.....something new

Last Saturday when we couldn't scrapbook, Robin, Kathy and I decided to do some retail therapy. Since it was just after Christmas there wasn't really anything I needed to buy--and no extra money in the budget to shop! But what could we do to pass the time until it was late enough to have lunch (and our margaritas!!!). Kathy wanted to go into a T.J. Max, and I had never been in one before. I was kind of looking around for a new purse, just keeping my eyes open in case I saw one I really, really liked. The ones I did like were a bit too pricey for me. But, I did fall in love with all the colorful kitchen accessories. I found a heavy wok for stir frying---and it had a RED handle on it! Since I love to stir fry and had been using a large skillet, I decided I had to have it. It was only $20, what a bargain! And, I'm sure the red handle will make the food taste better!!
I tried it out this weekend, using a simple recipe that I came across in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. I improvised a bit, using the ingredients I had on hand. I used cut up chicken breast, green, red and yellow sweet peppers, olive oil, sesame oil, garlic, honey, rice vinegar any soy sauce. Served with rice---it was yummy! I love it because it makes a really quick meal with not much clean up. We'll definitely have this again soon!!! And, YES, I did find the perfect purse later in the day.....

.....store closing and new layouts

After selling our scrapbook business in Stillwater 3 years ago, my sister and I have been fortunate enough to still be able to spend some serious scrappin' time with a few of our wonderful girlfriends we met along the way. We've tried to meet up at least once a month for the entire day to scrap, catch up on each other's families, snack (chocolate, of course!) and laugh---a lot! Our day always includes a "delightful lunch hour (or two)", which is accompanied by yummy margaritas. Some days were an extra special treat because my mom would join us, too. Most days we would meet at Scrap Happy's in Tulsa. We had met the sweet owner, Melissa, during our business journey in Stillwater and she was always happy to accommodate us. When we arrived at her store Saturday for our monthly get-together, we were greeted by the window signs above. We were devastated, to say the least! To a serious scrapbooker, story teller, life book maker---this is serious. If you scrapbook, you know what I mean.... They were closed, getting ready for their "Quitting Business Sale", we couldn't even go in!!!! So, we did what any normal woman would do---we went to the mall to shop! Our lunch turned into a much longer "lunch hour" than usual, too. We had to console each other, of course! We'll be figuring out "Plan B" for our monthly meeting, but in the meantime, I sincerely wish Melissa all the best with a smooth closing of her store and her transition into whatever lies ahead of her.

And, since there isn't anything I can think of that would actually interfere or stop me from scrapbooking, here are a few recent layouts....

Morgan's first visit on Santa's lap didn't go so well, but I'm still happy with my layout.

Close up of ribbon tree, one of our "girl's group" challenges to each other.

Morgan's tiny baby feet---much larger than this now, of course!

Grayson "hanging and swinging" from his tree. He was so excited when he was able to grab hold of that branch and actually lift his feet off the ground!

Close up of embellishment...

I had a picture I took in Grayson's nursery when he was born. I thought it would be fun to document the "baby" items that were now found around the house.

This picture is from last Christmas, he really isn't trouble at all, but the

expression on his face matched the frame I had.

Have a happy day, the sun is shining!!!

A Girl's Day Out

Bellini Beauty

(04-11-09)

It was so much fun to finally get together with the girls on Saturday. There were five of us, Paula, Debbie, Kathy, Robin and myself. Mom joins us occasionally, but she had previous plans this time around. We missed you, mom! We met at the scrapbook store (as usual) and had a great time. I'm so sad I didn't take any pics of us on Saturday!! How did that happen? Maybe because all 5 of us were non-stop talkers, trying to play catch up with all of our tidbits of news and stories that accumulated over the past 5 months. But, I did manage to get a shot of our "drink of the day" while food choices were being made around the table. Great company, funny stories, yummy food, layouts to share and pictures to catch up on---it was really awesome to see everyone. I can't wait until the next time. Thanks, girls!!!