Giveaways on the new blog & update your link

If you haven't checked out my new blog, now is DEFINITELY the time to do it :)
I have SEVEN open giveaways going on - so make sure to head on over and enter!!

Here's a list:

1. Fortune Shaker Necklace by DIY Studio.

2. Mini book for your choice from Peridot Art

3. 5x7 Print by Robin Sharp

4. Copper the Fox by Pixies and Bears

5. 5 Pairs of Button Earrings by DareDream

6. Set of 4 Mustache Necklaces

7. Quirk Vintage Gift Certificate and Coupon Code

I won't be updating this blog anymore, so make sure you update your Google Friend Connect to that link! I've put a handy little link in the sidebar so you don't have to mess around with pasting the link in your Google Reader, etc.

xoxo♥
Lex

Blog Party and Blog Launch!!

Click HERE to go to my brand new blog :)

♥

Crazy days

These past few days have been CRAZY, but in a mostly good way.

I did our taxes. Mine were relatively easy and simple, and my state offers free e-filing (SO awesome!). Boy's on the other hand, were slightly more complicated and took forrrrever. Oh and they weren't free to e-file, boo. Just another reason he should be an Oregonian, if you ask me. And now that my taxes are done, I'm applying for school again! We're both actually applying to the same school, and it's an amazing one, but no more about that because I don't want to jinx it :) We do have backups, but they're nothing that would blow your mind like this one.

I've been working hard on the blog party, guys, and it's going to r.o.c.k. Seriously, there are already 4 planned giveaways and some super cool DIYs.

Also, how pretty is this??

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I've never been a huge flowers girl, mostly because I think they're a pain to water all the time and they wilt so fast, but I really dig this tissue paper flower garland. I will admit though, that lately I have been daydreaming of a pretty, self-sustaining flower garden that I can clip fresh flowers from every week. Eventually.

♥ ♥ ♥

Blog Launch Party Info!

Friends, I am so excited to announce that I'll be having a blog party on Monday, March 14th starting at 12:01am!! The blog address is still private and will be announced here on Sunday ♥
It's going to be AWESOME. I already have quite a few giveaways and guest posts planned, and I'm SO excited about them! Seriously, I wish I could win. Haha. If you are interested in being a guest blogger at my blog party, the info is right here :)


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Going to be so much funnnnn!

In the meantime, I'm putting finishing touches on the blog. Writing a real "About Me" page is so weird! I'm always awkward about those things ;)

What are your plans for this week?

xo♥/Lex

Blog Party Info

I've been buying small pieces of favorite fabrics for a while. It started in 2006 when I started making button earrings, but now I buy it because someday I want to start some sewing projects. Granted, I'll need a sewing machine first, but I can still buy pretty fabric to use up someday!

Here are 3 of my favorites right now:


I have about a yard of the gray one on the bottom, but only an 1/8 of a year of the top two (boy do I wish that I had purchased more now!). Maybe the top two are still in stores.

Also, I know I've talked about it a lot lately, but:

I wanted to make a graphic, ha. I'm a dork. It actually doesn't really match what my new website will look like, I just did a project with the deer paper that I want to show you soon and liked the macro shot so I threw some words on it. Yep.

I think I want to launch my blog with an ultra awesome blog party, so I invite you to come participate! I'd *love* if YOU joined in on the fun! If you are interested in writing a guest post for the blog party (giveaway, tutorial/how-to, pretty inspiration post, etc!) then please email me at Lex(at)Lexoxo(dot)com ♥ In addition to links to your sites on the post, you'll also get a free sponsor spot on the sidebar for the month! It will be announced on Twitter, Facebook, Etsy, and more, I think that we'll have a good time :) I have some freebies to finish up today and some giveaways to put together and maybe a couple DIYs.

Oh and before I forget, a little update on Boy: He has an appointment with a new doctor soon, they aren't going to release some of his test results until then so I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I assume if it were really bad they would tell us right now, but at the same time I wonder why they wouldn't just tell us immediately if they came back fine?

Hope you are having a fantastic weekend! I have some fun plans for today - writing blog party posts, photographing some new items for Quirk Vintage, finishing The Girl Who Played With Fire, and of course spending all day with Boy!

xo♥

Lex

Pretty home inspiration

Some pretty home inspiration to brighten your day!

