Dream a Dream

Everyone has dreams. Dreams while you're sleeping.. reflecting on the days gone by. Dreams that are sad, and bring up old memories and past sorrows. Dreams that are whimsical and full of fantasy. Dreams during the day, while you're wide awake but not paying full attention and dreams of the future. People dream about places they will go, things they will do. They dream about things that they want out of life and people that are or have been apart of it all.

I have a dream. Not different from the way Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once did. My dream is a personal dream, not a dream for the world (although, those exist in my mind as well.) My dream relates to my career and to my future.

My dream is to be successful, but happy.

You see, I have two career aspirations. They are two very different careers. Two very different jobs, and ways of life.  I see myself doing two things with my professional life.

The first, what I am going to school for. Something that has always come naturally for me... Communications, Marketing and Social Media. To some people that probably seems completely boring and too much of a "desk job." I, however, love communicating with others, and working to help them reach a goal in their life. I enjoy sharing my love for something with others (which is what got me hooked on marketing!) I have worked on yearbook staffs and shared my love of my school, our organizations and my friends all over the pages. When the books were printed and completed, I shared my love with everyone who held it in their hands. I created memories for people, and for that I am happy. I run many, many Facebook groups & pages. I share my love for the organization or company or what-have-you, through Facebook and love to watch peoples reactions and responses. I love the speed of social media, the speed of the interactivity and the short reactions times. I enjoy being connected, networking and talking with people from all over the world. And more than anything else, I love that social media is ever-changing.

I didn't know it then but my love for social media began when I was young, 12 or maybe 13 years young. I always wanted a MySpace and wanted to be connected to my friends. I spent hours configuring my "top friends" and my profile songs, and making sure the HTML code (yes, im serious.) made my sparkling cursor and background show up correctly. Several times, I was told I was too young and my profile was deleted. (Thanks, mom! Stuntin' my career growth..... sheesh.) Each and every time I was persistent, and a little sneaky, and managed to get back on and develop a new profile. A few years later, I was among the first of my friends to join Facebook. I remember having an attitude against it because you could not design a profile and because it was "boring." Look at Facebook now. Facebook has tailored their site to allow some personalizing through the cover photo. It is an organized site and has more than a billion monthly active users.  

With developing my social media career, I have developed and branched out my social networks. I am a member on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger (obviously!), WordPress, Yammer, Vimeo, TweetDeck & Hootsuite (multi-management sites), Pinterest, Flickr, Instagram, FourSquare, Google+, LinkedIn, Youtube and Tumblr. I currently have a Klout score of 61 meaning I am an above-average influencer. I love being connected and love sharing.  One day I hope to do social media for  a company or organization full-time. I am open to exploring other jobs within communications and marketing, and would more than likely enjoy them just as much because it is the connection and communication that excites me.

The second dream is to own a cafe'/bakery. I love being in the kitchen. I could spend hours baking, and dreaming up new ways to present sweet treats. My favorite thing to bake would have to be cupcakes, but I enjoy doing cookies, cakes, cake pops and a wide-variety of other sweet treats as well. I also love coffee. It began with frappuchinos, stemmed out to hot coffee drinks with lots of sugar and now is just a simple cup of coffee. Some of my favorites have always been Starbucks' White Chocolate Mocha, Tim Hortons' Iced Cappuccino, and a cup of Gevalia Columbian brew straight from my Keurig. I could drink 10 cups of coffee a day.

To be able to open a shop where I could be surrounded by two things I love, every single day, would be more than a dream come true. I would want a shop with comfortable seating, and a welcoming atmosphere, where fresh baked goods were cooking in the kitchen and coffee was always brewing. I would offer sweet treats in larger orders, so that they could be sold for parties and other events. I would have a plants and flowers in and around the shop, and bring in live music performers who were trying to find their place in the industry. It would be a place where people came to escape from their crazy lives, and I would go to escape from mine, and it would be a place of sweet bliss.

