Winter Wonderland...

Well, I'm spending a few days in West Brooklyn.  I probably shouldn't spend quite so much time here, but I have four days off in a row and 1) I don't have much of anything to do at my apartment, 2) my mom and I have actually wound up on really good terms with each other in the last couple of years, and 3) sometimes I really like being out in the boondocks for a few days.  I know everyone that lives in the Gurnee/Zion area thinks it's the middle of nowhere, cuz it's not Chicago.  But I'm telling you...that's all relative, and compared to where I'm from, it's a freaking thriving metropolis in Gurnee.  I still remember being ecstatic back when I moved to DeKalb, because gas stations were open past 8pm, I could get food delivered to my house, AND I didn't have to drive 45 minutes to get to the movie theater.  Thrilling, I tell you.  And don't even get me started on the first time we drove into Geneva/Batavia at night and saw all the lights...it might as well have been Chicago to us.  It's good to be easily impressed, I suppose.  When the opening of the 24 hour WalMart 45 minutes away was cause for celebration, and the most exciting thing there was to do on Friday night when I was in high school...well...you can see why 1) I get a little out of sorts and panicky when I'm thrust into somewhere like Chicago...it's overwhelming compared to bufu, 2) I think anywhere else that I've ever lived is amazing and fantastic, and 3) why I like getting back to the middle of nowhere for some peace and quiet...where I can be annoyed that a vehicle I don't recognize is driving on OUR road (I mean, what are they DOING here?  We're not on the WAY to anywhere)...where I can battle snow that doesn't get plowed till Monday, and not till after school starts, cuz there aren't any bus-riding kids on our road...and where I can park in the middle of the road and take pictures of pretty trees without worrying that I might cause a pile-up.  So here they are :)

Well that's all for tonight...two posts in one day...woot!  :)

Ringing in the New Year...

So yesterday, I helped my mom design and put together her "I-ran-out-of-time-to-send-Christmas-cards-so-I'm-sending-them-for-New-Years" cards.  It was fun...knocked out a couple dozen in about four and a half hours, and felt pretty accomplished.  Now on to filling out and addressing them...woohoo!  They're both made with: Stampendous stamps, American Crafts Ribbon, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Polar Ice Flowersoft, Watercolor pencils, and Stardust pen.  Here they are:

Snowflakes

Flurries

Happy New Year everyone!  :)

Zentangles...

So a customer asked Heidi if we had supplies for doing Zentangles the other night.  We didn't, but she was curious and did some online research, and has since created Zentangles monsters of a few of us at work.  In case you're wondering, Zentangles are basically glorified doodling (they were actually included in my vocab post a few months ago before I even knew much about them).  Also known as Zendoodles, they're basically doodling with a purpose that tends to have a relaxing/hypnotic effect (hence, the Zen part).  I scraplifted (yes, that's legit in the world of scrapping) Heidi's book of patterns and have been doing some research online for more, along with templates and whatnot.  I think I'm going to make myself a letterblock tray of them to hang in my livingroom, and I'm SUPER excited about it.  :)  Here's some shots of my pattern book...more to come when I'm further into some works in progress:

That's all for tonight!  More soon :)

OCD mixtapes...

First things first, please note:  I say "mixtapes" for nostalgic purposes only...obviously with the reign of the digital era, they're not truly mixtapes anymore, but you get my drift. 

So anyone that's been on a roadtrip with me in excess of three hours in either direction knows that I take my mixtapes seriously.    For two reasons, I think: 1) I used to be a music major, and 2) I'm a control freak.  One time, my ex said he made a mix tape for a vacation we were going on...it consisted of a half a dozen Pink Floyd songs, a half a dozen Dave Matthews songs, and a couple of random Bob Marley songs tacked on at the end.  I nearly had a stroke over it.  Putting solid chunks of two different CDs onto one CD together does NOT a mixtape make. 

