Sunday, September 23, 2007

Happy Birthday Jacqueline!







2 years ago tonight I was celebrating the birth of my first (and only) neice. And hunkering down preparing for the landfall of Hurricane Rita at my friend Mary's house. (Because my house was not in livable condition for several months after Katrina.) Jacqueline's birth was the biggest positive thing for me about 2005. For a long time after Katrina I was ready to throw out the whole year. And then I would remember my little neice and be reminded it wasn't all bad. In fact this day was fabulous.

Jacqueline's birthday is special to me for another reason, as well. One year ago I came to DC for Jacqueline's birthday, and while I was here I accepted a traveling position and gave my notice to leave my old job. A huge blowhorn for me!

My dad was here this weekend for Jacqueline's birthday. He took all the kids to Toys R Us. Jacqueline had a blast. I think she hugged every stuffed animal in her reach. She had a blast! She had fun opening presents, but is still not quite understanding the concept that there were more presents to open and wanted to play with each one as she opened it! Nana and PopPop (Barbara's parents) joined us for the party. Nana made her deliscious chocolate cake. (I only had one small piece.)
I hope you enjoy the pictures of Jacqueline from her birthday!

Happy Birthday Jacqueline!

Love,

Aunt Christine
PS...here is a link to my Scrapfest photo's at Shutterfly.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Scrapfest Fall 2007


What a blast I had at Scrapfest last weekend! Sorry it's taken me all week to write again. Came back to DC to much cooler temps that wreaked havoc on my sinus'. But I'm back to normal now :)

So I went to Scrapfest with 2 of my best friends, Ann and Dee. Ann flew in from Melbourne, Florida to meet me. And Dee owns my favorite scrapbook store in the universe, Scrappersaurus! Dee actually sat and cropped with us for a few hours each day, while her gem of a husband, my friend Felix, and her awesome son Emery, ran their vendor booth. It was great fun to sit and visit with my friends while I was creating. I have truly found a creative outlet in scrapbooking. I never dreamed it was possible to feel as creatively free as I do when I am scrapbooking, stamping and paper crafting.

I've been working on layouts for my Disney book, from my trip to Disneyland for Thanksgiving 2005. I've got a good system worked out for my crops. I leave all my Disney stuff in my storage unit so that I only have to bring my tools and various odds and ends with me from DC. It has worked out well since I've moved to DC to work. I got several layouts done last weekend that I'm really proud of. Unfortunately they are still on my camera. I will try to download them this weekend and post a link to them.

Many of my friends and family don't really understand my obsession with scrapbooking. But for me, scrapbooking/stamping/papercrafting is the creative outlet I have looked for all my life. My mother was so incredibly creative and artistically talented. But I could not and still cannot draw, paint and create beauty in the ways that she could. I tried, but I just didn't get it...shading, shadows, depth...it just never came out in my attempts. For many years I was extremely perfectionistic about many things, including creativity. And so for a very long time I stifled any attempts at creativity that tried to surface, because, in my eyes, they weren't perfect so they were no good.

But in the last decade as I have worked on healing and growing, I have rediscovered my creativity. I have also become much less perfectionistic in this time as well, which has made sharing my creativity with others a pleasant experience. Scrapbooking, stamping and papercrafting have provided me with an outlet for years of stored up creative energy. I just love it. I'm good at it. And I'm not perfectionistic about it. In fact, one of the things I love about it is that mistakes and imperfections are what make pages and projects special, makes them look homemade.

I went to my first big crop in Natchez, Mississippi in July 2006 and I was hooked. 3 days of classes, time to work on your pages and projects and vendors galore for shopping. What more could a girl ask for? For those of you who aren't into scrapbooking, a crop is a gather of people who work on their scrapbook pages, cards, and paper projects in a common area. Local scrapbook stores often host small one evening/night crops on a weekly basis for their customers. Its the 21st century equivalent of the quilting circles. And like those quilting circles, there is as much socialization as their is work. I have met so many wonderful people through scrapbooking. In fact, one of the things I most look forward to when I go to a big weekend crop is the friends that I will see there.

Well, I've got a big weekend ahead, so I'm headed off to bed. Til next time . . .

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Living La Vida NOLA

Long time no blog. I've been living it up in the big easy this week. Visiting family and friends. Eating at all the good restaurants. Relaxing and reading alot. Most likely I won't be home again in NOLA for over 3 months, so I'm enjoying it while I can. I've also been on a dial-up internet connection from my dad's apartment which has limited my online time and speed for trying to blog.

