The Dam Store

One of my favorite things about traveling is finding funny signs or places. The Dam store is actually back in Kansas near Perry Lake. I saw the sign and had to stop. It is actually a gas station and a convenience store located on the road to the dam at Perry Lake.

Men are from Mars

My sister sent me this picture. I was just wondering...if men have just one on/off switch why can't we turn it off? Wouldn't it be great if we could? When we go shopping I could just put him on a bench, turn off his switch, and turn it back on again when I was finished shopping.

Royal Gorge Colorado

We plan on visiting the Royal Gorge today or tomorrow. It is so beautiful there. You can go whitewater rafting at the bottom of the gorge. We might try to do that if I am not too much of a sissy. It isn't the fact that it is scary, the water is just super cold!!

Men need diaper bags!

Why don't they make diaper bags for men? Every time we go somewhere my purse or tote bag gets loaded down with my husband's Ipod, sunglasses, wallet, keys, camera, snacks, book, etc. , etc. I think they should make bags just for men so that they can carry all of their own junk!!

Ouray Colorado

We are going to spend a lot of time in Ouray, Colorado during our vacation. It is the neatest little town with about 800 year-round residents. We want to spend the 4th of July in Ouray. Ouray is nicknamed "Little Switzerland".

The Rock

We are heading out the door for our vacation today. When my husband came back from Iraq last year we decided that no matter what was going on we would shut down the business for two weeks twice a year and go somewhere. We are going to spend two weeks in Colorado dirt bike riding, hiking, and sight seeing. This is one of the places we are heading on our Colorado trip. A few years ago we bought a rustic cabin in Pitkin, Colorado (dirt bike trail heaven). It doesn't have any electricity or water. There are 76 steps to the top which is a little rough in the high altitude, especially when you have to lug water to the top. A guy from New York built it over 20 years ago. He used to climb up the rock to get to the cabin. After several years he sold it to someone else who added the stairs. We are the fourth owners and we are very grateful for the stairs!!

Summer Swap Package

I participated in the "Sweet Tea Diaries" summer swap and got this awesome package in the mail from "Black Labs and Lilly". I forgot to take pictures of the wrapping. I get way too excited when I get something in the mail and rip into it right away. I love it all!!! I packed it all to take it with me on vacation

The Work Shop

A few bloggers asked me how I keep everything organized so I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of my work shop:

The only way I can hand make everything fast is to keep everything really organized. I don't have any employees so I have to stay super organized and caught up. It really helps that I was a chef for many years before I got into accounting and eventually started this business. I run everything like it was a restaurant. All of my ordering and organizing is the same way I would do it in a kitchen. I can't make anything ahead of time because everything is customized, but I pre-cut everything I can and I do everything I can to make sure I don't run out of supplies. I bought two antique library card catalogs and they are filled with supplies (all of the drawers are alphabetized).

I have 7 of the Brother PR600 embroidery machines (my sister has three at her house because she does the wholesale orders). The trick is to keep all of them running at the same time!

Every other day I print all the orders (I ship on the other days). I then do all of the monogramming, then all of the sewing and gluing. After that I move on to ceramics.

After any ceramic orders are finished I make the jewelry. I finally bought a jewelry work bench and it keeps everything more organized. If I don't stay extremely organized I can't find anything!!

I have a separate room for shipping. I wait until everything is finished and then I do all of the shipping at once.

Once everything is packed and ready to go I haul it down to the post office. I clean my workshop every night so that it is ready to go every morning. If I don't clean it up every day it turns into a big disaster really fast.

RIbbon Giveaway Winner

And the winner is....."Krystyn" from "Really, Are You Serious?" Congratulations!!!

