Nine.

In case anyone had forgotten, this is what being nine looks like:

Apparently nine is the age where you start liking to go on photo shoots, too. Thanks, Gwen, my favorite nine-year-old. I had fun, too. ;)

Balance

I've spent the majority of today trying to catch up with the mundane things in life. It seems lately I've been taking my goal-part-one-word-for-the-year, FUN, a little too seriously, and have been slacking in other areas. Like laundry. And vacuuming my room. And finishing making the transfer of files between my old beloved laptop and this new to-be-named-later guy.

So today was a day to get caught up, and as I sit here now, 8:30pm, with the living room full of various friends playing Mario Party (before the ice cream social starts), I'm happy to say I was able to clean my room, wash my bedsheets, towels, and miscellaneous clothes, and even reorganize the kitchen cabinets to make more room for the glasses and less room for those twenty coffee mugs, of which only four get regularly used.

That's the kind of balance I like.

And in spite of working on all these little tasks, I was still able to throw in my fun factor: The OSF came over for a couple hours and we got lunch (In'N'Out and McDonald's - for the rad coca cola classes they're giving out with their meals!) and watched an episode of Veronica Mars. (I've got that boy hooked!) We also came up with a great plan to organize the pots and pans in the kitchen; the way they're thrown in the cabinets now makes me want to cry. Well, not really, but it makes me super irritated sometimes, so I'm stoked to see how this projects plays out. That OSF boy sure has some good ideas. I think I'll keep him around.

And now for bonus fun: Brittany's planned an ice cream social at our house for tonight. She's been going crazy lately with homemade ice cream, and tonight is her chance to share it with the world... er, our friends. Details and pictures sure to come.

The Vista Strikes Back

Cue Darth Vader music.

Because when I think of my new HP with Vista, Vader comes to mind.

Here's why:

Vista, much like young Anakin Skywalker, starts out all cute and adorable. You just want to pinch his/its cheeks and hang out with him/it all day long. He's/It's freaking smart and seems to be a real asset to the team, right? And somewhere Yoda's going, "I dont know, guys... I don't think the force/operating system is so good with this one...." And you say, "What are you talking about, Yoda? He's/It's amazing! We can kick some Dark Side/Photoshop behind with him/it on on our side!" And we ignore Yoda's warning. And we invite Anakin/Vista into our homes.

And we spend a week sharing All. Our. Most. Important. Information. With. Him/It.

Pictures. Music. Documents. All placed in my own perfection-minded folder organization system.

And then Anakin/Vsita goes, "Sucker! I'm Vader! I can't believe you trusted me! They warned you and everything!"

And then he/it reverts back to Vista standard and erases all my shortcuts, preferences, and set up choices every time I turn my computer off or restart. And hides all my files.

You jerk, Vader/Vista.

The Tony's! Woot!

Finally, finally, after two years of wanting to and missing it, Ryan and I found out when the Tony's were airing, set it on our calendars, set it on the DVR, and made a night of watching the Broadway theater awards.

We got pizza and everything, to make the night special. Because we're cool like that.

You know what else is cool? Neil Patrick Harris. Cooler? Neil Patrick Harris hosting the Tony Awards. Even people who aren't into theater should watch, just for a little unscripted NPH.

Everyone needs a little unscripted NPH in their lives. I feel.

Now, sshhhhh. The revival of West Side Story is doing their piece. And when you're a jet, you're a jet all the way. (Dramatic snaps here.)

The mother of all picture of the day updates

So, in my creativity frenzy today, I managed to complete one of my previous projects (for now), and start a new one that I was so excited about last night. It'll take me awhile to finish the new project (which involves creating templates in shades of pink and soft yellow for a very specific Blurb gift book), but I've decided to focus on just one project at a time and see if that helps me actually get some stuff done. And then I won't be up until 3 in the morning and then back up at 7am thinking about my unfinished business. Hopefully. Cuz I'm freaking tired. But that might also have to do with the three bowls of soup, four breadsticks, and side salad I had at Olive Garden earlier.

I freaking love the all you can eat soup and salad meal. Like, an unhealthy amount. As you can probably see by the amount I ate.

Whatev. I'll go running tomorrow or something.

Anyway, the project I finished was getting up to date with my picture of the day, which I'd been slacking on since mid-May. (That one I blame Sonia, Paul, their wedding, and the two weeks of being sick after before and after said wedding.)

So without further adieu:

Jenafer cuts my hair and we both pose for a picture.

Jeremy and I go to AGO Banquet.

My first roomie Sonia has a spectacular bachelorette party...

... and gets hosed down with silly string the next day. Because that's something she'd totally do to us.

The OSF takes it upon himself to teach me how to make things in the kitchen. First lesson: crepes.

(Then there is a brief period of weddings and not being sick where I actually posted things as they happened. And then we pick up at...)

Disneyland with the OSF. Let's just say he decided it was a good time to get an annual pass.

"An investment" is what he called it.

There were also fireworks. And some of them were in the sky.

Artsy pic of Ryan, cuz that's how us TGO's roll!

Brunch with Brittany, Ryan, Jarred, and Johannah at the Tractor Room. We split a meal of pancakes, bacon, and the runniest overeasy eggs we'd ever seen. Then back to the girls' apartment to crash on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

A free Tuesday night show on a boat in San Diego Bay. Carolina Liar, a favorite of Ryan's, was there to serenade us, but the crowd really went crazy when this naval boat passed by and honked. (Or whatever it is that boats do.)

My second time being in Creating Keepsakes... the July 2009 issue.

Flowers from two amazing boys in the same day! Beautiful gerber daisies from the OSF as he leaves for a boys' weekend, and yellow roses from Ryan, who took it upon himself to hand them out to all the girls in his life that day. So cute, and so pretty on our dining room table.

Andy's pre-flight margarita at our 'let's play hooky and go out to lunch' lunch with Ryan and new friend Sarah. They put in a little extra of the "stuff" when they found out he was flying in an hour. Great service at the Point Loma Olive Garden.

And finally we wrap up with today's baby model, Lucy Goosey, who is just too impossibly cute for words!

Thanks for listening, everybody! Be sure to check the old Glee premiere post for an update complete with the pictures.

That elusive thing called creativity

Well, fellow bloggers and loyal readers. Here we are. 7am. On a Saturday.

I know, right? What the heck?

I'm not entirely sure what we're doing here either, and yet here we are. I think I'm going to blame it on the sudden surge of creativity I got last night around 2:30am. Somewhere between returning from Ryan's house after a night of Wii Mario Party and feeling very, very sleepy and finishing up the last half of the July issue of Creating Keepsakes (which I have a layout in, if anyone cares and wants to go buy a copy from their local Michael's, FYI). Anyway, as I lay the magazine down and turned to cuddle under my warm down blankets, I was struck with this overwhelming need to Create Something. And then a gazillion desirable projects ran through my head, until my heart was pounding and all I wanted to do was jump out of bed and power up my new laptop (which still needs a name, by the way; any suggestions are welcome) and get to work on all these unfinished, unattempted, things.

I did not do this of course, because it was freaking 2:30 in the morning after all. Nope, I waited it out an entire four and a half hours. Until seven. On Saturday morning. Oh, sleep. I'm sure I'll be meeting you later this afternoon.

So the question is What to work on? Unfinished business, like my novel, blog book, scrapbooks (both paper and digital), picture of the days? Or surge into something new, like a baby shower gift for Justin and Jenafer, or another special Gwen book for her upcoming ninth birthday? There are so many possibilities. And yet I don't have time to do it all.

Whew. 7:24. I guess I better get started on what I can.

OSF's

Terrible blogger alert! Yes, I know once again I'm way behind on updating this thing. But take heart! I plan to spend a good part of tomorrow evening sorting through pictures and uploading them here with the appropriate stories.

For now, I've quick thrown together my picture of the day for today, which just so happens to include that OSF boy (who may or may not be responsible for keeping me so busy lately that I don't have time for my computer anymore).

See you all tomorrow with more updates!