Favorite podcasts of 2018

With all of the walking I'm doing in preparation for my half marathon , and all of the travel that I do, I tend to listen to a lot of podcasts. I've learned that I tend to "binge" episodes, letting a few build up and then spending a couple of days listening to 4 or 5 of one, then moving on to something else. A lot of depends upon what mood I'm in, how much time I have, and what I'm doing. I've also cultivated the ones that I really like, getting rid of podcasts that started to feel like homework - I have little enough free time, why am I spending it listening to something I'm not fully enjoying?

With all of that said, on my train ride home from Philadelphia yesterday I thought "why not share my current favorite podcasts with anyone who cares to read this"? Part of it is to see if I might spark interest for someone else, but it's also in order to get things written out for myself, which is basically the point of this blog. The number of times I go back and reference something here...but I digress.

Note - I had some issues with weird HTML trying to insert in two places below and I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it, so just skip those parts. Sorry!

Pop Culture
My original podcast, the one that got me started, is Extra Hot Great. It's run by the folks who used to write the Television Without Pity website, which is now called Previously.tv. Each week they release their ~90 minute long podcast on TV. I like the 3 main hosts (and they have a great rotating list of guest hosts, 1-2 each week), I like that the podcast has a format they stick to (it's not two hours of rambling nonsense), and I often agree with their assessments of TV shows. Plus, they end each episode with a game to test TV knowledge - what's not to like about that?

A new favorite this year is I Hate It But I Love It. Run by two ladies out of Toronto, they talk each week about "pop culture you love and hate at the same time". Primarily they discuss a different movie each time, although sometimes they venture into TV (a la the episode on the entire series of Lost). A recent favorite was their discussion of Bring It On, a favorite movie of mine (and theirs too!). They also discussed the Nicholas Cage trifecta (The Rock, Face Off, and Con Air), all of which I highly recommend. God those movies are terrible - but how can you not love watching them!

Earlier this year I started listening to Still Watching from Vanity Fair as they reviewed in detail each episode of the FXX series "The Assassination of Gianni Versace". I enjoyed it because the book the show was based on was written by a Vanity Fair writer, so they had some behind the scenes knowledge that was really fascinating and helped my enjoyment of the show. Since then they've gone on to add weekly reviews of Westworld Season 2, Sharp Objects, and are now going into Fall TV. If you watch those shows I really recommend the podcast as they note all kinds of things that I do not!

Finally, I'm a recent convert to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. I like this podcast as the episodes are typically less than 30 min each, which is a good length for me. They talk about a recent movie, or tv show, sometimes books, and have a fun segment at the end called "what's making us happy" where sometimes there are things talked about I never would've heard about otherwise.
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True Crime
I went through a phase of listening to a LOT of true crime podcasts. My Favorite Murder, Real Crime Profile...and I found myself starting to feel a low level of anxiety all the time that something terrible was going to happen. Also, I found MFM to be a bit too rambly for me, and I had a lot of issues with the male host of RCP and his habit of talking over his two female cohosts. In fact, when they had an episode addressing that (because they got a lot of feedback from the audience about how dismissive he was), and he STILL continued to mansplain at them and us, I deleted the podcast. I find myself much less stressed out now!

However, there are two true crime podcasts I still really enjoy. First is The Blotter Presents, which is hosted by one of the hosts of Extra Hot Great. Each week she reviews true crime pop culture, primarily TV shows, but occasionally books and podcasts as well. It's nice for me because I do not have the time to watch all of these TV shows, but love hearing about them.

The second is Crime Writers On, hosted by a husband and wife who are also true crime authors. They are a bit more wide ranging in their discussions, talking about podcasts, tv shows, ongoing criminal investigations, documentaries, books, etc. They're a little bit rambly for me sometimes, but they do have a format they stick to which I appreciate. I've been binging them a lot lately as I got VERY behind (I'm still listening to episodes from April); from their discussions I've downloaded the first episodes of a couple of story-based podcasts that seem pretty interesting. Maybe I'll do a post on those later!

Miscellaneous
I've tried a few science/knowledge based podcasts, and couldn't really find one that I liked. I listened to Stuff You Should Know on and off but I can't fully get into it. The topics are great (the most recent episode is "What is color blindness?"), but I feel like the two hosts never quite get into the topic in the way I would like, and I really don't like one of the hosts voice. So, I deleted it.

