My December Daily Debacle...

So I wasn't very good at daily blogging during December...On the days when I did have time, there was nothing but boring routine things to report, and who wants to read that I went to work, did laundry and fed the girls?

On more exciting days, my eyes closed long before I had a chance to blog... Better luck next year...

I did try to take a few more pictures, so I have a few more to share...

Believe it or not, I've never been to Fulton Street at Christmas.  I attended a Tax Conference for two days in NOLA and Shane came down for dinner at Manning's (Archie and Cooper were a few tables over), and we snapped this pic in front of the decorations on Fulton Street...

The next night, we went to the final Shaw Christmas party before the buyout by CB&I in February... we even saw Shaw Santa...

We made it to Saints vs Tampa Bay game with the Zuppardo's...

In mid-December, my Mom, Jen and I went to the Ladies Leukemia League Luncheon in New Orleans...

and whenever I was looking for Shane this month, I could usually find him in the backyard in his new "chair"...

Luckily it doesn't take much to make him happy...

Four Day Update...

In between the regular activities of daily living, I've been preparing for Shane's big 40th Birthday Party... but even the most prepared hostess (of which I am not) probably has a million last minute details - therefore I had 10 ZILLION!

But with plenty of help, I made it... I admit, I obsess and many people might not clean the carpets, repaint bathrooms, pressure wash concrete, re-mulch the gardens along with the usual decorations, food and bar sundries...  but I'm nuts... and some things can't be helped...And my Grandma Ethel used to say you have to have a party once year to complete all those pesky unfinished projects...

But I was completely relaxed at the party and enjoyed the company of so many great friends...Here are just a few snapshots from the party...

Shane's actual birthday is December 14th, but we scheduled the party on my real birthday - it was total birthday BLOWOUT!!  Happy Birthday to US! (but let's all be clear that I DID NOT hit the same milestone as Shane... that is YEARS away :)

Hopefully now I can resume some daily December blogging...hey, a girl can dream....

December 5th...

It's way too late to be reading about Annuities...

but keeping up with Continuing Ed is part of the job, so I better keep studying...Why didn't I pick the easy courses??

December 4th

Back in October I had the brilliant idea to try P90X, so I called the ONLY friend I knew who with one text would actually arrive the next day ready to workout.... and the torture began...

Thank GOD Alexis signed on...because we alternate finding the motivation depending on who ate cake or drank wine the night before...

For me the scale hasn't moved, but I'm stronger now, and my jeans fit a little better, and my arms are a little less jiggly...

and more importantly, we LAUGH (when we can breath...)

December 3rd...

I'm very fortunate that I'm able to meet the bus each day after school...Although long gone are the days when the girls run to me, now they run straight to Coco (the 6 pound Chihuahua who provides no food, homework help or bandaids on scrapes and cuts), and the fighting starts immediately over whose turn it is to hold her first.

And believe me, I get out of the way and let them duke it out everyday...

looks like Avery won today...

December 2nd

All the girls got fancy today for the Baton Rouge General's Gingerbread Tea... Cookies, Sandwiches, Fruit, Cheese, Santa and prizes...What else could little girls want??

I'll have to add some pictures of Ashley and Hannah later... too much cuteness for one camera!

December Daily

I'm taking some advice from Debby Schuh and keeping my December Daily on the blog this year.  I actually did a December Daily album two years ago - the December I was diagnosed with cancer...believe me the album was planned and created long before the diagnosis...but I'm glad I have it.  Especially because that December was especially crazy...filled with a range of emotions...

This is a much happier year, hopefully there will never be one as stressful as that one.. But we made it through that one, and we'll make it through another one if we have too...I'm just glad it's not THIS year...

Avery's actual birthday is November 30, but we had her party on December 1.  My little girl turning EIGHT!

The "FAB FIVE" as I call them...These precious little girls have been inseparable since Kindergarten.  They skated, ate Cane's, had birthday cake and stayed up WAY TOO late with a very patient Dad (after Mommy was asleep)... and LAUGHED WAY TOO LONG!!!! 

House ADD

I have mentioned this before...See, before we moved to this house (or should I say pre-children)...Shane and I bought and sold a house every two years... I wouldn't call us flippers, I would just call me "antsy"...

There is a certain thrill of getting rid of the old and starting over...the smell of new paint...rearranging furniture in a new space...hunting flea markets to find the perfect pieces to complete the new house...

