Clean-up in aisle $8,778

My emergency room bill from the auto accident showed up in the mail.

This reminds me of when I tell my husband after a visit to Target, "I swear I was in there for a just a quick moment and only bought three things."

I love how the IV costs $5.80.  What a bargain.

Eating as a novelty

Thanksgiving was super great this year because the Gravy Kids are at wonderful ages where they can entertain/feed themselves.  This meant that my husband and I actually... wait for it... ATE this year.

But don't be fooled by these practically staged photos of our kids eating.  They hardly did, but at least they put on a good show for the camera.

And every year, we take a photo with my husband's family; here we are with his parents and sister at the end of the night.

Shout-out to 1621

Wavey's kindergarten class held a Thanskgiving "feast" with parents and friends yesterday, and I thought you'd enjoy the traditional attire Wavey wore to commemorate Thanksgiving:

Have a wonderful holiday.

Circus peanuts to the rescue

Despite personally consuming an ocean's worth of candy corn last month, you'd think I'd have no problem finding any for the turkey cupcakes I was inadvertently signed-up to bring to Wavey's school today.  Not so much.

I improvised with circus peanuts.  Yep, I sliced and diced pillowy circus peanuts into little beaky triangles.  Good times.



I was acutally kind of embarrassed to buy the circus peanuts, I'll admit.  As if I was suddenly transformed into being 80 years old buying these orange old lady marshmallows. 

Well, not that I'm wholly concerned with what the drugstore employee thinks of my late evening purchase of circus peanuts because Mother-of-the-Year forgot she had to bring in cupcakes in the first place and had a local meltdown when she couldn't find candy corn for beaks, but you get my drift.

One hot winter

We have a pellet stove that heats the majority of our house and keeps things roasty-toasty warm.

My New England-bred husband doesn't believe in artificially warming the house until the interior dips into the low 60s.  My own California upbringing says, "anything under 72 degress deserves the heat on."  Yes, yes...our heating bill is generally astronomical.

And according to how my kids have been dressing themselves while indoors (i.e., Griffin's muscle tee this past weekend), perhaps I'm keeping it a little too warm.

Even though there's no such thing as "too warm" in my book.  I love muscle tees.

There's a genius amongst us

We received official word that my car has been deemed "totaled."  No real shocker there.  But between calling the insurance folks, doctor visits, and other related eat-up-my-day kind of activities and discussions, this is an excerpt from yesterday's conversation between me and the car rental company as they were finalizing their paperwork:

Rental Genius: Where is your car being repaired?

Me: It's not being repaired.  Its been considered "totaled."

Rental Genius: So, that means it's, like, dead and you can't drive it?

Me: Um, that's usually what "totaled" means. 

{Commence self-clawing out of my own eyeballs}

- end scene -

I know you are, but what am I?

Knowing that I could use some cheer this week, Christmas came early here in the Good Gravy! household and my husband probably just gave me the best. gift. ever: Tickets to see The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway in NYC.

Now, I know that my beloved PWH is a character that is either extremely well-liked or extremely loathed by most.  Not a lot of middle ground. 

But despite having a higher education, an appreciation for the arts, and other general "normal" behaviors, my dirty little secret is loving the movie "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure."  And my fav line from the movie: I'm a rebel, Dottie.  A loner. You don't want to get mixed up with a guy like me.  I'm baaad.

I can't imagine I'm the only one out there with a silly skeleton in my closet.  Feel free to share yours!

PS: Did you see that I'm offering FREE SHIPPING through the end of the year?  AND my holiday goodies are in the shop, too?  Stop on by!  :)

Insurance should cover diapers

First and foremost, I'm thankful that I was able to walk away from this terrible accident and I greatly appreciate your support and kind comments.

But the dust has started the settle and now I'm in the great stage of annoyance.  Yes, all material things can be replaced, but it's still crummy having to deal with a post-accident hassle:

• Rental cars stink. Literally and figuratively.
• I now need to buy a new car.  I was thoroughly enjoying not having a car payment, but now that little dream is dashed.
• I had both car seats in my car which needed immediate replacement.
• I had just general "stuff" in my car that is now toast and/or missing, such as paperwork, bluetooth, car chargers, etc.

