Grand Opening...

I have missed creating.

So, I have been busy behind the scenes working on my new little shop

Come and Knock {now you have the Threes Company song in your head, HA!!}.

I do not have much listed but have a lot planned for the shop in the coming weeks

{thats for the little time in between diaper changes, laundry folding, and everything else}

I hope you enjoy it.

And for my peeps I created a 15% off coupon code,

enter BugandBean at checkout.

------------------------------

Side note my logo was designed by the ever so talented Kori from Paper & Pigtails.

Kori got some MUCH deserved national magazine recognition,

read about it here.

I am SO happy for you friend.

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And today is the last day to enter my current giveaway with Yellow Art Heart!

Discovery's Last Mission

Discovery had its last launch yesterday.There is the view from my backyard. I promise it is A LOT more impressive in real life, iphone video=no real justice.Um if you squint and tilt your head just so you MIGHT see the trail.But hearing Buggies reaction is priceless.{Pause the music below, so you can hear my high pitched voice, bahaha}

Having lived in FL my whole life I have seen many shuttle launches, butthey still give my MAJOR goosebumps and gets my heart racing.
Buggie recently had a woman come to school from the Kennedy Space Center to talk about the shuttles.So when we went back inside she told me "Mommy those things on the side fall off into the ocean. Then they go get them cause they are broken and make new ones."
To infinity and beyond.God speed Discovery and her crew.


Happy weekend.

Mom in the shot Feb 24th {My Boys}

I think we can all agree, that my mug has graced this blog enough this week.

So how about a picture of my boys?

Yep I am that lucky.

Now go share a picture with Em, cool kids do it.

_________________________
Do not forget to enter this weeks giveaway with Yellow Heart Art.You could own something like this...

Awk2theWard Wednesday {Feb 23rd}

Coming at you every week with a little dose of awkwardly funny moments that

make life a little extra special.

A place where laughing is encouraged.

- Because I am a complete idiot this is how I spent my day yesterday. Clerk of the Court to pay the stupid non moving violation. Then to the DMV to show I paid the darn ticket before they suspended my license. Which as you can see I had a child strapped to me, who was SO thrilled to be tied down. And I spent the whole time trying to keep him from giving the little boy {who was clearly with his mom, because he was home SICK} behind me high fives. Oh and because not only am I an idiot but also a procrastinator this HAD to be done yesterday which of course was the day after a federal holiday. DO not feel bad for me, laugh at me. I need to learn my lesson.

- I like slang. I use it here on my blog and in "real" life. Ever looked a word up in the Urban Dictionary just to double check the spelling of it {I know does it really matter, its slang}? Oh, then you read the definition of the word. Um, Oh, WOW, thats not what you thought it meant, wow people do that and they name it?! Then you start blushing and thinking of all the times you uttered this word in public. More blushing.

-Having your parents in Vegas for a trip and you start to see pictures pop up on their FB pages. Like this one...

Yes they totally renewed their vows with an Elvis impersonator.

Then this one shows up and you start blowing up their phones to find out, DID they?!

*PHEW* no butterflies or tribal tattoos.

And finally the one that says they need to get home. And you have decided they can no longer travel alone...

Yep thats my Dad,

awkwardly awesome.

Have you entered this weeks giveaway?

Yellow Heart Art Giveaway

Ok so I made a purchase from Leonora from Yellow Heart Art on a Monday {with a little convo asking if she would ever be up for a giveaway}, by Tuesday Leonora and I were into a deep Etsy

convo, by Wednesday we had moved our relationship to email, and by the end of the week we

were FB friends and are already talking about seeing each in our respective cities.

I think if we were dating we would already be engaged and ready to have her baby.

She is seriously funny.

-Give us a little look see into your life

The life of Leonora Jennifer, the Memoir Bullet Point Edition:

• 26 years young (pushing 27 soon in April)

• I have a Bub (that's my boyfriend, his name is Steve. I call him Bub he calls me Toots). He tends to run into burning buildings, fly airplanes and help hurricane victims (No no I'm not dating super man, he's a fireman and an air man with the air force. Insert manly grunt here) His secret talent is driving me up the wall for the past almost 3 years of our relationship.

