coming home | whats behind door no.1

For those of you who follow me on instagram, you know that I have been on vacation for almost a month or so. Well, I made it back a few days ago. It was a good, long break that I needed. I visited family, passed through a few states I had never been to previously, and did a few touristy things. I'll be posting about all the happs in the future, but for now we talk about coming home. 

For one, I have been reading way too much Jane Austen to have written this as a caption on instagram:

Coming home is a decidedly lovely event. A tried and true tradition that seems to beckon a new beginning of sorts. Everything habitual has an air of newness; even the routines seem adventurous and desired.

But two,wordiness aside, its true.

Although its good to be gone and do new things, its good to be back and be in routine. Also, lets be honest, getting a good night's sleep in your own bed after a period of being gone is wonderful.

I'm a girl who likes her routine. Even in the summer, I like my mornings to be productive and regimented. How my morning looks, usually gives a clue to how the rest of my day will go. So, these last couple days have been a reset back into my typical morning. And I've loved it. 

Yes, I'm a weirdo, I know. 

Anywho, in this process of a reset I was inspired to do something creative with a project that I would typically be too methodical to do. I don't typically follow my whims, I usually think things through. Pros and cons list and all. But I am trying to be more of a whim follower to the things that in the long run will stretch me and my abilities.

So, I whipped out a role of painters tape and went to work (after I had put a load of laundry in. how responsible of me.) while sipping a cup of tea. 

I had no real plan, just a thought in my head. So, doing very opposite of what "Clarissa" would usually do, I just went for it without a sketch or a picture to follow. In the end, I had a bunch of lines begging for their shapes to be painted, so I obliged. 

Thanks to a bunch of coupons for free paint samples that I had redeemed and then was too cautious to use, I had quite the array of colors to choose from. Sticking with the just-role-with-it theme I was shooting for, I just picked a few that stood out to me and grabbed the paint brush. 

There were moments in this process that I thought seriously of regretting my decision to start, but I painted on. I thought, "If I hate it, I will just paint over it. Its just paint, right?" I had plans in the middle of this to leave some shapes white, just do two colors, do some shapes gray and white, pink? is that to cliche?...you name it, I thought it. 

But I reminded myself to capture the whim and plunge head first. Being the pattern-loving person that I am, I am personally pretty proud of that pink triangle to the right (geez, the letter P got a lot of recognition in this sentence). Its just there, being the adorable pop of color that it is. 

When the tape came off all I found myself saying was "I freakin' love it. Ah! I loooove it." Its cool, no? 

I have further plans to mount a large mirror in the middle of the door so to make the space useful in my 10x10 space as well as to provide a cute backdrop for the mirror. 

All in all, I am pretty proud of my breaking routine-and-being-home-less-than-24-hours-whim project. It feels good and refreshing to change things up. 

Speaking of changing things up, y'all should go check out Kelly and her updated digs. 

Okay you go do that, while I go and try to hang this mirror up evenly. I'm only a little nervous...or maybe a lot. Wish me luck!

the ice cream truck revisited

The introduction to the ice cream man tradition, in my family, started almost 20 years ago when I was just a babe.

The story goes: My grandmother used to refer to the ice cream truck as the "music truck" to my cousins and I. It was her thing, and she got quite the kick out of it. That is until June 6th 1995, when my uncle changed its meaning forever by happening to allude to the "music truck's" precious cargo. Ahem, i mean, the ice cream truck. 

Of course my grandmother wasn't too thrilled about her charade being blown, but lucky for me (I was the only kid present at the time) I got my first shot at the ice cream truck's goodness.

You should know that although my grandma was "upset" that her gig was up, she wasn't too heart broken not to document the event with her ever present camera. As you can see, I was pretty proud of my winnings. Buggs Bunny with gumball eyes. Oh yeah.

Thus the moment was cast in infamy and when my cousin Harley was born 19 years later, we all knew the time would come when it was my turn to continue the tradition just like his momma and daddy had done for me.  

It was an adventure. The ice cream man around here drives a bit fast and his music plays pretty low so it creates quite the conundrum to get his attention in time for him to stop. We had heard the truck earlier in the day, but by the time we had registered the classic ice cream truck tunes, it was already down the street. So we waited, hoping we would get another shot later in the afternoon. 

Again a few hours later my aunt heard the faint tunes, which sent me running out of the house, bare foot, and flailing my arms trying to catch his attention in the rear view mirror as he continued to drive down the street. Thankfully the neighbors across the street and down two houses came bursting out of their front door right about the time I did and were able to grab his attention. My goodness, who knew it would be so hard to get an ice cream truck to stop. 

Sticking with tradition we went with an ice cream complete with gumball eyes, this time the character being Spiderman. 

The Goob wasted no time digging into that sucker, obviously because we like food. A lot. 

The sun didn't waste any time beginning the process of melting that frozen sugary goodness, either.

We were sticky and stained with the red-blueish-purpley evidence. 

