Flip Flop Wine

First, I wanted to thank everyone for their awesome comment and support about the Etsy shop! I'm really excited to start!

I recently tried Flip Flop wines for a party I was having. I'd heard good things about them, and they were pretty inexpensive (which is super super important to me on my budget!) so I figured, let's grab a bottle and have all the girls try it and see how it is.

Well, we all liked it! So I got in touch with Flip Flop Wines, and they provided me with some wines to try. (Since I only got one glass at my party before the whole bottle was gone!)

Over the next week or two, AJ and I plan or trying each different wine and writing our reviews.

The first thing we noticed when we took the wine out of the packaging, was the label. On each label, they give you a scale of how dry or sweet the wine is, and they tell you what foods would pair well with it!

AJ just loved that! He and I enjoy wine, but we are still learning all of the nuances of the different kinds. This made it very easy to figure out which ones we should try and when!









And I love the top. How cute are these flip flops?

 Tuesday night, we decided to try the Riesling. According to the label, it is a medium sweet white wine.

AJ said "even people who don't like wine would like this wine." It is sweet, without being overly sweet. We both really enjoyed it. I think it would be great for a picnic or hanging out in the summer time!





I am definitely looking forward to trying to Pino Grigio and the Pino Noir (my favorite wine!) soon!

Flip Flop Wines provided me with the wine to write this review. All opinions here are my own, and AJ's.

Etsy?

I've been thinking about opening an Etsy shop. But to be honest, I'm a little scared!

I started thinking about this about a week ago. It seemed like a good idea. But despite the good-ideaness of it, I was a little worried. What is my stuff isn't good enough? What if no one likes it? What if no one buys it?

So I put the idea on the back burner.

Then, last Sunday, I went shopping with the girls. We went into a fancy card store (which shall remain nameless) because my friend's boyfriend just got a new job, and she wanted to send him a card. They had some very cute "congratulations" cards. But, they were so expensive - and we are both part time teachers, so expensive cards are not in our budgets! So I said to her, don't buy one, I'll make you one.

And she offered to pay me for it. I mean, I'm not going take money from my girl friend for something I offered to do to save her some money! That would defeat the purpose of helping out my friend who helps me out all the time! But, it got the idea going again.

So, I think I'm really going to set up an Etsy shop. Obviously, I'll need to build up a bit of an inventory before I start selling. But I'm exited.

Maybe someone should send me this card instead!

(Except I'm still a little scared...)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Lawn Fawn Haunted House

I got a package from Lawn Fawn yesterday! In it, was this adorable haunted house, and I couldn't wait to break it out! I love my stamps, but I have trouble sometimes, because I don't have Copics, and I don't know what to use to color it. But then Becky mentioned she colored her new stamps with her Bic Mark Its! Well, I have a ton of Bic Mark Its! I have a whole set...well, except the black...I bought them a long time ago for a school thing, and I never thought to color my stamps in with them!

So, I broke out my stamp, my Martha Stewart inks and my embossing powder and had a stamping party! Well, it was just me, but I was having fun!

I used Woody Brown, Key Lime, Plumtastic Purple, Sweet Orange and Lemon Bliss (which I forgot to put in the picture, but its the yellow I used for the windows).

I really love this stamp. I used Halloween colors (although I don't know if I love the green on the one side of the house, I think I should've done it orange and left just the porch green, but, I still love it!)

My favorite thing about this stamp is that if you use different colors, it doesn't have to be haunted, it can just be a cute house!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Packages, Packages and More Packages!

Well, despite Monday's rough start, things ended well when I stopped by my mailbox.

Inside, there was a regularly wrapped package waiting for me, and a bright orange Shutterfly package waiting.

Then, I saw that I had THREE more packages behind the desk!

So this is what I came home with:

The first one I opened was the white box...it came from Mary Pat at Siehled With a Kiss. I just love her blog and her layouts (and if you haven't yet, you should totally click the link and stop by and check out her awesome stuff!)

