tongue in chic journalings

Three Things

1) I gave in and just programmed the talk radio station into my car. I told Jeff about this on our way home from Chili's last night (thanks for the giftcard Mimi!) because he turned me and said "Honey, is that Adventures In Odessy" on your radio that I hear? And that's when I told him about just giving in to the talk radio and he just buried his head in his hands and said "my wife. my wife."

2) When we moved here we got a new washer and dryer. They weren't really new, just new and free to us (thanks Ansley!) I discovered last night while doing laundry at midnight that I had no idea where the lint catcher thingy was in this new dryer. Then I realized that I've lived here for 5 months. Apparently I have an aversion to laundry. This could be because the washer is possessed by the spirit of some sort of ancient rain dancer I believe. Whenever we put a load of laundry in (we being Jeff) it shimmies its way across the laundry closet. And since the laundry closet is just that: a closet, it's totally understandable that I am afraid of the washer attacking me as it lurches across this room. And so this is why I don't do laundry. Amen.

3) Someone please tell me how you teach a husband that bowls should not be places any which way in the dishwasher. Plates should not go diagonally. Bowls and glasses should not be crammed on the same row. There are ROWS for goodness sakes. There are clear cut lines IN the dishwasher. 1 year. 5 months. 365+days of rearranging everything in the dishwasher before I run it. And he wonders why I beat myself in the face with a frying pan every time I do dishes.

Jeff gave me a CD with some music on it to lift my spirits. And this song has been resonating with me, so I scrapped it :) Photo by the ever fabulous Shannon Wright. Lyrics by Hillsong. OH and all the digital elements are from SIStv's new digital boutique. I designed some of them too ;)

Happy Birthday SIStv!

One year ago today was the launch of Scrap In Style Tv. I had no idea then that a year later I'd be living in Tennessee and working for them. How cool is that? I think we should have cake at the office today. Because who doesn't want to eat cake?
And just because it's that time of year where I talk about my birthday every chance I get, I have a little public service announcement for you all.

PSA: Today there are only 22 shopping days left until my birthday.
PSA #2: Head over to SIStv today, we have some awesome giveaways going on!

Happy Birthday SIStv!

A Quarter Of A Century

In 23 days I am going to be 25 years old.

Today on my drive home, I realized that I've had my radio on either A) classical music or B) talk radio all week.

It's the B) talk radio that scares me.

I'm turning 25, not 65.

Why am I listening to talk radio?

Why do I ENJOY listening to talk radio?

Why am I admitting this to the entire internet?

Please buy me lots of cool presents for my birthday so that I can feel young and hip.

In other news, I got this in the mail last week:

Yes. That is a case of Cadbury Eggs.
Okay no.
That is a half-already-eaten case of Cadbury Eggs.

It totally made my day Sonja, really. I was having a crappy, crappy day when Jeff came upstairs and said "Honey? Someone FedExed you a box of Cadbury Eggs!"

I think he was concerned that maybe I had another husband stashed somewhere.

We've been eating an egg a day ever since and I'm pleased to say that I have not yet tired of them. I think the new saying should be "A Cadbury a day keeps the KA...happy" or something clever. Oh okay, "A Cadbury a day makes a happy KA."

Come on y'all, that was so good.

So if you offered to send me some, please email me your address! I don't think I need any more eggs now, but I'll send you some scrap stuff just for being sweet enough to offer.

The One With The Fondant

So today Jeff and I ran to Hobby Lobby to pick up some supplies for an upcoming project at Scrap In Style TV. We needed some fondant icing. And some floral foam. So we stop in the cake decorating section first and I picked up the icing and some candles and stuff. Then we meandered around the store looking for modeling paste. We searched for that for quite some time. We found it when some Hobby Lobby employees rolled a massive shelf of art supplies wrapped in saran wrap past us. Apparently, they were rearranging the store. And the modeling paste? It was smack dab in the middle of that saran wrapped shelf. And I just felt guilty asking  them to put the shelf down, unwrap it, and give me a $5 bottle of modeling paste. I mean, the shelf was like, an entire aisle. On dollies. So we picked up the floral foam and headed to check out. We waited in line for a few minutes.

"Honey. I don't mean to be a pansy. But can you please carry the icing? It's totally killing my arm" I pleaded

Just then, another line opened and I forgot the throbbing pain in my arm and rushed to be the first to check out. Cause I was hungry y'all.

I sat down the box of fondant and then watched the girl at the counter eye me oddly as I doubled over with laughter.

