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! :)

Daddy Daughter Date

You may not believe that I started this post BEFORE Vanessa posted her entry yesterday...but it's true--I swear it!!! I just misplaced my camera so I couldn't post it until I had the pictures to go with the entry. So read below what I wrote a couple days ago, then for a good chuckle, go check out Vanessa's post about her daughter...

If I were Vanessa, I would start this post off by scanning the pic of me and Dad sitting on the bales of hay, wearing plaid @ my Young Women Daddy Daughter Date....but alas I don't have a clue where that picture is so unfortunately I will only speak of my recent DDD.

Anyway last Friday morning, my Dad called me and asked me if I wanted to go see Billy Joel and Elton John that night. Um....that would be a big fat YES!!!! And we had a fabulous night watching the Rocket Man and the Piano Man duel....definitely the best dueling piano show I have ever seen! And probably the best I will ever see!

They opened together, playing Your Song. And WOW I couldn't have been happier since Moulin Rouge is my favorite movie. My other faves were Tiny Dancer, Crocodile Rock, Movin' Out and of course, Piano Man. It was an amazing show!!!

This is actually our 2nd DDDate to see Elton John and I love that I am the designated concert partner (at least when my mom doesn't feel like going). Thanks Dad!!! The dates with you just keep getting better and better!!

Would You Rather Wednesday

Summer of 2002, my little sis (Allyson) and I drove cross country together. And she taught me the ways of Would You Rather. When you have 3 days in the car--you talk about a lot of weird things and think up all kinds of fun games. I know she didn't think it up, but she sure was an expert!!

Anyway this week I realized that according to Ally, I've been doing WYR Wednesday incorrectly. You are supposed to take the winners of certain "battles" and put them up against each other so in the end, you have one, or a few, winners.

So....congrats Bradley for beating Ashton (Sina assured me it would be a much closer battle....and Ashton is a cutie but hello!!!). How could I possibly find someone to challenge him?

Maybe an Olympian can give him a run for his money....maybe if that Olympian is a Norwegian Viking....

Aksel Lund Svindal....

....gold and silver and bronze medalist.....oh yes, you are #1!

And Bradley Cooper....the way he was when I fell in love with him--the Australian Rock Star:

(Lacey--you're welcome! :)

I'm already in crisis about who to vote for....

Favorite Movies of 2009

I posted my Top Ten movies of 2009 on Movie Mavens so click the link if you wanna. There are still several movies that came out in 2009 that I haven't yet seen (The Hurt Locker, Up in the Air...) but it's the best I could do for now. :)