THE QUEEN OF QUIRK

if you give a kid a camera...

The girls are always swiping my camera and running off with it. I usually find some gems on there when I get it back.

We went to an apple fest a couple of weeks ago and on our way back to the car, jug of freshly pressed DELICIOUS juice in hand, Norah snapped this and I thought it was really sweet.

photo by Norah 10.09.2011

I love that Colin and I are holding hands and that Lara and I have practically the same jacket on. Too cute.

On a personal note:

Colin and I are counting down the days until the coolest anniversary date. EVER.

On 11.11.11 this year, it's our 11th anniversary and we're throwing a huge party to celebrate. More details on that to come. Also apple fest photos, too. :) Til tomorrow!

rare indeed

During our trip to England, we attended the wedding of some very dear friends of ours. The wedding was gorgeous in every way. Since we were all dressed up and looking sharp (a nice change from the t-shirts and jeans we always seem to don no matter what's in the closet) the bride and groom were kind enough to lend us their photographer for a couple of minutes so Colin and I could have a nice photo of the two of us.

I love this photo. So incredibly grateful for it. :)

living museums

They're my favorite. We're big museum-goers, but it's not always the best thing to do with 3 small kids. So, when we find living museums, we're all over it. We love that the kids can run around and explore and touch and learn without a lot of boundaries.

The Black Country Living Museum

So, on Saturday, we had a gorgeous day and we decided to visit the Black Country, named so for all the coal, soot, and iron that covered approximately 4 counties during the Industrial Revolution. Before you enter the museum, there is a short video you can watch explaining what the Black Country really is. At first two scholars are arguing over boundaries, counties, specific industries and whatnot and then this bloke comes on and shuts them both up by saying, "Thu Black Countrrrry is wherrrre a Black Countrrrymun sez 'tis!!" Man, he was hard to understand. :) Then he proceeds to explain how dirty and sooty and grimy and poor these places were and how short the life expectancy was of someone who worked in the coal mines and such.

So, let's start the tour, shall we? First, you're taken through a short indoor exhibit. Then you get to explore outside. K, everyone tinkled? :) Good.

I just thought this scale was neat.

Safes, gates, and shovel molds.

Lara loved this bright, sunshiny car. :)

Then she insisted she snap a shot of me in front of the fire engine.

K, now let's check out the open air exhibits. I'm posting a map so you can see just how big this place really is. Also, I'll reference the photos with their numbers from the map so you can follow our trail while we walk along. :)

(5) On the outside, these homes were made of iron sheets. This was an attempt to introduce pre-fabricated homes into the market to try and resuscitate the iron industry. There were only 3 homes ever built like this. Turns out, iron sheets was more expensive than brick.

I love how they have the newspaper hanging up there.

just behind (7) the Rock & Fossil Shop. We stopped here for our picnic lunch that Colin always packs for us. Yum.

Me, getting a little bit closer. In the background you can see (7) Rock & Fossil Shop and (8) Newcomen Engine (the world's first steam engine.)

I love how old and worn everything is.

This is the outhouse just next to (14) the Pitt's cottage. The guy inside was talking to Lara about their chamber pot. He called it a "guzzunder" because it guzz under the bed. :) HSe got a kick out of that.

The outhouse. It's the Pitt's.

We didn't find any pigs across the street from (11) the Toll House, so we improvised.

Inside (11) the toll House. Room 1.

Room 2. I love the stockings hanging there. The exhibits really were complete. You could literally walk in and start living there.

Walking towards (18) the fairground. The kids were sooo excited.

Lara and Mia about to go on Helter Skelter.

They got up to the top so fast that I didn't realize they were coming down yet. So, I totally missed Lara's ride. Mia came down second and she'd lost her hat during the ride and she was bawling like a loon. Then a couple of seconds later her hat came down the slide and we all started laughing at her. :)

They had an arcade room and it was so neat to see so many old games and penny arcade machines. The glare was really bad, though, so I didn't get good shots. :(

A better look at the Helter Skelter.

Then Lara, Mia, and I rode on another ride together. This thing was so bumpy that I thought my teeth were going to fall out. Norah was nervous and stiff as a board the entire time. And after we got off, Mia showed me the blister she got from the ride. It was seriously that rocky.

