An Overture to Illumination

MAYkeover Madness

2013-05-16T13:08:00.001-04:00

Swagbucks is having a Swag Code Extravagnaza called "MAYkeover Madness" next Wednesday, May 22nd. It starts at midnight PT, and there will be a total of 7 codes and if you get them all, it totals out to 70 Swag Bucks!

Check below for a schedule with the values and times of all of the codes, but not what they are. You'll have to show up for that!

If you're asking yourself "what is a Swag Code?", it's another way to get yourself closer to free gift cards on Swagbucks.com, which is a site that rewards you for most of the things you're already doing online—I've talked about all the great stuff I've gotten through this site, but it's also a fun way to spend some time chilling on the Internet, playing games, watching videos, and all the while earning points. You can get all sorts of things with the Swag Bucks you earn - for example, I've redeemed my Swag Bucks for Amazon Gift Cards—it's how I trick out my bike and get sweet yoga props.

Join today by clicking here!

Double Stuffed Swagbucks!

2013-04-26T17:46:00.001-04:00

Before April ends Swagbucks is giving you another opportunity to earn big! This Tuesday, April 30th Swagbucks is holding another Double Stuffed Swagbucks. If you missed the first one, here's how it works:

Double Stuffed Swagbucks means you'll get DOUBLE the SB amount in many of the ways to earn: Shop & Earn (in countries where available!), the Daily Poll, NOSO, the Toolbar, Games (aka Play) & on SBTV (aka Watch)!

In addition to Double the SB-earning fun, there will be 35 Swag Bucks worth of Swag Codes given throughout the day in each country of the Swag Nation.

If you haven't joined Swagbucks yet, now is the time. It's your chance to earn Swag Bucks twice as fast on Tuesday -- which means more free prizes like gift cards to Amazon, Target, Walmart & Paypal! Use the sign-up code 70DOUBLESTUFF for an extra 70 SB bonus when you sign up here.

Reasons I Hate You

2013-03-28T12:05:00.001-04:00

I am standing at the elevator bay. You come up behind me. We make eye contact. I nod and smile. You grunt. The light is on, the elevator is on its way. You pause. You reach into my personal space to press the button again. Twice.

I take the stairs.

The 5th Birthday Blowout Is Coming! With a Swag Code!

2013-02-11T07:08:00.000-05:00

Swagbucks has some big things in store for their 5th Birthday this year - they're giving out five $1000 cash prizes and holding a HUGE Swag Code Extravaganza where you can earn 135 Swag Bucks worth of codes! There are also some huge games planned, and while the party doesn't happen until February 25th, today (Monday the 11th) you'll get more info, including how you can win one of those $1000 prizes! Haven't joined Swagbucks yet? Click here to join and use the Swag Code 5THBIRTHDAY during registration - you'll start with 120 Swag Bucks instead of the usual 30. I've earned over $500 in gift certificates to Amazon, Zappos, and Best Buy from using Swagbucks and you can too! I turned my most recent Amazon gift cards into a really sweet pair of headphones.

Project 365 Update: November and December

2013-01-27T10:25:00.000-05:00

Wow, a whole year flew by before I even knew it.

November was a month where I voted, where we celebrated squash, and then we went to PA for Thanksgiving. I don't think I have a favorite photo, but gun to my head, I'd choose this one from a bike ride we took with some friends:

December was Christmastime, but the photo-taking was abysmal. It was my first month of unemployment, and even though I saw it coming from months away, it was painful and I stayed in like a hermit a lot. Not a lot of good photo-ops.

Still, we got our first real snow of the season, I finally finished Matt's gloves, I made dry shampoo, we ate frozen wedding cake, and my sister and I got really drunk on Christmas Eve drinking Jack Daniels out of a mason jar. I then caught the flu from a baby, and was wiped out for three weeks. By the way, babies are the worst.

