Happy Taboo Tuesday!

It's my very first Taboo Tuesday over at the SKORCH Network, and I'm so excited! This is such a big step for me, and I can't wait to knock it out of the park!

For its debut post, Taboo Talk is challenging the idea of Flattering. Good, bad, empowering, destructive? It's a whole big can of worms, so be sure to pop over and join the conversation!

Jessica invited me to write a column for her online baby, SKORCH, months ago. When she first brought up the idea during one of our bestie lunches, I felt honored. SKORCH has a massive following, and the idea of being trusted with creating content for this well-known brand was thrilling.

And terrifying!

Did you know that procrastination and fear often live together?

Every time I’d start writing an intro, or article for SKORCH, I’d end up snarled in self doubt. Hating every single word I put on the page. Judging, judging, judging….

See over Christmas I had an Ah Ha moment. At a party with family I hadn’t seen in forever, I was making the small talk rounds, participating in the “Where do you work?” and “What are you up to?”, when something inside me kind of clicked.

While listening to my cousins talk about finishing their medical residency, or entering into their masters program, I realized, I wanted something BIG to share.

More than just working as an office assistant, more than just being a wife and mother. I wanted to be a published writer. Someday, I wanted my parents to have the opportunity to brag that their daughter was a published author.

So, starting Jan. 1st, I got serious.

It started with taking a fabulous writing class, that helped me let go of my judging, and get back in touch with my love of writing. It’s amazing how much more easily everything comes when you are having fun!

Then finally, after working hard to build some content, I was ready. Taboo Talk launches today, and I have a few more reveals coming later this month. For the first time in a long time I feel in the zone, inspired and on the brink of something big!

So, in honor of flattering, and all good things to come, I thought I’d share the outtakes from the Taboo Talk photo shoot Jessica and I did on Friday.

Enjoy the laugh,

Mandy:)


Waiting during light check... jeez modeling is boring!

Hmmm... how shall I take over the world?



Ohhh, robots! Of course!

Ack!  My nose is itchy!



Must not destroy my make up!



SERIOUSLY! We didn't get the shot yet?!?!

 

I like to think this is a picture of my soul.  Look it's even glowing!

 

And then, after all was said and done, an unexpected gem.  I love this picture!  Thank you Jessica!!! XO



Stuck in Traffic

Since I live in Vancouver, but work in Portland, “Stuck in Traffic” is a phrase I utter almost every day.

Whether it’s morning or afternoon, the traffic between the two cities generaly sucks ALL of the time.

Yesterday’s commute turned out to be an extra specially awful brand of suck…

I hate sitting in my car doing NOTHING…

So, I grabbed my camera out of my bag…

Now I know why Jessica is always taking self portraits in her car. The light is amazing!

Besides, when you’re going ZERO miles an hour, what else is there to do!

Happy Friday!

Mandy:)

A Reminder...

Has the universe ever reached out and demanded your attention?

Just a few minutes ago, while taking a quick time out, I opened my Facebook page to find the details for a Girl’s Night Out event I’m attending on Saturday.

As I was reading through the post, I saw this out of the corner of my eye …

For a large portion of my adult life I have struggled with what I should be “When I grow up”.

I have so many aspirations, loves and interests…

After I wrote my first few blog posts, and published them for the world to see, the responses shocked me.

I had never thought I had any writing talent.

All I ever did was tell a story… no big deal.

I have no problem announcing to the world that I am crafty, or that I have a knack for interior design.

These are things I CAN do,

But are they what I do BEST?

Having the confidence to believe I am a writer, and that with a little practice, it could be what I do BEST, is hard.

Choosing that goal is scary.

This was exactly the nugget of wisdom I needed today.

It was posted on the right hand side of my computer screen as a “Previous Status Update” from my girl Jessica.

Just a little reminder from the Universe.

To choose one big goal, and believe I have what it takes to achieve it.

To stay focused and confident.

To start with a whisper and eventually build to a shout,

I am a writer.

Mandy:)

I want Fashion! Function can kiss my...

19 more sleeps til our big adventure across the pond and prep has already begun.

In my youth I was a card carrying member of the Procrastinators Club. I was always the student up all night before a project was due. I could be found busily knocking it out, often with unhealthy sugar infused food fueling my efforts. One time I ate an entire bag of Oreos while finishing an assignment. Just before dawn the assignment was complete, and I was experiencing a sugar rush that could easily rival any drug induced high on the market.

Any questions concerning how I gained my “Freshman 15+” are now answered, I’m sure!

Now, lists are my world. There is honestly nothing more satisfying then crossing something off of a list. I have lists for EVERYTHING! Needs, wants, to dos, don’t forgets… I’ll write a list and then re-write it. Condensing and expanding. Expanding and condensing.

I can see you nodding in ecstatic agreement Michelle, I know you would give me a high-five if you were here. Save it. I’ll be collecting soon enough!

So the lists for Germany have begun, and at the top for me was to find a great carry on bag. I wanted something big enough to carry all the paraphernalia I’d need to keep the Munchkin occupied, uber functional so I could grab and go whenever I needed and, perhaps the hardest part of all, SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL TO LOOK AT!

I know when you are a mom about to travel an enormous distance with a soon-to-be-two-year-old, fashion should not be your #1 priority, but I just can’t help it. It physically hurts me when I have to settle for something that is functional, but ugly as sin. Is it too much to ask to have fashion and function without having to slap down a mortgage payment to get it?

The first stop in my search was Etsy.com, a fantastic marketplace for crafters, collectors and those searching for something just a little bit different. I figured maybe I’d get lucky and find a bag handmade to perfection, or maybe something vintage. As with my crafting, in fashion I love to be unique. My favorite haunt as a teen was my local Salvation Army Thrift Store. I’d spend hours combing the racks, looking for something different, vintage and one-of-a-kind.

After hours of searching I hit pay dirt. I found it in a shop called BrightWall. OMG! It was just too beautiful for words! I could instantly picture myself, chic and sophisticated travelling momma, with this vintage bag hanging over my shoulder.



Be still my beating heart! I showed it to my hubby, bubbling over with glee from my find, expecting a husbandly, “Whatever you want.” Instead I got a great big rainstorm drowning out my parade.

His questions of practicality and functionality made me want to scream! Couldn’t he just read my mind and see my vision. Me, posh and pulled together, serenely pushing our precious daughter through the airport, carrying THAT bag! Ultimately, the endless questions finished with a compromise. He said we would look at the mall that weekend, and if I couldn’t find anything else I liked, then I could get the DREAM bag.

Determined to prove him wrong, the next day I hit the mall with my partner in crime and soul mate in all things esthetically pleasing, Jessica. I knew surely she would commiserate with my plight, help me stage a search of the mall, thereby allowing me to skip home and order the bag I was meant to have!

Except… my fashion guru, my style icon, my lover of all things artistic and beautiful, is NOT about beautiful handbags where function is concerned. As our search began she confessed that although a big part of her world revolves around fashion, she is unabashedly about function when it comes to bags for hauling her kiddo’s stuff. Her diaper bag is a simple black Eddie Bauer model, and although it has zero going for it esthetically (except maybe being black) she loves it because it makes her life easier.

As we walked into Macys, she advanced on a display of luggage on sale for 50% off. I wish I could describe the bags on display in beautiful flowery terms, but the only thing I can say about them is that they were definitely functional. Pictured below is not the exact bag presented to me by my dear friend, but really, they all look the same to me, so it will do.



UGH!! It’s just so plain and uninspired! On our search we must have found a million just like it. “Dude, it will be so functional. It will make your crazy long trip so much easier. You won’t be tearing your hair out. Dude, I don’t want a bald friend…” Jessica reiterated all the reasons Colby had given me (and then some). I knew they were both right. But, MY bag. My beautiful, vintage, Kelly green duffel, perfect in its uniqueness and character, was calling to me. Pleading with me not to cave. Not to give in to the modern and mind numbing. Urging me to be inspired and impulsive for once. Screw function and practicality, just buy the gorgeous bag!

But in the end I caved. I listened to my friend, and my husband and did the practical and responsible thing. I bought the ugly bag.

Being a responsible adult really sucks sometimes!!

In a mope I spent the evening staring at the offending bag. The bag I KNEW I would never use again after my trip. Colby said he really liked it. It was perfect. I’d be able to fit everything I needed in it.

“FINE!” I snapped “When I get back it’s yours!”

I know, all this over a bag, grow up, right? What can I say, I’m a SAHM, and I can’t help but leap at any opportunity to feel stylish. Mac and Cheese, snot and diapers just aren’t sexy!

So, I bought the ugly practical bag and that’s the end right? Nope. My goddess of the shopping find came through for me!

The next day Jessica called me, so excited she could hardly contain herself.

