Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Apron Supplies and Costco Carafe

Made a trip to Jo Ann's with Greg's mom after work to pick up a pattern and fabric for my first ever sewing project! Okay, I made this pillow in high school for art class (it wasn't just a pillow, it had stuff sewn on it), but I don't count that as "real" sewing. After looking (ogling) through several pattern catalogs, I decided to do something that wouldn't matter if I messed up on (and by "mess up" I mean "not perfect the way a perfectionist like me likes it") because I would never wear it out. And so this is it: 

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Keep in mind that I picked up this fabric in the "closeout" section, which didn't have a choice selection . . . but I actually like the pattern a lot despite that. It's very reminiscent of a scrapbook paper design to me. They had the same pattern in blue as well, but there wasn't enough left of that bolt to get the 1 5/8 yards I needed.

Greg went to Costco Home yesterday and picked up this carafe and wine glass set on the discount rack (it was just the carafe/stopper and 6 wine glasses in the set)

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He got it for me. : ) I like the carafe and stopper the best.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Carol Wingert

So last summer, my mom audited this lady, Carol Wingert, who is a "professional" scrapbooker. My mom came back from her audit having written down her blog address, plus the name of a local scrapbook store that I never knew existed (Annalis Scraptique). I've since then been regularly reading her blog, as well as going to the scrapbook store (perhaps to Greg's dismay as I am acquiring scrapbook supplies at a faster rate than I am using them). In any case, today I had this thought, I wonder if that lady ever blogged about my mom auditing her. And lo and behold, I found it!

Funny!

I would have posted a screenshot, but she has a copyright on her blog and I thought it'd be silly of me to ask if I could screenshot her blog to post on my blog . . . so you just get a link.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Car Accident, Sewing, and Shoes

People have an irresistible, undeniable fascination with car accidents, big or small. It's why traffic always slows even when there's only a minor fender bender. Get the policemen/firemen/paramedics involved with their flashing lights and blasting sirens and you've got yourself quite the attraction. Sometimes, I don't even think it's conscious that people are slowing down to look, and yet it's so irritating for the people behind who know something is wrong, but they just haven't seen it themselves. This, of course, prefaces my talking about Greg's car accident this afternoon.

Greg was sitting at the intersection of 48th and Warner waiting for the light to turn green when one car T-boned another in front of him. Greg was traveling East on Warner. The other car that got hit was traveling West on Warner. The green light and arrow came on first for the Westbound people, so the other car started to come through the intersection. Meanwhile, a woman traveling South on 48th Street ran the red light and hit the other (Westbound) car coming through the green light. She was deflected upon impact with the other car and started rolling in a southwest direction where she ended up hitting Greg's stationary Camry. She wasn't going very fast when she hit Greg, but the bumper of the Camry needs repair or replacement (not sure which at this point). I took some pictures with my camera phone, but no idea how to get those off there.

Anyway, I'm glad Greg was more of a bystander that got hit rather than him hitting someone or being hit the way the other guy was. The two cars that collided had to be towed away, but Greg drove away. This whole thing happened as Greg was on his way to take his CPA, but good thing he left very early with plenty of time to spare.

It was kind of interesting because this was one of those accidents that you come across at an intersection and part of it is blocked off by damaged cars still on the scene with policemen and police/rescue vehicles parked around. This wasn't the worst accident, but it did cause some backing up at an already busy intersection.



I've made a tentative appointment on Tuesday or Wednesday to start some sewing lessons with Greg's mom! I'm excited since I've been wanting to learn how to sew for a while now. We're going to make our way over to Jo Ann's, I think, and pick out a pattern to start out with. I don't know if I want to tackle any clothing yet . . . There's a sewing magazine I picked up while at Costco (30% off cover price!) that has some pretty simple things that I'd like to see about doing first. Whee.

I'm in the middle of a shoe-buying mood. I think Dora sparked it with her talk of shoes. I see celebrities with closets full of shoes and I'm envious, but I know that I couldn't possibly wear all those shoes if I had as many as they did. They just look so good laid out on the shelves though!

Geek Test

I had a laugh while looking at this Geek Test that I found out about from someone at work. I liked these questions: (My comments are in italics)

I HAVE . . .
indexed and catalogued any personal collection (Don't think I have thought about this before - I collect several things that may or may not be construed as "geeky." I like to call it . . . "artsy.")
worked for a Renaissance Faire (Ha.)
argued about which "Trek" is the best (Greg says that he is guilty of this, which makes this next one partially true, though I suppose Greg can say the same of me)
married a geek (a HOT one)

I LIKE TO . . .
turn on my computer first thing in the morning (I see nothing wrong with this . . . I have to check my emails! Maybe you didn't know this, but I'm kind of a big deal.)

