Honest To Pete!

NY State of Mind

Mallory and I spent a few days in NYC. She's been wanting to go for years and I told her back in her Freshman year if she got straight As throughout highschool I'd take her. Well, a deal's a deal!

 
In Central Park looking west.

 
At the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 
The dinosaur exhibit in the Natural Museum of History.

 
View from the top of the Empire State Bldg.

 
Front of the theatre for "Jersey Boys" - really enjoyed the show!

The weather was downright cold, but we enjoyed our time there nonetheless. Mallory experienced riding the subway and hailing cabs, but mostly we walked...and walked...and then walked some more. We ate well, found a couple of yummy bakeries - cupcake goodness! - and shopped. Lots. I was so glad to have the long Mommy-daughter weekend as I know she'll be leaving for college in August and opportunities for quality one-on-one time will be rare. Her thoughts? "Can we do San Francisco next?"

What a Winter!

Snow, and lots of it here in The ATL! This is my 6th Winter living in the South and yes, we've had dustings of snow, and last year we even managed to accumulate a whole inch! But this year? Brought back memories of those grand Ohio winters!

 
This is at the beginning of the big snowstorm, affectionately referred to as the Snowpocalypse!

 
 And this is Buffy, not thrilled to be treading thru several inches of the white stuff! You can see the snow on the chairs which is more telling of how much we really got. Impressive for sure, especially for Georgia. But alas, as I type, we are back to the warmer temps I've come to expect from southern living - hitting 71 today and just absolutely gorgeous skies.

Since I have not been the biggest cheerleader of leaving Ohio for Georgia, and have been known to moan about more than a few of the differences I've encountered, I would like to say that I am happy to have had the Big Snow this winter, as my youngest finally got to see and feel and play with snow as if we'd never left 'home'. Thanks Mother Nature for allowing this YankeePeach a little piece of Buckeye weather!

That Blur is My Life!

Yes, we are all busy it seems. The kids, the job, the house, family commitments, playtime, hobbies...and when all of those hit at the same time, it makes for a blur of a life! Usually, there is a regular ebb and flow to our busy times, however, my life has been at its BUSY PEAK since July, and I am ready for some much needed down-time.

Now, lest you think this is a complaint about the stuff keeping me busy, think again 'cause it's ALL been a good-busy. I certainly can't bemoan watching my kids play tennis, or dance, or taking care of everything that goes along with having a highschool Senior - Sr. pics, college visits, ordering grad announcements and her cap & gown. Of course, there's the "have-to-do" stuff: grocery shop, laundry, bill-paying, errands, homework help, etc. Now, I truly won't utter a negative word about my recent travels - the much-needed girlfriend stay in the beach house, family trip to Disney, or my scrap weekend in the mountains. And Lord knows I'm even enjoying being gainfully employed for the first time since 1997!

So what's up with this post? Well, I am no longer able to keep up such a non-stop pace without signs of wear-n-tear on my body. Yep, I've got a few years on me now (eh, Toby? LOL) I've felt just a tad run-down, and I know lack of sleep and having my brain "in gear" 24/7 is to blame. Also, my poor, poor house. So neglected. I'm behind the 8-ball on all of my chores and I can feel that self-imposed pressure to keep the house "just so" weighing on me daily. I want more time to read and to work on my scrappy art projects. I want to do nothing in front of the TV. I want time to plan better meals and bake again. I want to window shop! I want to go to bed ridiculously early and not feel guilty that I'm not "getting stuff done"!

My plan you ask? Well, I started a 'to-do' list. I'm prioritizing it and then I'm going to add into it those little, simple joys we fail to acknowledge when life gets too busy. I figure if they're on the list, they'll get done and there will be a better balance to my life. So now I'll share a few pics from the last couple of 
months as a reminder to myself to stop and give thanks for my busy life!

 
The boardwalk from our beach house to the ocean on Tybee Island. 8/2010

 

Universal Studios, outside of the "Jaws" ride. 9/2010

 
Gillian's 9th Birthday party at The Funky Paintbrush. 8/2010

 

 
Woodstock H.S. Homecoming. 10/2010

A Tale of Two Cards

The lovely folks at 3M asked me to see what I could come up with using their new Post-It Craft Papers and I more than happily obliged. This is just the first of what I hope to be many projects featuring these wonderfully versatile papers.

My idea was to create the same greeting card twice and show how you can stay basic with your design or take it up a notch. But after photographing the cards side-by-side, I feel like playing one of those games of 'Can you spot the differences?' LOL

First, "y'all" have to admit the colors are perfect for this time of year!

Let's start with the leaves, I used my QuicKutz dies and hand-squeeze to make them and the craft papers were just as easy, if not easier, to cut through than regular cardstock. I'll admit, I thought being adhesive-backed they might gum-up some, but nope! They popped right out! The card on the left shows the leaves embossed, which was also done with QK and the hand-squeeze. Since these are from the Post-It company, not only are they self-adhesive but HELLO! repositionable. Makes for playing with spacing and changing your mind so easy. I added glitter to the maple leaf by flipping it to the adhesive side and glueing the color-side down. Lastly, I added stickles to 'bling up' the centers of the other leaves.

For the sentiment on the card, I stamped and punched out the letters for the card on the right. I had no problem with the ink smearing or puddling. The letters for the card on the left were all die-cut using QK, again. I wanted to see if making smaller, detailed dies made a difference in the quality of the punch-out, but no, these came out just as easily as the larger dies.

