On my mind today

This is not even the ride that I rode - Ernie did - he is the one in the last cart!

First things first, I went to Six Flags yesterday and my head is still dizzy. The last ride we went on was this water raft thing - that just spun you around and I swear I have felt dizzy ever since - I am too old for this stuff.

The weekend was the perfect mix for me - Friday night was quiet - Ernie went out and it was just me and Deisel. Saturday morning I hit two small indoor yard sales (not great) but considering tropical storm hanna was blowing into town it was good. I came home just as it started to get bad and walked Deisel. He has gotten into the trash (Bad doggie) while I was gone so I had to walk him - I came in and I was soaked. So I settled into my PJ's and watched some movies, read some magazines, did a lot of scrapbooking, cleaned the house, cooked a peach cobbler, and did laundry. Ernie got home around 9. Sunday we went out to breakfast (Old Country Buffet) - I totally thought I would hate that place - but I love it!! They have a great selection, they have sweet tea and it is pretty cheap! A win for us. We also went to church. Then we went to six flags in the afternoon. That was fun. Except for the spinning.

This past weekend was the third Creative Escape out in Arizona and I have to say I am a little disappointed that I was not there. It seems my friends has a great time. Jessica Guthrie has a great rundown. My dear friend Peg just emailed me an update and showed me her album! I am working on making peace with not attending.

Summer is not over yet...

So my Labor Day weekend was good, laid back, relaxing. Saturday morning I hit yard sales, there weren't that many but I hit one lady who had beautiful clothes, suits, dress pants (yes mar I too am trying to make more of an effort at the office). As I looked thru the rack she had most of the size tags were cut out and when I asked and they were just my size I was so excited!! I got a suit with a shirt that matched, another pant, shirt jacket combo (she had them hanging together like they were an outfit but I just didn't see it), 4 pairs of pants, one shirt, a necklace, and some MK (she was a rep cleaning out some inventory) ALL for $25.00!!!! I was so excited - a good start to my fall wardrobe for less than 1 blouse! I even have one of the outfits on today!! Everything fit except one pair of pants - but I am thinking a little diet and exercise MIGHT help that. The pants all need to be hemmed (anyone local know a place or person to get that done inexpensively???)

Saturday afternoon, I did some card making and scrapping. I also found Lipstick Jungle

on the internet - OOOHH that show is good! I watched the whole season in one day! The clothes the hair their makeup is sooo pretty.

Sunday we went for breakfast with Ernie's parents down to Colonial Beach VA on the Harley. That was a great ride!

Monday - I have been having a lot of back muscle pain lately - I had the best of intentions of getting a ton done on Monday but moving was very painful. Last night I iced it, took some aleve and this morning I put the heating pad on and it feels better. I need to get it looked into but my track record with doctors fixing my problems is just so low.

Now, on to news for you my faithful readers!! I had 53 comments last month (20% of those from M*J*C and 20% from Niki - thanks girls!!) - that was awesome - the comment contest and the new feedjit actually forced me to update more often and to try to think of fun topics. In September, I will cover all the books (like 20 of them all purchased at yard sales) I have been reading lately, I also plan to share some of the things I have been making (mostly cards and a scrapbook page or two), are there any burning questions that you have for me. Post in the comments and I will answer them.

OH and the winner is... Liz (liz send me your address) who was a totally new person to my blog and who only posted once! Yeah! There will be another contest this month - for another great prize.

This is not becoming a political blog but..........

(If you are not into hearing my political opinion - stop reading now. My feelings are not hurt)

HE PICKED A WOMAN!!!!!!!!!!! Weeehooo. Say goodbye to the gold ole white boy network. That is right America today in 2008 (well starting in 2009) we will have either a woman or an African American in the White House!! I am so excited. Either way today is a ground breaking day. I personally am very very excited to learn more about Governor Sarah Palin but from what little I know I am impressed. She is young, has 5 kids (anyone who can manage 5 kids can manage the country!), her son is a soldier, she has been called a maverick! My political party affiliations varies - I believe in the woman's right to choose (Dem), I believe in less taxes(Rep), I don't believe the government should be involved in every aspect of my life(Rep), I really want to end the war. When push comes to shove I usually go Rep. and I liked McCain except 72 was a little too old in my book - this job is the highest stress level - people age 20 years in 4 (look at Clinton). But now with this new chick in town, I am so excited. I think the next 2+ months are going to be some of the most interesting in our history and this is going to be a very interesting race.

See you at the polls on November 4th, 2008!!!!!! A day when history will change forever. (Watch some independant will come in and screw it all up!)

A WOMAN - HE PICKED A WOMAN! Now it will be the pink house!! with sequins and bling!

Dangerous Dog Toy

I got this email this morning. There is nothing on snopes to say that it is a hoax and the person took the time to set up a blog, and show pictures of this sweet dog. Then someone posted that something similar happened to them. The four paws website mentions nothing about it. Please spead the word!

http://www.thechaistory.blogspot.com

Please cross post far and wide!!!

If you have this ball in your house for your dogs, remove it from their access immediately. This toy resulted in several dogs having to have their tongues amputated! I would also suggest returning this toy to the merchant from whompurchased for a refund.

As you read Chai's story, you will be appalledthat the manufacturer apparently wants to see many more dogs seriouslyinjured before issuing a recall or taking this safety hazard seriously. Item #20227-001
UPC Code: 0 4566320227 9
Manufactured by: Four Paws, Inc.

Rockin' yard sale day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was up and at em early this morning leaving my house at 6:40. My first stop was a candy store that was moving in Severna Park - I arrived at 7:05 and was the first car in the parking lot. The prices were fantastic and I got a lot of good stuff all brand new. The best find were these awesome plaques - they are huge and as usual I have no idea what I will use them for - two trips to the car and she let me pay by credit card. I did get a set of polka dotted bowls yanked out from under me.

The next few stops were duds but then I hit the motherload of tupperware. The woman had like 4 stacks of new tupperware dishes - I was sure she was a dealer trying to off load - so I say how much is the tupperware fully expecting $1.00 each - NOPE .10 cents each - I snatched them up so fast - 2 big bags - $4.25 total. I just checked out the tupper website - easily this stuff is $5.00 - $10.00 each - total score. Now what I have been wondering all day is why she let it go for so cheap - is she never packing lunches again? No plans for leftovers?

Ended the day, with 12.00 in purchases including 7 new books/magazines and some new clothes.

I just love yard saling - I can't figure out why everyone doesn't do it. But I am lucky they don't - more for me!

The list

I just finished reading "The Next Thing on My List" by Jill Smolinski (why yes I am selling it on ebay - thank you for asking) and it has gotten me thinking. The book is based on a list that a gal has made of things she wants to do before her 25th birthday, her list includes lose weight, wear sexy shoes, be the hottest girl at Oasis, take her mom and grandma to see Wayne Newton, make Bddy Fitch pay among other things. Check out Jill's life list on her blog - she has great ideas and great stories.

My 25th is long gone, so is my 35th but I still would like to make a list of things that I want to do.

My lifetime goal is to see all 50 states - I have done about 28 and plan vacations in an effort to see one or two a year.

I have always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon.

And frankly, that is all I can come up with - if I want to go somewhere, I go. If I want to eat something, I eat it. If I want to try something, I try. Your my friends, you know me - what should I add to the list??

No great title comes to mind

Just a quick update on my weekend -

Friday night, Ernie went to the track and Deisel and I hung at home - I got caught up on Army Wives on the net - great show. I did go to the a different thrift store and found a whole pile of cool clothes - they have no dressing room which irritated me - but luckily everything was a good fit.

