This Blog Has Moved!

Please Change Your Links :D

2010-03-18T10:03:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

Just a quick post to let you know that I've finally gotten up off my butt and created a Just Add Glitter and Stir Blogger URL. Go me! lol

So what does this mean? Well, you will need to use the following link effectively immediately:

http://justaddglitterandstir.blogspot.com/

Also, PLEASE update any links on your blog including my link button if you use it. This address will no longer be updated but this post will remain in case you forget. :D

And since Blogger is mean and won't let me import my current followers, I do hope to see you following me over at http://justaddglitterandstir.blogspot.com/

Thanks, you're the best readers ever! See you at the new locale! :D

Circle Journal: Vintage Recipes

2010-03-10T01:24:00.001-05:00

I've got new pages to show you but first: In honor of National Craft Month, Gauche Alchemy is holding a giveaway and the prize is a fabulous piece created by Sherry Goodloe from Got Art? so CLICK HERE TO ENTER and tell them you heard about it from me, eh? :D

Now, on to circle journals! This month I got a chance to work on the journal of Kristen from This Homemade Life and her theme was Vintage Recipes. Um hello, love it! lol I knew immediately what recipe I wanted to include, it's one my husband's family has been making every Christmas for generations and I've mentioned it before in my post, I'm Dreaming of a Blog Christmas: Oladyi (oh-la-zghee), which is basically a yeast pancake. These are amazing...*drool*...I wish I was eating some right now...

Where was I? Oh right, so here's what I did for Kristen's journal!

The papers and felty apple are from a past LPS kit and the bread tags I won from the marvelous Julie at Life with the Tucker and Wolek Clan. Sequins, gems, rhinestones, Thickers - you know, my usual what nots. lol

This was so fun to create for Kristen and I hope she likes it! This circle is spinning right along! :D

Have a great day everyone!

P.S.-Toot turns 17 months today! 17 months already?! *faint*

My Own Little Wonderland

2010-03-08T08:25:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Well, here it is - I can finally show y'all what I made for Deb over at Sparkling Scrapbooks, hurray! lol

But first, if you haven't been there already, you must see my partner's blog and all of the wonderful things she made for me! Just click the collage to visit Deb!

**This post is mega picture heavy so you've been warned. lol

This box was the first idea I had and one of the last things I finished. It gave me fits from the beginning. It was probably because I was trying to alter a Hannah Montana box and it didn't appreciate me taking away its tween-ness. lol
But I finally prevailed, in your face Montana! (Singer not the State) lol ;)

Here's the top:

And here is the inside. I added some "eat me" cookies I made, some crocheted and some made out of paper.

For the bottom I created an elevated support for the new bottom I made out of sheet music. I also lined the sides with teal tulle and added the sequins. By the way, the new bottom I made for the box was inspired by the lovely box made for me by Yvonne at Do More With Less. Thanks for the inspiration Y! :D

This wall hanging was the first thing I made and it's still my favorite! It was actually a little clipboard but once I removed the hardware to paint it, I decided to leave it off and add wire instead. :D

This is a crown for the Queen of Hearts. Standing among some white roses that those naughty card soldiers have tried to paint red. And boy do I wish I could claim to have created the painting roses red idea but alas, I got it from Lark & Lola. lol
Top view:

Had to add some spray on glitter as well of course. :D

This is a picture frame I made for Deb in honor of her Grandmother. It was a basic wooden frame covered in patterned paper, bits and baubles and of course it was begging for a sequined border. Yes! lol

I laughed when I saw that Deb had made me an Alice in a jar since I had already made this one for her! lol I created a background which you can't really see because of the pink tulle. The tulle was against me! lol

This is the top of the jar:

A "D" for Deb with a Hello Kitty card soldier! :D

I also created this tag for her:

I also made some tags for each thing with a little poem on each with the intention that she could string them together to form a wall hanging but of course, I forgot to take pictures of it. LOL And there you have it! *whew* lol

Thanks for taking a peek at the things I created for Deb, this was so much fun! Thanks for being my partner Deb! Again, for those of you that participated in this swap, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I've so enjoyed seeing what you've created. Feel free to leave your swap post links in your comment!

Have a great day everyone! :D

I'm Simply Mad for the Wonderland Swap

2010-03-05T15:02:00.001-05:00

We interrupt this Friday Night Fab Five for awesomeness!

Wow y'all...that is the only word I have is: "wow". I was COMPLETELY spoiled by my partner Deb from Sparkling Scrapbooks. I couldn't wait to show you all what she sent to me and with my box on its way to her, she was gracious enough to let me open her box today and I'll be back on Monday to show you what I made for her.

But until then...look what I got in the mail:
Oh my goodness, what could it be?!

Ooooooo intriguing!!!

Okay, you know that it's going to be an awesome package when the first thing you see is a rose from Bachelor Jake! LOL Deb you are too funny and so obviously made to be my friend! LOL Awesome!

So that would have been good enough for me, Wonderland theme or no, but then I opened the other box that was inside the first box. It was fairly bursting with fantastic Wonderland magic!

Holy crap, look at all this goodness! And so much glitter and bling, this girl's got my number!!! *drool* lol Deb was even sweet enough to include some things for Toot!

Alice in a jar, a jeweled Hatter box, a blingy tin and some awesome Japanese Alice brads! *double drool*

Oh my goodness, so IN LOVE with this wall hanging! That flamingo is so precious! And the vintage bling...VINTAGE BLING! *triple drool*
A mini canvas that is going right on my inspiration board (along with my Jake rose, lol) and look at that! Toot is in Wonderland!!!
These ATCs are amazing! Deb is a constant source of inspiration for me and I was so honored to be her partner for this swap! Thank so much you Deb!!!

Deb has posted on her blog and has much better pictures than I took, lol, so please be sure to go visit her and tell her how awesome she is! lol Her post is: Follow Me to Maggi's Wonderland.

If you're a participant in this swap and you have already blogged about your treasures, please leave me a link to the post so we can all see! I will be back on Monday to post what I sent to Deb.

Have a great weekend everyone and thank you to all of my swap participants!

Rolling, Rolling...Rolling On My Projects...

2010-03-04T19:02:00.000-05:00

Well crud, so many many things I've created lately and I can't show you a lick of it because it's all for Deb at Sparkling Scrapbooks, who is my partner for the Wonderland swap! But no one said I can't give you a peek, right?
Just a little something I created for Deb. Muwahahahaha! Actually, I've got everything boxed up and ready to head out tomorrow:
Hey Deb when you get it, do NOT shake this box to try and guess what it is, everything is sure to fall off of everything else if you do! lol ;) By the way, Deb has been creating Wonderland treasures out the ying yang lately so be sure to drop by her blog to drool along with me. :D

Next up for me project-wise is Kristen's (from This Homemade Life) circle journal. Her theme is vintage recipes and boy have I got the perfect one! AND I'm lucky enough to actually have a picture of it being made so go me for being ahead of the game! lol

In other news, Blogger has added the niftiest of gadgets: Pages. This adds a functionality to your sidebar or along the top of your blog where you can create pages like "About Me", Contact", etc. I've done this and you can find it in the top right hand sidebar. I point this out because I've created a page listing all of my Bachelor recaps so if you missed something or want to relive the exciting terror, head that way!

I apologize if I have not been by your fabulous blog lately. I've been frantic trying to get everything completed for the swap. It wouldn't do for the hostess to be late you see. lol I'm trying to get caught up so start posting your most exciting posts now! lol ;)

Have a great night everyone and I'll see you tomorrow for a new Friday Night Fab Five!

The Bachelor: On the Wings of Finally! I Mean Finale!

2010-03-02T13:52:00.001-05:00

Well here we are: The Bachelor finale!!! Now the After the Final Rose special is showing right after the finale but I'm just going to talk about this episode in this post and will tackle the ATFR special later.

So now just who will Jakey-poo pick? You know, just watching the intro I can tell that Jake took Bachelor 101 before starting his run on the show. He knows exactly what to say including frequent use of the the key word "journey", he's mastered tortured looks off into the distance and sincerely saying he wants his parents' opinion when we all know he's going to totally ignore whatever they say and follow his heart...and by heart, I mean the one downstairs if you catch my drift.

He starts out trying to get his parents excited about meeting Vienna by telling them how much all the other girls hated her. Smooth move X-Lax. But before that blows up in his face, Tenley is first up to meet the folks. She tells us that she's going to be herself and that's all she can be. Which is great for her if they're looking for a Disney princess as a daughter-in-law.

Hey, you remember Jillian's problem with Jake? She accused him of being too perfect which made sense and now guess who Jake is accusing of being maybe "too good to be true". Bingo. Poor Tenley.

Anyway, Jake's mom asks Tenley about fighting with her sister because she wants to make sure that her daughters-in-law get along. Um...okay. I guess that's important when it comes to Jake's decision. Tenley answers her question by telling her about her cheating husband. Um...okay. I guess that's important when it comes to Jake's decision.

Listen, I'll spare you. They all get along and little animated birds sit on Tenley's shoulder as she perkily wins over the whole family. They all pee themselves (and cry) over Tenley and tell Jake to pick her. Did you really think anything else would happen? Again, Tenley is perfect for Jake. Which is exactly why he'll never pick her.

Jake's mom tells him that Tenley needs to see his goofy side which apparently entails them jumping into the pool. My, how spontaneous we are! Slow down you crazy nuts!
If you want my opinion, he's trying his darndest to make Tenley as exciting as Vienna and that just ain't going to happen. His whole family says how great and perfect they are as a couple. Tenley's so perfect, Jake's so perfect, they're so perfect together and all I can hear in my head is the crowd chanting, "Kiss of death! Kiss of death! Kiss of death!"

Moving right along, Vienna's turn to meet the newest people to hate her. She makes the best first impression possible by promptly telling his family how much the other girls hated her. Smooth move X-Lax, maybe you and Jake really are meant to be together. One of Jake's sisters-in-law tells us that she doesn't think Vienna was classy in the way she talked about the other girls. The other sister-in-law says how she thinks Vienna is confrontational. Listen, you know how this works: it's totally awkward and the family is not happy.

Jake's mom is more worried about her getting along with the sisters-in-law (What is up with that? Give it a rest already!) Mom's seeing red flags all over the place and basically tells Jake to "make the best decision he can", which in Mom Language means "Do not pick Vienna or I will kill you". Jake's all defensive and stuff. He tells us that it's pretty much a deal breaker if the woman he brings into the family doesn't get along. Whatever, I call B.S. Not falling for it ABC but nice try. And this may be picky of me but it's "daughters-in-law" not "daughter-in-laws". Everyone keeps saying "daughter-in-laws"!

In the end, the family gets all guilty for judging her and starts crying. Oh brother. Vienna wins them over and we're ready to get on to the rose ceremony right? Right?!

Crap, the last dates.

Vienna's up first and Jake tells us that they're going to an active volcano. Lucky for us he's not making an innuendo. Then he goes and says that he and Vienna can't keep their hands off each other. Gross! Fade to black! Fade to black! Think I'm kidding?
They spend some further time alone and Vienna is all scared of losing Jake. No time for that now, it's time to be bored with Tenley's date with Jake. I fast forwarded through most of this part. I can tell you this much: Jake is SO not into her. Throughout this whole season, the one thing Jake sucked at was hiding his true feelings. And now with Tenley, he's feeling squat and boy does it show. Luckily he's a quick enough thinker to tell Tenley he's "tired".

Jake then tells her that the "emotional" chemistry is there but he's worried that there's not enough "physical" chemistry to match it. He adds that by "physical" he does not mean "sexual". Tenley then asks, "Uh...what is physical chemistry if you don't mean sexual?" Exactly, good for you Tenley! I mean really Jake, you are such a dud. Just tell her she doesn't rock your casbah, go get Vienna and let's get on with this already!

But first they make us watch flashbacks and them all looking tortured and pensive. Jake looks at rings. Meh. I keep hoping Reid will show up and reveal his true feelings for Jillian. Wait...I think I just lapsed into The Bachelorette.

Anyhoo, rose ceremony: long story short: Told you so!

Short story long: Chris Harrison escorts the girls on the mile long hike they have to take to get to where Jake is waiting for them. Jake stumbles and stutters as he tells Tenley that he loves her and she's perfect but "something doesn't feel right" and he doesn't know why and then they both cry all over each other. Poor Tenley. She deserves Prince Eric not this stooge of a dork.

So yeah, he picks Vienna. There you have it! What are your thoughts on Jake's choice?

I'll be back at some point this week with my ATFR special recap, see you then!

EDIT: I'm back!

So yeah, I don't need a whole post for the ATFR special. Tenley cried, Jake and Vienna are happy, they made me watch them dance while Jeffrey Osborne came on the show to sing "On the Wings of Love" and they announced Ali as the next Bachelorette. Shoot me. How in the world they think Ali will be entertaining to watch as The Bachelorette is beyond me. I didn't think they could pick anyone more boring than Jake. SPEAKING OF WHICH, what the heck is up with putting him on Dancing with the Stars?! Tenley is an actual dancer, why not put her on? Bah!

Edit: Back again! Had to come and show you this spoof that was on Jimmy Kimmel last night, enjoy!

Sorry, me again! I had to include Kimmel's interview with Ali. Kudos to him for calling her on her B.S.

I still hate her. I also hate how she left "for work" and now she's trying to backtrack saying that she left because she was "scared". Whatever, that still won't make me like you as the Bachelorette you Mean Girl. Also, if she says one more time how if Jake really loved her he would have come after her and the show wouldn't have mattered, I'm going to kick her. The show is about you sticking around until he kicks you off not you leaving and expecting him to chase you when he's got a whole group of girls making out with him every time he turns around you idiot.

Okay, I think I'm officially done with this recap. Maybe...

Friday Night Fab Five: Totally Rad EDIT: And on Thursday Apparently

2010-02-25T17:00:00.000-05:00

EDIT: for the love of Pete y'all. I totally thought today was Friday and posted this today instead of tomorrow. Holy crap. Well, here's a treat for you then I guess! LOLOLOL Enjoy! :D

*********************************

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to another Friday Night Fab Five where I list 5 things I'm currently obsessed with, adore or otherwise am in love with. As I was thinking about what 5 things I would feature this week, I started thinking about my childhood and what I loved then (then being the 1980's). So this week's Friday Night Fab Five are five things I loved in the 80's. As I was writing this, it occurred to me that I was waaaaay too young at the time to like some of these things so keep in mind that the dates are when these first came out but I didn't catch on until a couple of years after. :P

1. 1985 - North and South

(Image from TVguide.com)

The story of two unlikely friends, one fighting for the South and one fighting for the North during the Civil War, the North and South miniseries had everything, including every star past and present known to man. And yes, I was WAY too young to be watching it. I remember sneaking behind my parents back to watch parts of it. lol

2. 1988 - Breathe "How Can I Fall?"

Breathe was a British band and they were full on 80's. I cannot begin to tell you how much my friend and I wore out this cassette tape (yes, cassette tape). This song and "Hands to Heaven"...holy cow, we scarfed down this sugary sweet love song junk by the barrel full.

3. 1989 - Dead Poet's Society

(Image from Amazon.com)

Oh boy, did me and my friends think we were deep thinkers after seeing this movie! lol Oh the drama of it all! Actually, this is still a good movie. I should watch it tonight. Anyway, we so thought we were the next big poets after seeing this. I guess there are worse things to get out of a movie, eh?

4. 1985-ish - Coca-Cola Clothes

(Image from In The 80s)

Yeah baby! I totally had one of these shirts and I thought I was so rad! The best part? I wore it with the collar flipped up. Awesome!

5. 1983 - Sweet Valley High

(Image from Shannon's Sweet Valley High Blog)

I started reading this series later in the 80s but boy oh boy was I disappointed in the 90s when I got to high school and realized that not only was it nothing like these books, it was also nothing like it was in Beverly Hills 90210. What a letdown! Reading these now though...yikes, these books stink. LOL In fact, if you want to read some hilarious recaps of every SVH book, you have to check out Shannon's Sweet Valley high Blog

So that's it for another Friday Night Fab Five! What are you favorite things this week? Or better yet, what were you're favorite things back then? :D

We are having house guests this weekend so I will be scarce but I will see you Monday after the Bachelor finale! Now just what will I do with myself when it's all over?! *sob*

Happy weekend everyone!

Toot By The Barrel Full!

2010-02-24T11:06:00.000-05:00

Whew, what a morning so far! I like to keep things positive around here but I have to tell ya: this morning has just plain sucked. LOL But that's okay, I know when I'm having a bad day, I can come here and make all of you look at baby pictures with me! :D

I may be a slacker when it comes to finishing Toot's scrapbooks (I figure I'll teach her to scrap when she's older and then she can scrap her baby pictures :) but I am still taking TONS of pictures and figured I would share some with you fine folks since they should be shown somewhere, right?

Toot l-o-v-e-s hats. Not sure where she gets that from though. Must be from her father's side...hmmm... ;) Anyway, I'll find her wearing some random hat she finds:

So one day I find her wearing this hat that obviously no longer fits (she wore it as a newborn). Think that stopped her?! Not my my daughter!

We have packed up the mobile and changing table part of her pack and play. I thought I had put the pieces safely away when one day I noticed her with one of the pipes, twirling it like a baton. I so wish there was still a market for baton twirling...she is a natural although here she looks like she's about to kung fu me with it...

I'm trying to get her started on crafts early. She already loves yarn, just need to teach her to not eat the hook...
And because I only let her play with my glasses when it's cute:

On the creative front, I've got so much I'm dying to show y'all but they're for the Wonderland swap so I can't show it until my partner gets it all! But trust me, there is glitter flying over here! :D

Have a great day today everyone!

The Bachelor: On the Wings of Dry Heaving

2010-02-22T22:37:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone and welcome to The Bachelor: The Women Tell All special recap! Just in case you don't know, every season of The Bachelor/Bachelorette has a reunion special the week before the finale. They used to bring everyone back except for the Final Two but then they wised up and realized that we could care less about the rejects that were kicked out on their butts in the first episode so now they just bring back the (theoretically) most interesting folks out of the bunch along with our Bachelor or Bachelorette.

Now, I have to say for my part that most of the time, these Tell All things turn out to be a bunch of Tell Nothing and they are pretty boring. But recently they've added bloopers and I love a good fall or boom mike hitting someone in the head so I keep watching. Plus, we got this from Chris Harrison's Twitter earlier today:
Oh they do, do they? Well, we'll just see...But first, I'm sure they're going to bore me with an entire season recap complete with a little recap of when Jake was on Jillian's season right? I've seen all the episodes ABC! If someone needs to see this recap, they really should just not be watching. Anyway, let's start the episode...

Okay, so I'm 1 minute into the episode where they've shown the previews for what I am about to watch (huh?) and I can already tell you 5 things:

1. Rozlyn did not brush her hair.
2. Jake got dressed in the dark.
3. These girls are "Mean" like those popular snotty girls you knew in high school, they are spray tan abusers and all cry too friggin' much.
4. Chris called Rozlyn's alleged inappropriate relationship the "most shocking television scandal of 2010". Huh? He knows we're just now getting through February of 2010, right? Dude, we have like 10 more months of 2010 to go...
5. Right now the thing I'm most excited about is showing you what Jake is wearing.

Also, I have to admit right now that I'm probably going to fast forward through most of this episode. I hate confrontation y'all and can't stand to see people fight. Or I may just get really bored, it's too early to tell...

Anyway, here comes the recaps...ugh. I'll spare you. Since we've already seen it all, I've blogged about it all...Bah. Luckily after a while it started to sound like those teachers on Charlie Brown and I just started making up my own dialogue...
They talk about jumping off the bridge with Vienna, Elizabeth the Nanny's art of the tease, fortune cookie hilarity (not) with Tenley and Ali leaving. Chris asks Jake what it's going to be like when he see Ali at the Women Tell All. Wha? My question is why the heck they just don't show us instead asking such a stupid question. Show us already!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Back from commercial and we're treated to an update on some past Bachelor/Bachelorette cast members making out. Actually they're reunions but they spend a large amount of time making us watch these cast offs give mono to each other. Yerk. There's a couple of girls from Lorenzo's season which was the the biggest BORE in Bachelor history. Then they show Gwen from Aaron's season (season 2) and she is still single. Awwww, I miss Gwen! I want her to be the next Bachelorette! I love her!
Seriously though, these past contestants are total horn dogs. Where are their mothers?! Ugh this is so gross. It's like watching an episode of Flavor of Love except less hair pulling and pooping on the stairs. Holy crow, let's move along to something else PLEASE! Don't believe me? I'm pretty sure this isn't just a rash but oh how I wish it were:
Have I told you yet that I'm only 20 minutes into the episode? Help!

Oh geez, now we gotta watch these people "giving back"? Didn't they already do that in the hot tub? Now we have to watch them doing charity work, great. I'm all for serving your community but come ON! At least they're doing something worthwhile in between swapping partners...This is seriously mind numbing.

Looks like we're moving on to this season's dramatic broo-ha-ha. FINALLY! Quite a few of the girls are there and the first question from Chris goes to Jessie. You know, the girl who got to talk to Jake all of 5 minutes? Yeah and her answer is just as exciting as you would imagine. Oh gross, now we have to watch Jake in the shower again. Really? Then they jump right into flashbacks of Rozlyn bashing, Michelle craziness, Vienna hating and Gia saying that "Tenley sh*ts rainbows" which is freakin' hilarious and the best thing said all season long. That needs to be on a t-shirt.

Chris asks everyone why they hated Vienna so much. Ella says that she's 23 and immature. Gia defends her and is wearing a sparkly dress so I am declaring it right now: Gia is awesome and I adore her. Chris then gets on Elizabeth (metaphorically speaking) about her teasing Jake. She agreed that she is stupid. Chris then brings up the "10,000 pound elephant in the room": Rozlyn. All the girls immediately say that they witnessed all sorts of "inappropriate" things between Roz and the producer. They were "so uncomfortable" with it all and Jessie says that she saw them on the stairs kissing. Wow, Jessie's getting more screen time tonight than she ever has like...ever. Anyway, lots of "Oh I saw something!" going on. Whatever.

Gia's first up in the "hotseat" and I fast forwarded through her flashback "journey". Seen it, blogged it hello! Still sad though, I want to give my BFF sparkly Gia a hug. Awww. ... Okay, let's move on!

Michelle's next up in the hotseat and this poor thing. Listen, I know she's all kinds of girl-type crazy but at least she didn't join in with Mean Girl Ali's toast to being mean to Vienna on the group date. That made me respect her a lot despite well...you know. She does her best to hold up under the pressure of Chris' questions and the girls hatin'. And of course Ali has to butt in like a big ole buttinski with her two worthless cents. Then Valisha says something and I'm all like, "Who are you anyway? And again, why does your occupation say homemaker"?

