Shopping trip

Today I went out with Ashley and Cindy for a full day of shopping. Just a few observations from the day:

• Sometimes it's possible to find a great skirt for $2.
• Talking about the first 20 minutes of Up will make Ashley cry. Which will then trigger a similar but slightly less severe response in me.
• First trip to Chipotlé. Yum!
• I am not a trendy clothing store kinda gal. Abercrombie? Blah. I've never even been in one until today. It made me feel very old.
• On the other hand, Ashley and I found the perfect Kelly Kapowski denim bra top at Hollister. We also had trouble hearing each other.

• Most of the time, I think I would rather buy scrapbook supplies than clothing.
• Chocolate-dipped softserve is melty melty melty.
• I'm pretty sure there was a time in my life when shopping didn't make me so tired.
• Mike will invariably use my absence as an excuse to rearrange part of the house.

And speaking of shopping, I have a fun shopping-related layout to share with you tomorrow!

Toy Story 3 has been put on hold until Friday.

But for good reason...we decided last minute to head north to pick up some IKEA furniture.  But first, we made a stop here:

I used my birthday money from my MIL to get some new paper, a couple of mini albums, and a few embellishments.  I kind of fell for the pet line from  Basic Grey.  (And ugh!  I can't get the photo to turn the right way.)

Then, off to IKEA.  We bought a dresser, two night stands, and a small chest.  So far, one night stand is complete.  I share pics tomorrow.  (Oh, and the pic is showing Mike's reaction to one checkout line being open.)

And now I'm really tired from being on-the-go all day, so goodnight!  :)

Nice things from today.

• Our closet is almost finished!!! (Yes, the one I posted about back in January!)  I'll post photos very soon.  He's doing such a great job!
• I get to see Toy Story 3 tomorrow.  We're celebrating my birthday a little late, but I get to be special for another day, so I really can't complain.  Haha!
• My mom is putting my pink fuji instax in the mail tomorrow!  Yay!
• There was a funny little girl in Lowe's tonight.  Mike walked past her, and she stood completely still and said, "Push my button so I can talk" in her best robot voice.  Later, she ran past us and said "Hello" in a British accent.  :)
• My brother's girlfriend shared this video on her facebook page from one of their friends.  Soooo cute!  I forgot about the tiny squeaky noises they make!

The big three-oh

First of all, thanks for all the birthday wishes on my last post, as well as on Facebook!  I love checking my email on my birthday...it makes me feel special!  :)   Today I rang 30 in true old-person style.  After church, I came home, watched Germany vs. England (which was an awesome game), and then fell asleep to the sounds of NPR.  Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit.  I didn't do much celebrating today because Mike is on the committee to hire a new principal at his school, so it's just been me and the cat. I did manage to clear out enough space to do a little scrapping on the floor.  (We still haven't moved furniture.)  I'll share my layout when the new TAAFOMFT challenge goes up in a few days.

Speaking of TAAFOMFT, if you want to see a great pic of me and Julie from last summer, go here.  Ha! 

And really, I'm not dreading turning 30 at all.  It beats the alternative, right?  My twenties were great time in my life, and I have a feeling my thirties will be just as (if not more) amazing.   I'm looking forward to it! 

Big Ol' Fireworks Show Down on the Farm

I'm posting kind of late, but there's a really good reason.  We just got home from an amazing fireworks show courtesy of Mike's cousin, Robert.  Robert has been hosting his "Big Ol' Fireworks Show Down on the Farm" for several years (since he was in high school)...I think this is year 11.  His shows are so ridiculously fantastic.  Far better than the shows of most (if not all) nearby cities. 

We invited Forrest and Ashley to join us this year.  And we snacked on cookies and berries.  The photos don't do the show justice.  I filmed part of it, but I'll be asleep by the time it uploads, so I'll share it soon. 

Really, is there a better way to celebrate the last day of your twenties?  (Oh yes -- I turn 30 tomorrow!)

A little 6x12 love

Yesterday, I inadvertantly challenged Sarah to do a 6x12 layout.  Which made me revisit some of my old 6x12 layouts.  I forgot how much fun it is to scrap in this format!  Here's a little 6x12 inspiration for you.

