hope you all have a wonderful day and Santa brings all that you wanted.
We had a wonderful day - 17 of us here for lunch. First time we have all been together on Christmas Day in over 15 years - it is hard when we live in different countries.
Boxing Day here now - and we will be going to some sales so the kids can spend their gift cards and money.
Loving the summer weather - long days and lots of sunshine. Already getting very brown just by being out and about.
Having lunch at my brothers girlfriends restaurant today and the rest of the week we have picnics planned and a day in Hanmer Springs!
I married this man.
Best
day
of
my
life.
My anniversary present to him was tickets to NZ - and tickets to 4 of the Rugby World cup games. Today he *finally* arrives home from New Zealand after 3 weeks away and I will see him very soon. Can't wait!
I love you Mike!
with Mike and my parents.
We are off to
for 3 days and 2 nights.
I think there will be a lot of this going on - along with maybe a spa treatment - and checking out some of the fun shops and yummy restaurants in the area.
Should be lots of fun!
in a couple of hours, for fun in the sun! Our great friends from NZ are over with their kids - and we are spending a few days with them down in LA and then coming back here on Friday with them - they are here for another week.
Can't wait to see them and their A DOR ABLE boys Jake and Declan, and we even get to celebrate Jake's birthday cos it is tomorrow!
which should also be called Ya Gotta Have Friends part 2!
We had to head up to Sacramento to look at a car for our friend Simon - who is thinking of buying it and shipping it back. Can I just remind me you how truly awful the weather was here last weekend?
It was a not a quick drive - every time we thought the weather could not get any worse it did. And then it got windy(er!). It was not really a jaunty country drive!
But we got there in the end - and checked out the car for Si (which he has now bought!).
This car place had some droolworthy cars - I could have easily driven off with this Stingray
or the Racing Porche
or one or all of these Ferraris!
Did everything we needed to for Si - including taking the '73 Firebird for a test drive and taking a video of it and more pics for him and then headed back.
Stopped at Applebees (blah) for some lunch and then on the way back pulled into the Nut Tree *LOL*
We were right by my friend Terri's house so we got to stop in and see her house - and finally meet Super Mario (her hubs) and as a bonus Brittny was there too! YAYY Even better - I GOT PRESENTS!!!
HOW freaking ADORABLE IS THIS???
Terri made this Cricut Expression cover for me.
I LOVE IT!!!
She knows me so well - the green is gorgeous, the print is gorgeous, I love the ruffle and the fabric rose. SHE ROCKS!!
She is starting a business selling these - so I will let you know when it is up and running. I saw some of the other ones she has made and they are all adorable.
THEN.... I got another present! Terri and Brittny had been to a couple of garage/estate sales the day before and Brittny spied this vintage Pyrex casserole and bought for me WOO HOO!
Had a fun hour or so chatting away and then it was back on the road again. We were home around 7.30 and tired - so no scrappiness done by me today :-( BUT Miss Terri had done some scrappiness for me - completing a sample album for a class. LUVVERLY
SPA TREATMENT umm does sitting in a car seat (which doesn't vibrate or massage) for 7 odd hours count?
LUNCH - Applebees - on the way back - it was so so
DINNER - leftovers - humph!!
DESSERT - a lolly in the car does not count!!
PRIZE WON - nein! nein! nein!
It's a mystery to me, the game commences
For the usual fee - plus expenses
Confidential information - it's in a diary
This is my investigation - it's not a public inquiry
Are you confused??? Well... first for those not born before 1980 ;-) - they are lyrics from a Dire Straits song - Private Investigations. Second - why is the giveaway a mystery??
Well, tomorrow morning I am off to CHAW 2011 aka Craft and Hobby Association Winter Conference and Trade Show.
This is held twice a year - a winter session (January in LA) and a summer session (July usually in Chicago).
It is where ALL the craft manufacturers come together to display their wares for the next 6 months. Imagine if you will a scrapbook expo you have been to, combine that with a marathon and then give it all a good dose of steroids. You might just about come close to CHA. It is huge beyond belief.
It is not just scrapbooking manufacturers but all craft manufacturers - stamping, painting, sewing, beading, inking, woodworking, metal, jewellery, apparel, baking, cooking, knitting - the list is endless - and so are the corridors of booths!! There never seems to be enough time to get around just the booths of the scrapbook manufacturers I want to see - let alone all the other types of crafts I would love to have a gander at.
So far there are 544 exhibitors (yep... steroids!!)
This year it is at the LA convention centre - so if you have been there you know just how big that place is. I thought the Anaheim CC was big enough - but LACC is bigger! By the end of each day you are 10 inches shorter from all the walking you have done (hence the marathon part).
It was so bad last year - and I was so tired at the end of one day - I actually got a taxi back to my hotel. Not so bad you think???? - this is the part where I own up that my hotel was maybe 500 yards from the conference centre. But I could not have walked that 500 yards if my life depended on it. I am sure the taxi driver thought I was a total nutjob. In fairness - I found out after the show - I actually had an infected foot - which is maybe why I was struggling so much each day!
