A little naughty, a little nice

You Were Pretty Average This Year

You Were 45% Naughty, 55% Nice You tried to be a good girl this year... But as you know, being good isn't that fun! If you're extra sweet, you may have enough time to get on that nice list.

Were You a Naughty Girl or Nice Girl this Year?

Christmas recap

I forgot to mention that after our black out the other day, my old computer seems to have died. I'm so sad. I have my computers networked and that's where I keep most of my music.

I keep forgetting to tell you all about my Christmas! I've decided I'm going to scrap this year's festivities in 4x6 pages because I got a nice Christmas photo album this year. So I want to write a lot of this down because who knows when I will get around to scrapping it all!

I stayed up late on Sunday night and got all my wrapping done. Is it just me, or did anyone else have a hard time finding classic Christmas movies on TV this year? I didn't see White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life or any of the other movies I'm used to seeing! Mostly just made for TV movies on Hallmark Channel, Lifetime or ABC Family, which my mom had on constant rotation.

Since I had just about everything done by Monday, I had saved some time so I could work on crafts. Here's what I made...

Credits

Credits

They were pretty fun to make! Mom had to help me figure out how to roll the cones and I had some trouble getting the candle wrappers to lay flat, but otherwise I think they all turned out nicely! I wasn't sure what to put in the cones, so I ran out to the dollar store and picked up some flowers.

When I got home, it was time to make my Chicken Enchilada Casserole for Christmas. The menu my aunt had sent out didn't list anything with chicken, so I wanted to bring something I would like since I'm such a picky eater.

Now, I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen this weekend and there were a few disasters. First, when I went to start my cookies I realized our flour container was empty! So I had to run to the bodega around the corner. Well, when I got home and opened the package, I saw that I bought sugar and not flour! D'oh! In the meantime, I had put butter in the microwave to soften it and I put it in for too long and the butter melted all over! So I had to clean that up and then had to run back out and had to go to two different stores before I finally found some flour.

Well, while I was making the chicken, my electric can opener wasn't being too cooperative. I was opening a can of condensed milk (which I had dented while trying to unlump the brown sugar the night before) and well the whole thing exploded all over me! I had milk all over my shirt, my face, my hair. But somehow, I got the whole thing done and had time to change my shirt, put frosting on my brownies, finish up my crafts and stop at the store for bread before heading to my brother's house.

We had Christmas Eve with my dad and his wife at Mike's house. They had some traditional Cuban foods - pork, rice and beans, plantains, yucca - and chicken for me.

Kylie got this car that played a really annoying song! But she loved it. Taylor got some videos and both girls got some new clothes from my dad. I got money - which I loved LOL! And Mike an I got dad the same thing - a digital photo frame. The girls wanted to watch movies in their room so they missed dessert - which helped since they needed to get to bed!

After leaving there, I had to stop yet again to pick up some scratch off tickets for Mom and Randi. Good thing 7Eleven was open. I caught up with them at my mom friend's Teri's house just in time for more dessert and presents. Randi had made cheesecake - and was very proud that it didn't crack. Teri and her sons are like family too us and they all had me laughing so hard.
Some of my friends had called, so I stopped by the bar to bring them some cookies and I got some more gifts too! Since there were only a few of us, we loaded up the jukebox with our favorite songs and I ended up staying out a little too late.

It was hard getting up Christmas morning. The poor girls had to wait for me to get dressed and then still had to wait for Randi and Rocky to come over. So we decided to make breakfast first. Mike traditionally makes us eggs, and we also had bacon, rolls, cinnamon buns. I miss coffee - I was drinking chocolate milk with some flavored creamer mixed it to make up for it!

Well, the girls looked so very cute in their matching green dresses. And Rocky wore his jingle bell collar too.


Kylie was just too cute this year. She sings her own version of Jingle Bells - you can't understand the words, except for hey - but at least it's in tune! She also helped everyone open their gifts. She was walking around with a black purse that I later found out was mine!

This was a scaled-back Christmas for us - which I know is hard to believe looking at the photos! All the gifts were hits. I got Kylie Diego's Talking Rescue Pack and Rescue a Friend - Baby Maned Wolf, and an Elmo book. I got Taylor two outifts (which she called a box and gave to her mother) and a Disney Fairies book. Randi and I also got Taylor some Littlest Pet Shop stuff and I got the girls the Digital Art Studio, all to play with us when they visit Grandma's house. Mom got Taylor Amazing MyKayla - a creepy talking doll - and Kylie a carriage/crib/swing set for her new doll. Kylie had the baby flying in the swing.

