Featured Again!

Woohoo this time one of my pages is (somewhat) featured over at the Weeds & Wildflowers blog. Their products are truly gorgeous, so I suggest you check them out!

In case you don't feel like clicking through, this is the page they featured:
One of my new faves, in fact. :) You can see credits here.

Some other new pages feature my favorite blonde (outside of my family), and oh yeah, my brother:
Yes, I realize I used the same photo twice, but how can you not use that adorable photo for all it's worth?? :) Credits are here and here, respectively.

In other news, had a very enjoyable weekend, although the 90+ degree weather we had here was enough to wipe out anybody, let alone us ladies (me, mom, Roseann and Lisa) who marched around old town Fullerton on Sunday for their annual Garden Tour. Super fun, but ridiculously hot. Photos will be posted later this week!

Oh, and my dad is in China on business for a week, so keep your fingers crossed he doesn't get caught up in some protest march and wind up in jail or something! ;)


~T

Puppy and Photo Madness, With a Touch of Materalism

So our puppy guest Fred went home safely on Monday night, although there were a few times he came close to not being able to do so (if you catch my drift). Poor guy is a very smart dog, but his owner hasn't really made the time to train him yet! It must be like when parents watch other people's kids - makes you appreciate how good yours are! ;)

New Puppy?

Well...getting there. Chris and I decided it's time Jacopo had a brother, for a number of reasons.

1. We love dogs.
2. Italian Greyhounds typically do much better with at least one other dog around, just because they're such a social/pack breed.
3. We've been talking to other IG owners at the dog park, who ALL recommend getting another one.
4. Peace of mind - if he has someone to play with, he'll leave us alone more. :) And I won't worry so much when I have to leave him home alone during the day.
5. We love dogs.

At first we thought we'd have to wait due to finances, but then we discovered the Italian Greyhound Club of America, which runs an extensive rescue program in pretty much every state. And all they really charge is about $250, to cover expenses while they were fostering the rescued dog! So not only would we be able to afford it, but we'd be giving a much-needed home to a grateful pup. So now we've gone through the application process with our local IGCA rep, and she came and inspected our place on Saturday, so we're now approved! Woo!

Now is the wait-and-see part, because they only have a few IGs right now in the area, and none of them are really what we're looking for. We could adopt from any of the other states, but we'd have to actually drive or fly out there to get him, because they won't ever ship a dog. One of the coolest parts is they'll post all their available IGs on Pet Finder (at least the ones that weren't immediately taken by a waiting approved family, like us), a website devoted to adoptions. That way you can see photos, and read all the details on how they came up for adoption, what their temperament is, how trained they are, etc.

At any rate, we're very excited, and can't wait to find just the right guy to be Jacopo's new brother!

March Photo Madness

Speaking of Jacopo, been taking more photos lately, all of which you can see on my Flickr here, but I wanted to share some highlights:
I just love the light on that last one - he usually doesn't curl up all by himself, but maybe he's finally getting more independent...ha!

Family Sunday

So we (and by "we" I mean my dad, my brothers, Roseann, Jacopo and I - in one car!) headed down to Karl and Donna's house in San Diego on Sunday to hang out with the family, especially because my auntie Elissa was in town for the "Women in Aviation" conference. (Chris stayed at home with Fred.) We had a great time! My cousin Sarah and her boyfriend Jim came over, Donna's mom, brother and sister-in-law came over too, the weather was gorgeous (if a bit cold for our part of the world) and the dogs got to play together. Plus we got BBQ...yum! Here's some highlights from the day:

The gorgeous weather
Roseann and Sarah cracking each other up
Sarah and Jacopo having a moment
And this photo reminds me of the funny of the day that day - Elissa was like "Take my picture kissing the camera, like you did!" And I said "I did that in the mirror!" And she got this surprised look on her face and said "Really?" And mom and I just craaaacked up. Definitely indicative of the pre-Myspace generational divide - the self-portrait-in-mirror has become a mainstay for my generation. ;)Mom and Jacopo cuddling (jeez, who doesn't he cuddle with??) - the wind got really cold! Like below 50! :)All in all a very nice day. :)

Materialism Alert

Just had to share some new things I've added to my hoard lately (have I mentioned I love to shop? Maybe once or twice?), to get in the mood for spring...or whatever excuse works for you.

