anything but ordinary

me in high heels!!!

okay, this is a big thing for me. (and I know i'm a dork, so whatever...)

I headed over to Macy*s on my lunch break, still needing to find some halfway decent (sexy but comfy) shoes for Vegas nights.

I found these and, out of desperation (and a bit of curiousity) thought I'd try them on... and they fit like a dream! made my boat feet and ugly toes look sexy as hell... and even though they are skinny heels (gasp) I had absolutely NO wobble issues. They are totally stable (though we'll see how i fare after a few drinkie-poos...)

And to top it all off, they were on SALE!!! (I LOVE that word.) They were originally about $89, marked down to $50-something, and with a coupon I had, it brought it down to $45. woo-hoo!!!

Here are the shoes... they're Anne Klein.

I can't WAIT for vegas!!!

new items in cafe press shop

Wanting a few special items to wear on my honeymoon and not being able to find exactly what I was looking for, I decided to come up with a few of my own. (Actually, to be honest, the ideas were mine but Tony did most of the artwork for me, so I have him to thank for that...) 

Not only did I want to wear something to proclaim my new wedded status for the heck of it, but also because I have heard that it helps to let people know that you are on your honeymoon, to get some special perks... and especially since we're going to Walt Disney World... I've hear they treat you extra special!!!

The above is a heart design that says "Just Married." Shown here on a raglan hoodie that will be the light jacket I use while on my honeymoon.

Above: on the left is a jersey t-shirt with the words "Just Married" and a floral/butterfly design. And on the right is simply a white tank top with the word "newlywed."

So, there are 3 new designs in my cafepress shop, available on a variety of items (mroe than what is just shown here). And while they were designed with my own personal intentions in mind, they are also available for sale if anyone is interested... www.cafepress.com/chelbug.

new jewelry in my etsy store...

I have 2 brand new items for sale in my etsy store (www.chelbug.etsy.com). I have started to create my own jewelry; here are my first two offerings.

The above is a 7" brown faux leather bracelet with pink beads and a toggle closure that reads "life is good" when closed.

The charm on the above necklace is reversible...the words "balance" are engraved on one side and on the other side is a 3-d design. Green bead is for accent. Includes a 19" brown faux leather cord with lobster clasp.

Stay tuned for more offerings soon...

I got my new camera!!!

but it wasn't quite so simple to get it...

i guess my brother (Shaun - who works with me) had received the delivery earlier, but didn't tell me. i knew he was up to something when i came by his desk and he covered a bunch of things he was writing...

he came by my desk later with a green post it. on it was written the following:

Scavenger Clue Hunt

1.  I am filled with documents that need filed, though only when my master is bored.

I asked him if he was serious...was he hiding my camera???!!!  at first i was upset, but then it was fun...i LOVE scavenger hunts. it was silly.

Following the clue, i went to a filing box we use, and found another post it.

2. I am full of wheat and food coloring and dissolve rather quickly in milk, much to my consumer's dismay.

I found his bag of cereal he keeps here, in th ekitchen. Attached was another post it.

3. Dopplegangers are my specialy, though I have seen my fair share of body parts.

This one stumped me. I didn't get it and had to ask for clarification. I was thinking dopplegangers in the person sense...he was meaning simply "copies" (the copier machine) and the body parts is cuz we're always sticking our arms inside trying to fix the blasted thing! Went there, and found another post it.

4. Full of caffiene and goodness, I am the most popular in my domain. People cry when there is nothing left of me.

I headed to the coffee maker...finally found the next post it on one of the boxes of the most popular coffees used around here.

5. This "circular file" is used for all the office junk mail, and sits below the most awesome person ever.

So I went to Shaun's desk and checked the recycle bin...the last post-it said : YOU WIN! but there was nothing there, and i wasn't about to dig thru the trash...

but he reached under the desk and pulled out my shipped package from Dell...

woo-hoo!

that was fun. and now i have my camera...   : )

new camera!!!

I just bought myself a new camera. Necessary? not really. Love it? ABSOLUTELY!

