Modern Day Dinosaurs

So, while making a quick trip onto Target, something, or should I say someone caught my eye and I had to snap his photo.

Meet the Guardian of the Target Lotion Aisle:

The funny thing is that I realized I've made a nice little collection of dinosaur photos without even trying. In fact, I even forgot about Christmas Dino that I snapped at the Memphis Zoo until I was searching for the photos for this post.

Little Lost Dino (found abandoned in a corner of St. Jude).

 Finally, the last two photos are of a toy Dino that I received with my Photojojo order - they send one out  with every order just for kicks. I was having fun playing with the little cell phone lenses that I purchased. In fact, this Dino is the only one that I didn't come across randomly, unless you count something being sent to you that you didn't order as random. So maybe he's a random Dino as well.

So this little post was to test out publishing from Blogger... to which Adam recently switched the blog over for me.  I was just having too many issues with Wordpress and since Google has recently taken over Blogger, there's been some nice changes.  In fact, I published this post from my cell phone (which I know is possible with Wordpress, but again, I was having difficulty working with their app).  The only thing I can't yet figure out on the app is how to place photos directly where I want them within the post.  However, the app allowed me to upload these photos straight from my phone, which is where most of the project photos are currently housed (we do have them backed up on Aperture and Google + as well).  However, I don't often get on the desktop where the Aperture library is housed as Adam works from that computer most of the time.  It was taking too long for my laptop to remotely access the Aperture library on the desktop and I couldn't get photos from Google+ to upload to Wordpress.  However, since Blogger is now owned by Google, getting photos from Google+ to the blog is no problem!  Hopefully, this will make things much nicer.  Previously, I would write the text from the laptop and then go to the desktop to enter photos... Just too much work for me and I would never get to everything before the drive to write a post was gone.  

So now, with things much more streamlined, I'm going to WRITE MORE POSTS!  I promise :)

Photo issue fixed - Yay!

And I did it all by my little self :)

This also means that I can start blogging about my current project - repainting and decorating the entry way and dining room... the first two rooms you see when you enter the house. We've got some big plans, but for now, all I'm seeing is Grey and Yellow! (hint, hint)

I'll also give you all a proper house tour as well!

DIY 20's Flapper Dress

I've been gone a long time. I miss this place. I've got tons of projects to share with everyone, and since most of you who read this blog way back before the wedding are not living anywhere near me, I want to let ya'll into our home, as well as have a way of documenting the goings on of our first home. We've been in this lovely house for about a year and a half now, and even though we don't work on as many projects as we'd like due to Adam's schedule, we've had fun with the projects we have completed.

I've tried to decide where to start for quite some time, but I think that's just making this more stressful than it should be. So, I'm just going to jump in! I'll get to a proper house tour soon, but for this post, I wanted to show off our Halloween costumes for this year. Some of ya'll have seen them on Facebook already, but I wanted to give a few more details because it was oh so easy! Believe it or not, I've never actually made my own Halloween costume, and until about last Tuesday, I didn't even plan on doing anything for this year. Adam's on nights this rotation and is exhausted...then we found out there was a resident costume party at the Flying Saucer downtown last Saturday night, so we had to do something. After some deliberation we decided to do a 20's theme - nothing too original, I know, but I love that era and we needed something quick! Also during last week, a couple of my favorite blogs, Young House Love and Bower Power announced their second Pinterest Challenge (no official affiliation with Pinterest, but just a way to get some of the projects on our Pinterest accounts actually completed). You can read about it on YHL and Bower Power for more details. So, I figured it was the perfect time to show off a recent project, get this thing up and running again, and participate in the Pinterest Challenge. So, without further ado, I present our Halloween 2011 Costumes!

Here, you can see my 20s inspiration board for headpieces and dresses, which is where I got some ideas and inspiration for my dress and headpiece.

For the dress, I basically found a black short nightgown-type garment at Target that I could decorate. It was strappy but I figured that I could bulk up the straps and the bust line if needed with some trim. It had a good shape to it and wasn't too short or too long when I put it on. Also, it was really comfy, which didn't hurt either.