Saturday I hit a whole section of Crofton that was having yard sales and they were great!! Man I got good stuff - One cool thing was a mini shopping cart - I have no clue what I plan to do with it but I liked it. I also got another Jodi book, two apothocary jars (big ones for $1.00) and two new t-shirts. After yard sales, we got the Harley and the dog and headed to Waldorf for the day. My first priority was Material Girls Quilt Shop to check out Heather Bailey fabric. We took the motorcycle so granted I couldn't buy a lot but I had planned to buy some to send to last weeks blog winners. I get there and walk around and walk around - the store is pretty, they have neat examples, there are a few other shoppers - so finally I walk up the cutting table where three women are sort of leaning/lounging on it and finally they take notice of me. I tell them I would like to see the Heather Bailey fabric and they say "it is not out yet". I am kind of puzzled so I question that you mean you don't have any or it is not available to the stores yet? No they have three boxes in the back BUT they have not put it on the floor and will be out in a few days. I say I drove from Laurel to see this (49 miles) and that it is not an option to come back. So I ask well can I see what is in the back? At this point, I am so freaking shocked that I am a customer with money in a store (a small private store) speaking with the person I think is the owner and they have what I want to buy but are making no moves to sell it to me??? UH What? Is this store a front - is there a gambling ring in the back?? I left with nothing and WILL NEVER GO BACK THERE. When I asked if they had the patterns - they referred me to the website? Gee the website - hmmm why didn't I think of that - maybe because all I ever hear is support your local small stores - well I tried that!! Store owners - take note! Heather Bailey - take note!

We did a little more riding - caught up with his parents. Headed back to their house to run around with Diesel and wear him out - Ernie chases him with the motorcycle and tires him out and he gets some much needed exercise. I take pictures.

Sunday we were lazy for a good portion of the day, and then went to see Hancock. It was a good mix of action and storyline with some good comedic lines.

It pays to read (comment) on my blog.

I am beginning to sound like a broken record but comments are my lifeline - I don't want them, I need them and if I have to bribe people to leave them then so be it. I know your stopping by I got that feedjit thingie - so if your reading say something! Agree - disagree, I am not fussy. Point out my typos - which when I reread a post - I think are hilarious!!


So far I have had 32 comments this month, and I Random Number Generated #27 which turned out to be Karen from Baton Rouge - Karen my dear do you like Starbucks? If that does not do it for ya, tell me the place that would and I'll get you a gift card but it has to be a food/drink treat place.


BUT wait there is more, Karen is a double winner because everyone that commented on the Heather Bailey blog will get some Heather Bailey treats!! Thats right, Jennifer, Margo, Niki and Karen from Baton Rouge all are getting some Heather Bailey treats!!


If you call (comment) right now, I'll do more random drawings! Does anyone remember what commercial I am mimicing?

Prepare to be delighted

You know when you happen upon something so great that you just want to share it with everyone you know - the first time you had Rita's - didn't you leave saying "Taste this - ohmigod so good - you gotta taste this!"

That is how I felt when Stacy J showed me the way to Heather Bailey's store and blog. "Ohmigod - so great so beautiful I need to learn to sew right stinkin now. I know Mary E put her in the magazine a few months back and I read the article and I loved it. But now you can buy the stuff. And it is some gorgeous stuff. (I stole this photo but blog posts need photos - she wont mind - it is totally hers - it just radiates what she is all about!)

I have a confession - shopping online is hard for me - I need to see and touch and be immersed - and the whole shopping experience itself. I like to meet artists and see their displays. So guess what - these are the stores that carry Heathers stuff. I have to go to LaPlata all the time and I had never even heard of Material Girls. You can bet I will go there soon!

If you love it too, can I hear an AMEN!!

Hazy Lazy Days of Summer

Ernie and I spent the day being very lazy. We slept in really late. I did work on my "One Summer Album". We watched some shows on the internet - Psych, Monk and we just rented some movies. I sort of schedule my sick days - rather than let life run me down - I like to take a day stay in my jammies and just relax!!!

Yesterday was another dismal yard sale day - 2 books and a little gag gift. It was also gaby and greg's sons first birthday. It was a great party - both families, lots of great folks from church, and work. Food was delicious.

Finally, this shout out is to Odenton, Jessup, Baton Rouge - when you stop by leave a comment.

What to make for dinner???

As many of you know, Ernie is a young strappin boy who works very hard long hours and therefore is a great audience for my amazing(cough - lie) cooking!! But I have run out of quick and easy and simple and delicious ideas. Pioneer woman is great when I want to try something new. But my boy is a meat and potatoes boy. And let's face it the cost of groceries is ever increasing! So give me your good quick dinner solutions!

Last night I tried the Pampered Chef chicken and broccoli wreath - it was not bad - I could not figure out how to make the braid - I just improvised. We ate a lot of it!

I do steaks on the generic George Foreman a lot. He likes the sweet potatoes in a can with brown sugar and butter. The only thing I do with any consistency in the crock pot is chili.

Give me your ideas for quick dinners!!

The parking challenged

This past weekend I witnessed some of the worst parking I have ever seen - rather than get frustrated by their crazy - I decided to use it as a blog topic this week. I even plan to add to this as I come across more great park jobs which I am thinking will be frequently.

I now present - women scrapperbookers - parking 101.

This first one was so excited, they drove toward the space and got out and left.
Notice how much space there is in the front - every other person that had to drive down that aisle had to move four feet over to avoid hitting the badly parked car. And it was a long aisle. GREAT JOB!!
This one evidently thought that line was for the middle of the car? So everyone that pulled up that row thought it was an empty space - NOPE just another fabulous park job!

OH and both license plates were from Pennsylvania!!

HA HA Look what I got!!!

I found that thingie to see who was landing on my blog and how - me so happy!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not sure why I never noticed the Click to add button at the bottom before - uhh sometimes not so sharp.

Now I will know who is coming so comments are almost mandatory - because I am not above emailing you after you visit to find out why you did not comment.

If starbucks is not your thing, I will make sure to send something that is - by stalking you on your blog!!

OH me soo happy!!

The good, the bad and the beautiful

The good - I had a nice weekend connecting with friends and family that I had not seen in a long time. Deb is doing awesome!! Her boys are cuties E pies! The oldest is so smart he amazed me. The CKC had lots of good stuff to buy. Volunteering was actually pretty cool. Being a TA is hard work - and standing on my feet for 9 straight hours OH my heavens. My muscles were sore. The classes I TA for were about using your stash and about using 4 x 6 photos. Quite frankly the second class is a bit hazy cause I was getting really tired. Sunday got to spend a little time with my mom - and then dinner (Texas Roadhouse AGAIN!) with say 5 generations (although different parts) of my family including Mary's new baby. Such a good baby and such a cutie. Look at his little formula face as his eyelids just get so heavy.

The bad - Ernie and I are going through a rough time not so much as a couple. It is hard to talk about right now and I know that together we will get through this but it still makes it hard. If you are the praying sort - I would really appreciate that right now.

The beautiful - At CKC, I happened upon the most beautiful booth - little lamps set up and a cute tablecloth with buttons along the hem. And then I saw her kits - it is The Button Farm and her stuff is divine. I bought two kits and really could have bought one of everything she had. her style is that mix of vintage but with all the great new products. It was really hard to get shots of her booth because it was always so crowded!!

So the birthday month ends...

July was lots of fun! Turning 35 not so bad. Our photo shoot with Ashley one of the highlights. This one is definately a favorite. I highly recommend her - her fees are very reasonable.

My scrapbook birthday party was another highlight- thanks Anne and crew for a great day!

Playing on ebay all month has been lots of fun - so great to get rid of old stuff - to make room for new - I still have lots of stuff listed - http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/mgerrity_01 check me out and bid. Lots of stamp stuff all my auctions start at less than $1.00.

August is looking to be another great month - I am heading this weekend to a scrapbook event in Valley Forge getting together with my dear friend from high school to meet her new son, and then heading to Millville to see another new baby - my cousin Mary's baby boy. Then the following weekend I have another 1 year old birthday party. Then the end of the month Ernie and I will celebrate one year together. We are planning to go away for the weekend but have not decided on a location.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows every day for me - my house is messy (which is why I never post pictures of it), Ernie and I do fight, I struggle with my weight, I had a huge terrible leak in my house - but do you really want to read a whiney complainy blog. Plus when it comes to wanting to share something with the world - I want it to be nicer and funnier and happier. Because all in all when you get right down to it - I am healthy and everyone in my world is healthy, I have a job, I have a nice house, I have lots of nice people around me, we have two trucks and a motorcycle, we have a great great DOG, what more do you need??

