a christmas concert: your invite

Happy Tuesday, friends!

Would you like a way to kick off the Christmas season?

Then come on out on Saturday night!!

My sweet father-in-law is pushing aside his ailments in order to give us all joy during the holiday season. He is an amazingly talented singer- truly, I'm not just biased! Craig Biggio thinks so, too!- as is his friend Suzanne. Along with their friend Susan, on the piano, they're going to put on a wonderful concert full of traditional, and not-so-traditional, Christmas music. 

I hope some of you come on out. 

It is something we all look forward to every year.

Really. If you're not doing anything. Come on!

last chance

We are going private TOMORROW.

This is your last chance to get me your email addresses. 

I understand that this is bad timing, as most everyone is busy and away from home and their computers (and especially blogging) during this extended weekend, but it's just time enough to do it. 

Thanks, friends.

the privacy option

image source

Well, friends & readers...

I am sorry to say that Paw Prints & Pastry Bags is going to be going private very soon.

I am very upset about this, but my husband has requested it, and I feel like it's best for us at this time, all things considered. 

I absolutely want you all to keep reading along! Here's what to do:

*email/comment/FB message me your email address

*register your email address with blogger

(unless it is an AOL or gmail account, then just login to blogger using that-- your google-- account.)

* once the blog is private, be signed into blogger in order to read

If you have your own blog, that will be the easiest email for me to add. I've also found that AOL and Gmail accounts are the easiest to use. 

Even if we aren't "in-real-life" friends, please don't hesitate to send your email address! 

I really have come to love having you all read and comment. You have all be valuable sources of support, friendship, advice and knowledge and I really don't want to lose that!

From now until the blog goes private after Thanksgiving, all our posts will be kept pretty generic. No more kiddo, no more family, no more personal plans. 

(oh, and I will FOR SURE be running all the email addresses by Zach and his mom in an effort to keep things safe for my family)

LATE addition:

I am going to go ahead and post your comments, unless you tell me not to, so if there are any problems with my list I can go back and double check. If you want me to keep your comment with your email address private, let me know! 

never forget

Stephanie put it best... 

We will never forget.

11.18.1999

interwebs wanderings

Every once in a while, I enjoy telling you about all the wonderful things I wander across while I'm putzing around on the internet.

FIRSTLY: I got a lot of joy and pleasure out of the picture to the right, out of People's "who could be next" feature. Of course, we came up with Liam's name because of Liam Neeson. I love the name Harrison for a boy, but we decided we couldn't use it because we came to Liam Neeson via Star Wars: Episode I and we cannot have two boys named after the actors who play Star Wars characters. But when they put these two together as Liam could inherit Harrison's "Sexiest Man Alive" title, I just about died laughing. I still love the name Harrison, though. BUT we do have a potential boy's name picked, and that's not it.  And we're still not pregnant.

And why did nobody tell me about this darling headband when I was putting together Liam's birthday party!? Fornash does things right-- we stopped by their booth at the Nutcracker Market on Saturday and I'm still thinking about the pretty things they had.

Seriously though. I'm a little bummed I missed out on this one.




I am a self proclaimed lover of all things glittery for my nails. I lost my mind over Absolutely Alice and Mad as a Hatter when OPI released their Alice in Wonderland earlier this year, and they've made me a happy girl again with their Burlesque line. The shimmers are lovely, but I've been wearing the glitters since my mom and I spied them in Steve's salon. I have been wearing Glow Up Already! for a while, but have moved onto Extra-va-vaganza on both my fingers and toes.
(and yes, they're a total pain to remove, but so worth it in my book!)

Along a similar strain, I'm really interested in giving these a whirl, in the snowflake print, of course.

Another thing I'm currently obsessed with are Gap's Always Skinny Cords. I have them in the Gray and Indigo and swear by them up one side and down the other. They are extraordinarily comfortable, and the fabric seems to hold up pretty well: I don't get the bad stretchy knees with them like I do with the Always Skinny Jeans. Try them, try them, you will see.

This has already been purchased by my in-laws and will be under our tree on Christmas Day. My hubby is planning a battle royale between Spike the Dinosaur from last year and Big Foot.

Also from Fisher Price, Liam has this adorable Inn at Bethlehem to play with already, but I'm kind of sad I missed out on this adorable holiday playset. 

