skype'ing fun.

got skype?

if you don't - you're not getting FREE internet calls. with OR without a webcam! (thanks jon) who doesn't want FREE calls when ur overseas!

Singapore Day 1.

today was spent exploring my hotel and getting acclimated to the time zone difference. more on that later. my room is in the 'garden terrace' section which is like half outside, half inside. it's really neat. there is this garden area with lush ponds, waterfalls, and palms in the center that jut up a few floors. i snapped some pics and headed out to explore the POOL.


this pool looks really enticing from my balcony and after work, i indulged in both it and the hot tub. it's a blazing 90 degrees here but later in the evening the hot tub was a perfect temperature to relax with a book.

work went really well. i'm working with cisco systems and their office is on the 26floor which makes for a great view. my co-workers here in Singapore are really nice. i can't wait to go to dinner with them tonight and see more of the city.

stay tuned!

singapore arrival.

hey folks. i jumped ship and came to Singapore for work. it's my first time to the asia-pacific region and i'll admit it's been a pretty smooth travel so far. i hopped on one of these gigundo B747s that United runs and it was smooth sailing. these monsters hold up to like 400 people and even have a 2nd floor! i couldn't get over how big the plane was... the wingspan alone is bigger than most of the planes I take for business travel. when we were taxi-ing, i swear one almost went directly underneath the wing.
the haul from chicago to hong kong was over 15 hours... but i really wouldn't know. i slept about 9 hours of it. i struck gold when no one sat next to me and i could take over 2 seats for my bed. my layover in HK was okay... despite losing my glasses. i left them in the women's bathroom when i put my contacts in. HUGE bummer! hope i don't lose my contacts when i'm swimming in the pool at my hotel. speaking of.... check out my view!


although it was pretty early (hence no daylight) here when i took that video... it's HOT! 86 degrees by 6am and 90% humidity. holy toledo... i know i'll be enjoying that pool!



talk soon! i'm off to go convince my body it's really 8am and not 8pm. wish me luck!

b-day boy.

A little birdie told me that today MAY be some anonymous' commenter's birthday. Happy Birthday ya old fart. Next time I see ya I'll be sure to buy ya a beer out of Al's garage!

film reels.

remember when we started painting the living room?! well we've been basically 're-doing' the living room this entire year. (unfortunately just thinking about what we're gonna do doesn't really get much done!) when looking for decor i found these film reels at ballard designs and i think i NEED them for my mantel. they're so neat - there is one size for each era in the film industry, the biggest being about 2 ft.

then i saw the price and i reminded myself why the catalog(s) should go straight to the recycle bin.

window view.

i'm bummed i haven't had the chance to keep up with the blog the last few weeks. i'm sooooo sorry guys b/c i really miss everyone!! unfortunately i just haven't had too many GOOD things to talk about. seems that life is throwing challenges at me left and right these days. and with so many in a row... i could but only stop and think that some force was working against me. hence some reflecting time.

enough about that. an update on when i last spoke to you - i DIDN'T win the scooter. BOOOOOO to that. i called Parkliegh on two separate occasions where they confirmed that the actual winner had already picked up little sunny and was off enjoying their new ride. i've yet to see them on the road but when i do, it'll be tough not to mutter obsceneties at them under my breath. at this point i could have used a little winning luck to pick my spirits up.

(from the corner)

i do have lots more to talk about and get your opinions on so CHECK BACK! including how the heck i'm supposed to resist the urge to skip my morning meeting and run over to the garage/moving sale that is literally next door to my office building. i swear i saw not one, but TWO antique cash registers as i drove in. not sure though as most of my caffeine hadn't kicked in by 7:20am.


(from my office)

here is a pic out of my office window as i sit here and type over my keyboard. crazy, huh?! how the heck am i supposed to concentrate on reviewing business requirements when i can see everyone else HAULING away antique goodies. maybe i could bargain with them out the window!? perhaps i could send them 'best offers' via paper airplanes! oh my. hopefully i'll be that much more productive today knowing i can race out of here and get some goodies. i deserve 'em these days.

scooter madness.

i've been dreaming (and therefore drooling) about a scooter these days. riding on one, taking pictures of one, getting a sidecar for Lucy in one. i decided to take matters into my own hands and WIN one. today i entered to win the SUNSHINE YELLOW Vespa raffle going on at Parkleigh. the drawing is happening very soon and until then, i'll be practicing my facial expressions for when i win!

grand margaritas.

you know you've been drinking a lot of grand margaritas when...


you have empty grand marnier bottles serving as your garden art. here's the TASTY recipe for anyone who hasn't enjoyed one of these yummy concoctions.



they are a nice accessory to our garden sticks.

the junk fairy.

the next best thing to getting free JUNK alerts is having free JUNK show up on your doorstep. its the like the junk fairy came and dropped off a present, and it's way better than three dollars in quarters!

sondra stopped by with one of her drawers from an old letterpress. she must have known i was looking for one. casually looking of course, no need to be spending twenty bucks on one stinkin drawer.

these letterpress drawers were used way back when printing was done with good old fashion metal type. they held the letters, numbers and other symbols in 'em. fastforward a few decades and they are not in use with the computer surge... so many have been put out to pasture. making them VINTAGE, and a JUNK woman's collector item! they make perfect shadowboxes and can hold minitaures of any kind.

i am using my gifted drawer in the office as my rubber stamp holder for now. since i'm running out of storage room, i thought it'd be neat to hang on the wall above the crafting table.
thanks Sondra!!!

acorn squash update.

**editor's note**

for those curious about the 'fruit', here is proof that squash is growing in our garden!! we've never grown acorn squash before... so we're excited for the harvest. who knew it got so darn BIG, it's already toppling over the broccoli!

cherries.

cherries, cherries, and more cherries. some pics from our weekend at the farm.

acorn squash.

have you hugged your acorn squash today?

summer decoratin'.

guess what's at walmart right now for only FIVE dollars?! a cute little glass gallon beverage dispenser. perfect for holding fresh iced TEA in the SUMMER.

oh and these adorable nylon placemats to match. at 50 cents each they're perfect for the outside patio. easy cleanup for all those backyard bbq's!

the perfect thing about placemats is that when I'm sick of these, I can stich 'em on up and make some cute outdoor pillows for the front porch. happi-day!

poolside.

we're back from vacation.

as usual, i'm drowning in hundreds of photos of all the FUN we had. here are just a few pics of how we spent our 4th.... POOLSIDE!


that hat got around quite a bit!

1000words.

today i'm on Kodak's blog, 1000words talking about some of the techniques and tips used to capture last years's 4th of July photographs of Fireworks while we were in Washington, DC.

check them out for tips on how to take better photos of the fireworks this week, as many of us celebrate the Independence Day holiday.

happy canada day.

to all my canadian friends, family and readers,

HAPPY CANADA DAY.

shower invites.

my bjb sondra is getting married this fall and my other half and i have the pleasure of standing up next to them as they get hitched. i just got done sending out all the bridal shower invites and i loved them so much i wanted to share them!

with one bazillion women on the guest list - we wanted to keep the costs down. postage alone on that many invitations could break the bank. i went with cardstock on cardstock and trusty old 'powerpoint to design the invitation text.


i used the brown Simply Paper envelopes at Michaels that went with their color palette: burnt sienna and brown. i googled my brains out until i found a sondra-esque design image to layer in the background. then i played around with the border width and placement of all the text. the slicing doo-hickie saved me time and my fingers pulling it all together. i used double sided tape instead of glue for no reason other than sometimes glue can do funny things.

i took the leftover time and got coordination snazzy by pulling the font style, color, size and image on the address labels. how's that for the fancy-schmancy designer in me?!

my fave part of all? how well the liberty bell stamp went with the brown envelopes. a bit odd, I know. sorry it looks a little weird with all the rectangles. as much as i like you all, we just don't have room for bridal-shower-crashers.

gardenin' fool.

we're not just eating lettuce these days. my other half planted a lovely garden which he tends to day in and day out! so far we've been enjoying fresh herbs like this rosemary plant.

we didn't go too crazy like last year with our tomato plants but we're still hoping to produce some monster size fruit. i'm excited to be trying out some new plants like acorn squash and broccoli.

i love these glass flowers that i got last year at the corn hill festival. they are such a nice splash of color for the growing-like-mad SAGE plant.

happy summer everyone!

vintage letterbox.

i have been coming up w/ideas for how we can incorporate some of the things we enjoy most into our wedding decor. two of them being photos and travel.

so perhaps you can understand my delight when i found this vintage letterbox on one of the wedding blogs i love to read. snippet and ink always has fun, themed inspiration boards which can get the creative juices flowing for wedding ideas. they included the letterbox which featured on Grapevine weddings to showcase invitations. I just HEART the idea of old photographs that guest write on in lieu of a guestbook.

Now the question is - where can I get one?!?

free icebox.

you know you're a junker when.....

you get two text messages in one day from friends asking you to haul away fun FREE junk. this latest one made me squeal:

Lanie: Any desire 4 a free icebox? I think its metal.
me: omg. i love you.

junk alerts via text messaging are not quite as fun as scoring junk via a roadside pile. it must be the lack of the hunt and the swerving that can be involved. this icebox practically landed on my doorstep! (which can also happen quite a bit to us junkers).

i can't say my other half was as excited about it as I was - but he'll get there! it has such POTENTIAL! I'm already looking forward to the project!