Blonde sounded like a good idea. Back in the day, like going back to 1999 I had blonde hair. For most of high school I was blonde actually. It enabled me to easily add funky colors that would piss my parents off. Blue, pink, purple… eventually I discovered if I bleached my hair our good enough, I could just color on it with crayola washable markers for the day.

Eventually I outgrew the phase and back to brown I went, and remained for… a long time.

Until Monday.

I decided it would be a good idea to pick up a box of blonde dye from Walmart. Big lapse of judgement because a box of dye from Walmart is almost NEVER a good idea.

Well fast forward a couple hours later… I looked like the love child of Powder and Carrot Top. Actually at one point the next morning (before I went over to the beauty supply store to load up on toner) DH posted this on my Facebook wall.

Yeah. So. Not. Funny.

But it continued.

By yesterday afternoon I was the Heatmizer as well.

Thankfully my humor started to grow when I had the toner in my hair trying to get the orange/red out of my hair. I think I also made a friend at the beauty supply store while I was trying to fix my hair without letting anyone see the idiotic damage I had done already.

Needless to say, I will never be a hair dresser in this, or any other life. Ever.

I decided once I got some actual blonde in my hair and no longer looked like a long lost relative of Carrot Top I would step away from the dye and give my scalp a rest for a couple days.

This is where my hair currently stands.

Blonde… kind of. Not flaming or fiery.

Although I was half tempted to leave my hair the color it was, if my roots didn’t look like they were platinum blonde.  I am tempted to dye my hair back to brown for the time being, but after the stress I went thru for this color… I think I am going to have to keep it for a little bit.

]]> http://www.danielleelwood.com/once-upon-a-time-going-blonde-was-a-good-idea/feed/ 3 http://www.danielleelwood.com/adventures-with-grandpa-fajitas/ http://www.danielleelwood.com/adventures-with-grandpa-fajitas/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 17:13:23 +0000 admin http://www.danielleelwood.com/?p=3645 Read Full Post]]> Life with my Father-in-Law living with us has been interesting. Not in a bad way, just a different way. Something for our entire family to really adjust to. It has been six months now, and everyone has worked into a new routine including a very stubborn Grandpa.

He is and always has been a creature of habit. Especially when it comes to food. Seriously. Before he moved in with us he lived on a steady diet of diner dishes. His tastes were limited to Yankee Pot Roast, Meat Loaf, Lasagna, and the occasional pizza. Under no circumstances will he eat pork or chicken. Although I have tried desperately. We have been able to sneak him chicken on occasion with our family favorite Mayonnaise chicken though.

So this past weekend we had my (almost) 17 year old nephew staying with us and decided to head out to a new restaurant we haven’t tried yet in the local area called Beef O’Brady’s. Needless to say I was skeptical just by the name, but everything worked out well. Except for our attempt to broaden Grandpa’s horizons with fajitas.

He loves steak, so we figured it would be a shoe in. WRONGO!

It was a disaster.

First the plate with all the Fajita fixings came out. Lettuce (which he hates), tomatoes (which he also hates) tortillas (which he complained were cold) then the sour cream, cheese and salsa which he didn’t acknowledge probably because he didn’t have a bone to pick with them.

Apparently he thought the plate of garnish and toppings was his entire meal. Strike number one. I am pretty sure he wasn’t going to give the fajitas a fair chance after that. Then when the steak came out he complained it was tough. Yup, because skirt steak is supposed to be!  But the meltdown of the century began when we started to show him how to make and eat the fajitas.

Full out toddler style meltdown.

Threw the fajita and just started eating the meat, and grilled onions and peppers under the steak.

Whatever worked for him, but we were finished trying to show him how to do it and just let him do it the way he wanted. Kind of like we do with our two and three year old. Parenting skills for the win!

But it was hysterical to watch.

“Jesus Christ! Jesus! JESUS! JESUS! I don’t want no god damn jitas!  I don’t want to try anything new!”

I guess you just had to be there to find the amusement in it all. The whole thing was downright hysterical.