Source: minordetails.typepad.com via Lex on Pinterest

 

Aren't those toy boxes the COOLEST?! And I love the bold graphic stripes throughout the room.\

Source: holamurray.wordpress.com via Lex on Pinterest

LOVE the rainbow headboard. I wouldn't do the eyes/tongue bed but it's a cute idea.

Source: love-luck-kisses-cake.blogspot.com via Lex on Pinterest

These keys are so fun♥ Perfect way to remember what they go to {but maybe not the best if you lose them?}

I'm having WAY too much fun with Pinterest lately. And I totally adore that they have the embed option that you can just copy/paste the html.
If you haven't joined Pinterest yet, you should check it out. I have some invite codes to give out if you don't have one yet :)

Yesterday I spent a few hours at the college with Boy. Got a little bit of work done on my blog, I think it's almost ready to launch!! It got pushed back a bit what with him in the hospital so much lately. Anyway, I'll have a giveaway on the new blog when it's launched, and possibly on my new Facebook page. 

Here's to a lovely week! And eeps, it's March 1st, so here's to a lovely month as well!! 

xoxo
♥/Lex

Boy update

Sorry for the radio silence on Boy since my last post. Not much news to share, but here are the updates so far:
1. He was released from the hospital.
2. They STILL don't know what's wrong with him, but they gave him pills to keep his heart rate down until they figure it out.
3. He has more tests at the hospital tomorrow.
4. I haven't slept much because I'm so worried. I try not to show my worry because I know it will stress him out. He needs to stay calm and upbeat.
5. We have watched a lot of shows and movies because he is pretty much bedridden for a while.
6. We got the bill for his first ER visit. Holy crap!!! And that was the quickest visit of the 4 - I'm scared to see the other ones. I just have to trust that we will be able to take care of it when the time comes and that it will all work out.
Please, please continue to send positive thoughts his way/pray for him ♥ We truly appreciate it, we have been so blessed to have wonderful friends {online and offline} who have shown love and support. We feel lucky to have all of you, so THANK YOU!!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

♥/Lex

Can I get an amen!

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I had to make a very tough decision last weekend, and I've been wrestling with some guilt over it. But seeing this poster confirms that I made the right choice. Life is too short to make decisions that you know are wrong for you♥ Make a beautiful life!

In the hospital

Well friends, if you follow me on Twitter then you know that Boy went to the ER via ambulance about a week and a half ago. He was released after almost 7 hours in the ER with the diagnosis of hypersensitivity to caffeine and hyperventilation from that sensitivity. He had taken one of those energy pills and drank about half of an energy drink {he's been drinking energy drinks daily for YEARS}. Anyway, the doctor told him to wean himself off of caffeine to avoid caffeine withdrawals. Which he tried, drinking only two 4oz cups of coffee over the course of the next week.

Then on Friday we went to downtown Chicago. He ordered a single shot of espresso, not thinking that it would be too much caffeine. We walked to Millennium Park so I could say hello to the bean {my favorite Chicago site}. We got there, walked about half way around the bean to where you can view the ice skating rink below, and he started having the same symptoms as before. Fast heart rate, tightness in his chest, shakiness, hard to breathe, lightheaded, feeling like he was going to pass out while he was standing, etc. I had the park security call an ambulance, SO thankful that we were at a park that has an office and regular security!!! He was taken to the hospital, admitted at around 2:30pm. They ran blood tests, didn't know what was going on and called it caffeine hypersensitivity again. This time he had heart palpitations. They gave him two bags of fluid to try to flush his system and released him at almost 9pm, saying to just wait out his crazy symptoms and that they would get better by Sunday around 2pm. We didn't want to drive all the way back home {almost a 3 hour drive} that late, so we stayed at his sister's house. At 12 midnight he woke up, feeling even worse. I called an ambulance. When they got there they checked his bp {blood pressure} and heart rate before loading him into the ambulance. He was shaking harder than I've ever seen him shake, almost like someone with hypothermia. His heart rate was 143. Anything above 100 is considered fast, it should be between 60 and 85ish. I was told that 160 is usually when you go into cardiac arrest.