I PLAY . . .
Call of Cthulhu ("Cthulhu" . . . ? I don't even know.)
Weird Al Yankovic (Burn! On Greg.)
Weezer (Burn! On me.)
computer strategy games (Does Command & Conquer fall into this category?)

I WEAR . . .
a digital watch (Uh . . . people like athletes wear digital watches too, don't they?)

I COLLECT . . .
vintage computers (This sounds like something both my dad and Greg's dad does! And by "collect" I mean "can't bear to throw away" and by "vintage" I mean "obsolete")
stamps (Guilty.)
coins (Guilty.)

I KNOW . . .
that Aol is the Spawn of Satan (Greg and I have had discussions about this . . . not the "Spawn of Satan" part, but that AOL is used by people who aren't so savvy with computers and/or the Internet)
that Bill Gates is both God and Satan (Maybe a little exaggerated . . . )

BONUS ROUND
My profession requires a certain level of geekiness (So true . . . )
I think this Geek Test is really cool (The box for this statement is already checked as the default)

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Craft Room Inspiration and Shower Layout

This picture invokes giddy feelings of all the fun things I want to have in my craft room:

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I'm having a little bit of a design quandary with this Shower page. Maybe it's because I don't have any pictures from it and so I feel like I can't even begin to think of a layout if I can't see all the elements that will go into it.

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Anyone want to come with to Recollections (across from Chandler Fashion Center) for this?

Recollections07Spring

This actually came in an email, so if you're interested, let me know and I'll forward it. 
I would link it straight to the RSVP page, but since going through my old entries, I realize now that I have keep my links and pictures as self-contained as possible, otherwise I'll end up with dead links and pictures after websites and pictures are taken down.

The only downside to hosting all my own pictures is that the server configurations can be finicky. One day, it'll be all good, and the next day, I won't be able to access the file directory online anymore.

Dora and Lee Anne: So what did you get at the mall? Anything sweet?

Sunday, February 18, 2007

"Real business is done on paper. Write that down."

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I saw this library catalog card generator on a scrapbooker's blog (Teresa McFayden) that I've been following and thought it'd be fun to give it a try. Looks to me like a good tool for making up a journaling block! I noticed that different cards come up when you generate them.

I went with my mom to the Chinese New Year festivities at the Chinese Cultural Center. I just wanted to see what they had there, but it turned out to be not much different than when I last went several years ago. Should've brought my camera to snap some pictures of little girls and boys in traditional Chinese outfits.
They were charging $5 for parking, which I thought was a rip off since there was free parking in office lots right across the street.

On a Chinese New Year's-related note . . . I like the little holiday graphics that Google and Yahoo have:

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I think Google's is better. Plus, I think Yahoo copied Google with the whole holiday graphic thing. I also wrote about Google's holiday graphics back when it was the Year of the Rooster.

I went with my mom to Target this afternoon as well. I really like Target (as do many other people). I especially like the Dollar Spot and the travel size toiletry aisle next to the Pharmacy. They had some $1 Peter Rabbit tins, which I thought were cute - I've made it my scrap paper pail.

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I also found these $1 magnetic photo tins on an endcap in the housewares section: (I have no photo in it)

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I didn't make it to the scrapbook store to get some eyelet numbers like I intended, but I went ahead and finished my card anyway using what I had. This is the birthday card I made for Lee Anne:
(22 better have been the right birthday, or I'll be disappointed with myself)

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Have to admit - I don't like what I actually used for the numbers as much as I would have liked little metal eyelet numbers.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Wild Thaiger and Funny Story

Lunch today with Dora and Lee Anne (and Greg)! I took kind of a long lunch, but that's all right. We went to a Thai place downtown called Wild Thaiger. It was pretty tasty. Greg and I shared some curry chicken and peanut chicken. And we tried some of Dora/Lee Anne's ginger chicken. Also, we saw Shadi there having lunch with boyfriend Sol . . . it was quite the coincidence. Out of all the restaurants in Phoenix and all the days we could have gone to lunch, it happened to be today at that restaurant. I was glad we saw her there. She's been super busy this semester and Greg and I have both called a couple times, but hadn't been able to reach her. Anyway, so I always like seeing my "childhood girlfriends" when I can. Too bad we don't do lunch or whatever more often. Lee Anne mentioned she was taking a ceramics class, which made Greg very interested. She also mentioned that we can scrapbook, which made me very interested. Mmmmm . . . scrapbooking. Maybe that inspired me to go to Costco after work to get some pictures developed for scrapbooking purposes. I'd been putting it off.

