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By Amber, on July 31, 2011, at 10:00 pm This is a project that was many years in the making (thousands, if you want to be literal). When I lived in New Jersey I bought a multi-compartment shadowbox that I intended to fill with various treasures. For some reason, I never did it. While I had my rock collection out the other day, I finally pulled together enough elements from my childhood fossil and nature collections to finish this project.
(As an aside, I got my shadowbox from Michael’s, but I don’t see it on their website, so you’ll have to check your store. I did find one that looks identical on Target’s website.)
I set out all of my items onto the background, set the dividers over top, and began gluing. I intended to use putty in case I wanted to do something else with the specimens in the future, but quickly realized that hot glue was going to be far more practical, particularly for the most fragile items like the sand dollar:
 If you make a critical mistake or just want a different background color, you can buy a piece of posterboard to replace the background and cut it to size. In my shadowbox there is a different backing piece that goes behind the background and attaches the board to the frame. If yours doesn’t have this, I suggest buying the posterboard.
Once you’re done, set the glass and frame on top, gently tilt the whole assembly, secure the fasteners, et voila:
For as many years as I put this off (probably about 5), it took maybe 20 minutes at most to put together and turned out even better than I expected. I’m trying to figure out what else I can give the shadowbox treatment. :)
What would you put in your shadowbox?
By Amber, on July 28, 2011, at 9:39 pm As a child, I had a lot of collections. As an adult…I still have a bunch of them. Most of them have been sitting in boxes since we got to Texas three years ago. They bring me absolutely no enjoyment that way, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to part with them!
I was recently inspired by a friend’s home to pull some of those treasures back into the light of day and keep them there. Read on to see how you can pass off your childhood collections as decor!
I started with my rock and mineral collection:
Also needed: an apothecary jar (I got mine from Michael’s, but these are so popular right now that you should be able to find them at any large craft store) and tongs. I thought I would need the styrofoam, but I didn’t. You might. It depends on how big of a nerd you are.
Start filling! My strategy was to fill by color. I had an enormous chunk of pyrite, so I used the tongs to carefully place that in the middle of the very bottom and put smaller pieces of pyrite, hematite and anything sparkly around it. I also placed the larger, less-interesting stones (pumice, unpolished marble) into the middle of the column as I went, which prevented me from needing to cut a piece of the styrofoam as filler. If you do need it, you might want to spray it first with that craft paint that looks like stone finish.
When you’re done, you’ll have something like this:
Follow the jump to see the second project!
Continue reading Childhood collections, all grown up
By Amber, on July 26, 2011, at 10:04 pm All my mom ever wants for Mother’s Day or her birthday is crab and family time. This year we schemed to bring her both in a way she didn’t expect — with a crab and shrimp boil in her own backyard!
I had a hard time narrowing down the photos for this post — there are just so many great shots of my family enjoying the time together. I am convinced that if you want to have a successful party, all you have to do is throw some food into the biggest pot you can find, mix some drinks, and watch it all come together.
Follow the jump for more!
Continue reading Birthday crab boil
By Amber, on July 24, 2011, at 11:35 pm Just popping in to say that today’s post will be delayed a couple days because we were busy celebrating my mom’s birthday!
First it looked like this:
 (My aunt snapped this with her Blackberry) And at the end of the day, it looked like this:
 She's not really hiding, my timing was just bad! I’ll fill in the details with a post Tuesday. Happy birthday Mom, we had a great time!
By Amber, on July 21, 2011, at 10:00 pm  Bass Harbor, Maine My last workout at the gym. My last morning with my makeup buddies in the locker room afterward. My goodbye lunch. The last bit of work I was procrastinating. The last time I will lock my laptop in the drawer and say ‘see you in the morning’ to my coworkers.
Those were today — tomorrow afternoon when I leave, I won’t be going back. I may sound melancholy, and it surprises me that maybe there is a little of that around the edges. But I am awfully grateful for the promise of this next opportunity, and the shiny newness of a job change is always exciting — even if I am usually pretty bad at figuring out where things are in a new building for at least a week. Really — I can get lost in a rectangle. The new building will be an ‘L.’ Help me.
I am especially excited to have a week off between the end of this job and the start of the new one! So excited that I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not retiring, and that a year from now I will have a whole new daily routine that, at times, may bore me to tears or grind me down. But that’s what vacation time is for.
Tomorrow the sun sets on one chapter of my life. When it rises in the new chapter, I will be reborn in a sense. I can’t wait.
(By the way, am I the only one who puts far too much thought into what to wear on the last and first days of a job? Even though nobody will remember a week later, possibly including me…)
By Amber, on July 19, 2011, at 10:00 pm 
Here are some things I’m grateful for this week:
Okay, wait. My whole list so far is food-related. I am very grateful for food, but let me see if I can change gears:
- my last week at my current job! I highly recommend having a last week somewhere — there’s nothing like handing your least favorite tasks to someone else!
- my ipod’s sudden bad behavior coinciding with my last week of gym access at said job (it still works in the car, which is where I really need it!)
- inspiration for home projects that I’m really excited for!
- looking forward to celebrating my mom’s birthday this weekend!
What are you grateful for this week?
