*sigh*,,, im feeling a tad bit emotional right now. *good* emotions. grateful, really. grateful for *YOU* {truly ~ YOU}. i dont ever quite get into my personal life... sure ill mention a bit here,,, a bit there,,, but thats about it. i know ive said this before {and nobody believes me}, but i promise,, promise,,, promise i am a very shy person, {think about the first time we met},,, and if our paths have yet to cross,,, i promise i will be shy. im scared. scared of rejection. i also am very aware of my excitement and lack of the ability to contain it. i am an all or nothing kinda chick and if i think you might not be able to handle it, i refrain. on that same{ish} note you have no, No, NO, NO idea how much it means to me when *you* leave me a blog comment. i really appreciate it. it makes me soooo stinkin' happy. putting myself out *there* {wherever *there* might be} is an interesting thing, really. like the people that have *joined* my blog. *followed me* per say. i want to thank *you* so very much for showing me support. it might seem so silly to one, but think about it like this. a marathon. ive never ran in one, nor do i plan on it {like, ever}. but im thinking about the people in the crowd. cheering,,, screaming,, clapping. i never really thought that if one person joined in, it would make a difference. now i know it does. one comment or a few more, make my day. make me happy. everybody who wished me a congrats for making it on the design team ~ truly ~ thank you. THANK YOU. where was i?? oh,, the whole *follow* this blog. i hadnt added it to my side bar for fear that nobody would *follow* me. promise. i see others that have eight or twenty two or nine million {sorry, had to throw something sarcastic in,,, its getting waaay tooooo serious around here} and i was scared that i wouldnt have any. i finally got over that {because really, i did have three faithful followers from the get go}, but once i put it out there now i have twelve!! twelve!!! thats awesome. thank you ladies for *following* me. i appreciate that and i makes me wanna rock on harder just to keep you inspired,, {alright, alright its kinda cool to get a chuckle here and there too ~ gotta be honest here}. maybe a lil' ROFL action you know or how about you LMAO?? {inside joke},,, anyway,,, the whole sassafrass blog thing,,, sent me sailing over the moon. still on cloud nine. making a design team ~ sweet. to be completely honest, i havent {until lately} ever tried out for a design team. didnt want to find out that i hadnt made it. it would break my heart. when i want something, i put everything into achieving it,,, and i hate hearing no. i sooo badly wanted to try out for the hambly design team this past summer. i was gonna. then i totally lost my courage,, chickened out. making a design team is so rad to me and *you* have been there and showed me love, and for that im truly grateful. {if i ever won an oscar or an emmy they would for sure be playing the music,, like,, seven minutes ago, yes?? like,, "hey,, hey you,,, get the heck off the stage!!!!! we wanna see angelina jolie"}. anyway,, i kinda felt the need to express my gratitude for *you*. you freaking rock!!! thank *you*

on another side note {also adding to my emotions},, my baby brother graduated from *a* school today {navy}. top of his class. my eyes are filling up with pride {alright, alright,, maybe tears}as i type. he is eighteen years old and ready to take south korea head on. just like a man should. amazing. he makes me so happy. i am so happy and proud to be his big sissy and i cant wait to see him when he comes home {whenever that is}, but it will be very, very soon. we wanna get matching tattoos {dont worry mom we really wont ;-) }. mainly because he thinks ill wanna get mr clean or the monopoly guy tatted on my booty ~ ahem, noooo thank you baby brother!!! non the less, we are sure to have a blast hanging ten together. cant wait.

moving right along {and trying to break away from the emotions} i went to petco today to buy a new ball for our hamster {which my children cleverly named *mousie~mousie*}. well, i ended up with another hamster. meet rino {like from the movie bolt}. she {yes, she has a boys name, we know} is a roborivski hamster and tiny. she wont get any bigger than sofias two-year-old-fist. my hubby was a little surprised, but he actually got over it really quick, {thanks mom}. she is freaking adorable.nexxxxxxt,,,,

fresh highlights ~ CHECK

tanning booth over exposed skin ~ CHECK

new clothes ~ CHECK

lose one hundred pounds in ten minute crash diet ~ CHECK

new sim card for my camera ~ CHECK {times two}

good company ~ CHECK

cute boy to kiss at night ~ CHECK, CHECK

stoked ~ CHECK, CHECK, CHECK,,,

why, you ask?? welllll,,,, tonight {yep, tonight} we will be VIA LAS VEGAS BABY!!!!!!!!! hecccck yeah!!! vegas is my love. a piece of my heart resides in vegas. it makes me so happy and the mere thought that i will be there for the next couple of days makes me wanna do summer salts,, or cartwheels,, or russians,,, something. im stoked. oh, but dont worry, my bloggity blog will still update you with randomness. promise. you know how i roll.

