Wait, what are those I see?

Are those layouts?

What....no wayyyyy....

She did not scrap something.

Well believe it or not, yes I actually did! Just for me. I went over to my friend Tina's house on Saturday for an impromptu crop and I had a blast. I actually managed to get 3 layouts done in 6 hours! Some kind of record for me.

Wanna see what and who I scrapped?

Up first is my cutie pie. I snapped this picture of her on her birthday. She looks so innocent and cute. Don't let the picture fool you though ;)

Next up, is my beautiful friend Jamie. I took a few pictures of her the other day when we were waiting outside a restaurant for our friends to show up. I think she looks BEAUTIFUL!

And last but not least, is a self shot of Zoe and I. We have been dorkin it up, taking lots of pictures of ourselves lately. It has been lots of fun. I think this poorly cropped, out of focus one actually turned out to be one of my favorites.

As with most times when I go to crops, I end up with some sort of theme to my layouts. I used the same somethings on each of these layouts here. Can you figure out what they are?

Five Faves Friday on Saturday "the Birthday Edition"

So it totally isn't my fault that my post is late.

I have reasons, really LOL

Ok sooo anyhow...this week is a special one because my cute girl turned the big "8" on Thursday. So this weeks 5 Faves is dedicated to my Zoe girl.

She had a fabulous skating party last weekend. She got all kinds of wonderful gifts from her friends and Grandma and Auntie June.

John and I saved the BEST present for last.... You will find out what it is in a second.

So without further adieu, my 5 Fave pictures of Zoe's birthday.

#1. This beautiful picture of my now 8 yr old. She just looks so grown up and sassy:

#2.The look on her face. She loooves water balloons!#3. Blowing out her candles. She had a Hannah Montana cake since NOWHERE in this damn hick town had a Jonas Bros. cake. #4. We had a scavenger hunt for her biggest present....Here she is with her"Golden Ticket"

#5. What tickets are THOSE, you might be asking...Tickets to go see the Jonas Brothers World Tour! Check out this face....Remind me it was all worth it just for this face OK!!! I am going to need that reminder when I am surrounded by a sea of Tweens going crazy for the Jo Bros!

So there is my lil pumpkin, all grown up and ever so excited to get to see her favorite band. And I get the Mommy of the Year award for suffering through it....at least I think I deserve it, right? LOL

Introducing.... {644.5}

Now what in the hell is {644.5} you may be asking yourself? and why should I care?

Well you don't have to care, but you may have some fun watching, sharing and playing along if you are driven to do so.

Born out of necessity and a need for Miss Jeni and I to stay connected now that I am no longer with Bad Girls...simply put, an idea brewed in my head. Jeni and I grew so close together working together at BG's and I couldn't stand the thought of not having that creative connection that she and I share. Soooooo what if we challenge or dare each other to do some crazy, cra(x)y, wacky stuff?!?!? Challenge each other artistically, be silly together, laugh a whole lot and well just be our dorky selves....

Thus {644.5} was born. There are precisely 644.5 miles between Jeni and I. But trust me...we are on the same wavelength. She and I have spent countless hours working together, talking on the phone; thousands of emails sent to and fro...half the time we don't know what the heck we are doing or what we are even saying....Anywhooo. I will shut up and share with you our first challenge to each other:

{644.5} Challenge #1-

Scrap a picture of each other and include our dorky homemade word cra(x)y.

Here is my layout with the beautiful Miss Jeni!

I used a beautiful Prima paper,ribbon and ribbon card, Bam Pop! frames, Fancy Pants felt and stamps, Pink Paislee rubons and Paper Trunk alphas to create my layout about my amazing friend!

Head on over to Jeni's blog to see the layout she did of me!

You never know what we crazy girls will be up to next. So stay tuned to find out ;)

Five Faves Friday!

Sooo I am jumping AHEAD of the game here if you can actually believe it.

We have a full day of fun scheduled tomorrow. Going to Wildlife Safari with my gal pals from high-school Bree, Jamie and Jen. Then we are headed out for a girls night out and having some good food, good wine and good gossip!

Here are some great things that I hope you will love as much as I do:

#1. This recipe for Mexican Shredded Beef: You would NOT believe the smell in my house right now, it is insane.

