swirls and stuff

Gee, I hope that Sal isn't reading my blog today......this post's topic involves 2 hot-button issues....shopping, and what he considers scrapbooking "clutter". Usually while he's engrossed in a show on The History Channel or SciFi Channel, I'm online and he doesn't know what I'm doing (ahem...buying). {LOL}

With National Scrapbooking Day fast approaching (May 3), I've decided to join in the festivities early.....lots of stores and online sb retailers are having sales to celebrate. So, I took the plunge and got some "swirly" acrylic stamps that have been on my wish list for a while. A warning to my fellow scrapbookers --- you will want these, too! {grin}

from Luxe Designs:

from Bo Bunny: from Inkadinkado:
and from Fancy Pants:

Can't wait to play with them all !

P.S. ~ Per yesterday's post, Matt L. is in Laos today. Cool! Here's the hint for where he'll be tomorrow: So the prime rate you guessed, the red lights you saw through. The anagram even proved easy to chew. In this place you can rock and there's one heck of a mall. With a turn of the head, different continents call.

"Where In The World?" (but it's not my blog)

I've been enjoying Matt Lauer's jaunt around the world for his annual series on The Today Show, "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?", airing this week. Over the course of 5 consecutive days, he hops around the globe, showing up on live TV in a different locale each day. The fun part for viewers is that his next stop is always a surprise, but he gives a hint on the prior day. It's not easy to guess, for instance, here's the hint for tomorrow's location: This country is an anagram of a synonym of a homophone of an even prime number. Ooh, that's tough!

Anyway, I really got hooked on this series last year, and was especially excited when he popped up in Ireland since we were going there soon afterwards! The series is such fun because not only does he show the sights, but he gives some history and background of the country and its people. They also give some travel tips for planning a trip to these places.

So far this week, he has stopped in Argentina & Amsterdam.....where in the world will Matt be tomorrow???

food for thought

I really love magazines! I think they're some of the most fun things to get in the mail, a nice surprise. I subscribe to several scrapbooking mags, and of course a travel magazine too. But this weekend when Sal and I were browsing in a Barnes & Noble, I came across a new magazine that really spoke to me. It's called VegNews and, as the name implies, focuses on vegetarianism. But this mag is different than other veggie mags....rather than obsessing over recipes and healthy eating (cooking is just not my thing!), its theme is the vegetarian lifestyle which, in addition to a meatless diet, includes cruelty-free choices when shopping, traveling, decorating, etc. It covers the whole "eco-package", and I love it! (And, of course, the magazine is printed with soy ink on recycled paper.)

After flipping through an issue, I came home and went online to subscribe. Their website has a cool list of 222 Reasons to be Veg, here are some of my favorites:

# 13 not eating the bodies of tortured souls;
# 17 resisting cruel fashion trends without a second thought;
# 30 being the change that I want to see in the world;
# 34 watching loved ones and strangers slowly evolve toward vegetarianism;
# 39 looking into the faces of animal companions without guilt;
# 45 meeting brilliant, compassionate, creative people who advocate for the voiceless;
# 48 viewing non-human animals as fellow earthlings rather than as mere objects;
# 63 being the voice for the voiceless;
# 74 being consistent (claim to love animals? prove it!);
# 86 becoming a conscious consumer***;
# 108 treating all animals with the same respect and consideration;
# 165 vegan online shopping***;
# 168 cruelty-free Thanksgiving;
# 185 snuggling up in a warm, not-down comforter;
# 187 my vegetarianism gives me a sense of purpose in life - I can't imagine living any other way;
# 208 wearing my own skin and no one else's;
# 213 the music of Paul McCartney (there are lots of famous vegetarians!)

*** Certainly, being a conscious consumer isn't easy....I sometimes have to search hard for shoes, purses, etc. that are "cruelty-free" (i.e., not made of leather or other animal products). And I say that as someone who loves to shop and enjoys cute shoes and fashionable purses as much as the next gal. Products made from leather, suede, down, angora, etc., are ubiquitous, but I by-pass them and keep looking. I buy items that say "man-made materials" on the label, and I've had great success finding fashionable products at stores like JCPenney, Chadwick's, and Payless Shoes, among others. (A woman once asked me if my purse was a Chanel, but it was from Payless, and made entirely of synthetic materials!)

P.S. ~ happy birthday to my brother-in-law, Paul in Philadelphia!

that's a wrap!