There are three main considerations when making a mix:  1) Varied tempo and style (nobody wants to listen to what  sounds like the same song over and over again when they're attempting to stay awake while driving), 2) a small number of related but unfamiliar songs mixed with older nostalgic ones, and 3) finding the right songs to evoke the right feelings for the occasion.  I'm telling you...I'm seriously OCD about the whole thing...I could spend hours.  I DID spend hours...back in the day when a mixtape was REALLY on cassette tape and you had to record it in real-time.   Oh, how mp3s have saved hours of my life!

Anyway, so all that said, we're having a holiday CD exchange at work instead of the more traditional gift exchange.  I spent WAY too much time on iTunes looking for just the right music...made extra difficult by the fact that typically they just remake the same couple dozen holiday songs every year instead of ever writing new ones.  That said, I did find a couple of new, non-traditional songs.  My official holiday playlist is as follows:

1) (It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus - Harry Connick, Jr.
2)  All My Bells Are Ringing - Lenka
3)  Someday At Christmas - Jack Johnson
4) Christmas for Cowboys  - Jars of Clay
5) Christmas - Blues Traveler
6) Frosty the Snowman - Fiona Apple
7) Winter Song - Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
8) O Holy Night - Weezer
9)  Carol of the Bells - Emmy Rossum
10) It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Sixpence None the Richer
11) The Heartache Can Wait - Brandi Carlile
12) Winterlove - Parachute
13) Maybe Next Year (X-mas Song) - Meiko
14) All That I Want - The Weepies
15) Baby, It's Cold Outside - Lady Antebellum
16) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Jack Johnson
17) Melekalikimaka - Bette Midler
18) Feels Like Christmas - Cyndi Lauper
19) Zat You Santa Claus - The Brian Setzer Orchestra
20 ) Must Be Santa - Bob Dylan

We're also making cases to hand them out in (see below).  I made mine with the MME Holiday paper, Martha Stewart Scoring Tool, Patterned and solid cardstock, American Crafts ribbon, TPC Studios holiday embellishments:

That's all for tonight!  More soon :)



Rock lobster...

Back to crafting soon...

M'kay, now I NEVER buy cutesy clothes for my dogs...like, never.  But today...it was like it was meant to be.  I was walking into PetSmart when some lady gave me a coupon she didn't need for $4 off the brand of food that I happened to be going in to buy!  Sooooo...I was wandering around the toy aisle, cuz I'm a sucker and pretty much everytime I'm AT PetSmart, I buy them a toy.  However, on this particular evening, I noticed the cutest little leftover lobster halloween costume on clearance for just $3!  lol :)  Like it was meant to freakin' be...and while I don't really do Halloween, I spent the $3 just to entertain myself and take a couple pictures for my blog and scrapbook.  Hooray!  Lucy's gonna hate me forever now...but...

ROCK LOBSTER!

More later!

By the fireplace...

There's just something about a fireplace, isn't there?  My mom just got one put in at her house, and it's just cozy.  It's relaxing and soothing and the perfect end to a long day.  Since I live in an apartment, I have no fireplace, but I did discover WoodWick candles, which have (shocker) a WOOD WICK.  Doesn't sound like a big deal, but they make a lovely crackling fire noise that's the next best thing to having a fireplace.  Plus they smell lovely, which is good too :)  Anyway, that was the inspiration for tonight's Christmas card.  I used the same Penny Black stamps as the last couple cards, and the same Fancy Pants paper (cut into little rectangles for the bricks, and pop dotted for the mantle).  Cut some free-hand flames, and colored everything with colored pencils. 

And that's all for tonight :)  More soon!

And now for something completely different...

Well I've been posting Christmas stuff for a month now, so I figured it was about time to mix it up.  That, and I have a friend who has a birthday this week, so I needed to make a card that wasn't a Christmas card anyway.  Here's what I came up with...I think my favorite part is how the ribbon turned out.

Front

Inside

It's Hero Arts Stamps, BoBonny Paper, Glossy Accents, Gems, and a Charcoal Cateye Ink.  Pretty simple, but very cute :)  And that's all for tonight!

Customer service? Common courtesy? Anything at all...

