color head-to-head

I saw these two rooms on Design*Sponge today and I absolutely swooned over them. As soon as I saw the picture on the left I was like, "THAT'S how I wanna design my home!" then I saw the picture on the right and said "THAT! is how I need to design my HOME!" arg. dilemma.

What would you choose? Like colors to make a cohesive, rich and deep color palette? Or would you choose colors to compliment each other for a quirky, fun, but lived in feel? I love them both because they both have unique statements and personalities. The outside porch looks inviting like you just NEED to cuddle in all those blankets and read a book with a cup of milky tea. The living room looks like lots of Scrabble is played there, impromptu dance parties are had and love is present. Seriously. Love is totes there. So hard to choose!!

Well the good thing is... this is the same house! Whoever this is? Please make room. I'm coming to live with you. Obvi.

What's your preference? Analogous? Complimentary? Do you just enjoy saying the word "tertiary" like I do (often)? or do you take it to a neutral level and work within those limits? There's so much you can do! I can't wait to own my own home... be too daunted to do anything and eventually run to IKEA for help. YAAY! Thank God for Design*Sponge.

haiku for the single girl

Hope I never need

Haiku for the Single Girl

To get me through life 

it's good for a laugh

i might cry afterwards though

Geez... penguin classics.

Thank you, Cup of Jo,

for recommending this book,

but it's not out yet.

what to love.

I have probably already mentioned this a billion times but I need to make sure you're heading over to Gathered Heart. I took a gander over there and realized she is on the verge of exploding. For shiz, the girl has flawless taste, a detailed eye for design and she's hilarious so obviously... best combo ever. Add her to your Google Reader, Reading List, Top Sites and what have you. You won't be disappointed! And you'll get to say you read her before she became ridiculously popular. Cuz that's happening very soon-like.

You'll thank me later. All 15 of you.

Also if you aren't listening to Oh Land right now, you need to do so. She is like Kate Havnevik, Imogen Heap, a hint of Regina Spektor and a tiny sprinkle of Ingrid Michaelson. You'll totes like her.

this is the remix

There is something about this fall in particular that has me wanting to buy new things. Sweaters, tights, cardigans, BOOTS, which I NEVER buy EVER. I had to really stop myself because I have a closet full of clothes that are considered "summer clothes" but it's now cooler. What to do? Well my girl over and d+sj knows how to work a closet without thinking about it. I got to see her last week and she was wearing a shirt dress with a sweater over it and though I never SAID anything my mind started going through my closet to see what I could wear to be THAT AWESOME. *mind scenario* Do I have a long shirt tunic? Oo! I do! I could put a sweater over it and it becomes a shirt dress/skirt combo. What about my black dress? throw some sweater tights under it and throw some boots on. Brilliant!

It's made me want to remix my whole closet! I have a purple baby doll-type dress that I plan on pairing with my new charcoal cardigan from Old Navy (it was on sale. best purchase EVER), grey cabled tights and my kick-awesome brown lace up boots. Watch for that at the quarterly meeting : ) My black summer dress is getting a make over with a thin striped sweater from Gap, hunter green opaque tights and city flats (also. from Gap. go figure!). That same dress is also going to be paired with my striped cardigan, burgundy sweater tights and my grey knit boots. AND! i found a long grey shirt tunic I usually wear with skinny jeans (turns out it's long enough to be a dress) that is going to meet my mustard cardigan and purple opaque tights! I. am too. excited! There's so many possible combinations! My brain. It's wrinkled.

I'm pretty pumped about fall and winter. Should be pretty awesome style-wise.


p.s. Sorry for the delay of Sarah's wedding post... i'm actually working out the video portion of the day (aka my whole JOB in the wedding) and I want it to be awesome... yet effortless. It's coming soon! Hoorays! I'll keep feeding you with previews on Facebook.

{about creativity} from my late boss

my two halves

I PROMISE the next post will be Sarah's wedding! puh-romise.

