Closed Mondays & a Totally Random Contest

And
the winner of the totally random contest is....HollyPK!  Holly,
shoot me an email about when you'd like to use your FREE Midnight
Madness in September at aboutmemories@safeaccess.com. 
Congratultions!  Who knew you had such a Pirate streak in
you...you're so quiet... 

"In
reality, as an acknowledged neat freak, I’d organize my sock drawer,
clean under the fridge, deadhead the garden, and take an extra long walk
around Kachina Village checkin’ out the neighbors’ yards.
In
fantasy, I’d do something totally meaningless and frivolous. For
instance, as a fan of Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean,
I’d sew myself a ‘Jacqueline’ Sparrow costume, and plan a fab
Halloween costume party where I could trounce around in my skirts and
boots, swill rum from a label-less bottle, makin’ toasts like, “Take
all ye can, give nothin’ back,” and “Here’s luck,” and
“Shiver me timbers.” Something like that, that would make my husband
say, “Where’s my sensible practical Holly, and what have you done
with my wife?”

Posted by: HollyPK | August 30, 2008 at 07:01 PM"

Ah, the sweet smell of fall...with the changing seasons come changes
at About Memories and More.  Doesn't that sound all serious? 
Well, actually, just one change and it's not even serious. 
Beginning Monday, September 1st, we'll be closed on Sundays and Mondays. 
I know.  It's a terrible thing to do to you all.  But I had
the sweet taste of 2 days off...in a row...when we tried this back in
the winter and frankly, I just can't get it out of my head.  I
cannot tell you how excited I am to be able to  have some time to myself...I
love you all, I REALLY do!  But I'm coming up on 7 years of 6 day
work weeks and, well, I'm beat.  Plus, our house will be EMPTY from
7:30 to 2:00...just me to work on whatever I choose...at the moment, my
lofty goal is to REALLY CLEAN one room in my house each Monday...we'll
see how long that will last...and then there's the scrapbooking I'd like
to do for my family...and blogging (that won't stop)...or maybe I'll just watch movies all day & eat bon bons...who knows? 

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself
with a free day all to yourself?

Leave a comment & I'll give a free Midnight
Madness in September to a random winner...but post it by Sunday 8/31 at
midnight.  I'll announce the winner when I blog on Monday (I love
blogging by the way, and doing in the peace & total quiet of my own
home, well, that's priceless.)

Ooohhhh....and maybe I can have lunch with a friend now &
again!  How sweet would that be?!  Sorry, totally random, my
mind is wandering to all the possibilities!

If you come by on Monday & we're closed, we'll I'm sorry about
that.  It kills me that you'll leave disappointed, but I hope
you'll come visit us again Tuesday thru Friday 10-6 and Saturdays 10-4.  Everything else is staying the same...we still have a PACKED
Fall Class Schedule (which I will have printed & ready for you this
afternoon).  We even have almost all of the September classes up
& ready for you to check out at the store...I'll post photos soon!

And bear with me a few more days...I need to change the voicemail at
the store, but currently, I sound like a phone sex operator (not that I
have any idea what that sounds like)...and really, I don't think that's
the image I'm trying to project on my business.  But as soon as my
voice is back to normal I'll take care of it.  If you notice some
other random place I forget to change, just let me know.  I really
just decided this a few days ago, although I've been agonizing over it
for months.  Blog headers take time to change...gotta go take
another stunning photo...Oooohhhh, I'm going to go to Buffalo Park right
this very minute & get a photo of those lovely, but deadly
sunflowers....gotta go!

How does your garden grow?

I've not had much of a green thumb...ever.  But this year, I had
a little help from my dad...who could grow anything...anywhere.  A
few months ago he dropped by with 12 buckets of horse pooh & some
gardening tools.  I made this page about it, because everyone needs
a page about horse pooh...don't you think?


I didn't get a before shot of my garden area, but it was this same
spot...filled to the brim with weeds...oh, and once I had this silly
idea to make a winding path with rocks through it, you know, so you
could have something to walk on when it was muddy...so we pulled all the
weeds & a LOT of rocks, spread the horse pooh...let it sit for a
few weeks & then I planted seeds June 15th.  Today is August
26th & look at how it's grown

 

I've certainly been enjoying the "fruits of our
labor"!  Each morning I have scrambled eggs with squash & fresh
basil from my garden. 