Instead, I started listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz. which tells stories behind sounds. Each episode is typically less than 20 minutes long, and they talk about some really interesting topics. I enjoyed an episode on Cars - turns out that there's a lot that goes into having cars sound like they are "supposed to"! There was also one on movie soundtracks, why some sound are pleasant and others are irritating, and one on sounds in space. They talk to scientists which I appreciate! I'm very far behind (I'm on episode 15 and there are 50) but they go quickly and I find myself wanting to listen to the next one.
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And, finally, if you enjoy listening to someone give overall pretty good advice on relationships and/or sex problems, and you want to feel pretty happy about your own boring life, I highly recommend Savage Lovecast by Dan Savage. I pay the $35 a year for the subscription (no ads, episodes that are twice as long), and it's definitely worth it. In addition to being an advice podcast, he also interviews authors, scientists, researchers, and more. He can get pretty political at the top of the show, but that segment is normally pretty short and then he gets into listener calls. And oh boy, the calls! 

Hipstick tights

I've published previously about how much I've grown to like thigh highs, but unfortunately not all of my clothing permits thigh highs - they make for unsightly lines on a pencil skirt! And of course, I feel (like most women) that panty hose suck. They're uncomfortable, they run after about 30 seconds, they're weird colors...the list goes on.

One of my biggest issues with panty hose are the waist bands. They're always TERRIBLE. They dig in, they roll down, and frankly, they just aren't wide enough. Why can't a nice wide legging waist band be placed on top of a pair of panty hose?

Well, through a Facebook ad that I kept seeing, and I finally clicked on...I found a pair of panty hose that I actually really like. And am recommending! They're called Hipstick Tights, and I definitely recommend.

Here I am wearing them on a business trip for the first time. I've got a nice pencil skirt on (Cassie style, by LuLaRoe), and not a line to be seen!
The color works well with my skin tone (I'm pale anyway, which helps), and the material is wonderful. If you clicked onto their website, you'll see that they tout how thin and silky the material is, while still being sturdy. In fact, I appreciated that they provide their customers with instructions on how to put them on carefully to avoid runs, instead of just hoping for the best.

Here's a shot of just the tights; as mentioned above, you can see that they are pretty thin. I find that they smooth out my skin, making it look nice, while still having the look of panty hose.

And what about my main concern: a thin waistband that cuts in? Well, Hipsticks live up to what they promised. The waistband is very wide, comes up nice and high (actually at my waist, not down at my hips!), and doesn't move!

The waist band stays in place partly because it has the same bands inside that you see in thigh highs, to keep them in place.

I was worried that this would make the waist band uncomfortable, but it really didn't. More than that, after wearing them all day I barely had a mark on my waist! I did take a picture of that, but didn't quite feel comfortable enough to post that here.

The size guide on their website was very helpful; I was in between two of their options, and went with the slightly larger one, which I think was the right idea.

I also really appreciated that the owner of the company, Laura, emailed with me personally about my order!

So yes, I definitely recommend these tights. I still only have the one nude pair, but I plan to get black ones for next year.

I have a new toy!

After saving up for about two years, I finally had enough money to buy something I had been eyeing for years: the Canon 5D Mark III camera.

For me, it has been the "holy grail" of cameras - a full frame body that will provide me with greater capabilities than either my first DSLR (Canon Rebel) or my upgrade from 3 years ago (the Canon 60D). I had thought about making the jump to the Mark III at that point, but I didn't feel confident yet in my picture taking abilities - there was more for me to learn before getting to this point.

Also, the 60D was only about 1/3 the price of the Mark III, which was all I could do at that point!

So, after saving and saving (all of my photography earnings for the past couple of years went to this, minus a few small purchases I made over that time period), I finally pulled the trigger and made the purchase. Even though I knew it wouldn't impact our family, spending this much money on myself was a really hard thing to do!

But I know that I have reached the point where I need the added capabilities, and more than that, I know what to do with them. However, this camera is a lot fancier than my previous two, so I actually spent time today reading the manual to figure out how it works! Of course many features are similar to what I used to have (it's still a Canon), but others are brand new. Like this one: the ability to merge multiple exposures in camera!

Look, Henry's a ghost!

Or, to make HDR photos in camera. This is actually only one of the 3 photos that were put together to make the final HDR photo, but I liked the brightness of it, so I kept it.

Or the fact that now I can go to the maximum wide aperture that my lens will allow, and the photos aren't "mushy" as they could be in my old camera.  I took this at f/1.8 (which my 85mm lens allows), and manually focused on the eyes of the pink cat. Look how sharp they are, while everything else is a bit blurred! I tried this using my old camera at times, and the focus was never quite so tack sharp. Very exciting!

