The Apple T-Shirt

I love Apple, love everything they do because they put so much thought into every touch. Even when they give away a t-shirt for a store opening, they do it right, with good design.

Their newest store opened in my back yard this past weekend and I went because they were giving away a free t-shirt to the first 1,000 people and it was so close!

I ended up getting two shirts, they gave me one and my son also got one, which I really didn't expect since he is all of two years old. I opened mine when I got home to see what design was printed on it and was so impressed, I took pictures as I opened the other one to show how much they really embrace design in every facet of the user experience.

Its a commitment to carry that through every aspect of the users experience, from turning on the computer to getting a free t-shirt. I mean, really, how many people would line up if Microsoft decided to open a store? Its not like the cost is prohibitive, Microsoft could do it if they wanted, they just don't think that much about the users experience and carry that all the way through.

Anyway, enough about that, here are the pictures of the Apple t-shirt;












and on a final note, the t-shirt was a "Beefy-T", not some cheap, no-name brand that is going to fall apart in the washing machine. User experience.

The Apple Store Opening (Fair Oaks)

Saturday morning Apple opened a store in Fair Oaks mall. One of my friends said that they were giving away t-shirts to the first thousand people. I took Jack along and we stood in line for about fifteen minutes - the line moved fast on account of most people were there to get a free t-shirt much like myself. They gave me and Jack a t-shirt.

We went through the store and found a small table in the back for kids games, so Jack sat down and just started to play the game. He went right for the mouse and started clicking the keyboard while watching the screen. Talk about intuitive.

Afterwards, Kate, Reet and Theresa met us at the Starbuck's just outside the store and we sat and talked while the ladies had their lattes.

After that we went and got some lunch so I could get to my Drawing program over at the library I was giving later that day. I got 30+ kids at my program - it was packed!

No, I Love You

The Penny

So we went down to the "Sev", or as its more commonly known as 7-11. We went after the storm passed and got a diet coke. It was nice to not be knocked on my butt by all the pollen in the air. I got Kate a scratch-off lottery ticket too.

Anyway, I get the change back and its three pennies, one of which looked suspicious because I immediately thought it was one of them Canadian pennies that just never seems to fit in, but it was because the back was a "wheat penny" and not the familiar Lincoln memorial.

Turned it over and it was made in 1927.

It isn't worth a dime, haha, but it got me thinking how this penny has been making its way around the US for the last 81 years and now its here.

Tootsie Pop art (The Flag)

I completed this one and cut out each star separately, but they were too small, so I cut out another 50 that were bigger. I learned from the Jim Morrison piece that using the back of the wrapper made a nice white, so the white stripes are also tootsie pop wrappers, too.


A close-up:

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Thai Phi and Adam emailed Kate earlier in the week to see about getting together to do something together over the weekend. The girls decided on going to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens just outside Vienna. It cost $5 to get in, but its worth the money because there were so many things to see and they take care of the place so well.

I took a few pics while we were there while walking around. I wish I had taken a few pictures of the front, which is all brick. Apparently they host weddings at a second facility on the property because we look up from the path we were walking on and see a bunch of people dressed real nice and standing in a line of sorts.

We will definitely be going back to see everything in full bloom, right now the dogwoods were coming out, but the cherry's were all just past blooming. Most of the tulips were out in full bloom as well, so I got a few pics of those.


The Stones











In the Welcoming Center, there was an aquarium that had some Koi in it, Jack spotted it and locked on to it, he kept saying "Goldfish, Goldfish!".

Tootsie Pop Art (Jim Morrison)

Here is the latest, Jim Morrison done in chocolate Tootsie Pop wrappers. This time I used the back of the wrapper as a color since I am so limited by the number of colors (flavors) available in the selection.