We made salsa with fresh cilantro...don't think I'll do the snow
peas again...they grew but were awful....had lots of raddishes...the
carrots are still growing....and the green onions didn't fare so
well.  But scallop squash?  Got a ton of it.

 Zucchini?  A few.  No pumpkins yet, but look at this cute baby watermelon

And a few more photos from my garden...looks like I need to go pull some weeds!

It's Here.

A brief pause in posting...

Sorry for not posting more the last few days.  I've gotten that
dreaded summer cold that's been going around.  Yesterday was so bad
my mom came in on her day off & sent me home.  Promise to post
more this week...heaven knows, sick or not, I still have a LOT to
say. 

And that mom of mine?  Well, she just keeps
checking in the most fabulous new products....LOTS of
fall...Halloween...Christmas...tons of stuff.  You might want to
get it when you see it...it'll be gone fast...SO cute!  (And you
know we don't ever get the same stuff twice, right?)

PS  There's a big bottle of hand sanitizer on the counter...so you don't have to worry about cooties :)

August Page Contest Entries

The August Page Contest Entries are in & ready to be voted
on.  Stop by the store before August 31st to vote for your favorite
(winner gets a $20 gift certificate to the store & put in a
calendar available in December!)

Next month's page contest theme:  Fall.  Entries are due by 9/20/08.

The Chocolate Retreat

Sherry & I were lucky enough to be invited to The Chocolate
Retreat, in Payson, Arizona.  It's put on by the Payson Scrapbook
store, Paper & Metal Scrappers. 
I had met one of the owners at a store owner get together in Phoenix
& was so excited when she invited us to join them.  Why, you
might ask is it called a chocolate retreat when it's a scrapbook
retreat?  Because they give you chocolate at every turn. 
Literally.  It's on your table.  It's in jars.  It's
dessert.  As a matter of fact, Friday night there was a chocolate
fountain.  And cookies.  And brownies.  Quite
heavenly.  They have a regular customer, Sue, I believe, who made
mexican wedding cake cookies (also knows as russian tea cakes) that were
the most heavenly cookies I've ever had in my life.  I ate, like,
10.  And I don't even like cookies.  Anyway, the food was
fabulous.  The scrapping was fun...although my brain went on sleep
mode...I usually can make a LOT of pages at a crop, but not this
time.  Here's what the two of us accomplished:


Here's my favorite page of all:

Now back to the crop.  There were 65 of us.  Yep.  65. 
 
In
this big church cabin right off the main road.  It was complete
with a kitchen, where Barb & Brenda's staff made all our
meals.  Here was breakfast on Saturday (it's a rough life, I know):


On the way in that morning, we stopped at the Starbucks in
Safeway.  I saw this guy in the parking lot & HAD to take his
photo:


Here's the funny thing.  I had just gotten done telling Sherry
that part of what holds me back as a photographer is being embarrassed
to get in there & take photos.  Silly, I know, but it's the
truth.  It's also why I take so many photos of my nephews...they
don't care & I don't have to pose them...Anyway, I saw this monster
on the back of a nice Harley & had to have his photo.  I took a
couple and realized I had my camera on the wrong setting so I corrected
it & took a few more.  Then Sherry & I headed into
Safeway.  There was a guy sitting at an outside table, that frankly
I didn't even notice until he spoke to me, and he said, "Would you like
him better if I made him jump?"  The owner of the bike had caught
me taking photos...instantly I was embarrassed & asked him if he
minded the photos.  He said, "Nope.  I ain't done nothing
wrong so take as many as you like."  Turns out his father had given
him the monster to put on his bike several years ago & he kept it
on.  I think his father had passed away.  So here's this big,
tattooed motorcycle guy with a monster on his bike.  Cool. 
And his daughter, who looked to be 10, had green hair.  Gotta love
it!  Isn't this the monster from Where the Wild Things Are? 
He didn't know where he was from...but that's what I'm thinking. 
(notice the mardi gras beads on the monsters neck...he's so darn cute!)

