gotta go.

can't talk. gotta go.

need to get my butt in the shower.
go to the store.
get to bed early. [well. earlier than usual at least.]

& & tomorrow.
must go to the bank.
then the lab.
while my gel is running, i need to run to the post office.

& & soon.
make a return [ok. and a purchase.] at macy's.
go to dharma bookstore.
get a haircut.
clean my room.
organize my scrappy stuff.
finish "automatic" page.

& & some excitement.
my trip to co.
all the new cha stuff arriving.
especially hambly. [can hardly wait.]
want to see all the new kits on aug. 1st.
need to book my thanksgiving flight to co.

ok. i hope everyone has a good week. :]

or not.

tonight didn't work out. so that whole post below turned into my sister and i sitting on the couch watching a weird made-for-tv movie. ha.

my sister was really sad though. :[

i was willing to go out with her still, but since many of her "friends" flaked, she wasn't in the mood to go out anymore. some irony to it though because what was supposed to be her going away party, which was supposed to be a celebration with some sad tones to it, has instead made her really excited to move and meet new people, etc. etc.

otherwise, i'm going to try to find my planner tonight, and while i'm trying to fall asleep... i'm going to write down all the little things that tend to keep me awake. you know. i always stay awake worrying that i will forget to go meet with dr. howard on the 15th, or miss my dentist appointment on the 2nd. so i've concluded that i need to put my dusty planner to use again. :]

i've also decided to take microbiology next semester. well i think i'm going to take it. see. i think it will be a good review in case i decide to take the gre. for most grad schools, i would have to take a gre subject exam in biology or biochem. the only thing is that i've had two friends warn me that the class is pretty easy because it's stuff we've already learned, especially in the lab portion of the class. so there is always that chance of getting to the point where you have a bad attitude about the class because it's boring, at which point you become really lazy with your work. that happened to both of my friends, and they ended up getting B's in what should have been a solid A class. also this decision brings me up to 20 credits for next semester. i've already dropped photography because that would have been 23. the most i've previously taken is 17, which was fine, but busy. since i'll need to have plenty of time to continue working on my thesis, i might drop my education class or just end up dropping micro. for now, i think i'll wait until i get the syllabus for micro and then i can get a better idea. one friend said i would be better off just reviewing a text. he might be right. so we'll see.

oh. i bought the little elsie mini album today that is shaped like an airplane for my trip to colorado. i pretty much fell in love with it as soon as i saw it, but i wasn't quite sure if i would use it. [at the time, i bought the heart shaped one instead, which umm... i haven't used. ha. go figure.] so i'm going to really make myself take tons of photos while i'm there. i was thinking it would be fun to work on the airplane album while i'm on the airplane, but then i realized bringing my scissors would be a big no-no. so no scrapbooking on the airplane for me.

ok. well work will come earlier then i wish tomorrow. so i'm off to find my planner.

tonight.

it's my sister's going away party-thing tonight.

i still don't know exactly what we're going to do, but something along the lines of dinner downtown and going out to some various places. i think 210N and divine are on the to-do list. 210N is like a dance club that belongs in vegas. it's really nice and classy inside, but the people aren't all so classy. ha. but that's what happens when you have a club in reno, there just aren't enough people here for it to be the exclusive place it wants to be. divine is similar, but smaller so a little different, less intense atmosphere. it's a little more relaxed and if you just want to sit and talk, that's an option... you don't really have to dance. i like divine better too because they serve food, so you can't smoke in there. i hate when places have people smoking inside. seriously. so gross.

actually, just for fun... here are the websites for these places so you can get a little peak inside.
http://www.divineultralounge.com/
http://www.210north.com/

otherwise. i didn't get everything done today that i was supposed to. :/ i slept too long. i was supposed to go to the bank, but they are only open for a few hours in the morning. it seems that saturday has become my errand running day because during the week, i'm in the lab during the day until i go to tennis, then i don't get done with tennis until 7:00. and you know... saturday is not a good errand day because nothing is open. :/

last night, my sister and i did some serious window shopping for her new apartment. since she's going to drive her little car out there, she's not going to have much room to pack things to bring along. she's been shipping about 3 boxes every few days to my grandparents. so we don't want to buy stuff here and then have to ship it or find a way to get it out there. window shopping was perfect and so fun though. we were getting lots of fun ideas, but we still need to see her apartment to get a better idea of the exact stuff to get. so where are your favorite places to buy cute furniture?

anyway. i better go find something to wear for the night. i haven't done laundry in ages, so it could be interesting.

oh. and i was working on this cute little mini last night with some of the new bazzil chipboard shapes. i need some pink buttons and a few other things to finish it up still, but i'm so excited about it. also, i just need to finish up the cover for my mom's calendar, and i have a few more things i need to add for my word up page. i'm making a 12x12 for this one, but i'll probably do a 6x6 too... gotta make one for the little album. it feels really nice to actually be getting some projects done. slowly but surely. :]

on aim with zach.

z: how are things in amyville?

a: http://www.nypost.com/seven/07242007/news/nationalnews/grylls_thrills_bogus__expert_nationalnews_don_kaplan.htm
according to this article i am not naive. because i totally knew he didn't spend the night out there.
BUT. i still love the show.
and still have a crush on bear. :]

z: oh my god. you just told me there is no santa claus

a: seriously though. i do love the show. my favorite nights are the ones when they play like 4 hours of the show. i totally stay up until 3am watching it.

