Sydney Convention pics finally!

Thank you thank you all my lovelies for sending me pics so I can finally do a recap of a very amazing week!!! I've waited so long now that it almost seems weird to post these pics. However, I maintain that my blog is as much my journal as anything and I simply cannot go without having these pictures here to look back on in the future. :)

And as much as I wanted to go in chronological order, this first picture is encrypted or something b/c not only can I not move it, but I can't delete it either.....I think it's a sign! So I will start off with an awards night photo....one of my favorite things about awards night is that everyone gets all gussied up......look at all these gorgeous girls!!!

Sophie, Emma, Amanda, me, Clare & Jeanette

So now I'm starting at the beginning of the event....which was Friday morning. Emma and I stopped for a quick beauty shot...

And at the end of the day Friday with two awesome Kiwi's--Diane and Paula...

Let's see....lots happened on Friday that I don't have in photos. It was an extremely awesome and long day (any day is long for me when I have to start it in the 6:00 am hour). Registration, stamping, break-out classes, and then I ended the evening with delish Thai food and chit chat w/some demonstrators....but of course don't have a picture of that (Jayne--if you read this and if you have a photo--will you send it to me? Wait did we even take any pictures that night....hmm I think not....such a shame!)

On to Saturday....more break-out classes in the morning and then stamping, etc. in the afternoon. Here's the fabulous Ngaire who's from all the way over in Perth....

And the lovely Deb who I think is from Melbourne but I'm drawing a bit of a blank...is that right Deb?

And two awesome WA gals: Nicola and Charmaine....thanks for coordinating your outfits girls so that the picture would look so good! :)

And the last part of the event is Awards Night....which started off w/Paparazzi and a red carpet so we stopped for a few photos...

So first off Bonnie, me and Amy....two of my coworkers that I actually see every day instead of once a year. :)

And then me and Amanda striking a pose....I seriously love this girl and hate that she's one of the ones that I only see once a year. :(

Me and the gorgeous Sharnee rockin' her faux fox fur....ok it's probably not fox but I just couldn't pass up using that phrase....she's from Tasmania...

And two more WA gals--Leonie and Jodene...who also dressed in red and black...even the background is playing along!

And the ever so delish awards night dinner...

Nicola, Charmaine, Lynda, Ngaire, Skip, Cherita, Shannon

This year I decided to stay a couple of days after--so that I could do some sightseeing and get a good feel for the amazing city of Sydney...so on Sunday a bunch of us rode a ferry to Manly. The scenery was just amazing....Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the distance...

Sunday was such a gorgeous day--there were hundreds of sailboats in the harbour and the weather was perfect!!! Here we are on the steps of Manly beach. Manly is a cool little town....sort of like the beach version of Park City...we are looking at the beach and the photographer is standing on sand...

And one of my favorite photos--the ferry ride on the way back...

Shauna, Ngaire, Cindy, Charmaine, Marianne, Cherita, me, Emma, Teresa & Skip

And then back on land with the bridge in the distance...me & Teresa

And now that I'm at the end of my post, I can think of a couple more pictures that I have misplaced that I wanted to post...so I might have to post more later. The 3 days that I stayed after were sooooooo fun....mostly all shopping and recuperating and just having a blast in general. I loved every minute of this trip!!! So amazing!!

Backstreet's Back!

A week or so ago, I had a reunion w/my Backstreet Boys. It was like going home and visiting some of my oldest and dearest friends. The truth is (and you might want to prepare yourself for some potentially shocking news): I am a groupie. In fact for a couple of years I "went on tour" with them. One week I actually saw them perform in Charlotte, Atlanta, Philly and DC. Seriously! In fact, one of my favorite life stories revolves around them....I was teaching high school in Virginia and I lied to my department chair about being sick so I could go to MTV in NYC and experience the boys filming a special TV show. Then when back at school, I was talking to my dept. chair and one of my students walked in and said "saw you on tv, Miss West!" ha!!!

We started the night at Appy Hour at Market Street Grill....yum!

Their songs are a soundtrack to my life. When I hear their music I am transformed to all sorts of events and experiences....it's weird how the songs crop up and before I know it I am thinking about all kinds of memories. Like every time I go to LAX I am secretly looking around for 5 guys in white suits dancing to 'I Want It That Way.'

Anyway tonight I went to the concert w/my 3 sisters. We have collectively seen them perform 30 times!! Watching the little girls have fun was one of the best parts of the night. And then Hillary (who endured the entire concert with a full-on migraine....no not the kind people say they have and then stay at work but the kind where you have to take 2 imitrex's and4 Excedrins but you get through it because that's how bad you want it) also brought on some great enjoyment when Brian told her he could see her sitting down and that she needed to get on her feet! ha!

Hillary, Ally, me and Lindsey

Other highlights for me tonight were:

• Bigger--it sounded so good live!!
• Larger Than Life (although a bit of a teaser the way they did it, I will always love it when they sing the video version of the song which is what they did)
• Straight Through My Heart--still can't get enough of this song!
• Oh and getting a text from my brother right before the concert that said "I will be late don't stay up and wait for me....I'm goin' to a place nearby, gotta go!" haha

Bedazzled hoodies....pretty much the only type I would wear. :)

Final bows...the saddest moment!

