2007 Recap

I don't usually do this, but I thought it'd be a nice closing blog for the year. :) (Christmas photos coming soon!)

As 2007 comes to an end....recall all you did this year.....

1) Where did you begin 2007?
In Tustin at a friend's house. Great party!

2) What was your status by Valentine's Day?
I don't celebrate it! But Chris and I have been together for 2 years, 7 months now.

3) Were you in school (anytime this year)?
Nope.

4) How did you earn your money?
Was actually unemployed until the end of February. I now work for a commercial real estate developer.

5) Did you have to go to the hospital?
Knock on wood, I didn't.

6) Did you have any encounters with the police?
Nope!

7) Where did you go on holiday?
A few weekend trips - Vegas, San Diego.

8) What did you purchase that was over $1000?
The new camera and lens kit.

9) Did you know anybody who got married?
Yup, my uncle.

10) Did you know anybody who passed away?
Yes, Chris' grandmother.

12) Did you move anywhere?
No.

14) What concerts/shows did you go to?
Not nearly as many as last year! The highlight was seeing Chris work at the Warped Tour.

15) Are you registered to vote?
Of course.

16) Who did you want to win Big Brother?
What? Is that show still on?

17) Where do you live now?
An apartment in Tustin.

18) Describe your birthday.
It was great! Low-key night out with friends and then dinner with family.

19) What's one thing you thought you'd never do but did in 2007?
Good question! Raise a puppy, I suppose. We thought that would come way later.

20) What has been your favorite moment?
Too many too choose just one!

21) What's something you learned about yourself?
That I'm a great puppy mama.

22) Any new additions to your family?
23.) What was your best month?
Again, hard to choose...

24.) What music will you remember 2007 by?
The Dears, Rufus Wainwright, Feist

26) Made new friends?
Definitely! Roseann stands out. :)

27) New best buddies?
For sure!

28) Favorite night out?
Do I have to just pick one? There are many - standouts include our anniversary, last New Year's, my birthday, Alena's birthday, Josh Groban at the Staples Center, video game nights at my place with the girls, Whooligans nights and Thursday nights at the Schwabels' house.


~Trude
Quote of the moment: "What we anticipate seldom occurs, what we least expected generally happens." -Benjamin Disraeli

Christmas Is Upon Us...

Does anyone else feel like this week is totally dragging? Well, it goes fast once I get home and work on all the stuff I need to do personally, but at work it's just creeping ever so slowly...

Today's Funny

At any rate, Jessica Sprague, scrapbooker extraordinaire and one of my fave bloggers, posted an especially funny blog yesterday about how her very young son has managed on more than one occasion to make calls using her iPhone - and not just random ones, but to dad and grandpa! :) It just cracked me up; if you have a few minutes its a great read!

It got me thinking too - my generation is one of the first to really grow up with computers (c'mon guys, Oregon Trail?)(not that it makes us any better at using them!), so we consider ourselves pretty savvy. But my brother, who is seven years younger than me, grew up with what are considered "modern" (read: not-DOS) computers and is a true whiz. Granted, he's a total geek and incredibly smart, but still he and his friends all type faster than anyone I know and can figure out any gadget in 2 minutes or less. So maybe Jessica's son represents the next generation - the ones that can easily use an iPhone to make a call (which takes 4 distinct steps, mind you) by the age of 3? It's an interesting thought. Imagine what my kids might grow up with!

Scrappin' Stuff

The reason I haven't posted much lately about scrapbooking is due to me working away at a top-secret Christmas thing which has taken a lot of my mojo and desire to even discuss scrapbooking! However, I was totally inspired this week to use one of Bree Clarkson's new templates to make this page, entitled "Christmas Cookies":


And now, come to think of it, I never "officially" announced the other creative team that I was asked to join! Geez! I'm terrible.

