Oh Baby

So, I previously said the Sunday Linky Party would return today, but boy was I wrong. It's been a month since I gave birth to my adorable baby girl, Ari (her nickname), and while I thought I'd have more time during maternity leave to work on my blog, I clearly underestimated how much work taking care of a newborn would be. Aside from feeding her every 3 hours around the clock, I've spent the rest of the time eating, trying to sleep when she sleeps, and trying to sooth her crying. Luckily I'm extremely fortunate to have my mom help me with cooking and doing laundry when she isn't working. Also, I think my arms have become slightly more toned.

Other than occasionally complaining about how tired I am, I'm amazed at how much love I've felt for Ari. As a child, I wasn't interested in dolls. As a teenager through young adulthood, I didn't spend time imagining what my wedding or future family would be like because I frankly wasn't too fond of children and wasn't sure if I wanted to marry anyone (unless I met someone incredible who I would actually want to spend the rest of my life with. Gotta keep an open mind, I told myself. Surprisingly, it happened, and much earlier than anyone, especially my friends, anticipated. When I told my mom I was getting married, she gave me a very confused look and said, "Are you sure?"). I assure you that my parents aren't divorced and that they have a stable relationship. I just wanted to financially establish myself first, because it's based on my perseverance and determination, whereas a relationship can be unreliable since it requires the dedication of two people working together.  Now that I have a child, I can totally understand how other parents would think their children are the most precious people in the world. I have never felt such a strong surge of love than when I hold Ari. I thought I couldn't love anyone more than my husband, but apparently there is a stronger love.

Anyway, I'm not sure when the Sunday Linky Party will return, but I have plans to do more with this blog (and am planning to move it to its own domain name), so we'll see when things get rolling!

Sunday Linky Party #98 + Announcement

Hi all! Hope you're all having a good weekend :) I have an announcement to make, which is that I'm nearing my due date (very near) so I am taking the next month or so off to relax, not work, catch up on house-moving/decorating (finally), and, of course, take care of the baby. So actually, the next month or so would not include much relaxing... oh well. I'm also planning to do something about this blog, which has been poorly and guiltily neglected for a long while (mostly after I transferred from grad-student status to full-time-employee status) :/ What am I planning to do? Well, I'd like to finally move my little blogspot blog to its own domain and actually write more personal posts again, such as sharing my recipes/crafts/stuff. The Sunday Linky Party will go on though, and as of now, the next Sunday Linky Party will be on March 31, 2013. So please check back then for the party and for more information, if you'll still remember! :)

Here's another flower tutorial of beautiful paper dahlias from Twigg Studios (how many paper flower tutorials can she possibly make? Yet they're always so impressive!). Check out her satin flower tutorial and butterfly cookies, too.

Sunday Linky Party #97 + Goodies

Hi all, this is an exciting weekend because... it's Chinese New Year (aka Lunar New Year) today AND it'll be Valentine's Day on Thursday! Do you know what that means? If you've already fallen off the wagon for your New Year's resolutions (remember those from January 1st?), here's your chance to start again. Unfortunately, if your resolution was to quit chocolate, good luck with that when Valentine's Day rolls around. Anyway, time to check out this week's features :)

I love this fingerprint people idea from Art Club Blog! These are so cute and would make great art pieces or wrapping paper for kids and adults to make!

Sunday Linky Party #96 + Goodies

Hi all, hope you're all having another great Sunday! After the end of this coming week, I will be going on maternity leave and busy building furniture that I ordered online which have been delivered to my house in pieces (of course). Annnnnd on another note, it's Super Bowl Weekend! Who's having a grunting man-party and not doing anything crafty (aside from making delicious appetizer dishes)? I'm just looking forward to shopping at near-empty stores because hopefully, most people will be indoors watching the game :) I found some awesome stuff at Marshall's lately so I want to go back and see what else is good. Anyway, check out this week's features!

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, make this cute couple map silhouette art piece from The Crafty Scientist! Is there a reason why the girl looks like she has more connections to her heart?? Is it because we're supposed to be more complicated??? :)

Sunday Linky Party #95 + Goodies

Happy Sunday again! :) The Super Bowl is coming up, so does that mean you're all busy preparing appetizers and other yummy dishes for the family and friends to munch on (for the Americans, that is :) It's kind of a big deal in the U.S., as it's probably the only country where American football is the most important sport, ever (and what every other country calls "football" is called soccer here). Anyway, I'm not a big sports nut but it's impossible to escape the hype because San Francisco's own 49'ers will be playing in it! (I live in the San Francisco Bay Area). Anyway, enough about that and more about this week's crafts and recipes, which are all really good, btw.

How cute is this crochet pillow? I love the triangles and color combination! Check out the tutorial at Meeha Meeha (although you'll need to have a little crochet knowledge first for the triangles, but I'm sure that's not too hard to find on google).

Sunday Linky Party #94 + Goodies!

