Fourth of July

This year we broke from tradition. We spent this Fourth of July with some of Jackie's co-workers. They invited us to their yard for a bbq and fun!
I was happy with how these pictures came out. I read a bit on how you're supposed to take photos of fireworks. And you're supposed to bring a tripod and have the shutter stay open for a longer period of time. Ok, so I didn't have a tripod. But I think that these pictures came out pretty well.
The people are kinda fuzzy cause you can't get them to pose when you're taking long exposure photos of fireworks. Well, you can but it would be a bit funny to say, "HEY! Don't Move!" LOL
Sadie and Nichole were having way too much fun with each other!
And Jordana was enjoying driving everyone around in the golf cart thing. She took us out on a pretty fun ride! LOL Can't wait till she learns how to drive. ;)

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope that everyone has a great day today! Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. One reason was because it was the one holiday that I could really enjoy before, during, and after. No work, no store, no customers, and no long hours.

But really, it's a day to remember our independence. It's a day to remember how hard our forefathers fought to declare our independence. And it's a day to remember all the soldiers of all the wars who have fought to maintain that independence.

For without them, we would not have the freedoms that we enjoy today.

So have a Happy Independence Day! And enjoy your time with your family and friends today!

Oreo's Chair

This is Oreo's pink chair. We got these chairs from my aunt's house. And Oreo has claimed this one for his own chair. It's located next to the computer desk, where I'm pretty much always located. One day we put one of my fleece blankets on it, and he climbed right on top of it. He doesn't even sleep with Phil as much anymore.

It's so funny, my dad had no idea that it was the cat's chair, so he decided he needed to sit on the chair. Then was wondering why the cat kept walking around and around the chair giving him the stink eye. LOL

One thing I'm always wondering about cats is how do they feel the different textures through their fur? They don't like to sleep on fake fur blankets or even crocheted or knitted blankets. They LOVE polar fleece. I know it's soft, but how do they feel the softness through their fur? I swear they always pick the flannel sheets to sleep on, not the regular ones. Weird.

Banana Upside Down Cake

In a magazine I saw a recipe for Banana Coconut upside down cake. And since we're not big fans of coconut here, I just did the bananas. I called up Phil's sister to see how she makes her cake, and off I went.

It actually looks better than it did in the magazine, too bad I don't eat bananas. LOL

Black Book

Last night Phil and I caught this movie on one of the movie channels. We actually caught it after it had started, but saw that it was about WW2, so we decided to watch it. Turns out that it was about the Dutch underground during WW2.

It was a really good movie. It was in German with subtitles. And it was based on true events. It was based on a German Jewish woman named Rachel Stein. She sees her family murdered as they are trying to leave Holland for liberated territories. She ends up joining the Dutch resistance.

The movie has some great twists and turns. One of the characters early in the movie tells her to be careful, and not to be so trusting in everyone. And they weren't kidding. Just when you think you can trust someone, they turn out to be working with the Germans.

If you like movies based on historical events, you'll really like this one.

Medieval Room

Since I haven't taken any new pictures, I thought I'd share my Medieval room on my webkinz account. I just got the pink dragon, and of course she's one of my favorite pets. I just had to get a dragon webkinz, cause that's me, a dragon. LOL

Hopefully Arte will have the Medieval chairs in the Curio shop soon, cause I have the table, no chairs. LOL

Kung Fu Panda

I love Po! We went to see Kung Fu Panda today, and I loved it. The story was very cute. I love that Po worked in a Noodle house. I love the fact that Po is a chubby panda who can save the town. It gives the kids a little self-esteem. That you don't have to be the tigress, monkey, viper, crane, or mantis to be the hero. If you work hard and believe in yourself, you can do anything.

It's a good message for the kids today.

There was so much in this movie to love. Love Jack Black as Po! He is so funny! Scadush! LOL I can't believe that Jackie Chan only had maybe 3 lines in the whole movie! LOL He was the Monkey. Angelina Jolie was the Tigress. Dustin Hoffman is the red panda. And Lucy Liu is the viper.

