I drew this happy bee for Happy, Be!
PrettiGeek Kaitlin Williams is being featured as a “Happiness Muse” on the incredible happiness-based blog Happy, Be!
Go check out my happiness tips and goofy photos and a detailed account of how I wound up in Costa Rica! You know you want to read it! : )
You remember the Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, right? It was pretty much the greatest game my 2nd grade self had ever witnessed. In the last few years, I was fortunate enough to find this game at a garage sale and continue to enjoy its wonders. One of the best things about the Logical Journey of the Zoombinis (aside from customizing the Zoombinis themselves) was the music!
So here is an awesome remix punctuated with Zoombini music and sound effects.
Yeah. You’re welcome. : )
Sometimes it’s the strange little things that make all the difference when you’re living abroad. You’ll get used to it all over time, but to an observer such as myself, I find these little things make for some of the best stoies about living abroad.
This is an authentic Costa Rican shower. I have one just like this. They’re sometimes called Suicide Showers. Why? Because they are electirc.
“WHAAAAAAT!?!?”
Yep. With year round temperatures averaging in the low 70s to high 80s (at least in San Jose. It’s much warmer on the coasts), Costa Ricans live primarily without hot water. Instead, when they’re looking for a warm shower, they use their electric shower head.
The shower head heats the water as it sprays out, so the trick is to keep the water low. Sure, you lose water pressure, but you can get your water just as warm as any shower Stateside. Which is a true luxury, by the way. For my month-long stint living on the Pacific coast in Costa Rica. I had absolutely no hot water. Just looking at these Suicide Showerheads takes some getting used to. A lot of them have duct tape wrapped around the wires. Continue reading
Hey, pretti-geeklings! It’s been awhile, I know, but I’m still here. I thought today I would relay a little story to you. Daily life in Costa Rica, is, on the whole, not much different from daily life anywhere in the world. San Jose is full of people just trying to get from A to B, trying to work, trying not to work, trying to feed their families and live their lives. I’m sometimes struck by the normalcy of it all. I spend days utterly oblivious to the fact that I’m in FUCKING COSTA RICA! But everytime I look at the mountains, I remember. I love the mountains.
SO anyway, I am getting used to the hustle and bustle in San Jose, but it’s still difficult at times. Although I do have my degree in Spanish, I reeeeeeally don’t know how much I deserved it. My Spanish is only so so. And the bus schedule is HARD. I commute about half an hour to my job, and to do that I take 2 different buses. I can’t take the same buses back, for some reason though. The whole San Jose local bus schedule is kind of a mystery to me, and they don’t have it up online. You pretty much just have to learn by trial and (grievous) error, which happened to me just last week.
On Tuesday of last week, I experienced a breakthrough. I took all the right buses. I made it home in record speed. Tuesday FTW! So Wednesday after work, I was not only mentally exhausted, but cocky to boot. I was a bus-taking badass. I can take buses like a motherfucking superhero! Anyway, I always take the Santa Teresa bus, and that Wednesday was no different. I vaguely recall the bus driver saying something to me in Spanish, but I chose not to pay attention. My commute is my “space out” time.
Sooooo when the bus turned in a completely different direction than it normally goes, I thought, “Hmm…that’s odd.” Lots of buses in San Jose go to the same places, but they can take millions of different routes to get to those places. It was only when the bus made a drastic turn in a definite wrong direction that I started to panic. Continue reading
In honor of the 135th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, which kept animal lovers like myself on the edge of our furry seats for the past 48 hours, I took a break from my usual cat adoration to hunt down the nerdiest pet products for (wo)man’s best friend. Whether you own an itty bitty teacup chihuahua or a huge, you-won’t-like-me-when-I’m-angry hulk of a rottweiler these toys, treats and geeky accessories are sure to get some tails wagging around the dog house.
Think twice before chowing down on these crunchy cookies- they’re better suited for the kennel than the kitchen.
California-based company Nerdy Dog produces geeky gourmet dog treats made from organic peanut buttery goodness. Other varieties are shaped like rocket ships, nerdy spectacles, and Pac Man characters. How fun! Check out their Etsy shop to place your order.
Designer doo doo bags by German company Junge Schachtel are a PrettiGeeky solution to the not-so-glamorous moments of dog ownership.
Featuring colorful canine silhouettes and clever quips like “Doggy Style” and “Don’t Blame Me” these biodegradable baggies are just fashionable enough to help you forget exactly what you’re scraping from the bottom of your Manolo Blahniks. Watch where you step!
Blind your fellow dogwalkers with science! Handmade dog collars by RuffHaus feature screen-printed elements from the periodic table. Made from recycled leather, water-based ink and eco-friendly dye these custom collars are the formula for cool canines.
In order to stay connected between grooming sessions and vet visits, modern mutts need their paws on the latest technology. This squeaky, chewable cell phone by Think Geek will quell the iPhone envy in your dog with it’s brightly embroidered buttons and assortment of drool-worthy apps. _____________
Tired of sharing your sofa with a pushy pooch? Design nerds who know better than to desecrate their space with a traditional doggie bed can invest in this miniature Le Corbusier sofa by DogBar .
The waterproof, washable cover atop handcrafted Italian leather will have you pet perching pretty in the lap of luxury…and you reclaiming your rightful place on the human-sized sofa!
Happy Valentine’s Day, geeky gals!
Alternately revered by romantics as a day to buy win their lovers’ hearts with sappy greeting cards and reviled by cynics (read: single women) as a Hallmark Holiday to stimulate the economy, the true meaning of February 14th is sorely neglected by modern society.
Thankfully the amateur historians at PrettiGeeky are here to remind you of your romantic roots. Here we’ll relay a tangled mishmash of Christian and ancient Roman tales, each as heartfelt as the last, that add up Americans buying over 150 million Valentine’s Day cards every year.
So, hi PrettiGeeks and newcomers. Today I am going to write about my life in Costa Rica. Because I’m finally getting it together. So what’s “Pura Vida”? Pura Vida means “pure life” in Spanish, and it is the Costa Rican motto. In fact, if you ask someone how they are, “Pura Vida” is a common response. Costa Rica embodies the idea of pura vida. Everyone is so laid back. (I think it must be the warmth haha).
I’m laying on my stomach on my bed in my Costa Rican bedroom as Iwrite this. If you were here with me, you wouldn’t notice anything truly different from a typical American home–except fo the lack of closet (I have lots of shelves). Kitten Ezra is bounding across my room after a paper ball, and it has just stopped raining. San Jose is a little colder than coastal areas, and the chill pervades the whole room, thanks to the breeze from the window. I’m glad to have my fleece jacket.
I’ve been living in Costa Rica for 10 days, and it has been extraordinarily eventful. I was fortunate enough to secure an apartment via Craigslist before I got here. And I was even more fortunate to find that my new roommate was as PrettiGeeky as I am! Anais and I have a lot of randomness in common, such as our love of many hilarious youtube videos and our penchant for going on spontaneous walking adventures.
So, what am I doing here? I’m not entirely sure. Living, traveling, working on Spanish (this is a definite), “broadening my horizons” as they say. I guess I’m doing it all. I have a job writing for a website–not teaching, as I had originally planned to do.
You’ll notice that this blog post has no pictures. Yeah. I broke my camera before I left for Costa Rica, so I am currently camera-less. Eventually I’ll buy a cheap digital camera, but for now, you’ll have to use your IMAGINAAAAATION!
Are there geeks in Costa Rica? I think so. Anais and I certainly are. As for the rest, it’s too early to tell. I’ll continue to blog about my adventures as they occur. But for now, I am exhausted and have a long day of writing web content and riding buses tomorrow.
Ciao, readers! Pura Vida!
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching! Are you prepared to woo your wonder woman?
Despite the slobbering, stuttering portrayals depicted on so many bad 1980’s sitcoms, there’s more to geek love than “Roses are red, violets are blue, all my base are belong to you.” Take it from a girl who worked Star Wars references into her wedding vows- geekiness can be incredibly romantic!
This Valentine’s Day whether you’re banging a biology babe, lusting after a literature lover, or simply reminding Chewbacca he’s the only copilot for you, save yourself the awkwardness and say it with stationary. Below you’ll find geeky Valentines for every sentiment, from silly, to sappy, to stimulating.
As life gets back to normal in the icy wake of Snowpocalypse, PrettiGeeky would like to share some of the most chilling images that drifted our way and accumulated, not unlike the snow itself. Be advised, side effects of viewing this content may include frostbitten fingers, bluish lips, numbness, tingling and an intense desire to drink hot cocoa.
You’ve been warned.
This gem was spotted on Chicago’s North Side, where road closures forced ambitious travelers to seek…umm, alternate modes of transportation.
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Good news for this poor sod? I don’t imagine anyone stole his bike once he abandoned it to the elements!
Hundreds of motorists were stranded when massive, icy waves on Lake Michigan forced the closure of Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.
After waiting up to 12 hours for conditions to clear, people abandoned their vehicles and sought shelter, leaving their cars to be dug up and towed away in the following days. ____________________________________
This image of Lake Shore Drive looks like something out of a George Romero flick. Hopefully the snow will impede approaching zombies!
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Public transportation in the Windy City was amiss during Snowpocalypse, as city buses became hopelessly stuck.
CBS News reported one CTA driver waited 9 hours for emergency vehicles to pull his bus from a snow drift.
Looks like his passengers found a way to pass the time…
With Lake Shore Drive frozen (in more ways than one), athletic urbanites donned skis and snowshoes to make their way across the tundra.
I’m suddenly embarrassed to have spent my snow day wasting away on the couch, playing Final Fantasy and roasting marshmallows with a lighter!
Ladies and gentlemen…that’s my car. My poor, neglected Pontiac Sunfire left to sit unprotected through 48 hours of intense snowfall.
The magnificent shadow in the foreground is my husband, faced with the daunting task of unearthing the beast.
It took us 3 shovels, 90 minutes and the help (read: bribery) of several neighborhood children but we completed the task like troopers. In retrospect, we consider ourselves lucky compared to many others!
Do you have a photo or story about surviving Snowpocalypse 2011? Leave us a comment below!
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While Michelle and I are both sportsfans, and you can be sure both of us will be watching the game (if I can find a good Americanized sports bar in Costa Rica), we are also HUGE animal fans! So in honor of today’s super bowl, we present adorability in the form of Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl!
You can catch this year’s Puppy Bowl (and its darling Kitty Half-time Show) on the Animal Planet Channel! Happy Super Bowl, everyone!
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