Interactively drunk :)

Just saw this about an exhibit at an art show. Instead of drinking cocktails while looking at the art, this exhibit makes looking at the art and drinking cocktails linked, as there is a series of "framed cocktails," each with a tap on it, so as you drink, the art changes throughout the evening. Really cool idea.

Christa Taylor

I'm not sure if you've seen this, but... this is a new (to me) website I found just now, and might order-from, that I think you'll like.
Mission?

"We believe no business should exist just to make money."

They are supporting an orphanage in Cambodia, and their clothes are affordable, and they are cute! Three birds, one stone. I think I might order the dress shown here- love everything about this outfit...

Elum

I'm in love with this journal- I think I might want to have it. I also love the yellow desk-set, with the gray / yellow cards & envelopes, especially noting the rounded corners, but for $150 I'll figure out how to make my own for now.

Dallas Composite [ben's skillz]

Ben made this composite for one of his classes... the process that he did I thought was pretty cool.
First taking the photos, then creating the line art in illustrator then mashing it together collage style with some design elements. Read more about it here.

anthropologie wish list

I am going to make a quick wish list for any upcoming birthdays or christmas... should anyone need some help. Selfish?? Maybe.

gold bracelet

cute bag

fun apron

pretty quilt

Gingerbread house competition

Real quick- I'm on my way out of work but saw this and was SO impressed. I saw the modern gingerbread house kit available on RedEnvelope via Simple Lovely, however... this one might not have that "groovy" mid-century charm, but you can't deny that it's impressive!

Via the Grove Park Inn's Gingerbread House Competition

a bite from the bug

I am absolutely positively with you on a trip to California!! Count me in. I thought this would be a perfect time to introduce my favorite website for "Hostel travel". HostelWorld is my go to site for cheap travel. Amanda and I used this as we traveled cross country a couple summers ago. Minus the horrendous stay in El Paso (el crapo) we had brilliant luck! I have used this site when I studied abroad too. The picture above is my most favorite hostel, which happens to be in San Diego Ocean Beach International. Pack your bags! lets go!!

the travel bug.

Amanda (my roommate) just got back from a week-long Thanksgiving in Maui, HI- I'm beyond jealous. Looking through her photos I've gotten SO restless.

So: I need help. I need a trip to plan- maybe just an extended weekend. Erin, we need to go to San Fran... I'm serious. I'm DYING to go- or San Diego, you choose. I think next summer would be amazing, and I think we can plan a cheap trip with a cheap flight in a hostel... it's a must.

Any other ideas for those long weekends? Any fun adventures we can plan?? I need some help- I'm going to explode if I don't get to travel soon!

baby it's cold outside

Maybe it is the snowflurries here in chicago, or the probably the full on holiday windows we saw last night, but its beginning to look alot like christmas! I saw this photo on all the best. Something about the cropping, the color the light and the snow in pure sunshine just made me happy! So here it is.. happy hump day. Back to Dallas tomorrow.

cool store!

I've been spending most of my time looking for local reps for various furniture / flooring / wallcovering manufacturers today. I was just looking at the website for High Country Millwork and saw this image in their gallery- doesn't say what store / location it is or who designed it, but I thought it looked pretty awesome.

christmas trees

Check out these Christmas Tree - Alternatives on Better Living Through Design.

Chicagoooooooo

I love this city... since we got here yesterday all things have been going right. First we both got upgraded to suites at the Amalfi, which are 2 rooms overlooking the corn cobb buildings (I forget what they are called.) anyway, then we got free cake with our lunch yesterday. today we were making such great progress we left to explore the magnificent mile... it was fun, I wish we had had more time and a little more knowledge as to stores that are only in Chicago. All in all a pretty good trip so far.

mini-obsession

[Jessica Claire Photography: Pregnant!]