EDITED TO ADD: I need comments!!!!!!!!!

Blog Contest for the month of August

As evidenced by how many people accessed Ashley's photos through my blog (I really want to get one of those sidebar tells me who is accessing my blog and from where thingies - can someone tell me how to do that??) I know that I have a lot of readers but I don't get a lot of comments. Let's be honest - comments are the bloggers crack. It is how we determine if we are talking to ourselves. I have asked (begged) for comments. I tell my friends and family "Hey please comment if you check out my blog!"

So with that in mind, I introduce "Comment Contest"! For the month of August, anyone who comments on my blog will be entered into a drawing for a gift card to Starbucks. There will probably be random prizes throughout the month too. DO NOT COMMENT TODAY - THEY WILL NOT COUNT. This is only for the whole month of August.

Maybe you are uncertain as what to say - these all count - Hey girl! or Funny! Cute (although I do hate that word) Your silly! These are all valid comments.

Now I look forward to hearing from you all month!

Summer weekends - happen so fast...

Summer weekends - havin' a blast!

Well another weekend flies by. Friday night I treated myself to a pedicure, some shopping at Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale and a visit to Trader Joe's. I broke the first rule of grocery shopping - I went when I was starving and I bought a whole bunch of stuff.

Saturday, I had to have some work done on my house. I was able to hit a few yard sales but only picked up some jeans. I did other stuff - but it eludes me now - oh ran errands - read my book - relaxed - cleaned the house - surfed the web - ebay (still totally addicted to selling all my goodies there!)

Sunday Ernie and I headed down to Waldorf and then went for a long bike ride just the two of us. We went to Solomon's Island. On the way home, we unfortunately got caught in the rain - we just pulled over and waited it out. It was kind of romantic to be holed up under an awning with the thunder, lightning and rain and just the two of us. Ernie is so strong - that he always makes me feel protected. It is a wonderful feeling. We got home and then went to dinner (not before dragging the guys to AC Moore) with his parents - we went to Texas Roadhouse! OMG - their food is so good - I could make a whole meal of the sweet tea, rolls and cinnamon butter. I tried to score some steak bones for the dog but no luck! Steak places should get smart to that and start selling their trash as dog treats - I would have paid for it!

What gorgeous models we all are!!

Saturday we had a photo session with Ashley of Ashley Layfield Photography and just from the sneak peak on her blog - I love them!! http://ashleylayfieldphotography.blog.com/3346262/?page=last Seriously if you are in the Maryland area I suggest a shoot with her. She made the babies, the dads and the dog all look and feel great.

Ashley used to work with us girls and about 6-8 weeks ago we thought wouldn't a joint photo shoot be a great idea. Gaby's baby is almost 1, and well I am a scrapbooker, and Vivian has never had a family portrait done. Having three families at the same time was a great idea - there was always someone to hold a baby or entertain a 4 year old or stand behind and play peek a boo and make a baby laugh and having a dog there made everyone more casual. We are all casual families anyway. Ashley's husband and daughter even came down too. Oh and I really did not notice the heat because we were in the shade!!

Yahoo thinks when I email myself that I am spam?

About 3 months ago, I realized that the Spam filter from Yahoo is not so good. For example emails from myself - they are Spam. What kind of filter thinks that? If I email something to myself because I have not figured out how to save sent messages - it goes into my Spam. It is the most ridiculous thing. So I have taken to checking my spam folder just in case something good slips by. By glancing through spam there is a whole world out there that I know nothing about.

There are people to get paid to fill out forms at home - and what I really want to know about are these mystery shopper jobs - getting that job is the real mystery.

And really how does SPAM stay in business - who is buying all these replica watches and what is a berry cleanse and how much cialis and viargra is there in the world and does Rachael Ray even know that she is endorsing Wu-Yi Tea?

Now there is even spam in my blog comments - anonymous is selling their own book light. Hey I was just thrilled there was a comment!

This is the kind of thing that I think about... I keep telling you fascinating stuff.

Two words

1. Where is your cell phone? ...............surgically attached
2. Your significant other?.................probably working
3. Your hair? ............................. frizzy today
4. Your mother? ........................... she's fine
5. Your father?............................. missed loved
6. Your favorite material object?.....................
7. Your dream last night?................... about scrapbooking
8. Your favorite drink..................... sweet tea
9. Your short term goal?.........................maintain sanity
10. The room you're in?..................... my office
11. What is something you're looking forward to this week?...........................nordstrom sale
12. Your fear?..............................icky stuff
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?...........tough one
14. Where were you last night?............. my home
15. What you're not?....................... self absorbed
16. Eggs?............................... with cheese
17. One of your wish list items?........... slr camera
18. Where you grew up?................... NEW JERSEY
19. The last thing you did?.................checked voicemail
20. What are you wearing?...................capris and tee
21. Your job?...............................the 5th
22. Your pets?.............................. crazy nut
23. Your computer? ....................... my life
24. Your life?.............................. it's mine
25. Your mood?............................ optimistic introspective
26. Missing someone?....................... i'm okay
27. Your car?............................... it's hot!
28. Something you're not wearing?.........earrings
29. Favorite Store?.........................yard sale
30. Your summer?........................... laid back

Now you share an answer??

Go Megan it's your birthday!

Today is the day that is dedicated to all things Megan. I of course began the celebration at the beginning of the month. Saturday I spent the day scrapbooking with a wonderful group of girls who I have sb'ed with for the last 10 years.

Anne hosts a monthly or quarterly crop at her church - the money goes to charity - she does an AMAZING job. I arrived and she gave me a wonderful treat allowing me to pick a door prize before anyone else. I picked some Making Memories 5th Avenue colletion paper so that I could finish an album that I am working on.

Kathy also had made me a beautiful creative escape album - which I can't wait to fill. It is a vertical album and uses all the CE papers. I will add a pic cause she sells them - all kinds really.

Later around 6:30 when it was crazy party time - Anne brought out cupcakes which were without a doubt the best cupcakes I have ever tasted - they were so moist!! Vivian and Niki scrambled for their cameras as Anne came out of the kitchen singing and Viv caught this one - I love it - such a great shot.

Yesterday Ernie and I went to the farmers market and out to breakfast. I then spent the day by the pool reading another Jodi Picoult book - OHH she is so good - I have cried like 6 times already - she shows you so many angles - I can not wait to read what the twist is going to be in this one. Nineteen Minutes - about a school shooting.

Today when I arrived at the office there was a sign in the bushes. My office is decorated. Fran is one of the most generous caring people in the world. She is the mom at work and takes care of all of us. She got me the most adorable polka dotted mouse pad - pink and green. She also got me a banana scented candle from Yankee Candle - delish! Then Mary got me new travel bags for makeup - pink and green.

MY MOM - she sent me an edible arrangement so I have been nibbling on delicious fruit all day. She is so sneaky she even called the office Friday to get the new address! Gaby and Kathy enjoyed some too!

I ended the day with Ernie picking up Don Pablos which I have not had in years - yummy - and crawling into bed with my guys (and my book) pretty early.

It was a nice birthday - it is nice to just be surrounded by people (and doggies) who love you.

A book light saved my relationship!

The story goes like this - Ernie gets up at 5:30 to go to work - I get up at 7:30. So when he falls asleep at night - I am not quite tired. I used to leave my bedside lamp on - and I guess he would dream that the sun was beating down on him. He would just have sweat pouring off of him - I would feel badly and literally wipe him off with a wet wash cloth before I went to sleep. He is a pretty easy going sleeper and did not mention for months that this bothered him. Finally he mentioned it - and I got one of those itty bitty book lights and now all is right with the world.