It was a glorious 5 minutes. I say 5, because 1) he isn't quite yet 2 and 2) he had things to do, bubbles to blow. and veggies to watch. duh. 

Ice cream takes its toll, as you can see on the face above. Its good, but man it takes some energy to consume so much sugar. 

I was blessed beyond measure to be apart of this moment and to share in the stories that were and are soon to come. He's a miracle baby with an awe inspiring story and I couldn't imagine a more perfect day to make these memories. If grandma was still around, she would have stood by her "music truck" story and taken pride in her grandchildren's joy in the simple things with a camera in hand. 

I believe life's grandness is found in the smallest moments, I am so thankful for this summer and the opportunities to soak those moments in.

ps. the top photo was taken June '95, while the bottom was taken July '14. It was an accident-on-purpose that both Harley and I were about the same age when each photo was taken. Nifty, right?

Also, Ice cream trucks haven't changed much in 20 years. 

taking stock

I ran across this list recently on another blog and could. not. resist filling it out. Honestly, I love reflective lists. I also think it works well as a friday, #wednesdaywhatnot post. Yeah, you read that right. 

Anyway, on with the listing. 

Making : jams to the tune of "larry boy" works for just about everything. "pajama time! pajama time!" was my latest rendition. 
Cooking : potato pancakes and cakeballs three nights ago (they were consumed separately)
Drinking : cold brew with vanilla creamer
Reading: in between books. treasured witty fav or new deep thought provoking book. That is the question.
Wanting: cold pizza.
Looking: at bountiful Kansas greenery. I have a major crush on it. 
Playing: The Civil Wars 
Wasting: time. always.
Sewing: wild oats? haha. For real though, not a darn thing. 
Wishing: for a vanilla coke
Enjoying: Dawson's Creek. I blame Netflix.
Waiting: for a somebody's nap to end. 
Liking: instagram squares 
Wondering: what the weather's like back home.
Loving: MaryKay's Cream to Powder foundation
Hoping: for another awesome midwestern storm.
Marvelling: at sunlight. 
Needing: a break from big data. too soon?
Smelling: shampoo
Wearing: a skirt and a cause tee. 
Following: bob, larry, and the rest of the veggies in their adventures. 
Noticing: the hum of the air conditioner and the washers spin cycle.
Knowing: without having to go outside that the humidity has a claim on the weather.
Thinking: this list requires a lot of critical thought. 
Feeling: the need to rebrush my teeth. coffee breath. ew. 
Bookmarking: this summer's adventures
Opening: a can of worms? probably.
Giggling: at the way an 20 month old says "Oh Yaaa" after he says hello. 
Feeling: like i'm in need of a nap or chocolate, either would work.  

black + white inspiration: for the hair

This summer has already been hot. And busy. Which means my hair has been in its natural state for most of it. My momma has curls and my daddy has stick straight hair, so what does that give me? This.

But I can only get a good 2 days out of it before it starts looking funny. So to squeeze a third day out of it, I've been using the small things blog  triple twist tutorial, that you can watch here. It is super simple, loose and messy, just perfect for a hot summer day. 

I was also inspired by a black and white picture of one of my relatives whom cannot be determined. No name, no ideas, no nothing. But she's cute and sassy and all about working hard. Its a great photo with or without an identity. Also, do you see that little boy to the left of her with the cute little hat on? Yeah we don't know who he is either, but man he's cute. 

So with that inspiration in mind, I decided to switch up the style just a bit and go a little more 40s by adding an old bandanna. Which ended up looking like a modern day Rosie the Riveter. Score.

I also happened to wear this look for the Fourth of July, I mean, you can't get any more patriotic than Rosie the Riveter. Am I right? 

Anywho, that's the look. Don't be afraid to switch things up a time or two. Happy monday! 

Wednesdays are meant for pink

I haven't posted a #wednesdaywhatnot in awhile and I've missed it (If you have no clue what I'm talking about, start here.) I love seeing a snippet of y'alls day or learning something new about you each week. 

So we're still at it, even with the inconsistencies.

I went easy this week and asked simply what everybody was up to on their Wednesday. I got responses from sipping on sweet tea to adventures in Alaska as well as touring art museums in Poland. Y'all really are digging deep into summer and I'm loving it. 

I found myself whipping up a strawberry cake* and singing along to Patsy Cline. That woman and baking make me weepy for some reason. Sheesh. 

The cake then became delicious cake balls later in the afternoon when I spent some time with a sweet old friend sharing in the "art" of making them and watching Harry Potter movies. I love how baking brings women together like no other, its a community effort with a sweet result that truly can't be obtained by any other activity. You build foundations and grow roots while baking. (If you have been reading for awhile, you know I like talking about cake, if you haven't, read here.)

The finished product yielded Chocolate Covered Strawberry and Mounds (think candy bar) scrumptious little morsels. If college doesn't pan out, I'm going into the cake ball business. I mean, who needs a degree when you have cake? (no need to panic, I'm just joking.) 

