Sneak peak

Here's a sneak peak at a another freebie! Make sure you're signed up for the Dish for this one... It should be coming out soon!

Grandpa

I have been thinking about my grandfather today. I was reading Jen's blog earlier and she did this amazing page about her father. It then stuck me that Grandpa died this week a year ago, on Easter. He had not been well for a very long time. He suffered from Alzheimer's and cancer. He had been living in the VA home for awhile, but he didn't know why he was there and didn't realize that he was sick.
What makes me sad when I think about my grandfather, is that my younger cousins only knew this later version of him. When he couldn't really remember anyone's names or kind of followed people, like my uncle who he lived with, around. He'd be anxious to go nowhere - wanting to get out of the house and then wanting to leave when he got where he was going.
We knew him the best, because we are older and we lived the closest. We saw him all the time, especially after he retired and came to our house everyday. We knew it was him when the doorbell rang three times fast. Sometimes we'd pretend we weren't home and he'd come thorugh the back door and scare us to death. I know, it was mean, but we just wanted to watch MTV and not have his running commentary about how the guys all look like girls. He was as un-p.c. as it got.
When my cousins were little, he loved watching them play. He went to all of my brother's games. He would call me to tell me he saw one of my article in the Jersey Journal. He was a big fan of my baking.
It was hard to watch him get worse. At Taylor's baptism party he was having trouble making a cup of tea, and I got up to help him. And in response, he said, "Thank you, miss." That was so strange, but I knew how happy a cup of tea could make him.
I just wanted to share this LO I did last year. It was one of the hardest I've ever done, but it's also one of my favorites.

10 ways to procrastinate

I should really be heading to the DMV. But I am feeling yucky from lack of sleep. This is what I have been doing, and I could probably post on my other blog too...

1. Reading blogs.
2. Updating this blog.
3. Trying to order photo prints.
4. Shopping at Fishscraps. (Check Carrie's blog for a nice surprise)
5. Updating the links for my freebie.
6. Unzipping the kit I bought at Fishscraps and some others.
7. Trying a tut on brushes from De-Zine.
8. Checking the RAKScraps Forums.
9. Update Rocky's web gallery.
10. Using Correen's Fun Spring Funk Kit.

Hopelessly Addicted

I was woken up early today by the delivery guys dropping off the new kitchen chairs. I am exhausted, but can't fall back asleep. So I've been up - updating my blog list over there -> and reading blogs. It seems a lot of people have been switching their blogs so a lot of links were bad. So, I have such a long list because they are sort of like bookmarks. I'm always at different computers, my own, at work, my mom's, my sister's etc. and it's convenient. But I can't figure out how to organize them. Most read or alphabetically. I still have a ton more book marked at work that I want to add too.

Am I missing anyone? Who's blogs are you all reading? I can always use more!

Hunks of Middle Earth

They are showing Lord of the Rings on TBS this weekend and this commercial for the Hunks of Middle Earth cracked me up!

My sister has nicknames for all the characters because the names are too confusing and not worth remembering when you have a sister who's read the books over and over. She calls Legolas "Blondie Elf."

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia

Just saw this one on Jeanine's blog. Another yeah right, although I did admire Marcia when I was a kid watching BB reruns.

You Are Marcia Brady

Confident yet kind. Popular yet down to earth. You're a total dream girl. You've got the total package - no wonder everyone's a little jealous of you.

What Brady Are You?

Mysteries & Mafia

There are scrapping mysteries popping up all over. I'm not sure if I get what the Scrapano gang is up too, but it worries me because I do live in New Jersey. And as for this Digi Bunch, I know who they are, but I am not talking because as I said, I live in New Jersey. But if you guess who they are, they are promising some cool prizes. Can't wait to see how these mysteries unfold.

Speaking of New Jersey and gangs, anyone watch the Sopranos? I am so glad Tony finally woke up. I watched that last episode twice trying to figure out what the dream stuff could mean and have been making myself crazy. Great performance this week by Silvio too as the acting boss, and I just loved Christopher's little movie plot.

March Mega Kit

I can't believe I forgot this! Check out the awesome March Mega kit from RAKScraps! It is FREE and you can still get it this week! Check the forums here to find out how to get this kit! This month we're also offering the kit (or the kit with add-on) on CD at Scrapdish to help raise money for the site too. Perfect for anyone going on vacation or on dialup!

