Stoop Storytelling Fun

This evening I attended the Stoop Storytelling event at Everyman Theatre, and I just have to say that it was funnier than I had even imagined it would be.  The theme of the evening - since the Everyman is currently doing Noises Off - was The Show Must Go On.  So all 8 performers told a story about doing live theatre.  Some were actors, and some were crew but all 8 were hysterically funny.  

During intermission, the organizers chose 2 volunteers and gave them 3 minutes to tell their own stories. In instances like this, these volunteers are often not so great. However, the 2 gentlemen that told their stories, were as funny as the performers themselves.  They could not have been better chosen for the evening.

All in all, I came away in awe of these performers, and a little jealous that they have the nerve to do something like this while I do not.  Even if I could overcome the massive amount of stage fright I have, I wouldn't have a clever story to tell.  Maybe I'll work on that piece of the puzzle first.  That seems a lot easier than overcoming the fear of people in general...

AVAM Fun

I've lived in Maryland my entire life, and sometimes I think I've been living under a rock this entire time.  There are so many places in this state that I've just never explored.  I'm hoping to change that this year.  First up is the American Visionary Arts Museum.  This super cool museum is located in downtown Baltimore and I'm thinking quirky would be the best way to describe its installations.  I've only ever been inside once, but I honestly don't remember the outside being as awesome as it is.  I was early meeting friends for a wine fest today, so I took a few minutes to wander around the museum's outdoor crafts and fell in love with all the art. Can't wait to get back and actually go inside this time!

Can you just imagine how cool this building would be in the sunlight rather than clouds?

Obligatory AVAM Selfie

Street Art!

This is the inside of the glass tree above - so cool!

Life, Lately

Focusing on: Writing a lot.  I've been working to create a portfolio of work on clippings.me which is a cool little site.  I'm not sure I totally get the technology yet, but I've been playing around quite a bit with it, and tweaking things here and there.  So far, so good.  Now if I could make myself not get too bogged down with the details - like I have for the last hour or so...

Crafting: I'm still going strong on Project Life.  Up until this point, my motto has been "get it done." But now that I have a process, I'm starting to focus on quality of pages not so much quantity of photos.  I'm still really enjoying it.  I definitely like some pages more than others, but it's a pretty accurate representation of 2017 right now.  For the record, there's a pretty good amount of griping about Donald Trump - so I'm pretty sure that's what makes it accurate in regards to 2017...

Reading: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in preparation for seeing it next month in New York.  So far, I'm a much bigger fan of this book than I was of Matilda.  But then again, I'm only 20 pages in.

Listening: I'm hooked on Dear Evan Hansen, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Newsies and Come From Away right now.  I know what you're thinking.  A psychiatrist could probably gain a lot of insight from that particular collection of music. But the music is just so good!

Buying: BroadwayCon tickets - woohoo!  I'd say I can't wait, but BroadwayCon 2018 is in January, so I'm not really all about wishing my summer, fall and Christmas away.  Train ticket to NYC for a change in my mode of transportation.  I keep putting it off because the $100 price tag seems like a lot when compared to the cheap-o tickets from Megabus.

Eating: Chocolate Marshmallow and Chocolate Buttercream eggs from the Amish Market that are so darn delicious they should be illegal.  And leftover Lasagna from Easter made by Chef Dad which was pretty much the best food I've ever eaten!  So yummy!

Formulating: I have so many ideas and plans in my head for the future that it's often difficult to focus on the present.  Also, it's hard to pick the best ones to focus on.  But I'm trying. Because - and I'm not just saying this because they're mine - some of these ideas are really good.  I just need to figure out a way to execute them. And I need to be able to sucker some friends that get excited about these things too, to come along with me.

Fabulous & Fun

This weekend was full of all sorts of wonderful things - new things that I've never liked and old things that I always love.  Basically it was a wonderful weekend!

