Freckles Run In The Family

I'm finally feeling festive! Notice the Santa inspired outfit? Notice this is the third day in a row I'm wearing some kind of knee sock? And did you notice the wreath? Today I recruited my Lil' Sis to take some photos and I reciprocated the favor. I can tell she's done this before. ::rolls eyes::

So, Sister and I don't get to spend as much time together as we would like to. This is because she lives in Palos Verdes with the parental units and I live in OC with Hubby. It's kind of a drag because when we did live in the same house she was a little kid and I was a snotty teenager. Now that she's the snotty teenager (love you sis!), we have a lot more fun together. For instance, this photo shoot! As a teen in the era of FaceBook and readily available digital cameras, Sister's (Mitsy, not Misty, the 't' comes first) new favorite hobby is taking pictures of herself and friends to place on said FaceBook. I think it's so unfair. She gets to have her teen years documented in photo according to the moments she wants to record. Now, I also took a lot of photos as a teenager, but being the oh-so-responsible teen that I was, most of them either didn't come out or get developed (this is back in the days of actual film since digital cameras were a little too expensive to be buying for your 16 year old at the time). And all the other photos were ones my parents took. Mostly prom and formal pictures. Which were quickly burned upon break-up with whoever my date was. Yes gentlemen, your images were burned. It's a good thing we broke up. :)
Anyway, back to what I like about my sister. Well, she's got a killer fashion sense! She always looks adorable. But what do you expect when she grew up with a sister like me? ;) She also has a great sense of humor; very dry and sarcastic. I hope that sticks and isn't just a teenage phase. What I don't like about her are the following: her hair, her nails,  and her height. I want these. She got the thick hair and nails that always look great, no matter what she does with them. I got the wimpy hair and nails that never do what I want them to. And she's taller than me. Do you know how much that bites? On the plus side, I might be able to convince people that I'm the little sister a few years down the line. We're ten years apart, and I like it that way. I think she likes it too. And like the title says, freckles run in our family. Which I'm mostly annoyed about, but ultimately happy with. Our older brother also has freckles (he's twelve years older than me), but he might kill me if I tried to take his picture. If you really want to see his picture, you'll have to buy his book, Camberaxe, and see his author pic. Or you can follow his blog and bug him for a pic.
Ok, I'm tired. I spent all day at my mom's and all night helping Hubby troubleshoot why the COD: Black Ops update won't download, and I need to finish up writing invitations for my sister-in-law's baby shower so I can mail them tomorrow. Oh, and I have to work tomorrow (yay!), so I'll need to go to bed soon.

New Learnings
- You are never too old to play on a swing set, but some swing sets are too old for you to play on.
- My mom has WAY more clothes and shoes than I do.
- As the crow flies, it is less than fifty feet from our computer room to our TV.
- It's a good idea to get your lace cut before you had to check-out when at the fabric store.
- Brown mailing paper + bright ribbon = cute gift wrap
- My sister thinks it would be weird if I taught at her school, but her best friend thinks it would be cool.

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.