And that bakery would have some of the best social media sites you could ever imagine. ;)


One day, somehow, someway, I will find a way to blend my dreams together. I will find a way to finance my dreams and to create happiness for others.

Until then, I will continue my search for a summer job making minimum wage.

I guess that's why they call it dreaming.

Dream Big

xoxo

Take an extra 10% off...

Those are some glorious words. Although, I would prefer it to be 20, 30, 40 or even 100%  but 10% is good too :)

This morning, as my mom and I were planning out our day, I decided I wanted to buy a cake pop maker. Now I know this sounds like an impulse purchase (and yes, as much as I agree) I have been wanting to purchase one for awhile now. Cake pops are just the next "it" thing in baking and I love baking.

Look at them, they're so cute!

   

So, cake pop maker. I actually had been looking into buying ones online or off craigslist or something, because with most baking/cooking items it is a case where someone thought they would get lots of use out of it, used it once and then it became a permanent fixture in a cabinet or closet.  I found one, used once (like I said!) and she wanted $25 for it. It wasn't a bad deal, being that they're originally $40, but I knew I could do better.

I knew there was a Kohls near where we would be today, so I just happened to jump on their website to see how much they were there. Well guess what... "TODAY ONLY!" all small appliances on sale. It was on sale for $19.99!  After doing some searching and finding a 20% off coupon, AND lucky for me, a leftover Kohls gift card from grandma at Christmas, we were on our way.

When we arrived at Kohls, I headed straight for the kitchen section. (I tend to do this a lot.) The mini donut maker, the waffle stick maker, and the mini pie maker were all on sale...... but the cake pop maker was not. Well I took it anyways and headed off to a price scanner. Sure enough, it was on sale! You can never believe signs in stores. 

The best is yet to come though. As I was watching at the register, waiting to see it ring up half off, it rang up only $17.99 because apparently there was a door-buster special going on until noon! So after the automatic markdown, the door-buster 10% and the coupon... $13.99! A total savings of $26, more than I almost paid for the used one online!

And I am now a proud owner of a Babycakes Cake Pop Maker.

Be on the look out for a post near the end of the next week, as I will be making dozens of cake pops and cupcakes to sell during Relay for Life!

Be Thrifty, Eat Sweet!

xoxo

The Need To Share.

The events in Boston have remained heavy on my heart today.  I continue to read articles, watch videos, listen to phone calls.

One thing amazes me through all of it.

The need to share.

As someone who is deeply interested and invested in social media and communications/marketing, it has been absolutely amazing to see the way social media affected the events of yesterday.

I, along with many others, found out about the event from Facebook. I saw several posts saying "how terrible," "thoughts and prayers," and "I cannot believe it." It wasn't until I saw one that read "Bombing at the Boston Marathon? What is the world coming to?" that I realized something seriously wrong had gone on. I took to the Internet and began to watch a live telecast from CNN. I was drawn to my computer screen and almost obsessed with the details. It was just one of those moments where as much as you don't want to know, you do.

As soon as the first bomb went off Twitter and Facebook exploded (OK, too much?) with people expressing their thoughts, fears and sorrows. The exact minute that the first bomb went off, there was a Twitter user who posted the photo, questioning what was going on. Within 5 minutes there were thousands of tweets, photos and videos using the hashtags #Boston, #BostonMarathon and #PrayersforBoston.  Vine videos, which were very gruesome, also began surfacing.

What is it that makes people grab their phones to capture video and photos, even when they may be in danger? It is the need to share. Everyone wants to share what they have seen, and wants to see what everyone else has seen. Thanks to social media, and this footage, police have many different angles of what happened and who was around when the bombs went off.

Many news stations are using tweets and posts from social media sites as the photos in their articles.

