I'm back!

As of 7:25 this morning I am a free woman! Today is the first day of school. Some might say where did the summer go?  I'm sure my kids are thinking just that. They have been out since May 26th, and to me that seems some time ago. We had a great summer, the weather was mild, the grass was and remains green, we boated, swam,vacationed, and the kids got plenty of time to do NOTHING, but eat,seep, and lay around.

If you have been checking my blog Welcome back,as you can see I have a whole new design.Shawn really did an amazing job. Thanks Shawn! Check out my twitter page it matches too!

I know my friend Beth is probably ecstatic that there is a new entry and new music!

I have been reading a ton, and scrapbooking alot too. I will share more of that later this week.

For now here are some highlights of our summer.

Walking the set of War of the Worlds, for us movie buffs, this was heaven!

 my niece and Ella on the boat.

Ravinia to see the Beach Boys

Visiting with a dear friend, and being like a 5 year old, as my son would say.

This is my favorite shot I took this summer. ( Hence the size) This was taken at the Willis Tower, formally known as the Sears Tower. They have attached these clear boxes to the outside of the building at the very top. I was all gung ho that I was going to try this, but it never happened. Jeremy was fine here, but then saw someone lay down so he tried that too and got queasy. He immediately popped right back up. I got scared and my knees started shaking, so it was a  no go for me.

Marie of course, jumped right on out there! Seriously, it looks like someone got a really big tube of clear caulk and glued these things to the outside of the building! There are no visible brackets holding these things up. They say they can hold 5 tons, but i wasn't taking any chances.

Well, it's good to be back. My computer is not cooperating at the moment, so I guess I'll be back tomorrow!

We've got SPIRIT yes we do.....

We've got spirit how bout you? I've taken a break from reading and have spent the last 2 days making things for the 4th of July. This weekend we are plannning a day on the boat, and fireworks in the evening. If you go here you can download the cuteset stuff for your celebration. For 4 to 8 dollars you have all the makings of a fabulous looking 4th celebration! So far Ella and I made t-shirts, flip flops, flags, and scrapbook pages. Tonight we will be working on a wreath the popcorn bags and sparkler stuff. Check out what we have so far!

This flag idea I saw in magazine. I bought some doll rodsand a red,white, and blue fabric bundle from the fabric store, pinking sheared the edges, cut slits in the ends and tied it on the rod.The flag in the middle I used one of the downloads and made it an iron on.

 I've been seeing these kind of necklacesand headbands on various blogs and etsy shops, so i tried my hand at them and viola!

Ella got her nails done,

We're off to the zoo today, but I will have more spirit tomorrow!

Bon Appe'tit

I recently have been on a reading roll.This is so very unlike me. I like to read, but mostly for entertainment. Once I find a book I usually "milk" the book FOREVER! In the last month I have read 10 books.This is why I have done almost nothing in the way of making anything or scrapbooking anything! So my 10th book is the above book Julie/ Julia. What a delightful book it was! I laughed, cried, and could not put it down. The story is about a temp Julia, who gets this idea to spend the next year cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French cooking, and then blogging about it. If you've ever opened a cook book and read a recipe only to find that you would have to go to 15 differnt stores to find this paticular spice,or you go out and buy all the ingredients for a paticular recipe, come home to make it, only to reread the recipe and figure out the thing has to marinate overnight? Then you will enjoy with this book. The author perserveres through the diffucult year with humor and alot of blood, sweat and tears.I bought the book after seeing the below trailer,the movie is actually based on this book AND Julia Child's Memoir My Life in France. Which i am currently reading, and also enjoying. Here's a couple of pictures from my recent trip to D.C. and the Smithsonian where Julia's entire kitchen is on display. Pause Playlist player at top right FIRST then play You Tube! Enjoy!

I'm Back!

Well I've been back since the 14th of June.Going away for 10 days was no easy feat!I cam ehome to piles of laundry and a dirty house. We had a blast weather was cool and we were fine with that. I'll give you some of the highlights: Disneyland is fun, but not like going to Disney World. We went on 2 studio tours, both were great, the Universal one was the best. Saw the movie Up, it is now my favorite Disney movie, and I don't say that lightly! I got a pedicure from the same woman that did Kate Gosselin's at the same hotel! Basically, for me a huge movie, and movie star fan, that was a great vacation! I loved the studio tours, and I owe it to my husband for making those dreams come true for me. Short of actually being on a set while it was being used for filming it was spectacular! I got to see costumes, props, walk the War of the World set that Tom Cruise filmed the airplane crash on. We saw working sets of Two and a Half Men, and walked the Central Perk set and took pictures! Drove down Wisteria Lane, and we went into a working soundstage. If you ever go the VIP tour of the Universal studio is the best. On this tour you really were a Vip for the day. We got to see and do things that the regular tour bus did not get to do. It is TOTaLLY worth every penny! I made a little smile box for you!

Make a Smilebox photobook