Creative Cardboard

Hi, I'm Hayley and I have a problem.

I, Hayley McNeil, am a blogaholic.

Admitting it is the first step.

When you are a married adult whose spouse is away, evenings can get kinda boring. Not really a t.v.-watcher. So, every night for the past week, after putting Avery to bed, I get online and cruise the net for hours looking at new and interesting blogs. Some links have been sent by friends, others have been recommended by one magazine or another. The ones I really get into are people who are especially crafty or humorous. And if they're both, I'm hooked.

All that to say that, despite my addictive behavior which leads to nothing productive, I have encountered a few ideas worth trying myself. Did you know you can make stencils out of freezer paper?! We will save that topic for another time.

101: The number of tasks I could/should/would have been doing with my two-hours of Avery nap-ness yesterday, but (inspired by a blog) I decided to build her a kitchen instead. She is big time into playing pretend at the moment and I had a bunch of boxes waiting to be recycled. With a little spray paint, packaging tape, and a paint marker (all items I had laying around)... wah-la! Who needs a $40 plastic kitchen when Mom Almighty can whip up one for free in the time it takes to nap!!!

In other news ...

Last night my good friend Stefani and I left our girls with her husband (I figure he's a Marine, so he's gotta be capable of two toddlers, right?) and drove to Laguna Beach for an evening of art, margaritas, and theatre. Pageant of the Masters is part gallery show and part theatre production; where famous artworks are recreated life-size on stage and real people, who have been painted and costumed, hold the poses within the frame while a narrator talks about the artist's history and work. If you've seen it, you know. If not, well, you really have to behold this awesome artistic-ness to understand it's magic.

After the show, I randomly struck up a conversation with a stranger while in line for the ladies room. Come to find out she's part of the makeup artist team and she offers to take us backstage! We got to see all the sets, costumes, lighting, and the stage up close. Ah-mazing. Also learned that a majority of the actors are between 8-13 years old! Wow.

Tip for today:

Be kind to strangers. You never know just how they might bless your life.