Have you ever forgotten your Joann's coupon . . .

. . . and felt like a silly girl? I mentioned in my last post that I bought some fabric on Saturday to make a quilt. I cut the squares out, layed it out on the floor to determine the size and decided to make it a little bigger. So I went back to Joann's on Monday to pick up the extra fabric and to get the backing fabric. On Saturday everything I picked up was on sale for 30% off. I thought the sale lasted through the end of the month. Nope - it was over on Saturday. No big deal, I have a coupon. Nope - the ones I had expired on Saturday. So here I was at Joann's paying full price for a 5 yard cut of $8.00 fabric (I needed to get the backing fabric). UGH. When I got back to work I check the paper and there was a 40% coupon. I called Joann's and they said they would honor the coupon. All I had to do was bring in my receipt and the coupon. Bang - $15.00 back in my purse!! Just wanted to let you know that it was possible. There is my public service annoucement for the day!

Sneak Peak

Here are the fabrics that I am working on for my next quilt. My Pat and I went to Joann's on Saturday night to pick fabrics. He has a better eye for colors than I. I think I drove him a little crazy though. I went in looking for reds and blacks, them leaned towards teal and browns before settling on these purples. Now I am not claiming to be a quilter after the couple of animal quilts I made for my grandkids, but I do enjoy sewing. I will keep you updated on my progress.

Happy Birthday Arianna!

Today was Arianna's birthday and she chose to go to Disneyland's California Adventure with a friend. We got to come along just cause we are family. What a cutie patooie she is.
The girls all had their faces painted and the guy did such a wonderful job.
We finished the day at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner and volcano for desert.

Baby's Got New Shoes

I have never been a shoe whore. Maybe because I am cheap and don't care to spend a lot of money on shoes. (There are after all some scrapbooking supplies that I don't own yet!) I usually just go to Payless and pick up a pair for under $20. I NEEDED a new pair of black flats for work - I showed my old pair to Patrick and he was embarrassed for me. So today was the day to get a few new outfits and new shoes. I got these. They fit ok and they will look nice with dress pants. Price point - under $30.00. While I was waiting for the sales lady to bring out my size, the lady next to me was trying these pretties on. I fell in love with them so I asked her to bring them in my size as well. I have to tell you, they are soo comfortable. I love them. Price point - $60 but after I tried them on and love the way the feel on my feet - I said SOLD!

Christina was telling me that Coach (the purse manufacture) now has shoes! I did take a look inside the Coach store and saw them. They had a pair of tennies for $98 but they had no support - oh and then there was the fact that they were ugly. They also had a pair of sandles for $188. Um - don't need them. $60 was more than enough to spend on shoes, thank you very much.

Planting

Spring is definitely in the air here in Southern California. We are loving life with the 80* weather. So it was time to get the tomatoes in the ground and growing!! I had gone to the Home Depot to get the plants but they didn't have a large selection. One of the plants I got was called a Bradley tomato! I had to get that one in honor of myBFF Heather!! I will have to visit another nursery to get some fresh basil to plant.



I also bought some spring color for the front walk in the form of a few Gerber Daisy's and some Iris's.

My Poor Bailey

Bailey has been limping for a few weeks now. A couple weeks back we took him into the vet to be checked out. (Bailey has blown out both knees over the past year and had surgery on them both.) The doctor wasn't sure if his body is now rejecting the plates in his knees or if he has a back problem. He was scheduled for an MRI Friday. We took him in at 6:00am and we received the call before 9:00. He didn't do well with the anesthesia. His blood pressure went way down, his heart rate went way up and his temperature went up as well. They couldn't stabilize him so the stopped the procedure. We will try again in two weeks. The poor kid is still limping and must be in alot of pain. Ugh - what's a parent to do? This picture was taken this morning. You can see where they shaved his legs to put the IV's in.

Skin Cancer Scare

I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for a few bumps I noticed. We made an appointment for me to come back and have one of them cut out. Good news is, I went back yesterday and she decided the best course of action for now was to burn them off with a little liquid nitrogen. She also noticed a few on my arm that she burned off as well. This is all due to not wearing enough sun screen in my younger years.

The Letter W

Sherry, my friend from down under, is putting together an A B C book for a young man who suffered a near drowning accident. They have determined that he can see and since the eye responds best to black, white and red colors, she asked the scrapbooking community to put together a little book to help stimulate his mind. This is my page. I am not sure if you can tell, but on all the red pieces, I embossed them using my Cuttlebug folders (note to self - buy more Cuttlebug embossing folders) My prayers go with this page to little Josh.

La Petite Maison Blanc

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to attend La Petite Maison Blanc. It was an event put on by the ever gracious Kim in Los Angeles. We made three different projects.
This first class was a garland class by Pam Garrison. Another one of the classes was taught by Teresa McFayden. We crafted using metal making a Melagro.The last class was a canvas house vignette.I also participated in one of the many swaps. My swap was the Key to My Heart swap. This it the lovely piece I received.And this is the lovely work of art that I crafted.

It was a great day spent with old friends and meeting many new ladies.

Happy Birthday Amara

Yesterday was Amara's birthday. She turned the big "3"! Earlier in the day she went to Disneyland to celebrate with Mickey then she celebrated with family and that other mouse - Chuck E Cheese in the evening!The kids (and Christina) played in the tubes and played some games
Of course there were presents for the birthday girl!We ate pizza.And drank beer (well not all the people drank a beer - but some you wouldn't have thought)!and then they rode more rides.And grandma handed over the camera to get a picture with the birthday girl. Happy Birthday Amara - you are loved!

The View from my Window (at work)

Air Force One flew over my building at work today carrying President Obama. His plane landed at Long Beach Airport. He then flew Marine One to the Orange County Fairgrounds to speak his words of wisdom to the citizens of the OC. I caught a shot of the the helicopters as they landed at the fairgrounds. There were actually three helicopters in the detail, but of course, only one of them was Marine One. (ok - this isn't actually the view from MY window, rather the window of the conference room here at work)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Top o' the mornin to ya. I wanted to wish ya'll a Happy St. Patrick's Day as we are all a little bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day!! (And don't forget to wear a wee bit o' green so you don't get pinched!!)

Look Who's Now One!

Yep, Baby Mandre is now one year old!!
Isn't he just the cat's meow??
And the girls are getting soo big. Where does the time go?

Reflections - The Premiere Scrapbook Event of the Year

Are you registered for the Primiere Scrapbook Event of the Year? Reflections will be held May 1st - 3rd in Newport Beach, CA. Seriously ladies, this event is not to be missed. I was talking to Karen today(one of team of ladies putting this event on) and she let me in on some of the really cool plans they have up their sleeves. She will be sharing more information on the Reflections Blog over the next few days.

Want to learn more about photography? Jamie Waters will be doing a cool photography class that will be very interactive.

And here is a picture of the class that the talented Stephanie Ackerman will be teaching!
There are few spots left, grab yours while you can!

San Diego Scrapbook Weekend

This past weekend I went down to San Diego to attend the Scrappin Escape weekend get away. If you get a chance to attend one of her crops, I would so recomend it. I was able to finish the album we started on the scrapbook cruise Heather B and I went on last June. The base of the album was designed by Candice Carpenter and I added a few bits here and there, my pictures and journaling this past weekend. I love how it came out.