Wednesday, August 22, 2007


It feels like is has been raining here non-stop for weeks. It has only been 4 days or so, but all of a sudden it feels very fall-like. Not the temperature, mind you, we're still in the high 80s, but my world just has that 'feeling'. I think its the back-to-school chatter that is going on. This time of year will always have that anticipatory feeling for me.
Today I'm sharing a photo taken last year during our beach vacation. The family changed things up and went in October - I will never go in the summer again after that. The temperatures were in the perfect 70s and there was barely any humidity. As close to paradise as I've ever felt. I purposely took this photo so that in the future, when I wasn't at the beach, and if I concentrated real hard, I could put myself in the picture. This year, we didn't get to the beach. Bill took all his vacation during the store transition, and we really can't desert the place for a week (*I* could with barely any guilt, but Bill doesn't feel the same way). I thought I'd be ok with no vacation but I lied. I am cranky and feel jipped. We took a weekend trip last month, but it honestly left me feeling more stressed and pressed for time than before I left. I'm concentrating, but I just can't feel the sand between my toes.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Boy, I'm really on top of this blog thing. I intended to post this weekend, but was busy. I did have some time to stamp, though. I will share that project tomorrow as I haven't photographed it yet. Until then here's something that I did a few months ago.

Stamps: Carte Postale and Leaves a la Carte from Stampin' Up! Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White; patterned paper is from Basic Grey. Ink: Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink from SU! The scalloped punch is from Marvy. This card lifts open and the inside slides into a pocket created by the bottom of the card. It is a great design for when you're giving someone a gift card. Enjoy!

Friday, August 17, 2007

Hi

Here I am, a blogger. I've got lots of stuff to talk about and share, just a little unsure if I will be able to update as regularly as I'd like to. My little profile up there doesn't allow much room to get detailed, so I'll start my first blog post with a little bit more about me. Some of you reading (hopefully you're reading) know me well already, but for those of you that don't (again assuming you're actually reading...) this is for you.

Eight days shy of 28 years old, I work for a consulting firm doing environmental stuff. I do a lot of different things, some of it cool, most of it boring. I've been contemplating a career change for probably close to a year now - I would really actually like to do something beneficial for the environment, but its hard to break away. I live with my boyfriend (boyfriend sounds so.. casual. Serious boyfriend? Fiance'-to-be? Anyway, we're in it for the long haul) Bill who was my high school sweetie. We have a puppy, Juno, who I talk about probably more than I do Bill. I'd be lost without both of them. About a year ago, I picked up paper crafting after a decade hiatus - school will do that to you - and fell in love all over again with rubber stamping. I discovered Stampin' Up! and signed up to be a Demo. Its been great, and I found I have absolutely no self-control when it comes to buying stamping and scrapbooking products.

More recently, Bill and I took the plunge and bought a tropical fish hatchery and retail store. It had been a place in our neighborhood that we had frequented since it opened. When Eric wanted to close, I told Bill that he should buy it and he actually did (what a time to pick to listen to me!) It has been our all-consuming project since April. It is a great place - we carry fish that you can't find at your local big box store. We hand select (literally - we net the fish ourselves) our fish from our distributors and quarantine them to make sure they are healthy before we sell them. Our store is by no means flashy, but it is hard core. We have over 600 tanks and they are set up to be functional and easy to maintain, not pretty. We love to have customers who are new to the hobby as well as very serious about fishkeeping. The entire second floor of the building is our hatchery, which is closed to the public. Bill is pretty proud of it (it is impressive), so lots of people get 'tours.' We have just as many, if not more, tanks up there than on the sales floor. We breed and raise a number of different things up there - some things that only a handful of other places in the country have. Staff members from the PPG Aquarium shop there! Its a pretty cool place. The Pgh Post-Gazette even did an article on us, too.

Another thing I like to do is take pictures - Bill monopolizes the camera on most of our trips, but I get to use it once in a while. I am going to try to share a photo with you every day. It will either be a photo of something from the store (which would look SO much better in person - hint, hint!), some project or card I've created, or something we have seen while on our travels. For today's post, here's a picture of what has sort of become our store mascot. This is a Goldy Plecostomus (L-014 for you Pleco geeks). Don't let the picture fool you - this guy is over 12" in length. He likes visitors - come see him!

That seems like a good start for now.. if you happen to have any questions or comments, ask!