Ahem. This is THAT post. So pay attention.

You know.  The one where I tell you what to expect out of my blog and me this year.  (Yes, that is proper grammar, thank you grammar police.)  
The one where I introduce you to the new look.  (that's almost but not quite completely and totally finished after, like, a year of work).
The one where I add superfluous photos of nothing to do with this post to break up the monotony of my voice droning on and on.  

Thank goodness you can't actually HEAR it.
(note: if the amount of text scares you, at least scroll down to the summary, k?)


I've got a few things to say.  First up, I'd like to explain a little about my crafty space here. When I first began my blog, I did no research at all.  I had been introduced to the craft blog world by my sister and thirstily gulped many wonderful blogs unabashedly as if recovering from a craft drought.  Which I kind of was.  Not very long after reading my very first blog post EVER (which was on MADE, by the way) I thought to myself: "Self, you should do this.  You love to write.  You love to create.  You aren't doing either right now.  In fact, you're doing a whole fat lot of NOTHING."  And so, I snapped up a name, a blog address and here we are.  Well, not quite.  See, at first, I had no idea what I was doing.  I dove blindly and with abandon.  Where absolutely EVERYTHING was concerned.  I'm not making this up. 
I could not: 
blog.  
link to parties.  
sew anything except an ALMOST straight line.  
cook anything besides easy mac.  
read patterns.  
follow a tutorial with any amount of success.  
spray paint without either a. fumigating the whole house or b. ruining whatever it was I was spray painting.  
tell the difference between gorilla glue, gorilla wood glue, and gorilla epoxy.  
work a hammer without blistering myself.  
make a hat.  
create a blog button.  
ascertain any usable information from any kind of html.  
take a photograph that was not 1. blurry, 2. yellow, 3. dark, 4. at all aesthetically pleasing.  
do a guest post and send only the html (what the heck??? how do you do THAT???)


Do you think I'm exaggerating?  Those of you who have been around a while know that I'm not.  And if you need proof, just go look at those first few months.  Go on.  I'm not ashamed.  Kidding.  I'm totally ashamed.  You have no idea how often I've considered erasing the entire beginning of this blog.


The point is, I have evolved.  But my blog really hasn't.
When I begin I touted this space as "a chronicle of mistakes."  And it kind of was.  I didn't mind recording my failures, because once in a while there were these amazing triumphs that would make all the miserable "what the heck was I thinking's" worth it.  I felt like being a champion for the underdog, you know, the "Nope, I'm not I Am Momma and I'm not Tatertots and Jello, but I'm doing this craft blog thing anyway!!!" type.  And don't get me wrong, I am still just an amateur crafter, former wannabe actress and professional mommy muddling through chaos, happiness, drudgery - sometimes even misery - and I'm still using this blog as a way to remain accountable for my hobbies.  (If I'm accountable to YOU, then I HAVE to do something besides sit around on my couch eating bon bons and crying over Marlena and John.  Not that I ever did that.  (I mean, Roman was way better, anyway, right?))  But the point is, I'm growing.  That's the only reason I have NOT erased this blogs birth and infanthood.  Because I actually enjoy going back and looking at the hideousness if for no other reason than I can see my growth over time.  


I can take a decent photo now - AND I know the importance of it.  
I can cook almost anything you ask me to and I even make some of my own recipes up (that reminds me... don't let me forget to tell you about the chicken dish I created...).  
I can craft - I can lay down a killer wreath.  
I can wield a hot glue gun with the best of them.  
I still can't read a pattern to save my life, but doggone it if my sewing skills haven't improved by leaps and bounds!  
And although I hate it with every fiber of my being, I can do a little html-ing when I absolutely have to.  
And I love guest posting.  Or swapping.  (You hear that people?  I love it!)


But this here blog?  It really remained unchanged for the most part.  Aside from the more amiable prose I use when speaking with you now, the look and feel of this blog was completely untouched.


So I thought about it.  Why had I resisted change so much?  And I believe I had a few good reasons (and some lame ones).
Lame reason one: I've always been resistant to change (like so many of us).  I mean always. Like that time my mom tried to wean me when I was a year old so I refused to eat.  
Lame reason two: I'm a little stubborn.  LEEEEEETLE bit.  So I kind of didn't want to admit that maybe my blog could stand a little change.  "I like it the way it is, dagnabbit.  So there."
Good reason 1:  I hate html.  Did I mention that already?  Any change I make is done completely by me because I can't pay anyone to do it and I don't have friends in high places.   (Unless YOU are in a high place and are my friend?  Huh?) So that means I have to design it, execute it, tweak it, then figure out all the html to do what I want to do, change it, tweak it some more, etc.  For every page, for every link, for everyTHING.  And that means less time to craft/sew/cook/pretend to photograph... and taking time from things I like in order to do things I don't like?  Well, I don't like doing that.
Good reason/bad reason 2: I don't know if this is good or bad.  When I first started attracting some followers I got a lot of comments about how much they loved the artwork on the header and the look and feel of the blog itself.  I started to feel that if I changed any of that, people wouldn't want to hang around anymore.  When I got comments (quite a few) about how unique my look was, and how I was considered "funny" when I wrote pretty much exactly how I really speak, well, I'll admit it.  I liked the attention.  What if I change it and that all goes away?


