almost. there.

packing:

3 shirts
4 pairs of shorts (2 gym shorts 2 nicer pairs)
1 dress (in case we decide to go to church)
2/3 pairs of jeans (its so embarassing if i bring 3, but i go through them like they're candy)
1 pair of hiking shoes+ 1 pair of flats + 1 pair of toms + 1 pair of chacos..eh, now that i'm thinking i might have to bring my jack pursells too.....5 pairs for 3 days..Its. SUCH. A. HARD. DECISION. (don't judge me, i'm a girl.)
1 bathing suit
toiletries/makeup (TOOTHBRUSH IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST-if i had to bring only one thing in this category this would be it.) my teeth must always be clean-- its my bad habit.
1 pair of socks.
1 set of pjs. (or the onesie...cant decide)
1 hair dryer
1 straight iron (otherwise my hair wouldn't be worthy of going out in public.)
cell phone charger
bible and a good book: leaning towards something Piper...hmmm.

i think thats it. ugh. i was like 5 minutes late for work because of my packing debacle. seriously. its ridiculous.

i hope everyone has a pleasant memorial day weekend. enjoy. relax. and pack modestly. and drink a good beer..preferably an ale. (boyfriend and i tend to lean towards these mostly).

i hope charlotte looks something like these pictures i found on oncewed.com this morning.

the 'block'

this post won't take long. seriously..... serious writer's block for sure. i only have five more hours of work until i'm officially on 'memorial day weekend' vacay (1 more hour today and 4 tomorrow morning). then, me and the boy are whisking away on a plane to charlotte, north carolina. i am a horrible trip preparer...if that makes sense. meaning, i go all out in preparation for a trip.. even small weekend ones... my house has to be spotless, i have to be packed (mostly) the day before... i make lists...endless lists that are constantly changing of what must be done, what i must bring...etc. i probably stress myself out more so by doing this, but, what i've realized is that i'm also very thorough. and, i can proudly brag on myself for a second and say, on every trip i've ever been on, i have NEVER forgotten something that i absolutely needed.
the boyfriend has strongly demanded that i let him handle all the travel plans.. (this is a difficult task for the independent, likes to be incharge person that i am)...but, because i trust him with my life.. i think i can manage also trusting him with travel details.
so to distract my stressed or more "overwhelmed" brain i'll delight you with a room i think compromises both mine and the boyfriends sense of style when it comes to room decor in general. we talk about this alot, merely because i make him.... its a passion of mine. (i guess that comes from having a passion for design in itself-i like to think of arranging and decorating a room a type of design) 

modern flair + vintage + homey. if you think none of these words applies, keep your opinion to yourself. and have a happy and safe memorial day weekend.

vacation is on my mind

with memorial day weekend quickly approaching i can't help but be distracted by the word "vacation." maybe its because i'm in desperate need of one, or maybe its because i've just been talking about it alot with the boyfriend lately... mostly its a lot of "wishful thinking"...either excuse will do. vacation is on my mind.

with that being said i'd love to introduce you to the most fabulous website (when it comes to destination travel that is)... i seriously could spend hours parading through image after image of luxurious hotels and scenery all over the world. as easy as just a mere click of the mouse, your mind can travel anywhere your heart desires....let the day dreaming begin..

so here's to one of the most distracting websites ever creating for the adventurous wanderer. enjoy. just click here. below are some of my favorite discoveries and dreams of where i'd love to go one day.
from l-r: (rome, lake geneva in switzerland, and napa)

christian faur

one of the joys of having family that lives in columbus, ohio, is that while visiting, i always have the luxury of enjoying the city's art district, otherwise known as the 'short north.' a little over a year ago i took a road trip with one of my best friends up north to visit my family, and we decided to explore the artsy area. to our surprise, we happened to explore at the right time because the district was having its monthly 'gallery hop.' the short north is known for its over abundance in art galleries and once a month they open up the galleries for famous and upcoming artists to show off their unique work. its an all night event and thousands and thousands of people walk the streets, enjoy lovely art, and eat in delightful restaurants.
while gallery hopping, we managed to run across the most brilliant of artists, his name is christian faur. his style is unique in that he uses hand cast crayons as 'pixels' to develop to create breathtaking imagery. i considered summarizing his explaination on his personal website, but he does it so elegantly, i wouldn't want to down play the detail he puts into his work. he explains it like this,