At work today, I was visiting a couple different client locations doing a test. I had a guy (his name was Ted) from the client accompanying me (gives me more credibility) while I was doing the test since it involved me looking at random people's computers. On the car ride over to one location, he was telling me how he actually used to be at that location. Then when we walked in to the building, we saw this one lady, who was all excited and asked, "Is this Mrs. Ted?!" I was like, " . . . " Well, the guy answered her, but it was kind of funny since his wife happened to be Korean - the lady assumed that I might have been his wife since I'm Asian. Instead, I was just the auditor. Bummer for her.

I want to go to the Chinese New Year's Festival at the Chinese Cultural Center. I'm thinking Sunday since Greg and I will be down in Tucson tomorrow. It's been a few years since I've gone . . .

"Everything Comes Down to Poo"

"Everything Comes Down to Poo"



Lying to doctor can mean health risks

What?! I don't understand . . . you mean if you don't tell the truth to a medical professional who is trying to help you . . . that's bad?!

I can't believe that people would lie to doctors. I suppose it's not surprising that a lot of people would do it, but I don't understand it. Why? Why even bother going to the doctor if, when they ask you how much you smoke/drink/whatever, you don't tell them the truth? Is it that people don't like the truth? Don't want to face it? Are embarrassed by it? Try to deny it? Sorry, people - the truth can be harsh. Suck it up, deal with it, and tell it like it is. Consider it a favor to people who actually care about your health, even if you don't.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Philadelphia This Summer

I'm going to Philadelphia this summer! Okay, yes, it is for work . . . but I just won't think about that until I'm actually there. I was in Philadelphia a couple summers ago for training as well, but there was something that I failed to do while there. This time around, I fully intend to take advantage of . . . the Philly cheesesteak experience. I've enlisted my coworker Stephanie in accompanying me on my quest for cheesesteaks. That week of training, however, promises to be quite an eat-fest (how can you turn down free meals . . . and cheesesteaks purchased with per diem?!). It was pretty humid there in the summer though . . . made for some miserable downtown outdoor shopping. I'll need to take my camera with me this time around to chronicle my cheesesteak adventures.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Talking it up on the Barry Gibb Talk Show!

Talking it up on the Barry Gibb Talk Show!



I did our taxes tonight! But I so didn't want to. It actually turned out to be pretty easy with Turbo Tax.
We were going to play tennis tonight! But I so didn't want to. It started to rain though, so I got out of it.
All I've wanted to do after work lately is be a bum, lay on the bed, and surf the Internet. Greg will attest to that.

Seems like throughout the day, I'll get several blog ideas, but when I actually sit down to post, they've all flown out of my head. I'll need to start jotting them down in a little notebook.

I've been working on a mini-album for Greg, but I'm pretty sure at this point it won't be done tomorrow. I made him no promises. I'm maybe halfway through. It's not even a big album (hence the "mini"), but I'm just slow. I also don't plan ahead when I'm thinking of how to do the pages, so it makes it hard when I think of something that I don't have the supplies for. This should be justification for me to acquire a collection of craft/scrapbooking materials from which to draw from when I'm creating pages or mini-albums. In any case, I really have to sit down and plan out the rest of my pages so that I can make sure to get everything together all at once.

The other day I went to Office Max looking to buy some inkjet printer transparencies (for this mini-album, might I add). They were expensive. And they came in large quantities. I had two options: 50 sheets for $39.99 or 75 sheets for $49.99. Ridiculous. What am I going to do with 50 to 75 sheets of inkjet transparencies? I just want one! I'd even settle for 20 or 30.

Greg and I made blueberry scones the other day (with our KitchenAid!). Sounds delicious, but ours didn't turn out quite right (don't get me wrong, they were still pretty good). There was just a little something that was off that we couldn't put our finger on. Did you know that the Lucky 15 owner (Meghan) used to be a pastry chef at Wildflower? I asked her about the scones . . . hopefully our next batch of scones will be full of tasty goodness!

Monday, February 12, 2007

Wedding Card Book

We had a good number of wedding cards . . . 50ish. Made for a thick book of cards.

