Mondays STINK!!

I had a crappy day at work - felt like the boss was giving me the stink eye all day. I told Hubby when I got home that I would like a job where I didn't cry almost every day on my commute home....
so I fooled around on the computer for a while until I started to feel better and I added a bunch of links and I think I figured out how to post buttons - see my Sew Retro button and Moki's Recipe for Peace button. I just don't know how to make them smaller:)
Miss S and I are going to make chocolate chip cookies and I will eat too many, then I will stay up too late watching tv cause Hubby is at hockey, but maybe, just maybe, tomorrow will be a better day at work.
I'll end with a cute, just because pic os Miss S and her cousin (that's Miss S on the right) .

A Mighty Fine Weekend

This has shaped up to be a great weekend. I had no big plans so that I would have time to clean house and work on swaps and craft projects. I was able to do a little bit of each! Saturday I took Miss S to ballet, then did some garage sale-ing (nothing TOO great, but I did get the Phantom of the Opera dvd for $5.00 and a cute metal lunch box for Miss S for a quarter.) After ballet we did a few errands and went to Goodwill - again, nothing spectacular, but I did score a few goodies - like a VERY old hardcover of Alice and Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - I can't even find a printing date on it. Hubby and I watched "Snatch" last night. A very cool movie directed by my favorite material girl's husband, Guy Ritchie. I love Brad Pitt when he's dirty and grungy:)
This weekend I freezer stenciled two t-shirts - one for me and one for Miss S, and made a fun little teddy bear for Miss S using the leftover jean legs from a pair that I made into long shorts. Hubby picked out a very cool koi for me to stencil - it's a little intricate so it may take a while. It would look so cool on a solid color skirt.
Anyway - here's some pics:
Mine's the blue one - featuring a very Woodtock-esque birdy, and Miss S has a beautiful butterfly on her purple t-shirt.

Introducing - Miss Jean (get it - she's made from jeans:):):) I'm a dork! She's wearing a little apron that is a little too long so I might shorten it. I need to work on the face a little more on the next one, but this came together very quickly and I'm fairly pleased with her.

Well, I'm off to eat lasagna that Hubby put in the oven while Miss S and I were gone for church, YUM!!

The Good Parts of My Week

My best friend, Tammy, sent this beautiful bouquet to me and Hubby for our anniversary...(please if anyone knows how to rotate pictures please let me know)

I received several swap boxes - but have only taken pictures of one so far - my Thrift Swap from Swap-bot - the parameters were spend $10.00 at the thrift store for your swap buddy. Look at all these beauties I got! Delicate glass items and I LOVE the floral vase. Thank you Kathy!

And this sweet little pug just made me smile. We have two pugs - Gammy and Yuki - ages 12 and 9 respectively - pugs are so much fun!!! Our sweeties are getting old and slowing down a little bit but they still make us laugh.

So if this is the GOOD part...there has to be a BAD part....my wallet was stolen from the law office I work at. One of the attorney's had her wallet stolen, too. Turns out there's been several robberies around town where a guy comes into an office and says he is working on the roof and he's just checking to make sure we have not had any leaks inside. This is totally plausible cause we've had crazy rains the last month and roofs really are leaking all over town. I'm not heartbroken as there was nothing valuable in my wallet, but it's just such a pain in the butt! I had my purse stolen not quite two years ago and I was hoping something like this would never happen again. I'm grateful it was just my wallet and not my whole purse. I had no cash and nothing that cannot be replaced. I am taking the morning off tomorrow to go take care of everything and I hope to squeeze in a few minutes just for me at maybe Target picking out a new wallet.

