Home Says Hello

Camera Techniques: Uploading your Raw files

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:59:00 +0000

Now that you know how to shoot photos in RAW rather than Jpeg, it's not time to learn how to edit your RAW images in Adobe Camera Raw. To follow along, you will need:

Adobe Bridge
Adobe Photoshop CS5
Memory Card Reader
Your creativity! (Haha, lame sounding...but I had to put it!)

Plug your memory card reader in, insert your memory card and open Adobe Bridge. At the top of the window, you'll see a little camera icon with a downward arrow to the left of it. Click it.

2. The window below will pop up. There's two things I do here. First, make sure you have the right source selected. As you can see from the "Get Photos from" it has my memory card from my camera selected. Yay!

The next thing I do is go to the bottom of the screen and click "Advanced Dialog." This allows me to see thumbnails of all the photographs on my memory card. That way, instead of downloading EVERYTHING, I can pick and choose what I want.

This comes in handy if you know you have lots of duplicates or really bad shots that you don't want crowding up your hard drive.

3. The screenshot below should be what you see when you click "advanced dialog." The first thing I do, is click un-check all at the bottom. This allows me to go through the thumbnails and select the ones I want to upload.

Then, I go to the right and choose my destination folder. I usually select "none" for create subfolder or I choose to custom name a subfolder "RAWs" to keep them separate from JPEGs.

You can leave the file names the same, or do a custom name for them with a sequence name. For example, instead of _DSC0272_0001.NEF, I could have Monastery_01.NEF. That way, I know exactly what I'm looking for.

After that, I uncheck Adobe Bridge (since Bridge is already open) and I check "convert to DNG." DNG is a RAW file format that is universal. Even though .CR2 and .NEF are raw file names as well, DNG is more universally recognized when it comes to software, ect. You don't have to check this, but that's how I learned to do it. :)

The last step is to fill in your metadata info. If you don't have a template already made, you can type your name in the boxes labeled Creater and/or Copyright.

Now you can click "get photos." :)

4. Now that you have your files downloaded to your computer, you should be able to see miniature thumbnails in Bridge. When you click on a thumbnail, you should be able to see a larger preview of that file.

To open your raw file in Adobe Camera Raw, you can double click on a raw file or click the circular aperture-looking icon at the top. It's two buttons to the right of the little camera we clicked on to import our photos.

5. Next, you should see a window like the one below. This is Adobe Camera Raw. It's a mini-photo editing program that comes with photoshop.

At the top you have some basic tools such as a white balance picker (it looks like an eye dropper), a crop tool, a straightening tool and a blemish tool to name a few. To the right, you have even MORE to play with. You have some essentials that let you pick a white balance, change the exposure, recover blown out highlights, fill in dark places.

Next week, I'll show you how I use all these tools to bring out the best in my photos!

Please don't hesitate to ask questions via the comments, email, or Facebook. I hope this helped!

For more fun ideas and tutorials, visit HomeStoriesAtoZ and Hope Studios: Tutorial Tuesday:)

Project Life: The beginning

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:44:00 +0000

Some of you know I've been documenting each week of the new year. I love all the year-long photo projects, but it took me a while to find a system that works for my busy schedule. That's where Project Life came in. I love the easy layouts that allow me to slip photos and memorabilia in. I've chosen, with this album, to document each week of the year. Daunting, I know, but I can't wait to see it all finished. :)

Here's a look at the album. I'm using a 12x12 three-ring scrapbook:

I love the red detail on the spine. The plain cardboard front and back is a little dull, but I think it will look nice decorated in pretty paper or photos. So far, I haven't found too many examples of how people have decorated the front of their Project Life albums, but I definitely hope to!

Here's the inside cover.

The first week of January.

I'm using Becky Higgins' Photo Pocket Pages, Design A. It looks as though they're out of stock. Her website says there will be more this month. :)

I love that this is an assemble-on-your-own-time project. As long as I'm documenting my weeks by taking photos and saving little odds and ends, I can work on the album whenever I want. As you can see, I still have one thing to add to the above layout. There's a Hello Kitty sticky note place holder to let me know what I need to put there.

While I've documented every week of the new year so far, my only complete spread is the first week of February -- my birthday week! I've been participating in a February photo challenge that's definitely contributing to my Project Life content. In fact, the photo of my hands displaying "25" was for the February 3rd theme: hands. You can see more of my photos for the challenge on Home Says Hello's Facebook Page.

