thursday

today we met papa at the ikea home & garden show in anaheim-- and of course when we get off the freeway owen shouts "look mama! that bus is going to disneyland!" and it was, since dland was just blocks away. and really how do you convince a three year old that a home show is much more fun than mickey--despite the fact that there were (oddly enough) tropical birds running around aisles of jacuzzis and outdoor tiki bars (and some rescue greyhounds we fell in love with). we had a good time running through the ikea idea house especially since all of the drawers and cabinets have signs that say "open me". i was hoping to get some ideas for our office--although i think a walk through ikea might have been just as helpful. papa, however, bought this amazing ladder he'd been eyeing for a while and the demo was nothing short of acrobatic. i'm just hoping i can get my 2nd floor windows washed ;)

we came home zonked and owen took a crazy nap (which means that he's sitting right here next to me on the couch now) so i tried to get a grasp on all of the projects i've started with the manic intent to get organized and enjoy some creative therapy before fall. a couple nights ago i stayed up until three am sorting metro tickets, museum maps, wordfettti and a few hundred snapshots--the result was impressive, but actually overwhelming. the paper all looked too pretty to cut into and my grand idea to do one big scrapbook for alesund-london-paris just seemed too much especially since for our 2 1/2 days in paris i wanted to do at least a dozen pages (everything from an ode to gertrude stein and blackcurrant merigunes to the mandatory eiffel tower page). but this afternoon i decided to just make that first tear and start with something a little less abstract or quintessential so i did owen riding the ponies at the luxembourg gardens. simple, sweet and i think it approaches the ecclectic but clean look i was going for. i'd love feedback and ideas! i love this paper--it feels and looks like exquisite wallpaper (i'm thinking actually of using some to cover my magazine binders in my office) and the first person that can figure out where i cut the quote "someday, when i'm old, i will look back on this moment as the happiest time in my life" gets five points! i was, by the way, surprisingly pleased with the martha crafts collection rub-off letters i picked up on clearance. i also got to reuse some goreous cavallini stickers i peeled off an envelope posted to us over in norway and a snippet of collage i found on my new favorite site (i just ordered an amazing handstiched pillow from an artist up in seattle--should be arriving tomorrow!). anyhow, i took the picture with my phone so apologies for the quality but here's a general idea of how it's turning out. now i'm working on the other luxembourg garden pages with some gorgeous pics of owen and michael and their sailboat and some cool shots michael took of me and owen walking around the flower garden. and now i think it's time both me and the little one got some sleep--tomorrow i'm determined to finish cleaning the garage!