One girl.....

Earlier today I spent some time over at Gina's place and she showed Paula and I some scrap pages she has been working on, as well as a little scrap area she has set up for herself in her basement. After all that scrap talk and inspiration, I couldn't help but come home and make a page! I haven't made a Frank page in awhile, I figured it was time. I've been using a number of different photos from a session that Kim took of him back in the summer of 2007. Thanks Kim for making Frank look like such an adorable beast in all his photos!

This page, titled "One Girl" was made using supplies from a kit called "Vibe" that I purchased back in August 2008 from Freehand Scraps.

Check out my new glasses!

Hot pink loveliness.

I think the one above is my favorite, I look like I should have a stream of drool coming out the right side of my mouth.

That is what I'm going to look like when I'm a crazy, eccentric, crotchety, old 85 year old woman.

Sweet Boy.....

One of my New Year's resolutions is to create more scrapbook layouts. Ideally, I would like to create a page per week. So far I haven't stuck to that resolution, as it is the third week of January, and this is my first layout of 2009! Ah well, I will try my best.

I am really excited about this layout, it is the first Atticus page I have finished! Can you resist such an adorable face? I used a bunch of different products on this layout:
-Patterned paper, fabric cherries, and epoxy chipboard shapes are all from "The Sweet Life" kit by Colorbok
-"Sweet" stamped using "Scribbles alphabet" by Autumn Leaves
-"Sweet" ink color is crimson by Memories Direct
-"Boy" rub-on transfers by Me & My Big Ideas (Mon-10)
-Photos enlarged and developed by Snapfish
-Photos taken with Canon Digital Rebel xTi

16 things about me......

Some of my favorite bloggers have done "16 things about me" posts in the past few weeks (Ali Edwards, Kelly Rae Roberts), so I thought I'd take a stab at it.

1. I have a handbag obsession. I love them. I don't even want to write down how many I own because it is quite staggering. Not like Imelda Marcos shoe collection staggering, but a little embarrassing for someone as middle America as myself. Let's just say it is less than 50, but over 25.

2. My favorite band of all time is Pearl Jam. Favorite songs? Given to Fly and Release.....I'll ride the wave where it takes me.....

3. I wish I was more educated when it comes to history and current world events. Unfortunately I only have so much space in my brain allotted for "serious stuff". All my "serious stuff" brain space is reserved for drug information. The remaining brain space is made up of movie quotes, SNL skits, song lyrics, pop culture facts, and other useless knowledge that probably won't win me any money on Jeopardy.

4. I took piano lessons for a few years when I was a wee sprout. My mom told me I would regret quitting piano lessons, and sure enough, I do. Along with the piano, I'd also like to rock the electic violin.

5. I am a sucker for stories of people and animals triumphing over adversity. I am often inspired by the actions of others.

6. I consider myself a really laid back individual (in most areas of my life), but one thing that *totally* gets under my skin and makes me come unglued in a major way is people that are rude, for no good reason, to people that work in the service industry. I find that an extremely unattractive trait.

7. I have a healthy obsession with my own dental hygiene. I brush my teeth more than twice daily, and floss regularly. I have no fear of the dentist at this point in my life, but that was not the case in my early years. In fact, I was 86'd from my first childhood dentist....apparently I was a crier. Hmmmph. After that emotionally scarring experience, I started going to a pediatric dentist, Dr. Leech. He was awesome. He gave me nitrous oxide and called me "pal". Big ups to Dr. Leech for blasting away my fear of the dentist.

8. I don't deal well with silence while I am at home. I'm pretty sure I get this from my parents, as they always had music playing in the house when I was growing up. When I am at home I have some type of noise on at all times, either music, or the television, sometimes both. I also sleep with a sound machine, set to "ocean waves".

9. I have seen every Seinfeld and Family Guy episode multiple times. Despite that fact, I still DVR reruns and watch them when I am bored.

10. I am not one for scary movies. And I hide my eyes during most violent scenes in movies and television shows. I even hid my eyes during the movie "Babe" when the farmer points the shotgun at the pig. I know, ridiculous.

