Blogging away

I remembered my 10 things blog this week! I need to redesign that header. That's an oldie. But I have some new list ideas so I hope you'll play along.

And I hope you'll check out the Studio Spotlight this week too!

My high school self

Just saw this on Sarah's blog. I was the editor in chief of my school paper, in the top 20 of my class, and by no means an athlete. But I did know a lot of people. (Does that suprise anyone?) So this is about half right.

You Were the All American Kid

Popular but not plastic. Athletic but not a jock. Smart but not a brain. You were well rounded and well liked in high school.

Who Were You In High School?

Weekends are too short

So I actually got some stuff done this weekend! Yesterday, I cleaned my room! It still needs some dusting, but I can see my floor and the top of the dresser again! And I went grocery shopping and really stocked up instead of just grabbing a few things. It's nice to feel like I got stuff done!

Saturday, I spent the afternoon at Randi's pool. Then I went out with my co-worker and good friend Melissa. We went to see Hamlet 2 in Times Square and then hung out too late at a bar called Rudy's, which has their own brews and free hot dogs. Pretty cool hole in the wall place.

Hamlet 2 was a stupid, but funny movie. The main character is a failed actor turned drama teacher who puts on his own theatrical versions of Hollywood movies. And then he does this big musical that's a sequel to Hamlet that's just so wrong - it brings the characters back to live and has Jesus traveling in a time machine. The songs are so funny and I've had them stuck in my head. I think it was like what would happen if Michael Scott from The Office would have been a drama teacher.

I also saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona yesterday, which I think is one of my new favorite Woody Allen movies. Penelope Cruz is so freaking great in it. She should get an Oscar nom for playing such a nut. And Javier Bardem is just hot. The movie was filmed in Spain so the surroundings are just so beautiful.

I'm just bummed that the weekend is over. I slept late today and haven't done a thing other than post some pages!

Scrapping fool

I keep forgetting to show off my recent pages on the blog. Being on the Studio Crew has been keeping me busy scrapping!

My two cousin's graduated from elementary and high school this year. This one was for a Janet Philips play day. Credits

My favorite pups - I think this one is my new favorite. I love yellow and I love the doggies. This one was for a Fontologie play day - one of the new designers at SBG - but I was really inspired by Vera Lim's kit called You've Got a Friend. It seemed pefect for this moment when the dogs were getting along so nicely! Credits
I had a lot of fun creating my wordle for this page for another Studio Start about favorite words! Credits. I keep laughing when I see the word pineapple - because that's the kind of word that is for me. It's one of my favorite snacks, but it was also my dad's nickname for me as a kid and well, because of Spongebob. LOL!!!
Hope you're not sick of my dog! These were some photos from her 2nd day home that I scrapped for an On Design playday. Credits
Mom took this photo this weekend while I was out and I finally got around to playing with Holly's Jack and Daisy kit. Credits
This was for a Studio Start to scraplif Flergs. So much fun to try her style! Credits
And this is also one of my new favorite pages. I have been working on this idea for awhile and a Vera kit once again fit perfectly! Credits

I need a new battery!

I don't know if I should blame the Twilight books, but I haven't been able to get anything done lately. I haven't had any enegy for days. I'm so exhausted that reading's the only thing I seem to be able to do. I don't even have energy to walk my dog! Poor Penny has to settle for our short little walks or just running around in the yard. I'm sure there are lots of other factors like not sleeping enough and eating crappy food, stuff like that, too. I've been having crazy mood swings. The turned-down air conditioning at work (it's been a sauna for about 2 weeks) is also making me feel super groggy. So it's been a pretty uneventful week.

I finished Breaking Dawn yesterday and I miss those characters already. I won't give anything away. I did like how it all ended, but there were things about the last book that annoyed me. I wonder how JK Rowling would have written a series like this! She should totally write about vampires next! I've already been scouring Stephanie Meyer's web site to read the cut chapters and the first chapter of Midnight Sun. I don't think the Twilight books are as good as Harry Potter - but definetly a good read. I'm looking forward to the movie now, too!

This past weekend was a big party. Mike had a belated barbecue for his birthday. It was pretty calm compared to past years. Not a big turnout at all. I think it's because we're getting old! No beer pong or keg this year! But we still had fun, and I'm glad I remembered to go inside to watch Phelps swim the relay at the Olympics!

