Month: February 2010

by Allison

my boyfriend’s outta town.


The boys have left, all three of them, to take Dziadek {our Polish grandpa} back to California. It’s just me and Precocious all alone with the world at our fingertips. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.


They left quite a mess in their wake, those boys. And for any of you who might feel a little jealous that I’m getting a renovated kitchen, that I get to travel all the time, and that I own a horse, I want you to do a little exercise with me.

Close your eyes.

I’m serious, do it. We’re going Zen. I want you to imagine you’re me for a little bit. Humor me here, we’re going to take a good, exhausting look inside my life.


I want you to invite your father-in-law, with whom you’re not super tight, to come live with you for a month. He’ll be sleeping across the hall from your bedroom, which has paper thin walls. He’s actually doing you the favor by being the nanny/slave labor for the kitchen project for a solid month, but this doesn’t take away from the fact that the two of you don’t really, uh, mesh.


Go speak at … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

happily ignorant


I can honestly say, this is one of those times when I’m thrilled about the fact that I don’t speak Polish. I have no idea what’s going on at the rip roaring speed of sound between these two, and I have no intention of finding out.

I’ll be in my happy place if you need me.


… >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

My Interview with Hallmark.

It makes me cringe watching myself in interviews, but here you go. In case you’re having a cringe-worthy day and you need to see someone else making a fool of herself in front of a camera. You’re welcome.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0Bfpb9SoeU]


… >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

my favorite features on the frigidaire gas oven.

To say I like my new Frididaire range is not unlike saying I sort of like my children. I mean, they’re okay, I guess. If they’re in the right light.


Um, no. I worship the ground my children walk on, and would stand in front of flying bullets to keep them safe. Is it sacrilegious to put my new appliances in the same category? I think not. I love this range more than words can describe, I really do.

As soon as it was installed {minutes after in fact} I made rolls and popped them in the oven. It was a test of sorts. Our old oven took three days to warm up, the rolls ended up being gooey, and in the end tasted like gas. These? These were magical, cooked to perfection, tasted like little balls of heaven. And the oven only took 5 minutes to heat up. FIVE MINUTES. I’m a little beside myself.

“I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Refrigerator, Range/Microwave, Washer/Dryer set, and a Dishwasher to facilitate my review.”


… >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

3 Mormons & a Bloggess


Before I delve into the awesomeness that will be this week post wise, {life wise my house is a mess, I need to unpack and do laundry, go grocery shopping, locate and sign all kinds of consent forms for the kids for school, clean my bathroom, and well. That’s enough.} I need to just mention where I’ve been.

I was at Mom 2.0, a conference in Houston on Thursday and just got back yesterday. I’ll go into the nitty gritty later, but for now? I’ll leave you with a photo.


And the new name of our panel. We changed it from:

PROFESSIONAL TRACK:

Creating Experiences Combining Online and Offline Campaigns for Maximum Impact and Results

Whether it’s a quick meet-up or a large-scale event, social media leaders, brands, non-profits, and cause organizations have found new ways to inspire real life engagement from online relationships. Find out more about what has worked, what hasn’t, and why it’s worth our time to create IRL opportunities to build brand, traffic, and experience.

(Rachael Herrscher, Jyl Johnson Pattee, Allison Czarnecki, Jenny Lawson)

To: 3 Mormons and a Bloggess.

I’ll let you simmer on that for a while. It was more fun than you can … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

how to saddle a horse.

We’re trying to train Reuben, our horse, to tolerate a saddle. And reins, and a bit. He doesn’t like any of that nonsense, he’d rather be ridden bareback. I personally hate riding bareback and need him to get on board with the whole saddle thing so we can get to know each other a little beyond me throwing hay over the fence.


Precocious is trying to be a good horsewoman and learn how to properly take care of and train her animal, and as such decided she wanted to saddle up Reuben a few weeks ago. Keep in mind, this is a junior saddle, so it weighs way less than a regular adult saddle, but it was still a lot for her to handle. Watching Precocious saddle Reuben It was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a really, really long time.


First, she says hello to Reuben.


Then she separates him from the rest of the wild herd into another pasture so she won’t get kicked while saddling Reuben.

She ties the lead rope to the gate, and goes to get the saddle out of the trailer.


It’s a little heavy.


Maybe it’s time to … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

DownEast Basics Women’s Fashion.


Back when the weather was still warmish, DownEast Basics sent me some clothes to try out from their new {Fall} line. I took photos of the darling clothes, edited them, put the clothes in my closet and promptly forgot about the whole thing. Because I’m awesome like that.

Fast forward a few months. I was at the mall a couple of weeks ago looking for something foxy to wear to BlissDom, when I wandered into the DownEast Basics storefront and found myself coveting every. single. thing on the racks. Everything was hot fashion, cute colors, and current style in a wide range of sizes. It took a lot of self control not to buy up the whole store.

Here’s what I have in my closet, and will probably pack in my suitcase for Mom 2.0 this weekend in Houston.


I can’t find this polka dot dress on the website anymore, but I did find this spotlight dress that looks completely adorable. I especially love the sleeves on the Spotlight Dress, they’re a very flattering length for those of us without biceps.

This L’Amour Coat is still available at DownEast, in fact, it’s on sale for $19.99. … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

sven kramer fever.

Have you been following the Olympics? We don’t have a television so I have to wait until the kids have gone to bed to watch whatever clips NBC deems spotlight worthy {on my laptop} at the end of the day.

My question for you is this: are you as smitten with Sven Kramer as I am? He’s adorable.


I think it has everything to do with the fact that he looks like my older brother did in middle school. And, the ladies, how they loved him. I wish I had a picture to show just how cute he was, but take my word for it, he looked a lot like Sven. Only a little taller, and skinnier.

I discussed this fact with my brother, {the Kramer look alike} via Twitter last night and he didn’t really agree with me so much as one-up me. He thinks his son, this little munchkin, will look like Sven Kramer as an adult.


Can you even handle the munchiness?


Somebody help me, I want to eat this baby. Those teeth! Those eyes! That nose.

Do you love it as much as I do that Sven Kramer is the face of … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

shelter warning: it’s not safe to come out yet.

I know it’s not life or death, this kitchen remodel we’re doing, but it’s a little hectic at my house right now, and I feel like posting this sign on the front door:


Marie and I ended up in the basement at BlissDom, shelter level. I thought it was hysterical, being relegated to the floor where all the staff were hanging out, smoking in the stairwells.

I kind of wish I were hiding out with them right now so I wouldn’t have to be subjected to the sawdust, paint, grout, and the hideous Carhartt overalls my husband is donning.

But in all seriousness? I’m getting a new kitchen, yo; that’s nothing to sneeze at.


… >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.