Here it is: the first InstaFriday with Instagram! I know, I know… I’m a late adopter. I will miss the consistent borders of ShakeIt Photo’s pics in these blog collages, but I’ve really been having fun with Instagram. I love all the filters, the blur function, and the social interaction. I’ve been incorporating tricks from other apps, too, such as Pic Stitch and Over. :) If you’re on Instagram, you can follow me at @bluegiraffecr. If you’re not, you can still see all my photos on the web here! Without further delay, here’s what my life looked like this week, according to my iPhone:
1: My hilarious dad carves the turkey at the Carson family Thanksgiving feast. Paul and I began alternating between families for Thanksgiving last year (rather than party-hopping), even though our families live close by. It’s nice to relax and enjoy the company without worrying about getting to the next party, but we did miss seeing the Jones clan.
2: One of two tables at my parents’ house. My mom always does such a nice job decorating the tables—so festive! There were 19 folks for dinner this year.
3: I had no problem polishing off this plate—and the salad before and the slice of pumpkin pie afterward. (Okay, Paul helped me with the pumpkin pie.) A tradition in my family is to have shrimp cocktail, which I don’t see too often with other families.
4: Thankful for this guy, the best husband ever!!
5: Autumn is my favorite season. I’ve probably mentioned it a few, or a hundred, times. Even though NorCal isn’t known for its fall colors, sometimes you get a little treat, like this display in front of my office.
6: I finally have a Lisa Leonard piece of my own, thanks to a sale at Earth Angels Studios. It’s a wee bit small, though, as I have crazy huge wrist bones. I’m looking into adding an extra link or two. Booo to that.
7: New flats! They’re Lucky Brand and covered in a rough tweed/burlap with some sparkle woven in. They’re super comfortable, but for some reason my mini/hidden socks (what do you call those things?) keep coming off and bunching under my arch. It happened, like, 12 times yesterday! Anyone know what to do about that? My cousin has the same problem, so she actually puts her sock on her sole insert rather than her foot, LOL.
8: I went a little overboard making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for Thanksgiving. I’ll be eating them all day today, I think.
9–12: During our staycation last week, Paul and I spent a day at the Oakland Zoo. It’s been many years since I’ve been there, and it was a lot of fun! Our favorite animals that day were the bats (huge!), river otters (so active, going in and out of the water), small reptiles (gorgeous poison dark frogs, especially), and the meerkats (the “lookout” was so playful). We spent time in the petting zoo area and took a ride on the kids’ train. One major bummer, however, was that when we arrived to the giraffe exhibit—a priority for me, obviously—a half-hour before close, the staff had already moved the animals into their night house. What a disappointment. I wish information like this was printed on the map.
13: My former roommate, Amanda, hosted a Pinterest party last week! We all brought a dish to share that we found on Pinterest. I made churro-flavored Chex mix and packaged it in individual portions. I found wax-paper “wedding cake bags” at Party City and stamped them with churros, using washi tape to secure the flap.
14: Amanda asked guests to bring a candle for a craft, and she provided cinnamon sticks, candy canes, and peppermint disks to decorate them. I went for a classic, simple look.
15: My prize for winning “most creative” for my churro Chex mix. :)
16: Some of the other dishes: bread loaves stuffed with cheese and herbs, cups of dressed tomato and avocado, spinach and zucchini salad, and spaghetti with turkey meatballs. Winner of “best overall” was a s’mores bar dessert, which was ridiculously good!
17. Oh, time change, I don’t like you—unless I leave for work just at the right time to see a sunrise like this!
18. Happy Sweet 16th to my cousin McKenna!
19. Precious cargo. Yes, I was one of those people who picked up Hostess treats after the company announced it would be shutting down. I wanted one “last” box of Ding Dongs—a childhood favorite—but by the time I hit the store at 3 p.m. that day, all that was left was individual treats. Hehe. I wonder how long it will take another company to buy these recipes and get them back on the market?
20. An outlet center opened near where I live, and the locals went nuts. The freeway was at a standstill in both directions on opening day, and it’s been crazy busy ever since. Paul and I visited on a weekday during our staycation. We decided to go a half-hour early and kill time at Starbucks waiting for the shops to open. We were able to find a decent parking spot, but it seemed everyone else had the Starbucks idea! Longest line ever! We then browsed the entire center and didn’t buy anything, although I did find a Fossil bag that I’m putting on my Christmas wish list!
That’s it for this week! Join in the fun by linking up your photos with Life Rearranged.
I’m not very good at this blog thing, hehehe. *Sigh.* But, I do have a new mix tape for ya! As always, I’m not the world’s hippest music fan. I’m just a music fan. These are the songs currently in heavy rotation on my iPod, whether new, new-to-me, or old favorites that I’ve come back to for one reason or another. I like to put all my current faves into playlists by season, like a soundtrack of my life at that particular time. I often burn a copy onto CD for my sister, and occasionally other friends, so I eventually spend some time arranging them into what I think is a nice progression.
