Possible Prints For My Office

I have been wanting to revamp my drab office for the longest time and I think this year is the year! I have already replaced my hideous bulletin board with this jazzy number and replaced my standard black pen holder for this little delight. With having taken down my huge bulletin board I now have lots of blank space on my wall to work with. Here is what I have in mind to fill in that space a little.



I found these great prints on Art.com.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Some of my favorite photos of my love and I!

Yucky Weather

I cannot stand Indiana weather - the cold, the slush, uck! Just look at what the result of a four block walk in the city does to my pants in the winter! Ew!

Thinking Outside the Office Chair

My Gaiam Ball Chair

When I started my job I began spending a large amount of time at my desk in front of computer. This of course has led to a few problems, - first my wrists and forearms began to hurt - solved that by ordering various ergonomic wrist supports. Then I began experiencing pain in my shoulders and lower back. I tried various different chairs in the office and even brought in one from home - nothing seemed to help. With a little research I found a view products that would help and dutifully added them to my Christmas list. Thankfully Santa showed up and delivered a marvelous Gaiam ball chair under the tree that year. Ever since then, my back and shoulders have felt marvelous. I can sit for hours and not feel cramped or slouchy. But what I gained in posture and relief from back pain I also began getting funny looks from my fellow office inhabitants. Then I found this great little video clip of a new kind of chair even worse than the one I have in my office. I was sure to email it out to all my coworkers and show them I could be sitting on something even more odd. I have had the chair for about a year now so most people are used to it, but when we get the out-of-office visitor it always a highlight of convo. :)

I love tights!

I used to HATE wearing tights when I was younger and would dread when my mother insisted I wear them. But now, I cannot get enough of them. They are essential to keeping me warm on the 2 block walk I have from the parking garage to work each day in this awful Indiana weather. The thing about tights is that I am rough on them - snags and holes are bound to appear and this winter my favorite black tights finally formed a hole. Sniff! Luckily, hubby and I were browsing Target yesterday and stumbled upon a motherload of black tights on sale for 50% off! I came home with 3 new pairs of black tights and two colored pairs (hey, the colored ones were 75% off). Needless to say this Monday morning when the thermometer outside is barely making it to 10 degrees not to mention the -15 windchill - I am very happy to have new snug and warm tights on!

Great Website Find

Great little online shop I stumbled upon today - the Curiosity Shoppe: Crafts, Kits & Curios for the Creatively Inclined. They have all sorts of marvelous little items.

Commerical That Breaks My Heart

I have to literally look away when I see this Pedigree Adoption Commercial - that or burst into tears or rush to the nearest humane society and adopt 10 more dogs!

I am proud to say that our first dog came from a humane society - Showbiz.

Our second one was a little unplanned - our neighbors had a litter of chihuahua puppies and being the evil people that they are they let the puppies romp around in the yard outside our apartment all the time and I fell in love with one little white one and had to have her - that is how we got Lola. Our cats are both rescues and any dog we get in the future will be rescues.

This commercial really cuts to the heart of the issue - though and definitely pulls on the heartstrings. Our society needs to stop looking in the pet shops for their next family pet and instead help an animal out in need - who is just as loving (if not more so) than that puppy in the window and what matters the most is that the puppy you don't see in the window - the one that is behind the cage door at the local animal shelter - he need YOU more. It is shocking and saddening to know the actual number of euthanasized dogs and cats - the daily number is astounding - all because there isn't enough room for them so they give them a number and so many days and if they aren't adopted out in those number of days then they are done for.

I need to go home and hug my doggies right now!

Thinking about adopting? Here are some great links to help you out.

DogsinDanger.com - this site posts dogs who have only days left - help them

Petfinder.com

Or look up your nearest humane society.

If you are interesting in a particular breed - find a rescue and help those in need instead of buying from a breeder.

If you can't adopt but want to help - donate to your local humane society. Often they have a wish list of everyday items that they are in need of - things like towels, blankets, leashes, etc. All simple ways to make a difference.

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Morning

Picture 1 = My Normal Route Picture 2 = My Route This Morning

Ok, so I had a marvelous morning this morning - started out with freaking out on my husband for leaving the clothes iron on all day and all night, after fuming all morning I finally cooled off and apologized on my way out only to get all bent out of shape over how he was precariously wrapped in a blanket on the couch with his cup of coffee filled to the brim on his lap while he was bending over to read his blogs on our laptop...images of disaster flashed through my mind and I flipped - again. Considering we have two rambunctious dogs in the house - one whose tail has been known to wag so wildly and with so much force that it has knocked over whole cups of red koolaid from our coffee table onto our floor and the other is a 7lb pipsqueek but is known to leap unannounced onto your lap on the furniture to vie for your attention - all scenarios could easily result in the cup of steaming coffee being tossed in the keyboard and screen of our only surviving very expensive laptop.

So I left the house ticked only to run into a HUGE traffic mess on the interstate -GGGREEAAATTTT.

As soon as I get onto the on ramp I notice that traffic is backed up for miles and all of a sudden my radio station chimes in to let everyone know about the accident blocking the center and right lanes.....nice timing - no really. Wait until I get onto the interstate to warn me - that's great.

So after sitting on the on-ramp for 10 minutes we finally creep onto the I-65. Knowing the next off-ramp is only a mile a way I follow another car's lead and start driving on the side of the road - I get off I-65 only to run into a snarl of traffic doing just the same....so I had to by-pass them by taking the long way to where I wanted to go - which still didn't stop me from running into even more traffic snarls from the tons of people trying to do the exact same thing I am - and here I thought I was being cunning by making all these short-cuts.

So instead of taking a half an hour to get to work this morning - it took me a good hour....

And apparently my day isn't getting any better. AARRRRGGG.

P.S. Remember that book when you were little - Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? Loved it - and of course it is very applicable to my morning this morning. Sigh.

Commercial I Cannot Stand

Yes, so I hate this commercial. An icy mint snow storm in heaven??? Give me a break!

See's Candies

So I think I fell in love at first bite! Matthew and I received a box of these delectable See's chocolate candies as a Christmas present from one of our favorite people. I had to hide them already because hubby broke into them and once open - then begins the temptation. Which I fell into tonight after dinner - I picked a delightful little nugget of Bordeaux - a heavenly blend of brown sugar and buttercream, rich and creamy - Yum! Now I know why they are famous and why Matt insisted I hide them from him - but now who is going to hide them from me??

What kind of cookie are you?

If there is one thing I love - it is sweets! I would skip dinner entirely just to make sure I got dessert. So comes the love-hate relationship with cookies. I love cookies because they taste so good - but I hate the way I feel after I eat too many.

Well, I finally found a good meeting place in between.

Pepperidge Farm Cookies

They are expensive and come in relatively small quantities - so my husband and I feel a little more guilty about buying and eating them all and they are extra delicious being premium cookies and all.

Our most recent favorite are the Chocolate Chessman cookies! Yum!

I even took their little quiz online to see what kind of cookie I am and lo-and-behold I am a chessman cookie!

Find out what kind of cookie you are today!

Currently Loving...

Cara Cara Red Navels!

These are the best oranges I have EVER eaten! So sweet and juicy with a gorgeous pink fruity center. Over the years I have been disappointed with my orange selections from the supermarket - they are always too tart and dry - but happened to come across these at Meijer and fell in love! Looks as though they have a very short season - though which may be why it took me so long to find them.

"...Cara Cara Oranges are also known as the red navel orange, it originated at the Hacienda de Cara Cara in Valencia, Venezuela. Cara Cara Oranges have a bright orange peel and pink - raspberry colored flesh. Its taste is sweet with undertones of sweet-cherry, with a low acid profile. Very juicy and best when eaten fresh out of hand, Cara Caras are also popular with chefs for use in cooked sauces." -from Melissa's

More info about different types of oranges:


Sunkist

Speciality Produce

Nest Shopping for the Near Future

Being on one income has delayed our "nesting" for a few months - but hopefully we can start back up again soon. Here are few little additions we have been looking into for our home.

1. Replacing our old-slightly unstable glass-topped coffee table that we bought for $25 at an Antique Store in Angola, IN for this:

Mission-Style Coffee Table - $57.26

(and we plan on keeping the glass table - but moving it upstairs to our game-room)

2. Two matching end-tables to put our new lamps on! Right now our cool new pineapple styled lamps are resting precariously on random objects in our livingroom.


Mission-Style End Tables - $36.04


I really like the simple design and the price!

For our bedroom we are looking to get Bali Cellular Cordless Shades - the rest of the house needs curtains/blinds or shades of the similar color to our bali shades.

My Nightly Wind Down

One of the things that my hubby and I did as we bought our first house was to subscribe to many new magazines - many to get ideas on things to cook, ways to decorate our new home and yard, and others on just ideas and inspiration on how to live. We subscribe to : Inc., Fast Company, Real Simple, Body & Soul, KIWI, Blueprint and Bark.

In this month's Body & Soul - they featured a few simple yoga moves to help you wind down, de-stress, and get to sleep easier. With the year we have had - we both need quite a dose of relaxation and a lot of help in the sleep department (too many 3am night sweats and nightmares about work, money, family, etc) - so whenever we learn about new ways to relax we take them on wholeheartedly. Matt drinks sleepy-time tea, reads a book and even takes over the counter doses of Melatonin. I occasionally will eat oatmeal, take a bath, veg out on a heating pad and do these poses to wind down after a tight wound day.


1. Plow Pose
Reduces backache and can help you get to sleep.


2. Bridge Pose
Calms the brain and rejuvenates tired legs.

Typography Bulletin Board

Here is another of my latest efforts to redecorate my office to be less corporate and a little more design-y. Found this great little addition at Hobby Lobby 1/2 off - came to an affordable $10! It took the place of this HUGE blue tack board so I need to find more things to fill in the empty space around it but this is start.

Great Goodwill Find

Hubby and I went out this dreary weekend to try to get rid of our cabin fever - and in our route we went to Goodwill - and found this great little owl treasure for my desk at work (which I am slowly redecorating). For only $0.99 I think he is a steal and an excellent pen holder!

Valentine's Day Wish List

February is my month! Valentine's Day AND my birthday within DAYS of each other - just MARVELOUS!