Next up, (17) the school. Lara had a Victorian School Day at her school a few months ago, so she was well acquainted with the routine. She settled in and showed Mia how it was done.

I thought this chart was neat...seriously, how did the British do this? Their money was sooo complicated. Farthings and shillings....ack!

Noodle tried her hand with a pencil and slate.

I love how Mia is covering her "schoolwork". LOL :)

Lara was so sweet. And I love the soot around her eyes. She really looks like she belongs here. haahaha. Talk about an in-depth museum experience! Real soot!

The school's cloakroom. I'd want a room like this in my dream house. sigh.... I love all the worn, painted brick.

Next up, the canal.

Taken from (49) Canalside cafe.

Lara on Browns bridge. (the top right bridge on the map)

(46) Anchor Forge

(47) Ironworks shop

A lady in costume..just outside the (34) Back to Back houses (which were the tiniest houses I have ever seen).

Main street sign for the cinema.

(36) The Limelight cinema. The brick building on the right is where everyone was sitting. The screen was about the size of an old school chalkboard and the building sat about 50 people. Colin and I waited outside while Lara and Mia watched the show.

Just outside the cinema entrance. You can see the (30) Bottle and Glass Inn which is the white building on the right.

Lara and Mia trying to master the iron hoops. They quickly abandoned the game, though, as it was rather tricky to pick up on.

I stopped in the (43) bakery and bought a couple of tarts.

Then we went next door and bought some pear drops and strawberry creams from the (42) Sweetshop.

We wanted to try (39) the chip shop (a.k.a. a chippy, a fishy, a fish & chip shop, etc.) but unfortunately it was closed. I was really ticked (so was Colin) because it smelled so good and there was simply no good reason to close it early. Look at that line out the front door! Come on!!

So we continued on down the street and checked out the shops with our tummies rumbling.

This is the General Store (21).

And the Milliner's.

At the other end of the street facing the pub/inn.

Another shot of the general store window.

We turned the corner and headed towards (20) the Lime Kilns. According to a sign, this part of the village had been used until the 70's I believe. After that, it had managed to get filled up entirely with sludge and slime and stagnant water. When it came time to build the museum, this was restored, drained, and opened back up the the public. Pretty cool, huh?

We headed back to the main street, still kinda ticked about the chippy, and decided we need a pint of sumpin' sumpin'.

One shot of the Chemist's window, though. Smelling salts...for some reason this is classic Victorian for me.

Ah, the pub. A parent's best friend sometimes. Colin got a pint of "mild" and I got a cider. We have no idea what it was. It was probably just Strongbow and Newcastle LOL, but it hit the spot. We also munched on our tarts. The top one is a Viennese tart and the bottom one is almond. The kids had water...not ale. :)

Me and Lara and Mia on the bridge by the (42) Sweetshop.

Actually looking over the bridge into the canal.

Lara took over the camera and snapped a shot of the tram as it went by.

She also got one of the horse. :)

Then, while Colin and the big girls went into the mine (9), I took Noodle into the (13) Tilted Cottage. It was quaint and sweet. Then I pushed her over to the (10) Racecourse Colliery. I think this is where the engine was and where they pumped out the fumes and bad air from the mine.

Noodle, thankfully, had fallen asleep. She was getting pretty dern crazy by this time and she needed a good catnap.

So, that was about it. After the colliery, I took Noodle over to a grassy spot across the street from (7) the Rock & Fossil shop and I lied down on my jacket. When she woke up, we sat in the grass and ate an apple together. Then she rolled down the hill a bit and when Colin and the big girls came out of the mine, we went to the gift shop and picked up a magnet. Then we got in the car and headed home, thoroughly exhausted and craving fish & chips. :)

The coolest thing about this museum is that every building, outside, and piece of machinery was brought here and reassembled. A town like this didn't actually exist. Each one of the shops represents an entire industry just from one town. Each building was taken down, brick by brick, and lovingly rebuilt here to preserve the essence of this era. Talk about a renovation project. And I loved how packed this place was. Most of the living museums we went to in Germany were deserted and kinda neglected. This one had so much life in it. Plus, every shop was run by a person thoroughly knowledgeable about the shop, it's origins, the person who owned it, and the industry and history of the area. If you're ever near Birmingham, England, I highly recommend this little gem. :)

