One Act Play

I haven’t mentioned it in awhile, but man-go-round and I are about a third of the way into our 2012 “Project,” in which we are tackling 12 different areas of life and trying to do at least 20 activities for each before the year is up. Some of them are easy (trying 20 different foods/ restaurants? please)…and some are a bit tougher (spirituality, yikes… we’ve got work to do)…and some of them are, well, fun!

Like “play.”

Tonight after work man-go-round and I let loose and tried out the $2 badminton set I bought at Target last night. In the living room. After 5 or 10 minutes of shuttlecocks flying and under the leg serving and spiking, I was totally refreshed and energized after a long day at work.

So here’s a list of ways to get going on your inner playmate (no, not the naked kind).

Fun Ways for Grown-ups to Play:

  1. Play a round of tennis, volleyball, or go bowling (or do indoor badminton, like we did)
  2. Have an impromptu dance party. Crank up the funk music, get up on a table, and pretend you’re in an Austin Powers movie go-go cage. Wheee endorphins!
  3. Have a laundry fight (hint: mens athletic socks make perfect grenades when rolled up)
  4. Play a drinking game (Never have I ever still surprised us both after more than 5 years together, and Mad Men episodes are rife with shot taking opportunities, but why not invent your own?)
  5. Go swimming. Whether it be pool, beach, or bathtub… it will bring out your inner Ariel!
  6. Do a craft/ hobby you’re both new to or horrible at (pottery, painting, cooking, etc) and appreciate each others crap.
  7. Go to a karaoke bar and serenade each other. Or if you’re faint of heart, try the wii version.
  8. Race down the block/ arm wrestle each other/ play rock paper scissors for dish duty or to choose who gets to pick the movie.
  9. Go to a local playground and bring a picnic of Fanta, pop rocks, cotton candy, or fruit snacks. The best part is the swings, if your hips can still handle it!
  10. Get out into the great outdoors (or your backyard), spread out a blanket, and gaze at the cloud formations or at the stars. Ignore the worries about ants crawling up your pants or dogs pee in the grass, and enjoy your second childhood.

What are your favorite ways to play or be silly?

Meri

Posted in Project 2012 | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Bluesday Tuesday

Yep, it’s been just “one of those days,” around Meri-goes-round. Some times of year, despite being acutely aware of all of the wonderful blessings in my life, I still can’t shake those “mean reds.”

While the tangible things that are up in the air are decidedly first world problems, it doesn’t mean that they don’t weigh me down and make me want to curl up in bed for a week.

I’m not trying to be dramatic, and I am lucky to have a supportive network of partner, family, friends, and coworkers to help me get through this feeling. I simply wanted to be honest about how I feel sometimes, because I don’t think its unique to go through phases like this at certain times of year for people.

So what’s a girl to do? Why not share a tasty brew with a loved one and relax, reflecting on the good things in life? For today’s Tasty Tuesday Bluesday, let’s go with my gypsy heritage and raise a glass of Bohemia, deal?

*oh, and did I mention this whole thing may just be hormonal? yeah, that’s a distinct possibility…

Cheers!

Do you get the blues some times? How do you snap yourself out of it?

Meri

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Don’t Lose Focus!

Yep, you guessed it. (Okay, no one probably bothered to guess the title, but that’s just how I roll). What am I saying y’all are guessing? Another camera adventure/ experiment, of course!

I do so love our little baby Rebel (still searching for a name for her…although Rebel, Eos, and Canon Sr. will have to do for now). I love to take her out on evening strolls and play around with the manual focus on our beloved little lenses.

Even if it means by the time I got home my nose was running so bad and my eyes were itching to the point of insanity. Even then, I still love her. Here is some of the proof!

focusing on the foreground...
...and focusing on the background...
focus on stopping to smell the...tulips...
focus on the "small things"
..and finally, focus on our planet!

Happy Belated Earth Day Everyone!

What draws your focus as you walk through the neighborhood… or wandering through life…?

Meri

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clique flicks

This afternoon, I spent a couple of lazy hours staring out the window at the rain, flipping through City Pages’  “Best of Twin Cities” issue, and Netflixing a movie I had heard of for years but never watched: Heathers.

While this dark comedy isn’t your typical “high school” flick filled with jocks, nerds, fashionistas and drama kids; it made me think about how high school cliques are portrayed in movies versus how I perceive them in reality. At the high school I attended, there really weren’t noticeable cliques. Sure, there was a certain hierarchy and some kids were considered more popular than others, but I went to a small enough school that for the most part people were pretty respectful of other kids that had different interests than them, and even crossed over in friendship to other groups with frequency.