Here's the scoop... my brother needed a new digital camera and asked my opinion on one he was considering buying. I gave him the thumbs up. He bought it online 2 days ago and had it shipped to our office. He received it today! (Pretty darn quick...) So, I got to scope it out for myself...testing things out a bit. This camera is fantastic! I fell in love with it, myself...

Let me introduce you to the Canon Power Shot SD1000 Digital ELPH. It's a beautiful thing... this is a 7.1 MP camera, and was on sale through Dell for $150. GREAT deal.

My last camera was a Canon; actually this very same camera...but a few models ago, which was bought about 4 years ago. I think it was a 4 or 5 mp camera. good for the time, but quickly became obsolete. I used it ALL the time (carried it in my purse), and it finally just stopped working for some reason. Don't know if I burnt out an internal motor or what the exact situation was, but rather than just have it looked at, I went out and bought a new and different camera instead...and I don't like it very much.

The camera I am currently carrying is a 10.1 MP Olympus Stylus 1000. It has all the "bells and whistles" which is what drew me to it in the first place. more MP, more shooting modes... i thought "more" meant "better." WRONG. A few things I don't like about the Olympus: i'ts complicated to use. I've been a camera fiend for YEARS, so the menus are nothing new. But this one is aggravating. This camera operates on the fact that you don't KNOW what you need...everything is an automatic mode, and you just have to tell it what type of picture you would like to take in order for the camera to "adjust itself" accordingly. This can be aggravating when you are not a simpleton and are trying to correct the "technical" stuff yourself. There is NO manual mode on the Olympus, which means that you have to tweak the automatic modes in order to fit your need. And when you DO choose to use one of the many automatic modes it offers, you have to "okay" it EVERY time you turn on the camera...so instead of being ready to shoot in 3 seconds, it can take 5, 6, or even up to 10 or 15 if you forget to hit the OK button first. Doesn't sound like a long time, but when you are dealing with pictures of children, it can mean the difference between a picture of their beautiful face or a blur of "something" going by.  There are other complaints, too. but I want to get back to the good stuff...

So, I wanted a new camera. And I have been drooling over a digital  SLR camera (the Canon XTi). But at $600, there is just NO way I will be getting that for myself anytime soon...especially with a wedding, honeymoon, moving, etc. that needs a chunk of that change.

But, due to the above-mentioned important events, I also don't want to get stuck with crappy pictures from my current crappy camera (Olympus). I am a photo-freak and take photos on (almost) a daily basis... it's important to me that the photos are good. So...after playing with my brother's camera extensively today, I really really wanted it.

This Canon seemed to be everything I had loved about my old one, but with all the old "problems" fixed. For instance, on my old Canon, I didn't like the lag time for the camera to be READY to take a photo once you turned it ON. This new one is ready in less than 3 seconds. On the old one, I got the motion blur quite a bit...I wanted something to remedy that. This new one DOESN'T have the "image stability" button that some other cameras do, but they try to accomodate it in their own way by speeding up the ISO (shutter speed), and have a "child and animal" (read: fast-moving objects) mode, as well as an "indoor" mode for the same reason. And, according to some of the reviews I checked out online, people couldn't  tell the difference between Canon's remedy and other "image stability" uses. To be honest, that was one of the features I really wanted when looking for a new camera last time...I found it in the Olympus and thought my problems were solved. Nope. I didn't notice that big of a difference, actually.

This new Canon HAS MANUAL MODE!!! (I can hear the hallelujah chorus already...) Seriously, I used to use this ALL the time in my old camera, but it's not even available on my Olympus (boooo...). And this new Canon has a really cool picture viewing orientation-thing that it does...hard to explain, though (but I'll try). If you hold the camera in the normal way and take a picture, then turn the camera vertically to take a picture, the photos would normally be stored where some are horizontal and some are vertical, right? nope. Not only does this camera orient them the right way when they are imported to your computer (the Olympus did NOT do this and it drove me NUTS having to FIX each photo before storing), but on this Canon, if you turn the camera in "photo-viewing mode", the photo will orient itself correctly on the screen so you are able to view it larger. Totally cool...trust me.

Another good thing about this Canon...when you are focusing on faces, it has a face tracking mode, where it automatically "knows" to focus there instead of the random picture on the wall behind your subject. This is a wonderful invention.

