Christmas 2011 Wish List

I have been getting a lot of questions from people as to what to get me and/or Dave for Christmas. So like last year, I decided the best thing to do is to make a wish list.

Dave’s Wish List:
The Book of Cain
Diablo Archive
Archer TV series (Season 1, 2 and/or 3)
Bob’s Burgers TV Series
Movies: Bon Cop bad Cop, Hanna
Sin War Trilogy eBooks (Google eBooks; #1, #2, #3)
Gift Cards: Google eBooks, EB Games, Future Shop, Amazon, etc.

Steph’s Wish List:
Once again, I have broken it down into Camera and non-Camera related items.

Camera Wish List:
4’ wide white paper background;
8’ wide white, black or grey paper backgrounds
~4’x6’ piece of high quality black velour fabric
Bowen's softboxes
Radio trigger system (compatible with Bowen's 400 lights & Nikon D3s camera)
Bowen's battery pack
AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens
AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 G ED Lens
AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED Lens
AF Fisheye-Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D Lens
Photo paper (Epson Premium Photo Paper [4+ stars], 8 1/2"x11")
Computer ink (for the Epson Artisan 800 all-in-one printer - code 98)
small white/gold reflector (maximum 10" or so but folds smaller - example).
Photo Books (Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop, HDR Photography Photo Workshop, Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers; A Professional image editor’s guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC, Photo Recipes Live: Behind the Scenes: Your Guide to Today’s Most Popular Lighting Techniques)
Variable Neutral Density Filter, 77mm
Lens Cap Strap Holder, 77mm
Handy-Dandy Camera Strap

Everything Else Wishlist:
gift cards (Ricki's, Henry's, thecamerastore.com, Amazon, Lululemon, Photojojo)
picture frames (8x10 or larger, compilation frames);
Movies (Gnomeo and Juliet, Winnie-the-Pooh Movie, The Little Mermaid, Life After People, Sandra Bullock/Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts/Drew Barrymore movies)
TV Series (Being Erica, Powerpuff Girls, Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed)
National Geographic Magazine Slipcases for Years 2008 onwards
Nikon Lens Mug
Time Lapse Camera
OPI Nail Polish (you can find a list of colours I already have here. There aren’t many specific colours I want, but I would like the Natural Nail Strengthener, Any colour of Shatter, A bright orange colour, pastel pink, traditional bright red, pastel green, a plain white, a light grey colour, a taupe like colour, a true black colour, anything from the Femme de Cirque Line)
OPI nail polish case like the one below:

For any of the books, movies or TV series listed in my list above, you can find them in my Amazon Wish List.

My list seems (and is) much longer than Dave’s but once you widdle out the thing that people are not going to buy me (like the very expensive camera lenses and lighting equipment), it isn’t that big.

A Colourful Addiction

I love OPI nail polish!! I have a hard time going to any of the stores that sell it here in Ottawa and not buying multiple colours. But since ‘I’ decided that I have a lot of OPI nail polish, I figured I should put a hold on buying it for myself. So to be able to still get some kind of a fix for the stuff, I decided to blog about it. Originally I wanted to take some studio shots of my nail polish to go with this blog post, but those will have to wait as right now I just don’t have the time.

 

Painting my nails is one of the few ‘girly’ things I do. I think it is fun and it also helps me from biting/picking my nails – which is pretty awesome for the times I want to grow them out.

 

The below table outlines the name and general description of the OPI polishes I have to date (and yes, there is a spreadsheet that this was copied from).

 

OPI Name	General Description
Top Coat	N/A
Natural Nail Base Coat	N/A
Kyoto Pearl	a Sheen-like White
Give Me the Moon	Iridescent Light Purple
A Grape Fit	Medium Purple
Honk if you Love OPI	Dark Purple
Suzi Says Feng Shui	Medium Blue
Yoga-ta Get this Blue	Dark Sparkly Blue
Jade is the New Black	Medium Green
Steady as she Rose	Light Rose/Pink
Suzi & the Lifeguard	Medium-light Sparkly Pink
My Address is ‘Hollywood’	Medium Sparkly Pink
Bogata Blackberry	Dark Sparkly Burgundy
Malaga Wine	Dark Burgundy
Teenage Dreams	Glitter Pink

New Stuff Part II

A couple months back Dave and I went on a shopping spree. Below is the car packed full of our purchases for the day:

I got a new bike, we both got new shows and other sporting goods and we spent some money at Future Shop/Best Buy and of course, we stopped by Henry’s as well. Dropped a great deal of money, but on useful things that did not go unused in the months since then.

This shopping spree reminded me of an earlier post that discussed my love of getting new things. It is one of my more materialistic tendencies that I don’t really mind to be honest.

SPARKLES!!

Seriously these are the most awesome sparkly heels I have seen in real life. I would have bought them but really couldn’t think of a place to wear them or a reason to even own them. If one comes to me in the next few weeks I will go and get them from the Shoe Company.

I’m Back!!!

I know it has been a while, but I am back now. I am spending most of the rest of this afternoon sitting by an open window, enjoying the fresh air, my backyard garden and the sunlight while I blog away. In other words, there should be regular posts for the next month or so despite how busy I will likely be.

 

What have I been busy with you ask? Well for those of you who don’t already know, Dave and I have been advancing our lives a fair bit lately. We are obviously planning our wedding which is very time consuming despite the fact that we are planning a wedding that is well over a year away. We have also signed up at Goodlife gym and gotten ourselves personal trainers (to learn more about this, check out my health blog, The Road to a Better Me – it too is getting updated today). We also made one of the biggest purchases we will ever make…we bought a house. I will create more specific posts about each of these things later, but for now I think this is enough to understand just how busy our personal lives have been lately. Oh, and I am also planning a baby shower for my sister-in-law with my mom which has taken a little bit of work as well (invitations, ideas, gift shopping, etc), though to be honest, this one wasn’t as much work as the others. In fact it was quite fun to send out invitations and look at baby things.

How-To Tuesday: Make An Elf Ranger Costume

Last year I blogged about Dave’s Kisame Costume and it seems to be a rather popular post, though this may just be because it is based on a character from a fairly popular anime series. Either way, Halloween is coming up and being a big fan of the holiday I decided that I would do another Costume How-To.

My costume this year is more-or-less the same as last year, an Elf Ranger. I created the cape in a similar fashion to Dave’s Kisame cape by using the Simplicity pattern 5840. I made it using a heavy green material. I purchased a gold tassle for the hood and a wooden button to hold it shut (the loop was made with gold cording). I sewed gold cording around all the edges (around the cuffs, bottom edge, front opening and around the hood) and gold ribbon around the chest for added detail.

I got elf ears from a costume shop here in Ottawa, Malabar, and after gluing them on I put cover-up/concealer over them and my ears to blend the two together a bit better. (the trick to the ears is not where to buy them or how to get them on, but rather getting them off at the end of the night. It was a true ordeal last year that was incredibly uncomfortable, but apparently not too bad as I am wearing them again this year.) I

wore black yoga pants and a black shirt. I would have liked some sort of dark brown vest with a slot for a knife, but couldn’t find anything and ran out of time to make it myself.
For a bow, I actually used Dave’s bow but brought no arrows to the party as it is an actual weapon and that mixed with alcohol could have resulted in some very bad things.
I will be wearing the same costume this year but with the addition of

fantastic brown boots I purchased from Town Show at a discounted price recently. I may even get around to finding/making the vest I wanted last year.
Perhaps this year I will actually get around to taking some photos of me in my costume…but I wouldn’t place any bets on that.

Out for Delivery

Whenever I buy something online, I spend the next little while tracking it. It becomes a daily event that must be performed. Eventually the little tracker tells me that my purchase it Out for Delivery and this makes me very happy - at first.
Most of my purchases are too large to stick in either our door slot or the little mailbox we stuck to the door to prevent magazines getting wrecked when being jammed through the aforementioned door slot. They therefore end up getting dropped off at either a Post Office inside the nearest Quickie or Shoppers Drug Mart. When this happens I can't get them for another whole day which is just pure torture. My purchases came so close to my house, and because I had to be at work, to earn the money to buy them in the first place, they leave my home and sit at the Post Office where I cannot get them until the next day.
My latest Amazon purchase is now Out for Delivery and I know it won't fit in the mailbox.

Ontario, CA

Despite Chris' direct order about the previous post, I checked on my packages in EBay again. Turns out one of them has an active UPS tracking number - so I of course checked that out and was a little confused by the results.

