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| Friendship bracelet |
Live*Love*Laugh*Knot
xoxo! Chris
Summer threads
Live*Love*Laugh*Knot
xoxo! Chris
Upgrade
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| Droid 4 vs iPhone4S |
Yes the Droid4 has great navigation with step by step voice commands.
Yes the Droid4 is 4G, super fast, with great video quality.
Yes the Droid4 has Widgets that you can personalize and add to your home screen-making speedy contact with people via phone, Skype, text or email.
Yes the Droid4 has cool photo effects such as 'cartoon, antique, frosted glass, lomo' etc.
The Droid4 has all of these amazing features which I realized quickly after purchasing it. However my query is not with the Droid4 and its fabulous features but with why Verizon is so forcefully promoting this phone without considering what is important to the consumer, AND how they expect you to know if you in fact love this phone after only mindlessly toying around with a demo one in the store.
The iPhone4S has all of the features that are important to me-same as the Droid4-for what feels like half the weight, it is easier to hold and 'type' on, I can view my texts and pages in the sunlight, and it fits easily in my shorts' pocket!!
I was charged a $35 restocking fee. Please be informed, go with your gut, don't be swayed by marketing. 4G is clearly newer and faster than 3G but so far my iPhoneS has done me no wrong and after much mockery Siri has been keeping me quite entertained.
Live*Love*Laugh*Inform
xoxo Chris
SNAP!!
While trying to satisfy a sporadic cleanliness fixation…
{Just to be clear… I’m using the term ‘tightly’…as in
obsession, infatuation, “gotta tend to this right this very second”, worse than
life and death –type of fixation. Not to be confused with my habitual moments
of cleanliness}
::clears throat::
Right, so...
During one of my ‘episodes’ I catch a glimpse of some sort
of particles through the cracks of the keys on my keyboard. Horrified, fearing
some sort of organism mutation {I might’ve watched “Little Shop of Horrors” a
little too recently… you know.. maybe.} I
nonchalantly lift the space bar to blow under it… of course.
Well…
::SNAP:: {Insert dramatic coming book sound effect bubble here}
There goes the Space bar!! (of my less-than-six-months-old laptop)
It’s still intact though; don’t panic!
It’s just that now it is slightly raised away from the
screen, facing me… making continuous, free flowing typing impossible due to the
fact that I have to do a double {sometimes triple} press on the space bar to
get enough precision/pressure to manifest the ‘space’.
{not to mention that I have also enlarged the opening for
the little “Lexia 2’s” to creep out and eat me!}
::sighs::
Oy vey.
Happy Summer Solstice Everyone, bask in that extra daylight!
Lex {♥}
My Week with Marggie-lyn
I last chimed in from cramped quarters and sleep deprivation on an out-of-the-blue attempt at change.
I left New York trying to ease what seems to be an
insatiable yearning for adventure and spontaneity; A change in a self-imposed,
unproductive, barely tolerable routine.
While trying to avoid my ever so potent over-thinking habit,
discovering the not-so-subtle familial meddling, and with very little notice to
those around me… I was off.
Completing a very interesting duo, I joined my twin cousin
Marggie {she is just three days younger than I am}. While sailing “on the same
boat’ she and I spent the week rekindling with family, engaging in miles and
miles of adventures and scenic routes, martini glasses filled with giggles, Red
Box and beef jerky, girl talk and guy “game”… It was basic… and everything but.
My Week with Marggie-lyn… Though it was barley planned and
{most definitely} short lived… it was exactly what I needed.
And while it was Not New York, it made quite the impression.
It was a great way to start the summer and left me with a curiosity and new
possibilities.
Grounded and reluctantly{?} in New York,
Hats off to Dad
And I still don't know what to do for a card for Father's Day.
Live*Love*Laugh*Ponder
xo! Chris
It's all in the decals
Live*Love*Laugh*Appreciate
xo! Chris
Sleepless on a Greyhound
Four hours
and a half and I wait 30 minutes before my arrival to attempt a post.
Yes, My name
is Lexia… And I am a Procrastinator. Lol.
