I wanted to do a little update on my life goals I mentioned in my “New Years Resolution” post, although it’s kind of sad that was my last post. I’m rating my progress as 1, not doing anything at all and 5, I’m doing the best I can.

1. Focus on healthy eating: 2/5. While I haven’t gained any weight, I am not always making the best food choices, and the fact that I am still teetering between 5 stubborn pounds is a testament to that. Consider this a reminder that every day I continue to put junk in my body is another delay in my life goals. Says the girl who just ate an oatmeal raisin cookie.

2. Exercise every day: 1/5. I have gone through a few periods where I am exercising but lately, not so much.

3. Take care of my health: 4/5. I went for my womenly checkup, found a primary doctor and got some basic lab tests done to figure out where I’m at. I still haven’t heard back from the doctor on what the word is. I’ve been waiting for a month! It’s making me a little nervous. I do need to make a dentist appointment soon and get another quadrant of my teeth taken care of.

4. Be more consistent with my beauty and hygiene routine: 3/5. I am getting better about this. During the week I still don’t wear makeup every day, but I don’t necessarily want to either. I do need to go to bed and wake up earlier. I haven’t been too good with my skin routine though.

5. Budget, save, and be responsible: 2/5. I haven’t been that good on this one. I’ve been in on a shopping spree pretty much since the holidays, and am trying to stop but it’s just so tempting! I may have a problem….

6. Be a better human: 4/5. Always a work in progress… trying to watch my temper! I think I’ve been doing pretty good with this lately.

So that’s where I’ve been lately. I need to check in every few months to give myself a kick in the rear and stay motivated!!

Initially I was looking for a good web font replacement for one of my favorite commercial typefaces, Avenir. My search resulted with Edel Sans, which I must admit I have been using in nearly every project. I can’t help it, Edel Sans is not only a crisp, clean typeface that works with a lot of projects, it just looks fantastic on screen.

Edel Sans comes in three weights: Regular, Light and Bold.

I hope you’ll agree that Edel Sans has earned a permanent spot in your web font repertoire.

Download the free typeface at 26+.

Create your @fontface kit at Font Squirrel

Examples

Below are some live CSS examples. Feel free to use these styles in your designs.

Large Headings

CSS:

font-family:'EdelsansRegular';
font-size:28px;
color:#b46fa3;

Demo:

Lorem ipsum dolor ismet

All Caps

CSS:

font-family:'EdelsansRegular';
font-size:18px;
color:#Abc681;
background:#F6F7E4;
padding:10px;
letter-spacing:3px;
text-transform:uppercase;
line-height:21px;

Demo:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Secondary Heading with Tight Spacing

CSS:

font-family:'EdelsansRegular';
font-size:20px;
color:#98d0e8;
letter-spacing:-1px;

Demo:

Aenean Felix’s justo

Paragraph Copy

CSS:

font-family:'EdelsansRegular';
font-size:14px;
line-height:22px;

Demo:

Lipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec risus lectus, ullamcorper eu viverra in, feugiat eu metus. Praesent non iaculis eros. Aenean felis justo, interdum non vulputate a, hendrerit facilisis felis. Aliquam erat volutpat. Duis vestibulum dui nec neque commodo sit amet vehicula libero commodo. Nunc augue nulla, euismod eget viverra nec, pellentesque ac neque. Vestibulum auctor lobortis lacinia. In tempor dictum pellentesque. Integer vel metus tellus. Aenean tempus tortor sed turpis sagittis blandit. Nam ac nulla quis lorem convallis sodales ut adipiscing ante. Nulla sit amet viverra nulla. Duis pulvinar consequat enim mollis gravida. Duis nibh ante, eleifend id rutrum et, malesuada non libero. Vestibulum sed tellus hendrerit ligula lacinia facilisis.

My plan is to make some progress on my printer tray turned jewelry display, assemble the other nightstand and begin staining, and start going through and organizing all of my crap in the garage.

Printer’s Tray

I bought this tray awhile ago on Etsy. I took off the metal handle and sanded down the outside of the drawer, which was painted gray. I stained the inside an espresso black/brown to match the furniture in my room. I primed and painted the outside and middle dividers hot pink. I had a very passionate internal debate between the pink and the purple, and the pink won. I decided I’ll use the purple on another project. Basically, all I have left is another coat of paint and then seal the whole thing. After that dries, then I can drill all of the holes for the hooks with a Dremel.

