Second Best Dad Ever*

Have you heard of Buzzfeed?  I'm pretty obsessed with it. It's my favorite way to take time out from work duties and catch up on completely useless information, whether it's 90s nostalgia, cute animals, or random celebrity news. The other day there was a link about "Awesome Father Daughter Portraits." I clicked on it and giggled for the next 5 or 10 minutes.

When his daughter, Alice Bee, was born, Dave Engledow wanted to document her life in a creative way and did so by creating father-daughter portraits that are a far cry from the Sears portrait studio pictures that I'm sure adorned most of our walls growing up.  Here are some of my favorites.

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And my personal favorite...

 

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This looks like such a fun family and such a wonderful father-daughter relationship. I only hope that when Paul and I have kids we will have this much fun together. 

Check out all of Dave's other photos here.

*My dad takes the title of best, obviously!

Mid-Week Ramblings

I have a billion thoughts running through my head today, none of which could create a substantial post on their own.  But I've just got to let them out.

1.  Whenever I do work on someone else's caseload at work I turn into the most critical person alive.  I'm critical of things that I do wrong too.  For example, I don't spell check a case until I'm done with it, but if I see one typo in this halfway-worked case I think "You misspelled duodenoscopy?  Idiot..."  It's pretty terrible.

2.  I've become obsessed with Pretty Little Liars.  Are you watching it?  You need to.  It's pretty wonderful.  It actually has decent writing and acting, unlike a certain other ABC Family show, *cough*The SecretLifeoftheAmericanTeenager*cough*.  I've watched 18 episodes in 3 days and get angry when I have to go to sleep and then work the next day because I want to know who A is and how he/she is going to screw up these girls lives next.

3.  Fall is officially in the air, y'all!  When I leave the house it's chilly and when I leave work it's breezy and wonderful.  I had a pumpkin spice latte this weekend and it was good.  Not just the latte (though it was), but the experience.  I have SO MANY fall crafts I want to do.  I'm seeing lots of burlap in my future.

4.  Speaking of burlap, did you know you can get colored burlap?!  I had no idea.  That was a life-altering revelation there.

5.  Today I attempted the sock bun.  I don't have a large hand mirror so I just had to hope it looked okay from the back until I got confirmation when I got to work.  Why didn't I discover this hairstyle in the beginning of summer when keeping hair off my neck would have felt super-delightful?

6.  Sometimes when your day is going all wrong, all you need to make it better is some Old Crow Medicine Show. Take 'em away, take 'em away Lord. take away these chains from me.  My heart is broken 'cause my spirits not free, Lord take away these chains from me.

7.  I like to work in flavor variety when I plan my menu for the week.  For example, only one day of pasta, one day of mexican food, one day of sandwiches, etc.  But this week I messed up.  Monday we had southwest wraps, yesterday we had big salads, and today we're having taco salad.  How in the world did that happen?

8. Why did my mom just text me to ask if I've seen "Cats"?

9.  Last week I sent off my phone to be repaired.  After two runs through the repair process, it's still dead.  I've accepted that it will not be coming back to life.  But the iPhone 5 is being released today, which means that soon I'll be able to upgrade.  I've considered waiting until December to just get the iPhone 5 instead of the 4S, but it will just be so much more convenient to upgrade as soon as I can. I miss youtube on the go and I miss having my Couch 2 5K app at the gym. 

10.  I've been doing the Couch 2 5K program for going on 2 years.  I finished it once and then stopped running for a while and have since restarted it more times than I'd like to admit.  But I finished week three yesterday, which is the furthest I've gotten since I did the full program the first time. So that's good, right?

11.  These TOMS are amazing and I must have them:

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I think that's all I've got.  What about you?  What's on your mind today?

My Favorite Thing

Back in college when Myspace was still hip and cool, I would routinely fill out "surveys" comprised of questions as important as, "Who was the last person you texted?" "What's the closest yellow object to you?" and "What's your favorite item of clothing?"  The answers, since I'm sure you're interested, just as everyone clearly was 5 years ago, are as follows:  Miranda, a post it note, and an old, holey, paint-covered tshirt that I got for free after donating blood when I was 18.

The ol' shirt in action circa May 2006

I absolutely love this old tshirt.  I don't wear it in public anymore because it looks tragic now, but it's my favorite shirt to lounge around in at home.  When I received the shirt after donating blood I appreciated it much less than the ham biscuits I was being given at the blood donor recovery canteen.  When I got home I shoved it to the back of a drawer and forgot about it.  But then junior year of college I traveled to England and Scotland to study for a month and I found myself needing long sleeved shirts.  I was going to be spending my time hiking in the Lake District where it's chilly and rainy and muddy and, it bears repeating, rainy.  So I grabbed this shirt, along with every other long sleeved one I had, and threw it in my suitcase.  I experienced so much wearing this shirt.  I was wearing it when I had an unfortunate run-in with a barbed wire fence that ran along the muddy road we had to travel in order to get anywhere that wasn't our hostel.  On that day I tore a hole in the shirt that was probably about a centimeter wide.  I wore it when I visited Mr. McGregor's garden at Beatrix Potter's home.  I wore it when I chose to roll down the hill where we had just had class, instead of walking down it.  I wore it when I became friends with people who I never thought I'd speak to, much less travel across the globe with. And, as the above picture shows, I wore it the day that found my Passport when I thought I had lost it.  I did just what my mom told me and promptly taped it to my chest.