It's neat that they can get a little bit of everyone's character into the animation. The one rhino was Michael Clarke Duncan, and you just knew by the characteristics of the rhino, and it's facial movements that it was him! LOL

On the one site that I'm on, Gaiaonline, they have had the Kung Fu Panda Quests for a month or two. And I've been dying to see the movie cause the quests are so fun to do. Plus seeing the trailers in the Gaia Cinemas helped a lot too.

I don't want to say anymore to ruin it for anyone. All I can say is, if you haven't seen it already, and you love animation, this is a good one to see.

BBQ Peaches

One of things that we look forward to in summer time is BBQ peaches. We were watching Food Network one night, and saw them BBQing the peaches. So we decided to try it, and OMG, they've been a big hit!
This is a peach after it's been on the grill. As soon as it comes off the grill, sprinkle them with a bit of sugar. And it seems like it caramelizes.
Yummy in Ashley's tummy! LOL It's one of the things the softball team looks forward to every year. When Phil goes back to practice, everyone reminds him how they love BBQ peaches!

Sex and the City

I went to see the Sex and the City Movie today. Ashley wanted to go, so we went. And OMG, it was the best movie! If you loved the series, you'll love the movie. I loved it so much, I am definitely going again to see it with my girlfriends!

I am a big fan of the TV show. It was the one thing I looked forward to watching every Sunday night when it was on HBO. It was great watching their lives unfold on the little screen, seeing them all go through their dating lives, professional lives, and their friendships together.

And watching the movie was like being with old friends. You haven't seen each other for a long time, but you just pick up where you left off. I loved seeing Jennifer Hudson in the movie. She was great! And of course I just LOVE Chris Noth. He was always my favorite of Carrie's beaus. I love Mario Cantone. He's one of those who you'd want to have as your friend! And of course, seeing the girls!

I won't give away anything, cause I know some of you probably haven't seen it yet. It is definitely a movie you need to see with your girlfriends!!

Cool find at a Japanese store

While in the Japanese store today, I found these great containers for ATC's! They are for your Trading Card Collection, and so I'm thinking...ATCs!!

They come two to a package, and were very reasonable! I'll have to get a few more cause I filled up the two I have already. It was the last package at the store, so I'll keep checking back. I'll have to figure out how to decorate them now.

My Aunt

Yesterday my aunt turned 84! I can't believe that she's 84. We were talking about how when she was young, she thought that when she turned 60 she wouldn't be getting around much anymore, and here she is in her 80's!

She has lived in San Francisco for much of her life. I can always remember visiting her in San Francisco, and seeing her at the different Cherry Blossom Festivals. She is so independant, and always told me to look for a good job with a good company so that you have a future for yourself. It's always fun to go to visit her because you hear so much about their life in Hawaii and what it was like to grow up on the Sugar Cane Plantation. I really need to start writing about their stories!

We went to Todai for her birthday. I hadn't been there in such a long time. It was better than the one we normally go to, Hokkaido. What I thought was neat about this restaurant is that they cook a lot of their meat on long skewers, then come to your table to see if you want anything off the skewers. I have never seen that before.

Then we went to her home, and for the first time, she showed me things in her apartment. Like different pieces of art in frames, she actually took scarves with cool japanese prints, and put them into frames. She also had a few frames of japanese paper art. Someone created neat scenes with washi paper for her. And of course I loved seeing the paintings my other aunt has done. My Aunty Dorothy used to live in Japan for awhile when she was in the military. And she did some really beautiful paintings of some of the places in Japan. I'll have to take pictures of them the next time I go to visit.

It made me realize how lucky I am to have such creative people in my life.

Still working on Las Vegas Books

I'm still working on the Las Vegas Books. Not that it's all that hard to work on, but I've been doing things in between. I started reading Mr. Darcy's daughters. It's pretty good so far. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth have left to Constantinople. They have 5 daughters and two sons, the daughters are visiting their cousins in London.

