“oh hello dog days, you’re a little early wouldn’t you say?!?!”

it’s hot!  no like really really hot.  since i’ve moved, i’ve happily and gratefully walked to work each day with a smile.  some days were a little hotter, though bearable.  some days were rainy, drizzly… but again bearable.  last week began the first of a streak of getting in my car, pumping the a.c. and driving around the corner.  it takes more time to park than it does to walk there.  what’s the point?!?!  well, during this dreadful heat wave, the point is that i cannot walk the 2 1/2 blocks to work without arriving with buckets of sweat dripping down my front and my back.  and for the sake of my first few clients, i’ll put aside my being “green” for being dry!

I’m off to work, for a couple hours.  It’s going to be a short day.  Then I hope to come home and continue to chip away at the to-do list from hell!!!  I’m getting there… the craft room is looking better and better… pictures to come (promise)!

Oh and craft night has been put on hold for 2 weeks… I’m getting antsy… I want to CRAFT dammit!!!!

jack’s new home, o.g. antiquing, and we finally washed the car!!!

so memorial day weekend is off to a fantastic start.  i’ve eaten either chocolate cake or ice cream for breakfast for about a week now.  if that doesn’t say holiday i don’t know what does… oh wait… yes i do…

“we” bought a grill at home depot the other night.  friday night’s at home depot… a lot of fun.  for real.  i can’t really think of anything to compare it to.  a wild time.  then to wegmans, to pick up burgers and dogs for grilling.  some ice cream.  frozen pizzas.  tabloids.  this was actually my first time grocery shopping anywhere other than target since moving into the new place.  well probably even before that so i’ll say a good couple months!!!

yesterday walt had to pick out his tux for the prom…

that’s not it… we had the best time with the mini- conan o’brian they have working there… it took about 45 minutes for him to warm up to us and get our sarcasm… jack chilled with walt’s gold rope chain on…

haha!!!  after that we decided to make the most of a beautiful day and get ice cream at naegles in ocean grove.  which then led to BUYING everything we saw at the “antique dealerships” in OG.  i found THE MOST ADORABLE new dog bed for jack…

if you’ve seen these before it’s even funnier!!!  it’s PERFECT!!!!  afterwards, we took the ‘54 to the car wash, for a MUCH needed cleaning.  i felt awful, embarrassed, like a horrible person, driving it dirty.  why haven’t i taken better care of that little sweetie?!?!!  oh the night went really really late and actually ended up becoming an impromptu sleepover.  well, the driver fell asleep so they slept over.

today i’m drinking loads of coffee, taping off the bathroom, i HAVE to paint it this weekend.  i’m going to wake charley up in a bit.  we’ll grill some burgers and dogs.  then FIREWATER tonight!!!  i’m so excited.  we all are!!!  dancing and partying tonight!!!  woo hoo!!!

oh and this week/weekend brought some amazing and wonderful news… i’ll let jenny tell you all about that one!!!  and no, no one is having any babies or anything crazy like that!!!!  jenny - BLOG BLOG BLOG!!!

craft night!!!

I’m planning a monthly craft night for about 10 girls. I’d like to know who would be interested. We would pick a night that works for everyone. I would host at my house. We can each bring a snack or beverage.

This is how it would work. I will find artists who will put together a “kit” for each crafter. Depending on what the cost of the kit is to make, will determine the cost per crafter. If it’s a local artist they will come and help walk us through the project.  If they aren’t able to make it, we’ll follow the directions provided and hope for the best!!!

Any months we do not have a specific project, we can all work on our own crafts, artwork, etc.

I’ve taken classes set up this way before and its a really great time. No one’s project looks exactly alike in the end because we all add our own flair.

