abby in the arts

{about the single girl}

2012-02-09T22:52:00.001-06:00

made me smile : )

via A Cup of Jo

salad: the mystery untangled

2012-02-09T00:12:00.000-06:00

Can you tell that I've been watching a lot of Downton Abbey by my post title? To say I love that show would be a HUGE understatement. It's tasteful drama, scandal, gossip, outrage, unrequited love and PBS. My Jane Austen heart literally... pitter patters. It's pretty intense.

Katherine gave me the good idea to write about my favorite salads since I seriously eat them daily and I was ready to have a series about salads but I think it deserves a precursor. Like any good food, salads have a foundation to them. Once you get the foundation down you can put ANYTHING on a salad and have it taste good. The options are so limitless!

We'll start with the salad itself, move onto toppings and end in dressings.

Now if you're an iceberg lettuce kind of person you should be ashamed. It has no nutritional value whatsoever. The fact that I just said that is APPALLING to me because I used to never CARE about nutritional value. But if I'm going to eat a bowlful of vegetables only to have them not count as anything, good nor bad for my body is pretty stupid of me. If I'm gonna eat well, let's do it! If I'm gonna have Harold's fried chicken then I've already resolved to eat like crap. woo!

Lettuce should be romaine, mixed greens, spring greens, fresh spinach and/or something nutritional like... shredded brussels sprouts or cabbage or kale... but you know my feelings about kale. I'm willing to give them a chance in salads. Never fear! Myself, I'm a combo kind of girl. My salad ALWAYS starts with thinly chopped romaine lettuce, fresh spinach and broccoli slaw.

*sigh* Broccoli slaw. How did I survive salad eating without broccoli slaw?! It's literally just shredded broccoli and carrots in a bag, but it adds depth to salads to where I don't feel like I'm a giant... brown... rabbit. I feel like I just ATE something legitimate.

Toppings. Toppings are where you can get creative with your salads because it's a mix of everything you like. In terms of vegetables I usually always put on either cucumbers (pickle cucumbers are the BEEEST - the skin is not too thick and they're super tiny!) and radishes - they're crunchy and bright. Love them. At any given time, in my kitchen, I have the following toppings:

Tortilla chips (great for literally any salad)
dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries, raisins
raw almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans and spanish peanuts
chicken (poached, sautéed, fajita...ed.) taco meat, roast beef, steak
fresh peas, fresh avocado
black beans
mexi-corn (a word I'm pretty sure made up by Aldi... but it's so tasty.)
garbanzo beans (chick peas)
sautéed vegetables like peppers or mushrooms
Granny Smith apples, mandarin oranges
shaved coconut
feta, gorgonzola, shredded cheddar cheese
bacon (duh.) in bit form or whole and crumbled

see!? the possibilities just keep going! This is just stuff I have in my house, not stuff I bought, but I know for a fact that all of these things can be bought at ALDI or WALMART for super. extra. CRAZY CHEAP. It just turns out that my mother has loads of food because she's amazing. True story. I plan on having her guest post pretty soon for a "How to Grocery Shop" feature story. So many younger people have no knowledge of how to shop. I think once you get the basics down you're totally set. I get to sit at the master's feet daily and she needs to impart some KNOWLEDGE. Nutrition for your EYES.

You can't have a good salad without the finishing touch. Like earrings on a woman, so is dressing to a salad. It is the perfect finisher. My personal favorite is my mother's vinaigrette (literally. good on EVERYTHING) and Trader Joe's spicy peanut vinaigrette. Ranch? A timeless classic and pretty much a girl's best friend next to diamonds.

...and there you have it! I make all my salad's heavy on the vegetables and the good nutritional stuff and light on the dressing and fattening stuff and it always turns out to be a great meal. Happy eating!

{about EVERYTHING}

2012-02-08T22:53:00.000-06:00

truth.

via Pinterest, the female world's tumblr.

life according to my iPhone

2012-02-07T00:02:00.000-06:00

Hi, how are you?

Do you ever find that the most daunting question? People ask me this and I feel like I need to come up with something grandiose like "Oh, I rock climbed the face of Mt. Rushmore this past weekend and I'm currently working on inventing an iPad that floats with you while you walk. What's up with you?"

Honestly, that's the reason I don't write. My in-between moments seem so ordinary. I don't have an inspiration or something cool to say, sometimes I just want to check in and be like "hey. whats up?" I think the in-between moments are pretty okay, too. I'll have to check in more often. I miss this space just to speak. I have to stop myself when comparing myself to other people or other blogs cuz I tend to close myself off at that point. Who cares if this blog is never popular? This is my outlet to say something, or nothing, as often as I like. I'm just glad you're here with me, reading from time to time; really I just want to make you smile today.

I'm learning to live with responding to "Hi, how are you?" with a sincere, "Awesome," and a smile, because I am just that.

This will be a growing year - I can just feel it. I've got some growing pains.

1. I had great nom/girl time with Kate a couple weeks ago. I lurve her. Like Celine Dion lurves everything in all her songs. Legit // 2. Milky tea. I am the only black person I know that puts milk in their tea like the english. Well, me and my family. We're so weird. Try it, though. Milk in black tea is DIVINE and so relaxing // 3. This was a wake up view. I love the light in my apt - makes me feel like I live by the sea // 4. Sunday morning sun. It was chilly with a hint of spring in the air. My iPhone camera blows me away sometimes // 5. I eat a salad everyday, lucky I love salads but I always admire the natural ombre of chopped lettuce. Also my mother's cutting board makes me long for butcher block counters in my future home // 6. Hey remember that one time I'm completely nerdy in real life? Also check that hair flower. Check it! // 7. This was me baking yesterday evening making Kate's birthday breakfast muffins. I still dream of the Night Owl Bakery - ask me about it. I'll tell you sometime! // 8. January, for all it's crazy weather, hit full force at the very end of the month with a crazy cold snap and pretty patterns on bathroom windows.

if you want to totally follow me on Instagram (the greatest app to ever be borned) please do at abbyblujay : )

kale chips! the real story.

2012-01-18T23:52:00.002-06:00

So for about a year and a half now, on just about every blog I read, people have been raving about kale chips.

Kale chips are amazing!
They don't even taste like kale!
They're so crispy I feel like I'm eating chips!
Did you hear kale chips are gunning for world peace??
I'm voting Kale Chips in the next mayoral election!

For serious guys, it's a phenomenon. It's taken the world by storm right up there with the macarena. That's still a thing right?

I found a new food blog the other day, The Novice Chef. She is a girl after my own heart. Her blog has brown butter ice cream on it. I mean... clearly this is going to be made next week. But she also has an amazing named "Ass Friendly" section geared towards healthy eating. What did I find there? Of course. Kale chips. and their amazingness.

Well, that broke me. I bought some kale and broke out the parchment paper. It was on. Real life. I took her directions, turned on Spotify and went to town on making my kale chips. After they were out of the oven I sprinkled kosher salt, lemon juice and little bit of parmesan cheese on them because when has that combination ever failed?! Never is the answer.

ooo... check out the amazingness. those dark brown crispy bits... the flecks of cracked black pepper and parmesan on there... my 30pin dock connector somehow snaking itself around the bowl cuz it just wants a piece of the lime light. Sneaky, sneaky.

I'm going to tell you exactly what I think of them...

I super hated them. I feel REALLY bad about it too! I feel like I've let down the ENTIRE health/blog world that praise kale chips. You know what they taste like?! CRISPY STRONG TASTING LETTUCE COVERED IN SALT AND PEPPER. I did happen upon a few that were covered in lemon juice and parmesan and that was the SAVING grace of it. But for real town? I did NOT like them! I threw the rest of the batch away in disgust and guzzled 32 oz of water and ate some cashews! Maybe I made them wrong (I didn't.) maybe I didn't leave them in long enough (I did everything correctly.) but yeahhhhh. Sorry to literally EVERYONE. Kale chips are not for Abby. I'd rather eat kale greens like my mom makes them (southern style and STILL healthy BOOYAH) orrr I could eat a really leathery shoe covered in lemon juice and parmesan.

There. I said it. I've said my peace. Washed my hands of it. I'm glad I tried it so at least I can say "OMG KALE CHIIIPS!?... dooon't believe the hype."

I still want you to try them for yourself though! I happen to love COOKED kale greens like my mom makes, but who knows! they might be the breakthrough for you to stop eating chips (read: Nacho Cheese Doritos) at your desk late at night. Please tell me I'm not the only one that has done that haha

{about life}

2012-01-09T21:46:00.000-06:00

find the wallpaper here - via swiss-miss

a difference a year makes

2012-01-03T15:00:00.000-06:00

I wrote this post about 15 times before deciding on what to put in it. Part of me wants to be that girl that rats out all her secrets of the whole year just so I can share them. The other part of me wants to just put up "IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" in the middle of the page and move onto to 2012. But this past year was hard and I think being open about that isn't bad, it's human. Last time I checked I have a bellybutton (aka not a cyborg!) and I have feelings.

At the beginning of the year I actually dated a guy... for about a second and a half. He... took a turn for the douche. No details are needed here except that after some unfortunate decisions I ended all communication with him and went on my merry way to being more awesome. It has definitely been a healing process, though.

I was in a wedding for the first time this year as a maid of honor in April. It was pretty much the most ridiculously stressful thing ever. It opened my eyes to some things and led me to end a 6 year emotionally abusive relationship (that's a heavy thing to put in a sentence, but, alas, it's real life).

Apple is going really well, I frickin' love my job, and I'm there full time now (what UP!). I really can't wait to see what things are in store next - I'm hoping for world domination. Design is... design haha. I've struggled so much this past year in trying to keep up with the Joneses of my life. It's also hard not to have pressure forcing you to think creatively. I'm going to expound on that another time soon, though.

I've come to some realizations about God. I haven't lost Him... I'm not a lost cause and too beyond repair like I thought I was after my brief dating stint (read: explosion). I just need to quit being stubborn, repent, truly repent, and start walking with Him again. It's so simple that it makes it the hardest thing in the world haha. Validation was a really hard thing to deal with this year. I felt like I needed to be validated, first by a boy, then when that went away I felt empty and looked for validation from my co-workers, or my job itself and then RIGHT back to the same boy again; it was such a vicious circle. I don't need to validated by anyone because God already DID that for me.

Let's breathe for a moment... and hug it out. 2012 will be the year of hugging it out.

So many good things happened this year, though! I became better friends with some really amazing people (like Kate and Katherine just to name a few), went to Renegade TWICE, actually took a mini road trip/vacation like I said I wanted to and bought a kick-ass bike. I made goals, I made food and I got a little creative with this blog. I also met Taye Diggs! In the BEAUTIFUL flesh. We shook hands. We're going to the Tony's together next year... I might have made that last part up, but a girl can dream!

As I head into this year I keep a sense of hope. Sometimes it's the only thing I have. I worry about whether I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life or whether I'll ever have the large family I dream about, but I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful for my future at Apple and will continue to further it until otherwise. I'm hopeful about my design career and will work to learn new skills like web design. I'm pretty hopeful about this blog which has given me a creative outlet to speak freely on any subject (thanks for listening by the way, I really appreciate it). I'm hopeful about knitting and baking praying it will lead me to open my own bakery/knitting shop one day, which I've realized this past year, is my ultimate dream. I hold on to the natural joy God has given me and I will hold on to faith, which allows me to hope for things I can't yet see. I am excited for this new year : )

"Hope is the thing with feathers,

that perches on the soul,

that sings the tune without the words,

and never stops at all." - Emily Dickinson

2012. is this real life?

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

Let's have secret time, cuz I like you and think you're pretty trustworthy. Ready? I love new years. I love the sense of hope they bring. I love that people everywhere can get a sense of starting over, wiping that slate clean and being the person they've always hoped they could be. I mean... check on that same person in August and you'll REALLY see what's goin' down but for a good month things are BRIGHT and SHINY and amazing!

I also make the same resolutions each year and break them about 2 hours into the new year. I'm really bad at it, but I love making goals! Honestly I think I just love the idea of it being a new year that I make unattainable goals... just cuz I can make them!

In our store, before iPhone 4 came we sold iPhone 3GS'. People weren't really feeling those and it was a struggle just to sell 1 of those! (can you believe it!?) In our quest to let people know that a) the 3GS was awesome and b) no, the iPhone 4 will NOT fly we made a goal. We called it our Big Hairy Auspicious Goal or B-HAG. I make a LOT of B-HAG's at the beginning of each year that get broken. No more of that.

This year I'd like to make goals, silly and serious, that can actually be reached. If I do a B-HAG I'd like to reach it FIRST then come back and be like "BOOYA SUCKAAAAS! THIS WAS WHAT I WAS WORKIN ONNNN! I'M A MILLIONAAAIRE!" something along those lines. Maybe not those exact words but pretty close.

Without further ado (really about nothing.) i present:

1. Bake. "Bake what?" you ask. "All of it." I respond. "All of what?!" you ask. "eeeeXACTLY."
adjusted from the B-HAG of "be happier!"
I just want to bake. Everything. This past year has been jealousy after jealousy and me trying to keep up with the cool co-workers, the married co-workers, the creative co-workers, the beautiful co-workers and making myself really unhappy in the process. Why does what they do matter at all to me? What effect SHOULD it have on my happiness? None! I'm gonna do what brings me joy and that's baking. I'm frickin GOOD at it, too! So if I show up at your doorstep with double chocolate mini cakes and a fresh baguette just say thank you and stuff your face accordingly.

2. NOT join a gym.
adjusted from the B-HAG of "get fit and in three weeks I'll have lost 100 lbs!"
Every year I say I'm going to join a gym and every year I do. By February I'm having a serious talk with Rhonda (I'm fuzzy on the name) at the gym about why I want to quit the gym. Every year Rhoshonda (i think that's it...) asks me why I take my car for monthly upkeep and not my body, slams down her pen and walks away. Dang Rho'shaquanda (yes!)! Don't be like that! I'm not havin' it this year. If I want to exercise I'm going to move my legs to the bike THAT I PAID FOR and take it outside.... fall off of it and come back inside scraped up but blood pumpin'. Agreed?! Down with gyms!

3. Finish my unfinished knit projects.
adjusted from the B-HAG of "start a knitting business from the ground up and sell to everyone I know!"
This is a daunting task, because I have a LOT of unfinished things! I have a scarf that is laying (CRYING) in my living room. A winter hat that doesn't reach your ears yet. A double long, fold in half and SEW scarf that I've been working on since COLLEGE. It's extra special crazy. I need to finish those things so I can actually start and finish NEW things for actual PEOPLE. I can't do anything with all those unfinished ghosts just staring at me every time I pick up a pair of new needles! This is a doable task right?! Totally! *bites fist*

4. Design when I feel like it.
adjusted from the B-HAG of "design one thing every day for a year!"
I promise 2012 is not the year of being lazy but I put so much pressure on myself to keep up with my aforementioned co-workers that I've taken a lot of the passion out of designing things. There is also a lot of pressure from the artist community to stay current and ahead of the curve and it messes. with. your. MIND! If I want to design, I'm gonna. If I don't want to... I think I'll do something else. If I've learned anything about this year is that I can't push myself to do something that my heart isn't in. If I'm passionate about it there is pretty much no stopping me, but if I know it isn't right for me my heart stops me before my brain. I get all confused as to why I can't do this thing and it's like *forehead smack* duh, Abby. You HATE this! Once I do something that I love, the drive comes back. I'm just looking for my drive.

5. Learn to let things go quickly.
adjusted from the B-HAG of "stop overanalyzing everything!"
Here's a lesson they don't teach you in school. Things get harder and more petty the older you get. Drama gets stupider. PEOPLE get stupider. Adults throw tantrums and they are of epic proportions. I tend to cry out feelings. Happiness? tears. Sadness? tears, obvi. Anger? oh you better believe there is a thing called 'rage crying' and I perfected it in 8th grade. Frustration? see "anger." Hey, Steve Jobs cried a lot. It's a sign of brilliance! sort of... The quicker I can let things go the better friend, co-worker, and functioning adjusted ADULT I can be. No reason to be jealous (I've had some intense 5 year old-like jealousy moments this year) over someone else's success. Rejoice with them! Ask them to mentor you in the ways of being awesome and move on. If left to stew in my own juices I get over things in about an hour, but it's packed full of teary eyes, pouty lips and crossed arms. Oh, Abby. Why are you a teenager NOW?! That's not attractive! Breathe in, breathe out. Walk on.

6. Fake it til I make it.
adjusted from the B-HAG of "be more confident and sexy and fit!"
I work with a girl who is a classic narcissist. She knows it, too. She's the one who told me she was narcissistic. She's beautiful and curvy and has long hair and wears lots of leggings and boots. All the black guys love her because she OWNS the room. I'm 100% Childish Gambino would try to steal her. One day I finally asked her how she got so confident and she told me she used to be really self conscious about her weight. It bothered her so much that she decided to do the opposite of everything she was feeling. Whenever someone asked her how she was she said, "I'm more awesome than you are," until she believed it. Lessons from a narcissist; fake it til you make it. I can't DRUM up confidence that doesn't exist but I can fake like I have it til it's there FOREVER. So what does this mean? Taking care of myself. Making sure my hair is on point and not a ball of ridiculousness and using my new LUSH products to smell like a lemon-scented flower goddess of love. Not sleep in til forever cuz it makes me groggy, but throw open my curtains, let in some light and take on the day.

What do you think? Attainable? Ungettable? Too ridiculous? That's the joy in making goals! They can be so stupid like "brush my teeth every day" or "laugh every day" but when you cross one off it's like "WHAT UUUP! Guess who brushed their teeth today?!"

Are you into "resolutions" or are you super against them? 2012 should be an interesting year to say the least.

