jessica*bree

My short lived boycott of all things Swedish...

So I have this project at work that I am having to take over that I do not love.  Not only is it just not something that excites me, but its also coming in crazy late.  In the world of market research, getting results late is a major sin.  And why is it so late?  Well I could go into a long winded explanation that only another market researcher would follow (and that no one really cares about) but basically it boils down to the fact that the data collection in the Nordic markets, particularly Sweden, is taking FOR-E-VER.  And I am not thrilled about this one bit.

So I began to threaten to boycott all things Swedish and Nordic.  You know, if my crazy conservative coworker could refuse to drink French wine because of the whole war thing, then surely I could give up imported salmon or whatever, right?  (I am mean I like French wine way more than smoked salmon!)  So, I began to consider what I  would have to give up...

1. Saab and Volvo - done
2. Swedish Meatballs - yeah, I can skip those.  I mean the sauce is yummy, but no problem.
3. The Swedish Chef - I find him endearing, so its a bit sad, but okay
4. Absolut - hmmm... I think I can manage 
5. ABBA - I seriously love singing along to my Mamma Mia soundtrack and I still love the movie Muriel's Wedding with its awesome ABBA soundtrack.  But this one I could maybe give up for a bit...
6. IKEA - I found a couch and some tables I love at IKEA... giving those up would be HARD.  This boycott is not looking good
7. Alexander Skarsgard - I love Eric & True Blood and sorry, this is not negotiable.

So despite all my tough talk (for all of a day there) the ban is over as of Sunday, when I go to IKEA to look at couches and then watch Eric and Sookie... heck, I might even eat some Swedish meatballs while at IKEA.  I am so weak.  

Observations from Texas...

So this last week, I was in Texas with Thomas house hunting for our relocation there in a month.  A few quick observations:

 

1. There are stars EVERY where in Texas.  I know I already mentioned this on facebook but its worth repeating.  Stars in light fixtures, stars in ads, stars in the freakin concrete over passes.  I am starting to think its a state requirement to have a star on or in your house in a place of prominence.  There is even one currently on the house we are buying (see above).
2. Traveling with someone who never flies was a ... um, unique... experience!  lol  We were at the car rental return THREE hours before our domestic flight.  I am not kidding.  
3. After the insane heat wave of Texas the 90+ degree weather in Atlanta felt fantastic!  How sad is that?
4. Once you spend days looking at "new" homes you notice all the little things that are not perfect about your own.  Seriously, why is the grass always greener on the other side?  (good thing our new house looks so fantastic!)
5. Tex-Mex food rocks.  We ate at Mi Cochina twice because we enjoyed it so much.  (but my realtor Joel was right, watch out for those margaritas!)  Thomas discovered cheese tacos (if you have never had them they are basically cheese enchiladas but with cheese sauce)
6. I have never felt "hot" wind before... in GA or FL, when there is wind in the summer, its usually a cooler front moving in.  But in Texas, apparently you can get these huge gusts of wind that feel like a blow dryer in your face.  Freaky.
7. I always feel reflective on the flights back home.  I don't know what it is, but with my iPod music playing, and looking out over the clouds, I tend to have these moments of ... I don't know what to call it, but introspection.  On this trip, I had two.  First, I am going to deeply miss my friends in Atlanta.  I have been trying to not think about it, but I feel like a huge part of life is the connections we make with the people we meet thru work, travel, our interests.  I am not sure how I am going to deal with the distance.  But I will.  Second, I realized how much I value authenticity.  In my friends, in the art I enjoy, in life.  Its hard to explain and make it sound as great as it did in my head, but there it is.  :)  

jbt

Creative Team Call!

Sorry to be such a slacker lately!  I really want to get back into blogging... but with my upcoming move to Texas life is crazy right now.

But on to our reguarly scheduled program for today:

Been dreaming of being on a design team but had no luck yet?  Looking to try out something to give you that extra creative push?

The Creative Soup is a small, friendly community with a kick butt creative team!  We are looking to add new CT members for Q3.  The commitment is for just three months, with an option to stay on for 3 more.  We offer free classes that rock, fun weekly challenges and crops every month or so.
We are a fun team that is laid back and well organized so you can just focus on creating and having fun with board members.  Great way to build your scrappy resume and get to know more scrappers!

Check it out at www.thecreativesoup.com
http://www.thecreativesoup.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=888

Creative Soup Blog Hop

Welcome to the Creative Soup’s Spring Forward Blog Hop!

To kick off our new enhanced site we thought it would be fun to have all of our creative team members complete one of the fun Mojo Monday challenges from the first quarter.  I chose to do Kim's Get Crafty challenge from January.  The challenge was to reuse a non-scrappy item on a scrapbook layout, card or project of your choice.

 

I love the idea of using non-scrappy stuff on your projects.  For my take on the challenge, I re-used three items on my layout - the black  mesh is plastic from packaging, the card is a left over star bucks card that I loved, and the "cloud 9" item is a tag that I used to hold my hidden journaling.

I also wanted to highlight a project by another creative team member that I loved from this challenge.  The project below was created by Katie.  I think its just amazing and you can see more photos here.

To participate in the blog hop leave a comment for me and then visit Mara's blog next: http://studiolorange.blogspot.com  to see what she came up with! Go through and leave comments on all 12 blogs and be entered into a drawing for an amazing prize pack. The blog hop runs from tonight Friday April 8th at 8pm Est through Monday April 11th at 11:59pm EST. Winner will be drawn on Tuesday!

Don’t forget to register at http://www.thecreativesoup.com/ to join in all the fun!

 

 

Mojo Monday & Work Layout

Kristin inspired us to use something from architecture to inspire our project.  I was inspired by rows of buildings where each building is a different color and size to create this...

 

I also made this layout of my coworker Christine... isn't she adorable!?

I blurred out a bit of the journaling :)

What things are part of your "style"?

Today I visited a scrappy blog that is pretty new to me and I started to notice that this particular scrapper has used some the exact same embellies, colors and shapes over and over on her last 15 pages or so.  I am sure this is something we all do... whether we are aware of it or not.  And over-time, what we are "into" on our projects probably changes some.  

 

So I decided to take a look at my own stuff and see what things stay the same and what has changed.  A few observations...  First MY PATTERNS. 

 

Everyone knows I LOVE to doodle

And I totally embrace the no photo layouts

I tend to love bold colors with neutral backgrounds

 

Lately, I keep doing pages with a block down one side of the page

 

I also really like grid designs...

 

BUT I do try some new things... I can see how I try to break out of routine here and there :)

I have noticed that I am trying slowly to get messier and experiment with paint and ink more...

And every so often I manage to use white space (something I am still trying to embrace)

So my CHALLENGE to YOU... blog at least TWO trends you see in your work and at least ONE thing you have been trying out that is new :)

j*b

Photos from random happenings

Since I started working on Project: Life Memorabilia (see blog here), I not only collect more junk, but I also snap more quick phone photos.  I figure even if I decide to not use the photos, the date stamp of the photo will help job my memory when it comes time to scrap about my everyday life.  Figured today that these are good for blogging too!  Love that :)

 

Lunch at Blue Fin Sushi

We went to BFS for my coworker Keiko's last day at work.  I already miss her!  I got the soy sauce flavored Ramen with roasted pork on top.  Good!  Made me long to go back to Japan again.

Goofing around with Christine

You should have seen me push her around our area, up and down the hallway in front of the offices (everyone was out)...  And how cute is Christine!  Even stuffed in a moving bin :)

Knitting with Jennifer & Ellen

I want to work on my afghan more!  I need to try to get out with Ellen and Jennifer to knit/crochet more :)

 

Tasca - Tapas with Ellen & Lucinda

Tried this new tapas & latin food place with Lucinda & Ellen... sorry for the awful photos but it was pretty dark in there :)

 

CPK 

This morning I woke up and wanted to go out to eat... I tried like 3 or 4 people and everyone was busy, so I ended up at CPK alone.  I read my book so all was good.  I just like how this photo came out using Hipstamatic.  The pic is of my mango lemonade which I LOVE at CPK

Oh poor little blog of mine

Its been a crazy few weeks...

Christmas at home

Insane snow across the country

Nasty chest cold

Nasty stomach virus

Merger at work & possibility of moving to Texas (eek)

Chest cold gets worse due to stomach virus

Fun bday weekend at Sheila's fabulous scrapcabin

 

Whew...

 

Things on my mind right now:

1. wondering why my health is so bad... is it just how I eat/exercise?  how much is stress?  
2. thinking about Texas and wondering what it would be like to start over in a new city.  This scares me.  But change can be good.
3. looking forward to dinner on Saturday to wrap up my b-day extravaganza
4. ready for a new scrappy project, but need to finish up a bunch of old stuff too... hmmm
5. wanting to make a trip  home to FL in the next month or two but wonder if I will really do it
6. ready to travel to Europe or somewhere for work!  I get antsy being home so long plus I so want to platinum next year ;)
7. thinking about how so many of my friends live in other cities
8. wondering why Private Practice has gotten so bad and why I still watch it 

Cool Hunting...

I got an iPad right after Christmas.  I knew I really wanted one but was not totally sure how and when I would use it... 

I found I was not using it as much as I probably COULD so I started seeking out highly recommended aps that would help me get more out of my fancy new device.  I have to say, using these aps makes you love your iPad so much more.  Its so interactive, and its more like playing to use your iPad than my MacBook Pro.  Plus the screen is nice and large, so it kicks butt compared to iPhone aps that sometimes can frustrate me with tiny images and tiny buttons.  

Thought I would share a few of my favorite finds.  These might be available for the iPhone also but I am recommending these based on the iPad version only.

1. Cool Hunting - this ap is a fun way to discover new cool things in the world of design, technology, food, style, travel, and culture.  I love the interactive nature of the program and already found several cool new ideas or products that got my creativity going.

2. Nook & Barnes & Nobel - the B&N shop feature on the iPhone is not the best experience.  You can't just browse books so unless you know exactly what you want, its tedious to use.  I love that when I am using my Nook ap on my iPad and want to shop for a new book, the shop pop-up is much like the website.  For me, no one can rival B&N for helping me discover new books and authors.  I love the "flying off the shelves" feature, along with seeing what they recommend.

3. Aweditorium - I am in, well awe, of this super cool music ap.  I need to spend more time with it to really unlock all its features, but already I am in love.  You discover new music by listening to songs and reading cool tidbits ala Pop-Up Video (which I totally miss by the way).  

That should get you started...

Enjoy your week :)

Come and crop with us online?

Sorry I have not blogged in so long!  

Here is a quick post to share an adorable invite K made over at Creative Soup for an upcoming online crop we are having complete with games and prizes!  Be sure to join us February 12th!

 

Plus my new/first Creative Soup class starts on the 1st!  Hope to see you there!