Monday, July 28, 2008

Map Schmap

A few months ago, I got an email from a company called Schmapthat said that they liked one of my pictures from my trip to Philadelphia last year, and they wanted to include it in their online guide. Today I got confirmation that they are including one of my photos in their Betsy Ross House informaiton. Check it out: Betsy Ross House http://www.schmap.com/philadelphia/sights_oldcity/p=45467/i=45467_21.jpg

I had never heard of Schmap before this, but it seems like a fun trip planning website. They are also considering another one of my photos from St. Louis (now that's an old picture, from 2002). They got my photos from my Flickr page, which I don't put too much personal stuff on. Actually, if you think about, its a really cheap way for Schmap to get free web traffic. They contact me about my photo, and I pass the information on to you. Ingenious, really.

If you'd like to walk down memory lane, you can read about our visit to Philadelphia on my Yahoo! Trip Planner and click on A Visit with King Tut. If you're not one of the 79 people that have given me a thumbs up, then why not?

Thursday, July 24, 2008

I'm not a crafty person, but I'm very fortunate to have friends who are crafty. One of my friends, who lives in California, is taking her craftiness to the next level and has started selling her work online. Check out her online store at http://www.boxingday.etsy.com/.


Boxing Day... Yippie!!! :o)
Thursday, July 24, 2008 1:28 AM
From:
"Kelly Basinger"
To:
undisclosed-recipients
Hello, hello, hello!
Most of you have heard that my little on-line shop is open. It's been almost a month since I opened my proverbial doors and I now have 50 original, handmade items listed for sale. I welcome you to check out my shop here:
http://www.boxingday.etsy.com/
In celebration of being open a month, if you make a purchase before July 28th, I will refund 100% of your shipping costs! Make your purchase using PayPal (you can use a credit card without opening an account) and when I finalize the details of your shopping, I will refund your costs through PayPal. YEA!
And! If you miss me and the glow of humor that usually surrounds me, I also invite you to visit my blog. Some entries are funny, some are semi-thought provoking, and some are just plain me being the complete goofball you know and love! What else can I say?
http://shopboxingday.blogspot.com/
Please feel free to e-mail me your comments, suggestions for product lines, special orders for the holidays, bad grammar or misspellings that you find, ideas for me to market my store, stories about your kids, complaints about your job, memories of the past... yadda yadda yadda... I'll take any communication you wish to send!!!
Love from Boxing Day,
Kelly
Kelly Trivia
I keep getting the question, "Why is my little company called Boxing Day?" Several reasons! My birthday falls on the Boxing Day holiday, I save boxes from the trash and use them in my art, and I also make paper boxes!
(Here's a link for more info on the holiday! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day)
Other Info: If you do not wish to receive a monthly update from me regarding Boxing Day or wish to receive it at a different e-mail address, please let me know.



Monday, July 14, 2008

On the Red Line

Washington DC is a city of individuals. People come here from all over the world to work or go to school, and when they introduce themselves, you don't see who they are or where they came from, you just see them. While you may meet their significant other, more than likely you'll never meet their siblings, parents, or childhood friends.

That's why its always so interesting when the tourist families come to town. Sure, they're kind of annoying (why would you ride the subway during rush hour? The museums aren't even open yet!), but its also kind of refreshing to see a husband and wife and their pack of kids stand out amongst the sea of business suit-wearing, iPod listening Washingtonians. The kids are always so aware of what's going around them (unlike some of the Washingtonians), and, more importantly, its really fun to see who the kids look like--Mom or Dad.

Riding the subway home today at 9 pm, I came across a family of, I think, 7--mom, dad, 4 boys and 1 girl. My first thought was that all of the kids looked exactly like their dad. My second thought was, how does a family of 7 afford a vacation to Washington DC? But now that I think about it, I've actually seen several large families touring around DC.

Sometimes I do kind of wonder what the tourists think of us: the daily commuters who are either going off to some high-paid job in the private sector or the more casually dressed government workers. One time, I overheard some person tell their companion, "Everyone here is in such a hurry." Well, considering it was rush hour, and people were trying to get to work after dealing with a lousy commute, and we all were in the subway station, this was not a surprise. I bet you're in a hurry when you're going to work, too, buddy! But you're just not on display for all the tourists to gawk at.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Rocky Mountain High

So last week was a really busy week for me. I was out in Anaheim for a couple of days for a library conference. I returned to DC on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I was on a plane to Denver. I like Denver a lot, and Matt and I would like to spend a few good days there, but this time, we were en route to Rocky Mountain National Park as part of our annual 4th of July trip to a national park.

Now you may remember that I blogged about previous years' adventures at Lassen Volcanic National Park in California and Zion National Park in Utah. We continued our trend of Western Parks this year, mostly because one of our group members moved to Denver recently and didn't have a lot of time off. But also because Rocky Mountain is in fact a kick-ass park. And by that, I mean the altitude at 12,000 feet totally kicked our asses.

I love Rocky Mountain because it really does feel look like a Coors Light ad, not that I'm a big fan of Coors Light or anything. The water was so pristine, and there was still some snow on one of the trails on the 4th of July. In fact, I fell in said snow twice--not intentionally. Luckily the weather is so dry up there that my shorts dried within 10 minutes each time, so its not like I was walking around with a wet bottom or anything (at least for a long period of time). The wildlife watching up there was phenoemenal. We saw a she-moose, a beaver hiking at 10,000 feet (nowhere near a body of water), and some really cool big-horn sheep. We also met some very friendly ducks.

This trip was great because not only did we get to go camping with some friends, but we also met up with other friends who live in the Denver/Boulder areas. I like Colorado a lot, and I wouldn't mind relocating there myself (hint, hint, Matt).

rocky mountain national park
rocky mountain national park,beaver
rocky mountain national park

You can read more about our adventures on my Yahoo Trip Planner