"These individual “pixels” of wax are precisely stacked into specific locations inside of wooden frames to produce a new art form that uniquely balances the qualities of both photography and sculpture. Further, I have developed a mapping system that translates the English alphabet into twenty six discrete colors and I use these crayon “fonts” to add words and language to each of the pieces in the show.

The product is a series of photorealistic landscapes and figurative images that are formed at the surface of the thousands of tightly packed crayon tips. The imagery that makes up this new body tends to focus on isolated elements represented as children, barns, water towers, etc. withinin determinate landscapes, which are intended to reference the individual crayon whose solitary existence, like that of the individual element, is rendered obsolete in the amalgamate. The direct representation of language in each piece further imbues the works with meaning and brings an aspect of color into each composition reminiscent of DNA coding. The alphabetic key at the lower left of each panel allows the viewer to interpret the individual words written throughout the various panels."

no more explaination needed. this man is a brilliant artist. his work is unlike any other i have ever seen.

photo captions: from top to bottom- untitled 6500. mortgage on the future. the dance I. the hours.

wish list

i love lists. i make them all the time: everyday- every week... its what i do for everything. i guess you could call it my 'organization staple.'

i don't know what i would do if i couldn't make lists. lists require paper, a good pen (i'm picky in this area because as an architect you always need a good one), and a well placed words or ideas that are in some form or fashion organized. and yes, an organized mess will do. typically lists of mine come and go, but i do have one list that is currently (and has been for some time now) my 'wish list' of several things that i really need /slash/ think i absolutely want. this is an extrodinary list because the 1) it is a rareity that something gets put on the list and 2) in order for things to get put on the list, they must go through an extensive mental questionaire that usually involves questions such as: what is the significance of this need/want? or this question, which really tends to eliminate most everything.. is this something that i will keep forever?

i hope to one day own most or all of the few things on my list as it is extremely selective. currently i'm saving up for the dining room table...its always a good feeling when you can personally purchase something you've been saving up for. my goal is to have the table purchased by the end of the summer. so, in sharing my tid bit on lists, i'd love to personally share mine with you.

1) cb2 teepee dining table

2) a vintage typewriter: either a blue one like this, a mint green one, or a black one will do.

i'm so disappointed with myself last year i had my hands on one i could've walked away with for free and past up the opportunity.

3) an eames lounge chair with the ottoman (if i look at this picture too long i seriously will start drooling)

4) a krups espresso machine

and last but not least....because i do have a feeling as life goes on i'll add to the list...

5) a great dane (i have a feeling blake might roll his eyes playfully at this one- but i'm a sucker for dogs, and have always had a thing for certain breeds- he knows this.)

hope you find my list amusing/cute/entertaining. what are some things on your list that you look forward to having one day (or at least dream of having one day)? its a fun thing to think about, even if realistically, it probably won't become reality.

happy wednesday.

a good view

gonna apologize for the lack of blogging the last..mmmm.. week and a half or so. when it gets busy in the office i neglect my posts. which i miss terribly, because i always learn something new in my research for my posts- and i love to share the 'new-ness' i find with my readers.

anyway, the last couple of days i've found myself with my head in the 'creative-thinking-design-discovering' clouds. blake's family owns a cabin in montana and is actually in the process of remodelling it. in the fall, i had the privilage of gazing my eyes on their architect's design for the new and updated cabin... but to my delight, they want my help and input with the exterior colors, roof, decking, shingles, siding, and trim.

i'm drooling. that is just the offer i need to turn any bad day upside down.