You see, the above image is a screenshot of the tracking info UPS provided to me and it appears my package started in US then went to Ontario and then back to LA. At first glance, I though it had come to Ontario (Canada) and then went back to LA - 'why would it do this?' I asked myself. I then realized that it went to Ontario, CA, US not Ontario, Canada. But you can see how I would get confused right?!

Waiting for EBay

I purchased a number of items from EBay last week and have recently been told that they have all shipped. I am now in waiting mode where I check EBay, the mailbox and tracking sites for the location of my items. Unfortunately this regular checking does not seem to be speeding any of them up. Anyone know how to make them go faster?

Boxing Day

Every year when I was little I would go Boxing Day shopping with my mom. We usually waited until later in the day as to avoid as much as the crowds as possible and we normally just bought Christmas stuff for next year (cards, ornaments, etc.). Last year was the first year we faced the crowds and actually got to a store before it opened, though this part was not actually planned. Dave and I bought our name brand 32" TV and GPS unit for the car as well as the traditional Christmas stuff. It was very pleasant.
This year we waited until the stores were open before we headed out of my parents' house. Upon arriving at the store, we realized that the Christmas stuff had been almost completely bought out and though we were able to get a tree skirt for out Christmas tree, we weren't able to get anything else 'Christmas-y'. Dave bought some stuff from Future Shop and I looked into some Bamboo stuff, but didn't buy anything as it wasn't on sale and I need to think about it a little longer. It was definitely a much lower key Boxing Day as compared to last year.

All I Want for Christmas...

...is well, everything. I have compiled a list of wants for this Christmas season. As usual, I don't distribute this list anywhere but here, and don't intend to actual receive really any of the gifts from the Dream List, but I think it is fun to make and it helps me determine what I will want to buy myself throughout the next year.


Dream List

1. Nikon SB-800 flash unit;
2. Macro lens;
3. Nikon 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.5D lens;
4. Nikon SC-29 flash cord;
5. Adobe CS4;
6. Bamboo tablet (pen and touch, 5"x7" or larger);
7. External hard drive (with viewing screen);
8. Small chest freezer;
9. Kitchenaid toaster;
10. Winter coat (sport, detachable layers, water resistant); and,
11. Winter boots (work boot style).

Rational List

1. Photography portfolio (I believe this is coming from Dave's sister - yay!);
2. Photography reflector (white/gold);
3. Epson photo paper (8"x10" - cheapest is at Canada Computer in Ottawa [near Costco]);
4. Cirque tickets & Disney Vacation (this would be part of the dream list, but Dave and I already know it is coming from his parents - how awesome is that!);
5. Gift cards (Sears [I need capri pants for Florida], Ricki's, Reitmans, Bluenotes, Cappucci hair salon [in Ottawa], Henry's, Future Shop/Best Buy); and
6. Money is always useful.

As you can see, many of the things I want, both in dream world and the rational world, are photography based. I am pretty sure those of you who know me, or read this blog regularly could have guessed that be the case.

Force Trainer

I saw this the other day while I was shopping on the Zellers website. I think it is weird and yet I want to figure out how it works.

One Minute Writer #48

Write about a time you purchased something "on a whim". How did you feel about it later?

I usually think out my purchases. In fact, I usually think them out far too much. But every once in a while I will buy something "on a whim". The last thing I can remember that I bought like this would be the complete series of Buffy.

I had wanted this DVD collection for quite some time but could never rationalize it (not that I ever really did). One day Dave and I were talking and I decided that I wanted it so I got it. A few days later it arrived in the mail and it was beautiful. Dave and I watched the incredibly geeky series over the next few months, it took longer than I thought it would as we would get distracted with other seasons of shows and random activities that would come up. I do not regret buying it at all, it was something I wanted and could afford, and I got it.

New Stuff

In the Sims 3 the people enjoy it when they get new stuff and get a mood booster for a couple of Sim hours. It is a nice little booster because all you have to do is buy them something new and make sure they are around when you purchase it.
I bring this up because this past weekend Dave and I purchased new clothes and a shiny, new fan for the living room. Shortly after the fan was put together, I realized that I too get a mood booster of sorts just after I have purchased a new item. I love the actual act of purchasing things and then the later acts of assembling or arraning/organizing the new item and of course just the simple act of knowing I own something now that I didn't before. It is very materialistic of me, but I can be quite materialistic. But, unlike the Sims, it does not have to be the very best item for me to be pleased with my purchase - I tend to be just as delighted about an item from the dollar store as one from a more expensive name brand store. I just love new stuff.

