Anything But Gray

I am a business owner! Ha!

September 16, 2009

Check me out…FINALLY got my shop up and OPEN!!!!

Etsy Shop!

Cool? You like? Let's hear some feedback, folks!!!
Or you can just buy something…I'd be cool with that. Ha!!

Did you notice how my teen contact cards have the most views? I'm LOVING that!
I am very smitten with myself for coming up with such an original idea and I am going to make a bold prediction.
I guarantee you that within…let's say 2 to 3 weeks….you will see other graphic design shops on etsy, offering the same thing! Obviously not the same designs, but the same idea….teen contact cards. I just know it. Because I know it IS that cool of an idea….and I'm cool with that, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, yes? I just wanted it written down somewhere that I know these will start showing up on etsy…..

Right now if you search for a teen contact card, you just get me…..go try it in a couple weeks. Mark my words!! LOL

And hey…if I'm wrong? All the better for MEEEEEE and my shop! LOL

Gotta run…life is calling….
Back to your regularly scheduled program….geez!

September 8, 2009

Okay….honestly?
This little blog vacation I took?
So not my fault this time!!!!

We had some MAJOR occurrences go down around here and life was utterly and completely insane….

First of all..realized we just could not swing the New York thing…..and decided, with J, to wait until the holidays….I was a little down in the dumps about that. This not getting to meet J thing is getting REALLY friggin' old and I was so, so happy to get to meet her son….so that kind of put me in a blah mood…..but I was excited that we made another date, so all is not lost…..but THEN…..

I lost my internet for FOUR days!!! Yes, FOUR!!!! . Pissed me the fuck off…..pardon the language…but it really, really did. Personally I thought I handled it better than expected but that's just me….you'd have to ask everyone else what they think…lol.

THEN…my mother decides to go and have a minor heart attack. (wink) Needless to say….life got put on hold while we got through everything with my mom. She was fine…drove herself to the hospital, even…gotta love mom…..and they had her in ICU because of the medication she was on, until they could do the test to see what exactly was going on….which wound up being DAYS later……so we were back and forth up to the hospital and just worried about her. Honestly…not overly worried because she looked and sounded fine…but obviously worried. They transferred her to a hospital in Manchester to do the procedure and then I got a little nervous….but she got through it just fine….she has a stent in now. And she will obviously need to take care of herself a bit better but she will be a okay….WHHOOOO-HOOOOO!!! The emotional drama of that whole situation will have to wait for another post….dont' really want to go there today. Cha know? lol 🙂 Let's just say realizing I could lose my mom really hmmm…..I don't know…..made me think…made me realize how important she is to me……but again, let's save that for another post….

And then during that time mom was in the hospital, the kids started school!

So as you can see, it's just been a lot of big stuff going on and not a single bit of it is MY FAULT.
So I am not taking any of the blame for this one! LOL

I've got lots more cool stuff to talk about but I'll leave you with this for now…..and some pics to make up for being gone for two weeks! LOL

This is the kids first day of school….

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First day of school 2009 (2)

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First day of school 2009 (5)

First day of school 2009

LOL gotta love Jaime, the poser.

and this one just cause he's so stinkin' cute…

Misc september 2009 (3)

Forgive me???

Enjoy!! More soon!
Women, (including ME ) take note!!!!

August 23, 2009

So……

As everyone knows, I have had weight issues ever since about 18 months after I had Ben…..after not having any issue my entire life. Luckily, my weight and body came effortlessly for me, all my life. So much so that when I got pregnant with Jaime, I had no clue what I weighed to start with. I didn't even own a scale. Weight was just never anything I had to struggle with. I have always been a go, go, go person, maybe not "working out" but I've had physical jobs, I've always turned cleaning into a sport, practically….so I've been somewhat active in my life and I'm not really a junk food / fast food junkie…..I have had my moments, for sure….but I always ate well more than I didn't….