Since I had my Olympus with me today, I took pictures of the same subject with both the Olympus and the Canon, to compare the actual quality of the images of the 2. WOW. what a difference... even though the Olympus has more megapixels, the Canon was MUCH more clear of an image. very crisp and bright. And I know that this is influenced by the size you shoot the image at, as well as the white balance, etc. But I am telling you, the Canon is a clear winner here.

So, while this was not really a NECESSARY purchase for me to make (and I went back and forth a lot on this decision because of this...), I decided to go ahead and buy it! woo-hoo!!!

Streamlined Linkings

My "online community" started to grow too much to fit into my sidebar without looking messy. So, in an effort to streamline my blog just a bit, I have gathered all my links onto a separate "page" (see my sidebar) where they are divided into categories.  These are the blogs and websites I try to visit on a regular basis.  If you have one you think I might enjoy, shoot me a message and I might add it to the others...

define this.

In the process of trying to promote my blog a bit more, I have come across several blog directories that I will be joining. But there is a question asked in the "new profile" section of each one...a question that I have not figured out yet just how to answer. The question is phrased differently on different sites, but is essentially the same: tell us about your blog; tell us about you; what is your blog about; etc...

In other words: define yourself and what you share with the world.

I have always struggled against this.  I don't know how to sum myself up in a few mere words. Even to describe my blog. Now, I would like to start changing my blog a bit...adding less "me" and a little more of my "creations"...artwork I sell on etsy, scrapbooking pages I make, etc. But that's just it. I'm always changing... what kind of definition do I give that encompasses it all, but still leaves room to grow?

Hmmm... this one will take some more thought.

marriage vs. wedding...

I've been very very busy lately... (which is why my blog, among other things, have gone ignored for so long).

I have been busy planning a wedding that will happen in 2.5 months. I remember when it seemed SOOO far away, and I got to tell myself "don't worry...there's PLENTY of time." HAH! Time has pretty much run out, and now we're down to the "nitty-gritty" details. I know a LOT of people that go more overboard than I do, and I know others that don't really have their hand in many of the details at all. I like to think that I'm somewhere in between...

I think, honestly, if I had it to do all over again (hadn't already dropped LOTS of $$$ into deposits, decor, etc...), I would do it very very simplistically. Just grab a handful of friends and family and head to Mexico or Vegas or somewhere fast and easy. Simple. Maybe even just the two of us, 2 witnesses, and a photographer. Done.

I had never been one of those young girls to plan her dream wedding as a child,  and so, once engaged, I didn't know where to start. The possibilities seemed endless. And I got swept up in the fantasy of it all...surrounding myself with DOZENS of the bridal magazines available. And since we are able to do most of it ourselves, we could re-create some magazine-esqe details, for a fraction of the cost. However, I got SOOOOO into the idea of it all, that the "little things" got lost along the way... like the whole reason behind this day. The MARRIAGE of Tony and myself.

As I delved into the planning more and more, Tony found himself interested less and less. I wanted him to help more with the planning; he wanted ME back...the (somewhat) sane girl who talked about things OTHER than fabric swatches, thermography printing and head counts. I thought he was slacking, leaving ME to handle all the "stuff" that "needed" to get done; he thought I was slacking in our relationship...spending more time on this one day than looking towards the realization of the future beyond it. He started to feel lost in plans for this one day (that have been going on for almost 2 years now), as most of the details of the day aren't things that he really cares about...tablecloths, flowers, etc... what matters to him are the most important things of all: the vows we will be making to one another.

No, I didn't "forget" about the future after the day of the wedding. But I got lost in all the fluff along the way. In trying to make the day "our own," I didn't realize how much TIME and effort was spent on those things. I'm trying to find my footing back in reality (albeit, a bit too late now), and balance the details of the wedding with the enourmous fact that Tony and I will be merging our lives in a BIG way. I have been trying to delegate more wedding tasks to my matron of honor (who is a godsend, by the way, and has pretty much been acting as my wedding coordinator), and have been spending more REAL time with Tony... talking, talking, talking...and trying to take more steps to create the type of MARRIAGE we both want.

THIS is what is real.