Digital Redecorating

Happy New Year! 

I've been away from the blog while working on 1,200 digital video clips and 1,000 digital photos from our late October Mediterranean cruise. 

So today I gave the blog and my YouTube channel digital makeovers to celebrate 2009 - the year us geeks have been waiting for: The Digital TV Transition!

I've had fun creating short, high quality videos (Barcelona, French Riviera, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Venice, Malta) with my new Sony HDR-SR12 high definition Handycam (fits in your purse!) and iMovie on my MacBook Pro. We watch these flicks on our cool Apple TV, but you can watch them on YouTube. 

If you're thinking about a future cruise or you'd like to take a "digital" winter vacation, click here. Be sure to click "watch in high quality" just below the video window on the right. You'll get a DVD quality picture on most newer YT videos!

charlotte the pug wins pet contest

This adorable American "Pooch Idol" is not mine - I'm her aunt. Jim and I had the opportunity to adopt her, but didn't act fast enough before our good friends Jeff and Nancy fell totally in love with her.

Nancy's away, so Jeff asked me to assist him with Charlotte's debut at our club's annual Pet Parade & Contest yesterday. Even if you don't know Jeff, my YouTube video will make you ROFL.



I was going to try to resist snarky comments about this nice wholesome family event (who knew there were this many tikes in FL?) But the operative word here is "try." Maybe I'm just feeling cranky today (Restarting my pre-cruise diet, broken last Monday at the Cheesecake Factory).

Anyway... the very jovial, animal-loving MC announced that all contestants were winners, even if they might go home without a prize. But I think every pet was awarded a prize, maybe even the pelicans out over the ocean if the judges had spotted them.

What kind of self esteem boost is there in being second runner-up in a goofy pet contest? Or winning "smallest pet?" Come on!

If the audience had voted, Charlotte would have swept not only "best costume," but also "cutest pet." You could hear the Charlotte buzz - kind of like you just knew Archie was the number one Idol vote-getter, for 11 weeks.

Charlotte might have also won "best talent" for making Jeff roll over - which I thought I was filming, but had the cam on standby instead. (Which means I got a ton of footage of the ceiling while the cam was in record mode. If you shoot much video, you know what I mean).

Other than the two ponies and my friend Colleen's hunky Mr. Kitty (as BatCat), most of the other pets were pretty ho-humm. But I guess I'm glad they and their owners all feel good today.

BTW, if you enjoyed the video, you can rate it and leave comments here.

Favorite place: the Cheesecake Factory

I can't believe I've never been 'til lunch today, but it was worth the wait! When I lived in Charlotte, you couldn't get near the place. My friend Patty and I lucked out in Jacksonville today, no wait and outstanding service.

Not only were the chicken quesadillas the best I've ever had, the whimsical interior design was perfect. Intricately faux painted walls with what looked like areas of venetian plaster. Kinda funky Egyptian motifs and seemingly unrelated bird and mermaid ceiling murals. But it all worked!

And the cheesecake, well... let me just say...

My South Beach Diet is over. And good riddance.

Patty and I both ordered takeouts of the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake with flourless chocolate cake crust. And it's gluten-free, so I could share my thick slice with DH! Quite possibly the best dessert this chocoholic has ever had. Heavenly. I'll be back.

Photos: The Cheesecake Factory

video: 44 pound cat makes mine look slim

Maybe I'm moved to post this because it's Day 4 of Phase I of the South Beach Diet that. It's 2:30 and I haven't had breakfast or lunch...yet. And I feel like Princess Chunk looks.

Here's my fat boy, Ollie, 14 years old and a 20 pound diabetic.

We don't have kids, so he's pretty special (spoiled). It's hard when I take him to the vet for his blood work, because people say things like, "My, what a big cat.... and he's so handsome." I know they really mean he's just FAT. And I know they're thinking I'm a bad mom to let him get that big.

BTW, if you'd like to see MORE of 44 lb. Princess Chunk, who I'd love to adopt, here's an in-depth video from CNN.