First, I finally bought a new swimsuit. I don't go swimming that often, but I purposely ruined my old one last season in the mud baths at Glen Ivy because it was already three years old at that point. So with the weather warming up like it has been around here, I figured it was high time I finally got a new one. And being that I'm no longer 18 and would really prefer to cover my slowly-but-surely-expanding backside (no pun intended), I decided to go for a classic retro look. Thanks to Ms. Vintage herself, Katie, I was able to find this awesome one from Esther Williams Swimwear - yes, THE Esther Williams of Hollywood golden age fame. :)
But in red, of course. Super cute, huh? I might actually have to find an excuse to wear it somewhere besides a jacuzzi! :) It's not the cheapest suit out there, but it's also not nearly the most expensive - and it has a tummy shaper built in!

Another product I'm now in love with is Smashbox's O-Glow. It's a new cheek color that comes out clear, but starts adjusting to your skin tone once you put it on, to give you a really natural blush color. I had read about this stuff in In Style and thought it was a load of you-know-what. But then I got a free sample at Sephora last week, and I have to report that it really does what it says! I loved it so much I also got their lip gloss that does the same thing.

Also have to give special mention to Bumble & Bumble's "dry shampoo". Another product out there that's making women's (and men's) lives easier. It's like a hairspray that sprays powder to absorb that day-after excess oil at your roots. Awesomeness - 'nuff said.

We'll, I'm spent. Hope you guys are all doing well!

~T
Quote of the moment: "A picture is the expression of an impression." ~Ernst Haas

Been "catching up" on scrapping lately, so to speak. More like making sure I properly promote my two designers that I CT for and take advantage of the creative urge I've had! ;)

First up is this one with a super cute photo mom sent me - apparently she's started taking Ted E. in her basket when she rides her bike (since he couldn't keep up if he tried!):
Sooo funny! Credits can be seen here.

Next up is "Crazy Boy". Of course I couldn't resist using this awesome photo of Chris!
I just loved using the new kit Penny released last weekend, which you can find here, in combination with a gorgeous set of templates by Bree, available here! Credits are here.

I was also inspired by the "Cookie Decorating 101" challenge over at the Sweet Shoppe to create this one:
Been meaning to work with that photo since I took it! ;) The journaling and credits can be seen here.

Last but not least is Cherish, which I had to do after playing around with these awesome Lightroom presets by Nick Tsakiris, which I got through the Lightroom Killer Tips blog.
Came out nicely, I thought! Credits are here.

In Other News...

We had Chris' birthday/housewarming party last Friday, and can you believe it? I didn't take ONE photo - not one. Guess I was so relieved to finally have everything in place and the apartment all cleaned that I just relaxed! Plus I kept going around to everybody chatting and catching up, so hardly had a chance. But I think everyone had a great time, and it was definitely our best party yet! So cool to finally get different groups of friends in the same place together, I knew they'd all hit it off. :)

I'm looking forward to seeing my Auntie Elissa this weekend; she's coming into town (well, San Diego to my uncle's house, which is close enough around here) this weekend for a conference! So we're all going to hang out down there on Sunday - should be a good time! I'll definitely have my camera then.

Our Guest for the Weekend

Meet Fred.
He belongs to our friend Chris and his girlfriend Brittney (well, mostly Brittney), and we'll be puppy-sitting him for the weekend while they go up to San Francisco. We already know he's in love with Jacopo (they chased each other around for hours at Christmas), so should be fun. :)

Hope all is well with everyone!

~Trude

Vikings, Readers and Wall Decor Phobia

Okay so still no photos of the new place, but you can forgive me right? I'm hoping to get some night daylight photos this weekend, even if we still have things all over the floor.

