guitar — This Mom's Wired

Thursday Ten: Thinking Pink Edition

October 21, 2010 by sarah 1 Comment

1. Today, my girls are dressed in pink from head to toe for a breast cancer awareness day at school – and in that spirit, we made some pink ribbon cookies yesterday (these are some of the prettier ones). In the spirit of all things pink, my goal is to raise $150 towards my Avon Walk goal by the end of the week. It’s a small goal – and any donation helps. If you would like to donate – even a dollar – please click HERE. I may just send you a cookie for donating.

2. While I type this, I have hair dye working its magic to (hopefully) eradicate the gray hairs that have become so obnoxious since all this stressful stuff going on with my stepson. It’s true – in times of stress, the gray hairs really seem to multiply for me. I hate this vanity about gray hair. I really dig my natural hair color – and hate covering it up because I don’t want gray hair.

3. In guitar class this week, my teacher brought up another Kansas song – “Carry On My Wayward Son” because she likes the riffs at the beginning. The last Kansas song she stuck me with was “Dust in the Wind” – and they are harder for me to learn because I’m not TOTALLY familiar with the songs (except the chorus of “Wayward Son” – but I think that’s the only part anyone really knows).

4. Did you wear purple yesterday? I loved the prevalence of purple on Facebook and Twitter – and while I know that there are always going to be bullies, I think a great step we can take, particularly those of us who are parents, is to let our kids know that bullying isn’t okay – and that our differences is what makes the world a pretty freakin’ cool place. I may be an idealistic hippy-dippy idiot (Okay, I probably am) – but I think just embracing those things about us which make us who we are is a great start.

5. In a fit of nostalgia the other day, I picked up a bottle of Mr. Bubble for Pumpkin who loves taking bubble baths. I love the smell of Mr Bubble. I’ve given serious consideration to swiping her bottle and using it for myself!

6. Last week’s Project Runway somewhat boggled my mind – given the direction to find inspiration in NYC, the remaining designers took off. Two sought inspiration from The Brooklyn Bridge, one from the Lower East Side, one from Lady Liberty and one from Central Park. The Central Park design? It was black and edgy and what-the-what? That doesn’t say CENTRAL PARK. Not to me, anyway. CP was my favorite part of my trip to NYC in April and I find it kind of mind boggling that someone spent any time there and came up with … that.

7. I finally finished reading Little Bee. Fabulously crafted, well done. I really enjoyed it… far more than I thought I would. Check it out.

8. This week’s new music…I’ve just added “Gotta Have You” by the Weepies to my music library, as well as that new Cee Lo Green “F*ck You” song (can’t help but love it). I also downloaded “No Love”, the Eminem/Lil Wayne collaboration and realized… I don’t love Lil Wayne. And the folks at MuseBox have hit me up with a link to some new music to check out. You can give it a listen Here.

9. Finally saw “The Social Network” last weekend. Hm. You know, I have mixed feelings about the movie and haven’t read much of the press to determine how true they were to representing Mark Zuckerberg. Frankly, he was TIRING. I don’t know how Jesse Eisenberg managed to spit out dialogue like he did – but sheesh.

10. My hair ended up kind of dark (Oh yes. I took a three hour break in writing this post, btw.) It’s alright. It’s darker than I wanted, but… I don’t see any stupid gray hair. Which is good.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Do Good Feel Good, Eats, Mom Shtuff, music, Thursday Ten Tagged With: breast cancer, breast cancer awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Cee Lo Green, Chris Cleave, Eminem, Facebook, Garnier Herbashine, guitar, Kansas, Little Bee, Mark Zuckerberg, New York City, Project Runway, The Social Network, The Weepies

Thursday Ten: Only a TINY bit about puppies edition

July 15, 2010 by sarah 5 Comments

1. It only took about 8 days but yeah, baby, that puppy of ours is house trained. This is so supremely awesome – because every knows that a puppy that doesn’t pee on the floor is much more awesome than say… one that does. Also, are all vets completely deprived of people skills or just our doggy’s doc?

2. Did you know that we’re just a few weeks away from the next season of Project Runway? Season Eight kicks off on July 29 on Lifetime and I’m so stoked. No, this isn’t a paid promotion – I’m just that big of a dork for all things PR. Especially Tim Gunn.

