Sunshine and kittens- NOT!

Just kidding. I love both. I just wanted to garner some attention for my feature over at Punky Scraps. I'm SO annoyed that I forgot to post about this yesterday when it went up- OOPS!
Swing by and check it out- also- consider joining the challenge- you have a day left but it's so fun I think you can swing it!

The title "Overwhelming Beauty" is referring to the sea in the Amalfi Coast but really- it's Lola I'm talking about.
Yeah I'm one of THOSE- Mommies who gush ENTIRELY too much. 

http://punkyscraps.blogspot.com/2011/09/punky-feature-michelle-hernandez.html

Materials: American Crafts cardstock in "Hazel", Beauty chipboard Colorbok, Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons,  American Crafts alphas

I wanted to keep adding but I liked the starkness of the page as it stood. Sometimes it's good to go minimal. Perhaps others do a better job of it than I.

The page is from a GREAT sketch by Punky Scraps sketch artist Camilla. Go ahead- try it!

Ok NOW can I tell you a funny Lola story?
Ok here goes.
I'm TRYING to toilet train the kid. TRYING is the key word because I am constantly distracted by Pinterest, Facebook and the usual house hold tasks.

Following family advice, Miss Thang went sans-Pamper the other day.
I'm thinking- She's two. She'll get the hint and NOT pee on the floor.
She did take the hint. She's a good lil mama.
Over the sound of washing dishes I hear a mighty shriek EEEEEWWWWW!!!, a clatter, a series of nasty bumps and the beginnings of a long LOOOONG cry.
A very angry, betrayed cry.

Miss Lola had sat on the stool I keep under my computer desk to prop up my feet.

She peed.

She did not feel the pee go "bye bye".
Rather it pooled around her making scream EEEEWWWWWW (she says that all the time now- EVERYTHING is "EW!" THANKS cousin Emily!)
She jumped up (clatter) slipped in her pee (nasty bumps- many) and the stool fell on top of her (betrayed crying).

No more potty training this week. Sorry lil' boo!

Yeah laugh it up Michelle- Lola is gonna GET YOU!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Trip pix and wonderful scrappy news!!!

It's great to be back home!! Here are some "Best Of" shots from the trip. No scrappy work to post as I didn't have the attention span or alone time needed for it. 

I got word that I made the Gauche Alchemy writing team while I was away! YAAY! Please add this to your blog reading list: 

Gauche Alchemy

I promise to be very entertaining and insightful and all that. Check out their ArtFire store- there is lots of really fun non traditional scrappy stuff there. :)

PAESTUM
3 large temples on site a Museum and restaurants across the street and plenty of room to roam- this is the best bet for great photos  if you have  limited time and want to avoid crowds.

Leticia and Roberto on the balcony- ahh smell the romance!

We survived our shock at the lack of sidewalks. On the left of David a loudly honking 10am bus to Amalfi. On the right a 300 foot sheer drop into the ocean with only a rusty railing as protection.

Waiting for the bus to Ravello.

SORRENTO
Changing cabanas in the beaches of Sorrento- we ate Calamari salad and watched the cruise boats dock. Sorrento is PERFECT!! GORGEOUS, safe and has lots of budget restaurant and hotel choices- we will be staying here in out next trip.

POMPEII
Our 4 hour tour barely scratched the surface of this wonderful site. Skip the tours, be brave and use public transport. It will be a whole day trip- bring your own lunch and diner as local eats are expensive. DO NOT skip the Limoncello ice cream or the Granitas- those always rock. The cruise crowds make this place awful in the morning and in mid afternoon. Every single interior space was crowded with culturally insensitive tourists who insisted on taking flash photos of the frescos and freaking out over the "Red Light District". YUCK. But beautiful- so just do it!

MAIORI
Is the perfect town for budget tourists who don't like to eat McDonald's when they visit other countries. The food is good, the locals are wonderful, the place is safe and the pricing is fair. You pay 5 euro for a chair and a umbrella on the beach- which is VERY rocky so bring your water shoes if you are a tenderfoot like me. :)

And the reason for the whole trip- Leticia and Roberto's wedding in Minori.
One of the most romantic things I have every witnessed. Letyy arrived BY BOAT and Roberto waited for her on the dock- locals crowded around and watched them approach the church- it was amazing.

Since I was a witness for the ceremony, I don't have a lot of photos but Letty hired 3 photographers so there will be many many photos in the next couple weeks. Here they are just after tying the knot. YAAY!

I have so many stories to tell! Here's the first- apparently ALONDRA means "in London" in Italian so when locals asked me her name I would confuse the heck out of them by replying Alondra- it was a total "Who's On First" scenario. So after a few days of getting these HUH looks when ever we spoke her name we switched to Lola. I love how Italians say Lola! They stretch the O sound and make it positively mellifluous. Now Lola says "Ciao!" and "Mama!" just like italian babies! LOVE IT!

That's it for now- I took 3 hours to write this- time for breakfast!

The some ipod Hipstamatic app filters simply cannot handle high contrast light situations. Here we have a great photo but the deep darkness in the eyes is really creepy.

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle