Snippets of September

When I turned my San Diego Humane Society calendar to September, guess who is the star of the month?

Noodle is Mr. September!  He won the contest last year.  They called me in September last year to tell me that Noodle will be the featured pet for September in the 2012 San Diego Humane Society calendar.  I don’t think it’s gone to his head at all!

On Labor Day we went to Crest Café in Hillcrest for breakfast.  It’s one of our favorite breakfast places.  We usually go if we take a day off, or on a holiday.  Todd’s favorite is the blueberry waffle.


While mine is The Hangover Omelette with chicken sausage, pepperjack cheese, avocados, and chimichurri sauce on top.


After breakfast, we went to Balboa Park and set up our chairs under a big tree and read books.  It was completely awesome.


I found this plastic craft storage bin at Michaels that ended up being perfect for my washi tapes.


I painted my toes teal to support my friend Melissa and all women battling ovarian cancer. 

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month! You can read Melissa’s blog post at The Lilypad for more information on ovarian cancer detection and teal toes.

A Baskin Robbins opened up in our neighborhood.  This could be dangerous.


And finally, my Studio Calico September kit, Central High, has arrived at my house. I’m hoping that scrapbooking will ensue.

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Football Is Back

Around here, football is back in a big way.

That means waking up on Saturday mornings and watching ESPN College Gameday in bed.  So awesome.


That means going to Dejah & Roby’s house to watch the first Buckeye game of the season on 9/1 versus Miami of Ohio on the Big Ten Network.




It means a last minute get-together with Anne & Gilbert on Labor Day to watch the first game of the season for their beloved VA Tech.  With pizza.


It means Todd sitting in his favorite new lounger/rocker, watching the Buckeyes defeat Central Florida.

It also means that I’m making lots of progress on the chevron afghan while watching football.


Around here, football is back in a big way.

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30 Days Of Lists | Days 1-9

I’ve been participating in 30 Days Of Lists this September.  I also did it last September, but only on my blog.  This time I made a mini-book and I’ve been updating it with the daily lists.  I think it’s such a neat way to document my life at this point in time.  Of course, I *would* find lists the coolest thing ever.  What’s my blog called?  Ha ha!

And because I haven’t been updating my blog with these lists since September started, I thought I would do one big blog post with them all, up until today.

30 Days Of Lists | Day 1: I Am A Lister because…

• It helps me stay organized
• I enjoy seeing my tasks crossed off and my progress visually
• It’s an easy way to journal + document my life
• So I don’t forget stuff
• I have a list for everything
• Lists are great for inspiration & ideas
• It helps me prioritize
• I AM LISTGIRL!

30 Days Of Lists | Day 2: Goals For The Month

• Run at least 30 miles
• Lose 2 lbs
• Incorporate strength training in some form
• Finish book “The Help”
• Complete 30 Days Of Lists
• Do 4 layouts for SC’s Pop Off The Page class
• Get closet purged and re-organized

30 Days Of Lists | Day 3: My Friends/Family Would Describe Me As...

• loyal
• organized
• committed
• doer
• runner
• eater
• sports fan
• scrapbooker/crafter
• fun-loving
• consistent
• planner
• creator
• justice-lover

30 Days Of Lists | Day 4:  When I Need A "Time Out", I...

• Go to my craft room
• Go watch TV in the bedroom
• Have a cup of coffee
• Go take a walk break
• Talk to some friends in the hallway at work
• Close my eyes and pray

30 Days Of Lists | Day 5:  Reasons To Start Eating Better

• More energy
• Lower cholesterol
• Sleep better
• Lose some unwanted weight
• Healthier long term

30 Days Of Lists | Day 6:  Reasons To Quit Wasting Time On The Internet

• Use the time to actually CREATE something
• Use the time to exercise more
• Use the time to hang out with friends
• Use the time to read more books
• Better for my eye and posture health
• Have more in-depth conversations with family/friends
• Consume less, create more.  Inspiration is nothing if it does not lead to action.

30 Days Of Lists | Day 7:  Midnight Snacks

I don't have midnight snacks.  But I do have 8pm snacks. :)

• Cheetos
• Roasted seaweed from Trader Joes
• Chocolate
• Hot chocolate
• Tortilla chips with melted shredded cheese on them
• Gummy bears
• Fruit
• Tea with soy milk

30 Days Of Lists | Day 8:  Out My Front Door...

• palm trees
• houses blocking my ocean view
• sunshine
• small porch
• driveway
• parked cars
• small front lawn
• usually an Amazon box, ha!

30 Days Of Lists | Day 9:  Today You Can Find Me...

• worrying about Noodle sneezing (catching a cold?)
• vacuuming for an hour
• running 3.1 miles (5K) on the treadmill in under 30 minutes for the first time in ages
• reviewing "The Help" on Goodreads.com
• at the computer
• in my craft room
• at Baskin Robbins
• making lists
• processing photos
• blogging
• getting things done!

