[sisterly love]

Yesterday, like many days, I chatted with sister

on gChat off and on all day. And upon reviewing a 

few of our recent conversations, I realized that we

have our own little jibber-jabber language and say 

the most random things in conversation. For example:

Me: (In regards to the new auto-fill Google) 

Like ... "asian"brings up "asian carp" first off. 

Who cares about asian carp?

Amanda:  When I type in asian I get asian 

longhorned beetle.That's even less interesting 

than asian carp in my book. I wonder why they 

think I want to know about longhorned beetles?
...
This isn't even the worst of it. Believe me.

Me: One of our students is a Criminal Justice major
and she just did a paper on prison rape. She was all like
"oh you should read my paper ... it's super  interesting."
And I was all like "Maybe another time, "because,
frankly, I don't want to read about men raping each
other in public showers. Not my cup-o-tea, you know?
Amanda: Agreed.     Me: Seriously.
...
What the ... ?

I mean, it's not like we plan on having odd little topics
of conversation ... it just kind of happens. Hey, I know
it might seem a little weird, but don't judge! We're sisters.
But, my recent favorite little thing I've seen myself writing
to my big sister in an epileptic fit of epic proportions?

"I hope your separation anxiety gets better, 
my sweet little puppy sissy. xoxo."

Honestly, people. Where do we come up with this stuff?

PP Møbler

PP Møbler has some very different furniture modeled after 

Hans Wagner's 1950s designs. As strangely contemporary

as these pieces are, I really want to sit in that top chair ...

I feel like it'd be perfect for sweatpants, sweaters, and laptops.

And John Wayne marathons. Just sayin'.

[ art walk weekend ]

This past weekend was a busy one!

I spent most of my Saturday printing and

preparing for an art walk on campus for our

annual Family Weekend. I spent my evening 

advertising the Fine Arts major and selling cards.

After printing, folding, labeling over 150 cards
my lame little arms were sore from operating our 
huge cutting board! How pathetic is that? I need to 
get away from my desk and do something physically 
productive every once in a while ... gosh. 
That's embarrassing.


Well, after all of that I sold one, that's right, uno,
set of cards and got several parents very interested
in photography classes for their bambinos! 
Not too shabby.


ps. These cards are  available for purchase on my Etsy.

[ therese sennerholt ]

Therese Sennerholt is one of my new favorite designers.

I may or may not start copying her. I hope she doesn't mind.

I (a) love black and white contrast (b) love quippy quotes 

and (c) love bold graphic prints in simple frames.
~
ps. I'm changing from strawberry-blondish to
brunette-auburnish today. I'm a little excited ...
OK, a lot excited. A lot a lot.
Happy Friday!

[ david shields ]

David Shields is incredible.

[ Tequilla Lime Chicken ]

Lately I find myself dreaming of standard 

household functions, like free laundry, no more

clothes-rationing (because there is no free laundry),

cooking, taking baths, and making delicious recipes.

Like this one. I'm drooling. It's 10am and I'm dreaming

about tequila soaked chicken.  It's not that I'm an alcholic

or anything ... it's just that it's well, Mexican food, chicken,

tequilla, and cheese ... and dangit. Drooling again. 

Oh Lord, with the cheese, and did I mention the tequila? 

Tequila, people. With cheese! And pico de gallo. 

I must get a job and an apartment simply for the purpose

of making this delicious looking Pioneer Woman dish.

OK. Maybe I should get a different job to pay my

bills a little easier ... and grow up and all that good stuff.

But think about the chicken ...

[ Bluish ]

Bluish is the title of a 2009 installation 

by Berlin-based artist Ayse Erkmen.

I love how it seems so huge but so weightless.

[ love-sick-craziness ]

OK. So I have a somewhat unhealthy obsession

with fashion. We've established that plenty of times.

Well, with that obsession comes a little change-up

in my daily wardrobe and hairstyles ... it happens.

With that said, I've been pairing different outfits
together lately that I haven't in the past, and a few
people have noticed (in a good way, don't worry).
It's not that I'm like super-crazy-obsessive to the point
where I need to be committed to an insane asylum for
fashionably sensible ... I just have nothing better to do
with my time. And I really like to look good.
There. I said it! I am vain vain vain!

Well, a certain momma-away-from-home figure of mine,
(don't worry Real Momma Bear, no one will truly ever
replace you. Ever. Ever ever ever ever), started teasing me
yesterday during my lunch break, and I had to laugh at myself.
I am somewhat ridiculous. When I'm bored in my evenings
that are filled with Rachel Zoe reruns and Red Sox games,
I consider what I'll wear the next day ... and how I should
wear my hair so as to compliment my neckline or  tattoo
or Lord-knows-what. Anyways, she gave me a little
humor  to remind myself that humility is key. After all,
one can dress nicely and look pretty, but a humble and kind
spirit is far more beautiful than a brash fashionista.

Well, after that little heart-to-heart moment,
I had a moment of clarity (but I did not lose my taste)
and calmed myself a little bit. And then, today, temptation
bit. Hard. Someone in my department told me how cute I am.
She said my style is wonderful. She wants to go get hair
done together. The monster arose, it bit, it tackled,
my inner being morphed into an evil spirit and ... well....
We have hair appointments for our lunch break this Friday.
~

[ MacEachen Family-Session ]

Just a few more shots from the large group
of family photos I did a while ago ... I found them
on my laptop today whilst digging for another logo
version for someone else. Aren't cute kids just the
greatest? Too bad it was a sweltering 90 something
outside that day ... I hope next time I take family
portraits it's under 75 degrees ... and above 40!

[ Uncle Bill's Wedding, 1958 ]

How wonderful are these pictures from August, 1958?

These are slides from my great Uncle Bill's wedding.