It's possible that I may be particularly sensitive to customer service because I work in retail.  But few things annoy me more than somebody in a customer service position who obviously doesn't give a crap about me or my purchase.  That girl ringing my purchase at WalMart who not only doesn't smile, but doesn't even bother to look up at all.  That guy at Menards who is obviously irritated that I have bothered him with a question.  And tonight, my newest example, at which I am particularly peeved:

I have no issue with self-checkers at grocery stores.  In fact, I think they're a genius idea for busy days with lots of people when you only have a few items.  Slip in, slip out, never wait in line.  It's great.  What I do not like is that after a certain time, ONLY self-checks are available.  The first thing I'd like to say is if you can afford to pay some guy to stand in the middle of the self-checks and wait for an "Assistance Needed" beacon, then why don't you  just pay that guy to run a register instead?  Seriously...customer service.  However, I could overlook that issue.  What I cannot overlook is not one, not two, but THREE employees standing around the assistance desk at the self-check area...chatting and complaining about how there's nothing to do on night shifts and it's so boring and drags on and on and on...while I'm scanning and bagging $200 worth of groceries BY MYSELF.  What the hell?  If you have time to stand around and complain about how little there is to do at work, then get off your butt and HELP SOMEONE.  *sigh*  It seems obvious, I think, but apparently not. 

People never cease to amaze me.  Customer service, chivalry, common courtesy...anything at all would be nice.  I don't expect for someone to fawn all over me and tell me how great my purchase is.  I don't need someone to show me around the whole store and tell me all the latest, greatest things.  All I want is someone to look up, smile at least once, not be pissed if I have a question, and give me a hand if I'm obviously struggling.  It doesn't seem like so much to ask.  Perhaps it is.  Meh...oh well...I guess I'll have to get used to it, cuz it doesn't seem to be getting any better. 

And now off to bed...cooking all day tomorrow!

Penny Black, take two...

Another Christmas card with Penny Black stamps tonight.  The same fancy pants paper (the other side of it), watercolor pencils, and glossy accents :)  Woot!

Goodnight all!  :)

Baby it's [not] cold outside...

Wowza...sixty degrees in November.  Ridiculous.  While generally I'd be a fan, that means we're unseasonably warm again just in time for the mall to turn on the heat on November 11th, which means the store will probably be a sauna for several weeks again like it was last year.  Joy!  Anyway, unseasonably warm or not,  I was feeling inspired tonight and made a Christmas card prototype.  I finally decided I'm going to get off my butt and make 10-ish to send out to immediate family and a few long distance friends.  They won't all be the same though, because I get bored easily and I won't finish them if they're all the same.  Probably everyone will get something a little different so I can maximize my playing with stamps time.  Here it is:

Pretty simple...Penny Black stamps, Fancy Pants holiday paper, watercolor pencils, sparkly fluff, and a stardust pen :)  And that's all for tonight...work's still insane, and I still have no time to be blogging, but I'll make a serious attempt to get in one more this week.  Have a good night!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, we decorated the store for Christmas today.  It comes earlier and earlier every year, it seems.  While it aggravates me how early it is (and we've had Christmas merchandise for a month already, at least), this is the only time I really get to enjoy it.  Today, I was actually feeling in the Christmas spirit.  A month from now, when normal people (i.e. people who don't work retail) are going into full-blown Christmas mode, I'll be going into full-blown CAN-THIS-JUST-BE-OVER-ALREADY mode.  I'll have seen Christmas merchandise for two months already.  I'll have already been listening to Christmas music in the mall for a month.  I'll have already made Christmas cards, bought Christmas gifts, closed down our Christmas classes, and be wondering when Valentine's Day merchandise is coming in.  Sooooooo...in a snap decision upon arriving home after work, I decided to just put up my Christmas tree at home while I still actually felt like doing it.  Sick, I know.  But seriously...I just won't enjoy it later.  At least I didn't play Christmas music while I was doing it (no need to start that crap any earlier than I have to).  Last year when I put up my tree, I decided that it looked sad without any presents under it.  So, I wrapped up random things around the house that I hadn't used in a while.  And, in a stroke of genius, I decided I didn't really need those things and left them all wrapped and put them with the Christmas decorations, so I didn't have to do it again this year!  (Well, I mean, I wouldn't have HAD to do it again this year anyway, but I'm crazy, so I would have).  Anyway, productive night all-in-all...and now I think I'm going to sit around in the glow of my Christmas tree for a few minutes before I head to bed :) 

Goodnight all :)

What's shakin'...

