July Garage Sale

Our community yard sale was earlier this month.  There are something like 200 homes/townhomes in our development, and the homeowner's association advertises for us, and puts a huge banner on our outside wall.  I prepared that Friday night, and rolled open the door at 7am Saturday, and by 7:30 had $60 profit!!!  The sale was not scheduled to start until 8am, but I knew better, being an East - coaster.  Start early, end early...out here, it was ridiculous!  I sat in the garage until 3:30pm, and was dragging!  It was worth it, though, as I made $235!!  Sweet Begonias!

Here are some pictures of the event: 

My awesome sign!

My set up.  Just had to open the garage door and move everything forward :)



So glad I made this!

Clock Table

Two years ago, I re-worked an existing small table top by painting it into a "Britto/Joanna"-styled masterpiece.  I believe it is the first piece of furniture I have painted.  Anyway, despite being varnished heavily and used lightly, I was annoyed to see that over time the paint had chipped in a few places, and it looked kind of dull.  I looked into getting a glass circle top to put on it, but I think the paint would stick to that, too.  So I repainted the whole thing, freshening up the colors.  Then I unscrewed it off the base, attached a ribbon to the back, and hung it on one of the living room walls.  I am very happy with the results!!

 

Now what to do with the table base?  It only took a few seconds to figure it out.....I screwed a clock to the top of the table!  I busted out the Black & Decker cordless drill and went at it - it only took a few minutes, and I think the results are also fabulous!!!  I have had the clock sitting around for a few months - it was broken, and we really didn't like how it ticked all the time - so annoying.  However, I still thought the look of the clock was cool, so I kept it in my ???? box. 
Now presenting.....The Clock Table:

Pi Phi Crafts - May 2012

Our last offical meeting was at the end of May.  We had a potluck dinner at a members home in the San Jose hills - gorgeous place with an amazing view.  Here are a few of the things I had made specifically for this!

View from front door.  The hills surround 360 degrees.

Book Ornaments: actually 3-D mini-books for the women who organize our 4th grade reading program.  They are about 3x4".

Wrapped present with handmade tags.



Earrings: made from cabochon beads glued to stud posts. Also added a Swarovski crystal to the middle of each flower & coated each bead with a diamond glaze.  FYI  - our sorority flower is the Wine Carnation.



Wrapped earrings.  Tags are slate with white paint pen.

The scroll attached to the sparkling wine includes 6 different Mimosa recipes.  Handwritten with stickers.

Oliver Kitty * April 25, 2012

We have been so lucky recently- Oliver has been visiting daily, sometimes twice a day!  He has his whole little routine over here, and just gets nothing but love from the two of us.  He's got a thing with toilet paper - batting it from the roller holders, jumping on it, biting it and eating it - totally weird but cute. 

He also likes our comforter, and naps there. Sometimes I lay there with him, and if I fall asleep, he wakes me up with his nose on mine and a couple of gentle head butts - I guess I am only there to watch him sleep! 

Here's a few pictures to enjoy!

 How sweet is that face??

 With Axel

Later - see you tomorrow!

Family Affair

We had the best treat last Sunday night - we got to see my cousin and his wife!  Billy and Angela came out to San Fransisco to see a concert (Steve Wilson) at The Filmore, and they also did a ton of sight-seeing:  Alcatraz, Muir Woods, Monterey and Carmel, and the usual city stuff.  Very impressive for a 5 day vacation!
On Sunday, we took a lovely drive up I-280 to the city, and met the Billy and Angela at a place called Santorini Cuisine - Greek, of course!  It was nice to spend some time with them, and we had a delicious dinner to compliment our conversation.  I wish we could all see each other more often!  I especially enjoyed Angela, and getting to know her more - total doll :) 

Busy weekend coming up - Saturday is our big sorority celebration of Founders' Day, and Greek Easter is on Sunday.  I am actually going to a butcher today to get a leg of lamb!  I have been a busy bee making all kinds of Pi Phi stuff, and am baking 40 cupcakes tomorrow - whew! 

Friday Nite Happy Hour

I cannot even recall the last time I went out for any Happy Hour?? 