As I said on Friday, I went to see Rent and fell back in love with this beautiful show.  It makes me cry every single time, and yet I still go back for more.  This time around it was a little different.  What always makes me cry, made me cry but once I started I couldn't stop. Some of the songs just hit me harder than usual.  But by the end I was smiling again - through my tears of course.

Then on Saturday, I woke up early to volunteer at the Annapolis Film Festival.  I don't even like films, but for some reason I thought it might be fun, which is strange in and of itself, since chatting with people that I don't know has often been called my nightmare.  But this weekend I discovered something.  Chatting with new artsy people is super fun.  The people that were volunteering with me were positively lovely.  We chatted about theatre, travel, movies, food and everything in between for a good 6 hours.  And it was wonderful.  I was actually sad when it was time to leave, that I hadn't signed up for another block of time.

After that, it was off to paint pottery on Main Street in Annapolis.  Now, painting is definitely not my craft of choice, but I had such a great time.  The best part of this studio is that they don't charge for a sit fee.  After some hemming and hawing, I finally decided on a candy dish that I then painted in a Falsettos-inspired motif.  I loved it before it baked and I'm super excited to see it next week after it gets fired. 

After a busy Saturday, Sunday was spent with family and friends eating the absolute best Mexican food and chocolate-coconut cake.  Like I said, it was a pretty much fabulous weekend and I'm hoping plenty of wonderful weekends like this are in my future!

Save the NEA!

Since this morning, I've been thinking about the arts a lot and the national endowment of the arts.  You can probably guess why.  Because our ridiculously hard headed commander in chief has decided that the NEA is unworthy of money in his current budget - but weekend trips to Mar a Lago that cost $3 million a pop are worthy of this funding.  Funny how that works.  I'd rather not pay my taxes and use that money to go to London each month but it seems that's illegal for me...

Anyway, since hearing this news about the NEA budget, all I've been thinking about is one particular Toby Ziegler rant from West Wing.  It's fairly perfect!  Toby gets what PBS stands for in the lives of kids.  Not to mention what it means to adults.  PBS is completely free entertainment for kids and adults alike.  Why would you cut something that has taught most of the population how to count and spell and create?  

On top of PBS, the NEA does so much more than that.  It's providing an outlet for artists and creators to make beautiful things.  How is that not important in today's world where the state of things is less than beautiful?  I'm sure President Trump's precious hotels and residences wouldn't be quite as "gorgeous" (I'm putting that in quotes, because his affinity for gold things is definitely not in my taste...) without designers, and decorators. In other words, artists.

Sometimes, the arts is all kids and adults have as an outlet.  In turn, these people sharing their art with the world is their way of giving back, which makes the world a richer and more creative place.  Who in their right mind would want to live in a less imaginative world?  

I just don't understand.  I get needing to cut the budget.  It's a necessary evil.  But when our very own president isn't willing to cut down his spending on things he finds beautiful, why should we have to?

Friday Five

1. This is a weird one that I just realized I liked this week. I like reading cool books. I don't mean cool in regards to the story itself - though that's important, obviously.  I mean the book itself being cool.  Stay with me here.  I'm currently reading Lena Dunham's "Not That Kind of Girl."  And it's a very, very good book of essays, which it looks like from the outside. However, inside there are cutesy little doodles, and cartoons.  It's totally girly, but you'd never know it from the outside.  So I realized, cool design features like that makes some books even cooler.  Does that make any sense whatsoever?

2. After months of putting it off, I've finally watched the fourth and final episode of Gilmore Girls.  And though I'm still angry about the last 4 words of the series, I'm willing to give it a solid B+.  Lauren Graham was outstanding as expected, and the wedding was fabulous.  But I think it lasted just a wee-bit too long and like I said, the last 4 words made me irrationally angry.  Mostly because the last 4 words were technically only 3 words.  But also, the 3 words were not what I would have ended with.  But they do leave the door open for yet another Netflix run in the near future, so let's go ladies!  Get a move on!