But I really like our house, and since we committed and dug that hole in the backyard, I know we'll be here for a while ever...but I sat in this house for two years STARING at this furniture, and examining the imperfections and even worse watching HGTV...

so I've begun a major overhaul, and by major, I mean labor intensive, yet fiscally lean...  Here is an example...

I love the style of my dining room table, but three years ago when we went to Disney World, Ironman didn't want the house to burn down from a "Plug-In", so he un-plugged it, and set it on the dining room table.  While we were in Disney, the fragrance drizzled out the side and kindly took the varnish off of the table...It only took me three years to remedy this with some Annie Sloan paint and wax...

here are two before pictures....please forgive me for living with is like this for three years...there were some rough times in there and I didn't have my usual energy...

 

said "plug-in" debacle...do you think the house would really have burned down???

 

Now let's discuss Annie Sloan paint and wax...I LOVE the results, but I didn't LOVE the process - especially the backache that resulted...I love that I have a new dining room table for $100 (cost of paint, clear wax and dark wax) rather than purchasing a new table (remember - I'm frugal).  But achieving a smooth even finish on a large area was tedious.  I would repeat the process in a heartbeat on a smaller object... as for a large table...well, maybe it's like pregnancy, and I'll forget...

 

So here is the finished product....

 

 

plus a new table runner from Pottery Barn and some Mercury Glass Accents.  The hutch in the back got a face lift with new red accents too.  Previously the room had turquoise as the accent color, but I'm a red girl, and as hard as I tried to like another color, it didn't work...I had to go back to red... here's the hutch... (here's a tip...scrapbook paper can be used in many places...can you spot it?)

 

 

and my mantle got a little sprucing too... I've been checking out mantles for a while, trying to figure out what to do...finally I just started pulling things from all over my house and throwing it up there...I like it...at least it's something new and different...

 

 

oh, and my front door even got a new wreath...

 

 

I'm not trying to win any awards or get featured in a magazine, but it sure is fun to do something creative... I've been so preoccupied with decor that I haven't been scrapbooking, but I'll get back to it soon... Just a few more areas need a lift...

 

Luckily my mom helps me a lot...most of the time we laugh at my ridiculous ideas and then she actually makes them work...you might just say she's the more practical one...But it does seem that I'm always the one on the ladder....

 

Just a few layouts...

We are plodding along nicely around here... I ran away with some girlfriends last weekend and cranked out some layouts... Impatiently awaiting the cooler weather and a valid reason to wear my sweaters and boots...until then Avery is still sporting her "noodle straps" (aka spaghetti straps) and flip flops...

Here are the kids in May at the Cool Zoo (please ignore the journaling where I wrote August... in twenty years, it won't matter... hell, it doesn't matter to me NOW :)

that middle picture on the left is my daughter putting clothes on a clothesline... please note, this has not resulted in her showing any interest in washing clothes at home...

This layout is from Treasured Memories, please don't think I would pass it off as my own...but I do love when someone else does the work!!

this is my first ever LSU layout...I know, crazy...but I guess after 6 years of living in LSU country it was bound to happen!

oh yes, my aunt did HIRE ask Mrs. Claus to visit the children at her house for the Oustalet Christmas Gathering... that's how we roll people....

and because there are so many of us (less than half pictured) we need some mini pages....

and lastly some more Zoo pictures...

That's it for now...Hope you are laughing!

Thank goodness for Sisters...

It all started with this picture...

I sent it along with this text to my sisters...

we get emotional....

and then we go from emotional to stupid... just like us... which makes me laugh... through the tears....

of course Ash has to bring it back to HER...why I left HER out of the shopping trip...ignoring my emotional meltdown in the fitting room...and who is Padma??  I'm out of the loop...Seal I know, but Padma??  you lost me...

I'm so grateful for my sisters who keep me laughing even while I'm crying over a stupid cancer battle scar...  

I hope you have sisters or friends who make you laugh when the skies are grey....  because laughing makes every day better...

Denim Update...

Thanks to my friend Alexis I survived the marathon shopping trip, and it didn't stop with denim... I can officially say I am finished shopping until next Fall...as a shopping novice, I STRONGLY suggest mentioning to a friend who finds shopping enjoyable, even therapeutic that you are at the mall...if you are lucky, said friend will jump in the car and meet you - Sweet Jesus does answer prayers!!!

I had read the "denim rules" mentioned in my previous post, but I really didn't know where to start.  The post had mentioned Express, so we started there.  Oh Lawd...The wall of jeans was terrifying!  and to Alexis this was as normal as choosing corn at the grocery...  I tried on every style and surprisingly I did like the Barely Boot.  I have to admit I was a little shocked by the price of $118, I mean, it's Express, I haven't been in Express since about Sophomore year in High School... But in my frugalness, I had printed a $20 coupon from the internet prior to leaving the house.  Here are the Rerock jeans from Express...

They only had the Regular length, and that is fine for flatter shoes, but I would have preferred the Long length.  But thinking I might not find anymore, I bought them.  Trust me, I'm not saying I have some supermodel long legs...No such luck...I just have a REALLY short torso and a REALLY high waist = NOT attractive, and necessitating long length pants and jeans....

I knew Jean Therapy has the mecca of denim options, but Alexis seemed to think Dillard's should be our next stop...Lord...denim was in three different places in Dillard's!  I swear I would have given up had I been alone.  The first salesperson directed us to the area with "Not My Mother's Jeans".  Alexis laughed out loud...Had I been alone, I wouldn't have known the difference... Once again, thank goodness for Alexis....so we head to JUNIORS, can you believe??, but we found the Miss Me and Silver jeans.  I had my heart set on Miss Me jeans, but after trying on tons of styles, I decided against them.  Probably because EVERYONE has them, and I found other labels that maybe weren't "everywhere"...  I LOVE the stitching on these Silver jeans...

Even better, they come in different lengths, so I was able to get a 34" length - score!  and then the surprise of the day, they are only $88.  I might get blasted for saying "only $88", hello....I know that's expensive, but in the world of designer jeans, I thought they might be closer to $160, so I was pleasantly surprised...

At this point Alexis left me to my own devices (frightening)... and I found the area with the Rock Revival jeans (2nd floor of Dillard's).  They didn't have different lengths in the style I bought, but they are 34", so if you are short, these would be way too long, but there were tons of styles, so there are probably some shorter ones.  Believe it or not, these were on sale....I really did want some blingy jeans (hence the original quest for Miss Me), but I decided on less bling.  Rock Revival jeans are in the "designer jean" price range that I had imagined, but with the sale, they were in line with Express.

Pretty ridiculous that I bought three pair of jeans, but I was on a roll...I have two longs and one short, and my favorites are the two longs, but I know I can get the Silver in a shorter length, so I may exchange them and return the Express ones.  I'm going to sleep on it.  At least I'm not in the fetal position right now because I didn't find anything...even though denim was in three places in Dillard's I had a pleasantly exhausting shopping experience today...

It could have been better had I visited Jean Therapy where every style is right there at your fingertips, but I'm still pretty intimidated by it.  No reason...I've never stepped foot in it...So if you love Jean Therapy and would like to show me what I'm missing, let's go!  I'm always more adventurous with a friend...

The icing on the cake was a dress from Versona, two tops from Loft and a top from Forever 21, and yes Ashley, they did let me in Forever 21...

Now that I am finished shopping for the year, I am hauling my bedazzled arse to bed!  Hope your day was filled with as much laughing as mine - all in the name of fashion!!

Denim Overhaul...

Nobody hates shopping more than me... add shopping for jeans and you just dropped me into hell!  But it's time ladies...I'm pretending to feel the crispness in the swamp air and I need some new jeans...This not only baffles me, it downright terrifies me!  But thanks to the world of Pinterest, I found this fantastic blog post, and have read and taken notes on EVERY word....



Rachel (my new BFF) compares Old Navy and GAP to designer brands and shows just how much better your junk looks in designer jeans.  Well my junk needs all the help it can get, so I read the post, the comments and I am heading out armed with notes and a plan...  I should probably hit the Xanax and take a go cup filled with vodka to relax the nerves...

Wish me luck...I will not post pictures if my shopping trip is successful, because, seriously, who wants to see pictures of my arse in bedazzled jeans???  You can thank me in advance....

Scrappin'...Hurricane Style...

So when a hurricane threatens to blow through town, what do you do??  scrapbook of course.... Even if we lose power, I have a BIG window next to my scrap table...nice planning on my part... (note: I'm finishing this post hurricane, and we didn't lose power...)

Last weekend while the girls had sleepovers, I managed a layout between feedings, judging dance contests,  and costume malfunctions...

I'm dying to take a trip to Lafayette and buy all of the treasures at Treasured Memories and Create 365 (my closest lss).  They have been getting in all of the CHA goodies and taunting me with sneak peaks...  I love both stores and both owners.  The stores and merchandise are totally different but equally fabulous!  If you are ever in the area, check out both...

