Postales del Sur

via postales del sur

I think I mentioned this before, but one of my (boulder) co-workers is taking a 1-year leave to travel throughout central and south america with his wife, seeing the sights, exploring and contributing however he can to the rest of the world.

If my memory serves me correctly, today is the day they were / are due to leave, so on that note, Good Luck, Jon! You can read his posts as he chronicles them (whenever possible) on their blog, Postales del Sur. I'm so jealous!

Some Kind-a Gorgeous

I'm typically the girl buying whatever's on sale when it comes to cosmetics and whatnot- shampoo + conditioner in bulk and on sale, blush / eye anything on clearance and from a drug-store, etc... However, there are two things that I really love and end-up splurging on:

1) Some kind-a gorgeous foundation from benefit.
I'm not going to rant and rave as though their paying me to do this, but... it's good stuff.

2) Head Rush by bed head- "shine adrenaline"
I, like most girls, wasn't blessed with that perfectly straight hair or gorgeous curls- I survive by way of my flat-iron, and realized shortly after discovering it that my hair breaks pretty easily with the help of that heat. This spray is light enough for my hair that it helps that a bit, gives it a lil extra shine, is really fine- not heavy and thick like most, and I like the smell :)

I know erin swears by a few of these things- I've personally shopped-down lip balm by Kiehl's with her, watched her grip onto dandelion (powder from benefit), and heard her swear by mascara by dior(?)- so I guess we all have our vices.

Craigslist

Looking on craigslist for anything from apartments to furniture is always a little bit hit-or-miss. Great location for me doesn't mean great location for someone who's DYING to find that ideal lot to park their trailer, right?

Same thing for furniture. Looking through the listings tonight I found two VERY similar headings:
1. 1960's China Cabinet
2. 1960's China Hutch

Check out how different these actually ended up being:#1 : on sale for $200



#2: on sale for $140 (ironic because I HIGHLY prefer this one!)

not feeling so hot today....

After a long night with my friend 'the john' i have collapsed on my couch for a long day of moaning. The gingerale helps a little. I wish I had one of these cute hot waterbottles to rest on my head and warm me up.

Sleeper-Sofa

FINALLY a nice sleeper-sofa that doesn't look like it's as old and frumpy as your neighbor's grandma!

Saw this on the mid-century modernist... doesn't look all THAT comfortable, but they never are, right? If you're trying to get a good-night's-rest, stay home- sleeper sofa's are part of the experience :)

Keilhauer Calendar, 2006

In 2006 Keilhauer put out a monthly calendar, full of resolutions. Some of my coworkers in Boulder kept it and were kind enough to share it with me while I was out there- some of them are hillarious- here are my favorites:


. I will not let my blood pressure be affected by TV shows that make it look like you can do a total renovation in 24 hours.
. In spite of current trends otherwise, I will find a way to keep all of my clutter... in my minimalist apartment.
. I will not believe that any color other than black is "the new black."
. I will remember that not everyone knows what I am talking about when I say 'sense of arrival' or 'focal vistas.'
. I will realize that I am not fooling my client when I say, "we can try that."
. I will simplify my life by discarding books and articles I have on simplifying my life.
. I will have a new-found tolerance for people who call me an interior decorator.
. One day a week, I will bravely not wear a watch.
. I will spend more time considering my selection of holiday gifts than planning how I will wrap them.
. I will stop nodding my head in agreement to references of artistic movements I have simply never heard of.
. I will stop using ringtones as a form of self expression.
. I will not gawk in stunned disbelief at someone who doesn't recognize the names Prada, Citterio, Starck, Commes des Garcons, or Karim.
. Eclectic is not a word I will use instead of "oops!"
. I will wear color.

Emily's Chocolates

the last fortune: "Times of need are not enough to prove your friendship."

I got a Valentine's Day Package from my twin sister two weeks before February 14th. She plans ahead...

Inside there were a bunch of 'goodies' including Emily's Dark Chocolate Covered Fortune Cookies. I tried to pace myself with them, only giving a couple away and saving the rest for bad days, but today I (sadly) HAD to eat the last one. The box alone was adorable, let alone the fortunes and fact that they were all individually packaged inside... and they were SO good.