The Little People are big time in our house. He has Noah's Ark and all the animal packs, the airplane, Santa's sleigh and the Nativity as well. They're great toys, he loves them, but they are unpleasant to step on in the middle of the night. Trust me.



Also...
Anthropologie wants me to be a poor, poor lady.

These two beauties, the Andrick Coat, and the Karelia Coat, are the current objects of my desire. The problem is the price. Or rather, the price to wear ratio. If I lived in Boston, I'd probably feel that the prices on these are well worth it. But in Texas? They'd be HUGE splurges. Still. I love them both. And am hoping and praying they go on MASSIVE sale. Because I love them both. Did I mention that I love them? Call me crazy.

I am suddenly in love with Anthro's hats as well. They're all gorgeous and bound not to fit my (massive) head, but I can drool over the beauty that are these 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 hats. I have a particular fondness for the Bowler, no. 2.

And this dress is on my Christmas list. To wear with these tights in cocoa. And this belt. I only wish they could have come my way in time for Thanksgiving.

I feel like these are a little fancy for my current use, but they sure take me back to my dancing days!




Alright, that's enough for now. I believe I have thoroughly communicated my seriously sad Anthro addiction, to top it all off. I hope you guys are having a better week than we are! Be on the lookout for a bit of housekeeping news coming soon!

{and can we say a quick little prayer for my poor computer? i am lost without it, and it's not responding to its chargers. well, one got sliced in half, and the other doesn't read. i'm super worried about every single photo being on my computer, not to mention every bit of my work. i am stressed something awful about losing this data!}

on a cloudy monday afternoon

I've typed and re-typed the beginning of this post a number of times.

My heat hurts, throat's chapped and the incessant barking of the pit bull 3 doors down is breaking my concentration. I hope I can make a cohesive post out of this, but I cannot promise you anything.

Last Wednesday, my mom and I attempted to get a good picture of Mr. Man for our Christmas cards. I'll be the first to admit that there are 10 "misfires" for every good, useable photo.
<--- you see?


And then we headed over to the Kickerillo model in my mom's neighborhood to just look and I must admit...
I was horribly disappointed:

For as expensive as these houses are, can you believe that they actually had put fake stone in the kitchen? Gah. And the finishes just weren't what you'd expect from a multi-million dollar home. But, we've always heard that you're paying more for the name than for the quality. Whatevs, do what you want with your money. Just sayin' what I'm sayin'. 

After we got home from the models, Liam took a quick nap on my mom's bed, and then was ready to go outside and play... except that it was raining. Well, he was insistent, and so instead of getting *everyone* wet, we let him run around in my mom's backyard while we sat on the patio. When we finally came in, we had to put him in warm clothes (he had an accident in his jeans), so we brought out a pair of my dad's socks... 

Thanks for the loaner, dad. Liam appreciated having warm & toasty legs. He wore them until bed time, quite happily. 

Saturday we headed into Houston bright(ish) and early for the Nutcracker Market.

I'd never been before (um, hi, OVERWHELMING). I can't say that I'm itching to head back tomorrow, but once a year surely isn't so bad. My MIL, mom and I made quite the day of it.

Liam, on the other hand, stayed home with his Uncle Brad and Grandpa Roger (and Daddy, after he got off work). He was more than happy to spend the day playing.

After we got home, my FIL and I headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up ribbons for our Christmas tree... I am so ready for Thanksgiving weekend so it's not ridiculous to have the tree put up. We got chartreuse, antique gold and burgundy ribbons and ornaments and I am so excited to see it all put up together.  We even got coordinating wrapping paper and ribbons for packages. 

Liam found the perfect place for his water cup.

Today on Zach's lunch break, Liam was pretty punky. He's got a runny nose and cough, so he's a little put out and we just try to keep him as happy as possible and today, that meant pushing him around the house in the empty laundry basket, chasing Jethro. Jethro got worked up and started howling and Liam just loved it.

I think that's all for today, dearies. Thanks so much for your awesome responses to my last post. I'm glad everyone else got a kick out of the rockin' comment I received. You are all such supportive, wonderful friends and I thank you for that.

Hope your Monday has been a good one and it's started your week off right! 

let me explain (& rebut)

I asked for a raincheck, and you all granted it, so I feel like it's only time to explain our Halloween costumes!

I hinted about who I wanted us to be back in July...
and I even discussed the gentlemen we dressed as back in September...

