the day after.

it's always a little bummy, right? all the anticipation is over, all the gifts have been given and there are no more pretty wrapped packages under the tree! i like to keep my presents under the tree for a while and my stocking stays stuffed for a bit (with me digging out bits of candy now and then) so that i can enjoy all the fun for a bit longer. i mean look how cute superbot looks in my stocking! hehe.

my mom and i had a lot of fun opening gifts from eachother and it was really fun to see my moms reactions to all her gifts, especially the handmade ones (a mini frame, a scrap-o-dex, a promise to make a quilt for her bed and a blog setup and banner) and she totally spoiled me as well. my favorite gift from her has got to be the picture matedash photo printer! i was playing with it a little last night and it's so fun! you can print up to 12 little square photos on one 4 x 6 sheet! how rad is that! all i can think of is how it is going to revolutionize my scrap capabilities! hehe! and the minis that can be made like instantly? insanity!!! so psyched!

after gift opening, and a little bit of watching the cats romp around in all the giftwrap and tissue paper, we pretty much instantly had to get ready to head up to my aunts. i rocked a blaire-bow (gossip girl) and really horrible eyeliner (i hate those days when it just won't cooperate, haha) and we managed to only be like an hour late. that's how it goes in our family, haha. we had my aunts super awesome onion dip and opened presents (double score chi hair straigtener & wii) and i just about died when i opened a very squishy package that contained a grown-up size cozy blanket, like the ones they make for when babies are fresh out of the bath. i almost peed my pants when i put it on and i probs did actually drool a bit from laughing so hard, haha! it's super cozy and will totally use it all the time! it even has a tale! haha!

with our tummies full of yummy lasagna we headed home to get in jammies, open a couple more presents (my mom got me dance dance revolution and a dance pad,) hook up the wii, play with the photo printer a bit and relax. it was a really nice, relazing christmas; great gifts given, great gifts received and fun family time.

so now it's pure torture that i am stuck at work instead of home playing with all my new toys! i could be snuggled up as my giraffe alter-ego watching my so called life: the complete series on dvd and printing pictures to scrap or playing wii! eek! at least i only have half an hour left, then it's off to eb games to see what prices are like and then home i go for some serious play time!

can't wait to get scrapping for me again!

twas the night before christmas...

i got to sleep in this morning! yay! i only had one last minute gift mission to fulfill and then i set to wrapping and lounging. first i wrapped my aunts gifts in lots of robots while watching superbad, which i liked way more than i thought i would.

then came all my mom's presents, also in last years old navy wrapping paper, with lots of ribbons and trims to keep them sparkly and pretty.

so our stockings are hung, mine with a bag over it so i can't see in, : ( and all the presents are under the tree (we're on santa's early delivery route.) it's so hard not to try to poke and shake them to figure out what's inside! guess i'll just have to go to bed so i can wake up and see!

my christmas brat list

or wish list. can you tell i'm an only child?

* wii (with extra controllers, dance dance revolution, mario party and the new mario game)
* the epson picturemate dash photo printer (hello it is a cube with a handle!)
* a cloned version of chloe, the raddest dog ever (refer to picture at left)
* my so called life: the complete series on dvd (mmmmmmm jordan catalano.
* the hot pink chi hair straightener
* new crazy sneakers and flats
* a whole wishlist at story of my life and scrap in style.
* tons of labels, journaling stamps and journaling spots like this baby.
* raspberry paper source suitcase for said labels.
* socks (i'm not kidding!)
* bumble and bumble hair therapy treatment
* the plush superbot from jen & jj over at bam pop! love him!
* and yeah, i'm a nerd but, i totally want
a "the dot grill" mug from degrassi.
* two calendars, snow & graham and kur+ #alsey.
* these ridiculously awesome earrings and necklace that my friends awesome mother makes.
* about ten fun cameras from urban outfitters.

plus, about a million other little random things, like this hello kitty bank. eek! well it's good to have a long list so that people have lots to choose from, right? (onlychild*onlychild*onlychild)

also, huge thank you to the awesome michelle ramirez for picking my new years eve mini for the catwalk! love it when people you are super inspired by love your stuff too! thanks girl!

get behind me santa.

we finally got around to decorating, and despite my not really wanting to do it because i've been feeling so grinchy, i had a lot of fun. we started with the fireplace, pre-lit garland and some of my favorite atc's from the christmas and holiday swaps that stacey ran over scrap in style hung for a scrappy touch and some holiday inspiration.

i think my absolute favorite from the batch, although it's a hard choice, had to be the one with the little bell nestled in the cut out hole, with wings about it that says, "every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings." love it!

