30 Days of Lists | Day 30: I'm Proud Of Myself For

It's hard to believe that this is list #30 for 30 Days of Lists already! The last one! I've been enjoying these list prompts. Some have been thought-provoking, some have been silly, but all has been fun. I can totally see some of these developed into scrapbook pages! :)

So here we go with the last list from 30 Days of Lists.

30 Days of Lists | Day 30:  I'm Proud of Myself For

• Working my way through undergrad college
• Working full time while going to school at night to get my MBA
• Taking care of my mom all the way to the end of her life, when she was sick with cancer
• Being good at what I do for a living (financial analyst)
• Being a go-getter at the beginning  years of my career, to get to where I am now
• Starting retirement savings at age 23
• Purchasing first house at age 25 
• Being loyal to people I love
• Taking calculated risks 
• Taking up regular exercising at age 27
• Always trying to see things through to the end
• Trying to do what I said I was going to do, and not just talk about it
• Honoring my commitments
• Having a strong sense of justice, even though sometimes it causes me pain
• Going skydiving
• Running a marathon (26.2 miles) and two half-marathons
• Having a mind of my own
• Recognizing a good man when I saw one, and marrying him 17 years ago  :)

New 52 | Week 39: Archivers

When we were in Ohio last week, I got to go to Archivers for the very first time!  I knew there’s an Archivers store in Akron because last time we went to visit Todd’s family in 2009, I saw it in a shopping plaza.  Also, my sister-in-law Amy has given me scrapbooking paper from Archivers before. 

So last Friday, our first full day in Akron, I asked if she could go to Archivers with me.


I was like a kid in a candy store!  The latest and greatest in scrapbooking supplies were all there.  I loved seeing aisle after aisle of gorgeous things that I don’t normally get to see in person, only online.  I chuckled to myself as I purchased a few things and thought, “Good thing I left lots of room in my luggage!”. I could have spent all day there!

My loot from Archivers.


While I was in Ohio, I already used some of my new supplies to make some Christmas cards.


I got some Amy Tangerine felt stickers and mini book, which were missing in my collection.  Some Christmas 6x6 paper pad from Echo Park.


And I had been looking for this October Afternoon chipboard mini book in the shape of a camera, but it’s sold out online everywhere.  Found it at Archivers!


At checkout, the salesperson asked if I wanted to be on their mailing list for coupons.  I told her that there isn’t an Archivers in San Diego.  She went to check and sure enough, there’s not even an Archivers in the whole state of California!  They definitely need to open some stores here!  :)  Of course, that might be bad for my pocket book though.

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About This Project

New52 is a project started by Peppermint and I to encourage each other and others around us to try something new every week in 2011. The "new" each week doesn't have to be something big. It could be something as simple as ordering a new dish instead of old standbys at your favorite restaurant. It's simply opening your heart up to NEW possibilities.
Don't worry if you're late getting started on joining in. It's totally OK if you miss a week here or there. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind about trying something new. This is a life project, and a photography/blog and even scrap challenge if you wish. If you participate this week, please leave a link to your blog post in the comments of this post.

30 Days of Lists | Day 28 & 29

Almost wrapping up with 30 Days of Lists for September!  I’m really happy I did it, but I’ll also be ready to move on to October and be done!

30 Days of Lists | Day 28:  If I Ruled The World

• Everyone would go by their childhood nicknames.
• There would be singing in the office.  Singing is my favorite.
• There would be International Elf Day, where everyone would watch the movie Elf at the same time.
• There would be real justice in everything.
• Everything would be fair.  Nobody could claim something is not fair.
• We would only do things that we love and get paid for it.
• No more taxes.  I guess the government would magically have money.
• No more gambling or casinos.

 

30 Days of Lists | Day 29:  Things That Were Awesome About This Month

• Cooler weather
• Jacuzzi is working again
• Trip to Ohio
• College and NFL football
• Making lists
• Crafty adventures
• Todd completed the San Diego Triathlon Classic
• Hanging out with Dejah & Roby

30 Days of Lists | Day 25, 26, 27

From Thursday to Monday we went to Ohio to visit Todd's family.  I had scheduled some blog posts during the time that I was away.  I hope to process the photos from the trip and blog them later this week.  It was a wonderful trip!

On to the 30 Days of Lists...

30 Days of Lists | Day 25:  Today's To-Do List

Well I didn't do this list on the actual Day 25 because I was on my trip.  So this is actually a to-do list for today, 9/27.  Which is horrifying the amount of work I came back to.