3. I found this watercolor shop on Twitter earlier this week, because Jenny Colgan re-tweeted her.  It turns out that the artist was so taken by Neal the Puffin in Jenny's books, that she started painting him into her artwork.  I totally visited her shop to see the Neal paintings, but I fell just as head-over-heels with her paintings of the seaside towns of England.  So fun I'm having a hard time deciding which one to purchase.

4. Duck Tales were never my thing, but have I mentioned lately how much I adore David Tennant? : )
           

5. This is the face of a man who understands just how cool it is that he's getting to hang out on Sesame Street!

I. Am. So. Happy. Today. Thank you Sesame Street for this magic day and for the memories both old and new. 🍪 pic.twitter.com/yaOg1LDslG

— josh groban (@joshgroban) March 2, 2017

Just a Tiny Bit More Project Life

As I said last night, I had some issues getting good pictures of my spreads for Project Life.  It turns out that tonight was no better.  I have pictures, but they are most definitely not as lovely as I had hoped, so don't judge...

So this is it, so far.  I'm noticing now that I tend to repeat items and embellishments quite a bit, but they're super cute so I'm ok with it.  Some of my favorites are:

In a Creative Bubble Journal cards - I love her style and each time she releases new stock, I must buy at least one set of her super-duper adorable journal cards.

My Emoji journal cards from Studio Calico - I mean, who doesn't love a good emoji?

Hearts - I use heart stickers an embarrasing number of times...

Washi Tape - This stuff is addictive and it doesn't help that Hobby Lobby has it on sale almost every week

Font Candy+: This great app adds text and cool graphics to pictures right from my phone.

Zig Writer: My favorite pen for all my scrapbooking needs.  

 I love this one mostly because this so far has been my favorite thing I've done in 2017 so far.  

 But this layout is my favorite.  Not sure why, probably because it has lots of pink.

To Paint Night or Not to Paint Night

A few months ago, I railed a bit about Paint Nights.  I mean, they seem to be the new It thing to do for crafty people who like to drink.  I'm a crafty person, but the drinking thing is not something I need.  So paying $45 to learn how to paint from someone who says things like "well I painted the flower like this, but you can do it any way you want..." and then paying for drinks as well, is sort of not my thing.  I mean, if the expert painter is just going to tell me that I can choose how to paint something, then what in the heck do I need the expert painter for?

However, I may be ready to change my mind.  This past weekend, a local high school decided to hold a paint night a a fundraiser for St. Jude's.  The event was held at the school, and the expert painter was an art student at the school.  And the design was adorable and tied back into the Cancer research theme.  They even went ahead and included a list of colors for certain cancer awareness in case you wanted to change up the color.  I chose purple because it covers all cancers. 

Also, since it was a high school, instead of drinks, we were treated to cupcakes and brownies - so much better!  I was pretty skeptical that it would be a viable fundraiser since there would be so many supplies needed, but I heard they made about $1000, which is a great start towards their goal of $5000.  So I've changed my mind, paint nights really are a great way to spend the evening - as long as there's sweets, and it's for a good cause!

December Daily: Complete!

Until about an hour ago, this madness was my kitchen table.  You see, I decided that December Daily was going to be completed this evening.  And apparently, when I put my mind to it, things get done.  Because it's done, and it's adorable - in my opinion that is, in case you were asking.

I had every intention of completing it on the go like most scrappers do.  I have huge respect for those ladies - especially the ones that finish it, then photograph it, then blog about it.  It's a massive undertaking; one that I failed miserably at.  I managed to get to Day 10 before abandoning it in favor of actually buying, wrapping, and distributing gifts.  

However, I kept track of the photos I was taking, and the stories I wanted to tell, knowing that I would definitely get back to it eventually.  I just didn't think eventually would come so soon.  I mean, I hate to say this, but last year's still isn't complete.  So I kinda figured this year would be more of the same.  But it seems organization is the key.  I had everything Christmas all set and and ready to go.  So it was only the matter of printing the photos on my handy dandy Selphy, and writing the stories on my journal cards.  Add simplicity to the list as well.  My new motto is Simple is Better - apparently it's working well for me!  

