AMNH Mystic Creatures

David and I went to the American Museum of Natural History to see the Mystic Creatures exhibit. Loved it! Isn't it nice to pretend and let your imagination run wild. I did learn some very interesting facts for this exhibit and how not everything is see is as it seems.



Then we had a late lunch at Barney Greengrass, a deli/restaurant on 86th Street and Amersterdam Avenue. DE-lish! I had the the Nova Scotia Salmon Scrambled with Eggs and Onions. We also had their potato pancakes and I learned that people accompany it with apple sauce but I prefer sour cream. Yummy!

NYC Birthday

Anita and I gave Shanya a New York City birthday yesterday even though it was a week before her actual birthday which is October 6th. Chinese traditionally celebrate birthdays before or on and not after. We walked all over, enjoying the sites and having a good time. We had a Korean BBQ lunch at Kunjip Restaurant and it was delicious!

After lunch, we had desert at Pinkberry and headed to Paper Presentations. We stopped in the Cupcake Cafe for a birthday cupcake. Then it was off to Union Square to find Fish Eddy for Anita, while there she bought some little dishes.

Girls day out in New York!

Top of the Rock at Sunset

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

October 21st I am going to be walking in the "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk" in Central Park. It is a five mile walk to celebrate those who have survived breast cancer and fund raise for future research. Please support me for this great cause!


This year, hundreds of thousands of people will hear the words “You have breast cancer,” and there’s a good chance that some of them will be people we know and love. I have chosen to fight back against this disease and help make a difference by participating in the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk … and I hope you will join me.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is our opportunity to honor and celebrate breast cancer survivors, educate women about early detection and prevention, and raise money to fund lifesaving research and support programs to help fight breast cancer. But Making Strides is more than just the name of a walk, it describes the amazing progress we can make if we work together to defeat this disease.

Below is a link to my personal page. I hope you will visit my site and sign up to join my team. If you prefer, you can start your own team, sign up to walk as an individual, or make a donation. Hope starts with me and it can continue with you. Please join my team and walk with us to experience an incredible day of inspiration and meaning, and to provide hope for all people facing breast cancer.

Hope starts with you and me let's walk!

The American Cancer Society's state fundraising notices can be reviewed at: main.acsevents.org/statefundraisingnotices

Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY08Eastern?px=3081351&pg=personal&fr_id=3405&s_tafId=73190

Click here to view the team page for Grace Institute
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY08Eastern?team_id=113092&pg=team&fr_id=3405&s_tafId=73190

Click here to view the company page for Grace Institute
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY08Eastern?company=Grace+Institute&pg=company&fr_id=3405&s_tafId=73190

Doodle All Day.

I got my book for my class! I was so excited to see it when I got home today and can't wait to start this class next month.


I am flipping through the book and it is awesome! The designs and that everything is freehand is what makes it look so unique to each individual. I think I might get started and do some practicing.

A.O.C. & The Cutting Room

A.O.C. is French Bistro located on West 4th Street at the corner of Grove and Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. Dennis and I went there for dinner last night and it was divine. The dishes have great presentation and the service is fabulous. I give it a ten! I am totally bummed that of all days I didn't bring my camera with me otherwise I would have pictures to share too. For dinner, we shared the onion soup, I had the Cotes d'Agneau (grilled lamb chop of course) and he had the Entrecote (angus shell steak with peppercorn sauce). Is your mouth drooling yet?

They have a lovely garden setting in the back of the restaurant and last night was a great night to eat outdoors. Simply delightful all around restaurant and I highly recommend it. The cozy atmosphere of the restaurant is great for a date night.

After that we were off to The Cutting Room, not right away but we eventually settled there for the night. It is a great hang out bar/lounge/music scene. One of the co-owners is Chris Noth! All you Sex in the City girls know him as Mr. Big! How awesome would it be to actually see him there one day. Well, I am hoping that one of my next visits I will get that opportunity. They have a room in the back of the bar where bands play. This place is great for socializing and having a very well made drink by one of the bartenders.

If you are ever in New York, make sure that you check out these two locations if you haven't already done so!

Threadless.