Happy New Year everyone!

spurts

2011-12-30T23:03:00.000-06:00

I'm a pretty average length for a girl. about 5'4" give or take some days and shoes and TOMS. I really can't reach much? and tell the tall co-workers that the only reason why we hired them is to get cases down for me from high high places. I like to make people feel needed. Ya know.

My mom and I paid a visit to my grandmother's house a couple weeks ago when she exclaimed, "Have you gotten taller?!" and I sheepishly replied, "No, Grandma... I think you're getting smaller..." It's a real thing, guys. Your grandma's are SHRINKING. How else does the term "tiny old people" apply?? After we went home I asked my mom, "um... HAVE i grown?" to which she pointed out that she used to be taller than I am pretty recently and now I'm taller than her.

But get this. My mother hasn't shrunk.

I grew. Two whole inches. I'm 25.

I'm part of the crazy small percentage of people that can actually say they grew well into their 20's. Like when one boob is smaller than the other and it totally catches up in college, or you've always had that weird instep but now your feet are no longer 8 and 8.5 in shoe size.

It's pretty weird... but also, PRETTY COOL.

(I still need the tall people I work with to get cases down for me, though. So it's a pretty weak victory in the grand scheme of things. womp womp.)

life according to my iPhone

2011-12-21T22:46:00.002-06:00

herro! it's almost Christmastime around these parts (actually around ALL parts it's almost Christmastime haha) which means things just get busier. Thank goodness my iPhone 4 has a sweet awesome camera so I can capture moments otherwise I'd just be... babbling. Like normal.

top: the sun through the trees at my sisters apartment was so pretty it stopped me in my tracks, and my fancy new Starbucks water bottle to make me want to drink water super fancy this new year. In reality I have to trick my lazy brain. Right now it thinks this is a treat. Don't. tell it. anything!

middle: I made a couple shortbreads ready tonight. I combined a few recipes, including Tracy Shutterbean's Earl Grey Tea cookies, my mother's traditional shortbread and the 5 million other shortbread recipes we have laying around. ALSO I totally tweeted Tracy because I didn't have an ingredient and she responded with an addendum! Blog-lebrities on Twitter are a GODSEND. You can't tweet Martha Stewart and be like "What up girl!? I'm out of all-purpose flour for these cookies can I use Swan's Down Cake Flour?" she's off being indicted or decorating the entire White House with only twine and paper clips on hand. But I CAN tweet Joy the Baker (squee!) and Tracy knowing they'll help me out. It's like we're friends, which is really my only dream.
I chose those charms at Renegade Holiday for a 'defining' necklace. I like having jewelry that kind of accents my personality, you know? The ball of yarn is obvi, my love of crafty things (next is a muffin pan!) and the key is to remind me God is the only one that holds my heart. After a slew of heartbreaks this year I really need to hold onto that fact.

bottom: my bokeh-ed Christmas tree. I literally go in my living room, take off my glasses and stare at my tree. It twinkles and sparkles in my astigmatismed eyes : ). On the right is my freezer. We stockpile butter like it's going out of STYLE during the holidays. We have no less than 20 pounds of butter in my freezer at any given time from the month of October clear thru February. I'm seriously thinking about buying stock in Land O' Lakes. We're serious cooks/bakers up in this house y'all. WHAT UUUP.

If I don't post beforehand, Merry Christmas to you! Take this time to relax for at LEAST three seconds and remember why we celebrate.

D.I.Y not?

2011-12-14T21:38:00.000-06:00

hey! i like long hiatuses between posting! with no information about what's going on in my life! no big! let it go! Okay but for real I've been in a deep creative rut. I have no one to talk about creative stuff with! Most of my friends have equally creative husbands to bounce ideas off of and while amazingly awesome for them, I've just kind of sunk into complacency. It isn't good and I'm not sure what to do about it. I really miss having creative conversations about... anything! anyways...

I was wrapping presents today, which is one of my very favorite things to do around Christmas, besides watching overdose amounts of White Christmas. I love making things pretty and nice and I always cut out brown paper bags to make the "to:/from:" tags because SERIOUSLY why would you buy them?! It always gives a nice handmade touch. Trader Joe's bags actually has cut out to/from tags, which got my brain a-chuggin - why can't I make my OWN to:/from: tags? Duh! Designer. Illustrator. Mouse. BRAIN! COME ON! I'll be printing these out on brown paper bags I'll cut down to letter size. I'm sore excited!!

I also love wrapping my presents with yarn and other bits I find around my house. Seriously. Who needs wrapping paper anymore?! If you make your own totally post them so I can see!

Also if any of you are free after the holidays just to chat over coffee? Please let me know! I gotta get out of this rut. It is sincerely cramping my STYLE.

{about life}: you've been poked!

2011-12-03T22:47:00.001-06:00

via Swissmiss (love her!)

Somehow I made a mental decision to take a hiatus from blogging but didn't tell myself and coasted RIGHT into December! Right past black people Thanksgiving (because, yeah, it's different!). Right past, yet somehow making it through the horror that is Black. Friday. (African American Friday?! no...) Well hi! I had a whole bunch of post ideas that have gone RIGHT out the winder (as my grandma pronounces 'window') and I've decided to post when I feel I need to. Hopefully that's sooner rather than later. I'll also post more photos so that in the in between times I don't take a break for something like two whole silent WEEKS.

well i'm gonna leave you with a quote from my late boss. he's the best. : )

dressing a salad

2011-11-14T21:47:00.001-06:00

It's weird to post about salad dressing and be serious about it but in all honesty this post is for Kate. She visited me a few weeks ago and we baked tasty good things like quiche and pumpkin bread buuuut somehow we also had fried chicken and salad. I don't even... anyway. The salad dressing is pretty quintessential "Gail" if you know my mom at all. It's a basic lemon vinaigrette that happens to taste good on EVERYTHING you put it on. I haven't tried it on cereal... but I would. It's THAT good.

Well, Kate texted me for instructions/ingredients and I told her what I thought it was. When I reported back to my MOM what I texted KATE she... told me it was correct and incorrect all at the same time. Then she let it go. Then she brought it up the next day some ingredients I forgot. Then she dropped it. Then she admitted, finally, THE NEXT DAY, that I needed to give Kate CORRECT ingredients for the vinaigrette.... and THEN said it really didn't matter to be honest. She's miiiildly obsessive. And I pretty much love the stuffing out of her.

So... even though I am acting on command from my mother this is seriously the most simple and amazing salad dressing ever. My favorite salad is romaine hearts, finely chopped, dried cranberries, walnuts and radishes. on a good fall day I'll add a tart, crispy green apple. and add this simple yet effective vinaigrette? this salad SINGS.

this... coming from a girl who thinks french fries are hardcore vegetables. (kidding! mostly...)

Ah! addendum. already haha... My mom likes to see little flecks of green in the dressing, it gives her subtle satisfaction of sorts. She will put either dried parsley (which you cannot taste) or dried cilantro (which gives it a very, VERY subtle boost in flavor) in the dressing. Also that "sqwidge" is more like a teaspoon or less. Dijon can be very overpowering so you have to make it a team player. Actually all the flavors threaten to overpower one another which is why it's so brilliant in it's simplicity. You can definitely leave out the onion powder if that isn't your cup of tea but don't leave out the garlic powder. Just sayin'. You'll want it present.

This is the ONE dressing that makes me CRAVE salads and saves me money because I will never buy vinaigrette again. It's perfect for in between the constant carb loading holidays and a good reminder that good food doesn't have to have golden arches on it. : )

Happy eating!

The Villafuerte Wedding (finally! tang cups!)

2011-11-07T22:33:00.001-06:00

So you know my love of hipster friend weddings right? Please refer to Katherine's amazing wedding for proof. All my friends keep getting married and having babies! For the most part I'm cool with that cuz a) i like to dance and b) i love babies! it just... works out.

Well I have yet another insider scoop on an awesome wedding. Can I share something with you? (read: "...with you, Sarah?") I was wary of this wedding. Sarah had a VISION... like no joke this girl is brilliant because to talk about it I was confused. It seemed like a lot of cool elements that made me really happy and then really sad cuz I didn't understand how they were coming together. Guess what?! Didn't matter cuz I wasn't the one getting married! And they did come together! it was GORGEOUS and totally Sarah.

The wedding was AMAZING! Take... equal parts fabric from all walks of life, plates from everyone you know's house, lyrics from hipster love songs, Hollowine (oh yes.), a secret chapel hidden in the trees, and the most beautiful custom made dress you've ever seen (for real this is a beautiful dress Sarah literally DREAMT up. I can't even...)and WA-BAM. Sarah and Manuel twenty-eleven. Sarah took "do it yourself" to a whole other level. There was handmade bunting, wood burned tree (with the ink pads so you put your finger print on it?! so cool!), her cake stands were tree stumps! Gah. It's hard to explain. I feel like I can't do it justice.

Her ceremony was at Funks Grove and it was the most idyllic place I've ever been. There were leaves falling slowly the whole time, it felt like a dream. And of course while I was there I tried to justify my place in the world and how life in general functions and tuuuurns... but the place makes you do that! It's all golden trees and white picket fences and love! WHY. It wears off after a few days. Don't worry.

Also I was "in" the wedding and had no idea. Like I had a little corsage made for me! Her Aunt Chris walks up to me and hands it to me and I'm like 'oh! um... no?' and she looks at me and goes, "You know your name is Abby right? You're the only Abby here." *crickets* sometimes... I'm kind of slow... hahaha

My camera was my iPhone and I did all the editing/photo framing on Camera + and Photo Frame (both $0.99 in the App Store. WORTH IT) I think it turned out pretty cool! The video is still a work in progress but it's almost dooone yaaay! I'll be putting all the photos you see smashed together up in a Facebook album too... unsmashed. let us move on : )

Sarah looked so beautiful it almost didn't make sense. She looked like Adele meets someone way more awesome that I can't think of haha... and I'm still HARDCORE in love with her dress.

Oh wait! That's not all. I didn't even get to the DANCING. First of all Get Me Bodied by Beyonce is... probably the best dance song ever made. There's instructions! You can't NOT dance. It's like... a commandment to dance. Love it SO HARD. Annie and Brent are probably THE MOST coordinated white people I've ever met. Okay... confession? I'm not a good dancer! I'm all shoulders and hips and booty bumpin'. Sometimes that gets you no where. But I DO bring da noise. Sometimes I bring da funk just to keep it interesting. But they... brought the house down. Highlight? Me and Katherine changing into pajamas before leaving... theeen hopping onto the dance floor for Ms. New Booty. Cuz you can't not dance to that. So much fun.

Quick letter to all my friends, I friggin love you. I love you and your amazing weddings. Please keep having parties in the future. Please don't forget to invite me. I will show up with my iPhone ready to party.

blast from the past!

2011-11-05T01:36:00.001-05:00

I'm not a girl who saves things for ever and ever. It's possible I throw away birthday and Christmas cards a week after getting them. I mean, please, can someone tell me what exactly you're supposed to do with those? Look at them with longing and nostalgia? Ack. Well somehow something stood the test of time...

MY CABOODLE.

yeah. i said it. not only is it a Caboodle is a KIDZ Caboodle. When I was little my sister had this amazing black and turquoise one with so many compartments! when you opened it there was a mirror and then the sides stacked THREE HIGH on EACH SIDE to reveal tiny drawers, little compartments, and areas of imminent surprise. and then the BOTTOM was CAVERNOUS... filled with anything you could DREAM of! Make-up, hair accessories, more hair accessories and old bobby pins! *wipes tear* man. you never know how good you have it til you don't have a Caboodle anymore. Luckily I still have mine. It's pink and orange with a yellow handle. A 90's girl's DREAM. No joke I still use it to hold hair stuff but I think the last time I cleaned it out was circa... 1994. because I got my Caboodle in 1994. yeah.

Since deciding to go natural I picked up a few things at the store and realized most of the stuff in my Caboodle (man, it's ridiculous that I still use that word AT ALL) is pretty outdated. I had no idea.

BEHOLD. figures 1-7.

1. the category of the butterflies. this was right around 7th to 8th grade for me. I got butterfly hair accessories as birthday presents, I had a butterfly that changed from clear to purple in sunlight, they were in my barrettes i mean they were EVERYWHERE. and i friggin LOVED IT. What I would do is put my hair in a bun then stick a winged butterfly at the top of the ponytail/bun and it would flutter... all day. in my hair. people would compliment me. I no joke started hair trends in grammar school. Private school kids are NUTS.
2. Ribbons. i don't even understand why I have these and then I remembered high school band. *shakes head slowly* I mean I know where I'm going with this but man do i NOT wanna go there! I was super into pig tails and two pony tails. When we had games I would wrap the ribbons all up in my hair and feel amazing. People would marvel. People would MARVEL. (in a good way! for shiz!)
3. Headbands part 1 - people still wear headbands today. I still wear headbands all the time because of my CRAZY HAIR but these in particular made me look like I was trying out for a coveted part in EVERY EXERCISE VIDEO EVER MADE. Look at your life. Look at your choices.
4. Tiny trinket trends - here lie three things that were made to make your hair look awesome and cool but I never used. Those little jeweled pony holders there? Okay somehow I must have forgot about being black but those things NEVER held my hair. I couldn't get them around a ponytail not even once. Why. When did I forget that my hair is NUTS. The flowers... omg those flowers. They came in a pack of 400 I swear to bob I maybe used one. They were supposed to hang at different points in your hair and like... i honestly don't know. I don't even remember or understand what the little "u" shaped things are. I made no sense!

5. a torture tool - this handy dandy thing is supposed to help you learn how to french braid. also I really wanted the Topsy Tail. this was the next best thing. I used it on my dolls all the time but never on myself. I just... figured out how to french braid my own hair without pulling out my own hair because of this thing. that counts for something right?!
6. SCRUNCHIES - they DOMINATED the 90's. this is only a sampling of the amazing selection I had. I used to layer them, I perfected the sock bun WITHOUT USING A SOCK (heck yes). Side bun? SCRUNCHIE. Low ponytail? SCRUNCHIE. Naked wrist?? PUT A SCRUNCHIE ON THAT WRIST.
7. Headbands part 2 - this one is made from a bra strap. i bought this with that knowledge. this was a paid for product. i can't say anymore about this cuz it hurts too much. it hurts. too. much.

not pictured:
clips! i used to LINE the pockets of my school uniform of clips of all shapes and sizes. no joke this started a trend. girls everywhere at Calvary Academy were wearing clips on the pockets of the skirts and the pockets of their shirts. I was the REAL DEAL y'all.

For a girl that really never holds onto things from her past, this was a hilarious journey I went on. Turns out, I was pretty awesome back then. w00t!

p.s. - Happy 300th post to me! aaah! haha

color head-to-head

2011-10-31T22:37:00.003-05:00

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

2011-10-28T22:35:00.002-05:00

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.

2011-10-25T13:19:00.000-05:00

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

2011-10-23T19:23:00.000-05:00

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

2011-10-21T12:10:00.000-05:00

my two halves

2011-10-16T18:30:00.005-05:00

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

2011-10-11T12:48:00.001-05:00

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

2011-10-09T19:08:00.002-05:00

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

2011-10-09T12:47:00.001-05:00

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

2011-10-05T21:00:00.000-05:00

"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.

my rainy day

2011-09-29T16:19:00.001-05:00

i love when it's gloomy outside. it feeds my quiet nature, i guess. it makes me want to knit and drink tea and cuddle... all day. somehow i always find myself in the living room in my chair next to the window staring at how the wind gently blows my curtains. it's the most peaceful thing ever. today i decided to shoot them. it's not awesome (i'm no De La Rosa) i left it blurry on purpose but i like it. and i got the middle of the rainstorm we had today. w00t!

dreamstyles

2011-09-29T13:41:00.001-05:00

okay this is something i would never do, but today i'm going to do it. i'm going to tell you about my dream cuz it was INSANE! no joke. not kidding!

you enter my dream state... and the scene starts...

so i was going to work but there was an airborne toxin and everyone had like... gone away. it was like airborne toxin meets zombie apocalypse. anyway somehow a group of my coworkers, Magali, Scott W., James M., and Rossie were still left and broke into the mall so we could get back my two Macbook Airs (11 and 13 inches respectively) that were in for repair. yeah. this happened.

wait. there's more.

The COOL thing was we had a corner store in the mall. If you haven't seen our store it is not very wide! but relatively long. and we're surrounded by a Helzberg Diamond store. well in my DREAM our store was our store, plus the jewelry store next door PLUS! the jewelry store ABOVE US AND! the Charlotte Russe next to them. so it was a TWO STORY corner of the mall encased in curved glass that you can only get from our company because we OWN IT. It was a seriously awesome store. Also there was a car dealership in the mall because cars had like crashed into the glass front and tables were all flipped over.

So our rag tag team gets in there and it's like a LABYRINTH. there's an ELEVATOR that we couldn't take but there was a bunch of twisty hallways we went down, our BREAKROOM was like 16 tables DEEP and on the far wall it was just a wall of glass panes. it was kind of bad ass. so i located where they were doing repairs but my computers were GONE. the only thing that was there was an 11" air with a failing hard drive (omg i'm at work too much!) and a 15" Macbook Pro. So naturally I swiped the Macbook Pro and put it in my purse! Cue some more twisty hallways and enter the graphic designer's ward. Yes. Inside the Apple Store in my dream there was a whole WING for the graphic designers. It was filled with twinkle lights and couches and low ceilings. we ended up there and i swiped some guys white iPad that had font names engraved all over it. naturally!

so the dream ended up with us just trying to find leftover inventory so we could HAVE it (hahaha!) and then we found 2 of our managers that were still alive and 1 of them was gonna let us take like... EVERYTHING! but the other one wouldn't. so i ended up hiding under a bed and trying to take iPads... turns out they were cases of paper in iPad boxes.

seriously this was the most intricate crazy dream i've ever had. also i like how it combined graphic design in there HAHA. i'm so weird!

beautiful books

2011-09-21T12:54:00.002-05:00

I'm an avid reader. If I don't have a book in my hands every couple days I start to itch and twitch. It's like verbal crack. I just love reading. It's part of who I am and influences a lot of my designs oddly enough. (I wonder if typographic designers were very early readers like I was)

I added the "Whatcha Readin?" section to my blog finally. It seemed normal to do because I'm ALWAYS reading and people are always looking for a good read.

