It's V-day. Hooray. Hooray.

2012-01-25T23:03:00.000-05:00

i do hope you've been watching.

florent marchet

2011-12-08T17:28:00.008-05:00

the third one is my favorite.

2011-11-15T16:31:00.004-05:00

i love my city

midnight sun

2011-10-20T17:23:00.003-04:00

jørn utzon

2011-10-04T01:00:00.000-04:00

model. zürich theatre

renderings. jeddah stadium

bagsværd church. copenhagen

2011-08-11T17:10:00.002-04:00

2011-06-30T16:24:00.001-04:00

I've been looking at animation styles at work lately and I came across this video. Really love the style and the simple color palette. The characters are spot-on. Yay for summer!

2011-06-27T18:28:00.000-04:00

Mondays are usually kind of lame, and to make mine worse I decided to smash my finger in the front door on the way to work.

Really hard.

In attempt to remedy an already crappy day I ate three chocolate chip m&m cookies and discovered Ezza Rose. Let me just tell you. Love love love. Specifically the songs 2% and Trigger. Accordions, cellos, ukeleles, really what's not to like? Check 'em out. Instantly better Monday.

Also, there are live videos of the entire album here.

image from here

2011-05-27T12:43:00.000-04:00

The biggest desire of my heart (okay, slightly dramatic) is to live in a farm house with a wrap around porch. This house in New Hampshire pretty much fits the bill.

open floorplan and a farmhouse table

farmhouse sink, butcher's block

4-poster beds are my favorite

open-shelf pantry

and why not add some ducks on for good measure?

all images from here and here

warby parker 2011 collection

2011-02-15T18:26:00.001-05:00

yesssssss.

click to view larger.

2011-02-15T14:50:00.003-05:00

Waste Land

2011-02-14T12:42:00.001-05:00

Go see it.

Crochetdermy

2011-02-09T17:50:00.009-05:00

kind of love it.

2011-02-02T18:35:00.005-05:00

Okay, so Im trying to put together another list for this year (26 things to do while 26) which is probably going to include a lot of roll over from last years list...because we all know how well I did accomplishing that. :)

The whole list will be coming, but I did stumble upon a superb(!) idea for one of my goals.

Bake a cake every month.

This goal is similar to last years, which was to bake something each month out of my Baking Handbook, but so much better!

Since it's already February, I will just have to step on it and make 2 cakes. Tears.

What do you think about these? I think yum. :)

black forest cake

strawberry cake with buttercream

2010-12-20T12:10:00.003-05:00

i'm in love with these autochrome images. Charles Corbet. 1910.

2010-12-07T11:21:00.002-05:00

i love you and all Anthro,
but this is wrong on so many levels.

2010-12-02T00:54:00.010-05:00

2010-12-01T00:59:00.007-05:00

okay, i'm not usually a brandon flowers/killers fan but i do like this song (and video). its old-timey. :)

2010-11-12T10:49:00.001-05:00

my niece and nephew.

2010-11-11T15:04:00.001-05:00

look at my cute sissy. right before a jazz concert.

i definitely need a hat like this

2010-11-09T15:29:00.007-05:00

or this

Yokoo

2010-11-04T00:59:00.001-04:00

i ordered these today! (they ship you 5 pairs to try on for free.) i'm super excited. we'll see if i can pull 'em off.

these aren't the colors i got, just the styles. i just didn't want to post a sea of brown...:)
and they are super affordable: $95 lenses included. hooray!!

via

best dinner of my life...thus far

2010-10-27T23:39:00.001-04:00

So last Thursday some friends and I went out for the best dinner of our lives. (sturgeon!! best beet salad of my life!!! hold up, let's not be hasty, we are in need of a bit of background here.)

We traveled up to Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a combination restaurant/working farm out in Westchester, about 30 minutes outside the city. food, farms, so many things i love, what could be more perfect?

Part of what makes this restaurant special is the fact that all the ingredients they use they either grow/raise themselves on the property or source from other farms in the Hudson Valley. Cool, right? Everything is fresh, local, and delicious!

They base the menu off of the day's harvest, which means that the "menu" is constantly changing. I put menu in quotes b/c there really isn't a formal menu. How it works is you basically choose between an 8 course or 5 course tasting menu, are asked a few questions about dietary restrictions etc, and then the rest is left up to the chef! It was really exciting having no idea about what was going to be served to you next.

Anyway time to pass the baton to a far better blogger than me! My friend Brigham blogged about what we ate that night in great detail complete with pictures so please go over to his blog and check it out!!

The food was absolutely delicious and while definitely expensive, well worth it. The food, the presentation, the service (can i mention the service?? synchronized!!), the entire experience was unbelievable. Let's just say part way through the meal I was trying to decide who I could take up there with me for round 2. :)

And for your additional reading pleasure: Serious Eats article with a good review and lovely pictures.

because we are living in apocalyptic times

2010-10-17T22:35:00.000-04:00

"I'm wearing a witch hunt-gothic-exorcism dress with an 80's aerobic body,
because we are living apocalyptic times."

via

too funny.

august books and becoming a failure

2010-10-10T23:48:00.003-04:00

so its mid october and i regret to inform you that i am behind on my reading. there is just too much going on in life! actually i am behind on all of my 25 goals. eek. good thing the year is not yet over! right?? i don't know if i can catch up by a whole month though. i may just let this goal slide through the cracks...i don't really want to lose sight of what the point really was, i don't want to just read a bunch of books just for the sake of numbers. if anyone has suggestions for some good (short!) books that i should read...please comment below!

however, august and the beginning of september were chock full of good books!

39 Steps by John Buchan. really good. the story is about a man who gets wrapped up in a murder that he didn't commit—actually reminded me a little bit of North by Northwest. this is a play on Broadway, and i heard it is hilarious. hopefully it is still running because i really want to see it!

Torrents of Spring. very different from typical Hemingway. this was written as a parody to another well known novel in Hemingway's day, so some of the underlying jokes were hard to get.

This Side of Paradise. basically the rise and fall of Amory Blaine, the main character, who is wealthy and egotistical. he has a warped outlook on life due to his status and slightly dysfunctional upbringing. the book is divided into two main parts. i think i enjoyed the first part more than the second.

Dawn. good good good. Elie Wiesel is probably best known for his book Night, which is about his experience in the Holocaust. Dawn is fiction but it chronicles one day from the perspective of a Holocaust survivor who is now living in Palestine and is part of the anti-british resistance. i loved how introspective this story was. the main character Elisha, is ordered to execute a british officer by dawn and through the few hours leading up to it he confronts his inner demons: memories from the Holocaust and all that he suffered, the loss of his family, memories of his childhood, people he betrayed. he thinks of who he has become and his options for his future.

jen this post is for you

2010-10-07T00:29:00.004-04:00

your life will never be the same. :)

2010-10-05T11:40:00.012-04:00

this npr first listen stuff is the best. how am i just finding
out about it now?? listen to the new album here until it
releases on Oct 12th. I went to the Belle & Sebastian concertlast week in Brooklyn and they performed some songs from their new album. So good!

2010-10-01T12:54:00.002-04:00

Sufjan's new album comes out on the 12th (!) but until then you can stream the album here on NPR. One of my favorite songs is the first one, Futile Devices, which is most like the stuff from the Michigan and Illinois albums. Listen to it here:

2010-09-24T16:50:00.003-04:00

great lake swimmers

love 'em.
and you can't have too much folk in your life, right?

you can listen to loads of their stuff here.

happy fall!

2010-09-22T15:33:00.008-04:00

via

I know its 85 degrees in Manhattan today, but I am still inaugurating the first day of fall with a cup of my favorite herbal tea. Yum. :)

2010-09-13T12:47:00.003-04:00

My singles ward boundaries were just shifted so now I'm going to a new ward in Harlem. I have mixed feelings to be honest.

Pretty building at least, huh?

It's a bit more of a trek over there but it will definitely be nice to go to church in a "regular" building. I'll miss my old building though (it was in the same building as the Temple).

i love cake so i love these.

2010-09-09T12:09:00.019-04:00

by Paul Ferney

2010-09-08T14:08:00.006-04:00

click to read

via

2010-09-07T11:48:00.007-04:00

i love these behind the scenes/on-set photos from Mad Men

coney island

2010-08-31T00:23:00.001-04:00

i went. and i took this picture.

so incredible

2010-08-29T15:19:00.002-04:00

Timelapse video of the Perseid Meteor Shower and the galactic core of the Milky Way as seen from Joshua Tree National Park.

yay its almost fall!

2010-08-27T12:50:00.003-04:00

i know they are pretty much the same look but i love 'em both.

via

2010-08-17T13:05:00.001-04:00

coolest ever.

gold-plated pen nib necklace by Erica Weiner

red hook

2010-08-15T15:01:00.010-04:00

Randi and I went out to Red Hook, Brooklyn one (hot!) weekend in July and here are a couple of the pictures we took:

Awesome truck.

Yes Please!

Chocolate covered Key Lime pie on a stick? Okay!

Randi liked it too.

