NYC

so our trip to NYC... we really did have sooooo much fun.
the city really is amazing, not to mention that my sister lives there :)

for me, that is what the trip was about... visiting my sister.
she spoiled us all.

here are some pics and stories to document the trip.
i am genuinely sad (mad) i didnt take more pictures... of more of the places we went.
(like all the places we ate, the markets, china town, dave and i at Chicago, and a picture of dave at all would have been nice.)

oh well, i'll get over it... just another reason to go back someday. i am however slowly forgiving myself for not getting more pics... well, because i was trying to keep track of a 2 year old in NYC. i suppose that is a bit more important than fulfilling my scrapping desires. on to the trip...



first stop... MSLO, workplace of my sister.

VERY VERY cool environment... white, glass, clean lines, fun organization... with hints of color and creativity everywhere... we got to see the test kitchen and some studios... so much fun. we got to meet quite a few of my sister's co-workers... all of whom were so so so friendly and nice. beautiful people. inside and out.



then, dinner here... dallas BBQ. dave loved it... i'm not a big BBQ fan, but it was good.

ok, what next. (not sure that i'll be going in order anymore...)

let's just keep talking about food...
(can i say that i have been craving these next 2 places since we got home... and probably will continue to do so until i go back.)

zen palate
i had MOO SHU FANTASIA (Sauteed shredded cabbage, carrot, glass noodles, mushrooms and soy protein. Served with 4 wheat crêpes) and this. um... yeah. my sister also introduced us to 'edamame'... soy beans.... yummmmm. for real, they are great, i just tracked some down at whole foods market here in town :)

omg... seriously people... it was sooooooooo delicious.

don giovanni
here i had... Spaghetti alla Carbonara - Bacon, Onions, Cream Sauce ... tasty and sinful... hey, i was on vacation!!

do yourself a favor, and eat at both of these places if you ever go to NYC. you'll thank me later :)

we also ate at bubba gump's. im not much for fish, but dave said his mahi mahi was the best he's ever had.



melissa surprised mom and i with pedicures, tasti d-light (YUMM!! yeah, you better get yourself some of this too), and some yummy chocolates... as a belated mother's day gift. soooo much fun to be pampered! oh, and i also got some fun scrapbook goodies at a very fun paper store with my bday gift certificate from my sister :)

the subway... an interesting experience. or what lilly likes to refer to as 'noisy'... and said 'i'm ready' every time it made a stop...


time's square...


ok, i think that is all for now!! (i've been writing this entry over the past 3 days... so i think i better post it now!!) plus, lovely blogger is not letting me add anymore pics at the moment, so ill post more. separately. later.


have a great weekend!!

i'm here...

i'm here...
we are back from...
"the big apple"

stay tuned for more details :)

not on the list

so i have this list (i always have a list)...
blogging is not on my list...
but cleaning off the digital cards is...
im cleaning up the cards...
and blogging...
together.

i'll share some pictures... (from my digi card cleaning spree)

1st: the basement (i was scolded by it's creator for not posting the most recent picture...) although this isnt even the 'most' recent, because i've started moving the scrap stuff over!!! yahoooeeee



OK??? NEVERMIND... (that is the same picture i showed last time!! HA!) ok, mr.dh where are these NEW pictures you wanted me to post??

ah, ok... is this the one?? o yeah, i think this is the most recent pic (minus the stuff i started moving over)





2nd: the boobah...



she choose the accesories herself... they even match :)
she is hilarious, and she knows it.

and now, i must go...
all 3 digi cards are now cleared...
and i get to cross one more thing of my list!

basement update

it's coming along...
the "all purpose" wall cabinent built in shelf thing...
i'm trying to be patient :)

i {heart} garage sales

since i didn't really get to garale sale last weekend...
and i probably wont this weekend...
here is the garage sale loot from 2 weekends ago...



7 kid books
3 chairs
1 lawnmower
2 storage containers
1 orange GAP bag
6 shirts for me (Old Navy and Gap)
2 frames
2 journal books
3 little people
1 gate
25 cooking light magazines
1 blue jackets jacket
1 pair of sandals
LOTS of clothes (gap, old navy, children's place...)for lilly...

GRAND TOTAL... $32.00

now you KNOW that GAP bag cost more than $32.00 itself!!
yahoooeee!!

i love garage sales...

happy mosey day

'happy mosey day mommy'
'happy mosey day daddy'
'happy mosey day gamma'
'happy mosey day birdies'

yes... lilly can't leave anyone out :)
(and that's 'happy mother's day' in lilly language... if you weren't quite sure.)

dave and lilly got me a gift card for a massage at The Spa at River Ridge. LOVE this place. NEED a massage... badly. can't wait till school is out so i can drop lilly off with dave for lunch and be pampered!! and i might even get some new teeth... lol. well, not from the spa of course. we will see what the dentist has to say when i go in.

we had a nice weekend... went home and saw both sets of parents, as well as a handful of friends. it's so hard to see and do all while we are home for less than 48 hours, but we try our best to rotate and do the best we can!!

we even saw joe gatchell, if you don't know who that is...well, you are missing out. we got a pic of him on the cell phone, but im not sure that we know how to get that to the computer. ill have to do a 'meet joe gatchell' post someday. and in the meantime, you will just have to wonder....

