P.52 photo challenge: week 4.

I must admit two things:

1. I definitely like being in pictures. Always happy to jump in a picture. and often request pictures be taken. I seriously have the same self portrait of my husband & I - basically everywhere we have ever been. And it could be the same pic - over and over and over. Slightly diff. background, slightly diff. clothes - but the same pose and same two smiling faces.  I love it though.

2. I have definitely taken a billion pictures of myself over the years. I become curious how I look at a given time/place/event - so if I have my camera handy, I take a shot. And then I sure hope I will be happy with the result. And these pics - same self portrait - over and over. my face, fairly close up since my arm isn't all that long, and half my arm.  And usually, these self pics don't turn out that great. But ... every so often, I find a self pic I like.

So, for this week's photo challenge, the topic of self portrait should be thrilling, given the above two facts. However, in fact #2, I noted that usually, these self pics don't turn out that great.  and I would say that my self pics for this week's challenge didn't turn out that great.

Are we too critical of ourselves? I do believe yes, we are. If I come back months from now and look at below portraits, will I think they're eh so-so still? Maybe I'll love them.

So, I share three self portraits; pick one, any one.

Bonus: can you find the main difference in each photo? See answers at bottom of the post.

Answer: Hairstyle different in each. 

Ok now, what's next week's challenge?

P.52 photo challenge: week 3.

I dreamed a dream.  That is the subject for this week's photo challenge. In honor of martin luther king.

I know the goal of the challenge is to take a photo depicting the week's theme. Not find a photo you have that could fit the theme. However, the week is over, and I might have to resort to using a photo that i have that fits.  But I think it's okay, right?

I thought about the topic, thought about my photos and do have one that is really special to me.

week three: i dreamed a dream

This photo is of my grandma and my baby boy. They are 97 yrs apart, and they are bookends of four generations. When I was pregnant, my grandma was so excited and often remarked how much she'd love to be here when I had the baby. And wonderfully, she was. And is. She gets such joy playing with the little guy and he adores her too. It gives me so much pleasure to see them together. So yes, this is a dream of mine - seeing them together and seeing how incredibly happy my grandma is to spend time with the little buddy.

 

xoxo. Gossip Girl.

just watched the mid-season premiere. love love love chuck & blair. blair and louie cannot get married (i know, they won't).

chuck & blair are meant to be. in the fantasyland of TV. they have such an incredible connection you can practically feel it.  yes, i know, it means that Leighton and Ed are good actors.  and yes, i know that these are tv characters and not real people.  but i just love those two together.

love me some chuck & blair

are they the ross & rachel of GG? nah, that wasn't volatile enough.  the lucas & peyton? the ryan & marissa? 

(yes! i know these are shows geared towards high schoolers, and that i am actually the age of the character's show parents!!!) enough. xoxo. 

Ever gone to work when the office is closed?

Did the title give it away?

Yep, I'm at work.

But we're closed.

In honor of MLK day. as it should be.

So here i am in the office, all dressed up - way more than usual (actually IN a dress). just me.

I figure I'll stay for a few hours to get some stuff done. so I've cleaned and organized my desk and files, deleted tons of emails and am getting things in order for tomorrow. when there really IS work.

note: I did go through my emails last night to try to check if we were closed. I couldn't find any emails or our vacation schedule, so I played it safe and assumed we'd be open.

So now I'm taking a few to blog.  First, spoiler alert! In honor of Matt Leblanc's Emmy win -- a funny little item I found on pinterest a while back.

anyways, i was thinking about this blog. i really do want to make it of interest for others. so far i've been writing pretty stream of consciousness, which i'm not sure is of interest to anyone! aside from my mom (thank you mom). i've talked about a few products i like and included some helpful lists and sayings, but it's essentially been my ramblings of whatever is on my mind. which is nice for a diary-style blog. but i'd love to be a place where everybody knows your name. no, that's 'cheers'. i'd love to be a place where people want to go. to read. to learn. to relate. to find out about things (products, ideas, tips) relevant to them. to laugh. so if anyone is reading this and does have any suggestions for what they'd like to see - do let me know.

