For Like Ever

I have been looking for the perfect recipe program for years. I hate having all the paper and links can be taken down, so I keep trying out program after program. After many trial and major errors I think I may have finally found the one that works well for me since it can save information from the web, take pictures of recipes you have around the house, or simple write down the notes. It's called Evernote and there are multiple ways to tag each item for easy searching and it just is so easy that any other way just seems complicated in comparison. It's become my new favorite app for my iPad, my go to on my computer and a way for me to not drag around any one's business card (you can just snap a picture and it saves the information).  You can share your notes/recipes via social media, email or a special URL (click here for a delicious Rosemary-Rosé drink recipe) and it is a multitasker in that it does way more then just collect recipes. I have been using it for months now and I can't stop using it which I think that is a pretty good sign of a good program. Check it out, it's free and that is just one of the best parts.

And yes I know it's been around for awhile, but sometimes I take my time to really make sure that I like a program.

Running for your life

So it has been documented here that I do love the zombies. I've had a border line obsession with them for at least 10+ years, but it wasn't until I started working with my former boss that it went nuts. Needless to say I still am enamored by zombies and totally pissed that I packed my zombie t-shirt and most likely won't see it until Spring.

Cafe Press and totally worth the cost.

Awesome right?

Patrolling the Internet the other day I came across a zombie game that I think I may just have to pre-order. Is it insane? Yes. Will it make my butt look good? Actually it just might. The people behind this game are brilliant if only because this may be the only way to get me to run and be in shape and stuff. Who knew?

http://www.zombiesrungame.com/ and you can save 40% by pre-ordering. A better butt and 40% off, woo hoo Tuesday.

Overcast with a chance of a facial

Sunny southern California, right? Wrong. It is overcast here in San Diego with a high chance of rain. Complete bummer. So what's a girl to do? Well the BF is busy working and I finished up the majority of my must do items so I was looking at my phone and clicked on the Groupon app to see if I could find something local that I could do later in the week. If you are not familiar with Groupon or Living Social or any of the other coupon/discount companies here is the Groupon description. Pretty cool right? Well my day just got even cooler.

Since I haven't had a chance to explore this phone app yet I was not familiar with the Now! tab. So I clicked it to see what is was all about and it pulled up 81 deals in my immediate area that I could buy and use today (some of the other deals have a full day waiting period before they can be confirmed, purchased and used). Hungry? There is a deal up the street that for $10 you get $20 worth of food. Oil change needed for your car? $25 and they will get that taken care of for you. Kayak tour? Half off right now. I think you are getting the idea. They have everything available from exercise classes ($10 Yoga class at 2pm) to shopping ($15 for $30 to spend at a local clothing store) and everything in between. While the options may be more in larger cities, this is a pretty cool way to get a great deal on something you were going to do anyway (lunch anyone?). 

So today I am going to get myself a mini facial and refresher massage (an hour of pampering) for $30. Yes $30. Who cares if it rains in sunny southern California, I will be relaxing at the spa.

PING...you're it.

I am super lucky in that I have some wonderful international friends, colleagues and even better those super close to me. The upsides to this are huge. Places to stay when in Europe, people who know the best places to go in several countries and most importantly a place to get a home cooked meal while abroad. The downsides are it can be hard to stay in touch and for reasons I can't even imagine phone calls are still stupid expensive. There is of course email, Facebook, twitter and Skype (where you can do free video calls as well as chats). These are great for when you are at home or at least somewhere with WiFi, but what about just out and about with your phone? I have international texting plan, but that is only good for 100 texts a month and it can get used up fast. There are several instant messaging applications, but sometimes they don't work well across all platforms. So while it's good for you on  your iPhone it may not be good for them on their BlackBerry.

Since I love to investigate all forms of cellular communication I was super excited when I found Ping Chat. It seemed to have everything I needed and was free to install. I was even more excited when I found out it works super well on most phones so almost everyone could be on it (I hear they are working on a Windows phone app too). Another big perk is I can also send photos and video instantly from my phone during the chat (that is currently extra on my international texting plan). So now I can chat whenever and wherever with all my favorite international people and not worry about any extra charges. Now I just need to work on not being on my phone all the time, guess maybe it's a good thing there is a large time difference!

