Creative sparks, extracurricular interests, internet finds, life updates, and anything else that might be milling in my head. Subscribe
to my Posts or 
by e-mail for updates. If you'd like to read about my study abroad experience in Rome, Italy, try the La Vita Bella tag!
Learning about real photography and playing with a borrowed Canon EOS 400D and Camera RAW format in my newly-found free time! I put this in the category of "continuing education." Maybe it will help with a client project one day, hehe. The real story is that I had my carpets cleaned last week so I put my shoes up on my window sill and I thought they looked just lovely up there so I had to snap a few shots before taking them down. If I decide to take them down at all...
Somehow this (talented comedienne) lady didn't entice me to wake up at 5 am, or even go to Target for either days of the two-day sale this weekend, but these ads caught my attention and I did get a few good laughs...
For anyone who didn't get out of bed on Black Friday (like the "sleeping beast" alter-ego sister below), Cyber Monday is where it's at.
I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday, ate lots of turkey, enjoyed the mild weather and maybe caught some football. I won't go into my disappointment over the results of the games this weekend but it was still fun to watch with my family, as was Disney's "UP" which blew me away (ha, ha) with the stunning 3D animation.
In other news, my dad celebrated a big birthday yesterday, I won't say which one, but I hope he is now enjoying his brand new Playstation 3 -- a gaming platform was the only thing missing in our home entertainment center, and I think this was the perfect gift for the occasion :-) Have fun, dad!
"Afterwards we went into a shop called Deƨigual where a unique jacket had caught my eye. The jacket was really expensive but I ended up with a brightly-colored top and a new favorite store."
- Spring break last year in Barcelona
Last weekend I went shopping for a business suit at the Center City Macy's in Philadelphia. Glanced over to the designer clothing department for a minute, spotted a unique-looking jacket and said to my friend, "That reminds me of a design I fell in love with in Spain last spring," looked at the label and sure enough, Deƨigual! So excited to see them making their American debut, unfortunately the price tag is about the same - around $450 for the jacket, which is similar to the €300 price tag I saw last year. What can I say, I have good taste.
Here's the Spring '09 promotional video on YouTube:
The teens at my church in NJ are working with the community to collect lightly worn, cleaned prom dresses, long evening dresses, nice bridesmaid dresses and accessories (evening bags, shawls, formal shoes and costume jewelry). These will be given to juniors or seniors who may not be able to afford new gowns for the 2009 Proms. Please help give these young ladies the prom of their dreams by bringing your lightly-used dressed back from the winter break with you.
I will accept your donations during the spring semester before the donation days on Sat., 3/21/09 and Sun., 3/22/09. St.Barnabas Church is located on 142 Sand Hill Road, Monmouth Junction NJ, 08852, so you can also bring them there between 9am - Noon if you are nearby. For more information, visit the Church's website at www.stbarnabas-sbnj.org or get in touch with Wanda Garrin wandagarrin@verizon.net or Linda Grant lindag@comcast.net.
Girls from the expanded community (South Brunswick, North Brunswick, Trenton, New Brunswick, Franklin etc…) are welcome to these dresses until our inventory runs out. Students must present a valid ID. "Shopping" days are Sat., April 18, 2009 and Sat., April 25, 2009 from 10 am – 1 pm at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church.
I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday break. Did you shop on Black Friday? I didn't make it out this year but I hope the sales continue to Christmas so I can shop in peace! All the "door busters" and "last minute sales" and "today only" things drive me a little nuts.
I saw a lot of good deals on Thanksgiving, but I haven't been in the shopping mood lately. There's a lot of stuff I'd "like to have" but I think I'll wait until December 26 to spend my hard-earned savings from my internship this semester. Plus I have to get my car fixed from the fender-bender I had a few weeks ago. I don't know if the economy is contagious or what, but I've been in a SAVING mood lately. So strange! (Che strano!)
Did you go out and shop or did you buy online? According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent an average of about 7% more this year than last over the Thanksgiving weekend. So despite this declining economy, retailers did well this weekend. They say online shoppers helped a lot.
A DSLR camera. And the time to learn how to use it. Okay so it's a little far off but it pays to dream, right?
Love, Amy
I had to smile when I saw that even the 3D community is picking up on my favorite stiletto style of the moment...
Atardecer by Ravenhair
Re-texturing called Nichibotsu by Moyra
Shopping trip at Macy's today, King of Prussia Mall. If anyone needs hints for my birthday... here's a very subtle one.
MICHAEL Michael Kors "Berkley" T-Strap
Goodbye, Spring Break.
Homa Roma again.