So, were you able to 'spot all the differences'? There's actually one more! I inked the edges of the card on the left, subtle but it shows. Leave a comment and let me know what you think, and thanks for playing =)

 

Girlfriends, Frozen Cocktails & Jellyfish

First, the girlfriends:

Nancy, Bisco er, Lynda and I spent five days living in a beach house on Tybee Island last week. Best friends for years - we have dirt on each other dating back to 1983! We love to reminisce about some of our more crazy escapades, but we don't all remember the stories the same anymore. In fact, one of our more popular queries when someone says, "Remember the night that..." is, "Wait, was I there?" I don't think anyone can make me laugh as much and for as long as these two -- I thank God for them being in my life.

So, we may have had a frozen cocktail...or eight, with a few beers thrown in here and there:

Yummy stuff! We feasted on scrumptious seafood and an assortment of frozen concoctions every night. No complaints on any of our meals. We even took advantage of Savannah's open container policy and grabbed some brews before taking a ride in the back of a hearse -thankfully sitting upright and glad our first ride in a hearse wouldn't be our last! We learned about the complexities of Beer Pong from some guys who will be competing in Las Vegas at the Beer Pong National Championships for a $50,000 prize!! Who knew? We told them in our day, it was just called 'Quarters' and if you were lucky, you got to keep the change.

Jellyfish tales:

Thankfully, this ginormous guy was dead, however one of his cousins found both of Nancy's ankles while the three of us were standing in about 4 ft. of water. I can't describe the pain but I can attest to Nancy's very colorful vocabulary during the attack! Thankfully, the lifeguards drove up within minutes and sprayed her with 'Jellyfish Squish', which lessened the sting to a more bearable degree. Upon our return home, Nancy found an article stating that 2010 has seen a record number of jellyfish stings on the island - well over 10,000, shattering the previous number of just over 5000. So, yeah, that would have been good info to have BEFORE we got in the water, eh?

It was a relaxing and much-needed vacation. Early morning walks, long days reading on the beach, nights out channeling our inner gourmands and soaking up Savannah's charm. Yes, there are more stories to tell but you all know the saying: What happens on the island, STAYS on the island! ~wink~

 

 

 

"Cool Tools"

While perusing the many scrapbook manufacturer booths at CHA-Chicago this past July, I wandered into a corner-booth, all bright and cheery, showcasing a line of papers and die-cuts geared to the Pre-School set. The line is called 'Colson's Tool Tots' and it is manufactured by a new-to-me company named "eyem2cute".

After chatting with the owners, they gave me a sampling of their products for me to design projects that would showcase their papers in new ways other than your typical layout pages. The whole line is adorable! The design is a 'fix-it' tool theme and is available in two color-schemes, one for boys and one for girls.

My first idea was to make a bedroom door sign for your Lil Mr. Fix-It:

The acrylic is from ClearScraps; Metal letters from WeRMemoryKeepers; Black acrylic paint from Memory Makers. All papers, dies, & buttons are from 'Colson's Tool Tots' boys' line.

For your little "Ms. Fix-It", I put together a "Cool Tool" Party set - Invitation, Thank-you Card and Goodie Box:

All papers, dies & buttons are from 'Colson's Tool Tots' girls' line; Prima Flowers.

To see their complete collection, visit http://www.stickers-n-stuff.com .
 
 

Early Christmas Gift??

 
I had a wonderful surprise in my Email Inbox, and it felt like an early Christmas present! This is what I read when I opened the message:

From Sarah Johns

Bloggingawards.org

I just wanted to let you know that your blog, Honest to Pete, has been nominated by your readers for our 2010 Top Stay at Home Mom Blogs award! ...the focus of our awards is to award great content. No matter how old or how obscure, great content is great content. And your readers think so as well, as evidence of this nomination!

Pretty cool, eh? Who knew? I'm having a 'Sally Field' moment here: my readers like me, they really like me! LOL So to whomever was responsible for the nomination, thanks for reading and don't forget to share the BlogLove!

Well, that was fun, but I have to unload the dishwasher now.

 

 

 

Chi-Town

Off to the Windy City bright and early tomorrow. Spending 5 days at CHA - Craft & Hobby Association's big Summer Convention. I'm a first-timer, no idea what to expect but I'm sure it will be fantabulous! Hope to learn some tricks of the trade, see new products before they're released and maybe score some of that product =) I'll get to see some familiar faces and meet new friends in the "biz". Would love to have some time to head downtown and oh, say shop a bit? LOL We'll see...

WebKinz Live!

The WebKinz Van came to Woodstock today! And I happen to know an 8 yr old girl who just LOVES them! So off we went to stand in line for a chance to spin the 'Wheel of Wow', guess the number of jellybeans in a huge jar, play some WebKinz cornhole, er beanbag toss -heehee. And who can pass up free M&Ms? In addition to the games and snacks, Gillian got some free Feature Codes for rare items (if you're familiar with the online world of WebKinz, you know how absolutely COOL this all is!). She won a plush KinzClip, some lipgloss, a figurine and KinzCards and still managed to finagle a new "Mazin' Hamster" out of me! Big Mommy points today - as we were leaving, Gilly said, "We are having the BEST day so far!" All in all, not a bad haul for my WebKinz fanatic =)

 
 

It's Been A Beautiful Ride

Life ain't always beautiful. Tears will fall sometimes.

Life ain't always beautiful, sometimes it's just plain hard.

No, life ain't always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride.

Harley Bosko  2/19/1990 - 6/14/2010

"Life Ain't Always Beautiful" by Gary Allan