Fun Archives - Page 28 of 75

Why I Don’t Have Time to Post…

June 20, 2012/2 Comments/in Blond, Fun, Photos /by Megan

Every day I’ve been trying to fight the summertime working mom “guilt” (I hate that word, boo!) by doing some summery activity after work. I pick the kids up from daycare and then we’re off to the pool or sprinklers or baseball games or somewhere else where I can take photos of them so someday they can look back and feel like they had a good summer. Or maybe it’s so I can look back and feel like I gave them a good summer. Either way, we’re hot, tired and satisfied. Posting may be light for a while as we get our summer routine going and I wrap up some big projects at work, but I’m sure you all understand. Instead of reading, you can just get outside and soak up some sun, like we are. Just remember, SPF 50+ for us pale, freckled folk!

(You can follow me on Twitter (@Crazybananas) or Instagram (@Crazy_Bananas) for real time updates of our summer fun!)

Let’s Play 20 Questions

June 14, 2012/6 Comments/in Blond, Fun, history, Nerd Herd, Photos, Redesign, Space Camp, Study Abroad, Vintage CB /by Megan

As part of the redesign and relaunch of Crazybananas, I went back and put together a new FAQ section to answer all of your burning questions. You can thank me later. This little section can always be found by clicking the FAQ button on the left sidebar, but for today, I thought I’d feature it front and center as well.

1. What the heck does Crazybananas mean? Yeah, if I would have known when I created this site at the wise age of 21 that I’d still be doing this eight years later, I probably would have put more thought in to the name. The truth is during my senior year of college, a partner in my final journalism class and I were joking around about starting a business and we decided if we did, it would be called Crazy Bananas. Because when you’re crazy, you’re bananas. Dudes, we were hilarious. Anyway, then I basically stole the name when I created this website because I couldn’t think of anything else. He forgave me and was one of my first and most loyal readers (Hi Eric!).

{Super attractive photo of me during the early days of the blog…
ahhh college…and wood paneling.}

2. What was the first thing you wrote about on this blog? When I started Crazybananas, I was living in Florence, Italy and using the site as a platform to update friends and family on my adventures. My first post was cleverly titled “My First Entry,” and it went a little something like this:

Ciao tutto! I’m in Italy and I’m finally trying to make this web blog work. I’m not very computer literate, but I’m trying at least. Things are amazing here. This city (Florence) is great and I’ve made a lot of good friends already. I’ve also been to Roma and Cinque Terre (on the Mediteranean Sea). In a few weeks I’m heading off to Venice. OK, that’s all for now. I just wanted to see if I could make this thing work:)

Don’t be jealous of my fabulousity. (All of my posts from Italy can be found here.)

{Photo from a day trip to Venice and night photo of the Florence Duomo from Piazza Michelangelo…I did not have a great camera or any camera skills when I was 21}

3. Why have you continued blogging all these years? I’m a starter. I like to start things. Projects. TV series. Cooking experiements. Whatever. But, honestly, I’m not much of a finisher. I’m as surprised as anyone that this blog is still up and running, because usually I lose interest in things pretty quickly. I think the somewhat short answer is I really like writing here. When I started it was to talk to a few specific people and then it grew and expanded and changed. Even though my day job can be a bit mind numbing, this gave me a place to be creative, snarky and funny. I am able to be myself here. I also love that I unknowingly created a digital scrapbook of my life as a young mom. It makes me smile to know that someday my kids will read this and understand me a bit better.

4. If you had to pick between Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling and Neal Patrick Harris, who would you pick? That is an unfair and stupid question and I will not dignify it with an answer. (But if I did it would be, d. all of the above.)

5. What’s your favorite current television show? That would be a three way tie between Doctor Who, Game of Thrones and Fringe. Nerds of Earth, unite!

{Me kissing a plush Tardis on a rooftop in NYC. Nerd alert!}

6. Favorite movie? I used to say it was Shakespeare in Love because I used to be ridiculous. Now I guess I’d say Bridget Jones Diary because my love for Mark Darcy springs eternal.