• For as long as I could remember I've always been into art. My mom knew something was different about me when in first grade I would give all my "stick figure people" fingernails, clothes and eye lashes while the other kids made their stick figures with 3 legs and no head.

• Not only do I do graphic design and photography but I also enjoy water colors and building things out of clay. I got my boyfriend into photography and its wonderful having someone to share my hobby with (well that and I get to steal his photo equipment--score free stuff!)

• I'm an old soul. I enjoy anything and everything vintage. Thats where some of my graphic design inspiration comes from. I like to pick fonts, colors and imagery that remind me of a modern piece of vintage art (oxymoron much? Modern vintage? can that even be?)

• One word to describe me would probably be "quirky". My motto is "life is too short to be boring". I try to keep things light and fun.

{Leonora doing her best Chewbacca impression}

-Quick graphic design or photography?

PHOTOGRAPHY! (sorry, for some reason whenever someone does the "QUICK PICK ONE!" game with me I feel the urge to haphazardly scream my answer) I enjoy photography a *wee* bit better just because its instant results, kinda like BAM there's my photo. (I now see why Emerald enjoys using "BAM" so much, its rather fun and totally makes a statement)

-What is your creative process Do you dream in graphics?

oOoooOoO good question! Actually I explained this to my boyfriend the other day. Granted I got him into photography I like to do more "Artsy fartsy" stuff where he likes to do more "traditional structured" stuff (like take photos of air planes and buildings that aren't falling apart and decaying with shrubbery growing out of the windows) so when I see something I actually don't literally see what's in front of me. I see it as "ok, that would look amazing black and white with a blurry background" or "that window ledge with the vase would work better if it was sepia toned and if I was using my fish eye lens". I don't know how I do it but when I see something in real life I can picture in my head how it will look with an artistic twist. When it comes to graphic design I often start off with the font selection first. I know, weird right? But believe it or not a font REALLY can either make or break your print. The illustrations just help support the feel of the font. I'm kind of a "font nerd" and sometimes have a hard time watching movies if the subtitles are done in some boring font, I go "God really?! ARIAL?! can't we jazz it up with arial italic at least!" Don't judge me...it took a lot of courage to admit that here in cyber space. Needless to say my boyfriend does not watch movies with subtitles in it with me.

-Describe your perfect day.

(Can I use bullet points again? I thoroughly enjoy bullet points)
• Sleep in till late morning
• Stuff my face with an obscene amount of pancakes and french toast (eggs optional but highly encouraged)
• Go on a photo shoot excursion with the Bubs and take photos of either abandoned buildings or amusement parks.
• Have a picnic for lunch (salami and provolone cheese sandwich of course. I'm italian its how we roll, I practically bleed marinara sauce)
• Enjoy a little stroll in the canoe down the lake
• End the night with a stroll at the docks at night while eating some faboosh ice cream.

-Where do you want to see your shop in a year?

On the cover of Time Magazine receiving the "SHOP OF THE YEAR" award. Ok, I kid, but imagine? Time Magazine?? Ok ok in 365 days from now I would like to make my shop more of a full time gig as opposed to a "rush-home-after-work,-check-my-purchases,-make-sure-I-have-enough-shipping-envelopes,-oh-crap-the-post-office-closed-already!" kind of gig. It's hard working full time AND doing this on the side. But no great thing is created suddenly and I absolutely LOVE what I do, the money is just an added bonus. Like people are giving me money for my art?! That in itself is amazing. Knowing that someone out there is rockin' my prints or photos on their walls at home is such a really cool feeling.

You can see how we became fast buds.

Anywho, who wants to win a print from Yellow Heart Art {winners choice}?

{insert hoards of people screaming "I do, I do"}

Entry is simple.

- Run off to Yellow Heart Art mark it as a favorite and come back here to say what you

are liken over there.

Extra entries for "liking" Yellow Heart Art on FB and/or following on tumblr

If Leonora could not get any more awesome she did by offering 15% off your purchase during this giveaway week.

Just enter BUGGIEBEAN at checkout.

Giveaway end Feb 28th at midnight.

