Remember in the 90s, when glamour shots were a thing? My mom had some glamour shots taken when I was young and I couldn’t get over how pretty she looked in them. I wanted to get all dolled up and have my photo taken, too! My parents didn’t want to pay for me to have my photo taken by a professional, so they insisted we could take glamour shots at home. My mom did my hair and makeup and I am even wearing an old dress of hers here (I believe it was the dress she wore to the engagement party for her and my dad?). Then we set up all sorts of shots around the yard and my mom took a million photos of me.

Here are some of the other photos from the day:

My dad insisted on the grill photo because apparently men like women who can cook. Also, little did I know that silver Saturn I’m pretending to drive would eventually become my first car…!

For the record, I did eventually get “real” glamour shots taken (I don’t remember for sure, but I must have continued begging my parents). I remember it being a bit awkward and I had to wear a weird tube top underneath all of the outfits. And gargantuan clip-on earrings even though I had my ears pierced. Case in point:

Surely there must a a Tumblr devoted to these old glamour shots?! Someone enlighten me, please.

This photo was taken at The Peppermill Restaurant in Las Vegas in July 2011. That plate of scrumptious-looking food I am gleefully devouring is known as French Toast Ambrosia. YUM! It was exactly what I needed after a full day of skating at RollerCon.

I wish I was going to RollerCon this year! I had to miss last year because I was saving all of my vacation time for my wedding/honeymoon. This year, between our upcoming trip to Hawaii and a bunch of smaller trips I’m taking later this summer, I am out of vacation time yet again. I clearly need a job with infinite vacation days.

This photo makes me miss my short hair! It was cute…and super easy to take care of, especially during and after derby. No helmet hair!

My hair is at an awkward length right now where it isn’t quite long enough to not tie back while working out, but it also doesn’t quite fit into a ponytail. What is a girl to do?!

This photo was taken in my dorm room at Michigan State in the fall of 2004. I had just moved to South Hubbard Hall. I snapped a bunch of similar photos because I needed a new MySpace profile picture (I’m pretty sure that’s what inspired this set of selfies, anyway). Here are the rest of the photos in the set:

You can’t tell in these photos, but I totally remember that faded red ringer tee had Strawberry Shortcake screenprinted on the front.

I actually used the final photo in this set for a self-portrait project a few years later. You can see the outcome in my portfolio.

In other news, today I bought new glasses from SEE Eyewear. After trying on nearly every pair of frames in the store (or so it seemed), I finally settled on this pair:

I got my last pair of new glasses 4 years ago (!). I tend to get new frames super infrequently, so this is exciting news. The shape of these frames is really different, and I’m not sure Corner really liked them. Hopefully they will grow on him. I will post more photos once they come in, of course!

This photo is from a series of photos taken in a photobooth with my sister Kathy. I’m not sure when it was taken, but I’m guessing I am around 6 and Kathy is around 4 (Mom, help me out)? I suck at guessing kids’ ages!

For reference, here’s us all grown up at my wedding last November:

And here’s the entire photostrip:

Speaking of Kathy, she is coming to visit NYC over Memorial Day weekend. I’ve already been bookmarking links and jotting down notes about things that we should do while she’s here. Shopping, food, and fun will be had.

I really like that these Throwback Thursday posts have gotten me back into blogging, even if it’s only a short post once a week. I think some themed blogging where I can prepare posts ahead of time is key. Any suggestions what I should write about for another day(s) of the week?

This photo was taken on Valentine’s Day in 2004. My band was playing at a small coffee-shop-turned-music-venue in Holly, Michigan called Jamas. A quick Google search tells me this place no longer exists, and probably hasn’t for years.

So yeah. During high school, I was the drummer for an all-girl band called Shelter[ed]. We started playing together after I got a drumset for Christmas in 2000. We originally wanted the name Shelter, but when we discovered there was another band already going by this name, we added the [ed] and left the brackets in place because we thought they looked cool.

I don’t think we knew it at the time, but this photo is from what would be our last show together. The band never consciously decided to break up; we just sort of petered out. Looking back, I am sad to admit that we let boys come between us.

My set was a Pearl Export Series. I loooooooooved the color. Eventually, during my senior year of college, I traded this gorgeous drumset for a motorcycle.

So apparently I tend to have pretty badass hobbies, but sometimes I still miss my drums. I hope to have another set someday, when I don’t live in a small NYC house with nowhere to put them.

