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be back with fun exciting stuff to share...like Sean's 30th birthday today and the big weekend plans...in the meantime here's a little look at the birthday boy through the years...I asked his Mom to bring some photos with her when she flew down today and she and I just scanned them all in so I'm ready for a tiny party decorating idea I want to get done...I don't what I love more...the v-neck sweater comb-over look or when he rocked the narrow tie and magenta shirt...yep, that's my man. :)
Sean turns thirty in a few days and we're having the party on Saturday...I mentioned when I shared his invitations that they were green and gold because those were his high school colors that he still loves...they apparently are a heartfelt symbol of his hometown of Colton (have I ever mentioned that Colton is a "town" with one yellow blinking light...it still remains a shock to me the Orange County girl).
So last night I was at the party supply store filling a cart with supplies...the kelly green and yellow are his true Colton colors, but I took the liberty of adding the lime green too...let's just say it symbolizes me. :) When I looked down in the cart at what I have always regarded as a pretty hideous combination I have to admit I kind of liked it...clearly after all these years I've been brainwashed by Oregon boy...but they are kind of cute, right? It's because of the lime green. :)
I was going to talk about my first day of school (actually not much to talk about...quick summary=surely once again I'm the oldest in my classes by a dozen years {surprise, surprise} and my first two classes seem like they'll be keeping me really busy...and to think I have two more tomorrow--it really will be full-time) and then I was going to share layouts I made over the weekend and I will in a minute...but first this...
This is Mac (please excuse the tacky tank-top my sister gave them to him for his birthday after he wore one for his musical a couple of months ago and thought it was coolest thing ever) and as you can see Mac is riding a bike with two wheels...it occurred to me today that he was probably big enough to firmly plant his feet on the ground with this bike so maybe we should see if he could ride it without training wheels. I was right, he totally picked it up quickly...still really hesitant, but he can do it...and he beat me...I didn't learn how to ride a bike until I was 13 (and it wasn't for lack of trying...I just have the worst balance ever). So today was totally one of those proud mom crying moments...made even better when he asked me to get the camera to record it and requested the photos be made into an orange scrapbook page...now I'm really proud. :)
So now layouts...I was productive over the weekend...here's a few that I finished (in addition to a quick new banner...I even already made one for October too...don't know what got into me...probably just starting to really crave fall)
and a little 6x6 one for Mac's book now that I can mix up all the sizes...
as you can see I had no fun this weekend :)
Now if I can just keep up this level of scrapping productivity a little longer before school work gets in the way...which looking at my the syllabi from Astronomy and Art Concepts will be all too soon...
didn't exactly work out that way...the one in a million chance of Southern California getting rain this time of year occurred...so instead it turned into my day to go get a pedicure, run a few errands, and finish stuff up around the house like the laundry room that's almost done...oh and this weekend I finally (and I mean FINALLY since it's been on my to-do list for months) got all my recipes organized and made up a master-list of dinner ideas and made little meal planning charts...now I just need to use them. :)
This also hopefully means that I will have more recipes to share now that they're organized and I'll be using them regularly (I have already added a couple of new ones).
Not going to the beach also has meant staying home and scrapbooking so I have nothing to complain about...it's been a perfect last day of summer...or at least as perfect as the day before you start school can get. :)
This is an old photo of a dinner party I had a couple of years ago and Beef Burgundy is on the plate...you're not missing anything by not seeing it up close since it's not the most attractive looking food you'll ever make, but it's SO delicious you won't care what it looks like.
This beef burgundy recipe is one of my very favorites from my mom. You just throw together the five ingredients and wait three long hours as your house is filled with an amazing aroma that makes you just about want to crawl into the oven and start eating.
Beef Burgundy
Ingredients:
2 pounds of stew beef cut up into small pieces
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 a soup can of water
2/3 cup of Burgundy Wine
package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
Instructions:
Mix together all the ingredients in a 2 quart casserole and cook in and oven for three hours at 325 degrees.
Serve over rice or noodles.
to balance out the Cal State Fullerton bitch-fest that I subjected you to the other day...thanks for holding my hand and reassuring me despite my temper tantrum.
So happy thoughts...this cup...
filled with tea with too much sugar and half & half...I bought it after drooling my way through Anthropolgie for a good half hour on Monday...thank goodness the store has affordable cups to help satisfy my craving for their $100+ sweaters.
and this room...
my prayers to the paint Gods seems to have worked...the pink I picked out for the laundry room is actually pretty cute...I figured it'd be a fun room to paint an obnoxiously girly color...and I have hopes of it being all cute and kitchy like a 50's laundry room...of course I have nothing 50's and kitchy to fill it with, but I do have all the leftover organizing stuff from Darby's closet so it'll be cute and cheery (and a nice reason to use that stuff again).