And the real kicker (moms will understand this one):

• There was a new box of diapers in the cargo area that was obliterated in the collision.  And I'm talking the JUMBO box of diapers.  Grr.

I got smashed

If you're not already wearing your seatbelt at ALL times while in a motor vehicle, will these photos of my car taken on Saturday convince you now?

My neighborhood is adjacent to a major road and unfortunately there is not a dedicated turn lane, so while I stopped take a left onto my street, an inattentive driver behind me traveling around 60mph did not stop, yield or go around me and instead and plowed full-force (no brakes, no nothing) into the back of my car.  The impact sent me into oncoming traffic in the opposite direction and I t-boned a truck. 

"Scary" barely describes the feeling of seeing the car in my rear mirror and thinking in a flash, "Oh dear God, she's not going around me.  I'm going to get hit!" and then smash!  I was in a double collision.

Luckily, I was alone; it could have been an entirely different outcome if the kids were in the car.  I literally walked out of this crash thanks to my seatbelt and airbags, and the other drivers involved did, too.  I was checked out at the hospital and the doctors were amazed that I didn't break anything or have more major injuries.  Again: the seatbelt saved my life.

The funny part of this whole thing was seeing the tow crew show up and one of the guys was wearing a shirt with two thumbs pointing up that read "This guy wants a beer." 

Yeah, dude.  Me, too.

One prize just isn't enough

I may have made a little felt holiday wreath inexplicably in advance of the holidays, but don't get too worked up just yet by a sudden new leaf you think I've turned. I haven't had the chance to put a few holiday cheery items into the shop just yet, but it's my goal this weekend for those of you seeking gift tags, address labels and more, including a few seasonal designs:

Yesterday, I mentioned that I'd be giving away a few other items with my holiday wreath today.  The following randomly drawn folks will be receiving a free Good Gravy! 10-piece personalized flat note card set in the holly design (as seen above):

• Cara from Come Fly With Me
• Crystal from B-Movie Star
• Melissa from Honey Bee Hive
• Stephanie, who said "I {heart} skunk smell" [Stephanie, I need your email address!]
• Libby from Bonjour Four

And now to announce the winner of my super-fantastic-if-I-do-say-so-myself wreath:

... Cassie from A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Mom.  Congrats, Cassie.

Thanks to everyone for their support and kind word about my little craftiness.  If you didn't win this time around, I encourage you to make a wreath of your own!  It's fun and simple, I promise!

The smell that keeps on giving

Don't be fooled by Jack's cute mug.  He still stinks from last week's run-in with a skunk. 

A huge "thanks" for the suggestions and support toward getting the stink of the the dog and the house. The baking soda/soap bath did wonders and I put little bowls of bleach (up high and out of reach of little hands) all around the house to absorb the smell.

It wasn't until the next day that we noticed it was mostly the inside of Jack's MOUTH that got blasted.  I might have to start pouring TicTacs into his food dish because everytime he breathes in your general area, it's like re-living the putrid nightmare.

I'm fairly certain it's not recommended to feed your dog your favorite little breath mint, so please no calls for revoking my pet ownership.  I promise to keep the orange little goodies to myself, but I will dream the minty dream.



PS: Today is the last day to enter to win a handmade wool felt holiday wreath.  There might even be a few extra random winners drawn for super special Good Gravy! prizes.  Why?  Because I said so.

Passport to bathroom words

Meet Griffin: King of "bathroom words." 

At his age, we understand his excitement and glee for bodily functions, but try to manage them by corralling his use of potty-related words to literally inside the bathroom.  He'll even march himself directly into the bathroom specifically seeking amnesty to shout some of his favorite phrases.  He likes to ride the fine line of technicality.



So the other day, my husband is driving all of us in my car and pulls next the wrong side of the pump at the gas station.

