In less than 24 hours on the Cape

Here's what we've been up to :) xo, Brie

One of our favorite restaurants in Falmouth, the Chart Room .... best frozen mudslides!

Kevin taking a bball camp with these guys!

We saw Wall E - I didn't really like it but everyone else did, so what do I know?and ate lots of salt water taffy - fluffanutter is the BEST!

who can resist a little DQ? Certainly not me!

Summer is off to a great start and I suspect it will keep getting better and better :)

Briecrest OUT

Pic from E! online

I can never resist revisiting the time when Ryan Seacrest tried saying that as his sign off from American idol a few years back!

Briecrest is not really OUT, out... I am loading up the van and we'll be heading on vacation. I will be blogging live on location and there will be plenty of hiijinx believe you me!! It may just take a few days before I get acclimated ;)

On a parting note.... I received a very sweet award from one of my favorite blog friends, The Mrs. over at One Fabulous Mom- Check it out!!!

So nice of her to say! In all honesty when I originally started this blog it was with my business in mind and that side of it has been great. What I was not expecting at all was to "meet" so many nice and funny people who are all blogging for different reasons. My bloglines is now up to a whopping 57 feeds and I truly look forward to catching up with each of you every morning over my coffee! I find it to be a very creative, supportive and hilarious community and I am very, very happy to have found it!

It is my pleasure to pass on this award to 3 blogs that I love to check in with! Here's your well deserved blog award :)

Monkey Me, Monkey You- a wonderful travel blog of an adorable Canadian sock monkey who also happens to be visiting ME very soon. Kind of an adult flat stanley but this monkey is a party animal.

Syotha Would Be Proud - this gal can do it all, from making aprons, to growing green beans, to wrangling squirrels and all with a wonderful attitude it might add. Funny stuff!

Pancakes and French Fries- beautifully written and really funny! Her "favorite moments" piece each week is something I always look forward to. Adventures at Curves, and cheese with glitter and glue will keep you coming back for more :)

Ok ladies, you know what to do... pay it forward with three of your favorites :)

There are so many more I would love to bestow this award upon and you know who you are :D xo, Brie

Water Slide!

Look at the fun the boys invented today in the backyard on this steamy overcast Jersey Thursday afternoon......

pictured here are the creators of this fabulous invention. I am particularly impressed with the telescope doubling as a hose holder! Ms C seems to think she is vacationing in the French Riviera - tops optional?

Spiderman Slip and Slide strategically placed at the bottom of the slide - it's a solid design!

Ms C is afraid of it and will not go down the water slide. She will just be the supervisor and a topless one at that!

Kind of makes you wish you were 7 and 9 again right? Trust me - if it gets hot enough there may or may not be a certain 37 year old whipping down this slide in a skirty suit in the very near future. You can best believe there will be NO pics ;) xo, Brie

A Few Favorites

I've got nothing for you today. It's grey and rainy and Ms C. treated me to a 5:45 am wake call. To say I am useless today might be an understatement. I still have to pack for our trip to the Cape which is coming up soon. We are all very excited, I'll be more excited once I am packed so I can stop stressing over it :)

Here are a few pics from around the house of some of my favorite things....

we have a great art studio near us called Creative Hands. They offer art classes to all ages. Kay made this ceramic angel around Christmas time in 2001. They met for 2 hours for 5 days to work on her. Her wings have some paper mache action going on there. I love her so much!

Sorry for the flash glare, but I had trouble getting a good pic. I love these! My parents gave me these plaques by Virginia folk artist Nancy Thomas. The months represent each of the kids' birth months. I have them hanging in my living room. Ms C. was due on August 1st and I wasn't loving the July print as much as the August one, so for once I was quite happy to have a baby past due date. Ridiculous, right? ;)



Kay made me this parakeet in oil crayons last year. I love the colors so I framed it and hung it in the living room!

My grandparents have a full wall of silhouettes in a hallway at their home on the Cape. I have always been drawn to them! These are my children, I had the first three done at the Falmouth craft fair several years ago. They are SO right on, they actually look like them. Ms C arrived on the scene later and the woman who did the first 3 was no longer doing them. There was a new person doing them and hers didn't come out quite as well. The profile definitely looks like her, but the hair is cuckoo. She has really springy curly hair and I thought they would translate so cute into a silhouette. I know the level of difficulty must be higher to capture something like this, but in this instance, I think her hair looks like a long shag carpet from the 70's :) Whatev.... I still love em!

