11.11.11

I just love numbers...and dates...and today is a pretty awesome one: November 11, 2011, a.k.a. 11.11.11...

how cool??  and how cool is it that I scheduled this post at 11:11?? 

either way...November 11th means it is two months until my birthday!!  :)

A new look for the Etsy Shop!

one of the many wonderful pieces of advice I took away from attending the Summit of Awesome, were the shop critique notes from the lovely Cheyne of Etsy!  First up on my list of things to work on, was my shop banner.  while the graphic designer in me loved the original banner, it definitely took away from the items in the shop, and let's be honest, that is really what is important! 

so here is the before...

and the after! 

what do you think??

Jersey Shore in Baltimore?

he's not ashamed to admit that Jersey Shore is one of his favorite shows...so when we heard DJ Pauly D was going to be in Baltimore at Power Plant Live...we thought we'd check it out...couldn't see much besides hair and the back of his sparkly laptop, but it was an experience :)

What a summer!

so I've been missing in action, or MIA as they say, for quite some time...honestly, the last thing I truly remember is the couple of days I took at home with my family before my training for BCTR (the Baltimore City Teaching Residency) began, and now it's the end of August, and school is about to start!

for those who might not follow along regularly, I've taken the long and winding road to becoming an Art Teacher for Baltimore City Public Schools...which really is the job I've wanted to do my whole life...so it took me 29+ years to get there...excited about it nonetheless! 

since I went to school for Marketing (thanks VT!) and then for Graphic Design (ala the Art Institute) I didn't have a traditional education education (haha) so I chose to apply to an alternative route program, and enter BCTR...the interview and admission process was quite extensive, but it was nothing compared to summer institute...I think all in all, I slept about 20 hours in the five weeks the program ran, and to spare the gory details, I taught 5th grade math...which was interesting, but not really any preparation for Art...

but the best thing about it was making some great new friends, who were all in the same, non sleeping, learning how to lesson plan boat that I was in, and I can't believe how fast summer 2011 went...

then it was on to my schools to set up my classooms...that's right, there's an "s" in there...since Art is a resource and budgets are very tight in Baltimore City, I'll be working part time at two schools, so that means two classrooms, two administrations, two sets of co-workers, and twice as many students to get to know...I definitely have my work cut out for me, and I am not going to lie...I am nervous! 

but I do have a classroom in each building, which is more then some people have, so for that I am grateful...of course the excitement came one day, when during set up at one of my schools, we felt...well the earth moving...a bulletin board fell over in my room and thankfully, nothing else was loose enough to move, but we experienced an EARTHQUAKE in Maryland!  apparently it was felt as far north as New York and south as North Carolina...crazy!  first the tornado, then the earthquake...

and just when we thought school would start on time, Hurricane Irene made its way towards Maryland...my mom was not thrilled with the name :p ...even though there was very little damage in our area, the hurricane definitely wreaked havoc other places in the state and the country...so instead of school starting on Monday, it will be Wednesday...it's going to be quite a first year of teaching!

Suit Up!

 yup, you guessed it...another theme!  this time was a going away party...for our friends the Conkling's before they head north to live in Amherst by UMass...and in Barney Stinson style, we all "Suited Up" and hit the town!

we'll miss you Mikey!  come back and visit soon!

A 25th Surprise!

my aunt and uncle have been married for 25 years!  so we thought that we'd surprise them with a party in their honor, disguised as a typical July 4th BBQ at the family compound in NJ :) my cousins worked with my mom to create the rouse, and when they showed up they could not have been more surprised! 

I even reprised my role as flower girl...although the dress didn't fit quite the same!

Meg & Katie celebrating a successful surprise!

happy 25th Uncle Denis and Aunt Laura!  we love you!!

Virginia Wine Festival

one of our favorite things to do in the summer, fall, well winter and spring too, is go to wine festivals :)  here are a few highlights from this year :)

Saturday's Photo

this one's a 'two-fer'...

the last days of our afterschool program at Wolfe Street...really going to miss these kids!  I definitely will never forget my first class :)

Friday Finds - wine festival

since tomorrow we are going to the Vintage Virginia Wine Festival...

being outside all day in the sun requires a cute dress to wear...like this one by Ureshii

and how cool will you feel sipping wine in these vintage sunglasses from Vintmaillot?

finishing off the outfit is this delicate little necklace, with wine colored rhodolite garnet gems by Small & Mighty

now grab your wine glass holder and let's get tasting!

The Fiction Project - complete

I know I had promised (upon multiple occasions) that I would share with you the in progress works of my Fiction Project submission...and I failed, big time!  I worked so hard on what I was going to say, that when it came down to putting the actual words on paper with the illustrations, and finishing them...well let's just say I worked some long days and my hand is just finally recovering from all the writing...

so, since it's about 40 or so pages, I'm going to share with you in little chunks, the finished product :)

enjoy!  (you can click on the image to see it full sized)

It's June!

how is it already June!?  I can't believe summer is just around the corner...quite honestly, it's felt like the dead of summer here in Baltimore for a few weeks now...somehow we went from 75 degree days straight into the 90's, and I for one am not happy!  I love the spring, and we got completely jipped out of it this year! 

so in the spirit of calling it an early summer...go search on Etsy for BESTUSA2011 and you can find some awesome items for sale, that are Fourth of July inspired!

lots of red, white and blue goodness!!

back to blogging! with a treasury!

wow, it has been such a long time since I've been good to my blog...but I'm hoping now that school is out- well after school at least, and I've got about a month before my training with BCTR starts, I'll be able to get back into the swing of things!  I'll try and go back too, and update a few things that happened since my last post :)

but to get us back on track...a beautiful blue treasury by Namoo!

Witches, Wizards and NKOTB?

my friends in Baltimore love a good theme party, and this year Erin and Tracy's birthday party was a witch and wizard theme...so we Harry-Pottered our selves up and went out to celebrate!

and then in a throw back to my childhood, went to a little concert...where New Kids on the Block performed...it was pretty amazing :)

Spring Thing! - Treasury

featured in a lovely treasury consisting of all artists who will be at the DC Craft Mafia's 1st Annual Spring Thing on May 21st!

Easter with Friends :)

this year for Easter we made plans to celebrate with Bonnie & Andy at their house...the first time we spent the holidays with friends instead of family...but I guess they really are more like family after all :)

we had the typical Easter feast fixin's, and some of Andy's traditional Russian dishes...

we drank wine and played board games...

and Brett and Joey had their usual showdown...

a good time was had by all :)

roadtrips, golfing, and tornadoes?

this year, I got to take spring break for the first time in years!  I'm liking this working in schools already!  So I decided to hop in my car and make the (not so) short drive down to Hilton Head, South Carolina, to visit my parents in their "retirement home" and spend a week relaxing in the sun.

little did I know what was in store for me on the way down...

being from the northeast, tornado wasn't really a weather term that was in my usual vocabulary...the most I knew about tornadoes was from watching the Wizard of Oz or Twister...so when I watched the sky turn a strange shade of blackish green...felt the winds picking my car a little bit off the ground...and then the distinct and terrifying funnel shaped cloud...needless to say, I have never been so scared in my ENTIRE life...


hail the size of golf balls were falling, and the power went out in the gas station parking lot I had pulled into...and thankfully, two nice strangers came and rescued me from my car, just before the tornado tore through the parking lot in Dunn, North Carolina...


the rest of my drive was pretty awful...seeing the damage, avoiding the downed trees, power lines, pieces of fence, even the occasional abandoned car...an 8 hour drive turned into 16+...I was very grateful to reach the house in one piece, take a shower and pass out in my comfy bed!

thankfully, it was not an omen for the rest of the trip, which was wonderful!  I got to hang out with my Mom, seeing the sights around the island, going to the grocery store, having our favorite lunch at Panera, things we missed doing :)

and my Dad played in a Pro-Am golf tournament!  The Heritage, at Harbor Town is a pretty famous tournament, and my Dad and some of his friends played with golf pro Stephen Ames...and finished in second place!

my drive home was much less eventful, and took just the right amount of time...and I even got to meet up with my friend Dana and her family, when she went to try on wedding dresses!

I could get used to this whole spring break thing :)

welcome back baseball!

it's not easy being a Yankees fan in Baltimore...but I still get to see my boys in pinstripes every once and a while :)

What I'm Working on - Alison's Bridal Party

One of my good friends from Virginia Tech, Alison, asked me to design some jewelry for her bridesmaids, and as always I was honored to be a part of another one of my Hokie girls special days!  She liked the idea of all her girls having a personal touch to their necklace that matched their personalities, so we did a trio of pretty blue Swarovski crystal stones and a sterling silver charm that would be different for each of her bridesmaids.

I love the dresses she chose- they are so colorful, and even though it's such a cliche saying...you can definitely re-wear these!!

I can't wait to see how everything turns out for her beautiful outdoor wedding!

Passing Score!

all that studying has paid off...the Praxis is just another step conquered on the way to becoming a teacher!  so the study guides are going up on the shelf, and the Fiction Project and jewelry inventory are back up to a first priority!

HOORAY!!!!!

this is the post-it that I stared at for the last month...with the big 304 on it...the score I needed to pass...and below is my score report...314- yeah!!!!!!!

Saturday's Photo

 Don's Weather Rock

April 9th - Silver Spring Bling at Fenton Street Market!

it's my first show of the season!!!

come on out to Fenton Street Market's Silver Spring Bling this Saturday from 9am-2pm for a jewelry extravaganza!!

all the artists involved were hand picked by the Fenton Staff....so you need to come check it out for yourself!  great gifts for yourself...and remember, Mother's Day is only a month away!!

the market is located in it's brand new space, on Fenton Street and Ellsworth Drive in Silver Spring- and there are tons of restaurants and other shops in the area - so make a day of it!!

for a list of all participating artists, click here!

and hope for good weather!!

Ski Trip recap

 

last weekend we ventured up to Vermont, for our annual family ski trip...and this year, I skied!  for real!  I went down a legitimate trail...up a real chair lift, and all the way down!  it might have taken me a very long time...but I did it...and I am very proud of myself!

it snowed all the days we were there, which made the skiing a lot more fun, and authentic feeling...even though it was April...I went snowshoeing, sledding, and built a snowman! 

 

we ate many delicious meals, and enjoyed fabulous Vermont cheese every night at cocktail hour...

we celebrated two birthdays and a retirement, and got to meet the newest member of the family, Ben :)