I HEART My New Sweater

I happened upon a sweater the other day that is in my absolute favorite color to wear...well second to black. Coral. I had to have it. And I paired it with black which I love even more. It's a lightweight, summery sweater and I wish I could wear it every day.

THEN, the fashion gods were smiling down on me because I just happened to have a lipstick already that matched it perfectly. I was so excited that I decided to snap a couple of photos (I figured I needed a new profile pic anyhow):




So now one pic is on my blog page, and one is in my profile (because I can't decide which one I like best).

I also added some more of my favorite songs to my Playlist in my sidebar (you have to click on "pop out player to see all the songs...I have to work on fixing that). Does anyone ever listen to others' Playlists? Or am I the only one listening to mine? I'm guessing it's the latter.

I almost want to start my own radio show just so I can open with "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado and close with "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" by Cake. Or maybe "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stafani. Or, or....ugh..I love them all! But that's a good reason to start a radio show, right? :)

Finally, I am dying for someone to come debate Obama's stance on Iraq over at my political blog. Any takers? I promise I debate nicely. I really do! And I don't judge others for their beliefs so I will love you just as much even if you don't agree with me....which I know in blogland is just about everyone.

Oh, and if you missed it over the weekend, make sure you check out "Penis Power" in the post below. Worth. Every. Minute.

Reality Roundup

First of all, so far so good on the stomach virus. No one else has come down with it. But, Amanda came down with a cold/flu virus Monday night and had trouble breathing with a fever of 103. *sigh* Now that one Natalie can definitely not get because it will be a guaranteed hospital trip. Fingers crossed. Prayers upward.



Anyone watching "The Mole?" I have a theory. I keep seeing references to the number 10 in most of the shows. And Clay is the tenth person they show in the intro. So while I feel like Mark is the mole, if my theory is correct, it will actually be Clay. He's my favorite player too so I hope I'm right about it.

What I can't stand about that show, though, is the host's voice. Way. Too. Much. It's been so bad I've wanted to mute the t.v.



I am DYING for "Big Brother 10" to start! I can't get enough of all the pre-show hoopla. My favorite site being this one.

I've been spending way too much time watching the videos and getting the inside scoop on all the house guests, but I am working while I do it, which may or may not be a good thing. And I'm *this close* to purchasing the 24/7 feeds (I know, I know...but I REALLY love this show).



I'm sad "The Bachelorette" is over, but I must say I did not particularly like Deanna. I think she seemed a little too snooty and full of herself, just like she did when she was on "The Bachelor."

And I feel SO sorry for Jason who was my pick for her. She dragged that poor man along to the very end, which means he spent the most time away from his son as possible. Ugh!

I do like Jesse though. I just wonder how long someone as sweet and carefree as he is will last with someone like her. Any bets?



Update: Check out the website Deanna and Jesse set up. Pretty cool! They do look really cute together.

Christian the Lion

Note: Got the camera back and it was all non-embarrassing stuff. Good for me, but boring for you all, I know. :)

On another note, check out my new playlist in my sidebar. I had to cut the width so the only way to scroll through the songs is to hit the forward/back buttons, or click on "pop-out player." As if anyone is going to listen to it but me, heh.

I've been meaning to blog this for awhile now, and I did send it around Facebook. And Poppy posted it as well. But just in case you haven't seen it, I wanted to post it here because it's that good.

Seriously. If you ever watch one YouTube video in your life, it should be this one. You will sob hysterically, but it's a happy kind of cry. I have watched it a million times and still can't do it without crying loudly.

Like Poppy, I dare you to watch it without crying! I bet you can't.



Did you notice how the lion's jaw drops when he recognizes the two guys? He has a look like, "Oh my gosh! It's you!" That face gets me every time. *sob*

Thanks to John who posted this at the CASPCA blog, which is how I found it.

Human Garden

Convo between Matthew and me when we came upon a butterfly garden:

Me: "You can plant specific flowers that will attract butterflies to the garden. Isn't that cool?

Matthew: "Yeah. And butterflies probably say to each other, 'You can make a human garden if you build a Starbucks.'"

Hahahahahaha!!! So true!

Le Artiste

I have no idea if I really typed a French phrase for my title or not, but it sounded good. :) Anyway, Natalie's been in art camp this week and is learning how to paint with watercolors. So I've been driving there and back every day this week (except for Tuesday, when I had to drive to Maryland and back). Drive, drive, drive...blah.

But, the classes are in the country and the drive is GORGEOUS! This picture does not even come close to doing it justice, but you'll get the idea:



The mountain that you can't really see in the back is breathtaking. It's just such a peaceful, tranquil place.

I stayed for the first class and listened to the different techniques closely. Then I decided to brush up on my own watercolor painting and used this for my inspiration:



And came up with this:



I blurred out my last name on the photo, so that's why there's a weird blue at the bottom. And those three blue dots to the left that look like a Picachu (sp?) face annoy the crap out of me. I tried wetting them out of there but it just faded the area around them.

Natalie's teacher thought it was fine and didn't need to be removed but she's probably just being nice to me. :)

There's a long story behind the meaning of the swan to our family after the loss of my uncle, but I am going to give this to my mom since we all think of him whenever we see one.

Now if I only had the time to study up and practice more. When my kids are grown, I want my own studio and I want to take dozens of classes. And my dream come true would be to have ONE piece in an art show.

My sister is an art major and her drawings/paintings have won numerous awards. She's now into glass blowing, though and made this vase for me for my birthday:



And she wrapped it in this paper that she painted herself:



So the desire to create obviously runs in the family, which is why I enrolled Natalie in these classes in the first place.

And finally a shameless plug, for my other artwork. Check out my Etsy widget in my sidebar to see the personalized children's wall art I sell at my store. The three on "display" are the ones I created for Natalie's room.

I've had zero time to promote my store so I have yet to sell a piece. At least I'm telling myself that's the reason. :)

We Miss You Puppy Monster

It's days like this that make all of the blog drama seem so senseless. Today is the one year anniversary of the loss of a very special little boy, NYC Watchdog's son.

Please head over and show him your love and support. Today, I will be counting my blessings and remembering a smile that was etched on my heart forever one year ago today.

(Thank you to Adam for the beautiful graphic).

AP Coverage of My Video

The AP is covering my video now!! I'm not the star of the story but still. :)

This particular news story is spreading all over the Internet (AOL and such) since it's AP. And in all the places I'm finding it on the net, it features my footage as the main still picture. Here's the video:



Mine is the "amateur video" they're referring to just after they show my footage. The footage following mine is just a storm front taken from ABC 7's helicopter.

The video is getting passed all around my neighborhood and I'm getting tons of emails. Are you sick of me talking about it all yet? LOL