Bookends & Necklace Rack

I also have some “bookends” I found at the thrift store that I have primed, and are currently waiting for a couple coats of purple paint. I think they are actually for holding a curtain rod, but I’m going to turn them upside down and use them as bookends. On the same thrift store shopping trip I also found a vintage mug rack I was planning on sanding down and staining, and hanging up in my room to hang necklaces on (brilliant, right?). I was going to try painting it pink, but I think it may cause a problem with being able to fold up after it’s painted… so I figure the stain will be safer.

Nightstand

I wrote in a post awhile ago about a pair of nightstands I was building from IKEA. My husband built one, and the second one has been sitting in the garage untouched. It’s time for me to break out the box, put it together, and stain/paint it. I’d love to have it in my room before Christmas.

Now that I’m getting used to the iPad, my iPhone is feeling terribly cramped. It’s weird to switch back and forth. I still love my iPhone, of course, for the 3G, better camera, and ultra portability (I’m not going to be lugging my wifi iPad everywhere I go), but at home and the office the iPad is awesome.

I’m still getting the hang of everything, downloading and playing with Apps. Right now I am waiting for the Jot stylus to come in so I can try out some note writing and art Apps with more precision than my fingertip. I’m sorry this is so brief… but expect to hear more from me on this subject, including more detailed app & accessory reviews.

In the meantime, I am selling some iPhone and iPad 1 cases on Zazzle with my art. Please check it out and support my shop! Below is the exact iPhone case I use, and get a ton of compliments on.

Communication, Social Media & Internet

Infinite SMS: Personally, I pay-per-text because I don’t use enough texts each month to warrant a monthly plan. To supplement, I have a Google Voice phone number that I’ve set up through this handy App. If someone starts texting a long conversation I’ll message them back through Infinite SMS and voila! No SMS charges, it all goes through your data plan. If you plan on using the Google Voice number to also supplement your minutes or to use for things such as Craigslist, then go for the official Google Voice App, but if you’re just using the texting like me, this one works great.

Skype: The best thing about Skype is the video calling right on your iPhone. It’s like FaceTime anywhere with any webcam.

Facebook: This is probably the only App I use on a daily basis, but then again I am a Facebook junkie.

IMO Instant Messenger: Log into all of your instant message accounts at once with one App. I had considered downloading all of the different IM Apps, but who wants to have 6 different IM Apps on their phone? IMO is free, and does the job.

Twitter: Tweet much? Then Twitter is a must. I am personally not huge on Twitter…but well, it’s there if I need it.

Productivity & Utilities

Dropbox: Access your files on the go with the Dropbox App.

Genius Scan: It’s a scanner in your pocket! Genius Scan is great if you want to reduce the paper clutter in your life. Snap a picture of a document, and Genius Scan will add contrast, and straighten out the image for you. You can create a “document” and add multiple images to a document to stay organized. It’s one of those Apps you might not use every day, but when you need it, it’s there.

Quick Password Manager: OK, admit it. You don’t have as great of a memory as you once had. Never fear, keep all of your passwords (or other sensitive information — credit cards, socials, etc) in one handy spot. You can import/export from a CSV in dropbox, and keep it all safe behind a password/pin of your choosing.

GroceryPal: This App allows you to sync shopping lists with other iPhone users. So if you are an iPhone family… tell your husband to pick up some milk, bread and eggs on the way home the high-tech way

Scan: The best QR scanner I’ve found (and I’ve tried a couple).

TapTyping: If you’re not used to typing on a touch screen, get this App. It will  show you some neat tips along the way to improve your iPhone typing. I can get about 33wpm…not too shabby.

BatteryDoctor: this App will tell you how much time you have left to watch video, make calls, etc. If you use it on a regular basis then it can also keep you informed on the health of your battery.

Mint: First of all, if you don’t use mint.com, you should. It’s a great way to keep on top of your finances. Once you go through the intial (albiet tedious) process of setting up all of your bank, investment, loans and credit card accounts and set up a budget, you can easily keep tabs on everything on the go with this handy app. What’s the balance in your checking account? How much have you spent this month on Groceries? Load up mint and find out. It’s just that easy.

QuickTip: Leave the guesswork out of tipping. Enter your bill total, adjust the slider to what percent tip you want to leave, and QuickTip calculates how much the tip is and the total.

Shopping

Groupon: Everybody loves Groupon right? Well it’s awesome for your phone, too. Buy and use groupons right from your phone. Easy!

LivingSocial: Same thing as Groupon.

JoAnn Fabrics: Yes, I get coupons from JoAnn’s delivered to my door every month, but I rarely keep them on me. When I actually need to get something at the store, I inevitability forget the coupon and miss out. Not anymore! JoAnn’s App will let you load up a coupon right on your phone. I am never without a coupon now!

