Tuesday, July 31, 2012

the month in review....in pictures

If you have been following my blog, you may remember that this time last month I posted thirty pictures to explain the "Photo a Day" challenge I completed in June. 

Well....not only did I decide to continue doing this with July's challenge, but I think I picked up a few friends along the way to join.   So cool!   It's been a blast seeing how everyone interprets the theme of the day, and in a way it helps keep us connected throughout the summer when we're all off "doing our own thing".  :)

I thought I'd play around with my pic collage app on my phone to combine a bunch of my daily pics together, so I won't be posting thirty-one separate photos this month.  Not sure which way is "better" to present them, so I'd love to hear your feedback.   I'm still going to be me and describe the photos, because I just can't leave photos without explanation. 

Here's the list I started with.....courtesy of fatmumslim.com.au


July 1-5


1- Self Portrait:  Taken at the Art Fair in Muskegon-- a summer tradition of my family to go admire the arts and crafts, and of course....partake in the delicious, fried food and fresh lemonade.  A little sad this year though as there was a significant decrease in the number of booths-- hopefully it will be back to normal when the Summer Celebration returns.
2- Busy: I was busy that day downloading 30 pictures for my last photo-a-day post....and busy getting annoyed with how slow my computer is.  Someday.....I'll have a better computer.  Saving up for a Mac!  :)
3- Best Part of My Day: It was a lazy day. A stay-in-my-pajamas day.  A barely-get-off-my-couch day.  And I spent a good amount of that couch time either watching shows from my DVR, or organizing my Pinterest boards.  I don't think I'll be taking two computer-screen pics in a row though....kind of uninspiring, right?  But, in my defense....it WAS a lazy day. 
4- Fun:  Me and my nephew making funny faces.  He's obsessed with my iPhone (as most little kids in my family are-- such a tech-savvy generation they're growing up in, right?)....and really, this is the only way I can prevent him from taking it hostage to play games on it.  I have loads of pictures of me and my nieces and nephews doing stuff like this....silly faces, sad faces, angry faces, creepy faces....you name it, we've made it.  So when Fun was the word of the day, I knew this was appropriate. 
5- On the Floor: Looking up at my new fridge, I sat on the floor and took a quick picture.  This was significant to me that day because I waited SIX weeks to get this fridge.  It was a "special order" and should have only been a three-week wait, but they ordered the wrong one, so I had to wait another three to get it.  Luckily, I love it.....so it was worth the wait! 

July 6-9


6- Chair: The chair at my kitchen table.  I was in the middle of....once again....clearing off all of my counters for the next step in my kitchen remodel process.  It was like this for a couple weeks.  So glad that's done!  I'm so NOT a clutter-lover. 
7- Garden: My flower garden has been a little sad-looking this year due to the heat wave/drought we've had in Michigan, but these pink phlox flowers thrived throughout it all. 
8- Lunch: I picked the first tomatoes from the plant on my deck, and I used one to make a sandwich at lunch that day.  Fresh tomatoes are soooo juicy and sweet!
9- Big: A small part of the BIG mess in my basement that I started sorting through, organizing into piles to either keep, throw away, or sell in a garage sale the next week.  It was a long process....like, a week long.  And that doesn't even include the set up, pricing, and sitting at the sale both days.

July 10-12


10- My favorite color:  Blue.  Between looking up at the brilliant blue sky and the light, puffy clouds and the sun shining....I could not have been more relaxed that day.
11- Letter:  As I was sorting through my bins of keepsakes, I came across many shoe boxes of letters, postcards, drawings, photos, and other little mementos from my childhood and all the way through college.  It was so fun reading through old letters like this one that my sister sent to me when I was away at U of M.  I probably "wasted" a whole night going through these (along with my old diaries-- hilarious!), but it was a great diversion from all the garage-sale-prep-madness.
12- Texture:  Close up of my purse (orange) and wallet (brown).....which reminds me....it's just about time to switch over to a different purse soon.  When you have a collection like I do, you want to make sure you give them all attention at some point.  Just to make sure the others don't get jealous.  I know....I'm a freak.  It's okay, I'm cool with it. 

July 13-15


13- Open:  This was taped on the bottom of our garage sale sign....recycled from the last time we had one at my mom's house....I made it because it had been raining that morning and business was slow.  I thought a bright sign would lure in more customers....and maybe it worked-- I made a good profit with the sale! 
14- Building: On my way home from the garage sale weekend in Muskegon, I took a different way-- off the highway-- for about half my trip.  I wasn't in any hurry, and decided to drive down some country roads I've never been down before.  I highly recommend doing this if you haven't before.  It's relaxing....well, for me at least....to be away from the fast-paced monotony of the highway and business districts....to slow down and drive past farm buildings and fields of animals and crops.  I almost wanted to jump out of my car and run through the fields.....but you never know how friendly the farmer might be to some random stranger running through his property.  Maybe I've seen too many movies....
15- Finger:  Speaking of movies, the next day I went to see one (no shocker if you know me well), and snapped a quick pic of me grabbing one of my vices-- movie popcorn.

