An Aquarium Visit

On Saturday, I spent the day at the National Aquarium in Baltimore with my good friend Jessi. I hadn’t been to an aquarium in a very long time and I was very excited to see what this one had to over. It was a lot smaller than I anticipated and also more crowded. Regardless Jessi and I had a great time. I took over three hundred photos, and about half of them were of jellyfish. Seriously, the jellyfish are amazing! It’s worth the money it costs to get in, just to see the jellyfish.

I had several issues while trying to get the photos I wanted. The first obstacle for me was the lighting. I tried everything but the lighting was not quite natural and not quite flourescent, and there was never quite enough of it. I couldn’t figure it out. Combine my lighting frustrations with subjects thatmovereallyfast and I’m surprised I walked away with any photos I liked. Another big inconvenience were the sheer number of people who also wanted to see the tanks. I felt bad blocking the view of a two-year-old so I could get a decent photo. Also, I should have played around with some reflection photos, but I didn’t actually think about it until I looked at the photos later, and got upset by accidental reflections ruining a few. Despite these issues, I enjoyed myself immensely and I am quite delighted by a few of the photos. I hope you like them as well! Happy Monday!

Friday Letters

Dear Autumn, Can you please just be friends with Tony already? I’m getting really tired of Tex playing referee and barking at you both whenever you fight. Get over yourself… Tony’s really nice and he just wants to be your friend.

Dear Tony, If you left Autumn alone for a bit, maybe she’d come around. Also, you make my day when you greet me at the door alongside Tex. You too are the cutest.

Dear Tex, how do you feel about becoming a vegetarian? I don’t know if I can consciously allow you to eat meat anymore…

Dear Parents, I know you think I’m crazy with my pro-vegetarian conversations lately, but you still need to read Eating Animals.

Dear Rain, Thanks for staying away last weekend so my friend’s wedding was sunny. Also, thanks for watering my garden so much on Sunday and Monday, so I didn’t have to worry about it all week. I appreciate you.

Dear Cassie, Mom and I are coming to see you tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind that I’m hanging out with Jessi instead of shopping with you and mom. By the way, you looked mighty pretty in the dress I let you borrow for the wedding…

Dear Jessi, I hope we have enough time to go to the Aquarium. I think we’d have a blast.

Dear Traffic, Please sleep until past 11 tomorrow. It is the weekend after all.

Dear Blog Friends, I hope you all of your weekends are whatever you need them to be.

Happy Friday!

A Little Garden Update

It’s been somewhat quiet over here the past few days because I’ve been feeling a little funky. I’m mostly blaming it on the wedding’s being over. Sometimes when I’ve been looking forward to something for a while, I get a little melancholic when it’s over. Does that happen to anybody else? Well yesterday, after a lovely, sewing session with Deb, I felt renewed, so I’m back.

I’ve actually been getting a lot done lately, which feels good. I haven’t done a garden post in a while, but things are definitely happening on that front. I finally transplanted my tomato seedlings into bigger pots a little over a week ago. They went from looking like they do above, to looking like they do below. You don’t always have to transplant seedlings into bigger pots before transplanting them into the garden, but after last year’s tomato tragedy, I decided to do everything in my power to make my tomato seedlings as strong and healthy as possible.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been repeatedly planting lettuce and arugula every two weeks or so. So I have lettuce and arugula growing in various stages. I also planted swiss chard as well, but it hasn’t sprouted up yet. I have various herbs sprouting in pots, including basil, purple basil, cilantro, and parsley. Since they sprouted, it’s about time to plant more to guarantee a continuous supply.

Unfortunately, all my garden news isn’t good. While I was so happy that the radishes are looking so beautiful and are ready to eat, they forced me to look at the rows of carrots and beets I planted on either side of them, and realize that if they haven’t sprouted yet they’re probably not going to. In the next few days, I’m planning to plant some more radish, carrot, and beet seeds, and hope that they all grow as nicely as the radishes did this time. Does any one know why those guys wouldn’t have grown? I think they’ve proven that sometimes even when I do everything right, I can still have a garden flop. Here’s hoping round two is more successful. 

The radishes really are lovely. I picked and ate one on Tuesday. It might look misshapen but it’s actually the type of radish I planted called French Breakfast. It was a lot milder flavored than I expected but I think that has more to do with the weird weather than the type. I’ll know for sure when I try the other variety I planted but I think I should let them grow for a week or so more, before I eat any. 