Our first weekend settled in was jam packed: a relaxing night in Friday night and early to bed, since we both had to be up early the next morning. Chris for work, and me to go to the Nordic Symposium up at California Lutheran with my parents. It was really very cool and totally worth the $40 (or whatever it was for the day), but excepting the college students I was the youngest person there! Which was kind of depressing, because it meant people weren't able to get their kids/grandkids interested in their heritage. Being a first-generation I'm much more inclined to be interested, but still it made me wish more people were clued in on their heritage! The speakers were really great, especially this woman who is the director of an archaeological project at Avaldsnes, which was the seat of the Viking kings of Norway for about 500 years. The best part is that it's not far from where my family is from (and where we always stay when we go home), so we're definitely going to spend a day exploring up there during our trip this summer. :)

Sunday was spent hanging out with Nikki and indulging in Chipotle, some scrapbook shopping, manis & pedis, and finally finishing Heavenly Sword. A super awesome day, indeed.

Some other things going on right now:

• Crazy-ass weather. It's been pretty chilly, then it started warming up this weekend and was near 80 on Sunday, then yesterday it started getting cloudy and chilly again, and drizzled overnight. And now today it's back up in the 70s. What the blank??
• Boo Time Warner Cable. I was *this* close to getting DirectTV. It's been almost 2 weeks (without internet or TV at home!!!), and they're finally getting their act together. Every time we called it was one excuse or another, and then when the guys (subcontractors, no less) finally showed up it turned out that the connection had been cut somewhere in the neighborhood. So then they had to send out their construction guys to run our cable line to the main box or whatever it is, and they finally came today. Thank Thor!! All I have to say is this: Quit acting like the monopoly you are, and behave like a regular business and hire more employees to meet the growing demand. As my old boss would say, "it's that simple!"
• Google Reader=making life easier. I've really gotten into reading people's blogs in the last year (it all started with digital scrapbooking ones where they would give away freebies, but you really can learn a lot from what people share these days!), and now I have quite the list going. So rather than go to each one every couple of days, I now use Google Reader, a free program that tells me which ones have been updated since I last checked. Super cool timesaver!
• The last week of Jessica Sprague's awesome "Now We're Rockin' With Photoshop" online class. I've seriously learned many cool tips and tricks - not so much how to do a certain thing, but more how to do it quicker and better! Plus I just love seeing her at work. :) I've created some really lovely pages, but more importantly learned how to be faster and better at this craft.
• Ali Edwards' super cool idea for a punch collage. Well, when doesn't she have a super cool and gorgeous project idea? But I was really drawn to this one, will have to start collecting the materials for it.
• Wall decor phobia. I have all this gorgeous framed stuff that I know I want to hang, and we're at the point to do that in our new space, but now I'm terrified I'm going to start hanging things and hate where I put them/how they look. Or that *gasp* I won't have enough wall space for everything! It's such a bother to get them up on the wall in the first place that I would hate to have to re-hang stuff (especially since that means more holes to fill when we move out). I know we'll get there - thanks in large part to Chris' eternal patience with me - because I hate the sight of bare walls, but am I the only one on the planet that worries about something like this?

That about does it for me...I'll have to share a cute hybrid project I've been working on as soon as it's finished (since I now have internet at home, thankyouverymuch).

~Trude
Quote of the moment: "All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality." ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

A Quick One...Sorta

We've been in the midst of dealing with our property management company, getting everything set to move into a newly upgraded unit in the same community. It's a total pain, of course (even though they're much better than the old company), but I think it'll be worth it. We finally move tomorrow! So exciting, I'll be posting pictures of the new place soon. One of the best things is we get a washer/dryer combo actually in our apartment. You never know how much you'll miss something until it's gone, right? ;) Luckily the one we liked is literally just across the street, so moving should go pretty quickly. Thank Thor for friends with big arms who are willing to help with the heavy pieces!

I just love the chance to start fresh like that, wipe the slate clean. As much as I'm a person of habit, changing my environment every so often is a must. Even if it's just something small, I have to do it otherwise I start feeling...I don't know, antsy. At any rate, I'm also looking forward to having more wall space so that I can hang more of my own work. Yay! And redecorating, always feels good to do that. Speaking of which, have to share a few things I ordered in anticipation of them move from Urban Outfitters. Like this lovely jewelry tree:
And to go with it, a necklace stand too (I have a lot of necklaces just screaming to be let out of the bottom of my jewelry box!):
And to round it out, an earring stand:
All three for about $65! Not too shabby!

