Back home

So after a quick little trip to Vegas, we are back home! I swear, nothing is better than seeing that "Welcome to Arizona!" sign anytime we drive back into our wonderful state. The weekend was wonderful though, won quite a bit of money and spent some great quality time together. And yes, you heard me right...I gambled, and won! I ended up playing a lot of "Let it Ride," which is a poker game at the card tables. It's my favorite and so fun. I also played this funny little slot machine that has a hamburger theme and won a lot too! Overall great time. It was very relaxing and fun to just kick back a little with Hank and his very generous family. Both sides of his family do so much for us and I always hope they know how much I/we appreciate them. So sweet. So yes, it was such a good time, and I was also able to workout every morning in the hotel gym which made me really happy. The only downfall was being around smoke 24/7 in the casinos- disgusting. My skin really feels gross after being around that for even just a few days.

Now I am just focusing on getting situated and getting ready for some house guests this week! Jonathan and Melanie will be up Thursday, along with Sarah too! My parents arrive Saturday and then we leave for Lake Powell Sunday, so it's a pretty busy rest of the week but I am super excited for all of it. Tomorrow I am spending the day on "me" stuff, relaxing and re-centering. :)

So, here are a couple of photos from the trip!

driving to LV




view from our wonderful room


just arrived, heading down to eat


next morning, heading to breakfast


gambling legs


Hank playing Let it Ride


Hank, his Uncle Bruce, and Grandpa (step-mom's Dad)


Hank, step-mom, and Dad :)


another day, another mirror pic, good morning Las Vegas day #3!


playing that blessed, wonderful Hamburger game! I love it!

Morre o rei, nasce a lenda

Em Agosto de 1958, na cidade de Gary, Indiana, nasceu Michael Joseph Jackson.

Sua estrela brilhou por algumas primaveras, trazendo para o mundo uma chuva de sucessos e hits inconfundíveis que lhe deram o poderoso título de rei do Pop mundial.

Michael começou sua carreira aos 7 anos de idade como vocalista dos Jackson five. Ele era o mais novo do grupo. Porém, isso não o impedira de ser o mais talentoso. Logo em 1979, ele se destacaria dos demais irmãos e decolaria em carreira solo. Mas isso só veio acontecer declaradamente em 1984.

Michael, dono de uma voz fenomenal e com um balanço inconfundível, ganhou asas com o lançamento do álbum Thriller, que alcançou a marca de 50 milhões de cópias vendidas em todo mundo.

Veio o sucesso, a fama, a riqueza... O garoto agora havia se tornado um homem. Muitos dizem que o Michael continuava sendo um menino no corpo de um homem. Boatos e rumores comprovam a fragilidade do artista. “um esteriótipo” infantil, devido a traumas sofridos quando jovem, tendo como o próprio pai o responsável por toda essa insanidade. Michael dizia que seu pai o abusava sexualmente, e que muitas vezes subia para apresentar os shows logo depois de tomar uma surra daquelas, por conta de algo banal!

Em 1988, Michael comprou uma propriedade. Tal qual foi batizada de Never Land (terra do nunca), A propriedade seria aberta a visitação popular de crianças de todo mundo, pois possuía simplesmente tudo que uma criança sonhava. Desde parques com rodas gigantes até zoológicos repletos de animais exóticos...

Mas em 1993, Michael foi acusado de pedofilia e o sonho começou a virar pesadelo desde então. Por mais obras de arte que o astro Pop produzia, ('History', de 1995, e 'Blood on the Dance Floor', de 1997) os efeitos positivos eram estilhaçados nos boatos de abuso de crianças e pedofilia. Assim, esse pesadelo parecia nunca ter fim. Acusações e mais acusações se misturavam como uma avalanche na sua vida, outrora repleta de sonhos e arte. Agora dando lugar a sombras e dias frios. Agora as contas com advogados e processos, fizeram do rei do pop uma pessoa atolada em dívidas e com menos brilho no olhar. Michael não fazia mais shows, limitava-se ao grande público como sendo quase um anônimo. Suas dívidas ultrapassavam a astronômica quantia de 800 milhões de reais nos dias atuais.

Era preciso fazer acontecer novamente. Era preciso brilhar como sempre!

Assim, o astro pop divulga o “This Is It”, uma série de 50 concertos que teria início em 13 de julho de 2009 em Londres. Só para se ter uma idéia, mais de 360.000 ingressos foram vendidos em 18 horas durante a pré-venda!!!

Mas como sabemos o astro não viveria para mais essa glória. Em 25 de junho de 2009, Michael Jackson morreu após parada cárdio-respiratória. O rei do Pop morreu sozinho e pobre. E o que é pior, parecer incompreendido por todos.