Yeah, this never gets old. I think I'll probably keep posting it over and over.

3. Target has back-to-school supplies on display already! I couldn’t believe it when I saw them the other day – of course, the girls and I have already snagged their backpacks for this coming school year. They were VERY opinionated and VERY sure of what they wanted. Made it easy to shop, and I’m glad to have it out of the way.

4. Guitar lesson went well again this week – still working on the Joshua Radin song and actually pleased with how I’m more instinctively picking things up. Turns out you CAN grow some musical instinct. After nearly two years of lessons.

5. After reading about it in Redbook magazine, this morning I downloaded the free Cause World app. It appears to be a bit like FourSquare (which I don’t use because it kind of creeps me out) – you check into certain locations – and each time you do, you earn a given number of “karmas”. You can later use those karmas for carbon offsets, fighting cancer, helping save the arts in schools or many other causes. So, I’ll try it for awhile. Without sending my check-ins to my Facebook. I kind of don’t like when people do that.

6. So, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Old Spice commercials that have been ALL OVER THE INTERNET. Seriously – fabulous campaign, just so well done. I particularly like this one for his kiddo. (And the zeppelin over the bacon factory one cracked me up also).

7. Last night, I was channel surfing looking for Top Chef. I never found it, but instead stumbled over “Toddlers & Tiaras“. Lucky me (Um, that’s sarcasm, dipped in sarcasm, covered in a sarcasm-infused sauce). This show is a train wreck full of cray-cray stage mothers (mostly mothers, most of the fathers seem kind of resigned and underwhelmed with the whole deal). Spraying your children with tans so they look like oompa loompas while curling, spraying, and teasing their hair like minature Dolly Partons just seems like a less than fabulous way of life. But what do I know?

8. I was all set to brag on how I was so inspired by Lotus to take on the 200 Situp program that I downloaded the app yesterday and how I’m on day two today. But then the app crashed on me. Three times. So, I’ll keep you posted.

9. I just finished the second book of the Millenium Trilogy* (why, YES, that’s an affiliate link, what of it?). I’m ready to read number three. I’m surprised how much I’m enjoying this series. I’m kind of bummed to think that when the next one’s done, it’s all done. So sad.

10. Where is the world’s best hamburger? I haven’t had a burger in a lot of years – and now I’m kinda sorta tempted – I feel like I should have one. I know, it’s a ridiculous thing – I never consciously decided to not have burgers – I just never crave them, so it’s just been a long time since I’ve had one. But, if I’m going to have one, it better be REALLY GOOD.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Do Good Feel Good, Eats, Mom Shtuff, music, Thursday Ten Tagged With: guitar, Millenium Trilogy, music, Project Runway, Sieg Larsson, Tim Gunn, Toddlers & Tiaras

Thursday Ten: Away and Back Super Speedy Edition

July 8, 2010 by sarah 6 Comments

1. I left at noon yesterday to venture to Northern Michigan to visit Rachel who was in town for the Cherry Festival. Less than 24 hours later, I was on the road headed back home. Totally worth it. It was fun to visit with friends, be some place different, NOT COOK DINNER (festival lemonade and pretzel for dinner! Yum!), and just relax and chat. Even running on about four hours of sleep, I’m kind of recharged. This is a good thing.

2. I returned home to the land of house training a puppy. The girls – those lovely children of mine who begged for a puppy – aren’t as much help as they SWORE they would be… but I’d anticipated that when we agreed to go ahead and get the pup. I do not, under any circumstances, take part in the shoveling of doggy…stuff. That is a job that belongs to pretty much everyone but me.

3. Despicable Me comes out in theaters tomorrow. I was pretty thrilled to have received free passes to see this with my fam – and it’s a fantastic movie. The 3D effects weren’t overwhelming as they are sometimes – which is good because I’m not normally a fan of 3D.

4. Music this week? Uh, the soundtrack of “Despicable Me”. Nah, I didn’t receive this for free – I paid for it – but I really like what Pharrell did with it. It’s kind of a fun (yet KIDSAFE) soundtrack. Pretty awesome.

5. Musically, I also picked up Joshua Radin’s “I’d Rather Be With You”, as that is the song my guitar teacher picked this week. I’d never heard this song before, and I like it – I look forward to checking out more of his music.