Oh crap, now it's Ali's turn. I'm not sure I'm able to properly express how much I dislike this girl. And the fact that we're probably going to be stuck with her as the next Bachelorette just makes it worse. Ugh. She's all crying and stuff about leaving early. Whatever. I bet you'll quit your all important job in a hot minute if they offer you The Bachelorette, stupid Mean Girl. Chris points out that she chose her job over Jake and she gives some crap about how she buries herself in work when she's "scared" and didn't want to get her heart broken. THEN DON'T GO ON TV TO FIND LOVE YOU BOOB. I am so over her. Then she says some other crap about how "our life is measured by the risks we take". *dry heave* God, please don't let them pick her as the next Bachelorette!

Then she starts to defend Vienna and apologizes for being mean to her. She says that Vienna is getting trashed in the tabloids and no one deserves that. Way to back track sweetie. We get it, you want to be nice now so they'll give you a show, whatever. And then she says that she'll pick love over a job next time. *insert eye roll here* Gimme a W! Gimme a H! Gimme an A! Oh forget it, I'm trying to spell out "whatever" but that's going to take too long...

So now we're on to Rozlyn and you know they are going to blast her to kingdom come. They show some roadie guiding Rozlyn to the stage like she's some sort of criminal. For Pete's sake, it would have been more subtle to carry her onstage strapped to a dolly like in Silence of the Lambs. They go through the time line of all the inappropriateness and stuff. She denies that anything physical ever happened. She says that the show wouldn't let her call her son. It gets bad, they start to argue, Chris says something about unicorns and magicians and the audience laughs and claps like hyenas.

Christina says Rozlyn was touching the producer's thigh, Jessie tells her about seeing them make out on the stairs and Rozlyn swears on her child's life that never happened. Blahblahblahblahblah Chris finally interrupts and asks whether or not Rozlyn slept in her room or on the couch. Listen, it's just a bunch of girl fight crap. Chris is being extremely douchy and snarky. I get it but whatever. Rozlyn is still denying that anything physical ever happened and gets douchy and snarky right back at Chris. My final thought: she was stupid for going back on the show. No way were they ever going to give her a fair chance to explain herself.

Wait, isn't this show suppose to be about finding love? Let's move on already!

Oh right, they haven't even brought Jake out yet...dear Lord this is dragging...Oh wait, y'all gotta see what this goob is wearing! I could do a whole post on Jake's fashion sense (or major lack thereof).
It takes him about 5 seconds before he uses the word "journey" and then he says that while he was letting Gia go his "heart was crying". *vomit* You are such a girl. He recounts Ali's job B.S. and they try to make it look like they're star-crossed lovers or something. Pu-lease.

They then talk about the 2 on 1 date where he sent Ella and Kathryn home. Kathryn says that she doesn't think that Jake gave her a fair chance and she all opened up to him and stuff and I'm thinking, "What? He like talked to you about as much as he talked to Jessie. I would have went home by choice at that point you weirdo." Chris takes yet another shot at Michelle and we FINALLY get to the good stuff: bloopers.

Is it bad that I laugh when people get hurt? I mean, I don't laugh if they're really hurt, but come on, it's funny. I laugh when I get hurt so I figure it all balances out. Anyway, the bloopers were okay.

They move on and Chris asks if Jake is happy with his decision, then we get a flashback of the two remaining girls and...fade to black.

So there it is and now we're barrelling towards the finale next week. My final thought on what will happen: Tenley is the girl Jake should pick, Vienna is the girl he will pick. Done and done.

By the way, here's some upcoming Bachelor goodness:

-There's a new series starting at some point called "Bachelor Pad". Apparently it's going to be a Big Brother type reality show with past contestants.

-Jason and Molly are getting married and it will be televised on March 8th at 8:00 EST.

-There's a Bachelor 20/20 special on March 15th at 8:00

And yes, I will be blogging it all! :D

So what are your thoughts on tonight's Women Tell All? What will happen next week on the finale?

You're The Inspiration (Board)

2010-02-21T08:35:00.001-05:00

I mentioned in my previous post: Getting Inspired and Board with Cinderella and The Monkees that I wanted to create my own inspiration board for my crafty space. Right now that board is a box where I toss odds and ends I want to use so I thought I would share a couple of awesome finished boards that have caught my eye recently. :D

(Image from artjunkgirl)

(Image from Anything Goes)

(Image from A Fanciful Twist)

And the fabulous Anya from Couture Millinery Atelier recently wrote a post with pictures of what is currently on her inspiration board. Check out her post My Inspiration Board for 2010.

If you have an inspiration board or know of a groovy one I need to see, I wanna know! :D Just leave me a link in your comments. :)

**side note: the Wonderland Swap is in full swing! And if you missed out this time, I have a little surprise for you coming soon that is for you crafties AND non-crafties. Yes, it's another swap but for right now the theme is Top Secret. Wonder what it could be? Hmmm...

Have a great day everyone! I'll see you tomorrow night after The Bachelor! :D

Friday Night Fab Five: Rewind

2010-02-19T17:00:00.001-05:00

TGIFNFF! (That's "Thank God It's Friday Night Fab Five!") :D

Hi everyone and welcome to this week's Friday Night Fab Five where I list 5 things I am currently obsessed with this week. You know what, I'm going to rewind this week and repost a Fab Five I wrote last year. I thought this would be a great way to share a little bit more about me with all of you that may have missed it the first time (or I'm being totally lazy about writing a new Fab Five, you decide!) :P

Anyhoo, this Fab Five comes to you all the way from April 2009. *shocked gasp* Oh yeah, I went back all the way to April of 09, snap! This was originally titled "This Happened, I Swear!" and includes some humiliating things I experienced that I thought I would repost for your continued enjoyment. :D

So get in your DeLorean, fill up your tank with plutonium (please tell me someone gets that reference) and let's get started! :D

*****************************************

Originally Posted April 2009:

So I had this idea to post 5 things you may or may not know about me for this week's Friday Night Fab Five. I can't decide if this is an awesome idea, an arrogant idea or an idea that I will immediately regret as soon as I hit "publish". I decided to go ahead with it because in the World Of Blogging, nothing is quite as powerful as the feeling you can post whatever you want with no retribution whatsoever. And since I'm power-hungry *rawr* here is this week's Friday Night Fab Five:

1. In the eighth grade, I auditioned for "The New Mickey Mouse Club". I was rejected and as I was leaving the room, the Casting Director stopped me and asked me to sing the song I had prepared. I had one of those, "It's happening!" only-in-Hollywood type of moments until half way through the first verse of my song he stops me and very politely tells me to get out. So had I been able to sing, I may have been a Mousekateer and have my very own "Behind The Music" by now.

2. On picture day in the fifth grade, we had a totally cheesy photographer that was making stupid jokes to get me to laugh. I was trying to hold in the laughs and as a result blew snot out of my nose at the very moment he snapped the picture. Luckily, my class was standing in line behind me and saw the whole thing. Ironically, the class bully came up to me afterwards and said, "Don't worry about it, that kind of thing just happens".

3. When I was around 5 or 6, I was at the grocery store with my mom. They had one of those big glass door freezers that holds bags of ice and I wondered to myself how cold it was in there once the door was closed. As Momma was checking out, I opened the door, climbed in and the door closed behind me. It was then that I realized that I couldn't get the door opened and it was also then that Momma noticed I was gone. I spent a minute or two watching her run back and forth in front of the freezer yelling my name. When she finally saw where I was, she was laughing so hard at me standing on bags of ice looking quite satisfied with myself that the manager had to come and open the door to let me out. P.S.-I was fine and yes, that freezer is cold with the door closed.

4. I have yet to understand why chocolate and potatoes come from plants but they don't help you lose weight. Hello? I figure that's a question I'll ask God while I'm filling my plate at the Potato Bar and Chocolate Buffet in Heaven.

5. When I was pregnant, Chris, Momma and myself went to Babies R Us to look at crib bedding. While there I accidentally farted and instinctively said, "Oops, sorry y'all!" really loud. This wouldn't have been so bad except it was then that I noticed a sales associate sitting directly behind my backside at the special ordering desk. Oops!

And there you have it, this week's (old) Friday Night Fab Five! So you know I have to ask:

What are some of your less than perfect moments?

Revenge of the Sushi...With Yarn!

2010-02-17T14:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I am SO excited because my entry for the Threadknits.com contest is FINALLY finished and submitted! The contest is open to knitters and crocheters and you have to make something based on a t-shirt design from Threadless.com (some of the coolest t-shirts around FYI). Here's the design I chose, "Revenge of the Sushi":

(Photo from Threadless.com)

The one thing that concerned me about this project was how I was going to get these little guys to actually hold each other up but in the end it hit me: Make a sushi mobile!

So what do you think?

There are so many amazing entries already submitted but I sure would love to have a shot at the prizes. lol But even if I don't win anything, this was a lot of fun to do and I've been wanting to enter some creative type contests and really push myself out of my comfort zone this year so here's one thing I can mark off my list! :D If you would like to see my entry along with the other entries, you can check out my entry on the Threadknits site! Wish me luck y'all! :D

Have a great day everyone and I'll see you soon for another Friday Night Fab Five! :D

The Bachelor: On the Wings of The Dread Pirate Jake

2010-02-15T22:00:00.001-05:00

Here come the overnight dates! Remember when the magic booty card from Chris telling the couple they could get it on in the Fantasy Suite was a surprise? Yeah, not so much anymore. Well no matter, after tonight we will be down to the final two girls and then next week is the Women Tell All reunion special.

But that's not tonight so let's see what happens. Last week we got a preview of Ali calling Jake in St. Lucia to supposedly come crawling back but I'm thinking it will come to nothing. I've been burned by ABC's promos before (remember the one of Jake kicking a chair over? That's never even been shown so thanks a lot ABC.)

Anyhoo, let's get started.

First we get a retrospecticus on the remaining three women and we get to relive all of the moments that were boring the first time around so you can imagine...I'll spare you and yes, you're welcome. I'm sure they're going to replay part of Tenley's dance from last week and no way am I watching that again so I'll be right back, I'm going to get a drink...

Okay, I'm back. Now he's talking about Ali so I'm guessing we're getting the phone call out of the way early. Let's see...she's in a hotel bed...robe on...(Wait, who sleeps in a robe?)...telling us she's heart broken and misses Jake...sitting up in bed and then...wait, what? No way. I am NOT seeing what I think I'm seeing...
For the love of Pete ABC, 8x10 glossies of Jake on the nightstand...really? All right dearest readers, on the count of three we're all going to do the exaggerated eye roll...ready? 1...2...3!

Oh BRO-ther. *shudder* So gross on so many levels...

She gives us some bull about how the only reason she picked work was that she was scared and now that she's back home she can't sleep and her work is suffering (well they must be thrilled to have you back then, eh?) Oh wait they went to commercial and came back with Gia so I guess our Staged Phone Call of Doom will have to wait.

So Jake and Gia meet up and Jake asks her if she likes boats...uh Jake, she took you on a boat during her home town date. That was just last week remember? You took pictures of each other in front of the Statue of Liberty? No? Nothing? Bonehead. They drink out of coconuts like they do on Survivor and go buy cheap tourist crap. (Not that I'm putting cheap tourist crap down, it's my favorite) and they dance with street performers. Jake buys her a necklace which is sure to keep her warm when he kicks her off the island at the end of the show (my guess).

Jake tells us he's ready to take a leap of faith right before they both jump off a pier into the ocean. *barf* We're forced to watch them make out in the water for a couple of minutes. They finally dry off and have a night time picnic. Gia keeps saying how she's falling for Jake and she's so scared. Jake tells us how he wants to take care of Gia tonight. I so hope he means the romantic way and not the mobster way. Lots of blahblahblah whatever, I just want to know where Gia bought that sparkly head band. *drool* I wonder if she'll be so distraught when Jake dumps her that she'll never want to wear it again and will send it to me?
They talk about opening up without even a hint of irony and yadayadayada. This is boring. Get to the fantasy suite already! They get into a big hammock that looks to be hanging from a cliff or something and the card from Chris shows up. Gia jumps right on it and off they go to the Fantasy Suite.

Gia wants to tell Jake that she's falling in love with him but she's finds it too hard to say. And mark my words, that's going to be what gets her kicked out in the end. There's always one person that won't tell them how they feel and it's always what gets them gone. Bah, oh well. They get into a tub (not heart shaped, go figure) and I'm praying for a commercial break...

Tenley's up next and it's like watching Ariel and Prince Eric with these two. Ugh. He takes her flying in a helicopter and they land on a sugar plantation...figures. Now they're talking and...Holy crap this is like watching paint dry....Where's Vienna?

So they go to dinner and Tenley's all worried about the Fantasy Suite since she's only ever been with her ex-husband. And then they start dancing. Shoot me. Jake starts talking about how much he loves spending time with her and you know he's building up the courage to give her the Fantasy Suite card. "Come on baby, we can just talk!" So Tenley reads the card and says, "Let's get it on!" Okay, well maybe she didn't phrase it quite like that but she immediately said yes so whatever. Tenley keeps going on and on about how she doesn't spend the night with guys and this is a big deal and yeah we get it, you're not a whore. Can we please move on now????

So here's Vienna and they get on a pirate ship complete with Jake wearing a pirate eye patch and then those S.O.B.s at ABC start playing...you guessed it...

Then they shoot cannons (literally not figuratively) and climb the mast or whatever. Then Jake smacks her in the butt with a sword and makes her walk the plank. I swear I am not making this up! There are so many innuendos being tossed around here I think my head might explode. Then they show them frolicking on the beach. Ewwwwwww. Yes, commercial break! God loves me!

Side note: It has just occurred to me that Jake is different with each of the remaining women. With Gia he's all protective. With Tenley he treats her like they are in the same place in life and with Vienna he acts like one of those kids from "American Pie".

Back to the show, Vienna and Jake are talking about marriage or something while they eat dinner in a gazebo. Jake then asks Vienna what kind of rings she likes. Huh? Did he ask any of the other girls this? She tells him that she likes "bling around the ring" (well, can't blame her there) and then asks him if he can see her as his wife to which he answers yes. Whatever, I am just not seeing this at all. This is the weirdest couple ever. But then he ruins the moment by telling her that he loves the other two girls. Wow, maybe he really was dateless in school because he is a total idiot.

Anyway, back at Jake's room he's primping and what not when dun dun DUN the phone rings! It's Ali saying she made a mistake and wants to come back. I'll spare you the whole long thing, Jake basically tells her thanks but no thanks. Maybe her and Reid from Jillian's season should date each other. Oh and then Ali says that she'll never find anyone like Jake ever. Hmmm...looks like someone's gunning for the next Bachelorette!

Moving on, let's get to the rose ceremony! No wait, first: video messages are back! Yes! The part of the show where we watch the Bachelor awkwardly watch videos of the girls saying cheesy things.

But at the rose ceremony...holy crow, Gia's dress is sparkly! I'm really started to think we're meant to be friends. I wonder if she's looking for a short, stout, less attractive friend? Where was I? Oh right. Rose ceremony...Jake is scared of sending the wrong woman home. Whatever, break Gia's heart and let's get it over with already!

Long story short: Bye bye Gia! Just another kick in the pants to add to your long list of heartbreaks. I'll take that headband now, thanks! Oh don't cry for Gia folks! Her exit really was heartbreaking, she totally lets him off the hook and acts the quite the lady (with the exception of accidentally flashing her underwear. Don't worry, I didn't take a picture of that).

So what are your thoughts on this episode? Next week we get to see The Women Tell All and Rozlyn is back. Inappropriate relationships for the win!

Layouts in the Mist

2010-02-15T11:38:00.000-05:00

The fabulous Yvonne from Do More With Less is holding a challenge contest. Basically you create something inspired by the layout in this post and there you go! Here's what I did:
This is one of Toot's one year old portraits. I made a layout using plastic canvas as the backing instead of cardstock (my thought being to hang this on the wall so I left the little display hangy thing on the canvas). I used some old sheet music for behind the picture and button. (P.S.-this sheet music is some I got from the 2-3 lb stack of sheet music I found at a thrift store for $1! *drool*)
The patterned paper is Basic Grey (go me for remembering), Lemonade line I think and I wired on some buttons. I misted with the one lonely mist I have. This is only the second time I've used this mist, the first time being on my Jimi Hendrix ATCs and then after that I lost it and have been "mist-less" since July 2009. lol I recently found it again in a box of scraps (thank goodness I never throw anything away, in your face cleanliness!) and have been searching for things to spray the crap out of ever since...

Anyhoo, there's still time to play along with Yvonne's challenge! She's taking entries until tomorrow so get to gluing! :P Have fun and I'll see you after The Bachelor! :D

Friday Night Fab Five

2010-02-12T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's Friday Night Fab Five where I list 5 things I am in love with this week. Five things posted on Friday at 5:00. Not quite night but you get the point, yes? Excellent, let's get started!

1. Netflix
Getting a DVD in the mail is okay but come on, this is 2010 and Netflix is all about streaming...for me anyway. On your computer, Xbox 360, PS3 or now on the Wii you can stream TV shows, movies and documentaries and I love it! Not everything is streamable but they have a huge collection of stuff to watch and thanks to Netflix I have discovered Dexter, 30 Rock, Doctor Who and oh yes...number 2 on my Fab Five list...

2. BBC's Robin Hood
This show only lasted 3 seasons apparently (Gee, thanks a lot BBC) but the first two are up on Netflix stream and this is the cutest show ever. (Okay, "cute" was probably not what they were going for but whatever) Excellent take on the story of Robin Hood with comedy, drama, action and a cutie of a Hood. (In your face Kevin Costner!)

3. Mod Podge

Oh Mod Podge, where would I be without you? I remember my mom using Mod Podge and it was always her go to for crafts when I was a kid. (Her being a big believer in covering everything she saw in paper) Well, she was right. I love using this for collages and what not.

4. The Soup
Some people read tabloids, some people watch The Insider or read Perez Hilton's blog. I watch The Soup. All the news I need to know plus a healthy dose of hilarity. Done and done.

5. Toot

I've been going through some videos of Toot and although she's only 16 months old, watching older videos of her is amazing. So much change in such a short time. I kind of want to throw up. lol

That's my Fab Five for this week! What are you favorites this week?

Circle Journal: Why I Like Being a Girl

2010-02-10T08:45:00.000-05:00

First some news:

-Thanks to your votes, Zachary's teacher came in second place in the contest, that is awesome! Thanks again for taking the time to vote for Ms. Moree!

-I'm sorry if my visits have been lacking as of late, a friend my husband works with wants a crochet Katamari Prince to give his girlfriend for Valentine's Day and since my husband doesn't crochet he thought I was perfect for the job *eye roll* Good thing I love my husband...and crocheting. lol So anyway, I've been crocheting like a crazy person to try and get this done before the weekend. Pray for me. LOL ;)

But I wanted to share my latest circle journal work with you real quick. :) This entry is for Carrie's journal and her theme is "Why I Like Being a Girl". There were tons of reasons I could name including some that are not appropriate for mixed company (lol) but in the end I went with this:

Left Side:
I used pieces of cardboard to back the pictures and to create a journaling box of sorts. Lots of glitter cardstock and Cosmo Cricket papers were harmed in the making of this layout. lol I hand cut the arrow and outlined it with Stickles. My reasons to like being a girl on this side are pretty standard: The Glitz! The Glamour! The Shoes! lol
And on the right side, I stated my very favorite reason for why I like being a girl. Something no man could ever do:
More cardboard, Stickles and Cosmo Cricket and of course some Toot. :D My reason is: "Plus, could a BOY give birth to this cutie? I don't think so." lol Best reason ever!
I love this picture of Toot, all happy after a good nap, lol. I hope you like it Carrie and I hope everyone is having a great week so far! I'll see you Friday for another Friday Night Fab Five! :)

The Bachelor: On the Wings of Unpaid Leave

2010-02-08T22:08:00.002-05:00

Well we're packing our bags and heading off to the hometown dates! The final four, Tenley, Gia, Vienna and Ali are squealing to bring our Bachelor Jake home to meet the family. First stop is New York and Maxim Model Gia:

They go on a boat tour around the City and we're treated to their photo shoot (it'll give Gia something to look at while she cries after Jake sends her home, eh?) Also while on the boat, Gia tells Jake that one boyfriend cheated on her with all of her friends and her most recent ex didn't communicate and they fought a lot. Jake assures her that he doesn't resolve conflict that way and we're off to see her family. (Believe me, that part of the date was as boring as it sounds.) I'm not too worried though because I have a feeling they're going to rush us through the home towns to get to the supposed drama that happens after Jake is finished touring Boredom U.S.A.

Jake meets Gia's mom, stepfather, stepbrother and half brother. Gia tells us that her family has seen her with a broken heart and are protective of her. I can see how crappy their protection system is given Gia is now looking for love on TV, the one place she is sure to come away with heart intact. *eye roll* Gia's mom pulls Jake aside and it's time for some metaphorical butt kicking. She questions Jake as to whether or not he loves all four women and being the smart man that Jake is, he tells her MOM that he's falling for all four women. *face palm* But then wins her over with some muck and guck about how special Gia is. Meanwhile Gia is talking to her brother about her "wall" and how Jake "is different". Whatever. Then Gia's mom tells her that her gut feeling is that Jake will pick her.

Next up is Mean Girl Ali in Massachusetts. They spend time gushing all over each other and while I do not like Ali, they do have a certain chemistry. Too bad that...well, we'll get to that later. Anyway, after slobbering all over each other they make wishes on leaves.
Then Ali takes Jake to her dead Grandmother's house and they talk about that for a while. (By the way, it is the cutest house ever.) She tells him how she told her Grandmother about him hours before her (Grandmother's) death. The house seems pretty empty except for a picture of her Grandmother on the mantel. I can't decide whether that's creepy or not. Then Ali takes Jake to meet the living members of her family: her mom, sister and brother. Ali's mom is also tough so she takes Jake outside for a little butt kicking chat. But it's all pretty tame: family is important, I like Ali, blahblahblahblah. He ends up asking her mom for permission to propose. She says sure, why not! Her gut feeling is that Jake will pick Ali.

Anyway, on to Oregon and Sweet As Apple Pie Tenley. They walk in a park while she asks him how close he is to his parents. He tells her that he zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Then she takes him to a dance studio where she dances for him. Noooooooooooooooooooooooo! And the answer to your question is yes, this is just as awkward as watching a guy sing to a girl. *shudder* But Jake loves it and says he is "melting into the chair". *barf* Not only that, she's dancing to that song that every bride uses to walk down the aisle. *double barf*

Anyway, Jake then meets Tenley's dad, mom and sister. But Jake is concerned as to whether or not Tenley is over her ex. No worries Jake my boy as Tenley comes from a family sweeter than she is and they all spend their time together crying and slopping sugar all over the place. And Jake asks her father permission to propose to Tenley. That's sure to not come back and haunt him later, right?

But now on to Florida...and Vienna (Sausages). Jake says he thinks Vienna is natural which is hilarious considering there is decidedly NOTHING natural about or on this girl. They go to meet Vienna's dad. Anyway, not much to tell here. They're protective, princess, kissy face, "falling for her", blahblahblah, "so real" yadayadayada.

So let's get to the good stuff because we have 40 minutes left in the episode and no way a rose ceremony takes up that much time. Back in LA they play a pop instrumental of "On the Wings of Love" (screw you ABC) when Jake gets a knock on his door and it's...

