Right Now

http://lovelife.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Right now I am:

Watching: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Dates (let's just say that sometimes it is better to leave some things in the past)

Eating: Cobb salad at TGIFriday's with the hubby and kids

Drinking: Frozen pina colada

Wearing: Micky Mouse Tee shirt/yoga pants/black Converse

Avoiding: Housework/Cleaning

Feeling: Exhausted. My first day off from work is always a catch up on sleep day.

Reading: The Fifty Shades of Grey series. I finished book 2 last night. And what is my favorite part of the books? Not the steamy romance. Not the tons of money that Christian has. But the fact that he has a person Mon-Fri who cooks their meals for them. Seriously. Can you imagine waking up and having someone make you breakfast? Or after you drive home from work, having someone ask what you would like for dinner as you drink a glass of wine? That is my FANTASY!

Thankful: To get to see my firstborn tonight. And visit over a 3 hour dinner. And see him smile.

Weather: 82 degrees right now (11pm), with expected high of 99 tomorrow (really? Under 100??)

Playing: With my new camera (will share more later this week)

Needing: To get some things done. House projects. Blog projects. Shop projects.

Thinking: How can the kids be going back to school so soon? How can summer be over already? I'm not ready for the lazy summer days to end!

Dreaming: Of Fall Break. And walks to the beach. And relaxing with my family. (Did you notice in my dream there are no children arguing or complaining? Yep. That's a dream, fo sure!)

Loving: My goofy 10 yr old daughter. Who had a gummy worm dangling from her nose tonight at dinner. Who requested that the photo not make it to my blog. Too bad. It's pretty funny!

Bee Happy

Just a little something to start off your Saturday morning with a smile.



http://media-cache3.pinterest.com/upload/203013895672782128_bsVPKEIa_f.jpg

Let me know what you did today to bee happy.

Friday Wrap (InstaFriday)

Wow. Another week has gone by. Hard to believe!

And I have even less photos on my phone to share. It seems to be a disturbing trend!

Well, some weeks I just do a better job of pulling out that phone to document the everyday events.
Other weeks, not so well.

Here is what I do have to share:

Opened up that can of paint to test on the family room wall. Opened it in the dining room and started walking toward the kitchen. That's when it hit my hip and paint splashed over the edge of the can.

Which looks like this on my carpet. Lovely. But wait. It gets even better.

In an attempt to clean up some of the mess, I thought I would try to steam clean the paint. Stop. Do not try this at home. Because IT DOES NOT WORK!!!

Well, I just closed that paint can and put it back on the table. Will have to try to paint another day. When I am over the horror of what I did to the carpet.

We did finish back to school shopping. But no photos to share.

On our day off we all went to the movies to see Brave and Ice Age 4. We enjoyed both. Not great, but fun.

Started a new search for a beach house over Fall Break. I found one in San Diego, but after taking a week to think over things, the hubby and I were in agreement that we were spending more money than we really felt comfortable spending. So, I started looking into hotels and smaller, less expensive beach houses. I think I may have found the one. Just need to get the approval from Mark.

 

Now it's time to share your phone camera photos. Click on the button below and join in on InstaFriday.

Photo A Day-August

It's official. I have given up on the July list for Photo a Day. I have not taken any photos for the past 1.5 weeks.

It's okay. That's just life. But the good news is that it will start over again in August. Which is next week, if you haven't already noticed.

So here is the list, with more instructions at Fat Mum Slim. Go check out her blog. Just do it. And join me for the challenge. I like to post weekly updates, as long as I have anything to post! And I'd love for you to add a link in the comment area to share your photos with me!

And let me know if you have any suggestions on how you stay on top of taking a photo a day. I tried adding a list to my phone, but then I forgot to check the list daily.

Summer Bucket List Update

How is everyone doing on their Summer Bucket Lists (a.k.a Summer Manifesto)???

We are officially down to 2 weeks. From today. Until all the rugrats go back to school.