I used to design and update the band’s website (of course!) and apparently we changed our logo every 5 minutes. I found these old gems still saved on my computer. Enjoy.

This little teeny tiny animated gif *might* be my favorite.

This photo was taken on Santa Monica Beach in August of 2007. After a summer on the road touring with the Glassmen Drum & Bugle Corps, Corner and Darrin met me in Pasadena for DCI Finals. It was the perfect ending to my drum corps career.

It was a rough summer for me since in June of that year my parents told me and my sisters that they were getting a divorce. This picture reminds me that despite my generally gloomy mood, there were also happy moments that summer.

I packed this pink bikini in my drum corps bag and carried it with me across the country that summer because I knew I wanted to spend some time on the beach when it was all over. I also took care during rehearsal each day to rotate the straps on my sports bra and to roll up my already short shorts in an attempt to not have tan lines when it came time to wear the bikini. (It’s hard to tell in this particular photo, but those efforts were somewhat unsuccessful.)

Also, the necklace I’m wearing was a gift from Corner. I lost it a few weeks later at marching band rehearsal. This is one of the only known photos of said necklace, which I really liked and am still mad that I lost!

This photo was taken at my senior prom in May of 2004. The theme was Mardi Gras, hence the mask. I went with my boyfriend at the time, Mike. We had an amazing time. It was an especially great night because my junior prom was pretty lame. Senior prom completely made up for it!

You can’t see it in this photo, but Mike is definitely to my left in this photo making a face that says, “What the hell are you doing?!”

This photo was taken by Matt. I hung out with Matt & Mike so much that year (and throughout college, too) and I wish we lived closer to each other now. They helped me realize that high school didn’t have to be a completely awful experience.

Matt & Mike on a trip to Kelly’s lakehouse (summer 2004).

Matt & Mike reunited at my wedding (November 2012).

In some ways, not much has changed.

For Christmas, I bought myself 7 personal training sessions for the month of January. Since I already get a lot of endurance and cardio workouts, we have been focusing strictly on weightlifting and gaining muscle mass. I enjoyed my workouts (and the results!) so much that I am going to continue seeing my trainer once a week in February, too. After just 4 weeks of seeing the trainer twice a week (plus some workouts on my own), I am already seeing results. Granted, it helps that I am eating a super clean diet as well. (Can we pause for a minute and talk about how I LOATHE the term “diet”? I like to think of it as a meal plan.)

Every time I get into a new hobby, I get super into it and buy a lot of gear. This means that in the past few weeks I have acquired black and pink weightlifting gloves with swarovski crystals, a weightlifting belt, and lots of new workout gear. Perhaps the weirdest purchase though has been powdered peanut butter. All the fitspo people I follow on Instagram talk about it, so I decided to give it a try. It should actually be sitting at home on my porch RIGHT NOW. Can’t wait to taste it!

Femme Fitale weightlifting gloves

Since starting my new workout routine in January, I am up 5lbs and down 2% body fat. I’m really excited. I feel like such a skinny bitch for being excited about GAINING weight, but I am thrilled to be putting on some muscle. It’s going to make me a more ferocious derby player. Queens had our first team practice on Saturday, and I was on fire. I felt awesome. I delivered and countered hits like I wasn’t afraid. I was served up a couple power jams and didn’t even feel tired until the last ~10 seconds or so. Maybe a lot of it’s in my head, but that’s okay with me.

I can’t wait to see what the 2013 season has in store.

Last August, I posted some photos of Corner’s and my wedding invitations. Prior to this project, I had designed very few items that were meant to be printed, much less using the letterpress method (I am primarily a web designer, after all). Since then, several friends have asked me for advice with their own wedding invitations, so I thought I’d write a post about what I learned during my own invitation design process.

A few recommendations:

Consult an expert.

I asked my coworker Winnie for help; she designs all the printed materials for our office and she was quick to help me interpret the instructions I received from the printer for preparing my files. If you know a print-savvy person who can help you with this, ask for their assistance upfront and you could save yourself some headaches later on. Since I usually design for web, prepping my files was a little different than normal, but nothing too complicated (though I’m STILL not sure I completely understand bleed…sigh).

Select two versatile fonts.

This is fairly basic design practice, but I recommend selecting two fonts for your invitations (and other wedding paper goods): one that is decorative, and one that will be used for body text. An elegant script font, for example, won’t hold up at smaller font sizes, so it’s best to choose one ”pretty” font and an additional font that is more versatile and can be used wherever you need smaller text.