Here's to another weekend and another Sunday Linky Party! Just glad the days are getting longer again and it's not pitch dark when I'm driving home from work. There are a lot of cute tutorials/recipes this week, must be because Valentine's Day and the promise of Spring is coming soon! Hope you like the ones I chose! :)

Don't let winter and the inability to get some nice fresh flowers stop you from having flower-filled vases around the house. Follow Twigg Studios' tutorial for these beautiful crepe paper peonies and you'll be reminded of Spring in no time! Try these other tutorials, too: trinket box transformation, popsicle stick mini crate, and clay photo frames.

Sunday Linky Party #93 + Goodies

Happy Sunday all! Here's to the second weekend of 2013. Anyone else ready to get over Christmas and jump to Valentine's Day? And how are those New Year's resolutions going? I went to Home Depot today and am pumped up by all the materials there. Can't wait to pick out some flooring, carpet, and paint colors! :)

Now, let's get onto this week's features!

Want to exfoliate while you wash? Then this 2-in-1 solid sugar scrub and soap is exactly what you're looking for. They make cute presents too! Check it out at Soap Deli News (which is a great place for lots and lots of bath and beauty recipes).

Sunday Linky Party #92 + Goodies

Happy first Sunday of 2013! :) Hope you all had a fun and festive New Year's Eve/Day! My husband and I are now officially first time homeowners (we literally closed on 12/31/12) and I can finally start getting stuff ready for our soon-to-be-here baby girl! I'm due in a little less than 3 months, and we've got to move and get the kitchen remodeled before she comes. The appliances don't work and the shelves in all of the cabinets are warped -___- but that's okay, because it means I'll eventually have a nicer kitchen. Unfortunately, the bathroom's also really old so a few things need some updating... Good thing I'm into home improvement projects and now I've created the perfect scenario for testing out everything I've learned through diy blog-reading! Ha ha ha.... :)

Now, onto this week's features:

Make these heart-shaped solid sugar scrubs for your Valentine, your friends, or yourself :) Spoil your skin during this winter with this recipe from Soap Deli News. For other skin goodies, try her hand-milled Valentine's Day soap and shimmer body glitter gel/eyeshadow.

Sunday Linky Party #91 + Goodies

Hi all, hope you had a good Christmas Eve/Day or just a good week in general! Now it's time for the New Year, which means new beginnings and resolutions. So now that we've learned the world didn't end, what are your plans for making 2013 better than 2012? My resolution is to be more physically active and buy less stuff. I generally try not to buy things I don't need, but I think I can do better. But I suppose that if there's a time to get some great deals, January would be the best month... And that's how I get in trouble.

Anyway, check out this week's gallery of fun projects and recipes!

Check out this gorgeous punched tin ornament/candle holder! It looks like something you can find at a posh home decor store. I also love the gold/black combo, which looks so sophisticated :) Get the tutorial at The Thinking Closet!

Sunday Linky Party #90 + Merry Christmas!

Hi all, hope you're having a good weekend! Only one more week until Christmas, so I'm sure everyone's preparing for the home stretch :) Luckily, the craft portion of this week's gallery is all Christmas ornaments (which wasn't planned, I swear!), followed by some holiday sweets which I'm sure your friends and family will enjoy. As for next weekend, I will be taking it off (holiday weekend ;) so the next Sunday Linky Party will be on Dec. 30th. So until then, please have a wonderful and safe holiday season! Take care and enjoy yourselves whether it's hectic or relaxing!

Make these easy clay ornaments using ingredients found in your home! This is a great project to do with family, especially kids. Have everyone add their personal mark to your Christmas tree :) Find this at Lemon & Lime Thyme.

Sunday Linky Party #89 + Goodies

Just came back from the office holiday party and I'm so tired. Plus I have a headache. But it was delicious and fun, and we played the White Elephant party game, except everyone had to bring something they already own that's been lying around the house as a gift, which made it very interesting. If you're not familiar with what a White Elephant party is, basically, everyone brings one gift that could be given to anyone else at the party, puts them in a pile, then picks a number. Whoever goes first picks a gift from the pile and anyone else afterwards can steal one of the already opened gifts or pick an unopened one. Each gift can only be stolen twice. Now when you throw in the whole "used" part into the game, you get a bunch of really interesting stuff. For example, a jazzercise video from the '80s, an old real pigskin football, a creepy hand on a stick... yeah, don't know where my coworkers got that.

Anyway, are any of you hosting a White Elephant Christmas party?

You know there'll be lots of wine-drinking this season (except for me because I'm pregnant), and this is such a great way to make use of all of those wine corks! Instead of throwing them away, make lots of stamps and get started on decorating your wrapping paper and cards! Great idea, Soap Deli News :)

Sunday Linky Party #88 + Goodies

Hi all, hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a fruitful Black Friday/Cyber Monday (if you participated in the frenzy!) I spent dinner with the in-laws and another dinner with my dad's side of the family (on different nights, of course), and I definitely ate too much, especially now that my tummy's getting pretty large so it's uncomfortable to eat too much at once! As for house-hunting, we found one and hopefully will get to move in before Christmas, although if we miss that deadline, I'll still be thankful we've found a new place to live :) I can't wait to start decorating the place and finally getting into baby-room-designing! As for now, I can only look at all these amazing diy projects online and bookmark them until the time comes. I'm really itching to start though!