Planting cucumber, bean, and marigold seeds directly into the garden is also on the to-do list for the next week. I’m going to begin to harden off the tomato and eggplant seedlings in about two weeks, as they should all be content in their new pots until then and the temperature is still too low at night to consider planting them outside. (tomatoes flourish when the temperature is steadily above sixty-five degrees.) I have more I plan to plant, including peppers and okra, but those like really warm weather, so I’ll probably wait until more towards the end of May. May is possibly my favorite gardening month, because there is so much that happens. I’m really looking forward to all the sprouting and planting that will occur. How are my fellow gardener’s doing? Anyone else looking forward to May?

Unrelated Comment: I again used PicMonkey to edit my photos. The website has some really neat capabilities and I love the resulting photos.

The Wedding

This weekend my family and I went to the wedding of one of our closest friends. After some concern about the possibility of rain, we were delighted by the beautiful weather she had on Saturday. Everyone had a great time. The couple was gorgeous, radiating happiness the entire day. I was so happy to celebrate a happy union with family and friends.   I ate purple mashed potatoes, wore my mustard yellow dress with a soft teal necklace, felt guilty taking pictures during mass, and delighted in dancing too much. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day. (I stopped taking pictures after the first dance, and instead I let myself just have a good time.)

Friday’s Letters

Dear Earth, I try to appreciate you every day but since it’s your day on Sunday, I am going to make an extra effort this weekend.

Dear Dandelions, I think you are amazingly whimsical. I actually like that our lawn is more you than grass.

Dear Camera, I’m kind of annoyed at your inability to focus on the dandelion seeds as they scattered when I blew them in conjunction with the self timer. I know it was more me than you but I’m still a bit annoyed.

Dear Tex, I really wish you understood me when I said “Blow the dandelion.” If you had, then maybe I’d have been able to get the photograph I wanted. Also, you’re lucky so you’re so cute.

Dear Shellby, Thanks for encouraging me to power through making my card yesterday during our two and a half hour skype chat. I probably would’ve given up on it otherwise.

Dear Instagram, Thank you for being on my droid. I am addicted to your awesomeness.

Dear Friends, If you want to share my instagram addiction, my user name is tobefrankie. Be prepared for lots of pet and food photos. Oh and thank you for being awesome and leaving such sweet comments about the dress I made

Dear Boyfriend, I miss you. A lot. We’re only halfway through this three month period of not seeing eachother, and June can’t come fast enough.

Dear Rain, Please be nice to my friend getting married tomorrow, and hold off until Sunday.

Dear New Ruche Dress, I cheated on you and tried on another dress at Macys. While I’m still thinking I should go back and buy her, I’m still excited to wear you tomorrow.

Dear Friday Favorites, I felt like a change today, so I’m doing this Friday Letters post instead. I kind of like it so I’m not even sorry.

 

The First Dress

One of my goals for long time has been to learn to sew. My nonna is seamstress, so I tried to learn from her a few times, but she usually ended up doing everything for me. Last summer my aunt let me peruse two giant boxes of vintage patterns from my grandmother’s collection.  My nonna didn’t want me taking all of them, so I only kept 10 patterns, which was okay, because they sat in a bag in my basement for 8 or 9 months anyway.

Two weeks ago, I went to the fabric store with Jon’s mom, Deb, and took the first steps towards making my own dress. When I set out to do this project, I had certain ideas in my head about how the process would work. It was very different from my expectations.

With Deb’s guidance and assistance, I started to learn to sew. There were parts of making the dress that I loved, and then there were parts I despised. I hated cutting out the pattern and the fabric. I am not great with scissors, which prompted Deb to ask if I’d gone to Kindergarten. I did but I apparently failed at cutting.  Surprisingly one of my favorite parts was hand-sewing hidden stitches into the neckline, even if I refused to hand-sew the arm hem or the bottom hem, instead opting to let the stitches show and use the machine.

All in all, making the dress was an awesome experience. It was nice to get to spend time with Jon’s mom and learn a lot about sewing and garment construction in the process (Thanks Deb!). And I got such a lovely dress out of the time we spent together as well, (even if I now need to purchase a white belt to match). I still have a lot  to learn, and I’m not running out to buy myself my own sewing machine tomorrow, but I’m really excited to continue to explore this new craft. I just need to decide what my next project will be.

Bullying is Always Wrong

This post was written in response and support of Carley’s Anti-bullying campaign.