Our first week of February was quite busy. I entered a photography contest at school, took my first photograph with a view camera, visited a monastery, ate lunch at a fun, new cafe (which used to be Norcross' first post office) and saw a movie. Although not pictured above, we also went out for Sushi, took Emma to the dog park, and I ate birthday cake for breakfast. Twice.

The only downside to this project is that it's hard to come up with material if you don't have children. There are so many beautiful examples online of albums with tons of content. This mostly comes from mothers taking lots of photos of their children learning, playing, and growing. They also have a lot of things their children bring home from school in the album.

However, as a newlywed, I'm determined to fill this album up with loads of interesting things. If this year is a success, I plan on doing an album of our first year of marriage too. If Matt and I have children, I want them to be able to see how we were before they came, to get to know their parents as people...and not just as mom and dad.

To see more great ideas, check out this blog featuring a Project Life link up. You'll be able to see a lot of examples from other bloggers. :)

Goodbye, January

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:50:00 +0000

January has been good to me. I've enjoyed seeing my husband more now that he's graduated and working normal hours. I've enjoyed reuniting with friends from last semester. But for the first time in a long time, I'm looking forward to February. I used to stress about February, my birthday month. For a while, I spent a lot of my time being jealous of Superbowl Sunday. It would always fall on my birthday weekend. Some people pick that game over my birthday celebration every time. So I began to treat my birthday like it's no big deal, and I'm kind of ok with that. I don't really like attention. But my husband's been coaxing me out of that steel trap. He's been showing me birthdays are fun to celebrate. He's been trying to do for my birthday all the things I love to do for him on his birthday.

I'm so thankful my husband's life doesn't become unhinged when anything threatens his ability to watch a game. In fact, he just shrugs at the mention of it. His life has meaning outside of football.

Now that's what I call a man.

Hello, February: this month, I'll be:

taking photos with a view camera
Updating a photography blog we're required to start for our Multimedia I class
Swing dancing with my husband
celebrating my birthday --- Hello, twenty-five.
celebrating Emma's birthday
studying God's undying love for his people through Hosea...with 16 year old girls.
renewing my car tags because, you know, I'm an adult now.
Partaking in this photo challenge

What will you be doing this month?

Why you should shoot RAW

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:58:00 +0000

When you open up a JPG in photoshop, apply some actions, or add brushes, save it, open it again to add text, save it, open again to add more embellishments, do you notice a change in quality?

Every time you open a JPG, which is a compressed image file, its quality goes down. Think of it this way: When we compress images, we SMASH and JAM the crap out of them until it looks bent up, spit on and trashed. It's ugly and gross. We want our pretty picture back.

Well, stop shooting your pictures in JPG format! As your photography hobby grows, you should start introducing yourself to the world of RAW. RAW files are digital negatives.

Remember negatives? They're long strips of film with weird inverted images that we took on (gasp!) 35mm cameras. Goodness, those were the days. Well, most of us probably just dropped the roll of film off at the drugstore and came back in an hour to see prints magically appear. However, if you were lucky enough to have dark room equipment, you'd develop prints from your negatives yourself. Being able to develop your own negatives opened up many creative possibilities. You could control how light or dark the print came out, you could apply filters and adjust tones.

Now we can do that with computers AND MORE. That's where the RAW files come in. If you have Adobe Photoshop, you most likely have Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw. Adobe Camera Raw allows you to make edits to your RAW image without making permanent changes. You can process the heck out of a picture, hit "done" and you'll see the changes every time you open that RAW file. Say you hit done, but you want to make another change, or get the original look back. Just open the RAW file again and hit "camera raw defaults." You'll see the photo as it was straight out of your camera. Quality preserved and all! When you're ready to make a print or post the picture to the web, you can save the RAW file as a .jpg, .png or whatever you prefer.

Magical, isn't it?

So, here's what you do to set your camera up to take RAW photos:

Turn on your camera
go to your menu
find the shooting menu
scroll down to Image quality & hit ok
select NEF (RAW) for Nikon Users or CR2 (RAW) for Canon Users
Hit Ok
Ta-da!

Remember, you need a program that allows you to edit RAW files. Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom are great programs for doing this. You can also get away with using GIMP, which is freeeee!

This is part I in a series on taking better pictures. Come back next week to learn how to make great quality prints from the pictures you take.