I stumbled upon Night Circus at the library yesterday and picked it solely because of its cover design. It is a GORGEOUS. BOOK! Like it makes me excited to read it. The book, so far, is amazing. It's playing like a movie in my head, which, to me, is a sign of a VERY well told book. I have a visual mind so if a book can get that going it's like... magic.

Jessica Hische, I love her. She's just... it for me haha but she redesigned a few covers like Pride and Prejudice and they make me want to read it over and over again. If everyone redesigned classic book covers into something detailed and pretty... War & Peace would be a much easier undertaking don't you think?

Take a look at how amazing this book looks! It's full of sripes and tiny little stars and swirly things. aka things that make my mouth salivate and my fingers tingle. simple things guys. simple things haha

i wish everyone took the time to put this much detail into everything. so pretty!

everything was taken with Camera+

morning hair

2011-09-21T12:11:00.000-05:00

I decided to keep my hair curly for an indefinite period of time, or until I figure out how to be all natural all the time. so this is a new thing for me, having morning hair. dare to knock on any black woman's door after midnight and after she curses you out you'll find she's wearing her hair wrapped up usually. since deciding to go natural (very recently) I do still wrap my hair but it sliiiides right out of it's confines because it's wild in nature. It can't handle being cooped up in it's natural state.

the Al Sharpton, the Don King, and the Kramer.

kind of like the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. but with hair.

intense right?

i kind of love it.

i love autumn!

2011-09-18T22:38:00.001-05:00

Autumn is my 15 year old niece. It's also my favorite season. I mean it's a win/win here because I love them both. But seriously. I love fall. More importantly I love the FASHION that comes with fall. Like I said I don't do shorts or swimsuits or sleeveless things so fall fashion falls right in line with things i lurrrve.

I finally found a pair of boots that fits my calves and are AMAZING! those puppies right up there from Modcloth are. legit. They're amazing. I would take them out on a date. Meaning THEY would be my date. It's that serious! I really wish rainboots agreed with me. They don't. My calves. They suck. I AM, however, totally going to invest in some classic cardy Uggs (omg i know. I think i wrote a whole post about how they're the devil. they make boots well! they're durable! *shakes fist* whyyyy!) and lots of tights for under dresses. I mean peacock tights?! AMAZING! Also I totally own those multicolored brown socks. They're super cool.

Cardigans, obvi, are a year-round staple but during the fall they just SHINE. There's so many varieties! The boyfriend cardigan, the dolman sleeve, the three-quarter sleeve, the shirred front, the VEST-IGAN (guuuuurl). Get every variety. You canNOT have too many.

Now... onto coats. If it were possible I'd have no clothes and only own AMAZING coats. That's right. Nekkid. Only coats. Swing coats, pea coats, trench coats, toggle coats, ALL THE COATS EVER. I have 4 good coats - 1 red trench (classic staple), 1 long pea coat in black, 1 amazingly pink, long, belted pea coat for special occasions and generally looking like a BAMF. and 1 ghetto, but tasteful, grey puffy coat (also called the dead of winter in Chicago coat). The puffy coat has fur on the hood. It's like my pass for people to know I'm really black. word up. But I'm in the business of getting a grey pea coat-ish type coat. I feel it'll round out my coat selections. Grey or teal. I thought about mustard yellow but I have a lot of mustard accessories so I need a common colored staple. These are the things you have to think about guys. Think about how to make your wardrobe awesome. Also if you're married being naked in a coat is like... the epitome of sexiness. These are just rumors I heard though. Only rumors. Television rumors though cuz like think for a second. All your good parts are all like sweaty in this coat and sitting on cold things. Not ideal! Now being naked under a SNOW suit... ow OW! that rant was too long. and i apologize. but i'm not gonna erase it! cuz i just gave some married folks some ideas. and you're welcome.

Not mentioned but HEAVILY worn by yours truly is TOMS. Something about their academic seasonal line of shoes just makes me ACHE for school! Most people know my Emily Dickinson shoes and this year's tweed and plaid just... oh man. so pretty. I also swear a LOT OF KNIT SCARVES. You guys know I knit right? mmmduh. Drop stitch scarves are one of my favorite fall accessories. Also H&M comes out with a heavier fashion scarf (that could double as a table cloth it's so large) that is perfect for coats. I think I own... 6 of them. They're reasonably priced, too! My favorite places to hit up cheap scarves are Old Navy (hit or miss but when they're on they're AWESOME), H&M, Target, and Forever 21.

The great thing about all of this is that it transitions RIGHT into winter and you still look super hot. see?? win/win. : )

my lesson learned

2011-09-18T00:31:00.000-05:00

oh man. life. have i got a story for you guys.

So every Saturday I usually get gas from Speedway after my 10pm close at the store. I drive to Speedway, totally get an $0.89 slushie (cherry limeade/sour apple = SO. GROOD.), and gas up. Today I decided that I was hungry except that I wasn't. I go inside and walk past all the chippy goodness and sweet confectionary evil to the PIZZA. That's right, folks. I got GAS STATION PIZZA. I'm so ashamed of myself. It looked and smelled so good! It's in there... turning round and round... showing it's naughty bits and cheesy awesomeness and all of a sudden you're nodding like the idea is new! *nods* "yeahhh! yeah i'm gonna get PIZZA! this is gonna be AMAZING!!! look at it! look at the pepperonis!" and then it's in your hand.

if this ever happens to you JUST THROW IT AWAY! the gas station employee's totes know! they know it's HORRIBLE!

I get the pizza (and my slushie... my choices just were not. sound tonight.) and get in line. except everyone in FRONT of me decides that they need to buy cigarette's so it takes like a billion years. While waiting I'm looking at my so-greasy-it's-soaking-through-the-SIX-napkins-on-top-of-it pizza and wondering which habit is ACTUALLY worse, what I'm eating or what they're smoking. I mean seriously it's a toss up. Then my mind's like, "oh man. you got gas station pizza." and finally I pay and my mind is like, "oh man. you just PAID FOR gas station pizza." and then i get in my car and take a bite and my mind is like, "OH MY GOSH. THAT TASTES LIKE CRAP." and you know why? cuz it's gas station pizza. you don't get gas station pizza. you get prepackaged, homogenized, preservatived, SAFE. FOOD. preferably with the suffix of -eetos or -itos at the end of it.

*hangs head in shame*

my stomach heartily thanked me with a quick one, two, down for the count punch and a trip to the bathroom as SOON as i got home. it's what i get. a well deserved punishment.

gas station pizza. it should be a phrase. like, "do you like this dress??" response: "it looks like gas station pizza." it works!

on another note an entire part of my life just ended. which. is. nuts. i'm qualifying what happened as a break up with accompanying break up mix-tape. it's possible i just wanted to make a mix tape. i made it on Spotify! so if you haz you can totally listen to it here. It has a little She & Him, a little Adele (queen of heartbreak. dang that girl just GETS IT), a little Beyoncé, and some dubstep. cuz who doesn't need dubstep in their life?! It doesn't have ALL the break up songs ever made but the ones that have helped me when I need a musical remedy. but for real i'm in the process of healing from a bunch of things that happened that i'm not comfortable talking about. I can truly say I feel myself getting back to the joyful person I am. I like it.

a new read

2011-09-14T15:11:00.003-05:00

Thanks AGAIN to other Abbey for being generally awesome and posting my new favorite blogger, Elephantine! upon reading her blog and seeing her videos I immediately added her to my google reader. the highest honor haha

From reading her blog she seems like the most gentle natured person in the world but intuitive and bright. and naturally i wanna be her best friend. obvi. no surprise there.

check out her cooking videos - not too short, not too long (which is the BUZZKILL of the interwebz) and very tastefully done. her video for salsa, chips and a mojito is so simple... and then it makes me hungry. brilliant.

add her to your google reader!

waiting

2011-09-13T00:19:00.002-05:00

this just... rocked ALL of my world. thanks to Keila for sharing it! it's a good reminder. and a confirmation.

Renegade Adventures! or How I'm Awkward

2011-09-12T13:45:00.006-05:00

this will be my own version of the Daybook's "awkward and awesome Thursday" except the Sunday edition.

Awesome:
- going to Renegade! my yearly indulgence of everything crafty, handmade, homemade, and awesome
- seeing Maggie, Kate, Katherine, Sarah and Annie. Renegade is HUGE and somehow I either met up with or bumped into everyone awesome there! oh and Sofia. I got to see her cute CUTE cheeks too. She wasn't too happy cuz it was really hot. I understand. I would have cried too. but as a 25 year old adult that is frowned upon in social situations.
- eating pistachio gelato. a serious. highlight. I'm not really sure where Black Dog Gelato is but if they're in Chicago... well I just found my new favorite place in the world.
- people watching. oh. MAN. if you are ever at a loss for personal style and are in need of some inspiration I guarantee you that Renegade will provide you with AMPLE amounts. AMPLE. so many tights and flats and combat boots and dresses and scarves and general hipsterdom. So glorious.
- getting the coolest pair of earrings evers, and a print from Nathan Duval. I like him. I'm going to pretend he's super attractive in real life even though I've never met him.
- Seeing Kaelah Bee from Little Chief Honeybee and Elsie, Emma and Rachel from Red Velvet*

Awkward:
- the comedian at our store meeting last night. that's all i'm gonna say. he was turrible.
- *Seeing Kaelah Bee from Little Chief Honeybee and Elsie, Emma and Rachel from Red Velvet. so... ugh. this is a shameful story haha. So I was EXCITED to see the Red Velvet ladies. I walked into their booth! I said hello! I turned around! I walked back out without introducing myself. >.< whyyyy!? so i went back! I walked into their booth! there were people there! i milled! i waited! i was gonna do it! i freaked out and left. *thunks head* YOU'RE LAME ABBY. YOU'RE KIND OF LAME. so i told myself. "well i haven't seen all of Renegade yet. they're here all day! walk around! come back! say hello with that certain 'je ne sais quois' you know is in there" so i did! i came back around! iiii WALKED into their booth! it was empty. they'd gone to scope out other booths. i failed. *hangs head* it was a sad day.

Same thing happened with Kaelah. I was walkin... miiiinding my own business when a cute girl with red hair and the deepest dimples (equipped with dimple studs) comes meandering by. My head pops up in recognition. "IS THAT KAELAH BEE?!" the people i'm with have NO idea who i'm talking about! but i do! I totes magotes know! and then i follow (read: stalk) her for a little bit and almost get the nerve to introduce myself. then my sneaky little awkward brain chimes in and goes "uhhhhh maybe it isn't her?! maybeeee you don't know a distinctly southern girl with vintage style and dimple studs!? uhhhh maybe you keep walking and pretend like this didn't happen." fail number 2. WHY?! *sigh*

I gotta really work on my awkwardness y'all. It's intense. It hinders things. It's cuz I'm an introvert! my innerds get the best of me! it's not anything i can really CHANGE (being introverted that is) but i can learn how to use it to my advantage. guh. LIFE LESSONS.

time to wake up!

2011-09-10T23:59:00.006-05:00

freya art and design - decor8

time to wake up, abbyblujay, you've got a world to see.

true friends

2011-09-09T12:02:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure if you're familiar with Superchic[k] but their name is Superchic-bracket-k-bracket. kind of like how 15 years later you still write *N S Y N C with an asterisk and the spaces and yell at people who don't put the asterisk or the spaces in. It's part of the charm.

Well Superchic[k] (lol this is gonna get old quick) is a Christian rock/girl band who DOMINATED my teen years with their amazing songs about high school and it's drama, being a one girl revolution, random stuff like being a 'big huge star machine' and things that only made sense to my 14 year old self. I encourage you to listen to them for a blast from your formative years or! if you've never heard of them... they're just good stuff to listen to. Just do it. Your teen self will thank you. Your adult self will learn some good lessons.

"Well I'm sorry. that. I'm getting on your case, but true friends they stab you in the face!"

If you've ever been backstabbed by who you thought was a friend then you understand how true this lyric is. I feel like this is a motto or lyric I've tried to live by as a friend. If I'm gonna talk about you? then I'm probably not your friend, but if I have some truth to tell you and it might hurt? You're gonna hear it from my mouth to your ears and not from any one else's mouth. Friendship is such a CRAZY thing. You find a PERSON that holds your secrets and loves you through all your horrible ugly cries and chubby phases in life. How... is that a real thing?! haha

I've always appreciated the friend who is honest but not brutally so. Most people cushion brutal harsh frank RUDENESS with "I'm just being honest." I'm sorry but my life is not an Outkast song and you're a horrible person. I can get behind someone I know that has my best interests at heart and truly wants to see me succeed in life, it makes reciprocating it effortless and easy and reWARDING.

People get hurt a lot. I get hurt a LOT. But the ability to be transparent in a friendship is so amazing. I used to pray... DAILY for God to send me friends. I just... thought I was the most destitute, alone person on the planet. As it turns out... I was completely wrong haha and in reality I'm just extra AWKWARD. But! I was shown that I had all these people who are GREAT friends! I'm working on the awkwardness. It's possible I googled how to be less awkward. It happened. It did. Don't judge too hard. But I think being transparent is really key. Don't yell at me to tell you stuff if you don't tell me ANYTHING about your life! Hey pot? this is the kettle. YOU'RE BLACK!

soooo the point of this was really just to get you to listen to Superchic[k] and to remember the good friends you have in your life. Appreciate them. They're truly a gift and don't take them for granted. Maybe you should finish the knits you promised them 18 years ago. *looks away* yeah. i'm talking about myself. i might be a knitting slacker.

Random: how awesome is the song Roll to Me by Del Amitri? I mean seriously when did that song come out like 1998?! but i swear to bob when it comes on the radio i'm all "rooooll to meeeeeeeOOOOOOOOOOOO!" at the end. EVERY TIME! i know I'm not alone in this haha - sorry. it's like 90's pandora day at work haha

Easy Cooking: Recipes from a Hipster Housewife.

2011-09-08T18:58:00.002-05:00

A while back my friends and I were twittering it up about food and our love of it. Literally. We were on Twitter. I said that we should have a collaboration blog named Hipster Housewives where we talk about food we'd make as married ladies and just having a general love of food, cooking and baking. I love that while the rest of the world is pretty much breaking away from so called "domestication" there is a resurgence of "hey. i'm gonna make a good meal for my family." or in my case "i'm gonna know how to JAM in the kitchen so when i HAVE a family they'll pretty much kiss my feet." The collaboration blog never happened but the name Hipster Housewife has lived on in hashtags whenever someone makes something amazerful and tasty.

for example... *lifts an eyebrow* today!

I made baked chicken, mashed potatoes from scratch, peas, and walnut brownies with ice cream. As far as weeknight dinners it's pretty standard nothing out of the ordinary. CEPT IT'S AWESOME.

If you're a novice cook baked chicken is a GREAT starter! Mostly because... you do absolutely NOTHING and it tastes AMAZING. I mean how fantastic is THAT. Take some chicken bewbs, or legs, or thighs, or wings. WHATEVER. Put it in a pan, open your spice cabinet, close your eyes, grab random spices and FLING. whatever lands on said chicken will taste not only well thought out but absolutely tasty. I kid you not. Chicken is pretty flexible like that. Works for marinades too, which is what I did today. Low-fat Italian dressing? sure! Homemade leftover oriental salad dressing from Sunday? okay yeah they can come party too. Kosher salt? Cracked black pepper? duh! founding fathers of taste. Honestly you can't go wrong with chicken. Just make sure not to over bake otherwise you'll have a perfectly flavorful rubber ball.

Mashed potatoes... *nostalgic* mmm. They're an art. Truly. You can follow Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Rachel Deen AND Paula Ray's recipe for them and they will turn out different every time you make them. I found out there are three secrets in making mashed potatoes from scratch. 1) Yukon Gold potatoes. Everyone brags about how Yukon Gold's are the quintessential mashed potatoes potato. They're the foundation to a mouth watering meal. They're not lying!! I used them for the first time today and HOLY. BU-FREAKING. CRAP. It changed my whole life. They have this undertone of sweetness that you wouldn't expect in a savory dish. Ugh. Shut the front door. Secret 2) Butter. If you're making mashed potatoes from scratch please do not worry about calories. The minute you deCIDED to make mashed potatoes you threw all worry out the window. Do not substitute cauliflower, butter buds, spray butter, um... please get away from me with that crap. If you're going to make mashed potatoes it better be LEGIT and it better be RIGHT. You BETTER use butter! Just don't make them every week. Mashed potatoes is a 3 times a year dish. 1 random time when it gets a little chilly (like today), Thanksgiving and Easter. That's it! There is nothing better than butter. If there is there's probably butter in that recipe so... shut up. Butter adds a sheen to the potatoes and adds to the overall creamy texture of the dish. Secret 3 and the most important) hot water. Confused? Don't be. Before you drain the potatoes get a cup and siphon off some of that liquid gold hot starchy potato water and put it to the side. It will turn your whole dish around. Use a few splashes in conjunction to the milk and it transFORMS the potatoes. You can't ever get that kind of creaminess with heavy cream or milk alone. Trust me.