Side note: I was working on a mini-album Saturday night and I figured out that I needed something that I should've gotten while I was at Lucky 15 earlier in the day. Bah. It's just so far away . . .

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Sunday, February 11, 2007

"La cucaracha, la cucaracha ya no puede caminar . . . "

Oh man. I came across a bug (a big one too!) in a head of lettuce while I was preparing some leaves for hamburgers today. It was just like this one time when I was plucking grapes from a bunch and found a spider (complete with web). I am a wussy when it comes to bugs. I was traumatized. Just a little (which I guess isn't the worst thing if I'm traumatized by bugs). Anyway, so that made me think - Greg is the best thing that's happened to me because he kills bugs. Okay, not really (tee hee). But he is quite handy when we happen to spot a cricket or scorpion . . . or whatever else. Kitties are also good for bug catching purposes, though they'd be much better at it if they were brighter (they lose sight of the bug too easily).

I finished the wedding card book. I'll put up pictures of the book tomorrow. We have a big stack of cards though, so I'm not quite sure how well the ribbon is holding up binding all the cards together. I'm going to need to explore other options. Greg says it's fine though . . . so maybe I just need to take his word for it and stop worrying.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

"Are we doing government work here? No, I don't think we are"

Traffic was ridiculous this morning. But wait! You say, Shirley - it's not a work day! This I know . . . but the closing of three lanes on I-10 due to construction (they're prepping for laying down rubberized asphalt) made my 3.1 mile drive from Warner to Baseline about 30 minutes. At that point, I decided to try my luck with surface streets and it took me another 30 minutes to get from Baseline and I-10 to 7th Avenue and Indian School. I was very annoyed. I was a half-hour late to my class. I turned out to be the only person in the class though, so it wasn't a big deal since I got lots of personal attention. And Meghan the owner/teacher let me stay and work into the next class as there were only 3 people in the next class. So good. I'm not quite finished with the book yet (and Greg has made it clear that "together" time is not "Shirley work on book alone" time, so there will probably be no progress on the book for the rest of the night).

Anyway, so two tangents stem from above:
1) Greg's parents driving backwards on the I-10 on-ramp, and
2) Some products I used in the class that I thought were way cool (for which Greg shares a false enthusiasm. And I mean false.)

One
So I stopped by Greg's parents house after my class and mentioned how bad the traffic was. Greg's mom said that they got on the I-10 on-ramp at Elliott on the way to Doc & Eddy's, saw just how bad the traffic was, and backed out of the on-ramp. "Ballsy" was the word that Greg's mom used for the move (Greg's dad was driving). That's just crazy to me. I would never be brave enough to do that.

Two
While making my card book, I was exposed to a couple things that I just thought were so cool (but I suppose it doesn't take much for me to think it's cool if it has to do with crafts).

One thing was this Japanese screw punch that you can use to punch holes anywhere (without the constraints of a traditional hole punch!). It wasn't even so much that you could punch holes with it anywhere (because there are other tools that do that too), but it was just so easy and nice to use because of the mechanism . . . it took almost no elbow grease! I want one now, but they're a little pricey.

The other thing were these stamps that clung to clear acrylic blocks, which made them very versatile since you can change out letters, pictures, borders, etc. It was nice that while you were stamping, you could see through the acrylic block in order to line up your stamp. The ones I used at the store were by Technique Tuesday, but Fontwerks has them too. I want some of these too . . . but in good time.

Friday, February 9, 2007

"I'm Ron Burgundy?"

"I'm Ron Burgundy?"



After Greg and I move into our new house (which will be a more permanent location than my mom's house), I'd like to get one of these self-inking return address stamps from Three Designing Women:

AddressStamp1AddressStamp2

The regular return address stamps are so plain and boring . . . but these are fun! I liked the square designs better than the round ones though . . .

By the way, anybody been watching Ugly Betty the past few weeks? It's scandalous!

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Lucky 15 Fortune Cookie

So I gave that fortune cookie from Lucky 15 to Greg to eat, which he did. Here I thought that it was some cheesy Chinese restaurant-style fortune inside, but lo and behold - look what Greg apathetically discarded my way:

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I was impressed - customized fortune cookies! That would have been an neat wedding favor. My interest was piqued. I did a search online for "custom fortune cookies" and this is what I came across: Custom Fortune Cookie Company. What more can you ask for than "As seen on Food TV"?