Mexican Shredded Beef:

1 boneless beef chuck shoulder roast (about 3 lbs)

1 Tbs ground cumin

1 Tbs ground coriander

1 Tbs chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 cup salsa or picante sauce

1 Tbs cornstarch

2 Tbs water

taco shells, corn or flour tortillas

Slow Cooker Directions:

Combine cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper in bowl. Mix and rub over roast.

Place 1/4 cup of salsa in bottom of crock pot. Put roast in. Layer remaining salsa on top.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours. (I never cook this long though, I have a super hot and fast crockpot. So know your crock pot cooking habits!)

Remove roast from cooking liquid; cool slightly. Trim and discard any excess fat from meat. Shred meat with 2 forks.

Let cooking liquid stand 5 minutes so fat can rise to surface. Skim fat off. Blend cornstarch and water until smooth. Whisk liquid into crock pot. Cook uncovered, 15 minutes on HIGH until thickened. Return shredded beef into crock pot. Cover and cook additional 15 minutes. Adjust any seasonings to taste. Serve in taco shells or tortillas.

May be refrigerated for up to 3 days or FREEZE up to 3 months.

#2. Anthropologie bib necklaces: I had an email from Anthropologie today in the ol inbox and they had these DIVINE necklaces in them.

Here are a few of my favorites (I think they would go well with the dresses from shopruche.com, don't ya think)

#3. When Fried Eggs Fly- John recorded this show on the Documentary Channel. Here is a quick synopsis from the website so you can get an idea of what it is cause I can't do it justice: Visionary teacher Bruce Mack makes a commitment to get 162 eight-year-olds in a New York City public school to compose, perform and record original music with their parents. The topic is pressing: saving the environment. Serious rehearsals. No cutting corners. And it has to have a great beat. A film for both kids and adults. When Fried Eggs Fly shows how to beat the odds and get a song made.

It was amazing to see how this one music teacher made a tangible difference. A touch it, see it, feel it, hear it, difference. He somehow managed to bring not only 162 kids but their teachers and parents together to create music. It was incredible and inspiring and made me want to go start some kind of damn revolution in our school. Go check out the trailer at the When Fried Eggs Fly website.

#4. Jeff Buckley "Grace Around the World"-I heart Jeff Buckley. If you haven't listened to him, or have and thought "Lord, I hate this" please oh please give this man another chance. I have one of his songs on my playlist, go listen LOL. This is a DVD of unseen live performances and it is beautiful and haunting at the same time. From Grace to Hallelujah to my favorite Lover, You Should Have Come Over...

Read these lyrics and tell me if the man wasn't a genius.

Lover, You Should've Come Over

Looking out the door I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners

Parading in a wake of sad relations as their shoes fill up with water

And maybe I'm too young to keep good love from going wrong

But tonight you're on my mind so you never know

When I'm broken down and hungry for your love with no way to feed it

Where are you tonight, child you know how much I need it

Too young to hold on and too old to just break free and run

Sometimes a man gets carried away, when he feels like he should be having his fun

And much too blind to see the damage he's done

Sometimes a man must awake to find that really, he has no-one

So i'll wait for you... and i'll burn

Will I ever see your sweet return

Oh will I ever learn

Oh lover, you should've come over

'Cause it's not too late

Lonely is the room, the bed is made, the open window lets the rain in

Burning in the corner is the only one who dreams he had you with him

My body turns and yearns for a sleep that will never come

It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder

It's never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her

It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter

It's never over, she's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever

Well maybe i'm just too young

To keep good love from going wrong

Oh... lover, you should've come over '

Cause it's not too late

Well I feel too young to hold on

And I'm much too old to break free and run

Too deaf, dumb, and blind to see the damage i've done

Sweet lover, you should've come over

Oh, love well i'm waiting for you

Lover, you should've come over'

Cause it's not too late

Got goosebumps yet?

and

#5. My Scrappy Fave of the week comes via my friend Pam and in the form of Basic Grey June Bug....Ohh stop my beating heart!!!!

and thus ends my longest post EVER! Lordy, I am long-winded tonight LOL

Have a great weekend.

Chirp Chirp Chirp....

Ahhh the sweet sound of a silent house.

As we near the end of the school year (only 2 days left), I am having some mixed feelings. It will be great not to have to be up and at 'em before 7 am every morning if we don't want to. I am a lounge in my jammies, drink 3 cups of coffee before starting my day kind of girl. No homework to keep track of, no lunches to pack....BUT with all of that comes the constant entertaining of an 8 yr old. All of my free time sucked away from me for the next 3 months. So today I sit and soak in the quiet house, a few minutes of free time and mentally prepare for the craziness that is summer.

So while we are just chilling...how about some 5 FAVES?!?!? A few days late, but Friday was crazy as all get out...

Here is what has kept me entertained and going this week:

#1. Check out these 2 totally cute etsy shoppes. I spent no less and an hour the other day checking them both out. Guarantee you will LOVE them as well:

Caramelo's (one of my favorite candy bars as well, so what ISN'T to love)

and Pink Grapefruit Style (one of my favorite breakfast fruits!) Both stores have amazing photography of their products. The colors at Pink Grapefruit are enough to leave you inspired for days.... Enough talking though, GO CHECK THEM OUT!

#2. ShopRuche.com- found this site via Scoutie Girl, I believe. The site design itself is adorable. Birds, birds everywhere! The clothing is beautiful and the prices are UNBELIEVABLY low! I need all of these ASAP:

#3. The Tonight Show with CONAN O'BRIEN- Move over stupid Jay Leno, Coco is coming thru, kicking ass and taking names. I LOOOOVE Conan. Think he is hilarious. I have missed him and his show has been better than ever. So happy to have Conan back on again. Ohhh and did you see my crush Joel McHale on there the other night? Sighhh he is sooo cute!

#4. Banana Laffy Taffys- Seriously, these stupid things are so dang tasty! I hate bananas, hate them but I love fake banana flavored candies. And how can resist the stupid jokes? Not me, I get angry if I accidentally rip thru one and can't read it (like I JUST did). I vote that there should be a strawberry banana laffy taffy! Who is with me?

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week- Well I haven't scrapped all week long, and I probably should get my teachers thank you gifts done huh, being there are only 2 days left. But I used some Shimmerz paint on one of my projects and I am in love with this stuff. Thanks Jeni for getting me hooked! I used the Chickadee paint and ohh lala...I love how my project turned out.

So that's it for this past week. I am anxiously awaiting the season 7 of Gilmore Girls on ABCFamily tomorrow!!! Eeeeeek! I didn't know that I had missed an ENTIRE season. So this is me jumping up and down like a huge, stupid dork right about now. Speaking of which I need to go finish watching the Behind the Scenes Gilmore episode I tivo'd!

Have a great rest of the weekend,

Dena

I must be getting old.

So I am having a mid-life crisis and I haven't even hit 31 yet. I am sitting here looking at summer concerts in Oregon. John gets to go to concerts all the time, so I was sitting on the couch thinking to myself...heck there might be something I want to go to this summer, I am going to go check out who is coming to our area...so I find, none other than The Cult! Sighhh Ian Astbury...FireWoman, She Sells Sanctuary...well I could go on and on right.



Anyways, back to the mid-life crisis part...so I see that the Vans Warped Tour is going to be here, something I went to in my younger days. "Who is going to be there?" I ask myself. So I proceed to check out the website and do you know how many bands I recognized on the list? Try 5 bands out of about 60! 5...that is all Bad Religion (older than dirt) being one of them.



So here I sit thinking to myself "have I gotten old and just not realized it?" well I think I have already answered my own question! I used to be cool, right? The fact that the only band I can find that I want to see was popular 20 years ago has nothing to do with my age...



Add to all of this. I am trying to do a challenge layout and frantically searching for pictures of myself and not having any luck at all. I realized that not ONE picture has been taken of me since my birthday LAST year and has already been scrapped 3 times. Do I not exist in this family or what? Note to self: hand over the damn camera Dena! So it has been great looking at the progression of wrinkles on my forehead from 2006-present day. Ohhh life before wrinkles, it was nice!

Also forgot to add that my baby is turning 8 in just a few short days! Am I old enough to have an 8 year old? Wasn't she just in diapers the other day?



So yes, today has been a traumatic eye-opener to say the least.

Back to Reality:
Anyone game for seeing The Cult??! We can pretend we aren't old together!