We loved how this was labeled...and it was hot, we just had to make sure.

pretty books

2010-08-11T11:51:00.006-04:00

simple but pretty covers. time to read some Chekhov again? i think so.

via

also, love love love the folded tissue paper concept. awesome idea.

via

cutie pies (niece & nephew)

2010-08-10T12:10:00.003-04:00

Madison at the water park

Lukas

my nephew is the one in the middle

2010-08-06T01:19:00.007-04:00

I'm planning on following this post with some stories soon, but for now I am just posting some pictures...okay let me rephrase that, a lot of pictures...from my recent trip to Spain & Germany. they get bigger if you click on 'em :) sorry the resolution isn't the greatest. i grabbed these off facebook.

Spain

Germany

catching up

2010-08-04T16:21:00.008-04:00

I just realized I never posted the books I read in may and june. With July now over as well, (geez time goes by so fast) I should probably post those too even though I am one week behind. eek.

May was memoirs. Can I just say that this was one of the best months ever book-wise?? I loved these books—most specifically the first three.

I have seen the movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly a zillion and a half times and I always wanted to read the book. It is written by Jean-Dominique Bauby. He suffered a stroke and was left paralyzed with no mean of communications except for blinking his eyes. He dictated the book by blinking letter by letter. The story is heartbreaking and beautiful—simple reflections on his day to day life in the hospital and his life before his stroke.

Angela's Ashes is terrifying, sad, and hilarious all at the same time. In a nutshell, it is about growing up impoverished in Ireland. Im trying to keep this post short so I'm not going to go into too much depth. Cannot wait to read 'Tis which is the author's follow-up to this book.

June was a bunch of random books, no theme:

I read the first collection of Essays by Emerson, Leaves of Grass by Whitman, The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh (he wrote Brideshead Revisited, which I love), and The Little Prince.

Leaves of Grass is probably the stand-out book for June. Whitman's writing is unadulterated and beautiful. Also, on a side note I love how he was the voice of Levi's not new but sort of recent (last summer) Go Forth campaign.

Since June had 4.5 weeks ish and so did July, the book I read for that week was Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology.

Very interesting story about a man and his wife who decide to live for 18 months in a mennonite-like settlement. The main goal of the experiment was to test the idea of moderation in the technological sense. What is the least amount of technology you need to get by? When does technology help us and when does it hinder us? It could have been written a bit better but I really enjoyed the topic.

July:

Don't know if its cheating or not, but I separated Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: an Introduction into two separate weeks. I will say it counts because I consider them separate novellas. I liked Raise High the Roof Beam better than Seymour but they both deal with a similar story line, or really the same family. You can kind of bundle them up with Salinger's other book Franny & Zooey which is excellent as well. I just love Salinger, I have read all of his books and also Nine Stories but I think there are more, I just don't know if they are collected into a published volume of not.

I had seen The Stranger by Albert Camus at Strand a billion times and always picked it up because I love the cover (ha) but I never bought it. Well, recently I needed a short book to bring with me on my trip to Europe and I bought it. Good thing I did. It is a story about a man who irrationally gets involved in a murder and what happens as a result. It is also an interesting exploration on emotion and finding meaning in life. Definitely did not turn out as I expected. I can't wait to read Camus' other books which thankfully, are all at Strand.

Siddhartha is the one I am not yet finished with. It has been on my book list forever and I am just now getting to it. I really like it so far, we will see how it goes.

2010-07-20T16:35:00.002-04:00

loving these.

via Oh Joy! by Forage/Something's Hiding In Here

omigoshlookatmyfilterz

2010-07-18T16:10:00.022-04:00

Julia and I went to Governor's Island yesterday and rode bikes. It turned out to be such a good day for a bike ride. It was really hot in NYC and I was thinking that it was going to be just has miserable out there but it was actually really nice by the water. We rode around for a couple of hours (renting bikes is really cheap over there by the way) and swung on the swings. It was really fun. And there is a picture to prove it. :)

While we were there, there was a Jazz Age festival going on. It looked like so much fun. They had a live band and a dance floor and people, most of whom had dressed up in vintage clothes, were sitting around and having picnics. There were a few beautiful old cars there too. And a mini flea market that looked like it had some good clothes. If this is an annual event I definitely want to go next year!

Julia in action.

I don't know how many more Vanessa-on-a-bike pictures you can take, but I was having fun with filtering.

2010-07-15T13:57:00.001-04:00

pretty

from here

2010-07-10T13:27:00.006-04:00

So back in January made as list of 25 things to do while I was 25. Today I decided since we are about half way through the year, I should check on my progress. I love how silly some of these are...

