Just Jen

Ta-Da Ta-Da!

Just have to take a minute to brag on my grandparents - they've spent years - many, many years - restoring their old '40 Ford convertible and finally finished it this year. They did most of the work on it themselves, and it is BEAUTIFUL. They've been entering it in some shows lately, and this is the email I received from my Grandma this afternoon:

"We took our car to Whitewright yesterday and won..PEOPLE'S CHOICE..that meant we were in competition with 42 other cars..it wasn't just our class, it was all of them that were there and there were some real nice ones..ta-da  ta-da..we were so proud..love y'all..me"

You can read a story my Grandma wrote about their adventures while restoring the car here.

So Bloomin' Cute!!!

If Jack were a girl, I would most DEFINITELY have to have a pair of these bloomers. They are beyond cute. Check 'em out along with all the other cute girly things at Three Yellow Starfish on Etsy.

Little Treasure

I was in Half Price Books the other day and happened across this little gem. It was first published in 1946, and is filled with lots of charming crafts for kids (several of which I remember making as a child). I loved the illustrations and immediately snatched it up. I think it will be a fun addition to the bookshelf in my craft room! Maybe I'll even try out a few of the projects with Jack someday - when he's a little older.

Penguin Classics

I LOVE these books and think they would look fabulous on my bookshelf (whether or not I ever intend to read them). 

Check out an interview with the designer here and buy a few of them here.

Burgers and Tattoos

I'm a little late but I couldn't resist posting a few pics of Jack's first Halloween! Bret wanted him to be Charles Lindbergh (yaaawwwnnn...) and I wanted him to be a hamburger - a bacon cheeseburger to be exact. I had seen a cute burger costume on Pottery Barn's site, but it was expensive (of course) and they didn't carry it in his size anyway. I decided to make it myself! For me, that's half the fun anyway. I was really excited about the way it turned out! The night before I tried it on him briefly to test out the strap positions. He immediately started crying and trying to pull it off...uh oh. He was REALLY tired, so I put him to bed, said a little prayer, and sewed on the straps anyway. The moment of truth came the next day when Bret brought him up to my office. We all dress up at work, so I thought it'd be fun to bring Jack up in his costume too! We got it on, and he wore it all around my office without any protests. I do have the most good natured kid on the planet. And he DID look adorable if I do say so...

I got lucky and got to have his pic taken by the pros in our in-house photo studio at work. Oh - and my group dressed up like LA Ink, so that's the reason for the tattoo sleeves and crazy clothes. I'd like to keep the purple hair though. :)