So without further ado, here are just a few of my favorite pages. (Please ignore the weird shadows and carpet background.  I finished at night, and when you finish at night, you need to photograph at night, and there's NO good light at night - at least not in my house...)

All Christmas, All the Time

This is a photographic representation of what this weekend was - All Christmas, All the time. I don't know how I do it to myself every year, but I do.  So much so that there may or may not have been a slight breakdown last night complete with tears, that may have had something to do with me wasting 4 of my 6 pounds of pecans, OR listening to the Falsettos soundtrack.  I'm not really sure which.

However, aside from the breakdown, things got done.  I finished everything on my list including a few extras that weren't actually on the list but were added because I'm literally a crazy person. Yay!  Unfortunately, there are still a few other things on the list that need to get done, but I'm feeling much better about the list than I did on Friday afternoon. Thank goodness!  

And honestly, I still LOVE Christmas! And when I see everyone on Christmas, it's pretty much worth it!

Booking It

I have this weird tendency to not listen to any music in my car.  My friends think it's beyond odd, but I argue my car time is my time.  Instead of focusing on music, I give myself a chance to think about all sorts of things - projects I want to do, books I want to read, problems I need to worry about. Hey, I didn't say it was always productive...

Anyway, during one of my car sessions the other day, I started thinking of making books and journals.  I made a few super simple ones a few months ago that I love, and I wanted to expand on them a bit.  So for some reason, I started thinking of those rinky dink brag books you get at the dollar store, and I thought that could make a super cute little journal. Then I went a step farther and thought that you could almost turn one of those into a travel journal if you included page protectors inside.  The page protectors could hold photos, or scraps of receipts or post cards that you may want to keep from your travels.  Super handy - if I do say so myself!

So after multiple car rides devoted to this topic this week, that's what I did this evening. And I sort of love the end product.  Getting there - not so much.  I first cut all the insides out because they're cheap and ugly - though that's easier said then done, because they definitely didn't cut cleanly.  I then took page protectors from a 6x8 album (2 4x6's) and folded them in half to place between each paper page. After that, I took my trusty Crop-o-dile and cut 2 holes in each section then threaded twine through them.  Herein lies the issue.  First I can't eyeball where a hole should be to save my life, so there may or may not be some extra holes in my super cute travel album.  Second, twine doesn't like to go through holes in plastic page protectors - like at all.  So that required just a wee bit of finagling.

Once the hard part was done, I cute some pretty paper and a sticker for the front.  Then popped out the ugly cover and popped in the pretty one, and I was all done.  Like I said, I do love the final product.  Because of the issue with the twine, I couldn't wrap the spine through the holes a few more times like I had hoped, so I'm not sure how sturdy it will be.  Also, I don't really journal while I travel, so I'm not sure I'll actually use it.  But that's beside the point.  In the end I have something cute, and that's what matters!

Letterpress Love

Today, after months of hemming and hawing I finally took a class in Letterpress printing at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, in Hyattsville, MD.  And I may now be hooked on the whole process!  I've never actually taken any art classes, outside of elementary school.  I usually manage to just teach myself anything I want to learn - scrapbooking, cardmaking, embossing, etc.  Sometimes it goes well, other times not so much.  

But with all the equipment you need for printing, as well me not having a clue as to what actually went into printing, I figured a class was in order.  And based on some research PAAC was the place to do it.  The center itself has apparently been around for the last 40 years but they just recently moved into this historic space in the arts district of Hyattsville, this past summer.  And as the instructor said, it's pretty much the Tardis - so much bigger on the inside!