Sunshine State Party People - Dreamers and Doers Meet Up

**WARNING - this post contains a plethora of links**

Saturday was divine {minus the blisters I got}.

You see I got to meet with a group of creative, amazing, inspiring and fun group of ladies.

Sunshine State Party People had our first meet up.

Even though I am no longer selling birthday crowns, I still keep in touch with

the fun world of parties through my FB page.

{Striking a pose with my Martha Mags}

{Kori grabbing my skinny fat}

Meet up in person for the first time went just as expected, perfect. Having a friendship online for sometime now, made it work in person. No awkward first meeting silences, well not sure if that would ever happen with both of us loud mouths.

{All my swag, if you ever go to a meet up do it with party people. They know what a girl likes!}

{me, Jessica and Kori}

Jessica reviled her crazy cute new product to us.

And we each got to take on home!!

Just wait until you see these in action.

{the one the only}

{the cutest little origami stars from Origami Delights}

All the fabulous ladies. And a HUGE thanks to Debra's Hubby who took pictures with everyones camera. You rocked it!

Ok here is everybody's links, enjoy browsing this great collection of talent!

Kori - Paper & Pigtails

Debra - Ti Ti's Tu Tu's

Jennifer - Party Dreamz

Lisa - The Sweet Talk Shop

Carmen - Pom Flair

Melissa and Ashley - Truly Chic Inspirations

Theresa - Lauren Mckinsey

Paula - Frog Prince Paperie

Jessica - Pen N' Paperflowers

Melinda - Persona Designs

Andrea - Pocket Full of Parties

Renee - Bees Knees

Staci - Lizard and Ladybug

Michele - intrigue designs

Nikki - great gatherings

LaVonne - LF Events

I also want to give a HUGE thanks and shout out to all the companies that sent swag for us.

It was SO sweet of you all!

Sandy's Baking Memories- Cupcake Cookies

Party Starters- DIY Favor Box Kit

Dreamin N Details- Cake Pops

The Sweet Spot Candy Bar- Candy Kisses

The Purple Pug- Flip Flop Gift Tag

Cupcake Delights - Cupcakes

Origami Delights - Origami Stars

Schakalod - Chocolate

Celebrate Today the Superchick Way - Party Cones

Caitlin Losey with Martha Stewart HQ - Martha Wedding, Living ,and Food Everyday Mags

Think I I just gave you enough link to last you through the end of April.

PS.

Melissa from Truly Chic Inspirations was the mastermind behind the meet up, and she coordinated it all for us.

A HUGE thanks for putting everything together.

And Jessica from Pen N' Paperflowers brought so much to the party to hand out, I called her Oprah.

"You get cupcake, and you get a cupcake, and you get a cupcake..."

Thank you for making us feel loved!

Wrapping Caddy {DIY and a winner}

This all started after I saw this post on Eighteen 25 over Christmas.

I fall madly in love.

Jump forward three months and I am just now making one, or should I say

I just now had a good enough reason to make one.

You see I got to meet someone I already considered a friend but

until this weekend our friendship had never moved out of the computer screen.

Kori from Paper & Pigtails has been someone I have grown to love and admire for many reasons. And I wanted to give her something as a wee little thanks for all she has done for me.

After a little trip to Sonic for a Cherry Limeade {YUMM-O} and a drink holder, I got to make

the Wrapping Caddy.

The caddy pre make over {I had already hold punched it though}. I hot glued all the bottom flaps shut. And after two coats of Mod Podge, I got to the goodies to go inside.

I took mason jars and taped them off and sprayed the bottoms a pretty blue. I filled two with The Twinery twine, by taking wooden clothes pins and wrapping it around them. Another jar I filled with fabric rosettes I made. And the fourth, I put clip board letters in.

When I Mod Podged, I had added a paper dolly to the handle.

I took plain white tags and add a little fabric ruffle to the bottom of them, then attached them to the caddy with wooden clothes pins.

I pulled the twine through the holes {I wish I had added those cute eyelets like on the Eighteen 25 caddy}. Great way to keep your twine on hand with a little pull.

Lastly I added a fabric ruffle to the box to cover up the Sonic logo.

