Opening Day!!!

It's finally here. It's been a long winter without it. I'm talking baseball. Today is Opening Day. The Cardinals are playing The Padres today at Busch Stadium.

American Idol (We know!! 2 go home, no more magical saves this season...)

I assume we've all gotten over the magical and miraculous SAVE from last week. Yes, I like that the judges actually HAVE a save, and I think they did the right thing by using the save on Casey, but I don't need to be hit over the head with that information every 5 minutes or so. Move it along people.

Does anyone else like Scotty? I actually like SOME country music - not the over-commercialized crap that is played on today's radio. That is the industry's version of pop sounding country 'hits'. Doesn't matter if you can sing as long as you look good and sell CDs. You know what I mean so I'll stop the rant now. BTW - Scotty sings better than most of the males currently getting radio time. And I loved that he played the guitar and had a shout out to Grandma. There's nothing wrong with that!!

Naima and a reggae version of 'I'm still standing'. Ugh. Horrible. Bottom 3 for sure.

Paul did 'Rocket Man', and while it was okay, I still think he could have upped his voice a little. Quirky is fine, but he sings so soft sometimes. Can't anyone tell him "Hey dude, speak up a little. We can't hear you in the back."

Pia sings another ballad. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” Great. Thanks. Next!!

Stefano sings 'Tiny Dancer'. Why did Jimmy let him sing that? Don't they want the best for the contestants? I would have told him it sounds horrible and to pick another song. But that's just me. I'm glad he kept his eyes open for most of the song. Big improvement there. My daughter's fave, but sorry, he's in the bottom 3 also.

Lauren picked 'Candle in the wind'. It was pretty good. I liked the little bit of twang she threw in there. She won't be in the bottom 3 for sure.

Next up is James singing “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.” I, too, was worried about him running around the stage and being in the crowd. This usually doesn't produce a very good vocal, but for this song it was alright, since it's more of a feel good tune. James looks very comfortable on the stage. As long as he doesn't get a big head I think he will stick around for a while. My husband and I had to explain the 'Pepsi moment' comment to our daughter. She didn't know Michael Jackson caught on fire once. (I think that was the beginning of Michael's demise.)

Thia chose 'Daniel'. I don't think this was a good song for her. I don't think explaining how to connect with a song to a 16 year old works very well. Another ballad. Another boring and smiley performance. It just didn't work for me. Another bottom 3 choice for me.
Totally OT but needs to be said. I call Thia Megia 'Julia Guglia'. You know, from The Wedding Singer. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. I just think it's funny that the first and last names rhyme. Kinda silly, I know.
Robbie: I don't even know your last name.
Glenn: It's Guglia. (pronounced Gulia)
Robbie: Guglia? Oh, so Julia's last name's gonna be Guglia. Julia Guglia!
That's funny!


Casey gets a (badly needed) trim and sings 'Your Song'. Good choice for this week. Something safe and not so far out there that he gets booted (again). I like that he sat and sang, even though it looked like it was killing him not to get up and throw himself around the stage. Pull it back in and show the voters that you deserve to be here.

Jacob sings “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” overly dramatic as usual. Did anyone expect less? I think the fog on the stage cued up the drama.

Haley is last and sings “Bennie and the Jets.” It's actually not too bad. Good vocals this time, but she looks like a lounge act sitting on the piano at the beginning. Kudos for managing to slide off the piano and not fall flat on your ass. That would have been embarrassing.

So, bottom 3 is Naima, Stefano, and Thia.

Joel Dewberry Aviary 2

I ordered Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 today from Fabric Flair. I can't wait to see the new sparrow fabrics in person.


I like the Granite color palette. The combination of black and grey with the damask is very classy.


The Saffron color palette is very similar to the previous Aviary line.


The Lilac color palette is very fresh and Spring like.

Robert Pattinson is Yummy (and another giveaway)

My husband took the dog out for a walk on Friday and came back inside with the mail. This is what he handed me. Oh my. Unexpected yumminess.

YUM YUM. Don't you think so too?

Up for grabs today is this cute little gadget pouch. It measures 4 inches x 5 inches x 1 inch. It has a strap with detachable clip so you have a handle to carry it by, or you can wrap the strap around a purse strap, belt loop, etc. I used Amy Butler's Pink Tree Peony and Camel Full Moon Polka Dots.

The first person to leave a comment here can have it. Just leave a comment and email your shipping address to me at PinkLadyDesignsATcharter.net

Surprising American Idol Results Show and Friday Freebie

Wow. How wrong was I about last night's AI result show? The only one I got right was Thea. I was really surprised that Casey was the one to be eliminated. I think the judges did the right thing by using their save to keep him around. Better luck next week dude!!

Friday Freebie is back. A little different this time, the first person to leave a comment stating they want the mini zipper pouch pictured below can have it. Leave a comment then email your shipping address to me at PinkLadyDesigns @ charter.net (take out the spaces).