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Here it is, 1:40am on a Sunday night, and I sit surfing & blogging. I know better - I should be asleep - for I must get up early for work tomorrow. But it's that quiet catch up time to play on the computer.

It seems like a waste, and I know I'll regret it in the morning. My glance keeps going to the clock in the corner of the screen, and I cringe, thinking how tired I'll be in the a.m.

But you know what -- I'm having fun. And to quote a saying I saw on pinterest that I really like -



So remember those wise words when you start to feel guilty that you should be doing something else. If you are happy and enjoying yourself, than consider it not a waste.

And with that, I shall vow to be in bed by 2am. Good night.

P.52 photo challenge: week 2.

made with love. that's the theme of week two of the photo challenge. my immediate thought - my baby boy. made with love. made of love. full of love. pure love. how i love this boy.  so here is my picture for week two.

week two: made with love

Pink duvet cover.

Wow, it's been a whole week since I last wrote. not sure why - busy week at work, busy with the little guy and spending time online searching for all things pink.... mainly on etsy and pinterest.

why?

well, after many years of the same white with white stripe duvet cover, i bought a new one. actually, i bought it about five months ago, and finally last week, took it out and put it on the bed.  the pic online that inspired me to purchase appears to be almost satiny and a ballet slipper pink.  see the pic below.

love it. however. it turns out that in real life, it is definitely more of a pink pink. you know, like this:

not. what i expected. but i must say, i still love it.  it's ruffly and feminine.  but. it doesn't really match with the paint or the room.  so. i need to pink it up and get some pink accents for the room.

my thought is to get some pink prints or cards, frame them and put on the dresser, so it ties it all in a bit more.  been browsing and found some cute items, but just keep looking. it's becoming maybe a waste of time -- what did i do for hours? looked for pink things.  ok. next post - i'll share some of the options i'm considering.

P.52 photo challenge: week 1.

One of the items on my resolution list is photograph.  This includes a number of things for me - hone my photography skills, try to do some photoshoots, print and frame more of my photos, and join a photo challenge.

I found two photo challenges, which I wrote about in a previous post.

For the Project 52 Challenge, week one's challenge is to share a photo depicting "resolution".  I decided to take a picture of my computer, showing my blog, and specifically an entry about uncluttering.

week one: resolution

And while this is not a photo showing off creativity or skill with a camera, it does capture some of my resolutions.  (i'm hoping other week's challenges will allow me to better utilize as well as work on my photography skills).  And, thinking about what to photograph is what led me to really finalize my resolution list (see previous post).

Looking forward to week two of the challenge! week two's theme is "made with love".

2012 resolutions.

I have a lot of resolutions for myself this year.  When I first started thinking about my resolutions, a few came to mind very easily.

Get rid of clutter. Organize more. Be more creative. Start a blog.

I started to write these down and many more ideas came to mind.


I starting categorizing, and then reorganizing -- and I ended up with the following list of words and phrases.  Not necessarily all resolutions, but a list of what I want to focus on. Of what's important to me.  And I'm sure I'll be adding to the list.

Enjoy More.

Worry Less.

Overlook More.
React Less.
Move More.
Compute(r) Less.

Move Forward.

Blog.
Photograph.
Craft.
Cook.
Create.


Make Plans.
Keep In Touch.
Reconnect.


Simplify.
Unclutter.
Be Prompt.

Volunteer.

Live.
Learn.
Love.
Laugh.
Life.

Family.

Uncluttering.

I really am in the mode to clean & organize.  I'm rereading "the happiness project" (for anyone who has not read it, I highly recommend).   In the book, January is designated for clearing out the physical and mental clutter.  you can't help but be motivated....

