(diva)logues

I ♥ stamping onto patterned paper. Now if only I had tiny fingers & tiny scissors...

 

Another example of my new stamping obsession.  All I can say is, at least I'm putting a few of the too-many-to-count stamps that I have, to good use.  I'm also happy to say that my girls look a little less jaundiced than some of my other Copic creations.  You'll get to see one example of jaundiced skin on Saturday (aka. "World Card Making Day.") 

Went out to lunch with my friends today!  The weather was beautiful and we were able to sit outside on their patio.  Love when that happens.  My lunch was yummy too... cornmeal encrusted trout, green beans & sauteed brussel  sprouts.  And yes, I know what you're thinking... brussel sprouts?  Trust me.  These are AMAZING.  I think I could eat them every day.  Need to figure out how to work that out.  Heehee.  Thanks again, Christa, for lunch! 

Hooray for flag banners (and dessert)...

   

Today is my day to post over at the Nikki Sivils blog.  You can see this card, along with several other projects, using lots of flag banners (and punches, for that matter!)  Head over there to check it out if you have time today! 

Date night was fun!  It was utterly gluttonous, but we went home happy, as always...

After having seafood ceviche for an appetizer, salads, risotto for Bob & a grilled tuna for me... we moved on to Baileys Chocolate Bar for dessert and had, what we both decided, was the BEST dessert of our whole life.

And I quote from the menu:  "Carmelized banana, Baileys, chocolate & vanilla ice creams, nuts, homemade chocolate & caramel sauces, whipped cream... on top of a brownie.  Not for the faint of heart."  It cost $14 and was enough to feed an army (or... just Bob & me).  And seriously, it was gluttonous... like enough dessert for 2 days.  But damn, it was good.  Thank goodness we don't live very close...

 

Off to the Y.  You KNOW I'm headed there after that feast!  Have a GREAT weekend!  I hope yours is full of a few sweet treats, too!

Happy Independence Day!

I FINALLY scrapped these photos from last year's 4th of July!  It only took almost 365 days to do it.  But... when Jenyfur at SRM Stickers asks for some 4th of July-themed projects... it's GREAT inspiration... especially when you have some CUTE 4th of July-themed stickers...

 

I also FINALLY used some of my Jillibean Soup stash I'd purchased several months ago!  I love those bird houses SO much! 

With some of the rest of my stickers (and my Nikki Sivils' Craft Flags), I made some cupcake toppers for our BBQ last night...

  

Check out the SRM Stickers blog today for lots of 4th of July inspiration using LOTS of SRM Stickers!  The 4th of July-themed word stickers around the border of my page was inspired by the always-creative Jing-Jing Nickel.  See her ADORABLE page today, along with the rest of the team's pages & cards, and you'll have tons of inspiration for your own 4th of July projects!

I hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Stars & stripes forever...

It's Friday & we're ready for the weekend.  Bob's leaving the office early today to play golf with a friend this afternoon.  Bryn is going to see Toy Story 3 with a friend this afternoon.  And I am going to do a little more cleaning & crafting & getting ready for our BBQ we're having tomorrow night with our neighbors... a friend of Bryn's and her parents (the mom just retired from the Army!).  After everyone is back home today, the 3 of us are going out to dinner tonight... no cooking for me.  Yay!

I picked up some red, white & blue things from Michaels today on clearance & I think I have a menu planned for our BBQ...

 

Found free printables here for these popcorn holders & I plan to fill them with red Twizzlers & mini marshmallows for the kids...

 

We usually stay in town for the 4th since we have such a great view of several fireworks displays in the horizon from our back deck.  There's also a lot of fireworks going off in the subdivision, so we have "surround sound" during the display. Also, we have a big trip coming up so it wouldn't make sense to leave town right now, when we really should be thinking about packing. 

Speaking of packing (and stars & stripes), I'll be doing some sight-seeing very soon in this black & white maxi dress.  It was very cheap... Forever 21...

 and I'll need to dig this out, too... 

I'll be back on Sunday with a 4th of July page using my 4th of July SRM Stickers! 