“DUDE I FOUND YOUR BAG!!! IT’S BIG ENOUGH, AND HAS A TON OF POCKETS AND A SHOULDER STRAP AND IT’S BEAUTIFUL! I’M EMAILING YOU A PICTURE NOW!”

So sometimes you can have your cake AND eat it too.

One beautiful Sojourn Style Croco Weekend Duffle Bag in Merlot red, courtesy of Target for $39.99.



Now the search is on to find an umbrella stroller to match.

Wish me luck,

Mandy:)

And Finally There Was Dancing!

So, when we last left our heroine she had survived her close call encounter with evil hair products and was on her way to the hotel with her loyal best friend, a fistful of Chicken McNuggets and a smile on her face.

We checked into the hotel, and I swear for the first 5 minutes we said nothing at all. We just sat in blissful calm silence, on the beautifully crisp beds, in the serene and uncluttered hotel room. Nothing was sticky. No one was whining, or asking when dinner would be ready, or commenting on the household chores that the royal “we” needed to complete… everything was just calm and beautiful.

Well, all except for the giant pile of crap sitting in the corner. Honey, what can I say? Moms come prepared! Try looking in a diaper bag sometime. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you found rations and a gas mask inside. You know, just incase World War III kicks off while you’re at a playdate.

What? It could happen.

Here is a picture of my suitcase. During our escape from Jessica’s we shoved EVERYTHING into it. As you can see among the party essentials such as adult beverages and the perfect shade of pink nail polish, we still had not entirely kicked our hair dye habit. Yes, that is a box of L’Oreal Excellence 4AR dark brown. I guess we brought it in case we were jonesing for a fix later on. You’ll be happy to know, however, that Jessica and I have since joined a 12 step program, and are on our way to kicking our home dye habit for good.



After basking in the silence, it was time to get down to business. First nail
polish…



Awwww, too cute, right?

Then the real nitty gritty, hair and make up. At this point the other members of our crew had arrived and we had a full on salon setup. All that was missing was a stack of trashy magazines. There was also enough make up for an army of drag queens. Being extremely organized and on the ball kind of gals we kept everyone’s make up and brushes completely organized.



Pretty impressive, huh? Maybe this is why I can’t convince an employer that I am an organizing savant?

And of course we remembered to stay hydrated. Beauty transformations are REALLY hard work! We wouldn’t want to get dehydrated and ruin the whole night!



Skip past the drive in the blazing heat, where we sweated off almost all of our beautifully applied makeup, because we couldn’t put the windows down (Heat stroke or a destroyed perfectly coiffed do? No brainer, right?) and finally we arrived and couldn’t wait for the free drinks, free food, air conditioning and fun, fun, fun.

Except…

The air conditioning must have been on the fritz. It was hot! Our hair was sticking to our necks and threatening to burst into frizz and curl any second. Strike One.

The free food consisted of salad and cookies. I guess that’s how models stay so thin. Strike Two.

Standing around for an hour and a half in shoes that were really only meant for about 20 seconds, waiting for the show to start which we were supposed to have front row seats for (except they were filled with the butts of other people). Strike Three… we were outta there!

The upside? There WERE free drinks! Well, two per person, anyway. Hello Mr. Pinot Noir!!

After the disappointing offering of sustenance, we needed food, stat, and we also wanted to get our groove on. So, Stop #2, “Crush”. Bar, restaurant, and Saturday night hotspot.

Except, as our luck was holding strong, on this particular night, this spot was definitely missing the “hot”. We got a prime spot to sit, the food and drinks were GREAT, but sadly they were having some serious malfunctions with their tunes. The music was HORRIBLE!! And dammit, we needed to dance! But at least we got some drinks…



YUM! Thank goodness for designated drivers!

So, onward and upward to Stop #3. The E Room, is a lesbian dive bar located on the east side of town. One look at this place and most people would run the other way. It is definitely on the rough side, but the music and lack of sleazy lounge lizards more then makes up for the grungy décor.

And so finally we danced, grooved, bopped, popped, got down, jived, head banged and any other dancey type noun you can think of. Here, I am rockin out.



At 2:30 am, the DJ put it on autopilot and it was time to head home. With sad faces we arrived back at the hotel, but they didn’t stay sad for long! Oh how crazy and hilarious EVERYTHING becomes when you’ve indulged in a few! I wish I had been more sauced. Jessica and my fellow sleepover girls were laughing so hard and so long about nothing in particular, that all Jessica could repeat over and over again was, “OMG, my sides hurt! My sides hurt!” *Sigh*, good times.