I knew that I wanted the dress to be completely covered in fringe so it was off to Hancock Fabrics I went. Luckily, they were having a 40% off trim and ribbon sale, which was perfect. It was also nice to see that I wasn't the only one grabbing materials to start my Halloween Costume three days before the Halloween weekend. However, that also meant that my choice for fringe was pretty limited. Happily though, I found a great black fringe, some sequin trim, and some fake pearl strands. Additionally, I grabbed some sequin stretchy trim for the headband and some black ribbon trim that my eye was drawn towards.



I knew that I had some peacock feathers at home as well, so I went with a turquoise, purple, and grey color palate. I grabbed some satin ribbon in my chosen colors as well just before walking to the counter.



I had absolutely no idea how much of each I needed, so I had the dress out on the cutting table at the store and basically eyeballed my needed length and added about another yard for the trim. I wasn't sure how much of the other trim I was going to use aside from the fringe, so I just bought a few yards of each. I ended up with about 6.5 yards, which was less than the original 8 yards I wanted, but 6.5 was all that was left in the store. I just hoped that I could end up getting more at another store if needed (turns out that I did and I could).

Once I got home with all my supplies, I warmed up the hot glue gun and laid out a rough pattern of my design. From there on it was just gluing and cutting the trim. After each row of fringe, which I worked on from the bottom up as it was easier to glue without fringe pieces at the tip of my gluegun, I held up the dress to make sure everything was laying correctly as the material was stretchy. There was a bit of time that the glue could be removed before it was too set in, but it was difficult to get it all off the dress. So, I took things slowly and made sure to keep an eye on where I was going. I used the bottom hem of the dress to attach the last row of fringe so that the bottom of the dress is just fringe with no fabric behind it. That made it a bit sassy and also let me have a straight line to begin with. As I got a few rows of fringe on the dress I decided that it needed something more so I also added a row of sequins between each row of fringe. That definitely made a difference in the dress.



As I said before, I got all the fringe at the particular store I went to on Tuesday evening, but it ended up not being enough. So, Saturday afternoon when I realized how much more fringe I needed, I went out to the other two Hancock locations in Memphis to find some more fringe. Of course, the first store I went to didn't have any of the same trim I purchased on Tuesday night, so I went to the third store hoping that they had what I needed. The fringe was there, as was the same sequin trim that I had been using, which I was also out of. So I bought a couple more yards of each and got home as quickly as I could. Before I left the store, I did manage to find a grey satin headband and a cluster of peacock feathers pre-arranged and glued to felt backing making it ready to go onto a clip or headband. Due to having much less time than I had originally anticipated, I grabbed it so that I would already have half my headpiece together.

When I got home, I frantically put the last bit of trim on the dress and finished my headpiece.



Then I threw on my fishnet tights, thick eyeliner and dark eyeshadow, and grabbed my feather boa. I was ready to go!



Luckily, Adam's costume was easier. I found a fedora and purple Missoni tie at Target, and a costume pinstripe jacket as the party store. I couldn't find the pants, so he just wore some of his black suit pants. We grabbed one of the pearl strands for a pocket watch chain and stuck a peacock feather in his hat.



For last minute costume creation, I think we did a pretty good job! We had a ton of fun!!





Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Learning New Talents to pass the Time...

Well...interviews are over (finally!) We won't find anything out until mid-May about where we're going to be, so we've got some time to kill.

Oh well...So, I guess to pass the time of waiting, Adam and I have decided to take some classes and hopefully learn some new talents! Adam is in the middle of a motorcycle riding course at the local Harley Davidson Dealer (Ssshhhh...don't tell my dad yet, its a surprise!) and I am soon to start a 6-week course on metal enameling...something that I've wanted to learn how to do for quite some time.  It always seemed like something that is much better suited to learn by having someone who knows what they're doing to actually teach you...It could be potentially very costly and probably quite dangerous to just jump into something like this on your own...at least for me, anyway.

