FREE Mini Easter Photo Sessions
Feb/100
FREE Mini Easter Photo Sessions will be held at Coco’s Cottage (1410 Main St, Daphne) from 9am - 12 pm on Saturday, March 13. Prints and image discs will be available for purchase. For more information email megwhitephotography@me.com or visit Meg White Photography.
Friday Favorite: TESTS FOR HUSBANDS & WIVES
Feb/101
I found this test on the blog Diary of a Rad Housewife. I thought it would be hilarious to actually take the test and see what we scored. My favorite part is that the scores are calculated in Demerits and Merits. Haha. Turns out, that Nik is a much better spouse than me - he turned out a Very Superior rating, and I turned out a Superior rating. Haha. I had too many demerits. 
Or maybe not enough children to score enough points. Yes, you get points for having children.
The blogger filed the post under “insanity” but the author of the test calls it the “Blueprint for Happiness.” I realize that this was from back in the day, but really??
I have just posted the first portion of the test, but you can view the rest here. Its pretty funny what you get “points” for.
The Modern Wife
Feb/104
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the modern wife. I’ve always thought about the balanced modern WOMAN and how she would look. Now that I am into my second year of being a WIFE, I’m beginning to formulate opinions of what that all entails. Society is shifting. Even my own mother’s life is not what it was when we were kids. Although my dad was the breadwinner, and she stayed at home with us, she was quite the go-getter. It seems to have multiplied now that we are out of the house. Always moving, always doing. She is an accomplished pianist with all sorts of gigs to fill up her week. Not to mention that she does hours of volunteer work and is an immaculate housekeeper and cook. My dad has always taken pride in keeping the house looking great, too. He cooks and cleans and is certainly not one to sit on the couch and be waited on. Their home is their sanctuary and their partnership and it shows. But their life is still a whirlwind.
I came across this article yesterday entitled, My So-Called Wife. The author, Sandra Tsing Loh, talks about how much home life has changed. There used to be two roles: the breadwinner and the homemaker. Now, the roles are combined and then split, with the lines being somewhat blurry. A “wife” does not carry the same connotation that it used to. The author says that she longs for the days of having a “wife.” Not that SHE wants to be one, but she does want to HAVE one - well, at least someone to take care of all the traditional wife roles. The thing that stuck out to me the most was when she pointed out that since both husband and wife are sharing roles neither get the appreciation that the individual roles used to demand. If you are working and housekeeping, and so is your spouse, its not as easy to be appreciative of what they do, since its the SAME thing you are doing: “as the Tupperware totters lopsidedly about, in the domestic equation, the work I do at home is no longer a gift, but the labor of a mediocre colleague whose performance could be better.” She calls the husband and wife duo “domestic co-laborers” and says that “the home has become increasingly invaded by the ethos of work, work, work, with twin sets of external clocks imposed on a household’s natural rhythms.” It seems like survival mode has overtaken all of us. But is that really what we WANT?
I once heard a college professor say that he thought the perfect world would consist of each parent working 20 hours a week. Together, a full-time job could be performed, money earned, children and home cared for and family time enjoyed. That sounds magical, doesn’t it? We wouldn’t have to be going 100 mph all the time. We could work, live out our passions, eat, live, socialize, rest….
I certainly don’t want to give up equality or any career dreams in the name of efficiency, but what is the BEST way to balance everything between you & your husband & 2 jobs? And, how does this environment change once a child is introduced into the chaos? Can life be more simply lived without giving up passions & dreams, while still living securely and responsibly? Can we really have it all? What do YOU think?
PS: Don’t forget to thank your significant other for what they did today - whether they went to work or cleaned up the kitchen. Appreciation can go a long way in a marriage.
Bathroom Blues
Feb/104
I hate going to the bathroom. Its so annoying. My bladder seems smaller these days (or I’m actually drinking the appropriate amount of fluids), and I hate getting up from doing something “important” to have to go pee. PLUS, the bathroom at my work is disgusting. Its probably not that bad, but it just gives me the hibbie-jibbies (sp?). AND its so much work to get a piece of TP to act as a barrier between me and the stall lock, then lay TP down on the seat, then go & get up before the premature automatic flusher goes off, then grab another piece of TP to unlock the stall door, then wash my hands for the 50th time that day, and grab an extra paper towel to shut off the faucet and open the door. Whew. Its tiring. Somedays, I just wish I was a guy.
PS: I greatly apologize for the run-on sentence.
