revamped and reused

last night a dear friend drove into town just to hang out with me and meg (my roomie). the three of us all have a really special-innertwined relationship because adam and meghan were best friends in high school. adam and i were best friends in college, and our worlds collided when meg moved in with me for the summer, as she's doing her clerkship at a law firm in downtown jackson. we've become good friends since she moved in- adam just really has great taste in friends i guess.
because adam is an artist, i'm an architect, and meg's in school to be an attorney, conversations tend to get creative, interesting, and hilarious, to say the least. needless to say, this post speaks to all of our worlds combined.
the loft space below is dear to my heart because its actually a friend of adam's loft space. i instantly fell in love with all the refurbished details that overwhelm every room. everything from the colors, to the collage decor on the walls, to the 'attorneys' label over the door frame- that speaks to the history of what the building once was- an old law office. all together work to make this loft everything i could ever dream and more, when thinking about how i'd design my own loft, given the opportunity.

they must have an eye for design/creativity because i happened to find the loft and the pictures in an article featured in apartment therapy. believe it or not, this place is located in laurel, mississippi. i'm such a proud mississippian right now.  you don't come across this much creativity within a home very often around our neck of the woods. this is one appreciated, loved, cherished, and desired place. i like it. scratch that: i love it. happy thursday.

farmhouse find

no i'm not a southern farm girl. i do appreciate the old fashioned style that embraces farms and farming though. i'm all about the vintage like flair. with that being said, i have always wanted an old fashioned glass milk jug to hold milk in my fridge. yes, design and style for me even filter into how things look in the refridgerator. call me ocd. or just passionate. either way the search for one of these jars has been outrageously difficult- extremely hard to come by. today though, just so happened to be one of those lucky days. this cute website farmhouse wares has all the right items for just the person with the farmhouse style. say hello to my new milk jug. i can't wait for it to come in the mail. what a cheery way to start off a morning, pouring milk into my cereal with one of these, rather than a dull plastic carton. great find to end a friday.

have a blessed weekend.

behind the facade lies something beautiful

just give it a chance. peel off the layers and find yourself immersed in the breathtaking architecture that fills merida, mexico. the builders and construction workers, unlike here in america, seem to take pride in their craftiness. they are masters at just about anything dealing with concrete. take crown molding for example: merida has very few trees, so what trees they do have they prefer to preserve. so rather than wasting wood to create aesthetics within a home, they replicate it out of concrete. a typical street corner in merida looks something like these:

 

a somewhat shabby looking exterior, but inside, you are graced with ornate details, craft, and color like never before. all the coloring on the walls, surfaces, etc are colored/stained concrete. mosaics are also common to mexican architecture- just not tacky like what we're used to seeing in mexican restaurants in the states.

the images below are taken from a couple of the houses above. i cannot get over the handiwork/time/effort that goes into these designs. each are unique and leave you feeling like you're in your own little tropical oasis.

i have been down to merida once. but that was a long long time ago. now that i'm older to appreciate the architecture, i'd really love to go back.

oh gehry.

vitra_gehry, originally uploaded by *chiara!.

oh gehry. you've gone and done it again. you've made the world of architecture something to be talked about-to be gawked at- hated- and loved. you've created new emotions for the existence of architecture. and left the world of uneducated passerby's dumbfounded. how do you do it? when i think i can't figure something out, all i need to do is look at your artistic creations, good or bad, and think, "ok, that's a lot more complex than the current structure I'm trying to design." you complicate our profession. you create some great pieces and some that are a little beyond me. yet ugly or beautiful, i admire your work. your style. and your creativity. you think outside of the box. and whether i'm ever able to run with the big dogs or not, i hope on at least one project of my architectural existence, i can think abstractly like you- turn it into something concrete- step back and realize that i made the abstract work, just like you always manage to do.

Strata Center, MIT taken by Ed Brodzinsky

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA taken by Sutanto

china. china. china.

this is the only thing that's on my mind. i mean with 2 larson boys over there- something in american, you can tell is different. while they are over in china with e.l.i.c. teaching english and spreading the gospel, their friends and family are constantly praying and lifting them up. i hope that one day when we get to heaven, the Lord takes us through a fast fwd slideshow of all the prayers people prayed over me, over them, and over everyone. i mean, how cool would that be, to see the anonymous prayers from unknown people as well as the outpouring of prayers from those closest to us? we'd be overwhelmed, wouldn't we? in a good way. in a great way.
its amazing, how even with someone you care about so far away, you feel closer to them just by spending time with their family. = ) this weekend i had the privilege of going up to fayetteville, arkansas to spend time with hallie (blake's sister), her ridiculously cool hubby- seth, and mr. and mrs. larson. oh, i could hang out with them forever. it was a complete joy- to say the least. i am the luckiest girlfriend, that my man's family would wanna spend time with me without their own son around. spending the weekend with them was just what i needed to get over the countdown 'hump' until blake's arrival back in jackson. we're down to 13 days. i can hardly believe how fast and slow time has inconsistently gone. i have been so grateful for what the Lord has been and still is doing; however, i am so ready for blake to come home.

i'll leave you with a few pictures from blake and barrett. as well as one of my time in fayetteville this past weekend. the lord is so great. i am so completely thankful and humbled by His the subtle blessings and gifts he gives us just through the presence of those around us.