Colin is taking a week off from work while the kids are on break from school. We've got a ton of stuff planned. Today we're taking a break and we're going to finish our spring cleaning and then tomorrow we've got a date planned. The kiddos are spending the night at a friend's house and me and the hubbs are heading down to London to watch Wicked and eat at Bentley's Oyster Bar.  I am sooo excited! Of course, there will be an update. :)

Happy Sunday, all! Ciao!

hampton court palace 11 may 08

For Mother's Day, Colin chose to take us to Hampton Court Palace just outside of London. This was the home of Henry VIII and it was sooo incredible being there. Tudor England is the time in history I am most familiar with. I know more about Ancient Roman social culture, but as far as history (time lines, lineage, wars, etc.) I know more about England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I. So to be in a castle in which I recognize the paintings and can actually name the people in them and their historical significance is really quite unique. In all of our traveling, the places have inspired my research. Like, we'll visit St. Peter's Basilica and then I'll be inspired to read about it. Here, it was the other way around. Being in this palace was like finally getting to see what I've been reading about and studying for so long. It was just an amazing experience.

So, there are two parts to this castle. There is the Tudor part which is much more rustic and stripped down...large wooden beams, stuccoed walls, ornate painted wooden ceiling medallions. That sort of stuff. The castle retained its integrity for almost 200 years and very little changed. Then in the late 17th century when William III took the throne, significant changes were made but then halted due to the death of Mary II. William had made a ton of changes and the result is a part of the castle that is much more elaborate and baroque in its design.

Ok, class. :) Lecture's over. Let's begin the tour shall we?

We packed a picnic lunch (actually Colin packed it. I wasn't to lift a finger on Sunday) and we had a lovely little lunch in front of the palace. From here you can see the Tudor facade. It's quite different from the Baroque (I'm pretty sure it's baroque) facade you'll see later on. This is me and the girls just after we ate. Also, this is just after we realized Colin had forgotten to pack diapers for Noodle and he had to dash around downtown (we're facing it) to find some. :) The situation was made a little more urgent as Noodle's diaper strap had broken and she was literally hangin' by a thread. hahahaha. Good times. :)

This shot was Lara's idea. She insisted on getting one in front of the golden flowers. :)

We went all over the palace and saw the apartments of Henry VIII, William III, Queen Anne, and King George I. They were really spectacular...but my favorite part was Queen Anne's bathroom. I know that sounds silly, but it really was neat. We couldn't take photos inside the palace, but I'll sneak ya this one from the guide book.

It's not the best picture, but it shows the basics. Anyway, I just thought it was neat. Historical hygiene (or lack thereof) is one of my "mini fascinations". I love picking up little nuggets of information about the beauty routines and medical remedies that were popular in different times throughout history. Anywho. :)

In the kitchen, there were Beefeaters playing traditional instruments and talking about them. I didn't have a very good view, but I still managed to snag some photos.

That's not real meat, by the way. There were tons and tons of displays in the kitchen...sound effects as well. There was even a part where you could see a fake meat pie filling being prepared in a huge cauldron and they actually had the smell of it wafting through the air. That was really bizarre. :)

Next stop, the kitchen shop. We are huge suckers for gift shops. We don't necessarily buy a lot of stuff...we just love checking them out. But here, we snagged a bottle of mead, some lemon curd made from an Elizabethan recipe (for when I get this bad boy), and some bramble berry & honey jam. (We have some growing in the backyard and I'm curious as to how it tastes...I don't know what the American equivalent is.)

The girls got some lollipops and Noodle got a peppermint stick. The coolest find was, by far, Colin's leather & pitch tankard. Lemme go take a photo of it real quick.

Hang on...

Ok I'm back. Here it is.

Colin tried it out on Monday night and announced. "Mmmmm....pitchy." :)

He had a hard time deciding between this one and THIS ONE. :) Whew!!

Next we headed outside. Sunday was an incredibly dry day. It was scorching hot and we were on the last day of an 8 day streak with no rain. (A record for these parts? I dunno.) Anyway, we were baking alive, so Colin sat down on a bench to rest for a minute, rearrange the stroller, and re lather the kidlets in sunscreen.

I headed down to the fountain.

And then I walked around it and found a mama duck.

AWWWW!!! This makes me want to grow chickens just so I can hold baby chicks.

Then I walked back to towards the bench and I was spotted by the Noodle.

MOMMY!!!!

getting closer....

hahahha. Not really. Zoom out.

Ah, here she is...

We walked back towards the castle. See the two large pedestal lamps on the pillars? We're on our way there to see the Privy garden. Stopped to snap a pic of the train that goes around the grounds. (complete with tour)

And here we are in the garden. This is just the left side.

Walking down the central path, looking left.

At the end of the path, we turned around and Colin snapped a pic pf me and my girlies....ahhhh. :)

See the baroque facade?

Now, who put that in there!???!

On the right side of the garden there is a tunnel which you haven't seen yet. We headed towards that and the girls saw a rainbow and flipped out. So we had to take a photo of it.

Back towards the tunnel.

Ahhh....doesn't that feel nice and cool? I could have stayed in here all afternoon. That's me at the far end...that tiny coral dot. :)

Ok, now we're out of the tunnel and heading towards the pillars again. See the sundial? We just finished a loop of the garden. Try to keep up with Noodle.

Stopped at the pillars and took one last shot of the garden. You can see the tunnel in the top right corner.

Here comes the (t)rain again...

hahahahaha. Sorry,. I just had to.

We then turned away from the train and continued along the side of the house. (This is the more baroque part)

Next, we headed into what they call the "Wilderness". I had to laugh...cuz the "wilderness" was essentially a gorgeous field filled with thousands of daffodils and 4 hundred year old trees...and paths...and benches....and ice cream shops. :) Oh, and a cafe....and on and on. :)

At the far end of the "wilderness" is a hedge maze which dates from the 17th century. It's in amazing condition and we had a blast walking/running/making faces through it. The goal is to find the center and then there is a quick exit out the side.

My wonderful family who made my Mother's Day so so special. I <3 them!

Look! A piggy!

Ah...we finally found the center. At first Lara was leading us and every single choice she made led us to a dead end. We were really hot so after a while we told Lara to choose and then we'd head down the opposite path. Sorry, honey, but you're no navigator. :)

Don't really know what this dial was for...it was all whackadoo and spinning wildly. ???

After that we walked around the gardens some more...admired the climbing roses, the allium, and the grape vines.

Outside the palace there is a phone booth. I'm sure the British are like "What is up with the phone booth fascination!?!?" But like I've said before, everything in England is frickin' adorable. And red is a rockin' color, yo. So, yeah...that's it. It's just plain cute.

After we walked away from the palace, Colin had the brilliant idea that we should snag some Indian take out and have a picnic in the shade. So he went to the grocery store and then found a spot across the river from where we had our first picnic and I went to an Indian joint down the street and ordered some lamb Korma, naan, and pilau rice. We ate and put our toes in the cool grass and then the kiddos walked around for a bit. By this time it was after 7 pm and we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us.

Just after we packed up the picnic, Colin surprised me with a new necklace. :) It was seriously a sweet day. And then Lara said. "awwww...she hugs...and then she cries...."

Needless to say, Monday morning was a really hard morning. We were all dragging ourselves out of bed. But we had an amazing time and I am so happy we got to go.

If you made it this far, congratulations! Thanks for coming along with me on all my countless little trips. I hope you enjoyed the tours! Ciao, all!

gibraltar point 27 april 08

Gibraltar Point was something we thought we'd love. Going to the coast and dipping our toes in the sea... All was fine til about a half hour before we got there. The rain and the wind set in and it really made for a crummy day. It was just uncomfortable enough to make us want to leave. We did get to see the nature preserve and lots of birds and some really neat landscape. It reminded me a lot of Carmel, CA. Both places has a rugged, sorta wild look to them, not the typical beachy look.

We had even brought along a picnic lunch and were bummed that we weren't going to be able to enjoy our tasty sandwiches on the beach. Oh well.

