Guest Blogger

This past week I had the honor of being a guest blogger on SEI’s (a large scrapbooking company) Lifestyle blog. I had a blast.

Click here or on the butterflies above to check out our posts.

A Fabulous 4th of July

When I think about our country’s Independence Day a few necessities come to mind:

Great music, Great food, Great show

This year I want to share with you my summer playlist, a must have summer recipe and where you can find the best shows.

GREAT MUSIC
1. Lights Out - Santigold
2. Heartache Tonight – The Eagles
3. Breathe Me - Sia
4. Electric Feel - MGMT
5. Kokomo – Beach Boys
6. Skinny Love – Bon Iver
7. Buffalo Soldier – Bob Marley
8. Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
9. Cath (acoustic) – Death Cab for Cutie
10. Stand By Me – John Lennon

GREAT FOOD
This is seriously the best pasta salad recipe. I make it for parties a lot and try to always bring the recipe printed on 3X5 cards because everyone raves about it!

Chicken Pasta Salad
4 cups cooked chicken cut into bite sized pieces (I grill the chicken)
2 cups bowtie pasta cooked & cooled
2 T. chopped green onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups unpeeled nice red apples
2 cups red grapes cut in half
1 20oz can Dole pineapple tidbits (drained)
3/4 cup slivered almonds

In a large bowl, combine above ingredients to make salad.

Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
8 oz Kraft coleslaw dressing
1 dash thyme
1 pinch ginger

Mix dressing together and gently add to salad a little at a time until you get desired consistency (keep unused dressing to add to leftovers the next day). Better if chilled 2 hours before serving.

GREAT SHOW
This is the year to find the best firework show and go with friends and family. It’s time to show just how proud we are to be Americans with the biggest fireworks ever! Check out what Forbes Traveler list as the best firework shows in America.

Guilty Pleasure…Anyone?

Like most of you, I have a guilty pleasure. But unlike most of you I cherish my guilty pleasure. I am always looking for a little free time to indulge myself. My guilty pleasure is magazines…yes magazines. I love them! And I don’t discriminate; I love all kinds of them – design, style, gossip, and music…really any magazine will do. But my favorites are Elle Décor and In Style. I love getting new ideas from other creative people. I fold corners down and tear out pages for my design file. It is such a creative time for me that I can’t help but love every minute. My advice to everyone is to find a guilty pleasure and indulge! Don’t apologize for it, just feed the hunger!

The Romper

I love how fashion basically goes in cycles. Styles that were popular back in the 70s are modified a little bit, given a new name and called “innovative.” I remember when I was in middle school I bought a pair of flare jeans and my mom said she had bellbottoms just like them in high school. I would always say “mom, they’re not bellbottoms they are flares.” Well the new jumpsuit is now called a romper and I love them! I think they are so much fun! I love when you can throw something on, run out the door and look fabulous. Check out all these fun rompers at shopbop.com and try something “new” with your style this summer.

Racquet Armor

Attention tennis players!!! I have found a great new product for your racquets. Recently I attended the BNP Parabis Open in Indian Wells, California and while I was there I was told about a new product to replace head tape, it is called Racquet Armor. It is an adhesive made out of silicone that adheres to the top of your racquet for protection. I have always been really hard on the frame, so as you can imagine I was excited about a new product that extends the life of my racquet. Not only does it protect, but it also looks cool – cause my motto is to look good doing whatever it is your doing! Check out their website to learn more www.racquetarmor.com.

Rag & Bone

I have wanted to add a more modern or urban album to my designs that is less like a scrapbook and more like a photo album. Unfortunately, I have been unable to pinpoint the style I have in my head - I guess I have been waiting for some major inspiration. I have come to the conclusion that it’s hard to get inspired when you are looking for inspiration. Rather, for some reason or another it always seems to come when you’re not looking. Then out of nowhere (figures!) I found the most beautiful albums. Rag & Bone Bindery creates stunning handmade albums. They have inspired me so much that I am going to offer a more modern album to clients using these fabulous conversation pieces.

Brain Teaser!

This is harder than it seems...try it out!

http://www.humorsphere.com/fun/8787/colortest.swf