Wow, what a one-of-a-kind day Sal and I had today! We spent it on the movie set of Marley & Me, based on the book, and starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson (Marley wasn't there.....bummer!). It's being filmed here in south Florida. We were among 80 extras filming 2 scenes, from 3 vantage points, at Miami airport. That airport is quite busy as it is, so it was interesting to watch the production crew orchestrate the film shooting among all of the normal hustle and bustle that's already there. Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed, so I have no photos to share {sigh}. They were adamant about that, saying that we'd be escorted off the set immediately if we were caught taking a photo, so I didn't want to chance it and risk losing the opportunity to participate. As a scrapbooker, this was bad news for me, but I'll just have to relay the story in words this time.

Shooting started at 7:00 AM, so we were up at 4:30 AM in order to get down to Miami in time {yawn}. But it was a short day by movie set standards; we were done filming at 1:30 PM.

In all of the scenes, Sal and I were the "happy traveling couple", which is hardly a stretch for us!!! {how perfect} We were asked to bring a variety of clothes, and the first thing we had to do was meet with the wardrobe people to determine what to wear. They had me and Sal wearing jeans and shirts in all of the scenes. We brought everything in our luggage, as instructed, because our bags were to be used as props, given the airport setting. But, they decided that everyone's luggage looked "too contemporary", so they brought out older luggage, since the story is set in the early 90s.

About our scenes.....they were all shot between Terminals F and G, outside, in the passenger drop-off area.....the scenes are fairly early in the storyline......you'll have to look for us in the airport scenes! In the first shoot, Sal and I are walking along the sidewalk, pulling our 90s-style luggage, (they even gave Sal a briefcase to carry too, which was fitting since he often works while we travel, and he looked especially "professorial"), and it's raining a "fake" rain that they created with hoses and water tanks and stuff (Sal's favorite part of the day).....this is while Owen drives up in an old Toyota (with a camera mounted in the back), to pick Jennifer up after she returns from a trip, and she runs to the car in the rain while holding a newspaper over her head. We're probably just a blur in this shoot because of the rain, but oh well.

In the second shoot, which was shot repeatedly, Sal and I are holding hands walking off of the pedestrian bridge, crossing traffic and going toward the terminal. You'll see a staged pair of flight attendants standing and chatting where the bridge and street intersect. In this scene, Owen and Jen are again in their car several yards away from us.

A third shoot had me and Sal simply standing with our luggage curbside, chatting. We're in the distance beyond Jen and Owen, who are again at their car. All the people that you see around us in the scene....those walking past us, or running by us to catch flights, or flight crews, or people getting into or out of cabs, are all extras.....it was all staged. Pretty cool!

We're hoping that we'll be visible in some of the scenes, but of course all of us extras were "background". So, you'll just have to look closely for us!

It was neat to watch the production crew take care of the details to create the correct setting and feel for the story....some extras brought their 90s model cars for the shoots, and the crew put fake license plates on them so that they'd have a 90s registration sticker....and, of course, we weren't allowed to use cell phones or have them clipped to our belts because that technology wasn't available in the early 90s....cell phones were a lot bigger then, and it was beepers/pagers that were the norm! Remember?

The movie's release date is Christmas day.....see you there!

P.S. ~ Jen asked me where I get my hair done.....{kidding}

P.P.S ~ Happy 41st anniversary to my parents today! And happy Earth Day!

no peeking, Grandma! ;-)

I've just about finished a 4-page scrapbook layout for my Grandma, it's a Mother's Day gift. I can't take credit for the artistry of it because the overall design was by the teacher of a class that I took at a local scrapbook store. So I'm not complimenting myself when I say that I think the pages are gorgeous, and the photos don't even capture all of the dimension and details! The patterned papers are from Basic Grey's Two Scoops line, perfect for a feminine layout. And I did add a few of my own little touches and flourishes to the class design. Here are the pages, I just need to add the photos to them and then I can pop them in the mail up to Grandma in Canada:

page 1....

detail of the flower that's on page 1....

page 2....

page 3....

page 4....

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Hi everyone! Hope your week is off to a great start. It's April 15....hope your taxes are all done and that you're getting a refund.