The other time consumer, at least for my mind, is to try and start sorting through some of the dark corners of our little apartment and prepare for the move, wherever it may be.  I say this is an exercise for my mind as I haven't really gotten too far with it.  I keep wanting to start with my crafts (which I have way more things than I realized) but end up just frustrated because I really want to organize things but know its better to do so once I have a physical space to place things...  The top of Adam's old bunk bed has been the Goodwill pile for quite some time, and I will say that we've taken a couple trips already...so that is good.

So, that's about where we're at right now... Oh, and I've become a bit of a box hoarder!  I know we'll use many boxes for the move, and I hate the idea of paying for something that is so plentiful in people's trash...so I collect the boxes at work that are destined for cardboard box heaven...or hell, whatever the case may be, and extend their life just a bit longer.  I've got a pretty decent stash at home and a nice little stash at work - thank you St. Jude for your  Staples orders!

Almost Done!

We're rounding out the last of the residency inverviews...I can't wait until we're done!  There's one more in Dayton, OH at the beginning of Jan. That one will be nice because we're staying with my grandmother (whom I haven't seen since the wedding!) and we'll be able to eat at Maid Rite - the BEST hole-in-the-wall restaurant EVER!  However, we'll be in Ohio, in the winter, which is usually not very much fun!  We're so ready to get these all over with, I wish we could just stop by Ohio before we head back to Memphis...although I'm totally ready to be back in my own bed and be able to dress in clothing from my closet and not at bag!  I'll do a wrap up of the interviews after we get back home.  I know I said i'd be blogging along the way, but things have been so busy! When you're living a nomadic lifestyle and you have to get out of each room by 11 or noon every morning, and then find your way around cities you don't know, there's not as much down time as one might expect!

I also know that I haven't officially told you all my surprise!  I'll tell you (those that I haven't spoken to in person, yet) - I cut my hair! Its oh so short and I LOVE IT!  I'll post a photo when I get back home of before and after photos, but I don't have them with me now.  I realize that many of you probably thought I was pregnant after reading the last post, so the hair cutting thing isn't as exciting, now.  That wasn't my intent, but I wrote the last post quickly at work on the day that I made my appointment for (it was that evening) so I was excited.  I got home and told Adam what I did and he says, "you know everyone is going to think you're pregnant now!"  Oops....sorry!  So...photos to come.

On a completely different note, I'm also ready to get done with this interview crap so that we can rank the programs and then begin the long wait until March 16th for Match Day.  Not that I'm excited about waiting until that date, but I'm sooo ready to start moving on with the next phase of our life.  I feel like we've been on hold since the wedding...it sucks not to be able to have some sort of loose plan for your life...and I'm soooo ready to get out of our apt.  Not that I haven't liked it or the location, but Adam and I are ready to have something that's our own. I want to be able to buy/make Christmas Decorations that I have room to store after Christmas rather than be limited to putting up only 2/3 of our actual tree because we don't have the floor space for the whole tree!  I want to frame photos and art and actually have a place to put them rather than just back in the closet.  I want to buy throw pillows for the couch but actually be able to know that they'll go with the color of our living room rather than having white trim, beige walls, darker beige furniture, and no real anything to pull the room together.  I want to be able to go to an antique store and buy an old chair to have reupholstered.

I just feel that everything is on a stand-still right now and so up in the air...Can't I just take a peek into the future about 8 months from now?  Please, pretty please??

sshhh...

I have a surprise...

But I can't let you know until after this weekend!

Interview Madness!!!

And so it begins...

This Wednesday night, Adam and I will go to a "get-to-know-you-dinner" at one of the Memphis OB/GYN resident's  house to meet (officially) and mingle with the residents, physicians, and their spouses.  We'll eat dinner, they'll size us up, we'll be pleasant, chatty, the happy couple you know that we are ;) and the next day Adam will have his first of many interviews for residency.  The interesting thing is that we're beginning with the program that we want to end up at (at least as of right now) and I hope that the next two and a half months of road trips are all just to serve as part of the crazy rite of passage into the world of being a Doctor of Medicine...

