if i make one, do i have to make more?

happy friday everyone!

i'm back to share a post with you that i've been teasing about all week. it's something that i actually made a while ago, but no one in the virtual world has seen... YET! but first, i have a card or two, or five for you :D

first up is a quick little set i made at the Impress Stamp Night i mentioned in THIS POST. it was so much fun trying out new stamps, new ink colors, and just plain getting a lot of stamping done. before i went, i looked at some blogs and catalogs for inspiration... i just wanted to get some ideas flowing. one thing i decided was i wanted to make some single layer cards.

each one uses the same stamp in a different ink color along with a different sentiment. they're so pretty all lined up together, aren't they?

and here i have a card like the one i made HERE with a few variations. i had a coworker request a few cards she wanted to buy, and she really loved this one. i used Basic Grey's 6x6 Lemonade papers for the background, and then the 'baby' is a DeNami Design stamp. i also did the ribbon in a double bow kind of how Paulina does hers sometimes. love this fun baby card... what a cute way to welcome a new little one, dontcha' think?

okay, one last thing before we move on to the 'reveal' ...hehe :D

for those of you that missed yesterday's post, i would love for you to check out my card HERE that i made for the SteamBoyz event being hosted by Velvet over HERE. if you're into steampunk at all, or have a hankering for YA books based in a Victorian era with the addition of special gadgets and lots of action, OR if you have any sons/ boys/ a husband in your life that like to read, i highly suggest checking it out.

plust, there's prizes! and jiminy snaps... that's an awesome button :D

so some of you saw the sneak peak i posted the other day. at the end of April (wow, that sounds like a long time ago) i went with a friend to a scrapbook retreat in Seattle. it was amazing. i actually finished a full scrapbook album, and i want to share it with you.

i went to Brazil in the summer of 2008 with my sister Cecelia, who was studying Portuguese at the time. we were able to go to 4 different cities for about 2-3 days each, starting out in Rio de Janeiro. we lost a little bit of time because of traveling (by bus, which was mostly miserable and crazy!) but i LOVED that trip w/ my sister :D

front cover... this album was a Making Memories kit, but i customized it majorly along the way...

you can see the statue of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) in the background of this photo. it stands over the top of Rio and you can literally see the whole city from there. it's awesome. (btw, most of these pictures i took, unless i'm the only one in them. i love doing the 'stretch your arm out and snap one' while trying to document life!)
here's a better shot of the statue, and me mimicking it, as well as a shot of the city... i took a panoramic series, but it wouldn't have fit in this 8x8 album, so you only get one.
this isn't a flattering picture, but it's scrapbooking, and it's real life. we were riding the tram up to the top of the hill to see Cristo Redentor... it was fun. the quote on this page says 'When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you feel comfortable, it is designed to make its own people comfortable.' that was so true, but the great thing about traveling with a trilingual sister, is that you get a lot more respect from those that live there because you speak their language.
oooh! the title on this page is 'girls from Ipanema'... have you heard of that song? 'the girl from Ipanema'? it's an oldie, but cool. this was me trying out the shredded pork we got at the cafe there. i accidentally put a WHOLE BUNCH of hot oil/ peppers on it, and essentially ruined the meal, minus the french fries we got.

