headed north

I'm off to Cleveland (kind of) tomorrow for the 4th with my family- I haven't been 'home' since Christmas time and feel like Jane needs to meet the rest of the fam.

I'm really hoping to get some great photos for work of a few different live-work-play communities in the area that I seem to have been oblivious to until now, and am hoping for some good ol' QT with most of the family- sadly, erin's still in Germany (weird!) showing Deutschland how we celebrate in the US of A.

Have a great fourth, everyone!

kerala : anthropologie

So, even though I'm totally tapped for money these days (who isn't?) I decided to peruse the 'home' section of the sale at anthropologie, where I saw this rug- the Kerala Semi-Circle Rug. Usually it wouldn't grab me so much, but it would look PERFECT next to my bed / in front of Jane's crate! Sorry the picture from my bedroom is blurry- its one of the only ones I had that *accidentally* showed the curtains I've got in my bedroom (also from anthropologie- ON SALE!!). It would look great in there... and for $29.99 it's a pretty good price... but with a puppy that's still working on house-training, a wool professional-clean-only rug doesn't seem too practical.

*oh well...*

spf45

I was walking this morning and the perfect breeze blew on me. I dreamed for a moment that I was on a beach vacation. Then I was abruptly brought back to reality when a DART bus zoomed by.

Since I won't be taking a beach retreat anytime soon, maybe the Urban Oasis at Za Za is a place to hang out... or if I wanna take it a lil more low profile, an inner tube, mojito, and my apt pool could work nicely as well. Don't forget the sunscreen this weekend!

i've got a visitor

I know this is totally un-design related, but had to post it. I am equally fascinated and mortified all at once. I went into my kitchen this morning to find this scene. My avocado had been ripped into. I am pretty sure it is a rodent of sorts because if you look closely you can see the scratch marks on the green part. Is it weird I find it kinda pretty?

It is a bummer because that avocado was going to be my lunch.... now for the rat poison! eek!

laser cut felt

Well, while we are on the subject of Laser Cut felt.... I think this is the perfect time to mention my lovely laser cut felt placemats I picked up in Aarhus, Denmark. Now these were about $10 a piece once converted to US$ but they were one of the few things that I bought while I was over there. I am terrible, because not only do I not remember the designer (although I distinctly remember the cashier assuring me that they were a danish designer), I don't remember the shop name either.

So... if anyone can enlighten me please! They came in several other colors, Kelley this might be a good alternative... if we can get the source.

I have found myself leaving them out on the table all the time and throwing random dinner parties because I love them sooooo much.

selina rose

design*sponge just covered this, but I was so in love with it that I had to share, as well! selina rose has a collection of 'textile surface design,' my favorite part of which is the water-cut felt products. These rugs are so, so cute- some day, when I have a loft with these giant brick walls, I'll have the money to buy one of these (not today, especially with the dollar/euro exchange rate..) and will hang it on the wall so that the brick shows through... ahhhh well... just a dream for now!

I'd never throw something like that on the floor- I have a feeling the puppy would destroy it in a matter of minutes.

mark brooke

Mark Brooke is a photographer, like a few others, who has a blog that I check... almost daily. Still forever-far from my OWN wedding, let alone engagement photos, I have an obsession with the variety of styles that I've seen in these *romantic* portraits!

Mark Brooke seems to have a vintage style in his- or at least the end result of his photos do... Not sure if it's the clothing the couple chose or the photography style that makes this session so cool, but I love it either way :)

dress season

As "plain-jane" as the Gap seems to a lot of people, I can usually find at least one or two things out of each season that I would love to have in my closet.

They just released a bunch of new dresses for the summer- I looked through them online and to be honest, wasn't really THRILLED about any, although I'm sure the fit is different in person than on the model in the photo. I do kind of like this one, although there isn't a whole lot that's special about it... still might be worth checking-out in person... I'm totally into gray these days.

Dansk Design Center

One of the things that I insisted on us doing while in Copenhagen was go to the Dansk Design Center. It was a small museum but very cool and informative nonetheless. They had an interactive Living Wood exhibit going on which was really neat because you could go up and examine the way the pieces were made.

I bought one of those little wooden birds by Danish architect Kristian Vedel (although I got it later in Aarhus because I was obsessing over it. I knew I would be sad if one didn't come home with me).

My other favorite thing that I saw at the museum was the Stingray rocking chair by Danish designer Thomas Pedersen. You can read more about it here.

Then there was the Muuto Nordic design group that I learned briefly about... this one is definitely worth some more research.

erin's trip to germany!

My little baby sister (erin- 17 yrs. old) is in Goslar, Germany, until July 11th. She just left the States yesterday afternoon and, of course, US Airways lost her luggage after a rushed connection. They stick to what they're good at, hmm?

