key west!!!

September 2nd, 2010

Tomorrow morning I’ll be headed to Key West! I’m so excited!

I think I’m most excited about seeing the Hemingway house of 6-toed cats! :) I love furry things! I hope I can snuggle them all!!! I may not want to come back and my company may want to leave me there! ;)

(image from this site)

Ahh! I’m so excited! Expect a post full of kitties, Cuban coffee, and lots of color upon my return!

Have a great holiday weekend friends!

xoxox

jenny and johnny

August 31st, 2010

i love jenny lewis. i loved listening to her in rilo kiley and all of her solo albums. and she has a new album out today! it’s with her boyfriend. their band is jenny and johnny. and it’s awesome.

check it out.
<3







impromptu photo shoot!

August 30th, 2010

Friday night some friends and I had a impromptu, mini photo shoot.

We set up a little bit of a fire hazard photo area in Hayden’s apartment.

Wax paper on a hot lamp…

Testing the light – reflective or not?

This is a funny moment. I farted as I was taking this photo, the results? A great face.

I made a wish when saw the time…

And we started shooting!
Louis…

Hayden

Hair prepping!

Jaime (love the hair!)

Me

It was a fun night! And we took some great shots. We could totally do glamor shots!

Friends, you are all beautiful!

pink and blue

August 30th, 2010

Another perfect weekend for the beach! The skies were cloudless, with only a few wisps that floated like the birds. A butterfly kite hung in the sky and some seagulls soared looking for crumbs in the sand. They also left lots of tracks and seemed to walk in circles! A carnival was happening past the parking lot. We walked by some berries hidden in the green bushes, and I had to stop and smell these bright pink hibiscus plants in the street.

Absolutely lovely.

It may be the last beach weekend of the summer, but at least I captured it in some photos!

into the morning light

August 22nd, 2010

Growing up, I loved staying up late. I loved staying up to watch the sunrise. I remember late nights with childhood friends talking about dreams and hanging up posters of kittens. In college it was fun to stay out dancing and being girly with my girlfriends.

I don’t do this often anymore, but every now and then it’s fun to see the lights of the night into the morning.

~Like the lights of Max Fish on the Lower East Side~

~A very fun night with a new friend. *thanks Katy!*~

~Streetlights of my new neighborhood and a non-stop fire hydrant~

~Lights of street vendors near Union Square~

~and the moon light over 2nd Avenue~

~I finally learned how to create my own light show…~
(first time’s a charm!)

and of course, the first thing I thought about was love.

And hearts…

I made these into the morning light…
The sun and clouds created a spectacular show.

And as the city started to rise, I thought about resting.

Hope you had a great weekend. :)

xo

reminders

August 20th, 2010

There are a lot of things I’m forgetful about – birthdays, taking out the trash, filing, etc., but I’m really good at reminding myself of what I want/should be doing.

I have these alarms set on my phone. I have one daily for smaller things I want to do, one for the weekend to remind myself for an “art day”, and one to stay in touch with friends. Sometimes I ignore the alarms (esp. the daily one), but sometimes I do at least one of the things on the list. And I think that “sometimes” is worth the daily reminders. :)

These are my reminders:

1.  Monday-Friday

2. Weekend (just a reminder to use one day for art)

3. Every Sunday night (mostly to stay in touch with faraway friends – don’t worry, if you’re not on here it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten you!)

For this coming weekend, I plan on going to the beach and doing art! :)

Have a great weekend!

xo

hidden gems of the upper east side

August 16th, 2010

It’s coming on three years that I’ve been in New York. Since I’ve lived here, I’ve primarily lived on the “Upper East Side”. Most people associate this neighborhood with Gossip Girl and being ridiculously wealthy. Some people associate it with being boring and far away. I find it somewhere in the middle, it was reasonably priced (esp. if you live with a 65-year old lady) and quiet, and I know nothing about the show to tell you if the neighborhood was correctly depicted.

What I can tell you is that the area I lived in was mostly filled with families with dogs, people with canes, and bodegas (corner stores) with interesting candy. I was also close to the river which had a very pretty view of the bridges that connect the burroughs on the East Side (Queens and Brooklyn). I enjoyed rollerblading, getting a morning coffee, and taking the train to Grand Central Station, but my favorite part of living there was a tiny, quirky store with on the 1st Avenue by 88th Street.

This store is the real gem of the UES. Crowded and full of treasures. It’s best to go there by yourself and with no bags. There really isn’t room for more. The store was often open during odd hours (i.e. Tuesday night at 11:30 pm), with people picking at tiny pieces of jewelry and lamps or it’s owner (he lives upstairs) talking about bookshelves and old paintings.

**
How could you not want to take a peek?

Especially with this doll beckoning you in?

“Come hither! This store is filled with treasures!”

And lamps!

Peek-a-boo!

Look at all of these fun things?
This place reminds me of my house growing up! Cluttered, cramped, but oh-so-fun!

And filled with pretty things.

It’s definitely something to write home about!

If you’re ever in the neighborhood. Check it out. I will certainly miss it!

and dear owner, thanks for letting me take photos! :)

grizzly bear

August 16th, 2010

Last week I went to the Grizzly Bear show at Governor’s Island. It was fun, even in the rain. I was a huge fan of the mason jar lights and the view of the city behind.

Here are some pics – as seen through my iphone!

hot summer fun

August 9th, 2010

I can’t believe it’s August. I feel like it was yesterday when I was writing that same sentence about July.

Summer is flying by and I can tell the seasons are starting to shift. Night falls slightly earlier than it did a few weeks ago. But it all passes so quickly, like this quick tune by Jaymay.

What about the summer that’s about to fall
What about the winter that’s about to spring

btw, if you don’t check out Daytrotter – you should. It’s a great weekly source of new tunes!

**
This has been a wonderful summer. Here are some of the ways I’ve spent the past few weekends…

Looking at pretty things…
…like the ocean…

bright colorful umbrellas…

colorful notes…

and lots of flowers…
from Long Beach

to Kansas City,

to Union Square.

Looking at rusty things…
like fire hydrants…

and train tracks…

Catching quick photos on the train…
of buses…

and birds.

People watching...
at the beach…

the boardwalk…

and outside the train station.

Yesterday the clouds told me how to have some “hot summer fun”

so I played with some shadows

And left some hearts.

A few weekends left in August. And I plan on spending as much time outside as possible!

that said. fall will bring many fun things! (exploring a new neighborhood, football, apple picking, and changing leaves!)

Hope you’re having a fantastic summer!

lights, camera, awesome!

August 3rd, 2010

A couple of weekends ago, my friend Katy and her beau came to visit! Katy and I used to sing in a jazz band together in Iowa City. We became friends with a common love for music and theatre. Our “band” was interesting and had many performers rotating, but they were all awesome and wildly talented. I learned so much by just listening to everyone.

Considering our background, a Broadway show was certainly fitting! It wasn’t planned, but it was a welcome surprise after helping out my friends who had a long (very long and lost) journey to the city. Plus, what’s a weekend without a little “back and forth”? ;)

We went to La Cage and it was awesome! Kelsey Grammer wasn’t at our performance, but his understudy was a fantastic actor.

It was a very colorful show and the stage was very bright.

I loved the idea of getting some pink hearts!

Once I started with the hearts, I couldn’t stop!

Until it started pouring! But luckily we made it inside first!

After dinner, I had to show them this crazy, awesome row of Indian restaurants. These guys all fight to get you into their restaurant, claiming it’s “brighter!” It’s really fun. :-)

Anyway, aren’t they adorable?

So are we!

miss you ms. Richter! :)

Hope you had a wonderful summer vacation!