There is a group within the Pi Phi club called the "Young Alums", or those who still go out to bars every weekend :)  I decided to check it out, so I was at Rosie McCann's - obviously a pub-type bar - at 5:30pm, and had some drinks and apps.  I had a good time, and do enjoy these girls.  Of course they are all nice, and have diverse careers, and they all laugh at my jokes, which always gets an A+.  I cruised out at 9:30, which my mother reminded me was the time I usually left to go out back in the day.  Thanks, Felicia :)

I am the OLDEST young alum by like 5 years....hilarious.  They did think I was in my early 30's, but only because I am so immature.  Sorry about my crazy eyes - I tried to fix them, but no go.  I just look Special (Ed).

Oh, the bar is in this crazy outdoor upscale mall place called Santana Row.  Here is the link if you want to check it out.  Santana Row

Pi Phi Baby Bank

This is a piggy bank I painted for one of my sorority sisters who just found out she is pregnant.  Our sorority colors are wine and silver blue, and our symbols are arrows, angels and carnations.

I think this turned out pretty cute - I had purchased a bunch of these small banks at the $1 store, and they are eaily painted with acrylic paints, and then I applied lots of varnish to make it shiny.

.....and HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!

New template

I felt the urge to change the color scheme of the blog today, so I did.  I can't believe how advanced this has gotten since I first started.  I remember printing out lines of code, and then trying to figure out how to get different colors in different places by inserting the proper color codes.  Most challenging.I would like to attach "tags" to the blog, to identify if it is a craft, story, birthday wishes, etc..  I'll check that out tomorrow :) 
I'm not sure if I am "feeling" this scheme yet, but it's the only one I went back to when looking at all the templates.
Later.

Dean's Big Gay Birdhouse

I did this back in June for Dean's birthday in July.  It's a birdhouse from Michael's that I painted and added personal stuff related to Dean. 

Baked Goods

Lovely pictures of some cupcakes I baked the other day!

Devil's Food cakes with Buttercream icing :)

YUMMY!

iSad

RIP 1955-2011

Thanks for making AKJN's lives more wonderful than we ever could have imagined!

OLIVER KITTY

This is our pretend pet, Oliver Kitty, in the garage on top of the car.  (When you say Oliver's name, you have to sing it to the Beatles "Eleanor Rigby").

Oliver lives next door in a very busy household, so he visits us every few days to chill out.  When he was a little bitty thing 4 years ago, he actually got stuck in our garage, and we think that has stayed with him.  We always leave our garage door cracked open, and he just strolls right in.  He is so friendly, likes to be held, and I got a kiss on the chin from him last night!  He has his own water dish out back, and we are trying so hard not to give him any treats, although Axel totally does not follow that rule!!

Axel adores Oliver!  Oliver finds Axel's computer stuff in the garage and upstairs office very fascinating.  He likes our office and dining room chairs.  He is totally comfy in our house, and loves to prance on the stairs. We are completely pet deprived, so Oliver is filling a big hole for us.  We are actually at the point of possibly considering owning a cat, but we've got a good gig going with the our sweetie Oliver, so we're still a two human household....for now!

Have a great week, peeps!!

Relax in Your Slacks, Honey!

This excellent advice was written in a note to me from Chrissy's mom, and I think it is my new motto!!  I've used it out a few times, now, and have gotten great reactions from it!  Always smiles, and ususally a chuckle, too.  Thanks, Bootie, for being a great pen pal!

My fantasy draft took place last Sunday, and the NFL gloriously started on Thursday night!  I just have to make a few tweaks here and there, and hopefully I'll have a great season.  I am so excited to watch the Eagles this year, and am hoping against hope that they can go all they way. 

Finally, I did something that I should have done a long time ago - I joined my local sorority alumni club.  I went to a Meet and Greet on Wed. night at the home of a woman who actually went to Old Dominion, too!  It is a great group of ladies, all ages, and they get together at least once a month,  if not more.  I felt very at home - I was so nervous driving there, like a teenager on a first date!  I am looking forward to next Thursday, which is the first official meeting.  After the ladies heard about some of the things I make and do, I was put in charge of making the nametags - 80 of them!  I am totally excited, and can't wait to get my laminator fired up!  Like I said, I should have done this a long time ago!  Here is a pic of us - don't you just love my devil eyes???!!!

Ok - that's all for now. I need to shake the sinus + upper chest infection I got going on.  I love Cali, but everything is in bloom ALL the time, so your allergies are always doing something to you.  
Later, peeps!