And finally, I had to figure out which lenses I have will fit this body. I knew that my prime lenses would...or so I thought. As I thought, the best prime lenses I have (50mm and 85mm, both of which are wide open to f/1.8) will fit and work great, but the 24mm f/2.8 I bought last year (which is one of my favorite lenses) does not fit. Guess I need to replace it!

The newest Tamon "telephoto" lens that I bought (18-250mm, f/4) fits and works, and so did my Tamron 17-50 f/2.8...or so I thought. Here was what I got when I looked through the view finder, and I couldn't adjust the focus at all (hence the focus actually being on the living room, not Natalie). (Photo actually courtesy of Henry, who wanted to see the circle effect.)

But it's kind of a cool effect, right? 

Anticipating that most of my lenses wouldn't fit, I did buy the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L series lens that I'd been eyeing for a long time...but unfortunately we haven't been home both times they've tried to deliver it (and I have to sign for it). Here's hoping it shows up on Monday! In the meantime, I can use my prime lenses, I know, but I want that lens!

I spent a lot of time playing with the ISO today, which allows significantly more light into the camera than my previous camera. This should allow me to use a much faster exposure during the dance rehearsals, while still capturing non-grainy photos - which means there should be no blurring, and much less editing needed! I can't wait to practice on Monday at Natalie's first rehearsal.

Sorry for geeking out on photography a bit, but for those of you who made it this far, thanks for taking the time!

In support of thigh highs

I know the ladies who are reading this are thinking "thigh highs? Is she really saying she supports the wearing of thigh highs? Those things are awful!" I know, I used to agree...but read through this and bear with me to the end. Maybe I can change your mind!

Some backstory...

While I was traveling last week, a memory popped up on my Facebook feed. It was, in fact, this post from a year ago, where I talked about a medical issue that I was going through at the time. I read back through it, and it brought back how I felt last year: in pain, frustrated, not sure that I had made the right decision...and wondering about whether I should share with people. Now that everything is done with, I'm ready to open up about what I went through.

About 18 months ago, I was diagnosed with venous insufficiency in both legs. It was pretty severe - darkened, bulgy veins on both legs in a few spots, and ultrasounds revealed a lot of backflow of blood. I was embarrassed because I thought it was an "old lady" problem: I was self conscious of how I looked, and I knew no one else my age who had gone through this. But it's a medical issue like many others, and so I'm opening up about it!

My doctor and I came up with a treatment plan, but before insurance will cover the treatments they require you to wear compression stockings for 3 months. Because some of the veins that needed to be closed were in my thighs, that meant 3 months of thigh highs. The only other solution is compression stockings permanently (without subsequent treatment)...so I decided to suck up the 3 months and then go through treatment.

The treatments were tough - it was after the first big week of treatment that I wrote that post last year. I was in a lot more pain than I anticipated, I was horribly bruised, I felt pretty terrible all over, and I was starting to wonder whether I had chosen the right path.

The photo shows how I looked after treatment number one. I'll spare you the bruising photos. The right leg was worse than the left leg anyway, at least in terms of my reaction. But see all those dark veins down on both calves? They're gone now, yay!

While the treatment did take a bit longer than we originally mapped out (I had a couple of veins that were stubborn about closing), and we ended up spending more than I anticipated (lots of copays), looking back I have to say it was ultimately the right thing for me to do. If anyone is contemplating the same, I'd be happy to talk to you about my experience.

But, before the treatments (and throughout), I began my hate-to-love relationship with thigh highs. I originally purchased 3 pairs of medical grade, prescription-only thigh highs through a medical supply company (that was in and of itself a major hassle). I purchased two pairs of nude and one black; two pairs were open toed, and one close toed (that was a mistake - I should have bought all close toed, but I made it work).

Side note: I ended up buying a lot of LulaRoe dresses and skirts last winter, which helped to provide me with a good wardrobe under which I could wear the thigh highs. In fact, I think I likely would not have purchased nearly as much LulaRoe if not for the thigh highs! 

It turned out that it wasn't a case of "wear thigh highs for 3 months and you're done." During treatments (which were scheduled twice a week for about 6 weeks), I had to wear the thigh highs consistently. You're required to wear them 3 days after treatment, as it keeps the veins from opening back up. So 3 months turned into 6 months...and then when I went in for spot treatments I had to wear them again. I also had to wear them while flying (helps to prevent clotting), and eventually I reached the point where my legs felt better when wearing them than when not.

