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Ok I finished uploading all of my Peru pics! The latest one is Part 4.

If you didn’t see the other pictures: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Here is the mini scrapbook I tried making that includes a few more pictures not seen on my blog.

And lastly, the full Flickr photostream from my trip!

Saw this cool website that allows you to sign up for a temporary email address: 10 Minute Mail

As per the name, the email address expires after 10 minutes.

Why would you use this? Maybe you want to sign up for a site which requires that you provide an e-mail address to send a validation e-mail to. And maybe you don’t want to give up your real e-mail address and end up on a bunch of spam lists. This is nice and disposable. And it’s free.

I have a junk email address that I use to sign up for everything. I probably get about 200+ spam emails a day. It’s rediculous. Wish I had known about this before!

Etsy is the Ebay version for crafts. It’s one of my favorite sites! The blog featured today, Etsy’s Most Wonderful Things, finds the coolest things on Etsy.

1. When did you start your blog, Etsy’s Most Wonderful Things and why?

I started the Etsy’s Most Wonderful Things blog just a few months ago, in March. It started out as a way of promoting my Etsy shop, but soon it turned into so much more. It’s such fun to discover a brilliant artist who is just starting out, or who hasn’t gotten the recognition they deserve, and tell the world about them. There are so many talented artists, and now I have a tiny bit of power to let everyone know about all of the great work they do. (I promise to use my power for good, not evil.)

2. Also, tell us a little more about your Etsy shop and the goods you sell there.

My Etsy shop is called Sugarcube Design, and I sell all kinds of handmade notecards, gift tags, and envelopes. I have things like notecard and envelope sets with big, mod flowers and handmade envelopes I create from old anatomy textbooks. I design everything, right down to the templates I use.

I was doing freelance illustration work for many years, and getting really frustrated about having to wait for the next job to come along. Then I heard about Etsy, and it seemed like a great way to do the kind of work I liked without having to wait around for someone else’s say-so. Now, whenever I have a brilliant idea, I just make it happen!

3. What have been some of your favorite Etsy finds?

There are plenty of nice things on Etsy, but my very favorite Etsy find has got to be the people! The Etsy community is so wonderful. Whether
I’ve got a quick question about the site or something in my life I’d like to share or vent about, or even if I’m just feeling bored, there’s always a friendly someone who’s happy to discuss it with me. And the lovely administration people behind the scenes at Etsy and EtsyLabs are great, too. So cute and funny and helpful. What more could you ask for?

4. What are some of your favorite Etsy shops that you frequently browse?

There are so many, but I really enjoy PataPri’s silkscreened textiles. I’ve featured her work on my blog before. She has an amazing design sensibility and the colors she uses are just perfect. I also like Mark Wallace’s photographs. They’re beautiful and eerie at the same time.

5. Can you recommend other websites you enjoy? (Can be related to your own or not)

I’m on BoingBoing at least once a day! It’s like this little bubbleful of interesting stuff going on in the world. I also love, love, love the Make website. They’ve taught me to create fabulous things that make me look like a freakin’ genius (like a hovercraft from paper plates and a CPU fan!); and Bre Pettis does a weekly podcast that always inspires me to be a better geek.

Visit Etsy’s Most Wonderful Things.

If you’re interested in finding out new websites and reading interviews like these, remember to subscribe!

Oooooh, my favorite…a new letter of truth from Britney!

Dear Fans,

I just wanted to reach out to all of you and explain some of the things that I have been faced with recently.

It’s so funny how many stories are put out there about people. It’s like we all want our side of the story out there as well, but at the end of the day only a few people care to hear what is really going on since the bad is always so much more interesting than the truth. I don’t know why, but this is so weird to me. I used to be angry at the tabloids for printing horrible things about me, but now I try to just be numb to what I see. I saw Tyra Banks once get really upset and cry on her show because they made her look fat. We all want a certain image of ourselves out there, and at some point we all do really care what other people think or we wouldn’t be here.