Twelve x Four = Blog Survey!

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:49:00 +0000

The wonderful Mikalah from Posy the Porcelain Pig included me in this lovely little blog survey. Read the rules and scroll down to see if you've been tagged to participate as well. :)

The Rules:

1. You must post the rules.
2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.
4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!

12 facts about me.

1. I'm a photography student and I love learning everything the old fashioned way. From cutting my own mat boards to learning to use the old view cameras.

2. I'm a certified cake decorator.

3. Harry Potter and I were the same age when I first read The Sorcerer's Stone. :)

4. I don't like sweet ingredients in my dinner.

5. I don't really like sweets at a all. I go for the occasional chocolate item here and there, but ultimately, I'll pass on desert most of the time.

6. My dog is named after Emma Woodhouse from Jane Austen's Emma.

7. I think a gray sky is the prettiest sky

8. I love sleeping to the sound of rain

9. I grew up with Siberian Huskies as pets, but I've never been dog sledding.

10. I've never dyed my hair and I'm proud to say so!

11. I'm a quarter Japanese, a quarter black and half white.

12. I take my tea with cream and sugar.

result of my morning coffee creamer run :)

Mikalah's questions, answered.

1. How long have you been blogging?

I've been blogging at Home Says Hello for around 3 years. Can you believe it?

2. What is your favorite restaurant and why?

This always changes! Currently, I'd have to say Flip Burger Boutique. I LOVE burgers. This place, located in Atlanta, is owned by Top Chef winner Richard Blais. Apart from having the most delicious burgers in the world, they have milkshakes that are to die for. I mean, come on, how can you pass up a Captain Crunch milkshake?!

3. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?

As an English tutor, we get a lot of essays written with this topic. :) I would say that I would address the issues presented when they tax my winnings and invest the rest.
4. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

I have no earthly clue and I won't go count them, but I can tell you I consistently wear about six pairs. :)5. What is your favorite day of the week and why?

Friday. Now that Matt has a normal, steady job, he's home by 5 at the latest on Friday nights, which means we finally get to have date nights!
6. What's your favorite color to wear?

Gray. Is that depressing that gray is my favorite color? I just love it. I have a distinct memory of wearing gray jeans, a gray t-shirt, lounging on my gray sofa holding my roommates gray kitten. I was in gray heaven. :)
7. What is your favorite fruit?

Oranges. Maybe that's half the reason why I'm so in love with the Christmas season. Oranges are in season.
8. What TV show do you most enjoy watching?

When it aired, it was LOST. Now, I'm a sucker for Masterpiece Theater. Any Downton Abbey fans out there??
9. Who is one person, alive or dead, that you would love to have a conversation with?

Amelia Earhart
10. What is the worst decorating/crafting/fashion mistake you've ever made?

I'm drawing a blank here. I'm sure friends and family can think of PLENTY of examples, haha.

11. Coffee or tea? (Just had to steal this one from Kristi!)

There's nothing like a hot cup of black tea to make your day right.
12. What's the temperature in your city today?

48 degrees. It's a lovely, gray (ha!) day. <3

12 bloggers, tagged.

1. Simplicities & Serendipities

2. The Atwoods

3. Sara Doane: Trying to Make It

4. Hi, It's Amanda-Rae

5. Vacuum in Pearls

6. Paul & Jenn

7. Vita Brevis, Ars Longa

8. Cintia Ally Photography

9. Life of Bridey

10. Making it Permanent

11. Read. Breathe. Relax.

12. Shauna Nicole

12 questions for tagged bloggers

1. What's your idea of a cozy, comfy afternoon?

2. Are you an extrovert or introvert?

3. What stresses you out?

4. What calms you down?

5. If you could take a week long vacation anywhere, all expenses paid, where would you go?

6. If you could start a nonprofit organization, what would you choose to do?

7. What's your favorite book and how many times have you read it?

8. What's the worst movie you've ever seen?

9. What is your most treasured possession?

10. Where did you grow up?

11. Why do you blog?

12. What is one thing you wish to learn how to do this year?

DIY Diary: Entry 2 - Tea Tray

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:56:00 +0000

I've been on the hunt for a decent sized tray, with sides, to make taking afternoon tea in the living room easier. I can't tell you how much of a challenge it was to find one that was pretty, reasonably priced, and the right size. In fact, I couldn't find one.