This one is for the awesome (and aforementioned) Bree Clarkson, who, like Penny, also recently joined Sweet Shoppe Designs. She primarily does scrapbook page templates (and other templates, like cards and hybrid projects, etc.), and she's awesome at it! What's really great is that they provide "mojo" when you want to make a page but don't know where to start, and they're totally customizable (you'd be surprised to see how many different variations the CT can turn out using the same template!). At any rate, it's a great CT to be a part of and I'm loving it! If you want to check out her products, you can do so here. And here is where you can see pages done using her stuff.

...And More Photos

More than anything lately I've been playing around with my camera and the awesome photos it's turning out. I'm finally starting to feel like I'm capturing what I was seeing at the time! I'm even thinking of taking a class at the local JC. Next thing on my list I think is Adobe Lightroom, which can do some amazing effects with just a few clicks, such as this. (And don't gasp at the price! If you're a student or a parent of a student you can get it here, for MUCH cheaper.)

So last Saturday my girlfriends and I spent the most of the day in old town Orange, drooling over antiques we couldn't afford (although Nikki and I both bought vintage 50s clutches, for a whopping $15 each) but would totally go into debt for. My only problem is lack of space! Eventually, when I'm grown up, I'd like to have more antique furniture than new in my house, but that's going to take a while!

They dutifully posed for a few photos for me in the Orange Circle, which has this great fountain in the middle (click for larger):
And I love this one - they were waiting for me to take some photos of this awesome building in old town, and right as Mindy turned I snapped. I just love how her face seems to say "Oh for Christ's sake..."On Sunday Chris and I went over to his parent's house for a photo session on the beach with his family, which his mom is having put on canvas for Grandma Kaye (Chris' dad's mom). We froze our asses off, but I'm hoping they turned out well! We were supposed to do it the previous weekend, but the death in the family bumped it. When we got back to the house I decided to do a few photos of my own up on their balcony since it was pretty sunset light:
I know Chris looks kinda evil in this one, but I still love the intensity of his gaze. Plus Jacopo was actually paying attention too! :)Then after that it was up to Whittier to have dinner with Grandma Kaye for the family December birthdays (Chris' dad and brother).

Monday night we finally had a chance (since we just got our Christmas tree on Sunday morning!) to take some photos for our Christmas card. That was a trial! Luckily I also got a remote for the new camera (only $20, I highly recommend it!), otherwise I think I would have been sorely tempted to smash it, or anything within reach, really. Trying to frame it just right (in front of the tree, of course) and get the right aperture and shutter speed settings, and then getting the puppy to stay still long enough on top of that proved to be just a bit too challenging. But we wound up with some pretty darn funny "outtakes"! :)

Such as this one, where the camera seemed to love Jacopo more than us:Or this one, where I was just taking test shots before finalizing the settings. Pretty intense, que no?And then there's this one, where Chris was like "Honey, quit fiddling with your camera and take this damn photo I set up for you!" You're the best, babe. ;-)
I made my traditional Christmas fudge last night - so hard to not get into it right away! But my recipe calls for it to sit for 24 hours, so tonight: watch your back, fudge. I'll be picking at you in between the gift wrapping!

~Trude
Quote of the day: "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy people enough to make it worth the effort." ~Herm Albright

Holy Thor!

What a whirlwind 10 days it's been...I don't hardly know where to start! I guess it would be Thanksgiving - have to share a few photos from that get-together. It's one of my favorite holidays, because it means hanging out with family and eating. What more could you ask for from a holiday? ;) Unless you're the cook, that is...which mom always handles so beautifully! I did make the chocolate pudding pie, as usual, and this year I had help from my new Auntie Donna. :)

Mmmm turkey... (as always, click for larger)
And I always think our table is so gorgeous I have to take multiple shots of it. I'll spare you the majority of them:
And, of course, the requisite group shot (sans moi, since I was taking it):

Chris, Sarah and her boyfriend Jim joined us later that night, but all in all a great turkey day! Especially with mom & dad's new 54-inch flatscreen HD TV! ;)

Unfortunately I spent the rest of the long weekend dealing with the worst migraine I've had in a long time. Apparently turkey can be a trigger, who knew? Guess we'll have to do fish for Christmas, huh mom?

