Fun (For a Good Cause)

I recently stumbled upon a website called Own a Colour, where you can buy one of over sixteen million colors for a small donation to UNICEF, starting at only two dollars. It's an incredibly cool idea and one that allows you to help children all over the world.

I planned on choosing a color quickly, already knowing my favorite colors, but seeing all those colors was incredibly entertaining and my brief visit to the site turned into a colorful hour or so. After playing with several shades in the blue family, I chose a color that was inspired by a photo I took several years ago in Venice:

This is what I came up with:

I also gave a gift of color to my dear friend Christy, the friend who came up with this ridiculously fun blog that we write:

It was only after I submitted Christy's color did I notice a mistake in my story, which gave me a slight ulcer to know that my typing error was out there in cyberspace for everyone to see. But whatever. I love the color, and I know she will too.

Check out this website, pick a favorite color, tell a story, and help a child in need. I can't imagine anything better.

~m~

Fun

Happy St. Patrick's Day...you can either look at this as belated or a jump start for 2013 (it's never too early to plan).  This past Saturday, I was fortunate enough to attend the birthday party of a very Irish friend of ours.  It was at this gathering where I was introduced to a new St. Patrick's day refreshment, the Irish Car Bomb (not the best choice of names, but interesting nonetheless).  For those of you feeling a bit adventurous, give it a try:

1/2 shot of Irish Cream

1/2 shot of Irish Whiskey

1/2 pint of Guinness

Pour the Irish Cream and the Whiskey together into a shot glass.  Pour the Guinness into a pint glass.  Drop the shot glass into the pint glass and chug-a-lug. 

Try to drink it right away, as it does not look pretty in the glass.  When all of the alcohols mix, it looks as if the Irish Cream curdles.  The taste is delightful; it reminds me of dark chocolate.

And until the next Car Bomb blows: 

 

Sláinte agus táinte.

"Health and wealth!"

Fabulous Finds (?)*

* I apologize in advance for the overuse of all caps. I realize that it implies screaming... which is exactly what I intended.

Tonight, my friend Christy and I were watching the new NBC show Fashion Star. The show's premise is that you can buy the clothes of aspiring designers the moment the show is over. I found the whole thing unintentionally hilarious
, from the contestants to the judges. But the joke was on me when one of the
better designs was bought by H&M. It was a cute jersey dress with a small cutout in the back. As someone who has very loudly complained to anyone who will listen about the nearest H&M being in Phoenix, I didn't really care . . . UNTIL I FOUND OUT THAT YOU COULD BUY IT ON ONLINE!!!!!! Let me take a deep breath here for a second and explain that you can't buy ANYTHING on H&M online, so this was pretty freaking exciting.
So, at exactly 10:07, SEVEN MINUTES afters the show aired, I went to the site to purchase this awesome dress for 19.95 (!!!!!) to find out that it was SOLD OUT.
What. The. Hell.
Truly, I'm not an impulse buyer and when you throw in the fact that I have to measure myself to see what my tricky H&M size would be and then factor in the fact that I don't even know how to use a ruler, much less a measuring tape, this was never going to be a quick purchase. But really? SEVEN MINUTES?
I didn't want the stupid dress anyway.




~m~

Fabulous Finds

Poor genetics have blessed me with horrible eyesight, strange crater-like dimples, and the math skills of a really smart fourth-grader. But I thought I would give my elementary skills a go to figure out whether a certain purchase would be as great a bargain as it seemed on paper.

H&M has long been regarded as the Mecca for inexpensive fashion finds, and I always walk out of the store with something that I wear over and over. Since the closest H&M to me is in Phoenix, I usually just sigh at the ads in magazines, cry over the coupons being thrown at me on the iPad app, and roll my eyes at the incredibly priced items in Lucky layouts. But this little metallic number
                                                       
made me ponder the following sartorial word problem*:

                                                       How much does a $50 skirt cost?

Let's see.

It's 430 miles from El Paso to Phoenix. It costs roughly 3.65 for a gallon of gas, and I get 36 mpg. It will take 12 gallons to drive to Phoenix. It will cost 43.80 to fill up my Mini-Cooper's tank with 12 gallons of gas. Factor in $5 for a large Coke Zero and some candy bought somewhere between here and there. Add $5.95 for a #1 combo at In-N-Out as soon as I roll into Phoenix. Add $130 for a hotel. Ok, now add $50 plus some tax for the actual skirt. Realistically, add another $100 for other items that catch my eye; after all, I'm here only once or twice a year. Add $40 for a nice dinner and drinks to reward myself for finding such bargains. Another $45 for the gas to get back home. Now add $5.95 for another #1 (don't judge- again, I'm only here once or twice a year).

I believe the answer is (C) $425.70.

A total bargain. 

*This kind of math is fun. And to quote a very wise woman, if more math like was this, I would make every day "mathier."

~m~