Michael deixou 3 filhos, foi casado duas vezes e também era dono dos direitos autorais de todas as músicas dos Beattles.

Espero que o astro do Pop esteja bem. Que ele leve alegria e luz para todas as pessoas, sejam elas fãns ou não. Afinal, o show não pode parar!

Parabéns Michael pela sua contribuição e pelo seu desempenho como artista!

Viva a música, viva a arte, viva Michael Jackson...

Rodrigo Carvalho - Salvador

Nilton Andrade, Tomi Tattoo Studio

O tatuador paulista Nilton Andrade inicia sua participação no A Tattoo com o envio de quatro belas tatuagens e quatro folhas de séries de desenhos para tatuagem. Nilton é mais conhecido como Piqueno e com seis anos de experiência tatua no estúdio Tomi Tattoo.

Tomi Tattoo
Endereço: Av.: Imirim, 907, Sala 2, São Paulo - SP
Telefones: (11) 2239-6428 / 8212-6973
E-mail: sltattoo1@pop.com.br Orkut

Cinco tatuagens de Anésio Castanho

No final do ano passado Anésio Castanho participou do A Tattoo com o envio de cinco belos trabalhos, confira mais cinco fotos de tatuagens realizadas por Anésio.

Saturday

First of all, I want to say thanks again to all of my readers for the comments on all of my blogs, y'all are the best. And weird, I don't think I've ever typed out "y'all" but I strangely like it.

Now I may be alone in this, but I am such a morning person. I love getting up at 6am (5am when I'm working) and getting my workout done early and just enjoy the mornings. I love going to bed early and waking up early. Today is a good day, so no wonder I jumped out of bed. Hank had to do a few things at the salon this morning, and when he is done we'll be heading to Las Vegas for the weekend, I am so excited to just swim all weekend in Mandalay Bay's pool, shop, and eat yummy food. I'm not a gambler at all I think its sad to just throw money away like that. Last time we were there with Hank's Dad, he gave me a lot of money and had me gamble with it. I played cards and all sorts of stuff and even though it was fun because it wasn't my money, I ended up crying at the end of the night because I felt so guilty for wasting it. But I guess people think its fun and that's why they spend the money. As for me, I hate it. Hank likes to play poker and blackjack, so if he wants to do that I will probably just find a comfy little seat at the nickle slots so I don't feel guilty for throwing money away if I don't win! No tears this trip! Haha. I know it sounds silly but that's really how I feel. So anway, gambling is not my thing, but I do like Vegas a lot because I truly enjoy doing the whole pool thing. Give me a comfy loungechair and beautiful pool anytime. And luckily Hank is the same way. When we went to Tahiti we literally spent almost two weeks doing that, mixed with swimming in the ocean and it never got boring.

Errands now, but in just a bit Vivaaaaaa Las Vegas! Yay!

She is so happy her Dad is home!

she is so happy her dad is home!, originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

I picked Hank up from the airport this morning and she immediately fell asleep on his chest. It just about melted my heart with the cuteness. Her cone is still on in this photo, but her staple removal just happened today around 4:30 so the baby is currently cone and staple free...back to her normal self!

Goodnight

good morning sunday!, originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

This photo was from a few days ago but I have such a "hello" look on my face that I thought I'd post it ;). I am actually bored right now, which is weird for me. I have no desire to watch a movie, to read a book, or to really do much of anything so you, blog, are here to keep my thoughts company I guess. After taking a total "me" day today tomorrow will be a fun filled something or other type of day with Amber. I want to see The Proposal but the only other person I know who'd enjoy it with me would be my sister. I am such a sappy romantic and love love love movies like that, and so does she. Perhaps I could coerce A. into seeing it with me tomorrow afternoon but I'm not too sure she'd enjoy it.

Obviously in my solitude today I thought a lot, and I thought about how silly and petty so many things are. I have grown up a lot over the past year or so (I'm not too sure why my 26th year was the year of the most positive growth thus far, very weird), and I have really figured out a lot. Really, all that matters to me in life is my family. Hank first, and then my parents and sister, and my friends who are my family. I know a lot of people add their career in there, but the moment we have kids I feel my number one and most important job (the job I was made for!) is to be a mom at home. But back to the topic of friends, I used to be someone who had so many friends, I loved to be around so many people. But as I've gotten older, I have really narrowed down my list of close friends to a handful. Sure, I have tons of people I care about, but in terms of people I really "let in," those are few and far between. At this point in my life I'm so focused on making my life what I want it to be, really thinking about starting our family, I have no time for anyone who isn't a loving and positive addition to my life. So that takes care of so many people who don't fit into that criteria.