So tonight, while surfing online instead of clearing out the clutter (stated motivation questionable?),  I found a blog about uncluttering. it's called - wait for it....unclutterer.com.  There's a good post from a few days ago: "Seven routines and guidelines to live as an unclutterer - no super powers necessary".

Here are the seven guidelines:

click here to read the entire post

1. Have a place for everything.
2. When you're finished using something, put it away.
3. The fewer things you own, the fewer things you have to store, maintain, put away, clean, etc.
4. Only own things with utility and things that bring you happiness.
5. One in, out out.
6. Everyone does his/her part.
7. Do a little every day.

Pretty straightforward, nothing overly complicated - and it does sound feasible. And I like the term uncluttering.  It sure sounds better than cleaning.  A lot more fun.

Now go forth and unclutter....
(maybe in the morning)

16 months old.

happy birthday to my little guy - can't believe he is already 16 months old. it goes so fast....he is officially a walker! it is adorable to watch, but now i feel slightly sad he's not crawling, and wish i had video'd him crawling more, instead of focusing so much on trying to catch him walking (which i also want to get on film) -- but i will have lots of time to film him walking! :)

anyways, i'm thrilled he is loving walking and toddling about --- and i love my boy dearly.

littlest mall walker!

IPhone ear bud case. Thank you Erin Erickson.

i have been trying to find something to put my iphone ear buds in for a long time .... have tried a little bag, have rolled them up and put in a plastic tin, but haven't found the right thing.  in fact, i lost my ear buds - prob. because they just didn't have a "place of their own".

so tonight, way early this morning, i found these on pinterest:

Super cute! I love. Perfecto! And when I clicked through, I arrived on erinerickson.com, who seems to be very talented, as she makes these clever little items.

Ready to pull out my credit card, I find that Erin provides DIY instructions for the pouches. A bit bummed,  Since i don't really DIM (that being do - it - myself), but would like to in 2012 (another resolution), I decide to post about it here.

When i go back to get the link to her site, I find --- super! --- Erin has an etsy shop and has three ear bud pouches for sale! Waiting to hear if she has any other colors or patterns for sale, but this is looking promising.

And I have now written a lovely post about Erin Erickson - whoever she may be. :)

Back to Work.

After two long weeks off, today was my first day back in the office.

And the resolution to go along with going back to work .... get to work earlier.

And how did that go, you ask?  Well, considering I walked in at two minutes to ten, I would say a valiant, yet failed effort.


It was a pleasant day, but i was so tired and missed my little guy so much -Ii always do, but especially after having been with him every day since December 20th.

I love finding new (shopping) websites.

I was just browing on pinterest - something I oft do - and I saw this cute colorful pair of serving spoons, which led me to a new site for me - frenchbull.com. 

The site has lots of everyday items - and everything is in very bright, bold, fun colors - I'd say whimsical....

Anyways, I found a really cute set of bowls for the little guy (I am momma to an almost 16 month old) that he will love. see below.

animal bowls

And a purchase has been made!

Photo challenge.

in addition to starting & keeping a blog,  i've also been interested in participating in a photo challenge.  you know, those challenges where you take a photo of a certain topic every day, or every month, etc. i've been seeing and reading more about them lately, and it sounds really fun. i love photography, and this is a good way to work on it and 'be creative'.

i've found two - and am figuring out which to join (or both)?

1) project 52 photo challenge



it's being hosted by Darcy at "life with my 3 boybarians" and you can find out more at her blog or facebook page.

the theme for week 1 is: resolution.

2) develop creative challenge






this is being hosted by tiffany dahle at "develop" and you can find out more at her blog or facebook page.

the theme for month one is: fresh.

ok. good intentions, high hopes....

Resolutions for 2012.

Jan one, twenty twelve. A fine day to start a blog.

One of my resolutions is to start and keep! a blog - key word being keep. Underline, bold, italicize, increase font, exclamation point.

For I have started many a'blogs, it's the keeping it up, or the upkeep, that's tough.


Good intentions, high hopes .... let's see how it goes. And a Happy New Year to you!