barrett (far left)

fayetteville farmer's market with the girls

dainty. delicate. delicious. carefree.

i'm so on board with making mondays as carefree and serene as possible. if i can bring myself to establish this state-of-mind early on in the day, monday's tend to be more pleasant. i've gathered several pictures that give me this dainty, delicate, delicious and -carefree feel to enjoy. and hopefully you will enjoy it too, thus granting you a dainty, delicate, delicious, and carefree monday.

if only i could wake up to a breakfast in bed like this.

cannot resist a good/true quote.

underlying theme- the color scheme is what gets me in these pictures. it appears as if someone added a little water onto the page. i'm a sucker for the more muted. not to mention the carefree demeanor.

double digits

one word: radical. read it. it will change your life. seriously. or at least attempt to challenge you to change it.

so we've finally made it to double digits- as in this kid has been gone for officially ten days. its like a benchmark making it FINALLY to double digits- in my mind at least. i mean how cute is he? nothing is cuter than my man in a picture making reference to me and even cooler- with beautiful architecture in the picture with him. my love languages- ah.

i miss him. a lot. status update: he's doing really well and growing tremendously with the Lord. and i'd say at least 75% of his growth involves growth in leadership, which is a result of him leading a team, spiritually, made up of 7 college kids. i mean, my man is legit. to legit to quit! not that he wasn't a great leader before; he is an amazing leader already. i know this from him leading me in our relationship. but its so refreshing to know the Lord is never satisfied with our current status and is always challenging us to grow more. as a matter of fact, during blake's absense, we've both grown more spiritually. getting to step back from him [as a distraction]- a good one at that- and seeing our relationship more focused through the Lord's perspective is so crucial and has been in this season of life. in our case, it has been a wonderful perspective to see through and pray over. absense truly makes the heart grow fonder. i miss this guy so much.
anyway, with him gone, i thought i'd be bored to tears, but its given me opportunities to be rather busy, especially at work. thus the lack of posting. i may have to either start posting when i'm at home at night, or just hold off until work gets slow again. i do miss the consistency of a good post though.
in the meantime, whether busy or lazy, i hope you have a pleasant weekend. enjoy the sun. the shade. the rain. whatever. and if you happen to think of him, pray for blake. happy weekend.

blake's team at the great wall. [fearless leader bottom-middle]

loving the colors in this picture

its a framer.

going up in my house one day.

proceed and be bold

wow. so i've totally blown off my [almost] daily blogging sessions for a week as a result of being swamped in the office (things have been overwhelmingly busy-in a positive way) but mostly i've needed some time for myself- on tuesday, i said goodbye to blake for 34 days and it was emotional to say the least. it feels as though half my heart left with him- and is now resting somewhere across the world.
there is one thing that gets me through each day- that's the unconditional love of my Heavenly Father. there is an overwhelming amount of peace that has overcome me ever since blake left. i know, in this season of our life right now, he is exactly where he needs to be- learning/teaching/growing in Christ, and I am exactly where I am supposed to be- learning/teaching/growing in Christ as well, in Jackson. the Lord is already teaching me things about myself that are a lot harder-yet more forced to deal with now that blake is gone- that i probably wouldn't have had the chance to learn while being together everyday. before blake left, the Lord revealed how important this time apart is for our relationship and the worst most dangerous thing that could happen is for me to waste it- waste it by filling up my time with nothing- cause it's possible.
i desire to be the best friend-girlfriend- possible future wife for blake. and the only way i can be the best is by growing independently in my walk with the Lord- and loving on blake through an out pouring of the Father's lavished love on me. It's a beautiful picture- it's Crazy Love. i cannot be filled up with the Sprit in doing nothing- as i've already mentioned; my point is, i need to get off my butt [spiritually] and be proactive in my walk with the Lord. so- i've gone all 'blog' and stuff on this post and titled it the action-based theme for this month of blake and i being apart. quoted by a guy named Amos Kennedy, this powerful quote has no spiritual connection in anyway- but how cool is it that it just so happens to go hand in hand to the things we're both doing and going through this entire month?

Proceed and Be Bold. Proceed and Be Bold my darling.

That's it. My prayer for blake this month is that he will encounter the Lord in ways he's never encountered him before- I pray that he would be bold- and create opportunities for himself as he wanders in territory- where the enemy may have a stronghold. i pray he goes with confidence in the Lord and that the confidence is merely translated into a reflection of Christ through his leadership- his teaching- his conversing- and his ministering to whomever in China. Blake- be bold in your faith- claim Christ- deny the enemy. walk uprightly- and allow your spirit to give off the sweet aroma of our Father.

friends and family, of me and blake, we ask that you please pray for us during this time- as its the first time we have ever been apart from eachother for this length of time- and though it may only be a month- it most definately can be pressing and hard at times- as it already has been for me. please pray for strength and willingness to accept things the Lord wants to teach and show us as we diligently seek Him out and desire spiritual growth and maturity, not only to be carried out in the way we live our day to day lives, but also to be carried out in our relationship with eachother.

phew. this has been a long exhausting day. im off to bed. thankful, cherishing, and hungry for the Lord's wisdom. have a safe and blessed weekend. i'll leave you with a picture from my office's annual 4th of july party we throw on our front lawn. blessings.