I'm baaaaack!!!

Today I got up, sent Nati to school and felt the need to scrap. I sat down and just did it. It came to me!!! I am so happy to finally be getting out of this funk :)
Here's what I did..




Everything on this one's from Paper Source. I just love that store. The flower pp is actually part of the catalog!



How incredibly cute is she?? I loved dressing her in bloomers when she was a baby and those were my faves. I used my Jenni Bowlin may kit.



This is a pic I have scrapped before, but when I love certain pics so much, they get multiple LOs. Some Jenni Bowlin, the lace my mom sent from Mexico, the rub on letters are AC.



This has has also been scrapped before. This is the first one I did yesterday and it came together in about 15 min!!! I used more of the catalog paper from P.S., an Anna Griffin metal crown I had been dying to use but didn't know how, a piece of string from a 7 Gypsies mini book and my favorite journaling cards ever from MME.

I hope you like my pages. I feel so happy now that Mr. Mojo has decided to visit me again. Hope he stays for a looooong time :)

I also got a great gift from Vane P. Look at the great goodies she got me!!!! I had been craving those AC thickers for ever and now I have 'em :)



I have the best friends ever! I hope they know how much I love them all and how happy I am to have them in my life :)

TODAY"S CHALLENGE:
If I could go back 5 years, what would I do differently?
* I would definitely take much better care of my eating habits during pregnancy and I would have worked out from day one.
I am not one of those lucky gals who magically go back to their pre pregnancy weight... :(

OK, I'm off to Curves and I have to come back and clean the apartment. It must be spotless for my peeps.

Peace out.

I could be more happy......

NOOOOOOT!!!!!!!! (in my best Borat style). My dad, my sis and my niece are coming to visit!!!!! I am just over the moon happy. I haven't seen the girls in so long, it hurts. My Mom will also come, but until later in the summer. I can't wait.

Meet my beautiful sis and my dad...



Yesterday I got a very interesting e-mail invite that I will share with you guys as soon as I can... Good, good stuff :)
I also got invited to be a guest designer for a stamp company I love, but I'm not sure I can share the info yet.
I'm very mysterious this morning...

Since I have no mojo whatsoever lately, I've been into the blog challenges from Two Peas and SIS. So, here's more random info about me. Play along on your blogs!

3 things I like about me:
* I am incredibly loyal
* I always pay attention to detail
* I know how to be a true friend

3 things I don't like about me:
* I can hold a grudge for ever and ever :(
* I am not patient
* I am not flexible. Once I've made up my mind, it's pretty hard to change it.

Have a great wednesday!

20 Questions...

But first, I REALLY need help getting out of this huge funk. I get nervous just thinking about trying to scrap and I hate the feeling. This is something I LOVE to do and right now I just can't. ARGHHHHH!!!!!
I sit on my desk, look at my gorgeous stash and draw a blank. Any suggestions?? Any help would be much appreciated :)

Now, the Q & A...

1. regular or diet soda:
Caffeine free diet coke

2. salt or pepper:
Salt

3. hot or cold weather:
Cold, unless I can spend the day in a bathing suit...

4. dogs or cats:
Neither, not a pet person, but if I had to it would be a dog.

5. dieting or exercise:
Exercise, I enjoy food to much to ever give it up. I'd rather do portion control :)

6. cooking or doing dishes:
Incredibly, I enjoy both. I don't even use the dish washer...

7. sleeping or shopping:
Are you kidding?? Shopping all the way! Like Bon Jovi said, "I'll sleep when I'm dead".

8. Red Lobster or Outback Steakhouse:
Red lobster, but the bloomin' onion's one of my faves :)

9. classical or hip hop music:
Classical.

10. dancing or playing sports:
Dancing, I've never been very athletic.

11. back rub or foot rub:
Back rub while getting a foot rub :)

12. fruits or vegetables:
Both.

13. Grey's Anatomy or House:
House. No doubt. Grey's is brain candy...

14. coffee or tea:
Espresso!

15. curling up with a good book or a night out on the town:
Curling up with a book. I have never understood clubbing.

16. Straight hair or curly hair:
Straight. I have super curly hair and it has been the bane of my existence...

17. skirts or shorts:
Long flowy linen skirts

18. burgers/hot dogs or Chinese food:
Chinese. Dim sum to be exact... yummy!

19. vacationing in Switzerland or Mexico:
Mexico, of course. Switzerland could never be as fun and as beautiful as my beloved Mexico...

20. sports car or SUV:
Hum... I think SUV.

Copy, paste and play along!!

I've had a GREAT b-day weekend!!!

This is my 35 year old self...