My New Love

As a holiday present to myself (and after finding out what my bonus is from work), I ordered the camera of my dreams, the Canon Rebel XTi. It arrived just in time for Thanksgiving Christmas! As most of you know, I've been daydreaming about owning a dSLR since I started pursuing photography as a serious hobby over a year ago. So as soon as I found out that I would have the chance to spend that kind of money relatively guilt-free, which I otherwise never would, I jumped at it! And boy oh boy is it ever paying off...I'll spare you all the details, but basically I decided not to order the stock kit lens it usually comes with and got the 50mm f/1.4 lens instead, which is ideal for portraiture (which I do a lot of) and low light (ditto). I've been researching this for a long time, and all the sources I trust recommended this lens. Here's what that killer combo did with my very first round of shots, straight out of the box:I know it's not a perfect shot, but hot damn! Compared to what my old camera did in those same lighting conditions, it's a miracle. I definitely still have my point-and-shoot since it's pocket size is so handy and the Rebel can be a bit too much for taking photos at a restaurant or something, but I am totally in LOVE. Next on the list is a zoom lens (the one I got is a fixed length, meaning if I want to zoom in/out I have to do it the old fashioned way: with my legs), but it'll be a while before that happens!

And of course, had to show my appreciation for the new toy:
R.I.P.

Chris' grandmother Henriette (on his mom's side) passed away last Monday, peacefully in her sleep. She would have been 82 on Saturday, the day of her funeral. Chris' mom, Gisele, has four sisters, and they all have kids (and one grandkid), so it was quite the family gathering. His grandfather was actually the rock of the bunch, making jokes and stuff. The cousins are all pretty close, and I was grateful that even with their grief they made me (and the other girlfriends/boyfriends) feel welcome. In order to try and be of some help, I offered to make a poster of some family photos of grandma to display at the viewing and funeral:
I didn't get to know her as well as I would have liked, but I do know that she was a lovely, caring woman and is sorely missed by her family.

In between being with the family on Monday and the funeral on Saturday, I had an open house for one of our projects at work on Tuesday and then the company holiday party on Thursday, both of which I was responsible for. So it's no wonder that Friday morning I woke up with a horrible head cold! Luckily I was able to get rest after coming home early on Friday so that I could be there for the family on Saturday, and Sunday and Monday were spent under blankets too. I'm mostly over it by now, just a cough and a lovely peeling nose to match. :P

Now I'm looking forward to doing a Secret Santa gift exchange with my girlfriends on Friday and some vintage shopping in old town Orange on Saturday.

But before I go, just wanted to share some photos I took the weekend after Thanksgiving, the full extent of which you can see here.
~T
Quote of the moment: "Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Twain

Photo Madness

In honor of my new camera and gear that just arrived last night (more on that later once I have photo evidence!), I thought I'd share some of my recent favorites from Flickr. It is incredibly inspiring just browsing through what other people, all over the world, are doing with their photography.



1. Untitled, 2. Regrets, I've Had a Few..., 3. Puppy Mocha Catches Some 'Air', 4. Overture, 5. Gamle Bybro (Trondheim, Norway), 6. baby eyes, 7. Dan and Dilmah, 8. sunset, 9. Autumn in Detroit, 10. hungrynowpleasepasstheturkeynowplease, 11. Below Zero, 12. Headphones 1., 13. THE LOVE SHACK's other side!!!, 14. decay-1, 15. Tá ficando atoladinho, tá ficando atoladinho., 16. Vashist-Himachal Pradesh, 17. The Carnival, 18. Broken Words, 19. Sunny, 20. Vigeland Park, 21. Flatbrehytta 4, 22. aker brygge, oslo, 23. Tiger Mountain, 24. Rooftops of Manchester, 25. Grandma Glass Detail 2

Gorgeous, que no?