Honestly do whatever you like best in terms of potatoes because no one is wrong, but can I just tell you whatever I did tonight was ground breaking in the potato world. I'd like to think that somewhere in the food world is a potato section. Right?

Lastly, peas. I truly thought I hated peas until my mother decided I didn't anymore. Whenever she'd add them to a recipe I'd yell, "I HATE PEAS!" and she'd go, "uh-huh. *nods*" and add them anyway. Then all of a sudden I didn't hate them anymore. My mother is an evil wizard. I don't like overcooked peas so I boil water, add the peas, leave them in for approximately 78 seconds (i really don't count the seconds. for realz guys. come on.) and drain them. Add a pat of butter, a little bit of season salt (whoever Lawry is... thank you.) and you're done! Dinner is SERVED. Also mashed potatoes and peas have been secret lovers since peanut butter and jelly were announced as a couple. Their union is SO GOOD. When they get together they just... make out. I don't even pretend to understand but somehow the peas always gravitate towards the potatoes. you don't ask questions. you just eat the amazingness.

Sorry there were no pictures. My mom and I mmm'd and oooh'd at our food til we licked our fingers. I'll make sure to take a picture of my Thanksgiving mashed potatoes. If you have any recipes you love label them with Hipster Housewife if you'd like to join in my endeavor of being an awesome lady.

It's time for brownies and Project Runway. I feel like a real housewife of New Jersey. with less spray tan... and more standards.

getting wrapped up in "why"

2011-09-06T00:35:00.001-05:00

from happydeliveries on etsy.com

Hello, dear readers and generally empty intersphere. This is the time of night where I talk about the most important unimportant things because sometimes it's needed. Joy the Baker bases an entire podcast series on importantly unimportant things. It's possible that I'm mentioned in not one but TWO podcasts. It's possible. You should listen to them. Today. All 16 of them.

I always end up thinking about design late at night because that's when those synapses decide to really fire. It's like a little design party happens around my hypothalamus and they get all happy. and then She & Him's "Why do you let me stay here?" plays too. You know which part I'm talking about right? At the end when you can't help but belt out, "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY" while dancing like a fool at the wheel of your car or in your underwears in your room? Tell me I'm not the only one that does that!

Today I'm stuck on the why's of design. First, a story. I failed SO HARD the other day on this t-shirt design! I had this glorious envisioning of what I wanted and it ended up being this random bag of CRAP like they do on woot.com. Seriously it's like 6 bucks and you get this bag that could either be filled with awesomeness or ACTUAL crap. The t-shirt that I did was LEGIT crap. I got super bummed about it and stopped designing it for a day or two but it's always in the back of my mind like, "what made you even come to that conCLUSION?!" That's what made me start thinking about the 'why' of designs.

I interned for my church of all places before working for Eden for this woman named Amanda Fico. Amanda is... for reals. She can design her butt off. Thanks to her my church has like this kick-butt modern design. Church designs are all crosses and doves! trees and wheat! Lucida Handwriting! Apple Chancery! omg i just threw up a little bit. But she really understands the design decisions she makes. Also her previous job before church was THE FIELD MUSEUM. Nbd right?! I mean I moonlight there on weeknights. *shrugs* doesn't everyone get a job at the largest, most well-known museum in Chicago? (yeah the answer you're looking for? is no.)

While interning for her whenever I would do something she'd ask me why. 9 times out of 10 I'd have NO answer for her. Lame sauce Abby! But that little bit of time there trained me to think about what steps I was taking and what I was trying to convey. Geez, professors in COLLEGE didn't go THAT far! Taaang cups!* It made me think twice about what I was designing and why I just put that RANDOM splash of color there and ultimately made my process that much quicker. The girl's a genius.

Fast forward 2 years to last week. The scene is a young girl sitting at her work station thinking she's brilliant but actually designing a shirt full of random things that have NO relation to one another. *lots of explosion sounds* If I had thought ANY at ALL about why I was putting a live trace of a chair on a shirt (i... really don't wanna go into it. it's just so painful guys.) I probably would have woken up that much quicker and nixed that whole idea much. quicker.

Ya know... I know everything in life is a learning experience. But I just WISH sometimes I'd get the picture before that whole "you're better for the experience" speech comes. It gets old! Get wrapped up in the why's of your art, even if your answer is, "I just had to see what it'd look like!"

Sometimes those moments are the most brilliant.

*Tang Cups is a place in Chicago that sells frozen yogurt. Somehow my friend, Brian, use it as every day jargon. it's for shiz catching on. say it with me... taaaaang cups! (said like "daaaang gurl!" you get it right?! i know! we so SMART.)

Coming soon, a fall blog header revamp and fall fashion for the curvy girl! : ) I figure I'd make it kind of a series. whatcha think?

it's the most wonderful time of the year

2011-09-05T23:34:00.000-05:00

with the kids jingle-belling and everyone telling you, "be of good cheer!"

RENEGAAAAADE!!!!

what-what-whaaat? BE THERE. or you can't actually call yourself a HIPSTER. (actually it's not hipster to call yourself a hipster. makes you obvious and there for... unhipsterish. lesson #5928 of the Hidden-Very-Secret-Well-Known Hipster Handbook <--- i need to make that a reality! or at least design a sweetawesome COVER for that)

see you Sunday!

late bloomer

2011-08-30T01:09:00.000-05:00

I am what you call... methodical. I think things through... process things out over very long periods of time. If i could have ruminated in the womb for an extra 9 months just to make sure i was COMPLETELY ready to come out i probably would have.

there are something i never had to think about, for instance, my major in college, graphic design. That was probably the easiest decision i've ever made. it was like breathing in and out. for the longest time when i was little i said i wanted to do something with art and computers and *SMACK!* thus graphic design was born out of that need for many creative types like myself. i thought everyone had it that easy until i talked to my peers. choosing a major was hard! who knew. secretly i wanted it to be difficult for myself too but... i couldn't make it. graphic design chose me. i thank God for that clarity.

art aside everything else has always come late. i was literally the LAST girl in my 8th grade class to get her period. i didn't get my ears pierced til 13. I didn't stop loving American Girl dolls til 15. I didn't develop a remote sense of style til 19. I shopped at FASHION BUG for Pete's sake. Pete was very ashamed of me back then. Even when i go in there today I get PIPING mad. it is the worst store ever created. Making a decision can come quick but my version of quick is god-awful long for most everyone else. I am introverted so when I process it's internally. My thought process is sporadic and not always connected but it's there... steady like gears in a clock. job development has always been slow because you can't just push me into a role. i just don't go. i gotta process it then go.

unfortunately it takes a toll on the relationships i have. it takes me a long time to know a person and from there i make a decision to either be all in or know you aren't worth it. isn't that HORRIBLE?! every person is WORTH it but not every person needs to be in your life. things don't work that way. somehow in my life i know that i take a long time to process and get to know a person but in relationships i want to rush EVERYTHING. i always end up feeling like a little kid seeing all her toys and wanting to pick them ALL up and when i do everything falls out of my arms and I'm left holding one toy. I want to know everyone and everyone should be my friend and you're awesome! hey I'M awesome lets be friends and before you know it i've overloaded my arms and overstuffed my steady-geared brain and everything falls apart.

some relationships are so easy that i don't HAVE to think. it's like that with Anisha (in Florida). i can pick up with her like I just saw her yesterday. and if i think you're worth it i'm ALL in! i'm so in that i'll change myself just so i STAY in. I'll think of ways to make you smile and make you happy and things i can bake for you and tweet just so you giggle and.... then i overload grow distant and remember i need to slow down and... that sudden shift makes everything crumble. it's like when you press on the brakes a little too hard with that cup of hot coffee in your hand. it's weird cuz i wait for that shift; it always happens, i always wake up. but that's when the real test comes... if you push BACK at me when i grow distant then i know you're made of something other than fluff. I. am so. WEIRD! haha

it's frustrating! i literally WATCH relationships crumble like they're not mine. i stand on the sidelines and watch... picking at the grass... humming to myself while my actual self is self destructing from the inside.

why'd i even write this at 1AM? haha... i'm tired of watching my relationships crumble and after processing for a bit i just needed to write. thanks for reading. (for the record i would have left mid sentence on the third paragraph. haha)

my getaway weekend (lots o' photos!)

2011-08-28T22:21:00.000-05:00

This weekend was AWESOME. I visited Katherine and her husband in Sturgis, Michigan, and while Sturgis is the equivalent of a trailer park as far as quality of life it boasts a quiet little lake on which their house sits. It's literally its only redeeming quality, ask Katherine haha. The lake is BEAUTIFUL! They have a family of swans and little swan babies that come and visit and the sunsets don't even make sense! I could have stayed in their living room forever but that's lame. and creepy! here's a brief breakdown of the days

Friday: unintentionally slept in, ran around like a CRAZY person, got my oil changed, did laundry, baked cheesecake brownies for my hosts, packed and somehow left right on time ALSO getting gas and monies. yeah! I realize that 2.5 hours is my favorite drive time... it's the IDEAL drive time. anything over that is excessive and why do you live that far?! why am i driving?! i'd rather have someone pull me in a wagon the whole way if it's over 2.5 hours. I made it! Thought i was in a "Deliverance" situation for a second with their creepy neighbors but crisis averted. We ate a rich dinner of creamy pesto chicken pasta (and fell into heavy pasta coma's and stomach aches) and cheesecake brownies followed by Scrubs on Netflix. These people get me. They really do. Scrubs is my FAVORITE.

Saturday: made coffee cake from scratch (oh, streusel... i love you.) and tooled around until meeting up with Sharon and going to the botanical gardens. we ditched the hot HOT gardens and went to the Southside Soda Shop instead where i got a Blue Moon ice cream milk shake. heck YES. it was kind of pure heaven. I got a first class tour of downtown Goshen and introduced to Better World Books where I found WAY TOO MANY GOOD BOOKS. What a crime right? lol It was perfection. i could have lived there if it was legal. Even if it wasn't. We briefly visited Ten Thousand Villages (woo!) and got a something to drink at Constant Springs before heading to the most Americanized Mexican place in the world, La Hacienda. You dip the tortilla chips in ranch and salsa. Indiana in a nutshell everyone. Indiana. Buuuuut it was probably the most tasty thing ever I can't lie. We finally saw One Day and cried like small school girls and headed home to watch I Love You, Man (which i'd never seen before) and laughed hysterically. Seriously funny movie! Must. OWN! Also I randomly looked up to see the most stars i've ever seen in my entire life. I almost cried but that would have been lame so I just said "awwweeesoooome" and went inside their house. Turns out I'm kind of a sap! Huh!

Sunday: I slept in hardcore. It was pretty great. Lounged around on their couch and watched the lake folk and the baby swans learn how to fly (pretty amazing sight) then headed out. Quickest drive home EVER helped by the fact that i gain an hour back so 2.5 hours was like 1 hour cuz of the time change. LOVES IT.

all in all it was one of the most relaxing weekends EVER fueled by food and a love for prettily designed things. Sharon was awesome too! I kind of wish I knew her before now!

Thank you Katherine and Chris : )

1 & 2 - the view from their living room windows 3 - the botanical gardens 4, 5, 6 & 7 - Better World books. Seriously!? perfection. 8 - Sharon and her amazingness pointing at the fleur de lis wall 9 - some good coffee and a GIANT slice of coffee cake. perfect sunday morning fare.

all photos were taken with the Camera+ app for iPhone. one of the best photo apps EVER. kid you not.

{about art} and other things

2011-08-24T20:44:00.000-05:00

Thank you to other Abbey for posting a summary of this dudes blog post! this was my summary. I like this whole {about...} quote thing that has come to life. Thoughts on it? How's that novel you've been working on?

There has been a lot going on lately but I've been conflicted about sharing it on the blog, which is why I've been absent. The concept of blogging is weird when you think about it. You let people in on a slice of your life. The art slice, the home slice (hilarious.), the work slice, but you can say or not say what you want. From the readers perspective everything could be awesome and in reality things might be crumbling around you. I'm starting to think letting a little of the negative things that happen in alongside the positive is a good thing. It makes the happy stuff so much sweeter, since you can only reach SO many levels of happiness and it starts to lose it's genuine feeling. It's also weird when you choose to put something on here that people may not necessarily agree with and you have to defend what you CHOSE to publicly discuss. Internet culture is really interesting. That should definitely be part of theory courses, don't you think? I could discuss the double standards of the internet/sharing all. day. ok not really all day my head would explode and i'd kill you. but over Starbucks? TOTES.

Michigan via gathered heart

But first, a good thing. Miracle of miracles, I kid you not, somehow I shouted a time off request to the scheduling angel and SOMEONE HEARD ME. I have a couple days off! I realized that I haven't had more than a day off Apple in 18 months (aka when i started). I took some days off for the wedding but... that was actually more stressful than work haha so it definitely does NOT count. It was too short notice to go down to St. Louis where Jayme and Jon live but I'll be in Michigan with Mrs. Gathered Heart herself for a couple days. I'm happy to get out of Orland Park! I just... again things have happened (are happening) that I may share with you when I get back but I'm glad for a small getaway. See you all on the flip side... the flip side being Monday. Obvi.

{about life}

2011-08-15T01:13:00.000-05:00

this book. was so good. i'm going to buy it on Friday. please read it.

2011-08-11T15:47:00.000-05:00

the entry before is the preface just to let you know : )

*well the secret's out isn't it. Sorry no long drawn out explanation... cuz it takes everything in me just to wrap my head around the concept of it. woo. light headed. moving on. but i will totally discuss it with you after i don't feel nauseous at the thought. hah. but for real.

p.s. buttermilk is an amazing typeface. UH-MAZING.

and then... it was time...

2011-08-11T15:27:00.001-05:00

if you said, "for The Clash! At! Demonheaaaad!" immediately after reading my entry title then congratulations you happen to love Scott Pilgrim vs. the World as much as I do. (fact: I love Scott Pilgrim vs. the World almost as much as I love baking. FACT.)

BUT. It's time for me to list my goals. I've kind of been holding off listing them because they contain a SECRET. A secret I didn't want to get out quite yet because whenever I tell someone I'm going to do something... something inevitably happens to where I CAN'T do the thing I was so excited about. Like when you were little you told EVERYONE you were going to Disney World and then you get there and it rains every day and you're confined to the hotel with way less beds than people in your family. Right? I don't ever broadcast me going on a health kick because when I fall of the wagon people become all "so how's that novel you've been working on??" You tell people you wanna knit for them and then it gets to a point where you HATE knitting because you knit SO MUCH and then people awkwardly look at you because you never knit them that gun holster (DORIAN.).

Hey, guess what people? Going out on a limb is hard. You fall off the wagon. It rains for a week straight. Maybe you have an off season with knitting. You get your heart broken, stomped on, vomited on and left for dead. And sometimes after that heart break maybe you eat an entire pint of Coldstone's Cake Batter ice cream (but who says I'm speaking from experience?). But hey. You get back up... dust yourself off and wash your dirty clothes... take a needle and thread and mend up your heart and you make more goals because you can't ever give up. You only got one life. Maybe cover your heart in a good wallpaper. Make it all fashionable and whatnot. Probably start drinking some water to cleanse out that ice cream.

OK. I've put this off long enough but don't leave me hanging guys. Post some goals. I want to read them and help you get through them because again... going out on a limb is hard. I'll post my goals in the next entry so I don't get all CRAZY LONG with this one.

p.s. - also i really like jay-z and kanye's new album. ummm who never thought those words would come out of my mouth?? is that my hand raised?! dang. it is.

cry baby

2011-08-08T23:15:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if you're a fan of Gnarls Barkley or Cee-Lo Green but! his new video for "Cry Baby" is making me smile. Oddly enough it's about a break-up but it's one of those feel good break-up songs before you get into the horribly sappy stuff that makes you wanna die. Ya know. Balance!

my mustard yellow Target purse died. then i found THIS.

2011-08-05T21:58:00.000-05:00

and it's all MINE! bought here!

{about art}

2011-08-04T19:46:00.002-05:00

there is no end to how much i love pbs.

#thisjusttosay

2011-08-04T01:02:00.000-05:00

this. watch it. that's all i got. goodnight

don't fence me in

2011-08-03T17:45:00.001-05:00

Sometime's I get caught up. I get caught up in being an artist and having every moment be about the art and what it means and having that artistic meaningful moment be relevant to creating more art. How much of a zany hipster do I sound like right now?! I mean I am one but still.

The artist community is competitive by nature. I would say I live on the edge of the artist community somewhere near Musiciansville, Literary Lane, and Homemakers Avenue. I embrace where I set up camp.

Today, I didn't do much in terms of "art" in a literal sense. I did not design a thing, I DID write down a list of goals I'd like to accomplish thanks to Katherine (love her.), I cleaned my room, did my laundry, stared lovingly at my bike and read Real Simple and the book I'm trying to finish so I can start another. I call this a good day.

I am starting to realize that creating one thing every day is tiring and filled with pressure and not very realistic in it's demand. I started to feel guilty that I hadn't "created" a new piece of artwork or worked on something relevant to my craft, SKETCHED more, ILLUSTRATED more, watched more TED talks about the creative MIND. Ugh!

I would say that today I created a relaxing day for myself. That is my one thing I created today. I am first and foremost a reader and got to totally remind myself of that AND i set up future goals for myself! hoorays! I am continually looking for inspiration outside of my computer which has started to give me a headache recently (oh hi college revisited).

I also realize that while I am an artist I am not defined by it. The art I create does not get to turn around and tell me who I am. I think I lost sight of that for a while. I was jealous of the things people do, and create, the opportunities other artists get. But I'm not them. They're not me. I have my own list of goals that, when writing them, came way easier than I thought they would. All of a sudden I had a whole page of things I wanted to do in the next year.