Here is my Valentine's Day Wish List:



1.Luv Bytes Sandwich Cutter - TheContainerStore.com $2.99


2. Pant's Hangers - I know you can find them at Target & Meijer - but this image came from Lillian Vernon - $9.98


3. ROUND Belgian Waffle Maker - again Target or somewhere but this image is from Black & Decker


4. Heart Jewelery! This image is from Tiffany's

Putting Our Oven to Good Use

Matthew and I don't always take advantage of our great new oven - but there comes the occasional day that we do. This Saturday was one of those days. Having exhausted our routine list of meals (spaghetti, Wanchai Ferry Chinese Dinner Kits, tacos, tomato soup and grilled cheese, chili, meatball sandwiches, etc) - we started getting antsy and being recently inspired to make a few dishes - we got our pots, pans and bowls out to whip up a few great things to get us through the week.

We made:

1. Chex Mix

2. A large batch of Breakfast Burritos for breakfast throughout the week.

3. Lemonade with Sliced Lemons

And tomorrow we will make:

4. Chicken Caesear Pita's inspired by a lunch we had recently at Chili's

5. Shepard's Chicken & Rice for our evening group at church

Phew - lots of cooking!

Eating at home is important to us - because of finances for one, health second and because we get to spend more time together.

Here is a great link to a meal planning template from futuregirl.com!
Hubby and I plan our meals out in advance to help us shop for upcoming week - this is a great template to keep it fun!

Recent Projects

My recent crafty projects have included a nifty light-weight computer case - nothing to carry it in of course, but just to project it from everyday scratches and a nifty jewelry holder that I was inspired to make from an article called "Every Bling in Its Place" in the recent issue of .

Here is the blog post from Bluelines - the Blueprint blog talking about the project.

Been Sick

Ah yes, our household has finally succumbed to the coughy, phlemy, runny-nose, sneezy thing that has been roaming around work and our social circles for awhile now. We managed to escape it during the holidays - but it finally caught up. Here is a pic my husband snapped of me during a deep nap I took after work one day. It was one of those naps where you wake up with your cheeks flushed not knowing where you are. I feel better now - still a little sniffly- but now the hubby is coming down with it. I swore it was just my sinuses acting up for the longest time - but I think it was the combination of sinuses and a mild cold. :(

Cleaning Safely, Naturally AND on a Budget

With my many green initiatives over the last year or so (recycling, composting, bringing our own bags to the grocery store, etc) - the one things I neglected to green the most about my everyday routine was the way I clean.

I want things to smell and look clean - and for the longest time the smell of clean to me is the smell of bleach and harsh cleaning products.

But these very products are harmful both to my body and to the environment - not to mention being ridiculously expensive. We are talking $3 and up per bottle of cleaner! A nice chunk out of our pocket that is for sure- not to mention the obvious gagging and choking that occurred whenever I used these abbrassive toxins in my home.

Well, today that changed a little - with my toxic stash of cleaners are all about out - so, I started researching the web on natural cleaning methods.

First I tackled the bathtub with a 1 part vinegar and 1 part water mixture and was AMAZED! This simple solution kicked soap scum's tush better than any of the Scrubbing Bubble/Bleach concoction ever did.

Now I am ready to take natural solutions to the kitchen and beyond!

Here are some great natural cleaning tips I have found:

3 Homemade Natural Cleaning Products from About.com

Cleaning with Vinegar

How to Make a Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit

Homemade Cleaning Solutions and Tips

Vinegar: (Almost) the Only Cleaner You'll Ever Need
Non-Toxic Home Cleaning

Vinegar Tips

The Vinegar Institute Use and Tips

I Need to Knit!

Wow, so the first two weeks of 2008 are proving to be quite crazy - especially at work.We have a new client with hundreds of files that need created or recreated to fit our needs, they have events coming up that the marketing should be been put out on back in the fall - but they were not our client until Dec.1 so that is crazy, then we got a new printer that sounds marvelous - but so far hasn't been [for one I have to now walk all the way to the back of the office to print instead of walk two feet when the printer was in my office, we opted for one big printer instead of two smaller ones so often times there is a line to print, we have had problems with the sensors and it won't let us print because it THINKS it sees paper in some invisible finishing tray when there isn't any, I now have to manually duplex anything on cardstock with a weight more than 65lb, AND it hasn't been letting me select the bypass tray - arg! And my stress is back - I keep waking up at night or the wee hours of the morning freaking out about something I forgot to do at work and I feel, in general, on edge even when I am at home - there is this constant feeling of anxiousness.

Needless to say I think I need to start my knitting again.

It helps ground me and gives me some of my sanity back somehow. And in addition to having more stress inducers in 2008 I haven't knit since I went back to work on Jan. 3rd!

And I am not crazy there is research behind knitting being a stress reliever!
Studies have shown that knitting slows the heart rate and brain waves - having a similar affect as meditation.

