MaidMirawyn

And, in the spirit of getting my act together, I got new glasses! I've been wearing the frameless style for several years now, so these are a big change for me. They're a brown/gold tortie with a dark turquoise hatchwork kind of design in the corners:

 

http://s1093.photobucket.com/albums/i438/Marjaline/new%20glasses/?action=view&current=glasses3.jpg

Oh, very cute! That's a style with a lot of personality.

So again...you can't really trust photos online or expect to make accurate judgments regarding color based on an online photo...if you like the style and general color tone...order it.

 

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I've been over to your side of the Metro...we went to Fry's Electronics over the weekend to grab a great deal for our computer build. Love a great library...will definitely check it out.

That is sooooo true about color! I'm a graphic designer, and I am always trying to explain to clients that you CANNOT judge color off a monitor. Even two color-calibrated monitors will display a correctly color-calibrated image differently, never mind your home computer or mobile device! Besides, fabrics are colored with dyes which can contain any number of pigments, while a monitor or TV is restricted to using red, green, and blue lights. Some color are worse than others, too, especially very light or bright colors.

If you're ever buying something online and color is critical, make sure you're comfortable with the return policy—and allow time for a return! If you're lucky, the seller may have a help desk or live chat where you can get more information, or they may have a really good review system, so you can get the customers' opinions on the color.

For example, I bought a new swimsuit from ModCloth.com last week, and I am now in love with the company! I was able to use their live chat to instantly get feedback from a knowledgeable employee about color and size. And, based on their extensive customer review system, I felt like I had all the info I needed to choose.

Getting a close-up was tricky…we have kittens, you see…

Every time I tried to photograph my toes, kittens attacked! by Maid Mirawyn, on Flickr

Last cruise I saw so many pretty cruise pedicures, I want to do something really fun, and need some ideas!! I always take a cruise toes picture, but want something new! Show me yours!~

So many great pics!

I'm leaving for my first-ever cruise on Sunday (on the Carnival Fantasy, sailing from Charleston), so I went Saturday to get a pedicure. My bff gets her pedicures at this place where they do a great job, it lasts forever, and it's very reasonably priced, so I texted her to get the name of the place. Well, she decided we needed to turn it into a girls' day! So here's our toes…

Freshly pedicured toes! by Maid Mirawyn, on Flickr

I think it's funny that we all chose tropical flower designs. :) Mine are the red toes. I think the white flowers with the dark blue-black centers look like an old-school Hawaiian shirt! :D

Maidmerawyn, you said Right now, though, I have a lot of purple in my wardrobe and I would love to see some pictures!

Most of my wardrobe is either in the wash or waiting to be washed right now, since we leave Saturday for Charleston, but here's the first purple piece I bought this season…

Casual Earth Purple Knit Top by Maid Mirawyn, on Flickr

The photo is a touch yellow, but it's pretty accurate. Sadly, the embroidery on the front doesn't photograph very well. (Clicking on it takes you to Flickr, with the full res photo.)

Hello Everyone!

 

I am back from an absolutely OUTSTANDING overnight trip with DH to celebrate our 15th anniversary. HERE is where DH picked for our romantic getaway.

Welcome to Atlanta! Chateau Elan definitely knows how to do romantic getaways. But would you believe I've lived in Atlanta all my life and never been there? I think I'm the only person I know who hasn't. :) Glad you had a blast!

As for location, I'm in Gwinnett, out near Discover Mills. That puts me on the opposite side from you, but my husband got his bachelor's degree from Kennesaw State, which is near you. If you like to read, be sure to visit the Marietta Public Library, which is in downtown Marietta. It's very nice; I should know, since my husband worked there for years!

I'm still struggling with blue and purple, but I'm getting there.

You know how periodically it seems like everything in your wardrobe either wears out or just doesn't look right anymore? This is that summer for me.

My favorite color is red, but I love purple, too. Right now, though, I have a lot of purple in my wardrobe, and not a single red top (except one red polo shirt that's showing its age). I live in the northeast Atlanta suburbs, and apparently the chains I like (Ross and Burlington, mainly*) aren't sending earthy reds our way! They're bright, or cool, or both! However, we've had some gorgeous warm purples, so I have a cute purple sundress ($16), a drapey-front purple shirt ($16?), and a purple lace-trimmed tee ($10; it's just like this one)! (I have one more, but it's escaping my memory!)

Of course, if you visited, everything would probably have shifted to COOL purples!

*It's that silly "budget" thing…

Remember the olive green dress I purchased for formal night? Well, I finally received a necklace I ordered that I was hoping would look nice with the dress. The last time I tried on the dress I couldn't zip it. My husband helped me, and after much work it was zipped. My goal has been to be able to wear it without it being adjusted.