So if you're good at clues, and familiar with your BBC, you would realize that we were The Doctor from the BBC craze, Doctor Who!

Doctors 10 and 11, respectively.

My other carseat is in the TARDIS.
Even Liam's in the Doctor Who spirit.
(Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS, see below, blue box)

I talked Zach into being the 10th Doctor. Honestly, it took about three seconds. It's a swell costume! We even bought the sonic screwdrivers for our respective Doctors:

I instantly knew I wanted to be the 11th Doctor. I big-puffy-red-heart him. I had SO. MUCH. FUN. putting this costume together, I still go into my closet and feel a giddy pitter-patter when I see my Paul Smith shirt. You guys have NO idea how crazy the quest for my burgundy PS Paul Smith was.

Granted, I have to tell you, I realize that this all seems INCREDIBLY nerdy/geeky/dorky.

But folks, I love this show, and my sweet husband does too.

SO say what you like, I LOVE our costumes and we plan on wearing them for a long time!!

Do you guys remember this photo?

I posted it the day my shirt for my costume came, and I received the damn stupidest anonymous comment on the blog about it. After sharing with my husband, he said I absolutely had to post it and "discuss."

In general, I usually disregard negative comments on my blog, but I have to tell you, I do NOT take well to accusations or name-calling, so...
(unedited for grammar or spelling, though I hate seeing mistakes in both on my blog!)


I cannot believe youre actually proud of this costume!!! In this day in age, your acutally going to dress up in such a racist, insensitive cosutme and its disgusting. Are you trying to offend muslims? Are you trying to offend Christians? Are you trying to offend EVERYONE? I would think that someoen who talks about how wonderful their education was would know that in these troubled times, its unexcuseable for someone to so blatently try to offend people who already hate us!!!! I am disgusted. 
-Anonymous.

      SO. Cue rebuttal.
My costume IS. NOT. RACIST. I was dressed as a popular TV character. Granted, it's a TV character that isn't popular in the US, but a TV character nonetheless. The Doctor character is anything but insensitive. He doesn't carry a gun, he doesn't create conflict, he creates NO controversy. Beyond who I dressed as, I  am going to assume that you are calling my costume insensitive because of the fez, because I cannot fathom where else you could divine racist out of the image I posted (Unless you're going to argue that my being female and wearing men's clothing is insensitive...). There is nothing racist about an article of clothing- our preconceived notions and stereotypes create the insensitivity. Why did you even bring religion into it? There isn't even a basis for that. I put on a fez because I needed somewhere to hide all my hair and because Matt Smith wore one in the last episode of Season 5. End of story.
I also would ask that before you insult my education-- which I don't believe I talk about often-- you take care to evaluate your own. I do not appreciate the insinuation that my education has been sub-par. Texas A&M is a highly respected university, and the mandatory schools I attended (with few exceptions) were all very good, highly rated schools. I am actually quite blessed to have been given a very good education, which I am thankful for.
Lastly, I believe that if ANYONE has an understanding for the way Americans are perceived by the rest of the world, it would be me. I spend most of my mandatory education in foreign countries. I went to school with people of other races, religions, nationalities and cultures. I have had Finnish, Danish, Turkish, Nigerian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Maori, Australian, Norwegian, English, Scottish, Irish, Polish, Canadian, Brazilian, South African friends. I have seen our country and our image through the eyes of these people, and I can safely tell you, I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what about us offends the rest of the world, and it's not going to be my dressing up as a popular, well loved character.

But please, feel free to comment on my blog as often as you like. :)



Image Sources: {10th Doctor} {11th Doctor} {11th Doctor & River Song}

lookin' at liam

WARNING: THIS POST IS ALL OVER THE PLACE.

So, to be honest, I couldn't think of anything more fun than just sharing a bunch of pictures of Liam enjoying just being Liam.

I KNOW I said I'd explain our Halloween costumes, and share that super awesome comment we got, but I don't feel like doing that right now because that requires more internet browsing for links than I'm really wanting to do right now.
Can y'all just take a raincheck until next time?
THANKS.

Liam was so much HELP when we were getting his playroom painted. He carried around old cans of paint for me, just to get them out of my way. Didn't he look cute? I die for those little shoes on him.

Liam also seems to think that he's being a huge help when he takes all the DVDs or video games out of their cabinet and slides them under the open door. Being honest, I pick up disc boxes twice a day and he usually pulls out so many that it takes me a good long while to put them all back correctly.