RedLaser: Are you really getting the best deal? Scan the barcode of any product in any store, and it will tell you how much it costs at other stores in the area, and online. Find out if you are really getting the best deal and shop smart. You can also look up reviews and make sure you’re making the right choice. Never shop blind again!

Photography & Video

I have a LOT of photography and video Apps… but these are the creme-de-la-creme, cream of the crop.

Hipstamatic: Words cannot express how much I love this App. It is my “go-to” camera for everything, and I own pretty much all of the HipstaPak’s. Let’s just say that I RARELY use the built in camera App. Hipstamatic is often imitated, but never duplicated.

Instagram: I prefer instagram for sharing pictures, but you can also use it as a camera. They have different effects you can apply to your image after you take it, whereas with Hipstamatic you have to make your lens/film/flash choices before you take the photo, and the original is not saved.

SwankoLab: If you like Hipstamatic, but you want to be able to edit and tweak the photo to your hearts content, I recommend SwankoLab. You can apply different “developer” chemicals to your photo for a certain amount of time, save your combinations and post process to your hearts content. It’s fun, but it’s a bit more work than Hipstamatic. Sometimes having more options is just that… more options, more work. It’s really well-done though, cool sound effects and graphics, the whole nine yards.

8mm: This is what Hipstamatic is for video. Shoot some awesome vinette, fuzzy lined, “8mm” videos right from your iPhone!

Diptic: This App allows you to artfully compose an arrangement of photos in different grids to create cool montages.

Lifestyle

Pinterest: Although I haven’t really found a good way to share things on this App other than the built-in camera, it is good for browsing.

Occasions: If you’re anything like me, you have a difficult time remembering everyone’s special dates. Occasions will change all of that. Just make sure you put everyone’s birthdays in your contacts (I believe it will also find them on Facebook), and ta-da! There’s a list of everyone’s birthdays, and reminders built in to let you know of upcoming birthdays.

MyNetDiary: Keep track of you weight, measurements and nutrition in this handy App. It syncs online, so if you’re at the computer you can enter it in through their website.

AroundMe: Where’s the closest Target? What Restaurants are around here? AroundMe will tell you. Need I say more?

Entertainment & Music

NetFlix: This has actually come in handy more than I thought it would. I never thought I would be much for watching a movie or anything at length on a tiny screen, but it’s not bad and a good way to pass the time.

Pandora: Listen to music any time, any where.

Shazam: Never wonder who sings a song or what the song title is again.

Games

Words With Friends: This Scrabble knock-off is fun and addictive. Play with anyone who has an iOS device or on Facebook.

Bananagrams: A fun quick crossword puzzler where you have to use all of your tiles to make valid words.

Fruit Ninja: Slice flying fruit, but not bombs!

Monster Soup: Cute puzzle game — connect 3 or more similar colored monsters to clear them off the board. Let too many pass by and they become frozen. If the frozen monsters reach the bottom of the screen, game over.

Orba: Puzzle game where you have to connect 3 or more same colored orbs. Similar to bejeweled, except you don’t rotate the orbs.

Tiny Wings: Simple game where you (a bird) try to cover the most distance before the sun goes down.

Rock Band: Classic game available for the iPhone! It comes with a lot of music plus more you can unlock if you play story mode, or you can buy more songs.

ScorePad+: Great for playing games “in the flesh” such as card games, etc…instead of using a piece of paper.

Why I really want iOS5

Notifications

The primary object of my affection is the new notification system. Ever since I broke down and purchased an iPhone 4 in December 2010, the one thing that has bothered me more than anything else was the complete lack of notification history, furthermore, the only way I could obtain such a gem would be to jailbreak it, because third party apps just could not do the trick (believe me, I tried Boxcar, but it was just too slow and I’d end up getting the notifications for Facebook, on Facebook from the regular notifications before they would show up in my Boxcar feed, which made it just as pointless). It was obvious that it would just need to be integrated into the OS. Since I arrived to this conclusion, I have been patiently waiting for iOS5.

iMessage

Since the big reveal, there are a lot of other features that have caught my eye, such as being able to message between other iOS5 devices without paying for SMS charges. With the vast amount of people using the iPhone, many people I know and want to talk to would definitely benefit from this. At the moment I am using Google Voice to send SMS messages, which means if someone sends me a regular text, I generally reply with that number. That’s fine, but if I know that someone is an iOS5 user, then it would be easy for me to simple use the messaging app which requires zero thought. If you think that SMS is a gigantic rip off, you are not alone… hopefully the iPhone will pave the way with a new alternative for smartphones.

