pink nostalgia

Goodbye, St. Louis! We hardly knew you!

We were a little underwhelmed with St. Louis, but it was fun travel time just the same. 

And now we're back in the saddle again...

Goodbye, Milwaukee! We hardly knew you!

Left Milwaukee this morning.  It was great to visit friends and family, plus a few touristy things on the side.

That's right.  More ribs.  : )

Hasta!
 
 
 
 
 

Goodbye, Chicago! We hardly knew you!

Dear Chicago,

I underestimated you. 

 

I never felt so much like a true city girl as when I was riding the train in, the trolley, and the L. 

 

The bustle of Wacker during lunchtime ignited my inner businesswoman. 

 

I almost skipped your Willis [Sears] Tower, and the glass platform made me downright giddy. 

My taste buds reached out and slapped my grandma when my tongue hit that yeasty deep-dish crust.   

 

As I walked through your crosswalks, I saw myself in the faces of the young twenty-somethings wearing gabardine city shorts and savvy flats.

 

You almost make me want to live in a real city.

 

 

Chicago, I like you.  A lot.

love,

angela

P.S.

 

Yes, yes I did.  : ) 

previously...in Milwaukee (part I)

highlights from today in Milwaukee:

two trips downtown

phone booth photos

paddle boats and sailboats

a run through the Highlands with two wrong turns

gracie's and salamander

The last time I was in Milwaukee in the summertime, my mother-in-law took photos of Dave and I in Hoyt Park.  This is one of my top five all-time favorite pages.  It's also one of my top five all-time favorite photos, and it made its premiere as the final photo in our wedding slide show with the caption, "Thank you for being part of our lives."  We had posed standing on rocks in the river while Judy took photos.  When we were finished, we turned to go back to the bank across the rocks.  We had no idea that Judy would take more pictures.  But she did, and in doing so, she captured a really intimate and indicative moment.

I don't know that we'll make it back to Hoyt Park this trip, but we did hold hands as we walked along Lake Michigan.  : )

two twin pages

We have arrived safe and sound in Milwaukee, with no help from downtown Chicago, I might add.  Those people are crazy and do not value their lives!!  More about the tip later this week.

Isn't this supposed to be a scrapbooking blog!?  I dropped off two pages to Crop Paper Scissors last Thursday.

 

Pen: Sharpie. Thread: DMC. Ink: Color Box. Scallop punch: Fiskars. Notebook paper punch: EK Success.  Staples, ticket.  All other: Jenni Bowlin.

These cuties have made a few other appearances on my pages, and I still have multiple photos left over (Emma's here and Sam's here).  I mean when you have such great raw materials, you really can't go wrong.  : )

I just went for it on this page, mainly because I didn't start it until 10:00 Thursday night when I should have been packing.  : )  But it came together so quickly because Jenni's style goes with everything.  I love the chipboard buttons with the milk cap themes.  I layered some of the butterfly stickers to give them more dimension.  The "admit one" ticket was from CPE that I saved.  So accounting can be used in scrapbooking!

And two more favorite twins...

Cardstock: Bazzill.  Patterned paper: Making Memories.  Eyelets: American Crafts.  Alphas: Heidi Swapp.  Journal sticker: Jenni Bowlin.  Pen: Sharpie.  Ribbon and lace.  Photography by Solas Photography.

I love this paper.  It's hard to tell from the photos, but some of the numbers are flocked.  Thanks to my friend Rachel for giving me these photos.

I'm off to our backyard barbeque!  More ribs, please!

Goodbye, Memphis! We hardly knew you!

Our summer road trip is well underway.  Next stop - Milwaukee!
  

Welcome to the first installment of Throwback Thursday!

My mom gave me a huge box of old photos that were shoved in the back of the closet.  Some are...horribly embarrassing.  I thought it would be awesome to showcase them here.  [Warning - put your drink down before you continue.]  I asked her if I could have free reign to publicize these.  She said, "Go for it."  I held up this one and said, "Are you sure?"

Yep, that's my mom, circa 1984?  I think she still has that watch...

She again agreed.  Alright, all bets are off!

I would like to add a one-time disclaimer here and state for the record that I love my family and would never do anything to intentionally hurt them.  