And, what was I doing during this over the top hilarity besides thinking “Am I this crazy when I’m drunk”?

Recording all the memories to relay back to you, of course.

Bringing you all along in spirit,

Mandy:)

What's that smell? Ammonia or Insanity?

A few weeks ago Jessica was all,

“Dude, I have extra tickets to Rock the Runways on Saturday August 14th and you are coming!”

Since, we have already established that I should not argue with Jessica, and that I should always just do as she says, I had no choice but to agree. Well that and I desperately needed an adult night out. Have I mentioned I have a demonic force living in my house in the form of a 22 month old? Enough said.

So I allowed Jessica to twist my rubber arm and “talk me into” attending on one condition, she had to be my personal stylist for the event. If you’ve visited Jessica’s blog Fatshion Chic, then you will know she has great taste and is a whiz with hair and make up. So if I was going to attend an event focusing on fashion, with my fashionista friend, I wanted to look the part.

That is why we decided to dye my hair, to brighten me up a little. Get rid of the SAHM frump, and resurrect the sassy sex kitten within. I generally rock a ponytail and t-shirt any day I can get away with it. Sometimes I go without make up for weeks on end. So, I was 100% behind the change. I was ready to rock it up!

Thus the now infamous L’Oreal Excellence Light Auburn kit was applied, and my post Lather, Rinse Repeat was born. Which then led to D-Day, which led to… um…?

The disaster that followed started with a highlighting kit. Actually, three highlighting kits, but it might be better if we don’t count how much dye Jessica and I go through in this tale.

Jessica’s preliminary attack began by highlighting selected pieces of my dark maroonish-purple hair. The consensus being that keeping a few of my darker pieces would add a little fun and sass to my look. A little highlight, a little lowlight, brilliant! I mean who needs a professional colourist! We are capable, intelligent women. We’ve got EVERYTHING under control.

Or…

Once my head was done it was Jessica’s turn. She wanted to go blond for the big event. Here we are in all our glory.



We are sexy, no?

After baking for a bit, a mutual decision was made that maybe my darker pieces were too dark. Too much contrast, not so much sexy, as clown like. So, out came a second highlighter kit and more bleach was applied.

Finally, time to rinse. Into the bathroom I tromped, with shampoo, conditioner and towel in hand. Ready and eager to see my new glamorous look.

Hmmmmm, well...

It was definitely brighter. Sort of, well, actually, it was bright ORANGE to be exact.

My mind went into denial mode. It WAS closer to my natural colour. Maybe it was just a shock because it was so much lighter then the dark I had become used to. Ya, that’s it. And under the fluorescent lights of the bathroom who could judge? It would look more natural in the daytime. Yup, definitely. Well, almost definitely. No, DEFINITELY! No problem! I was all set. GOOD TO GO!! FEELING SEXY!!

When, Jessica came over on Friday morning my fears were confirmed. Her first words, “You hair is orange.”

Solution? More highlighter of course. What’s the definition of insanity again?

After carefully scrutinizing my hair Jessica decided it needed to go a bit lighter, and that would take care of the nasty bright orange and take me down to a more natural lighter orange.

When I woke up Saturday morning this was what my hair looked like…



In all fairness, my hair looked much more natural right after I washed it out on Friday, but since I didn’t shampoo it on Friday night; I guess the bleach just kept right on doing its job. Oops, lesson learned.

So now, it was about 10 hours from our big event. An event Jessica and I had been talking about all week like teenage girls giggling and squealing over prom, and I was looking WAY less then runway ready!

What’s a girl to do?

More dye of course! (I promise, Jessica and I aren’t as stupid as we sound in this post!)

This time we went to Sally’s Beauty Supply and got some professional help. After some hemming and hawing a Nutmeg brown was chosen.

Applied, set for 10 minutes (TOPS) and wash.

TADA!!! Natural redhead again, and in record time!



We completed my hair (and hers too) with enough time to pack the car, stop for some pre party Mickey D’s and head to the hotel where the real prep fun began!

That’s definitely a WHOLE other post!

Glad my hair didn’t get up and walk off my head in protest,

Mandy:)

It's D-Day!

I might be developing gills and webbed feet, but the colour has definitely faded. I've washed my hair about 8 times in the last 5 days. I'm now so clean I squeak. Literally. I'm not kidding! When I run my wet hair between my fingers, I can actually hear it SQUEAK!