I'm super excited about a teaching opportunity coming up.  Memory Mania's Camp Crop A Lot is January 4 and 5 and I am teaching a layout class.  It was so fun choosing the paper and creating a layout just for the crop.  I haven't taught in years...we'll glaze over the obvious reasons...but Tammy is nice enough to let me give it another try...I've never taught at Tammy's store or for Tammy's clientele, so I'm nervous that they won't like my scrap style or nutty personality, but I'm jumping in with both feet!  If you are interested in CCL, check out this link.  I'll be there cropping both days, enjoying this first class event!!  Here's a peak at the layout...

Every year I make a file folder to hold M & A's school papers.  Here's my tip... I keep their school papers in a big zip lock bag all year.  At the end of the year, I choose a good mix of papers from the bag that represents their schoolwork and accomplishments (ie. NOT EVERYTHING!).  Then I keep those papers in this cute little folder.  Organized, de-cluttered and memorialized for years to come...  So I managed to finish last year's folders just in time for a new school year...

So we survived Hurricane Issac with no damage to our house and without power failure - Hallelujah!!  We were very fortunate, but many people weren't so lucky...  Now, let me share with you a true Hurricane layout... a Hurricane layout, you ask?  When I am bored with no end in sight to to the boredom, I tend to resurrect techniques such as Heat Embossing and Glimmer Misting and pull out the chip board and hot glue gun...these products have not partied in my scraproom since 1999...

We even managed to celebrate a birthday during the storm.  Morgan's birthday falls in the dreadful hurricane season.  Hurricane Katrina hit on her 2nd birthday while we evacuated to Florida.  We bought a delicious cake at the Kroger bakery that year.  Knowing that we might not get to a bakery for this birthday, I promised to make a red velvet cake for her 9th birthday.  Everyone braved the weather and spent the day at our house for Morgan's birthday...

Hope you are laughing just as much as we are around here.  We are gearing up for another four days of togetherness with the Labor Day Weekend...   The partying never stops... 

Back to Back Vacations

My first one was a family vacation...a cruise...and the gentle rocking of the ship was enough to make me want to jump overboard...but the girls LOVED Kids Camp and Shane can relax in the sun for hours so overall it was a success.  And honestly, I knew I would be on dry land scrapbooking with girlfriends the upcoming weekend, so there was hope...

The saving grace of the cruise was the adults only deck on the back of the ship where the breeze was perfect  and the cushioned chairs could be pushed into the shade...I'm more of a shade kind of girl...I don't like to push my limits when it comes to cancer, and that includes skin cancer...and these faces proved that the trip was a success...

If you have ever been on a Carnival Cruise, you may agree that the food is plentiful, but it doesn't compare to Louisiana cooking.  I spent the weekend in Lafayette with girlfriends scrapbooking and the FOOD was amazing.  I am still dreaming about the Eggplant Adelaid at Prejean's along with the Seafood Gumbo and the White Chocolate Bread Pudding (the bread pudding was gratis after gumbo was spilled down Ashlyn's back -ouch!). We also found a delicious Sushi restaurant called Fuji Sushi House using Urban Spoon.  According to Jen Urban Spoon NEVER steers her wrong.  The owner was adorable and the menu was enormous and to our delight included the lightest Crab Rangoons... I just may have stuck the radish garnish in my mouth and Jen just may have taken my picture...and then a fellow diner just may have caught me...

We found delicious Rockin Ritas at Agave - a few of us had three to four of them...I stopped at one since I was driving...but made sure to follow them up with a bottle of Skinnygirl Sangria when I wasn't in danger of causing bodily harm...oh, and how is Lafayette so lucky to have a Rouse's grocery store?  I googled it and it looks like Rouse's is looking at expanding into Baton Rouge, well I have two words - HURRY UP!!  We made a stop at the Bakery at Rouse's and the Turtle Cookies are a little bit of heaven...RUN to a Rouse's if you have one and get them!

In between eating, drinking laughing and sleeping it is amazing that I got any scrapbooking done at all...to prove it, here are a few of my layouts.  I have more, but I was too lazy to take pictures of all of them...imagine that...

Halloween 2011

 Ashley's family at Christmas

 my girls at the beach last summer

my girls Christmas 2011

 Morgan playing soccer Spring 2012

And after my back to back vacations I went to the doctor and my blood pressure was 100/60 and I had only gained 4 pounds.  I'd say vacations are good for my blood pressure and worth every BITE!!!