2011 June | whoorl

Green

June 10, 2011

Take a look around your room. Peek in your closet. Does a certain color rule the roost? Green has long been my favorite color, but I’ve definitely noticed a trend over the past decade. Most of my big ticket, beads-of-sweat-forming-on-the-brow-as-I-pull-out-my-wallet purchases have been in the bright grassy green shade that I love so much. Color trends may come and go, but I know many of these items will be with me for the long haul. Nothing makes me happier than a pop of bright green to liven up an outfit or a living space.

Eames Aluminum Chair in Apple. This was my wedding gift to D, but somehow became MY desk chair. Happy marriage, honey!

J. Crew Silk-Cashmere Wrap

Clare Vivier Bando Bucket Bag in Moss

Earrings from a million years ago

Kenneth Jay Lane ring found on Gilt

Kate Spade Continental Wallet in Vine

Painting D found in a Santa Fe flea market long ago

Vintage green and navy fabric used on a bedroom chair

Jonathan Adler pillow

Room and Board Madrid Chair (with the infamous Cheerios)

Do you have a favorite color when it comes to your home, clothing, and/or accessories? Is it the same color across the board or do you like different colors for different facets of your lifestyle? I love orange, bright yellow, and green for home accents and accessories, but find myself gravitating towards rosy pink, navy, and muted neutrals for clothing. What say you? I neeeeeed to know!

COMMENTS (26)

The Happiest (Scariest) Place on Earth

June 8, 2011

With summer rapidly approaching and our annual passes about to enter the dreaded blackout period, I decided yesterday was the perfect day for Wito and I to spend some mother/son time at Disneyland. We did our usual half-day route – Autopia, train, popcorn, Toontown, corndog, Autopia – but decided to step our ol’ routine up a notch. While walking through Tomorrowland, Wito informed me that since he was 4 and THREE-QUARTERS, he was ready to tackle Space Mountain.

This truly caught me off guard because Wito, just like his mother, is not really into new and/or foreign experiences without major planning (and discussion) beforehand. We like to be prepared, you see. This inherited trait coupled with his general abhorrence of loud noises and freaky darkness had me a little worried, but hey! Type B+ mom is in effect! LET’S DO THIS, KID.

While we snaked through the line, Wito seemed to be perfectly fine with the darkness, lights, noises, and was quite enamored with the gigantic rocket hanging from the ceiling. As he boarded our rocket with a huge smile on his face and a death grip on my hand, I said a little prayer that he please not lose his ever-loving mind.

I’m pretty sure this depicts someone internally losing their ever-loving mind. Crouched in near fetal position while gripping my forearm and hand with every ounce of his strength, the kid might have been a little caught off guard. Yep. He’s scarred for life. Space Mountain therapy, here we come.

However, I can’t stop laughing at this photo. For one, please take a gander at the joy in everyone else’s face. WHEEEEEEE! Space Mountain is the GREATEST! And then look at me, fighting a little known force called GRAVITY (do you see those tendons and muscles in my neck? ) in an attempt to convince him that this ride is FUN and WE’RE FLYING THROUGH SPACE and DID I MENTION FUN, WITO? WHEEEEEE! Uh, wheeeeee? I think I may have heard him repeatedly pleading for the ride to end, but who knows with all that whooshing and flying and whiplash going on. (Speaking of whiplash, I can’t move today, thanks to Wito’s not-so-great Autopia steering skills.)

As we pulled to a stop and disembarked, he was uncharacteristically silent. We walked up the exit ramp, and I tentatively asked him what he thought. He paused, looked at me, and said, “THAT WAS THE GREATEST RIDE EVER! LET’S GO AGAIN RIGHT NOW!!! Well, there you have it. My little boy is growing up.

COMMENTS (15)

Whoorl’s iPhone Battery Tips

June 6, 2011

Hey, frustrated people of the world! Is your iPhone battery sucking wind lately? Do you wake up, unplug your fully-charged iPhone from the charger, only to have it dead as a doornail by 3pm? Are you nodding your heads out there? Can I share a tip or two? Great!

You see, I spent some time at the Genius Bar this weekend learning the ins and outs of why my damn iPhone needed to be charged twice a day. Please to enjoy our conversation.

Apple Genius (donning chunky black glasses and a handlebar mustache, OBVIOUSLY): What seems to be the problem?

Whoorl: My iphone battery must be very, very ill. It only lasts like, 5-6 hours or something before dying.

Apple Genius: Do you use it a lot?

Whoorl: No. Maybe like an hour total? You know, checking emails here and there…I rarely talk on the phone…so, yeah, not too much.

Apple Genius: Let’s run a diagnostic on your phone. Okay, it looks like your battery is holding a charge properly. Let’s take a look at your usage. You said you only use it occasionally? Hmm…it looks like you used it for 9 hours and 56 minutes yesterday.

Whoorl: (prolonged awkward pause) Huh. Innnnteresting. I guess I use it more than I thought?

