The MBR Project

Before we moved our furniture in the room (September). I forgot to take a photo with the furniture! This is the Bedroom view from the Sitting Room.


Sitting Room Before


BR and Sitting Room After


With Flash


This one's Without Flash


Nightstand. You can't see the phone clearly, but it's really pretty. I got it last year when I did the Library in the other house. But, it goes with this furniture more so it'll stay here.


The Bedding


I still need some things, like, curtains (on my next trip to India), The Perfect Paintings (as I find them), a Full Length Mirror (already selected it at Bed Bath and Beyond, just have to get it). Also, my Angel of Love will go in this room. So, majority of work in this room is done. I will keep decorating it little by little :) Oh, almost forgot! I will replace that ugly chair (or, DH's favorite rocker) in the Sitting room with a beautiful Chaise once I find it. No need to hurry, though :)

And now, to think of the next project. It will be a smaller room (i.e. not Family Room or Living or Dining). Hmmm.

Merry Christmas (Belated)

So, did you have a good Christmas Weekend? Mine was really nice. As I mentioned in my last post, we had a Parent Teacher Conference on Friday. Got some not so good news along with the good news. I will post it separately, but it involves Mehul's teacher mentioning that he might have to work with a Speech Therapist in a couple of months.

We spent Friday evening finishing up the paint (or so we thought!) Had to do a third coat on 2 of the walls as some streaks were visible. This project has been stretched longer that it should have. We underestimated the amount of supplies needed, having never painted a room this size (technically, it's 2 rooms) ! It took 4 gallons of paint, 3 rolls of tape, and a lot of hours! The result is absolutely beautiful! Pictures coming in the next post.

We decided to go out for the Christmas Party! LOL. I guess everyone needs a break. It worked out for the best. We all hung out around our house from afternoon. Had tea and snacks. Later in the evening, we had Champagne. My very first glass of Champagne! And, I liked it. But it gave me a slight headache by the end of evening. Thank goodness it wasn't too bad. No, I wasn't drunk or anything! LOL. Went to a new to us Thai restaurant.

Sunday and Monday - Took it easy. Mehul opened his gifts Monday Morning. He got to add more trains to the existing collection, and a Play Dough center. Girish and I don't exchange gifts on Christmas. We weren't as busy as I had predicted, mainly because we didn't host, and we also decided not to go to the Sunday party. Figure, we'll call them home rather than sit at a party where we don't know anyone else!

I have managed to do a total of 23, yes, that's Twenty Three(!) Layouts for the Birthday Album. Now, I don't want to post each and every one here on the blog or it might crash some unsuspecting person's browser. I'll think of a way. BTW, there are a total of 50 photos. I was originally thinking of just doing 30 LOs because the scrapbooks generally come with 15 pages (double side). But they might not be enough, so I don't have a set number in mind. I'll see how many more are needed. I have to scan the rest of the photos. I've scrapped all but 1 that was already scanned.

Oh, I almost forgot about the dessert incident on Saturday. I had ordered a Lemon Sorbet for dessert. What I got was an lemon colored very frozen thingy resembling a lemon, with some whipped cream on the side. I tried to slice it with the spoon, didn't work. Girish tried the fork. Nope. We started joking that it is just a frozen lemon. N said that you're only supposed to have the whipped cream and call it a day. OMG. Girish and N just kept cracking jokes as I tried to break it somehow. There was some sorbet on it too, in a ring around the neck. N's wife was a little tipsy and kept laughing throughout. She asked her 5 yr old to bite into it. She did, and then whispered in her mom's ear - Mom, I don't think we're supposed to eat it. LOL! Mystery was solved when we asked the waitress how to eat this, she removed the sorbet from the neck and popped the lemon open. Gosh. Why do they need to hide it like treasure?? LOL.

Birthday Layouts so far..

Here they are, somewhat in order.
DH, Me, MIL, FIL, and Mehul around the cake table. Notice the cake is missing! It arrived after us. Phew!

