Guilty Pleasures: Internet Edition

Posted on May 3, 2011 | 2 comments

(no, not THOSE kind of guilty pleasures on the internet)

I work in a small office and while we are often super busy, there are times when all the work is done and I am here by myself and so I surf the world wide web… sometimes I even feel like I have reached the end of it, on days when there are no new blog updates and everyone is off doing something fun so they aren’t updating their Facebook status’ (statuses?). But there are a few places I can always go to help pass the time.

  1. Television Without Pity | If you are looking for snarky recaps of your favorite shows, this is the place to go. The site is now “Powered by Bravo” but I started reading it when the staff was small and the reviews were at their snarkiest (totally a word). Back it the Dawson’s Creek and Felicity days, it was so fun to go to the site the next day and read a quick review (the longer, detailed review come later in the week) and remember things I missed. I [heart] television and so do these people, that is why they share their sarcasm and insights with the rest of us. The best were the recaps of The West Wing. On a serious note, this site let me to one of the only personal recounts I’ve ever read of September 11, 2001 by one of the founders of the site, Sara Bunting (a.k.a., Sars).
  2. Faded Youth Blog | I don’t actually go to the site because I subscribe to their RSS feed with Google Reader, but I love my daily dose of celebrity sitings and gossip. It’s like the Star Tracks section of People magazine which was always my favorite part. Yes, I know, I’m totally buying in to the celebrity thing but I don’t care, I love reading about what the stars are buying and eating and who they are (or are not) dating.
  3. FontFace.com | Part of my job involves graphic design (the rest of it is running the business and editing, which are much less “glamorous”) and I love looking at new fonts and thinking of what sort of projects I can use them for. But fonts can be expensive, but not when you find them on FontFace.com, then they are free. You are welcome. (Yes, I’m a little but computer geeky, I also like to look at color palettes here.)
  4. etsy AND/OR craigslist | I love looking for crafty inspiration on etsy (or finding great birthday gifts). And my post popular search on Craigslist is for refinished furniture. What I’m really looking for is a sidetable like this (though it will have to wait until after Jack grows up a few more years otherwise I’d have to bungee cord something to it):
  5. Give Me Neither | Because I am a Dutch girl at heart and thus money-saving runs through my veins, I have this blog on my feed reader and I get quite gleeful when I can sign up and get free samples or find ways to buy groceries and save 50% or more during a shopping trip. Just ask Simon, I love to tell him how much I saved and how much I actually spent. It’s always awesome when the savings are more than the total. Equally awesome is opening your mailbox and finding samples or coupons (less awesome is when your husband gets the mail before you and opens things first).
  6. Word Twist and Bejeweled on Facebook… and sometimes Farkle. Consider yourself warned, they are highly addictive.

2 Comments

Posted in Guilty Pleasures

Music Monday: Our Wedding CD

Posted on May 2, 2011 | 4 comments

In honor of our anniversary this past weekend, I thought I’d share the music we put on our wedding CD (we gave this out to our wedding guests as one of the favors, we also alternated coffee and chocolate at the tables – all our favorite things). We’re going to ignore the fact that our handing out the CD probably violated some sort of copyright or distribution laws… bygones.

We had a slide show that was played at our wedding because we came into the sanctuary that featured What a Wonderful World for the parts when we were children and before we met each other and Sarah MacLachlan’s marvelous Ice Cream for the photos of our life together that far. [Super coincidentally, Ice Cream was from the movie Bed of Roses and in that movie, the main character’s favorite roses are Sterling roses – they are a purple-gray color with no thorns – and guess what flowers my hubby got me for our anniversary? Sterling roses – aw, how sweet! If only he had been aware of the connection, instead it was serendipity.]

Our friend, Andy, who is the music director at our church and was our small group leader at the time, did the music for our wedding and for the unity candle, he played Open Skies, which was a song we sang often in small group – it was very special and personal to us and I still feel blessed by how it came together perfectly in our wedding.

The rest of the songs were, and still are, special to us separately or as a couple. If you had asked me before meeting Simon if I knew any Crowded House songs I probably would have said, “Who?” But come to find out, I did know their music, just didn’t know the same of the band. Since we’ve met, we’ve seen them in concert twice (ironically, Simon went to their *farewell to the world* concert in front of the Opera House in Sydney back in 1996). 

My only regret on the CD was Born in the USA – obviously the sentiment of the title worked for our Australian-American theme, but the rest of the lyrics were a little inappropriate for a wedding CD.

Highlights of the rest

All I Want Is You | U2

The Luckiest | Ben Folds

Time of My Life | Green Day

And so you can revel in the fact that I was pretty cheesy, below are the labels I made for the coffee (perfect blend) and M&Ms (sweet nothings). Say it with me: awww. [barf]

 

Thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with me…

4 Comments

Posted in Music

Favorite Finds – 5/1/11

Posted on May 1, 2011 | 5 comments

Here are MY favorite finds from around the web:

Crafts I’d like to try:

  • It I were crazy and more industrious, I’d so love to steal this Dr. Seuss party theme
  • If I’d ever get my sewing machine out of the basement, I’d love to make one of these crayon roll-ups
  • I think these Herb Soaps might be a nice hostess or teacher’s aide gift

Recipes I’d like to try:

  • This Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken recipe looks super easy and I think Simon would like it since he regularly asks for pizza with BBQ sauce instead of tomato and likes the traditional Hawaiian pizza.
  • Hello Sticky Toffee Pudding in a Jar, perhaps we should meet in person (if only you were ice cream)
  • There’s something appealing about these Roasted Chickpeas, I mean I love them on salads and made into hummus, so why not roasted?
  • And wouldn’t this Crispy Potato Roast make an impressive entrance at a potluck?
  • What a great way to sneak both a fruit and a veggie into my kiddos: PB&J muffins

Things I’d like to buy:

Posts I liked and I’ll tell you why…

  • Someday, wouldn’t it be awesome to throw a party like the Grand Easter Egg Hunt the Design Mom threw? (Of course I will likely never be living in Normandy, alas.)
  • Classic Dooce post, I’ve missed these: Connecting in Memphis (Favorite line: “But that was when I was unmedicated, so I did not get over a lot of things including the rapid decline of New Kids on the Block.”)

New to me blogs:

  • Her Five Year Diary is the day-by-day transcription of a woman’s life from 1961 through 1965 – yes, that is it, the whole story.
  • I can never resist a good food blog, Matt Bites appears to be just that
  • Family Kitchen seems to be an endless source of recipes, I was drawn to the plethora of cakes in jars they’ve featured
  • Twirl Next Door is a mom who cleverly packs her kids lunches with things my kids would never touch with a 10-foot pole, but perhaps if I put it in a compartmentalized container, they would gobble it all up
  • I’d love to get my act together and participate in the 52 Photos Project

5 Comments

Posted in Favorite Finds

Things About Me: I Like Accents

Posted on April 30, 2011 | 8 comments

One of the first things people ask when they find out my husband is from Australia is, “How did you guys meet?” My friend, Jonna, worked with Simon and wanted to set me up on a blind date. It was between him and another guy who was a youth pastor; she went with Simon because he was from Australia and she knew I liked accents. Doesn’t that sound like a great basis for a relationship? A one-sided love of accents? Apparently Jonna knew what she was doing because here we are, almost 8 years later, married for 6 years with two kids (who both look like their father).
I mean, wouldn’t you have gone out with this guy? Who doesn’t love a peanut butter and chocolate candy-covered face?

The lovely picture above was very similar to the one Simon first sent me of what he looked like. The above photo was taken on the same day as the one he sent me but in his photo (which I can’t find at the moment), there were three guys and one girl and I had to figure out which one was him. And trust me when I say, I prayed he was the one I thought/hoped he was (and he was!) because the other options were not my type. [I found the photo, it is below – I totally lucked out!]

For reference, below is the photo I sent to him to show I was fun-loving.

We emailed and IMed back and forth a couple of times and decided to meet in person, at the mall. Perfect for a first date with a stranger, plenty of other people around us and casual atmosphere, plus, I thought, if I’m having a bad time I can just say I need to go pick something up at a store. But I didn’t need to worry about that, I had a great time talking with Simon and the date lasted 3 hours. On my way home I even stopped by my best friend’s house and told her about the date (I was living on my own for the first time and didn’t have anyone at home to analyze the date with) and I remember thinking, “This could be the person I am going to marry.”

And then I got this email:

I just wanted to send a quick note just to let you know how much I enjoyed your company last night. We talked for almost 3 hours,and seemed to connect with each other on different things. By the sounds of things, both our schedules are hectic in the next few weeks but I look forward to catching up with you soon.