I tried to find the timer on my cam, but I totally forgot where it was. :)So we got two separate shots of the family.

From the shore, we walked back towards the information center.

And let's just stop here and talk about Mia for a second. I love my daughters. I love them all very much. They just all have a different way about them. Like, take this incident for example. Noodle has fallen. Where is Mia?

Mia is looking at me.

And Lara, the ever-helpful one, is picking Noodle off the ground from her recent splat.

Now Mia is making a pig nose.

It's contagious!!!

Ok, so we found a bench and Noodle had to try it out. This is her saying "cheese".

Then she ran up to me and pretended like she was going to kiss me and then darted out of range.

So, we keep on walking. And lo and behold, Noodle falls again. (This happens quite frequently, ya know.) I don't think I have ever caught a child "mid-fall" on camera before. So anyway, let's see what happens shall we?

Oh there's sweet little Lara being the best big sister a mommy could ask for.

Mia has not yet moved. Nor has she acknowledged the fact that the baby has fallen on her face.

Oh wait...she's on the move...

Wait Mia...you're walking past the accident.

Ah....she was just getting into another perspective.

Ah! Now she joins them.

Gosh, I love this photo. I just looooove it!

So, Colin and I get a little closer and we have a bit of a meeting in the path. Noodle is coming to greet me.

This is "CH"

and this is "EESE"

We went to the information center and they had a little gift shop. We bought some lemon drops and headed out behind the center to see the "river". It was lookin' a bit low. (Colin took these, by the way.)

We then strapped Noodle in to make our way back to the car. She hated it even with a homemade white chocolate & macadamia nut cookie. Hmph.

And that was it. That was our day at the sea. It wasn't quite as impressive as I had hoped....I think we just need to find some better shorelines. Dover sounds nice.

Besides, Gibraltar Point is mostly a bird watching place. We were, by far, the youngest people there and we didn't have binoculars the size of brooms, so we just didn't fit in. Long live bird watching! Cuckoo ca choo! :)

canola oil 22 april 08

All around our village, there are fields and fields of rapeseed. It's used in making canola oil. I'd never known what it was and had assumed it was mustard. Turns out, rapeseed is in the mustard family. Whodathunkit?

So, we went for a walk along one of the roads that Colin takes to work. It was so pretty.

I love Noodle's face in this. And I love that she's playing with Colin's ear. Priceless.

And the view of our little village as we were walking back to it. :)

amalgamation

Lots of goodies today! First up, my collaboration kit with my awesome friend, Liz, of Paislee Press! This collab has been talked about for YEARS, and I am so happy that it's actually here! We make a pretty darn good team!

And for a limited time, you can grab 2 fabulous quick pages for absolutely free! Click HERE to purchase ZIPPY HIPPY. :) Here's a bit of a better peek at the papers:

They are seriously yummy! I am so in love with the colors!

I'm getting back into the groove around here. Even when I leave for just a couple of days, it takes me a bit to get back into the swing of things. I wish I could hit the ground running, but apparently I need more time to decompress than most. :) Here are some photos from my adventures of being a supermom wannabe.

Almost every day for lunch, the kidlets and I consume rice and kimchi. It's a habit. So, I smell like hot, pickled cabbage and so do the wee ones. We can't help ourselves. Even the Noodle partakes of the goodness. She calls kimchi, "chim chim" and it the cutest thing ever. And since we've discovered furikake, the kids would eat this stuff for every meal if we let them. Furikake is a topping you sprinkle on your rice and they should change the name to "CONDIMENT HEAVEN". As if I really needed to be more enamored of Japanese food!

Yesterday, I prepared the kidlets their bento lunch, but it wasn't really photo worthy. Today's was rather purdy, though, so I snapped a quick pic of it.

Of course, I have to make 3 on Thursdays. Noodle goes to school all day, so I packed her a diminutive version. We'll call it "Le Petit Bento" since I'm still rather fresh off the plane from France. All I need is a beret and a jumpsuit and I can pretend I work on the assembly line at the Ford factory in France. Do they even have a Ford factory in France? Oui? Non? Hmmmm?