7. Did you really go to Space Camp? Yes, yes I did.

When I was growing up, my dad had a grant with NASA and had several ongoing experiments on shuttle missions and on the International Space Station. I was (am) a space nerd. I went to Space Camp for two summers, during what can only be categorized as the most awkward years of my life (space nerd + puberty = oh no) and loved every minute of it. Those nerds are my people.

All of my Space Camp posts can be found here.

8. What is your favorite color? Orange.

9. Do you think you’re a good photographer? I used to say no, but now I’d say yes. Mostly because I’ve worked really hard at it and also because with age I have grown vain and obnoixous.

10. What kind of camera do you use? I have a few: A Canon Digital Rebel XT for still photos (example), the Sony Cybershot is my little point and shoot (example), a Kodak Playsport HD Video Camera for motion (example), an old Diana F+ for film (example) and my iPhone for everything in between (example). I also use Photoshop CS5, Illustrator CS5 and InDesign CS5 to edit photos and put together layouts / image spreads. For iPhone photos I use several apps to edit images. A few favorites are Instagram, PicFrame, Best Camera, TiltShiftGen and Mill Colour. I also like the Shake It Photo app because it makes that awesome Polaroid sound when you take a picture. (For a recent roundup of my favorite camera apps, click here.)

{Smile!!! Seriously, dude. Smile.}

11. Which member of The Babysitters’ Club are you most like and why? I guess I’d say Claudia, because I desperately want to be able to pull off earrings made of beaded feathers. I used to want to be Dawn, but we all know I’d never make it as a vegan. I also had a few years of thinking I was Mary Ann, but that was mostly due to my ongoing crush on Logan Bruno.

12. If I were to meet you in person, what should I do to get your attention? HUGGGZZZ!!! Just kidding, don’t touch me. I don’t like to be touched. I guess you could just yell my name. Or, if we want to start a super secret society, you could give me the code word. I suppose I should make up a code word then, huh? Okay, the code word is “tardis.” If you don’t know what that means, please don’t bother trying to join my super secret society because we’re very exclusive and don’t want your kind of trash around.

(You’re not trash. I promise. I love you! Hugs!)

13. What’s your sign? Virgo. Not joking. Totally a virgo. Me and Cameron Diaz. We rule!

14. I’m visiting Kansas City, what should I do while I’m there? Okay, first of all, you’re gonna need to eat some BBQ inside a gas station. Other than that, check out the Kansas City section for more ideas! Thanks for visiting! You look cute in those boots!

15. How do you balance everything?! Hahahahaha. Ha. I don’t balance anything, but I try very, very hard. I think the most important thing is to try and be a present as possible. When I’m at work or putting together materials for a client, I do my best to just get it done. When I’m with my kids I do my best to enjoy every second of it. I’m a huge proponent of To Do lists and keeping journals/scratch pads around so when I get an idea, I can jot it down quickly and then get on with whatever I’m doing, instead of letting my mind wander.

{Me, generally, working moming it.}

16. If you could give a younger you some advice, what would it be? Do what makes you happy, not what you think you should do to make everyone else happy. Explore your creativity. It’s there, even if you doubt it. The friends you think are amazing, really are amazing. The ones you think are a little off? They are batshit insane and you should stay as far away from them as possible. You will be an incredible mom. Drink more water. Wear SPF 100+. Try macaroons, you’ll love them. You’re prettier than you think you are, so stop telling yourself otherwise. Don’t worry that you’re too old to watch television shows made for teens, because someday you’ll be thirty and you’ll still be doing it. It’s because you’re awesome.

17. You’re kidding about your love of Britney Spears, right? That girl is crazy. If you ever speak of B. Spears in that way I will cut you. Not kidding. My love for B. Spears is non negotiable. How’s that for crazy? (Bananas.) (Yeah, I just did that. You’re welcome.)

18. Do you plan on selling any of your artwork or photos? Yes, I do! Plans are in the works and I’ll keep you all updated as I know more.

19. Do you do sponsored posts or reviews? I do! If you’d like to sponsor Crazybananas or have me do a review of your product, please shoot me over an email at megan [at] crazybananas [dot] com. But beware, if your pitch sucks, I reserve the right to respond to your request with a photo of Wil Wheaton collating paper.

20. How can I contact you? You can email me at megan [at] crazybananas [dot] com or you can find me all over the web at my About Me page.

{Trust me, you totally do.}

iPhone-ography

June 6, 2012/9 Comments/in Fun, Photos /by Megan

Anyone who knows me knows how in love I am with my iPhone. Honestly, it’s a little ridiculous. One of my favorite parts of having this magic machine in my hands has to be the camera. On our recent trip to NYC, I brought my big ole’ monster camera and lens, but I never even took it out of our hotel room. I have found that I tend to take better pictures with the iPhone for a ton of reasons.

1. I’m unobtrusive: We all know I’m a fake photographer. I can capture a good shot now and then, but I have no idea what I’m doing. The technical side is hard for me, and if I find myself getting caught up in settings, I can miss the moments that are really special to capture. With the iPhone, I just point and shoot. No one needs to know what I’m doing, so I can photograph special moments without interrupting. This is especially important with two little ones who hate my camera.

2. I’m always camera ready: No matter where I am or what I’m doing, I almost always have my phone with me. This makes it much easier to capture real images, and is less stressful, since I don’t have to lug my huge camera bag everywhere. Imagine if I’d had the iPhone 4S when we did the NYC + KC project!

3. It’s about the apps, dude: I’m a camera app junkie (send help or iTunes gift cards!), which is no surprise since I’m a Photoshop junkie. I love transforming images into something more. Just taking a simple snapshot and evoking some emotion via a simple color palette change. And what are my favorite apps? I’m glad you asked!

Snapseed
Snapseed is an app you can use for the iPhone, iPad or even on your Mac computer and it works a lot like Photoshop or Lightroom. You can change sharpness, brightness or ambiance, and you can even add texture if you’d like. This app also has some full image actions, but I tend to like the simple tweeks a lot better. (Costs $4.99)

Instagram
Instagram is by far my most used camera app, mostly because it’s not only an app to edit images, but an entire social media network. I have friends that refuse to have anything to do with Twitter or Facebook, but love Instagram. I even have friends who stay in touch with family via Instagram, sharing little shots of their day with loved ones. For me, Instagram is a social tool that just happens to have image editing capability as well. In fact, I rarely use Instagram filters on their own, usually combining images that have been edited elsewhere and then posting them to Instagram for the social aspect. But I would highly recommend Instagram for newbie iPhone-ographers, and for anyone who loves to share their images. (Costs $0.00…yup, it’s free!)

PicFrame
PicFrame is my favorite app for putting images together in collage form. You can use this app to take several different images and split them up into pretty much any composition you’d like. You can also edit the images within PicFrame, which is a really nice addition.

Hipstamatic
This is actually an app I used quite a bit with the old iPhone (circa 2009), but I have recently rediscovered it with my new 4S. With Hipstamatic, you can choose from multiple lenses, film treatments, flashes, etc. and when you find the combo that works for you, it’s just magic. (Costs $1.99)

Lumie
Lumie is an app that adds super-fun light patterns to your photos. You can choose from a ton of different patterns, some that are subtle and some that are a little crazy (hello disco ball), and it adds a whole new dimension of whimsy to your images. It’s one that can get pretty cheesy if it’s over-used, but in the right moment, it’s perfect. (Costs $1.99)

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What do you think? Are any of you app junkies? What are your favorites? Should we create a support group? I’ll bring the doughnuts!