Pouch measures 4.5 inches x 3.25 inches

So I was wrong last week. It wasn't Naima Adedapo who left. But at least she was in the bottom 3 where she belonged. (And where she belongs again this week.)

After tonight's elimination we will find out the Top 10 and who will be on tour this summer.

Overall, the quality of the performances last night was okay, with a really great performance by James. My husband and I just love him.

Paul was actually pretty good this week. I think he felt so much better being up there with his guitar.

Stefano, man, OPEN YOUR EYES!!!! Is he not able to sing with his eyes open? I'm starting to wonder about him.

I cant say I really enjoyed anyone else's performances very much. My other 2 favs, Scotty and Casey, were just okay.

I have no idea who deserves to be in the bottom 3 with Naima this week. Maybe Haley and Thea?

American Idol - Songs From The Year They Were Born

Let me start by saying that last week my husband had to work on performance night. When he got home he asked my daughter and I who sucked tonight? We told him it was Ashton. We got that one right. Let's see how we do the remainder of this season.

Last night had some okay performances. My favs were (of course) James,who sounded good singing Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There For You". Steven told him not to get too 'poppy'. Huh? I thought he was going to say not to get too 'cocky' which would have made more sense. I didn't think he sounded poppy at all.

Scotty sang Travis Tritt's "Can I trust you with my heart" and he sounded great going for the higher notes. He is one that would have no trouble getting a recording contract if he left Idol. As for his song choices, I would love to hear him sing Chris Young or Wade Hayes. He would sound great singing any of their songs.

Casey got a little too growly and angry (?) singing Nirvana. It was good up to a point, then it all fell away. But I still like him as an overall performer.

Stefano actually sounded pretty good. That's my daughter's pick.

I wish Paul McDonald would sing louder. His voice is okay sometimes, and he sounded good for most of "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" (I love that song). But he needs to sing louder because sometimes he is so soft I can't tell if he's any good at all.

Everyone else was just alright last night. Kind of forgettable. My pick for who is leaving this week? Naima Adedapo. I know she is Steven's favorite, but she was off again last night. That's 2 weeks in a row and it's time to go.

On a funny note, after Haley Reinhart sang and I saw the lipstick on her chin, I wondered if anyone would tell her or point it out... LOL when Ryan ran over with a hankie and tried to wipe her off!!

The judges really need to get more real. Even Randy isn't being harsh when it's needed. Simon was sometimes too harsh, but his criticisms were meant the help the performer get better. Or point out how terrible they were!! Time to stop being nice, stop saying nice things about your favorites when they are terrible, and start giving better feedback on the performances.

What a Week It's Been

I don't want another week like the one we just had. It started last Monday evening when our basement flooded. Okay, it didn't flood completely, just enough to make a mess and really piss me off. Evidently the sump pump quit working. So my husband had to rush out and get a new one and ask the neighbor to help him install it. A working sump pump makes me happy. No water in the basement makes me extremely happy.

Then Wednesday our puppy (dog?) Max wasn't himself. He wasn't eating much and running around like usual and definitely not pooping like usual. Thursday morning he still wouldn't eat or drink, and he hadn't pooped in 24 hours. He was acting weird like he couldn't get comfortable. Then he threw up. I called my husband and the vet told us to bring Max in right away. They were concerned that he may have a blockage so they took x-rays. You do not want to know how much it costs to have a dog x-rayed!! I was concerned that it may have been his back that was hurt because he would sit with his legs off to the side and he kept stretching out and laying flat on his back. The doctor warned my husband that if it WAS his back we would have to take him to the real hospital and have an MRI done. It is unspeakable how much money that would cost!! So the vet did find 3 places that could have been potential blockages in Max's system. They gave him a shot for pain and a shot for the nausea and sent him home. My husband brought Max home so we, which means I, could keep an eye on his condition. Max immediately threw up again. I called the vet and they told me to bring him back in. They put an I.V. in and kept him the rest of the day.

My husband picked Max up at 5:30 and he still hadn't pooped and still couldn't sit down or sit still at all. It was terrible. The vet called us around 8 pm to check on Max. The vet told us he and the other 2 doctors had stayed late to discuss Max, and they decided to take another x-ray in the morning to see if the 3 potential blockages had moved. If not, they were going to take some action. They weren't sure what would be the best for Max. So we had to wait until morning.

Max finally fell asleep at around 10 pm laying on his stomach with his feet stretched out behind him and his head hanging down off the side of the chaise. I left him downstairs with my husband who was sleeping on the couch. Around midnight I heard Max jump off the chaise so I ran downstairs to see if he was okay. I found him in the kitchen chowing down his bowl of food. Then he had a long drink of water and ran into the living room. I woke up my husband to take Max outside. And Max finally pooped!!! I know, it's poop, it's disgusting, but it really made us happy.