When I was in second grade, there was a boy who’s last name rhymed with potty. I’m sure you can only imagine the things he was called because of that. It never occurred to my seven-year-old brain to feel bad for the boy or to defend him because he was mean to me. He sat next to me in class and told me daily that I was a boy because I had a boy’s name. He’d even refer to me using the masculine pronoun. Thankfully the boy moved away after second grade, and I didn’t have to put up his taunts anymore. But I can only wonder about whether he became the bully or the bullied at his next school, perhaps he was both, I’ll probably never know.

In highschool a group of girls I’d been friends with since first grade, suddenly decided to “dump me.” Via aim, I was called a slew of profanity and told that I could no longer be friends with them, all because I’d supposedly made a move on the ringleader’s crush.  I remember the week leading up to the confrontation at school and the following aim conversation. I remember hysterically, violently crying in my bed while my mom held me, enraged, wanting to take action. I wouldn’t let her; I knew that it would only get worse if she got the school administration involved. I can see on Facebook, that the group that was so mean to me in highschool are all still friends, and I still feel ostracized when I’ve run into them in town.

I don’t consider my experiences with bullying to be that terrible compared to what I know other kids had to deal with, what kids are still dealing with today. While, I remember exactly how I felt about these two experiences being bullied, I cannot possibly remember the countless times I stood by and watched others being bullied, becoming an unwilling participant just by my inability to speak up against it. The people doing the bullying ranged from acquaintances to friends to the popular crowd. I was too afraid that I’d end up the next victim, so I always kept my mouth shut.

Here’s the thing, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who wanted to defend those being bullied and maybe if I had been strong enough to speak up, the others would’ve too. So this is what I want to add to the discussion that Carley started; it’s never okay to bully another person but it’s also not okay to stand by and watch it happen. We have to teach kids to  be courageous despite possible outcomes. We have to stand up for eachother because we all have something that makes us different.

7 Ways to Wear Colored Jeans

Colored jeans are everywhere right now, but they can be really intimidating. At first, I was not into the idea of colored jeans, because I had no idea exactly what was I going to wear with them. But I’ve been converted, and I’ve been wearing my four pairs as much as possible. Since colored denim is my favorite trend for spring and summer, I’ve compiled the seven basic ways I style colored jeans in hopes that this post will help someone step out of their comfort zone to give colored jeans a try.

1.  The simplest way to style colored jeans is with a neutral colored top. Black, white, navy, off-white, brown, and gray are all basic neutrals that will match any color jean you choose.  You can pair the jeans with a necklace in the same color or a complementary color.

2. Chambray and Jean tops are adorable, but rather than wearing them with jeans a la Canadian Tuxedo, pair a jean or chambray shirt with your colored jeans.

3. Find a top that has an accent color that is the same color as your jeans. While it might seem like the colors have to be an exact match, they don’t. As long as they’re pretty close, it will work. As you might tell from the three examples above, this is my favorite way to wear colored denim.

 

4. Although this might scare some colorphobes, wear your color jeans with a shirt whose dominant color is a complementary color. Unsure of what colors are complements, they are technically the ones that are opposites on the color wheel. But really, any two colors that look nice together will work.

 

 

5. Wear your colored jeans with a black and white top. I absolutely adore the way a black and white top looks paired with a bright jean! You can also do this with other paired neutral shirts, like a navy/white striped shirt or an off-white and brown polka dot shirt.

6. Wear your jeans with a shirt with the same color as the dominant color. By dominant color I mean the color that pops when you look at the shirt. I love the way the pink jeans make the pink in the shirt really pop.

7. Wear your jeans with a shirt with a complementary accent color. (This is one of those magic tops, that has a perfect balance of color so the pink can be either a dominant color or an accent color. I probably should use a better example, but my photographer quit. Thanks and Sorry Mom.)

Three things I learned about Color Pairings:

- While pink pants with a purple shirt, looked great when I was five, it’s not as appealing now.

- Red pants with a yellow top made me look and feel like Ronald MacDonald.

- Wearing colored pants with a shirt the exact same color, and nothing to break it up, made me look like a crayon.

I am not going to go through all of these pictures and write down where I got everything, but in case you’re wondering about the jeans; the green ones are from Urban Outfitters (and they have a ton of colors, if I was rich, I’d have one of each, these are the most comfortable jeans ever.) the red are from Zara, the pink are from Old Navy, and the yellow are from Anthropologie. 

How do you feel about colored denim? Did this help decode colored jeans a bit? and what’s your favorite trend for spring or summer?