Blah blah. More blood tests, more saying it's just caffeine and wait out the symptoms. I hate to be a jerk and say that hospitals don't care as much about people without insurance, but.....  {I'm self-employed and he's a full time student in a college that offers no medical coverage, wtf}. Anyway, we stay there until almost 6am. We haven't had sleep in days, and to tell the truth I was kinda pissy because I've had to see the man I love hooked up to machines in 3 different hospitals and nobody is helping in any major way. I know it's the ER and they are just there to stabilize him and can only do so much, but his sister is a nurse and said that they should definitely have admitted him to look for underlying causes. Duh. I wasn't rude to anyone, just relieved that they thought it should definitely go away. We decided to stay at his sisters place the entire weekend to make sure that he was okay before we attempted to drive home.

Sunday we get back. Rest the entire day. Nothing but bed rest and movies for him, with a little video game time mixed in. Monday rolls around, and he has classes from 8am to 4pm (Illinois celebrates Lincoln's birthday instead of President's Day I guess. It's weird to me, but whatevs). I'm worried about him, he's worried too {the symptoms were supposed to be gone by Sunday around noon, they were still there}. So I went with him to the school and set up my computer right outside his class. Not even 10 minutes go past and he has to leave the school. We go back home for another full day of rest, thinking that maybe the caffeine is still in his system.

Tuesday (today? Maybe yesterday by the time I post this). He doesn't have any classes on Tuesday, so we drive around town to look for one of those blood pressure machines in pharmacies. Seriously, can't find one anywhere. I think the WalMart in town has one, but by the time we got to the parking lot all the same symptoms are back. Not cool. Go back to the house, but we're only there for a few minutes before we realize that he really should get back to a hospital. Spend about 6 hours in the ER before they FINALLY say that they think he should be admitted so that they can run tests. YES!!!! That was a few hours ago. So many tests are ordered tomorrow, but for now it's all rest time for him. They had to give him a sedative and anti-anxiety pill to slow his heart rate enough so he could fall asleep. It's not the best rest in his life, he's been asleep for probably about an hour and he keeps waking up about every 5-10 minutes, looking around, and sometimes mumbling something incoherent before drifting off to sleep. Will he be embarrassed that I said that? Anyway, it's awful seeing him hooked up to machines and so nervous.

He has bruises on his arms from all the times he was poked to draw blood and insert an IV at all of the hospitals. He hates hospitals and refuses to even go when he breaks bones {he broke his wrist last month, didn't go to the doctor no matter how much I asked him to} so for him to say that he needs an ambulance is a BIG DEAL. I'm not even going to let myself stress over the insane bills from 3 ambulance rides, 4 times in the ER, and all the tests to come. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now I just want my boy healthy and happy. If you made it through this entire blog post, you're a trooper! Thank you so much. Please, please keep him in your prayers and send positive thoughts his way. We both REALLY appreciate it, it's the only thing currently getting us through the stress and worry of the situation.

Oh, and also - if you didn't know before how bad energy drinks can be for you, the nurses at every single hospital have said that they have seen otherwise healthy individuals in their 20's and 30's have strokes and heart attacks because of these energy supplements!! Even too much coffee can be like a chemical stress test to your heart. So, um, please be careful and stay away as much as possible! Order your yummy Starbucks coffee drinks in decaf if you can.

(If you want to leave comments for him to let him know that you are keeping him in your thoughts/prayers, I know that it really lifts his spirit to hear.)

Thanks again for reading. We ♥ you!

xo.

Lex

Nail Polish Love

Received my E.L.F. {eyes lips face} order in the mail late last week. I have a ton of new makeup goodies to show you soon, but for now just wanted to show you the new nail polish that I ordered from them. I only ordered one, just to see how I liked it because I'm kinda picky on nail polish.


I had already painted my nails rainbow polka dots when this came in, so I had to wait a couple days to even try it. The verdict? I loooooove it! It dried so fast and was really smooth going on. Unfortunately I ruined it by putting a purple design on top of it, and the purple nail polish wasn't even dry after like 45 minutes, so I tossed it and had to clean off my nails. I will definitely be ordering more of this polish in my next E.L.F. order, though. It was only $1 and was just as great as my Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polish that I love.


Right now my nails are hot pink {far left in the above photo} because of Valentine's Day. And because I couldn't resist, a photo of my current collection.


See the purple NYC polish in the square bottle in the back? That is the one that didn't dry. I had to throw it away. Bleh.

xo♥