JAMSquared

As most of my faithful blog readers know, James and I play World of Warcraft, a massively multi-player online game. Our small guild consists mostly of friends here in Austin, but we have a small number of guildies who live elsewhere. Back at the beginning of May, Mona and Dean, who both live in the San Francisco area, and Eric, who lives in Atlanta, came to visit. We had a lot of fun visiting, doing touristy Austin stuff, and of course talking about WoW.

Friday night, we went to Salt Lick so our visitors could experience true Texas barbecue. Then we played pool and hung out at Aric’s house. I think we had enough non-WoW conversation that my friend Kristy, Aric’s wife and lone non-WoW player, wasn’t bored with us.

Saturday started off pretty early (well early for me who typically sleeps until 10 or noon Saturdays) with Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake followed by visiting the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. It was too late for bluebonnets and a tad too early for the cacti blossoms, but it was beautiful and the weather was really nice.

For lunch, we went to the Alamo Drafthouse, an Austin movie theater original that serves food and beverages (what other theater can you buy and drink beer at?) and saw X-Men Origins: Wolvervine, an excellent movie. Then we visited the Texas Capitol. I totally think no visitor to Austin should skip this attraction. The Capitol is a beautiful building constructed of Texas granite and completed in 1888. I especially love the dome: outside with the lady liberty at the top, inside from the ground floor looking up or inside from the 2nd or 3rd floors looking down at the five different Texan crests in the marble floor.

Afterward, we went back to our house where I put Dean and Ranger to work (they offered) helping me prepare the food for the guild party, which was a lot of fun.

On Sunday, we went to Mount Bonnell, the highest point in Austin (which isn’t saying much). You do have some nice views of the Austin downtown skyline and Lake Austin, but the views weren’t quite as good as I remembered. Of course, since the last time I was there was almost 6 years ago when James proposed, tree growth and euphoric romantic feelings could bias my memories.

We then had lunch at Texadelphia, another Austin original that serves a Texas version of the Philly cheesesteak. We then checked out the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. It was the first time James and I had gone there even though it opened in 2001. I really enjoyed the museum, especially the special exhibit about immigration through the port of Galveston (ya’ll know my love of genealogy). It is definitely a museum that I would enjoy spending some more time visiting. Keep in mind photography is not allowed. It is also home to Austin’s only IMAX theater.

After dropping Eric off at the airport, we went to Chuy’s, another Austin original (we can’t take guests to any old restaurant) where we chowed down on excellent Tex-Mex and chatted with current and former guildies (it is sad to say, but people do come and go in the land of WoW).

James dropped Mona and Dean off at the airport Monday morning before work and our weekend came to a close. It was a great weekend and it is safe to say that Mona, Dean and Eric enjoyed their trip to Austin.

Yesterday, I made a cake called Susan’s Lemon Cake that I found on the Cake Mix Doctor’s website. I picked it because it contained no dairy and we were going to have dinner with some friends, one of which is lactose intolerant. The cake turned out delicious. It went very well with the watermelon fruit basket Clarisse had put together.

After dinner, we hung outside a little bit watching the sunset. Dalton, of course, had to spend time with his favorite sucker James.

Our friends Aric and Ranger have birthdays one day apart at the end of June. We finally celebrated last Saturday (first Aric and Kristy were out of town, then Ranger and Clarisse). We went to eat dinner at the downtown location of Mongolian Grille, which serves decent Mongolian barbecue. For those who don’t know what Mongolian barbecue is, you fill a bowl with a wide selection of veggies (or only carrots if you’re my husband), meats, and noodles; top it with a sauce you make (a ladle of soy sauce, a ladle of this, a ladle of that) and maybe an egg or two. Then you hand it to a chef and he cooks it up on a big round grill/griddle.

After dinner, we went back to our house and ate cake and of course sang to Ranger and Aric.

So I went to my friend Lori‘s to stamp this afternoon. I am very happy with how my two cards came out. They both use the Mojo Monday Sketch 94. They both also meet  Our Creative Corner’s challenge to use an animal, although I took creative license and used an animal that  is not normally considered a pet, unless you’re the Pioneer Woman and bottle feed a calf. The bottom one meets the High Hopes Stamps Challenge #39 to use daisies (although if the challenge requires you to use a High Hopes Stamp, it doesn’t meet the requirements). The stamp set I used, which is manufactured by C.C. Designs, is really neat because it allowed me to use the same focal image and just change up the sentiment and coordinating image to create two totally different cards.

Stamps: Cookie Crumbs Annabelle
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi
Designer Paper: Stampin’ Up Summer Picnic
Ink:  Stampin’ Up Real Red; Stazon Jet Black
Markers: Stampin’ Up Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery; Spica Gold, Clear
Accessories:  Liquid Applique, dimensionals; Stampin’ Up Certainly Celery 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon
Tools: 1 1/4″ circle punch; 1 3/8″ circle punch

Stamps: Cookie Crumbs Annabelle
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi
Designer Paper: Stampin’ Up Summer Picnic
Ink:  Stampin’ Up Real Red; Stazon Jet Black
Markers: Stampin’ Up Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Summer Sun, Glorious Green; Spica Gold, Clear
Accessories:  dimensionals; Stampin’ Up Certainly Celery 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon
Tools: 1 1/4″ circle punch; 1 3/8″ circle punch

I had grand intentions to make spring/Easter cards to send to an immediate portion of my large circle of family and friends. Considering, it is now July and you haven’t seen a spring card grace my blog with its presence, you would be correct in assuming my intention did not come to fruition.  I decided instead to make summer cards and save the spring card idea for next year. I made 14 of the following card. These were quick to come together and I made them the last time I stamped at my friend Lori‘s. We’re getting together again this Sunday, so be on the lookout for a card or two Sunday evening or sometime next week.

Stamps: A Muse Clouds, Waves, Sending You Sunshine; Hero Arts Clear Design August (sun)
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Baja Breeze, Summer Sun
Ink:  Stampin’ Up Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun
Accessories:  Inkssentials Glossy Accents