Official Gameplay Guide: SKITTLES

Skittles is a roadtrip game an obsession that my nephews introduced me to a few years ago on a family vacation. (For legal reasons, I suppose I should clarify that, to my knowledge, Skittles and Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company have absolutely nothing to do with this game and even less to do with my blog. Also, the Skittles.com website is probably the trippiest thing I've ever seen come from a candy corporation, so click there and enjoy that some other time.) This game is highly addictive, so proceed at your own risk.

I should also say that the rules that I'm about to explain to you are strictly my nephews' rules-- they are my judges and parliamentarians. If ever there is a question regarding gameplay, I text my sister to ask the boys for clarification. (We take skittles very seriously.)

At first glance, the game is very simple.

Who can't do that? Well, my colorblind boyfriend has some trouble with lime green cars, so I guess SOME people can't do that, but you get my point: this game is easy for most people to pick up. (*Don't worry about his colorblindness affecting his score-- my extremely short attention span is my handicap. He kicks my butt. Maybe also because he can pretend he thinks everything is yellow and I know nothing about colorblindness.)

Why is it fun? Well, you don't see many yellow cars on the road-- or at least not as many as you see other cars. Thus the search begins.

There are, however, restrictions:

These rules are mostly to keep people from monopolizing the game-- or from shouting too much. (Really, once you start looking, you'll want to shout "SKITTLES!" at every yellow thing you see. You'll start cursing Waffle House signs and parking dividers and every other unnecessarily yellow thing in society.)

Other clarifying notes from my nephews:

• Hovercraft, boats, lawnmowers, and motorcycles all are considered skittles.
• One may choose whether or not Penske moving trucks count at the beginning of a new game.
• Cars on cinder blocks that have no engine in them do NOT count.
• Cars that are parked DO count.
• Yellow-orange is NOT yellow.
• It is often necessary to denote which skittle one is calling. For example, "SKITTLES! MOTORCYCLE!" This eliminates confusion if more than one skittle is present.

There is a lot of debate in the family as to when the game ends. When someone gets out of the car? The next day? Whenever someone says so? My nephews, being the empowering type, let me know that I can decide for myself whenever I play the game.

So I did.

On the way to the beach one day, my friends and I were in the middle of an intense round of skittles. Being huge Harry Potter nerds, we decided the game should end in a Quidditch-like fashion.

That's right. The Holy Grail of skittles-- a person eating Skittles in a yellow car.

I immediately called my nephews and received their unanimous approval. (To be thorough, that's four (4) yea's and zero (0) nay's.) We had taken skittles to the next level. And now I proudly present it to you.

If you come up with questions while you're playing, let me know. I'll text the boys and have an answer for you soon.

Happy skittle hunting!!!

Product Improvement: Coffee Mugs

I got some fun (and only somewhat judgmental) feedback from y'all after my last post, I figured I'd follow up with a double whammy of a blog post that covers both Pinterest AND coffee-- two of my favorite things. 

Color change coffee mugs? Now that's just like MAGIC. (My #3 favorite thing!) I love when people send me pins of such things, but they're just so CUTE. And I hate it. My need for coffee isn't CUTE. It isn't adorable. It is REAL, INTENSE, and SOMEWHAT DISTURBING. Get it right.

I mean, really. You're not doing it right. Make me a mug that goes from full-out Walking Dead, three-months in the Atlanta heat zombie to rainbow-farting, I-don't-sweat-I-sparkle Care Bear sweetness and I'm in. All I'm looking for is a coffee mug I can relate to. Is that too much to ask?

Make it for me, pinners. Make it happen.

I do own this mug, which I love and I feel as though comes pretty close-- so thanks for this, internet:


It took me FOREVER (aka all of 5 minutes... which is like 5 internet years) to find the original source for the mug from Pinterest, so click away and buy it if you're willing to settle for less. And pinners, shame on you for linking to photos and not to original links. You're ruining the point of Pinterest! If I just wanted to look at a bunch of photos, I'd get on Facebook!!

Product Improvement: Etsy Wine Glass

I'm an avid pinner-- I'm a huge fan of Pinterest and its ability to introduce me to some pretty fantastic, witty stuff that's floating around the internet. (I visit the "Humor" boards everyday!) The problem is that Pinterest doesn't have a very user-friendly way of responding to those pins. (Comments? Please.) So here I am, blogging. Setting the record straight. Today's pin? This misinformed wine glass.

If I weren't lazy, I'd sell it on my own. But as it is, I am-- so you can visit Sherry's Lane Etsy Shop to see if she's making any more of the glass from the original pin I was sent or visit any of these other shops with similar products. (Yes, each of those words links to a DIFFERENT Etsy shop, and yes, I could have kept going. Copyright these days.)

Maybe someday I'll get my stuff together and open an Etsy shop. Until then, enjoy these crudely drawn comics, spurred on and inspired by good chats with good friends. Til next time!