Happy Easter!

So, my bud, JC, rose from the dead today. A few months ago, when he was born, Chaz and Jenny took us to a boxing gym to celebrate. Here's a video showing the highlights of the event. Thanks to Lex for encouraging me to finally put it together. #8: Check!

kites!

There was such beautiful, warm weather this Sunday so we went back to Shelby Farms. (interruption: Guess where we stopped for lunch on the way there???...CHIPOTLE! There's FINALLY one in Memphis! I should have taken a picture of my beautiful, bodacious burrito, haha, but back to goals...) I tell you, this park is very quickly becoming one of my favorite things about Memphis. I wish it were closer to my house! It is so great to see the dogs run, socialize, splash, and play. Here's a picture of 'Swamp Thing' right after he got out of the water:

The dogs weren't the only ones having all the fun this time though...Brian and I brought kites! Fun and random, right?! These kites have been sitting in my closet for who knows how long now, so this goal #62 is another one of these that feels great to finally do. I sure don't know why we waited so long either, because kites are awesome!! First of all, look at how beautiful this one is:

Second of all, the wind was just right so the kites just wanted to take off themselves:

...however, the winds did get a little strong:

Lastly, kites make for artsy pictures. look at this rad one by Brian:

painting pros (except I dripped on my shirt)

I live a pretty self-centered life. This was made very obvious to me after getting Turkey. Having to make "do your business" runs outside at 12, 3, & 5AM every night made it clear that life wasn't just about what Nicole wanted to do anymore. (I imagine it's 10x more intense having a child.) This was a nice reminder that I need to think more about others. Hence, #22, regular volunteering.

Saturday morning, Brian and I went to work on a Habitat for Humanity house that Hunter is helping to sponsor. It's the first Habitat community that has ever been built in Memphis, so it's exciting to be a part of it. The schedule called for a painting day, so we grabbed the brushes and rollers and got to work. Even though we had been doing a lot of painting recently on the condo project, we couldn't complain because it was a beautiful sunny day! I got to work on my tan. ;]

geo-nerd

...that's what I am, and I'm proud of it! Ahhh, geocaching...the sweetest thing since ice cream sandwiches. If you're saying to yourself, "What the heck is geocaching?" then we're probably not friends. Actually, let me restate, we may be old friends pre-09/12/08, and we just haven't hung out in awhile. (Yes, that's the date of my first cache find. No, I didn't have it memorized, I just had to look it up. :) Anyway, for those of you not in the know...grab your gps, go here, and explore this big, beautiful world! You'll thank me later.

Ok, clearly I'm passionate about geocaching, so I'm sure you could imagine my delight when I discovered that there are groups of cachers that get together to talk treasure hunting and have cache competitions! The regional club in here in Memphis is called GOWT, or Geocachers of West Tenessee. When I discovered this, I went straight to their website. I was impressed that they put together this organization for geeks like me, but I thought their logo was weak. Call me a snobby designer, but I immediately wanted to change it.

It breaks like the top 5 rules of logo design:
#1- never incorporate a stick figure.
#2- don't make miniature details that get lost when the logo is scaled down.
#3- make sure it's legible (that T about disappears).
#4- use color appropriately (don't use France's(?) flag, we're in Tennessee! ;)
#5- ok, I exaggerated a little, there's only 4.

Instead of just critiquing it, I decided I would make it goal #77 and redesign it! A couple weeks ago, I looked up some compass roses for inspiration, then started doodling one evening...

The bottom right logo seemed to be working, so I threw it in Illustrator the next day. Here's how it ended up:

I sent it to the GOWT webmaster after I finished it, but I haven't heard back. (Maybe he designed the original and was offended I was suggesting to change it?) haha, anyway, if I ever hear anything, I'll let you know what happens. :]

new specs

Checked off #18 last week. My new glasses came in the mail! My old ones were a little too librarian-ish, so I was ready for a change. Jannell tipped me off to Warby Parker, a new company trying to blow the lid off of the overpriced eyeglass industry. With every pair of cool, vintage-inspired frames that are bought, prescription lenses are included, they are shipped to you free, AND the company gives a pair to someone in need all for only $95! What else is great about W.P. is that you can virtually try-on their frames and/or they will send you 5 pair to try on before you buy...for FREE! As you can see I'm on my way to being their next spokeswoman. :] Anyway, needless to say, I had a great experience with them and would highly recommend them if you're in the market for new glasses.

May be a little too hipster for me(?), but they're super comfortable and sometimes I forget that I have them on...

Pete & Sam's

One of my favorite goals on The List is #100- check off all of the restaurants on my 'places to eat' list. Thursday night, Brian surprised me and came into town for a date night. I was randomly craving Italian and thought of going to Pete & Sam's, a Pop and Pop joint that came highly recommended. I can't say that it's my new favorite restaurant, but it did have a standout dish in its side BBQ pizza. It wasn't much bigger than a large coaster, but the flavor was ginormous. (side note- just googled ginormous and it's a real word according to merriam-webster! thought it was just a fun fake word all these years.)

From nicole's goals: 101 in 1001