Now that centimeter wide hole exposes my entire elbow and is surrounded by three other dime-size holes.  There's grey paint on the sleeves and I have no idea how it got there.  It's faded and slightly shrunken from 6 years of washing and drying it on at least a monthly basis.

That month-long trip to the UK changed me. I can't really put my finger on how it changed me or exactly when it happened, but I know that I was different when I got off that plane in Greensboro at the end of the trip.  And more than any other object I had with me, I associate my bright orange shirt with that trip.  Likewise, I've continued to change since that trip and so has this raggedy shirt.  I didn't have a blankie or a favorite doll or stuffed animal as a child, but I feel like this shirt is my version of a much loved blanket.  One day I'll have to retire it. And maybe some day I'll make something out of it.  But today I'm going to wear it while sitting criss-cross-applesauce on my bed writing about it, instead of going to bed like I should.

What's your favorite piece of clothing?  Is it nice and fasionable or comfy and cozy (and maybe riddle with holes?) like mine?

30 Before 30: Eat at New Yorker Deli

Saturday was a lazy day.  It was so lazy that I can't seem to remember what I did.  I slept in super-late, wore an outfit I wasn't crazy abou, and took a stroll around Target and Sam's.  And that's really about it.  But then Paul came home and must have known that I needed to accomplish something, so he suggested that we go to the New Yorker for dinner.  I don't know if he remembered that it's on my 30 Before 30 list or not, but I'm telling myself that he totally remembered and was excited to help me mark an item off the list.  I'm sure his suggestion had nothing to do with his wanting an italian sub. 
When I first created my list and linked to it on Twitter, one of my local followers suggested that I bring cash.  I remembered the suggestion right when we pulled in the parking lot, and sure enough, a sign on the door informed us that they don't take credit or checks--cash only.  So after a quick trip to the ATM, we returned.

The atmosphere can best be summed up by saying it felt like somewhere the cast of Mad Men would stop and eat if they're on a roadtrip. It was a very no frills kind of place.   It was all dark wood and vinyl upholstery and, basically, exactly what you'd expect from the outside.  We sat ourselves and ordered off the paper menu at the table.  Paul got an italian sub and I ordered a roast beef sub. I was a little concerned that it didn't come with a side and thought I would be hungry after, but I definitely wasn't.  The sandwiches were HUGE!  I don't have a picture, but it wasn't really pretty.  And it didn't need to be, because it was delicious.  We both managed to polish off our sandwiches, but I saw a woman ask for a bag for her leftovers and she was presented with a square of tin foil and a brown paper bag.  Hey, I said no frills, didn't I? 

I give the experience a thumbs up.  The food was good and the music, which included both Rick Astley and New Kids on the Block, was top notch. What?  Those artists are top notch to me!  I also dig me some Toto.  If you're in Roanoke in the Williamson Road area I'd definitely recommend it.

Have you tried out any new restaurants lately? And when was the last time you were at a restaurant that only took cash? Blast from the past, I tell you!

DIY Subway Art

I've been a big fan of subway art prints for a while now.  I'd seen some on Pinterest, some of which even led to a free printable, but the art that one person creates is tailored for them and their family and I always wished I could make my own. But I know NOTHING about graphic design and figured that it wouldn't happen.  But then today I was browsing a crafting blog that suggested I use Picnik to create subway art.  So when  I got home I was excited to give it a try.  Imagine my chagrin when I found out that Picnik is now offline.  Their information page suggested I try Google+, but it wouldn't do what I wanted it to do.  So next I got desperate an went to Google.  After a quick search I found PicMonkey.  The reviews promised that it did nearly everything that Picnik did and I didn't have to create any sort of account, so I decided to give it a whirl.  Two hours, one class, and a plate of nachos later, I had created fall and Christmas themed prints. Feast your eyes on these beauties.

I'm kind of in love with them.  I'm going to print them at Walmart and, to make things even cheaper, I plan to buy one frame and switch out the print according to the season.

DIY Subway Art

 

What You'll Need

 

A computer

An internet connection

 

What You'll Do

 

1.  Go to Pic Monkey.

 

2. Click on Create a Collage on the lefthand side of the screen.

 

 

 

3.  Click  Save.  That's right, just save the blank document somewhere accessible.  I save to the desktop because that's easiest for me.

