The girls

My birthday continues!

The ladies surprised me at the crop on Saturday! There was a balloon tied to the chair in my usual spot and they got me some really amazing Alice in Wonderland prints and scrappy goodies. They really spoiled me rotten!!! (Love you Melissa, Patti & Tina!) And amid all that celebrating, I still managed to get some scrapping done!


It was a pretty great weekend. The weather was beautiful. I went to Brooklyn on Sunday for the Renegade Crafts Festival - which was so awesome - and also had some yummy food next door at Brooklyn Flea. Then we took the girls to see Brave. I read some reviews that said Brave wasn't brave enough - but whatever. I think Merida was a kickass princess and I love that this was a Disney movie that focused on a mother-daughter relationship. Disney and the like always kill of the moms and traumatize the kids. This was a nice change!


I have to take some pictures of my super cool new stuff - the gifties and fair finds. 


So heres's what I've been up to, scrapwise.

I swear these fish were posing for me at the botanical garden.  Credits: Lauren Reid and the Ardent Sparrow's Tres Jolie from One Story Down; Peeps & Milo's Good Bye Mia's Sticky Tape from One Story Down; Flutter Expression's I got this journal pockets from One Story Down; Tracy Martin's Tutti Fruiti, Findings and Sunshine from One Story Down; Lauren Reid's Perky alpha from One Story Down

I've been doing some Disney pages. Here are some little pirates. Credits: Snips N Snails Designs' It's A Pirate's Life from One Story Down

Here's a two pager of photos - mostly from my phone - from my staycay. Credits:  Lauren Reid's Transformers 15 from One Story Down; Little Butterfly Wings' So Far Away from One Story Down; Lauren Grier's Everyday Moment's Alpha from The Lily Pad

My new little turtle, made by my friend Alyce. Credits: Tracy Martin's Blendy Pen papers from One Story Down; Michelle Goodin's Teeny Tiny Alpha from Lily Pad; Fee Jardine's Little Miss Happy from One Story Down; Valorie Wibbens' and Lauren Grier's Chatterbox journal cards from Lily pad; Little Butterfly Wings So Far Away elements from OSD; Lauren Grier's Bold it ALphas from OSD; Peeps & Milo's Good Bye Mia tape from OSD

Some Nemo friends. Credits: Chere Kaye's Wee Fishy from One Story Down; 
Emily Merritt's Em-isms from The Lily Pad; CD Muckosky's Lefty Lucy alphas from The Lily Pad

Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Credits:  Tracy Martin's Blendy Pen papers and Hopscotch Alpha from One Story Down; Lauren Reid and Valorie Wibbens' Nom Nom Nom from One Story Down; The Ardent Sparrow's Sweeties from One Story Down

Rocky's 9! 

Credits: Kim Jensen's My America and Perforated Alpha from The Lily Pad

What's up?

I am feeling kind of random today.

I am watching Dallas.

Here's a picture I took in my yard....

I am reading: Slaughterhouse V on the Nook, A Breath of Snow and Ashes on the iPhone, Certain Girls on the nightstand.

It feels like a blow dryer outside.

I have had songs from Rock of Ages stuck in my head all week. 

I was stuck in traffic forever this morning. 

Either Rocky was here today or Penny ate dinner out of very big bowls.

I hope this heat doesn't hurt my tomato plants.

What are you up today? 

Ketchup

Even though my mojo has kind of left the building, I have a ton of scrapbook pages to share! I haven't posted any here in nearly a month. So here's a look at what I've been scrapping!

Credits:Karah Fredrick's and Traci Reed's Good Day Sunshine from Lily Pad; Janet Phillips' Scrap Your Heart Out Templates from Sweet Shoppe

Here's a cute moment between Mom & D from Mother's Day. Credits: Tracy Martin's Tutti Frutti from One Story Down

The random challenge at Lily Pad this month was to do a two-pager. I know a lot of scrappers struggle with scrapping more than one photo - but not me! This was a piece of cake and I had been wanting to scrap some of the random photos of the kiddos from T's bday party. 


Seriously, though, there's a great advantage to scrapping an event this way if you print your pages!  You're getting a lot of pictures printed for the money/ink. And they look very nice together whether you're putting them in an album or a Shutterfly-type book.