One of the most amazing things I have found on social media in relation to this event is the use of social media from the Boston Police Department. They used their account to give instructions to people in the area of the bombings, ask for photos and videos to assist in their investigation, keep the injured/dead totals accurate, and even provide information relating to the JFK situation, which was briefly believed to be connected but was discovered to be just a fire.  The fact that Boston police felt confident that social media was a viable way to communicate with millions of people is incredible.  It just shows the credibility social media can have. Granted, BPD has a verified Twitter account (meaning the owner and operator went through background checks and are who they say they are) which adds to their credibility in a huge way.  Other Twitter users were posting fake, irrelevant and wrong information and feeding into rumors that were incorrect. Once it was announced that one of the fatalities was an 8 year old child a photo of a young girl began circulating. The photo claimed to be of the young girl (who was not a girl at all!) who was killed by the bomb. Putting a photo with the facts causes lots of emotion and many people were deeply saddened by this image. At least 20 of my friends shared this fake image, not knowing any better.  However, even after all that being said, the main thing found on social media sites in connection with Boston is support.

Millions are reaching out and offering their support in so many different ways. People in Boston were offering up rooms for families, especially those that have extra beds and live near the hospitals where victims were located.  #PrayersforBoston was trending, and still is trending, all over the world.

Google released Google person finder (a google.org project) that allowed people to search people they knew that were in Boston during the marathon. They could read information either posted from people who were in contact with them or read direct posts from people themselves. Some posts read "I am okay." "I am staying with students from Emerson College." "I have returned home safe." If you haven't seen it yet, check out the site. It provides so much information and more than likely comforted so many people during all of this. Google Person Finder - Boston

Social media is making waves and really capturing the world of journalism, marketing and communication and who knows where it will go in the future. All of this is because people have a need to share.

Goodnight

xo

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Last night I made a delicious dinner that I wanted to share with all of you.

First of all, let me start by saying I have never had stuffed shells in my life. When my mom suggested we try a stuffed shell recipe, I didn't know where to begin. She found this recipe on one of her Facebook friend's profile. (Thanks, Isa!)

Our delicious stuffed shells!

I never follow directions perfectly but I will tell you what I did instead.

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken breast, cooked and chopped. (Instead of chopped, I shredded in my mixer!)
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 6 green onions, diced
• 1/2 each of red, green, yellow, & orange bell peppers (or 2 whole bell peppers of your choice), diced
• 3 (8 oz.) blocks cream cheese, softened (not melted)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes with chiles (don’t drain) 
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp cumin ( I also added other spices)
• 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup of picante sauce   I used salsa. 
• 1 can of corn
• 38 large pasta shells, cooked al dente (38?! Im not feeding an army. We made about 12 or 15)

Because I cut the shell amount down, I also cut the rest of the recipe in 1/3.

Instructions

1. Cook pasta shells in well salted, boiling water until al dente.  Drain the pasta and set aside while you make the filling. I actually made them over an hour apart. The shells were fine :)
2. Cook, drain and shred chicken.
3. Mix chicken, drained black beans, diced peppers, and seasonings in a mixing bowl. 
4. In another bowl, mix the cream cheese, chicken stock and undrained tomatoes with chiles. When thoroughly combined, pour it over the chicken mixture and mix well.
5. Pour salsa into bottom of the pan. :)
6. Using a spoon (or your fingers - which is much more fun!) fill each of your shells, setting them into the pan.
7. When the pan is full, drizzle the shells with more salsa and then sprinkle with the shredded cheddar cheese.
8. Cover the baking pan tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. ( I actually baked about 45 minutes and they were perfect!)

I also made some fried rice and a corn, black bean, salsa mix to go with it. It was a perfect Mexican meal!

Harry S. Truman once said... 

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Happy Cooking!

xoxo

Time.

So tonight I hoped to be doing a positive  upbeat blog about the yummy dinner I made. However, I do not feel that I can ignore the events that have taken place today.

