Linkety Links

Random awesomeness across the net. That is all.

Campfire Kam's Super Easy Veggie Lasagna - with no-cook noodles

Flush yourself in

1961 audition for "Black Cat"

Source: theprivateeye.tumblr.com via Jen on Pinterest

This photo, from reddit.com, makes me want a dog even more!

Shit Liz Lemon Says (and therefore Shit I Say)

I'm not particularly trendy because I think that's lame, but trends sure seem to follow me lately. Sloppy hair, comfortable clothes, bright colors, and now imperfect makeup and not washing your hair too often? Please tell me that t-shirts with Doctor Who quotes are next.

A video of all of Teal'c's "indeeds" - worth watching all the way through if you're an SG-1 fan

The 3rd Annual Fangirl Award nominations. Much more awesome than how the Oscar nominations turned out.

The ultimate apres ski outfit - wear it with long johns!

Source: athleta.gap.com via Jen on Pinterest

Movie posters redesigned for different eras

Have a great weekend!

Phantom Clutch

I have this weird feeling lately, like everything is slightly off-kilter. For example, I was driving my husband's car for about a month (all over the Southwest), and just this week we switched back. As a result, I've been changing the radio stations when I meant to set the cruise control, messing up the headlight settings, and stomping down on a clutch that just isn't there. On my own car! My grandpa used to call it "washing your windows," when you drove someone else's car and, when trying to shift or whatever, you hit the windshield wipers, the most noticeable thing, just so everyone knew how big of an idiot you were. 

I was anticipating a big post on how much fun Mike and I had on our Dateiversaryapalooza celebration, but it just didn't happen. I woke up Saturday with what I thought was food poisoning, but what turned out to be the stomach flu. At least I think it was. It was just like food poisoning, except with a fever, aches, and chills to boot. Fun! My other hint was that Mike didn't get sick, and we had the same dinner, and he ate the leftovers the next day. Needless to say, we cancelled our trip to Boulder. Luckily, it wasn't our actual Dateiversary and the B&B let us reschedule for our actual one with no penalty. I was actually a little relieved to have missed the basketball game as well since we lost by one point, and I tend to get a little stressed out about live UofA basketball, to the point of crying. For reals. 

A bunch of other little things have been like that lately. Monday, I was absolutely convinced that my 9:30 class was at 10:30 and, luckily, I double-checked at the last possible minute and still made it on time! I ordered several of my textbooks from Amazon after checking the price differential and they got sent to my old address by mistake, and dealing with getting them back was a pain. It really stressed me out to not be able to do all of the reading for class. I also still haven't sent my best friend's birthday gift yet due to being sick (and needing to get part of it in Disneyland and then drive back to Colorado), but she's the coolest so she understands (Right, Meg??).

Of course, to top it all off, we are having issues with our rental house in Phoenix. I won't go into it here, but it's pretty obnoxious. 

Anyone else just having an off week? Please share. 

Random NY story (in which I sort of meet a celebrity, but not really)

Oh yeah, I totally forgot to tell you guys that I saw a celeb in NYC. Weirdly enough, it was one who doesn't live there, but it was New Years week, so there were probably lots of them in town.

It was Jared Padalecki. You know, this guy:

(sorry, that was just too awesome a picture not to post)

This was our exchange:

I looked over as I was crossing the street, pretending to be cool, channeling my inner Carrie Bradshaw* (you know, I was in New York!). I see a tall guy, notice that it's Jared Padalecki. I do a (very subtle, I swear) double-take. Yep, Jared Padalecki. We make eye contact. He gives me that (very Dean Forester) look of slight concern, like he knows I recognized him and he doesn't know what I might do. Do I really look like the rampaging fangirl type? Anyway, I give him a subtle nod and walk on by like "hey, I am a fan, but I'm not going to bug you". Am I not the coolest? Very New York. Or a girl from Arizona's idea of what New Yorkers are like.

I'm also pretty sure I saw Toni Collette at our matinee of Wicked.

And that is the story of how I didn't actually meet celebrities in New York City. You might be asking why I didn't tweet this at the time. The answer is that I'm learning. The last time I tweeted about meeting a celeb, I got spammed by a bunch of crazed stalkers wanting to know where he was. And it wasn't even about me meeting him! It was my friend!

*I don't think I actually have an inner Carrie. Maybe a Miranda.

Five Awesome Things

I'm mixing it up a little. Instead of "Tuesday Treasures" or "[insert day here] Treasures," I'm going to do a post about five awesome things. It's a little bit different, because I'm going to include some ideas as well as places or things. Anyway, here goes.

1. Meeting online friends, off-line. Until last week, I had never met an online friend in person. I'm an introvert, and the idea frankly made me sort of nervous. I had so much fun meeting Kam from Campfire Chic in person at Disneyland, though. We rode rides (including Star Tours, of course), we walked around and talked, and we made fun of animatronic Ariel's enormous eyes. We even yelled each other's names and ran and hugged when we first met. It was really funny, especially because I don't usually do stuff like that. For more details, Kam is a much more dedicated blogger, and she's already written about it.

P.S. there is about a 9 inch height difference between us, so I'm pretty much bending over to get this shot.

2. Wikipedia is going dark today in protest of S.O.P.A. I don't usually blog or tweet political things because apparently I have subversive ideas, like how everyone should be treated equally, we should be nice to each other, and people who are in love should be able to get married, etc., and apparently those ideas piss people off enough to flame me. Since I don't really enjoy being flamed, I tend to skip those topics. Weirdly enough, however, my worst internet flame (from a total stranger) was in response to me saying something about Robert Pattinson that wasn't even really negative, just that he was unsuited for a role. *sigh* Anyway, I think that most of the people reading this (bloggers, intelligent people) probably agree that S.O.P.A is a bad idea. Censorship is not really my favorite thing, how about you? For more info about it, go here (since I obviously can't send you to Wikipedia).

3. My cure for winter skin. In a swift lack of segue, I have to show you my newest find to combat the winter issue of super dry hands.

It's no secret that I love Carmex lip balm (and lots of other balms, but mostly Carmex). I'm happy to report that their healing hand cream is pretty freaking great as well. It's really soothing and moisturizing without being too greasy. I've been throwing it into my bag for daily use (and isn't the tin so cute?)

4. Suave Dry Shampoo. Now, this dry shampoo from Suave is just absolutely fantastic. I love dry shampoo because I strongly believe in not washing one's hair every day. It's bad for your hair, your scalp, your water usage, your color, etc. Plus, it makes styling so much easier, and you don't have to go out with not-quite-dry hair in the crisp winter weather (or blow dry). I used to buy expensive french dry shampoo for $14 a bottle (a bottle half this size, I might add), whereas this Suave stuff is $3 a bottle!!!! It works so well, too, and smells fantastic. Heck, for 3 bucks, you can try it yourself.

5. I'm currently researching and planning my next great (solo!) adventure for the summer: Belize! Has anyone been? I'm backpacking, and I want to experience as much as possible, and any must-see places and things would be much appreciated!! And yes, I do scuba dive, so any dive locations would be great as well (aside from the blue hole, that one I know).

Blogging From a Moving Vehicle

I'm officially a modern blogger, writing to you from the car on my way back from California. I've never used the blogger app before, so I apologize in advance for all the pictures probably ending up in weird places.

I'm such a traveler lately, right? I've been covering both coasts. As of right now, though, I'm really ready to head back to Colorado tomorrow.

After three days at Disneyland, all I have to say is that the new Star Tours ride is fantastic. I won't spoil too much for those who won't make it out anytime soon, but I'll just say that the best part is that it isn't the same each time. After eight rides, I have been to every planet and seen every character, so I feel pretty satisfied. My only complaint is that the pod racing made me feel ill.

I promise a more substantial post when I get back to civilization (including details on my first experience of meeting an online friend, off-line!!) In the meantime, here are some silly pics for you.

My Top Five New York Travel Apps

These guys were invaluable for vacationing in the city. They may seem sort of obvious, but they were so useful, I have to mention them here.

Yelp - need a place to eat that is nearby, delicious, and in your price range? Check Yelp! The reviews even help you with what to order.

Google Maps - map a location and hit the "public transportation" icon. The app will tell you which trains to take and what time the next one will arrive.

Instagram - Still the best app for sharing your vacation snaps, complete with geotagging and uploads to facebook and twitter.

Museum apps - The MoMA mobile site has the audio tour built in so you can listen on your phone. It must be relatively new, because one of the guards told me to get off my phone when I was just listening to the tour. Also, that guy was dumb. I would have thought that holding my phone upside-down, away from my mouth, and not talking would have tipped him off.

The AMNH (American Museum of Natural History) has an interactive app with a museum map. It even senses which floor you are on in the museum and can tell you the fastest way to get to some of the more popular exhibits. There was also a special app for the "Beyond Earth" exhibit with an interactive game where you scan certain icons and see 3D images in "augmented reality."

Foursquare - I earned so many badges on this trip. Foursquare is fun, but it is also really useful for cataloguing where you have been on your trip when you get home and try to remember it all. It is also ideal for sharing what you are up to online (when you choose to, I have that option turned off unless I specifically tell it to share).

Any other favorite travel apps?

Back from NYC!

 

Hey guys, I am back from a whirlwind trip to New York City. My brother has taken off for an Asian adventure, and he flew out of JFK. So, of course, we had to join him for a couple of days in NYC before he left. I only wish I could have joined him for his 2-month backpacking trek after that, especially now that he's added Japan to the end of it.

Anyway, here is a run-down of our New York adventure, more photos to come. We didn't do everything on my list, but we did most of the stuff, plus extras:

Visited the MOMA
Visited the American Museum of Natural History (the museum from Night at the Museum, mostly)
Went to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty
Had breakfast at Tiffany's
Ate cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery
Browsed The Strand and wished that I had brought an extra bag for all the books I wanted (bought the Magnolia Bakery cookbook)

Watched the ball drop on New Years Eve in Times Square! (well, very close to it anyway)
Saw the big tree and the ice skaters in Rockefeller Center
Visited the NBC store and wanted to buy EVERYTHING
Saw Wicked, which is now the front-runner for my favorite musical. It was so amazing, and surprisingly close to the book, though not as depressing
Visited Ground Zero
Went to Juniors in Times Square and had the best cheesecake EVER
Went to Ess-a Bagel and had the best bagels of my life (whole wheat everything bagels need to exist in the rest of the world)
I did not have life-changing pizza, I'm still skeptical about the claim that it is better than everywhere else

Went to the Sephora in Times Square and tried out some new makeup
Visited the giant (and extremely crowded) apple store
Visited the FAO Schwartz with the piano from Big (and bought candy) - there were also guys dressed up like Iron Man and Captain America. It was pretty sweet

All in all, my first trip to New York was pretty successful. Please tell me all the things I should catch the next time around (four days is not enough time!).