Picks + Passes

For years I've know that Santa was a pretty phenomenal guy. I mean come on, the man can magically shimmy his bowl full of jelly-like belly down chimneys all over the world. In one night. Yes, phenomenal- no doubt. Well, this year Santa decided to show off a little, you know, remind me of how great he is (like I needed a reminder). Apparently he's had the time to keep up with my blog and picture escapades (who would have thought he had time for that- magic, duh!). Santa knew there was a little somethin' somethin' I'd like to have. Well, that little somethin' is the first thing I've included on my "Picks" list for this week's "Picks + Passes"... 

PICKS :

•  Thanks to Mr. Clause, I'm LOVING my new Canon 50 mm 1.4 telephoto lens. The bokeh is so much more intense- something I have been longing for. You see, Santa is a sneaky little fellow. Christmas morning I started snapping pictures and realized about 5 photos in that I had a new lens on my camera. Magic, duh! [Below are photos I've taken playing around with my NEW lens ]
• My new iPhone. I ranted about my lousy Voyager last time, here. My prediction was correct, its demise lead to something much newer and better. I could have never imagined that a technological device could make me happy- but it does. Speaking of my iPhone, have you guys seen this AT&T commercial? It is hilarious! 
• Little hand and foot prints on the refrigerator doors. Yes, foot prints too. Ariston is quite the dancer. From time to time he does his moves air bound. While performing his feet manage to make imprints on the fridge. Nevertheless, those little prints make my heart smile. (After the heart smiles, I begin my cleaning frenzy)
• I've dove right into an addiction of "Words with Friends" at a dangerously fast pace. For those of you who aren't familiar, "Words with Friends" is an iPhone app designed  to emulate the board game "Scrabble", AND- the best part: you play with your friends! Shout out to all my WWF opponents- Brett, Bethany, Lindsey, Brandon, McCall, Beth, Debbie, Robyn, Hannah, and  Adam.
•  Fresh flowers on the table and dinner on the stove when I get home from work, for no apparent reason (is apparent the key word here?). This actually happened, in real life, to me, and it wasn't a dream. It was wonderful.
• Pretzel M&Ms = amazing! Sweet and salty, the best of both worlds all in one little bite.

PASSES :

• Diets- I despise you. Brandon and I have been on a low carb diet (40 carbs daily) since the day after Christmas. This is the first time I've ever been on a diet and I've decided that they aren't very convenient. I guess seeing the results will be worth it. We are wanting to be 'High School Skinny' again. Do I have any Bert Show listeners out there?
• Putting Christmas decor away. I'll PASS!
• My OCDness. Ok, I admit it. At times it's a little ridiculous. My house (and classroom) have to be clean with everything in its designated place or I can't relax or be productive. I get a mental block- nothing gets accomplished until it's clean. I'm working on letting that go a little at a time. 
• Chill bumps. Not just any ol' chill bumps- chill bumps when you get out of the shower right after you have shaved.  Man, what a waste of time. I'm not even going to get into all the things I've done to try and prevent this from happening- nothing works. You'd think by now some savvy chic would have invented something to keep this phenomenon from happening, geez.