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Oct

7

2011

Photo Friday: Baby Sale

A couple of weeks ago, I started seeing signs like this one popping up in the neighborhood.

And I thought, “Great! I’ve been looking for an inexpensive baby!” Unfortunately by the time Dave and I got to the sale, they’d run out of babies and only had some baby clothes and a stroller left. And who’s going to buy that stuff when the babies are sold out? Bummer.

All was not lost, as Dave and I did have fun coming up with snarky comments about the concept of a Baby Sale. Maybe I’m the only one this sign strikes as funny, but there has to be a better way to advertise this, no?

What was your first thought on seeing the sign in this picture? I know I have witty readers, amuse me!

Sep

30

2011

Photo Friday: 38 Luftballons

I had been planning Dave’s 40th birthday celebration since January. I wanted him to have 40 gifts to open in honor of his 40th birthday.

I got the idea to decorate with balloons from Kim at Let Me Start By Saying. But even though I’m filled with plenty of hot air, I have trouble blowing up balloons. I also have a fear of balloons popping. So I went to the grocery store on the way home from work on Dave’s birthday and asked them for 40 helium balloons, all nonchalant-like.

Their response? “Are you sure?”

Thirty minutes later, I was finally leaving the store and I had trouble fitting through the doors. I had to walk about a half mile with the balloons and I learned some things about balloon transport:

1.) Tree branches pop helium balloons.

2.) There are more trees in my neighborhood than I remembered.

3.) If you decide to carry 40 helium balloons around, people will notice.

4.) When balloons pop, it will scare the crap out of EVERYONE nearby, not just you. Totally sounded like gunfire both times.

We had to pretend Dave turned 38, because two balloons popped on the way home. I had to walk in the street the last few blocks to keep them away from the trees.

Here’s Dave getting a kick out of me “wrapping” a picture of something he had already bought himself months ago. I agreed to “let him” splurge on some guitar-related things and there was no way that stuff wasn’t counting. I took pictures of each item and inserted each into a card for him to open.

Here’s the cute custom card I got him, depicting him with Chuck.

What’s the most elaborate thing you’ve done to celebrate a loved one’s birthday?

Sep

24

2011

Photo Friday: Panera Chai Tea Latte FAIL

I realize it’s technically Saturday, but I got home late and since I haven’t gone to bed yet, I’m counting it as Friday night. The universe toyed with me today by making Friday feel like Monday. Fridays aren’t supposed to be overcast and rainy. There aren’t supposed to be Friday morning meetings that require a lot of preparation and getting up extra early to finish in time.

My planned reward for these Friday injustices was a chai tea latte from Panera. I’d say I love chai, but I don’t want to mislead you. I’m nothing if not accurate. I love the chai tea latte from Panera. I have tried chai from other places and they don’t do it for me. The chai at Starbucks, for example, tastes like dirty water with a slight hint of spice and a drop of liquid smoke. The chai at the overpriced little café in my building is cloyingly sweet and grainy. Panera’s chai, on the other hand, is creamy and delicately balanced between spicy and sweet. The fragrance is floral and intoxicating to me.

Like I’ve done hundreds of times before, I picked up a chai on the way to work, carefully carrying it on my long commute like a treasured prize, switching hands when the heat got too uncomfortable, guarding it against spills. As I finished my preparations, I looked forward to reheating and then nursing that chai during the meeting.

Panera had other ideas. Here is a picture of the abomination they gave me this morning. In retrospect, the girl who made my chai this morning was someone I’d never seen before and I didn’t watch her pour it into the cup today. The weight of it didn’t feel right as I carried it either. O Precious Chai, my meeting felt extra long without you.

Sep

16

2011

Photo Friday: Peace, Love, and Red Pandas

Have I mentioned I love red pandas? Oh yes, yes I did! It makes me die a little inside to know they are vulnerable.

