Code Blue!

This morning I dropped Miss A off at preschool and then headed to the hospital for some pre-op blood work. If you follow me on Twitter, you already know this, but I am having to have my gall bladder removed. Sounds like fun - huh? Anyway, I had to get some some pretty specific blood tests run, which resulted in 10 vials of blood. Yes - 10!

All 10 vials were drawn and that it when it started to go downhill....I started to feel a little hot and sweaty, I asked the lab tech for some juice or water and by the time she got it for me it was too late.

I had closed my eyes, rested my head on the wall behind me, and then.... bam! Next thing I know, there is a code blue being called and I am being transferred to a stretcher. I remember not being able to catch my breath or open my eyes, each limb felt like it weighed 100 pounds, I was covered in sweat, I heard ringing in my ears and when I was able to open my eyes, all I could see were black spots. I felt like I could not take a good breath, which resulted in the cardiac resuscitation team being called there.

There are doctors and nurses everywhere. I can hear everything and know what is going on, but it is like I am in a fog and cannot really move or talk. Such an odd sensation.

They wheel me down the hall and into a room... They immediately lowered my head, started an IV of electrolyte fluids, hooked me up to an EEG, strapped a blood pressure cuff on me, attached a pulse ox sensor to my finger and covered my face and neck with cold rags.

It was not too long before I started to feel better.... and when I opened my eyes I was greeted by at least a DOZEN doctors and nurses. I gave them my history and they come to the conclusion that I had experienced a vasovagal syncope episode.

I was given a bag of fluids and observed for about an hour and half and then I was discharged. Not exactly how I had planned to spend my morning.... I have a friend that is a pharmacist at this particular hospital, so she was able to come check in on me and chat for a minute.

I have passed out before during medical procedures, but never to this extent. From now on I am supposed to have blood drawn while lying on my back and I should give them a warning before hand.

I tried to get one of the nurses to take a picture of me, but she said it was against hospital policy. So, here are some lovely self portraits I took. :)

Faux Bois Wallpaper

I have mentioned before how I want to redo our half bath. It is a perfectly fine half bath, but it is covered in dark red wallpaper.... and I am not a dark red wallpaper kind of person.

At first, I wanted to cover the existing wallpaper in grasscloth wallpaper.... but then I started reading and it is recommended that you not use grasscloth in bathrooms.

Ok, onto idea 2. I thought about installing bead board on the bottom half of the walls, then grass cloth wallpaper on the top half. I am sure this would look great, but I want something else.

Idea 3 - Paintable wallpaper!

I found this great Martha Stewart faux bois paintable wallpaper and I think it will be perfect for the space.

I want to paint it a light grey.... Now, if I could just decide on the right shade of light grey.

Now I ask: Have you ever used paintable wallpaper? And, have you ever painted anything light grey? If so, start talking!

Photos from Home Depot and Restoration Hardware.

My Collection

Do you collect anything?

I have been collecting turquoise glass for the past couple of years and have it displayed throughout our house. I have a variety of pieces and have purchased them all over - anywhere from design shops in Sweden to antique stores to Pottery Barn. I love having a collection that I can continually add to - no matter where I travel or shop.

Here is a peek into my collection.....

Christmas Cards

I do this every year.... think I should be crafty and Martha-esque with our Christmas cards. I make one too many trips to the craft store, spend way more than I thought I would spend and the entire project takes entirely too long. I always end up saying "next year, I am just going to order our cards." Yet, when the next November rolls around I fall back into my old habits.

BUT, not this November. I have finally learned! This year, I will be ordering our Christmas cards from Shutterfly. And I might even get extra fancy and order the coordinating address labels.

I should also say that I am super picky when it comes to our Christmas cards. I want the design of the card to match the look and feel of the picture and I want it to not be too cheesy or trendy. Or one that everyone else might have. And, I don't want our card to be the one that ends up on the bottom of the pile. Heck, I am sending you a picture with a super cute toddler - keep the card on the top! Lucky for me, Shutterfly has about a zillion choices for me to pick from.

I have yet to decide which family picture we are going to use, but I am pretty sure I will be ordering one of the designs below.

Aren't they nice?

As much as I already love Shutterfly, they sweetened the deal by giving me 50 free cards for this post. And since our Christmas card list has more than 50 people on it, I will be ordering even more cards from Shutterfly. Are you a blogger? Would you like to get some free holiday cards or invitations? Just go here.

Sneak Peak

We had our family pictures taken a couple weeks ago with the wonderfully talented Erin Woolsey. I just got a little sneak peak of the pictures today and I AM IN LOVE!

Head over to the Baby M blog to see more.....

(Want an invite to the Baby M blog? Just let me know.....)

Recent Projects

By now, you all know that I love a good project. I love to transform a piece of tacky junk into something chic. Or, I see something in a boutique and I try to figure out how I could make it myself. Over the past couple weeks I have done 3 little projects.

1) A growth chart for Miss A.

I started looking online for one of these, but all of the ones I liked were $$$. So, I made a trip to Home Depot and Michael's and got to work. All it took was some wood, paint, painters tape, wooden letters and a tape measure...voila! This will be hung in her big girl room.

2) A cute name hanging for Miss A.

My dad found this super take display box a while back and grabbed it for me. It was on mega clearance, and he knew I could transform it into something fun. The rectangle was navy and each of the cubes were colonial red or cream. Each cube had a letter on it and spelled out something really cheesy. Not. my. style.

I spray painted everything white, covered the inside of the rectangular cube with wonderful paper and then decoupaged the top of each cube with shabby chic paper. I have white letters that spell out Miss A's name.... those are glued on the top of each little cube. This will also be hung in her big girl room.

3) A side table for the living room.

I was trolling the local Goodwill a couple of weeks ago and came across this horrible awful table. The legs were dinged and scratched and the top was a lovely navy floral print. I recovered the top in a black and white stripe and then spray painted the legs apple green. It now serves as a little end table in the living room. And when there are not little ones running around, a tray sits on top and you can place your glass of vino or Diet Coke there.

I always seem to have 2 types of projects going on at all times - ones that only take a couple of days to complete and then others that seem to drag on for weeks.

Have you done any home projects lately?

The Foundary

I know - another daily deal site. Just what you want.

This one looks pretty good.... The Foundary. From what I can tell, they have everything from home decor to baby items.

Want to join?

Click here to join

Your Baby CANNOT Read...

... Is a load of BS

Have you seen these commercials on TV? Chances are if you have a little one if your house, you have seen the commercial a zillion times on one of the toddler channels.

Basically, it claims that through flash cards and DVD's, babies can learn to read. I had always thought it was a load of BS, but this morning The Today Show aired a little expose about the whole system. They spoke with a variety of experts at some of the leading universities and hospitals and came to the conslusion that it is a false claim.

Link to The Today Show article and video clip

Their experts said that the best way for a baby to learn is through their parents or caregivers - read to them, talk to them, sing with them, play with them -- basic interaction. Not rocket science, just common sense.

So, if you are thinking about purchasing that expensive reading system - DON'T! Save yourself the pennies and make a trip to the park instead.