So, Mary Pat had a giveaway - and I won! I've never won anything like that before! I may have freaked out AJ by looking at my blackberry when we woke up and yelling "OH MY GOSH!" Once he realized nothing bad had happened, he was also very excited for me. Or confused from being woken up, I'm not sure!

But either way, I was very excited to get the entire collection pack from Echo Park's Summer Days!

And it came at the perfect time, because these lovely orange packages are filled with summer photos!

I know what I am going to be doing tonight...after I get the laundry done of course...hahaha, who else thinks no laundry is happening today?

Just to add to the list of reasons not to do laundry, I also got a fabulous package from Lawn Fawn...

I love the "haunted" house, because I think with the right colors and accents, it doesn't have to be haunted!

And last, but certainly not least in Chicago, I got my winter jacket! It was surprisingly light...I was shocked, but when I put it on, I was warm!

It came in such a small little package...

...but it covered me all the way up! I think I'll be grateful for that in a few months!

(Please ignore the messiness behind me...I was sorting clothes for laundry day...) 

So, my stressed out crazy Monday turned out to be a great day!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Tuesday!

Worst First Impression Ever!

Today was my first day at my new part time teaching job. I'm only teaching one period a day, so I'm still looking for other positions, tutoring, etc, but this is a good start.

Its about 20 minutes from my apartment, so I figured if I left well over an hour early, I would be fine.

After some snags leaving the apartment (why are the elevators so slow!) and getting my car (I haven't been using it in the mornings, so it was downstairs) and getting onto the road (that is a whole different post on garbage trucks and why they take up the entire street!), I was on my way. With still over an hour to get to work.

Getting to the highway was no big deal. My gps said there would be 18 minutes of traffic, on top of the 20 minute drive, but I planned ahead for that. I'd still be pretty early.

Then, I realized my gps had jumped up to 48 minutes of traffic, so that is cutting it way too close.

But I figured that had to be wrong, there is no way a 20 minute drive becomes a 68 minute drive.

And I was right...it became a 100 minute drive.

I was so late that I missed my class.

What a wonderful first impression to make!

And it was just not my day, this afternoon, on a phone interview for a tutoring position, my phone hung up on the director! But fortunately, it went well, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my face to face meeting with the recruiter goes well, because I could definitely use the second job!

But, today was not all bad. I started another scrapbook project. I am still waiting on my pictures to come (I'm not sure what's going on, its never ever taken this long for my pictures to get here!) so I am creating layouts to drop my pictures into.

This one will be for a layout about Halloween decorations, which I just love, especially pumpkins and mums!

This is what I am planning to use. I'm not sure how to incorporate the house paper, I just love it, but I think it will need to be an accent, because the big house blends into it too much...

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday {9 25 2011}

I cannot believe how quickly this week has flown by! It has been crazy - AJ was working nights all week for his plant's shut down, and I was driving him to and from work, and sleeping in between, and going on job interviews during the day! I finally found a part time teaching job though...but I will need to find some subbing in the building, or some after school tutoring also!
1. Low Key

I wasn't sure what low key meant. But by the time I figured it out, there was no time to take a low key photograph! So, I went back into my archives, and found this shot from Longwood Gardens in New Jersey. AJ and I went there for their Christmas show last year.

2. Monochromatic

All of the leaves are beginning to change here! I love fall.

3. Circle

I've been creating these circles for scrapbook projects lately. They are my new favorite embellishment!

4. Scarf

A scarf my family brought back from Florence for me. I just figured out I've been confused and had it inside out all along! This is the front of the scarf!

5. Phone

My phone. I use it so often, the buttons are starting to wear away!

Well, I am off for brunch and some shopping, but just for one thing - a pumpkin scented candle! AJ smelled one at a friend's house, and has been asking for it. Its just as well, I've always got a candle going here, and I don't think my current one is going to last through one week!

Thanks for stopping by, have a great Sunday!

Paper Accordion Fold Circles

Last week, I showed a banner I made for Halloween, and in it, I used these paper circles. But I couldn't figure out how to describe making them!