I haven't had this much fun for my b-day in a long time.
On Sat, I went to a crop with Barb, Esther, Vanessa M and Ivette. I had a great time with the girls even though I could barely complete a LO that I didn't even like...
We dished and scrapped and suddenly they came out with a delish lemon cake with sparkling trick candles, gifts and singing!!!
I had tears in my eyes... Having these girls in my life has definitely changed it for the better and I thank God everyday for having met them.
THANK YOU ALL!!!
Here's a peek at the goodies they got me.



On Sun, we went to lunch to Catch Of The Day near Coral gables. Delicious sea food. Great time. We came home, after a little trip to Michael's and watched movies all evening.
Hubby got me a very generous 2 Peas gift certificate that I'm gonna try to save for CHA-Summer. Good luck with that :)
My Mom, sis and niece sent me a gift certificate for Nordstrom's that I have put to good use. My Daddy sent me good old cash.. WOOHOOO!!!!

Today, we lit up the grill, of course, and had burgers and hot dogs. We're having a gorgeous day here in Miami so far, so it was all good. After lunch I blew more candles atop a delish fruit filled brown derby cake. Yummy!



As some of you know, my mojo has left the building. I haven't been able to scrap anything decent in ages and I'm starting to get really frustrated. Yesterday I made a nice mini about me, that I liked, and today I did two pages I kinda like, but I had a very hard time with them.
Has this happened to any of you? How did you get out of it??? I'm desperate...








Nik, these are on their way to Ohio. I couldn't find any more of the stones you liked, but I hope these will do :)



Before I leave, check him out. His name's Josh and his wife Amber Ulmer is one of my fave scrappers ever. She's also one of the luckiest women I know. Her hubby's a scrapper and a very good one!!!!
Can you imagine?!?!?!?!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! ***eta***

***THIS GORGEOUS CAKE IS FOR DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY :)***

I'll tell you all about the festivities tomorrow, right now I have to go turn 35!!!!

Score!!!

Poppy Ink's stamp shop is finally up!!! I scored these beauties before they sold out...



I had been craving the stamps in their kits for ever. Very cute, go check them out.


I took my first ever yoga class yesterday evening at Curves. I was "ohming" and stretching left and right :) I LOVED it!! It was so relaxing and calming after a vigorous work out. I slept like a baby.


So, I'm turning 35 on Sunday May 27th!!! I'm sure you're tired of reading about it, but I look forward to it all year long like a kid. My family always made such a big deal out of it... I miss that so much. I'd get a whole month of "celebrations".
Sigh...


So You Think You Can Dance started yesterday. It's one of my summer's guilty pleasures. I laugh so hard at those people shaking their booties... Juan says I thrive on schadenfreude, and he's right. I love America's Funnies Videos, and the auditions part of American Idol is priceless to me.

That's it for now on this beautiful Friday. I'm off to the gym and I have to come back and pack my MM roller full of scrap goodies for my crop with the girls on Saturday.

Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend with a BBQ!!

Just in case I wasn't spending enough time with the Mac...

I just found Scrap in Style TV. A new scrap comunity that I'm lovin'. Go check it out.
It has a great format, very easy to navigate, cute designer kits. Looks very promising so far.
********************
Hey, did you watch the view yesterday?!?!? How cool was Rosie exposing that idiotic Elizabeth for the hypocrite she is?!?!?!? I really DO NOT like her. She sounds like a kid repeating what she hears her parents say at home. Yuck! It always cracks me up how she gets all riled up and how Rosie keeps her cool. I am gonna miss her so much, she was the only reason I started watching the view again.
Here it is for your entertainment. I know Trish will get kick out of it...


**********************
In fitness news... Still LOVIN' Curves. My trainer Christina really worked me hard yesterday and, guess what??? Already my wrist watch fits better!!! I can't believe it. This only pushes harder and gets me so much more motivated.
Those of you that need a push, JUST DO IT! Give it a try, you will see results fast.
***********************

Ok, now, how crazy was LOST?!?!? This has been by far my fave season finale evah. Are we gonna start getting flash forwards now, who dies in the future, is Jack's dad alive in the island as we speak, it's NOT Penny's boat, who is Naomi with?? How will I ever make it 'till the fall, I'll never know. Good stuff. Good stuff indeed.
**********************
My 35th b-day's almost here...WOOOHOOOO!!!! Have a great Thursday :)

Shrek the third...

I took Nati to see this movie yesterday after school and we both LOVED it. It's just like the first two, but still soooo funny and silly. Just a good hour and a half of belly laughs!
Watching Snow White singing some Led Zeppelin is priceless. In fact all the princesses in the movie kick ass!!
Take your kids or just go yourself.

