I'll Have Sugar and Water To Go With That

2012,when will you be finally over?  We got the worse news yesterday:  my dad has a cancerous cyst in his pancreas. My dad is 74 years old and he has a pacemaker, pulsatile tinnitus, dizziness, cataracts, and can barely sleep because when he lays down he can hear his heartbeat (which I think is really the major artery near his ear throbbing). Since August he's been going to the hospital and doctors trying to find out why his stomach hurts and he can't eat. He's lost a lot of weight and he's down to 125 pounds and his skin hangs off of him. The most recent CT scan finally revealed the growing cyst which we were hoping was benign. Unfortunately, it's an inoperable cancerous cyst and chemotherapy treatment must be started ASAP.

One thinks it can't get any worse.  Wrong. I asked my mom today if they have life insurance and she said the company cancelled on them earlier this year because they no longer supplied term life insurance.  My parents just spoke with an agent earlier this month to get new life insurance. My dad needs cataract surgery so the agent told them to get the cataracts removed and then to call her back after the surgery.  

Did life go along with their plan?  Nope. The cataract surgery was scheduled for December.  

Talk about a b*tch slap from Murphy's Law. All the years my parents have been paying for life insurance and then this hiccup occurs. It's like a double slap from Murphy.

Dear God,   

I need this button below to work right now.  

I feel like we're in a very dark tunnel and we can't see the light ahead.

I'm trusting and hoping in You.  

You are the God of hope.  

And right now hope is all I have.

Love,

Rhonda

source

Scrapbooking Tips For My Aunt Josie

Congratulations to my Aunt Josie and Uncle Rom who recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary! They are really an awesome couple -- full of life, extremely generous, and just the kind of people you want to hang out with because they are young at heart. To celebrate their anniversary they had a big and fancy shin-dig with friends and family in Canada.  My Aunt Josie would like to scrap her pictures from the big event and she asked me for tips on how to scrapbook.  I feel like I'm still quite the amateur and not in any position to be giving advice.  But I am going to try to help.  So while thinking about what to write I realized the title of my blog is "Scrappy Sugar Girl" and I have barely posted anything about scrapbooking.  If I came across my blog I would ask, "Where's the scrapbooking?"  When I titled my blog I intentionally wanted "scrappy" to have a double entendre for scrapbooking and full of fighting spirit.  I think I got the fighting spirit down but not enough scrapbooking stuff.

So...to kill 2 birds with one stone I am sharing some of my pages to make the title of my blog more cohesive and to share some ideas with my aunt.  I chose pages that have examples of techniques and wrote details under the photos.

To:  Aunt Josie
I have learned there is no wrong way when it comes to scrapbooking because it's all a matter of personal taste. I began by looking at magazines and books and studying layouts and techniques.  I have plenty of layouts on Pinterest under a board called Scrapbooking, Cards and Tags.  Looking at pages always gives me inspiration. My personal taste is to have 1 or 2 pics on each page but some people like to put 3-4 pics on each page with simple borders around the pics and a few embellishments.

Small details such as layering papers and adding embellishments add that extra pizzazz. Inking the borders of your papers create depth and also makes the pages look better. I learned about inking techniques from Tim Holtz's videos.  He is a very talented artist and I aspire to be on his level one day in the future.  If you watch the videos you will notice that Tim uses water with his Distress Inks.  If you want a permanent ink that does not bleed with water use archival ink pads.

I bought a lot of alphabet stickers for lettering before I invested in a Cricut machine. The Cricut allows you to cut out letters in almost any size and also cut out many embellishments you may not be able to find at craft stores.  Check out Cricut here. It's a great investment if you want to make paper crafts, cards and continue scrapbooking.

While buying your supplies you should match your paper and embellishments so you don't spend too much money.  When I first started scrapbooking I didn't know what I needed and bought a bunch of stuff just because it was on clearance.  I have barely used those supplies.  Most stores such as Joann's Fabrics, Michael's, and Hobby Lobby have a coupon ranging from 40-50% each week.  But they also have sales every week on scrapbooking supplies. I think the sales would be the same in Canada.

You will definitely need to buy a paper trimmer and acid-free glue. Liquid glues dry much quicker than the glue sticks and are also more permanent. Use liquid glue to adhere metal embellishments (I use Glossy Accents). The great thing about glue sticks is you can re-position your pics and paper before they dry.

I suggest buying a photo album with sheet protectors so you can slide your pages in and out.  Store your albums upright if you have 3-D embellishments.  If you lay them flat the embellishments will poke through and may possibly cause tears in other pages.

Lastly, if you search "scrapbooking" and "cards" on my blog you can see more pages that I've done.

These pages below reflect some techniques that can be used.

Useful Supplies:  embellishments, stamps, chalk, Distress Ink, Distress Ink applicator, Stickles, different types of glue, paper trimmer, scissors with that make different borders, punches.

 My first page I ever did.  I took the word "scrap" literally. 

 

Details: the words are chunky.

Tags are very popular in scrapbooking.  The word engaged is on layered squares of paper I cut out.

Sometimes the paper is so pretty you don't want to cover it up with pictures. 

 Pictures aren't always necessary.  Journaling adds a personal touch to your pages. I printed this page on vellum and used glue dots to hold the paper down.  Regular glue shows through the vellum.

Your papers do not have to be straight and even.  Tearing the edges is popular in scrapbooking.

This is another one of my earlier pages.  I'm not too happy with the turn out but I wanted to show even if there are mistakes it doesn't matter. 

Journaling your memories

 

I sized down photocopies of the receipts of my purchases and attached them to the page.

 This pages has examples of inking with Distress Inks.

I wrote words to "I Love Rock and Roll" around the frame of the pics and added glitter 

around "I" using Stickles. 

I used a border punch to make the frame around the picture and words. I used the Cricut to make the cow and the sheep.

The newspaper ads on this page is actually a stamp.  

The papers were originally light gray and light blue but it looked too bright.  I used chalk to mute the colors down.  I also chalked the flower. I used an old make-up sponge to apply the chalk (pic of chalk in supplies pic).  Distress Inks would have worked as well but the chalk is more forgiving.

This is my first time to add thread to a page (red and grey sewing).  I didn't have the correct foam mat so

the line came out crooked when I pierced the paper.  I just went with the flow and added another crooked line to make the crooked line look intentional.

Pet Peeve

I told myself I would never use my blog to complain because I wanted it to be all light and airy and portray the likeness of a Disney Princess who never gets mad.

But I got to get this off my chest.  I don't even know why - it is a piddly matter and nothing earth-shattering  It's not even an injustice.  It's just about Pinterest.

Here is my complaint in question form:

Am I the only one who gets annoyed when someone pins 25 or more of your pins and doesn't even bother to follow you or any one of your boards?

There are several people who repin practically everything I have on a board and never bother to have the courtesy to follow.  I have a personal rule that if I pin more than 10 pins on any one board that I follow it.  It's just common manners to me.  

I know it's a stupid complaint but I'm only human and oceans away from behaving like a Disney princess.

CTRL + Z Apology Card

CTRL + Z on the keyboard is the undo function. Unfortunately, it can only be applied to keyboard applications and not our our lives. I would be a billionaire if I could figure out how to create an UNDO function for our careless actions or build a time machine. But having an UNDO function might possibly cause people to be more careless and have a flippant attitude so it's probably best that there is not one available.

In life we make awful mistakes than can't be undone and no matter how much we wish we could undo our wrong it is too late.  The only thing we can do is learn from our mistakes and not repeat them.  This is an apology card I made for my husband.  I'm not Jewish but I decided to give it to him on Yom Kippur - day of atonement.

My inspiration came from a CTRL + Z card on Pinterest, but it was just a plain card with the letters on the front.

rough draft

Supplies:  Cricut "From My Kitchen" for oval, Cricut Learning Curve for letters, Tim Holtz/idea-ology metal accents, Making Memories vintage flowers, Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous "Flights of Fancy" stamp

I Might As Well Be Eating Chips

It was Friday night and I was looking for something to nosh on.  A high caloric snack was off limits because I had a root beer float from Sonic that day. Honestly, I tried to be a good girl and ordered a mini-cup float.  The car hop brought me the regular size.
I asked the lady, "That's a mini?"
She said, "Oh, it's a regular. Did you want the mini?" and started walking away.
So I told her never mind I'll take it. Who am I to waste food with all the starving people in the world?
I'm no nutritionist but I'm sure that root beer float has a gazillion calories, hence the search for low-calorie foods. I found some celery and cherry tomatoes to munch on.  I know that salad dressing has a lot of calories so I choose hummus to accompany the celery. That should be harmless. So I'm leaning over the counter and my dog is smiling at me so I throw her some tomatoes.  I'm thinking to myself we are eating like good vegetarians and made a good choice instead of eating Doritos.  I'm bored just leaning over the counter and I turn the hummus container around to read the label.  To my surprise I see that 2 tbsp of hummus is 70 freakin' calories!  Well, gosh darn it, I might as well be eating chips.  I think I've already had about 6 tablespoons of hummus. Let's calculate  6 x 70 = 420 calories.  Doritos serving size is 11 chips and 150 calories.  It's a win for junk food.


On a sidenote:
I'm an idiot for cute stuff.  Look at these cherry tomatoes from Whole Foods that look like mini gourds. Aren't they just so cute? And who knew they still made these green baskets?  I'm going to save them for Easter crafts.