I should also mention that as the need for thigh highs decreased as treatments wound down, I also started wearing calf sleeves. I cannot recommend these enough - when you're walking a lot, or exercising, or just standing all day. I wear them under jeans, leggings, boots, and definitely while exercising, and they make my legs feel SO much better. Get yourself a pair!

So how did I go from being horribly uncomfortable in thigh highs to promoting them, and actually somewhat enjoying the experience? The medical thigh highs come up VERY high (at least on me) - right up to the junction of my thighs to pelvis. This mean that I didn't get a "muffin top" of thigh skin at the top of the thigh highs, but instead had full leg coverage without being squeezed at the waist by panty hose. Once they had stretched out a touch (making them easier to pull on over the ankle), I really didn't mind wearing them anymore...and now I would support any lady in wearing them, certainly over regular pantyhose!

Of course, wearing 3 pairs of thigh highs nearly every day for months makes them wear out, even if they are thicker due to the compression. After the summer, I no longer had to wear them, but I had gotten used to them. And as it got colder this winter, I wanted to wear them again, but really didn't want to shell out the medical stocking price. Plus, I no longer needed the higher level of compression. So...to Amazon!

Yep, you can buy them on Amazon, and at half the price of my co-pay for the prescription ones. I ended up buying these in black, nude, and suntan. I knew they were likely to be tight due to the compression, so I bought a large to ensure that they fit around my thighs. They don't come up as high as the Jobst thigh highs did, which was a bit frustrating (as that's one of the things that I liked the most), but the black and nude pair hit at a nice place just above mid thigh and don't go anywhere. The one time I've worn the suntan pair, they wouldn't stretch up quite as high and kept rolling down as I walked (as cheaper thigh highs have done on me in the past), so I'm worried I bought the wrong size. But overall, for the price, I'm happy with what I purchased for occasional wear. It's amazing how much more comfortable I am in thigh highs now than I ever am in panty hose.

I guess the sum of all of this is: if you've tried thigh highs and didn't think they worked, or you were uncomfortable, it might be that you didn't have the right ones, or that you just didn't try for long enough. I know that the cheap Hanes thigh highs I've bought in the past were terrible; it's definitely worth spending a bit more money. And I know that if I had only worn the medical ones a few times, I would never have come around.

Ladies, I really do think that thigh highs are the answer when you need to wear stockings...and if you find ones that fit properly, they don't look half bad either.  ;) 

New makeup!

My friend Helen recently contacted me, as she's trying to increase her side business of selling Younique makeup. She knows that I wear makeup and would definitely be up for trying! So, she gave me some samples to try out last week:

Moodstruck Addiction Shadow Pallette (#3) - cool colors, including silver and purple

Moodstruck 3D fiber lashes (I was most excited about these)

Moodstruck Precision Pencil Eyeliner (in Perfect)

The first day I tried them, I hadn't really "done" my face - I mostly just wanted to see how the eye makeup worked. And holy cow, did it ever work! Here's a photo I took in my car of my eyes, both open and closed. Look at that gorgeous purple/silver color, and the lashes! I have actual eye lashes!

Applying the 3D lashes wasn't hard at all - it's just a two part step where you put on the transfer gel, and then put the 3D fibers on while the gel is still wet. They really do fill in your natural lashes nicely, and it almost looks as if I'm wearing fake lashes, in a way easier to manage system.

So the next step was to try this with more makeup for work. This meant doing up my whole face (I think you can see here that I'm actually wearing foundation, versus above). I took these photos again with my iPhone, this time in front of a white wall with natural light coming in, at the office. Once again, the silver/purple color is really nice on me, I think, and the lashes pop!

The collage below was to show how the makeup "wore" all day. The photos on the left are from the morning (including one from above), while the photo on the right is from about 7 hours later. Still have beautiful eye color, and the lashes are evident too!

So, one morning last week I thought I'd document the makeup application. Unfortunately every photo I take with my phone in my bathroom comes out with my skin rather orange, but I think you can still see the application and differences.

1) Left: no makeup (beginning)
2) Right: Loreal BB cream (primer) and Bare Minerals liquid foundation

 

3) Left: Urban Decay Bronzer and Blush applied, and some pink lip gloss
4) Right: eye shadow, liner, and mascara applied

 

5) Left: close-up of the makeup
6) Right: close-up, eyes closed to show the eye shadow and lashes

 

I really, really like these products. The eye shadow in particular is really pretty - it holds up all day, and I love the colors on me. The lashes are also pretty dramatic, especially if you add two coats (I've only done that once). I'm so happy I got to try out this makeup - I know if you live in the area Helen would help you with that too, so let me know and I can put you in touch!

