my public statement-- the breastfeeding story

CONTINUED.. from my Jewelry page. I like to post topics and subjects that I find interesting. I also like to share these with my fans. I felt it necessary to have this little public statement.. LOL! 

So there is a story in the press right now about a college professor who brought her sick infant to the first day of class. The child was sick, therefore couldn't go to daycare and she didn't want to miss the first day. Cut to the baby who began to cry so she did what she thought was appropriate to soothe the situation. GIVE the baby the BOOB.

Here's the thing... I don't think this is the place.. 18 & 19 yr old kids are probably not going to respect you as an authority or educator no matter how right or wrong public feeding is when you whip it out for all to see. For instance a professor with a crop top exposing a her belly button; liberal, creative, whatever, they are students, they need to study their books not your freckles. I don't like most parents would tolerate going to parent-teacher conferences and the teacher has a micro-mini on with her cash and prizes almost exposed. (no matter how young and physically fit, btw do you p90x, I digress, about spelling and math) I can't image giving a presentation or hosting a jewelry party and trying to look professional in a room of even peers with no cover while breastfeeding. I don't want to say there is a time and place but if your walking around the mall and stop by a bench, THAT, in my opinion is different than being in the role of a professional and already the center of attention. (like giving a speech).

This topic got pretty powerful on my jewelry page and then was taken down. If your goal as a PRO-boob mom/women is to have people NOT make a big deal of it then you go and force it on people and throw the situation in their face you are not doing what you set out for. You are creating the opposite, you are making it a big deal and a publicity stunt. If you want to nurse your child in public, by all means. Should you announce to the restaurant " I'm gonna breast feed now, if it offends you LOOK AWAY"........  NOOOOOO!!! You can't force things on people they lose respect for the very action you are there to protect and justify.

For instance, I'll be honest with you.. I didn't breast feed my girls (enter gasps, shrieks and sighs, I know. )  If that makes me an unfit mother or bad mother in your eyes, what a sad world you must live in to judge people. My reason why, you ask. Well, I didn't want to. I have had a reconstructive surgery to one breast which doesn't function and it was just not for me. I couldn't wrap my head around it and I think that's fine. Do what works for you. Are my girls healthy? YES. When nurses and other mother's gave me the "you really should, its better. Reconsider it for the child's benefit" lecture honestly it infuriated me. Your attempt to "educate me" made me uncomfortable with your role as my peer for attempting to take the pride and instinct for raising my child as I feel necessary away from me.  It should be just as much your choice TO breastfeed as mine NOT to. I don't want you pushing your "belief" on me, just as I don't come to you and tell you, your kid should have a coat on it's breezy outside and they MAY catch a cold" You'd look at me like- WHO THE HELL...  I think you should do what is comfortable and comes natural to you, especially as a parent. We use our instincts, we rely on our body to tell us what to do and what feels right. (My body was like... UMM yea can we talk about this whole suckling thing, not so much into it.) 

It's just one of those topics. Is it right, wrong, justified, controversial.. I don't know. All I know is I did what was right for me and in the case of the teacher, it may have been right for her and the infant but when students are paying for your time and knowledge I think this could have been handled differently. I just know that my personality is like " hey if the shoe fits", "whatever floats your boat", "don't knock it til' you try it". The shoe was too small, my boat sunk and I tried it and it wasn't happening. I just get upset when people judge an action rather than an intention.. Like the teacher- is the boob a HORRIBLE thing.. no, was the action permissible, I don't know. Was the intention good- THAT is up for debate, did she throw it in their face to make a point or statement? Who knows? Should an infant be in a lecture hall at a college? Probably not. If I were one of the parents paying $900 for that class and the teacher is dividing the time between lecture and nursing, I'd be pretty upset, just like if she had been texting or knitting.

Regardless that is my piece. I love being a mom, I love my girls and I love being a women. I don't think anyone can take that away from me. Women are passionate, motivated and strong, I don't think I need to prove it to people on a stage, I think the delivery room visit did that for me already.

Just my venting for the day..  It's not meant to offend or choose sides of right and wrong. I am simply expressing what my thought is and what my choice was.  ((hearts)) Lauren

Simple Fall Wreath

I love making holiday wreathes, I have never made on for fall so this was fun and I love the result.. This wreathe cost me under $15 at Micheal's for the supplies.(and a little Scarecow from the dollar aisle of Target)

I used a Grapevine wreath I love the texture, the rustic quality and the dark brown. Then I grabbed some golden glitter stems from the "holiday" wreath area and some fall flowers from the floral department that were 99 cents each..

I clipped the flowers off the main stem (about 4-5" below the actual flower head) then laid them out on the wreath to see how I wanted them.. Then its as easy as sticking the stem through and I bend the end of the stem (which has wire in it) into a "U" shape and stuck it back through just to help anchor and secure it.  No Glue! .Then stuck the staked scarecrow on, clipped the extra length of stick and voi-la.

I think my total for this project was $2 for the flowers, $2.99 for the wreath and $6 for the glitter stems- All on sale! 

LOVE IT! and a fun afternoon project while the girls napped and played... 

REPURPOSE- Mail Sorter

I recently visited TJMaxx and while browsing the many items that were filling my head with endless possibilities I stumbled upon this edgy and industrial looking Mail sorter or paper organizer.. I LOVED it. But what to do with it, cause lets face it I would put mail and papers into it, but "sorting/organizing" would be a lost cause after that.

So I decided that ideally, it is just a flat basket and baskets hold lots of things. In my kitchen they hold my potatoes and citrus.. so THERE! I hung the organizer easily with 2 hanging screws (make sure its at a height where you can reach items in the bottom of the basket) and labeled the 2 baskets and my little $15.00 find looks awesome in my kitchen.