• Go through the 70 work emails that I got while I took three workdays off.
• Present the financials (annual budget, resource planning, and capital requirements) to the SCP auditor for the annual audit, which happens to be today.
• Start working on first pass of 2012 budget.  Friday is new sudden deadline from the boss.
• Drink lots of coffee to get through all this.
• Notify accounting of the new CPC accrual amounts for the rest of the year.
• Deal with some purchase orders and invoices.
• Ask Brian for parts rework charges by country and send the charges through Titan.
• Straighten out the new FML organization code for the new hire in Spain.
• Drink lots of diet Coke to get through all this.
• Go home and process trip photos.
• Pay month-end bills.
• Pull my hair out.

30 Days of Lists | Day 26:  Things To Do Before My Next Birthday

• Lose 10 lbs
• Go to my yearly physical checkup
• Go to the dentist
• Finish 2011 Project Life and New 52.
• Plan 2011 Elf Party
• Handmade Christmas extravaganza
• Trip to Dallas
• Trip to Hawaii

30 Days of Lists | Day 27:  My Overused Words / Phrases

• Get a life!
• Give me a break!
• As if.
• Really?
• Put that on the calendar.
• I don't have time for this _______.
• Aww Noodz.  (When our cat Noodle does anything remotely cute or funny.)
• What's for dinner?
• Unacceptable!
• Tao yen!  ("That's annoying" in Chinese)
• Nomz
• Cuuuute!
• Best thing ever!
• Where's Noodle?
• That's SUPER-DUM.  D-U-M, DUM.
• Homie don't play that (yea, I still use this phrase from the late 80's)
• You should bookface that (that's what we call Facebook)
• Can you believe that?!

Now I'm beginning to think I must be super-annoying to be married to...

30 Days of Lists | Day 22, 23, & 24

30 Days of Lists | Day 22:  Ways to Avoid Housework

• Surf the internet
• Go running
• Read books
• Watch TV
• Crafting
• Hang out with friends
• Go enjoy the outdoors

30 Days of Lists | Day 23:  If I Won The Lottery

This actually would never happen to me because I never play the lottery.  Instead of putting money into buying lottery tickets, I put it into my 401k for retirement.  I actually don't really fantasize about having a huge financial windfall.  But since it's a prompt, I'll play along.

• I'd live in the same house as now
• I'd drive a slightly better car (mine is 12 years old)
• I'd hide the fact that I won the lottery 
• I'd sock most of the money away for a rainy day
• I'd go on some trips to see some parts of the world that I'd never been to
• I'd share some money with my sister
• I'd still work, but not sure if it would be full-time like I do now
• My life wouldn't be totally different

30 Days of Lists | Day 24:  Things I Like To Do When I Am Sick

• Nap on the couch
• Drink lots of water
• Watch mindless TV
• Read some books/magazines
• Take a hot shower
• Drink hot beverages
• Not be on the computer that much

A Semi-Urban Adventure in Hillcrest

Todd and I love to go to Hillcrest for food and fun, because there are so many restaurants and shops you can visit just by walking around.  That is something we don’t get, living in the suburbs.  So on Sunday, we decided to have lunch down at Bronx Pizza in Hillcrest, because we love their NY style thin crust pizza.

The wall inside the Bronx Pizza courtyard was so cool!  I didn’t get a good look at it the first time we were there because it was at night.


I had told Todd last time that the pesto pizza was to die for, so we each got a slice of it this time.


Also a pepperoni and sausage pair.


A “Todd Shot” featuring the pesto pizza with some marinara sauce on top.  He was still hungry from his triathlon the day before!


After lunch, we walked over to Buffalo Exchange because we walked to sell two pairs of designer jeans that don’t fit us anymore.  Todd was selling his Paper Denim & Cloth jeans, while I was selling a pair of my 7 For All Mankind jeans that were a ridiculously small size that I only could fit into when I was at my thinnest, like for 3 months in 2004.  I had given up on ever being able to fit into them again.  I don’t want to wear them that bad to starve myself!  :D


So we took them to Buffalo Exchange and they didn’t want to buy them!  I guess our old designer jeans were no longer “in” or wanted!  How sad!  But Todd did find some cool shirts that he could wear to work.


The iconic Hillcrest sign.


After Buffalo Exchange, Todd said it was imperative that we walked down the street to his favorite bakery in San Diego, Bread & Cie.  He had to get a couple of his favorite Belgian brownies there.


I got to hold the brownie bags for a while…


We were driving home on the freeway when I saw the Marukai Value+ store off the freeway and asked Todd to exit so I can visit it for the first time ever!  It’s basically a Japanese dollar store and filled with neat stuff.


All these plastic storage containers were $1.98.


Ooo, paper goods!