By Amber, on July 17, 2011, at 10:10 pm I had an unusually social weekend, which worked out well because it got me out of the house while Mark studied for something he has coming up. On Saturday my Toastmasters club had our first officers’ meeting of the new term. I was excited to share all the ideas I’ve been accumulating since the spring conference. All of our officers are enthusiastic and ready to make some improvements to our club — we had so much to talk about that instead of running from 12-2, the last few of us whose afternoons weren’t already scheduled for other things stuck around until 4:00. It’s going to be a great year!
The meeting was hosted by our new club president. Her house is beautiful and I think she is my decorating twin — if I actually bothered to decorate, that is. I came home inspired to dig out some treasured items that have been packed up since moving to Texas, and I have a few project ideas that I hope to share here in the next month or two.
Today my friend Jen treated me to brunch at Grand Lux Cafe, which was created by the originator of The Cheesecake Factory. Look at this:
Those are red velvet pancakes with chocolate chips and cream cheese frosting. They are every bit as good at they sound, and the frosting doubly so. I also had an enormous side of sausage.
Jen is having her first baby in October and needed some clothes that she can grow into, so we walked off a few of those calories at the Galleria. Having no children myself, I quickly found myself in the alternate universe of maternity clothing stores. We were offered water and mini Luna bars. Sales people were extra-helpful. And did you know that maternity stores have bathrooms?? I guess it doesn’t matter that much since the mall has about 50 public and department store bathrooms anyway, but I am filing that information into the back of my brain in case I need it one day!
How was your weekend?
By Amber, on July 14, 2011, at 10:28 pm I mentioned that Mark’s birthday was Monday. What I didn’t mention was the fact that what he really, really wanted was a straight razor for shaving and various accoutrements. My father-in-law suggested that I increase Mark’s life insurance policy. Mark’s best friend sent him the actual razor of choice and commented, “I feel like I just bought my best friend a coffin.” (Coincidentally, the razor did come in a box that resembled a tiny coffin.)
Tonight was the maiden voyage. I requested that he do it while I was home in case somebody needed to apply a tourniquet with one hand and call 911 with the other!
Fortunately, he survived! He wisely decided to do his head the way the usual way and learn to do the face first. He got through with just a few tiny nicks.
Have you tried any dangerous new tricks lately?
By Amber, on July 12, 2011, at 10:00 pm Yesterday was exciting not just because of Mark’s birthday, but because I gave notice at my current job. There are a lot of things to like about my job, but ultimately the opportunity I’m moving to is a much better fit for where I want my career to be headed.
My parents had this cake waiting for me when Mark and I arrived at middle of the night o’clock over the holiday weekend. It was red velvet, and it was delicious!
(Please don’t stalk me at my new job. I don’t want to have to send Hugo after you, but I will.)
I know a lot of people are currently in the job market, and a lot of people dread interviews. Oddly enough, I kind of like them — when else do you get to talk about yourself to an audience that’s actually interested? So below is my basic strategy for acing an interview. I’ve used it successfully multiple times, so I’d love to hear from you if you get a chance to try it, or if you have a tip to add to my arsenal.
You need a basic padfolio, in which you will be keeping a pen for taking notes, extra resume copies, driving directions to your interview, etc. The other thing you’re putting in there is your cheat sheet. The purpose of the cheat sheet is to prepare you, keep you focused, and give you a place to take notes if needed. Here is what goes on it:
- The job description
- A very high-level overview of the company history (just a few sentences; if the company has gone through a lot of changes, just the recent highlights)
- Any information you can dig up on your interviewer(s) if you can get their name(s) ahead of time (if they’re on LinkedIn, you can easily find out how long they have been with the company and in what positions, other work history, etc)
- Your answers to a few cliche questions like your greatest strengths/weaknesses — best to use an outline, not an answer that you will be tempted to regurgitate verbatim (The real purpose of this is to get you thinking/planning in the right mode and to make sure you are prepared for the kinds of questions that you can plan for, but could easily blank on when put on the spot. If you don’t have a lot of practice with these questions, do some research on the right answer strategy.)
- All the questions you can think of about the company and the work group — the corporate culture, qualities of the ideal candidate, what the successful candidate’s immediate priorities will be, what your interviewer likes best about working there, etc. Here is a good starting place. Always remember that you’re interviewing the company, too. If you get an offer, you need to have an impression of whether the workplace seems like a good fit for you, not just the other way around.
Do you use a similar strategy? I’d love to hear any additional tips you have, as I think I’ll be turning this into a speech for my Toastmasters club.
By Amber, on July 10, 2011, at 10:00 pm It can only mean one thing when cards start arriving from around the country:
Someone is having a birthday! Tomorrow is a big one for Mark — he’ll finally be able to buy alcohol. Just kidding, he’s turning 40. We had hoped to go on a fabulous Alaskan adventure to celebrate, but we have a lot going on so the adventure may have to coincide with 41 instead. Figure at that point he’ll know whether 40 was worth celebrating, and we can splash out or hole up accordingly. :) Tomorrow night we’ll keep our celebration local with the amazing Cuban-Spanish-Mexican food at El Meson, one of our favorite restaurants.
Coincidentally, if all went as planned, our newest neighbor was born today — but if you see him, don’t tell him that I spent my whole gift budget on Mark.
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