I’m glad to be back. Especially because it feels about 60 degrees outside and spring-y in contrast to the Prague and Berlin climates. The Romans are all still bundled up in their winter jackets but I’ve left mine at home these past two days.
It also helps that all the stores have their spring collections out, no more winter left-overs, and I just bought myself a dress, two pairs of shoes, and a gorgeous handbag that I love to death had-to-have. Oops.
If you want to see all 321 of my Spring Break photos, and some of Sara's, and maybe order some prints or just bask in their beauty, click HERE.
Since my past two weeks were quite eventful, now that I think about it, here is a second post for your reading pleasure...
So this Friday (two days ago), we all met at school to buy tickets for Saturday night's soccer game at the Stadio Olympico. You need a passport when buying the tickets, according to a new law. So we waited in a long line to pay our £25 each. Some of us were too hungover to wait on line and sat in the sun instead?
After that, I went shopping, since we were already out on Via Del Corso. I ended up buying sunglasses for £8, a Sandro Ferrone shirt for £15, a purple necklace from Rossa Fish for £15, and a black dress from United Colors of Benetton for £15. It was a great day to go shopping because the period of Saldi, or winter sales, was ending so everything was marked down even more than it had been during the month of January. Of course it wasn't the cream of the crop selection-wise, and the dress and shirt need minor repairs (I bargained for an additional £5 off the dress because of this, in broken Italian yay!) but overall, I am very happy with my purchases and the fact that I restrained myself up to this point shopping-wise. Arianna was also very happy to see my Sandro Ferrone shirt, and showed me the jackets she owns by him in her own closet.
Friday night, no one was answering their phones so I didn't have dinner plans and I rushed to the GS Supermercati which closes at 20,00 (8 o'clock), to buy some fettucine and tomato sauce. Probably not the best combination but I was desperate and pressed for time. The fettuccine was dough-like, made with eggs but not cooked all the way through, and instructed me to cook it for 4 minutes. It sounded good. It tasted good. But the next day, it didn't sit too good in my stomach.
Anyway, that night we went to a lounge/bar/club called Radio Cafè which, in all honesty, I thought was called Radio City when we arrived because of the distracting blue neon lights. You go in, pay the £8 entrance fee, and descend a stone staircase. Down below you find a space which might be best described as dungeon-turned-runway. On either side of the glowing runway are low tables and many cusions and ottomans, which lend it that NYC lounge-y feeling. A little further down the runway, passing underneath stone archways, is a dance floor with a DJ booth for the apse. We grabbed two tables and many pillows, and had ourselves a seat. We talked, danced, drank, and went home around 3 am. A good time was had by all.
Until I woke up Saturday with the worst stomach ache / nausea ever. Not hungover. Just "mal di pancia" which caused me to not even hold water down until later that night. However, I did force myself to go to the partita di calcio (soccer game) which I had already bought tickets for. I didn't even stay for the halftime show, but was able to catch the end on TV with the kids. Roma won!
Lo Stadio Olympico
I drank some tea. I ate some crackers.
Today I felt better, and had pesto and pasta with the family for lunch around 14,00. Then I went to school, made another print, worked on some Spring Break plans with Sara. We went to dinner near the metro stop by school - thanking goodness something was open at 20,00 on Sunday - and had a great chicken with rice for £7 each, while sitting outside of the Piazza del Popolo. I also learned how to correctly pronounce rice ("riso" with a rolled "r").
Outdoor Dining with Sara
Came back home, Arianna wasn't here but the kids were watching another soccer game on TV. A little after midnight, she came home all decked out and perhaps a little ubriaca (intoxicated) because she said she'd been at a feste (party) for Acquario because it had been her birthday on the 3rd, and a few of her friends were also Aquarius(es?). She looked great and didn't stop smiling - it is so nice to see her healthy again, since she has been recovering from her two eye surgeries for the past few weeks. She scampered off to bed and on that note, I must do the same.
What the heck is the point of designing a package that doesn't work? I mean, what are these "easy open" pulltabs doing if you have to rip the whole thing apart anyway? I just bought some Energizer batteries to re-power my ever-needy wireless mouse and would have loved if the little plastic holder piece could have opened when I used the perforated opening thing on the back. But, no, I had to rip up the whole darn thing and make a messy looking holder case for my remaining 2 batteries. Which I will have to use for my ever-needy digital camera now. So I will be throwing it all away regardless. But, if I had been able to save the extra batteries, where would I have put them? Surely not back into the ugly packaging remnants.
I mind ripping open batteries. I don't mind opening up Christmas presents, birthday presents, gifts, or Halloween candy. Or Halloween presents!
An example of good packaging by UPS!
Thanks, ma!
