In-Person Committee Meeting

My alarm goes off at 5:45 this morning. No, I can't press snooze several times before getting out of bed. The goal was to get to the office around 7 AM so that I could help prep the conference room for the meeting today. Good thing this is meeting only happens once a year. I can't imagine having to wake up at 5:45 every morning, despite being more of a morning person than a night owl.

The meeting went well today. We have some new committee members, but everyone was very welcoming and friendly. At the end of the meeting, the committee chair pulls me aside and tells me that she had a present for me. What? Oh cool! "This is to say thank you for all your hard work." I open the present, and it was a piece of artwork that I saw in Seattle when we were walking around Pike Place Market. It was a little expensive, so I didn't buy it, but she went back another day and got it for me. I was very touched, and it was such a nice gesture. ::warm fuzzies::

We took the committee members to an Italian restaurant tonight. It sounds like everyone had a good time. I ordered a peach martini and chicken parmesean. Yum! One of the committee member's husband came over and chatted with us. I was so impressed of how well he just fit in and was able to strike up a conversation with anyone. That's a great skill to have. I'm just not that extroverted.

Family Dinner and New Nails

Family dinner: My aunt invited me to dinner last night. I had actually heard about the dinner from my cousin and dad beforehand, but it was nice to get an official invitation from the host. It's always nice to see my uncle so happy to have us over to spend time together as a family. With 4 "grown-ups" and 6 of us 2nd generation "kids", you can just imagine how loud the dining room got.

Nails: My nail polish was kinda chipping so I decided to try a new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri color so that my nails look nicer for an in-person committee meeting TH/FRI. Just by looking at the color, I thought it was going to be more of a rose color, but when I applied it to my nails, it's got more of a brown tone. The color name is appropriately named Expresso.

Battling the Scale

One of my New Year's Resolutions was, "Lose at least 10 pounds by April 30 and spend the rest of the year maintaining that weight."

Yeah, that didn't happen. However, I decided 2 weeks ago to revisit this goal. During the last couple of months, my weight has been fluctuating between 148 and 151, which isn't all that great for someone that's 5'3". My biggest problem isn't the "not exercising" part, it's my diet. I'm an emotional eater, a person that eats when I'm bored, and sometimes I tend to overeat. I compensate that by going to spin class, but it's just not enough. The last two weeks I've been better about the diet and when I stepped on the scale this morning, it read 146 (!).

I thought the digital scale was lying to me. It can be finicky sometimes.

I stepped on the scale before spin class this morning (the one in the locker room has those weights where you move them to the right and wait for the reader to balance) and it read 146.

YAY! :) I'm feeling inspired to keep this up...who knows, maybe I'll still be able to meet that goal by the end of the year. Better late than never.

Culinary Successes

Newest culinary successes: My cousin flew in from Taiwan today for a week's stay. My sister usually bakes a tray of brownies for her, but since Julie's at school, I stepped in to make the brownies. I usually stray away from brownies because I always somehow scramble the eggs. I discovered last night that the dessert section of my recipe binder didn't have a single brownie recipe (I know, shocking, since I'm really into baking). Julie came to my rescue and supplied me with the recipe and tips. I took my time today, and the brownies were a success (I ate 2 in the name of quality assurance). I went to my cousin's house tonight to drop off 12 brownies. That'll keep them busy over there for a few days. I might have to make another tray for her travels back to Taiwan.


Recipe #9 of 2012: Pork chops were on sale at Safeway this week, and this was good timing because I found a new crock pot recipe for ranch house pork chops via Pinterest. I just made the pork chops and skipped out on the potatoes and used cream of mushroom soup instead of cream of chicken. To increase the amount of gravy, I added some milk to the crock pot. Yum!

Card: I felt that a butterfly stamp set that I won a while back was feeling neglected so I used it to create the background for the card. It kinda reminds me of something you'd seen in a nature book.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird, Warm Red, Yellow Ochre, Warm Green
Stamps: Hero Arts- Sending Smiles, Bombshell Stamps- Butterfly Dreams, Inkadinkado- Nature
Paper: American Crafts- Dear Lizzy Enchanted
Punch: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch

Fall-To Layout #196

RJ the pillow hog: He has this awful habit of sleeping on my pillow, even though there's a fluffier one right next to it that I rarely use. I come home from the gym this morning to find him on the other pillow. Gasp! Maybe he's changed his ways. I went back downstairs to check work email and went back up to take a shower. Only to find him snoozing on my pillow. I wonder if he was contentiously just putting on a show for me earlier.

Grocery Shopping Fail: I went grocery shopping without taking my umbrella, knowing full well that the forecast was calling for rain pretty soon. I was checking out when I noticed that it was pouring outside, with a side of thunder and lightning.

Oh, super.

I hung out near the grocery carts, hoping I could run out when the rain calmed down. 15 minutes later, it was raining about the same.

Crap.

My ice cream is melting!! Haagen Dazs Java Chip! I mean, this is the good stuff. (sigh) Ok, desperate times call for desperate measures.

I grabbed my reusable bags filled with groceries and made a run for the car. I was soaked when I got home, but at least my ice cream wasn't totally melted.

Card: Here's my card for Fall-To Layout #196. I liked how this card sketch allowed me to use a busy piece of patterned paper. It's difficult to use that kind of paper as a background because it's so "loud," it'd compete with everything else on the card. However, when chopped up, it's a lot more manageable.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink in Blackbird
Stamp: Studio G
Paper: American Crafts- Abode
White Gel Pen: Uni-Ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen
Baker's Twine: We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Fancy Floss in Cream Soda

CPS #270

Family dinner: I was consumed with a conference call this afternoon, so lunch was a no-go. I made a bee-line for the kitchen when I got home and started making some spaghetti. My phone makes the "you have a text message" sound. It's my cousin, asking if I wanted to come over for dinner. I look over at the pot of boiling water. Sure, I could have a second dinner. I'm glad that I went. There was some good sushi served. It really pays off to live close to family!

Card: Here's my take on CPS #270. I wanted to use some Thickers on this card because I thought it's been a while since I've used them. Spelling out "you" ended up not fitting quite right, so I had to made do with just a "u."
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China
Paper: American Crafts- Hello Sunshine and Letterbox, My Mind's Eye
Stamp: Hero Arts- Envelope Pattern
Punch: Martha Stewart Doily Lace border punch, EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch)
Brad: American Crafts
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Foliage, Cuttlebug- Flowers
Stickers: American Crafts Foam Thickers in Wonder
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Being Daring

I did something that I haven't done before today.

I cut my own hair!

My bangs were getting long and I didn't want to pay for a haircut since I'm okay with the length of the rest of my hair. I watch a couple of YouTube videos on how to cut side-swept bangs and tried to follow their example. I think it would have been easier if I used my mom's pair of professional salon scissors, but some sharp craft scissors did the trick. This will hold me over until the end of the summer.

I hope.