The Surprise Party

It was exciting not to know where we would end up after the limo ride...it happened to be a new martini bar in Calgary: BLINK. Here are some fun photos from the night. I was so overwhelmed with excitement from all the surprises! I had an amazing time for my 30th...thanks everyone who was there and helped make it happen.

Yummy martinis!

The secret location of the party (I loved that it was smoke-free).

Secret guests already at the location...what a great surprise!

My husband, Cory & I...he was in on it the whole time. My Mom babysat the kids...thanks Mom!
The food was amazing!

Check out those oysters...so good.

Pam & I


Tara, Cam & I

Scott & I...one of my old dancin' buddies

(Adam over the shoulder) Amber & Heather

Our 'INK'...my other two sisters & I share the same tattoo.

The planners: Amber & Cory

The party just would not be complete without dancing!

Everyday Beauty Album

Just bought this kit...can't wait to get it in the mail!

My 30th Birthday!

So I made it....to 30 years old yesterday! I had a wonderful day on my birthday. First, my husband stayed home from work, due to weather so we were able to spend the day together as a family. We did some shopping including a scrapbook store and the workers sang me Happy Birthday. Then at the end of the day my sister Amber came over after she was done work. When she came in she told me to go to the door to get my present....it was the rest of my family from Saskatchewan (Mom, sister Christa, niece Kyra & nephew Kelby). What a wonderful surprise...my husband and family were in on it for weeks. They spoiled me with a new camera (Rebel XTi), picture frame, dust buster, balloons and other goodies. What a great day!

I'm off to the spa today and will report back with more birthday details soon!

CARDS Tin Class Tonight

Tonight I'm hosting a class where the guests will make & take this cute little tin. I was so excited to use the Polka Dot & Paisleys paper from Stampin' Up! on this project...so fun and spring-like. Thank you to Kendra for inspiring this tin!

She's Back in Black

Yes, she's back! Cathy Zielske, one of my favorite bloggers/scrapbookers/personalities. She took a hiatas from blogging and is now back...her new blog is Bits & Pieces. So glad you're back Cathy!

Happy Birthday Cory!

Here's my husband, working on his birthday (I know it's not a great photo, but shows that he'll do anything for our company...even on a Saturday)! Happy Birthday sweetie, love you!

And the winner is....

Kristine who said:

I found you on Donna B.'s blog! :o) WOW!! That's some really terrific stuff girl! My favorite stamp set is Roses in Winter by Stampin' Up! Although I love lots of individual stamps by Penny Black (the HEDGIES) but they aren't a "set" just individuals. :o)

Congratulations! Please send me your snail mail address via email and I will send your new goodies out on Monday.

Thank you everyone for posting comments. It was great to see who you all are and I read every single comment you left. I'm so touched that alot of you like my blog! I didn't realize that the BLOG CANDY was so generous until many of you commented on it. I've been part of a Stampin' Up! bootcamp with my upline (trying to boost my stamping business) and part of one of the challenges was to do a 'clean sweep' of supplies...that's where the candy came from. Just wanted to unload on some stuff to make room for fresh goodies. Don't worry, I have lots of stuff left to work with...I swear I could open a scrapbook store in my house.

This was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again when I hit another blog counter milestone.
Happy Stamping!
Starr

Ahhhhh!

Self portrait from today of my first blended cream chai frapp of the season.

I will be drawing for the blog candy tonight just after midnight...since it's my dh's birthday, he will be helping me.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Edamame Beans

Our family loves Edamame Beans...they are easy to cook (just boil them) and fun to eat...and good for you! We eat them with Kosher salt.

:::BLOG CANDY:::

Here it is, the long awaited BLOG CANDY! Wow, I've had 6000 hits already! I'm so excited to offer this to all of you dedicated viewers of my blog...I really appreciate it! I also wanted to do this to see who all of you are out there???

To enter, please provide a comment and include:

• your full name


• tell me your favorite stamp or stamp set (be sure to include the stamp manufacturer)

***Get an extra entry for sending a friend over***

I will draw for this on Friday, April 13th at 11:00pm. Good luck everyone!

Included are two discontinued popular stamp sets: Too Terrific Tags & Delight In Life...and...

