I ♥ the 80's {but not cloudy days}

Jacket: gifted, brand: Split; Shirt: also gifted; Belt: from my Grandpa (my grandparents have THE best clothes! No joke.); Pants: Kohl's; Leg-warmers (squee!): Target; Boots: F21; Earrings: made by my cousin's wife's sister, Heidi.

 Another attempt to get back to my old self, since I don't have work today due to personal obligations. Speaking of personal obligations, why is it so darn difficult to get television service set up? I mean, if there's a satellite in the sky, then why is it that our home is never facing that particular direction? And cable: why can't you just have the programming my husband wants?!? I'm good with the basics and a little HGTV and DIY Network thrown in, but Hubby needs his football (which means that I get some peace!)!

So let's talk COFFEE! I love this stuff! I can't start my day without it, or I'll feel sad and deprived and be in a general funk all day. My students know that a day with no coffee on the teacher's desk is a baaaaad day. The little darlings always gave me Starbuck's cards for the holidays. Aren't kids sweet? I'd be happy to take ground coffee too ::wink wink::

↑ This is my super-duper, absolutely amazing, and fantabulous coffee maker! Which was bought by my super-duper, absolutely amazing, and fantabulous husband. It's a Kuerig machine, which means that I can have my sweet, sugary coffee and Marty can have his regular, tough, and manly black coffee. It also means a lot less wasted coffee that goes cold. It only has one eensy-weensy problem: It sounds like a rocket ship when it brews. See, the water gets heated to some outrageously high temperature and then gets shot through the little little K-cups (that's what I'm holding in the other pic) at 35 mph. This all makes for excellent coffee at the perfect temperature, but it's a little jarring when you've just rolled out of bed. The newer machines are quieter, but not nearly as stylish. My mom is totally envious of ours because it's a discontinued model. She wants it. Bad. Almost to the point of buying us a new coffee machine so that she can take this one. But she knows I love it, and she's not willing to fork out the $300 bucks for the new stainless steel one. So I'll have to live with my little rocket ship. I wonder if I can find a coffee mug that looks like a little space ship...?

Jedi Shirt Project Update

I think I've succeeded in...shrinking the shirt. Which is fine, it needed to be shrunk anyway. It seems a little bit softer, but not at all thinner (fabric wise, that it). I think it's also faded a little, which is also fine. Maybe I should try dragging it around town behind my car? Running over it? Stringing it up on a flag pole during a storm? Any suggestions are more than welcome!

New Learnings

- Do NOT attempt to finish an art project, that requires the object you're working on to sit in you lap, in one day. It will result in immense neck pain.

- Leg warmers are just plain fun to wear; who cares what they look like.

- Boys shirts are very durable. 

- I still FAIL at wrapping gifts, but have improved in the gift shopping department.

- I'm going to have to break down my thoughts on and analysis of Obi-Wan Kenobi, because they are too vast and numerous for one post.

- That's it for today because it's still early and I haven't even left the house yet.

Girly and Gungy...Er, Grungy

 I'm wearing the same jeans I wore yesterday and I haven't washed my hair in a couple of days. There's the gungy part. So I did my make up and threw on some pink in hopes of looking somewhat put-together. I went for the flannel in hopes of convincing you that today's style is "grunge." Did it work? Am I a fashion genius? Why thank you! It was no trouble at all!
So, I've been a little frustrated with my photo editing process lately. I've been following Sydney's tutorial for lighting effects and my photos always ended up looking washed out. Today I took my pictures outside at around ten in

Jeans: American Eagle via TJ Maxx; Undershirt: Hubby's; Button Up: Target; Shades: F21; Shoes: Payless

the morning and boy WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! I'm now getting that golden and glowy look with some decent color saturation (I only half know what I'm talking about here as I grew extremely frustrated with my one and only photography class; sorry Mr. Lanou, I just couldn't master the film). But the point is that I'm much happier with these pics and will be attempting more  outdoor photography. Now if I can just get Marty to take the pictures with his pro-style camera, then I would really be in business! Until then, it'll be the timer, a tripod or whatever is flat enough to support my camera.

Gettin' Crafty!

I have this shirt that I love (and did not take a picture of before I began my project because I was not in blog mode). It's a Jedi Training Academy shirt from Disneyland and a boys size large. It's a pity that Disney doesn't think a grown woman would appreciate an athletics style Jedi Academy shirt. I mean, it's so much more...unique, yes I'll go with that word, to wear a shirt that says "Property of Jedi Training Academy" than one that says "Property of USC Athletics." I want to both conform and stand out at the same time. It's the quirky things that count. SO, I have this shirt and it's that stiff, boxy cotton that all little boy shirts are made of (to withstand the adventure of being a little boy). But I'm a girl, and I want a shirt that is a vintage wash and super soft. So I've undertaken this task of beating my Jedi shirt to a cottony pulp. Hmm... maybe I should ask hubby if he'd like to help me with the beating part of this process. So far I have washed the shirt several times and have been sporting it as a pajama top and work out shirt in order to break it in. Then last night I soaked it in a solution of REALLY hot water, kosher salt, and baking soda. I read on a fibers forum that a vinegar soak would also help to break down the fibers. The forum suggested either white or apple vinegar, but I didn't have those. I had about a half cup of red wine vinegar. Being the impatient and impulsive thing that I am, I thought

"Hey! Why don't I add the red wine vinegar to my solution of salt and baking soda to speed up the process?"

{PAUSE}

          Okay, kids. Think back to around the fourth grade. Science class. Remember making those fake volcanoes that erupted tons of foam? Wasn't that SOOOOOO COOL?!?! Yes, yes it was. And why? Because you learned that when you mix BAKING SODA and VINEGAR you get a chemical reaction that creates lots and lots of gas and bubbles and a cool ppphhhhzzzzz noise.

 {can you see where this is headed?}
So I poured in the vinegar and got a very lovely chemical reaction that made me jump away from the sink about six feet and then start poking at my shirt with a wooden spoon. I might have also helped a bit. Luckily, I didn't have enough vinegar to create an over flow onto my counter. After letting that soak and fizz for about eight hours, I threw it in the washing machine with the last of my baking soda, an OxiClean power pack, and some more super hot water. The beating continued with a dance in the backyard with some sand, a venting sesh on the wall, dragging it on the pavement on my way to the garbage, and scrubbing it on many other rough and dirty surfaces. It's now ready for wash number two. Also in super hot water. And it only feels a smidge softer than when I began. This makes me worry about my dream to have sons. To be continued...

Also, I bought this milk bottle a couple of weeks ago. It was meant to hold vegetable oil (because the plastic it comes in always puckers and gets yucky), but I found a better bottle. Now I don't know what to do with this one. What do you think I should do with it?

New Learning
- Natural light = awesome photos.
- Be concerned when you see a little boy who's shirt's been destroyed.
- HDMI is the best connection EVER.
- I dress like a slob when I don't go to work.