Looks like a dog - Walks like a duck

I went grocery shopping yesterday and bought one of those really small loafs of fresh bread. When I went to make dinner last night I couldn't find it. I looked in every cabinet several times (just in case it magically appeared since the last time I looked). Then Bailey (my bad little dog) came waddling into the kitchen. He was waddling like a duck. I went out to the back yard and sure enough there was an empty bread wrapper. He had eaten the whole loaf and was so full that he was waddling, but that didn't stop him from begging for a treat. His new nick name is "Flying Squirrel". He pushes on the kitchen chairs until they move. He then gets on the chair and hops onto the kitchen table. From there he jumps (flies) about three feet and lands on the kitchen counter.

The "Last" Ribbon Giveaway

I already admitted that I have a ribbon hoarding problem and gave a bunch away, but I found more. This should be the last of the discontinued ribbon. I opened every single box in our store room. Most of the ribbon is 3/8" wide (great for scrap booking or ribbon necklaces). To enter the giveaway just leave any comment on this post by midnight on Monday 6-22-09. I will draw and announce a winner on Tuesday morning, 6-23-09. If the winner gets back to me right away with their address I can ship before we leave for vacation, if not I can ship the ribbon when we get back on July 10th. Good Luck!!

As if the beer bottles weren't enough.....

While I was at the bead show picking up supplies my husband did some more decorating (wrecking up the place). I thought the beer bottles were the end of the decorating, but my husband must have been hit with more inspiration (or a lighting bolt).

We now have a Rush poster and car license plates above the fire place (just in case I forget who my favorite band is and what the original license plates from the Anglia looked like).



We also have a regular size arcade game in the dining room now. If you are worried about how your dinner guests can entertain themselves while eating dinner just install an arcade game two feet away from your dining room table. It is all the rage! You can even buy the rebuilt ones from the 80's to give your dining room the much sought after "Retro Look", and don't forget to through in a few guitar cases.



Maybe he should be a decorator on "Trading Spaces"??

A few readers asked why we don't recycle the brown bottles. It is because the cost to transport them to the state recycling center is higher than what they get paid for them so our city recycling center won't take them any more.

New Giveaway Starts Today - Lilly Pulitzer Bag

The new giveaway contest starts today, June 19 2009: A Lilly Pulitzer Loose Lilly Bag in Navy Shaken Up. I will be taking entries until midnight on Friday, July 10, 2009. A winner will be drawn and announced on Saturday, July 11, 2009. This giveaway is running longer than the others due to our scheduled vacation.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER: All entries must come through the website link. The link will take you to the giveaway page on my website which lists all of the giveaway details and has a link to enter the giveaway.

And the Winner is....

The winner of the Vera Bradley Betsy Tote is "Mint Juleps and Magnolias" Congratulations!!

When husbands are left home alone

I didn't realize we moved into a dorm room over the weekend. Our recycling center doesn't take brown glass any more so why not just decorate the living room with the brown beer bottles!

Winner of Ribbon Giveaway

And the winner is "Preppy 101" from All Things Southern and Preppy. Congratulations! Just email me when you get a chance and I will ship the ribbon to you right away.

I am still going through boxes so I might have another giveaway. We move every one to two years and I can't believe how much stuff I have hoarded and never had a chance to clean out. I promised my husband that my business wouldn't take up a full U-haul for our next move!!

Wacky Wednesday - 25% off Everything

25% off everything on the website now through midnight on 6-18-09. Just use the following coupon code during checkout to receive the 25% off "wacky"

We will be closed from 6-24-09 thru 7-9-09. Wacky Wednesday deals will start again on 7-15-09.

Any ideas for a tutorial??

I have had so many requests to post craft or jewelry tutorials on the Lauren Nicole Blog, but I have no idea what to do. Is there anything you would want to learn about or see how it is made? The first few would have to be pretty simple until I can figure out the best way to write it up. There are some things I won't be able to do because I have a problem with other websites copying everything I do so I have to be careful about giving out certain information.

I would love to hear your ideas. It will give me something to do in the car when we are on vacation. It is either that or drive my husband crazy!

Cherry Cheesecakes

My friends and I used to make these for tea parties when we were kids (once we branched out beyond the Holly Hobbie Easy Bake oven). I made a bunch this weekend for some parties we went to. They are good, but not so good if you substitute fat-free cream cheese. You should use the full-on fat cream cheese. The recipe makes 15 mini cheesecakes.