It was an amazing show!! And then on the way home, for the first time I was thankful for the I-15 construction when just as I started to slow down, I ran smack dab into the boys' buses!!

All the times that I've thought "If we could just find their buses, eventually they will have to stop for gas." And then there they were...and I was almost out of gas....so I couldn't even follow them to SoCal. Such a bummer! But amazing at the same time! It was truly an amazing night!!!

A day in the life....

Whew! Work has been a little crazy lately...lots to do it seems. But every day I have a happy moment or two when I look across the aisle at my awesome boss...

This is Bonnie. She's the best and we have lots of laughs every day!!! Plus we are cousins--how cool is that!

But truthfully (and I told Bonnie this), I like looking across the aisle so I can see the calendar I bought in Italy....

Indeed what you are looking at is my HOT PRIEST calendar! Is that hilarious or what?! You'll notice the dates at the bottom....makes it look more like a picture book and less like a calendar. You'll also notice that this is August...but he's the hottest of them all so he actually gets June, July and August! :)

Just another day in the life...

p.s. thank you for all the awesome pictures...I will very soon post about Convention, and other things too....I've been itching to blog lately and have all kinds of things to say!

Convention in Sydney

Sorry for the blogging hiatus.....it wasn't intentional but was brought on by a bit of sickness + my birthday + last minute prep + a 10 day trip Down Under. :) And in addition, I have a bit of bad news to share:

My camera died!!!

POS just quit on me. Actually it didn't quit--it takes very lovely gold pictures.....everything is gold. I might love it if I could actually tell who or what was in the photo!

So you can only imagine how devastated I am to not have one single photo from Convention in Sydney last week!! So if you have a good photo from Convention, will you send it to me? It can be a photo of me or you or us or someone else or whatever you want really.....I'm excited to see what you've got!!!

Please send photos to: shanwest@gmail.com

And THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!!

Book #4

After reading Outlander, I wanted a book that was a bit lighter....and shorter too. My sister recommended this book and I almost loved it.

The first half of the book I did completely love!!! Oh sweet Sarah! I loved learning about this beautiful little Jewish Parisian. And in general, I love reading about WWII. I also loved how the book went back and forth between the two stories. I much preferred Sarah's story to Julia's. But I loved how the two were intertwined and I liked the unexpected twists and turns towards the end.

So if you like learning about WWII, I would think you would enjoy this little story.

Dish towels

My latest project is making a few dish towels....which I am loving so much I may never make another card and just spend my life sewing!!

Yeah right....of course that would never happen. But the cool thing is I am using a lot of Stamin' Up! product on these....

This was the first one I made, using the Flower Layers die and the Big Shot. Then of course some satin ribbon for one of the stems. I've also thought of putting buttons in the center of the flowers but I couldn't quite imagine drying dishes or hands and encountering a button....probably would be counter-productive.

This was the 2nd one and I still am staring at it with "I can't believe how cute that is" running through my mind. Can you believe the pom poms and ric rac??!?! Plus my mom is a fabric hoarder and so her stash is really coming in handy with these little projects.

And now I am getting more and more creative w/Big Shot stuff.....so many dies....so little time!

Book #3

3 down; 9 to go. I finished Outlander last night. And I have barely thought of anything else all day. I loved it soooooooooo much. At least I will say that I loved the first 750 pgs as much as any written word. I loved the risks Diana took--taking things a little too far. I started imagining men in kilts and I kid you not that I actually saw a man wearing one in the Memphis airport last Sunday!!! Weird coincidence, eh?!

But it was the last 100 pages that I am thinking about still. Still pretty much in shock. There were 3 things that happened, which caused me to feel horrified, devastated, and literally nauseous! And then I also felt disappointed and mad that such things would happen to my new favorite characters.

Nonetheless, I must ask myself: how many books have I read where I just didn't feel a damn thing for the characters? Lots. And so despite the shock I am still feeling, I know I will read book 2 before long. And I will go to Scotland sooner than later. And I will never again think of a man in a skirt as a feminine thing. :) And I will hope that the movie continues to be delayed until there is an actor that could actually play Jamie Fraser (seriously I do not think it's possible to properly cast him)!

With movies I often say that I don't have to have a perfect ending w/everything tied in a pretty bow for me to like it, and I am learning that I feel the same way about books. This book is NOT for the faint of heart....but it will send you on an unexpected thrill ride in which you may never be the same!

Sweeties

A few recent pics that need to be posted....

Bones Rose....quite the personality!

Mikey and Carm obliterate Shanny's craft closet....don't shoot, Mikey!

Zoe and Chubs...

All 3 of the boys got Italian jerseys for Christmas...they love dressing alike!

"Where's your boots?"

Zoe's painting of the Eiffel Tower, which I purchased right in front of the magnificent thing. Thanks to my shrewd bargaining skills, I paid 1/3 of the original price! :)