I need to remind myself that I am who I am, don't try to be anyone else. I am pushing myself to build a thick portfolio by next January and that is a task in and of itself. I know I'll get there, too.

by Dana Tanamachi - featured on Design*Sponge today. did you SWOON or WHAT?!

alsooooo i need to stop being so self centered. it is not all about me. i need to remember my friends and bake for them. i want to bake for you, friends. knit you scarves and socks and cowls and hats. make you posters for your wall. smack me around a bit hmm? I can take a beating... 'member that one time I fell off my bike!? chyeah. true story. i'm 25. i bit the asphalt. what of it? that's not the point. if you're into it (cuz i totally am), i happen to enjoy pizza followed by tea and baked goods. Let's get some sometime ok?

how to live life

2011-08-01T23:26:00.000-05:00

i met a woman today, 73 years old, who just got an iPad and found Pandora. She was in love. She also gushed (really. gushed!) to me about her going on a cruise in Germany down the Rhine with her boyfriend. She had recently lost her spouse about 5 years ago and so did her current bf... and they found each other. By this time I was kiiind of teary. Yep. That happened. So I talked to her about her Guide to Germany app and how she and her 76 year old boyfriend were gonna have so much fun. She told me 'well it's okay we got separate cabins so i can break the rules if i want.' um... giggle and blush fest on my end haha

Here's the clincher... she got up to leave and I noticed the tip of a bag on the floor behind the table. I asked her if that was hers and she reveals a VICTORIA'S SECRET bag. Now SHE'S the one blushing and giggling and in my head I'm like "GET IT GURL! GON' HEAD! MHMM!" This 73 year old woman and her 76 year old boyfriend on a cruise... and she's so excited! She kept telling me, "I never thought I would date an older guy!" ugh! *instant heartbreak*

If I'm half the amazing older person she is I will count myself lucky. I feel like she found the trick to living is... TO LIVE. She told me, "hey we're both still WALKING and able to eat anything we want and we're not hurting for cash... why not?" If this slightly voyeuristic woman embraced this mentality why can't I at 25? What sincerely holding me back?

p.s. - is there a trend in my posts? crazy inspirational stuff has been happening lately. i'm starting to pay attention to them... what does it MEAN double rainbow?! what does it meaaaan?!?

p.p.s - is anyone finding it hard to be healthy lately? all i think about is losing weight and all i can do is NOT DO IT. i hate it!! any tips to snap out of bad eating habits?? BUH. i don't hate water or vegetables i just happen to like horrible food WAY more! i'm a bad person am i not... *sobs*

the travelin' soul

2011-07-26T01:12:00.000-05:00

I've always loved the fact that I've lived in roughly the same place my whole life. It makes me feel like I can travel far, far away to places I've never lived before or experienced and that I can come right back to the place that knows me best.

the sunset through my windows

When it comes to friends I've always been apprehensive and a little jealous of their need to travel. Planning to move far away, getting frustrated that they're 'stuck' in the town they live in, where I am as in love with the city I was born in (fact: I was born in Chicago) as the first day I arrived. To me there is no better place than being in the city. The buildings, the lake, the experiences I have there are always lasting ones.

That being said I am starting to grasp an understanding on what it's like to want more. To literally expand your horizon. I always think of it as discovering a new land, and in a way, it is. Yes, people have discovered and settled down across the world but I haven't. I'm seeing it for the first time so it's like I'm discovering it, staking my flag in the ground and claiming that land for Abby.

I want to see what the sunset looks like on the Atlantic Ocean... and then compare it to the Pacific. As for my friends, I kind of want them to travel to where ever they think they're supposed to go, it gives me tons of places to visit. In fact, I want to know a friend in every state so I can road trip across the country and never have to stay in a hotel. I want to visit Boston in the fall (thank you Veggie Tales!), sightsee in New York, hopefully prove Tim Allen right that Michigan's extra relaxing, stop for a St. Louis root beer, go to ALL of SxSW in Texas, see amazing art in Kansas and dig my toes in the sand on a California beach.

I know that it doesn't matter where I set up shop and sleep at night, Chicago will always be home. I can be the furthest I've ever been but know where I can come back to. If Carrie Bradshaw had a relationship with Manhattan I am in it for the long run with Chicago. : )

I am free to move about to country.

stay tuned! cuz this here is real.

feedback

2011-07-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

i'll be changing the header in the next few days and trying out some things on here. feedback is much appreciated!

for the record i have NO idea where this header came from. i totally had something completely different already designed and then i just... got a fit of the happy bubbly giggles and that was born. happy bubbles LOL. I'm gonna live with it for a few days then see what goes on.

Also i have something in the works that will be... a miracle if it happens. Basically I just need to design... designdesigndesign all day and all night but I can't design something without material. So that's where you come in. Give me things to design. Suggestions, w00t shirts, logos, posters, your grandmother's 80th birthday invitation I don't care I just know when I do stuff for myself there is NO drive. For the record I am working on stuff for myself, I just deal with deadlines so much better. It's the designer in me? Heh...

If and when things play out I'll tell you the why of what i'm doing. First I need some what's. Collaborations are also welcome (I'm looking at you Kate and Katherine).

x o x o

2011-07-16T23:43:00.002-05:00

Dear Lauren Conrad,

I've got some beef with you. First, a confession. I really liked the Hills. I can't lie. I watched all the episodes up until you left cuz it seemed like you had a little bit of sense. I didn't watch Laguna Beach though... Kristin makes me wanna slap-a-ho. I mean I should have known better when you passed up Paris to stay with a dude. I mean, come on. It's a dude. I bet he has enough of his parents money to fly to Paris and visit you and make fun of the French because he is, in fact, THAT STUPID. But I digress.

Now on to the real reason I'm writing a fake-yet-sincere letter to a celebrity who will never see this. I recently found your blog the beauty department via pinterest and all the buzz over your hair-do "twisted sister". I added you to my google reader and everything. I thought it was pretty cool that a celebrity offered a blog full of hair tutorials, make-up tips and general style advice.

Until I realized that your blog friggin SUCKS.

OK, I correct myself. Your whole blog doesn't suck. The advice you give is pretty sound especially on hair tutorials but it's the way you present them. Have you ever... read a blog before in real life? Or does your team of people that actually make your blog MAYBE read blogs. Pulling images willy-nilly from the web and crediting them to weheartit.com, iStockphoto and PINTEREST is not a proper credit. I have found an image via weheartit many a time but I try not to credit them for every photo I put on here.

Now, I'm about 87% sure that you have a photographer, web designer and copy editor at your beck and call. Is there a reason why your photographer can't take your photos for you when they don't involve your face? Heard of the iPhone 4? It's got a good camera! Use that! Camera + is your BEST. FRIEND. Really! Try it... I mean I know your life is so busy and all writing books about how you were on a staged TV show for half your life *whew!* but... just. try it. Or! If you do retrieve a photo from another blog, credit the original photographer of the blog or at least put a disclaimer SOMEWHERE that you are not the original taker of the photos.

Until then, just know, your blog needs slight improvement. Looking forward to it.

xoxo, Abby.

via google images :D

let's play catch-up

2011-07-16T22:59:00.002-05:00

Hello all! I keep meaning to update and then I get sleepy and go to bed. True story. But I'm listening to Beyoncé's new album and feelin good! Also why do people say let's PLAY catch-up? It's not a Wheel-Of-Fortune puzzle, geez.

I had an epic day on Thursday that included LPK (Lincoln Park Apple Store), red velvet pancakes from Bongo Room, friends and Chicago adventuring. It was a GORGEOUS day and I decided to bite the bullet and take Ingrid out for her inaugural ride. It was bliss... until I rounded the corner to come home, I lost control and ATE it. Seriously... my face is scraped up (although I have this awesome ghetto lip scar that TOTALLY adds to my attractive qualities. I feel like Queen Latifah in "Set It Off") and a ton of bruises (and I don't bruise easy at ALL). My handlebars are a little wonky so I need to get those adjusted. So if anyone has any tips on how to improve core balance for bike riding I would GREATLY appreciate that. awesomethanks.

*oh snap! music modulation on Beyoncé's new album - DANG! three modulations! if this was a church song people would be out of their seats and... OMG ANOTHER MODULATION! she learned that from the Olivetians. I'm so sure of that.*

In other news I am totally a twitter-design-stalker-fan of StudioMates and their new temporary tattoo line tattly. the day it launched I snagged two designs from Jessi Arrington and Jessica Hische (two of my very favorite people I've never met). Jessi is my design equivalent of Joy the Baker so you obviously know that love is hardcore. Seriously though if you're unsure of permanently inking yourself (I will be getting my first tattoo sooooon! eeee) these brilliantly designed temp tat's will do the trick!

How cool is that color wheel?! Hint of spectrum, hint of spinny pinwheel of death on the Mac, hint of PURE UNADULTERATED AWESOME. Also the stamps on the packaging totally made me think of this. I think they did that on purpose haha

this week is going to be upper 90's and humid. Planning on making a LOT of iced tea and iced coffee. Heck YES.

p.s. who is on Google+? find me! add my face! I really wanna do a hangout it looks SOOO COOOOL.

oh hai!

2011-07-11T00:26:00.000-05:00

oh hey guys in case you didn't know...

i go alllll natural curly for the summer. it's my favorite way to be. but it's only for the summer (keeps things interesting)

don't you love it?!

between my 'long' hair, my NORMAL hair and "summer curly" i keep everyone on their toes.

alas, i am not my hair and who i am never changes but DANG i love keeping it interesting : )

my best moment

2011-07-06T23:27:00.000-05:00

after a year and a half of working at Apple my best moment came today. Maranda and I helped this woman and her autistic son with her iPad because it was unexpectedly broken. She was so heartbroken because her son has made so much progress in such a short amount of time. Long story short we took care of it and she actually burst into tears. She thanked us... hugged us... blessed us... all while her son is standing next to her unable to control is actions. It just broke my heart. It took everything within me NOT to cry.

That one interaction was a breath of fresh air into my entire working career. Apple is intense. We strive for excellence and excellence is not obtained by being lazy, lackadaisical or passive. Excellence is TIRING haha. The summer is especially EXTRA crazy just for the sheer fact that there is no school. It can be... taxing. This woman reminded me what Apple IS and WHY Apple is. I mean what happened today ended up transcending even Apple itself. Yeah, we're the company that makes the device that helped this little boy be a better version of himself but... the little thing that we did touched her whole LIFE! and that's CRAZY.

At the end of the day I thanked God for putting me and Mandy in the right place at the right time so we could help her. I'm thankful that I was at the right company in the right place at the right time. It's crazy... and makes me tear up every time I think about it. Her gratitude was so genuine and moving.

I know I'm gonna get bogged down again by people asking me exactly WHAT the iPhone 5gS will do and what we're gonna do when the iPad 3 is on 4G and that's okay. I won't ever forget that woman, because she impacted me more than she'll ever know.

I wrote an email explaining exactly what happened and I know I can't put the whole thing on here but I think I can put the last portion up:

"The thing that got to me (and still makes me teary) is she told us that

because of that iPad - a barebones, 16 gig, 1st gen iPad - she had seen a child

that she never knew was inside her son. It was like seeing a different

kid. His cognitive skills were so much more advanced than ever before. He

is starting to write and recognize words. Her son couldn't control some of

his actions but she said he can spend hours on the iPad just tracing

letters or recognizing shapes.

I can't lie... I've been in a work slump. Back to school season wears me

out and I feel like I can't ever get a break, but this was a ringing

reminder of why I'm here and why Apple is the best company to work for. We

cover issues all the time... but this time it made a woman's day and kept

the ball rolling for her son's development and future.

I'm thankful I'm here.

Abby."

2011-07-03T01:18:00.000-05:00

know what the frustrating thing about God is? I can't walk to Him tap Him on the shoulder and say, "hey! i need to talk to you. i got some beef. here's whats going down." i can't break down in tears and find solace in a hug. I can't hear ANYTHING. and it is FRUSTRATING. i feel like that's horrible that i'm frustrated with God... but on the other side of the spectrum i do THANK God sending people like James Miller and his family and Maggie into my life...

i need to sleep.

how i work

2011-06-29T22:40:00.003-05:00

via weheartit.tumblr.com

This is a little sneak peak into a small part of my character... if you care to read. It's really interesting for all introverts out there who feel slightly misunderstood or don't get how introverts work. (thanks Casey for the link! that girl reads the best blogs... haha)

"I know I can be timid at times, but I also have a very powerful and strong willed side. I don't like pointless chit chat, but that doesn't mean I don't like to talk. I love one on one conversations where both people are able to speak deeply and freely about what they are passionate about. I appreciate honesty, I just don't like banter about nothing in particular. I need quiet and peace to relax and recharge, but that doesn't mean I like being completely alone all the time. I love spending one on one time with good friends. I don't like being in high energy places for long periods of time, but I do love going out to bars or going dancing, and just because I am an introvert doesn't mean that I can't get loud and silly and excited."

i'm still here

2011-06-29T01:42:00.000-05:00

from Pinterest via Tumblr

i made it alive through 9 straight days of Apple. sleeping for a full day. : )

did you miss me? haha prooobs noooot

a couple things

2011-06-17T23:32:00.002-05:00

It is FRIDAY! and I've never been excited about Friday because I usually work weekends but... I have tomorrow AND Sunday off. Now before you break out the secret hidden confetti guns these two days off are just a preface to my nine. day. work week. guys... that's a little more than eight days! (if tyler hawx read this blog he would get pun - he is too cool for my blog... and too busy living a... perfectlifeyaknowwhat that is a post for another time called never. but i digress)

and and aaaand I get to see two of my favorite people tomorrow! Sarah (impeccable hippie style, impending wedding, fellow curvy girl) and Katherine (founder of Gathered Heart, whose wedding i still measure all other weddings by, wearer of many cardigans)! We originally planned on ya know being generally awesome and creative but really all our trip boils down to tomorrow is food. El Burrito Loco - i'm getting a GIANT horchata, Jaenicke's - you can't find it any other place than Bourbonnais and it'll make you slap yo momma, Main Dynasty - one word? rangoons. OH and Starbucks. I mean naturally. What's better that? Well if we all lived next to each other... there's that.

when we get together things like this happen... perfection.

on another note I went out to get a pedicure with my mom tonight and got slightly sidetracked. We went to Culver's (we kind of love that place.) and then the South Suburban Humane Society was holding pet adoptions at GoodSpeed bikes. Well... hmmm puppies + bikes = us immediately pulling over. The bikes had nothing to do with the puppies but it was in their parking lot. And I love GoodSpeed - bunch of tattooed hipster guys who happen to love bikes. uh I think we call that a win.

After the appropriate amount of puppy petting and 'aww'ing we ended up going inside GoodSpeed just to browse the bikes. I'm a fan of bikes and I've had my eye on an Electra Townie for a long time. Recently I've changed my love to an Electra Ticino because I want to eventually use my bike for adventures of the city kind. I showed my mom the Townie and she was kind of nonplussed... then pointed out another bike that was bright turquoise and cream by Trek and... I fell in love! I did! I mean I know it's a bike and the dude working there totally made fun of me but... um... things I don't care about! so... i am kinda half broke but I put money down on this little beauty! (We never did get pedicures.)

Ingrid seems like a perfect name for her. Also, if you didn't know by now I like to name thing. Mostly important purchases (car: Libby iMac: Immi) and/or things I'm extremely fond of (a plush puppy named Blanca from childhood). I can imagine all sorts of fun to be had with Ingrid... city sunshine, night time air, introducing her to the pavement of Chicago, the lakeside and the treelined streets of my tiny town. Eep! She will be mine all mine in a month's time. *sigh* feel free to ogle her goodies. I am.

I have also listened to the entire discography of Ingrid Michaelson in the time I wrote this post (I tend to wander to other pages while I'm writing) and it inspired me to do some new type designs. We'll see how they work out. Should be interesting though! Yay portfolio building!

Have a good weekend, wherever you are - work, home, biking, sleeping, tanning (WHY?!) or eating copious amounts of cake batter ice cream from Coldstone.

p.s. - never underestimate the persuasive powers of Coldstone's cake batter ice cream. It'll seduce you... love you and leave you without a second thought, but you keep going back for MORE.

myKea

2011-06-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

first a retraction. i can't take a break from blogging. there's so much stuff that makes me go "eee!" that i just have to tell SOMEONE about it.

having said that... i really can't deny that i'm sad. i'm trying to work on it but... i think i hit something deeper that i've not dealt with so...

let's move on...

i kept saying my ikea finds so much that it merged into mykea haha. it works right?! rieeeeght?!

for a place that carries general home furnishings they do it with a good amount of design, style and grace to be honest. they have... like the secret to success. i will totally go back to ikea time and time again. and put together countless things because i know it's good stuff! and it's inexpensive! BRILLIANT!

i think getting a group of friends together and trekking up there in a giant truck (to SCHAUMBURG) would be suuuper fun. thoughts?

current state of affairs

2011-06-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

do you really want the truth? all bubbly, giggles aside?

Iiii'm really sad. really really sad.

that being said... I think I'm gonna take a blogging hiatus for a little bit.

have a good summer

oak street beach, chicago

can dreams come true?

2011-06-06T19:23:00.001-05:00

when a randomizer is involved it takes a lot of prayer and an act of God.

one of my five fave bloggers, Jordan Ferney, is giving away a trip to Paris. oh yeah. no big deal just a trip to Paris, all expenses paid, she'll show you around her favorite Parisian haunts and put you up in a swank hotel. Like i said! not even a big deal. no sweat even broken.

