i'm a grown up now

There's No Such Thing as Too OCD.

Sun, 29 May 2011 10:00:58 -0400

Well, there might be. Someone like Monk(you know, the TV show with Tony Shalhoub) might be considered to OCD. But when it comes to DIY wedding invitations, I don’t think you can ever be too OCD.

That’s right, we were creative(and cheap), and designed and printed our own wedding invitations from home, with the help of Mr. Adobe Photoshop, and some fancy paper we got at Staples.

It only took me an hour or two to come up with the design(once I actually sat down to do it), and after at least five other pairs of proof reading eyes looked over it and could find no more typos, we deemed the design okay for printing.

We got our fancy border embossed paper for a mere $30 at Staples, and before we knew it we were done with the test sheets, and got down to business. It was so smooth, and I couldn’t have been more happy with how everything turned out. Here’s all 50 of the invitations laying out to dry at my parent’s house when were were all finished. They all looked awesome.

However (oh yes, there is a however), the next day on my way to work I got a call from my Dad, who tells me there’s something wrong with the invitations. No typos necessarily, but a double word.

See, no one read the invitation out loud. We all just skimmed it word by word, to make sure there were no misspellings, or typos. But, we didn’t actually read the invite the way our wedding guests would. As a result, the first two lines of our invitations read:

The honor of your

your presence is requested

Luckily, for some reason, I bought two boxes of the fancy paper from Staples, so I was able to reprint them on the same paper, as soon as I got back to my parent’s house. Needless to say though, I was a bit unhappy to realize that we would now have 50 useless, double your-ed invitations just hanging about, evilly reminding me how I wasted a precious $30 on the wrecked first batch.

After much huffing and puffing, my Dad was kind enough to shine a light of positivity on our situation. He reminded how only a few days before I was insistent on just having them all printed at Kinkos, because it would be cheaper.

Had I just send my design to Kinko’s, and had them all put in their perfectly addressed envelopes, I might not have noticed my annoying mistake until they had all been sent off. Which would have definitely annoyed me A LOT more. Thankfully, however annoying our little error was, it was easy to fix, and our invitations turned out perfectly.

So for all you brides to be out there, be sure to have as many people as you possibly can read your DIY invitations OUT LOUD.

Original Article

Jillybean the outlaw bandit (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:04:46 -0400

Jillybean the outlaw bandit (Taken with instagram)

Nail painting win :) (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 01:10:53 -0400

Nail painting win :) (Taken with instagram)

Emily made friends with a duck (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:59:33 -0400

Emily made friends with a duck (Taken with instagram)

Hello beautiful Florida sunset. (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:00:16 -0400

Hello beautiful Florida sunset. (Taken with instagram)

I love falling asleep to a beautiful view of Paris :) (Taken...

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:22:07 -0400

I love falling asleep to a beautiful view of Paris :) (Taken with instagram)

I found this little guy hanging out at my work (Taken with...

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 19:11:09 -0400

I found this little guy hanging out at my work (Taken with instagram)

Me and my little buddy (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 02:25:03 -0400

Me and my little buddy (Taken with instagram)

There’s so much water (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 20:25:32 -0400

There’s so much water (Taken with instagram)

This is the cutest little girl ever. Her name is Jillybean....

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 13:52:27 -0400

This is the cutest little girl ever. Her name is Jillybean. (Taken with instagram)

This brightened up my dreary day. (Taken with Instagram at...

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:51:43 -0400

This brightened up my dreary day. (Taken with Instagram at University of Central Florida)

Guess where I aaammm (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:13:45 -0400

Guess where I aaammm (Taken with instagram)

By far the craziest thing I’ve seen all far (Taken with...

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:27:08 -0400

By far the craziest thing I’ve seen all far (Taken with instagram)

Cutest. Dog. Ever. His name is Jack. (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:52:14 -0400

Cutest. Dog. Ever. His name is Jack. (Taken with instagram)

February = Extra Broke.

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:48:02 -0500

Yes, as we all know, the arrival of February 1st, also brings the annoying realization that there are only 13 days left to conjure up something awesome for that special someone. Unless you’re one of those fanatics that starts planning for Valentines Day like a month and a half in advance (which is New Years Day FYI).

But I am not. I dread the coming of February because it makes me realize I need to start thinking about Valentine’s Day, and, on a sadder note, the fact that it is no longer acceptable to have my Christmas Decorations still up (Yes, I am one of those people. Give me a break, you know it’s sad when you have to put the tree away).

It’s also not one of my favorite holidays, because it is one of those that I always have to work, and I really hate that they start promoting it like the day after Christmas. I still like to celebrate it though, because it is a nice reminder that I am lucky to have someone to celebrate it with, and it gives AJ and I an excuse to do something fun and splurge a little.

But let’s face it, Valentine’s Day is can easily get expensive. This Valentine’s Day however, I’m going to do everything in my power to make it as awesome as possible day for AJ and I, while costing me as little as humanly possible. And it will be awesome, because I believe that with creativity, all things are possible.

So here are some of the creative ideas I’ve come up with so far:

1. Don’t buy chocolates, make them. I’ll show you within the next few days or so, but I have an awesome, super easy recipe for delicious truffles. I’m also going to be creative and by adding some Bailey’s or Kahlua to them, and seeing how awesome it makes them (I hope it turns out AWESOME).

2. Be cute and decorate. Seriously, it’s fun. I always have fun decorating because it gets me more in the spirit of whatever holiday/whoever’s birthday. Plus, things like construction paper chains, or cute cut out hearts (try and say that one 5 times fast), are simple, cheap, and tends to make whoever you decorated for (whether it be a significant other, roommate, family, or any other special someone) feel that much more special.

3. Go on a picnic. Picnics are fun, special, and a super cheap alternative to a dinner date in a crowded restaurantaround V-Day. Plus, you could always fancy it up a bit more, by dressing up a little and making it a wine, cheese and crackers themed picnic (which is what AJ is enjoying in the picture). Sometimes it’s nice to skip the lines, and crowded restaurants, for a more peaceful, and less stressful, celebration with your important guy or gal.

4. Think hard. Seriously, think long and hard about everything and anything you heard your special someone say they wanted in the past few months. Maybe there was something they really wanted for Christmas that they never got. Maybe there is a rare collector’s edition of book or movie they’ve been searching for. Jewelry and watches are nice, but using them as default gift ideas for every occasion, takes the specialness out them.

5. Give creatively. I always love seeing the excited anticipation on a gift-recievers face while they open up a gift, even if it only lasts a few seconds while shredding some wrapping paper. So why not make that look last a little longer by creating a fun scavenger hunt to lead your lady or man-friend to their gift? It’s fun, cheap, and also illustrates that you put a lot of time into trying to make them feel special, which is good if you want them to know you care.

6. Breakfast, in bed. Which is especially special since V-Day is on a Monday this year, which probably means that you’d have to get up a good while before you normally do to make it happen. But this can work well to show how very much you car (especially if you’re not a morning person at all like me, or your loved one goes to work at 6:30 am, like AJ), because instead of sleeping like you could’ve been, you decided to put your loved one first, and do everything you could to start their day off right.

7. Take a trip down memory lane. Visit where you and your loved one first met, or went on a first day, or any other place full of memories to remind you both how much you appreciate each other. And if you cant actually visit these places, create a personalized photo album, or scrap book, and fill it with old movie tickets, cards, pictures, and other memory jogging keepsakes to achieve the same effect. You could even get super high tech and modern by making a video or photo montage in the same spirit.

This is about all I could think of for now, but I’m also operating on very little sleep, and a lot of stress. If I come across any other creative ideas, you’ll be the first to know.

Original Article

Cuban/Puerto Rican/Italian/Whatever Coffee Maker

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:06:21 -0500

A few years back, I had a fun roommate who had a stove top espresso maker, and enlightened me to the awesomeness of this mysterious, yet simple, device. You simply put the espresso grounds in the middle part, fill up the bottom compartment with water, and put it on the stove top, until all the espresso boils up into the top compartment to make your shot of espresso.

We also figured out how to make awesome lattes with it. After we made our shot of espresso, we would mix a small mugful/cupful of flavored coffee creamer with some water, and put it in the microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute. Then we would pour the creamer concoction, along with the espresso, into our travel mugs, and bam, we had awesome flavored lattes.