It turned out WAY cute. I have a feeling I will be heading to Sonic for more Cherry Limeades, very soon.

Enjoy!

---------------------------------

And the winner of the eNVe Designs Open Heart Necklace is

selphisgirl

I will be emailing you shortly.

Mom in the shot Feb 17th {accountability, I can not believe I am posting these}

I am putting out there today.

All of it.

Yesterday I mentioned I am skinny fat.

I have a goal, you see and I need some accountability.

If I do not shout it from the roof tops and just keep it to myself then there is no public shame

if I do not commit.

I want to commit.

See that "done lap" happening. It needs to done be gone.

These "lovely" side additions need to disappear.

I know some of you might think I am crazy on many levels for this post.

Some might, "Wow she is crazy for posting those."

You might even think "She is crazy for thinking anything needs to change."

But I am not loving myself right now.

I want to love myself.

So in 6 weeks, I want to hear from you if I have not updated you with a new photo.

Please. Pretty please with some granola on top.

I did it. I put it out there. Wow, I am crazy.

Oh and one more thing, if you are coming to me this week from the post

Jamie at Eighteen 25 did on her current crushes, thank you.

It really was the best bloggie surprise EVA.

Thanks Jamie, you guys rock.

Link up with Em.

Awk2theWard Wednesday {Feb 16th}

Coming at you every week with a little dose of awkwardly funny moments that

make life a little extra special.

Laugh at me it's ok, actually its encouraged.

{someone should take my phone away after the second glass of wine}

- Standing in line at the grocery check out and staring at the lady in front of you unload

20 or so packs of Activia yogurt.

Then your 5 year old mind takes over and you start a internal giggle.

"WOW thats a lot of poop yogurt!"

When you finally get your eyes unglued and look up, you see her

looking at you and you realize you have a HUGE smirk on your face.

Awkward.

- The other day when I thought I was super cute in a pair of shorts,

Buggie asks "Oh, Mommy what happened to your legs?"

Me "What do you mean Bug?"

Buggie "You have bruises on them."

Me "Really?"

After a check in the mirror.

"Bug those are not bruises. That would be shadows from the fat dimples on my legs."

I am what you call skinny fat, never heard of it, its for real.

Pure bone and fat.

- Walking through Ikea and seeing a Dad pushing his little boy around a cart,

clearly there by himself.

Oh how sweet.

Then you take a closer look, what's that in the little boys hand.

Is that a tampon?!

Holy crap, he is putting it in his mouth.

"Um sir your son is eating something."

No response.

A little louder.

"Um Sir, Your Son Is Eating Something."

Then the guys looks down, "OH!"

He begins to blush, "Thank you, he must of, um, grabbed it out of, um, the diaper bag."

Then standing there with a soggy pon in his hand, he could not figure out

how to get out of there fast enough.

I laughed, not a him, but how awkwardly cute it was.

Anything good happen to you lately, that gave you a good chuckle?!

eNVe Designs Giveaway {feb 14- feb 20th}

A while back I made a treasury on Etsy. It made the front page {toot toot}

and I have no doubt the

set of beautiful earrings I included from eNVe Designs helped make that happen.

Lets hear a little bit about Ngan and her shop, shall we.

{this week I am pretending to be Oprah}

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your shop-

Hi everyone! My name is Ngan Vuong. I'm a proud wife and mom. In my former life (the one before kids), I was near the end of my climb toward becoming a child psychologist. But as soon as I earned my doctorate, my husband and I had a baby and I decided to put my professional life on hold. We now have two vibrant and energetic children, a 3-year-old son and a 21-month-old daughter. I'm still at home full time with them and they make my jewelry and run my Etsy shop for me. Just kidding about the last part of course. I am with them full time and they definitely keep me busy and exhausted, but very happy. I consider the past few years detailed field research in child psychology and WOW has it been insightful so far!

