Operation Pink Herring

The internet + crafting + mail = awesome

One of the things I love best about Google Reader is its shared items feature.  I certainly have plenty of reading material on my own (currently 202 unread items in my reader... and I've already cleared out all the junk. Yikes.), but the shared items makes me feel like I never have to worry about missing something awesome.  If there's a big announcement like an engagement or a new baby in the blogosphere, someone's sure to share it.  If there's some exciting Twilight/New Moon/Harry Potter news, I know someone will share it.  And lots of times, I come across super cool or interesting things that I never would have seen on my own via shared items. 

Yesterday Zoot shared this post by Secret Agent Josephine.  She took her junk mail and chopped it up to make postcards.    I love, love, love this concept.  It's fun, it's free, it's recycling!  I wanted to try my hand on it first thing when I got home (uh, I'm in a post-wedding, back-to-the-five-day-full-time workweek slump.  This passes for excitement, don't judge), but -- amazingly enough -- we didn't get any junk mail yesterday.

But then I saw Joel's stack of magazines sitting on the counter and secured his permission to hack up his Outside magazine and made this postcard for my brother, who just got a new job.  (My crafting impulses, they will not be denied.)

It took me about 20 minutes, while watching TV.  It's not a money-saver, for sure, since I could have bought a card for a few dollars, but it was fun and I'm posting about it and SHUT UP.  (Have I mentioned that I sort of love the post-wedding freedom?  No more meetings!  No more three-page to-do lists! Bring on the Tivo cache and the craft supplies!)

Materials (front):

• A piece of cardstock (leftover wedding supplies), cut to postcard size.

• Some scraps of this cool paper I bought at a stationary store's going out of business sale (I used the rest crafting this cool window project, which I totally meant to post pictures of but never did because maybe I mentioned this BUT OMG I GOT MARRIED)

• Cuttings of Mike Rowe's Outside Magazine cover and an old wedding magazine (the article was: Which Coffee Pot Should You Register For?  LET'S COMPARE) (I do sort of miss wedding magazines, a little.  Just the pretty pictures.  The insane articles, not so much.)

• Double sided tape (I had this in my box of scrapbooking supplies.  Hi, I scrapbook sometimes and I also enjoy owning three cats and reading vampire romance novels.  I am Very Cool.)

Materials (back):

• Black sharpie marker

• Mad doodling skills (uh, not really.  I TOTALLY need one of these.  In ever color.)

  

So, congratulations to my brother on his new job, congratulations to me for my ability to mention my wedding seven hundred times in a post that is not even remotely wedding-related, and congratulations to everyone in my address book: you've all won a free postcard.

Gameday

I was on my way to my bi-weekly physical therapy appointment last night when I got a text message from Joel: Might get tix for game tonight, want to go?  Normally, when I send Joel a text message, he tells me I owe him ten cents, so I figured this was a pretty big deal. I wrote back, "Football?  Sure if you get tickets I'll go."  And that is how I found myself at my first professional football game last night.  

It's no secret that I'm not exactly into professional sports; in fact, you could say that I couldn't give less of a shit if I tried.  I find televised sports to be the height of boredom, akin to video games.  To me, it's just like erasing hours from your life.  You can just watch the highlights later or read in the paper who won!  But, still, I am open to new experiences.  Especially when I'm promised a vegetarian burrito with both kinds of beans and guacamole as a bribe for my attendance. 

We had pretty good seats, and it was actually kind of exciting to see the players, like, playing the game and stuff.  Like, this one time, this guy was practicing kicking and I was really impressed.  He kicked that ball really far!  It just doesn't look that impressive on TV.   And this other, time, this one guy ran superfast and caught up to this other guy.  No, I mean, like, really, really  REALLY fast.  I guess you had to be there.

Other than that, I found the entire experience extremely disappointing.  There were two things about football that could potentially excite me: seeing drunk fans get into fights and cheerleaders.  This game was the Ravens playing the Redskins, and I've heard the term "Battle of the Beltways" enough times to have at least expected to see someone get a beer dumped on their head.  (In fact, funny story, it was actually that phrase that clued me into the fact that the Redskins play in Washington, DC.  Not Washington State.)  But there was not a single fight!  What the heck, football fans?  I saw drunk people!  I wanted to see drunk people fighting, and possible getting carted off by the police!  

And you guys, the cheerleaders.  Let me just say this: THEY DIDN'T DO A SINGLE COOL DANCE.  Their moves weren't even choreographed to music!  And at halftime, when I was sure they'd be busting out all their best secret moves, they went inside.  Instead some high school football teams played a mini-game.  I know that Hollywood doesn't always do the best job of representing reality, but I wasn't expecting Bring It On to top the list of Fake-Ass Hollywood Bullshit.  My heart, it is broken.

Here comes gravity

Guess what, internet?  ZOMG I'm married!

We got married, we had a fantastic and exhausting time on our honeymoon, and we're back home safe and sound with our three cats who now have a legitimate, 2-parent household. 

Some of our professional pictures are up on our photographer's blog at Liz Hough photography (Liz is absolutely awesome; if you're looking for a photographer in the Baltimore/Frederick area I can't recommend her highly enough).  Stories et cetera to come... but first I have to read a gazillion emails and finish watching season 1 of TrueBlood with my boyfriend fiance husband.

The wedding already feels like it was years ago, during another lifetime in an alternate universe.  But that's OK, because married life is pretty awesome (and way less busy).

So... what did I miss?