mind-bending and clock-melting

while we were in Tampa for the bowl game, we also took a trip to the Salvador Dalí museum in St. Petersburg. I didn't know much about Dalí other than he was Spanish and the guy responsible for the melting clock painting. I love museums. when I lived in New York, my favorite place to hang out was the Met (ok, second to Central Park). I've never been to a museum that was solely the works of one artist. it was interesting to see the progression through the years and to be able to totally immerse yourself in the mind of the man.

I highly recommend the guided tours that are offered. we started with the architectural tour which went all around the incredible building they built specifically for the museum. I won't spoil it- but they really put a lot of thought into designing this place. The docent tour through the gallery was also great. we stopped at most of the major works, some of the minor, and the docent gave us explanations and interpretations direct from Dalí's own notes. I would have enjoyed looking on my own, but I never would have picked up on all the little nuances and hidden meanings he pointed out.

I also have to say I really enjoyed the lunch we ate in the museum cafe. they served authentic Spanish fare instead of your typical overpriced American museum food. the tortilla española and ensalada jamón were to die for. it's been a while since my trip to Spain, but I could have been eating that lunch in Valencía overlooking the Mediterranean. I would go back for the food alone.

another unique touch I really enjoyed was the wish tree. at the end of the tour thy encourage you to write a wish on your wristband and tie it to the strings hanging from this tree. every few months when the tree is full, they take the wishes down and post them online.

visiting the Dalí museum wasn't how I planned to spend my New Year's day, but it turned out to be a mind-bending and spiritually cleansing experience.

friday five [in photos]

1. Starbucks up and down the turnpike for 10 hour drives home.

 

2. assorted wedding decor and activities to photograph.

3. 21,000 runners and 1 million spectators in downtown Detroit.

4. completing my first race since the 1/2 marathon with sub 9 min miles.

5. pie.

week 28: return to the road

step by step. go baby go.

twenty-four-five-six

a quiet morning with a good book and coffee.

a windblown sunset and a kiss from my love.

an unplanned stop for popsicles and smiles.

it's the little things in life...

the 16 hour flight

our first trip back to Michigan was quite the adventure. Husband was supposed to drive up right after school so that we could catch a train to the airport. he got delayed and we missed the train we had planned on taking. fortunately [?] our flight was already delayed by an hour. by the time we made it to Newark and checked in at the gate, we were delayed by another hour. which meant we missed our connection in Chicago to get back to Detroit.

there were some bad storms rolling through the midwest, so there was a chance our connection might be delayed as well, and we could still make it. if not, we planned to rent a car and drive from Chicago to Detroit. [we had a meeting with a financial planner thursday morning that we could NOT miss] at that point in time our flight would land around 9pm, and after the driving we could make it home around 3am. Luke took a powernap to prepare for the long drive.

of course, the storms grew worse to the west but cleared to the east, so our connecting flight took off from Chicago while we were still waiting in Newark. it got to be late and we decided to take the first flight out in the morning rather than drive. we were delayed and delayed, and eventually took off 5 hours after originally scheduled. we landed in Chicago around midnight and the place was packed. flights all over were delayed or canceled. we called around and were lucky to ring up the Holiday Inn Express just after someone had called from Dallas to cancel their room because their flight wasn't making it. it was literally the last room in the hotel, and quite possibly within 50 miles of the airport.

after 3 hours of sleep, we showered and took the shuttle back to the airport. our flight landed 45 minutes before our meeting, so my Mom picked us up and drove us straight there. we were only 5 minutes late.

it was a long and ridiculous trip, but I didn't mind it so much since Luke was with me. we don't get to spend much time together during the week, and weekends are always full of things to be done. as crazy as this sounds: being delayed in an airport with nothing to do for 5 hours but spend time with each other was actually quite enjoyable. snuggling up together on a plane reminded me of flying for our honeymoon. sometimes it really doesn't matter where you are or what you're doing, as long as you are together.

[plus I got to take a nap in my own bed at home later that afternoon.]

week nineteen: ouch

sometimes, we fall down. even when we are trying hard to do something good. like waking up at 6am to train for your 1/2 marathon. sometimes we fall down hard. into gravelly potholes. and we scrape our knee for the first time in what feels like 20 years. and suddenly remember why kids cry so much when that happens. that shit hurts. so we cry a little and get embarrassed and gimp home and feel like we've failed for the day because it was less than a mile into our run that the incident occurred.

then the next day comes. and we remember: we are adults now. we have lived through many scrapes and falls. we realize how lucky it was we were wearing long sleeves and running tights, and that we didn't fall on our face. we tell ourselves to be strong and persevere, that if a 6-yr-old can bounce back the next day so can a 26-yr-old, and that sweat in an open wound can't hurt that much.

so we strap on our shoes, and go run.