Fall Boot Favorites under $50

I LOVE BOOTS! They are probably one of my favorite things to shop for. They come in so many styles, colors, materials and looks. Funky, casual, classy, edgy, sexy and soft.  They add edge and style to your bundled up looks and OF COURSE they are just FUN & FABULOUS!!
 Here are some of my Favorites under $50. For easy shopping I made the Name Captions links to the websites for purchase. Happy Fall Boot Shopping!

Blowfish Runner $49.00- Zappos.com

Brooks by XAPPEAL On Sale Now!$44.99- RackRoomShoes

Hailey Jeans Co. Plush 1  $32.45- ShoeBuy.com

Westbuitti Whitney $37.45- ShoeBuy.com

Ukala Sydney by EMU Australia Sydney Low On Sale $44.95- ShoeBuy.com

Beston Wild-02 $45.95- ShoeBuy.com

Women's Sammi Strap Boot $34.99- Payless

Women's Pixie Western Boot $44.99- Payless

RECIPE- Easy Neufchatel Frosting (Red velvet and salted chocolate cupcakes)

I used a box mix, so I could test out the frosting and I have to say it is AMAZING.. I used Duncan Hines and it's moist and flavorful.
For the frosting here is the recipe..

Ingredients

• 4 ounces butter softened
• (SECRET) 3 ounces Neufchatel cheese, softened. ( Neufchatel cheese is very similar to cream cheese, you've probably stared at it in the dairy display saying "what is that". It's basically the same thing as your classic cream cheese, it's named after is birth location in Normandy. It has less fat content (33% vs 23%) and higher moisture. It's flavor is almost indistinguishable from cream cheese though I will say it is a bit milder and I think the texture is more granulated but only ever so slightly. I have grown quite found of it.)
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• also a small dash of salt... BOOST THAT FLAVOR! 

Directions

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, cheese and extract with an electric mixer or whisk. Slowly add in sugar 1/2 cup at a time until smooth. Place in fridge while cupcakes cool. Grate some chocolate (this is MUCH easier if the chocolate bar is frozen) place chocolate in small bowl and mix with another dash of salt, maybe a pinch, you be the judge)

 I put my icing in a gallon zip- lock and snip a corner to pipe a small swirl onto the cupcakes. Dust tops with salted chocolate powder.  VOILA! (it's ok.. the frosting and salted top is so good friends will think the whole cupcake is from scratch.... your secrets safe with me.)

  

*DIY* ENTRY WALL IMPACT for under $30

I have a small wall facing you when you walk in the front door to my house. I could hang some photos or a mirror or something to that affect but I wanted something different. Something with a POP! The wall is small enough where I can get away with something a little more unique and its not facing the main living area so I thought... WHAT THE HELL... why not!

Now what to do.. I wanted somewhere to hang keys, maybe an umbrella. I also wanted a shelf, for some reason I thought maybe adding a 3 dimensional collection of items would draw some attention and could be changed out for holidays. Hooks, Shelf... I couldn't put a bench or shoe holder on the ground as it would block traffic to the laundry room and I thought I'd save my shins some damage.

My next thought was paint... dark paint maybe, or a pattern. Something GRAPHIC.
I SUCK at painting... so the more I thought about polka dots or a grid or plaid painted affect the more my confidence weakened in my ability to pull it off. Ok, so dark paint I though, then it hit me... CHALKBOARD PAINT!! Of course......it's dark, has a good texture, its a flat finish and I can write quotes or lyrics as the seasons change. The other obvious is THE GIRLS WILL LOVE THIS!

Chalkboard paint has come a LONG way from school green or slate black. The new paint I purchased can be tinted to any one of 12 colors.. Now I just had to do all this on my budget for the more POP, I could get.
                    Here's what I got.. 

Command Hangers. I bought 2 packs of these.. so 4 total hooks. 

They were $3.49/pack at Walmart

Floating wall Shelf.. I got this at Target.. it was about $10.50. I will say this was NOT the easiest thing to install. But for the price what do you expect. I needed to engineer a way to anchor it better so be advised. You can easily find a shelf 6"wide x24" at home improvement stores and by the corner brackets. Just won't be a "floating" look.

Rust-oleum Chalk Board Paint. There are 12 colors you can have the paint department tint your can to. My quart size can had a MoonStone color which was like a Mossy Gray so I choose that. (colors vary) This was $13.47 at Home Depot. 

You'll also need general supplies for the painting and installation. Bubble Level, Screw driver, painters tape, foam roller and brush.

Tape off your area for paint, make sure its CLEAN and smooth. Paint your wall. (I did 2 coats)
Once dry, hang your shelf hardware. Attach clips for hangers and ENJOY.  Wait 3 days for paint to fully cure, condition it by rubbing chalk over the entire surface then wipe away.

You could do so many variations. Stripes of different colors, mirrors, plants etc. I can't wait to really have fun with this.

**RECIPE** Sugar Puff Almond Muffins

Sugar Puff (cuz they PUFF) Almond muffins

3/4 cup sugar
 1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
 2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
 1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
 1 tsp almond extract
You'll also need melted butter and sugar for the tops.

 Preheat oven to 360F.
Grease a muffin pan with butter or oil spray.
Beat sugar and egg until creamed together.
 In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients then pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.
 Divide batter into 24 mini-muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full. (Tip_ I put the batter in a gallon ziplock, snip a corner and pipe the batter in.. LESS MESS!)

 Bake for about 11-12 minutes until golden brown on top and a tester stick comes out clean. Let them cool a minute before removing from pan, melt butter and roll tops in a bowl of sugar.. (TIP_ I put the sugar in a coffee filter so I can roll them without the sides of a bowl getting in my way)

 Makes 24 Mini Sugar Puffs! PERFECT for breakfast with maple syrup or brunch with the girls.. just add coffee.