ROAD TRiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiP...

so... a couple of saturdays ago, i woke up (at noon o'clock) and thought "hey, i feel like driving 2 hours up to Sedona to eat some guacamole from my fave mexican restaurant!"

random and spontaneous? yes. my husband thought so too as i shook, slapped & tickled him awake. other thoughts crossed his mind... but i won't go into all that.

i figured since it was the start of spring break for the girls and well, we really couldn't afford to go anywhere other than the movie theater that week, this could be a little mini vacay for them. and good for us to get outta the house. as a family. just the four of us. together. yep. so... off we went. (after stopping at the 'bucks for some snacks and a dark cherry mocha. yum.)
the best part of living up in north phoenix and minutes away from the freeway is that escaping from the city is relatively easy and doesn't take us as long to get to places. like i said, sedona is only about a 2 hour drive for us. less if chris drives. awesome.

i just got around to editing some of the photos i took with my fanceh Rebel T1i. and thank GOD i remembered to take the memory card out of my laptop and put it back into the camera. ahem. someday i hope to be able to take fantastical photos naturally without having to photoshop the hell outta them, but for now... gotta do what i gotta do.

this is the patio of our favorite mexican restaurant (with the best margaritas & guac) in Sedona, El Rincon, located in the beautiful Tlaquepaque shopping plaza/courtyard. it was a bit too chilly to sit outside, hence the lack of diners out there, but aren't the colors so warm and festive? love it.

the shopping plaza itself is made up of 2 gorgeous courtyards with lovely fountains, tiled and cobblestoned floors, luscious green plants and vines... makes me wish i lived there. i want my entire house to be covered in vines like this.

the kid + grapevine donkeys. or burros. is there a difference? whatever. super cute. i wonder how my HOA would react to having wicker donkeys in my front yard...

i took a couple... few... several pictures of the family in front of this fountain but clearly, they'd had enough about halfway through. the look on their faces pretty much says it all. (it's the price they pay for have a scrappy mama/wife. someday they'll thank me. or have me committed.)

so, we parked in front of this tree and while we were securing some stuff in the car, the girls discovered this carving and said "hey! it's A for angie plus C for chris! this parking spot was meant to be!" seriously. how perfect is that? awwww...

blue sky, red rocks, and a smidgen of snow. can you see it?

and this is what happens when the snow melts - waterfalls. we saw several of these scattered about in the mountains... kind of a rare sight in Sedona. we've had a crazy winter/spring, y'all.

took a drive to Oak Creek Canyon - man, that creek (or "crik" as chris calls it) was raging!

our final stop before heading back home was the Dairy Queen in Oak Creek Canyon, but before getting our tasty blizzards, the girls wanted to buy a little something from the "tourist traps" set up in the parking lot... which was totally fine because it was all beautifully handmade. :)

so... that was our kick off to spring break. even though there was a little bit of bitching & moaning in the beginning to the nonsensical suggestion to take a road trip, everyone agreed in the end that it was an excellent idea. *pats self on back*

what did you do (or what are your plans) for spring break?

xo

THE END IS NEAR...

... the end of 2009, that is.

hi. hello. it's been awhile. a loooooong while. i noticed that my last entry was in october sometime. yeesh. i guess i've been busy! it has been a crazy couple of months. and now, here i sit in an eerily quiet, empty house on this last day of 2009 (kids are at a sleepover with the cousins and the husband is at work). i'm left alone to survey the damage of the past few weeks... bills, empty packages scattered about, gifts needing to be put together and put away, leftovers needing to be thrown out (blech!), candlewax stains needing to be scraped off tables, mantels and carpets, new clothes needing to be hung, rooms needing to be organized... wow. it's quite alot to process at this moment. i think i'd rather just relax and reflect. and have a drink. excuse me while i go pour myself a glass of wine... *clinkclink*

so, there have been a few happenings and projects i've wanted to share, but just haven't had 5 minutes in a row to sit and blog about it... until now. i figure it would be sorta weird to share holiday projects and such AFTER today. i have approx. 7 hours left to get this in before the new year begins so here i go:

first on the list is my december DT work for Point Blank Period - Prompt #4/Holiday Madness. i'm also proud and honored to announce that the PBP blog and design team (along with our work for this particular prompt) were featured in the december issue of Scrap Street E-Zine! thank you to Sasha Holloway (PBP founder) and Stacey Michaud for the opportunity!

next are the only 3 holiday projects i managed to get done this year, but so glad i made some time to finish them. i'm quite fond of them! if you know me at all, you know that is something i rarely say about my own work. this first one was actually a Bleuprint i created for Bad Girls Kits back in november sometime using this page from a Pottery Barn catalog as my inspiration:

the result:

i decided it looked kinda lonely so i made 2 more holiday wall collages as a kick start to transforming my existing holiday decor. it's out with the red and in with the green, cream, gold & silver! (oh, and some Hambly. *swoon*)

i'm sorta sad i have to pack these away until next x-mas... unless i can find a spot somewhere to display them year-round. hmmmm...