Hope you enjoyed this little peek! xo, Brie

Seriously.... how much?

Tipping outside of a restaurant or hair salon has always been a tremendous source of stress for me!

I am currently trying to figure out how much to tip the pizza delivery guy... I have read a lot of little online articles on the subject but I'm taking it to the streets and would love some advice here. Do you tip on the total or just give a certain amount?!?! I have no clue what I am doing here! Help! xo, Brie

I found this but have no idea...... http://tipthepizzaguy.com/

PS today I had to take Liam to a pulmonologist (office is in our local hospital)- the parking lot was full. My choices were to valet (which you have to pay for) or to drive around for hours to find a street parking lot about 12 blocks from the hospital. I chose to valet paid the fee but then I didn't have any singles to tip the guy. He was definitely waiting for something and I felt like a crumb. I don't quite get why they get a tip though? It was literally feet away from where we were standing (they get their own special parking lot right there)! I have been stressing about it pretty much all day.

Cute Cuff!

With the "right" outfit, this could be completely adorable! xo, Brie

http://www.lillypulitzer.com/Offerings/productDetail.aspx?productID=17005db4-3175-4944-9a24-1275c5190c8c&imageID=8adcdc36-44bb-43b5-83c3-0731ff8a1f3b&seasonID=8498d20f-8b5f-4a06-8642-ebd480d936fc&lineID=96419998-56c0-4ab1-9ed9-1549e19709df&page=1&productsPerPage=24

Not enough ways to say Thank YOU!

During the school year my 3rd grader Kev was learning US geography and state capitals. Part of the class project fun was to reach out to family and friends for postcards with a goal of receiving at least one per all 50 states by the end of the year. The reward would be an ice cream party should they be able to pull it off.

I find ice cream to be quite motivating, but you can multiply that drive by 100 when it comes to a class full of 9 year olds. I reached out to some family members and friends telling them of Kev's project, giving them the details and kind of forgot about it. Kev would come home and mentioned he had received postcards here and there (they were sent directly to the school) but you can imagine my complete surprise yesterday as I am cleaning out the book bags and find all these.....

I am speechless and seriously got a lump in my throat. He got cards from all over......from family members, old college roommates, and some of the people who sent in cards were people we don't even know personally - my Uncle Jeff reached out to some friends and they went right out to send him a card. I even reached out to my precious Switchboards for a few states they were lacking and they came through too. The part that really got me was everyone wrote him the sweetest note on the back with a fact or two about the state and wishing them all luck in getting their ice cream party! One guy even invited the whole family to visit him in Dana Point and he'll take us out on his boat! He may regret that invite b/c we are taking him up on it (just kidding :)

Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy lives in the name of geography, ice cream, and third graders! The kids DID get their fabulous party and had a year end test where they had to fill in a blank map and fill in states and capitals. Kevin got an A :) xo, Brie

Ebay Monday

I don't think I actually had this little guy but I do remember seriously coveting him and the commercial vividly! I had great plans for opening up a snow cone business with this guy's help around the age of 5. It's never to late to get started on living that dream :D xo, Brie

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Ice-Bird-Maker-74-General-Mills-Snow-Cone-Ball_W0QQitemZ200232627642QQihZ010QQcategoryZ30QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

You tube really is the greatest! Mmmmmm "flavor packets" - gross!

Atonement

One thing I am certainly NOT is an avid film goer. I LOVE to go to the movies but there never seems to be any time and for whatever reason it is not the way I want to spend an evening particularly where a babysitter is involved. I'd rather go out with friends or to a nice dinner etc etc etc.



I try to keep a little list of movies that I would go to the movies to see if I had oodles of free time and Netflix allows you to add movies to your queue even if they are still in the movie theatre with no video release date. LOVE that!! I already have Sex and City on the list because who are we kidding here - the chances are slim and none that I am going to get that while it's still in theatres.






Today I made 17 braided headbands while watching Atonement. I know it's been out on video for quite some time but in the off chance you have not seen it - I highly recommend it. It totally made me cry but I loved it!! Any braided headbands containing my tears will cost extra ;) Bonus points for the typewriter "music" - that was cool. Go rent it! xo, Brie

My Summer Reading List

Actually my two older kids summer reading list, but I like to read them too so we can "discuss" :)

Has anyone ever read these? I started The Borrowers last night, it's cute! xo, Brie

New Kicks

I have to say, I'm in love with my new shoes :) xo, Brie

http://www.shoesthatloveyou.com/Merchandise2.aspx?Category=9a5efbc6-881a-4a06-bc7f-4694069a4d66

We welcome with Love

our new little twins Pearl and Little Miss Sunshine :)

A recent phone call

as in 5 minutes ago from my 11 yo Kay who is at the Jersey Shore with my friend E.

