Hillary Heidelberg's Blog

Heading back to the city.....

Well, we're all packed up (except my computer, obviously...) and heading back to the city. A part of me is sad to be leaving, but another part is eager to get back to the hustle and grind of the city. Luca begins k12 (homeschooling) in a few days, and Julian starts pre-school a few days a week. I've got the Organization Challenge to look forward to, and One-in-48's Sketch Challenge class starting soon. All in all, I have to say, it's been a wonderful month here: beach, tennis, relaxation, sun, and Dreesen's donuts.

On another note, I ran into Ina Garten this morning near town. I was so pleased to see that she remembered me; I worked for her at the Barefoot Contessa food store in East Hampton for many summers in a row when I was younger. Come to think of it, it must have been 15 or 16 years ago. She was just as friendly as always, and I got the chance to introduce her to my family. It makes me feel so grounded when my past comes back to visit in a way that reaffirms my own experience. For me, working at Barefoot was a big part of my teenage years, and I remember it fondly. It's nice to know that I wasn't just another face in the crowd to Ina, either.

See you back in the city, folks!!

Wanna get organized??

Then join me in year-long organizational challenge! Let's simplify, organize and streamline our lives...together

Towards An Organized Life: A Challenge Blog

The Meaning of Life

Last night, I stayed up late reading This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes...basically a cynical but weirdly hopeful look at life from the perspective of a wealthy Los Angeles businessman. I really like it; it reminded me of the importance of small connections made throughout the day, and how life can literally slip away if you're not paying attention. And it got me thinking, what's the meaning of MY life? Is it my kids? My marriage? Is it the accretion of all my past actions and interactions? Or maybe I haven't even found the meaning yet. Somehow, and as often as I think about this sort of thing (okay, not that often), it seems to me a wrong-headed approach to things. Because I don't know if there's any one, overarching meaning for anyone's life. I mean, you might look at someone like Martin Luther King or Gandhi or Aung San Suu Kyi and say to yourself "ahh, but the meaning of their life is so clear." But really, you don't know. I mean, for all you know Gandhi had an illegitimate daughter who he tried to connect with for years and years and couldn't find, and then, in the final years of his life, he found her and his life changed. Or maybe Martin Luther King was in the bathroom in Selma and met a man who connected to him on some profound level and changed him forever, when he was just washing his hands. You never know.

What I'm saying is, I think meaning is to be found in the small moments, and not necessarily the big swashes of life. You might look at someone's life from the outside and think you understand its value, but you don't. You don't know the thoughts that go through someone's head when they wake up in the morning, you don't know if they get pleasure out of folding laundry, you don't know if they gazed at their child's sleeping face at 2 am last night, you don't know if they shouted at their husband. The specifics are where it's at. In this book that I was reading, the protagonist goes into a donut shop and begins to talk with the owner of the shop. The man seems happy. He makes donuts. He enjoys thinking up different concoctions, he gets pleasure from seeing people eat them. He is a bit odd, but the main character seems to be learning something from him. He spends his day trading stocks from home. He doesn't leave his home. He doesn't know his nearly-grown son. He watches other people's lives from his window. He is immensely wealthy, and has a nutritionist, a full-time maid. This isn't to say that money can't bring happiness, because I think, on some level, it can. It can add to already existing happiness, relieve stress, make life softer. But the foundations have to be strong, otherwise money just exposes the rot. How many people get divorced once they've made a lot of money? Lots. I was watching a show that said that women wait to divorce their husband until he's made a lot of money, so that they can get enough to live on comfortably. How sad is that?

The funniest Ebay listing ever...

Seriously, go look. Now.

Prepare to be cracked up...

What is UP with some people

..okay, so I am reading the NY Times this morning and there's this article about a t.v. show that's coming this fall on CBS called Kid Nation. Basically, it's sort of a pseudo-Survivor show with KIDS. Yes, all kids, no adults. These kids, from 8 to 15 years old, basically populate an abandoned town out west and have to try to, um, survive. And the parents actually AGREED to allow their kids on this show. The article talked about the release form the parents had to sign, which basically waived the network's responsibility should the kids get pregnant, or get AIDS or DIE....yea, okay, I'd sign that. NOT. Man, do people have no sense of shame? Fame at any cost, it would seem. And if you can't get famous, heck, let's pimp the kids out. Blech.

The weather out here in Long Island has been weird weird weird. Like COLD! I mean, it's August in NY, it's supposed to be 85 and sunny, but it's not. So we've been doing craft projects, and DVDs. The boys watched Lassie yesterday and I'd never seen the movie myself so I watched it with them--how sad is that movie?? Oh my god, when Lassie crumpled into the snow at the end of the show, just before arriving at the boy's house after walking 100s of miles I totally teared up. Okay, so maybe it was my PMS but still. Luca was totally perplexed, and gave me a hug. "But mom, Lassie's home! Why are you crying?" And no, I didn't explain about the hormones--give me some credit, okay?