I know that a billion other people need this trip more than i do... worn out mothers, just lost their job, haven't had a vacation with their husband since the kids were born... I'm just a young 25 year old worn out from her job and the rest of her life ahead of her but... i want to win. i WANT this trip. I could elaborate but I won't... it would just be a ton of redundancies about, again, how much i want this trip.

But! I think you should enter, too. Because you, like me, need this trip. What if you win?! What if I win?!? What if we collaborate and i end up in your suitcase?!?!?! What if you can just bring me back 100 macarons from Laudureé? I think that works ok.

But to enter you should totally go here... and then tell me about it so we can just plan imaginary trips to Europe in general. We'll have tea while we chat... be all civilized and whatnot : )

Actually regardless of if any of you win can we just have tea anyway? That sound okay?

*this post is a requirement of entering... but really guys. i want some tea with you. just know that.

Starfoxxx

2011-06-01T21:22:00.000-05:00

Please help me in welcoming Sofia De La Rosa otherwise known as Sofie Starfoxxx (so dubbed by yours truly! I'm super good at nicknames - that's going on the resumé)

how beautiful is this baby? also her momma is equally gorgeous for naturally birthing this little muffin

I've also been calling her my baby bff. seriously. designated baby-sitter anyone? me. talking about myself. also i can't wait to have my own kiddies. but for now i'm content on showering this one with knitted things and cupcakes for her mom to indulge haha

Brief story! this is the first friend I've ever had that I've been like super excited about the birth. My sister gave birth twice but I was 10 and 12 and not really allll the way THERE maturity-wise. Last night I hardly slept. I texted Kate's husband about every two hours for updates. Kate, who texted DURING her labor (which is epic) was texting me updates and I'm telling her pushing techniques and telling her to breathe. I also realized I could totally be an ob/gyn if I didn't have to go through 100 more years of school.

*sigh* awesome.

NEWS!

2011-06-01T01:40:00.000-05:00

Kate from diapers+skinnyjeans is in LABOR!!!

her tiny daughter is 18 days early and we are all quickly realizing that she has a mind of her own... just like her mom.

i've already decided i'm not sleeping.

I'M JUST TOO EXCITED!

i'll update you all tomorrow! probably teary eyed and awestruck.

did i tell you i love kids? woah geez... that post will be so long!

laters!

just bee yourself

2011-05-30T23:02:00.001-05:00

i'm struggling to find inspiration lately. i bounce all over the place like the 5 year old i really am. this gave me a little bit of grounding and some reassurance as to what i'm already doing. : )

right now i am definitely taking lucky number 14 head on (it's my favorite number. did you guys know that?) whatever the heck i try my hand at... i won't give up. well i mean i'm doing a plethora of others but for real. 14. and 25. yes.

this week i am definitely gonna take a photo for The Burning House along with Katherine. and next week? i get to be a hipster. (psh. like i'm not everyDAY.)

also i cut my hair!

hope you all are doing well : )

twue wuuv

2011-05-22T23:10:00.000-05:00

after witnessing a love story unfold every day at work for the past year it gives me a tiny glimmer of hope for my own future. i'm not in the best of places right now and i don't want to give up. it is frustrating though i won't lie...

“above all else guard your heart, from it flows wellspring of life." - proverbs 4:23

2011-05-21T15:47:00.003-05:00

guys. i am BEYOND excited to show you my work station. it. is. amazerful. (amazing+wonderful)

turns out Kate and I are practically the same and had similar IKEA adventures so you will see bits and pieces up here in the next few days.

I wish I could put it up now but it just so happens I'm about to work twelve hours... OVERNIGHT. so for the sake of my sanity and the credibility of this blog (it's building! however slooowly) let's just save this post for another day.

but i just wanted to wave to your pretty faces.

story of my life.

dream big

2011-05-18T23:47:00.000-05:00

hurry up! get to dreamin'!

placeholder

2011-05-18T22:23:00.000-05:00

i'm preparing my IKEA findings woo!

so far I have successfully mounted my dark grey curtains (a feat that included a near meltdown), put on my bedding/duvet cover (it is VERY pretty) and put together my rolling-under-the-desk-bin-file-cabinet-thingy (my thumbs hurt. no joke.).

tomorrow is the big "putting my desk together" day and moving my old desk out. I will miss this desk on which I'm currently writing this post. I put it together ten years ago. Wooo... that's crazy! but it's been 10 years and while it has a lot of character and great storage I can't stretch my legs, which makes me never want to design another thing ever again. In order to create I literally need to stretch my legs so the whole sitting with my legs bent for hours on end doesn't quite work. I'm definitely sad to see this one go but am sooo ready for the new desk! the grown up big girl work table. yaaay

I was cleaning out all the STUFF i've piled on here over the years and stumbled upon something little that made me smile:

i got it from Shutter Sisters at Blogher '09 (when I totally met Design Mom) in a little inspirational photography packet. It also came with a little business card that only says "dream big" and an 8x10 AND 4x6 photo of a street named "Hope" How sweet is that?! I could spin a whole bunch of philosophical jargon about me being myself but the photo says everything so... hooray! I hope it makes your day better : )

the IKEA post is coming soon! I could totes magotes live there.

raise your glass

2011-05-14T23:37:00.000-05:00

I'm not what you call an adventurous person. I love plans of actions, to-do lists, playing it safe, having "adventures" where at least I know where I'M going if no one else does. It's... it's pretty boring. But! in the last... say year I've been pushing the boundaries of me being comfortable. I could easily be categorized as a 'home body' but i kind of DON'T want to be a home body. The very inside of me is spontaneous and wants to travel and just... LIVE! but i know that years of being timid, not knowing what people would think of me and say just have held me back to the point where it changed who i was.

that's bad!

My instinct, when asked to do something on the spot is, "YES! LET'S GO!" immediately followed by, "nooooo... *random valid excuse inserted here*" so when my friend Sarah asked me to go to the city two days ago I said, "YES! WHEN where what time now are we going now yes!" and then I responded with, "NO!" cuz I had to make dinner, which was the truth, but I also go scared! And secretly wanted to stay home and watch Grey's, Parks & Rec and Community. But I sucked it up and went anyway because as much as I GRIPE about not having a social life and lamenting over the lack of friends, lo and behold Jesus sends Sarah to invite me DOWNTOWN to the House of Blues. And I say no?! IDIOT!

I ended up having the COOLEST night of my life. We went to see friends of Sarah's that happen to be in a band named Emerson (if you don't love their music you don't have EARS.) and it was at the Foundation Room in House of Blues. Now, I've actually never been to House of Blues at ALL so I had no idea what to expect. Turns out the Foundation Room is very v.i.p.-ish in it's nature. The room had it's own bar and restaurant and legit v.i.p. room and awesome high backed plush couches and giant ottoman's. It was something out of a movie I swear to bob. It was more of an industry breakout artist party (psh! yeah i just... go to industry parties now.) and Sarah and I people watched hardcore. There was a guy who was the spitting image of Michael McDonald and made us laugh hysterically, there was ALSO a guy who looked like the cross between someone who would fit in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You and the Social Network... all at the same time. here's his genius bar description. Khaki trench, flooding pants, no socks, tied loafers, sweater, long hair - looks like the son of "Michael McDonald"epic. We met the band The Future Laureates (Danny, Nick & James were super cute. and obviously macking. but their band is pretty sweet!) and cue the super buff semi-famous industry dudes. It. was. AWESOME.

from Suzanne (an amazing illustrator) via Oh Happy Day (please someone do this for me when I'm 30!)

I kind of hate new year's resolutions. They're super cliche. Lose weight! Eat healthier! Start a hobby! Break a habit! yeah we get it. I'm a fan of birthday resolutions. They are the ACTUAL new year's resolutions. This year I'm resolving to be more myself! I miss who I was and I'm sad that she got a little lost this last year. I want to go places in Chicago I've never been and there's TONS of places, I also want to MOVE OUT because it is about THAT time yes it is. I really want to take a vacation, too. I haven't been on one in at least seven years. I want to just up and DRIVE somewhere and find a random hotel and stay there and then drive back! And if you guys see any of the "timids" coming back feel free to call me on it (in a good, honest, encouraging way not in a frank "i'm just being honest" way yeah that's... not being a friend) and shake me out of it. I could resolve to lose weight... and I do but I'd rather resolve to not drink pop (cuz it suuuucks) and stop putting junk into the thing that is supposed to keep me alive eh? Those are attainable goals. I also promise to start creating art again. Create anything... just do what makes me happy! Also if #loansforlife gets off the ground I will the MOST happy. (that will be a later post)

via this guy from this blog mentioned here : )

Thank you for all the well wishes on my 25th birthday! Totally feelin' the lurve today. Lots. o'. lurve. also i want that cake. rainbows+cake = two of abby's favorite things in a nutshell. amazerful! but i got a birthday breakfast lunch AND dinner today! and tomorrow?! IKEA!! i'll share what i got! even if it's just a hot dog haha : )

the curvy girl's guide to summer

2011-05-14T00:51:00.002-05:00

Let's face it guys, not counting today the last three days have been SO DANG HOT. as much as i love Chicago and it's unpredictable weather... I thought this summer preview we're having was gonna be more like... uh NOT SO HOT.

Let's also face another truth. I am not a size 2. I'm not even a size 12. And while I am working on myself I still embrace the size I am. I also have learned to a) dress for my size and b) dress STYLISHLY (win!) If I were to pinpoint my style it would be "artsy hipster chic" I love scarves and cardigans and good crossbody bag. But I also have an obsession with Guess purses and TOMS shoes and jewel tones. I have meshed all that together and it works very well! I would define my friend Sarah's style as kind of a elegant boho-vintage-hippy, and if you know Sarah that about sums her up. She finds the coolest stuff and then wears it to an office meeting : )

The point is dress for the size you ARE not the size you want to be and never lose WHO you are along the way. People know when you feel and look good - it just oozes out of your pores.

In the summer I don't wear shorts, I don't go sleeveless, there is no "swimsuit season" for me - I don't think I've worn a swimsuit since I was 14 but I still feel good! I've prepared a short list of my favorite things to wear for the coming summer for all you curvy girls out there that will keep you cool and not so covered that you might as well be wearing a burkha.

1. Maxi dresses - these are a hidden gem! whoever said that short curvy girls COULDN'T wear maxi dresses... probably has no friends. I usually refresh my stock each summer because styles change but one thing is universal - empire waists. Empire waists keep the girls high and the focus on the tiniest part of your waist (channeling Stacey London here and some personal experience lol). Maxi dresses are also buh-FREAKING comfortable! Strap on a pair of gladiator sandals and a cardigan and you're good to go.

2. Bermuda shorts - I'd like to thank Bermuda and it's mysterious triangle for the invention of these shorts. They are a breath of fresh air to the strip of fabric and pockets people call shorts nowadays. Buy lots of these in plaid and dark washed denim and many colors of khaki. The AMAZING thing is you can wear these just as easily with TOMS as you can with flip flops. love. you. bermuda.

3. Summer cardigans - now I don't claim to be an aficionado in much (hugs, sensory cues, how girls work - true story!) but i am an aficionado of CARDIGANS. all of them. all... the whole... everything. Now cardigans are usually pretty light anyway but you don't want long sleeves and a long waist. Enter the summer cardigan. short waisted (conveniently stopping underneath the bust) half sleeves and light as air. you don't even know you have it on! i have 4. Did i also mention I'm obsessed with cardigans? but honestly you can't have too many. they are the outfit saver : )

4. Summer dresses - there is an art to buying a good summer dress. all of them look so cute hanging in the store but beWARE! Some of them will KILL you! Things to look for: again empire waist is always a go, a deep v-neck - if you are as... blessed as i am in that area then you get the ultimate privilege of USING THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE - if God hated cleavage he would have made all of us DUDES. *shrugs* hey #justsayin. It should ultimately hit at the area of right above the knees to right below the knees. Things to avoid: tiers - they are usually split to cut off your wait and make you look bigger than you are, midwaisted elastic bands - oh! yes i'd LOVE to wear something highlighting my stomach and makes my boobs look dumpy! awesome.

5. Swimsuits - DANGER ZONE! like i said - i don't wear swim suits everrrr but for the amazing curvy girls who do (that i'm completely jealous of) here are things to look for: ruching at the waist, a mid hip length. I love this one from Modcloth. Charcoal grey? Yes please! If you're going for a two-piece, first of all YOU'RE AMAZING, second of all go for a top with underwire and a full coverage bottom. That goes for all you skinnier girls too. We don't wanna see all that! Dang!

6. Scarves - like cardigans, you really can't have too many scarves. They are a great transition piece from day to evening. If I'm wearing a cardigan and it's blazing but I'll be out late I keep one in my purse for when it does get cooler. Plus it highlights the face, they're breezy and versatile... hidden tip: i wear them as shirts sometimes. I know! they're that amazing. This one also from Modcloth is too cute to resist!

so rock on curvy girl. my style is not everyone's but this totally works for me. be who you are and don't settle for anything less.

*most of this stuff came from Old Navy, eShakti - thanks Sarah! - and Modcloth. my favorite places to shop are OBVS Old Navy, H&M for scarves and occasionally Gap for their WAMAZING tank tops. oy!

let's kern

2011-05-11T02:56:00.004-05:00

"When designers sleep next to each other it's called kerning"

that made me lulz.

Happy Momma's Day!

2011-05-08T23:09:00.004-05:00

As an appreciation for all mom's do (and my mom seriously does like... infinitely above what she needs to do. she's a front runner for the imaginary mom awards in my head. like... the tippy top front runner) I'm counting down my favorite blogs written by mom's! : ) clarification... mommy blogs are completely different than mommy's who write blogs. Don't get it twisted. These mom's are AMAZING and I kiiiind of really a lot of wish they were my best friends. So! Settle in with a cup of tea and let's get started:

5. Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo - she is the coolest person. She has an adorable son named Toby and a TWIN. SISTER. (jelz!) and loves riding bikes with her husband in New York. She also has a babysitter I kind of want to be best friends with - but really she looks awesome. Also! she posts the coolest giveaways for you momma's out there and hair tutorials for people with newly found long hair. (me.)

4. Cole Marshall of Pacing the Panic Room - Honestly I would have Cole be my number 5 through 1 if it were possible. She. is. GORGEOUS. She has an impeccable sense of style and her husband happens to have the coolest blog on the planet. He started the maternity series that so many people have blatantly ripped off and TRIED to make look just as good. (it's just not possible) Technically Cole doesn't have a blog YET but! She IS starting a sweet awesome hair blog because her hair looks just that good all the dang time and she's a hair stylist. I would let her do whatever the heck she wanted to my mane. I'm just gonna throw it out there you can throw it right back? She is my girl crush. I wanna have a cup of organically grown coffee with her. or a milkshake. ya know whichever...

3. Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day - Confession: I started reading her blog a while ago and then STOPPED. *gasp!!* i knoooow. I'm a horrible person. I think I had just started my giant blog reading list and it was a little bit of an overload. But then I came back and remembered how amazing she is as a fashion icon and a mother and an artist who gives LETTERPRESS CLASSES! (if you love me... if you REALLY love me you will send me to San Francisco so I can take her letterpress classes. do you love me? please say you love me! or just come with me. just do that. we'll go together) She's also living in Paris (i just peed my pants a little bit) and you can see the Eiffel Tower from her apartment - no sweat! just a Paris apartment with her awesome husband and two children. Oh what's that? she plans amazing parties for people by the Golden Gate Bride and is generally awesome. Psh! I do that in my SLEEP!

2. Kate Votta-De la Rosa of Diapers+Skinnyjeans - you guys remember my excitement over her finally launching her blog and she did not disappoint. It's a fledgling blog but I'm pretty sure it'll gain momentum over the next few months with the arrival of her cute baby and hipster marriage to her perfection personified boyfriend. Another girl with impeccable taste and hipster don't-give-a-care style which incidentally makes her look awesome all the time. Also she's a friend of mine! so i can ACTUALLY attest to her awesomeness. I made her mint chocolate chip ice cream once... it was pretty great.

1. Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom - Gabby is the end all be all of mom's who blog. She was the FIRST blog I ever started following and coincidentally started my love of design blogs, mom's who blog and blogging in general. She is a graphic designer with six children who used to live in New York and moved to Colorado and NOW LIVES IN NORMANDY, FRANCE. I just... is your mouth open? I actually MET her at Blogher '09 when it was in Chicago... we screen printed bags together and I was super sweaty and didn't speak and forgot to tell her I was a graphic designer. Epic fail for Abby. I love her as a designer and as a mom. She handles her children well and just KNOWS what she likes. She's amazing. Read her blog. You'll be better off for it!

I know I'm not a mother yet but these interwebz momma's are great examples of staying true to themselves and raising a family successfully. I'm a fan of strong women. Happy Mother's Day to all you blogging and non-blogging mom's who do so much for their families and still stay true to the AMAZING women they are!

*all photos belong to the originators of the blogs mentioned here and I claim no ownership of them. all pictures were used for tantalizing enticing purposes only in hopes that you will immediately read their blogs and save them to your Google reader.

1am ramblings

2011-05-07T01:04:00.000-05:00

good morning my nintendo's!

I'm gonna need ALL of you to go over to Joy the Baker's site and read her blog post for the day. i think i just fell in love with it. know what?! better yet just click right MEOW.

did i mention i think we should be friends? you should know that i think we should be friends, joy and i. we'd get along FAMOUSLY.

also... i think you all are highly attractive. i'm not sayin. i'm #justsayin

and with that? goodnight : )

morning joy

2011-05-05T13:45:00.001-05:00

a little bit of inspiration on this surprisingly gorgeous day.

don't worry about the ending haha it's still awesome. just watch it!

anisha saris

2011-05-04T23:58:00.000-05:00

i have a friend named Anisha, she's more my best friend than anything. I've known her since freshman year of high school and is by far the oldest friend I've ever had. She's Indian and AMAZING and her mother makes the most amazing samosas EVER. No joke. I see her maybe once a year and when we see each other it's like we just saw each other yesterday... just with more catching up to do (like maybe we did a LOT yesterday haha).