When I'm not chasing after the little ones, I'm busy designing and creating jewelry. I make one of a kind pieces, usually with sterling silver and amazing quality gemstones (I kind of have an addiction to them and need to have them near me as much as possible). I also love working with gold and in the past couple years have really developed a fondness and appreciation for vintage materials and antiqued metals, so I try to integrate those into some of my designs as well. One of the things that I enjoy most about creating my jewelry is thinking about how to make the pieces truly versatile and functional with all the different aspects of a woman's wardrobe and her personality, then translating that into a quality piece that she can get many miles out of.

If I was standing in your workspace right now would I say wow she is organized or WOWZWERS she needs to get organized?

Hmm, can we say organized chaos? Right now, it's a little bit of both. I definitely need to have a place for everything, otherwise I get overwhelmed with all the tiny pieces of this and that everywhere. In that sense, I'm organized. I need to be able to find things quickly when I need them. That being said, my work surface is sometimes an array of several pieces I'm currently working on along with various gems and chains and materials that I want to use in new pieces.

You donate 10% of your sales each year to a charity in honor of your personal journey, how do you pick the charities?

Well, my personal journey was a psychological one so I wanted that to be an important aspect of the charity. I also have a huge soft spot in my heart for children and I hate that there are children out there in the world facing suffering and hardships. So I usually look into charities that meet one or both of those aspects.

Do you ever have creative slumps? And if so how do you overcome them?

Absolutely! Are you kidding? Sometimes I feel like I'm always in a creative slump, but I just have to remind myself that the creative process is never stationary. It's constantly flowing and moving.. it's an ever-evolving process with peaks and valleys. Personally, I feel that a necessary part of that process is being down there in the lows. For me, that's where my senses are heightened and I'm open to inspiration. Maybe that's just me trying to rationalize and embrace that unpleasant stretch of time when I feel like all my ideas stink (if I'm lucky to have any ideas) and I don't like anything I'm making. But knowing that I won't be there forever does help. It also helps to put down the jewelry and do something else that's creative... write, paint, play music, knit, take pictures, dance with my kids, build a fort, anything that doesn't involve jewelry. Something I WISH I could do is jump into a pool of gorgeous, sparkling gems, and swim around like Scrooge McDuck did in his money vault. I bet that would make me happy. One day. :)

What is your most prized possession {non-human}?

Oh goodness... I'm not sure that I have one. I'm glad you clarified "non-human" because I would've immediately said my family. I guess if every physical possession I have were to disappear this second, the thing that would leave a hole in my heart would be losing all my photos (of the kids, of family and friends... of all the places we've seen, all the things we've experienced... of all those little every day moments that I've been lucky enough to capture). So definitely my photos, and my camera. And maybe my gem vault when I get one.

Describe your perfect day.

Oh wow.. this is something I've actually never thought about. What would my perfect day look like? Let's hop into my daydream. Well first, I think I would get up just before dawn. No bed head. I get in my daily work out. My husband and I will have a delicious homemade breakfast together and enjoy a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee while watching the sunrise. We'll discuss current events while admiring how beautiful the sunlight lights up our spotless house. The kids would wake up in perfectly pleasant moods and join us for breakfast. They would then play nicely together and we would carry on with our morning routine tantrum and time-out free. After lunch, the kids would both nap willingly and simultaneously, sleeping for a full two hours. During that time, I would be able to create the most amazing and inspired jewelry I've ever created in my life, with plenty of time to photograph, edit, list, promote those pieces. I would then have time to do laundry, tidy the house, and start on dinner before the kids wake up. When the kids are up, we run around and have our daily mini-adventure. Then daddy comes home and dinner is magically done on time, and the kids both eat every bite of what's on their plates without prompting or protest. Then they have daddy time and are bathed and in bed by 9. Once kids are in bed, I'll have time to do a little more work, package up orders, etc. My husband and I will then wind down with a nice glass of red wine and a movie or one of our favorite shows. He would then surprise me with a weekend getaway trip to some tropical destination. That would be a perfect day. I don't really ask for much, right? ;)

One lucky winner will get to pick one of these beautiful My Open Heart necklaces.

PLEASE leave one comment PER entry below.

- Head over to eNVe Designs, mark it as a favorite and then come back with something you are

*hearting*. And while you are at it check out Ngan other shop Daily Dose.

- Follow eNVe Designs on FB, Twitter, and or blog.