This scene got me thinking about the things we do to improve our relationships with our SO. A friend I know when looking to buy a house found (and eventually bought) one that had three TV stacked on each other in the basement. That way Mom, Dad and child could all be in the same room hanging out on the couch but watching their own program. I think one of the reasons that Ernie and I work is that we don't have TV. We watch stuff on the laptop and the screen is small so we have to sit close. and we have to find stuff that we both enjoy.

Tell me my faithful 3 readers what quirky things have you done to improve your relationships.

The trip to Ocean Shitty!

Well Friday morning, we started heading down the Ocean, hon! I was not that enthused cause let's just say in the last 25 years Ocean Shitty has not really improved, the traffic is terrible, parking is almost non existent, and the hotels gouge you cause they are all dives that only have a few weeks a year to make their money. We ended up staying at the Ocean Mecca (photo courtesy of whflood from Flickr). I think this shot is gorgeous - I really did not remember the hotel being so lovely.

But it ended up being a perfect vacation for Ernie and me! We relaxed, we ate yummy junk food, we went on rides, we shopped in cute little stores, we walked up and down the boardwalk, we slept and then took naps.

I must mention that on Friday on the way down we stopped at one of the BEST antique stores called "Goose on the Roof". It is on route 50 just before Salisbury in Hebron. The owners are so nice, the selection is awesome - lots of shabby chic LOTS and the best part the prices are very reasonale. I found another button jar (yes I realize that I have a weird addiction), some childrens blocks and a pink wire basket thing. Ernie even got into it and really liked all the cool stuff that they had out front. Friday night we did watch the fireworks and then proceeded to run back 18 blocks to our hotel in the rain.

Saturday the weather was a little iffy but we did something really fun - we rented a surry on the boardwalk. It was so much fun - it was like being in a parade. I highly recommend the guy at the 14th street bike shop. He was really nice and had a great sense for business. After that we went out for breakfast and then rode some rides at the Jolly Roger Pier. I got on the Ferris Wheel - I am not afraid of heights but it did make me a little nervous. Oh and we ate more junk food and walked up and down the boardwalk 10 more times.

Sunday we hit the Jolly Roger waterpark as soon as it opened and here I found the most perfect place on earth. First because we got there so early we pretty much hit all the good rides with very little lines. So they have this ride called Stealth - it does not say what it is when you head up there. The guy running the ride is harness in - like he is going mountain climing. Of the 6 people in front of us in line - 4 yes 4 backed out. I was really nervous - but I really like water rides so when it was my turn I just marched up there sat in my tube and held on (oh and did not look down) It was steep and I screamed like a girl all the way down but man it was fun. But back to heaven. I love LOVE LOVE hot tubs jacuzzis etc but in the summer when you skin is a little burned it is just not the best feeling. Well, I see something tucked away called a bubble pool. I know I have to get in - and then my foot touches the water and it is cold! OH heaven I could have shouted - it felt like heaven. I stayed there all by my lonesome for at least half hour and quite frankly I could have stayed all day. I contimplated getting a raft and lying in there.

Sunday night, we went for a beautiful dinner at Fager's Island. I had never been there before as I am a boardwalk junk food kind of girl. It is very crowded but our waiter was very nice and dinner was delicious. For appetizer we had steamed shimp and for dinner we had steak and crab cake. The steak was so perfectly cooked it melted in our mouths. Of course we were too full for dessert.

Another perfect summer weekend!!

Staycation!

I was off work last week and for the first half of the week - I had a staycation! I stayed home and vacationed. I cleaned and cooked and took the dog for long walks. I went to the pool just about every day. I ran errands and went shopping and tried to do home repairs - I say tried. I watched movies - 27 Dresses.

Let me just vent about "Pool Rules". On Sunday, the lifeguards heard one tiny very far off rumble of thunder and had to clear everyone out of the pool and clear the pool deck for 30 minutes. It was ridiculous. No one heard it except them and the sun was completely shining. Then what is up with adult swim for 15 minutes every hour. What is the purpose of that? I really think the children can play for longer than 45 minutes - heck all growing up I had a pool in the backyard and I think I played in it for 4 or 5 hours at a time. And don't even get me started on the Ice Cream man - he parks at my pool for hours playing that horrible music and I swear some of them were Christmas carols. So annoying.

I read some great books - another Jodi Piccoult book - Vanishing Acts. Not as good as Change of Heart but still a very interesting book.

I put some stuff on ebay and will continue to do that. I have accumulated a bunch of stuff that I don't use and want to make room for new stuff for my birthday. Check out my listings - and there will be more - my seller name is mgerrity_01 - I know what you are thinking, how very original.

In the next post I will tell you about the rest of my week. Stay tuned....

Birthday Dreamin'

Every year about this time, much like I make out a christmas wish list, I make out a birthday wish list. I thought it would be fun to show all three of my blog readers my cute finds.


Of course, my big dream is a Nikon SLR camera. I have asked a lot of researchers and this one is the best.


Since I got my laptop about a year ago, I have thought that a lap top bag would be useful and have been inactively . I think this green one is pretty and practical. Of course I would jazz it up with some ribbon or a flower.

The same store has this pad which I think is super adorable and would definately help me get more done.

My ultra fabulous and stylish friends Kristin and Anne Marie had these cool swingpacks when I went to New York and I really loved them but the price was stopping me a bit. Anne Marie's was even cooler (Gucci, I think!). This weekend I found one at the beach in this great zebra pattern for $29.00 so I can cross that off my list.

I got Southern Lady magazine for Christmas but I think this mag Shop Smart is really great. I bought a copy the other day and learned a great deal.

My friend Catherine shared her book with us in Nashville and I think I would love a copy of Show it Off! There are some really clever ideas in there! And everything Catherine does is super cute. UHOH - I think her b-day is coming up soon - I better tink of something for her.


I still want one of these a power inverter which for a few days I really thought I had invented this gadget. Come to find out those engineers at Ford or NASA were way ahead of me.


And of course a girl can never have too many mismatched stuff and they have lots of cute new patterns. They also just emailed that their warehouse is in Iowa and 10% of their sales this week are going to help those in need from the floods.

The Weekend Report

** We won!! We won!! Well rather Norma Anne and Henry won the dream wedding. Behold the power of scrapbookers! So happy for them.

Friday night, Deisel practiced his neighborhood escape plan and had me running all over to find him. I was terrified because I had no idea how to explain to Ernie. I found him seconds after he had run into the road. I sprinted to him and lucky for him people were watching! I drug him home and did not speak to him for the rest of the night cause I was laying on the coach (uh that would be couch) trying to catch my breath. God I am not in shape.

Saturday I hit one big community in a school parking lot yard sale, and got a few things. One lady had toiletries and such for a song - loved her!

Then I headed down to meet my mom and her friends to get them set up at the beach. My mom and I were on target to meet each other exactly. We met up about 12 did a tiny bit of shopping at the outlets and then headed to their cottage. Got everyone moved in and just sat around talking. Sunday we got some sun, I started to read another Jodi Picoult (her stuff is soooooooooo good), we hit the Village of Fenwick 2 or three small stores - I got a great little pocketbook that I have been looking for and a white t-shirt. Oh I made PW's Asian Noodle Salad and there was a ton of it. Everyone seemed to love it. I left the beach about 8:45 which meant I got home about midnight - 10 (uh that would be 2) hours past my bedtime (See I told you I was tired) . I was beat when I got home.

Very fun weekend!

This time yesterday I had never even heard of Norma Anne

Now her and her wedding - it is all I can think about. Yes I do have an addictive personality.



