Four Things

My favorite place: Molokai, Hawaii

I have some new readers these days (hello!) and I've seen this Four Things post on several blogs, so I thought I'd give it a go. It reminded me of email chains and Myspace surveys.

Four names that people call me, other than my real name:
Liz (I actually don't like this, but I've come to accept people won't say my full name)
Betty (Alex calls me this)
Lizzard
Lizardbreath (my sister, a loooong time ago)

Four jobs I have had:
UI/UX Designer (current)
"Multimedia Design Assistant to Curator of Education"
Cosmetician... at Walgreens
Christmas display setup... in July (Hobby Lobby)

Four movies I’ve watched more than once:
Pride & Prejudice (BBC)
Clueless
Die Hard (1 or 3)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Four books I’d recommend:
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy)
O Pioneers! (Willa Cather)
Lexicon (Max Barry)
Attachments (Rainbow Rowell)

Four places I have been:
London, England
Berchtesgaden, Germany
Molokai, Hawaii (see photo above)
Arches National Park, Utah

Four places I’d rather be right now:
Somewhere sunny
Somewhere warm, but not too hot
Somewhere without any tasks or obligations
Somewhere with a good book and a good view
(...see photo above)

Four things I don’t eat:
Besides completely weird things like squirrel or rat, I'll eat pretty much anything.
Maybe peas

Four of my favorite foods:
Air-popped popcorn
Sautéed Brussels sprouts
Pho
Egg White Delight + hash brown

Four TV shows that I watch:
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
Switched at Birth (guilty pleasure)
Friends

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
Sunshine
Vacation(s)
Races
Getting rid of clutter

Four things I’m always saying:
Follow your heart
Ugggghhhhhhh
Blarggghhhh
Hola

That's all! What are your four things? 

Real Gift Guide: Jewelry

You know what I hate? Those crazy gift guides "normal" bloggers post with items ranging from $100-1,000. Who buys their friend a $679 calf hair purse or a pair of $100 shoes? If you do, then you can call this list "stocking stuffers" (what these bloggers call "cheap" gifts).

1. Plum & Bow Lady Legs Ring Holder - Urban Outfitters $14
2. Elysian Bib Necklace In Coral - Ruche $16.99
3. Pendant Necklace - Urban Outfitters $20
4. Glam Faceted Stone Bib Necklace - Forever 21 $8.80
5. Delicate Branch Ring - Moorea Seal $10
6. Antler Jewelry Stand - World Market $16.99
7. Factory Flower Fringe Necklace - J.Crew Factory $29.50


Also -- elephant in the room -- I know I don't post much here. Looking to change that in the new year. Blogging in and of itself is a strange beast as lately many of the ones I follow are blatantly advertising. (I do not mind sampling products or monetizing links... but posting Instagrams as if they are "real" recommendations for products is strange.) Anywho, I'm going to try to "keep it real."

Thanks for reading. More non-stocking stuffer lists to come!

Hey! (Here's a funny quiz)

I finished Thing-A-Day, took some photos, and now I'm too lazy/busy to hook my camera up to grab the photos. Whoopsie. Work is still nuts, but I did have time to take this fun quiz that I found via How About Orange.

Anyway, here's my IDEAL job via color testing:

Best Occupational Category
You're an ORGANIZER

Keywords Self-Control, Practical, Self-Contained, Orderly, Systematic, Precise, and Accurate

These conservative appearing, plotting-types enjoy organizing, data systems, accounting, detail, and accuracy. They often enjoy mathematics and data management activities such as accounting and investment management. Persistence and patience allows them to do detailed paperwork, operate office machines, write business reports, and make charts and graphs.

Your very careful, conscientious, conservative nature gives others the confidence to trust you with handling money and material possessions. Structured organizations that have well-ordered chains of command work best for you.

Suggested Organizer workplaces are large corporations, business offices, financial lending institutions, banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, and quality control and inspection departments.

Haha. I think this may be a result of my disorganized work environment lately.  I do, however, agree with my second option:

You're a RESEARCHER

Keywords:

Independent, Self-Motivated, Reserved, Introspective, Analytical, and Curious

These investigative types gather information, analyze and interpret data, and inquire to uncover new facts. They have a strong scientific orientation, enjoy academic or research environments and prefer self-reliant jobs. Dislikes are group projects, selling, and repetitive activities.

inspiration: The Third & The Seventh

As always, sorry for the lack of updates. February and Thing-A-Day are fast upon us and I anticipate I will be blogging something new almost daily. Until then, I wanted to share my love for this video (below) and share some screencaps.

The video is stunning. The music is calming and the visuals are great. I came out of this wanting an HD camera. Enjoy!

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

[video via CLDFX]

photo 101: shoot through another camera

Camera.

Meet dress.

+ one tall set up

I felt like messing around with my cameras. This is what came out. I'm pretty sure this is in the beginner's handbook for what to do after you've taken a lot of pictures of flowers. haha 

I'm on the right track! Plus, these look a little creepy and give me ideas for other shots. Score!

camera shy?

I know I complain a lot about not having a digital SLR. I do, however, own a straight up SLR... from the 70s. It was the camera I learned on in high school and college photography classes. I didn't really understand the concept of the light meter in high school... so I didn't really learn anything until college. 

But, I only took one (required) photo class. And I'm pretty sure I was just trying to get by without being embarrassed by the photo journalism and commercial photography majors in the room. 

I feel like I am only now starting to understand how to "make" a picture. Unfortunately, I have a long way to go. But, hey, I have the rest of my life to learn and hone my skills!

And someday (soon, I hope) I'll get a digital SLR. 

In the meantime, I'll goof around with my Cybershot (which is pretty awesome for a point a shoot), learn some tricks, and maybe buy some film for my Minolta. I just have to remember how to load it... 

my tumblr

Hey all. If you're looking for some photos & art on-the-fly, check out my newish tumblr, les plus beauxx (petit).

I update it through the work day with a bunch of random stuff I find. Mainly photos, fashion, and cute animals. Nothing too serious. But if you're bored, have a look!

These images are a random sampling.

What your color choices say about you

Here's my result. What's yours?

Michelle Obama = Sigourney Weaver?

I'm reposting this from my tumblr because there are issues with linking. Sorry it's not very crafty!
Michelle Obama = Sigourney Weaver?
While there are a few sites out there that have talked about this (here, here, and photo here), I thought I’d spend some time to create a comprehensive image library of Michelle v. Sigourney photos.
And, yeah, obviously they don’t look exactly alike. But it’s close enough!

Excited!!!

I just found out that my 5 minute notebook tutorial was featured on the craftzine blog! I have no idea how I didn't see it because during that week I saw the post before and after it. Maybe I tuned it out!

Anyway, this is extremely exciting since I think CRAFT is awesome. I'm not sure I'll get many repeat visitors out of it, but to those of you that did stick around: thank you so much! I appreciate you all. :) And I'd love to see what you all are up to.

Here's a link to the craftzine post in case you missed it like I did: LINK

(yay!!!!)

neat: post-it-note Nike ad

neat: Ballet Met Columbus

While this video is slightly low quality, it's of my favorite ballet company around. This is one of their latest routines. Enjoy!



For more information on performances, check out Ballet Met Columbus.