so coming out of a busy week, i was secretly hoping for a slow monday so i could tackle the inspirational side of my new project... to my excitement, it has been a delightfully slow day, and i've managed to keep myself drowning in architecture- the best kind... researching ideas, browsing blogs...ah... i seriously could do this everyday. i learn so much in the process- just as much as being an intern in a firm.... well, almost.

gathering my thoughts i must say is the hardest task. i have so many ideas running around... i think i'm going to spend the rest of the day searching for more inspiration and leave it to another slow day for me to do the sifting.

because its a cabin, my minds been on all things wood.. in the midst of my inspirational search, i just can't not share with you some beautiful images of wood implemented into room design. there is just something about the warm and earthy vibe wood pulls into a room that leaves it feeling homey.

i'll be sure to share some of my ideas in later posts. its to early to reveal those right now. until then, enjoy and be inspired to use wood creatively.

via raddblog

luxury

sleep is a luxury. sleep is what two of my most favorite creatures (i.e. human and dog) do best...

even best together... = )

whimsical

i just realized that in the course of less than a week, i had 3 different girl friends get engaged this past weekend. wow. thats a lot. i'm only a bridesmaid in one, and probably won't be attending the other two merely for the fact that i'm not close with two of them anymore, though still consider them friends, but still, this past weekend sparked engagement after engagement after engagement. i love hearing the sweet stories. proud of my dear friends ryan and rebekah, who will be getting married august 14, 2010. they only have three or so months to plan their wedding, and, i'm just delighted to be apart of the ceremony.
in lieu of wedding season seriously taking off in the last month or so and carrying on through the summer i want to share some beautiful photos from a small ceremony i ran across via oncewed. they have endless diy postings that i just cant help but look at an invision my wedding one day.
this photo captures emotion that can't help but bring sweet tears to my eyes. its just breath taking, as she's listening to him read his vows while holding her hand over her heart.

her dress is dainty and whimsical. i secretly want it.

the picture below makes me chuckle, as i think about my rascal puppy, tallulah, running beside me.

hope you have a delightful afternoon. congratulations my dear friend, rebekah! love you from the bottom of my heart, and i am so thrilled to share your special day with you!

c-h-a-r-l-o-t-t-e

that's how you spell it -- i think. i'm not so sure why i do, but i mispell "charolette" charlotte everytime. and i'm trying to spell it out more and more these days because its the destination thats on my mind. blake and i are flying to charlotte for memorial day weekend, and i must say, we are completely stoked beyond words. partly because neither one of us have ever been there, so its going to be a new adventure for the both of us (or "sharing something new together" as i like to so sentimentally put it), and partly because its where his best friend, matt and his wife meghan live. matt and meghan are two of blake's close friends that i haven't actually gotten to meet. luckily, in the 8 months we've been dating, i've been able to meet the majority of his close friends, give or take a few (matt and meghan being two of those few).

so, off we go to charlotte come memorial day weekend! i have an itch to get out the office and enjoy a nice little vacation, because the weather, as of late, has been utterly gorgeous...too gorgeous to waste time being in doors. as our vaca draws nearer and nearer, i can't help but daydream of what activities we might emark upon while in charlotte. i'm a planner- a good and bad trait of mine- so to plan what we do in charlotte sounds typical of me (maybe thats why we're having a skype date with matt and meghan this week to discuss ideas), but then again, total spontaneity might not be such a bad idea either. i like going out of my comfort box every now and then.

but, i couldn't help but google charlotte this morning in the office, as it is another slow day again. and to my dismay, i could not find any pleasant photos of 'beautiful' charlotte...except this one... and it doesn't scream 'lovely' to me. but it will do.

my longing to be outside has encouraged my blog to only contain outdoor images today, unfortunately no more of charlotte. i guess that means blake and i will have to bring our cameras and post lovely outdoor photos of our time there on a later date.

in the meantime, here are some lovely images of outside that i'm enjoying right now.

photo caption are there even views in charlotte like this?

photo caption(s): compliments of Douglas Friedman

photo caption