I had fun at Curves yesterday. The high you get from working out is the best (not that I have experienced any other kind of high...). Leaving the gym all full of energy and drenched in sweat and knowing I did something good just for me is great!

Before I leave you, I have to send a BIG shout out to my friend Nik. She got her first pub on Scrapbook Trends!!!!!!! How uber cool is that?!?!?! Congrats, Nik!
Check it out...

Have you seen this?!?!?

The June kit peek is up at Work in Progress!!! Love the fresh summery colors. You can preorder now so you don't miss it.

I went to Barb's house yesterday to tackle the crazy task of reorganizing ALL her scrap stuff. I had so much fun. We moved all her goodies into a closet and she now can see all the stuff she has and reach it much more easily. She thinks I did her a favor, but really I am the one who should be thanking her for giving me an organization project.
I was very happy with the results and so was she!


Nati had a blast playing with her kids and she came home completely exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately. YAY!!!

My house really needs to be cleaned but I'm having a nice lazy Sunday, so maybe later...

I can't wait for tomorrow so I can go to Curves. I am so loving it, and tomorrow starts the real ass kicking. Fun times!

My mojo...

is kinda coming back!!! Here's a little peek at an album I'm doing for my Chihuly exhibit pictures. I am so proud of them I had to make an album just for them.

This is just one of the 50 pictures I took that day. I will post the whole album once I finish.

Have a good weekend!!

I can't think of a title...

I had forgotten about this LO from a few weeks ago. It's an 8.5 x 11 spread but it looks like a single page 'cause my Juan is a master at stitching LOs together for me in Photoshop.
The tag is MS and the stamps are my custom ones from Village Impressions (dot com) and the little round ones are Art Warehouse (I think).
I'm still debating the tag, so give me your opinion, yes or no?? I'm leaning towards no...

I have so many pics of my girlie getting herself into whatever, that I had to do a page about it.

Day 3 of Curves: I found a great trainer. She has vowed to kick my fat ass into oblivion so I'm even more pumped, if that's possible. When I start looking decent in pics again, I will post my progress. Really, if you have weight issues and want to do something about it, find a Curves, I LOVE it and I know I'll be going there for many years to come.

Jack Bauer is paging me so I'm off to C.T.U...

Thank you!!

For all the words of encouragement. They have meant the world to me. I had my second training session today and I got measured and weighed. I could tell you the numbers but then I'd have to kill you and I really like you all. Let's just say I had the wind knocked out of me. I had no idea I had gotten so huge. As sad and scared as I was to hear the numbers, they also made me want this even more. I am really loving it and I will keep at it until I fin into my "normal size people" jeans, no matter how long it takes.

I am still suffering from a mojo drought and I really don't know how to get out of it. I see lots of great LOs around but I just don't feel it. It sucks!! I hope you don't tired of the posts with no pics in them, I know they're not fun...

I'm off to watch 24. I am so addicted to that show, it's not even funny.

Love you guys!

Just a quick one...

...to say I had my first Curves training session and I LOVED it!!! I felt so energized afterward, and the workout was challenging. I was completely drenched by the end.
I am so pumped!!! Can't wait for tomorrow.
Hugs all!

Lots going on...

This is just a taste of what I saw this weekend at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, FL.
We took my cousin there to see the Chihuly exhibit. I was completely blown away by this man's work. The Garden is by itself a paradise, now picture it with these incredibly beautiful blown glass sculptures all over the place. In the water, in the middle of the plants, everywhere!!! It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
I had been dying to go to the exhibit forever and we just never got around to it, until this weekend.
If you live nearby, you HAVE to see it before it leaves, on May 31st. I'm planing another visit for Chihuly Nights. Can you imagine it all lit up?!?!? I can't wait.
I took the best pictures I've ever taken at the Garden. I am so proud of them. I will post them tomorrow to share them with you.

My cousins and my nice arrived on Thursday and we had such a great time together. Laughing and talking and catching up on the last three years since we last saw each other. I got to meet their adorable baby girl, Ana Fernanda, and Nati had a blast with her. They were here for such a short time, I hope they come back soon.

I had a nice Mother's day. Juan fired up the grill and we had a nice relaxing time at home. He gave me a gorgeous deep purple orchid that I loved and Nati said "happy mother's day" to me a lot. What more could I ask for?? I am a lucky girl.

Today I had lunch with Barb. A great time as always. We enjoy each other's company so much... I wish we could get together more often.
She recently got me back to one of my beloved hobbies: hand made jewelry. I loved it even before I got into scrap booking. Her daughter Amanda saw one of my necklaces and asked me to do one for her. I had lots of fun. I love it as much as scrap booking.
Here's some of my work... (sorry, the pics are not great...)