I got this email yesterday morning



Okay, this is cute but corny. I know I really should be cleaning or organizing or something! There is a couple in Florida who are trying to win a dream wedding. She is a SCRAPPER and needs our support. There is another couple who also is recieving a lot of votes. Supposedly the other couple is posting lots of trash about them and occusing them of cheating. The whole story of the drama can be read on two peas (of course!):http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2581568&pg=1 Anyhow, she seems to have a pretty good lead but the voting does not end until noon on the 20th. Check out the site, it has there story and of course their photo whichhappens to be a scrapbook page!http://photocontest.freedom.com/cbs12/dream-wedding/ Click on their link and it leads you to their story and the place to cast your vote. I just leave the page up and hide it in the bottom bar thingy. You can vote every 12 minuteswhich I am not asking you to sit all day at the computer, just vote when you walk buy or something. Let's help a fellow scrapper out!!!!! ;-) THanks!



It was forwarded to my friend Jeanne from a gal named Mindy who i don't know either.



So I clicked on the link and voted.



Then I clicked on the message board link and OH my god it was all down hill from there. I now know more about Norma Anne and Henry and Katrina and Matt (the 2nd place couple) and internet voting cheating and the knot.com and brides.com and WOW

We interupt this addiction for a new one - addicted and easily swayed that's me - Kristi Sikora Blankenship has a blog and a newsletter and she is teaching a class!!!!!!!! I loved her at Scrap Etc - her energy and her live this life now and her glue and go - LOVED LOVED LOVED IT all - Her summer album - cute cute cute.

Dismal yard sale finds

I was up and out at 8, had a few places set to go, and well it was dismal. Nothing just felt like I needed it. I did pick up a few books, an outfit for Sammy and the most adorable girls outfit size 18-24- I don't know who this is for but it was tooo stinking cute to pass up. A christmas ornament which Deisel already stepped up - my fault for leaving on the floor and that was about it. I did see a coach purse that I really really wanted but the lady would not waiver on the price and just kind of had an attitude and I passed. Total expenditure was $4.00 and $2.00 for a hotdog.

Sunday, we went to the river and got to do a little jetski which was really fun. I am a timid driver so when the kids wanted to ride with me I was more than happy to oblige! Then I could say I was being careful cause of the kids.

Oh and I read another good book - The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. It was a quick read and I really liked it. I am putting it up on Paper Back Swap if you want to trade. Have you tried that site - it is really good if you like to read and they have pretty new books on there.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday....

You know in the movies when they want to show how fast time goes and the pages fly off the calendar - that is my life.



Wednesday I taught a Scrapbook 101 class to my co workers. We always talk about getting together to scrap and I finally just organized it. Everyone seemed to really love it and had fun with it. We plan to get together monthly to keep working on the mini albums that they started, One of the gals even brought her two little girls and they made an album for their dad for fathers day - I loved having the little ones in the class.



Thursday I read the book Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. I got it Express from the library which meant I only had 7 days to read and return it. I was about 150 pages into it last night when I got home from work and finished it about 10. OHH it was so good. I would love to find someone else who has read it who would like to discuss it because man I have a lot of questions. If you have read it, comment to me and let's chat.

Heat Wave

I love the summer and I love the hot but last night was the end of what I could stand and the dog was begging me - so I turned the air on! It is not pretty when a pit bull just lies in front of the fan and every once in awhile looks at you like why you trying to kill me momma? Around 9:30, when it was time to go to the bedroom and sleep, I decided the dog needed the air. And it did feel delicious.

I spent the whole day at home on Sunday I had a pile of laundry like you would not believe and the laundry room right next to the craft room - and I had a new set of Will and Grace DVD's - so in between putting stuff in the washer and the dryer, I crafted and watched Will & Grace. I was getting ready for a class I am teaching on Wednesday - oh these little creative cafe albums are going to be so cute. If you order from there, say Hi to Marty in the comments - he is so nice with the greatest southern accent! And you get your stuff fast!

Saturday I hit the yardsales and I got some GOOOOD stuff. A few baby things for Sammy, a retro pin, a book, and then the motherload of JCrew clothes 3 tshirts, a sweatshirt and 2 sweaters all for $16.00 - I was telling Ernie and said that would be like... and he said "more than $50.00 at Walmart!" He does know my love for JCrew. Then I hit a few more with nothing - then an estate type sale - evidently the folks were moving and I got a whole box of kitchen towels for a buck, and another apothacary jar (this makes 5), and a little tupperware pitcher and another Button tin. I then stopped at bath and Body works for the sale, got a pedicure and then went grocery shopping - I did not get home until 3 - yikes. We went to a local dive bar for dinner and to watch the Belmont Stakes.

I did not make it on the Harley all weekend so I can only classify the weekend as great (the pedicure really pulls up the ranking!)

Sex and the City!

I must preface this by saying - I do not go to the movies ever! The last movie I watched in the theatre was Cars. But I had to see Carrie, Miranda, Samatha and Charlotte. It had been on my calendar for weeks. I bought the tickets online around noon - I had even convinced Ernie to see it. The promise of some nudity was his draw.

It was fabulous! I do not want to give anything away but it was fabulous. The fashion delivered, oh the shoes, I laughed, I cheered and I cried. It was so good that I could have sat and watched it again. Go with your girlfriends, get dressed up, have a cosmo and then see the movie. The girls that not only made it okay to be thirty and single but the girls that made it fabulous and fashionable!!!

The rest of the weekend was perfect by my standards, yard sales Saturday morning, a rain shower in the afternoon so I got some creative time and riding the Harley all day Sunday. We got caught in the rain which did take some of the fun and coolness out of it but Ernie's mom bought us new dry clothes so it ended well. It was great to go to bed last night and be really tired from the sun and the fresh air.

Free photos!

Hey Shay, Mel and Steph,

Since you girls comment I will write to you. Anyone new reads and comments I will write to them.

Back to the free photos, I just discovered that at www.mycokerewards.com one of the rewards is 20 free prints from Snapfish (with only 64 points). I was pretty happy since I spent $35.00 at Snapfish last month.

Also if you have not signed up with mr.rebates what are you waiting for and tell them I sent you. If you do any online shopping at all, it is awesome! Shay you signed up - have you used it?

I love little extra easy ways to rack up fun freebies. Anyone know of others?

Mel - the pictures from Facebook are not a high enough resolution for me to print - can you send them to me?

Steph - send me your address, I have a surprise for you.

How I kicked off the summer of 2008!

This past Memorial Day weekend was weather wise one of the best I have ever seen. Every day was sunny and perfect temps.

I spent most of the day Saturday in my craft room. It had been quite a few weeks since I had a chance to spend any time on any creative projects and I was missing it. I worked on some thank you notes that I am really late in sending and another 6x6 scrapbook project that I have been having fun working on lately.

Sunday, Ernie and I rode the Harley to DC to be a part of Rolling Thunder "Ride for Freedom". That event is one of my most favorite. We decided to watch instead of ride in it. It ended up being just the two of us which worked out well - we did not have to worry about anyone else in the crowds and after about an hour we were ready to go. The news reports say that 350,000 bikes participate in the event in total. It is so cool to see that many bikes in one place.

We stopped home, changed cars, got the dog and drove to NJ to visit my mom. Monday, we spent the day at one of my favorite events - Bob Brooks auction in Malaga, NJ. We arrived about 9:30 not the early bird gets the worm auctioning but we were able to score some good stuff. To the lady who roots around and picks out the one thing that she wants out of the box and then holds it up for it to be bid along - thanks for taking all the fun out of an auction. Bob Brooks now has a 13% buyers premium. As we were checking out, they mentioned it. I got to say "when I first started coming here, there was no buyers premium" They said that was a long time ago, like 10 years. I said yep, I have been coming here for 12 years. OH what did I score, a cool retro pale blue fan, an apothocary jar, 4 boxes of Christmas ornaments. My mom got a glass brick (we bought that from someone on the side - I LOVE those cash transactions!) and two glass battery jars and a sewing stand. I just like to go and poke around the antiques.

When we got home, after a quick nap, we prepared a delicious dinner. Pioneer woman your jalopenos wrapped in bacon - YUMMY!

All and all - a perfect weekend - scrapping, harley riding, and juking!

By the way, if you are reading this - post a comment - I would like to know that I am not talking to myself.

$$$ saving tip!

