December Daily 2010 (lots of pics)

I'm bringin' December back.
Yeah!

I bet you're all gonna hear Justin Timberlake now in your heads for the rest of the day!

Your Welcome.

Yes, that's right, I finished my December Daily album.

What?
It's FEBRUARY you say?

BAH!
I still see snow on the ground & that's good enough for me!

Don't ask what took me so long, since I've had it basically put together since before December. OK here it is....The damn journaling gets me everytime! There I said it! I know this is supposed to be something simple put together during December, but around here I all but close up shop in December. I just don't have the time or energy....something like that anyway, to get this all done on a daily basis. Or it might just possibly have something to do with my long standing habit of procrastination. Shhhhh....

Any whooo! Here it is!

{FINALLY}

And if you haven't given up & are still reading this do me a favor....if I mention doing something like this next year just kick me. hard. thank you.

Birthday Cards

Lately my brain has been fried. I keep thinking I have stuff or that I bought certain things already but then when the time comes that I need them I realize I never bought them.

**SIGH**
That's my life lately.

Of course this happened with Joe's birthday as well. I thought I had birthday cards all made up & ready to go but I didn't. So Friday night I stayed up til 2am trying to come up with a few cards for him.

This was the first one....it's eh...my brain was feeling pretty frazzled. I think the block had something to do with using older scraps that weren't inspiring.


Then I pulled out this blue paper & this card just came together effortlessly. I think it was my favorite.

The colors of this one don't do it justice. They're much bolder IRL. Used some older stickers that I've hoarded. It's sick how many of those dimensional themed stickers I have!! I think they will be finding homes on cards in the near future.

Regardless of my feelings about the cards, Joe loved them! Either that or he hates to see how much those Hallmark cards are! ;)

Happy Love Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Made this card for Joe & he loved it! He told me that he takes the cards I make around with him. Come on say it with me...Aawwwww!! Yeah he knows how to melt me! ;)

Hope you have a great day full of love!!

ETA: Was inspired to make this card from THIS BLOG. I knew right away that I was going to lift it. ;)

Birthday Love

Today is Joe's birthday. Not just any birthday mind you, but the big 5-0!! Yep that's right -Fifty is Nifty!!

Most people are shocked when they hear his age. They all say they thought he was in his 40's. He definately doesn't act his age....

His age has never been an issue for us despite the gap. I tell him that he got his "trophy wife" on the first shot. No trading me in for the younger model, I AM the younger model!! LOL!! He's not allowed to have a mid-life crisis either. ;)

He such a sweetheart too. See his goatee? He's not big into facial hair but over Christmas he didn't shave for a day or two & I asked him to grow it in just to see what it would look like. And he did it FOR ME. The girls don't like it but I do. He gets a lot of mixed responses on it but the majority of people say it looks really good on him. I've already told him he could shave it off if he wants that I just wanted to see how he looked but he hasn't done it. I just really like the fact that he did FOR ME. KWIM?

OK, enough of Joe's grooming habits. He made sure to not go into work this weekend so he could enjoy himself & relax. Something he hasn't done much of lately. No I'm not throwing him a surprise party because it would be too "expected". Besides I already "got" him for his 40th & really surprised him!!

He's got a great way with the girls too. They just adore him. I tell him how the girls actually have him wrapped around their little pinkies. Around here we joke around about him having 3 wives. I'm the 1st wife, Marissa is the 2nd & Gianna is the 3rd. They both act like a wife does at times, but Marissa is the worst. If he has to work late, she'll grill him the next morning "Where were you?" "Why did you come home so late?" It's pretty funny, especially if you hear her say it.

I can't imagine life without him. He is the key to this family. He can be motivating just by being home. No words just his presence makes me want to tackle things that I've slacked on. ;) I may be an organizing junkie & he may let things go for a bit, but when he gets some time he can almost put me to shame...almost.

I love him more than I say. He completes me.

HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY JOE!

Heart Banner

As I was going through some blogs today I came across THIS one & saw this adorable heart banner. Something sparked in me & I pulled out some paper scraps & got to it.

I made mine without the pics because it's 3 days before Valentine's Day & I wanted to actually complete something I started. I've currently got 5 projects all started on my desk but nothing completed. It's like I've got creative ADD or something....

Quick & easy to do! Just make sure you measure your holes for the ribbon all at the same time so they don't come out all wonky like mine.... ;)
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Already 12

Four months before Joe & I got married my nephew Michael was born....the day BEFORE Joe's birthday. Follow?
I can't forget his birthday, nor can I forget how old he is. He may be 12 but if you saw him you'd swear he was a 15 yr old! He's already as tall or taller than 2 of my sisters... This kid is the only one I know that had a 'stache at 2 yrs old! Not kidding! (Need to find the pic I have...)

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!!!

Love You!

Barnyard MOOsical

Tonight Gianna's 1st grade put on a "Barnyard MOOsical". (Try saying that without hearing songs from "High School Musical" pop in your head!) They were all so cute! All the kids were different animals, & Gianna was a "Cow". She was a rebel & wore her hat to pushed back....

But my girl is more of a ham...see her there on the bottom right corner? the face? Yep, we see that face a lot, usually when she's up to something.

Each animal group would then have some kids say an introduction to a song, or play instruments during the song or do a little dance number. My girl was in the dance number. A "Cow's Chorus Line" to be exact. See the face again? She's loving the attention.

Here she is third from the front.
Then the finale. She put some flair into it! ;) (Um, yeah so I may be biased.)

She's a little performer when she gets the chance. She really loves the spotlight. It really was a fun show, the kids were a riot!

Love Food?

I want to tell you a bit about my girlfriend Patrizia.

I've mentioned her here before, a few times (here & here). So here's a re-cap.

We've been friends since 7th grade. I was the new girl in school & right away we hit it off. It helped that we had the same Italian/Sicilian background. Through the years we've managed to stay friends. We've been through big hair, boyfriends, watched as the other married & had babies.

Basically we've been friends for a long time.

Now I'm proud to say, she's started her own food blog. If you're looking for authentic Italian recipes check it out! You won't be disappointed...just bring an empty stomach!


Mangia My Family Table

Valentine Frames

What would the 1st of February be without hearts?

I was on an IKEA run a few weeks ago when I saw these frames. Not knowing what I was going to do with them yet I bought 2 white & 2 black frames. Of course within a few days I figured it out. I had seen this frame on Ali Edwards' blog awhile ago, knowing I wanted to make one. It's perfect for all the scraps of pretty papers I can't bear to toss or are too small for cards.

I used the larger Swiss Dots embossing folder (sorry no link). I think it comes a close second to the original swiss dots folder. It's a larger size 5x7 I think & the dots are bit bigger as well. LOVE!! The hearts were punched with my Martha Stewart Heart punch & I just pulled out random scraps of papers that looked good together.

The Pink one...

The Red one....
Of course now that I used these I wish I had bought more frames. But that just means another IKEA run!!