Travel

To London!

Warner Brothers Tour

Now that the Harry Potter movies are over, it’s no surprise that Warner Brothers has decided to open Leavesden Studios to the public next year. When they announced it a month or so ago, I was very excited!

I’d already taken a picture at Platform 9¾ in London’s King’s Cross Station in 2008, flown to Chicago to see Harry Potter: The Exhibition in 2009, been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando last year, and scored an early invite (and got sorted) into Pottermore this year. Yes, I’m a Harry Potter nerd. I’m a PROUD Potterhead!

Continue reading

Standard
Family, Food

Thanksgiving 2011

Lots more leaves to fall...

Lots more leaves to fall...

This year, Thanksgiving was on November 24th and it was a nice, warm day. So, I started my day outside raking the hundreds of leaves that fell from the ONE tree in our front yard. And, from the looks of it, it’s still not done shedding its leaves.

Continue reading

Standard
Art, Random Thoughts

Worry not

While I was cleaning up part of my room, I found these:

Worry dolls

The penny (1 cent) next to the dolls is to illustrate their very small size.

They are worry dolls I bought in my Spanish class’ quarterly mercado (market) with pesos we earned in class based on participation, test scores, extra credit, etc. Every night, you tell each doll a concern/worry that you have, and you place them under your pillow as you sleep. The belief is that the dolls will take away your worry in the night; and by the time you wake up in the morning, your worries will be gone.

I remember using these during high school whenever I’d have tests or presentations the next day. It’s probably just superstition, but it helped lift some of my nervousness and anxiety the next day. I’m sure it’s all in my head. Still, it was nice to be able to “release” your worry/concern, whatever they may be.

 

Standard
Friends, Travel

Hah-vud Yahd

When I visited my friend in Boston, one of our first stops was Harvard University, where she works. She took me around their beautiful campus. We chilled at the Yard and pretended to study with all the students. Though, I’m sure they could tell we weren’t with all the pictures I was taking. We checked out the farmer’s market and bought some local chocolate.

Pooh lives by the Science Center

Pooh lives by the Science Center

But, my favorite was the Winnie the Pooh stuffed toy that lived in a tree by the Science center. If you look carefully at Pooh’s “House,” you can see Piglet’s tail sticking out under the bottom of the door. It seems someone shut him inside without making sure he was perfectly in

Standard
Art

Stress reliever

Sometimes when I need to shake off the stress, I turn to craftmaking, mostly jewelry-making. I made a duct tape clutch some weeks ago. My particularly stressful times last year at work produced around 4 pairs of earrings & a necklace. Anyway, I was really nervous about a recent interview, so I decided to whip out my jewelry supplies and went about experimenting.

My friend bought me some beads and things last year for Christmas, and I haven’t had the chance to use them. The green, glassy ones really caught my eye so I decided to feature them in the following earrings. Continue reading

Standard