Out with the old, in with the new

So I made myself go through my clothes and purge the things I don’t wear since in our loft closet space is unfortunately very limited.  I always hate the process of deciding what to donate but I always feel a million times better afterwards.  For one it’s nice to know that someone else will be able to have nice clothes to wear that might not be able to afford them otherwise and it makes it easier to see and get to the items I actually enjoy wearing.  I also think it helps me slowly attempt to conquer my pack rat tendencies which I inherited from my parents.

I’m not sure how all this even fit in my closet but here is the pile of things we are donating to Goodwill.  I hope they are very useful to someone else this year and that I don’t realize I need one of those items a couple weeks from now.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy

You MUST read this series!  I would stop there but I have too much to say about these books.  They are riveting, fast paced, dark, and keep you guessing.  The first two were my favorite but after getting off to a slow start I loved the third and final book as well.  There are several characters that carry through all three books but the main character is Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the dragon tattoo).  She is brilliant, uncompromising, rebellious, mysterious, and genuinely kick ass character.  For being 100 pounds she takes on a whole lot of bad guys throughout the trilogy.  Despite her prickly disposition you are rooting for her the whole time.  It is pretty graphic but the books fascinated me and I hope you guys love them as much as I did. 

Note: The European movies are already out so once you read the books check them out.  Promise me that you won’t watch them first and then be lame and not read the books.  The books are worth reading and even though the movies are well done they have to cut out content and you don’t want to miss a word (except about the first 125 pages of the third book, stick with it, I promise it’s amazing once you get through the beginning).  They are filming an American version, let’s hope they don’t ruin the story by glamming it up.  The story is fascinating because it’s raw and gritty and edgy and if they put Lisbeth in pink blush and shiny lipgloss I will vent with great fervor on this blog and facebook!

May Angels Lead You In

On Monday night Andrew Millette passed away from a heart attack at 28 years old.  He was an incredible person and I was very lucky to know him and to have served at the church with him.  He was on fire for God and had so much passion and talent for working with teenagers.  He will be truly missed but I know he is up in Heaven with God.  His memory and the impact he had in the lives of the people around him will live on.  Please pray for his family, his fiancé Melanie, his friends, and the guys in his small group who have lost a mentor and a friend.

Blue Man Group

I have now officially started working on my 30 before 30 checklist and I started off with a bang.  I was chatting with my friend Joanna on Sunday afternoon and she mentioned that she going to see blue man group that night.  I must have been living under a rock but somehow I missed the fact that they were coming town and was extremely bummed that I was missing the show while they were in Atlanta.  As I tried my best to hide my sad face Kyle said why don’t we head down there and buy tickets at the box office.  Those of you who know me know that I am NOT spontaneous.  He called the theatre and made sure they had seats so we got all dolled up and drove downtown.  We got great seats in the dress balcony only 4 rows back.  It was so much fun and so romantic to go on a spur of the moment date with my amazing husband. 

The show was fantastic.  It is proof that mime is not dead.  The performance featured 3 blue men and they carried the whole 2 hour show without an intermission and without words.  The humor was intelligent and really funny.  The music and visuals were extremely well done and kept you on the edge of your seat.  They pulled in some audience members which was fun to see them interact without counting on verbal cues.  I also really appreciated that the theme throughout the show that our society is so fast paced and electronic that we are losing touch with ourselves and one another.  There was a clear message but it was not preachy and the segments were incredibly entertaining.  I always leave shows wanting to go dance and they ended the show with a giant dance party for the whole theater which was so much fun! I’m so glad that we were spontaneous and went to the show; it was something I will always remember.  One down and only 29 items left to go on my list!

InStyle Look for Less

I was inspired by my best friend Alyssa to take on this task.  We are both huge fans of InStyle magazine and have a habit of applying incessant amounts of Sharpie to the pages indicating our likes and dislikes.  One of my favorite sections is the InStyle look where they show a series of fully styled outfits including accessories.  My sharpie is often hard at work on these pages.  The only qualm I have is that the price for the pieces is outrageous.  If I had $1,000 for 1 outfit I would be looking in InStyle I would be paying a stylist to do the work for me.  We have often discussed the fact that they should show the expensive designer version and then show the same type of outfit for those of us who are on a budget.  So I took my latest copy of InStyle and took on the challenge.  Here are the outfits and prices for their look versus something normal people could afford.   