my mum and i get each other ornaments each year, and exchange them when we decorate the tree. my mum got me a really adorable penguin tangled in a string of lights and i got her a rad wood ornament with a snowflake cut out of the center. it is burnished so it smells like campfire/smokehouse. yum! it's also really fun to see my ornaments from all the past years too. they tend to tell a story about what i was into that year and it's so funny to see some of them, like the rollerblading turtle from my rink cat days, the campaigning snoopy from my activist days and the nemo-like clownfish from when i was teaching preschool. it's such a fun tradition that i defenitly want to keep going when i have kids too.

it was so nice to just sit with the lights off enjoying the glow from the christmas tree and fireplace. annabelle is also really enjoying the tree. when she was a kitten she used to climb up and sleep in it. she seems to realize that even though she is small, she is still too big for that now. she has not outgrown batting at the ornaments though. she does it in such a tentative and gentle way that it's hard to tell her no, haha. (p.s. see that ornament to the left and above her ear? that's one of my favorites that i gave my mum. it's a felt squid dressed like rudolph, hehe)



i've finally decorated here at the store too. just some simple white lights, ornaments that look like old fashioned christmas lights and some awesome bright felt snowflakes i got at ikea a year or two ago. love them.



so, i guess i can't be in christmas denial anymore, hunh?

santa's coming!

ohmygod dieing! love love love love love elf! it's part of my fool-proof get-myself-into-the-spirit-if-it-kills-me plan. this plan would work much better if it weren't for the fact that i work everyday util 7 until christmas eve. people may be getting pictures of the gifts i will be getting them when i can actually get to a store. oops!

and speaking of santa, i got a HUGE box from my secret santa sister at scrap in style and wow is it filled with yummies! she totally spoiled me with hambly transparencies and rub-ons, thickers, fontwerks labels and stamps, scenic route journaling spot stickers and rub-ons and all kinds of other fun lovelies! i was totally spoiled! and her card hints at meeting me soon, which makes me thing it's someone who is going to scrap bowl or cha! can't wait to find out who she is! thank you so much secret santa!!!

i've already put some of my goodies to good use in the super secret gift i'm making! i ended up re-do'ing page 5 and 6 of the album i'm working on, and i love them a million times more. sometimes it's so worth the re-do! finished pages 7 and 8 as well, but i might just end up re-do'ing page 8 as well. perhaps i should automatically not do whatever page i'm planning on doing last thing before bed since they seem to become a rough draft anyway. hmm.

so i was thinking, wouldn't teleportation be lovely? i would love to be able to have a holiday party with all my favorite people from all over! rhian could bring cupcakes with sprinkles, natalie could bring her wii, elise and vee could make mini party favors, kristina could bring chloe in a holiday party dress (although i can't picture chloe in a dress, maybe a santa lobster outfit, haha!) heidi, michelle r and sara could take turns dj'ing, aimee could cover the tree in fun feltie ornaments, katie couldknit us all stockings, nicole could bring the good wines and beer from her job, stacey could organize a gift swap and all my fave scrappers could come party! someday soon ladies!

really?

a week until christmas? really? i am sooooooo not ready. haha!

i have already;

* baked ginger snaps

* made my christmas cards

* brought all the christmas stuff up from the garage

* put together a really rad final package for my secret santa sister over at scrap in style

* bought what i need for my holiday gifts

* updated my christmas mix (mmmm. sufjan stevens holiday box set)

* hunted down my fave hot chocolate, hershey's goodnight kisses

i am;

* working on christmas gifts for my mom and aunt

* making a really rockin' scrapbook for someone

* writing out and addressing all my christmas cards

* thinking about actually decorating the house

i still have to;

* finish making my christmas gifts

* send out my christmas cards and secret sister package

* actually decorate the house

* decorate the store (i'm going with a general winter theme, so i can keep them up)

* get into the holiday spirit

i am looking forward to;

* putting bright felt snowflakes in the front window at work

* listening to alterna-christmas music while decorating the tree

* wrapping presents (yay for last years old navy robot wrapping paper!)
* drive through christmas light show and hot chocolate with evan

* watching "white christmas"

* teaching my christmas mini at scraptasia

* scrapping more gifts when i get home from work

* the gossip girl christmas episode tommorow

i'm a typing machine!

okay, i guess the typewriter is actually a typing machine, but whatevs!

i was feeling really horrible about not having made any christmas cards this year, especially when i used to send cards for like every holiday and non-holiday ever, so i banged out 24 of them today and pared down the list. they have some pretty ridiculous typing and cute scraps!

i also did 8 layouts for the secret project. i'll upload them to scrap in style tommorow when the light is better. i'm liking more than others, but in general i think they look really rad. it's fun doing all different sizes, and it's keeping the creativity going. 6 more to do over the next few days, but that shouldn't be an ish.

it does feel really weird to be typing on a laptop keyboard now though, and i totally have a blister brewing on my right middle finger from pecking at the typewriter all day. love it!

typing your way into my heart

i need a typewriter! i've been wanting one for a few months now, but haven't really been in an insane rush to find one, until now. i am working on a project for a friend and i want to type everything in the album. it will look awesome, it will fit perfectly and it will be muchly appreciated. now if only i had acess! the ever so awesome katie has offered her house up for some scrapping and typing tommorow after i get out of work, but i'm worried that i won't have everything i need to type on figured out by then. eek! so, i've been checking out craigslist, and there are two promising possibilities that i e-mailed about, so we'll see how those turn out.

so, as for the project. it's tippy top secret. other than the fact that i've posted the cover over at scrap in style, hehe. you never know who is reading your blog, y'know? check it out if you want a peek. i just about sliced my finger off with the acrylic knife cutting that piece for the cover! i'm really excited about this project though! i love giving the perfect gift!

and so yeah, christmas is in a week and a half, and then december is just about over, you know january will fly and then we hit february! who all is going to cha in annaheim? scrapbowl in dulles? i'm totally psyched for these back to back events! i'm signed up for 4 scrapbowl classes and i'm really looking forward to the cali weather at cha! anyone want to go to disney before cha starts? i've never been to any disney parks!

also, driving home from checking on my aunts dog last night i saw like 4 or 5 really bright shooting stars. like the biggest and brightest i'd ever seen. i looked it up when i got home and, sure enough, there was big meteor shower last night. you were supposed to be able to see over a dozen meteors flying across the sky at a time, but there is too much light by my house for me to have seen that many. it was really rad to see the ones i did though! and i was glad to discover it was an actual astronomical event and not me having an anyeuresm or anything. it would have been really tragic if my final moments on this planet were spent singing, "livin' on a prayer" at the top of my lungs while driving home because it was the only station i could get. haha.


..::UPDATE::.. this little lovely, 1969 olympus manual typewriter is mine mine mine! yay! gotta love craigslist! i can't wait to play. it's tape is good, but i'm going to go grab another one from staples on my way home just in case. can't wait to play! she's so cute, and she will need a name asap!

grinch mail!

yeah, that's a weird combination for sure.

wednesday i got to head down to cherry hill and catch a ride with evan to jasmine's americas next top model finale party at john's house. so fun! jasmine made eveybody tyra mail cd's and we all ate junk food and had some drinks. it was way fun to have people to rip on the show and get angry with, haha. the best was totally ripping on that new show, crowned. i mean come on, "team silent but deadly!" they really had no idea what that meant? haha. we were the last people there so that we could catch the end of project runway. yeah i still don't care about any of those designers except for the fact that jack the bear is cute.

oh, and evan used my laptop to upload this weeks into it over it song and holy poo! i am blown away, by the ending especially, it makes me want to like burst! and because it's on my desktop, you can bet i've been listening to it on a pretty regular basis. go check it! he has his first live show for this project on the 28th and i can't wait! plus, i'm working on a really rad related project!


anyway, i got to drive home in this thursday morning. ick! thankfully it was just rain for the first 2/3rds of my drive, but then once it turned into ice it was way terrifying out there! it took me 3 hours to get home instead of 1 and a 1/2. insane!

so, on to the grinch-y part; i suck at christmas this year! tree? no! decorations? no! christmas cards out? no! gifts under control? no way! ugh! i just can't seem to get myself into it this year, and it's totally catching up with me! i mean christmas is in what? like 11 days! eep! i've been listening to my christmas mix on the pod (i'm a sucker for indie and alternative christmas re-do's) and that's not working! maybe i just need to force myself to start and then i'll get into it. i'm totally whelmed with christmas!

umm also, please die from laughter while watching this hilariousness that i found via donna downey's scrapbowl questionarre;



ohmygod! seriously! i don't know which part is my favorite, the dude with the huge harry potter glasses or the really ridiculous ones that no one would be able to do! there are a bunch of other episodes too! love it!

all about it.

i'm pretty much all about this right now. i did it last night/early this morning, and it's pretty much the closest i've gotten to scrapping all day. fun woodgrain contact paper and a heidi swapp damask sticker, love love! it's super rad because the damask looks awesome when it's open and closed, without looking upside down either way. now if only i could figure out how to do the same thing to my cell. hmm ...

i have been cleaning like crazy, purging my drawers and scrap stuff, reorganizing, bringing up ALL the christmas stuff so that it can be gone through, reorganized and packed in new plastic containers and doing a bunch of laundry. ugh!

so, needless to say, all that scrapping i was looking forward to all week has not happened. i guess i'll just have to give in and deal with the fact that i'll have to pack some stuff up and scrap at work. i just miss having all my stuff around when i do that. it takes so much planning ahead to not be wanting something you know you left at home, and usually i'm not up for that level of planning, haha. oh well.

off to bed so that i can get up early and vacuum, i'm fairly sure the downstairs neighbors would not appreciate me doing it right now, as it's about 2:30. oops!