Recently, I was sent to a very humbling place called rehab. I truly hit rock bottom. Till this day I don’t think that it was alcohol or depression. I was like a bad kid running around with ADD. I had a manager from a long time ago come in and try to direct me and my life after I got my divorce. I was so overwhelmed I think that I was in a little shock too. I didn’t know who to go to. I realized how much energy and love I had put into my past relationship when it was gone because I genuinely did not know what to do with myself, and it made me so sad. I confess, I was so lost.

This letter is to not place blame on anyone, although I do see the world with a completely different set of eyes now. Being in that vulnerable state and taken to dinners and parties with friends and finding out later you paid for everything was a huge learning lesson for me. I think the whole problem was letting too many people into my life. You never know another persons intentions or what another person wants. I feel I was too open and looking for answers when I had it all to begin with. I have had to cut so many people out of my life. It is so sad, because if anyone is a family person … it is me. When I was little I remember every night watching movies with my family and feeling so at peace. Dancing and singing all the time just like a little girl should. Now recently I find with my children that I want them to have that feeling all of the time. I am having to face a lot of things right now since I have children of my own. A lot of insecurities from when I was little are coming up again. It is like we are never good enough.

I know everyone thinks that I am playing the victim, but I am not and I hate what is going on right now so much. Maybe this is the reason for this letter … to maybe allow people to look at me differently. It is like when you are a real woman and say what you feel and how you think things are supposed to be, that people just say you are a “bitch.”

I feel like some of the people in my life made more of some issues than was necessary. I also feel like they knew I was beginning to use my brain for a change and cut some ties, so they wanted to be in more control of my life than me. I think it is actually normal for a young girl to go out after a huge divorce. I think it was a bigger issue because I had not gone out in such a long time. I am 25 and I do still have a lot to learn, and I am going to make mistakes everyday, and I am sure every mistake I make will probably be on CNN or Good Morning America. I am only human people and I love you for still loving me.

I am sitting here at home and it is 6:25 and both of my sons are asleep. I am truly blessed to have them in my life. Everyday is so surreal. Life in general is so surreal and crazy.

I just hope this letter made some of you think a little bit more of me and where I am coming from. I just want the same things in life that you want…and that is to be happy. It is just so weird because everyone has their own perception of me and how they think I really am. It is so weird how stories are told. There is your side, my side, and the truth. Somebody has to figure it out. I guess we will never really understand or figure out life completely. That’s God’s job. I can’t wait to meet him … or her.

Love, Britney

Quote of the month…
It is ok to disagree with people regarding certain issues. You’re not being true to yourself if you succumb to others opinions because you feel guilty.

Since I got back I’ve been watching a lot of DVDs and movies. I just got back from Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Just so you know I really enjoyed the first one but I thought the 2nd one was sort of weak so take my opinion with a grain of salt if you enjoyed the 2nd one. I barely even remember what happened in 1 and 2 so I was really lost watching 3. If you haven’t seen it yet I suggest watching 1 and 2 again as a refresher. The whole time I was like ???? The movie was also very long at 2 hours and 45 minutes. I ended up falling asleep a few times during the movie as well! (Maybe that’s why I was so confused? hehe). Anyways, overall I thought the movie sucked. If they come out with a 4 which they hinted at at the end, I will probably wait for DVD. Also, fyi if you wait til the very end of the movie there’s a tiny clip. I wouldn’t say it’s worth it to stay all the way through the credits but if you are like me, I hate finding out that I missed one of those!

On dvd, I saw World Trade Center. Of course, it was very sad but at the same time it was a bit slow. There was not much more to the story than what I already knew about it. It did offer a personal look at a few of the families of 2 police officers stuck in the rubble.

Also saw Alpha Dog, the movie with Justin Timberlake. I didn’t know til afterwards that the movie was based on a true story. It’s about a drug dealer and his posse who kidnap a guy’s brother because he owes them money. The whole movie you’re thinking, “wow these kids are the stupidest kids on earth”. It was actually kind of annoying how lame they were. This is a good movie to show your kids if you want to teach them to not do drugs heheh. I was a bit disappointed in Justin’s character in the movie. He was such a loser in the movie! Oh well.

