Lemme Tell You a Story

I have always been opposed to Snapchat- I don't need to see what everyone is doing all day, I don't need to align my face just right so I look like a dog/deer/koala, I don't need to pretend to wear flowers in my hair, and the whole thing seemed confusing (I can message certain people? I can block people? Things disappear? What's a story?). So, I resisted. I am happy with that decision to this day. I am too old for... snapping. 

But, then my beloved Instagram came out with their Stories option (aka "Snapchat Lite") and I jumped on that train. It's fun! It's easy! I can handle it!

I take an excessive amount of pictures. Maybe it's the old yearbook teacher in my or it's because I am the daughter of a mother who had albums upon albums devoted to our families. I like to remember things. I like to look back and see what life was like at certain points. Pictures let me do that. I also have this sort of running monologue in my head of snarky comments, over-exaggerations, and short-lived excitements. Posting on Stories lets me share the more normal pictures and the thoughts (and emojis I'd never use in real life). I wish more people would stop lurking and post their own, since they're as fun to look at as make, but I'm sure it will catch on eventually (or die out, since we are a fickle people). 

The bottom line is that it's super silly, unnecessary, and fun. I'm sure some people use it for other reasons, but to me it's just a vehicle for comic relief. Just like this post. Nice and fluffy. 

Scrabble Loving

My love of word games goes back to childhood when I'd watch, and soon join, my grandparents play Upwords (think Scrabble but with the option to build up) every night either before, or after, dinner. They lived six hours away from us so it was only during visits that I experienced this, but boy is it one of those engraved childhood memories. My grandma kept score and would annotate each game with a happy or sad face, depending on how she did. My grandpa would slyly help us when we were stumped when we were super young, and the dictionary they lugged around in their camper trailer was massive. They never turned us down when we wanted to play, which was probably as young as six (although I'm sure they purposefully started lots of games when they knew we were busy, not that I can blame them). As I entered high school I was a definite contender and actually started winning games, which felt pretty great after losing for years. Unfortunately, after decades of playing together my grandparents are unable to still do so, due to my grandma's worsening dementia (which is sadly ironic, given the fact that word games are supposed to help combat  cognitive deterioration).

Over the years I've coerced people into playing Upwords and Scrabble with me, but I haven't been able to play nearly as much as I would like to. I recently downloaded the Scrabble app on my phone to play while feeding the baby and I have to say that it's required significant effort to not become addicted. In the past I've played lots of other word games, but nothing beats the simplicity of Scrabble. The only thing missing from the word game itself are the little wooden tiles that I for some reason adore. So much so that I've spent some time perusing the Internet for various things you can buy... here's a look:

[source- etsy]

[source- etsy]

[source- Apartment Therapy]

[source- Walls and Floors]

[source- Liz's Paper Loft]

[source- Kid's Space Stuff]

[source- O Sew Many Rags]

[source- Society 6]

[source- The Little House in the City via Color Me Katie]

Favorite word game? Board game?

We All Need to Laugh

I don't know about you, but I need a good laugh today. Like NEED. Not want, need. You get the picture. 

A few things that made me chuckle: 

1. The Fault in Our Stars made $48.2 million dollars last weekend. I find this ridiculously amusing. If the melodrama is anything compared to the book, then whoa.

2. I'm not sure if you knew it or not, but Rebels: City of Indra: The Story of Lex and Livia "by" Kendell and Kylie Jenner has been out for a week. It's a dystopia, so you know it's a really smartly written book, plus it's a series! There will be more! Obviously they didn't write it, but a tiny part of me would love to read it just for complete mocking purposes. 

Side note: Awesome book club idea- just read shitty celebrity books and tear them apart while getting drunk every week. Doesn't Lauren Conrad have one?

3. This:

4. John Oliver's explanation of net neutrality was really informative and hilarious (it's long, but worth it):



5. Lil Kim named her baby Royal Reign. No explanation needed.