25 things to do while 25

take a personal day. i never have. isn't that silly?
purchase a pair of the most beautiful heels ever. this one was influenced by Julia and Kaisha because apparently i am lacking heels in general. i may change this to shoes...hehe
do a cleanse. planned on doing that for a lonnnng time. now i shall.
get a passport. see number 25. CHECK
learn French again. i studied it for 7 years but its been almost 7 years since my last class…this is sort of a commemorative goal...or something. WORKING ON IT...SORT OF
get back into printmaking. have all the stuff for linoleum and wood cuts, just haven't started. DOES THINKING ABOUT IT EVERYDAY COUNT?? :)
buy one complete outfit from head to toe, accessories included. CHECK
go to Coney Island. how have i never been?
wear eye makeup that I wouldn’t be able to wear at 40. Julia is inspiration for this! this makes me nervous to try.
go to the ballet.
find a pair of cute pajamas! silly but, whatever.
visit the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. yay yay yay!
“graduate” to the second series of Ashtanga Yoga. A necessary step if i'm ever going to be able to do the whole thing.
walk from the top to the bottom of Manhattan. 13 miles. we've been planning this forever but its always raining or cold. we'll see how it goes. ha. CHECK! did this with Sarah, actually really fun and didn't take as long as we thought it would.
host a tea party.
learn more about my dream job.
go fishing.
finish reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy. nerd alert.
get laser hair removal?? my roommate did her legs. sounds like a good idea to me. :)
ride bikes on governors island.
go on a road trip. CHECK
take most/all of my vacation days. so apparently i only took 2 vacation days last year...oops?
buy a record player because I have wanted one for as long as I can remember, if only I could get a gramophone…
try a new recipe every month from my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. SO FAR SO GOOD
go to Europe. GOING IN 2 WEEKS!

So my progress really hasnt been that great... better get on that.

2010-06-09T15:14:00.019-04:00

how gorgeous is that? i just love the form so much. designed by Petov Design

i watched this movie recently...i really enjoyed it. interesting premise and the ending surprised me. i have been watching a lot of french films lately, i really like the tone and pacing that they tend to have. i find myself paying a lot more attention to the cinematography and the characterization than i do usually. maybe that's just because i can't rely on the dialogue like i can in an english-language film, i don't know. anyway, good movie.

this song by the Arctic Monkeys has been on repeat all day.

2010-06-07T11:51:00.013-04:00

loving these two

Little Things by Pomplamoose

2010-06-05T20:46:00.014-04:00

Yay! Finally you can shop Madewell online!!

I am a very happy clam indeed.
Isn't it just the cutest stuff ever?

2010-06-05T11:03:00.009-04:00

This Memorial Day I went to Chicago to visit these guys
(and their parents too):

Lukas.
All he did was sleep the entire weekend, but he's still cute while he's sleeping, huh? Sorry for the lighting, you can't really see him that well.

Madison.
She wouldn't look at the camera. We tried a zillion times and this is the best one where she is at least pointing in the right direction. :)

My sister snapped this one while I was trying to get Maddie to turn around, at least it's kinda pretty with the sun coming through.

2010-06-02T15:29:00.025-04:00

via from me to you

via dress design decor

via belle maison

i love flowers.

2010-05-10T16:42:00.001-04:00

i have a lil nephew now. Lukas. he's a cutie.

april: hemingway & vonnegut

2010-05-03T13:56:00.015-04:00

I love Vonnegut more and more every time I pick another book of his. So funny and so random. Slaughterhouse-five is still my favorite, but Cat's Cradle is super funny and a better example of typical Vonnegut.

Starting to love Hemingway a lot more than I thought I would. His writing style is more accessible than a lot of other authors I decide to delve into (Faulkner and Joyce, anyone?) so it's nice to have a quicker read sometimes. That being said, I still find myself a bit bored with Hemingway's bullfights...skip skip skip and it would be a much better story :)

2010-04-28T13:42:00.009-04:00

Today is my two year anniversary of moving to New York City. Hooray! Time really goes by fast, doesn't it? Not that long ago I was lugging massive suitcases through torrents of rain to the I-House (where I lived as an intern). To pay homage to that first day in Manhattan, it is partially cloudy.

Stephen, Randi, and I are celebrating with our traditional Key Lime pie from Billy's Bakery. Well, actually we are postponing the pie part until further notice, because Randi is sick today. So instead I will commemorate this anniversary with a lovely picture of Billy's Key Lime pie:

Let me tell you, it is divine. And it's got a gingerbread crust. What more could you want? yums.

On another note, isn't this the cutest chicky you ever saw? He's sleeping.

image from Getty

2010-04-14T20:14:00.006-04:00

did anyone else forget?

image from Shorpy.