I'll start with embarrassing myself.  It's only fair.

That's right, it's a crimper.  And oh, it gets better.

 

Aghhhh, make it stop!!
   

I vividly remember the first time my mom crimped my hair.  It took forever, and I almost passed out.  That's rough for a seven year old.  All for the sake of beauty  humiliation.  : )  Now you know why I'm so obsessive about straightening my hair.  

[mini] ode to the Comal River

Hello all,

Do you ever get in one of those moods where even though you still have 52 things to do before you leave for vacation, you have an overwhelming urge to pull everything out of your scrap closet because you just got new bins from Target and your DYING to organize?  No?  Just me?  (We'll see how long I can last.  It might be a loooooong night.)

Last weekend, I took an amazing class with the even more amazing Jenni Bowlin.  Her MO is combining products from her line with vintage trinkets and ephemera.  This mini is a beach-themed album.  I haven't been to the beach in forever (fine, three years) and I'm not going any time soon.  Then it occurred to me that I have been to the river twice this year, once with Dave and once with the girls, and I just picked up my pictures from my underwater camera.  So instead of choosing one trip over the other, I chose the river and included both trips.

This album makes me happy.  Lots of great memories.

I'll leave you with the photos.   ; )

jenni bowlin!

...plus, a little teaser.  : )

First, the super cute Jenni Bowlin!

And her super cute classes!

   
More photos tomorrow!  : )

I just came back from tax ladies' dinner.  My hands still smell like ribs.  Mmmmm.

I have a lot to get done before our road trip.  But don't worry, I made a list.  ; )

just a mishmash

Happy weekend!

I would just like to say that the spellchecker on this thing picks up "scrapbooking" every time.  Hello, it's a legitimate word!!!

Each couple in our Sunday School class made a scrapbooking page to display in our room and represent themselves.  Here's what I did for Dave and me.

Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket.  Alphas: Pressed Petals.  Flower clip: Creative Imaginations.  Paper flowers: Making Memories.  Ribbon: American Crafts.  Floss: DMC.  Cardstock.

To make the stitched heart, I first drew a big heart with pencil on the cardstock.  Then I used a needle to puncture holes along the tracing every half centimeter (it sounds like more than it is).  I threaded my needle with the floss.  I used all six strands of thread.  Finally, I simply stitched along the heart and taped the ends of the thread to the back of the cardstock.

Today:

I'm worried - it seems like the doves have left their eggs.  We haven't seen the doves in at least three days. 

Barkley slept in until 8:45.  He usually gets up at 6:30.  He's finally learning to embrace sleeping in on weekends!

I am scrapbooking [with Jenni Bowlin] ALL DAY.  Except for right now.  : )

Dave is working on finalizing our trip plans, finalizing "These Arms of Mine" on the guitar, and generally enjoying a weekend.

I can't wait to share photos of Jenni's classes.  I'll hopefully post those tomorrow!

this is a new year!

I cannot get enough of this song right now.  It's my new theme song.  I hear it in my head as I go into work.  It plays over the phone system as I walk into client meetings.  It plays as I run up up the stairs of the museum and pump my fists in the air.  I love love love the piano.  And "this is a new year!"  And, "Be not afraid of who you really are!"  And "and I...would give the world...to you!"  Thanks to Kelly Purkey who introduced us.

I would like to say that I don't think new years have to come on January ones.  I think new years can start whenever you decide you need a new beginning, a chance to turn it all around, if you will.

Enjoy, and here's to a new year.  : )

the more tired I am, the more I say, "sidebar"

Dave and I spent most of tonight on a carpet picnic planning our summer road trip to Milwaukee.  

If anyone knows of awesome places to stop in St. Louis, Chicago, Memphis, or anywhere in between, please let me know! 

(Sidebar - the red bowl is the baked ravioli that Dave made for dinner.  Delicious.)

(Sidebar #2 - I asked Dave to dish mine up.  He left it on the counter for me.  When I picked up the bowl, there were two raviolis in it.  Two.)

