October 2011 Ad and everything that's been going on...

September 2011 Ad

My First Shadowing Photo Session!

Zee-Bee's Big Adventure! Zeina Turns Two!

Spring/Summer Ad is Here!

Paisley Peepers has gone INTERNATIONAL!

Spring 2011 Ad

Back by Popular Demand! Weekly Meal Plans!

Happy Sunday my Peeps!

I posted some of our dinner's on facebook this past week and got a couple requests for the recipes. So I decided to start posting my weekly meal plans again.
I stopped posting them for a couple weeks because I started getting really frazzled, see last post for details. I know, I know it's not an excuse but... well I'm bringing them back!

If you don't know already I started doing weekly meals back in October. I was getting so bored with the same 5 "safety" meals. You know the ones you always go to when you don't know what to make? I picked up the October issue of Real Simple Magazine and right there in plain black and white was a whole month of meals already planned WITH grocery lists! Of course I bought it and now have made over 200 recipes from real simple! Now every dinner is different and healthy and fresh. I've already written a few blogs on my amazing discovery so please feel free to go back and read or click here , here
and here :)

This Week's Meals all amazing!- Click on the title to get recipe

Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna With Romaine Salad 

Curried Chicken with ginger and yogurt 

Chili-glazed pork with sweet potato hash 

Roasted turkey with cheddar-stuffed potatoes 

Asian steak salad with mango 


Nick picked this week's meals from my stash so they all contain meat of course, but please don't be discouraged my veggie Peeps! There are many many veggie friendly meals on their website. Also for all you tech savvy iPad, iPod, iPhone, or Android owners there is an app from Real Simple you can get that allows you to make meal plans with grocery lists already attached! Hope you enjoy! Until next time...

I'm Back in Black!

Please please let me apologies for being a slacker :( I've been in a little bit of a funk mixed with being super busy; does not mix well with me I guess.
There are a ton of things to share with you. Let's start from the beginning.

My father-in-law was able to make it out here from California and stayed with us for a week; thus begins the birth of frazzleina, or in other words my schedule being interrupted which means my OCD starts to get in the way of me being able to function normally a.k.a "frazzleina".

Don't get me wrong, I love having family over. Actually, I think I enjoy it too much. I start to get super obsessed with getting the house in order. I just like everything to be nice and clean and enjoyable for our guests. I know... this is a whole different issue you don't have time for, trust me.

So back to the point, we had a grand old time! Although a couple days after he arrived he got sick which got me, my husband and our daughter sick as well but that didn't stop us from taking a last minute road trip to... NYC!  My father-in law had never been so we decided it would be fun :)

Okay, so he leaves and things start to get back to normal you'd think right? Wrong. By this point I'm still getting over being sick plus I'm really weird and it takes me about a week to a week and a half to, what I like to call, "detox" from all the excitement of having company over. I know, I know I'm weird. For one I do not do well just jumping back into a schedule once it's been interrupted and two I start to get all sentimental and I realize how much I miss all our family and friends back home. So ya... I need to detox.  hahaha

Finally after about a week and a half, I'm back in business and back on schedule feeling normal again. I do, although, still feel a little homesick or "friendsick" and have one of those pity party days.  It was SO pathetic and SO out of the blue BUT my husband helped snap me out of it.  I got over it and survived of course.

That week was very exciting. FIVE sales within the week which was a great start to the month. I also had what felt like a stampede of inspiration invade my brain. Also very exciting since I was feeling a little stuck in the creativity department. We also had a date night which is always super fun along with two dinner dates with some friends which very much helped with my "friendsickness".

So this brings me to this week. Trying to get all the ideas in my head out on paper and "hunting" for fabrics have been really refreshing. It's been a little bit of a challenge since our daughter is getting her last four teeth in, her canines. Is it just me or are these the worst ones to come in? Poor baby, I feel so bad for her BUT they are her last ones so that's  a good thing.

So here's the BIG announcement! I've been asked to participate in a fellow blogger's contest giveaway. She loved my camera straps so much and I was SO flatter that out of all the Etsy shops she chose mine :). There will be more details to come, but if you love taking pictures then you may want to consider entering. The winner gets a gift card from my shop! The contest will begin very soon so look out for details at  A Candid Life blog. This is very exciting for me since I'm anticipating a hike in traffic between my shop, facebook and blog. I'm turning it up a notch and working double...no triple time to get my business up to par.


Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you at my shop very soon! Until next time...

This Week's Menu

click on the links below for recipes. 


Chicken Paprikash
Shrimp with White Beans and Toast
Asian Beef and Mango Salad
Mushroom and Herb Strata
Balsamic-glazed Pork and Lentils

(:On weekends we usually have leftovers or I just add extra recipes to the list...up to you :)

All these recipes are very health and mmmm mmmm good! I LOVE Real Simple 's recipes because 1. they are so easy and fast to make 2. they are so tasty I feel like a real chief lol 3. I'm making food I usually wouldn't make and it gives us a different meal pretty much everyday; we are never bored with our meals now 4. and most important, I feel like I'm giving my family a healthier lifestyle. 
Now that we've switched over to pretty much all organic foods, we've realized that we do get sick off of fast food! Which is good and bad all at the same time because I love some fast food. Oh well, I'd gladly give it up if it means my family is healthier :)


If you are thinking of going organic please don't be scared. Start off with just a few things like fruits and veggies and see if it's something your family could get used to. I pretty must just jumped right into it and didn't really look back, but we aren't very picky eaters so it worked out for us. I really enjoy the experience of shopping organic. The food is so much tastier and I've noticed the people that work at the markets are friendlier! MOM's Organic Market in Maryland will even help you out to your car without even asking and they won't take "no" for an answer even if you only have one bag :) I think I might even try the local Amish market down the road sometime soon. And again for us, our weekly bill pretty much stayed the same and even went down! But I think it had a lot to do with me actually planning out meals and shopping weekly which definitely cut down on waste in our house.


The portions on these recipes are for 4 serving of "normal" sized portion. This was something we had to get used to since we are used to eating massive sized portions but we have no complaints now :)

I hope this blog finds busy people needing a fresh start or new ideas for dinners!

Please leave feedback on anything you find helpful or just to say "Hi".


Unitl next time...

A Grand Opening and a Grand Challenge

It's finally February which means... my Grand Opening events are finally here!

This month you will find TONS of specials and perks along with brand new items I will be introducing to the store weekly. If you are a fan on facebook, you get extra special perks! A special thank you for being one of my "Peeps". If you are a fan please look out for this avatar

This will let you know that there is a special "Perk" that day or week. Starting Feb. 1st all aprons and bow holder frames come with a FREE gift so check them out :)





I've been SO very busy this last week so I'd like to apologize for my absence. I've been a busy bee e-mailing potential customers and sending out thank you e-mails to my customers who have been so great in making my first month as an up an running shop so encouraging :) Really, if you are reading this right now, you've really helped my confidence and have inspired me to make new items. YAY!

I recently bought a  DSLR camera, which is serving the purpose of both a family camera and a business camera, and I'm having lots of fun trying to figure out what I'm doing. I tried out a camera club this week and I think I'll try it out again. This week the discussion was on beauty shots. Not my cup of tea but I did end up learning a few really cool tricks. The majority of the class was on the importance of  good make-up. Most of the discussion was stuff I already knew since I have one of the best make-up artists for a mom, Liza Millan of State Street Salon. She was voted best make-up artist in the Inland Empire by Inland Empire Magazine. For anybody out there that is looking for a fantastic make-up artist in So Cal.
Sorry just needed to send a shout out to my mommy :)
Back to the camera club. So I think I'll go back and hopefully meet some local photographers and get some direction on how to work my new baby.

I also took sometime this past week to spend just with my daughter. I've gotta be honest, I was getting a little distracted with my new business. I had to take a breather and really concentrate on my #1 baby, little Z. I just can't help wanting to put 100% of my energy and effort into ANYTHING that comes from me- i.e. creativity, business, our daughter, marriage, a relationship, a friendship, a promise. It's hard to be a multi-tasker with the the urge to want to put your all into everything, it can get pretty exhausting and something always tends to suffer.  So I pretty much forced myself to not think of the business this last week. If I had an idea, I'd write it down and try to forget it. By the time the week ended I looked at the sheets of paper filled with ideas and thought "uh oh, I better get on this".  And then again finding the time to create all these ideas gets a little overwhelming.  Being a stay at home mom with a home business is a little challenging... ok A LOT challenging. I've never been so frumpy, my house has never been so messy, I've never felt so unorganized, I've never stayed up so late and woken up so tired, I've never had to juggle so much all on my own during the day... BUT I've never felt so loved, never felt so accomplished, never been a prouder wife, never thought I'd say "I LOVE being a stay at home mom." The things I get to experience with our daughter are priceless and I get to do something I love and earn an income. All the other stuff are just steps to learning how to be a more loving and humbled mom and wife.  I still pray and hope to find that balance of being a mom, a wife and a business owner. I've been all three at one point of my life before but never been all at the same time.  But I gotta give myself a break here...it's only been a month :)