I can honestly say that I wish we had a few more weeks. And this would be the first time that thought has ever entered my head! I'm normally more like this:

I don't know if it is because my kids are getting older (10, 12, and 16 + the 19 year old that moved into his own apartment), or if I am just now fully grasping how quickly my time with them is flying by. But I have enjoyed the relaxed days (especially those 3.5 weeks that I was home after knee surgery)!

So, I thought it might be time to revisit that List and see what we can get done in the next 14 days.

Here is the original post if you are interested.

Looking at the list I'm thinking several things. We have seen a ton of movies. Which is understandable since it is nice to go to a cool, dark place for a few hours and escape the heat. But really, next year's list should have less movies. And some other activities had to be postponed due to my knee problems. We had to skip things with stairs or too much walking/standing. But that should just be a temporary issue.

And here is the original list, with items in red showing which ones we completed.

Muppet movie at the park/picnic
night bike rides
see Avengers
see Dark Knight Rises
knee surgery
see Spider Man
stay cation
Science Center
swim at Grandpa's pool
ice skating
Barnes and Noble
see Ice Age 4
walk dogs
visit beach
board game night
see Brave
public pool
visit the Grandmas
root beer floats
see Madagascar 3
Biosphere
Casa Grande Ruins
Out of Africa
Cabela's
slumber party
see MIB III
pedicures
As You Wish
Kartchner Caves
Wii night
see Odd Life of Timothy Green
Craft day
see Battleship
make cupcakes
petroglyphs-waterfall trail
see Snow White and the Huntsman
bowling
Bear park
see Diary of a Wimpy Kid

The final thought is that I really like the idea of this list, so why should it just be limited to summer break? Why not have a seasonal list? So, I'm extending my Summer list to include the month of August. And then there will be a Fall List starting in September.

So check back again at the end of August to see what fun activities we got to complete this summer.

Where are you in completing your Summer Manifesto? Leave a comment and let me know. I really do love getting your comment!

Swoon

OMG!

I saw this giveaway on Young House Love. For a Kohler sink. A COLORED sink!

I actually made a gasping noise. An audible gasp when I saw the COLORED sink.

And my heart started racing.

Thank goodness we are renting. Otherwise, I would be obsessing over which color I needed to buy.

They are only $3,000. So I could totally afford one. Or even 2. Ha. Ha.

But seriously, I want one. For the "future" house. Maybe for the beach cottage.

Which color would you pick? I want the Riverby style in Palermo Blue.

Dreams

Working on making my dreams a reality. Today is a day for painting canvases. I have some exciting things planned for the upcoming months. Will share more soon. But for today, I need to go grab an iced coffee and sit down in my partially cleaned art studio and get to work.

Artwork above is from Pinterest. I was bad and did not save the link to the original post. I will try to find the link and update the post later.

Now go out into the world and have a fabulous day!

Pinterest Love

Something to Make Me Squeal Like a Pre-teen girl:

a baby polar bear

http://sarasmiles.tumblr.com/page/525

Something I could totally wear: 

I have a striped shirt and similar jeans and shoes. Just need a yellow cardigan. And a different purse.

http://damselindior.com/page/2/

Something to Make:

My case is ready for a replacement.

<>

http://expecttheunexpectedwithdenise.blogspot.com/2012/05/diy-tribal-print-iphone-case.html

Something to believe in:

<>

http://www.thewoodco.blogspot.com/

Something to admire:

no link information

Something to Cherish:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/88653176/infinity-knot-diamond-ring-the-original

Do you have any Pinterest faves from the past week? I'd love to see what makes your heart happy!

Starbucks Love

I was working on organizing my photos on my laptop when I realized that I have several photos taken outside the local Starbucks.
This is the most recent. See how reflective the sidewalk is. That is called rain. I know, some of you may know this already, but we don't see much rain around here.

 

Spring. I love the yellow puffy balls on the Palo Verde trees. It counts as color. In the desert.

 

I know. Those puffy yellow balls are evil to some people with allergies. And they make a big mess (see next picture). But I still secretly love them.

And just to mix it up a bit, one taken at night. Doesn't it look all cozy and inviting? I really can't help that I consider this place my home away from home. It just oozes comfort.