Well after I had Jaime, I kept about 10 pounds of the pregnancy weight…but again, no biggy. All my clothes still fit, I didn't get any stretch marks so I didn't have a problem with the little tummy I had….it was no big deal. And I knew we were having more kids, so I wasn't overly motivated to lose the weight….why bother when I'm just gonna gain it again?? LOL

Then I had Ben and kept another 10. Then I got pissed. Then my clothes didn't fit and I felt fat…it was just driving me nuts….18 months after he was born, I researched diets online and decided on weight watchers. I told Zak about it and he said he would do it with me…..so we both lost some major weight and looked really good and healthy and we were so thrilled….

Well over the last few years, the weight has gradually creeped back for me. I so did it to myself..and not really from eating. When I first lost the weight, I was terrified of gaining it back so I kind of starved myself…not literally but enough so that when I DID eat…my body was like oh yeah, hang on to THOSE calories cause God knows when this dipshit is gonna feed me again! LOL So I gained some there….and I am a gain weight when I am stressed kind of person….so the combination of the two has made me creep back up to where I was after Ben. And I HATE. IT. SO. FUCKING. BAD.

Well…I made a deal with someone….either I was going to do something about my weight and shut up or I was gonna get okay with how I look and shut up by a certain date. The date came and went with no lost weight for me. And I decided that's it…I"m good with how I look, I'm gonna go buy some clothes that fit and just SHUT UP about my stupid weight. I'm going to keep eating right and start going to the gym and whatever happens, happens. And I was doing GOOD with that…I was done saying I was fat, done caring I felt fat…..I was just DONE stressing about the whole thing….but then the other day, I was looking in the mirror to see if a pair of shorts I wanted to wear where too short…like ass hanging out, too shor. So I go in the bathroom and get on a stool, so I can use my hand mirror to look in the big mirror. I lift the hand mirror over my head so I can see it in the big mirror, I see….oh my god, it's horrible…I couldn't believe it…one of the worst moments of my life…..I don't know if I can even say it….it really IS that bad….but for the sake of this blog post, I have to say it…..so I will…as hard as it is….I look in the mirror and I see…..(oh, god!!!!) back fat. Honest to God fat roll on MY BACK!!!! Well, THAT just ruined my friggin' day, thank you very much!!! And I immediately call Zak…"You HAD to have known that was there….how long has that been there??? Why didn't you TELL me, you fucker!!!" And I tell my Mom….and she, of course, rolls her eyes at me and doesn't believe me….so I lift up the back of my shirt and say.."Look! See for yourself!!!" And she looks and…get this….gasps a little and says.."oh, Joanna…." all shocked like! LOL (I am so loving her reaction…the best yet!!! LOL ) And I start yelling "See! I TOLD you!!!" and she's like "Well, you look great in clothes!" LOL

Anyway….I'm actually having fun with this, at this point….but I am seriously getting my ass to the gym. That one stupid little fat roll is going to kill all my I don't care how I look attitude! Not good! LOL

So I'm struggling to get that attitude BACK……and I come across this article….

This chick rocks!

Friggin' cool, huh??

I so hope more magazines follow suit….
I will be honest, I like to look at beautiful people…I do and I do believe it is not a bad thing to have beautiful, perfectly sculpted bodies in magazines….BUT an even mix of REALITY, some pictures of some REAL women, would sure do WONDERS for all of us!!!!

Kudos for Glamour!! I've always loved that magazine!!!

Now me and my fat roll are going to bed! LOL
🙂
See what I can do?

August 19, 2009

I talk about my design and marketing work and about my website…At A Glance Graphics ….but I don't know that I show you guys much of it….I don't post much of my actual work to my blog….and now is as good of a time as any to start. 🙂

Once the kids get back into school, I am really going to start pushing this site and really work at getting it going. I am excited. I love doing the work and if I could actually make a few bucks doing it?? Well hell, I am so there!

Shelly designs themes for BlackBerry's and she's got her own site for it….Shelly's Site. I think this has TONS of potential, if she marketed it more. She makes a few bucks from it now and gets quite a lot of hits but I think with the right marketing, it could be really big and she could make as much as a full time job. When the kids go back to school one of the things I want to do is help her do some marketing…..I can't wait! Anyway, about a month ago, we were talking about her site and I wanted to make her a logo and think of a tagline. She was cool with that and so I did.
This is what I came up with….

YourBerry_logo_pink_copy for web

I thought it was AWESOME. Was VERY pleased with myself. And when I showed Zak and he sucked in his breath and said "you did that for free???" and I said "of course, babe, it's for Shelly" He shook his head at me….and just walked away, muttering something about my logo being as good as any professional logo she could get. and he can't believe I did it for free…..LOL Little does he know, (that's the second time in two days I've used that phrase…weird..lol) that just his reaction is payment enough. I love when I impress him. Plus, I like trying to think of logos and taglines for people and businesses that I am completely unfamiliar with, to see if I can. It's kind of like practice AND it's building my portfolio…all good for me!

I'm am just chomping at the bit to get this going and I just wanted to share….let you guys see what it was I'm actually doing when I say I'm "working" LOL
on my mind….

August 18, 2009
I keep talking about how we have a lot going on and can't seem to find time to blog about it…..so I"m making a list.
It's for "you" but it's for me too, so I don't forget what I want to talk more about, when I get a minute…..
- the kids school is all settled. They will be going to our
  neighborhood school. The greatest thing about this? Ben will have FULL
  DAY (THANK YOU GOD!!!!) kindergarten.
- J asked me to
  design her son's 1st birthday invites. I am truly flattered and so
  honored……and get this? She's going to PAY me….little does she
  know I would've paid her to let me do it…<wink> Seriously…this is a HUGE for me. I value J's opinion for most things professional..design, writing, etc….and for her to say I'm good, is one thing, for her to hire me to design her son's 1st bday invites….well that proves it! LOL
- I got something BIG done for my graphics website….it wound
  up being fairly easy to accomplish, however it was a BIG issue in my
  head….so happy it's done! I feel like I can really move forward, now.
  Just waiting for the bratlings to go back to school.
- I got an offer on my website…www.ataglancegraphics.com. Someone wanted to buy it, obviously for the name. I told them it was a work in progress and I was looking forward to making it grow but I'd be interested in what they had to say. The offer was too low to even consider…but I'm still proud someone wanted it enough to make an offer!
- Work is really picking up for Zak. I'm feeling really good about it.
- So excited to go to NYC and meet J…I can barely breath when I imagine seeing her for the first time….so surreal!
- Finally got to talk to Alaska Kim….I've been missing her a lot. 🙂
- Facebook has brought me back in touch with some childhood friends..the kids that I grew up with in my neighborhood in Boston…..amazing!
- I,
  for the first time since we've been here, have a sense of calm…a
  sense of something "big" coming….in a good way. Can't quite put my
  finger on it, but when I first got this feeling, I told Zak about
  it….that I just had a wave of happiness and reassurance wash over
  me….it was moment that I can pinpoint….all of a sudden, life felt
  "good", stress felt relieved and I knew, in my heart, something good,
  something big is coming our way. Hopefully my "premonition" will
  happen!! LOL But even if it doesn't, I have felt really, really good
  these last few weeks….so even if nothing huge materializes, that
  still, right there, is a plus, I suppose!
- Feeling very, very appreciated and loved. My friends have been very
  vocal lately about how great I am and how much I mean to them. I
  sometimes feel so unworthy and I have no clue what I have done to deserve such wonderful family and friends….I'm just know I'm really grateful for it!!!
- Wishing I could go to Alaska to see Danielle's baby!!! 🙂
- an incident about a month ago has made me do some serious soul searching…..and realizing that feelings that raged in childhood that I overcame and resolved in adulthood, are slowly creeping back in…..time to reresolve them because I will NOT feed into it and live my life on the defensive….
Eventually,
I would like to talk more about these things…..I like the idea of
leaving a list for myself…so when I do have a free minute to write
and I'm stumped for content, I just go to this list!! LOL So cheating,
yes?

