Altered Reality

So while perusing the blogosphere, I came across this post on How About Orange about swedish photographer Erik Johansson. Take a look below and then definitely check out his website - it's a visual treat.

I feel this way sometimes with Ikea instructions.

Roadworkers' Coffee Break - I had to throw in a transportation-themed one!

More Baby Pictures

So my life lately revolves around work and frogs...that's all I do anymore. So without further ado, more baby pictures!

Clark is the larger of my two grey tree frogs. He's about 3/4" long now and is almost completely changed into his adult coloring. He can still change from light green to grey to brown to dark green.



Another picture of Clark


Lewis is about 1/2" and doesn't have all the variegation in his color yet that makes him blend in better.


Boyfriend brought home two poison dart frogs from the show last weekend, who are now living with me because I have all the food at my house. They are about 3/4" long and will probably almost double in size when they get full grown. As they are the same colors as the Steelers, and boyfriend is a diehard Steelers fan, they are named after football players. One is Troy, and the other one is Hines, but I'm not sure which is which.


The other dart frog. These guys are very acrobatic and like to hop around a lot. They are hilarious to watch hunt fruit flies.


The temporary homes of Lewis, Clark, and Leo. Lewis and Clark live in the fishbowl on the left and Leo lives in the pitcher on the right. Currently there are three vivariums (a terrarium with living things in it) in the works at boyfriend's house. They will be done in a month or so.


The whole set-up. On the bottom shelf are fruit fly cultures on the left along with feeding utensils, and on the right is the night-time home of boyfriend's frogs. They come out during the daytime. On the floor are the vitamins to dust the fruit flies with. Up top is a light for the daytime.

Morgan Freeman at the Wheel

So, it's fairly unusual to actually understand what the metro driver is saying in any of his announcements, but occasionally you can make out what the next station is, etc. But it's always a good day when you have an operator who likes his job and makes the riders feel like he or she cares about them. But it's a super good day when Morgan Freeman is driving your train. I've had this guy as a conductor a couple of times, and it definitely threw me for a loop. I'm just going to pretend he wasn't someone who sounded exactly like him, but was really Morgan Freeman doing some research for an upcoming role. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Leo the Mystery Frog

I forgot to add this picture, which is a little better as to what Leo actually looks like. According to this he is a leptopelis uluguruensis and comes from Tanzania. The issue with actually identifying him as this is that their common name is the Ruby-eyed Tree Frog, and as you can see, his eyes are greenish-brown, not red. This is the only picture of one that I could find without red eyes, so we'll see.

(photo courtesy of www.szrek.pl)

I'm officially a nerd

So, I've been blaming frog mania on boyfriend for a while now, but it turns out I have to admit that I'm a little nerdy myself. We went to the Mid-Atlantic Reptile and Amphibian show in Baltimore on Saturday and spent 5 hours looking at various plants and sticks and stuff for the terrarium, and then finally broke down at the end and boyfriend bought two frogs and I bought one. He's been wanting to get poison dart frogs, so he got two yellow and black ones, who are currently living at my house until their terrarium is set up. I got what I was told was a peacock tree frog, but we don't think that is what he actually is. After a bunch of research, we think he's related to the peacock, but is most likely something else. We found one picture that matches him perfectly on the internet, but unfortunately the website was entirely in polish. The important thing though, was that he will only get to be 3-4 cm, or about 1.5". At one point, I was convinced he was a giant white-lipped tree frog, who grow to be 5" long, and that worried me a bit. But anyways, here are a few pictures of my babies.

My mystery frog - Leo

One of my original Grey tree frogs - Clark. They are chameleon-like and this is his "rock covered in lichens" look. The other one, Lewis, is a little bit younger and doesn't have the full markings on his back yet.

You Wove Your Way Into my Heart

So back when I first aquired my beautiful camera, I wanted to accessorize it with a really cool woven tapestry camera strap. Turns out, no one really makes them anymore, so after searching for awhile and not coming up with anything good, I kinda let it go. Boyfriend doesn't approve of the fact I go around with my current camera strap with it's blazing yellow NIKON all over it, as he thinks it's a sign that says "STEAL ME".

So later I came up with the idea to use this trim that I have and just sew it over my current strap. It is currently the strap on a purse that I quickly made the day before I left for Botswana, as I felt I didn't have an appropriate bag for traipsing around Africa. So this is option number 1, as seen below.

The Bag

The Trim

The Trim

So, I had kinda forgotten about the strap, until today when I browsing around on Etsy and came across a couple of great options on Boneca Linda:

The Merlot Camera Neck Strap

The Green and Turquoise Camera Neck Strap

So now I'm in a quandry about which one I want, so I'll make you decide! Let me know which one is your favorite.

Is it about that time?

So, as anyone who has know me for long knows that my hair usually changes quite dramatically every few months. I've been really good and I haven't dyed it in like 4 or 5 months, and it's growing out. Sometimes I see a picture though that gives me the itch to cut it all off again. :)


(photo courtesy of The Sartorialist)

Apartment Makeover

So I've mentioned before that I'm in the midst of redoing my apartment, but it's taking a while. My initial thought was to go from the oranges/reds to turquoises, but boyfriend has decided I am not allowed to repaint my dining room chairs (he did spend a lot of time painting them, to be fair). But seeing as how they are a reddish-orangy-coral color, that makes it difficult. Here are a couple of options that incorporate both blue/turquoise with red. What do you think, too patriotic?



(photos courtesy of www.marthastewart.com)

Treasury No. 7

So I've skipped a few of the treasuries I've been in, but yesterday marked number 7, and because I'm lazy and don't feel like coming up with a blog topic, here you go! It was created by WhoaItsMe,
and it highlights some of the lovely fall apparel options out there on Etsy. Seeing as how it's cold and rainy in DC, I wouldn't mind something cozy to cuddle up with!

It's Fall...What to Wear?

Gotta Keep Chugging Along...

For being a short week, it's awfully long.

The 50 States Project

I ran across this really interesting project today on It's Nice That, called the 50 States Project. Basically, 50 different photographers, one from each state, have five assignments, which should fit the theme and their photographic style, including people, habitat, landscape, industry, and entertainment (the last one isn't out yet). I was excited to see what photos were representing DC, and then I remembered, oh yeah, we're not a state. I was more upset about the fact we weren't represented there than the fact we're not represented in Congress. :) But I digress. So I looked back to my homeland to see what Michigan looked like through the eyes of Peter Baker. Most of them were Detroit-centric, so I don't relate super well, but I did like his people entry, "Joe Diesel". Which photos are your favorites, and do they do a good job representing the places you know and love?

Goodbye summer....

The pool has closed, I must put away my white shoes, and I had to wear a long-sleeved shirt this morning. Summer has gone...

Plan Away

So I'm a planner, both by nature and somewhat by career, but I don't really have a long-term plan for my life, or a list of goals. So I've decided to come up with a list of things I want to accomplish. This came up because today I happened upon a reference to Malta, and I was curious, as I have no real ideas what Malta is like. One wikipedia entry later, I now know that it is a couple of islands in the middle of the Mediterranean (which I had a vague idea of), and that it contains the oldest free-standing structures in Europe, the Megalithic Temples. Anyways, it got me thinking about the fact that I have never been to southern Europe and would love to go, and hence my list is born. So far it has one thing on it, but stay tuned for additions!

To Do:

1. Travel around southern Europe for one month (accomplish by mid-forties).

Etsy Featured Seller - Larimeloom and Yarmee

I first found Lucia's work while browsing around the Etsy blog, the Storque. She has two stores, one showcasing her amazing clothing, Larimeloom, and the other for her scrumptiously colored yarns, Yarmee. Lucia is in Italy, and does most of the weaving, sewing, etc. herself, while her Mom and sister help out with ideas and photography. I love her simple, but unique and elegant style. Check out some of her work below:

Snow White jersey top - so comfy, yet so chic at the same time.

Natural Ecru silk top - I've always been a sucker for a romantic, flowy top.

Long Grey sweater dress - the ultimate day to night dress, I love how the tie can be worn many ways.

Red Tulip dress - This one is actually already sold, but I couldn't resist putting it up, as it's just so beautiful.

Carousel handspun yarn - This has to be one of my favorite color combinations ever, I'm totally in love.

Night Sky handspun yarn - I love the deep rich colors, perfect for fall. This would make a beautiful lightweight scarf to throw on with a long-sleeved tee and jeans for be-bopping around on a Saturday afternoon.

Fallen Leaves handspun yarn - The muted greens with the pop of yellow and orange are perfectly named in this yarn.

I hope you enjoyed a look at one of my new favorites on Etsy and definitely keep an eye on Lucia, as she has great things!

Concrete Evidence

So I was discussing how I eventually want concrete counter-tops in my future home with boyfriend this weekend, and lo and behold, there is a post on Apartment Therapy about them today! They are a really strong, durable, and fairly cheap option for counter-tops, all good things in my book. What do you think?

(photo courtesy of instructables.com)

(photo courtesy of jaaroncaststone.com)

(photo courtesy of www.kitchen-counter-tops.net)

(photo courtesy of Apartment Therapy)