Sorry,
back to our regularly scheduled post....Barb took Sherry  & I
to visit her store on Saturday.  It's really cute!  It's about
1/3 our size & a totally different product mixed.  They do a
lot of altered art & don't carry regular stickers like Jolee's or
themed items, like soccer or birthday.  But it is VERY appealing to
the crafter in me.  We did have a lot of the same papers...we have
the same reps so that's not surprising...speaking of reps, our Fiskar's
rep Cindy was at the retreat & did the most awesome project...a
mini book on a Kaiser Craft's book...it's at the store...Here are a few
shots from their store:





That's
Barb.  The fixtures look a little empty because they took most of
their store to the retreat.  How cool is that?!

Amen!

Thanks Barbara & Brenda!  Sherry & I had a great time!  Doesn't Sherry look happy? 

Now Accepting...for a limited time only...

....Michael's & JoAnn's coupons until 8/31/08! 
We'll
try it out for a limited time...see if you like it...see if we like
it...  Your feedback is important, so let us know what you think!

Here's the catch: 

• There is a minimum purchase of $20.00 (pre-tax) to use the coupons.
  
• The coupons must be actual coupons
  from print ad publications or magazines, sorry, no internet coupons or
  photo copies of coupons will be accepted.
  
• The item you are using the coupon for must be regular price.
  
• You may not combine them with any other coupon or discount, so
  no, you may not use them with your 10% off coupons. And you can't use
  them on sale or clearance items either.  Did I say that twice?
  
• Coupons are valid for instock items only, no special orders.
  
• Expired coupons will not be accepted.  No exceptions.  Period.
  
• Sorry, but we won't accept coupons for framing or any other item that we don't sell.  Just sayin'.

We have a
limited supply of QuicKutz Pink Squeeze tools in the store for just
$25.  They include the skinni mini alphabet Moxie.  (Even if
you have a squeeze tool, it's worth it to get the alphabet.)  $5 of
each purchase will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fund
through Scrap Pink.  Sorry to say, the Michael's & JoAnn's
coupons won't be accepted on this item.  But it's for a good
cause, really.  And it's dang dirt cheap....

Stroller Strides Grand Opening

Tomorrow morning (Wednesday, 8/20) at 9:15 am I'll be at the Stroller
Strides Grand Opening passing out these super cute bottles...

So glad Betty showed me her cute little bottles!  There are sure
to be a few eyes rolling here since many of you know what a recycling
nut I've become.  I'm kinda anti-water bottle.  It's not
really the bottle, it's the people who refuse to put them in a recycling
bin (don't even get me started...)  But honestly.  If you
were going to pass out something useful at an exercise class, wouldn't
it be water?  Anyway, would love to see you
there!    You can check out their website here.  Grab a baby & a stroller & come check it out!

Page Contest

I have tons to tell you about, but not tons of time thanks to a huge
computer malfunction....as soon as it's fixed I'll be getting back to
you, promise!  But before I forget, entries for the August page contest are due by 6 pm August 20th (tomorrow).  The theme is school. 
And before you say "I don't have kids" stretch your imagination a
little...a school of fish....doggie school...school of rock....you get
the idea!  Can't wait to see your pages!

A little giveaway...

Congratulations,  to kimbrygc!  You were chosen
by random.org as the winner of our Bo Bunny giveaway.  Email me
& we'll make arrangements for you to pick up your packet. Thanks
everyone for posting!  Great ideas out there!  If you'd like
to see what people had to say, just click on the comments under this
post.

Oh, yeah, I promised to post my favorite scrapbook
inspiration...well, it has to be you all!   I see the most
beautiful photos & the most beautiful pages every single day. 
Your stories inspire me.  Whether they're happy or they're sad...I
am thrilled to see how YOU preserve your memories.  When you come
& show them to me I am just so proud of you all!  And happy
you chose to share with me, too!  You gals are AMAZING! 
If I had to pick a publication I like, right now it's Page Maps. 
There are TONS of brilliant page ideas in that book, just TONS! 
But Ali Edwards will be dear to me always.  Her Life Artist book
changed the way I think about scrapbooking & my life, truth be told,
in the most postitive of ways! 

Have a lovely day!

I'm in the mood to be givin' somethin' away.  How about some new Bo Bunny My Darling papers?  Isn't this just darling paper...I know, cheesy , but it's very cute paper!

One sheet of each to the randomly drawn person who answers this question:

What is your favorite source of scrapbook inspiration? 