My "when good dye, goes bad" look these past few days, has been sort of fun. It's not like my hair turned yellow and fell out or anything. It just wasn't me. I felt like I was looking in the mirror at a different person. A dark haired doppelganger. Maybe she is the personification of "Little Miss Pessimist".

YIKES!!! I'm glad it's D-Day, I do not need her any more in control then she already is!

Here are some update pictures. Depending on the light, my hair is a different colour.

In the shade I am sort of a maroonish dark brown. Not a bad colour. Still a little dark for me, but definitely acceptable.



But when I am standing in the sun.... MY HEAD IS ON FIRE!! My hair is RED!! Like RED RED!! To all you fashionistas out there, is it a good look when your hair glows?



So, today is D-Day. In this case the "D" stands for DYE. I looked up what the "D" actually stands for in the term D-Day. Having grown up in the military and then being a military wife for several years until my husband returned to the civilian world, the answer did not surprise me in the least. In typical military brilliance the "D" in D-Day stands for... DAY.

Yup, Day-Day.

Ummmm, okay.

Tonight, I will be heading over to Jessica's, where she will attack my hair with a highlighting kit in order to lighten it up to the colour we were originally aiming for.

I'm trying to decide if I should keep a few strands of the glowing red colour, just for fun. A little cheeky sass, to keep life interesting?

I'll be posting pics in my next post documenting my fun filled event this weekend.

Just for fun, here's one more picture I took trying to document my glowing hair. It doesn't frame my hair very well, but I kind of like it anyway. I think it my be my best self portrait ever.



Stay Tuned,

Mandy:)

Lather, Rinse, Repeat!

“Oh Lordy!”

These were the first words out of Jessica’s mouth this afternoon when I walked out of the bathroom, and shook my hair out. It was DEFINITELY not the look we were going for! But let me back up a little bit first.

If I had to pick one thing I like best about myself it would have to be my hair. I am a redhead. We’re a rare breed, and some sources say a dying breed. It’s like being part of an exclusive little club. My favorite Disney movie as a little girl was “The Little Mermaid”, primarily because Ariel was the only Disney princess with red hair. That and I love the “Under the Sea” musical number. That part’s a secret though, so don’t spread it around!

Here is a picture of me at about 2 years old.



My Dad told me that whenever I was out and about with my parents the ladies in Newfoundland would go bananas. They loved my head full of bright red ringlets. As is usually the case, the older I got, the darker my hair got. By the time I was a teenager, it was still a beautiful auburn colour, but it was never again that vivid red.

I started adding highlights to my hair in my early 20s. I was always sort of a Plain Jane in high school, so I really wanted to add a little sass to my look. There was just one problem. My hair is an entity onto itself. It is ridiculously thick! It’s the beast that must be tamed!

When I was 12 I decided to get a bob. The problem, I refused to allow the stylist to layer it. The result was a blunt, fuzzy triangle on the top of my head. NOT a good look!

Getting it done in a salon costs a FORTUNE! The last time, Jessica put highlights in for me just a few months before my birthday in November. Now all my highlights have pretty much grown out and I’ve noticed how dark my hair is. Really dark and really dull. As a SAHM, I need a little pizzazz and sass. I hate feeling frumpy!

So, in preparation for a big event I am attending next weekend, it was time to get my hair did!

Jessica and I descended on Walgreens today looking for a nice red to put in my hair. We wanted something that was pretty close to the red my hair used to be. We settled on Light Auburn by L’Oreal. We figured it would just lighten and brighten my natural colour.

Ummm, we were wrong.

REALLY REALLY WRONG!

The best I can say is THANK GOD it was a drug store dye, which will eventually wash out!

Did you hear me Mom? I promise it will wash out!

I think we might have jinxed our whole operation just a little bit. As I was paying for the dye Jessica and I were agreed. We were going for a nice natural light red. None of that dark, burgundy type red.

Here’s what we got…



Oops.

Jessica and I are flummoxed! What about the lady on the box! What the hell!



FALSE ADVERTISING! FALSE ADVERTISING!

Maybe they put the wrong dye in this particular box? Ladies, NEVER EVER trust the picture on the box!

So for the next week I have a firm date with a bottle of Sauve Clarifying Shampoo, morning, noon and night.



In fact as soon as I got home today, after assuring my husband the colour was NOT permanent, I jumped in the tub and washed my hair. I lathered, rinsed and for the first time since University, I repeated.