I did this page for another challenge. I think this was the previous random challenge at TLP to use an older photo. This is my mom's class photo from 5th grade. Credits: Michelle Godin's Grunge Factory: Typographic, By The Book Backgrounds, Teeny Tiny Alpha, I heart you elements, Grungy Canvas From The Lily Pad; Sahlin Studio's Washi Tape Vol 2 from the Lily Pad

This was my page for this month's Girl Vs. Scrap Challenge at OSD. Credits: Valorie Wibbens' The Little Things from One Story Down and Topography Freebie 2 from Facebook; Lauren Reid's Primed Crafts from One Story Down; Peeps & Milo papers from Boho Chic collab at One Story Down

My sleepy pug. Credits: Emily Merritt's For the Boys Templates and N is For Naptime from The Lily Pad

Cute little puglets! Credits:  Kim Jensen's Pttite Patterns and Bloomin' Frou Frou flowers from The Lily Pad; Michelle Godin's Sew Artsy Stitches from The Lily Pad; Emily Merritt's Vivid Templates and Em-isms Summer from The Lily Pad; Amy Wolff's Ring Around Alpha and Sugar Rush elements from The Lily Pad

Here's a page I did just before my birthday. Credits: The Doodle Queen's Popcorners template and Heated Frames from One Story Down; Little Butterfly Wings' Fun in the Sun from One Story Down; Tracy Martin's Sunshine alpha from One Story Down (recolored)

Here I am at my bday party! Credits: Lauren Reid and The Ardent Sparrow's Tres Jolie from One Story Down; Flutter Expression's I Got This Elements and Journal Pockets from One Story Down; Lauren Grier's Point it Out and Bold It Alphas from One Story Down;  Peeps & Milo's Good Bye Mia Sticky Tapes from One Story Down

 Here I am with the blues. Credits: Emily Merritt's For The Boys Templates and Em-isms from The Lily Pad; Michelle Godin's Dreams and Wishes papers, elements and mixed media, Teeny Tiny Alphas from The Lily Pad; CD Muckosky's Lefty Lucy alphas from The Lily Pad

My cute & yummy ice pops. Michelle Godin's Wet and Wild papers and Summer Stickies from The Lily Pad; Kim Jensen's Perforated Alphas from The Lily Pad; Amy Wolff's Ring Around ALpha from The Lily Pad 

A look back at last summer. Credits: Emily Merritt's Vivid Templates and Em-isms Summer from The Lily Pad; Amy Wolff's Sugar Rush papers and elements from The Lily Pad; Michelle Godin's Sew Artsy Stitching and Summer Stickies from The Lily Pad; Kim Jensen's Perforated Alpha from The Lily Pad 

Penny's bday. Fee Jardine's Little Miss Happy, Bob & Colin Alpha and Button Bling from One Story Down; Flutter Expression's Sticky Tape from One Story Down; Michelle Godin's Teeny Tiny Alpha from Lily Pad

The Renegade Crafts Fair. Credits: The Doodle Queen's Doily Papers and Funky Alphas from One Story Down; Tracy Martin's Findings from One Story Down; Flutter Expression's Sticky Tape from One Story Down; Boho Chic by Snips N Snails, Peeps & Milo and Domesticated Lady from One Story Down  

This page was inspired by my friend Kimberlee's page. I really love her style and have been adding a lot of her pages to my faves. Scraplift of Kimberlee's Kate layout; Fee Jardine's Little Miss Sunshine from One Story Down; Lauren Reid's Clipped Bits frame from One Story Down; Tracy Martin's Findings from One Story Down; Micheline Martin's White Washed alpha - Facebook fan freebie; Sugarplum Paperie's Mixed Messages Alpha from Sweet Shoppe 

 Kimberlee also asked us for pages showing girl power for a blog post at OSD and I immediately thought of K! Credits: Lauren Reid's Primed Crafts, Clipped Bits, Wonky Stitched Templates, Make It Snappy Alpha from One Story Down; Heather Hess's The Alice font from The Lily Pad; Kim Jensen's Everyday Boy elements, StringBats from The Lily Pad; Tracy Martin's Sunshine glitter from One Story Down; The Ardent Sparrow's Welsey Arrow from One Story Down; Valorie Wibbens' Project Care elements from The Lily pad; The Tattered Pear's Super Duper from One Story Down; Michelle Godin's Sunshine and Grass Stains elements from The Lily Pad

My little veggie patch last year. Credits: Kaye Winieki's Weed & Seed from The Lily Pad; Janet Phillips' Collection 17 template; Michelle Godin's I Heart You staple from The Lily Pad;

Kim Jensen's Springity Spring stitching, Spell It and Date It from The Lily Pad; Emily Merritt's Doodle Frame from The Lily Pad; Sahlin Studio's Washi Tape 2 from the Lily Pad

Another vacation gone

My weeks off always seem too short. They always seem to end just when they're getting good. Seriously. It usually takes me a few days to recover from work stress and then it all flies by!

So I took my vacation for my birthday week. I don't know why people don't love their birthdays. I don't care about getting older. I care that I'm here in this world and that's reason to celebrate! :)

It wasn't the most eventful or productive week. And my computer troubles kind of brought me down. I hardly did any scrapping. But I did catch up on reading, movies, magazines. I spent lots of time with my puppy, my family and friends. And that's all pretty awesome. Here are some highlights:::

Movies:::
I love this time of year when all the summer blockbusters come out. I went to see Men in Black 2, The Avengers (for a second time), and Snow White. All pretty awesome movies. Men in Black was pretty funny - loved Josh Brolin. Avengers still kicked ass. And Snow White was visually amazing.

Penny time:::
Penny had appointments at the groomer and vet and we also spent some time at the park and going for walks. My car is covered in dog hair.

Hanging with the girls:::

3 crazy girls

Taylor and Kylie had an extra day off from school after Memorial Day so I got to babysit. They came over here and our day was action packed. We finally got to watch Star Wars and Empire Strikes back together and both girls thought the movies were pretty cool. We did crafts and coloring, played Angry Birds (the real game!) and memory. We played basketball in the yard. The girls played Littlest Pet Shop. We went out for lunch. And then we even watched the Muppets. Pretty cool day.

The app is much easier than this game!

Gardening:::

I picked up some new tomato plants and planted them in my yard. This year I'm growing two kinds of heirlooms, yellow cherry tomatoes, and regular tomatoes along with some basil. My rosemary plant is the sole survivor from last year's veggie patch and it's pretty big now!

New York:::
I always go to NYC on the day before my birthday. So I went to the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx because I wanted to see the Monet's Garden exhibit. I had never been to the gardens before - I was mostly worried about allergies, but I got my shots, took some Claritin and sucked it up. It was so worth it!

The Monet exhibit was set up in a big greenhouse and it was absolutely gorgeous. There were so many kinds of flowers. Every color you can think of. A pretty bridge and lily pad pond - just like Monet's paintings. It was lovely. The exhibit also featured some of Monet's painting and photographs of his actual garden over in the library. There were lots of old people at the garden and some of them were complaining that Monet's picture wasn't in color! I thought that was hilarious.

This plant was so cool!

The weather was perfect so it was a great day to wander around and take photos. I climbed up a hill into a rock garden, which was one of the most beautiful and serene places I've ever been to. There were a few other people in different parts of the garden but I really felt like I was there alone and that I had this beautiful scenery all to myself in the middle of New York City. I could still hear the hum of trains nearby and planes overhead, but mostly I heard birds and the sounds of the little waterfall.  It was amazing.

There's a robin splashing around on one of the ledges!

Then I wandered around some more to the rose garden, which featured more kinds of roses than I thought imaginable.

Hanging out with friends:::
I haven't seen my of my Rover buddies in these past few months, but I got to catch up with them while I was off. There was lots of karaoke-ing, a friend's birthday, open mic. I also went to see my friend James perform at a little lounge in Weehawken. The sound was great and he had some new songs I hadn't heard. He and my friend Josh even did their punk-rock Happy Birthday for me. I usually hate hearing that song but this was pretty cool.

Happy birthday to me:::

My birthday itself wasn't very eventful. I slept late after a night of karaoke, listened to the Beatles, drank coffee. Then I went to see The Avengers and then my friend's gig. The real celebration was Saturday night. I got my friend Heather to dj for my birthday party and lots of my friends came out, including some of my co-workers and even my mom! I made red velvet cupcakes - why shouldn't I get to eat my awesome baking. And I think I sang a million songs. Ok, maybe not, but I definitely hogged the mic.  It was awesome. And I wore my super cool Animal shirt. Yeah, I'm 36 and I love the Muppets. So what????

Surprise:::

I found this little guy on my desk when I went back to work! It was a gift from my friend Alyce, who also transfered to the Studio from TJN. I think it's my favorite turtle ever.

Jewelry

My vacation is at its end and I have to head back down the parkway tomorrow. I didn't get as much done as I had planned, but I still had a fun week. It was a little stressful/depressing because of the laptop/EHD problems, but oh well.

I still haven't caught up on my writing assignments. Here's what I wrote on the first day:

May 17, 2012: Jewelry

I am not into decorating. I am not very fancy or stylish. And I am usually running late. So when it comes to wearing jewelry, I keep it simple. I attempt to wear a necklace everyday, but I usually forget. And once in awhile I remember that my ears are pierced (with five holes there’s always a stud at the top of my right ear) and I don earrings. (I had the coolest collection back in the 80s!) I have a few pieces of jewelry that I really love, but most of it just hangs out in one of the jewelry boxes sitting on my dresser. The only piece I wear every day is my silver ring.

I wear my silver, Celtic style ring on the middle finger of my left hand. I feel weird when I forget to wear it like something bad is going to happen. Once in awhile, I misplace it and frantically tear up my room searching for it, always thinking the worst.

I surprisingly get a lot of compliments about my ring. I bought it for $10 at an Irish-type kiosk in Willowbrook Mall years ago. It’s not particularly valuable, but it means the world to me. And that’s because it makes me think of my grandmothers.

Abuela gave me money in a card - I’m pretty sure it was for my birthday - and I used it to buy this ring. It was one of the last gifts I had from her before she died in 2003. And Grandma, who just turned 80, instilled in me a pride of our Irish heritage, which is what drew me to the design with its simple, interwoven strands.

So I call this my Cuban-Irish ring. It ties me to both sides of my family, connecting me to two of the most important women in my life. And when I have it on, I feel like they’re always with me.