Verbally Challenged

I’ve been MIA – no time to blog people!

So where have I been? Busy busy busy. Nate and I have been enjoying life after the holidays – stress free. Enjoying movies at night and mellowing out during the day – on weekends obviously. I’ve been super busy getting ready for CHA – working for three different companies and lots of awesome product. I’m pouting big time since I won’t be able to go to the show this year. I had an awesome time in Atlanta last year and really wanted to go to Vegas. Ah well, there is always the next show.

Liam and I have been staying busy – playgroups, gym class and I’m thinking…THINKING…about ice skating lessons. A little boy in our gym class started and it seems quite safe and fun for the kiddos – but the super control freak mom in me keeps coming out. Maybe I should get him involved in something like golf –you know the safe no contact sport…well unless a three year old starts swinging the clubs around and YOU KNOW that would be MY three year old!!!

And lately I’ve been taking care of a sick little guy. He has something odd going on where he’s fine and them poops out on me spiking a fever. Strange stuff these kids pick up.

I’m off to watch Moulin Rouge and tomorrow GO STEELERS!!!!

I’m taking a quick break here – a SUPER quick break! I’ve been scrapping like crazy for the past couple of weeks, trying to meet never-ending deadlines. Thank goodness my mojo came back after almost three months! I still scrapped while it was missing but the pages just weren’t where they could have been. If you scrap – you know what I’m taking about. If you don’t, just trust me.

So I finally got a package of MAMBI rub-ons featuring my layout. My friend photographed the prototype at Memory Trends in the fall but I’ve been waiting on the real one. Here it is:

Super cool! They added the rub-ons in the top right portion of the page. Just an FYI.

So on a completely unrelated scrapping note…well not totally unrelated because I listen to music while working – I’m itching to go to a concert! Nate taped Saturday Night Live last night because “Death Cab for Cutie” was performing and darn if they aren’t AWESOME live!!! It made me want to go to a concert! I haven’t been to one in ages! The problem is that I’m really picky about venues. We went to see Radiohead years ago at a local club and I swear I had a horrible time because we all were squashed into this tiny area and I’m a small person…literally 5 feet tall…and I couldn’t see anything! So so very frustrating! Then there is the large amphitheater type venue where lots of the big people play – but it’s hard to see anything unless you’re in the seats – and that’s tough to get. The alternative is the grass area and normally I’m cool with that if it’s local but THAT place gets insane! We saw The Cure there a couple of times and two or three Lollapalooza’s (we’re talking 90′s here)! LOL My absolute favorite location is our hockey arena – strange huh? But everyone has a seat…gosh I’m sounding so old…and I don’t get all pushed around! Yeah, you’re thinking what’s the point right? But I’m telling you, we saw Tori Amos there twice – WONDERFUL! Oh, and we’ve attended three Wiggles concerts there!!!!!!!

So maybe I’ll scope out who is coming to Pittsburgh at my favorite locations. I could use a REAL musical break right about now!

Since Christmas I’ve been playing around with photography again. I purchased a new background for my studio, polished my camera skills and started reading more and more about lighting. There is SO much to know and dang if it’s not intimidating!!! But me being the type of person I am – refuses to give up and will master it with time…and a lot of reading!

Nate got me this book for Christmas:

It’s really what got me inspired to start playing around again. The book is full of fantastic photography with many many tips – I love tips – and ideas for looking at things differently. It offers challenges, like photographing the SAME item everyday for one month, something like a fork. Shoot that fork in different settings, playing with light and depth of field – really learn how to see that fork in a new way. Pretty cool stuff if you ask me.

So today I busted out my velour background and starting playing with the white balance on my camera. I also shot Liam in one pose while changing my aperture and moving my light around. I came up with these photos.

Not bad really. The color is far better than what I normally do. They could be a little sharper but my little dude just doesn’t sit still well and I need to get a little quicker on the focus. The auto focus and 50mm lens aren’t always compatible. But I’m pleased with the color here – no tweaking….yet. I’ll probably make it pop a bit more for interest.

On another playing note – I’m getting ready to work with another Christmas present from Nate…

It’ll allow me to doodle and really get creative with my photos and designs. Nate can use this as well when he’s designing ads and things. I may just install this baby tonight. Time to break out of my comfort zone a bit and learn something new!!!

Wish me luck!