16 oz cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can cherry pie filling
Nilla Wafers

1. Beat the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add one egg at a time, beating after each addition.

2. Place cupcake papers in a cupcake pan. Place one Nilla wafer in the bottom of each cupcake paper.

3. Fill the cups about half way with the cream cheese mixture (or divide evenly between 15 cupcake cups).

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for 17 to 20 minutes (or when toothpick comes out clean). Be careful not to overbake or they will burn easily on the bottom.

Let them cool completely and then top with cherry pie filling.

Just let me know if I left anything out. My Mom always complains about my recipe files. I guess because I went to cooking school all of my recipes are only lists of ingredients, no directions.

Another Ribbon Giveaway!!

Apparently I have some ribbon hording issues!! I am still going through some older boxes of supplies from our last move and I found more ribbon to giveaway. To enter the giveaway just leave any comment on this post by midnight on Tuesday 6-16-09. I will draw a winner on Wednesday morning, 6-17-09. If I find any more ribbon over the next few weeks I will do another ribbon giveaway in July. I still have about ten boxes left to go through.

Look out Bikers!

I LOVE garage sales! We found these bikes at a garage sale last weekend and my husband sweet talked them into selling the bikes for $12 each. That was a great deal and I even got a pink one! He asked me to point out that his bike is really blue (it looks a little purple in the picture). I guess it is wrong for Mr. Army to be caught riding a purple Barney bike. I still like my dirt bike because it has a motor, but these bikes will be really fun too.

Blog Design

I would like to thank a few people that re-did my blog. I am a horrible programmer so I really needed help!!

THANK YOU to Melissa at "The Gill Family Adventures" for creating a banner and background for my blog. I love it!!

THANK YOU to Krystyn at Krizzy Designs for designing the layout. She did an amazing job on the tabs, columns, links, boxes, and pictures.

Thank you for all of your hard work!!

Have a great weekend!

Self Check out = Self Embarassment

Because I am very impatient and hate to go grocery shopping I always just buy a few things so that I can run through the self-checkout lines. I have a Love/Hate relationship with those lines. Don’t you just hate it when you screw everything up and have to wait for someone to come by and fix it. It usually happens when I am trying to look up produce and hit the wrong keys or because I accidentally “remove something from the bagging area”. Of course, what ever you do wrong is announced by the computer so that everyone can hear and just stare at you. I wish there was a wall so that no one could watch you check out!!!

Just making a few calls

We had an interesting day yesterday! First, we got a phone call from the repair shop that has our truck (they are putting new tires on it). Someone vandalized it in their parking lot and broke out the window. I couldn't find my cell phone yesterday so I assumed it was in the truck and stolen. I called the phone company and they said that there had been several phone calls made from the phone yesterday and we knew we hadn't used the phone in a week so I cancelled the phone. After I went through the process of ordering the phone reports so that I could file a police report on the truck I went out to my back yard. I always check the backyard twice a day just in case Bailey (my bad little dog) stole anything. Guess what I found in the dirt? My phone!!! The phone was flipped open and on (I usually leave it on). He had been playing with it and must have been pressing the buttons while he was chewing on it because there were several calls made to numbers that are programmed into the phone. I should have known!!!

New Giveaway Starts Today - Vera Bradley Betsy Tote

The new giveaway contest starts today, June 12 2009: A Vera Bradley Betsy Tote (Pinwheel Pink). I will be taking entries until midnight on Thursday, June 18, 2009. A winner will be drawn and announced on Friday, June 19, 2009.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER: All entries must come through the website link. The link will take you to the giveaway page on my website which lists all of the giveaway details and has a link to enter the giveaway.

Winner of the Vera Bradley Tiki Clutch

The winner of the Tiki Cluth is "Catrina" from The Delima Dilemma.

Congratulations!!

Crying Wolf

We found a stray dog in our yard, a beautiful friendly husky. We drove around with her until we found the owners. We found out that the dog had also gotten out last week and one of the neighbors called the police and the owner's were fined. The neighbor that called the police told them that there was a wolf in her yard. Granted, a husky does look a lot like a wolf, but as it turned out the neighbor that called the police knew that it was a husky and knew whose dog it was. What a jerk!!

Wouldn't it be great if we could call the pound and have them pick up rotten people!

5-Day Sale: 25% off entire Website

Five-Day Sale: Thursday 6-11-09 through midnight on Monday 6-15-09. The sale is for 25% off everything on the website. Just use the following coupon code during checkout to receive the 25% off "flagday"

The coupon is valid for all purchases made on 6-11-09 thru midnight on 6-15-09. Not valid on previous purchases.

Winner of the Ribbon Giveaway

And the winner is "All-American Preppy" of The Monogrammed Nest. Congratulations on winning the ribbon. I hope you have fun creating with it! Just email me when you get a chance at admin@LaurenNicoleGifts.com

Fabrege?

For fun, and because I didn’t want to clean the house last weekend, I took an enameling class. I had no idea how hard it was to enamel. Cloisonne enameling is when an artist makes a design out of wire, lays it on a piece of silver, and paints it with glass (firing it in a kiln after each step). It looks simple, but it is pretty hard. I now have a whole new appreciation for enameled cloisonné jewelry and really understand why the hand made pieces are so expensive. The simple piece I made took me almost 6 hours (and I cheated and wrapped each wire piece around a pen so that it at least looked like a flower). The piece didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to, but if I give it to Mom she has to love it because that’s what moms do. The artist that taught the class makes really intricate designs and bends the wire with her hands and sometimes pliers. If you see inexpensive cloisonné jewelry out there it just means that the metal work on the piece was probably made with a mold instead of being made up of individual pieces of wire.

Wacky Wednesday - 30% off Novelty Key Fobs

30% off Novelty Ribbon Key Fobs. The key fobs are made with sturdy cotton belt webbing, novelty ribbon, and nickel hardware. The key fobs are on sale now through midnight on Thursday, 6-11-09. Just use the following coupon code during checkout to receive the 30% off "wacky"

Diet - Day 41

Baking Chocolate is starting to sound really good (it is the only item in the house that remotely looks or tastes like chocolate).

Did you ever try to eat it as a kid? We did. Several times. We thought we found some great candy only to bite into it and then gag!

Winner (Guessing the Car Part Contest)

My husband got up early to read all the comments. Thank you to everyone who left a comment! He had fun reading them! The rules were that the first person to guess correctly would win so the winner is "Katie @ my net finds". She guessed "Front suspension and steering". The really detailed answer would be "Front Suspension: Independent front suspension including a-arms, coil over shocks, calipers, rotors, crossmember & sway bar AND Steering: rack & pinion steering system". There were other more detailed versions entered after Kathie's, but her answer was correct and entered first. Congratulations!!!

Ribbon Giveaway

After cleaning out my workshop and donating a ton of ribbon this is what I have left over. If you would like to enter the giveaway just leave any comment on this post. The cut-off is Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at midnight. I will draw a name on Wednesday morning.

This is just wrong!

This scale is really cute, but it is the last thing I would want to look at when I am on a diet. That would be like painting giant ice cream cones all over my refrigerator and then opening the door just to find out there is no ice cream any where!!

A different kind of Giveaway

I didn't get the memo, but apparently we are now storing car parts in the flower beds. I asked my husband why and is answer was "because the garage is getting full and you won't let me keep car parts in the living room". This giveaway is a little different. The part in the picture came off of the car my husband is rebuilding. Do you know what the part is? The first person who leaves a comment on this post and guesses correctly will win a Vera Bradley clutch wallet. If no one guesses exactly what it is then the next best guess will win. My husband will be judging the comments on Tuesday after he removes the car part from the flower bed. The contest ends at midnight on Monday, June 8, 2009.

Hint: It is NOT a lawn ornament.