how was i supposed to know you didn't take the little chile peppers out of the little dish where they were marinating and making the oil SUPER hot??? :D
we of course went to the beach next to the cafe, and our background is the city... it's super packed and crowded, but in a nice international way. those are either hotels or apartment buildings behind us. only the super UBER duper rich have actual houses there in the city.
these photos show the beach at Ipanema, and would you look at that sand? it was so freaking amazing... the water wasn't too warm, because it was actually their 'winter.' the journaling mentions how we were glad to not see any 'Brazilian bikinis' while we were there ...woulda meant seeing too much skin and things we didn't want to :D i played in the sand a little, which was really really soft. nothing like the sand in WA. nothing.
we hit up a few museums while we were there, and omgosh. when my sister and i are together, we just have a GOOD time. you can tell from the photo here that we were goofing off a little. just a little side story about that, one of the attendants 'caught' us making silly faces and pointing to things like the paintings and the chandeliers, and he kindly offered to take a picture of the both of us being goofy. we were slightly embarrassed, but figured, 'why the heck not?' i think we made him smile that day. :D
the little vellum envelope holds the journaling about the museum on a little pull out paper from Graphic 45.
okay, so from Rio, Cecelia and i went to Sao Paolo. we liked it here, but it's a HUGE city (like top 5 in the whole world). we went on a walking tour of the place, and saw some neat gov't buildings and a sweet cathedral.
the stained glass was pretty much all over the place. it was HUGE and full of depictions of saints, etc.
here you can read the journaling for the page (hopefully you can read my handwriting!):
THEN, from Sao Paolo, we went to Paraty (pronounced par-a-tchi) which has a part of the town historically preserved by the gov't. we had a relaxing time there in a really nice hostel where we met some awesome people. that's one of the things i love about traveling... you can meet so many people along the way.

our first night there, we ate an early dinner at a restaurant that was listed in Cecelia's guide book as one of the top 100 places to eat in the world. i can't remember the restaurant's name now, but here's Cece looking at her dessert (because of course we went all out), which was kind of like bananas foster but with starfruit too :D
i liked to snap candid photos along the trip, and i caught Cece looking at her guidebook again with the historical buildings in the background. the title of this page is, 'where are we?'
omygoodness. if you've never had paella (REAL paella, pronounced pie-a-uh) then you're MISSING OUT. we went to another nice restaurant called the Kon Tiki which was located on an island. JUST for the restaurant. there was a theme running through our trip. we liked to eat dinner at a normal time, but that was 'early' according to Brazilian standards.

so at the first restaurant in Paraty and the Kon Tiki, we were the ONLY people there. which was nice, but slightly awkward. that meant we had the wait staff hovering around. you can also see the drink that i got > it's a caipirinha, and it's AMAZING. it's actually the national cocktail of Brazil. you should read the article about it. :D
the Kon Tiki had an amazing layout, and the deck was stunning. the whole island would make a perfect place to have a wedding :D
one of the waiters took our picture, and it was a really good time. i almost felt bad for how much energy was put into the whole thing for just 2 people. they even had a guy to ferry guests back and forth to the pier.
so, also while in Paraty, Cecelia and i went on a schooner cruise. it was $20 a person for 5 hours on a yacht. it was awesome... we got to see about 4 different beach/ cove locations, all of them lovely and local.
we also brought along some new friends from the hostel we stayed at. Rachel and John (sister/ brother) were some Australians that we met up with and we instantly connected. maybe it was because we were playing cards and being loud and fun :D

you can see the schooner in the background. the sand at THIS beach was like pumpkin pie filling... it was soooo soft. it was even kind of orangey. weird, huh?
our next stop was Ouro Preto, which in Portuguese means 'Black Gold.' this town is known for the mining that happened around it... from Wikipedia, Ouro Preto "is a city in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, a former colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains and designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its outstanding Baroque architecture."

so ALL the buildings in the town are historically protected. you can't change them. or the streets. which means, there were cobblestones all over the place on roads that were at angles close to 45 degrees. well, maybe not that bad, but close.

in this picture you can see me being goofy (or is this 'normal' for me? haha!) with some statues i found... Laurel and Hardy!! who would have thought!?

this town was chock full of architectural and colorful goodness... it was so beautiful just walking around and snapping pictures of some of the cool houses. if i hadn't been careful, i would have used up a whole memory stick for just the buildings. they don't make them like that anymore...

oh, and here we have a happy camper. see that food? i LOVE taking pictures of the food, because it helps you remember the trip a lot better. that, and i'm obsessed with food. in a good way, of course. she had chicken with capers, i think? it was DELICIOUS at any rate.
i made a pocket for the pull out journaling here... three different sections + a picture. read on!
continued...
and continued...
and Simon! finally >>
(hope you could read all that, cause i really don't want to type it out :D hehe, i'm lazy.)

