One Little Word - Half-time Report

It's about half way through the year and Ali recently posted about how she is using her One Little Word for the year. I thought I would do the same. My word for 2009 is Aware. You can check out my post from January about my word here.

Note: A apologize that this is such a text-heavy post. It's meant to be a reflection, so I guess that's to be expected. :-)

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This is what I am using as the definition of my word:Definition: knowing or realizing; conscious; informed

Be aware ...
... of my surroundings.
... of what brings me happiness.
... of what is important in my life.

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I feel that, so far this year, I have been more aware of my surroundings. As I take photos for Project 365 I feel that I am paying a lot more attention to the little things that makes my life unique. I am more aware of my little quirks and oddities (of which I have many). I have also been enjoying living in the Northeast a little more. I have always hated living in a place that is SO cold in the winter and SO humid in the summer. During the winter I really felt the snow was beautiful. I looked past the cold and the fact that when I breathed in through my nose I could feel my boogers freezing. I enjoyed the winter as much as I could. Lately, it has been raining non-stop. We haven't really had a summer to speak of here in Boston. However, with the rain this week will come thunderstorms and I LOVE thunderstorms. I'm looking forward to waking in the middle of the night this week to lightning flashing in the windows and thunder booming above my head.

I feel that, so far this year, I have been more aware of what make me happy. I consciously spend less time worrying about all the things I want to get done and more time actually doing them. I am more aware of the things I really want to do rather than the things I think I should be doing. Many times I have had downtime I have felt that I should be scrapbooking but I just didn't feel like it. Instead, I thought of what I really wanted to do be doing. Sometimes it's reading, or making cards, or surfing blogs for inspiration, or simply doing nothing at all. Whatever it was at the time, that's what I did, guilt-free. I have also started analyzing those things that are getting in the way of doing what makes me happy. Scrapbooking generally makes me happy but I have been feeling that I can't do any scrapbooking in my space because it's so cluttered. In order to get this under control I have resolved to purge my supplies and only keep what I will honestly use. So far I have felt really good about this change and feel that with a less crowded space I will be able to create more. (Uncluttered space = Uncluttered mind) Being aware of what makes me happy has also helped me to know what makes me UNhappy. Perhaps this is an even greater gift in the end. It is more difficult to change these things but I feel that just knowing them is half the battle.

I feel that, so far this year, I have been more aware of what is really important in my life. It is important to me to document my life. It is important to me to live with my photos. It is important to me to learn new ways to scrapbook (digital & traditional.) It is important to be to spend time with my family and friends and to be aware of those family and friends who truely want to spend time with me. It is important to me to allow Jason to grow as a professional and to be supportive of his opportunities and the decisions we make together. It is important to me to remember this chapter in our lives and what I am feeling as we grow as husband and wife. It is important to me that we grow together and that we experience the ups and downs life has to offer us and that we support each other through these times. It is an incredible feeling to live every day with my best friend and it's important to me to be able to hold onto this feeling wherever our lives take us. It is important to me to travel and see and experience and be aware of new things. I have realized (through being aware of the things that really make me happy) that traveling may not mean going to Europe or Egypt or Australia for a month (though I really want to go to those places!) It could mean taking a smaller trip over a weekend or taking a long weekend to somewhere we have never been before. Spending a weekend looking at cherry blossoms in D.C. or squishing pennies in NYC could be just as much fun.

I feel that I have done a good job at being aware of the things I really want to be aware of this year. So far, I feel that my word has served me well and I'm excited for the next 6 months of having this word to reflect on and influence me.

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Did you choose a word for 2009? What was it? Has it been in the back of your mind this year, effecting your decisions? Or have you not thought about it at all? Either way, it's ok. Maybe you aren't 'feeling' your word lately... maybe you and your word need to reconnect a bit in the last half of the year. Post in the comments how you are getting along with your word. :-)

Font used above: Clementine Sketch

Hampton Beach!

Came to Hampton Beach for the day... It's not as sunny as we would
have hoped for but we're okay with that! :-) The sand sculptures are
all done on the beach and they are SO cool! I've never seen them
before and I'm really glad I got to this year.

Corporate Challenge!

Jason ran his first 5K yesterday as part of the Corporate Challenge in Boston! YAY! He made it all the way and I am so incredibly proud of him! :-) My buddy Corinne met me at the Commons last night after work and kept me company while we cheered on the 12,000 runners! It was a lot of fun (something I had never done before) and it was sunny and beautiful out! After the race was over Jason went out with his team from Gillette and I went home. (See previous post which I wrote as I was walking back.)

Almost the start of the race.

Corinne cheering on the runners once they started.

The Public Garden... so pretty!

Jason nearing the finish line!!! The photo is blurry because he was running fast!!!

Jason after the race. Doing great and really sweaty! :-)

Cambridge at Dusk

Instead of taking the T back to my car Corinne said it would probably
be better to walk across the bridge. Good idea! :-)

Summer Book Club!

I was home sick Monday-Wednesday and that means a few things:
1 - I watch way too many Disney Channel shows
2 - I read a lot
3 - I sleep a lot
4 - I moan and groan and complain to anyone who will listen because something hurts (in this case - my head - I'm a huge wuss when I'm sick.)

I want to talk a little about #2 -- I read a lot.

I recently started a book club over at GoodReads.com which I have titled the "Curl up with a good book -- Club." Our first book (and the reason I started the book club) is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I have heard this book is excellent and should come packaged with a handful of tissues, so I didn't want to read it alone. Also, the movie is coming out, and I cried through the preview for the movie so I thought it was time I read the book. (I made the logo below using Ali's font. I think I use her font a little too much! Haha.)



On Monday, I was on page 44 (out of 512 pages.) As of right now, I'm on page 265. I love the way the book is written (I don't read fast by any means, but I'm speeding through this book!) and how it's told by many different people's points of view. I feel that the author is presenting all the different sides of the story very well and that it's hard to 'take sides' when you feel like you know all the characters so well. I encourage everyone to go pick up a copy of the book and start reading. If I were you, I wouldn't start reading before bed though, because it's a difficult book to put down!

Kitties

My kitties know when I'm not feeling well. They always come and lay
with me and quietly purr until I get up. Bruno is always at the foot
of the bed, watching the door, and Baylee is near my head usually
trying to steal my pillow for herself.

Today

I saw this on Ali's and Cathy's blog and thought I would join in the fun. :-) Consider this your invitation to play along!
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FOR TODAY
June 23rd, 2009

Outside my window... It's raining. It's been raining for a while now. I read this morning that it's the least amount of sun we have seen in June for 100 years. I hope July is sunnier!

I am thinking... That I should be doing something productive right now but I'm just not feeling it.

I am thankful for... Random Disney Channel movies on in the middle of day when I am not feeling well.

From the kitchen... I have no idea. Lately I have been eating noodles with italian dressing like it's going out of style. Low-fat Newman's Own Italian is SO yummy! (Thanks Kristen!)

I am wearing... (Just so you know, I'm home sick today...) My polar bear pajama pants and a Pedroia Red Sox shirt that is my hubby's. No socks.

I am creating... A card for a friend who just had a baby and a canvas that similar to this one.

I am going... To NYC for July 4th! I just booked our hotel (finally!) Friday will be spent in the city (Jason and I will be celebrating our 2-year anniversary!), Saturday we are headed to Kristen and Dane's engagement party (woo!) and Sunday is another day in the city with Kristen and Dane! :-D

I am reading... My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult -- I am reading it for a book club that I started on GoodReads. All are welcome so you should get a copy of the book and come join us!

I am hoping... That my headache goes away soon. I'm getting sick of it being around.

I am hearing... The wirl of my laptop fan, the wind blowing outside.

Around the house... Everything looks good except the kitchen. The kitchen is a disaster. Conveniently, it's also one of my least favorite places to clean. I hate caked-on food... it makes me gag!