While having some things checked at the beach house, the repairman from Del Mar Appliance was a wealth of information. He gave me two tips which made a ton of sense and I thought I would pass them along - just before you run your dishwasher (finally have one back in my kitchen!!) run the kitchen sink until the hot water comes out. That way the water that goes into the dishwasher is hot from the beginning. He said it takes a long time for the dishwasher to heat the water. I tried to find supporting research for this. He also said that you really only need about a teaspoon or two of detergent.

Jukin'!

Spring means many things for people - Baseball season or flowers, or gardening - for me it means Saturday mornings of Jukin' - my Aunt Phyl and Aunt Mary invented this word - it means shopping and junking and just checking out the local stuff. For me, it means yard sales mostly and maybe a craft fair and maybe a festival.

Last Saturday, I was up and out at 8am. I have a list of things I look for - cute clothes, vintage jewelry, anything polka dots, books, apothocary jars, tupperware, pink kitchen stuff. This week, I hit a few sales. Then I headed to the Landon Festival - and got the cutest apothocary jar. I also saw some cute ideas which added an ornate frame to my yard sale list!

This week, again up and at the neighborhood sale by 8 and I scored a Waterford vase!! since it was in the neighborhood, Ernie and Diesel came too! I got all the way home and went back for a pampered chef stone (I broke mine - FYI - they are not meant to broil on!) We also went to Wine in the Woods this year in Columbia - two words - Never Again! The lines were terrible, just not my scene. Glad I finally got to go - and check it off my list.

Scrap ETC

The whole reason I started my journey to Nashville was to attend Scrap Etc with my scrappin bff's (list is long but if you are reading this blog you are absolutely one of them!!). It was held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel (big, pretty, expensive!) I was a member of the illustrious group C - Brittney was an awesome leader. Thursday evenings welcome ceremony was a good introuduction of everyone and then we headed to a class team-taught by Danelle Johnson and Kristi Sikora-Blankenship. This was for me the most inspiring time of the whole event - Kristi was my favorite speaker by far - she is excited and she talks FAST!! What I really related too is that now she works for a construction company and scrapbooking is a hobby - just like me! I loved her samples and her ideas and her glue and go theory really woke me up. When I scrapbook, I spend too much time focused on details and not enough time glueing stuff down.



The only repeat teacher for me was heidi. Her project was totally my colors and a very cool idea. Jenni Bowlin (sad but I slept in and missed a little of this class), Gretchen MacElveen, Vanessa Hudgen, Angelina Wiggleton, Vilna Furstenburg, and Monique McLean - each project was a unique take. SNL - let's chalk it up to it was a very long weekend and by that point things just got rough.



Two really cool things about the weekend was Amy Tan from Amy Tangerine was there selling her t-shirts and I got the cutest one (and she had a lot to choose from in my size) I have always loved her stuff! The other cool thing was a singer/song writer Amanda Hudson was there and her songs are the perfect blend of a nice message and folksy music to remind you of why you scrapbook - and her perfect scrapbook day song is sooo stinking cute. I am so glad I got to buy that CD. I really love to support artists/entrereneurs.



I got lots of fun supplies at all of the stores I was able to visit.



I drove home Sunday and honestly it wasn't too bad. I left about 7am and pulled in my parking space about 6pm. I spent most the time on the phone with my mom recapping the week. I accidently left something behind so I spent some time on the phone working to recover it. I listened to my new CD. I saw some really pretty parts of the USA - love the mountains.

Nash Trash

On Thursday in Nashville, I had signed up for the Nash Trash Tour. First we had a little contest to see who could dress the trashiest. I did not win - shoot I did not even try - but it was fun to cheer. Then we boarded the big pink bus and proceeded to laugh our heads off - those girls are so funny and they had so many great one liners - when they hooted and hollered to the Firemen to show us their hoses, and their celebrity sightings. We also stopped off quickly at the Country Music Hall of Fame - as soon as I walked in I knew that I had to see the whole place.



After the tour, Mel and I hightailed it to one of the scrapbook stores to pick up some bags, stopped at Sonic for some drive in food - LOVE that place my stomach felt funny from sitting in the back of the bus so I just had a chili cheese dog.



And then, we went back to the motherland! The Country Music Hall of Fame was amazing - and I loved it. From Elvis solid gold cadillac to Hank Williams boots to dresses from Faith Hill ( I love the costumes and the embroidered boots) - I was mesmerized. I have not always been a country music fan - I was introduced to it in college. It was the summer that Garth Brooks had the song That Summer. Since 1992, I have seen loads of shows and I do have an appreciation for the oldies. Seeing all of the memorabilia and hearing great stories about country music simply renewed my love for it. I am now a member of the museum which means I can go all I want for free for a year!! and I bought a ton of souvenirs there!

Megan's Luxury Shopping Tour

26 of my closest friends and I boarded a luxury bus (It was a party on wheels) and drank and scrapbook shopped ourselves all over Nashville. We headed to two area stores, Scrapacino and Scrap N' Memories and had a special invite to the warehouse for Scrap In Style TV! The limo was from Signature Limo, our Cutie Pie Driver was Brian. I personaly had a blast!!!

Goody Bag Sponsored by: Inspire Company (Amy made the most adorable travel scrap tins fro everyone), Scrap In Style TV (Jeanette gave us huge goodie bags filled with yummy product), Little Miss Matched (They sent a pair of socks for everyone in the group - look how Catherine decided to wear hers!), By Design sent cute shopping bags for everyone

Door Prizes Sponsored By: Bazzill Basics Paper, SRM Stickers, Making Memories, Croppin Cutie, Treasury of Memories, Cosmo Cricket, Sakura, Glue Arts, Quick Quotes

We ended the day by having a delicious albeit quick dinner at Bound'ry.

Nashville Bound Dog

So I just got back from 10 days away in Nashville. I left out of DC Friday April 11th and drove about 3 hours (traffic 4 hours) south to Steeles Tavern VA to the most delightful bed and breakfast, Sugar Tree Inn. Ernie had arrived a few hours before me and had a fire going in our room when I got there. Within moments, I was changed and in the hot tub sipping on a sweet ice tea. IT WAS PERFECT. From the drive and the long week at work we were both beat and went to bed early. The sheets on the bed were the SOFTEST sheets I have ever felt in my life - I even dreamed that I tried to buy them. IT WAS PERFECT. We got up early and got some breakfast omelettes, baked oatmeal (ok, I'll just say it - neither of us liked that) and we were back on the road to Knoxville - he on the Harley and me in the truck! About two hours later we stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch. We arrived in Knoxville about 2pm. After all that driving we took a walk along the Tennessee River and had yummy BBQ at Calhouns. Ernie decided we had had enough driving for one day and we checked into the Knoxville Marriott downtown where we were upgraded to a bigger room. We walked to the Mast General Store. On our walk, one crazy thing, we saw a huge cloud of smoke, Ernie ran down to see what it was - a car was on fire. Come to find out, it was a guy involved in a police chase and he crashed on one of the exits. It was all over the news the next morning. Sunday morning, we treated ourselves to breakfast in bed.

Then back on the road again. Through sleet and snow, we made it to Nashville. We arrived at the Hotel Preston 2:30 our time, delightfully 1:30 Nashville time. The Hotel Preston is awesome - we knicknamed it Swanky Town. First of all they let him park the harley up on the sidewalk under the entry canopy! We were again upgraded to a bigger room. We loved it! Oh and get this, it is cheap - like $119.00 a night cheap!

We went to Lane Car Museum, the Loveless Cafe for dinner (the biscuits and jam are every bit as good as they claim.) Then went downtown and hit some of the bars spending most of our time at Coyote Ugly. (Photo courtesy of Sandy Perry cause I did not think to snap one!)