So last friday I got a CAT scan. I thought it was going to be super easy: you just lie on a table and it goes in and out of a tube right? NOPE! I had no idea that you would need an IV during the whole process and that they would be shooting iodine inside of your body and what that felt like. So if anybody needs to get a CAT scan, I’m going to share my experience so you won’t be surprised like I was!

For most people, an IV is not a big deal but for me it is because I HATE needles! So that was already freaking me out even though it shouldn’t considering I’ve had about 10+ needles stuck in me in the last month. Also, for some reason my veins don’t show very well on my arm so the nurses always have the hardest time sticking the needle in me. They always stick it in and miss and have to keep doing it. All the while, they have that tight rubberband on my arm cutting off all circulation. UGH! So after missing the vein on my right arm she decides to try my left arm and finally gets it in.

Next, everybody leaves the room so you’re all alone and they start talking to you through an intercom. The table you are on will start moving in and out of the tube. My tube was more of a donut shape though but I think there are different kinds. The nurse tells me to take a deep breath and hold it while he moves me in and out of the tube. After they do that a few times, they tell me they are ready to shoot the iodine in me.

This part sucks. I don’t know how it feels for a guy but this is how it feels for a girl. Before they did it, they told me my arm would feel tingly, I would taste metal in my mouth as if there was a coin in there, and also that my vagina would feel tingly! So when it actually happened, my arm was tingly and very cold. It felt like ice was being shot through my arm. Very weird feeling. The taste in my mouth was very intense and gross. Tasting metal in your mouth is not fun either. And of course the weirdest feeling was definitely the whole tingly vagina thing. I felt like I was peeing in my pants!! Also, as I felt the iodine going through the rest of my body it was harder and harder to breathe. I felt like I was drowning. It’s a good thing I am not claustrophobic or else I would definitely be freaking out more than I was. After about a minute, it finally stopped and it felt better. They had me walk around the room to get the iodine around my body.

They had me go in and out of the tube a few more times after that and then it was finally done! Anyways, it was not a simple and easy procedure. But then again, I’m a wuss when it comes to hospital/doctor related things! heheh.

Wow, is it friday already? I almost forgot about today’s friday links!!

Real life snakes on a plane - hilarious
passive-aggressive notes from roommates, neighbors, coworkers, and strangers
Avis to begin offering wireless internet service to travelers - my internet addicted self really likes this!
Zagat rates the best fast food - I’m not surprised Wendy’s got 1st.
Long Beach teen is youngest ever to climb Mt. Everest - what an inspiring story and she’s only 18!

Saw this gadget on little jenny c’s page where you can add your own and your friends’ status onto your google homepage:

So if you use google homepage, add me! If you create one, invite me and I’ll add you too.

Lost was crazy!!! I love this show. If you haven’t been watching you really need to start. Best show ever!

Random trivia - The name of the funeral parlor that Jack visits was “Hoffs/Drawlar” which is an anagram for “flash forward”. What an interesting episode. When Kate meets Jack at the end I was like OH EM GEEEEEEEEE! haha. I can’t wait for the next season. What’s going to happen?????

So Charlie was not my favorite character but his ending was very touching to me. RIP Charlie:

PS. I put up part 2 of my Peru pics!

As promised I posted up some pictures on my photolog webpage. Unfortunately, I did not get very far. Hopefully, I’ll have my Machu Picchu pics up by the end of this week which are the most exciting.

I experimented with online scrapbooking. There is Scrapbooking web 2.0 now at scrapblog.com

I started my Peru scrapbook, check it out here. It only has 4 pages so far. I’m not sure if I will add more because despite it being very easy to do, it is still pretty time consuming. The website itself is pretty cool though for anyone interested in scrapbooking online I highly recommend the site.

By the way, all of the pictures from my photolog and the scrapbook are linked to bigger versions of the picture if you want to see them in full size.

I can’t wait to share my Machu Picchu pictures with you!