6. Strangest addiction of the week? The Boggle app for the iPhone. For just under two bucks, I can Boggle to my heart’s content. I’m not very good at Boggle, but it’s addicting.

7. I have started reading The Girl Who Played with Fire – and I find myself moving very slowly through it – afraid I won’t love it as much as its predecessor. Does anyone else do that when reading a sequel?

8. While at the festival last night, I was craving an elephant ear and was able to resist its charms and eat a slightly less damaging meal. But I will get at least one elephant ear this summer because I LOVE THEM AND THEY BELONG IN MY BELLY. What is your favorite amusement park/carnival food?

9. Do you know how hard it is to not talk about puppies all the time when it seems like 80% of my life these days involves watching a puppy for signs he is about to pee on the living room carpet? I’m really not wanting to be a pet blogger (I don’t need no stinkin’ niche), but it’s just what life is these days. Soon, I hope to leave my house on a more frequent basis again.

10. The weather in Michigan has been insanely hot this week. Humid and hot and gross and yucky. Yes, yucky. I would take our meteorologists on the local news more seriously if they started legitimately employing “yucky” as the descriptor of our summer weather. Today, there’s a break from our 90+ degree weather. But mother nature has replaced stifling temps with… rain. Yucky.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Eats, Mom Shtuff, music Tagged With: Despicable Me, guitar, housetraining a puppy, Joshua Radin, pets, puppy, Stieg Larssen, The Girl Who Played With Fire, weather

Thursday Ten: Not So Despicable Edition

July 1, 2010 by sarah 2 Comments

1. It’s been a week since I was able to head to a sneak peek of the movie Despicable Me and I was SWORN TO SECRECY (til now) and couldn’t tell you about it. My family goes to see quite a few kid oriented movies and it’s been a LONG time since I’ve enjoyed one as much as I enjoyed this one. I loved the story line, the voice cast is incredible (Steve Carrell, Julie Andrews – like, whoa). And usually 3-D is hard for me to watch – it gets too overwhelming. Not this time. I really loved it, as did my kids. Bonus: The music was done by Pharrell Williams – and I’ll be picking up the soundtrack when it becomes available on the 6th. Despicable Me is in theaters JULY 9.*

2. During the summer, guitar lessons are temporarily NOT on Thursdays, a change that somewhat throws me off. My lesson this week went well though. Next week, I take a break from telling my teacher what I want to learn and letting her pick something for me. I’m kind of excited to not know what comes next.

3. Speaking of guitar lessons and my guitar teacher… when I was in class, she mentioned her sister recommended a group to her and they reminded her of the folks from Once who sing “Falling Slowly”. She’s well aware that I love that song, so I asked her for the name of the group. They are The Civil Wars, and you can download their album free from their site (it redirects to their MySpace page). Lovely acoustic-y singer/songwriterly people. Love this song, “Poison And Wine” which was played on an ep of Grey’s Anatomy.

4. Puppy comes home tonight. We purchased his crate last night, and I’m in the process of researching everything I can about crate training and house training a puppy dog. Pumpkin got quite upset with me when I said that we’d be keeping DoggyDogg (no, not his name!) in the crate quite a bit initially — but, I think we’re all on the same page now. And if not, the crate is such a pain in the heinie to open that I know she won’t be able to sneak the puppy out.

5. Eclipse -did you see it? Are you going to? It’s funny when I think of how much I was looking forward to the original Twilight movie coming out… and then I didn’t love it. I’ve been kind of “over” it all since then. I’ll be sitting this one out.

6. Fourth of July weekend is coming up and I have no plans but house training a puppy. That sounds exciting, doesn’t it? I’ve never been one to make big July 4th plans though. I don’t even remember the last time I went out for fireworks – though, I’d kind of like to try to take some pictures of the fireworks this year.

7. Yesterday the Mother’s Helper was at our house to help me out while I was doing some work (and running Stepson from A to B back to A again – this ferrying around a teenager nonsense is tiring!), and she let The Princess use the Easy Bake oven. With my love of baking, I don’t know why I hate the Easy Bake as I do, but I really really don’t like the Easy Bake. Seems an awful lot of work for little scraps of cookies. It’s not even enough to knock the edge off a cookie craving. But she made a cookie for me to eat while I was working.