okay, so Ouro Preto was home to about 50 churches. they were different, beautiful, amazing, and all located in various parts of town. after seeing about 4 or 5 of them, though, they started to blur together. but i just LOVE that picture with the light glinting off the windows. i have that one framed in my apartment.
okay, so if you read the journaling a few photos up, you know that Cece and i picked up some friends to tour with along the way. so we went to a mining town nearby and took a little jaunt down a mine shaft with our new friends, Robert and Simon. (Robert on the left, was German, who spoke great English, and Simon spoke English too, but his cadence was somewhat difficult to follow at times...)
funny story for you. the four of us above ended up sharing one room in the hostel we were at, instead of separating the girls/ guys (for a few reasons... one of which > the place was full, and we didn't want to move out). so, i had the bottom bunk below Simon, and we joked that if he snored in the night, i would poke him through the mattress. well, we didn't know that he ACTUALLY *did* snore. LOUDLY. *giggle* it was bad. i don't think my sister got a whole lot of sleep when we shared the room, but oh well, at least we got to tease Simon about it later :D

here's another beautiful church... they were simply gorgeous.

and even though Cecelia doesn't look happy here, we actually were. we went to coffee in Brazil frequently, even though i don't drink. they generally had some amazing fruit drinks to offer, or i would grab their version of hot chocolate, which i did here while i was writing in my travel journal. it was such a good idea to keep one! i highly recommend it if you ever leave the country! :D
okay, so not all the pictures are of ME being silly... here, Cecelia is 'kissing' this fountain statue that is supposed to spray water in the summertime. she couldn't resist, i suppose ;)
and the hostel we stayed in Ouro Preto had the most amazing view. this is it... from the back patio. i mean, SERIOUSLY!??? how awesome. Brazil was breathtaking... all of it.
here's part of the album where you can stuff a few pictures and extra journaling/ memorabilia from the trip.
and what's inside the pocket...
and then the very last page before the back cover (this is actually just the backside of the pocket page). the picture was taken in Paraty, but it's so fun to have as a 'The End' type of thing, don't you agree?
well, i know that was a lot to share, but thanks so much for sticking with me. i really should photograph my scrapbook pages more, and in a more timely manner, but sometimes it can get overwhelming.

i just really hope that because i made ONE of these (for me) i don't have to make another one ;) haha, no... i know i'll be scrapping trips from now until... forever, probably :D

hope you enjoyed. i'm wishing you a fabulous weekend! come back soon, and make sure you leave a comment. i'd love to know which story you enjoyed the most, or which page you liked :) XOXO

OH! how i love steampunk!! (2S4Y style)

hey everyone! happy thursday :D (note: i seem to be a little 'talky' today, so if you want to skip that, go to the end.)

i had the pleasure of using Kazan's sketch #56 for this card, and oh boy! was it ever PERFECT for EVERYTHING... the details just shine through with this awesome layout :D

and believe it or not, although i've been behind on the challenge side of things... haven't been creating much for sketches/ color combos/ etc, i actually made this card for the 365 Cards Day #129 - Aged Look. it's simply a match made in heaven :D

on to my card. i actually made this to giveaway in a contest... i was given some idea about what the contest was, but i was given artistic freedom in the execution. i think i've mentioned before that i LOVE it when that happens... i love that freedom to create what i think will fit :D

so, the contest is called SteamBoyz, and it's hosted by Velvet over at vvb32 reads--she's got a great book blog going on over there, and i know she's fabulous herself! now, you may be wondering how i got connected with a book blogger to create a card for a contest. the answer is simple. i'm a nerd. YES. a NERD.

you see, i have a sister, Cecelia, who is awesome, funny, but equally (if not more! [agreed Cece?]) nerdy as me. she loves to read. which isn't to say i DON'T, because i'm actually an English teacher, but she LOVES to read. like--she went to the American Library Association Conference a few weeks ago, even though she's not a librarian. well, you say, that's not all bad... and NO! it's not. but that's how nerdy WE are. :D

so--last year she began a blog shortly after i did, and started featuring recipes, anecdotes from her life, and of course, she shared her love of books, or shall i say OBSESSION with them? she introduced me to some books, and i read them, and they were awesome! really, they were, and i can recommend some to you based on your movie preferences... really. it's what i do for my students at school. anyway, she fell pretty hard into the book blogger stratosphere, and i have to say, if i'm being honest, that i'm a little jealous at her instant popularity. i mean, there has to be a little rivalry for us to be normal siblings, eh?