Here it is! *My* favorite Tweetie :)
Birthday Boy
With Us

With my parents - his Nanu and Nani
With my elder Sister Anshu and BIL Rishi
With my SIL Shalu and BIL Anurag
With my little sister Cheena

That's all I have done so far. I will add more LOs to this post and keep a link in my sidebar for easy access (because I would be looking at these again and again LOL). And now, you're up to speed with most of my side of the family, and DH's family. My brother is missing from these, and so is my niece Arushi -- Anshu's daughter. They are coming soon. As you can tell, Mehul was passed around a lot! LOL. Everyone wanted a picture with him. Thank goodness he cooperated pretty well! Many of the extended family members were seeing him for the very first time.

Consolidated Credits:
Following are by ztampf:
Artia Papers, Floral Dance Kit (Papers and Elements), Syrin Seamstress Kit (stitching, buttons), Silky Blooms Accessory Pack, and BeLaced Accent Pack.

Also used:
Michelle Coleman's Brushstrokes Brushes
Nancie Rowe Jaintz ATC Frames

Overbooking our weekends

That's what we do a lot. And we shouldn't. Take this weekend, for example. Saturday night, we are either going to the Christmas Party at a friends place, or hosting it. We'll finalize that with them soon. If we do host it, there goes my relaxation plan for Friday. I have taken Friday off after a long time. There is a parent-teacher Conference at the daycare on Friday, too. Yes, they do this. And I want to formally talk about his progress, not just 5 minutes here or there while picking him up. So far, Friday morning and Saturday night are busy. If we host, all the time inbetween goes in cooking and cleaning.

Sunday, DH's colleague is having a Birthday party for his son. Do we really have to go? We have been thinking of calling them to our place as Girish and the guy have become good friends. G thinks we should go. I dunno. If we go, there goes Sunday afternoon. Morning and evening we'll be placing calls back home, which I don't mind at all! But I have to spend 4 hours on the phone (4 families). Thank goodness for speaker phones.

Now comes Monday, which happens to be off because it's Christmas. So far, I haven't had my 'Relaxation' time. See. There is laundry to do (Sidebar: I have to remember to take my gym bag home today), dishes (including china from the party), cleaning, etc. I also need to cook for the week ahead. Ah, did we do groceries yet? Nope. So, go out Monday afternoon for that, and then cook.

4 days off and no time to relax. Monday night I will be wondering where did all the time go! This is us, with none of the extracurricular activities started yet for Mehul. Wonder what will happen when we have to fit those in.

I know this time of year is busy for everyone, and we do want to do something for Christmas. I like making plans with friends, and the cooking, but not the cleanup so much. Wish I had a maid like my sister does.

Somewhere in between, I'll be squeezing in Stitching, 1st birthday scrapbook LOs, and CT LOs. Also, a trip to the Mall is in order because I'm out of my shampoo, and it's only sold at the saloon.

We still haven't finished the paint in the MBR. Other things keep getting in the way. I really wish to finish it tonight. So we can cleanup and decorate tomorrow night. Then, it will be Picture Time.

Birthday Scrapbook

Some of you might know that we celebrated Mehul's First Birthday back in India. It was done in a semi-big way. That's the way 1st birthdays are done there, generally. All cousins, etc. were invited, and there was a DJ (Dance Jockey) with a dance floor. It was fun! We also had a photographer and videographer to tape the function. It's much cheaper than here, so most people are able to do this. Plus, we generally do a get-together to meet everyone anyway, because we go back every 2 years.

I kept looking at the photos and thinking of cool ways to scrap them. Hadn't come up with a plan.

Until Monday night. I started with one photo of my sister and BIL with Mehul. Her Sari color inspired me to look in my Ztampf folder. Lots of common colors there, and the rich papers are going to be perfect for this scrapbook. I've done 5(!) Layouts since then. Unfortunately, I don't have them with me rightnow.

Last night, we went to Kohl's to pick up a train set for Mehul. And came back with that, new comforter set for our MBR, decorative pillows, yummy embroidered sheets, some pants for Mehul, and 2 hand towels for the Powder room. LOL! Don't ask!