So please please, let me know if you are interested and what nights/times would work for you. Also, if you have any artists that you think would be interested, suggestions would be appreciated.

the couches have arrived

so after weeks of waiting and calling and waiting, the couches were delivered yesterday morning.  7:30am.  and after weeks of wondering how the hell they are getting them in… these 2 guys got them in and set up in less than 15 minutes.  bravo.  i told them i was proud of them!!!  they are gorgeous.  and comfy.  and fit perfectly!  i will for sure take some pictures later on today and post them asap.  along with some others of the new apt.  this place is really looking good. more soon!

back to blogging…

so it has been just about a year since my last post.  WOW.  and i plan to get started with a bang!!!  i have a new blog, with a new look, a new name, and a lot more personalizing… i’ve been trying to edit the look of this thing for 2 days now!!!  i just moved… AGAIN… i have an amazing apartment with so much room.  i have a craft room (slash office) to keep me organized and focused.  it’s turquoise!!!  i have a pink hallway.  a cowgirl’s bedroom.  an adorable kitchen.  a living room just waiting to be painted.  and a bathroom that will scream jersey shore by the time i’m done with it!!!

ok.  so aside from that… jack, tonka and kanya are still keeping me busy… i’m seriously considering another pup so jack has a brother… if so i’ll name him chip!  everyone thinks i’m nuts.  uh huh!  i haven’t crafted anything spectacular in quite a while so i’ll only bother to post things i’ll be working on from here forward.  but i will certainly take some pictures of the apartment and post them a.s.a.p. 

tomorrow is cinco de mayo.  i must eat some yummy mexican food.  goal today is get some more work done on the house and start a craft!!!  i’ve spent most of last night and all of today working on getting this blog going.  i know… certainly should not take that long.  duh!

all for now.

catching up…

I haven’t been on posting in a while. A lot’s been happening these days. Good and bad. As of right now, I’m in between apartments. So I’m staying at a friends house which limits my ability to craft. So I’ve had no where to express my creative side. Just as I was beginning to get the juices flowing!!! I should be in my new place in a few weeks. And I have a new craft room to decorate. Actually an entire apartment to redecorate! Exciting. As much as I hate moving… the redecorating makes it completely worth it! So more to come soon! Pictures too!!!

Martha Stewart

Here’s something fun! Today Martha Stewart announced that marthastewart.com has been completely redesigned! Much more there, archives of recipes and crafts and everything else you’d expect from marthastewart.com.

Also, she’s having a scrapbooking contest!!! Send in your absolute BEST scrapbooking page you’ve ever made. (a copy of it that is) And they will announce one winner per day during scrapbooking week in May! Exciting! I’m sure someone reading this has one they could send in!!!

Pretty fun stuff!

catching up…

Put your feet up… this is going to be a long one!!!

First of all, I have to say I had so much fun participating in the Vintage Kitchen swap! Jenny and I got down and dirty searching for the perfect things for our swap partners! I may even have gotten sweaty. And I think we both did a pretty good job - at least I really hope we did! There were certain things that jumped out that I just knew my girls would love! So from the finding of things to send to ripping open the packages that were sent to me… it was a fantastic time! Here’s some pictures of the wonderful things I received in this swap! First from Saffron…

I cannot handle the handmade batea inspired wood plaque. Saffron… thank you so much! It’s perfect! Then a few days later from Sallie…

So awesome! Sallie thanks a bunch. There’s so much stuff!!! My favorite was the Welcome Home sign! It’s perfect!

In the midst of all of the swapping… I was also doing some bidding on eBay. So those were showing up. God, I love mail!!! Then since I was so excited about swapping, I signed up for two more. First The Vintage Dragonfly | 4 x 4 Collage swap “Spring Has Sprung” - which I’m sending out this evening. Then next the Crafty Carnival | First Aid Kit swap - which I’m still working on… and I am SO EXCITED about! I’m actually swapping with Missy!!! Psyched! PIctures soon!