Ali!

Long story short: she tells Jake that she has to choose between staying on the show and going back to work. Uh...o-kay. That is sooooo last season. Last season of The Bachelorette to be exact as Ed did the same thing to Jillian. Ali asks for Jake's help in making the decision and he tells her to figure out which will be a bigger regret for her later. She says she doesn't know what she'll do but will let him know at the rose ceremony. (P.S.-Ali works for Facebook so they probably have some major project in Farmtown they need her on or something.)

So the girls show up and Ali decides to hit the road. Her and Jake have this pause filled stuttering 10 day long conversation that is DRIVING ME INSANE JUST GET TO THE FRIGGIN' POINT HOLY CRAP I AM SO BORED AND IT IS SO OBVIOUS YOU ARE JUST FISHING FOR HIM TO TELL YOU THAT YOU'RE THE ONE JUST GO BACK TO WORK OR YOUR CAFE WORLD HAMBURGERS WILL SPOIL ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ahem...please excuse that outburst.

Jake tells Ali that he feels like she's slipping through his fingers. Well duh Einstein, she is leaving you. Sorry Jake, Ali's 401k was bigger than her love for you. So no rose ceremony tonight as Jake only needed to get down to three girls and Ali did that for him. That's a mercy at least. How could so much drama be so darn BORING? And when did The Bachelor turn into "come and go as you darn well please" anyway?

Next week it's off to St. Lucia for the overnight dates, huzzah! So what are your thoughts on this week's episode full of drama and gut feelings?

Friday Night Fab Five: Surprise!

2010-02-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to this week's Friday Night Fab Five where I list 5 things/people/places or who knows what that I have found fascinating during the week. This week is all about surprises. I like to be surprised if it is something good. Bad surprises not so much. (But really, does anyone like bad surprises? lol)

1. Swap Surprises

I have gotten a great response for my Wonderland Swap and I am surprised and touched! So many people are in love with this story and yes, it is so inspiring for artists of all mediums! If you haven't signed up yet, you still have time! Click the button to find out more! (And yes, this is both a surprise and a plug, so there. lol ;)

2. Blog Hopping Surprises

And just where has this book been all my life? This is First Book of Sushi by Amy Wilson Sanger. I discovered this book after coming across the most delightful post on Rice Babies. I so love sushi and now I have a way to introduce it to Toot as well. This book will be on her book shelf ASAP. Don't you love when you're innocently blog hopping and are surprised by a new discovery?

3. Austen-esque Surprises

You know, I'm pretty protective of my beloved Jane Austen. I'm always suspicious of new film versions of her works (Knightly as Elizabeth with that emo Darcy? *barf*) and have been recently unpleasantly surprised by the amount of shovel-ware books depicting her fabulous characters as vampires along with other sequels and what not. (Excepting "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" that book was awesome).

ANYWAY, I have been pleasantly surprised by PBS' version of "Emma" which is a new mini-series. Emma has always been my least favorite of Austen's heroines but at least now we have a decent telling of her story. And if the actress playing Emma looks familiar, you may remember her as Charlotte Lucas' younger sister in the A&E version of "Pride & Prejudice".

4. Past Fab Fives Coming Back Surprises

So, remember last week's Friday Night Fab Five where the creepy guy wanted me to go back to college? Well guess who I ran into while visiting Flickr this week?
Now he wants me to get a discount on auto insurance! You know what would be really weird is if this guy is actually a model. Why in the world does his picture keep cropping up in these ads?!

5. Surprising My Readers

You know, it's not every day I get to surprise you, my dearest readers so I am SUPER excited to announce that Toot is going Hollywood! Well, sort of...For those of you who have been long time TV watchers, maybe you can guess my news from this picture...
So?!?!?! Ah yes, you guess it! I submitted a video of Toot over the Christmas holiday and heard back from America's Funniest Home Videos that they would like to use it in an episode. Can you believe it?! It's not a video I've ever posted here so I will be sure to let you know when it airs (which is right now scheduled to be late March). :D We're not finalists or anything like that but hey, Toot's going to be on TV getting the crap scared out of her by a jack in the box. Woo hoo!

And there you have it! Another Friday Night Fab Five for the ages! Have you been delightfully surprised this week?

You're Late For a Very Important Date...Uh, I Mean Swap!

2010-02-02T17:03:00.001-05:00

Welcome one and all to an exciting new development in the World of Wonderland!

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is hitting theaters on March 5th and what better way to celebrate the release than with glitter, glue, paper, fabric, stamps (pick your creative poison) and of course...tea! :)

Presenting....
Huzzah! I am hosting a Wonderland themed craft swap and sign ups are now open! I'm so excited to see the newest version of this magical story and I'm hoping I'm not alone! lol This swap is a chance for you to share your fabulous little creations with someone else and it's all about Wonderland!

You will be paired with a swap buddy and send them a box of Wonderland themed creations. You can use people, places or things from the story, that is entirely up to you. You can make jewelry, ATCs, layouts, cards, altered art, boxes, bags, frames, crowns, jars, whatever Wonderland inspires you to make - the possibilities are endless! Just make sure that the box contains things you yourself would like to get, put your best artistic foot forward! You could even include crafty supplies or maybe some treats such as *ahem* chocolate. (Just no potions or cookies that make you a giant or shrink you smaller than a flower please. ;)

The Details:

-This is open to everyone, everywhere! U.S., outside of the U.S., on the moon if that's where you live. :) Please let me know if you are willing to ship outside of your country. If you are not, that is okay, I just need to know how to pair people.

-In order to participate in the swap, you MUST complete the following questionnaire:

Name:
Mailing Address:
Blog Address:
Favorite Wonderland Character:
Are you willing to ship internationally (yes/no):

Then e-mail it to me at justaddglitter at gmail.com by Midnight on Sunday, February 7th.

-I will pair everyone up and you will receive your partner's information by Midnight on Monday, February 8th. Please take time to visit your partner's blog. This could help you decide what to create for them and it's a great way to get to know other creative bloggers like yourself!

-Your box should include handmade items with a Wonderland theme. This is open to artistic interpretation and can be any thing based on any version of the story HOWEVER it must be your best work. Make sure to send things that you are proud to share with another person. Feel free to also include crafty type supplies and edible treats.

-You will mail your box by Friday, March 5th. This is the release date of the movie and what better way to celebrate than to have Boxes of Wonder zipping all over the world!

-Once you receive your box, please take a picture of the goodies inside and post it to your blog so we can all see! I will also have a Flickr group ready to post your pictures there if you prefer.

-If you would like to ask questions before signing up, please feel free to e-mail me anytime (before the deadline!) at justaddglitter at gmail.com.

Here's a little button, feel free to grab the code and display it on your blog!

I hope that you will sign up and join us, this is going to be a great swap!

And now I leave you with a little peek into the film:

Remember, in order to sign up, please e-mail me your completed questionnaire by Midnight on Sunday, February 7th. Don't be late or it's off with your head! :D

The Bachelor: On the Wings of Boredom

2010-02-01T22:33:00.000-05:00

Well here we are, back for some more drama (and theoretical love) from our squeaky clean Bachelor Jake. It's the Battle of the Blondes (and Gia) and these girls are taking no prisoners. Sort of, I guess...listen, the real competition is between Vienna, Ali and Tenly. Corrie and Gia might as well go home now, they ain't gettin' picked in the end.

But let's back up. The crowd heads off to San Francisco. Vienna thanks her lucky stars that they are no longer roughing it and she can be treated like a princess. Although how you can feel like a princess while sharing a suite with 4 other girls is beyond me. Anyway, Jake leaves the first date card with them and Tenley is the lucky recipient of a one on one date. She also becomes the first (I think) of the girls to say how this has "become real". As real as any relationship can be while surrounded by cameras anyway.

Jake and Tenley hop a trolley and talk about how much they like Rice-a-Roni. Okay, they don't talk about delicious processed rice product but they trolley off to Chinatown to window shop and play with hats and fake Samurai swords. They then write their own fortunes for their fortune cookies "to be read later". I'm pretty sure Jake's to Tenley says, "You will be unlucky in love."

Back at the suite, the drama llamas are sitting around talking about what will happen on Tenley's date when the next date card arrives and Corrie tells them that it's a two on one date with....wait for it...Ali and Vienna. They both throw up in their mouths a little bit when Corrie says "Sike!" and tells them the date is really for Gia and Vienna. (Wow, you are like so funny Corrie) Vienna calls Ali out for freaking out and saying things about her at the last rose ceremony and Ali hems and haws until finally mumbling something about everyone making mistakes and having faults. Whatever.

Meanwhile on my couch:

Husband: "I hate that chick."

Me: "Which one?"

Husband: "The mean one."

Me: "Which one?"

Husband: "The one that looks like she's from The View"

Me: "Which one?"

Husband: "The blonde one... wait, nevermind."

Meanwhile, back on the show Vienna and Ali snip at each other a little more before Vienna walks off to pick out her most bootilicious outfit for her date. Cut back to Tenley and Jake, they have dinner in a tower and Jake says he "has a table for two set up". Jake, once again, we do not believe that you set this date up. Not what y'all did, not the table, not what was served. Nada. Anyway, Jake asks Tenley what mistakes she made in her first marriage that she wouldn't make the second time. She gives some blahblah about how she'll greet her next husband at the door or something like that. Cue awkward pause. Cut to nervous giggles (from both mind you) then Tenley giggly asks, "Where did that come from?" to which Jake responds, "From the heart." B-a-r-f. These two make me as nauseated as that Tanyalee couple from eHarmony. Almost.

Tenley asks Jake what his expectations are for his partner and his marriage. He says he expects his wife to always "have his back" (I guess in case of bar fights?) and something about marriage not being perfect but love always will be (perfect). *dry heave* Tenley asks him about cheating, he says he'll never cheat and Tenley pees herself a little. Then they kiss and open up their handwritten fortune cookies. Jake wrote "Kiss me". Tenley wrote "Kiss me". Jake chortles his fake ole laugh, Tenley blushes. Cue the piano version of "On the Wings of Love" and I swear, I'm about to puke all over myself. Dear Lord, in Your infinite wisdom, please make this date end! Commercial break! Please go to commercial!!!!!

Finally! So now it's Gia and Vienna's turn at Jake and before the girls arrive Jake confesses to being nervous to being on a date with two girls (yeah, cause the last time you did it you sent both packing and we have to watch the whole dramatic rose burning thing. Remember?)
Luckily there's no rose on this date but Jake is still sweating because being on a date with two women is "almost awkward". Almost? Really? Just "almost"? And just where are these crazy lovebirds going? A vineyard, yay! Wait, what? Didn't they just finish camping out at a vineyard? Way to splurge ABC! Gia begins the date by being the third wheel. Meanwhile back at the suite, Ali's all freaking out that Vienna may be talking about her to Jake (whatever) and Tenley thinks maybe Jake took them on the 2 on 1 date to try and decide between the two of them. Again, they are operating under the delusion that Jake gets to decide any of this stuff, like who gets to go on dates and where they go.

Vienna does the stupid thing and brings up how bratty Ali was being after the last rose ceremony. Jake gives a whole, "I don't care what anyone thinks" speech but please, once one of these girls goes off on him, he's bound to pee himself. Jake mentions to us that he's trying to split his attention between the two girls but he's failing miserably. (Well duh) So he takes Gia away from some one on one time while Vienna pouts about being left alone with Gia's salmon.

Can I interject here? Something has been bugging me about Jake and this whole season and I think I've nailed it: Jake is waaaaaaaay to nice to be The Bachelor. See, the past Bachelors have all been nice in their own way but let's be honest: they all have a touch of the douche to them. And I think that trying to balance 25 chicks at once, quite frankly you have to be a little tool-ish otherwise you don't have enough confidence to pull it off. And therein lies the problem with Jake. He seems like a 100% genuinely nice guy and while he definitely deserves to find the love of his life, making us watch it is awkward, cringe-inducing and BO-RING. There! I said it!

Okay, where were we? Oh right, Jake and Gia's alone time. Gia gives the whole "I've never dated a guy who was dating all these other girls, I don't feel special" speech that at least one girl EVERY season gives. Then Jake the Nice Guy makes the classic Bachelor Blunder: he tells Gia that he's falling for her. DUMB dumb DUMB dumb! She is SO going to be bringing that up during her bitter couch time with Chris on the reunion special. What a dope.

Anyway, Vienna's had enough and she goes off to interrupt them only to get lost in the winery catacombs. hahahahahahaha She finally finds them and takes Jake away. What follows are delightful awkward pauses (seriously, is he into any of these chicks for real?) and Jake finally pulls a question out of his butt, "What would married life be like?" and Vienna says, AND I QUOTE, "When I get married, I want it to be like we're little 6 year kids in love every single day." Yep, six year old kids. She tells him she's falling for him to which he responds, "Really? heh heh heh" Vienna follows up by saying, "I don't want to share you anymore" and Jake says (totally deadpan mind you), "I know, this is a crazy crazy adventure, isn't it?" Huh? What? Uh, does he even want to be there? Can we PLEASE get someone interesting in here? It's not like the girls will care, they'll just fall all over the new guy. Please?

Jake takes the girls to their room and awkwardly tells them good night. Vienna gets all insecure and decides that she's going to crash Jake's room. Gia thinks Vienna is digging her own grave and she's more than welcome to hand her a shovel. So anyway, Jake's all shirtless when Vienna walks in "sexy as Hell" (his words) with 2 glasses of wine. Jake is quick to tell us that everything was G rated. Jake basically kicked her out of his bed and back upstairs to Gia.

Corrie (who?) gets the next one on one date. Oh I bet this is just going to be so NOT boring. Corrie says she wants a guy that will persue her and chase her. Hmmmm...good thing you went on a show where you have to do the chasing then, huh Einstein? Jake takes her on a row boat in the park and I'm already bored. Then get this: Jake stands up in the boat, finally squats down and what follows is the most awkward silence in Bachelor history. Well, besides the large amount of nervous twittering from them. I just keep hoping Sebastian will show up and lead the local wildlife in a round of "Kiss the Girl".
For the love of... She's waiting for him to kiss her, he's waiting for her to kiss him. Sebastian never shows and we're finally put out of our misery when Jake says, "I'm about ready for dinner." Good night mama, this is ridiculous. Corrie is so going home...mark it. They next go to a closed science center. Thrilling. Jake tells Corrie what a "nice time" he's had so far. Corrie says she thinks his head was somewhere else. Jake tells her he's concerned that their relationship has moved really slow. I'll spare you the details, they talk about boring stuff until Corrie drops the bomb that she's a virgin. Jake pees himself and they kiss. Fade to black.

Jake comes to pick up Ali for their one on one date and since Ali is from good ole San Fran, their date is her showing him around "her city". Blah. They walk past a florist and Jake asks her what her favorite flower is ("I think daisy") and then shows her his favorite flower (uh...o-kay) and then Ali says, "I want you, you're my big flower." Oh come ON! Gross!

So far the most exciting part of this episode is the first look at Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland they show during a commercial break...AWESOME!!!!

Anyway, Ali and Jake are hitting it off and it's obvious she's going to be getting a rose. He asks her about the whole Vienna thing which she brushes off and says she's ready to let that go. Whatever. Then they kiss. I'm ready to move on to the rose ceremony now.

Jake comes up to their suite for the rose ceremony and after some semi-awkward alone time with each of the "ladies" we're ready to get this party started. Jake even says, "This rose ceremony's going to hurt." Please tell me that means someone's going to be bleeding by the end of this. Alas, he means emotionally hurt and three guesses as to who gets sent home. See ya Corrie!

So next week we'll be going home with Gia, Ali, Vienna and Tenley. And from the previews it looks like it will be the most...dramatic...rose ceremony...EVER. *gasp*

So that's it for me! Did you watch tonight's episode?

And So It Begins...With Sequins

2010-01-31T12:14:00.001-05:00

So the circle journal I'm hosting officially gets underway tomorrow and I have finally finished mine. (After all, it won't do for the hostess to be late, right? lol) I must have gone back and forth on my theme a zillion times before finally landing (and staying put on) "My Favorite Things". I also decided to challenge myself by using a 6x6 size. (The challenge comes in because I typically like to drown my projects in embellishments and what nots so this really made me think about what I wanted to use and had room for on the page.)

In the end, I'm satisfied with my final result. My pages are smothered and covered (Waffle House-a favorite) in my favorite things, huzzah! This is my cover page:

I named my journal, "My Favorite and My Best" as a homage to Charlie and Lola-a favorite, using Thickers, Cosmo Cricket paper, the color pink and bling, all favorites. (I must also call misspelling a fave since I spelled "journal" wrong. Oh well! lol) I also decided to focus on more "frivolous" favorite things rather than the important ones (friends, family, God, country, etc etc etc) lol.

Here is my introduction page and sign-in page:
Favorites: sequin waste, Ninja New York restaurant in NYC, bling, glitter, Disney pins, unusual embellishments. Due to the size, I kept the sign-in requirements simple: name and location.

And here are is my entry for the journal, left side first:

Favorites: Chick-fil-A, video games, bling, vintage, records, Pullips, crochet, Mod Podge (used to adhere most of the elements), cupcakes, pictures, kawaii, vintage ads. I used a lot of pieces from various Gauche Alchemy mixed media color kits, along with more Cosmo Cricket and an expired Chick-fil-A coupon (forgot to use it, shoot!) lol

Then the right side:
This was a fairly simple page, more Cosmo Cricket, some ribbon and sequins. A Starbucks cup cuff to create a pocket to hold the card which I used to list favorites using a MAJOR fave of mine: my Dymo label maker. lol

A close up of the card:
I feel so much better now that everything is ready to go! I can't wait to see what everyone in the circle adds as their favorite things!

What are some of the things you like to call your favorite?

P.S.-Final count of the word Favorite in this post: 14 lol See you tomorrow for The Bachelor! :)

Friday Night Fab One With Four What the...?!

2010-01-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's Friday Night Fab Five where I list 5 things I'm currently digging, loving or obsessing about...normally.

This week however is a little different because we're going to look at things I've seen this week that I've found disturbing, frightening, irritating or just maybe not so fab. Of course, this is all done with humor so if one of these is your favorites this week....uh, don't read what follows. :D

1. Locked Up Abroad
For those unfamiliar, "Locked Up Abroad" is a show on the National Geographic Channel (or "Nat Geo" as they like to be called) It focuses on true stories of real people traveling to different countries and landing in that country's prison system, typically after trying to smuggle drugs and then getting caught. Most of these people decide to smuggle drugs after becoming stranded in another country without money to get home and see it as an easy way (in theory) to make the money and/or airfare. If this show has taught me anything (other than to just stay home) it's this: Never ever agree to tape anything to your legs, swallow balloons filled with Lord knows what or stick anything up your butt to get home. Just suck it up and call your dad.

2. This Couple from the eHarmony Commercials
As if ruining the song "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" wasn't bad enough, eHarmony decides to torture me further by showing Mr and Mrs Perfect every other 5 minutes. Listen, I'm sure these are the nicest people you'll ever meet. But there's only so much of this I can take: "Oh look at us, we're so pretty...We totally painted on a canvas on our first date because we're so cool...We opened an artsy fartsy store together because we're so great..I love layering my clothes and being so awesome...I didn't want anyone to know I had eHarmony finding a man for me...teeheehee" Pffffttttttt. :P Actually, all of the eHarmony couples are sickly sweet in their own blech inducing way. That being said, kudos to people finding love online. It worked for me! :D

3. Your Baby Can Read
Since we're subsisting on PBS Sprout lately, I've seen these freakin' "Your Baby Can Read" commercials so many times I can recite them by heart. Developed by Dr. Robert Titzer (funniest last name ever and yes, I am that immature), this is a system to teach your baby to read. Listen, I am ALL for developing and nurturing children. And if this is something that you love doing with your children, I think that's awesome! But one day I noticed that everything these kids were reading was something totally NOT age appropriate. It wouldn't be so bad except that the commercials ALWAYS show these kids reading the worst possible part of the book like this one reading about how Wilbur almost got killed in Charlotte's Web. There's also the 5 year old reading about how many men died in the Civil War and the 3 or 4 year old (I forget) reading "A Christmas Carol". Holy crap people. If teaching Toot to read now means I'll have to give her "War and Peace", I'll keep her illiterate for now, thank you very much. Also, this system costs like $400 so there you go.

4. Charles Manson Wants Me To Go To College

So yeah, there are these spammy "click here!" type ads ALL over the internet wanting moms to go back to school and during one of my jaunts around I saw this one. Now, the ad itself isn't that bad but what the what is up with this creepy Manson Jr picture? Yikes. I'll stay stupid, thanks.

5. Pee-Wee Gets an iPad

Actually, this is totally fabulous. I love love love Pee-Wee Herman and this video of him with his new iPad is awesome. The man's still got it!

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman

And there you have it! My week of what the?! plus one has now come to a close. Anything you've spied with your little eye that doesn't quite make sense this week? Do share!

Getting Inspired and Board With Cinderella and The Monkees

2010-01-28T09:23:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Serious for a moment: have I told you lately that I love you? Thank you SO SO SO SO much for all of your votes for Zachary's teacher. The winner will be announced tomorrow and last time I saw the votes, Ms. Moree was holding strong at 4th place so here's hoping she shot up to the top when we weren't looking! lol I believe the top 5 or maybe even the top 10 get a little something so all is not lost! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking time to vote. It means so much to me and my friend was thrilled and so blessed that strangers would vote for her son's teacher. Thank you!

Now, I have been wanting to have an inspiration board for a while now. I've seen such amazing ones on blogs and various sites and my crafty type room is sadly in need of some inspirational decor. (Bare walls drive me nuts! lol Must cover every inch....must cover every inch...) If you have no idea what I'm talking about, an inspiration board is basically bits and baubles of things you like, dig, love and/or are generally inspired by and this is not restricted to just creative types! Ever tear a picture of your dream house out of a magazine and stick it on the fridge? Well, you've started an inspiration board (or fridge as it were, lol).

So I've been thinking lately about what and how I wanted to do this thing and chose a pretty spot of blank wall in our craft room/office area. I knew I wanted a frame-like something or other around everything and thought about taking wood pieces and attaching them in some sort of haphazard frame but then changed my mind when I envisioned the millions of holes in the wall I would have to someday putty over. Bah. That's when I remembered the few old canvases that were either half finished or just gross looking and grabbed one of those to use. Except instead of using the front, I'm going to turn it around and build my inspiration board on the backside:

I've already Gesso'd the heck outta this thing and am now ready to make it my own little piece of inspiring inspirational inspiration. (Say that 3 times fast) But what to add to it? Well, I've already got some vintage thingamabobs, sweet kawaii whatnots, fun junk mail pieces and about 3 zillion sequins but I'm also hawkeyeing the "interwebs" for fun things to add as well. One thing I found yesterday was from the Disney Parks blog of all places, lol. Yesterday they posted this fun little photo series of Cinderella that was taken with a $10 toy camera:
How fun! So that's definitely going to be included somewhere. But what else to add??? Hmm...I just love thinking about and planning new projects, don't you?

