Beautiful Atlas V Launch

An Atlas V launched from Cape Canaveral last night, taking into space the next generation of NASA's relay satellites.  What made this launch particularly beautiful was the red tint of the plume due to atmospheric testing chemicals.  Read more about the mission here and see below for an awesome recap of the launch:

(top image from NASA's facebook page)

Making Progress

Over the past week I've cracked down on getting stuff done around my new place. With some help from S of course.   I have all of the tape edging up in the dining room in preparation for the black wall paint that I'm hoping to get up in the next couple of weeks.  S fixed the leaking piping that lead to the ice maker in my fridge and so I was able to turn the water to the washing machine and get about 4 loads of laundry done, including those for towels and sheets, which are now stored in their room-appropriate locations.  We broke out the drill on Sunday and installed the bookshelves in the guest room, reading lights in my bedroom, and the ever important bottle opener that my brothers got me for Hanukkah in the kitchen:

On Monday I got most of the guest room organized by emptying all of the bags of books that lined the shelf under the window (bookshelves are now full!), the wrapping paper and art supplies into the well organized shelves of my craft closet (you can see it in on the left side of the top picture. we'll see how long that lasts...), and clearing the remainder of the linens, i.e. beach towels and afghans, out of the boxes in the other guest room closet.  All I really have left to do in there is hang the curtains and a piece of artwork over the bed and I think I'll be done!  All I have left in my bedroom is the curtains as well (I finally got both curtain rods and curtains, so hopefully this will happen soon!)  Making progress! 

Love This

Tina Fey is girl power personified.  She's funny and beautiful and successful and she does it all while being completely honest (with maybe a touch of sarcasm thrown in).  She has a kick ass funny book, a tv show that fans rave about, and she and Amy Poehler nailed it when they hosted the Golden Globes (reviews here, here, and here).  Nearly everything she says is quoteable.  Is there anything this powerhouse woman can't do?  Here are some of my favorite Tina Fey-isms:

“But I think the first real change in women’s body image came when JLo turned it butt-style. That was the first time that having a large-scale situation in the back was part of mainstream American beauty. Girls wanted butts now. Men were free to admit that they had always enjoyed them. And then, what felt like moments later, boom—Beyoncé brought the leg meat. A back porch and thick muscular legs were now widely admired. And from that day forward, women embraced their diversity and realized that all shapes and sizes are beautiful. Ah ha ha. No. I’m totally messing with you. All Beyonce and JLo have done is add to the laundry list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful. Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes.”

"A couple of times I've been called on to do things -- jobs or whatever -- where I've felt, Maybe I'm not quite ready. Maybe it's a little early for this to happen to me. But the rules are so ingrained. "Say yes, and you'll figure it out afterward" has helped me to be more adventurous. It has definitely helped me be less afraid."

“Lesson learned? When people say, "You really, really must" do something, it means you don't really have to. No one ever says, "You really, really must deliver the baby during labor." When it's true, it doesn't need to be said.” 

“MAKE STATEMENTS also applies to us women: Speak in statements instead of apologetic questions. No one wants to go to a doctor who says, “I’m going to be your surgeon? I’m here to talk to you about your procedure? I was first in my class at Johns Hopkins, so?” Make statements, with your actions and your voice.”

Love her.

(image from here)

I Can Talk Again!!!

My weekend was pretty rough since the laryngitis was still in full force for most of it.  I attempted to go out and have fun on Saturday, and I was successful until eventually all of the activity caught up with me and I got a horrible headache and started feeling light-headed.  My friends told me I all of a sudden just turned white.  So I spend Saturday evening/night and most of Sunday in bed.  But the good news is by Sunday evening my voice was coming back!  It was about 80% back by my afternoon presentation today too, which was a relief.  As for the part of my weekend that I did spend out and about, here's the rundown:

We woke up Saturday morning somewhat late, but since I hadn't been feeling well we just let ourselves go along at a leisurely pace.  Around 11:30, K showed up and we all headed over to a small gathering of food trucks for "breakfast".  We all chose to eat at St. John's Fire, which was a new one for us, and oh my was it delicious!  I got the Hot & Crispy Chicken sandwich filled with what I think was a sesame breaded chicken filet, fig preserves, applewood smoked bacon, and torched brie and I also got to taste the fried crawfish mac and cheese balls - yum!  Apparently the Cajun egg roll and tex-mex fries were also quite tasty.  From there we headed out on the Houston Modern Home Tour.  After we got through 4 of the 7 houses on the list we hit up Lankford's Grocery (we've been wanting to try them for a while, but they're only open til 3pm Monday-Saturday!).  They are known for their burgers and they didn't disappoint.  I tried the classic burger with swiss and avocado and it was juicy and delicious.  S got the Wasabi burger with pineapple, red onions, and swiss as well as one of their pineapple shakes (the guy is a sucker for pineapple) and he polished it all off, so it must have been good!  After our late "lunch" we hit up our fifth and final house on the tour, which was up in the Heights, and since we were in the area we dropped in on some friends for a bit.  It was around here that the day caught up with me and I was dropped off at home before S and K headed back out for the Houston Auto Show and a birthday celebration with friends at Liberty Station.  It sounded like a really fun evening and I was bummed to miss it, but I had to listen to my body and it said "sleep!"