The premise sounds really good. I'm just getting into it, so we'll see if I really like it or not. A good indication is that I can't put it down for long.

I'm going to teach a friend to bead tomorrow, and visit with my parents and see one of my aunts in SF. That should be really fun!

Hopefully I'll start my etsy store soon. I have to get some things made first, then I'll be there making stuff. I have to figure out something really fun and unusual to sell. We'll see how far we get.

Hope you all are having a good night, and have a fun weekend!

Sadie's in the Modesto Bee Newspaper

They did an article on Sadie in the Modesto Bee Newspaper about Nashville Star tonight:


http://www. modbee. com/local/story/322882. html

How cool is that??

Sadie on Nashville Star...

Well, we hope she'll be on Nashville Star. She auditioned in April and made it all the way to the top 45! We saw her on one of the Nashville Star commercials, Jewel said she was singing out her nose. LOL So, we are hoping since she was on the commercial, that she'll be on the show.

It's on at 9 on NBC, I think for 2 hours. That's so cool!!

Sadie and her Guitar

I think Sadie enjoyed her Krispy Treat Guitar! LOL

Sadie's 21st Birthday

So, Sadie has the bright idea of having a cake eating contest for her birthday. And she thought what a great idea to have everyone blindfolded with their hands tied behind her back. She tried to recruit everyone to play this game, but many of us have been around too long to know what was going to happen next.
If you think you're going to have a cake eating contest with Victor and Al around you're totally WRONG! When they said "GO" Al picks up his and Victor's cake....
And smushes it right into the girl's faces. They really thought they were going to be part of a simple cake eating contest...NOT. Of course the lovely cake I made was totally used for the fight. And notice in the background, Phil and Diane are walking away from the fight, and Philip is pretty much enjoying every minute of it!
This is what the girls looked like after the fight, before the turkey grease was dumped on them from on top of the roof. Yes, you read right, from on top of the roof. The girls thought they would actually go on the roof with the hose to attack the guys from above...
The guys thought of it first, with turkey frying oil.
But if you don't throw the oil, you don't have to clean it up. Although the girls got beat, they had justice in the fact that the boys had to clean up the backyard. LOL

Just like the old days of dinner with the Louisianas. Do I have stories I could tell you!

All in a days work at the Louisiana-Brown house. LOL Kristen, I bet you are SO glad that you missed this dinner!!

Sadie's Cake

So, after many many tries, here is Sadie's cake! LOL Devil's food cake with Whipped cream. I love whipped cream and not frosting cakes.

But in the middle layers, I mixed mini marshmallows in with the whipped cream. That made the layers taller. But it helped fill in some of the layers too. :)

Then I shaved some Nestle's Bliss dark chocolate and put more marshmallows on the top. It looks so YUMMY!!! I hope I get a piece!

Krispy Treat Guitar

Yesterday was Sadie's 21st birthday, and today we are celebrating. So, Phil has this great idea to make Sadie a Krispy Treat Guitar. She loves Krispy treats, and well, you know her and music.

These are the photos of the final processes. Phil molded the guitar by hand, and he cut the shape out and the hole in the center. I went in after and made the chocolate strings out of melted chocolate, and even wrote her name on it! It is very cool!

Hope she enjoys it!

Frosting

After a few recipe flops, I have decided that premade frosting is always good. LOL I have tried and tried to make chocolate frosting from scratch, and bombed every time. So, I'm just going to go with the frosting from a can. LOL

I'm not even going to show you because it was really bad! LOL

Adventures in Marshmallows

So, Sadie's favorite thing to eat is Marshmallows. So I decided that I'd figure out something to make her that had marshmallows in it that was new and different.

One important thing that I've figured out about Marshmallows and baking...don't bake with marshmallows. Well, you can use it as a finishing element. LOL

I put them inside of some cake batter to see how they would hold up in the baking process. Well, just so you all know...they melt. Yep, melt into goo. And since it started out as a nice big fluffy piece of marshmallow, melting into goo leaves a gaping hole in your cupcakes.