Speaking of which, I'm very proud to say that last month, my first month in business, I reached my goal in $s! Just by a hair I made my income goal. By a hair I mean by a couple dollars literally, lol, BUT I made it! I didn't think I'd make this goal for a couple months so this was a great surprise to me and even MORE of a reason to thank everyone for their business. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Sorry about missing the weekly meal plan tutorial this week. I plan on posting it tomorrow. btw the meal were delicious as always :D

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week. Until next time...

This Weeks Menu

After putting the baby down, I finally had time to make my weekly grocery list! And let me tell you this week's meal plan looks AMAZING! I'm sure they will be just as delicious as all the other 100 recipes I've made. HEY! I just realized I've made over 100 recipes from Real Simple Magazine! YAY to that accomplishment!

So here is the menu for this week: click on the links for recipes

Creamy Broccoli Soup
Lamb Kebabs with lima bean  salad
Chicken Adobo with Bok Choy
Asian Steak Salad with Mango
and
Chili-Glazed Pork with Sweet Potato Hash

(:On weekends we usually have leftovers or I just add extra recipes to the list...up to you :)

To make things even easier for you, the shopping list can be found here =>  Shopping List. Just print out the pdf and head to the grocery store! How awesome is that!!!


I hope this blog finds busy people needing a fresh start or new ideas for dinners!


Please leave feedback on anything you find helpful or just to say "Hi".


Unit next time...

To All My Stay at Home Moms Out There- The Things Our Moms Didn't Tell Us.

I first want to say that a stay at home mom IS a working mom. We just work at home with our kids :) I had a hard time realizing this the first 6 months I was at home with our daughter. Feeling all I was good for was to nurse my daughter, change diapers, clean, and cooking was very hard and I didn't realize, at the time, that it IS an important job.  It's also very hard when society doesn't see it that way sometimes. I get comments from people, not trying to be rude, that don't count being at home "working" and it's really hard to hear, "oh you have the time to do that, I'm too busy I can't" Um... excuse me? please explain to me what time is and where I can get it??? lol.  We are nannies, maids, teachers, nurses, personal shoppers, cooks, and moms all rolled into one and we, or at least I, have the worst boss at times, ourselves. So give yourself the credit you deserve :)

Now, the point to writing this blog was that the past few weeks I've realized that I am having a hard time balancing being a stay at home mom with 2 jobs now that my craft shop is officially open. So I turned to some blogs to help me out and have found that there are a lot of women that are having a hard time going from working outside of the home to being a SAHM or just having a hard time in general finding themselves and being a SAHM which I can definitely  relate to. I don't claim to be an expert but I'd like to share the things I've felt that are helpful for me, and I'm still learning.

I've been a SAHM for about a year and a half now with our first child. It's not easy, not at all, but I really do love it more than I ever thought I would.

I only have one child so my life may not be as busy as some of yours but we also don't live anywhere close to our extended family so I've had to get a little creative when it comes to finding time to get things done. I've found that organization keeps me sane so I've found a couple really good tools to help me.

For one, a messy house can really make me feel out of control so I try to keep it as clean as possible. I've made monday-friday magnets and chore magnets for my frig and I give myself about three chores to complete while my daughter is taking her naps everyday so I don't feel overwhelmed with cleaning the house.