Here are some interesting articles I found about knitting and stress relief:
(now I just need to get my family, people at work, and my friends to read them so they stop looking at me to oddly when I knit! :) )
Knitting Reduces Stress, Article from the Rochester Knitting Guild in New York
Knitting for Stress Relief, About.com
Knitting the Stress Away, Article from the University of Kansas
Knitting their way to relaxation, Article from the BBC News

Bento Lunches

People at work hate me. Not personally speaking by any means. But they hate the fact that my husband gets up every morning and packs my lunch for me before work - and he does a good job! Always making little kits if we have leftover like tacos complete with little bags of cheese, separating the lettuce from the meat - etc...all organized and neat.

I CAN make my lunch myself, and have, on occasion. And, in my defense, this situation all came about because of our differing work schedules. He was working later in the mornings than I was and had a little more time to actually make lunches - and he would get up with me in the morning because it has be about impossible to sleep with all the racket I make in the morning - running the blow dryer, dropping stuff in the bathroom, stumbling about trying to find the shoes that match my outfit- etc.

AND he offered to do so.

Just trying to defend myself here as in writing this I realize that I sound like some sort of princess who cannot and will not fend for herself. THAT IS NOT IT AT ALL THANK YOU.

Ok, back to the post.

Bento Lunches.

I came across this Japanese way of making lunch while searching the web for something else - I stumbled across a blog writing about what I was searching for - and in further inspection of said blog I found a post about bento lunches and, having never heard of it before, became intrigued - read more - did a web search and viola I am officially on board.

According to Wikapedia a "bento" is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables as a side dish. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware. Although bento are easily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops, train stations, and department stores, it is still common for Japanese homemakers to spend considerable time and energy producing an appealing boxed lunch.

But if you think about it, and what many bloggers are saying, is that a bento lunch is TECHNICALLY any lunch that is packed.

I have sent photos of adorable bento lunches in hopes that he become inspired to add a little more oomph to his lunch-making repertoire - I just need to convince him that he needs to make me the cute little animal shaped hard boiled eggs that I found in the bento lunches I found online!

Here are some links to bento blogs:
BentoYum
Bento Corner
Lunch In A Box

Random Web Searches

I use the web a lot and it is rather funny to sit down and take note of the searches I make in any one day. For example, today I searched the following:

1. Venus Fly Traps
Yup, that is right my friend - venus fly traps. I bought one for my husband after seeing one at Kroger of all places and we have replanted it into a little terrarium of sorts and it is really thriving - I was expecting it to die within a few days..well, it isn't and I wanted to learn more about their care etc.

2. Herron School of Art Alumni Association & Board
I will be attending one of their meetings next week and wanted to know more about their role at IUPUI and Herron and the kind of activities and program they promote, etc.

3. Pure Simplicity
At the Bath and Body Works Semi-Annual Sale hidden away by itself on a 75% table I found my favorite face wash of all time - Rice Pure Simplicity Skin Balancing Face Wash - it smells so great and keeps my skin looking amazing. I thought that Bath and Body Works had discontinued the line long ago and low and behold there it was! After speaking with a store associate it sounded like they would not be carrying the product any longer - so I am Googling it see if I can't find alternative locations to buy this great wash. Sadly, I am not having a whole lot of luck in that search.

Converting Paperweight from LBS to GSM
Recently got a new printer at work and have been having issues with it left and right - especially in reference to printing on cardstock - which was never a problem on our older model printer - not to mention that the new printer labels all paper weights using GSM and my paper is labeled in LBs. So I have to convert the weights to see if the paper I have in stock with be new-printer-friendly or not.
Here is site I used to find my conversion table. - PaperMojo.com

Crash and Burn Day Back

So the morning I come back to the office after having over a week off for the holidays is a little weird. My desk is a mess after the hurried finishing up of projects BEFORE the holidays - not to mention the random diet coke can I found (I do not drink diet coke so this tells me someone else was sitting at my desk for a period of time while I was gone...hmmm?), the coffee pot was left on which leaves an awful mess but I wasn't here last week so it wasn't me and also I do not drink coffee, the recycling bins are overflowing - apparently I am the only one who knows how to empty the darn things - they were my idea so I guess it falls on me BUT if there are cans fall out of the bin you would think someone would step up...AND then come to find out that our brand new amazing printer is still not functioning properly....first it wouldn't print onto 100lb paper - so we had to haul someone out here to fix it a day or two before Christmas and NOW come to find out that it can pull 100lb paper through the bypass tray but that you cannot print 2up from the bypass tray - how marvelous. Arg! I may have to venture back out into the -12 wind chill day to Arvey's and buy some 70lb cardstock to see if our new printer accepts it or not. Blah! It feels like a Monday - but at least it is Wednesday and this week will be over soon enough.

2008 New Year Resolutions

Wow, another year over - it is crazy. Time goes by way to fast! So many things happened in 2007 - it will definitely be a year marked in our memories - both personally and on a worldwide scale.

Personally, my husband and I bought our first house, our good friends got married, got pregnant and had sweet baby boy, my parents separated - got divorced and my mother remarried, my husband's grandmother passed away, we started composting, I learned how to knit, we planted a pineapple, started to landscape on the house, put up a fence, I cut my hair short, and numerous other accomplishments, surprises and disappoints marks 2007 as inforgetable.

I am so very much looking forward to 2008 and what it holds in store for us.