One of my favorite things... Is when I am home sick all day and Jason comes home and makes dinner for us.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Working and continuing to purge my scrapbooking supplies in the loft.

A picture to share... One of the photos from our PhotoBooth fun at the Rainforest Cafe.

Father's Day

Father's Day is fast approaching and once again I am thinking to myself "what in the WORLD do I get for my Dad?" I want to let you know what my father is like and then maybe you can relate to my "every-year-around-this-time" question.

- He does not wear ties. At all. He's not one of those Dad's.

- He doesn't golf. I would probably pee myself laughing if I saw him wearing something like this:


- He's not one of those guys where you can get him a cool gadget or a new App for his iPhone. He would probably wonder what I was on if I even entertained the idea of something having to do with cell phones. He doesn't even own a cell phone.

- He doesn't watch sports. He watches turkey hunting on TV which I find incredibly irritating to have to listen to. I'm sure it's fun in real-life, but I don't think it should really be on TV.

I looked on Amazon to see if they have any ideas... Let's take a look at some of the images for Father's Day and see if any of them apply to my Dad.

Hey Dad, if you are reading this... would you have an interest in learning Spanish? No? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Those of you who know him would know that my Dad has a full beard and has had one for as long as I've been alive (likely longer.) This particular gift would definitely go unused.

Oh wait, "Find the Perfect Gift for Dad"... Bingo!

Chef Dad - No, I don't think Bobby Dale is not a "Chef Dad." He makes really good omelets though!
Outdoorsy Dad - We are getting closer here. My Dad would love to get a grill for Father's Day! Oh wait, we got him a grill LAST YEAR for Father's Day. Humph.
Dad Who Has it All - Well, he doesn't really have it all, but I don't think he would appreciate an espresso machine anyway.
Entertainer Dad - My parents do entertain a lot... they are always inviting people to the house for dinner and such. I'm not sure they are in need of a caraf though.
Workaholic Dad - He does work a lot. However, I don't think he needs a Roomba. It would be pretty funny to watch the dogs to see what they would do with it though! Haha... ok, so there's an idea. :-)
Trendy Dad - I don't even know what that means. High school girls are trendy. I'm not even trendy, how could my Dad be?

Oh, but wait, there is also this!
"Dad Really Wants... a Headlamp for Extreme Adventures!"

Oh, well, if that's what "Dad Really Wants!" Maybe that's what I'll have to get him. :-) I think the Roomba would be a better idea than a headlamp. Hey Dad, are you planning any "Extreme Adventures" anytime soon? I could totally get you a headlamp if you are!

So, none of those suggestions work. It's not Amazon's fault. I really do love Amazon... It's just that they don't know my Dad very well at all. Yeah, I know... I'm running out of time! Father's Day is Sunday! Anyone who knows my Dad have any ideas? If not, he may be getting a Roomba. :-)

Inspired to PURGE

Lately, I have been keeping up with Melissa's posts over at Write. Click. Scrapbook. about organizing her scrapbooking space and downsizing from a whole room of scrapbooking supplies to a hutch in her dining room. I have found that my scrapbooking space (the loft in our apartment) is too crowded to allow for anything to really be created there. I will often go there for supplies and bring everything downstairs and work on the floor in the living room so that I will have more space to spread things out. Hello? I have an entire ROOM and I instead just make a mess in the living room and let my cats lay on all my stuff? It's just not working. Having a messy/crowded space is an excuse for me not to scrap at all. I often feel guilty that I should be organizing instead of making pages and end up frustrated in the end. So, what to do? I'm going to PURGE. I have many cousins who would LOVE a box full of stickers and paper from me and there is no reason for me to have a bunch of stuff I am really never going to use. Starting tonight, I am going to be organizing my stuff and getting rid of A LOT of it. If you don't hear from me in the next few days, you can just assume I have been choked to death by all my chipboard letters and I am in a better place.

Cupcake Tour!

Our first stop of the Cupcakery Tour was Party Favors in Brookline. (See our itinerary here.) I had never been to this store before. They have lots of cool stuff for parties, even some scrapboooking stuff! Left to right: Kristen, Dane, me (wearing the cupcake shirt I made for the event!), Jason

The cupcakes are gorgeous, as you can see.

