NSD prep + part 2 of "love story"

To my scrapbooking friends who read this blog, Saturday is National Scrapbooking Day and we're going to have a day filled with challenges by the Design Team and giveaways at Studio Calico.

And, to give you a head start, the DT is posting their challenges early. You can read about them here. On Saturday, upload your LOs to Studio Calico's gallery, then post the link to your challenge LO on the appropriate designer's blog. For me, I'll begin a new post on Saturday with my take on my own challenge, and there, you will post your LO. Be sure to post your LO by 11:59 EST, because after that, I'm closing down the submissions for my challenge.

First the prize you'll be working for and then I'll tell you about my challenge:

Now for my challenge:

I love the look of pattern on top of pattern like this card from Gypsy&Twink.

AND, as many of you know, I love mist (specifically Maya Mist)

So, my challenge to you is to use at least one mist over top of a pattern. This can be patterned paper, newsprint, anything you choose, but use mist on top of a pattern. Got it?

I'll make a new blog post on Saturday morning for you to link me to your layouts. Don't forget, you may combine my challenge with any of the other DT challenges and be entered for both prizes. Pretty smart, huh?

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Now for part 2 of "Love Story" (To read part 1, see this post)

He called the very next day.

I can't remember all the ins and outs of the conversation, but I do remember thinking that my birthday was the following Monday and I didn't want to let that slip in fear that he might get me a nice present and I would feel obligated to a relationship that hadn't even started yet. As a guy, he obviously didn't have the same concern, because he immediately informed me that his birthday was on Friday, the night we would go on our first date.

Fair's fair so I divulged my birthday explaining that we'd be even and not get each other anything.

Was I ever wrong. Monday night came and Jason and Greg knocked on our (Amber was my roommate) dorm room with some Fruity Pebbles (Birthday Edition) and a song. A sweet gesture, but a cake would have been better.

We stayed up playing spades that night for a long time. They were begging for a punishment. Amber and I were partners and little did they know that we were raised on Spades. All throughout high school our family of four had nightly spades tournaments. We played "ALL" with each win getting a straight line until your team spelled the word "ALL" with 7 wins. Then, a complete "ALL" meant a mark on another "ALL" in the back of the scorebook. To be the grandest champion of champions it took 49 wins: a feat that we could happily repeat over and over.

So, throughout the night Amber and I could practically read each others' mind, card after card, we would try to lose and give them a break but it was impossible. We won, and won again, and won again.

As soon as the guys left for the night, the door had barely shut behind them, and Amber looked glaringly at me and said, "You didn't."

"No, of course I didn't. You know I wouldn't do that."

"Well one of them did and it was awful."

"No kidding. I was thinking the same thing. I mean we're sitting in a 10x12' room and they think it's okay to let one slip?"

The week passed by quickly, and before we knew it, it was Friday night. To prepare for Greg's birthday, I was really at a loss. What do you get for a guy that you kind-of sort-of are dating, but you don't want to send a committal message too, but you don't want to be unthoughtful either? Hallmark doesn't make a card for that. I decided a blank enclosure card and a basket of iced sugar cookies was the answer.

Back home with an oven that was easy to regulate, I was a champ at barely undercooking Pillsbury ready-made cookie dough. In the dorm kitchen, it wasn't so easy. Because all the kitchen items were shared for the whole floor, there was no way I was cooking directly on the cookie sheet. No way were my perfect nuggets of gooey goodness going to touch a tainted pan. Back to the dorm room to grab aluminum foil, and minutes later, the cookies were baking unevenly in the mustard-colored oven. A few twists of the pan, and out they came, ready to cool and be iced. I didn't think about the fact that I would actually have to supervise the cookies during the cool-down process to prevent theives from coming in for a snack. Nevertheless, I waited with vanilla icing in hand. As an added bonus, I had purchased 2 squeezable colored icing tubes to decorate the cookies. With Martha Stewart visions in my head, I squeezed and squeezed. Finally, they were done and ready to stack in the basket to be delivered in.

I hadn't realized that the decoration process had taken so long, so I had to rush to find the perfect Abercrombie sweater to layer with a flannel shirt and Guess jeans. With not a minute to spare, Amber and I rushed downstairs where the guys were waiting.

Greg and Jason emerged from the car to greet us. Jason was driving a silver Mazda M6. (Not bad.) Greg took a glance at Jason, and I could tell he was trying to make sure greeted the correct twin. I was more than happy to give him a clue, so I stretched out my hand, holding the cookie basket, and proudly stated, "I made these for you." He immediately ripped it open and took out what he thought was one cookie.

Crud! How could I have not let the icing harden?

There I was looking at 3 cookies stuck together and I could only imagine the thoughts he was having.

He must think I'm the worst cook in the world. I really hope he doesn't show those to anyone else, they'll have a good laugh.

Instead, he said, "How did you know exactly what to get me? Jason even knows how many times I've made trips to Subway to get cookies lately, and now I have a basket full of them that will last me at least a week! This is the perfect gift!"

Perfect, indeed. He knew exactly what to say.

We headed just a few blocks down the street to a local restaurant, Mariah's. We were seated at a booth down the steps and to the left. By this time, I was nervous. I had no idea what kind of job he had and if he could even afford to pay for my meal, so I played it safe with a soup and salad, knowing I'd be hungry later. While we ate, Amber and I did most of the talking, bantering back and forth and poking fun at one another.

After dinner, the guys had planned to take us bowling. Although I had experience on a bowling league in the 8th grade and knew I wouldn't make a total fool of myself, I was still a bit nervous. I still couldn't stand the thought of wearing those nasty shoes and having guys stare at my backside while I clumsily threw the ball down the lane. That part of the night passed by rather quickly with little conversation from the guys, so I figured they'd take us directly back to our dorm room.

Instead, they asked us to go to Barnes & Noble for coffee and another round of Spades. Always up for an easy win, Amber and I agreed. We stopped by a convenient store to purchase a deck of cards, then sat around a tiny table in the cafe area of the bookstore. Again, it was no contest. Amber and I won game after game. Still, the guys didn't have much to say, and it was mainly she and I who were carrying the conversation. I knew she and I were having fun, but I was pretty sure we were having more fun with ourselves than they were.

Barnes & Noble began their call for purchases and we knew it was time to leave. A quick hug goodbye and a, "See you later," ended the night.

After they left, I looked at Amber and said, "Well, I guess that's the last we'll see of those two."

(I'll have more to come in the next few weeks. This recollecting is fun!)