And as if quoting Doctor Who wasn't enough to win me over, the instructor was also phenomenal at the craft of printing.  He owns his own printmaking business and sells his wares at craft shows and things, so he really knew what he was talking about.  He gave us all helpful hints and tricks and really helped us to understand why certain things happened in certain ways when printing. I highly recommend him if you're ever planning to take a class there.

The process itself, was much more in depth than I assumed it would be.  Like I said, I had no idea what I was getting into, so each step was a new and exciting thing to learn.  There's just so much that goes into setting the type correctly and deciding on what typefaces to use - making decisions; always my downfall! - and getting the ink to work just right.  It really is intense, but it's also super fun!  

What's cool about PAAC is that you can rent space there and work on the equipment whenever you want, which sounds like an awesome opportunity. But when you account for the 50 minute drive, it gets a little out of reach.  So I'm thinking I might need to invest instead to keep up with my studies - there are loads of personal letterpress machines out there that are just calling my name.  But please don't tell James, our instructor.  I mentioned that one point and I think I may have personally offended his artistic sensibility...

The final product was a run (15 cards) of whatever quote you decided to use.  In my cardmaker's brain, I thought it would be smart to jumpstart on my holiday cards.  However, I didn't account for the fact we'd all have to use the same color, and wouldn't you know that the consensus chose the least Christmasy color ever.  Anyway, I'm still a huge fan of my type choices, even if I do say so myself.  The actual printing I might not be the best at - why I couldn't get the ink uniform, I'll never know! But choosing cool fonts, I've mastered!

Friday Five

1. At this point, even I know I sound like a broken record, but I can't say it enough - Come From Away is life-changing in all the best ways!  I mean honestly, how can you not love a show and a cast that travels to the place they've been singing about for the last year, to give the residents a special concert version of the show? Just amazing!

2. I'm not sure if I've been living in the dark ages or not, but I just found eater.com this week and it's fabulous, really.  It reminds me a lot of seriouseats, but with even more food-centric content.  They have a bit more foodie news and issues too, which I really like.  For instance, this stranger than strange story on America's Test Kitchen, that seemingly gets weirder by the day!

3. This news right here, brightened my Tuesday and ruined my Wednesday.  On Tuesday when it broke that David Tennant would be appearing on the West End next year, I was more than a little excited.  I plan to be there in the summer, and seeing that tickets to The Cursed Child are non-existent, I was in the market for something to see.  Also - DAVID TENNANT!  Of course, on Wednesday morning when it was announced that the show would start in March and only run until June 10 - I was crushed!  My plan is to definitely be there after June 10.  Ugh!

4.  I finally schedule a workshop at the Pyramid Arts center and I cannot wait!  I've been dying to try one since I learned about their book-centric philosophy but the dates have been a bit of pain.  But finally, everything worked out and I'll be attending the class soon.  It's not the book binding workshop yet, but it's something equally as cool!  Hopefully I'll have my fun projects to share soon!

5. Is anyone, other than the Indians fans of course, upset that the Cubs won the World Series? I mean, their draught was so long, that I think even non-baseball fans were just hoping they'd pull out the W.  I always root for the underdog, so I was pretty happy to see it as well.  It was super fun to see the city and life-long fans celebrate their tails off!

Two Months...

I made the realization today - thanks to someone in my life who is way on top of things - that Christmas is officially 2 months (+5 days) away.  How in the heck is this possible?  I mean, it was just January 1 like a month ago.  2016 has positively flown by. 

And when I first made the realization, I was thinking of all the wonderful things that have happened this year - all the shows I've seen and all the little trips I've taken, all the fun excursions I've made and all the delicious food I've eaten.  You know - the things that really matter.  But then I went into a Christmas spiral that I couldn't jog myself out of.

Two months!  That's only 65 days to buy presents, wrap presents, bake cookies, make cards, participate in fun Christmas activities, decide on stocking stuffers, and not to mention all the birthdays in the month of December too.  That's just way too much to accomplish in 65 days! And people wonder why I'm up way past my bedtime on December 23 just trying to finish up.

