Current Obsession: My Drive Thru

Rob and I were at a little consignment shop in Northern Liberties when Rob picked up this free cd single off the counter. It's N.E.R.D, Julian Casablancas (of the Strokes), and Santogold, and it seems to be the doing of Converse (?). We popped it in on the way home and I couldn't help myself from dancing in the car! Then coincidentally they played it at Making Time last Friday, so I was able to dance standing up.

The video is pretty cool as well. Check it out:

Love the earrings!

Got my Sharma Designs earrings the other day. So cute! I'm not used to wearing any at all, let along large ones, so I'm getting used to it. But they are so light, I barely feel them. I can't believe they were only $10!

She brings out the best in me!

Friday through Sunday was a treat. I was able to spend it with one of my favorite people. Maria came to visit for the weekend and it was just what I needed. When she's with me, I feel like I can be completely myself: loud, quiet, honest, goofy, crazy, whatever!

Now she's gone and I'm a sad Mel. But I'll be counting the days until I can visit her (in November!) and look back on these photos remembering the crazy fun we had!



Not to mention some crazy embarrassing karaoke:

(I'm being very brave by posting this silly video!)

Love for Sharma Designs

Sharma Designs got some blog love on Modish today and no wonder. Her jewelry is so adorable and affordable. Can't beat that combo. So I picked up these three pairs of earrings for ten bucks each!



I don't wear/own much jewelry, so I'm trying to change that. A good accessory can really add oomph to an outfit. I'm just picturing those yellow earrings with the white skirt, black sweater, and black and white striped ribbon belt that I'm currently wearing. I need a pop of color like those.

I wish I knew some technicians!

If I did, I'd be rolling in dough. Every week this month, our HR department has asked me to create a quick little email to send out to coworkers about our referral bonus for technicians. 3000 bucks. Wouldn't that be so nice??

Anyway, it's not something I've been able to spend a good deal of time on, but it's a fun little exercise. Usually I try to spend no more than 30 minutes pulling something together. And since it's internal, they give me more freedom. Not complete freedom, but a little.

These were my last three.





(4th of July themed, of course)

How Romantic

I went shopping with Rob this past weekend. I was pretty good, I promise. But Banana Republic had a great pair of trouser jeans on sale for $28, and I couldn't resist!

I haven't really been interested in the Gap for a few years now. Nothing caught my interest. But on Saturday, that changed. Their new Romantic Collection was so lovely. Those pinks, those browns. That ribbon, that lace. For someone who had pretty much only been buying black lately, I was ready to revamp my wardrobe! I didn't though. Well, not yet.

Bowling: It's not just for 30 year olds

Rob's birthday bowling was a hit! Perhaps I only feel that way because I kicked tons of bowling ass. Who knew I had such skillz? I believe my friends are very impressed. Or embarrassed. I couldn't really hear them.

Happy Birthday, Rob!

My wonderful husband turns 30 today! I don't know what I'd do without him.

He makes me sane. He makes me insane. He makes me eat dinner when I'm not hungry. He makes me take vitamins. He makes me swoon. He makes me presents. He makes me give him a kiss as soon as I walk in the door. He makes me safe. He makes me more confident. He makes me sing duets with him in the car. He makes me walk on the inside of the sidewalk. He makes me laugh uncontrollably.

Most of all, he makes me happy.

Aww shucks!

I am swamped today, so not much time to chat. But I had to make mention of lovely Erika over at Artsy Fartsy Shopaholic. Ahh, if there was ever a blog named after me, that would be it!

I helped Erika out with some quicky moving announcements and she went on to write things about me that I'd forward to my mom! If only she knew how to use a computer. So if you want to read about how amazing I am, and who wouldn't really, venture over to her blog-area. She also posted some pictures of the little cards!

Okay, I really have to run! Have a super day!

New blog: Operation NICE

Don't you wish everyone in the world was nice? I think about it constantly. Every time I come across a rude person that ruins my day, I think, "Things would be so different if that person was a bit nicer."

And I don't even mean "nice" like "volunteer 80 hours a week, give all my money to charity, donate the organs that I'm still using" kind of nice. I just mean common courtesy. Saying "please" and "thank you." I noticed how surprised I was when a Chick-fil-A drive thru person (give me a break, I was hungry) said "My pleasure!" with a big smile. Wow, that was nice. Or when a stranger lingered for an extra moment in order to hold a door open for me. Gosh, that was nice too.

But shouldn't that stuff be routine? Shouldn't we at least be considerate to our fellow mankind?

I thought that maybe a "campaign for niceness" was necessary. Now, I've started blogs before. I tend to give up quickly, but I'm hoping I can stay strong with this one because even if no one reads it, it can be like my happy-therapy for the day. So if you're like me and think the world could use a little more "NICE", check it out.



Operation NICE

Birthday Anxiety

Rob's birthday, that is. It's on Friday and I don't know what I do. I really wanted to get him a digital camera body so he could stop using his film camera and join the 20th century. But that has been much more difficult than I thought! After two cancelled orders from shady companies that kept trying to sell me hundreds of dollars worth of "necessary" accessories, I was left with nothing.

So I broke down. I told Rob my plan and explained the trouble I've been having. I had to ask him if he would be willing to accept a refurbished Nikon D40x, since it was a good deal. He was okay with it. You'd think that'd be fine, but then yesterday I discover that his Tamron 28-300mm lens from 1999 won't work with the D40's or D60's. It will, however, work with the D80's.

I was already going to blow my budget to buy him a $400 camera body. But now, if I want to get him the D80, it's $730!!! I just don't think I can do it. I keep thinking, "is there something of mine that I can sell?" But I really don't think I can spend that kind of money right now.

What do I do?? His birthday is on Friday? I wanted to surprise him with a wonderful gift, but now it looks like I'm going to have NO gift.

I feel 20!

Rob turns 30 this Friday. I'll be 28 next month. But other than the "Bride of Frankenstein" white streak I have growing on the side of my head (thank God for hair dye) I haven't noticed any signs of aging yet. Rob has joint pain, gray hairs, and is starting to get some wrinkles. But I feel exactly the same as I used to.

This weekend I went to pick up some bagels, and one of the young girls at the bagel shop expressed surprise when she noticed my wedding ring. "You're married??" I've gotten this before. "Yep, two years now." She says, "Oh my gosh, you look sooo young." When I tell her I'm almost 28, she looks stunned. The other girl overhears and says, "Did you say you were 28?? I thought you were 20!" Now that I'm almost 30, being mistaken for 20 is pretty great! I sure hope that when I'm 40, I look like I'm 30.

So I'm just going to go ahead with living life like I'm 20. Here's a picture of me from this weekend giving my friend, Kay, a birthday lap dance. You can tell she finds it very sexy.

"Going Back to Philly"

Can't wait for the new season!

This makes me sad.

Some of you know that Rob is a high school English teacher in an inner city environment. He has such a tough job, even though I tease him about all of his days off. Last night he showed me an "essay" a summer school student wrote in class. The topic was something like, "Should bands/singers/musicians be able to say/sing whatever they want in their music?" This is what was on the paper:

"I think that the poepl sholud talke aboult want they no and to be good ate it and to be more than a role modlen to the little kide and to be real to the poepl."

This is an 11th grader. How do you grade a paper like that? Rob tries to be as encouraging as possible. He'll make a few minor spelling corrections and then compliment their effort or ideas. But he doesn't want to mark up the page and kill the kid's self esteem.

There's something about this situation that needs fixing. The educational system, I guess. The whole thing just makes me feel sad.

I feel like I'm 12 again.

The lovely Mary just posted a link to an online MASH game. EEP! I LOVED MASH when I was a kid and spent many pages of my notebooks playing until I ended up with the perfect life.

Want to know what my life is going to be?

Apparently I'm going to marry Rob. I swear I only put his name down once, and he beat out all the musicians that I'm in love with.

We're going to live in an apartment in Seattle.

We will have 3 kids. YIKES! Well, I'm glad it wasn't 200, but I was kinda hoping for zero.

Somehow we will squeeze our three kids into our lime green Beetle convertible. Who needs car seats?

And I guess I give up design and become a Starbucks barista. But it says that I'm happy, and it didn't mention anything about overdosing on Doubleshot Energy+Coffee drinks.

Quacktastic?

I'm going to be an annoying tourist in my own city tonight. At the request of my friend, coworker, and birthday girl, Kay Marie, I will be joining her on the Philadelphia Ride the Ducks Tour. Complete with hokey tour guide and duck billed quacker, I will be ready to see the city as the visitors do.

I have never had the urge to do this, but hey, with the company I'm going to have, it will be a blast I'm sure! Then we're following up the tour with some Mexican food. I'll be sure to have pictures tomorrow.

Let me leave you with a duck joke, submitted to the Ride the Ducks website by Japetto.
Q: Which side of the duck has the prettiest feathers??

Give up?

A: The outside!

Badump ching! Har har.

It's alarming!

I was so uneasy about our alarm situation, so we contacted three other reputable companies yesterday. They were all pretty comparable when it came to price. We were visited by ADT yesterday after work and after a bit of negotiation, we received a deal that we felt very comfortable with. And I'm sure they have had their share of complaints, but they are a huge company and they service a bunch of our neighbors, so I don't feel as if I'm being "scammed."

Maria was so right in an email she sent me. She said, "Alarm systems are made to make you feel safe." And something about that other company made me feel unsafe. I'm sure it would have kept burglars away, but I had this fear of major billing issues and terrible customer service and being trapped for five whole years. Not to mention the fact that the motion detector they installed was already not working. (I think they pointed it too high.) We walked right into our house yesterday without even tripping the alarm!

I sent out the cancellation this morning, so hopefully it will all be over with soon.

Pigging Out

Here we are scarfing our treats at the food festival:

Long weekends are wonderful!

For the first time in a while, I felt like I was actually able to relax this weekend. It was nice.

THURSDAY
I did go to karaoke, but don't get excited, there's no video. The bar was so noisy, and the sound system was really fuzzy, so any video would have been mush. But it was a great time! Some friends met up with us for drinks. I sang a little Radiohead, and even though Rob is anti-karaoke, next time (his words, not mine!) he wants to do "Today Was a Good Day" by Ice Cube. Hilarious! There was one kid who did "Business Time" by Flight of the Conchords, and he was a hit. The other highlight was this scary chick who sang a song entitled, ehem, "Titties Bounce." I swear.

FRIDAY
We went to a little 4th of July shindig and watched a bunch of adults create a whirlpool. Who knew that would still be fun as an adult?? Personally, I avoid instances where a bathing suit is necessary, so I just watched. But drunk adults in a pool provides hours and hours of entertainment! Particularly when a giant blow-up seahorse is involved.

SATURDAY
Spent hours cleaning the house. Took a long nap. Read a little. Got a security system. That last part is currently in question. A door to door alarm salesperson came by in the evening, much to Rob's delight. Rob was in charge of researching alarms, and I knew it would be a while before it was done since he's a busy guy. But this took all the work out of it!

The deal seemed pretty good, so we signed up. But as they were installing it, on the spot no less, I went to check out their website and was met with all sorts of terrible company reviews. *gasp* Turns out they are mostly regarding the company's shady sales techniques, which, to be honest, doesn't bother me much. I don't care if they steal competitor's business or if they exaggerate the amount of crime in the area. I just want an alarm that works so my paranoid husband can stop barricading the front door with a bookcase. Yes, I'm serious. But I feel a little uneasy about using a company that so many people have written terrible things about. Then again, those things that bother other folks wouldn't bother me. So I'm not sure what to do. Any advice?

SUNDAY
We headed out to the Philly food/ice cream festival where I ate and ate and ate. Mmmm. That mini crab cake sandwich just melted in my mouth. So did the ice cream, but it's supposed to. After we got home, I dozed again. I am such a nap-aholic. Then I unpacked the last two boxes of my craft stuff. There is so much!! My next project is going to be to condense the amount of craft containers I have. That'll be a biggie.

TODAY
It's a fairly quiet day at work, which is nice to come back to after a long weekend. I read an article in Real Simple yesterday about how making a to-do list can help a lot with time management and finding more time to focus on yourself, so I'm going to try that out. Write blog entry. Check.

Holiday! Celebrate!

I shop less in the winter.

But in the summer, it's so nice outside, and all I want to do is get out of the office.

Today I went to West Elm and I finally got the honeycomb quilt and shams that I had wanted. Now maybe I can sleep tonight without having dreams about suffering in the firey pits of hell, only to wake up realizing that my humongous down comforter has swallowed me up.

Ehem.


In other news, I'm dragging Rob to Karaoke Obscura tonight. I had no idea that there was a karaoke night that had Belle & Sebastian, Built to Spill, Arcade Fire, etc., so I'm über-excited. I've picked out a few songs I might try. "Just" by Radiohead is my front-runner. But Lily Allen, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Weezer also look tempting.

Maybe if you're lucky, I'll have Rob take some video of my "performance" for all of you.

Double You Tee Efffffffff

Just an average day. I was heading across the street to Starbucks at 10:15, like usual. However today, as I waited to cross the many lanes of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a giant Eddie Murphy head drove past.

What?!?

Yes, that's true. I had read earlier in the week that there was going to be a walk-thru Eddie Murphy head in Love Park tomorrow, to promote his new movie, Meet Dave. But I was not aware of the Murphy-Mobiles that I assume are making their way throughout the city.



See now this is why I love the city! Things like that don't happen in the suburbs.

Something So Strong

This weekend Philadelphia hosted a Strongman Competition. Rob had been excited since the day he found out about it. Finally the day had arrived.

I went on Saturday only, and to be honest, I was a little bored. The Deadlift lasted forever and wasn't all that exciting, though I appreciate the strength it takes to lift nearly a ton. Perhaps the day was also tainted by the pull up competition. 20 pull ups won a t-shirt, so I peer-pressured Rob into trying. He ended up with 19 3/4. Still insanely impressive to me, the girl who couldn't do a single pull up if she was being chased by a crocodile and needed to pull herself up in order to escape!

However this was disappointing to Rob. Neurotic Rob, who refuses to let this go and claims that he wants to train so hard so he can do a bajillion pull ups by the end of the summer. Why did I ask him to try it? I should have known better.

But aside from that, Rob had a great time. He said that Sunday was WAY better, due to more entertaining events.


Look at how amazed we were while watching those Strongmen lift those tires! Incredible!