I thought it was interesting that I had several photos of my favorite local place.

Or is it strange?

Do you have a favorite place to chill?

Friday Wrap (instaFriday)

Happy Friday everyone. It's time for the Friday Wrap (InstaFriday).

Went to my nephew's 4th birthday party. He is crazy good with video games. Here he is practicing his driving skills. Good luck with that in about 12 years!

Spotted these cuties at QT. That cute packaging will get me every time! I loved the colors and the faces on the lemons (some looked like they ate something sour). There were 8 different flavors to try. I will be going back to buy some this week!

The Before picture of my loft/crafting space. Yes. Pretty horrific. I did some rearranging, but the big "reveal" photo is not ready just yet.

Yeah. My Donna Downey Canvas Create video arrived in my mailbox. The meant Starbucks and a bubble bath while watching the video. That was pure happiness, for sure!

The next day we headed out for back to school shopping We went into Forever 21 for the first time. It was amazing how large the store was! I'm pretty sure Katie's heart found it's happy place!

And wrapping up the week with a heartbreaking story. The shooting in Aurora during the midnight showing of the new Batman film. I heard the breaking news on the way home from work on Thursday. Mark and Alec were at the midnight showing in Mesa. So sad, so scary, so pointless.

Take some time today to hug your loved ones and spend some time appreciating them!

And link up/check out the InstaFriday party by clicking the button below.

Boston mini-book 2011

Yep. That title says 2011. I have a ton of unfinished projects around here (head nod, you know you do too). So I'm trying to tackle some of them. And today I finished the Boston album.

Last October, work wanted me to use some of my PTO (paid time off). So I thought I would visit my brother and his fiancee (now wife), But he has a life now, and a rather busy one, and the timing wasn't the best for them. So what's a girl to do with some approved PTO? Go visit her besties in Boston. By herself. Even though said girl (and her husband) were in Boston 4 months earlier for her Day of Love v.19.0.

So, for 4 days, I got to enjoy time with the boys (Freddie and Warren). And had a fabulous time.

Yes I did.

So here is a peek at some of the mini-book pagers:

Front cover (back cover same with map print). Album is actually a rectangle shape (see below).

Inside of front and back covers (paper with paint around edges).

Inside pages are black (book came that way). I added some bright pieces of paper to about half the pages. This is the only embellishment in the book, Otherwise just my awesome white gel pen sharing the stories.

 

I tore half the pages out of the book, then reattached them with that polka dot washi tape. That way, each page folded out for a bigger layout. So, when you flipped out both sides, it was really like looking at 4 pages at once. Pretty cool! (striped background is my desk, not part of the book)

Some pages have photos, others quotes.

And some just have journaling.

I like how this book came together. Simple, yet cute. And I have really been trying to work on the journaling part of my mini-books. To record some of the unique, little moments along with the bigger ones.

And in this book, I even included some research. Yes, I'm nerdy like that. I walked around Harvard when we went into Boston for the day, so I added some history of the school to one of my journaling pages.

Hope you enjoyed. Hope you are finding time this summer to document some of your favorite memories. Either fresh ones or even ones from your past. It's never too late!

Make Every Moment Count

Stumbled across this amazing video and had to share. Such great images and message! Hope you enjoy!

To see more work by this artist, visit Paper Fortress Films.

Photo A Day July (8-14)



Wanted to share this week's progress on Photo a Day July. It helps to keep me accountable. Not that I have 7 photos to share. I don't. But I do have 4.

Lunch.
My girls had a sleepover and wanted to go do something fun today. They decided to go to this indoor playground, and out to lunch. After offering "anyplace you want" they decided on Olive Garden. I didn't have the heart to say no at that point, so off we went. And isn't it interesting how much i-phones and i-touches have become such a part of our lives. Like all the time?



Big
As in, how did my kids get this big? And the blond in the blue shirt is not one that I gave birth to. She is my oldest boy's fiancee. I mean really, how could that be? And now my 4 will one day be 5.