And the best part? They’re super cheap. Like this makes a shot of espresso, and only costs $10. AJ and I have one that makes 3 cups, which was still a steal at $25. And if you REALLY love espresso, or have a lot of coffee drinkers in your family, they also have one at Bed, Bath, and Beyond that makes a ridiculous 9 shots of espresso, for $40. And with the latte-making abilities, it’s a great alternative to spending hundreds of dollars at Starbucks every year.

(However, don’t leave it unattended on the hot stove, because it doesn’t whistle like a kettle when it’s all done. And if it’s left on the hot stove too long, the handle has been known to melt off, which is no bueno.)

There is only one downside. And this is where I will suggest you glance back up at the title. You see, I had a hard time finding it because of how many different names it has.

For example, my roommate had only ever called it a ‘Cuban Coffee Maker.’ So I thought that was what it was called. But when I told my mom of it’s awesomeness, her response was “Oh, you mean a Puerto Rican Coffee Maker?”

So then I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to find myself one, but the associate helping me had no idea what I was talking about. Somewhere in the conversation I mentioned putting it on the stove, and then the lightbulb clicked. She chuckled, and said, “Ooooooh, did you mean the Italian Espresso Maker?” I said “No, I don’t think so,” but what do you know, the brand they had was Italian.

In any case, all of it’s names, made it really annoying to try and find. So, people of the world, I say we all just agree to call it a Stove Top Espresso Maker, and stop worrying about which country it ‘belongs’ to, therefore eliminating confusions for future generations.

PS: Pic found here, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond pricing found here. And I’m not paid to mention these products, I just like them.

Original Article

I Love Ikea

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 11:14:57 -0500

And it’s not just because they sell affordable awesome furniture either. They also provide a lovely place to have a nice cheap date.

Now, I know you’re all like ‘Whaaaaaaaaaat?’ like the minions from Despicable Me (See example below)

I love the minions. Anyways, back to Ikea.

Seriously though, they really have pretty good food, that isn’t boring fast food, but costs just the same. AJ and I got their famous meatball meal last night (plus 5 extra so we could share), a piece of cake to share, some garlic bread, and two drinks, and it only cost $11.

Plus, we’re nerds and have fun wandering around, picking out things we’d eventually like to have, trying out all the sofas and comfy chairs, and being generally silly. Don’t judge us, it’s fun.

The only trouble with going on dates to Ikea, is that you have to exercise a LOT of self restraint (at least if you’re us), to buy things there, or else it kind of defeats the purpose of the cheap date. It’s so hard though, because they have so many awesome cheap items there, like picture frames, wall art, candles, curtains, pillows, and a trillion other fun gadgets.

Going to Ikea ended up costing us more than $11 because of this, but, on the up side I got some great things to show you in blog posts later this week…

(I know you’re loving how I sneakily build up the suspense.)

PS: Video found here and pic found here.

Original Article

Dear Life, If You Love Me, STOP GIVING ME LEMONS.

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:05:44 -0500

For seriously. I’m tired of lemons. If you really want to give me something, give me presents and college degrees instead. I would appreciate them SO much more.

But that’s not how life works. Life doesn’t just GIVE you stuff like money or college degrees. Life gives you stuff like bills, and homework, and two dead car batteries, or a surprise emergency vet bills. Most of us have to work ridiculously hard for decent money, a college degree, or even time with loved ones.

And while I was wallowing in an overflowing pool of self pity earlier, I remembered a saying I used to HATE hearing my Dad say when I was young: Life’s not fair, so get over it. It used to drive me up the bloody wall, and it was like hearing finger nails on a chalkboard for me. But today I realised, he’s absolutely right.

Yeah, it’s not fair that I don’t get to see AJ, and we’re tight on money, and I haven’t been on a nice dinner date with him in AGES.

But you know what else isn’t fair? The fact that we can afford our own apartment, and pay our own bills, while there are those who cant.

It’s not fair that I found the love of my life so young, and am no longer lonely, when I know people who are alone and miserable.

It’s unfair that my family is healthy and still complete, while others mourn the loss of multiple loved ones.

