C'est la vie!

Sadly my bedroom didn't make the cut for the Domino Decorating Contest. I didn't even make the bedroom slide show! Happily Joslyn cheered me up with her words of encouragment.

So since Domino won't publish me... here is the final photo I used and the short essay I sent in with it.

Art is in my heart… but there’s a curse on my purse. I don’t let a little thing like being cash-challenged get in the way of my love of design! A perfect Saturday is hunting for unique finds or a DIY project for my humble little apartment. The challenge is finding great pieces that I can take with me as I move up to bigger and better spaces, like the groovy wooden sculpture over my bed or the chair that I taught myself to reupholster during an afternoon project with my mom. I never want to settle for "quick-fix" disposable furniture.




Life goes on! maybe I'll win the spa trip! (I'm not going to hold my breath though)

i love gold

Remember we saw these trays at West Elm when you were here... I'm still thinking about it. Is that a sign??

Halloween decor

I was looking around for some halloween decor to throw into the apartment, especially when we have guests in town... and after getting more and more irritated with the tacky "elegance" some of these stores expect you to use, I went back to hostess with the mostess and started looking through October of 06's archived blogs. Should've just started there. It directed me to, dare I say it, Martha Stewart's website. I've never been a huge fan, but good grief the woman knows how to do holidays.

I'm not sure how do make these lace pumpkins, because I don't know where to find a tool like the one shown, but... I've got plenty of time this weekend and am really in the mood for some cute and crafty little pumpkins. I think I'll do the glitter pumpkins, maybe set on white plates (since I already own them) between some candlesticks (which I'll also have to find... goodwill?) on our table.

Then, the cat idea (not Martha's)- not sure it's really my style... maybe if I had children or something... but I still think it's pretty awesome. NOW i'm inspired!

Hostess

Not sure how you stumbled upon this site... but I LOVE IT!! Hostess with the Mostess guide to fabulous finds and more for contemporary entertaining. So cute... I love her fun, playful aesthetic. Yesterday she posted the cups above Daydream Cappuccino Set from bud™ by designroom. So fun you would just want to put it out on your counter all the time!

This brings me to another book on my wishlist... Amy Sedaris I Like You: Hospitality under the Influence I have watched interviews... read excerpts and reveiws and I really want it soo bad. Everytime i go to buy it I am flat broke though. I keep looking for it at the Half Price Books. I think I need to just bite the bullet and buy it.

first year's "blog-folio"

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but i.arc has started requiring their first-year students to do a blog where they post photographs of their work. Tommy (Lambeth- department chair) told me that it was to help them early-on with portfolio-prep. I think it is a WONDERFUL idea. I saw the link before on Suzanne's site and started looking through some of the recent work this morning. The projects are so familiar- I didn't see any bamboo, but I guess not every semester can focus ever project completely on one plant like ours did...

Anna Will's "Self-Understanding":
Challenge was to create a free-standing sculpture with eight self-portraits to allow others a better understanding of themselves.



Brittany Dasso's Self Portrait:
You remember these- picking up the highlights instead of the shadows with the light-colored medium. I always loved these- it's the drama without having to be perfect.



Kurt Huizenga's Memory Box Morph:
Challenge was to create a box, I think, morphing your box with a classmate's- this student seems to already have a knack for good craft. I looked down at his other work and saw this pencil box, as well. Someone to keep an eye out for.

Gourds

On sunday my friends, Lindsy, Camdin and I went driving through Highland Park (the "nice" neighborhood) in Dallas and went gourd hunting. These people have gorgeous Gourd diplays out in front of their houses... gets you so in the mood for the season. Too bad its still relatively warm in Texas because the only appropriate time for a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is early in the morning.

I have bought my own pumpkin that Camdin and I are going to carve and roast the seeds,this weekends. I think we are going to use one of your recipes. Got any ideas for the design??

One man's trash...

After searching for a quick second online for some vintage furnishing stores to visit, and impatiently wanting to see a full inventory of their stores online, I gave up and decided to go online-dumpster-diving. I went to craigslist and starting picking through.

It's amazing, some of the stuff you can find on there- either people KNOW what they've got in terms of the vintage appeal and it's priced accordingly, or they have no idea, it's cheap, but it's labeled something like, "used chair $15" which doesn't exactly grab your attention, especially after clicking on SO many that deserve the name they were given...and the price, for that matter.

