Happy 4th!

Happy 4^th of July and Happy 4^th night in our new house! Man it’s been a hectic few days. We are getting close to some semblance of getting settled, though sometimes I think unpacking will never end!

Franny and I took a break from the house chores and took part in the Lake Forest 4^th of July parade this morning. It wasn’t easy getting up so early, but it turned out we had a blast (and a good long nap when we got home). Franny was invited to participate in the parade with the Angel’s – the family that owns Zutter Innovative. They have miniature horses that they love to show off, and we never turn down an opportunity to be in a parade. Turns out I ended up riding along on the golf cart, even though I thought I’d just be sitting and watching the parade. There were about 120 entries in the parade and we were #61 in the lineup. Lots of fun things to see – from marching bands, floats and horses, to baseball and soccer teams and various car clubs. We were the only mini horse entry, however. The Angel’s love their minis and enjoy showing them off. It’s all good fun, and a nice break from not only the moving, but a great way to celebrate Independence Day with good people.

….not to mention a great way to see what the owner of Zutter does in his spare time. Yes, he is securing Sheriff Monk to the top of Daisy the horse. So funny!

It’s almost embarrassing how many boxes the movers had to haul upstairs to the new scrapbook room. But I am taking the opportunity to re-organize everything and tidy up in my new room. I did give up on sorting through the Clip-it-Up tonight, but will resume in the morning. We went to IKEA yesterday and I bought a glass-topped table for scrapping. (Great tip, Annette, thanks!) I am looking forward to being “back in business” real soon….and even better, I will have more space and should be uber creative now that I can get to everything and actually know what I have! HA!

Hope you are all enjoying your holiday weekend!

Counting Down til the Movers Come

I am a bit lost without my scrap room to retreat to. Well, I can still go in there, there just isn't anything there! I am not a "good mover." I don't label boxes well. If you could see the writing on these boxes, almost all of them say either "scrap paper", "scrap tools", "scrap books" or "scrap stuff.". Not gonna be easy when it comes time to open them and sort them out in the new room! LOL! All the shelves and cubbies are coming with me, though I do have to buy a new craft table (any suggestions anyone?) as the table I have been using is our old kitchen dinette. In the new house we will actually have a dinette area, so the table is going back into service. I will have to go look at Ikea or someplace for a sturdy, inexpensive, LARGE work surface. BTW, Home Depot rocks for cheap moving boxes!

What are you all working on this week?

Scraproom, Sweet Scraproom

It's official! We found our new home. At least that part of the ordeal is over. Now it's just packing. Just HOW does one pack an outta control scraproom? My new room will be nearly twice as big (BIG smile), but it's just how to organize, tidy and pack?? I suppose it will be good to actually go through what I have. I mean, who knows what I really have on hand? LOL!

The new scraproom is empty now, but wait a couple weeks and I will show you how it looks! LOL! Here is the view from our new backyard. Yes, a lake and tennis courts, and a pool just beyond. And, a view looking toward the house from the backyard. Nice blue skies....sigh. If only I could snap my fingers and be moved.

Mon-dazed & Confused

I'm ready for something to happen. Hopefully we will know more this week about when and where we will be moving too. I am remaining adament that we stay in the general neighborhood, but things being the way they are, I may not get what I want. (Can I throw my Veruca Salt tantrum now?)

Anyway, thank goodness for the distraction of design team layouts that I need to make! I can reflect on the super-fun day Franny and I had at Sea World last month. We went to go see the dolphins as she wrote her first ever school report on these amazing animals. We got to Sea World early and went right to the Dolphin Experience where we got to pet several of them and got promptly soaked and splashed! Franny wanted to sit up close for the Shamu show, which I did reluctantly. At the last moment I thought I had better buy a towel and poncho, since we were sitting in the "soak zone." I never buy stuff from the roaming vendors, but I thought...."i don't really want to get any more wet than we are!" OMG! If I hadn't bought the poncho we would've been drenched. As it was, I lifted the thing over us a fraction too late and we suffered pretty dang good wetness. It was like 4 tub-fulls of water getting poured on us. Franny was all wet and bedraggled. The backpack I had with me is permanently fishy (whale-y) smelling. But it made for a truly memorable, happy day!

Then there is Marli's upcoming graduation from 8th grade. This last trimester has been a grade struggle for her. For my bright girl, she has just been so blah with the studying. So, I have this layout ready to go - assuming she does indeed get the grades and finals down this week. I think she will - we DID buy the dress and shoes for the big day, after all! It will be a day to remember alright!

So, I am scrappin' along here. Hope ya'all have a great week.

Food Makes Everything Better

Ok, I am still not thrilled about having to move (and no, we don’t know where we will be living on July 1), but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy dinner on Monday night in Laguna Beach. It was a business dinner to be sure, but it was fab food, fun company, good business and even better food. While I can’t say what the business was, I can say that Donna Salazar and I ate like queens (and neither of us had our cameras with us!). So thank goodness for my Blackberry! So, let your mouth water over the Ahi Tuna, the Mariscos Skewers, and the desserts….ahhhh, the desserts. Chocolate Mousse and Berry Tostada. Did I mention the raspberry margaritas……? LOL! Not to mention an incredible ocean view and sunset. Ok, things can't be that bad!

An Empty Room

It's a time of change. Ugh! I'm a homebody Cancer, so I dislike change alot. Looks like the next month or so will have us moving out of the house that I love, as the owner needs to sell. Of course this is an opportunity for many things...new spaces, new empty rooms and walls (and cleaning out countless cubbies and boxes that are long overdue for such). Nonetheless, I would rather have my teeth drilled (all day long) than move. Ugh! I know I said that already, but that's all I can say. Ugh!

The Lucky 13

I always said that I didn't ever want to belong to a club that would have me for a member! But I have changed my mind...only because I think these lovely, creative ladies have taken pity on me! I was recently invited to participate in a unique circle journal group called the Lucky 13. The groups consists of 13 talented artists who are all making canvas scrapbook pages for each other to document our year. I was recently asked to step in for a member who has had to step down.....I don't mind being the designated hitter or scrapper to be named later....I'm just tickled to be part of the team!

Meet the other 12 ladies who make up the Lucky 13:

angela daniels
candice mclean
cheryl waters
donna salazar
elena etcheverry
gloria king
jennifer priest
jolee jane pollock
melanie christie
melissa kennedy
michelle van etten
stephanie ackerman

Watch for our creations on the blog; I am so looking forward to this experience!