Sushi, Shopping and Crafts with Yarden
The other night I met up with my friend Yarden for Sushi, a little shopping, and crafts! I always get these coupons from Victoria's Secret, so it was a reason to make this girl's night a reality. We, of course, enjoy these little girl nights and when crafts are involved, for some reason we always get carried away and absolutely lose track of time, and life in general.
We started our evening with our favorite, SUSHI! We had a delicious dinner at Happy Sumo in Norcross, it's close to the forum, and it was just what the doctor ordered! I had my usual Bagel Roll, and their special Volcano Scallop Roll, and it was fabulous! And of course Yarden got her usual California Rolls as always (so predictable)!
After leaving Happy Sumo, we headed over to the Forum at Peachtree Corners for a little shopping. First stop was VS and I had some decisions to make, it wasn't too hard and I used my coupon for some more leggings! The PINK Leggings are the best, I absolutely love them! And luckily I hit it at the right time and get a PINK Dog with my purchase, that was perfect, cause not only was I getting something for me, but I also was able to get something for CHUNK!
Yarden had to stop at Barnes N Nobel for a book, but after that it was onto our crafting! YEAH! So I must start this with the fact that I am a very good and thorough researcher, part of me feels like I should have been a researcher. Anyway, when searching through Pinterest, I stumbled upon a crafting website I had never been before, and I was in a new craft heaven! This website is called Craft Gawker, and it's like Pinterest, but as you can tell by the name, it's just for crafts! So after stumbling upon this, I found a super cool, and fairly easy project for to work on for the evening.
Adorable leather bow bracelets! How fun are these?! Next stop Jo-Ann Fabrics... luckily they are open until 9PM! So the items we really needed to complete this project included.
- Leather Scraps (you can use pleather if needed)
- Button Snaps
- Thread
- Super Glue
Yarden had the thread and Super Glue at the house, so all we needed was the Leather Scraps and button snaps. Yarden and I each bought a bag of leather scraps, and shared our button snaps. You could do this project for $15 or less, and end up with 5 or more bracelets...
So you first start with the leather, cutting out an oval shape measuring about 8-8.5" in length and 4" wide at the middle. Depending on the size of your wrist you can adjust this up or down.
Prepare some thread to be able to wrap around the center, you'll need this once you have leather folded. It was nice having Yarden's help to hold the folded leather, but if you don't have help, you can always use a clip or rubber-band to hold it while you wrap the thread around the center.
After you have the center tied, you will need to sew your snaps on. First test it around your wrist and get an idea of where to best place each snap button. Notice, one snap should be on the front of one flap and the back of the opposite flap.
Once the snaps are attached, you'll want to cut out your rectangle strip to wrap around the center. Again test it out and see what thickness you like and make sure it's long enough to wrap all the way around before you do your final cuts and gluing. After you have your strip ready, you can glue it! I started with a dab of super glue in the center and stuck my bow down in the center and then added some additional glue to the strip as I wrapped it around the bow. Let it dry for a bit and viola! You now have an awesome bow bracelet that totally makes a statement and it doesn't take forever to do! We love crafts!
I made a few extras... I even did a Navy one with a chocolate-brown center strap! So cute! And lucky for those that comment on the post, you will be entered into a drawing to get one of these adorable bow bracelets compliments of Perdueosity! So be sure to comment!
I hope you enjoyed this post and I leave you with Chunk enjoying his new PINK dog! He's so cute!
Good Times with Good Friends: Skate Night and Wild Wing Cafe
This past weekend we went back to our childhood with some old school fun! We went to one of the local Skating Rinks for a fun night of skating with good friends! It's been about two years or so since Paul and I have been skating, and probably closer to 10 or more for some of our friends.
We went to Slapshot Family Skate Center in Cumming, GA. It had all those old school things you remember from your childhood skating rink...
It's definitely different then when we were kids. I guess as you get older you tend to have more fear, and a lot less balance! But thankfully once you get out there it's kind of like riding a bike again and you actually start to get into it! While I think we were all a little unsure about it at first, we ended up very happy with our decision to go skating, and I'm pretty certain everyone that went would be willing to go back again.
After we wore ourselves out skating we decided to head over to Wild Wing Cafe for some good eating and live music! The food is of course always great, but we were pleasantly surprised with how awesome the band was! It was the first time Roshambeaux had played at Wild Wing, and I am totally hoping they will come back cause they were amazing!
They played a mixture of everything from Collective Soul, a remixed (alternative style) of the Cupid Shuffle, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, John Cash, and their own stuff. Their style of music had a very bluesy feel, with various improvised moments from each member from guitar, bass and drum solos. We were thoroughly impressed and will definitely keep an eye on how they progress.
In any event, the evening was awesome. We had a great time with all our friends and I hope that we can plan an evening like this again soon!
Another Apple Experience: Restoring the Faith
So I would like to preface this with a little history on my relationship with Apple. After college I got my first Power Book, and it was amazing! It was my first step into total conversion, even rebirth of belief about what a computer should be capable of, and what it is capable of! I was used to a PC and the pains of crashing, slow processing and your typical viruses. It seemed as if every year my PC needed a doctor's appointment.
I am a photographer and graphic and web designer, and I need a machine that works the way I do, with precision, determination and generally like a WORK HORSE!
After running my PowerBook for ten years I was faced with an issue on the hard drive not responding. I went to Apple to see what they could do, and since it was such an old computer we (the consultant and I) came to the ultimate decision that it didn't owe me anything, I had gotten everything out of it I could and the best option at that point was to upgrade to the Macbook Pro! 
I was excited about this new machine and how it would allow me to progress in my work, so I jumped in like an excited child into the ball pen at McDonald's! I brought both my new and old laptops home, and was getting myself acclimated to the new system. While I was working on the new machine, I was also playing around with the old one in an effort to pull information from it, as no one wants to lose what they have on their old computer. Low and behold, my old PowerBook started up! It was a miracle and I contemplated returning the new machine, but this new piece of equipment was so beautiful and extremely fast. I just couldn't let it go! From a cost analysis standpoint, the amount of time the new Mac was able to save me would essentially be a pay raise on the time I lost from outdated technology. But in any case it's always good to have two machines... best to have a backup for anything that is important in life (including my work!).
In addition to the two Mac laptops I now had, I decided to purchase an old tower from the AJC where I was working. Because oddly they were transitioning away from Apple, the first in what I consider many of the AJC's BAD decisions. But in any case it worked out cause I now had another machine to use for backup needs. It was a Mac G4 dual 500 that needed a little tender loving care, i.e. a new hard drive, memory and a few other updates. But luckily I had a good friend, and Apple tech from the AJC that pimped the machine.
From this point, we then added the Time Capsule as storage was going to be a MUST! With the Time Capsule I was able to network all the computers in the house in addition to utilizing a 2.5 terabytes of wireless external storage while at home or in my office. A beautiful thing!
But this is not it! Both my wife and I have iPhones as well. Monica started with the first generation iPhone (I was unsure about it, as anyone would be with the first model of any product), so we tested it out. It was awesome! It wasn't long before I got one myself. And of course we have both since upgraded to newer versions.
The Apple obsession doesn't end there, I decided to turn it into a cool collection of Mac products. I was able to barter for an old school iMac lamp shade. We had to upgrade it with a WiFi card, yes it's that old! But once we installed that, this puppy is another great machine we use in our kitchen and sometimes living room where we can access iTunes from the Time Capsule, and surf the web for recipes and anything we have questions about!
And the history continues as we just purchased a new 13'' MacBook Pro for Monica a few months ago! So currently we own 3 Mac Laptops, one tower, one old school iMac, and two iPhones. I know we aren't the only ones with this many Apple products, but its become like an obsession, and a true collection of amazing products.
Anyway, the point of this post is coming I promise! My wife and I have truly become loyal customers of Apple, and when you develop that kind of investment into a company there is a relationship that builds. And both sides need to invest at least somewhat equally into that relationship!
So, when my MacBook's logic board pooped out on me a second time (this computer is only 2 years old), I immediately went to Apple with a high expectation of quality service. As many of you may already know, you have to schedule an appointment to work with the "Geniuses" in the Apple store and I did exactly that. And as I predicted, they diagnosed the computer and the Logic Board was done. Now I worked this computer hard as I have with all of my Mac's and it was plausible that I could have just run it out. 80 hours a week is not a rare expectation of time spent on this computer. But a resolution needed to be found, as this is my work we were talking about.
Initially I was being quoted for service on the MacBook to be about $400 to $500 to transfer the data and replace the logic board. I was prepared to do this as what are my options really? I have to have this computer for work!? Well I started to think about this and how much money we have already invested in Apple and all their products and the fact that it has to be a give and take situation! So I continued to discuss the issue with the consultants at the store and we came to the conclusion that I might get a little further with the Apple Care Customer Relations. So I sat in the store and called Apple Care Customer Relations and was on the phone with them for about an hour. I spoke with one girl, who like all the employees of Apple, was super genuine and as sweet as the next. Always understanding and trying to do all they can to help make the situation right.