Especially if you personally know Grandpa.

Coming up in my Grandpa series will also be a post on our trip to the Walmart Vision Center, because that was a fucking gem!

Between being busy behind the scenes at The Broad Side, and taking back up writing as much as I can over at Babble, my blogging time has been cut in like a quarter. Why you ask?

Because I have been writing, and writing, and writing to finish up Take Me Out and get it off to the editor which I accomplished yesterday on my May 10th deadline. Nothing like being all last minute and shit, right?

I never thought I would actually finish writing it. Good news is… I did and it is on its way to actually making the June 18th release date too. Shocking!

I couldn’t have gotten it done without the help of my good friend Heather though, or I should say HB Heinzer. She has been my one woman cheer section thru it all. Pushing me along, helping me, mentoring me thru the process which has been extremely helpful since I know nothing about self publishing.

So what do the next couple weeks hold?

Well, I should have the book back from the editor in roughly a week. Once it is back I accept or deny the changes, and fix whatever needs to be done. (I am not looking forward to that since we all know my English skills lack, I am just too much of a blogger). Then The book goes out for formatting. It will be available in eBook as well as paperback copies. If you would like to purchase a paperback copy of Take Me Out you can email me.

Then all of the ARC go out (Advance read copies) to all the book bloggers, and bloggers participating in my Book Tour online. Phew!

So between now and June 18th… I am going to be missing and half bat-shit crazy. But we already knew I am not all there to begin with anyway! HA!

So, be sure to check out Take Me Out on GoodReads, and visit my author blog for information on the book. I try to keep it updated as much as I can with everything that is going on.

Thank you to everyone for all of your support thru this project. It has been fun.

BTW, I totally started working on my second book already. A follow up to Take Me Out.

Unexpected Desire (The Young Brothers #2) comes out this fall!

Yeah, I know. I blogged about it already, but one thing I haven’t done is bring you on a little tour of our new house. Which I am also totally in love with. Our neighbors are awesome, there are other families in the neighborhood and the best part is… it is QUIET! Meaning no asshats running our mailbox over on a drunk driving binge at two in the morning!

Yesterday we unpacked some more, and got a little more organized. Which I totally needed. We have been here for two weeks exactly today and I feel like its been so much longer!

So I wanted to share some pictures I took this past weekend.

Starting with our bedroom. Which is probably my favorite room in the house. It is big, spacious and of course I finally have my own damn bathroom. Meaning, no stepping in toddler or old man pee at three in the morning while I am half awake going to the bathroom.

Sorry, I am still unpacking. As you can see, most of my desk and filing cabinet is still packed all nice and messy in those totes. But what I didn’t take a picture of is the giant closet behind the mirrors. It is huge and beautiful.

This is the one and only picture of Grandpa’s room we have. Addison had a habit of waking him up in the morning, or after naps. But he doesn’t mind!  He loves that little girl, it is so cute!

Now onto the kids bedroom. We decided since the boys insist on sleeping together in the top bunk we would make the bottom bunk into Addison’s bed. Although she still constantly wants to sleep in her play pen.

They also have a huge and amazing closet!  That is one thing I am really loving about this house… all the damn closet space. In our last house we had crap for closet space!

Sorry about the laundry and cloth diaper mess on top of their dresser… it is life with kids. I am just lucky it isn’t all over the floor. LOL!

The screened in porch, which has a wall of glass, and a wall that is screened has been deemed the children’s play room. We put the majority of their toys out there. Their art table, etc.  They love it.

This is my pride and joy. The kitchen. I am in love with the open floor plan and cabinet space. I have been having a blast with the cook top as well. There is just far more room to move and actually cook. It reminds me A LOT of my mothers kitchen back home.

This is our dining are.  We have two stools that sit right at the kitchen counter, and then our new kitchen table set which I am also in love with. There are 4 chairs, and then a bench seat. The kids LOVE the bench seat. Which makes dinner time so much easier.