AKJN, circa 1990 / IRENE

OMG - this was 21 years ago!!!!   The hippie look was definately not the best for me!!  That necklace is hideous!  Also notice that I am drinking a wine cooler.....that was probably the last Bartles & James I ever drank.  Axel looks totally normal, and I think we actually have the shirt and the jeans, and they still fit him!  What a cutie :)  So this is about 5 years before we got together.

This was taken at a birthday party for our college friend Lucy, and it was at her boyfriend Buck's house in Virginia Beach.  His house was so cool - the backyard was all tiki huts, dense palm foliage, lights in the trees - we always thought it was an old Magnum P.I. set.  Those were the days - no cares, no worries! 

Our friend Dean forwarded this picture to us over the weekend.  In college, we used to see the band Rare Daze pretty much every weekend. We were all friends, and had a huge group that would all hang together.  One of the gals, Robin, was smart enough to take pictures of everything back then, and has been posting them on Facebook.  As we don't FB here, Dean keeps us posted on the college gang, and forwards pictures like this one to us.  Neither Axel or I had ever seen this picture before, so it was so fun to look at it together, and (surprisingly) actually remember details of that night!  We both remember eating chocolate chip cookies with pot in them that night, and how awful they were!  It was like biting into grass clippings.  Still ate them :)

Current events:

I had to continuously take Xanax over the weekend - I was so worried about Irene, and all of our peeps up and down the East Coast.  Of course I was mostly concerned about my mom, and sort of raised her anxiety level, too, as I rattled off all the things she should be doing with each phone call.  By Sunday morning, I was a real wreck.  I was sneaking watching the Weather Channel and CNN - anythime Axel came in a room I was watching the storm coverage, he turned the channel and take the remote from me!  On Sunday, I called mom at 9am (6am Cali time) immediately upon waking, prior to having coffee, and I still don't remember what I was saying to her.....Axel was telling me to put down the phone, while my mom was telling me to get my coffee.  Within 5 minutes, Axel had me tucked in bed with my coffee, tissues and Opus doll, and held my hand while I blubbered for  a little bit.  He assured me everything would be okay, and that mom would be fine.  Why is he so smart?  Mom was completely fine - a tiny bit of water in the basement, but superstar Raymond went over and took care of it for her Monday.  Thanks, Ray!

Latest movies:

Thor - we watched it last night.  I loved it!  The actor playing Thor is young, blonde and buff, and Natalie Portmen is really cute in the movie - total non-serious role.  We gave it 2 thumbs up.

The Tillman Story -  I read 2-3 books on Patrick Tillman last year, mainly because he was from this area.  I was completely familiar with the story while watching, but Axel was blown away by the story.  I totally recommend this movie, but it's not a "feel good" story.

Peace Out, peeps!  So glad everyone got through Irene okay - you guys have been getting bitch slapped on the East Side lately!

Happy Birthday Chrissy / A Picture Tribute

Today is a great day to start posting again, as it is Chrissy's birthday!

Happy birthday, doll!

As a special treat, I have unearthed pictures from our 1995 summer in Stone Harbor, and our Hummer Hut rental. This is for you, Chris :)

Enjoy and have a FABULOUS DAY!!!!!!

New Bullet-Point for Resume

Funny story - last week my girl Julie came by with her 3 year old, Scarlett, to pick me up and hit the art store for some supplies. However, by the time she drove to my house (3 minutes), Scarlett was fast asleep, so she brought her inside and hooked her all up on one of our couches.

The 3 adults hung out in the kitchen for a bit, and I said - "hey, let's just go while she's sleeping since we won't be long," and Julie agreed. We would run out while Ak stayed with the sleeper. Ak was standing there, looking at us like we had lost it. He of course objected at first, but we convinced him/gave him no choice :) He was worried that she would freak out when she woke up and we weren't there, or that she would sissy/doody while we were gone. I made sure he knew where the sippy cup was, and where to go in the On Demand menu to get to Yo Gabba Gabba and The Wonder Pets shows.

As Julie and I left, I was thinking - he thinks we're kidding, and that we're going to go back in and get Scarlett to take with us. At the same time, Ak was inside waiting for us to come back in and say "just kidding, we're taking her". No such thing happened, and I couldn't believe we took off!! I knew I'd probably be in a little bit of hot water after we got back, but I also knew he would be absolutely fine with Scarlett.