Here are a few that I could see (with some tender love & care) being good finds. Granted, I won't actually purchase any of these- no money & no space- but I am on a mad and constant hunt for a new chair that looks reupholster-able for my bedroom. If you see anything, let me know! We're looking for something mid-century modern-danish (who isn't??) or somewhat art-deco.. I know those are all over the place, but I'm have a design-related personality-disorder these days.

*Look, especially, at the one at the bottom- $150 for an entire bedroom set that COULD be really cool.

"1960's dresser- $75"


"VINTAGE Dining Room Set - $250"

"4 piece Antique full size bedroom set 1930's, 40's or 50's - $150"

Blog Action Day

In honor of today's Blog Action Day... a day for all bloggers to post about the environment.. I am going to post about Ideal Bite so everyday is a day for the environment!!

At Ideal Bite you can sign up for a daily tip sent to you directly by email everyday. I have found lots of useful tips from the great people at that site and my favorite part is with every "bite" they give you a cocktail fact.

They even have a store with "biter gear" I think I am going to buy this groovy Euro-hip Aluminum bottle.

You can find more funky cool designs at the Sigg bottle website.

"Designers turned Cover Models"

L to R: George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames, Jens Risom

I just got an email this morning from DWR, and have just finished reading the article highlighted, by Jens Risom. Talking about his past and his friendships with other infamous designers- my favorite, I think, is how he refers to his good friends "Ray and Charlie," better known to the REST of us, as Ray and Charles Eames.

"When we gathered that day for the Playboy photo shoot, we probably all wanted, as I did, to have the opportunity to relax over a drink and compare notes. But it all took so much more time than expected. Too bad, for I had hoped it would be our chance to get to know each other better. In my opinion, Eames, Saarinen and Bertoia were the most interesting, and we could have learned a lot from them."


Some of the photos from the article are really great- it's a trip to see this photo, of all of these AMAZING men, together & with some of the most iconic representations of their design personalities.

Study Abroad

So in honor of Addison getting accepted to the Study Abroad program in Denmark, and account of it being a gorgeous day in Texas... I am posting these pictures From my study abroad program in Manchester, England this time 2 years ago. These pictures are all from the gardens of the Chatsworth House where Jane Austin got the original inspiration to base Mr. Darcy's home upon. I think i may take a walk here and see what Dallas has to offer and dream of far away places like England and Denmark.... until I can travel again!!

Have a great weekend. :)

Agenda / Organizers

After seeing that kate spade planner in person, I'm not sold on it. It's way more flimsy and wimpy than I was expecting. BUT, I DO need a new planner and SOON before the one I have (boring) runs out of space and months to plan.

I need something that lays out each month in full-view. I don't need the daily information and all of that, just the months, and preferably something that goes a while in advance. I'm kind of tempted to make my own, I'm just not sure how I'd bind it. I made my own before and used the black plastic coil- not a fan, especially these days. I know FedEx does a wire binding, but I'm thinking about doing a full-on tape / book binding. Thoughts?

I saw some binders covered in linen on Uppercase, but I'm still thinking I'm going to be tired of that pretty soon. So, I'm looking at making my own- just probably the next year and a half in full-month views, some space for notes, and maybe a few other organizational tools I could provide for ME. Any thoughts?

sartoriaList

photo from Sartorialist

Blog jumping AGAIN... this time I started on my cousins page Simple Lovely.... which brought me to the SartoriaList (brilliant, thanks Joslyn!!) any way the SartoriaList is a daily blog from a fashion designer turned photographer that uses this as an outlet to show what real people are wearing on the street. His most recent posts are those in Paris... which of course are automatically chic and stylish. The one photo in particular caught my eye.

I think its all about the Green Bag...where can I find it!?!

Architecture 2030 : Global Warming Lecture

Throughout school we heard a lot of "hype" about global warming, especially throughout Al Gore's release of his movie "An Inconvenient Truth," and the book to accompany that. Some people got really into it, and others did not. I realize(d) that we have a problem, but it just wasn't at the top of my list.

Yesterday as an office we went to a Green Expo at the Marriot City Center Uptown, and in the middle of it went to a luncheon with keynote speaker Edward Mazria- an architect who spends most of his time speaking on his research and goals in terms of global warming and how to stop it. He started off kind of slowly- good thing the food was amazing, especially the salad (spinach + goat cheese + walnuts + yellow bell pepper + balsamic vin.), but with his visual aids, I was hooked by the end of the whole thing.