Foodie Journal, page 1

I am a Foodie. Love, love, love food!!  My love affair with food began about the age of 18.  I remember the day I fell in love with food, I was sitting across from my boyfriend (who is my husband now) at a restaurant.  He was eating something with grilled onions and I was eating the house salad which is basically just lettuce. I thought I didn't like onions because I had been fed raw onions for most of my life. Out of curiosity I tried some of his grilled onions and I was amazed at the flavor of grilled onions - right then and there the world of food opened up right before me. I was thinking "Why haven't I ever had grilled onions before?  What else have I missed!?"  I can't imagine what my reaction would have been if I had tried Scottish Salmon from Craft in that moment instead of the grilled onions - I might have reenacted the famous diner scene from "When Harry Met Sally".  Because let me tell you the Scottish Salmon is mind-blowingly good. Prior to that eventful day I didn't enjoy eating because I thought food was boring. At the time I didn't like Filipino food except for pancit and rice and being Filipino that's what my mom mostly cooked. In addition, my family didn't go out to eat very often and we had the same dishes throughout the years. My mom worked in the evenings so my eldest sister cooked what my mom told her to cook.  It was same ole, same ole - easy dishes a teenager could  make. We had a few new dishes between long stretches such as eggs benedict my mom made for us one time. So when I got out on my own I discovered dishes I never knew existed and realized food is really yummy and exciting.  I feel like I've been making up for missing good food for the first 18 years of my life and it shows when you look at my booty and waistline.

To me food is undeniably art. Food can bring about a range of emotions such as happiness, excitement, passion and even tears.  Certain dishes can bring on memories of loved ones or special moments. I've seen some desserts so architecturally beautiful that it was almost a shame to eat them.  Food is even better when it tastes like a symphony of music in your mouth with notes that make you close your eyes to appreciate its goodness.

I've decided to create for myself a Food Journal where I can look back on some dishes and moments. I wish I took pictures more often when I went out to eat.  I was often embarrassed to take pictures of food in restaurants with a camera.  Now that we have cameras in our cell phones it is much easier and more discreet. Some of the pics are not great because they were taken with an old BlackBerry (no flash). But the pics get better as you scroll down because I finally upgraded my phone.

Shredded Beef Nachos @ Yucatan Taco Stand in Southlake.

 

 Grilled Latin Sandwich @Yucatan Taco Stand in Southlake, TX. 

Yucatan Taco Stand

Dessert at Craft Dallas (unfortunately closed in July 2012).  I wish I took pictures of the food we were served because it was truly awesome.  But this was a fancy restaurant and I felt too embarrassed to take pictures.  I took this pic because I was drunk and didn't care anymore.

Main Street Bread Baking Company in Grapevine.  The restaurant made Zagats sometime between 2007-2009 which is why I chose to eat lunch here.  Both the food and service is sub par (I came back 2 more times the following year and that statement is confirmed).  It must have been a good day when the people from Zagats ate there.  However, the desserts and croissants are beautifully made and quite delectable.

 
Girls lunch @ Main Street Bread Baking Company.  

Coal Vines Pizza and Wine Bar in Southlake.

 

Vanilla Birthday Cake @Coal Vines Pizza and Wine Bar.

 

My favorite hamburger is the Farmhouse Burger @ Cheescake Factory. Who can resist a fried egg and pork belly on a juicy burger?  I am VERY DISAPPOINTED they took it off the menu.

 

forgot name of dish @ Cheesecake Factory

Fried Mac-n-Cheese Bites with Truffle Dip @ Macaroni Grill.  This is super yummy.

Zucchini Fritti @ Macaroni Grill.  Two thumbs up!

Comida Deluxe @ Chuy's in Arlington

I especially like this at Chuy's - sanitized and protected silverware.

 

Chicken Friand and Tomato Basil Soup @ la Madeleine.

 Sake Bomb @ Ginger in Southlake.

The sake bomb is a beer cocktail made by pouring sake into a shot glass and dropping it into a glass of beer.  Sometimes 2 chopsticks are placed parallel on top of the glass of beer, and the shot glass is carefully balanced between them.  The drinker then chants "sake...sake...sake...SAKE!" and slams the table with his fists causing the sake to fall into the beer.  (definition courtesy of wikipedia)

Black Bean Rice Pudding with Coconut Cream @ Ginger.

Fried Bananas with Coconut Ice Cream @Ginger.

Figs at Central Market.

 

 

 

Here's our street sign - Foodie Crossing.  

Toy cupcakes that really smell like chocolate. I almost bit into one it smelled so good.

Candle cupcakes that smell divine

Have you ever noticed that Barnes & Noble price for coffee is slightly cheaper than Starbucks?  

If you thought you were getting a better deal I'm sorry to say you are not.  

Pictured above are venti-sized caramel machiattos. 

The bigger cup is from Starbucks and the smaller is from Barnes & Noble. 

At least they are honest enough to charge less.