Weekend Layouts

Sunshine and Flowers

Credits:
Diamante Designs kit 'Let Yourself Shine' available at TDS here
Diamante Designs Paper Petals available at TDS.
Jason Gaylor brushes
Gina Miller's Fun with Fibers pack

Mehul Boy

Credits:
Brown Paper from Perfect Time of Day by Meredith Fenwick
Aqua paper, Note paper, Glittery Florish from Holiday Punch by Meredith Fenwick
String Knot from her Strung Out Pack
M alpha from Firelight by Meredith Fenwick
Tape Arrow from Shakespeare's Canvas kit by Marcie Reckinger at ACOT

I made the BOY alpha. So proud. I used one of Meredith Fenwick's paper, typed in using Stencil font, cut it out, and applied Bevel setting. Looks cool.

Quick post

I have a meeting in 5 minutes. Just a few quick things -

The party at work went well. Mehul was really cooperative (except when he was caught mid-picking_his_nose while I was introducing him to someone. LOL.)

Painting is well underway. My arms are very sore. Still need to do the last coat in MBR.

Erin, I got your gift!! How very sweet. The Elmo book was a hit!

Did 2 Layouts and the December ATC's this weekend. Will share the LOs a little later!

Christmas Party tonight

At work. My coworkers that I associate with are coming alone or with kids, no hubbies, so DH is not coming either. The party is AT office, after work. I don't really feel like going, but will go for an hour or so. I'm going to get Mehul from the daycare, and change his dress here. I hope he isn't cranky. Coming straight from the daycare, you just never know!

I haven't scrapped or stitched in days. It doesn't feel right LOL. There's a lot going on at work and at home. I'm getting home later than usual, and then there's a lot of stuff to do at home. We're cleaning out the garage and putting stuff in the basement.

We haven't started painting the MBR, but we're almost finished taping it. Yesterday was Grey's Anatomy night, so I had to watch. This is the one show I LOVE so I don't mind the re-runs. I have also started watching Ugly Betty. I like that they aren't showing Betty secretly in love with her boss (what's his name?) It's refreshing. I missed some of the episodes of UB, so I'm catching up.

Instead of rambling some more, I'll show you a Layout. LOL! The background paper is so rich, I didn't feel like adding much to the LO and let it stand out.

23

Credits:
Background paper: Lie Fhung Artia Kit
Alpha: NRJ Sloppy Alpha
Buttons: Lie Fhung Syrin Seamstress Kit
Golden Ribbon: Lie Fhung Cloud 9 (I'm pretty sure)
Brown Trim: MCO Tutti Frutti
Ivory Edge: MCO Decorative Edges
Stamp behind the photo: NRJ Artist Trading Cards

Not a total bust,

but could have been. Mehul's show, that is. It started out great. I reached the daycare 30 minutes before the show was supposed to start. There was no parking available at the daycare. Many parents were already there, which was a surprise since it was a working day. Anyhow, I had to park on the street. When I reached inside, there was a line to get inside the hall where the show was to take place. It is actually the little one's gym and they usually have mats, etc. there. They had made a stage and decorated in a winter theme. Yesterday, only Gard 2 was going to perform. They have 4 sections within Gard 2 and each section was going to do an individual performance, and then later, a group song (Macarana remix) with all the kids together.

Mehul was in the second section. When the first section kids arrived, they were all happy and unaware of the fact that their parents were sitting there. Once they reached the stage, some kids froze, others saw their parents in the audience and started crying. Quite understandable. Some kids remembered to dance.

Same with the second section. Mehul and another girl were the only ones dancing among their group! Sooo cute. That video came out great. At the end of this performance, when the audience started clapping, Mehul got very excited and jumped up and down while clapping above his head. Just adorable. He was about to fall but Ms. S. caught him in time.

While going back to the makeup room, he came to us and started crying. Just wouldn't leave DH. So, I picked him up and took him back to the room. I helped him out of his costume and put the other one on. He was crying because the other kids in the room were crying. I was able to distract him with something for a while. He was fine after I left. Until the big finale.

He cried the entire time during Macarana. He was in the back and was scared of all the noise and so many kids on the stage. I wanted to get him out of there. I'm so glad I got the video of the practice day, without anyone screaming and crying. Really glad. Anyhow, it still wasn't as bad as it could have been. Atleast, he enjoyed the first song. I guess this is how it usually is with little ones. You just never know.

