Black Belt Scrapping

The Guyliner Factor

So, did you happen to watch American Idol last night?  There was a bit of drama, for sure. My fave for this year, and what appears to be the hands down favorite to win it all, Adam Lambert, was nearly shown the door. Every year we get a bit of this kind of drama, and I don't know if it's real or if the producers are just yanking our chains.  Either way, it's fun. I love the first month of Idol, and the last month. 

And speaking of Adam Lambert, this is the fourth year in a row that I'm cheering on the guy who wears the most makeup. What is up with that? It seems like I've fallen for the Guyliner Factor. 

I've always been attracted to the very clean cut, preppy kind of guys. Growing up, I never gave the punks, the rockers, the goth looking guys even a second look.  I dated and ended up marrying guys who looked like they stepped out of the Ralph Lauren Catalog. Like these guys:

Okay, not quite as ascot-wearing tweedy "Pardon Me, Do You Happen to Have any Grey Poupon?" wankers like these four (these guys kind of look like assholes, don't they?  Like the only reason they went to their senior prom is because it was on Daddy's yacht), but more like Chip and Michael here:

 

You know, the sportier kind. That's what I liked...and still do. But somehow along the line, maybe when I hit my 40's, I started noticing these guys who did a better job of makeup application than I did. I've always admired guys who had better hair than I did, but this is different on a whole new level. Guys who rock the eyeliner.

Blame it on American Idol. It started with greasy, grimy rocker/theater geek Constantine Maroulis four years ago. I can't believe it's been four years since a bazillion middle aged mothers were screaming that The Greasy Greek went out in week seven, years before Simon Cowell put in the "save rule". Did I like Bo Bice? I sure did, but that classic southern rocker never wore any eyeliner and I never voted for him.

Then it was the quirky pink-wearing punker and beat-boxer Blake Lewis, who didn't wear quite as much makeup on the stage, but certainly qualified. He finished second to Taylor Hicks, who I am pretty sure never stepped out on his Alabama porch with a lick of eyeliner. I always voted for Blake. 

Last year we saw David Cook get punkier and funkier as the season clicked along. His best weeks? They were the ones where he glammed it up and rocked it out. Did I like David Archeleta, the cute 16 year old from Utah with the killer smile?  Of course, what mom wouldn't love that kid?  But would I buy his music?  No. I voted for Cook, and for once, the guy I wanted to win did...pleasing multitudes of cougars around the globe.

And then there's this season, where from the first time he stepped out on the audition stage in January's audition shows I said Adam Lambert was going to win it all.  Punk meets goth theatre (with a touch of Elvis thrown in for fun) all in one with this guy. He was an understudy for Wicked on Broadway, so you know the guy can sing. But man, he can rock the makeup and the hair. Unlike David Cook, I don't find him remotely hot (yeah, my well defined gaydar skills have him going in the other direction....not that there's anything wrong with that!), but he's always intriguing to me and I love it when he really gets the makeup going. The eyeliner really works with those blue eyes too. Is he over the top? Oh yeah, on so many levels. Bring it on.

It's also no secret that I've probably seen every episode of America's Next Top Model that's ever been produced, and let's face it.  No discussion of Guy Glam would be complete without a nod to ANTM Creative Director, Jay Manuel, whose makeup is always perfect. This guy is so pretty (yes, PRETTY, not handsome) that I can't get over it.  He even rocks the silver hair. I want to see him in a Cover Girl commercial. No dude should be allowed to be this pretty.

Now don't get me wrong. The thought of my preppy husband and friends sporting this look makes me literally laugh out loud.  But for the guys who can pull it off, I think they should work it. I can't explain it, but I love it.  Easy, Breezy, Beautiful....indeed! 

Kinda Whooped!

I'm back after a few days off, a few hectic days for sure!

 

The garage sale went fairly well.  I admit that I was a bit disappointed at how much stuff was left over after the sale. A few people were real jerks about prices too, like the guy who wanted to give me 50 cents on an eight dollar item. Give me a break. I'm VERY willing to negotiate, but if I was going to just give everything away, I wouldn't have taken the time to have a SALE.  Anyhow, I don't know if the recession is hitting garage salers, but the tone seemed a bit different this time.  If it wasn't basically free, a lot of people weren't interested. 