Kay: Hi mom, can I get a hermit crab for a souvenir?

me: What?!?

Kay: They are only 2 dollars each

Me: What?!?

Kay: I can get it a cage and food for like 12 dollars

Me: This is a joke right?

Kay: please??? They are so cute!

Me: I doubt that very much. We are going to the Cape soon.

Kay: Nana and Monka will love it and it can travel in the cage!

Me: Ummmmm, ok?

Kay: Great, I have enough money for 2. Love you, bye! click


It could always be worse...... xo, Brie

ELF is here

I have to say, I'm not pleased..... They "forgot" to put SIX things in my order. No explanation, nothing, guess they figured I ordered too much and hoped I wouldn't notice. Also there was no packing slip in the order so I guess they are just hoping I am a dumb dumb and wouldn't notice that either. Well I'm not and I did, so I just sent their customer service a curt message. Seriously, the quality of the product doesn't matter to me at this point, I would never order from them again. It's a headache to the third power! 2 thumbs down :( xo, Brie





PS I must have been under the influence when choosing the eye shadows. First off, I never wear eye shadow so I can only attribute it to my mind being impaired by one dollar deals and to make matters worse, one of them is seriously a jet black color? This will be perfect when I channel my inner Robert Smith!

Carmelitas with Tutorial

My friend Carolyn gave me this recipe about 8 years ago and let me tell you, these are delicious! I had never heard of this recipe but my mom and sister claim it is one of those ones that has been around a long time. I am not calling them liars or anything because it probably has been, but I had never heard of it and every time I make these I get lots of requests for the recipe. So... if by some chance you have never heard of them, here is the recipe along with some pics. I am going to be eating them for breakfast here as I type it out for you.

Notice how I took a picture of the recipe to save steps ;) Lazy and inventive!

Try to keep the saltines kind of close together, I have a gap at the bottom b/c my pan is a little on the larger size.

You will be tempted to taste this toffee sauce but watch out it is hotter than poker from a fire, my poor mouth learned that the hard way yesterday.

Hot from the oven!

sprinkle on the chips

Smooth it out with a one of those super heat resistant spatulas. You can see where I have zero patience and willpower as one is already missing from the right hand side.

Put the whole sheet in the fridge and then break it up like a toffee bark! I keep it in a Tupperware in the fridge. Delicious and nutritious :) Enjoy! xo, Brie

If you could see my to do list

You would certainly scold me and tell me I am my own worst enemy for procrastinating with making this.....





but isn't it pretty? Lots of my favorite things from lots of my flickr faves. Ok, I am seriously going to get started on this 10 page list now :) Hopefully this will motivate me! xo, Brie

Vote for Keeks and Brie!

Sorry Keely.... I had to!

Not since my dad made up fake dollar bills with Keely's face inside when she was running for school treasurer - and she wasn't holding a baby in them by the way - have I been involved in any kind of campaign. Until now that is....

Please click on the banner and nominate us for designers on the rise for handbags AND accessories (yes 2 categories - I'm thinking big here) We are Keeks and Brie and our link is http://www.keeksandbrie.com/ I promise if we win, to put coca cola in the water fountains and no more school on Fridays ever ;) With most sincere thanks, xo, Brie

Ebay Monday

Hi kids! I considered this the Rolls Royce of vinyl record players back when I was a kid. I didn't personally own this one, but I had a few friends who did. I was particularly impressed the creativity of Mickey's arm doubling as a needle. This particular model also had the built in twist up center so you could convert from 33's to 45's with ease. I was always misplacing that little piece and had more 45's than anything else so it was a problem when I was ready to rock out to Super Freak, Star's on 45, Joan Jett, or Hall and Oates - I could go on and on with a humongous list of bad 80's pop songs but you know you love them! xo, Brie

Get yours here! http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-MICKEY-MOUSE-GE-RECORD-PLAYER-Turntable-Youth_W0QQitemZ120272951220QQihZ002QQcategoryZ48649QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The Latest on my ELF order

Just got this email from them....