Although it's hard to tell from the photo, those banners are actually made from aluminum cans! Yep, make use of all those soda cans and make a metallic faux zinc banner, from Twigg Studios. Try her other tutorials, too: hanging Christmas bauble vase, winter wonderland bauble, Christmas made easy, and glitter pumpkin place settings.

How do teens spend/stash their money? [infographic]

I'm a fan of managing and budgeting my money (it is fun!) so now that I'm having a baby girl in a few months, I've been thinking about when to put money away for her college fund, when to open a bank account for her, and whether to give her an allowance or not. Maybe I'm jumping the gun a little, but we all want our kids to eventually be independent, right? Anyway, I found this fun infographic and it gives me a glimpse at how other American teens are earning and spending their money. What do you think of it?

Click on the image to go to the original source and see it larger!

via Daily Infographic

Sunday Linky Party #87 + Goodies

Here comes another Sunday, and next week is Thanksgiving! :) How many of you are roasting turkeys? Or are you taking a shortcut and going with ham instead? Ham is a little easier to make than turkey... at least for me. Anyway, I will be taking next Sunday off, so no Sunday Linky Party next week, but it will start again the week after! I'm sure you'll all be super busy preparing meals and traveling to spend time with family. Anyway, check out this week's gallery of crafts and recipes!

Find out how to make some beautiful wallpaper coasters and where to get free wallpaper samples for the project! Find this from The Thinking Closet. Also, check out her "10 Tips for New Bloggers" post!

Sunday Linky Part #86 + Goodies

Happy Sunday everyone! Looking forward to the next holiday yet? I am, and I really hope we find a new home by Thanksgiving (because that would be awesome). Here are some great tutorials and recipes for the season (plus lots of yummy cake recipes!) I'd love to try them all, and I suppose I can handle a little extra sugar for the holiday season... :) yep!

This is what I call a two-for. Here's a tutorial for how to make the cutest gingerbread cookie decor ever and a recipe (so you don't have to go looking for one to decorate :) Check this out at Twigg Studios, and get her other tutorials: feather baubles, stamping with feathers, paper leaves, and metal bucket advent calendar.

Sunday Linky Party #85 + Goodies

Alright, keeping it short and sweet tonight. Just got back from a dinner/movie date with my husband (we watched Wreck It Ralph, which is that new Disney movie for kids... but it's really good!). I recommend watching this movie whether you have kids or not, especially if you are looking for a feel-good movie with lots of good intentions, slapstick humor, and video game characters.

Get the antler look without hurting any deer! Make this mini faux antler wreath, by Twigg Studios and check out her other tutorials: mini paper stag heads decoration, knotted jute twine pumpkin, wooden monthly calendar, and faux birch bark (like that nice deer poster in the photo above).

Sunday Linky Party #84 + Goodies

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a great Sunday so far. It's almost Halloween which means there are only a few days left to get all those decorations and candies done! I don't think I'm dressing up this year (Weds are not great for Halloween :p), but I'd love to know if any of you are dressing up and what you're planning to be :) I think matching couples or parent/kid costumes are cute! Anyway, check out the amazing gallery of tutorials and recipes this week (we've got a lot of glassware tutorials :), and have a great holiday!

If you're having a Halloween party, make these edible place cards and get everyone to eat their serving of fruit per day! Head to Meeha Meeha for the tutorial.

Sunday Linky Party #83 + Goodies

Happy Sunday all! It's less than two weeks until Halloween (which, unfortunately, falls on a Wednesday this year). Instead of making Halloween October 31, it should just fall on the last Saturday of every October, kind of like how Thanksgiving always falls on the second-to-last Thursday of every November. Isn't that a great idea? Now how do we get them to make that change?? Well, hope you enjoy this week's features!

For something other than your typical pumpkin, (maybe something more chic rather than scary, to fit your style, of course ;), you can go the neon pumpkin route, like Meeha Meeha!

Sunday Linky Party #82 + Goodies

Hope you're all having a great Sunday and weekend so far. Sunday Linky is back up this week! I had two cakes last week - one from work and one from home, soooo that was very satisfying :) There's nothing much going on for me this weekend, except the ongoing search for a new home. Hope you all enjoy the recipes and tutorials this weekend!

Want to smell like fall all day and get soft skin at the same time? Then pamper yourself with this fall spice sugar scrub, complete with all those flavors that make you feel all warm and cozy inside :) Just don't eat it! Get this tutorial at Soap Deli News. Try her diy mango shimmer tinted lip balm as well.

Happy Birthday (to me :)

Hi all, it's my birthday today (or, yesterday, which is Saturday) so I'm taking the weekend off for this week's Sunday Linky Party. Sorry I forgot to give you all a heads-up in the last Linky Party! Even I forgot it was my birthday because I've been preoccupied with other thoughts (work, doctor's appointments, looking at housing because we're planning to move soon...). By the way, I'm having a girl! :)

Cute Dog Happy Birthday Card by RlynnPhotography

So, I've extended the time frame for last week's Linky Party (so you can add more posts if you'd like) and will post features next weekend!