But September 17th is International Red Panda Day and I want to help spread the word. In honor of the occasion, I have posted my favorite pictures of actual red pandas below. But first, here is my own personal red panda. In my other hand is the awesome “Peace, Love, Red Panda” bracelet I got from the Red Panda Network. I became a member yesterday and I only wish I could do more to help.

Look at that fluffy face (the stuffed red panda, not me!)! He’s saying, “go check out the Red Panda Network.” You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @RedPandaNetwork.

Sep

9

2011

Photo Friday: Vaseline Glass

When we were in Ohio in June, the menfolk in Dave’s family spent a day golfing at their annual tournament (the winner receives a trophy depicting a golfer and a toilet and is expected to display it proudly). During the golf tournament, I tagged along with the ladies for a trip to the Tiffin Glass Museum.

The Museum displays vintage pieces in one room and items for sale in a small adjacent room. Luckily for my wallet, the pieces I liked most were all in the “not for sale” part of the Museum. Tiffin Glass was one of the producers of color-changing “Neodymium glass,” which they unfortunately called “twilight,” even though it has nothing to do with 100-year old vampires living as teenagers. Twilight glass changes color under different light. The museum docent demonstrated that twilight glass looks lavender under incandescent light and ice blue under fluorescent light. He told us people used to buy it thinking it was blue because most stores use fluorescent light and then be upset when they got their piece home and found it to be lavender.

But there was another, even cooler, dual-colored glass there. Vaseline glass looks yellow normally, but turns neon green under black light because it contains uranium. Although my sister-in-law was disappointed to find out that the vaseline glass salt cellars she wanted to buy weren’t actually made by Tiffin Glass, she decided to get two anyway.

In the car on the way home she read the tag on the glass and said that the manufacturer (Mosser Glass) was located in Cambridge, Ohio.

“That’s where Chuck came from!” I exclaimed.

“Well, then you should definitely have one of these,” my sister-in-law generously offered.

So that was really nice of her. I really should have just bought a piece of this glass myself, since I was so impressed with it. I was just stymied by the black light part. But I got a cheap little handheld black light and here are the photographic results!

Just my Canon Speedlite flash:

Under black light:

Sep

2

2011

Photo Friday: Presque Isle

I went to Erie for a visit two weeks ago. I decided I would take pictures at Presque Isle on Sunday morning for my Happy Fun Time. I awoke to the sound of rain. Dave, Chuck, and I went anyway, and by the time we parked the car, the rain had stopped. But the sky was grey and unappealing and the light was horrible. Of course, once we’d given up on the picture taking, the afternoon sky cleared to a bright blue with huge fluffy clouds.

Eureka! “We’ll go back to the beach at sunset,” I proclaimed. The fluffy clouds would make for an awesome sunset, photo gold! Except for the enormous cloud that parked itself right on the horizon, mostly blocking the sun. I also hadn’t realized how badly my camera needed to be cleaned either until I saw these pictures. I didn’t even bother to Photoshop the dust spots out, because I hate Photoshop, because I’m trying to recover from perfectionism, and because you might as well share in my disappointment. Here’s the best sunset shot.

I love running on the trail at Presque Isle. On this trip, I was able to fit in two runs. The second was on my birthday, so I decided to run a tenth of a mile for each year of my life. I guess the disappointment of the earlier photo shoot made me throw the camera in the car, just in case. I usually run on the bay side, but ended up on the lake side for a short time and saw this.

When Erie pulls shit like this, it makes me wish I lived there. After my runs, I try to make time to check out the lake. I always linger a little longer when I know I won’t be back for awhile. So after I took this picture, I climbed up that slope of sand and stood and stared at the water like I always do. And I said goodbye for now like I always do. And I might have shed a tear like I always do. And I laughed at myself while walking back to the car like I always do.

Damn it, Erie. Why do you have to be so charming right as I’m about to leave?

Aug

12

2011

Photo Friday: Margot MacDonald at Lubber Run Amphitheater

Thank goodness the Lubber Run Amphitheater Foundation got the County to reconsider scrapping the Amphitheater. It’s such a huge part of the neighborhood.