A New Way to Indulge

In other news, a much-anticipated new web store has officially opened its doors today, called Prima Hybrid. It's one of the first of it's kind to offer traditional/paper, hybrid and digital products all in one place. In the last year or so the two "worlds" have been coming together more, and even personally I've started branching out into the hybrid world, like making custom composition books (by creating a cover using digital products, printing out, gluing and trimming) and actually buying stamps and ink! *gasp* Crazy for me, I know, but I'm actually getting into it. For a girl who loves her office supplies so much, it's a miracle this didn't happen sooner.

So to celebrate the grand opening they're having a big ol' sale, and I indulged myself since a bunch of my fave designers have been recruited to sell there, and many created brand new products only available there. Such as Weeds and Wildflowers, I'm so in love with this kit:
I also couldn't resist these buttons, they remind me of the jars we inherited from my grandmother!
Also couldn't resist this gorgeous collaboration kit by Gina Marie Huff (aka part of Weeds & Wildflowers) and Vera Lim. Here's Vera's papers for the kit, soooo stunning:
Between the two of them its a huge kit, and totally worth it!

New Pages

Got a few more pages done (luckily the mojo is sticking with me), including the following two page spread - my very first!
Don't know why I never tried a two-pager before, but Penny's templates honestly just made it so much easier. Plus it's a great way to scrap a bunch of photos from the same event without making things seem overcrowded. Anyway, credits for them can be found here.

Here also is one using this awesome photo of Chris' parents that I couldn't pass up using!Credits are here.

I also started Jessica Sprague's "Now We're Rocking with Photoshop" online class last Monday, and it's proving to be one of the best investments I've ever made! Only $50 for a four-week course, where you have a walk-through online "lecture" (video) and assignment each week. Plus she emails you encouragment, tips, coupons, etc every day! So worth it. I've been doing digiscrap for a year and 1/2, but it still pays to see exactly how an expert does it. You never know what you're doing the "long" way!

Thus far I've done three pages - two assignments and an extra challenge. I love how the challenge page turned out, using a free kit that the Sweet Shoppe Designers made special for Jessica's students!
Credits for it can be found here.

And last but not least, I love how this page turned out. I made it as part of the Saturday Scraplift challenge over at Designer Digitals, because I couldn't pass up the chance to blatantly copy such a gorgeous design! ;)Credits are right here.

Well, that just about does it - now off to do more packing!

~Trude
Quote of the moment: "Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path of joy." ~Sarah Ban Breathnach

Did You Notice the New Banner Yet?

Hope y'all like the new banner! :) Gotta love Jacopo and Puss when they "play" together. Lots of things going on right now, and things that I'm finally getting to sharing...I've decided to mimic Jessica Sprague's ususal blog format of using topic headers, since I've been ignoring that basic design principle for long enough. So that way it's easy for you guys to skip to what interests you, if anything. ;-)

Reunion T-Shirts

One wee project I've been working on, and which is now finally finalized, is a t-shirt design for my mom's family reunion this summer. Luckily they just wanted something simple and that would translate easily to a t-shirt, so it wasn't a huge project. But I think it came out particularly cute so I had to share! (As you can probably tell, they're very proud of their Scandinavian heritage...even though I can't resist reminding the uneducated that the Vikings never actually had horns on their helmets. But we go along with the joke. And someone always brings the silly plastic helmets for everyone to wear. Witness exhibit #2.)

They always have it at her cousin's farm, which is in Union, Maine. One of the most beautiful parts of the US that I've ever been to!

Exhibit #2: photo of me at the reunion the summer before last, courtesy of my auntie.

So that was a fun break from the usual photo editing and scrapbook-page-creating.