z: haha, YES

z: but why does "bear" if that is his real name...feel the need to get naked on EVERY show

a: BECAUSE it makes me more interested.

z: oh psh
haha

a: those ones are my favorite ones.
i even told james... so i don't feel that guilty about it. ha.

z: I bet, but it HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SURVIVAL

a: HAHA.
soooo.

z: he's like, "Crikey, this water looks cold. I wonder how cold? Better jump in to find out" "Yep, it was cold, better take my clothes off to warm up a bit"

a: "i've just got to get the wet clothes off me and get my body temperature back up."
:]
love it.

z: he needs a female survival companion to make it more equitable

a: oh.
but he's married.

z: ahhhh

a: it broke my heart when he said that... something about thinking about my wife and 2 year old son really makes me dig deeper to find my way.

z: well, that's what you get for loving bear
a broken heart and a pack of survival LIES

a: honestly though. at the beginning... he says "i'm going to show you the skills you would need to survive these conditions." he doesn't say "i'm crazy and i'm actually going to do this crap."

z: now cara on the other hand, she never pretended to be anything other than a pretty face
psh, stop coming up with loopholes for bear

a: i can't help it.
he's bear!

z: I do like the one where he swings the snake like a golf club against a rock to cook it up for dinner

a: "the best way to kill this guy would be just a quick blow to the head."
ha.

z: oh dear, it didn't work

a: he's sounding more and more smart as i read the article. spending time in hawaii.
beating the system = more points.

z: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/man-vs-wild/images/bear-grylls-2.jpg
psh, he probably waxes his chest

a: NICE.
i don't care.
seriously.
i would almost make that my desktop. :]

z: eaaaaaasy
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/216/462401043_b77c11f73b.jpg

a: lovely.
you can't deny it, can you?

z: i can so
ok fine, he's ruggedly handsome for a man who drinks his own urine

a: ha.
yes. that one... it was a little much.

z: oh geez

a: but see... he's showing you how to survive.

z: IT WAS GATORADE

a: but.
he's showing you what you *could* do in that situation.
i'll admit. i was a little bothered by it when i first started thinking it was fake. but then... i just realized... i'm not watching the show because it's supposedly real or because i'm ever going to be in that situation.

z: fair enough

a: it'll still be a favorite show. :]
oh. his accent. i didn't even mention that.

z: I know I know...i love accents
but you know...on girls

a: ha.

freaking and freaking.

i freaking out a little bit today. but in a good way. the way that makes you smile to yourself. partly because there is no one around you to share with. because they just won't understand why you are so excited.

i went the check in at the store today. partly to tell esteban about the lady from yesterday, and partly just to see what they ordered and how the show went. so we were just talking, and i was asking him about all the products i had seen and wanted. he said that they are going to get the creative cafe! how cool. [you can see a post about it on kelli crowe's blog.] i asked him about hambly, and he said they placed and order, but he didn't really remember too much. then silvia came out and told me that they didn't place and order with hambly. BUT she brought the hambly catalog for me to pick what they should bring to the store. [!!!] esteban left the catalog at home, but i can hardly wait to see it. he said he'll bring it on sunday so i can pick and they can order. i thought about telling him that i could come by tomorrow. ha.

we continued talking... heidi grace [cute and amazing], cloud 9 [really stepped it up], basic grey [very different from their usual], my minds eye [they didn't like it at all], urban lily [fun], elsie [they're bringing some of it], queen and co. [can't wait for the new felt ribbon], and on and on... THEN he asked me if i want to go to the winter CHA with them. [!!! #2] i mean really. of course i would love love love it. i'll have to see what school looks like, but i think i could manage going for the weekend. seriously. it's going to by my motivation to get through any days at the store that aren't fun. ha.

so there's my happy news. thanks for letting me share. :]

a better day.

after dinner, this is what i saw.

so pretty.

sunset photos never really do justice to the actual experience, but this one turned out pretty well. i'm so glad i had my camera with me and decided to dig it out.

also. james ended up bringing me lunch at work today. ack. what a sweetster. he picked up some lasagna, and it was so good.

the store wasn't that busy today, but there was a customer who came in at 4:45. i told her we closed at 5:00, but she wouldn't leave. i'm not very assertive, and i just didn't know what to say to her to get her out. well. she didn't leave until 5:45, which meant that i missed tennis. i can miss it 3 times, so i'm not really worried, but still a little bothered.

i think i'm going to contact tom, the guy who used to hit with me during high school to see if he's interested in coming to reno anytime to hit with me. i feel like i need to brush some things up, and i don't get much direction from the tennis instructor at unr. the little instruction i do get isn't very constructive. plus, when i hit with tom it's just so much better because i'm challenged. hitting with the beginners is fine, but just not very thrilling.

i finished up the little calendar for my mom today. i'm pretty happy with it. i'll try to get some photos tomorrow to post. i do need to find some larger metal rings to hold it together with... the ones i have are just a little bit small. it's rather simple, i just used 3 double sided pieces of patterned paper and 4 colors of cardstock that all coordinate... that really simplified the assembly process, but it's still cute. :] i can't wait to give it to her. i think it will be a good surprise since mother's day is long past. ha.

james and i got to have ice cream with our friend mike tonight. he's a biochemer too, and we became pretty close last year. he's going to do his thesis in the same lab as me, but spent this summer at yale doing some research there. now he's going home to hawaii until school starts, and he's going to tie some ends up on his yale research and try to get it published. i'm so proud of him. ha.

i'm so relieved that i don't have to work at the store tomorrow. i'm actually excited to spend the day in the lab. [a little shocking, i guess.] things are just really moving along with my project right now, so it's exciting to get things done and get more results back.

anyway. i should probably head to bed. :]

:/

long day today.

only had 2 1/2 hours of sleep to run off.

things didn't go very smoothly in the lab. andrew was being mean to me, which is normally fine. but at 8am. not ok.

some customers were out of control and not very understanding that the owners are out of town.

wasn't in the mood for tennis. wishing more and more that i hadn't taken it.

and james was going to bring me lunch at work tomorrow, but now he has to work all day. no lunch = sad.

but at least there is music to help me feel better. tried and true. it works for me.