I think Apple does a spectacular job when it comes to hiring highly trained, qualified, passionate about mac, people who are there to help you. They genuinely care about you and that you leave satisfied. If one person was not able to help me, the service did not stop there. That person would direct me to another person who had more power and vise versa. Eventually after dealing with 3 people and 2 hours total time invested, I was able to save myself $500 and re-instill my faith in APPLE because they were giving me a 100% warranty on the product.
They decided the right thing to do was to provide me service under warranty, and so they were going to be sending me a box with instructions to ship my Macbook to them! I was surprised just how nice the box was with detailed instructions on how to place the computer into the box. It came with pre cut tape and custom sized padding to hold the computer. For a minute I almost thought the box would make for a great new brief case but I felt the cardboard was a bit less to be desired, lol.
I connected with Gary Dailey, of Daystar Technology, who migrated the data to Monica's computer as I would need a computer to work on in the meantime.
I shipped the computer with full details about what needed to be fixed and not only did they fix those necessary things, they did more! And at no cost to me, but a little time!
Check out this wrap sheet of issues that they resolved! No questions, just fix it up and get it back to the customer!
If you are still on a PC, it is my personal experience and professional recommendation you switch to Apple. You will understand why, only after you do so. Here is a quote from the biography of Steve Jobs that I am presently reading. Apply to this theory, the amount of times your PC has crashed, not booted up, blue screened, gotten a virus, froze up or just broke. Imagine the lives we could save in time!
My Virtual Makeover! It's Amazing What You Can Do!
So, I have decided I'm going to try to grow my hair out. I don't know what has gotten into me because I always have short hair! ALWAYS! And I think I look good with short hair, so it's not a bad thing, but the biggest challenge with having longer hair is growing it, and patience to wait for it to grow out!
Anyway, I decided to try out some new "do's" online! It's amazing what you can do on a computer. I searched around and found a fun Virtual Makeover site that actually does a pretty amazing job at making not only alternate hair styles look realistic, but also make-up! I went from a picture with no make-up or style to a gorgeous masterpiece! haha
You start by uploading a picture... and it gives specs. Then you mark areas of your face with dots to let the program know where things should be, etc. Then onto the make-up application!
First you start with foundation... And you can even choose the make-up you use by brand! Or maybe you want to try out a different make-up to see how it would look! I use Smashbox foundation, so I figured why not go with what I already have...
And then you move onto blush, eyes and lips... I noticed the biggest difference with the eye make-up! Very cool options for shadow application (one, two and,three color application) as well as eye liner with a very broad spectrum of colors!
You can even play with contacts... check me out with green eyes! Oh YEAH!
But for real, I was very pleased with the outcome! Check out the difference, I really look like I put on make-up and I was surprised how different and good I look with some extra makeup. I need to start wearing more eyeliner I think, and maybe curl those lashes!
Then on to hair... I am seriously going to try to grow my hair out, and I actually found something that I think I would actually look decent with! You can play with the dots to adjust the hair to fit your face better and you can play with color and everything!
For a digital makeover this wasn't bad! I'm going to plan for a Sophia Bush do! So check me out, hopefully in a year or so, if I can actually last long enough to grow it out... I could look like this! Oohhh La La!
Nothing a little vitamins, and curling couldn't work out... and if worse comes to worse I can try extensions! Hahaha Not really, but I will try to GROW IT OUT!
I couldn't finish this fun without some experiments with other options. This is when it gets fun! I don't think I would ever go for a dramatically different color, but it's fun to see what I could maybe look like!
If you want to do your own makeover check it out online for yourself HERE! This was so fun!!
The Bachelor is Back... and the Drama Begins!
I watched the Bachelorette with Ashley Hebert and have been watching the Bachelor and Bachelorette on and off for years! It's one of my meaningless pleasures. I don't watch too much reality TV, but this I do partake in!
So when Ashley didn't choose Ben I was definitely disappointed because while he seems to be like a best friend, he seem to be the kind of guy a girl should marry! I think in more cases than not, friendship should be the true bond of a relationship and everything else is a perk. Don't get me wrong, I do believe in sexual attraction and passion, but I think that only grows more over time with a true friend and will fade with someone that truly isn't a friend!
Anyway, I was very excited when Ben was going to be the next Bachelor! I think he is a good guy, and he seems down to earth and respectable, but this first episode left me wondering what the show will be about. It started out with a lot of drama! Which is to be expected, but I honestly feel like Ben has slim pickins when it comes to a quality lifelong love!