Overall, I'm very happy. I just don't know when I'll get my car into my garage again.  I have a lot of work to do.  Maybe I'll put the junk in my trunk after work today and haul the itshay way-ahay.

A big thanks to my new friend and reader Lana, who also runs her own garage sale website.  It's a great local resource, so check it out!  Cincinnati Yard Sales

That being said, I did make a good amount of money.  We sold enough that we're going to buy a new elliptical trainer. If anybody has one that they recommend, I'd love the suggestion! There are good options at Amazon.com, but I don't know if I want to spend two hours assembling the thing myself!

I'm running way behind this morning, so I need to run. I wasn't going to post again this morning, but I felt guilty!  Have a super day!

Digital Scrapbooking Memories Retreat

In two weeks, I'll be in Utah to help teach at the Digital Scrapbooking Memories digital scrapbooking retreat. I'm really excited about it!

 

Whether you're an experienced digital scrapbooker, or just getting started, there are classes and events for all levels.  I'll be teaching two classes, one on design principles and one on blending and extractions (that's where you can combine multiple photos into one, or remove things from photos).  Here are my class examples:

Of course whatever photos you bring in, combined with your own style will determine what your final results will be, but these classes are more "How To" classes than particular project classes. 

The retreat runs from 9am until 9pm on Friday, then from 9am until 4:30pm on Saturday, and you will go home with a special Mother's Day project!

April Oaks is our hostess with the mostess.  She's the owner of DSM and a fantastic scrapbooker, fantastic skier, great mom, and all around "doesn't get any better" kind of person!  Other fabulous instructors include:

• Alisha Shaw
• Jessie Baldwin 
• Kelly Lautenbach 
• Brooke Kemp 
• April Anderton 
• Jamie Hamblin

I am looking forward to meeting Alisha, Brooke, and Jamie, and I'm especially excited to see my pals April, April, Kelly, and Jessie again. I hadn't seen Jessie in about two years and now I get to hang with her twice in two months!  Awesome!  Think I'll be hauling my camera?  Oh yeah, you bet!

Again, if you want to check out the retreat details or register, click here.  I really hope you'll come and see me in Utah and maybe even learn a bit of digital art.  

Attention Grabbers

Want to turn some heads at a party? You don't need a flashy dress, or lots of bling, or even really good hair. All you need is a great pair of shoes!

I wore these on Saturday night, and I've never had so many strangers, both men and women, comment on my shoes before. I caught a lot of people looking at my shoes too.  Go figure!

I was looking at them at DSW when the gay guy who looks like Randy Jackson (aka, The Closer) came up to me and said, "OH Sugar. Those shoes are HAAAAAOOOOOOT.  You have to try them on, you HAVE to buy them."  Of course he was right. Who could argue with Randy, right? I bet he's single-handedly responsible for at least 60% of their sales.

I highly recommend the value of a hot pair of shoes. They make you feel good, and they're way cheaper than a boob job, and while there's a bit of recovery time the next day, it's worth it!

Recipe Tuesday - Healthier Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers have been a staple in my dinner rotation since I was a kid. I adapted the recipe from my mom, who adapted the recipe from her mom...and so on.  I'm happy that my family likes them too. They're especially good when the weather is chilly and wet, or when you've got a garden load of peppers that you need to use.

I made these a week or so ago, but forgot to take a photo, so I borrowed this one off the web. They don't look exactly like mine, but they're close enough.

Healthier Stuffed Peppers

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 pkg Morningstar Farms frozen recipe crumbles

1 egg white

1 C raw long grain or basmati rice*

1.5 tsp kosher salt

chopped fresh parsley or 1/4 C dried parsley

1/2 tsp chopped or dried oregano

1/4 C Worcestershire sauce

1 large can tomato sauce

1/2 C Worcestershire sauce

6 bell peppers

Clean the peppers, cut off the tops, and pull out the seeds and ribs from the inside.  Set peppers aside.

Mix together ground beef, recipe crumbles (if you don't want to use these, you can substitude 1lb. ground turkey, beef, or pork), egg white, raw rice, herbs, and 1/4 C Worcestershire sauce.  Mix well.  

Stuff peppers with meat mixture and place each pepper into a deep pot or dutch oven. If you have extra meat mixture, form into meatballs and add to the pot as well.

Mix remaining ingredients and pour over the stuffed peppers.  Bake at 350 degrees for about a hour.  