As I was sitting here, taking everything in and really trying to sort through it all and decide how to write about the horrible disaster at the Boston Marathon, a song came on through my Pandora that shed some light onto everything for me. I want to share the link and the lyrics with you. The song is Time by Hootie & The Blowfish.  Time on Youtube.

Time, 
Why you punish me? 
Like a wave crashing into the shore, you wash away my dreams. 
Time, 
Why you walk away? 
Like a friend with somewhere to go, you left me cryin' 

(Bridge) 
Can you teach me 'bout tomorrow and all the pain and sorrow, 
Runnin' free? 
'Cause tomorrow's just another day, and I don't believe in time. 

Time, 
I don't understand. Children killin' in the street, dyin' for the color of a rag. 
Time, 
Take their red and blue. Wash them in the ocean make them clean, maybe their mothers won't cry tonight 

(Chorus) 
Time is wastin', time is walking. 
You ain't no friend of mine. 
I don't know where i'm going. 
I think i'm out of my mind, thinkin' about time. 

And if I die tomorrow, yeah, just lay me down to sleep. 

Time, 
You left me standin' there. Like a tree growin' all alone. The wind just stripped me bare, stripped me bare. 
Time, 
The past has come and gone. The future's far away. Well now only lasts for one second, one second. 

You ain't no friend of mine. 
I don't know where i'm goin. 
I think i'm out of my mind. 

Time without courage and time without fear, is just wasted, wasted, wasted time, oh. 

So much of our lives are based on time. The events of today were based on time. All those runners had on their minds were time. They had no idea what would happen in time.

The time was 2:50pm. Where were you at that time? I was sitting at home, watching the news stories unfold. Some other people were not so lucky, but were watching it unfold right in front of them. Others cannot remember exactly what happened at 2:50 pm today, and others do not know what time it is right now.

You see, at 2:50pm today innocent family members and friends were watching their loved ones compete against time. A marathon is an individual event, based purely on time. You race against a clock, against your goals, and against your personal best. Some people today were racing away from an explosion, and away from danger, and racing so much more than time.

Some people were in the location of the bombs at 2:45pm, but by 2:50 had continued moving along the race route to be far enough away to avoid impact. These people had time on their side.

Time can change so much. Why 2:50pm? Who is behind this horrific event and why did they chose 2:50pm? Is there significance  Or does it have more to do with the fact that it was 4 hours and 9 minutes into the marathon? Did someone know who would be crossing through around that time? Did they know who would already be done and gone? Or did they know that a large group would come in around now? They did know the streets of Boston would be packed, and knew that many people would be affected.

There are so many questions that may not be answered for hours, or days, or longer. It is all in time's hands now. All we can do is wait to see what is discovered.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the friends and families, victims and rescue crews, and also to anyone that was in Boston today that witnessed this horrible event. Time wasn't on your side. 

Perks of Dating a Runner?

I would have never in a million years imagine that I would be dating a person whose favorite thing to do is run. You see, running and I.... water & oil. I can't run one block without stopping. Never could. I was the girl in gym class who would hide to try to cut a lap off my run and still ended up with a 21-minute mile and a half. I. don't. run.

Well guess what... Nick does.

Nick also played soccer, both of which require long drives to events and early mornings. The strange piece of the equation here is I like early mornings (sometimes.. depends how early were talking) and I love driving and going on long drives. Is this how I ended up at his number one groupie?

Why am I rambling on and on about this you may ask? Well I was thinking about this a lot today as I was getting up at 6am to go volunteer at the Martian Marathon. Even when Nick isn't running in the races.. he always wants to go help at them! I don't mind volunteering, and once in awhile 6am isn't so bad either, so I went along to help.

Guess what.... today, April 13th, might has well of been January 13th. It was SO cold and even snowed at one point. Here I am, standing with a stop sign, blocking people from driving down their streets and sending people home because they cannot drive through thousands of runners, all while admiring running shoes and planning another way to spend $100.

I was a "course marshal" and because of that, got this really cool sweatshirt!