How to decorate your YouTube channel (Updated)

1/13/2009 - I've digitally redecorated my channel already, a crisp black-and-white zebra theme (touches of blue and red to tie in with the YouTube banner) replaces the glam cheetah pallette, along with a photo of the "real" me. Check it out here!

I've just gotta keep busy. It's after noon on Day 2 of the South Beach Diet and I'm afraid to eat lunch. After seeing a side view of myself (twice!) on HGTV's Rate My Space last Thursday it was good bye, sweet carbs. Hello, turkey bacon.

It's too hot to go to the driving range 'til later, so I've been spending some time on my YouTube channel, uploading more of my video masterpieces (IOW, decluttering 2 hard drives), which I enjoy creating a lot more than my family and friends enjoy watching.

Proud geek that I am, I can't believe I never knew before that you could actually DECORATE your channel. LOL!

How do you like my digital "sample board?" YouTube is one of my favorite online "spaces."

Seemed like it would be a piece of cake (you can tell where my mind's at) to make my page there unique, especially since I've been doing web design since 1996 when it seemed the only women using the web were college students. Nevertheless, I really had to spend some time getting the background, colors, and readability I wanted. Let me know what you think!

Of course I wanted an exotic vibe. Animal print was de riguer because I love furry creatures and my Florida home is filled with animal prints and faux fur. The real fur on the left is my gorgeous hunk of feline love, Ollie...all 20 pounds of him (he claimed that rug in the foyer about 30 seconds after I laid it down a few years ago).

So I found a great free downloadable cheetah pattern created by Stephanie at Obsidian Dawn, a cool Photoshop site. If you want to use any of her work, please be sure to abide by her terms of use.

If just the thought of using Photoshop makes you want to run out for a root canal instead, download my resized-for-YouTube cheetah background here. But again, you must give Obsidian Dawn credit!

In case you're wondering, Spot , my little sweetie above, is the world's most perfect dog. He doesn't eat or poop. And you never have to walk him. But maybe I should... I need some exercise.

soap opera addict to HGTV fanatic!

Yup, that's me and DH Jim on Oprah's Soap Opera Addicts show (1990). My 9 minutes of TV fame. Or, should I say ...infamy?

When I started my small window treatment biz in 1989, I did the sewing myself in my basement while listening to Oprah and soaps all day long - that caused the addiction, which I explained on the show.

One day, Oprah advertised during a commercial break that she was looking for soap addicts whose husbands thought they were nuts, or some such thing. I actually thought I was calling in for tickets to the show... as in "sit in the audience"...

Surprise! Sally, the nice producer, interviewed me on the phone and called back 90 minutes later to say that I was the biggest soap addict they'd ever encountered and they wanted me on the show... but with the big caveat that Jim had to be on too. It wasn't easy, but she convinced him in a private phone call, revealing the big surprise that would be sprung on me on the air.

A year or so after the show, my business had become successful enough that I hired a workroom. I didn't do much sewing after that, just made pillows and upholstered headboards occasionally. So I stopped watching Oprah and soaps altogether. Haven't seen a soap since, but I'd guess not much has changed on any of the eight I watched regularly in the intervening 18 years.

It was only when we were getting ready to sell our house in 2004 that I discovered HGTV. Just one look...that's all it took...to get me hooked.

UPDATE: Just found out some sad news: Another World, R.I.P 1999

new blog, but you may already know me

So I changed my website into a blog 'cause I hadn't updated it in over a year. And I'm not designing new sites, just maintaining my active sites (links in sidebar). Besides, I'm just too busy DIY decorating my home to keep up with web technology and all that. And then there's my pitiful golf game, which I'll get serious about when I'm done decorating.

BTW, you may already know me...

as soap opera addict on Oprah, 1990

(with Dear Husband Jim)

as a once-frequent contributor

to The Charlotte Observer

as DIY-er "marykay" on Rate My Space

(rate my online spaces here)

oh yeah....as a blonde on YouTube

and Halloween (upscale bag lady)

One bit of wisdom I've learned over the years is that changing my hair is much more economical than changing my interiors. That's why I'm a do-it-yourselfer (decorating, not hair). So my blog will show, among other things, some of my favorite spaces - both my own and others that catch my eye.