Sunday, we had a lunch party for my mom. The girls and dogs had a big sleepover with Grandma while we were all at my brother's. Randi and I made tacos and a bunch of appetizers. Taylor helped me bake a cake and I gave the girls $1 each for helping me clean up! We had a lot of people over - family and friends. I was glad to see that Joanie was starting a lot of conversation with us. She really like Penny and was amused by the girls. She was speaking to Lucia in Spanish and Italian. Poor Grandma though looks so tired. I want to start having them over for dinner on Sundays to help them out a bit. The kids wore the dogs off so they were finally calm and stopped fighting with each other. T was worried Rocky was trying to kill Penny!

The bad part about not feeling well is that I freak out about the ever growing to-do list. I have so many errands to take care of, pages to scrap, stuff like that. I am running low on food at the house - just finished the last of the party leftovers today - but I can't seem to drag myself to the store. (Mom and I buy our own food. She mostly buys junk food and I buy Lean Cuisines, veggie burgers, fruit and salad stuff and try not to eat the junk food!) I am even behind on my TiVo and Netflix stuff!

I also forgot to mention that work has been pretty nuts. Between the Olympics keeping us late and layoffs last week, I think that's just adding to the stress.

I did just put in for and get the OK for a week off in September. So I'm really planning to make the most of that week - clean the house, try to start going back to the gym, catch up on some craft projects, start my Christmas projects. I'm hoping it will help me regenerate. I'm tired of being in this tired old funk!

MIA

In case anyone's been wondering why I've been so quiet, I've been kidnapped by vampires and werewolves. ... I picked up Twilight on Aug. 10 and haven't stopped reading since. I'm almost done with Breaking Dawn - have to leave the house for work sometimes. Hopefully will get that one finished tonight and I can go back to my normal life.

I know some of my friends are reading too - so maybe they're all missing too and I didn't even notice!

What accent?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Midland
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Michael Phelps makes it hard to focus

I just finished writing this week's Spotlight on the Studio Matters blog. I still need to pinch myself sometimes to think I'm part of the Crew! I think it's almost my scrapping anniversary. I joined SBB in October 2004, but I think I started lurking there in August, soon after Betty's wedding since I wanted to start scrapping the photos.

I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately - not really with scrapping stuff since that's what calms me down - but with work and family stuff. I find it really hard to focus and get things done. Today, I made a list for myself. I kept the TV off. Stayed signed off email so that I could work. It helped a little.

I've been loving the Olympics! How awesome is Michael Phelps! I heart him. He's amazing to watch! I felt pretty bad for the women gymnasts last night, too. I think the reason I love the Olympics so much is that it's filled with useless information! Sports you only watch every four years. Those sappy profiles of athletes. All those stats, facts and hard to pronounce last names!
Did you know Togo won it's first medal! A Bronze in single kayak slalom. I just had to google Togo to see where it is. See what I mean!

I also started reading Twilight! I'm about three-fourths of the way through it. I'm only letting myself read a little each day because I get so obsessed and I want to enjoy it! I really love the story so far and I can see why people are crazy about it!

I need to go make some lunch and maybe get off the computer for awhile. And I leave you with some of my latest scrapping...

Rocky down on the waterfront. He's so handsome! Lots of goodies by Jenn Trippetti and Holly McCaig, Jess Bolton and a Tracy Blankenship template! Credits

This is my new favorite photograph that I've taken! I took some shots of the skyline last weekend from the new little park in town. It's like a whole different planet down there these days. Doesn't feel like West New York at all. It's quiet, serene and so pretty. A nice change from the chaos, crowds and noise up here on the cliff. So I did this page for a circle journal I'm doing with some of my bestest digi friends. And I'm so happy with how it turned out. It was one of those pages that took awhile to come together! And I also got to play with stuffs from the designer at SBG, Phuong Ton. Credits

Soon after I finished this page - with a little snarky journaling about how I didn't like my sister and the funny overalls I was wearing - Randi and I were going through a stash of photos she took home from our scanning day at Grandma's and we put together two collage's for her apartment. I'll have to take some photos since I think they look cool. I thought Traci Reed's new kit had a sort of retro feel so it inspired me to look back into my old pictures. Credits

A super cool exhibit on top of the Met! I did this one for a Baersgarten play day. Credits
And here's T at the zoo being a grumpy old lady! Credits

Yay! It's Friday!

