Sunday Sunset #20

Book finished: Fairest Vol. 1; Bel Canto; Firelight; Fairest Vol. 2

Reading: Fairest: In All the Land

On the Nightstand: Various craft centered books

Making Lists: Blog to-dos... I finally bought the Spark Ecourse, but of course i am behind.  I need to schedule out 30 minutes to complete my blog tasks.

Around the house: We spent about 2 hours the other day and did a major clean of the house.  Of course, within 30 minutes it was messy again.  Typical.

From the kitchen: I tried a recipe for easy beef tips that went over well with J but not at all with the twins.  That seems typical.

Watching: Lots of Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Big O.  I did watch the documentary about finding Richard III's skeleton under a parking lot in England.  Fascinating!

Wondering: How to fit all our summer activities and regular baby activities into the next 10 days?

Project: Other than the Spark Ecourse, I am hoping to participate in a few card challenges and read more this coming week.  Those goals don't seem that big and scary, but somehow I know that this will be a struggle.

Picture: Love the look...

Sunday Sunset #19

Book finished: Silent in the Grave; Locke and Key #6; Fables Vol. 19

Reading: Fairest Vol. 1; Bel Canto

On the Nightstand: A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby; Firelight by Kristin Callihan; Fairest Vol. 2

Making Lists: Grocery lists, blogs posts to complete, picture books to read, potential dresses to wear to two fall weddings, recipes to try, blog post ideas, remaining summer to-dos, house chores, card challenges to complete.  Yeah, it's been a listing kind of week.

Around the house: It's a never-ending battle with crap on the floor.  I'll clean the living room, get a glass of water, and when I return, it's a disaster again.  I live constantly with Hurricane Arthur.

Watching: We finished Cowboy Bebop this past week.  Holy cow!  What an ending!  But I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the show.  After Cowboy, we watch The Empire Strikes Back and Star Trek: The Voyage Home.  We then started The Big O to continue with our anime series.  I finally finished S1 of Reign and caught up on my random short videos.  Now to catch up on The Daily Show...

Wondering: Why can I never get 5 full minutes of silence?  Oh wait, I remember.  I have three boys...

From Nature: While various other parts of the country experienced storms for the Fourth, we had gorgeous clear skies with temps in the 70s.  The nice temperature made our pool part BBQ with an unheated pool actually enjoyable.  The water was much warmed than I thought it would be.  The twins and the babies (with some parents) swam while the adults drank beer and ate yummy BBQ chicken.  My kind of Fourth of July!

Project: I've embarked today on a major blog focus.  Right now I'm working about a day ahead on my two blogs.  Usually that's more like a week ahead for my weekly routine posts.  Because I'm not ahead like I should be, I've been having some mild panic attacks about the blog.  I even had a few nightmares!  I decided to schedule in some alone time at the coffeehouse to work on posts and back end organization.  I also signed up for the Spark e-course to help restart my creative flow.  I'll let you know how it goes...

Picture: Baby at the beach

Sunday Sunset #18

Listening To: Lots of Lithium and Octane on Sirius XM.  I've been feeling the harder rock lately.  Plus, I'm loving my 90s Alternative.  Takes me back to high school.

Book finished: Stranger Than Fiction

Reading: Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

On the Nightstand: Fairest, Locke and Key, Fables, A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby, business and crafting books...  July's TBR pile is looking very interesting!

Making Lists: Grocery. Projects (craft and life). Thoughts for July Co-op Board Meeting. Ideas for Co-op Summer Social.  Inventory of to-get-rid-of crafting supplies. 1000 Books Before Kindergarten books read and to be read. Lots and lots of lists like usual.

Around the house: Moving some things around due to destructo baby. cleaning out the pantry. Trying to decide on craft supply and kids' storage systems.  There's been a few project completed and a few thought about.

From the kitchen: I made my baked chicken parmesan this past week and the twins absolutely loved it.  Score one for mom!  They even requested the leftovers for lunch the next day.

On the Web: I've caught up on my Bloglovin' feed and am really delving into a few specific (detailed and long) posts about blogging, business, and creativity.  Really getting inspired for a new creative drive on my blogs.  Trying to form a new plan and execute phase one.  That sounds all crazy and exciting, but really it's just me getting back to being inspired about blogging.  I'm also debating about taking the Spark ecourse from Campfire Chic.  I feel like that just might give me the extra push I need to get moving again.

Watching: I finally finished S3 of Once Upon a Time.  It's been sitting on the server since it aired, but I just wasn't super excited to watch.  Now I know why.  I'm just about done with the show.  Too silly.  Too many deus ex machina events to keep the show alive.  Too annoying characters.  I may just quit the series with the end of S3.  As a family, we've been watching a ton of Cowboy Bebop and old Top Gear episodes.  I can get behind both of those shows.

Shopping Scores: I scored the motherload on Ebay last week.  I ended getting 5 boxes of baby boy clothes 18m - 4T for a ridiculous bargain price.  They came in the mail yesterday and I proceeded to wash everything.  Arthur is now set for clothes until at least spring.

Picture: First time driving across the Bay Bridge.  You can see the old bay bridge to the right of the new one.

Sunday Sunset #17

The littlest one came down with a nasty cold this week and we spent most of the week in doors being bored and cranky.  We had to forgo activities on Wed-Sun to allow him time to rest.  Hopefully everyone will feel good enough to go to the zoo tomorrow.  We really need to get out of here.

Book finished: Death in Yellowstone

Reading: Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk

On the Nightstand: Locke and Key #6; Fairest #1-3

Making Lists: Grocery...  Turns out my last trip failed to take into account how much everyone around here eats.  We've run out of a ton of essentials that was counting on for meals this coming week.  I feel a trip in my near future.

Around the house: Attempting to mitigate the tornado that is Arthur.  He's in to everything now and loves destroying things.  He finally found the DVD racks in the hallway and has lots of fun pulling the cases out.  Thankfully he's not allowed in the hallway very often.

Watching: We finished with Samurai Champloo last week, so we started Cowboy Bebop.  I must say that I love Radical Edward!  I also finally finished season 1 of The 100 and made some progress on Once Upon a Time (only 3 episodes to go).  Other than that, I been forced to watch entirely too much Digimon (the twins). And we have gotten the twins hooked on Top Gear (even I enjoy it!).

From Nature: It looks gorgeous out this week.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to leave the house with a sick cranky baby.

Project: Trying to get the little one's health back to normal.  Must get out of the house!

Picture: The twins trying to hide from their little brother.  He can't climb yet, but he can stand and yell at them...

Sunday Sunset #16

Book finished: Lost Lake; The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making; Grand Forks

Reading: TBD

On the Nightstand: Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk; The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Making Lists: Grocery lists, what else?

Around the house: Trying to keep up on my weekly chores.  I actually vacuumed the living room this past week while Arthur was sitting there.  Surprisingly he didn't cry at all.  He just watched me vacuum and then went to check it out when I turned the machine off.  This might help get stuff done...

Watching: J got the boys hooked on Samurai Champloo.  We finished the two seasons in about four days.  And now we've started Cowboy Bebop.  Guess we are becoming an anime household.

Wondering: How such a little body can hold so much food?  Arthur is little crazy pig pig at lunch lately.

From Nature: We turned off our air conditioning, but the temps decided to rise a bit towards the end of the week.  We contemplated turning it back on, but suffered through the slightly muggy temps.  Next week should be better.

Shopping Scores: Nothing super exciting.  I did pick up a stuffed caterpillar and indestructible book for Arthur at Bookasaurus.  The boys grabbed the first book in a new to them series.  Now I'm trolling Craigslist for good baby toy deals.

Project: Getting ready to start Week 3 of our summer adventure.  We still haven't decided our big events for the week.  The boys really need to decide...

Picture: Love the facial expression

Sunday Sunset #15

Listening To: Nina Simone Pandora channel.  Last night it went to Ray Charles and smooth jazz.  Usually it goes to her French period.  I love that every time we listen, we get something just a bit different.

Book finished: The Devil in the White City

Reading: Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

On the Nightstand: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland; The Beautiful and the Damned

Making Lists: Adding to the never-ending grocery list.  The boys have only been here for a few days and we're already out of apple juice.  N requested croissants.  And I would like more bagels.  I think we are going to have to make a cycle grocery run tomorrow.  I wanted to wait until next weekend, but I don't think we'll make it...

From the kitchen: Nothing too exciting.  I've been making twin friendly dinner meals this week.  (BBQ Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken, Ravioli, pizza night)  I have a few more interesting meals plans (tonight's Balsamic Glaze Pork Roast), but I'm trying to keep it simple for the summer.  Plus, I know we'll be tired after long days of activities.  I really don't want to cook some elaborate dish then.

Farmer's Market Finds: No market due to the Sunnyvale Art and Wine Festival this weekend.  The boys and I will be venturing down sometime today (I'm thinking after breakfast before it gets too hot) to check out the art and maybe grab a snack .

Watching: J started the twins on Samurai Champloo and they fell in love.  We watched the first season in two days and they keep begging to finish off the second season.  Even I'll admit that it's good.  We also watched the cleaned up version of Star Wars (no additions but cleaner images) and Captain America (so we can then watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier soon).  Other than those, we've been too busy to sit and watch a ton of television.

Shopping Scores: As soon as the twins arrived, we had to make a Target run to get sandals with backs on them (they came with crocs and flip flops).  While there, N picked up a pair of skinny jeans and a plaid button down for fall.  And both boys got new Minecraft tees.  I also found a cute military style jacket and gingham button down for Arthur.  I'm thinking those will be part of his wedding outfit for September's events.

Project: Summer bucket list!  We've already crossed three things off of our list.  Woohoo!

Picture: Watching the swings at Great America

Sunday Sunset #14

Book finished: Summer Rental; Tapestry of Fortunes

Reading: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

On the Nightstand: Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen; The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Making Lists: Last minute grocery list before the twins arrive on Tuesday.  I think I now have an entire month of meals planned out.  I plan to grocery shop every two weeks and only go again if we need milk or bread or something of the like.

Around the house: We finished our baby proofing last week and now I've just been tweaking things here and there.  Mostly moving collectibles and breakables.

From the kitchen: Nothing super exciting this week.  I did try a new pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe.  It was okay but some of the muffins stuck to the paper cups.  Ugh!

Watching: The Double; The Secret Life of Walter Mitty; Saving Mr. Banks; Lego Movie; Philomena; Lots of documentaries; Catching up with The 100; Binge watching Turn; Enjoying a bit of Phineas and Ferb with Arthur

Wondering: Am I missing something?  I filled out my weekly to-do list and keep feeling like I'm missing something big.

Project: I'm putting the finishing touches on our summer plans.  I've got the bucket list notebook prepped, meal plans readied, and bedroom put together.  I think we are ready to kick off summer right.

Picture: Arthur's new favorite trick is hands up!

Sunday Sunset #13

Being sick sucks!  J was sick for a week, Arthur and I are about to start week 3.  This cold is just hanging around...

Listening To: Random iTunes shuffle and Bastille's "Bad Blood" over and over and over.  So good!

Book finished: American Gods; The Strain; A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Reading: Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews

On the Nightstand: Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg; Devil in the White City by Erik Larson; Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk

Making Lists: Lots of lists this week

• Grocery and meal plan -- I'm pulling together a meal plan list for the entirety of summer.  Yes, I am a bit of an over planner.  And yet my list should make the summer go by a bit easier.
• SU wish list -- New catalog is live in just over a week...  I've got catalog highlighted with things I want, now to narrow down to a manageable wish list.
• Craft projects -- Trying to stay on top of swaps, blog hops, and occasions (birthdays, etc).
• Summer Bucket List -- Putting the finishing touches on our summer bucket list.  I'll be sharing what it looks like (hint: I used SU's Epic Day This and That journal to document) over at my craft blog soon.
• Baby-proofing -- A few last minute items (like what to do with the LEGO Millennium Falcon)

Around the house: Putting the finishing touches on our baby-proofing project.  The boys' room and living room are baby-proofed.  We're still debating about the short bookcase in the "hallway" between the kitchen counter and boys' room.  I just might clear it and make it a toy bookcase.  I even remembered to get J to lower Arthur's crib mattress.  He's almost pulling up to his feet and I was having nightmares of him flipping over the top of his crib.  He's now very far down and would have to actually climb the crib to get out.

From the kitchen: Made a few lackluster recipes that won't be added to our rotation.  However, I did finally find a sloppy joe recipe that I actually like.  I just need to add chili powder, basil, and oregano to the recipe.  Yum yum.

Watching: Lots of documentaries for my 30 days goal for May including Cosmos and Out of Egypt series.  A full list will appear in my June Life Goals post.

From Nature: After a couple of 90 degrees days, we're back to 75-83 degrees.  Love this weather!

Shopping Scores: I managed to make it to Target yesterday to stock up on things like toilet paper.  While there, I grabbed a few tees for me (always need great fitting tees to throw on) and a cute shorts outfit (with neon dino wearing sunglasses!), onesies that fit, and a hoodie for Arthur.  We should be set on clothes for him until fall (or until he has another huge growth spurt).

Project: Working on the craft blog and my SU demonstrator business.  Lots of work that will hopefully pay off in the near future.

Picture: Bopping himself on the face with his beloved Sophie while friend Luke looks on...

Sunday Sunset #12

Listening To: The Beatles channel on Pandora (Arthur loves him some Beatles)

Book finished: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?; Gentleman of Her Dreams

Reading: The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogen (readalong); Ember by Kristin Callihan

On the Nightstand: A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft; Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher; The Beautiful and the Damned by F Scott Fitzgerald; American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Making Lists: Meal plan and grocery list.  We are currently eating out of the freezer while I make a new meal plan.  Pulling some interesting recipes from Pinterest to try.

Around the house: After getting the house looking gorgeous for the crafting open house last week, it has slowly devolved into a mess.  My problem was that we were out and about almost every day this week.  Cleaning is the last thing I want to do after coming home from a long day of stuff.  Amazingly the kitchen is the one area that has been fairly clean.  Now to work on the laundry, bathrooms, office, and random toys everywhere.

Crafting: Tons and tons of crafting.  From now on, crafting posts will appear exclusively over at The Craft Sea.

Watching: Trying to catch up on our currently airing shows from whnen J was in Romania: Parks and Rec, Community, Portlandia, Castle, Elementary.  I'm also watching The Voice on Hulu.  J and picked up the new Hulu Original Deadbeat; has some potential.  Finally, I started watching The 100 from the CW.  Cheesy teen drama, but I'm actually enjoying it.

From Nature: Overall a lovely week.  Although I could have done without the two 90 degree days...

Shopping Scores: Lots and lots of crafting items bought.  I'll be highlight my craft supply haul over at The Craft Sea on next Sunday.

Project: Reorganizing and destashing the craft room.  I know I just reorganized the room about two months back, but I have so much new stuff that it needs a refresh.  Plus, I have the added need to separate out my retired and current SU products to use in potential classes and workshops.  So, I've been slowly working on a new storage configuration.  Also, I think I need to buy the SU Ink Pad Carousel to hold all my ink.  My current place of ink pads stacked into a bin just doesn't cut it.  Especially because I am constantly pulling them all out to compare shades. I cleaned off a space on the desk, but am waiting to order until June to take advantage of the hostess deals.  Other than reorganizing, I am slowly filling a box of craft things to sell/give away/throw away. I even decided to get rid of a few retired SU stamp sets, but have to wait to sell those until after June 1st.  Big ongoing project, but it's coming together.

Exercising: Our usual Shoreline walks, although it was incredibly hot this week (91 degrees!) which put a bit of damper on my desire to get out and exercise.

Picture: Pam and I at the Stampin' Up Catalog Premiere on Monday.  Such an experience!

Sunday Sunset #11

Book finished: How I Live Now

Reading: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

On the Nightstand: Gentleman of Her Dreams by Jen Turano; American Gods by Neil Gaiman; The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Making Lists: Meal planning and grocery list.  Now that J's back home, I need to take another look at our meal plans.  Trying to mix a few favorites with a few new recipes.

Around the house: After my crafting open house yesterday (fun times!), there is crap everywhere.  I don't want to throw all the crafting supplies back into the office without a plan.  I need to pull all my retired SU products.  Decided whether I want to keep said retired products.  Prep to sell those I don't want.  And organize what I am keeping.  I also need to take a bit of inventory to help me destash.  I feel a bunch of RAKs being packaged soon...

Farmer's Market Finds: We headed down on Saturday to stock up on sausages and popcorn.  Yum yum!

Watching: Now that J's back, we'll probably start catching up on all the currently airing shows from the last two weeks.  Last night we caught up on Workaholics and Cosmos, but that's it.  I'm sure we'll be watching more TV this coming week.

Wondering: What are the best business strategies for my new crafting venture?  I'm starting to form a business plan...

From Nature: It's been warm and sunny, it's been warm and breezy, it's been raining, and it's been cool and cloudy this week.  Every time we had time to introduce Arthur to the pool, it was either too cold or raining.  Hoping the weather stays sunny and warm next week so we can finally get down to the pool.

Shopping Scores: Obligatory Michael's visit.  I run in to get snail, and look at all the stuff I bought!  (Not shown: Door prizes for my crafting open house yesterday).  I grabbed a cute desktop organizer that fits some of my PL cards, snail, pack of Amy Tangerine designed cardstock (really good weight), and the Inspirational PL Theme Pack.

I also received two RAKs in the mail.  I'm especially loving the alphabet stickers.  Can never have too many of those.

I received my PL Rain partial that I ordered from the FB group.  So pretty! Finally I have some cards with purple in them.  And I finally picked up a partial Midnight kit.

This past week I became a Stampin' Up demonstrator.  That also means that I had to order my starter kit.  $125 worth of product for $99!  I got my total down to having $0.25 left.  I'd say that I spent my money wisely.

• Island Indigo Ink Pad -- How do I not own this ink pad yet?  I have the marker and adore the color.
• Glue dots -- I use these a ton.
• Glue sticks -- Bought for classes and workshops.
• Embossing Buddy -- I have no idea where mine disappeared to...
• Polka Dot 8" x 8" Album -- Thinking about making this my Daily December album for this coming year.
• Green Dot 6" x 6" Album -- Not sure what to do with this one yet, but it was on clearance for a great price.

•  Letters to Santa DSP -- Clearance and retired, but such a cute pattern that I couldn't resist.
• Epic Day This and That Stickers -- To go with the journal.  I already own the washi tape.
• Blender Pens -- Been wanting these for awhile.  Figured I should finally buy them.
• Basic Black Ink Pad -- My black ink pad is on of the old designs.  I know they've reformulated the ink, so I thought it was time for a new one.
• 2013-2015 In Color DSP -- I really need to highlight these gorgeous colors more.

I also put in my April club order to snap up some retiring items.  All the items from my April club order are retiring and all but the markers are now completely gone.

• 2012-2014 In Color 12x12 Cardstock
• 2012-2014 In Color 8.5x11 Cardstock
• 2012-2014 In Color Markers
• Primrose Petals Reinker
• Gumball Green Reinker
• Summer Starfruit Reinker
• Midnight Muse Reinker

And finally, I made another $150 order to get my 30% off in the first 45 days.

• Birthday Cake Stamp (Retired)
• Rich Razzleberry Ink
• Calypso Coral Ink
• Mosaic Madness Stamps
• Mosaic Punch
• Dimensionals
• Daydream Medallions Stamps
• Subtles 8.5x11 Cardstock (2 packs)
• Project Life Card Collection -- not pictured
• Project Life Accessory Pack -- not pictured
• Project Life Stamps (both sets) -- not pictured

Project: I'm currently spending my free time either crafting or working on my craft business and blog.  Lots to do!

Picture: Love this little boy!

Sunday Sunset #10

Listening To: Random iTunes shuffle.  Been rediscovering some of our owned music, especially The Dresden Dolls.

Book finished: The Thirteenth Tale

Reading: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

On the Nightstand: American Gods by Neil Gaiman, A Vindication on the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft.

Around the house: I'm attempting to baby proof the kitchen/living room area before J comes back on Friday.  I've got a few things done, but I still have a few things to finish...

Farmer's Market Finds: After book club on Saturday morning, Arthur and I popped down ti the market to grab some strawberries and kettlecorn.  Yum yum!

Crafting: I have two crafting projects for this week.  I finished my stamp club homework in time for club on Thursday.  I took the sketch and made two birthday cards for some upcoming dates.  No pictures as at least one card is going to someone that occasionally reads the blog.

I also started working on my OSW sets again.  This time I took some SU Twitterpated DSP and created a Valentine's/Love set and a Mother's Day set.  I love the pastel colors.  I even experimented with some inking techniques and embossing folders.

Finally, Pam came over on Sunday for an impromtu crafting session.  She worked on some cards for the Ronald McDonald House and I worked on my OSW Christmas set and Project Life spread.  We also had a lovely chat about being a Stampin' Up demonstrator, the catalog reveal event, and convention.

Watching: A few random shows for just me.  A few random movies that J has watched but I haven't.  And a few videos on the internet.  Mostly, I've been crafting and reading this week instead of watching anything.

Shopping Scores: I've bought a ton of things in the past two weeks and they're slowly being delivered.

I snapped up these cute little cloth makeup bags on an Amazon deal.  I'm sure I'll find a use for them.  I don't have much makeup, but they could be cute mini crafting bags or to be mini purses for inside the diaper bag.

Tons of baby proofing supplies.  I bought cabinet and drawer locks, a sliding lock for the bifold closet doors in the boys' room, a stove lock, a lock for the fridge, a cute new washable playmat, a fencing system, and a fence for the hallway.  The playmat is part of my new crazy play space plan.  We don't ever use the balcony off our the master bedroom.  So, I bought a broom a few weeks back and set to cleaning it out.  We get a horrendous amount of dust settling from the trains passing by.  It took me forever to get it mostly gone.  Next step is to wash off the chairs and existing outdoor rug.  Then I plan on using this cute new mat to create a temporary outdoor play space for Arthur.  It will be nice to have an alternative to the middle of the living room.  I just need to remember to always fold up the playmat to reduce the dust collection.  The fencing in front of the entertainment center seems like it will work, but I still need to find the final position and anchor it to the walls.  Plus, it's currently upside down.  Oops!  I put it up and realized my mistake yesterday.  Good thing it's not secured yet.  And after getting all this I realized that I forgot a toilet lock and a cabinet door lock for the boys' bathroom.  Shoot!  More shopping for me.

One of my PL FB groups alerted everyone to the fact that Amazon had discounted the Olive Core Kit to ~$10 last week.  It's an older kit that I've been tempted to buy before, but have always gone for the newer ones.  For $10 I couldn't resist.  I also found both Childhood Kits (Wellington and Bridgepot) for $5 each.  I am getting quite a PL card collection.

PL cards from FB Swap and Shop group.  I snapped up a partial Turquoise (right side) and a WRMK Memo (left side).  Wow!

Various PL and scrapbooking supplies from Rukristin. She was having a huge PL destash sale.  I bought a huge grab bag and then went on to grab some alphas and her Currently stamp.  I might start doing the "Currently" cards monthly, potentially weekly.

New clothes for Arthur.  Almost all of the summer wear that people bought us are too small for him.  Target was having a great buy 1 get one 50% off Carter's sale.  I snapped up two cute nautical outfits.  I also bought him a swimsuit and swim shirt and an outfit from Old Navy.

More PL supplies... like I need any more.  But Target got a WRMK set in stock that I didn't own.

Finally I received my last two PL Swap and Shop deliveries: partial Jade and partial Cinnamon.  I'm really digging Jade's more subdued color palette and Cinnamon cards can act as great neutrals to spreads.

Project: A whole new business adventure!  I recently (as in Wednesday) became a Stampin' Up demonstrator.  I've been thinking about this for a while, but didn't know if I could actually follow through.  With the announcement of a partnership between SU and Becky Higgins' Project Life, I felt that the time was right to make my move.  I'm super excited to work on my business and my contact.  As part of my new venture, I have started a crafting-specific blog.  It's not quite ready to reveal to everyone, but I am currently working behind the scenes for a May debut!

Picture: Happy Easter from my little bunny!

Sunday Sunset #9

It feels like it's been forever since I did a Sunday Sunset.  We're back home and trying to get back into our regular routine, so I guess it's time to resurrect this...

Listening To: Arthur and I have been jamming out the iTunes radio Alternative Rock channel.  Loving some Arctic Monkeys, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Neighbourhood.

Book finished: What Ifs of American History; Yellow Crocus; Wicked; Something Wicked This Way Comes

Reading: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

On the Nightstand: A Vindication on the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft; Thirteen Reasons by Jay Asher; Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk

Making Lists: A project list.  I need to update my never-ending large project list.  I've got some good ones for the next couple of months.

Around the house: Attempting to determine what baby proofing items I need to buy... I've got to take some measurements of our hallway and storage areas.  We definitely need a gate and a fence for the entertainment center.  And of course I need the cabinet and drawer locks.  Guess I'll be spending some time on Amazon this weekend.

From the kitchen: I tried a new recipe for Cilantro Lime Shrimp that was extremely mediocre. Probably crossing that one off the list.

Crafting: Nothing these past weeks.  Once the Easter Party is over today, I plan on spending some time to craft (cards, lists, and PL spreads).

Watching: 

• The Heat -- Fairly mediocre with a few funny moments
• Alan Patridge: Alpha Papa -- Love me some awkward British humor and Steve Coogan.
• Agents of Shield -- Wow!  What an episode!  I'm actually excited to see what happens next.
• Once Upon a Time -- Still watching, but it's getting a bit old.
• Once Upon a Time in Wonderland -- I just heard this was canceled, so I guess I'm watching the last few episodes. There are some great characters on here (hello Knave!), but overall it is a bit silly.
• The Daily Show -- I tend to binge watch this show. I love it!
• Silicon Valley -- We watched the first episode.  This show is extremely promising.
• Modern Family -- Not my most favorite show at this point, but we continue watching.

Shopping Scores: I joined a new monthly PL kit from Take Ten Kits.  And here's my first kit.  I like the colors even if I'm not quite sure what to do with a few of the cards.  But as an extra bonus, this kit is only $10 per month.

I also went a bit crazy on my FB PL Swap and Shop group.  I snapped up a partial Happy and a partial Jade kit.  Excited to incorporate these cards in my weekly spreads.

While in Indiana I had to check out Michaels.  The ones by my house doesn't have the full PL line that they should have.  Thankfully the Jefferson Point Fort Wayne store had all the fun things.  I had a 50% off regular price item and a 20% off total regular order coupon.  I snapped up some cute fabric flowers, the Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste mini kit, a MME 6x6 paper pad, and the Music, Planner, and Journal theme kits.  So pretty!

Project: Today we had the Easter Party.  That has been my project for the last few weeks.  I'm taking a break for a few days and then I plan on picking a new project to start.

Exercising: I'm back to our twice weekly walks at Shoreline.  It's getting pretty hot by the end of the walk now.  We may need to change the times soon...

Picture: A halfway decent family picture.  I'll take it.

Sunday Sunset #8

Book finished: The Girl Who Chased the Moon; Tales of the Brothers Grimm; The Zombie Whisperer

Reading: TBD -- I just finished The Zombie Whisperer, but haven't had time today to pick up something else yet. Maybe later tonight before bed I can get into a new book...

On the Nightstand: Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim; Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury; What Ifs of American History

Making Lists: Packing lists of course.  We are leaving on Thursday and I finally just got my new luggage delivered.  As usual, I have a long long list and need to start narrowing it down to my actual packing list.  Thankfully we have some baby items at my mom's house already.

Around the house: I got into a weird mood the other day and decided to clean the kitchen floor on my hands and knees.  What is wrong with me?  Oh well, I have a beautiful clean floor just in time for me to leave for almost two weeks...

From the kitchen: Made a few more Pinterest recipes this week.

• Bleu Cheese Bacon Mac and Cheese -- Great idea, but we need to make a few tweaks to really love this recipe.
• Sausage Rolls -- Very yummy and oh so easy to make.
• Baked Apple Oatmeal -- Another yummy and easy recipe.
• Ranch Cheddar Chicken -- Good easy recipe for a low-key dinner.

Crafting: A ton of crafting this week... but you'll have to read my post here to get the scoop.  On the other side of crafting, I received the rest of my Project Life card swaps from February. Overall, I am very pleased by what I got back.  I can't wait to incorporate some of these cards into my spreads.

Watching: The usuals...  Plus I did manage to finally watch The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  I definitely think it was better than the first movie.  Even though it took me all day, I finally finished watching it...

Wondering: How many people are going to RSVP for the Easter party?  We need to order our products, but so far our numbers are really low...  Hoping and waiting...

Shopping Scores: I made another Michael's run for crafting supplies.  I ran out of SNAIL and needed to stock up.  Plus, I picked up some purple cardstock and two plastic storage items.  Also I hit up Target for lots of traveling and household essentials (toilet paper, paper towels, formula, baby good, diapers).  The usual boring items.

Project: Still planning the Easter social.  Our RSVPs aren't where I want them right now, but everyone still has a few days before we close them.  We have to order our supplies at the end of next week to ensure on-time-delivery.  I can't wait to get all everything ready.  The babies may not remember it, but the parents sure will.  Plus, we'll be sure to have photographic evidence.

Exercising: More Shoreline walks.  Plus, we did walk to the library and back with a stop at the park.  Good, but I really need to up my endurance.

Picture: Happy baby at the playdate.  He's so adorable!

Sunday Sunset #7

Caution: Photo heavy post ahead.

Book finished: The Iron Traitor; The Baker's Daughter; Time Enough for Love

Reading: The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen; Tales of the Brothers Grimm

On the Nightstand: The Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim; The Zombie Whisperer by Jesse Petersen

Making Lists: Packing lists for traveling to Indiana, Book of Lists lists, crafting projects lists, blog posts to finish lists...  lots and lots of lists to make

From the kitchen: A few new recipes this week...  For the next week and a half I've got some great sounding ones ready to try (hello bleu cheese bacon mac and cheese!).

• Balsamic Glaze Pork Roast -- This was absolutely amazing!  I need need need to make this again.  And it was so easy!
• Fried Cabbage with Bacon and Onions -- Love this as either a side dish or a main course.  This may become a go-to recipe.
• Brown Sugar Dijon Steak -- So-so...  The flavors were just a bit off.  I imagine would would taste better with a thicker steak and cooked on grill.  Maybe we'll try it again sometime.

Crafting: 

• PL Swaps (easter eggs, scraps, rainbow) -- I love the use of washi tape on the rainbow cards.  For the scraps swap, I decided to make pocket cards with washi tape.  And the easter egg cards made use of my SU Birds of Feather DSP.

• Book of lists notebook -- Tons are people are participating in the 30 Days of Lists this March, but I just don't have the time or energy to commit to that.  Instead, I thought I would create a notebook, decorate it, and then have various lists.  The idea is to do a list a week (or so).  I love putting my own spin on the project.  I ran across this perfect little binder on clearance at Target the other day.  I set about cutting cardstock and patterned paper down to the sizes I would need.  When it comes time to make a list, I'll select a topic, pick a stamp set to decorate (and any embellishments), and cut a piece of white cardstock for the actual list.  I love that it's ready to be used.  I don't have to start from scratch every time!

• PL W9-10 -- I finished these weeks yesterday.  Check out my blog post here.
• Punch Guide -- I also made a handy guide to all my punches using some random blank playing cards (from old teaching supplies).  I got the idea from Pinterest and immediately put it on my to make board.  This will definitely come in handy when I need to figure out the best punch to use or the relative sizes.  No more digging through the drawer!
• Stamp Guide -- Making my punch guide led me to want to create on for all my stamps.  I have so many now (both loose and SU boxes) that I often forget what I have.  I spend way too much time digging through all of them to get ideas.  So, I decided to stamp all my stamps onto white cardstock to act as a handy guide.  There are separate pages for Christmas, Holidays, Sentiments, Occasions, and Misc.  I'm only partially done, but this is going to be great when I'm finished.

Watching: The usual currently airing shows.  I finally caught up on The Daily Show after being three weeks behind constantly.  Plus we've started some other new shows (Suits, Cosmos, The Voice).

Wondering: When will my new luggage be delivered?  I'll need that soon seeing as my old suitcase (high school grad gift) ripped open sometime during the Christmas flight.  Thankfully the tear wasn't bad enough to lose anything...  it just means I can't use it again.  I ordered a new 4-piece set from Amazon, but it's shipping from a weird place.  No 2-day shipping for me.

Shopping Scores: 

• Steals.com box -- During steals.com's big archive sale, I ordered a mystery box. This is what came.  I'd say that 70% of the box will be used by me.  The paper stack is great.  I love the alphabet stickers and small tags.  The chipboards will get a lot of use.  The jewels will probably get use, but I need to find the best adhesive for them.  The ribbon isn't my style at all and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to use the watercolor products.  Overall, a really good buy.

• Kohl's -- I finally went shopping for some new clothes this past week.  I was in desperate need of pants that fit but were comfortable.  After nearly two hours of shopping and trying things on, I found a pair of pants and a pair of capris that work.  They are lightweight and super comfortable.  I also found two cute tops that I can wear now.  Plus, I picked up two outfits for Arthur (couldn't resist).  It was a good trip.
• Target randomness -- I grabbed the 3x4 and 4x6 Dreamy sets by WRMK.  I also found two containers that are the perfect size for holding greeting cards.  The zebra print wasn't my first choice, but they work.  And I found some great little stickers and embellishment pieces in the One Stop bins.

• Peachy Cheap -- Another daily deal site I found a few weeks ago.  This time I grabbed an entire set of enamel dots from Basic Grey.  I couldn't wait to use them, hence the missing dots.

• Birthday gifts -- This week I received the last of my birthday gifts from J's parents.  I love the paper stacks and am super excited to use the PL theme packs.  The Americana pack is even cuter in person.

• PL Swap and Sale FB Group -- I've been a part this group for a few weeks now, but most of the items don't appeal to me.  I had been marginally searching for the PL Kiwi set.  Ever time it came up for sale, someone snatched it up right away.  I finally caught a listing at the right time.  I received my 1/3 of the kit yesterday.  Love love love the cards I received!  I also received my scrap swap back.  I'd say that over half of these cards will be used.  There's only a few that don't fit my style (looking at you cowboy card).

• Stampin' Up order -- I ordered my March order early as I will not be in town for the monthly stamp club.  We are doing a huge DSP share so I bought three packs to share.  Plus one other member and I are buying two of the larger color collection DSPs to share so I bought the Regals.  Lastly, I grabbed the 2012-2014 In color DSP as it was one sale.  For my Saleabration item I grabbed the Petals stamp set.  I've seen some great examples to copy.

• Michaels -- Last week I grabbed the Baby Boy Mini Kit on clearance, some purple washi tape (how did I not have any purple?), and a cute little stamp set on sale.  Today they were starting a huge paper crafting sale and bonus extra sale this afternoon.  I had to take advantage of both sales.  I was also looking to pick up some items for the mom's group Easter party next month.  I managed to get most of the party items and some basics for me (white and black cardstock, trimmer blades).

Project: Somehow I agreed to help organize an Easter Party for our mom's group.  The group is starting a babysitting co-op and we plan on having a quarterly social.  The Easter Party will be our first big event.  The original idea was just to get together and have an egg hunt, but babies aren't so great at the hunting.  Instead, we are putting together baskets filled with baby-appropriate toys, shaker eggs to play with, and a few arts and crafts.  Parents pay us back a set amount.  We are also using the leftover money to make baskets for charity.I picked up a ton of the arts and crafts supplies today at Michaels.  We are waiting a week to gauge our RSVP amount before we commit to buying the toys (we have to buy in dozen units). I hope everyone decides to come as we have some great plans!  Overachiever that I am, I've already started on some of the items.

Exercising: The past two weeks I've walked Shoreline twice a week and kept up with my 200 squat challenge.  Doing great!  Now if only this weight would actually start to come off.

Picture: I had to put this one back on... I love his mischievous look.

Sunday Sunset #6

Listening To: Arthur and I have been rocking out to the "A" artists from the server.  So far we powered through Alien Ant Farm, Amy Winehouse (he loved her!), Alkaline Trio, and Anberlin.  Maybe we'll go with the Bs for the next week.

Book finished: Sh*tty Mom; Peter Pan

Reading: Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein

On the Nightstand: The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa; The Zombie Whisperer by Jesse Petersen; The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy

From the kitchen: I had some new recipes planned and then I didn't get to the grocery store until Wednesday.  I ended up relying on a ton of standbys.  I did add in a BBQ Cheddar Meatloaf recipe that was very very yummy.  I ended the week with a disaster.  I had a recipe for Asian Salmon Cakes that sounded great.  I got all the ingredients prepped, opened the can of salmon, and immediately freaked out.  The salmon had a ton of bones throughout the mix.  And not just a errant bone, but most of the spine of the fish.  Gag!  I intellectually know where fish comes from, but it completely turned me off from the salmon.  I scrapped the entire meal and made BBQ chicken.  Hopefully I can get my cooking mojo back for next week.

On the Web: I've fallen down the rabbit hole this week.  I started out looking at one person's crafting blog, which led me to about 10 other crafty blogs.  Then I researched subscription kits and found some wish list items.  And I also found some new lifestyle blogs.  All in all, these meanderings have resulted in being almost a week behind on my blogroll.

Crafting: I got a ton of crafting done with this week.  I played with my new supplies and ended up making 6 cards!  I also completed my W7 and W8 Project Life spreads.  Click here to see the cards and click here to see the Project Life spreads.  This coming week I want to finish my one sheet wonder project and possibly start on my March PL swaps (rainbows, easter eggs, and scraps).

Watching: The usual round up of shows.  We did indulge in a bit of childhood reminiscence and watched The Last Starfighter on Friday.  I loved that movie as a kid, but haven't watched it in years.  It was just as good as I remembered!  The twins would laugh at the bad CGI, but that was the shit back in the day!

From Nature: We've had a week of rain.  We needed it considering we are in the middle of a huge drought.  Unfortunately the rain will do little to alleviate the drought.  But it was a nice change and the rain reminded me so much of the Midwest.  I love falling asleep to the sound of the rain.

Shopping Scores: I discovered Peachy Cheap from one of my Project Life Swap FB groups.  They offer one crafting stash deal per day.  The first day I happened to check it out, they had a deal for My Mind's Eye embellishments for $9.99.  I snapped it up.  I was thinking I would get a couple of sheets of stickers, a couple journal cards, and a couple of die cut.  What I got was a huge collection of supplies.  Look at all this stuff!  I am so excited to start using them!

Project: I'm investigating the possibility of starting another blog.  Still researching what's out there, trying to find a niche, and looking at what would be required.  This would be a huge undertaking...  Not sure if I have the time to jump in, but I think it's a great idea.

Picture: A little preview of what we tried this week...

Sunday Sunset #5

Book finished: The Lost Prince

Reading: Time Enough for Love; Sh*tty Mom

On the Nightstand: The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa; Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

On the Web: I joined in with Danielle at Sometimes Sweet for the restart of her journal topics.  The topic this past week was Crossroads.  Check out the post to participate or just to read some amazing blog posts from other readers.  So inspiring!

Crafting: Not too much crafting this week.  But I did manage to finish my last two swap collections: Black + White and Scraps.  Next week, I need to get back to doing my weekly Project Life spreads and do my Stamp Club HW.

Watching: I finally watched The Internship.  It's been sitting on the server for weeks and it took me all day to watch it (baby was cranky and demanding), but I watched it.  Not the funniest or the best, but whatever.  We also watched Ender's Game on Sunday night.  I really like the book, and was really concerned with how the movie was going to depict certain events (like the ending) and certain characters.  It wasn't a bad movie, but it definitely doesn't compare to the book.

Shopping Scores: So much shopping this week!  I went a bit crazy, but I'm sure I'll rein myself in and not really buy anything for a few weeks.  First, I went onto Amazon to buy Arthur a hat.  It's way too sunny here and none of the stores had any non-obnoxious ones that fit him.  But of course I ended up buying more than just a hat.  Check out the stash below.  I snatched up some fun sensory balls, a new book, some outlet plugs, securing bands for hanging toys from the stroller, and a photo album.  Now we just need some photos for the album.

Second, we went to Barnes and Noble on Thursday before heading to our Meetup event.  We had about 45 minutes to kill and I had a $25 GC from Christmas still to use.  I decided to spend my GC on books for Arthur instead of books for me.  Considering that we have a closet full of unread books, this was a good choice.  I bought another cloth book (just like his beloved Fuzzy Bee and Friends book), a Sherlock Holmes sounds book, Giraffes Can't Dance (really love that one), and two mythology collections.  The twins can read and enjoy those last two also.  Plus, I grabbed the latest copy of Bitch and the January copy of Flow for me.  All in all, a great haul!

Third, we stopped at Joann's after the Meetup to possible grab some Project Life supplies.  Well, the location we went to (Cupertino store) doesn't stock PL.  But they were having a huge President's Day sale still with 50% off stickers and embellishments and 40% off paper stacks.  Plus I had a mobile coupon for 15% my entire order (sale and regular priced items).  Score!  I got some adorable 6x6 stacks to make PL cards and maybe some greeting cards.

Fourth my two Stampin' Up orders came.  Look at the huge stash!  It was my hostess month for club and I went a little crazy.  My extra large order plus everyone else's resulted in $80 hostess dollars!  Holy crap!  Here's my haul:

• Etcetera DSP
• Tea for Two DSP
• Comfort Cafe DSP
• 2012-2014 In Color Dahlia Assortment
• 8.5" x 11" Subtles Collections (Old color collection)
• 2013-2015 In Color Cardstock and Ink Bundle
• 2012-2014 In Color Cardstock
• Twitterpated DSP
• Fan Fair DSP
• Parker's Patterns DSP
• Floral District DSP
• International Bazaar DSP
• Sweet Sorbet DSP (SAB)
• Pocketful of Posies DSP
• Banner Punch (SAB)
• Hexagon Punch
• Blossom Petals Punch
• Artisan Label Punch
• Petite Petals Punch
• Merry Minis Punch Pack
• Sycamore Street Buttons and Ribbon Pack
• Express Yourself Stamp Set (Hostess)
• Perfect Pennants Stamp Set
• Six-Sided Sampler Stamp Set
• Petite Petals Stamp Set

Project: I finished all my February Project Life Swaps this past week.  I went a bit crazy and joined 5 swaps which means that I had to make 50 PL cards (some the same, some different). Plus, I made a few more sets for RAKs.  In total, I think I made about 80 PL cards this past week.  I am done!  And I've told myself that I'm not going to join any of the March swaps so I can concentrate on other crafting projects.

Exercising: Right after I added this category mentioning my standing mom's group walk at Shorelines, we skipped a week.  Granted it was a holiday on Monday, but that change really put me behind on exercising for the week.  This week I:

• walked 2 miles on the treadmill in the gym on Monday.  J was home from work so I took the opportunity to pop down to the gym for a quick workout.  When I arrived, it was empty.  Within 5 minutes, there were 5 other exercisers.  Guess everyone had the same idea!
• met a new mom's group and walked 2 miles around the Campbell track.  The track is a gorgeous, well-maintained place that was perfect for a walk.  It was a lovely 70 degrees and sunny.  Seven other moms and babies showed up to the event.  That means we got to meet seven new mom and baby pairs.  I had a great time chatting with everyone.  Having a friend to talk to really makes the miles go by quickly.  We could have done more, but Arthur (and some of the other babies) were getting hungry and cranky after the initial 2 miles.  I hope to put that walk on our usual rotation.

Picture: Such Attitude!

Sunday Sunset #4

Book finished: Tithe; The Nanny Diaries; Sharp Objects; Iron Legends

Reading: Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein, The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

On the Nightstand: Wicked by Gregory Maguire; Bloodlines by Richelle Mead; The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

Making Lists: Daily to-do lists.  I am loving using Thyme is Honey's Daily pages.  I take the time to fill it out the night before.  Then, all I need to do is glance at it throughout the day.  It doesn't mean that I actually get everything done that day, but at least I know what I want to do and can prioritize my tasks.

From the kitchen: I'm still trying to add one or two new recipes in per week to build up our go-tos.  This past week I added in a pasta primavera coffee cake, and ham potato and barley soup.  All three are going into the go-to box (albeit with some slight modifications).  I have another few recipes to try this coming week and then maybe I'll take a bit of a "new" break to go back to some standards.

Farmer's Market Finds: Saturday morning J woke up early (11am) to go get us lunch at the market (sausages!), but there was no sausage guy.  He came back with some kettle corn, but then had to go get something else for lunch.  So sad!  Hopefully he will be back next week.  And I'm looking forward to peaches, nectarines, and loads of berries making their appearances at the market soon.

Crafting: I joined a Project Life Swaps group on FB and signed up to participate in three swaps (all for February!).  The idea is that you create PL cards based off of a theme, send them to the organizer, and she sends you cards from others.  I went a little overboard, creating more than I needed.  So, I decided to make some of the extras RAKs for my other PL group on FB.  Now I just need to get to the post office sometime tomorrow to send these packets of happiness out.

Watching: The usual shows, plus we completely caught up with Workaholics and Betas.  I even convinced J to get back into Game of Thrones.  We had been stuck on Episode 8 of Season 2 for months.  He always complains that it's too heavy to watch every night.  I don't see the problem.  But at least we watched the next two episodes last night setting us up for the S2 finale.  We'll catch up eventually.

Shopping Scores: I've got a big box from Amazon and a big box from Stampin' Up currently heading my way...  There will be shopping score pictures for next week!

Project: Nothing too big at the moment.  I'm just trying to be consistent with my cleaning and daily to-do lists.  So far, so good.

Exercising: Look! I added a new category!  If you read my blog occasionally you might have noticed that I had a baby a few months back (4 months and a day actually).  Since then, I have wanted to lose the baby weight plus some, but my body seems to have gotten stuck.  As such, I am trying to focus on eating right (homemade recipes are helping, also less snacking) and exercising.  Thankfully I have a standing mom's group date to at least kick off my week well.

This past week I:

• walked 6 miles at Shoreline on Tuesday with the mom's group.  The terrain is fairly flat but 6 miles is still a good distance.  We tried to keep up the pace (~3.0 mph) and succeeded with only a few quick stops for baby adjusting.
• was supposed to walk The Dish (very hilly trail near Stanford), but Arthur decided to get semi sick...  I just didn't think a cranky baby would take a huge walk.  So, I canceled this week.
• danced to the Dance Central video game twice this week.  I only did 20 minutes each time, but that definitely got my heart pumping.
• walked 2 miles on Friday.  Arthur and I walked to the library and back (had some things that were due).  It was an overcast day, but very humid.  I was definitely sweating... but it was nice to get out since I had to skip Thursday.

Picture: Happy baby from this week...  He wasn't like this all week so I treasured the happy moments.

Sunday Sunset #3

Book finished: Lessons in French; Roaring Midnight

Reading: The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin

On the Nightstand: Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry; Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn; Bloodlines by Richelle Mead; Iron Legends by Julie Kagawa

Making Lists: I'm loving my Daily Planner pages that I bought last week.  They are keeping me so organized.  I just take a few minutes every evening to fill it out for the next day.  If I need to, I can always change or add things, but I find that I get 95% filled out the night before.  Now I don't forgot to do things or misplace those little pieces of paper with reminders.  Plus, I am more comfortable with paper than an app on the iPhone.

Around the house: I'm slowly implementing my cleaning schedule.  So far, so good.

From the kitchen: This week I ended up packing a few freezer meals for the future (Sweet Potato Barley Soup, Santa Fe Chicken, and Chicken Taco Chili).  Our freezer is now just about completely full.  I love filling it with freezer meals and then slowly emptying it back out.

Crafting: This week has been a slow week crafting-wise but a good week for organization.  After taking some time to organize my stash, I blogged a tour of my crafting room.  I still have a few organizational projects, overall I'm really happy at how it all came together.  One of those projects I tackled last night: organizing my paper scarps.  I used quart ziploc bags to sort scraps by color.  Those bags then went into the 8.5" x 11" magazine files.  This eliminated the need for one cracked plastic bin.  Now I'm left with easier access to scraps and a bin with my small paper pads.  On the organization travels, I was stumped as to figuring out which Stampin' Up color coordinated with my retired paper pads (Festival of Prints and Print Poetry).  Some amazing person on the internet created a spreadsheet with every DSP from at least the last 7 years and the coordinating colors.  I'm definitely bookmarking that page for future reference.

As to the actual crafting, i attended meet and greet on Saturday and worked on the Valentines for our mom's group party.  I finished them after I came home.  I forgot to take any pictures before I sealed the envelopes, but I will say that they are all very adorable and used a ton of scraps.  This coming week I need to complete my stamp club homework for Feb. 13th and I want to make at least two cards inspired by a pin from Pinterest.

Watching: J and I have been binge watching Workaholics.  Way too funny!  We're also catching up on our currently airing shows.  And I finished Dracula this week.  Holy crap!  I thought it was supposed to me a self-contained one season show, but they left it completely open for season two.  Not quite sure how I feel about that...

From Nature: It's been a bit chilly and overcast around these parts.  Definitely great weather for walking with a light jacket and nice blanket for Arthur.  Although I could do without the gray days.  They remind me a bit too much of the Midwest.

Shopping Scores: Another big shopping week.  I picked up some white onesies, car window shades, and a toy mirror for Arthur.  He adores the mirror!  I grabbed some Valentine's supplies to make cards for our baby Valentine's Day party.  For myself, I picked up some new workout gear.  I walk every Monday at Shoreline, but didn't have any good clothes to help keep me comfy and dry.  Target was having a good sale so I snapped up some pants, a sports bra, and a tee.  Love them!