Please link me up with any of your 6x12 layouts.  I'm probably going to scrap this size soon, and I'd love a little inspiration. 

True Blue Fan

I really, really want to scrap right now. 

Probably because it's super-ridiculously hot outside. 

Just one small problem.

My scraproom is currently housing the contents of both my scraproom and our bedroom. 

We're switching rooms.  Crazyness. 

But, I did brave the heaping piles of furniture to dig this out just for you. 

Yes!  Proof that I do scrap.

I like the title.  Around here, "True Blue Fan" typically describes your average UK Wildcats fan.  I, however, am claiming this name for all you blueberry fanatics out there. 

You're welcome.  :)

A little Lola amusement.

Not too long ago, Mike and I were looking out the door, when we noticed a little black paw poking through the space between the open door and the wall.  Enjoy.  :)


Lola with a pen from Bekka Bess on Vimeo.

A list. Because my house is a mess. See bullet #2 to understand why.

• Thank you all for the sweet anniversary wishes, and the birthday wishes for Mike!  We're both very appreciative!
• Craft Room v.2.0 is in the works.  I just need to clean the carpet for Bedroom v.3.0
• For those of you keeping count, this is our third bedroom in our house in a year.  I think this makes us room nomads.
• Why is it when I can't get to my scrapbook supplies, I really want to scrap?
• I have watched more ESPN in the last two weeks than I ever have before. Thank you World Cup.
• If you saw a really cute vintage yellow watercooler at the Peddler's Mall, and it cost $5, and you wanted to justify putting it in your scrap room, what would you store in it? 
• I need to get to work if I'm going to finish reading three books by the end of June. 
• Tomorrow, Stacy and I are making 20 mini coconut cream pies.  Which means we're putting coconut pudding into pre-made graham cracker crusts.  Be jealous you didn't think of it first, Martha Stewart.
• I made this salad tonight.  Only I used Sweet Italian dressing.  Yummy!
• I hope Mike takes me to see Toy Story 3 this week/weekend.  And then I hope he's still willing to see Eclipse very soon after.  Not counting on the latter.  Haha.

Things I saw but didn't buy.

Either I have extreme will-power, or a very limited budget.  :)  It's been a busy day, full of painting and carpet-shampooing, so I'll just leave you with some eye-candy from our weekend anniversary antiquing extravaganza. 

How we celebrated year six.

Our anniversary was fantastic!  We spent the day doing some funiture/antique shopping.  (Mike made a discover -- he likes antiquing because it's like going to a history museum, except that you can buy what's on display.)  We went to two Peddler's Malls (but not the one we normally go to).  They used to be so great back when I first moved to the area.  I bought a lot of my furniture from them.  So junky now -- a very nasty flea-market vibe.  But, we decided to try a couple of antique malls in Lexington.  They were so much better, and I have two new great placed to browse.  The first one we went to was Meadowthorpe Antiques.  Lots of cute stuff there (of course I took pics of stuff, and I'll share that tomorrow, since I haven't uploaded them yet).  I found a camera.  Not just any camera.   A Kodak Duaflex.  Now I can try TTV photography!

 

Our next stop was just down the street to a cute little place called Feather Your Nest.  I'm surprised Mike made it through the door, because this display greeted you when you entered.  (If you know Mike, it's very likely you are familiar with the discomfort that yard gnomes cause him.)

At the back of the store was the cutest little booth in the corner.  Serious candy-coated bliss!  I admit, I squealed. 

 

We had dinner at a very nice Indian restaurant called Tandoor.  The atmosphere was great.  There was no background noise drowning out conversation.  The one waiter who was working we never once made us feel neglected, and was so professional.  And the food was fantastic!  I had Chicken Bhuna.  Mike had Lamb Bhuna.  Oh, and I'm convinced I could eat my weight in Naan. 

Best of all, I got to spend the day with this guy!  That part makes it the best anniversary ever!  :)

Six years ago today...

...this was us. 

(Thanks for the pic, Kat!)

Why does it look like we're running?  Because this song was playing!