Some general resolutions I hope to keep this year include:

1. Exercising at least once a week (we have an in home treadmill now so that shouldn't be hard - just have to be a little less attached to our comfy couch)
2. Attend at least 3 Marketing/PR seminars, conferences or classes to further improve my occupational skills.
3. Continue to green our home and our life by composting more, taking our own bags to the grocery store, using green products, etc.
4. Start a garden.
5. Become closer to estranged family members.
6. Find a church and become more involved in our community.

Knitting In the Round

I learned how to finally knit with double pointed needles! I was getting a little bored with scarf making so I went out bought a few sizes of double pointed needles, sat down with my borrowed copy of Stitch N Bitch and started learning how to knit the Umbilical Cord Baby Hat pattern. So adorable and quick to do! I have done two hats in two days!

My New Knitting Basket

A tisket a tasket I got a new knitting basket! And all my yarn and new needles fit so lovely inside. Much better than the tupperware tub I have been storing it all in - this basket looks much more coordinated with our livingroom decor - it is made of woven banana leaves and is a great large open bowl of a basket. It was 50% off at Hobby Lobby and came to a whopping $5! The hubby and I have been all around town the last couple of days perusing the after Christmas sales - but nothing has really caught our eye (besides some baskets, yarn, knitting needles, and a grill tool set) - usually we stock up on Christmas cards and decor but this year we just aren't in the mood. I think we are both fending off the beginnings of a cold and we are still recovering from the physical exhaustion of the holidays - 6 Christmases in 3 days!! Whew! I will have to start posting about all the marvelous gifts we have received.

Holiday Knitting

I managed to knock out 3 of the six dishclothes I wanted to knit up and give as Christmas presents - next year I will be on top of things and start a little sooner!

Starting Off the Holidays Right

Hubby and I started off our holiday weekend by going to a wedding - very romantic and holiday-esc. We followed up the evening by letting the animals open their stockings - oh the crazy fun that ensued! Tomorrow we will travel north and spend the next three days going from Christmas to Christmas to Christmas! Thankfully the weather looks like it is going to be decent for traveling and of course we are hiking it home with the mutts in tow so there are sure to be some charades.

Bringing Home the Holiday Cheer

Matthew and I visited the Mallow Run Winery today after work (I managed to escape around 3PM somehow) - we sampled around 8 different wines and came home with two bottles of their holiday wines - Winter White and Reindeer Red. I like the white best for it's crisp sweetness and Matt liked the red so we got both and will be donating them both to our different holiday gatherings. It will be nice to share something that we enjoy with our families AND to ease the tension ;). I love Mallow Run Winery - it is so close to our house, is nicely set back into the country outskirts of Bargersville - the people who work there are always so nice and they have the best setting for wine tasting - a restored barn complete with fireplace and a marble high top bar to taste their many wines - I also love the crackers and chocolate morsels to go with the wine. In the summer they have the best Friday line-up - pizza from Bazbeaux's, wine, a farmers market with bread, meat, fruit and cheeses, music and plenty of outdoor seating. Marvelous!

Holiday Blues

This holiday is a little different from any other holiday my husband and I have ever celebrated together - this year it lacks a little luster. Normally my hubby and I are running around like starstruck children with sugar plums dancing around our heads - in anticipation of all the great events we get to go to during the holiday season - Christmas at the Zoo, Winter Solstice at the IMA, getting to spend time with our family and getting to buy everyone gifts and watching them open them! What fun! We spend our holiday season buzzing off of mugs and mugs of hot cocoa and our home, office and car are filled with blasts of Christmas music for hours on end. We love the holidays - but like I said, this year is different - we are mourning the loss of a dear grandmother, dealing with the destruction that divorce had brought upon my immediate family, and most recently dealing with career struggles - nothing is the same any more. I feel a little jaded - I miss being happy-go-lucky at Christmas. But I am not the only one who feels this way - that I can take comfort in.

Here are some helpful resources for those battling the holiday blues:
Holiday Depression and Stress
Stress, depression and the holidays: 12 tips for coping
Tip # 7. The Reason for the Season
Excerpt from www.selfcounseling.com
...finally (and of most importance), remember the spirit of the holidays. Our three major holidays involve some very special messages that we need to remember. Thanksgiving celebrates the bounty that surrounds us. It is people coming together to feast and reflect upon a year's harvest of labors. However great or small, there are things to be celebrated. Christmas is the season of profound love. The importance of giving to others and sharing and bringing joy to the world are central to our spiritual meanings in life. New Year's is a time of new beginnings. A time to let go of the old, forget the past, and to rededicate our energies, our talents, and our love to another year. New Year's is a reminder that, with every ending, there is a new beginning.

Cheerful Links That Make Me Smile
CuteOverload
Adorablog
Reading Amazing Stories at Rolling Dog Ranch
Holiday Blues Posts

Design Solution: YouSendIt

When working on different freelance projects outside the office I sometimes come across the problem of client email versus large file transfer - ah, the epic battle. I had a client whose email would not cooperate with the way I was sending them their final design files - we tried everything - from zipping to attaching - nothing would work they would never receive my email (an error email would come back to me informing me that the client's email inbox was full - however, this was not the case according to the client). I swore there was something wrong with their email account but rather than argue with the hand that feeds me (or gives me extra money in the case of this freelance client) I found a solution - it is great! It is called YouSendIt - a free internet service that allows you to upload large files and then sends a link to the files to the recipients of your choice - the link is valid for so many days - perfect for my freelance projects with difficult client email accounts. I have found myself using it quite a bit - a very helpful resource to keep in your back pocket when email file transfer becomes rough.

