Monday, May 31, 2010

From the Capitol: Millennium Stage

DC is a great place to live. We have lot's to do, unfortunately, not a lot of it is free. The Kennedy Center is a great place to catch shows, but tickets for any type of performance there are usually upwards of $50. This, however, isn't true for the millenium stage.



The Millenium Stage is a series of free performances, offer almost nightly. This is a great way to get to expierence performance art, without breaking the bank.

For the millenium stage schedule, and other details visit:

Love, Tina Marie

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Follow Friday.. on A Saturday

I'm going to try to introduce ya'll to at least one new site that I have found this past week.
This week it's a site I have loved for awhile:

http://www.kojodesigns.blogspot.com/

I absolutely love her blog, and read it daily. I think she is a great crafter, and I have sewing machine envy!

This was a scehduled post, so I'm actually at the beach today! I hope everyone has a fabulous Memorial Day weekend!

Love, Tina Marie

Friday, May 28, 2010

Wedding Pomanders

Do you know what a pomander is?
I didn't really either until I became the crafts guru for my cousin's wedding.
I'm really looking forward to her affair. It will be an outdoor ceremony at the Dallas Arboretum.
I'm making pomander's to hang from the rows.
There are a few examples I took some inspiration from:



I started off with styrofoam balls. I picked these up at Michaels for about $1 each.

I decided to make paper pomanders, as they were a little cheaper to make than fabric ones. I also picked up my paper supply from Michaels.
To cut out the flower shapes I used hole punches. I'm sure all you crafters have seen the hole punches in your local craft store. I thought it would be a nice contrast if I used 2 different types of cutouts. For the center I used pink, and coral color for the outer petals. The center of each flower is a pushpin with a pearl head. I picked these up at Walmart for about $2 a box.

Also, it should be noted that my local dollar store (yes I shop at the dollar store) has these same kinds of cutouts for only $1! Whereas I pay $5-8 at the craft store.
It's something you may want to check out.

I made my pomanders double ended (2 on one piece of ribbon).



Sorry for the crappy pictures, I still havent uncovered my camera cord from the move... over a month ago.

I think they came out really well. They were a little tiresome, but very easy to make!

Love, Tina Marie

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Walmart

Say what you will... I LOVE walmart.

I really really do.

On Tuesday I made the trek out to Springfield to pick up provisions at Walmart. I have started going there about once a month. Although it's a drive, it saves me a lot of money. I can get basic staple groceries there for dirt cheap prices. I also love being able to pick up clothes, food, bath supplies, and ammo all in one trip.

Yes you read that right, ammo.

While I was wandering around the toy department, I stumbled upon the ammunition counter.

Yes, right near the toys, which I found amusing.

A friend of mine had told me that the ammo at Walmart was the cheapest around, I decided to look into it.

I have a .22. I asked for the ammo... $1.47 for 50 rounds. This is less than half of what I pay at the range. I bought 500 rounds... because at $15, I couldn't afford not to.

I was also tempted to buy a hula hoop... but I refrained, after proving to myself in the aisles of walmart, that I could still hula.

Other than that I got some gym clothes, provisions for the beach, and groceries.

Again... I love Walmart.



Wednesday, May 26, 2010

From the Capitol: Outdoor Film Festivals

Although I am a true Texan at heart I do love living in the Nation's Capitol.
I feel such a sense of pride when I pass by the monuments. And there is nothing in the world quite like walking on freshly fallen snow in front of the US Capitol Building.
I want to share some of my adventures. I used to do this with my "Around Town" tidbits. I'm bringing it back.

Those of us who live in DC love "Screen on The Green". Classic movies, watched outside on the mall.




Not all of us know there are other (less crowded) options:

The Rosslyn Outdoor film Festival brings you : "I love the 90's"

April 30 - Clueless
May 7 - Wayne's World
May 14 - My Best Friend's Wedding
May 21 - Edward Scissorhands
May 27 - Happy Gilmore
June 4 - Office Space
June 11 - Cry Baby
June 18 - Mrs. Doubtfire
June 27 - Bio-Dome
July 2 - Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
July 9 - Home Alone
July 16 - What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
July 23 - Empire Records
July 30 - Dumb & Dumber
August 6 - Romeo & Juliet
August 13 - Airheads
August 20 - The Wedding Singer
August 27 - The Birdcage
September 3 - Billy Madison

For details on this and other outdoor film festivals visit:
http://dc.about.com/od/filmfestivals/a/RosslynOutdoorFilmFestival.htm

New Name, New Start

Hi All!
As you can see I have redirected "I'm 26, Now What?" to "Love, Tina Marie.Org". I hope you follow me here.