A Day at the Lake

Yesterday my family spent the morning at Round Valley Reservoir or what we refer to as “The Lake.” My dad’s boat hasn’t been made seaworthy since it was made winter-worthy in December, so we all relaxed on the shore. My mom, brother and I read, while my dad fished, and Tex frolicked along the shore.

My dad caught two beautiful brown Trout. One was big enough to keep, but he eventually threw it back because it wouldn’t have been enough for all of us. I had to laugh because as soon as my dad had one on the line, both my brother and I whipped out our cameras or in Erik’s case, camera phone. My dad goes fishing at least once a week in a decent-enough weather, but it’s always a photo opportunity when we get to see him catch one. Those fish probably felt like celebrities, with my family playing the part of the annoying paparazzi.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the perfect settings to get the photos I wanted at the lake. It was weirdly lit, cloudy but extremely bright, add the reflection of the water and I just couldn’t get my settings where I wanted, quickly enough. Luckily there’s always a chance to make something out of nothing with the help of an editing program. Picnik, the website I usually use to edit my photos is closing in three days, so last night I decided to try picMonkey. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. It has all the basic editing options plus a ton of extra special effects. For these photos, after a few basic edits to color saturation and exposure, I chose one of the presets under papyrus. It gave the photos a grainy quality I enjoy.  Unfortunately, there is no collage feature on picMonkey yet, which irks me, that was my favorite thing to use.

I appreciate the fact that I was able to get some decent photos of the memories I made, despite less-than-steller camera skills. It was a treat to go to the lake for the morning with my family. We were all happy to be there together, but Tex was perhaps the happiest. However, no one was happy when my dad and I washed him and I found FOUR ticks in the process. It was really disgusting, but I guess it was a small price to pay for all the fun we had at the lake.

Friday Favorites

Despite the terrible allergies, I’ve been plagued with, this week was pretty good. I’m definitely excited for the weekend though!

First: My great-aunt  came to visit us for Easter and she turned ninety in February, so we made her cake and sang her happy birthday in Italian. (She was so touched she cried! So sweet.) Second: I love how our dining room table looks all dressed up. Third: I made beet, orange and fennel salad, and the entire thing turned red. It was pretty delicious.

Top: I got a mani/pedi with my mom. The grey color I chose was called “French Quarter for your thoughts.” I wish I could be a professional nail polish color namer. Do they exist? Bottom: My seedlings are starting to look like tomatoes. I really need to transplant them.

This List of 13 Things to Get You Through a Rough Day really helped me on Tuesday when an allergy induced Migraine hit.

I have not read a single book on this list of 10 Books to Read Before You Grow Up. I think I’ll start with number seven.

I wish I had read this advice about compost before I mixed it all into the garden. (I’m pretty sure it’ll be okay though.)

Have you seen the movie, Drive? The soundtrack was amazing so I appreciated this post by Mallory’s boyfriend Brian.

We all have two more days to enter Kaylah’s giveaway for B.A.I.T shoes. (I don’t enter many giveaways but those shoes are cute!)

My Hunger Games Name is Greasy Flickerwood. I was a tribute from District Seven in the 31st Hunger Games and I was killed because I thought it was okay to stroke a snake. Who are you? Let me know in the comments, I think this is the most hilarious website ever.

Jon’s been to Ireland twice, traveling there as a visiting artist, and sparking my interest in going someday. Caiti’s been posting beautiful pictures of her Ireland ventures as she’ll be living there for while, and they made the fire spread. I want to go NOW!

This list made me want to read more non-fiction. I added like 10 books to my to-read list.

Speaking of things I want to read, J.K. Rowlings first post-potter book, which she wrote for adults, comes out in September. I hope it meets or surpasses my expectations.

I have a feeling this is going to be an awesome series.

My friends really need to start having babies (or I guess get married first) so that I can knit them sweet sweaters and make them cute/ funky pants.

I love Summer rolls, and this post made me believe I could make my own… maybe this weekend.

I really enjoyed Divergent, and I can’t wait to read Insurgent in May, so it was awesome to see how excited Veronica Roth got about being published for a second time.

Did you hear the Gary Ross isn’t directing the next Hunger Games Movie? It’ll be interesting to see who they are able to get to do it.

I’m so excited to watch the new HBO series, Girls this weekend. I think it’s going to be awesome.

I have a ton of things I’m hoping to accomplish this weekend. My word for the weekend is “Follow Through.”  What do you have planned for this weekend friends?