Let Your Ideas Fly with Shutterfly!

Remember when the only photo cards available at the holidays were those rectangular ones? You know the ones, 8 x 3 or so, and the only personalization would be your name? Those days are LONG gone. Now, websites like Shutterfly make it possible to show off multiple photos, customize the text and layout as much as you want, and add tons of personal touches. It's wonderful to be able to make a really personal card and have it printed and delivered right to your door.

One of the coolest things about the Christmas Photo Cards at Shutterfly is how many different options there are! Before you even start, you can narrow your search with their awesome search tool - you can search by the number of photos you want to include, the colors on the card, card size, and more.

Shutterfly has a holiday card for everyone. There are quirky cards.

There are cards to show off your photos.

There are sophisticated cards.

It's SO much fun to play around and choose your card! One of the cool things I discovered while making our holiday card is that you can put photos or custom text on the top inside of the folded cards. This means that I can copy the text of our Holiday letter, or have all of our address, email and contact info printed directly onto the card! You can customize fonts, colors and wording. You've basically got a jumping point with free reign to make something fabulous!

And Shutterfly has you covered for more than just holiday cards. I've found that calendars ALWAYS make a great gift. Last year, I made a photo calendar with some of my flower photographs and gave it as a gift to a bunch of people, and it was a huge hit! And what mom, dad, or grandparent wouldn't want one of these gorgeous photo calendars on their desk to look at every day?While perusing the website, I also discovered that Shutterfly also has tons of template for personalized thank yous! How totally adorable is this Christmas thank you note?

What a great idea for kids who are too young to write their own thank you's - you can share their joy with a photo!

After all of this, you're probably wondering what I came up with. Well, we managed to get a great family photo on our Thanksgiving dinner cruise. We don't match, and it's not perfect, but we're all smiling and no one's eyes are closed, so it'll have to do. Here is our holiday card:

Now what are you waiting for? Go explore at Shutterfly - it sure got me more excited about holiday cards, even if it means addressing all those envelopes.



This is a compensated post sponsored by Shutterfly. In exchange for writing about their products, I will receive 50 free holiday cards. The opinions expressed are my own. If you're a blogger & interested in participating in this promotion, click here.

30 Days of Truth Day 8: White Pants Porsche Jerk

The prompt for Day 8 of 30 Days of Truth is "Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit."

I pulled into the parking lot at Shari's, swinging into a spot next to a small silver Porsche. I glanced over and saw that the guy in the drivers seat was talking on his bluetooth. He wore a buttoned up shirt and had styled hair.

As I got out of my car, my door tapped his car.

He got out of his car. Now imagine the most condescending voice you have ever heard.

"Did you just hit my car?!"

Incredulous and entitled. I remember he was wearing white pants, and really that was a bad sign because what kind of jerk-ass wears WHITE SLACKS outside of the Hamptons?

"I'm not sure..."

"You just hit my car!"

His exact words stuck in my head for a long time. Now they've faded, but I still feel prickly when I think about it.

I remember his exact tone of voice as he told me that I should be more careful. I can clearly recall the absolute contempt in his voice when he told me without saying it outright how stupid I was. I remember how small I felt, and how well he sent me the message that I was a stupid kid and he was obviously completely above me.

Who talks to another person that way? I understand having a nice car and caring about it. But we're talking about a mark - not even a scratch - that was barely visible to the naked eye, and could have been taken care of for less than $10 bucks with something from Schuck's. I offered to pay for it of course, but he obviously pitied me and my stupidity too much to take anything from me, and got back in his car and drove away.

My face was burning, and I had to hold back tears of embarrassment, shame, and general awful feelings for my entire meal.

This happened a couple of years ago. I think maybe Sam was with me, but I can't really remember. I do remember how utterly worthless this guy made me feel. I remember how much I wished I could disappear.

See the other 29 days here.

Sunday

It's 11:55, so I have like 4 minutes to write this otherwise I will be a fail at NaBloPoMo almost before I even started.

I wanted to post Weekly Winners, but the photos are taking forever to upload. I wanted to write about my friend Sati, who is moving to California tomorrow morning, and I said goodbye to her tonight outside a bowling alley and managed not to cry until I was walking away from her to my car.

But I only have three minutes now and there is a sleeping baby on my arm so typing is totally awkward.

So, I guess I'll watch my old episode of Buffy on Netflix Instant and smell my delicious smelling tree, then maybe I'll go to bed because I'm an old lady now and I need my sleep.

Tomorrow, I'll be more interesting and I'lls hare some tree pictures, because you guys? I totally love my tree.