Wavey: Daddy, why did you pull up to the wrong side?

Daddy: Because I forgot that we're not in my car.

Me: Yes, the gas tank is on the other side of daddy's car because his car is [insert fake snobby voice here] EUROPEAN.

Griffin: Bathroom word, Mama.  We don't say "European."



PS: Don't forget to enter to win the handmade felt looped holiday wreath by tomorrow!

Holiday wreath giveaway!

If I haven't convinced you yet on how easy my very vintage-y DIY wool felt looped holiday wreath was to make, I'm giving my brand spankin' new one away, because you know what?  I'll just make another one.  Ha ha!

Entering to win is easy, too: Simply leave a comment to this post with your email address by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday night, and I'll announce the random winner on Friday morning.

Oh, and if you tuned in last week and read about how my dog got skunked and made my house smell not-so-much-like-Christmas, have no fear: this is a skunk-less smelling wreath because it was created in the safety and smell-free zone of my studio. 

Get loopy: DIY Wool Felt Holiday Wreath

Call it a 'Christmas miracle' because I actually crafted something AHEAD of the season.  Presenting my DIY Handmade Wool Felt Looped Holiday Wreath:

To give you an idea of its lack of complexity, know that standing in the cutting line at the fabric store on a Saturday morning two weeks prior to Thanksgiving probably took longer than the actual execution of this project. 

Here's what you'll need:

+  3-inch x half-inch strips of multi-colored wool felt (if using three colors like me, plan for approximately 120 strips of each color).  I like wool felt because it has a vintage look about it.

+  8-inch foam circle

+  Hot glue gun

+  Satin ribbon

Glue the ends of your strips together to form loops.  There will be approximately five kabillion of these little loops when you're done.  Rest assured, you'll need nearly all of them.  

After all your loops are made, it's time to glue them to your wreath.  I started at the center and then filled in toward the inside and outside of the circle.

When it's all filled in, tie a colored satin ribbon (I used chocolate brown) to hang and you're done!

I'm thinking this might be a nice little gift to giveaway later this week.  Check back for details!  :)

What's that smell? Oh, it's me.

Pay no attention to the green waft coming from the top of my house today.  It's just that our dog Jack got skunked late last night.

Being late, we couldn't remember the difference between the ingredients in the common de-skunk soap solution and a third-grade science volcano.  Baking soda? Soap? Water?  Hydrogen peroxide?

We skipped on the peroxide and opted for baking soda + soap + water.  Yeah, not so much. We, the dog and the house now smell like burnt tires.  Ick.  Any suggestions on getting out the stink would be greatly appreciated.


PS: The only room saved from the smell was my studio.  The moment I realized what had happened, I stuffed towels against the closed doors.  It's my only refuge!

Corn, of candy variety

While nearly impossible to ever have *leftover* candy corn in my house, I thought the idea of melting them to create fondant was an interesting at From Glitter to Gumdrops. 

{source}

Thanks to Kim at Party Frosting for always looking out for my candy corn well-being and alerting me to this new form of consumption.

Oh! And head over to Paint Me A Picture to enter for your chance to win some Good Gravy! goodness and other fab prizes!  Entries due today!

Free printable: Gobble up DIY Thanksgiving gift tags

I'm still getting over Halloween, but holy cow: Thanksgiving will be here in SO SOON!  Dress up your harvest goodies with Good Gravy's free printable DIY Thanksgiving gift tags.  Click here to download the harvesty goodness.

Want to know one of my favorite things about the season?  The word "gobble." 

Gobblegobblegobblegobble.

Halloween round-up

Thanks so much for all the great feedback on the Slim Goodbody get-up.  It went over well at the costume party:

On trick-or-treat night, we joined forces with the Into Ablivia family which is always great since the big and little kids are nearly the same ages.  Our little boy and *ghouls* through the years:

That elephant costume cracks. me. right. up.

Stop by Abby and Livy's mom's blog Into Ablivia for more keeping-it-real motherhood fun.