I've developed this mini-obsession with photography: not necessarily my own (mainly because it would be a joke to refer to anything I have as actual, worth-while "photography") but looking at other's. I've been a long-time fan of Mary Kate McKenna and am a daily-stalker of both of her blogs- Keeping up with MK and her travel blog. By way of that, I think(?) or through Style Me Pretty, I found Jessica Claire, (recently) which led me to Braedon.

All of these people are amazing photographers, and while I don't have any kind of wedding in my future, I'm dying for a reason to hire them. I think I've looked at everything they've got posted online and have become so inspired to try and imitate some of their techniques. I'm ALL for enhancing photographs digitally- I'm a huge fan of high-contrast and over-stylized images, and it was so nice (as a complete novice) to read that the style isn't all in the original.

Over Thanksgiving my grandmother gave me an SLR 35mm that she had- she's since moved-on to higher-tech and digital cameras, but this is a Canon Rebel 2000, in pretty good shape, with a few different, basic lenses to switch-through. I, of course, had no room to pack-it and my mom is sending it to me, but I can't wait to start doing some research and practice. Meanwhile I'll keep checking-in on these guys and scouting the internet for other fresh talent!

I saw this one today on Braedon's site of his view of the Macy's Parade.

A picture taken in Brooklyn: reminds me of our treasure hunts around NYC to find your boutiques and stores... always nice for me to have a seasoned traveler to guide me!

Christmas decor!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to start planning how we're going to tackle this christmas situation in our apartment- put away the harvest decor, and get out the tinsel because it's go-time!

I was looking through different websites for those subtle ideas- we talked last night and we'll probably try to keep it pretty low-key: we have a huge wall of windows / doors in our living room which is PERFECT to show-off a big tree, and then a few stockings... other than that, maybe a centerpiece on the table but the days of lights and garland gone crazy all over the apartment are going to be left with college. We're going to try to keep to tradition here and be a bit more modest.

Perfect place to look: Crate & Barrel. I love these plates they have- although paper, they'd be so cute for a holiday party! Then I started looking at the martha stewart website- not a huge fan of her, but some of her ideas are too good to pass-up. She has an article on Winter Wonderlands- first on the list? Biltmore! How appropriate! I would love to make it up to Asheville for the evening sometime, or just the day, to see this... finding the time is the trick!

Thanksgiving- I'm still full...

I had this idea that I was going to maintain my moderate portions throughout thanksgiving, be responsible and refuse to eat until I was in pain... Of course all of that went completely out the window. I wish I had taken pictures of our feast- my aunt did such a beautiful job of setting the table and preparing some of the best food I've had all year. My mom made a gorgonzola / walnut salad with a raspberry vin. that was amazing- the only thing I had two helpings of!

I only took a few pictures throughout the entire trip- I was too busy eating and enjoying some time with my family to do anything else. Here are the classics...

my two sisters & me on thanksgiving

a self-portrait of two of us turned into a self-portrait of the three of us..

my sister's dog, Lucy, on the ride to the airport- she's like a little person! so funny!

Paper Mart

I just had to share this awesomely inexpensive website!! Paper Mart has everything from packing materials, to fabric bags, to plastic boxes. I think I am going to fill the clear boxes with goodies for my coworkers for Christmas. and for future reference they have the rolls of craft paper for a great price!

it's raining leaves

I hope you got a good helping of stuffing! My family headed up to the farmhouse, then to my grandmother's in Martainsville VA, to sit down to a big ole spread. We are doing a renovation on the farmhouse to have a lil vacation spot in the mountains... so I took some before pictures of the outside, as a record.My brothers and I used to play a game when we were little, where when the leaves fall you try to catch them then you make a wish. I forgot how beautiful the trees get in NC. This weekend is prime time! The best leaves I saw were the sycamore trees at the farmhouse. One was as big as Addison's head.

