Friday Favorites: Rock

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This week John brought home School House Rock from the library. Grayson was entranced by the music. I became engrossed as well. The musical style is so indicative of the 70s. All of the songs were very patriotic. I felt like I was indoctrinating Grayson with American pride. I laughed at the many song lyrics that would likely make folks in the Tea Party cringe. I wonder what the tone of School House Rock would be if the songs were rewritten now? What music style would be used?

Here are some of  the songs that have been playing on repeat in my head all week.

Most confusing part of this clip: why whenever they sing, "In the pursuit of happiness" does a man chase a woman across the screen?

The formality of Elias Howe makes me smile.

Rock it out this weekend!

Friday Favorites

Instagram
About a year ago I downloaded the Instagram app. I took one photo and completely forgot about it. Recently John got hooked on taking pictures through Instagram. When I tried to download Instagram on my phone a couple of weeks ago I sheepishly realized I had been sitting a gold mine for almost a year. My rekindled affair with this app has me obsessed. I am sure the folks following me on Instagram are already tired of seeing pictures of Grayson and Lucy, but they are my muses at this point in time. Do you follow only folks you know or also celebrities?

Inexpensive Celebrations
Grayson's Birthday is Saturday. Being almost 2-years-old means that Grayson is obsessed will all forms of transportation. He gets so excited when he sees cars, buses, plains, trains, you name it. To celebrate Grayson's Birthday we are going to take the MegaBus. We aren't going to Paris... but we are going to the Paris of the South, Atlanta (ha!). It's only $1 each way! Grayson's Birthday celebration is costing us a total of $6. I am hoping that we get to ride a double-decker bus, and that we get the front seat so Grayson can get the full effect. We are leaving Athens at 7am, arriving in downtown Atlanta around 8:40. The plan is to walk to J. Christopher's for breakfast and then head to Piedmont Park. We will hop back on the bus at 11am to Athens. This will either be an amazing experience, or incredibly stressful and tiring. We will see. Either way, it will be a memory in the bank.

Happy weekend!

Friday Favorites

The weekend is here! I will be teaching a class in Atlanta all day Saturday, and we will probably do some light packing to prepare for our upcoming move. It should be a good weekend.

Here are some of my favorites:

A few months ago I discovered the Aljazeera Birthrights series on YouTube. Fascinating! I particularly like this episode.

I love this project for NPR's Backseat Book Club. I particularly like the caption on photo 16.

This is one of the most interesting food concepts I have seen in a while.

Have a great weekend! Any fun plans?

Frivolous Friday

This week has seemed abnormally difficult. Our getaway last weekend was fantastic, but reentry was very hard. The kids were out of sync, we were out of sync; our family unit felt like it was running in irritating circles. During the middle of the week John and I exchanged texts, trying to figure out why this week seemed harder than usual. It felt like someone turned up the treadmill without our permission.

This week my goal was to focus on the positive moments and to find some frivolous things to laugh at.

Here are some of the positives.

Here are some of my frivolous finds.

Tents that are designed to look like more than just tents. 

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Yarn bombing. What do these folks do that allows them so much spare time?

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Seriously?

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Grandma went crazy. 

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Friday Favorites

John and I are dropping the kids off at the grandparents' house and heading up to Asheville for the weekend. We have been counting down the days to this trip sans kids. We love our children, but having two small kids is no joke. I am excited to have John all to myself. I am so looking forward to having uninterrupted conversations, eating at whichever restaurant we fancy and not having to consider if it is kid-friendly, and going to sleep whenever we decide.

This week has been very full with going back to work, sick children, and getting ready to go out of town. Throughout the week I did have a lot of favorite moments - Thursday proved to be particularly humorous in random ways. I can't get into all the details now, though, so I will leave you with the sketch that kept me and John laughing during the week.


FAVORITE CLIP

Every so often SNL comes out with a golden skit. There are times when everything just seems to flow perfectly and there are times when everything seems to go wrong (ie. the "Debbie Downer" skit with Lindsey Lohan where the cast could not help themselves from laughing). Either scenario makes for a very memorable skit. Last weekend Zooey Deschanel hosted SNL. This skit had me laughing and has had me coming back for me. All of the impersonations are dead-on.

YouTube did not have any better quality clips posted yet, but this works.

Have a great weekend! Make it quirky.