at any rate, she's wildly famous and funny, while i just make cards and occasionally tag along to book events like author signings. the one author signing i went to was for a book called Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld. and it was a steampunk book. and i got to see what all the fuss was about.

i had a TON of fun. AND, i got a signed copy of the book to go in the bookshelves at school too! win WIN!

and after reading some books from the steampunk genre (Soulless by Gail Carriger as well, and probably more), i knew what my sister kept raving about. yes, she may have looked foolish to her roommates or our mother, but i at least, finally, understood.

and here i am, to present you with a card made specifically with steampunk in mind, and my sister, and Velvet, who asked me to do it :D thanks a ton girlies!

i used a lot of vintage stuff... tried to make it fit with the genre. so, there's some Graphic 45 papers on there (from the Le'romantique line) and a page torn out of an old book covering a chipboard piece. i then stamped the chipboard with a wrought iron fence stamp that i bought at a stamp convention who knows where :D and let's not forget how i shabbied everything up with either distressing with scissors, inking with Tim Holtz antique linen pad, or even using some black ink from a SU! cube. and can you see those Kaiser black pearls in the top left corner? so many details.

i also grabbed a bookplate and some brads from my stash and roughed them up with my file, and then inked them with some black Staz-on ink to give it a more 'aged' look. the crown brad comes from Queen & Co, and the buttons are vintage from my stash as well. i even layered a Hambly frame transparency to the hat/ cane panel to give some more depth.

i've seen some crafters use the 'pull back' approach with double sided paper, but i've never really given it much thought until this creation... i think it's a fabulous way to showcase both sides of the paper, and to show a little of the fanciness underneath, don't you?

now, check out the inside. because i used a clear card stock to create the card base, you can add some awesome details all over and have them show through to the front or back. in my case, i covered the OTHER side of the chipboard piece with a steampunk clock image that i got HERE before i adhered it to the front of the card. that way, when you open it up, you get more for your money :D

also, you can see from above and below, that i used some October Afternoon papers from the Thrift Store line... i know just about everyone and their mother is in love with this stuff, and i'm no exception. i mean, seriously--with so much in the steampunk genre originating from London, what other choice could i have than to use it on the inside of my card? it's PERFECT!

and also, after you're done checking out my card... if you've missed the tons of tags i've been creating, then you'd better take a look HERE, and HERE, and at yesterday's HERE. plus, i finished the rest of the tags and have a few pictures to show you...

these yellow ones were INTENSE. PTI's polka dot basics II again, some October Afternoon stamping, a flourish is there as well, along with Sassafras papers, Recollections rosebuds on top of Prima flowers inked to the perfect color. there's some 'orange peel' stickles there, a vintage orange button on all of them, and some citrine glitter from DeNami Designs. oh, and green ribbon from M's.

now these red-orange tags feature some Cosmo Cricket Early Bird papers, more Recollections rosebuds, clothespins, random buttons from my stash, 'so happy!' ribbon from SEI, and then some chipboard from DCWV that i glittered and shabbied up. oh, and some MM blooms as well.

now, for the ULTRA FUNKY orange tags. these are crazy. but, they're good crazy! more Sassy goodies, stickles, buttons, KI memories ribbon, and even those green foil stars you usually put on chore charts... hehe!

and here's one from each of the colors all grouped together. i realized that i used my Cricut to cut out 11 different colors, and they're all completely different. i LOVE that. what do you think? don't they look awesome together? :D

so all in all, i've been quite busy this week, and plan to be even more so next week. i'll be the storyteller for my church's VBA (Vacation Bible Adventure... just like VBS), and i'm head of the skit crew (and in it as well). so mornings/ afternoons will switch schedules for me a bit.

thanks so much for visiting... i'd LOVE to hear what you like most in today's post > the card? the tags? the sister envy? ha!

have a great day, and stop by later to see what i've been doing on the scrapbooking end of things! :D XOXO

ROY G. and mustard?

happy wednesday! it's soo nice outside today--mid-80's in Washington, and the Mt. is out, and i had breakfast at a fav. place... omygosh, it's gonna be a good day.