It was a whirlwind of wrapping paper and I didn't even get to see everyone open their gifts or get as many photos as I would have liked. Randi, Mom an I usually open our gifts before the girls come over but we didn't have time this year. We were a bit rushed and then the girls had to leave to visit Vesna's parents and we had to get going down to Aunt Eileen's farm.

I'm glad the weather was sort of nice so we could spend some time outside. I did a little photo shoot of my aunts and uncles and their horses. Not easy to get four people and four horses to look your way at once. Randi was shaking these giant jingle bells and I was trying to use three different cameras.
Here I am with the cameras.
We also tried putting the hats on the horses but don't think they were too crazy about that.
Here's a page I did of one of the photos I liked...

Back inside, Grandma read "The Irish Night Before Christmas." She usually reads a story called "Little Miss Stitches" but no one could find it this year. But her Irish accent was pretty funny. Then we exchanged gifts. Everyone loved the calendars. And we ate and ate and ate. We had to much food. My chicken enchilada casserole was a hit. I still felt full when I got home. We all went outside to see a comet - we couldn't tell what it was but there were so many stars. It was really beautiful!

I made out great with the gifts! :) I got Guitar Hero 3 and the Simpsons game for my PS2. I also got a bunch of DVDs, including the Simpsons Movie, Knocked Up, Music and Lyrics, Borat and the Office Season 2, some sweaters, a new purse, paper scrapping stuff so I can make a Girl Scouts album, new pillows, some gift certificates and tickets to see a show about an off Broadway show about Celia Cruz.

I still have most of my goodies sitting in a big bag in my room. I'm still waiting for things to slow down to unpack them all and put them to good use! The pillows are awesome - those I have used - and I've been sleeping just great with them!

Hope everyone has had a really great Christmas too!!!!!

Shutterfly goodies!

I had an offer from Shutterfly to try out their new 8x8 and 12x12 prints. And all I can say is I am so happy with them! I know some people have been grumbling about Shutterfly, but I don't know what they are talking about. I ordered all of my stuff from them for Christmas gifts last minute on 12.16. I got my books on 12.20, the 8x8 on 12.21 and the 12x12 on 12.22.

I don't do a lot of printing because I'm lazy and I really could use a new printer. I don't like the quality I get with it. So I was happy to see Shutterfly started offering prints in digiscrapper friendly sizes. This also mean I didn't need to cut anything myself! (I should have failed cutting in kindergarten!)

I think the colors looked beautiful and I was able to see details in the papers that I couldn't see on my computer screen - especially in this black background. All I had to do was pick the size and upload the image. So very easy to use!

I bought frames at Michaels for these pages and Betty really loved her gift!

And I also wanted to show off my Shutterfly book...

I was really happy how they turned out. I used Shutterfly's templates and I turned off the vivid picks. I usually make the pages a little smaller than shutterfly recommends - and I may do that again - because even though the pages didn't get cut off with the full bleed - it's hard to see some of the edge detail on a few of the pages. But everyone still really loved them!

(Cover credits: Kate Hadfield and Corina Neilson's Fun and Fancy Free Kit, Nancy Comelab frames, spine paper from Amanda Rockwell and Gina Miller's Girls in Black.)

Ho ho ho

I have been giving my printer a workout! I had to make an emergency trip to Staples yesterday because I ran out of color ink! Took me ages to get there with all of the holiday traffic. But I am happy to report that the calendars are all printed, the cookies and brownies are baked, the tree is up and the gifts are wrapped! Woohoo! I finally feel a little relaxed. I just need to finish the laundry and make chicken enchilada casserole for Christmas. And since I have time for myself, I'm working on some crafty stuff that I didn't think I'd get around too!

It's been a crazy but fun weekend! On Saturday, I was pretty busy. I ran out of CD insert paper (made life way easier when printing the calendars) because I decided I was going to give them to all of my aunts and my uncle as well. Randi and I did a little bit of shopping for mom and a few other things. When I got home I started baking. I made things easier on myself by buying cookie dough for the chocolate chips and sugar cookies. I also made my apricot almond oatmeal cookies (tried changing the recipe so they are not as crumbly) and some peanut butter cookies (Melinda, the recipe was great!). My friend Melissa from work came over and we had dinner at Las Palmas (great Spanish food) and then we went by the Rover and hung out with some of my friends there.

