'Tis the season

Thanksgiving went so much better than I had expected it to. One of my fellow co-workers, Alisha, graciously invited me to spend the afternoon eating a real Thanksgiving feast with her family. They were all very nice and welcoming and it was much better than eating a turkey frozen meal with only Scout for company. I also go out of work two hours early because Katie was driving down to Delaware after and wanted us done quickly. Brian (sports copy editor) even very nicely said he would do paper check so I wouldn't have to sit around waiting for the sports section to be done.

So it turned out to be a very nice day. Though I did miss my family, but I'll be seeing them this weekend for a long four-day break from the daily grind! I can't wait.

I also decorated my apartment for Christmas!! I got a fake tree at Micheal's and decorated that, too. (Still needs candy canes though) I think it all turned out really nicely, and Scout hasn't even knocked the tree over or broken any of the ornaments! She's a good kitty.

Here's some pics...

Giving in for good reason

So I finally caved and decided to ask for a Nook Color for Christmas.

My indecision came from the fact that, like website's effects on newspapers, I feared e-readers would kill books. And a Nook also won't do anything to help build the physical library I want in my future home.

But then I thought about it, and realized that e-readers won't kill books and most likely will help foster a stronger love of reading in the new generations that are so enamored with technology. I love reading because it allows for such imagination, freedom interpretation and strengthens writing skills and vocabulary. The e-reader won't kill any of these aspects of reading in my opinion.

And getting one also won't end my dreams of a den with shelves and shelves of books. I'll just be more selective about which ones I actually buy a physical copy of -- so instead of the shelves being full of books that will just sit there and collect dust, the shelves will hold classics and favorites that I will want to visit again and again.

This will also save me room if I ever move to a city and live in a smaller apartment. My parents will sell our house eventually and move to a smaller place where I won't have room to store even all the books I currently have. This way they'll be in one place and I can lose myself in them with just a few clicks of a button.

And who knows, maybe when I'm older the appeal of an e-reader will fade and I'll rely on my paperback friends once again.

Thanksgiving is almost here, but it feels like Christmas

I decorated for Thanksgiving last week, but I feel more in a Christmas-y mood. It hasn't even been that cold, but there are Christmas commercials, music and things like that. The world of commercialism tends to just skip right over Thanksgiving and land on Christmas. And this year I feel that way, too. But I think it is a little TOO early for those decorations yet.

Talking to my mom last weekend, she said Christmas decorations were the most boring and tend to be pretty much all the same. While I do agree that Halloween decorations are the most fun, I love Christmas ones the best. One, because it is a whole month long season and thus the decorations mean more to me for a longer amount of time. Two, because I think they can be very fun and creative and some can be left up all through winter.

But, it's not time for that yet, so here are my few decorations for Thanksgiving/fall:

The trials of small feet

Last weekend I went home to N.J. for Halloween. Whenever I go home, there's always a few shopping trips with my mom.

The goal last weekend was a winter coat, which was achieved. We got a really cute one at Nordstrom's. It's a black pea coat and will hopefully soon be on its way to Maryland. (The sleeves were too long and had to be shortened.)

I also wanted a new pair of nicer shoes for work, instead of having to wear flats or my converse all the time, which don't do much to keep my feet warm in cold weather.

But, of course, finding shoes that fit is anything but easy for me. We went into Journeys and had my feet measured ... children's size FOUR. This is the reason I wear converse or cheap kids shoes from Payless. This is the reason why I don't really like shoes and why I HATE heels. Stores don't make shoes a size four for women. A five sometimes fits, but that's also ridiculously hard to find.

We finally went into Easy Spirit where they had size fives in some of the styles. I ended up getting these ones:

They're pretty nice, but still a little roomy in the back, causing them to lift up off my foot a slightly when I walk. But they get the job done as a nicer shoe that I can wear when going out or to work.

However, other than this store, finding shoes that fit me is ridiculously hard. And sure I could fit into children's sized shoes, but most of the nicer shoes for little girls have glitter and sparkles on them. And, for me, that was so eighth grade.

Anyone else out there have this problem? Where do you get your shoes?

Scrapbooking tips: Printing photos via Shutterfly, Snapfish

Of course, besides the materials in the last post, one of the things you have to have to make a scrapbook is actual photos to put in it.

With the advent of digital cameras, the way we get printed copies of photos has vastly changed. And while I miss being able to bring a disposable camera to CVS and the surprise of what I'd find when I got the prints back, the new way offers a lot more choices.

I tried the print-them-yourself way on various printers we've had at home over the years, but for some reason they just never seemed to come out right. Plus, when you get down to it, buying the ink and photo paper and maintaining the printer is more cost and hassle then ordering them online.

Many people also may go to places like CVS or Walmart to get theirs printed, at both places you can do it in store, which would be time consuming for me because I order dozens at a time. But for Walmart you can also download them onto the site and go pick them up from the store.

However, I choose to rely on websites where you can upload them, order them online and have them shipped straight to your door.

It can be costly to do this depending how many prints you get and how fast you want them, but I've always been pleased with what I got.

There are two sites I've tried out, Snapfish and Shutterfly.

Scrapbooking tips

Since I have blogged about scrapbooking so much and enjoy it so much, I decided I would maybe focus this blog even more on it. It's good to have some semblance of a theme I suppose.

I think the biggest pro about scrapbooking is being able to show off pictures in a better way then having someone just rifle through them prints or a Facebook album. A scrapbook organizes them and people spend more time looking at the photos and sharing in the memories. Plus, it's personally more fun to take a trip down memory lane with a scrapbook. Also, my grandmother used a photo album that uses a sticky substance to secure the photos, and years later they are now permanently attached to it. I used photo corners in my scrapbooks, so if I ever wanted to take a photo out, they aren't permanently attached.

On that note, here's some musts for you if you're considering starting a scrapbook:

Scrapbook for Grandma

Just a few days ago I finally started organizing a scrapbook for my grandmother of all her old pictures. It's going really well so far, I think.

I also made the best purchase I have in a while at Michael's yesterday. It's giraffe patterned, so of course I love it, but it's also extremely useful. It's a scrapbook supply holder. A big one. And anyone who knows me well knows how much I like to scrapbook and I have quite a LOT of supplies. I had previously been throwing them in a cardboard box. But now I have a rolling giraffe-pattered case with numerous pouches to hold everything. Plus, I had a 40% off coupon. I love Michael's.

And now for the first few scrapbook pages:






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