Apple Genius: It happens all the time.

End scene.

However, Handlebar Genius stuck around to explain how I MYSELF wasn’t utilizing the phone for over 9 hours, but the settings were making my phone work all the time, forcing the battery to drain. So! Let’s talk about that for awhile.

1) EMAIL SETTINGS - This is huge. HUGE. Ridonkulous as it might seem, I have 5 email accounts, and receive around 200-300 emails a day. Personal emails, PR pitches, Hair Thursday stuff, work stuff, sale alerts, spam…I mean, the stuff adds up fast. Before this weekend, I had my iPhone set to automatically check for emails quite regularly (Settings->Mail->Fetch New Data->Every 15 Minutes), so every 15 minutes, my phone would check and push all of the new emails from the server onto my phone. When you are receiving a large amount of emails per day, this can be extremely draining on the battery. Handlebar G had me change my setting to “Manually,” so now emails only push to my phone when I open my Mail.

2) SUPER DRAINING APPS – Three words for you. Words With Friends. This is one of the fastest ways to drain your battery fast. Handlebar G told me it was one of the worst apps out there in regards to battery drainage. There’s not really much you can do to change this, and Lord knows I’m not quitting my Scrabble addiction anytime soon, but it’s good to know. Also, don’t forget about kids’ apps! I neglected to factor Wito’s iPhone time into the mix.

3) SCREEN BRIGHTNESS – Unless you are working outside in bright sunlight, the screen brightness on your iPhone should be set somewhere around 40-45%. Like so:

Armed with this new knowledge, I made my way into the world a new woman. BUT DID IT WORK, YOU ASK?

Yes! Unequivocally YES! For the past few days, I have started out the day with a fully charged iPhone, gone about my normal iPhone business (checking emails, a few phone calls, Instagram, and other random apps throughout the day) and my iPhone battery has still been at 60-70% over 12 hours later. I’m totally shocked at how the email settings played such a huge part in the battery life.

There you have it, folks. The more you know. (You might need to click the play button below to experience the full effect.)

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COMMENTS (9)

Cars 2 Mania

June 2, 2011

Wito is captivated by Cars. Sure, most kids go through phases of adoring certain toys or movies, but this Cars phase has now lasted over two years. 700+ days, not that I’m counting or anything.

Cars consumes this boy, and as you can guess, we have amassed an enormous amount of little diecast cars from the movie. It’s truly the best money I’ve ever spent, though, because he has played with the cars on a daily basis since he turned three. I even possess the photographic evidence to prove it.

Just shy of three years old. (Look at those precious cheeks!)

A few new cars for Christmas 2009.

Still loving them in 2010, banged-up paint jobs and all.

Meeting Lightning McQueen for the first time.

He played with the cars during our short stint in the mold box,

But was super happy when he found their true home at our current house.

Hanging out with his buddies again at the ripe old age of four.

Even branching out into Cars pajamas and stickers.

And still happy as a clam this week, a few months shy of five years old.

THE BOY LOVES HIS CARS. No doubt about it. Now, I’m not sure if you’ve heard but Cars 2 is being released on June 24th. If you were a friend of Wito, you would most definitely know this information since it has been spewing out of his mouth at 2-hour intervals since the date was announced late last year. (And I adore how he says, “The Cars 2 movie is coming out on June 24!” Not June twenty-fourth, June twenty-four.)

We are very excited over here. Checking the Cars 2 website for new characters and games is one of our favorite things to do right now, and I swear, the boy is about to implode since he knows we are less than a month out.

A few weeks ago, the Cars 2 diecast cars were released in stores, and this mom was on a mission.

Target. Sunday, 8:10 am.

I think I was the only customer in the store. (Which was mighty fine with this mild enochlophobe.)

Okay, are you ready? I am giving you full permission to mock me endlessly. This is what I had in my hand.

It’s a Cars 2 Buying Matrix Checklist. I WAS CONSULTING A CARS 2 BUYING MATRIX CHECKLIST. BWAHAHAAAAAAAA, WHAT HAS BECOME OF MY LIFE? Wait, don’t answer that. (Obviously, this was BEFORE I decided to work on being a laid back, B+ mom. Ahem.)

The things we will do for our kids. However, I must admit, it’s kind of nice knowing that his August birthday and Christmas gifts have been taken care of by May. Now I just need a place to hide all of this stuff.

I guess this is just a very long-winded way of telling you that we can’t wait to see the Cars 2 movie. CAN’T WAIT. I can’t wait to watch his eyes light up when the movie starts, can’t wait to hear his expert analysis afterwards, can’t wait for it all.

Wito seems to think that if we make the short drive up to the LA premiere on June 18th, they’ll let us in because Lightning McQueen is “one of his good friends.” So if you hear about a mother and son attempting to sneak into the Cars 2 premiere, well, my son made me do it. The things we do for our kids, right?