A recent card I designed using my current favorite stamp set: Big Blossoms from Stampin' Up!

Steven & Chris

So I was supposed to be working this morning, but I was intrigued and watched Steven & Chris on CityLine. It was great to see those guys, they always have such great home decor ideas and are hilarious. I now have an idea of what to hang on my two bare walls of our great room...I was so stuck on what to put up. They now have a beautiful furniture line too!

Happy Easter

HAPPY

EASTER!

(projects the kids made at Day Care, so cute)

First Wagon Ride

After ordering this wagon online, it arrived and we were finally able to take the kids for a ride on Sunday...they loved it!

Casablanca Friends ~ Reunite

When I first moved to Calgary in 1996, I started working at Casablanca Video. I worked there for 4 years and had a wonderful time since it was such a fun working enviornment and I love movies so much. All of the staff there hung-out together often...little did I know then that having this job would bring me many life-long friendships.

I met Kelly (Carson) Macdonald at Casablanca when she was only 16 years old. Her and I have became great friends and have remanined close ever since. She was one of my Bridesmaids, now our kids play together and we see each other on a weekly basis...I love having such a close friend as Kelly.

Kelly & I have always wanted to find some of our old friends from Casablanca and see what they've been up to. So Kel tracked down the DeCecco family who still own the video store. Kelly had us all over on Friday night to catch-up since it's been at least 5 years since we had seen each other.

We had a great time at Kelly & Ross's, thanks for having us over... you put on a scrumptous spread. We all visited and looked at old photo albums from our time working at Casablanca...they brought back great memories and we had some good laughs! Everyone was great with the kids too!

Hopefully we can get together again soon and meet up with some more old Casablanca friends! Thanks again Kel for setting this up, I had a great time!

Starr, Mandy, Kelly & Michelle

Mandy & Starr
Kelly & Michelle
Starr, Scarlett, Jesse & Kelly
Ace had so much fun playing the drums...after Mandy showed him how!
Michelle walking on her hands - something her and Kelly used to do for hours!

Pink: A Year of Color - Week 4

~ Scarlett's pink hat ~

Is Spring Here?

I put up my 'Spring Decor' the other day hoping that winter was finally over...not sure if it's safe or not yet? Hopefully it will set the weather straight.

Decorating Easter Eggs

Everyone enjoyed Easter Egg Coloring on Thursday night! It was the first time the kids participated.

Meeting Nancy

Last Wednesday I was finally able to meet one of my favorite stamp bloggers: Nancy from Nancy's Creative Mess (& her very patient son, Matt). We met at Scrapbookers Bliss for a bit of shopping and visiting. It was so great to meet her, she's such a lovely person & great card maker. I hope we can meet again soon...and maybe do some crafting together. Above is a photo of all the goodies I picked up that day...we had fun shopping together.

For all you OFFICE Fans

click here...so cool Elsie! I can't wait until tonight's episode!

Baby Bumble Bee

Isn't this the cutest little dress-up costume!

{Photo by Dee-Ann}

Ace @ 2 1/2

This is our wild & crazy little man Ace at 2 1/2 years old. We had this fun little photo shoot a few weeks ago. I just love how the orange in his jacket brings out his red hair. Here's what he's been up to these days:

• keeps us goin' all the time and we wouldn't have it any other way...he's so energetic & fun!
• favorite foods are ice & chocolate chips (as you can see in the photos below)
• great on the computer and loves www.kidscbc.com
• his vocabulary is great and he's become quite the chatterbox
• loves to draw, color, paint & craft
• has no interest in potty training
• has alot of love for his sister

Ace & his 'doggie'.

"Please crush me some ice Mom."

Sitting still - wow!

Loves chocolate chips.

Blog Candy!

Sometime over the weekend I exceeded 5000 hits on my blog...I'm so excited and have enjoyed every minute of having my very own blog. Stay tuned this week while I put together some yummy blog candy to give away. Thanks everyone for visiting!

Orange: A Year of Color - Week 3

Our favorite little guy in his orange Zara sweater.

If you'd like to participate in my friend Dee-Ann's year of color challenge...go to Sparkly Things, it's alot of fun!