If life were one high school movie, however, we’d all be convinced that cliques were defined like the Districts in the Hunger games; fenced off, unyielding, and distinct. So in the spirit of movie madness, I’ll make a LIST of some of the most ridiculous high school movie cliques.

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Meri’s Clique Flicks

  1. Jocks: think Varsity Blues; American Pie’s Chris Klein character; Emilio Estevez in The Breakfast Club
  2. A-Listers: Well, Mean Girls’ clan led by Regina George; Cher Horowitz and Dionne in Clueless; the Pink Ladies from Grease; She’s All That‘s brood of bitches starring Taylor Vaughn; Never Been Kissed crew led by the Jessica Alba character; Jennifer Love Hewitt and her crew in Can’t Hardly Wait; The younger sister from 10 Things I Hate about You and her “underwhelmed /overwhelmed/ whelmed” friend…all of the Heathers; and Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club
  3. Partiers: the entire ensemble, more or less, of Dazed and Confuzed; Travis Birkenstock and friends in Clueless; Less than Zero; American Pie’s Stifler; Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High
  4. Goody Two Shoes: Easy A’s Amanda Bynes and company; Mandy Moore and her deranged posse in Saved; Sandy in Grease; Melissa Joan Hart in Can’t Hardly Wait
  5. Stupid Oafs: Dazed and Confused’s Ben Affleck steak for brains character and his buddies; O Doyle and his brothers in Billy Madison; Jake’s pull up partner in 16 Candles
  6. Overachievers: Tracy Flick in Election; the boys in Dead Poet’s Society; Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore; American Pie’s Finch; 10 things I hate about you’s Bogie Lowenstein
  7. Badasses: The freakin’ witches in The Craft; Heath Ledger (10 things I hate about you); The T-birds in Grease; Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club; Riff from Rock and Roll High School; Heathers’ Christian Slater
  8. Nerds: The Mathletes from Mean Girls; Eugene in Grease; Napoleon Dynamite; Never Been Kissed’s Double Helix
  9. Outsiders: Lauren Ambrose in Can’t Hardly Wait; Amber Tamblyn in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; Eliza Dushku in Bring it On; Julia Stiles in 10 things I hate about you; Juno; Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club
  10. Pretty Boys: Jake Ryan (Sixteen Candles) Freddie Prinze Jr. (She’s All That); Andrew Keegan (10 things I hate about you); Elton in Clueless; Mean Girls’ Aaron Samuels; James Dean in Rebel without a Cause

Were there stereotypical cliques in your high school? Which “clique” did you belong to? Did I miss any of your favorite high school cliques?

Meri

Posted in lists, movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

A”bridged” Vacation

After spending much of our “travel budget” on a brand new camera, we haven’t planned many trips lately. Therefore, for this Travelin’ Thursday I thought I’d show you a few of the photos we took last Saturday on a trip very close to home- the Stone Arch Bridge.

I just love the foamy water near the bridge and the people watching on the bridge itself- this is one of my favorite Minneapolis spots to visit!

What is the best “vacation” spot in your own town? What are your favorite bridges?

Meri

 

 

Posted in photography, Travelin' Thursday, twin cities | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

Terse Verse Book Club Part 2

For Wordy Wednesday last week, I shared with you guys some of the recent books I’ve been reading, and in lieu of the oh so wordy typical book review, I decided to make little tag clouds of key words and themes and styles of each book. As promised, here is the rest of the list:

6. The Three Weissmans of Westport by Cathleen Schine

sisters; east coast; Manhattan; literary; Sense and Sensibility; family; motherhood; relationships; cottage; Palm Springs

7. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Manhattan; 1930s; wealth; girlfriends; society; liquor; tragedy; money; class system; appearances; glamour; Fitzgerald; economy

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8. Paris was Ours: 32 Writers Reflect on the City of Light edited by Penelope Rowlands

culture; Paris; expat; essays; money; communication; architecture; travel; adventure; social; humor

9. Ali in Wonderland: And other Tall Tales by Ali Wentworth

memoir; humor; Washington DC; Hollywood; acting; family; relationships; Bossypants; improv; fame

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10. Four Kitchens: My Life Behind the Burner in New York, Hanoi, Tel Aviv, and Paris by Lauren Shockey

chef; travel; restaurant; gender gap; Kitchen Confidential; Manhattan; Vietnam; Paris; Israel; food; cooking; sensory; reflective; recipes

So there you have it, yet again: two travel reads, a Jane Austen update, a glamorous American tale, and a great comic read! Which of these is up your alley? Have you read any of these yet? Who is on Goodreads with me- find me on there!

Meri

Posted in books, Uncategorized, Wordy Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Little Man Baby Shower

As promised, today I will share the highlights of Sunday’s baby shower for my dear sister (who happens to be pregnant with the first boy in the family- hence the “Little Man” fixation).

This theme started out with a color scheme, evolved to include mustaches (because who doesn’t love a mustache) and soon was a full blown manstravaganza! Here are the details:

Decor (featuring the work of my sisters, mother, and myself)

  • banners
  • balloon “card” for guests to sign
  • photo “booth” in picture frame with “little man” props

Food and Drink:

  • Rubber ducky punch
  • fruits, veggies, hummus
  • Turtle cheesecake and blackberry bars
  • theme colored chocolate candies
  • shrimp cucumber and chicken salad fillo cups
  • cheese and crackers

It was a blast, and I’m already looking forward to my next theme party!

What do you think of the “Little Man” theme? Do you enjoy baby or bridal showers or dread them? What is the latest party theme you’ve heard of or planned?

Meri

Posted in crafts, family, food, parties | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Baby Beluga

Yesterday I showed you the outer wrappings of my sister’s first grouping of baby shower presents. Tomorrow I’ll show you the highlights (thanks to my talented sisters and mother) of our “Little Man” themed baby shower.

And today? You can see my nursery decor gift I gave my sister. Here it is:

Here’s what you need:

  • a blank canvas (I used about a 9×11)
  • acrylic paint and brush
  • fabric (this is part of a placemat from Savers leftover from the fabric flowers I made for Christmas 2010)
  • hot glue
  • fancy paper
  • cardboard for stenciling onto fabric

I started this project out with brown cardstock glued onto the canvas, but when I tried to glue on the waterspout it puckered both papers- argh! Luckily, I had some acrylic paint   that was in the same brown to match the rug and sheet color scheme for the nursery and I actually ended up liking this texture combination better. I ended up adding a second layer of shimmery white paper on top of this first spout so the hot glue was less visible underneath, but then I wrapped it up and didn’t take another photo.

Do you ever make your own wall art or house decor? What DIY crafts do you do in order to easily coordinate or match your decor?

Meri

Posted in crafts, parties | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

It’s a wrap!

This afternoon and evening look to be a parade through town of library-ing, grocery shopping, liquor store, cash mobbing, photo shooting, and gas purchasing.

Thus, I wanted to check in with a quick post featuring the gifts I wrapped last night for my lovely sister’s baby shower: Leftover eco-wrap!

I’ll post tomorrow about the shower and what is inside one of these gifts, but to keep it secret until she opens it here is the outside: packing paper that came with our new camera and new fiestaware plates, and the felt bows I made a few months ago when I didn’t know what they would end up on. Now I know!

Happy baby shower you hot mama! I hope you enjoy your crumpled up bag lunch looking gifts 🙂

What kind of cheap or recycled materials do you use to wrap gifts? Do you enjoy errand days or dread running all over town?

Meri

Posted in Uncategorized | 22 Comments

Between sunrise and sunset

Ever wonder what the photos in my header are about? No? Well, I’ll tell you anyway. From left, they are:

  • Griffith Park (Los Angeles)
  • Red Wing, MN
  • (Whittier) Minneapolis
  • Malibu Creek State Park

I’m sure I’ll post about each of those photos some day, but for this Travelin’ Thursday let’s go on a photo journal of my day in Griffith Park about 18 months ago…

After a very early morning to watch the sun rise from our hostel’s rooftop, a stroll along Venice Beach, a drive through Santa Monica all the way to an excursion in Hollywood, we arrived at Griffith Park. After a requisite visit to the merry go round, we decided to go up to the observatory and on a hike to see the Hollywood sign. By this time, it was nearly sunset…

recognize this one?

After the sun had set and we strolled down the hillside in the still balmy January Southern California evening, we got back in our rented lime green Fiesta and stopped along on Melrose for some food truck fare (I can still feel the french fry grease on my fingertips as we drove along to Whole Foods for some late night groceries). The highlight of the day, however, was this LA sunset, out beyond the city lights to the Pacific.

Meri

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Posted in California, sunsets, travel, Travelin' Thursday, Whole Foods | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments