Miss Daisy visits PetsMart

I decided to brave PetsMart with a puppy. 

I've never taken a dog to PetsMart. 

How would I manage a puppy, a shopping cart and any items I purchased. 

How "squirmy" would a puppy be around all those other dog smells? 

What if Daisy was confronted by an unruly bull mastiff?

How mortified would I be if she released her pea-sized bladder?

Turns out taking a dog to PetsMart is a piece of cake!

OWH S&S Sketch #109

Here's my interpretation of Operation Write Home's Sunday Sketch Challenge #109.

Flower stamp from Stampabilities (colored with Faber-Castell Aquarelle pencils by me!)

Sentiment stamp from Hero Arts set 184

Background words by a stamp I'm sure every card maker in the universe owns.

Puzzle complete

Finished size: 26.75" x 19.75

Hours of fun: approximately 14

Thanks, Mom, for all your help!

It's a puzzle

On a cloudy, rain-threatening day at the Gorilla, there's nothing like a good 1000 piece puzzle to tackle!

Beauty in everything

Even in the midst of winter, I think the bare trees are beautiful. They seem to be raising their branches in praise and thanksgiving. Add a little snow and I'm even more in awe.

Convertible one

Cream colored, convertible one!  This has to be worth double points!

I took this photo at a stop light while on the way to the funeral home on the day of my grandmother's burial. I needed a brief distraction of the impending events and it here it was (safety was not compromised as I was at a stop light!).

S&S Sketch #108

This weeks Stars & Stamps sketch:

My interpretation:

Patterned Paper: MME "Stella & Rose"

Stamp: Stampabilities

A Bad Idea

Good thing it was free!  I was expecting the brownie it to be a little spicy.

Guess I should have read the disclaimer before I took a great big bite!

OWH VCMP Challenge #1

Operation Write home is hosting a Virtual Card Making Party that started today! Challenge #1 was "Hot Tropics" -- a color challenge to use pink, green and yellow.  This was super simple, super quick and gave me an excellent excuse to use this paper that I've had for about 2 years.

Next Rest Area, 197 miles

I always find it odd to see seagulls so far from the beach. Are they migrating south from a beach further north? If so, on which beach will they end their journey? The mysteries of nature...

S&S Sketch #107

Two sketch challenges in one afternoon? I'm out of control!  Actually, these scrap pieces of paper were almost exactly the size of this week's S&S sketch. Here's my interpretation:

Now it's off to a Super Bowl party with friends.  I hope everyone has a good week ahead!

*Oops, failed to mention the stamp is from a Stampabilities acrylic set that has a bunch of great words with definitions. 

Stars & Stamps Sketch #106

It's been a while since I've tackled a Stars & Stamps Sunday sketch.  This is actually last week's challenge.  Even though I've missed the window to post it to the S&S blog, I thought I'd post it to mine anyway.

Stamp from Stampers Annonymous

Patterned Papers: "Lille" from 7 Gypsies and "Stella & Rose" from MME

Two Saints, a John and Paula Deen

My husband and I, along with friends, boarded a cruise ship in Miami.  It was a cruise with "Paula Deen" and most of her family members.

It didn't take me long to jump into relaxation mode! This photo was taken while we were still in the Miami port.

After a couple of days at sea, we woke up in the beautiful port of San Juan. After that, it was on to St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

In San Juan, we found this very friendly dining establishment known for their Sangrias and this yummy tapas platter. Best chickpeas I've ever tasted (in the center, served with steak)!

In St. Thomas we were told the best margaritas and hamburgers were at a new establishment called "The Dawg House." The food was cooked out back and when it was ready, the cook would whistle like he was calling a dog to let the waitress know an order was up. It would never pass the health inspector where I live, but it was a pretty good burger. Just overlook the fact that they don't clean the fish tank often.

Over the span of the cruise, we "Rumba cruised" with Bobby Deen,

Saw beautiful sunsets,

Got plenty of up close and personal time with Paula Deen,

And of course had fruity drinks with cute umbrellas!

Then came home to lots of dirty laundry,

A head cold,

A slight scare with my mom that required an ER visit.
(thankfully turned out to only be vertigo)

And a closet in need of some much needed spring, summer, winter & fall cleaning!

Oh to be back on the "veranda" of that boat again...

Thanks for catching up with me!

Just one?

Two weeks ago I was in Miami with my husband and friends before boarding Celebrity Cruises's ship, "Eclipse" for a Eastern Caribbean cruise with Paula Deen.  We had dinner at Joe's Stone Crab. Since I don't eat seafood, I couldn't resist the filet with a merlot sauce and "homemade tater tot."  I could have sworn "tater tot" had an "s" on the end! It was the first (and only) homemade tater tot I've ever eaten and it was quite tasty.