Notice the "Obey Me!" Also, the back says "Ground Control."

Those packets that I am holding are called Gu, and they are essentially packets of sugars, carbs and electrolytes to provide energy while running. They are all the rage with runners and Nick just happened to get his hand on over 100 packets of this stuff today for volunteering. Mind you, each packet costs like $1.50 individually...  He was like a kid in a candy shop.

At one point during the race, I was running in place to keep myself warm and a lady ran by who said to me "Next you you need to be out here with a bib on!" and I said "No thanks, I'm a horrible runner!" to which she replied "A few years ago I couldn't make it from my front door to my drive way and look at me now - I'm running a marathon!"  That may have been inspirational, if I was not frozen solid and thinking about how crazy these people were to be running 26.2 miles in the rain, sleet and snow.

Another thing I always find interesting at races is that runners tend to put together interesting outfits. Some of which are costumes, but others just neon colors or other strange combinations. Today, in honor of the martian theme, there were several galactic costumes from "another world!" At the Corktown race, for St. Patrick's Day, there were fairies and hot dogs and all sorts of other things. I have become very good at people watching thanks to six years of watching Nick's sporting events.

After the race, and after getting my cup of Tim Hortons delicious goodness that I could not get before the race because I would not be a near a bathroom, Nick and I decided to go to Ikea.  I am getting a new bed and have been looking at all sorts of them and so far, my favorites are all from Ikea. Ikea was pretty much a zoo today. It took almost 15 minutes to find a parking spot. Best thing about Ikea --- Lingonberry Soda, just saying! I left with an umbrella for just $2.99 and a .99 cent ice cube tray and lots of photos of beds I want. Nick wanted to make another stop at Running Fit (Ya know, he hadn't had enough running for one day!!!!!!!) so we did that as well. He got himself a "stick," - more runner's lingo! - that is for massaging your legs and I got my feet analyzed. Apparently I surprised the worker because my feet when analyzed on their pressure machine showed that I turned them inward  but when i walked they actually turn out? (Something like that? Go figure - another reason not to run!)

We finally headed for home, but that is always easier said than done. We ended up meeting my mom at Big Lots to look and see what they had as far as bedrooms go, then getting something from her that needed to be delivered to Auntie A, which then resulted in a visit with Charlie and Ruby, and yes I know this sentence is incredibly long but so was my day.

Then I took a nap! A nap that lasted only an hour but felt like twelve. It was luxurious.

Now Nick and I are making cinnamon rolls and discussing our plans for his next race - The Bayshore Marathon- his first marathon! It is in Traverse City on Memorial Day Weekend. I told you.... number one groupie. Where Nick will run, I will get up way to early and stand around to see him run by for 30 seconds.

Goodnight!

xoxo

P.s. I thought I would leave you with a really horrible photo of me that should bring a smile to your face. Short story behind this photo... there is a heat vent down there. When we got back from the race it was blowing out all sorts of hot air and that little spot seems to be the warmest in the house

. 

Confessions of a Veraholic.

Today is another day of deals. Its not everyday that I come across these great deals, but when it does happen it is an all-out extravaganza of savings! (Ok, not quite.. but still!) Two of these deals revolve around Vera Bradley, which makes me seem like a Veraholic - yes, those exist and I am far, far from it, but tonight I feel like I'm getting close.

Deal # 1 - Free Vera 
This deal actually happened a few nights ago, but the glorious box of goods came in the mail tonight, which reminded me how great of a deal I got.

It all started when I was visiting my family the other night. I was standing in the kitchen when a small piece of a Vera Bradley pattern caught my attention. I noticed that it was a "free $20 off a $20 purchase" card, that my aunt had received for her birthday. She noticed me looking at it and graciously gave it to me, and it wasn't even my birthday! (My certificate will be coming exactly two months from today! - $20 for my 20th birthday!!)

