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For this gem. Picked it up at a yard sale (so typical, and I am kind of embarrassed to admit. yes, I shop those. love them).
In case you are wondering... it is an antique typewriter/letter press drawer/case. Good for photos. I need to pledge it like crazy, and figure out all the dimensions (oh. damn. that means I have to do maff*).
*math. damn.
Could not figure out for the life of me how to do those fish photos justice. I guess black cardstock is the way to go. I am glad I have done more handwritten journaling in the past year. I think it matters. The layout (lo) on the right is the cover page for my senior year album. I made four of these for all my college years. Glad to have that done. I kind of took the idea from Kevin and Amanda.
The layout below is from forever ago, like uh, maybe a year. I am so bad. I found it in a drawer today [trifling!], so that needed to be finished up. I hurried and added the journaling and secured a few things with glue dots. Love that green paper so much, it is much brighter than what I usually go for, but I am glad I went out on a limb.
Cannot tell you how much I love the lo on the left, and right! Both were so fun to put together. I used a bunch of fun fonts in the second one, all downloaded from da font. Check it out, and they are all free, how neat is that?
Kind of threw this one together. I think it's missing something, we'll see. Sometimes I put lo's away after not finishing them- and then take them out six months or a year later just to add that finishing touch I could not figure out previously. I used vellum on this. Remember when vellum was really, really hot? I still love it.
This is my all time favorite photo from graduation: all the senior AOIIs and I. I just love it. Wanted to keep it simple, like I always do. Originally I had some dark brown paper that had owls and clocks on it (how appropriate for a graduation layout), but it didn't help the photo stand out- so I nixed it. Maybe I'll try it with a black and white version of the same photo. We'll see. Those giant "{" are S.E.I, a company that I love. I thought for a while they might be disappearing, but they seem to be coming out with good stuff now, so that is good.
I did a similar lo to this last summer, about my trip to Boston. I love the look of long, linear photos lined up in threes or fours. Here I wanted to capture all the blues I noticed out east, sorry if the n*pples freak you out. It's art, okay?!? LOL!
I love when I get into a scrapbooking spurt. I love getting it done, using my stash, and learning more about my printer, which is almost as complicated and difficult as a two year old child. That was fun.
Don't know what it is, but this summer I've been into biographies.
Another blog featured praise for Kelly Corrigan's The Middle Place. I knew after shortly exploring the author's website and viewing a few more youtube readings that I needed to pick this up. I feel connected to the author's story- her love for her father, their connection, it's something I know and live. Her ability to keep on keeping on through illness is inspirational. Her storytelling style is entertaining, and I could hardly put it down.
I have seen The Glass Castle in enough bookstores to have lost count. I've picked it up dozens of times. But I had reservations. But then yesterday I read a post on a message board, and about 20 people loved it. So I bought it today. I've already read quite a bit. The book is easy to read, and Jeanette Walls' story is both entertaining and repulsive. I cannot believe people are out there living like this in our country! I am again thankful for smart parents who had enough sense (or is it luck?) to go to school, get good jobs, and wait until they could afford a family to start one. There is such a frightening aspect about poverty. It is my own personal nightmare. Absolutely terrifying. Jeanette Walls has gone on to be an accomplished writer, and has no bitterness for the awful circumstances of her youth. Her story is worthwhile.
Boo-boo (yes, that's Kate) came over last week. I was tired, it had been a long day, a day when I considered taking a mammoth nap once I pulled into the driveway (in the car. I know. sad) But, she suggested dinner. And I felt invigorated.
Here's what we whipped up, spinach and parm stuffed chicken. Delightful.
Can you see how good it was? I will certainly post the recipe readers. Here it is, keep in mind this is not low-cal, but is anything really divine? No. Plus there's the protein factor, so go into this guilt free:
You will need:
6 cups (6 ounces) fresh spinach
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup freshly grated parm cheese
Salt
Ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of ground red pepper
2 chicken breasts, split (or just stuff under the skins, like I did)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Method:
•Preheat oven to 450 degrees
•Cook spinach, drain, and chop
•Melt butter, saute onion in pan and add mushrooms (for 5 minutes)
•Mix parm, salt, pepper, nutmeg, red pepper and spinach
•Add onions and mushrooms. Mix with fork
•Stuff mixture under skins/inside of chicken pieces
•Heat pan, add oil, and cook chicken 5 minutes on each side
•Transfer to baking dish, bake 20 minutes then turn and then 20 again
•Enjoy : )
And I love having friends that I can cook with. I love Sunday dinners with Emma, and brownies with Karen, achieving "stiff peaks" with Katie... it is all good.
Happy Father's Day! Love this day. Love celebrating great men who are fathers. Love that each father's day I think back to the last, and we've always done something fun: San Fran, Park City, Madeline Island, Palm Beach...
This year it was lying low. Dad mentioned wanting a small table for his patio, and Target had a great sale on folding ones. Here is his sweet outdoor space, and I did put those Pottery Barn chairs together myself- granted they were basically assembled, but I also picked out the pillows. I did good huh? Dad loves it, and that's all that matters. Now my mind is circling about a rug to cover up those ugly spots.