Happy Anniversary, Mike!  I truly can't see me loving nobody but you for all my life.  :) 

Instead of Friday Fill-Ins...

Friday Fill-Ins was kind of ridiculously difficult and pointless this week (sorry...I'm being harsh, I know, but it was really way too much of a stretch).  I did, however, come across this list on Jen's blog, and thought it would be fun to play along.  I don't know when I'll get around to posting this, but it was written today around 11:30 am.

listening:  to World Cup Soccer...US vs. Slovenia in the background.
eating:  a ham sandwich and chips
drinking:  lemonade
wearing:  barbie t-shirt, green linen shorts, pink bandana
feeling:  excited that I got to do something awesome and top secret for two very good friends
weather:  sunny, and not unbearably hot (yet)
wanting:  to work on spray painting the thrifted outdoor tables we bought a few weeks ago.
needing:  to start painting the upstairs bedroom...which means I need to start moving lots of stuff.
thinking:  about taking a walk this evening.
enjoying:  having lots of down-time this week.
wondering:  if I can incorporate that cute worn-looking yellow water cooler from the Peddler's Mall into my scrapbook room decor.

I like summer (cooking edition)

One of the things that I really enjoy about being off in the summer is the chance to try out new recipes.  Yes, I can do this the rest of the year.  But really, I don't feel motivated to do so.  But summer...I feel like I have plenty of time to try new things...and plenty of time to exercise off my experiments.  :) 

My favorite food blog (actually, the only food blog I read) is Emma Chapman's From Scratch.  Emma finds all these great recipes and tweaks them to suit her.  I decided to try a few of her recipes, and true to her form, I tweaked them to suit me.  The first one I tried was the Apple Galettes.  Obviously, the pic below is not of apples. :)  Instead I used some of the black raspberries from last week's orchard trip  Very yummy, although I probably didn't use enough sugar.   

And yesterday, for Mike's birthday, I made blueberry pancakes using her buttermilk pancake recipe.  I didn't use quite as much buttermilk (maybe half the amount she used), and added a little 2% milk to the mix.  And of course, blueberries (which were also from the orchard trip).  I don't think I've ever made pancakes from scratch, but it was so easy.  I don't think I'll need to buy the mix again. 

I think tomorrow I'll try lentil burgers.  Have a great Friday everyone!

So there's this really great guy celebrating a birthday today...

No...I'm not talking about him...

...or him...

Of course I'm talking about my wonderful husband, Mike!

Mike doesn't get very excited about his birthday.  Efforts to get him to celebrate are often futile.  But we did have blueberry pancakes this morning.  But then we paid bills.  And played around with landscaping ideas.  And took a nap.  Now he's helping a friend cut down tree limbs.  But he tells me that this is how he likes it, so what can I do? 

So, happy birthday, Mike!  I love you!

Favorite toy...Peddler's Mall...happy hair

So, what was (or is) your favorite toy?  That's what we want to know over at TAAFOMFT.  At the moment, my favorite toy is my iPhone.  It's my camera, my social network, my games...oh, and it's also a phone.  :)  I've been saving this telephone game card that I received from Martha some time ago for just such an occasion.  So make sure you head over to the blog and join us!

(Also, if you participated in the last challenge, you really need to see this post.)  :)

While we're on the topic of toys, I met Mike at Lowe's after he did some work at school today. We went fan-shopping, then he went to the library to work on his class. I had a little over an hour before my hair appointment, so I went to the Peddler's Mall (of course).  One of the booths had these:

I was all about the Fisher-Price Little People when I was little.  We had the barn and the school...I think.  (Mom, feel free to verify this.)  Oh, and these two lovelies followed me home.  Five dollars well spent.

Oh, and that hair appointment I mentioned?  I may have lost a few pounds while there.  I haven't had my hair cut since December.  It feels so much better.  I was getting tired of long hair in this heat and humidity.  Plus, my hair does this weird thing when it gets to a certain length -- it all flips in one direction.  No curling iron can fix it at that point.

I hope you all have a great day!  Tomorrow's a big day in the Bess household...well, I think it's a big deal.  Mike never gets excited about it.