Anyway, I returned home with $20 to spend, which was a lot harder than it seems! It wasn't finding $20 worth, since most things are quite pricey, it was finding ONLY $20.

I ended up selecting $22 worth of items and only paying $2 (plus shipping.)

I got 3 "napkins" or pieces of fabric, with which I intend to make bows, and letters and whatever else my heart desires and a pack of binder clips that were on super sale. Each napkin was $6 because they are all new patterns, and the clips were $4 (on sale from $6.)

The napkins are Ribbons, Marina Paisley and Tutti Fruitti and the binder clips are English Meadows.

Deal #2 - Over-the-Phone Bargains.
This deal was not fulfilled by me in person. It was completed by the best "boyfriend's mom" in the world! (And the only one I've got!) The madness began last year when she attended the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale in Fort Wayne, Indiana. For those of you who have never heard about the sale, it is a warehouse with tables and tables and tables piled miles high with Vera Bradley products. Most items are 40-60% off. You actually have to buy tickets through ticketmaster to attend the event. It is an entire week long, as well! She went last year and came home with bags and bags of stuff. Guess what sale happened again today!

 

Because they were attending the sale on the second day, I was able to go online and look up price lists that people had posted. I was hoping to find a larger duffel or travel bag to add to my collection of purses, bags and totes. I found one for a steal! The bag is called the Metropolitan and is a retired style to it was a deep-discount item. I actually got it for 75% off!

All of this for less than $50!

The Student Agenda in Provencal      Originally $18.00     Got it for just $1.99
The Zip ID Case in Doodle Daisy      Originally $12.00                              $6.00
The Matching Lanyard                       Originally $12.00                             $5.00
The Zip ID Case in Indigo Pop          Originally $12.00                              $6.00
The Matching Chain Lanyard             Originally $16.00                             $5.00
and last but certainly not least....
The Metropolitan Bag in Call Me Coral   Originally $98.00     Got it for just $24.99. 

Overall grand total of savings.......  Retail value: $168.00     I paid $48.98.    A savings of  $119.02

I'm telling you.. if you like Vera Bradley, this sale is the place to go!!


Deal # 3 - Unexpected Savings.
This savings was totally unplanned, and was a purchase I was expecting to spend more on. My mom and I had to run to CVS tonight to get some odds and ends. I have been really sick of my Essie nail polishes lately and decided to try something new. I found a coral-colored Maybelline polish that looked like it would do the trick.

Maybelline New York - Coral Crush (190)

It was $3.99... not a bad deal for a nail polish.

On the way up to the register I stopped at the coupon center, scanned my CVS card and got about 10 coupons.  One of which..... $1.00 off a Maybelline cosmetic purchase. Another.... $2.50 extrabucks, which is essentially free money to use at CVS.  Which made the entire purchase of nail polish just 56 cents!  The nice guy at the register even said "watch out! we've got an extreme couponer over here!!"

Needless to say, I was happy with that purchase. New nail polish for a handfull of pocket change.

If you were to add up all the savings I had in this blog I saved almost $150 dollars and spent just about $50. Not a bad deal for all the new goodies I gained.

That's all I've got for now, but I will be sure to post again if I find another good deal!

Goodnight, Thrifty Friends!

xoxox

Can failure be a good option?

This morning as I was watching the news, I noticed a controversial issue that caught my attention. It was not over something political or some sort of crime or new law. It revolves around a blog.

The blog is called Fail Detroit. It is a blog where people from the Detroit area can share times when they have failed and what they have learned from their failure. It is based around the notion "it is not where you start, but how you finish."

I spent awhile reading through and exploring the blog, this morning. One of my favorite lines from the entire thing was....

While the City of Detroit has had its share of failures throughout its history, we know that failure is not its final outcome. Each and every day, Detroit advances forward as a result of the lessons that have been learned through its trials and missteps. As Detroiters, we believe that the best is yet to come.

How true that is.

