Despite CLAIMING to be not-so-domesticated on the internets, Hannah of Peggy Ann Design sure knows her way around a sewing machine. Her aprons are so gorgeous they make me want to bake stuff just so I have an excuse to wear one and her picture frames are definitely too pretty for any of the photos I’ve taken recently. But her real genius lies in her pom-poms.

Mama size pom-pom and a NEW mini pom-pom for little fans (or for your ponytail)

Now, Hannah is a fan of something called War Eagle and is always yelling about them on Twitter. I Googled it, and discovered War Eagle isn’t actually a vicious bird but the mascot for Auburn’s football team. Which makes a lot more sense. But since she was tired of ugly ball caps and jerseys as her only options to show her Auburn love in public, she created these pom-pom pins in her team’s colors!

Since my college didn’t even have a football team (I think we were famous for…basketball? And at some point might have had the #2 tennis player in the country? or something?) I had to go with *real* sports when she asked what colors I wanted. And since I live in New England the answer is obviously red & blue – Go Sox AND Go Pats!!

OMG don't we look insanely alike in this picture?

This is Little Evan and I in our adorable pom-poms*, watching the Patriots almost lose even though they had a TWENTY POINT LEAD. Please note Evan’s vintage football sweater that simply supports an imaginary “team team”.

WTF PATS?!?!?!?!

Luckily, that last touchdown didn’t count and we won. I give all the credit to our new pom-poms.

*For the record, the pom-pom hair clippie is actually for Baby Girl, but it’s a little hard to get her to model things right now. Also, Hannah made using Evan as the model a requirement for the giveaway. True story. Oh, and the small pom-pom can also be put on a pin if you’d prefer that to a clip.

If you want to support your team with your very own pompoms, Hannah is going to give one of my readers their very own set of matching mama & baby poms in YOUR CHOICE of colors!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post telling me what colors you want! You can see what Hannah has in stock here but your choice can be ANY team colors. Just don’t say blue and white pinstripe, because we don’t allow your kind around here. I’m not even joking.

You can also follow Hannah’s blog (which I recommend, she’s been doing some awesome giveaways) or follow her on Twitter (which I also recommend, because she’s hilarious) but those aren’t extra entries.

Giveaway will be open until November 4nd, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email, so make sure you use a real email address when you comment.

Giveaway is now closed!

Disclaimer bit: Hannah sent me these pom-poms free of charge to photograph and review, but I think she really just wanted to see Little Evan in a hair clippie. No other compensation was received and the opinions expressed are entirely my own. I wasn’t even extra nice because she’s a fellow Navy wife.

Day 1 is open until November 1st! Allora Handmade
Day 2 is open until November 2nd! Uff Da Designs
Day 3 is open until November 3rd! Taradara

Don’t you love her tag line? I knew I liked Tara as soon as I met her. She’s feisty. And funny. And the first thing she said after I gave her my card at The Creative Connection was “You have a boy? I have two boys at home. I know EXACTLY what you need.”

Meet Little Evan's new best friend: Snake

She was definitely right. Tara makes these adorable 5 foot long snakes out of bright fabrics and minky, so they’re soft and cuddly. You can order them in boy-ish, girl-ish or either-ish colors.  And since she understands kids, they’re even machine washable.

Hitting Mommy with Snake is Little Evan’s new favorite game. AND THAT’S TOTALLY OK, because getting whacked with a soft fabric snake is a thousand times less painful than a plastic sippy to the face. I speak from experience. I think Brutus appreciates the soft-snake-as-a-weapon even more than I do.

And when one gets all tired out from the playing, Snake also makes a nice cuddly friend.

If toy snakes aren’t your thing, Tara also makes wallets, card holders, burp cloths, passport covers and more (as she puts it) artsy fartsy stuff. And she adds to the shop all the time, so put her on your favorites list and keep an eye out for the perfect gift this holiday season.

And to help you on your merry holiday shopping way, Tara is very generously going to give one of my readers a $30 credit to her Etsy shop!

