Camera Pouch

Pearl River camera pouch
Originally uploaded by silvermari

Here's my camera pouch, purchased at Pearl River by my sister. It's a silk pouch with butterflies on it. It fits my camera perfectly.

Pearl River is an incredible store in SoHo with all types of items for sale - for the home, for gifts, lighting, dishes, oh the fun goes on. Plus it's a pretty nice walk down there.

Perhaps I'm irrelevant, but that's the beauty of blogging - I do it for myself. Good Day.

~Mari.

Adoption: Help My Friend Jen

Check out their site at www.jimjenadopt.com. Pass this along to others who may know of someone who needs to meet Jim and Jen!

Inside My New Pocketbook

Inside Target Pocket Book
Originally uploaded by silvermari

Here's my new pocketbook, purchased at the Queen's Target on Aug. 3 (quite the subway confusion on my part to get there, but I made it!). The bag itself is black imitation leather. It's big and roomy with a couple pockets (although my phone falls out of the pocket there) and it has a purple lining! Huzzah.

There are many purple things inside my pocketbook, such as a purple notebook, a purple cell phone and a purple make-up bag. But those are other entries as I continue my purple project.

~Mari.

Hilarious, Right-on Horror-scope

It may be disheartening if you can't get the professional respect you deserve. Unfortunately, your ego can play a cruel trick on you, leading you to believe that you should be more appreciated. Don't waste your time feeding illusions about recognition and fame. Just do the best you can and the rewards will follow.

Reduce Eye Strain

The Link to The Download:

Featured Windows Download: EyeDefender Combats Eyestrain, Repetitive Stress Injury

I think I'm going to give this a try. I'm convinced that my contacts are the incorrect strength and that my glasses are a little different, but MAYBE it has something to do with the massive amounts of time I spend at a computer each day.

Food for thought, and I'll post on my progress of eye strain breaks.

~Mari.

Photo: my eye, from summer 2004. That eyetag has been removed, but several more have grown... Another thing on my to-do list. Anyone know a good NYC dermatologist who accepts non-referrals? (i assume an eye doctor might be able to refer me to someone who can help)

squishy toes

I bought these lovely flip-flops for half price, the discount coming because Shawn's new shoes were full price and it was a BOGO event at Rackroom Shoes (or something like that).

The footbed of these things are outstanding. I mean, it really is so squishy and marvelous - like walking on pillows, or at least really comfy slippers.

That said, I would never, never wear these or other flip flops/sandals to an airport. I was explaining to my in-laws (tee hee, i have in-laws!) about my position/theory that shoes make it easier to run should there be a crash or other accident - plus I wouldn't want my feet exposed to any debris even if I couldn't run in the event of something going wrong. Plus there's the ICK factor of walking barefoot through security. I mean come on. And then I found this article on CNN Money about the dangers of wearing such shoes near escalators. For Pete's sake.

The only thing I would change about these shoes ... you guessed it, make the stripes purple. BUT a girl does need a little pink in her life, and in hindsight I would have purchased these shoes even if they were lime green or burnt sienna or any other non-mari color. These things are AWESOME... I just have to watch Shawn to keep him from slipping them on. Although I have big feet, his are even bigger and he'll stretch them out...

~mari.

You Tube Rap: Coding

Hilarious beyond measure. I was bouncing in my seat and nodding my head at all the tips/reminders. Clip discovered via Affiliate by Night.

home AGAIN

traveling is so nice - even when it's just a quick jaunt. we went to shawn's parents for the weekend - for a family wedding and a "newlywed" shower ... thanks to all who gave us such great gifts!

our flight to greensboro on friday was uber-delayed. we sat on the runway longer than the actual flight time. so that was a pain beyond all pain. because there was no food, and everyone knows that when mari goes w/o food...watch out! we finally arrived almost two hours late. luckily we were able to alert his parents in time so they were able to adjust their departure time to come pick us up. anyway.

the flight back was fine. we left early early early this morning. learned that yesterday all flights to la guardia (at least from greensboro) were canceled. i guess there were t-storms or something. when shawn printed our boarding passes, i didn't get a seat assignment. as in - there's a chance i won't get back to get to work on time! blugh!

thankfully i was able to get a seat. of course i was in the front of the plane and shawn was in the very back (only 12 rows, quite a small plane). the young lady sitting next to shawn was nice enough to shift with me (she got more leg room, but i got baggage storage beneath the seat in front of me).