Also she gave me these:

not one but two saris from her last trip to India. These are to wear at her wedding which isn't being planned haha... she doesn't actually have a boyfriend or anything but these are them. I stumbled upon them while cleaning my room today and it just made me think a) how awesome Anisha is b) how lucky i am to have her as a friend and c) how AMAZING these saris are and d) all. the way. from India.

sometimes i feel like i have like... NOTHING. No friends, no one wants to willingly hang out with me, nothing cool, I'M not cool but that's not true at all. Even if no one wanted to ever hang out with me or think I'm cool it doesn't matter. Having a few good true people in my life makes it okay.

soon i'll introduce you to Maggie... who is the same person as i am... just caucasian. that's just logistics though.

stages of recuperation

2011-05-04T17:15:00.002-05:00

How do you successfully recuperate after the most stressful 5 days EVER??

make homemade Reese's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream! mmmduh!

It is sincerely as amazing as Baskin Robbin's R.P.B.C. ice cream and infinitely cheaper seeing as how I didn't have to go to the grocery store for a THING. Yeah! I had Reese's on hand! By the way do you call them REE-SEES or REE-says or plain and simple Reese's? It really depends on the day for me. If in conjunction with Piece's it's totally Ree-sees Pee-sees and NEVER Ree-says Pee-says (lulz!). I think it stems from childhood though... interesting thought hmm?

Seriously guys you need to start making ice cream. I've become the type of girl that will literally whip up a batch of ice cream before she goes to work (prime example? YESTERDAY!) because it's THAT easy.

Start off with vanilla - it takes virtually no time AND no cooking over the stove. Granted I totally started with double dark chocolate sorbet from joy the baker but i don't make any sense in real life.

To make vanilla ice cream you literally need 6 super cheap ingredients:

via Label Box and Pudding Camera (a free awesome camera tip from d+s)

I also used a pinch of salt (I measure with my hand... make sure it fills the tiny inside of your hand which is about 1/8th of a teaspoon) and then whatever mix-in you want! chocolate chips, reese's, cut up snickers, nuts anything!

2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup of whole milk
3/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon of salt

combine in a large bowl until the sugar and vanilla are fully incorporated and pour into your ice cream maker while it is turned on. add mix-in's the last 5 minutes of churning process (so the 25 minute mark out of 30). and VOILA! ice cream for the eatin'

all you need is an ice cream maker and i have a confession to make... i got mine at ALDI. If you've ever been to aldi you KNOW they have seasonal crazy stuff. like, "oh yeah i financed my house through aldi they had a broker there for a week and a half." or, "yeah this swing-set AND kitchen set came from aldi during thanksgiving!" they just have awesome stuff that appears and disappears haha. So you don't have to use a Cuisinart (but if you do more power to you!) or a Kitchenaid just obtain. ice cream. maker. and start whippin' up the treats!

So far I have made Butter Pecan (three times!), double dark chocolate sorbet, vanilla, reese's and mint chocolate chip. um ALL of them were frickin amazing. If marriage had resume requirements this would TOTALLY go on it. "makes homemade ice cream" i might make a marriage resume HAHA you never know with this blog i just DO stuff.

p.s. - i made a little video out of jon and jayme opening their wedding presents to each other before the wedding. it is SO super cute. also this is totally a RINGING endorsement for iMovie. love it SO bad.

m.o.h. behind the scenes

2011-05-02T21:49:00.001-05:00

Being a bride is like a marathon runner with a sprint to the finish at the end. Being a maid of honor is like the bride getting on your shoulders and having YOU run the last 200 yards. It's all about being selfless and literally NOT THINKING just acting, which is what I did all weekend. Quick decisions (which, I found out I am the queen of), wrap, go, run, get, be, here, NOW.

*sigh* I can't recount every detail because there were a LOT of details. Jayme was a gorgeous bride. Like ridiculously gorgeous. She had model collar bones and the tiniest waist made by not being able to keep anything down the week of the wedding LOL and a wonderful husband waiting for her at the end of what seems like the longest aisle in the world.

I almost didn't make it in my heels. Really, I can't stand heels. They HATE me and made that really clear at the ceremony when I stood in them for an hour. I sincerely thought I was gonna die... I kept mumbling to Jen next to me, "Today is it... Jesus is gonna take me today... I'm goin today..."by the grace of God himself I made it haha.

The photo session was amazing and I truly can't wait to see the photos done by Jake & Jen of Two Birds Photography. I think I creeped them out... I was SOOO excited to finally meet them that it just... became too dang much. So much for trying to get them to be my eventual bffs. But for real. Fail.

The reception was a good success... her dad's speech made me tear up and their first dance made me cry. The food was AWESOME and I got to dance the cupid shuffle (my secret favorite) so all in all it was a successful wedding! I even got complimented on being a good maid of honor. I mean come on... that's awesome.

the gorgeous bride

their ADORBZ custom cake topper via Etsy

ok can I be real with you guys? after I got on the bus to go home to Chicago I burst into tears and didn't stop for a good 10 minutes. It was... stress compacted onto stress compacted onto stress that i buried and smiled through because, like I said, i wasn't there for ME. I actually still feel like crap! It felt like 5 days of 'do this, do this, do this, do this. done? NOW GO HOME.' It wasn't anyone's fault it was just a whirlwind week and I kinda needed to hold it together for everyone's sake. I think once I stopped moving my brain instantly processed 5 days of CRAZY and it just like BURST out of me. To be honest I really did want to spend time relaxing with my friend (somewhere in there) and get away from the stress of being HERE but, DUH Abby, weddings aren't PEACEFUL EVENTS. Maybe i didn't prepare myself (but in the back of my mind i knew) for what to expect stress level wise. My face is currently broken out in like some sort of stress hive pattern? It's awesome haha. i have a couple days off this week and I think I need to just recuperate and SERIOUSLY de-stress. i hope to meet up with Maggie too.

sorry this wasn't the glamorous "Royal Wedding" post you were hoping for and that's cuz i was on the inside and NOT the bride. If you're a good m.o.h. you probably won't be refreshed and rested. but you'll have done a DANG good job at the role you were picked for... and i did. i should have majored in multitasking in college.

also i have about 16 thousand more stories for you if I ever tell you in person. Including Aunt Ru... I might actually do a post about her. two words: SHE CRAZY. like for real i was sufficiently scared of her. another time... another time

blurry as it may... at least i look dang cute in that dress. it will be worn again : )

hair transformation

2011-04-27T01:36:00.000-05:00

before

after

crazy right?! here's the back - i mean it's LONG.

it's gonna take some getting used to definitely... I might keep it in for a bit because... um... I paid for it HAHA and it'll be fun for a little while right?! but honestly I love me with shorter hair. It's just who I am. Bubbly, funny, giggly Abby with shorter bouncy awesome hair. The COOL thing about having long hair is it totally gives you confidence! I never KNEW, long haired friends! Why wasn't I informed of this POWER?! *whoa Kanye stream of consciousness* It's almost like this shield of awesome womanhood or something. I was bold today! it was CRAZY. I think the fun thing will be finding that confidence that I've totally had all along and showing that with my personality... and shorter hair when this comes out. it's like watch out world when that happens. woo!

Also... it didn't hurt. it feels exactly like my hair. it took 2 hours. i can still put it in a pony tail.

it's... PRETTY COOL.

wedding trip starts tomorrow! (er later on today) so see you Monday : ) lots of long blog posts about drama, love and wedding happenings probably coming soon. just. prepare for THAT.

from a 1st time m.o.h.

2011-04-24T23:14:00.000-05:00

I have learned a few new things when it comes to being a maid of honor:

1. write your speech. write an ACTUAL speech. write it early. and practice it!

2. LISTEN TO MARTHA STEWART - she knows all even if she has crazy ocd instructions on everything... it's cuz they're FLAWLESS

3. exercise patience above all else... you get to deal with the bride, who gets to deal with everyone else... so you get the FULL brunt of frustration. and that's okay! cuz that's your JOB. take it like a man! woman. sorry!

I learned how to make the most amazing bow bouquet from Martha... seriously... i wanna frame it and all you need are a few simple tools!

via Label Box for iPhone. it's free and AWESOME.

Martha called for a compass. you know... the thing you used approximately one and a half times in 7th and 10th grade? yeah. sorry martha. what's not pictured that i also used is cardstock (in my case a thick paper plate) cut in a circle with scalloped edges with an x in the center. I mean the woman knows her stuff! i can't show you the finished product yet but (hashtag) just sayin? it's AWESOME. It's lucky for you, you have an artist maid of honor.

4. have an artist maid of honor and/or an insanely organized one.

srsly. ask Katherine of Gathered Heart *shameless pluuuug* her maid of honor was EPIC.

the secret hair club for black girls

2011-04-23T23:54:00.001-05:00

i have just been inducted into a secret society. a tradition passed down through generations of black women. a privilege bestowed on only the most worthy of recipients. the gift... of hair.

now my whole life i've been blessed with "good hair" thick, long, fine grade hair that grows fast and looks... like a white girl. no joke that is the secret of good hair... if you can surpass the nappy headed stage and get long luxurious locks that are your OWN? you've been blessed with a gift. don't take it for granted! He giveth and taketh away. hair... follicles.

I'm letting you in on the biggest kept secret EVER. I mean it's not like white people talk about being white... til Stuff White People Like came out. If Stuff Black People Like ever were publicly released... there would be mass chaos in the streetz. like Step Up 6: In Da Streetz. A black woman could be broke, jobless, HOMELESS and still have a head full of weave. You think I'm kidding. It's an art form in the black community. Also it is not "fake hair". if you bought it? it is yours. your. hair.

For the wedding my mom decided it would be an awesome idea for me to get extensions since my dress in strapless and it shows a considerable amount of skin. i... kind of didn't agree but saw where she was coming from so the hunt started for 1. a stylist 2. a good price for a sew in* and 3. HAIR. I used to work in a salon & spa before the Square so I had good connections for a stylist and a price... i just needed the hair.

I ended up going to U.S. Beauty Supply down the street from my house where there's like a... black people central area on 183rd street. I wish I was kidding. It's like.... dollar store, chinese food, gyros, the ghetto version of sports authority, Moo&Oink, beauty supply, Kenny's Ribs, Harold's Chicken, A&P Deli, KFC, a barber and a hair salon. Seriously it's a one stop shop. You don't have to go ANYWHERE else. ever. for anything. I'm not being stereotypical I'm frickin SERIOUS haha

anyways there's this Korean lady named Sunny who owns the place with her husband, (tip 1. a good beauty supply WILL be owned by a Korean couple) and is the maven of hair. My mom and I stared at her for like 7 minutes while she blatantly talked on the phone to her friend about Easter and red meat. She was speaking a different language but kept saying "Easter" and "red meat" intermittently. She also told us that's what she was talking about as soon as she got off the phone. I asked her for a certain brand of hair and she immediately rattled off what we needed. Seriously... if you're gonna buy hair you listen to Sunny... according to the two women behind me that SWEAR by her. Finally I got what I needed (i hope) and went to check out. Here went the conversation:

Sunny: you have membership caahrd?
Me: no...?
Sunny and the two women in line behind me: *pressed lips together* mmm.
Me: *look of horror* oh! uh... sorry!? um... *shame, embarrassment*

tip 2. HAVE A MEMBERSHIP CARD! YOU DIE QUICK! Y U NO HAVE MEMBERSHIP CARD?!

she actually TOOK my keys from me so she could attach the membership card to them. this card says AND I QUOTE, "U.S. Beauty Supply. Human Hair. Wig. Pony Tail. Nails. Beauty Supply."

I'm SO legit now. I will totally also post a picture of the finished product.

*a sew in is taking the hair and literally sewing it into your own hair which is braided in cornrows across your head. yup. INTENSE

i'm done. no really though i'm not done.

2011-04-21T16:27:00.000-05:00

will everyone PLEASE love her already?! kthanksbye.

p.s. 9 days til this wedding! geeeeeze. i have to shop... for hair. man i already know i have a blog post coming about me shopping for hair. it'll be named like "the secret life of black girls" or something... amazin'. plus don't forget. Abby in a dress. *faints*

without you the world keeps turning

2011-04-18T23:31:00.001-05:00

Good news y'all! my TOMS came today!! somehow whenever I order anything else FedEx is a pain, USPS is slow as HAIL and UPS somehow gets inside the building and drops off my package to my door. We like UPS.

On to the important stuff!

Red stonewashed... so tasty. and yeah... i have 5 pairs of TOMS. Obsessed much? psh... NO.

God bless Blake Mycoskie (I almost said Blake Lively LOL! ok sure bless her too but for real...) for making the most comfortable shoe EVER and also making sure kids without resources to even obtain shoes get a special present. I mean seriously how awesome is that? It also INSANELY justifies all these purchases so you don't get to judge me! FanTAStic.

so I fell in love recently... with a font. his name is archer... he's very thin and wiry with hints of elegance on his super sexy ascenders and descenders... actually i'm in love with his entire family (oh man the font humor is SLAYING me) but Archer Hairline is what got me. He's a woo-er that Archer... I did a semi preview... It will also be my wedding font. Just sayin! Don't steal it. You've been warned. : )

definitely click to see it larger... it's so light it just might disappear

I leave in a week and 2 days for St. Louis to be the m.o.h. in my good friend's wedding. It's been a YEAR of planning - a whole year... can you even believe it?! haha I'm excited and my packing list is HUGE... i also haven't written my maid of honor speech yet... wing it? it doesn't work well. write it on the notes app on my iPhone? DEFINITELY yes. I'm mostly excited about leaving town for 5 days. I'll come back with pictures of me in a DRESS. i know right... pick yourself up off the floor. Prepare for that haha

I'll leave you with my Robyn Radio favorite for the past like 2 or 3 months - I WILL get all of you addicted to house music eventually. come into the light!

thoughts on a social hiatus

2011-04-18T12:30:00.001-05:00

I've just ended a week to be AWAY from Facebook and kind of tweaked my Twitter as well. I'm not gonna lie it's been a bit of a struggle. It's almost like a fast from it or something. Facebook is like a legal addictive stimulant - you are on it all day... 24/7. Updating, stalking, browsing, wasting hours of time and you CLAIM you can give it up any time you want but you never do. For all the teens that I see in my store it's a form of validation and a definite status symbol. Your status symbol is raised when you take your picture with 4 of your friends flipping off the camera in an Apple store. Weird, teens, I had no idea. Thanks for the info.

For adults it's a peek into the outside world and their alter ego. Their political platform, their religious stance, their disciplinary standpoint, their entire marriage and children's lives IS Facebook.

Some people use it to promote business which, if used correctly, can be a great leveraging point for your business but mostly people just engage in over-sharing sessions about anything and everything and enjoy getting offended when someone crosses that boundary from song lyrics to all out status wars with your husband's mistress (true. story.).

As much as I would LOVE to say that the reason I temporarily deactivated my account is because of all the aforementioned reasons above and how it is contaminating my life (though I'm sure it is haha) it isn't. *sigh* now comes the time where I actually talk about what's been going on... Did I mention I'm not good at that? Well here goes. I liked a boy. That boy no longer likes me. While I don't want or need to be with said boy... I can't take seeing his statuses all the time when I go on Facebook. I can't really handle even a normal status like, "it's a good day!" let alone anything else deeper or more vague. I deactivated it so I could finally mend and move the heck on.

So... in reality I'm no better than the people that use and abuse Facebook. True, I don't stalk I'm not extra nuts I just... avoided the problem all together. But then again that's the right I have as a user of Facebook. I can choose to see or not see what people post, the whole freedom of speech thing comes into play. I can freely choose to NOT look at what you have to say, as equally as your right as a person to freely speak.

But I'm back now... I like communicating through it even though it's like 50% legal addictive stimulant, 45% poison and MAYBE 5% for the good of the user.

p.s. am i allowed to post personal things on here? i know blogs are usually standard happiness but i dunno... hope it's okay it won't happen often.

reasons why yesterday was... pretty cool!

2011-04-14T20:29:00.000-05:00

1. There is nothing like careening towards the city reading Jane Austen (for realsies there isn't). The sky was the bluest i'd seen in forever and it was like the city was welcoming me. I love how the tall buildings provide an unconventional comfort.

2. I also love how experiencing the city alone is an amazing time but sharing it with someone has it's own sweetness as well. The good thing is when I'm there I never feel lonely.

3. Argo. duh? specifically the Green Tea Strawberry Créme that rocked my SOCKS and some tasty sandwich infused with mate. it. was. so. good.

4. Anthro never ceases to disappoint. I almost bought the cutest mug from there but I already have like a BILLION mugs and this one was 12 bucks. I just bought 3 for 6 dollars TOTAL so... womp womp no purchase. I still stared longingly at the bedding though! Long.ing.LY.

5. I think I was drugged and fell unconscious because when I woke up THIS was in my bag. *hisses* from AKIRA.

*gasp!* *shock* *horror!* *appall!* *peeks in bag...* ash grey? ok well at least the people that FORCED me to take these home were stylish... ::ahem:: that's my story and i'm stickin to it!

6. I won a t-shirt when I went to Blick! No for real I literally WALKED in the door, the nice artsy chick in glasses gestures, "spin the wheel?" I spun and won a tee! For the record I really wanted the stainless steel Sharpie they had but all the same IT WAS FREE! hooray! (i TOTALLY tried to exchange my t-shirt for that Sharpie. no luck.)

