Plans for this weekend include a little apple tasting at the Portland Nursery (something we planned to do last weekend), more organizing and running errands and, I hope, a whole lot of relaxing with my boys.
Taking a very deep breath after a crazy week of juggling travel, school schedules, charity events and work events. My camera got a fantastic workout but, before I delve into a few hours of photo editing, I thought I’d share 5 things I came across this week that have me inspired and excited.
1. A Very She & Him Christmas
“She” is Zooey Deschanel, currently starring in The New Girl but who will always be the girl with the wonderful voice who almost upstaged Will Ferrell in Elf, to me. Can’t wait for this album to be released and I doubt I’ll wait until December to play it. Did I mention how excited I am for Christmas this year?
2. An Organized Mess by Color Me Katie
I would totally do this myself if the color of objects in my house weren’t so strongly inspired by Star Wars action figures (a little more black and grey, anyone?). Katie’s results are so colorful – a complete work of art.
3. New Autumn TV
Unashamedly enjoying a bunch of new TV shows – and struggling to find time to watch them all. Top of my list so far – Pan Am, Up All Night (although a little close to home) and New Girl. Really looking forward to Once Upon a Time and Grimm. The latter is set (and actually filmed) in Portland which is a complete bonus.
5.Great Posters From Upcoming Movies
Great artwork makes me want to add most of these movies to my must-see list. Make sure you click on the link for see them all.
I’ll be playing catch up this weekend with laundry, cleaning and photo editing. Of course there will also be plenty of family time, a couple of kids birthday parties and a potential trip to the Portland Nursery for some apple tasting. Impatiently counting down the last few hours of my work week.
Star Wars has been a rather large obsession in our house for a few years now. We have the Legos, the costumes, the Wii game and the action figures that have all threatened to take over our house. But, for the last couple of months there has been a shift in playtime priorities. Somehow Luke Skywalker and Han Solo have been put back into the toy box while Spiderman, Batman, Spuerman, the ridller etc. etc. take over our lives.
It’s a nice change of pace – although I admit that I am getting a little tired of hearing the Spiderman theme song. One thing I have noticed, however, is that Superheros don’t inspire as many fun (and crazy) online discoveries.
So, in recognition of the phenomena that is Star Wars, I present you with five of my most fun, strange and simply crazy Star Wars-related internet finds.
1. Light Saber Train Handrails
Let’s ignore the fact that George Lucas is doing this to squeeze even more money from dedicated fans and just marvel at the pure genius of Light Saber handrails. If we had sen these when we visited Japan last year, then I think my kids heads would have exploded.
4. Scandinavian Retro Star Wars Posters
Stylish and informative. Could definitely see myself hanging it in my kids bedrooms – that is if I were the sort of person to hang things on walls (it’s shameful).
5. And finally, from classy to a little crazy – Star Wars French Ballet Disco. I think this one speaks for itself.
This weekend looks like it might have to be a quiet one. Woke up with a nasty head cold this morning (I’m blaming my husband for passing it on) so I think I’ll spend the weekend sipping tea and lying on the couch. I’ll also be praying to the weather gods that we get a sunny day on Monday for the TeeUp for Down Syndrome golf tournament. It’s not much fun photographing golfers in the rain.
Photo by me. 🙂
Hope you enjoyed this quick trip into Star Wars fanaticism. Happy Friday.
Five Things Friday is a regular blog post where I share a collection of things that inspire me each week. Some weeks are focused on a particular theme, while others are a hodge podge of random stuff from around the web.
Sharing a few fabulous finds that are currently pinned to my Pinterest boards. You can follow me on Pinterest here.
Plans for the weekend include attendance at the Portland Creative Conference (so excited!), date night with my husband (can’t wait!) and a even a little 10 pin bowling. But first, the cleaners are coming to make my house sparkle. Looks like the promise of a perfect weekend to me, even though it might be time to say goodbye to the sun(flowers) in Portland.