Superfluous photo 2?

All of this babbling to tell you that I'm tweaking things around here a little bit.  Because I have grown and I now see that my blog should as well.  Because I should stop fearing change.  Because I want to.  And really, although I love you all and am grateful for your readership and that you keep me crafting, this blog is mine.  It's kind of my baby, my creation, and really I should be able to change it or not change it or write or not write or put up really bad photos if I want to, right?  So.


I am now accepting sponsors.  Over on the right sidebar there.  I'd love to put your shop or blog up, and if you are at all interested just send me an email or comment here.  It'll be the bomb.  Plus, I'm cheap.  Phew.  That's done.


On to the rest.  After a long and drawn out period of creation, the highly anticipated "new header" is up.  Yep.  See, the story of the header goes something like this:
Shop Bugaboo was opening it's doors.  I'd been thinking about changing the font in my blog header for a while to make it more easily readable, and the opening of the shop seems as good a time as any.  But I can't decide if the blog header should be EXACTLY the same as the shop or just kind of mimic it in a small way - since the shop isn't just mine.  So I stick up a temporary header.  I tell myself I'll work on it tomorrow... which turns in to next week... which turns into next month... and now almost four months have gone by and the temporary header is still up and people are starting to ask questions.  "What, did your header run out on you?  Abandon you?  What's the deal?"  Even worse than that, people started to assume I was doing something big.  A major overhaul.  Like I was going to have huge blinking lights, singing and dancing bears, I trapeze artist swinging around the title and little moving stick figures that could actually JUMP OUT OF YOUR SCREEN.  I mean, I was working on this for four months and all.  The idea of needing to do something monumental enough to warrant the time it took to make it was really overwhelming.  PLUS, I didn't really WANT to drastically change EVERYTHING.  I wanted it to still have the same FEEL.  So I put it off even longer.
But it's like living out of a suit case.  Eventually you have to put everything away or you just don't feel at home.  So I've finally updated my header - and no, it's not amazing.  But yes, it is me.  And I like that.
Along with the header, I've updated all of the menu buttons, the sidebar titles, and the tutorial buttons.  I am now working to update all of my tutorial pages, which is actually the most daunting undertaking of the whole darn shpeel, so let's just pray I get that done by the end of this year, k?  K.
I appreciate you all bearing with me through my transitions.  It takes me a long time to realize that a transition doesn't have to be a bad thing.  Then it takes me a long time to actually make the transition.  THEN it takes me a long time to tell you about said transition, because, well, I like to talk and I suppose I can be a little long winded.  Phew.  Now that's done.


This post is getting really long.  Are you still there?  Are you?  Huh.  Well, just in case you are, in the words of a  highly respected movie personality: "Lemme 'splain.  No, there is too much.  Lemme sum up."


1.  I've changed and grown in the past two years.  Now the blog will reflect that.
2.  I am looking for sponsors!  email me: bugaboominimrandme(at)yahoo(dot)com.  Or comment.  I'll give you more info.
3.  I will be doing the same weekly series I have previously and heretofore regularly posted.  These will include:

and yes, even:

I know.  I bombed that one big time this past year.  Only one stinking post.  BUT, I will do better this time.  Or rather, my husband will.  Since he's the chemist.  In the kitchen.
5.  I'm adding another!  It's called:

and if you read Spunky Junky you'll see that great minds think alike.  Or you'll think I'm a big old copy cat, but I swear I'm not.  Basically, it's a lot like her idea, but slightly different.  Once a week, I'll show you some stuff I've pinned, just to give you some inspiration you may not have seen yet.  I will also show off something I made that was inspired by one of my pins ONCE A MONTH.  At that once a month reveal, I'll have a linky party where you can link anything you've made that was inspired by anything YOU'VE pinned.  I warned you I was a
pin addict.  Now it's official.
6.  So, weekly, here's what it'll look like:  
Sunday: possible photography post - I'd still like to link to Scavenger Hunt Sunday at Ramblings and Photos when I can.  
Monday: Yummy Monday (obviously). 
Friday: Very Pinteresting - highlighting pins from my boards and ONCE A MONTH a project I made inspired by a pin. 
A Chemist in the Kitchen will be semi-regularly held, but no more than once a month.  
Tales from the Crib will also be semi-regularly posted - once a week as often as I can, sometimes less.  
The rest of the week (Tuesday, Thursday... sometimes Wednesday) you'll be treated to tutorials (with a day off here and there - most often on Wednesdays.)  Phew.  


And if you have made it to the summary, well, you deserve a treat.  So go get some chocolate.  Happy New Year!

PS.  In the entirety of my life (which is a fairly long time) it has NEVER been like the above photos in January.  There is no snow and it was in the upper 50's on Friday.  Total anomaly that makes me mad because it means there will be freezing cold sleet all May.

*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!