One thing he spoke about was the attitude from the majority of the USA: If we don't feel like we're under attack, we don't respond as a whole. Individually, we have a lot of little voices screaming, trying to rally the troops, but as a body of people and, more importantly, those that govern them, we feel like we have to be threatened (personally) to respond adequately. Sad, but it's a good point.

His project, Architecture2030, is a goal to cut back global warming by way of (eventually) getting rid of the use of coal in our country. The statistics came from NASA and other unbiased sources, and were enough to knock you off of your seat. Coming from the midwest, our region has built an economy, and then lost it, on coal and other industrial manufacturing. West Virginia still, hugely, depends on the production of coal- drive up 77 North and take a look at the billboards: "Coal is the future." It's a tough argument- we have enough coal to last us FAR longer than we do oil and fossil fuels, but it's also the silver bullet to getting us out of the greenhouse-gasses snowball we've gotten ourselves into.

Either way, he presented us with these visual aids: he went up and down the coasts of the US- all the way around, Boston to Seattle, including Honolulu, and showed us what the results would be if the ice caps continued to melt from the global warming, raising sea-levels in the next 50-100 years.

It's amazing that I haven't REALLY considered how much a part of this we are in the field(s) we're in. Buildings and the energy required to build / run them accounts of the vast majority of consumption in this country. We have so many alternatives to the types of energy we've been using - solar, wind, etc - and aren't taking advantage of the majority of them. Maybe this was the kick in the pants I needed to wake-up and take some responsibility for myself.

The city of San Francisco, with a 2.25 meter sea-level rise.

The city of Boston, with a 3 meter sea-level rise.

Showroom

I keep meaning to post this so you can see the pictures of our showroom in High Point... It really was spectacular. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. you can see bigger versions on my photoset here.

And My personal favorite was the front window.... the ostrich is mechanical.

Zipcars

Okay, I can't take credit for this post completely- I was looking at domino's daily dose and saw a write-up on these, but it was such an interesting idea I had to check it out for myself...and then share with everyone I know!

Have your heard of these zipcars? Apparently they are in a lot of cities- seemingly towards the coasts, for now, but they seem to be growing inward of the US and in the UK. They are cars, stationed around the city, that you can rent for an hour, a day, or longer. It's an alternative to having to rent a car for days and days (and find a way to get to it), and an alternative to owning a car when you don't do much driving. They advertise using it to go get groceries- wonderful. If you walk to work, why would you need to own a car?? Honestly- there are like...three errands, maybe, that I need to run each week - I walk to the gym and if I could walk to work, would never need to drive. I looked at the rates for Chapel Hill because it's the closest to Charlotte and we're looking at like $5 / hour, including insurance, maintenance and GAS. If I read the website correctly... apparently you get a card - a ZipCard - hold it up to the windshield of the car you've reserved online, and it unlocks and you drive it! They've got little mini coopers, VWs, SUVs, trucks, etc... Your credit card is charged automatically... all in all, this sounds pretty sweet, and once they get to Charlotte, might be pretty tempting. We'll see, though.

the new/old dinner party

I was fortunate enough to leave my desk for a few hours yesterday to take our agent from Portugal shopping. I took him to all the homestores around my neighborhood. He was very interesting to talk to. Originally from Brighton, England and now lives outside of Lisbon. One of the neat things we talked about was dinner parties. He asked if people still had them and what we talked about because of the TV generation. He then told me about a game that he used to play with his friends. Each person attending the dinner party was supposed to bring an object that didn't have a obvious use. Then everyone would guess what it was for and this would spark a discussion.

I was blog jumping earlier and stumbled upon something that reminded me of this concept. On Wrong Distance, this guy talked about the sort of discussion that this photo would spark. pretty funny i thought considering my grandfather was a moonshine runner....

I think its a great idea... i'm going to try to work this into a party idea/inspiration of my own. what do you think?

Nasher

I am sooooo glad that you came and had a good time in Dallas. So for the next time I already have plans!! Hopefully you can make it sooner rather than later. I have put together a little montage of the fair below. Its too bad we missed out on the fried snickers.

Also, If you liked North Park, next time we will definitely have to go to the Nasher Sculpture Garden in Downtown. It, like North Park were both founded by Raymond Nasher.

photo from Nasher sculpture garden site

my trip to Dallas!

Erin I had SUCH a good time in Dallas with you this weekend- it was great to see you, my family, and to meet everyone in your life out there.