a nyc recap through fisheyes.

lovin' that i'm pretty close to figuring out this whole fisheye thing. note our feet in the photo looking all far away and the bend of the wall behind us. so close! i got some pretty rad shots of the g.w. bridge as well. this shot happened probably minutes before the following conversation with nat;

nat: how are you feeling?

me: ugh.

nat: maybe you should try to make yourself throw up?

yeah not so fun on the ill front. but walking around helped and at least my being ill kept me from spending a ton of money at kate's and the ink pad. so there's that, haha.

plus, we found this really rad wall at parsons new school so we got to take fun pictures in front of all kinds of rad backgrounds. unfortunately there weren't any tim gunn sightings, but we were probably there for like half an hour easy going snap crazy. love hanging with ladies who are just as crazy about taking pictures as i am. they totally understand the need to get that shot, y'know?

it was a crazy cold and windy day, but we got the hang of it by the end and had fun at the outdoor craft market and filling our noses with all the yummy smells at lush, with only a minor glitter up the nose injury, i won't name any names, haha.

i have scrappy things coming soon, i promise!

today.

i have ...
* pointlessly sat here at work with no one coming in because of the snow.
* started a project that i have been thinking about for a while
* planned some theraputic scrapping pages
* been inspired by this layout by shelly b and this one too. also vee's christmas journal and everything kristina has been doing lately!
* eaten about a million hershey kisses.
* had freezing cold feet all day. (it is officially time to give up on the canvas slip-ons.)
* had lofty dreams for the future.
* miss friends that i have not seen in ages.
* scored a second clip-it-up for 40 % off.
* made some updates on myspace.
* sent good vibes all the way to long island.

i will ...
* have a mug of hershey's goodnight kisses hot chocolate.
* curl up with the new issue of nylon.
* eat chinese food (and subsequently continue to not lose weight.)
* continue to think about a haircut.
* make todays daily card.
* watch a movie.
* stay up too late.

i want ...
* a hand to hold
* mocassins in fun colors
* a business loan

3's

so i've always been into lists and 3's seem to be everywhere lately, the stupid 333 storyline on csi: new york, tracks i'm digging and groups. anyway, here are some random lists of 3. feel free to come up with your own.

3 sequential track i dig;

from death cab for cutie's album, "transatlantacism"
6. tiny vessels
7. transatlantacism
8. passenger seat
soooooooo painfully yummy

3 things i wanted to be when i grew up;

1. singing voice for a disney character
2. childrens book author
3. rockette (stupid 3 inches)

3 lyrics that i love;

1. "there's not a lot for you to give if you're giving in."
2. "you are what you love not what loves you back."
3. "someone choose who's left and who's leaving."

3 smells i adore;

1. medicated chapstick
2. the smell right before it rains in the spring & summer
3. sleeping kitty tummy

3 websites that consume the most of my time;

1. scrap in style tv
2. trendetta
3. here

3 most recent album purchases;

1. sky blue sky by wilco
2. in our bedroom after the war - stars
3. our ill wills - the shout out louds

3 favorite things to do;

1. scrap
2. hold hands
3. take pictures

3 must watch shows right now;

1. gossip girl
2. pushing daisies
3. the soup

3 favorite songs at this instant;

1. a praise chorus by jimmy eat world
2. breakin' up by rilo kiley
3. set yourself on fire by stars

3 things on your holiday wishlist;

1. the snow & graham 2008 wall calendar
2. plush superbot from bam pop
3. wii with dance dance revolution

and now that i've been playing on youtube look for my 3's of youtube videos real soon, haha.

randoms to get by.

* a week or so a go i broke wal mart. well, at least the photo center. apparently when i requested that the machine burn all the picture files on my digital camera's memory card to disc it overloaded and downed the photo center fro a few hours. oops.

* i watched the invisible yesterday and justin chatwin is waaaaay yummy when he is not being a total jerk in chumscrubber.

* long island and nyc with k, v & n was a little weird (we all had issues, haha) but we managed to still have fun regardless and take a ton of pictures in front of a really fun wall at parsons/the new school. i unfortunatly barely snapped any with my own camera, other than the fisheye and who knows how those will end up.

* they are completely tearing up the road and sidewalk in front of the store and have the whole block totally closed, but yet i somehow still have to be here. wth?!?

* my secret santa over at scrap in style sent me a fun little package yesterday that included the rold gold honey mustard twists that i can't seem to get around here anymore. yum. now if anyone can find me the rold gold honey mustard and garlic sticks i will give them my first born. promise. or the equivelant in scrap of craft supplies.

* tv - *gossip girl = better & better, loved the taste of bad s they gave us. *heroes = familiar. didn't we have a possible end of the world situation last year this time? and 2 epsiodes where peter stays fully clothed? what? *project runway - bye bye flock of seagulls! 'nough said.