I wanted to make a video, but I didn't have anyone or anything to hold the camera, so I have a picture set instead!

These directions are for a 6 inch circle, but you can play with the width of the strips, and the spacing of the folds to change it up!

1. You will need: two 3"x12" strips of paper, a 3"x3.5" piece of scrap paper, a hot glue gun or another type of fast drying liquid glue, and an adhesive runner (not shown here). You might want a scoring board, but you don't have to have it.

2. Score each strip every half inch.

3. Fold up the paper along the score lines like an accordion. If you don't have a score board, just make an accordion fold as even as possible!

4. Apply adhesive to the last fold of one of the strips and adhere it to the last fold of the other strip.

6. Repeat step 5 on the other side, so you have a circle, with the pattern you want showing facing inside.

7. Flatten out the circle. This is a little tricky, because you need to keep holding it or it will pop up.

8. Apply the hot glue around the center of the circle, and place the piece of scrap paper on top of the glue.

9. Lift the edges of the scrap paper and apply glue all over.

10. I put something on top of the circle to keep it pressed down for a few minutes, until I'm sure the glue is dry.

11. Now you have a pretty circle!

I love these, they can be a sun, flowers, home decor, anything!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

What a Day!

Wow, so much has happened since I posted my Scavenger Hunt Sunday photos yesterday...

Now, before I tell the story, I have to say this here, AJ takes better care of his teeth than anyone I know. In addition to the regular morning/night brushings, he uses mouthwash all the time (which totally burns my mouth!), and he flosses every day - its the flossing that gets me, I don't know anyone who does that every single day. But, he has always had low enamel, so he has issues sometimes.

Okay, so now on to the story.

We went to dinner at a friend's house Sunday night. And poor AJ was unexpectedly the only guy there. But he was being a trooper.

We're eating dinner and having girly conversations, and eating yummy pasta, and he goes, uh oh. And we are all like, what?

His front bottom tooth was in his hand.

He bit into a piece of crusty Italian bread, and his tooth just broke.

So today, he had to go to the dentist for emergency, well, it wasn't surgery, but it still was annoying! They put a fake tooth on so he could eat. But it took a long time, and we didn't know if they would need to do root canal (no, thank God) or what, so I drove him there in case he couldn't drive home.

Then, I drove him to work, because he was working so late, and he didn't get any sleep with his tooth, I was afraid of him driving home on not enough sleep. Normally, this is, at most, an hour and fifteen minutes back and forth.

But today, there were freight trains.

Normally, this isn't a big problem. There are two entrances to the plant, so you just go around the corner and go in that way.

But not today. Today there were two freight trains. With hundreds of cars each. Perpendicular to each other.

And one couldn't move until the other did. And that other, wasn't moving.

We sat across the tracks from him plant for what seemed like two hours waiting for the trains to move. Ironically, we saw some of his coworkers doing the same thing!

Then finally, one of the trains moved...and moved...and moved...and moved...twenty minutes after it was done moving, we could cross the tracks!

But we knew we only had about five minutes before the other train would start to move and block us in again. Unfortunately, the Versa ahead of us did not care about that. He went really slowly, stopped to let other cars turn out into the road. I may have lost my temper and honked the horn at said Versa. But I was on a mission to get in, get out and get home in time for How I Met Your Mother!

I got to the plant (yay! or AJ would have been late for work! And he is the only engineer on right now!) Just as AJ was getting out of the car, I heard the train honk its horn. I sped out of the plant and up the road to the tracks.

Where I sat for fifteen minutes watching a train slooooowly go by.

Just when I thought we were getting to the end, it STOPPED! I almost cried.

But I saw some people making u turns, so I turned with them, plugged in my gps and went on an adventure throughout the back roads.

As I was driving, I passed the back of the train (still not moving). It had to be miles long!

I got home two and half hours after I left...and I missed the first half of How I Met Your Mother!

And I didn't get any scrapbooking done (I wanted to make a video/picture slide show on how to make those banners, also because my mom asked me to make her one!).