[this one is an old favorite.]

good fortune.

so this was james' fortune tonight after dinner.

kind of funny.

i had to keep it.

there were eight of us at dinner... my family and some friends. usually when we go out to chinese food, we all read our fortunes aloud. so we were sort of going around reading them... but james just handed his to me. :]

[don't get any ideas though. ha.]

james and i talked a little bit about winter travel plans at dinner. we're thinking about going to korea or new york. ideally, both. but hopefully at least one. we'll just have to see what happens. i want to see all the holiday store windows in new york so badly. and we both want to go to korea, and it's stinking hot there in the summer, so we were playing with the idea of a winter trip. i think it would be so cool if carol could come with us when we go... so i don't know what's going to happen with that. it just would be nice to have someone who speaks korean. james can understand it pretty well, but he's pretty much lost his ability to speak it. funny because it was his first language. :/

james and i also saw the new adam sandler movie tonight. it was pretty funny, but i felt like it was getting a little long. there's a part where the little girl falls into the toilet because adam sandler left the seat up. i think i remember that happening to me once. ha.

and i also made these tonight:
just a couple simple thank you cards made from little bits and pieces on my desk.
they are for the cha in spirit thing at the pub on twopeas, but i should make more of these little cards. such a good way to use up scraps. and maybe one day i will actually be able to give the things i make away to other people. i'm so bad about that. ha. card making is something i do on occasion, but never all that much. it is pretty simple though... hmm.

work today went well. it wasn't too busy... there was a steady flow of customers, but not too overwhelming. i did manage to set the alarm off this morning because i pushed a wrong button when i was entering the code. but i just entered it again, and it turned off. so not too big of a deal. i stayed for a little while after i closed to work on a little project. it was nice to have the whole store to myself. :] i wish i could stay late tomorrow, but i'll have to hurry to tennis once i close. maybe i'll go back in the evening. ha.

oh. one more exciting bit of news. i booked my flight to denver tonight. i'm really excited/nervous. i don't know where that nervous part came from, but i'm going to try to ignore it. i can't wait to get to my grandparents house. it's been sooo long since i've been there. i miss it. all the little details... like the clock that goes off every hour. the yellow tile in the bathroom. the rocking chair. the cherry tree and the raspberry bushes and all the veggies in the back yard. mmm. it's going to be so hard to leave that house this time knowing that it might be one of the last times i'm there. :[ ok. starting to get sad now. i'm only going for three nights because i have tennis that i can't miss. kind of makes me wish i wouldn't have decided to take tennis this summer. oh well. i will just have to try to plan another weekend trip soon.

ok. well. i have to be up in like 5 hours. :/ time for bed.

color fun.

this is a little something i made tonight. it started out being really fun. then it got really frustrating. so i took it apart and remade it. now i'm happy with it, but i wish it wouldn't have been so frustrating. :/ anyway. it's about what color i would be if i could be any color i wanted. i picked teal with polka dots. [but ask me again in a month and it will probably change. ha.]

in happier news. i think i'm going to colorado soon. my sister is moving into her apartment on august 5th. [you can check it out here: www.montrachetliving.com and if you go to residences, hers will be residence #3.] i'm seriously so excited to go see my grandparents. you know, i was sort of jealous when she went to visit/plan her move last week because i miss them tons. so i'm "going to help her move and get settled." but mostly, i'm going because i want to see them. also. my dad has thanksgiving off this year, and my mom told him he's not allowed to give it to one of the partners because we're going to colorado for thanksgiving. :] so i really hope it works out and we end up going. plus, when we were talking about it... my sister said something about james coming too, and i said that he wouldn't want to come because he likes to go home and see all his friends, but then he said he might come. that would just be icing on the cake. i don't mind if he wants to stay here. either way, i'm so excited.

so yeah. it's past 3:30am, and i have to work alone tomorrow because my bosses are at cha. then i have to work alone on monday and tuesday too because one of the ladies quit. and i still have to go into the lab on monday and tuesday early in the mornings before i open the store because i need to run some pcr. and then i have tennis after i close the store. it's going to be a busy few days. i just hope the store isn't too busy. and i hope i can convince someone to bring me some lunch. otherwise the days will be even longer. anyway. the moral of the story is... i need to go to sleep.

words.