7. PIZZA. cheap. good. local. PIZZA. good times were had by all. i'll say no more

8. I rented a movie! Like... from the video store! like the real ones they have down the street from yo' house?! I know! It was considerably less than renting a movie from iTunes and I got to see 2 good movies! Morning Glory was really REALLY good - I want Rachel McAdams to be my best friend I really hope she's not horrible in real life. RED was AWESOME. I mean you can't go wrong with Morgan Freeman AND Helen Mirren in the same movie can ya?! *psst... the answer is no!*

and next week watch out for the combination of skinny jeans + arts. just... watch... it's actually so epic it just might NOT happen... woah...... : )

choose your own adventure day!

2011-04-13T01:16:00.002-05:00

I have the day off tomorrow! I have to stop starting my entries with "day off." it's getting repetitive. ok let's start again.

I'm not going to work tomorrow! yeah... that was no better. fail. moving on!

Somehow I'm really excited by the fact that I have no plans of any sort and I'm kinda feeling like a city trip is needed. I need some alone time and Argo tea and a trip to Anthropologie to stare drooly and bug-eyed at their bedding that costs $300. I would be that person that buys Anthropologie bedding and JUSTIFIES the purchase. I mean that bedding is more than the cost of AppleCare (woah i just compared that HAH) and it does way less. BUT IT'S ANTHROPOLOGIE! hence the instant justification. such is life hmm?

I also am in DESPERATE need of Sharpies in my LIFE! I have one hanging on my keychain at work and it just makes me so happy. So I also, obviously, want to go to Blick. But... lurking down the street from Blick is Akira. They're the devil masking as a shoe store. I'm gonna tell you why so you don't fall into their vicious trap. They. Carry. TOMS. *gasp!* are you biting your fist? (you totally should be... that's back in style now.) But for real! It is DANGEROUS to go in there! That's how I found my Emily Dickens TOMS and that is ALSO how I overdrew my bank account in the same breath. Yeah... so you understand my dilemma. They STEAL your money! Thieves! Murderesses! aka I will probably end up buying another pair of TOMS if I go. These. Yeah... I have problems.

OR!

I could stay in town *buh* and go to Target *yay!* and look at their pretty jewelry and scarves and food that is exactly the same as the food in Jewel but seems much more appealing in a Target. And I could also get cheap pizza that happens to be REALLY good cuz it's local and not a chain. I could stay home and not wear pants ALL. DAY. (oh man this is starting to sound super good) Paint my toesies and watch Barefoot Contessa work her cooking magic in her home in the Hamptons.

I'm gonna pretty much just go with how the day takes me... If iiii end up going downtown going to Argo then getting pizza on the way home then cool! orrrr if iiii go to Target then head downtown and just go to Blick and *hopefully* avoid Akira then awesome! And if I wake up at 2pm roll outta bed and order pizza to be delivered well then FANTASTIC hahaha. I'll see where the day takes me : )

by the by, i deactivated my facebook for a week or two so if you don't see me... it's cuz you can't. it's a result of the things that are happening right now that i won't talk about? plus whose life WASN'T made better by the absence of facebook? exactly. we'll see if i come back... playing that by ear too. right now it's pretty refreshing. it's funny that muscle memory tells my hand to go to the third topsite by instinct. poor hand.

p.p.s. (since the 'by the by' was totally a p.s.) - my favorite color right now is mustard yellow. can ya tell much?? also i like my cartoony book graphic i just cranked out at 1am. why am i awake?!

pfft.

2011-04-12T01:15:00.000-05:00

i'm gonna direct you to friend Kate's post for my current feelings cuz they are SPOT. ON. except the maternity leave. I'm not... pregnant... but she is! and that's awesome. I can't really elaborate on whats going on because... it would just be one long over-sharing word vomity blog post. I'm really doing you a favor guys, I really am. I mean, feel free to thank me!

...but hey guess what? i ordered these. they're in the mail. : )

here's my logic on TOMS. i figure everyone's gonna get the red ones. why not get the red ones that are slightly more awesome and more unique than the red ones? that has been my logic for all my other pairs of TOMS and they've served me very well. eventually i'll get the ash grey ones but for now i gotta keep it awesome. and so far I've helped 4 kids not be shoeless! win!

and i just heard my favorite phrase magnified: "shut the front door! and the back door and the screen door."

amazing.

progression of a sunset via hipstamatic

2011-04-06T20:17:00.000-05:00

cloudy with a chance

2011-04-06T13:39:00.000-05:00

This is my first off day in what seems like 12 years but really it's only been a few days. The bad thing about off days are they don't ever FEEL like off days! they feel like days-I-should-feel-guilty-about-not-being-at-work days. So I'm pretty much vowing to do absolutely nothing today. I am all for creating and doing and being and loving and all that stuff but today... nothing.

I just. need a day. to do NOTHING.

Except wash my hair, and do the dishes, make more butter pecan ice cream and go to the bank.

oops. failure on that one.

I've started sketching again and it's quite therapeutic. For the first time I'm making myself sketch with a PEN not a pencil (my comfort tool of creation along with charcoal) and embrace the mistakes that come with permanent ink. I open a random page (also embracing a lack of order when creating - does art have to have a method all the time?) do a few studies on the right page and the final on the left. Somehow it works. The awesome thing about sketching someone's face is it starts with a detail. I sketched my face and I started with my lips because they are the most distinctive and moved on to my eyes which are slightly Asian in character. I sketched a friends face and started and ended with his eyes. I watched a movie with my favorite person, Audrey Tautou, and sketched her eyebrows first and moved on to her long narrow petite nose.

how can you not marvel at the details of people? and then marvel at the one who created them? bigger picture, guys. bigger picture.

well i'm off to do something that involves NOT doing nothing and will leave you with my current cardigan obsession from modcloth. This might be a tax return splurge. no joke. can't you imagine this with skinny jeans and TOMS?! oh, a match made in hipster heaven.

the Gathering Rainbows cardigan from Modcloth

in the arts: knitting

2011-03-30T22:32:00.000-05:00

SHELLO Y'ALL! after a long long wait I finally uploaded my little knitting video! I hope to be doing more of them in the future and other techniques like homemade butter pecan ice cream (for the record I will be posting about that soon just not in video form cuz it was amazing. AMAZING.)

did i mention i was excited? yay!

a not really kinda sorta bachelorette weekend

2011-03-30T20:49:00.001-05:00

My downtown adventure started as a familiar one. Jump out my apartment window... Heroically land on train platform roll onto the train and all with a frickin heavy picnic basket in hand.

There might have been some slight exaggerations with the paragraph above. The picnic basket was real though.

I hopped off the train, more like hobble-gimped cuz that picnic basket weighed a small ton, and caught the bus. It was the same exact route I took on the way to Core so I felt nothing but excitement as nostalgia took over. I passed 10 South Wacker, waved to my humble roots and found my way to Union Station for the first time. I know. I live in Chicago and I've never visited or even have taken the train from Union. For shame.

Hello prettiest place I've ever been. I am a fan of architecturally stunning places and... I fell in love for the second time that day. The first time was on the bus with a yellow coat with buttons on the BACK. I KNOW!!! I wish I took a picture. Ah well. Moving on. Union Station is literally the most gorgeous place EVER. I'd get married there. Then shoo everyone out and live there. I'd do it.

Well I found Jayme, who I commend for navigating Union, Chicago and the transit authority system HAH. We checked in at Club Quarters on the river and threw our stuff down before heading to the most giant Victoria's Secret EVER.

Let's spare you the deets on that cuz you can pretty much tell what went on there but we walked out of there with good loot. and by we I mean the bride. If you're going to Victoria's Secret it's obviously NOT because you really enjoy their tastefulness and reasonable price points.

We went to dinner at Buca di Beppo's which hasn't let me down so far. It's a good restaurant! Also this. Just stare at this for a second. JUST STARE.

that is... twelve brownie squares chocolate and vanilla ice cream and like 6 cans of whipped cream and probably a bottle of sprinkles. IT WAS SO GOOD! *sobs* so. good. Note Jen in the background taking a picture of this monstrosity. Also note the comically huge martini glass and the slop sized spoon next to it. I was in pain afterwards, but it hurt so good.

Here is where I stop narrating the rest of this weekend (which was in reality only 1 day) because it got really complicated. I can assure you, though, it was a good time. My favorite part was the walk back to the train the next day. I checked out of the hotel last and even though Chicago isn't completely empty on a Sunday morning it is relatively quiet. So I got to walk through the city streets and look around and not worry about someone bumping into me. It was idyllic. Also I was told I have a 'city personality' by the bride. This could mean a few things: when I walk downtown I wear the "do not. mess. with me." face very well, I have a sense of direction and/or can fake it til I make it, or Chicago just sits well with me. I'd like to say it's all three. :)

If ever the miracle happens and I end up married I am DEFINITELY doing any get together, reception, marriage, forever afterwards in the city. Just sayin'. Wouldn't you? I KNOW! No brainer.

why we do what we do

2011-03-26T00:11:00.002-05:00

I like baking because it's methodical, way more methodical than cooking. Cooking is expressive and free and definitely an art form... so is baking but in a different way. There are a lot of variables to cooking... the great thing about it is you can experiment and pretty much it's going to come out right with the correct foundations. Baking is a science. If I add baking soda and baking powder to a muffin it's going to be light as air. If I forget the vanilla in a cupcake (speaking from experience) then a subtle undertone is missing that you just can't put your finger on. I know the limits I have within a recipe... I make addendum all the time, but the methodical nature behind baking is one of the most relaxing qualities of it. I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that butter, confectioner's sugar, a little bit of milk and cream cheese equals an amazing frosting. Adding salt to sweet things like chocolate or caramel will always boost and balance the flavor. I like the fact that 1 + 1 + 2 = 4 every time in the baking world. I also know that when I get "expressive" I still understand the science behind it, which allows me to BE expressive, and it comforts me.

Is that weird?

I think I like the fact that when my baking adventures turn into successes I don't feel like I'm failing as much in other aspects of my life. I might be insecure in THIS random area in my life, but here. Let me feed you. This tastes good. You are smiling. I did something right. Here. Keep eating and smiling.

Pet peeve: when I give someone a baked good and they HOOVER it down without really tasting it. Odd pet peeve right? I like... LOVE food and I enjoy savoring things so when that favor isn't returned I get a bit sad but I just never say anything cuz that's rude. But for real... if someone is going to spend the time and their butter, sugar, flour & eggs to make you something amazing you better ACT like it's the first and LAST confectionery treat you'll ever get - cuz it might be! that goes for anyone though...

It's interesting why we do the things we do. This is a small part of the reason why I like to bake. There are other parts that I'll let you in on later. : )

today

2011-03-20T23:29:00.000-05:00

today i...

...spent my entire day with the same people

...spent most of that day in one place

...that place had nothing to do with work

...it was the least i've thought about work in a long time

...ate at a restaurant i've never been to before

...visited a church i've never been to before

...liked both.

...talked less than i ever have in like... forever. oddly enough i'm a quiet person. if you know me at work i am like off the wall super excited about life and it's adventures. but once i'm home as a generality i don't talk. when i have morning's off i make it a point not to make a noise emit from my mouth until i go to work where i will be talking with fervor for the next 10 hours. i've always been very comfortable with silences, which makes most people uncomfortable. i could lay my hand on your shoulder and not say a word but i just spoke volumes. i communicate differently. *shrugs* i'm a different kind of girl.

today was a really good day. needed. very needed.

happy work week : )

true love (an h-bahn love story)

2011-03-17T20:47:00.000-05:00

when i find my true love i will bestow upon him this card:

from sapling press via design.work.life

he will blush, knowing that bob ross and happy little trees are inseparable like the accompaniment of an exhale to an inhale.

to bind our love he will give me this in return:

from sapling press via design.work.life

i will take his hand in mine and we will ride off into the sunset in our hybrid hatchback (bikes in the trunk), knowing we will be together forever.

someday... *abby grin* hahaha

did you like that?! how cute are these cards! i KNOW RIGHT?! buy them already!

a story of shoes

2011-03-16T16:15:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had an item of clothing that just... GOT you? like it knew you and completely understood you? see those shoes up there? they are that item. the first time i wore those shoes i had a day unlike i've ever had in my life. they're the perfect accessory... they're like lipstick but for my feet. I've run in the rain in these flats, tracked through the snow in these flats, foot printed the sand in these flats. not to mention they're like the most perfect color. every time i step into them i feel like... a million dollars, a rarity.

well when i ran in the rain in these... seeing as they're made of leather, when they dried they split. I wear them anyway but that's a liiiittle bogus haha so i'm gonna try to sew them. I can't bring myself to throw them away and Gap doesn't even CARRY this color anymore in my size (you KNOW i tried to order some more already). Oddly enough in their short lifespan they hold a memory.

I know I can't hold onto them forever - that's irrational - and I also don't want to hold onto something I just need to release... but for now they complete every hipster outfit perfectly so here they will stay. and when the time comes to let them go... and the memory associated with it... i will. it's weird to talk like this about SHOES but... just trust me. : )

p.s. How gorgeous is it today?! my flats and i went on the most perfect walk. i think with my tax return I'm gonna get a bike instead of immediately getting an iPad 2 (like i TOTALLY want to haha). A bike has more staying power and health benefits than an iPad (or I could put my iPad in a case and use it as a frisbee!.... right.) and that way i can cruise around the city in the summer being the hipster i am. what do you think?

also go here. she's so awesome it's ridiculous.

Possibilities

2011-03-16T01:36:00.002-05:00

Know what I love about children's songs and children in general? Everything is so straight forward. I'm listening to a song that is telling me me to swim on the moon and plant a garden under the sea and you can do it because "everything's a possibility when everything's a possibility."

Yes there are a lot more variables to adulthood but I love the straightforward aspect of a kids imagination. Ask them what they're doing and they will solemnly inform you that their pet chinchilla is sick and they're traveling to South America by tricycle to get them a popsicle to make them feel better.

Take a hint from your tiny ones... unclench every once in a while. Allow yourself to dream the wildest thing you can think of off the top of your head. Then draw it... and paint it. Just DO it.

you can download this super cute song for FREE if you go here! (originally i got this from Pacing the Panic Room. an amazing blog) great if you have kids... also great if you're a 24 year old insanely bubbly girl who finds comfort in these lyrics (psh... yeah i'm talking about myself. yep. i so am.)

also! I am SUPER excited to FINALLY introduce the next great blog to the 11 of you that sit perched and tense on the edge of your seat waiting for me to provide tidbits of amazingness. *sigh* that whole last sentence was completely ridiculous. i just went with it. anyway work friend, Kate, launched her blog diapers + skinnyjeans and I'm pretty excited about it. She's a hipster. There's not much else that can describe her in one word... she hoops - as in hula (AMAZINGLY better than you ever could lol) and is one of those people that could wear pretty much anything and be stylish. jelis already? i know. it's bound to happen. but! she's due to have probably the cutest baby soon and is chronicling her adventures in both motherhood and hipsterhood. go. read. doit. k. thanks.

i have the day off tomorrow. pecan streusel muffin from Sweet Annie's? better yet! i'm making THIS! yummm. a JtB surefire breakfast : )

2AM ramblings

2011-03-15T12:35:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been up in the middle of the night just thinking? It's 2:11am and I'm awake reading a book.

I have a musical coping mechanism. Whenever my brain is overwhelmed with thoughts the thinking side of myself shuts down.Instead a song is supplied until I get to a state where I can effectively think. That time is right now. But for the past few hours the playlist in my head has been this:
•AM/FM Sound by Matt&Kim
•Diamond Dave by The Bird and the Bee
•Lady Killer (intro)
In small rotation. It's the weirdest thing and I never noticed it until recently when I was ASKED to lend thoughts to an overwhelming situation and I couldn't. I could only sing a tinny pop song. Makes me seem really aloof and detached. I apologize for anyone baffled by that. Shoot IM baffled.

Now that I'm able to think... I've been feeling pretty "meh" lately. I'm feeling like a sack of nothing. Like wasted space. It is frustrating. I think I've given up on boys, boyfriends, relationships, marriage and the like because I'm not so great at that either. I think the less I pursue the more the eventual opportune person will be... brought to my attention. So that's frustrating too. I'm just a ball of frustrated LOL. I would throw myself into my work but when I do it backfires. I'm a people pleaser. I spend more time trying to figure out how to please the "important" people instead of taking initiative and action and lead, which, is what pleases them. (mmmDUUUUH!) so. It's like an incessant cycle of doing the wrong thing. *thumbs up* love it! Syke!

Ok now (ok... now) I've hit the sleepy point.

Good evening.

addendum

2011-03-10T20:25:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I'm doing this...

I think I have to stop using recipes from Joy the Baker. *bursts into tears* I KNOW. I always end up having to tweak her recipes which I guess is the POINT of baking... you find your own style... usually I end up using salted butter for depth of flavor or adding a pinch more salt to her recipe in general (if you haven't figured out by now... salt in sweet recipes add depth and don't make it too cloyingly sweet aka gets-old-fast). Pretty sure for like... as long as I'm alive I will keep looking at her site... but I've finally seen the LIGHT! her site is not the only baking site out there. I finally get why my mother consults like 18 cookbooks in search of ONE recipe. One recipe never has the answer... it's usually a mix of one and pinch of the other and perfection is made.

There's a life lesson in that paragraph up there. I just know it.

In the meantime, in between time, check out this blog of awesome. For someone who could never be friends with guys I have two best guy friends that totally happen to have the same name. Fate? Maybe. Probably not. Anyway he's an up and coming artist who will fly me to his shows when he makes it big. *shrugs* one can dream correct?

Who's to say I won't be the one flying people out?? *woah!* dream big.

I meant that : )