I will organize and album of all the pieces I've done so you guys can see them, and put a link on here. I have orders for 2 necklaces so I'm excited to get back to it.



After lunch, I went to Curves to sign up and I start tomorrow. I am tired of being fat. I am done!!! So excited to start this thing and get back to my normal self. I miss my cute size 8 clothes too much, so I will post updates of my progress here. I'm gonna need lots of support from you, my peeps :) Go me!!!

Other than that I had some great mail today. Purple Onion stamps (see link to the right), Paper Source stamps and some gorgeous MME Tres Jolie papers along with my Jenni Bowlin and Scrapologie kits. It really sucks that my scrapbooking mojo has taken a vacation. I am in a real funk lately and I miss my supplies...

Have a great week!!

I have issues...

1. LOST yesterday was in-sane. Ben was the one who killed the whole Dharma Initiative?!?!?!?!?! Is Locke really dead??? WTH???

2. LaKisha left Idol. Sad, but my boyfriend Blake is in!!!!

3. Today is Mother's Day in Mexico, so HAPPY DAY MOM!!! HAPPY DAY GILI!!!

4. A little challenge from 2 Peas:

*Two Names I Go by:
Ana and Anilu

*Two Things I am Wearing Right Now:
pj's and cork sandals

*Two Things I Want (or have) in a Relationship:
I have humor and complicity

*Two of My Favorite Things to do:
scrapbook and shop

*Things I Want Very Badly At The Moment:
good news for my hubby and a big caffe latte from Panera Bread

*Two pets I have:
no pets for me, thank you very much.

*Two things I did last night:
clean and clean

*Two things I ate today:
nothing yet

*Two people I just talked to last:
my Mom and my Sis

*Two Things I'm doing tomorrow:
have lots of fun with my cousin and her family

*Two longest car rides:
they both happened at University during our field trips in Mexico

*Two Favorite Holidays:
Christmas and Independence day in Mexico

*Two favorite beverages:
caffeine free diet coke and espresso

Have a wonderful Mother's day weekend!!!

American Idol... Yikes!

It was painful to watch yesterday. WTH?!?!? Even my Blake stunk!! Granted, Bee Gees' songs are super hard to sing, but they all were really bad.
At this point, and after this last show (excluding Melinda) any one of them could go...

On scrap related news, how cute are my new paper Source stamps???



And I found this adorable birdie to add to my growing bird stamp collection...

I'm gonna be away from the Mac for a few days 'cause my cousin's coming to visit from Mexico City. I'm so excited to see her, her hubby and my new niece whom I have never met.

That's it for now, my lovelies. I have to go clean, clean, clean. I'm such a Monica...

My friends ROCK!!!

I spent most of the morning at the pool today, trying to get a tan. The day was so perfectly perfect... Gorgeous clear blue sky, cool air, no people by the pool. Bliss! I finally have some color :)
Before heading back home, I stoped by the mail box, and there was a beautiful USPS box waiting for me. It was from my friend Trish from Work in Progress kits.
By the way, if you haven't yet, go get the May kit, they are 2 seconds away from another sell out. Hurry!!!
Here's what was in the box...



How amazing is she!?!?!?! I just love her. Thank you, Trish! You spoil me too much :)
Be on the lookout, people. There will be great designers at Work in Progress in the coming months...

I'm off to pick Nati up from school. Can't wait to come back and start playing with my gorgeous goodies!

Thanks again, my dear Trish!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!!

I made this a while ago for a challenge on 2 Peas. I really truly love this hobby of ours. Have a great weekend full of scrapping fun.

Oh, before I leave, check out my dear friend Nicole who is one of the feautured scrappers on 2 peas today!!!!!
Woohoo for Nik!!



Get scrapping!

Natalia's portrait of Mom!!!!

Just a little while ago I was giving Natalia her breakfast when she came running to show me a picture she had drawn of me. I died and went to heaven.
I had to share it with you. So here is her opera prima...



These are two LOs I did with the most recent pics of my sweet niece Paulina. I finally used my Tinkering Ink papers I've had for so long. The felt letters I cut myself with my Quickutz Studio alphabet and this great stiff felt I found at Michael's called ez-felt.




Here's the interview Caroline made me:

1. righty or lefty?
-right handed
2. what is your weirdest quirk?
- I wash my hands tens of times during the day
3. what is one thing you absolutely cannot live without?
- a daily shower
4. what is your favorite animal?
- a great dane
5. what is your favorite ice cream flavor?
- caramel cone from Hagen Dasz

Wanna be interviewed? Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” I will respond by emailing you five questions (leave your e-mail!). I get to pick the questions. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

That's it for today. I have to go get my hair done.
Peace out.