 



 

4.  Go back to the main page and click on Edit a Photo

 

 

5.  You're going to choose the file that you just saved and open it.

 

6.  Click on Crop and then choose the size you're going to want to print from the drop down menu.  I chose 8x10.

 

 

7.  Now it's time to add text!  Click on the P on the left side of the screen.

 

 

8A. Click Add Text on the Left.

 8B. Type Text in the box.

 8C. Choose your font.

 8D. Edit the color, size, and spacing.

 

9.  I started with my most important word in the middle and then worked around it. 

 

 

10.  Now just add as many words as you want, wherever you want.

 

11.  If you want your words to be vertical, click on the word and then hover the curser over the circle over the word.  It will turn into a circle made of two arrows.  Left click and rotate until the word is at the angle you want.

 

 

 

The possibilities are really endless for what you can create.  I'm thinking Disney Princess, Pixar, baby, and book prints would all be wonderful. 

 

Have you ever tackled a project that you previously thought you could never accomplish?  What kind of theme print would be perfect for your home?

Goodbye, Old Friend

Sunday was a good day.  I slept in, ate a delicious lunch, and had a nice two hour long coffee date with friends.  Like I said, it was a good day.  Until my iPhone slipped out of my pocket and plunged head first into the toilet. First my screensaver photo came up and then it went black.  Like any panicked person would do, I grabbed it within seconds, dried it off with a towel, and pushed the power button.  Nothing. So I ran to the kitchen, dumped a box of rice into a giant Ziplock back, and gingerly placed my phone inside. I pushed out all the air, zipped the bag, and proceeded to wait.  Paul and I went to run errands.  When we arrived at the grocery store I wen to consult my list, only to remember that I couldn't do that because my grocery list is on my phone.  When I returned I tried the power button again, to no avail. 

"It's fine," I told myself.  I'll just wait 24 hours, plug it into the charger, and it will be fine.  FINE!  So that's what I did.  Nevermind that when I googled "dropped iPhone in water" the first thing every page said, before telling me to put it in rice, was "DO NOT TRY TO POWER UP!"  I spent much of my evening reaching for my phone when I was bored, only to find that it wasn't beside me and to remember that it was in a bag of rice on the kitchen counter.  I went to set my alarm and realized that I couldn't do that, because my phone is my alarm, so I had to set my digital alarm clock.  When I woke up the next morning I wen to check the weather only to realize that I couldn't do that either, buecause I use my phone to do that.  So I had to power up my laptop so that I could figure out what to wear.  When I arrived at work I attempted to check my email, check, Facebook, check my blog reader, and check Twitter, all in the course of about 10 minutes. I have no idea how many times I wanted to consult Pinterest about something only to look down and see my iPod with the wheel rather than my beautiful iPhone. Later that afternoon I remembered that I have a doctor's appointment next week and I wanted to confirm the time and date, but that was on the calendar in my phone.  After work I went to the gym.  I was going do Week 3, Day 1 of Couch to 5K, but I couldn't because I use a Couch 2 5K App and I forgot to look up the workout before I left work.  You know what else was in that phone?  Every phone number for every person I ever call.  I think the worst part of all this is that I hate putting new contacts in a phone and I'll have to completely rebuild my phonebook.  First world problem, I know.  But still. 

I was still convinced that everything would be fine when I got home.  I had read stories of people who dropped their phone in a lake or who had their phone submerged for minutes, and their phones worked after a few days on rice!  Surely mine would too!  But when I got home, it didn't work.  And it's not working now.  And it will never work again.

Paul had my number activated on his old phone so at least I'm not phonelesss anymore.  I can make calls and send text messages.  And that's really all I can do. And I'm learning to be okay with that.  Maybe I needed to be unplugged for a little while and not be so dependent on a hunk of metal and glass. Because if dropping my phone in water has taught me anything, it's that I'm super-dependent on that phone.  That, and it's a terrible idea to store every important phone number, password, and appointment in your phone without writing them down anywhere.

This by no means means that I will not be going back to the iPhone.  I already have a plan in place.  I'm eligible for an upgrade on December 6.  Because of the circumstances surrounding my phones untimely demise, I can upgrade early.  But iPhone won't allow Verizon to do an early upgrade on their newest phone.  The iPhone 4 is only available in 8 gb and that won't cut it for me.  So as soon as iPhone 5 comes out I'll get the iPhone 4S.  And a Lifeproof case.  Because I never want to deal with all this ever again.

Am I overreacting here?  Would you feel this lost if you suddenly lost your phone? Do you think Apple should maybe rethink their rule about never covering water damage, no way, no how?

Meme Monday

Hey Girl

 





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There's about a billion variations on the Hey Girl meme now.  My favorites are the ones for librarians and crafting.