adrienne-is

I know, I know. It’s been awhile since I’ve been around these parts and I’m back with a fun post to help my preggo Sis-in-Law. In an attempt to win some ultra cool baby swag for the mommy-to-be I direct your attention to Baby Gizmo who is giving away a magnificent Orbit Baby G2. This is not your ordinary stroller by any means. This baby for baby is so luxurious I might even have a hard time parting with it should I be lucky enough to win. The 360 degree seat turn feature is just amazing, but don’t let me tell it… Visit Baby Gizmo and check out the full youtube video review.

What?! Again? So soon? Yes, another contest plug here on the blog, but this one is for myself.

Rebecca Peragine of Children Inspire Design is giving away one of her beautiful prints and if the universe is good to me I’ll be lucky enough to win one. She’s asking that we spread the word about the contest and so here you have it:

Hey Folks-

Last night I had a moment of frustration as my creative process was standing at a dead halt. So I reached out to you all on Facebook asking for inspiration and was OVERWHELMED with the amount of quotes you sent me. So, I decided to turn this into an event- and you get to design my next series of art! Send me your best quotes and I’ll choose a few from them to include in my new collection which will launch April 1. The people chosen will receive a free print with their quote + a $50 gift certificate. Plus, I’ll be giving away another $50 certificate at random- here’s how you can win that one:

-each comment equals one entry, you may leave as many entries as you’d like
-get a friend to friend us on FB and you’ll earn another entry
-repost our contest on FB, blogs, twitter and receive an entry each time

**tally up your total and leave the number in a comment here on our blog.
The contest will end next Wednesday the 15th. I’ll anounce winners the following weekend:)

Feel free to join in the contest as well and good luck to all!

You are invited!

Please join me for this special two day event. Bring a friend, a family member and warm smiles. I will be signing copies of my children’s book titled, Isaac and the Bah Family Tree. The event details are as follows:

When: Saturday, June 11th from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Sunday June 12th from 1:00-6:00 p.m.
Where: Doubletree Hotel – Downtown Houston
400 Dallas Street
Houston, TX 77002

Feel free to find out more about the NBBF events, participating authors and much, much, more by clicking on their logo above.

If you already have a copy of Isaac and the Bah Family Tree, please spread the word or pick up a copy for a friend.

Check it out and see you there! Thank you soo much for all your support so far!

I’m quite aware that I’ve never re-read the letters you’ve written, but I’ve kept them. All of them. Dated as long ago as 1994 and possibly further back, they’ve been tucked quietly away in keepsake boxes like treasures from my childhood. I’ve often wondered whether anyone else has clung to the precious cargo and snail mail that I once sent in opposite directions. I wonder if they’ve been carefully looked after or simply discarded into the waste bin. My good sense and feelings are suspicious of the later. In case you’re curious, I’ve kept every card as well. Notes exchanged during long school days (most likely in algebra or while passing in the hall) were saved too.

Since the letters began to slow and altogether cease at the height of electronic mail and Internet, I’ve pondered what to do with this collection of mine. Why do I fancy these letters anyway? I’ve already confessed that I haven’t re-read them. Surely I would never allow them to stay boxed up in a corner collecting dust. No. Never.

I’ll need to discard them. Not later, but almost suddenly. Immediately!

I can’t go on keeping them. They’ve no practical purpose in my present life. Yes, I love to drift back down memory lane where as a teenage girl I loved collecting them and reading them without haste. Those days are gone. Now you send me email or tweets which I don’t necessarily rush to open or read. Maybe I’ll send my electronic response in return, but it all depends if I feel like it. (You know, information overload.) Looking at your letters today I still love the ones where you glued confetti to the yellow wide-ruled paper or the colorful Hello Kitty and Lisa Frank stationary where you scribbled and managed decent penmanship at best. Sometimes the paper stock was simple, but the cursive used to relay your crushes and everyday happenings, were to be marveled. These are the things I miss most when opening my physical mailbox.

So, what I’ve decided is in my great scheme to compact, decrease and preserve space and memory keepsakes, I will archive your letters, as if they are works greater than any others ever created. I will scan them in one-by-one, front-and-back with envelope and postage stamp until they are all digital images of moments which feel long gone. From there I will proceed in making a book with all your letters. This book won’t be for sale and it won’t be on display for others to read. With it I may also leave a present day response or notes on carefully placed blank address labels. Perhaps commentary on penmanship and selection of stationary will be included with a prolog as to how much I prefer snail mail to today’s impersonal electronic musings, rants or raves.

There are a lot of letters in these boxes from many of you. Some of you I cannot remember how we met. Maybe this project will trigger my memory. However it ends, I will keep your letters. Not the physical ones, but something like it.

If compelled to do so and I hope that you’ll be compelled to do so — sign the petition for free and fair elections in Congo.

My latest BLURB photo book project is almost a wrap! After two solid weekends of work and long hours on the computer this second collaborative effort is looking quite smashing. I’m hoping the proof copy says the same. Having the first book to use as guide made the process of creating this second one much easier and faster. I didn’t veer far from the layouts of FIRST, because it worked so well. The only problem this time was there being three more volunteers from this group (three extra team member spreads) and A LOT MORE photos. I couldn’t use several shots of the ladies in the group who made injera simply due to page restraints. I made myself keep the book to a 160 page limit so not to drive the $$$ – cost up and to be able to have premium paper stock.

