Instagram Love!

This is going to be one loooooooooong post, but just because I didn't want to make all the photos tiny, so fair warning.

Funnel Cakes at the Arts Festival

I haven't been on here in a couple of weeks (shame on me!) half because I was really busy, half because I could not tear myself away from a box of books I bought and wanted to read them all at once.  These pics are a lot of random things I've been up to recently (some are a month or so (or two!) old) but they are out of order, so enjoy :)

Beautiful Flowers

The Western at Twisted Root Burger (DELICIOUS!)

The hall at the Flying Saucer Pub

Breakfast :) Blackberries, green apple, grapes, spinach, & cucumber.

Snowing!!! and Fresh Faced :)

Antique plate set (Antique shopping!)

Delicious Chinese! (No filter)

Flowers and Trees

In-N-Out!

Visit to the library :)

White sweet flowers (No Filter)

Fresh bread I made from scratch!

Flames on a cool city night

Ivy and Rain

Hot Chocolate & Marshmallows

Midnight snack

A quick post to show a glimpse into what I've been up to.  I'll get another one up asap with a little more content! Promise ;)

Have a great Monday everyone!

Photo Post :)

Went out to eat with a friend at Twisted Root Burger a few nights ago!  The wonderful burger above is The Westerner (medium rare beef, bacon, fried onions, jalapenos, pepper-jack cheese, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce)  This burger was so delicious that I spent my time really slowly enjoying it (much like the sandwich from Flying Saucer I had weeks ago)

This piece of stained glass has been in my kitchen window for I don't remember how long.  With the cold weather a few days ago it made it seem even more perfectly soft colored with the blue kitchen and the wet looking outside framing it.

So my Dad and I frequently cook pizzas (frozen one's like this one when we're lazy) and split the pizzas in half, a side for each of us.  This time around we had some fresh mushrooms on us and I decorated the pizza till it looked all balanced with veggies and pepperoni.  (It was really tasty, and gone too fast.)

I've been reading a lot of Marion Chesney books recently to satiate my thirst for some simple and delightful Regency books.  Her writing is practically PG except for a few PG-13 moments here and there so I'm happy I don't feel like I'm reading nothing but smut. (lol)  Because I have spent waaaaaaaaaay too much money on books so far this year (barely even three months in to the year too!) I have been depending on my library card to fill in the holes my bank account can't.  When I checked out Chesney's books I had to get them all in Large Print because none of my libraries have any normal print copies!  But I'm happy just to be able to check them out.  (I checked out a total of 26 this time around!  I'd be broke if I bought them all!)

Twisted Root Burger is one of those places that you spend more time looking at all the funny things the staff put up/wrote on walls/tables/ceilings/floors/posters/etc.  I want to go back just for the atmosphere!  This sign was above the Mr. Pibb!  While that soda is great, what you should really try is their homemade Irish root beer!  I believe it's an Irish creme root beer flavor, and probably the best root beer I've ever had, root beer is my soda so believe me when I say I've tried enough types to be able to say it's the best.

Had a drink with a friend a few nights ago at a place by my house I've never gone to.  It was FREEZING!  Plus windy, making having a cold drink on a patio at night not exactly a fabulous evening, but I had fun.  On a side note: I don't smoke!  The ashtray was full when we got there. :)

So those are my pics for this post, not the greatest but not too bad for an iPhone. :)  I'm heading out of town for a couple of days so I'm betting I won't be posting until I get back.  :(

See y'all then,

what the app?

Even before I had an iPhone (I own a 3GS) I spent a good deal of time downloading pretty much anything I found interesting and free, to anyone's iPhone or iPod.  Half of the apps I found for people, and later myself, ended up being costly and popular later, but since I had way too much time to burn apparently I had found them right after their launches and grabbed anything and everything up, whether or not I even wanted it, like I was at Walmart on Black Friday.

With that in mind, I currently have 268 apps that I deemed worthy/entertaining enough to keep in my iTunes library, with 91 of them on my iPhone at the moment.  I cycle in and out of what I want on my phone, photo/camera apps being the bulk even if I don't really edit my photos much, a few apps I always use (Instagram, Tumblr, IMDB, Pandora, Kindle, etc.), and some odds and ends that randomly come in handy.

The 'what the app?' posts are all about the weird, random, and some times cool apps I find those moments I have nothing better to do but waste time downloading stuff to my phone. 

Here is today's app haul:

Whatthefont, For All Seasons, Shorts or Not, and Fake-A-Text (Free)

Have you ever wanted to know the name of the font being used on your favorite blog? A website? A magazine? A billboard? Or anything else printed up?  With this app you can quickly find out the name and some history behind it (designers, owner, date made, and random facts).

This app is already going into my favorites folder on my phone. I have used it a couple of times (magazine, blog, and book) and each time it picked a few of the closest matching fonts, some dead on.  You just take a picture (or use one from your camera roll) and the app asks you to make sure it read the letters are correct (bottom left pic) so it can guess with better accuracy, then shows what it thinks the font is.  Click on one and it gives you an information page, and from there it can take you to the 'My Fonts' webpage (it's their app) where you can download the font for use ($).