127 Hours - Imagining the Impossible

Justin and I went to the local independent theater tonight (Yay Pickford!) and saw 127 Hours, the Danny Boyle movie that tells the true story of climber Aron Ralston. While hiking in Utah in 2003, Ralson's hand got trapped when a boulder came loose and he was stuck in a canyon, alone, in the desert, for 5 days before he got free.

Most of you probably know how he got free.

He cut off his own hand and wrist with a knife.

A dull knife.

Can you imagine the impossible?

When the movie was over, I turned to Justin and said "I think I probably would have just died." Now, I'm fully aware that I'd never be in the situation that Aron was in. I would never put myself in a situation where I was alone in the middle of nowhere, with no one knowing where I was. But things happen. I can't even imagine it.

Most of the movie takes place while Ralston is trapped in the canyon. James Franco did an amazing job portraying him, and all the nuances of what he went through while he was trapped. When he first falls, and the rock pins his hand, the look of disbelief on his face is perfect. I'm sure that looking at that rock, he probably could not believe what had just happened.

I'm sure that almost everyone in the theater, if not everyone, knew the inevitable conclusion. You're waiting for it. Ralston realized early on that to escape, he would need to sever his hand. But he didn't want to do it. On the second day, he tests his knife with a sawing motion, and it's not even sharp enough to break his skin. Even when he works up the nerve to stab it into his arm, he hits bone and realizes that there's no way that knife is going to break his bones.

The actual amputation scene was graphic, but well done. The worst part for me was before he even started cutting - the breaking of his bones. He basically used the boulder for leverage and bent his arm until the bone snapped. Then he had to do it again to break the second bone. When it came time for Ralston to cut through the nerves in his arm, Boyle used a noise I can't even describe, but that immediately and urgently conveyed the pain and cognitive dissonance of causing that kind of injury to yourself.

One of the most incredible things is that he managed to keep himself alive for 5 days. He is an expert climber, and knows his survival stuff. He knew to conserve food and water. He tried everything he could to get out. He knew how to wrap himself to keep warmer when it got cold at night, and how to harness himself so he could sleep. Even more incredible is that after he freed himself, he had to climb out. He walked out of the canyon, then rappelled one handed down a 65 foot rock face, then had to walk until he found help.

He cut off his arm, then had to HIKE and RAPPEL and HIKE MORE.

What was he running on at that point? Where did it come from? What is within the human spirit that he was able to keep going? The strength and tenacity that can be found in the soul are absolutely amazing. Seemingly impossible. And yet...

Ralston had already accepted while he was trapped that he was going to die, and he says it was almost like a rebirth coming out of that canyon. Ralston had already carved his name, birth date, and the date he thought he would die in the canyon wall when he had a vision of his future son, and imagined himself as a father. And he knew that he had to live for that little boy. In February of this year, he became a father to his first son. And what a story he will have to tell that little boy when he gets older.

Can you imagine?

I can't, but this movie brought me a little closer.

I'd highly recommend this movie. The actual amputation scene may be too much for some people, but it's not the majority of the movie, and you can always cover your eyes - no shame there. I came away from it with a reminder of the amazing things people are capable of, and the impossible strength of humanity.

Friday Fragments: Cookies, Top Chef & Questions

Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.

Friday Fragments are the brainchild of Mrs.4444 and you can find more at Half Past Kissin' Time.


~ Sometimes, I wonder if I am normal. Then I have questions.

Like, when you bake a batch of cookies and it says that it makes 60, do you end up with less? Is it because my cookies are so big, or because we ate so much batter?

Or, how often do you get a new towel? I lived with a roommate once who used a new towel EVERY TIME HE SHOWERED. I cannot even imagine the amount of extra laundry.

~ Danny has been fussy and drooly. I am wondering if he is getting another tooth, or if it's just the tooth that's halfway in that's bothering him.

~ Speaking of Danny, he sits up now! I know, pretty awesome. He still topples over backwards frequently, so I have to watch him, but it's pretty cool. I can't believe he's almost 7 months old.

~ This year we're going to have our first Christmas at our own house since Sam was born. I am SO excited about getting a tree and decorating it and waking up in our own house on Christmas morning! I just can't wait.

~ I gave my blog a makeover this week. I LOVE that blogger has the template design feature now so I don't have to install a whole new thing and mess with my widgets etc. I'll change it again after the holidays since it's a holiday header.