Jason's cupcake had a monkey on it! He said he bought it so I could take a picture of it. :-)


Mine had a pretty pink flower on it.

Next up was SWEET on Mass Ave. This was definitely my favorite stop on the tour! It was pricey, but the cupcakes were DELICIOUS! This is Ellen's Pink Lemonade cupcake (seasonal flavor.) I had a Strawberry Shortcake cupcake with strawberry preserves in the middle. It was delicious! Next time I will try a chocolate variety I think...

They also sell "Frosting Shots" for 25 cents each. We had those before cupcakes and they were great! Such a great idea and a cheap way to get some sugar in your bloodstream. :-)


The display is mouth-watering.


We then walked to the North End to get some pizza (we needed some "real" food!) It was a long walk but it was beautiful out and we had some calories to walk off!

After Pizza we headed to Lulu's on Hanover Street. They have both cupcakes and yummy-looking pastries.


I got chocolate with Chocolate frosting (the "Lulu Cupcake") and it was really moist and yummy.


After Lulu's we headed to Fort Point Channel by way of the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway. The weather was wonderful (some of us got sunburn!) and the Greenway was green and gorgeous.


We were told that FLOUR has amazing cupcakes and let me tell you, they didn't dissappoint. They sell one kind of cupcake, chocolate with vanilla frosting. The cupcakes are HUGE and both the cake and frosting are SO yummy! This was my second favorite cupcake of the day (second to SWEET.) If you like a classy combination of chocolate and vanilla you should definitely try FLOUR's cupcake.

This is the entire cupcake-loving group of us at FLOUR (minus 1 because she was taking the picture!) :-)


And, of course, we needed to stop for a photo op in front of the bear. :-) It was basically begging for us to climb on it and take it's picture!

Last stop on the tour was the South End Buttery. Look at how colorful these cupcakes are! They even had rainbow cupcakes to celebrate Gay Pride weekend.

Here's Kristen and Dane with their rainbow cupcake (not sure what Dane is thinking in this photo, but Adrian looks happy, or like he's had way too much sugar!)


Jason devouring a mini chocolate with Pistachio forsting cupcake. By the last stop, I was really loving the person who invented "mini" cupcakes; it was a good option to have after consuming so much sugar in one afternoon!

And so ends the 1st Annual Cupcakery Tour - Boston 2009. I will keep you all posted on the 2nd Annual Cupcakery Tour (of which there WILL be one!) and until then, let me know if you find any good cupcake places in Boston! :-)

Random Friday Makes a Triumphant Return!

I would like to welcome you all to the weekly feature "when I feel like it feature" that is Random Friday! Let the randomness begin!

(If you are new to by blog, some Fridays I post a bunch of random things that I have either been thinking about, have found online, or just want to share; basically, whatever is whirling around in my head during the moment when I write the post. Embrace and enjoy the random!)

- I've been listening to Elizabeth Katchner's music on her blog all week and it has made me so incredibly happy

- A graph of Wile E. Coyote's Budget
- I recently signed up for an AWESOME new charity project called Spirit Jump. The idea is that people who want to "jump" people's spirits can sign up to receive emails with addresses of patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. You can send something as simple as a card and help to lift someone's spirit during a very difficult time. They are also organizing a quilt project where 40 different people donate a quilt block to be included in a quilt to be made and given to someone who needs a major jump!


- The Vintage Pearl is having a wonderful week of giveaways starting June 22nd and if you like custom jewelry with MEANING you should definitely join in the fun as well as check out her awesome Etsy Shop! Here is one of my favorites of hers:

(Not-so Subtle Hint to Hubby: I would love one of these for our 2 year wedding anniversary which is next month!)

- A great resource for free grunge fonts to download and use on your projects (via Katie). Some of my favorites:
- Free labels GALORE from iDIY. I am completely in love with these!


