Seal Rock

Last Saturday we headed to the Coast to visit with Barb and Glen. The weather on Saturday was pretty grey and drizzly, typical Oregon Coast weather, but Sunday it was only partially cloudy and the temp was in the 60s. After golfing, lunch in Waldport, making strawberry jam, and helping in their yard, Barb and I finally were able to get down to the beach for a short walk in the early evening. I got some great photos, like this one of the sun just before it sunk behind the bank of clouds on the horizon. We had a wonderful visit, played some Mexican trains and enjoyed the wonderful view of Ona Beach State Park from their front deck.

Finally Friday...

Not much happened today to blog about, spent the day watching Joey and Grace, and I mean all day, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 this afternoon. Love them dearly but it was a long day of grandma sitting on the floor playing trains, drawing on the AquaDoodle and tickling and playing. Unfortunately the weather was crummy so we couldn't go outside and play. I got some cute pics of the grandkids today.

Sr. met me over at their house and then Pep and Carla took us out to dinner at the Ram Brewery. Very nice dinner, but am glad to finally be back home. Got to get packed and ready to head to the coast first thing tomorrow morning.

Diaper cake, haircut and other tidbits

I've been working on the diaper cake for Melissa's baby shower for a couple days now and I think I'm going to call it DONE. I tried it with a lot more added to it, but it just looked too busy to me, so I pared it back down to just the minimum with a couple other touches. Added the "It's a Girl" on the top, bows and ribbons to the top and bottom layers and the baby's name with a cute little stroller to the middle layer. It's not perfect, but I like it and it looks less like a wedding cake than the first version. Hope Melissa likes it.


Before and After



Yesterday I finally gave in and called the gal that does my hair...I've been growing it out, but just could NOT stand it anymore! Fortunately she was able to get me in late in the afternoon. As you can see from the "before" picture it was really getting out of control. I've got to confess, most days I would straighten it but yesterday I just decided to let it go natural. (I think I knew that this would drive me crazy and I would finally call for an appointment!)





So at 3:00 I headed into town for my 3:30 appointment and consultation with my stylist. (Doesn't that sound fancy? In reality, it's just Dennise, the gal who has been doing my hair for the last 5 years or so.) Ever since I decided to cut my long hair off in 2007 it has been getting shorter and shorter each time I've had it cut. Yesterday we decided to leave it longer than usual in the back and just let it curl up and cut it shorter in the front and only straighten that part. It feels good to finally get some sort of style back, but I'm not sure I like the back...my hair is soooo thick and curly and I'm not thinking I like the back this long. I've got to say the front looks fine, just not sure about the back. I'm going to live with it for a week and if I still don't like it Dennise said she would cut it some more at no cost to me. So, we will see...but for now, it just feels great to have that "mop" gone again!




WHAT'S FOR DINNER

Tonight is pasta nite so I'm planning on making this:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Penne-with-Shrimp/Detail.aspx

Will add lots of extra spices like basil, garlic, red pepper flakes and then garnish with fresh Italian parsley and shaved parmasan cheese. (The reviews say it needs a little added spice.)

I will serve it with fresh steamed asparagus, Caesar Salad and fresh melon.

A Little Card Magic

Do you ever have something you're making turn out just right...you look at it and know that you wouldn't change a thing? I think the last time that happened for me was when I made this mother's day card for Melissa. It was just going to be something quick, thrown together at the last minute and I loved how it turned out.

I knew the picture I wanted to use, it is a picture of Aiden giving her a big hug at her wedding shower a year ago. They both looked so cute together, Aiden with his sunglasses and Lissa in that cute little hat. I remember Aiden running into the room where the shower was being held and he was so happy to see his mom that he ran straight to her, wrapped his little arms around her and hugged for all he was worth. This picture will always remind me of our little boy's unconditional love for his mommy.

So I picked a patterned paper and cardstock I wanted to use, matted the pic on white since I was using a floral background. It looked okay, but it was lacking something. So I added a couple ribbons behind the picture to "ground" it. Found that lavendar ribbon with the black polka dots, perfect for the fun picture! Then I started building a cluster of flowers, ribbons and a stamped tag on the lower right corner of the picture. This is something I always see on other people's creations, but I never seem to get it "just right." This time it really seemed to all come together perfectly for me. I cut a few more flowers from the scraps I had left from the background paper and added them under the tag I stamped and matted, a great finishing touch to my cluster. To balance out the card I stamped a few black flourishes in opposite corners and added a flower and ribbon under the top of the picture and my card was finished.

It is so much fun to make something special for someone special. I know she appreciates the time and effort I put into making cards for her.

Now I need to get downstairs and work some more on the diaper cake for her baby shower. It is slowly starting to come together...can't wait until it is finished and I can post the final pictures! Hopefully I will be as pleased with it as I am with this card!

What's for dinner?

I've got skinless chicken thighs thawing...thinking some sort of coated, baked chicken with rice and asparagus...I'll have to let you know for sure after I check out http://allrecipes.com/

I was going to use this part of my blog to help track what meals I've been serving but perhaps I might also add some pictures...hmmmmm something to think about, combine my love of cooking, love of photography and my blog.... hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

A Year and Half Later....

I guess I'm going to try blogging again...not happy with my blog title/heading...going to have to do something about that...eventually...

Okay, eventually became today, still not real pleased with my header, but it is better than what I had before. Not so depressing!



Creativewise...here's something I worked on this week...a diaper cake for my daughter's baby shower in a couple weeks. I've never made one before and thought this turned out pretty well. Then, I started looking around online and found a bunch of other ones that were really, really (almost over the top) decorated. Started making mine look a little plain. Guess I'm going to have to do some more work on it. Will post the "after" pictures once I'm done adding more to it, but here it is at this point.

Also I've been working on making a garland decorations for the shower. It's little paper onsies hanging on a clothes line. Got the from a site online and I bookmarked the PDF file, but can't locate the original website, so unfortunately I can't share that, but I want everyone to know that the original idea was not mine. I will share pics of that also, once it is done.

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

Tonight is our nite for red meat (I'm trying to fix it just once a week) so we will have BBQ'd steaks, potato salad, fresh green beans, a green salad and some fresh melon. So I guess I better go get some marinade on those steaks!