I think it was one of my favorite Valentine's Day presents ever- sure beats the last couple of years!

being 'professionals' :)

one of my favorite images from the Global Views catalog

One of the fun things about having graduated is seeing what everyone is up to professionally (and personally) now that our "on-campus" bubble has popped.

I just received the Global Views catalog from erin- we don't do a whole lot with residential accessories, etc, but we put together a lot of vision books and are always looking for imagery to help build the character of a concept, visually.

Thanks, erin!

a visual sampler

new site design

previous site design

I check-in on the i.arc first year blog.folio from time to time, and have a few people's individual pages bookmarked, as well.

A while ago I posted about a few students' blogs that I displayed their abilities pretty well, or that showed a decent amount of attention to the design of the BLOG and not just the work covered there.

There's one person's site, 'a visual sampler,' that I liked before, and I THINK i like it just as well, now. At traphic signs we're still working on ideas and designs for the header of our page- something we keep putting-off, but liz brown is getting the hang of this kind of thing (not that we have, we've just seen people who have done really well with designing their sites- keeping up with mk, design*sponge, drewB, and of course, suzanne buchanan!).

A Visual Sampler not only seems to have a good way of keeping her page really simple and neutral, but has some pretty decent work (especially for first year) displayed, as well. I'm particularly fond of the scale figures- why waste time with detail? They're just there for SCALE!

St. Patrick's Day Planning!

last year (that's me + erin on the bottom)

two years ago- that's erin + me on the left + center

Tonight we started planning for St. Patrick's Day- I know it's not one of the major holidays, but it is DEFINITELY worth celebrating well :)

Last year we were celebrating Katie's single-status, and the year prior (I think?) we were among the many in Savannah, GA- the second-biggest St. Patty's Day celebration in the USA.

This year fingers are crossed for spending time with old friends + warmer weather!

If I had a million dollars...

If you won the lottery and could buy one thing immediately- and lets go ahead and say paying off debts are not allowed for this- what would it be?
(Can you guess what it would be for me? :)

Keilhauer

Today I came across this awesome chair from Keilhauer- it's called the Felt Chair, and it's made entirely of natural and biodegradable materials. Steel frame, layered felt. Nice..

jewelry organization

After some great inspiration via Blueprint and Design Sponge, I decided to do a lil jewelry organization overhaul.

I had these antlers in my living room for a while and decided they needed new life. So I drilled 2 holes in each set (a very smelly process) and then I mounted them to the wall to use as my necklace hanger. This was much more appealing than my row of unsightly nails I was using before.

Then after an afternoon trip through the neighborhood, I saw these bracelets displayed on a collection of vases at forty five ten. I didn't have a bunch of vases laying around but i dod have this collection of science beakers. So i put them to use for my bracelets.

a catchall bowl i bought at an antique store and a martini glass for brooches and I was set. I still need a groovy place fior my earrings... i'll keep ya updated as to what I come up with.

Ohhhh louie... :]

In going through all of these photos that my coworkers have found, taken, and compiled, I've seen some pretty amazing design through their eyes.

There's a bunch of images of Louis Vuitton stores that take the prize, at least in terms of facade. There's a store here at the mall in Charlotte, and either I've been blind or it's extremely toned-down because it's in a mall, but it's nothing compared to these.

Image bank + Jessica Claire

For the past few days I've been working on building up our image bank at work, which means going through every magazine, catalog, publication and anything else that shows any attention to photography + design and scanning it for us to use as reference imagery later on... Soon I'll post a few of my favorite images that I've found- in somewhat surprising places!

this one is totally my fave- i love the setting, texture, all of it!

For now, though, Jessica Claire has posted these amazing photos that combine photography + digital textures so well. For someone who lives for the Adobe Creative Suite, this brings a new hope to what can be done!

familiar??

I saw this set ON SALE at anthropologie a few weeks ago... even bookmarked it because i love it so much.

Then I saw this one [urchin Pot] on Apartment thearapy... Tiffany is launching a new line. It is bonechina... quite fabulous, but i think i like the anthro one better.

grey days

I love the combination of this grey and citron yellow. It is so fresh and pretty. I want it sooo bad.
I saw it at the NYIGF and have been searching for it ever since because i wasn't totaally sure of the maker. One of those flyby sightings.