I've been kinda quiet this week. Mostly spent my days keeping the doggies apart. And guess what? Rocky's on his way back here. Randi's going to a wedding and getting back late. Dogs can be pretty exhausting! They finally started getting along better on Wednesday, and yesterday they pretty much ignored each other. Rocky went upstairs. Penny stayed here with me.

I also did a little scrapping this week. I'll share some new pages after tomorrow since most of them were assignments. Here's one from CHA!


I used one of Tracy Blankenships templates from her new shop at Funky Playground! I'm so exicited for her! And the kit is by Jennifer Trippetti for her Teacher's Pet entry, which I just love! Credits

Here are some other things I just love. How fun are Jenn's Jelly Buttons!!!!
And Kim has done it again this week for Teacher's Pet! These tags are so cool!

Well Rocky's back again and the doggies are at it again. Randi's modeling some dresses for me and it upset I told her she can't wear white to a wedding. That's probably the nicest dress too.
Here's a photo of them from earlier this week.

And here's where Randi was while we were "playing."
That is none other than former President Bill Clinton! She was at a program for teachers hosted by one of his foundations at the Clinton library. He gave her an award and she got to talk to him!

I kept getting interrupted as I try to write this! I'm going to hit publish and hang out with the dogs now for a bit before I have to get to work!

My funny nieces

This is a conversation between the girls this weekend, as told by my brother...

Taylor, age 5: Do you know how to ice skate?
Kylie, age 2 1/2: Yes!
Taylor: Can you teach me?
Kylie: OK!

I would love to see how those lessons go!

Why am I awake?

I know most people are getting up and going to work now, but I am not most people. I get home late and then do dumb things like stay up until 5:30 am reading a book. (Thanks for keeping me up Jodi Picoult.) That was two hours ago.

For some reason, all summer, I wake up feeling terribly hot if I don't have the fan and AC on. So I only had the AC on. I have to go splash some water on my face, turn on the fan and that usually helps me cool off. Sometimes just leaving the room and coming back in makes it feel cool again.

But today, my stomach is feeling gross. Stupid acid reflux. And the bug bites from my brother's yard this weekend are so irritated. I've covered the bites in anti-itch cream and it's not helping.

Mom hasn't left yet. I heard her yelling at the dogs. Penny came up here for a bit, but Mom came up to take her out. So now it's quiet again.

And of course, when I wake up like this, I start thinking of the million things I should do today, but won't get done because I'll be too exhausted now. But sometimes writing and getting thoughts out of my head helps me relax a bit. Hope it works now. Going back to bed.

Dog fighting

I'm here with Penny and Rocky and I'm just exhausted. They won't leave each other alone or play nice. I'm afraid they will hurt each other. I try to be calm assertive - I watch a lot of Dog Whisperer these days - but I'm just too beat. It doesn't help when mom's around because she yells like a nut at them. I gave Penny a time out in her crate and Rocky's tied up outside. It's been like this since Saturday. Randi's in Little Rock for a teacher conference - she had to take three planes because of a delay yesterday - and she'll be gone until Thursday. In the meantime, I'm covered in scratches, hives and dog hair. Ugh!!!!

Other than that, I had a nice weekend. I had a fun night with some girlfriends on Friday. I went shopping on Saturday and spent a lot of money in Michael's. I'm going to work on a hybrid project for my mom's birthday, which is coming up soon. I got the new Aerosmith Guitar Hero, but haven't had a chance to play yet! And I finally did some long overdue grocery shopping. And yesterday we got together at Mike's house for his birthday. My nieces were a lot of fun. Joanie was there and she seemed to be doing well - she was participating more in conversations.

Oh, now the dogs are being noisy. Rocky's barking and Penny's whining at the door. Before I go see what they are up to, here are some new pages....

The girls at the zoo.... lots of new and old goodies from Holly McCaig. She's the guest designer at a new store Inspiration Lane this month! Credits
Wasn't I a cute kindergartener? This one's using a collab by Michelle Godin and Aja Abney called Life is Art. Credits
And here are my pups in a moment where they were getting along! Credits