The Mannequins Become A Family. The Manny Family! {Snap! Snap!}

{Warning! Photo heavy post.} 

Our babies are complete. They've been sanded, wrapped, and given shoes. Cement shoes. {Insert evil laugh here.} Kudos to my Dad for instilling in his daughter knowledge of power tools and the capability of mixing cement. The girls held the mannequins in place while I mixed it up. They got the job of holding them in place (most of the time) until it was dry enough to let go so I could rest my arms for the next batch. Hand mixing cement is tough!

This was our major project for the beginning of summer since things kind of die down for a few weeks. Well - we needed some entertainment!

Myself and Kae all suited up and ready to go. And of course I can't stop laughing behind my mask. Scalpel!

Kae pouring the cement while I wait to do the hard work mixing. I take that back. That chick can definitely wield some power tools and do heavy work.

Kae & Cathy steady Oscar while his shoes dry.

I'm holding Lady Gaga steady. Nice face, huh?

They're all standing!

Introducing! (from left to right) Lady Gaga, Emmy, Oscar. Of course we all put our sunglasses on them. Who could resist?

On the look-out!

Small plants and vines have been planted at their... um, well - feet and they are now proudly standing in front of the flower shop awaiting many a double take and awe struck stare. 

 We of course chained them together with dog run cord and pad locked them up. We don't want the neighborhood or college kids dragging them off or trying to tip them into cars. See - we're responsible with our humans.

What We've Done To The Mannequins (Part 2)

When we last left them, the mannequins still had no plan. We had sanded them down ready to be painted but that's it. . Come to find out - we did not paint them. We discovered that it would take a TON of paint to fully cover them even after they had been sanded. So, we took this awesome woven, plastic mesh and cocooned and bound them with colored wire. The first word that comes to mind with a lot of people is: bondage. Fun, Crayola colored bondage. That sounds about right! Tune in next time to see what happens to our little Manny family!

We ran out of mesh. Now they're just waiting to be fully dressed.

Crazy Things I Get To Do...

...at one of my jobs.

One of my jobs is running a hair salon with my husband. My other job is Chief Minion at the flower shop next door. As Chief Minion, there are a myriad of things that I do.

Today - I sanded off the sheen of 3 mannequins. Yup. You read that right. What is being done with said mannequins is still in the works.

Oh. I also got to grope them...

Gorgeous Allium

Gorgeous Allium I had to take a picture of. These are the size of softballs but they can be as big as a human head.

Book Club!! (or 'How To Avoid The Topic Of Why I've Been Gone So Long')

So, we're just going to skip over why I've been gone for so long (Crazy busy! But isn't that the most overused excuse? Really.) and jump right into the fact that I've joined an online book club and I think you should, too! It is hosted by Michelle over at Dream Home DIY and it couldn't be easier to join. Just send her an email (dreamhomediy@hotmail.com) and 'Bam!' you're in. Online book clubs are the easiest because you can show up in your PJ's at 3am. We may be 10 days into June but you're more than welcome to join now or wait until July.

June's book is: 'Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet' by Jamie Ford.

Check out some reviews and a preview here.

THE Wedding

And what other wedding would I be talking about besides The Royal Wedding. I will be getting up ridiculously early (4:30-5am EST) to watch it live. It's not the same to watch it after it's already over.

I'm looking forward to seeing her dress, hair etc. Very interested in the wedding flowers since I've been working in a flower shop the last 8 or so months. In fact, that's all us ladies at the flower shop have been talking about in our free time. She will be a huge trendsetter for many years with the choices she makes.

Will you be getting up early to watch it live or wait until later?

Puppy Playtime

The last few years Easter has become a quiet, little holiday for Hubz and I. We're 1000 miles away from my family - who have the traditional big Easter dinner but in the same city as Hubz family - who celebrate but in their own little families. (Make sense?) We tend to pick up our favorite snacks and take-out and just stay in. We carried on our little tradition but since it was unbelievably gorgeous out we took the pups outside for a few hours to play. It's been so rainy (April showers bring May flowers kind of thing) that we just couldn't pass it up. Enjoy our play time!

Maya LOVES sticks! We have a whole pile in the backyard just for her.

I put Athena in a tree. Don't worry, it was only a few feet off the ground.

More stick chewing. I can't help myself, she's just too cute. I don't have human kids yet so these are my fur kids. Can you imagine what I'm going to be like when I have human ones?!

She heard one of the neighbor's dogs bark.

Wrestling the stick. Who do you think will win?

Her stance: one foot on one end of the stick and the other out wide to brace herself.

A little tired but still won't let go of those sticks.

Sniffing out the neighbor's dog.

Waiting for Mommy to throw the stick.