I love all of the sweet sashes, flowers, and tea length dresses!

[ Phil Ashcroft love ]

I love Phil Ashcroft's work. I want one someday!

Big colors, bold graphics, high contrast ... big fan.

[ family history ]

There's something so wonderful

about family history ... which is why

I've been scanning slides from 

my grandmother the last few days.

These slides are from my mom's side 
and their time in Wyoming, 
where my grandfather is from.


I am enjoying this so much!

[ nyc: a love story ]

This past summer I took two trips to NYC.

The first was for an interview / day in the city.

The second was for a week-long freelance job

at Showtime Networks. Yeah, I'm bragging.

Get over it.

The first time I was all hot (it was like, 1000 degrees outside)

and nervous for my interview. I felt very out of place and 

oh-hey-check-out-what-got-brought-in-on-the-cattle-truck

and country bumpkinny... not to mention very underdressed.

And then, I got a week-long stint as a freelancer ...

yeah, I'm still bragging. I know, get over yourself, right?

Nope. I'm good ... still basking, glowing ...
 Oh, hi. Back to the point. 


So, then I went back, and that's where the love 
story begins. This small (and I do mean small)
girl from Maine became infatuated with a loud,
hurried, stinky, and psychotic city. 
And I mean that as a compliment. If you gave me
a job there right NOW I'd say "OK" and throw clothes,
my Mac, and the September issue of Vogue in a bag.
 And some hair gel ... I have some serious curly 
poodle hair that can scare the hair off a cat in 
the AM. Point being, I'd go.

[ pretty ]

Be still my soul, Fossil's done it again.
Dang it ... now I've drooled on my keyboard!
(just kidding ... kind of)

All those who are excited for fall, raise their hand!
Am I the only one around here who's excited
for fall? Crisp mornings/evenings, crunchy leaves,
pretty reds and yellows, great jackets, wool socks ...
I also am a big fan of seeing my breath in the AM.
Good thing I live in Maine, right?

I got quite a verbal lashing this morning for
celebrating fall: a certain co-worker does not share
my love for the colder weather, and let me know.
Me: "It was so cold walking to work!"
Co-worker: "Urrggh. I know."
Me: "You know what that means ... fall!"
Co-worker: "Geroff-shut-up."
Me: "Ok-sorry-I'll-start-the-coffee."

OK, so that's not much of a verbal lashing.
It was more of a guttural I-will-kill-you response
accompanied by such looks that let me
know that a) fall does not rock (lies!) and
b) not everyone likes to be awake before 10am.

ps. I want to look this cute everyday-all-day.

[ fashion week: Jason Wu ]

As I've said before, I'm a little obsessed with fashion

... and NY Fashion Week has just come to an end.

Jason Wu's Spring 2011 line is major.

I seriously started salivating when looked through his

look book and FGR's post on the runway show. 

These looks are seriously lust-worthy. Wouldn't you 

love to wear these looks to work ... and just watch people's

jaws drop ... and see their envy, and watch them turn green. 

OK. I got side-tracked.  It happens, don't judge. 

I mean, look at this! If you wore this to an interview,

it's a guarantee that you'd get hired. Or robbed of your

suit... and then you'd have to go home necked (embarrassing).

This dress? I died. I seriously died, and then was 

resurrected because I looked at it again. It's so 

crazy-gorgeous. That color combo makes me want to

start wearing only nude-navy combos for maybe... forever.

And then there's this dress. This dress could conquer

an empire. While it's still on the hanger. And then put 

it on someone? Gosh. No one would have a chance for

survival. Jason Wu is super talented ... and I'm a little jealous.

~

OK. So, now that you've heard me gush about fashion

(again), I'll curb my enthusiasm. You may wonder what

makes me go so gaga over clothes (after all, it's just clothes, 

right?). But, there's more to fashion than clothes 

and superficiality for me. I really love beautiful things. 

It's less of a girly-pretty-obsession thing and more of a

 ... I love all artsy pretty things. Hence, my Visual Arts 

major. Fashion is another expression of design (quite literally) 

and art. Thus, I love it. Patterns, colors, looks, and 

fabrics are so inspiring for graphic design and 

photography, and it makes me happy to see 

other artists expressing their talent so well and so successfully.

... and with that, I wish you a happy weekend!

[ eye-liner slide ]

As I said yesterday, I am very overtired. I just wanted to preface this post with that.

OK. So, I seriously had the stupidest encounter with a student on Wednesday. I know, I'm a little late on the reporting, but get over it. So there!

We, the IT Helpdesk, recommend that students buy our fancy-schmancy Lenovo laptops that they can spill Lord-knows-what on it, drop it out of 3rd story windows, and/or put 17  thousand viruses on it. Why? Because it's under warrantee, and our vendor will replace it for free. The student in the forth-coming story did what we told her to (amazing).

This young lady, who is tanner than Snooki, spilled a yeasty smelling liquid into her laptop. We sent it out, made magic, and it now works. Cool.

Well, she got a virus. Clarification: her laptop did. She came into the office and started up with the waterworks, and stated that she hates her laptop and wants a full refund. (Wouldn't it be great if I could just turn on the waterworks and start getting refunds? I'd be a shameless crier. All the time.)

It was like a slow motion moment for me. I saw the copious amounts of black eyeliner  starting to run. It came forth, and started to slide ... slowly ... then faster ... and, oh no! Even  faster! It was like watching someone power-wash a show-quality Holstein at the fair. All the blackness washed down her face ... except I didn't have any Blueing to fix her up with  afterwards! Twas a shame.

Except, I got a small amount of satisfaction out of it  because she shouted at me. Is that  wrong? If it is, SUE ME.

(Just kidding, please don't sue me. I'm broke.)