when animals use FaceTime

why I love my iPhone...

because I can see people I miss...even though we are in different states, we can still feel like we are together sometimes...it makes you miss them a little less...

and of course, if the animals want to chat they can ;)

weekend wrap-up...part 1

this weekend is jam-packed with fun!

no, but really, I've already done a lot of fun stuff...so I figured I'd cut the weekend in half...Friday and Saturday, and then Super Bowl Sunday.


so far, I got in the car and drove up to New Jersey to see my Brother for a belated celebration of his birthday...we feasted on Pizza and birthday apple pie

 then I got all fancy, and made us breakfast on Saturday- after sleeping "in" till 8:15...I love my furry little friends, but not having anyone poke me in the face or hurl themselves into the blinds to wake me up for food, was pretty awesome today.


I have been trying out this whole Vine app, making some stop-motion videos...here is one of me making breakfast!

then we went out to run a few errands...bank, gas station, grocery store...and had Thai food for lunch...

I feel like I talk about food a lot...hmmm...


then Brandyce & Pete came over...and we had ourselves a grown-up dinner party :)  I made lasagna rolls, some just regular cheese and the others were with chicken and spinach...

more funny videos were made...and when they were leaving, we realized it was snowing...yet again!

so tomorrow I'm heading back to Maryland, to watch the super bowl...hopefully the Ravens can win one for Charm City...I'm afraid to see what happens if they lose...


fingers crossed the roads aren't too snowy tomorrow!  even though it is mighty comfy here...

and...Happy Birthday to my Brother!!

my little brother :)  who always makes me laugh...

hope it's the happiest!

who mee?  I flooped the pig... ;)

'twas the day after Christmas...

and I am EXHAUSTED.


between all the excitement of yesterday, and my furry friends deciding that 4am was an acceptable time to wake me up this morning...just exhausted.


so today wasn't as exciting a day as yesterday...but it SNOWED again!  it doesn't stay long- both today and Monday it ended up switching over to rain by the end of the night...but it sure was pretty to look at :)

we ate Christmas leftovers...

and the cats got comfy while I tried to clean out my room.

and now it's off to bed again...this vacation is going WAY too fast.  can we pause it please?

oh, hello there December 25th

and just like that.  it's over again.  another 365 days to wait for Christmasy goodness.

okay, I know that sounds like I am disappointed...but I am not.  it's just always a little bitter sweet to be the night of Christmas, knowing it's all over for another year...


but we had a great day, 15 people, 2 dogs and 2 cats...it certainly was a full house!

I definitely ate WAY too much, but we also laughed a lot- laughing is cardio, right?

I always pride myself on my present giving...and I think everyone was really excited by the gifts I made or bought them...

like a signed Adventure Time comic for Brother

and candy cane pretzel necklaces for the cousins

and...I got a few pretty awesome things :)

but of course, the best of the day is the family time :)  and our funny face pictures...this has been a tradition for a few years now

and of course, no Christmas night would be complete without a viewing of the Muppet Family Christmas.  watch out for the icy patch!

Merry Christmas to all!  and to all...go to bed ;)

it's Christmas Eve!!

I might be 30, but I still feel like an excited little kid when it comes to Christmas.

and Christmas eve is almost better then Christmas day...I know...that might sound weird...but it's all the excitement that leads up to the day...the traditions we have, and it doesn't seem to fly by quite as fast.


so here are a few photos from the day...


we tried a new recipe...Dr Pepper cookies...

I got all dressed up for my annual visit to church




and we came out to see SNOW!!



made my Christmas Eve lasagna

watched It's a Wonderful Life

and the cats got adventurous

hope you all had a magical Christmas Eve!!!

get some sleep...tomorrow's a big day!

let the celebrating commence!

I am always glad to be able to make it home for the holidays :)  and to get to see as many people as possible...today we went to see my cousin's new house, and it's spectacular view.


wait.


spectacular doesn't even begin to describe it.  but I don't know a word awesome enough to fit it so, spectacular it is.


don't believe me?

check it out.

 unfortunately, I  spent way too much time visiting and chatting and carrying on, to take any pictures of the people who were there.

but here is their basement...looks like a little pub.  crazy awesome.

one celebration down.  one to go :)


Merry Christmas Eve, Eve!

oh Christmas tree...woah, Christmas tree!!

so I've been home for about 24 hours, and we are in full on Christmas merriment.

we've had a nice family dinner, baked cookies, I made homemade gum drops- instructions will be coming for that!- decorated the tree, watched a few holiday movies...

oh, and got attacked by a rogue tree...yup, it decided it wanted to make a break for it, and topple right over onto me while we were re-packing the ornaments that we weren't using.


so much excitement in the air :)


gotta love the holidays!

one year.

still doesn't really feel real.


we still miss you.  and always will.

Happy Birthday Meggers!

feels like it was just yesterday that we were in Scranton for your 21st!






Happy 22nd :)  love you!!

for the love of dog...

you might have read in a post or two before, that growing up, I was a dog person.  Loved loved loved them.  spent hours upon hours learning every breed name, drawing their pictures, and of course, placing a puppy first on my christmas list every year.


but due to allergies...our family never had a dog of our own...but we did not lack dogs to share by any means...

there was Brandy & Chase who belonged to our neighbors...Timber, Linus, Corky, Chester, Dakota, and Dylan who are family dogs, my best friend's family had a slew of Labs and other friends of mine had dogs that I always played with...and would have gladly called my own if need be :)


so needless to say, I still have friends who have dogs that I get attached to, like Dunkin, Hayley and Kiwi, just to name a few...


but my list is sadly one short...Miss Ellie...one of my very favorite dogs of all time, decided 17 years was enough....of course the people who are most affected are her humans...and their friends who loved her...I will always miss her funny bark when you threw your hands up in the air, how she always knew immediately when food was being eaten, and just how excited she always was to see me...even if she couldn't really see me...


our studio sessions will feel a little empty...and while we will have to go on, we will always miss having our furry companion...Ellie, Elanor, Eloise...you were definitely a good dog.  xo.

animals know just the right way to wiggle into your hearts...just look at those eyes :)

Do the Time Warp? Okay, let's.

let me preface this post by saying: MY PARENTS ARE AWESOME.


and I never would have turned out to be the awesome person that I am if it weren't for them...


so feel free to send cards, flowers, candies to them to say thanks ;)




in the spirit of Halloween...I made them this awesome video card on JibJab...to the tune of the Time Warp...from one of my Dad's favorite movies...The Rocky Horror Picture Show *starting to see why they are awesome, right?*

if you know our family, you'll know just how amazing this is...I can't figure out how to embed it yet...so just click this link if you need a little (okay a HUGE) laugh :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my MOMMA!

I know you might all argue that your Mom is the best.



but you'd be wrong :)


Happy Birthday to the world's greatest Mom :D

LOVEEEEEE YOUUUUUUUUU!!

pancakes with candles

since I was conveniently home for the weekend...we also got to see Katie and have Birthday breakfast with her!

nothing like pancakes with a candle in them :)

and some awesome Harry Potter themed earrings!  a new addition to the JerseyGirlDeisgn collection :)  in the shop soon!

why baseball should have instant replay...and other weekend fun

this weekend my cousins were in town, and it was so nice to see them down on our turf...we took them out for sushi and showed them around Fells Point and Little Italy...and then we made it home in time to see this happen.

photo credit: Larry Brown

SAFE.  all I can say is he was safe.


ugh.




I know baseball is a long game as it is...but when the game is this important...getting the call right is essential.



anyway...they crushed today's game- guess they were as mad as I was about the call ;)

and I got to stop by the convention center to see Brian & Katie at their booth at Comic Con...





and now it's 9pm.  time for bed.


seriously, happy to be back at work...but I am tired and it's only been 2 weeks!

can bats talk?

so that's a pretty random name for a post right?

right.



well it was inspired by my day today :)  since some school district that shall not be named...ahem...has yet to make a decision and wants the students to sit and wait for an art teacher...sigh...I decided to do something nice for myself and drove myself up to NJ to see the family :)

that has done wonders to fix my mood...and it's just nice to have a change of scenery...and when it's the familiar rooms and people that I love so much :)  it's good scenery

so what about the bats?


a typical activity when I go home is getting mah hair did...yeah, I know...I can't pull that off...so we went over to my cousin Melissa's house, and she gave me the highlight/cut my hair definitely needed...I was feeling a little blonde...so it's nice and light- perfect for summer :)


while I was sitting waiting for the color to process, we started talking about weird things kids say, or odd questions they ask...and she tells me that Peyton, her 6 year old daughter asked a doozy of a question the other day



apparently they saw a bat, which led her to ask:  "are bats real?"  with the follow up question of "can they talk?"


you've got to love the mind of a creative kid :)

oh, and here's my new hair do :)

and a super cool picture that they had up in their house- I guess it's our family crest?  is that what you call it?


** I was totally going to say happy weekend...but I realized it's Thursday...oops!

the three amigos

so as most of you know, we have three cats...(enter cat lady jokes here...)

but tonight as I was sitting down to do a little work on my laptop I sat next to Eddie...cat #1 as he is the oldest- also the cat who doesn't like me very much (unless it's time to eat...) and he looked so cute sleeping I took his photo...

of course he noticed, and opened his eyes, so he appears to be annoyed...

and then he immediately turned his back and went back to sleeping...we are BFFs...really ;)


I usually call him Cranky Pants...or sometimes Edward Scissor Paws because we can NOT cut his nails...he goes a little psycho and it's more scary for us than it is worth it for the few times he tries to swat at me...so the claws live on...



I know I might seem crazy talking about my cats so much...but they do make me laugh, and even though I always thought I'd have a dog someday, I am really happy I have them :D


with their weird little personalities...Jack who is really a dog in a cats body, following me EVERYWHERE I go, and Kevin, the goofiest, most clueless one of them all...but by far the happiest...


ahh, love my little fur children...except when they decide they want to eat at 5am...not cool guys, not cool.

shark attack!

no, not really...but I thought I'd share some photos today from when my brother, who I affectionately call "Brother" came to visit me back at the very end of July...we had a fun day...went to the aquarium, saw some crazy big sharks- which I realize are probably pretty small in comparison to sharks you'd see in the ocean, but to me, a shark is a shark...

 

yeah Aquarium!

 

Brother...and a shark's mouth...

 

a crazy octopus...did you know, that they are super smart?  the people at the aquarium will put their food in different jars with lids, to keep the octopus engaged...and they figure it out all the time!

 

no idea what this is...but I thought it looked pretty cool :)

 

on our way into the atrium with the birds!

 

we saw lots of birds...

 

I of course loved the purple fish

 

and one of the many sharks, very slowly lurking in the shark tank...

we got frozen yogurt, Brother got his fix of Baltimore seafood, and many episodes of Adventure Time were watched :)  good, quality brother-sister bonding time before he starts his big important job in just a few weeks!