Julie and I did our shopping and got back in record time. As I walked back into the house, I heard one of the sweetest things....Ak and Scarlett were singing together along with the TV to a tooth-fairly song - Brush, brush, brush, get your teeth clean, etc. Honestly, it was adorable to find them sitting on the couch. Scarlett had her sippy cup, and was very happy. She had woken up about a half hour before we got back, asked for something to drink and to watch Yo Gabba Gabba. Ak was amazed that she didn't freak out, and basically could give a hoot where her mom was :)

I am very proud of Ak, and Julie, too! She said the reason she wasn't nervous about Ak watching Scarlett was because Ak was so nervous, and that meant that he cared about her. I thought that was a very cool statement.

I have been bragging to everyone about Ak's first babysitting job at 40 :) I m so proud of him, and I think he's pretty happy with himself, too. And I didn't encounter any hot water!

So, in short, we can now say we provide couple's babysitting service for the greater Los Gatos area, or in reality, just for Julie's kids!

Have a great day, peeps!

Scarlett awake - 8/27/10 :)

THE WHITE VAN

Yesterday, Ak and I went up the mountain to Boulder Creek. A friend of ours who used to live out here was back for a visit before heading to Bangkok today. He will eventually end his travels in Laos where he is trying to purchase a house. He's been back in VA for a year, caring for his mother.

It was great to see him! Unfortunately, his mom is in pretty bad shape, but he has done everything possible to make her comfortable. He's just like we are - an only child born late to older parents. We traded war stories on care facilities and doctors, and I gave him big props for going back and taking care of his mom - we concluded that we do this because of the way we were raised back East :)

Anyway, as we were heading down the mountain home late last night, we ended up behind a van. It was totally white, and looked as if it had been an ambulance at one time because it still had the lights on top, and looked to have some medical stuff in the back windows. It just didn't have any markings on it at all. Then, the van pulled into a turn off to let us pass - all we saw was a big white arm out of the driver window motioning us to go around. At the same time, we both said "OMG - that's the Dexter van! He's out looking for meat!" So we laughed at first, but then Ak says that the van is right behind us! I told Ak to drive faster so he couldn't read our license plate...I figured our killer could do a little research and come and kill us in a few days. Finally, we got off the mountain road and onto 17...as we were merging on to the highway, Ak says that the van was behind us again on the on ramp! We then took off like a shot as Ak hit the pedal to put lots of distance between us, and we were giggling like school girls. We talked about him having stretchers in the back with vistims duct-taped to them. We finally got to our exit and were waiting at the light...we both turned our heads to the left to view the highway we just got off, and right then the white van cruised on by....hopefully Dexter had picked another car to chase for meat!

All this made us realize that 1. we have very active imaginations, fed by 2. too much TV, and 3. too many Stephen King books.

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND, PEEPS!

Fantasy Draft Tonite/DONE + Today's Apple Media Event

Ok, peeps - cross your fingers that I get a FABULOUS team tonight!!!

I've spent the last 2 days buried in FF magazines, and constantly checking online for any last minute signings, etc..
Last season I was in 1st and 2nd place the whole season, and finally ended up in 3rd place when it was all said and done.
I am looking to win this year!!

I'll post later after the draft with my results :)
....and here they are!!!!!!

Draft Results (Round / Player picked):

1 Michael Turner / RB ATL
2 Rashad Mendenhall / RB Steelers
3 Marques Colston / WR Saints
4 Anquan Boldin / WR Ravens
5 Chad Ochocinco / WR Bengals
6 Knowshon Moreno / RB Broncos
7 Matt Ryan / QB ATL
8 Steve Breaston / WR ARI
9 Joe Flacco / QB Ravens
10 Owen Daniels / TE HOU
11 Saints DEF
12 Brandon Jacobs / RB NYG
13 Mark Sanchez / QB NYJ
14 Braylon Edwards / WR NYG
15 Rian Lindell / K Bills

Ok - not sure what to make of my team yet, and I have to fine tune Bye Weeks, etc.
Fun work! We do our draft through Yahoo, so it went really fast, and is very effective if you've done your homework and pre-ranked players. I just sat back and waited for my turn each time, hopping up for a smoke now and then. Total draft time: 1 1/2 hours.