Tonight we saw Margot MacDonald perform. She put on a fabulous show, complete with her awesome a cappella loop pedal version of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop.” And I got to practice nighttime shooting. I got a few good shots. Here’s my favorite:

Aug

5

2011

Photo Friday: Giant Snuffles

I will love him, and squeeze him, and call him ~~George~~ Peanut.

Honest to God, I didn’t realize this thing was going to be quite so big.

I never really outgrew stuffed animals. Dave says this would go over better if I styled myself as a “collector,” but that strikes me as even more weird than just admitting I like stuffed animals. Always have, seems like I always will.

Back in high school, my Mom got me a pink Gund Snuffles bear on a whim one Christmas. I named him Alonzo. After Alonzo Mourning. What? Ever since, I’ve had a soft spot for Snuffles. As his creator, Rita Raiffe, says in the linked video, “he’s stuffed with love.” The way she fondles her special Snuffles bear while she talks makes me feel a lot better about my own behavior. Gund celebrated the 30th anniversary of Snuffles with several new versions last year. I may have bought some number of them. Why they decided to make a 34 inch Snuffles this year I can’t say. But one of them now lives on the sofa bed in our guest room, leaving no room for any guests. Oops.

My behavior is nothing compared to the woman I saw recently on “My Strange Addiction” who treats her teddy bears like babies. I don’t dress my stuffed animals, or take them shopping, or spend FIFTEEN hours a day caring for them. I spend no hours per day caring for them. I don’t even talk to them anymore…much.

Jul

29

2011

Photo Friday: Cupcakes I Didn’t Eat

Dave and I went to a members-only celebration for the Kids’ Farm at the National Zoo last Sunday morning. We like the zoo, but it was supposed to be 8 million degrees that day and Kids’ Farm implied many, many children. But there would also be free Georgetown Cupcakes. We have our priorities.

We stood in a long line, sweating. We got a free peach, a buy one get one free card from Chipotle, a cookie from Firehook, and…Georgetown Cupcake ran out of cupcakes TWO PEOPLE AHEAD OF US. This wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t watched a grown man take his free cupcake, use the wrapper to scrape off all the frosting, and then eat only the cupcake. Dude, if you don’t want it, give the damn thing to me. Freak.

We went to 2Amy’s for lunch after (finally got to try their donuts, they were just OK, not sweet enough for me). We got there a few minutes before they opened so we stopped by a little cupcake place across the street while we waited. They were kind enough to let me take a picture. Even though the cupcakes looked very good, we managed not to buy any. I thought we’d go back for some after lunch, but we were too full. Maybe next time…here is the only good picture I took all day and the closest I got to a cupcake.

Jul

15

2011

Photo Friday: Dutch Yahtzee

My family played Yahtzee a lot when I was growing up (we managed to play without any violence, seriously that link is so disturbing…couldn’t they just have said no, I don’t want to play Yahtzee? And what kind of person doesn’t enjoy a good game of Yahtzee anyway?).

I spent a summer during high school living with a host family in the Netherlands. I bought Dutch Yahtzee (“Het best verkochte dobbelspel ter wereld”) while I was over there. It’s the same, only in Dutch.

I took the game to college and it was amazing how entertaining Yahtzee terms translated into Dutch could be to drunk people. One of my friends on the hall was originally from the Netherlands and she was able to translate, although it’s really not all that difficult to figure out, for example “three of a kind” is… “three of a kind.” However, “four of a kind” is “Royale with Cheese”-like and translates to “Carre” (I think it means “square.”).

My friend John Boy decided “bovenste helft” (which means “top half”) sounded like something to say as a toast. So we instituted a new requirement to drunkenly shout out “Bovenste Helft!” every so often while playing. Soon playing Yahtzee was no longer a prerequisite for sharing a little good will with a boisterous greeting of “Bovenste Helft!” Our Dutch friend thought we were nuts walking around yelling out “top half” for no reason.