I’ve
realized that I dropped the ball on my {not
so silent} blogging commitment and it has indeed been a while since my last
post. Any possible explanation would just be an excuse dressed in its Sunday’s
best, so I’ll just spare you. Though, at the risk of violating the
confidentiality agreement between myself and... well… myself, I have to confess
that I have been having a hard time with the concept of “how personal do I want
to get?” and “how much do I want to
share?”
At this very
moment, I’m approaching the end of a longer than-ever-experienced {especially on no sleep} bus trip. I
barely managed a wink of sleep and the scenery barely changes from one tree to
the next, in actuality it is further the distance my mind covers than what my
eyes can see; and even still it’s quite the trip.
On
this trip,
I haven’t exactly made my way through my
mental cloudiness, {I’ll continue to sort through all of that}
BUT I made it through the intimidation
of a blank page, {and this post resulted from it J}
the hesitation of professing hardship
{is this personal enough? Either way I’m sharing.. baby steps}
and four very long-no-rest-stop-included
hours {Five minutes until scheduled arrival time!! FINALLY }
I’d say it was all worth being Sleepless on a Greyhound. {::yawn:: eh, almost}
OH!! And as
far as my destination, well let’s just say, It’s Not New York.
Hasta Luego..
Lex {<3}
Referenced: Movie: Sleepless in Seatle, Picture: www.nattimartin.com
Hasta Luego..
Lex {<3}
Referenced: Movie: Sleepless in Seatle, Picture: www.nattimartin.com
Royal greeting
My sister's father-in-law is English so I only saw it fitting to make him a royally inspired birthday card. I try to avoid making the card too dainty by choosing the decals and colors carefully. I love this card and the inside greeting reads: Hope your birthday is memorable and majestic. Oh! And he's turning 60! That's something to feel noble about!
xoxo! Chris
Live*Love*Laugh*Praise
sunny half moons
I went through a brief phase: obsessed with half moon nail designs. I even purchased reinforcement stickers to try this method.
Reinforcement stickers definitely help the process, the only problem is some of the glue stays on your nail once you peel off the reinforcement. Need a strategy for this strategy!!
xoxo! Chris
Live*Love*Laugh*Strategize
Birthday garden
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| cutting the silhouette |
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| Inside: My friend happens to be named Chris as well ;p |
xoxo Chris
Live*Love*Laugh*Craft
Motherhood
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| Card for my sister's first Mother's Day |
It's been a while since I have posted and even longer since I have made a greeting card. Mother's Day is this weekend, another year has flown by. Last year I painted a vase for my mom at Color Me Mine. This year I have another cool gift planned. Not sure about the card yet...
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| Outside: Motherhood, Inside: Looks good on you. |
Live*Love*Laugh
Male creativity
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| My inspiration board: rhinestone decals, blue bubbled card, silver marker, silver glue pens, wax letter decals and blue ribbon. |
It's been a while since I posted, and longer since I've posted one of my card creations. This is my 3rd male inspired card to date. The friend whom I made it for turned a quarter of a century young and only requested the use of blue and silver in his card. Knowing that he loves cars, and not much else of what to do for a male inspired card-after much thought, I ran with that idea.
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| Brand: Hooray, License Plate: DOB My idea for the car was that it was parked and the night's sky was overhead with the rhinestone decals as the stars; and the balloon is floating out of the passenger side window. |
Live*Love*Laugh*Celebrate born days
xoxo! Chris
Addicted
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer (an Eclipse novella: a short novel about the life-and afterlife- of a character from the Twilight Saga).
My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler (a chapter by chapter memoir of her sexcapades).
The Science of Single by Rachel Machacek (the author's quest to put herself out there in the dating world and the crazy stories and and characters that ensue).
LEFT Neglected by Lisa Genova (although a good story-about a busy wife and mother who loses track of herself and her family values and a horrific accident puts everything into perspective- it started to abate for me at the 1/4 mark).
The Liar's Diary by Patry Francis (the only thing I remember about this book is that it is borrowed-oops!- and that I based my interest for this one on the alluring title and cover-oops?!).