8. Yep, it was the Greek yogurt somehow making me sick. The thing is? Regular yogurt seems too sweet now (and I don’t love the texture). I will just take my chances. That’s some yogurt love, there.

9. I bought myself a new lens yesterday. It was not the priciest lens on my list (by far. Unfortunately I picked a really pricey hobby), but I’m hoping that it gives me a versatility I’m not currently getting with my 50 mm. I sure do love my 50, but I needed a little more flexibility in composing shots.

10. Reality TV Nit Picking: I really don’t like the way “So You Think You Can Dance” is set up this season. I think I was sleeping when they explained WHY they were doing this all-star version this way, but I kinda preferred when it was two contestants dancing versus a contestant and an all-star. And clearly I’ve already devoted too much time to thinking about it.

*Full disclosure: My family was given complimentary passes to the movie but the opinions are my own, as always.

Filed Under: Mom Shtuff, music, Photography, Thursday Ten Tagged With: Canon, Despicable Me, dog training, DSLR, Eclipse, guitar, lenses, Pharrell Williams, puppy, Reality tv, So You Think You Can Dance, The Civil Wars, twilight

Thursday Ten: Developing Theories About Yogurt Edition

June 24, 2010 by sarah 4 Comments

1. So you know my love for Greek yogurt and honey, right? It’s kind of MY THING. Fage 0% drizzled with honey has been my go-to snack for months and suddenly? It makes my stomach feel like it’s being jabbed with a hot stick. Now, I’m not a girl who has ever been even the teesniest bit lactose intolerant – so I thought maybe it was bad honey. So I tried with new honey. And then I thought it was the yogurt itself. So I bought more. And NOW, now I’m developing all these crazy yogurt theories and I’m making myself crazy.

2. I have to keep eating yogurt because it’s one of my healthiest favorite snacks. Beats the hell out of my love for chips. I am more than halfway through my hot-air balloon size bag of PopChips. I cannot be stopped.

3. Thunderstorms again yesterday morning and evening. I’m getting a little tired of this stormy summer weather. Fortunately, after the storms that ripped through Michigan Monday evening, I went to Target and stocked up on glowsticks. I find them easier and more fun than candles when the power goes out.

4. I finally started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo this week. I am not even halfway through, but I already picked up the second book in the Millenium series to start reading immediately after I finish this one. And though I have never wanted a Kindle, this book has 600+ pages and kind of makes me wish I was reading this on an e-reader of some sort. {Yes, those are affiliate links. Why? So I can save up to buy a Kindle}

5. World Cup Soccer – ARE YOU WATCHING? Me? No, not so much. But: Go USA!

6. There was an earthquake in Canada and instantly Twitter and Facebook blew up with people in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio who say they felt it. Really? I’m thinking if the quake epicentered in Canada was 5.5, that it would be maybe mere tremors at the most at such a great distance from the epicenter. But maybe I’m just bitter because I didn’t feel it? Maybe my childhood in California has made it so my brain doesn’t register tremors? Anyway. I’ve talked about weather related issues twice in this post, so I expect that next I’ll have my AARP card and I’ll be putting my teeth in a glass before I go to bed at night.

7. I have renewed my summer addiction to Edy’s Lime Fruit Bars. If you live on the west side of the country, these are marked with the Dreyer’s brand name. Here, they’re Edy’s. And I love them. Just a smidge sour, kind of sweet. Pictures of fruit on the box so I can fool myself that they are healthy. No, they didn’t sponsor this or give me anything (but if they wanna send me free popsicles, I’ll take them. Hey Edy’s, call me. *wink*). And while I’m on the Dreyers/Edys love train – the Whole Fruit Lemon Sorbet was the cure to my morning sickness during both of my pregnancies. That and Hot Tamales candy. And breadsticks from Papa John’s. And no, I really didn’t have the much morning sickness I just liked to eat. Don’t look at me like that.

8. I’m working on another Taylor Swift song on guitar for my kids. So far it seems that if you can play one, you can play them all. But The Princess and Pumpkin are happy, so, go me. Taylor Swift aside, I had a great lesson the other day with lots of praise about my progress from my guitar teacher, and that’s kind of exciting for me. I’ve got a long way to go — but I’ve come a long way – so I’m pretty excited about it.

9. My kids don’t want to see Toy Story 3. I may have to go see it without them.

10. I slept on my arm last night. I woke up this morning with that horrible “can’t feel my arm” feeling and actually had to LOOK AROUND to try to figure out WHERE my arm was because it had no feeling whatsoever. Then there was that fun moment of trying to move my sleeping arm with my other arm to get it out of the way so I could get up. Bodies are weird.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Eats, Mom Shtuff, music, Things I Love Tagged With: Amazon, Greek yogurt, guitar, Kindle, morning sickness, The Girl with the dragon tattoo, Toy Story 3, weather, World Cup Soccer

Thursday Ten: Like a Hummingbird Edition

June 10, 2010 by sarah 1 Comment

1. Once someone told me that I’m like a hummingbird, in constant motion – that I don’t slow down and would fall into a deep torpor if I just stopped for a second. (Don’t worry, I had to google torpor, also). I’ve since google’d hummingbirds also – and it turns out… they’re just fine if they stop. Either way, I’ve been moving at hummingbird speed this week: first the AWBC, then an awesome trip to Cincinnati (I’ll share those deets with you tomorrow), as well as an awesome One eskimO/Michael Franti concert last night (again, details to follow. Soon. This week has been awesome for kicking my writer’s block in the keister).

2. My feet are still hurty, but so much better than last year at this time. I pre-wrapped most of my toes in bandages pre-walk in the hopes that it would prevent blisters, and it worked for the most part. I have four blisters – one on each heel (HOLY FREAKIN’ COW DO THOSE HURT) and one on each little toe. But overall it was a less painful experience for me, so that’s a good thing.

3. I purchased the book Ask the Pilot in hopes that it would abate some of my fear of flying for my flights to and from Cincinnati. The flight down was actually pretty wonderful – smooth, nearly clear sky with very minimal turbulence. The way back to Michigan? I thought I was going to cry. Guess I should have finished reading the book first, huh? It’s on my pile – still have a ways to go to finish it.

4. Speaking of books… Someone just gave me a gift card to B&N (oh, one of the ways to my heart). What’s new? What are you reading? Are you on GoodReads? If so, lemme know and we can connect.

5. Twice this week, I have gone out with nearly dead camera batteries (in my point and shoot – my dSLR has a remarkably fabulous battery life. The P&S? Not so much. I feel like I’ve missed so many moments because of my forgetfulness. Particularly at last night’s concert. Sad face.

6. Right now I am craving a toasted bagel with drippy melted butter. I do not have any bagels. I do have butter. Eating a stick of butter by itself doesn’t appeal to me. Yet.

7. I missed the season finale of Glee because I was on a plane. I have yet to track it down on Hulu or Fox. And I need to do that soonish. If you saw it, what did you think? I don’t get my knickers in a twist over spoilers – just wondering if it turned out well or if you were so mad you threw stuff at the tv?

8. New music for the week – I’ve been listening to some Sarah McLachlan, some stuff from Glee, and Michael Franti & Spearhead’s “Sound of Sunshine” (Which I canNOT believe they didn’t play last night).

9. As I was travelling, I missed the live blogging and tweets for the iPhone announcement, but I’ve had a chance to kinda sorta catch up in the moments I’ve been able to sit still, and uh, yeah. I want one. And then I want to kick myself in the shin for wanting one because my phone is JUST FINE. RESIST THE URGE, SARAH. DON’T DO IT.

10. I haven’t picked up my guitar in a week – I’m kind of going through withdrawal, but I’ve just been so busy. And I’m on break from my lessons for another week. I think I’m gonna have to remedy this soon.

This post contains an affiliate link to Amazon, and the blood sweat and tears of a distracted writer who took about two hours to put this together. When i say it’s been a long week, it has REALLY BEEN A LONG WEEK.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Mom Shtuff, music, Photography Tagged With: Ask the Pilot, Glee, GoodReads, guitar, iPhone, iPhone 4, Michael Franti & Spearhead, One eskimO, travel

Thursday Ten: OH NO! It’s Almost Summer Edition

May 27, 2010 by sarah 1 Comment

1. The school year is winding to a close. Tuesday was Pumpkin’s preschool graduation, today is her last day. Today was an awards ceremony at The Princess’s school – her last day is in a week and a half. And then… summer. Oy. Y’all remember, it takes me a few weeks to find my routine and my groove in the summer. Except moderate amounts of griping about the chaos in coming weeks. It’ll be (mostly) painless (for you).