- Tell us your dream day {as detailed as you wish, you never know putting it out there in the universe may make it come true!}

Good luck!

Open until midnight Feb 20th, winner picked via random.org.

Love you today and always {plus a winner!}

There was SO many amazing entries in the Slippin Southern, I was so excited to read them as they came in.

And Gregory agreed.

Here is what he had to say:

I was really impressed by all of the great entries and it was really hard to decide so I've chosen to include a second and third place winner. These contestants will not receive a free sign but they will receive FREE SHIPPING on their entry or another item in the shop if they wish.

The Grand Prize winner will receive their sign once we make it. Or, they may also opt to order any other item in the shop instead of their entry.

And now, drum roll please the winners are...

Grand Prize Winner:
Love you little, love you big, love you like a little pig
By: H is for Hillman

Second Place:
I do declare!
By: B's Mommy

Third Place:
Sweet Pea
By: Mande

Now ladies please email and we will sort out the details.

See you in a little bit for another giveaway!

Happy Valentines Day!

I get it from my parents...

Thank you to those that gave me words of encouragement on yesterdays post.

Being honest about your life in the bloggie world can be hard.

It's so easy to filter out the bad stuff.

Just to avoid the embarrassment, judgement, or anything else negative that might come from it.

But I have to say the good will out weigh that.

Read Jami's post about it, she says it best.

Two people who lefts words of encouragement were my parents.

Dad said:

You are a real Momma and a darn good one. You shower your children with love devotion and understanding, wipe the guilt out of your mind. You have no reason for guilt, if anything I should be the guilty one for not being as good a Dad to you as you have become a good Mom to Avery and Nolan.
Decisions are tough and they have to be made you made one that day and it was the right one because that's what great Moms do.

Your Dad

Mom said:

Ohhhhh my amazing, loving daughter. My heart aches for your aches. My heart explodes with pride for your honesty. As your father once told me, "in 7 or 8 eight years,things will be better" When he said that, you can imagine my first thought after I was able to stop my head from spinning, and before I had to call the Priest for the exorcism, or the chiropractor. By the way, I don't know where I would have found the time to go to either. You know how very supportive your father is, and is always my cheerleader, and always has been. BUT... that morning, As I kissed him good-bye and wished him a nice day, I was not feeling it. (actually, as I shut the door, I was wishing his pants zipper would break). WELL... those 7 or 8 years have long past, I would not have given up any minute of those crazy, juggling days. Do you remember the story about the time I went out with Aunt Kathleen and Aunt Joy to happy-hour, and as we were chatting or flirting, I'm not sure which it was a long time ago, You kids were young, I was a stay at home mom I said. Talk about a buzz kill..!!..That night I was feeling invisible. The three of us talked about it later and they come up with my new "JOB", I was ready for the question the next time we went, and as luck would have it, I was able to say, Oh me? "I'm the culinary critic for NASA", SOOO IN YOUR FACE, YOU BAD HAIR, POLYESTER WEARING, AWFUL SHOES, DOOFUSS, I had the best job of my life, that's right!!!! When ever I have to fill out papers that ask my occupation, I still write stay at home mom. Don't giggle, I am at one home or another. I am soooooo proud of my children and the love you share for one another. I would also like to thank you for all your patience as your were growing up. Your father would go to work sometimes before you kids woke-up and not come home till after you were in bed, I felt bad for him. He "WAS" always at work, NOW...... not so much. I think he has found his 7 or 8 years time. Being able to spend time with Avery and Nolan and being soooo proud of the mother you have become, he is a bit like Abuelo. Your husband is a VERY lucky man, and YOU are a very, very, very, lucky woman. I see the pride in his eyes when you're together. He is such an amazing juggler of his time, also. " It" works because we want and need "it" to. "IT'S" VERY hard work, lonely at home with our tears from the day, whatever that is, then our tears because of our tears. Those tears haven't stopped for me. Stand tall SAHM, and call me, I'll be there in 30 minutes. I love you, Mom your SAHM xoxo

Dude how lucky am I to have padres like that?!

And even more blessed are my babies who get lovin from grandpadres like that!

Happy weekend!