2010-04-13T14:49:00.006-04:00

aren't these cute?

i love colored shoes so maybe it's just me, but aren't the colors beautiful? I mean, really.

i spotted them today on Cup of Jo, a blog I love. A girl after my own heart—I think we're kindred spirits. :)

anyway, speaking of colored sneakers, I just ordered a pair of purple Keds yesterday. Did anyone else wear them when they were little? I think I had a zillion pairs...

on another note, i'd forgotten how much i love Cut Copy, until i rediscovered them on my ipod this morning on the way to work. yummm.

march, non-fiction

2010-04-01T23:02:00.006-04:00

Excellent. a little lengthy in parts, but a great resource nonetheless. Need to re-read and highlight next time.

Had this for a while, but never got around to reading it. I swear I owned it before Tiger, I swear. :) High point: the beginning of the quantum physics stuff. Low point: all the rest of quantum physics. I'm sorry. I tried.

I love Gladwell. Blink and Outliers have been my favorites so far. I haven't read What the Dog Saw yet.

Contrary to the title, it's really a collection of interesting interviews with some of the most influential minds in the industry. Some favorite interviews include Chip Kidd, Lucille Tenazas, Paul Sahre.

5th week: Lectures on Faith

2010-03-09T14:38:00.006-05:00

part of one of our new art exhibits/installations at work. one day it just appeared in the lobby. i was wondering who the artist was and then i happened to see his website on notcot.org today. there are also some cool outdoor installations on his website that are worth checking out.

2010-02-28T21:49:00.005-05:00

Trying to read a book a week for the rest of the year.

4 weeks and 4 books down.

liked it a lot.

loved.

wanted to like it more. i tried so hard.

liked.

2010-02-20T19:41:00.006-05:00

If you've ever heard of/read Missed Connections in craigslist, or seen Sophie Blackall's blog, I found these really cute/funny victorian-era versions posted in the New York Times around Valentine's day.

this one is a personal favorite:

A young soldier, of two years’ standing in the armies of the Republic, is desirous of conducting a correspondence with some American lady, not over 24 years of age, with the view that it may lead to a mutual desire to become personally acquainted — that such acquaintanceship may ripen into love, and, by the consummation of our affection, two lives be blended into one; or, in the plain King’s English, I am quite anxious to marry.... None but those who are sincerely disposed to look this matter “square in the face” need reply. In regard to his personal appearance, qualifications and character, the advertiser prefers to say nothing — a carte de visite, the contemplated correspondence and the future will disclose all that is necessary or desirable to be known on the subject.... Address Charles P. Hanover, First New York Mounted Rifles, Suffolk, Va.
May 27, 1863

Some things never change. The match.com of the 1800s:

A young lady of 18, wealthy, pretty and agreeable, wants a husband. Not finding any one of her acquaintance who suits her, she has concluded to take this method of discovering one. The happy gentleman must be wealthy, stylish, handsome and fascinating. None other need apply. Address within three days, giving name and full particulars, and enclosing carte de visite, Carrie Howard, Station D, New York.
June 5, 1863

found here.

2010-02-11T18:17:00.009-05:00

albums that have been getting me through work lately.

excellent music inspires excellent designing.

2010-01-28T10:57:00.003-05:00

A reprint of a vintage F.G. Cooper poster commissioned by the U.S. Food Administration during WW1. The message is still pertinent. You can find it at Wall Blank.

2010-01-22T11:57:00.005-05:00

this is the coolest thing ever! i have always loved gramophones/phonographs and this just makes it all better— a vintage phonograph horn that amplifies the music from your ipod/iphone! beautiful beautiful!

you can get it here.

because if i dont write it down i wont do it...

2010-01-17T15:08:00.013-05:00

So I turned 25 last month. Twenty-five. While I really don't think 25 is that old, I still feel like its time to do something monumental. To accomplish something. To finally do the things I always said I would do. And so on and so forth. So I made a list. The goal of this list is to live instead of just exist. Hmm, I stole that from the internet, but it's still good.

To be honest its not a very monumental/exciting list, its actually quite full of frivolous things. But I'm 25 and like my roommate Julia said "its when you need to learn to live for you." And thats not to say 25 is when you become all self-absorbed (Julia didn't want to be misunderstood), but its when you decide what you want to do and you go out and do it because you are an adult and you can! Ha ha. Needless to say I needed lots of help thinking of things for this list. Carolyn and Julia were wonderful sources for inspiration, but in the end the things on this list are mine.

