Payback Time has drawn nigh....

This is a quick interruption of the Granny Panty blog for me to officially apologize to my parents for all the grief, angst and agony I caused you in my adolescent years. Yes, true to your wishes, I am getting my pay back. Little did I realize that the problems of the Terrible Twos, Troublesome Threes and the first time they got a D on a spelling test were such small potatoes compared to the Trauma Filled Teen years.

What the teens fail to realize is that when their heart breaks, our heart breaks. And we've been dealing with two very different teens with two very different heart issues, but one thing is common. It hurts.

Now back to our regular programming....chic Book reviews is a new blog that my friend Amy has started. If you love to read, check it out. She's kicking it off by doing a giveaway on April 1st! Me? I'm a super fan of Chick Lit and the not so guilty pleasure reading. Most of the time, my nose is in a book geared towards working with children, so when I read for pleasure, I do not tend to go for the downer, depressing or deep inwardly thinking tome. I read for sheer fun. Amy's new book blog looks like it will be sheer fun, so I can't wait to visit regularly!

What tends to tempt me to pick up a book to read? Well, a pink or seafoam green cover of course! Seriously, if it is pretty, I pick it up. If the teasers on the back and inside covers are light & witty, I flip through it. If what I read makes me smile, laugh or nod my head in agreeable recognition, I may carry it up to the check-out counter (with my coupon of course). This is my confession, when it comes to reading I am brazenly simple and I like it that way!

Oddly enough, after 2 weeks of heartbreak with my own teens, I'm about to head for a conference with almost 30 more. Pray for me. No seriously, pray for me and them and all the other adults going. You know where there are 2 or more girls gathered together, there will be drama. That is not what this weekend is supposed to be about and I don't want dramas to overshadow what should (if all goes according to plan and prayer) be an amazing weekend they will always remember. Where there are 2 or more guys gathered together, there is a large possibility for a trip to the emergency room. I really don't want some bone-headed big puppy of a teen boy knocking himself silly and sitting in the ER for hours.

If I'm still alive on Monday morning, my plan is to have a majorly huge cappucino in hand and spend time visiting every single lovely blog I haven't been able to spend time at because I've been nursing wounded hearts and wringing my hands at my inability to make it all better.

Until then, playing with art supplies is always good therapy. I highly recommend it. This is some of my Prozac:

Everything is still being pulled from my copious stash, but I confess I totally broke the no-buy with a little of Jenni Bowlin's new designs and pretty much ALL of Heidi Swapp's new product. My defense? It was perty? Really though, their stuff tends to cross so many applications and isn't pigeon-holed into only one type of genre. And truly, I love gazing at the new lovelies and whiffing off that little adrenaline rush of retail therapy.

Not sure why the next 2 pics turned out blurry. They didn't seem that way earlier, but since I'm about to pack and run, I'm sorry I don't have time to fix them. You see those stickers down below? Every month, when I get my Lucky (or Domino) magazine, those stickers are there for you to mark your favorites. They are just too, too cute. Too cute, not to use them for a card or two. I'm so sad that Domino is going, going, gone now. They had some of the best color combos for their little stickers.
This photo album was inspired by a tutorial on the Joli Paquet blog. Instead of paper though, I used some old feedsack fabric, seam binding and a vintage flower. Ssimple, but so fun to do. Check out the Joli Paquet blog and scroll down for the original tutorial, then have fun creating your own little albums! I've since made more of these and will probably save them for Mother's Day little gifties.

Pillow fight anyone?

It's Slumber Party time over at For the love of vintage... otherwise known as Shabby In The City! Happy Happy Birthday my friend! Head over there for links to see other party goers.

Let's jump on the bed. I promise Mom will never find out!

This morning was chilly. Good thing I had an extra blanket on hand...
Forgot your sleeping bag? No problem. We've got loads of extra blankets, quilts and pillows to share...

I am such a pushover for cute pajamas. Nick and Nora are a particular weakness of mine...And bedtime just wouldn't be the same without a little Chick-Lit to cozy up for a sweet snooze...
In the morning, we'll have cappucinos and relive the memories.

