Today I witnessed history unfold...

On September 11th, 2001 ... halfway through my ninth grade English class ... I witnessed history unfold as terrorists flew two airplanes into the World Trade Center in downtown New York City. As I watched the news reports, I knew I was living through a moment that my children and grand-children and great-grand-children would someday read about in history books. It was a historical moment provoked by hate, resentment and evil. It was a moment that represented all that is wrong in our world. It was a moment I would have preferred to have skipped; one I wish I didn't have to remember. It was a moment that I wish had never happened.

Today, on January 20th, 2009 ... as I watched Barack Obama take the oath of office and become the 44th President of the United States of America ... I once again knew that I was living through a moment that would grace the pages of my children's history books. This time, however, it was a moment brought about by determination, integrity and righteousness. A moment millions of people throughout the generations had dreamed of being able to witness. A moment that represented the audacity of the human spirit, the strength of brotherhood, the power of being able to forgive and move forward together as a nation. It was a moment I was proud to have been a tiny part of.

For me, Barack Obama's victory is not a political one ... only time will tell whether he succeeds as President. I believe that what I witnessed today was a triumph in the battle of civil rights that has plagued America for centuries. And, politics aside, that is a moment worth celebrating.

xox

Cupcakes & Andy Warhol

Minus the freezing winter weather outside, today was the perfect day ... one that began with delicious food and ended with amazing art. Jessica and I had breakfast this morning at Orange Bistro, which is this new contemporary restaurant on Stanley Street downtown. It certainly lives up to its name - the decor is orange and white, and modern art covers the walls. (Jess and I ate our meal under a giant ceramic nose .... it was kind of awkward, actually). The food there is absolutely delicious, but it's pricey and the service is reallllllyyyyy slow. I'll go back, but I'll be sure to do it on a day when I have lots of time on my hands and extra cash that I'm willing to splurge.

Anyway, moving on ... we ate at Orange Bistro and then headed over to Cho'Cola for some cupcakes and java. Originally, we wanted to check out Cocoa Locale (another cupcake place on the other side of town) but it turns out they're closed for the month of January so that was a no-go. Cupcakes at Cho'Cola never dissappoint, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed my peppermint chocolate cupcake and toasty warm latte. Yummmo.

After a morning of eating and girl talk, Jessica headed off to class and I headed off to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to *FINALLY* get to see the works of Mr. Andy Warhol. Those of you who know me know that I've been excited about this exhibit since I first heard of it back in August, and today I finally got to see it for myself. I was impressed. His paintings are huge and the colors are even bolder in real life. I also didn't realize how involved he was in music, film and dance. A few months ago, I ordered a book called The Warhol Economy: How Music, Film and Fashion Shaped New York City. I hadn't had time to read it, but I think tonight I'll curl up with a nice tea and read through it. It'll be the perfect way to end a pretty perfect day.

xOxOx

some artsy stuff

I realized that my blog has become less of a "scrap blog" and more of a "life blog" - which may really bore some of you - and I apologize for the lack of creativity in recent posts. I haven't been scrapping much these past few weeks and, even when I have completed layouts and projects, I've been plagued with camera problems which have made it difficult to take photos of my work to share with you. That being said, I DO still scrapbook. Here are two of my most recent works:

I finally made a layout about my precious fur baby who passed away in early December. I wanted to focus on the journaling, so I kept the page simple and only included one small embellishment on the top left-hand corner. The patterned paper and the green letter stickers are both by Heidi Grace. I wanted to write "I carry" by hand, but I couldn't get it to look nice because my handwriting is really tiny and it just looked ridiculous when I tried to over-size it. I ended up printing off "I carry" using a free font download by Ali Edwards. I then transferred it onto the cardstock using carbon tracing paper, and went over the words with a white gel pen. Voila! Easy as 1,2,3. On Saturday evening, I went to the Hero Arts stamp release party at Scrapbook Star, and got first dibs on their new releases. I fell in love with the little Japanese doll stamps and I just had to have them. I've been wanting to host a sushi night for some of my girlfriends for awhile now, and when I got my hands on these stamps I knew they'd be perfect for the invites.

Making invites using patterned paper can get pricey ... all those sheets add up quickly. Stamps are great because they're totally reusable and all you have to do is change the color of the ink to get a brand new look. To create these invites, I stamped the image of the doll onto white cardstock, using black Staz-On ink. Then I stamped the flowers on with pink Colorbox pigment ink. I wrote "you're invited" by hand, and then cut the cardstock in the shape of a circle using my Marvy circle punch. To create the pink scallop background, I used my circle scallop punch. I then outlined some of the stamped flowers with a pink Zig pen, stuck some bling in the doll's hair, outlined the circle using Stickles and glued everything together. Super cute invites with no patterned paper at all!

travel dreams for 2009

My heart longs to see the world in 2009. I don't know if I'll be able to afford to travel much, but a little destination daydreamin' never did anyone any harm!

I've visited most of the East coast ... Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. I'd love to venture out west soon ... I hear California, Nevada and Washington calling! (By the way, you can make your own map here.)

I'd love to see Germany.

I'd love to go back and see my sister in Vancouver, British Columbia.

... and I'd love to see Paris, France!!

Where do YOU want to go in 2009?

xOxOx