I'll tell you why - Denial.  

It's how I deal with all of it.  I deny that it's super close until I can't deny it anymore.  It may not be a positive way to cope, but it's a great way to get the adrenaline pumping : )  Anyway, I'm telling myself that this year is going to be different - like I tell myself every year.  But this year I really mean it.  I actually know what I'm buying most people.  Some presents have already been made.  And the card idea is in my head.  No more denial from me.  I'm going to be the perfect Christmas fan this year, if only because after all the current events of the past 365 days, we all deserve a little Christmas spirit to pull us out of this funk!

Taking Art to the Streets

I've recently become slightly obsessed with the concept of "street art." Technically, I believe it's title used to be Graffiti.  However, nowadays we've evolved and realized this art form is very much art.  Illegal art I suppose, but art nonetheless.  I just love the idea of it.  There are so many plain concrete buildings and walls out there that could definitely use a bit of color and pizzazz.  And so many artists out there in search of a medium.  Why not kill 2 birds with one stone and start programs for murals and installations?

No one does this better than Austin.  Their street art is gorgeous and legendary.  There are tours just to see the many murals around town.  They even have a gallery called the HOPE Outdoor Gallery that's literally a bunch of concrete walls at the top of a hill, where artists can sign up to paint whatever they want.  Because of this, it's always changing.  You can go 100 times in a year, and every time there'll be a different experience because the art is just painted over and over by different artists. What an amazing idea for sustainable beauty!

There's also the mechanics of it all that's intriguing.  How in the world do these artists get to overpasses or bridges or the tops of buildings to paint? I mean, there has to be some sense of danger to it all right?  I definitely imagine people hanging upside down painting the perfect flower or tag on some overpass while cars drive down below.  Are there harnesses that they where?  Or are these artists dare devils as well?  It's all very confusing and just a wee bit magical.

Baltimore hasn't joined the street art revolution yet, but I'm hoping they will soon.  For now, Austin and NYC are my go to cities for a fix.  The bestie thinks I'm crazy, (that could have something to do with my tourettes-like outbursts of "street art!" every time I saw something from the high line...) but I'm hooked.  And quite honestly, can you think of anything better to get hooked on than something that makes gorgeous cities even prettier? And really, with all the colors and designs, is there anything that's more fun to photograph?

Life Lately...

We've now entered that tricky part of the year between the end of summer and the start of the Christmas season when it's starting to get dark early, and there's just not much happening.  I hate that time of year.  I always find it quite difficult to get motivated to craft or work or even find a book I'm hooked on long enough to complete it.  It's a real pain!

However, I've been focused on a few things that have been swimming around my brain for the last week or so.  These are those things ("dun dun" a la Law & Order - I crack myself up!)

I've been reading Miranda Hart's biography.  Now I know I've just finished gushing over her show, but I'm on a bit of a Miranda Hart kick because honestly, she's the only person that states pretty much everything I'm feeling. Like I said before, she's a 6 foot British version of me.  She's awkward and sarcastic.  She finds utterly ridiculous things funny.  She never knew what to do with her life and she still feels like she doesn't.  She's not married and doesn't have kids even though she wants both.  Hearing her say these things makes me feel like I'm not so odd.

I've also been watching a fantastic show on the CW called No Tomorrow which is about a guy that thinks the apocalypse is coming in 8 months, so he's been fulfilling his bucket list. He meets a girl that's always played by the rules and gets her to start adventuring as well.  First off, I need a guy like this in my life (especially if he's as adorable as the dude in this show...).  Second off, I need more excitement in my life - which is really nothing new.  But it bears repeating.