Thank you for your recent order with e.l.f. cosmetics. We apologize, but due to extremely heavy order volume we are experiencing a slight delay in shipping out your order. We are working around the clock to send your order as quickly as possible and will notify you if there are any further delays. We will send you a confirmation e-mail within the next few days when your package has been shipped. Your credit card has only been authorized, but funds will not be charged to your account until your order has been sent. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and thank you for your patience and loyalty.Sincerely,the e.l.f. team

Yeah, ok.... I'm really sure you are working "around the clock" to get 20 pieces of makeup in the mail. Do I have FOOL stamped on my head? Let's get crackin ELF or you're going to be on the receiving end of the wrath of Brie. I need to beautify, so let's make this snappy! xo, Brie

PS Country Girl already got her makeup - but it does comfort me to know that there are dozens of you scrambling at 3 am just to fill my order. Makes me feel really great!

Happy Father's Day!!!

to "whales of a dad" everywhere but especially to my dad, "Monka" and Mr. KB!! xo, Brie

No sleep for you!

First "official" day of sleep in summer for us (kids finished up school yesterday). Ms. C is in my room at 6:15 am and a woodpecker was on the side of our house pecking away. This is a joke right? xo, Brie

Celebrate the Fourth

I am always scrambling around on the fourth of July to look somewhat patriotic or at the very least wear something red or blue. Doesn't sound too hard, right? Well I never buy red and I rarely buy blue so I am usually the dork in the hot pink shirt watching fireworks.

Problem solved :) With a white tee and a denim skirt, and this, I'm all set!

On sale for 10 dollars each while supplies last! Find yours here! xo, Brie

http://www.keeksandbrie.com/list_bags.asp?CATEGORY=63

Cape Cod here we come - hold the Cicadas!

Another school year has honest to goodness to flown by. The kids are done school tomorrow and summer fun is on. I can't believe how big they are all getting. My oldest is starting junior high! There is a lot to be done around here before we head up to the Cape and I am trying to formulate exactly "when" our trip will begin.

Lucky for me, we have a deciding factor. These...................(actual pic taken by my dad)





This humongous bug is a cicada. I know nothing about them except they emerge from underground every 17 years, they are so loud and sound like an alien spaceship is landing, they are harmless but creepier than creepy in appearance and they are in FULL SWING at the Cape. I love science and all but I think I'll stick to seeing these in pictures. Call me when they are dormant again and we'll be up - Ms. C FREAKS at a housefly, can you imagine her reaction to one of these? I feel itchy now xo, Brie

you can see better pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/18863324@N04/sets/72157605362650449/
It's interesting but I'll admire them from far, far, far away

PS here is the sound, enjoy!

FYI

It is absolutely as awesome as you remember! Maybe even better :) Can't wait for their tree home to arrive :) xo, Brie

Heat Wave!

Too HOT to move here.... the last couple of days have been brutal, over 100 degrees! Records are being broken, schools are being called off, but baseball playoffs are ON. OH joy :) AC is my new best friend. Stay cool!! xo, Brie

Ebay Monday

The Treetots were all time favorites!! Keeks had the treehouse and I had the amusement park. Hours upon hours of fun :) The Amusement park is nearly impossible to find and a minty Treehouse goes for mucho money on ebay. Guess who is getting both delivered to them this week? I could not resist - I didn't get a minty one but it looks pretty darn good! I can't wait to put the dog in his shrub doghouse and get using that elevator ;) I paid 30 for the tree and 20 for the amusement park!!! xo, Brie

Here's a minty one that just ended! Mr. KB would have me committed if I spent that much on it ;) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130226685115&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=003

Father's Day just got Easier!

I tend to hem and haw when it comes to gift giving. I can never think of what to get esp for Mr. KB and my dad! I don't just want to get them anything, I want them to love it and they are both very hard to shop for. Well Father's Day is around the corner and I just discovered these belts by my favorite Vineyard Vines boys done up with custom major league baseball teams. Ka-ching, these will be a homerun!! Pun intended :) They don't have every team sadly but they DO have our 2 teams, can you guess who they are :) Now I need these in sizes for kids! xo, Brie

Check them out here

http://shop.mlb.com/family/index.jsp?filter=yes&fCat=3114550&categoryId=3114550&fgender=&fbrandid=&fpricesort=priceAscending

Use code ALLSTAR08 for 10% off your order too! Good thru 7/3/08