7QT - new photo, tv, & 2048

1. Have you played 2048? This is the latest internet game that I found out about from xkcd.com. I've been staying up so late at night to play this game. It is completely ridiculous, but I just want to win! My highest score is just over 19,000. So if you are doing the math, yes I had enough points to get to the 2048 tile, but no, I was unable to actually do so. I am getting better at getting to the 1024 tile though, so I think the 2048 tile is within my reach.

Actually, one thing I was wondering is if this is only really addictive for mathy-type people. Are you a person who doesn't consider themselves a lover of numbers, but also finds this game addictive?

2. I bought a turtleneck! Contrary to popular belief, turtlenecks are not just for moms and children. I really really love my turtleneck, and I'm so glad I was finally able to find one. Plus it was greatly discounted since most people are now buying clothing that is appropriate for seasons other than winter. Hurrah.

3. I started writing these for last week, but never got very far. So now I'm continuing, with the hopes of having seven by friday.

4. The good news is that we won 2048! Greg and I were both playing (possibly the night after I wrote that first take) and we both reached 2048 within an hour of one another. I don't think Greg played anymore after that, and I only played a few times more. Apparently winning the game is the key to healing the addiction.

5. Dancing with the Stars started again, and I just Love watching that show. I don't know what it is, but I could watch clips of the dances on youtube for hours on end. Or at least of the good dances. If they just added some folk dancing to the mix they would achieve perfection.

6. Greg has started the rule that I am not allowed to watch more than one hour of tv per day. Apparently I just really love tv, even though I've spent most of my past 10+ years of life hardly watching any tv. I blame the change on the discovery of two things. One is dancing with the stars. Two is the fact that the only method of learning Swedish that I find enjoyable is to watch tv shows with the captions turned on. It is probably the least effective way of learning, but so far it is the only thing I don't hate doing.

7. I found myself in need of a professional profile picture (think Linked-In, which I actually never had a picture for, but now I guess I do). Getting one sooner rather than later was sort of necessary, so I had to use the tripod+remote method, rather than waiting for a time when Greg would be able to be my photographer. I did a lot of research (reading articles on the internet) about what makes a good photo. The best technique was to just look at as many Linked-In profiles as I could and decide which photos I liked and why.

Here is the final result:


My initial plan was to be looking directly at the camera, but I had seen a few photos of people looking to the side and thought they were also alright. So I tried just a few (of a hundred, literally) shots like that, and I ended up liking it best.

Once the sun was nearly set and I had a ton of options, I decided it was time to stop. So I quickly gathered up my gear and got my coat back on. Then I noticed that in the field behind me there was a pack of bunnies! I couldn't force myself to take my camera back out, I think mostly because my fingers were so cold. I had really high hopes that when I reviewed my photos on the computer I would see a series of photos that had been photobombed by bunnies, but alas, no bunnies appeared.

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The End & The Link-Up

Most beautiful Sunday

Today is the most beautiful Sunday. The skies are blue, and the air smells so sweet. After Mass I stopped for a coffee to take away and strolled to the city park. I hadn't been through it since the winter, and it is just so lovely. I found a partially shaded bench where I enjoyed my coffee and some more Anne of Green Gables. Then I meandered home by way of the University's gardens, which made me glad I was on foot due to an unfortunate flat tire on my bicycle. Last year I didn't arrive in Sweden until mid-August, so I missed all of this lovely summer weather and the lovely summer flowers.

And when no one was around, I took some quick self-timed photos by some of those lovely flowers to document and share my outfit. I'm linking up with Fine Linen & Purple and looking forward to seeing what everyone else wore on Sunday(:

A full Sunday

Good morning and happy Sunday!

This morning I woke up nicely early, which is so easy to do when there is no alarm or office to be getting to. I decided to make the most of it and went to the early Mass. I even spent two minutes to get an outfit photo before I left so that I could join the What I Wore Sunday and Sunday Best link-up parties (sidenote: yesterday I was reading Anne of Avonlea and read a line about wearing "purple and fine linen" which made me smile).

"Is it starting to rain or is the wind just blowing water off these leaves?"

Or at least most of an outfit photo. I definitely had shoes and socks on. I guess living in Vermont for five years made me comfortable with the whole shoes-socks-dress-thing, but not comfortable enough to make a permanent record of it. I wish I had documented me in my helmet, riding my bicycle off into the morning. Next time.

When I got home I made myself a ridiculously delicious white chocolate mocha, because today is not just a regular Sunday. For one thing it is Father's Day (although not in Sweden, minor detail).

