Thursday, August 25, 2011

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

I haven't done one of these in a very long time, and my life has been full of awkward and awesome lately. As always, inspired by Sydney over at The Daybook.  


Awkward:

  • I am currently studying for a test for a professional certification that I need for work.  I have been out of college for...ummm...twelve years.  That is twelve blissful years of no studying or fretting over studying or stressing over passing important tests.  I will be so glad when this is over.
  • Studying for this test brought me into the city for a couple of days for a prep class.  I live in suburbia, which means taking the train to and from the city.  Under normal circumstances, this is a perfectly uneventful experience.  Only when I was there, riots were planned.  The kind of riots that shut down the entire system in the city, and leave people stranded or in need of other forms of transportation.  Luckily, I made it onto one of the last trains to stop in the city.  Some of my co-workers were not so lucky (and that is one expensive cab ride).
  • While riding on the train, I was listening to my audiobook on my iPhone.  I had never done this before (I usually have an actual book to read).  The whole listening to the book part was fine.  The awkward part came when I realized I didn't know where to look, since my eyes weren't necessary for this activity.  Looking straight ahead meant staring at the person facing me.  Looking out the window was kinda making me sick.  I even considered putting on sunglasses so people couldn't tell where I was looking.
  • Have I ever mentioned how the seats on the train are cloth?  In other words, they are absorbent and sometimes often smell like urine.  
  • My w key will not work on my keyboard, unless I hit it really hard.  That means I have to keep going back over my posts and searching for missing w's and adding them in.  If you ever see a word either in a post or comment I leave on your blog that doesn't make sense, try adding a w.
  • Restaurant photos.  I keep trying to do blog posts that document places I am eating around the Bay Area and share them with you.  However, I never seem to take the right pictures, and the food never looks as good.  I see so many bloggers that do this well, and I can't get the hang of it.  Plus, I keep forgetting to take pictures before I take a bite.  Here is an example.   Would it be weird to bring my DSLR into the restaurant with me (instead of my camera phone)?

  • I belong to the Love and Envelopes Club (see awesome post below).  This means that once a month I send a birthday card to a complete stranger (I could probably end the awkward statement there).  Harriet took this month's card out of my purse, and started tearing open the envelope.  I hope the (lucky) recipient has a good sense of humor.  Or a dog.


Awesome:


  • After a long day spent at class in the city, I came home to these beautiful anniversary flowers

18 comments:

the nyanzi report said...

good luck.

colleen said...

that craigslist ad is pure gold

Anonymous said...

miss erin ~ are you talking about the BART?! haha! i grew up in the bay area, berkeley to be exact. . . the seats are cloth unlike the subway in D.C. where i was born ~ and they do smell like urine at times, yuck! i will remember to add a "w" too haha! what a funny post this is!! and i always feel a bit weird when i take food photos, oh well ~ i always just say, i don't know these people anyway ;) can't wait to see the places, i'm sure i will recognize some!!
xx ~ ks

Stephanie said...

I feel weird about the whole camera in the restaurant thing too but I'm starting to think "who cares" and I'm just going to take pictures anyway. My problem is more about forgetting to take the pic until I'm almost done eating!!

How did I not realize you were in the bay area?? You're so close to me!!

Unknown said...

Those are beautiful flowers!

Anonymous said...

Omg i want that !! Yummyy it loooks soooo deliciouuuuuuuuus <3

Rachel said...

How sweet, happy anniversary! I can't believe Harriet did that.. ha!

Suz said...

You did such a good job photographing your meal, you made me hungry.

Bravoe Runway said...

I know how you feel about studying and taking exams....I just finished my MBA in June and after being out of undergrad for 6 years it was so odd to go back to school and take an exam! Good luck! I think it is nice that you are part of a program that sends birthday cards to complete strangers. I am a single girl and my birthday is 4 days after the new year...many people forget about it and my xmas present is always lumped together w/my birthday gift! I just realized I was not following your AWESOME blog so I have corrected that :)

Alana said...

oooh Wasabi Doritos?! Gotta try these.

Sam said...

I like these kind of posts.
Good luck with the studying. Got to try Wasabi Dorito's...please send a pack to SA

decor8 said...

HaHAHA... where does one look while listening to a book? I never thought of it, maybe you should bring a decoy book or magazine. I like the idea of wearing sunglasses you could look very mysterious! Did you snap that photo of Harriet after she pulled the tasty card out of your purse?

Lorena said...

Haha. I could not stop laughing at imagining you seated on a urine smelling seat trying not to stare at anyone...
i guess it's always fun when you get to experience something new.
hahahahah, i usually hate resting my head on the headrest in public transportation, makes me think of all the smelly hairs that have been there before...

Unknown said...

I should have gone down just one post. :) lol I loved the envelope. Love from you and your gorgeous dog. :)

Ana said...

Is the food picture from Pyramid? I am always taking pictures of food at restaurants. I just don't care. And my husband expects me to do so. I don't have a DSLR, but I've seen people do that. Oh and I saw the Craigslist ad too. Priceless!

Happy weekend! :)

Sarah Whitney said...

Yumm that food looks SO good!

Anonymous said...

Erin!

This post is so fun to read. I clicked on your link to the sign webpage and I have been laughing for 20 minutes straight. Those are hilarious.

I have the same problem with food posts. I don't understand how the other bloggers get them to look so good! Even with my SLR I find that only some of them are good and they still don't look as amazing as other bloggers. Must be something with the lighting in my kitchen.

I think that whoever gets that card you sent is going to love it. You personalized it with your dog eating it! :)

Lauren
from BANG!

Hamster said...

what a cute idea the birthday card! I'm def joining, ack too bad my birthday JUST passed!!

I'm Erin

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Hi, I'm Erin. I am living back on the east coast after 15 years out west. Currently readjusting to humidity and mosquitos. I love to take pictures and read fashion magazines.... and to talk about nothing in particular (ok, and my dogs).

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