Whatever, I still dressed up for New Year's Eve. And I looked fucking amazing for someone with a nasty head cold or the flu:

Swagbucks On the Go

2013-01-23T10:08:00.000-05:00

Swagbucks has just added a new way to earn from their mobile site: Special Offers, where you can earn a lot of Swag Bucks in a small amount of time. Just go to the "Earn" Menu and you'll find them - you can choose from a bunch of different offers and they'll add new ones as they become available. Once an offer credits, it'll appear in your Swagbucks Ledger as "Special Offers: Trial Pay Mobile". Offers can range from a few Swag Bucks to thousands of Swag Bucks and can be a simple as watching a video.

It has never been easier to earn swagbucks now that they've allowed us to access the site on the phone in your pocket. Earn on the bus, earn while you're waiting in line at the supermarket...the sky's the limit—as long as you have internet access.

Not a member of Swagbucks? Sign up for your free account with this link and earn with me!

Last year, I earned over $250 in Amazon gift cards, plus a $100 gift card to Best Buy (free fitbit upgrade!), and a $50 gift card to Zappos (free winter running pants!). I intend to earn so much more than that this year. Who is with me?!

30 Things to do Before I Turn 30

2013-01-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Up until 30, for some reason it made sense to me that I wanted to to x-1 things before I turned x. But 29 before 30 seemed kind of...silly. 30 is big. 30 is...thirty. So without further adieu, my list of thirty things I want to do before 30:

Learn to drive standard
Visit a new state
Visit a new museum
Make my own flavored vodka
Make ice cream
Find a piece of good furniture
I feel like I did one better and got a very beautiful rug by Austin artist Alyson Fox (from West Elm). It is gorgeous and I love it. We even bought a vacuum cleaner JUST BECAUSE I love this rug so much, and want to take care of it properly forever. We also finally got around to getting a cube Expedit for our vinyl collection.
Adopt a greyhound
Add a lens to my camera collection
Take bird pictures
Done! Got a photo of a hawk, which was more than I ever could have dreamed! Now I need to use the good old telephoto lens and get some "real" bird pictures as the telephoto intended.
Make a lightbox
Knit a sweater
Sew a skirt
Make a travel book for guests/Scrapbook about Boston
Take a haunted trolley tour
Ride the Swan Boats
Learn to play guitar
Take spanish lessons
Read Three classics: War and Peace, Persuasion, and Crime and Punishment
Start waking up early
I had to start waking up before 6:30 for my new job. So...done!
Visit a national monument
Run a 10K
Repaint/refinish our kitchen chairs
Overhaul the sh*t out of my closet
Overhaul the sh*t out of my online portfolio
Open that damned etsy store
Get my first tattoo
Do 30 days of yoga
Keep a Therapy Journal
Set a measurable goal in therapy
Eat a cleaner diet

28 before 29

Wrapping Up 2012

2012-12-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

Wrapping up 2011

1. What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before?

Caught a striped bass
Went to a group meditation class
Traveled internationally with my husband
Ate frozen wedding cake
Stripped paint from dining room chairs
Patched drywall
Ran a 5K

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions and will you make more for next year?
From last year:

Work on my yoga/meditation

I would like to be able to do crow pose without looking like a stuck barnyard animal.
I would like to get my hips closer to the floor in pigeon pose, and I would like to touch my heels to the floor in downward dog
I would like to meditate at least three times a week, and check out group meditation at least once this year

Start earning more money as a freelance designer

I did do more yoga this year, but it tapered off in a really bad way after the summer. I still can't do crow pose, my downward facing dog is worse, my pigeon is better. I did check out group meditation exactly once this year. I earned some money freelancing, but I did begin to found a company with some graphic designers, and I have some work slated for 2013.

This year? Rather than resolutions, I'd like to set goals:

Run a 10K
Open an etsy store
Redesign my website

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, friends of ours had a beautiful baby girl! We were actually there when she went into labor, which is apparently much less exciting than you'd think it would be (if you haven't had babies).