Happy Father's Day to the kind of dad who will dance at my wedding even though I don't think he really likes dancing(:

This photo of me and my dad was taken one year ago, to the date actually, adding to the cause to celebrate. They say the first year of marriage is the hardest one, so I'll just go ahead and check that off the list and hope they are not lying. Hopefully they don't actually mean the first year of marriage that you spend together. So, well, it is too bad that Greg and I don't get to spend our first anniversary together, but there is major consolation in knowing that he'll be moving here in about a month. So at least there is that. Plus I feel like I have a good excuse to browse through our wedding and engagement photos(:

(photo credit to Garren for these last two)

Easter Outfit!

I'm playing along with this Easter outfit linkup. Linking my Easter outfit. I decided to forego the 2 second pause which lets me hide the little remote and just let the remote be visible in the photos. We all know I'm taking photos of myself with a remote. No need to hide it. Plus this allows for rapid fire photos which gives me so many more options of awkward photos of myself! Plus church is not until 6pm so I had plenty of time to even try on and review photos of multiple outfits. Why does clothing look differently to me if I look at myself in the mirror versus looking at a photo of me? And what if I take a photo of me looking at myself in the mirror?

Onward. These first two are from the outfit-choosing phase.

And it was decided upon, so shoes and a hat were added. Too bad I don't have an easter bonnet.

Pretty much all of my skirts are purchased only if they are delightful to contradance in, aka mighty twirly.

And is the image in the mirror actually better?

I'd argue that yes, yes it is.

:) Happy Easter all!

P.S. My friend Malory painted that orchid and mailed it to me in Sweden! Isn't she amazing?!

This is what happens the day after a really good dance

I love my folk dance class so much. And the people in that class make me happy. Last night we did a lot of engelskas which involve a lot of hopping, which is kind of a major workout. Folk dance is all sweat and smiles, apparently.



And today I woke up feeling pretty vibrant, so tomato pants happened. These things glow.

Accessorizing (in a more traditional way)

Alternately titled: A post in which Meghan wear's her husbands scarf!

It happened that my dad and step-mom sent some Christmas gifts for us. It also happened that shipping things to Sweden takes a really incredibly long time. So by the time they got here, Greg had already gone back to the States. We opened our presents via Skype. And then a few weeks later I went ahead and wore the scarf that Greg got. I decided that if I wrap it in a way that looks girly, then it won't matter that it is a man-scarf. A scarf is a really good accessory for me, mainly because I am always freezing.

Ta daa.

An outfit! And I hold a (fake) bird!

On a previous outfit post, my mom commented that the photo was made better by the little bird (a Christmas ornament she sent me, except that I didn't have a tree, so I pinned it to the wall). I was laughing about how I should pretend to hold it, and then immediately after I said that I went ahead and took this photo.



This is an example of an outfit I wore two days in a row. I've never been the type of person to wash my clothes after wearing them just once (unless I spill food on myself or get really sweaty or something). And if I like an outfit one day, chances are I will still like it the next. And I work with physicists, who would never notice or care if I wore the same outfit for a week straight (some of them do). Maybe this is more of a European mindset? I don't really know. All I know is that I wore this two days in a row. And I liked it both days.

Accessorizing

I couldn't even spell accessorizing, if that is any indication of how infrequently I utilize such a thing. But I'll tell you what I do do. I choose a mug that matches my outfit. Most of the mugs at the office are black or green Ikea mugs. There are a few exceptions, and I have one most favorite mug. It is a really nice color and shape, and it has a cute little handle. But it is a specialty mug. I'm always a little hesitant to take the specialty mugs, because they might be someone's own personal mug (although that didn't stop me from once using the mug that has a person's name on it.. desperate times require coffee, one way or another).

Anyhow, I don't use my favorite mug often, but when I do use it, I make sure it will match my outfit.



Makes for a pretty good accessory, wouldn't you agree?

Another outfit

Here is me again. Wearing clothes.

I guess when it comes to taking pictures of myself, I end up liking the least-posed ones the most. Hence the face and no attempt to hide my nifty little remote as I try to force it to communicate with my camera.

Anyhow, one day by chance I happened to wear an outfit with purple pants and a (slightly different shade of) purple scarf. (Sidenote: the scarf is a made-by-my-mom Christmas gift!) I liked the outfit of purples, so I wore it again and took this lovely picture.

These are the purple pants that I slimmed up a bit and also the purple pants that taught me my lesson in thrift store clothing.

The End!

An outfit

And now I venture into the area of blogging about clothes I sometimes wear. This is what I wore one day to work. I think it is a pretty typical outfit for me. Lots of layers (and yet I still froze). Partly I think outfits look different when you see a photo of them, so I kind of wanted to try that out.