Unplugged

I had great intentions of spending my week updating the blog and working on other inside stuff, assuming it would be typical Alaskan summer weather and rain for the majority of our trip, instead something quite miraculous happened...7 days of near cloudless skies and warm(hot by Alaskan standards) temps.

I spent as much time outside as possible and in the land of the midnight sun(photo above is Denali aka Mt. McKinley around midnight) that's a lot of time...on the boat, in a lounge chair, even on the grass playing with S. No wifi, no cell reception, just the sounds of the wind, water fowl, voices of family and a few books to fill the time made for the perfect break.

It's hard to adjust back into a life where I actually need to do something, I'm trying to look a the bright side and be thankful I have a job and a life that affords such luxuries as a week away doing nothing but reading...trying really hard. I have a few (ok, 190 or so) pics and a rosy tan from the week to remind me of days left behind.

Here are a couple of my favorites...

Hope your summer is going well, hard to believe it's July already.

10 on Tuesday

So, I've sorted through my 200 or so photos from the 4 days in NYC and tried to pick my top 10 to share here.
1. The Chrysler Building

2. 6th Ave. by Rockefeller Center, love the vibrancy of the traffic and thankful I don't have to drive in it.

3. Looking up at the Empire State Building from Bryant Park

4. The heart of the Garment District

5. Radio City at night

6. Central Park and midtown skyline from the roof of the Metro. Museum of Art

7. Jeff Koons' 'Balloon Dog' also on the roof of the Met.

8. Taxis lined up on 5th Ave.

9. Central Park

10. Times Square

10 on Tuesday

I decided to tag along with Shelley on a business trip to NYC in a couple of weeks. Here's what's on the agenda so far

1. Sleep in...hooray for comfy hotel beds
2. Visit the MET
3. Visit the museum at FIT
4. Visit the MOMA
5. Drool over lenses in person at B&H Photo
6. Take the Sex and The City tour (cheesy I know)
7. Take in a Broadway musical
8. Enjoy the fall colors in Central Park
9. Window shop in the High End shops on 5th Ave.
10. Get lost in Macys

Any tips for a fall trip?

O'harrowing Experience

United Airline + Chicago O'Hare + Me = Bad Combination

When our outbound flight took off on time, I thought I had broken the curse. Really what could go wrong now? Yes the plane seemed a little loud, but it was a small commuter plane so I didn't really think too much about the noise...it's been awhile. In hindsight, I realize it was really loud, even more so than a bush Cessna. After we were flying for a bit the noise stopped, I remember thinking at that point we must have reached the magic altitude and all was quiet and aligned for a good flight home. That's just about when the captain came on the PA, to be honest I was not really paying attention, I thought he was saying something about flight time, weather, the glorious plains we were flying over, yada, yada, yada...then I heard 'shut down the right engine' he assured us that he prepared for this in simulation lots of times, ok great no worries we'll just keep going then the really dreaded words --- we are turning around and going back to Chicago...WHAT! Why? we were due for a stop in Lincoln and we had to be a good way there already why must we go back to Chicago...not that I really wanted to be stuck in Lincoln, but visions of O'Hare sleepover were dancing in my head. This is United after all and I wasn't expecting much in the way of customer service once we landed. Flight Attendant A did not help increase positive outlook, upon landing she said something like 'We've landed safely and that's the good thing, the crew really has no idea what will happen with you all now, but someone should meet the plan and give you further instructions...pause...good luck. ' Not much in the way of reassurance, I'm guessing she didn't vote for the negotiated contract.

I'm happy to report that United proved me wrong and by the time we landed, was actually prepared with a plan that didn't involve hotels and stand-by flights . In a mere 30 minutes we were reboarding a new plane and underway. I got home about midnight and am whipped today.

Despite the ending, it was a great trip...I'll be sorting through my 200 or so photos and post more about it tom.

10 on Tuesday

Summer is in full swing and lots of folks are traveling and reporting back. Little me is staying put for now, but I wanted to join in the fun with a list of some of my favorite places I've been to in the past.

1. St. Petersburg, Russia
2. Stockholm, Sweden
3. The Grand Canyon, Arizona
4. Mt. McKinley, Alaska
5. Copenhagen, Denmark
6. Cozumel, Mexico
7. Yellowstone National Park
8. Washington DC
9. New York City
10. Killarney, Ireland

Vacation Mission 1...Accomplished!

The Travel Album is finally ready to go to the store. This class/album has been a true labor of love. The paper arrived about a month ago, but I had to wait to finish working on another class before I could start. I knew I wanted to use the mask with alcohol inks for the cover and a few techniques from a CKU class by Debbie Schuh. I had most of it done about a week ago and then was cursed not once, but twice by the Bind-It All gods. Depressed and distraught (can you really be both or are they synonyms?) I couldn't face the book for a week. Last night I felt I could conquer my fears and finally get it ready to take in. After lots of practice on the bind-it all I was once again confident enough to try on the book and voila, finally! a good bind. I had to rework some pages, but I pretty happy with the overall result. Here are a few sneak peaks...










Here's the cover, I think it's my favorite part.


and a few of the inside pages. The goal is to make an album that can travel with you and you can add to as you go. Lots of pockets and envelopes to store treasures along the way. Added bonus...lots of ink techniques, I'm going to channel my inner Tim Holtz.



Just in case you're interested...the class will be on June 18th.

A Couple of Layouts

Work has been crazy the past month, but hopefully now that the funding count window is complete it will get back to normal.

I've been trying to do something creative everyday to maintain some sense of balance.
Here are a couple of my favorites from the past few weeks.I've had this picture for almost four years and have scrapped before, but it's one of my favorites and I found this quote and thought it would be perfect for the pic.


These are some of the pics I took in Vegas last month --- yes I did glue each of those circles individually. Crazy!

Vegas 1

Okay so these guys weren't there...shocking! I think Ocean's 11 is one of my favorite movies. Yes, I know totally implausible which was hammered home while I was in Vegas. Still it is immensely entertaining, so it should be no surprise that I headed off for the Bellagio after checking into my hotel. We stayed at the Stratosphere, much nicer than some of the reviews I read, for $53 bucks a night you can't beat it. The only problem is that it is on the way North end of the strip. I spent a lot of time on the monorail going back and forth. So off I go, the independent explorer as Mary Kay didn't arrive until the next day. I was a girl on a mission! Recreate the ending of the movie for myself. And I was not disappointed...I arrived at the front of the Bellagio just as the sun was setting. Unlike the movie I was one in about a thousand people watching, but I still got a great photo spot. Too bad my camera is really night photo challenged. As you stand there you can see the mechanisms start to rise out of the water and before you know it the music has begun and the mist is rolling off the 'lake'. You can feel the cool air and slight mist on your face --- so refreshing for Vegas.


There is something so mystical about water...soothing and energizing at the same moment. From the misty start the fountains burst out of the water, you can't help but be mesmerized by the movement.

5 minutes later, just as it began the fountains sink into the water and the lake is still again. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, I dragged MK back after a long day at the show on Monday night just to see it again.