Just Breathe...

Day #7 and the last day of

Marit's Top 2000 Musical Blog Party!!!! 
(12-31-11) 

Seems fitting to end this party with 

one of my favorite Pearl Jam songs...

I found the picture on the internet.

 The photo along with Eddie's lyrics,

(even tho' its technically a love song)

communicated exactly what  I wanted to 

say to my friend Esther 

when I found out her cancer came back last winter.

 

 My last words for 2011 are in fact Neil Gaiman's

...from his "official" tumblr...

Love it!!!
I couldn't have said it better myself!

heh!

(I had no idea he wrote Coraline.

I keep finding out all this cool stuff!!!

I'm still working on his book

Good Omens!)

Oh, and this is cool too!

Watch it!

Zeitgeist 2011:  Year in Review

Happy New Year!!!

Love Will Tear Us Apart

Day #6 of Marit's Top 2000 Musical Blog Party!!!!

(12-30-11) 

 

Today, I worked with 

Joy Division's

Love Will Tear Us Apart

 

Joy Division was one of my favorite bands in the 80's

(oooh there's that decade again!)

and I just read at Wikipedia

they eventually came to be New Order,

which is definitely on my list of my top 10 

favorite bands!

I should have known!

 

: .)

 

 

Haven't Met You Yet!

Its day #5 for Marit's Top 2000 Musical Blog Party!!!!

(12-29-11)

I had a hard time choosing my song for today, 

my original song choice had some negative implications for me, 

and I didn't want to art that...

this blog is called Trying to Grab Some Happy for a reason!!!  

: .)

Instead, I went with Michael Bublé's

Haven't Met You Yet

 His lyrics make me think of
hopefulness,
anticipation,

& 

intention,

sigh...

 In other wonderful news, the Top 2000 has become 

a major event over the years in the Netherlands.
It's not only broadcast on the radio, 

but there is also television show that does an evening journal of the day's music.  

Marit received a call from a local journalist asking if they could film 

and interview her on Friday about her Top 2000 Blog Party!!! 

A.W.E.S.O.M.E!!!

I'm so excited for her!!!

Yesterday, I received an email from Marit and 

she said that two of my pieces, 

one from last year's party 

and my Ruby piece

were shown on the evening journal!!! 

eEeeeek!!!
So yeah!  I was on Dutch tv!!!

 Marit's beloved put together a video 

from a recording of the show! 

Supah cool! 

I think this calls for a celebration!!!

WE ROCK!!!

: .)

Ruby

Day #4 of Marit's Top 2000 Musical Blog Party!
(12-28-11)

For today, I picked the Kaiser Chief's Ruby...

(I don't know this band or song, but I really wanted to do a(nother) red page!)

Must be my favorite color or something!!! : .P 

The word ruby made me think of dorothy's red slippers,

and 

"There's no place li!ke home..."

'cause there isn't

: .)

Pierogis!!!

 I finally made the pierogis!!!

I made the dough and filling the other day.

Tonight, I rolled, cut, filled, sealed, and boiled the pierogis!

 

After you cool and dry them, you can fry them in sauteed onions and BUTTER!

Yeah Baby!  And no, you do not see any vegetables on this plate!

Interesting that the color scheme is much like this meal!!!

I'm also watching Dirty Jobs.  

Mike Rowe is replacing a belt in a bowling alley/center lane.

I still want to marry him.

(And, OMG!  He just farted on TV!!!)

: .P

(You're) The Devil in Disguise

 Its day #3 for Marit's Top 2000 Musical Blog Party!!!
(12-27-11)

I chose to do
Elvis Presley's (You're) The Devil in Disguise.

I remembered that Lil Dubin's dad long ago
had sent me this great pix he altered.

It definitely refllects Lil Dubin's personality!
: .P

*     *     *     *     *

 I also finished my December Daily album... 

I have to admit, I am happy to be done!

 

Christmas ornament from my manager.

Its an upcycled can, twisted around a tree frame.

Awesome!

(I forgot to take a pix of it on the 16th, and
isn't it weird to see my thumb twice in the same photo???)

 A card from my friend Erik, 

the "magic" of Christmas!

yes!

This is my trainer, Rommell.

He must have been in a really good mood on training day

because he was FULL OF SASS

and gave me a hard time

the entire session!!!

All in good fun, of course!

(And yes, I gave it right back!)

On the 21st, one of the engineers at work threw a Festivus party.  

I made sour cream butter spritz cookies to share with the party-goers : .)