This is always a big hit with my family, and the non-veggie eaters can just eat the meatball part.

* in most cases, I'd use brown or wild rice, but don't do it in this recipe.  The rice won't cook properly and you'll end up with crunchy meatballs. It's not a nice touch, trust me. I learned this one the hard way.  

Enjoy!  

Ahhhhh....Spring

Ahhhhh......spring is really here!

 

Ahhhhh.....dogwoods!

Ahhhhhh.....my favorite shrub 

Ahhhhhh.....Jerusalem Cherries

Ahhhhh......late afternoon sunshine

Ahhhhhh.......so pretty!

Ahhhhhh.....pink!

Ahhhhh.....bokeh

Ahhhhh.....I love the fresh color of spring

Ahhhhhh......April isn't all bad!

Ahhhhh.....love the spring green too

Ahhhhh.....my yellow house looks pretty in the spring

Ahhhhh.....thank goodness for Claritin, Day Quill, and the old formula Sudafed!

A Mosaic of Different Things

A friend sent me this the other day and I thought it was hilarious!  Make sure to check out the names of his "friends" and read the comments.  Clever!  I challenge you to not laugh!

If Bill Gates had a Facebook Page

Speaking of Facebook, a friend tagged me to do this fun photo mosaic yesterday and it was pretty fun. Fun with Flickr photos, that is.  You can try it too. If you're  a scrapbooker, this could be a good start for a fun and easy layout.  Feel free to add more questions for a larger mosaic.

Rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search (http://www.flickr.com/).
b. Using ONLY the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic Maker. Change rows to 3 and columns to 3 (http://bighugelabs.com/fli
ckr/mosaic.php).
d. Save the image and post it on this note!

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Barb
2. What is your favorite food? Alaskan King Crab
3. What is your favorite color? Purple
4. Favorite drink? Wine
5. Dream vacation? Tuscany
6. Favorite hobby? Photography
7. What you want to be when you grow up? Retired
8. What do you love the most in life? Loved Ones
9. One word to describe you? Creative

Here's how mine turned out!

Have a good Friday. Do you have a busy weekend coming up? 

We'll be hosting a garage sale in two weeks, so I really need to spend a few hours starting to get organized for that.  If you're in the Cincinnati area, it's a neighborhood, multi family sale and it's an awesome event!  Saturday, 4/25/09 from 9am until noon (or later).  If you would like more information, email me!

Drawing Winner

Congrats to HEATHER, she's the winner of the Target Gift Card!  WTG Heather!  I'll be in touch ;-)

 

sorry that the writing is so small! 

I Am A Morning Person

I'm definitely a morning person. But I'm human too, and it takes a good 15 minutes for me to shake off the wildebeest in me and bring back the perky person.

 

Take yesterday, for instance.  I got up at 4:50 to workout with my husband. By 5:00am, I had my running shoes on and was out the door walking the big hill in our neighborhood. And I admit that no matter what I'm doing, I detest getting up that early and immediately working out, and I hate it with a passion. That's never going to change. I was cranky. The fact that I'm out of shape and it annoys me doesn't help.

It's really not what I'm doing, however, nor is it what time I get up.  It doesn't matter if I'm walking the hill at 5:00am, or writing my blog at 6:00 in the morning, or waiting for the coffee to brew at 7:00 on a Sunday morning. I need my fifteen minutes of silence to clear my head and find my inner morning person. 

So here's a question, how is it that I can be civil and write in those first fifteen minutes, but I can't seem to talk and be civil?  I'll ponder that over another cup of coffee.....

I wish I could be like my dog and always wake up with a waggly tail.  Are you a morning person, or are you a night owl? Have you always been like that?  I know I've been a get up early person my entire life. I always had the 8am classes in college, even if I had other choices.

Running a bit behind this morning, but I'll pick the winner for yesterday's drawing during my lunch hour today and come back and update this post with the winner's name.  Thanks for stopping by!

Aftermath

Well yesterday sure was a big day. I had no idea that being featured on  The Secret in the Sauce would be so huge, and it was totally fun. Again, I want to thank all of my guests who popped in to read and say hello yesterday. I sure enjoyed all of the comments, and I am pretty sure I've read them all so far. Thank you so much for your input and for taking the time to write.  

I got a bunch of fun questions, so I thought I'd try to answer some of them here today.  