I spent the evening at Bunco with my dearest friends...that really helped lift my spirits. I was able to score Moki's gift - pictured here. Also included in the box was some awesome Japanese stationery, and a CUTE PEGGY! I'm so excited to have one of my own - she's a little school girl in a plaid skirt. I love her already and I have named her Madeline. She will be going to work with me tomorrow to sit on my desk watching me work all day. And Moki included the breakfast of champions - a Butterfinger and a Pepsi which fit in with our back to school theme as that's what she ate everyday for breakfast her senior year of high school. The pencil bag is gorgeous! It might go in my purse to hold....I'm not sure what yet but it will have to go with me:)

Man I'm chatty tonight:):):) I have several more swaps to photograph and I finished my $99 Thrift Challenge from here so I will be posting those pics as well. My desk is starting to pile up with stuff that needs to be pictured and put away...Hubby is giving me the evil eye everytime he looks at my side of the desk. And I am so itching to craft....so lots to do in the next few days. So until tomorrow....good night!

Thirteen Wonderful Years

Thirteen years ago today this handsome devil and I said I do in sunny Sacramento, California. We've both changed quite a bit since our wedding day (we were both barely 21) - Hubby has a little less hair and I have gained enough weight for boh of us:) Why is it that boys can lose weight so easily? Luckily we both have a lot more wisdom, patience and love. Insert syrupy love song medley here...
We'll be going out tomorrow night to celebrate as Hubby has a late hockey game and then has to be up at 3:o0 a.m. for work.

Weekend Recap

Miss S and I just got home from the park by the house - she swang and I got bit by gnats for almost an hour until I could no longer stand it. We think we saw a fox in the arroyo behind the park. It was just too far to tell but I do not think it was a dog and it was too red to be a coyote. Miss S wanted to go get it and take it home:)


My Oh Scrap package arrived...all the way from Middlesex, England - my very first goodies from someone outside of the US. I would like to live in her scrap box - nothing was smaller than a fat quarter. And the colors and patterns are awesome! I wish I could remember her name - her swap-bot name is sewpatchwork. I don't think she has a blog but if I do find one for her I will post it.

She even wrapped all the scraps in another piece of fabric with a cute little tag. LOVE IT! Even Hubby was impressed.


I spent Saturday with my friend, Carla, and her kiddos doing some errands and hanging out. Then we went to a birthday party for my friend's two year old daughter and got to hang out with her awesome family and extended family and Moki and her family. It was a fun night. Even made it to church EARLY today. Now it's off to the bath for Miss S and hopefully to bed soon. I worked on tons of WIP projects yesterday and I'll be showing those off soon:)

Getting to Know Me

Moki's sister sent this to me and I thought I'd share it with you:):)

Things you may not have known about me.....
A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. dance instructor for 5 year olds
2. McDonald's counter girl for less than one week
3. Counter girl at a deli in Virginia
4. Wild Oats customer service manager

B) Four movies you would watch over and over again:
1. Shawshank Redemption
2. The Princess Bride
3. Grease
4. High School Musical

C) Four places you have lived:
1. Silverdale, Washington
2. Albuquerque, New Mexico
3. Oakton, Virginia
4. Provo, Utah (until I was 6 weeks old)

D) Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. What Not To Wear
2. Designed to Sell
3. Monk
4. Dead Zone

E) Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Hilton Head, SC
2. Cabo san Lucas, Mexico
3. San Francisco, CA
4 29 Palms, CA

F) Websites you visit daily: (or semi-weekly)
1. www.moki.blog-city.com
2. iamian.org (my brother's site)
3. www.raeshadrz.blogspot.com
4. www.swap-bot.com

G) Favorite foods:
1. Mexican
2. Italian
3. Dessert
4. seafood

H) Somewhere you would like to be right now.
1. Seattle
2. London
3. with my family
4. out of debt (good one Alyssa - I'd like to be there too!!)

I) Friends I think will respond:
1. I'm not sure!! I'd love to learn more about my blogger pals so I'll be posting this on my blog too:)

First Day of Kindergarten

Well, the big day finally arrived and not without its scrapes and bruises!!! Miss S had a wonderful day at kindergarten, and momma shed NO tears, but Miss S did.....when she was accidently pushed over when her class was running out to the playground for recess. She ended up in the nurses office with a HUGE scrape on her arm in two places, two scraped knees, a scraped chin and a scraped upper lip. What a little tropper though! She smiled while daddy took her picture of her banged up face:) She is such a little poser.