New York City Wrap Up

June 1, 2012/2 Comments/in Fun, Happiness, Photos /by Megan

Instead of my normal weekend roundup/Instagram photos of the week, today I figured I’d post a wrap up of our fun Memorial Day weekend in New York City. Trent and his business partner were amazing enough to treat us to this trip to celebrate the five year anniversary of the start of their company. I was so happy to be included and to be really appreciated. As many spouses of entrepreneurs probably know, the time and money required to start and cultivate a successful business it can be very stressful on a family and marriage, so the point of this trip was to take some time out to celebrate everything the four of us have done to make this adventure work.

On to the fun! The basis of this trip for me was relaxation. This was the first time I had left the kids (save my girls trip in 2010, but I was pregnant, so I’m not counting it) and the first time Trent and I had been away together alone since New Years Eve of 2005. That is quite a long time. Ahem. Although NYC can be crazy, we knew we wanted to keep the trip fun and easy, so we really didn’t make too many plans. Since we have family in the area, we have been to the city several times over the last few years, which meant we didn’t feel any pressure to do anything touristy or “fit it all in” to our four day trip. Here is our day by day schedule of incredible-ness! Hopefully you will try out some of the same things on your next trip to NYC!

Day 1
We flew in to Newark and had a bit of a delay, so we ended up having dinner around Grand Central Station at a place called Naples 45 Ristorante e Pizzeria. It was perfect and just what we needed after a long day of travel. We then took a pedicab to Times Square, where we kissed and pretended it was New Years Eve because we are awesome. We ended up heading to the multi-story AMC Theater and seeing The Avengers in 3D, and then walked back to our hotel at 2 a.m. high on Twizzlers and life.

Day 2
On Saturday, I got this crazy idea to walk from our hotel at 38th and Park Avenue to Brooklyn. Yes, walk. I know. I’m a crazy person. But it was one of the best ideas ever. I strolled around the city with no time table or agenda, slowly making my way to my best friend and her family, who were waiting for me on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. I saw so many amazing parts of the city. I haven’t really spent time alone with my own thoughts in years, so this four and a half hour walk felt more like meditation to me. It was one of the most memorable parts of the trip.

{Numbered Items Above: 1. Walking along the East River and past the Williamsburg Bridge // 2. STOP // 3. People watching at Stuyvesant Square // 4. Chinatown // 5. Columbus Park // 6. Skater at Columbus Park // 7. Me on the riverwalk // 8. New York City Courthouse // 9. Street vendor faire}

I met Theresa and her family at Brooklyn Bridge Park, where I finally was able to snuggle her new baby, Miss Lena Mae! It was so lovely to see them, and after lunch we played in the park before a rain storm soaked us. Even that was fun though, as it provided for some fantastic photo ops (nerd alert!). I love this family so much, and it was incredible to see them as parents. Hooray for Jonathon and Theresa!

After I took the subway back to Manhattan, I met up with Trent and we headed out to meet Mikayla and Heath for dinner (Trent and Heath spent the day at the Chelsea Piers driving range, while Mikayla relaxed at her hotel’s incredible pool). We had dinner at Tribeca Churrascaria, a Brazillian place where we got to hear Mikayla speak some Portugese and the boys stuffed themselves silly with all sorts of delicious meats.

Day 3
On Sunday we slept in until 11. Don’t judge, it was amazing. Then we headed out to see my first Broadway play (life list, ahoy!), Newsies, which is based on one of Mikayla and I’s favorite movies. While waiting for the rest of the gang to arrive, Trent and I somehow found ourselves in a comic book store where we bought so much ridiculous stuff, including a plush Tardis. Yes, a PLUSH TARDIS! And it gets all “timey wimey” when you press the button on top. You can laugh, but when we stepped into a bar before the play to grab a quick drink, another Doctor Who fan who also happened to be a waiter came over and we had quite the convo about the Who-verse. He also informed me that there is a Doctor Who bar in Brooklyn. So if any of you are in Brooklyn, go there!

The play was amazing, full of cute boys spinning in newsboy caps. The plot was changed a bit from the movie, so that was a fun surprise, and Mikayla and I had a hard time not singing along to every word.