And I know I've mentioned it before, but Etsy is seriously saving my ass this Christmas. For those of you who, like me, are trying to shop on a budget, I highly recommend it!! Like this gal that I recently discovered who makes gorgeous (and budget-friendly) jewelry - her earrings are especially lovely. Or this one who does eco-friendly and yummy looking soaps and other skin products. Why not get something unique? Plus, best of all, no crowds, no lines, no annoying drivers, nada! :)

~Trude

Wow.

It has truly been a whirlwind month! I can't believe we're almost upon Thanksgiving here...where did October go?? I'm exhausted, but also in a great state of mind from all the great things I've been up to since my last post.

Fire-y Experience

The effect of the wildfires here last month was incredible. Red, apocalyptic skies like this:
Gross, huh? We (including the pup) pretty much didn't leave the house unless we absolutely had to all week! Luckily our apartment was never in danger, but we were very close to the Santiago fire (just over the hill, really) and at times we had ash all over everything.

The biggest worry was my uncle's house in Rancho Bernardo, since it was in the thick of the action in San Diego. Luckily his house was okay, although Donna's daughter (now his stepdaughter, yay!) Jen was evacuated in the middle of the night since they were out of town. Poor girl! It was an especially big worry because of the wedding that was coming up, which we just had last weekend. Luckily everyone involved was okay and things are slowly getting back to normal down there.

Pushing My Boundaries

I am happy to report that I have joined my very first creative team, working for digital scrapbooking designer Penny Springmann! (You might have noticed the blinkie to the right, as it's been there for a few weeks now because I couldn't wait to share!) This is really exciting and flattering for me, because it not only means free products (woo!) but also that my hard work at improving my digiscrap skills is paying off. Penny is an awesome designer who recently started selling at Sweet Shoppe Designs, and thus far I'm loving this "job"! I had originally applied for a guest spot for the month of November, but she liked my work so much she asked me to become a permanent member.

For those of you not in the "industry" (haha), a creative team (aka CT) is a common practice among designers as a way of showing off and promoting their products. CTs will create several layouts each month using the designer's newest products and typically post them in several online galleries. Other duties vary, but it's a total win-win situation for everyone. Designers have a team to bounce ideas off of and help expand their business, and CT members get access to great products and also expand their skills and exposure to the process.

Here's a few pages I've done thus far with her products:

"Lil Pumpkin"
"Oak Glen"
"Just How Much"
and "Rock On"For credits and details, click here, here, here and here.

Fun Visit(or)

Our good family friend Cheryl came down again this year to visit us right around her birthday at the end of October. I just love spending time with her! Not only has she known us kids since we were tiny babies, but she's been a counselor for years so you can't put anything past her. ;)

We had so much fun over the weekend just before Halloween! Unfortunately Chris had already booked jobs all weekend so he wasn't able to play with us, but I brought Jacopo along instead. ;) I played hookey on Friday, and she and I met up with my mom to go to lunch and then went to play in Downtown Disney. On Saturday my brother's awesome girlfriend Roseann bravely came along with my mom, Cheryl and me to the Historic Home Tour in old town Orange. I've done the walking tour before and was really looking forward to it, since it's different homes every time. We had so much fun with just us girls! Although after a yummy lunch at Felix's and walking around all day, we were all ready for a nap by 4pm. :)

On Sunday my dad had the great idea of going to the annual apple festival in Oak Glen, and that was a blast! We took a bunch of photos that day, but I think my favorite one has to be this one:
Funny, huh? The best part was I didn't even notice the sign behind us saying "No Dogs" until I was uploading all the photos to my computer! But of course there wasn't anybody saying "get out of here with that dog" or anything. In fact, just the opposite - everybody wanted to say hi to him! I warned Cheryl of how much we might get stopped, but it takes a day of walking with him to fully understand. I must have spoken to 30 different families that day! I suppose I'm used to it by now, seeing as we can't even go to Petsmart without someone wanting to pet him or ask what kind of dog he is. I guess that's the price you pay for having an unusual dog!