I was so excited when we picked her up to hear about her whole day. Her class toured the school, met the gym teacher and the librarian and in general had a great day.

Tomorrow she gets to ride the bus for the first time and go to the after school program as I have to work all day. We'll see how that goes.

The last picture is her latest art work - Miss S's interpretation of a roadrunner - the New Mexico state bird.

One More Goodie

I almost forgot - I received my "one on one" ATC from Jeanie in Nebraska - hers is on the left. I sent her the one on the right. We were both VERY impressed with each other's ATC. Thanks Jeanie!!

Mail Goodies

I'll start this post with the most touching item I received in the mail this week. My sister sent me this flag which is the Servicemember's Flag. The blue star means that we have a loved one serving our country - my brother, Ian, who is in Iraq. I love it - I put it in the window as soon as I opened it.

I also received my Paper Goods Swap package from Lisa in Alabama- this package was stuffed to the brim with cool paper goodies. She is a framer so she included several cuts of cool mat board, a framing magazine and two poster catalogs - these will be great to cut up for cards, ATC and collage stuff. The box in the corner was stuffed with more goodies, not one, not two, but THREE little journals/books. I can't wait to use them! Thank you Lisa!

My Wristlet World Swap package arrived too from Carrie. She is in Minnesota so her wristlet represented the blue of the great lakes and the green of the trees. She included hot chocolate, swedish fish (my FAVE - and with little handstamped labels), wild rice that her uncle distributes and Spam (made in her home town). What a cool package!!

Lastly I received my August Button of the Month packge from Thimble. Very cool, retro, polka dot buttons. I still have not decided what to do with my buttons so for now they wait in their package for some inspiration to strike me.

Gimme Your Stuff

I just found the COOLEST site! It is called Giime Your Stuff and it connects you to people all over the world looking to trade stuff! So awesome...here is my list of what I want to trade for and what I can send:
I would LOVE:
Asian craft books or magazines
Asian fabric
Basically anything asian:)
Anything Beatles
Vintage aprons, table linens
Vintage children's books in any language
I can SEND:
Green chile:) Mild, medium or hot, powered or canned:)
Southwestern kitsch
Southwestern fabrics
Native American crafts
LOVE IT!!!!
I have lots more to blog about but friends are coming over for dinner so that will have to wait:)

My First ATC Swap

I participated in my very first ATC swap through Paper Crafts mag's website. The theme was "birds" - the above pic is three of the ATCs I received and below is my contibution. I used pages from an old children's book that are a beautiful shade of cream. I really like how it turned out.
And here are the final four ATC's that I received. I was so impressed with the variety of styles that I received. The host was Jill from San Antonio and crazy thing was - she was my swap partner for the Oh Scrap! swap I just participated in from Swap-Bot - what a coincidence! I'm excited to make more of these ATCs - I can easily see how they can be addicting. I mailed off my newest one for the "one on one ATC swap" I did with Jeanie from Lincoln, NE. I don't think she has a blog. I will wait until she has received it to post the photo so that I don't spoil the surprise for her.

Almost forgot...

Thanks to Ali, Moki and Nikki for playing in the thrift score guessing game! I'd like to reward you too...just send me your address and I will get a goodie in the mail to you too:)

And the Winner is...

Heather from here!! Congratulations Heather!!! She guessed $28.32 as the price I paid for my recent thrifting scores...the actual price was $28.23 and Heather's guess was the closest. A little packet of goodies will be on their way to her shortly.