Monday, we got up headed to the harley dealership, out to breakfast, ran a few errands and then went to Cooter's - as in the Dukes of Hazzard. We went over to Opry Mills and literally ran into Mel. We hung out for a little while, played glow golf - which on a Monday during the day was just a little strange. And Monday night, we went to the CMT Awards. It was definately an experience! We were down on the floor but you won't see us among the crowd. I loved the opportunity to see so many artists in one night BUT it was definately a lot of work. Oh and the presenters were bizarre - Tom Arnold and Jewel??

Valentine's Eve

Today 50 dozen roses were delivered to me. You read it correctly - 50! No my boy does not like me that much. Instead, I organized another fundraiser for my friend and coworker Brad Benefiel. I sold roses and bought them wholesale and will deliver them tomorrow. I even stamped up cute little tags to add to the roses. It was a win/win for the guys in my office cause they helped a great cause and scored points with their sweeties!

Are these not the cutest thing?

So Stacy shared LittleMissmatched on her blog and I loved them but I never really had the need for new socks. Well I showed my wonderful friend Jennifer and she loved them and told her boyfriend he could uy her anything from that website for Christmas and HE DID! So when she came back from Christmas break I was really jealous. About a week before her bithday, she decided that she needed some taller ones and I decided to treat her for her birthday and well it was high time to treat myself too!

Now I am just as cute as the next girl!

a new blog to check out or more appropriately - how I just wasted a lot of time.

Have you seen this blog? Pioneer woman is awesome - the pictures - oh my lord - I literally changed my background on my computer four times on the first page - THEN I saw the rainbow with the shadow and I scrolled through 15 pages of bloggin to find that photo. I LOVE IT. She is funny as all get out, her photos are amazing, and the cowboys definately improve my dull life. I really want her calendar and who knows maybe I'll even cook one of her recipes.

Thanks Peggy! You always know the best stuff!

All good things must come to an end!

Today January 23rd 2008, marks my 6 year anniversary with Stampin' Up! Sadly, at the end of this month I will no longer be an active demonstrator. I am emailing you today to thank you and to make sure that you get any last orders that you would like.

Thank you all for attending workshops and classes, for placing orders, for sending beautiful handmade cards and gifts. I was able to sell over $22,000 of stamps, paper and ink and I loved every minute of it. I made so many new friends through Stampin' Up! I attended 3 fantastic conventions, Kansas City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City which were a blast and I learned so much.

If there is anything that you would like to order at this time, please let me know right away and I will get all orders placed and shipped out to you. I do not have any of the new catalogs but I will be happy to order one for you and ship to you. The cost for that is $12.75. You can access the online catalog at www.stampinup.com .

Why do I blog?

I know that sometimes it is monthly - but it is nice to just get your thoughts down every once in awhile.

Have you joined up at www.paperbackswap.com ?- I love it and it is not just paperbacks - it is kid's books and hardbacks and non fiction. It would be great to have more scrapbookers on there swappin books. For every person that joins and puts me as a referral, I will send a scrapbook RAK!

What else can I share today? I am really looking forward to going to New York for a crop the end of March and of course Nashville in April. Any Nashville travel advice would be so appreciated!!!

The ornament swap

The rest of the photos are forthcoming! Does this count as an update??

This year I decided to host an ornament swap with all my friends. I sent out an email and invited everyone to participate. It was a 5 for 5 swap - which means you send me 5 ornaments that you create and I send you back 5 different ornaments from other people (this math has confused a LOT of people don't ask me why it works it just does!) Luckily only 10 people said yes and this was a truly awesome swap - I loved each one and of course I adore everyone that participated. First was my girl Kristin from Staten Island - I love talkin' NY wit her. She made the 3D stars. SEE

Then my wonderful and talented friend Amy (you know she owns Inspireco) and we were so lucky to have her join the swap. Do you see how great the packaging is on those babies?

My dear friend Trish - she and I have been stampin and scrappin together for about 6-7 years - she joined us and made this lovely glittery angel.

Susan from NY sent this awesome ornament.

The sisters fabulous - Coree and Babs - sewed the cutest gingerbread man - love him with the quilted fabric - and this filled tussie mussie - is that thing gorgeous or what.

Becca dressed up some snowflakes with chenille and glitter.

Sunny - what a fantasic idea - made little mini books - I can't wait to put pictures in mine and put picttures in them.

Magnolias

I received this story in my email this morning and I love it! It has really made me think. How many times has God given me the opportunity to be someone else's angel? Am I using my abundances as an opportunity for my own ministry? A lot to think about on this snowy Friday.

MAGNOLIAS
By Edna Ellison
I spent the week before my daughter's June wedding running last-minute trips to the caterer, florist, tuxedo shop, and the church about forty miles away. As happy as I was that Patsy was marrying a good Christian young man, I felt laden with responsibilities as I watched my budget dwindle . . . so many details, so many bills, and so little time. My son Jack was away at college, but he said he would be there to walk his younger sister down the aisle, taking the place of his dad who had died a few years before. He teased Patsy, saying he'd wanted to give her away since she was about three years old!
To save money, I gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. Their luscious, creamy-white blooms and slick green leaves would make beautiful arrangements against th e rich dark wood inside the church.After the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, we banked the podium area and choir loft with magnolias. As we left just before midnight, I felt tired but satisfied this would be the best wedding any bride had ever had! The music, the ceremony, the reception - and especially the flowers - would be remembered for years.The big day arrived - the busiest day of my life - and while her bridesmaids helped Patsy to dress, her fiancee Tim, walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check. When we opened the door and felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted; and then I saw them - all the beautiful white flowers were black. Funeral black. An electrical stormduring the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, and on that hot summer day, the flowers had wilted and died.I panicked, knowing I didn't have time to drive back to our hometown, gather more flowers, and return in time for the wedding
Tim turned to me. "Edna, can you get more flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these arrangements."I mumbled, "Sure," as he be-bopped down the hall to put on his cuff links.Alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams in the arched ceiling. "Lord," I prayed, "please help me. I don't know anyone in this town. Help me find someone willing to give me flowers - in a hurry!" I scurried out praying for four things: the blessing of white magnolias, courage to find them in an unfamiliar yard, safety from any dog that may bite my leg, and a nice person who would not get out a shotgun when I asked to cut his tree to shreds.As I left the church, I saw magnolia trees in the distance. I approached a house . . . no dog in sight. I knocked on the door and an older man answered. So far so good . . no shotgun. When I stated my plea the man beamed, "I'd be happy to!"
He climbed a stepladder and cut large boughs and handed them down to me. Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload into my car trunk, I said, "Sir, you've made the mother of a bride happy today.""No, Ma'am," he said. "You don't understand what's happening here.""What?" I asked."You see, my wife of sixty-seven years died on Monday. On Tuesday I received friends at the funeral home, and on Wednesday . . He paused. I saw tears welling up in his eyes. "On Wednesday I buried her." He looked away. "On Thursday most of my out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday - yesterday - my children left.I nodded."This morning," he continued, "I was sitting in my den crying out loud. I miss her so much. For the last sixteen years, as her health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me. This morning I cried, 'Wh o needs an eighty-six-year-old wore-out man? Nobody!' I began to cry louder. 'Nobody needs me!' About that time, you knocked, and said, "Sir, I need you."
I stood with my mouth open. He asked, "Are you an angel? The way the light shone around your head into my dark living room . ."I assured him I was no angel.He smiled. "Do you know what I was thinking when I handed you those magnolias?""No.""
I decided I'm needed. My flowers are needed. Why, I might have a flower ministry! I could give them to everyone! Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at times like that and I have lots of them. They're all over the backyard! I can give them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home!"I drove back to the church, filled with wonder. On Patsy's wedding day, if anyone had asked me to encourage someone who was hurting, would have said, "Forget it! It's my only daughter's wedding, for goodness' sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone today."
But God found a way. Through dead flowers.

Am I the last person in the craft world to see this?