We started painting last night. Did one coat in the sitting room, and started taping the MBR. Tonight, we'll finish taping and hopefully, get one coat in MBR. Taping the ceiling is turning out to be a challenge. In the Townhouse, our ceilings were probably 8' so DH was able to tape them by standing on the bench we have. Here it's 9' everywhere, and inside the Tray ceiling, it's 10'. We can't avoid getting a staircase any longer.

Cool things Meme

As seen on Melissa's and Karin's blogs. Post in your blog, bold the things you've done. As you can tell, I'm very low on the cool kid scale. LOL!

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink.
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain? Many times to visit a Shrine at the top of the mountain.
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it love
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris - Not really, but I've been at Paris airport. I'm sure that doesn't count.
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game.
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon.
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity - Not to charity, but to homeless people on the street.
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo – Does Henna count? If so, then countless times 
81. Rafted the Snake River – The closest I’ve come to rafting is at Disney
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over – Sorta. Left my home country to come to US.
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari – Again, if Disney counts, then, Yes. :p
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery - C-section is pretty major.
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating – Never. I wouldn’t even kill a frog for dissection at college for coursework. Had the lab tech do it.
137. Skipped all your school reunions – They’re held back home.
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language – Funny story, this woman at the bus stop thought I was Hispanic, as I maybe look like one. She spoke to me in Spanish, but I was able to direct her to the right stop.
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts – Sorta.
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair – Got them highlighted
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head – I was very small, and it’s a Hindu ritual.
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life


And a LO.

Friends

This is a photo of my friend Sene and me in front of a neighbour's house. I'm on the left.


Credits:
Miki Ferkul's Velvet Vision kit at Scrapbook Elements
Atomic Cupcake Wild Tear action

Paint, paint, paint...

Paint: Check
Tape: Check
Rollers: Check
Tarp: Nope

As you can probably tell, we are getting ready for painting. First paint job in this house. Wish us luck. The first time we painted at the other house, we managed to spill some paint on the carpet. We have this huge canvas that we use to cover the carpet while painting, but some paint has always managed to get through. We have to get a plastic tarp to put underneath it.

We have a Tray ceiling in the room, that's turning out to be a challenge. If you're not familiar with what this is, it looks like an inverted tray. The center part is recessed and there is crown molding on the edges. There are 4 recessed lights in that portion too. We want to do some decorative treatment in the center portion. That's still not final, so we'll start with painting the walls.

The nightstands have been ordered (1 for MBR, another for Guest BR). I also got some table lamps and other things. Can't wait to get started!

Some of our friends think it's weird that we paint the house ourselves. LOL! They'd rather live with white walls than paint themselves. We're the opposite as we can't stand white walls. It helps that DH is completely onboard with me on this. Even though I have painted rooms by myself before, but it's more fun when he's right there with me, painting. Mehul will most definitely pick up the rollers too, but we'll make sure he doesn't come near paint!

I just can't think beyond this rightnow. But, I do want to mention that I managed to sneak out of office early yesterday and taped Mehul's practice session. They all look *so* cute. The show is tomorrow at 3:00 and I've already asked the boss for leaving early.

Weekend Plans

Tomorrow morning some friends are dropping by to look at the available plots in our community. They can't get over the fact that how big the house is, specially the kitchen/Family Room area. They have only been looking for 1 month and after seeing our house, they are practically ready to move in. LOL!

We are going to get some furniture this weekend. We bought most of our furniture when we moved to our first house. Everything is still pretty new, and we got nice things that would last a while. We have to get some barstools and a nightstand.

This is our Master Bedroom collection. The photo is from the store's website, not our room. It shows all the things we got - Queen Bed, NightStand, Dresser & Mirror, TV Armoire.



However, we only got 1 nightstand because that's all that would fit in the MBR at the time. Now, we have a bigger MBR and a sitting room attached to it. We've moved the Armoire into the sitting room. So, we're getting the other nightstand. Now, the problem is what to do to Mehul's crib? He sleeps in the crib by my side and hops over early morning for snuggles. I don't want that to stop! I think we'll get the nightstand and assemble and put it someplace else. I am afraid of waiting too long and then not having it available anymore.

BTW, the paint color I've chosen for the MBR is pretty similar to this one. Maybe a touch darker. I didn't realize it, but I was probably going by this picture I had seen more than 2 years ago when we first researched for the furniture! Ack! I really like the color, though. We had done it in the Library in the Townhouse. I do have pictures of the library somewhere. Let me see if I can find it. I had prepared a flyer (with many photos) for the ad for sale/renting of the townhouse. DH and I feel we got a great response for our townhouse, because the ad was really good LOL. People really want to look at photos before they go to see the house.

Yay. Found it. The paint is called Woven Mystery. Pretty sure it's American Tradition paint. Doesn't that Library look great? For the record, I painted the entire room with very little help from DH. I did it over the last winter when I was staying home. Little did I know we'd be leaving that place so soon. *sob*


The new house looks very bare, which is why I'm not sharing many photos. I have to personalize it. Paint, Decorate, and Accessorise. It will take time before this house feels like 'Home'. It took us about 1.5 years to decorate the other house. I really enjoy the process of planning and researching it. So, I'm not in any hurry :-)

Last night's Layout. I can't believe I hadn't scrapped this photo. I have many beautiful photos from this particular day. My most favorite one is this.

Gorgeous

All papers by Meredith Fenwick's Everyday Inspiration collection.
Frame by NRJ.
Stitching also by Meredith Fenwick.

His First Show..

Mehul is participating in his first show ever! Actually, everyone in the class is. They are preparing for the Winter Show. It will be held on December 13th at the daycare. And, guess what all the 2 year olds are doing? Hey Macarana! Can you imagine how fun it will be. The other night M was doing some 'steps'. He was waving his hands and marching in place. We thought he was just marching (he does marching while saying 'March, March') This looked different, but we assumed it was a new kind of marching LOL. Little did we know this is the dance routine.
The teacher told me yesterday about this, and said that he *loves* it, and does it pretty well with the music. He may not do it on the show itself, specially if he sees us, so I'm thinking of dropping in with the camera during their practice time.

I have been stitching a lot lately, and when that happens, scrapping takes a back seat for a few days. I did manage to do finish this layout yesterday featuring our new Christmas Tree! Mehul loves it, and calls the Tree 'Kisses Tree'.

Christmas 2006

Credits:
All papers from Diamante Designs Christmas Magic at The Digi Shoppe
Holiday Trim Freebie from Corina
Used Christine Nash's Templates to cut out the star shapes

On a lighter note,

If you are asked what you want for your Birthday, what do you suggest they give you? Dresses? Jewelery? Books or CDs? Cash, maybe. I get cash. For buying stash. That is what makes me happy. It used to be cross-stitching stash, but now it is digi-scrapping supplies. I am not increasing the amount of stitching stuff I have, mainly because I had doubts over my 2 year hiatus if I'd even get back to stitching or should I just sell everything I own and have someone finish my WIPs. Yes, I thought about it, but I wasn't sure if I was at that point yet. So, I am doing the wise thing and not spending more on that hobby. Atleast not until I can be sure. I am enjoying stitching for now, but since I was at that point very recently, I have decided to not buy things I wouldn't immediately use.

So, the scrapping supplies you saw in the post a couple of days ago were mostly (if not all) from Birthday money. And there is a lot more. Can you handle another such post? :grin

A Cherry On Top

Meredith Fenwick

And, from her December Newsletter:

ScrapBook Graphics

Ztampf

ScrapArtist

Got this for free over Thanksgiving weekend.


I know it looks bad. Like I've spent a couple of hundred on this. But, I want to assure you that this is all under a hundred. Way under. I have bought most of the stuff on sale, and some of it is actually free.

It is *so* good, you have to watch it!

That is what I was told repeatedly by friends. To watch Lage Raho Munna Bhai.