(Sidebar #3 - How to make killer baked ravioli:

1. boil really good ravioli 5-7 minutes until it's al dente

2. drain it

3. while the pasta is in the strainer in the sink, put the hot pot back on the stove and pour in extra virgin olive oil, twice around the pan

4. put ravioli back in the pot and saute for a few minutes

5. pour a little store-bought marinara sauce in an oven-safe dish (about 1 quart size dish for two servings) so that the pasta doesn't stick to the dish

6. transfer the ravioli into the dish

7. top with lots of marinara, then grated parmesan on top of that

8. bake at 350 until the parm gets a little brown

9. enjoy

end sidebar)

I feel like I blinked and missed summer.  How is it already the middle of July?  What happened??

Sigh.  I really need to get away.

I am really beat.  It's been a looooooong day.

Peace.

I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant AND we're having a baby

Whaaaaaaaa?  It's a fake out, but keep reading.

My friend Ashley was kind enough to record a few episodes of "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" for me.  I watched it for the first time tonight.  That show is crazy.  Cuh-razy.  I love the part where the new mother calls the husband and says, "I'm at the hospital and just had a baby.  You'd better get down here."  Ha!

On Sunday as we left for church, I noticed a bird (Dave informed me it's a dove) sitting in our [dead] sweet potato vine.  Hmm.  When we got home a few hours later, she was still there.

Then yesterday, she was still there.  A squatter, if you will.  Then she flew off to eat, and we caught a glimpse of this:

We're having baby birds!! 

That's it.  I'm not pregnant.

My mom is going to kill me.  It was Dave's idea.  Honestly.

What's the story, Morning Glory?

Hello, all. 

Several months ago, we visited San Antonio grandma in her town of San Antonio.  (You can see that post here.)   We walked through a park (the park with the wet drippy house behind the library), and there was the most amazing tree there.  Normally, I don't get existential over an oak tree.  But this one dipped and twisted and was huge.  It was really cool.  So I took some pictures and scrapbooked them last weekend.  Here's how it turned out.

Cardstock: Bazzill.  Patterned paper: 7 Gypsies.  Chipboard alphas: American Crafts (Jewelry Box).  Alpha stickers: October Afternoon.  Journal blocks: Jenni Bowlin.  Pen: Sharpie.  Lace: Hobby Lobby.  Staples, buttons, thread, tag, ribbon.

Nothing too difficult here.  I hand-cut the lace, flowers, and bird out of patterned paper.  The fabric-covered button (bottom left) has a metal loop on the back (called the shank, not to be confused with a skank).  Normally, you can cut plastic shanks with scissors, but since this one was metal, I hammered it down so that the button could still be flat against the page. 

My annual evaluation at work is this afternoon.  Wish me luck.

  

my first little blue box

I like starting my posts with the word "So," as if I'm in an ongoing conversation with my best friend.

So, Dave and I play this game, the movie game.  I close my eyes, and he puts in a DVD and plays it.  I have to keep my eyes closed until I correctly guess the movie.  I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty good at this game.

A few minutes after I got home tonight, Dave announced that dinner was ready and that we're playing the movie game [note to self: I need to come up with a better title than lame "movie game"  Any suggestions? ].  I sat on the couch and closed my eyes.  The song "Moon River" started...ah, it's Audrey Hepburn...what are those three movies we have?  Roman Holiday!  No.  Sabrina!  No.  Breakfast at Tiffany's!!  No answer.  Breakfast at Tiffany's!  No answer.  Breakfast at Tiffany's?  Hello? 

I looked at Dave.  He had that goofy grin, the same grin that he had when he proposed, where his eyes are a little red and damp and he doesn't say anything, he just keeps grinning... so I looked back at the movie, commented on her gorgeous necklace, and then finally, finally I saw it. 

A little blue box with a perfect white ribbon tied around it.

 
Ohh, and we're watching Breakfast at Tiffany's!  And Dave is wearing an aqua polo that I had already commented on.  And you bought me something from Tiffany?!!?

 
He did.

Sigh!

And while I was looking at these photos on my camera, I found this one that was also taken today:

Hmm.  Apparently Dave is proud of himself for folding laundry.