First and foremost, I'm gonna say right now that posts are probably going to be once a week for a while, cuz right now, life. is. crazy.  Mostly work crazy.  Take tomorrow and Thursday, for example:

8am-1pm - Work
1pm-7pm - Walk/Feed dogs, Eat, Sleep
7pm-5am - Work
5am-1pm - Walk/Feed dogs, Eat, Sleep
1pm-10pm - Work

So yeah.  That's assuming our light install actually happens like it was supposed to.  If it gets hung up, it'll have to be rescheduled to an even LESS convenient time.  *sigh*  We'll see. 

Aaaaaanyway, to relieve stress, I finally took some time to play with my new Unity Stamp Set that I bought at the crop on Saturday (before KARAOKE! Which was awesome, by the way.)  Here's how it turned out:

Card with Lined Envelope

Close-up of the shakers

Closeup of the background (done with a stardust pen)

And that's all for tonight!

For the love of karaoke...

I'd just like to take a moment to express how much I love karaoke.  Honestly, if I could find someone to drag out with me whenever I wanted, I'd probably go twice a week.  At the cost of sleep and everything, cuz lord knows it never starts till 10pm.  When I lived in DeKalb a group of us went at LEAST once or twice a week.  Now that I'm in Zion, times are getting desperate for karaoke.  I haven't gone in almost six months.  I'm nearly to the point where I'd just go by myself...which is a trick, cuz I wouldn't be able to drink then since you usually can't take your drink on stage (something about drunk people spilling beer on expensive equipment), and I wouldn't want to leave my drink unattended in some random bar where I don't know anyone.  *sigh*  The good news is, I get to go tonight!  New location, people from work...yay!  Anyway, I'm off to bed for now, but I'll try to remember to take a couple pics and post them.  Hooray karaoke!

Variations on a theme...

FINALLY started working on Christmas gifts again, which I've been saying I was going to do for the last three or four weeks.  Anyway, I had a few different sets of paper to go with them, since I have a quite a few to do.  Here's how they're looking so far:

1) The Original (My Minds Eye Papers)

2) Basic Grey Papers

3) Cosmo Cricket Paper

4) Cosmo Cricket Paper

5) Cosmo Cricket Paper

So, only fifteen more to go...woot!

Button, button, who's got the button...

Well, my blog has been a little neglected for the last week.  It's been busy, busy, and I made a trip home to visit family since I'm not sure when or if I'll get back before Thanksgiving.  We're short-staffed at work, and the schedule is getting a little hairy at the moment.  Anyway, I was flipping through a card magazine at work the other night looking for crop demo ideas and I ran across these cute little cards with buttons.  Apparently it's supposed to be a button combined with a stamp set specifically designed to go with the button.  However, the designs aren't really complicated enough to necessitate a stamp set in order to re-create them, so I just used a Zig pen to draw in the details.  Here they are:

Chickadee

Up, Up and Away

The buttons are green, brown, and black, although for some reason my camera phone has decided to make them appear purple-ish. 

I think they turned out pretty cute :)  And now off to work on Christmas gifts!  More tomorrow, perhaps :)

Inflating Lucy's ego...

I finished my canvas tonight!  I used Cosmo Cricket DeLovely paper, Bones Thickers, Hambly transparency, Making Memories Paint, and clear home decor gems.  Put it all on with some vellum tape and a glue gun, and voila :)  I like it...I'm not sure where I'm going to put it yet.  It doesn't really go with my apartment, but it wasn't really supposed to...it was just supposed to be Lucy-ish, which it totally is.  It'd probably work in the kitchen with my other random art.  We'll see...either way, it makes me smile.  I LOVE those dang Thickers.  And the added bonus is I'm pretty sure there's twice as many letters in that pack as the normal thickers packs since the letters are so much smaller...a much more reasonable size for most titles, I think.  Anyway, here's the picture (the glare kinda sucks, but you get the idea at least):

And that's all for tonight :)

The nature of retail...