This isn't going to make much sense to those who aren't Hindi movie watchers, but I have a lot to vent, to say the least. So, on Thursday, DH rented and brought home the DVD of "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" (LRMB). It is the second in the sequel "Munna Bhai M.B.B.S." (MBMBBS). Both are comedies with a good message. I thought I had seen this movie, but when I started watching the second one, I realized I never completed watching the first one! And here's why. I can not stand the main actor, Sanjay Dutt. Now, it's not just that I don't like the way he looks or talks, I have been able to watch movies with actors I don't like. This is way more than that. This is hatred. Yes, I know it's a strong word. But believe me, when I see this man, I see a terrorist in him. Yes. He is a terrorist, and has finally been convicted of being an "Accomplice" of Terrorists in the 1993 bomb blasts in Bombay, a series of 15 bombs, which killed about 300 people. That is what I see in the man. (Sidebar: You can do a search on the topic and find many links. I just don't feel like doing it because it would spoil my whole day.) That is why I could never watch the first movie, and the second too. DH watched it and found the movie was okay. I so wish he wasn't in the movie because I really wanted to watch it.

The icing on the cake is that in the second movie LRMB, the message is that of Patriotism and Non-violance. I'm sorry, what? Another topping on the cake, both the movies were Bollywood Blockbusters. The Indian public, while whining about a high profile actor/terrorist running lose while innocents are put in jail, kept watching the movies and putting money in the producers pockets who employ such people. I can't stand this sort of double standard. DH says it's because the Indians have accepted the way things are, and that nothing will change from their whining. I refuse to believe that. I believe the change will come but we first have to do our part. Stop watching that movie. Stop supporting these people who think they can buy their way out of anything. Wanna bet he'll get out of any jail time at all?

And this is where I feel like venting about Salman Khan. Another Bollywood actor who killed 4 homeless people sleeping on the roadside, while driving drunk at night. And got out with a slap on the wrist. I think I'll save that for another day.

Please, I don't want anyone to think that Bollywood Industry if full of such instances, it's not! It's just the one or two bad apples that spoil everything. For me, anyway.

Back to your regular blog-hopping. Hope you have a nice day.

Tired

Party is in 4 hours. I want to take a nap. That's saying a lot since I'm not a nap person. I don't nap, I sleep.
Everything is done, except the last minute things like making the rice pulao, placing snacks in the oven to reheat, adding dressing to the salads, heating naan, etc. I have made 2 salads, Burnt Corn Salad, and Potato Chickpeas Salad. Latter would be served along with snacks for a healthy alternative.

Oh, and a lot of cleaning is left. DH has gone out to get my Taco Bell fix so that I can get going again. LOL. He had cleaned the upstairs this morning, now we'll do the downstairs after lunch.

I did one LO yesterday. I had asked Carrie on the stitching BB for using the awesome Seahorse picture she had shown us, for a LO. I really love looking at this picture. Just had to scrap it. She was so sweet to give me permission to use it :) Thanks, Carrie.


Credits:
Photograph: Carrie
Background paper: Michelle Coleman's Chelsey's Dream
Striped paper: Michelle Coleman's Savoir Faire
Red paper: Buddhini's Elegance
Stamp behind red paper: Jason Gaylor's freebie
Swirly Metallic stamp: Vicki Stegall
Stitching: Gina Miller
Torn edges: Ztampf Ultimate Torn Pack
Paper used for torn strip: Michelle Coleman

Oooh Look, Another Stitching Related Post..

They are so few and far inbetween. Here is the promised picture of the Angel of Love WIP. The first picture is from 2 years ago, which I'm only including for comparison purposes. So that you can see I *am* actually stitching. LOL. The 3rd picture is the truest in terms of colors.

As of December 4th, 2004

This picture is on webshots and it doesn't let me download the bigger one as JPG. Link takes you there.

As of November 19th, 2006

As of November 25th, 2006

Thanks Erin and Sene for the sweet comments. The journaling makes me cry too, everytime I read it :)

Many thoughts

This isn't going to be a coherent entry :) (Like it is ever. Huh)

First off, Thanks for the comments on the new look. I can't take credit for the new title "Expression Alley" though. While watching TV and creating the new header, I started thinking along the lines of "Expressing". This blog is all about expressing, afterall. Expressing in written form, or in art in the way of scrapping or stitching.