For my album I used mostly the Heyday Collection from Studio Calico.  I keep it all in a melamine tray (from Target) on my craft table so I can just work on it immediately.  But everything is contained so I don’t feel like my craft table is a huge mess.  :)


Also, after the first day, I decided to print the list journaling out onto the Becky Higgins Project Life 3x4 grid journal cards.  That way the list stays the same size and I can just work on decorating my page.  It has worked out really well for me, giving my mini-book a cohesive look. Also, when applicable, I’ve taken photos with my Instax camera. The size of the Instax photo is perfect for my book. 

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Using Disc Binding To Make A Mini-Book

Last month I blogged at The Lilypad about the different methods of binding a mini book together. Since then I have discovered a new binding method that I had to try out!  It’s called disc binding.

I saw this system online in the DIY planner communities, where people love to DIY notebooks and daily planners by designing or downloading calendars and printable notebook pages, and then fully customize their planners.  When I saw it I thought, why limit it to planners?  There’s all kinds of possibilities with custom notebooks and mini-albums!  So I braved the back-to-school crowds and went to Staples to buy the supplies.

The system is called the Arc system and it’s available at Staples.  (Not in any way affiliated with them.  It’s just where it’s sold exclusively.) It’s basically a line of modular planners where you can move pages around however you like, because the pages are removable due to the special holes on it.  All the pages are bound with discs.

The discs come in 1” and 1.5” sizes.  I only got the 1” disks this time.

This is what they look like laid flat.

I bought the special hole puncher and started punching different sized scrapbooking papers.

See the holes?  They’re sort of mushroom-shaped half-circles with a slit.  I lined up a couple of pieces of paper and put the discs in.  Then I added more papers to the discs.  The different sizes can be put into the discs however you want to line them up.

And they’re totally removable! You can move one page into a different part of the book at any time, unlike traditional binding, where the page placement is permanent.

I added an overlay for the cover and back of the mini book and embellished it.  This mini book is sized 6”x8” overall, with different-sized papers in there.  I’m using this as my 30 Days Of Lists book. The discs look huge now, but once my notebook is filled with my lists and added embellishments and additional journal cards, it will become thicker.

And why stop at mini scrapbooks?  I took some 8.5”x11”  lined and graph papers and punched them with the Arc paper punch.  Then I added the discs and added white cardstock and a Hambly overlay as the cover.

I LOVE the concept of a DIY notebook, because you can add whatever type of papers in there you want!  They also sell Arc page dividers that you can add into your notebook, or you can make your own with some cardstock as well.  And with this system the pages are fully removable and re-orderable. I love it!

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In August…

August 2012 will be remembered as very hot and humid.  We’ve never had to had the A/C on for such a long period of time, since moving to San Diego at the end of 1999. 

• I managed to run 38 miles despite the heat.  My goal is to run 366 miles in 2012 and I have run 300 miles at the end of August. 
• Walked an additional 5 miles.  Not very much.  The heat & humidity did not make me want to take my usual walking breaks at work.
• I spent only 7 hours and 59 minutes exercising, which is my lowest month this year by far.  Running isn’t enough, I need to put more exercise time in.
• We took 499 photos.  Not bad, but it is the least number of photos taken in a month in 2012.
• We watched movies at the theater. Superhero movies.  The Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” was fantastic.  “The Amazing Spiderman” was good too, but not as great as Batman.
• I started back up reading “The Help” after putting it down for a few months. 
• Todd went to Denver for five days, visiting his “little brother” and attending a family wedding. 
• I stayed home due to work schedule.  Noodle took good care of me, and I went to the Chargers Fan Fest with AJ & Meera. 
• We went to the Phil’s BBQ tailgate and Padres vs Cubs baseball game at Petco Park.  Met up with some friends and it was so much yum and fun. 
• They replaced the carpet at work and the brown/orange retro carpet does not go with the gray cubicles. Ugly!
• We went running at the coast a couple of times. It seemed the coast was the only place cool enough to run!
• We tried out a new restaurant called The Kabob Shop and it was yummy.
• Todd continued his high-mileage cycling training, gearing up for his first century (112 miles) ride in September.
• I bought the Arc discs and paper punch at Staples and made notebooks and mini-books with it.
• Totally re-organized my side of the home office.  So much work but so worth it.
• I went to a crop at Ever After with some of the members of the Studio Calico kit club.  It was our second crop together and it was so much fun! 
• The layout I made at the crop ended up being picked for the Studio Calico August kit “Summer of 69” member picks video.  I love the song they used for it!
• We went to Bernardo Winery to see a big band concert.  Wine, sunset, and jazz is a great combination!
• We went to the House Of Blues downtown to see our friends J Turtle and Pete Thurston play music. Out on a “school night”!
• We made s’mores.

And just like that, summer was over.  August was more laid back and we didn’t do as much.  But what we did was enjoyable.  I’m excited for football returning in September and cooler weather.

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