Anyways, any tips for settling-in to a country with a foreign language, foreign food, without your own belongings for AT LEAST another day or so?

back to reality.

After spending the weekend in Hilton Head, including all day Friday, I'm feeling a case of the Mondays. Taking Jane into the ocean was, by far, the highlight of our lives together so far :)



Coming back to work today was cushioned just a little bit by an office-outing for lunch. There's a new restaurant (newER...) called Press- I've steered away from it because their website looks slightly fancier, but inside it's kind of like Dean+Deluca. Yes, that can be fancier, but we're talking GOOD food- great sandwiches, salads, etc... I built my own salad, of course, but I would've eaten any of the sandwiches listed. Check it out if you're in CLT- it's pretty good... and their signage / branding is pretty nice, as well.

lovely outdoor living

In the summer I will use any excuse to be outside. I found this image and idea from A Merry Mishap. She threw a party with her sister and recreated an outdoor living room. I think I will need to come up with a party idea to utilize this idea in my rarely used side yard.... or maybe I will just drag my chairs out there for some reading.

othello

Last night Ben and I went to Shakespeare in the park. His friend Jacob did the costume designs, and hung out with us and gave us some little insites (like "that wallet he just threw on the floor, it is an $800 Fendi I got as a gift"). what girl doesn't like tidbits like that?! We took a picnic and a rug (no blankets to be had) and sat out on the lawn for a little cultural enrichment.

I recommend this for anyone in the Dallas area for a couple reasons: 1: even if you arn't a Shakespeare buff or understand it for that matter, it is still fun to go out and have a picnic... and the custumes rock! 2: it takes you out of the city for a moment so you feel like there is nothing else going on (except for the occasional ambulance you hear in the distance).

the start of my "mid-twenties"

When I got home from work yesterday I found-out what the construction on South Blvd was- we don't have water... So, at this point (8:30 the next morning) we're still without water. That means we're without showers and laundry (and flushing toilets), as well. Camping is one thing... camping in your apartment is another...

I found out it should be back on by lunch today so I came into work extra early (when I would usually be showering!) so I can take a long lunch to put myself back-together once it's back-on.

Soooo... I decided to work on something REALLY important: a birthday list :)
My birthday isn't until early-August, but parents like to plan ahead, right? Here's the list I sent- for inspiration- to the family :)

. retractable leash for a BIG dog
. mini-vacuum / dust-buster
. bissel mini deep-cleaner
. blender
. sheets
. set of knives
. eagles greatest hits CD
. keyboard skin - this is awesome... might not use it as much as i think i will, but it's still cool :)
. hip hip large hobo, ninewest- also really cute- in the "saddle" / beige color.

Everything except the last three things seems really, really, really, boring- I guess that's what happens when you grow-up? Downsizing from two roommates to one has left a few gaps in what we collectively have in our kitchen- hence the blender, knives, vacuum and deep-cleaner.


*still making a birthday list at almost 24- is that embarrassing?

merchandising-england

In england I saw such the display of visual merchandising. My favorite was the Burberry window with the white balloons (mostly b/c the main color scheme for this season is black and white) our color theme for the season. Then there was Habitat... despite all of its bad ideas not to ship to the US..... it is and has been, since i lived there, my favorite British Home store. I LOVE IT. So the first two pictures are from there. Groovy staircase and ultra cool twiggy chandelier.

HP TouchSmart

As much as I hate publicizing anything non-Mac, this one is pretty impressive and I have yet to see Steve Jobs pull this one out of his hat.

The HP TouchSmart is a desktop all-in-one PC that has a touch-screen monitor! I hate to say it, but starting at something like $1300, this is pretty cool. I'm sure there are kinks to work-out and problems to come, but I like the way this is going.

I bet Apple is just around the corner with something similar... and 10x as pretty :)

laundry chick!

Last night was an interesting experience. Probably the one of the most interesting you can have on a laundry night. I had several loads and decided it would be best to go to a laundry mat so that I could do several loads in a short amount of time. Ben with his clever google feature on his phone found a nearby laundry mat that also served beer (bar of soap... clever huh?) well this clever concept, which we found out after 7 loads of laundry had been put in machines and started, is also the host for 3 punk rock bands that night.