Favorite color
Really? Who can pick just one? I can't! So I picked all these colors for my desk redo. Want more details? Just click here.



Open
Talk about your wide open spaces. This is about as open as it gets. This summer I'm not feeling love for the desert I live in. Would like to see some green. Like they have in Boston. Or Seattle. Or California. Or lots of places that are not here.

Have any photos to share with me? Send me a link

What is Photo a Day July? See here.

Kool Aid Cookies

Happy Monday peoples.

First, a quick update for all those wondering what I did  yesterday. Lunch at the Olive Garden and  then playtime at Makutu's Island, an indoor playground. That's what the girls chose. And some relaxing time in the evening.

Now, on to new things.

Tried out a new recipe. Yep. I baked.

I have seen this recipe around a few places online, and decided it was time to try.

They were very pretty, with an interesting taste. Like a flavored sugar cookie. I'm thinking they would be better in a different flavor, like orange or lemon.

I definitely think you should give them a try. The hardest part is picking the flavor.

 

So here are the ingredients:

 

1 package (.17 oz) of Kool-Aid powder (the kind w/out the sugar added)

1 and 2/3 cup white sugar
1 and 1/4 cups softened butter (2 and 1/4 sticks)
2 large eggs, beaten (w/ a fork is fine)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups of all-purpose flour (pack it down when you measure it)
1/2 cup white sugar in a bowl

See how pretty they are! If you are a cookie dough taster, which I totally am, I have to warn you that the flavor is much stronger in the dough. The fruit punch taste is pretty mild once you bake the cookies.

This is the part where you roll the dough in the sugar.

 

Baked and cooling on the rack. Still pretty. And you know you have to eat all the broken ones. It's a baking rule!

Here they are posing for a picture. They photograph better when there are multiple flavors/colors stacked. Maybe another day.

 

So you have to let me know if you try these out. Hit. Or miss?

Happy Baking!

Always Believe

Well, how about that for a happy thought!

Any big plans for your Sunday?

I might work on organizing my art studio. Ever since I resurfaced my desk, it seems to want me to clean up the space and make it pretty. Like the desk thinks it is special and the rest of the room is not worthy. Oh, yeah. I also bought a new dry erase board and bulletin board. Make that new MEGA sized boards. To help with my organization of blog posts and business-y stuff.

I might take my girls to see the Katie Perry movie. They have a friend over, and depending on how late she stays, we might go spend some serious girl time together. I know, you're jealous.

I might have coffee with a friend. After she gets back from church and I entertain the idea of getting off the laptop and taking a shower.

I might make dinner tonight. It's such a hard decision. You see, the truth is, I have not made dinner since I went to Palm Springs. Which was back in June. The 25th of June to be exact. Mark has made dinner. And we have eaten food at dinnertime. Such as sandwiches and cereal. And pizza and tacos (and various other unhealthy fast food items). But that does not really count as making dinner.

I might paint a wall blue. Yeah, that seems pretty unlikely.

I'll have to let you know what I end up doing today. I know, the suspense will almost kill you. But be strong. And check back tomorrow for an update. And get up and go do something with your day. And let me know what that something might be.

:)

CHA Sneak Peek

Happy Saturday.

Have you seen all the sneak peaks for the upcoming CHA show?

I'm like a kid in a candy shop. A kid on Christmas morning.
So many pretty things. Whispering to me.
So I thought I would share a few of my favorite ones.

Crate Paper's new line Acorn Avenue:

Love the paper with all the date stamps!



And these flowers are gorgeous.






Did you see the wood veneer pieces at the top of this group of photos? And the stickers that look like pieces of tape? Makes my heart swoon!

Studio Calico stamps:

And everyone needs an "Oh snap" stamp.


Lily Bee Designs Persnickety line:



And the book text clouds? I likey. Any chevron print is good in my book!




Seriously? Chevron stamps and a Polaroid frame? Yes. This one is a must have!



More from Studio Calico:


And another must have!



And these kraft heart stickers.

Anyone else out there loving all the sneak peeks?

Please share with me!