Five Things Friday is a regular blog post where I share a collection of things that inspire me each week. Some weeks are focused on a particular theme, while others are a hodge podge of random stuff from around the web.
I think it’s safe to say that my iPhone and I are pretty much joined at the hip. In the twelve or so months since I bought my phone, it’s become my primary organizer, memory keeper and portable computer. Here are the five apps I find myself using on a regular basis to take photos, record memories and seek a little inspiration.
1. Hipstamatic
The first camera app I downloaded after I got my phone, and still my favorite. Although there are many camera apps that add special effects to photos, Hipstamatic forces me to make a decision before I take the shot. It’s likely the closest I’ll ever get to shooting film.
2. Incredibooth
This photo app is just so much fun and is made by the same company that created Hipstamatic. The kids will happily sit with me for a photo booth pic, which is a rare thing these days, and the pics are a great fun addition to my annual photo book (although I’m two years behind, so I’m not sure if I can consider it annual at this point). The different lens options add some variety.
3. 360 Panorama
For those moments when you need to capture the BIG picture. The app is easy to use and the resulting images are a wonderful way to capture scenes that might be limited by the regular phone lens.
4. Momento
A brand new discovery thanks to a blog post by Ali Edwards. I’ve only been playing with it for a week but I love how it pulls all of my social media content together from Facebook, Twitter, the blog and even Instagram. It also allows me to add more private content that I may not want to share online. My dream is that they release a desktop app so I can type with more freedom. I’m excited to play around with the archiving feature and see how I can use the content for my annual photo books.
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4. Life This app provides a mobile version of content from the Life website. I often find myself browsing through photographs on the site – old and new – for inspiration. The stories behind the images are what makes this app really special.
So there you have it. By no means a complete list, but a snapshot of the apps that I find myself coming back to again and again. Please feel free to share your own favorites in the comments. I have some credit on my itunes account that just needs to be spent.
Hope you have a great weekend. We’ll be spending ours trying to stay cool thanks to the promise of a VERY late summer heatwave. Off to blow up the wading pool.
Five Things Friday is a regular blog post where I share a collection of things that inspire me each week. Some weeks are focused on a particular theme, while others are a hodge podge of random stuff from around the web.
I remember watching Sesame Street as a child. It was the same American version of Sesame Street that exists today – there was no special Aussie version. Of course I watched it before Elmo and Abby and the animated version of Bert and Ernie (and WAY before people lobbied for their marriage).
My kids have only recently shown interest in Sesame Street and I am thrilled. The one thing I’ve realized over the years is that Sesame Street is not just for the children. Sure, there’s a lesson or two in there, but the real genius behind Sesame Street is that they know how to appeal to the parents.
So I’ve gathered my five favorite (mostly recent) Sesame Street moments that appeal to three-year-olds and thirty-year-olds alike.
1. A Celebrity Lullaby Ricky Gervais sings a lullaby to Elmo and my five-year-old rolls on the floor in laughter.
2. What I Am by will.i.am
Just try not to have this song running through your head again and again (and I mean that in a good way)
3. True Mud
Blame this one on my recent discovery of HBO’s True Blood. It’s almost the same  as the show, but with more rhyming and without the sex. The vampire speed entrance is genius.
4. Cereal Girl
A parody of Material Girl by Madonna.
5. Law and Order Special Letters Unit I am just amazed at how muppets are so closely able to resemble their human counterparts. I guess you know you’ve really made it when they make a muppet in your likeness.
Bonus: Smell Like a Monster
How do you tease a new season of Sesame Street? Only by copying one of the most successful advertising campaigns in recent memory. The kids won’t understand it of course, but I doubt they made this one for the kids.
Five Things Friday is a regular blog post where I share a collection of things that inspire me each week. Some weeks are focused on a particular theme, while others are a hodge podge of random stuff from around the web.
This week is completely random. Scroll to the end for the obligatory photo of the kids. Enjoy!
5. This interactive iPad Book that I really want to get for the kids (but secretly want for myself).
Plans for this weekend include cleaning, preparing for a camping trip, cleaning and maybe a visit to the Obon festival so I don’t feel like our entire weekend will be spent cleaning.
Also looking forward to a little more sunshine and some quality time with these crazies.
P.S. Nightstand = bedside table for my Aussie readers.
P.P.S. Is it rude to begin a post with a P.S.?
I love to read.
Of course I have two children, a full time job and a very busy life so it takes me a lot longer to get through a book these days than in the time BC (before child). (Note to authors – short chapters make my life so much easier). Oh, and I’ve just started watching True Blood from the beginning so I think that may take up some of my precious reading time for the next few months.
At any given time, I have 5 to 10 books sitting on my bedside table just waiting for me to read them. Sometimes I start a book and then leave it to focus on another for a while, so you can find me reading 2-3 books at the same time (well, not at exactly the same time, but you know what I mean…).
For this week’s five things Friday I thought I’d share five books that are sitting on my bedside table right now.
This book has been on my wishlist for a long time and finally caved and bought it a couple of weeks ago. I’ve made my way through three chapters so far and I’m really enjoying it. Easy to read and the perfect mix of history, biography and photography.
I started reading NurtureShock soon after we had Samuel in the hope that I would better understand the sibling relationship and avoid many of the parenting challenges that come with having multiple children. I haven’t picked it up for a couple of years but I think that now may be the perfect time to crack it open again given issues we’ve been having with our youngest child. I’ll take all the advice I can get.
I actually have the whole trilogy sitting on my bedside table and have just commenced book 1. Thoroughly enjoying it so far and doubt I’ll have any trouble finishing the first book before the movie comes out in a couple of months.
It’s been a busy week – one that began on Monday and feels as though it should have ended at least a couple of days ago. I took a TON of photographs for work and now have them sitting on my computer ready to edit. Sadly, I have not had the time (or frankly, the weather thanks to the never-ending Portland rain) to take many personal photos but I hope to rectify that over the weekend with a few sightseeing adventures around town.
So, as a lead in to a (hopefully) relaxing weekend, today’s edition of five things Friday shares a few random, whimsical fun websites/articles/blog articles from around the web, including one that literally made me cry with laughter.
2.A Popsicle roundup
I’ve been meaning to make Popsicles all summer and this list makes me feel like this might be  the weekend to do it. Now to locate those popsicle thingy’s in the basement…
I hope to be back on Monday with  stories and pictures from our upcoming weekend adventures. Until then, I leave you with a group portrait from last weekend taken in a wonderful old window in the Portland Pearl district. Kei wasn’t left out on purpose – he was at home painting our back room which is now ready for furniture (hooray!). Just a few short hours until I park myself on the new deck and settle in for a weekend of fun. Enjoy!
The sun’s out, the weekend is about to commence – it truly is a happy Friday. Here are five things that made me smile today – including one that should be preceded by a chorus of Angels.
1. Boys who insist on wearing one gumboot and one sneaker to school – and Mums who let them because it’s truly not worth arguing about and, hey, it’s cute. (P.S. Socks are mismatched too)
4. Buskers that literally make you want to dance in the street (I think they were called The Glue Horses but I can’t find them online. Fantastic bluegrass-style. Please leave a comment if you know who they are).
AND, FINALLY (this is where the choir of angels comes in)…
5. A finished deck that’s just inviting me to come and take a seat with a nice glass of wine. (still waiting for the elves to come and finish painting our back room).
Plans for the weekend include more sightseeing around Portland with our Japanese guests – The weather will decide whether we make it to Powell’s or the Japanese gardens – or maybe we’ll be adventurous and try both.
  
 I’m not a big reader of self help books but this one sounds intriguing. Of course it’s been sitting unopened for at least a year and a half so I have no idea if it’s worth reading but I have every intention of reading it cover to cover… after I finish The Hunger Games trilogy.
Nicole Ishida Photography 