Well, I've had my current assistant manager for all of about six months, and she's leaving :(  Although, it's important to note, that's BY FAR, the longest I've had an assistant manager in the year and a half since I've been at this store.  (And I swear, it's not because I'm running them out.)  Anyway, this one is moving across the country with her boyfriend for his job.  Exciting for her, but sad for me, because I'm short-staffed heading into full-swing holiday season again.  Ah well...such is the nature of retail.  Anyway, I made her this cute going away card tonight.  I'm really liking it.  The inspiration is from Get Real Greetings by Jessica Strawser.  I used Crate Paper, Making Memories alpha stickers, American Crafts Ribbon, and that's pretty much it. 

Front:

Inside:

And that's all for tonight :)

Seasons change...

It seems to me a rather cruel joke for me to have BOTH seasonal allergies AND Seasonal Affective Disorder.  So when I'm finally wrapping up with struggling to breathe season, I'm on my way (or at least I used to be on my way) into depressed and struggling to get out of bed season.  That said, I went to see someone about it in college, and was prescribed Wellbutrin, which as far as I'm concerned is a miracle drug, which I've been taking seasonally ever since.  The problem with depression is you often don't realize how far along into it you are until you're REALLY far along.  All of a sudden you realize you've been sleeping more than you've been awake for the last few weeks...you're eating way too much...or hardly anything at all...you don't go out because you don't feel like it, and then you get upset because you haven't seen your friends in a few days/weeks, and then you're in even less of a mood to go out, and on and on it goes...the downward spiral continues.  I spent a few years trying to drag myself out of that hole by staying busy, forcing myself to go out with friends, etc, etc, without much success.  It was around my Sophomore year in college when I ran across the book Winter Blues: Everything You Need to Know to Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder, written by Norman E. Rosenthal, MD.  I thought it was kind of a load of bull at the time, until I started reading it and realized that they had my last five years' worth of winters laid perfectly.  Right down to the week of euphoria/insomnia around March or April when it first gets really sunny again.  It was crazy.  So, I read some more about it, read about options, and wound up taking the prescription route.  There's other options...light therapy, etc...but I didn't feel like they fit into my life/schedule very well.  That portion is entirely to each his own, I think.  Some people have major issues with medicating for things like depression...I just happen to not be one of those people.  Anyway, every year I get better at recognizing when my symptoms are coming on so I don't have to crash first and then dig myself out of that.  It's been an amazing improvement ever since...like...AMAZING.  I can get out of bed, I don't sleep for 14 hours a day, I don't pass out on my couch the second I get home, I eat normal amounts on a normal schedule, I don't have wild mood swings or just feel blah all the time anymore.  I had hoped medication would help, but I honestly never dreamt it could do all that.  Anyway, at the risk of sounding public service announcement-esque, because it's an issue that's close to my heart, just pay attention to how you're feeling on a daily basis.  Think about if there's a pattern when you tell yourself you're just tired because you've been working a lot, or you just don't feel like seeing anyone because it's been a long week, etc.  You don't have to spend your fall/winter miserable.  And if you have any questions about Seasonal Affective Disorder, check out that book I mentioned earlier...it's a ton of great information.  More crafting stuff later, probably :)

Adventures on canvas begin...