I'm sure you've heard me talk about being an introvert before (see: Renegade Adventures, or How I'm Awkward) and how it hinders and helps some things. Well, I think I'm realizing how much of an EXTROVERT I am now. I have both personalities on the inside. It comes from my mom who is both extroverted and introverted at the same time as well. How is that possible? Shouldn't they cancel each other out and you just end up... "normal?" Yeah it's not the case.

I'm extroverted when it's BUSY. I work at a place that launches a new, high demand, state of the art products approximately every 6 months to a year give or take and when that happens our store is just wall to wall PEOPLE. I call busy "when i can't see the front of the store" that was the last couple days. Turns out? I LOVE IT. It feeds whatever extroverted nature is inside me. I end up running circles around co-workers who are invested in "slowing down the conversation." Secret? I still suck at slowing down a conversation! I'm all hit it and quit it (way less derogatory though), get you what you need, i WILL hug you, and get out. Works the BEST on busy days. I'm excited, YOU'RE excited, all God's children be EXCITED.

I NETWORKED at work on Saturday. Okay networking for me is a scary, sometimes stupid thing in my mind. You essentially walk up to a stranger to use them for their services and vice versa and really never develop a relationship with them. I'm opposite. I'd rather walk up to you tell you look nice and or strike up some kind of intelligent conversation (cuz otherwise I won't say anything to you - i'm so bad at chit chat!) and THEN make a barter deal of some sort. Back to Saturday. I talk to a million people, turns out he's a designer, we exchanged info (business intro ZING!) and he asked if I knew Photoshop. The end! And I didn't even REALIZE that's what I did until he left and i was like 'WHAAAAAAAT' *own mind blown* then I had to take a break and process things out haha and THAT is where the introverted side of me comes into play.

In situations where people would react in an excited way, say meeting a celebrity or getting engaged, I react the opposite. I shut down. Literally, shut. down. because my brain has to make sure everything's okay. It's not necessarily a BAD thing but if you're not used to dealing with introverts it can be... really confusing. I met Taye Diggs last Saturday. Yeah. You heard me. TAYE DIGGS. In the real... chocolatey... holy crap... flesh. My mother decided to tell me before she completely surprised me because she KNEW i'd need to time to pretty much cope - bless her heart. I did. My eyes glazed over and I stopped talking. Then I just started shaking my head no saying I couldn't go. Yeah! that happened! (TAYE DIGGS.) but eventually I pulled it together (it took like an HOUR) and we went to see him. It. was. AWESOME. and THIS happened:

wa-BAM. stare at THAT. holy sheet.

It has taken me a long time to even accept myself for who God made me to be. I'm awkward AND loud. Quiet AND energetic. I mean what am I a walking oxymoron?! But I'm slowly learning how to be the best version of myself (isn't everyone?). annnnd meeting Taye Diggs was like a best life moment EVER. aaaargh! haha

p.s. - this is not a journey into self discovery in any way - cuz that's stupid. I'm defined by God and not people but for a long time i wasn't vocal and had NO idea i was outgoing at all. i had a good chance of becoming a recluse when i was younger so this is good!

more interwebz musings

I met a blogger in the store yesterday named Tiffany, she was pretty awesome, and we got to talk about the ins and outs of having a blog - her blog being about fashion, mine being... respectfully ambiguous. She had gone to a fashion show for Akira (read: the devil) and said she never posts where she is until AFTER she goes cuz there's some creepers on the internet. So true. Stranger interwebz danger is real life y'all. 

It got me thinking about comments. I have had more than a few run ins with bloggers taking me for creepy because if I feel a connection with a blogger I am overzealous about letting that blogger know. I always feel scorned if my comment is taken the wrong way or worse, deleted. That actually happened the other day when I told a blogger I knew of an awesome knit shop I'd love to show her and then get coffee if she was ever in Chicago. She seemed awesome! =\ i always feel like a 5 year old when i get shunned online. Like, "why don't you wanna be my friend? I'm a nice person." 