This layout...
I made it the other night...one of those pages that comes together quickly and was just fun to make between combining patterns and making a mess painting and stamping stars.
So, the last weekend of my summer is officially here...last chance to get stuff crossed off my to-do list...and hopefully a chance to sit out on the beach for a few hours...we'll see...
Drives me nuts...I know I should be a more laid-back, go-with-the-flow person, but when a task drags on it stresses me out...little things like going to buy my books and finding out I need to go back to the bookstore for one more that will hopefully come in on Friday...it majorly bugs me that it's not done.
Then there's big things like discovering yesterday that my application was received to Cal State Fullerton and it will be reviewed after I send in my transcripts (no problem since I already have certified copies from both schools ready to be mailed) and I need grades from the "golden four" classes one of which is the Critical Thinking Philosophy class I'm taking THIS semester....that means my application won't be reviewed until December...which has me freaking out...I just want it done...I want it planned...I worked hard to make sure I turned in my application the very first day it was due so that I could be on my way...I've already called the Sociology department to find out about meeting with an adviser...as I told the community college transfer center guy that I freaked out on the phone with yesterday, that it feels like I'm hopping into the big kids pool after many years in the kiddie pool so I have no idea how hard it will or won't be to get into the classes I need when I need them...and at this point in my life I don't want to waste a semester because I couldn't get into a class or two...I just want it done.
So, I will attempt to problem solve, I'll talk to my professor and let him know what's going on and that I'll be politely hounding him for my grade, I'll try and see what I can manage to figure out with the admissions office...and, inevitably, I'll stress...especially when I see the front page of today's paper...35,000??? Please keep your fingers crossed that come February I'll be student #35,001 with all the classes I need to really get started on this darn sociology degree.
not too much going on around here...still some random organizing craziness like overhauling my boxes of scrapbooking embellishments...Sean has started on ripping out the cabinet and painting the laundry room...Mac is practicing his High School Musical 2 choreography...I'm trying to mental prepare myself for my classes starting next week...this helped...
it was teacher appreciation day at Staples on Saturday so Mac and I took advantage of the teacher we love and dragged him through the aisles as I obsessed about subject dividers and Mac talked about the five different pencil boxes he had his eye on...when I got home I decided that my binder needed some Basic Grey sprucing and then spent well over an hour making a color coded class schedule...it's all so much better if it's cute, right?
I've said it many times before and I'll say it again...nothing makes me feel better than getting something organized...right now it's scrapbooks...going through mine and Mac's...making sure I didn't miss anything I want to scrap from so far this year...leaving space for layouts that are displayed at my home away from home :)...and getting ready to jump on this bandwagon...that means scrapping 12x12 which I've done before, but not for awhile...I also have all the page protectors to do 6x6 and 8x8 too so it'll be fun to mix everything up so much. I was going to wait until 2008 to start but, as I've talked about before, the school years always feels like a New Year's to me so I'm just going to do it now.
As far as summer goes I have 9 days left and I'm finally coming out of my laziness...granted I'm still sleeping in way too late, but at least I'm getting to the point where I have something to show for the day...as much as I don't want school to start I know that ultimately I'm in desperate need of the structure it will bring...in the meantime though back to organizing. :)
I have wanted to make something to hang on the little strip of wall over my closet forever and just never got around to making something...I had originally thought I'd make letters to say, "there are no rules" my little scrapbooking mantra...but I already have something in here that says that so I was inspired by my recent bridal shower banner/bunting creation and was going to make one of those to drape along the curtains and then it occurred to me to make scallops...it was too fun to dig through all my paper to find the 24 perfect ones to use and lay them out in just the right order...good golly I'm a dork...but it WAS fun. :)
So the reason that little project was finally done this weekend is because I was doing this today...
certainly not your typical Monday, but I was lucky enough to be taped for Scrapbook Lifestyle right here at home this afternoon...so sometime sooner than later everyone will get to see me talk too fast, make sarcastic jokes, repeat myself a lot, and sweat my ass off even though I turned the AC down to 68 degrees in a desperate attempt to stop...or hopefully it'll all be edited into something that resembles a wonderfully competent and entertaining scrapbooker...they've got their work cut out for them on that one. :)
Ah Conan we're back together again...you and I hang out long after Sean has gone off to bed...I'm going back and forth between scrapbooking and checking out if Old Navy has anything new and cute...you're on TV making me laugh...it seems every summer we reconnect...I thought this summer would be different since I was supposedly a newly reformed morning person, but old habits die hard and late summer nights are too much fun...we only have a couple of weeks together so hopefully I can make the most of it...back to scrapping...