It’s not fair that when Jill’s (my baby girl doggy) needed emergency surgery in order to survive, I was miraculously able to afford it, with the help of my AMAZING friend at the vet’s office, who was able to take $500 off of the bill, split up the bill into an unheard of 13 payments, so that I didn’t have to put my Jilly-bean down.

So yes, life is always unfair. But I’m just gonna suck it up, and be grateful for unfair blessings I do get to enjoy in my life. The way real grown ups should.

PS: Lemons are here.

Original Article

When life gives me lemons, I want to throw them back at Life,...

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 12:00:00 -0500

When life gives me lemons, I want to throw them back at Life, and hit Life square in the eyeballs. How does lemon juice in your eyes feel, Life? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Sunny, With a High of 65°.

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:08:32 -0500

Today, it’s a beautiful sunny day, with a lovely high of 65°. And we all know what this means, right? Ridiculously awesome, so lets just say PERFECT, driving weather. Seriously, if you live in Orlando, and you’re reading this right now, go outside (well, after you finish reading of course), hop in your car, and set off on the road, with the windows down and your music turned up. I know you’ll agree with me.

I discovered the perfectness of today, while heading over to my parents to hang out. I just felt so happy, driving along, listening to happy music, and utilizing all the pep my small car has, which made driving around infinitely more fun (as you can see from my picture).

Which brings me to my real point of today: Today is the perfect drive outside, but it is only made absolutely perfect if you enjoy the perfect driving day by driving a manual car.

Don’t get me wrong, automatics are fine, and sometimes when I’m in barely moving traffic and my leg is killing me from pressing in the clutch, I even wish for a second that I had an automatic car. But automatics aren’t for me. For me, driving an automatic car, just feels like driving a golf cart. And I have nothing against you if you like feeling like you’re driving a golf cart. I’m still going to tell you five reasons why driving standard is awesome though.

5. Keeps you focused. That’s right, because I am too busy shifting and steering while driving, my hands are therefore unable to also text or really ever talk on the phone while driving. This is a nice perk, as I learned in my speech class last year, if you text, or are on the phone while driving, your chances of getting in a car accident that injures you, are quadrupled. By making it impossible for me to shift, steer, and text, or reasonably talk on the phone while driving, driving standard decreases my chances of getting a more serious car accident. Awesome.

4. Standard Cars are less expensive. I promise I’m not lying to you. When we were helping my brother find a new car a few years back, he was debating between a standard, and an automatic Mazda 3. But when it came down to it, the standard car was a good $1500 less expensive. And unless you’re a kazillionaire, that’s a good chunk of savings. My brother ended up buying the standard car(not knowing how to drive standard), and learned how to drive it within a matter of days, in order to snatch up those savings. Which brings me to numero tres.

3. Learning to drive standard is easy. I’m for-serious guys, it is easy. There are no complicated formulas, or waving of wands required. It’s just like learning to ride a bike: the concept is really simple, it just takes a bit of practice. And my proof is above. My brother had no idea how to drive standard when he bought his car. But after about 3 or 4 days of lessons from my parents, he was able to drive his new car home without any issues.

2. It’s a good skill to have. What if your mom/friend/sister/aunt/etc goes into labor, and you can’t take her to the hospital, because you didn’t drive and her car is standard, and you don’t know how? Or what if you’re roommate told you that you could borrow his or her car, but it turns out the car is standard? If you don’t know how, you’re still stuck walking. Or, the reverse, what if your roommate wants to borrow your car, but you’re a little OCD your car? If you have a standard car, and they don’t have your skillz (that’s right, I said it), you don’t even have to worry about anything, since they can’t drive it.

1. It’s super fun. You may think I’m being silly, but I really think this is a valid reason, and my number one reason. I’ll be honest, all the previous reasons are good sensible reasons to drive standard, but the main reason I love driving my manual car, is because it’s ridiculously fun. You have more control over the shifting and acceleration, so even if you’re car doesn’t have the most horsepower, you can still make it zip. I know for a fact my Mazda isn’t the fastest car in the world, but I have fun zipping past everyone else when the light turns green, it just makes me happy. And that’s important.

PS: Distracted driving stats found here, and more about why standard cars are awesome here.

Original Article