Cake Wrecks

I found this new blog a while back called Cake Wrecks (when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong. I love this blog! They show pictures of cake disasters, as well as some really beautiful cakes. I worked as a cake decorator all through college and there was always that one cake decorator that made awful cakes (it was probably me). I hated when a customer would come in to pick up a cake and I would panic because when they gave me their pick-up slip I realized that the cake would have been made by the crazy cake lady that I worked with. I hated bringing the customer's cake out. I will always remember one cake that I did that was really bad. I was supposed to draw a horse on a cake....I can't draw!! It looked like a cross between a donkey and a goat. The guy that picked it up loved it (I have no idea why); I refused to charge him for it.

Cookie Monster

These are the cookies that I ordered for one of my Mom's Mother's Day gifts. They are from A Dozen Eggs. She LOVED THEM! Unfortunately, no one in my family knows how good the cookies are because apparently my Mom hid them in her closet so that no one else could find them!! They were that good! She said that she is too old to share any more. I don't blame her, I wouldn't share with us either!!!

New Giveaway Starts Today - Vera Bradley Tiki Clutch

The new giveaway contest starts today, June 5 2009: A Vera Bradley Tiki Clutch from their Island Collection. I will be taking entries until midnight on Thursday, June 11, 2009. A winner will be drawn and announced on Friday, June 12, 2009.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER: All entries must come through the website link. The link will take you to the giveaway page on my website which lists all of the giveaway details and has a link to enter the giveaway.

Winner of the Lilly Pulitzer Wallet Giveaway

The winner is "Preppy Sue". Congratulations!!!!

Check out her blog sometime: Preppy Sue

Purple Rain

We finally found parts for our turntable and it now works (we had to have the parts shipped from Germany). We went to a bunch of garage sales this weekend and found "Purple Rain" and a bunch of 80's goodies to add to our collection. I still think vinyl records sound better than anything else out there!! I taught some college accounting courses a few years ago and I had lots of students who had never listened to an actual record. I think they should bring them back!!! I remember when we had to stand in line at a record store to buy a new release. We used to just buy the small 45 records with one hit song on them because you could buy them for 99 cents each (which was a lot of money in the 80's because in high school I used to work for $3.15 an hour).

ETA: Just in case any of my students are following my blog I posted a picture of a record so that you know what one looks like :)

Book Clip Winners

I have two winners for the book clip. My husband drew two names instead of one so I going to giveaway two. The winners are "Torch Lake Prep" and "Deals, Steals & Heals". Congratulations!! Thank you for the comments and entries!. Everyone recommended some great books. I am going to use the list when I choose some books to read this summer.

Polyvore Disaster?

I am not so sure all this stuff goes together, but this is what I have packed so far. And yes, unfortunately I do wear my Vera Bradley flip flops and Lilly sunglasses around town with my bike gear when we are coming and going from the trails. We are going to Colorado at the end of June and I have to start packing early otherwise I forget to bring everything. Ever since my husband came back from Iraq we decided that twice a year we would shut everything down no matter what is going on and head for the mountains. This year we are going to walk a 10K. I wanted to try to run most of it, but high altitude really sucks when you aren't used to it any more. In case you happen to be in Ouray, Colorado for the 4th of July race we will be the ones coming in last and trying to thumb a ride the whole way.

Wacky Wednesday - 30% off Typewriter Key Necklaces

30% off Fine Silver Typewriter Key Initial Necklaces. The fine silver pendant measures 1/2" in diameter and comes on a sterling silver ball chain with two bead charms. The necklaces are on sale now through midnight on Thursday, 6-4-09. Just use the following coupon code during checkout to receive the 30% off "wacky"

Brake Time!

This is a picture of the car my husband is "building for me". I wasn't married yesterday so I know that means the car is really for him, but if he says it is for me I might let him spend more on it. He bought the car on Ebay a few years ago from some crazy guy in England who shipped it to us on a boat. My husband finished putting new brake lines on it last night. Hopefully Bailey is helping and not stealing important brake parts.