Many people have a problem with this blog and are asking question like "why must Detroit's failures be displayed like this? They are already on the news every day." or "Why highlight failure?"

I see no problem with this blog and in fact think it is a great outlet for people to go to to see that if they fail, they are not alone.  It is a place for people to learn about other's struggles, before they may make the same mistakes themselves. It is a place to belong.

I encourage everyone to take a read through this blog. It is located at www.faildetroit.com.

Also, to read more, you can read the story Fox 2 News wrote regarding Fail Detroit. Fox 2 - Fail Detroit.

Everyone fails, but its how we recover from failure that really counts.

Tartan Day

Tartan Day?? What is that, you ask??

Get your tartan out because Tartan day is tomorrow, April 6th.

How did it all begin? Let me tell you.

National Tartan Day honors and celebrates Scottish culture and the role it has played in the development of the United States. Canada has been celebrating Tartan Day since 1993 and the U.S. Senate officially passed it into law in 1998, meaning that this year is the 15th Tartan Day in the US.

Scottish immigrants and descendants make up 8.5% of the total population of the United States. They've passed on Scottish last names, the sport of golf, the sounds of the bagpipes, and made tartan a fashion staple!

Tartan is a crisscrossed pattern of horizontal and vertical bands woven into cloth. It is made by weaving colored threads at right angles to each other. The Dress Act of 1746 attempted to ban tartan and other aspects of Gaelic culture in order to bring people under tighter government control. The law was repealed in 1782 and tartan became symbolic as the national dress of Scotland.  Thanks to PunchBowl.com

In New York, a large week-long celebration is held each year - Check it out! It even includes a huge tartan, Scottish-American pride parade!

To celebrate Tartan Day, pull out favorite tartan items and wear them with pride to celebrate Scottish culture!

I'll be wearing my Tartan, will you?

Call Me, Beep Me.. If Ya Wanna Reach Me.

For us 90s kids, you will most likely understand the reference in the title of this blog. For the rest of you ... Check this out. (She was seriously one of the coolest girls of the 90s.)


So tonight as I was scrolling through some of my favorite blogs and twitter I noticed that today is a monumental day. 40 years ago today the very first mobile phone call was made. Thanks to this article from Mashable - first mobile phone call - and a few tweets from different technology companies, I realized how big of an event this truly is. When I saw 40 years I thought "its only been 40 years?" but my mother said "Its been that long already?"  I am apart of the technology generation and I live it every single day. To me, it feels like it has been around forever. It is crazy to think how much development has happened in 40 years.

I found this wonderful graphic courtesy of Mashable.

Mashable composite. Image via iStockphoto, LockieCurrie.

The progress is outstanding.  It is crazy to me that people used to live without these devices. When their cars broke down, they walked to get help. We pick up the phone and call people until someone comes to the rescue. How hard is that? A few button clicks and some kind words - maybe some begging and pleading. We have life so easy. You want to know how much gas costs at all of the surrounding neighborhood pump locations?? Forget driving from place to place. All you have to do is open your handy-dandy Yellow Pages Mobile App that will show every gas station in a mile radius of your choosing, and also their prices for cash AND credit. Amazing isn't it? Lazy? Maybe so. Smart? You betcha. 

Life has become so fast-paced and technological in the last 40 years. Each and every one of us literally holds the world in the palm of our hands, every single day. Whether you have a smart phone, or tablet... or even a "dumb" phone or a phone of any type, it just takes a few presses of the button and you hold a never-ending wealth of information.

Lets look at one more thing... the development of mobile phones. They began big and bulky. Now, some are paper thin, some are waterproof and some are even indestructible. Where will they go next?

I personally have had six different cell phones (many, many more if you count the number of times they broke or needed to be replaced for some reason.) over the course of seven years. 

Do you remember those phones that had three buttons on them...? One for mom, one for dad, and one for emergency? Some of them even had four or five. If you were lucky you had a button for home and a button for a phone book of up to five people, of your parents choosing of course. They were called a Firefly and looked something like this... 

