The One with 10 on Tuesday

1) I'm only 20 posts away from my 1000th post! I've been working on the 10 handmade books I'm going to give away on that special day like a madwoman any spare second I have. Which, let's be honest, my spare seconds are few and far between! I might have to blog only every other day to give myself more time lol!

2) 10 pregnancy pounds to lose became 15 in a few short weeks. What happened to being able to eat whatever I want whenever I want? Dangit. I'm off sweets. I'm off treats. I'm off snacks.

I'm going to try and exercise every night as soon as Fox goes to sleep. I'm going to eat more fruits and vegies and cut back on the ginormous portions I've been eating and assuming breast feeding would take care of. Now that Fox is eating a lot more solids, I guess my excuse for eating for 2 is definitely out the window!

3) I have a recurring dream that I'm at the top of a really high building, usually the Empire State Building in New York or the Sears Tower in Chicago, and I freak out and hyperventilate because it's so high. But the thing is, I'm not really afraid of heights - I love going to the tops of skyscrapers! Flying in airplanes is a different story. I didn't used to be scared of flying. But like Claire on Modern Family says who is also petrified of flying, "I have so much more to lose now!" We've got 8 airplane trips planned between now and August though so I'll just have to muster up some courage. But back to the recurring dream - what does it even mean?

4) I went to the Paper Source in Pasadena the other day. I could spend hours at that store.

I asked a lady who worked there if she even makes any money. She laughed and said nope, though I'm sure she was half joking. I hope. Though I know I'd spend every cent of my paycheck buying paper and glue and random kick knacks. Oh wait, I already do do that.

5) I have a huge black and blue bruise on the back of my leg and I have no idea how it got there.

Why don't I remember getting this ouchie? Blocking out painful memories?

6) The weather in southern California is perpetually wonderful. (I took this pic just now looking through our wide open screened window.)

If you're looking for relief from snow this close to summer or crazy destructive tornadoes or incessant rain, I've got a couch calling your name!

7) Sometimes I wish computers weren't invented. What did people do before the internet? Now there's Facebook and Twitter and blogs and Ebay and Etsy and Pinterest and YouTube and Hulu and Netflix and on and on and on (and on and on and on). You could literally live your life at the computer. I need to go on a computer fast. Get me away from this thang!

8) My newest obsession: BAKER'S TWINE!

Isn't it yummy! Oh the things you could do with baker's twine!

9) Do you ever get hairs down your shirt? I just had one. I quickly pulled it out and now I feel sweet relief. How's that for random? It's hard to think of ten things man!

10) We had big plans to go to Madame Tussauds in Hollywood this morning. We have a Groupon that's burning a hole in our pockets. But alas, my bum is strapped to this chair at the computer getting work done. Work work work! Speaking of which, I need to get back to :)

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The One with May 28th 2011 in Review

My birthday was top drawer!

(That's a British expression, btw.)

It started early in the AM with opening some prezzies.

Vintage typewriters are all the rage in the scrapbooking world, so that's what I wished upon a star for (thanks Allie for finding it and Dald for $$ it!):

Isn't she a beaut? Now I'm just waiting for a new ribbon cartridge and then you can bet you'll be seeing all kinds of typed journaling on my cards and layouts and anything else I can find that's flat and in need of words!

Pooi sent these in the mail, not necessarily for my birthday, but I waited to open the envelope 'til then just for fun. Aren't these washi tape rolled paper flowers divine?!

These will also be making their way onto my layouts shortly. Thanks Pooi!

I got a Cafe Rio gift card from my BIL Jay, a book from my in-laws, a text from my brother (thanks Eric, haha), and a new Blu-Ray player from Chris. Cuz our DVD player broke a long time ago and since we watch a lot of movies, that had to be remedied.

Then I went and got my hair did. A couple months ago my hair was much too long and heavy and Fox kept yanking it so in a fit of frustration I took a regular pair of paper scissors and went "snip" straight across and cut off about 10". I planned to get it cut in Washington back in April, but the timing just didn't work out. So I waited until a special day to get it cut and styled!

All better!

Then we went to the post office to mail off some layouts, went to the bank to take care of some business, then we went to the Stake carnival that was put on just for me! Okay, it wasn't really, but we can pretend right? There were bouncy contraptions and large slip'n'slides:

Miniature pony rides:

A swinging carousel:

And the only thing Fox could participate in! The choo choo train (aka a suped up lawn mower):

We came home and I took a nap then Chris went and picked up my ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Ever since I got the free pint for a pint I've been a little ice cream crazy. Plus they gave me a $3 off any cake coupon so I wanted me a fancy cake! I told Chris to choose whatever cake he thought I'd like best and he chose a polka dot cake. Why polka dots? I dunno. But we've had fun laughing over it.

It has a chocolate base with cookies 'n cream ice cream.