All you have to do to enter is check out Taradara on Etsy and leave a comment telling me which item is your favorite. That’s it! One comment per person.

Giveaway will be open until November 3rd, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email, so make sure you use a real email address when you comment.

Giveaway is now closed!

You should also check out Tara’s blog (especially what she did to this china cabinet) and follow her on Twitter, because she’s funny and creative.

Disclaimer bit: Tara sent me the snake in this post for free so I could review and photograph it, but no additional compensation was received. Opinions are all my own and were not influences by her gift in any way. Except for the fact that I got a full hour’s peace and quite to WRITE the damn post just by giving Little Evan the snake to play with. IT HAS MAGICAL POWERS.

p.s. She also sent me this beautiful camera strap cover as a gift:

Isn't that print fantastic?

But since she doesn’t have them in the shop (yet), it’s truly a one-of-a-kind item. You’re the best Tara!!

Day 1 is open until November 1st! Allora Handmade
Day 2 is open until November 2nd! Uff Da Designs

In a far off land, a long long time ago, possibly in another life, I wore a lot of REALLY ugly clothes. And by ugly I mean extreme skimpy and inappropriate for public as well as unfit for human eyes. But it seemed like a good idea at the time.

If anyone ever makes a movie about my life, “It seemed like a good idea at the time” would be the tag line on the posters for both high school AND college.

Most of the blame falls on a) being 19 b) losing a lot of weight and suddenly being about to FIT into extremely skimpy clothing and c) being a regular at a bar where a fake velvet cheetah print bell bottom unitard was considered perfectly normal attire. Did I mention this bar also had a disco ball shaped like a saddle? And that it was not just a bar but a country line dancing night club? Where I was not only a regular but once asked to take part in a “Girls of Neon Moon” charity calendar?

Are you going to stop laughing soon? I’ll wait while you go put on dry pants.

FOR THE RECORD: The calendar never happened. So stop Googling.

ALSO FOR THE RECORD: I met E at that bar. And married him mostly for his line dancing skills.

As part of our current home renovation, we needed to make room in the storage half of the attic for all the junk we need to get out of the living space half of the attic. Since I am the kind of person who Has A Hard Time Getting Rid Of Things, I found three giant tubs full of clothes I have kept for far far too long. Some are just too small (I gave them to my friend Megan who has lost like a zillion pounds and wears tiny midget sizes now), some are just out of fashion (I donated them to Goodwill), and some are so terrifically awful I kept them just to take pictures.

I present for your mocking pleasure – The black sparkly mirrored pants:

I think I mentioned before they were a size 5. Turns out they’re actually a 7. But they’re a 7 the same way fat free mayonnaise is actually mayonnaise. NOT AT ALL.

Now, you may be asking yourself “What does one wear with such lovely, lovely pants?” So I present, the matching shirt.

Still not convinced it’s a shirt?

Sigh.

Fine.

P.S. For the record, don’t expect awesome vintage pictures with future bad fashion posts. They all seem to have gotten lost somewhere between my college apartment and this house. But boy am I going to hold this against my kids some day – LOOK WHAT PREGNANCY RUINED!

THIS HAS BEEN…Extreme Moments in Bad Fashion!

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Emily who had the most adorable daughter ever in the whole wide world. Because her kid was too cute for normal baby clothes, Emily started sewing her custom dresses, bibs, and hair clippies. (Also: WANDS!) When the public saw these adorable handmade goods, they demanded Emily make them available to the rest of us…and thus, Uff Da Designs was born. Now Uff Da has grown to include vintage baby and toddler clothes – something Emily knows quite a bit about, having owned her own vintage shop for several years pre-baby.

I’ve been internet friends with Emily – first on her blog and then on The Twitter – for a long long time now. Her daughter, Poppy, is only a few weeks (days?) younger than Little Evan. I could write a whole novel about how Emily is the best person on the internet, but I’ll try to keep this to a reasonable length. She’s super cool, super nice and super super talented.