But I digress!

Viva Las Vegas

Then I had 3 short days before I left for Las Vegas for a girls' weekend! Since we left early Thursday morning and Chris was working, I didn't bother going out for Halloween; I just spent the night packing and handing out candy. :)

Then we were off! Nikki, Katie, Mindy and I drove together to meet up with Katie's boyfriend Colby, and Heather joined us Friday night. We just stayed at a cheap place in downtown/Fremont Street, but it didn't matter much since we were out and about most of the time. I think it's the best time I've ever had in Vegas, and this was my 4th trip with friends! We're all pretty easygoing travelers and share similar interests, so I'm always up for traveling and vacationing with my girls. :)

We were pretty low-key this time, no shows planned or anything like that. We went to the Hoover Dam, Mindy and I went and saw the baby dolphin at the Mirage's Secret Garden (highly recommend it!), did some vintage shopping, ate at the Bellagio's buffet, gambled, and generally hung out. It was great!

We took a ton of awesome photos, but I have to share some of the highlights from my photos:

Baby Dolphin!
Katie, politely shielding my redness from drinking that ginormous margarita:On the road to the Hoover Dam, we stopped off at a vista point overlooking Lake Mead, and laughed so hysterically at these signs that were posted everywhere that we took this photo in front of one, and I think it's my fave photo that I've taken in a long time!
Such an awesome trip! Thanks gang, for making it great!

Wedding Bells

Then I had a few days last week to try and recover (ha) before my uncle's wedding to his fiancee Donna, during which I had to put together a slide show of over 100 photos since my mom didn't have time. Fun! But it worked out, and I can proudly say I've increased my skills in iMovie and iDVD. :)

So I took a half day on Friday so that I could get my act together, and Chris and I drove down to the hotel we were staying at around the corner from Karl and Donna's house. We met up with my parents, and then we all trooped over to their house for a pre-wedding get together. Which was great! It was a chance to see everybody from out of town, and meet people from her side that I hadn't met before. We (meaning me, my mom and my dad, the unofficial photography team for the weekend) took a few really bad flash-y photos that I just have to share, because I didn't post them in the official Flickr album. :)

I just love how the boys all made the same eyes at the camera in this one (and I really don't think they pre-planned that!):Alex and I getting into the amazing marzipan cake that mom made:
Elissa enjoying the cake:

And the next morning it was THE DAY. Mom and I got up extra early so we could go over to the venue ahead of time with the wedding party (aka Karl, Donna and their kids) and take some photos. We got incredibly lucky with the weather - it had been cloudy all week, but the sun came out for them, without the temperature getting too hot. Perfecto! Apparently the brewery had previously been a Chinese restaurant, so they had this awesome view out onto a koi pond with beautiful landscaping and a little bridge and waterfalls! It was actually a great choice by them, you'd never know where you were and it made the party feel very private and isolated. Plus the staff was really great and helpful.

Anyways, you can go to my Flickr album to see the whole shebang, but here are a few highlights (as always, click for larger).

The table setting:The wedding party:The location, as described above:
The recessional:
The first dance:
It was such a beautiful event! I'm so happy it turned out well for them, since they are two people who truly deserved it. And now I have a new auntie! How cool is that??

And since it was a daytime wedding, we all went back to the house afterwards and had a great time doing an "afterparty." :) I won't name names, but certain people definitely had a "better" time than others!

And now I'm spending a quiet night at home with Chris and the pup, and looking forward to a very subdued weekend...

~T

Retail Therapy, Deals & Steals, and Lovin' Etsy

I don't know about you guys, but for me there is something so incredibly rewarding about bargain shopping! Not only is it retail therapy, but you feel awesome just for having gotten such great deals. :) For example, last night my mom and I met up at the Nordstrom Rack by South Coast Plaza, as I had a few things I've been looking for and mom is (still) trying to find something to wear for my uncle's wedding next month. [Just a note for the ladies - could it be any harder to find something appropriate for a plus-size woman? It's a daytime wedding, but super casual because it's both their second time around and it's a fall wedding. Poor mom. We're open for suggestions!] We even went through the designer racks in the hopes of finding something really cool for her that she could wear again, but no luck. And I consider myself a pretty savvy shopper, but jeez! Nothing to be found - and we went over to Talbots and Chico's too!

