Suzie's Visit, Day 2

Today, I took Suzie to work with me to hang out for a little bit before she hopped on the Metro for a school event. Suzie is a children's book author, so today was her "I'm-an-author" day and meet with students and fans and answer questions, hoping to inspire some creativity in kids.

The night before, we were deciding on what to have for dinner tonight. Secretly, I didn't want to cook again, but I didn't want chicken marsala two nights in a row (even though I would totally do that if Suzie was not here). We decided on Indian food. She gave me a list of dishes that she liked and left it up to me to find things that we liked in common and order takeout. I decided on naan, vegetable samosas, butter chicken, and aloo ghobi (cauliflower and potatoes).

We ended the evening with very stuffed bellies and watching Freaky Friday (the Lindsey Lohan version) and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Suzie's Visit, Day 1

My friend from undergrad is visiting from NYC the next couple days, hooray! Right when I got home, I got to cooking right away. I was expecting her around 8:30, so that gave me enough time to put a whole bunch of things together: chicken marsala, pasta, vegetables for a salad, and 2 loaves of chocolate zucchini bread. We had quite the feast!

Hi Girl Card

I was inspired to do a portrait card with a fold at the top when I saw the card that Kristina Werner made on the Simon Says Stamp blog today. Her card also had white stitching and a cardstock piece with a v-shaped cut in it. I think this is the first time that I've used the Versamark ink without using embossing powder. I love the tone-on-tone look it leaves.

Card Specs:
Ink: Versamark
Stamp: Hero Arts- Designer Wood Grain
Paper: American Crafts- Peachy Keen
Punches: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Stickers: Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type in Yellow
White Gel Pen: Uni-Ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen
Flower: Recollections
Other: We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Fancy Floss in Slate, Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Floral Birthday Card

I decided to switch my work-from-home day from Friday to today because I'm taking Friday off this week. My friend Suzie is coming to visit from NYC, hooray!

June is always a fun card month because I know of a few people that have June birthdays. I used this card as an excuse to use some Basic Grey Bloomers. They are great embellishments because they add texture and visual interest to the card, but aren't so bulky that you can't send the card through the mail.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink in Blackbird, Rose Coral
Paper: American Crafts- Peachy Keen
Stamp: Hero Arts- Envelope Pattern, Studio G (sentiment)
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Foliage
Floral stickers: Basic Grey Bloomers- Hopscotch collection
Punch: EK Success Postage Stamp border punch
White Gel Pen: Uni-Ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen

Just In Lime

Declutter: I went back to my parents' house after spin class this morning to say bye to Julie and to fetch the container of Parmesan cheese that I left in the fridge and my iPhone charger. I was so close to leaving when Mom reminded me that I still had boxes left downstairs. UGH. So close! Fine. Julie and I went to go investigate, armed with a shredder. I found a lot of papers that I no longer needed- notebooks from college chemistry classes, job listings, job applications, my lease for the house that I lived in junior and senior year...it was like a trip down memory lane.

I also found this postcard that summarized what tuition and fees would be for my first year of college (2001-2002). It was absolutely laughable because I checked my school's website tonight and tuition alone has more than doubled since my first year. I don't know how anyone affords school these days. :(

Nail polish: I picked up 2 new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polishes last week, and I finally got around to trying it out today. It's called Just In Lime. It's kinda out there, huh? When I saw the shade, it reminded me of 2 things: Wicked (the musical) and lime Skittles candy.

A Lazy Saturday

This morning started out with me making chocolate zucchini bread (the zucchini was very close to getting gross so I didn't want it to go to waste) and then watching Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol via Redbox. I had a free rental coupon code, so of course, I didn't want it to go to waste.

The rest of the day was very lazy. I opened up the windows to let the cooler fresh air in and read some of my book (The Gap Year by Sarah Bird) and took a nap. I hadn't read anything from this author before, but it was one of the e-books that was available from the library so I decided to give it a try. Mom was making some yummy chicken at the house so I went over there for dinner. Ginger made sure to make herself available in case anyone wanted to give her some chicken or fish. Mom gave me a green tea KitKat to try. It wasn't all that great. Chocolate all the way. The other two pictures below are of a bunny that was hanging out in Mom's garden, specifically where the stone bunny family was and then Ginger trying to blend into the furniture.

AC woes, continued

AC Woes: The AC man came to the house this afternoon and looked around both the inside and outside portions of my heat pump. After about 30 minutes, he shut off the switch to the unit in the circuit breaker panel. You know when it's bad when...

There were a variety of things wrong with my unit which would explain why things weren't working. Leaking refrigerant (that's why the air wasn't cold coming out of the vents) and a faulty relay (that's why the fan kept running and never turned off). His solution was to replace the unit in my house because it's 26 years old and it's time to get something that'll be more efficient.

Oh, and guess what.

It probably won't be covered by the home warranty. And even if it is covered, you don't want to get the machinery that's covered by the home warranty because it'll be on the cheaper end anyway.

Sometimes, being a homeowner stinks.

Fortunately, the weather will be nice the next few days and I can open my windows.

Thank you, Mother Nature.

Good news: Julie's home for the weekend :) Well, FRI and SAT really.

Spin class: In honor of the Queen's jubilee, Anna the spin instructor (originally from England) played a mix that was made of British bands and singers and she wore her Union Jack athletic shirt.