PLUS, i get to have a crafty friend over (the one that was supposed to come Monday and then before that was supposed to come last week... but 3rd time's the charm, right? ;) hehe)

okay, so you may be wondering about the blog title... remember how you were taught in kindergarten what all the colors were? ROY G. BIV, like a guy's name? stood for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet? yeah, well, my tags today don't go all the way through the rainbow, but they sure are pretty :D

so the first set is a maroon bunch... i like them, but really, i was stretching myself in an effort to create something with this color... but i think the end result is pretty cool. i used some SU! flower stickers, buttons, and even a few MM die cut shapes (the guitars and POW! and "sweet" sentiments).

next up is the orange... geez, a whole smattering of stuff slobbered on here :D mostly leftovers. SEI ribbon and paper, Impress stamp, Graphic 45 die cuts, buttons, a MM travel dog tag, a poofy flower, and even a PTI sentiment thrown in there.

it almost reminds me of "I Spy" books... like: can you find the clothespin? hehe :D

oooh! YELLOW!

these tags are probably in my top favs. for the bunch. i used PTI stamps (tiny treats that i bought from Paulina, polka dot basics II), AC gingham orange ribbon, some ric-rac, and then DCWV grade school stack paper :D DUDE >> these are SOO cute :D

with sentiments and images to match, they'd be perfect for gift tags for little kids, boys, or just about anyone. i love the plane image with "love is in the air..." hehe!

okay, i know you may be sick of the green tags by now, but i cut out 3 different kinds of green tags, and i really liked playing with all the shade variations. again, it's a smorgasbord out there :D

some of the tags got a little bit more attention than others, and that's okay--sometimes less fuss is good.

and btw, i'm not even going to try to list off the supplies i used. EEK!

okay, lastly, i have MUSTARD tags for you. oh, these tags made me shudder a little, until i found some awesome paper from K&CO that i had stashed away (it's the floral in the fancy square punch shape), and then paired it with BG's Indian Summer 6x6 pad and some Bazzill card stock. super fun!

plus, those roses are perfect, and the AC ribbon is AWESOME, and the polka dots! like i said, i'm in LOVE.

so different and happy, and i never thought i'd say this, but i like the mustard tags :D

okay, so i don't want to prolong this too long... here are some cards i made for a special order from a teacher at school. they're ones she wanted 'copied' from previous cards she'd seen on the blog...

can never go wrong with owls, right? :D

ooh! then look at more colorful goodness! these are going to be used as a thank you set, i think, and i monogrammed them for her. don't they look awesome like this?

i used the fancy punch again, some pearl stickles things (i know they're not stickles, but can't remember...) different papers from all over to match the card stock colors, and then a 'C' from a Technique Tuesday set that i own.

well, what do you think? it's been fun sharing these tags with you, and i do have a few more to show, but i think i'll save that for later. i want to show you my scrapbook page (good guesses, btw, although i think it wasn't that hard to guess) tomorrow.

so, stay tuned. love to hear your comments! XOXO

floral woodgrain + tags galore

so yesterday i left you hanging with a sneak peek at some tags. well, i have to say, i'm going to leave you hanging again... although not as much (hehe--am i evil or what?)

no really, i just found that after loading and editing the tag photos, there were just too many to put in all one post. so you'll get to see them all spread out over the next couple of days. but today, never fear--you get to see tags AND some cards :D

yes, i'm good to you ;) i think i'm in a weird mood today. weird, but good. anyway, lets get back to the tags:

these first two are just a smattering of things i found in my scrap drawer and in the little containers i'd gathered for other projects. i always have little things left over that still go together in a great color scheme, but just weren't right for the project i was working on, you kwim?

