The devil is in the details. I changed my coasters from boring and terrible to awesome and classy with some gold acrylic paint and about 15 minutes.
I love it when small changes make all the difference.
Before:
After:
Interested in learning how to use Photoshop to edit videos, I made a fake ghost video of my beloved pet cat, Hamburglar.
Yesterday we were blessed with lovely un-Decemberlike weather, so my husband and I decided to visit the Gulf Breeze Zoo and visit all the animals (but especially the otters).
So I redid my portfolio website today! If there was ever any doubt how much of a nerd I am am, here’s proof: On my homepage, I have three sliders set to change at 3 seconds, 3.5 seconds, and 4 seconds. My husband and I worked out that once every 84 seconds, all the images will switch at the same time. Not content to assume this was the case, we sat there and timed it, and cheered when they switched simultaneously as expected.
If you have a minute and a half to kill and like looking at pictures, you can visit my portfolio at www.emilyshippdesign.com.
Is dramatic.
This one hates you.
This one hopes you don’t notice the stinky toot he just made.
This one wonders, “What is life if not waiting for death?”
This one strongly wishes he hadn’t just watched The Shining before bed.
This one is drunk.
This one is curious about the difference between traditional and Roth IRAs.
This one camped out overnight at Taco Bell to get some Doritos tacos.
This one wishes just once a hat would fit.
This one just realized that Elijah Wood and Daniel Radcliffe are different people.
This one just wants to be plain and brown for one frickin day so RELAX OK
This one is gazing at a plate of nachos.
As those of you who know me are probably already aware, my husband commissioned into the Navy in March of this year to begin flight training. As a result, this year I had the good fortune to attend the Navy birthday ball. Free-flowing wine, food, cake, dancing, and all in the company of a great group of people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in the past few months. Speaking of, my photographer friend Meghan was gracious enough to do a quick shoot of Kyle and myself all dolled up before the ball.
Here are some highlights:
After loads of research and years of longing, we traded in our gas-thirsty 2000 era SUV for a new 2012 Mazda 3!
I LOVE this car. It’s so fun to drive, but it also has the practical features I wanted too: great gas mileage with the 2.0L Skyactive engine, hatchback, and excellent safety rating.
It also had one thing I didn’t want: The enormous dealer decal on the hatch.
Most of the time when you buy a car, you can request that the dealer remove this unsightly advertisement from the vehicle before you accept delivery. But between hashing out purchase price, financing and extras, it’s very easy to let a relatively minor detail like the dealer decal slip, which is exactly what we did.
So I decided to remove it myself. This seemed very intimidating at first. What if I were to damage the finish on a brand new car? But my research assured me it could be done with ease and little risk, so I soldiered ahead.
It turns out that on a hot day, the vinyl lettering used on these decals softens in the heat. If it’s winter for you or you just live somewhere cold, you can use a hair dryer or heat gun (carefully!). I live in Florida, so it being August it was 30 billion degrees out creating no need for artificial heat. When the letters are softened, you can just pick them off with your fingernail!
Excuse our goofy reflections.
With the letters removed, all you are left with is nasty goop in the shape of the previously offending decal.
Grooooss.
But this is easy to remove. Just grab a bottle of the ever-useful Goo-Gone and spray on then wipe off. It may take a couple of tries to get all the nasty off. Then just clean up with a clean rag and dishsoapy water.
And voila! 20 minutes of light effort and your car looks better and is no longer a driving billboard for the guy you bought it from.
SO SHINY.
My husband and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary last week! As a treat, I went to go get my hair cut and colored, and before I left the stylist curled it for me (something that I cannot remotely manage to do for myself). So here’s a photo of me showing off the one evening this summer that my hairstyle has been more complicated than “brushed”.
We went out to a matinee that afternoon, followed by Indian food for dinner and drinks. One thing I learned is that while something called a birthday cake martini may SOUND delicious, it is actually wretchedly gross. However, chicken tikka masala is never a bad choice. Om nom nom!
International Delight Iced Coffee. NOM NOM NOM.
One of my favorite things about food packaging is the “serving suggestion” disclaimer. It’s like, “Hey listen. You may want to pour this yummy beverage in a cup with some ice. But you don’t HAVE to. This is AMERICA.”