I wanted to start out small and just think of a bunch of things that would help make this year more fun. If all turns out well maybe I shall do another list for the next year!

25 things to do while 25

take a personal day. i never have. isn't that silly?
purchase a pair of the most beautiful heels ever. this one was heavily influenced by Julia and Kaisha because apparently i am lacking heels in general. i may change this to shoes in general. i can work with that.
do a cleanse. planned on doing that for a lonnnng time. now i shall.
get a passport. see number 25.
learn French again. i studied it for 7 years but its been almost 7 years since my last class…this is sort of a commemorative goal...or something.
get back into printmaking. have all the stuff for linoleum and wood cuts, just haven't started.
buy one complete outfit from head to toe, accessories included.
go to Coney Island. how have i never been?
wear eye makeup that I wouldn’t be able to wear at 40. Julia is inspiration for this!
go to the ballet.
find a pair of cute pajamas! No more old t-shirts and shorts!
visit the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. yay yay yay!
“graduate” to the second series of Ashtanga Yoga. A necessary step if i'm ever going to be able to do the whole thing.
walk from the top to the bottom of Manhattan. 13 miles. we've been planning this forever but its always raining or cold. we'll see how it goes. ha.
host a tea party.
learn more about my dream job. because you have to have an ideal.
go fishing.
finish reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
get a wax or maybe laser hair removal. who wants to shave?
ride bikes on governors island.
go on a road trip.
take most/all of my vacation days. so apparently i only took 2 vacation days last year...oops?
buy a record player because I have wanted one for as long as I can remember, if only I could get a gramophone…
try a new recipe every month from my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook.
go to Europe.

2009-12-08T17:13:00.003-05:00

this is dan. i found him on flickr while i was at work the other day. i love him.

2009-11-29T23:10:00.001-05:00

my niece is adorable.

roommates.

2009-11-17T13:36:00.007-05:00

During some down time at work yesterday (lunch!) I started writing out the names of former roommates.

I was kind of amazed how long the list became. Especially after contrasting it with my friend Randi's list.

Randi has lived with 13 different people. (We started the count with freshman year of college). I have lived with 46. That is counting the 3 girls i live with now and not counting the 1 or 2 that I cannot for the life of me remember.

It's just interesting to take note of who has been in and out of your life, if you will, because I think that you get to know a person on a different level when you have lived with them.

I would be interested to know how many roommates all of you have had. So please comment! Also any interesting/funny roommate stories are always welcome.

Oh and if you want to include the people you lived with on your mission you can but include that in a separate tally.

2009-10-13T11:20:00.002-04:00

He won! He won! Carolyn and I entered lil Stuart in the Stake Pinewood Derby and he won. Head over to Carolyn's blog if you would like to read a full account/more interesting post of the story.

2009-09-28T16:09:00.012-04:00

Work has been a bit boring today due to the fact that we are in between projects. Randi and I tried to occupy ourselves by playing tic-tac-toe and hangman. She cheats. I dont think I want to play with her anymore. :)

In an attempt to make today's work-day slightly more interesting for me, i am posting a few random pictures that have been unearthed in my desperate attempts to organize my computer.

They are just things that I have saved for whatever reason, for inspiration (?) who knows.

matt irwin for Dazed & Confused

just from getty images i think. i love simple things.

rebecca thuss. love her portfolio.

i really like this manhattan print. and the phone.

you can get it here. the print. not the phone.

'though i've always wanted a phone like that.

i want to do that to my curtains. sunshine makes me happy.

even if it's only a typographic manifestation. from Design Sponge

anna wolf.

oh ad lab. (or just a few of us) we were so young. :)

no idea why this is on my work computer.

look at that pose brendita! ahaha

i love yellow. a yellow oven just makes life better. from Design Sponge

love old photos. from Shorpy.

2009-09-25T11:53:00.005-04:00

for people who love color

2009-09-16T15:39:00.022-04:00

as an art director one of the perks is the time i sometimes get to spend in the morning looking at pretty things in the internet. yay for design inspiration! design blogs, photographers websites, etc, etc. fun fun. because of this, my desktop is always covered in millions of screen grabs and other various images—covered to the point that the images start to stack up on top of each other and i cant figure out what is what. (thank goodness I format my desktop to snap-to-grid, because if i didnt, imagine the chaos that would erupt).

To add some linear structure to my life i turned to the wonderful organizational method known as folders. Neat little folders with neat little names lined up on my desktop. inside those folders are folders and inside those are more. beautiful beautiful. organized organized.