Correen, Jeanine, Rachel and I did an add-on again this month that's available only at Scrapdish and is on sale through March.
Here's a LO I did using the March add on. My friend David took this photo of me in college and I've been wanting to scrap it forever! :)

Baptism, pagans and memory

Today was Kylie's baptism. The way it's done in our church is just weird to me. It's like drive-through christenings. There are usually 4 or more kids all done at once and the priest has a really heavy accent. Granted, most people in our families and community have accents because most people including my family and Vesna's family are immigrants, but I have no idea what this guy is saying. Can't understand a thing. His speech wasn't as horrible as the one he gave at Taylor's, but it was still awful. Something about how children are pagans before baptism and how parents have the responsibility to feed them chinese food. Not exactly a heart-warming or uplifting family-friendly event. And being a crowded, drive-through event, you don't have much time to take photos. I got about 2 shots (1 blurry) of the baptism (family can stand on the side) before I had to grab Taylor, who came hopping up the aisle because she wanted to see her mommy.
At Taylor's baptism, this guy lectured about how in China and Africa the children are pagans and spewed on about horrible things that happen to them. It was repulsive and just inaccurate! I'm sorry, but that's not what I was taught in my religion classes or in church. And then they took all the parents, godparents, babies and grandparents into a little nook for the actual baptism. All of us aunts, uncles, siblings, friends, cousins sat around bored while they did the drive-through thing in the corner and got no pictures at all. I would think that baptism should be a welcoming celebration, not a sermon that would turn your stomach.
Well anyway, Kylie was so good. She was the only baby not crying. But just like Taylor, she looked like she wanted out of the big, poofy white dress!
After we went to a nice Italian restaurant for the party and the food was pretty good. Didn't get any sauce or wine on my white shirt! When we got back, Randi and I opened up the Winnie the Pooh Memory game mom got Taylor and she beat me twice.

10:30 p.m.

That's the time I went to bed last night. I was so exhausted. Anyone who knows me, knows that is crazy!

A Saturday off

I have the day off from work today!!! I did a little shopping and I got my hair cut too! Rocky's here visiting because his mom isn't feeling too well, and we want her to feel ok for Kylie's baptism tomorrow. (Randi's the godmother.)
Now I've got a night off but nothing to do but laundry.

Tomorrow is NitWit Day!

I am so excited about NitWit Day! One of my favoritist scrappers and fellow dog lover Mary Fran is going commercial! Starting tomorrow her kits will be available at Maya's Scrapbook Graphics. If you want a good laugh, check out MF's blog or gallery at SBB. And when I say good laugh, I mean roll-on-the-floor, spit-diet-coke-at-your-computer, hurts-in-a-good-way laugh! Wish her all the best!

I wish!

I just saw this on Jasbeanie's blog...

Which Grey's Anatomy Character Are You?



You're Izzie Stevens!You love to have fun and are the life of the party! You like to meet new people and just go crazy! You're a good friend and always know what to say.
Take this quiz!

A freebie!

I got such great feedback on my Seriously kit - and I made a few extras to go with it. You can download them here.

**Link updated Apri 25. This is the last time I'm updating this one so grab it while you can!

Poor Corinne!

Poor Corinne! She had appendicitis last week! I made this little page for her album. She's a trooper though and she's back at school this week already - although she misses the attention she got in the hospital!

I used Tania Cordova's supercute Ribbett Ribbet from Scrapdish (and it was today DigiPick of the Day!) for this LO! :)

My nieces

I am feeling so stressed out and uncreative this week! I have had some crazy family stuff to deal with the past few days and I am exhausted. I have barely even turned on the computer.

I have been spending a lot of time with my nieces. I feel like I have such a special bond with Kylie. I didn't see Taylor this much when she was this little, but since I live with mom, I just see the girls so much more. I spent Sunday night and the whole day with Kylie on Monday. Fed her cereal, changed the icky diapers (which I NEVER do), sang and played with her. Even Mike was impressed because he hadn't even given her cereal yet (she just started last week), and he had forgotten how he used to tease me that when ever I held Taylor when she was this little, she used to cry! Kylie is really good. She is rarely fussy, just when she is hungry. And she just smiles and giggles. She loves her little activity center thingy, and she kicked and wiggled so much that she knocked herself out for a good long nap.

T on the other hand can be such a drama queen. She is so smart and funny, but she has these fits that are just crazy and annoying! She "cries" and throws herself on the floor, proclaiming "I sad." And if you ignore her, she throws herself in the middle of things so you don't forget about her. The other night, she decided to be "sad" under Kylie's crib, which had me a little nervous. She's also a little monkey and she likes to climb on things, hang between chairs and scale the drawers under her bed. Her dad was like that too as a kid and had so many black eyes and bruises he looked like an abused child! She can also be very independent. She was painting at our house and didn't want any help or anyone in the room with her! "You go out there!"