An app that lets you play around with words.  You pick one of the four poems, each about a season, and it comes to life allowing you to blow the letters around like wind in the 'Autumn' poem and float around letter flowers in 'Spring', etc.

While being able to change the camera angle makes this kind of cool to just look at, this is really an app that I am done with after the first test run.  Its cute, but it would probably be a lot more interesting if users could input their own text and create their own visuals.

You roll out of bed, peer out your window, but all you see is the same visual weather every day (some sun, some wind, and no one else to see what they're wearing).  The whole time you're going through your closet you're thinking 'Is it okay weather to wear shorts today?'.  Well here is an app that will tell you straight up 'Shorts' or not!

This app is pretty simple, under settings you put in a minimum temperature that you would be okay wearing shorts in and if the weather is equal or warmer to your minimum, the app tells you it's a 'Shorts' day.  So pretty much it's a weather app that attempts to cut your outfit decision time in at least half (you know there is still a top and shoes to decide on!  Why does the app just stop at shorts?! lol).  Cute, but I've already deleted it.

The date is going terribly, that meeting is going too long, you need to escape that friend you can't stand to make sure you get that awesome ice cream you love before the place closes for the night, for what ever reason you need an escape plan that you want to look legitimate, this app can come in pretty handy.  You set up a conversation (a little back and forth so it looks like you're really talking to someone) that will go off at a designated time and go for it.  When you get the first text, you can respond (as planned), and the app will send you a planned text in response as if someone is really typing you back.  If you are in an emergency and didn't plan ahead, you can always use the 'Random Excuse' button and run away quickly.

I've never had to use an escape like this, so for me this isn't really handy at all, but I have frequently been the person sending the emergency escape texts or calling and pretending like I need whoever it is to drop what ever they're doing and leave now, so this app could ultimately save me from this duty in the future.  I don't need it, but I think this might not be a bad app for a lot of people, so give it a try and see if you like it!


So what do you think about the apps?  Any thing you like/hate?  Suggestions for me to give a try?

A Few Faves

For the past week I have been kept pretty busy, something I am completely happy to have happen since I spend most of my days searching for jobs and not even getting courtesy rejections from them (If I spend thirty minutes to an hour filling out your ridiculous application you could at least send me a pre-written 'Thanks for applying but..." letter.  I'm just saying...)

In the mean time I think today will be another 'A Few Faves' day since I'm at a loss of what I should have been planning for the blog (Spending too much time alternating between 'Wallowing in self-pity' and 'Dreaming of bad things happening to companies that don't email back').

Clare Darcy!

(Copies I own currently-Four more on their way!)

I LOVE CLARE DARCY!  My favorite time period is the very short Regency Era.  The literature placed in this period/setting appeals to me more than most.  The way people communicated with each other was just so sarcastic, thought out, carefully worded, poetic, and something I wish I could find in society today.  Plus men were gentlemen and honor meant everything.  I started with Jane Austen, moved to Georgette Heyer, and then I was delighted to find Clare Darcy.

I actually cleaned a really old bookstore (almost only out of print books all crammed together) out of every Clare Darcy book they had (Clare Darcy books are hard to come by; they were printed originally around the 70s).  Went back a couple of weeks later and bought twenty other books that were recommended Regency authors, also out of print.  If you like Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, or anyone else who writes Regency fiction check out Clare Darcy!

Bread

Last week I made the bread above from SCRATCH, my first try, and it was delicious.  I used a recipe I found where you don't knead the dough all you do is throw it in the fridge for eight hours then let it rise before tossing it in the oven.  It didn't rise well because it was around 65-70 degrees in my house and it needs to be warm so it can reach the right size.  If any one wants the recipe I'll post it. :)

Random picture: I made pancakes with sprinkles in them and they were some of the best pancakes I ever made!  I know this isn't really "bread" but pancakes are pretty freaking close!

The Importance of Being Ernest

I pretty much avoided Oscar Wilde beyond some quotes and The Picture of Dorian Gray but I found "The Importance of Being Ernest" (1952) and spent the next hour and a half laughing so hard my dad came in trying to figure out if I was okay.  It was great.  Oscar Wilde was a fabulous satirist, you can't help but laugh at how every word, if you're listening, is a slap in the face of the society of his time.  WATCH THIS MOVIE.  Next I will give the 2002 version with Colin Firth (love him) a try.  The play is the best but the movies will do.

Greek Food

I have been craving gyros for the last few weeks (or everyday since I first had one) and I had one a few days ago, and need to figure out how to prepare the lamb in them so I can make them at home. (Not my pick, but it looks delicious!)  This weekend I get to have a huge Greek dinner at a friend's home (Greek family) and I'm so excited!

There are a few of my faves for this week!  Anyone else share one of these faves?