After the play we headed (on our earlier bartender’s recommendation) to 230 Fifth, a rooftop bar that is situated right between the Chrystler Building and the Empire State Building, with amazing views. While there, we presented the boys with some congratulatory gifts and hilarious cards of thanks from their business associates. Then we headed out to the fanciest dinner ever at Del Friscos near Rockefeller Plaza. The food was incredible, the wine was delicious, and our waiter was an actor who was on 30 Rock last year. Oh, New York, I love you.

We said goodbye to our friends and walked home in the rain, which I highly recommend. Nothing like long walks with the twinkly city lights to make you remember why you married someone in the first place.

Note: You married them because they make you laugh.

Day 4
Our last day in the city was fairly laid back. After sleeping in for what might be the last time for the next six years, we headed to the Metropolitan Museum to spend the afternoon. I had never been, so I was pretty enthralled with all the exhibits, but I especially loved the sculptures and Greek art. Trent was a huge fan of the Medieval displays.

After that, Trent headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit and I walked down to Bryant Park, where I read and sipped wine at the Bryant Park Cafe. Trent met me for dinner and ice cream, then we stopped at a few souvenir shops to pick up some gifts for friends and family.

That is pretty much it! I have to say, it was a wonderful trip all around, and I came home rested and so, so happy. Hooray for NYC!

(Sidenote: Our hotel was the Kimpton at 70 Park Avenue and I couldn’t recommend it more! It was reasonably priced for the city and close to everything. We could get to most of the NYC hotspots on foot within 20 minutes. It’s a bit small [H & M stayed at the Dream Hotel in the Meatpacking District which is HUGE and amazing!], but the Kimpton had everything we needed for our little stay.)

I Heart KC – Fairies at Powell Gardens

May 30, 2012/7 Comments/in Fun, Kansas City, Photos /by Megan

Lulu is obsessed with fairies. And let’s face it, when you’re a feminist mom with a kid who loves all things princess and Disney, you’ll take fairies any day. So when we heard from our fabulous friends over at Petit Soul that Powell Gardens was creating a summer experience called “Fairy Houses and Forts,” we were all over it.

The premise of this year’s display is life-sized fairy houses that kids can explore and enjoy. There was a big pink tee-pee, an “ice house” made of clear material and even a pirate ship. Each fairy house or fort had a story that you could read to learn all about the house and the fairies that lived there. Lulu was in heaven.

We were lucky enough to snag tickets to the sneak peek night, where several of the designers of the fairy houses were on hand and there were tons of extra activities for kids. Powell Gardens is usually only open until 6 p.m., so it was a real treat to be able to be in the park after dark. In fact, our cars were the last ones in the parking lot when we left around 9:30! Yup, we were pretty tired, but it was worth it.

Along with the fairy homes to explore, on this particular night they had s’mores stops along the walking trail, where kids could pick up a baggie filled with s’mores supplies and cook them right there. When you’re a kid, is there anything better than s’mores? Heck, I’m almost 30 and I think s’mores are awesome!

Inside the main building there was also a display of mini fairy houses, which were so detailed and incredible. We were in such a rush when we got there to get to the big fairy houses, we almost missed this display. Luckily we found it on the way out, and the girls ran all around trying to find the hidden fairy dwellings nestled into the greenery.

I have to give a super big thanks to the Petit Soul crew, who not only informed us of this fun event, but hung out with me and my crazy munchins on a Friday night, which also happened to be Ben’s birthday. Happy belated birthday, Ben! And check out Nicole’s camera! She shot a bunch of film (yes, film!) and I can’t wait to see what she ends up with. (You can see some film shots Nicole took of our family last fall here and here.)

Finally, and on a totally random note, can I once again pronounce how much I love the iPhone? I brought my big camera, but since I was on solo kid duty, I never had a chance to bust it out. Every photo for this post was taken on the iPhone….just bananas. Every parent needs to get one.

The Powell Gardens Fairy Houses and Forts installation will be available for viewing now thru October 7. Powell Gardens is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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