I ended up buying some candy, rings for mini book binding, and some glue.  My favorite craft glue is the Mono-Multi by Tombow, so when I saw that Tombow also made a glue stick, I decided to try it out.  I also bought a Kukuyo glue stick, because scrapbooking people seem to like Kukuyo adhesive, which is hard to find in the US.


We had a lot of fun in our sort-of-urban adventure in Hillcrest!  San Diego has a lot of cool neighborhoods that we love to check out to find good eats.

New 52 | Week 38: Illustrator to Silhouette

Ever since I got my Silhouette digital cutter back in October 2009, I had heard that I could cut things directly from Adobe Illustrator, once I install a plug-in made by Graphtec America.  So a few days ago, I installed the plug-in called Cutting Master 2 for CraftRobo.  I was excited to see what I can cut directly from Adobe Illustrator!

I had drawn some snowflakes in Illustrator a few months ago.  I pulled the file up and made sure that the shapes are outlined and compounded. 


Then I went to File –> Cutting Master Robo 2 –> Cut/Plot and I arranged the snowflakes on a screen simulating my cardstock size.  Then I hit the “Send” button and my Silhouette SD machine started cutting the snowflakes out!


It took it a few minutes to cut all the snowflakes out, because there were so many cut lines.  After it was cut, I removed the whole cardstock from the sticky cutting mat.  Some bits and pieces stuck to the mat, so I had to use a tweezer to remove those.  Here’s the sheet with the cut snowflakes. 


I had to carefully remove the snowflakes from the paper.  At this point I realized that it would probably be easier if I had drawn some less intricate snowflakes!


This is what the sheet of paper looked like after I had painstakingly removed the snowflakes.  I’m keeping it to use as a “mask” for some misting on cards that I’m planning on doing. 


All my snowflakes cut out!  These are a little less than 2” each.  I plan to use them as embellishments on cards and scrapbook layouts.








It is so amazing that now I can just draw something in Illustrator and send it directly to the Silhouette to cut out!  The possibilities are endless and I’m so excited to get crafting with the myriad of design ideas I have in my head!  :)

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About This Project

New52 is a project started by Peppermint and I to encourage each other and others around us to try something new every week in 2011. The "new" each week doesn't have to be something big. It could be something as simple as ordering a new dish instead of old standbys at your favorite restaurant. It's simply opening your heart up to NEW possibilities.
Don't worry if you're late getting started on joining in. It's totally OK if you miss a week here or there. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind about trying something new. This is a life project, and a photography/blog and even scrap challenge if you wish. If you participate this week, please leave a link to your blog post in the comments of this post.

30 Days of Lists | Day 21: TV Shows I Wish Would Come Back

Well, some of the TV shows on my list would date me for sure!  :p

30 Days of Lists | Day 21:  TV Shows I Wish Would Come Back

• Buffy The Vampire Slayer
• Veronica Mars (I was in 4 eps of Season 2 as an extra!)
• X-Files
• Knight Rider (yes, seriously)
• Columbo
• Beverly Hills 90210 (the original)
• The OC
• ABC After School Specials
• Friends
• Seinfeld
• Happy Days
• Miss Match (the 2003 Alicia Silverstone show)
• Scrubs
• Gilmore Girls
• Quantum Leap
• Voyagers (the time travel show in the 80's)
• Miami Vice (ha ha!)
• Monk

30 Days of Lists | Day 20: My Dream Space

I really love our house, but of course I love looking at really nice airy and organized space. 

30 Days of Lists | Day 20:  My Dream Space Would Include:

• Large wall of windows facing the ocean
• A library room with floor to ceiling bookcases and a ladder
• Double shower + a jacuzzi in the master bath
• A craft studio with walls of shelves and cubbies for organization
• Grand two-story entrance
• Two story living room
• Very large open kitchen for entertaining
• TV room with slide down screen, large projector, and lazy boys
• Pool and jacuzzi outside
• Colorful walls

Some examples of awesome spaces I’ve pinned from Pinterest.

Source: bhg.com via Christine on Pinterest

Source: blog.hgtv.com via Christine on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: alifemorefabulous.blogspot.com via Christine on Pinterest

Source: cocokelley.blogspot.com via Christine on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Christine on Pinterest

Dinner with Faux Foes

On Saturday evening, we headed to Dejah & Roby’s for dinner.  They invited us over to their place for dinner and to watch the Ohio State vs Miami football game.  They went to the University of Miami for college, and we went to Ohio State, so we were foes for the day!  However, since they’re good friends, I guess you could say they were faux foes for the evening.  Heh.