4. Did anyone close to you die?
J had a relative pass on this year.

5. What countries did you visit?

Croatia and Italy

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
A complete dining room chair set (all painted yellow)

7. What date from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
August 18th. This was the day we were in Venice eating outside, and a parade of Hare Krishnas danced through the streets while we were having dinner. The one meal when we didn't have a camera!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I had an actual breakthrough where I figured out that I was angry, not because I was actually angry, but because of something I was feeling embarrassed and sad about—it was the first of many steps towards not being so angry all the time, and it felt so big, even though it was over something that was actually somewhat inconsequential.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I let someone completely insignificant get the best of me, and I turned into a total drama queen in front of my family.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I got yoga mat burns on my elbows, and a nasty burn on my arm from our wok. I also inflamed my ankle, possibly by running too much too soon, and caught a nasty cold around Christmas.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
I finally bought new, fancy, grownup sheets for our bed. They came from The Company Store, and they're so soft and so pretty.

I bought a Kate Spade bag and wallet, and I bought a new office chair. We also bought tickets to Europe, and while we were there, a Bad Memories Eraser for my sister.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My friend Jessica, who is the reason I ran an entire 5K. I was not the fastest, but I finished, and I didn't walk any of it, all due to her encouragement and support.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
One of my original designs had been accepted into a T-shirt contest and I was really thrilled about it until some wet blanket reported my T-shirt and another person's T-shirt for using unoriginal material, and their claims were baseless and factually untrue, but instead of being rational, the committee pulled the T-shirt designs and publicly called me and one other person out on not having "original, previously unpublished designs."

This all worked itself out in the end because me (and the other person) were in the right, and the committee (and the wet blanket) were in the wrong, but I had to fight this fight for two weeks. The first guy sends an email, and our T-shirts are pulled the same day, but they have to deliberate about their intrinsic wrongness for two weeks?

Anyway, it was really tough to keep my shit together for those two weeks. Especially because it was a stupid internal T-shirt contest, but I kind of didn't want to let it go that they emailed a good percentage of the university where I work and baselessly accused me of some form of not producing original work.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Most of our money went into paying for the wedding, the aftermath of the wedding, and our Europe trip.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Our wedding was featured on a wedding blog—100 Layer Cake.
We went to Italy and Croatia in August
We decided to adopt a greyhound in 2013

16. What song will always remind you of 2012?
Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder?
happier

thinner or fatter?
about ten pounds fatter

richer or poorer?
richer in experience

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
uppercuts, exercise.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being angry all the time.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

El Paso

21. How will you be spending New Years?
Black and Gold NYE party at our house!

22. Did you fall in love in 2012?
Again and again.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Wilfred or Breaking Bad.

24. Do you "hate" anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I think that I've come to decide that "hate," even the mild pretend "hate," is a completely wasted emotion. This doesn't mean that there isn't anyone that could have made this list, just that I choose not to participate in this question anymore.*

*I have added an addendum to include the dislike that I feel for people who mark up library books.

25. What was the best book you read?
I didn't enjoy, but learned a lot from Tich Nacht Hahn's Anger: Cooling the Flames. I found a lot of inspiration in Sharon Salzberg's Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation. As far as non-meditation related books? I really devoured the Hunger Games trilogy this year. Admittedly not the best books ever written, but can we please stop comparing it to the Twilight series?

I also read a few Anne Boleyn biographies that were fascinating and illuminating. She was such a powerful and intelligent woman.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I am going to forever regret publishing this on the Internet, but Call Me Maybe. Maybe?

Just kidding. My favorite album this year was a tossup between Hot Chip's In Our Heads—in particular the song Look at Where We Are and Stars' album Night. Neither of the bands were discoveries, but in lieu of Carly Rae Jaspen, it's better, right?

27. What did you want that you also ended up getting?
New riding boots, an immersion blender, a trip to Europe, and a Canon EOS 60D.

28. What did you want that you did not end up getting?

Relocation to the West/Southwest. I miss my mountains.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Wuthering Heights, Argo.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?I turned 28. The night before my actual birthday (which fell on a Sunday this year), we went to dinner at Cantina La Mexicana. After dinner, we all went down to Central Square for Heroes Night at TT The Bears—where they celebrated David Bowie's birthday at midnight. It was awesome!