So, while standing there looking at the holes in the cupcakes, I decided to put a marshmallow in there while they're still warm. And this is great to eat while they're hot, but not so much when they're cold. Phil says that the marshmallows and cake are too dry together, that there needs to be something goopy to mix it up.

So, tomorrow will be experiment #2. I'll keep you posted as to what will be next.

Last two sections

These are the last 2 accordian pages in the accordian book. I think I will decorate the inside cover with a picture, but I have to figure out what. I am going to put some embellishments on the last page. So, I'll take another photo. I LOVE that paper too, wish I could find more.

Inside pages to Las Vegas Book

I have finished most of the pages of my Las Vegas Stamping Sisters mini accordian book. I haven't glued it into the cover at this point, but I wanted to post some pictures of what I've been doing so far.


This is the first page, I printed the title from Word onto cream colored cardstock. Then used TimHoltz's ink pad to soften up the color a bit. I drew the swirlies, then cut out of cardstock. And then punched the round dots with a round hole punch.

The papers on all the books might be a bit different, cause it depends on what I have left by the time I get to book 5. LOL I found the cool cherry paper from a store in Tracy that isn't there anymore. Love the pink theme to the book so far.

But then, I had to find something with a little blue in it because the photos at the nugget's fish tank were blue. So I found this poker chip paper, and thought it would be good. :) And the next set of photos are from the Las Vegas Experience on Fremont street.

The flip side has 2 double layouts. I'll post those tomorrow.

Las Vegas Books

So, with my time off I've started on my Las Vegas books for my friends. We took a trip to Las Vegas in October, and I haven't had the chance to do anything till now.

These books are from Petaloo. They are accordian books. The cover is made of cardboard that was covered in pink paper. Of course I couldn't just leave the paper pink. I found this really great patterned paper that is a photo of the strip. I cut the bottom portion off and used it for the flap.

I used one of Tim Holtz's ink pads to "antique the edges, then used clear glitter to edge the book, cause it just needed some glitz.

The book has a magnetic closure, so it just pops closed.

Before the trip I had found the Las Vegas Poker chips that I was going to alter for something else. But I thought they would make a great accent on the book. The dice are from Joleen's.

I'll post photos of the pages as I get them done.

It feels so good to create!

Mao

This is Mao our outside cat. I've talked about her before. She's a really cute cat that has been hanging around our house. Well, I guess it doesn't help that I feed her too. Although, for an outside cat she's been getting pretty spoiled.

I took this picture of her waiting near the birdseed bowl. She doesn't catch any of the birds or squirrels that come in the yard. But it's funny to see her waiting around the yard for something to come in.

And I've named her Mao because she talks a lot. And I've always wanted to call a cat Mao, and have it answer. "Mao!" "meow". lol

Ok, I must figure out what to do soon cause I'm talking to cats! LOL

Kua Energy Number & my future?

My kua energy number for my birthdate is:

Energy Number: 6
"The Technology Lover"

In Feng Shui, you are considered a "West" person.

"You love to use the newest technologies in your professional life and you are creative in finding solutions and new perspectives. Meditating and using yoga and relaxation exercises will stimulate your health. You are a romantic soul that connects with the divine feminine in your relationships. Advising others is your way of spiritual growth and you have a wide network that will bring you all the knowledge you need."

I just love the fact that I'm a technology lover. LOL That's me, the geek girl. I have always been interested in how things work. And my previous jobs have included creating air bearing slides and spindles, redesigning and helping on the designs of cyclometers and altimeter watches. And one of the air bearings we worked on actually went into space! So, yes, I've always loved technology. ;)

And it's interesting that my way to spiritual growth lies in advising others. A woman the other day said that I would make a great councilor for kids. Hmmm, that's an interesting idea. I think things in my life at the moment are leaning towards working with kids.