well. yesterday, i had to evacuate my house because of a fire. i was the only one in town, so it was a little more scary to be in this situation, but i'm so thankful to have such good friends and a sweet boyfriend who took care of me and made sure i was ok and didn't let me be too scared about everything. the only thing i could do was just wait and see what happened, so it was nice to have people try to take my mind off it a bit. i am back home now. the smoke is still really bad and it's pretty much snowing ash outside. the fire has moved west from my neighborhood, so it's not heading towards any more houses. when i look out the windows, the night sky has an intense orange glow to it and sometimes i can see the flames shoot up from the mountains. it's just a crazy thing to witness. so here are my simplicity pages... the first one is about my fire experience.
here is the journaling for the first one: i wasn't able to get a good photo of the fire, but i don't think i'll need one. i'm fairly certain these images will stay with me. when i found out about the fire, i left the lab right away. the police were blocking my neighborhood, but when i told them where i live, they allowed me to go through to get some clothes. i couldn't even think when i got inside my house, the smoke even inside made it hard to breathe. but then simplicity sort of set in. what do i absolutely need to have from my home? what is most important to me? i quickly gathered my things, and as i drove away, the fire was raging in the backyards of the houses across the street. i started to tear up, but i knew i had what i needed and there was nothing left for me to do but wait.
and this is the simplicity page that i had planned to make before all the fire craziness happened. it's a photo from andrew's rooftop in san francisco. i was going to add more stuff to it, but i thought i should just keep it simple. ha. :]
& & playing catch up with all of these:

san frandisco.

i was too tired last night to post about the trip. so i thought i would share today and also post a few photos. we had james' friend with us this time... kind of nice to have a photographer. ha. plus, when you have 3 people, you get to car pool the bay bridge = no toll + no traffic. i think we need to bring a third person more often. :]

anyway. when we got there... the boys decided to go to a giants game. so i just hung out in union square and got to go shopping without the worries of having other people waiting on me. i didn't make too many purchases, but it was fun to shop around a just look. actually, my only purchase was one that i ended up going back for... it's the little teal polka dot sweater that i am wearing in all the photos. i found it at h&m, but i decided not to get in and just to see what else i found at the other stores since that was the first store i visited. well as the sun went down, it started to get pretty cool, so after a few more stores... i went back and got it. once i took it back out of the bag i realized how much i love it. :]

so once the boys got back from the game, james and i went to eat at this place he spotted on his walk back to the hotel from the stadium. it was a little thai noodle restaurant. they had this dish that was very similar to the dish i usually get at the thai place here, so i decided to go for that. it was really yummy! and they had chicken satay, which i love, but the place here quit making it. so that was a nice treat for james and i to share. that was pretty much it for friday.
on saturday, we went to the haight to eat at the place we found last time. oh man... so yummy! it's called asqew, and they have various skewer dishes and ribs. i of couse get the ribs. ha. james likes to try the skewer options. so we had a good lunch and then just walked around and looked at the different shops on haight st.
then we went to the ocean. of course. i decided that i didn't want to get my feet all sandy because i didn't have any flip flops with me this time... so i just stayed up on the walkway part and james and his friend went down to get their feet wet. we took some funny photos at the ocean. there are more on james' camera, so i'll have to steal them and post a few. :]

we rounded out the day with a stop at the wharf because james' friend wanted to go to a certain store to get a gift for his dad. i had a really good banana and nutella crepe instead of the mini donuts, which i am totally craving right now. [it seems for the whole trip, all i have to report about is the food. ha. what can i say? i love good food.]

oh and on the way home, we made a stop for gas and food and ended up eating at popeyes. none of us had eaten at a popeyes before, so it was an adventure. it's like fried chicken... similar to a kfc. we liked it though. :]

so that was the trip. pretty fast, but still fun. i always end up wishing we could stay longer, but there are always things to get back to at home.

i decided to take tennis for the second summer term. it starts on monday. one of my biochem friends is going to take it, so she really wanted me to take it with her. i'm excited for it, and it will be a good way to make sure i start getting a little workout. i'm so lazy these days!

anyway, i hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. i'm off to find some dinner. i really want fried chicken again. go figure. i should opt for something a little more healthy though. :]

acrylic album.

ok. so my project went up on the fiskateers blog today, so now i can post it here. :]

may gave me this bag with some products and a few rules: i couldn’t use any patterned paper, i had to use a bit of everything she gave me, and i had to use the craft knife somehow. for sooo long now i've been wanting to make an acrylic album, but i was having trouble finding some place that would cut the acrylic for me. home depot wouldn't do it, so james said he would cut it for me since he has the tools. well i decided to check with lowes, and they cut it for me. so yeah. i was so happy. anyway. since i've been struggling a bit with my motivation to scrap, i just decided to make my project with the acrylic album since i was pretty excited about it. i just printed a bunch of my favorite photos in black and white and here's what i came up with:

i used the craft knife to cut out the little flowers. i ended up making a nice slice in my finger. twice. the craft knife is not my friend, and really not something i plan to use too much more. i think my micro tip scissors work perfectly for jobs where i need precision. i also used a ton of hambly journaling bits for this project. one on each page. :] and then there was my little sewing project, which caused my trip to the fabric store where i found the loveliness for my next sewing project. you can sort of see the little cover in the first photo. it's just a simple pink fleece pouch with some fabric circles and a pom pom in the middle for the bottom corner. then i added a little button to close it. super fun, and like i said, it took me maybe 20 minutes to make it with a needle and some embroidery floss. it probably won't last forever, but that's ok with me.

so yeah. today at work, i talked to silvia bit more about teaching a class. she said she really liked the style of my album, and likes the idea of offering an acrylic album class, so she's going to look for some acrylic albums when she goes to cha next weekend because she's pretty sure a company is going to debut an acrylic album. i'm really thinking it would be pretty fun to teach a class. so we'll see. :]

ack.