InStyle Look $1,060 - Top $135 (Tina Huang), Skirt $168 (Walter), Purse $45 (Mondani), Shoes $465 (Jimmy Choo), Earrings $52 (Marlyn Schiff), Bracelet $195 (Suzanna Dai)

My InBudget Look $84.41 - Top $16.50 (Charlotte Russe), Skirt $17.48 (Target), Purse $14.99 (Target), Shoes $19.99 (Target), Earrings $8.95 (Sam Moon), Bracelet $6.50 (Sam Moon)

Dilbert - Welcome to Cubeville!

TGIF!  I thought we should start the day off with a laugh.  I’m sure all of you are at least vaguely familiar with Dilbert.  On a whim a couple months ago we decided to go check out the going out of business sale at the Borders near our house.  By the time we got there the place had been ransacked.  Being the literary geeks we are we still managed to find several gems among the wreckage.   Just before checkout I walked by a Dilbert book.  It was priced at $3 then an additional 40% off so it was a no brainer and I threw it in my pile of books to purchase.  What I feared might be a waste of space on our increasingly crammed pack bookshelves turned out to be my favorite purchase of the day.  I must first explain that I work in a cubicle, I started out in a cubicle on my first consulting job at AT&T and they have followed me ever since.  In theory cubicles are not a bad idea but in actuality they are the worst part of having a corporate job.  I think the primary reason people compete so aggressively for promotions is to inch closer and closer to having an office with a door.  I could not keep all the laughter to myself, so here are some of my favorites from my silly purchase.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!  If you don’t work in a cubicle you won’t understand but let’s be honest if you don’t work in a cubicle then have less need for a good laugh than the rest of us.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I unfortunately will not get to see her in person today but I wanted to make sure she knew how much I loved her and how excited I am for her birthday!

My mom has always been a HUGE part of my life.  She has always gone way above the call of duty to be a good mom and a good friend to me.  She is the type of person who brings you homemade chicken soup just because you aren’t feeling well.  She is extremely smart and before being a mom she was extremely successful in the workplace.  I grew up with her as an example that there is no limit to what women can do.  She was both a successful manager and then chose to transition to being a loving and wonderful mom.  I think too many girls think that you can only have one of those things in your lifetime and that is a bunch of bologna.  She is extremely artistic and can pick up almost any craft and make it looks like a hobby she has had all her life.  While we didn’t always see eye to eye during my teenage years we have grown into great friends.  I have a tremendous amount of respect for her and I am so thankful to have such wonderful parents.  I wanted to write this to not only wish my beautiful mom a Happy Birthday but also just to thank her for being the wonderful person and example that she is.  I love, admire, and respect you more than you know! 

2011 Golden Globes

First let me say how THRILLED I am that Natalie Portman won best actress, it was so well deserved.  I must also say that I do not think the Social Network should have won best picture.  It was a good movie but there were better films that came out in the past year.  Now onto my favorite part of the award shows, the dresses!

Here are my 4 favorites and my 4 least favorites:

Best – Megan Fox, Amy Adams, Sofia Vergara, & Anne Hathaway

Worst – Helena Bonham Carter, Halle Berry, Natalie Portman, & Michelle Williams

(I must note that as I write this I’m heartbroken to have Natalie Portman on my worst dressed list, but just because you are pregnant does not mean that your dress should be hideous – look at Jenna Moroney from 30 Rock, she made being an expecting mom look fabulous)

If Ke$ha wrote worship music

The youth group we work with is currently in a series about music.  My husband Kyle talked with the kids on Sunday and showed some fantastic alternatives to the trashy music that is on the top 40’s stations.  He picked secular artists that have soul and depth and whose lyrics can inspire its listeners.  He showed them bands like Thrice and Relient K.  In the car on the way home we got into a discussion about whether there is pop music with any dual meanings and while I’m sure some exists we were baffled at what a huge gap there was in the market.  There are Christian labeled artists but no one who is bridging the gap to those who aren’t believers.  So for fun I was inspired to create a parody of a Ke$ha song to show the world (or the few of you who actually read this) Christian inspired pop music:

Parody of Ke$ha’s “Your Love is my Drug” titled “Your Love is my Anti-Drug”

Maybe I need some verses
Or maybe just need some prayers
In a world filled with addiction
It’s Your light they need to see

I'm looking down every alley
I'm answering those desperate calls
I'm staying up all night hoping
that sharing Your word will save the lost

What you got, Jesus, is hard to find
I think about it all the time
I'm full of passion, my hearts on fire
I just can't get you off my mind

Because Your love, Your love, Your love is my anti-drug
Your love, Your love, Your love
I said Your love, Your love, Your love is my anti-drug
Your love, Your love, Your love