Jessica & Me

Also have to share a photo from 2 weeks ago now (already?!?!) of me with one of the coolest scrapbook ladies out there, Jessica Sprague, that I mentioned I was helping assist in her classes at the Creating Keepsakes University event. Well that event turned out to be really amazing, and I had a ton of fun helping all these women understand the gloriousness that is Photoshop! :) And I have to give Jessica some major props - you can't even tell in the photo that she was terribly sick that day with a stomach flu, but still managed to push right through those classes and impress everyone (and I duly apologize to her for not being able to get the glare off her glasses without her looking crazy-eyed!). One of the other volunteers, Nami, told me that she regularly taught seniors how to use PSE. How awesome is that?? Definitely something I wouldn't mind getting into. Jessica also gave us volunteers a little gift set from Bath & Body Works (yummm) - so sweet! I came away from the event feeling all creative-y.

Dog Obedience

Speaking of classes, Jacopo's obedience class officially started this week, although the first class is dog-free so the instructor can give basic information. I'm SO glad I signed up through the city rather than anywhere else! The park is literally 5 minutes from our place, the cost was half of what it is for the same amount of time at Petsmart, and the instructor has been doing dog obedience training for 30+ years. I can't wait to see the results of this! Especially after the demonstration the instructor and a few others gave at the end of class.

It's not that the pup is that ill-behaved, but I'd like to get him to stop jumping (cuz he's like a jumping bean and will use your chest as a springboard!) and to walk on the leash better. And just to be more calm and obedient in general. The cool part is, once you've taken the class you're able to come back for a refresher class anytime for free! If he does really well in this class, I'd like to sign him up for more advanced classes with the goal of him eventually becoming a therapy dog. He's such a people-lover, and after seeing what they can do for seniors and people in hospitals I would love to be able to give back in that way. Plus he fits easily into laps. :)

Departure Time

So it is officially Day 1 of the Warped Tour for Chris, although he's not actually leaving me until tonight. The first show is in Pomona, which is pretty close to us, so he drove himself up for the day, and late tonight I'll drive him back up and drop him off since the bus leaves for the next show at some ungodly hour tomorrow morning. Of course we'll be missing each other like crazy, but this is a great step in his career and (fingers crossed) will lead to even bigger things. So, for those of you living near me, please feel free to stop by anytime!

Seriously, anytime. Pretty please? Entertain me? Anybody??

But in preparation we got a fancy new video camera that he could take with him, because I can't bear to be without a camera. And because we've been wanting to get one for a while...and he can write it off as work-related.
How cute is that!?!? And tiny. Seriously. Chris can palm it. It made me giggle when I thought about my dad's old trusty video camera from when I was a kid. Seems like Chris made a good choice with this model, though, seeing as I figured out how to use it and review video in like 2 seconds. Plus you really can't go wrong with a Canon.

So what did we videotape first? What else but Jacopo at the dog park? LOL I was really surprised at how great the sound was - no wind blowing super loud into the mike or anything, despite the good breeze that was going. So hopefully when Chris gets back I'll have some cool video to link to - hopefully contraband performance vids. :)

Speaking of Shopping

Speaking of which, there have been a few recent purchases. We went out on a shopping expedition Monday night in preparation for his departure, and managed to squeeze in Target, Circuit City, Off Broadway Shoes (his old Converse finally died, so sad), Barnes & Noble, Beth Bath & Beyond and Chick-Fil-A for dinner. All in under 3 hours! Yes, I'm very proud.

Most of the shopping was for him, but I finally got a really nice fan for our bedroom, since between him and the puppy and our lack of a central a/c makes for very hot nights in the summer. We got away with not having one up until now since we didn't move in until mid-August last year, but even then it was pretty damn hot. The best part is that it has a remote, so when you wake up frigid in the middle of the night because your body has finally cooled down, you don't have to get up. :D And its extremely quiet, not that I have any trouble getting to sleep these days.

I also couldn't resist the sale racks at Barnes & Noble, and picked up some new reads since I'm almost done with my latest book. We also signed up, finally, for the membership club through B&N, which meant I wound up saving $25 this time, and the damn thing only cost that much in the first place for a 1-year membership! Gotta love a good deal. It's totally worth it too, considering how much we read (and yes, Nikki, you can use it when we go book shopping next time, it'll do you some good!). Out of 5 new books, the funniest title award has to go to There's A (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell. How can you resist a title like that? Anyhoo, I'll let you know how they turn out.