~ Is anyone else watching Top Chef All Stars? I watched the first episode, and the first challenge was re-making the dish that sent them home the first time, only making it right this time. Harsh! And poor Fabio did not start the season off well. All I remember is the awesome quotes he provided last time - I used to use them as the titles for my recaps. Like "This is Top Chef, it's not top scallop" and "There is no reason to eat vegetable when there is meat and fish around." Incidentally, looking back at my old recaps made me want to write recaps again, so maybe I'll make some sort of effort there. Either way, if you're watching this you should totally be reading Amalah's recaps over at MamaPop.

~ Does anyone else remember that show "The Byrds of Paradise" with Timothy Busfield, Jennifer Love-Hewitt & Seth Green where a family moved to Hawaii after the mom died? I think about it every time I see him in anything. I think I liked that show.

~ Tomorrow at Weight Watchers I am going to learn all about the new points system. Gah! I am so used to the old one - now all the points I have memorized will be different. Oh well, they say it's better. We'll see...

~ Sam and I made cookies today and we didn't have many chocolate chips yet, so I dumped a bunch of colored sprinkles in them. Sam thinks they're "magic" and they taste Christmasy to me, apparently the flavor of sprinkles has that association. I need to get some cookie cutters so that Sam and I can make Christmas cookies. Yay!

Well, that's about it for this week. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Baby Holding Days and Sleepless Nights

God did not see fit to allow me to birth children who actually sleep.

It's 10:00 on the dot as I type this one handed. My other hand is attempting to restrain a wiggling, babbling, drooling 6 month old. Now, I will admit that he is normally not up this late. Today is one of those days that just won't end. If you're a parent, you know what I'm talking about.

Now it's 10:45. I reached my limit with little wigglepants and traded out for wigglepants senior, who finally passed out around 10:30. Justin is holding the little one now, who is still babbling, fussing, smiling, drooling and generally making us feel like pulling our hair out because whywontyoujustgotosleeeeeeeep.

I have two kids who are not good sleepers.

Sam is 4.5 years old and I've resigned myself to the fact that he's not a good sleeper. It's almost impossible for him to put himself to sleep and we give him melatonin at night to help him calm down. When he does fall asleep, he still wakes up 2-3 times every night. If he's in our room with us, he usually goes right back to sleep. If he's in his own room, it's not so easy. He hates being alone. We've finally gotten him out of our bed and onto a mattress on the floor at the end of our bed.

Lately I've been talking to him about whether he'd like to sleep in a room with Danny. That could be a solution to the problem of not wanting to be alone, and he seems open to it.

IF

Danny ever sleeps through the night.

He's six months old, almost seven, and he still does not sleep through the night. He usually goes down for the night between 8 and 9, but still wakes at least twice a night, sometimes more, to eat. I'm not putting him in his crib if I'm still feeding him three times in the middle of the night, because frankly I don't want to get up and stumble down the hall and sit in there three times in the middle of the night.

Last weekend when I was in Seattle by myself I realized that those were only the 2nd and 3rd nights in OVER EIGHT MONTHS that I had slept through the night. Oh, how I miss sleeping.

One of the reasons I absolutely HAD to hand off tonight is because Danny also doesn't like to nap unless we're holding him. It's an awesome phase he's in right now where I can't ever put him down. So, I was going on 12 hours of BABYBABYBABY. Sometimes, I just want no one to be touching me for like 5 minutes, you know? I feel anxious because the house is messy, but Danny doesn't really nap in the afternoons if I try to put him down to get stuff done. SO, instead I hold him and try to relax myself if possible.

I know that these endless baby-holding days and sleepless nights won't last forever. It just SEEMS like it sometimes.

Rachael vs. NaBloPoMo

Hi.

Remember me?

I feel like I haven't been around much lately. This is mainly the product of having an almost 7 month old baby who has entered an "I only like to sleep when you're holding me" phase. You know what though? I miss it around here. I think about writing all the time, and I have a billion half formed ideas in my head. I read other people's blogs every day and they spark ideas. I admire them and am inspired by them. So, how else to get back into it but NaBloPoMo?


Yes, that's right. I have decided that I'll wrap up 2010 by posting every day this December. The optional theme for December is Zeitgeist. Which I had to look up on Wikipedia to understand. The basic translation is "the spirit of the times" or "the spirit of the age." This seems appropriate since I feel like I've sort of entered a new time in my life having just entered my 30s.

Some days, I'll write about things I feel defines the spirit of the times I'm going through. Some days, maybe I'll use the writing prompts from the NaBloPoMo website. Some days I'll continue with my 30 Days of Truth series, which may end up more like 30 WEEKS at this point. Some days I'll get to all of those ideas I have floating around in my drafts folder and in my head. And some days when I'm not sure, I'll just WRITE. I'll write and see what comes out.

I hope it will be good, that it will get me back into the swing of things. I hope you'll come along for the ride.