Post the name of the specific publication, person or website in
your comments.  Winner will be randomly chosen on Monday, August
18th at noon.  Now don't be afraid to comment.  It's really
easy!  Promise!  All you gotta do is click on the comment
button under this post & leave a comment.  Your email address
won't show, it just lets me contact you a little easier when you
win!  (Just one comment per person, please)  You never know
what you might find when you click on the comments.  Could be the
little nugget of gold you've been searching for all along!  And
when I post the winner, I'll tell you what my favorite inspiration is!

Ta-ta for now.  Sherry & I are off on a scrapbooking
adventure in Payson, AZ called The Chocolate Retreat.  It's put on
by Paper Metal Scrappers. 
I met one of the owners a few weeks ago & she invited us to come
along for the ride.  We're SO excited!    I emailed
Sherry to make sure we're not eatin' clean this weekend.  Would be
entirely too difficult while surrounded by chocolate & cute rodeo
cowboys...oops...did I just say that?  It is rodeo weekend down there after all.  Come on, who doesn't like to check out a cute cowboy now & again?

Stroller Strides & Flagstaff Mama

I met this great girl, Beth, who is starting a new business called Stroller Strides. 
What a cool concept!  You meet with her & other mom's &
exercise with your babies in their strollers.  Kind of gets rid of
the excuses, doesn't it?  Stroller Strides is having their Grand
Opening celebration at Buffalo Park on Wednesday, August 20th at 9:15
am.  Check out their website for more information. 
We'll be there with a "door prize"...even though there aren't any doors
at Buffalo Park & we'll have a goodie to pass out, too!

I was contacted by the gal who runs Flagstaff Mama
the other day.  Turns out this is a great resource for Flagstaff
Moms...and just gals in general.  She has links to fun places to
visit, interesting tidbits of info (did you know Paul McCartney was in
Flagstaff & stayed at the Monte Vista recently?)   She has
links to eco friendly sites as well as great maternity & baby
wear.  Check her out when you get a second....

The First Day

Ahhhh, the first day of school.  Kendall let me take some
photos of her (a MIRACLE). She's so pretty!  It seems like
yesterday she was just a baby, yet in 3 weeks she'll be 14.  It
goes so fast!  And we've been getting along SO well lately. 
I'm just in awe. 


She was pretending not to look at the camera, like, "Jeez mom, why
do you have to take my picture?" when in reality, she was enjoying
it!  And she had a great first day of school.  Oh, she
grumbled a bit, but with a smirk on her face.  I think she likes
being around friends she hasn't seen all summer.  Her hair is so
cool, too.  Much cooler than mine.  Although the pizza dude
next door likes mine...what more can you ask for?

The last day of summer

Today is the last day of summer for Kendall.  Seems like it was
over just when we had gotten a rhythm.  So today I surprised her
& took the afternoon off from work...doesn't happen often...needs to
happen more.  I took her to the mall, where we had
pedicure's...Kendall's first...and she got these cute little flowers put
on her toes...then we had lunch, did some school shopping...got a
killer deal on fake "etnies" shoes at Wal-Mart of all places (and CHEAP,
too!)...then we came home & dyed our hair pink.  Yes,
pink.  We tried purple on Sunday & it didn't take.  So I
went back to our old stand by, L'Oreal Color Rays Fuschia Flash.


I use it because it's for dark hair, and somewhere around age 38 my
hair turned dark...I just kept it light...maybe it was more like
28?  Who knows.  Anyway, it works.  So I dyed Kendall's
bangs, which this dye causes to be HOT pink on lighter hair (she's
thrilled) & I thought I was being clever & was just going to do a
little triangle by my bangs.  Not so great...I'm a much better
scrapbooker than hair dresser, that's for sure.  So I dyed all of
my bangs pink.  I'm not lovin' it so much.  In the past with
the funky color, I've loved it.  But this time, not so much. 
Kendall on the other hand loves it (mine & hers).  So I'll keep
it for a bit to entertain her...but I have a box of plain 'ole brown
waiting under the bathroom sink with my name on it.

In the spirit
of fun, I thought I'd show you my new hair...but how to do a self
portrait?  Found Photo Booth on my iMac & proceeded to have
some fun.  Here are the results (who knew it could be so cool!),
but don't judge, cuz I just dyed my hair twice & look like
crap.  Here goes...