So to all my friends who do this on a full-time basis, more power to you. I love the girls, but am still glad I got to go home at the end of the night!

And here are some pages of the little chicas from last week...







Credits: Sleeping Beauty - my Seriously papers, elements from Scrapdish; Earrings - Amy Knepper's Glimpse of Spring kit from Scrapdish; My Kylie - MandaBean and Andrea Victoria's Candy Coated Kisses kit from Sweet Shop, Kim Crother's sloppy border from Creative snaps.

Congrats....

A big congrats to Kim, Joy and Audra who guessed correctly! :) I was going to pick 1 winner, but I picked them all!

In case you were wondering, Seriously was inspired by Grey's Anatomy. The colors were inspired by the Grey's web site and anyone who watches the show, knows that they say "seriously" nonstop. The creator of the show, Shonda Rihmes, talked about this in her show FAQs, which is just too funny.

As for Flair, the colors were inspired by one of Carrie Bradshaw's outfits on Sex and the City. I was originally going to call it Spring in the City.

Some people said they were thrown off by hint number 3. The person who moved from one city to the other was Derek Shepherd, who moved from NYC to Seattle.

This was fun. Thanks to everyone who took a guess!

New kit and a contest!

My new Seriously papers and elements are now up at Scrapdish. I just love blues. :)
My inspiration for this kit and my other new kit, Flair, are both inspired by two of my favorite TV shows. (You can also see Flair below) Can you guess what they are? Send me an email at robin@scrapdish.com by Sunday, March 19, and one person who guesses correctly will win both paper sets!

I'll give you some hints. I think one is much easier than the other.
1. One show is currently on the air. The other show ran for 6 seasons.
2. Both shows are narrated by the main character.
3. A main character in one show moved to the city that show is based in from the city the other show is based in.

* Here's another clue. If you look at my latest post on 10 things, you'll find references to both of these. You can find the link ----->

Poor Kylie!

Look at that face! Poor Kylie. We took her to get her ears pieced yesterday. And she cried (though not as badly as Taylor did) but she looks so pretty with her new earrings.

I am Fozzie

I just saw this on Amy Edward's blog. I love the Muppets!

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!" You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up. If only your routine didn't always bomb! You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.

The Muppet Personality Test

The future of Douglass

I didn't think this would bother me as much as it is, but I'm really upset. I'm sure some of you have seen my ramblings of late about my college. Well the board of governors voted today to make the changes and consolidate the colleges, effectively elimiintaing the only public women's college in the U.S. And on one hand, Rutgers was a mess - just a big, confusing mess of a university. We called it the RU Screw. But at least Douglass was a comfortable place within that chaos. (For anyone not in NJ, it's just to complicate a school to even explain.)

I wouldn't have gone to Rutgers College. I did get in. Randi and Mike both went there. Randi's graduation was so long compared to mine. When I graduated, Dean Shailor didn't just shake my hand, she gave me a hug because she knew me.

And it all started when Betty and I went for the honors program interviews our senior year of H.S. We probably had the lowest SAT scores in the bunch because our school district had nothing on the suburan Jersey schools. But Rebecca and Dr. Crozier took us in anyway because they knew we were worth much more than our scores. At RC, they probably wouldn't have even opened my application - Randi didn't even get and she had a higher score than I did too.

So I wonder what will happen to other young women like me and what will happen to all those traditions.

It's just so sad.

Some new LOs...

Here are some new pages I've done this week for my Chick's Life album, Mom's advice album and just for fun...



Lots of credits... So Big: Flowers For Isabella by Eve Recinella; Mom's Advice pages:Tania's Funky Bunches of Flowers, my Funky Chicas from Scrapdish; Paid: Sarah Jones Marketplace; Mike's Hot Blonde Chick: Carrie Stephens Kitchy Kind of Love; Taylor & Randi: Dani B's Weathered kit.

Letter to the editor

Tomorrow the Rutgers Board of Governors votes on the fate of my alma mater Douglass College. We have a very active group of alumna who are really mad! This is a letter to the editor that ran in some newspapers by my friend Teri...

This Friday, the Rutgers University Board of Governors will vote on the future of our alma mater, Douglass College.

The administration of Douglass College, under Dean Carmen Twillie Ambar, has agreed there are ways to improve the undergraduate college system in New Brunswick and has offered many solutions. As it has been repeated over and over again, the problems the Undergraduate Education Task Force was charged to address can be corrected without eliminating the only public women's college in America.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine publicly described our college as "a jewel in New Jersey's higher education crown." Douglass College should be strengthened by the Rutgers University administration, not diminished.