Well only to a point.

sometimes in moments of weakness (that may happen all too often) i need to clear off my desktop really fast to make room for important things, client briefs or something, so i squish everrrrything into one special folder. enter JUNK folder. now the purpose of the junk folder is to house things that are not yet in their proper home. think of it as a cheap hotel. crowded. messy. the food photography sleeping next to the vector illustrations. yuck yuck.

well, busy day follows busy day and sooner or later the JUNK folder is no longer a cheap hotel, its an orphanage and these kids ain't ever getting out.

the other day, while trying to find a picture i know i have of a pair of sweeet oxford shoes, i discovered that my failed attempts at organization had gone too far.

allow me to give you a glimpse:

i really have no idea how it got this bad.

do you want fries with that?

2009-09-10T23:42:00.007-04:00

did anyone else notice google's MASSIVE change to their search bar? What is that google? like 14 pt type? what were you thinking? it looks terrrrrrribbbblllleeee.

i shall now share a quote from google's official blog:

(i have bolded all the silly statements so they are easier to find.)

Now SUPER-sized!
Search, that is. For us, search has always been our focus. And, starting today, you'll notice on our homepage and on our search results pages, our search box is growing in size. Although this is a very simple idea and an even simpler change, we're excited about it — because it symbolizes our focus on search and because it makes our clean, minimalist homepage even easier and more fun to use. The new, larger Google search box features larger text when you type so you can see your query more clearly. It also uses a larger text size for the suggestions below the search box, making it easier to select one of the possible refinements. Over the past 11 years, we've made a number of changes to our homepage. Some are small and some are large. In this case, it's a small change that makes search more prominent.

Google has always been first and foremost about search, and we're committed to building and powering the best search on the web — now available through a supersized search box.

google is about search. well how about that. you know, i really get confused when i open up a google page and all there is search bar in the middle. i mean, what am i supposed to do with it? please google. help me.

dearest google, change it back. please. please. i beg of you. the ugliness hurts my eyes.

2009-08-31T10:57:00.003-04:00

i really want to see this movie.

and it doesn't hurt that it has Hugh Dancy in it either.

2009-07-20T19:19:00.000-04:00

these came in the mail today. hooray!

2009-07-16T23:09:00.005-04:00

I just saw this movie tonight with Stephen and Randi:

I really liked it. I was excited to see it and I was not disappointed.

The film uncovered some hidden and harmful practices of the food industry but it also talked about the other options we have.

I've really been trying to support local and organic produce etc, especially lately. Eating naturally and organically is something that my family did growing up but it was really hard for me to keep up with that while I was at college. But now since I've moved to New York, I have been so lucky to have access to good produce and a wide variety of all-natural and/or organic products. The film helped reaffirm my beliefs and solidify my commitment to support honest, socially-responsible companies that produce good products.

Here is the trailer, honestly its not that exciting, but it does give a good glimpse into what the movie is about.

2009-06-02T16:12:00.004-04:00

yeah...he's coming. really soon!

im all about free food

2009-05-28T12:25:00.003-04:00

free breakfast and lunch for 3 weeks at work until we move into our new building! hooray!

2009-05-12T18:35:00.006-04:00

i love this package design! its so lighthearted and playful. the copy on it is good too, a nice way to interact with the brand name.

Pearlfisher for This Water.

2009-05-11T00:04:00.002-04:00

maddie has teeth now.

2009-05-04T15:05:00.002-04:00

Today the chocolate almond machine at work gave my 7 chocolate-covered almonds. SEVEN! I usually get 5 or 6, Randi averages about 4. L Seven chocolate almonds for one quarter is amazing. This day shall go down in history.

2009-04-28T22:44:00.003-04:00

Today is my one year anniversary of moving to New York. Hooray! Hooray! I didn't buy any cake.

Tomorrow shall be Randi's and my one year anniversary at Ogilvy (okay, so we are totally counting the internship in there...)

Stephen, Randi and I are celebrating these momentous occasions tomorrow with Key Lime pie from Billy's.

Their Key Lime pie is life changing. We ordered a whole one.

2009-03-23T20:37:00.009-04:00

So two weeks ago my friend Yesenia came out to visit. It was so great to see her! I couldn't believe it had been a whole year since we had last seen each other. I had to work most of the week so I didn't get to "tour" New York that much with her, which ended up being okay (she did a really good job navigating by herself) ...and I would have been a terrible tour guide as I haven't really done many tourist-y things since moving here. However, Yesenia did drag me to the Statue of Liberty (I hadn't ever seen it), so I can totally check that off of the proverbial list...

proof that i was there

view of Manhattan from the lil boat we took. You can see a teeny glimpse of where I work. If you click on the picture you can get a bigger teeny glimpse of my building. :)

Yesenia and I went to Phantom of the Opera on her birthday. This is right before we went.

