesia encourages those she loves in many ways. One of those ways is through notes of support and congratulations. She is going to receive a set of custom photo note cards in this image:



and of course chocolate. :)
Because the only antiques she's really into are family antiques, she's graciously sharing her winnings with someone else.
I had BigBoy draw another name,



and Kelly was the winner!
Kelly will receive this cool antique Rawleigh's medicine bottle and also some scrumdiliumptious chocolate -- both two of my favorite things!



I was going to keep this bottle for myself, but changed my mind. Kelly, I hope you like it!



Thank you, again, to all of my readers and especially those of you who continually show your support through your words and actions. Our friendships mean so much to me. I Wish I could send you all something!

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!