Max went back to sleep until morning and then pooped again. Yay!! So we called the vet and told them he was 'moving' again, eating and drinking and not throwing up, and they were relieved also. We think the 'blockage' was caused by the stuffing from his hedgehog toy and/or a feather he may or may not have ingested. Let me tell you, this dog eats everything (except medicine). Outside it's rocks, grass, sticks, mulch, bird poop, dead worms, bugs, and his favorite is bunny poop. I've tried explaining to Max that the little bunny poops are NOT treats, but he just doesn't listen. The thing is, we have him on a leash when we take him outside, so it's easy to pull him away from all of these random things he wants to eat. But inside, we have a terrible time stopping him when he gets something in his mouth. We put up a gate to keep him from going upstairs, and we keep everything off the floor and put away because our cat likes to knock stuff off the counter top. We were worried that the blockages could have been the piece of plastic from a pair of headphones that he started to eat, or from when my son was doing homework and left the laptop sitting open and Max ate one of the keys. Seriously. He ate one of the arrow keys.

Max has not learned his lesson though. Since his incident he has tried to eat mulch, bird poop, grass, leaves, a used dryer sheet, a kleenex, carpet, newspaper, and the stuffing out of his latest victimized toy (which is now in the trash). I just love trying to catch him (we have to move the furniture to trap him) and pry his mouth open to get out whatever he is trying to eat. So much fun. Not.

To top that off, we had a 'surprise' snow event on Monday. It was heavy and wet and slippery and above freezing yet the snow kept coming ALL DAY. The school buses were already out picking up kids when they decided to cancel school. My daughter was already at the bus stop for 10 minutes (we thought the bus was just late) before another parent came out and called her child home and told the others that school was cancelled. A snow day. I get nothing done on snow days. I know it was slippery out and there were a ton of accidents, but we were literally the ONLY school anywhere near us that cancelled. We ended up getting over 5 inches of heavy wet snow by 4 pm Monday. And do you know that by 7 pm Tuesday it was ALL melted. The snow is gone and the yard is a wet sopping mess.

Giveaway Winner!!

First let me remind you that you can save 25% on your entire purchase in my Etsy Shop. Use Coupon Code SAVE25

The winner of the wristlet is dollee!!! Congratulations. Please email your shipping address to me at PinkLadyDesigns @ charter.net

As you can see, my daughter was able to get Kitty to pick a winner this time. (Last time I tried this I got a bite on the hand for my efforts.)

American Idol Top 12, make that Top 13

Even though AI went from 24 down to 13, there weren't too many surprise exits. I thought most of the Top 12 girls were terrible.

I didn't agree with who got another chance to sing for the Wild Card. The judges should have given Brett another shot instead of Kendra. Poor Jovany and Robbie didn't make the final cut. Although my daughter IS happy that Stefano managed to get back into the competition, so that's a plus.



During both nights of performances I found myself channelling Simon. I couldn't help myself. I know Simon was an ass most of the time, but at least he was more honest with the really bad performances. Even Randy wasn't as upfront with his criticism as he used to be. So I found myself giving my own critique, and some of it may have been not so nice.

There are 2 things that really set me off during AI. The first is when someone gives a really bad performance, and they are asked their opinion of their performance, and they reply with "I had fun." Fun? Fun for you means it was torture for the viewers (and voters). I don't care if you had 'fun', I care that you can actually, you know, sing. Every time a contestant says they had fun, you can count on them being voted out.

The second thing that really bothers me is not only song selection, but the actual performing of the songs. When they are really, really bad, I wonder how a contestant can have family and friends around and not one person tells them how horrible they sound? Really? Because if I had a friend or family on AI, I think I would be able to be honest and tell them it didn't sound good or it wasn't the right song for them.

American Idol - Top 24

So the top 12 Guys performed last night. I have my favorites already (of course). I do this every year - have an early favorite that chooses some stupid song or sings really bad and gets voted out at the beginning. Last night, my favs did okay. My number one is James Durbin. He seems like a really nice kid, he sounds great, and he deserves something good in his life.

I also like Casey Abrams, Scotty McCreery, and Tim Halperin. Although Tim chose the wrong song and sounded like crap. I was also disappointed in Jovany Barreto and Stefano Langone. And Brett Loewenstern could have done so much better. The rest of the guys were just okay.

I don't have any favorite girls. At least not yet. I'll wait until tonight's performances before I decide if I like any of them.

I am disappointed that Colton Dixon, John Wayne Schulz, and Jacee Badeaux didn't make the top 24. I thought all 3 of them deserved to be there.

Jennifer Laurens Book and Tee Giveaway

Jennifer Laurens is having another giveaway. This time it is 2 sets of Books and Tees - Heavenly and A Season of Eden. Be sure to check out her blog and enter.

Also be sure to leave a comment on MY Friday Freebie post. I am giving away this cute wristlet: