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Sometimes, letting loose is the key to happiness.
…so it started to downpour this past weekend, and I had to put on my galoshes and jump around in the puddles. There’s nothing wrong with having a little fun every now and then. I came home drenched, but it was totally worth it. I don’t even remember the last time I jumped around in the rain. It felt amazing to feel free.
This weekend, I also tried this new bagel shop nearby, which was delicious if you must ask. The landscape for the complex that the bagel shop was located was awesome; they planted lettuce all over the place! Especially after the rain, the lettuce looked so pretty with the morning dew. Even though I probably looked odd staring at lettuce in a parking lot, I had to let loose and capture a photo. Look how gorgeous:
It reminds me of patches up along the coast of Northern California. I wish that I saw more of these around, and not just in pretty gardens. Anyway, I digress.
After breakfast at the delicious bagel shop, I headed to work. I spent most of Saturday hanging out at the shop. It was so nice for my family to drop by; it’s always a pleasure to see them. I can let loose and be myself around them.
Dad playing on his iPad at the shop.
One of my favorite aunts on the left and my mom on the right.
My aunt and I hanging out at the shop.
Working on a store project, yet again.
I haven’t really created much in the past few days. Life has been hectic, but I’m back on track now. Below is a couple of layouts I finished up during downtime, making layouts #23 and #24 of my bucket list complete:
I told you I’m in love with Studio Calico. *swoon* It works on just about everything you could possibly imagine. With a little bit of twine, some misting, and a couple of buttons, you’re bound to create something artistic.
…and because I’m all about Authentique, and I love designing for them, here’s one using their Gathering line:
The warm color palette works for a thousand different projects. Besides, these colors match up well with a ton of older projects. …and we all know how I feel about mixing the old and the new, hehe. 
Anyhow, I suppose this post is a reminder just for me — to let loose every now and then. If people are going to criticize and point their fingers at someone for easing up, then perhaps they should let loose themselves.
Let loose, and I’m 99.9% sure you’ll feel better instantaneously. Your life will thank you for it.
Aside from spending time with the people I love during Christmas time, I also love getting showered with gifts, haha. Let’s be real — we all LOVE getting a little something every now and then, right?!
Most everything I received was something I really needed, minus the Kate Spade Prizeball, which I thought was so much fun.
My favorite gift of all was my pretty ring holder, new purse, and wallet. Funny thing, though – I ended up getting two different ring holders, haha! I use both of them equally because I want to make sure that they get the same amount of game time. As far as the picture to the right, the phone wasn’t a gift. It was actually that pretty necklace with the brooch and its matching earrings. I love it’s originality. Things with personality and classic flair have my name written all over them.
Speaking of personality, look at what I got this past weekend:
It’s part of the new Kate Spade 2012 spring collection. I can’t find a picture of it on their website yet, but I guess this will do. I love the par avion look; it’s fantastic. (Note: It looks purple and black, when instead it’s navy blue and a light, smokey blue.)
Yup, showered.
That’s all for now, folks!
PS: I still need to do a post on Kauai. Yes, I know I’m being a slacker.
Happy 2012!
It’s my first time blogging in a while; the holidays had me locked down up until now. After having a busy couple of weeks at the shop, it was so nice to have downtime at home and spend it with family.
Christmas, on our end, was fantastic. There was a total of four families that included both children and pets, making it 18 people, two dogs, and three cats. Now that’s what I call a full house! After breakfast and a filling lunch, it was time for the annual distribution of gifts. Mama Clause, also known as my mother, puts on her Santa cap and sorts out all of the gifts. It felt like I was drowning in a pile of papers and ribbons. Seriously, there were mounds of it, but I’m used to drowning in paper and ribbons, hehe. The dogs love Christmas just as much as the little kiddos; perhaps it’s all the paper tearing to get to a present inside. Maui and Hilo kept trying to “help” others open their gifts, hehe.
As far as gifts for moi, I’m going to have to do a separate post on that. Let’s just say that I was spoiled this year.
New Year’s Eve was also spent at home with the family. It was definitely low key; there was definitely no partying on our end. After all of the Christmas festivities, I wanted to just sit and hibernate. We stayed up until midnight, and then it was off to sleep. On New Year’s Day, it was all about playing soccer at the park down the street. Rolling around in the grass for a couple of hours in the sun felt nice, and the fresh air was just as wonderful.
Yup, that was basically my recap of the past two weeks. Thrilling?! I think not!
PS: I still have to do a post on our trip to Kauai; I’m so behind with bloggin’. What a bad blogger!
It’s true what they say about love.
It really is like a butterfly. It settles upon you when you least expect it. Yup, that’s the case for one of my good friends, Lindsay. Her and her hubby are adorable together, and I’m so glad that they found each other.
Speaking of love, I really love this new Random collection by Crate Paper. Its versatility is endless. I could use this paper for just about anything I choose to scrapbook. I’ve got tons of leftover scraps sitting on the table, so I plan on using that at the crop tonight. Let’s hope I feel creative enough to make more projects!
I found a stack of some Halloween photos, so guess what?! I had to use it on Authentique, of course!
To make my “Trick or Treat” title pop, I pleated pretty black lace around the edges. Just by doing that, it added so much to my page. I’ve got a mini album in the works with these papers, and I can’t wait to share that with everyone.
Aside from anything scrap related, life has been life.
Recently, I’ve been feeling homesick like crazy.
In case you couldn’t tell, I’m such a family girl. I love spending time with my parents and my brothers, and it’s super hard to not have them around, especially when you need their support. I wish that they could all uproot their lives and move closer. Alas, we all know that’s not very practical. …so I’ll just keep pushing forward.
Oh, and is it just me, or is everyone and their mothers having babies?! It’s making me have baby fever, again. 
This weekend I was unproductive, and we all know that sometimes being unproductive is a good thing, haha! However, I did cross off some of the things on my 28 Before 28 list.
Try a new sushi roll.Support a local business.Learn 10 new ASL signs.Buy a lottery ticket.Go houseshopping, again.
Check out what happened when I gave the lottery a go:
I won …a free ticket! It’s a shame that I didn’t win $20. That would’ve totally made my weekend. Well, maybe the free ticket I redeem will win me something, haha.
Five down; twenty three more things to knock off of my list. Considering it’s only been a couple of days, it looks like I’m on a roll. I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can tackle one or two more this week.
On another note, I just wanted to share a couple of projects that I recently created with the latest Authentique. I love how pretty this looks.
Dress forms and pretty things?! Yes, please! I had a lot of fun using various ribbons and trims to give it lots of different textures. Plus, all of the leftovers from the dress form project allowed me to create another layout:
I have so much fun using Emily and Taylor’s little one on my layouts. She’s so adorable! Seriously, it gives me baby fever. ((Thanks again, Emily and Taylor!))
…and I finally have my brother’s pictures from last weekend. Now, I can print them and get them onto layouts. Gosh forbid that I fall behind with scrapbooking, haha!
This is a picture of me “playing” at the shop. Yes, sometimes I “play” and design projects. Most of the time, however, I’m busy working on all of the nitty gritty, boring stuff. This is definitely not my favorite picture of myself. As a matter of fact, I don’t really like it, but I thought I’d share it anyway.
Here are a few more photos from our outing to the coast in the Sonoma County area last weekend:
I love the photos of us playing in the field of flowers. This patch of flowers is located just north of Bodega Bay, and in the fall, the flowers bloom vibrant colors. It’s absolutely gorgeous.
As far as this weekend goes, it was, like I said, “unproductive”. We did, however, go out to get some deep dish pizza from Pizz’a Chicago.
They ordered a super spicy pizza, and I swear my mouth was on fire. I usually don’t have any issues with spicy foods; I actually enjoy a little bit of a kick in my food. …but this time, it was hot! I even picked out all of the sports peppers, but it still tasted incredibly spicy. Yowch! I love this joint, but next time, we won’t be ordering the spicy one.
That pretty much sums up the weekend.
It’s almost 2 A.M. in the morning, and I’m still bloggin’. I can’t seem to sleep though. It must’ve been that coffee that I had. Yikes!
