I {heart} Instagram!

There are some silly apps that I only have on my iPad so Lucas has something to do during "waiting" moments. And then there are some apps I have that are so awesome I can't believe I used to live without them (k...that's a bit of an exaggeration, but they are pretty cool!)

#1. Instagram

This little app lets you add a cool effect to any photo you take! It's kind of amazing for me, since I love the look of old film, but can't get that look with the (free) photo-editing software I'm currently using and am too cheap to upgrade! This app was cheap, and it's easy! With the tap of a finger you get a fancy new photo! And you can share it to Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and some other networking sites I've never even heard of. And they are a super cute size to blog as well!

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have noticed some of these guys already!

#2. Dark Horse Comics
This is one of those apps that allows you to purchase a bunch of titles, like a book app, and store them within the app, downloading them on to your device only when you want to and saving it on their site. I started with the Freebies: Fray, Hellboy and The Guild...parts one all of them. It's nice when Part One is free, but then you get hooked just when the story's getting good, and then it's over! And you gots to pay two bucks for the next one. Which is much better than paying $10 and up for a paper copy. I should say "cheaper" not better...I still love the feel of a comic in my hand!

I have been buying up a storm! I get the Dark Horse email updates, so I know when a sale is coming up (99cents for a $3 comic!), and I have some favourites that I would like to continue with.

#3. Kindle
The iBook app came with the iPad, but I find it just doesn't have the same quantity of authors and books as Kindle, which is Amazon's e-Reader. It's super simple to shop directly from the app (in the Kindle store), get a sample of the book, or just buy it outright and "send" it right to my iPad.

#4. NFB Canada

The National Film Board is like all things Canadian, in film, spanning decades. Lots of great indie films, documentaries, and those little animated shorts that us kids grew up with in the 80s! I haven't been using this one as much recently.

#5. Eat Street
We actually saw this app advertised on the Food Network during an episode of DDD! And I downloaded it right away. It allows you to search for nearby food carts, which is a super popular thing in the States. When we were in Portland, there were permanent food carts lining every parking lot downtown. We never stopped to eat at one, but now I'm wishing that we had! So far we've found some neat ones in Chicago that might be worth stopping at for a quick bite. There are lots of gourmet, exotic, and down-home food carts...it's like Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives on wheels!

*****

Russ is my new enabler...after we got the iPad set up, he was looking through the app store on the laptop, and he kept telling me about ones he thought I would like, and I would pull them up on the iPad and inevitably download them! But Free is good, I like Free. I can handle Free. I have all the standards: Angry Birds, Angry Birds, 3D, Angry Birds RIO, Angry Beetles, Plants V. Zombies, and more!

Food for Thought...so, I am terrible at remember to sync my iPod with the computer at home. Like, super terrible. The last time I synced my Touch before I lost it in April was in November. I bought a lot of music and apps in that time, and when I lost it I was so upset because I was sure that stuff was lost as well ($75 worth! Yikes!), but Russ told me that it would just show up in my iTunes account and we could re-download. Ah, nope. We can't. Russ had to put in a special request with Apple to get my music and apps re-downloaded, and a twenty minute scheduled tech call sorted it all out, and I got my music back! But, lesson learned!

*****
Last night Russ and I donated blood. Well, Russ donated blood and I just donated my time, cause the blood wasn't flowing people. Oh well. I got a cookie and a super sore arm, and an E for Effort!

And a swell blue bandage that reminds me of a crepe paper ribbon you see at kid's parties!

And can I just take this opportunity to push my "donate blood schedule" on you...it really is important! And it only takes about an hour of your time, in total (that includes testing your blood, waiting, answering the questions and the questionnaire...the actual blood-taking doesn't take much time at all!). My dad has been donating blood for years, and one day I want to be able to say the same thing for myself. If you live in Canada, call 1-888-2-DONATE and make an appointment. We went last night at 6:30pm and there was practically nobody there! I want to get at least one more donation in before my next tattoo, because after that I have to wait 6 months before donating again. When Lucas was a newborn, he actually received donated platelets, and I've recently had family members undergo major surgery, requiring blood transfusions, so I guess I have experienced first hand the need for blood. It scares me to think what would happen without blood donors!

*****
I'm hoping to get some packing done today. I considered it a big step to get out of my pajamas (before noon), so really anything productive would be a boon today! HA! We're off to Starbucks in a little bit, to get some snacks in before resuming our Wii playing/blogging afternoon.

I lurve summer vacation!
later peeps

p.s. if anyone of my readers out there is interested in providing a guest post (or two) while I'm away, I would be eternally grateful! I was going to email some people last week, but reconsidered my plan. And now I'm reconsidering it again, and I think it would be super fun to showcase some of my awesome friends and readers on this blog! It doesn't have to be anything fancy, or long-winded, or particularly tech-savvy! Shoot me an email if you're interested, with a rundown of what you would like to post and I'll make the decision from there. I leave on the weekend, so I would need your post before then. Nothing like leaving things until the last possible second! I wouldn't be the great procrastinator that I am if I planned ahead, now would I!? Speaking of procrastination...read this post!