This is a what the section/chapter dividers look like. I scanned in a copy of the blueprint of a chika house provided to me by the HFHI Ethiopia National Office. Then, I used two photos that best went with the section content. The cover will have a similar look to keep consistency, but I’m still mulling over the back cover content.
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I’ve often fantasized about the most appropriate way to disappear. No, I’m not having suicidal thoughts here. Going off the radar by retreating to a small bungalow in a quiet tropical wilderness which begs for exploration and promotes creativity from the inside and out is all apart of this vision of mine. I’ll go off and away for say, two years or so. And when I return I’ll carry with me the most astounding introspective pieces of art that have lived in my brainstorms for days long before I even had dreams. This fantasy is far more developed than I can share here, but why do I even care to disappear?

Simple.

1. I want to reinvent myself.

2. I need to reinvent myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I do like the person I am, but she needs some tweaking. I’m having an honest conversation folks. For some reason I’ve always felt that the process of reinvention involved going off for away from the public opinion of freinds, family and anyone else with unsolicited advice to offer. Maybe this idea comes from a number of memoirs I’ve read where the individual does such a thing leaving everyone in a widespread panic, but when they return they’ve created the most brilliant masterpieces of the century and then they’re all forgiven.

I write this to assure everyone I won’t delve into my fantasy lands by moving to Bermuda and not sending a tweet with my location. Nope. You’ll be able to reach me by phone. I’ll stick around here and on the net at large, but I’m going to switch up the way I interact with it all. It will be limited. At times it may even be a bit scatter brained or uninteresting to some. Oh well. Time to get started.

Fade in. When I was a teenager I got my first after school job the day after my 16th birthday. Actually, my mother found the job for me, but that is besides the point. I was the one who spent my evenings working at the local dry cleaners. I worked there day in and day out for nine months and every week’s pay went towards my most valuable and prized collection of compact discs. I’d make my trip over to Best Buy each weekend to exchange my hard earned money for a total of six of the latest releases. My operation was like clock-work: get pay check, spend it, get pay check, spend it… Smashing Pumpkins, Eminem, TLC, Wu-Tang, No Doubt, Stone Temple Pilots, and Beenie Man – I had to have them all and more.

Cut to. My family had to move to Hawaii during my Junior year of high school which placed a slight halt in my routine and weekly pay. I couldn’t stand the thought of not working and providing for myself (expanding my collection). I hit the jackpot In Hawaii though. I landed a job at a music store in Ala Moana mall and later Pearl City. A dream!! Working at the music store made it far too easy to feed my covetous ways. Every check out went right back in and more music was added to my insanely growing music library. One day when I had a lot of extra money to spend (a whole different story) I decided to buy somewhere around 55-60 CDs in one day. If it wasn’t for my store discount I would have easily spent $1,300+, but my total was about $980. No sweat. I was so impressed with myself that I took a picture with the receipt and saved the photo and the receipt. (I have the receipt around here somewhere.)
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Without a doubt, I’ve been a highly blessed and favored woman wallowing in the joys of sweet, sweet happiness throughout 2010. It is as if the universe positioned all the key ingredients for an awesome year right in the palm of my hand. Before I take my annual stroll down the year that was, I should provide some disclaimers to the secrets of my abundant joy. First one being, I’m broker than a church mouse. (That’s something my mama might say.) Yep! I did NOT expand my bank account with $$$. I did NOT tuck a little extra into my 401k or increase my stock options. I have neither. (But I do have Jesus!) I can’t even say I made any major career advancements. (Nada – Although you said it would happen Ms. Susan Miller. It didn’t.) Another side note: My children’s book “Isaac and the Bah Tree” didn’t soar the top-sellers lists, but ya’ll can still support a sister and get your copy here.

On the flip-side, I managed to suck dry every mile in every frequent flier program I’m enrolled with which lead me to some fairly exotic destinations. And don’t let me fool you into thinking my very merry matrimony to the most amazing man in my life took a back seat to my usual globe gallivanting highlights. (P.S. I got married this year in case I missed getting the memo to everyone. Click here if: A. You missed the memo. B. Are seriously nosy. -OR- C. Wish to know about our forces combined.) Aside from my husband’s love and affection, I was able to be surrounded by the good company of friends near and far.

So that’s the summary. Just beyond these type-written words is the 2010 full-shebang accompanied by pictures, links and more. (I did my best to keep it flowing in chronological order.)

Let’s hit it!
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This weekend I took two happy hostages with me on a quick seven hour trip up the road to Troy, Alabama. The reason: surprise birthday party for my best friend Latofia. I was suspicious that she had a clue about this long planned event, but as it turned it out she was clueless. She was completely surprised. Before my mother, my husband and I could celebrate with her and the rest of her family we had to kill a little time in Troy.

I did all the driving on the way into Troy on Saturday morning so I was in extra need of a nap. The only problem was I couldn’t get a decent snooze in. I rested between glimpses of that Discovery Channel show, River Monsters. After everyone had gotten a nap besides me it was time to go hunting for our late lunch. In order to make this short jaunt into Alabama like a real weekend sight see fest we had to dine at a place that wasn’t a chain. Our first pick, Sisters was closed, so we headed over to Mossy Grove Schoolhouse Restaurant.

We arrived around 3:45pm to discover an empty parking lot and a historic looking building right next to the cemetery. These two observations raised grave concerns (no pun intended) until we saw that the opening hours were from 5-9. We went back to the hotel, got ready for the evening and then headed back to Mossy Grove around 5:45pm. We were met with a completely different parking lot scenario this time around. The place was packed and it was obvious that this was a local favorite.
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