How is it already Thursday? I feel like I've gotten absolutely nothing done...like the time has gone by in a blur. It goes to show how much I need structure...with no real schedule I've been staying up too late and sleeping in...I haven't been exercising daily...I haven't cooked anything (although the house is full of groceries and stuff from our farmer's market trip on Tuesday)...I've only made one and a half layouts...I did clean and rearrange my craft room a little so that probably accounts for some of the blurriness...but other than that it feels like I'm wasting precious time...I start school in 17 days and then it will be go-go-go until Christmas...so I better start making the most of what time I have now.
Here's my one layout though...
Thank goodness I married Sean eight years ago today especially since he's the type of guy that never forgets our anniversary, wakes me up with fresh baked scones and tea, and agrees to make a trip to the Sawdust Festival as a little celebration. (his celebration was on a trip to Lowe's a couple of weeks ago when he got the pressure washer he's wanted for a while now).
I asked my mom for restaurant suggestions in Laguna Beach and one of the ones she mentioned was the Surf and Sand Hotel...when I looked at the menu last night and saw the lobster club sandwich I was sold...it was SUCH a great place and right on the beach...
So, I have to share the festival findings...
First we always get a couple of ceramic mushrooms...this year it was a blue polka dotted one and an orange flecked one...I put them right into the "mushroom garden" when I got home...
Then prepare to grab your newspapers (well at least I'm going to be attacking mine now)...I found this artist who makes collages out newspaper clippings...her prints were well priced so I couldn't resist three little ones...
I am lucky enough already to have two big windows in our house (one in our living room and one in our bedroom) that were painted by Kathleen Miller...
and I thought to ask her if she ever does custom work because my favorite pieces of hers are when she does all different color and variety flowers and I would love one of her little windows...she said she would and had it done in less than an hour...
I am so glad I asked her! :)
We quickly stopped on our way to lunch at Art for the Soul which I fell in love with last year...and I snatched this...I've wanted one of her necklaces since I saw them there last year so I was thrilled to get it.
So between Sean and art and food it was a perfect afternoon. :)
granted between my severe lack of photography skills and his significant unwillingness to have photos taken I didn't get too many good ones, but I love what I did get regardless.
Mac was in his element last night...he stayed true to his promise of dancing all night and had just barely fallen asleep in the car when we got home at almost 2am...but my favorite moment by far was his entrance to the reception...he was first to come in and the DJ played "Macerena" which he completely and totally danced to...so yeah I'm his mom and everything, but I think it's a pretty objective opinion to say he lit up the room...
Here's some of the other photos I loved...the first one is blurry, but it actually almost makes me like it more...
the wedding was at the same church as the one I got a photo of Mac and Sean walking past during spring break...
the one truly sincere smile I got out him all night...
dancing with my mom...
dancing with my brother, Sean and my brother-in-law
and hugging his Amee after they danced together...she may be married now but he'll always love her :)
I was just so proud of him tonight...I have been so blessed to be able to just stand back and watch what an incredible person he is...his confidence, and warmth...his sense of humor and fun-loving nature...it's nothing I've taught him...it's nothing I could ever instill...and it's not something he has an example to learn from...it's innately who Mac is and I'm so lucky to be his mom.
Playing with new birthday water toys is a great way to get ready for the big ring-bearer tasks ahead tonight...and of course all the dancing he'll be doing too...off to get ready...photos tomorrow. :)
They consist of staying in my pajamas and doing just about nothing except maybe some scrapbooking and definitely eating some leftover tea sandwiches and desserts. :)
Well I'll be in my pajamas until we have to leave for the wedding rehearsal and dinner tonight since Mac is the ring bearer tomorrow...when he was trying on his tux Tuesday afternoon the lady helping him at the store asked what he was doing in the wedding to which he replied, "Dancing all night".
So, I have survived the two party week and I have exactly 25 days till I start school and in those 25 days I have barely any plans...AND today is Sean's last day of summer school so I get to spend 24 of my days with him...I don't think I could be much happier this morning. :)