Side note: Greg's Digital Rebel is tres bien for macro photography.

Lucky 15 Goodies

Had to wait three minutes to post on a new day (don't want to make it seem like I have that much time on my hands . . . but I really do, I guess).

I made the trek to Lucky 15 after work today to get a look at the card book sample, as well as get a blank book for a "surprise" project for Greg. (It's not a surprise in that he doesn't know anything about it, but I won't tell him what I'm going to do with it). I also eyeballed papers there in preparation for the card book class on Saturday. I'm so slow when it comes to brainstorming designs that I decided I needed an extra trip and time to scope out and brainstorm.

Anyway, I bought a 7gypsies "naked" album, as well as some fun journaling tags: (I especially like the captions on the tags)

Lucky 15 Goodies | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

I really like the Lucky 15 "packaging" as well. The fortune cookie is a neat touch and the stamped tags as business cards fit right in with the store:

Lucky 15 Goodies | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

I'm excited for the class on Saturday . . . can you tell that I really like arts and crafts?

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Willo Historic Home Tour

This Willo Historic Home Tour on Sunday looks fun. Houses from the 1920s through 1940s. Can you believe that when these houses were built, the whole neighborhood was considered a suburb on the outskirts of Phoenix? It's crazy because that area is now the heart of downtown. I love looking at old homes - the architecture, the decor, the overall style. There's something nostalgic to it . . . I always think about how people used to live in those houses. There have been so many times that we've driven by an interesting-looking old building or house and I've said to Greg, I wonder what's inside. I think it'd be fun to live downtown in the middle of urban redevelopment, with the old and the new mixing together . . . interesting restaurants and shops . . . I could never live in a rural area.

Sunday, February 4, 2007

How much are those kitty poos in the window? (meow meow)

How much are those kitty poos in the window? (meow meow) | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

So I've discovered that my Photobucket account is still alive and well and have therefore taken advantage of it by posting some pictures.

I was too impatient to wait to use Kevin's scanner and I'm too lazy to use it when he's not here, so I just took pictures of the wedding card. This was from Richard/John/Ryan:

The front (left) and the inside (right):
How much are those kitty poos in the window? (meow meow) | shirley shirley bo birley BlogHow much are those kitty poos in the window? (meow meow) | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

I've been seeing these around (Paper Studio, Ink It!, Two Peas in a Bucket for Scrap-A-Faire), so I thought I'd post pictures of the microscope slide necklace we made at the Lucky 15 shower that Emily set up. I'm not the most creative person, and some elements of it didn't turn out as intended, but anyway . . .

How much are those kitty poos in the window? (meow meow) | shirley shirley bo birley BlogHow much are those kitty poos in the window? (meow meow) | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

Edit: I found another place that features these little microscope slide charms - Arizona Republic's "Crafty Chica" has instructions on how to make them in her Charm-ing details highlight glass jars article, as well as her Microscope slide necklaces article (the latter requires no soldering).

"Good news, everyone!"

"Good news, everyone!"

I found out that I passed the CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor) exam that I took in December. I see now, however, that I accidentally neglected to mention even taking the CISA in December while writing my previous post. It's a relief to know though . . . took eight weeks to get the results and for most of that eight weeks, everything was out-of-sight/out-of-mind until this week when the results were expected to come. I got quite anxious about the possibility that I didn't pass, which would have been rather disappointing for both my pride and my pocketbook (it's at least $300 a pop to sit for the exam!).

Previously, I said that I only managed to get one table in an unused room of our new (and currently non-existent) house for craft space. I am pleased to say that is now no longer the situation. Yes, I've been granted permission to have the entire room as craft space under certain agreed-upon conditions, such as I have to keep the room clean (who cares if no one else sees it . . .) and I can't have the room for craft space after we have kids (kids don't need their own room . . . ). In any case, that makes me muy excited because I have ideas for how to decorate the work space. I saw a neat idea while waiting for Greg to get a haircut and browsing through this month's issue of Glamour at the haircut place ("salon," if you will, but that makes it sounds girlier than is the reality). It involved a clothesline with vintage postcards . . . tried to find a picture of it, but no luck.

Something I've meant to do in the past week, but haven't gotten to yet (just like I haven't gotten around to recycling those newspapers Greg asked me to bring up from Tucson last semester . . . What? Who's lazy?) is scan a wedding card for journal posting. It's one of my favorite wedding cards . . . words can't describe it with the accuracy it deserves. I'll have to do that tomorrow . . .

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