Threadless recently had a 'Back to School' $10 special and I loved these shirts so much I bought them. Anyone can create designs and submit them to be voted on by viewers. The ones that get the most votes get printed. Here are my picks.

"Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places"


"You've Got Some 'Splaining' To Do!"


"Nice Boobies"


"UR In My Top 8"


Check it out for yourself!

Scrapbooking Kit.

Lisa Bearnson has come out with "Kit of the Month" and I love the things that she has put together this kit. I purchased this month's kit because I thought it would be a great way to put together my trip to San Francisco. I ordered all the prints, but was never really sure how I wanted to scrapbook them.


Go to Lisa Bearnson's website to see the detailed pictures of the contents of the kit and she also has an idea gallery where designers have put together their version of this album. If you have traveled somewhere recently and haven't gotten all your photos scrapbooked or journaling written, I think this is great kit to help you do just that. All the pieces are included in a great tin container and you just have to put them together.

Online Classes.

I decided to try an online scrapbooking class, "Doodle All Day". It just so happens that Big Picture Scrapbooking is offering a Back to School $5 discount on new classes. One of the latest trend has been doodling and creating your own hand drawn embellishment. Well, that is one of my weaknesses. I am a perfectionist and an engineer who measures everything. The photo has to be exactly in the center or exactly 2 inches from the left, which makes it very hard for me to even do any doodling. I was the one in class who carried a ruler in order to draw a perfect line under my sentences during class and in math I have to draw perfect triangles and squares. When I tried doodling, I corrected my doodling if it was proportional, so do you see my dilemma. That is why I think this class is perfect for me.

Here is the art journal that I created this weekend. I am going to fill it with things for the "Doodle All Day" class, color inspiration, and one word challenges.

Have you ever thought about taking an online scrapbooking class?

Challenges.

are another great way to get inspiration when you are lacking. You also get the opportunity to use up some of your scrapbooking supplies. Maybe even use a tool that you haven't in a while. Check out my links to the right under "Challenge Blogs."

Challenge yourself.

Stitching without a sewing machine.

Daisy D's has come out with one of the most convenient ways to get beautiful stitching on your layouts without the hassle of a sewing machine. I think this is a great product for a person like me who doesn't own a sewing machine to get that type of design on my layouts. Plus now you can take them with you wherever you go; classes and crops.

You can visit their website for more information and layouts featuring this product.

Idea books.

You have heard of writer's block, but get this, I am having creator's block. Inspiration just has not been at my fingertips lately. After working all day, I don't get very much time to do any scrapbooking. Therefore, I decided to look for creativity elsewhere and I found the following idea books to be very interesting. I pre-ordered them on Amazon.com and am patiently looking forward to receiving them in the mail. I am so excited!

The first one is Best of Becky Higgins' Sketches. I am a big fan of her sketches featured in Creating Keepsakes magazine. She has many amazing layout sketches and it is great to visually see what different layouts people can create from a simple sketch.

This book is a compilation of her previous two publications: Creative Sketches for Scrapbooking, Volumes 1 and 2. There are also additional layouts never seen before.

Ali Edwards has the most creative work I have seen. I love all her pages and the photos that she takes. Her ability to capture everyday life and turn it into something artistic is incredible.

"Life Artist" is her third book. She shares stories and how to scrapbook life moments. We don't often take the time to reflect on life and the simple aspects of everyday. Ali teaches us how to capture our lifestyle on beautiful layouts.

Kristina Contes, Meghan Dymock, Nisa Fiin, and Genevieve Simmonds have come out with a book featuring the dares that they post on The Dares. It is a great way to get you motivated and the layouts portray each person's style of scrapbooking. You can look on their website for new dares.

Creativity can come from all aspects of life. Making it into a work of art is our manifestation.

Do you dare to create?
I'll do a book review once I have read each one cover to cover.
I can't wait!

Raspberry PiM's.

My first taste of a Raspberry Pim's was when I was in San Francisco and it was delightful. Raspberry Pim's are made of a delicate soft biscuit with raspberry fruit filling and a rich chocolate cover. They come in two other flavors: tangy orange and orchard pear, but raspberry is my favorite. You get the combination of chocolate, fruit, and biscuit which will satisfy anyone's sweet cravings.



Have you tried Raspberry Pim's?