Speaking of inspiration: I have spoken (read: gushed) about Emma from Emma's Music before and how much I adore her dreamy music. If you haven't visited her yet now you have an even bigger reason to do so as she is having a giveaway! And this is an awesome giveaway because the winner gets their favorite music performed Emma-style and they will get a copy for their very own! I've already got my entries in (and am requesting all Monkees music, naturally lol) so click HERE to enter!

I'll be back tomorrow with another Friday Night Fab Five (it is Thursday today, right?) but before I go, I wanna know:

Do you have an inspiration board? Or are you planning on making one? What are you adding to it?

The Bachelor: On the Wings of Big Cry Babies

2010-01-25T23:11:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the fourth episode of The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love. Previously, on the third episode we saw Michelle go home mid date and Elizabeth tease her way out of the house. What shall happen tonight my fellow Bachelor fans? I mean, with girls being tossed out on their butts left and right, there's not much more they can do to entertain us...is there? It looks like ABC is sure going to try as earlier today on Twitter, Chris Harrison (the host of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette) had this to say:

Oh really Mr. Harrison? Well, we'll just see about that...

Although the opening is pretty in your face: bleeped cussing, flowers on fire and Jake refusing to give out roses...hmmmm...I'm intrigued...

Let's dive right in, shall we?

So Chris shows up at the house and tells the gals that there will be one 1 on 1 date, one group date and one 2 on 1 date. He also informs the ladies that they are all being kicked out of the house...and on to a couple of RVs. Road trip! So in a flurry of squealing glee, the girls run out and Ali promptly crawls into the luggage compartment underneath the RV. Quick, lock it! Lock it up tight!

Apparently the girls aren't coming back to the house at all as the girls will be living in the RVs for a while and heading up the California coast. Oh this should be good. One thing for sure, I am so glad these girls are in motorized vehicles. Maybe now we'll get a rest from the painful plane and flying analogies and what not. I mean, come on...what can they about a stupid RV going down the...oh crap.

Ella: "I am ready to get my relationship with Jake rolling down the highway of love."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! How could you Ella?! How COULD you?!?! That's it, you've made the list!

Anyway, Corrie says, "OMG we're going to like be like the most dysfunctional like family on the highway." Okay fine, she didn't say "like" that many times but um hello Corrie. You are not a "family". You are one girl out of 9 who is competing for the "love" of one guy. Oh these girls...

So Jake meets them (on his motorcycle of course) in a vineyard where he has "set up a camp" (yeah dude, we totally believe you like pitched tents and stuff). The girls show up and Jake gives them the first date card. The one on one goes to...Gia the Swimsuit Model. We're treated to Jake shaving outdoors, putting his shirt on and reflecting on his upcoming date with Gia, "She's a city girl and this is a simple date in the middle of a vineyard. I want to see how she handles that." Dude, regardless of it being outdoors, you're still in a freakin' vineyard. It's not like you've got to be afraid of bear attacks or snakes or something.

So Gia suggests to Jake that they play hide and seek in the vineyard. (I'm sure the owners appreciate them tearing through their cash crop.) They then have a picnic and Gia tells Jake about how bullied she was in school (which makes him laugh for some reason) and then he tells her about how he was dateless in school. So for a while they go back and forth with the whole "I was a total nerd!" "I don't believe you, I was the nerd!" "No I was!" And they tie the whole thing up by playing Spin the Bottle. Seriously.

Okay, I have to interject here. Is it me, or has there really been no one that Jake seems 100% comfortable around? No way Gia is sticking around. Bah. Of course Gia gushes about how Jake's kiss is the best kiss of her life. Well, at least she'll have a recording of it to watch on those lonely nights after Jake kicks her off, right? So now they're snuggling around a fire and Jake is interested in how Gia will handle dinner because instead of a steak (what Jake thinks she's used to) they're having hot dogs and s'mores and Jake wants to see how "she'll handle it". Come on, seriously? What is the big freakin' deal about her being from the city? Whatever. Let's move on, this is soooooo boring.

Back at the ranch, the girls decide they want to holler out to Jake while he's on the date with Gia and proceed to howl. True class here people. The group date card comes and it's: Jessie, Ashleigh, Tenley, Ali, Vienna and Corrie. Which means Ella and Kathryn get the 2 on 1 date. They both promptly pee themselves as only one girl comes back from the 2 on 1 date (in theory).

Anyway, Jake and Gia are STILL on their date and I'm hoping he'll just give her the rose so we can move on. Gia's scared, wearing her heart on her sleeve, kisskiss, blahblahblah, Jake goes to get the rose annnnnnnd...gives her the rose. They kiss, she cries...meh. Wait a minute...that piano music sounds familiar...where have I heard it before? I think that I may...oh no they didn't! Sneaky little so and so's!

Nice try ABC but you can't sneak this past me! It's so painful! Argh! Actually, I guess it could be worse. Jake could be an ice cream truck driver and then we'd have to listen to "Pop Goes the Weasel" every episode...

Jake again comments about how he's impressed that a "complex city girl" can enjoy such a simple date. To sum up, they are camping out in a vineyard, it's not like they're on an episode of Survivorman for Pete's sake.

So now we're on the group date with Jessie, Ashleigh, Tenley, Ali, Vienna and Corrie. Jake meets them at Pismo Beach and they girls are already talking about who will get the rose. Ali talks about how she'll throw up if Vienna gets the rose and I would LOVE for that to actually happen! I believe there's only been one season of the Bachelor where one of the girls threw up and it was awesome. Anyhoo, Jake tells the girls that they need to be prepared to get "extremely dirty tee hee" (Jake is so clearly uncomfortable with double entendres). They drive dune buggies around which is okay I guess. )Anyone ever watch MST3k? "It's great for tearing up fragile ecosystems!") Then they "sand surf".

You know what's funny? Maybe driving a dune buggy and surfing down a sand mountain is what Jake should have used to test "Gia the Complex City Girl". Duh. They eat and then Jake wants everyone to roll down the hill. (He's carrying over from his 5th grade date with Gia apparently) Corrie is the only one that goes. Later they get all cleaned up and go to some fancy schmancy place. Jake says, "I love dirty girls! tee hee" Huh? Seriously dude, not your forte. Please stick to squeaky clean, that's all your good for I promise you.

The girls see their room and squeal about how "fairy tale" it is and Tenley celebrates by jumping on a leather couch in what looks to be a very expensive place. Are they 8 years old or something? This whole episode has been very Gymboree so far. I should wake Toot up and let her watch.

So the girls get all cleaned up, put on their most ho-ish dresses and tallest heels to meet Jake who is wearing jeans, a white t-shirt and a fleece. What the heck? Seriously, something is really starting to bug me about Jake.

Anyway, Jake takes Ashleigh for some one on one time and it is...awkward. Lots of pauses and bo-ring. Ashleigh says in her voice over that a lot of the girls are being very forward and it's coming across as desperate and she would never want to be seen that way. Um, what? Wasn't this the same girl that put on her bikini on the FIRST night to try and get Jake's attention? Yeah, you are SO not desperate sweetie. Jake looks mighty uncomfortable and it's clear he can't think of a darn thing to say. She says she thinks he should give her the rose and he admits to us that there's no chemistry there. Well duh.

They come back and Jake asks Vienna for one on one time and she asks if she can go last. This pisses Ali off, like it's her business or something and so she goes off with Jake. She starts talking about the roses and Jake says, "Um hello, I wanna enjoy this time with you not talk about the roses you freakin' weirdo." (I'm paraphrasing of course)

Tenley is next and Jake is concerned that she is still hung up on her ex-husband. She says no, they share a painful kiss (his head is in her lap and he tries to pull her head all the way down to him, basically folding her in half until he gives up and sits up. Moron.) So he then takes Vienna off and I'm confused. She asked to be last but we haven't seen him spend time with Jessie yet, have we?

Whatever, Jake tells Vienna that he thinks the stuff the girls are doing to her, she's bringing on her self. Whoa. Wait, did I seriously miss his one on one time with Jessie? Hang on...*rewinding*...Nope, they do not show him talking to Jessie. Maybe he didn't see her there in the sea of blondes. Okay, well Jessie's definitely going home, they're not even showing her, send that poor girl home already! So Jake gives the rose to...Tenley. He thanks her for being patient as he ignored her in the beginning. Wait wait wait wait! If you'll remember: Tenley got the first impression rose on the FIRST NIGHT. How the heck is that ignoring her? Also, if I was Jessie I would stand up and be like, "Hello! I'm the one you're ignoring! See! You're doing it right now!" Holy crap this group's folder should be titled "Box of Hammers, Dumb As A".

Anyway, they're back on the road, off to the 2 on 1 date and the rose ceremony. Ella and Kathryn are crapping themselves. Kathryn more than Ella since she's barely talked to Jake this whole time. (And yes ABC, I heard that more upbeat guitar version of "On the Wings of Love" and it is not appreciated.) They end up in Big Sur and Jake looks like the Bounty man. Ella and Kathryn head off to their date.

This whole thing is awkward. Ella asks him what he looks for, he answers, asks her the same question, she starts talking about her son and Kathryn unsuccessfully tries to interrupt. *cringe* So Jake takes Ella off for some one on one time and Kathryn is "frustrated". Jake tells Ella that he doesn't want to keep her here if he's not feeling it. Well, that's encouraging. He then takes Kathryn away and tells her he keeps getting "lost in her eyes". That must be why he hasn't said more than two words to her. She of course confronts him about his ignoring her, he apologizes, she says he has a wall up and he blames it on her being sooooo beautiful. Whatever. They share a hug and the sparks are flying! Not. (Oh yeah, I went there Wayne's World fans. In your face, 1990's!)

Back at camp, the girls are talking about how both Kathryn and Ella are like sooooo amazing and Ali says she doesn't want either one to go home. Okay, that's it. Listen here ladies, have you even watched the show before?! The whole point is that everyone goes home but one person. You should be wanting both of them to go home, you moron. This is The Bachelor for crying out loud, not Friends! Tenley gets all whiny because she didn't say good-bye to either one of the girls. Whatever.

Jake leaves Ella and Kathryn in the cabin and goes out on the balcony to think about what he's done...wait, that's not right. Who he'll give the rose to I mean.

So back in he goes to give the bad news. First, he asks to talk to Ella outside. This is not good folks. Long story short: he sends her home. I'll spare you his flowery break up speech. At least she gets a limo, most of the rejects just get a van to the airport. He then goes back into the cabin and Kathryn's all happy she's getting the rose and then oh snap! Jake thanks Kathryn for bitching at him about stuff but she needs to hit the road too. She asks a simple "Are you sure about that? I don't understand!" Are you serious? Dude, you've talked to him maybe once. If I were you, I'd be ready to get the heck up outta there! Sheesh. Plus, Kathryn doesn't even get a limo out, she gets an SUV. You've been served, reject! I'd be more upset by that than Jake telling me to get out.

You know, there's been this whole trend this season of girls failing miserably to get Jake's heart and then being utterly dumbfounded when he lets them go. (Michelle, Elizabeth and now Kathryn) I'm confused myself, how do you not know he's not feeling it? Jake is not one that can hides his feelings at all, this is what makes him a complete snore of a Bachelor. (Pay attention ABC!)

Anyway, the roadies come and take away Ella and Kathryn's stuff and the other girls start crying. What the what is that about? Good night Nelly you've got to be kidding me with this mess. Both Ella and Kathryn think Jake is making a huge mistake and I'm thinking ABC made the mistake by choosing Jake as the Bachelor. B-O-R-I-N-G They then show Jake dramatically throwing the rose on the fire. Wait, there's a second rose in there. Where did that come from? Jake must have messed up the drama on the first throw. God help us.

Thanks for ruining this dramatic moment Jake! Then we get this shot:

So the girls are talking about who will go home and of course they all want Vienna out. Ali even says that if Vienna doesn't go home, Jake will get a "talking to". This girl is working my last nerve here. So at the cocktail party, Corrie gets one on one time and there's like zero chemistry. So it's on to Ali and she gushes about how honorable he was for getting rid of Ella and Kathryn. He kisses her and I'm pretty sure she's staying around another week. Crap.

Jessie decides that she's got to have alone time with Jake tonight. Wow, ya think?! Then she says that she's going to tell Jake how much Vienna needs to go home. WHAT?! That's how you're going to spend the ONE time you ever get to talk to him? Oh yes, that will TOTALLY make him keep you around. Idiot.

Jake takes Vienna off and all she talks about is how the girls are so uptight and whatever, I'm bored with this. Jake laughs uncomfortably like always and thank GOD Chris is finally here banging on a glass and we can get this rose ceremony under way. Hallelujah!

Jake keeps talking about how he doesn't want to lead anyone on, Ali keeps threatening she'll go off if Vienna gets a rose and I really wish I had a Twix bar. Those are so good, aren't they? Yum.

Wait, what? Oh right. Rose ceremony! Jake comes out and say that he's not ready to give out roses. He gives a big flowery speech: so hard, don't want to hurt anyone, almost impossible, yadayadayada, life on hold line again, whatever just pick one!

Roses go to: Tenley, Gia (who both already had one), Ali (BOO!), Corrie (say what?) and then...nothing. He stops, leaves the room and proceeds to pee himself and tell Chris that he doesn't want to give out the last two roses. Actually, he just wants to give out one more rose, not two. And of course the final rose goes to Vienna.

So off you go Ashleigh and Jessie! Was there ever any doubt these two would be going tonight? And boy is Ali p-i-s-s-e-d! She and Tenley decide that they have to tell Jake how awful Vienna is and soon....dun dun DUN!

Will Tenley and Ali keep whining? Will Jake just send everyone home and call Michelle? Can I watch an episode without eye rolling myself into oblivion? Join us next week for another dramatic episode!

So were you watching? What are your thoughts?

I Know You Are But What Am I?

2010-01-23T14:22:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

Before we get started I wanted to explain the edit I made to my post last night. My best friend of about 22 years has a son who suffered a brain injury when he was just a few months old, his name is Zachary. The result of that injury is a severe mental disability. Luckily, Zachary has started attending an awesome school for special needs kids and his teacher, Shannon Moree is a wonderful person. She has entered a contest to win a flip video camera for the class which she hopes to use as a tool to show parents how their kids are doing during the school day and other school projects.

The winner is chosen by votes and the highest number of votes wins the camera. We would SO appreciate if you would take a sec to vote for her (she is currently in 4th place as of this posting)! You don't have to sign up for anything or "log in", you only need your name and e-mail address. They do not mail you anything but votes are counted by valid e-mail addresses only. And guess what, if you have more than one e-mail address, you can use them all! Woo hoo! LOL Doesn't matter where you are and every vote counts.

Please CLICK HERE and then click on the name "Shannon Moree" in the right hand side bar to vote for her. I would so appreciate it and I know Zach and the entire class would get so much use out of the camera! Here's a pic of my friend and Zach:

Thanks guys!

Now for my newest project:

On one of my trips to Sleepy Poet, I found this scrapbook. It was empty and had pages torn out of it which made it the perfect blank journal for me to cover in glitter and generally glue stuff all over it. lol

I've had it on a shelf for a while because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it but then one day the spine caught my eye:

Wow, My Book? Hmmmm...okay then, new art journal all about me! lol So I started with the cover page which is always my favorite page to work on of any scrapbook/journal/diary type book I have.

I adored Pee-Wee Herman when I was a kid, plus I'm currently going through a "Who am I? What am I? Huh?" phase so the title "I know you are but what am I?" seemed perfect. :D I used some more of my trusty sewing patterns for the background along with a little white paint. Some of the embellishments are from Gauche Alchemy's Pink Parts mixed media kit and the puzzle pieces are real pieces I just covered in origami paper.

I'm currently trying to think of other things to include in "My Book". Do you have a book or journal about yourself? Any ideas or suggestions about what I could add?

Friday Night Fab Five And One Bear

2010-01-22T17:00:00.002-05:00

EDIT: My BFF's son is severely mentally disabled and attends an awesome school for special needs where he has a wonderful teacher. That teacher is currently in a contest to win a flip video camera to use in class and the one with highest amount of votes wins. If you have a second, please please please visit THIS LINK and click the name "Shannon Moree" to vote for Zach's teacher. You don't have to sign up for anything, just leave your name and e-mail addy (you won't get mailed anything but they need valid e-mails for the votes to count). Thank you so VERY much!

*************************************************************

Hello everyone and welcome to another Friday Night Fab Five where I list 5 persons, places, things and/or other random stuff I am currently obsessed with. But we have a little business to attend to first!

Congratulations to...*drum roll*...Myrna a.k.a. daylily777! You've won my blogoversary bear, please e-mail me your mailing address and I'll get him sent out to you ASAP! :) (justaddglitter at gmail.com)

Now, on to tonight's Fab Five!

1. Ballad of Bilbo Baggins by Leonard Nimoy

Geeky awesome 60's counter culture at it's finest! Frodo Lives!

2. My New (to me) Monkees Button

My mom's friend found this in a thrift store and snagged it for me. A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

3. This Bag From Haut Totes

If you have not seen Haut Totes on Etsy, let me assure you that you will not be disappointed. And by the way, my birthday is in October, please feel free to begin buying gifts for me now. Start with this bag. ;)

4. Egg Salad Sandwiches

(Picture from La Vie Folle)

I detested egg salad when I was younger but it has since become one of my favorite things. Either that or the fact that there's some in the fridge and I'm currently amazingly hungry may be coloring my Fab Five choices. LOL (Oh geez, I am sooooo hungry right now...)

5. This Picture of Toot

Ah, the days when a cheap plastic hanger made your day...

That's it for this week's Fab Five! Congrats again to Myrna, thanks to everyone for your sweet comments on my blogoversary post and have a great weekend!

What have been your favorites this week?

Happy Blogday To Me! Happy Blogday To Me!

2010-01-19T12:00:00.001-05:00

***If you're looking for my latest Bachelor recap, it's right below this post or you can click here.***
*****************************************************************************

Guess what today is?!

Oh snap, one year ago today I started this blog!

WHAT? A whole year ago?!

That's right, one year ago I started a little blog called "Katamommy Damacy" and out of that came the now infamous (okay, not so infamous maybe, lol) ~*Just Add Glitter and Stir*~!

So many memories...*sniff*...So many posts...*sob*...Oh, someone's come to wish me a Happy Blogoversary!

Oh Jake, you silly man - I'm blushing! And the answer is: you didn't. :P Now go turn on the hot tub and take off your shirt like a good little Bachelor...

Since I've already listed my favorite 2009 blog entries in this post, I won't put you through all that again but I would just like to thank you all for your comments, e-mails, awards/tags and general fabulous awesomeness. I've found new friends I never would have met otherwise, discovered new recipes and have learned more crafty things than I'll ever be able to make in one lifetime.

And here is your chance to win one of those crafty things, fresh off my crochet hook:

Would you like to win my little bear friend? It's easy! All you have to do is:

Follow this blog and then comment here with your favorite thing about me and then go to Etsy and then come back and tell me your favorite thing there that reminds you of me. Then follow me on Twitter and then tweet about how awesome I am and then post this giveaway on your blog with pictures of me and then talk about the greatness of me on Facebook and then come back here to put your right foot in and then put your right foot out and then put your right foot back in and then shake it all about.

Easy right?

Edit: Thanks Melissa for the Hokey Pokey! LOL ;) Okay, seriously it's totally easy, just leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy lemon squeezy as they say on "Charlie and Lola". Repeat: the above is a JOKE, all you have to do to be entered to win the bear is leave a comment on this post. Seriously. lol

"Please leave a comment so I can find a new home, it's a madhouse here!!!"

There are funnier, craftier, glitter-ier blogs out there and I appreciate you deciding to spend some time with me! Here's to another year of blogging goodness! Thank you all so much, without you there'd be no reason for me to be here! :D

In closing, here's Toot eating a spoon at the Waffle House. Trust me, this will be the most interesting, captivating video you will watch all year...

Remember: Just leave a comment on this post. I will do a random drawing and announce the winner during my Friday Night Fab Five! Thanks for all of your support! :D

The Bachelor: On the Wings of Crazy

2010-01-18T22:47:00.001-05:00

Oh goodness y'all, we got some craz-y up in here!

Welcome to the third episode of The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love. Please note that this is the THIRD episode, this information will come in handy later. So we begin with a day long recap of what's happened so far (in the other TWO episodes) what with Rozlyn getting kicked to the rose covered curb and Ali's date with Chicago, a lot has happened here folks.

Once we get going on tonight's episode, Chris shows up at the mansion to tell the girls that there will be 2 one on one dates and one group date. The first to get a one on one date is Vienna (sausages) who immediately starts to cry upon hearing her name called (third episode folks). Cut to creepy Michelle who is "frustrated" because she wanted a one on one date (like no one else wanted it) and Ali who is "surprised that Jake picked her for a one on one date" and that she "feels a sense of betrayal almost". Again, third episode everyone. First of all, can anyone really still believe that Jake is coming up with date locales, things to do and who he's going with? That's what producers are paid for (or were paid for before they allegedly "entered into an inappropriate relationship" with Rozlyn) and second of all, "betrayal"...really? She does see the other girls in the house, right? She knows she's not the only one going out with Jake, right? It amazes me how this show could be on for this long and these chicks still don't get it. Duh.

Anyhoo, Vienna and Jake head off to...oh snap! First helicopter of the season! I swear this show just needs to buy it's own 'copter. That and a hot tub and they will save so much money! Cut to the Drama Llamas sunning by the pool where Vienna is getting raked across the coals for "ruffling feathers" which must have happened before the crew showed up because they haven't showed me any of these feather ruffling scenes. Wait, have they? Maybe I blocked it. I have watched two entire episodes already, it's hard to keep up.

Back to Vienna and Jake where they are going bungee jumping. Vienna promptly pees herself. We also find out that Jake is afraid of heights...Jake the airline pilot...is afraid of heights. So they tie this into overcoming fears together makes you a stronger couple blahblahblah and then Jake promptly pees himself. Cue Vienna becoming the comforting force. Just jump off the freakin' bridge already!!! So they jump and then kiss upside down like Spider-man.

Back at "Jake's house" and they start taking about the jump (hello, we were there! We saw it, let's move on already!) Jake says she's nurturing, she says she'll jump again if it means she gets a rose, then Jakes says zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Whoa, must have dozed off there...sorry!

Back at the house, the group date card shows up and it goes to: Corrie, Elizabeth, Ali, Tenley, Kathryn, Michelle (dun dun DUN) and uh...I lost track. Oh right, Ashleigh and Jessie (who?). Michelle is pissed because she wanted one on one time with Jake. (I'm pretty sure this is headed somewhere folks...somewhere painfully awkward, mark my words!) Then Tenley says she'll be surprised if Vienna comes home with a rose because she thinks "he'll see what the girls in the house are seeing". What?! What are you seeing?!?! Can we see please? Anyone?!

