NYC or Bust

Some how, some way, be it train, plane, or automobile, we are beginning to plan our Thanksgiving trip up north. "Why go up north where it's cold?" you might ask. Well, our reasons are two-fold: 1) to visit a spend a holiday/early birthday with my dear sis in Chicopee, MA, who's been there for 1.5 years now, and we haven't visited yet, and 2) see a group that we know - the GT Marching Band - in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. First off, our visit to Lena's has been long overdue, and secondly, if one ever is going to see a big parade like Macy's, isn't it more fun to see someone you know in it?

I'm starting a list of things to do while we're up there. If you have any activities that I should definitely not miss, please send them my way. Or if you live up there now and want to meet up with us, let me know! We are planning to be in the city at least 2-3 days - more if we can afford it or find a spot on a friend's floor. On my list so far: the Parade (of course!), MOMA, Lombardi's Pizza (note to self: bring appetite AND cash), maybe a show or two (Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular, Broadway, Birdland, Late Night with Conan O'Brien?), and a couple of fave shopping spots we discovered on our last trip (Pearl River Mart, Manhattan Portage, Rizzoli Bookstore, etc.)

My friend Val and potentially her DH are interested in heading up that way too, so we've got a carpool going at this point. If we drive, we may stop halfway and stay with some of her family. Also, DH has found a spot on the way that he wants to stop and see - check out his post from Sunday. All recommendations welcome!

OK after 5K

I participated in the Kaiser Permanente Corporate Challenge 5K Run/Walk at Turner Field last night. For not really training, I made pretty good time walking it in about 52 minutes - about 16.7 minutes per mile. That's better than average for me, so I'm happy. Woke up this morning with a slight headache, probably need more water, but otherwise feeling fine. Tomorrow will be the real teller - I am usually more sore on the second day, if there is soreness to be had.

Not much going on this week. We got Wii Fit last weekend, so that helped me "train" for the 5K this past week (haha). But truly, it's been a lot of fun and I'm really enjoying the exercises on it. I'm up to my ears in Homecoming planning for the GTBAA, helping with planning a nWW meeting in a week and a half, and trying to study! On top of that, gas shortages around here have put driving anywhere at a premium, so for the most part we've been trying to limit our trips and consolidate errands wherever possible. Thank goodness DH and I are able to carpool!

Cameras and Disco Balls

I haven't had much to write about this week because I've mostly only been working, studying, and sleeping. But I did take some time this weekend to have a little fun.

I found out about a camera warehouse moving sale through my friend Val, so DH and I went with her early Sat. morning. There were maybe 15 people there when we got there (we got there about 20 min early, and the sale had already started), and who knows how many (LOTS!) by the time we left about an hour and a half later. Val got a great deal for some glass filters, mat board, light box, and some other camera stuff. I went without really expecting to get anything, but walked out with an awesome deal on a discontinued Epson compact photo printer for $3 (although it was missing a power adaptor that I am now working on trying to find), a brand new Nikon SLR camera case for $10, a random but cool looking leather case that once held an old camera for 50 cents, a couple $1 packs of 20-count double-sided 4x6 photo paper, and some free lens cleaning papers thrown in there for free. It was certainly interesting just to walk around an peek into the continually multiplying cardboard boxes that magically kept appearing, row after row, in their parking lot. So now I just need a camera to go into that camera bag! I noticed that the Nikon D90 kit is now in stores - they appeared in Sunday ads today. I should go by and check one out in person. Now just waiting for the body only to come out, since the lens I want is not the one that comes with the kit...

I also finally committed to designing a few jewelry pieces for myself using the cool "disco balls" that Val introduced me to. I was finally able to get my hands on some at the bead show we went to a few weekends ago, I just hadn't figured out what I wanted to make with them. They are a cool mix of antiqued, bali-looking silver filgaree and Swarovski crystals. I made a v-shaped chain necklace with the blue one and a pendant and earrrings with the purple and fuschia ones. I still have one more champagne-colored one that I haven't decided what to make with yet. The photos don't really do them justice - they are way sparkly and I love them!

Now you see it, now you don't

Here are "before" and "after" pics of my haircut this morning. That cute girl to the right of me is my fabulous stylist, Robbi at Adore, whom I have been seeing since DH and I got married. This is the second time she's cut my hair to donate, and I am pleased as punch with her styling magic. If anyone needs a new hair person, I highly recommend her! My hair was not quite as long as the last time I had it cut (12" that time), so my bob is a little shorter this time, but I am not worried about it because it will grow back. The hair is going in the mail to Locks of Love first thing on Monday! My camera battery died shortly after the right pic was taken, so I'll have more side shots later once my hair gets over the shock and settles into its new 'do.

Post #100!

It's my 100th post! I didn't think I'd be keeping this up almost a year later, but somehow blogging is a lot easier than keeping a journal. And people in cyberspace might actually be reading it! It is the year of 100s at GT - 100 years of the alumni association, college of architecture, and GT Band! There will be a lot of fun things going on at Homecoming on Oct. 25th this year, so I am looking forward to that. In fact, I will be helping to plan some of the GTBAA activities.

(Just out of curiousity, I searched for "100" on Google images. Click here to see what it gave me.)

In other news, today I received an end-of-fiscal-year bonus! That was a nice surprise. And it puts me in a better position to get that digital SLR camera that I have been eyeing to replace my old (but trusty) 1.3 megapixal Sony Cybershot that I have had since 2002. I just found out this week that the Nikon D90 is coming out within the next month, so my loyalties have changed from the D80 to the D90 now. I am also trying to decide which lens to get. My friend Val recommends the Nikkor 18-200 mm VR (vibration reduction) lens as a good multipurpose lens, and that way I won't need to be switching between two smaller ones. Any thoughts or advice out there? Please leave a comment or email me! Thanks a bunch!

F-READ-OM

Our photo with Bullseye, the Target dog!

Authors we saw at the Decatur Book Festival.

We had a great time at the Decatur Book Festival yesterday. "FREADOM" was one of the cute t-shirts that we saw someone wearing, with the "READ" part in red. I thought it was clever!

We got to hear two great authors speak - Patrick McDonnell, who is the creator of Mutts, and Andy Runton, creator of Owly. Both spoke and showed us how to draw their main comic strip characters. McDonnell "read" (there are no words, only images) from his new book, South, and donated his sketches to the local animal shelter. Runton spent a good deal of time showing kids how to draw animals using simple shapes and encouraging them to explore their dreams if they liked to draw. He also gave out old "Free Comic Book Day" comic books of Owly, and showed everyone how to read Owly's emotions, since his strip is images only. It was really fantastic to hear these authors speak about the characters they created, especially after I have only read them in print all these years. It was neat to hear them come alive through the creators' mouths and to learn that my perception of the characters are pretty spot on!

We enjoyed a late lunch at one of our favorite Decatur watering holes - Brick Store Pub - and lo and behold, Owly made an appearance in my hummus plate! (See bottom right photo above.) Okay, so we moved around a few cucumber slices, but still, I thought it was a great likeness!