The Weekend

So, since Chris won't be around to amuse me, and Nikki's parents happen to be going out of town, I'll be heading over there Saturday to have some good ol' fun with the girlies. I can't wait! I'll be bringing Jacopo with me, of course, and that means he gets to play with Spikeus Maximus (aka Spike) - aka their American bulldog, who looked like this
once upon a time. Now he's just a weeee bit bigger. :) But still so cute! I think they'll have a grand ol' time together, barrnig any accidental squishing or something. But we'll keep an eye on them for sure.

And tomorrow night the consensus seems to be to see a movie, but we'll see how that turns out. I might wind up just sleeping in, at this rate! Haven't been sleeping all that well (surprise) the last two weeks.
But I do want to see Evan Almighty! It'd be nice to get out and about.


Next Week
Now all I have to do is figure out what I'm doing for the 4th! If a friend of ours is throwing a BBQ, I'm definitely there, cuz he's a great cook, but if not I might just have some people here. I'm so used to being out of town/the country for the holiday that I can't even remember the last time I had to make plans! And how much does it suck that it falls on a Wednesday? Oh well, at least it's one day off...

What are you doing for the holiday? Hmmm?

~Trude

Quote of the moment: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." ~ Groucho Marx

Your Eyes Do Not Deceive You

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, that is indeed JOHN MAYER. (Feel free to click on the photo and view a larger version of the hotness.)

In case you missed it, I said John-frickin-Mayer!!!

And why didn't I mention that I was going to the concert? Well...that would be because we didn't know we were going until Saturday. Funny story, actually...

So, I'm heading back from an event I went to with my family early Saturday afternoon (more on that further down), when I get a call from Nikki. At first, I was too tired to answer and explain what I had been up to, so I decided to call her back later. But she called me back right after leaving a message, so I thought I had better answer in case it was an emergency. Thank Thor it wasn't - it was something so much better than that!! :) You know you're getting good news when someone starts off with "Well, I was browsing Ticketmaster, just to see, and..." Turns out they released a few tickets at the last minute to John's Sunday night show at the Hollywood Bowl, and Nikki just happened to be checking at just the right moment! We had originally tried to get tickets when they first went on sale, but couldn't get anything decent and since the Bowl is a seriously crap venue to get to, it would have been terrible with seats where you can hardly see. So Nikki got three tickets in the "garden section" (basically their equivalent of box seats, since its an open-air venue), and one for our friend Erin too.

At any rate, of course we both screamed - much to my family's chagrin - and then made plans for Sunday. We decided to go up early and do some retail therapy at the Citadel outlet center, which was super fun (woohoo Banana Republic and Max Studio outlets!), and then got all gussied up in their surprisingly beautiful restrooms. Gotta love a giant room with a bunch of sofas to rest your weary feet!

Here we are at the show (photo courtesy of the people behind us, so nice!). I have to say where we sat at the Bowl was seriously awesome, considering how far away we could have been. And the one thing I did like about that venue as compared to, say, Josh Groban at the Staples Center, was that out little box seats meant we actually had room where we were sitting. It was nice not being crammed arm-to-arm in tiny seats, or shoulder-to-shoulder in a standing-room-only venue!

But that's really the only plus to the Bowl - otherwise, it's horrendous parking and getting there, horrendous trying to figure out where you need to go, and horrendous getting out. Luckily Nikki took note from the last time she was there and we did the Park-and-Ride option, where you park several miles away and they bus you over. Soooo much less stress, considering the freeway gets backed up from so many people trying to get there! Except that our driver clearly didn't know how to use a clutch, and we totally stalled and had to restart the engine going up a hill on the way there. All I could think was "Dear lord, let these LA drivers behind us pleeeeze be paying attention just this once...."

So we finally got in and were seated to have this kind of view:

The photo is of Ben Folds, one of the openers (who was really entertaining once they got going), but you get the idea. And I don't think I quite appreciated it as much until I turned around and saw the sheer enormity of the number of people sitting behind us. I should have taken a photo...it was insanity!

