Went in to preorder the iPhone 4G, which I decided I needed for my job (=the Internet and technology).
Came out with the HTC Aria!!
GOOGLE BABY!!!!!!
After about 10 minutes of playing with this and realizing that all the quirks I hate about the iPhone were absent, I changed my mind on the 4G.
Pros:
GMAILGoogle CalendarSUPER FASTMuch cooler home screensBetter camera (although I was comparing to my older iPhone. This camera can focus!!!)One touch text editingVibrating keyboardMUCH cooler notifications + push email (!!)Handy back buttonBig clock + weatherMultitaskingSuper amazing fast Twitter use!!!Rotary of home screensMuch better texting-while-doing-things integrationBetter Google MapsGoogle Search right on the screenMore integrated ContactsFAST!!GMAIL!!!!
I’m sure there are a handful of other cool things I will discover when I learn how to use it better.
So far what I’m missing from the iPhone:
Cons:
Touch voicemailA sound –> vibrate switchThe home button on the front to turn it onSpend App (found an app called Easy Money that is 85% as good)Bigger spacebarSelf photo on the 4G (which I was going to get)My old ring
While Matt and I were out shopping (he got my 3G iPhone and upgraded his first generation) we went to the grocery store. I was quite hungry when I got home!!
I decided I see so many bloggers make smoothies for snacks and I never want to waste time “dirtying up the blender” in the middle of the day. But today I decided to make one!
It wasn’t all that great 
More like sorbet than a smoothie. REALLY thick. Kind of icy and chalky. I think it was the missing banana!!
~1 cup frozen mixed berries1 cup spinach1/2 cup ice1/2 cup soy milk1/3 cup sparkling water1/2 scoop Vega
Topping with Cacao nibs!! I gave matt about 1/4 of the smoothie and ate the rest with a spoon.
Dinner tonight was my easy Mexican Scoop!
In a big bowl mix together:
2 cans beans or 3 cups cooked beans (I used October beans Karen had and cooked them from scratch in the crockpot today)2 big tomatoes or 6 small2 green peppers, chopped (or red or yellow)Salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, Tabasco all to taste – just dump it in!!
Salsa, avocado and Oikos on top
Serve with chips!
Scoop it up:
I meant to make some GRANOLA this afternoon! Ran out of time so I made some after dinner.
I went with my Maple Pecan Granola recipe. A classic.
2 cups oats. 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, pounded till crushed. 1 tsp salt.
1 tbsp butter, melted1 tbsp maple1 tbsp canola1 tsp vanilla
Mix all together and dump into a pan coated with cooking spray. Put in 300* oven for 25-30 minutes, stirred every 5 minutes for the last 10.
Tada. SO DELICIOUS! Had a handful for dessert 
I also made some overnight oats for our breakfast tomorrow!!!
1/4 cup oats, 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/4 cup milk, 1 big tbsp chia seeds, 1 tsp vanilla each. Sit in fridge overnight.
So happy to be cooking again!!!
I have a pounding headache I think I’m still worn out + dehydrated from my run today. Need to go chug more water. Perhaps I will have a small glass of OJ for electrolyte repletion too. I forgot to get coconut water while out today!
Nite.
{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }
There must be something in the air with headaches! My husband and I are suffering from them today! There are pros and cons to all the phones out there. We are apple people here, but there are quirks. Anyway, I hope you have a good night and that your head feels better in the morning!
I have a droid and sometimes wish it were an iphone…it makes more sen$e to stay on a fam plan with my dad though. I’m actually commenting from my droid
Love homemade granola but I always eat it lightning fast!!
Oh man, I know what you mean – there is NO way that I would be able to stop at one handful of granola for dessert
, and that batch looks delicious!
I have never tried overnight oats! And seeing that I just got a new carton of Almond Milk from WFs, I think tomorrow will have to be the day.
Love both of your gals’ blogs. Have a great night!
I had a headache today, too. I’m pretty sure mine is from dehydration, though – we walked around a lot at the zoo today and it was HOT!
I got the HTC Evo 4G last month and I love it! I really like all the HTC capabilities and there are lots of fun apps. Since SO and I both have the same phone, we’re able to video conference each other using Qik. Pretty neat.
Enjoy your new phone!
Hey Kath,
Re: a sound-> vibrate switch, if you hold down the power button on the top of the phone you can select and deselect Vibration mode to turn vibrate on and off.
Thanks, but I knew that. Much more of a hassle then flipping a switch with your eyes closed ;(
I have the Droid Incredible and love it!! I prefer Verizon to other carriers and am glad they found phone to match (beat!) the iPhone. Enjoy!
I’m looking at an HTC phone too! The Verizon one. Hope your head feels better
I have yet to get on the whole cell phone bandwagon (I don’t even have one, let alone a cool one like that!)
My advice with the smoothies is to avoid adding ice, especially if you include frozen fruit (as you did). I also find bananas a great binder to make smoothies more creamy, and adding more liquid until you get the right consistency.
Hope that helps!
Wow you have been busy! I have almost finished my batch of homemade granola so must make some more asap!
My Fiance works for Google, so we are obviously huge Google fans ourselves (I somehow got away with a Wordpress blog, rather than Blogger). I drool over his Nexus One and can’t wait to replace my Iphone with it. Glad you love your new phone
Kath, does that granola clump? . . .It sounds good, but I prefer the clumpy kind.
It’s not that clumpy. But still very crisp.
You sure are cooking up a storm! I have two prepare two of my meals the night before since I have such an early morning wake up call tomorrow so I do a lot of the same.
My HTC Legend with Anroid has changed my life! I am also in amazement about all the apps you can get for free, including sound buttons/wifi buttons, although they arent physical
But you can get great budget apps too 
I’ve been away for months with work and finally have come home. Looking forward to getting into the kitchen and visiting here to get some inspiration! I was thinking of doing Turkey chilli, but the scoop bowl looks so great!
That iPhone does sound amazing, but I’m more excited about your granola and overnights oats tomorrow
The phone looks awesome and makes me wish I didn’t just get a new BlackBerry . . . but I do love my berry. I like that you chose that over the iPhone for its features, I haven’t heard about too many people admitting to that. Generally, the HTC/droid lovers that I’ve seen seem to be on non-ATT networks who are trying to make a case against the iPhone since they don’t want to switch.
Oooo that granola is on my to make list as soon as the heat drops. I love granola but not the super sweet stuff.
thanks for the comparisons of the phones – i still think i’m going to get an iphone when it’s time, though, b/c i’ve got a mac. what program/app do you use to blog from the iphone?
I spy a Fage!
Good catch!! I finished off the Oikos and we opened the Gave for more
fage!!
Fage!
Sweet phone, and I love how you weighed the pros and cons
Oh goodness can I just dive into that granola, or maybe the overnight oats?! Wowza! Maple granola is always a tasty classic
can’t go wrong!
Hope you feel better – sending you feel better vibes
Sleep well!
Meg
That is such a fun idea for dinner!
I always think of you as The Google Girl. You got me hooked on G.mail. I loveee Google Chrome & iGoogle – you use it?
I got the first Android OS phone (HTC G1) nearly 2 yrs ago and love it. Probably gonna upgrade to another Android phone soon. Your phone will probably get an upgrade to v2.2 soon and then you’l have Flash!
Take that iphone!
Ooo I may have to look into a droid for my next phone, but I love how iphone syncs with my itunes. And the apps. Are there as many interesting apps on the droid?
mmm that dinner looks AMAZING!!!
Just got the Droid Incredible last week. I’ve never had a Smart Phone before so this is a whole new world for me! I’m lovinggggg it. These are my fave droid apps so far: Zedge, Shazam, SpillMap, PdaNet, Overheard, Maps, Jewels, FxCamera, Where’s My Droid, Goggles.
Totally agree with you on the amazingness of Gmail and Maps!!!!! If Google took over the world, I think I’d be ok with it.
I made some simple overnight oats as well, love it
The granola recipe sounds yummy!
Any dinner with a Mexican spin on it I am in love with…yours looks great!
I’m sure you know that the iPhone has GMAIL capabilities as well. So I’m curious what the differences are that made you list that as a “pro” (twice)? Is it different interface than on the iPhone?
I ask as someone who is trying to decide between HTC and iPhone.. so thanks in for the “review”.
Wondering the same thing? I have my iPhone set up for work (via MS Exchange) and 3 personal/freelance (via Gmail) accounts and all will push mail and calendar entries…
Thanks for your thoughts on the HTC phone. I’ve wanted an iphone for a while, but it’s nice to know there are others that are similar, but betta!
Hi Kath,
How do you cook the beans in the slow cooker? Can you cook any kind of bean using this?
Your dinner looks perfect!!!
Elizabeth
Is a 1/4 c of oats enough? I’ve been making them every day this last week with my homemade yogurt, nibs and chia (vanilla and stevia) Think of you as I eat it:) TY!
I love your Nerd KERF posts. I’ll be interested to hear how you adjust to the new phone! I got the iPhone 4, but I can’t help but think I should have gotten an android phone.
I can’t wait to switch from At&t to Verizon. We had to have at&t because it’s the only thing that comes in at our ranch but a Verizon tower is going up close by and we’ll have great service…..can’t wait to get a Droid!
Cool new phone! Glad you like it!
I think that smoothie looks amazing! I prefer reaaally thick ones I can eat with a spoon
I’ve found beet leaves make them super thick 
I have been looking into a HTC phone recently as they seem to get such good reviews but I’m torn because I feel like I should be jumping on the iPhone bandwagon! I desperately need to upgrade my phone but I just can’t decide which one to get!!
I love you and your blog but to hear that you bought a Droid over the iPhone 4….so disappointing! I hope you learn to love the Droid, I have the 4 and couldn’t be happier!
I cant ever do shakes with a frozen banana. It just isn’t the same!
Looks like you had a busy day. I love a good through together and scoop it up with chips kind of meal.
oh that mexican soup looks great!
wow, i love that easy mexican soup idea! truly easy and SO colorful!
Totally trying your mexican scoop. What an awesome idea for a cool, summer dish.
Just yesterday I went to Verizon to downgrade from my HTC phone!! After 3 months, I ended up HATING the phone feature. It’s sooo confusing, and has a lot of annoying quirks. Ill try to make a call, and it will take several seconds to start, and then sometimes I’ll touch a button with my face on accident when I held it to my ear, etc etc. Maybe you’ll have better luck with it, but just a head’s up!!
I have a Droid too, the one with the keyboard. I LOVE it! I’ve had it for a few months now – so great! All the loveable features of the iphone, plus google. The Google talk feature is amazing – saves me so much on text messaging.
Yay for the new phone!
Funny! I just replaced my HTC with an iPhone 4G. I don’t know if I had a lemon, or what. It would freeze daily and call people totally at random. While sitting on the charger it called my friend Kate every 3 minutes for TWO HOURS. I’ve never been so happy to get rid of a phone. I hope my bad experience was an isolated event but it left me so ticked off that I’ll never buy another HTC phone.
On a lighter note, your granola looks delicious! I want to try making cherry coconut vanilla almond granola. I have dried cherries, sliced almonds and coconut already in the pantry. Sounds like a good afternoon project!
Yay for new phone! I think the iPhone 4G looks really cool, but I haven’t owned an iPhone before so I don’t know all the quirks about it. Your granola sounds amazing with the maple.
Wei-Wei
PS: Your “list” format is a little weird?
I used to hate getting the blender dirty too. My friend found a small blender from hamilton beach though. It is single sized and you can take it to go – it makes 1 large or 2 medium sized smoothies. I usually used 3/4 c yogurt, and either 1/2 c frozen berries and 1/2 frozen banana or 1 c frozen berries. This eliminates the need for ice and makes it super thick and creamy.
Your “1 tbsp butter, melted1 tbsp maple1 tbsp canola1 tsp vanilla” picture looks like a smiley face!
I can’t remember precisely, but that may have been the phone that the husband and I were [go]ogling at the store.
I just got the HTC Aria a couple of weeks ago! I love it! The sales guy was confused because we were the only people coming in looking for that phone – everyone else wanted the iPhone since it’d just been released!
ohhh, i just got the droid htc incredible–LOVE it. love. it’s a whole lot of fantastic and then some more.
Hey Kath!
Just wondering what your thoughts are on the HTC after a few weeks of using it
I’m due for an upgrade soon and I’ve never had a smart phone, so anything will be a step up for me. I do have (and love) an iPod Touch, so I’m kind of used to Apple, but with all of the bad reviews about the iPhone 4, I’m definitely considering an HTC. Do you still love the phone as much as you did when you wrote this review?
Thanks!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE! So much better than the iPhone. Plain and simple: it’s user friendly.