The living room.  I think our couch actually fit perfectly.  There is a small portion of carpeting right in front of the couch itself.  Just the amount of carpet I like in the house. LOL

To the back side of the couch, where you can’t really see… I have my desk set up in a little office space in the corner of the living room. Makes working so much easier.

Now there you have it!

Our new home!

EMILY’s List has just announced its new program “Madam President” with the end goal being electing a woman president in 2016. According to the group’s research,  three-quarters of Americans believe a woman president would be a good thing!

Read the Full Post today on The Broad Side

When it comes to different sunscreens I am always a little hesitant to put much on my children. The same goes for soaps and shampoos. But I have become more relaxed since the EWG’s beauty database has been so widely available for parents everywhere.

On the EWG site you can look up any different product on the market for your children (and yourself) and the vast majority have been tested with the results listed for the world to see.

Check out the full list here!

Where has time gone?

Two years ago, at this time… I was laying in my hospital bed, recovering from my third c-section and snuggling my perfect newborn baby girl. The little girl I never thought would be a part of our family. If I said bringing her into the world was easy it would be a lie.

It was rough, bumpy, and scary. Not the delivery itself, but the months leading up to her delivery. Amnio’s and all kinds of testing. A baby that wasn’t growing. Kind of a mom’s worst nightmare. When she came out healthy, it was the biggest relief of our lives.

Now, she is two. I seriously just cannot believe it.

She has turned into the most hysterical little girl ever. While she isn’t talking much, she is a character for sure.

I wanted to take a small stroll down memory lane… with a lot of my favorite pictures.

Addison at one day old.

One Week Old.
I absolutely loved that hat, a friend of ours (Julie) hand made it, and it became a favorite till it warmed up for the summer!

Halloween 2011, Addie was an Owl.

Brotherly Love.

Easter 2012

Addison’s first birthday

Sibling Love.
I love this picture. It is one of my all time favorites.

Halloween 2012, She was Cinderella after her obsession with Cinderella started to Blossom.

Her second birthday party

Addie really loves cake.

Read the full post today on The Broad Side.

Yeah, well I had one of those in the month of April. As most of you may have noticed I went off the grid for the most part. Well, our family decided it would be an awesome idea to re-locate our lives to Florida.

Head over to Babble to check out the entire post about our move!

Looking back over the years with different experiences my sister had, I knew she was always gifted in that aspect. Sick and dying people would come to her asking for help in dreams and frankly it scared the shit out of her on more than one occasion.

But before I left, a friend gave me a great gift. A reading with a local woman who not only is gifted at reading cards, but makes her own and can communicate with some who have passed. Once again, you can believe it or not. But for me this was a very important and personal experience.

I had a lot of questions.  Some focused around work, some focused around life in general… especially the big move I was about to make. I needed some kind of confidence, something to tell me everything was going to work out for the best. My anxiety was extremely high.

So, the whole reading started off by N asking me who was taller than me, but lighter in weight, with blond hair. Now, if I was a skeptic I would assume she saw my memorial tattoo of my sister on my arm. But I wore long sleeves just for that reason.

“She is right there with you, standing by your side. She wants you to know she is always with you, and she is ok.”

Um, what?

My mind was officially blown. One of my biggest questions was immediately answered. My sister was ok, she was fine and with me. Since I really had no idea if she could “communicate” with her I asked her if she could ask if she is with my mother as well. What came next was no surprise at all.

“She said tell your mother to stop being stubborn and open her eyes. She leaves her signs, all the time. But she is stubborn and she looks right past them!”

No surprise at all. I told my mother, and I told everyone else she came thru for.

As a whole it was a positive experience, I learned a lot about my sister and my own abilities. It sounds silly, I know. But I guess some people are just closed to the veil than others, and I think it is kinda cool. I want to learn how to channel and focus. I want to learn how to really use these gifts.

In the end, my sister is ok. And that is all I needed to know.

BTW, those cards above, are actually for sale.
N makes them herself and sells them on Etsy, so if you want your own deck… go check out her shop.