Project: I have begun to plan for our summer vacation.  That's right, it's February and I'm planning for summer.  Instead of a big structured road trip with an 8 month old in tow, I thought we could do a slow road trip up the northern coast to the Redwoods National Forest and back down again.  Currently, I am just pulling together ideas and possible stops.  I checked out some travel books from the library and have pilled some ideas from Pinterest.  It will come together nicely at some point this spring.

Picture: Check out my little reader!  So much like his momma.

Sunday Sunset #2

Book finished: High Fidelity; A Room with a View

Reading: Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale

On the Nightstand: Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton; Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein; A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

Crafting: Wednesday was crop night.  Usually I get overwhlemed by my options and end up not getting much done.  I also always forget something.  This time I got smart at least on one point.  Instead of throwing a ton of supplies into a big bag, I made little card kits in quart size ziploc bags.  Everything I needed for a specific card except ink went into the bag.  As an added organizational tool, I found six different inspirations on Pinterest to use.  Unfortunately, I forgot my snail adhesive at home.  Thankfully Judy let me borrow hers.  Thanks friend!  I'd say even with my forgetfulness, the night was a huge success.  I made six cards using three of my designs.  Love them!

Watching: This week we've been on a Workaholics marathon.  From the beginning, we've been watching the ridiculously funny episodes.  Love it!  There's way too many references that only the 25-35 crowd would get.

Shopping Scores: No shopping this week.  Shocker after the crazy holiday season.

Project: I ordered and starting using The Daily Page from Thyme is Honey.  I love how it keeps all my lists in one place.  I'm trying to get into the habit of filling out a page the night before.  I even created a cleaning schedule and a meal plan to help me fill it out.  Now to remember to keep up with it and carry it with me.

Picture: Arthur really loves his Sophie!

Sunday Sunset #1

This week's Sunday Sunset covers the first two and a half weeks of 2014.

Listening To: Arthur and I have been rocking the shuffle on iTunes.  Plus, we've checked out the Top Pop channel and The Beatles radio channel on iTunes.  Interesting mixes.

Book finished: In the Company of Secrets; Medium Raw; The Fault in Our Stars; Shambling with the Stars; The Audacity of Hope

Reading: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

On the Nightstand: Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein, Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton, A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

Making Lists: So many lists... I don't know where to start.  Mostly they involve crafting projects and Pinterest.  Let your imagination run from there.

From the kitchen: I made a few recipes and prepped some freezer meals.

• Avocado, provolone, bruschetta chicken with balsamic vinegar dressing and spinach salad -- Very yummy and not too hard to cook.  This will be added into the rotation.
• Chili -- Another random ingredient chili.  This time it was spicy fun.
• Italian beef sandwiches -- Cooked and frozen for next week
• Baked Parmesan Chicken -- A big favorite around here
• Kielbasa skillet meal -- Prepped, froze for next week

Crafting: Before getting to the actual crafting, I wasn't able to get my SU order for December before leaving for Indiana.  I completely forget what I even ordered.  I was able to collect it at January stamp club.  Oh yeah, and December was my hostess month.  Lots and lots of goodies.

At stamp club, we made some cute cards.  It was also the start of our new 6 month round.  We drew hostess months and I got February.  Just in time for Sale-a-bration.  Now what should I order?

On the PL front, I finally got everything organized to put together the weekly spreads for the holidays.  I also got some great ideas from my Studio Calico class I joined for January.  Can't wait to put some of them into my spreads.  And I decided to do a monthly wrap-up page with my books read, life goals and progress, and photo a day pics.  I didn't want to have to include every photo a day pic, so I thought to combine some of my features into a monthly wrap up page.  Each month has one side (two months per page protector) using design F.  I have room for eight photo a day choice pics.  I went through and picked title, books read, and life goals inserts for each month.  I tried to play with some color schemes.  I plan on adding embellishments as I do the months.  In the meantime, here's a sneak peek of January's page:

Watching: While back in Indiana, I basically watched whatever my family was watching (lots of sports and HGTV).  Since being back home, we're back to our usual currently airing shows (Dracula, The Daily Show, Colbert Report, Community, Psych, Alpha House, etc).  While I love catching up on our shows, I was on the edge of my seat waiting until I could get back and watch Sherlock!  Three episodes is not enough Benedict and Martin to hold me over until Series 4 gets made.  I loved the twists and turns (did not see them coming).  I love the little updates they make to Doyle's original stories.  So good!  We also started watching Helix today.  J totally called that the head of the research base in Nemo.  It could be an interesting show.  We'll stick with it for at least a few more episodes.

From Nature: I am so glad to be back to the nice weather.  On my first outing, Arthur and I went to the grocery store and I wore flip flops!  My feet love the warmer air.

Shopping Scores: Lots of new things!  I got around to buying Arthur some essentials: Sophie the giraffe teether, larger onesies (although I will quickly need to get bigger), some larger lightweight blankets, a Valentine's onesie, and some sleepers without feet (he's just too long!).  I also picked up some Project Life supplies online: G and H page protectors (for inserts), Seasons Mini Kit (had Holiday, wanted general seasons), a WRMK 3x4 and 4x6 kit (Tangerine), and some random cards from a fellow PLer (from Honey and Kraft kits).  And then I went to Michael's for snail and ended up buying a corner rounder punch (mine is horrid!) and a 2in circle punch.  Finally I hit up Target for some cleaning supplies (boring!) but I did manage to grab a few clothing pieces for me.  I found a blouse, a tank, and a sweatshirt all on the clearance rack.  They all fit and don't accentuate my problem areas.  Score!  Unfortunately the two pairs of pants I bought don't fit at all.  Le sigh...  Back to the same pants I've been wearing the last three months.

Project: Upon arriving back in California, I went on a major cleaning and organizing spree.  I don't know what got into me, but I love the results.  On Sunday, I woke up at 7 (baby alarm clock) and proceeded to clean out and wipe down the entire fridge.  So pretty and clean now!  And just in time for major grocery shopping on Monday.  I got into all the nooks and crannies (didn't realize how dirty it was under the drawers at the bottom; I never pull those completely out).  I also cleaned out any and all old and expiring food.  A clean slate for a new year...

Later in the week, I completely reorganized all of Arthur's clothes (he has a ton now!) into outfits sorted by size.  Hopefully we can weed out the too small without missing any.  I already threw a few pieces into the too small bin.  Everything looks so pretty in his closet now.

While I was away, J cleaned out the office.  Originally the closet was full of boxes (mostly books) and one bookshelf.  J bought two more bookshelves and emptied most of the boxes.  He also completely organized his side of the office and all his model making supplies.  That left me to tackle my side with all the crafting supplies and a few random non-book boxes.  I wish I had taken a before photo because it was an absolute disaster zone.  I spent part of Sunday and most of Monday afternoon cleaning and organizing.  I completely redid the crafting supplies.  I also reorganized my books on the shelves.  Now I know what shelf any given book should be found on.  I also reduced four random boxes down to one random box.  Two garbage bags and a box to the trash later, my side was looking pretty nice.  Now the trick is to keep it nice...

Picture: Arthur turned 3 months this week!