(read: I cannot just put them back. They have to be grouped. When he pulls out the comedies-- which is his favorite to mess with -- I have to sort them so all the Mel Brooks films are together, all the old Robert Downey Jr. films are together, all the non-Mel Brooks movies that star Gene Wilder are together, all the 80's comedies are together... you get what I'm saying? It's not a short/quick little put away. Yes, I'm that weird about things.)

One day this past week, when it was cold, Liam and I bummed around the house in sweats. It was divine. 

I snapped this picture of him getting after the water we'd decided to share:

He also discovered the Teddy Grahams that came with his kid's meal from Mission Burrito (Betsy, I really wish FL and TX were closer, so we could go burrito lunching together!). He was enamored and I thought it was pretty cute to see this little boy eating out of the bag like a big kid.

In addition to eating Mission Burrito with mommy and daddy at lunch, and getting after the big water jug, Liam played with Jethro. It just melts my heart to see these two boys together. 

Liam has been growing lately, and has recently gotten to such a size that his Baby Gap PJs that he wears every night are getting a little bit small, so the other night, I had to put him in the pair of PJs that we bought for him to wear on Christmas Eve:

Are those not the cutest darn things you've ever seen? I'm already swooning over the pictures we'll get of him with his packages in front of the tree in these a-freaking-dorable pajamas. Seriously. Try not to crack a smile thinking about it.

(Speaking of Christmas: I'm SO ready to start decorating. If my hubby would give me the go-ahead, I'd put the tree up tomorrow. My mom is in the process of putting her tree up and I'm super jealous of the sweet glow that's coming off of the fairy lights. However, I still have pumpkins out in the spirit of all things Thanksgiving. But as a non-land-meat-eater, I'm not a big Thanksgiving person. Besides the FOOTBALL, but we'll get to that next.)

I already mentioned I'm jealous that my mom is putting up her tree, but another reason I'm jealous of my mom is that she was IN Kyle Field on Saturday night when my Fightin' Texas Aggies BTHO ou! My poor child, y'all. He was so freaked out. Zach and I screamed and jumped and ran around and danced throughout the entire game (I lie, throughout the first half and the opening 2nd half kickoff, and the 4th quarter). Every time our D held on a goal line stand, we fist pumped and bellowed. Every time Cyrus broke open for a massive yardage gain, or a touchdown, we jumped around and screamed. Liam has NEVER seen this behaviour before, so after every "celebration," he broke down and wailed. Poor kid. But he's got to get used to it. 

Out of sight but never out of mind, my mom and brother were SUPER sweet and brought all of us presents from College Station. They brought us Maroon Out shirts, but Liam really cleaned up. He LOVES his football jersey!

I would be lying if I said I don't dream about seeing an image similar to this one on the jumbotron in 18 years:
(his dad wants him to be a linebacker. he's a big boy. i am pushing for qb. why? hello! roughing the passer is a legit penalty.)

And WHO DO I THINK I AM?!?

I seriously wore skinny cords and converse on Sunday. I am not cool enough to pull this look off.

Also, Converse, WHY do your shoes make all feet look GIGANTIC? I have a size 8 foot, I don't like looking down and feeling like I've got a size 12. Just saying.

But they are cute.

Liam also discovered the joys of "walking" around on your knees. He couldn't figure out how to do it quickly, because his sneakers were dragging on the carpet, but it was darn funny and it was really driving my mom's dogs nuts.

Finally, my mom moved off of her couch to sit on the floor with Liam because he kept wanting up on the couch, then he'd roll off and then want to get up again and start the whole process over. She eventually decided it would just be easier on everyone (her arms, namely) to get down on the floor with him. Once she did, she had everyone in her lap:

THAT, my friends, is my mom's own little slice of heaven.

when i get a wild hair...

Yesterday, I got a wild hair where the sun don't shine.

And apparently, when your name is Stef(ph)anie Clark, that means someone's going to be painting something.


So I decided it was time to whip our "playroom" into order.

With the holidays bearing down on us, I felt it was imperative to get all of Liam's things organized becasue any parent knows, Christmas means toys. And after Christmas? Means trying to find a place to PUT all the toys.

I see you, mamas, nodding your heads.

So I moved around furniture...