Going with the flow we decided this was going to be awesome. Now let me describe the set-up of this place, there are basically 2 rooms. The front room in which there is the bar and the back room with the machines. The back room is also where the stage is. So we hung out in the front room and I went back to switch my laundry and the first band was playing. At this point there weren't many people there so the lead singer is like, "welcome all three people that have shown up tonight, one of which is trying to do her laundry and get the F*** out of here." (That is me.) He later refered to me as the "laundry chick."Well my laundry is done so I go back to get it out of the dryer and low and behold 5 of the 7 machines that has my stuff in it is blocked by band equipment. I go on the search for the owners of said band equipment. I find them they are the *** insert obscene name here that is embarrassing to say by any one but the band members. They ended up being super nice guys and helped me right away. I even got pictures of their rad, gravity defying mohawks.

Lesson: #1 Find out if punk rock band is playing at your laundry mat before carrying copious amounts of laundry in and trying to get through crowds. #2 Do go and see punk rock band at local laundry mat. :)

"the itch"

photo courtesy of Keeping Up with MK

I need a vacation. I'm going to Hilton Head a few times this summer, which is going to have to do it for me... but I could really use a big one. Having grown-up in a really great family, I've had the chance to get to a lot of places with them and see some really, really, really amazing things- fishing for paranas on the amazon river in peru, touring a small swiss town with my cousins and sister, photo ops among the ruins in carthage... my grandparents are sharing their retirement with us, giving us a taste of what good saving can get you.

Next year we (my sisters and I) are going on a 2.5 week trip through the UK to celebrate Erin's graduation from high school, and the year after that we're doing a little private cruise through the islands of Indonesia (did that sound casual? Because I could probably pee my pants right now with excitement..) but this year I'm just going to kick it on the beach... having sweet dreams of trips over "the pond."

Progress

Throughout the last couple of weeks, as Barack Obama has pretty much earned the democratic nomination for President, I've heard, read, watched, and seen a lot of commentary on the subject. It's like everyone that had started to "get over it" is now wide awake and back in the game- both in a good way and otherwise.

I understand everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I also understand that none of these candidates are perfect- can someone please tell me when we've had any in the last 24 years? Exactly. However, as torn as I was in the last election trying to pick the lesser of two evils, I'm totally sold this time around.

I love- LOVE- this poster and it's *subtle* support of Obama. I'd love to have one, but the price on a post-college girl's budget just isn't going to fly... so for now, I'll drool about it.

Vegas Boneyard

A week ago I was in Vegas for a little pre-pre set up and we had some very rare downtime one day. Oh the luxury! Gregg had wanted to go to the Morelli house for sometime and I had wanted to check out the Vegas neon boneyard. We were going to attempt to do both before we had to head to the airport.

We almost didn't get to do either because of the strict appointment policy that both of them have. WE did get to go to the Boneyard because we begged and pleaded and used out god given patience and waited it out to see if there were any no-shows so we could go in. as luck would have it we did.

I took some really rad photos and am really excited about them so I made a lil coffee table book at blurb. You can get one too if you are so inclined. Just follow the link in the column to the right labeled from erin.

River Thames... england denmark

ok... so after my computer crashed (for a week) and I made a quick 4 day jaunt to Las Vegas (more on that later) I am back in Dallas and have the second installment from the england denmark trip.

So we are still on the first day. As anyone who has been to London can tell you, there are quite a few tourist attractions along the River Thames. So we started at the Tower Bridge and weaved our way down until we got to the Tate museum hopped on the tube and popped out at westminster to find Big Ben towering over us. Now we did go on the London Eye the next day.

Nikki + Seth

It's fairly obvious that I stalk wedding blogs, both wedding design + photography, despite the dangerously-far distance I've got before my marriage (part of which includes finding someone TO marry). That said, it's like a movie - it happens, but not to anyone I know... except Katie, but she'd been engaged for 4 years before the wedding and almost 6 months before we got to know each other, so it never really sank-in.

This changed today when Nikki (from i.arc) sent me the link to the dress she'll be wearing on June 7th when she weds Seth, in her grandfather's yard (how cute!!!), and the jacket he'll be wearing, as well. It's like when your friend has a baby- suddenly your group and age range becomes one of them..instead of just the token girl who takes the first leap in that direction (Katie). This girl is totally laid-back and relaxed, so it's completely appropriate that she'd have a gorgeously laid-back and simple dress (courtesy of JCrew) and he'd have a matching seersucker jacket - it's that simple-casual-preppy look that goes so well with a small family wedding. I'm so happy that she's staying true to herself through all of the excitement and tendencies to go overboard that come with planning / hosting a wedding.

M.I.A.

Sorry I've been missing in action- I've been totally overwhelmed with this puppy and the exhausting similarities she carries to a newborn baby... getting up at night, "changing diapers" (aka: house-training + cleaning up mistakes), all of the whining, attention needed, feedings, worrying about a parasite, medications, vet appointments, etc... I'm totally worn-out, but having my family in town for Memorial Day Weekend was the best break I could've asked for. I was definitely heart-broken when they left Monday morning...

my twin sister, meagen, getting to know (love) jane at the park

we took jane swimming for the first time- the "doggie paddle" was too cute for words!