Gotta Dance

My name is Dale Jones and I am still in love with dancing.  I’ve been struggling with this addiction since age 3 but I’ve finally decided to just accept it and blissfully take class as often as I can.  I took a while off after college because I didn’t know how not to dance all the time.  It had always been something I did several hours a day so I thought that when I become a grownup and had a real job that it meant I had to walk away.   I accepted this for about 2 years before I realized what a load of garbage it was.  I started back about a year ago and since then I feel like a whole new person.  Here are my favorite things about dance:

·         Life is so uncomplicated when you are dancing – it doesn’t matter how hard things may be in life when you are dancing choreography the rest just melts away

·         I have met some of my best friends through dance

·         You can be anyone you want to be when you dance, you can assume any character or emotion and make it your own

·         It is one place where you can be a complete diva and it is not only completely acceptable but its often beneficial

·         It is absolutely remarkable what the human body is capable of

·         I feel completely at home in a dance studio.  There is something about the smell, the lights, the mirrors, the feel of the floor, and the energy level at a studio that feels like home. 

·         It has the power to take everything out of you and yet simultaneously make you feel complete

·         The more you put into your practice the more you will get out it, it is not a game of chance but a labor of love

·         It is one heck of a workout

Georgia Snow Days

Kyle shared this with me and it was so hilarious that I had to share it :-)  I hope you enjoy it and that you guys haven't gone mad from being holed up inside all week!

The Salvador Dali Exhibit @ the Atlanta High Museum

I am having a hard time deciding where to start with this one.  This exhibit was brilliant.  It primarily covered the late career of Salvador Dali as well as portrait photography series.  I have seen his artwork before on the internet and in textbooks but it was amazing to see his work in person.   

There is something about his work that simultaneously fascinating and completely unsettling.  I kept thinking what it must be like to see the world through his eyes.  He could see and create these intricate and often dark and surreal pictures just by using compilations of everyday people and objects.  One of my favorite was the Debris of an Automobile Giving Birth to a Blind Horse Biting a Telephone.

The piece that really moved me was Christ of Saint John at the Cross.  The first thing that struck me was the magnitude of the size of the piece; it covered the majority of one of walls and the size really allowed the viewer to admire the details of the piece.   It shows Christ on the cross but without the nails in His hands and feet.  To me this symbolized that he was held there not by the men who crucified Him but by his own conviction and passion.  It stirred up a lot of emotion and really an impression on me.

I also really enjoyed seeing the pieces where his wife was the muse.  He was so inspired by her and I found it incredibly endearing.  My favorite was the Madonna of Port Lligat.  In this piece he uses her physical image to represent the Virgin Mary. I asked Kyle why he has never painted a picture of me and he sighed and asked me why his poetry wasn’t enough J

30 before 30

I have been reading more blogs lately and have been inspired by Emily, Hannah, Avery, and Leah to create my own list.  I saw one that was 25 before 25 but since I’m already 25 (almost 26, sad face) I’m going to note 30 things I’d like to do before I turn 30.  I am trying to think of a combination of ambitious and easily achievable goals.  I am the type of person who both loves and hates list.  I love them because I feel extremely accomplished when I can cross things off.  I hate them because if there is something left if tugs at me until I complete it and can cross it off with a sense of satisfaction.

1.       Publish a book of my poetry on Lulu

2.       Ride in a helicopter

3.       Go to Hawaii with Kyle

4.       Renew our vows on our 5^th Anniversary

5.       Convert some of my old home movies to DVDs

6.       Run a 5K

7.       Finish our wedding scrapbook

8.       Take a floral arrangement class

9.       A wine tour in Napa Valley

10.   Participate in a Flash Mob

11.   Try on a pair of Brian Atwood shoes

12.   Learn how to roll sushi

13.   Read the entire Harry Potter Series

14.   Volunteer at Habitat for Humanity

15.   Make Crème Brule

16.   Take a cake decorating class

17.   Grow my own herbs/peppers

18.   Visit the Harry Potter Theme Park

19.   Take a yoga class outside

20.   Watch the Blue Man Group Perform

21.   Take a surfing lesson

22.   Attend our 10 year High School Reunion

23.   Return to WinShape for a marriage retreat

24.   A horse drawn carriage ride with Kyle

25.   Dance Photo Shoot with Alex

26.   Rent a house for a couples trip to the mountains

27.   Go on a Zipline tour

28.   Ride a moped

29.   Try acupuncture

30.   Get a facial

Times They are a Changing

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111745/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know?mod=family-kids_parents