And then I got kinda starstruck when I noticed Greg Grunberg sitting just a few feet away, because I'm so in love with the show he's on (Heroes). I didn't take a photo, because I'm one of those people that hates to bother celebrities, especially when they're obviously just trying to have a fun night out. But I watched him be very gracious and awesome to the handful of people who did approach him. And then I watched him shake it to John later on...awesome. :)

We were all even more starstruck when we noticed that none other than William Shatner had sat down in the box just behind my left shoulder! After a little bit we decided to be all incognito and take this photo as evidence:
I know, seriously crap photo, but we were trying to get him more than us, and when we used a flash you couldn't see him! :) (B&W "Flex Frame" by Angela Barton over at the Sweet Shoppe.) The best part was I could occasionally hear him talking during the show...ahhhh. Like silk on my eardrums. ;-) We couldn't help but laugh because he was trying to be all low-key and wear a hat and sunglasses, and a hoodie over that, and it wound up being even more conspicuous! Hello? And everyone was being really respectful anyways...come on, LA people get pretty jaded after a while.

So I have some terrible blurry photos of John on stage, but suffice it to say that it was ear candy the entire time. Nikki and I had seen him once before, but it was a brief performance as part of a collab show for Star 98.7, so not nearly as cool as his own tour. When you counted it up, it was only about 10 songs, but each was at least 10 minutes due to improv and stuff, so a nice long ride. Lots of seat dancing was done by all. :) And of course we stood for the last couple songs, especially since he closed the encore with "Waiting on the World to Change". Seriously people, the man is a huge dork but when push comes to shove, he just turns it on (goofy expressions and all). I heard someone in the crowd on the way in saying B.B. King was better (a lot of fans compare the two, since John incorporates a lot of bluesy approaches in his guitar playing) because John was classically trained, and totally had to disagree! Having had some experience in the music world and known a lot of musicians, I have to say that no matter how much training you receive, there ain't no way you can teach someone how to translate their emotions into music like that. I think John and B.B. are simply in the same playing field. And it doesn't hurt that he has a freaking sexy voice.

I think we done there around 11, and then it was a sloooow and totally chaotic process to get back to the car, but we made it eventually! After a Del Taco run on the way home (we had a seriously light and early dinner at like 4:30, so it was starvin-time at that point), I think I eventually got home around 1am after dropping the girls off, and to bed at 2. So exhausting, but worth every lost minute of sleep! Luckily today at work was really quiet and slow, so you couldn't tell too much that I was seriously lacking in sleep. Then I came home, had a snack, and went right to bed for a nap! I'll catch up tomorrow, I swear...

~Trude

Quote of the moment: "The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes." ~ Harold B. Lee (1899-1973)

Anniversaries & Memorial days...

I'm happy to report that I had a pleasant holiday weekend, although I am still very tired from it all. And this week at work has just been totally insane, so I'm really ready for the weekend already, even though it's a short week! :)

Yesterday was our 2-year anniversary. Can't believe it hasn't been more than that! Honestly, we both feel like we've been together for much longer. Maybe because at this point we act like an old married couple (just substitute the dog for the child!). But I gotta love a man who knows how to deal with my every mood. Plus, he cooks like a pro - have to keep that around! :)

So I put this together to celebrate, somewhat (just click to see the full-sized version):

Have to give props to my girl Anna Aspnes, since I used her awesome gradient brushes to make that! I'm so addicted to them now - they make it so easy to use multiple photos in a layout without making it feel overcrowded! And thought I'd show this scrap page off too, even though I did it back in January:

You can view credits for it here.

We went to the always amazing Five Crowns last night for dinner, and yet again it did not disappoint. Seriously, if you live in Orange County and have not been there yet, GO! It's worth every penny. Chris and I splurged and ordered a full three course meal, plus martinis, and pretty much had to hobble out there, we were so full. I got the lobster tails, and he got the surf 'n turf. Soooo good. And it was perfect service, as per usual, and not too loud. Plus we didn't have to wait at all for our table - which I'm even more thankful for, since it seems that fewer and fewer restaurants understand the concept of "reservation". But anyways, two hours later we finally headed home to top off the night with some champagne and cuddle time (with the puppy included, of course).