The next day, my actual birthday, J continued our tradition of going to Harvard Square and eating cupcakes, plus going to Eastern Mountain Sports and American Apparel.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
This year not being an election year would have made a lot of things easier. Not being pressured to have babies woud have been nice, even though the thoughts are well meaning.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?

Lots of running clothes.

33. What kept you sane?
Avoiding my mother's facebook page.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Ryan Gosling, of course!

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
In fact, many of the political issues I was stirred by weren't political issues at all—or shouldn't have been. Religion, women's rights, gay rights—you know, rights for people that are all equal in every way except when they're used as political props.

36. Who did you miss?
Our old neighbors, still. I'm also sad that my graphic design classes are over, but I still keep in touch.

37. Who was the best new person you met?

I met some really great people in my graphic design classes this year.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.

I learned a lot of valuable lessons this year.

It is okay to cry
It is okay to know that you're right about something when you're right about something, and simply ask to be heard
It is not okay to visit my mother's facebook page and then get angry at what I see

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I'd done
And I don't wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say

-Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know

or...

I'm so human
and it's ok
for me to feel this way

-Lady Sovreign, So Human

Swagbucks Sunday

2012-11-18T13:45:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite motivational tools on swagbucks is the daily goal meter. Each day, they give you a new goal to hit any way you can. Once you hit the goal you earn a bonus—usually 10% of the daily goal, but sometimes even more when there's a larger goal to hit. They also give out bonuses for hitting consecutive days within a month - all bonuses are cumulative and get applied at the beginning of the following month.

In October, they made this even more interesting with a Zombies vs. Vampires challenge, but like the only-child I was for six years, I still play better on my own.

See how many consecutive goals YOU can hit! Sign up for Swagbucks and start earning.

Swagbucks Holiday Hundreds Giveaway

2012-11-13T13:38:00.001-05:00

Starting at 12pm Pacific Time on November 14th every transaction you make through the Swagbucks Shop & Earn will get you an entry to win the $100 Gift Card of your choice from the Swag Store. As soon as the Swag Bucks show up as pending in your ledger, your entry has been earned! Entries are cumulative, so the more transactions you make, the more entries you'll get (the Travel Category is excluded).

The first drawing will take place on the 19th and will run every day through the 14th of December - if you're the winner, Swagbucks will contact you at whatever email address you have on your account.

Haven't joined Swagbucks yet? Sign up today and enter the code HOLIDAY100s to start with 100 Swag Bucks of your own!

Project 365 Update: October

2012-11-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

October was once again not a great month, photo-wise, but they do tell a story. I tried a juice fast (and failed after a day and a half). We went to a wedding. I hacked some old pajama pants. We cooked every single day one week. We survived a frankenstorm.

My favorite photo is one I try to get every road trip, but this one was pretty successful. It shows the autumn foliage really well, both in the mirror and in the reflection on the car.

Oh, One Last Thing!

2012-11-01T10:19:00.000-04:00

Starting on November 1st, for the rest of the year, the Swagbucks Swag Store will be bringing you lower prices and limitless rewards. To break it down for you, all $5 gift cards will now be 500 Swag Bucks (for reference, they're usually in the 600 Swag Buck range), $10 gift cards will be 1000 Swag Bucks, $25 Gift Cards will be 2500 Swag Bucks and so on.

This promotion excludes the $5 Amazon.com, which remains the bargain price of 450 SB. However, the absolute. best. part is that now you get more bang for your (Swag) Bucks, so you can now snag even more rewards, because our old monthly redemption limits (except the $5 Amazon.com Gift Card) will be gone. You’re still limited to 2 rewards per day, but you don’t have to worry about which prizes you’re redeeming, because Swagbucks just expanded your monthly SB budget!

Get Your Swag On In Time For The Holidays!

2012-11-01T10:08:00.000-04:00

Just in time for the holidays, Swagbucks has brought back Expedited Shipping on all of the Amazon Gift Cards in the Swag Store. Starting November 1st, all you have to do is order and verify your gift card by 2pm PT to get it the next business day, select the Expedited Shipping option and add an extra 50 Swag Bucks to your order. It's so simple!