I read an interesting article about how drastically different the upbringing will be for babies born now vs. when we were kids.  It’s mainly focused on the things they won’t know about because they will be obsolete but I think it reflects a more significant theme that our society is changing so quickly that it only takes 1 generation to see a tremendous amount of change in leadership, communication, technology, and social media.  Here are a few things from my childhood that are basically obsolete now:

·         VCRs/VHS Tapes

·         Paper Maps

·         Printed Classified Ads

·         Film Cameras

·         Compact Discs

·         Hand Written Letters

·         Retirement Pensions

·         Wires

·         Printed Encyclopedias

·         Anonymity

·         Paper Ballots

·         Landlines for Telephones

This made me think of some things I wish would become obsolete:

·         Country Music

·         Twitter

·         Black Friday In-Store Sales

·         Non-Compete Clauses

·         Farmville and other equally annoying Facebook games

·         Hummers as personal cars, it makes sense for the army but thats it

This also inspired me to think of things I hope exist in my lifetime:

·         Teleportation

·         A cure for diseases like cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s

·         A Sustainable Solution for our dependence on Oil

·         Holograph Technology for Phones and TVs (this one is expected within the next 5-10 years)

·         Cars that drive themselves (this one is actually pretty close to a reality)

·         That gadget from the Jetson’s that styles your hair automatically for you

NOOK Color

So my Christmas money from our families was burning a hole in my pocket and I have really wanted an eReader so I took the plunge and bought a NOOK Color.  I am going to have a friend install a program that basically turns it into a tablet and gives you access to the Droid market which is a nice bonus.  They have a lot of free books available and most NOOK books are about 50% or 75% the cover price you would pay for it brand new at a bookstore.  I was worried I would miss the feel and smell of a traditional book and truth be told I do a little but the benefits vastly outweigh the nostalgia of traditional book reading. 

I adjusted the background color to sepia and the font to the smallest option and it reads just like a regular book only it’s lighter and can hold a whole small library on one device.  The screen is best showcased when viewing magazines or picture books.  The colors are very vibrant and the touch screen is very responsive.  I absolutely love mine and would recommend them to anyone.  If you get one let me know what your email address is so we can lend one another books!

Uninvited

I spent my Sunday morning with the fabulous Peter Poulos and Rachel Erin Truitt at Gotta Dance.  I started with Peter’s Int./Adv. Lyrical and his Pilates warm up reminded me how out of shape I am but it also felt great to get such a fantastic workout.  The choreography for class was to Uninvited.  It is such a powerful and emotional song and his choreography did not disappoint.  We performed in groups at the end so I taped the second group while they danced.  Enjoy!

Then I went back to the basics and took ballet from Rachel.  I hadn’t taken a ballet class since high school so needless to say it was long overdue.  It was a great class and while the class was traditional ballet the music was not which I was extremely thankful for J

Raw Denim

Raw Denim

Thanks to Scoutmob I had an all new shopping experience.  Those who know me well know that I am not truly satisfied with a purchase unless it’s on sale or I have a coupon or even better if it’s both.  This generally means I shop at the mall or someplace like Marshall’s or Ross.  Well thanks to Scoutmob I had a 50% off coupon to a boutique in Buckhead called Raw Denim.  I knew it was a boutique so I was scared that even with 50% off the prices would give me a heart attack but I decided I’d check it out and see what the whole boutique shopping experience is about.  First the store is absolutely fabulous both the clothes and the interior design.  The whole store is white, black, and green just like our house and mixes an industrial look with chic by adding beautiful black crystal chandeliers and beautiful fabric curtains.  My eye first gravitated to a beautiful black sequin dress that would be perfect for a socialite in LA or NYC but then I refocused and remembered my purpose was a fabulous pair of jeans, I mean they are called raw denim after all.  I found the jean wall and it was filled with Miss Me, Rock & Republic, and many other fabulous denim designers.  The sales associates were really nice and helpful and brought me all kinds of jeans to try on and didn’t hesitate to help grab another style or size.  It was a pleasant change from the eye rolling clerks and the 6 item limits I experience in most of the dressing rooms I frequent.  I ended up with a fabulous pair of dark jeans.  They fit perfectly and with my coupon they were just under $50 which is way more than I normally spend ($15 old navy denim sale) but I felt like a princess for an hour and admittedly they are way more fierce than my other jeans.  I can’t wait to wear them out and enjoy my frivolous but fabulous splurge purchase!