I meant to post this to my blog earlier, it's so neat.....last week, Sal and I went to the Wakodahatchee Wetlands, 50 acres of land that our county's water utilities company developed into a wetlands ecosystem ("Wakodahatchee" is a Seminole Indian word meaning "created waters"). Sal and I were impressed at this environmental haven that they've created for wildlife. It's an amazing place, we saw so many birds and other creatures as we strolled the boardwalk, and it was so peaceful. It's like having our own "mini Everglades" right here in metropolitan Delray Beach! We plan to return often, and next time will bring our lunch or dinner and sit and listen to the birds and enjoy the peace and quiet. Anyway, here are a few pics of some of the wildlife we saw that day:

Sal on the boardwalk (my favorite wildlife!)....{{wink}}

a little bunny rabbit nestled in the grass.....

a blue heron landed right next to us on the boardwalk.....so majestic:

an iguana ran across the sidewalk right in front of us.....

and of course the almighty alligator was there.....this one swam right under us as we peered down from the boardwalk....eerie!

I have some really fun news!!!

I am busting with great news today! As promised in my February 26 post, I'm keeping you posted.....today I got a call from the casting agent for Marley & Me, the book-turned-movie that they're filming here in south Florida.....Sal and I have BOTH been chosen as EXTRAS in the movie! WOW!!! I am super-excited !!! We'll be on set with the stars of the film (Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson, and of course the main attraction, a cute pup named Marley) for a 10- or 12-hour day next week. The filming for our day will be happening at the Miami Airport. How fun will this be??? I can't wait to pull out my copy of the book tonight and go over all the specifics of the story again! I'll be sure to fill you in on all the details of this once-in-a-lifetime day....!!!

does your car indicate how you'll vote?

I saw results from an interesting, albeit unscientific, survey conducted in February by U.S. News. They tallied the responses from 500 participants, and claim that there's a correlation between your choice of vehicle and your political leaning.

Here are some vehicle categories that tend to fit Democrats:
hatchbacks
imports
prefer Honda, Toyota, Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen

and for the Republicans:
pickup trucks
domestic (except for high-end cars)
prefer General Motors, Ford, BMW, Porsche, Lexus

Drivers from both sides of the political aisle prefer mini-vans, SUVs, sports cars, and Chryslers about equally, according to the survey.

Interesting huh? In case you're curious, I drive a Mitsubishi Eclipse (a sporty, hatchback import) and Sal drives a Volkswagen Jetta (a German sedan).....our next cars will be green (hybrids or entirely electric) though!

music to my ears

Tonight Sal and I attended a fabulous concert! The group performing was Andes Manta, four brothers from Ecuador who play a wide variety of handmade instruments (35 different ones, actually!).


It was amazing how so much beautiful sound could be generated by simple bamboo instruments. The songs were mesmerizing, I felt as if I was attending a festival in Ecuador or something. Take a moment and listen to an audio clip of El Yamor, a song typically played during a festival by the same name in the northern Andes. My favorite piece of the evening was a song called Causai Pacha, which incorporated sounds of the Amazonian rain forest within the music.....you could hear frogs croaking, wind whistling, rain falling, birds chirping.....and all of the sounds were created using the native instruments, it was incredible!

It was a perfect evening since the concert was held at an outdoor amphitheater, and not a drop of rain even though it was in the forecast for this evening. Wonderful music under the stars!

this will make you smile

Those Pedigree ads seem popular on my blog (see my posts dated February 6 and March 14), so I'm posting another one called "We See Love"......

fun in the sun

What??? No blogging for a week?!?!? Where have I been?!?!? Part of that time, Sal and I were in Orlando enjoying a getaway, Florida resident style. On Saturday, I attended the Scrapbook Expo all day.....what a fun time shopping and browsing around through all the vendor booths! And I took a terrific class where we combined canvas art and scrapbooking into a beautiful tabletop display. I didn't quite finish it in the hour-long class, but I'll post a photo of it when I'm done. Sal liked it so much that he asked if he could display it in his office! {thrilling for me}

On Sunday, Sal and I went to Aquatica, which is the new waterpark that Sea World just opened in mid-March. It was awesome, we felt like kids. We went from slide to slide and laughed and played in the water. Even I braved all of the rides except the one where you go down a steep slide laying on your stomach on a raft. No way! (Sal did it though) The park's signature ride is the Dolphin Plunge, where you slide through clear tubes so that, theoretically, you can see the gorgeous black-and-white Commerson's dolphins (in photo border below) that are swimming around the tubes as you zoom past them. Of course, you're going way too fast to see anything, but it's a neat concept. The park was landscaped with beautiful tropical flowers and trees, I loved it, and we were thankful for sunny weather (there was a 40% chance of rain, so it was a roll of the dice). Here we are as we entered the park (that's why we're still dry in the photo!):