Special thanks to Dave for taking all of these photos, and of course, for my new necklace.  : ) 
   

life at 27

So remember a while back when I said that I've started doing a scrapbook page for each year of my life, starting last year?  I've decided it's high time to show you my life at 27 page.  (You can get the details of the 28 page here.)

 
 
Cardstock: Bazzill.  Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket, Simply Luxe, Anna Griffin, KI Memories.  Date tag: Project Imagination.  Brads: Sassafrass.  Ribbon: Making Memories.  Chipboard alphas: American Crafts.  Punch: Fiskars.  Pen: Sharpie. 

What a great use of the @ sign!  I really love this page.  For the pretty edge on the yellow paper, I traced a die-cut sheet to the yellow paper and simply cut it out.  The self-portraits were taken in my room with my camera on the window sill (LOTS of self-timer shots!).  I was actually singing to Erin McCarley's "Pony (It's OK)" so that I didn't feel so stupid smiling at the window.  : )

Here are a few more photos of the Wicked girls.

 
 
Hello, random sir. 

And with that, I'm off for more scrapbooking.

P.S.

Snapfish is having their 50 prints for 50 cents deal through July 11!  Jump on it!

what...a whirlwind

Out and about all morning after I got up at 9:30.  : )

Breakfast:

finally returning my camera:

my favorite store:

lunch:

a new outfit:

strawberry daquiri (isn't she cute?):

Shutter Island, Invictus, and Crazy Heart:

zebras!:

A few snipets from the last twenty-four hours:

[About Jacob in Eclipse] "I wish I was going home to a man-wolf!"

"Do you want your knife back?" [after our new friend was offended that I called him "Sir"]

[About Zac Ephron being 18] "Legal looks good on him!"

Me: Get out of my head!

And now settling in for a night of movies and scrapbooking.  : )

remember me

Here it is, my most anticipated list of the year!

WARNING: This post contains massive spoilers regarding the movie Remember Me. If you haven't seen the movie, either:

1. don't.

2. read the following as a defense to be persuaded to not see it.

3. skip the list if you insist on seeing the movie, but rent the movie from Redbox and return it the next day so that you've only wasted a dollar. Then spend 15 minutes lamenting about how that dollar could have been better spent on a polar punch snow cone.

First, a little background. My friend Jessie and I love the Twilight Saga books and movies. We have ongoing thorough analysis, and while we realize it's all fiction, we talk about the characters as if we go to high school with them. We don't ever refer to "Taylor Lautner from New Moon," we just say Jacob or Jake. And we'll always think of Robert Pattinson as Edward, even if he plays Tyler in Remember Me. I would also just like to state for the record that I'm a big fan of Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, and Pierce Brosnan. I was really looking forward to seeing Remember Me. They totally suckered me with the trailer. Ahh, naïveté.

So, Jessie and I saw the movie together, and the next day, I had some things to work out. Here's our email correspondence, which definitely did NOT occur on company time. I'm in pink, she's in green.

I take issue and have questions on several things.  If you'd ever like to discuss, I'd be happy to type you a list.

You know I love lists.

Please submit your list for consideration and comment.

1. Why was Allie riding the subway at the very end?  Was she no longer scared?  But why?  Was she trying to get shot? 

I think it was because loving Tyler had given her the strength to move on with her life...or some artsy fartsy movie thing like that. It is probably way too deep for us regular folk to understand.

2. Why was the roommate feeding Allie Jell-O shots at the party?  Why wasn't Edward/Tyler stopping him from getting her so drunk?? 

I think he was hoping to get lucky but ended up holding her hair instead...happens every time.  

3. What was the point of the roommate flipping out at Tyler in the jail cell?  He seemed to be going nowhere fast on his own, so why yell at Tyler? 

What was the roommate even doing in jail? Didn't they let him go? Did they re-arrest him just because his friend was an idiot? That entire scene did not make sense to me.  

4. I don't think that Allie had any redeeming qualities.  What was so great about her? 

Umm, her mom was killed when she was 10...perfect damsel in distress situation. Other than that I don't have a clue. She had pretty eyes?  

5. When Tyler was cooking for Allie, why was he making Ragu on the stove?  Just microwave it!  And it doesn't need extra seasoning!  That's the point - it's already done! 