the flight was quick (one hour from wheels up to wheels down) and after a little bit of turbulence (which I loved - it was like a rollercoaster - and shawn HATED...dang woman pilot - HA), we were at LGA. we were accosted by a swindler trying to sell us a $45 ride into manhattan, but being the savvy (albeit looking-like-we-fell-off-the-turnip-truck-yesterday) travelers that we are, we opted for the taxi line, which was a breeze. we got into a hybrid vehicle - a small SUV. i feel lucky when i get one of those (not that i take taxi's for anything other than airport runs or buying air conditioners!).

the taxi driver asked us how we wanted to go. blugh - hate this question. i want to go the fastest way and don't have any way in particular. this is of course a bad idea. so i need to figure out what the correct answer is - i think it's 59th Street bridge, but who knows. to-do before our flight to Oklahoma in november.

finally, home again. feeling OK, although tired (left Diannia's at 5:30 am, a good three hours before i normally even THINK of getting out of bed on a normal weekday). we weren't home for very long - maybe 30 minutes when BANG, ZIP, POW! The darkest sky ever and a thunderstorm to shake the city. It was CRAZY. And then a respite, we had lunch and ANOTHER dark crazy storm. It was magic. And the perfect day for snuggling under the covers for a little recuperative snooze...

BUT I persevered and plugged along at work - making progress on several projects, including some online advertising projects that are about to make a big difference in an RA project we've all come to love (or not). now i'm going out to find some coffee for tomorrow. i kept hoping Starbucks would sell its Pike Place Roast, but seems to be a non-bulk blend...so far.

~mari.

purple pumps

Two beautiful words... painful on your feet.

The T-strap pumps are from Anthropologie, discovered via Jezebel's review of the Anthropologie catalog. They are $398 (plus shipping or schlepping - there's a store down 5th Ave somewhere). BUT there's no size 11, so too bad, so sad. And I don't love them THAT much to plunk down even $39, if they were so cheap...

The Mary Janes, in a plummier shade, are more my style/price range - $22.99 at Target (plus shipping or schlepping - about 30 minutes on the R/W train). But how cute? If I ever went out of the apartment they would be fabulous to own! (self-burn!)

~Mari.

More Lovely Flowers

Lovely flowers.

So the purple project is more than just posting random pictures of flowers (although I will admit that's fun for me).

I'm going to document the purple around me - and I've got to start with all my purple possessions, of which there are MANY! Everything from my keys to my dryer lint (which I don't intend to photograph) has some purple connotation. This is a project I'm under taking for me - to be more aware of my surroundings and document the loveliness that is this royal hue.

~Mari.

this time last friday...

prepping the blog to keep posting while i'm away in danville for jamie's wedding!

here's what i was doing a week ago - my feet in the sand, the sound of the waves and my nose in a book. thank goodness for half-day Fridays in August. a perk that would be hard to make it through this month without.

Shawn and I had the BEST time at Far Rockaway beach last weekend, but I know it won't hold a candle to what's in store for us with his family back home. More photos of purple things to follow!

NYTimes: Coffee Contradictions

Personal Health - Sorting Out Coffee’s Contradictions - NYTimes.com

What I wouldn't give for a strong cup right about now. I ran out of coffee yesterday and intended to get some more, but Starbucks didn't have what I wanted. Do they even sell Pike Roast by the pound? Whatever the case, I'm jonesing for a fix... and the NYT is taunting me with a dense article about coffee's benefits and risks.

Blurgh. ~Mari.

Recovery: I'm not Broke No Mo'

The MSN Money Article:

Why Generation Y is broke - MSN Money

I really can relate to this. I'm getting my act together with the help of my husband (oh, and a little thing called "live below your means" from Michelle Singletary). I was NEVER in this dire of straights (my $10K undergrad loan was my biggest heartache), but I honestly was a poor budgeter, over-spender... kind of the "it's only money, i'll make more" attitude that most people have probably heard me say...

Times are changing. I'm doing "expense reports" - basically writing down everything I spend (minus business expenses, which actually go in a real expense report for work and get reimbursed). It's been a couple months and writing things down (or just KNOWING I'll have to write it down) has curbed a lot of things... although I did go to Target last weekend for a little suburban retail therapy.

i've been paying down my debts and will be free long before we leave the city, and i've always been socking away the dough - especially in the pre-tax retirement account (my work puts 10% in too, so it's great to see those numbers racking up). future ideas: saving together for a house! yipe!

Anyway, life is good.

~Mari.

Photo: twenty dollar bill on Flickr by Darren Hester

Wedding Dress Sketch and Cross Stitch

Wedding Dress Sketch and Cross Stitch
Originally uploaded by silvermari

The beautiful drawing of me in my wedding gown done by an Etsy artist, JHM Design. (Etsy is such a great place)...

Next to that is a cross-stitch piece that my friend Janie made for me. These are hanging next to my desk (high up to my left) - so I can gaze at them throughout the day.

Slightly self-absorbed? Perhaps. Loving it? TOTALLY.

~mari.

(p.s. both incorporate loads of purple - huzzah!)

The Conversation Prism

The Conversation Prism
Originally uploaded by b_d_solis

The Purple Project

mari loves purple, and now my blog is showing it!

yes, we all know this. purple is my color, and i'm constantly on the lookout for purple things.

i'm noticing now that many fall clothing and accessory collections are including purple punches, which i adore!

there are several purple blogs out there and there are also many shopping blogs. there's also the purple store, which collects purple things you can buy.

i'm going to start collecting images of purple items for sale that i love as well as purple things i see in my day-to-day life (purple is everywhere, i promise). i've also started a purple things album on flickr. i hope to expand this project, but for now this is a start...

~mari.

Purple Flowers

I'm lucky enough to live in the city - as in En-Why-Cee. And my husband works for NYU, a university whose main color is ... you guessed it ... purple. So there are a lot of purple flags, purple-clad students, etc. running around our apartment building.

I have also found that purple flowers are a main ingredient to the campus branding and even bleeds over into the city-maintained Washington Square Park. So while these photos aren't purple things you can buy, you can enjoy them... for the low, low price of a trip to NYC. Or find purple flowers in your own neighborhood.

my monkeys

Right, so I'm @silver_mari on twitter. And it's basically becoming my complaint department. I just type in a quick message about how crappy things are/how stupid others are being (without naming names, as twitter is archived and searchable). But I still don't get it - I don't have the follow-base to get any benefit from twitter. I've learned about a few social media things I wouldn't have known otherwise, but... meh.

In other news, I'm perculating something about purple. A favorite color, it's also a hot color for fall and if your favorite color is purple, you're likely manic about it. I didn't have any success setting up what I wanted - but I'm hopefully I'll sort it out this week and be able to start what I want to start... intrigued?

Looking at my google stats for my blog, and I see that google image sent a lot of people to my black and white entry - about the damask pattern i wanted to use as part of the wedding. interesting. If I were smarter i could do some SEO and get more traffic. as it is, i don't even make money on the google ads that appear around the site. my traffic just doesn't click, and that's ok too. this is all an experiment and more than that a personal journal for myself to look back upon...

I guess it's time to start the home fires and make some supper. Closer tonight - yeay! And Saving Grace (semi-yay). Poooor Shawn. Oh, and ST:TNG is on all night. If only there were picture in picture ... whatever happened to that?

~Mari...

I Know This Guy: Greatest American Dog

Travis and Presley: Greatest American Dog on CBS

Woah - watching "The Soup" tonight and see a clip about this show The Greatest American Dog. I think I notice a guy I had classes with in college - so I look it up. I've seen him in a Kay Jewelers commercial nationally - and on other things locally in Oklahoma back in the day. How FUNNY that he's on a reality show. And what a show... Not enough to make me watch though.

~M.

PS Thai Iced Coffee tastes exactly like Cappuccino Coolers that I used to make with Gma Jane.

On TV: Saving Grace

So, TNT has this show Saving Grace that is set in Oklahoma City. It stars Holly Hunter as a promiscuous cop who has a guardian angel named Earl. She's haunted by the fact that her sister died in the Murrah bombing (April 19, 1995 - I was in Mr. Legako's pre-algebra class, but I digress). It's hokey and full of references to how Oklahomans are dumb hicks. There's a lot of nudity and swearing for a basic cable show... Even though I hate the show, think it does a dis-service to Oklahoma and the victims of the Murrah bombing and has horrible, horrible writing and acting, I can't look away. I still watch it on Monday nights after The Closer (which I love, love, love). HH may be a good actress, but the show she's in now is just laughable. Blugh.