Erin and I went to the Texas State Fair while I was in town, giving me a first-hand look at a whole part of Texas I've never seen. Fortunately, we got the full experience as one of the biggest football rivalries in the country was having their showdown this Saturday at the Cotton Bowl- Oklahoma U vs. the University of Texas. It was pretty intense, and extremely packed. I know it gets old, and I know you'd be hard-pressed to find a correlation into DESIGN, but I love the look and feel of fairs and carnivals- the lights, colors, and overload of excitement all around is something you don't see anywhere else.




We also went shopping around at the Northpark Mall (where I had a run-in with a life-changing purse at kate spade - which I'm proud to say I didn't bring home with me)- gorgeous mall. For someone who loves to shop, malls certainly do get pretty old and boring- a big shell that shields you from anything going on around you. This one, with an older-classic appeal and tons of natural light, was clearly built and designed by art lovers, in that it's full of prints, sculptures, courtyards, and (of course) some of the finest retailers ever to set-up camp in a mall. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Pictures from the NorthPark Center site.

All in all, it was a great weekend- shorter than I would've liked- and I had a blast in Texas. I can't wait to come back to see everyone.

Favor for Meagen

Katie got married 5 months ago today- it was probably one of the biggest days in our lives... or more realistically, THE biggest day in hers. None the less, as her maid of honor (and an over-achiever in all the wrong areas) I made it my goal to do everything ever considered a responsibility, gesture, or duty to the M.O.H. I spent a lot of time (and whatnot) on crafts and plans for showers, bachelorette parties, and gifts for the wedding. We made these tshirts for everyone to wear at the bach. party- huge hit, HUGE- which was on St. Patrick's Day in Greensboro, and overall, it was a really good chance for me to play around with graphics- even if I used istockphoto for A LOT of it (at least I bought whatever I used instead of stealing it..). Yes, that IS katie's face as the dancing leprechaun- we couldn't resist.



Well, Meagen's friend, Ashley, is getting married soon and she's helping to plan showers and bachelorette parties, as well... so she asked for some help on the invitation & a tshirt, as well. Really, she just needs someone with Photoshop to compile some ideas she had, but I was the lucky girl that got to do it! Now, this design was thrown together in about 30 minutes- I didn't slave over the computer all week coming up with something- but it's still cool (as a young "designer" recently out of school) to have ANYONE appreciate your work, and likewise, put it to use.

I need to work on my design-work though... I tend to have a problem with the subtleties and NOT making things so high-contrast and intense. I'll get there someday- I love other work in that style, I just struggle with when to stop.

Akron Art Museum

So, despite growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, and traveling home several times throughout the last 5 years, I feel like a complete idiot for never stopping or scheduling a stop at the Akron Art Museum. I came across this building in a forum I was looking through the other day and was kind of blown away at the architecture. For someone who (despite an argumentative & defensive pride) doesn't see all THAT much worth visiting in the midwest, I must say... between I.M.Pei's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Great Lakes Science Center, and this museum, Ohio's doing okay for itself.

"The new addition to the Akron Museum of Art underscores how hard it can be to strike a balance between daring architecture and enjoyable spaces for viewing art. Designed by the Vienna-based Coop Himmelb(l)au, the building’s crystalline exterior and lobby, with their cascading sheets of glass, reflect an exuberant spirit of invention and openness.

Unfortunately, that spirit stops at the gallery doors. After the initial euphoria of taking in the big public spaces, the galleries feel surprisingly drab. You’re left with the deflating impression that the client and the architect experienced a failure of nerve at the moment that mattered most.

The old museum, housed in a 19th-century Renaissance Revival building that once served as a post office, stands on a commercial strip facing an ugly brick-clad parking structure in downtown Akron. This is the dark side of the America recalled by Robert Venturi: a haunted Main Street U.S.A. of decrepit brick buildings, vacant windows and empty storefronts."

-the New York Times, July 9, 2006

For the record, I'm still going to plan a trip to see it for myself- I'll let you know what I think. When I was looking through some of the progress shots and saw some sketches and models that were completed throughout the entirety of the design, I thought of my thesis project. Not necessarily the result that I geniously created in my last semesters in school, but instead of the challenge itself- taking an old building (in my case an old warehouse in Cleveland; in their case an extremely old brick post office building) and juxtaposing it with some new "wave of the future" to create the style of today- which seems to be leaning more towards that whole Modern Meets Vintage appeal. Not combining, necessarily, to create a new blend of architecture / design / fashion / etc... but instead, combining the elements to be obviously (and celebrated, for that matter) different from each other- complimentary. Either way, I'll let you know how it looks next time I drive home, which will most likely be Christmas.

patterns

This is definitely on my list of wants!! i have to type quick... market! check out more d's on amazon.

