Weekend in Photos: NY Edition

I haven't done a weekend in photos in a while, because, well, my weekends are mostly cleaning the house and getting out to have it shown. Exciting stuff.

But this weekend, I went to New York to hang out with my friend Kelly. We didn't plan anything big, other than eat eat eat. Because when one is in New York, one is within reach of some of the best restaurants in the world. So one should EAT. And we did.

Luckily for me, Kelly convinced me to not be a gluttonous Philistine and inserted some culture into my life. We went to the Guggenheim, which I've been wanting to visit forever. What can I say? That is one amazing museum and piece of architecture. And I'm lucky to be able to go there.

The energy of New York is so contagious.

We also got to see a Broadway play with one of my favoritest actors, Frances McDormand. She is as good on stage as she is in movies, which means she was superb! The play was Good People, so entertaining. I had forgotten how much I love the theatre. Such a treat.

The super famous Momofuku pork buns. Über-delish!

So enough of culture, and back to food. We were originally going to do the David Chang tour. Fell a little short, but we did eat at Ma Peche and Momofuku Noodle Bar. Yes, all that brewhaha over his food is correct. It is that good.

Kelly ordered two of everything for herself! Can you believe that? Sheesh. (I kid. That's half mine.)

And a trip to NY is not complete without a visit to a Shake Shack! Yum. Love their burgers and fries. And I'm not usually a burger and fries kinda girl.

I had this creme brulee donut. Holy cow. It was amazing. Wish I had ordered three.

The seating at the Doughnut Plant. Do you see a scrapbook idea forming here?

Oh. Almost forgot. We also went to the Doughnut Plant. I kept reading about how amazing their donuts were, and they are! I also found out a little secret about Kelly. She doesn't really like donuts! Wha-what? Who doesn't like donuts? KELLY!

Suddenly, my weekend was over. And I came home to Philly to these guys, plus a dinner at Le Bus. All happy inducing.

A wall sign at Le Bus. True dat!

Yes, it was a very good weekend!

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Incredibly Random Monday

Happy Valentine's Day!

I finally uploaded all the photos from my cell phone and from my (terrible) point-and-shoot. Phew. I usually do it everyday (if I took photos that day), but lately I've been slacking off. But I did find some great photos I had forgotten about. So bear with me for I'm sharing some of my faves with you. (Beware people pictured here in this post, I did NOT photoshop anything due to acute laziness. But y'all look really cute, so it's all good!)

Here we go.

My oldest at his monthly ballroom dancing and manners class. Here, he's doing a cha cha. The boys have to wear suit and tie. The cutest thing ever.

CK peoples. First day of CHA. Can you tell by how well-rested and non-wrinkled we are?

With Wendy Smedley at her book signing. She's got a great new book for beginner scrapbookers. Wendy signed mine: "From your #1 fan!" Go me!

My normally crappy camera took this very cool photo. But I'm going to credit my mad photog skillz instead. Because see what happened when Suzy tried to do the same thing, below. (Suzy Plantamura and Kim Watson.)

Yea, it was totally my amazing talent as a photographer, and not a freak accident. Yup. (Laura Vegas and me.)

A recipe I have to share because it was so ridiculously easy and yummy, and everyone loved it.

And one layout. Because this is supposed to be a scrapbooking blog. Ha!

For the Lily Bee blog, featuring that awesome new line Stationery. And because you are going to ask, that border punch is from Martha Stewart Crafts. That Martha, good recipes AND good punches.

Thanks for hanging out, and indulging me on this very random Monday. Now, I await for the moving company to come and give us an estimate. You know the kind of day I'm going to have, in which I wait anywhere between 9AM and 5PM. And if I happen to go pick up my child for 15 minutes, they will show up then and blame me for not waiting around. You know what I'm talking about. Uh-huh.

