5 Question Friday: Karaoke, Coffee and Names

It's almost an hour into Saturday, but I thought the questions for this week were too fun to resist! Welcome to Five Question Friday, courtesy of My Little Life blog...

1. Do you sing karaoke? If so, what is your go to song?

I do, actually! Something happened to me only a few years ago...a surprising and much welcomed change. I can finally recognize when my own singing is off-key or "pitchy", as the American Idol judges would term it. Now I'm always the singer for Rockband Wii here at my house. 

My best karaoke songs are classic Cher hits like "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves" or "If I Could Turn Back Time". Raise the roof!

2. What is your favorite coffee drink?

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Wordless Wednesday: Too Many Toys

Too many toys...but I still want yours.

For more Wordless Wednesday, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom and enjoy!

Tackle it Tuesday: Bedroom Re-Do Part II

It seems my dream of a bedroom redesign is about halfway there! It's been almost a month since my spinal fusion (wow, time flies) and I returned home over the weekend to a totally re-arranged bedroom. My husband surprised me by setting up the oak bed frame my mom passed on to us and flip-flopping the room set-up! I can't believe how much bigger the room looks, even with more furniture.

the "new" bed

If you're thinking about moving some of your furniture around too, check out the Floorplanner website. It's a fun online tool that allows you to make a detailed 3-D floorplan, including furniture. I loved this! Perfect for envisioning the room ahead of time from a variety of spatial perspectives.

Still there is more work to be done before my room is complete.

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5 Question Friday: Accidents, Strings & Things

Welcome to Five Question Friday, courtesy of My Little Life blog!



1. Have you ever hit an animal with your vehicle?

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Crafty Chics Features Fancybelle Boutique

Thanks so much to Shawn for featuring my store today on her blog, Crafty Chics! Read all about it here.

I became a fan of Shawn's blog on Facebook several months back when I first started Fancybelle Boutique and I'm so glad I did. Her blog is such a find! Tons of interesting posts on a wide variety of crafting topics, from scrapbooking to machine embroidery to card making...all good stuff.

Well, back to my knitting projects. Take care and have a terrific day!

Spring Fabrics Are In!

Although we still have a few weeks left of winter cold here in the Midwest, all I can think about spring! Good thing a lot of my favorite Etsy fabic sellers have such wonderful selection of fresh colorways and patterns that have me prepped and ready to go. Well, once I'm back in my "studio" at home next week. My recovery from surgery is going to be a long one, but I'm happy to be feeling better already. :)

Patty Young's new Flora and Fauna line is utterly gorgeous! I had to buy my own selection for Fancybelle Boutique items en route for spring/summer.

I actually have a little growing stash of various bird-themed fabrics...maybe it's becoming my weakness!

My shop has been pretty low on boy items since Christmas, but don't think I've forgotten the little men in your life. I have a feeling that this set of coordinating fabrics would be perfect for baby blocks and boyish smocks. My son is nuts for cars, so I'll have at least one big fan on my hands!

As always, I love to create custom items...so please contact me if you have specific colors or patterns you'd like to see in my shop.

What do you think of my recent blog "facelift"? I've decided to simplify a little before I switch over to Wordpress. I had a blast making the new blog header, and I hope you like it as much as I do! Thanks for visiting and have a terrific weekend!

Wordless Wednesday: Irresistible Smile

"Momma, can I please have the keys to the car?"

"Sure, honey. Bring it back whenever!"

For more Wordless Wednesday, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom and enjoy!

Store Re-Opening

Just a quick note to let you know that my Etsy store, Fancybelle Boutique, is now open for business again after my spine surgery. Right now I'm sorry to stay that there isn't a large selection available of my typical products, but I will be listing several new items when I head back home to Minnesota in about a week.

Take care and have a terrific Valentine's Day!

5 Question Friday: Valentine's Edition

I thought it would be fun this Friday to jump on the My Little Life blog's bandwagon and continue the Valentine's extravaganza by writing more on the subject of LOVE! Hope you're having a fabulous Friday and best wishes for a romantic V-Day weekend...

1. What is the one thing your love does for you that you can't live without?
Man, this is going to be hard to narrow down! After 8 years, I've gotta say we're still a great team and best friends. We really know how to work well together and get things accomplished. That being said, my husband and I are in sincere agreement that neither one of us ever wants to find out what it's like to be a single parent. It would be enormously hard to go it alone in so many ways...I'm grateful for my partner more than I can say!

Oh...and 99.9% of the time, my husband is the one who takes out the diaper genie trash. My nose and I thank him.

2. When did you know your love was "the one"?
I thought my husband was "the one" very early on in our relationship, but I knew he was it for me after we went through some struggles and came out loving each other even more than ever. I agree with a quote that goes something like...a happy marriage is falling in love many times, always with the same person.

3. Does your love have a special ringtone on your cell?
Absolutely!! He even has a special ringtone just for text messages!

4. What are you attracted to most in your special someone?
He's got some hot arms, I'm not gonna lie! And nice broad shoulders. And...well, I could go on and on. But beyond that, I love how our minds click. We can talk about anything, from genomes to pillows, and enjoy ourselves. My husband also finds my little jokes to be quite funny, and I love a good audience!

5. Did you know when/where he/she was going to pop the big question?
Oh yeah! We were at the Irish Fair on Harriet Island in Minnesota and he proposed after we decided it would be fun to exchange silver celtic wedding rings.

V-Day Extravaganza: Favorite Wedding Memory

This Valentine's Day will be the eighth anniversary of when my husband and I first started dating! We actually met the weekend before, but always celebrate V-Day as our own special day. We're not celebrating in style this Sunday, however...I still can't do much while I'm recovering from spinal fusion surgery. I'm not supposed to sit more than 20-30 minutes at a stretch, so that kind of cancels a fancy dinner out. And I don't usually feel like eating right now anyway.

Thus, in honor of Valentine's and anniversaries, I thought I would join in with My Little Life's awesome blog extravaganza by sharing my favorite wedding memory! A little background: we first got married in Las Vegas, then had a Catholic ceremony after my son was born. If you feel like hearing the whole recap of our "big" Catholic wedding, check it out on my former LiveJournal blog.

Anyhooo...my favorite wedding memory! When it was time for me and my dad to walk down the aisle together, I was so excited to see Ben and for the ceremony to start that I charged forward really fast. My Dad had to yank me back, whispering, "Slow down!"

The second I saw all the beaming faces of my family members, tears welled up in my eyes. I was completely overcome with emotion and felt a rush of elation! In retrospect, I wish I had been able to see the look on my mom's face then, but I was afraid I'd turn into even more of a sobbing mess.

I locked eyes with my hubby and he looked amazing! Love just radiated out of him and seemed to fill the whole church. Even though we were already married, this was such an intimate and wonderful moment between the two of us. :)

It was the start of a whole new life together before God, and I couldn't have been any happier!

Tackle It Tuesday: Bedroom Makeover Dreams

Here is the first installment in a new feature to Fancybelle Living...Tackle It Tuesday!

Since I had a spinal fusion a little over a week ago, I'm not up for tackling any real housework anytime soon. But I'm sure getting used to supervising all of my helpers (parents, siblings, in-laws, friends, etc.) who are watching over me and the kids!

In between all of this directing, napping and resting, I'm watching a ton of HGTV home design programs and dreaming of my very own bedroom makeover. My husband and I have a relatively big room with twin closets (score!) and plenty of space to move our assorted furniture around.

When we moved in, I was on pregnant and on full bedrest, so my hubby just set up the room like our old apartment and quickly moved on to more important things...like his computer. Thus, the room has a rather uninspired furniture arrangement....add to that a totally overflowing shop workstation and more yarn that any cabinet can handle.


According to my HGTV "research", we're currently missing a very crucial element: a focal point. Enter...a new bed frame! What I'm most proud about this Tuesday is finally convincing (guilting) my husband into packing up my mom's beautiful oak sleigh bed frame and taking it home to Minnesota for us (me). See...no one can refuse an ailing back surgery patient!

I'm so excited to get back home in a week or two and start decorating!

Find out more about Tackle It Tuesday here. on the 5 Minutes for Mom website.


Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in getting our household tasks done. The project can be little or big – whatever you want.
(It doesn’t even have to be housework… just whatever is on your To Do list.)