birthdays can be fun afterall

I was lucky enough to get a birdhouse (yes, a birdhouse!) for my birthday. It's vintage-y looking, and I love it! Just have to decide which room it will go in, and if I want to attempt to spray it white...(I wanted to title this post "make a little birdhouse in your soul", I know my dear friend Katherine would've appreciated that

; ) Cal came into my bedroom very early the next morning (not having seen me open the present) and asked excitedly, "Are we getting a bird??" Um, no.

I also have a lovely watch on my wrist for the first time in ???? I am excited that when I want to know what time it is, or when someone asks me for the time, I can simply glance at my wrist instead of fumbling for my cell phone.

Thanks Mom, Dad, and Maria for great birthday presents!!

Speaking of birthdays, a certain little someone will be two in less than two weeks. Time DOES fly.

I also spent a chunk of my evening looking for AWESOME & unique birthday party ideas for a certain little someone who will be 7 on the 7th of January...thinking a princess themed party with friends might be in order!! Not sure I want to attempt it on my own. It'd be so much easier to just go somewhere, but cheaper to stay home and make tutus : )

Door County--photo loaded post!

Instead of taking a big trip, we opted for a smaller getaway over my birthday. Perhaps in winter we will have the chance to go somewhere warmer and for longer. Door County was the perfect little place for a quick last minute break. It's only a 3 hours drive from Milwaukee. If you are one who loves fall and you haven't been there, you must!! While we went a bit after peak time (leaves changing colors) it was still nice and there was still some color. There's several state parks for hiking; we liked Peninsula State Park the best. Mike made fun of me for taking SO many pictures, but I love fall so much!! And I'm still having fun learning tricks with my camera. There are numerous tours you can take; we did a lighthouse tour and a haunted Door County tour (they also have a wine tasting, haunted pub tour, and a culinary tour, to name a few). It's been dubbed the Cape Cod of the Midwest. There's lots of yummy dining choices, too. We loved Trio, Trattoria del Santo, and The White Gull Inn. There are NO chain restaurants or hotels (except in Sturgeon Bay, in very southern Door County). There are several famous celebs who visit Door County--Kevin Costner apparently loves it, even tried to buy a private island there (but zoning restrictions prohibited him from building the large house he wanted) so he instead built in Minoqua. There are several athletes that visit or own properties up there. Lombardi loved a golf course up there. I highly recommend you visit--with lots of shops, cute towns like Sister Bay, Fish Creek, & Ephraim, parks, lakefront, and apple and cherry orchards galore--you won't be disappointed!!

We stopped in Green Bay for lunch at Curly's Pub in Lambeau Field. Great appetizers, meal not so great.

Lambeau Field!!

On our hike through Peninsula State Park.

One of many orchards/wineries in the area.

Happy birthday to me, celebrating with a piece tiramisu

On the ghost tour we went to the supposedly haunted Thorpe House...look at the left side of the photo...ghostly apparition or not?!?! I know the whole photo is blurry, but plenty of people on our tour were fascinated by this photo I took while we were in one of the rooms.

We stopped by this little place for ice cream. Even though it was really rather chilly out.

At one of several lighthouses.

Another lighthouse.

A butterfly I caught a pic of while we were walking.

At the top of one of the lighthouses.

Another lighthouse. I love lighthouses.

Inside one of the lighthouses...pretty much left the way it had been from WAY back when. See the stick-like thing toward the footboard of the bed?? They would turn it and it would tighten the ropes of the bed, and this is where the phrase, "Sleep tight!" came from. Learn something new every day!!

On one of our hikes.

The fallen leaves...so pretty!

winning

I was lucky enough to get asked by a friend to tag along to game 5 Brewers vs. Diamondbacks. We were in the Air Tran zone (directly behind Corey Hart!). One of the clinics/companies she works for supplies physical trainers/therapists for the Brewers (my friend is a Nurse Practitioner). I must confess I felt a wee bit like a dud since I was hanging with a bunch of docs, N.P.'s, and other highly educated peeps.

Buffet, free drinks, and a WIN. It. Was. AWESOME.

creativity part 2

This is the destination album I made to use for Colorado way back when for a class I taught. I definitely have to do pre-made albums more often. It was fun to make the stuff "fit" and to add stuff & pages! I pretty much finished day one (have to type up some journaling)...and probably fit 100+ more pictures. Not sure how that will work. May have to reprint some pics wallet sized! Don't mind the glare on the photos...Walgreens accidentally printed glossy finish for me. Grrrrrr. I didn't want to reprint or wait for new photos.

creativity part 1

I got less than 13 hours of sleep between Thursday and Sunday. But it was by choice, and definitely worth it. I needed some time away!

I went scrapbooking for the first time in a L-O-N-G time. I didn't get a ton done, but I'm proud of what I did!

For the past several weeks I've been hard at work organizing and rearranging my scrap stuff. I have a whole room dedicated to the stuff upstairs...but it spent most of the time in the laundry room (by the back door, most convenient!) I had a post drafted to show the disaster, but just couldn't get myself to post pics of the disaster. I did something daring--I separated almost all my paper and stickers and stuff. I was always a stickler for keeping everything "together" (if I bought paper and stickers from the same company and release, I kept them together). I was nervous as I've never been one to mix it up very much. And while I only have 6 pages to show for it, I have to say the new system was golden. I used stuff that I've had forever and stuff I would've never normally put together. Now if I can just get more time in a day to do some more...

Here's a look at the pages I did.

old Sassafrass scraps & stickers, October Afternoon smiley button & letter stickers, Jillibean canvas & corrugated flower, Jenni Bowlin butterfly sticker

Bella paper, old and new Crate chipboard & stickers, My Mind's Eye tag

I used mist for the first time in my life on this page. I'm not sure I'm a mist kind of person. I see other people do it, and it's so cute...but it frustrated me. The cute tiny circles kind of happened by accident--after punching the circle border all the tiny pieces fell on my page. It looked so cute and I remember seeing it on a page elsewhere. So I glued them on! A tedious task. But cute nonetheless.

Bella chip letters, stickers, & paper, Doodlebug border sticker, Bo Bunny paper, Amy Tangerine fabric paper, Thicker letters, Fancy Pants chipboard, We R tag, Elle's studio tag

Jillibean stickers, die cuts, paper, and pin; Bella sticker, October Afternoon Stickers and paper, Imaginisce ribbon, Thickers and Pink Paislee letters, Love Elsie & Bazzill border

Scrap Within Reach paper, October Afternoon card and letters, Bella, Basic grey, & Webster's Pages letters; October Afternoon card & sticker, Scenic Route chipboard, Jillibean corrugated star, Jenni Bowlin ticket

My personal favorite of the weekend : ) maybe because I just took the pic last week!

My Mind's Eye paper & tag, Authentique paper, Crate paper, buttons, and sticker borders, Dear Lizzie chipboard and button, Little Yellow Bicycle card, Maya Road ribbon & jewel, October Afternoon stickers

Go me : )

Tomorrow I will post the Colorado album...I finished scrappin' day one of my trip!!