Back to Vienna and Jake in surprise, surprise a hot tub. He thanks her AGAIN for saving him from certain death on the bridge, yadayadayada, gives her some long winded speech about her honesty, glad you're here, refreshing, isn't it amazing how my voice never changes no matter what emotion I'm feeling, snooze fest, finally gives her the rose AND she actually says (and I quote) "I'm on Cloud Jake!"

*barf*

Vienna returns to the house, cheerfully telling the girls who could care less, everything about her fabulous, amazing, "cloud Jake" date. The girls are P-I-S-S-E-D that she came home.

Let's go on a group date shall we? I'm naming this date, "The Most Awkward Date Known To Man". Michelle is STILL bitching about not getting the one on one date. (shut up shut up SHUT UP!) Jake introduces the gals to...*drum roll*...Jon Lovitz. Really? Jon Lovitz? Okay, he's like great and stuff but seriously? First Chicago and now Jon Lovitz. Hey ABC, did ya use your entire budget on roses with nothing left over to get good celebrities on the show? Freakin' Launch My Line got Lady Gaga, they at least know pop culture and current events, geez louise!

Lovitz tells the girls that they will be doing a comedy show. Cue dying. They'll be doing stand up comedy. Dear Lord tell me I will wake up from this nightmare. Cut to the house where we find out that Ella gets the final one on one date leaving Valisha (who?) and Gia without a date for the week. Vienna starts talking about how Ella will love having all of Jake's attention and it pisses everyone off although she seems oblivious.

Back to the comedy club (do I have to?) Ashleigh starts crying because she doesn't want to do it (don't blame her, the whole date is stupid) but then she goes into this speech about how she's not funny and Jake comes over and writes down a joke for her to tell. Well, I'm laughing. And surprise, surprise there will be a live audience for their performances. Commence peeing of multiple pants. Ashleigh declares she "is on another planet". Yeah ya are!

Before we go on to these girls humiliating themselves by not only looking for love on TV but then having to do a stand up routine on TV with a live audience, may I say something? This is the stupidest date EVER. They started this embarrassing crap with DeAnna's season making the boys sing, then Jason's season making the girls sing, then they made the boys act on Jillian's season and now this BS. Listen, I'm all for wanting someone that will take risks and be fun and carefree but how does making them embarrass themselves prove anything? Y'all know I'm an outgoing person but should this happen to me, there would be a Maggi-shaped smoke cloud to match the Maggi-shaped hole in the door as I ran away. This is stupid and girls, on behalf of ABC, I apologize.

All right, let's get this awkwardness over with. Ali is first: tells a joke about Pooh/poo. I don't recognize the second girl up but she calls her family fat. Tenley's next and she puts her feet behind her head and hits herself in the face with the mike. Elizabeth the "kiss me, no don't kiss me!" nanny says this is "so not cool" and then proceeds to tell a joke that was practically all bleeped out. If I were Jake I would be glad she wasn't kissing me with her potty mouth. Kathryn brings Jake on stage and then kisses him. har har har Too funny. Michelle tells us that when she finally kisses Jake there will be passion, pulling hair and ripping clothes off. Yuck.

Speaking of which, it's Michelle's turn on stage and seriously, I can't watch this. Please don't make me! She notices the palm trees and notes, "the coconuts are missing...I wonder where they are? teehee!" Punchline: "They're on me of course waiting for Jake." no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no. No one laughs and I want to crawl under the couch. This is seriously painful. Cut to Ali saying Michelle's "a little off". Ashleigh is up and she refuses to go on so Corrie goes on instead and she does "impersonations" of the other girls in the house. Jake laughs at first and then gets upset when she focuses her non-talent on Vienna. So now Ashleigh has to go since there's no one left and she tells blonde jokes. Good one.

It's over! Praise God it's over! WOO HOO!!!

They go to party on a roof and Jake takes it to a "serious level" by telling the group that he understands how they feel when they see him hugging someone else because he feels it too. Wait, what? Tenley pulls him aside and tells him about her cheating husband and divorce. She cries, they hug, the kiss. Blah.

He pulls Ashleigh aside and she wants to tell him how much she hates Vienna. Don't tell him, kiss of non-rose death! Kiss of non-rose death! Jake says he's not seeing what they see (We're not either Jake!) Cut to house: we find ourselves in the midst of the other girls ganging up on Vienna for bringing drama in the house. Vienna accuses them of being fake and storms off. Whatever.

Jake then takes Ali off and she's worried that he's changed his mind since their Chicago date last week. (Third episode guys) He reassures her, she says "like" about 2,000 times and they kiss. Ali then brings up Vienna. Dumb dumb dumb girl. Ali goes back to the group to praise Corrie for making fun of Vienna behind her back. Now that is true class.

Before commercial break we're treated to Michelle telling us how it's her turn to give her mom a grandbaby and she'll be here in the end. Yikes. We're back and Michelle is still whining about wanting one on one time with Jake. Double yikes. She goes off on all the girls and Elizabeth the No Kissing Nanny says she needs a therapist. And Michelle FINALLY gets her one on one time! Huzzah!

She tells Jake she's here for the right reasons. She really wants a husband. She tells Jake that she doesn't know if she can keep going if she doesn't know whether or not Jake has feelings for her. (Again, T-H-I-R-D episode.) Jake starts to not meet her eyes. And she asks if they can kiss to see if she feels something. What the what?! So they kiss and when Jake pulls away he looks like he wants to jump off the party roof. Michelle immediately says, "You gotta give me more than that! Are you kidding me?" Oh boy, this chick is cracked y'all! Wanna see Jake right after she said that and before he dropped his head in uncomfortable silence?

And what does Jake say when she then asks him why his head is down? "I'm almost ready for this night to be over." Oh SNAP! That is NOT what you want to hear right after you kiss a guy. No way. But it's okay because Michelle tells him she's leaving. She tells him that if he wants her to stay, she'll stay. Now tell me I'm wrong ladies, she totally said that so he would say, "No no, please stay! I want to get to know you, I would miss you!" Right? Oh I am SO right!

For once Jake does the smart thing and says, "Yeah...I think it would be better if you did leave." Boo-ya! Her response: "I just can't believe you're doing it. I didn't think it was going to be this way. This is stupid." So he walks her out and she says...GET THIS..."He kicked me to the curb. I had no clue." WHA?!?! You mean you had no clue that he would send you home after you told him you were leaving?! You are a nut case woman. NUT CASE! This is just the saddest thing ever. Much more interesting than the whole Rozlyn thing from last week by the way.

At least Jake was okay going back up to the roof to finish partying:

P.S.-Only an hour into this episode.

So Jake comes back to the girls and tells them that he asked Michelle to leave after "exploring every option" (what?), that he's not giving out a rose tonight and he kicks them off the roof. The girls gush about how strong and full of integrity Jake is and I start doing the exaggerated eye roll. Oh bro-ther. *puke*

Now on to Ella's one on one date. Jake mentions the sacrifice she made by leaving her son behind and surprise surprise it's her birthday. Tens bucks says her son shows up on the date. Oh and lookie here, another helicopter! How original! While they are gone, Vienna apologizes to everyone for whatever she did. Ali's not buying it and accuses her of talking about other people (whole pot calling the kettle black ring any bells, Ali?) Whatever.

Back to Ella and Jake, they end up at Sea World (the place for true romantics). Jake: "Can you believe we're here?!" Dude, it's frickin' Sea World. It's always open to the public, you can go any time. You can get a season pass if you love it so much. Anyway, queue Ella's son as Jake's birthday present to her. Listen, this is sweet and all but it's been done. Remember Stephanie from Jason's season? Yeah, then it was sweet. Now it's just predictable. Her son looks terrified. "Mommy, whose this man with no shirt on?" Just kidding, Jake kept his shirt on...at least until he put on a wetsuit and they fed dolphins and stuff.

Ella makes a point to say that under normal circumstances she would never let a man meet her son this early. I guess being on TV will make is less painful and emotionally scarring for her son when she doesn't marry Jake. Duh people. Listen, I won't bore you with the rest of their date. They talk about her son, blahblahblah, I can see myself being engaged to you, blahblahblah. Ella says she wants what Trista and Ryan have...way to cite past seasons! She also mentions that she doesn't think that Jake would have brought her son out if he didn't feel a connection. Shhhh...she hasn't seen Jason's season where he brought out Stephanie's son only to ditch her later on...don't tell her! Geez, how is this date not over yet?! He gives her the rose. Moving on...

Cocktail party before rose ceremony: Jake's going into the party "a little more serious". Elizabeth gets the first alone time with Jake and brings up the whole "not kissing" thing. She literally says that "Jake needs to be a man and hold true to his convictions and not try to kiss me." Then her first "hard" question to Jake is, "Are you good at back rubs?" Jake's starting to catch on that Elizabeth is a total tease AND he calls her on it! Holy crap!!! He says he doesn't know what to make of her and at first she giggles and looks like, "he's buying it!" but then he says that he's known couples that have elected not to kiss for spiritual reasons but he doesn't think that's what she's about. She agrees and then he says, "If somebody is just using that to tease, that's not right." Elizabeth immediately freaks out. He tells her stop teasing him (go Jake) so she keeps teasing him. Someone bring back Michelle please!

Elizabeth proceeds to tell the other girls that Jake called her a tease and she says she has no idea where he got this idea from...what?! Seriously, this whole house is full of psychos! Jake talks to Vienna after she takes him from Elizabeth and tells him the hard time she's having, Jake says he's glad she's here, blahblahblah. She has a rose so I'm not sure why she feels the need to talk to him. So of course the other girls blast her for it when she gets back to the room. Of course Elizabeth starts crying and says that she's not desperate and can get a date any day of the week (whatever) and she doesn't understand why he's pressuring her to kiss him. Again...WHAT?!

So Ali confronts Vienna about interrupting Elizabeth's time with Jake and here's my question: Hey Ali, why do you want Jake to be spending time with any one but you? How about quit wasting your time bitching at Vienna and start interrupting girls yourself, you moron! Elizabeth keeps drinking and getting more and more pissed and demands an explanation from Jake. Jake once again tells her that he's cool if she doesn't want to kiss but that she needs to quit confusing him. She of course turns the whole thing into being his fault for delaying this explanation and I'm tired. Send her home Jake! Send her home!!!

Let's wrap this up for Pete's sake. Roses go to: Gia, Corrie, Tenley, Ali, Jessie (who?), Kathryn (who?), last rose goes to Ashleigh.

So bye bye Valisha (whose profession is listed as "Homemaker". Huh?) and HOLY CRAP see ya Elizabeth the Teasing Nanny! Wow!

So that's it for this week's Bachelor! Have you been watching? What do you think of these crazy chicks?

Friday Night Fab Five: So Happy Together

2010-01-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Wow, that week went quick! lol Sorry about my absence this week, I have to say that I've been taking a little "me" time, working out more and getting my hooks into some yarn but I have missed visiting with you all and hope to catch up soon! My blog anniversary is coming up next week so I'm feverishly trying to make something to give away! :D

But before that let's get it on with this week's Friday Night Fab Five! Here we go:

1. Crochet Hooks

Picture from Sweet Nienna

Last week it was yarn, this week it's all about the hooks. I l-o-v-e a new crochet hook. It glides right through the yarn and it's all slick and smooth. Plus the aluminum ones clink and clank together and make fun tinkle-y noises.

2. Shristi Studio

Shirsti Studio on Etsy specializes in reproduction vintage dresses and I love them! Plus, the prices are insanely good. This is on my short list of "must haves".

3. Cute Tweezers

Listen, if you're going to be yanking hairs out of your face, it might as well be with cutesy girly tweezers from Plasticland.

4. The Bachelor

I know it may sound like I hate this show if you go by my episode recaps but that couldn't be further from the truth. Whether or not anyone "finds love", this show is pure entertainment and the top of my Reality TV list. And I have to thank you all for your positive comments on my recaps. I so enjoy writing them and love the thought that someone out there likes reading them. :)

5. Kawaii Not

I first met Kawaii Not, the book by the enormously talented Meghan Murphy and then discovered her site with newly updated "cute gone bad" comics. They are funny, they are cute and they are definitely gone wrong. Just like me. :P

And that's that for this week's Friday Night Fab Five! What are your favorites this week???

The Bachelor: On the Wings of Drama

2010-01-11T23:44:00.002-05:00

You know, I told Christy that I gave the newest episode of The Bachelor less than a minute into the show before they had Jake's shirt off. You may remember me telling you last week that Jake hates only one thing: those horrid restrictive things called "shirts":

But I was wrong. It took them all of 10 seconds to get his shirt off. Totally underestimated ABC! D'oh!

So here we are, episode 2 of the Bachelor and these girls are already going off the deep end. Seriously. If they aren't talking about how "stacked" Jake is (can boys be stacked?) they're rambling about how they are the only one for Jake and the rest of the girls can't begin to be right for him. Geez louise, it's like a Glenn Close a la Fatal Attraction convention is in town...

Chris Harrison (whose shirt matches the wall color, seriously who the heck dresses these people?!) tells the girls there will be 2 group dates, 1 one on one date and 2 girls will get no date at all. (Spoiler alert: Kooky Nut Michelle from my last post and sweet as kittens Tenley do not get dates. I'm assuming it's because Jake pointed and said, "Girl I definitely ain't pickin'" and "Girl I wanna marry." I'll leave you to guess which is which.)

The first group date goes to Gia, Valisha, Christina, Ashleigh, some other girl - I think they said Corrie or something like that (no wait, is it Ella?) and Rozlyn, who has scary music behind her every time they show her. Scandal a brewin' perhaps??? Hmmmm...they are going to a lot of trouble to make her look like "she's here for the wrong reasons". Well, let's put that on the back burner as we watch the ladies take part in an In Style photoshoot.

Blah blah blah "I want one on one time" "I want the date rose" yadayadayada drama llama ding dong, Rozlyn gets the rose on this date yet the scary dramatic music keeps getting louder and more frightening...what could be going on?!?!

Blond #25 Ali gets the one on one date. Jake takes her flying. Wait a minute...What's that music I hear? Oh no...please God no...please don't let them play...the song...They can't make me listen....I won't!!!!

Oh yes they played it, those cheesy so and so's...I think what made this scene more nauseating was when Ali said, "For me, that plane taking off was our relationship taking off..." I am not making this up folks...excuse me....

*barf*

Okay, I'm back. Anyway, Ali and Jake have dinner, she gets a rose and then they are given a private concert by Chicago...um, Chicago...really? Does she even know who they are? Wait, Chicago's still together? Bah.

Last group date goes to the leftovers: Elizabeth, Jessie, Kathryn, Vienna (I'm assuming her parents really liked those little sausages) and Ashley. They go to Six Flags and during her one on one time, Elizabeth reads a note to Jake that she wrote him. First of all, a note...really? Second of all, why don't you let him read it himself? I was so hoping it would include a "Do you like me? Check yes or no" section but alas it was Elizabeth informing Jake that he could not kiss her. Period. Um...okay. Listen sweetie, I am so down with people that actually have standards, morals and respect for their bodies and intimate moments. I just don't usually see those people on reality dating shows. Now normally, this whole thing scares Bachelors away but not our Boy Scout Jake! Oh no, he LOVES it and gives her the date rose. Well, okay. I have never cared for her but I guess she's okay.

So the rest of the girls are sent back to the hen house and Elizabeth and Jake enjoy some alone time which is useless since she's refusing to make out with him. Now, that I have no problem with HOWEVER she spends most of their time saying to Jake (insert sexy voice here), "Do you want to kiss me? Cause I soooo want to kiss you..."

DUDE! Girl Rule #1 is it's your body, don't let nobody do nothing to it you don't want. But Girl Rule #2 is IF YOU SAY NO YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO THEN TEASE THEM ABOUT WANTING TO DO WHAT YOU JUST SAID THEY COULDN'T DO. d-u-h She also says, "I'm playing hard to get because that's what I deserve". Then don't go on a reality show where you're competing for a guy you moron! That's it, Elizabeth needs to go...gross...

Holy crap y'all...I've still got an hour to go in this episode! There's only the rose ceremony left so what could take an hour? He's making his rounds...girls are starting to break down, but that shouldn't take an hour? Wait a minute...the scary music...Rozlyn's scary music...do you think??? Nah...no way! Never gonna happen...

dun dun DUN!

Long story short, Rozlyn entered into an "inappropriate relationship" with a show staff member and was asked to leave and the staff member was fired. Weirdsville. The whole thing is weird and I'll be interested to see what Chris Harrison's blog says tomorrow as most reports are saying nothing happened and ABC is manufacturing the whole thing. Jake asks to be present when Chris tells the other girls. Rozlyn stays pretty much silent as she packs and hits the road.

Geez, we still have the rose ceremony to get through...

Chris tells the girls about Rozlyn, shock and amazement from the girls (and one of the girls starts crying, what the heck is that about?), now on to the rose ceremony! Please!!!

Finally!

Roses go to: Vienna (Sausages for the win!), Gia (swimsuit model, no surprise there), Tenley (awww, sweet as kittens!), Ella (the single mom sure Jake is destined to be her step-baby daddy), Valisha (I have no idea who she is, where has she been all this time?), Corrie (there is a Corrie! Did I spell her name right? Ah, whatever), Jessie (I think that's her name), Ashleigh (of the teeny bikini), MICHELLE?! COME ON JAKE YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! *ahem* and the last rose goes to Kathryn.

No roses for Ashley and Christina...Ashley handles it pretty well but Christina cries and gives the whole "there's girls that are not here for the right reasons" reject speech. So long Ashley and Christina! Good luck with your sad, lonely lives as you will never meet a man as perfect as Jake. Nah, just kidding though I am surprised by his choices...

The previews for next week predict even more drama so stay tuned as we embark on "this journey" together!

Are you watching The Bachelor? What are your thoughts?

This Week in Twitter: January 3-9, 2010

2010-01-10T10:14:00.002-05:00

Talking about Twitter in this week's Fab Five gave me the idea of sharing some of my tweets and/or @ replies I got to my tweets. (Uh, say what Maggi?) Well for those of you not "Twittering" @ replies are responses to things you've tweeted. I got some very interesting people tweeting back @ me this week and wanted to share:

(Click for larger view)

1. Um hello, the original Bachelorette, Trista responds to my tweet re: The Bachelor?! WOO FREAKIN' HOO! lol

2. Check it out, it's Melissa from Scrapz N Stuff. She's Canadian, she's gorgeous, she scraps...n stuff. LOL I made a funny... Plus, she just (sort of) recently signed up for Twitter which is awesome because she claims to not "get it". I can relate, I felt the same way when I signed up!

3. This is my friend Mary from Maremy's Blog who is an expert on all things tea, working out and cooking. I'm tired just reading her tweets. lol

4. Hey look! It's Melissa from Scrapz N Stuff again! I thought she said she didn't "get" Twitter? Hmmmm... (speaking of which, she's doing a Basic Grey giveaway! check it out HERE)

5. Emma from Emma's Music. She is an absolute doll and her music is so beautiful and fun. Her blog is always bright and upbeat and she offers downloads of some of her songs for free (get them, get them now!) I could totally picture her in a 1940's nightclub. You simply must visit with her for a while.

6. Wait a minute...Melissa from Scrapz N Stuff again?! Dude, she totally gets Twitter! LOL

7. Ahhh, my favorite Fairy EVER it's Twig (Twig the Fairy.com). I say that one can never go wrong with a fairy on her Twitter. Where else would you get fairy dust, hmmmm? P.S.-You can meet Twig the Fairy online and possibly at your local Renaissance Faire so check her out, I <3 her!

8. I've mentioned Twinkie Chan before but I'm not sure you could ever mention her and her amazing work enough. She's the girl that crochets food and makes them into fabulous things. This is a creative soul that knows her way around yarn and hooks.

And there it is! A little snippet from this week in my Twitter! lol Too fun! If you haven't signed up yet, go for it! And then look me up, my username is "addglitter" :D

A couple more things before I let you go to enjoy your Sunday:

Hey, if you're considering joining the circle journal swap, I still have a couple of spots left, don't by shy! :D Details are in this post (Open to US and Canadian residents).

I'll see you on Tuesday for your dose of Bachelor goodness. Who will Jake pick? Who will cry? And will Jake ever find a shirt? Tune in Tuesday! :D

Happy Sunday everyone!

Friday Night Fab Five: Go Go New Year!

2010-01-08T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone and welcome to another Friday Night Fab Five...actually the first one of the New Year! Basically I list five people, places or things I'm currently gaga over for your blog reading enjoyment!

Hey, if you're considering joining the circle journal swap, I still have a couple of spots left, don't by shy! :D Details are in this post.

So let's get going on the Fab Five, yes?

1. Dexter

I love finding new shoes to watch and I love them even more if they're already a couple seasons in and I can indulge in a marathon or two getting caught up. This show, about a serial killer, is dark, funny and Dexter is too cute.

2. Chocolates

(Picture courtesy of FoNgEtZ's Photostream)

I don't mean just "chocolate". I mean chocolates, like in boxes. I could not come up with a way to truly describe the feeling I get from boxed chocolates and then my mom said, "They're fancy." BINGO!

3. Yarn

I just love making things with yarn and have been on a HUGE crochet kick lately. I love buying yarn, finding new colors, talking about yarn, looking at yarn...yeah, I could go on. I would love to have the money for fancier yarns but Red Heart yarns suit me just fine! And now that they've come up with a new line, "Stitch Nation" yarn? Whoa baby!

4. Twitter

Say what you want about it but Twitter is fun! You can follow your favorite celebs, get quick opinions or answers to questions and instantly connect. If you're on Twitter, you can find @addglitter. That's me! :D

5. A New Year

There's something exciting about a new year starting. Like you get a clean slate, a chance to try all over again, everyone gets a second chance. Wait, I think that's a line from Forrest Gump... Well, I love when a new year starts and this year I've had a lot of new ideas, dreams, goals and wishes that I hope come true in 2010. :D

What about you? What are you in love with this week?

Singin' in the Rain...With Swaps!!!

2010-01-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Well, last night was the second "meeting" of T.E.F.A.L. (Tuesday Evening Fine Arts League) where the girls and I get together to watch a movie and enjoy some time without husbands, kids (well, Toot was there, lol), work, etc. Last month was "White Christmas" this month was "Singin' in the Rain"!

We have such a good time and next month's movie is "When Harry Met Sally". Do you have any movie suggestions for us???

In other (EXCITING!) news, I'd like to go ahead and get started on hosting a circle journal swap! 1. Because I love stuff like this and 2. If we start now we should be done by the holidays. Huzzah!

So what is a circle journal swap anyway? Well, long story short (at least for now), you start a mini scrapbook or art journal of sorts, mail it off to the next person who does a layout/page in your book, they mail it to the next person and so on and so on until you get it back all done up in creative glory for you to keep forever and ever. :D

I am currently taking sign-ups starting now through end of day Sunday the 10th. If you're at all interested, go ahead and let me know as I will send you an e-mail with detailed information so you can make an informed decision on whether or not you would like to participate. If you have never been a part of a circle journal swap before, I encourage you to give it a try! Whether beginner or super artistic ninja, I want everyone to feel welcome!