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More Texture

Could it be any greyer here? Ugh. After a week of basking in the sunshine, coming back to this weather was a bit depressing. I do love winter. I love the snow, the bare trees, and even the cold. Cold = layers = awesome sweaters, coats, and boots. But I can't stand days upon days of dark and dingy. The groundhog promised better weather soon. And I'm holding him to it! Hear that groundhog?

Oops. Sorry. I'm raging at a groundhog, who's probably back at his luxury home, hibernating.

What was the point of this post... Oh yes. I meant to share my other layout from the Creating Keepsakes Texture Tips & Tricks.

I was asked to use jute. JUTE! I realize that lots of people have jute on hand, but I had to run out and buy it. And the roll I got was oddly smelly. In a barn-y sort of way. Strange, huh?

As seen in the Texture Tips & Tricks issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. Copyright Creative Crafts Group. Posted with prior permission from the publisher.

And a closer look at my other layout, featuring Stampin' Up's Waffle Paper.

As seen in the Texture Tips & Tricks issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. Copyright Creative Crafts Group. Posted with prior permission from the publisher.

That's it for now, folks. I'm off to make black bean soup. Soup will make me feel better.

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Tips & Tricks Winner!

Yo yo yo! Happy Monday. We had a pretty uneventful weekend, in which I slept every opportunity that came my way. I had to break my napping schedule to take #3 kid to a Chuck E Cheese party on Saturday morning (have I mentioned how much I dislike that place? Germs!), cook meals, watch the Super Bowl, and take showers. I'm sure you are glad I took showers. Strangers in the grocery store were happy too.

Yes, the winner! Random.org picked #10. Which happens to be Melanie. And yes, we are shipping to Canada. And you can lift my layouts anytime of the week. Twice on Sundays.

Thanks for playing along everyone! I'm sure there will be more giveaways soon. And I might even scrap a page or two for fun this week (and share, of course.) Yes, I said FOR FUN! Miracles do exist.

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CK Tips & Tricks Giveaway

The Texture issue. It was waiting for me when I got home from CHA. Love it! I'm not huge on putting lots of stuff on my layouts, but I do love me some texture. Let's check out a page, shall we?

Oh lookie here. That is my page. And I love that page. That Stampin' Up Waffle paper is really interesting. It has a shiny side, and a dullish side. I used the dullish side (great midtone grey.) I folded it into a pleated ribbon (thanks Cindy for the idea!), and held it together with clear tape in the back. Then I machine sewed it on. Super fast for a nice subtle texture.

The good part: the kind folks at Creating Keepsakes are letting me give away one issue. So please leave me a comment, and I'll pick a winner this Monday, February 7. Meanwhile, you can go here to check out more pages. And here, if you must have your own issue now! By the way, you can use coupon code: TEXTDT for free shipping on orders of $25 or more and it expires on 3/31/11.

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Stuck in LA

I know, I know, it's not a bad place to be stuck at. It's sunny, and just warm enough. At least I'm not at the airport. But I really wanted to go home. And hug my family, and sleep in my own bed, and get back to my usual routine.

My flight was originally going through Chicago, and that part of the country is totally buried in snow/ice/whatever. So I'm being routed elsewhere, in a red eye flight. Then, and only then I'll be able to fly home to Philly.

Since I'm here posting (whining), I thought I'd share about the giant Lily Bee giveaway. Because if I didn't, you'd hate me. Lily Bee is giving away their entire Winter CHA 2011 release. The whole shebang. Times two! You can win by posting a comment on Lily Bee's blog. You get another chance by "liking" Lily Bee on Facebook.  And there is still time to enter the giveaways for the individual lines. Just leave a comment for each blog post. I won't be picking winners until tomorrow late, since I won't be home until tomorrow late. Oops, whining again. My bad.

To keep you entertained until then, here are two of my favorite CHA photos. Scrap on, folks, scrap on.

With my CK Dream Team peeps. We were at My Cute Stamps. What an adorable company. The owners were so nice, and let us ham it up. Mustaches were a big trend at CHA. Really!

 

Yes, that would be me, kissing Angry Red Bird. My hero.

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