[just not down that road anymore.]

16 going on 17

[I know. you hate that song and it's going to be stuck in your head all day now.]

week 16 included many activities and festivities... mostly based around the visits of two cousins. 

there were bolis and beer. there was giant jenga. there was a beaster egg hunt. 

and an early birthday shopping trip for me:

I have many, many pair of flats. but I bought these for myself anyway. 

40% off, super comfortable and versatile [not to mention adorable], how could a girl say no?

somewhere between weeks 16 and 17, spring... sprang.

and then I woke up with this for a view. 

ah yes, vacation.
a visit to the lovely Savannah, GA.
short but oh so sweet.

  more to come soon from my trip, but I at least edited my week 17:

[I was going to crop it square to go with the instagrams but it just didn't seem right.]

this is me. in my favorite super worn-in and outrageously comfy MSU shirt and AE shorts from 2003.
drinking my morning coffee. staring at the ocean. soaking in the sunshine. happy as a clam.

I could have put a little more effort into this but... I was on vacation.

turn it up

week 15: volumization. brought to you by a humid day, instagram, and John Frieda.

[I should be packing right now for my trip to Georgia but I'm not. oops.]

sunday morning ritual

sitting here, once again, on a sunday morning. drinking french press, wearing the ever-faithful worn out MSU hoodie that has become my equivalent of a security blanket. staring at a blank screen, wondering what I should say and what I should not.

sundays are always a struggle for me. looking back on the week past, looking ahead to all the things in the week coming. the urge to relax and do nothing vs. the panic to be productive while I have the time. the guilt of not attending church services and disappointing my parents vs. the defiant conviction that going for someone else instead of myself would be meaningless. the need for more mileage vs. sore legs and swollen knee.

but that's just the nature of life. the world is a dichotomy. good vs. evil. male vs. female. the comfort of the familiar vs. the desire to explore the unknown. not just on sundays, but every day.

please excuse the philosophical tangent. back to your weekly recap:

my week started off all bright and shiny, golden sunrises on the way home from the gym and a sense of accomplishment before 7am. I don't understand how I woke up every morning for high school at 5:45am, yet trying to do so now feels near impossible. the alarm goes off and I inevitably try to talk myself out of going to the gym. "I'll run after work instead" sounds great until it's 7pm and you find yourself starving and exhausted and missing socks in your gym bag. I need to be better at remembering how great it feels to walk out of the gym after a morning run. the high you get from a good sweat. the calmness of no one else awake. and that whole not having to take 2 showers in one day thing.

unfortunately my work life had other plans for me. by tuesday afternoon I was clinging to sanity by my fingernails. thank goodness I had a friend at the precipice who also has a weakness for margaritas and gossip and shoe shopping. we left work early [and by early, I mean 5:30 instead of 6:30 or 7] and drowned our sorrows in frozen limey goodness and discount designer shoes. I even bought myself a pair of heels. which I actually desperately needed, since the last time I bought heels was 2008 and I don't actually posses any dress shoes that go with a summer dress. I have an obsession with flats. we can discuss that later.

later in the week I started experiencing knee pain and swelling. my knees are another story completely. to summarize: I had knee problems, thought I was clear, and now it feels like they are back. and with the pain comes a lot of emotional issues.

I was struck with a bad bout of indecision.  keep running and risk hurting yourself further vs. the humiliation of admitting defeat and quitting. I chose to run. I went out and did 5 miles yesterday. I wanted to vomit afterward. it was wonderful. so I rewarded myself with the first Rita's of the season.

as for the rest of the day? I have plans to play around with the little black beauty above. the newest addition to our photographic family. I love my little SD1000 but it was time for an upgrade. Husband is traveling to Turkey for 6 weeks this summer and this is what he'll be taking with him.

also, I have some cream cheese and butter coming to room temp so I can make a batch of these while simultaneously beating back the tentacled laundry pile beast.

a dozen

well, I've made it through my first dozen self portraits! for week 12 we have something a little special... it's technically a picture of a self-portrait. not exactly where I thought this project would go, but I'm trying to leave myself unrestricted so I can get through this thing. a self-portrait is a self-portrait. in fact, it's not just a portrait of myself, but of my happy little family... Husband, myself, Beaumont, and Rocky!

as usual, there's a story here: I've always wanted something chalk-boardy in my house. a friend in college had the cabinets in her kitchen painted in chalkboard paint. others I know have entire walls. being a renter, the more practical solution was to buy a separate board to hang somewhere.

once I bought it, I debated what to write/draw on it first. an inspirational quote? a welcome message for our guests? a funny inside joke for Husband to find when he came home? a beautiful pieces of artwork to grace our home? I settled for some stick figures.

