Amanda Rose blog

MAXi dresses of the moment

   

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6

Happy April, lovies!

I will take any and all of these maxi dresses/skirts of the moment
and wear the hell out of them all throughout April.

Too bad I'm no longer spendng money.

 A girl can dream, though.

Which one's your favorite?

Ways I MADE JANUARY AWESOME.

With my one little word {MAKE} implanted in my head, I had set out at the beginning of January to MAKE IT AWESOME.  Below are some of the planned and unplanned ways in which it was.

----------------------------------------

all the karaoke that was sung:

I mean, c'mon.  A bigger blast could not have been had in this cold, dark, and (in the past) mucho depressing month than hours upon hours of karaoke sung and enjoyed by myself and the people closest to me.  I've always loved to sing, but getting on the mic, in your own home, after a LONG ASS drudging day and thinking of nothing else but hitting those notes is a magical, magical release.

So awesome.  More on it here.

------------------------------------

Zumba Core Fitness on wii:

This was a first.  Not the first time I've done Zumba, and not the first time playing on the wii, but the first time I made exercise a part of my life in January.  I'm an active and fit person, but in years past I've always given myself an OUT when it came to winter months. "Too cold to jog outside," "too busy," "too tired," "too dark" ...whatever it was. 

With this Zumba game, I've found something that challenges me, but is also fun, and steps away from the couch...that doesn't require me to go BACK outside in the freezingness.  This is what works and what I found fit me in January, and that is awesome.  Plus, in a month's time, I already see awesome results. :) Way more toned than I've been in past Januarys. Yay!

------------------------------

I biked in Central Park:

This was awesome, don't get me wrong, but thinking back on this makes me a bit sad. I biked with Tomas, and it was the day I offically told him I don't think "we" should be "us" anymore.  Since this day, a flow of ranging emotions come over me minute-by-minute from sad to content to heartbroken to guilty to strong to painfully weak, but I know I did the right thing on this day.  
I feel in my heart it was time for me to be alone.

Biking? Awesome. With him? Awesome. Breaking up with the person who's been there for the past 6 years? Not awesome, but necessary, and proof I am strong and resilient. That, dearies, is kind of awesome, no? 

---------------------------------------------

this friggin' song entering my life:

Ho Hey by The Lumineers is my JAM right now.  It breaks my heart at the same time it makes me incredibly happy and hopeful.  I think the best songs do both. 

------------------------------------------------------------

a sweet Sunday morning at The Brooklyn Flea:

I left my heart there last year, and I was glad to find it again.  It is so beautiful there and a favored way to spend a Sunday morning.  It was a great edition to January awesomeness.

---------------------------------------------------------

having a clear vision of what I want for my
work-life once this school year is done:

I made this career poem to flesh out the job dreams in my mind.  This time last year, I was so confused.  I felt incredibly trapped and helpless.  A year later, here I am, and I pretty much know the job adventure I'm going to embark on next.  I have these next few months to finish my time as a teacher, and then I shall start new.  I'm anxious for the Summer to get here, and begin.

----------------------------------

my sister's 24th birthday:

It's pretty awesome when one of the most important people in your life has a birthday. It's pretty awesome when you get to celebrate all that they mean to you.  That's what I did on my sister's day of turning 24. 

-------------------------------------------

Grams's 80th Birthday Weekend:

...and speaking of celebrating awesome people in your life and the day they were born: GRAMS TURNED 80 last weekend!  Holy crap!  The weekend was filled with family, fun, and food.  The post on it is coming soon, but it was all kinds of light and happy and awesome.  Words cannot describe.

----------------------------------------------------

I played around and made my own font:

 

I love computer play.  I LOVE font. The app iFontMaker for the iPad puts the two together. The called my created font chicken pox and you can find out more on that here.

----------------------------

I caved, and got Vine:

For those of you still confused about Vine, see my post on it here.  Let me warn you, though, that the fun is addicting and might suck you in like it did me.  It's awesome that this video play has made its way in my world and is here to stay. ;)

------------------------------

some awesome extras:

Finally, above are some awesome extras that showed up in my January.  First, a spontaneous blog design update.  Coming to this page now feels fresher and more me, although there're still a bunch of changes I want to make.  Second, is the sky I spied a week ago.  Bands of pink, orange, and purple were stroked across the sky in what looked like a painting God made for us New Yorkers. It was so pretty and awesome that I caught it.  Lastly, two really good mimosas were drank last weekend, and I almost forgot how refreshing they can be.  I will (hopefully) be making a bunch more for myself in the weeks to come.