I have been a little preoccupied with grad school and The Hunger Games but I am still only on Catching Fire (and not quite half way through yet); I'm looking forward to the summer when classes are over and the beach is calling my name to relax, soak up some sun and catch up on all this literature.
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| Nylon (favorite magazine), Country Living (great for craft and interior design ideas), True Blood comics from the HBO store. True Blood is one of my favorite television shows and one of my favorite series that I have read. I stopped half way through book seven: All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris. This is really a problem, think I need UBA (unfinished books anonymous)!!! Live*Love*Laugh*Read xoxo Chris |
flower arrangement
This display literally came to fruition piece by piece: I pushed the runner (and the table) to the wall, laid out the paper flowers, four votive candles, and two little glasses with pink baby's breath. The table looked good, but unfinished; I used-what was going to be-serving glasses, since it went so well with the floral theme. I lined them up against the wall with a rose in each glass and balanced it all out with the wine bottle I used to make white sangria and two green vases at each end with flowers.
In the end the look was complete with the balance of real and paper flowers and the colors were consistent throughout. Not only was the table a success but so was the night: paella, white sangria, ice cream cake and camaraderie.
Now what to do with the paper flowers?
Live*Love*Laugh*Color (your world)
xoxo Chris
Alpha
The word alpha pertains so much to bullying, you only need one person to start and others usually follow their lead or are passive witnesses.
The movies Bully (2001 version) and Alpha Dog (2006) really perturbed me.They were violent, graphic and emotionally disconcerting. Considering the release date of these films-11 and 6 years ago- I was even more impressionable then.
I really empathized with Anton Yelchin and Brad Renfro's characters in these biographical depictions of true horrific stories with bullying at its core.
These stories show that we have to keep in mind what our roles our as adults and what we can do to help and prevent thinking from spiraling downward for the bully and the victim.
Teach the child to stand up for themselves, most bullies will back down in the face of confidence and lack of fear.
If reacting confidently is hard to act or pretend, a lack of response is just as powerful. A bully will not persist for long if they don't get a reaction. They thrive off of an audience.
Running away will help in the moment but the bully will get pleasure from seeing the person run away and assume they are in fear of them and pick up where they left off the next day.
Live*Love*Laugh*Encourage
xoxo! Chris
not unfortunate souls
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| Ursula: The Little Mermaid |
We are so desensitized from oppressing figures we have seem them as early as 1937-the original release date of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. It's amusing and cathartic to see these themes reenacted differently through art and animation. I'm not trying to berate these films, because I myself identified with many of them on a subconscious level (especially Cinderella).
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| Queen: Snow White |
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| Scar: The Lion King |
If you look carefully at these villains/bullies you will see they all have their own personal reasons for choosing the defenseless and passive victim: Snow White, Ariel, Mufasa, Aladdin etc.
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| Jafar: Aladdin |
They were jealous of their (unbeknownst to them) competitor.
*Snow White was the fairest of them all- little did the Queen know maybe she was insecure for being so fair. She was also friendly, charming and had a wonderful voice that even pleased the forest dwellers.
*Ariel had a beautiful voice and her youth! Unfortunately for her, she was just a pawn in Ursula's grand plan to dethrone her bigger threat King Triton. She was coerced and badgered into signing a contract to get what she really wanted. Ariel was too passive aggressive but Ursula knew how to get what she wanted.
*Mufasa...ah sibling rivalry at its best. Scar missed his golden opportunity and was so jealous of his brother's reign he was blinded by jealousy until it lead to homicide.
*Aladdin in love. Poor (literally), poverty stricken Aladdin just wanted to win the heart of the girl from the opposite side of the track, Princess Jasmine. So did Jafar but to also dethrone her dad, the Sultan, to become one himself. Ulterior motives!! And Aladdin was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the right place at the right time!
WHAT DID ALL THESE POOR UNFORTUNATE SOULS HAVE IN COMMON?
Luck, optimism, determination and a fairy godmother! and dwarfs! and a genie! and fish friends! and a strong herd of lady lions!....YOU are the fairy godmother, the dwarf, the genie, the flounder or crab or the lioness for these youth who are constantly struggling to identify themselves and often too afraid to seek help. Pay attention to the signs. In the words of Lady Gaga's intelligent mama "insert yourself" into their lives.