Peaceful Weekends

Dave and I spent this past weekend as we spend most of our weekends, peacefully enjoying what little time off we get. We usually have grand plans of cleaning the house or doing something active but never really get around to either, which doesn't bother me one bit. We do laundry, watch movies, play video games (mostly PS3 for Dave and computer games for me) and make better food then we do on the weekdays. We do get out of the house at least once every weekend, sometimes this means shopping and other times it is a to visit a museum, walk around the neighbourhood or simply hanging out with friends.
We enjoy our quiet life and low-key activities, unlike most people our age who would find the things we do, or do not do, rather boring and uneventful.

Postman II

I picked up the packages on Friday – they were both mine. I got my two filter sets and my 70-300mm camera lens – both fantastic and exactly as they were described online, though the lens box was a little beat up. Unfortunately though, Dave’s parcel did not come and he was a little sad that he didn’t have a new toy to play with like I did. Hopefully the notice will come today, although that still means we would have to wait until tomorrow to get it and to make matters worse for him, he would have to wait until I was done work to go pick it up since it is in my name. I guess that is the downside to us both using my EBay account – although it does get us more reputation stars faster.

The Postman

Dave and I spent some significant time on EBay last weekend and bought a few things for ourselves. Yesterday we finally got a notice that Canada Post tried to deliver some things to our house. Unfortunately we can’t pick them up until today after 11am, which basically means I have to get them on the way home from work today. I am really excited to see which items came. I hope they are as great as the seemed to be online.

Almost Time

When I did my dailychecks of websites and whatnot I realized that it is almost time to start packing for London. Usually I pack way in advance to make sure I don't forget anything, so I normally would have started by now. But this time I have been trying to wait as long as possible in an attempt to not get too excited, since it is such a big trip and one I have been waiting to come for as long as I can really remember. When I got my luggage for Christmas I really wanted to start packing right then so instead I put all my clothes that I had brought home with me for the holiday in as if I was going somewhere (loserish I know but it distracted me from London packing). Chris and I are going shopping tonight and tomorrow Dad is coming up to do some research at the Library and Archives of Canada so that will distract me those nights, but I have a feeling that after the laundry is done on Sunday, most of it is going to get packed in my suitcase instead of put away in the closet and dressers. Oh well, packing a week early isn't too much is it?

Chris just sent me this link: http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcounter.html?month=1&day=15&year=2008&hour=4pm&min=&sec=&p0=188 it is a count-down (more accurate than my little one) until London, assuming we head to the bus station here at 4 (to catch the 5 o'clock bus to Trudeau airport)

13 Tiny Chrises

This weekend Chris came over again - we went to Mountain Equipment Coop where I bought a crapload of stuff including adapters for electrical outlets, a travel pillow (so soft) and other such travel thingies for London. I also bought myself a nalgene which I love and will drink from all the time now. We then went to the Rideau centre where Chris bought a bandeau dress from American Apparel which can be worn 15 different ways. This picture is thirteen of those ways as two of them were skirts and we didn't have a matching top to the dress and so we left them out (Dave helped us put them together into this collage this morning). We had pizza and talked all night long until I was worn out so I went to bed. Today we have been playing with the pictures uploading them everywhere! We also sent in some pictures to the american apparel and this amateur photography thing they have up there - which I thought was really neat and everyone should check it out. So much fun.

Working Out

So my parents loaned me the money to buy an elliptical machine for myself last year (which they later told me I didn't have to pay back) and I have been using it SO much lately. I go on it every day after work for at least 20 minutes and then more so on the weekends. I am so proud of myself for being so good about it (particularly lately). I also just bought a bunch of new DVDs from Amazon.ca because I found that I do them more when they are new and interesting and since you can get them pretty cheap it doesn't really cost that much to get new ones like once a year or so. They won't be coming until next week though and I want them now to be able to do them on the weekend when I have the time and energy to do so.
My pedometer stopped counting recently and I therefore had to buy new batteries for it and so I am waiting for those too which sucks because I got so used to having it on me all the time and now I don't know how many steps I have taken - I am lost!!! Oh whatever will I do.