So I guess canvas is hot this year in the crafting world.  We have workshops, samples, gift tags, and boxes and boxes of other canvas items at the store.  So...I figure it's about time to play!  I've always had sort of an interest in creating wall art with canvases.  I've actually tried a couple of times with limited success.  But that was back in high school before I had been introduced to the world of scrapbooking, and I was just using whatever paint, etc. I had lying around the house.  So I ran across this really snazzy idea in the idea book about doodling that I bought a few months ago...I was super excited when I saw it the first time, and then I got busy and kind of forgot about it...but I ran across it again a few days ago and was re-inspired, so my canvas project takes it's first baby steps tonight.  So here's the pic from the book that I'm working off of for inspiration:

First and foremost, of COURSE I'm doing my canvas with a picture of Lucy :)  I was thinking about doing one of both of them, but upon further consideration, I decided that I'll do one just for Millie later.  After having Lucy for almost a year now, I think I really have an understanding of her quirky little personality and can hopefully bring that to the piece.  I don't think I've had Millie long enough to say that.  So after she comes out of her shell a little more, she'll get her own picture :)

Now, that said, I think the most exciting little tidbit from this inspiration page is the little gems around the outside edges.  What in interesting idea...using a 5/8" circle punch for paper to put behind those gems you put in the bottom of vases.  I had never really seen anything like it.  It was, in fact, the whole reason I decided I really wanted to do this canvas afterall.  So while I haven't really figured out my whole concept yet, I got to play with the gems tonight to get a feel for how it might fit with the rest of my ideas.

So, the first column is just gems with paper behind them, the second column is with paper that has some Sharpie doodling on it behind the gems, and the third column is just the gems...which I'm thinking about mixing into the piece too.  I'm LOVING the Sharpie ones, though.  We'll see what happens.

Once I really get going on this, I'm going to have to figure out a better way to photograph it so you can see everything better (On that note, I'm seriously considering buying myself a new camera for Christmas.  The camera phone pictures aren't doing it for me, and I despise the camera I have...screw you Olympus with your damn XD card that isn't compatible with my computer and no auto-stabilization.  Gotta finish the rest of my Christmas shopping first and see if I have enough left for me!)

Anyway, that's all for tonight!  More tomorrow :)

But everything was going so well...

Blech, blech, and more blech today.  Isn't it irritating how just when you think everything is finally on track, life pulls the damn rug out from under you?  Every freaking time.  I was thinking about going into the store and cropping today, but I'm in way too bad of a mood now for that. *sigh*  Instead, I think I will take a nap, take myself out for lunch, possibly do a little shopping, make some cute cards, and depending how I'm feeling after all that, bust out the Captain and Coke later.  We'll see.  One more BLECH for good measure, and that's all for now.  If I manage to come up with a happy little card that cheers me up later, I'll post it. 

Points for participation...

Anyone who knows me or my family knows...we don't do Halloween.  I don't think I've had a Halloween costume since I was maybe eight years old.  No costumes, no Halloween parties, and we lived in the country growing up, so no trick-or-treaters either (I got lucky that my apartment complex doesn't do it either).  Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm a scrooge about it necessarily.  I don't have issue with other people enjoying the holiday...I guess I can see the appeal if you're into that...I just don't like it.  The whole ordeal creeps me out.  People in costumes, strangers knocking on your door at night, wandering around in the dark asking for candy from people you don't know...I mean...it's all the stuff they teach you not to do from the age you're old enough to understand what the heck they're talking about.  I have enough issues with creepy little kids...I'm already terrified I'm going to wind up having a kid as pale as I am with great big eyes who likes to wake me up by standing next to my bed and staring at me...the horror.  (Note:  I have specific reasons for being extra terrified of people staring at me while I sleep...a roommate situation which I will not go into details about...suffice it to say, I moved out in a panic in three hours while she was at work...scary!). 

Anyway, so I typically avoid Halloween festivities like the plague and don't particularly mind being harassed about my lack of enthusiasm for everyone's apparent favorite holiday (I'll take Thanksgiving, thankyouverymuch).  BUT, when I showed up at work today, I had a "Boo" in my mailbox.  What is this, you may ask?  I asked myself the very same question, and luckily it came with a handy dandy instruction sheet telling me exactly what a "Boo" was, and detailing my loose obligation to pass it on.  That's right...a Halloween candy chain letter of sorts.  A little Halloween favor box with candies and a little poem and a cute little ghost for my nametag so everyone knows I've been "boo"-ed...so we're able to tell who still needs a "boo."  It's interesting that something I would've completely ignored if it showed up at my house happened to show up at work instead, and I actually bothered to consider it.  When you put something in the frame of crafting potential, you just may spark my interest.