Definitely keeping a watch out til I can buy this one. Bliss living home has some other really beautiful bedding to check out.

rain rain go away!

on a day like today this fun Marimekko umbrella might make it fun to go outside. Buy it here are Finnstyle, also a pretty cool site.

As much as I don't like this day...

Last night Amanda and I got pretty excited about our brownies! The first batch had two boxes of the mix- dark chocolate + fudge brownie, plus peanut butter chips. THEN... the second batch had the same two boxes of the mix, but we threw in white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and chopped walnuts. They are amazing. We both were kind enough to bring all of these to our respective offices today- I'm sure everyone was impressed :)

And they wouldn't be appropriate for today unless we threw a heart in there somewhere, right?

Happy.

goin oldschool... i busted out the construction paper last night to make a few special valentines.

I hope your day is fantastic!!

oh! Today is the 10th anniversary of V-day (Vagina Monologues.) if you ever get a chance to check this out please, PLEASE do!! it is a fantastic show empowering women and standing against women's Domestic Violence. I saw it twice in college and would see it a million times more. For what it stands for I believe every woman should be involved in this movement!!!

nursery wall

Here is my fave entry from the January Jumpstart contest at Apartment Thearapy. It is simply amazing, impressive and very cool!! read more here.

again and again

or.... For Like Ever!! Don't you want this bag? I do... ReForm School has got a limited selection of these. Fun for the market.

laptop sleeve...check.

3 things off my list!! no buy month isn't that hard with a list. Yesterday my mom graciously gifted me a sewing machine (they are on sale at target right now... so get going!)

This evening after a quick trip to return the first machine (it was missing a foot pedal.) I brought my new toy home and pulled it out to play. Mind you it's been a while since I have sewn anything and I can't do a perfectly straight line... practice makes perfect. But I tackled making a laptop sleeve for my beloved ibook.

It is pretty simple. I sewed on a ribbon first, this is to hold it in the sleeve. Hopefully it will help so I can slip it in and out of my carry-on bag easily at the security line. I took a blanket** (automatic quilted in padding!) and folded it over, sewed up the edges then flipped it inside out. viola!

**extra points for reusing a quilt and finding some old ribbon from a gift.

Now all I need is an iphone. haha. That one will probably be a while.

sweet dreams

How awesome is this bed from Hiveminedesign? 2modern is selling it on their website. It is a green product, love it. However, at the high price I might have to save for a while... or make a DIY out of it. Anyone own a really large lathe?

blog'd travels

One blog I visit almost daily and post about pretty frequently is Keeping Up With MK, blogging photography and experiences by MaryKate McKenna, out of the D.C. area. Besides taking unbelievable photos, she's pretty well-rounded when it comes to paying attention to the world around us.

She just posted pictures from a trip to Burma- these are (of course) amazing. Check 'em out.

On that note, one of my coworkers in Colorado is taking a leave of absence soon to travel through Central and South America for A YEAR with his wife. I'm not sure what their specific plan of action is, but I know they've made arrangements (and been making them for about three years) to do this responsibly, from paying bills ahead of time, timing this with apartment leases, and saving up at least enough money.

They're blogging their experiences leading up to the trip and soon blogging the experiences they'll have while on their trip, from what they can (and can't) pack to their anxiety and fears going into this experience. Like with most traveling, I think they're aware that the after-effects of this experience will probably be almost as challenging as the trip itself. Something else to check-in on...

the masdar initiative

A coworker of mine sent this link to me describing a new (Carbon Neutral!) city planned for Abu Dhabi. Its pretty interesting...

Rad... in every way

I ran accross this "rad" mix tape idea on Urban Outfitters. It is a 64 mb USB stick that comes packaged in a casstte tape. It has places for you to write your playlist and a rockin title for the lucky recipiant. Pretty cool.

beauty in the city

yesterday was flower day and so we took a field trip down to the "flower district" a row of wholesale flower shops to stock up. These are a few photos I took on the last cold cold january day in NY (which marked the first time in many years that NYC had No snow in January).