I had a great relaxing day at work, worked hard, but no immediate deadlines looming. I arrived home to my August Button of the Month packet and my Paper Goods swap. Let me tell you I feel so spoiled today. I will post photos tomorrow - hubby gave me some pointers on how to make my pictures not so blurry. Turns out I was using the wrong setting and that was part of the cause of the bluriness. What else....OH! Yesterday I received my Bird ATC swap back. This was my very first ATC swap and I was floored. I keep taking them out of the envelope and looking at them, then putting them back in the envelope. I have repeated this about 10 times so far. Coolest thing was one of the participants emailed me to request a one on one ATC swap. So I created a few more ATC's tonight while Hubby and Miss S kept yelling for me to come make dinner. Good thing I can tune them out when I want to:) Anyway, I have so many pictures to take tomorrow while it is light out. Until then...sweet dreams!

My Angel in Orange

I just had to take some pictures of Miss S all dolled up for church today. She looked to beautiful and grown up. I can't believe that she started kindergarten in less than two weeks. She asked Daddy to take the pictures cause "Mommy's pictures are all like blurry". So astute!!!! :) Moki asked me at church is I was okay and I thought I was, but now, not so much. My brother Ian left today for a year's tour of duty in Iraq and I just got off the phone with my mom who has been crying all day. I am very nervous for him and asked him to send me his address and email as soon as he gets there. If I sit still too long I start to think about it too much and I get really sad. So since I've been home from church I've been trying to keep busy. We had a huge rain storm last night and I was up half the night so that has not improved my mood either. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. It's just one of thos days....I miss my family, I miss Tammy, I miss not being able to spend more time with Miss S...I feel so scattered lately. I need to sit down and figure out how to get myself back on track and in a groove that works for me and my family.

Saturday News

My friend, Carla, and I spent the day together with our kiddos. First stop was Home Depot where the kids made a pencil box for the Kids Workshop. Then to the mall to fight the crowds and get some school shopping done. Hubby wanted some new jeans for school and I had a 30% off coupon at the Gap that I was dying to use:) We took the kids to Chick-Fil-A for lunch to let them run off some steam for a while and then made one last stop at the fabric store. I got a bunch of McCall's patters for $.99 each, fabric for a few of them, and this great book.

I can't wait to try out some of these bags.

I came home to a Swap-bot package in the mail - YEAH!! My July Fabric Swap arrived from Kris and I LOVE IT!! The top two pictures are a peek. I still can't figure out how to put the pictures in the order I want them:(. Kris packaged them so sweetly with this beautiful cream eyelet fabric. The theme was brown, red, tan and peach I think and she did a great job. I can already see a lot of these turning into bags from my new book! Thanks Kris!!

I'm glad this week is over!!

As I mentioned before, I had a big trial this week so work was absolutely insane leading up to the trial on Thursday. Then Friday I had to catch up on everything else that did not gone done for my other clients while I was doing trial prep. I treated myself to a mid day break at lunch and went shopping at a nearby thrift store . I found an absolute treasure trove of items - here are pics of all my goodies. I don't know why this text is appearing as a link but I can't figure out how to undo that:) :)
A Newport News purple dress, a Ralph Lauren cosmetic bag, 4 bags of trims and rickrack, a bag of thread, magnetic fridge frames, a set of stamps, more patterns and a huge bag of stationery with a bunch of the red and blue striped airmail envelopes - I love those!

My first score - a Lily Pulitzer breast cancer awareness scarf!
The picture quality on these are horrible but hopefully you can see all the vintage goodies I scored. A bunch of patterns and magazines, including a 1940 Good Housekeeping and a 1952 Better Homes and Gardens!Also a bag of really cool vintage style glass bottles with stoppers. I organized some of my buttons in those last night to store in my new sewing cabinet. I was so pleased and could have stayed there MUCH longer as I did not even look at the clothing. As it was I was 15 minutes late getting back to work:)

Anyway, I want to share some of my goodies with you! SO if you can guess how much I paid for this awesome score I will send you an assortment of a few of these goodies. Here's a clue - the four numbers in the price I paid are 8-2-2-3. See if you can guess the right order and if you are the closest you win!! You can guess until Tuesday evening.