Thanks for coming along down my January2013 memory lane.

I will be posting about my Grams birthday,
my February one little word intention,
and hopefully
new Project Life pages
this wekeend.

Stay tuned, lovies!

xOxO,

December Daily | Nov26 to Dec2 |

These pages pick up where I left off.

Nov26 - Field Trip!

hohoho tag from Target.

...and Decemb's here...

I'm already struggling with #s 3 and 5.

...that Martha Stewart glitter glue...I'm SUCH a mega fan, but it
really becomes a disgusting obsession around the holidays.

Tomorrow I shall be posting my updated cover, and
some sweet typewritered front & back additions.

I'd love to see your December Daily if you've been working on one!

Link to it in the comments.

a good little x-mas MEME for DecDaily

Okay, first off, what is a MEME?  I looked it up, and I found the definition:

meme/mēm/

    (noun) - An element of a culture or behavior that may be passed from
one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation.

Oh, okay.

Now I get it.  (Sorta.)

I got the Christmas MEME below from here.

Here't goes...

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Hot Chocolate, hands down.  

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

He wraps 'em, I wrap 'em, we all wrap'em.  Cute paper's where it's at!

 

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?

Little bit'o both.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

I did last year. See here.

5. When do you put your decorations up? 

Usually the first week of December, but I'm so in the Christmas mood this year, it might be today or tomorrow.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?

Stuffed aritchokes. They are our fall/winter delicacy.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?

 Playing with the figurines in our nativity set...pretending that they were Bo Peep and TomTom from March of the Wooden soldiers.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? 

 I don't remember how I learned the truth, but I think when was in 7th or 8th grade.  

Yeah...I believed for a long long time, and then was in denial for about two years.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

 Yes. Always have. Just one...or two. ;P

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

 No theme, no consistency...just years worth of collected ornaments and multicolored lights.

...and no more tinsel b/c we have kitty boops.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?

 Love it when I'm off work and it first falls.  Hate it when I have work and it's old and dirty.

12. Can you ice skate?

 Yes. Take me, please?

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

Yes.  I was in 6th grade, I wanted to be Storm from X-Men, and under the tree was an X-men Movie Maker computer game.  I believe I was a hermit in the computer room the whole rest of that year's Christmas vacation.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?

The time spent with people you love.  It's so hard to get together regularly, and the holidays are designated 'be with loved ones' days. ♥ ♥

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?

My tiramisu, and biscotti...for dipping in coffee and tea.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

I love the making and mailing of our Christmas card each year, the trip to Rockafellar Center to see the tree with friends, and as of last year I love the idea of Christmas Karaoke.  I look forward each Christmas to making holiday traditions with my own future family.

17. What tops your tree?

It's been a star these past years.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?

I love giving a gift that I know the reciever will love, but I hate the pressure of needing to give gifts.

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?

The smell: YUM.

20. Favorite Christmas movie?

Home Alone.

21. Saddest Christmas Song?

Christmas Shoes.

22. What is your favorite Christmas song?

December by Norah Jones,

Something About December by Christina Perri,

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,

Love is Christmas by Sarah Barrilles, to name a few.

--------------------------------------------------

If you decided to start your December Daily project before December starts to document the holiday season, and not just the month, then the list above might be a great way to kick it off. 

I'd love to read your answers, so if you do the MEME on your blog or December Daily, link to in the comments.  

ThankYouLoveYouBye.

Happy Saturday.

Five Friday Favs :: FALL

So whoops!  I posted this list last week without the following images attached, but today here they are and Yay It's Friday! 

To know me is to know I love Summer.  Like, L.O.V.E. Summer...like I absolutely am its bitch.  Days can never get too hot for me, I worship the sun...everything.  Summer.  IS. IT.

However -- being born and raised in New York -- that Summer lovin' time is short lived, and as John Mayer sings...
When autumn comes, it doesnt ask. 
It just walks in, where it left you last.
And you never know, when it starts
Until there's fog inside the glass around your summer heart...

Fall has come.  It blasts through.  Leaves no trace of Summer.  So I bes' be startin' to get used to it.

