Solar Eclipse Brunch

This sparkly rose lemonade rocks!

Way back in May, my friends and I found out there was going to be a solar eclipse (ON A WEEKEND!!) and we were pumped. The eclipse was scheduled to start around midday, and we figured the obvious choice for celebrating a celestial event was a feast. So Misa, Kim, Jesse, Isaac, and I combined forces to cook a potluck style brunch. We had tasty drinks, fried herb potatoes, tater tots, scrambled eggs, and a few different crepe options. I opted for one with fresh strawberries, bananas, and Nutella.

Everything was super delicious!

We wandered outside to relax while we waited for sun to make its progress across the sky.

 These tiny flowers caught my attention, looking all adorably fresh. 

Hummingbird joined our little group, and we gathered materials to make a pinhole camera. 

(Spoiler alert: it's a piece of paper with a hole poked in it, held away from another blank sheet of paper.)

SCIENCE!

The pinhole camera in action.

The moon is creeping in, turning the sunlight into crescents.

We had three holes in one paper, so we got a triple show! The one in the center is very faint though.

I'm required by law to make silly faces.

Ring of fire, web style.

I was in such a hurry to get back outside that I temporarily forgot how to take screenshots, and actually took a picture of my computer screen. It happened. Moving on!

It was time to play with shadows.

The altered sunlight did really cool things to the shadows of everything, but I thought the trees and their leaves looked the coolest. Almost wavy or flame-like.

 A tree shadow competes with the shadow cast by the stairs.

Shadow hands.

Behind the scenes look at creating shadow hands. Goofs. ^-^

Amazingly cool.

The universe has so many wondrous displays, and some of them are easy to miss. 

I'm very glad I got to catch this one!

I hope you find some wonder in your day, too ~

Anime : Polar Bear's Cafe (Shirokuma Cafe)

Look at his adorable little face!

I've been working through some personal stuff lately, and while it's nothing too serious - I have been feeling a little blue. Some adorable panda faces and cheesy puns sounded like just the cure. Enter Shirokuma Cafe.

I had seen a few random gifs from the show, and had no intention of watching it. It seemed fairly strange - and my list of shows to watch is already way too long. But noooo, Isaac had to have the first episode playing on his laptop, and though I tried my hardest not to pay attention... the voices and sound effects snagged my interest. By then it was too late - I was hooked. (Thanks a lot Isaac. No seriously, Thanks! ^^)

 What I had failed to realize was that in addition to all the silliness, this show is absolutely overflowing with cute.

I'm only seven episodes in, so far - but I love it! The voice acting is solid, the puns get me every time, Panda-kun's faces are insanely adorbs... but the main reason I love it so much is this guy:

Shirokuma.

He's the main source of puns in the show, also extremely adorable, and is the owner (these animals have jobs, yo) of a quiet little cafe. His sense of calm and overall chillness totally won me over. 

This show is the ultimate bad-day fixer. It's a comedy for sure, but it also has some very heart warming moments - and a subtle, underlying message of 'stay true to yourself'. If you can handle the slice-of-life style and anthropomorphic animals, you're in for a heavy dose of smiles & hahas.

I can't stop laughing at this. Panda-kun, you so crazy. ^^

Check it out!

(Images in this post came from Random Curiosity, Lemmas and Submodalites, Good Morning Lovely, and Polar Bear Cafe on Tumblr. I added the 'This Guy' text.)

Little Things in Daily Life

It seems like it's always the little things that cheer us up and get us through the day. Is it because we're stressed and want to find a deeper meaning in the simplistic, so these little things suddenly seem so much more than what they normally are? Or is it the opposite: that these things are so simple and pure that we are drawn to them, and away from the chaos of human life? I think I'm leaning toward the latter answer, though I'm sure it could go either way. 

Here's some little things keeping me happy.  :)

Catching a glimpse of a sleepy bird, all puffed up and getting warm in the sun.

Getting sneak attacked with the camera while baking tasty treats.
(Though I may not look ecstatic, never fear! Skeptical is my go-to face. Who knows why.)

Receiving flowers from a special someone - for absolutely no reason at all! Just love.



Watching the boyfriend become 'Lord of the Fire' as he attempts to master the flames. <3

Hanging out with the cat.

When the power fails and we've got no choice but to use candles... and we're excited about it!

One word : LYCHEES!

Having a compatriot for silliness.

There you have it!

A little peek at some of the little things in life that are keeping my spirits up and making me smile.

What's making you happy right now?

Adventures : Party at the End of The Universe

There was a time... in a galaxy far, far away... when my good friend Shannon celebrated her birthday - which happened to be May the 4th aka National Star Wars Day! (May the Fourth be with you. I am so behind! ) She hosted an awesome Sci-Fi themed extravaganza, and it was delightfully space-tastic.

 I was on a tight budget, so my costume was mostly in the makeup & dreads - it was time to have fun with color!

I looked to the ladies on the left for inspiration. 

Glitter brows, white dotted cheeks and striped dreads - woo!

Gatekeeper of Sector 9 from Planet Sparkle, reporting for duty.

 

The famed Swirly Foot of my people.

Kim and I have urgent business to attend to in  S P A C E !

Isaac rocked super fun glow glasses. 

Miss Birthday Girl Shannon and an awesome Leia!

Attempting Jedi mind tricks with Misa & Kim.

See you Space Cowboy...

Looking Back

Isaac recently discovered a few rolls of film that had been forgotten to time, (which always feels like finding buried treasure!) so when they got developed we enjoyed taking a peek at the past. 

The gang, being goofs - during our first trip to San Francisco!

Sunshine chill time.

Gorgeous hills.

Definitely miss having crazy-red hair.

Yumi-chan and her big green eyes.

Blasts from the past. ^-^

Happy Feet!

This week Isaac headed back to Missouri for his sister's graduation (Congratulations, Theresa!!), so it's been just us two ladies in the house. In a fit of girlishness, we decided to paint our toenails. (Fun fact: this is only the second time I've ever painted my toes. Somehow, I always forget about them.) The awesome lotus tattoos belong to Kim.

With happy colors on our feet, we're gearing up for summer. 

I can't wait!

Valentine's Day

Two glasses of tasty wine to mark the occasion. 

Valentine's Day this year (our fourth one together!) was a cozy, cute affair. 

Happy to say we were both feeling the 'let's stay in' vibe, so there was much cuddling.

  (Sweet! Cuddling is at the top of my list of favorite things - though puppies are close behind, reigning supreme at the #2 spot.)

While Isaac cooked dinner, I busted out the candles.

Dinner was quickly destroyed, but I did manage to snag a picture of dessert.

Why hello, delicious chocolate covered strawberries. 

Handmade Valentine's cards were also exchanged. ^-^

 I am not an artist, so you won't be seeing the one I made for him. However, Isaac (for realsies) is an artist, so I don't mind showing off his work, mwaha. <3

(That's a Yumi-chan inspired dragon in the background, ready to pounce. The words might not make sense since I'm not posting the personal bits, but I thought the art was wonderful. This man needs to make another webcomic soon. ) 

 We wrapped up the evening by finishing off the rest of the wine, and watching The Borrower Arrietty.

Naturally, since it was a Miyazaki film, it was awesome. (The plants alone... detail!)

And because we're incapable of not taking silly photos, here's this... 

Hope your celebration of love (for yourself / for someone special / for your pets) was great as well!