I love it so much, I want to take it behind a middle school and get it pregnant!

Well, that was inappropriate and impossible on so many levels.

But woo-hoo, 30 Rock premiere tonight!

(source)

WATCH IT.

Also, please comment with your favorite Tracy Jordan quote!

Tweetstats + Wordle = fun

I discovered (thanks to Amy) tweetstats.com today. It tells you how often you tweet, the day on which you tweet the most (mine is Tuesday), your top 5 tweeted words, and it links you to wordle, one of my favorite fun online tools.

Here are my wordle clouds, the first without @replies, the second with @replies. It's fun to see who you talk to the most.

 

And yeah, my top tweeted words are "new," "blog," and "post" - that doesn't exactly tell me a lot about myself. 7 of the top 8 people that I @ reply the most, I know in real life. I'm not really sure what that tells me either, but it's interesting.

I'm pretty excited about this

I'm pretty bad about reading the firm newsletter sometimes so I was glad that my coworker took it upon herself to let me know the firm was hosting a photo contest entitled "How do you see your city?" to gather materials for the firm's new branding identity. Photos entered in the contest will be used in firm presentational materials and posters all over the world. I quickly gathered some photos together that I thought would be appropriate and did some shooting around downtown Phoenix. Despite my rushed efforts, I'm excited that 2 of my photos are in the final running.

 

And a third made it to the top 100 for an honorable mention:

Now I'm trying to think of an approach to encourage coworkers to vote in the contest but doesn't make me seem too desperate... might have to sleep on that one.

Halloween time! Post 1 - Costumes

First, costumes. I don't pretend to be an expert on costuming. Truthfully, it has always been pretty difficult for me to come up with costume ideas. If you feel the same way, I have discovered several tools to help that I think might benefit you in your search.

First of all, I strongly recommend Polyvore as a super easy way to put together a costume (or any outfit). You can piece together photos from most websites or search the images others have added. My basic advice for creating costumes that don't break the bank is to select 1) something simple but recognizable (cartoon characters are often the easiest to emulate and the most recognizable), 2) something with pieces you can add to your normal wardrobe (or that you already have), or  3) something you would wear again to another event (multiple parties or conventions). I like costumes that are made up of "regular clothes," rather than pre-assembled costume sets (unless you are into #3 and would wear it several times).

Complicated costumes can be really cool, but I think that it is sometimes just as impressive to put together a simple costume and get all the little details right. My costume last year was Kara "Starbuck" Thrace from Battlestar Galactica and her outfit could not be simpler. It's basically olive pants, combat boots, and 2 different colors of tank top. What makes it fun is that I ordered replica dog tags, added my husband's wedding ring to the chain, pretended to smoke a cigar, and got some tattoo printer paper to replicate her unique body art. Here is a link to a photo of the character, since my uploader is not working at the moment.

I also created a bunch of costume ideas on polyvore for fun last year. This whole thing originally started when my friend, Meg, told me that she wanted to be Carmen Sandiego and I started sending her links to red trench coats. We found a really cheap one at forever21 last  year, which is the one I think she ended up wearing. She looked great, and most of her costume is re-wearable as regular clothes.

That's her boyfriend, Evan, as Waldo. Perfect couple, eh?

Speaking of great couple costumes - Mel and Ben as Velma and Shaggy, anyone?

Deceptively simple and well executed. 

I'll also re-post my entries into last year's polyvore costume contest for more inspiration, and an illustration of how useful it is as a tool (and fun).

Smurfette by Jelitan featuring Christian Louboutin shoes

Minnie! by Jelitan featuring Carolina Amato Gloves gloves

Tink has been done, be Peter! by Jelitan featuring We Love Colors tights

My husband @ halloween by Jelitan featuring Coach

She's RIGHT HERE! by Jelitan featuring Forever21

Sexy, updated Velma by Jelitan featuring Forever21

I have already got some ideas brewing for this year! Happy Costuming!

What do you plan to be this year? Please share any additional tips in the comments, I know I'm not an expert.

Speaking of great things to come out of the UK...

I took a trip down to Tucson last weekend to see Spamalot and let me tell you, it was the greatest thing ever.

One day, many many years ago, my brother and I discovered a VHS tape of Monty Python and the Holy Grail in our collection. To tell you the truth, I'm really not sure how it got there. My theory is that my Mom got it from someone or found it in the discount bin at the video store. I don't think she actually ever watched it. Jeff and I put it on one day when we were bored and discovered one of the most quotable movies on the planet, an instant favorite. I don't even know how many times I have watched it since. It was obviously enough to know basically all the dialogue in the broadway adaptation, Spamalot, before ever having seen the play. I won't even go into the reenactments that we used to do at my friend's house after school because I wouldn't want to out her as a total loser. I'm a lost cause, but she's a doctor now (almost) and I want her patients to be able to take her seriously.

So imagine: someone takes one of your favorite movies of all time, adds hilarious song and dance routines, some unexpected twists and surprises, and even throws in your favorite song from one of their other movies for good measure. How could you not enjoy that? I sure as hell did.

Plus I got this t-shirt. Coolest thing ever.