a bag of chips

CHA = WOW

Well, I'm sorry to say that I had just written a cool post about how awesome CHA was and how amazing all the new products were - then I lost it.  The whole darn thing.  (Insert appropriate curse word HERE.)

So, instead of trying to regurgitate the whole lost post, I'll just post the links I was trying to post and then you can see for yourselves.  (I just said post three times in a sentence.  Hmmph.)  Then come back in a day or two and I'll have put together a list of my favorites from the show.  Yes, these two companies whose products you'll see in a second are in my top ten and you'll see why. 

Now, get ready for some serious eye candy.

Chatterbox CHA Winter 2006

American Crafts CHA Winter 2006

Happy Birthday, Makena!

Our baby girl is two today.  (*sniffle*)  Where did the time go?  Just yesterday she was content to be in my arms, a quiet and calm bundle of baby sweetness.  (Well, mostly quiet anyway.)  In the blink of an eye she has grown into a beautiful, vivacious, talkative, singing and dancing little girl who loves pink, purple and feeding her baby doll.  Where did the time go?

Happy birthday, Booboo.  We love you with all our hearts.

I'M GETTING PUBLISHED!!!

Holy crap!  It *F-I-N-A-L-L-Y* happened!  You submit and submit and submit and then *BAM* right upside the head with an email requesting a layout.  That'll get your heart pumpin'!

Simple Scrapbooks wants one of my layouts for their July/August issue.  I'm so incredibly happy right now.  I'm getting published and it's with my favorite scrappin' mag.  First the Design Team gig at KMA and now this.  Yahoo!

So I'm a bit biased

But DANG my kids are beautiful!

(Camera:  Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D, AV mode.  For the photos of Makena, 85mm 1.8 lens; for Aidan's photos, 28-105mm 3.5-4.5)

Madagascar

The more I watch this movie, the more I love it.  As usual, I've gleaned a few choice phrases from the movie which I will incorporate into my everyday vocabulary and use ad nauseam:

From the monkeys:  "If you have any pooh, fling it now."  The possibilities with this one are infinite.

"Oh Sugar Honey Iced Tea!" said by Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock) in lieu of "Oh SHIT!"  I"ll be using this one around my kids all the time from now on.  And I'll laugh hysterically when they start saying it back to me.

"This place is crack-a-lackin'!"  Yes, I don't think I'm the only one to use this line since the movie's release but it's too awesome not to use it, especially when used sarcastically (as in "This place is crack-a-lackin'" as you're walking into your OB/GYN's office).

"Oh, I'm not smiling, it's gas," says Melman the neurotic, hypochondriac giraffe.  I'll be using that one on the Starbucks clerk tomorrow morning when she smiles back at me.

Wild Man

Some recent layouts...

for your viewing pleasure.

Be a guest designer at KMA!

Every month, starting in February, Keeping Memories Alive (www.scrapbooks.com) will select a guest Designer Girl.  Become a regular poster in KMA's gallery and who knows?  The next one might be you!!!

Family

We had another lovely visit with my cousins and aunt the other day at my mother's house.  We played, watched a movie, had lunch and then we had to start our long trek back home.  My cousins are some of the cutest kids in the universe.  That they forgive me for sticking my camera in their faces and that they don't run away (except for Miss E) makes them cuter still.  So, I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.  (Camera stats:  Canon DRebel 300D, WB sunny, AV Mode, f/s 4.5, ISO 400, 28-105mm lens)

I'm it...again!

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Department sales at May Co., way back when it was May Co.  It was my first job after high school and I worked in the linen department.  B-O-R-I-N-G.
2. Receptionist/Secretary in a commercial real estate office.
3. Department clerk in the secondary mortgage department at a bank.
4. Real estate appraiser (this was my actual career which I did for about 12 years altogether.  LOVED IT!

Four movies you would watch over and over again:
1. You've Got Mail
2. Love Actually
3. Sleepless in Seattle
4. The Sound of Music

Four places you have lived:
1. North Hollywood, CA
2. Bel Air, CA
3. Anaheim Hills, CA
4. San Diego, CA

Four T.V. shows you love to watch:
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Scrubs
3. Everybody Loves Raymond
4. The Backyardigans

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Trinidad, West Indies
2. Grenada
3. Antigua
4. Maui

Four web-sites I visit daily:
1. Two Peas in a Bucket
2. Keeping Memories Alive (www.scrapbooks.com)
3. Sign On San Diego
2. CNN

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Sushi
2. Thai
3. Ice cream
4. Dove dark chocolate (mmmmm)

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. Grand Anse beach in Grenada, sippin' a rum punch with my hubby, watching my kids play
2. See above
3. See above
4. See above

Four bloggers I am tagging:
1. Cynthia
2. Kristina Contes
3. Julie Hickey
4. Chookooloonks