Ready for your close up?

I recently have gotten into photography. To be clear I have yet to take a class and have only done some research on the internet to help get an idea of what I am doing. I have a Cannon EOS Rebel with a 28-135 lens. When researching cameras it was hard to decide exactly what to get, but after months in camera store and playing with a borrowed camera this was the best for me both money and ease of use. I know my camera can do more than what I am currently doing with it and totally have way more to learn about it, but I have come across some great sites that I wanted to share for those that are also learning!

Kevin and Amanda - This is an excellent post on a quick guide to understanding your camera if you are a newbie like me. Easy to understand so you can actually start talking about settings on your camera instead of just agreeing with others when the topic comes up!

Digital Photography School - 13 most popular photography tips from the site. Introduction to food photography was my favorite.

Photo Tuts - 100 tips for beginners and professionals alike. Seriously some of this stuff is just amazing. Can't wait to try a few of them out. So many tips that it may take me awhile to get to all of them!

I just was on vacation and have done my best to try as many of these idea, tips and directions as possible!!

Tower of Bable

Most relationships are quick and easy and in the same language. So far mine has been the same route, but recently I have needed to step up my game. By this I mean I need to learn Dutch. How often do you think that sentence happens? Not saying anything about the Dutch, they are awesome.

In order to learn Dutch I turned to Rosetta Stone. I have used Rosetta Stone before to get me through Paris (and really I didn't use it as much as I thought. Contrary to what you hear the French waiters are fine with my broken French or English, as long as I am cute. Which I was. And I enjoyed every moment in France...Anyway) so I figured they would be good to go with them for Dutch. The thing was this time I need to get an understanding of the language and not just enough to buy shoes and wine, but to communicate with people and friends. It was about 3 years ago that used it first for French and I can tell you it is still an amazing way to go. I have purchased the online 3 month access to get started. Included with online access (Totale) is both an iPad and iPhone applications that you can use on the go. So while I use my laptop/iPad for core learning and interaction, I can use my iPhone application in my car on the way to/from work to help instill the lessons. This app takes place of the CD's that used to come with it, but this way the speech recognition tells you if you are saying the word or phrase wrong.  While the iPhone app does not to take place of the actual online learning it really does help. Since this is an immersion program sometimes what you are being taught is not immediately understood. There has been more than one thing that all of a sudden clicked with me just by repeating the phrase over and over again. I couldn't be happier with this entire program and feel that this is definitely money well spent if you are looking to learn a new language.

On a side note Rosetta Stone actually offers Welsh. Yes Welsh as in Wales Welsh. Don't know why I find this so interesting, but I do!

Tot ziens!

Big Day, Big World

Ever have one of those days where nothing is going wrong, but it doesn't feel quite right? Well that is my Monday. Oh well what can you do but get out of bed, get dressed and try to drink as much coffee as possible before being late for work.

This morning I woke up around 6:30am because I realized in my sleepy/awakeness time (you know where you are in between the two) that I had not booked the hotel for my BF and myself for our trip to NYC yet! Of course the hotel I wanted had raised the rates $100 per night from when I had looked at it yesterday so that was a bust. I knew I could find something cheaper and comparable so I starting searching on my phone (because I couldn't be bothered to get out of bed yet), then it occurred to me I should use an app to do this on the phone. Seriously love, love, love the Kayak app and when using it for hotels it couldn't be easier, quicker or more intuitive than if I asked them to create it for me. I have yet to try it for flights, but for free this is the best app I have used to date! Finally found a decent priced mid-town hotel that doesn't look as if the sheets were 10 years old and can't wait to check it out. As much as I wanted to stay at a few higher priced (and lovely, large and gorgeous) other hotels, I wanted to save some money for a new pair of shoes that I have tried talking myself out of and can now buy because of all the dollar bills that I will save. How smart and economical I am!

Stay tuned on how the hotel, Stay. works out. It's totally in Times Square which is not where I usually would choose, but the price was right and shoes are important!