i just love the oddness of these tags--i have some Amy Butler glitter paper in there, along with ric-rac, a cute flower, and some textured white specialty paper. (not to mention all the other goodies loaded on!)

ooh! check out this fun guy! the one above has a cool felt star that i just love. the one below has some green and blue ribbon thrown in there to mix things up, also featuring some felt--this time in the form of a blue crown. i grabbed that felt last year at the CK Bellevue Scrap Convention (4 laser cut sheets for $4... i couldn't resist). i've been using bits and pieces here and there in TONS of my projects. good deals, good deals.

more butterflies appearing all over the place here. these tags are all inked up on the edges with my tim holtz antique linen pad.

below you can see more in the series here... i made 8 in each color, and i think i used 8 different card stock colors :D

that huge button is from DeNami Design, and it looks perfect on this tag, don't you think? it's an awesome focal point.

the little felty butterfly here has a letter attached--a J from a KI Memories alpha chipboard pack. thought it looked good here, and i dotted the 'j' with a rhinestone from my stash :D

the fabulous striped flower is from a sweet pack of plastic-like embellies from Recollections--i grabbed them at Michael's. :D

and just to make sure you keep coming back... i have a sneak peek of what i'll be showing you tomorrow in regards to tags... these were some of my favorite of the bunch.

okay, phew! we're done with tags today, and we're on to the cards...

i made these at the Impress Stamp Night i mentioned in THIS blog post. those nights are pure awesomeness :D

i grabbed some limited supplies for these cards, but they came together so well... a woodgrain stamp (from Impress) along with that lovely vintage rose stamp. then i paired it with a strip of Basic Grey's lemonade paper from the 6x6 pack... perfect for this. add some crinkly pink seam binding, DeNami buttons again, a rhinestone, and VOILA! *sigh* i LOVE :D

thanks so much for coming by--i love reading your comments... do you like seeing these tags, or do you prefer the cards? let me know!

oh, and one last thing... any guesses as to what i'll be sharing with you LATER in the week? i'm pretty freaking stoked to show you :D

have a WONDERFUL day, and don't forget to come back later to see more! :D

tons of tags...

hey there! hope you had a wonderful holiday if you were in the US. i sure did... i went to my parents house for some awesome food (the jambalaya and salad my mom made was AMAZING!), took a nap, watched a movie, and then went down the local pier to watch about 5 different fireworks displays. it was awesome... a little windy, but i could see really awesome fireworks all the way to Seattle! (and that's a ways away!) hopefully none of you burned off any hands or fingers--you'll need those for crafting + commenting on my post :D

well, yesterday i told you that i would be showing you some tags that i'd made. i'm up to #60 i think... so i've been busy! some of them are similar, but most of them are totally unique, like the one above with the 'K'. i made that tag for a friend who had a graduation party on saturday... she's an awesome baker and cook, and if you visit her BLOG, be forewarned that you'll walk away hungry and drooling :D anyway, Krista is an awesome girly, and i thought that this personalized tag would be fun for her.

you can see below that in order to create her card, i teamed it up with some Spring Moss card stock from PTI as well as some Polka Dot Basics II. i think that the polka dots may be my new favorite. i mean, seriously.
also, you can see in the corner a small little sentiment from Delightful Dahlia that says, "Congratulations." all in all, one of my favorite graduation cards.

well, i know i've only shown you one tag, but i want to leave you with a little sneak at what the others look like.

yes, i'm a tease, but i want to keep you coming back for more! :D

what do you think? which colors are catching your eyes? i seriously loved creating these, and i plan to be making about 30 more. i will probably post these in my Etsy shop before the end of the month (hey--i can't get too ambitious!)

i sure love reading your comments, and be sure to check back for more card and tag creations. have a happy monday! :D

happy fourth of july!

happy independence day!