Oh well!
Happy, Happy Birthday Mommy & some pics!

August 17, 2009

So here are a few pictures from the BBQ on Saturday….we didn't get a ton of them, which is a drag, but at least there are a few! 🙂

Mom and rick bday party august 2009 (35)

This is my sister and the cake…Niki had it made half for Rick and half for Mommy…it looked really cute!

Mom and rick bday 2 august 2009

Mommy and Rick making a wish and blowing out the candles!!

Mom and rick bday party august 2009 (34)

My Auntie Phyillis….:-)

Mom and rick bday party august 2009 (33)

me and 2 of my cousins….Seany and Billiejo….ADORE them….So awesome that Seany could be here for a family get together…the first one he could come to since he moved back, only like last week! LOL

Mom and rick bday party august 2009 (9)

My mommy and Carol. Carol is my mom's childhood friend…since like 2nd or 4th grade..can't remember which..either way, a long friggin' time!!! LOL

Today is my mom's actual birthday and for her bday I was going to get her a nice pot for her garden or something like that…something she'll actually use and like…but instead I had this picture printed out and I'm gonna go run and pick it up and then I'll grab a nice frame for it…she's gonna love it! I'm so excited to give it to her. She gets out of work at 2pm….I CAN'T WAIT!!!! LOL I so love giving GOOD gifts….:-)

Happy, Happy Birthday Mommy…..I love you so much!!!!

Enjoy the pics!!!
in touch

August 16, 2009

Yesterday was really fun. My sister had a BBQ for mom and Rick…their birthdays are super close together (14th and 17th) so Niki did their party together. I'll upload the pics from that later but for now…

I've been missing my Alaska Kim for awhile….missing her more than normal…and I haven't been able to get ahold of her, which makes me miss her even more! And I've been anxiously awaiting some pics and an update about Ava from Danielle. I haven't called her because she said she would call me when life settled down…..so I've been being patient…(NOT one of my strong points…lol)

Yesterday, right when I was sitting down to take a break from cleaning and was about to hop in the shower…Kim called! I was so, so happy to talk to her and we got to talk for a long time! Yay!!! She updated me with what was going on with Danielle and the baby and lots of other stuff. It was so, so nice to finally talk to her…..AND find out how Danielle and her family are doing…..well then later, WAAAAY later, I check my email and I a nice little email from Danielle along with these pics…..

Photo(3)

Joey and Ava…..SO CUTE!!!!!

Joey at Lena

Such nice pictures and SO wonderful to get an email from her!!!

So between getting to hear from Kim and get to talk forever and then this from Danielle…..I was a happy, happy girl!
So made my day!!

I'll be updating later with pics form the BBQ yesterday…..hang tight! LOL
sentinmental fool.

August 14, 2009

This has been a really busy week…I managed to upload some photos to my blog but hadn't found the time to actually write…..until JUST NOW.

Last weekend was SUCH a good weekend….

There was a girl I worked with at the donut shop years and years ago…..when I was a teenager…15-19, I worked there. Anyway her name was Jen and she was a really cool chick. I dug her. We kind of hung out….we didn't get super close, but I did consider her a friend. She is the one who did the cross tattoo on my hand….Indian ink, needle and some string–the old school way! LOL 🙂 I wound up finding her on facebook, she is really close to my very close friend, James and I saw her as one of his friends, so I had to add her. So we've been back in touch and we keep making plans to go out. We finally got to last Saturday and I had SUCH a good time!!!! It was so awesome to see her and visit with her and then go party with her…..another moment of I am SO GLAD we moved back here!!! It is really a good feeling to be able to hang around with people who "knew you when"…..and can appreciate how much you've grown. And the funny thing is….there is so much of Jen that has not changed a bit! She is still a wise ass, funny as hell and doesn't take any shit from anybody–my kind of girl! I loved seeing that she hasnt' changed all that much. She even looks pretty much the same…..I had such a good time with her that I cannot wait to do it again!!! She got some pics of us and I'm gonna right click and steal one from her facebook page and post it…..but first let me finish writing….