...oh, we solved (well, we were hinted towards) the post-it note bandits. not at all who we thought but rather some friends from BG who we had no idea were passing through columbus. these are 2 grown adults, with 2 adult sons... by they way. educated, sophisticated, artsy, and very creative. yeah... here's how professional they are... but obviously very very fun:) who else would post-it note someone's house. they crack me up. (and if you are reading, jan and carol, sorry we thought one of you had kid writing!! hehehe)

oh yes, now that i have a few BIG things crossed of my list (and ill have a little time to put together some kind of goodie)... i NEED to draw a name for my 'contest' back on april 30th... im such a slacker.... i'll do that right now!!

the winner is... TRISHA!!
(ill be sending you something in the mail soon!!)

k... sorry no pics in this post...
ill have to aim for that next time around!

have a great week everyone :)

out with the old....

...in with the NEW!

If any of you have seen me in the last 6 or so years... you've probably seen me toting around a green Vera Bradley backpack.

I LOVE this thing.

My sister got it for me when I worked at Hallmark... (with my nice little discount).

I use this bag every single day, year round, all seasons... everywhere. A few times here and there a new sort of bag/purse, or a wannabe VB backpack, would try to move in... but I always came right back to the green backpack. the original bag is falling apart, faded, torn, snagged... it's very well loved and it's looking pretty bad.

This year for my birthday, my wonderful wonderful Aunt sent me some money with specific instructions to get something special for myself. the first thing that came to mind? ... a new VB bag. thank goodness for ebay i found a replica of my bag, whose pattern and style has been retired a few years now.

here is the old, and the new...




THEN to top off one amazingly generous gift, i just got a Mother's Day gift from the little guy i watch...


a NEW style Vera Bradley packback...
WOW! that's all i have to say about that...

so... 2 NEW VB backpacks...
i'm all set at least 10 years :)
thanks to 2 very very important families in my life...
i am smiling VERY BIG right now!!

(with my mouth closed though... cause i flossed off a huge chunk of my front tooth last night. yeah, that's nice, huh?!?)


happy mother's day :)

nice to meet you

since i dont have time to post my pic with all my garage sale goodies right now... i thought id share the newest of lilly's sentences :)

a while back we taught her how to say "nice to meet you!"
sometimes she'll even throw in a little hand shake...

so cute... as said by lilly...

"nice to mee chew!"
"nice to mee chew daddy!"
"nice to mee chew mommy!"
"nice to mee chew juicy!"
"nice to mee chew duck!" (said to a pic of a duck on a box at the store)
"nice to mee chew poopy!" (said to, well...)

yes, you read that right... our polite little darling, has a great sense of humor, and has formally introduced herself to her poopy. (which was in her potty, which is a good thing...)

but now, she says this randomly (like tonight in the grovery store), because she knows we think it's funny and we are trying hard to be good parents by telling her... "lilly, that is not nice. we don't talk about our poopy in public." (when really dave and i are looking at each other thinking..."oh my gosh!! she is HILARIOUS!! bwahahahha!!)

so... "nice to mee chew poopy!" has topped the list of lilly's creative sentencing thus far. can't wait to see what else she enlightens us with :)

sweet deals

yesterday... garage sale day :) my favorite...
got LOTS of great deals... for some GREAT prices!!

here is one of the family favorites...
an orange GAP bag.... for ONE WHOLE DOLLAR!!!
ahh.... love love love deals.
i am so proud to be cheap :)

i thought it'd be good for toting MP or scrap stuff...

lilly and daddy...well, they have other plans...


(it's a blurry pic, but you get the idea!!)

speaking of deals...
Mandarin Pixie deals...
the $1.00 shipping sale ends tonight!!
plus... the 'regular' sale is still going strong :)

hope everyone has had a nice weekend!!

happy nsd!

happy national scrapbook day!

yes, there is a national 'day' for scrapbooking ...
a bit silly, but it makes me smile :)

MP is having a cheap shipping sale in honor...

happy scrapping everyone!!
(and happy day to all you non-scrappers!)

pretty random stuff

ahhh... so im finally posting again...

here's a LO i did at a crop a few weeks ago...
look at that cheese...
this picture was when our daffodils were pretty...
and before our dandelions were a foot tall...



i wish i could say that paisley was Mandarin Pixie...
it's not... but some paisley goodness just might be in the works at MP (wink, wink)
the letters however, were created with MP stamps :)



nice to know that *8* people read my blog :)
(3 of which came out of lurkdom!! yeah denise and lori!!! and i *think* yeah for my sister... because an anonymous commenter used the name 'fo-fo' which was coined by my sister in 1984)

i'll be drawing a name soon for some sort of goodie...
(so if you are still stalking this blog without commenting, well then... comment on the post below to have a chance at winning your dream prize. don't be a stalker. i used to be one. in high school. it's not nice. teehee)




funny how i actually have a ton i could write about right now, like...

-lilly has started calling me mommy every now and then (she usually only says momma)

-how lilly was prouncing around in a t-shirt, and her purple mesh tu-tu around her knees (yep, that's all) after a trip to the potty

-how lilly says "knee ha!" when she pretends to ride a horse (which could be in the form of a box, a sippy cup, your leg... you name it, it can be a horse)

-how dave is working his butt off to get our cabinets done, so i will be less of a grump

-lilly now has a live in boyfriend (our friends are camping out here for a while)

-national scrapbook day is this weekend (watch here and the MP blog for some fun)

...but i won't keep rambling, cause if you are still reading, im sure you've got something else to do!!

and another LO for your viewing pleasure...



eh, one more, then im done :)



all done :)