I'm helping out one of my friends with her project at a Community Day School. She's bringing art to their class in hopes that it will help their self-esteem. Many of them right now are destined for a world of trouble. Their parents have been in prison, and as Karan says, "they wear their time in this class or juvenile hall as a badge on their sleeve." So she's hoping that having a bit of art in their lives will bring about a change for them in their personalities, definitely bringing them hope of something better in their lives.

I did help her on her first class, and I thought that for a few of the kids, it made a difference. They really were interested in the projects she came up with, and had a great time making things for their moms.

I think this will be a really great project for all of us!!

New Banner!

Yup yup! I'm learning how to make banners! Woo hoo! And on blogger it's so easy peasy. OMG, how fun is this!

The photo is of the tree in our front yard. It blooms every spring, and I was able to take a picture of it for the first time a couple of months ago. I thought the blossoms were really cool. Then I just added the text, for a really simple banner.

Boy, now I'll want to do more! I just have to take some fun pictures now. I'm going to do a lot of playing now. :)

Indiana Jones

Phil and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie today. It was good. A lot of things were predictable. I guessed a few things that were going to happen before they happened. LOL Things happened so fast during the movie, I think I'll need to see it again just to see if I missed anything. There were a couple of cool things that if you blinked you'd miss them.

I'm glad they brought Karen Allen's character back. I loved her in the first movie. And I liked Shia LaBeouf as Mutt. I think it's kinda funny that Indy took his nickname from a dog, and Mutt is a dog. Cate Blanchett was great! I love that she can pick up any accent and character and make it believable. And have I ever said that I loved Ray Winstone? He's been one of my favorite actors since the BBC version of Robin Hood all those many years ago. I wished that they would have had his character in the movie a bit more.

The alien thing was kinda weird. But I guess they had to incorporate that for the crystal skull thing to work.

All in all it was a good movie. If you like Indiana Jones, definitely go see it.

Mulder and Spender

So, we stopped by to see the horses again. They're just too dang cute! And I caught a photo of the both of them when they were out in the pasture. To me, it looks like they're talking. LOL

And the bottom is a picture of Spender not following his mom or Diane while going out to the field. He's so really cute! He likes to nibble on everything. Diane says it's a boy thing to do. And they're starting to lose their baby hair. I didn't realize that they had baby hair.

I'm learning so much from Diane. And the more time I spend out there, the more I realize I am SUCH a city girl, well a suburbs girl. LOL

Christian on gaia

How fun is this? Christian from Project Runway designed some Gaia outfits for the Gaia Online prom. Of course it's the only way I'd ever afford anything by Christian, so I bought the dress on Gaia. And I just HAD to get my "photo" taken with Christian.

It's cool that one of my favorite programs can take part in one of my favorite online games.ga

Hope you have a great weekend!

What is everyone doing for the Memorial Day weekend? I hope whatever you're doing, you'll have fun with people you enjoy being with, doing fun things!

I'm almost done cleaning. I cleaned the back window so well, one of the many doves that frequent Mel's Seed and Cat food Cafe flew into the back window! OMG, I didn't think they'd do that. Just like the Windex commercial. That stuff works!

Am just doing the final cleaning, just think, I won't have to do that much next week, and I can create!! YAY! LOL

I went to Joann's Fabrics today, and OMG, have you ever been to the one in Fremont? I think it's larger than the Michael's here in Union City. I haven't seen so much stuff, and it's clean! The store in Redwood City is ok, it's just not as new or clean. Come to think of it, the old location wasn't really great either. I'm glad they moved!
And a couple of doors down is a great bookshop that sells secondhand books. It's called Half-priced Books. And yes, the books are half priced! LOL I found some great computer books that I needed. Well, I didn't NEED them, but I wanted to learn more about web design and how to run photoshop. And the books were $3 to $6.99! And they had a 20% off your purchase! So it was even cheaper! I was very happy. I think I will have to venture down there again soon. They also buy books, so I might go and send some of my books there too.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Still cleaning

OMG, ok, I am still cleaning. I finally put together the computer. Have the scanner and printer finally hooked up. Was waiting mainly because I had to go through papers and stuff on my desk. Desk is clean for me, but still needs work. LOL

I decided that I needed to purge things from my life. Ok, not EVERYTHING, but I am a packrat. And I have too many magazines, papers, etc that really need to be recycled. So, I decided I needed to let go. I'm still having a hard time letting go of stamping magazines and scrapbook ones, but I'm getting a little better.