Lately I've really been feeling thankful for Hank- more so than I usually do, if that's even possible. If you know me, you know I am not the biggest fan of guys in general. I cannot stand egotistical jerks who can't show their emotions or creepy dudes or pushover dudes, or un-hygenic dudes...I'm really just not so into guys, seriously. Many of them really gross me out. I dated an awful lot in high school and college and kissed a million toads (and some nice guys too...haha) before I found my prince! I never knew someone could love me, imperfect me, so much. My mind is blown almost daily by how kind and loving Hank is. I see the way he is with Madeline and it melts my heart to know that someday soon he will be the same kind of father, accepting and loving, and never too proud to do or say anything.

Life's funny. It goes by so quickly and in a blink a year has passed, two years, and then somehow I'm officially in my late 20s. I'm married. I'm a teacher. And I literally still feel 17 most of the time. I think when I'm 80 I will still feel that way, and I hope I do. I try and look at everyday in a positive way, even when it's hard. This past year has been a true nightmare for my family, between all of the health problems and complications. But we're okay. And I'm okay! I think it takes a lot more energy for me to be upset than happy. The moment I start to stress I will get anxiety and worry myself sick over whatever it is. If I can avoid that, and just look on the bright side, that's the battle for me. Instead of choosing to be upset, I can choose to be happy and disregard the rest. I am lucky to have a really great support system around me who recognizes that sometimes it is a struggle for me, and does their best to support my choice to be happy. I know in the past, people have asked me, how are you so happy all of the time? Seriously though, I'm not always happy...but I am always working to be happy, and the road to happiness is a lot better place to be than anywhere negative. I've had my fair share of depression, and feeling down- my sister has seen a lot of that in my sometimes tumultuous teenage years- but growing out of that and into a strong, positive woman has been an amazing transformation for me. It's crazy to think about how much changes from the teens, to early 20s...to this. For the past five years it's been a wonderful shift in both my life and myself, and I really love where I'm headed, and where I am now. :)

If you've read this far, thanks for reading! Have a beautiful night!

Yesterday, Today

Yesterday was an awesome day. I woke up around 7am and said goodbye to Hank, who was flying out to record with a new band. Our friend Matt drove him down to Phoenix, so I was happy I didn't have to make that turn around trip after coming home from CA myself just the night before. I was sad to see him go, but there have been times when he has been on tour for two or three months so a week is not a big deal at all. I actually enjoy it in a way, because it gives me time to do as I please and savor all the alone time. Don't get me wrong, I'm still sad of course to be apart, but by nature I am a bit of a loner at times and really revel in self-time. Plus, Hank is exceptionally great at keeping in touch (he's only toured out of the country twice with no service), and writes me lovely, lovely long emails, calls all the time, bbms, and sends postcards, so it's nice to mix it up and have to rely on writing and other forms of communication. So, after the hubby left I did some cuddling and lounging around with Madeline before I decided to get up and enjoy the day. I met Amber for lunch at Hugo's, which turned into a two hour Mexican food girl talk session. It was great. She got some sort of green chile tamale thing and I got a bowl of beans and veggies. Truly delicious. I haven't had Hugo's since mid-May so it was nice to enjoy one of my favorite spots in town. When Hank is home we usually go once or twice a week so I have been going through serious withdrawals being gone so much. After our lunch we strolled around, got tea at Cuppers and sat and talked more on the square. We ran into Scott, walked a bit more, and I headed home to do some errands. Overall it was a perfect day.

I went to bed pretty early (after watching The Bachelorette, of course) and woke up this morning in a great mood. I decided to take today as a "me" day, and do all the things I love to do. I am currently still in my pjs actually, and enjoying every second. I need to run out in a minute and do a few errands around town, but when I return I plan on watching movies and relaxing until I hit the gym around 7pm. Last summer I was super busy as well I made a point for this summer to take days like this, not hanging out with anyone, no obligations, and just enjoy my time. So here I am!

I hope all of you have a great day!

Madeline is a loved puppy

get well treats for madeline, from aunt amber and lilly, originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

Auntie Amber came by yesterday with get wells treats and a card for Madeline, from her and Lilly. So sweet.

Wonderful Weekend

This past weekend was one of the best I've had in a long time. I came down Friday and met Emily for lunch at Pita Jungle, and it was wonderful to spend time with my dear friend and sit and talk for a long while. We can barely wait until I am with her in Brooklyn next month! It was a beautiful, warm day in Phoenix, a perfect day actually. We both ordered the Macro platter, which is my favorite thing on the menu.

