I was browsing today and I discovered that Martha Stewart actually makes a scoring board of their own similar to that of the Scor Pal, except with a few tweaks. If you read my post a while back on the Scor Pal and how much I loved it, you could imagine my excitement. They’re also selling it and for much cheaper, and with some added features.

I do love my Scor Pal tremendously and use it every time I make cards. On the other hand, I’m looking at the Martha Stewart board and I’m thinking–narrower scores! That would be awesome! Still I think the only way I would trade in is if my Scor Pal broke or if for some reason I found a need for the narrower scores (which you can still achieve with the Scor Pal anyway) and the envelope tool (I don’t have any issues making envelopes as it is).

You can read the comparison for yourself.

We Decided to Expand Our Little Family, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Jabari decided to get an iPhone this past weekend. He’s loving it so far. My iPhone and Macbook are very happy to have a new sibling

A weird thing happened this morning. I actually woke up voluntarily way before my alarm clock went off

ON A MONDAY MORNING.

I couldn’t believe it. I had stayed up SUPER late last night (around 1:00 a.m.) knowing full well I would be paying for it the next morning. Normally my phone alarm goes off around 6:30 and then my real alarm clock, the one I keep on the other side of the room so that I actually have to get out of bed to cease the annoying buzz, goes off at around 6:45. This means on normal days, I’ll usually hit the snooze on both alarms several times before finally getting annoyed, turning them off, and then oversleeping until 8:00.

But this morning? My eyes opened at 6:15. At first I thought I had just fallen asleep 5 minutes ago, but one look at the clock confirmed that I was awake earlier than I should’ve been and I wasn’t tired. I laid there for a few minutes, not really wanting to get out of bed because I knew I didn’t have to, so I picked up my phone from the night stand and checked my email, checked Facebook, even checked out what’s new in the App store.

Finally, I thought, ok, I’m up early. And I know it’s my workout day so I might as well get it over with. I got out of bed (even Izzie wasn’t fully awake and looked at me like, “WTF? Where are you going? THIS BED WON’T STAY WARM IF YOU’RE NOT IN IT!”)

I put on my workout clothes, turned on the Wii and the TV (it was then that Izzie figured I would not be coming back and finally decided to join me in the living room). Today’s workout was kinda fun actually (except for the side jumps–kills the thighs). I had to do some warm up dancing, some tennis, and inline skating. Who would I have thought I’d become one of those people who enjoyed working out early in the morning?

It’s been a really good Saturday. And those are rarely good for me because oftentimes I never do everything I have on my list of things to do before the weekend is over. Although today I didn’t have said list, it was still a good day. And maybe that’s why it was so good.

It’s almost midnight. I’m curled up under the covers watching a Clive Owen movie while typing away on my laptop. Izzie is snoring loudly from Jabari’s side of the bed. And actually, she shouldn’t be sleeping in our bed because she’s grounded (she’s been really bad this past week), but, well, it’s cold and it’s the weekend. I’ll let it go just this once.

Jabari is in Houston for the weekend so it’s been just us girls since yesterday. It’s been nice to have the place all to myself again, but I do miss him.

I’ve tackled my second sewing project this weekend: simple table napkins and a cute little apron. The napkins turned out great, I purchased more fabric to make another set. And the apron turned out, well, ok. I don’t know if I liked my fabric of choice. I probably would have liked it better if I used some kind of twill or canvas for the apron part, and then the patterned fabric for the front pockets. I’ll have to post pictures of it tomorrow.

After making a quick trip to Hobby Lobby, I grabbed lunch at Raising Cane’s. It’s funny—I tried that place several years ago when I discovered their location in Lewisville, but the meal was so disappointing. The breading on the chicken tenders was soggy and fell off the chicken. The chicken itself was flavorful and the dipping sauce was… weird. It had a may, ketchup, curry, nutmeg type flavor. I was so used to Chick Fil A and their honey mustard and crispy waffle fries that Cane’s was just so unimpressive.

Then they opened a location down the street from where I live. I was on my way home from shopping one evening when I figured I would stop by. It seems as though they’ve improved something because the chicken tenders were much better. The dipping sauce is still weird, but it’s starting to grow on me. I’m still not sure if I like it more than Bubba’s on Hillcrest, but when I get tired of Chicken Express (and I sometimes do), it’s nice to have another option.

Wow, did I really just write two paragraphs on the intricacies of fried chicken tenders?

I have a lot of things on the horizon though. A new month is about to start which means another month of working towards my goals. Oh, did I mention I’ve been working out using EA Sports Active? It’s a lot of fun despite the lunges, jump lunges, and jump squats I’ve had to do since starting this workout. The great news is I’ve already lost 3 lbs since starting over a week ago! Baby steps, of course. Baby steps.

Hello, Friend, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Supplies:
So Saffron card stock (Stampin’ Up)
Kraft card stock
Eliza patterned paper (Making Memories)
Flower embellishments (American Crafts)
Large pewter brad (American Crafts)
Border sticker from Kelly Panacci

Earlier this month, I set out to accomplish a few small goals this year. If you didn’t read my 2010 resolutions post, you can read it here. So here’s an update as of today, January 24, 2010.

#1 I will make at least 3 cards per month using scraps, tools, and/or supplies I’ve had in my stash for a while.

January Update: I’ve made 10 cards using existing supplies. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I figured out a trick though: stick to most commonly-used themes such as: happy birthday, thank you, hello, with sympathy, congrats, and get well soon. Once I figured out the right combination I created 10 cards using these themes, knowing that these would most likely be used over the next couple months.

#2 I will mail a card to a friend at least once a month.

January Update: I’ve mailed 2 cards to friends this month! One to my friend Lauren who celebrated a birthday last week, and another to my new friends Gabby and her husband Brian. They invited us over for a lovely dinner and a game of Ninja Burger (which, if you’re familiar with Steve Jackson games, is a lot of fun). So I wanted to thank them for their hospitality with a card. To accomplish this task, it helped to know in advance who’d be celebrating birthdays this month. Facebook is a huge help since it often notifies me the week of if anyone on my friends list is celebrating a birthday. I have started to make it a habit to also add birthdays and anniversaries to iCal on my Mac.

#3 I will evaluate my crafting stash at least once a quarter and give away or sell items I haven’t used, won’t use, or don’t like.

January Update: Well since this is a quarterly event, the only headway I’ve made on this one is scheduling a time at the end of February to begin evaluating my stash and making a pile of stuff I don’t want or need anymore

I’m pretty proud of myself for having such a great start this month. Let’s hope I can keep this up in February! I’ll also update my progress then as well

So, it’s been all over the news. Yep, Conan O’Brien got screwed by NBC and Jay Leno. And yes, I’m going to include Leno on this one because there is this thing called integrity and during the whole fiasco, he showed none.

I think a lot of people can relate to Conan. At some point in everyone’s life, we’ve all been thrown under the bus at some point. Yes, you can point fingers, raise a huge stink, but it’s what you do at the end of the day that makes a difference. And what he said in his speech on the last Tonight Show couldn’t have been more sincere and more meaningful. If you haven’t already, watch his last show. And specifically watch his final monologue while he’s sitting at his desk near the end of the show. THAT’S why I watched Conan on Late Night, THAT’S why I watched him on The Tonight Show, and THAT is why I will watch him on his next show.

The thing about Conan’s fans? We are a group of intelligent, thoughtful, and fun people. And yeah, we might laugh at Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and the absurdity that is The Masturbating Bear, but who doesn’t like physical comedy you don’t have to think about every once in a while? There might not be a billion of us, there might not even be a million of us, but we are loud and we are loyal and we will follow him wherever he goes just to show Leno and NBC that it’s not just about money and ratings.

Happy Birthday, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Supplies
Stampin’ Up Certainly Celery card stock
Stampin’ Up Certainly Celery classic ink
American Crafts Ultimate white pen
Kelly Panacci border stickers
Happy Birthday embellishments

Supplies
Stampin’ Up Baja Blue card stock
Stampin’ Up Whisper White
Making Memories Eliza patterned paper
Imaginisce All Kinds of Happy Cupcake Stamp
Imaginisce All Kinds of Happy Happy Birthday Stamp
American Crafts Ultimate White pen
Copic Markers Y17, Y21, B32

Supplies:
Stampin’ Up Kraft card stock
Making Memories Eliza die cut
Card embellishment
Stampin’ Up Short & Sweet stamp set