First thought was "Express Lane". Created the header and asked DH what he thinks. He said "Huh? This doesn't make any sense and makes me think of Grocery Store Express Checkout Lane." LOL! I said that this is where I express my thoughts, so it is *my* Express Lane. He said it still makes him think of the checkout lanes. Dumped it. Next thing he said was "Expression Alley". Bingo. My first thought was it's something out of Harry Potter. Diagon Alley, Expression Alley. Love it. I LOVE Harry Potter. So, that was it. The design was all mine. At first, I had Mehul and my picture in there too, but after rearranging things around, I liked this version best :)

Calendars. Again, I can't take credit for those either. They are quick pages by Ztampf. LOVE them. All I had to do was slide the photos in, and add the text. I had received a coupon from DigiShopTalk on my Birthday for 50% off Ztampf products, plus, they had a sale going on so the calendars were already marked down. I got them for about $2.00 I think. I ordered a bunch of stuff.

I am really happy how quickly I got done with the calendars. I'd been thinking about doing some sort of calendars for some time, and then I saw Erin's. WOW! (Sidenote: I am excited about her calendars. Can't wait to hear about the reaction they receive.) I wanted to do them, but was concerned about the shipping to India (which is where they're going). I wanted them to be ready to use, and didn't want to spend a whole lot ;) They are basically 4x6 photo size, front is the calendar and the back is the photo card, and they are laminated together. They came out to be $2.50 each! I got 15 done. Now, that's cheap!

One word of advice about Laminating at Staples. They charge separately for cutting the laminated sheets. We had used the big size sheets and inserted 5 calendars per sheet. They charge $2.00 for each piece they cut out! This does not include the cost of laminating. They hadn't told us this before, so we got a discount and got charged for 10 cuts instead of 15. We have a paper cutter and may even have cut it ourself if we had known. But, it's still cheap I think.

Holiday Cards. Got them out of the way too for the most part. I'm waiting on some addresses. My sister has just moved one month back, and my SIL too has recently moved. Got the rest sent already. I can't wait for their reactions. ATC cards are mailed out too. Now, I can rest easy.

Concluding thought. There is a party at our place this Saturday. Some of our friends couldn't attend the last one, so this one's for them! About 15 people excluding us. Menu has changed a little bit from the last time, but most main dishes have stayed the same. I'm trying to cut down the # of dishes that require cooking the day of. LOL. That wasn't fun!

Can I write an entry without a LO to show? Nope. Here it is.

Wishes Do Come True

Credits:
Just about everything from Lisa Whitney's ScrapArtist Apprentice kit "A Beautiful Mess". I got it for $2.00 (How come everything in this entry is $2.00?? That's mind boggling.) while the contest was going on.
Also used Steph Krush's Paper Tear.
I used Gina Miller's Fun with Fibers Pack 1 to create the twisty tie. Can you guess how much they're for?? LOL!

Recap

Let's do it in Fast Forward.

Thursday

Start cooking Thanksgiving Lunch/Dinner early morning before breakfast. Done in 1.5 hours. Breakfast, cleaning, etc. until the guests arrived. Grey's Anatomy after they leave. I'm supremely pissed at ABC for showing only a couple of minutes extra of GA. In the Ad, they said "A thanksgiving episode so big, we couldn't fit it in 1 hour!" So, instead of doing a 2 hour episode (which I assumed), they tack on a couple of minutes. Arghh. But, it was a darn good episode, so I guess I'll keep watching :p

Friday

Sleep in a little and then get ready for shopping. We didn't really need any electronics so we missed the craziness at Best Buy, etc. We went to Lowes instead. No breakfast, we decided to do brunch a little later. We had to get the Christmas Tree. No sales on the trees, and to add insult to injury, the tree we selected was out of stock already. Had been for 2 weeks, and no more were ordered. They checked the other store in the area and told us there was one available in the store 10 miles away. Off we went. We did get it, thankfully! Brunch at IHOP. Yum. Back home to relax, stitch and scrap. To the mall in the afternoon to get Mehul's hair cut.

Saturday

Regular Saturday stuff, phone calls back home, laundry, etc. I bought some calendar templates from ztampf which will follow this post. Trip to Costco to drop off the calendars to print. Put up the Christmas Tree and hang the ornaments. Dinner was a N's house.

Sunday

Got the calendars laminated at Staples. These are going to the family members with the New Year cards! I got the front and back printed separately, and snuck a little tape to keep them together while laminating. They came out gorgeous. I don't have a picture of the finished product, but I do have the photos before printing.

2007 Calendars