After lunch with Em, I headed over to Alana's where Shirley was waiting, and we hit the road to Long Beach, California. We left around 3pm and made it there around 9pm or so, which was a great time considering we stopped to eat. I usually like to fly when I go to CA but it was so nice to be with the girls and have a long time to catch up on our busy lives! When we arrived Chloe (Autumn and Jason's daughter) was already down for the night so we all just sat around and chit chatted.

Saturday morning we woke up and went for a run along the beach, followed by a yummy breakfast. Chloe's first birthday party (on the beach) was set for noon that day and unfortunately the rain and gloom would just not let up. Regardless though we got ready and walked down to the cove where Jason and Autumn's mom Libby had already set up the tent and go all the food ready. Just as we got there, the sun came through and the sprinkling stopped, it was perfect- a little cool at time but overall great. It turned into a beautiful, sunny day. There were a million kids there, playing in the water and the sand, lots of delicious food and great company. I attempted to play volleyball for a minute but my soccer roots kept taking over and it was hard for me to not use my feet. I'm horrible at volleyball anyway, so I left that up to the girls. The entire day was awesome, Chloe was so happy and her 1st birthday was a total success!

















(tons more photos at my Flickr too)

Since Grandma Libby was in town, it allowed all of us to go out Saturday night. We started with a big family dinner at Yen Sushi down on 2nd St. The sushi was okay, definitely not the best I've had but still good.









After sushi we headed out on the town, we ended up Morrie's Wine Bar and then finished the night at Legends in downtown Belmont Shore. We went to bed super late, so Sunday was a late start, around 9am. I had already celebrated Father's Day with my Dad so it was really fun to spend Sunday morning with the new dad, Jason! We ate brunch at La Creperie and it turned out to be on the best breakfasts I've ever had- super fresh whole foods and great service. Sunday was also Chloe's official birthday so we got her a little strawberry crepe and sang to the happy baby.









It really was the best weekend and I was sad to leave, but I know I'll be back within the month. I got home last night and was pleasantly surprised by a sparkling clean house and some cute little surprises from Hank! The house was already super clean before I left but he did all the floors for me and hung up some things I had needed to be put up. We got to spend a great night together last night, before he left for CA this morning to record all week. So now it's just Madeline and me! This week should be a good one though- lots of hangouts with Amber Joy, and then Sarah will be coming to visit Thursday, and then Hank and I leave for a weekend in Las Vegas on Saturday. I am so excited for shopping and pool time and good food and gambling! We always have so much fun whenever we go. The moment we get there I will be by the pool- it's weird how it's Vegas but when you're at any of the nicer resort pools you could be anywhere. This weekend should be in the 100s and I am loving that! I know it's weird, but I enjoy hot hot days. Call me crazy. It's so wild how busy we are right now, we get home from Vegas, have a few days to unwind, and then we have visitors that next weekend and then leave for the houseboat for another week! I am really savoring this week at home right now, and it's nice to be able to do some cooking and baking, relax on the couch, watch movies, etc.

In a weird way I am already looking forward to going back to teach in August. It's great to have a profession that I look forward to going to everyday. I'm also excited to meet a whole new group of kids and get to know them, read novels, etc. Next year will hopefully be a really "big" year for Hank and I, and I really can't wait for everything.

So, here's to a new week, positive attitudes, and fun!

Thanks for reading.

xo

Hey Dad,

daddy and me, originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

Happy Father's Day! I love you. :)

William Ferramosca, Fucking Fly Tattoo

Sou o William Ferramosca da Fucking Fly Tattoo, gostei muito do site A Tattoo e gostaria de participar com meu portifolio.

Gosto muito de fazer trabalhos orientais, realismos e tradicionais e nas horas vagas gosto de pintar algumas telas.


Convenções que participei

1°, 2° e 3° São Paulo Tattoo Festival
4° Expo Tattoo Metal Head
1° Porto Alegre Tattoo Festival
2° Expo Tattoo Internacional Curitiba
1° Convenção de Tatuagem da Paraíba
2° Expo Tattoo e Piecing de Birigui
1° Araçatuba Tattoo Festival

Premiações

1° lugar tatuagem preto e branco
1° lugar série de desenhos preto e branco
2° lugar série de desenhos coloridos
2° lugar tatuagem colorida
1° lugar série de desenhos coloridos

Tenhos alguns trabalhos meus publicados em mais de quinze revistas de tattoo como Metal Head, Bela Tattoo, Skin Tattoo entre outras.

Fucking Fly Tattoo
Telefone (11) 2031-4578
Endereço: Av. Nordestina, 357 - São Miguel Paulista, São Paulo, SP - CEP: 08011-000
E-mail: williamferramosca@hotmail.com
Site: www.fuckingfly.com.br