instagram snaps now streaming on le blog.

Psssstt…. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, but my Instagram feed is now streaming to the blog.

Your Insta-what?? Huh? Well, Mom, Dad, Vicky, Meme… I take pictures on my iPhone for this social media thing called Instagram. My friends can see my pictures and comments – and now you can, too!

Most of these pictures don’t make it to the blog, so consider them and their corresponding captions a little bonus. Just clicky clicky those lil square pictures on the right-hand side of the blog and voila.

And if you're on the gram and wanna follow along there, my snaps are at @teribockting and Ting is @dancendan

as you gear up for the weekend...

...keep this in mind.

easy enough, right?

my technology wish.

I wish that all my emails, push notifications and alerts would talk to each other.

For example, when I get a lovely comment on my Facebook wall, I get a notification to my phone, my email and the little comment thing in Facebook has a red number. Yes yes, I realize that I could change my settings to get notified in only one place, but that's not the point. What I wish is that if I checked one of them, it would tell the rest of my communication channels that I've seen the comment and all the other notifications can go away, be marked as read, etc. Don't you agree?

With technology advancing as fast as it is, it probably won't be long before this dream of mine is a reality. Pretty soon, all of our technological lives will be joined, communicating and one crazy trippy world.

wedding soaked brain.

I sometimes forget that not everyone is a 20-something girl who's really into weddings and blogs. I falsely assume that everyone knows what an "inspiration board" is and what the latest trends in party planning are.

I'm currently in the midst of planning my best friend's bridal shower and bachelorette party. The best part is that everyone loves Colby and wants to help. Together with her mom, sister and grandma, we've divided and conquered the list of shower to-do's in an effort to host the best event possible for our Colbs. The event is this weekend (eeek!) in Dana Point, California and I couldn't be more excited. We started our DIY projects months ago and are ready to go. I wish it was tomorrow!

Thinking back to the beginning of the planning, I realize how insane I probably looked. Unlike me and my girlfriends, these women (a mom, a college student and a grandma) haven't logged insane amounts of internet hours looking at StyleMePretty, GreenWeddingShoes, HostessWithTheMostess, Pinterest and other inspiring blogs. I immediately bombarded them with our "inspiration board," because everyone knows what an inspiration board is, right? Here's ours for the bridal shower...

I immediately started talking to the planning crew about certain types of chairs, linens, games and oh, we're not going to do x, y and z because they're totally overplayed but we're going to do a, b and c because these trends are fresh and new.

Whoops! Calm down, psycho. What do you call a brideszilla bridesmaid? Yikes.

It was a bit of a learning for us all, but we've honestly had an absolute blast planning and getting creative! Colby's mom's background in interior design has been really helpful. Since we're all in different states, there have been tons of excited emails, phone calls and text messages. A lot. I was away from my phone for a while and came back to this screen from Colby's mom, Susan. Totally awesome.

After we nailed down the final date and location, we immediately got started on the invitations. I collaborated with Lydia, the owner of Paper Joy a local paper boutique, who had helped me bring mine and Danny's wedding invitations and programs to life. During one of our meetings years ago, I saw a boxed bridal shower invitation and fell in love with it. I thought a little box verses and envelope was such a fun idea - it's like getting a little present in the mail!  For years, I've kept this idea in the back of my mind for one of Colby's wedding events and I'm so happy with how they turned out.

{all packaged up and ready for the post office}

Lately, many of my nights and weekends have been dedicated to bridal shower crafts - and I'm loving every minute of it. It's such a fun creative release for me. I can't wait to see everything come together this weekend! 

I'd love to share more, but one of the best parts is that Colby knows almost nothing about this event except for the location and color scheme - yellow, gray, white and black - so there are lots of surprises coming her way! 

a pretty penny.

there's not much you can do with just one penny these days. when checking out with a bunch of tulips today, the clerk told me that putting a penny in the bottom of the vase would help the tulips stand up better. something about the copper. have you heard of that? i hadn't, but we're giving it a whirl. any other flower tips?

where does the time go?

When you have a blog, it's much easier to answer that question...

Well folks, it's been a year since the Tale of Two Tings started. Hard to believe, huh? I toyed with the idea of blogging for months before I decided to take the plunge. I'm so glad I did. The response from our  friends and family has been overwhelmingly positive and I love having a digital diary of our life. There have been so many times we've gone back to the blog to clarify something, confirm the timing of an event, etc.

While it's fun to document and share the fun stuff, one of the things I've loved most about having this blog is the support we've received when we've needed it most. Each time I opened up about bad days or tough times, sweet messages flooded in with people supporting us and thanking me for sharing. Very shortly after the blog launched, Miss Sydney got sick and we chronicled her journey. Without the blog, I think her battle and death would have been even harder than it was. The Tale of Two Tings kept our friends and family in the know and the outpouring of support via email, text, blog comments and calls was incredible.

If you've thought about writing a blog but haven't done it yet, do it. Sure, it's a little nerve wracking at first. You worry about the inevitable typos, being public about your life, wondering if anyone will actually care or read what you put out into the universe... but it's all worth it. Make your blog what you want it to be. Promote it as much or as little as you want. It's a wonderful creative outlet and it's all yours. There are no deadlines and no approval process. The best part is that it's a great way to document this crazy thing called life and it serves as a wonderful reminder of all the good things we have to be thankful for.

So, thanks for reading. Thanks for your kind comments and thanks for following along.

xx,
Teri (& Ting)

p.s. If you're not an official follower, I'd love for you to take a second and subscribe. And if you are a follower, don't be shy. It's fun to hear your feedback and know who's reading.

{photo taken in 2008 by my big brother at taylor design & photography}

quote of the day.

this quote has been floating around and i really like it.

enjoy your weekend.



hooray, another bloggin' friend.

I'm so excited to see more and more friends taking the blog plunge. The latest friend is Carlye! Like me (and so many of us), Carlye has friends and family spread throughout the country - and world - and realizes a blog is a great way to keep everyone close. 

Welcome to the blogosphere, Car! I hope you enjoy writing it as much as we'll all enjoy reading and staying up-to-date with your wonderful Dallas life as a Mann (her married name).

Head on over to Carlye's blog "Life as a Mann" at http://www.carlyemann.blogspot.com/.

{carlye and jeremy at our wedding. september 2009 in rancho santa fe, california}



i won clean veggies.

Well, not really. But, I did just win a giveaway on Healthy Bitch Daily's blog that will help make sure my veggies are pesticide and debris free. After reading this article on Healthy Bitch Daily (also below), I was inpsired to enter to win the Clean Kitchen Kit - and I actually won! Not gonna lie, kinda excited to use it.

Here's my winning comment featured on the homepage of Healthy Bitch Daily. Whoop Whoop! Winning!

If you don't already, I suggest all you ladies subscribe for the daily email newsletter. It's filled with good stuff.

convertible carpoolers.

We've been forced to go green this week. Last night, I went to leave the office and my car wouldn't start. Danny came downtown to check things out and determined its my fuel pump or something like that. So, Sylvia (nickname for my silver car) is spending the next few nights in my office parking garage until her new parts arrive and Danny can install them. In the meantime, we're carpoolers... the convertible kind! Over the weekend, Ting took the lid off his car to enjoy the springtime temperatures. I thought I'd hate it - but I didn't mind it at all. We had the Cut Copy blasting and it was a pretty fun way to kick off the day.



just a walk in the park.

our little family enjoying a sunday stroll through the neighborhood. this was probably one of the last cold and crisp weekends we'll have in phoenix (which is fine by me). i'm officially ready for spring. 

p.s. how cute is hunter's shadow? love it.

have a wonderful day

back to the future.

I recently bumped into this photography project and I'm obsessed. Photographer Irina Werning is inviting people to reenact their childhood photos for her "Back to the Future" collection. How fun are these?

monday-friday. this is real life.

My company is switching things up this year. We have a new GM, new paint on the walls, new creative being displayed and everyone at the agency is moving offices and cubicles this week.

Before purging and packing my cube, I thought it was only appropriate to take some photos of where I've spent the vast majority my life the past 3.3 years. I did some calculations and that's more than 6,000 hours in this very spot... facing a brown wall. That number doesn't include weekends, holidays or vacation time. This is absolutely a place worth documenting if you ask me. Danny agreed and decided to document his work space as well. He's been with his company since June 2004 - 6.5 years - double my numbers of days & hours.

So for our memories and your viewing pleasure, here's a glimpse into mine and Danny's Monday through Friday life. After all, this blog is supposed to capture our real life... and well folks, work is real life.

...teri's nine to five reality...

{my drive into the office. palm lane}

{my office building. i'm on the 18th floor}

{view from the conference rooms. i love looking out at camelback mountain}

{that's camelback mountain on the far right. see it?}

{we're in advertising & pr. those are creative ideas, taglines, etc. on the walls. yes, we actually do this}

{my totally awesome corner office cubical}

{random collection of knick knacks, frames, pictures and gifted things}

{just another day in the office...}

{note: pretty much always in headphones}

 

the end. adios cube. nice working with ya. it's been real.

...danny's monday - friday digs... 

{sunset view of the camelback corridor}

{you know you're cool when your name is in frosted glass on your office}

{that's a really awesome nerdy headpiece, danny}

{making deals happen}

{my personal favorite... i think he thought this was a magazine cover shoot}

photo credit: kayman wong

{this reinforces my "we're all lab rats" theory - don't get me started.}

{nerdy dual computer screens. notice - zero photos of the wife}

Now you can visualize us when you call and email during the day! My girlfriends and I played this game a while ago and it was pretty fun. Everyone snapped a quick photo of their workspace and emailed it to the group. I love being able to visualize people in their real spaces. 

red & white blooms.

My husband recently came home from work with a very tall bouquet of flowers. I surprised Danny when I instantly said, "Oh! You got gladiolas!" How do you know stuff like that, he asked? Ha. Little did he know I grew up with gladiolas in the garden. My mom always kept a very lush vegetable and flower garden that was filled with award winning gladiolas.

They just started to bloom and are perfect for this month... red and white. They're a nice addition to our only Valentine's Day themed decoration that hangs on the front door.



obsessed with facebook.

I love trivia snapshots and little factoids like this. Especially when I can relate to so much of it. Can you?

Source: “Signs of a Growing Facebook Obsession,” Jezebel, 1.13.11

http://jezebel.com/5732846/signs-of-a-growing-facebook-obsession



his & hers nerds.

he has a Macbook Air with a woodgrain apple.

she has a Macbook Pro with a hot pink apple. 

we're a nerdy Mac family that's not very good at sharing.

his previous Macbook sticker was a set of headphones over the apple. 

{both stickers were purchased on Etsy... woodgrain here and pink one here.}

quarantine.

Thank goodness for dogs. When everyone else had exiled me to quarantine in the back bedroom this weekend, I could count on my little man for a cuddle. It's amazing how dogs truly make you feel better. I haven't been that miserable in a long time and Huntie was willing to stick it out with me (I'm feeling much better).

I got nervous about getting Hunter sick so I tried looking up the truth and myths about humans and dogs sharing germs. I didn't find anything solid but the pounding in my head only tolerated a minute of internet searching. I did see that dogs can be sneaky carrier of strep which they do pass to humans. Interesting.

{my lovely red nose. ouch}