Seriously, slumber parties take me back. Oh, my daughters have had several parties of their own, but the things I did as a child, you could never do with kids today. Completely un-PC! Ah, fond memories of seances with a trip to an actual cemetery at midnight (we were in 6th grade!:P), going to Dairy Queen to order 1 ice cream cone with 10 spoons to share, prank phone calls (no can do with caller id today), dressing up as preggie cheerleaders to terrorize the local Sonic (my dad proudly drove us all there), running naked through the sprinklers in the back yard and more. Good times, good times.

My Stimulus Package and a Rule(r) to live by

(I know, 2 posts in 1 day! Crazy, right?)

Doesn't include tax breaks, incentives or a free coffee from Dunkin Donuts. It does include yummy fun that I couldn't pass up when I was out shopping with Rosemary.

I came home with this sweet, chippy, swirly frame and turned it into a bulletin board. Sorry about the shadowy light. My studio is in my basement, hence, no natural light, just OTTs & an old chandelier and this baby is too big to lug upstairs and photograph (before I've had copious amounts of caffeine).

The 'Bloom' banner is keeping it company. I saw the cute 'Spring' banners on House of 3 and decided to improvise my own with some Heidi Swapp stash I'd been hoarding. I think it was hiding behind a family size bag of Cadbury mini eggs. Ate those yummies and voila, I saw a whole new stash! Cut the circles for it with my old friend, a CM circle cutter. That was probably one of the first purchases that sucked me into scrapbooking.

Here is the rest of my stimulus package. Most all of it has found a home, but I've yet to hang up the green shelf. Isn't there something like this in most of our grandmother's bathrooms? They usually aren't painted a bright lime green though. Can't wait to hang this in the studio and overrun it with goodies. I also loved the silvery, dove grey of this hat. I have a huge head. HUGE. Hats never fit me. This one worked. And it's vintage. And perty. So I adopted it. It was meant to be. I also brought home sparklies that were labeled 'Table Confetti'. Hmmmph, right. Sozo, the princess cat, would eat that confetti straight away and while it my be a shinier job to clean the litter box for the next few weeks, I can see these faux gems getting used in loads of projects instead! The black bead trim was found in the barn at Chartreuse and while I have no idea how I'll be using it, it was pretty and had to come home with me. Yes, it did.

Confessing also that I am easy prey for cute packaging, hence the Mocha Rose lip balm found its way into my grubby paws. It's made by the Rosebud Perfume Company which is literally 2 miles up the road from my house. They make Rosebud Salve which is one of Sephora's biggest sellers. Run over to Sephora and support my local peeps! (BTW, the Mocha Rose balm is so very good)

Not from Chartreuse, but a continuation of the tweaking of the studio:

Ignore the paint, glitter and copious clutter. Yes, this is pretty much how it ALWAYS is. I've had this inkling in the back of my head for a long time and have particularly seen it put to use on seamstress tables. When I was at the antique mall last month, I picked up these vintage yardsticks, almost got them, but changed my mind at the last minute. Not sure why.

Well, I found out. It was because they hadn't yet been marked down! I picked up 4 on sale; 2 of them from our local paper. A quick treatment with a handsaw, staple gun and hammer did the trick. Now my countertops are rimmed by an old yardstick edging that is not only useful, it's pretty cool looking if I do say so myself. (To me anyway. My Pottery Barn friends are probably agog with horror) I was checking out at the antique store and this lady starts asking me about my plans for them. When I told her, she picks them up and starts fondling MY yardsticks, getting that greedy, grabby, I'm gonna steal your Cabbage Patch look in her eye. I nearly whacked her with a stick to get them back. Go find your own sticks chickie (well, that's what I was thinking!)

Basketball with....?

Okay, okay, so we're sitting hundreds of feet away, so all you get is vague fuzz, but can you guess who we watched a Wizards-Bulls basketball game with last Friday?

Recognize the famous profile of one of Washington DC's newest residents?

We were told there might be a special guest when we got to the Verizon Center and had seen a street blocked of all traffic once we were off the metro, but we didn't register what 'special' meant until the crowd on the floor started to go wild.

And here comes President Obama!

I don't care who you voted for, that was a bit of a thrill. My daughter freaked out with excitement and she could barely watch the rest of the game for watching to see what the President might be doing. Our little photo is equally fuzzy, but yes, we will have the memories of a great girl's night out on the town.

For the record, the Wizards won. Woot!