Ak and I watched the live Apple Media Event today on his 4G, and it was really cool. Apple came out with a bunch of free upgrades across the board, and also they have redesigned the Shuffle, Nano, and iPod, which will all be available next week. The Christmas buzz is already starting! Cool new Apple TV unveiled - super cheap, and the slide show feature is amazing. You'll be able to shoot pics right from your iPhone directly to the TV, and have a show in like 5 seconds. The Media Event lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes, then Jobs introduces Chris Martin :) It was just him, not the band, and he sat at a piano and sang 3 songs ... it sounded fantastic, and even looked great for live streaming. Very cool, and a nice way to start the day!
Check out the new stuff at Apple:
http://store.apple.com/us?afid=p219%7CGOUS&cid=OAS-US-KWG-AppleBrand-US

...and read about the event today:
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/apple-details-ios-4-1-revamps-tv-offering-rentals/2010-09-01

Happy September, peeps!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Bobby & Pac Bell Park

We had the best visit at the end of July - Bobby! He was in town briefly for work, and we got to spend a day together :) On the special day, Ak and I headed up to SF, picked him up from his hotel, and then headed to Pac Bell Park to see the Giants/Marlins game.

The weather was fantastic - not a cloud in the sky, and a warm sun balanced by a cool breeze. Out tickets were fantastic - club level, and the view was spectacular from our seats.

View from our seats :)

We made friends with the regulars in front of us, and Bobby asked lots of park questions - his goal is to visit every baseball park in the US. Unfortunately, the Giants lost pretty badly, and the game was one of the shortest in history! No matter - we fought the crowds at the Giants store, and emerged with some excellent T-shirts. We then walked out along McCovey Point - the wind really was blowing, and we were no longer sheilded by the stadium. We snapped a few pictures, then headed to the car.

Ak & Bobby with McCovey statue, stadium behind them

Next stop, Crustaceans, for their famous dungeness crabs and homemade garlic noodles. We've taken Bobby here before and he loves it, and requested to eat here again. We got to the restaurant a bit early, so we walked around. We followed Bobby into a Rocky-esque gym to watch a boxer training with a bag, and asked some general questions about the gym. Apparently the boxer is a contender for something - I can't just remember :) Right next to the gym was a crazy smoke shop with a 6-7 foot "tobacco" pipe in the window. Meanwhile, the air had gotten progressively chillier, and I decided I needed a scarf, so I left the boys and headed into "Out of the Closet", the local thrift store. I purchased a scarf (then washed it 3 times whne I got home), declined the offer of a free HIV test, and joined the boys to go feast. It was a delicious meal from beginning to end. We finally rolled out of there, headed south on 101, and dropped Bobby off at SFO for his flight back to the East coast.
I think I 've known Bobby now for 15 or 16 years - WOW!! He is definately a good buddy :)

Drunken Crab and Garlic Noodles

Just a few funnies from our day:

-Bobby trying to get out of our backseat, scrabbling like an old man with the lock, hollering how he can't get out

-3 of us losing each other in the park; literally every 5 seconds

-Bobby trying to get a hotdog from the deaf vendor

-how we got our Giants cups

-our interacting with the "bib" guy...he puts a bib on anyone who orders crab. I think Bobby thought the due was going to rape him, or something

-making Bobby change his shirt at the airport b/c it had crab all over it

Editor's Note: I admit I have not been so swift on the Paris pictures - they are a work in progress. I forgot how MANY we took, and we are trying to weed it down to a decent sized slide show, but it is so hard to pick and choose the photos. Julie sat with us the first time we went through all of them - poor thing fell asleep on the sofa during the 3 1/2 hour slide show! Axel and I opffically turned into those "Look at our vacation pictures" people.

Back from Paris

Bonjour!

What a trip...we've already decided to go back for Barbara's 80th birthday!

More pics and stories to come - we had quite an adventure :)


Paris, and France in general, we found to be filled with the friendliest people, the best metro system, the coolest stores - best place to shop anywhere!!!


Still working out the jet lag - this is the hardest time I've had getting back in the groove.

Keep your eyes open for posts this week!

Au revoir, peeps!