Friday Favorites

This week has gone by in a blur. Think that is how the last week before returning to work from a break always goes, extremely fast. Here are a few of my favorites from this week.

FAVORITE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE
Even though ReBlossom has been in business for a while, I just became acquainted with it when it moved locations and is now right down the road from my house. I am a huge fan of used kids clothing. It does not make much sense to buy something new for a child who is designed to get dirty and grow as fast as a weed. I am even a bigger fan of classy used clothing stores. I love not having to sift through ragged clothes to find the one diamond in the rough. ReBlossom has an excellent selection of clothing that does not look like it has ever been worn. I have a good system of selling clothes and getting new-to-us clothes with my store credit. So, basically, I plan to use ReBlossom simply as a clothing exchange. Good stuff.

FAVORITE CRAIGSLIST FIND

I have been scouring Craigslist for new furniture. I love the game of Craigslist. I like wheeling and dealing. I put our couch on Craigslist on Monday. I received over 30 inquiries within three hours of posting the ad. I was shocked. Our couch was nice, but not amazing. I received a number of emails with very personal stories and begging for the couch. At the end of the day we sold the couch to a man for $25 more than we advertised, since we had so much interest. The man drove over an hour to get the couch. When he saw it he said, "Oh, I thought it was micro fiber and cleaner." He still took the couch, so all was well, but I keep wondering if he was satisfied. 

I wonder how many inquiries have been made about this one-of-a-kind jewel. I like to think of it as usable art. The ad adds some richness to the whole situation. The seller really believes in this chair and has a vision for it, so much that he is charging $200. 

"I made this chair myself out of a shopping cart. Cushions would make a nice touch but they really aren't necessary; it's really comfortable as is. The edges have been smoothed where I cut, so there are no sharp edges. Unique, funky, and comfy! A conversation piece and a sturdy piece of furniture for your porch (or wherever else you want it to go). " 

FAVORITE TUBE

I stumbled onto one of Amaka's YouTube videos when I was researching the easiest way to make skirts for Lucy. I completely abandoned my research after watching a minute of Amaka. I became engrossed in her YouTube station. Why is she not a sensation? She has so many quotable lines and her banter is hysterical. I also love her choice of DIY projects. YouTube is made for folks like Amaka. Or, is it that folks like Amaka are made for YouTube? Either way, I am hooked. 

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Happy Weekend!

Friday Favorites

Have a calm and happy weekend.

FAVORITE SPECTATOR SPORT
Grayson has made a sport of trying to touch Lucy's tongue. Whenever Lucy yawns really big, Grayson readies his finger and sticks it in her mouth at the very last second. For most folks the game would be to get your finger in and out of someone's mouth before they finish yawning, but Grayson loves getting his finger stuck in Lucy's mouth. I am pretty sure he is trying to tickle Lucy's tongue.

The yawn. See the anticipation in Grayson's eyes?

The finger stick. 

FAVORITE STYLE
I have quickly become obsessed with infant leg warmers. Thank you Japanese stylists for pushing this trend! Leg warmers are so convenient and, let's face it, extremely fun to see on a baby. Even John can't resist commenting on how cute Lucy looks in her leg warmers.

Happy Weekend!

Friday Favorites

FAVORITE VIDEO CLIP
I am often endeared to videos of children on the web. I would love to make more videos of the kids. I wonder what it does to children to always have a camera running and an Internet presence though. At any rate, this hardcore video is entertaining.

FAVORITE TASTE
Kale is a staple in our house. I started getting burned out on kale salads, so I looked for different, easy kale options. I have become obsessed with making kale chips. I will admit to eating two batches a day.

FAVORITE STYLE

I am loving stripes on stripes.

Friday Favorites

FAVORITE SITE
What is your Wu-Tang name? Mine is Violent Toilet Thing. John's is Inscrutable Drama Queen. Ha! "Use it wisely, soldier."

FAVORITE TASTE
As part of a church-wide fast, John and I have decided to do the Daniel Fast for the next few weeks. It's essentially a vegan diet with the further restrictions of no yeast and nothing to drink other than water. I have been loving the Trader Joe's Harvest Grains for protein.

30 SECONDS OF EXPRESSION

When we found out we were having a girl we splurged on a fun onesie. Since Lucy turned one month old this week, I figured it would be a good time to get her in her onesie and do a 30 second photo shoot. I hope Lucy is a good storyteller. And so her story begins...