11. My family has always had dogs. First dog I remember? Snoopy, a Great Dane/St. Bernard mix. Then there was Barkley, some sort of golden colored mutt. Next was Bonnie, a St. Bernard. Then Snickers, a Newfoundland. Then Rocket, a Bassett hound. Now my parents have Bailey, a West Highland terrier. One of my earliest childhood memories was of the death of our dog, Barkley. Barkley loved to chase cars, and she ended up getting run over by one of our neighbors and had to be put down. And I grew up on a farm, so "put down" was often Old Yeller style. Another weird childhood memory? Watching a cow being killed by the butcher with a high powered bow and arrow. Bizarre. (Side note: I recently spoke to my parents and they categorically deny that any of our cows were killed with a high powered bow and arrow. I still stand by my story. I am convinced it happened. Plus, it makes for a much more kick ass visual than the visual of a cow getting blasted in between the eyes with a .22.)

12. I don't eat too much beef (see #11 above), but I LOVE sushi. I would eat sushi 5 days a week if I could afford it and my liver could handle all the heavy metals. Wild sockeye salmon is my favorite, so buttery, so good.

13. My two favorite movies of all time are The 'Burbs and Dazed and Confused. I don't even know how many times I have seen them, but it is in the dozens. Want to watch one of them with me? Prepare yourself to be totally annoyed with my movie quoting abilities.

14. Although I am in total nesting mode, I have recently determined I am not physically, emotionally, or financially ready to own my own home. Also, the decision to continue renting is an easy one to make when the houses for sale in my 'hood are going for upwards of $600k. Crazy!

15. In my late highschool, early undergraduate years, I had an abnormal fear of meningitis. It all started with a trip to visit Gina's dad at the King County Coroner's office in Seattle. In the freezer was a girl, about our age at the time, that died of meningitis (don't worry, she was covered with a sheet, but even then, the damage was done). The story was that she complained to her mom about having a really bad headache, not feeling well, and she went to sleep and never woke up. Yeah, not too good for my fragile 17 year old psyche. From then on out, whenever I had a headache or a somewhat stiff neck I was CONVINCED I had meningitis. Can you say hypochondriac?

16. Frank follows me from room to room, and I love it. I talk to him more than I would like to admit. When I am walking around the house, I'll say "I love my bud" in a soft, high-pitched voice. Don't you have to own multiple cats to be considered a crazy cat lady? Not sure what the rule is there.....

Doogie Howser, M.D.

I think I almost peed a little when I saw this.

Favorite album of 2008

I can't get enough of MGMT's album Oracular Spectacular. I bought it a couple months ago and it has been on permanent repeat since then. Seriously, if you do not own this album, stop what you are doing and immediately go out and buy a copy. As my brother-in-law would say...."It'll change your life!" And if you're feeling sassy, download the Kids Soulwax Remix off iTunes. Warning: May cause your behind to shake uncontrollably. Although I like all the songs on the album, these are the stand-outs for me: The Youth, Kids, Time to Pretend, Weekend Wars.....really, all the songs are super great.

A few other favorites from 2008:
Mates of State: Re-Arrange Us (Check out Get Better, Now, The Re-Arranger)
Fleet Foxes: Self-Titled (Check out White Winter Hymnal, Blue Ridge Mountains, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song)
Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago (Check out Skinny Love, Re: Stacks, Flume)

What are your favorite albums or songs from 2008?

My own.....personal.....Hallmark.....

You have to say the title to the tune of Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode. Actually, you can say it however you'd like, but just know that is the song that was going through my head when I wrote it. Note to self: crack out Violator. Alrighty then.

Last weekend my sis and I decided to meet up at the Fremont Sunday market for some good times and boutique shopping. The weather was really cold and dreary, so the market wasn't thriving like it does during the spring and summer months, kind of a bummer. We ended up spending about 5 minutes looking at the market stuff, then took off for all the little shops in Fremont. We hit up Burnt Sugar, which I love love love. They always have cool, unique jewelry, and fun greeting cards. I picked up these two to add to my tupperware o' greeting cards. Little did you know that I have a stash of about 50 cards, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to mail out. I've got birthday cards for friends and family, just for fun cards, get well soon cards, wedding cards, pretty much anything you can think of.

A couple of my faves:
1. "Much like yourself, Christine enjoyed drama and was a queen. Happy Birthday"....front of card is vintage photo of a Danish pagaent winner
2. "Happy birthday you miserable, cranky, S.O.B.".....that is all the card says, which I find simple and to the point
3. "You are a f*&king lunatic".....just for fun card with a pair of WWII fighter pilot goggles on the front
4. "Wrong hole Magellan, try again".....just for fun card that I bought in San Francisco

And now I have these two fun guys:

"You Rock!" card. It actually isn't so much of a card as it is a certificate of awesomeness. It is like an oversized index card that reflects your achievement of kick ass-ness. Below the "You Rock!" it reads "this hereby certifies that *insert name here* is appreciated by *insert name here* on the date of *insert date here*. I like this idea. Just a little note to let someone know that they are the bees knees. Maybe one of you friendlies will get this bad boy in the mail at some point. But now that the surprise is spoiled, I might just have to keep it as an investment piece.
This second card just really hit home for me....it says...."The world is full of people who will go their whole lives and not actually live one day. She did not intend on being one of them." Why did I like it so much? Well, for a couple reasons, one being that this past year has been really rough for me personally, and as a result I've learned quite a bit about myself. The bottom line being that I have only one life, and I have to live it for myself. I don't want to look back with any major regrets.

So I think that card is going to stay with me, and keep me company for awhile. Until I see someone else that might need some encouragement.

Guys don't make passes at girls that wear glasses?

Is that how the old saying goes? Well, I beg to differ. I love glasses. I've worn glasses since I was in 8th grade. I remember being in some faceless teacher's earth science class at MJHS and realizing I couldn't see sh*t on the blackboard. That was a pivotal moment in my fashion history. At first I hated wearing glasses, they just made me look more nerdy than I already was. Initially, I only had to wear them to see the blackboard, so it wasn't a big deal if I had to look like a jackass every now and again. But as time has passed, my vision has become worse for wear, and I've had to wear my glasses constantly for the past 10 years. My glasses are a part of who I am, they are like another appendage, without them I couldn't function properly in society, and if I lived in the deserts of Africa I would surely be mauled by a tiger without them. Since I have to wear them every moment I am awake, I figure I should love them.

After I finished graduate school and was no longer a poor college student, I splurged on my first two pairs of glasses that I had ever paid for without my parent's help. It was an exciting time in my glasses wearing history. I picked out two frames without even looking at the price tags. And I loved those frames for an entire year. I'm not sure if you can see the frames that well in the above photo (taken by the Foils at Alcatraz), but they are black with white speckles and rhinestones in the corners. Sort of like funky old school librarian glasses. My other frames are the ones in the picture below, I called them my Sally Jessie frames because they are mostly red with graduating shades of pink on the insides. Oh, how I love these two sets of frames. It was nice having two sets so you could switch it up everyday depending on your mood or outfit.

Then my sister and I decided to take a trip to New York City. About a week before the trip I realized that my vision had changed, yet again, and that I should probably get new spectacles so I could actually see all the cool stuff in NYC, as well as the Broadway show we were going to see. Since I had waited til the last minute to get my eyes checked I didn't have time to send my glasses away to have the lenses changed, so I had to get new frames at Lens Crafters. They can get you new glasses in an hour, ya know!! So I purchased the frames below. Turquoise with a lighter green color on the insides. They have served me well the last two years and I actually get compliments on them on a regular basis. A lot of times at work I'll get the following...."Can I talk to the lady with the funky glasses?" To some people that might seem like an insult, but to me it is a compliment. It means that I stand out and am memorable......I'll just keep telling myself that:)

Today I went to have an eye exam because I've been feeling like my vision has changed a bit over the last two years. I've been seeing floating spots over the past few years when it is really really bright outside or super cloudy (which is pretty much standard issue here in Seattle). Luckily my exam came out aces, and the doctor said my eyes are in great shape. I had some sort of high tech retinal imaging scan done, it was pretty cool. He said the floating spots occur as we age, something about the eye stretching. I kind of quit listening once I found out I wasn't going blind. After my eye exam was finished I picked out a new pair of glasses. I'll post a picture in a few weeks once I get them. They are hot pick and uber cool. I am also having my new prescription put in my old librarian and Sally Jessie frames. For those days when I'm not feeling like Punky Brewster in my new hot pink frames.