I am planning on keeping the group small until I see how much interest I get although I will accept 9 people max. For those in the circle, you can plan on mailing one journal once a month. Therefore you will have almost an entire month to work on one journal so keep that in mind!

A quick note: if you are interested in more info or you already know you want to do it, PLEASE e-mail me at justaddglitter @ gmail dot com, do not just leave a comment on this post! If I don't get an e-mail from you, I won't add you to the list.

My goal is to make this project as fun and stress free as possible so please feel free to e-mail me with any questions at all. Don't be shy, I'd love to have you participate! Unfortunately due to shipping times, this swap is only open to U.S. and Canada residents but never fear! I am really wanting to host an international swap of some sort but will have to plan out the logistics and it would of course depend on how many of you would be interested in that, so if you have any ideas let me know! :D

I hope you will join me! These are so much fun to do and it's a great way to get to know other artists and see their work up close! And if a swap or circle journal is on your 2010 Resolution/Artistic Goal list, here's your opportunity to cross it off! ;)

So in conclusion, if you have questions (I'm being purposely vague here to not write a mile long post, lol) or are ready to sign up, please e-mail me ASAP at justaddglitter at gmail dot com. You have until Sunday the 10th! :D

Have a great day everyone! :D

The Bachelor: On The Wings of Awkwardness

2010-01-05T10:46:00.001-05:00

When I found out that the decision of who the new Bachelor would be was between Reid (boring), Kiptyn (more boring) and Jake (oh dear Lord boring), I could only hope ABC would go with someone completely new and (hopefully) interesting.

Nah, they just went with Jake the airline pilot who Jillian cut lose mid season during the last Bachelorette. Jake is a "nice guy" and while I am 100% pro-nice guy, let's face it, they do not make for good reality TV. Plus, I found him just plain bo-ring. All I could hope for would be that ABC would pick some crazy B's to chase after Jake and liven things up a bit.

I love when ABC listens to me...

Wait, let me back up a bit. Welcome to The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love! Why oh why they feel the need to subtitle this show I'll never know. First of all, it's total cheeseball. Second, it messes up my DVR because it's set to record The Bachelor (no subtitle) and I have to reprogram it to record The Bachelor (subtitle). Bah. Anyhoo, we get a look back at Jake's Journey with Jillian on The Bachelorette and Jake's voice over tells us, "Nice guys finish last. That's the story of my life." Dude, listen: it's BORING guys finish last, not nice. Total difference between "nice" and "zzzzzzzzz" and while yes, you are quite the pretty eye candy you're also pretty vanilla and the ladies need a little pepper on their potatoes, get it?

Where was I? Oh yes, the recap that's already gone on too long. Less than one minute into the show and Jake is shirtless. Again and again and again and again. We're also treated to this little gem from Jake: "Love is perfect, it endures." Uh, has he ever seen the show? Going on 20 seasons between the Bachelor/Bachelorette and there's one marriage all together. Love is far from perfect, especially on reality TV. That being said, were I single and hot and had a network offering me a show and flying me all over the place to find love, yeah I'd be there in a hot minute. :P

So then we get into Jake's love of aircraft and please oh please tell me they're going to tie this into a love comparison while an instrumental version of "On The Wings of Love" plays in the background?!?! Wait for it....wait for it...Yup, there it is!

Just in case you're new to 80's craptastic ballads - here is the 1982 song this esteemed show is named after:

Freakin' awesome! Oh, and check out this totally awesome shot of Jake on a motorcycle at sunset and THEN they add a totally computer generated plane taking off in the background. Holy crap I love this show, I cannot wait to see what else they have for me!

Oh nuts, they're doing the whole "Meet the Bachelorettes in Their Home Environment" time filler. BOO! Blah blah blah. First up is Ali (Blonde #1) who mentions she had been put on the back burner by an ex-boyfriend because he got into video games. I instantly despise her. But then she talks about how her ex cheated on her with her roommate so now I feel kinda bad....

Next up is Alexa (Blonde #2) and she's a "total adrenaline junkie". Wait, are they going to do this for all 25 bachelorettes?! Holy geez...must not press fast forward...must not press fast forward...Listen, I'm totally not interested in who these girls actually are until they're down to about 10. There's just too freakin' many and they all blur together during the first couple of episodes...

I'll spare y'all from all this, just know that among the 25 are about 10 professional models and dancers with a couple of "nice girls" thrown in for good measure. I can already tell, there will be tears and as the intro told me "the claws will come out".

Back from commercial break: Jake in the shower. For the love of...

Anyway once he puts his clothes back on, he meets Chris Harrison out front of "The House" which was used for Brad's, DeAnna's, Jason's and Jillian's seasons respectively. I so wish I was the owner of this house, I would be raking in the cash on these Bachelor rentals!

Now onto the totally awkward first meetings including a chick that gives Jake a peacock feather, another that asks him if he has registered those "guns" (his arms...gross!) and a poor girl who wore what can only be described as a purple tutu. These are seriously hard to watch as each girl has a more horrid joke and/or come on than the girl before her with pilot/flying puns galore *cringe* Bleck.

Oh thank God that's over.

Wait, the pain isn't over yet. After one of the girls dresses up as a sexy co-pilot, another calls her desperate and then proceeds to break out a football and they all kick off their heels to have an impromptu football game. Then Chris shows up with the dreaded "First Impression Rose". It's when Michelle tell us that she will "die if I do not get the first impression rose" that I realize we have our first girl that's going home! Anyone knows that saying any thing like that is the kiss of death. Mark my words...

And here we are 1 hour and 15 minutes into the first episode and we've got tears people! Our fabulous little wannabe wife Michelle (see previous paragraph) is upset that Jake is talking to other girls. ABC starts playing the crazy stalker music and she approaches Jake...it is ON people! She tells him that she's here to fall in love with him and get married. eep. Send her home Jake!

Oh wait, here's Chris again and he's not alone. Jillian and Ed are here to help Jake separate the goats from the sheep as it were...(P.S.-Jillian is wearing a disco ball dress as bright as the sun. Awesome!) So they start interviewing the girls and our dear sweet Michelle spends her time with them talking about how long she waited for her alone time with Jake. Sheesh...

Anyway, talking talking talking, crazy crazy crazym yada yada yada and now it's time for the very first rose ceremony. Some predictable picks, some girls got through that you know won't last very long and then the last rose goes to....MICHELLE! dun dun DUN! Yikes!

All in all, not bad for a first episode although I'm still not convinced Jake can carry a Bachelor season. Luckily ABC thought of this and has given us potentially the craziest girls ever so I'll reserve judgment for the time being. Also, the previews for the coming season seem to include a scandal of epic Rose proportions, one of the gals seems to have "relations" with a crew member on the show. Spit take!

That's all from me, be sure to check out Chris Harrison's blog on the first episode....

Was anyone else watching last night?

Starting the Year Off With a Blog...I Mean Bang!

2010-01-03T14:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

Our trip to Mom's was tons of fun and we were sad to leave. My mom surprised me BIG TIME with this beautiful head band that she made for me:

Isn't that awesome?! I love it!

I've been thinking a lot about my goals for 2010 lately. I'm not one that's big on goals as a rule. lol But for some reason I've really been seriously setting up some goals for myself this year. I won't bore y'all with them all but there are a couple that involve the blog and I would love some feedback:

1. An idea came to me today that I'm really hoping will become something cool. Most of us crafty people have huge stashes of stuff we'll never even remember we have, much less use. (Maybe I'm the only one? lol) So today I got the idea of an artistic co-op. It would be a core (read: small) group of people that can pass along supplies that other people in the group might need for various projects they're working on (for instance: I'm in serious need of clock faces and gears, could be real or shaped paper/chipboard-it's driving me nuts that I can't find this! lol). You would pay postage obviously to send something to someone but other than that it would be free and it could be a way to share with one another and meet an artistic need without having to run to the store. :D We could start a Yahoo (type) group. What do you think?

2. I definitely want to do some more giveaways on the blog. Since money is an issue it would be mainly things that I make. Is that tacky? lol

3. I am currently involved in a circle journal swap with Gauche Alchemy but I really want to host my own circle journal swap this year. I would love to have people involved that have never done one before. This is a great way to share your work with other artists and to see their work up close. I would keep the group relatively small and would run a VERY tight ship in terms of things running smoothly and easily. lol Anyone out there interested in participating? I would also be interested in doing an ATC swap as well and would love to find some sort of swap where I could include those fabulous international artists I know!

4. And last be certainly not least, THE BACHELOR STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT! YIPPEE!!!!! lol So starting at some point this week (hopefully Tuesday) I'm going to post recaps of each episode in my own snarky type way. So heads up if you're not into the show you can skip that post. lol ;)

I think that's it! At least for now...lol. Please feel free to give me some feedback on these ideas in your comments or e-mail me at justaddglitter @ gmail.com. Now, I'm off to try and catch up on some blog reading, its been forever! lol

To end with, here's a video of Toot taking a stroll at mom's house. She's just barely holding on so it won't be long now before she's off and running! By the way, she's a little cranky at the end because I made her walk back and forth a couple of time trying to get some good video. lol

Have a great day everyone!

Have a Glittering 2010!

2010-01-01T00:00:00.002-05:00

We're starting a brand new year full of creative possibilities, can you feel it?! I was able to get in one more scarf before the ball dropped:

I'm obsessed with red and turquoise at the moment. lol Well, it's time to get going on 2010! Thanks for making 2009 a great year at Just Add Glitter and Stir. Here's to many more to come!

2009 Blog In Review

2009-12-29T18:15:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

We're headed off to my mom's house for a couple of days to celebrate the new year, how nice it will be to get away for a while! But before I go I wanted to wish you a very happy new year's! I'm so excited to get started on 2010 and look forward to accomplishing some big things next year!

I thought for my final post of 2009 I would list some of my favorite posts from 2009. I started this blog in January and thought it would be appropriate to do a sort of year end review, if you will indulge me of course. :D (Post titles are linked to the post, click read and enjoy!)

January - "Scraptastic!" - Total old school layouts of my Toot back in January. She was 3 months old in these pictures.

February - "Whole Lotta Nothing Going On" - Nothing much going on in this post either but I do use Toot as a way to get more comments. I think I'm funny anyway. :P

March - "The Most Dramatic Blog Post Ever" - Like I write in the post, this entry is so much funnier if you watch The Bachelor (which starts up again next week WOOOOO HOOOO!) There's also a layout of Toot that I still am in love with, what a cutie she is (to me anyway), lol.

April - "Friday Night Fab Five: This Happened I Swear! Edition" - I include a lot of embarrassing information in this post, don't say I never give you anything. :P

May - "Someone's In the Kitchen With Scrapbooks" - Some layouts from the kitchen cookbook/scrapbook I did for a friend's mother. I am really wanting to do this for my family's recipes one day!

June - "Sleep Poet, Unsleepy Maggi" - Holy crap, my very first visit to Sleepy Poet Antique Mall! One of my favorite places on Earth for amazing vintage goodness...

July - "I'm Dreaming of a Blog Christmas" - I had so much fun hosting my Christmas in July blog party! My fingers are still recovering from their comment leaving...

August - "Toot Take Manhattan, New York Part Two" - I am admittedly my own harshest critic. Ironically, I also think I am hilarious. (Am I using "ironically" correctly? Ah, blah whatever) So pardon me as I chuckle at "Toot" writing her first post. :P

September - "Tootie in the Sky With Ice Cream...And Lies..." - I still love this layout I did based on my Granny telling a big fat lie and getting caught for it. I can't wait to tell Toot this story when she's older.

October - "Welcome to the Blog of Horror...Enter If You Dare..." - This was the second of Vanessa's blog parties I participated in and I had so much fun with this post. I still think my Playlist of Horror is truly terrifying...

November - "This Is The Post that Never Ends" - I truly appreciate every award and/or tag I'm given! I have to admit though that I got the biggest kick out of answering the questions for these tags. This post also proves you should never try to blog when you're tired, things tend to get loopy...

December - The end of the year already?!

"Inspiration From the East" - I find artistic inspiration from so many things, most recently Japanese street fashion. The colors, the shapes, the styles all bring to mind things you can use in scrapbooking, art journaling or whatever your artistic poison may be...

And there you have it! The whole year in one blog post! Maybe I should just do one big long post at the end of the year instead of writing all the time...LOL ;) Thanks for a great year everyone! If I don't talk to you before, have a happy and safe New Year's...

See you in 2010!!!

And To All A Good Night!

2009-12-26T07:15:00.000-05:00

Wow and Christmas is over that quick! lol How was everyone's holiday? We had a very nice day just enjoying spending time together. Toot enjoyed playing in all of the wrapping paper and I enjoyed eating all of the food we made last night. lol Now I get to start working it all off! lol

I made another "gift" layout for some friends of ours. I tell you what, next year I'm making layouts for everyone! lol

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! Anyone going to make a list of resolutions for the new year?

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T18:52:00.001-05:00

I want to wish you and your family a very merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

A Toot For All Seasons

2009-12-21T01:24:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone!

Just a quick post of my newest layout and I have to apologize, this is the worst picture ever! lol But I was in a hurry: this layout is a Christmas present for Chris' aunt so off to New York it goes!

I decided to make her a layout of Toot and picked 4 pictures that represented the seasons:

I totally admit to getting the title from "Grease 2". What? I love that movie! hee hee Thanks for taking a look! I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday season!

Merry Christmas!

Friday Night Fab Five Four Three Two One...

2009-12-18T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hey you amazing people and welcome to this week's Friday Night Fab Five where I list 5 things that I am currently in love with, drooling over or just all around adore. I just realized that this will be the last Fab Five until after Christmas! Can you believe it's like a week away?!

So this week's Fab Five is going to be just like my brain is at the moment: ALL OVER THE PLACE. lol Maybe some last minute gift ideas, thankfulness and a little Pee-Wee thrown in for good measure. Basically, read in amazement as I try to tie in all of these things into something about Christmas! lol Let's get it on!!!

1. The Baseballs

What do you get for the person that loves current music but lives a vintage life? Through my vintage blog, Circle 7-2099 I discovered the sweetest little blogger Miss Emmi who is my new BFF because she introduced me to this awesome German band, The Baseballs who create vintage covers of current songs. (This video is their cover of Rhianna's "Umbrella").*Instant Eternal Love* Thanks Miss Emmi!

2. Happy Mail

What's Christmas without a little something in the mail? Well, the always amazing Julie e-mailed me the other day to say that something was on its way to me and the next day I received a lovely Christmas card. So after I e-mailed her to thank her she told me that yes, she sent that but that wasn't what she was talking about that there was something else on its way to me. Wha??? She also dropped a couple of hints: vintage and "think Betty". Lo and behold, look what showed up at my house:

Thanks Julie, this was so very thoughtful of you and I am so touched you would think of me! I currently have some Christmas cookie recipes scanned from this book posted at Circle 7-2099 if you need some last minute baking ideas!

3. The First Annual White Christmas Watching Party

This past Tuesday my girls came over for some girly time and to watch "White Christmas together:

We had so much fun that we've decided to get together once a month to watch a different movie. I've named us "The Tuesday Night Fine Arts League" (a take on the club Lucy and Ethel were in on "I Love Lucy" :D). And get this: I was dressed to the hilt in one of my vintage dresses, complete with the vintage apron the awesome Callista gave me and do you know I didn't get one picture of myself?! Bad Maggi! Well, except for this one and you can't the whole dress, but you get the idea:

We had a great time and I think we've decided on "Singin' In The Rain" for our movie in January. Any suggestions for other movies? They don't have to be old or musicals! lol

4. Pee-Wee's Christmas Special

I don't think I can stress enough how much I adored Pee-Wee when I was younger. I was a HUGE fan of his show on CBS and his Christmas special was the BEST EVER! With stars like Frankie and Annette, how could it not good?!

5. Merry Christmas My Awesome Blogging Friends!

I was so touched that so many of you went to visit my mom's blog, I cannot begin to express my delight and pride to have all of you in my (albeit virtual) life. She called me and said, "I've got 3 or 4 comments on my blog!!!!" I was like, "Um no, you have like 20." Her: "WHAT?! Oh my goodness, they're so nice! What do I do now? Should I e-mail them all to thank them? Someone said she couldn't find Jello, I need to send her some, poor girl!" LOL It really made her day so THANK YOU SO MUCH, I really appreciate you taking time out of your blogging day to welcome her.

So let's end on a cool note, here's The Baseballs with their version of Beyonce's "Carzy In Love". Have an awesome weekend everyone!!

Zombuki and The Search For The Figurative Grail

2009-12-16T16:20:00.001-05:00

Over at my vintage blog, Circle 7-2099 I posed the question of "What is your Vintage Grail?" By "grail" I mean that one special obsession. That material object that you've been drooling over but can't just run out and get anywhere. These are things that are typically pricier and/or harder to track down. So you save and you save and you save until that glorious day when you can proudly say, "I'LL TAKE IT!!!!" For instance, Julie posted on her blog about finally realizing her dream of owning her Grail: a Bern Christmas art piece.

In the world of Pullip, Blythe and BJDs (ball jointed dolls), a "grail" refers to your ultimate "wanted" doll, possibly rare and usually more expensive. For me, my Ultimate Most Wanted Not Necessary To Life But Must Save and Buy One Day Grail is a Zombuki.

A little explanation from Zombuki.com:

"Zombuki, a combination of the words “zombie” and “kabuki,” was a term dreamed up with the help of a friend some time ago. Zombukis are meant to be a hybrid of many styles and cultures (the zombie itself being both alive and dead), able to embody many looks, to be chimeras of the doll world."

The artist, Brigitte, uses her creative magic to turn every day Pullip and Blythe dolls into fabulous original creations. She overhauls the entire doll from hair to eyes to outfit, hand paints them and creates an entire persona for the "Zombuki". Each one is a beautiful work of art and you can see all of them on her site, Zombuki.com.

I was lucky enough to win some Zombuki postcards from her Etsy shop during the Advent giveaway on her blog, Unwed Human Female and boy, you should have seen my Happy Dancin' when I found out I had won! lol It was then that my quest to own my very own Zombuki was born. I decided to use one of the postcards (and probably more in the future) for a canvas project because I found them so inspiring and I'm such a visual person (most creative people are I think) that I decided I would be more diligent in my quest if I had a little something on the wall to remind me what I was saving for, lol.

To begin my project, I used one of these canvases I got for a $1 on clearance at Hobby Lobby a while back. It actually wasn't a blank canvas but a shot of jewelry artwork in the Home department.

Now, if you're the artist of this piece, I apologize for covering it up but poor people need canvas too! LOL So I Gesso'd the crud out of it and then covered it in layers of a sewing pattern which I then added some purple and pink acrylic paint to match the postcard of Kimi, one of Brigitte's Zombukis. I love Kimi, she looks like candy and reminds me of Japanese street fashion (though Brigitte's inspiration was American raves). Remember when America's Next Top Model did that street photo shoot in Japan? There you go! lol Here's my end result:

I used pieces from the Pink Parts, Green and Purple People Eaters mixed media kits from Gauche Alchemy. (Side note: if you have not tried GA's color kits, you so should! They are so affordable and my absolute "go to" when I'm making something! :D) Anyhoo, I loved this little card with the definition of the word "unique" which Zombukis definitely are and thought it was perfect for my project.

I may not be able to get a Zombuki right away or any time soon for that matter but keep an eye on this blog as I will one day write a post entitled "MINE ALL MINE MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!" lol :D

Visit Brigitte's blog, Unwed Human Female

Check out her Etsy shop, Zombukis Love You

Discover the world of the Zombuki at Zombuki.com

Do you have a Grail you're wishing and saving for?

The Best Things...Happen While You're Blogging...

2009-12-15T07:48:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday!

I am so excited because tonight is my First Annual Partying While Watching "White Christmas" and Eating With My Girls Party! WOO HOOOOOO!

A little back story: My friend Corrie and I L-O-V-E this movie! When we were kids we would watch it over and over, whether it was Christmas or not. We'd talk about how teeny Vera Ellen's waist was, whether Bob Wallace was way too old for Betty, sing "Sisters" together and discuss different ways we'd punch out that nosy chick Emma that eavesdrops and messes everything up. (Yeah, where's the scene with her apologizing for that?! And why didn't Betty just say, "Yo Bob, did you set this up as a publicity thing for yourself or what?" That would have saved so much freakin' time!)

ANYWAY, we love the movie. :) So then I was talking to a friend and found she loves it too and it just kind of snowballed from there and tonight I'm having a group of gals over to watch the movie and just enjoy some girly time. Everyone's bringing something, I've got the "Liverwurst and Buttermilk" cupcakes made (don't panic: it's just my pumpkin cake with honey cream cheese frosting, lol) and thanks to the fabulous Callista, I now have her Grandmother's recipe for Hot Buttered Rum all finished and just waiting for me...er, I mean us to drink! I've decided to wear one of my vintage dresses and am really looking forward to tonight!

Did you know:

-Fred Astaire was the first choice to play opposite Bing Crosby but turned the role down as did second choice Donald O'Connor.

-Vera Ellen plays the younger sister but she was actually 7 years older than Rosemary Clooney.

-Rosemary Clooney sang both parts in the song "Sisters".

-The boy in the picture of "Freckle Face Haynes the Dog Face Boy" is Carl Switzer, who played Alfalfa in "The Little Rascals". (trivia from Wikipedia)

In other news, I've got a couple more pics of Christmas decorations, once again created by my talented Mother. One year she made me a "Simpsons" tree (I love this show, lol)

This is really love! When my parents split up, I inherited our old ornaments. My mom collected my most favorite ones from my childhood and made this shadow box for me. If you look closely, you'll see first grader Maggi in the top left hand corner. lol

Speaking of Mom, she has joined the blogging world! I am so proud of her because this whole blogging thing totally escapes her, lol. But she's jumped right in and even has one of her original Chex Mix recipes posted. Would y'all do me a huge favor by going over and welcoming her to our little blogging world? I would so appreciate it! Her blog is here.

I hope you have a great day!!!

Its That Time of Year...

2009-12-14T01:24:00.000-05:00

I'm so ready to show you my newest project but its been raining here lately so no pictures to be had...boo! So instead I thought I'd share some of our Christmas decorations:

Here's our tree this year:

I love this ornament, it belonged to Chris' Grandparents:

And my crocheted tree skirt in its new home. I'm still so proud of myself for making this! lol

The fabulous Carrie from Tinkering L8 made me this super awesome wreath!

This is a long table in my hallway I decorated with our Christmas odds and ends (and yes, my hallway is orange. lol)

My mom made the next two pieces for me. I had bought these figure sets of "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town". I gave them to her and she made me a centerpiece and wreath. Awesome!

And now for a sad Christmas tale...

I took Toot to see Santa and not only was she not glad to see him, I had to be in the picture to calm her down, her purple socks I thought no one would see are totally see-able and she looks completely done with Christmas. Well, at least I thought to put some make-up on before I left the house! lol

I'm so in love with this Christmas song:

Merry Christmas everyone, have a great day!