All Things Pretty
Feb/100
I’m beginning to plan Cynthia’s (my brother’s fiance) bridal shower shower that will be held in Springfield in May. Oh, I just wish I had all the time and money in the world because I think I could do some absolutely fabulous things, stealing ideas from here, and here, and there, of course.
I have an idea of how I want the shower to feel - words that come to mind are light, airy, pretty, flowering, vintage…. This is quite different from my own wedding which I would describe as classy, elegant and BLACK. But, I am really feeling a much lighter spring time theme and am excited about how it will turn out. Plus, I am armed with my fabulous go-getter mom and the talented Becca. :)
Last night I started browsing invitations to see if I could start nailing down the main theme. Here are a few that I love, we’ll see if I end up using any of them. The first three are from Paper Source and are fill-in/printable invitations. The last four are from Wedding Paper Divas.
Unfriending
Feb/101
So, I delete Facebook friends. Excuse me, I USED to delete Facebook friends. Most of the people I’ve “unfriended” are people I hardly know and I get the urge to un-clutter my friend list and simplify. On a rare, few occasions, I will admit, I have deleted someone that I am just soooo tired of seeing on Facebook. Maybe their remarks are really annoying, or just plain ridiculous. Sometimes “hiding” this person isn’t quite enough satisfaction. I almost want to make a point by deleting them as if to say “if you are going to be so rude, we will NOT be friends on here anymore.” Considering that they don’t get notified when deleted, they would simply have to figure it out one day that they no longer had access to my page.
I did some research and found that a lot of people delete FB friends. The NY Times even wrote an article last year about Burger King offering a free burger to those who deleted 10 friends. According to the article, over 200,000 people got the axe during the promo. It was eventually cancelled, because Burger King would send notifications to those that got deleted!! Now, even I think that’s going too far.
For awhile, I thought that no one would ever notice that they were deleted. Its not like I was close with any of the ones I let go. And it is JUST FB after all. But… I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. I haven’t kept a total count, but I would go as far as saying that 90% of the people I’ve unfriended have asked me back! What are you supposed to do when that happens?! Does this make me a horrible person? No. A little insensitive? I didn’t think so, but once people started asking me back, I started to realize that it just isn’t worth deleting anyone anymore. If I really don’t know them that well, I just shouldn’t let them be my friend in the first place.
So, do you delete friends?? And if you do, why?
Disclaimer: I am pretty sure that I have never deleted any of YOU (being people that actually read this), but if on the off chance that I have, just ask me back. I’m in a sucker of a mood today.
Manic Monday
Feb/101
It seriously was such a beautiful weekend here. I spent some time doing a shoot on the bay in Fairhope, visited my favorite book store, spent time with friends, took naps, finished season 4 of Heroes, ate good food…it was great. And then today happened….
It is not even 10 am on Monday morning, and its already been a disaster of a day. Ha. First, I didn’t get out of bed in time. This is not out of the ordinary. Then I couldn’t really decide what to wear, which is pretty usual too, but still annoying. I smeared black mascara all over my freshly washed WHITE robe. Then, I realized that my flat iron wasn’t warming up. OMG! What is a girl to do when they have wavy, short hair (and live in humidity) and their flat iron isn’t working! I dug out an old curling iron to try to calm my hair down a bit. It hasn’t really worked. My hair is pretty much going everywhere. And, let’s not forget that I will have to fork out the $100+ today just to ensure a decent hair day tomorrow. So, I finally arrived to work, 40 minutes late, to discover that my work computer was not operating. I bet it got hit by lightning. We had to replace the battery back up and finally have it up and running. Did I mention that my coffee is already cold and NOT in a microwavable mug?
On a good note, I decided that my new favorite place is the Page & Palette book/art store & coffee shop. Its so cute inside AND has really great mango ice tea. I see many afternoons there in my future. I heart Fairhope (especially on beautiful, breezy days). I helps me pretend that I am on vacation.
First Friday Favorite: SEAN FLANIGAN
Feb/100
I couldn’t resist this Friday Favorite from my favorite photographer Sean Flanigan. His stuff is just so cool. I absolutely LOVE this photo. Maybe someday, Nik and I will make it to the Northwest and have him do a portrait session of us. I wonder if he can make me look this pretty.
Click here to see the rest of this session, by the talented Sean Flanigan.
Friday Favorites Begin Today!
Feb/101
Today, I decided that I would start a “Friday Favorite” section of my blog. Every Friday, I will post my most favorite thing that I’ve seen online that week. It might be a photograph, a design idea, art, an item from Etsy, a Real Simple idea, an organizational idea, a thought in faith, something from YOUR blog….the options are endless. So, stayed tuned for the very first Friday Favorite TODAY!