Maybe I'm Dreaming

I had a fun day today, but I'll have to blog about that in the next few days.  Why?
Because I have something else to announce today.  :)



I'm so excited to announce that my products are now available at Little Dreamer Designs!

Back in November 2008, when I found out that I was chosen to be on the Creative Team at Little Dreamer Designs, it was a dream come true for me.  I had loved Michelle Coleman's beautiful and artistic designs ever since she had her store at Scrap Artist.  Then when she opened up Little Dreamer Designs, I became an instant fan of all the designers there.  Being able to join the team at Little Dreamer Designs as a designer is an even bigger dream come true for me!  :)

All my previously released products are available at Little Dreamer now.  I also have three new releases today.

Template Set #7: Borderific


Template #27: Paper Blocked E


Template #28: Paper Blocked R


The new releases are also in my personal blog store, Listgirl Designs.

I'm having a grand-opening celebration sale at Little Dreamer Designs from February 1-5. Everything is on sale for 25% off! If you are a newsletter subscriber, you might get a code for an additional discount. I'm just sayin'.

Thanks for being here to share in my excitement!  :)

Along The Waterfront

The alarm went off at 6:30am today and neither one of us wanted to get out of bed. It was dark and kinda cold, and we hadn't been getting enough sleep during the week due to work and other stresses. You know, I think I'm going to stop saying on my blog that I don't feel like getting up early on Saturday mornings to run. It is just a given, LOL. So every Saturday from now on, just come back and read the first sentence in this post before proceeding to read the new post. :p

We ran at a new place that I've never started out running from before. We drove down to Liberty Station at Point Loma and met up with our running club, West Coast Road Runners. Even though it was early and the sun was just rising, it was a gorgeous day. The views really couldn't be better!

Here is Todd with his cohorts.


My group starting to gather in the parking lot.


This was at the start of the run.


My friend Caryn decided to ham it up for the camera.


We ran along Harbor Drive most of the time. This photo was blown out, but I thought it gave a good perspective of the trees lining the waterfront.


Even though Todd's group started five minutes after my group did, they caught up with us, because they're faster. So I was left in Todd's dust.


The scenic views along the waterfront.




I pilfered a few photos from Todd's camera to show you.
Here's his group starting up the bridge.


Along Harbor Drive.


In victory formation, ha ha.


Nice shot of sun rays.


The turnaround was 2.5 miles, since we were running five miles. Todd turned around and found me going the other way.


There I am again. I don't know why, but today I felt compelled to keep sticking my tongue out at him!


Finally my normal happy running face.


I really enjoyed the five mile run today. I felt pretty strong, and it was fun to be in pace with my group. I started and finished with Coach Amy. I like the larger group in the spring season much more, because I actually feel like I'm in a running group with people of the same pace, and not running alone by myself, like in the fall.

Place: Point Loma & Harbor Drive
Distance: 5.00 miles (it really was exactly!)
Time: 55:59
Min/Mile: 11:11
Calories: 504

We went to Panera Bread right near the parking lot at Liberty Station for breakfast afterwards. I had an Asiago Bagel with egg, bacon, and cheese. Probably too many calories, but I was hungry. Todd got a bun glazed with praline and syrup, another bunch of calories! :| And we shared a chai latte. I forgot to take my camera into Panera, but Todd got some photos on his iPhone. I don't know how to get them off though.

We showered and took naps, then we went to lunch at Chili's. Because there's nothing as good as eating a bunch of greasy fried foods after running. Well, I should have chosen better, but I hadn't had fried shrimps in a long time and I love them.


Todd got a buffalo chicken salad.


I have some designing to do tonight.  Come back tomorrow for a cool announcement!

Sunny with Popcorn

For the first time in quite a few days, which is unusual for around here...  we saw sunny with extreme blue skies!



Too bad I spent the whole day at the office, LOL. Although, the forecast is for sunny and 70 tomorrow, so I hope to get out for a walk at lunch. I don't know how, but I actually managed to squeeze in two workouts this week, despite working so many hours. Both times I did sit-ups, push-ups, and ran for 20 minutes on the treadmill. I figured 20 minutes is better than nothing!

Todd got a present in the mail from Peppermint today. It's Wisconsin White Birch Popcorn!

"The Pep" (as he affectionally calls her) saw the Wisconsin specialty popcorn at a local food store, so she bought some and sent it to him. He can't wait to pop them up and try them!

Speaking of Peppermint... that girl has been unstoppable and on a tear with her designs. Here are her latest releases available today.

Unconditionally

How gorgeous is that? I told her I would use this one lots, because of the scarlet and gray OSU Buckeye colors! :p

Here's my first layout with it.

I pretty much only used Peppermint's kit. But here is the full credit.

She also has an alpha: Smitten

Super-versatile eh?  As she described it, it's the "little black dress" of alpha-dom!

I'm so glad tomorrow is the last work day of the week. I've already worked enough this week! But I made such great process today that I'm so relieved. I think I can make all my deadlines now.