- A butterfly project from Studio Calico I want to try and hang in the loft.


- Jessica Sprague is offering a FREE online class showing you how to edit your photos in Photoshop Elements. Celebrate the 2nd Birthday of her site! Registration starts June 22nd!


- Wondering what fonts Ali used to create this banner for her new Tuesday Tutorials feature? Download them free here and here. I'm thinking maybe I should make a "Random Friday" banner! Haha...

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! And, to those of you joining us on our 1st Annual Boston Cupcakery Tour - I will see you TOMORROW! :-D

Not a bad view tonight

Yes, we are here twice in one week... And yes, we are spoiled. :-)
Still, this is one of my favorite places to be, so I want to get to as
many games as possible! If that means going to bed at midnight on a
"school night" than so be it.

Also, go SOX! Kick some Yankee keester!

CUPCAKES CUPCAKES CUPCAKES!

For those of you attending the 1st Annual Cupcakery Tour this Saturday, here are more details as well as an itinerary for the day!

When: June 13th, 2009

Start time: 11:00am

Meeting place: Party Favors, Brookline, MA

Transportation: Bring your T pass or Charlie Card and good sneakers for walking!

LOCATIONS:

1.) PARTY FAVORS - (Meet everyone here at 11:00am!)
1356 Beacon St, Brookline, MA
Saturday: 9:30am-5:30pm
http://www.partyfavorsbrookline.com/

2.) SWEET -
49 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA
Saturday: 11:00am-9:00pm
http://www.sweetcupcakes.com/

3.) LULU'S BAKE SHOP -
227 Hanover St, Boston, MA
Saturday: 9:00am-10:00pm
http://www.yelp.com/biz/lulus-bake-shoppe-boston

4.) FLOUR -
12 Farnsworth St, Boston MA 02210
Saturday: 8:00am-6:00pm
http://www.flourbakery.com/

5.) SOUTH END BUTTERY -
314 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA
Saturday: 6:30am-8:00pm
http://www.southendbuttery.com/site/

CLICK HERE FOR A MAP OF THE ROUTE!

Bring your appetites people! This is going to be f-u-n... FUN! 8^)

Things I want to do this summer...

I saw a list similar to this one on The Daily Digi's site and I LOVE the idea! She is working on 100 things but I'm not sure I can be that ambitious. Hopefully I will have a good chunk of the 27 below done by the end of summer though. :-)

EDIT: I have been crossing out things on my list that I have done as I do them! A full update will come at the end of the summer. :-) Items in italics have been started or planned but not completed... yet!

Wreck my Journal
Make a jean skirt out of an old pair of jeans
Make Ugly Dolls for my friends/family
Hang curtains in the guest room
Make and put up vinyl sayings in the bedroom
Go skydiving
Catch up with journaling in my 365 album
Make a smaller version of the tote bag I sewed
Finish mini albums for California and Washington D.C.
Read the magazines I get in the mail
Go on a Cupcakery Tour of Boston
Keep a journal
Send cards to friends for no reason
Visit the Sam Adams Brewery for a tour
Make some hand-written brushes with my Bamboo
Back up all my photos
Go swimming in Willoughby Lake <--- I'm counting this because I went swimming in Seymour instead... I know, I cheat!
Recreate this Butterfly Canvas
Iron-on pillow cases
Screen print something
Make some cupcake earrings
Make a photo collage for my dining room like this one (using all my P's)
Make a mix CD of the music from Fenway
Make a pincushion
Learn all the words and be able to sing along to the Big Bang Theory Theme
Read this book
Give my blog a makeover

Welcome Baby!

At 11:01pm on June 6th, 2009 our good friends Andrea and Jake welcomed their new little baby girl into the world. Baby Addison was 6lbs 3oz, 20inches and both Mommy and Baby are doing great. :-) Jason and I were lucky enough to be in Vermont when she was born and stopped in to see them in the hospital on Sunday... Addison was just about a half a day old and absolutely precious. We are both SO happy for you Andrea! MWAH!

Rain or shine, I love it here. :-)