Please.

So far *fingers crossed* I am in the Top 10 with votes. I'd appreciate your help staying there! You can vote for any design once a day. The Kroger gift card prize would be awesome. Thanks!!

And I have been slacking on the giveaway stuff because we've had some stinking sickies around here and we've been crazy busy trying to get the house in shape for Easter. If you emailed me, you will have at least one special something, if not more!

EGG on my burger, but not on my face.

We ventured to Red Robin and I have been thouroughly intrigued by the thought of the Royal burger. But I was scared. Egg on your burger? Really? I mean it's just plain weird. So I asked the waitress and she convinced me to give it a try. Here it is in all of it's eggy, baconey goodness.

The result? It was interesting. I made it about halfway through because lets face it, those suckers are too big for anyone to eat. Next time I'll go back to my standard favorite or two, but I am glad I tried it. The only weird part is when you're eating it, you're expecting sausage, like an egg mcmuffin, but instead you get burger. So there you have it. Oh and in case you are wondering, that up there at the top is a cherry limeade. They rival Sonic's.

**For those of you who have emailed me your list of the top 5 Passion Parties items you'd like, I will let you know on Monday which items are yours. The giveaway is open until this Sunday, so pick out that wishlist! There are a few of you who are getting some goodies, but there are plenty of things left! Stuff for you, stuff for you and a partner, there are all kinds of goodies that need a great home.**

What NINE looks like.

We celebrated my nephew Dylan's 9th birthday at Pizza Papalis. The pizza was amazing, though the deep dish looked a little scary for me, it was about 2 inches thick and that is just entirely too much cheese and sauce for my liking, but the boys enjoyed it. Dylan ordered chicken. At a pizza place. For his birthday. You can't beat being NINE.






Lyndsey and I made technicolor cupcakes. They were very cool looking. Next time, I'll go a little less Jerry Garcia, but there will be a repeat or two in the future. Lyndsey did the mixing... there were a few pieces of gel coloring that weren't *quite* mixed in and resulted in some blue and yellow tongues. There are reasons she doesn't bake. They were still tasty.

Especially when covered with chocolate frosting, a number 9, gold sprinkle sugar, and a twirly candle. In green (of course) because that is Dylan's favorite color.

There was lots of singing and lots of embarassment. After all... he's NINE. And we are LOUD.

Aaaaaand last but not least... this is what FOURTEEN looks like.

Ah, the angst ridden face kills me.

The Monica Closet & A Giveaway.

The Monica Closet is truly the bain of my existance. Yes, just like Monica from Friends, we too have a closet filled with all manner of crazy shit. An avalanche of boxes and purses and coats would fall on your head each time you'd reach for something. The sheer amount of crap on the floor was up to my thigh. The Dyson didn't fit. The extra leaf from the table didn't fit. The keyboard (in a giant case I might add) was sitting in our dining room for months. Classy, I know. Don't believe me? Take a look.



My mother just had a heart attack, I am sure. She has helped me clean out this closet already, though we didn't do NEAR enough weeding out or organizing because it was just a matter of months before it was filled again. Having a party and need to stash the pile of mail? Throw it in the closet. Your faux purses from the Bahamas? Throw them in the closet. Coats from high school? In the closet! Picnic basket? Old printer? You can see where this is going... Right there in the closet!

So my magnificent husband spent his very last day of vacation helping me tackle this fiasco. I did swear on my life to NEVER allow it to get to this point again. Our little helper monkey thinks that the closet is now his play area since... get this, he can WALK into it. It is like a room he just discovered. Get this, our Dyson, keyboard, extra table leaf, AND all three of us can fit in there and still move around! We installed shelves at the far end, which helped tremendously. Here are the afters.

OK, now on to the giveaway. I must admit, it's mostly because I have to apologize to you for being a total crap blogger and thanks for hanging in there and still checking in. I don't think I've talked in my blog before about Passion Parties, but I was a consultant not so long ago. When I decided to stay home with Finnegan a year ago, I also gave up the Passion Parties. Well I have two boxes FILLED with all manner of goodies for your fun bits that were in that closet and are not going back in. I have everything from toys to lotions and potions and books and bath stuff. So here is what you do... go to the Passion Parties site (not work safe!) and email me (mma128@gmail.com) with your top 5 wishlist items. Don't forget to tell me flavors if there are choices. If you have more than 5 favorites, send me two emails! If I have one or two or five of your favorites, they are yours! If not, try again with 5 other items! EASY. If you are local, you can pick them up. If you're out of town, I'll send them to you since I want them to go to a good home.

Honey, now you don't have to do that guest blog you've been threatening. I'm back.