I will definitely be interested to see how things unfold and hope that it isn't a women's bitch fest while Ben is clueless in the background. I think that is how the sneak previews portray him. But I could be wrong which is of course why I will continue to watch it! Reality TV truly does have a way of making you think things are much more dramatic than they may be...
So these girls... making interesting impressions from the start. I just have one person to say bad things about... although I'm sure I could say more about others. I would rather make this about my favorites and hopefuls to be Ben's match!
So first we have Monica, I'm disappointed in this selection. She seems to be there to push people's buttons and to increase ratings. And I'm sure she will. But she does piss me off, I mean she is giving my name a bad name here! I think she is a little devil and she is just trying to play the game of screwing with people... not a fan. Now don't get me wrong, my friend Ashley and I (in college) thought it would be hilarious to be on a show like this just to cause trouble, cause who would ever really want to fight for one man among 25 other catty women! Not to mention knowing he is kissing and God knows what else with each of them. It's really kind of sad... but it's nice to dream that you can win the heart of someone... and it is certainly upsetting to know someone like this girl Monica is just there to screw with you and others! Not Cool! So hopefully Ben will figure this out and boot her!
Ok now onto my hopefuls! There aren't many because like I said I wasn't very excited about the options for him this time around! But here it goes...
My third runner up is: Brittney! She seems really sweet. Now it was a little odd that her Grandmother came with her, but in any case she still seems very sweet. So if she moves along I won't be upset!
Second runner up! Emily! I liked her cause she seems really down to earth and she totally rapped for him! And it wasn't just some rap, it was like this long elaborate rap and she totally pieced it together and had cool movement and everything! I really think she will add a little character and humor to the show and possibly Ben's life... here's hoping Ben will keep Emily around!
And my first choice......... drum roll please!? It is Jennifer! I don't know why, she seems cool and I just thought she is a likely choice for him. She didn't seem to be involved in drama, laying low but made a good impression! She would be my first choice if I was betting on who will be there in the end!
Well that was a lot of talk about a silly show, but I enjoy it so much... and hope these ladies make it to the end! I may continue to post about the show and what's going on as things progress... who knows... but consider this me placing my bet for these ladies!
I hope at least one of them makes it to the final three... we shall see!
Happy New Year!!! 2012 Is Already Looking to be a GREAT Year!
We celebrated New Year's Eve and New Years Day 2012 with some great friends this year at Sheer Atlanta's NYE 2012 Celebration at Shout in Midtown Atlanta. Thanks to our good friend Matthew Levine, we got hooked up with a great party and Paul and Matt were able to "WOW" Jonathan Sheer and his guests with some awesome photos!
For a good part of the evening Paul and Matt were all over the place snapping shots, from the red carpet entrance to the party inside. Luckily I wasn't alone while they worked! We had a lot of great friends join us for the evening.
We rode down to Shout with our friends, Stephen, Frank and FUN Ron! Met up with Ashley Cash and her 30th Birthday Entourage (Shane, Susan, Kendra, Kendra's Husband, and Kim) and I was also joined by some new friends Gina and Kristy! What a fun party!
The evening started off with some red carpet shots... I missed out on this part... but it's all good, we got plenty of other photos elsewhere. I think I may have been chowing down on my New Years Eve dinner (Sushi Sushi Sushi! I love Sushi!).
As people started to file in, the party just continued to get better and better! This is by far one of my favorite New Year's Parties yet! Here we have the Birthday Girl and her hubby Shane, and the rest of us getting warmed up by beverages on the outside veranda!
Things just get better and better as everyone gets their drink on! Ashley's group chipped in on a cabana inside, and luckily it wasn't half the price they quoted her in advance. It was honestly pretty reasonable split among their group! Ashley definitely had what I would consider to be a great 30th birthday!
I was surprised how quickly midnight rolled around and I had to find Paul for our midnight kiss! Gina accompanied me downstairs to find him with no luck! I totally thought it was possible that I wouldn't get my New Year's kiss, but luckily Kristy found me and brought me to my man and we started our New Year off just right!
I got my New Years Kiss! YEAH!
We ended up closing down the bar... I was chilling by all the equipment when I heard the announcement for last call. I couldn't believe we were there ALL night!
After the guys packed everything up, we headed out and couldn't end the evening without the customary morning drunk meal so we stopped at the Georgia Dinner in Duluth, GA where I got Challah Bread French Toast with Crispy Bacon!!! It was amazing... YUMMMM!
We all had such an awesome time! Thank you to all our friends that celebrated with us, we are looking forward to an AWESOME 2012! Hope you all had a great NYE Celebration!!! Oh and Thank You Matthew for driving, that made the entire evening that much better!