And as for the long weekend, it was great. I think I pretty much squeezed the most out of it that I could! Saturday went and got a haircut, and after some errands came home to clean for a small dinner party we had planned. I think Chris outdid himself this time - he made steaks with his yummy cream and red wine sauce, golden carrot coins (SO yummy - gotta love Alton Brown's recipes!), roasted red potatoes and asparagus. Mmmmm!!! Plus we threw in salad and bread rolls. We just had a few people over, but they hadn't met each other before so it made for some great conversation. Chris and I had also bought a long fold-up table with just such an event in mind, so we could eat out on the patio and also fit everybody at one table, since our vintage dinette doesn't exactly provide for large groups. :) It was a great night though, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

On Sunday I had to drag my butt out of bed and get ready to go down to my uncle's house in San Diego. My parents and I had made plans to go down for the night and hang out with everyone - my uncle had his girlfriend and some friends over, and my cousin Sarah came over as well. His girlfriend's daughter also wound up coming by later that night with her boyfriend. I wound up taking a ton of photos, since my dad brought his new toy - a Nikon D40. Gotta love digital SLRs! I so want one...maybe if I get a raise. Someday.

But it turned out to be a really fun two days! I brought the puppy with me, in the hopes that he would make friends with Sarah's dog, Taj.
Isn't he a cutie? He's mostly Doberman, mixed with something that I can't remember at the moment. Turns out my guess that they would get along famously was right! They're both scaredy-cats (crazy for a Doberman, I know, but he is) and mama's boys, and built for running. A perfect match. :)

Here's a shot of the requisite sniffing:
They wound up providing loads of entertainment and laughs for us! I think it was Karl that likened Jacopo to a little kid following around Taj, who was like the cool high schooler, and having to do everything that Taj did. The best part was Jacopo got a great workout and slept like a rock once he finally settled down that night and Monday night too. :)


We had a perfect summer barbeque in the backyard with big hamburgers and stuff for dinner, and enjoyed the view:

That's my uncle and his girlfriend, Donna, along with Mike and Leslie, who were joking about how they could see their house from there (with a little help from the binoculars).

While we were there, Jacopo discovered that he loved stairs (we don't have any at home), and you could hear him enjoying them many times over in the 2 days we were there!

I don't know how that little pup manages to sound like an elephant when he runs, but he does. And then when he and Taj played on them together....you could hear it from all over the house. At least we could keep tabs on them! :) I think he was also a big fan of the landing because he could see all that was going on.

That night we pretty much just hung out, ate, drank and talked. I have to share this photo of Sarah, 'cuz she's perty and her hair is sooo long right now!

I'm pretty sure she was telling a wicked story when this was taken. ;-)

So I wound up sleeping on the couch instead of in one of the guestrooms with Sarah, since Jacopo continued to try and bait Taj into playing with him even after we turned out the lights and had settled down. I guess he's just not used to having a playmate around for that long! But I couldn't believe that he still had the energy. Although he did settle down as soon as we curled up on the couch together.

Monday was another casual hangout day, and we all decided to go on a walk with the puppies. Especially since it was such gorgeous weather you really just had to be outside. Thank Thor for national holidays! :) So dad took some great photos along the way...














Then when we got back Karl and Donna raced back and put up this sign on the door before we got there:
What a punk! While Karl and Donna went to work barbequing dinner, the rest of us mainly hung out. I'll spare you the gratuitous puppy photos, but I can't help but share this one:

Yup, that's Jacopo sleeping with his nose tucked in between Sarah's feet. What a goofball! It's like a security blanket for him, he loves to have his nose tucked away when he sleeps.

As one last photospam, there's this one:

Gotta love the way Sarah hugs Taj! I imagine with such a huge dog there can only be a few ways! :)

That's all for now - this weekend I'm heading up to Pasadena to tour Castle Green, which I'm sure I'll have a ton of photos from! Hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday weekend!

~T

Quote of the moment: "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." ~Robert Frost