I settled for a white melamine tray at Target, thinking that maybe I could dress it up, but after paying $13 for it, I didn't want to ruin it in case my craftiness didn't pan out.

So, one afternoon, while I was on my way to pick up dog food (so glamorous, I know), I stopped at Salvation Army in a desperate attempt to find a cheaper, better version of the tray of my dreams.

AND I FOUND IT. It was wooden, white, with pretty carved details and only a few scratches here and there. It had legs that fold out. Oh, and it was $3. So, I took that sucker home, used some of the paint we used to stencil our walls and here's the lovely, finished product. Needless to say, I returned the Target tray and couldn't be happier.

January: Week 2 in photos

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:52:00 +0000

Our 2nd week of January in photos.

Lots of crafting

Lots of Do-it-Yourselfing

Tea & Music

Emma made a new friend at the dog park.

More tea

& more tea

Sunday morning with the book of John

January: Week 1 in Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:22:00 +0000

This is our first week of January.

Yule Ball New Years Eve Party

Tea making & office renovating

window duty

End of the week dinner celebration. Matt survived his first week of teaching high school!

DIY Diary: Entry 1

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Here's a list of projects Matt and I want to tackle:

We're constantly trying to think of ways to make our office/guest room look pretty. I love the idea of having a canopy over the pull-out sofa. Tutorial found at CountryLiving.

I love this "marker board" to-do list from a thousand words. Matt and I have a hard time keeping up on cleaning. Our schedules are so busy and everytime we're home, we're working. Cleaning gets pushed to Friday nights, and well, that's really no fun. I plan on using this tutorial for the boards and this daily cleaning list to help us keep organized. We'll just check it off to see what's been accomplished throughout the day

Hello, December and all your prettiness.

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:39:00 +0000

The Christmas decorating has begun. I love birds, berries, ribbons and lights.

How do you like to decorate your tree?

With the temperature dropping, little Emma likes to curl up in her bed. We have a strict no-sofa policy in the living room. She likes to sigh VERY LOUDLY when as she collapses into her doggy bed when we tell her "no" to the sofa.

I like to buy ribbon and lace from the fabric department of the craft store. It makes for much prettier Christmas gift embellishing. It's rather inexpensive and I never mind having excess ribbon lying around. :)

Hello, Thanksgiving. Come again soon, please!

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:28:00 +0000

This year, I hosted my first Thanksgiving. For those of you intrigued and obsessed with knowing the bird's stats:

19 lbs, unstuffed, cooked to a golden brown beauty in 3.5 hours.

Our good friend, Cassie, came to visit us for Thanksgiving and with the three of us, we managed to pump out homemade cranberry sauce, a turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, squash casserole, corn casserole, squash salad, mashed potatoes, mini mince meat pies, and an apple pie in approximately 5 or 6 hours. We even had time for mini naps before our guests arrived.

We're pretty much pro's at this. Anyway, here are a few of my favorite photo picks from the day. The last image was lovingly and hilariously taken by Cassie :) It's pretty much my favorite.

Hello, Livingroom!

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:17:00 +0000

I can't tell you how excited I was when our new sofa arrived.

And then I saw it was the same color as the wall. It really left me no choice but to stencil the wall. What do you think?

A potential project is to figure out how to fix the patio door and window that uglify the whole room. I'm thinking one long curtain rod that extends over both the door and window and hanging curtains to make it look like one huge curtained window.

Any other ideas?

Of Leaves & Laughter

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:41:00 +0000

Autumn has arrived. Matthew and I are finally feeling on the right track. Evenings tend to generally consist of me being overcome with laughter. Matthew says the cold air makes me giddy and I'm the only one he knows that can't stop laughing when she feels the crisp coolness of the bed sheets.

Many of you may have thought this blog was abandoned, but truthfully, I was feeling discouraged. Matthew was in the process of writing his thesis and our home didn't feel very cheery. I felt alone and overwhelmed with school myself, holding on to Matthew's promise that he would be back soon.

Well now he's back, which in all its silliness, means I'm back too. Thanksgiving's around the corner and soon Christmas, and I just can't wait for all the goodness this season has in store.

Look forward to the following upcoming posts:

update on school
pictures of our new apartment
our newest decorating project
my dear friend's baby shower
our Thanksgiving celebration

Now, since I'm in such a lovely Autumn mood, check out my Autumn inspired board on Pinterest:

Our Marriage Turns One

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:38:00 +0000

I really just need to sit down for a second. The last four or five days have been incredibly fast and busy and packed with fun, but goodness, I'm exhausted.

At the moment, I'm lounging in bed, enjoying the fluff of our new European pillows and my sweet little dog curled up beside me.

Our first anniversary was this past Sunday, the 17th, and we spent the weekend taking it easy, relaxing, and just being. Really, that's the way it should be. My darling husband is such a joy and such a comfort. I still get that giddy, lighthearted feeling when I think about our wedding day, driving to the reception, just the two of us, up to our ears in my wedding dress and veil, laughing and sighing and feeling the strangeness of rings on our fingers.

Photography by CSE Photography

Matt and I also had the joy of having two dear friends visit with us Sunday night and all day Monday. They were driving through on their way to a family vacation and it was so fun to get a chance to see their wonderful faces and catch up.

When Tuesday rolled around, I hosted a sleepover for the girls in the small group I lead. Apart from my poor little dog being overwhelmed, I think it was a success. Those girls make me laugh (in all the right ways) and I love spending time with them and just being able to watch them enjoy each other's company. But now, I need to take it easy. Gone are my college days when I could stay up all night and bounce back the next morning. Now, I need to just enjoy the quiet of the afternoon, put the kettle on for tea, and count down the hours until Matt comes home.

Goodbye & Hello

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:42:00 +0000

As a kid, summer used to be so long and at times, dull, if you didn't have plans. Growing up in Florida, sometimes it was too hot to go outside, or your friends went on vacation at different times, so no one was ever in town all at once.

As an adult, summer is so short and at times, hectic, even if you don't have plans. I'm currently recovering from the exhaustion of moving items to our new apartment. I'm somewhat sad that we're saying goodbye to the apartment that sheltered us during our first year of marriage. However, I'm extremely happy that we're saying hello to a bigger apartment for our second year.

I can't wait for the move to be finished, so I can enjoy the better parts of this summer: anniversary celebration, friends visiting, a sleepover for my soon-to-be 10th graders and orientation.

In the meantime, I'll be dreaming of sea-side walks as I box up our first year of marriage, ready to unpack it all into its second year. Fresh start, fresh summer, fresh life.

The lovely girls who are about to brave the uncharted waters of 10th grade

Two for Tea

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:41:00 +0000

Saturday was a bit of perfection. Matt and I started our morning at the farmers market.
Purchases: handmade soap (lemongrass!), potted parsley and begonias, Georgia peaches, dog biscuits for Emma

What started out as a visit to the market turned into an all-day project. Matt and I decided to get working on our patio garden. We came home for lunch and I put the kettle on for tea. Egg sandwiches, lady gray, peaches. Peaceful.

Recently, we've been trying to make tea a daily habit. There's just something about drinking tea from a pretty tea pot that just soothes me. It really brightens up the day!

After lunch, we headed for home depot and bought some potting soil and seeds. We'll be growing Zinnias, Moss Roses, Carrots & Cucumbers.

In the evening, we settled down on the pretty benches in our apartment complex and ate more peaches. I can't tell you the last time Matt and I were able to relax. Together. For an entire day. We really needed the time set apart to enjoy each other, to have fun, to just sit and be. We loved it so much, we're going to do it again this Saturday.

Check back for photos of our patio garden!

Weekend Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:14:00 +0000

Matt and I traveled to Pennsylvania last weekend with his mother to attend the wedding of his cousin, Nathan. We left Friday for a little township called Chicora. The area is so quaint and peaceful; we walked to church on Sunday as Matt's grandparents literally live across the street.

I was really excited to spend time with Matt's grandparents and the rest of the family; the last time we saw them all was at our wedding. Quick hugs during the receiving line and then when we made our rounds at the reception, we were stolen away before we could actually talk to his family.

Everyone says your wedding day goes by FAST, but you never believe it until it happens.

So, we were thankful for this wedding and to be able to celebrate with Matt's family. The trip proved to be fun and eye-opening, especially for Matt. He took the time to talk with his mother and grandparents, to learn their history, the choices they made in life, how they met their spouses, what life was like growing up in Chicora. We loved it and I can't wait to visit again.

Above: Matt with his mother; Matt's fun aunt and uncle

Due to miscommunication, over 1,000 cookies were baked for the wedding. Not that Matt was complaining....

Matt's wonderful grandparents. We had such a good time catching up with them and hearing their stories. Matt's grandmother let me have some rhubarb from her garden. I can't wait to bake with it!

Good trip, good company, good hearts. So glad we had the opportunity to go and I'm so glad I got to see an extension of what makes Matt so great.

It's official: We're moving June 27th

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Tue, 17 May 2011 20:58:00 +0000

Last week, Matt and I secured our new apartment home. We'll be moving up from our tiny one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom/two-bathroom apartment.

Do you know what this means? The interior design bug has bitten me. Again. Now, I'm faced with a challenge of converting one of the bedrooms into an office/study/guestroom. We also need to buy more towels and shower curtains.

So, here's some things that have been catching my eye lately. Say hello to my new guest bathroom inspiration:

Top Row: Essential Home Shower Curtain & Simply Shabby Chic Etched Glass & Brass Canister

Bottom Row: Vintage Chic quick dry towels & Curiouser handmade soap

Seriously, people. June 27th can't come fast enough. This place feels like it's getting smaller and smaller.

Savannah & the Things to Come

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:19:00 +0000

Hi, remember me?

Lots is about to happen. I mean, Lots.

We're finally moving to a 2 bedroom apartment. We sign the lease June 1st.

We're getting a new sofa!

We're getting a buffet!

I got accepted into the commercial photography program for Fall.

We're going to celebrate our 1st Anniversary in July.

Never fear, home says hello is not lost. It's hard maintaining two blogs at once. Stay faithful, dear readers.

With that, I leave you with some fun photos from our time in Savannah with some very close friends of ours.

We heart the 80s

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:59:00 +0000

We look more like dorky twins than husband and wife here.

Last weekend was pretty crazy. I had two engagement sessions to shoot, an 80's party to attend and a small group to co-lead. I still feel like I'm recovering, but you know what? I had a blast. The best part was having Matt help out for one of the photo sessions. He was my assistant, carrying my camera bag and tripod, handing me lenses, holding on to lens caps and just being supportive. You can see the shoot he helped me on here! Honestly, I wish he could be there for all my shoots. He's the best!!

The 80s party was great! We had a blast celebrating our friend Mark's 30th birthday. His wife, Janet, cooks amazing food and we made sure to come hungry. We also played 80's scene-it. Unfortunately, Matt and I were born in 86 and 87, so we couldn't really answer many of the questions. However, I did get one trivia question right that no one else knew. They showed a news clip and you had to guess who it was about. Anyone remember the disappearance of Natalie Wood? Don't ask how I knew that.

This weekend, we're taking a day trip to Savannah to visit some friends from Florida. We're very excited and looking forward to a relaxing afternoon.

I've got some good posts coming up (with pictures), so sit tight! One of which is an interactive post! I'll be blogging about some bad habits of ours and you all have to guess who the bad habit belongs to!

What are some of your bad habits that annoy your spouse? If they're not annoying, how are they just plain different from your spouse's own bad habits? Leave your input in the comments and I'll feature the funniest/quirkiest in the bad habit post!

Getting to Know your Husband: The Flat Sheet Debate

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:32:00 +0000

Flat Sheets. I've never known what it feels like to sleep without them. They're crisp, cool and perfect for tucking you in. They make great forts and beach picnic blankets. However, not everyone feels the same way.

A few nights ago, I was changing the sheets on our bed. I was exhausted and about to fall asleep. Just getting the fitted sheet on the bed was hard enough. Emma kept pouncing on the bed and getting all spun up because, well, every dog knows that putting sheets on the bed is a game! So after 15 minutes of snapping one corner of the fitted sheet on the mattress only to have it snap off when I walked around the bed and the chest at the foot of the bed to the other side, I decided we would not be using the flat sheet for the night. We had our duvet and a blanket and a fitted sheet. I thought, "Surely we could survive one night without a flat sheet."

I informed my husband, apologizing to him. He's a strange one when it comes to comfort and I honestly can't keep track of all his comfort requirements (not that he requires me to make sure everything's comfortable, he just has his "this is comfy and this is not comfy list" -- it's very thorough).

Anyway, I told him we wouldn't be using the flat sheet and that I hoped he was ok with that, to which he responded:

"You know, I never used a flat sheet before I married you."