Inspiration From The East

2009-12-12T01:24:00.001-05:00

Heads Up!--->Drop Dead Cute is having a (dare I say it) cute (yep, I said it) giveaway on her blog. A super awesome Momorobo Panda Hat from Punch Brand is up for grabs so head on over to her giveaway post and enter!

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Did you know that "Artistic Inspiration" has its own entry in Wikipedia?

"Inspiration refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in an literary, musical, or other artistic endeavour. Literally, the word means "breathed upon," and it has its origins in both Hellenism and Hebraism." -Wikipedia

I'm always fascinated to learn what inspires people, particularly creative people. There's the typical answer of "family, friends" yada yada yada. But what really lights that spark of creative activity, the one where you feel like if you don't get it down (paint it, draw it, write it, scrap it, sew it, glue it) you'll explode?

Lately I have found myself drawn to and inspired by Jpop and Japanese street fashion. (*Fingers crossed* you'll be able to see this influence in my next project that I will hopefully get posted soon!) Jpop is pop music from Japan which is funny because as a rule I don't like pop music. lol But recently I've been playing it around the house and it is simply infectious. Here is a song from the group "Girl Next Door":

"The term 'street fashion' is used to describe fashion where the wearer personally customizes the outfits by adopting a mixture of current and traditional trends." -Wikipedia

Japanese street fashion is a treasure trove of inspiration all its own. Such a bold out-of-the-box mix of styles, colors, textiles, eras - you name it. How can you not be inspired by such a grand example of creative abandon?

All pictures from tokyofashion.com
No matter what the art form or tools used, I hope that I can always strive to create without fear of what people will think and become comfortable in resting in that creative space where there are no hard and fast rules of what works. I want to be like those on the fashionable streets of Tokyo, wearing my artistic sensibilities on my sleeve (so to speak) and reveling in my creative freedom.

The possibilities my friends...are endless!!!

What has inspired you lately?

Friday Night (Actually Morning) Fab Five: Kickin' It Birthday Style!

2009-12-11T00:00:00.001-05:00

Surprise Vanessa! :D

When Roo from Roo's Treehouse asked if I wanted to be a part of V's bloggy birthday surprise, how could I say no? After all, V is the Grand Blog Party Queen of Halloween and Mad Tea Party fame so I have to thank her somehow!

Now if you don't know who Vanessa is, she is the Mistress of all things magical at A Fanciful Twist. To celebrate her birthday, I'd like to share with you 5 posts she has written on her blog that are my (current) favorites. :) Vanessa is a unique woman with a hyper-creative soul and even though I don't know her, I'm so happy to know her. (There, that made sense right?) :D

P.S.-Uh Vanessa...I totally took your pictures without permission but I didn't want to ask you and possibly ruin the surprise so please forgive me! Note to you fine readers: blog as a I say, not as I do, stealing is wrong! LOL ;)

1. Vanessa shared a peek inside her creative space.

How could you not be creative in a space like this?!

2. The Mad Tea Party

Her 2009 Mad Tea Party was my very first blog party and it almost killed me. LOL (over 300 blogs participated and I visited them all!) But I would do it again and again and again and again.

3. Coffee Filter Corsage Tutorial

4. The Story of Her Frida Kahlo Painting

I just loved reading this post about how Vanessa's Kahlo painting came to be.

5. Her Gypsy Wagon

Vanessa's gypsy wagon is amazing! What a magical place to escape to when you need it!

This is one of Vanessa's current song obsessions and I have to say that Carol of the Bells is one of my favorites too during this time of year!

She also has a wonderful Etsy shop full of magical creatures and fanciful treasures! If you have not had the pleasure of reading her blog, make sure to stop by soon, her pictures are stunning!

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY VANESSA! I hope your day is filled with magic and dreams come true!

Ch-Ch-Changes...

2009-12-09T18:36:00.000-05:00

Y'all, I'm going to be honest, this is a long one so you better take a potty break now cause I'm not stopping later so you can go. lol ;)

First of all, I hope you have been having a great week so far! Things are going well on my end (Toot is finally feeling 100%, WOO HOO!) and I've been working my booty off on a new project that I hope y'all will all enjoy! And here it is:

Time for a little (huge) announcement! :D

When I first started this blog (originally called "Katamommy Damacy") it was to have a place where I could talk about things that I felt didn't fit with my video game blog. My aim was to create a blog where I could talk about Toot (then about 3 months old) and being a gaming parent. I think it was within a couple of weeks to maybe a month after that that I really stepped up my scrapbooking and it was at that point that Katamommy Damacy morphed into more of a scrapbooking and crafty blog (which was when I met most of you fine folk :D).

Once I got a few regular readers (bless you!) I decided that my name didn't fit with the theme of the blog and thus "Just Add Glitter and Stir" was born along with a new look to incorporate my craftiness, my life as a stay at home mom and my love of vintage/retro. Then began my attempt to straddle the proverbial blogging fence as it were and write posts for my fabulous crafty friends as well as my new found amazing vintage buddies.

Which worked for a while but lately I've been feeling like instead of including everyone I've satisfied nobody. lol My purpose and greatest desire is to make anyone that visits this blog feel like I am speaking to them specifically, I want them (that's you) to know that I value their time spent with me and look forward to each and every comment left behind. I fully admit to trying my best to write amusing posts to bring a smile to your beautiful faces, to entertain you. I would hope that people look forward to visiting my blog as all of the time and work spent in running it is all for you, my dear readers.

"Maggi, what the heck are you trying to say?! Get on with it!"

I'm getting there! I'm getting there!

All that to say, the #1 blogging rule is this: Know your audience. So far I've been trying to serve two audiences: The Crafty and The Vintage. I'm starting to think that it's just not working as well as I would like SO I have come up with a solution that I am SUPER excited about and I hope you'll feel the same way!

Presenting...

Yes, I've started a new blog devoted entirely to my passion for everything vintage called Circle 7-2099.

"But Maggi, what does this mean?!?!"

Simply this: I will be posting the same amount as I do now. The only difference is that if it pertains to my personal life (i.e.-Toot) and anything crafty, I will post it here at Just Add Glitter and Stir. If it pertains to anything vintage (including my family vault pictures), it will get posted at Circle 7-2099. Clear as mud right? lol

"But Maggi, what does this mean to me?!?!"

Well, if you have a vintage blog that I have linked in my blog list, you will be moved over to Circle 7-2099. If you have a personal or crafty type blog, your link will stay here. I will still visit all of you like I do now and whenever you see a comment from me, it will still say "Maggi". The only difference is that now you have a choice of where you'd like to meet up with me. :D

If you would prefer to keep up with my crafty adventures (or just want to see Toot) visit me here or if you would rather kick it "old school" (haha) then visit me at Circle 7-2099. Now, you are more than welcome to visit me in both places! lol But I know that visitin' time is valuable and now you have your pick of the posts as it were. lol

This change is effective immediately and I've been working hard to get Circle 7-2099 up and running so go check it out and please let me know what you think!!! And if you would like to follow me at Circle 7-2099 I would so appreciate it! :D (If you follow me on Twitter, that won't change, I'll use the one account to give updates on both blogs.)

Whew...I think that about covers it! LOL

Thank you so much for spending your time with me, whether it ends up being here or at Circle 7-2099. I appreciate each and every one of you, your lovely comments and your wonderful blogs!

Family Pictures: Album Eight

2009-12-09T01:24:00.001-05:00

Holy crow, are we up to album 8 already? What the heck am I going to do when I've posted all 11??? By the way, I should totally be crocheting Christmas gifts right now and instead I'm blogging for you fine folks and watching "White Christmas". What? I've got my priorities you know... :D

Oh and if you're new to my family albums, here's the low down:

These are some pictures from our Family Vault (i.e. the box of 11 albums in our den). You can read about and see the first one here, the second one is here, the third album is here, the fourth album is here, the fifth is here, the sixth album is here and the seventh is here.

As always: I'm sure it goes without saying that these pictures are not to be posted anywhere or used in any way without express permission from me. Period. I can be contacted at katamommy at gmail.com. I promise I don't bite! :D

Ready? Here we go!

I just love seeing these fun silly poses.

Check out the camera she's holding. This is a total shutterbug family for sure!

Me want kitschy Christmas...*drool*

Thanks for taking a gander at these pictures with me, I love sharing them with all of you!

Have a great day!

Roller Girls and Glue Galore

2009-12-07T20:43:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Well last night's roller derby was soooooo much fun and today is Chris' birthday! Happy birthday honey!!! But let's back up a minute: here's some pictures from last night which was the last match of the 2009 Charlotte Roller Girls season. First of all, Toot L-O-V-E-D it! lol

Here's a pic of me and the birthday boy:

Because Toot was with us we did not sit in the "Suicide Seats" which is sitting on the floor. Think of being in the front rows at Sea World but instead of getting splashed with water you could get a roller girl to the head.

Here's a group shot of the team and refs after the match:

They all had cool mean names like "Emmylou Harass" and "Ally Capone". It was a lot of fun to see the girls play and they are currently recruiting. Hmmmm...Think I'd make it as a Roller Girl??? LOL In other news, I played along with a new challenge blog: Nerdy Victorious Scrapbookers. Actually, it was their DT call inspiration challenge but I played along anyway, lol. (Anything "nerdy" is sure to get my undying devotion, lol)

Here's what I did:

Admittedly I do not do a lot of "me" layouts. I probably should but tend to shy away from it for some reason. But the nerd in me was entranced by the NVS collage on their blog and so here it is! :D This is about as "me" as you can get! lol Anything that I adore is here: pink, vintage, video games, kawaii, collage, bling, Mod Podge. lol Here are a couple of close ups:

I hope everyone's week has started off well, have a great Tuesday! :D

Gentlemen Prefer The Roller Derby and a Wool Suit

2009-12-05T22:30:00.001-05:00

Okay, I know I've talked about PaperBackSwap.com before and I don't want to sound like one big commercial but I just had to share. I've traded some books since joining up and have been lucky enough to add the autobiographies of Marion Davies, Ginger Rogers and Jane Russell to my collection.

Speaking of Jane Russell, I was watching "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" the other day and decided to do a little research (this is all leading back to Paper Back Swap, I promise! :D) Come to find out, the 1953 musical starring Russell and Monroe was based on the 1949 stage musical which was based on the 1925 novel written by Anita Loos (who also wrote a sequel called "But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" which was made into a forgettable sequel to the movie starring Russell (as Dorothy Shaw's daughter!) and Jeanne Crain). There was also a silent movie adaptation made of the novel in 1928 which has been lost unfortunately.

ANYWAY, all that to say that I decided to look up the original book by Loos on Paper Back Swap to see if I could find it and low and behold, someone had a copy which I quickly snapped up. I had no big illusions on what edition the book would be as I was assuming it had been printed and reprinted multiple times. So just imagine my exclamation of "HOLY MACARONI!" when I checked my mail today and saw this:

Yup, a 1926 (10th printing) edition of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". Can you believe it?!?!?! AND it has the most fantastic 1920's style illustrations by Ralph Barton:

It is just in beautiful condition for its age and I feel SO fortunate to have inadvertantly made such a find. So this lovely treasure will be a permanent fixture on my bookshelf. I'm also planning on harvesting Paper Back Swap for some free books I won't feel guilty cutting up and gluing to something. LOL :D

So let's jump ahead a couple of decades and discuss how fab it would be to own this 1950's three piece wool suit from Cheap Vintage.

Gimme gimme gimme! LOL

And last but not least...guess where I'm going tomorrow????

Oh baby, the roller derby....WOOOO HOOOOO! Last match of the season and I will be there with my Barbie skates on! Okay, I don't think I'll wear my skates which is a shame, they sure are cute...The husband's birthday is Monday and our friends: D & D are treating us to the roller derby which we are both super excited to go check out.

So what are your plans for Sunday? I've been hearing some of you are getting snow, how about sending some my way???? :D

Friday Night Fab Five: Ghosts of Artistic Past

2009-12-04T17:00:00.002-05:00

I'm not kidding when I say that I love to create things and will try every art form in the book. Shortly after I graduated high school, I decided that I just HAD to be a painter even though I can't draw and have no painting skills whatsoever (other than a wall or two or course). This was during my 90's flannel & Doc Martens conforming non-conformist phase....I miss Grunge. *sigh* Anyhoo, thus began my foray into the world of painting on canvas.

I only bring this up now because while I was getting out the Christmas decorations from our scary (to my husband) basement, I discovered some of these old canvases and boy are they a hoot. So I thought I'd share them here in the interest of sharing some of my projects that I do not consider to be all that great. lol I had a lot of fun painting these and while I have discovered that painting is not my forte, the fun of creating is trying a little of everything to find what you're really good at, at least for me anyway. lol I still love love love working on canvas, I just now find myself gluing things to it rather than painting a masterpiece, I'll leave that to the experts! lol

Enjoy! (Or run away in horror, it's all good! :P)

(Oh also, there's more than five so this is more like a Friday Night Fab Seven :D)

So this is my first painting ever. Once I discovered that I couldn't draw or paint worth a lick, I decided to paint the only thing I was really into: music. So I would light candles and incense, drink wine, smoke cigarettes and play the same song over and over while I "painted the song" so to speak. This was "Nobody's Home" by Pink Floyd (the Symphonic Floyd version). Wasn't I the sweetest little ole tortured soul you ever did see? lol

This one is "Down In It" by Nine Inch Nails

"Talk Show Host" by Radiohead

This was isn't a song. At least I don't think so, there's nothing written on the back. :)

At one point I decided that I was going to do something recognizable if it killed me so I started doing profiles/silhouettes. This one is a man and a woman, see em? lol My mom swiped this one when she was down for Thanksgiving last week.

Now comes what my mom calls my "Aliens". lol I just wanted to do something more than splatter painting so here it is. lol Check out her giant rack. Her back must really hurt after a long day, know what I mean?

I couldn't draw hands (or much of anything as you can see) so I just traced my hands on the canvas. lol I did a few of these gals actually, I might post more here at some point.

Thanks for hanging with me for this blast from the past. Sorry it's not that Fab or Five. lol I'd love to hear about things you used to create when you were younger that you don't do anymore! Am I the only one with artsy skeletons in the closest? lol

Have a great weekend everyone!

Family Pictures: Album Seven

2009-12-02T01:24:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday everyone!

It's time once again for some pictures from our Family Vault (i.e. the box of 11 albums in our den) and if you're just joining us you can read about these albums and see the first one here, the second one is here, the third album is here, the fourth album is here, the fifth is here and the sixth album is here.

And as always: I'm sure it goes without saying that these pictures are not to be posted anywhere or used in any way without express permission from me. Period. I can be contacted at katamommy at gmail.com. I promise I don't bite! :D

Oh what I wouldn't give for this huge Santa head to hang on my house. lol

Have a great day everyone!

Circle Journal: Listening and Dancing

2009-11-30T01:24:00.003-05:00

This month's circle journal from Gauche Alchemy was Heather's who chose a "Listening and Dancing" theme. At first I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go in but luckily inspiration hit me like a truck and I whipped it together like that*! *(picture me snapping)

Anyhoo, here is my entry in Heather's journal:

I used a vintage image and colored parts of her outfit in Platinum and Copper Stickles. I added some pieces from Gauche Alchemy's (It's All) Gravy, Baby! mixed media color kit and a couple of crochet flowers I received from Y at Do More With Less. Some feathers here, some buttons there, a little lacy ribbon, a piece of dress pattern, a key brad, some haphazard acrylic painting, sequins and pom poms and last but not least, words from a magnetic poetry set.

Here's hoping Heather likes it as much as I do (why come all the good things I make are to be sent off to other people?! lol ;P)!

Happy Monday everyone! :D

A Love Story

2009-11-29T01:24:00.000-05:00

Please press play before enjoying this intimate love story...

What Is Love?

During their honeymoon at Disney World, this moment finds our young lovers enjoying the view of the water while in Epcot Germany...

Me: *sigh* Isn't it beautiful here?

Husband: (leans to the side, screws up his face and proceeds to fart for the first time in front of his bride)

Me: What the? Did you just fart in Disney's Epcot World Showcase?!

Husband: Listen, we're married now. The gloves are off...

Is it the meeting of eyes across a crowded room?

Me: (attempting to foster open communication rather than answering all of his questions with "Nothing") You see honey, during that time of the month, I just don't feel like myself. I feel fat, ugly and blah and I just need a little extra encouragement. I know you don't fully understand since you don't have to go through this every month.

Husband: Well, we've been married for two years. That's kinda like being on your period, right?

The brush of a hand across the nape of your neck?

Me: (jokingly) No, I'm angry at you. Can't you see the steam coming out of my ears?

Husband: No, but I can see the hot air coming out of your mouth...

Sweet words whispered in your ear?

Ahhhh...sweet love...

Husband: "Hey honey, look!"

I asked my husband's permission before writing this post because I wanted to make sure he knew that I loved his being able to call me on my crap and his witty sense of humor. Thank you Honey for being a good sport and for making me laugh more than any man I've ever known! (Except maybe Will Ferrell. That man is hilarious!)

Love means never having to say you're not funny...

Friday Night Fab Five: Thankful For The Toot Things In Life

2009-11-27T17:00:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving (or Thursday as the case may be :D). We had a great day but unfortunately Toot got sick along the way so today we're fighting off a cold. Bleeck. So I thought it might make Toot feel better to know that this week's Fab Five is Toot-centric. That would make me feel better anyway. :P

Anyhoo, Toot is at that age where her biggest joy comes from the simple things in life and I really hope that never changes. I could have saved a lot of money had I known that instead of buying toys I could've just given her trash to play with...

1. Wrappers and Bowls

Toot loves a good biter biscuit or Mum-Mum but she likes the wrappers even better. She also loves digging through my plastic containers to seek out new treasures...

2. Boxes

In a stage where she loves taking things out and putting them back in, boxes are one of Toot's newest favorite things...

3. Tissues When My Back Is Turned

This picture is from today. Since Toot's nose (not to mention teething mouth) is running like a faucet, I had the tissues handy. Until I turn around to find her whipping them all out of the box. Which I can't really blame her for, that is fun to do...

4. Play Pen Netting

This was a new one to me! I had Toot in her play pen so I could get some things done and as I walked by noticed her presumably trying to eat her way out of the play pen. That can't taste good, right?

5. The Basket I Put Her Toys In

Forget the toys I put in there, she'd rather empty it, turn it upside down and use it as a drum. I've been trying to teach her "Babaloo"...

And the Creepiest Toy Award goes to...suicidal doll!

I honestly don't know how this happened. I was starting to clean up the toys one night when I noticed that this doll had apparently had enough and was trying to take the easy way out by ending it all in a Wiggles block. I don't know if Toot put her there or she just kinda ended up like this but it really creeped me out. LOL

And there you have it, another Friday Night Fab Five comes to an end...how sad! :D Do you like the simple things in life?

Have a great weekend!

Giving Thanks and Eating Everything In Sight

2009-11-25T10:28:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Toot and I took a little road trip to pick up my mom who is staying with us during the Thanksgiving holiday and today is all about cleaning, prepping and crafting for the big day tomorrow! Woo hoo, Thanksgiving is H-E-R-E!

What Am I Thankful For?

My family, friends and all of you fabulous bloggers for making me laugh, cry and drool over your creations and vintage goodness!

I hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving or if you're outside of the States, have a great Thursday! lol

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Friday Night Fab Five from Family Album Six

2009-11-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone and welcome to another Friday Night Fab Five where I list 5 things that are super groovy. Actually this week I was going to post these family pictures in a separate post but I could only get 5 picture safely out of the sixth album (freakishly strong picture eating glue for jerks) so I figured, Friday Night Fab Five family style, why not?

So time once again for some pictures from our Family Vault (i.e. the box in our den) and if you're just joining us you can read about these albums and see the first one HERE, the second one is HERE, the third album is HERE, the fourth album is HERE and the fifth is HERE.

And as always: I'm sure it goes without saying that these pictures are not to be posted anywhere or used in any way without express permission from me. Period. I can be contacted at katamommy at gmail.com. I promise I don't bite! :D

Have a great weekend everyone!

This Is The Post That Never Ends...

2009-11-18T01:24:00.006-05:00

Hmmmm...I think I've used this title before...

Anyhoo, y'all just strap yourselves in cause this post is going to be all over the place! I'm tired and getting a little loopy so there's no telling what will happen in the next few paragraphs. You've been warned...

Creatively speaking, I do have some things going on behind the scenes here but what I've been working on isn't something I can share quite yet. I'm hoping it can be something I can actually sell so I've got to figure all that out before I say anything.

I also have to apologize for not getting around to all of your fabulous blogs lately like I used to, I have just been going through it lately and I honestly have been trying to keep up with everything!

So y'all ready? Alright, here we go!

First of all, the fabulous Jessica from Chronically Vintage awarded me (yes, me) the Over the Top award.

Now just what is so over the top about my blog pray tell? Hmmmm, actually I guess that is me, eh? Anyhoo, now I get to delight you all with a plethora of one word answers (I'm suppose to only use one word answers so we'll see how this works...) so here we go!

1. Where is your cell phone? Beside Me...wait, that's two words. Crap, now it's 6 words. Crap!

2. Your hair? Brown

3. Your mother? Short

4. Your father? Funny

5. Your favorite food? Chocolate

6. Your dream last night? I dreamed I was in an English village and one of the dancers got sick and I had to fill in and did an Irish dance. Why I was doing an Irish dance in England I don't know but I was awesome. (Final Word Count: 42? I lost count.)

7. Your favorite drink? Diet Coke (Now how can I make that one word?!)

8. Your dream/goal? To answer the rest of these questions with only one word answers. Wait...crap!

9. What room are you in? Den (Ha! That's just one word!)

10. Your hobby? Answering tag/award questions with one word answers.

11. Your fear? That I'll never answer a question with just one word.

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Anywhere.

13. Where were you last night? What are you, a cop?

14. Something that you aren’t? I aren't good at following directions.

15. Muffins? Uh...pie?

16. Wish list item? 3 wishes, which I would then use to wish for more wishes.

17. Where did you grow up? Wait, I'm suppose to grow up?

18. Last thing you did? Typed "Wait, I'm suppose to grow up?"

19. What are you wearing? None of your beeswax, perv!

20. Your TV? Yes, it's mine.

21. Your pets? No, those I stole.

22. Friends? Love my sarcastic nature...don't you? DON'T YOU?!

23. Your life? "And it's now or never...I ain't gonna live forever!"

24. Your mood? Full of much sassafras.

25. Missing someone? Why? Holy crap, are you in my house?!?!

26. Vehicle? I wish I could operate my car with my feet like the Flintstones. I bet I could lose a lot of weight doing that...

27. Something you’re not wearing? My heart on my sleeve. Oh wait, no it's there...my mistake!

28. Your favorite store? Thrift

29. Your favorite color? Glitter

30. When was the last time you laughed? A minute ago when I typed, "'Typed "Wait, I'm suppose to grow up?'"

31. Last time you cried? Right about now...there are a lot of questions here...

32. Your best friend? Thinks I'm funny.

33. One place that I go to over and over? Um...I don't know you personally but I'm going to guess you like to go to the dentist.