So, this wasn’t enough… we needed more… so we went into the city for the April Cupcakes Take the Cake meetup! OH MAN! What a great day! We started off meeting up with Nichelle and the rest of the group at the Essex Market. Since we drove in from NJ, we needed to PEE!!! So we walked till we found a place with a public restroom… and it happened to be one of our favorites… through a pizza place’s kitchen! And wow the pizza! Like I said… from now on… it’s the only place I’m going! So good… let’s see… I believe it was on the corner of Orchard and Stanton… called Rosario’s. Deeee-lish! I loved it. And I eat a lot of pizza… but this was good real good! Then straight over to Sugar Sweet Sunshine on Rivington. The whole group was already there. We found some chairs and ordered up a few cupcakes. Jenny and Aaron LOVED the pistachio. I had 3, did I just write that out-loud?!?! Red-Velvet, Ooey Gooey, and Sunshine. Yumm. All of them. After relaxing and chatting with Nichelle a bit. We headed up town to Central Park. Jack wanted to take a walk there - he’s seen it on Law and Order so many times!!! We took a fun walk and found some great place for photo ops…

Oh man so yeah good time… we tried to make it to Chelsea Market - basically for Fat Witch Brownies, but we were too late. Like 20 min. late. Oh well, we found a great shop where I picked up some things for my First Aid Kit swap. And watched a dance class happening where there was a solo - Mark Twain dancing - man I wish I had a picture of that… then we went over to Trailerpark for dinner. Sloppy joes, grilled cheeses, burgers, and TOTS.

After that… we found Beard Papa’s for some OH MY GOODNESS delicious cream puffs. I had chocolate and vanilla - both just unreal. So awesome. Could they affect how much I’m into cupcakes…?!?! Man by then we were ready to go. HOME! Such a great time. I really need to blog more often so I don’t have too many of these seriously LENGTHY posts. Actually I will be… I have to tell you all about these last 2 swaps!!! Until then…

exhausted…

We’re winding down, watching an old episode of Law & Order. Today I did a lot of craft shopping. First to Rag Shop, found a few things and dropped off some posters for framing. Then to Michael’s - where oh boy - I was there for at least an hour and left with about 7 bags of craft supplies and decorations for the master bedroom bath. Since I have 2 really wonderful paint-by-numbers already in there, I’m going with their theme, the beach. Being that we’re a bike ride from the beach, and we’re essentially at the Jersey Shore, I’m using seashells, and sea glass and sand to add some extra decor to the room. After coming home, and unloading. Jack and I headed off to Shark River Park to walk/hike the trails. Fun time! This was our first time there and I wasn’t exactly prepared. Next time: sneakers! Oh and we’ll stick to the well trodden trails from now on. We sort of ended up lost and no longer on a trail, hiking through muck and water. I ended up having to wash my slip-ons when we got home. OH and give Jack a tubby. Actually we both needed tubbies. Even getting lost, we had so much fun and it really feels SO great to be doing something physical. OUTSIDE!!! Jenny and I have spent hours on end discussing how much we hate exercise. One thing we both agree on… hiking, walking outdoors, we love. Especially in the woods where you don’t run into to too many people! We ended up hiking about 4 miles. Such a great time! Anyway, that’s all today. 24 is on tonight and we’re all so tired so, that’ll be our night. Crafting will have to wait till tomorrow!!! Oh and, that’s when I’ll be sending out my Swaps!!!

here’s my first post…

It’s Sunday evening, I’m relaxing off a wonderful dinner. I made a great corn chowder, the base/mix I bought at a craft fair I went to a couple days ago. It was delicious. I have a few other soups from the same woman, and I cannot wait to make them!!! Anyway, Jack and I are on the couch watching a movie. Tonka and Kanya are around sleeping. My dining table is COVERED with all the gifts I’ll be sending off in a day or so to my swap partners. Jenny Holiday’s Vintage Kitchen Swap 2007! So many good things. I’m just finding the finishing touches then off they’ll go. So Jenny’s been pushing for me to do a little writing on my blog so here it is. This weekend flew by. I’m finishing up my “craft room” soon. I’ve been working on it for a few weeks now. But I think this week it’ll be finished and I’ll finally put it to good use. I have another swap coming up, a 4 x 4, collage. The theme is “spring has sprung”. I’m so looking forward to it. I think I’ll need a day of antiquing for that one. Maybe some vintage photos. My sister and my friend Terry are in this swap. While I was at Wegmans earlier, I picked up some sugar free neapolitan ice cream, and some malt, I’m going to make a milk shake. Just as soon as I’m not so full from the soup. Alright, there you go, hope you’re happy Jenny. I’ll write again!!!