mama's got a brand new BLOG

it's no secret that i LOVE my iphone. i love everything about it. i love downloading and trying out new apps. i love telling people about apps that i've used. well guess what? so does jenn! we decided to join forces and make a blog about our iphones. so head on over to iLove: unsolicited iPhone jabber! and tell your friends. i think this is going to be a really fun project!

crazy ms paint skillz

i was just reminded of some hilarious pictures i made a few years ago around christmas time. i had to dig deep into the external hard drive to find these gems!

there was one of me, too, but i can't find it! grrr! and here is my flagship ms paint job. this one never gets old!

*EDIT*

i found my santa picture!

an open letter to 2009

dear 2009,

i have a lot to say about you but right now, i'll let rick perry do the talking for me.

sincerely,
stefanie

post-its, weird pictures, and muuusic

and now i'm going to post some pictures. i had a roll of slide film in my ooooold 35mm point and shoot for MONTHS. i hardly ever remembered to take any pictures with it. today i finally decided that i couldn't wait any longer to finish it (slide film comes in rolls of 36 exposures) so i just developed it anyway. i cross-processed it and these are some of my favorites.

i think i liked the last batch of cross-processing a little better. i think i used a different speed film and i liked the fisheye effect. i'll probably do the fisheye again when i go to san francisco...in 24 short days!

ps-you should check out the new itunes live session that blind pilot released today! it is GOOD. i am so in love with their cover of gillian welch's "look at miss ohio". SO IN LOVE.

the countdown is on!

i have started a "countdown to san francisco" over on the side bar. each day i'll update it with a different picture that will indicate to you, dear reader, how many more days until my epic trip to san francisco. woah, i think that might be the first time i've used the word epic when not talking about the faith no more song by that name. anyway, be sure to stop by to see what picture i've posted for the day!

my top ten albums of the decade

this was a tough list to come up with. there were so many good albums released this decade! this isn't actually a *top* ten list, but it's my favorite album from each year of this decade. one of the things i considered when picking these albums was how much i love them today. have they stood the test of "time"?

2000

the moon and antarctica by modest mouse

2001

take-offs and landings by rilo kiley

2002

yankee hotel foxtrot by wilco

2003

transatlanticism by death cab for cutie

2004

funeral by arcade fire

2005

gimme fiction by spoon

2006

rabbit fur coat by jenny lewis and the watson twins

2007

sky blue sky by wilco

2008

3 rounds and a sound by blind pilot

2009

the first days of spring by noah and the whale

song of the week: a cheesy one

this week's song of the week is lights by journey. i've actually blogged about this song before but since i recently booked another trip to san francisco, i've been thinking about it a lot lately. plus, this slide show cracks me up! if you want the whole story of stefanie+lights, i suggest you click the link above.

mama's got a brand new bag

i've had the same cheap, crappy luggage for 3 or 4 years now. i don't travel a lot but it's definitely seen its fair share of abuse (thanks swa baggage handlers!). not only are my two suitcases in bad shape, but they're just odd sizes. the small one is too small for me to use for most trips, even weekend ones. once i put shoes (maybe 2 pairs) and my toiletries (i have to use several products to tame my 'fro) it's already full. the next one up is HUGE. huge, like i'm going on a 2 week european adventure huge. i got a giftcard to target for christmas so i decided to treat myself to a new suitcase. something a little larger than my small one that i can use for 2-4 day trips out of state. say hello to my new suitcase!

she's beautiful, isn't she? i also ordered this to be shipped to my house because they didn't have it at the store.

i'm so excited! maybe someday i'll buy the big one and have the complete set.

a christmas recap

did you guys have a good christmas? i know i did! i spent most of the day with my family, eating, opening presents, and laughing at my nephew. he's the best. after we were finished here i went to my friend's parents' house for a little while and hung out with baby maggie while her parents ate christmas dinner. she had on the cutest christmas outfit! i wish i had a picture of it.

then, alison and i went to erin and david's to celebrate eileen's birthday. since she was born on christmas, everyone tries to make a big effort to celebrate her birthday after the family obligations are over. it's always a lot of fun and last night was no exception. i've spent most of today in bed. i haven't slept in in a weeks but i did today! i woke up with a horrible headache though so i ended up napping on and off for about 3 hours as well. i've been waiting for this time to catch up on sleep for weeks now. i feel much better!

i wanna wish you a merry christmas!

over the years i have received many christmas gifts from co-workers, customers, and the like. but nothing, and i mean nothing, compares to the gift i got today. i won't go into a lot of details but i helped make photo mugs for someone close to the owner of my favorite distillery and was given this bottle as a "thank you" for my work.

i hope you all have an absolutely marvelous christmas. i will be eating, relaxing, and enjoying time with friends and family for the next couple of days and i can't wait!

i'm going back to my city by the bay!

it's no big surprise around this blog that i love san francisco. it's probably my favorite place that i've ever been. for the last few years, i've gone to visit at least once a year. until april of this year i had some awesome friends who lived there but they've relocated to new york city. the last time i went out there was in july and we had to stay at a hotel instead of kerry and josh's house, it was so weird! i had a fantastic time though and it was fun to explore a different part of the city than usual.

one of my friends is going to be working in san francisco for 6 weeks starting this weekend so a group of us have decided to go out to visit while he's there. i am sooooo excited! we leave 30 days from today, not that i'm counting or anything. ha! i've never been there for any reason other than to see a concert though. it's going to be great to have a little more freedom as far as plans and timing goes. cold war kids are playing at the fillmore that weekend but we're all going to be on a pretty tight budget so i doubt we'll make it to that.

i'm trying to find a fun, fairly inexpensive hotel for us to stay in. i stayed at hotel kabuki in july and i LOVED it but i don't know if i want to stay at the same hotel again. it's a safe decision but i'd like to check out another neighborhood as well. i'm so torn! i'm also thinking about the phoenix hotel because i know people who have stayed there a bunch and they seem to really like it. i guess we still have a little while to lock in the hotel plans. all of our flights were purchased today, within about an hour of making it "official". it's all happening!

post-it note tuesday: holidays and whatnot

the green beret

on thursday night we went to pitcher night and got a little silly with alicia's green beret. i just made this collage to show off the pictures i took of everyone. i love my friends :)

song of the week: the christmas edition

with christmas just around the corner, i thought i would share my favorite non-traditional christmas song. it's from maybe this christmas too? i am a huge fan of all the maybe this christmas compilations. there are 3 of them: maybe this christmas, maybe this christmas too? and maybe this christmas tree. i hope y'all enjoy xmas cake by rilo kiley as much as i do. i found this "video" of it on youtube which actually isn't a video at all. it's a nice way to share the audio track though!

2009 in photos

i have taken SO many pictures this year. i mean, wow! anyway, this post is going to be my 11 favorite pictures of the year, one for each month, january-november. i have no real criteria for "favorite" so it could get random. stay tuned next month for my favorite picture from december. the possibilities are already endless!

alicia and me at barflys on the first night we hung out after she moved back to texas

josh on a sunday funday

blind pilot during sxsw

sarah getting a beer at eeyore's birthday

nels after his 1st birthday party

gomez at stubb's...the best gomez show i've ever seen!

swingsley hanging out in japantown in sf

the hot dog king!

nels and me

a delicious mango strawberry margarita from vivo

baby maggie after her baptism