So I talked about TV yesterday – let’s do movies today. Before Liam was born Nate and I saw movies ALL of the time. The folks who hadn’t seen every movie nominated for a particular award appalled us. We’d travel to different theaters in our city trying to find the movies that were less common. If you were ever looking for us – we were in the theater. Really – it was THAT bad.

Today I’m ashamed to admit that I NEVER get to the theater. I need to get there more. I wanted to go over the holiday but got sick – doesn’t THAT figure. Nate and I have moved from going to the theater to renting up a storm! It used to be pay-per-view but since summer it’s Netflix. If you don’t subscribe and you rent a lot – get it! You pay a fee, pick your movies and they mail them to you! After watching them you drop it in the mail and they send you more – it is so awesome! For weeks there have been re-runs on the television so we’ve been catching up on our movie watching.

We have a documentary right now “Stevie” that we’ll probably watch tonight – LOVE documentaries!!! We have another documentary titled “Dark Days” coming soon – looking forward to that! We watched 40-Year-Old Virgin over the weekend, a bit goofy and a little long, but funny in parts. We’ve watched “Cinderella Man” – LOVED IT! And I loved that you could see clips from the old fight on the DVD. We also watched “War of the Worlds” – I fell asleep. I don’t do alien things very well. Another documentary “Born Into Brothels” was FANTASTIC!!! Run out and get this one today! Let’s see…we saw “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and while I’m a HUGE Tim Burton fan – I didn’t dig it. I DID like “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” – watched that one a few month’s ago actually. That one is just fun to watch – so cool! We saw “Crash” in December and man if that one didn’t stick with me – see it! Are you still with me here? “The School of Rock” is another goofy one but Nate and I laughed – we’re a bit on the dorky side though! Oh, “The Last Samurai” was a huge surprise – I thought that I HATE it but ended up REALLY enjoying it. And finally, “I Heart Huckabees” – another must see in my book.

So now that you’re bored to tears – what good movies have you seen lately (theater or otherwise)? And for Netflix folks, what’s in your Queue?

Oh and if you’ve been to the theater, what do you recommend? I’m dying to see “Walk the Line!”

It’s Sunday and where will you be at 10pm? I can guarantee without a doubt that I’ll be watching Grey’s Anatomy, my all time favorite television show! I couldn’t be more excited that they are doing well and even nominated for some awards – so hopefully they’ll be around for a while! I have a nasty habit of getting attached to the shows that somehow don’t make it…perhaps they are around for a few seasons but then nothing. Let’s see, Arrested Development (please Showtime, pick this one up), Carnival on HBO (more of a writer thing but still I GONE), Ed (now that was just good comedy people)…I’m blanking now. I remember years ago I loved a show called “Sisters” and another called “Life Goes On”. Man, “Life Goes On” REALLY hurt at the time. Oh and then there is “Party of Five” cancelled in the early nineties. I’ll NEVER FORGET what you’ve done, EVIL TV PEOPLE!

So I just have to say that I am head over heels in love with Grey’s Anatomy. And how about I just found this link today thanks to a thread on two peas. The writer’s talk about the show and how the different story lines developed…maybe I’m getting TOO into this show. It’s just really good entertainment people. And tonight is one of those review shows where they’ll “Re-examine the personal and professional pressures of five eager, new doctors” – these shows normally annoy the heck out of me. Not tonight. I’ll be there.

So when are you glued to the tube?

I’m feeling inspired to work on my eating habits again. It’s not that I’m a horrible eater, I’ve been a vegetarian for 18 years and probably eat better and healthier than many meat eaters. But I need to cook more and provide healthier meals for my family – on a consistent basis. We try to feed Liam a lot less processed food – I make homemade macaroni and cheese instead of the boxed stuff (he gets this sometimes) and he eats a ton of fruits and vegetables. We only eat whole grain bread and Nate even does the sugar free peanut butter – but there is so much more that we could be doing. We can’t seem to find a good balance. Last year we started a whole, wheat free/gluten free diet after a week of cleansing – and we felt so good, so full of energy! And while we’ve kept pieces of this diet, buying organic milk, eggs and produce and eating less processed food – there is a lot that we’ve slacked on. It’s so hard to keep up with super healthy eating and sometimes it seems a bit radical. We need to find a balance.

So where is this coming from? There were few things that I read yesterday that inspired me to re-evaluate my/our eating habits – perhaps these are signs that I need to get serious about eating again.

My first inspiration came from a very talented and inspirational artist, Ali Edwards. She had a post on her blog yesterday about diet and it really got me thinking about how I need to take control of what I do when it comes to food – and how I can positively impact my family. She had a link to a vegan sight called Vegan Lunchbox with fantastic meal plans – really fantastic. Things that I NEED to try to prepare for my family to make us all feel healthier.

My second source of inspiration was from a gal on one of the private message boards that I frequent – Melanie Bauer. While I don’t know her really well personally (we only chat through our message board), I can tell from reading her recipe blog that she’s an awesome cook. You should seriously check out some of the meals that she prepares for her family and she even shares recipes. I love that! I plan on trying some of her things in the next few weeks. And aren’t her food photos just gorgeous!

My last source of inspiration came in the mail yesterday, the latest copy of Nick Jr. On the cover was the most entertaining chef Jamie Oliver ! Love this dude and his cooking show on TV (season pass of Tivo baby). We even have a few of his books. Talk about taking simple food that you have on hand and making something simple and fantastic. He makes it look so easy and keeps it fun – throwing handfuls of this and that into pots and making something delicious. I love that he enjoys the process as well (heck he gets into the simple movement of stirring a pot) – I need a little bit of that going on in MY kitchen! In the magazine article he talked about food for kids – something that I’m always thinking about. There were a few neat things that I’m hoping to try out with Liam – not sure that he’ll go for it but at this age anything is worth a shot. It’s all about being healthy and making it fun for the kids. And speaking of kids with Jamie Oliver, check out the Fifteen Foundation that he’s a part of. Talk about making a difference. You have to respect that!

I’ll keep you posted on how things go. My biggest obstacle is sugar – I need a healthy substitution for pastries. And in the winter the fruit around here stinks. Any ideas?

A post today about nothing. It was so nice outside today that I was able to run – ahhhhhhhhhh. My mind and lungs are clear and it feels good! I’m coming off of a crappy week – being sick between Christmas and New Year’s. I’ve been moody and unbearable with myself and my poor husband…he’s a trooper. You know it’s bad when you get on your own nerves!

Enough complaining about last week because this week is good…so far. All of my animals had their annual exams and yearly shots with the veterinarian – thank goodness they come to the house for that! I’d be forever toting each one into the vet. I managed to clean up a bit around the house – well straighten – before my cleaning gal came to literally clean up after our sorry butts. I switched over Liam’s wardrobe – storing the clothes that no longer fit – freeing up room for the new ones. And finally I organized a bit of my studio – not entirely – but it’s an improvement. It feels good to be productive – a great start to a new year.

One the scrap front, I resigned from one of my major design jobs. Actually I resigned last week but I was too crabby to comment. It’s a good move for me. I’ll have more time to do things that matter – to me. I got a call from another gal today asking me to join her team and I accepted. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to share that one but it’s a pretty fun thing and shouldn’t take up nearly as much time. And I’ve been scrapping or designing pretty much every night this week! I was in a rut for a while there with holiday stress and all but I’m back in my groove. LOVE when that happens!

I designed a new banner for the main page (as you might have noticed) and should credit Kristy Nerness at The Digi Chick for her awesome set of brushes. With them, I was able to create the word “snow” as well as the snowflakes – super cute stuff! And remember, I’m not really a digi gal…more a paste and paper kind of gal so my banner is really basic!

And that’s all for now. Here are two layouts that I created for Memory Creators…my online design team gig. The kit included MAMBI papers. I do freelance design work for them still. It’s always good to support the folks who help you out!!!

Day one of the New Year – it’s not something that I’m overly excited about. I’m not a huge New Year’s celebration gal, I hate the song, dislike the passing of time and to me it’s just another day. Perhaps I’m the New Year’s scrooge – yeah that’s it. But I still celebrated.

And now I’m stuck reflecting on myself facing this New Year and the idea of goals, resolutions – you know the typical stuff folks tend to talk about this time of the year. I’ve never been a resolution gal – not sure it’s realistic or quite frankly that I’d remember what I set out to do. But there are a few things that I’m going to try and do for myself to make me a better person. Minor improvements that will enable me to appreciate my life more, stress less, deal better. Minor…I can do minor. And you know, lots of minors can add up to a major – we’ll have to see about that.

So Happy New Year to all and make this year a good one.

Photos coming soon, I promise.