Pumpkin patch

today my husband and I took Cole to the pumpkin patch! All he wanted to do was climb and sit on the tractor while we were there! I love this time of year and actually feel like I'm getting into the spirit of things even with all the media and the economy talk!

list of things to do....

I'm getting ready for the "Babes and Babies" Marin Show on November 9th and can finally cross some things off my "to do" list. I ordered more business cards (check), made a really cute flier with pictures online that I can give out and wrap up with purchases (check), ordered more fabric for blankets (check), ordered small labels that I need to sew into the blankets so people know what the fabric is (check).

Now.....on to the sewing and designing of my table display! I still have loads of burp cloths and blankets to sew (thank goodness for my mom's help), for some reason I always leave this until last minute which is kind of annoying because I always like looking at the finished product. I'm starting from scratch with my 6 x 2.5 table so I have to get creative in the next few days and get prepared...

OMG!

Today I received the sweetest thank you note from Brooke and Charlie Sheen...it's so nice to get thank you notes!! Congrats Brooke & Charlie wishing you all the best with your pregnancy!

Adorable cards...

A girl named Vana recently contacted me and is using the same person I used for website design..she has the most adorable stationary on her etsy site check it out!

Diet and Food

The last few weeks I've been dieting...trying to lose the 10lbs. of extra weight that I had even before I had my son (16 months ago). I started by doing a version of Weight watchers that my cousin told me about (primarly about eating smaller portions and counting calories). I've NEVER been a dieter (love food way too much) but on WW I got good results, lost about 6lbs in the first three weeks and was able to eat some decent foods with out totally depriving myself. The bad thing is I've been buying lots of packaged foods like smart ones and lean pockets because they are easy to track on my diet and really convienent.

So..feeling good about my weight loss, I went to my BFF's down in Paso Robles and we made a trip to target. She picked up the book "Skinny Bitch" and said "you have to read this".

The title is a little misleading because at first glance I thought it was about some hollywood celebrity diet but once I opened it I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend everyone read this book.

the book talks about our meat and dairy industry...and just how many chemicals the government lets large corporations put in our foods (which by the way are cancer causing). So of course as I'm reading this book I'm thinking about all the chemicals in my "convienent packaged foods" that I've been eating :(.

I've been losing weight but I think in the wrong way(deep down I knew this). A lot of the foods I've been eating are prepackaged which means chemicals and preservatives and it's hard for your body to process chemicals. I don't want to get totally nerotic and start eating hay and dirt but this book definitely makes me think twice about my current diet and what I put in my mouth. Back to the drawing board...

charms

My BFF sent me a NEW charm site that I hadn't discovered and it's absolutely adorable! I love this little star with the diamond..and they have so many more on their site
I'm adding this to my christmas list...

Babes and Babies Event in Marin!

I will be participating in my first ever event as a designer to showcase the bundle products on November 9th at the “Babes & Babies” shopping event in Marin! I’ve been to this event as a buyer and it’s an amazing show. There is an insane amount of great items at below retail prices and this show is specifically centered around babies and expectant moms. The first 300 guests receive goodie bag!

It normally costs $5 dollars to attend but I’ve included a link below for those of you who want to register for FREE online!

Admission is FREE by entering the discount code DESIGNERMV at www.appelandfrank.com on the Purchase Tickets page.

Hope to see you there! OMG..I have a ton of sewing to do before this!

life & the husband...

I'm supposed to be sewing right now....I have lots of burp cloths going out to celebs tomorrow but as usual, once I start sewing it leads me to lots of thinking and I want to blog about it!

After about an hour of sewing I asked my husband to come into the office and chat about some stuff. We had such a good heart to heart about life, friends and pursuing our individual interests! I know.....lots of subjects covered!

Life...it's just crazy sometimes and why does everything happen at once?

Friends, we realize that we should both feel lucky to have one good friend who we can totally be ourselves with and not be judged!

Individual interests, we strongly support one another in our individual interests so we don't ever look back and say "I wish I did that", because even if we fail we most definitely learned something and it evolved into something else that we didn't know we were interested in.

that's my 2 cents for the night :)....Back to sewing and congrats to the celebs below on their pregnancies!

Andrew Firestone/ Wife Ivana Firestone

Anna Belknap / Husband Eric Siegal

Constance Marie/ Fiance Kent Katich

Victoria Recano/ Husband Tom Burwell

Jonny Lee Miller / Wife Michele Hicks

first retail location....

For the last few months I've only been selling my blankets online and through friends, I ventured out to local stores this week and my first batch is going to be delivered today! Please visit Zinnia's in Scotts Valley to see my blankets in person!

About to throw the sewing machine out the window...

I have a million things to sew tonight and of course my sewing machine is acting temperamental! For some reason my walking foot which helps me sew on all my really soft fabrics with out them bunching up is throwing off my entire machine!!!! It kind of sounds like KLUNK KLUNK, which is even worse than the minor klunk klunk that it usually makes! Is Christmas here yet? I'm so ready for a new machine!! I'm taking 3 deep breaths and going to try and make another run at it! I wish I could have a beer but I'm on a darn diet..plus I'm not sure you're supposed to operate machinery while drinking :)

Clean, clean clean!

I swore to myself that when I had a baby my house wouldn't have toy's laying around the house all the time..I just love it when the family room is all clean! The office is another story...

Magazine addiction!

For as long as I can remember I've been addicted to magazines! I'm embarassed to admit I probably have about 10-12 subscriptions because I always like to keep up on whats new in the market. Before the bundle, and before I had the monkey (my son), I would have no problem getting through them as they arrived in the mail. Last night I decided that I would not do any sewing and try to go through them...I got through about two of them and I was fast asleep! Needless to say I still have several to go through...hence the large stack above!

and the winner of the first bundle give away is....

Winona Holmes!

Sorry for the delay in posting...this morning was a little busier than expected :).

Winona, please contact me with what you'd like!

ETSY.COM

My very sweet friend Pascale has gotten me totally addicted to etsy.com. The last two nights I've been up until 2am and 12am looking at all the great craft stuff on the site. I'm dreaming about several projects with these buttons and ribbon...and all of these cute little tags!

more giveaways...

anyone having a baby soon? Register to win the celeb gift bag, just nominate your favorite online shopping boutique!

http://www.thecradle.com/bbb

1st bundle give away, deadline October 5th 5pm!

I originally started this post to share my progress with the bundle, but I quickly realized that it's a bit like therapy for me as well, you know....to talk out and share other things that are going on with my life. I know a few people who read it, but I'm hoping the secret closet readers come out with my giveaway :).

OK....so on to the details! All you have to do is make a comment on this post (no anonymous names will qualify) by Sunday October 5th -5pm to be entered! You can also email me at j@thebundleshop.com to enter. Once I have all my entries I'll put your names in a basket and pick a winner! The winner will get to choose ANY ONE thing on my website and I'll wrap it up and ship it out! This includes any products on my blog since I don't have my new blanket fabrics on the site yet. I'll post the winners name on the morning of the 6th!

I really enjoy posting and I hope you enjoy reading! Can't wait to hear from you! Who's going to be the winner? GOOD LUCK!

p.s please include your email address on the post so I can contact you if you're the winner!