alright, so you totally know that i love taking pictures of myself ~ yes?? well,,, what you dont know is i like to keep myself entertained,,, i like laughing at myself. i actually think that its really funny, because its true. i crack up at myself allll the time because im sooo lame. and i like it. i am, after all *my own favorite audience* {thank you dance hall crashers} {side note if you know and or listen to the dance hall crashers i just realized that i have a crush on *you*}. anyway,, making a short story long,,,, {which is what i do best} i take pictures of myself. right. i also take whats the word im searching for,,, hmmm,, honestly, i cant think of the proper, non-offensive word to describe what im trying to say. instead,,, see for yourself. this picture makes me laugh soooo hard. it does. i even shamelessly printed it the last time i went to ritz camera knowing that i will scrap this baby. what do you think??? *HI MOM*,,,and,,,again,,,THANK YOU. thank you for simply reading my blog, or leaving me comments, or for choosing to follow me. i appreciate *YOU*

~loves~

this is how my family rocks.
rad. right?? i took this picture after church last week. on a side note,,, thank you all so very much for the sweet words yesterday. i am very excited to be a part of a design team and i am very eager to see what lies ahead,,, eeekk,,, stoked!!!
~peace~

dude. somebody we all know {and love ~ ahem, ahem} is now an official member of a design team. yup. me. this challenge blog. rad. right?? im so excited!!!i will be sharing with you my takes on the different challenges they will be throwing out there. the first challenge is to grab that painters tape and use it in your project. rad. right?? i would share my version, but i think i wanna switch it up. you know, make a change or two. ill post it soon. thanks ladies for this opportunity!!! yay!!!!
oh!!! i almost forgot,,, they had a little, you know filler in the blanks. you know i love sharing those with you so here is what i had to say,,,,,
Name: allyson serrato ~ call my ally
Age: 28 ~ dang!!!
Favorite Scrapping product: everything that is in my sight gets put into my scrapbook pages. i love embroidery floss. vintage buttons. big, fat lace. total non-acid free stuff that totally doesnt belong in a scrapbook, but totally rocks. rub ons. paint. the swirl bling stuff is awesome. you name it.
Describe your scrapping style: my scrapping style is similar to the starbucks flavor of the hour. it is ever changing and i love that. i love to pile goodies on. distress EVERYTHING. i sand the edges of almost all of my photos. add lots of flowers or rad flair buttons. masking tape and hand stitching details. i love it all. oh,, and i recientally learned that by my getting over my ahem *hoarding* issue, im happier with the results. so use that rad embeli that youve been haording for like seven months,, its soooo much fun!!!
If you were a cartoon character, which one would you be and why?: ariel. sound cliche?? well, if you sang like ariel {like i do} you wouldnt think so. alright, alright, thats a total lie. i suck at singing,,, really i adore ariel because a} shes a mermaid. RAD and b} i love that she is a dreamer. much like myself. i have a stop at nothing attitude. i never think that any situation is out of my reach. i truly know i can obtain anything.
guilty pleasure: cupcakes and victorias secret {PINK}.
What inspires you?: dr seuss. my children. song lyrics. my darling friend carrie. bright colors. rad books. childrens movies.
Name something surprising about yourself: i am a ninja. oh, and i might be the most sarcastic person you know that also happens to be the most gullible. {seriously how did i end up with these two traits???} oh, and now thanks to elaine ~ i totally want a tattoo on my inner wrist that says *create* {dont worry girl, i wont copy cat,, but that sounds wicked}!!!
~peace~

scrapmojo had a fun challenge in between their search for the perfect design team member,,,, challenge number thirty. {i stole this from there blog},,,,

We know Valentines Day is done and over but we are sure you have pictures to scrap. This challenge is for those of you who have those love inspired pictures laying around collecting dust. Our challenge to you is use one of these as your title on your page...For the love of ______(fill in the blank) or My heart belongs to _______ (fill in the blank). The second part of our challenge is to use heart(s) on your layout.
fun. right?? here is my take,,, *for the love of moments like this*

geee,, i sure can make a short story long,, huh??? i know a few of those pictures look the same, but i really didnt know if i liked the heart in the first one, but the third had better lighting,,, *sigh* there. i put 'em all up. i used more pieces of my dozens kits. dude. seriously. these kits are wicked. i cant wait for the next,,,

annnnndddddd,,, i have some fun news. ill share it tomorrowwww.....

~i love you~

i busted out another sketch for the 52 sketches... 52 weeks challenge. its a cool concept,,, especially for me and my idea of trucking along {or towards} the 365 goal!!! {currently projecting 419,,, thank you very much}. anyway,,, the idea of a layout inspired by a sketch is still pretty new to me,,, but i likey!! i know, surprise, surprise,,, i seem to love everything,,, dont i??? with further adue,,, here is the sketch {sketch number eight},, followed by my take. i used the brand new heidi grace paper that i got from pink and some older photos of my girl baby. *lady love bug*

thanks for peaking!!!
~loves~

i learned,,,

*moments like this cost nothing but are worth so much.
*my friends are so much *radder* than your friend. reason one. reason two. reason three. *scrapping at starbucks is wicked fun.