Thanksgiving travels!

photo via ABC News: Holiday Travel Survival Guide

It's funny that you put up an entire post about our ultimate carry-on, because my appreciation for it has grown so much in the last day and a half. Last night as I was packing for my trip home, I piled everything I wanted to bring with me on my bed- two pairs of tennis shoes, three pairs of flats, a pair of heels, several sweaters / pairs of pants, running gear, etc... and I thought, "no way is this going to fit into a carry-on and my little roll-on suitcase." I absolutely hate checking baggage- not only having to check-in with someone when I get to the airport, but having to go through the process of claiming it, and after having mine lost before the potential for having to go through THAT ordeal again... So, I crammed as much as I could possibly fit into my small suitcase ($10 at Target on sale and still going- best purchase ever) and looked at the mountain of stuff left over. We're talking three pairs of shoes, two scarves, all of my cosmetics / flat-iron, two books, camera, cords, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and I thought, "right.."

Well, it all fit into our bag - with room to spare - and things are as accessible as they could possibly be. I'm impressed.

With that I'll leave it alone- Happy Thanksgiving, erin & everyone- I know we all have a lot to be thankful for, so here's to keeping all of that in mind (at least throughout the next few days) & safe travels to everyone!

erin's travel bag #4

books... always a necessity in my bag. Last night I went to Half Price books (because I am poor) and snagged 2 to take with me this week on my journey home for Thanksgiving. I got Me Talk Pretty One Day, by: David Sedaris and Zoology, by: Ben Dolnick. We will see how they are! yay!

another etsy find [Congrats Suzanne!]

I was perusing Suzanne's site, and saw that she has just launched an etsy site too! I love the scraps she is selling from her stationary. She suggests that you use them for gift tags... i love it! and earth friendly too!

If you visit her site... she is holding a giveaway for the celebration of her launch.

She has some really beautiful stationary that can be personalized. brilliant Suzanne. and CONGRATULATIONS!

map around your neck

I did a random map search on etsy and found these fun little charms of atlas snippets from Scatterbox. She had one for Dallas and Greensboro. I think I really woulda liked one from Charlotte (a lil more meaningful). The closest one for you was the one from Chicago. We should all get the one from Greensboro... haha.

wish list

I love this pencil pouch fron Kate Spade. It is just edgy enough and not so preppy (just the way i like it!). It even comes with a sharpener and some pencils! My standby pencil pouch from levenger works brilliantly, maybe this could double as a cosmetic case or even a clutch?

Festival of tables

On Saturday we had to work, but what better way to do it than by giving back to the community! A few of us went to help set up the Festival of Tables in Richardson for the Dream Angels Inc. event. Dream Angels mission statement is: "To impact the lives of young girls in order to make their futures positive and wholesome by listening, mentoring,and fostering their dreams and goals through a holistic approach."

The event is to raise money for the girl's educational fund. we ended up doing 7 tables by the end of the day... hope they enjoyed it!

a lil camper store inspiration

As this is the biggest shopping weekend coming up, I was doing a lil organization of what I need to get together to prepare. I really loved the Camper store in Milan and took the color scheme as inspiration for my gift wrapping this season. White paper, gold ornaments and red ribbon... I went to Ikea and picked up a few items to do the trick. Hopefully it will be a very glamorous season!

Chicago Poster

I LOVE this poster, and think it belongs in my bedroom.

Lucy the Tooth Fairy & the Case of the Mistaken Theft!

I'm so excited to be able to finally share this! My twin sister, Meagen, is graduating from grad school at The Ohio State University in less than a month and had to write a children's book for one of her classes... and she asked for my help with the illustrations! Now, I'm no suzanne buchanan so these drawings, I knew, weren't going to be too easy to pull-off. I'm not too used to drawing just to draw, but I think they turned out okay for as much as she needs them for...

This is also the first time (EVER!) that I've rendered something completely in Photoshop. I usually mix in hand-rendering, but for the sake of time and consistency here, it was all digital.

Let me know what you think- and sorry in advance for such a lonnnng post, and sorry the images are pixelated- these are pretty low quality for the sake of the upload.