Husband's first reaction: "that looks like those things people have on the back of their cars." yes, yes it does. except he should be wearing teacher gear and I should have a cake pop and a spatula in hand. but my artistic skills with chalk are limited. at least my hair looks good!

[and why yes, this was taken with instagram. again. I'm thinking my next project might be a daily instagram. I'm still obsessed. it's still so easy and convenient. and I keep finding fun new photo apps that make iPhonography better and better]

9 after 10

52 weeks project update: I'm still going. I'm still on my instagram kick. I'm still insanely busy but making it work. it seems this wound up being my week 10 photo, since I never got around to taking another one...

but what about week 9? I DID take a photo. I just never posted it. we've all been there, right? so insanely busy we forget what day or week it is? I took this on the train ride to NYC last weekend. I'm a huge sucker for sunflare, and I used two different treatments to really pump it up. on the way to see my best friend, having a good hair day, wearing my new Nine West purple pea coat I found on super clearance. I think it's actually one of the better instagrams I've taken. but then again it may just be my love for sunflare.

and for now I'm just recovering from a day of fun yesterday, drinking french press and catching up on blogs. contemplating posting to the baking blog. or maybe even baking something. I ran out of flour and sugar the other week and finally made time to buy more, but haven't even carried it up from my car yet. and it's raining. so I guess we'll see what happens.

obsession.

I think my iPhone is taking over my life. this is the first time I've touched my computer in 3 days. I just don't need it as often. there's pretty much an app on my iPhone for anything I would do online: gmail, banking [I just deposited a check. from my phone], google, facebook, twitter, pandora, espn scorecenter, even the weather. and so many apps for things I never used before... my now-organized calendar, words with friends, runkeeper, and my newest obsession: instagram.

it's a photo program, better than the one I was previously using. snap, edit, post. and it also has its own twitter-like feed site. only it's photos. it's like the flickr version of twitter. but it can also feed into your twitter or flickr. and your facebook. or foursquare. or tumblr. [but not blogger. hmph.] I'm in love with all the cool, vintage-y filters. and slowly getting used to composing with a square in mind.

it makes it so easy to capture the moment. I can snap at any time because my phone is always with me. and I don't have to wait until I can upload and edit and sort and all that. don't get me wrong, I still have a deep love for my DSLR, and an appreciation for the work that goes into creating with that. but this is... easy. convenient. instantaneous.

I'm trying not to feel guilty about using another iPhone shot as my week 7. I told myself I was not going to be all strict and full of rules for this project, so that I would actually be able to keep up when life got crazy. [as in, the past two weeks] so I should not feel like this photo is cheating.

I love this necklace. the lovely Etsy seller who I bought my bridesmaids' necklaces from sent the charm to me as a gift with my order. [I did order 5 necklaces]. it's stamped with our wedding date. it has turned into that simple, easy, goes-with-everything necklace that I wear when I need a necklace but not something too distracting. or something that requires color-coordination and thought.

and that about sums up my week 7: iPhone snapshots. new wallet turned pretty vintage floral background. 63 degree weather. snuggly kitten. love. and cake pops.

new things

[week six]

new running shoes [nike of course] for the start of my half marathon training. I'm loving the shades of purple and gray. basically the latest and greatest version of my current shoes, in better colors. decided to break them in on the first outdoor run of the year! 

photo taken and edited on my new iPhone. counts as a selfie since yes, my feet are in them. I'm still playing around with a few editing programs [and a hundred other apps] and figured it was appropriate to use a new phone shot for this week's photo. I promise I will still use my camera. I am just in love with my phone. my only complaint is I can't blog from it.

I refuse to spend all my time on my phone and to quit blogging. or to become one of those blogs where every [sporadic] post is just an apology for not blogging often enough. 

still...

dear Blogger, please come out with an iPhone app. 

soon?