been a little preoccupied.....

and not really devoting much attention to my blog. it's what happens....blogging ends up being low-man on the totem poll.

rest assured though, the time has been well spent in other areas - except for the past week. i'm getting over a cold that has me literally croaking out words like a frog. it's been a tough cold to get rid of too.

i've also spent a lot of time exercising during some of the "free" time i get...do not get me wrong - it has been great. i am using this video series i got last month for my birthday and i am loving the results i am seeing so far...my baby love handles are actually disappearing!

sometimes i wish i could spend part of that learning to use photoshop better....scrapbooking, etc. but, this is a good goal for me to have right now.

that's not to say i haven't been able to scrapbook. here are a couple of things i've done recently...i uploaded more in my 2peas gallery:






other things really keeping me busy are just the normal day-to-day things: cleaning, keeping the kids busy and happy, dealing with the terrible-twos, looking for new activities for the kids, working on the house and landscaping...just a rush of things, but definitely loving the burst of warm spring/early summer weather.

bought my husband the transformers movie for father's day. {yes, actually, i AM looking forward to seeing it}. sadly, it must wait for this weekend before we can watch it...but, getting to the movies doesn't really happen here...over the past month a few movies i've wanted to see have finally come out on DVD and i've been enjoying them. thought 27 dresses was cute and national treasure 2 was also enjoyable, like the first. i'm hoping to get out and see a few summer flicks, but we'll play that by ear.

seen any good movies lately? have you been able to work on any goals or hobbies you have? fill me in!

long day.

just a quick post.

today was just one of those days that seemed longer than normal.

have had a lot going on here, including a nice round of head colds. my dad had a heart attack 2 weeks ago, which put us all in a state of frenzy. he's doing much better but we are still taking it one day at a time. time has flown ever since.

before i leave, here's a layout i recently put together. i uploaded more to my 2 peas page.

i want spring weather to be here in the worst way. can you tell i'm reminiscing previous springs in my layout? haha.

have a great evening. =)

headed for the weekend.

well, i'm pretty fried. busy week and a busy weekend coming up. next week is Easter. it's so hard to believe! i have no pictures. i am still organizing and want to update you all on the excitement that is straightening the files, making sense of scrapbooking supplies, straightening drawers and pantries, etc. is it spring yet?

i am relishing the daylight savings. it sucks to lose the hour of sleep, but i feel like i make it up because my daughter actually sleeps a little longer in the morning. i swear she wakes up as soon as a speck of light filters through her window - she knows it's time to get up and have fun - and before i know it, i hear the singing and chatting coming through the monitor. also love the fact that a 6 p.m., it's still light out. can't beat that as the weeks progress into spring and summer!
other stuff...brought baby boy for his 2 month appt. today {can't believe it has been 2 months already!!!}. he's doing VERY well. freaked a little when the doctor said he has a slight heart murmur. the doctor didn't seem concerned, but i'm still a bit freaked. we'll be paying close watch.

had a member of my father's family pass away this week. it was a pretty tough pill to swallow for us. my dad had a bought with terminal lung cancer almost three years ago. had his left lung removed, etc. with the expectation that it would extend his life another two years. the good thing is that he has passed the two year mark as of last october. he goes to his specialists every 3-4 months and they are estatic that he's surpassed his expectations {and making a little history for the illness he had and the type of operation performed}. on the flip side, he has seen another close family member diagnosed with a serious illness, a good friend passed away in a freak work accident, and, now two familiy members pass on - all within about a six month timeframe. hard stuff. i can't help but be thankful of how far he's come, health-wise. i realize that i am pretty lucky to have known what it's like to have a dad for almost 30 years...and hopefully, i'll get more time.

on a lighter note...busy scrapbooking. just finished a layout. i haven't had time to take a picture of it, crop it and do other photoshop stuff with it. just having a blast with seeing everything come to life as i put together the supplies and start assembling.

trying to make plans to see the other boleyn girl {lauren, if you read this i am trying to work out the details of our plans}. read the book a few years ago and thought it was really good. can't wait to see what it's like in a hollywood-scripted form. almost wish i still had the book and had the time to read it before seeing the movie, just so i could monitor the differences, book versus hollywood's take.

have some baking to do too - rice pudding and scones. and a coffee cake for playgroup early next week. looks like i'll be doing that inbetween everything else...

happy weekend! =)

making sense of the mess.

maybe because it's still the beginning of the year.

or maybe because spring is around the corner.

i was reminded yesterday of some organizational problem-areas in the house. OK, more like whenever i go down to the basement to run or retrieve scrapping supplies, i am constantly reminded that i have boxes to dig through, files to set up and papers to toss. when i turn to the house, as a whole, i can visualize projects i want to engage. it can be overwhelming because my natural tendency is to address these things all at once.

not in this lifetime.

so, i am getting serious now. i'm going to do some de-cluttering. i know when my husband reads this, he's going to be super-psyched too. ;-)
i've already started with my scraproom and the paperwork. i'm making it a point to take a small part of every-other day and work on each. no major time commitments because things are hectic here; but, a half hour here and there goes by fast and it's amazing what can be done in that time when you're focused!
anyway, here's what i have to work with...{please note the lovely paneling on the walls, circa 1970's/80's....and, yes, that is a cake stand on the top of the cabinet shown...i literally have no place to put it where i store all my baking pans...yes...there's a shelving unit that holds ALL of them...hehe}.

i have two problem areas to organize. 1. i need to figure out how i want to organize my patterned paper. by manufacturer? by color? i would love to hear what has worked best for you! 2. i need to figure out how to store my leftover scraps of patterned paper. my solution right now is to toss it all into a container and make a mental note to look through it whenever i'm getting ready to start a new layout. if you have a solution that has worked for you, please pass it along! i will keep you guys posted on my progress with updated pics, etc. that way, i stay motivated too.

so...in all this clutter i still scrap. actually, i scrap in my bedroom. my dresser is literally covered in what i use for my newest layout. it's been the best place for me to scrap right now...not because of the mess issue in the basement, but because i'm feeling the basement is such a remote place. i'm sure i will get past it and i'm hoping the reorg will help. our goal is to get the basement to be a playroom/craft area...so, until it gets there, it feels a bit empty and not really welcoming.

btw - my most recent layout....feels like it took me forever to post...

the topic is "tough day", which i thought was appropriate given the pictures. i had taken my daughter to see her cousins. it was a fairly long car ride, but when we got there, the kids played...we took a nice walk to the park and enjoyed the day. not really a hard day, but it humored me to see her yawning and sucking her thumb, which she did at the time when she got tired. the journaling is to that effect.

okay - on a completely different topic...have you seen this? i read this book a few years ago and thought it was pretty different. also thought it would make for an interesting movie {i always love to see how writers take a book and create a movie script...}. so, i am completely psyched that this movie is coming out. i have already started soliciting my friends to go see it! if you haven't read the book, give it a try. like i said, weird concept and not the most light-hearted of novels; but, if you're OK with that, this may be a good new read for you to try.

on the baking front...i tried this recipe last weekend. it's really a good, fall/winter crisp and i highly recommend it. hubby asked for rice pudding this weekend, so i will be whipping up that...wish me luck - i've never made rice pudding before! i also have to make my mother-in-law's birthday cake as we are celebrating the occasion this weekend. it seems to have become a tradition that i make her birthday cake...i guess because of the baking-thing. it's really very fun to pick out a recipe, plan it all out and see it come to life. so, i'm thinking about trying this recipe.

looks like it's already shaping up to be a busy weekend. ;-)

potty tales.

week's been a little crazy on top of the "normal" crazy. i started potty training my 2.5-year-old this week. well, i started in the fall to see if it would take, but there were signs that she wasn't ready. and, we didn't want to train her too close to her brother being born for fear of total regression. so, we decided to take a break and start fresh in the new year.

which brings us to now. the peeing in the potty is going well and we seem to have progress on that front. like, she doesn't pee on the floor and makes it a point to hold it and then use the potty - a complete reverse from when i tried originally this past fall. woo hoo! progress {and less carpet cleaning}. pooping is an entirely different story. she seems to have an aversion to pooping in the potty and would rather do it on the floor if she doesn't have a diaper on. yes, gross. we acquired a potty chart, which is a little fun reward system with stickers and stuff -she's been pretty into that. we're just trying to beef up the reward for pooping in the right place. if anyone has done this before and can share some advice, i would really appreciate hearing your personal experience.

on the scrapping front - i threw this together recently:



can i just say that i love, LOVE prima's stuff. i used the clearly IOD tape on some of the "frame" and love the end result. the photo was taken on our honeymoon. one of our napa-stops was the french laundry. what a great experience. it's been fun scrapping some honeymoon pictures. it's like reliving a wonderful experience...

'til next time! =)

no pain, no ?!?*!?%$#!!

...which is pretty much what went through my head as i stepped onto the treadmill this afternoon. UGH! got the 6-week post-partum green light from my doctor that i could start exercising again, and i didn't really waste much time. but, ouch!
i'm literally cursing every holiday cookie i consumed because i'm pretty sure some of it took up residence from the waist down. not to mention the complete loss of muscle tone. so, here's to getting things back to better, as i am going to say as i approach this whole weight-loss, tone-up goal i have in mind.

will have to balance that time with my free scrapping time, which i have not been able to do the past couple of days. maybe tonight? on the upside...i started uploading my pages onto 2peas. it's taken me about 3 years to do this, so i've starting showing my more recent things. haha. no one wants to see the 1st scrapbooking attempts here on my end. =)

mid-winter itch.

this is the time of year that sort-of gets to me. i call it the mid-winter itch.
hard to believe, too, that spring is next month; but, it feels like an eternity away.
it can be a bummer feeling trapped inside the house. can't really go outside for walks because it's either cold or rainy {snow is a rare sight this season}. i feel that between the pregnancy and winter-eating i'm lugging around extra pounds. this time of year is just no good for me.

funny because i used to swear up and down that fall was the season for me. i've come to the conclusion that it was the baker in me talking...i mean, almost every piece of fresh produce i love is in season - pumpkins, squash, apples. as soon as september hits, i've got thoughts of cinnamon and nutmeg running through my head. so, it's more like, fall is my favorite time of year to bake.

lately, i've been loving the summertime. fresh herbs. perfect time of year to make quick foods with ultra-fresh produce like corn and tomatoes. {love tomato and mozzarella salad}. strawberries are in season and i can throw them in my cereal. meals tend to be tastier because they can be grilled. the days are longer. you can run and walk outside without having to throw on 10 layers of clothing. evenings are perfect for walks or sitting outside, listening to crickets, watching lightning bugs and sipping wine. go to the shore, check out the local shops and breathe in the ocean air. it's really just perfect {minus 90+ degree-stagnant-with-humidity weather}.

but, one thing i will say for the winter: what a great time to scrapbook. i've been fitting it in here and there and it's really just a great feeling to see a page come to life. so, in the end, maybe the winter is good for something other than gaining weight, getting sick and staying indoors.





so, back to my last post - i was able to make valentine's day dessert. molten chocolate cakes came out good. i do swear by this recipe and will make one note - if you use a ramekin bigger than the one called for, decrease your baking time in order to ensure that the centers are soft. i didn't make a sauce but dusted the cakes with confectioners' sugar. i can promise you the end result is just as satisfying.

as for valentine's day gifts - my husband and i "gave" each other a new heating unit for the house, a couple of weeks ago. i know, it's terribly romantic. what can i say? it's the gift that keeps on giving.......heat.

mmm...chocolate.

trying to figure out how i'm going to make freshly prepared molten chocolate cakes with tonight's dinner. and be prepared to breastfeed at a moment's notice. and make sure the two year old is OK with all of this activity and no time to play dress up.
and i have a wicked craving for chocolate right now.
happy valentine's day!
{must go play dress up now and make sure the rice hasn't burned.}

catching up.

losing track of my days here. i know it's been a few weeks since i've last blogged, but the days are meshing together lately.
i've got quite a few layouts to post, i just haven't had the chance to upload. love getting back into scrapbooking - i've been doing mostly pages, which is fine, but i'm itching to branch out into other things like altered projects. {breathe, breathe...one thing at a time}.
everything is just dandy though. we've been going through a rough streak of crappy things happening. here are just a few examples:

1. convection toaster oven bit the dust. this had been a wedding gift so, in theory, the darn thing wasn't that old.
2. thought we had to replace the refrigerator because it wasn't staying cold. turned out that we *thankfully* only had to have the fan reattached to the freezer - it had somehow fallen off.
3. water-main break in the street, right in front of our house. long story short, when the water went back on, our first load of laundry happened to be my daughter's new sheets which now are bespecked with rust stains. lovely...
4. heater completely tanked. long story short - we had to replace it entirely. boo hoo...untimely occurance, but it's done and is one less thing we'll have to update on the house in a couple of years. still stinks that it happened...

on the upside...you must try this recipe...it is wonderful and is the easiest appetizer in the world.

pere jeanty

a little over three years of marriage and two children later, i have FINALLY finished my very first honeymoon layout. it's dedicated to my hubs as he's been making not-so-subtle comments about starting to scrap something from our wonderful trip out to napa and san fran back in 2004. sure, i guess it's high time, but it's not like i've been idle, sitting on the couch, eating bon-bons all day...{though, i wish i had...it would explain the winter fat that's appearing on me}.



just a bit of background...this LO is about one of the many wonderful places we ate out at on our honeymoon - pere jeanty in yountville, ca. it's no longer in business - can't imagine why as the food was truly wonderful. but, it's "big sister" restaurant, bistro jeanty, is still around.



i wanted the layout to have a vintage country french feel to it...loved the lace for that reason. i made the heart embellishment with cardboard, patterned paper and a bit of stitching. and, as always, i try to incorporate stamping of some sort {love my stamps}.

and some journaling...





and more stamping...



{one day i'll learn how to create one of those cool picture collages in photoshop so i can just upload one document to blogger...}.

it's been such a long day already here...i love this movie and i think i'm going to pop it in this afternoon. maybe shut my eyes for a few minutes if i can get both of the kiddos to nap at the same time...i hope, i hope, i hope...

the blahs.

it could be the result of sleep deprivation due to having a newborn. it could be the seriously crummy weather we tend to have. it could also be that i haven't really been out of the house very much in the past several weeks. whatever the cause may be, all i know is that i definitely have a major case of the blahs.

on the upside i finished another layout the other day. woo hoo! i'll have to post it here, maybe tomorrow. again, crummy weather, bad natural light - and, i don't like to use the flash unless i have to.

one thing that totally lifted my spirits today was baking cookies with my girl. she was totally obsessed with sticking M&M's {or as she calls them, "ma-nem-in-nems"} in the sugar cookies. {as you can see, she put only a couple in each cookie...ha}.



her interest in baking is starting to intensify. whenever i'm in the kitchen, putting some treat together, she comes in and insists on moving a chair over to the counter to watch and help me mix the batter/dough/concoction. on the upside of this new interest, she's not as petrified of the hand mixer.

anyways...speaking of baking...and food...i've developed a renewed interest in the FoodTV network. seems like the TV is permanently stuck to the channel. saw this recipe for scones that i have to try. always wanted to make scones. even have a scone pan sitting on a shelf in the basement. ask me if i've used it - ever. no. i may need to break it in now though. this looked pretty darn good too as i watched it being put together. may have to try to make both this weekend, but time is a precious commodity these days.

hope your day is a little less "blah" then mine. thanks for dropping by!

new year = new layout

just a really quick post here. if you receive my newsletter, i've included a photo of my most recent layout below. it's very simple - i had so many photos to work with. sometimes i feel like the more photos i want to include, the more challenging the layout - and i'm not the biggest fan of 2-page layouts. all the more reason to challenge myself with doing more, right?

although, i have to admit the button frame was really fun to make.

this layout features a mish-mosh of fun accents, like faux stitching:


faux buttons:


and edge distressing:




so, while it may not be the world's most complicated layout...it was really fun to play! =)

on to the next layout! i've got a big week coming up, so this may be my last post for a little bit. definitely keep checking back for bits and pieces of crafty goodness and other stuff. thanks for stopping by!