Tiny Art for your Geeky House

 

Guys...  I just want to point out the awesomeocity of this. It would appear that you can pick from 73 different 3.5 x 4.5" mini prints of geek icons by artist Christopher Lee (no, not that one) to adorn your home, and they're only $5 each. AND for $10 you can get a mat that fits an 11x14" frame and holds four of them! 

We bought the Egon print in honor of our doggie at the last Renegade, and went online to see if, perchance, there was a Stay Puft or lady-Gozer with which to honor our other pup. There isn't, but I have to admit, now I'm kind of scheming about other possible combos. Link + Raph + Beast + Admiral Ackbar?? Has home decor ever been this good? I'm pretty sure not.

Geek Baby Room?

What do you think? Is it ever too early to initiate your baby into your geekdoms? Behold the hardcore adorableness of some of this baby-room-appropriate nerd art, and click for sources.

Guess What I Did Last Week!

I swam in mashed potatoes!! No, no. I entertained myself with fantasies of swimming in mashed potatoes while flying out to see family and friends back east.

It was a very productive trip. Jonathan and my parents and I did a whole lot of this:

Purging!! We carted away 16 jumbo bags of trash and 14 jumbo bags of donatables. I was able to help my parents reclaim three and a half closets, which was no small feat considering that they've lived in that house for over 30 years and had four kids at least partially grow up in it. Kathy and Amy were already in grade school when they moved in.

Dukes Jammies, baby!

You would not believe the love letters, diaries, and notes passed in class that I found in that house. I have shit on EVERYONE now! Everyone except my big brother, who is a stealthy, stealthy ninja when it comes to that kind of thing. Or is he? You scared yet, Tim? Honestly, it's a good thing that I was doing a lot of the sorting, because the worstest shit was on me. Yes, it was, "Oh, wow," followed by "Yipes," followed by, "Uh..." all trip long. And I don't remember what the "problem with Aaron" was, but there was a very pointed note asking me all about it, and so I've decided that's his new name.

this would have been hott with go-go boots... on a baby... re-thinking this...

Speaking of Problem with Aaron, Problem with Aaron was in town at the same time as me! He's my high-school friend. That is somewhat of an understatement. Never see the guy. He was rudely in Afghanistan when I got married, so it was especially lovely to hang out with him and his awesome girlfriend Kim thrice on this trip. AAAND we got some Em and Steve time, which is always... is it weird for our relationship if I call it life-affirming, guys?

Splendidly, we got so much family time this visit, too! We got to see this lady a whole lot:

what it would look like if happiness were a person

And this guy:

and then it got abducted by a happy giant

My mom threw a birthday bash for me, my dad, my brother Tim, and my nephew Ben. And Ben got the gift that everyone on earth secretly wishes for each year: a plane ticket to come see me!

Just saw that lady, but whatev.

He was floored. It was sweet. 

Everybody took time off to hang out, and we're so grateful. We got to go to lunch and have a great time with Amy and Chris and walk in the woods-- mid-week, mind you! We got to have fun hanging out with Tim and Christine and watching IT Crowd. This happened:

I could draw a stick figure of me on the side, but I think you get the idea.

My Mom and Dad took Jonathan to see Jungle Jim's for the first time. We had a picnic in Sharon Woods. But the main reason we came out was this:

 Calm down there, buddy! You'll work the other kids into a frenzy!

To help my nephew/godson Gabe manage his overwhelming excitement at receiving his First Communion. (He really did a great job. This was the only point at which he looked like this, but I had to embarrass him. It's how I do.)

All of this was to explain why there have been two weeks of sparseness on the blog. Basically, it was one of the most fun visits ever. And SO MUCH SHIT I have on everyone! I could almost win the Game of Thrones with this much shit! Keep this in mind when considering whether you want to clean out your house. YOU WANT TO DO IT! Love to all!!

Purge of the Day: Old Sheets & Towels

I know, he's not a sheet or towel. He's my nephew Alex, world champion of cuteness! I'm showing you a picture of Alex to spare you the discomfort of looking at a pile of someone else's old sheets and towels. Wasn't that considerate of me?

 I got some new sheets and towels as wedding gifts, so I have no excuse to cling to anything worn or frayed. Believe me, I tried. Yes, I even have sentimental attachments to towels. But it's time to be strong. I'm starting to get a picture in my mind of what it would be like to have a designated place to put everything, and it is a very agreeable picture, indeed. I'm going to make this happen, even if it hurts!

Give a Book!

Let's do this fast and easy!

 First Book is a charity that, among other pro-literacy activities, provides low-income families with books for their kids. This week, for each person who likes First Book on Facebook, follows it on Twitter, or follows it on Tumblr, Random House will donate one book to the cause. 

Now, go!

New Online Toy Store!

The guy and I order from Soap.com pretty regularly, because the toilet paper, face wash, and over-the-counter drug we most frequently buy ALL sell out regularly at the Target closest to our apartment. Soap's prices are comparable to Target's and 2-day shipping is free at $39. It's easy to hit anyway, but Soap's cart is shared with sister sites Wag.com (pet stuff), Diapers.com (baby stuff), and BeautyBar.com (cosmetic stuff), so you only have to come up with $39 of stuff from all of those sites combined to get free shipping.

So you can't even imagine the pandemonium that ensued in the apartment last week when we got an email that they added a toy store! This is probably horrible news for us because now instead of adding household supplies to our cart to hit free shipping, Jonathan is going to start adding action figures. But it's also great news because we're going to have six nieces and nephews come December! Between six kid birthdays, holidays, and Jonathan's general Jonathan-ness, this place is going to become even more of a toy clearinghouse than it already is.

We checked out the new site (YoYo.com) and were pretty happy with it. My favorite feature by far is YoYo Picks Top Ten, the site's top ten recommendations for each age from 0 to 13+. The toys are seriously cool and off the beaten path. The only way you're buying a duplicate gift off this list is if the other giver is also shopping here. This is very appreciated and sets the site apart, as major toy store sites tend to populate these lists with hundreds of random, seemingly uncurated items.

This may be the first time I'm relieved that a website exists. Not that I'm the type of aunt who lives across the country and occasionally forgets to buy a present until the two days before someone's birthday or anything...