Monthly Archives: May 2012

What Do I Want To Do Today? Share A Quick Thought

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I’ve been working on some projects today and all the while I’ve been thinking about how beautiful it is outside.  It reminds me of this quote:

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Recently, I’ve been attempting to keep fresh flowers in my house.  More than just surrounding myself with their beauty, flowers reminds me of so many of the things I love and the places I love to be.

It’s so simple.

Maybe a little ridiculous.  Or bourgeois.

But, boy does it ever make me feel like there is the potential for something grand.

“The soul should always stand ajar.
Ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.”
-Emily Dickinson

Wow, today is really quote-filled.

Is there anything with which you like to surround yourself?

What Do I Want To Do Today? Finally Give My Mom A Mother’s Day Gift

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Since I am a terrible daughter, I just sent my mom her Mother’s Day gift last Friday.

I mean, I CALLED her on Mother’s Day.  What else can a sweet, loving woman who worked hard to raise three kids to be productive, grateful, thoughtful, non-selfish members of society (all while getting a Master’s degree) expect?

Apparently, not much.

She hates tattoos so it’s not like she’d appreciate something like this. So what else is a girl to do? My (untatted) arm is twisted here.

All of my horrible neglect aside, I’ve known for quite a while what I wanted to make for her: A Teacher’s Survival Kit.

I filled it with some things she likes and attached little handmade tags explaining how each item will help her.  Luckily she’s got one week left of school so I hope she can put this stuff to good use.

Here are some photos of the little kit I made for my mom (clicking the pic makes it bigger!):

One of my favorite things were the ‘STOP TALKING’ business cards that I made.  Unfortunately, I didn’t think up the idea on my own.  I know, total sadface.  In fact, I found them at Paper Source (you can see them here), but I thought it was ridiculous to pay $10 for 25 cards (see, my mama raised me right). So I made them myself.

I changed the font and packaging because I wanted to do something a little different, but they’re printed on heavy cardstock so they’re really sturdy.  They were a lot of fun to make so, if anyone wants cards with some kind of command on them, I’ll gladly sell you 30 for $5. Just got to my contact page and shoot me a message.

Heck, shoot me a message just because.  I love to hear from people.

What Do I Want To Do Today? Make A Ridiculous Workspace

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I can’t leave well enough alone.

That probably doesn’t surprise you.

What can I say? It’s just part of my je ne sais quois.

Don’t worry, I’ll try not to get any of it on you. I mean, unless you stand right in front of me like this guy did. That’s just asking for it.

Not being able to leave well enough alone led me to look for a way to make a ridiculously large project table (3′ x 5′) for all the ridiculously large projects I do.

I found this:

A DIY PROJECT TABLE FOR DIY PROJECTS

That chick’s got a good amount of instructions, so I’ll spare you the details save to tell you that the only differences between my table and hers are that I built the top since I didn’t conveniently have a headboard just lying around (I know, what the hell?  That totally sounds like something I’d have in my house) and I didn’t attach the top to the shelves. I just didn’t think having a permanent giant-ass project table in my tiny-ass spare room/office would be prudent.  That makes me like, a genius, huh?

Here are a couple of the pics.  Sorry the lighting suuuuucccckkks.  I’ve had a headache for the past two days so I couldn’t bring myself to care about fixing all that damn yellow lighting (poor me, huh?) Ignore the ‘show as slideshow’ part.  It’s lame.

Also, it’s sort of around the one year anniversary of when the mister convinced me we could just go play with the dogs at the shelter and then leave them and instead we brought one home and renamed her Petra.  See:

Hooray for puppies!

 

What Do I Want To Do Today? Submit Myself To Research

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Let it never be said that I’m not a generous gal.

I even offered myself (and the mister) up for research.

Goodness, I hope they give me this shirt when it’s all said and done.

Ok, maybe it’s not as wackadoo as it sounds.

Right before the mister and I got hitched, I learned of a research study being conducted about newly married couples at the University of Texas at Austin.

I thought, “This oughta be fun.”

So I emailed the contact and asked if they were still accepting suckers… I mean… applicants.

It turns out, the mister and I would be married just right before the marriage cut off date, meaning we would be one of the last couples accepted into the study.

Sweet.

Just guess which one of us dances like this when we get good news. (hint: it’s me)

So for nearly three years we’ve been sending saliva samples, submitting questionnaires, providing interviews and being videotaped all in the name of (soft) science.

I have to admit, it’s actually been kinda fun.

Honestly, how many couples get to look back at their relationship in their first years of marriage, really think about how they are doing and what the issues might be, and then catalogue and discuss it?  Bonus, the information gets to be used to help determine what makes a couple strong and/or stay together.