In bold letters on the front of the box it read NOW IN CONVIENANT 5 LB PACKAGE!

That WHOLE time I thought I was being a total wimp, when really I was lugging around a couple of dumbbells worth of ICING. Who knew icing could weigh as much as a newborn?

Dear Prince William, It's Inevitable.

Around the time that the movie Enchanted came out, people started telling me that I reminded them of the girl in the movie. You people know this because you, my blog readers, made up a good portion of those people. I was befuddled by this because I don't think I look anything like the girl in the movie.  And also, I said befuddled only because, how cool of a word is that?

So I finally get around to watching the movie. And at the end of it I sat there for a few minutes thinking about it. I don't feel as though I'm anything like the girl in the movie.

So I called Jeanette.

"WHAT is it exactly, I asked her, that makes people think of me when they watch this movie?"

And she had an answer right away.

"The overexagerated gestures. You're very Disney Princess when you talk" she said

Which certainly is true. Like, that one time I had to film some episodes of SIStv, I sat on my hands to keep from waving them about wildly on camera. And instead, I ended up doing some weird twitching thing with my shoulders which made me look like I had some sort of tick.

Then I thought back to my bridal shower. Jeff had to fill out a bunch of questions about me and then I had to answer the questions and see if they matched his.

When I got to "Which Disney Princess are you?" I chose Cinderella. Jeff chose Belle.

"Belle! Why would he ever choose Belle?" I exclaimed

To which everyone attending my shower replied "Because you ARE Belle."

And then they all pointed out my affinity for reading, and speaking french, and croissants, and also how to prom I wore a big pouffy yellow dress...because I WANTED TO LOOK LIKE BELLE. I had forgotten about that.

"AND, said Jeff, you burst into random song pretty frequently"

On Wednesday I was driving to work and saw a turtle in the middle of the road. So I picked it up and took it to work to show my boss's kids. Then at work, my boss's cat laid in my lap all afternoon. And then when I got home from work, there was a large badger in front of my apartment.

So to recap:

• Overexaggerated sweeping hand motions? Check.
• Random bits of singing? Check.
• Big pouffy yellow dress? Check.
• Friendly, singing teapots. No. Dang it.
• Prince Charming? Check.
• Attracts large following of woodland creatures? Check.

Apparently, I AM a Disney Princess.

And what is amusing is that my senior year of high school, I auditioned to be Tinkerbelle at Disney World and didn't make it. Apparently, Disney does not recognize pure Disney material when they see it.

Easy Silence

I have to say, it is very uplifting when I don't write for a little while and then I get emails from all of you. Thank you for them, they make me happy to write :)

Tomorrow I will talk about Cadbury Eggs and sending some of y'all some scrapbooking goodies and update with some funny stories of life around here.

Today I will talk about how I have been slammed with deadlines at work- but for a good reason. We're about to unveil some amazing things at SIStv.

And also, how I've been having a bit of a personal crisis. Nothing major, just a lot of little things that made me sad. I don't like to blog when I'm sad. I like to curl up on the couch with my husband and eat Ben & Jerry's ice cream and watch people flip houses on pseudo reality tv.

But the other day I got together with some good girlfriends, and we talked and laughed and cried. Until the sun came up. And the next day I heard this song, and I was thinking about how I was less sad and more thankful. I'm so thankful for the life that has come along with SIStv- for the move, for the work I love, and for these new friends that I can put my heart out too.

So since I needed to do a scrapbooking update, I did a little video with my new pages + some pictures from my work life :)

And tomorrow: A story about fire, turtles, and badgers. Amen.

I really wish

that I had hoarded more Cadbury Creme eggs. If anyone wants to send me some, I will send you a package of scrapbook goodies.

Also, if you have any questions about my online class, please shoot me an email! You can email me through the "connect with me" section of the site. I'm so happy that y'all are interested and I'm so excited to be teaching this class. I remember being new to digital scrapbooking and wishing I had someone to walk me through the steps, so it's very cool to be able to offer this with the video!

The love of my Scrap In Style Life is Wilna Furstenburg. I seriously adore her. She just posted this little video from Scrap ETC this weekend. So you can see what my weekend looked like, and also, you can see at the end of the video how I was wearing a LOT of makeup on Saturday night. Like, a LOT. And yet someone still told Jeanette they thought I was 12 years old.

Digital Scrapbooking 101 * On Sale Now!