2. Tomorrow The Princess turns 8. I’ve been trying to get away with calling her birthday my “mommiversary” in hopes that there are presents and cake for ME, as well. So far, it doesn’t appear to be catching on.

3. Editing and processing photos is a time-consuming thing. How much so, I hadn’t realized. I am told that processes and routines help – if you are a photographer or photo-junkie, what do YOU do with your pictures to process? And also: PhotoShop or Lightroom?

4. The American Idol finale last night. WHOA. That was two hours of crap for two minutes of reward. I wish they wouldn’t stretch it out like that. It’s miserable. But, I’m happy with the winner… so there’s that.

5. In guitar class, we started a different song – Anna Nalick’s “Breathe”. One of my favorites.

6. In addition to “Breathe”, we went back to “Shallow Days” and Pearl Jam’s “Elderly Woman, blah blah blah”. It’s funny – the weeks I don’t get much time to practice, I often manage to pull off a good lesson. It’s funny that way – I tend to overthink and get frustrated when I’m not accomplishing something, so sometimes it’s good to walk away from what I’m learning for a moment. Somehow, I usually manage to make progress. Sorta.

7. After February, I decided to not color my hair anymore. It was never about extreme color changes – when you have hair as dark as mine, you can’t really go extreme without a kajillion step process to lighten first… and frankly, I don’t have the patience for that. I was doing semi-permanent colors occasionally, just to cover the gray — but stopped when I decided that I really like my natural hair color better than I liked any of the colors I was finding on a shelf. Fortunately, the gray hairs seemed to slow right around then, so it wasn’t even a huge deal. BUT. I found two of those suckers this morning and they have GOT TO GO. Vanity sucks.

8. My afternoon involves making cupcakes for The Princess’s second grade class. If I learned anything last year it’s that I need to keep the air conditioning cranked until I get the cupcakes out of the house so the frosting doesn’t melt off.

9. Any one have any big Memorial Day weekend plans? Looks like we’re celebrating a birthday ALL WEEKEND. (Seriously, like three days of cake).

10. With the end of the school year coming, my days are getting more and more chaotic with activities at the kids’ schools and all the other nitpicky things like field trips, field days, and la la la. Because of this, I’ve had to juggle life around to get everything done – which means that this morning I woke up before six a.m. Why? To do the Jillian Michaels’ SHRED. Before 6 a.m. Oy.

Filed Under: Mom Shtuff, music, Photography, Thursday Ten Tagged With: Anna Nalick, Breathe, elementary school, guitar, Jillian Michaels, Memorial Day, Shred

Thursday Ten: Skipping Spring and Going Straight To Summer Edition

May 20, 2010 by sarah 1 Comment

1. Um, spring? Hello? Helllllooooooo. We had winter and then a few springlike days and then WHAMMO! It’s 80 degrees plus today. Last week, sweaters. This week, shorts. I’m kind of bummed, because I love the “in between” weather – the breezy, spring like “not too hot not too cold” temperatures that make me so happy. Welcome to Michigan, I suppose.

2. I was recently sent the One eskimO cd to review. On a scale of one to five, this album earns a 3.5. It’s amazing background music to listen to while working – it’s definitely mellow and there are some pretty layers and texture to the songs – my favorite cuts from this album are Givin Up and Astronauts. One eskimO has toured with Tori Amos and is now opening up on tour for another one of my favorites, Michael Franti & Spearhead. It’s definitely worth a listen – it’s available via the usual suspects (Amazon, iTunes…).

3. Pumpkin had a meltdown before my guitar lesson today – she went so far as to pretend as though she was going to bite my arm. You know, I didn’t realize how effective my “stern mommy face” was until that moment because boy howdy – she stopped in her tracks and grabbed on to me for a hug. Just from the mom eyes.

4. American Idol’s Final Two – Crystal and Lee… Y’all saw that coming, right? I have to say, I favor Lee – which is why I hope Crystal wins. The winner never really gets to put out “the right album” for them. Lee kind of has a bit of a Howie Day Collide vibe to me (or even Matt Nathanson-ish). I love acoustic-y singer-songwriter types — and so I hope that is what he’s able to release when he puts his album together.