Pumpkin Seeds

We've hit October which means we're officially in Halloween-prep month. That being said... my favorite part of the holiday skips right past costumes and even decorations- right into food, of course. We were never big on pumpkin pie at home (until Thanksgiving), but every year we saved the pumpkin seeds and roasted them in the oven- SO good.
Now, my mom always just toasted them with looking for a few other recipes today and came across a couple other var some seasoned salt on it- not bad, but I wanted to find a few varieties:

1) Cajun Seasoning Blend:
1 1/2 c pumpkin seeds salt to taste 2 tsp. melted butter or oil garlic powder cayenne pepper Bake @ 300, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.


2) Sweet Spicy Pumpkin Seeds:
5 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch cayenne pepper (to taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil
Line baking sheet with parchment paper; bake seeds @ 250 until dry- about 15-20 minutes.
Mix 3 tablespoons sugar, salt, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, pepper in bowl.
Combine oil & other 2 tablespoons sugar in a nonstick skillet over high heat & add baked seeds. Cook until sugar melts and seeds caramelize- 45 to 60 seconds.
Transfer seeds to bowl of spices; stir well to coat; let cool.

3) Curried Toasted Pumpkin Seeds:
3 c pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons peanut, canola or olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Bake @ 300 for 25-30 minutes on parchment-lined baking sheet after coating in all ingredients. Let cool.

So, I'm hungry now- I LOVE curry, but I'm probably going to try all of these... let me know if you've got any others!

Plate

I actually bought this plate and a blue one about a month ago when Ben and I went to the Modern in Fort Worth. It was designed by a student at SCAD. I love that. Anyway I found it on Elsewhere for about half the price of what I bought mine for. Figures huh? well anyway just thought it was fun.

names for a puppy?

I think I mentioned this to you, erin, but in my new apartment / home / box on the street, I am going to have a dog. I know I've had my issues with pets in the past (lets not talk about Pedro - the beta fish - or Pedro Dos, Pedro Tres, or Pedro Quatro, RIP to all of them...) but I think I'm ready...and I want one.

I'm doing my research, but I need something medium-sized- I can't handle some prissy little fuzzy thing that has to have a sweater on in sub-40 degree weather and lotion daily named Penelope... I need something a little bit more substantial. I know they have their perks and downfalls, as well, but I'm leaning towards and English Bulldog. They are stubborn, hard-headed and determined to do their own thing- sounds like my kind of dog. And would you just LOOK at these pictures of puppies- how could I resist??? So, that being said, I'm going to need ideas for names... Meagen has a chocolate lab named Lucy- once again, another brilliant idea of hers that I wish I'd come up with first... how it usually goes, right? So, start thinking- it will be a girl. And I've only got about 9 or 10 months to decide.

ELSEWHERES

Don't know if you saw this link over on the side there, but I found a site called ELSEWHERES, that sells all kinds of fun stuff... and you know how I love shopping in every form and fashion possible... so this morning I started looking. I really haven't looked through most of the stuff on there, but already I want it all.



1) There's a calendar that I love- this image, in particular- it's called the Things to Make and Do Calendar- and the artwork is really fun... love the simplicity of the pages / layout / artwork / etc.



2) I looked through the tshirts category. Some of them are somewhat humorous, some aren't so cute... but I thought this was kind of cute- not sure that I would wear it, but knowing my love for tshirts and hatred for having to put too much effort into what I wear out sometimes, I could see it with jeans and some cute jewelry to some kind of casual bar on a Friday. (ps: it's a pillow-fight. not sure how well you can see it in the given image)



3) I am in love with this ring. It's a forget-me-knot ring, and I have a feeling I'm going to be buying it soon- love love love it. I want one for myself, but I immediately thought of someone else... we'll see. Love it. Really. Love it.

Homecoming in Greensboro

It was great to see everyone at homecoming at our alma mater this past weekend- granted, it's been 9 months since graduation and 7 months since my departure from Greensboro, but it's been a long 7 months. Either way, after a long weekend away I've got A LOT to catch up on, so for today I'll just leave you with, what could possibly be, my favorite picture from the festivities.