only a month later: the 4th weekend.

For crying out loud, Sarah! When are you ever going to post right after an event happens?! Well, I guess it’s better late than never.

We spent our 4th of July weekend up at my parents’ place, and we did the usual – family time, barbecue, and fireworks. No complaints there! Well, the heat was definitely a complaint, but other than that, it was all good.

As you can see, it looked pretty eventful.

I still need to post about Nat’s bridal shower. Perhaps I’ll actually get to that before their wedding day, haha! We shall see.

disneyland photos.

As promised, I’m writing a post with a handful of pictures that we took while in Disneyland. Like I said in my last post, there’s something magical about this place. It’s like you can’t stop smiling the moment you walk into the park.

Too many people grow up. That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. -Walt Disney

Oh, and how could I not post some firework photos?! The show was great, although I ended up in a horrible viewing spot. Maybe next time, I’ll make note to be right in front of the castle at the start of the show with my tripod set up and ready to go.

Stay tuned for some of the photos we took at the past winter CHA show!

FOTL and adventures with k.

((Beware! This one is loaded with photos!))

The past week has been very hectic, a good hectic though. We held our annual FOTL event. We barbecued tons of delicious food, and as the sky darkened, we prepped the fireworks. …and even though the weather was super hot where my parents live, we still managed to enjoy the time spent with our family.

The kids decked out in their 4th of July colors.

She loves being a big sister!

Maui hung out out in the living room with Natalie. 😉

Kian kept observing the camera!

The kids made me play "Headbandz" with them, lol.

The kids started writing out their names with the sparklers.

"I need someone to light this."

The day after our FOTL event, we took my little cousin back to the Bay Area with us. She had been dying to hang out with us for at least a week this summer, so we decided now would be a good time. Thus far, she’s been getting her craft on over at Our Paper Place, explored the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

She has been getting crafty at the store.

Enjoying pizza over at CPK; she likes their cheese pizza!

Cousins hanging out in Monterey!

We love visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium!

The SUNFISH is humongous!

They decided to see if they could spot some otters or seals in the water.

They spotted a couple of seals, some starfish, sea cucumbers, and lots of birds.

We explored all of the seahorse exhibit. This one is my favorite!

Isn't this such a cool picture?!

Helping her with the crafts at the aquarium. Go figure, right?! Me...? Crafts...? No... 😉

We loved looking at (and touching) all of the creatures.

It's her new penguin friend, haha!

Running up and down the steps!

The two of us decided to hang out after lunchtime.

Here we are... hanging out with Stella, the pink seal.

After Monterey, we drove up to Santa Cruz to play at the beach.

We made a super sandcastle with a pool! 🙂

It’s only Thursday, and we’ve already done so many fun things. We still have other fun stuff planned for the next couple of days. In the meantime, we’ve been working on making layouts and samples for the store. Here’s what I’ve made using pretty paper from American Crafts:

Now, it’s time for me to clean up my big mess of supplies because we’re having a huge garage sale at the store on Sunday. Yes, we’re open this Sunday. It’s gonna be loaded with awesome deals. Make sure to come check it out!

the colorful weekend.

Colorful. What does it mean to you?

In my opinion, it means that people live in an array of shades; it means that life isn’t just black and white. To me, it means living a life filled with exciting journeys and positive people.

It was definitely a fun weekend with family and friends. We were able to make it up to San Francisco for the parade this weekend. We walked around, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and had a great time dancing to the music. It was definitely a colorful weekend to remember!

Here were just a few of some of those colorful photos from the parade:

Looks like a crazy time, huh?! Well, it pretty much was, so I didn’t really get that many photos of all of us playing in the streets. Next time, I have to remember to shoot photos of the important people, haha!

Natalie (Sean’s sweetheart), me, and Angel (my scrap/anxious sister) stopped for a photo.

Random group shot.

Is that Gloria giving that creep the stink eye for Angel?!

…and some photos from the phone:

Those are all the photos I have for now. I told you that I didn’t take that many.

If you haven’t made it out to a Pride Parade, you should definitely experience it at least once. I think it’s definitely a one-of-a-kind experience. That is if you’re open to that kind of thing, haha!

I feel the urge to be crafty. WOW! Right now, I plan on pulling out my rotary cutter and playing with fabric. I also want to work on a handful of paper projects. Decisions, decisions. I always want to do 13,940,823,290 things, and that becomes hazardous, haha! I wish I could pick ONE task and just go with it. Hmmm… I do, however, have an American Crafts project in mind. Maybe I shall start with that?

There are lots of exciting, crafty opportunities arising in my near future. I can’t really say anything just yet, but it’s gonna be good!

PS: I can’t wait for this upcoming weekend! I get an extra day to play, and we’ll be spending it with family for our annual get together. It’s gonna be filled with more color (aka, fireworks). Seriously, I can’t wait for the tasty BBQ and our family fireworks.

PPS: It’s the last week on the project. Are you excited?! I am.

wait, it’s late!

What?! It’s passed midnight?! I got home early from teaching my bind-it-all class, and I’m still no where where I want to be on my to do list!

Looks like I’m going to be creating into the wee hours of the morning. I don’t mind though because I seem to have more creativity when it’s late. Anyway, I thought I would take a quick break to write a post before I get back to the table.

As promised, below are just a few of the HUNDREDS of  pictures from this past weekend:

All in all it was a wonderful weekend with the family. We had some yummy BBQ and a fun time lighting up the fire works. …and like last year, we hosted our annual neighborhood 4th of July show. It has become a yearly tradition to do a display of fireworks, and I totally enjoy watching it (and taking photos of it, too).

On top of the fireworks, my cousin and his family arrived from Florida a couple of days ago. They are relocating to California, so you’ll probably be seeing new faces in my photos.

I also have a winner to the Punky Sprouts book. The winner is…

conniemelancon please contact me at redoaklines@gmail.com to claim your prize! No worries, to the rest of you. As you all know, I LOVE to do giveaways. Stay tuned because I’m thinking about doing an Imaginisce giveaway. 😉

Speaking of Imaginisce, have you stopped by the blog recently?! There’s a Birthday Bash celebration going on right now – meaning lots of giveaway! 😉

Below is layout I created using the latest release, Birthday Bash:

No joke… but this is my favorite birthday paper! The colors are fabulous, and the products to this line are so unique! Again, head to the blog for major inspiration from my fellow Imaginisce designers. …and make sure to check back here very soon; I recently received a box LOADED with NEW products, which means more inspiration for all of you!

Lastly, I wanted to share a couple of layouts that I created for That Scrappy Girl. I was sent some Echo Park Paper to design with, so I got right to it.

If you find the time to leave extra love, click here. 😉

Thanks for the taking the time to pop in today. I really appreciate each and every one of your visits. It’s not easy to share one’s personal life in a public space, so having positive vibes/comments means so much to me. You all are amazing.

PS: Now, it’s back to working on the Punky Sprouts album I need to create for an upcoming class. I plan on starting/fishing it tonight.