Camera & Photos

I’m also very interested in the updated camera app, this may replace my current go-to camera+. However, it would be nice to be able to change what camera app loads. In a pinch, when you really need to capture the moment, I don’t think it matters, but for Hipstamatic/Instagram/LemeLeme fans that use those Apps exclusively, it would be a nice touch. Not that we want to clutter the lock-screen too much because it would defeat the purpose.

Reminders

Having felt the dismay of wishing for better to-dos, yet complying with the universal laws of KISS (keeping it simple stupid), I’m also intrigued by the new reminder app. I like the location notification and definitely want to give that a shot. I like the idea, because it seems more intuitive then trying to estimate time. Sometimes it’s hard to tell when you’ll be ready to do something if it’s more applicable to WHERE. The catch is going to be how simple it is to set up and actually use on a daily/weekly basis.

The era of temptation

My knee-jerk reaction when I found out that I could pay someone $5.99 to activate my phone and download the update my heart skipped a few beats. My finger, poised over the mouse, ready to click “buy now” once my brain sent the appropriate response down through my arm…but I hesitated. What are the ramifications of this? What is the risk, the downside? My breaths got shorter, my finger slacked.

I’m telling you this because I really, really, really, really, REALLY wanted to get it by any means necessary (just short of paying for the $99 developer fee, though, I wasn’t quite that desperate, or hacking/pirating). So, if you’re like me and need some help talking you out of taking the jump, here are the final, albiet a little reluctant, reasons why you shouldn’t install the iOS5 Beta.

5 reasons why you shouldn’t install the iOS5 Beta

1. At the end of the day, a Beta is still a Beta, which means it’s not entirely ready for general people to use yet. There are bugs, and there could be serious ramifications including loss of data.
2. The reason why the Beta is provided is so that App developers can prepare for the upcoming iOS5 launch, which means…they are still working on their Apps. There’s a good chance that a lot of your favorite Apps might be buggy or just plain broken in iOS5. Developers need time to work out all of these issues and provide an update after the official iOS5 launch, and likewise for the Apple development team, as referenced above.
3. It’s just not right. I’m not sure about the legality of these websites selling spots on their development license, but it doesn’t sit well with me. They are clearly taking advantage of the program and making it easy and tempting for people to get their hands on iOS5 prematurely, without considering the consequences. I would feel better about it if there was a personal connection involved, such as, if you were friends with a developer, rather than turning to these schemers, but unless you are going to test Apps for said developer, then it’s still a gray area.
4. This one is mostly for myself… but in the age of instant gratification will it really kill me to wait a few months and look forward to something? Have we all forgotten that patience is a virtue? Besides, I’m actually a relatively new iPhone user, what about all of the people who have been using them since it was first debuted? Patience is a virtue. Remember that!
5. And, last but not least, just because something is out there, doesn’t mean you should do it. This is the age of technology…you can do a lot of things in very little time and end up regretting it. It’s worthwhile to do some research (hopefully, that is why you are here!), and determine if the benefits outweigh the risks.

Conclusion

That said, I am really looking forward to the update and am looking forward to the public release this fall. Hopefully that means more September than say, October or November, although I suppose I wouldn’t mind it if I got iOS5 for my birthday on Halloween

A month ago I got my hands on a printer’s drawer that I am turning into a jewelry display to hang on my wall. So far I’ve sanded it, although it could use a little more and then clean thoroughly before I paint & stain it. I am going to stain the inside with an ebony stain, and paint the outside either a plum or magenta. I bought samples of both colors, but haven’t decided which one I’m going to use. I’ll probably test paint on some cardboard and make my decision from that. Either way I’m sure the other color will get used up. I’d like to go to some thrift stores and find little totchkey’s and picture frames I could paint and use for decorations.

My nephew is turning 2 soon, and I’m thinking about making him a simple teddy bear. He has one that he takes with him everywhere, but it’s getting a little beat-up. I had started knitting a blanket for him a few weeks before he was born, but it’s still not complete. I am knitting it into 3 panels, I have almost 2 panels complete. I’ve never knitted something that big before… and I have not been very dedicated to finishing it. My second panel does not match up to the first even though I thought I counted it, and I didn’t buy all of hte yarn from the same dye lot so it looks a little strange. It really has not turned out the way I wanted, which is partly why I have not finished it. I am thinking about doing a different color for the third panel to put in the middle, that way maybe the different dye lot on the yarn won’t be as noticeable.

Of course, there’s always a part of me that wants to write. But no matter what I start, I can never finish. I feel like that is the story of my life. I am a starter, not a finisher. *big sigh*