Here's our schedule so far...I sort of hope that there aren't many other interview offers, because I see no physical way of fitting many more interviews in!

This week's  interview in Memphis Adam has been told to use as a practice interview since he knows the program and they know him.  So we have Memphis on the 29th, then the following Sunday (after a fantastic Halloween party at some friends' house) he'll fly to Atlanta to interview in Macon, GA.  He'll come home Tues 11/3 and then the following Friday, we'll drive to Maryville (!) for a cousin's wedding reception and then drive onto Greenville, SC to interview on 11/9 at East Carolina University.  However, don't forget the customary "Get-to-size-you-up" dinner the night before!  Why do we go to the dinners, you ask?  Well, it just so happens that the residents, NOT the physicians of the program, have the majority of the choice in who's ranked to come to the program after the initial interviewees are chosen from the pile of applications.  The official choice comes from the Physicians, but we've been told that if you miss the dinner the night before, you might as well not even interview the next day because the residents won't know you...that's how important they are.

"No pressure, you know, its just fun...casual dress...here, have some complementary alcohol , you're our guests and we want to show you a good time!"

{note to self: DO.NOT.GET.DRUNK}

East Carolina University rounds out November, for the time being, but then comes the doozie of a trip we have planned for December.  You ready for this? Here goes...

Dec 3, drive to Knoxville for lovely dinner, Dec 4 interview in Knoxville

{weekend at home, deep breath}

Dec 6 drive to ETSU for dinner, Dec 7 interview at ETSU - haul ass to Chattanooga for dinner, Dec 8 interview in Chattanooga, drive to Atlanta

{Hello there, lovely Kevin!  Sure is nice to be in a city we're not having to interview and be sized-up, we already know that you love us}

Dec 10 drive to Savannah for dinner, Dec 11 interview in Savannah

{Weekend, PARTY IN SAVANNAH!!! You can drink on the street there, you know...}

Dec 12 hangover (just kidding - maybe), Dec 13 drive to Columbia, SC for dinner, Dec 14 interview in Columbia and LONG, TERRIBLE 12 hour drive back to Memphis.  If all goes well, we'll get in about 3am and then we both have to work the next day!

{Yay...}

Add in a dinner and  interview scheduled for Jan 5-6 in Dayton, Ohio,

{Hello, Memaw!}

then one last dinner and interview at Tulane University (New Orleans) for Jan 14-15,

{Party in NOLA!}

and you've got the gist of our next two months or so.

Oh yeah...then ranking the programs...we'll think about that later...gotta get through the interviews first! The amazing thing is that through all this traveling, it works out that I'll only have to take 6 days of vacation.  Unfortunately, I'm on call for Thanksgiving so we won't go home then, but we'll still manage to go home for two days before Christmas and I'll even have some vacation time left over.  Its too difficult to completely explain how all this is working out, but lets just say that if I'm at work for even an hour, I don't take vacation time.  In addition, I have two personal days to use aside from my regular vacation and I was able to find a conference to go to the day we're in Atlanta and thus was able to take three of the days during that trip as "Travel time" and not count against vacation.  This is where being in a salaried position REALLY pays off!!

So, that's all for now.  I think we're going to go purchase some luggage tonight so Adam has something to fly with (we've been borrowing up to this point and really need our own).  I'll be chronicling these events as we go...I'm sure they'll be interesting and Lord knows I'll have the time while Adam is in his all-day interviews!  There will probably be some interesting road stories, as well as interview freak-outs.  Don't be surprised if you start to see tons a few alcohol photos (all aesthetic, of course!).  We plan on stopping (as much as possible) at brew pubs along the way to sample the local fare.  Hey...we've got to have something pleasant to keep us going from city to city or we might never make it!!!  Interviewing just might drive us to alcoholism!

{just kidding, maybe}