The night before Yesenia left, Sarah, Shauna, Yesenia, and I went to Rack & Soul, a chicken and ribs place one block from my apartment. It was sooo good.

2009-03-23T20:28:00.001-04:00

Randi and I are going to go to Andrew Bird at Radio City in June. Hip Hip Hooray!

in honor of my friend billy

2009-03-04T00:43:00.007-05:00

billy says i don't write enough on my blog. apparently he is sick of the pictures i post. this doesnt really count as writing, but i stole this post idea from mike. it dont really ever do these, but i felt pressured to do a quick post :) at least i didnt post it on facebook. haha.

You have your itunes set at random and then use the songs to answer the questions:

1:: IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OK?” YOU SAY?

Failure by Design Brand New

2:: WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

Now and Then Susanna Hoffs

3:: WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

Last Post On The Bugle The Libertines

4:: HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

self-inflicted these green eyes (what is this song and where did it come from??)

5:: WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?

Your Star The All-American Rejects

6:: WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

L'Ultima Notte Josh Groban

7:: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?

Don't Be Shy The Libertines

8:: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Breathe In Frou Frou

9:: WHAT IS 2+2?

New Slang The Shins

10:: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

How I Miss You Foo Fighters

11:: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Party D4

12:: WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Javert's Suicide Les Miserables Original Broadway Cast

13:: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

A Wolf at the Door Radiohead

14:: WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Red Rabbits The Shins

15:: WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Red Rain The White Stripes

16:: WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

No I in Threesome Interpol

17:: WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

Won't Go Away Vertical Horizon

18:: WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

Sail Away Enya

19:: WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Lollipop The Chordettes

20:: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Gold Gold Gold Foals

2009-02-25T12:50:00.007-05:00

photo by Cameron Wittig

I love this song Fitz and the Dizzyspells by Andrew Bird. Its addicting! I just got his new album Noble Beast last night and I have been listening to it all day long. It has been the perfect thing to get me out of the music slump that I have been going through. Hooray for new music!

2009-02-19T14:53:00.005-05:00

i am loving these Bearded Men and Semi-Bearded Men prints from Ashley G. Every now and again I looked them up on Etsy. How I wish I could buy them. For now, posting them on my blog will just have to do.

2009-02-19T12:14:00.005-05:00

I really liked this campaign for Colgate toothpaste done by Y&R Bangkok. Colgate gave out free ice cream bars as part of Oral Heath Month. As the ice cream is eaten, the toothbrush shaped stick is revealed with the messaging "Don't forget" and the brand logo. It's so simple but it really delivers the reminder to brush after eating in such a brilliant way. Really, really clever.

Found on Toxel.com

2009-02-09T14:35:00.002-05:00

i love françoise hardy

2009-02-06T13:03:00.007-05:00

so i was just perusing ilovetypography.com and came across this:

and I was like, cool, a poster of the Salt Lake Temple. But wait! there's more! Look closely!

the poster is made entirely of type!

There is so much detail. It even has "Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord" above the center doors. (of which I don't have a close-up picture)

There is even a lil Angel Moroni. Another detail which adds to the poster's typographic beauty is that it is letter-pressed. You can kinda see it in the picture above. Letter-pressing makes everything better.

The poster is out-of-stock at the moment but you can get a better look at it here.

2009-02-03T13:26:00.002-05:00

Randi and I just produced this commercial. We are very proud of it. We are thinking of submitting it to Comm Arts, or at least the local ADDYS. What do you think? :)

2009-02-03T12:08:00.001-05:00

so pretty. so expensive. :(

2009-01-26T22:36:00.007-05:00

being at work gets really lame after 13 hours which is why i am taking a break.

this is why I am here so late. FPOs. I have to fill in all the little FPOs in my layout with the real shots...boooooo. :(

On a brighter note, and the reason I posted this picture in the first place, I love canvas tote bags. This particular one is found here.

this wee ninja reminds me of a project i did in a graphic design class in college. who wouldn't want to cuddle this? haha. amazing.

i love these notebooks! they have blank pages so they would make perfect sketchbooks for brainstorming sessions!

2009-01-24T23:55:00.004-05:00

I love Hoefler & Frere-Jones. I love them for making Archer.

2009-01-21T21:53:00.000-05:00

i am the most awkward person ever...

2008-12-27T20:30:00.004-05:00

This is my niece Madison watching the Muse HAARP Concert DVD.

She especially liked Knights of Cydonia but cried during Hysteria. We didn't make her watch it after that.

isn't she so cute? She's such a happy, smiley baby.