I spent a couple of days with my Aunt Rosie this weekend (my friend Ree calls her my "kind and wonderful Aunt Rosemary"!). We had a relaxing time chatting and catching up with each other, making plans for possible future travels, and generally enjoying spending time together. I also got to see my Uncle Candy who is currently running for Senate District 1 in Louisiana.

My dad took me to 3 of the city's best places to eat. Saturday night we went to Stella! I had Heirloom Creole Tomatoes with Jumbo Lump Crab and Gulf Shrimp Remoulade, Local Cucumber Salad, Three Heirloom Tomato Gazpachos and Wild Mexican Tomatoes; Followed by “Iron Chef Chili Prawns” ~ New Orleans Style and Caramelized Wild Burgundy Escargots with Fresh Thyme, Local Garlic, Lemon Zest, Basil Pistou and Lavender Meringue. It was all totally delicious!

Monday Night we went to Mr. B's Bistro, where we split Crabmeat Au Gratin Baked in a rich béchamel sauce, garnished with panko crusted Louisiana crab claws as an appetizer and I had one of my New Orleans favorites MR. B'S BARBEQUED SHRIMP - A Mr. B's signature dish! Gulf shrimp barbequed New Orleans style, served in the shells with peppery butter sauce and French bread for dipping, complete with paper bib! It was messy and delicious!

Tuesday night we went to K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen, where I had the trio of soups (turtle soup with sherry, chicken and andouille gumbo, and onion soup); followed by a wonderful soft shell crab dish with a tasty sauce and stuffed potato. Again, as usual, it was delicious.

My poor digestive system is on overload for sure and will be glad to get back to more normal and healthy eating patterns again. We only had desert one night, at Stella! where we had some concoction of Banana's Foster French Toast which we split. Other than that I successfully avoided the sugar temptations.

I've been reading The Company: A Novel of the CIA which I picked up at Olsson's bookstore at Reagan Airport heading out of DC Friday afternoon. I enjoy reading on the plane when I travel, and I often will pick up a book at the airport specifically for each trip. My last two were complete duds which I stopped reading before finishing, something I rarely do. But this is an interesting historical fiction type book. Its a big one and I'm over halfway through it. So I'll have lots left to read on the trip back to DC on Sunday.

The rest of this week I will be attending Scrapfest with one of my best friends, Ann. 3 days, 45 hours of scrapbooking, stamping and papercrafting. Oh, and lets not forget the all important shopping for scrapbooking, stamping and papercrafting supplies! I will try to post some pictures of my layouts and the Scrapfest crop.

Well, its late and I need to be ready to play with my scrapbooking toys by 9 so I'll say goodbye for now. Til next time . . .

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Baby Steps . . .

So getting back to real life can be a challenge. Choices are difficult to make in the hectic crazy schedule of everyday real life. I have tried to make healthy choices in everyday life. But its hard work. And there are *so* many choices to make. What to eat, how much to eat, when to eat, what to drink, how much to drink, when to drink, take vitamins, which ones, how many, the choices seem endless and are overwhelming to face on a daily basis.

So, if I'm going to have a chance at making healthy changes, I need to take baby steps. Last week I started taking my vitamins again. Have you ever walked down the vitamin aisle at the grocery or drug store? Hundreds of vitamins and supplements out there. How do you know what to take and when to take it? I have a regimen I have used over the years. It's a compilation of several years of suggestions and exploration. I take my vitamins at night, because i hate "vitamin burp" that i have for hours if i take them in the morning. I take a multivitamin, superB complex, C, and E. I also take glucosamine/chondroiten twice a day and have started taking flax seed oil capsules twice a day. Are there more I need or might benefit from? I don't know. But at least I'm taking them daily again.

This week I've started changing my drinking habits. Trying to get in those recommended 8 glasses of water a day. Cutting down on cold drinks to one a day. Cutting back on caffeine and cutting back on artificial sweetener.

I've been reading a couple of books about healthy eating/dieting. You on a Diet by Drs. Roizen and Oz, and The 3-Hour Diet and 8 Minutes in the Morning by Jorge Cruise. I'm also looking into finding an indoor pool either at a rec center or fitness place where I can start doing some walking in water and possibly aqua aerobics in the future. I've also been checking into yoga places for some gentle yoga classes.

So I've taking my first 2 baby steps. I'm trying to make good choices while i prepare for the next steps in my quest for a healthy lifestyle. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I'd appreciate them. Til next time . . .