Guys should definitely make passes at girls wearing hot pink glasses!!

Edward Fever!!!!!

Some of us have been a little obsessed with Edward Cullen since Twilight, the movie, came out a few months ago. Kim, Heather, and I have been talking about the movie non-stop since the end of November. I don't think I've ever seen a movie twice in the theater, except for Twilight. Kim has us all beat out at 4 times (I still think it's 5!!). Heather is at #3. And we roped my sis and Corey in to the mix the other day. Chris read Twilight in a matter of a few hours, then plowed through the remaining 3 books in record time.

For Christmas, Heather and Nic got me the above poster as a "joke" gift. I mean really, I'm 31 years old, you'd think my days of putting up posters in my house died with my INXS posters in high school (I'm still mourning Michael Hutchence's death, btw). But no, I have that Edward poster tacked up in my laundry room. Yes, it has to share the same space as Frank's litter box, but by god!...it is up! I took a picture of it with my camera phone the other day and sent it to Kim and Heather. Kim saved it as the screen saver for her phone, and as my photo for my caller ID. I saved it as Kim's caller ID on my phone. We are both hoping that we call eachother more often so we can see his amazingly chisled face pop up on our screens. Ridiculous? Yes. Pathetic? Maybe. Totally awesome? For sure.

A couple nights ago, we had a "girls night" out. Ashley, Cynthia, Michelle, Heather, Kim, and I went out to dinner at Cactus in Madison Park. Heather, Kim, and I all rode in the same car and managed to talk about Edward Cullen, Twilight, Jacob Black, and the New Moon movie, almost the entire way to the restaurant. And if any of you realize, the drive from Greenlake to Madison Park, taking back roads, is like at least 15 to 20 minutes. At one point we all stopped talking and started laughing at how crazy we sounded. Three grown women talking about how hot Rob Pattison is as Edward Cullen. I have no shame and no regrets though, the joy that it brings us keeps us young at heart. Besides, we know all the guys are daydreaming about Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel, they are just a little less vocal about it.

I will continue to daydream about Edward Cullen.....and I will continue to hope that someday I'll find someone that has waited their whole life to find me.....and I will continue to hope that Kim calls me on a daily basis!!

Welcome back, Jon and Ashley!!!

Alert the media! The Foils have officially moved back to Seattle! Although they will be gracing South America with their presence for the next three months, let it be known that Jon and Ashley will be kickin' it with the Seattle crew on a regular basis come the end of March. How excited am I? Super excited!!

Maybe another Jumpsuit Pub Crawl is in order to celebrate their return? Oh, I think so. Who's with me? USA?

More shows, please.......

This Christmas, my sister got me this really cool Ticket Stub Diary. It is like a picture album for all my concert ticket stubs.....love it!! I have been saving concert tickets since 1997, although I've been going to see shows since I was in my early teens.
A couple things I learned while putting together the album:
1. I have seen Pearl Jam at least 12 times. Incredible.
2. I had the pleasure of seeing Elliott Smith at least 5 times before he died in 2003.
3. Death Cab for Cutie? A minimum of 6 times where they headlined.
4. Built to Spill? 5 times. I'd like to see them again.
5. I haven't been to many shows since 2005. I'm not really sure why, to tell you the truth. The only thing I can think of is that while I was an undergraduate and graduate student, my schedule was a lot more flexible as far as evenings were concerned. In any case, I love music and would really like to make an effort to see more live music.

Another resolution for 2009...... see more live shows. Maybe I'll get to see Pearl Jam again in 2009, lucky number 13.