So my friend Amy emails me and mentions this shopping site Bayberry Cove. So I check it out and fall madly in love with it and want to buy at least one of everything. Then while checking out blogs this week, EVERYONE mentions I bought this at Bayberry Cove and I bought this at Bayberry Cove and I have to think where on earth was I the day they announced that Bayberry Cove was the place to shop?!?!?! But now I know.

In other news, I now have wireless at my house. I know big deal so does everyone in the free world. But I am so happy to lie in bed and check emails and I am already thinking about laying out next summer and surfin the net.

Christmas shopping - tonight I am heading to The Mall in Columbia to get a few things crossed off my list. So excited for the Laurel House Tour with Natalie and Adam on Saturday. It is always so cool to see how real people decorate their homes for the holidays. I always get a cool new idea.

Stumbled upon...

This blog. And the insiration and etsy's links and just yummy goodness. I love it - now why didn't anyone tell me about it sooner.

Creative Escape

After planning for a year, Creative Escape was awesome!! We arrived in Phoenix on Saturday September 1 - almost 35 minutes early - thanks to Southwest Airlines which I personally think ROCKS! Saturday we hit costco, walmart etc planning for our week and stocking up on essentials like rum for mojitos! Sunday we went to the spa at Nordstrom Scottsdale. Erin did treatments for all of us including a vichy shower which was awesome.

Tuesday we did a luxury shopping tour (highly recommend Extreme Limousine ) have Lisa be your driver - she is awesome awesome! We visited Melrose Vintage (a super great store that I could have spent at least another day in), Diane's Ribbon and Notions, Scrap Happy Sisters, Scrapbooks ETC, Swoozies and finished off the day having dinner at Pink Taco. There was 20 of us in the group and it was so much fun!!

Wednesday, we were able to tour Bazzill paper company and stock up on paper and other fun stuff at bargain prices.

One of the biggest accomplishments of the trip was the charm swapp that I hosted. I will admit it was a ton of work - but the end result was phenomenal. Maybe you saw it on Heidi Swapp's blog - my arm is famous - hee hee.

Thursday was registration and the technique boutique. Friday and Saturday were classes all day - I was a rose along with Mel and well about all my other good friends too. My all time favorite class was Soldering with Chris Randall - I loved learning something new and relaly plan to make some Charms and Christmas ornaments with this awesome new tool. My all time favorite teacher was Leslie Safford, and her card class. Being a SU demonstrator for the last five years, I thought there is nothing that I could possibly learn about cards - nope Leslie had cool ideas and they were easy! And she and her hubby and her booth at the Trunk Show - all just delicious. Plus she is a riot - I really love the teachers that are part stand up commediene - they make the class so much easier to listen to. Her "jakie shut your pie hole story" is still funny a month later!

So yeah I have been home a month and just yesterday I finally finished up some of the projects. Still have about 6 out of 8 to complete. Sorry no pics - my camera broke about a week before CE so I just shared snapfish with all my friends.

A Whole Birthday Month

The whole month of July was one big birthday celebration for me! It started by having Fran put flowers on my desk on July 1st. The fourth was quiet - the 7th horrible but I have chosen not to dwell (I'll save it for another post) and then the 14th - my actual birthday was tons of fun! This is a shot of me at the shower, with one of the awesome presents that I received.

We threw a surprise baby shower for my wonderful friend Gaby, her hubby Greg and their new little buddle Samuel.

Then the end of the month, Mel came from Seattle for a visit and to attend CKC in Valley Forge. We managed to hook up with a bunch a friends from Jersey and Long Island and never laughed so hard. Barbie and Susan are hilarious. "Would you like a piece of gum? (for that dragon breath of yours?) We also managed to check out Sunday in the Country and promptly fell more in love with Trace Adkins. We both downloaded a bunch of his songs to our Ipods.

All in all, a great birthday month!!!!!!!!

Where have I been? Where have you been?

Really that is just my funny way of saying I have nothing interesting to report.

Have you seen this adorable button tree - I would love to credit the person - but honestly I have no idea where I found it. Probably one of the 15 blogs that I frequent every day. Really I just wanted to figure out how to add pics to my blog. So well now I can.

Now that I don't have cable at the house, I have been reading a lot. I just finished the Cape Ann by Faith Sullivan. I really liked it and I am usually not into anything historical but it was good, a quick read. Try it and tell me what you think.

Speaking of reading have you all checked out www.paperbackbookswap.com I love it - if you happen to sign up say I referred you - then I could win a big prize like money or a car or probably a book!

That all I can drum up for today.

Why am I glad?

I have so much to be glad for...

Glad I live in a time when a girl like me can have a career (can't spell it but I can have it)

and buy my own house and have good credit so I can have cute shoes and purses

and so glad that I work for a company where we treat people like family!

and so glad that I work with other girls who are nice, and care about each other

so glad that I have friends who make me laugh out loud, and surprise me with little gifts and read my blog and comment (shameless plug)

so glad that the internet and cell phones keep me in touch with people all over the world

and amazingly glad that my mom is my best friend.

and amazingly glad that there are people who get me and all my wackiness.

My heart is broken!

The CW has announced that gilmore girls will not return for a 8th season! My friend Natalie texted me last night to tell me the horrible news. Just because I was mad at them didn't mean I didn't want stolen peaks into their lives. Just because Chris and Lor broke up, and she was heading towards Luke and I didn't approve didn't mean just knowing they were out there was enough.

I'll never get to see Rory get married. I'll never get to see Steve and Kwan grow up. I was so sure that Zack would go on tour for two months and that would turn into something huge for him and Lane. What about Sookie's third child? All these things cannot be wrapped up in two one hour episodes. It worse than someone dying - a whole town is dying. (Again aware of the fact that these characters are fictional and that I could write out their life anyway I want!)

Please CW reconsider - throw some money at this situation - whatever it takes!

Of note!

So this you tube thing - it is great! Today I watched Tuesday nights gilmore girls episode. Now I know that I gave up cable because I did not like the direction that they were going with that show. But still I am drawn to those girls - they are like family to me. (I am very aware as to how pathetic this all sounds!) So back to the episode. LOGAN is going to ask RORY to marry him! And Loralei will always love Luke - wow who figured that out - NASA?

OK so I have some questions - 1. Whatever happened to Lane's dad? 2. What about Emily - was she hatched or something, where is her family, brothers, sisters, a mother?

Oh and another thing, the queen is visiting VA this week? so when someone asks you why you are doing something (special or crazy or whatever) tell them its cause the Queen is in town? How often can you say that?

Super fun shopping weekend!

This past weekend was so much shopping! We started Saturday morning by driving to Leesburg VA to the Paris Flea Market where I got to meet Amy , my creative super hero. OH my her booth had so much fun stuff that I had to have, a beautiful apron, some french rubber stamps, the roll of wishes (I really needed those, how many times have you just needed one wish), a magic wand cause sometimes wishes don't come true and then you need magic, a travel size of glitter, cause into each day a little glitter must fall, and one of the flower girls kits. What a great event! I loved everyone there! Then we hit some of the other stores in leesburg (lou lou,) where I got lucchese boots and they are so beautiful. Then went to Tusky's for dinner and mojitos (my favorite!) - delish!! Finished off the night at the super cool leesburg outlets.

Sunday was the Scrapbook Flea Market, got lots of goodies and then finished out the day by going to a Southern Living party.

Now I just got to work all week to pay for it!

Who cares?

Yes it has been 7 weeks since I last hit the publish button - so long that I had to reset my password because darn if I could remember it. But who really cares? If you do, post a comment and then maybe it will be incentive for me to post more.

Vancouver, Artistry and time with Mel was awesome! Mel's daughter Gracie is the most adorable child - she can seriously run with the big girls. She is always first one in the car because she does not want to miss a thing! We hit the hot tourist spots, the scrapbook stores and costco - all very important places. My class with Claudine was very outside my box but learning the new techniques was cool. Ali was amazing, I plan to add the pictures to her book this weekend and both of the projects with Donna were great!

Easter I am headed to my mom's in Jersey. Hopefully I'll get a peep. Hopefully you do too!