True Life: I'm Deaf

I have been a huge fan of MTV 's True Life series, partly because it first aired in 1998 when I was the same age as the subjects in the documentaries, and also because they touch on really interesting topics.  10 years later and I will still catch an episode and watch it when flipping through the channels.  Yesterday I happened to catch True Life: I'm Deaf, and it was one of the best episodes ever!  The one kid, 16-year old Chris, was born deaf but decided to get a cochlear implant.  There is a scene where they turn the implant on in the doctor's office and Chris hears for the first time ever.  It was so emotional, I cried!  He hears his mother's voice for the first time and all kinds of ambient sounds that we all take for granted.  It is amazing to watch his expressions as he is discovering new sounds. Very inspiring and makes you rethink what you're doing in your own life.

Water for Elephants

This book was more HYPED up than what it was worth for me. Every time I went to amazon.com and searched for a book, they were like "Do you want to order Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen with that?" Well, not really but I had seen it on the internet many times with raving reviews. I get how the story is unique: the setting is behind the scenes at a 1930's Ringling Bros. type circus. But if you are an animal lover like I am, you will grimace and put the book down for a minute at the animal abuse that goes on against the exotic animals in the circus. I understand that's what went on back then, but it is hard to read. That being said, I am glad I read it because it is one of those books where you will always remember the characters and take it with you. Now onto the next book, any suggestions?

[picture source]

*sidenote: when I was searching for an image I came across this blog, Foreword, a weblog community in the service of book design, books, art, photography and design. Very cool, although it seems to have stopped being updated since December '07.

Wedding Shower NYC Invite Design

My friend Gina is getting married soon and her maid of honor emailed me in desperate need of help in designing her wedding shower invitations. I helped her out and it got me to design something creative, which I haven't done for a while. Here was their idea:

Since he proposed to her in NYC, the invites are modeled after a NYC subway Metro Card.

Her colors were an antique purple and ivory so this is what I came up with:

Front

Back

The very bottom blurred line is the address of the location of the shower. I think they came out well and the bride loved them so that's all that matters.

Free Products!!!!

Last week, a FedEx box was waiting at my doorstep. What could it be? I didn't order anything. I open it up and low and behold, it's a Glamour bag full of full size products! I literally squealed! I signed up to try to "win" a bag full of products from CVS and Glamour magazine by seeing people talk about it on a message board on slickdeals.net, a site I sometimes check out for free samples or deals. All you had to do was buy a product from CVS from a list of products and mail in the receipt to this address in New York. After a month passed, I chalked it up as a dead offer, but I actually got it!

Here's what was in it (Note: All the products were hand selected by the editors of Glamour):

Essence of Beauty Body Mist 5.1 oz
John Frieda Clear Shine 6.5 oz
Essence of Beauty Deluxe Beauty Set (3 brushes for foundation,concealer, etc)
Essence of Beauty Shower Gel 8.5 oz
Skin Effects Sunscreen Lotion 4 oz
Biore Triple Action Astringent 8.5 oz
Curel Deep Penetrating Foot Cream 3.5 oz
Biore Blemish Fighting Ice Cleanser 6.7 oz

From what I have used already, I can say that the brushes are amazing, I have used them every day. The body mist and shower gel are a great smelling fig flavor, love those. I was just about to buy face wash and astringent so the Biore stuff came in handy. I tried the John Frieda Clear Shine hair gloss this morning and have found no difference so that was a dud. I haven't tried the sunscreen or the foot cream yet. I think I outdid myself this time with winning some free stuff!