So Saturday was already a pretty awesome friggin' day and we had a busy day, Sunday….we were taking the kids into Boston, South Boston to be exact and go to Castle Island with Freddy. (my cousin..) We had an absolute BLAST. I hadn't been to Castle Island since I was a little girl and it was really cool to be able to take my kids there and Zak, WITH Freddy!! When we were growing up, me, my brother and my sister and my three cousins, grew up like brothers and sisters. It was not like we were cousins and we always imagined that we'd grow up, get married, have kids and then OUR kids would hang out together. We always imagined we'd still be close when we grew up. In our adult life, we all managed to get pretty seperated…me in Alaska, Marky in Alabama, Seany in Georgia…just crazy all over the place. We still stayed pretty close in our hearts…but we were about as spread out as you can get. And it was sad for me…sad that life didn't work out the way we all imagined it would. Well…with Freddy getting out of jail AND Sean deciding he was moving back up here and me coming back last year… .it just feels like we are all "coming home…" and I LOVE it. I love that we are together again…..So as we were pulling into South Boston, to pick up Freddy, Seany is texting me…saying his is driving onto the Cape….and it blew my mind for a moment….I couldn't believe it was happening….here I am on the way to SEE Freddy and Seany is texting me cause he's back home, right at that moment……it was just a little feel good moment that made me realize how happy I am that I am back home….

After Castle Island, we went to Carson beach and the kids had a BLAST. Me, Zak and Freddy sat on the beach and talked while the kids swam and made sand castles…..then Freddy had to get back and Zak and I had decided that we would take the kids on the subway and go to downtown Boston. Obviously the kids have never been on a subway and neither has Zak, (no honey, the Seattle airport subway does NOT count….lol ) so I was super excited to do a "first" with them. So we left Southie and drove over to Dorchester, Savin Hill neighborhood….my childhood neighborhood…and found a place to park the car and we walked to the train station. The same train station that I walked to when I was little….the train station I walked to every morning of 9th grade to take the train to school….I LOVED it. They loved it….it was so fun! We walked around downtown for awhile and got some pics….the kids had a blast, they loved chasing the pigeons in Boston Common and they LOVED going into an old graveyard and checking things out. This graveyard was actually really amazing….Paul Revere is burried in it. John Hancock….and a few other famous people….we got some pics…..

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This sculpture was in front of the state building….I'm embarrassed to say I forget what it was erected for….I was exhuasted at this point and we still had to take the train back to the car and drive the hour home! My brain was just not in "retain this information" mode…my apologies!!!

I'm a little bummed I didn't get pics of the kids at the beach, the kids with Freddy, ME with Freddy, the kids on the train….but I guess I was just too busy living the moment to be worried about capturing it…..not a bad thing, in my book, but pictures WOULD'VE been nice……maybe next time!! LOL

All in all it was just an amazing weekend…..so fun and emotional and sentimental…..I'm so happy to be getting out DOING things here, FINALLY!!!!

Enoy!!!
it’s all a blur….

August 7, 2009

The last week has been CRAZY busy! I was on a roll too, updating my blog so much!
But things have settled down a bit now, although for the rest of August, we/me have something every weekend.
On the one hand I love it, but on the other….sure wish it was spaced out a bit more over the summer because there are things I am not going to be able to do because of things happening on the same night….grrr….!!!

