Memories of Escape 2009

Here it is May 2010 and I am getting ready to gear up for Escape 2010 to Emerald Isle with my friends. Last year in August my friends Jaime, Susan, Ken, Stewart and I headed to Emerald Isle for a week of sun, fun and relaxation. Jaime and Susan have been doing this for a number of years. I joined them on last years excursion and I had the time of my life. So as I gear up for Escape 2010, which will commense the week of August 21-28 2010 I thought I would take a walk down memory lane and share with you some of my fondest memories. This is Jaime and me out on the deck watching the sunset at Emerald Isle and waiting for Ken to finish making dinner. I think we has spaghetti that night. Ken is quite the chef. I sure enjoyed his omelets every morning.

This is Susan and I posing in the livingroom of the beach house we were staying at last year. Notice how nice and tanned Susan is and I am nice and pinky/red. I used SPF 70 and even sat under an umbrella and managed to get a little red. Go figure! This year I am going to introduce my skin to the rays a little bit at a time while using SPF 70 and see if I can manage not to burn this year at the beach. I have to admit I am a bit vain and I don't wish to wrinkle or deal with skin cancer issues so I do slather on the SPF 70 from head to toe summer, fall winter and spring, rain, sleet, snow, sunshine, tsunami, hurricane, earthquake you name it, I wear the stuff like armor.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh...look at these beach bums! Ken, Susan and Jaime relaxing on the beach watching the sunset and enjoying the ocean breeze. Wow, I just realized that they were able to get front row seats on the beach right in front of our place. We had a little problem with a family we like to refer to as the "Beach Nazi's". It never seemed to fail every morning when we would venture out to the beach with our chairs there the "Beach Nazi's" were taking up space in front of our house and we were forced to move down further.

Hey it's Ken and Jaime. I believe Jaime was reading her scuba diving magazine. She is currently working on becoming certified in scuba diving. Lucky for her her man Stew is a Master Diver!

Ken and Susan posing on the Beach at Emerald Isle.

Here'sssssssssss Jaime!

Jaime and Susan the Schnurr Twins!

Jaime and Stew smooching twins!

Susan and Ken join in on the smooching activities!

Dawn (Me) and Ken & part of Stew. I refer to Ken as my brother from another mother!

Stewart, Jaime and Susan chillaxin on the deck after a long day on the beach!

Ken and Susan. shiny, happy, peeps!

The Schnurr Twins again!

Shabby Chic Designs

I had to show off my newest creation! I was bored one Saturday so I decided to get creative. I picked up this bird cage at a yard sale sometime back in the summer and it has been sitting in my craft closet waiting for me to do something with it. I figure since I am into Shabby Chic/Victorian things I would create a Shabby Chic bird cage decoration for my bedroom. For this project I used the following things:

Supplies:

1 glue gun

1-2 glue sticks

1 roll of floral wire

1 pair of small piers

1 bag of Spanish Moss

3-4 sprigs of beaded twigs

1 bunch of undecorated plain twigs

1 faux decorative bird

1 faux decorative birds nest with eggs

1 roll of decorative ribbon of your choice

** You can find most or all of the craft supplies at places like AC Moore, Michaels or your local craft store. Instructions: I gathered a few branches of my beaded twigs and a few branches of my plain twigs and I took a piece of my floral wire and I wrapped it around the twigs tightly. This helps hold the twigs in place more securely. Once that was done, I arranged the tops of the twigs so that it looked like a tree. Next, I opened the top of my bird cage. Once the dome top was removed I took my glue gun and squeezed a fair amount of glue right on the bottom of the cage, directly in the middle. I gathered my little twig tree and I anchored the bottom into the glue and held it there for a moment. (Note: The glue hardens quickly) Next, I applied glue all over the bottom around the twig tree once I did that, I took my spanish moss and laid it down on the glue to cover the bottom of the bird cage. Once I was finished applying the spanish moss, I took my bird and my birds nest and positioned them in the twig tree and attached them using the glue gun. Afterwards, I attached the dome top back over the cage and secured it with the clips. Please

Note:

Depending on the size of your cage you may have to cut some of the twigs back so that the top will fit flush to the cage. As you will see in my picture above some of the twigs are sticking out from the sides of the cage. This gives the cage a bit more character. However, the tops of the twigs were a bit too long for the dome cover to fit down securely. So I trimmed them back using a small pair of piers. Last but not least, I attached a beautiful decorative ribbon to the top just below the ring and I tied a bow. I then took a small thin half an inch in width white ribbon and ran it through the ring of the bird cage and tied a double knot in the ribbon and hung it in the corner from the ceiling in my bedroom.

Here's Gracie!

Here is my sweet
wonderful girl Gracie.
She is quite curious, loves to
sit in the window and watch the
birds and squirrels play in the backyard


It wasn't long after I adopted Gracie that I discovered her knack for hamming it up for the camera. She loves to pose and I have found her in some rather interesting places like this Ebay box. I wish I knew what she was thinking and I would love to know what is going on in that little head of hers!

Gracie likes to play dress-up too. Here she is posing with my Hawaiian Lei.

You can never leave your purse

unattended or open with Gracie

around she loves to go exploring

and will always find something to entertain herself.

Here she found my Oakley sunglasses and managed to

drag them out with her paws.

You've might have heard

that cats do not like water.

This would not be the case for Gracie,

she loves the bathtub. It is a great hiding

place for her when she is trying to avoid

being aggravated by her brother Bailey or

when she just needs some alone time.



My bed with it's bounty of fluffy, comfy pillows is Gracies favorite napping place. Bailey tries to get up on the pillows but she manages to banquish him to the foot of the bed.

I'm only a cat,and I stay in my place...Up there on your chair,on your bed or your face! I'm only a cat, and I don't finick much...I'm happy with cream and fish and such! I'm only a cat, and we'll get along fine...As long as you know I'm not yours... you're all mine!

Meet Bailey (a.k.a Bailey Buns)

Meet Bailey King. He was adopted back in November 2007 shortly after the death of my sweet Opie. Bailey had a rough start in life, however thanks to a sweet woman in Cary, NC. Bailey found his forever home with me. Thank you Cait for rescuing this sweet boy! This is Bailey passed out on the couch after a rather expensive grooming, which set me back $130.00, but in the end it was worth it! He was still groggy from the sedation. But now he looks very handsome with his new lion cut and no shedding! Yippee!

This is one of my favorite photos of my sweet boy Bailey! He loves to look out the window. Unfortunately, this 18.2 lbs of purrrrrrrr love cannot manage to get himself up into the window sill because he is too rotund. Instead, he stands on his hind legs and watches the birds and squirrels in the backyard. We are working on the weight issue because mommy wants him to be a healthy happy boy. Surprisingly he is corporating with me.

Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.

Let's Go Canes!

If you know me then you know I am a huge Canes fan. I am very fortunate because I work for a company that has a box at the RBC Center and I get to see my Canes in action. Though this year was not one of the Canes best years I still enjoyed watching my boys play on the ice! Tuomo Ruutu is my favorite or as my Caniac peeps like to call him my Canes boyfriend! I love me some Ruuuuuuuuuuuuu! Though all the Canes players are awesome! I enjoy tailgating at the game with my Caniac peeps heres to Jaime, Ellen, Ken and Susan! Looking forward to hanging out with these guys at the 2011 NHL All Star Celebration! Woooooo Hoooooooo!

Left to Right: Susan, Me, Ken and Jaime tailgating at the RBC just before a Canes game.