(for those in the USA)

hope you have a chance to celebrate with friends and family as we enjoy our freedoms :D

i'll be back soon with some tags that i've been playing with... purely fun creating. i also get to look forward to monday--a friend is coming over to CRAFT. we are going to get inky and snipping. look for some cards later in the week.

go have a wonderful day!

july ramblings

hello!

how are you all? i've been seeing some of your lovely creations and reading about your *busy* lives and i just love it. i really enjoy peeking into the window of your life, and i'm glad that you care enough to look over here :D

tonight i'm going to bring you some ramblings. no cards or layouts right now, although i'm working on that. just some fun tidbits about me :D

so here are some random pieces of whatever about me/ my life/ my loves...

• i hate being in the only bathroom stall in the whole building that doesn't have any toilet paper, and just so happens to not have anyone in the bathroom to GIVE you any... ahh! so annoying!

• i am quite addicted to books... i really like reading them but sometimes can't allow myself to get sucked in. you know what i mean? like, i know if i start a book, and i get into it (which i always do), i'll want to keep reading and i'll be up forever? yeah. last time i did started reading a new book at night i went to bed at 5am. no joke.
• my necklace collection rivals my tank top collection. which is saying a LOT. i mean, hello? i need them in all different COLORS... gosh! ;)
• i am currently addicted to watching "america's got talent." i LOVE seeing the horrible auditions, the great auditions, and mostly, howie mandel's reactions :D

• i cleaned up last night. there was a mostly full sink of dishes waiting for over 1 week and i finally did them and put some in the dishwasher. do you ever wait a really long time? or am i the only one who can get away with that because i'm single?
• annoying people and making them laugh is one of my goals in life. i love to do it simultaneously if possible. today, i showed a motion-sensored, light-up GRUB to my vice principal at school. kinda like those dancing/ singing fish? the ones where if you walk by they start moving and making noise. yeah? it was AWESOME. i was getting 'prepared' for next year... HA! (p.s. i love being a teacher on break :D)
• while drinking water tonight i burned my tongue. i have a sinus infection (from AGES ago... it's been lingering, i've been in denial, i've been hacking up a lung recently but am now on the getting better/ on antibiotics side of things) and i wanted to drink some warm water, so i put a cup in the microwave, and ended up setting the time for too long. burned. OUCH!
• i LOVE to scream on roller coasters and amusement park/ fair rides. i.LOVE.it. i chaperoned a field trip to an amusement park recently before the end of school, and i think i enjoyed myself more than my kids.
• here's a random facebook post i made the other day:

Virginia Larsen hasn't been to a dance recital in who knows how long... go jewett girls! :D

• i learned (and taught) a two-part harmony during a long car drive/ ride the other day. even though i was sick and didn't have a voice, i thoroughly enjoyed it. and i discovered that i'm not actually all that bad once you teach me the part. i used to think that since i was a band geek in HS and college (all four years in both HS and college... i was in the marching band... tenor sax... i went to band camp) i couldn't really sing/ harmonize. but omygosh! i like it! :D
• i love my brothers. they're awesome. all of them. and my SISTER??? don't even get me started on how cool SHE is :D hehe!
• my family dog 'cookie' back at home HATES 4th of july fireworks, and sometimes, i have to agree with her. don't get me wrong, i love seeing the shows, and the awesome displays, and an occasional sparkler... BUT >> what i really don't like is trying to sleep at night on the 4th... it's WAY.TOO.LOUD. anyone with me here?
• current music obsession is Ke$ha... i could literally dance all night *BIG SMILE*

• current flavor obsession is... give me some cream cheese + jam on some toast or a bagel. plain and simple. that, or americanized asian food :)
• current movie obsession is anything funny. like i just watched tom sellack in 'quigley down under,' and although it's an action movie, there are touches of humor that i LOVE.
• current smell obsession is just.washed.laundry. i love my detergent.
• lastly, i love reading blogs. i love reading blogs that people update frequently, and put an effort into (unlike me most of the time... boo! i know, i should, and i try, but recently it's seemed as if everything needs my attention more, and that really makes me sad.) so a few of the blogs i LOVE to read are as follows, and are TOTALLY worth checking out. do yourself a favor, and hop on over...

Amy Cecelia Christine Dawn Heidi Mish Paulina

so that's it for me tonight! i hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend (if you're in the USA!) and that you stay safe :D go eat lots of yummy potluck/ picnic food!