But despite all that I am excited. It is fun - I get to see people I only see once or twice a year. I get to see all the new goodies in the flesh! I get to take fun classes - and do a lot of make and takes. I get to buy stuff - although I have to be sensible - it is very easy to get carried away and want to buy every single thing you see!
So what is the mystery giveaway???
Last year I came back LADEN down with goodies. Samples, giveaways, prizes of all shapes and sizes and crafts.
So the winner this week will get a selection of the newest stuff out there - long before it ever hits the shelves.
I don't even know what it will be - but it will be good!
I will try to post the winner from LA - but I don't get back until late Tuesday next week - so it will all depend how things go. In saying that though - I do hope to get some posting done from CHA - even if it is a couple of uploads on youtube with my Flip!
I have just sat in on the live preview of 7gypsies new releases for CHAW and can I just say WoW wOw WoW.
I would have posted a little sooner but I had to wipe down my keyboard before I could type, and then of course I had to get my order in tout suite - to make sure as soon as it was available - it was being shipped to me! I can't wait to actually *see* it in the flesh in 2 weeks at CHAW!! For now though - here are some peeks for you!
I will let the pictures do the talking!
I have to admit - after seeing all this evocativeness - I have an overwhelming urge to book tickets to fly away to Europe!! Oh yes, and I want all those book knobs for the cupboard doors in my house!!
We all make them.
We all break them.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em; Know when to walk away, know when to run.. WHAT?? get outta here Kenny.. wrong song.. and I don't even like country music. Anyway... as I was saying. This year I have lots of things I want to do/change/be/start/end etc. So instead of standing there at midnight making rash promises - I have spent the last couple of days making a board.
So I present - My 2011 Resolution Board
I took a large piece of tin (left over from an old project) and punched a couple of holes (good ole cropadile) and hung it by wire. Because the edges of the tin were a tad sharp, I wrapped the edges with 7gypsies tape. Over each hole where the wire came through I put two buttons as added stability to stop the wire pulling back - and as luck would have it I had two buttons with the #1 on them so it is for Year 11! Then I grabbed some el cheapo wooden pegs and glued magnet strips on to the back of each one (which came with a message board and will never be used). Then I painted the pegs in different colours.
Peridot - Daily
Periwinkle - Weekly
Aquamarine - Monthly
Red - Year
Then I set to, and made the actual resolutions for each peg. Some are just visuals, some are words, some are a combination. Scrappy items came in handy here! The whole time I was making it - I was thinking about all the things that I wanted - and even before it was finished - I had/have already started to implement some of them. This is hanging in my little office area so everytime I walk in and out I see it.
So here is a close up of the different areas.
DAILY
These are things I want to change on a daily basis.
I found some fun images in a recent magazine and some I had on my computer.
No that is not moisturiser on the moisturise label but liquid pearls - looks realistic though!!
My personal fave - Stop letting it - with the visual of time slipping through my fingers
In making the actual board - I already started on the save money part by using items I already had. You might laugh at the "dressed before 9am" - but let me tell you - working for yourself from home, it is so easy some days to get up and start working - and suddenly it is nearly lunchtime and you are still in your jimjams!! Enough I say!
WEEKLY
The 2lbs down goal - that is my minimum - I think I can do better - but that is my weekly aim.
Some of the exercise goals will change to daily.
The SWIM is swimming don't you think?
Fix Something refers to the house. We all have little jobs that need a bit of DIY - that always seem to get put off - no more!!
MONTHLY
My poor old Vespa has not been ridden in yonks. With the way petrol is flying up - I need to get back in the saddle!
1 layout a month might seem paltry - but as I have done NONE layouts a month over the past year, well!! It seems as though since I started *working* in the scrap industry my own scrapping has become a thing of the past!
Something for me - a little AB FAB dahling - or a little putting me first. Might be as a simple as a pedicure, or lunch with friends, or as involved as a weekend away.
I am changing my albums up - pulled the layouts all out over a year ago - they still sit... sadly waiting for a new home.
DATES!! I want some!! Not just a night at the movies either!
YEAR
These are goals I want reached in 2011.
The bath - that actual bath (and tap) is sitting in our garage - in a box - waiting to be installed.
We bought it last year along with a new basin unit.
We want to totally redo the main bathroom which is 70's kitsch small YUK horrible nasty.
It is going to be a big job - everything ripped out - along with an adjoining wall (cupboard) to make the room bigger, and a skylight pushed through - as it is an interior room and dark as a coalmine with the lights off. But this year it is HAPPENING!
I love the font for learning something new - and I know what it is I want to learn - and no I am not fessing up. The other image is very self explanatory and I won't be commenting!
So there you have it - the Board. I am thinking this should be the topic for the layout I do for this month! I have a few other items to go on the board - need more pegs - and over the year some of the items will change their status to daily, weekly, monthly. Some will be bumped up (exercise) and some will be bumped down (dig photos) as situations change or get completed.
Recent Comments