Personalized Onesies

I originally over 10 white onesies for a baby shower craft- but we ran out of time to decorate them so I kept them to decorate myself before my friend's baby came - good lord did the time fly. I ended up finishing up the project a day after he was born! But they still were pretty darn cute! Here's a pic!

More Yarn!

Bought more yarn today - as if I don't already have enough projects I want to do before Christmas. Still have a scarf and a fourth and six dish clothes to finish - not to mention three other scarfs that I promised people after Christmas and now I just bought yarn in cute blue and green baby colors for a hat or something for little Landen. I got these two great balls of the softest yarn at Clementine's Dry Goods in downtown Franklin - they were buy one get one free. This new yarn and fabric store looks like it could be found off the streets of some happening city let alone be found in the quiet suburbs of Franklin, Indiana. The bolts of marvelous fabric in this stores makes me want to learn how to sew. This is not your grandma's yarn and fabric store!

Santa Delivered Christmas Early At Our House

My hubby and I managed to get the rest of our Christmas shopping and almost all of our wrapping done as well. It looks like Santa arrived early at our house with all the presents under our tree. It's starting to feel a little more like Christmas - finally!

Men Who Knit - And Boast About It

Since taking up knitting around Thanksgiving - my husband has been very supportive of my new hobby. He has even picked up one of my projects while it was sitting around the house - of course he turns down every offer I give about showing him how. Knitting has a stigma about it - you hear the work knit and you see little old lady knitting socks or something - which is not true at all - lots of people of all ages knit - INCLUDING MEN. I happened to stumble upon the subject of men and knitting in Lion Brand's YarnCraft Blog Post - Men Who Knit & Crochet - I will have to show this to my husband now - maybe he will take a second look at my knitting - hey, it is great stress relief! I even found an online community devoted to men who knit!


YouTube Video to See!
Real Men Knit Trailer on YouTube


Links to Men Who Knit & Blog About it
It's a Purl, Man
The Crochet Dude

Scarf #2 Finished!

I am at least catching up a little on my scarf "orders." Never EVER mention that you can knit in public - people will all of a sudden start mentioning how they need a scarf or something and you say yes to one and then you are sucked in! No, but really, I enjoy doing it so of course I am not going to say no. Here is a scarf I knitted up for a coworker. I love how thick it is and how the white yarn looks with the stitch I used - knit two purl two!

We Block the Wee

As a little new parent gift, my husband and I bought our friends with the new baby the "Wee Blocker." A little soft foam sports cup of sorts to shield off a baby boy's squirt as you change his diaper. Now my friends are new to the baby thing and we are too - not having any ourselves - so we thought this would be a great gift for newbie parents. Upon further review - however - some people seem to think it is a ridiculous product and that parents should be able to figure out some sort of double diaper method and be quick handed at the process to ward off any incoming stream. But you know what? My friends are new to this - I highly doubt they are going to be quick handed right off the bat - as I know I nor my husband would be either with our first little one(who is still a few years off in the future for us) so I still think it was a good gift - at least for new parents - maybe not for old pros.

We bought the Wee Blocker for $10 at Babys'R'Us.

Links to Wee Block Enthusiasts
The World According to Marc - The Mighty Wee Block
Swim Mom - Wee Block
Our Super Hero, Wee Wee Man
Wee Block, My New Best Friend

And Baby Makes Three

Some great friends of ours were blessed this weekend with the birth of their first baby boy! They went in Saturday, December 8, 2007 at 8AM to be induced and a whooping 8.4lb 21in baby boy entered the world at 8:16AM Sunday morning, December 9th via C-section. And they gave him the most adorable name - Landen Hunt. Boy, is he handsome too! This picture doesn't do him justice.

Hard Drives are Like Tires

So, our hard drive went out on our Powerbook G4. Not fun. In fact, I thought I had caused it - because I was browsing through my Google Reader watching funny videos and the system starting running slow so I got up and walking away - watched some tv yadda yadda. Then the hubby wanted on so he logged onto his account and Firefox froze - all you could do was move the mouse around - you could not get to Finder to restart or anything. So after some waiting around we hit the power button for a restart. Except it never came back...just restarted to a white screen with a sad folder and a question mark. Not good. Thank goodness for Apple Care (the 3 year warranty is DEFINITELY worth it) and thank goodness for the Apple Store in Indianapolis! Only two days later and we have a perfectly working computer again - EXCEPT we lost everything that we did not back up on our external hard drive. :( Bummer.

Anyways, I asked the tech over the phone what we could do or not do in the future to prevent such failures from happening again and the guy said this, "Hard drives are like tires - they wear out over time and with use - there was nothing you do or not do to prevent it." Which made me feel SO much better but also a little jaded to think that every two years we may have to buy a new computer or shell out $400 for a hard drive fix (once our warranty runs out).