Anyways, while glancing through blogs this morning I came across this wedding from notes from the road. It generally isn't really my style- more lace / details / girly accents then I'd probably pick for myself, but it looks perfect none the less and makes me re-think my dream wedding just a bit. Fortunately, I've got more than enough time to get things figured out, and should probably focus my efforts towards dating for the time-being.

I just LOVE how this cake echoes the style of the dress so well!

back in the USA (denmark-england part 1)

I have returned from my trip and it was a BLAST. i really had fun bouncing around London, Copenhagen and Aarhus with the boys. i took over 560 pictures so you can only imagine, that's what i'll be posting on for a while.

So anyway, I will start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). first was England. one really cool thing we noticed was the art down in the tube (underground) stations. There were some abstract installations, and then some were real ornate tile situations. Here are a few photos of that.

Jane!

I promise this won't turn into a dog-blog... just wanted to put-up one photo of my little girl now that she's home.

It has DEFINITELY been a handful- the puppy that seemed so laid-back is still just a baby and is very easily spooked. Around me + Maggie she's easy-going, fun, loves to play, and sleeps a lot. Around new people / experiences, she's timid and shaky. It's about as close as I want to come to raising a child..

But... she is definitely adorable :) Makes it all that much easier!

travel bottles

I am leaving tomorrow on vaca! whooo who. I am so excited. I am meeting up with one brother and a friend in London then on to Copenhagen to meet the other brother.

I packed on sunday because I was sooo excited. If I had thought about it ahead of time I would have ordered these groovy silicone bottles for traveling. There is nothing worse than using crappy shampoo. Maybe I'll order these for later. It's not like I wont be traveling again soon!! (well not for fun anyway).

down to the wire!

not only do i have a MASSIVE deadline this friday, but I'm also getting ready to bring home a puppy on saturday! this week is going to be a test- one of the most difficult weeks to concentrate, and one of the most crucial weeks for getting the job done.

saturday morning rowland and I are headed to virginia to pick-up the puppy- a beautiful baby yellow lab :) stay tuned for photos!

PreFab Now

Better Living through Design is always pretty interestting. This book is appealing to me because I am slightly obsessed with prefab houses. This one is goin on the wish list.

snowshow '04

I'm looking around for photos / examples of text carved into paving for a project we're working on and some reference imagery, and I keep thinking back to the project from the 2004 snowshow exhibit in kemi, finland- "pure mix" by john roloff + diller & scofidio.

these were squares carved out of the gulf of bothnia (an inlet of the baltic sea) and filled with a strip of LED lights + a brand of purified water. then the respective logos were carved into each square + lit from beneath- it was awesome. you can tell from the earlier progress photo that all of the lights were the same hue when they were originally placed, but as they reacted to the extreme cold they kind of "aged" differently- it was just another part of the installation... made it even more impressive.

that's one of those things I will never forget- sitting ON the baltic sea with other volunteers from all around the world, looking at those lit from within, watching the sunset and pretty-much forgetting about the sub-zero temperatures of a winter ON the arctic circle.

photo credits: the snow show

designer's prayer

one of my coworkers just sent this my way- not sure where he found it, but enjoy :)

how does your garden grow?

I was talking to my mom the other day and she said that for mother's day she would like someone to help her plant her garden. Then I got to thinking about my rut of an outside patio. This is a place that my mom has actually spent alot of time in when she is visiting me (and helped me put the patio part together). And since I can't go to NC for mother's day I wanted to redo my garden, so maybe she can get more enjoyment out of it when she is here. Maybe I will make it more enjoyable and use it too. I have always wanted some herbs.

Now I don't even know where to start and since it is a rental I am skeptical as to invest to much time and money out there. Maybe a modular solution I can take with me? I was looking through a few websites and found this one based out of the UK that does beautiful work. Modular Garden, and although this is not anything close to what I am capable of at this point in time.... I am bookmarking it away for a later date. glorious huh?

cinco de mayo!

not only is today (and will always forever be) cinco de mayo, anniversary of mexico's independence, but it is ALSO the anniversary of katie + eric's wedding! today they're celebrating their one year- can't believe it's already been that long!

so on that note, grab yourself a margarita and toast to mexico, katie + eric!

US Campaign for Burma

If you've ever looked at Keeping Up With MK you might have seen that MK, as well as being an amazing photographer, is also an activist for the US Campaign for Burma. As she recently posted, they've released a new campaign, so far involving some short videos with celebrities. This one is great- a good message that gets your attention with some humor + a familiar face.