I too cook my Ragu on the stove. But that is because I mix in ground beef, so once it is done cooking I just pour the Ragu (or other brand of spaghetti sauce, Ragu is not my fav) on top. Maybe he was in a similar situation of not wanting to dirty two dishes.  

6. It seemed like every time he turned around, Edward was getting smacked.  He wasn't even much of a fighter (at least didn't look like one), why does he keep getting beat up?  First the street guys, then cops, then slapped by Allie, then her dad... 

He was a bit of a pansy...which is why I prefer Jake. He would have totally kicked her dad's tail.

7. Seriously, doesn't Allie have any friends?  You can't tell me that she grew up in Brooklyn and doesn't have any friends there.  What kind of a tramp goes into the big scary city to crash with a guy that she's only been on two dates with? 

Would you be her friend? Plus, she probably has deep seeded issues from seeing her mother murdered and is unable to attach to people in a normal way. Except for Tyler. Strange how that worked out.

8. They were SO AWKWARD together!  The first conversation, the first date, UGH the kiss-dodge at the cab?!?!  Which brings me to the fact that 

I'm sorry but it must be said...HE TALKS TOO SLOW! I mean just spit it out already! I know he is trying to be all dramatic and stuff but come on already! I would hate to sit in on an actual conversation between him and Kristin [Stewart]...I bet it took them 45 min to figure out each other's name!  Maybe it is because he has not mastered his American accent??

9. she shouldn't have dodged his kiss if she was just going to sleep with him two days later!! 

Classic case of playing hard to get and then being REALLY easy to get.

10.  Where was Jacob?  It just didn't feel right. 

Probably having a normal paced conversation with his [wolf] pack.  

11. Why does the dad get POed when Tyler gets in a fight on the street (trying to defend the little guy), but is dare I say proud when he goes to the school, throws the fire extinguisher, and nearly gives that little girl a heart attack?? 

I wanted him to throw the fire extinguisher at the little girl. She was a jerk! 

12.  Okay.  When Edward is about to sleep on the couch and Allie comes in from his room, then he crosses the room towards her (but the camera cuts to the love scene before they kiss), was that the slowest thing ever??  It reminded me of the first Edward and Bella kiss, except not hot. 

Yeah, I was unimpressed. I always tend to connect with a couple based on their first kiss... Didn't really get that with this movie...they just kinda cut right to the chase.

13. His apartment totally grossed me out.  Like really nasty grossed me out. 

I wanted to wash his windows. There was one part when it looked like somebody had literally spit all over his window. NASTY 

14. I felt like that family was cursed.  Like with a little different cinematography and some scary music and screaming, it could easily be a horror.  (In a creepy voice...)  "And the children keep dying..."  I would be terrified if I was the little sister. 

LOL. But at least her dad didn't hate her anymore...Why did he hate her in the first place? They should have explained that a little better. There was no reason for him to treat her like he did and then all the sudden start being nice to her. Weird.  

15. Kind of grossed me out when the roommate told Allie that he's only seen Tyler look at one other girl, and she shares his DNA.  I mean, I know you love your sister, but hopefully not in the same way you love your girlfriend.  And don't look at her the same way.  Ew. 

I know right. If my brother starts looking at me the way he looks at his wife I'm going to punch him in the face! 

16. Why did Allie blurt out at dinner with Tyler and his dad that her mother was murdered?  Awkward! 

And why did Tyler look so angry about it? I thought his reactions were strange. The word constipated comes to mind.  

17. I think it's a little morbid and unattractive to talk about all the ways you could die on your first date while on your first date.   

I think it is dumb to eat dessert first. And it kinda seems like the "cool" thing to do. Oh look how alternative I am I eat my food out of order. Please, give me break and just eat your freakin pasta! 

18. Plus, if she died during the entree after dessert, wouldn't she think, "Dang it, my last bite was broccoli instead of ice cream!"  It's the same thing with people who read the last chapter of a book first.  Stupid. 

Agreed.  

19.  The flashing subway at the beginning and end - I think it could cause seizures.

The entire movie could have caused a seizure! Why do they hate epileptics? Rude.

20. I really wanted to come up with a nice round number of "issues", but I'm out. 

Good list! One of your best :)