Back to An Empty Nest

First off, I have to thank my wonderful friends and guest bloggers who shared such amazing ideas with you while I was away for some family time and moving our son into college. I wasn’t able to keep up on all of the comments, but judging from them, everyone enjoyed the guest posts and I am so grateful to Jenn, Kathleen, Carolyn, Jocelyn, Maggie, Christine, Michele, Bev and Doreen! You ladies ROCK!

We had a fantastic road trip from Washington to California where “Chocolate Chip” ( son ) is now loving college life and settling in with a great roommate, academic adviser he really likes, and plenty of food in the dining halls. I’m sure the SoCal weather doesn’t hurt either.

We spent a few days at Disneyland which was way more emotional than I thought it would be. While all of the “classic classics” are still very much alive and we enjoyed the character sightings of pals like Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald etc., I realized on this trip how much of Disney is part of our son’s childhood.

Movies from Pocahontas, all three Toy Stories, Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Monsters Inc., A Bug’s Life, both Cars,  Up…..all of these were part of his childhood, adolescence and now (YIKES) adulthood.

Woody and Cowgirl Jessie from Toy Story

His Royal Highness The Lion King

I love these little alien guys! 

No intro needed...BUZZ

Heimlich from "A Bug's Life"

Every time we saw one of these characters or their attractions, it brought back a wonderful memory. I also love Disneyland and its sister park California Adventure for the friendliness of the “Cast Members”, the cleanliness, the attention to detail and ensuring their guests have a wonderful experience.

It All Started With A Mouse...

and his gal pal

faithful pet ( although someone still needs to explain to me why if Goofy and Pluto are both dogs, one speaks and wears clothes and the other doesn't. Don't even get me started on Pooh's lack of pants)

BFF Donald

You knew I’d find the chocolate right? On Main Street and in the resort kitchens, chocolatiers are busy busy busy!

A candied apple wearing Belle’s dress from Beauty and the Beast and marshmallow and pretzel confections including one in honor of Tigger!

Good thing there was glass between me and the kitchen

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

It's always great to go on vacation but there's also something wonderful about coming home ( I love my bed!).  We had a great two weeks away visiting my mom, friends, brother-in-law, colleges ( $$$) and I got to visit some great creative shops along the way. I blogged about a couple of them or tried to from my phone our the i-Pad ( still not convinced it's the best thing since sliced bread).  I got to go to two of my favorite bead places, Beads Galore and Scottsdale Bead Supply and stocked up on some great things to play with later.

Last year, one of my BFFs gave  my mom a present for Christmas that my mom fell in love with and wanted to give similar ones to a few of her friends. It was one of those glass blocks with lights inside like you see here So she asked if I could make them and if I minded doing any crafting while I was on vacation. HELLO? A chance to be on vacation AND use a glue gun?! In addition to the opportunity to go to craft stores including one I don't have at home? Bring. It.

I'd seen these glass block projects but hadn't made any and now I'm hooked. Maybe they're not new news but they're still fun to play with and there are endless possibilities. There are a variety of places you can get the blocks. Least expensive is your HW store but they typically don't come pre-drilled to put the lights in and I wasn't about to do glass drilling ( I understand you can go through several drill bits). So mom and I used our Michael's 40% off coupons and bought the more expensive ones they sell there ($16.99 pre-discount for the large one) that come with different closures for banks, lights, or simply plugging the existing hole. So started with this: 

Used a variety of ribbon (some from mom's recycled stash ... re-use, re-use!) stickers ( red and gold block) , Christmas picks from Hobby Lobby, and 1 string of 100 mini lights per block and ended with these:

She wanted one for a friend who wants to keep this out all year round, and the friend wanted black and white which I love working with so that's this one:

which I kept really simple using only black and white polka dot ribbon and two vinyl pieces I brought with me that I'd picked up at JoAnns on sale for $.50 !

Crafting on vacation?! WIN-WIN!  And mom now has a glue gun :)

Linking up at:
 

Outrageous Olive Oils

Awesome shop!

I was trying to mobile blog so I could upload a pic but no luck. So anyway, the is the most incredible olive oil shop in Old Scottsdale that has every flavor olive oil and balsamic vinegar including you guessed it... Chocolate! I didn't love the chocolate balsamic vinegar...shocking I know...no chocolate olive oil though.  But several other flavors are coming home. http://www.oliveoilarizona.com/

Fun Store!

If you are ever in AZ, make sure to make a trip to Mesa to visit Mystic Paper. http://www.mysticpaper.com/

It's a wonderful shop filled with all kinds of scrapbooking goodies, found items, ephemera etc. Classes have been taught there by Tim Holtz and Claudine Hellmuth. I took pictures on my phone but dont know how to upload them from my phone!