We’ve filled out our most recent questionnaires and today we go in for another interview and to drop off saliva samples. (who says research isn’t sexy?)

If you’re interested in the study, check out Austin Marriage Project.  The mister and I are enrolled in Study 1.

I don’t think the information is really earth-shattering or anything, but it’s been interesting to see how the process of “reasearchering” is conducted.

If you’re interested in finding out what research studies are near you, a simple Google search should yield some pretty interesting results.

Have any of y’all participated in research studies (crazy or non)?

What Do I Want To Do Today? Talk About Birthdays

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I have a very specific philosophy about birthdays: no one should have to make, purchase, or worry about their birthday cake (or birthday dessert.  Some people don’t like cake.  Whatevs).

Combine that with an almost obsessive need for me to make sure that those closest to me know that their birthdays are coming up because I worry that maybe they don’t know that they have a birthday and that they aren’t sufficiently planning and we have a one-sided conversation like this:

Your birthday is coming up. Do you know what your plans are? Do you need me to make something? You should let me make something. I should make something. I don’t want you to have to worry about it.  I just want you to have a good birthday and not stress. Just let me make something, ok?  It’ll make me feel better.

Then add to that the fact that I want to BE PERFECT AT EVERYTHING so I also go over the top.  Always. Continue reading →

What Do I Want To Do Today? Learn To Throw Knives

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Months and months and months ago when the trailer for Sherlock Holmes 2: Robert Downey Jr Is Still A Badass came out, I was fascinated by this scene:Yup, that’s a chick about to throw a knife that she grabbed from her convenient thigh knife holder located up in the depths of her skirt (the link above takes you to the full trailer in case you actually want to watch the scene). Not that we haven’t all seen a ton of hot chicks throwing sharp, possibly phallic things in movies, and I know that movies are fake and maybe this girl isn’t really a gypsy who learned to throw knives when she was in the womb; but when I saw this I started wondering how difficult it would be for me, a real person, to learn to throw knives. Continue reading →

What Do I Want To Do Today? Shout Outs

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I recently ordered some super cutie-cute-cute-pants (I don’t know what that means either, it just seemed appropriate) earrings from my darling friend, RMichelle.  She makes such perfect little pieces that I wanted to show these off:

Isn’t that the most adorable tiny rose earring you’ve ever seen in your life?  Doesn’t my hand look frighteningly weird and large?

RMichelle is such a doll I just had to give her some love and spread the word about her shop.*  I’m positive you’ll be able to find something really cute for yourself or *ahem* your mom… you know… cause you probably haven’t gotten her anything for Mother’s Day yet and yes, flowers are a cop out because do you realize what that woman went through to get you here (do you??) and flowers DIE so stop buying flowers cause it’s easy, y’all.  Buy her fake ones.  That are attached to a post.  That she can stick in her ear lobes.

 

Also, I really must share this photo:

Yes, that is my mister in a tux driving a golf cart with his brother dressed like some Indian prince in the passenger seat.  A big ol’ thank you and credit goes to my cousin, Ram, who captured this awesomeness for me since I didn’t get to see it in person.  And now I’m sharing it with you and probably totally embarrassing my mister (love you!).

Next shout out goes to my other cousin, Lakshmi, for keeping my drink flush with gin when it was needed most: at a wedding.  Girl, you are the wind beneath my drunken wings.

Squinty face was brought to you by the sun, gin, and Ravi’s camera.  So last shout out goes to Ravi for letting me use his photo. Thanks, dude!

 

*Please know that RMichelle did not pay me nor did she ask me to “holla”.  That was all me, y’all.

What Do I Want To Do Today? Probably Narrowly Escape Arrest

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I know the title sounds sensational, but I promise that what I am about to share is all true.

And then wedding photos!

But first, Dr. StrangeGlove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Start Loving The F-Bomb

Continue reading →

What Do I Want To Do Today? Relive San Francisco

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It’s been two days since the mister and I got back from my brother-in-law’s super fantastical uh-maz-ing wedding, and I’m still getting back into the groove of things.

You know, the ‘make sure to feed myself and the animals in a timely manner then figure out what project I want to work on next but which episode of Star Trek did I last watch and have I finished all of The Guild yet?’ groove. Total first world problems, y’all.

Even as amazeballs as that all sounds, I had such a great time in the greater San Francisco/San Jose area that I’m missing everyone and everything. As such, that means you’re going to be forced have the chance to relive the last week with me.

Probably for the next couple of posts.

SOORRRYY.

Oh, and I didn’t get many pics of the wedding because I was busy helping and being day of coordinator and purchasing cakes the day before the wedding and then picking them up the day of the wedding and then yelling at photographers.

SOORRRYY.

Onward, with a story, shall we?

Click through for the rest of the post.

Continue reading →