Been madly organizing my financial life, and working the digi scrapping. Actually, last night I was supposed to be working on my taxes (yes, they're late, yes, we got an extension, yes, for 2006) but instead I created this:

Much more fun, wouldn't you say?

(All supplies from Designer Digitals: Autumn Crush Paper Pack by Andrea Victoria
Graphic Pop Paper Pack by Katie Pertiet
Grunge Overlays 2 by Katie Pertiet.

Today I promise to get on my taxes (Michael, I know you're reading this, so take this as my word...)

With September right around the corner......

In anticipation of September, I like to try and get organized both with my budget and in my home life. Of course, last year such organizational measures barely made it to October, but given my recent success with getting in shape, it seems time to capitalize on my momentum...so that said, I give you my best online organizational tools:

1. Backpackit.com: I've been using this online organizational system for about 5 months now, and I love it. I have upgraded to the $3/month package so I get an integrated calendar and can also create seperate "pages" for each project I am working on. I use this mostly for Design Team requirements; having a seperate page for each Team allows me to easily keep track of what I owe, what's coming down the pipeline and what I have submitted. Oh, and I also keep a Submissions page to track what I've submitted to which magazines. This is especially helpful for SS and DST which have online submission forms (for the others I can always check my outbox to see what I've sent). I also use it to organize Luca's Homeschooling, and to email myself reminders of all sorts of upcoming events, from playdates to birthdays to haircuts.

2. Simple Planning's Budget Planner: There are a few reasons I chose this Excel-based planner over the more expensive Quicken or Money. For one, it's only 10 bucks. But the other reason is I REALLY didn't want a program that was laden with a million features I'd never used. I mean, I used Quicken for a while at one point, and the truth is, the fact that i didn't need all the features made me nervous. ("SHOULD I have a 453-ab retirement account? I mean, it asks me to fill out all the info for it!?" "Should my Roth IRA and my Money Market accounts be linked within Quicken? Oh WAIT! I don't HAVE a money market account...or a Roth IRA for that matter....") I ended up stopping using it simply due to nerves. So anyway, simpleplanning.com's Budget Planner is more basic, in that you simply track your income versus expenditures and it tells you whether you're over or under budget. I like it. Alot.

3. Free Excel-based Check Register Free isn't always good, but in this case, it is. This is an excellent excel-based Check Register that even allows for categories, like Quicken so you can track where your money is going. It's SO easy, and I love it.

Oh, and for those of you who don't have Microsoft Excel, well, neither do I. I use Open Office where you can download basically a free (and in my opinion better) version of Microsoft Word and Excel. And these downloadable programs work perfectly in it.

So there you go! Let me know if you use any of these, or if you try them out--I'm curious to know if others try to 'get organized' in anticipation of the school year as we do!

So, by 8:30 am I had...

...fed the boys waffles and juice, dealt with a constipated baby, changed 3 diapers, located two boy's swim goggles since Luca decided he wanted to swim in the heated pool at 7:30 am, coped with Julian crying since he couldn't go in all the way without me, watched Luca jump in the pool and swim to the side a few times, cleaned up spilled coffee, got both boys dressed after locating one missing sneaker, ate half a banana, cleaned leftover dishes from last night, and drove Luca to tennis camp. I'm ready for my nap now...HA.

In truth, nothing is that bothersome when you're here at my mom's house.
Guess you can see why, huh?

It's a big day in the Heidelberg family

Luca has finally begun swimming, sans 'floatie'....he went from requiring his floatie to simply dip his feet in the pool, to jumping in from the side and swimming across the pool, practically overnight. And what's even cooler is that Julian is swimming now too...if you've ever seen a barely-2 year old child swim, it's pretty amazing. He basically holds his breath and kinda vaguely paddles under water while blowing bubbles. Okay, so it's not quite swimming, but once he gets the paddling down, he'll be home free. I bought them both some swim goggles since after their 4 hour  pool session yesterday, they both emerged with blood red eyes from all the chlorine.

I've opened up registration for the One-in-48 Sketch Challenge Class which begins on September 10th. We have some brand new sketches lined up, and guest designers including Debbie Hodge, Paula Gilarde, Sara Dickey, Deanna Kroll, Lori Mar, Nicole Stark, Nichole Pereira and Lisa Tutman-Oglesby..all fabulous scrapbookers for sure who will definitely be providing some super-inspirational eye candy. I have to say. the One-in-48 Sketch classes are probably my favorite of all the classes I teach over at NYCScraps.com simply because the energy and enthusiasm (and sheer PRODUCTivITY) of the students is so contagious. The friendly environment (as well as the infamous MPL-Master Points List-is very motivational! If you're in need of a creative push, definitely consider signing up for the class.

I was asked a while back to name my 10 favorite scrap supplies..here are some I simply can't live without (not listed in any particular order):

1. Xyron Adhesive Eraser-critical for removing the stray bits of adhesive that inevitably cling to my finished layout.
2. American Crafts Alphabet Rubons-the fonts are superb, the quality of rubon is outstanding, and I find I want to use them on virtually every single layout.
3. Scrapbook Adhesives Tape Runner-absolutely, hands down, the best tape runner out there. Lasts a long time and is sticky but not TOO sticky. Because I'm the kind of scrapper who finds she needs to move things after adhering them, stickier options didn't work for me.
4. Doodlebug Rubon Transfer Tool-I use it every time I scrap.
5. Xyron machines-the 150, 250, 500 and even the 900. I am lucky enough to have been sent the 900 by the company when I did some work for HSN for them, but the others I already owned, and LOVED. Your product will never fall off your page again.
6. The Curvy Cutter: I love my CM circle cutter, but the Curvy Cutter allows you to cut circles up to 12 inches: perfect for creating extra large circles for your layouts.
7. Xyron Wishblade: This machine is definitely worth the investment. It works like a printer, except instead of printing fonts, it CUTS them...yes, any font, and dingbat font that you can find online. Pretty nifty, ay?
8. Photoshop CS: I upgraded from the perfectly adequate Elements about 5 months ago, and I really appreciate the difference. I am one who absolutely loves using her computer when she scrapbooks, from formatting text, to removing shadows from pictures, to creating photo collages, so CS was an excellent addition to my scrapbooking arsenal.
9. Wide Format Printer: For printing on 12x12 paper, a must. It's pricey, but I use it all the time and I love it. I have the Canon i9900 which I bought about 2 years ago for around 400 dollars, if I remember correctly. Because I resize my photos and only figure out what it is I want to scrap late at night, I tend to print them at home, so the convenience is a big plus.
10. Canon Rebel: I know, I know, everyone 'raves' about the Rebel. But I have to say, having upgraded from a middle-range point and shoot Canon, the difference in your photographs is simply wonderful. I was lucky in that I 'inherited' mine from my husband, who uses them in his art restoration work--he was upgrading and gave me his 'old' one. Perfect for me!!!

I've received a couple of emails from people asking if I am now permanently residing on "the dark side" (ie. digital ) side of scrapbooking....and the answer is that I don't think I could ever give up my paper scrapping--there's something about physically cutting and adhering paper that I just love. That said, I am happy that I am learning something new!  Speaking of digital.....

A few digi layouts...

All Designer Digitals

MTerasawa's Little Explorer Kit Cardstock
PKnox Brad Bonanza
KPertiet's Grunge Overlays
JEdwards Tribal Brushes
KPertiet's Ledger Grids
KPertiet's Ledger Frames
KPertiert's Watery Brushes
KPertiet's Splatters






















All designer digitals products
LSanford Apron Strings cardstock
KP Grunge overlays
Work Hard Play Hard splatter
Funky Brights patterned paper
AAspnes Edges and Punches

Finally got me some wireless...

,..yes, my mom is still in the dark ages and does not have wireless in her house....small price to pay, but still, for someone who likes to hop online without thinking twice it's been a challenge. Anyway, I am at the East Hampton Library using their Wi-Fi -- woohoo! My last post here was when I managed to hop on to the neighbour's wireless but it's very unpredictable.....plus I have to place my computer in a VERY specific spot in the bedroom, forcing me to contort my body to actually type. So here I sit....

So far, vacation has been verrry relaxing. Luca is at tennis camp in the mornings and is loving it. Julian cries every time he leaves ("Luccccaaaa....come baccccck" ) which is sad, but he seems to enjoy our daily trips to the local donut shop. I've been occupying myself with digital scrapbooking as I didn't bring any paper supplies with me, and with reading appropriately trashy novels like Shopaholic and the latest book by the Nanny Diaries authors. Hey, my brain needs a rest too!

The very wonderful Virg from France kindly named me as one of her favorite scrapbookers, and asked that I name 5 scrapbookers who most inspire me. So here they are:

1. Celeste Smith - the definition of simple.
2. Debbie Hodge - always inspires me to keep it real and true.
 3. Amanda Probst - the queen of multi-photo clean layouts.
4. Severine Di Giacomo - sharp, sharp, sharp!
5. Anna De Heidmann - my digital hero :)

Go visit and tell me what you think of their work--totally inspiring, no?