It definitely has been one of my favorite afternoons of the summer.  

Where did you find yourself this past Wednesday?

*On Wednesdays, we bake pink cakes. (get it?)

she blogs

This beauty (who used to think what I did was "weird") started a blog.

Its a sweet new space full of compassion and grace; a corner of the Internet I'm sure you'll want to visit regularly. 

Even if she used to think my blog/blogs in general were odd...(we're sisters, so I'm allowed to give her a hard time about these things. Also I take photos of her mug on the regular, so she has really no room to talk.)

Go find her at Alabaster: Reaction to Redemption 

I trust you to follow my instructions and go visit her.

Later.

p.s. why yes, I do crack myself up. 

"big data"-ing

This summer I am apart of a team that is researching "big data" and all the ambiguous things it entails.

We've all heard of it, but we silently ask "what is the world is "big data" and why the heck haven't they come up with a better name for it yet?" every time we hear it on the news or read it in the paper. 

So before I ramble about what exactly I'm doing, let me attempt to define it for you (with a little bit of help from my friend Webster, of course.)

"An accumulation of data that is too large and complex for processing by traditional database management tools."

Now that I've let Webster give us the surface meaning, I'll tell you the real deal. 

Every time you like something on facebook, search something on google, post on instagram, write on a blog, go to a blog, buy something off of amazon, and tweet a celebrity or your bestie next door, you and your information are being processed and stored for future use by these companies and our government (think Snowden.) This data can be your name, birthday, what your favorite color is, who your momma is, spending patterns/buying habits, where you like to eat, where you live (we're talking addresses in some cases), who you dig and the list goes on and on. Facebook and the like sell it to advertisers that then "magically" manage to find their product advertisements in your feeds and your "Customers who bought this, also like this..." sections. 

That, my friends, is big data.

With all this data being collected off of every single person who scrolls through the Internet, you can imagine why the word "big" finds its way in front of the term. 

So as a team we are asking, what will our world look like in time with our current use of big data? Basically, what will be the repercussions in years to come. 

This means I find myself sifting through MANY articles on the topic in front of a computer screen for multiple hours a day. Between yesterday and today alone, I have read/skimmed/processed 200 articles. (feel free to cringe, I know I do.) And then once all the material is processed we will analyse, process again, and then write a report in hopes of our findings being published in a scholarly journal. Oh, did I mention we will also be presenting this to scholars at the end of the summer? Yeah, that's a thing.

I believe without a doubt that this concept will soon be stocking my dreams much like the Grimm Reaper, but instead of rocking the menacing black robe and holding a scythe he'll be dressed like an NSA agent and a lasso of Internet cable will be in his hand which he uses to pull information out of you (a bit of a stretch, but you get the picture.) If this actually happens, I'll be sure and write the whole thing down so y'all can share in the merriment. 

Also, I believe the words "big" and "data" in the same sentence will gain a tone of curse like inflection a few weeks down the road. I can feel it. 

Anyway, now that I've completely lost you with my off kilter notions, I'll leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from my reading on the topic thus far. They are sarcastic gems that in knee deep research make me laugh and remember humor still exists. 

"The more I hear the term "big data," the more suspicious I become. Not in an Edward Snowden, the evil government's spying on us sort of way. If the curious of Fort Meade, Md., the National Security Agency's home, wish to poke through my electronic sock drawers for signs of terror, they are more than welcome. Happy to do my bit for national security." -Philip Delves Broughton, Wall Street Journal

"A COUPLE of weeks ago, my laptop died. My stomach churned as I realized that a full day's worth of work had vanished. "Maybe I could just ask the National Security Agency for a copy of it," I said to myself. "They have everything now." I didn't know which surveillance bureaucrat to call, and that's a shame." - John Schwartz, New York Times. 

Oh but wait, Mr. Schwartz continues his snide tone well into the article in which he discusses the need for the data collected to be given back to the individual for monetary or insightful gain. Prepare yourself for this. 

"Here's where it gets really cool: it all comes together in a little algorithm I'd like to call a "modest data proposal." Let's say my Fitbit shows that I'm getting into shape and my medical and insurance records suggest that I have no big health problems like heart disease or stroke ahead of me. In fact, I'm likely to live to 100. But my bank account and investment data show that I haven't built up a financial cushion for a lengthy retirement. At this rate, I'm almost certain to end up becoming a drag on Social Security and the health care system.

 Under my plan -- let's call it the lifestyle death panel -- the government would recommend that I take up smoking. That would shorten my life and help keep entitlement spending under control. I'll bet that tobacco companies might even pay for the ads.

 Or, as an alternative, Uncle Sam could encourage me to eat Triple Whoppers." 

And on that note, I leave you. 

P.s. Thanks for stopping in NSA Agents and Advertisers of the like, I'm sure my excessive use of your favorite buzz words tipped you off, it was my pleasure. You're more than welcome to check my Internet sock drawers as well. Happy hunting.