This is the normal Photo Booth photo....lighting in my basement
isn't so good so you can't really see the color, but trust me, it's
really PINK.
 
Who knew Photo Booth had these cool settings!  This one is called Glow.  Love it!


But this one, is my FAVORITE.  It's called Thermal Imaging.  I'm surprised I'm not all red....

So
none of those really show my new pink hair, but aren't they cool? 
I can see a whole slew of possibilities for a scrapbook page...one of
the settings is called Pop Art & it's like an Andy Warhol
painting...here, I'll just show you...

and then there are settings that will put your photo on a beach,
on a mountain, wherever.  Very cool.  I'm still ignorant of
all that my iMac can do, but this makes me want to explore a little
deeper.

Tonight Kendall made this:


Betty Crocker Complete Desserts Triple Chocolate Hot Fudge
Cake.  We picked it up at Wal-Mart (along with the shoes...should
have left it on the shelf).  It is beyond good.  It is
FANTASTIC!  I've walked by the pan at least five times & just
had a little taste (in addition to my bowl of the heavenly
creation).  I'm sure my husband doesn't want to know that I was
licking it off the knife.  Problem is, I'm supposed to be eating
clean (whole, unprocessed, healthy fruits & vegetables, grains &
protein).  This dessert is gonna be a problem for me.  It's
light, fluffy & has ooey gooey chocolate on top & inside...now
I'm drooling again.  It's now my favorite dessert.  So once
again clean eating begins...tomorrow.  And I had 2 good days under
my belt, too.  Dang.

P.S. Trying to balance out the pink
bangs so I'm adding more pink towards the back...Kendall told me I
should dye my whole head pink...um, I'm not that brave.

Eat You Peas

A new line of books we just got in...super
sweet...uplifting...positive...GREAT gift idea!  And only
$9.95.  They're about 6x6 in size & if you wanted, you
could keep them for yourself & scrapbook with
them...great quotes & thoughts.  Our selection
includes:  Grandkids, Someone Special, New Moms, Mothers,
Girlfriends, Daughters, Sisters, Tough Times & for the Cure. 
It's funny, my friend Jeannie gave me one for my birthday &
later that week a rep approached me about carrying them in the
store....meant to be, I guess.   

Just around the bend

School is just about here...just 2 more days!  Many of you will
find yourself with more time on your hands...and if not more time, maybe
a chance to breathe...As much as we love our families, their energy
& demands can cut into the things we want to do.  So after you
sit back, have a cup of coffee, and relax a bit, give some thought to
what you'd like to accomplish while the kids are in school.  Are
you ready to tackle your scrapbook again?  Maybe work on those
Disney photos that you didn't get around to?  Or maybe even just
getting your photos developed is enough.  Whatever you decide, make
a date with yourself & keep it.  Don't stand yourself
up.  Why not come to the store after you drop the kids off for an
hour or two to work on that project?  It's free.  We'll help
you if you want, and won't if you don't want us to.  And it's
pretty peaceful in here in the morning.  Oh, and there's a sweet
little coffee shop down the way from us that makes a killer cinnamon
roll....

We'd love to be your partner in helping you accomplish those projects
you haven't gotten around to, well, because life just keeps on
happening.  We have easy suggestions for getting the photos in
albums, because truly, you don't have to scrapbook every last
photo.  I promise.  Getting them out of the box & out of
the computer are what's important.  And maybe you don't have to go
back 30 years.  Maybe you could start with the photos you took last
weekend & just move forward.  No looking back.  Keeping
current & in the moment.  I am very guilty of an all or nothing
mentality.  And in the past year, I've had to take a good hard
look at what really matters.  For me, I want to have my photos in
albums.  I want to scrapbook the good photos...not the 150 I took
at Kendall's sleepover...just 2 or 3 of them.  The others? 
Well, I want them right there in the book, too, but photo pages are
perfectly fine.  Actually, they're amazing & have turned my
scrapbooking around.  Truly.  But I'm sure you all know that.

Just know that we are a resouce...someone here to help you accomplish your goals...or even help you set them. 