Research your paper sizes ahead of time.

Think carefully about what size you would like your printed goods to be. Size usually does affect the printing price. Also keep in mind that larger (or square-shaped) items may require additional postage. I also learned that colored envelopes are not available in all sizes, so if you pick a less traditional size for your invites, be prepared to be stuck with white or ivory envelopes!

Ask for an ink color chart in advance.

One of the first thing I did as part of the wedding planning process was select colors. I went so far as to select specific Pantone numbers. I had chosen 3 Pantone colors that I used for our Save the Date postcards and thought that since I’d chosen Pantone colors, my chosen letterpress printer would have those colors on hand. This was not the case. I ended up selecting a color from their ink color chart that was similar, but it wasn’t an exact match.

Ask for feedback.

Right before I sent my files over to the printer, I asked a few friends and family members for feedback. They ended up making suggestions that resulted in a few small last-minute tweaks that really helped me improve the various printed goods.

For those of you who have designed your own paper goods: what did you learn from the process? Do you have any tips or tricks?

1. I skate fast and turn left.
   Yeah, if you didn’t know already, I play roller derby for the Gotham Girls. I skate pretty fast. And sometimes I hit other people while doing it. And for the record, no, I am not “too small” to play derby.
   

   Jamming against Windy City (photo courtesy of Manish Gosalia)

2. I am a bubble tea connoisseur.
   I have strong views about what color and how sweet boba drinks should be. I can also expertly assess the consistency and flavor of the tapioca balls.
   

   Holding homemade Taro bubble tea!

3. I write a lot of reviews.
   I am an active Yelper (and am a member of the Queens Elite Squad!). I also write reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. After my wedding was over, I reviewed all of my vendors on WeddingWire. Most recently, I’ve also joined up with Influenster, so expect to see some posts about that soon.
   

   Blood, Yelp, & Tears

4. I am an automation master.
   I excel at bending online tools to my will in order to make myself more productive. Most recently I’ve gotten into Evernote (which I tried a few years ago and just couldn’t understand….but now, I GET IT).
5. I like sticking to a budget/setting savings goals and reaching them.
   I love using online tools to help track my spending and savings goals (I’m looking at you, Mint & LearnVest). I paid off my student loans 2.5 years after graduating from college. And have I mentioned and I Corner didn’t put ANY wedding expenses on our credit cards? </brag> I have tried to share my financial tips over at Small Budget Big Apple, but sadly that blog has been dormant for the past year as my life was completely overtaken by roller derby and wedding planning. However, I just moved the blog over to a new hosting platform and have plans to revive it in 2013, so stay tuned.
6. I have had stretched earlobe piercings for over a decade.
   Yup, I’ve been rocking my stretched ears since 2001; they’ve been at their present size (5/8″) since 2007. I get a lot of questions about them (and a lot of compliments on my extensive plug collection), but they haven’t been a hindrance to my career (because I know some of you are wondering…I’m looking at you, Mom…love you!!!).
   

   Anatometal opal gemmed eyelets

7. I own an awesome road bike.
   I brought my Trek 5500 with me from California when I moved. The only problem is I’m too afraid to ride it around NYC (for fear of getting doored and of the bike being stolen), so I don’t. I would not be opposed to someone trying to talk me into it. I still have cycling shoes and gear taking up space in my closet.
   

   Trek 5500

8. I have my motorcycle endorsement.
   Speaking of bikes, I actually took a class and earned my motorcycle endorsement in 2007. I even owned a motorcycle for a brief while before moving to California. This is also something I would like to pick up again in the future.
9. I play the piano.
   I have played many instruments in my lifetime, but my first and primary instrument is the piano. I took private lessons for 10 years and won many scholarships and competitions (despite the fact that in high school I would have rather been hanging out with my boyfriend instead of practicing).
   

   Playing the piano in 2004

10. I was editor-in-chief of an online ‘zine in the early days of AOL.
    I ran a monthly online magazine that had thousands of subscribers and sponsors that I solicited myself. It was pretty legit, especially considering the ‘zine hit its peak when I was about 12 years old. I even made the front page of the local newspaper.

This post was inspired by Vanessa and has been sitting in my drafts for awhile. (I wanted to link to her similar post on this subject, but I can’t find it for the life of me!)