Fun with Color Alive!

I don't know how many of you out there are aware of one of Crayola's newest products: Crayola Color Alive. I stumbled across this before our trip to Boston, and I don't know if I could have predicted what a huge hit this would be for the kids! And, if I'm being honest, with us grown-ups too. Honestly...this app is like magic. Real, honest to goodness magic is being done!

In case, you haven't tried it, basically the kids color the pages of the book. You should use crayons, although we discovered that in some cases markers do work too (but not all of the time). Once the page is colored, you open the free app that comes with it, hold it over the page, and this is what happens!

 

Yep, the damn thing comes to life. It flies around, when you tap on it you can make the creature do things...in summary, it's amazing. You can even save the creature so that you can open the app and pull up the creature without the coloring book present, and play with it on the floor, table - wherever! Seriously, magic.

The above dragon was the first one we did, and these were the next two. Henry colored in the 3 headed dragon, and Natalie did the flying griffin on the right.

 

One of the things I love about this is that it really stays true to the colors the kids have done. Look at all of the little blue spots all over this guy below...that's how Henry colored it!

Remember I said that marker sometimes works? He wanted to give marker a try, so I said ok. We couldn't get the first one to show up at all on the app, but this second one worked just fine. Not sure if it has something to do with the way the marker interacts with the camera/app, but either way it was nice to get the marker to work. I do like the darker colors!

This guy was a lot of fun. He floats in the water, and when you touch him, he inks, dives down, and then comes back up.

We do now have two other coloring books. I got Henry the Skylanders book (I still have no idea what Skylanders are, but they seem to be little robot creatures). He still hasn't quite finished this book, and it looks like I haven't captured any photos other than this guy.

And here are a couple that we saved from Natalie's fairy/woods book.

 

Natalie hasn't quite finished this book yet - there are tons of fairies in there, and she even let me color one :) 'll have to let them play with the app some more, save some photos, and see what other cool stuff these creatures do! I cannot recommend these books/app enough - they're great entertainment for the kids, and pretty awesome for us grownups too.

Playing with Goldieblox

This past week our daycare needed to close, due to a death in the family. Luckily I was home all week (not traveling!), so I was able to assist with the kids. Well, really, it was Henry - Natalie was at school all day, but Henry is normally at daycare in the afternoons on MWF, and there all day on Tuesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, Tuesday is the one day that Evan is completely unavailable (he's very busy with work most Tuesdays), so I took the day off and spent it with Henry. We had a really nice day together! We ran some errands, played games...it was a very fun day.

Thursday I also stayed home, but worked this time; Evan and I traded off time with the kids, while working. I spent a lot of the day with Henry, at the kitchen table, working while he played next to me. We were running out of ideas as to what to do, so I got out the Golideblox engineering kit. While the kit is Natalie's, and it was originally designed to get girls more into engineering, who says that boys can't play with it too? Henry and I had a blast making creations, and he picked up on the idea pretty quickly!

When Natalie came home from school, she wanted in on the fun, and they both quickly realized that the platform could be used as a type of steering wheel, which led to this:

It's not difficult to work next to that, now is it? Really, it was adorable, and I was so proud of them for playing so nicely with each other for at least an hour (which they did again this morning...it's so great that they can do that now!). I love watching them make up their own games and be creative together!

Good product

My friend Becky wrote on her blog about some of her favorite products she's used for her son. One of them (below) looks really great for our next kid:

The spoon is by Boon. Basically, you put a jar of baby food in the "handle" portion, and feed your child all with one thing. She said it works great (especially when out in public - way less mess), and I can't wait to try it when we have another infant.





And no, this is not my way of saying I'm pregnant - I'm NOT! But it never hurts to look for new things to make life easier with the next one.

Anyway, while I was on amazon.com looking at the above, I found another product by Boon, which we went ahead and got. It's WONDERFUL! You place it over the bath faucet; it protects the child's head in case she bumps into the faucet (which Natalie does). We had tried one from Target (a cute duck), but it didn't have any way to pull the shower pull up, so it had to be taken on & off repeatedly - highly obnoxious. So, we returned it, and as most were like that, I figured I'd not find anything good. Lo and behold, this one is perfect!

AND, the white part under the faucet causes the water to come out in a waterfall, which Natalie thinks is SUPER fun to play in (putting her toys in & out of the stream). PLUS, she lets us lay her under the stream to rinse the shampoo out of her hair! It has made rinsing her hair SO much easier (that used to be the hardest part of bath time). So, I highly recommend.