In about an hour, my kiddos will be chowing down on yogurt with fresh strawberries, blueberries and Cheerios, a mini Caprese salad with fresh basil, little garlic bread pretzel things, and apple butter on whole wheat PLUS bread. The PLUS is important, as you know. PLUS is very good for you. I tried to give them more food, but they literally can't eat it all. This may be a way for me to buy much cuter, much smaller bento boxes. (Of course, this conflicts with my self-induced budget...sigh..) And the girls have told me that their lunches are a great intrigue in the lunchroom. Everyone wants to know what they've brought every day. Pretty cool huh? Being different is apparently...cool. And I have to give mad props to my daughters for not only taking furikake to school, but reveling in their lunch glory like madwomen as well.

So, after I dropped them all off at school, I had a lovely, leisurely walk back home all by my lonesome. The garbage men had just emptied my trash can, so I grabbed that and headed to my backyard to deposit it. On the way there, though, was evidence of what I believe to be our first domestic homicide.

Oh the poor poor birdy. I hope against hope that this bird is OK somewhere. I am a wuss. Then I realied that the garden was lookin' pretty cheerful, so I ran inside to grab my camera. I took a photo of the crime scene. (A silent moment for the bird, please.)

Thank you. :)

Let's take a stroll through my backyard shall we?

Ah, that's nice. Such a beautiful day. Hardly a cloud in the sky. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day! Thursdays are my days off, so I'm outta here. Lots of fun, non-puter stuff I want to do. Ciao, all!

whew!

Next time, seriously, I am taking the train. It would cost just as much, but the trek wouldn't be nearly as long! I had an awesome time, just being in the moment and enjoying the company of new and old friends. I took not one photo. Not a one. Not til about an hour before I left. :)

My Kimmy. In her class, gearing up for a fabulous scrap lesson. I miss her so much already! I had so much fun pal-ing around with these guys, though!

On Friday, I arrived late into town and the girlies were all in the city eating dinner, so I went around the corner from our hotel to grab a bite to eat and wait for them. The waiter was bringing me complimentary drinks which I will gladly blame for the moment when I burst out of the restaurant and into the street upon seeing my peeps walk by the window! I exploded through the door and yelled something to the effect of "HEY YOU HOT AMERICAN CHICKS!!" They all then turned around and then Kim came barreling at me at breakneck pace and then I got to hug on Cori and I also got to meet Tena Sprenger and Laurie Stamas. The other gals were pooped, so Kim came back with me into the 'straunt while I paid my bill and gathered my slushy self. We got back into the hotel and in our search for Cori, I got to meet Amy Hanna and Pam Garrison. My jaw literally dropped when I realized I was meeting Pam. :) I am a total nerd and we all know how giddily and overwhelmingly impressed I get when meeting celebs. I'm a class act, alright. The gals had to get up at dawn to be at the convention center, so we all headed to bed. It took me forever to fall asleep. By this time it was 12:30 am and my blood was thick with adrenaline.

Saturday morning, Laurie, Amy, Cori and I met in the breakfast room and noshed and chatted before we headed out to the flea markets. We took the metro to the outskirts of town and settled in for a packed morning of treasure-seeking. I kinda wasn't feeling it, though. The things we found were beautiful and adorable and downright amazing, but the prices were just too rich for my blood. I was really hoping to come home with a painting, but the still life I found (which was gorgeous with its cool blues and blood red fruit) was 800 euros. There was no way I could justify getting it. I did pick up a necklace from a lady who had a bunch of vintage jewelry displayed. The one I got isn't old, but I really like it.

We saw amazing garden ornaments, huge onion dome bird cages, atrociously priced paintings and every kind of knick knack and collectible you could imagine. But seriously, the prices are just whackadoo right now. I did, however, pick up some letterpress stamps.