Monday's chores: Kitchen, Diapers (cloth diapers), laundry
Tues: living room, vacuum first floor
weds: bedrooms, vacuum second floor, diapers
thurs: bathrooms, laundry
Fri: office, kitchen, and diapers

I try to get all of it done within the week so sat and sun can be spent with family or my craft shop. If I don't I don't sweat it, also took me a while to get over lol, I can finish the things I didn't on the weekends while my husband either helps or watches my daughter or just leave it for next week. lol

I also found that planning weekly meals helps as well. See post before this one for more detail

I also make it a point to take a shower everyday and change out of my pjs, which sounds like a "duh" thing to do but you know how it goes when you are a SAHM. Showers are a lux and they  really help my attitude. I bought some really cute comfy sweats and shirts and they are my designated house clothes. I didn't spend much, just bought  3-5 pairs of bottoms and 3-5 pairs of shirts, but whatever your budget is you can find cute comfy house clothes that don't look like pjs but still feel comfy and you feel a lot better.  Cute undies also help a lot ;)

And schedule schedule schedule! even if you don't stay 100% to it you at least have something to go by and you don't feel scattered. Set a time for bath time, shopping/errands, dinner.. ect and it helps. I'm looking at my calendar right now and EVERYDAY is taken up by mommy and me groups, play dates, working on my business, recreational stuff, get togethers, not to mention the choirs and everyday things that need to get done from now till forever, so trust me when I say scheduling is key. :)

I also try to get out of the house at least once a day just to get fresh air

I go to a yoga class once a week around my daughter's bedtime. It gives me a break and also gives my hubby and daughter some one on one time.

AND find a hobby even if it's just once a week. I plan on joining a camera club that meets on weds. Cost is ZERO unless you want to compete. There are a ton of things you can do and hopefully you have a supportive husband/partner that would have no problem with you doing something for yourself.  My hubby does ju jitsu twice a week at night so we both get to do something by ourselves for ourselves mentally and physically and we also have the things we like to do together.

Once a month we try to go out on a date, very important ;)

Find a texting buddy. Someone you have something in common with, like another mom, who shares the same morals and values you do. Mine is my sister -in -law and even tho she works outside the home we both have common interests and we both trust each other and respect each other's opinion even when we don't agree. It really helps to have outside mommy support. We are both very busy but texting is the perfect way to still stay in contact on our own time.

Start a blog. Having little to no adult conversations during the week can get to you. Blogging is a way to get what you are feeling out there and maybe it can help someone else :)

I hope this post might help another  stay at home mom. Again, I'm not an expert and don't claim to be but I'm finding out that most SAHMs have felt in someway "trapped". Even though we may feel it is wrong, it's completely normal and  just know I've, along with many other women, have felt the same way. Why don't we just admit it, mommy life is crazy no matter  where you work and very tiring most the time but you gotta love it!

Please leave comments! I'd LOVE to hear any advise you can give on this topic, anything that helps to make my life easier is a plus especially if you have a home business.

Until next time...



***I support MOMS in general no matter if you are a work outside of the home mom or a work at home, aka stay at home, mom. Everyone of you is important to your family and I don't believe there is a right or a wrong to working outside or inside the home***

***also please excuse my typos and horrible grammar, I'm writing this as my daughter is napping. lol***

Easy and Good Cooking for Busy People

*sigh* Finally have a chance to blog!

 I've been dying to blog about my new found favorite thing that has absolutely made my life as a wife and mommy so much easier. I was getting so tired of the same 5 go to recipes every week. You know what I mean. The same recipes you go to every time you don't know what to make. I finally found the solution when I picked up Real Simple magazine October issue back in September. Right there in simple black and white was a whole month of meals planned already for me! Not only were these meals filled with yummy vegetables and juicy tasty meats and pastas, they were also not "boring" to say the least. Added bonus was EVERYTHING took, on average, 30 mins or less!  It's the easiest, freshest and tastiest cooking I've EVER done and I SO look forward to making my grocery list and heading to the grocery store every week.

***I shop weekly to avoid food waste which I was finding out was a MAJOR problem with our family if I shopped once a month or bi-weekly and I also feel like a trip to the grocery store is a lot faster and I enjoy it more. But of course every family is different :)***

I usually shop at Trader Joe's and the local Organic market, MOM's for you Marylanders, so my weekly bill is usually between $80-100. But keep in mind your bill may very. For all my friends in Cali keep in mind that veggies, which usually take up most of my list, are very expensive on the east coast compared to California so your bill could be even lower!!! LUCKY!!! Also for any vegetarians out there these recipes are VERY vegetarian friendly.

For any iPad, itouch, or Android owners there is now an app to get a weekly meal plan and grocery list!
I think it is around 5 bucks and SO worth it.

Here is a link to this week's recipe's  I have made. All of these were VERY yummy, even Z ate them!