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| BIBBIDI, BOBBIDI, BOO! |
Live*Laugh*Love*Inspire hope
xoxo! Chris
Antagonize, Pester, Coerce, Torment (BULLY)
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| this photo embodies what the individual must feel like emotionally. |
I've been dubious about what is inevitably going to be my theme of posts this week.
I would waiver the idea of changing the tone of the blog-which right now I feel is whimsical, cheery and at times entertaining (thanks Lexia!)-but the more I thought about it, and the foundation of the blog: to be about life, day to day events and things that affect and inspire us, the more I felt it appropriate to stray (for a week) from what has become the common thread.
Bullying is a subject that is close to my heart, and even though we may not work in schools or with children we need to know that it is very much prevalent today as it was ten years ago. What we have to know and understand about bullying is that often times no one will come forward that they are being bullied or know someone who is; we have to understand there is always a reason why the bully is bullying; therefore we have to help the bully as much as the victim.
Bullying leaves emotional scars on its victims and those are-for lack of better words-the lucky cases. Other cases lead to the victim harming themselves, becoming violent towards others and suicide. A kind word to just the right person can do more than you can imagine.
CHANGE.ORG is petitioning for this new and raw documentary film to receive a PG-13 rating so school-aged children can see a film that could potentially change their behavior and outlook on life and their peers. You can advocate and virtually sign this petition here.
Live*Love*Laugh*Change
xoxo! Chris
French Moons
In an effort to recreate the chic half moon nail style I managed to contrive a hybrid of the two. Starting a little further than the 'half moon' point (the natural half moon whiteness of your nail) and having the 'moon' appear less rounded at the sides, created more of an extended french manicure look-with a twist!
I'm loving the colors together: black and silver, and the aesthetic appeal of the color blocking. A third color towards the top would even be cool for a fun, innovative look.
I will be honest, I didn't try to free-hand this, even though it did cross my mind-I had the foresight to know better. Lacking paper reinforcements I searched (and searched) my apartment for the next best thing....tape!
Not sure if you can make it out in the photo but I cut strips of tap and taped them down horizontally across my nails-after the first color was polished. I painted over the tape and the nails with the second color and let them dry for about 6 minutes. The bonus to the tape was less clean up on the cuticles. |
| Voilá! French Moons! Living*Loving my French Moon nails* Laughing xoxo! Chris |
Paper flowers
Here's a sneak peek of a decor project I'm putting together. It's for a small dinner party with a Spanish theme (Paella, Sangria etc). Originally I wanted to keep it limited to red and yellow but it was so much fun (and at times tedious) to see the flowers come together. After an intense three hour flower-making session I have about 20 roses and carnations. Hopefully the final decoration piece comes together just as easily and beautifully. Can't wait!
Loving this craft!
xoxo! Chris
Dippin' Dot Nails
I originally found this idea on Pinterest but it was originally pinned from All Lacquered Up (not sure where the paper trail leads to from there). I am ecstatic over the innovative, fun and abstract nail styles sweeping the globe. I have tried so many different colors, prints and decals to the point where I have had two to three new manicures a week! Luckily I paint them myself; I'm carefree as to whether they chip, peel, crack or the final product is exceedingly below my expectations.
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| Bangle Jangle by Essie:: Plum Seduction 917 by Revlon:: Domestic Goddess-Matte by Sephora by OPI:: Rojo Mágico by Vogue (made in Colombia):: Minted #85 by Revlon:: Jessica's Wedding Bells by Brucci:: Peach color by Ruby Hammer gift set. |
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For my dots/confetti I used a variety of colors from Essie, Revlon, OPI, Brucci and some other companies (abroad: Colombia, England).
I enjoyed the fleeting party on my nails. It made it that much more fun to do things, get crafty and watch 'em at play!
Today it's back to basic red (Rojo Mágico) which is a nice change from the color before that (Minted by Revlon), which makes my (yup!) third manicure of the week. They chip so quickly!!!
Happy Friday! Enjoy a weekend of inspirational and creative endeavors!
Live*Love*Laugh
xoxo! Chris
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