While Cori and Amy ventured off to another market, Laurie and I headed inside to a pizzeria for warmth and liquid sustenance. We had some seriously yummy pizza and quattro formaggi. Laurie and I hit it off amazingly and I am so glad I got to meet her. Talk about an amazing group of women! After a couple of hours, Cori and Amy moseyed on back to us and we all shared a bottle of vino before heading back to the metro. Not before we stopped and perused a handbag shop, though. Priorities, right? :)

We finally got back to our hotel and Laurie and I headed to the market to grab some snackies (i.e. 5 bottles of vin, baguettes, soft cheeses, salami, grissini and water) because it had been unanimously decided that we would dine-in tonight. Amy wasn't feeling well, so she went to her room and literally crashed. Laurie went to freshen up and I changed and then headed to Cori's room. I'm sure Cori just wanted to take a nap, but I, being the oblivious hanger-on that I am, parked my tush on her bed and chatted to no end. We had fun chatting about Franch stuff and we cracked open the wine and grissini. Laurie was taking entirely too long (what were you doing, Laurie!!?!?!) so Cori texted her and then she came down with Tena. The big girls showed up around then from their long day of teaching and Cori and I greeted Kimmy with a picnic spread out on her lovey blankie on the bed. She was happy about the wine...prolly not so happy about the crumbs. ;) After everyone got settled in, we ate and chatted until late at night. Much laughter was heard, stories shared, advice given. It was heavenly. Laurie has a stack of quotes, though, that would make yer mama slap ya! Apparently we are quite a naughty bunch of girls! If those quotes pop up somewhere, I'll be sure to share them. Kim also played around with her Flip and there are some seriously good laughs on that thing. And all I can say is..."no comment." ;) After the people in the next room pounded on the wall, we tried to keep it down, but it just wasn't going to happen. So, we whispered and giggled and said our goodnights and headed off to bed.

Sunday morning, I woke up bright and early to head over to Parc Floral with Kim, Tena and Pam to help hang out and spend some time with them. All three of them loaded me down with goodies and I am sooo grateful. I have so much yummy stuff to play with! Kim played around with my camera and tried to get some decent headshots of me, but I am seriously the most obnoxious person to take pictures of. Just ask Kim. I end up doing things like this:

Kim actually had to revert to her time-tested kid mode in order to get me to cooperate. This consisted of talking about poop and farts. Seriously, I'm taht bad. i have no idea what to do on the other side of the lens. I just freeze and then I start to make faces. I am 3.

So after some coffee and chatting, I had to head out in order to catch my flight. I had to leave early, because there was a marathon going on at the time and I had no idea how I was going to cross it. So, I hugged on Tena and Pam and told them how happy I was to met them and then I gave Kim one last hug and had to skedaddle before the tears really started to fall. I missed Cori, Amy, and Laurie by about an hour, but Pam let me text them to say goodbye. I hope they had a lovely day. :) I headed over to the marathon I had to cross and waited almost 10 minutes before a sufficient lull came along for me to cross through. I don't run. I sorta prance and hop. So, I underestimated the time it would take me to cross the street and almost got run over by some very determined joggers. The police, however, were laughing at me. :)

So, I got to the hotel, threw all my crap in my bag and high-tailed it outta there. The trek home was awful and really really long. My flight was delayed 2 hours and then when we finally got to Heathrow, we sat on the runway for almost an hour before they finally let us get into the terminal. And apparently I was lucky just to get a British Airways flight yesterday. Colin said that over 140 flights were canceled yesterday. Whew!

Just getting out of Heathrow is a huge mess. I swear I walked a mile from the gate to the baggage claim area. And when I got there, the floor was literally covered with baggage. As far as the eye could see, there were suitcases all around. I'm sooo glad my bag was still on the belt and I found it pretty quickly. So, from Heathrow, i have to take a 45 minute train into King's Cross and from there I have to take an hour train to gt home. I arrived right on time and Colin and the girls wee there to pick me up. They were all soooo sweet and happy and the girls couldn't stop kissing and hugging me. Noodle literally had her lips pressed to mine and would not back off. :)

When we got home, I gave them their gifts from Kim and they squealed and went nuts over their new outfits. Noodle insisted that I tie her ribbon on her head and she went to sleep with it on. I took it off of her when she fell asleep, so this morning, she had it in her hands and was asking me to tie it back on for her. And then we had breakfast.

So that's about it. We have to leave in an hour for a playdate and then I've got some unpacking and laundry to do. I cam home to a spotless house which was such a treat! Colin really spoils me. :) I've gotta dash! Ciao, all!

VEP only

Yesterday, very spur of the moment like, we decided to head to London to see the British Museum. Specifically the China's Terracotta Army they have on display there now. Taking the kidlets to a museum is so much better than taking them for a walk downtown. Both are crowded and nerve-wracking, but we just feel more at home in a museum. :) So, we got mentally prepared for the 5 hours of traveling we'd have to do to get there and back and we headed out.

The British Museum~

Just inside the front foyer~

Snapped a quick cute one of Mia~

Cool modern "rock" sculpture~

VEP. Not VIP. Very EARLY People.

The advance tickets for the Terracotta Army are completely sold out (we had no idea0 and the only way you can get a ticket now is the be in line at the museum at 9 am. That would mean we would have to leave at 6 just to be there. We may do it before the exhibit close. But I seriously don't think we have it in us to be there that early. However, they do have a display outside the exhibit (a teaser, if you will) of little soldiers that were created by little museum visitor tikes in October. So, this is as close as we got to them. sigh...

We perked up quickly, though. Found the Rosetta Stone. (which we'd forgotten was housed here)

Made our way over to the Greek antiquities. This is a temple front (I think) of a temple that was in Lycia.

Then we headed into the Parthenon Galleries. Although I wish these friezes could be intact and on the Parthenon itself, I'm grateful to be able to see them up close.

Of course the Greeks want them back, but that's the way the cookie crumbles in the whole "finders keepers" industry that was 18th century archeology. ;)

Then Colin snapped this sweet one of me and Lara and Mia. I love this one. :)

Then we headed on over to the art and costumes of the Andes. Salute!

After that, we headed up many, many stairs to the Korean exhibits.

I so wish I could turn some of these into patterned papers. :)

This is an antique game of paduk from the 18th century. sooo cool. :)

They had a replica of a Korean house, too, which I thought was neato burrito.

Next up was the Egyptian mummy collection.

Noodle was itchin' to get out of her stroller, so Colin gave her a ride and showed her the sights.

I had no idea that Cleopatra was on display in the British Museum, so this was a pleasant surprise. This is the cover of her tomb~

And this is her mummy. I'm not sure why her head is so grandiose. Maybe they mummified her with one of her massive wigs on? May have to investigate this bit of history.

Then we headed over to the Greek pottery section. They also had a bit of sculpture and statuettes on display. This one is of Zeus being pulled by a 4-horse chariot. 300-200BC

Small terracotta statues of women from 270-200BC. Love that they still have paint on them. Almost all ancient sculptures were covered in paint and jeweled for decoration, but I've yet to see any of that in tact. So, this was a nice surprise.

Roman "Good Luck" rings from 1st-3rd centuryAD. There are sooo many jokes and off-color things I could say. But a picture's worth a thousand words, so I'll leave it at that. ;)

A coin from the reign of Elizabeth I. I thought this was pretty neat.

We took a break and had a snack in the foyer.

Then we headed over to the gift shops to see what we could find of interest.

Then we went back into the Persian section to take another peek at the exhibits.

And by this time we were thoroughly exhausted, so we decided to head home. Noodle was kinda cranky and wanted to walk around, so we let them walk in Russell Square for a while to stretch her legs Love this shot~

So, that was our day yesterday. Today is absolutely gorgeous, so we're heading outside to get some much needed yard work done. Mowing, raking, weeding...ya know...the fun stuff. :) I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Ciao, all. :)

oh goody!

Some new fun stuff up in my store at Oscraps. If you didn't get a chance to snag these papers during Oscraps' birthday party, you can still get them!

You can purchase Definitely Dotty HERE.

I also have a new Fashion District paper pack out today.

You can purchase Fashion District2 HERE.

I also made a layout today (along with 50 thousand other things). My buddy Liz sent me some amazing photos from when I visited her in LA and I just had to scrap my favorite. (And it was hard to pick a favorite!)

Everything in this layout is from her shop at Oscraps. I just love this kit. :) It makes me happy. And the layout is actually a template form my friend, Jen. Check out her shop! :)

Other than that, just trying to get a bunch of things crossed off my "to do" list. The Songbird Avenue April kit will be debuted soon, so we're working feverishly to get all that finished and ready for you guys. Busy, busy as usual. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday! Ciao!