5. If you didn’t see my post yesterday, you can enter HERE to win a Hanes Pink t-shirt (deadline next week Wednesday). Over on BD, there’s a Susan Wiggs book giveaway along with a $100 Visa Cash Card (deadline tomorrow a.m.). So, if you haven’t entered to win stuff, you should totally get to it.

6. In guitar class, I’m working on Counting Crows’ “Shallow Days” – which is from the demo of “August and Everything After”. The song didn’t make the original album, but I still love it. I’m not surprised it didn’t make the final cut on AAEE, because it wouldn’t have fit in with that grouping of songs, but on its own, it works.

7. Someone from my high school graduating class posted a picture the other day of all the girls from our graduating class from prom. BOY, prom dresses used to cover a WHOLE lot more than they do today! Some of us probably could have worn those dresses outside in the middle of December and not been cold!

8. I haven’t seen any movies in awhile and was looking to rent something via iTunes – what’s good? Any recommendations?

9. The Princess’s teacher is on maternity leave. I was hoping she’d make it until the end of the school year (just a few weeks remaining), but she emailed me today to tell me that her doctors say she’s done for the year. And… I actually cried. We’ve been so lucky to have such an amazing teacher for The Princess – and truly, we’ll miss her. I did email her back and asked if she’d ever thought about teaching third grade. Hmmmm.

10. Planning my menu for the following week ahead of time is usually pretty great unless the weather changes and you end up with cold weather comfort food scheduled on a day that your temps are in the low 80s. Meatloaf? Ugh.

Yes, those were affiliate links.

Filed Under: Do Good Feel Good, Eats, Mom Shtuff, music, Thursday Ten Tagged With: Counting Crows, guitar, meal planning, music, One eskimO, weather

Thursday Ten: Le Fou I’m Afraid I’ve Been Thinking edition

May 13, 2010 by sarah 3 Comments

1. The past few days, I’ve spent a lot of time pondering the things I enjoy doing, the things in which I excel. What I have found is that I am halfway decent at several things but don’t feel like I have focused on any ONE thing quite enough to say that it’s where I shine. Have you ever really thought about where YOU shine? What are YOU really good at?

2. The Princess was invited to try out for the gymnastics team and SHE MADE IT. The program sounds a bit intense – and yes, there will be a competitive aspect… however, this kind of goes back to the first point: what are you really good at? Gymnastics may or may not be something she wants to stick with – but right now, she’s enjoying it a lot. I want to give her the opportunity to see where it goes, as long as she wants to. When she decides she’s done, she’ll wrap up whatever season she’s in – and that’s it. No pressure. I’m kind of curious about this road we’ll be traveling.

3. Last night was the May meeting of our book club. We discussed the book selected for last month, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, shot the breeze a little bit and then? Picked next month’s book. A book by Nicholas Sparks. How did we go from FGM and human trafficking to Nicholas Sparks?

4. Because “Half the Sky” was such a HEAVY read (good read, but definitely heavy), I decided to lighten things up with Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, which is a much lighter read. Also, it cements the knowledge that I have no desire to learn French cooking. Too many livers and lobsters.

5. My guitar lesson went well today – fortunately, my sister was able to hang out with Pumpkin so I got to go solo. Finished working on the Taylor Swift ditty, and went back to Pearl Jam. It was a little easier to work on something without making sure Pumpkin was entertained. And she had lots of fun with her aunt and took a nice nap and spent lots of time singing “Down by the Bay”.

6. I went through Pumpkin’s backpack the other day to sort through all the work and art work she brought home from preschool/daycare and recycled several art projects. Mind you – I LOVE to keep artwork created by my children. However, I don’t love to keep artwork that was clearly cut and assembled by the teachers. And I can tell. The work our kids do is perfect in its imperfection. I wish the teachers would leave it alone.

7. Is it raining where you are? DAYS of rain in Michigan. It’s making me cranky.

8. American Idol’s Final Three – are you happy with the final three? Are you even watching? I loved Lee and Crystal’s rendition of my favorite song – “Falling Slowly” – and yeah, I downloaded today and have listened several times.

9. And since I’m talking about TV, I’m gonna kick on over to Glee and say first of all, I loved Wednesday’s episode. I love the storyline with Kurt and his dad (“Fine doesn’t sound like that song was sung”) — but when they sang U2’s “One” and called it classic rock? I had to hit the Google. “One” was recorded in 1991. I was in high school. So, stuff from my teen years is classic now? Since when? Also… feeling old.