34. One person who emails me regularly? Dude, I don't know...um, I'm going to guess your dentist. Is that right?

35. Favorite place to eat? Sushi *drool* (No, "*drool*" means an action so that doesn't count as a word!)

Thanks for the tag Jessica, I hope you don't mind me having some fun with it. :D Next up, the amazing Roo from Roo's Treehouse hit me up with the Honest Scrap award

and now I have to list 10 Things I Hate About You...wait, no I think I'm suppose to put down things about me that you didn't know...or maybe they're suppose to be things you did know...wait...what do I do with this one? Crap, hang on a second, let me go back to Roo's blog...

...

Oh duh, 10 honest things about me. That makes sense I guess. Okay here we go...

*deep breath*

1. There is no way I think I'm going to be able to come up with 10 things for this list.

2. Toot's asleep and I kinda wanna go wake her up just to see her smile.

3. I bet if I went and woke Toot up she'd scream and that would kinda ruin my whole "see her smile" plan.

4. I get frustrated when I can't get something right the first time I try it. Try try again my butt.

5. I figure if it makes me laugh, it will make other people laugh. I'm pretty sure you should all be crying right now from laughing so hard.

6. If you're not laughing right now, please don't tell me. I will get my feelings hurt.

7. I wish I had time to play video games as much as I used to. That part of being a parent sucks.

8. I really have to go to the bathroom but I'm determined to get this post finished first.

9. I'm wondering if anyone is actually reading any of this. Let's find out, all those reading this right now and not just skimming this freakishly long post, include the words "rubber baby buggy bumpers" in your comment. I cannot wait to see what happens with that.

10. Yes! 10 things! In your face blog award!

Thanks so much for including me Roo! I hope I did you proud! :D

And for all of your patience with my sleep starved attempt at comedy, here's your prize, a pictures of Toot. (Aren't you the lucky one?) Here she is with cake up her nose at her birthday party last month:

And here she is eating right off of Nana's plate:

Have a great day everyone!

Tis the Season to Gain Weight! Fa la la la la, la la la la!

2009-11-16T10:11:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness y'all, Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK! Holy smokes this is so exciting! This time last year, Toot was just over a month old and no fun at all. ;) j/k lol But this year she'll be able to eat with us and then pass out with us! Yes!

Here's Toot during last year's Thanksgiving:

I love trying out new recipes anytime but around the holidays is when I do my major recipe hunts. I'm usually glued to Food Network in an attempt to find new things to try and I'm still captivated by the same holiday specials that they repeat year after year after year, most especially Sandra Lee's Thanksgiving one where she make those onion tartlet things and Paula Deen's Thanksgiving where they make that turkducken and that yuck looking oyster dressing. lol she also makes Sweet Potato Balls which I tried one year, I always try a new sweet potato recipe for Thanksgiving day (I haven't found the perfect one!)

So what was saying? Sheesh I even lose my train of thought when I blog...uh...

Oh right! So anyway my point is that I love finding new recipes, I love this time of year and I L-O-V-E that I can save money on cookbooks by trying out recipes y'all are kind enough to post on your blogs! lol So thank you! :D I thought I'd share a couple of the ones that I have tried and love love love!

Thanks to Joanna at The Fifty Factor, I found the perfect recipe for Hard Boiled Eggs at Jane at the Garden Gate.

Thanks to Traci at Her Hillbilly Highness, I have a recipe for a fabulous Corn Casserole and trust me, this one is super quick and tastes awesome!

Thanks to Julie at A Vintage Chic, I now have something to serve for Thanksgiving breakfast: Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes and they are amazing!

And this one is a "thanks in advance" for just this morning I found a recipe for Pumpkin Swirl Brownies from Sassy Radish which I haven't tried out yet but believe me, I will make these A.S.A.P.!

And just for fun, once I get control of the Sewing Machine That Hates Me and Refuses to Let Me Sew On It, I am going to sew me up some felt goodies like this lunch set from Skip To My Lou.

So I have to ask: who out there has the perfect sweet potato recipe? It could be traditional with marshmallows or totally different or whatever, I just need a new recipe to try this Thanksgiving, help! lol :D

Friday Night Fab Five: My Blog Is Alive...With The Sound of Music

2009-11-13T17:00:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone and welcome to another Friday Night Fab Five! I felt a little guilty bumming y'all out last week so this week is all about making you smile on this Friday the 13th...

:) <-----See? When I was a kid, I got into musicals in a major way. Which my mom started to hate because I would walk around singing the songs for days after watching one of them. (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was banned from our house for about 2 years because of my incessant singing. :D) I was watching a special on the history of musicals and I got that feeling again: the musical number chills. You know when a song or dance number is special because you get those "chills" and you can't quit smiling for a week. Anytime I'm down, I know I can turn to musicals which funny enough, is a large reason how they came to be in the first place: to give Americans a way to temporarily escape from The Depression. I'm lucky enough to be going with a friend to the theater this Sunday to see a matinee of "South Pacific" and I can't wait! I've only seen two musicals in person: "Guys and Dolls" and "Mama Mia" (Please please please see Mama Mia on the stage and NOT the movie version! *shudder*) Anyhoo, these Five hold a special place in my heart because they were a big part of my childhood, even if I wasn't around when they first came out. I could have named this post the "Friday Night Fab 100" but I tried to keep myself to only choosing those songs I remember specifically driving my folks nuts with singing around the house. :D 1. "America" - West Side Story West Side Story was HUGE for me. I knew every song, every dance, every line, every THING about this musical. I watched this number over and over so many times I would dance it in my living room and to this day it gets me tapping my toes. We used one of the songs for our wedding, I still sing "I Feel Pretty" whenever I have a good hair day and I don't care what you say...dancing gangs are awesome.

2. "Singin' In The Rain" - Singin' In The Rain

Oh boy, another big one. The whole movie is enchanting but this number in particular never fails to inspire me. I love this movie so much and I always sing "Good Morning" to Toot every morning when I go in to get her. :D

3. "On the Street Where You Live" - My Fair Lady

I never understood why Eliza would go for Higgins when she could have had this pretty boy. lol I remember watching this movie and thinking how romantic it would be if someone sang this song about me. lol And I totally wanted to wear Hepburn's ball gown as my wedding dress (but I hated her hair in that scene as a kid for some reason, lol).

4. "Pure Imagination" - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

They made us watch this movie in school every year and I would be glued to the TV if I knew it was on (much to my mother's consternation). This song and Gene Wilder's performance of it will be magical to me until the day I die. I worshiped this movie as a kid, lol. Maybe that's why I never got into Burton's version...

5. "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" - White Christmas

Christmas time or no, my best friend and I wore this video tape O-U-T. (Yes children, there weren't always DVDs. lol) The musical numbers in this movie are out of this world and the whole thing just works. I always loved the thought of letting the music carry you away...

And because I can't stand not including this one too, my Fab Five honorable mention:

"I've Got a Golden Ticket" - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I know I'm doubling up here on this movie but this song is so fun and inspiring to me. Anytime you're having a great day (especially after having a crappy day), it just feels like you've won the best prize and this song embodies that feeling for me.

Well, there you have it! Another Friday Night Fab Five has come to a close. *sniff* Like I said, I could have mentioned SO many more musicals that mean so much to me...Oklahoma, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, State Fair, Showboat...Do you enjoy musicals? What are your favorites?

Have a great weekend everyone! :D

Yesterday, All My Projects Seemed So Far Away...

2009-11-11T01:24:00.000-05:00

So much happened yesterday that I had to wait a whole day before telling you about any of it! lol

First of all, yesterday was Sesame Street's 40th anniversary. Holy cow, this show has been going strong for 40 years!

I loved watching Grover teach about near and far:

And I L-O-V-E-D the skits where Grover was a waiter:

Toot turned 13 months old yesterday and she is now officially over the one year mark, yikes! Speaking of which, when do you stop counting months and just say "one year old"? This extra months + 12 months thing is confusing...lol.

Yesterday I watched "The Edge of Love" with Keira Knightly and is was...eh. But it took place during WWII which leads me to say....

Thank you to all veterans every where for your invaluable service and sacrifice! I appreciate you keeping me free! :D

Also yesterday I finished my Christmas tree skirt! This pattern was actually pretty easy and luckily I was able to crochet on auto-pilot for a good while which is always appreciated (you can't really do that in amigurumi! lol). It was raining here yesterday so the pics aren't great but here it is, with and without the flash (I'm sure you will all notice the sneaky arm in the bottom right corner. Mommy's little shadow! lol):

Now on to the next project! Happy Veteran's Day everyone!

Family Pictures: Album Five

2009-11-09T01:24:00.002-05:00

First of all, concerning my last post that included some Renaissance Festival pictures...did anyone else notice (besides Carmen lol) that Twig the Fairy HERSELF commented on my post?!?! HOLY SMOKES! Coolest thing ever! lol Thanks for your comment Miss Twig! :D

So it is time once again for some pictures from our Family Vault (i.e. the box in our den) and if you're just joining us you can read about these albums and see the first one HERE, the second one is HERE, the third album is HERE and the fourth album is HERE.

Album Five is a little sad. Not because the pictures are not as fabulous as the others but 90% of the pictures are so stuck to the pages due to the evil picture eating glue in these types of albums that I couldn't safely get a lot of them out. Thus, there aren't as many pictures to share with you today unfortunately! :( That being said, this album was so delightful and full of treasures, I hope you enjoy them!

And as always: I'm sure it goes without saying that these pictures are not to be posted anywhere or used in any way without express permission from me. Period. I can be contacted at katamommy at gmail.com. I promise I don't bite! :D

Have a fabulous week everyone! :D

Some Random Huzzahs!

2009-11-07T19:12:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Ye Old Post of Random Yore!

First things first, for all of you scrappers out there:

Vicki is holding a HUGE giveaway over at her blog: Texas Scrap Addict and like I said, it...is...HUGE! So get on over there and enter for your chance to win, tell her Maggi sent ya! :D Click HERE to see her giveaway post!

Don't believe me? Check out the grand prize:

Told you so! Click to make it bigger, you'll pee yourself when you see everything up for grabs! lol

I've already watched "A Christmas Story" about 10 times and it's not even Christmas yet. Well I can't help it! I love it! lol PLUS some of the local radio stations are playing Christmas music this weekend, yay! lol

Anyhoo, last weekend we made another trip to the Renaissance Festival and had a blast! Here are some random pics for your looking pleasure...

We saw the Green Man:

And Twig the Fairy:

A glass blowing demonstration:

And then we saw The Cheerio With A Strong Will To Live:

Here's some randomies:

Plus, a friend we were with got hypnotized and it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E! lol

I hope y'all are all having a fabulous weekend! :D

Friday Night Fab Five: Bummer

2009-11-06T17:00:00.005-05:00

Thank you for all of the compliments on my bird mobile, they are so appreciated! Someone pointed out that it was a Twitter mobile and the more I thought about it, the more I realized they were right! lol

Anyhoo, welcome to another Friday Night Fab Five where I list Five things I am into, at least for this week. Now this Friday Night Fab Five is going to be quite different from previous Fives because I'm going to focus on movies that are total bummers.

Maggi, I'm bummed just reading this post, what is going on?

Well, give me a minute and I'll tell you!

First off, you need to know this about me: 1. I hate spoilers and try to avoid them at all costs. I like to be totally surprised by everything, good or bad, a movie may offer me. And 2. I HAVE to have a happy ending. None of this dead person, unrequited crap. I want happy, I need happy. (I'm still mad at "Mrs. Doubtfire" for not getting the parents back together in the end and I've never forgiven Cameron for killing off Jack in "Titanic". I mean come on, take turns on the door or grab some dead persons raft or SOMETHING Leonardo, sheesh! Yes yes, I know that this is not realistic or "real life" but I don't care...

Okay, so we have Netflix and I started just throwing a bunch of stuff in our queue that looked interesting or that I hadn't seen yet. I started getting a little depressed and it was about my third movie in that I realized that everything I had watched either had a sad ending, was totally depressing or just plain sucked. It was then that I knew I was destined to highlight the best of the saddest for you, my fine readers.

A little note: 1. Just because I was bummed by these movies does NOT mean they aren't worth watching. I thought they were all good. 2. Yes, this may make me an awful person but if a movie or documentary is super sad, I LOVE showing it to friends and family without telling them anything about it ahead of time or what's going to happen. Don't ask me why I think it's fun to bum the people I love out but there it is...

So do you have your tissues? Great, on we go! (Feel free to click the movie titles to go to their Wikipedia page, just be aware of spoilers if you've not seen them yet!)

1. Phoebe in Wonderland

Ah yes, the first in a long list of sad and/or upsetting movies that I accidently watched all in a row. First of all, there is the word "Wonderland" in the title, how can that be bad? Then the opening sequence has these seemingly cool parents giving their daughter this mixed media hand made Wonderland thing-a-ma-jig. Then the movie makes this weird turn and the delightful Wonderland movie I was expecting turns into something completely different.

2. How Green Was My Valley

I had recently finished Maureen O'Hara's autobiography and she spoke often of this movie so I decided to check it out. This is a black and white drama about a Welsh family of coalminers and it is a bummer. People dying or leaving or doing goodness knows what else.

3. Revolutionary Road

Ahhh finally! A movie set in the 50s could never betray me right? RIGHT?! Holy smokes talk about a train wreck of a marriage suffocating the life out of it's occupants and the innocent people (i.e.-ME) watching them! Mother of pearl, this was a sad piece from one end to the other. But it was nice seeing DiCaprio and Winslet together again!

4. Atonement

For the love of...Are you kidding me?! This movie about A Girl Who Sees Something is an excellent movie. That being said, come on! Seriously? What a downer! Plus, the ending you don't see coming?! Double Downer! Sidenote: I am admittedly not a huge fan of Keira Knightly but she is quite good in this movie.

And finally....the Queen of All That is Depressing *drum roll*

5. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

This one is worse because it's true. This is actually a documentary and it will rip the heart out of your chest. A film maker is told that a childhood friend is killed and so he decides to travel around the country, interviewing family and friends to create a movie of sorts for his friend's son so that he may know something of his father. What results is mind boggling and I wholeheartedly suggest you watch this movie ASAP.

And on that note, here passes another Friday Night Fab Five! :D If you've seen any of these, I would love to hear your thoughts! (Just no spoilers please, just in case others want to watch them. :) Have a sad movie you want me to check out? Just leave it in your comment!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Of Birds and Birthdays...

2009-11-04T11:09:00.000-05:00

Today is a VERY special day because:

1. It is Callista's birthday! Woooooo hoooooo! I met Callista through her blog, Down the Rabbit Hole and have only known her a short while through posts and e-mails but I consider her a very great friend and want to wish her the best of birthdays today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALLISTA!

And 2. I'm finally getting around to showing you my fully completed amigurumi bird mobile! I got the pattern from the book Amigurumi Two! by Ana Paula Rimoli. The patterns are a little more advanced than her first book but there are so many cute things to make from this book.

If you're new to crochet or know a stitch or two but would like to get into amigurumi, I wholeheartedly suggest getting Ana's first book Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet. She has good illustrations and explanations of stitches and I've found her patterns to be the easiest to understand if you're just starting out.

Anyhoo, here's my finished mobile and I apologize for the pictures. I made this for Chris' aunt's birthday and didn't take pictures of it until I got ready to pack it up in the middle of the night to ship to her the next day. By the way: really enjoy these pictures because I will NEVER make this project again, it took F-O-R-E-V-E-R! lol Lots of pieces, sewing together and what not...

So yes, this thing is huge and it took forever, lol. But I am quite pleased with the result and I hope his aunt likes it! :D

Have a great day everyone!

I'm a Renaissance (Wo) man, huzzah!

2009-11-03T11:09:00.000-05:00

First I'd like to say that this post is extremely picture and video heavy! You've been warned. :D

I know that this post is running a little late as we took our first trip to the local Renaissance Festival a couple of weeks ago but in my defense, it took You Tube that long to upload all of the videos. Every year for the past 6 or 7 years we've gone to the Renaissance Festival for my birthday. I enjoy going so much and if you've never been to one, you are really missing out! So many talented performers and artists milling around, it is awesome!

Here's Toot and I before leaving the house. I'm wearing my vintage 50's hat that is covered in acorns.

We usually eat first thing when we get there and Chris got his usual fare: the Scotch Egg. (A hard boiled egg, wrapped in sausage and then deep fried)

My mom and her best friend dressed up for the occasion.

We watched some Royals dancing in the street:

It's was pretty cold that day but luckily Toot did not mind her hat and mittens.

She loved watching anything with music. She liked the harp:

And she really loved watching the belly dancers (who actually had bellies thank you very much! In your face Society!)

Here's my mom with Toot.

We saw Dexter Tripp juggling a chainsaw:

Then he balanced on a rope:

This little guy was in the petting zoo and apparently he loves getting his picture taken because he jumped right up on the fence to pose for me.

Toot enjoying her lunch with Nana:

Here's Toot and Nana doing God only knows what but it made Toot laugh so...

We all had a great time and it was much better than last year (Toot was a month old, I had brought her formula but no bottle AND I wasn't able to breast feed to needless to say, Toot did NOT have a good time!) lol But this year was fun and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Costumes of Halloween Past

2009-10-31T18:18:00.001-04:00

There's not a lot going on here for Halloween this year so I thought I'd drop in and share some of my costumes from years past. Somehow I could only find 3 pictures from childhood and 2 pics from my Corporate America phase. lol Ah well, here they are anyway!

All the way from 1978, I was a...what is that? A bear I guess? This was definitely one of those costumes in a box you could get at the drugstore. I miss costumes in boxes...

This was 1979 and my favorite costume when I was a kid. We didn't have a lot of money growing up so Mom paired my Wonder Woman Underoos with a Wonder Woman mask and my red rain boots and voila, instant super hero!

I think this was 1982...again, not much money so this fabulous costume was holes cut in a sheet with a lipstick mouth and my Easter hat...ta da! Lady ghost!

So for my first Halloween in the corporate world, I was so excited to find out that all the departments dressed up and I was all about being a fairy. Then I found out that each department picked a different theme and ours was military...what the what? So I put together this military fairy thing, complete with wings, camo shirt, fishnets, black boots, glitter belt and fake grenades...tell me I can't be a fairy, huh!

This one is my absolute favorite costume of all time. The next year I made sure to organize our department's Halloween so I could pick the theme. I went with Time Warp. Muwahahahaha I was having trouble deciding what I wanted to go as and I ran across this cigarette girl costume. When I got it home, I realized that it was the cheapest ugliest thing in the world except for the fake cigarette box carrier thing that came with it. So I kept the box, threw the rest away and came up with my own thing. This costume is totally not period correct but whatever, I loved it! I even found stocking with the seam up the back and wore a short red wig. My mom made the hat for me out of a paper box from Michael's. The rest were just pieces from my closet I put together.

Ah, sweet memories...do you have a favorite costume from your costume-y past?

Happy Halloween and/or Happy Harvest everyone!

Friday Night Fab Five: Random Fabulousness

2009-10-30T17:00:00.000-04:00

Heyyyyyy youuuuuu guuuuuuuuuuuuuyyyyyyyys! (Goonies...hee hee)

Welcome to another Friday Night Fab Five! This week we're going random again, don't you just love it? I am all about some random so let's jump right in!

1. PaperBack Swap

Believe it or not, before I started playing video games and putting glitter on everything in site, I was a reader. lol I still read but the price of (new) books is getting nuts. Enter PaperBackSwap.com. I just learned of this site and instantly fell in love! You basically swap books with other people and they are totally free. All you pay is postage for the book that you send to someone else. They have a TON of books available and I found a couple of out-of-print celeb bios I had been looking for, huzzah! (I'm also going to use this site to get Toot some books, kids books are SO freaking expensive!) This looks like a great way to get rid of some book clutter and save money adding to my library. Click the logo above to check it out!

2. Kristen Bell

Photo from People.com

She was great as the cheater in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, she was awesome as "one of the boys" in Fanboys and she was amazing in Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical. Plus, she was the ONLY thing good about the second season of Heroes. Kristen Bell is cute, fun and I bet she would be a blast to hang out with!

3. Awesome T-shirts

As a stay at home mom, there's no real reason to hang out in my suits and dress pants from Days of Corporate Yore. My current favorite every day outfit is jeans (complete with my Assets ;) and a rocking t-shirt. I adore this one from Loyal Army.

4. Retro Inspired Appliances

Ah, my dream kitchen...Some things you can buy "vintage" and they last for years. I'm pretty sure appliances don't work that way. So what's a vintage-lovin' gal to do? Get appliances from Elmira Stove Works of course!

Elmira's Northstar line includes fridges, microwaves, stoves and dishwasher panels AND you can choose from NINE different colors including PINK. Um...yes please! The only problem? Money, my friend. It cost money to look this awesome unfortunately. *sigh* Time to save pennies to get these babies...they'll look good in my retirement home at least! :P

5. Hairstyling...Vintage Style!

I love love love this book by Lauren Rennells. Vintage Hairstyling is a must-have if you're looking for how-tos on vintage hairstyles. She covers styles from the 20's to the 70's and I love the variety. She also has a section on make-up and tools needed for the styles (she makes a point to list modern hair products and appliances to make it as easy as possible). The book site is HERE and you can check out Lauren's blog HERE.

So that's all for this week's Friday Night Fab Five Blog-Post-O-Random-Rama! Tomorrow is Halloween, Sunday we're going back to the Renaissance Festival (I still need to post pics and videos from the first time we went, yikes!) so it should be a fun weekend! What are your plans? Do share with the entire class! :D

Have a great Friday Night everyone!

Circle Journaling, Now With 100% More Cannibalism!

2009-10-29T12:13:00.000-04:00

This time around on the Gauche Alchemy Circle Journal...uh...circle, I got a chance to work in a very special journal that belongs to my good friend Callista. I knew this would be a fun CJ to work in because 1. I like Callista and 2. Callista likes cupcakes. Not surprisingly, the theme of her journal is "Cupcakes"...how fun!

Except that...I was viciously attacked by that nasty beast: Artist Block. Boo! Hiss! Come on Artist Block, really? Give me a break! Grrrrr...

So I thought and I schemed and I planned and I racked my brain trying to make my entry in Callista's CJ the best...but what would make it the best? What could I do with sweet sugary fairy cakes that hadn't already been done? What could I do? WHAT?!

Wait a minute! I know! I can't believe I didn't see this before...duh! Everyone knows that cupcakes are known cannibals. It's in their nature...their delicious delicious nature...

Naughty naughty little cupcake!

These pages were fairly simple. I made the "bitemark" with my trusty office hole punch. I glued dictionary pages to the chipboard and I noticed the words "bitchy bite" on the right hand side and that got me thinking about the devious nature of cupcakes. Sure, they taste good but then they move to your stomach and thighs and refuse to leave! Stupid delicious sons of...ANYWAY, I added some acrylic paint and sequins and pieced together the cupcakes from patterned paper and cardstock scraps. Some Stickles and my label maker and woo hoo! Cupcake Cannibals! (Not to be confused with Cupcake Cannabis...TOTALLY different thing!)

hee hee