Found a lot of craft supplies, and I'm thinking about putting some of them on Etsy.

And if you haven't gone to Etsy, omg, that is one of the coolest ecommerce sites yet. It's inspiring me to create things, cause I can really make some of those things too. Really I can!!

Will update you more when it's a bit cleaner!! LOL

Iron Man

I went to see Iron man today, and I really loved it! I do love Robert Downey Jr. and Gwenyth Paltrow. I wouldn't have cast them in the movie, but OMG, they did a wonderful job!

My favorite part was watching him design the Iron Man Suit back in his lab. OMG, I totally want his computer! He's got 3 screens that he can move stuff from here to there with a lightpen. Plus a holographic modeling space that you can actually edit your model! OMG, how cool would that be?

It's amazing to me to think that could possibly happen. I mean I started drawing with a pencil and vellum on a drafting table, and to go from that to AutoCAD was amazing to me back then. If you could edit things in 3D holographic space, that would be totally awesome! LOL

If you haven't seen it yet, go and see it!

the Tank

Philip is really into his paintball games. Well, really, both he and Phil are into the Paintball. LOL

Philip is playing in a scenario game this weekend, and with his friend Chris (pictured in the red shirt) has created a tank. Yes, you read right, a tank. LOL It's made out of one of those little vehicles that runs around your property, I think it's a snow type of vehicle, but who knows.

They built little holes in it so they can shoot their paintball guns. there's a mini cannon type thing that right now shoots out nerf darts. And not pictured is the turret that is on top. Another guy will be in there with him and he will shoot paintballs at people from the top.

Pretty inventive. LOL

Rockets Opening Day

Alex Pitching

Alex at bat

Saturday was the Rockets Opening Day Game. Phil helps to coach our friend's daughter's team, the Rockets. They are an 14 and Under girl's fast pitch team. He's been helping Rusty coach the team for about 5 or 6 years now. We're getting old so we really can't remember how long, but it's been since she was in the 8 and unders? LOL

What I noticed this year was that the girls are finally learning what they need to do, where the ball needs to go, they're looking like a softball team. One of the first plays, the home team hit what we thought was going to be a home run. Well, she hit it out between centerfield and right field. The girl out there caught the ball on the ground, threw it to the next girl who was near second, that girl threw it to I think the pitcher, who then threw it home, and they tagged her out!

And if you've seen the previous seasons, you'd know how excited we were about this! LOL

They are getting better at bat too. Lots of hits, Alex hit a triple and a home run too!! And there were girls on base both time! YAY!

We won 19 to 1. I hope this means that we have a great team this year! Although, it's just fun watching them play!

New Baby Horse

We went to the ranch today and we saw the new baby horse! Diane wasn't home, so I forgot to ask the important questions, like when the baby was born, what the baby's name is, etc. OMG, he's so cute!

He's got a way different personality than the first baby. She is so personable. She loves being petted, and runs to the fence to get petted. He's a little more timid, and shies away a bit.

I'll post more info when I find out more info!

Ngoc

I've known Ngoc since she was 15. We recruited her to work for the store cause OMG, she was just so happy and nice. And she has really great positive energy! And I've got to know her as part of the family all these years. She is like a little sister to me. We talk about everything together, and give each other advice.

And I'm glad that she stopped by the store on it's last day cause it just wouldn't have been the same without her there!

I'm glad that I've gotten to know her all these years, and that we still keep in touch with each other.