Here are the things that are my favorite about Fall:

These two, above, are from Target.  First spotted here.  Booties are the cutest, I think.  They don't need to be worn for warmth, and are just sweet enough to say 'Hey, it's not 80 degrees anymore."

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - -

Cliche, but whatevs.  It's true.  Pumpkin things taste YUM.
My favorites have been ShockTop's Pumpkin Wheat beer, store-bought pumpkin pie, Starbs' Pumpkin Spice Latte (duh!), and Dunkin's morning blend.

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - -

Tea is my throughout-the-day warm beverage.
Coffee is restricted to just the morning, and only one cup, mayyyybe two.

MY tea of choice has been Yogi because they taste so damn delish (I like my teas spicy) and because the quotes are delightful (and spot-on most times).

Tea makes me smile BIG with closed eyes like an anime character.

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - -

Halloween and 4th of July *tie* as my two favorite holidays, but whichever one's 'next' is the one I call my favorite.  So...HALLOWEEN IS COMING, and it's my favorite holiday!

My para and I are going to dress up as Peanut Butter and Jelly
for the half-day of school on Halloween,
and that's enough for me to be excited about.

My birthday's always fun because I get to pick what my friends HAVE to do.
Last year we roller-rinked it.  I had no voice.  Good times.
It's always sweet to have a night out. 

Finally, Thanksgiving is bomb. 'Nough said.

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - -

AND...one of my FAVORiTE things about this fall is Sunday's coming of Season 3 of my favorite show: THE WALKING DEAD!!

If you have not watched it, I believe the whole 2 first seasons are going to play in a marathon starting tomorrow.  You could also find it on Netflix, but OMG!  So stoked!

That middle image is a little sneak of an outfit post to come Sunday as my little season 3 premiere blog party!  (hint: click the 'ABOUT' button on the nav bar to see another sunday outfit post peek) Yay!

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - -

Readers and Peepers, throw on your fall booties,
fill your bellies with pumpkin beer and yogi tea,
and get ready for Sunday on AMC!

Have a happy October weekend! 

Five Friday Favs :: PHOTOGRAPHY-FUN

I'm back with a new set of Five Friday Favs!  Every Friday I'm going to feature five certain things that are my favorite.

Last week, I posted about my five favorite fonts, and this time I'm coming to you with five of my current favorite fun stuff from the photography front!

The olloclip is a fun little corner slide-on piece for the iPhone. It comes with three different lenses: a fisheye lens, a wide-angle lens, and a macro lens.  It works only on an iPhone 4 or 4S, and only with the back-facing camera. This video explains about it in depth.

I'm in love with the fish-eye lens, and my #photoadaySept will probably be all about it. hint*hint The wide angle lens is eh, alright, but the MACRO lens impressed the sh** outta me!  Like whoa!

 

It's a lot of fun to use.
------------------- 

I'm ALL ABOUT anything to do with cats and kitty boops -- I mean you must already know that -- but this app allows for me to post images like those above^^ and tag them on instagram with the hash #MEOWFIToftheday. I mean, c'mon.  C'mon!  I die. Like, literally -- heart stops.

Purrrr Purrrr Purrr ... happy place.
----------------------------- 

FotoRus is also an iPhone app that, as you can see above, allows you to insert a picture within a staged scene.  You can play around with the foreground and background too, adding filters or different images.

It's a lot of fun, and makes for interesting portrayals.  That bubble image was me on an August Monday afternoon paper-crafting outside in my bathing suit thinking to myself 'I don't want my Summer bubble to burst'.  FotoRus helped me convey that notion.

Oh jeez. Summer's almost done.
--------------------------- 

I must admit, I wasn't the best 'Roid Week participant this year.  I thought I was going to be, but then as the week went by, I just wasn't as on top of it as I was with other things.  However, I did take a few polaroids, and nothing beats having them in your hands, all perfect in their imperfection.

I love you, p-roids!
----------------- 

Ah, bokeh.  It's like little light-sequins for photos.  ...and who couldn't use some o'that?!

There are a number of iPhone apps that allow you to put bokeh specks in your photo.  What's special about Bokehful is that it allows for customizable bokeh specks. You can 'place' your bokeh, you can choose the shape and color, and you can add a lot or a little.  Also, you can undo if you made incorrect placement.

I say...

...everything is better with bokeh. 
-----------------------------

;)

There you have it, lovely readers and peepers! Five of my FAV Photo-Fun tools & apps & things.
I shall return next Friday (the last day of August...the Friday before school starts up again...ahhhh!) with a new list of FAVs!