We've read the recommendations recently released by President Richard L. McCormick. He has let down the women of Douglass College. In proposing the creation of the Mabel Smith Douglass Residential College, McCormick basically turned his back on the pleas of Douglass College supporters. He certainly dismissed the thousands of Douglass College commuters - past and present - who experienced the unique benefits of Douglass College without living on campus.

Since last summer, the nearly 35,000 alumnae and current Douglass College students have defended the independence of our college. We are serious about cutting off funding to the University. We are prepared to have our voices heard by the state government once again - en masse. In the last capital campaign, Douglass College alumnae gave $29 million. Douglass College alumnae or alumnae of a residential college are less likely to be generous to Rutgers University in the future.

Our expectation is that Friday the members of the Rutgers Board of Governors will agree that Douglass College remain as a four-year, women-centered, co-curricular and student life, degree-granting college.

Douglass College is more than a set of buildings. It is more than a residence hall. Douglass College alumnae will not be satisfied with a residential college. We will not be satisfied with a single College of Arts and Sciences. For many women in New Jersey - and beyond - Douglass College remains the pinnacle experience of our lives, and we will use our voices, votes and checkbooks to defend it!

Sincerely,

Theresa Sciacchetano

Douglass College alumna of the class of 1998 and former president of the Douglass College Government Association (1996-1997)

This letter was also endorsed by 120 Douglass College alumnae.
(Including me!)

Feelin springy

I am up too late, but I have some new things at Scrapdish...

Beachy Keen

So here's a preview of that project I hinted at! Beachy Keen is a collaboration by Jeanine, Rachel and me and it's now available at Scrapdish! And Rachel and Correen created the matching add on and Correen made this supercute mini album too! I am so glad I get to work with these gals!

Pride & Prejudice

I finally saw the new Pride & Prejudice on DVD. I think it was really great, although no match for the A&E version. Keira Knightly was fantastic. Matthew Macfayden is not Colin Firth, but still not hard on the eyes. :) Judy Dench of course was incredible too, as was Brenda Blethyn as Mrs Bennet. The one thing missing was more of Mr. Wickham. I don't think you got a sense of how slimy he was, but I guess they had to cram it all in two hours and something had to go! Makes me want to reread the book again!

Tomorrow's the Oscars and I can't wait. I'd be rooting for Keira if I wasn't already rooting for Reese Witherspoon for best actress.

Here's my predictions:
Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Capote”
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line"
No clue for supporting roles or anything else! I'm so out of it since I cancelled my Entertainment Weekly subscription!

** Post Oscar notes: Well I was surprised Crash won! But I was soooooooooo happy for Reese! She gave such a nice and sincere speech.
I actually saw a lot more Oscar films this year than I realized.
Besides, Brokeback, Mucich, Capote, Walk the Line, Geisha, Pride & Prejudice there were a bunch more I had seen. Cinderella Man, Harry Potter, Narnia, King Kong, Corpse Bride, Batman Begins, Charley and the Chocolate Factory, Star Wars, War of the Worlds, Match Point all were nominated. And yes, I am a movie addict.

The little diva

More evidence that Taylor is a little diva. She got her first professional manicure a few weeks ago. And she loved showing it off. (Credits: Everything from Emotions CD by Dawn & Ash)

New site for tutorials

I know I have been refering to a lot of tutorials lately as I'm figuring out CS2. Kim Hill - who you probably know from CG Essentials - has just launched a great resource Digiscrapping Tutorials. There's info for most programs and you can even submit your tutorials too.

Simpsons vs. the First Amendment

So more Americans know more about The Simpsons than the Bill of Rights.

A news story this week said: Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances.) But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey.

Before reading this, I could name 4 out of five freedoms (I always forget that petition one), more than 5 Simpsons, and the episode Homer vs The 18th Amendment. But I work in the media, and one of those is all about my job. What they don't tell you is that most people in the media don't even know this! When I went to an API workshop a few years ago, we went to the Newseum and took a quiz from First Amendment Center . It was pretty sad!

Scrapping with purpose

I really love working on my "project" layouts. I got 3 done today for my Chick's Life and Mom's Advice albums. I was up at 7:30 a.m. today and for some reason - feeling inspired!
I LOVE Rachel's new Tranquility papers and elements from Scrapdish.


And I just love the quotes Tania picked for this week's Mom's Advice challenge at RAKScraps.