And to all you homeschoolers, I realize that school being in means
you have even less time.  Maybe it would be fun to let your kids
help you scrapbook...incorporate it into a lesson plan.  Honestly,
kids are amazing scrapbookers...boys & girls alike.  You could
even schedule a field trip to the store...we can walk them around, talk
about scrapbooking, make a small little project...just an idea....

This concludes our regularly scheduled public service announcement (giggle....giggle...)Have a fantastic day!

Sweet Teacher Treats

A customer of ours, Betty Lange, made these adorable bottles for her
daughter & grand daughter to give to the teachers at her
school.  Aren't they sweet?  Super easy....super cute....and
do-able, too!  The water bottles are the perfect size for the
Crystal Light (my current addiction is the Crystal Light
Lemonade).  Enjoy!

New from Karen Russell's Narrative's Line

Thes little 5x7 easel albums are so cool!  They have chipboard
covers & transparency & scalloped edge paper inside...and
they're designed by my favorite photography teacher! 
 They're just the right size for any project...LOVE them!

Glitz Designs

8/15/08 UPDATE:  Class samples have arrived!  And they are AWESOME!  Stop by the store to check them out!

I'm very excited to share with you that the Glitz Girls from Glitz Designs
will be coming to About Memories and More on Saturday, September
20th.  Whooo hoo!  These girls are amazing!  They'll be
teaching 3 wonderful classes:  3 Glitzy Layouts, 30 Cards in 2
Hours and a Giant 16x20 Canvas Layout.  We have flyers at the
store (with photos) & will have actual class samples this
week.  These projects are SO CUTE!  The Glitz Girls are pretty
darn adorable, too!  Registration is open now...give us a call at
928-526-9292, email aboutmemories@safeaccess.com or stop by the store to reserve your spot!

Here are the Glitz Girls Class Descriptions:

• 3 Glitzy 12x12 Layouts $45 9 am to 11 am  2
  Hours spent creating 3 AMAZING Glitzy 12x12 layouts.  Everything
  included in the class to complete your 3 layouts, if you'd like our kids
  pictures you are welcome, otherwise bring your own pictures!  No,
  but really, come prepared to whiz thru 3 cute layouts and learn some fun
  new techniques while you're at it.  Walk away from this class 3
  layouts richer and loaded with Glitz goodies.
  
• 30 Cards in 2 Hours $55 noon to 2 pm  Seriously, 30 cards in 2 hours! You
  will walk away from this class making 30 cards.  They are all
  cards made with our Glitz Create A Card CD.  You will cut and
  fold, round corners, ink edges, add frosting & eye
  candy.  And voila you've just made 30 cards-can it get any
  easier?!  Now you'll be prepared for every occasion this year for
  family, friends & loved ones!  This class is a definite must
  have!  Can't get enough CARDS?  Buy the Glitz Create a
  Card CD Volume 3 with 100 ready to PRINT cards.
  
• GIANT 16x20 Canvas Layout $55 3 pm to
  5   Create a 16x20 Canvas Layout you can enjoy forever
  more.  Everythinbg you need to make your GIANT canvas is included
  in the class, except your pictures!  We recommend GIANT pictures to
  go along with the whole GIANT theme.  Walk away with loads of
  Glitz goodies & a new family heirloom piece that will be
  cherished for years to come! 

Take all 3 classes & save $10! 

Sorry, but no other discounts or coupons apply for these Glitz classes.

New from Technique Tuesday

Beautiful Acrylic Stamps from Technique Tuesday...you're gonna love 'em!

New From Glitz Designs

Delightful Rub-On's

Pretty Pretty Papers

Digital Scrapbook Elements

Oh...and there's so much more!   

Happy Monday

What a nice weekend!  Loved all the rain...we need it! 
Don't really have a breakfast at post today because we skipped breakfast
& instead went to Wal-Mart and helped kids shop for school
clothes.  The Salvation Army provided $50 gift cards for the kids
to shop & volunteers took the kids to pick out their new
clothes.  Audra, Don, Kendall & I all participated.  Then
there was breakfast of panckakes, made by Wal-Mart employees & then
the kids got a back pack crammed full of school supplies.  It was
really a lot of fun.  Who knew $50 some odd dollars would buy so
much? 

We had fun classes this weekend, too!  The Disney book was a
huge hit...really, you can use it for anything...it's more of a formula
for immediate success!  And then Debbie Marxen & 5 of her
friends came for a private class...."Grateful" acrylic albums. 
Those ladies are certainly creative! 

Saturday night found my husband on our roof at 8:30 pm trimming tree
branches that were obscuring the satellite receiver (heaven
forbid)...and Sunday night was spent at the ER with my friend Nathan
& his mom while we waited to see if he fractured his arm (he
did).  I only mention this because, well, he's 10, & when we
asked him what he was going to tell his friends he said he was going to
tell them he wrecked on his motorcycle because it sounds older than saying he fell off his bike...crazy kid.  Who thinks of this stuff?

So now I'm sitting in the store, drinking my new favorite water, (which reminds me of my new favorite song "Sittin' in a Bar"  by Rehab (it just cracks me up...)

Metro Mint Spearmint Water: 

(thank you Audra) and debating weather I should start my healthy
eating today or wait until tomorrow...it's always tomorrow with me so
I'm struggling.  And what I REALLY want to eat is the ever
delightful Honest Foods Cran Lemon Zest Whole Food Country Square (isn't
that a mouthful to say!).  Good gosh those things are like eating a
slice of heaven....in it's undercooked cookie dough
incarnation.  I LOVE them.  They're good for you & taste
divine....but I already had breakfast...I'm holding out until "snack"
time.  You'll all think I'm totally stupid, but I need to make my
appointment for my annual exam.  I know, just get it over
with.  Ick.  But see, my doctor told me I need to cut out
caffeine, junk food & eat a healthy, whole foods diet (the Cran
Lemon Zest bars will be a part of that...no matter what). 
So I've been putting off making my appointment, cuz, I haven't been
eating that way (thus the 10 lbs I've put on).  And the second I
make my appointment I have to start eating that way.  And now that
I've typed this out & feel like a fool, I'll be makin' my
appointment today.  Jeez.  Anyway.  Anyone else put off
their annual exams because you, say, don't want to get on the
scale?  That would be reason number 2 for me....

Oh, and I finished book 4 of the Twilight series, "Breaking
Dawn".  It wasn't my favorite of the 4.  But now that it's
over, I feel slightly depressed that the story isn't continuing.  I
get a little obsessive over my books....like I live in that
world.  Like I know these people.  And it's like they've moved
away & you'll never see them again.  Is that strange? 
Now I'm on to finish "Eat, Pray, Love" that my friend Kim gave me. 
I thought it was a diet book & wouldn't even consider it when I saw
it at the book store.  (Kim got a big laugh out of that). 
It's one woman's spiritual journe

y after a painful divorce and it's non-fiction.  I
don't usually read non-fiction.  I like to live in a fantasy world,
I guess.  But this book is pretty darn good.

Alright...there's much work to be done....a few more posts to compose for you all...and yes, they are work related :)

New Today

August seems a bit early to be seeing Halloween and Christmas papers
coming in, but here they are. Making Memories doesn't disappoint,
that's for sure! The addition to the Spellbound line is just
spectacular!  Here's a photo from their website...but trust me, it
doesn't do it justice...the paper is amazing...the embellishments, to
die for!

And the cutest Cloud 9 Rain Dots Titles came in today, too! 
Sports, dogs, beach, summer & more! Ooohhh & there are super
cute clear stamps from Inkadinkado...halloween, fall, birthday,
christmas, parenthesis & fairies.  Stop in & check
them out!

Breakfast at....

We took a little break from our Saturday morning breakfast
adventures, but now were back to them. The past Saturday we went to an
old favorite, Brandy's. Haven't been there in quite some time (well,
actually, Audra & I went a few weeks ago, but it doesn't count
unless Don gets to go). And before that, it was probably a year or more.
Why did I stop going? It's a bit on the pricey side. And very rich. A
girl could gain some serious weight going there. Here's a little
tidbit...when Audra & I first met & started hanging out we would
meet once a week at Brandy's for breakfast (10+ years ago). In 2002
when I started training for the 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk, we traded our
breakfasts for our crazy early walks. Now we walk together 4 days a
week...crazy early...and have breakfasts on Saturdays...but you have to
walk first, or you don't get to go. Ask Kendall about that.