A spare page, I couldn't leave it blank!

My first day of vacation.  

I got a bunch of long term items checked off my to-do list!!!

I totally procrastinated on sending packages.

I dread the lines at the P.O.

It must have been my lucky day,

b/c I was in & out in TEN minutes!!!

As I mentioned in this post, P told me about this song, 

so I had to include it in my DD.

On Christmas Eve, I took a little jog.  

I woggled 8 miles, for the first time in a year!  

Wow!

 

December 25th ~ me & my tree!!!

Underneath this photo is another irreverent shot of me with tree, 

 South Park style ; .P

And the cover, tah-dah!!!

You might as well face it, you're addicted to...

I'm a little late to Marit's Musical Blog Party today!
(12-26-11)

I chose to use lyrics from Robert Palmer's

Addicted to Love...

with a twist...

Back in the 80's, oh how I loved those Stepford rockstars

in their little black dresses

and their HOT red lipstick!

(and are any of those women wearing bras?!  LOL!!!)

Click on the pix to make it bigger...

I prepped & cooked food all day today!!!

I was inspired by

Julie Tucker-Wolek's family Christmas dinner

and I got together everything for pierogis tomorrow.

For tonight, I made

Lemon-Oregano Chicken with Olives, Artichokes, and Potatos

minus the oregano (I hate it!) 

&

Gwyneth Paltrow's

Carmelized Brussel Sprouts

A glass of Asti rounded out the meal.

On the side there's a mini apple pie.

I was convinced by a lady at Safeway to buy Tillamook

Vanilla Ice Cream to top it off!

According to her, its the BEST! 

I don't know what I'm gonna do with the rest of the half gallon!  ; .P

I hope you had a great Christmas Day!!!

Those who run seem to have all the FUN!

I got a piece done for Marit's Top 2000 Musical Blog Party!!!

Yesterday was a steller day in the Lindaverse!
I ran 8 miles!!!
My longest run in over a year, 

so the lyrics in Madonna's song Hung up
really felt appropriate!

: .)

When My Heart Finds Christmas...

 My heart told me once before,
To find my dream and search no more,
And when my heart finds Christmas,
I hope it finds you too...

P mentioned this song to me this morning

when I told her that I was lagging in my 

Christmas spirit.

 I had to share!

Its absolutely lovely...

(As is Harry Connick Jr. so here's a pix of him too! Enjoy!)

(source) 

: .) 

eEk!!!

Guess who's the design team member highlight on the Frantic Stamper blog today?!

Yep!  That would be meeeeeeeee!!!  

(Not really sure why my nose looks soooo LARGE in this picture, hummm...)

Happy!

: .)

DD aka December Daily

after two other sputtering stops and starts, then deciding to abandon the project altogether, only to change my mind (I'm a Pisces, what can I say?!), I finally have begun my December Daily album.

all the cool kids are doing it!  LOL!!!

I bought Mr. Claus 6"X6" papers.  after cutting and stitching and making my own embellishments for my pages, I realized I wasn't a fan of the color scheme.  I finished 7 pages before deciding to change gears.

I then cut a bunch of red and green 6"X6" squares, stamped them with white ink and some swirly Basic Grey stamps, punched a bunch of snowflakes, and completed 2 pages.

that was when I decided to give up.  day 16 and basically no pages done.

I looked up on my craft credenza (that's such a great word...credenza) and saw a mini album I made when I took Vee's Style Files class awhile ago.  "hey, that gives me and idea..."

are you ready???  photo heavy...

my cousin Ann, pre-Disneyland road trip...she's so accommodating!

cc redemption card.  just know that I spent enough to have $153.00 Disney dollars 

that went towards my park ticket.

park ticket!

traditional Mickey Mouse icon head park bench shots.

done with my new Fuji Instax camera.

notice the different exposures?

sometimes its worth bringing the instructions along.

I gained 3#s, 4?  maybe 5#s while on my little holiday.

I mentioned to my friend Paul that it was the "Magic of Disney".
he responded "is it Magic or Voodoo?"

heh!

free Starbucks download!!!

She & Him

I took my very first bar method class.

this pix is of the "pretzel"

we did it. it hurt.

I will not be intimidated by gorgeous 20somethings 

who can bend themselves into pretzels.

note from one of my little girlfriends!

sweet!

this speaks for itself...

I admit that I have this attitude at work a lot lately.

one of last years lolcats!

faux bokeh, or fauxkeh as I told P!

done with my Canon G11, 

as I gave my DSLR to my DAD!

I took 89 shots to get some good ones!

see this link for a tutorial on bokeh.

on the 11th day, I helped Als decorate her tree!

on day 12, Als and I survived went to the mall.

Santa came to my office! 

shoot, I forgot to give him a piece of my mind for not bringing

what was on my list in 2008!

holiday gargoyle?!  heh! (@ my desk @ work)

department holiday luncheon.  ESTHER was able to come!!!

soooo happy to see her and Carmen!

I took this pix when I was about to give up on my dd.

that's my craft "area"  

my credenza : .) is on the right!

that's it for now.

Jack's on his way, were going to go see Breaking Dawn.

I wonder if I can convince him to let me buy dinner???

Great News!!!

Scrapping the Music had gone live with its new look!  

Go by and check it out!!! 

: .)

I don't think I can do it!!!

A little disclosure here...

I love my daily Starbucks.

I am not kidding.

I get a Starbucks every.single.day.

And I don't drink coffee.

I either get a EGTL (earl grey tea latte - grande non-fat, no water, no foam), or

I get a soy chai.

My XSIL/friend mentioned her weekly food budget, its $25.

A few days later, it dawned on me that's about what I spend weekly on Starbucks.

$25 X 7 X 52 = $1274.00

That would pay for a nice little getaway.  I could go visit Patricia and Emma for instance.

Also, if I stopped drinking a daily Starbucks, I would save approximately 54,000 calories/year.

A little more if I exclusively drank soy chai lattes.

Since a pound of fat = approximately 3,500 calories, I could potentially lose 15 pounds/year.

So, for two reasons, I should give up my daily Starbucks.

The thing is to me, a Starbucks is more than a really expensive guilty pleasure.

Its my daily happy.

It represents a connection.

I know, those baristas get paid to practice great customer service.

But they are damn good at it.

I feel like we have a "relationship".

And in a time where it seems as if people care less and less about each other,

and it feels like less kindness is happening,

its really nice when your name is remembered.

When sometimes your drink is made by the time you walk in the door.

Or when you get a happy face drawn on your cup.

So, I don't think I can do it, you know...give up my daily Starbucks.

Not today.

Maybe not ever.

It seems too important.

Send Your Wishes Out Into The Universe...

I apologize for the funky spacing and formatting.
Blogger is NOT cooperating!

Yesterday was a red-letter day in the creative
portion of my Linda-verse!  

I have been incredibly validated 
& am overwhelmed and 
excited for new challenges and possiblilties!!!

Not only will I be working once again with the 
Scrapping the Music 
ladies 
with Michelle LaPoint Rydell 
returning to lead the team, but...

I was also chosen to be on the 
Design Team
for one of my favorite 
stamp/scrap/craft supply companies,  
Frantic Stamper!!!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

(Breathing...ok, more like hyperventillating, you get me, right?!  LOL!!!)

Please go read the sweetest DT announcement and 
check out the some of the work of the other new DT members 
at the Frantic Stamper blog!


I'm thinking the clincher was my "essay" : .)
that was to be included with our application for a position.
In case you're interested in reading it, 

I "wrote" it to be sung to the tune of Rihanna’s,  

We Found Love …

Glimmer misting in the light,
Glue and paper side by side,
Add some stamping, draw a line,

Tools I use to bring art alive…

It's the way I create, I just can't deny,
And I wanna let it show…

I found joy in a creative space,

I found joy in a creative space,

I found joy in a creative space,

I found joy in a creative space.

I see a challenge outside the box,

Love to post things on my blog,

Frantic DT I need you more,

Every heartbeat tells me so…

It's the way I create, I just can't deny,
And I wanna let it show…

I found joy in a creative space,

I found joy in a creative space,

I found joy in a creative space,

I found joy in a creative space…

and there you go!

wow!

: .)

#6

 

still plugging away...

: .)

holding a bit of her soul...

ATCs from Danica

: .)

I'm still working on it...

I realize its not weight watchers friendly...

its been a rough week & I needed carbs.

p.s.  they were small pieces

: .P

PSA

Poor Beaker!!!

: .)

you're going to be just fine...

I'm trying out a new "formula" for my art journal pages!

(thank you, Julie Kirk!!!)

day 2 ~ so far, so good...

Mickey Mouse band-aids from Annie!

: .)

I was Instaxly in LoVe!!!

I bought myself an early Xmas present!!!

Why'd I wait so long to get an Instax? 

 It takes the cutest itty bitty instant photos!!!

: .)