We mostly rested and took naps in the afternoon after Todd’s triathlon.  However, Todd made what I referred to as “Magic Blueberry Cobbler”.  It’s magic mainly because I fell asleep on the couch while he was making it, so it seemed to me that the cobbler magically appeared out of nowhere!


That looks good huh?  It was delicious.  The recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen, but it’s not available online.  :(  We have the cookbook.

On the way to Dejah & Roby’s, we picked up ice cream from the grocery store so we could eat it with our blueberry cobbler. 

Dejah made a delicious meal of turkey lettuce wraps, and Roby picked out a chardonnay wine to match.






They found purple carrots at Chino Farm in Rancho Santa Fe.  I’m dying to go over there to buy some produce! 


Dessert was unbelievable.  In fact, Todd, Dejah, and Roby had another round of dessert after the football game, LOL. 


Our faux foes, wearing their Miami Hurricane gear.  Sigh.


I wore my Ohio State “Jim Tressel” sweater vest.  Todd decided to go with his triathlon shirt instead.  This may very well be the reason that Ohio State lost the game!


After dinner and dessert we headed to the couch to watch the game.  It was not good for Ohio State fans.  As a result of the loss, Ohio State is unranked for the first time since 2004.  I knew this year would be a “rebuilding year” but it’s still a little sad.  I know, Buckeye fans have been so spoiled.  We had so much fun with our faux foes Dejah & Roby though.  Who were very gracious hosts even though Ohio State lost.  Longtime reader of this blog may recall that last year Miami played at Ohio State and Dejah & Roby came over to our house to watch the game and have a meal.  This completes our “cultural” exchange, ha ha!

30 Days of Lists | Day 19: Inventions I Wish Were Real

This month I’m participating in 30 Days of Lists on my blog. 

Here we go with List 19!

30 Days of Lists | Day 19:  Inventions I Wish Were Real

• Transporter from Star Trek
• Nose filter for cigarette smoke
• Pill that melts fat
• Genie in a bottle
• Time machine
• Flux capacitor
• Invisibility cloak
• Happiness pill

San Diego Triathlon Classic… Again!

Todd did the San Diego Triathlon Classic last year for the first time.  It is an Olympic-distance triathlon, which means it is 1500m (a little less than a mile) swim, 40km (~25 mile) bike, and 10km (6.2 miles) run.  He liked it so much that he decided to do it again this year!  His training ran into some snags this year, but he did so well and ended up beating his time last year by 3 minutes! 

We set our alarm clock for 4:30am.  Yucky!  I hate getting up so early and when it’s so dark.  We got our stuff ready the night before, so it wasn’t too much trouble to get out the door at 5:00am and head down to Liberty Station.  Todd made it into the transition area with plenty of time to set his equipment up this year, unlike last year.


One of the Marine bands played some songs prior to the start of the race.  Boy it was still dark!


Just as the sun was starting to rise, everyone gathered around the start of the swim.


The Marine band played the national anthem.


Todd’s friend Jim found him prior to the start.  Jim was in the same age group as Todd so they got to start together.


Hey that’s me!  I was there on official duty as Todd’s personal race photographer.


Todd also found his friend Peter.  Peter and Jim don’t know each other, but it was time for a group photo!


Todd’s swim heat started at 6:48am.  He was in the 7th heat.  It was 3 minutes between each heat and the race started at 6:30am.


Todd looking back to find me.


Todd and Jim swimming to the start buoy for their heat.


All the blue caps lining up for the start of their race.


And there they went!


I found Todd coming out of the water after 33 minutes.  He looked so happy to be done with the swim part of the race.  He beat his last year’s swim time by 3 minutes, or 10%.


Running and trying to get the wetsuit off… I wouldn’t recommend it for the normal person.




Todd changed into his bike clothes in the transition area and came out for the bike part of the race.




I set up my area at the end of the bike route.  It was going to be close to 1.5 hours, so I brought snacks, water, Todd’s iPad, and some books.  This area would soon fill with spectators.


Todd was faster than I thought he would be on the bike.  Before I knew it, there he was waving at me!




I quickly packed up my stuff and found him in the transition area.


He started his watch for the run, but forgot to change from his bike shorts to his running shorts!


But one thing he didn’t forget was his fuel… a cookie!


Todd on the run.


After about 53 minutes of running, Todd had enough energy to sprint to the finish!  I was so proud of him!


Getting his medal.


Peter had finished a few minutes earlier.  They found each other after the race.


Tired but so happy to finish strong!


The best part about the location of the race is that it’s near Point Loma Seafoods, our favorite seafood place in San Diego.  Todd chowed down into his fresh halibut sandwich.


For Todd’s account of the race, you can read it on his blog. 

I made a video of the race.  Click play to enjoy!