July 16

16- Signs:  My mom, my sister, and I took a trip to Chicago on this day....on the way, we saw quite a few signs on the highway for antique malls.  Even though we had a list of places we wanted to go in the Chicago area, we decided to stop at a few of these "malls" to see what they had to offer.  And although it made our trip longer, and we didn't get to stop at IKEA, we decided it was worth the stops.  I got some fun vintage items, and some inspiration for a couple projects. 

July 17-20


17- My Addiction: Nail Polish.  And all of these are the OPI brand.  I'm loyal like that.
18- Plate: I bought myself a new set of plates/bowls/mugs, when really all I needed were the bowls.....they were on clearance, I had a % off coupon, and getting the set of bowls was almost the same price....so really, I couldn't resist!
19- Animal:  At the antique mall, I saw this Garfield phone that reminded me of one my cousin Kathy had growing up.  When you picked up the phone, his eyes open, and they close when you hang up.  So cute.....and a little crazy to me that this is considered "vintage" or "antique"....boy, that made me feel old!!
20- Eyes:  When I was looking for a flash drive, I knew I wanted to get a "cute" one....and when I saw the adorable eyes of this little owl, I knew it was for me. 

July 21-24


21- 9 o'clock (PM):  This was the aftermath of a late dinner of Chinese food when a bunch of my family got together to celebrate my niece's and nephew's birthdays.  Going to the beach, eating, decorating cupcakes, playing games, opening presents, laughing, and hanging with my family.....what a fun day!
22- Upside Down: My nephew makes his second appearance on my July photo-a-day...this time, upside down. 
23- A Mirror: This was the whole taking a picture in a mirror, within a mirror, so you can see about four of me if you look hard enough....
24- A Stranger:  Coming back from a trip to Home Depot with my mom, I said something about needing to take a picture of a stranger.  "How about that guy?" my mom said, pointing to the news van next to us at the stop light.  It looked like he was trying to shield himself from getting his picture taken, so I quickly snapped this one of him before he knew any better.  :)


July 25

25- Heart: During a trip to World Market, I snapped a picture of every heart I could find....this was a sample of them.  And....in a strange turn of events, I bought nothing.  That's almost as crazy as me going to Target and coming home empty-handed.  Almost.


July 26-30

26- Sunshine: On our trip down to Ohio, it was raining for most of the time....and I knew that sunshine was the theme of the day....so when I saw a little sun peeking through part of the cloud cover, I quickly grabbed this shot.  It may not be as pretty as the sunshine pictures others took that day, but I got one when I thought I may need to resort to drawing a cartoon picture of sunshine, so I went with what I had available....:)
27- On the Road: After a trip to do some more antiquing with my older sis in Ohio (we reeled her into our new obsession), we stopped on the way back at Dorothy Lane Market for some yummy treats.  I got my favorite one....the Killer Brownie.  So. Good.
28- Cup: A cup of Coke from Target.  Sudoku.  A good book (not pictured).  After feeling not-so-great that day, and having to opt out of going to a birthday party, this was how I spent most of my afternoon.
29- The Last Thing I Bought: 180 Folders.  30 each in six different colors.  All for 1 penny each. Yeah, I'm a pretty savvy shopper when it comes to finding good back-to-school sales for my classroom supplies.
30- Calm: Since the temperatures have dropped to the 80's lately, I decided to sit out on my deck and read for a while on this night.  It was so calm in my neighborhood, the sky was calm, the wind was calm.....and apparently, it was the calm before the storm......because a huge storm came late that night!

July 31

31- Toothbrush:  I bought this case for my toothbrush....after watching an episode of some talk show a while back (I think it was The Doctors), I was inspired to try it.  When I heard how gross toothbrushes can get-- I mean, you're literally brushing bacteria ON your teeth when they don't get cleaned properly-- I thought, it couldn't hurt to try.  The light apparently kills the bacteria.  And of course, I don't really KNOW if it's working, but it's a whole "peace of mind" thing...and I had a ten dollar credit to use when I bought it, so it was pretty inexpensive.


And now....for those of you who want to join in this month, here's the list for August. 
Just remember....there are NO rules.  It couldn't be any simpler than that, right?!




Photo a Day lists (July and August) copied from http://fatmumslim.com.au/

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