Another time happened with Smitten Kitchen (who I stopped following after I got shunned). She had a pizza dough recipe that Joy the Baker used on her blog. I asked her if she doubled the recipe (as Joy had done) would it still turn out thin and crispy? I mean I'm sure she had doubled her own recipe on occasion. She responded snippily, "Well I wouldn't know because I'm not Joy." Slightly confused... I told her the recipe Joy used WAS HERS but never got a response to my question. 

Blogging is like having an open relationship with everyone who reads. There's a subtle dynamic, a push and pull, between blogger and reader/commenter. I feel like I cross that line too often because of my bubbly personality. I love communicating through text and writing so I'm usually very eager and willing to say, "hey! you should come to Chicago!" but apparently that's extra creepy. I don't know these people! They have no idea that by nature I'm happy and zealous and secretly a 5 year old. It's one thing to do it on a friends blog but for the people I don't know (but still feel a connection with, obviously because I read their blogs) I have to be careful. In my brain, I'm best friends with Joy the Baker and Tracy Shutterbean but in real life they live across the country and wouldn't recognize me on the street. *shrugs*

the internet is so weird and interesting. What are your thoughts on commenting? (lol essentially i'm telling you to comment. GAH INTERWEBZ.)

5 minutes to bliss

Don't you have those days (every month) when you just NEED a brownie and ice cream? Or something really chocolatey? Guess. What. I found your solution!

Adapted from Babble's "Two Minute Mug Brownies" I made a few minor changes to it... it's sincerely amazing. and? made in the frickin MICROWAVE. shut up. shut the front door.

These brownies are AMAZING! It's really not a brownie it's more like a flourless cake (with flour haha).  Best of all it's low calorie, pretty low in fat and if you put in a ramekin (you'll see) you can definitely share this with two people to cut down on the calories even MORE! It's pretty chocolatey so you'll have your fix in a few bites. When the ice cream hits the hot cake they... pretty much just get on down with their bad selves and things become melty and beautiful.

enjoy the noms! don't get too crazy cuz it takes a literal second to make. you'll want it after every meal. why did Duncan Hines ever make those "warm gooey cake" things when you have THIS. way better. Sorry Duncan.

color inspiration from the Villafuerte wedding

I love weddings. Can I just say that? There's like palpable love in the AIR. I also love checking out the how a bride puts things together. By the way this is not my official wedding post (that is coming soon - when I'm not doing quadruple overnights at work - yeah i said it. FOUR.) but I did want to highlight one of my favorite things: patterns. Sarah's wedding was a patchwork of patterns that only worked because Sarah did them. For her reception she layered sheets on top of sheets on top of sheets in varying patterns, florals and stripes. The "uglier" it was the more AMAZING it turned out! This was my favorite.

to see them it makes no sense but on the table it looked BEAUTIFUL! I'd wear an outfit with these colors, with these PATTERNS, in them any time, anywhere. I thought it was BRILLIANT.

I don't really do 'color inspirations' but I couldn't help myself.

Stay tuned for the rest of the wedding photos (as soon as I edit the pics in Camera+ lol - thank you iPhone) and blog post soon!

here's to you

"The Crazy Ones" - narrated by Steve Jobs (never aired)

My boss passed away today, but he left one of the most well built legacies ever established. The amazing thing is I get to tell my children that I worked for the man that invented the iPod touch they're holding, the iPhone they're calling on, the computer they're using - their whole world of technology. 

Rallying with my work family makes me appreciate them that much more. Steve was not only a (clear) visionary in the technological world but socially as well. His stores are filled with employees who couldn't get jobs anywhere else because they're thought of as weird, who only dreamed of working for Apple, who are awkward and socially unaccepted, some quiet, some loud, and some that don't fit in. They're the ones that are told, "I see potential in you. You are brilliant." and go on to do great things. 

Steve truly had a gift for seeing the world as it could be and not as it was. 

Rest in peace, Steve, and thank you for your gift.