 

I decided to try it on again today and althought it is snug, I was able to readily zip it. This is without the body shaper too. I was so happy and confident, that my daughter took a picture of me. I'll call it my Anita Latte pose.

Love it! The color and the style are both fabulous for you!

I'm pretty new to the forums (as evidenced by my post count!), and a recently-discovered earth. Hi everyone!

How was that putting the dye in the washer? Did you have any issues with washing afterwards? Did you do a sort of rinse load before doing regular laundry again. The concept of dye in the washer makes me a little nervous about what would happen to my loads following the dye load.

I may be able to help you a bit on this. I'm a bit of an amateur fiber artist, so I've done a bit of dyeing. When you dye in your washer, there are a few precautions you should take, unless you want to dye randomly afterward, of course.

First, you will need to run an empty load or two through your washer! I usually do two loads, with detergent for one load, but if I'm washing my dark towels, and my dye was either very light or in the same color family as the towels, or if I have junky cleaning cloths to wash, I'll just do one empty load and then wash that stuff. You may think you can skip this, but trust me on this and just do it. All (or at least almost all) washers leave some water in them afterwards, and you don't want to take the chance.

Second, wipe out the inside of your washer, too. Check for trapped lint and the like. It's quick, but you would be surprised what you may find! (Actually, if you have cats or dogs, you may be surprised how much animal hair you'll find in the washer anyway!) A lot of fiber artists I've talked to do this.

That said, I dyed some beautiful earthy purple veils with some brighter blue accents recently, and they turned out beautiful, without turning the rest of our wardrobe funky colors. I didn't dye in the washer, but I did rinse and spin in the machine.

By the way, if anyone has a problem using the tea staining method, check the label! Synthetics, sadly, don't take so well to natural dyes; it's a real crapshoot. Cotton, silk, linen, wool, hemp, ramie, and (sometimes) rayon handle natural dyes much better.

I then keep an eye out for price drops if the cruise line will allow OBC.

I keep seeing mentions of price drops for on-board credit. I'm brand new to cruising, so I have no idea how this works. :confused:

If you take a portable device (laptop, tablet, etc.) wait until you hit a port. You can often pick up free or inexpensive Internet ashore.

Good advice. It's only a five-day, so I only have two sea days to worry about. I plan to do what I did when I went to India: send ONE email each day to my two best friends, one coworker, and our parents. In one fell swoop, everyone knows I'm still alive and kicking. :)

I love my iPad, but I'll probably lock it up rather than bring it ashore. However, we have an iPod Touch, too, so I can use it instead in port. Much smaller and lighter!

Not because the economy is "weak" or gas prices have "skyrocketed" - most of which has been conjured up by the left-wing media - but we tend to cruise on the cheap.

I splurge on having lunch ashore at a favorite restaurant or enjoying an icy cold Pina Colada made fresh in front of me - in a blender - with fresh Pineapple.....at a favorite shore-side watering hole.

 

I'll splurge on a taxi if necessary to avoid those awful shuttle buses in Mexico and on some islands.

 

I am a generous tipper to those who have made my cruise special......

I like to think of myself as a sensible cruiser... rather than tightwad. We will spend money.... but I do not have to look at my credit card balance to see if I had a good time. I don't have that .... "It's my vacation so I'll spend what I want to spend" attitude.

Thank you all for posting! My husband and I are Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard fans' date=' so we're all about making good use of our money and budgeting! We're also first-time cruisers. :)

With our lack of experience, it's reassuring to see people with a similar mindset, and your posts are very helpful. Sometimes seeing how much others have spent on-ship can be a bit scary. :eek: Don't get me wrong; I don't begrudge anyone what they spend. It's their decision, and their money, and their life. But I know that, with my priorities and my resources, I certainly can't do it!

Neither of us drink or gamble, so I think we're in the clear there. I'm a graphic designer with an art degree, so I wouldn't be tempted by the art auctions. (I'm admittedly a bit jaded and very, very picky…) I drink [i']very[/i] little soda (one or two a week, though I have a weakness for sweet tea!), and my husband even less, but the coffee bar and pastries will be an occasional splurge for us. And I'm traveling on the Carnival Fantasy, so alternative dining isn't an issue.

I'm going to have to work to resist buying photos; I love photos! Maybe, if there's one that's really cool, I'll buy it. And my mother-in-law is freaked out over our going on a cruise, so I'll probably log on to the ship internet each day long enough to send out a reassuring email. (At 75¢ a minute, it better be only a few minutes!)

But I would rather have a bit more freedom to spend on shore! A good lunch, some carefully chosen souvenirs (that aren't just like what I could buy at home), and our shore excursion are far more important to me. I figure I can have tons of fun on the ship without spending any significant money. :D

And I don't want to be tempted to scrimp on tips. I believe very strongly in paying people fairly.