Also sparking my enthusiasm for this particular project is the fact that I just happened to buy a new Martha Stewart Scor-Board on Saturday night (so much for restraining myself from buying more scrapbooking stuff, eh?)  And this particular tool comes with a very helpful guide for making envelopes AND favor boxes.  Soooooo...I am officially participating in my first Halloween activity in nearly 20 years...shocking.  And to anyone who thinks maybe this means I've let up on my anti-Halloween stance...don't count on it.  But, from the crafting angle at least, it turned out pretty cute...and I imagine I'd participate in similar activities in the future should the situation call for it.  Plus, it's better that I don't seem like a big party pooper of a boss.  :)  lol.  So here's my "Boo!":

Outside:

Inside:


















Supplies:
- Martha Stewart Scor-Board
- Various Bo-Bunny Papers
- Bazzill Bling Buttons
- We R Memory Keepers Deco Corner Chompers
- Googly-eyed Spider Stickers (from Walgreens, of all places)
- Charcoal Cateye Ink (required for any project I'm doing, without exception...lol)

And that's it for tonight!

Finding happy...

Well, I worked an overnight last night with my assistant manager, and man oh man did we get a lot done.  That said, it brought back vivid memories of the time I spent at Kohls, always working, never sleeping (or really having a life, for that matter).  I would routinely get off work there at 2 or 3am and have to be back in at 6am...40 minutes away from my apartment.  Or I'd work an overnight, go home long enough to take a shower, turn around and go back for another 14 hour shift.  The thing that reminded me most of my younger days, when I didn't know when to say when:  I woke up after my 17 minute nap before returning to work this morning, stiff, sore, and just generally miserable.  As I thought back on it, I remember waking up that way nearly every day I worked at Kohls.  I felt like I was 90 years old.  I remember worrying that something was seriously wrong with me back then...cuz a 21 year old isn't supposed to feel that way (at least not without a whole lot of alcohol...lol).  As it turned out, it was just the result of battering my body and not taking care of myself for months on end.  As soon as I got back to a semi-reasonable schedule with a little work-life balance and some semblance of a proper amount of sleep, I bounced right back (with a little additional help from The Walking Company, for which I would gladly do a commercial if I were asked).  It seemed like a miracle at the time...I had spent almost two years like that, and had finally concluded that was just the way things were going to be.  That I was going to just have to live with being miserable and overextended.

Well, years have gone by, and I certainly don't push it to the extent that I used to.  I know better than THAT.  But, I do still have a tendency to overdo it on a semi-regular basis.  Last night was a perfect example...lifting stuff I should've probably gotten help with, among other things...I'm sure there's the writer of a pamphlet about proper lifting techniques somewhere out there who would grimace if there were video footage of everything I moved last night.  Luckily, I found myself another small miracle several months ago...a fantastic massage therapist (who will certainly have something to say about the current condiiton of my back when I go again on Wednesday).  

Now, don't get me wrong, I've always been all for a good massage.  I go on vacation, and someone says: "Let's go skiing," and I hear "Get cold.  Fall down.  Break leg."  Not-so-much...if I want to injure myself, I can manage that on my own, at home or at work.  I'm an INDOOR kinda gal.  Vacation is for sleeping in, eating well, and relaxing..often with a massage, from whatever spa happens to be nearby...or not so nearby, as the case may be.  Anyway, I'd had a lot of massages, and they'd always been nice, but until April or so, I hadn't ever had one that made a lasting impression.  One that actually made me feel better for a few weeks, instead of just relaxed for a few hours.  This girl fixed what I thought was permanent tissue damage from falling down some cement stairs seven or eight years ago (clumsy, not drunk).  It was ridiculous...I didn't even know it was possible to fix something like that.  And for that, I will continue to be a fiercely loiyal customer.