Oh? Oh. Yes, how could I forget. I remembered the time he was shopping for a comforter for his dorm room back in college. I think he felt every single comforter in the store, read every label to make sure he was getting the softest, comfiest comforter the store offered. And oh, how he loved it. So, I guess it makes sense that he wouldn't dare put a flat sheet between his body and the comforter of his dreams.

Well, I thought this sheet comment was funny. I grew up using the sheet so you don't dirty the comforter. The logic behind that is sheets are easier to wash than comforters (as a good friend informed me the other day). After chuckling over my husband's endearing, funny words, I quoted him on facebook and then the comments came flooding in.

Apparently, most husbands don't understand flat sheets and most husbands never used them before they got married. However, one mother noted in the comments that she provided her son with a flat sheet even if he claimed to never use it before marriage (which was confirmed by his wife).

In the end, one woman added her perspective on the necessity of a flat sheet (which was explained above) and in response, a friend of ours was enlightened and summed up the little debate quite well:

"Thank you for the heads up! I still had no clue about the use of it. I only use it now because the duvet is itchy compared to my old comforter growing up. And I'm sure all the husbands would agree, sleeping arrangements are much better now no matter how many sheets."

So, dear readers, how do your husbands feel about the flat sheet?

I see a theme of discipline surfacing here

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 03:27:00 +0000

I love a good letter. When I receive a letter in the mail, I feel, for a moment, like I'm on holiday and everything's simple and calm and good. Recently, I've started a handwritten correspondence with my friend, Amanda. We've only made it one letter each and so far we've swapped recipes for mix CDs and story ideas for creative outlets. As of now, the ball is in my court and although letter writing is fun, it's hard too. There have been three things keeping me from finishing my letter:

Social Media - I'm facebook friends with Amanda and we follow each other on twitter. We're currently working on a project together, so we're in constant communication over that. It's so tempting for me to want to just say what I want when I want.
Clutter - Matt and I have really lost control over any organizational attempt in our apartment (more on that later). Therefore, it's hard to sit down and write a pretty letter on a messy desk.
How do I top a four page letter with a mix CD?!

Ok, so I know #3 probably doesn't count in Amanda's world and I really do have some good ideas on what to write. I just need to get over #2 and #3 above and WRITE.

Do any of you write letters to others? If so, do you send little gifts? Do you add a dash of creativity?

Ok, so back to #2 on that list which really has nothing to do with writing letters or Amanda. Matt and I have decided that we are going to enlist in SPRING BREAK BOOTCAMP. Yes, that's right. On March 21st, we are going to engage in an intense week of working out, cleaning and de-cluttering. We'll be coming up with systems for organizing our bathroom, closet, file cabinet and kitchen. We'll be getting rid of clothes that are ruined or don't fit. We'll be taking Emma to the dog park (which is huge and requires to walk a few laps) every morning and going to the gym every evening. We will be exhausted. This will be our life, night and day for one week.

I know it's not a glamorous way to spend a week when your husband doesn't have to go to school, but we don't feel comfortable doing anything when our apartment is in such disarray. We hope to not only get everything looking great, but we hope to lock in some good routine. We're both really good at leaving things here and there, but it's time we put that to a stop. I've had too many cute things chewed up because they were within Emma's reach.

How do you and your spouse crack down on mess? Do you team up for one huge revamp? Or do you work at it little by little?

Sun Napping

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:48:00 +0000

I love my little family.

Happy Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 02:48:00 +0000

Matt and I spent the day sneaking silly, dorky valentines to each other. We also celebrated Emma's birthday by letting her have a frosty paw (fun little ice-cream style snacks for dogs).

I swear, I have the cutest valentines ever.

House Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:25:00 +0000

Sometimes, I like to dream of what our little apartment could look like, rather than what it does look like. I have so many ideas, but I know it's just not practical (or affordable) to change the look of our home on every one of my whims. Thank goodness for Etsy Treasury!

I've started making treasuries (curated lists) titled "Let's Pretend: [insert favorite movie, novels, time periods]." They help inspire me and prevent me from running out to home decorating stores to renovate our apartment. It actually helps for me to keep myself limited to Etsy because I can never sound convincing enough when I try to justify my reasons for making an Etsy purchase to Matt.

Question: Where do you get your inspiration?

Anyway, here's what I've been up to when I need a little distraction from my daily responsibilities:

Let's Pretend: Jane Austen

Let's Pretend: Amélie Poulain