This girl's the bombdiggity

and I totally stole that phrase straight from her!

Go check out this adorable etsy shop. My cute crafty friends, Gretchen, Virginia and this talent, Katie, put their marvelousness out there for sale for everyone to enjoy. Katie made some really cute necklaces...she is a jack of all craft trades. I LOVE them! She came in with one on the other day that I almost ripped off her neck! It was so cute. I totally want a couple of these for layering. I love the daintiness of them. I love tiny necklaces that look as if they are floating around your neck. You should get one of these quickly! I am sure they won't be there for long!!

The Energizer Bunny

I don't know when life will ever really slow down. Honestly, I don't think I will let it! I can't stand to NOT have something planned. I thought closing the store would slow my life down.....not yet!
I got everything out of there Wednesday afternoon, went to my dance lesson afterward, had dinner with Connor, came home and packed for Nashville. Got up on Thursday morning at 4:30am and left at 5:00am, drove 3 hours......by myself......followed Tim Holtz and Mario around ALL day, then hung out in this fabulous girl's room until almost midnight! Got up early this morning......totally losing track of the days. Hung out with Margie as she taught an incredible Scenic Route album. Helped Elizabeth Kartchner with her gorgeous album till 5pm......Dinner with Margie, Debbie, Tim and Mario at a cozy little table in an italian restaurant in the musty Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Sorry, I don't get it. I hate this hotel.
Heading back to Birmingham tomorrow. I have my big dance competition on Sunday. Crazy fun. I can't wait! I actually am dreading it a little. I don't want to mess up or step on Aaron's feet! (my dance partner) I am supposed to wear really heavy makeup.....not good at that. Maybe even fake eyelashes! Dude, I really need to get home early tomorrow! I need a pedicure, some fake tan lotion to cover up my tan lines on my back, and a lesson in makeup application. I have to be at the Marriott on 280 at 10:15am. It's an all day affair!
Monday can't get here fast enough!
I won't even go into what I have to do then. You have to be bored out of your mind already!
Have a great weekend!!

I love Hostess with the Mostess

I should've come up with Hostess With the Mostess. It is so fun! I love reading the blog. I love to plan parties!! I will definitely be planning more parties now that the store is closed. I think I will have these at my next party. Who wants to come?

I found these recipes here. You should check out this site. Give yourself a little time. I remember when Virginia sent me the link. I was on there for hours!!

Margarita Cupcakes
(from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tsp lime zest (1 lime)
1 cup soy milk (plain or vanilla)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp tequila
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, soy milk, oil , tequila, vanilla and sugar.
In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to lime mixture and stir until just combined. Divide evenly into muffin tins.
Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.

Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

*****

Tequila and Lime Frosting
1/4 cup butter or nonhydrogenated shortening, softened
1 tbsp soymilk
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp tequila
2+ cups confectioners’ sugar
coarse sugar for “rims”

Cream together shortening, soymilk, lime juice, tequila, and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Add in more sugar as needed to make frosting stiff, but spreadable.

Spread on cupcakes and roll the edges in a small amount of coarse, colored sugar (poured into a small bowl, so it’s easy to direct it).

*****

Happy Mother's Day

We didn't have big plans for this weekend. John Connor had his last regular season game.....we lost. It's so sad. We didn't win ONE game all season! We were so close on Saturday. We came back from 11-2 and the final score was 18-17....we just couldn't pull it out. Poor guys. A couple of them were sad, but for the most part, they were just a bunch of 7 year old boys on to the next thing!
My mom came in town for the weekend. I am so glad she came here! I would've felt bad about not going to see her. She came in for the game and afterward we went to my nephew, Carson's, game. He won. Yay! As soon as we got home, we loaded the car and headed to the lake. We hadn't been there in over a year! I forgot how much I love it there. It's so peaceful and quiet. It rained the entire time we were there. I didn't mind, I got some scrapbooking done! We took several pictures and printed them. We made magnet frames for Mother's Day gifts. I made my mom some stationary. We were productive! On Sunday we got up and had a fabulous breakfast cooked by the dad's. The boat ride ended really quickly when it started raining on us! It wasn't warm enough to be out in the rain! The kids really wanted to go and feed the fish. We usually head over to Rock Creek Marina and feed crackers to the giant carp. I think we've decided to go back for Memorial Day weekend. We may spend a lot of time up there this summer! It is so nice. Connor loves to grill out and watch the sunset! As always, there's an open invitation for anyone that wants to join us!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Home from the big Scrap ETC event. Wow. Major high from that! I can't even tell you how inspiring it is being around so many people that have one major thing in common, scrapbooking! We all become instant friends when we meet. We are all sentimental and love creating. It's so refreshing. I had so much fun with everyone in Atlanta.

My roommate and I got horrible colds or allergies. We were both snoring every night. I think we got a total of 12 hours of sleep in 3 days! Of course, we didn't try to go to sleep before 3am. We were up at 6am every morning! I can't say it was hard. It wasn't. It was so easy! I don't know if it's the organization of everyone, everyone doing what they were asked to do, or the fact that we had the perfect amount of volunteers for the amount of attendees.

I don't know how many people said this was a top-notch event. The best some had ever been to! I even had 2 people say it was in line with Creative Escape and CKU! Those are like the 2 events that everyone knows about and tries to get into! Wow. I just can't believe how perfect it was!!

We started planning another one at 7am Sunday morning. Brittney and I were driving the Metro truck home to Birmingham. I think we have the basics down and we set up a meeting with the place yesterday!! It's in the works! I can't wait to let the news out about it. It's very out of the box, but something so many people will be ready for!

I'm glad to be home. My family has really missed me. Not like, "mommy, I miss you", but things have gone undone and it's starting to reel out of control. I'm glad I can be home and get everything back under control. Thankfully, school's out in less than 3 weeks! Control will be by the pool!! That is the best babysitter for me! My kids live in the pool.

I don't know how I would have pulled off this successful event without all the people on my team. It's unreal how these girls have a passion for scrapbooking and want to be a part of something great. I'm so glad to have them all in my life and hope to be life long friends. A quick rundown of their names, they deserve that much! Lisa Tanner, Carol Snyder, Nubia Posey, Amy Nabors, Amy Steenwyk, Pat Bullard, Tina Lindsey, Gretchen McElveen, Virginia Tillery, and Brittney Smith. Thanks so much to all of you. I'm tearing up thinking about how blessed I am to have you all in my life. YOU are all incredible women! xoxo