Anyway, I think what I'm getting at with all of this, is that the older I get, the more I realize that it's important to invest in myself...in my health...and in my quality of life.  And okay, yeah...massages cost money...quality shoes cost money...but if it means I don't have to wake up thinking I've aged 60 years overnight, it's totally worth it.    And yeah, if I have to take a job that pays a little less...if maybe I have to move somewhere that I don't know anyone and start over, decide where to cut costs and figure it out all by my lonesome...but I'm happy, and I don't come home angry or go to work depressed...it's totally worth it.  So I'm finding my happy place...in my cute apartment, with my silly dogs, working at a job I love, in an area that suits me, and getting nice shoes and massages.  To each his own though...find your own happy :)

The perfect stamp's triumphant return...

Well, I finally got to bust out my perfect Christmas stamp that I bought last week...yay!  So the card turned out a little non-traditional, but I think really cute.  I wish I had a sentiment stamp for it, but alas...all at mom's house still...but I think the "Santa Baby" is kinda cute anyway.

The card: 

A close up...only to show that I did, INDEED use glitter, which I NEVER do:

And a close up of the written sentiment:

I guess after this, I should get back to my holiday gifts...*sigh.*  That's all for tonight :)

My little escape artist...

Well, Lucy managed to slip her harness again this weekend.  I keep getting different harnesses that fasten in different places, and tightening them more, but nothing seems to matter.  I swear she has no bones or something...she just slips right out.  She didn't even tug this last time...I just looked down and she was gone.  *sigh*  The last time, she came right back when I called, but this time, I guess she smelled something exciting, cuz off she went like a little bolt of lightning running for the end of the block.  Now, mind you, this is in the pitch black in a neighborhood I'm not particularly familiar with, outside my friend's house in DeKalb.  So I'm running through yards after her, probably screeching her name (at the time, it seemed like I was speaking at a normal volume, but now that I think back on people stepping out on their porches to see what the commotion was, I'm guessing maybe I wasn't).  So, she finally got spooked when a car came by and came back to me, but not before I managed to pull my calf muscle pretty bad.  It was wonderful.  lol.  Sooooo...back to PetSmart yesterday, and Lucy got some little t-shirts to wear under her harness so I could tighten it some more without it rubbing.  What a spoiled little brat, eh?  :)  But really...who could stay mad at this face?

So she got her new t-shirts...I think they're pretty appropriate:

And last but not least, gotta share a pic of Lucy and Millie...new best friends :)

Aren't they cute when they aren't running away and causing injuries?  :)  I think so too!  And that's all for tonight :)  More crafting soon...it's been a little nuts lately!

A complete lack of self-restraint...

Okay, so I have a weakness for stamps...and paper...and purses...and watches...and sometimes shoes.  I find that once I start saying "yes" to myself, it just keeps getting easier.  Which is why I have already purchased more Christmas stamps this year than I would need to make cards for the next three years.  Whoops.  But honestly, how could I pass this ONE MORE up?  It's too cute...I couldn't...it is mine now :)  It's perfect!

I'm a sucker.  And I'll be making Christmas cards till the day I die...apparently :)  lol.

Playing dress up...

Let's be honest here...there's not always time to make everything start to finish, right?  Sometimes, shortcuts must be taken.  Particularly when lack of time AND lack of budget is looming overhead.  So, I never feel bad if I create a hybrid...store-bought card dressed up with some ribbon and bling...maybe add a sentiment or envelope stamp.  (Honestly, I don't really feel bad just buying a card from a store and handing it out as-is either, but...that wouldn't make for much of a post, now would it?)

Sooooo...I found some packs of cards to use as favors, and while they're cute, there's still a certain blandness about them.  So here's my solution:

- Studio G cupcake cards
- Studio G cupcake stamp
- VersaMagic Inks
- Cateye Inks
- American Crafts Ribbon
- Mark Richards Gems

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Nothing spectacular, but just cute enough :)  Then I'll tie them up in packs with some more cute ribbon, and we're all good to go!  That's all for now :)