However, I did manage to snag a few things for myself at the Rack - a cute black dress from Calvin Klein ($35!) that I can even wear to work, a cozy green & black houndstooth-type coat, a bra and some undies. At full price it all would have cost me about $300, but I only paid $120. Woooo! :)

Ahhh, Artistry

I'm pretty sure I've gushed about this website to some of you, but it's about time I linked y'all up! It's called Etsy, and it's basically a place where people can sell their handmade stuff - whether its paintings, jewelry, dog clothes, handbags, etc. So if you love unique pieces like me but get tired of trolling through vintage/thrift stores, I think you'll love this site as much as I do. :) And the best part? Most items are super affordable, because they're by people that only sell their things part time, or are just starting out. And a lot of them offer to make you custom versions of their items! I'm definitely planning on doing a bunch of my Christmas shopping there! And maybe a few things for me... ;)

For example, here's a few things that are on my faves list right now:

"Vanessa Lace Clutch" by Madison Gre:

"Sexy Brown Pleats Bag" by Daphnenen:

"Captured Pearl Earrings" by Precious Meshes:

And, last but not least, this stunning "Tell Your Story" print by the talented Kelly Rae Roberts:
Isn't that stunning?? I'm going to have to exercise serious self-control when I finally go to make my purchases!

I think that's enough about retail therapy (for the time being, anyways!). In other news, a pretty quiet week, just getting ready for a busy next couple of weeks: first our old family friend Cheryl is coming to visit next weekend, then a 4-day trip to Vegas the first weekend in November, then the weekend after that is my uncle's wedding. And then it's all downhill into the holidays from there!

~Trude

Birthday Wrap-Up

I can't believe I went so long without a single, solitary post! Bad blogger, bad, bad blogger! But I suppose with my birthday last weekend and everything I got a little distracted. :)

I Have the Power of Touch

In deference to a recent post, the first order of business is definitely: I GOT AN IPOD TOUCH FOR MY BIRTHDAY!! Aaaaahhhhhhh!!! :D

Of all people, the guys at work gave it to me! It was such a surprise, I was totally content with nothing at all; a card, maybe. But they took me to lunch and everything. It was so touching. :) (No pun intended!) I guess my boss was actually listening when I wouldn't stop raving about it! And they even had it engraved with my name and number, just in cases. Now I can't stop playing with it! I'm constantly checking for a wi-fi connection everywhere I go...so addicted. It even kept me distracted from the cold last night at the dog park. [I don't know what it is about that place, but with the open area and grass it seems 15 degrees colder than everywhere around it!]

24th Birthday Weekend

Y'know, its funny, I've kinda gotten over birthdays since high school - only one real party since I turned 17. As I see it, the best part about a birthday is that it's a really good excuse to get all my friends and all my family together - doesn't really matter what we do, or if I get gifts or whatever. Although I have to admit I don't mind milking it in order to go eat somewhere we normally wouldn't! (Like the Mission Inn's Sunday brunch last year.) :)

The previous weekend we had gone to dinner with Chris' family in order to celebrate my and Hillary's birthdays, since we were so close together. His grandma made her Texas sheetcake...mmm....and his parents got me a lovely bag and bracelets. :)

So that yummy work lunch last Friday kicked off my birthday weekend (and it didn't hurt my mood that I got off work at 4!). That night "the gang" took me out (meaning Chris, Mindy, Nikki, Katie, Colby, Nancy and Kris) to the Commonwealth Lounge for dinner and drinks. It was all going pretty well (except our terrible waitress), and they had a great 3 piece jazz band that played a set, but after that they changed the music to 70s disco! And beforehand it had been the Rat Pack! Kinda ruined the mood, especially since in downtown Fullerton it's de rigeur to play the music really loud no matter what, so ignoring the background music isn't an option. Thus, we decided to head back to our apartment, and wound up having a really nice time just hanging out with everyone.