FYI- Most  recipes make four "normal" sized portions of food, I found this out myself.  My husband and I are used to big portions of food but we have now gotten used to the "normal" sized portions and have no complaints. Very good for any family making a new years resolution to eat healthier :)


Let me know what you think; I hope someone finds this helpful. Until next time... :)











***Sorry! I tried to include a grocery list and was unsuccessful :( ***

It's Official!

My shop is open!

I decided I wanted to open an online craft shop in October when I picked up the book The Handmade Marketplace- How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally and Online by Kari Chapin at Michael's and made it a goal to have it open by Jan 1st 2011. At 11:00pm EST Jan 1st my shop was officially up to browse and shop, just in time for my goal! WOW! what a great feeling it is to meet your goals isn't it?

When I first decided to open a shop I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to sell, I just knew I absolutely love making things for myself, my family and my home. So I took all those things and built on it.  My craft room started to look like a flea market full of crafts,  but I guess I'm a little random myself so it seemed to be very appropriate. This gave me the idea to give my official banner a flea market feel, the one you see at the top of this blog :). A little fyi all the items in this photo are very personal to me: my favorite books,  my mannequin and sewing machine that have been my best friends since I was 14, lady bugs, and the most personal is the time on the clock 3:05 the time our lives changed for the absolute best when our daughter was born.


Now the name of my business is a different story. This took a few days to figure out.


I love henna and paisley. So naturally "paisley" had to be apart of my business. I'm not really sure how "peepers" came into play other then it started with "p" and it reminded me of the cute marshmallow birds you eat for Easter, Peeps :), and I think that's where the bird logo came from as well.  A henna peacock! A Paisley Peeper of course!


I always love to look at how my favorite businesses or brands came to life so I thought I'd share a little about mine.


I also would like to take this time to thank my amazing husband for motivating me to stick to my goals and for being so patient these past few weeks and weeks to come as I'm locked up in my craft room like Rapunzel for hours. Thank you Boo! and I love you so much!


Thanks for visiting my blog friends. Look out for new stuff in my shop these next few weeks, I'm just getting started! Until next time...

Welcome, Bienvenidos, Merhaba, Bienvenue... a little about me

Hello friends! Well... where shall I start. 


I'd say I've always been a pretty creative person. I danced, I sang, played the violin in my youth, but being crafty is a hobby I've held since high school. I didn't have much of a social life, outside of school and sports (strict parents), so sewing and crafting became a passion. I remember making my bedroom sets, curtains, drawing up sketches on my drafting table, making clothes on my mannequin , sewing, making birthday cards, ect... Then into college the passion began to fade due to a busier life of course; boyfriend, school, my own business as an Esthetician and picking up a second job at a veterinarian hospital. Oh, did I mention I love animals too! 
Here comes 2007; this was a big and very exciting year. My, then, fiance and I travelled to India on a mission trip through our church which was a HUGE eye opener for me and I am SO grateful I got to experience that with him, I graduated with a BA in Business Marketing, I became a wife AND we adopted a dog all in the same year! My husband and I were married July 7, 2007. The planning was extra fun for me. It gave me the opportunity to use my creativity and craft skills again. We were able to do a little more traveling the following year, this time to Jordan, before moving from the West Coast to the East Coast due to a wonderful career opportunity for my hubby and three months later we found out we were expecting. The delivery of our daughter was the most amazing experience we had ever shared as a married couple, and she was truly a perfectly planned gift from God. 
I've been a stay at home mom for the past year and I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I do. Not to say it is a breeze; planning meals, cleaning, organizing, caregiving, and managing a home isn't always easy. YES, somedays I've felt defeated, BUT when I see my household well-kept, happy, with full tummies of good food... it just puts a big smile on my face and joy in my heart. I feel proud to be able to say "hey, I did a good job today and I made it through" and it motivates me to want to keep it up the best way I can.  
My daughter has also inspired me to start crafting again. I was able to dust off my old sewing machine from high school to make HER first bedroom set, most of the decor in her room, and after making all the decorations for her first birthday I start falling in love with it all over again. I also thought of the possibiity that she might enjoy crafting with me. And so I decided to put myself out there; share my experiences of being a stay at home mommy, good and bad, and finally find out if my skills and reborn passion for crafting could turn into anything more than just a hobby. I've cleaned off my old drafting table, set up a little crafting corner in the office and started little by little.


And that's me in four paragraphs. I hope you enjoy and visit often. Until next time...