*slumber parties still rock!!! {love you}

i saw,,,

*a man get hit by a car,,, stand there for a brief moment,, dust himself off and hobble away {true story}.

*some rad friends of mine that i missed like crazy :-D

i bought,,,

*new clothes for vegas {next weekend}!!!!!

*a painting {errrr,,, maybe three of them},,,,

*these onsies for some friends of ours that are expecting. from here.

*a ton of black tea lemonades {my new starbucks drink of choice by a mile}

i scrapped,,,
*this

with her. photo shoot by carrie too!!!
*four dr seuss layouts for my youer than you collection

*another effer dares layout

*other goodies that i cant think of right now,,,,

this feels good,,,,,

~loves~

dude. i love this layout. i am allowed to say that,,, right?? i was inspired by the effer dares #128. i had to create a name for a band. this was easy. since i had just had an amazing time at pink pineapple during the *i have a crush on pink* theme crop, our band name was easy. we were ninjas that night,,, nuff said. i busted out my kit from the dozens and had a blast putting this baby together!! lovin the 8 1/2X 11 layouts. check it,,,,,

we are *the crushing pink ninjas*. rad. so have you been playing along with challenge blogs?? which one is your fav???

~loves~

i have been cranking out layouts like nobodies business. its so rad!!! this is one that i finished as of late and i love it!!! there was a project that i worked on and it was to scrap about something out of the *norm* for us scrappers. a tattoo,,, or something,,, i cant remember the other suggestions. anyway, i had to go ahead and take this opportunity to scrap *my mother of the year tattoo*!! ha, im sure if you know me, you know exactly what tattoo im speaking of,,,, anyway, here is the layout., loves it!!!! ahhh,,, the silly things we do before we are mamas,,, even though i still have no regrets,,,, :-D
~xoxo~

wanna peak at my layout class for march at pink pineapple?? of course you do. :-D *autobiography* part of the get er done series. im so addicted to sassafrass lass, especially the new lines from this past cha. i had to use it for both my card class annnnd my layout class. why not?? its simply precious. loves it!!! and always remember that joining up in the get er done series at any time is sooooo welcome, encouraged in fact. class is sunday 22nd of march @ 2:00. pink pineapple {of course}. soooooo,,, will i see you there too??
~loves~

i found a new challenge blog. no, like, a brand spanking new challenge blog. punk rock scrappers. you know, the one i mentioned yesterday,,, its pretty rad so far. they are still looking to create their design team, so therefore they threw together a *in the mean time* challenge. a list. a list of the 10 things *you* hate. ha!! kinda fun. i like this blog because its not the *norm*. they {or she} actually prides herself in veering away from the teddy bears that also kinda make me gag,,, if you wanna know the truth. so, with out any hesitation, i went a head and created a layout and a list of the ten things i hate. im actually too spineless to share the *whole* list with you peps, mainly because i didnt hold back!!! ha!! but my list went a little something like this,,,,
alright, alright, you got me, hate is a strong word,,, but sometimes no other word will do. i hate... and on my list was something about,,, when people call rain bad weather. rain is not bad weather,,, like at all. did you see the newest james bond?? water, the worlds most precious resource. its so true. hello peps, we really, really need the rain. rain is awesome. the only thing that sucks about rain is the people that dont know how to drive in the rain. if they stayed off the road, we would have no reason to call rain *bad weather* there :-D. maybe a lil something about liars. nuf said. and something about being tired. i hate it!!! {its so true}. ohhh,, and i soooooo hate calories. i wanna eat whatever i want!!! i hate, hate, hate people that dont return phone calls. uhhhmmm,, hi. thats rude. dont get me wrong, i cant wait a few days, or a week or even several weeks, but to never call back for like months ~ rude!!!!! waste. i hate to waste food, shampoo, scrapbook supplies,, anything. i hate waste. there were others on the list, but you get the general idea, yes??? :-D here is my layout,,,,
~peace~

alright, alright, so i know that i usually only post once a day {8:00am to be exact} buttttt,,,,,, i cant wait,, not another minute and not until tomorrow 8:00 am. yeah, im beside myself. as many of you loyal blog readers know, sassafrass lass is my very favorite product line. this year and last years cha favorite. anyway, i sent a layout their way and, well, check it,,, they took their time and posted it ON THEIR BLOG!!!!! i am soooo not an *OMG*er person,, but OMG!!!! im dying!!! thank you so much to the ladies at sassafrass,,,, this made my day, week and probably even my year!!!!!! xoxoxxoxoxxoxoxooxxoxoxo here is the layout,,,, and then a little somethin' somethin' about my card class that im teaching at pink sunday 8th of march at 2:00. eeekkkkkk!!!!!!!and since i mentioned that sassafrass lass was my cha favorite {two years in a row} i thought i might as well share my happy smiles from just standing in their booth!!!
{cha 2008}{cha 2009}thank you sassafrass lass ~ me love you long time!!!!
****added****~yet another reason pink pineapple rocks my world***loves!!!
~xoxoxxoxoxoxxoxoxoxxo~