Then we met some friends at The Hat for a birthday dinner. I love that you can see Fox peeking over his stroller in the corner.

The Mizukawa's went to The Hat in Pasadena first, oops, but alls well that ends well!

My lovely friends brought me not one, but TWO cakes!

The kids were all like, "I want the piece with the balloons!"

I remember those days, wanting the most colorful, elaborate, sugar-filled piece :)

Find the most priceless facial expression in this photo. Hint: top, center.

:)

We ended the night by dropping Fox off at the Millers (our first time leaving him with a sitter at night, and I'm glad to say it went okay!) so we could go see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

(Question: Why is it called On Stranger Tides? I don't think that phrase is said the entire movie. It should be called Pirates of the Caribbean: And the Fountain of Youth. Or something like that, because that's what this movie is all about. I'm just sayin').

I loooooved it. So much so that in fact this was my second time seeing it... Chris's first.

I want to know what happened to the mermaid and Philip? I think they left it open for a 5th movie (which I hope they make!) or it could be the end of it cuz pretty much all the loose ends were tied up in a pretty bow.

Most definitely a top drawer birthday!

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The One with My 26th Birthday/27 @ 27

Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday dear meeee! Happy birthday to me!

(Notice Rachel and Joey looking through the door. They follow me EVERYWHERE!)

My dad wins the award for most creative birthday card I've ever received:

26 years ago I was born into this world to loving parents. I feel so very blessed that my 26 years have thus far been a breeze. No super hard trials or tribulations. (Biggest knock on wood ever!) I have good health as do all my my family members and posterity. I read a lot of really sad blogs which make me even more grateful every day for all the good things in my life.

For the first time out loud I just said that next year I'm going to be 27. For some reason, coming out of my mouth, that sounds reeeaaalllly old! I know that a lot of people who read this are far and beyond 27, so I hope I'm not offending anyone, but up until now I've never ever really had a thing about growing old, and now I'm like freaking out! There's so much I want to do and see and accomplish! I better make a list of 27 things I want to do before I'm 27 and start doing 'em.

1. Go to a concert in LA. I can't believe I haven't done this yet since living here!
2. Read a book a month. Perhaps post my reviews here, but I'm not making any promises!
3. Lose those last pesky 10 pounds of pregnancy weight!
4. Go to the Getty.
5. Visit the Getty Villa.
6. Get an extreme hair cut or color.
7. Go on a movie stars home tour.
8. Learn how to cook something better than Chris.
9. Figure out how to use my Cricut Cake and create at least four cakes.
10. Find a cheap keyboard/piano and re-learn how to play "Girl with the Flaxen Hair" by Debussy.
11. See a horse race at Santa Anita.
12. Do a session in the San Diego temple.
13. Overcome my triskaidekaphobia.
14. Throw Fox the most amazing Halloween-themed first birthday!
15. Do the CW backlot tour.
16. Make a big deal of our 5th anniversary.
17. Try to get published more.
18. Eat Cole's French Dip and compare to Philippe's (both claim to have invented the French Dip).
19. See fireworks on the 4th of July.
20. Hike up to Eaton Canyon.
21. Finally see the World of Color light show at Disneyland.
22. Go to Sea World, Knott's Berry Farm, or Universal Studios (or all three :).
23. Get a tan. I'm like the only pasty white person in SoCal!
24. Work on my patience.
25. Get on The Price is Right and win big! (a girl can dream right?)
26. Teach a bookbinding class.
27. A secret goal. Mwahahaha.

We'll see how I did next year on my 27th (eeek!) birthday!

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The One with Happy 18th Birthday Allie!

I can't believe my once goofy, gap-toothed, silly baby sister:

is now a smart, talented, funny, beautiful, smart, creative, fun, lovable, legal adult with a new fun blog and etsy shop :)

(this is Allie with Fox, btw)

Happy 18th birthday Allie! Love you so much! The best years of your life are just beginning!

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The One with Thanks for the Tip Wells Fargo ATM

As I was withdrawing some cash to go to the monthly clothing sample sale in downtown LA a few weeks ago, the ATM so very kindly brought up this message:

"Put it back! Put all my cash back! I don't want it anymore! It's yours, all yours, stupid psychic machine!"

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The One with a Pint for a Pint

If you're squeamish about blood and needles, avert your eyes, though I don't show any blood or needles in this post. I'm just sayin'.

There was a blood drive at our church last Wednesday and so for the very first time in my life I donated blood. My rationale was: I've given birth, I can do anything!

Aaaaand, I might have been more or less persuaded by the free pint of Baskin Robbins ice cream. A pint for a pint!

Holy moly there are a lot of rules and regulations and restrictions to who can give! I had to fill out like three pages of info to see if I had any infections or any medications or had taken acetamitophen in the past 72 hours or been to foreign countries from the years 1985-1999 (???) and a whole bunch of other random stuff. I'm amazed I passed! The worst part of the entire process was getting pricked to check and see if I had anemia. The nurse who worked with me was super nice and friendly and comical and made the experience easy breezy. After I got the green light that my blood was clean and pure I was lead into a chair and the deed was done.

I later learned that the more hydrated you are the faster your bag fills up. So that's why it took me forever and a day to bleed! I don't drink enough water... Live and learn!

The best part, aside from the free pint of ice cream coupon, was the snacks and goodies I munched on afterwards. You have to stay on the premises for 15 minutes to make sure you're A-OK.

They told me to keep this bandage wrap on for four hours.

I was whining to Chris that the bandage was so much more uncomfortable than the needles were but he said it was to help prevent bruising and heal the wound faster, yada yada yada :) I wore it for 2.5 hours then took it off. I got a little bruise but I've had worse from simply running into sharp corners.

Then today I picked up my free pint of Rainbow Sherbet!

Delish.

Not yet Fox! This is just for Mommy!

Overall? Totally worth it. I'd donate again in a heartbeat. I really should donate more often and not just for perks on account of having "universal donor" O-type blood. But hopefully my small contribution will help out someone in need!

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The One with May 2011 American Crafts Layouts

I guess there are only a handful of things I blog about. My life. My baby. My scrapbooking creations. Occasionally I'll throw in a random story or bit. Welcome to my simple world!

Today I've got a couple more layouts to share that I made for my monthly American Crafts assignment. After making over 50 layouts this weekend for a client and work, I thought I'd be scrapped out to the max, but I found some mojo in a hidden corner deep within my bucket o' creativity. Or something like that :)

THE GREATS

Journaling says: Fox is so lucky to have three sets of living great-grandparents! And he's been able to meet all six of them before he was six months old. I'm so glad we have pictures of Fox with each one of them so he can always look back and see how much he was loved by all of his family. He's the Warner's 2nd, the Taylor's 1st, and the Evans's 4th great-grandchild.

Tips: I was inspired by a card that had fabric stitched over squares of felt so it created a cool quilt-looking background. That's exactly what I did here! I measured pieces of felt a little bit larger than my photos, adhered them in a 3 x 2 grid on my background patterned paper, then stitched a pretty piece of colorful floral fabric on top. I actually stacked two pieces of felt under each picture for more dimension. I pulled on the fabric edges to fray them more. Then I dripped/flicked the background with two colors of blue mist. Next I adhered the photos in place. Then I hand cut lots of hearts from patterned papers and adhered them diagonally across the page. I sprinkled a few pearls and jewels around the hearts. I love that I can still use jewels and pearls and even pink on Fox pages :) Finally, I added a Thickers title, letter stickers on each photo to say the great's name, then journaled around the visible fabric edges with a black pen.

Supplies: Patterned paper, chipboard letter stickers, paper letter stickers, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Fabric: I don't know the brand, got it at Jo-Ann; Felt: The Kunin Group; Pearls: K & Company; Jewels: Doodlebug Design; Spray mist: Tattered Angels; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark; Paper cutter, scissors: Fiskars

For this next layout, I was completely, utterly, 100%, and totally inspired by the June CARDS cover card created by Valerie Mangan.

Ever since I laid eyes on this card when she submitted it for possible publication many months ago I became obsessed! Now I've finally been able to have a go at scraplifting it:

EVANS PARTY OF 3

Journaling says: Sometimes when we're playing with Fox we'll look at him and then look at each other and say, "I can't believe we have a baby!" And he's not really even a baby anymore - he's going on 8 months! It's crazy that he started out smaller than a 1/5 of the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Now he's sitting and eating and growing up right before our eyes. Pretty soon he'll be big and grown up. Chris likes to make the comparison, "We are to Fox what our parents are to us - weird!" But every day we feel so blessed to have Fox as our son. He brings us so much joy and he's starting to reciprocate those feelings with smiles and laughs and wiggles. We're a party of 3!

Tips: The TV was off while I made these layouts! Crazy talk! To create this layout first I cut a petal from a thick piece of chipboard and traced it onto dozens of patterned papers. I cut all the petals out then sewed around each edge. I placed the petals on my layout where I wanted them, took a picture with my camera to refer back to in case they got moved around, then I glued them onto my patterned paper background and lifted up the ends for dimension. I added one little photo to each of the three groupings of petals with foam squares. The title was made from Thickers, of course, and then I journaled at the top, right side, and bottom with a brown pen. This layout probably took the longest to make of any layout I've ever made in my life! But so worth it.

Supplies: Patterned paper: 7 Gypsies (vintage background), Scenic Route Paper Co. (graph, notebook lined), American Crafts (all others); Chipboard letter stickers and number, adhesive, pen: American Crafts; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark; Paper cutter, scissors: Fiskars

Now I'm off to put all my scrap crap away! What a mess!

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