Cube much?

I cannot solve a Rubix cube. I try but then loose interest somewhere in the middle of the second row (the 3x3 one in the front row is the only one that is mine and you can see where I lost interest). My cube sits on my desk at work and periodically gets solved by my teammate (the owner of all the other cubes).

Personally I love puzzles... but more the Professor Layton's Academy style ones. And only when nobody is watching me. I find that I am incapable of solving something if I am being stared at while I try - too stressful. But on my own it is a blast.

But Rubix... it just is not for me. I find them pretty and love making patterns on them when they are in a solved state (and have somebody else fix it...) But solving from the start? Eeeeeh. Maybe one day I'll solve it. One day. That day is not today.

30 for 30: Day 3

Sweater: Victoria Secret
Skirt: Boden
Tights: Hue
Boots: some small shop in Germany
Necklace: no idea
Earrings: market in Belize
Hair pin (not seen): shop in Leavenworth, WA

The boots I am wearing are new to the 30 for 30. I tried this outfit with my black flats or non-heeled boots and it just did not work. I have to admit the flats are even getting so old they are hurting my feet. So since I just started (and this is my first attempt) I switched the boots in for one of my shirts. I'll post an updated picture of the shirts later.

I also tried wearing a belt, or a scarf-belt with this, but I could not figure out how to make it look non-awkward. A belt that works on top of shirts are most definitely on my post-30-for-30 shopping list.

Excited for the evening plan - going to see Dr.Horrible's Sing Along Blog at the ACT Theater. Not the original, but I am excited to see how they translate it to the stage.

Earrings in display

I am not the most organized person, but I am generally got at knowing where things are. One thing that I need to keep organized is my earrings. I mean... there are two earrings in a pair. If you don't keep it organized you only have one earring. A bit of a problem. So I've had this display since beginning of college and it has been great for organization. It is a little hard to put things on, but I love how I can twirl it and see everything that is on it.

I actually only use a few earrings on a regular basis. I've migrated from the many I once bought in Claires (got to love their buy three get one free deals), to 'real' earrings. One of my favorites is the red coral one in the front. I also love my pearls and a couple of other stone ones. In the end - quality makes for more beautiful jewelry. Not that I've spent more than 30 dollars on a piece of jewelry, but anything more than 10 dollars is quality for me. =)

Photo lesson of the day: I have remembered about the existence of ISO. Yes! Finally! I keep trying to turn down aperture and then keep ISO at 100 when taking indoor shorts but then they turn out blurry. ISO for the win! I had actually tried to take this exact photo last week, but it turned out too blurry because I forgot ISO. I learn!

30 for 30: Day 2

Hat: knitted by Sarah
Necklace: Etsy Skeptis
Earrings: Renaissance festival in MD
Shirt: Gap
Skirt: Flee market in China
Tights: Hue Cable Tights
Shoes: Kohls

I wanted to wear the hat I just got in the mail from Sarah so I picked out the purple shirt to go with it. Yes I wear hats often all day long - I get cold and it is cozy to snuggle in up in a hat all day long. Its so warm!

This outfit is also once again badly lacking a belt or some sort of waist accentuation. Still afraid/not sure how to do belts. The two I have are so bulky I am not sure how to use them other than to hold pants up.

Seattle from Beacon Hill

With only two weeks left before my team moves out of our current building (the huge brick one on the bottom left) I am really trying to treasure the good things about it. One of them is quite definitely the amazing view.



This is a view from the park in front of my building (since I do not know of many windows that open up in this direction in the actual building). I made a post earlier about the view at sunset, but I figured I should get a daytime shot in before we move. I love that view so much - there is no space needle, but it is a view from above toward the building. It is sort of like the view you get when you drive north from the airport and see the city for the first time. It sits so beautifully on the water with the mountains in the background.

30 for 30: Day 1

First day of the challenge! Woohoo!



Blouse: New York and Company
Pink top: H&M
Pants: Kohls
Socks: Target
Shoes: Naturalizers
Necklace: Flee market in Cairns, Australia
Earrings: Studs from Claires
Hat: Some shop in Venice, Italy

I decided to start off by wearing a piece that I have not worn in a couple of years. The blouse is actually one I only used for interviews in college. I might have worn it once or twice since then. I have also never layered a blouse on top of another shirt. It seems simple, but it was a step out of the comfort zone.

I am having second thoughts on the pants - I appear to have found a couple of stains in them from breakfast spills (today I spilled peanut butter on them... usually I spill flour or toothpaste). Hopefully the stains wash out, but I believe they've been there a while. Hopefully not because this is one of my two pairs of pants for the month!

Looking at the outfit in the photo - the blouse is still too big - it is not flattering around the stomach because it bunches and does not accentuate the waist in any way. I need to pin it in the back or get a belt of some sort. But how do you pin while the shirt is on you?

Whistler weekend

I've been MIA for a couple of days because I fled the country to Canada to go skiing at Whistler for a long weekend. Between skiing, eating, hottubbing, and being extremely tired from skiing, little time left for being online. It is nice to detach myself from the internet for a couple of days.

Going to keep this short since I do not want to fall further back in blog posts. I'll process more than one photo of each day later, but for now - photo of the day finish for January! (one month down, eleven to go!)

January 27th

Drove up to Whistler after work. Surprisingly easy drive - only 5 hours with a couple of stops from Seattle, including the amazing border crossing. Did not take many photos as all I wanted to do was to collapse in the private hot tub and then walk back to my room on the heated floor. I want to buy that condo... except that apparently it costs over a million dollars. Alas.

January 28th

First day skiing. Explored Blackcomb mountain. It was snowing all day and very little visibility, but loads of fun because there was no shortage of snow and very few people since it was Friday. Ryan was actually skiing very well - it was just fun to splatter across the slopes when there was absolutely nobody else there.


January 29th

Another snowy day with some sun breaks. Highlight of the day was checking out the Blackcomb glacier with my mom. It was sort of clear when we got there but it got extremely cloudy as we were going down. In addition, we were skiing knee deep in powder. One of my first true powder experiences and it is TIRING. So fun, but sure takes effort!


January 30th

Beautiful day - clear skies and bone chilling cold. Was on the slopes when they opened and even stood in line at 7th Heaven (one of lifts at very top) in order to be the first ones on the slope. Magnificent. Skied all over both of the mountains in a glorious last day of skiing.

January 31st



Time to drive back to the US. Left early, and made one stop at Shannon Falls on the way. Beautiful falls just south of Squamish by the highway. They were half frozen and we were the only ones there. Magnificent.