weekend adventures 63 christmas part II

As continued from yesterdays post, here are the second part of the weekend adventures, Christmas Eve at my moms place. 

monday (christmas eve)
In the morning we finished up some last minute things and got ready to head over to my moms house for Christmas Eve dinner. Me, Pat, and my little sister Meagan got to her house around two and decided to visit and exchange our presents since no one was coming over for a while. We gave them some holiday items and my little sister made my mom some vases inspired from something she saw on Pinterest. They turned out really cute. My mom got me and Pat a really cool photograph/painting of Times Square in NYC as well as the West Elm duvet cover and pillow set that I really wanted for our new(ish) king bed! I am really really excited to see how that looks once we get all moved in!

[[ meagan, me, and pat... being awesome. ]]

[[ pat and the giant present. me and my babe. sister, mom, grandpa, and grandpa. me, meagan, and grandpa. ]]

At five everyone came over and it was really good to visit with all of the grandparents for a few hours. We did a white elephant gift exchange with Deans family and me and Pat ended up with some sweet new chopsticks and a P.F. Changs gift card. I stole back the simplistic nutcracker that I had brought, but actually really wanted for myself. The other gift we brought was a "classic game compendium"that included jacks, pick up sticks, dice, marbles, and a slinky that provided an unexpected amount of entertainment to my mom and Deans uncle Dan. I think everyone had a feeling I was the one who brought that gift.

After everyone took off we decided to put on Christmas Vacation before me, Pat, and Meagan had to head back to my dads place for the evening.


Christmas Eve Pocketbooth Fun!

[[ click on these to see them larger, they are pretty awesome. ]]

I will post the last part of our weekend adventures tomorrow. 

iphone 5

Its here! Finally! Once again I have a real phone, the new iPhone 5 all shiny and ready to play with... I mean... make phone calls with and check emails...

Since my iPhone was crushed by an intern at work, I ordered the new one and have been anxiously awaiting its arrival at my doorstep. In the meantime I had been using a loaner Blackberry which was just not doing it for me at all. So, when I finally got a shipping notification last week that my phone, was leaving China and would be arriving at my doorstep today, I was ecstatic! Admittedly, I have been checking the tracking all week.

It took me a while to get everything set up, but then again, I am kind of a perfectionist. Luckily, Pat did a full back up of my old phone in iTunes, so all I had to do is plug it in and run a restore to get all of my contacts, calendar events, and photos back. Plus, when I reinstalled my apps I was really pleasantly surprised to find that all of my user information and pictures were saved in them as well! Of course, installing over 2,000 songs took a while, but one thing I noticed right off the bat is that this thing is FAST!

Seeing as I just got it operational, I have not been able to play with all of the new settings yet, but here are some things I have noticed so far (keep in mind that I had an iPhone 4 before, not a 4s, so there are quite a few upgrades for me):

- Siri is not only hilarious, but really smart, and very helpful as a hands free option. You can ask her to text for you, read you your messages, or find a location for you and direct you there, all of which should really come in handy when driving. I even asked her "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood." to which she responded, "It depends on whether you are talking about the African or European woodchuck."

- The new phone is a LOT faster, whether you are running apps, looking something up on the internet, loading a complex website, or taking pictures.

- The speakers are a LOT louder.

- I have not been able to play with the camera a ton yet, but so far I have noticed that the clarity on the back camera looks a lot better, and the panorama capability is pretty sweet and I can see myself using it a lot. I have heard that the upgraded lens works a lot better in low light as well, which I will test out this weekend.

- Obviously, its thinner, taller, very lightweight and extremely sleek. In fact, without a case on this bad boy I am almost afraid to touch it unless I am sitting down! Not to say that it doesn't look sturdy, its just that I have a track record of being extremely clumsy... and also paranoid...


Now all I need is a to pick up a case this weekend, and I will be all set! I was sad to see my other phone go, and not pumped about shelling out the money immediately for the new one, but after being without one for a month I know it was well worth it. Plus, I finally have something before Pat does, (mwahaha). 

cheers to the freakin' weekend

Its the weekend! I feel like I got a lot done this week and was definitely excited to get some happy hour drinks and dinner with my man. Now onto the rest of our night.

I almost forgot about these pictures from this weekend when we stopped at Grill Cheese Grill in Portland. Here are some Pocketbooth gems. Clearly, Chris did not really understand how to play.

P.S. we ♥ photobooths!

[[ pocketbooth fun with megan and chris. ]]

And here is a little ditty to get you in the weekend mood
from Walk Off The Earth.

((( p.s. this video gets weird after the song ends... )))

.

draw free

Most. Addicting. iPhone. Game. Ever.

I have been playing this non stop since I downloaded it last weekend. I even have a game going with my dad! Check out some of my awesome illustrations so far! They are ridiculous.

For the record, its really hard to draw on your phone let alone write!

[[ koopa. griffin. tentacle. wizard. dougie. luke. venom. jordan. kirby. monopoly. aladdin. pluto. ]] 

uh oh, instagram

All my friends have been giving me crap for not having an Instagram, and honestly the only reason was that it just gives me one more thing to keep up with. But uh oh... I have had one for like five minutes and I am already addicted. Trouble.

Time to play some catch up before I start uploading current photos.

[[ getting started on instagram. ]]

broken laptop part III

Well guys, I just got my Apple Credit Card in the mail which means that my new MacBook Pro will FINALLY be purchased this weekend!!! Yay for no more broken screen!! I am pumped! I hope it comes fast, I can hardly stand to wait anymore... I am officially ordering it tomorrow. Goodbye $$$. Expensive, but worth it.

[[ images from the apple website. ]]

silly things

Hello. Not much time today because I have to run home and get ready for my work Christmas Party, so I am keeping it short. Here are some silly photobooth pictures me and Pat took with my Pocketbooth ap. while we were decorating the Christmas tree. :)

[[ playing with pocketbooth. ]]

extras

This week was a bit of a blur, and as happy as I would like to be that it is the weekend, I am afraid it is not much of one since I will be working the football game all day tomorrow. The good news is that this is the final home game of the season! Initially I had plenty of time to work the games and make a little extra money, but with a new freelancing venture keeping me busy, I would like some free time for myself.

For today I have a few pictures from last weekend that I did not put in my Weekend Adventures post. First are silly pictures from the Pocketbooth app. on my phone that me and two of my sisters took while waiting around at my little's cheer competition. Next, me and my little sister went over to my friend Tiffany's house briefly on Sunday and had to stop and take some pictures of these awkward lawn decorations... potty anyone? (We are weirdos). 

[[ silly pocketbooth strips. ]]

[[ potty time? ]]

a surprise from tiffwill!

I got home from work and noticed a little package sitting near the front door with my name on it. I opened it up to reveal a little birthday surprise from TiffWill! aka one of my very best friends Tiffany Peterson. She sent me a mirror necklace that has "wonderland" inscribed in to it, and some designy (and very summer appropriate based on my NY trip) temporary tattoos from Tattly. I love my surprises. :) Thank you laaaaady!

[[ packaging. tiger. tattoos. necklace. peak-a-boo. card. ]]

birthday surprise :)

Yesterday was not too shabby after all, even for a boring old Wednesday...


work
I had to work all day, of course, but around here people make a big deal out of birthdays, and since I let it "slip" that I did not really care for cake but would much rather have ice cream... an 'ice cream social' it was. They won me over with Mint Chocolate Chip (my favorite) and some rainbow sprinkles! I even went back for seconds. While I was at lunch everyone made me a really ridiculous card and my bosses youngest daughter Elise even brought me a "Happy Birthday" crown to wear, and a pen with a creepy cheerleader girl doll thing with pom-poms that move and light up. Why not? I even got some flowers. I thought I was in the clear from the happy birthday serenade people insist on signing to you, but towards the end of the day I was sneak attacked by two of the girls who work with me. Damn. Almost made it. (I hate it when people sing "Happy Birthday").

I also got a sweet card from Fran via Skype first thing in the morning. Thanks for making laugh Fran! That awesomeness is going on the fridge!!