well. i just booked my room for a little night in the city. i'm a little sad though because i usually do this upgrade thing for the room as i am booking it, and it wouldn't let me upgrade. i don't know what that's going to mean for my room now. :/

and another thing. i had to check my email to get my password for the little hilton points thing. well the hambly newsletter was in there. they are going to raise the prices on the overlays. :/

i wish there was a little more detail about that. i mean... if it goes from $2.79 to like $2.99, that's not really a big deal. but if it goes from $2.79 to like $3.79, then i need to place an order! the prices will go up on the 15th, so i would need to order like right now, since i'm going on this little trip.

i do have lots of hambly already though. so i probably don't really need anymore right now. i have such a hard time actually cutting it to use it. the store i work at has a tiny little bit of hambly, so i have no problem using that stuff because i know i can get more. but the stuff i've ordered online i really covet! i know. it's kind of stupid because the stuff would look better on a page than it does hidden away in the hambly folder. but still. i can't get past my fear of *cutting the hambly.*

i've done 4 pages for the one little word challenges. i did one the other night and three more tonight. so i'm pretty much all caught up, but i have to do the current one. i already have my idea for it, including which photo i want to use. i just need to print the photo. plus i have one more "new" page that i want to do. so once i get those ones done, then i will scan them all and make one post for them. i think it will be more fun that way.

i'm also working on my ribbon page for the fiskateer online crop. i have it all laid out, i just need to work on it a bit more to finalize things. i have a lot of journaling i'm thinking about for this page, but the way i'm setting it up doesn't offer a lot of room for journaling. so yeah. it's going to need a little redesign action and/or some creativity. but i've decided that i need to go to bed now. i'm not the least bit tired, but it's nearly 4am and i have to go to the lab in the morning to do some pcr before we can leave for the city. i just got a shipment of some housekeeping gene primers that i designed, so i need to check them out. it's sort of exciting, but i'm so nervous to see if they work. ha. but that means i have to get up waaaay too early. i'm almost out of my template dna too. ack. :/

anyway. enjoy this friday the 13th. eeek. i told james i almost don't want to go because it means we have to drive over the bay bridge on friday the 13th. i get so scared when i'm driving over the bridge. like i really panic. bad news. ha. but james told me everything will be ok. so he better be right!

seven/eleven/ohseven.

it was free slurpee day today. i thought about going to get one, but i didn't. there is one really close to the lab too. but. for some reason... i felt bad about getting one for free. i started thinking about how many they have to give away and i felt bad. yes. clearly something is wrong with me. i was turning down the idea of getting something that would normally cost less than a dollar. i'll blame the girl days. ha. but i do notice that i'm starting to feel almost overly sympathetic in too many situations these days. i need to toughen up. ha.

now, inspired by the newsletter from ali edwards, i'm going to share a bit about my go-to scrapbooking supplies. a couple posts ago, i shared my poor excuses for storage solutions. so now a bit on products. you know... the ones i find myself buying over and over again.

numero uno is definitely the heidi swapp center of attention chipboard alphabets. they are supposed to be self-adhesive, but i generally find myself using something extra because they tend to fall off eventually. [or they never stick in the first place.] still. i don't care about the adhesive issues. i am in love with these alphas. i could really use them on everything!

second would be mini glue dots. love those babies. small enough to use with almost anything, but super strong.

third = hambly rub-on journaling bits. really fun. i've used three packs, now and i need to find more!

fourth isn't a product, but a tool. i love my fiskars softtouch mirco-tip scissors. the little spring in the middle makes them so much easier than normal scissors because your hands don't have to do any work to open them. plus, they work wonderfully for cutting out little details.

& & fifth will be for my favorite albums. american crafts three ring style. no more post bound albums for me. ever. love the binder style. and love love love the american crafts ones. :]

yeah. so i only have five. but i don't really have a favorite pen. i've been getting so frustrated with my with my white signo lately, that it's not a favorite at all. and my trusty sakura black pen is being funny lately. plus it won't write on hambly. no bueno. i do have an american crafts slick writer that writes on hambly, but it's a medium... so it's a little thick for my taste. if i can find a fine point one somewhere... maybe that will be a favorite.

and my trimmer, i'm really not too jazzed about it lately. it's a fiskars one. i have a big rotary one, but it's too big to use all the time. so i have a little euro trimmer with the little blade that slides. the other night i cut my finger pretty good with it. there is a nice slice all the way through my skin. that's because the stupid blade keeps falling out, so i sliced myself trying to put it back in. :[ i'm thinking about the tonic guillotine. i hear such good things about it. [but james says that if i can cut myself with the little fiskars one... which he thinks should be impossible... then i should avoid a guillotine trimmer. ha.] i'm also considering the new orange and white fiskars rotary one. it's way more compact then the one i have, plus i've been hearing really good things about it. ali listed it as a favorite. :]

so there you have it. i think i'm going to go clean my scrap area. finally. it really needs some serious cleaning.

oh one more thing! james asked me today if i want to go to the city on friday. just for a night. i totally want to go. his summer class ends tomorrow, but he's taking another one that starts on monday. so it would be nice to go somewhere in between. we both have to make sure we don't have to go into our labs on friday, but things will hopefully work out. it would be so nice to go. i've been itching for a trip. :]

listen.