So now begins the work of installing all the software we had in addition to what already came on the computer - iLife, Office:Mac, our ipod software, etc etc. Yay, fun!

Some helpful links:
5 Things You Can Do to Prevent a Hard Drive Failure
Hard Drive Failures
Common Causes of Hard Drive Failure
Causes of Hard Drive Failures in Mac

Our Indoor Greenhouse

Each year my husband and I accumulate a plethora of plants that we adorn our yard or porch with (now we actually have a yard - and no longer have a porch or balcony like we did when we lived in apartments for 4 years). These plants come from a various amount of sources - the garage bins (I hate seeing a perfectly good plant thrown away) and this is how we now own a spider plant and a little tropical palm, we also find lonely plants in the bargain bins at our local Home Depot and Lowes - that is how we have become the proud owners of a rubber plant that had outgrown its pot and was sold 75% off. We also get plants from family. My brother-in-law gave us a starter off of his spider plant which has since grown into a monstrous plant that we have to physically chop back to keep a check on its growth. My grandmother has a nursery and so we have received many green leafed housewarming plants - in fact she loads our car up to brim every time we come to visit. Now granted, only about 75% of those plants actually live due to my neglect or ill placement in our yard. Well the point I was getting to was that, each year we collect this crazy amount of plants to create a backyard oasis but then winter comes to Indiana and there comes the need to bring almost all the plants back in so they can survive which makes our house into some sort of greenhouse. Right now we have 14 potted plants in our dining room, two in our living room and two in our bedroom. In years past, bringing the plants in has always been an issue. We have cats and cats are downright ridiculous about plants in the house. Well, at least mine are. They eat the poisonous leaves and end up hacking up the remains somewhere on my floor or they try to use the pots as extra litter boxes. The very worst is when they actually knock one over in the attempt to do any of the things I just listed. A knock-over usually happens after I have water the plant - so that whatever mess is made is 50 times worse because not only is there dirt on the floor but it is WET dirt. This year we have a house instead of an apartment. We have double the square footage to place our potted plants and one top of that we have a great little dining nook that is equipped with linoleum floors and plenty of light from our sliding glass door and a window. This is where the 14 of my 18 plants will be spending the winter. And the cats have been leaving them alone - not sure why but they are.

My New Favorite Gum!

Ah, yes...gum...my secret weakness. You see, I am not supposed to even chew the stuff due to my jaw locking and what not. And if I chew too much or too long it makes my jaw sore and even makes it click! Not good. But I LOVE gum - especially after meals - gets that icky whatever-I-just-ate taste out of my mouth. I know there is a gum alternative - mints. But they are just not as satisfying for some reason.

Anyways my latest gum indulgence has been Altoids Sugar Free Chewing Gum in Spearmint. They come in this cute little tin that fits all nifty into my purse. These little green disks of gum are jam packed with eye-tearing Altoid-minty flavor. Mmmm!

My other favorite gums include IceBreakers new gum "Center" which is full of vitamin C and ginseng and Bazooka Original, of course!

Countdown to Christmas

I cannot believe it, but we have only 20 days till Christmas. Here I thought I was getting ahead of the game by getting my Christmas cards out of the box I stored them a few days after Thanksgiving - now I realize I am behind on getting them done at all! Arg! (I figured I would work on them sooner if I had them out in plain sight ealier - especially since we had them bought since last year - yay for after Christmas clearance cards!) And I just now put out my little bit of Christmas decor out on my desk - 5 days late!(pictured to the left). Usually my husband and I manage to get all our shopping done early - but this year has been a little crazy with the new house and other more pressing issues filling our minds. We are probably a little over halfway done with everyone on our list - but this time last year we had everything bought and wrapped!

Winter Has Finally Decided to Grace Us With It's Presence

I believe it is safe to say that winter has finally arrived in Indiana. After experiencing unseasonably high temperatures for Fall and the early part of the Winter season - the tables are finally beginning to turn - reminding us once again how extreme Indiana weather can get. Just two days ago we had temperatures in the mid-50's and today I receive a weather alert on my Forecast Toolbar heeding me about a winter weather advisory with a possible 2-4 inches of snow to hit us through tonight until Wednesday. Lovely.

It just doesn't seem like it should be December already. It should have hit me when I crunched through the inch deep salt that the city puts on the sidewalks permanently until about March. And it should have hit me when my two block walk to our building seems to take longer and longer (I hate the cold - which makes the usually pleasant walk just about unbearable). I am the person you see on the street who is bundled up like I have never experienced an Indiana winter - but I have lived here all my life -I just dislike the cold. You can find me smack dab in front of the direct blast of hot air from the wall mounted heaters at the parking garage with my eyes closed and goofy smile on my face- those things are great! I want one of those in my bathroom to help me shake off the morning chills.

But alas, winter is here. The cold has officially seeped in.