10. Just a few short weeks until the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I am SO close to my goal – and I appreciate ALL the support and love I have gotten. But, if you still want to support the cause (and really, you should because it’s a great one), feel free to share the donation love with my teammate – her link is here. If you donate to her, and write in the message that I sent you, I’ll send you cookies. (Offer limited to the first five peeps to donate).

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Do Good Feel Good, Mom Shtuff, music, Thursday Ten Tagged With: American Idol, Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, competitive sports for kids, Glee, guitar, gymnastics, Half the Sky, Julie and Julia

Thursday Ten: The Happy EarthDay To You Edition

April 22, 2010 by sarah Leave a Comment

1. It’s Earth Day. Whether it’s a day you acknowledge or it isn’t, in our house we TRY to act as if it’s Earth Day every day. In the past few years, we’ve stepped up our recycling efforts considerably and what a MAJOR difference that has made in the amount of trash we set to the curb each week – our garbage can used to be overflowing and now it’s typically maybe half full (or is it… half empty?). But, the funny thing is, Pumpkin and I went to my guitar lesson today and I came home to realize that she’d left a light on in an empty house for two hours. Earth Day, fail. But, we do the best we can.

2. I am now totally and madly in love with Fage 0% Greek yogurt topped with honey. You would think fat free yogurt would have a puny consistency – but seriously? So rich and creamy and totally awesome. (And no, no one paid me to say that, but if they did? I’d say it again. Louder. YUM)

3. Guitar lesson went well this week. Last week was a Grade A fiasco – Pumpkin just did NOT want to be there. This week, I hooked her up with my iPhone and some headphones and the Dr. Seuss apps, and she listened to The Lorax for 20 minutes. PURE awesomeness.

4. So, apparently, there’s a girly-bidness-cycle-tracking app for men. It’s called Code Red. Ladies – do you wish the men in your life had an app like this or does it just seem weird? Men, do you wish you had the opportunity to track it and stock up on Hershey bars in advance? I’m curious.

5. I am LOVING my new camera. LOVE LOVE LOVE. The downside? Do you know how many amazing things you can buy for a camera? How many amazing lenses? The adorable camera bags (I’m lusting after that Belle bag – y’know, in case you wanted to buy me a present for… uh… May Day. Yeah. May Day)? I don’t wish I picked a cheaper hobby – I LOVE photography. But whoa.

6. I saw a snippet of “Food Inc” this morning and I’m definitely going to have to watch the whole thing. Between Food Inc and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, I’m definitely doing a lot of thinking lately about the food supply and what we as a nation are feeding our families. Have you seen Food Inc.? Has it changed the way you shop and prepare meals for your family?

7. This morning, we dropped by the store before taking the kids to school. Had to dash in and get coffee — on the way out, the girls said they wanted a cantaloupe. I didn’t have time to stop and buy one then… but I did this afternoon. Any time the girls have wanted to try a fruit or veggie, I’ve made a point to do it. Even the mango that they took one bite of and decided they didn’t like it (I’m pretty sure it was out of season – that was NOT a good mango). I loved going back for a fruit run this afternoon. And, yeah, I love cantaloupe too. So having one in the house feels very springlike for me.

8. Last night, I finished reading Anna Quindlen’s Every Last One (affiliate link). I have loved Anna Quindlen’s stories since I read Black and Blue several years ago. I love the way she weaves a story, and Every Last One was gripping and unexpected and heart wrenching… and very well-told. Loved it.

9. Project Runway tonight! I was bummed, actually, when Mila won that third slot to show at Bryant Park. I’m not really a fan – but I had a hunch that she’d be the one to get the opportunity.

10. Since getting a new camera, I’ve handed one of my older digitals to The Princess. Holy moley. That girl loves to take pictures. Over 100 pictures in a day. She’s definitely thinking some of her shots through. It’s interesting to see what she sees and how she sees it.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Mom Shtuff, music, Photography, Thursday Ten Tagged With: Anna Quindlen, Canon Rebel, Earth Day, epiphanie bags, Food Inc, Food Revolution, guitar, Jamie Oliver, Project Runway