After a Frosh event my first year, I had to lather, rinse and repeat several times in the attempt to remove the smell of ketchup and chocolate sauce from my hair. A story for another time, I only wish I’d thought to get a picture!

When I got out of the tub, I was pleased to see that the water was a light tea colour.

And if the dates with shampoo don’t work…

I’ll just tell anyone who asks that Jessica made me do it… AGAIN!

(Kidding Jessica! Being my fashion guru, I know you’ll fix it.)

Stay tuned loyal readers. I promise to post pictures of my progress.

That is, if I can still type with pruney fingers!

Living in the tub for the next week,

Mandy:)

Jessica made me do it!

This is a picture of me and my good friend Jessica Kane. We met when our little ones were just a few months old, and became instant friends. This picture was taken at the end of a fun filled, over-the-top night we spent celebrating her 30th birthday. We enjoyed good drinks, good food, luxury accommodations and LOTS of laughs! It was the best possible way, one of my best friends, could celebrate her “Dirty 30”.

Jessica took this picture the next morning at about 8:00 am. Why we were up at 8:00 am after a night of excess and debauchery, which ended only about 4 hours earlier? I have only one explanation. We are moms. A mom’s internal clock is programmed to go off every morning at the same ungodly hour, anticipating that someone, nearby will need a diaper change and sippy cup of milk. Needless to say, there were no such persons on this morning, but sorry ma'am, them’s the rules, we just abide by them.

Anyway, Jessica is an entrepreneurial, design and networking goddess. She is the owner of “Kane Kreative”, an umbrella company for her MANY entrepreneurial endeavors, and she also writes a fun fashion blog entitled “Fatshion Chic”. I love her, and for anyone out there, shaking their head thinking, “Great! Another blog, by another SAHM, who feels compelled to share her mundane and not even remotely original experiences and point of view with the world,” I just want to make one thing clear,

JESSICA MADE ME DO IT!

She MADE me start this blog. Yes, I’d be toying with the idea of starting a blog for a long time, but I’d decided against it. It seemed like everyone and their grandma had a blog. I just couldn’t think of any reason why anyone would feel inclined to read my rants and ramblings when there were the rants and ramblings of so many others to already choose from. Did you know there are over one hundred million blogs floating around out there in the blogosphere? I looked it up, and that is not even an exact number. Apparently, the number has become so immense that the powers that be just stopped counting. One hundred million ongoing diatribes, dedicated to every topic under the sun. Crafting, travel, pets, challenges, causes, there is even a blog called “Pointless Blather”. Their tagline, “Because the internet doesn’t yet contain enough pointless blather”, and they’re not being sarcastic. Their blog is indeed completely pointless.

So why add my own blather to further populate an already overpopulated medium? I say again,

JESSICA MADE ME DO IT!

She was so insistent. Hounding me whenever we were together. Constantly enquiring as to when I was going to start a blog, if I had started my blog yet, have I published my blog yet, have I decided on a name, content, banner, colour scheme… DUDE WHERE’S THE BLOG!!

And so it was reluctantly that I finally gave in, visited Blogger and registered. Okay, maybe by the time I registered I wasn’t so reluctant. In fact I was becoming really excited about the idea. Actually, I’m not sure why I ever resisted. When I look back at my school days, I LOVED writing stories. I even got published in my high school yearly “Scribbles and Scrolls” literary publication. Also, I once took a career aptitude test, and one of the careers it determined I’d have an aptitude for was as a writer, and we all know tests are NEVER wrong, right?

The reality is I am a storyteller, who comes from a long line of storytellers. My Dad is a great story teller, and his father, my Poppy, was even better. Actually, my father’s whole side of the family LOVES to tell a good story. Presumably they love to hear one too, if everyone would stop talking long enough to listen. What can I say the MacNeils are CHATTY, and that’s putting it mildly.

So, now I have a blog. What I truly believe to be one of the best tools to use for exercising your storytelling muscle. I’m hoping to get mine fit enough for some big projects I have planned for the future.

And I guess the next time Jessica tells me I should do something I should just do it. Although, I’m not sure “Jessica made me do it” will work as an excuse in all situations, so it might be best if I continue to remain cautious. You never know what kinds of high jinks Jessica and I may get up to.

Hoping I won’t ever find myself having to utter, "Jessica made me do it" to an official authority figure,

Mandy:)