Well, I'm going to nap now, before I go pick AJ up at work and go out for yummy brunch :)

Scavenger Hunt Sunday {9 18 2011}

Another Sunday, another Scavenger Hunt. I'm also linking up with Sweet Little Gals Photo Swap!

1. Street Photography

This is one of my favorite streets by my apartment. It is always so quiet, and no one is ever on it!

2. From a Distance

AJ and I spent yesterday at the zoo. In the distance, you can see the city skyline!

3. Sunday

Last Sunday was a very typical Sunday, we had brunch, went for a walk, then had a glass of wine after dinner :)

4. Liquid

At the zoo again! You could stand below the sea lion and seal pool and watch them swim by. Or if you are me, you can shoot the water for Scavenger Hunt Sunday!

5. Behind

Driving home from the grocery store, heading towards the lake with the city behind me!

These are next week's prompts:

1. Low Key
2. The Color Wheel: Monochromatic/Analogous Color (Exploring with a Camera theme: click HERE)
3. Circle (Paper Heart Camera prompt - consider a self-portrait)
4. Scarf (Danielle's suggestion)
5. Phone (Danielle's suggestion) 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week!

Halloween Banner

Back in July, I found the We R Memory Keepers Spookville line, and I just had to have it! I am the worst with Halloween paper, it is definitely my favorite paper - as long as it isn't scary at all!

After I bought the paper, I had an idea for a Halloween project - I wanted to make a banner the apartment. I first wanted it to say "Happy Halloween" or "Trick or Treat" but I realized, I didn't have anywhere to hang that up. So I kind of sat around with this idea in my head, waiting to figure out how to use it.

Then I though, I could hang it up on the front door (well, on the inside of the front door, we aren't allowed to decorate the outside). But it couldn't be as long as "Happy Halloween" or "Trick or Treat", because my door is just a normal sized door!

So I made this banner:

Yeah, I have no idea about the penny. I didn't even realize it was there until I uploaded the pictures! It must have fallen out when my bag fell off the chair last night...

This is a close up of the purple...um...what do you call one piece of a banner? I have no idea how to rotate the picture though!

To make the triangles:
Make a mark 6 inches across the bottom of the cardstock, then cut from the top right corner to the mark, then the top left corner to the mark.

To make the circles:
You need two 3" x 12" strips of cardstock. I used my score board to score every half inch on each strip, then folded them up like an accordion. Then, I attached the ends of the papers to get a circle, and flattened it out onto a piece of cardstock. (I'm thinking I'm going to make a video for this, because those directions should super confusing!)

The letters and the spiderwebs I cut from the Sizzix eclips Halloween and Scaredy Cat Alphabet cartridge.

Then I just layered it all up!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by :)

I am not Erin Gruwell

I'm linking up with Shell for Pour Your Heart Out Wednesdays again this week...

I didn't go to work yesterday.

I got up, I showered, I even got to the exit off of I-90/94.

But I didn't go to work.

Instead, I went home, showered (again), printed out a ton of resumes and applied to:
The Latin School
De Paul University
The Larko Group
Lakeshore Staffing
Kelly Staffing
Prime Staffing
Ajilon

I'll probably apply to Houghton-Mifflin again after I type this out.

I feel terrible about it, because I know how many teachers there are out there looking for jobs, but I hate teaching in the inner city.

I don't like carrying my pepper spray in my hand when I walk to my car, not because of the area, but because I'm afraid a student I had to discipline will attack me.

I don't like that a student can make comments about me in class and make me feel uncomfortable, yet I am told not to report it, because it appears "weak" and then they will think that I cannot handle my classroom. Apparently, this is normal behavior here, and it happens to all the teachers. It doesn't make it okay.

I don't like that when a student comes to my defense after a nasty comment is made (just out of my ear shot, but by the reaction, it had to be bad), that student is threatened with gang violence, and I am told to "ignore it."