the first time i heard them, i thought this band was like a male version of imogen heap.
but now i don't know why i thought that.
go listen to "taking the world on" here: http://www.myspace.com/meesemusic
i think i like them. but still undecided.
i guess one problem is i didn't discover them myself.
garrett told me about them.
for some reason, that makes me reluctant to like them. ha. i am so weird.
he and i have always been a little competitive with our music findings.
that's maybe one of the only things that hasn't changed between us.
[oh and him taking me for granted.]

well. i have to go to the lab tomorrow. big time. but. i can't fall asleep. i'm so sick of this.

tonight, i had dinner at carol's boyfriend's restaurant. he's a sushi chef. he made the whole menu and stuff for this new place. they just opened last week. well, you know. i don't eat sushi. james said it was good though. and i was forced to gag my way through my 3rd ever piece of sushi. this one was from justin's plate. he's vegetarian, so carol's boyfriend made him some all veggie rolls. i still couldn't handle it. it's so hard for me to get that stuff down, while trying to hide the fact that i am gagging. i don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. i just don't like it! carol ate one with eel. she said it's her favorite one. clearly, i'll just never understand. ha.

and otherwise... i have some cool ideas floating randomly in my head for the fabric finds of the day, but i can't get anything coherent to actually form. i just see little bits of images, but when i try to piece the whole thing together it's like BLAH. that same thing happens to me when i am thinking about scrapbook layouts. i get little bits of images in my head, but not whole pages. it's a little frustrating.

and tonight, i emailed in that fiskateer assignment thing. i think it might go up on the blog over there this weekend, so as soon as it does, i'll post it here. i did take it into the store today to get some ribbon to match, and i let my boss take a peek. she actually asked me to teach a class. i'm thinking about doing it. it would be fun, and she said i could make some money doing it. i'll have to see how my time works out. i'm thinking it would take a lot of prep... so i'll just have to see.

oh yeah. alyssa... i got in big trouble today for not wearing my retainers. but i knew it was coming, so i just smiled and took their lecture. he had to file down my bottom retainer to get it to fit. then he jammed that sucker in my mouth. ouch. i'm supposed to wear it 24 hours a day for the next couple months. but i promptly took it back out when i got to my car. :] ack.

i'll leave you with this little beauty from clap your hands say yeah:

the band is a bit odd i suppose, but i keep the cd in my car. you know. for the times when i need something different. :]

orthodontic adventure.

so last night... i somehow managed to remember that i had to wake up for my orthodontist appointment. talk about a close one... it would have been so bad if i had forgotten.

anyway. i have to go back in 9 months for another check because only one of my wisdom teeth has cut through. he needs to see how the other one looks when it comes up. BUT. it's looking like braces are in my future. once again. i'm not entirely excited about that, but as long as i don't have to get my wisdom teeth pulled out, i am a happy girl. [crossing my fingers i don't eat those words.] and it's not going to be so bad the second time around. i'll only have to have brackets put on my 3 back molars, top and bottom, both sides. so i won't be a total brace face. ha. only a partial brace face. i was a little sad when i realized that it means no fun colors on my front teeth. ha.

so after the orthodontist, i decided to go to the fabric store because i wanted to make a little project. i got what i needed for the project, but i guess i got a little off track too. maybe more like expanded my purchases to include another project. ha. i made the first project today. really quickly. like 20 minutes from start to finish. it's a little pouch to hold the little album i just made for the fiskateer project. [i'll show soon.] but as i was wandering around looking at everything... i came across the dream fabric. see that black and white one?
o h.
m y.
g o o d n e s s.
so i had to splurge. luckily it was on sale for $10 a yard. still a bit of a splurge though. then. i love looking through the remnants, you never know what you might find. and today there was a nice treat. see the teal polka dot one? i had noticed this one in the silk section... but since i knew i was going to make one splurge, i was thinking i should resist. but alas... there in the remnant box... a whole yard! and for only $5. so yeah. i had fun. lots of fun. and now i have a project to plan. :]

ok. well time for dinner. i hope everyone had a happy monday. i'm still coughing today, but finally really feeling better. :]

oh dear.

go look at the poppy project for this month at poppy ink! seriously!? that little mini dress form! ok. too cute. and i totally blew it. i made a mental note to check the website as soon as the july kits went on sale and what do you know... i totally spaced it. and it's s o l d o u t. ah well. life goes on, but really, it's so cute!

moving on now.

not much to blog about.

*this weekend = lame. [didn't do much of anything.]
*work today = a little busy + i was mostly alone. [which meant no lunch. eek.]
*tonight = ate some watermelon. [it's now really summer.]
*my sickness = possibly improving. [but it's a day to day thing, so hard to tell.]
*tomorrow = big people, little world. [yay.]
*wish = to take some photos. [play with the d80.]
*in a week = maybe going to take tennis at unr with my friend. [exercise is good.]
*sleep = not coming. [so apparently still sick.]
*now = look through photos. [scrap? maybe.]

mmm kay. that's all.

lucky day?

today is supposed to be a lucky day i guess.
well it's not really looking that way for me.
i did get more sleep last night than i have for a while. so i guess that is the good part for my 7.7.7 day.
but otherwise. i've been watching this america's next top model marathon all day. [yes. i'm basically bored out of my mind.] i want to do something, but there just seems to be nothing for me to do. my sister has plans. james had to go to the lab for work. deepa is in vegas. and my parents are busy all day. there are some things around the house i need to do, like cleaning and laundry. but i'm not in the cleaning mood at all. maybe if i just start cleaning a bit, it will come to me. but ugh.