Back in February, I wrote about meeting Herbert. It was one of my three blog entries that was featured yesterday. I seriously had no idea when I wrote that just how many people would end up reading and commenting. 

A week or so ago, my boss sent me back to that same Wal-Mart to pick up Tootsie Roll pops for an activity that we were doing at work.  And what do you know...guess who I ran into in the candy aisle? That's right, it was Herbert. He was buying more candy to share with others. He didn't remember me from when we first met, but I sure remembered him. I told him that I told a few people (heh!) about his lovely story and that he had sure brightened up a lot of people's days, just by chatting with me for a few minutes. 

He said that he's really enjoying the spring weather, and is glad that the Reds are back playing again. We talked about the starting rotation and how the bull pen needs some help. I asked him if people were continuing to be kind to him, and he assured me that they are. 

You can bet I'll be looking for him the next time I'm there. I'm sure I'll see him again, and I'll keep you posted on how he's doing. He's just such a dear man. I don't know how I got so lucky to have met him that day.

Another post that was featured was 90 Minutes in Prison.  Needless to say, this one was nothing like writing about Herbert. As I read it again yesterday, I realized that if you don't visit here on a regular basis, you wouldn't have any idea how I ended up spending half of my 2008 birthday at LCI.  

Even though my real "day job" is being the marketing communications person at ACME, I also do freelance photography on the side, primarily doing commercial work for local non-profit organizations. 

One of my favorite photography gigs is doing the annual report photography for a great organization, Crayons to Computers.  C2C is a free store for teachers that teach in underprivileged areas/schools. C2C delivered nearly $9M in supplies to local schools during the 2007-2008 school year. They do amazing work, and I'm thrilled to be a part of such a great program. 

While most supplies are donated and distributed "as is", they do have some educational toys that teachers can choose that are specially created for C2C. For last year's annual report, we tracked the manufacturing of one of C2C's "turn and learn" math toys.  These particular toys are fabricated and assembled at the LCI prison as part of their community outreach program, and therefore my friend Heather and I ended up at LCI so that I could take photos of the assembly for the annual report.  

Believe me, that trip to LCI was quite something, that's for sure. If you didn't get a chance to read my entry about touring the prison, I hope you will.  It was an experience you can believe that I will NEVER forget.  90 Minutes in Prison

Several people also asked me what kind of camera and equipment I use. I have a Canon 40D digital SLR, and in my bag I have the following lenses:

Canon 50mm 1.4

Canon 85mm 1.8

Tamron 17-55mm 2.8

Canon 28-135mm 3.5-5.6

I've also been able to borrow the Canon 24-70 2.8L from photog friends Grant and Deb, as well as Jessie in the past and I love love love it!  Maybe one day I'll get my own.  But don't fool yourself, you don't need big fancy schmantzy equipment to take good shots.  I also love to use my "baby camera" (Canon SD 1000 Elph) and it gives me shots like these:

 

And of course, you know I love my Blackberry and that I've been known to take a pic or two while driving....

Anybody want to book me for some portraits?  You help me, I'll help you!  Seriously, though. If you're in the greater Cincinnati area and you're looking for some portrait work, give me a shout.  I've got bookings open throughout the summer available. Just sayin'.....

My trifle recipe seems to have been a huge hit. So for you food fans out there, if you try any of my recipes, please drop me an email (there's an email link at the top left of the blog page) or leave a comment here and tell me what you think. And for the reader who assumed that I serve food like that limoncello trifle to my family on a regular basis.....I assure you I don't. You can ask my friend Jan and she'll tell you. We rarely eat dessert around here, so that was a rare and really tasty treat. If you want dessert daily, you need to visit HER house! She's always baking up something sinful while I'm at home trying to cut fat grams from a bowl of bran flakes, because that's how I roll.

And finally, it's Tax Day. Ugh. There is not a day on the calendar that I detest more. In four days, it'll be Termite Day. I detest Termite Day too, but not to the extent of Tax Day. In five days, the worst week of the year will be over for 51 more weeks, and that's a really good thing.  So to celebrate the passing of yet another Tax Day and as appreciation for all the love you have given me this week, I've got a $20 Target gift card to give away to somebody who leaves me a comment today. I'll pick the winner tomorrow at random, so be sure to leave me a comment and check back tomorrow to see if you are the winner!

Have a super day!