Doesn’t that sound like an email from someone who perhaps wasn’t interested in pursuing a relationship? A polite, “I had a good time but have a nice life.” Bummer. But this was my first lesson about my husband, he is the most literal person you will ever meet. He honestly meant that he had a good time and that we were both going to be busy so he’d talk to me when he got back from an extended road trip. And while I had written him off, he had every intention of picking things back up when he got back because THREE weeks later, I got another email and things continued on from there. I still tease him about that email and not calling/emailing for THREE weeks after our first date – though apparently I wasn’t too miffed since I went out with him again (and again and again).

Less than two years later, on April 30, 2005, we got married surrounded by family and friends…

Happy Anniversary, to my hubsand*, I love you and forgive you for not calling me back for THREE weeks. And I still love your accent…

The picture we sent out with our engagement announcement
and (below) from a Chicago trip couple years ago.

Also, there are benefits to being married to someone with an accent, particularly an Australian one. You see, other people love it too, so we typically get pretty good service at restaurants. For the first five years we were together, almost every time we went out to eat, the server commented on his accent, asking where he was from or gushing, “I just love your accent.” It brings perks, but oh my gosh, does it get old. One time, we were driving back to Michigan from Chicago and had gotten a hotel room through Priceline. Knowing it would likely be small but hoping for some extra room because we had Liam and his pack and play, I sent Simon it to check us in and told him if it was a female at the front desk, to lay it on thick and ask if we could get a bigger room to accommodate the baby. He totally scored us the business suite for no extra charge. My hubsand rocks! Again, happy anniversary, my love!

*Misspelling completely intentional, we have always called each other “hubsand” and “wif” because being married felt so surreal when we were newlyweds.

8 Comments

Posted in who is ememby

Five Question Friday

Posted on April 29, 2011 | 6 comments

1. If you could buy any car, money not an option, what would it be?
This is completely a sell-out answer, but I’d buy the car we have, a Toyota Sienna, but one with all the bells and whistles and pay to have custom interiors done (I don’t know what I’d customize exactly, but doesn’t that sound cool?). As much as I dreaded being a minvan-driving person, it’s totally practical with kids. And it’s totally cool, check it out (in case you missed this YouTube series):

And since I totally saved money with the minivan, I’d also get a Ford Mustang convertible for tooling around with Simon, sans kids. A Mustang was the first car I ever wanted. The second car I ever wanted was a VW Beetle – my tastes took a dramatic turn from freshman year to sophomore year of high school.  

2. What was your worst first date ever?
Gosh, definitely NOT the first date with my husband (our 6th anniversary is tomorrow – love you , honey!), that was a great date. The worst would have to be during the summer after freshman year of college. My best friend, Crista, set me up with her boyfriend’s best friend. The date itself was fine, I guess, I can’t remember much of it, I think we got coffee. But we went back to his house near MSU’s campus (he was a few years older and lived with a bunch of guys – so cool) Having just spent a year at college where I never went to bed before midnight, I didn’t think anything of the time or my parents expectations on when I would be home. We kept talking and were sitting up in his room where and he was showing me how to play chords on his guitar. All of a sudden one of his roommates was there saying that my dad was on the phone, sounding quite ticked off. I was mortified. This was in the pre-cell phone days and my dad had tracked down their number by calling Crista and was angry and worried about me because I wasn’t home. He was yelling and you could totally hear him through the phone, though I was trying to press it as hard as I could to my ear (see: mortified). I apologized to my dad and my date and hurried home. We never went out again.

3. How old were you when you fell in love for the first time?
Since it’s almost my anniversary, wouldn’t it be great if I said 25, when I met my husband? Cheesy, but totally sweet. And really, he’s the one I fallen the most deeply in love with but alas, I’ve had my heart broken a few times before Simon. I think I was 16 when I first fell in love and I’ll leave it at that.

4. When was the last time you reconciled your checkbook?
I could not tell you, with online banking and bill paying, the only checks I write are to church and daycare, with the occasional random one in there. I pretty much know the status of my bank account on any given do and keep no written record, just what’s online. Is that bad? Are my accountant friends cringing?

5. If you were going to fashion a “Wanted” Ad for a best friend, how would you word it?
Wanted: Good listener with a generous spirit willing to share their own struggles, joys and insights with a friend who seldom has it all together but tries her best. Ability to multi-task is a must and desire to be a team-player would be preferred.
Likes: Margaritas (beer/wine/mojitos are acceptable substitutes), children, food, laughter, pop culture, crafting
Dislikes: Gossip (unless it is about celebrities), self-pity/self-hatred, holier-than-thou attitudes 
Please apply via text, email or Facebook, the phone intimidates potential employer and they often end up sounding completely dorky.

6 Comments

Posted in Five Question Friday