Random

Here are the five items I purchased during my Forever 21 shopping spree from last week. I got a simple red sweater, a zippered sweatshirt with cute cloud doodles, a beautiful turquoise jeweled dress, a blue/gray down jacket, and a blue thermal shirt.

Here is a picture of Kelly, Jenna, Me, Otto, Kaelynn, and Tiffany at Nick's Restaurant from a few weeks ago. We had so much fun dancing to the live music. Thanks Kelly for the picture!

I'm hosting this week's challenge over at EBB. I'd love if any of you would participate. The challenge is to create a layout for the beginning or ending of your album. My first album is full of double page layouts so I have two blank pages. My challenge to you is to make a cliff's notes or table of contents page using your index prints. If you don't have index prints, recreate them!

I took 2 of my favorite photos from each page and printed them index print size. You can post links in the comments section or upload to the EBB Gallery. I decided to not over embellish this lo since I want it to match the style of my very first album. Due by Sunday December 2nd over at EBB or whenever for here!

I came home from work today and this put a smile on my face. My mom really likes to garden and loves to find yard art.


She didn't like the original pink color in the owl's eye so she painted it green to match the bird house. I get my creativity from her.


Monday was errand day for me. I think I hit about 9 different stores/places in a little under 4 hours. I found a fun gag gift for my sister that I just couldn't wait to give her. My mom came home after dark and nearly had a heart attack when she saw this rock "in" Jenna's window on the porch.


I've started cleaning and making room for Christmas decorations. It will probably be a few more days before I can take pictures to share. I've been working a lot at the Christmas store lately so I'm really in the holiday spirit.

Went for a walk with Dan's dog Brewster yesterday and it felt so nice to be walking outside in the cool air and enjoying my surroundings. Several people were outside putting up Christmas lights and other holiday decorations.

I am so excited that I won a $10 gift certificate to scrap gal and an etsy surprise form Dani. I can't wait to see what it is. Thanks so much! You know you rock!

Happy 80th!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma! Tonight my family celebrated my grandmother's 80th birthday in Belmont at Vivace. We had an elegant banquet room all to ourselves.


Dan was so kind to take this picture of our large family in our own banquet room.


Kelly and I went to Rockaway Beach after I got off work. It has been so beautiful here these past few days. I love this photo of her running to grab her body board. I can't help but think of the Postal Service's song Sleeping In that has the lyric "...now we can swim any day in November."


I was invited to Dan's Aunt's house (Teri), in Livermore, to celebrate Thanksgiving with their family. I hadn't seen them in over a year and a half so I jumped at the chance. His cousin Dawn moved with her family to Yuma, Arizona so it was quite a treat to see them. She brought her Scrabble board so I played two rounds with her and Dan's father Tim. They beat me by a ton and a half both times but I had fun and I think I am getting better! I pulled almost every tile worth 3 or more points in this game!


Here is Dan with his cousin Kevin. Its so freaky how much they look a like. They have the same crazy eyebrows and mouth. They even have the tall stature and same shaped fingers and toes! Kevin (right) is 11 months older than Dan.


Dan's step mom Vicky took this picture of Dan and I. Every time she takes pictures of us (not often) I really like how they turn out. Of course Dan was being silly without me realizing it.


After dinner we were playing games and I looked over and saw Teri's cat Sami playing Chinese checkers with Nate and Yolanda. Isn't that adorable? I'm not a huge fan of pet photos but when you add people to the equation then they are slightly less cliche. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Scrap Mojo

The Scrap Mojo challenge is up and those incredibly talented girls just amaze me. Be sure to go check out the challenge. We had to scrap what we are thankful for and distress the lo. Here is my take on it.

Since the holidays are fast approaching I've been working on the Christmas by the Cove website and helping out more at the store.

I decided to do a little wardrobe shopping for the upcoming holidays with my Forever 21 gift cards that I got for my birthday. I had so much fun. I like shopping with crowds but I thought I might as well minimize that by shopping on Monday instead of today. I'll take pictures later today and edit this post.

Monday night was a blast. We went to the Lighthouse hotel in Pacifica to visit our friends Diane & Tim again. We brought yummy pizza from our local mom & pop pizza place with us. We started out with my Mom, Dad, Dan & I. We convinced Jenna, Sara, and Kelly to come join the fun. What a hotel party! Here is a photo Dan took of us girls.


Afterwards Jenna, Sara, and Kelly decided they wanted to go to the hot tub. Long story short, there was some creepy guy dressed in all black with long black hair watching them. I went just to keep them company but I was in a down jacket that goes all the way to my knees (too cold for me). When you are with the Jacquemet girls, expect some fun! The guy was videotaping the girls in the hot tub so I made everyone leave. He was still taping as we ran down the hallway. We got the security guard to walk us to our cars and then deal with the yucky man. Here is a very dark picture of him in the window.


Last night Dan, Zena, and I went to see Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I really like Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman and it reminded me of that scene from Home Alone 2 where Kevin McCallister is in New York in Duncan's Toy Chest. What a magical movie. I have to admit I was a bit let down by the ending. Looks like they plan to make a sequel. After the movie we went to Mel's Diner and I had yummy pancakes. We had our favorite waitress who looks like she's been working in a diner for 50 years (maybe since she was 15).

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Guest Designer

I am happy to share that I was asked by the Scrap Mojo Challenge blog to be a Guest Designer for their upcoming challenge. I've got a whole interview posted on their blog right now. The challenge gets posted tomorrow but sneak peeks are up right now. I'm so honored to work with such an amazing group of girls!

Here is a mini album that I made for a challenge I had over at the EBB Holiday Help Crop. For those of you who missed it but still want to play, you have until midnight (PST) tonight to whip one out and upload to "Michelle's Challenge" gallery at EBB. Here is my challenge. Thanks to Marie & Kristi for the yummy felt embellies that I used on this album from our Felt Embellishment Swap!

Thanks to everyone that did join in the EBB fun. It really meant a lot to me. Congrats to Misty who won BINGO!





Kelly joined me as I scraped a few times this past week and have to say I had so much fun just having her to talk to. She's got so much fun stuff going on right now. I hope everything goes well today Kelly. After all the time I spent scrapbooking this past week we decided to go dinner at Chili's and then had a nice relaxing time watching Friend's on DVDs.

Diane and Tim are visiting from Albuquerque, New Mexico. They were the previous owners of our house and my parents are great friends with them. They are staying in Pacifica so we met them up at their hotel which happens to be where Jenna works at Portafino's.

Kit & Cyber Crop this weekend

First I want to invite all of you to join me at the EBB Holiday Help Mini Crop taking place tonight and tomorrow at EBB Creations. We'll be playing Bingo tonight at 6pm PST. There will be prizes throughout the whole crop! You can find more details on pubcalls. I will have a mini book challenge on Saturday afternoon so be sure to stop by for that. You have until Monday midnight to complete projects and submit them to the gallery for yummy prizes!

Also, the November Kits are in and they can go so far!


Look what I made with the Dessert kit.


Product added in addition to kit:

Heidi Swapp Alpha chipboard
American Crafts Thickers chipboard alpha
Uni-Ball Signo white pen
Glaze pen (green)

Product added in addition to kit:

Black Diamond Stickles
Silver Stickles
Heidi Swapp alpha chipboard
American Crafts Thickers Black "Rootbeer"
American Crafts Thickers chipboard "gift box"
TwoGirlzStuff thought bubble
7gypsies date stamp
Aridondack Acrylic Paint Dabber Citrus
Black Zig Writer
Black Glaze Pen

I got my amazing anniversary present from Dan in the mail yesterday. I have been lusting over the Red Velvet Art Kits for a long time and the November kit is to die for. I was fortunate to nab one before they sold out!


I also signed up for the Red Velvet Art Christmas Ornament Swap and I am really excited about it. Check it out here!

Linda Mar Beach opened back up today. It was closed for several days due to the really bad oil spill in San Francisco last Wednesday. Rockaway Beach (where I work) is still closed, as well of all the beaches north of it due to contamination. Its such a sad thing.

We went out to TGI Friday's for a quick bite on Wednesday night. I've been working like a busy elf at Santa's shop so I think that's all for now.

Riley and 1925!

I adore the Love Elsie Riley line so much! Thanks to Lizee for the paper and Dani for picking up all of the other cool Riley embellishments for me! Here are 6 pages from the album I started for Dan while I was on the retreat. More pages will be coming soon. It was a hit with Dan!






Dan got incredibly bored at my house on Monday night and he surprised me completely when he made this anniversary card for me! It was so fun watching him use my stuff! I'm totally going to lift the paint splotches he made. Just dab a little paint and then drag it out with a needle.

I met Dan after work and we drove to Palo Alto to celebrate our anniversary. We had a wonderful time at the Palo Alto Creamery. They were established in 1925. Dan got his favorite cherry coke and we had a good old time. Here is the board that cracks us up every time we go there.

I adore the coat hangers they have at each booth. You can see one in the back right part of the picture with Dan in it. I adore diners!


I broke out that necklace I made since I forget to wear my own jewelry so much!


After dinner we took a leisurely stroll and went to the Stanford Theater. It was Dan's first time and I was so excited to introduce him to such an experience. The theater opened in 1925. Yes, we had a theme for the night! We saw a wonderful movie with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert called It Happened One Night. I laughed so hard. If you get a chance to find this movie from 1934 I highly recommend it!

The bathroom walls are so beautiful in the theater I had to take a photo. This is not the first time I've been caught taking photos in a bathroom.


The beautiful stairs up to the balcony level of the theater. The details all over amaze me! We definitely plan to go back more frequently.

3 years

Dan and I are celebrating three years of dating today. Happy Anniversary Dan!


I've been busy working, scrapbooking, and applying for jobs. I'll have lots of photos tomorrow! We did go out to dinner at Pasta Pomodoro on Friday night and had the pleasure of seeing a past photo classmate. I love catching up with friends! Saturday I saw Jessica, Maria, Katie, Peggy, Jimmy, and Kyle at Jeff's memorial. It was a very beautiful event. I didn't bring my camera for obvious reasons. And this morning I went for a jog on Linda Mar Beach. I always get this incredible feeling of serenity when I go there. More tomorrow!

Some things I'm excited about...

I'm in a photo on the Hambly website! Its the last photo and I'm the tall person in the front left side. See me here!

Ratatouille is out on DVD now. It is such an incredible film that if you have not seen it I urge you to rush out and rent it or buy it. Dan & I watched it for a second time Thursday night. Its so incredible what Pixar did with the fur and the water!


We just got tickets to Live 105's Not So Silent Night and I'm looking forward to seeing Paramore, Modest Mouse, and Jimmy Eat World. We saw Jimmy Eat World a few years ago and they were incredible performers.


The holiday season is fast approaching and I am looking forward to finding unique Christmas presents at etsy! I really like the idea of supporting fellow artists during this season! Who can have a Christmas with out these adorable tags by Kellie from Every Jot & Tittle?


Have a great weekend!

Hambly Rocks!

I met such a fun group of ladies last night at the Hambly class that Allison Kreft taught! I had a wonderful time chatting about all sorts of things. I have to say my favorite part of the night was when Allison asked me about camera gear. I'll talk all night about camera equipment! Her class was super fun and I learned to not use my products so sparingly. The clearly heavy overlays rock my world!


I made the discovery that I like to stand while I scrap (at least last night I did). Daniela took this picture of Allison and I.


The acrylic album I made for Jenna is a Christmas present. The photos are from when Mike visited this summer. I had so much fun making this for her.








The class kit (after I made my album) included 4 sheets of rub ons and 5 overlays (the orange is a limited edition). One 12x12 clearly heavy overlay also came in it. We got a whole bunch of scraps too, yum!


Of course I had to do some shopping while at My Daughter's Wish. I tend to go overboard if I shop while taking a class. It just adds up a little at a time. I doesn't help that Allison kept finding these cool things that i decided I had to have ! And yes, those are the incredibly cool new Clearly Heavy Overlays by Hambly. they are just shipping now.


My order from Everything Scrappn arrived today. The prices are incredible so you should definitely take a peek at Heather's online store.