Our newest Design School class focuses on the basics of digital scrapbooking. It's the perfect class for anyone wanting to try their hand at digital scrapbooking, but not sure where to begin! The 10 day class includes a free mini kit, as well as discounts on SIStv digital products, daily step-by-step lessons, screen capture videos, two live chats, access to a private class message board, and a PDF full color instructional booklet so that you can refer to what you learn in class long after it's over!
A few of the topics covered in Digi Scrapping 101:
*An overview of "tools" and how to use them
*Layers and layer styles
*Creating a basic layout from a kit
*Using filters and masks
*Creating your own elements
*Creating a digital photo book

Class begins May 5 at 12pm CDT!
Register Today!

 

Congratulations Aimee! You have a free spot! Please email me your contact info!

* Leave any questions in the comments and I'll answer them all!
1) We will be using Photoshop Elements and Photoshop CS2.

G.L.A.M.O.R.O.U.S.

I spent this past weekend working for SIStv at the Scrap ETC event in Nashville. It was held in the Opryland Hotel, which turns out is just about the coolest place ever. It has a rainforest inside. With like, waterfalls and stuff.

Amy Tangerine took this picture of me working.

I thought I'd post it because it makes my job look really glamorous, staying at posh hotels and scrapbooking for a living. What you don't see is the 7 lattes, 8 cans of Pepsi, and 2 energy bars I consumed in an effort to stay awake for 7394 straight hours to make 600 class kits and film 258 hours of footage. It was a lot of work. I fell into bed last night at 2am and Jeff woke me today 2 in the afternoon. Then I fell asleep twice more in my desk chair while I was editing the newsletter today. Either those 7394 hours of being awake took a toll on me, or Jeanette's narcolepsy is contagious.

Speaking of my job, starting May 5th, I'll be teaching an online class at SIStv. The class is called "Digital Scrapbooking 101." I'm very clever at naming things. It's going to be an introductory class to digital scrapbooking. If you are new to digital scrapping, or if you want to learn some more foundational aspects of it, this is a great class for you. I'll post some more details throughout this week, but here are some things you can expect:

The class is 10 days long and includes access to a private classroom and private forum on the SIStv message board. Each day I will have a new lesson. Each lesson will include either step by step screenshots or a video. The video lessons are really cool- you can see every single thing I do while I'm in the photo editing program and hear my voiceover instructions. I'll also be doing two live chats so we can work through lessons together if you have any questions. If you sign up for the class, you'll receive a free mini-kit as well as a discount on any other recommended supplies. At the end of the class, you will receive a PDF booklet with full color instructions and photos so that you can revisit the information at any time!

A few of the topics we will cover:

• An overview of "tools" and how to use them
• Layers and layer styles
• Creating a basic layout from a kit
• Creating your own elements
• Using filters and masks
• Creating a digital photo book

The class goes on sale Tuesday, April 22. The first person to leave a comment here gets free admission! If you have any other questions, leave me a comment and I'll be sure to answer them all!

This Day In KA's History: two years ago I was frolicking in a Target Cabana

File Under: KA Is Illogical

Wednesday Night.

10:45pm.

I just switched over my second load of laundry for the night, only to discover that apparently I've forgotten how to do laundry. I washed two loads of laundry without ever putting in any laundry detergent.

Other KA moments from this week:

A) Our car insurance payment was returned to us marked "return to sender." Turns out, if you just stick a check in the bill envelope with no ADDRESS to send said check to, the post office just sends it back to you. I have no idea what possessed me to just stick a check in the payment enveloped without the payment stub in there. I pay all of our bills. It's not like I don't know the routine. The only logical explanation for this is....there is no logical explanation for this. Also, no one tell my husband about this.

B) We discovered the alarm clock in our bedroom was 15 minutes slow. For the next two days I would wake up and think to myself "Self, don't forget your clock is 15 minutes slow." And on the third day I walked into the bathroom and said "Jeff, I don't know WHY I can't get ready on time. It's like I always need an extra 15 minutes." To which Jeff replied, "What time are you setting the alarm for?" And I told him 8 o clock. And he busted out laughing. Because  I was just thinking that remembering that the clock was slow was enough. It never occurred to me that if I wasn't going to change the clock to the correct time, I would need to set the alarm 15 minutes earlier. I just thought that 8:00 was always 8:00, even though I made the connection that 8:45 was really 9:00. And that is the story of how I was late to work all week.

C) All week I signed my last name as "Terell." I've been married for one year and 3.75 months. My last name is spelled Terrell.