Weekly Wonderings: January 30th, 2013 Port Manatee

Today, I had quite the adventure. We really didn’t mean to but somehow it happened. I was running late to the bus (doesn’t it sound like I am back in middle school) to go on my weekly adventure with my Mimi. They thankfully held the bus for me.  Whew! Then we get on the interstate and are not but 4 miles away when we hear a POP noise! One of the tires blew. So me and 45 seniors had to stand on the side of a busy interstate waiting for the nice man to come change our tire for over an hour (and yes, there were walkers involved). But it was well worth the wait! The Port of Manatee was so cool! Apparently, they give free tours twice a week and you ride around the entire port on a tram. It’s the closest port to Panama and apparently it is a big deal. It was so interesting to discover new things in my neck of the woods! When’s the last time you took a tour of your town? I highly recommend them, you learn so many interesting things!

 

 

 

Gracious Gifts: Map Painting

   So this is actually a gift I created two Christmases ago. I just kept forgetting to post about it but I just got a new laptop and am trying to organize everything. In searching through my photos, I found these. I created this for my boyfriend because he loves maps. I picked gray for the countries (there are 10 shades there) because after blue (which clearly had to be used for the water) it is his favorite color. I used this projection method again. Because I am a bit OCD, I had to make sure no same colors touched, so I had to number each country’s paint color (1-10) before painting. Yes, you really do need 10 different colors, Africa and Eastern Europe gets a bit tricky. This project was a labor of love, it took me about 2-3 weeks. I painted in between studying for finals. I would study for 45 minutes then paint for 15. I needed about 3 layers of paint so there was a lot of drying time. It wasn’t too tricky just time consuming. I used a black paint pen to trace the country outlines and used Martha Stewart Gloss Finish to seal it once done (about 3 layers again). I also put foam core board behind it, so you could place pins in it. It is 36 by 48 inches.

Weekly Wonderings: January 23rd, 2012

My week has flown by, I think it was the Monday off that made everything seem faster! It’s funny how quick life seems to go by, so I thought I would share some of my favorite moments from the past week. Appreciating the little things in life is so important and I am working at slowing down and smelling the roses.

First off, today is the boyfriend’s birthday. I found the perfect gift but I can’t share it because he hasn’t opened it. Eek! But look at how adorable the wrapping is for it! I drew the card myself, we have a huge sheep joke running between us. It’s to the point now where we have forgotten why but we are always sending each other sheep things.

 

I signed Mimi and I up for a class to learn about where we live (it actually is much cooler than it sounds). We get to ride around on a big teal school bus each week. Can you tell how excited we are?

I don’t know when I became preppy. I swear I go through phases every 4 years. My freshman year of high school, I was obsessed with polos. Every day was a new polo. My freshman year of college it was headbands. I was in a major Blair Waldorf phase. (I still am) Now, its preppy office supplies. I am a sucker for a good notebook or two or three!

This fabric is for a special project for a special someone! I can’t say more but I assure you it will get its own blog post! (As long as it turns out well) Weekend Project, here I come with scissors and duck canvas!

So what have you been up to? Any great projects out there? Do you go through preppy phases too?

How to Pack: Writing it all down

I love lists. I list everything, when I am bored I normally make lists just to past time. Things to do, things to think about doing, things I would like to do if i had more money, things to do when I get my super powers. I could go on but I will spare you. Anyways, one of the things I have figured out is how to make packing lists. I have an entire notebook devoted to it because this way I can flip back through at a later date and remember what I wore when and more ideas. Now, I am not completely OCD and list  every pair of undergarments I am bringing but often I do write    the number of them. Here is my step by step process:

First, on the left I write out my schedule for the trip. Am I going to a fancy party? Do I have meetings all day? Am I going on an adventure and need workout clothes? (the gym is an adventure for me often). Sometimes, I have no idea what I am doing so I might write down weather for that week. Is there a chance of rain? or snow? Don’t worry about getting too picky, even if you just write “3 work days” that can be enough. The goal is to just start thinking about what you are going to need.

Second: I write on the right my outfits. Starting with the all important airport outfit, need something comfy that can often change climates and be okay to go into town with right away. My go-to airport outfit is a dress with fleece leggings (just the inside is fleece) and flats. Simple to walk through security, and comfy on the plane no matter what weird position I try to get comfy in! I always number my outfits because often I am trying to meet a goal of 5 or 7 outfits for the trip. I always use + signs for my outfits because this way I comprehend each piece I need to pack. I also can then easily understand how I can mix pieces to get more outfit choices. Always write down your shoe picks too! The worst thing  is getting somewhere and realizing you picked the wrong shoes for everything.

Third: At the bottom, I write down any miscellaneous stuff that I need to bring. Laptop? Hairdryer? Things I wouldn’t necessarily always pack.

Do you have any helpful tips for how to pack for a trip? Ever follow a color scheme? I’ve tried but I like having tons of options!

Happy New Year!

Perhaps, this is a bit late, but the sentiment is still strong: Happy New Year! I’ve been in freezing cold weather, okay maybe not totally but 33 is still cold right? Boston has been so much fun, I even got to see it snow! Then I hid under the covers and watched far too many reruns of the office. Still funny, even the third time around. The first time, I looked like this:

Super excited.

Then it snowed.

So I wore these, but now

I look like this. (And yes, that is a dresser sideways. Welcome to how boys live, its baby steps since they have upgraded from this)