Where it all began

I was so happy that Dominic wanted to go to the Mall of America for his birthday. Some pivotal moments of my life have been at that mall, and I've been there to witness pivotal moments in its history.

First, I was there the day it opened. No lie. I went with my mom, my aunt, and my uncle, and we ate at a German restaurant, which later became a rodeo type place, which is now the American Girls store.

After college, I took a job at a bookstore called Readwell's, which was located at the now-Hollister store. One day, I went into the bowels of the building with assistant manager Mike to get some more stock. In the bowels, I saw a lot of big construction and asked what it was. He said, "Oh, that'll be the aquarium." I laughed, then realized he was telling the truth! Underwater World, now Sea Life, is still a part of the Mall.

I was there for many famous people. I remember seeing Alex Trebek getting his pictures taken at Lens Crafters (might have been another glasses store) and Arnold Schwarzenneggar (sp?) came to film  Jingle All the Way. He's surprisingly short.

Most importantly, I met my husband there. He too worked at Readwell's and asked me out the day they announced the store would close. Every year since, we've gone back on Black Friday. Prompted by Twelve, I put this family story on this layout:

 

I took the photo by the silver tree in the Rotunda on Black Friday last year. I thought to hang circles of patterned paper like ornaments, but then thought I'd put them together in a big circular mat. This was a nice change for me, since I tend to use big square mats. (Note: I used Studio Calico's January kit Country Fair for this, as well as some add-on kits from that month.)

  

Here's the title detail. I liked how it turned out. Note: the heart had no color, but I added some with Smooch paint.

To add definition to the word paper, I inked the edges. And to add definition to the stamped circles, I chalked the insides and lightly outlined them with pen. Next time I use orange embossing powder, LOL!

 

Just because I could, I stitched circles too. And that stamped circle was fun to make. The circle were perfect, so I stamped it, then punched the inside hole, then punched the stamped image. I adhered it with dimensional stickers. Again, I smooched the heart. As it should be.