[[ birthday card from my friend francisco. ]]

my birthday surprise
At the end of my work day I finished up my blog post and headed out the door. I was super excited to get home and discover my surprise. Pat had been boasting for a few days about the awesome gift he got me. (Keep in mind that we both agreed not to get the other person anything this year. Cheater!) He told me that I needed to come home after work and get my present before we made any official evening plans because it might influence them, but that is all he told me. I rattled my brain all day trying to think of anything that it could possibly be but I got nada. I was seriously thinking "did he get me something to use in the kitchen even though I don't cook?" Megan suggested it was a midnight trip to Tahiti.

So I get home, brace myself for a moment, and he makes me sit on the couch and close my eyes. Then he drops something in my hands and it is heavy and hard, like a box, so I figured it was something I would have to open. Finally I get the go ahead to open my eyes, which I do, only to discover that I am holding an amazingly beautiful longboard of my very own!! (It is a Sector 9, Mo'Sake Carver Series). 

I have wanted a longboard since I was in high school hanging out with the guys, watching them skate, and pretending to do the same on a borrowed board at a snails pace. I have always made plans to buy one, but never actually get around to it. For the past few months I have been borrowing my old roomate Rory's board, but since it is for a guy, it is really big and hard for me to turn, so I was not using it as much as I would have liked. But not this one, this one is perfect. It is just my size, handles great, and is a beaut. I immediately slipped on some Vans and we headed out the door to take the two boards on a test run through the neighborhoods down the street. So much fun! I am really stiff though, I need to get more practice in for sure. This weekend my friend Meguenther is coming to visit and bringing her board so we can roam around for a bit on Saturday. I would love to be able to use it as a form of transportation from time to time, but I am not that confident quite yet.


dinner & drinks
Anyway, after all of this business we decided to spruce back up, (yes, I had spruce back up like an old lady), and head 'downtown' to Bar 101 for a nice little dinner and some cocktails. I love 101, it is one of the nicer bars in town, but without that air of pretentiousness. I got a pear martini followed by a greyhound (my favorite), and Pat got a peach martini, some french thing, and a classic martini. (I have an olive story, but I will save it for a moment so that I do not get off track). We split lamb taquitos (delicious!) and a pizza (also delicious!) for dinner before heading home to wrap up the night with a few more drinks, some hookah, and a movie. It was a good day.

[[ dinner and drinks. circus elephant cloud!! fountain. posing with my new board. it in all of its beauty. ]]

The Olive Theory:
Do you watch "How I Met Your Mother"? if you do you might know what I am talking about. If you do not, you should! It is hilarious! Just this week we were re-watching some of the first episodes from season 1, and on one of the initial ones they explain The Olive Theory, in which a perfect couple is made up of one part olive lover and one part olive hater, because then the lover always gets the discarded olives. Well, Pat might not be an olive hater, but I sure do love olives, and whenever he has a drink with green olives in it, he always makes sure to save one, or all for me. SUPER CHEESY. But seriously... that is love.


Thanks everyone, I had a pretty damn good birthday!

new york new york :: part 12 :: the extras

I have been working on these New York posts for so long that it almost feels surreal to be finishing up tonight. But alas, we have come to a close. This post is not about a day or event, these are pictures of all of the little somethings we accumulated along the trip. A documentation of our souvenirs if you will. Though most of the items are for me, some are birthday presents for my friend Meguenther who told me that I better bring her back something fancy! (Since I am giving them to her tomorrow it does not matter to me much what she sees tonight).

1. Almost all of the restaurants and stores in NYC paper clipped their bills to post cards, so, once I caught on to this I started collecting them. Here are a few together. 

2. Items from BookMarc, the Marc Jacobs bookstore that also sells some of his accessories. I got myself a skull necklace (sorry Leah, I am a copycat), and got a silly condom for someone else. Yes, thats right, they sell special condoms there. 

3. Treasures from CatBird (by FAR my favorite shop!). I got myself a magnifying glass necklace, a tiny ceramic heart box, and a silly little coin for Pat. Ironically the heart box is the perfect place for my engagement ring when I take it off in the morning to get ready. I bought this three days before the proposal. It was the best $10 ever spent! The staff there was also nice enough to gift wrap everything for me, so I got some unique packaging to keep as well! The next time I am in NY I am definitely returning here. 

4. I got the gold skull ring, aviators, and industrial necklace from TopShop in Soho. They had a ton of accessories I wanted in there, but alas, I had to exert some self control. The necklace, even though not even close to the shape, makes me think of bullet shells. 

5. Next are items from the street vendors in Soho when we returned on our second to last day. I got the pocket watch style necklace, the spiky bracelet, and the beetle/scarab ring from a few different stands. The ring is my new favorite accessory and I try to wear it as much as possible. I have gotten a ton of compliments from guys actually on this one. 

6. Shopping bags. 

7. The AWESOME chopsticks I bought in China Town our second day! I was so excited about these!! I have wanted my own for a while, and I suppose this is about as legit as you can get. Plus, they are lovely, and came in a beautiful red box with usage and cleaning instructions. 

8. It is hard to leave NYC without something with the official logo on it. These however are not for me. Call them a perfect souvenir slash house warming present for someone special who happens to love New York. 

9. Some tickets from our many adventures. Various museums, a baseball game, the subway, and even a plane ticket. Yankee tickets close up are in the second frame. Those pins below are from The Met. They give them to you to wear as you tour. 

10. Our collection of Metro cards from the Subway. A week long pass is definitely the way to go. We hardly spent any money on transportation. 

11. "Jews for Jesus"? A random 'interactive' handout. SO so random! Loved it! 

12. Our pocketbooth pictures taken Sunday night at the beer garden in Brooklyn. I wish we would have taken more of these. I love them so much!




Well, I said it once, or perhaps even twice, and I will say it again, BEST TRIP EVER! I had so much fun on this week long adventure to the opposite coast and cannot wait to do it again sometime! I got to go to so many amazing places, meet great new people, spend time with my favoritest older sister, take over 1200 pictures, and of course... get engaged to my man! I had a blast documenting everything, and am so happy with the way it all turned out. These posts are for me above all, and will be great to look back on in the future. Thanks to those of you who viewed them every night with me. Goodbye for now New York. See you next time.

♥

surprise visit

So, yesterday after I got off work I headed to Magenta to grab a drink with Cassie and talk about her wedding invitations, after sending some preliminary designs home with her last week. While I was at the meeting my phone started going crazy... Sam would text me, then Colleen would text me... several missed calls and voicemails later I was finally able to see what was going on since me and Cassie were concluding our meeting. For some reason Colleen, Sam, and Morgan decided to drive down to Corvallis together and were posted up at Bombs Away Cafe having some drinks! It was like old times being back in town with them, made me miss Senior year! I wish everyone would come around every once in a while, or that it was a quicker trip to Portland to see everyone. That is one major problem about remaining here, I do not get to see my best friends as often as I would like to. Tiff's birthday is coming up next weekend so a reunion is in order once again!

Kind of random...
I bought a fancy camera from Urban Outfitters for Tiff's bachelorette party that prints silly things over the top of the pictures (which we kinda forgot to use so it was finished up at the wedding). Sadly I totally got a defective camera and most of the pictures did not turn out, and the ones that did show up are real over saturated, but there were a few keepers I have not thrown up here yet. Check it out.

[[ the urban camera pictures that actually turned out. ]]

Yay Friday!!!

Ahh I almost didn't make it.
As promised... sorry for the delay on these (busybusybusy).

Here are some pictures of our sidewalk chalk adventures from last sunday!
...ooo dreamy...

[[ magic. helicopter. marionberry fruit beer mmm. flower. love. tictactoe. hungry. "my forcefield is more forcefield". ]]

pocketbooth

Happy friday!

One of my favorite things ever about my phone are the photo aps! I am a sucker for taking photos after all. Yyou might have noticed that most of the pictures posted on here throughout the week are snapshots from my phone). I downloaded this one recently, called 'Pocketbooth'. It is awesome. It is literally like having a little novelty photo booth right in your pocket! As I recall it is also only 99 cents. Fun and cheap?! Sounds like a winner to me. You can even switch from color/black & white, and the front/back camera.

Here are some of the shots we took last weekend at Brad's house party:

[[ me and megan. nate and pat. ]]

The timer is pretty quick so Megan struggled to adjust a bit at first. As you can see, Pat never really figured it out. (hahahahahaha). That picture of him REALLY cracks me up!