The idea is to compile both of my blogs into this one.
I'll still continue to post about my life, but I also hope to add many more craft and food posts...and a LOT more pictures.
I'll be adding a few "new" components, like a "Follow Friday", and a "From the Capitol" (all about the goings on in DC). I welcome any suggestions, and I'm really excited to bring all I have to offer.

I hope you enjoy the new format.

Love, Tina Marie

Monday, May 24, 2010

I Can Smell the Ocean...

A a few things I'm excited about today.

First of all i realized I can do blog posts from my phone. This means that I can talk into my phone and makes posts with my voice to text feature. I think this is the most awesome thing ever. I really couldn't love my phone more (Just ask my friends I'm sure other tired of listening to talk about it).

Other thing I'm excited about is my trip this weekend. I know I blogged earlier about my trip to the outer banks. Now that it's finally here I'm so excited. I only have 2 more days till I'm on the beach. I keep thinking of things to pack. I made a packing list about 3 weeks ago, but I've added about 10 more items to do list today!

Also all the girls going on the trip started in email thread about exchanging chick lit books. It amazes me how much crappy fiction I have on my bookshelf. But there is nothing better than a mindless read while laying out in the sun.

Another faction of the group going have an email thread about shipping down crawfish. Or shipping UP crawfish, I should say (from from New Orleans). We will call this faction the Cajun Contingent (Matt's term). Normally I get to eat crawfish once a year at my alumni association crawfish boil. This year, however, they teamed up with other New Orleans alumni associations and are having 1 big crawfish boil on the same weekend as my trip.

Between books and crawfish this will be the perfect weekend!
Also congratulate me as I just "talked" my first blog :)

Geeking Out

That's right... this entire post will be about the series finale of LOST.

My Lost Back story

When Lost first came out 6 years ago, I watched season 1. I thought it was a phenomenal show. However, in season two they changed the air date, and it conflicted with another show I watched. I chose the other show over LOST.
Two years ago, when the creators of LOST said they had a definite end date in plan for the series, I decided to wait, and watch the series when it ended.
I knew it would be less stressful for me, as I have many friends who are LOST fanatics. I didn't want to have to wait at the end of each season. I wanted instant gratification.
Six months ago I finally started watching the series. I watched from the beginning. I was hooked, yet again, only this time I could watch episodes at a time.
I made it through the series in no time at all. I was able to jump on the bandwagon about 6 episodes into the last season.
Last night was epic. I cannot remember being more fulfilled with a series finale.
I think every series should have an end date in mind. It meant the producers/writers could have to time to wrap up the show in the way they wanted to, and in a way that satisfied the fans.


The End - Synopsis (and Spoilers)

The title of last night's episode was so perfect.
The show was a character driven show. No real mysteries surrounding the island were revealed. We still don't know what the significance of the numbers are. We don't know why Walt had magic powers. We don't know a lot of things, but we do know that the flash sideways was a type of purgatory. A holding room that all of the characters had created in death. They waited for each other before moving on. At the end we see Jack's dad lead them all into the light.
Ahhh-mazing. After all the time travel, and flashing forwards and backwards, it was awesome to see everyone united and happy again, even if it was in death.

Imagery and homage

Within the last episode we saw a lot of homage paid to earlier episodes.
First of all each of the main characters had a flashback. The flashbacks were triggered by some event that was a parallel of a momentous event on the island. It was a great treat for the viewers to get to be a part of each of these.

Also, there were lots of shots (camera angles) that were similar to other iconic shots throughout the series. I think the most notable was the shot of John Locke/MIB and Jack looking down the cave with the light beaming upwards. In season 2 we saw the same shot when the the hatch was finally opened. It was as if everything had come full circle.

The biblical imagery and symbolism in the series was also phenomenal.
When Jack was pierced in the side (a la Jesus) I knew that we was going to be sacrificed.
When Jack had Hurley drink from the water bottle, it was very much like breaking of the bread.
The idea that the flash sideways was a "holding room" or purgatory.
Jack's dad's name is "Christian Shepard". (I just caught that one last night when "Kate" mentioned it.

All in all, I loved the finale. I am sure many a dissertation will be written about the series, and I think the creators of the show are genius.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

New Phone

Droid!

So I just realized that I haven't shared my new phone purchase with the blogoverse. I bought a Droid! I absolutely LOVE it. It does everything the iphone does PLUS it's with Verizon not AT&T. This was the major selling point for me. I had no plans to switch providers. I absolutely LOVE Verizon. I never have dropped calls and they get service in the metro. I also never go over my minutes. I knew I wanted a smart phone and the droid does everything I could ever want it to do. So far I have learned that it has speech to text capabilities. This means that I never have to type anything. I can just talk it into my phone. This is especially handy when driving. Today I learned how to download music directly to my phone. This is so awesome as I am one of the few people left on earth who doesn't have an ipod (well, I have a shuffle, but that doesnt count). I buy my music thru amazon mp3, as far as I can see it's the same as the itunes store. The other great thing about the droid is that it's powered by google. As a google user this is MONEY. Everything is incorporated into one place for me.
My contact list is a list from every source. This means if I have you in my gchat list, and a phone number for you it will automatically combine the two entries. I LOVE it. My next purchase will be a mount so that when I use the turn by turn GPS navigation I wont have to set my phone in the cup holder. Total phone win.

Life Without TV

It has now been a month without TV. I'm doing pretty well. I have made my way thru Friday Night Lights. I'm in search for a new show. I have a few recommendations. I am SO bad at the Netflix thing tho. I use the streaming ALL the time, but I still have the second movie they mailed me. I really suck at sending things in the mail. All in all I would say my little experiment is gong well. I think cable is a complete rip off, and I don't think I'll be going back to it anytime soon.

Summer Trips

On Monday I talked about my trip home in June, but before that trip I am going to the Outer Banks! This is the third time I have planned the trip and I am SUPER excited. I hope that this continues to be a yearly tradition. I really love taking time out just to hang out with friends, and lay in the sand. Memorial day at the beach is totally the best way to kick off the summer!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Oops!

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've blogged! Time sure does fly when you're having fun.
So here is a little catch-up session on my life.

NRA

I bought a gun! I have already been shooting twice with it.
About a year ago my friends Steve and Hugh took me shooting with them. I always grew up with guns in my house, so it wasn't really a novelty to go shooting. However the guns in my house were always rifles and shotguns. We never had handguns growing up, and I had never shot a handgun. We went to the NRA range, and I was immediately hooked. I knew I wanted my own gun. I've shot several different kinds of guns at this point (22, 40, 45, 9mm, revolver, etc). I finally decided that I wanted a 22 for range practice. The ammo for a 22 is much cheaper than the ammo for any other type of gun. This is primarily what drove my decision in conjunction with the fact that my dad is giving my one of his shotguns when I go home in June. This means I'll have a gun for home protection AND a gun for range use. I am so hooked though. I definitely plan on buying more guns. I think my next gun will be a higher caliber gun either a 40 or 45. I haven't decided yet, but I know it will happen.

New Diggs

My Apartment is done! There are still a few things I want to fix up (refurbish my dresser) but all the pictures and curtains are hung. The walls are painted. My headboard had been refurbished. I really couldn't love it more. I know I'll dream up new ways to improve the place but that's just the inner crafter in me. But I would say I'm fully nested in my new digs. Love it. To prove my love I'm finally inviting people over. I'm having a little girls get together on Saturday. Keeping busy!

Back Home Again

Speaking of keeping busy, I surely am. I have every Saturday planned out from now till June 13th! I have weddings, and beach weekends, birthday parties, graduation parties, and a girls get together to look forward to! I'm tired just thinking about it, but excited to live it all out.

Aside from the beach, the weekend I am looking forward to the most is my long weekend in Texas! I am so excited to see my parents and my siblings. I didn't make it home for Christmas this past year, which means I haven't seen my parents since last May at my little sister's graduation! That will make 13 months without seeing them! I have never been away from my family for so long. We are all really close, so I'm understandably excited.

I'm also excited because my cousin is getting married! This cousin is more like a sister to me. She and I are only a year apart in age, and we spent our whole lives together. We played barbies, and house, and school together. We wore each other's clothes. We dreamed about going to college and doing great things with our lives. I am so happy for her, and I can't wait to be a part of her big day (I'm the maid of honor).

Finally I'm excited to EAT in Texas. I will officially not be on a diet for those 4 days. I plan to have Jack-in-the-box, Hardeman's bbq, Mexican food, southern comfort food, and anything else I can get my hands on. I also plan to bring tons of stuff back with me. Last winter Sarah and I made tamales from scratch. I'm going to bring back pre-made dough with me (they sell it in the stores for dirt cheap, and it takes hours to make. I'm also bringing back homemade flour tortillas, and tamales. My parents bought me a stand mixer, so that's coming back too, along with the shotgun. I'm sure TSA is going to have a fun time looking through my random assortment of checked luggage, but it will totally be worth it to have good food back here in DC.

Enough for now, more tomorrow!