on the go again

This is where I'll be on Saturday:


Cabo San Lucas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well, I hope....we have American Airline tickets.

I am so excited that we have something planned every day, so I won't be bored to tears. I'm the type of person who takes a vacation and am more tired when I return than when I left. I like something planned every second that I'm there, because if I'm left to sit and do nothing....well, I just can't do that.

I'm looking back over pictures to send to Meagan, the friend I met on my Egypt/Israel trip. It was her idea to take this photo, and I like how it turned out. I know the quality isn't the best, but there's something about it that seems like such a highschool-ish thing to do, that it is just plain fun.

Finally, I'm super-sad about saying good-bye to her this week:
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taking my breath away

There were two things that took my breath away this week.

1. Reveal night at Studio Calico. If you were there, you know why my breath was taken away. No, I'm not talking about the gorgeousness of the gallery (yes, I know gorgeousness isn't a word). I'm talking about the 2 hours I held my breath hoping the server would resurface from the dark pit it had descended into. Yikes! It was awful to say the least, but luckily I've been much harder on myself than the rest of you. I must say, Lisa Garay did a fantastic job as guest designer. Her designs are so colorful and intricate, and I just appreciate her style and her photograpy so much.


2. And, the photographer who took my breath away in a good way: Alicia Bock.

Tell me what you think. I'm seriously considering a purchase.

I think I've literally gone insane.

Jenn challenged us to post crazy avatars at Studio Calico on the blog this week. Here's mine for reveal night and as soon as that kit is revealed, I think I will be replacing my avatar. Yikes!
Anyway, the crazy photo coincides with something crazy I purchased this week. If you know me, literally the only creative thing I do is scrapbook, so I don't know what I was thinking when I purchased this.


I've been thinking for a while how I want to hand-sew a quilt. My adopted grandmother loved to sew and cross-stitch and taught me how, but I have yet to use my "talent" (a very loose interpretation of the word) in any sizeable project. She made my sister and I a beautiful full size quilt to give us at graduation and it's something I will treasure forever.

Originally, I thought I might just do a simple quilt, maybe some stripes of something, using some Joel Dewberry fabric. I've loved his fabric for a while and thought it would be perfect for my first quilting project...I mean, I am going to have to look at it for a while, so I might as well like it, right?

I was perusing the internet at my hotel in Cincy last week and came across this pattern on Denyse Schmidt's website. I was in love instantly! Admittedly, it will be a challenge...but, I think I'm up for it. But, I will say, the night I purchased it, I stayed awake for hours laying in bed, thinking, "what on earth have I gotten myself into?"

I'll try to keep you updated on my progress. My goal is to make a twin size, which is 8 circles, but.....we'll see how it goes after I'm 4 squares in. Wish me luck!

My Nemesis

Seriously.

Amber, my sis, came into town all pretty and tan and the first thing she said was, "Don't say anything! It's fake!" (She knows how much I get onto her for tanning.)

So, she offered to give Mom and I a spray tan and I agreed.

That was the wrong decision. The next morning I was splotchy all over my legs and arms (thankfully not my face). So I exfoliated like crazy until it felt like my skin would flake off and then I tried to spot fix it was rub-on self tanner. Still no luck. So, I went back over to Mom's for round 2 of the spray tanning and thankfully Amber was able to fix it.

Catastrophe averted.

Later on Saturday, I had time to do this for Studio Calico. The kit is so versatile this month. I've scrapped vacation photos, Natalee photos, friend photos, made a journal, and I still have so much left I want to do.
Don't forget to come back on the night of the 27th for some goodies leading up to the reveal at midnight on the 28th.

Settling In

Just a week post-trip and I just now feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things. I got this in the mail on Wed, but had to wait till Thurs to see it because I was out of town. You can see more of it here.
Then, I also had time to work on some sneaks for Studio Calico. I'm so thrilled with the way this kit has turned out. Such super cool embellies from CHA this year and I'm so happy that we can share them with you. The kits and add-ons are available after 12:00am EST on 5/28. Think of it as the night of the 27th. And do come early because we'll have some awesome goodies to give away.