Saturday morning we actually got up at a decent hour and Chris and I went to old towne Orange so that I could pick out my gift - a potentially wallet-deadly idea on his part! I'm still kicking myself for not bringing my parents' camera that I was borrowing for the week, as it was gorgeous that day. About 73 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, light breeze...perfect. I dragged Chris through three vintage warehouses (they can't possibly count as stores with that much square footage!) before I finally found just the right thing. Good thing too, because we were starting to go cross-eyed from all the stuff they manage to cram in those stores!

Turns out that a lovely vintage pearl necklace from The Antique Mall was just what I've been looking for! I've been meaning to replace an old fake strand that I wore out, and this one said hello. (See further down for a photo.) The coolest part (I think) is that the pearls have that lovely off-white, aged color to them, and they're natural so they're just slightly misshapen, which I prefer anyways. :) I think they're quite the find, considering what he paid for them. But it was really fun going together - it took out the guesswork for him, let me find exactly what I wanted, and also made us take some alone time away from the apartment and the pup (and we weren't running errands!).

Saturday night we packed ourselves and the pup into the car and headed up to my parents house for dinner. While we were waiting for Eirik to drive over from work (picking up his awesome girlfriend on the way) we had some yummy pink champagne and my aunties called to sing to me, as per usual. Here's me opening their card (click for larger):

Even though I seriously despise the birthday song, I tolerate it from them because it's tradition, especially because Grandma isn't around to sing it anymore. You can see my new necklace in the photo - and this awesome dress from the Gap, of all places, that I couldn't resist getting myself. So cute, and it has pockets! I actually wore it to work today too. :D

Once everyone was present we headed over to the local Mexican place called the Whole Enchilada that I love. Even though they don't take reservations, my mom convinced them to set up a table for us, since we were 7 people and the place isn't all that big. So delicious, and I had a strawberry pina colada too. Yum! Then it was back to the house for my birthday cake that I've been dreaming about for the last two months - mom bakes it for me special. It's a torte with fresh dream mixed with orange liquer in between the layers, with a thick layer of marzipan over the whole thing. SO good!! It's a pretty complicated cake to make, so she usually only does it for my birthday. :)

Then Sunday was a nice lazy day, which I really needed too. All in all a really fantastic weekend!

More Pages

I was incredibly inspired the past couple of weeks, so here's a few of the results (if you want more, check out the gallery links to the right):

"To Me, From Me"
For credits and info, click here.

"Take Along A Friend"
Again, for credits click here.

"Daily Dose of Love"
I know, I know, yet another pup-photo layout, but I can't help myself! The dare was about something you do every day, so don't blame me. ;) Credits can be found here.

"Summer Girls"Aren't my cousin and her friend so cute? Been meaning to work with this photo for long time. Go here for more info.

And last but not least, this one -
Definitely one of my new favorites! Credits are here.

Now we're getting ready for Halloween and the rest of the holidays - just got Jacopo's costume tonight, but I'm not going to tell what it is until I have a photo! :) Hope everyone else is doing well!

~Trude

Quote of the moment (a fun one!): "Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand." ~Kurt Vonnegut

Just Say No

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels this way (Katie the fashion diva for sure agrees with me!), and I just had to randomly vent* - if you have a spare $650 laying around, do NOT, under any circumstances, in the name of all that is holy, spend it on this:
I don't care if it is Mr. Vuitton making it, any and all versions of the fanny pack should not be allowed! Unless you are a street vendor of some kind, then I might be forgiving.

In the event you are tempted and need to be re-directed in your spending, I am available for consultation and advice (at a minimal fee, of course).

~Trude

*I have seen two different individuals wearing one of these eyesores in the past week! So not such a random venting.