Lastly, I've been reading a lot about book arts and letterpress.  I'm not sure I knew they were even a thing until a few years ago, but they seem like something I should know about.  As someone with as many books as I have, you'd think I would have put 2 and 2 together to come to making books, but as it turns out I'm a little slow on the uptake. I've now found 2 printers in the Baltimore area that offers classes on these awesome art forms.  Now I just need them to post their schedule for the winter when I'm really uninspired to do anything but curl up under the covers,  so I can get my butt into gear!

So there's life lately - a life spent mostly in my head these days.  

Sunday Funday

A dreary, rainy Sunday ended up being a breezy, sunny, gorgeous day.  Unfortunately, the Ravens game that started out gorgeous, ended in the exact opposite way - in ruin against the Redskins.  Ugh!  That's why, instead of stressing, and yelling, I made these.  Aren't they cute?  The cricut, while being a major pain in the butt - with all the replacement blades, and the unstickyness of the mat and the deciding on what and how big to make things - is truly one of the coolest inventions out there.  

I just love it!  And the cartridge I used for these cards - Create a Critter 2 - is my favorite.  It's perfect for making cutesy cards, and let's face it - those are what I make the most of.  As much as I try to make fancy and gorgeous, I always come back to cutesy and fun.  And when all the little critters that you make have such adorable faces, is that really such a bad thing?!  

Crafty Saturday Night

I might have a problem...

How else would I spend a Saturday night?  The cards may be done a bit early, but I love them, and now they're done!  I was never a huge Halloween fan.  I dressed up and did the candy thing, but I hate scary and that was always the theme of Halloween.  Sometime in the last few years, the world discovered Mexico's holiday of Dia de los Muertos, and Halloween got a lot more fun and whole lot less scary!  That's when I became an October 31st fan.

Celebrating those you loved by bringing them sweets and dressing up in bright beautiful colors seems like a whole lot more fun than being scared to death by a horror film.  That's exactly why I feel the need to share my love of cute skeleton heads with everyone I know each Halloween.  I'm not sure they appreciate it, but I have fun so there's that : )

Winner Wednesday

I did exactly two marvelous things this Wednesday.  First, I had a brainstorm earlier in the afternoon to kick up my steak a bit by making green chile mayo and making steak sandwiches with that - with frizzled onions as a side.  It was fabulous and actually the first dinner I've made in a while that I actually liked!  Win number one.

And I made these

This is the very first Christmas gift that I've started and finished for 2016.  Two friends of mine went on a cool Road Trip and these will be their gifts - photos of all their awesome adventures that they don't know I have since I knicked them off Facebook.  Can't wait to give them out!  Win number 2.

I can now officially head off to bed much happier than I woke up - Hump days are hard... : )

Life Lately

Singing: The Hamilton cast album is on a constant loop in my head pretty much every day. It's just so good!

Photographing: I'm on this kick where I take lots of artsy photos of my bedazzled toes on pretty floors.  It's really ridiculous, but sometimes you just need an artsy photo of your feet. 

Wearing: Loads of dresses to beat the heat.  It's been super hot here - so hot that I've even been uncomfortable.  Outside that is, inside it's the temperature of Antarctica.

Loving: A lovely dinner out with my dad enjoying some yummy Mexican food.  Great food and even better company!

Planning: There is always a trip planned in my head, though I'm fairly stuck on a big Europe adventure for next summer.

Crafting and Creating: At this point it's just plans, but I do have a fair amount of Christmas tackled in my head.  I just need to get the ingredients for the gifts and get making.

Eating: Eastern Shore peaches that are so HUGE and so juicy that I'll still be dreaming of them come January.  I love summer fruit!

Watching: I hate myself a little but I've somehow gotten hooked on Brain Dead - I'm fairly sure it has something to do with Aaron Tveit and Danny Pino.  So, so, - and I can't say this enough - weird.

Reading: Jenny Colgan's entire canon.  Only one left - guess Book Depository will be getting more of my money soon.

Counting down the days to: September 10 when I will finally see Hamilton in person!

Pondering: Does Trump actually want to be President or does he just say the most insane things possible so he won't be elected?