Dad made a fantastic meal- his great bbq ribs : ) I brought over cookies he requested- a gigantic batch of peanut butter ones. Seriously, the batch was enormous! I thought mom's kitchenaid might give up, but alas it came through.
Claire joined us for dinner, and it was lovely. I know she had a fun time, and it was great to see her. I am so glad I have been able to maintain my buddies from school and sorority life. We also saw Night at the Museum II in the afternoon, and I loved it. Owen Wilson is so funny, no matter what role he's in.
My father is such a wonderful person, and the best dad in the world- of course everyone else says that, and it's good! He's the best dad for me, and often says, "you're my favorite daughter" [I'm his only daughter!] I feel so blessed to have a great father who has been more than present my entire life- what a great example he's been to me: for picking boys who will treat me right, for having high standards, for learning how to laugh, for learning how to cook... I think it's so unfortunate that fathers are becoming so absent in today's world. Men need to step it up, and women need to require that men step it up but standing up for themselves/children. I say, bring back the dads! We need them, we love them!
Summer is here. The heat, the humidity, the gorgeous blue skies. Makes me love my home more than ever. Is there really anything better than a Midwestern summer? After all that snow, ice, and cold... to finally get the good stuff?
Had to lie out. It was just too good to be true. Then I went inside and cleaned the h*ll out of my awful bedroom and parent's house. Really, I hadn't even gone through all my school notebooks. Yikes. Then I downloaded Wicker Park and finally understood it- not like when I was it in theaters in high school. Happy, happy summer readers : )
Katie planned the most brilliant sister-get-together. All six of us met up at the Original Cheesecake Factory (crazy big portions) for a "Monday night dinner" at 6:30pm. Just like old times. Joy is defined as many things, and one of them, for me, is dinner with my sorority sisters. I feel blessed and honored to know, love, and be loved by these amazing women.
It was great. I got the salad and apple crisp and stayed for the conversation, way after the ice cream had melted and the whip cream was less than stiff peaks.
We chatted about many things:
•Engagement rings and wedding bands (so typical girl talk, but it's good!)
•Who in their right mind would only bring TWO pairs of pants for a SEMESTER abroad, like the "suggestion" list said to?!?
•Cute dresses and where they were from
•Boyfriends' families
•Racial and political issues
•Kids at work
•Our sorority, ritual
•Plans for a fun party at papa bear's house [maybe] :)
•How blessed we are to have each other!
They made my night.
•Two Lunds runs
•$50 check for key and heated garage opener
•Four fabric swatches- two from Crate and Barrel and two from Room and Board
•A container store run
•Two dollies for hauling goodies up stairs, now named "Betty" and "Ben"
•Six loads of laundry
•Twice to Costco: once for necessities once for gas (another necessity)
•One full cart at Ikea
•A cabinet full of glassware, mugs, and new green dishes
•Lots of cleaning and organizing
•3 days
Equals...
Helping dad out with his new place, and I could not be more thrilled.
Now all my dreams (sorry dad) of decorating a new, chic, and modern apartment can come true.
I am swimming with ideas:
Dad said, "thank you so much for helping me. I feel like I have a top notch designer from New York with me, minus the black pumps." I was wearing white flip flops from Old Navy. Yep.
I will get you the "before" pictures this week, and the "after" ones as they come. I have some big ideas for this two bedroom, two bath place.
Some "fun" things I have found so far...
I sat looking into the bathroom sink the other night- getting ready for bed at a shocking 9:45pm. Where has my life gone that I am now going to bed before midnight, and rising before dawn at 6am?
Here is a little secret: I have always wanted to be an early riser.
I envy those who can get so much done before the sun even comes up, and have a full evening to relax.
A few things during school got in my way of being an early riser. Here were the three biggest ones:
1. homework
2. late night sorority sister talks
3. 10am classes, enabling sleeping in.
Homework was so exhausting. I literally feel as if a gigantic burden has been lifted from my shoulders. I should be tired after playing with twenty two-years-olds from 7:30am-3:30pm, but I am strangely not.
Is this how people should live? Not the 12:30-9am routine I used to have? I don't know, but I feel good.
Do you go to bed early, get up early? Why? Children, jobs, school? When your schedule changed, as life always causes it to do, did you adjust well-
I am shocked at how "ok" this all went. I was expecting a major coffee addiction to occur, but no- it's still me and my chai tea.
More and more, day by day, I am loving my new schedule.
As of recently–
•One mini album completed. For my Chicago trip! I love these Kolo albums, great quality, and let me tell you- the Boston album I created my Junior year in high school is sitting on my mother's coffee table, and it still looks good. Ta-da:
•Quite simple to do. I just created layouts of photos in photoshop and then printed them on my Epson. Then, double sided tape + paper + die cuts.
•I am hoping to finally put together my "Week In The Life" soon.
