The Setup

This is what I look at several hours out of the day. Whether I am gaming or drawing, these things are always here to keep me company. (And Small Thrall.)

- My husband gave me this rockin' monitor for my birthday and I'll be honest. I'm SPOILED. It's SO nice to have a ton of space especially for designing, but the bonus of beauty while playing WoW or HoN is nice, too.
- I never thought having a mic at my computer would be so important to me, and I actually used to make fun of my husband when he'd talk to other players online during games. (I still do a little.) My best friend moved to Illinois with her husband a few months ago and we've had a fairly easy time staying connected via Skype whilst traversing the expanse of Azeroth together. It's really cool to have a fellow girlfriend who I can completely geek out with. (And for the White Devilsaur Tragedy, I am truly sorry, Rezz.)
- Chapstick has become a necessity. But winter is relenting and I can feel my lips getting silky smooth. ;)
(Rezz and I have a theory that the whole chapstick thing is somewhat conspiratorial. The more you use it, the more you need it. Does else anyone feel like their lips actually seem dryer more often when you're regularly using chapstick?)
- Carol is actually Small Thrall's fish. She's a cute little computer companion, though and I really like her. (Her plants glow in the dark.)
- Nevada is a character from my children's comic book that is in the works and will be available as an e-book in the next couple of months. I made an articulated doll of her for fun, and now she hangs out on my monitor.
- Last, graham crackers + baby = harmony. Must have on hand at all times.

What does your setup look like??

Pandaria & Popcorn

Today's a pretty great day!
I'm actually getting my house tidied up so I can feel calm and refreshed when I take off for Queen Bee Market this afternoon. Last week's market at Bijou was awesome and a lot more successful than I had originally thought, so I'm really looking forward to this one.

I stopped by the post office this morning on my way to Target to pick up a package. I am really happy with the t-shirts I ordered from Zumiez.
I'm a pretty loyal Zine girl and have loved their t-shirts ever since I first tried one on, but now I'm completely and hopelessly lost in Zinelandia. (I'm also a huge fan of sites that accept Paypal.) Last weekend I ordered this popcorn yellow v-neck and this striped scoop neck tee. I received both yesterday. So fast shipping, awesome product = I love you, Zumiez. And just so you know, they're INCREDIBLY comfortable.

This is the adorable Popcorn Yellow!

 I received an invite last night to participate in the Mists of Pandaria Beta Testing. I'm pretty excited. It is currently downloading, which per tradition, is taking forever. :)

I just opened the launcher and am on the login page. Why is Deathwing still there? Hah. Is that something they change when the game is released? Yay!

Anyhoo, I better get back to my house cleaning so that my husband is a happy camper today. (He's always happy, I just know how nice a clean house feels.) Happy Friday, fellow bloggers and gamers!

Motive Monday

Small Thrall is sportin' a really grown up sweater today.

Hola! It's Monday!
Since becoming a stay at home mom, I've actually really enjoyed Mondays. I completely understand why some people dread them. You spend your weekend relaxing and feeling good and then BAM! Time to go back to work. I love Mondays because I get to start over. It's a day for me to make goals and plan the week out! I'm feeling especially ambitious today and really motivated. (Why, I don't know...)

I have a lot I'd like to accomplish this week. A few of them being:
Get my house spotlessly clean
Make healthy meals every day this week
Work out everyday

I'd love to hear how you stay at home mom's fit your workouts into your schedule. I'm planning on working out in my living room. There are a lot of amazing resources thanks to the magic I call the Internet. I'm really digging Blogilates and Amanda Russel's Youtube Channel. We have a PS3 and I'm pretty sure I can watch the youtube videos on it (right?) in my living room. I think after I get my house tidied up, I'm going to go try it out!

I have a lot to do in order to get my fitness and health to where I want it, but I'm willing to get on the right track. I am utilizing a few really handy free apps, too. Technology is an amazing thing.