I hope you enjoy your weekend! I, for one, am thankful for all the men & women who protect & serve our country every single day of the year.  Happy Independence Day Weekend!

Cupcake liners aren't just for cupcakes...

My Christmas shopping is ALMOST complete... yay!  The wrapping, however, has yet to begin.  That is, until this one little measly gift I thought I'd wrap to show you an idea on how to use what you may already have on hand.  Had to buy a roll a brown mailing paper over the weekend to mail off a package & decided I could use it along with the red/pink/silver color combo wrapping paper I was already planning to use for our gifts this year.  To dress it up a bit, I wrapped a green polka dotted ribbon around it & then placed a cupcake liner bow on top.  My bow was made using 4 liners that I just played with a bit to make each one look more flowery & then I added a green corduroy Nikki Sivils brad to the middle to hold it all together...

After making our cookies last night, I made some roasted acorn squash to go along with the grilled chicken that Bob made on the BBQ.  We all love squash & this is just too easy.  Take an acorn squash & cut it in half.  Place it on a baking pan/cookie sheet that has been lined with aluminum foil & then sprayed with a cooking spray to keep it from sticking.  Place the halves squash side down on the foil & bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  I added a brown rice/quinoa mixture to each side when it was finished.  Would probably make a more festive-looking side dish at Thanksgiving, but since we love to eat it so much, I made it now!   

I got a little behind on my December Daily last week, so I'm going to try to play catch-up today since Bryn is at school late today for Drama Club.   

Happy Monday!

Just add some Sprinkles...

Had a nice & relaxing day yesterday... worked out in the morning & spent a couple hours at the pool.  We made plans to meet up with Sarah & Gloria again to return their gift from Julie that they had left at our villa.  We met at Sprinkles!  I've heard so much about their cupcakes, primarily from Sarah, & all I can say is sooo CUTE & sooo YUMMY!   

Although after reading the descriptions of all the cupcakes I thought, "I'll have one of each please!" we showed some restraint & left with only 4... pumpkin, mocha, red velvet & banana.  Sarah & Gloria were better & only left with 1 each.  (Although... they have Sprinkles at home & we do not!) 

We tried 2 of them after dinner last night (at Buca di Beppo) split them down the middle so Bob & I could each try both... the pumpkin & the banana.  YUMMO!  Bryn enjoyed an ice cream sundae... vanilla soy ice cream, fresh strawberries & banana slices + some cinnamon cookie crumbles on top.  We were all happy. 

And tonight... we try the remaining two... :-)

Feeling very happy...

Just a few of the MANY things making me feel so HAPPY right now...

I received surprise mail from one of the most talented artists I know.  Chris painted a watercolor for me & I'd swear she's seen my house because the colors she chose could NOT have been more PERFECT!  I got tears in my eyes when I saw it.  Is she not insanely talented?  Thank you, thank you, thank you Chris!

 

I have very neutral colors in my home with pops of red, orange, purple & lime green.  When I asked Bob if he noticed it on the counter he said, "She made that?!  I thought you bought it somewhere today.  She needs to sell those!"  Yes, everyone has been telling Chris to open an etsy shop.   

 

Last night my sister & her boyfriend came over for dinner & "game night."  I laughed so hard, my stomach & my back hurt.  SO MUCH FUN!  Don't get to see her nearly enough.  They spent the night because they were helping Joel's parents out with their garage sale this morning & they live close to us.  I woke to a note she wrote me about something funny from last night & started laughing all over again! 

I also woke up to this note in the doorway of my bedroom from Bryn...

 

Seriously.  I get notes like this almost every day.  Most of her notes are hand-written, but sometimes she'll get on Word & type them.  I tell her all the time that I am the luckiest mom in the whole world. 

Oh... and this makes me happy, too... 

I'm happy with only 4 squares... unlike Dark Chocolate Raisinets, which are just WAY too easy for me to overeat. 

It's a very rainy day, so I'm running 4 miles on the treadmill & then I may just have to hang out in the craft room for awhile.  What's making you happy today?  Could be a great starting point for your next layout! 