As usual, thanks for stopping by and have a great Friday!

Fourteen Hours

That's how much I worked yesterday. 
And the day before that, I worked 10 hours.  And the day before, another 10 hours.  Things have been pretty crazy at work.  January is usually my busiest month of the year, but it is out of the park this year.  I have six new accounts that I have to do account reconciliations for.  I have a big budget gap, so I have to find a lot of money to save.  And then I had some computer problems too. 

I was going to post some cool daily life type of photos and talk about some fabulous new spices and recipe yesterday, but since I worked until 11pm, I didn't get to it.  The last thing I wanted to do was spend more time on the computer!  :p  Tonight, I hope to blog and scrap.  Doing it for myself, that makes me happy.  In the near future, I will also have a post about scrapping motivations.

Now, I must get ready for work.  Again.

New Products + Freebie Template!

I'm excited to finally get some new products into my store! :) I've worked on these on and off for two weeks now.

Here's a peek at them:


1.  New template set called Artsy Fartsy, ha ha!  It's wavy, and it's painty.  Hopefully you like it!
2.  Paper Blocked #1 - yes, I'm starting the numbers! 
3.  Paper Blocked "B" - continuing on with the paper block letters series.
4.  Page Borders:  Months - something new!  I handwrote the months in Illustrator, so they're smooth with no jaggies.  Comes with 12 monthly borders, clipping mask, 2 blank borders, and Photoshop/PSE .abr brushes for the months.
5.  Page Borders:  Weeks - same as the months, except they're weeks, and there's 52 of them!
6.  Photo Borders:  Days of the Week - 7 horizontal and 7 vertical borders with days of the week on them.  Also includes mat (clipping mask) and Photoshop/PSE .abr brushes for days of the week.

All the new products are on sale for 25% off until Wednesday night at 9pm Pacific time!

I also have a new freebie template for you.  It's got seven photo spaces, so it's perfect for a P365 weekly layout, but you can also use the taped up notes for papers/journaling, so it's very versatile!

Download here or here.

If you haven't already, you can sign up for my newsletter here for new product announcements, freebies, and coupons!

3D Is Evil + Winner of One Little Bird Coupon

The winner of the $10 coupon to One Little Bird (Peppermint's) store is...





Fe Alves (Ferdy)! Congratulations! Please contact me at listgirldesigns (at) gmail (dot) com to claim your prize!

Ok, so yesterday's post said I was going to do something fun last night.
Todd and I got together with one of my best friends, Sally! I hadn't seen her since the Jason Mraz concert back in October. I think this has been the longest stretch that I hadn't seen her. Either she was traveling, or I was traveling, or we were both busy. So we finally got together for dinner and a movie.

Dinner was at Tofu House on Convoy Street. Sally had never been, so I had to introduce her to it, especially since this tofu soup specialty restaurant was perfect for a winter day!





I finally got to give Sally her Christmas gift.




Yes, she was one of the recipients of the recipe book! Don't worry, she doesn't read my blog (she's technology-averse), so she had no idea this was coming. She really loved it! Todd said it's been great watching all the recipients' reactions, it makes all the work that went into the book worth it.  :)

After dinner, we went to see "Avatar" in 3D. The tickets were $15 each! Ouch. We got to the movie theater a little over half an hour beforehand, and the line was already curved around and extremely long. When they finally let us into the theater, all the decent seats were taken by the people in front of us in line. So, we had to sit very close to the front, which I hate.

Things got even worse when the movie started. I had to crank my neck up to see the huge screen in front of my eyes. We were so close that I could hardly take in the whole screen. Then, the 3D made me dizzy. And I couldn't watch the movie without the stupid 3D glasses because then it was blurry. I suffered through about 45 minutes of the movie, then I couldn't take it anymore. I felt so dizzy and uncomfortable that it really wasn't worth it. So Todd and I had to say goodbye to Sally and bail out. This is my second bad experience watching a 3D movie, so I don't think I'll be going again.

We got home and I laid on the couch. After some time, I felt better. Then we went upstairs to bed, and I felt really nauseous and dizzy again. I tried to sleep, but I couldn't. Finally I had to run to the bathroom... and I puked. :( After puking, I felt much better and slept for over 10 hours, until 10:30am this morning.

So yea, no more 3D movies for me. Seriously not worth it!

Hitting the Wet Pavement

Remember to enter the contest in the below post for a chance to win a $10 coupon to One Little Bird (Peppermint's) store at Catscrap! You have until Sunday at 9pm Pacific time.
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Last night Todd and I discussed the pros and cons of getting up early this morning to run with our West Coast Road Runners running club.  The pros.. well, now that I think about it, there was only one:  we would get our run in early, and not have to worry about it later in the day.  We didn't want to fall behind the schedule already, the first week of the official season starting!  The cons were many.  Too cold.  Too windy.  Too rainy.  Too early.  But when the alarm went off this morning, we both did get out of bed.  We even put our running clothes on, albeit more layers than usual.  And laced our shoes on.  Despite the fact that it was sprinkling outside, and the roads were wet, and it was cold by San Diego standards.  Because we're just SO committed!  Well, not really, but we went anyways!  :p

The crowd was pretty big today, due to the fact it's the first training run of the season.  All those bright-eyed, bushy-tailed newbies don't know what they're in for yet, ha ha! 