More later.....just enjoy the view :)

Israel, Italy, Home

On the last day of our trip, Greg had to have a photo taken with Marika, our tour guide as "proof" that she led Tom Cruise's tour. Actually, it was a joke between she and the other guide (we had 2 buses for our group, 1 guide on each bus). They thought he looked like Tom Cruise, but Greg was quick to explain that he wasn't crazy like Tom.
A shot at the airport in Tel Aviv before I was told to put away my camera. They're serious about security there....in case you're wondering.
Once we landed in Milan, we high-tailed it to downtown, where we saw an amazing cathedral. The outside was entirely marble and it's difficult to give perspective because it was so huge I couldn't fit it in the frame of the picture.
Now, here's my favorite thing in Milan....the gelato!!!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how amazing it tasted. Since I don't speak Italian, I just looked into the glass and picked the flavor that was most eaten. It was raspberry and I loved it! Greg, on the other hand got cut-off on the taste-testing. Seriously! He asked to taste one, then another, then another, then the guy said, "No more."
A shot of Greg and I downtown....tired, can you tell?
We got back home on Tuesday, but I'm still recovering. I came home from the office last night at 7:00pm and went to bed to take a nap while Greg was mowing the lawn. An hour later, he came in and I was sacked out, he offered to warm up some dinner for me, but I was too tired. I just got up, took out my contacts and went straight back to bed. I slept till 8:30am. You do the math...I'm too embarrassed to say how long I slept :)

Rocky

I must say the one thing I've been surprised about on this trip is the number of rocks. They're everywhere!!! Seriously, even Egypt which you picture in your mind as having lots of sand dunes is mostly rock. Even in the wilderness where the Israelites wandered, was mostly rock. Then, in Israel, again, there's mostly rock. Mind you, they're all different types of rock and I'm actually starting to learn the differences......

This is a picture of Caesarea Philippi where Christ made the statement in Matt 16:18 "Upon this rock I will build My church..." Most of it is completely gone, but the holes in the cliff-side are where idols would have been displayed.

Just to give you a size reference, this other picture is me standing inside the largest hole.

This picture is of a Canaanite road, the original inhabitants of Israel. All the roads made of rock are very difficult to walk on, and I must admit, I thought, "What were these people thinking, laying rock down and making it so difficult to walk?" Then, our fabulous tour guide, Marika explained that in the winter months, there's so much rain, that without the rocks the roads would have been pure mud.

Anyhoo....I've learned so many interesting tidbits and considering I'm not a history buff, seeing something with my own eyes helps me to remember it so much better.

And, end this post, I must share with you my favorite picture of the whole trip:


Steve has video-taped almost all 60 of us in our group sleeping at one time or another. So, when he finally dozed off on day 8, there was a crowd around him like the paparazzi eager to take his picture.

By the Sea

This internet connection is from the dark ages and I'm paying by the hour, so I'll be brief. The pictures you see are many of the places I've been over the past 3 days. Clockwise from the left:

1. Sign pointing to Jerusalem
2. The excavation site of Jericho
3. Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered)
4. Rephadim (in Egypt - site where the Israelites battled with the Amelekites. Joshua held Moses' hands up here so Israel would prevail in battle)
5. Masada (top of a plateau in Judea where Herod built a fort)
6. En Gedi (where David hid from King Saul as he was pursuing him - this is where David cut off a piece of Saul's robe as he was relieving himself just to show that he could have killed him should he wished. It was at this point that Saul realized David was God's appointed leader)
   

1. Nile River
2. Pyramids
3. Me at the Red Sea ----very very pretty, by the way
4. Beth Shean (one of the greatest archeological Roman sites. Very well preserved because it was covered by an earthquake in the 8th century. On the top of the mound there, is where King Saul and Jonathan's heads were hung on a wall.)
   
5. Sign pointing the way to the Red Sea at a Bedwin camp (Nomads)
6. Greg and I on the top of Mount Sinai (let me tell you...after the hike up and down that mountain, I would have been mad at the Israelites, too for building a calf to worship)
   

A little about the Mt. Sinai hike....This was advertised as a "stroll." Well, it definitely wasn't. We started climbing at 12:30am and reached the top at 5:45am. We started at 1500 ft above sea level and reached 7500 ft. There were no guardrails and the terrain was very rocky and steep. Definitely a workout!!!That's all I have time for, for now, but hopefully, I'll have more tomorrow