Tag Archives for color

My current homescreen

homescreen1

homescreen2

homescreen3

I like to change up my smartphone’s homescreen pretty often because I get bored easily. Android has an endless amount of customization options, which is one of the many reasons I love it. I am always inspired when I browse My Color Screen. My setup pales in comparison to all of those but mine is still a work in progress.

What I like about my current homescreen are the icons and the widgets, but I’d like to find widgets that match the icons and minimalistic text. It feels a little mismatched at the moment. It’s also time I change up my background–I change it about once a week!

I’ve listed all the apps I’m using below. I have an HTC Evo smartphone so check to make sure these apps are all compatible with your device before downloading.

Launcher: GoLauncher EX
1. Minimalistic Text
2. GoLauncher Calendar
3. Metrostation Icon Pack
4. Feedly Widget
5. Handcent SMS Widget
6. Facebook Status Widget
7. Wallpaper

Fall spice mix

spice2

One of my favorite autumn activities is making spices. I enjoy cooking much more in the fall and winter than during the hotter seasons, so I like to try out new spices and recipes.

(On a nerdier note, it also makes me feel like an alchemist when I use my big mortar and pestle. I like to pretend I’m my Skyrim character.)

skyrim

I love the colors and textures of dried herbs and plants. I find the act of crushing peppercorns, smashing coriander and grinding sage leaves so relaxing. It feels and smells great.

Tonight I made dinner for my boyfriend and Andrew, and wanted to try something different, so I threw a spice mix together that turned out really good. I like to make spices based on themes, and I’ve been enjoying hearty, savory foods lately–lean meat, squash, green veggies, etc.. I had a bag of dried sage from a local farm, and I had a new bottle of whole black peppercorns. Both of these are strong flavors, so I wanted to balance it out with some mild flavors. I covered pork chops with this mix last night and the pepper and sage especially tasted great as a crust. This would also be good with chicken, pasta, butternut squash or cauliflower.

spice4
spice5
spice1
spice3
spice6

I got my spice jars at World Market and I love them! I tie a piece of hemp around the top just to make them look a little less industrial. You could also put the ingredients whole into a spice jar with a grinder lid. Enjoy!

One step at a time









Took a walk with Andrew yesterday to the park across the street to clear my head. It worked, for a little bit at least. Lately I’ve been living a week at a time. Once this week is over I can recenter–catch up on my NaNoWriMo project, finish some books I started reading, watch some movies, make some things I’ve been putting off. I’m looking forward to relaxing.

Stormgirl


It was a cold, blustery day here in Northern Nevada. It seemed like everyone was appreciating the visible change in season. I love when the atmosphere changes. I can feel it in my bones.

I used the coldness as an excuse to wear my favorite scarf, which marks it as the first scarf day of the year–almost as good as the day I get to pull my boots out of the back of my closet. When the sky is grey out, I tend to get up earlier so I can enjoy the cold weather. I also put my hair up in a bun and forgo wearing lots of makeup since I like the way cold air makes my skin feel.

Storms make me feel like change is on the horizon, and not just in the clouds.


Great Reno Balloon Race 2012

I’ve lived in Reno for six years (already?!) and I have never been to the annual balloon race. I’ve been close–my freshman year of college, a friend and I drove up to a nearby hill and were going to watch the balloons until I promptly fell asleep. Another year, I went to a party with some friends and ended up falling asleep around 4 a.m. But this year, I felt like it was time to just suck up being tired and check it out already.

The Glow Show starts at 5 a.m., so Andrew and I pulled ourselves out of bed at 3 a.m. to make sure we could get there and find parking. We had gotten in at 11 p.m. the night before since we were at a baseball game. Needless to say, we were pretty groggy.

But wow, it was so worth it to go. It’s one of the most whimsical things I’ve ever seen–hot air balloons alight in the dark, floating up into the sky as the sun rises, hovering over mountains. And it was interesting to me that although there were hundreds of people there, the whole thing felt very intimate–people snuggled together in blankets looking up at glowing hot air balloons. It also made me realize how quickly the sun rises. I think early morning is a special time of day but I’m never usually up that early unless I stay up all night.

gif maker

Happy birthday, Andrew!

It’s my wonderful boyfriend Andrew’s 24th birthday today! Unfortunately, I have to work today so we did a little celebrating before hand. We went to sushi, then came home and watched Doctor Who and ate ice cream cake. Tonight we’re going to a big wine tasting so we’ll still get to party. ;)

Happy birthday! I love you.

Wallpaper roundup: Stormy skies

Today was one of those Mondays where I just wanted to be outside hiking in the mountains or driving along the coast of California in the rain with a canteen full of hot chai… sigh. I’m actually having a pretty good day but I could really go for a nice rainstorm or something. I feel cooped up. So since I have to spend so much time staring at my computer screen, I decided to change things up on my desktop. Looking at great photos of nature often makes me feel calm, especially epic storms and grey skies. I know some people think it’s silly to have images of nature on a technological device, but as someone who is equally interested in both the outdoors and gadgetry, I find it’s a nice way to bring the two together.

I wrangled up a few of my favorite wallpapers that feature some epic stormy skies. They are all from http://www.wallbase.cc. Just click on the image to go straight to Wallbase and download the size that works for your computer. Enjoy!

That last one is just because I’ve been watching too much Top Gear. ;) But doesn’t that look like the coolest thing ever? Driving through the stormy mountains in an Aston Martin? Yes, please!

If you end up using one of these wallpapers, take a screenshot and send it to me! I love seeing other people’s desktops and homescreens… which reminds me that I should do another Rainmeter post here soon.

P.S. After I posted this, a friend of mine sent me a link to RainyMood.com if you need a little help creating a moody, stormy atmosphere in your office or home. ;)

San Francisco, pt. 3

I realized the other day that I totally forgot to post the rest of my pictures from my quick trip to SF last month. Here are some I took with my real camera (i.e., not my smartphone).