I don't like that my principal told us not to write up any students for any reason unless we have dealt with it first because "classroom management is your job." I agree, it is my job - if you are late to class, don't have your homework, have your cell phone out, are talking to a friend, cut class or any of those things, I should handle it. If you make me so uncomfortable that I am afraid to walk to my car alone in broad daylight, administration should get involved. NOW. Not after I make two attempts to conference with the student on my own, and call home, and set up a mediation with the guidance counselor. RIGHT NOW.

I don't like that I am afraid of telling my administration I am having a problem in my classroom because I could be fired.

I don't like that I am afraid to say something because I am afraid the students will retaliate.

So I quit last night.

I know I left a lot of good students, and I know I left a lot of good coworkers, but it wasn't worth it.

I know everyone's telling me that its okay, that I shouldn't have taken the job to begin with, that I'll find something better, but I still feel horribly guilty.

Who's Ready for Some Football?!

Normally, I'd say NOT ME! I am a baseball girl. Football season means my baseball season is winding down. And as a Mets fan, well, lets just say September hasn't been great to the Mets since 2007.

AJ is a Phillies fan (let's not discuss that drama right now), but he L-O-V-E-S football. Like, puts on his Cowboys (yeah, I know, random right?) jersey and settles in for the day.

I like hanging out with him on Sunday, and chilling out before the week starts. But during football, its hard, because I can't watch football for so long (and by so long, I mean ten minutes or so). But AJ gets upset when I'm on the computer, because I don't really interact with him when I am. He wants to chat while we watch football. Yes, I realize this is very very rare for a guy to want to do, I get that I am very lucky in this. So I don't want to go on the computer during football....what else to do though?

Then it hit me! I can chat and scrapbook!

And we set up my scrapbook table right next to the couch, so we can literally sit next to each other and each do something we love! And we can still talk and be together :)

So, here is what is on my craft table right now, thanks to Sunday night football on Fox? NBC? ABC? I know it wasn't ESPN, the Mets were on there, leaving the bases loaded left and right and giving up the game to the Cubs! But either way...

I was inspired by Ali Edwards A Week in the Life project to do my own. The pictures are from over a month ago, but I am just getting it together now. I'm hoping that Monday night football lets me get even further on this project! (Who would've thought I'd be psyched for Monday night football?!)

I hope you all have gotten in some crafty time too. And that your kitchens aren't nearly as messy as mine! I'm off to go clean it so I can make dinner :)

Scavenger Hunt Sunday {9 11 2011}

This has been such a crazy week! Tuesday was the first day of classes with students, Wednesday I had to stay after school for new teacher meetings, Friday, AJ took me out to dinner (and pretended to propose three times, he gets a kick out of teasing me, I think when he does go to propose, I won't believe him because of all the teasing!) Yesterday, we had a group of friends over for homemade pizza before we headed over to the wine festival in the park. It was good to have everyone over though, because it forced me to clean up the apartment really really well, although its a mess again from all the cooking! And now it is Sunday. Which means it is time for the Scavenger Hunt!

1. Bokeh

I had a really hard time with this prompt. Or, to be more specific, I thought I would have a really hard time with this prompt. I had no idea how to even start. So I avoided it. Until Sunday morning, when I realized, I needed something. So, I went into my bathroom (the only dark room in my house) and played around with my tea light holder, water and a bunch of tea lights (6 to be exact...boy, does my bathroom smell like vanilla right now!) Bokeh doesn't seem so scary now!

2. Process of Elimination

I love how the sky is fading here, and the light looks so white against the blues and purples.

3. Remember

While we were waiting on (many, many) lines at the wine festival yesterday, I kept looking at this building and saying, how weird, every other light is on. Then it hit me, it was a flag. I don't like being so far away from New York today.

4. Statues 

There weren't any statues at the wine festival, but there was a big fountain!

5. Flying Higher

Last week, I really struggled with the clouds prompt. I wasn't in love with any of the cloud pictures I took. Monday morning, AJ woke up, looked out the window and said "Now, here are your clouds, babe." I am in love with this picture, and I had to use it this week!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

*Sara, at Sweet Little Gals invited me to a new link up, where I will also be sharing my photos: