The Prestige

Alright folks. How the heck are ya?! I dropped off the planet (out of the state rather) for a while, but now I've returned and think it's time for a comeback.

Had a great time in Michigan and Indiana. We spent some much needed time away from work, with friends, family and at the beach. Any of you blessed enough to have already seen the documentation of such on Facebook, I hereby apologize for any photos of me in swimwear. I can assure you all pictures were taken against my will, and I am seeking retribution.

Where were we? Oh yes. I left you last with a shuffle of obviously unpopular music. :P You're all very sweet for commenting, even if you didn't know the music. I tend to listen to a pretty wide range of musical goodness. So, can't say's I blame you for not recognizing too much.

So, without further adieu, here are the song titles and artists that you all need to be familiarizing yourselves with.

1. You Know My Name by The Beatles

2. Who'll Stop The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival

3. Her Majesty by The Beatles

4. Change by Muse

5. The Places We Lived by Backyard Tire Fire

6. The Blues by Switchfoot

7. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

8. Colonial Boy by Devin Townsend

9. Joseph Campbell by Warm In The Wake

10. Jack & The Water Buffalo by Head of Femur

11. Say "Hey" ( I love you) by Michael Frantee and Spearhead

12. My Dear Country by Norah Jones

13. What's This by Danny Elfman

14. Miracle Sun by Anthony Green

15. The Smell of Pajamas by Animal Collective

16. You're A Wolf by Sea Wolf

17. Polly by Nirvana

18. We Are Real by Silver Jews

19. By The Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers

20. Five Fleas by Rasputina

Bonus: Young Pilgrims by The Shins

Oh! None other than the lovely Ari will be receiving a bit of handmade goodness for getting the most right answers.

I like this giving away prizes thing. I'll have to come up with ways to do it more often. Maybe once I get more on MadShiny (my Etsy shop) I can give things away monthly!

Summer Vacation

It's time, my friends. Everyone's talking about it. North Carolina. Italy. Gulf Shores. Florida. Left and right people are taking summer vacations. Some of them are trekking into the forests and mountains for various purposes. Others have gone in search of large bodies of water in which to immerse themselves. Whoever. Wherever. They're escaping and loving life, and I'm happy for them. I really am.

I just hope I can make it until the end of July. Todd and I will be stuffing the Jeep full, and heading to Michigan to visit two of our very best friends(I fought the urge to type BFF's). Now, this may not be the forest/mountain range/beach that one thinks of for "vacation", but it's as good a place as any.

It'll be a nice, familiar(for me) road trip with a pleasant, jobless, friend-filled destination. Todd's never been North of Kentucky! So, I get the pleasure of watching him enjoy the sites. My home state-good old Indiana! Rolling hills and sky forever. Then Berrien Springs, Michigan. And believe me you, at some point, I and my attractive new bathing suit WILL be in Lake Michigan. Maybe. I hope. We'll see. Not so big on large bodies of water that aren't the ocean.

Upon our return we'll have a stowaway. My soul mate's youngest sister (who just turned 14 today! Happy Birthday Kayla!) will have been visiting the great state of Michigan for a whole month, when we make our trip. So, she'll be taking the ride back with us, which makes it even more fun! I love that kid. She's just about the most awesome little individual I know.

So, mini vacation the end of July. Yay! Until then, I'd appreciate if you could all keep the spectacular holiday/forest/mountain range/beach talk to a minimum.

Thank you. ^_^

Well Digger's Brassiere?

I'm not going to complain about the fact that it was pretty chilly the entire time that Todd and I were in California.

I'm not even going to mention that it started to warm up the day we left, and that it is supposed to snow here tomorrow!

What I'm not going to ignore is the fact that I'm uncomfortably cold right now! What is up with this office?!

I have my heater running, my wool coat on and my nose is still colder than a...what was it? A well diggers butt...somewhere cold? A witch's brass brassiere? I don't know. My Mom always has the greatest phrases, and I never fail to butcher them. I'm just freezing.

I'm going to get in my Jeep, crank up the heat, listen to some Sublime and go home!

Done. Finished.

Well, love. Vacation is now officially over. Done. Finished. My heart aches because of it. Never before have I wished to stay at a beach riddled with tourists, all running around like palmetto bugs on a cool, shady sidewalk. A semi-private beach is somehow less commercial. It was packed, but completely beautiful.


The whole week rocked. I snorkeled for the first time, meeting a plethora of hermit crabs, that inhabited humble little homes, stolen from their previous tenants. My sister and I were not big fans of walking in that shag carpet, otherwise known as kelp, but it was worth it.

We(my husband: Todd, my sister: Jenni, her boyfriend: Rob, and myself) visited the perfect little community of Seaside. You know. That place from The Truman Show. It was an obsessive compulsive's dream! That beach was also quite beautiful. We know, because we were SUCH tourists!


We took to the deep sea in a sail boat/pirate ship with Captain Rex, where we saw a family of bottle-nosed dolphins. One group traveled closely alongside our boat, putting on a show. There was even a baby that proudly rolled and flipped, showing off his pink underside. Unfortunately our camera had been placed below deck for the rougher portion of the excursion, which included the dolphin sightings. :(


My sand piper husband got bumped up to a bobbing ocean dweller! He actually waded into the water and stayed there! We watched for jelly fish and sported our dorky goggles to watch the little fishes that swam all about the kelp. He also became the beloved subject of most of my photos, much to his chagrin.


On the evening of the 4Th, we stretched out on Mirimar's cool, sandy beach, under the stars, watching drunken amateurs shoot off Chinese pyrotechnics. All of this under close observance of local law enforcement. It was truly a sight to behold. A little nerve racking, but overall a thorough celebration of our independence.

Coming home was bittersweet. Work is mostly bitter, but I plan to adjust. I will make it through the week, here at my office, solely due to a lovely coworker. While I was frolicking on the beach, she was doing ungratifying portions of my job, and making a to do list for me. This might not sound great to you, but I could just kiss her!

Have I mentioned how I ADORE lists? They make my heart go pitter pat. Seriously. Lists are the thread that keep my pretty little head sewed on tightly.

Big Shaggy Sand Piper

Somewhere in Florida here I come! My husband and I are blowin' this popsicle stand. My sister booked us a little green beach house in Florida. None of us are very sure where said beach house actually is, but who gives a darn? It might be in Ft. Walton. It might be in Destin. I don't really care at this point, as long as it's near a large salty body of water! I'm just going. This happy little thought will get me through the week. I feel all swimmy headed and warm whenever I ponder it.

My mother and sister are also going to be present, at some point during this trip. Most encounters involving these two women end in loudly proclaimed combinations of obscenities most have never heard. My husband so looks forward to this.:D He has anticipated everything that could, and most-likely will, go wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if, before we actually roll out of our driveway on Friday morning, he has a power point presentation put together on the subject!

Regardless, I love the ocean and I miss it terribly. This trip I even plan to see dolphins, find crabs at night via mini purple mag lite and coax my cowboy of a husband into the water. I usually let him off with just a dip in the pool, but not this time. I am living proof that one can live in Florida, swim in the ocean, and live to tell about it. Of course, I know I'll be lucky if he gets his feet wet. He's like a big shaggy sand piper.