Here's coach Amy and some of the runners in the Catalina (my) group, going over some instructions before we headed out.


The pavement was wet.

(And boy do my thighs look really big from this angle, LOL.)

It was actually a rather nice four mile run, I have to admit. I had to jump over some puddles and stuff, but my shoes stayed pretty dry and it was not uncomfortable at all.


I saw some really cool scenery, such as the skyline of San Diego with Mission Bay in between.


And a rowing crew practicing on the bay.


Right before the 2-mile turnaround, I also saw this cute guy running towards me. I got my camera out kind of late, so the picture was a little blurry.


Todd with Robert, Cassey, and some other folks from his group after the run.


I felt good during and after the run. I think I would rather run in slightly cold weather than warm weather. When it's cool outside, it feels good when my body and muscles have warmed up during the run. I didn't make the best time today, but I'm totally okay with that, because I made it out there and that's what's important.

Distance: 4.05 miles
Time: 45:25
Avg time/mile: 11:13
Calories: 404

I've gotten some blog comments and emails from my friends who have said that they miss me doing P365. To tell the truth, I do miss having my life documented every day. What I don't miss is the feeling that I HAVE to process photos and blog every day. I have actually taken photos on most days this year. Old habits die hard I guess. And I'm not going anywhere... still blogging and sharing my life here regularly! :)

When P365 was coming to an end last year, Peppermint said to me, "You know you're going to be just as busy, because you'll find other things to do, and other activities to commit yourself to." Boy she knows me well. :) I have been designing more templates, so look for new stuffs soon, like in a couple of days. I also have something in the works that I can't disclose yet, but I'm hoping that will soon come to fruition. And I took an Adobe Illustrator class this month at JessicaSprague.com. It has been so fun to learn the program and play in it. Wanna see a couple of my assignments?







Nothing too fancy, but I'm excited to learn more and grow my skills. :)

Last but not least for today, it's this week's Digi Dare!
Come join us for Digi Dare #164, we are scrapping letters, advice column style! Please go to the Dare site for complete details, and remember to submit your layouts before Thursday 1/28 midnight Eastern time. We really appreciate the awesome participation from last week, and look forward to seeing your layouts for this one!

Here's my layout for the Dare.

Full credits here.

I used Designs by Lili's brand new kit, Wish Upon A Star, on sale this weekend for 20% off at The Lilypad! Is it cute?


I have some fun plans for tonight. I'll be back with photos and stories tomorrow, plus the winner of the $10 coupon to Peppermint's store!

Hail Hail Peppermint + Giveaway

{A dual-purpose title, as you will see later.}

First a little recap of life the last couple of days...

Yesterday I had lunch with some ex-coworkers. It was an all-girls lunch, and it was super-fun to catch-up! We went to Olive Garden... not my favorite, but I didn't pick.

It always amazes me how much my corporate life has changed in the last 10 years. In 2000, when I was hired into the Finance Dept as the Financial Planning & Analysis Manager, there were over 30 employees! We had separate Accounting, Finance, and Purchasing & Logistics groups. Fast forward 10 years, and the department is down to seven people (not including me, I transferred out). Doing the same amount of work. Just amazing.

As some of you may have seen on the news, Southern Calif has been pelted with rainstorms this whole week. Lots of places have flooded. We have GIGANTO waves at the coast. We have gotten as much rain this week as we usually get the whole year. Today, there was some slight flooding in our backyard.


Todd came home early from work so he didn't have to deal with rain traffic. As soon as he entered the door (literally!), we heard very loud rain! We rushed to the windows and saw... HAIL!

We don't usually get hail, so it was... really weird.

We did manage to get out and have tacos at Rubios for dinner though. We have cooked and eaten in all week, so it was time for a break. It had stopped raining by the time we went out to eat.

Peppermint said she's going to talk about me on her blog, so I thought I'd talk about her too! :) Today (well, it'll be Friday for most of you by the time you read this) she released some more new products at Catscrap. Let's take a look at the yummy stuffs.

Roxy's Palette Papers


Paradise Found Tale-Feathers (Quick Pages)


Paradise Found Kit


Along These Lines Vol. 1


I would like to think that I helped inspire Paradise Found and Along These Lines Vol. 1, because Peppermint created those while I was on vacation in Hawaii back in December. I told you she's productive when I'm not around, LOL.

Here's my page using Paradise Found and Along Those Lines Vol. 1.

Full credits here.

And because you made it through my ramblings and graphic-heavy post, and because Peppermint is generous and cool, she has offered to give away a $10 coupon to her store!  Just leave a comment in this post and I'll do a random drawing on Sunday night.  Comments close on Sunday night at 9pm Pacific time.  Good luck!

**contest is now closed**