Check out this baby dress:

FOR BEBEH GIRL! Plus one of Uff Da's trademark poppy clips!

And I’m not even gonna lie – I totally bought one of those poppy clips for my own self, waaaaaay before I was pregnant with #2. Hey, mamas like to be pretty too!

Recently, Emily sent me one of her baby bandanna bibs for Little Evan:

Isn't that orange and blue plaid PERFECT for him?

It’s a bib! It’s a bandanna! It’s functional! It’s a fashion accessory! It’s great for drool! Or milk! Or water! Or just to make your already super cute baby even cuter!

And um………..just in case your baby is a dog:

Please forgive me Emily. I promise never to do it again. Although Brutus thinks he looks super stylish in the bandanna.

If your kid isn’t a ginger like mine, there are tons of non-orange options too. Emily has an amaaaazing eye for vintage-y type fabrics and colors.

I love them all.

And today, Emily is going to give one of my lucky readers a free bandanna bib in your choice of fabric!

All you have to do to enter is visit Uff Da Designs and leave a comment telling me what your favorite item is. So easy! Well, except for the choosing your favorite item part – they’re all amazing. (Did I mention Emily’s totally internet famous now, since Girl’s Gone Child bought one of her clippies? INTERNET. FAMOUS.)

You can also read Emily’s blog, follow her on Twitter or like Uff Da on Facebook, but it’s not required.

Giveaway will be open until November 2nd, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email, so make sure you use a real email address when you comment. Emily said she’s willing to ship anywhere so feel free to enter, my dear Canadian friends!

Giveaway is now closed!

Disclaimer bit: Emily sent me a bib to photograph and review for this post, but I bought the dress & two clippies from her with my own moolah. No additional compensation was received. And she really is the best person on the internet. No one can buy a title like that.

Day 1 is open until November 1st! Enter to win from Allora Handmade here

Today I’m kicking off this:

With this:

Have you heard of Allora Handmade? (Of course you have!) I’ve seen her beautiful rosettes on blogs before – we seem to have a few overlapping friends in the online world – but after meeting Jessica in person at The Creative Connection I was BEYOND desperate for one of her gorgeous necklaces.

I told her I was asking E to buy me one for Christmas.

And then I went ahead and bought one anyway.

So when you buy me my Christmas present E, don't get blue. I like yellow & pink.

She calls this the "modern pearl rosette statement necklace". I just call it MIIIIINE.

If that picture looks familiar it’s because it’s over there in my sidebar <———– I also made it my Twitter avatar and my Gravatar when commenting on other blogs, because like I told Jessica, her beautiful rosettes make my face look better. Shouldn’t that totally be her new tag line?

She also makes headbands (oh, did I mention I have one of those too?), earrings, bracelets and shoe clips in a huge variety of colors. I think I need one of each. In every color. I’m only half joking.

And today, because she is AWESOME, Jessica is giving one reader the chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Allora Handmade.

And today, because I like to keep things easy, all you have to do to win is visit her shop and leave a comment on this post telling me which color rosette is your favorite!

I also high suggest you read Jessica’s blog and follow her on Twitter but none of those are part of the giveaway today. And P.S. If you’re lucky enough to live near San Diego do you yourself a favor and check out The Queen Bee Market Jessica is organizing too. I’ll be sitting here in Connecticut freezing my butt of jealously.

Giveaway will be open until November 1st, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email so make sure you use a real email address when commenting.

Giveaway is now closed!

P.S. If you don’t win but want to put some Allora rosettes on your Christmas List, make sure to get the order in before December 1st! Handmade means MADE BY HAND and we want Jessica’s poor tired fingers to get some rest this holiday.

Disclaimer bit: I purchased my Allora Handmade products with my own money. No compensation was received for this review besides the pleasure of getting to exchange funny emails with Jess. She’s providing this giveaway for you out of the kindness of her heart.