Ok.
Back to Brandy's. Every place we go we ask the server what they
recommend & our server, Andrew, recommended anything with
hollandaise sauce on it...then got super specific about eggs florentine
but with munster cheese instead of swiss & add mushrooms. So that's
what I had (minus the english muffin, of course). And it was good. No,
it was FANTASTIC. Audra had a breakfast burrito with avocado & fresh
jalapenos, which she loved & Don had eggs & sausage, which he
enjoyed. All in all, the breakfast was quite delightful. It cost around
$30 for the 3 of us, but it was worth every penny. But since Country
Host is more in our budget, we'll have to save Brandy's for special
occasions. And FYI, Brandy's doesn't serve bacon. That can sometimes be a
deal breaker in some houses.

PS
Typepad is inserting ? every time I double space. They say it will be
fixed in a week. Kinda changes the meaning of things, doesn't it?

Wednesday Sale 8/6/08

This Wednesday, buy any 2 of these items & receive the 3rd item
of equal or lesser value FREE!� There are lots of things to choos
from...and we keep adding to the table...gotta make room for all the new
products that are rolling in!

As a matter of fact, after I posted this, I added more to it...there
are candles, scrapbooks, stickers, eyelets, vinyl wall quotes,
lollipops, tote bags, alphabets, QuicKutz & MORE!  But the sale
is only good Wednesday, August 6th and is limited to stock on hand.�
Sorry, but the sale items can't be combined with any other discount or
offer.

Weekend Happenings & Upcoming Fun Stuff!

What a crazy weekend!  I finished up my photography class, which is bittersweet. I really enjoyed my class. And Karen Russell is an amazing teacher!  My people
photography has improved greatly.  Taking photos of stuff at the
store?  Not so much.  But bear with me, I'll get it
down!  Anyway, I've talked to Karen Russell & we're setting up a
time for her to come teach an all day photography workshop at the
store.  February, I think.  It's for those of you with digital
SLR cameras.  I'll post the specifics as soon as it's
cemented...let me know if you're interested & I'll start a
list.  I can't tell you how exciting this is!  She is just
amazing!  Wouldn't have been able to get this shot without her
class...

On Saturday, Audra & I hosted a "Favorite Things"
party.  Each person chose 5 of their favorite things & put them
in 10 bags to give to each other (so, 10 of each item).  It was so
fun!  We got the most amazing & random things!  I gave my
favorite book "A Knight in Shining Armor", one of my favorite movies
"Always", an Honest Foods Energy Bar, Mr. Kernel Nacho Cheddar popcorn
seasoning, and a Corona Light with a lime.  I can't wait to do it
again!  We have tons of photos to make a fun mini book with, too!


And here's the Hunter Dog having a little ice cream treat...


It's blurry, but I LOVE this picture of Kendall & Lyn


Great pictures of Kendall & Audra, too!

Friday night was the release party for the final book in the
Twilight series, Breaking Dawn.  Kendall & I went to Barnes
& Noble with Jeannie (who introduced us to the books) at 10
pm.  We answered a few trivia questions..Kendall dressed up (it was
a vampire prom).  She didn't want to get crazy, and there were
some crazy kids there!  But she looked really pretty.  I
didn't bring my camera...sigh...I was trying to avoid a fight...I
actually picked it up & then sat it right back down.  When I
made a comment in the car that I had "forgot" it, Kendall said, "that's
ok mom, Jeannie always has a camera".  And yes, yes she did. 
Thanks, Jeannie!



Off to a super busy day at the store.  We just got in
boxes & boxes of fun new things from Making Memories, Karen Foster
Designs, Imaginesce, & a many others.  I can't wait for you to
see them!  This buying trip was one of the best offerings
ever! 

Almost forgot to tell you...we're lining up some fun teachers for the fall calendar:  the girls from Glitz Designs
are coming to teach a couple of classes September 20th (30 cards in 2
hours & either a scrapbook page class or a canvas wall art
class...what do you think?  Which would you rather take?). 
then there's Lance from Rusty Pickle and the last Saturday in October we
have the Lifted book author coming for a book signing.  Plus,
there's Scrap Pink in September...and a Customer Appreciation Party in
November....the list just goes on & on!  What would you like to
see?  Leave me a comment or shoot me an email at
aboutmemories@safeaccess.com.