It Pays to Have an Opinion - Quite Literally

For quite awhile now I have been getting involved with many online survey programs, opinion based websites, etc. Being the Marketing Department for where I work, I understand how important it is to have feedback and how very hard it is to get anyone to actually give it you sometimes - even if you ask - several times. Usually no one is going to comment unless they are really perturbed about something or really blown away about how awesome it was. But those are skewed results, you are ALWAYS going to have those people at both ends of the spectrum. After having sent out a few surveys of my own at work and realizing how hard it is to get anyone to respond I try to be sure to participate in any of the surveys that are sent my way - surveys for events I attend, services I use, etc - because now I know how hard it is to get feedback and I know how valuable it is. Valuable not only to those collecting it but also to me. In fact, I signed up for an e-rewards program that actually takes your profile and finds different surveys that are relevant to you - and they pay you for each one you fill out - I am up to $60 in e-rewards so far! Now granted, I can only redeem this money as "points." For example, I can cash in $15 of my points for $15 in rewards bucks at Borders - BUT you can only do that once in a year - kind of a little snag there since I could easily use all $60 of my points at Border and there isn't really anywhere else I want to use my points. The other programs are kinda "eh" - for example, I can cash in $50 of my rewards bucks for 10% off a purchase of $200 or more at some jewelry place - not really something I am even remotely interested in doing there folks - but they are adding more ways to redeem your points all the time so I guess I will just keep adding up my moolah and pray for the day they add Starbucks Points or Target Points or something.

What brought this whole post on was something I got in the mail today at work. It was $5 Starbucks Card sent to me from a company whose survey I just recently filled out. I honestly cannot remember what survey it was or if I actually even filled it out but I am overjoyed at my shiny new card and a my free hot drink awaiting me at the closest Starbucks - Tazo Chi Tea here I come!

So next time someone asks for your opinion - give it to them - it is worth more than you think - literally.

Another survey site I enjoy and you should too!
www.yelp.com

Google Reader is MARVELOUS

I enjoy reading blogs. I have friends who write blogs and blogs that cover my favorite interests - but I was never very good at checking them regularly. Often I would forget the url or just forget about them. I had known about RSS feeds and what they are and had heard of RSS Feed readers that allow you to subscribe to all sorts of RSS feeds and allows you the read them all in one place. But until I signed up my for Gmail account I had never really found a format I liked or wanted to take the time to set up. Then I found Gmail, iGoogle, Blogger, Google Documents and Google Calendar and was impressed - everything I ever wanted to do on the web accessible from one place. I can log into my Gmail from that page I can go to my Google Documents containing word and excel documents editable from any internet browser, and my Google Calendar where I can keep track of everything from one page online instead of trying to fight with syncing my iCalendar from my Mac to my online account. Well, one day I was exploring the many capabilities that a Google account has and found Google Reader. And now I am addicted. I have 223 subscriptions, and over the last 30 days I have read 12,286 items, starred 390 items, shared 6 items, and emailed 15 items. It is crazy. I have subscriptions to knitting blogs, friends blogs, rss feeds streamed in from newspapers, Facebook, and MSNBC. I am an avid subscriber to blogs about design, shopping, living green, fonts, fitness and health, Martha Stewart, gadgets, and more. And everyday, it seems I find something else I want to subscribe to. One really nice thing about Google Reader is that it frees up my email. If I can subscribe to an RSS feed from an enewsletter and read it from Google Reader instead of having it delivered to my inbox - I can save my email for communication to friends, family and work instead and rely on Google Reader for all my random newsletter subscriptions and news updates (well, at this the ones that have that capability). It saves time by allowing me to view all my favorite blogs from one webpage instead of having to visit 223 different urls I can see them all on one page. And I can star posts I like for future reference, email them with one click, or share them. While it saves time on one hand it also has created and ENORMOUS distraction for me. Instead of checking maybe 10 blogs every now and then, I now check 223 and I spend about an hour a day doing so. It is almost a game now, I see that I have 539 unread posts and I keep scrolling and scrolling through them all until there are none unread. It is an addiction I tell you! But I love it! It has brought the world of blogs and rss feeds to my finger tips and I find myself learning something new everyday and keeping more up-to-date on what is going on in the world.

Lazy Weekends

Lazy weekends seems far and few anymore. My husband and I always seem to have some family function to attend to, or some friendly get-together to attend so it is really nice to be able to laze around the house for once with utterly nothing to do - except clean, laundry, go through my hundreds of subscriptions on my Googler Reader and knitting of course! Not to mention the weather outside, the day is practically screaming for us to stay inside. It is a lovely dreary, drizzly day out there - my little weather icon on my Firefox browser says it is supposed to be a high of 54 today - but it seems cold - my tootsies are about numb right now. So I guess I will go back to surfing the web for more things to add to my boxedup.com account (gotta keep the family updated on our Christmas List....yes...I am 23 and have a Christmas List) and hopefully finish up my second scarf (pictured to the right).

I Am The Office Grandma - Apparently

I started thinking about it after a coworker called me "grandma" for the 90th time in the two years I have worked there and it got me thinking....why? Ok, ok - I do knit during lunch, and I do enjoy a good game of Scrabble if I can get anyone to play during our lunch our, I wear sweaters all the time and insist the office temperature is too cold, I wear a blanket over my lap if I get the chills and if it is really bad I switch on my office space heater. I drink hot tea, I always wear a heavy coat, scarf, hat AND gloves if it is even a smidgen cold outside. But come on! In truth I am literally the youngest in the office. And yet they call ME grandma. Sigh.