Anyway, here's my first link-up ever. Motive Monday.
Every Monday I'm going to post a motivating picture, quote, etc. I hope you'll share yours with me, too, even if it's just in the comments!

This week's MM is this picture of Emma Watson. I love this girl, but she always reminds me that if you're healthy and fit you can wear whatever you want. I felt like that before I got pregnant and really miss being able to wear anything I liked. I know I still can, I'm just not comfortable anymore.

I can't remember where I got this, sorry! If you know the tumblr, let me know!

Saturday Night

Here's Small Thrall. He's adorable.
I love looking at his skinny little behind while he is perched at the computer.

I am more than excited to spend this evening doing absolutely nothing.
I am so happy about it that I felt the need to blog it.
I'm also happy that I finally crawled out from under my rock to realize that Instagram has in fact come to the android world so now I may partake in the cutesy goodness.

So today was the end of Bijou Market. It's the first time I've participated in something like this and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. I'm anxious to see how it went in dollar signs, but it was an incredible learning opportunity. I also scored some awesome jewelry. Observe.

Made By Jewls & Darling Ephemera

I met the mastermind behind "Made By Jewls" and have to say, she is one swell cat. Julianne was incredibly sweet to me and willing to trade product with me! And do even have to tell you have amazing these earrings are? 

Anyhoo, I'm off to play now and waste lots of time. 

Why, hello there

I am starting this blog in an act of defiance.

A month or so ago, I met a very cool girl. We were both in a less than enthused state about where we were, which happened to be a Mary Kay party (another topic for another day) and realized that we were both mostly disgusted by the fact that we had somehow gotten swindled into attending this "free make over" which was actually just a bunch of college+ aged gals gathered in a sketchy warehouse in Springville by some creepy faced railroad tracks rubbing mysterious concoctions on our own faces that would supposedly lessen the dark circles under our eyes.

I remember driving home smiling despite everything because "very cool girl" had made the trip worth it. I didn't know if I would ever actually hang out with her, but she reminded me that there are still friends to be made in the world. And it was also really nice to know that despite the 4 month old manchild waiting for me at home I still retained a little of my social personality and could still make people smile.

After innocently browsing her facebook page and blog, I began to worry, "What will this hip, ravishing and hilariously outgoing college girl think if she ever found out I play WoW?"

The truth is, I feel like this all the time. I like video games. I like comic books. I like to read. I like to read about the history of the world, and why all your base are belong to us. I shamelessly wonder how magical it would be to cosplay as Tetra from Windwaker at a convention or to even SEE someone dressed as Tetra at a convention. I have on multiple occasions asked my husband if I could color my hair pink, because I think Lightning is such a babe.

But I also like to bake. I like to craft. I like to talk to my son about how he's going to grow up to be the most handsome man the world has ever seen and how he's going to play football and be a star. I like to make dinner for my husband. I want my house to look like a tiny collection of the example rooms at IKEA. I want my Etsy shop to be a huge success. I want to paint masterpieces that are pretty enough to hang in my living room. I want to make the bunting, cupcake, succulent garden, blah blah blah. I want to be healthy and able to wear red skinny jeans. I want to Instagram.

I don't want to offend anyone by implying that a bunting crafter can't also be an accomplished minecrafter.
Because obviously, that's not true. I can prove it to you in so many ways.

I just think about these things a lot and I also want a place to write how I really feel.
I have always felt an incredible amount of pressure as a blogger to not offend. Not be too out there. There was once a time when I wanted my blog to be amazing and huge like the many that exist at this time with thousands of followers. The kind that hold giveaways that attract hundreds more.

But I felt like when I was striving for that, I lost my confidence in writing about things I cared about. (Which is probably backwards, huh.)
When I stopped caring, I stopped blogging. I stopped caring because I realized it was stupid. I stopped blogging because I suspected that most of the followers I had accumulated were probably not interested in hearing about how many snobby little kids I ganked while stomping around Newerth as Maliken. So I'm moving on.

Welcome to Dishes & Durotar.
I'm going to dive in, now.