Yes, I had one of those. And upon googling this image, I noticed that there were many much prettier than mine.... apparently they even made pink ones. I missed out. Anyway, these phones were what kids had when they were my age. I got this in seventh grade when I was twelve years old. Now I see twelve-year-olds with their iPhones to their ear, while playing games on their iPads. Times sure are changing. One other interesting thing about the Firefly is that the fee to use it was EXTREMELY high, especially compared to modern day "talk" fees. It was 25 cents A MINUTE. That is more expensive than international calling. Also, I will never forget the day that I figured out that password to the phone book and broke in and added two of my friend's numbers. I thought I was all that and a bag of chips.  After my parents realized how quickly the minutes were going by (thanks to those two numbers!) and how much it was costing us... it was time to move into the world of cellphone companies and 2-year contracts.

My first "real" phone was an LG Chocolate. It was mint green and I loved that phone beyond words. It was such an upgrade from my Firefly. It has an MP3 player and it even took pictures! (Are there any phones that DON'T take pictures now???)  

My mother bought this phone for me, and I am pretty sure she bought it based on it's very catchy commercial. (Good job, Verizon marketers!) Check it out - LG Chocolate commercial. 

After this phone I went through a variety of others...

 

and now...

No, I never got a smartphone. No, I am not "up" with today's mobile phone phenomena  However, I do have an iPad, which I think is enough mobile for me and keeps my phone bills down :) 

It is mind-blowing to me how technology evolves and changes so rapidly. And not just the physical items, but how we use them. When I was in high school I was CONSTANTLY texting.. constantly. Through school, in the car, at the dinner table.. I was horrible. One month I sent over 23,000 text messages. (Verizon actually made a comment about that one.) But now, thanks to mobile sites and social networking sites, communication has again evolved  Now I spend hours a day checking Facebook, Twitter and my email, rather than tiring out thumbs. Either way, I live in a world that it always connected. The very last thing I do before I fall asleep is scan my social media feeds and send a few text messages. As soon as my eyes open in the morning... what did I miss overnight? It is now a world where everyone not only wants to know, but needs to know what is going on, all the time. What would we do if for just one day all the internet and phone in the ENTIRE world were to stop working? It would be utter chaos. 

If technology, and mobile phones, have come this far in 40 years.... what will the next 40 bring? Now that's some food for thought.

Goodnight!

XOXO

Brunch -- The perfect mix of breakfast and lunch.

It is good to know that even though I am almost 20 years old I am not too old for an Easter basket!

I woke up bright and early to shower and begin cooking for our lovely Easter brunch. I cut up all the fruit for our Honey Lime Fruit Salad. I figured letting it marinade together while we were at church would be a perfect touch.

Then we headed off to church.

After church, and a quick stop at Tim Hortons (Got another winning Roll Up The Rim!), I returned to my kitchen. I covered my new dress with my Starbucks barista apron I got for $1 at Goodwill and got to cooking. Aside from the fruit salad, I made ham, hashbrown/egg baskets, fresh strawberry muffins, and Easter sangria (for those of age!). 

  

 

Check out my Easter Brunch Pinterest page with some of these recipes -- Easter Brunch '13

The afternoon was full of sunshine, egg hunts, delicious food, family and friends.

I feel like this photo is a perfect photo to describe the afternoon. :)

After our family headed home, Nick and I were off to family party #2, with the McIntosh family!  We ate delicious desserts, played Corn Hole for hours on end, and even found time to watch a movie and hangout before the day was over.

As always, I hated saying goodbye to Nick last night, but I know I will be seeing him again in a few weeks.


And then for today...
I found out I am going to be an RA on 2nd floor Brazell and am happy to say that I am going to have the best suitemates, Jes and Ashley!

That's all for now.

Goodnight

XOXO