Yesterday was more wrapping and printing. My mom was having the ladies of the Moose lodge over so the could exchange gifts, and Betty, Fernando and Lucia came over, too. But the crazy part was just as people were arriving, the power went out! The lights came on again but then they were out for almost an hour! Good thing we had lots of candles!

I have done a lot of projects lately, but haven't posted a thing here. So I'll leave you with some of my latest pages and cards. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!!!

Here's a birthday card that I made for Krista that I only just remembered last week as I was going through Office withdrawal! Credits

Jess's team made her cards to surprise her and this is the one I did using here Wintry Mix kit from SBG. Torn paper is recolored from Home Life kit.
I didn't really get anything for Randi this year because I'm giving her money so she can get something new for her new home. So I made her this card to go with her check. Credits: Frame from Jessica Bolton's Cornfed, Angela Barton's shelf letters (recolored), Gina Miller, Tiff Brady and Kate Hadfield's Holly Jolly Christmas, Meredith Fenwick's Old School Chipboard Alphas (recolored), felt gifts from Dani Mogstad's Countdown Very Merry Add On, gift by Kate Hadfield from Songbird Avenue's Sugar Plum kit.

These are some of the cool "toys" from Toys R Us in Times Square. (This is also my latest sketch challenge at RAKScraps). Credits.

I did this for last month's Mega Challenge using the October Mega Kit and Add On and didn't see it here on the blog. Credits.
I also used the October Add on for this card to thank people who helped us raise money for the walk. Credits.Here's one of my poor car. Credits.
And here's another one I haven't posted yet. I made this and had it printed for Betty and family. Credits: Paper by Michelle Coleman, Frame by Jessica Bolton, Cardboard Edge by Linda Gil Bidal.

My poor car!

Last week was so crazy for me! Monday we went to NYC to see the tree and shop. Tuesday I watched Kylie (on about three hours of sleep). Thursday we had a snow storm and it took me two hours to get to work. And then Thursday night this happened!
Some guy backed up into my car after deciding he didn't want to take the yellow light. Ugh! I should be taking my car in right now but I am procrastinating.

Let's see, then on Friday I did a lot of Christmas shopping before and after meeting up with Connie and Irene for lunch. I stayed home and vegged all weekend because this cold finally caught up with me. I watched lots of movies, some Office and a LOTR marathon on TV (why is it a big deal to see it on TV when I own all the DVDs??? LOL!) We ended up not going to my cousin's wedding because of the weather, but I probably would have ended up staying home anyway because I felt so yucky. I also found out that my doctor that I've been seeing for my thyroid problem isn't taking my insurance anymore after having a bunch of tests done in the last week. At least they were nice enough to call me to tell me the tests were ok, but I am bummed because now I have to find someone new.

This week I'm trying to get stuff done, but I don't have a lot of energy. I finally got my Shutterfly books ordered on Sunday and they shipped yesterday. I hope they get here on time! The Christmas tree is up downstairs but it's not decorated yet. You wouldn't know it was Christmas around here if it wasn't for the massive pile of shopping bags of things waiting to be wrapped!

Here's a photo of me at Rockefeller ...
(Did you see 30 Rock this week when they were going to chop down the tree - what a riot!)


And I thought this was so funny...
You can have your own McDreamy doll from the Enchanted movie. I saw this at Toys R Us in Times Square.

Bah!

I saw this on Audra's blog. Of course it doesn't tell you what the final answers are - annoying! :)

You Know a Lot About Christmas

You got 6/10 correct You know tons about the history and traditions surrounding Christmas. When you celebrate the holidays, you never forget their true meaning - or all the little fun details. Random Christmas fact: Thomas Edison has the first Christmas lights, three years after he invented the electric lightbulb.

How Much Do You Know About Christmas?

RAKScraps December mega kit is here! Check out the yummy add on!

RAKScraps FREE December Mega Kit is here! This month's Mega Kit is sure to get you in a festive mood! The December Mega Kit includes 15 mini-kits by the RAKScraps Elements Team. Each piece is available for a limited time only. Visit our announcement forum to find out how to get this kit.

You can also purchase this Mega Kit Add-On created by Correen Silke, Rachel Dickson, Kim Jensen and me at Scrapdish! All sales help keep RAKScraps a fun and free site!

The entire Mega Kit and Add-On are also available on CD at Scrapdish!

Busy weekend!

I can't believe this weekend is over (well almost at least)! It was a crazy one. Yesterday, I did some shopping with Randi and helped her with some stuff at her apartment. Then we went to her show. The high school teachers put on a charity show. It was pretty funny. Most of the people in it were teachers there back when I was in school or people I went to school with who are now teachers. And they were really good sports doing dances, comedy skits, singing. Randi was in the faculty chorus, so she was one of the background singers/dancers in a bunch of the numbers.
There's Randi up by the Y doing One from Chorus Line. And here she is with the students doing the last song from High School Musical. (I know Melinda probably knows it well.)



I also got to see some people I hadn't seen in awhile so that was cool, too. I would have liked to hang out a bit after but all of us who went hadn't eaten and were heading to a diner. (Food wasn't even that good and service was lousy!) And after that I hung out with my friends at the bar.

Today we had two birthday parties. Lucia turned 1 today and Kylie turns 2 on Saturday. Most of my family will be in Mass. next week for my cousin's wedding so Kylie's party got moved up. Bad thing about two parties at the same time - crummy photos!

Lucia is walking now! And she looked so cute in her dress and polka dot tights.

And here's the other birthday girl wearing a present from my mom. She loved it!
The party had a Diego theme so mom made this cake...

Well, I want to get to work on my Shutterfly books before I go to bed. I've got to narrow down my selections. I picked out my favorite pages from the year, but there are about 70! Gotta get that number way down!

And tomorrow I'm off and going to see the tree in the city! Can't wait! Hope you've all had a great weekend too!

The calendars

I am done designing the calendars and just need to print! I picked up some CD insert paper to spare these pages from my dismal cutting skills. This first set uses mostly Amanda Rockwell & Gina Miller's Girls in Black Collection, with a few bits here and there from Gina and Amanda's other kits, some flowers by Dani Mogstad and the white background by Gina Cabrera. This one will go to my sister-in-law and parents.


I made this 2nd one for my Grandma and aunt and maybe a few others on my mom's side of the family. I mostly recycled layouts from the year (and the May page from the other calendar!) and then resized a few templates to finish up the rest of the pages. So many credits! These pages use stuff by Dani B, Amy Martin, Krista Mettler, Jessica Bolton, Sausan Designs, Gina Cabrera, Gina Miller, Amanda Rockwell, Kim Jensen, Meredith Fenwick, Jen Caputo, Corina Neilson, Dani Mogstad and Janet Phillips. (Hope that's everyone!)

Why????????

See that truck out there. They are digging up the sidewalk next door. At 7 am in December. What the bleep is wrong with people?

What I love is that this is the neighbor who made our lives miserable as kids. She was always calling the cops on us for making noise when we had birthday parties. Complaining about the sounds of the basketball in the yard or the dog.

I know not everyone works at night, but even this is a little early. I have to be up early today to go to the doctor. But I was hoping to sleep until at least 8.

Woohoo!

I found my phone! It was at the bottom of my laundry basket and off! Phew!!!!

Not again!

I can't find my cell phone. :( I hope I didn't lose another one. The last time I remember using it was to check the time at Randi's place last night. We then went to two places to try to get dinner, dropping off Rocky in between. I don't think the battery was low, but I'm hoping that it's somewhere in my house and off. I feel naked with out my phone and at this time of year, it's going to be tough replacing it.

Snow and other stuff

We got our first snowfall today. It has been so cold this weekend!


Yesterday, Randi moved into her new co-op apartment. She's officially a home owner. It's been a rough few weeks, but I think everything's settled now and there's just a lot of unpacking to do over there.

But for now I have the house to myself and I'm getting some work done on my holiday calendars. I watched Evan Almighty while I scrapped. I really like how it's turning out. I still need to work on my second calendar, my Shutterfly books, cards. I also have to find time this week to shop. Kylie and Lucia's birthday parties are on Sunday - both at the same time, my cousin is getting married the following weekend in Mass. and I need something to wear. And I haven't done much Christmas shopping at all. I have a gift for Rocky - that's about it!

The girls were here for a sleepover last night too. They are so cute when they play nicely together. Last night it was follow the leader. Kylie wanted to do whatever Taylor was doing or vice versa. And how cute are those pigtails! Kylie's going to be 2 in just a few weeks. She's starting to speak a lot more and she sings bits of songs. And Taylor is learning a lot in preschool and tells us all about it. She was telling me about how she was drawing the Mayflower and the pilgrims.
Well, back to my calendars. Return of the Jedi is on so I'm going to watched that for the millionth time!

Oh and I want to wish a happy birthday to my good friend Melissa G today!!! Hope it's a great one!

And I quote

Taylor: "You should stop taking our picture so that the battery in your camera doesn't break."