Feel free to do the same on your blog, and link to the post in the comments. 

Love&Happiness.

Five Friday Favs :: FONTS

HERE THEY ARE::

DK Canned Whale
Arsenal White
Earwig Factory
FULL Moon On Mars
Stars From Our Eyes 

------------------------

Today I'm kicking off this new feature called Five Friday Favs.

To maintain my sanity when the new school year starts up in a few short weeks (and for some of you it already has) I've been coming up with quick and easy things I could do to still be able to blog, craft, create, make, etc. in an attempt to NOT be swallowed up by my teacher-role (like I was last year).
This here's one of them.

Simply, every Friday I'm going to feature five certain things that are my favorite.

Feel free to do the same on your blog,
and link to the post in the comments.

Okay, tootle loo!

xOxO,

PL |week 27| - two spreads & a top ten list

We-heh-hell-o! Welcome to |week 27| where a little list of sorts took place unexpectedly.  I picked up this Top 10 SMASH pad at a silly trip to WalMart.  The cute * * * * 10 * * * * list you see above and below was from it, and guided me through journalling this week.

Now let's go on a trip down the TOP TEN of |week 27| via photos in my *Project Life* album...

(1) - Amanda Rose blog makeover

(2) Project Life + beer + kitties <<--the combo's what really makes me smile 

(3) going out for my Dad's 57th birthday, and watching him wear sunglasses at night amongst other inappropriate attire - Yeesh!

(4) my 4th of July at home with family (cousin Mike below) & neighbors

(5) opening the pool

(6) learning & playing with my BAMBOO tablet (I'm obsessed)

(7) having the TIME & ENERGY to pursue my passions - this is a big one...I've been waiting for this luxury the whole school year :)

Running is also my passion and I can now do it right.

(8) trying Mumbai Express - okay, now this Vegetarian Indian Restaurant has been up the block from my house for FIVE YEARS!  I only just tried it last week.  It was spicy, different, and delicious! 

We will be trying it again. ;)

(9) starting up my STAMP SHOP - this little seed has been growing in my mind for some time.  This past week I watered it, planted it in soil, and I'm excited to see it blossom in a few short days. :)

(10) Finally...a dress is a dress is a dress, but I LOVE me some dresses.  Carlo's wedding was a ton of fun, and here's the mirror shot of us at the wedding in all our fanciness. (Thank goodness he puts up with my annoying nagging for photo opts!) 

So there, lovies!
The top ten of |week 27|.  ...and YES, they were placed into two spreads, not one.

This first spread's right side was all about my blog makeover and the on-computer projects last week was made up of.
On the left, 4x4 pieces of a Summer-themed paper I just could NOT chop up.  It was perfect the way it was, and completely captures how I've been feeling (see blow).  

The second spread is made up of more pictures I had on my iPhone, printed and placed, with some journalling.

Fun and fun and scrap-tastic FUN!  I'm off to enjoy more of |week 28| before I sit down tomorrow and document it.  ;)

----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

For more of my past Project Life spreads, go HERE.

For more on Project Life itself, go HERE.

----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Thanks for visiting!

xOxO,

P.S. -- Here's a little something extra:

...a behind the scenes look of how I go about photographing a PL spread. ;)

Four Things, April YAY-CAY...

Ahhh!  Good morning, peepers!

What a great start to my April YAYcation Off Of Teacher Work!

I slept in (got up at 6:30am, instead of my usual 2:30am), relaxed with my cup o'coffee, retreated to my craft den, whipped up my first ever whole-page Scrapbook Layout (great time...post on it soon), and am outside in the sun with my laptop and two kitty boops writing this before going on a jog with my sister and grabbing lunch.  THE LIFE.

Here are four things I want TO DO in these next 10 days of semi-freedom:

Mom's Birthday, Easter fun, an interview (?), a teeny tiny get-a-way, and finally a Bridal Shower are also happenings scheduled within this YAYcation. Yippee.

I'll be back tomorrow with a post talking a little more about #howfarwill_i_goApril2012.

Have a sweet morning, and a happy Friday afternoon and evening! 

xOxO,

Oh, these fifteen...

Happy last March hump day of the year!

This month needs to END.

...and speaking of #8 on this list ... 

xOxO