If you're not already on the site, sign up for swagbucks now, and give everyone a little something extra this Holiday Season (I know I would love a $5 Amazon gift card in my stocking)!

Pinned It, Made It

2012-10-26T12:23:00.001-04:00

Scallops à la Provençal

This meal was delicious, except for the frozen corn. I learned that boiling is always better than microwaving. The only thing we changed about this recipe was that we added sautéed onions.

Music Mondays

2012-10-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

Martin Solveig—The Night Out

This song was introduced to me by, wait for it, the almost-three-year-old of some friends. Yes, folks, this is a 3 year-old's favorite song. If the song itself weren't already so great, that fact alone would be enough to get me to listen to this over and over again.

Project 365 Update: September

2012-10-02T21:39:00.002-04:00

I thought September was my month, man. That first orange block, I was like, "I am going to make up for this—I am not going to miss any more days. The orange blocks? Mostly I was in a funk. I think there's some important data here in that I may have figured out that the orange blocks mostly correspond to days I'm feeling blah (or days that I'm REALLY excited about something, but don't have a camera). Still? WAY BETTER than August.

My favorite this month? The photo of my new typography edition of Scrabble, a spontaneous gift from J:

Music Mondays

2012-10-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

AlunaGeorge—Your Drums, Your Love

This video is a design dream, and the electro-soul song is pretty damn good, too.

Things I Love Thursday

2012-09-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

1,2,3,4

I found this store on dooce, and I couldn't help pick out my own favorites.

Music Monday

2012-09-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

Ben Folds Five—Do It Anyway

I don't know if it's because this song is so catchy and cute, if it's because Ben Folds is a band that I have liked for a while, or if it's the adorable Fraggle Rock themed video, but this is my new favorite music video.

Swagbucks September Promo

2012-09-22T18:16:00.000-04:00

I have mentioned my love for the site swagbucks a couple of times before. Lately, they have been adding some pretty sweet incentives for using the site more often, such as daily goals that, when reached, automatically add extra swagbucks to your account at the end of the month. Since I mostly use my points for Amazon Gift Cards, their latest promotion made me swoon:

When you snag an Amazon.com Gift Card from Swagbucks during the month of September, you are rewarded with a $1 promotional credit for Amazon MP3. I know this is flagrant self promotion, but you can use this link to start earning reward points today and snag your Amazon.com Gift Card and $1 Amazon MP3 promotional credit before Sept. 30th. I would hurry before the month is over! This is a pretty sweet deal, and I've already used it to purchase two songs, one of them may have been Call Me Maybe (but I'll never tell!).

If you have any questions about the promo, you can read more about it on the swagbucks blog.

Things I Love Thursday

2012-09-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

Greyhound Snoods

from Etsy shop GoodWitKnit

The only question is, how many snoods should my greyhound have?! Also, I love this guy, modeling like a boss. Matt, I fear I will have knit eighteen snoods for my hypothetical dog before I finish your gloves/set of koozies.

Honorable Mention
Red lipstick ♥ autumn weather ♥ Zyrtec (for the ragweed that comes with autumn weather) ♥ scarf weather (not the same as autumn weather, or sweater weather, which also gets a shout out) ♥ being able to pump my own bike tires (yes, I was once a weakling, but now I am STRONG...enough to do something a twelve year old can do, probably.).

Music Mondays

2012-09-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

Mumford & Sons—I Will Wait

Video for the first Mumford & Sons single from their upcoming album Babel. Drops next week, Sept 25th.

Things I Love Thursday

2012-09-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Rufus Tower!

I know that cats give zero F*s about people, but this video was still adorbs. Seen on Jezebel.

Music Mondays

2012-09-10T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dominique Pruitt—To Win Your Love

This song is super cute with a vintage '50s vibe. I can't wait to hear the whole album.

Things I Love Thursday

2012-09-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

I got this dinosaur free when I made a purchase on photojojo some time ago. I really, really like this dinosaur. I liked him before I discovered he glowed in the dark.