Happy 75th Birthday, Grandma!

Gwen Buehler Smith - 75 Years Young

Four children + 11 grandchildren + 1 great-grandchild = A Lifetime of Priceless Memories

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Love, PK

Someday My Prince Will Come

Aunt Laurie called PK today to say she was adopting a handsome puppy named Dreamer. Since the news came on Valentine's Day, Lexus let out a sigh and said,

"Fairy tales really do come true."

Happy Cupid Day!

PK

Are You Having Diva Day?

Today I had the opportunity to be on the online crafting show Diva Craft Lounge. Hosted by Danielle Forsgren and Rayme Royale, the show literally has a global reach as they now broadcast in 95 countries.

With so many exciting things going on at Paper Crafts, we had no trouble filling the time - in fact I think we went over. We talked about the magazine's new blog Paper Crafts Connection and our new special issue Stamp It! Cards.

If you're interested in hearing me gab (and have 20 minutes to spare!), click here. If not, no hard feelings. Although if you're related to me, it's your duty to listen and tell me if I talked too fast, sounded nervous, nasally or Southern.

Have a Diva Day!
PK

Karma

With all my recent car troubles (see bulleted list below), this little story brought a smile to my face. Now if only this karma could find my insurance rep, who so quickly (and gleefully!) denied my windshield claim.

"The goal of all inanimate objects is to resist man and ultimately defeat him." ~Russell Baker

PK's Car Woes (as of Jan. 4, 2009):

• replaced front bumper (due to accident involving black ice)
• replaced driver's side rear hubcap (unknown cause)
• when leaned down to examine new hubcap, I noticed a undiagnosed crack in rear bumper ($#%@!)
• oh, and the tire man said I had no tread on my front two tires (even though I bought said crappy tires less than a year ago)
• replaced rear bumper (due to accident involving black ice)
• when I picked up car from body shop (second time in two weeks), I noticed a foot-long crack in windshield that wasn't there when I dropped it off (due to "invisible rock chip" - at least that's what the insurance man is calling it)
• replaced front tires (did I mention my old tires were less than a year old?)
• still need to replace windshield (this will be my third windshield in 2 1/2 years)

"A woman and a man are involved in a car accident on a snowy, cold morning; it's a bad one. Both of their cars are totally demolished, but amazingly neither of them are hurt. God works in mysterious ways.

After they crawl out of their cars, the man is yelling about women drivers.

The woman says, 'So, you're a man. That's interesting. I'm a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There's nothing left, but we're unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should be friends and live in peace for the rest of our days.'

Flattered, the man replies, 'Oh yes, I agree completely, this must be a sign from God! But you're still at fault...women shouldn't be allowed to drive.'

The woman continues, 'And look at this, here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune.'

She hands the bottle to the man. The man nods his head in agreement, opens it and drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to the woman. The woman takes the bottle, puts the cap back on and hands it back to the man.

The man asks, 'Aren't you having any?'

The woman replies, 'No. I think I'll just wait for the police...'"

Isn't karma a funny thing?
PK

Selling with the Stars

I've been a fan of ABC's Dancing with the Stars since the very first season. I love how they can turn uncoordinated, washed-up stars into overnight dancing sensations with a little bit of training and a very good make-up and wardrobe department. And the spray tanning doesn't hurt either.

So you can imagine my total surprise when my own uncoordinated sister Holly (sorry, babe) announced to the family that she too was going to be on this hit reality show. Excuse, moi? How does a pharmaceutical rep from Dallas get on THE Dancing with the Stars? This girl has always been lucky (her birthday is on St. Patrick's Day), but c'mon!

Holly has always had a thing for fancy gowns!

Turns out, we were all mistaken. It wasn't Dancing with the Stars she was going to be on. It's Selling with the Stars. It's a new dance show sweeping the pharmaceutical industry. It's where attractive and toned reps battle it out to see which product performs the best under pressure. Holly just sent me a demo video to preview. I guess their pitching the networks next week. Can you imagine my little sis tango-ing her way to the top. In the world of pharmaceuticals, nothing is impossible!

Enjoy the show!
PK



P.S. In all seriousness, Holly spent last week in Las Vegas at her company's annual sales conference. They thought it would be fun to put this little video together to motivate everyone to sell. When it came to picking their star, Holly, who has some acting under her belt, was the obvious choice. They even flew her up to New York for the shoot. Like I said, nothing is impossible in the world of pharmaceuticals!

A Brand New Day

I for one am super happy Mercury is no longer in retrograde (Jan. 11-Feb. 1). I blame this cosmic force for many of my recent mishaps.

Explained to me by Paper Crafts editor-in-chief (and budding astrologer) Jennifer Schaerer, when Mercury is in retrograde (essentially moving backward in the zodiac), things like communication and travel can suddenly turn topsy turvy and massive chaos ensues.

Lucky for me, we at Paper Crafts decided to launch our new blog on Feb. 2 - and so far, communication and travel on the World Wide Web has been pretty... well, normal. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come!

Speaking of good things... our new blog Paper Crafts Connection is off to a very good start! After building it stone by stone (or should I say link by link) it's nice to finally unveil it and have it be so well received by our readers. Now if we can just keep the momentum going!

Here's a preview of our new blog banner. We really wanted to stress the word "connection", so we came up with the idea of two cans connected by a string. It's just like the telephone game you use to play as a kid, except our version has you "connecting" through the magic of cyber space. We're also unveiling our new black and white team photos. Aren't we a cute bunch?

In addition to a new look, we've themed a few days of the week, so be sure to stop by for "Magazine Monday", "With the Pros Wednesday" and "Freebie Friday". We'll also squeeze in cool projects and sources of inspiration from our latest issues, as well as fun contests and giveaways. So what are you waiting for? Mosey on over to Paper Crafts Connection and tell me what you think. I'd love to hear your opinion!

Cheers!
PK

P.S. For all of you FRIENDS fanatics like me, do you remember the episode where Ross wants to move into Ugly Naked Guy's apartment? Conveniently located across from Monica's, Joey gets excited about the prospect and says, "Hey, then we can do the telephone thing! You know, where you have a can and we have a can and it's connected by a string." My darling Chandler then replies, "Or we could do the actual telephone thing!" Gosh, I miss FRIENDS!