Hitting the streets...

Since Bryn was off to a local fair with her cousin & my parents (+ spending the night at their house), Bob & I decided to hit the streets!  We headed for an area we haven't been to in quite some time.  It's a young, artsy, college area with lots of restaurants, sidewalk dining & little boutique stores... perfect for a beautiful day.  It was still too early for dinner so we walked around & did a little shopping... mostly window shopping really.  It seemed a bit odd to me that in a tobbaco shop store-front window, there were a whole collection of bongs.  Only in The Loop, I guess...

I bought a black ruffly tank, that actually Bob picked out.  (He knows what I like!)  We also grabbed a couple smoothies from Smoothie King... love that place!  We wanted to have a glass of wine at Riddles, but they weren't open yet.  So... we moved on to the West End & found a table on the patio at Liluma.  Just when we decided to stay a little longer & share an appetizer, we felt raindrops.  So we moved on again... 

We settled on Clayton & went to Roxane's Wine Bar... & had some Shrimp Ceviche to hold us over until dinner.  Bob caught up on some of the days football scores from the bartender.  

Afterward it was Maggiano's for dinner.  They told us it would be an hour or more wait for a table, which didn't exactly thrill us, but we put our name in.  Right after we did that, though, we turned around & saw people leaving a table in the bar area, so we took it!  Gotta love when that happens!  We just ordered our dinner in the bar.  My Parmesan Encrusted Tialapia topped with shrimp was SO YUMMY. 

We headed back home after dinner for a glass of wine in our own bar.  It was raining by this point & I didn't want to be out & about really late, when we had things to do on Sunday morning.  Bob wanted to get up to drive to Illinois to visit his dad, I wanted to get up & run on the treadmill & then I had to pick up Bryn. 

We turned on our favorite jazz station, opened some GOOD wine & talked some more.  We called & said good-night to Bryn while we were sitting there, too.  It was a great way to end a really great afternoon & evening...

Date Nights...

Date Night #1 was FUN!  We had dinner at the new McCormick & Schmicks restaurant.  We've dined at that restaurant once, in Kansas City.  The appetizers were good... 1/2 dozen oysters & some calamari, too.  My dinner was ok, Bob's was good.  The wine list was ok.  I wouldn't say that either one of us would be in a hurry to return, but we enjoyed it & laughed a lot.  We went next door to the new Bravo for a glass of wine after dinner.  I had been to one in Kansas City for lunch with Marci & Mom, but since he's never been to one, I wanted him to check it out.  Seeing a trend here?  Kansas City gets restaurants before we do...

      

Date Night #2 is tonight involving dinner at a wine bar/restaurant + the musical "The Music Man" at an outdoor theater.  We are using my parent's season tickets to see the show, as they are at the Lake with Bryn right now.  At some point I need to finish packing for the Lake, as we're leaving tomorrow after we work-out in the morning & eat a quick lunch, but I guess I'll get that soon.    

While the phone & internet service was out in our area today (so annoying), I used the time to run on the treadmill & then make this page with a photo from my mom's birthday dinner...

  

I suppose I probably should've been using the time to finish packing, but some how scrapping takes priority... especially when I have the house to myself.  

Feeling good...

I just read Rinnavation.  I love Lisa Rinna & have been a fan of hers all the way back to Days of Our Lives.  I think I like her because she's just a few years older than me, but she's still doing all she can to look good, feel good & slow down the hands of time.  And like most of my role-models, she works hard for her body & looks better in her 40's than she ever did in her 20's.  I can very much relate to that. 

 It's a very easy read & I finished it in just 2 days.  In it, she talks about doing cleanses & detoxing.  One thing that works for her is SoCal cleanse, which I just ordered & received in only 2 days.  Super fast shipping & I didn't pay for that to happen either!   I also ordered some Spirulina to add to smoothies, for which she gives several recipes.  You can read more about each on their websites & she has her reasons in the book.  My reason for doing some cleansing/detoxing is really my sugar intake... specifically chocolate (or Dark Chocolate Raisinets, which I can manage to down quite a few of in one sitting).  While I do work my a-- off every day to allow for the extra calories, I've heard more than once that sugar really is the worst thing you can put into your body.  So... I'm making some positive changes.  I already have a multi-vitamin + vitamin D + Omega 3 that I take daily, but I just want to add more good stuff. 

    I have also made & tried her home-made cleanse she included in the book.  I have to say it's the oddest tasting thing I've ever tried, but I guess it works.  (2 T. of fresh lemon or lime juice, 1 T. pure maple syrup, dash of cayenne pepper & 8 oz. of water).  

Her Ballroom Body Blast dvd is a ton of fun, too.  Lately on my running days, I've been running for a 1/2 hour on the treadmill... about 3.2 miles... & then doing this dvd.  It's similar to my Zumba stuff I do on Mondays, so between LOVING Dancing With the Stars & LOVING Zumba, it's a win-win dvd.   And speaking of feeling good, nothing makes me feel better than a new pair of shoes (well, actually I have a list of things that make me happy that include more than a new pair of shoes, but you know what I mean!).  Here's my latest purchase, that I can't wait to wear with my "boyfriend" jeans & a tee... Found these lovelies here.  You can use 2 coupon codes at once (SUMMERLUV for $10 off any purchase of $49 or more and SHIP2ME for free standard shipping on $35 or more.) 

I have zero desire to be in my 20's again... ZERO.  But I don't exactly want to LOOK my age either.  No one's going to mistake me for a 20-year old (other than maybe that "blind" cashier at Whole Foods who carded me about a week after I turned 41... not that I was complaining, mind you), but I really don't want to LOOK my age either.  I'd rather look a few years younger than I am.  But the bottom line is that you can't just do it on the outside.  It starts with what you put into your body.  Junk in, junk out.  I agree with the general message of Lisa's book.  It takes some effort, but it's as simple as eating right, exercising & taking a few minutes on your appearance every day.  It takes as much effort to throw on a sundress & some flip flops to run your errands, as it does to put on some sweats & a t-shirt. 

When you FEEL good, you LOOK good.   

"Calgon, take me away..."

... is what I texted Bob this afternoon while out in the heat for 2 1/2 hours at the school "Olympic Games."  If only I knew when I volunteered to help out that I was going to have "Date Night" the night before, I may have reconsidered!  It was all good though & I can say I'm glad to be back at home, in the air-conditioning!  

Went to a restaurant called Sasha's Wine Bar.  For my local friends, it's a must.  We went to the location on Shaw, but they also have another one (supposedly smaller) in Clayton.  Wine bottles covered all the walls & they had cool wine bottle pendant lights hanging down above all the tables...

  

 

 

My sister joined us after dinner at the bar for a glass of wine...

 

We had the BEST time.  Bob & I spent the night at the Sheraton afterward. 

We are staying in town this weekend.  Bob is participating the Senior Olympics... in the basketball free throw & around the world events on Saturday morning & their 5K on Sunday morning.  We are going to visit his family in Illinois afterward on Sunday.  Hopefully I'll have some crafting time this weekend, too! 

How about you?  Plans for Memorial Weekend?  Hope it's a good one! 

Forty one...

... is great.  I would've never thought it would be... say 20 years ago.  But it seems that getting older is getting better.  And since we can't turn back the hands of time, trying to make the best of what IS... is the BEST thing you can do.   

Tuesday was FUN!  Met Christa & Stephanie for lunch at Cheesecake Factory... where else?  It's almost laughable how often I can eat their food and not get sick of it.  Anyway, I haven't seen either one of them since "Game Night" at our house last month & we had LOTS to catch up on.  Lunch could've easily gone well into the evening, but we left about 2 hours later (since we all had errands to run & kids coming home from school) & decided we'll get together again soon with cocktails next time... 

  

The Chocolate Godiva Cheesecake was beyond describable...

 

Of all the cheesecakes I've tried, I believe it was the first time I've had that one.  (Bob would later decide he needed some, too, the next day).  Thank you again, girls, for the GREAT gifts and your friendship most of all.  Oh & by the way... I went home & searched for & then purchased Christa's handbag.  They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

Yesterday was my actual birthday.  I woke up to gifts from Bob & Bryn, one of which was this watch...

...took Bryn to school & went to my Spin class.  LOVE that class.  Hurried to get ready afterward & met Bob for lunch at PF Changs.  My sister asked, "Isn't that where you went for Bob's birthday?"  To which I replied, "Yes, but we can't go there with Bryn (because of her food allergies) so when we get the chance... we go."  And... let's just say it's a good thing I married another Taurus.  We are BOTH creatures of habit.  As much as we LOVE to try new places, it doesn't bother either one of us to go back to a place we've been... again & again...

 

Yes, I did have on 2 earrings & no, one of them was not a bright head-light... but it does appear that way with the flash.  Now I know why I wear my gold hoop earrings all the time!  I stopped by Nordstrom after lunch, made a couple returns & found a dress for Date Night...

Bob said he'd bring home a surprise dinner, so Bryn & I went to Michaels after I picked her up from school.  I received a gift card for Michaels & it was burning a hole in HER pocket.

When I came home, I found this postcard in my mailbox... my BEST GIFT EVER...

 

Thank you to the Government for excusing me from Jury Duty!!!!! 

And the prettiest purple orchids were delivered from Sally...

 

More Chocolate Godiva Cheesecake last night for dessert because Bob had to try it too... but who's complaining?  Not me! 

Date Night tonight... and the party continues!

Busy... so what else is new?

New cards are up at the Let's Scrap blog.  This month one of our designers, Amanda, sponsored us & donated her hand-made tags to use.  The challenge this time was to use one of her tags + buttons...

 

You can check out her etsy shop for more goodies!

I am busy cleaning, running errands, getting my butt kicked at a class at the Y and preparing for a dinner we're hosting tomorrow night for some friends that are being relocated to another state.  I am making salmon.. I made it the other night to see if it was as good as it looked & yep... it's delish (and EASY).  Oh, and Tiramisu for dessert...

 

Have a GREAT weekend!

Celebrating...

 

Made a card for Bob's birthday during the Let's Scrap online crop last weekend.  The challenge was to use birds on a layout or card.  

We celebrated his birthday for the better part of the day yesterday.  I went to my Spin class in the morning & he went into the office for a few hours before we met at PF Changs for lunch.  It was delicious.  We don't go very often because Bryn can't eat there, so when we do it's a treat.  While he was in the restroom, I told our waitress it was his birthday.  She brought out a HUGE piece of chocolate cake, with 5 layers of chocolate icing & chocolate chips covering the outside of it.... drizzled in a raspberry sauce + some fresh berries...

  

It really was a huge piece of cake.  We ate most, but not all of it... as we had a big dinner planned with MORE dessert to eat (brownies that I made with Bryn & home-made cherry pie that my mom was bringing over).  After lunch, Bob was supposed to return to the office for cake with his staff, but kept saying, "I don't want to go back to work.  I just want to hang out with you for awhile, go work-out & then go home."  I said, "Then call them & tell 'em you're not coming back in."  So he did & we went to Macys to get a credit & then did a little shopping at Sams before going our separate ways for awhile.  It was a fun afternoon! 

For dinner I made a big pasta including shrimp & grilled scallops, tomatoes, broccoli, portabello mushrooms, onions, garlic & olive oil ... just kinda made it up as I went along.  We also had salad & wine, of course!  My sister came over with her new boot on.  She's still waiting on her bone scan results, but it fairly confident that she'll be wearing it for the next 4-6 weeks & is NOT happy about it...

 

Bryn suggested that she could hop around on 1 leg to get exercise and Marci's exboyfriend, Gerry, suggested that she could get a job at I-Hop, neither of which was very amusing to her.  Ha! 

  

 

The meal was yummy, the conversation always entertaining & Bob had a great day from beginning 'til end...