The main thing that kept me crazy busy this week was because I spent a lot of time at Shelly's this past week. A couple of times a year, her husband goes out of town for a week or so, for work. Now normally, that might not be such a bad thing….some alone time is always good and I think time apart in a relationship makes you realize how much you value/appreciate and love your partner. HOWEVER, when you have two rambunctious young boys and it's the summer so they are home every day, all day and you have no friends/family in your immediate area to help out or keep you company, it is hard, REALLY hard. So I try to go up and hang out as much as I can. She so appreciates that I do that and I really enjoy doing it. It's nice to feel like your helping, plus I love spending the time with her. And I brought the kids a couple of times and they LOVE it. Fun stuff!

Also this last week Zak built Ben a loft bed. I have to get pictures of it but it came out AWESOME and Ben LOVES it. It gives him so much more room in his room and it looks so good! All we need to do is paint it but even not painted, it looks good. Jaime has been sleeping with Ben in there almost every night since Zak finished it. (Sunday…). I love that Zak can do that….love that he is good at building stuff and loves doing it. 🙂 Lucky me!!!

AND THEN…the Patriots drama. If you are my friend on Facebook, then you know what's been going on…but just in case you aren't…..Zak and I went to the Patriots training camp last Sunday. I was SO excited and couldn't BELIEVE I was going to get to see the Patriots. We stopped in Southie first, to pick up my cousin, Freddy and then we headed out to Foxboro…and as we are pulling into the parking lot, we see signs…."Training Camp Closed"…..I'm thinking no way...no fucking way is this happening to me!! All the while knowing in my heart…..oh yes, it is indeed happening to you….We pull up to a guy that is directing traffic and ask "Is camp seriously cancelled?" And the guy tells us, yes, Bellichick just called up and said they are practicing indoors and therefore, it's not open to the public. I maybe might have mutterred..maybe even yelled a little.."Motherfucker!!" The people that possibly heard that and were looking at our car and laughing seemed to understand my frustration….so anyway, we walk around a bit…we go up to the fence and I inform them I came all the way from Alaska, so they should let me in….they did not seem to care where I came from, as long as I left. Quickly. Whatever.

We wound up driving my cousin back to Southie and we drove around a bit….drove by my high school and stuff….we dropped him off with the plan to try again next Sunday and to make a day of it. Bring the kids and go to Castle Island, take the kids to the beach and then go to the practice. Sounds good, right? Well I get home and realize….THERE'S NO EFFIN' PRACTICE NEXT SUNDAY! <sigh>

We decide to go during the week, one of the afternoon sessions. Freddy can't go, which sucks, but we'll still go see him on Sunday…..so we pack up the kids and go.

And I get to see my Patriots. Wow….just holy effin' wow!!! I was psyched! It wasn't as fun as it would've been, but we had the kids and they were utterly bored…..but we got some cool pics and I GOT TO SEE MY PATRIOTS!!!

Here's some pics…..
dead center in this pics in Tom Brady, he's in black, so you can barely make him out…but he's there! LOL

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me being funny…..that shirt makes me look huge, but it's a funny pic. I like it. 🙂

After practice, some of the players came and signed autographs….not any of the super popular players, but it was still cool to see these guys……

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this is how the kids amused themselves almost the entire time….rolling down a hill !! LOL

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All in all, a very fun time! And I still can't believe I saw the Patriots!!
Whoo-hooo!!!

There's other news, but I'll blog again about it later…kids are getting restless and needing breakfast and stuff. 🙂

Introducing….

July 31, 2009

Miss Ava Katherine….

Danielle had their baby! I have no details yet, not even when she was actually born, just this adorable, can't-take-my-eyes-off-it-picture and a promise of when her life settles in a bit, she'll call.

I am so, so ecstatic for her them….and so wishing I could get on a plane to Alaska right this second…
I so just want to scoop up this little bundle of love and smother her with kisses and just watch her, be her.

This baby was so longed for, so wanted, so waited for….by Chris and Danielle AND by so many people (me included) who adore them and just knew what an awesome big brother Joey would make….

I am thrilled she is here…..so thrilled.
And how about that name, huh? So beautiful!!! I love it!!!

congrats Danielle, Chris & Joey….and Welcome to the world, Ava!!!!!

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