Here are some of the highlights from the Modern House Tour.  Our overwhelming favorite was the first home we went to, which was a classic mid-century modern ranch style with big windows, a built in bar (look on the website - it was amazing), and it even had a vintage built in television.  The top left picture is the front entry way at that house.  I loved all of it.  While we were there, we noticed a "for sale by owner open house" sign a few houses down - another mid-century ranch, so we moseyed on over there and checked that one out too - original kitchen cabinets, gorgeous stone floors, and a a built-in barbecue out back had me drooling, but when they indicated that the selling price was somewhere in the $800-900K range the glaze left my eyes pretty quickly...  From there the houses became decidedly more modern.  Very minimal, clean lines, sparse furnishings and kind of cold feeling.  We weren't totally digging them, but there were a few stand out features like free standing bathtubs (want one!!!), art work, a very cool teal bathroom with huge art, a bronze branch chandelier and a super modern sink, and a fun bar vignette just inside the entrance to a gorgeous rooftop deck.  Check out the website for more pictures too!

Have a Fun Weekend!

Number 1 thing I'm looking forward to this weekend?  Sleeping in.  This week has been a lesson in frustration.  I had six presentations this week and only had my voice for half of them.  Luckily they've all gone well, but asking someone else who is not as familiar with the charts to present the work that I did is not the best of feelings regardless.  The worst part of the week: trying to talk on the phone with no voice.  I was told I sound like someone straight out of a horror movie when I was attempting to speak on a telecom earlier today.  Not to mention that talking is probably one of the worst things I could do right now if I want my voice to come back...

So back to my original point, I desperately need to just sleep in, relax, unwind, and (hopefully) heal my throat.  Beyond that my weekend is looking pretty busy, though.  A group of us are going on a Modern House Tour tomorrow, which is home design voyeurism at it's best!  And afterwards we're going to the Houston Auto Show (because S needs to do something manly after house snooping).  I'm sure mixed in there will be some good food and the evening will likely culminate with some drinking as it is one friend's birthday weekend!

Sunday I'm hoping to get stuff done around the house.  Like maybe painting my dining room.  We'll see how that goes, as I've been somewhat lacking in productivity lately. 

What about you?  Any fun plans?

(image from here)

Interstellar Time Travel

NASA isn't just the shuttle and the International Space Station.  As I've said many times before, NASA is working on technologies that most people don't know a thing about.  They have an entire page on their website that details CURRENT missions, and the list tops out at a whopping 99!  The list of future missions isn't quite as long, but the projects listed are truly notable.  One that has gotten a lot of press in the past (it isn't exactly new news, but it's new to this blog) is the James Webb Telescope.  In fact, the James Webb Telescope will be heading to JSC in the near future for testing in our one-of-a-kind, largest in the world vacuum chamber (the same one the lunar landers were tested in!).  In the interest of showing you how NASA truly Increases the Awesome, I wanted to show you a video by my favorite vlogger detailing just how incredible this new pieces of technology will be, letting us see billions of years into our past and the formation of our universe...

(top image from here)

Shhhhhh

So I've had such a bad cough in the last couple of days (left over from the cold I had 2 WEEKS ago!), that I've once again managed to lose my voice.  Thank goodness it happened after my 3 presentations today (though those were pretty raspy).  And I'm hoping I get it back before my 2 big presentations on Friday.  Luckily the cough is starting to dissipate and that's really the only major symptom of being sick that I still have.  What is it with the cold/flu season this year?  It's a bitch.  I can barely even whisper right now, let alone talk...

(picture from here)

Good as Gold

I have a new addition to my vintage-filled home!  I can still remember the first time I saw this gorgeous, Hollywood Regency brass etagere (fancy word for shelf) in the Almeda Antique Mall in the Houston area, and I fell in love.  Problem was, it was October 2011 and I was unemployed and still living in Florida.  Bummer.  I remember going back again with my friends a number of months later and it was still there.  And I still drooled over it.  But there was no way it would fit in my tiny apartment in Webster, TX.  Bummer #2.  But now I'm in a new, bigger, awesome duplex.  It's in Houston and it has room to spare!  I was reminded of it when I spotted this "bar cart" on etsy for over $400 with shipping (looks familiar, right?), so that same day I drove over to the antique mall to see if the brass shelving unit of my dreams was still there.  To my immense surprise and delight, it was and they were only asking $350 for this huge brass and glass beauty.  I talked them down to $300 and it was mine!!!  S helped me pick it up and move into my dining room this weekend and I'm SO psyched!  Especially since I found the same shelf here and here for over $1000 and an iron and wood version here for over $1,500!!! I got mine for only $300 people!!!