lastly, i lied. i did manage to squeeze in this holiday project... these mini ATC's for some special peeps. i see making more of these little suckers in my future. SO FUN!


and there you have it. i had hoped to also share some photos of my holiday decor and general x-mas stuff - photos, events, gifts, blahblahblah - but i guess that will have to wait until next year. which isn't too far off! yes, Christmas is 12 months away, but if time flies as quickly as it did this year, it'll feel like we're doing it all over again in just a month or two. oy.

so 2010... what have you got in store for me? i've given up on resolutions, but have vowed to do the best i can on the goals i've made for myself this year. blogging is one of them. i took Shimelle Laine's Blogging for Scrapbookers class earlier this year. i've just looked over some of the lessons this past week and i am SOOOOOO glad i signed up for it! i've heard that her all of her classes are FANTASTIC and this one was no exception. (thank you, Shimelle!) there may be some changes in store for this blog soon and i am quite excited! until then...

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all! twenty-ten... here we come!

xoxo

WISHFUL WEDNESDAY

these 5 wishes brought to you by the 2009 fall TV lineup... of which i watch way too much. poor TiVo.

* i wish i didn't have to listen to the Dancing With the Stars band & singers butcher song after song after song. i can't even focus on the swinging hips of Lacey Schwimmer (she's hot) or Maksim Chmerkovskiy's strong hold (and other things. ahem) anymore because i'm too busy cringing. and since when do ballroom dancers dance to Jon Bon Jovi and The Clash? what? please... for the love of dancing, send that band packing with the next couple to be eliminated.

Cheryl Burke and Maksim Chmerkovskiy on DWTS - ABC monday nights

* i wish mr. big hadn't divorced carrie bradshaw, left new york & gone off to become a crooked, prostitute-banging politician. *sigh*

Chris Noth on The Good Wife - CBS tuesday nights

* i wish the small town of Eastwick, Rhode Island really did exist because i shall like to move to there. big fountains for which to splash in, harvest festivals and hot witches? how could anyone not want to move there?

Jamie Ray Newman, Lindsay Price & Rebecca Romijn in Eastwick - ABC wednesday nights

* i wish... i wish...so many wishes where it concerns this show, i wouldn't even know where to start. let's just admire this for a moment, shall we?

Patrick Dempsey aka McDreamy on Grey's Anatomy - ABC thursday nights

* i wish someone had told my TiVo that Medium was moved to a different night and station. i've missed 5 episodes! FIVE! now i have to catch up on my tiny-ass laptop. sucktastic.

Patricia Arquette, Maria Lark, Sofia Vassilieva, Miranda Carabello and Jake Weber on Medium - CBS friday nights (in case you were wondering what happened to it)

there are so many other shows i could have commented on, but honestly... who has that much time? so, what are your favorite shows this season? (besides Glee. that's everyone's favorite. or maybe just mine.)

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

xoxo

WISHFUL WEDNESDAY

these 5 wishes brought to you today by the late night infomercials that invade all 25849731 channels on my satelitte tv between the hours of 1am to 5am.

don't act like you don't get sucked into them too. i know you do.


* i wish the Bump It people had mentioned in their instructions on how to use this product, that it requires you tease the crap outta your hair for at least a good 5 minutes (thus requiring a fair amount of upper arm & body strength) and about 2165714 gallons of a good STIFF hairspray to hold said Bump It in place. and even then... my hair did not hold. wanh wanh.




* i wish this infomercial didn't describe what must be happening in my kids' bathroom every morning that is actually making me consider buying this product. frick. does it come in any other colors?




* i wish my husband hadn't thrown out 48/49 pieces of this Smart Spin storage system because he thought they were disposable. or just didn't want to wash them out. now i'm left with nothing but a lonely "spin". crap.



* i wish someone could tell me if this Perfect Brownie Pan does indeed, make the perfect brownie. because if so... I'M BUYING THIS SUCKER! i mean, they look like perfect brownies... right? and holy shit! it cuts the brownies for me! lazy.

* and lastly...... i have no words. i wish i did. actually, no i don't.

i didn't post links to these products because, well... these people do a pretty good job of advertising all by they own damn selves. plus, the products pretty much sell themselves, don't you think? also... you can snag these treasures at any store with "Wal" as a prefix.

just sayin'. ;)

HAPPY HUMP DAY!

xo

WISHFUL WEDNESDAY

these 5 wishes brought to you by the new fall *Pottery Barn* catalog... oh, why do you tempt me so?