otherwise. i think i should try to finish up that maria grace scrapjack. yeah. i don't have much left to do... just need to add a few little touches, but yes, it's taking me forever to get back to work on it. maybe i'll go do that. so look for the photo here later if i have daylight left to get a photo. :]

eta: here it is. i didn't add much more, but i'm happy with it. so it's done. :]

so sad.

well. i was just going to take two last photos and go get them printed for the classes tomorrow. i have everything else pretty much set.

but for some reason...
i decided to check kristina's blog just to see if there was an update.
there was.
& & it's not a happy update.
you can read her blog for the story... which just totally sucks for kristina. [i would have been so mad.]
so basically, the classes aren't going to happen.

now it gets even better. i called the store to make sure that i won't be charged for these classes. here's a little run down:
rude lady: "youngplay memories."
me: "hi. i was just calling because i am signed up for the two kristina contes classes."
rude lady: "yeah..."
me: "well i understand they won't be happening."
rude lady: "what? they're happening."
me: "um. well. i just read that her flight to LA wasn't booked, so she won't be coming to your store."
rude lady: "i don't know what you are talking about. we haven't heard anything. she's coming and the classes are happening."
me: "ok. well just in case... if they don't happen, i just want to make sure that my credit card won't be charged."
rude lady: "well we haven't been made aware that they aren't happening... so that won't be the case. but if it was, no you won't be charged."
me: "ok. thanks then."
rude lady: hangs up.

i was a little in awe when i hung up about how rude she was. seriously. it was a little uncalled for in my mind.

anyway. so i'm pretty sad.

not having a good day so far. i had to wake up after like 3 hours of sleep to take my car for its oil change. no one was interested in helping me. once this guy finally helps me... he tells me they'll try to have my car done by 4pm. it was 10am. that must be some oil change. i realize it's a european car and everything is backwards... but it's the dealership. they should know how to do an oil change in less than 6 hours. "oh well. we're really backed up today," he says.

ugh. whatever.

so i called james to see if he could give me a ride. no. he's working in carson today.
called mom. no. she's still at home, so it would take her an hour to get to reno.
called just about everyone in my phone contact list that lives in reno.
no luck.
so i called james again. he tells me his brother can come pick me up.
except. his brother got caught in some traffic mess on the freeway. a semi had spilled his load, so the lanes were closed.
so it took him an hour to get there.
that only made me feel worse about getting a ride from him. poor guy. gotta take him out for dinner or something.

oh. our power was off at the house yesterday from about 5pm to just after midnight. not fun. it was 110 here yesterday.

but last night when the power came back, i was sorting through my iPhoto... i found some photos that make me smile. so maybe some photo action is in order.
this one. look how little and cute helix is there. i think i posted this one a long time ago... but i it really makes me smile. i think it was like just a couple days after we got him.














& & look at them now. ha.









plus. i like this one. it's from my one adventure at 210N for carol's birthday and my sister's birthday. [lucky for me they both wanted to go to 210N.] that's carol with her new short hair. i'm thinking it might be time for me to do that. this whole growing out my hair thing is getting a little old. plus it takes too long to flat iron, and i usually wear it up in a pony tail like in this photo anyway.


and here's a little peak at some scrappy stuff. this is as close as i get to organization. cute isaac mizrahi cereal bowls. yes. they would be fun to eat out of. but they are more fun to have on my scrap table. and. cute ayomi yoshida gift bags. too cute to give away. that's for sure.

i used the dymo and some black cardstock to fill in where the handles should be on the bags. that way each bag has a label... like photos or stickers, and in theory, it should help me put everything back in it's place. [not the case, but it was a nice theory.]

so yeah. polka dots make me happy. :]

also. you can see that i repurposed some of my film canisters. i still have a ton of them. for some reason, i cannot throw them away. so yeah. i put little things that needed a home in them like sequins and little tags. part of that whole idea of everything having it's place. i think the real problem is that i have too much stuff... so everything can't have it's own place. and then come the piles. and then the things that do have a place don't get put back, but just added to a pile. yuck. need to clean.

happy independence day.

whether i believe it or not, the fourth is here.
i actually really love fireworks. they sort of remind me of being a kid. i don't know... they still seem sort of magical to me even though i'm fully aware of how they work now. so i think i'm going to make it my goal to watch them this year, and just think about all the freedoms we have here. cool.

today i made a little effort to find some good photos to take, but i didn't have any luck.
and unfortunately for my bank account... i stopped into a few stores during my quest and had quite a bit of luck. but everything i bought was on sale... so i'm not feeling too bad. seriously every store at the summit was having a sale. it was so hard to resist. so i'm going to try everything on again, and just make sure that i won't have buyers remorse. there is one top that i got that is fabulous and i love it... but i don't know if i will actually wear it. you know how that goes. :/ i'm the same way with shoes. [i don't think i'll have that problem with the shoes i bought today though. ack. yes. i was really mean to my bank account.]

i'm almost done with my little fiskateer project. i thought i had planned it out pretty well so that it wouldn't take me too long to create... but man. i am putting lots and lots of time into this. it's ok though because i'm really liking it.

not making much progress on my mom's gift though. i meant to pick up something at the store today, but i spaced it and of course, when i remembered they were closed. i hope to have it done by the end of the week, but who knows how that will work out.