I moved my precious table and chairs out into the room (they were in a corner) where Liam had access to them, and when my mom brought Liam all the supplies for coloring today, we knew just where to put them. 

(Mom, the markers are in a cup, because as soon as you left, he ripped the top of the packages off. I know you're shocked.)

I'm kind of obsessed with this little area because this table and chairs was made for me for Christmas of '86, when I was just about the age that Liam is now. My sweet late Grandpa Rodney handmade the whole thing, and there's even a plaque on the table that reads "Made with love by Grandpa Rodney. For Stefanie, Christmas 1986." I would be lying if it doesn't make me a little teary to see it. 

And then I put his chalkboard on the wall. My mom bought this from Uppercase Living a l-o-n-g time ago, and I hadn't settled on where to put it yet. You can see, Liam already is enamored. The decals to the right are going to be applied to the outer edge of the chalkboard-- they're lime green. SO cute. And he already knows where he's allowed to draw on the walls, and where he's not. Not a stray chalk mark in sight, friends.

We put away mounds and mounds of stuffed animals so that you could see the top of the bed again. We (I) plan on giving this back to my in-laws sometime and purchasing this to put in its place. I think it'll add more functionality to the room, especially as Liam gets older (but I'm not crazy enough to go out and buy something really nice for a small child's playroom). I'm planning on recovering a slew of the pillows with fabric I bought before we even closed on our house.

You can finally see the gorgeous quilt my sweet Grandma Darlene made for Liam too! 

She did SUCH an amazing job and I just treasure it. I'm psycho protective of it, too, so we keep it in the playroom, where none of the pets are allowed to go. 

Biggest change:

I'm in LOVE with the wall color, and my mom and I discussed today wrapping it around onto the wall behind the bed, with the window. I'm afraid this saturated a color on all 4 walls would be a little *much,* but I cannot get enough. 

Liam loves it too, he keeps running into the playroom, putting his back against the painted wall and rubbing it with his hands. Sweet child.

And right now, this is all that's on the walls: 

Peter Pan's Flight by Thomas Kinkade. SO gorgeous. And sweet.

LOVE.

And FINALLY, I got this insanity organized and plugged in and hooked up and FUNCTIONING.

Of course, the cable box they brought us a year ago was never hooked up so we never knew it didn't work, but luckily (?? I hate them) the cable guy was coming out today anyway, so he took care of it and now Liam can watch the Disney Channel in his playroom! 

(which I'm SO happy about b/c sometimes, we don't want to watch daddy play video games in the living room.)

Sweetness on top of the armoire. 

Now, I think part of me hesitated on committing to this room because I know that eventually, it'll be somebody's bedroom. However, that all depends on what gender we have next (which isn't for a while yet, so don't get excited). 

I've finally allowed that if we have baby K next, the playroom will be his room. I've been DYING to take a piece of furniture to a shop where they paint cars to have it coated and cured and I think that My/Brad/Liam's old crib would look awesome some color. We'll just give K a more modern nursery than Liam had and go with the guitars and polka dots and color scheme we've already got in the playroom.

IF the next baby is baby E, then we'll move Liam into the playroom, and move her into Liam's old nursery. That way we can let Liam have the room that's already prepped for a boy, and we'll paint the pretty yellow stripes on the wall in Liam's unpainted current bedroom. Can you imagine trying to cover that shade of teal/turquoise with two soft yellows? Yeah, neither can I.

And that's that.

And for those of you still interested:

I added another coat of paint to the frame I had ditched-- but a different brand. Let me tell you, cheap spray paint is cheap for a darn good reason. I used the good, Home Depot bought paint that I had used on the hinges and it knocked out the orangey coppery stuff that was bleeding through the white before. I also used said paint to re-do a couple of frames I used to display in my bedroom pre-college. I love all the rectangles on the wall. And boy, does that white POP! against the grey walls.

I love it. I just really, really am hoping to get the house organized (and my child to nap) so I can actually get some more work done soon.

Yes, I'm feeling mighty good about the way my little home has come together since we moved in almost a year ago. House=Home. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend... our neighborhood garage sale is tomorrow and as much as I hate them (I see you, Jess!), I have tons and tons of baby stuff of Liam's that we want to sell, so... 

I'm trying to commit. Wish me luck!
Oh, and not to worry, I'll totally do a post explaining our Halloween costumes in the near future! I have a nasty bloggy comment my hubby wants me to share.