* i wish i could have these beautiful glass containers on a table somewhere in my house without having to worry about a child, or ball... or a dog's fiercely wagging tail, knocking them over and shattering them into a million pieces.

find these delicate beauties here: Voluminous Vases

* i wish they had pumpkins like these in my local pumpkin patch. wicker & silver & wood.... oh my!

non-rotting pumpkins found here: rattan pumpkins

* i wish i knew how to cook a turkey so that i could have thanksgiving dinner at my house, thus having an excuse to set my table like this and eat off of these adorable turkey plates.

find these cute turkey plates here: *gobblegobble*

* i wish i had wine. i mean, i love these monogrammed wine glasses, but they're no good to me without the wine. which i am currently out of. so... yep, i wish had wine.

find these lovely booze holders here: stemless wine glasses

* lastly, i wish the entry to my house looked like this one - pumpkins, gigantical lanterns, black crows, leaves on the ground... all of it. freakin' pottery barn.

incindentally, this was the inspiration photo for my Bleuprint challenge and layout above. aaaahhhh... beautiful fall.

so... what are your wishes on this beautiful wednesday?

xo

WISHFUL WEDNESDAY

these 5 wishes brought to you today by a store i wish i lived closer to. or hell, even in.
*anthropologie* , i love you. marry me.


* i wish these oh-so-adorable aprons weren't "butt-outs" because i would totally wear them as dresses. eh, maybe i'll do it anyway. LOOK AWAY!

find more of these pretties here: Anthro-Style Aprons

* i wish this was my bedroom. and my bed. and my 254916 pillows. and my sheets. and my duvet. and my pretty purple rug. *sigh*

find this gorgeous bedding here: Adelaide Duvet

* i wish this yummy, frilly little number was sitting in my closet right now. someday soon, my pretty... someday soon.

find this little number here: Gumshoe Sweatercoat

* i wish it wasn't ridiculous to wear boots such as these in arizona because otherwise i'd be wearin' these suckers everywhere... all day. everyday.

take a closer look at these fancy boots here: Winding Ruffle

* and lastly... i wish i had thought up the concept of writing on my bare-ass wall and turning it into wallpaper. $700 a roll? CA-CHING!

for other lovely prints and patterns, check it here: Anthro-Style Wallpaper

so... what are your wishes this lovely fall wednesday?

xoxo

IT'S OFFICIALLY ACCEPTABLE TO DRINK PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES!

happy fall 2009!
it's my all-time favorite season... where the leaves change colors and then tumble onto the ground to create a beautiful quilt of colors (fyi - palm trees and cacti don't seem to understand this concept). it's a time of shorter days & crisp fall breezes, warm & hearty home cooked meals, pumpkin patches and pumpkin pie (nom nom), silly costumes and candy corn, family gatherings and special traditions.

it's the one time of year when i feel the calmest... when routines have finally kicked in.

it's the time of year when i wished i lived somewhere other than this stinkin' desert. like in a small town in vermont. yep.

what i look forward to the most is "fall-ifying" the house. we don't really have visible seasonal changes here so i gotta make my own damn seasons. (we do finally get a break from the 115 degree temperatures, so there's that.) it may not look autumn-y outside, but it sure as heck will look like it inside. i'm hoping to begin the transformation in the coming week. i'll post some pics when it looks like a pumpkin patch in here! :)

i do have a little tradition of my own... every year on the first day of fall, i treat myself to a starbucks pumpkin spice latte and a pumpkin pastry of some sort (today, it's a pumpkin scone. delish.) not that i haven't been treating myself to those for the past 2 weeks now, but bygones.today is a special day. SO GO GET YOU ONE TOO! mmmmmmmm...

now onto some more exciting stuff...
this past weekend, we had an online SISLive event over at Scrap in Style TV that was chock full of games, tutorials & freebies, and the fashionistas did a FANTASTIC job coming up with fun and unique challenges. (i still plan on doing every single one before year's end. it will probably take me that long.)

for this week's Catwalk, we chose a layout from one of the challenges to feature and here's the one i chose:

this was created by Kimmy (lostinadream). i LOVE the color combination she used and the minimal use of embellishments but what she did use packed a powerful punch! the shiny sequins and those crystal tear drops hanging from the bow... *swoon*. CONGRATULATIONS, KIMMY!if you'd like to take a closer look at this fab LO, you will find it here.

we also thought it'd be fun to pay a little tribute and "lift" our chosen layouts because 1. they are all fantastic and 2. any excuse to art.
here's my take:

i must give a special shout out to wendi, carolyn, diana, & pat because they all contributed to this design. fabulous!

i did get a chance to participate in a challenge hosted by the uber cute jeannie lutz. this was the result:

the challenge was to lift one of the fashionistas and i chose this lovely layout by the amazing digi-goddess, divian conner . thanks for the inspiration, div! :)

and lastly... because i'm such a newbie to this whole blog business, i just recently discovered that i cannot reply to my comments via blogger (thanks for the heads up, julie!). i kinda wish i had know that before i sent out replies to everyone since the beginning of my blog. heh. if you've left a comment and haven't heard back from me, it's not because i'm ignoring you. i swear! i'm not that rude. ;)

HAVE A WONDERFUL FIRST DAY OF FALL!