yep. so now the question is... should i go get in bed and attempt to sleep or stay up and be crafty? last night i was up until the sun came up. that was a real downer. laying in bed and noticing the light starting to come in my window. so maybe i'll just do a bit more and call it a night. :]

happy fourth. i hope you all have an amazing celebration today and don't forget to take a photo or two. :]

i'll leave you with this. this one totally reminds me of my history of dance class that i took last year. my old ballet teacher when i was a little one is now a professor of dance at unr... so i took her class. a little embarrassing when she would call me out in class. things like, "miss amy... do you remember doing this?" ha. all 100+ people staring at me. weird. anyway. i think i just might send her this link too. :]

floorplan fun.

so. my sister is moving soon, and i think she's decided that she wants to buy a condo instead of renting an apartment. well today, i found her little note sheet about all the condo places she's looking at online. i couldn't help myself. i had to look them up. :]
now i can give her my input, whether she wants it or not. hehe.
on friday she is going to go visit the area, and i think she'll spend some time looking at the various housing options. i'm not going to lie... i'm jealous that she's going. i'm sure she's going to get to see and maybe even stay with my grandparents. lucky girl. i miss them a lot, so it would be really nice to see them. but since she's going to be moving soon anyway, i'm sure i'll *need* to make lots of visits.

otherwise, i did get some scrapping done last night. nothing to share yet, but maybe tomorrow. :]

& & i can't believe tomorrow is the 4th. it's not really feeling like it for some reason. plus i haven't made any plans. i was thinking of watching the fireworks at tahoe, but i hate the idea of driving back here with all the drunk people on the roads. i've done it before and it just scares me so much to think who's driving in front of or behind me. i think james is going to spend the day up there at the beach with his friends. i don't really think i'm up for it. i just don't know if i can handle being in the sun all day when i feel so sick. but he said he's going to come back here before dark... so maybe we'll go to the park and watch the fireworks. who knows.

now i think i'm going to run get some more colored cardstock... i don't keep very much on hand, and i need some specific colors for the project for mom. then i believe i'll just hang out and watch the devil wears prada and work on some things.

ok. well. i hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far.

so.

i couldn't resist having some input on the song garrett's band posted [see 2 posts below].

so i asked james what he thought.
he actually does listen to some metal occasionally.
but he said it wasn't for him.
he said it is very stylized to a specific type of hardcore/metal music. who knew!?
and he said maybe some of his friends would like it.

anyway. just thought that was interesting.

i am sicker today than yesterday. i went to work at the lab, and sharon looked at me and told me to go back home. then i was coughing so hard on my way home from dinner that i had to actually stop my car. :[
[yeah. maybe that's a good reason to eat at home more often. ha.]
i did start taking some antibiotics tonight though. so i'm crossing my fingers. my dad said that since the antibiotics aren't helping james, this could be a viral thing. i sure hope not. i cannot be sick for kristina's classes on saturday. that just might break my heart. :/

so. i think i'm going to actually do some scrapping tonight. [since i won't be able to sleep... i may as well do something with my time instead of laying in bed being terribly frustrated.] i owe my mom both a birthday present and a mothers' day present. [yes. i'm a terrible daughter. i did make her a card and get her some flowers... but you know. i've been feeling like i should have done more.] so i have a pretty cool idea, and i think she'll really like it, but i'll be able to get it done sooner rather than later as well.

& & i have a little secret. i'm in love with the show little people, big world. i'm not completely sure what it is, but i really like watching it. tonight, it melted my heart when matt wrote help in paint on the boys' door. ugh. seriously melted my heart. and then when he gave his speech at the hotel convention thing... initiate heart melt number 2. yeah. love that show. and really looking forward to next week's vegas episode! ha. [i'm such a dork.]

mmm kay. i'm outta here. and may i add that i'm well on my way to beating my number of posts from last month. ha. :]

one more thing.

i HATE being sick.
i couldn't fall asleep last night.
& & it's looking to be the same situation tonight.


the bad part is... i'm so stinking tired.
:[

eight?

i can't believe i only blogged 8 times last month. ha.

i guess things have just been uneventful.
& i'm not really scrapping much lately.
& & i've been sick for what feels like forever.

anyway. i need to clean my scrap area big time. i think that might help me be more inclined to get some things done. also looking at all the things i've purchased recently that are still sitting in bags scattered randomly around my table might help me want to scrap too.

i need to work on taking all my photos for the two kristina contes classes on saturday. i'm sure i have some of the photos already, but i need to take a few more. and i think i'll get them printed at costco if i have enough time instead of printing them here.

well yeah. it looks like i have nothing to blog about.

so if you're feeling like being shocked, go visit this page and listen to "maltreatment":
http://www.myspace.com/martyrdomcherub
now... it's not really something you will want to listen to, but it is garrett's band.
he does the vocals. [which i don't think should be called vocals, but instead screaming.]
i'd love to know what you think, if you can make it through a short listen.
all i can say is that i'd like to read some lyrics to know what he is saying. when he first started doing this a while back in a reno band, i asked him if he ever thought about me to be motivated to scream like that. i believe his answer was yes. ha. sad.

and because i just tortured you, i'll leave you with this because it's cool:


and this is another version:


and this is the original postal service version:



in other words... the singer of death cab for cutie, ben gibbard, wrote the song for his other band, the postal service. the song was covered by iron and wine. [which is the version that appeared in a fun m&m's commercial.] and the song was also recreated by ben folds, and i think it's pretty innovative and like i said... cool. :]

maybe this whole post was just torture, but if you made it through... tell me which version is your favorite.

ok well. i'm throwing in the towel for this blog post. i don't think there is any saving it. haha.
goodnight.