new theme, new feel

So, I'm trying out a new theme for a new feel to my blog ... so I apologize for any random email updates, new post updates, etc. Time to brush back up on my HTML code! There will be some serious quirks around here for a little while. 
In the meantime, I was browsing through the ridiculous amount of saved images I have from the blogosphere, and check these puppies out ...

I really like this color palette for a spring feeling. With our random 45 degree days around here {soaring temps, right?} I've been starting to get spring fever big time! I will be moving soon, and instead of looking at how much of a pain in the arse it's going to be, which it will be, I'm trying to looking past the boxes, packing, search and rescue of lost items to the near future where I'll be redecorating my new home. {I'm totally going to eventually enlisting Mom and Sister for that if they'll partake}. But, these stripes, the metallics, leather, cools mixed with warms and the whole clean but rich feel makes me pretty happy. 


So, the blog has a new theme and a new address {mcgowandesign.blogspot.com}.
Similarly {and hopefully} I'll have a new theme and a new address soon too!

{ shameless plug }

OK. Here goes my shameless plug of ...

I Just Overheard.com

This website is the brainchild of a good friend

and his good friend. Lots of friendship connections.

Hence the shameless plug.

It's kind of a combination site of Overheard 

Everywhere and TextFromLastNight. 

But better. Way better. Don't even look at those 

other sites anymore. They're not as cool.

 

Friend #1 is a favorite design cohort of mine, 

check out his work here. He does web design

focusing on WordPress themes. He also is a 

complete database geek (sorry, but it's true) 

and has designed all kinds of CAD systems for

things ranging from a fire department dispatching 

CAD system to an event management company's CAD system.

Long and short of it? He's smart/way smarter than me.

So, I will end my plug here. 

But, go check out the site! Now!

{fab, awesome, hilarious}

This font is fabulous.

This study nook is awesome.

This cartoon is hilarious.

~

Happy Monday!

{first week back}

I'm finally back to school and as busy as ever!

I am now entering my last semester in undergraduate college,

and to me, that is impossible! I very firmly informed a member of

my beloved security office that I am not going to grow up.

Ever. Ever-ever-ever. (I believe they call that Peter Pan Syndrome).

~

All week long I've been looking through some fun things:

Why does Natalie Portman keep showing up in my blog?

Gosh, she is pretty, though. Maybe it's the hair-eyes-cheekbones

combo (a deadly one at that).

(via Fashion Gone Rogue -- Elle UK, Feb)

Whilst browsing Sister's lovely blog, I went to the wonderful

Desire to Inspire page, and found these. Normally I post things I love

...but these I hate. When I look at them I feel like I'm in a terrifying

time warp with my mother's narration "Oh my word, that looks like

some wretched thing from the 70s!"

I agree wholeheartedly with the wretched 70s vibe. Ew.

But, I did love this (also from Desire to Inspire).

~

And so the long weekend begins!

Have a great MLKJr weekend!

another rainy friday...

It's raining in Maine today... again. Will it ever go away?
Today all I can think of is the Peter, Paul, and Mary song:

Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day...

So, here are some pretty things that have caught my eye and helped my quiet morning and afternoon slide by.

Davie & Chiyo have very cool things on Etsy.
Love this purse! It'd look very snappy and elegant with the outfit I'll be wearing to a wedding next weekend. Alas, I do not have the 85 Buckaroos required to own this baby.

Aaand while I'm in drooling-for-handbags mode, how about this?
Cotton Purr has cute hand bags, and I want this. So snappy! Plus, it's got a wrist strap, which is essential for my handiness seeing that my hands are 100% full 90% of the time. I could see this with jeans (of course) and my white ruffled tuxedo-esque shirt that I got for $12 at Marshall's this spring.

Something else that was pretty that distracted me from my silent office (not that I'm complaining). Found on Etsy by Erase and Repeat. Purples are pretty, no?
~
Ok. Now that I'm done drooling (wiping chin and desk),
I'm on to idea-stealing.

Very cool way to store jewelery. I hate how my necklaces are stored in a million and one Sign of the Sun boxes. They're always all tangled up, plus, I often experience moments of serious panic when I can't find something because one of the boxes has fallen behind my desk. Those moments of discovering the fallen boxes do rock though... somewhat like Christmas!
via Decorology via Together We Think Funny

I love this idea from Made by Girl.
Would it be a terrible, unforgivable thing to steal the idea and make note cards out of something like this? I can't wait for my big graphic design independent study that's coming in September. We (the minuscule art department at St. Jose's) actually just got a new room that will be converted into a print room/embossing room! The room belonged to none other than the IT office. We (the IT office) stored all of our dead computers, servers, keyboards, mice (not the furry kind), and monitors there. So, the room previously known as "the dungeon" and "the graveyard" and "that awful closet" is now going to be where I spend a lot of time. Cool!
~
Idea-Stealing? Check. Now back to drooling:

My heart belongs to the farm. You can take me off of it, you can sell it, you can even put me on a boring college campus. But you'll never make me stop wanting to be a horse-loving/owning country girl.

This is so pretty. I want what my family calls a "Gentleman's Farm" when I'm a big kid and have kids and lots of money (haha). Wouldn't a country home with some pretty little nags be nice?
~
Ok, I've rambled about all the things I want.
Now about the things I have:

I love my family.
I love my education.
So many opportunities that too many people don't have.
I love my country
... regardless of the current leadership's faux pas.
I love my new rain jacket that my Mom bought for me!
Lord knows I need it with this weather!

A little panorama I did while at Fenway for DMB.
Could this park get any better?

I'm getting so tired of rain... so I've been looking at cute things to wear in the sun. I hope the sun comes back, I'd like to have my summer sunny!

This is Dace. Adorable, no?

I love this top. Looks cool for humid weather.
(which we have in plenty)

Emma Tempest is an amazing photographer.
I love the emotion in her photos... portraits are so fun.

This is the closest I've ever come to getting a feeling like hers in my photography. (via my Flickr)

~
Oh So Beautiful Paper has great design ideas.
(I'll definitely be stealing some for this semester's embossing section of design!)
~
Lover Label is fancy/cool/pretty/feminine and way too expensive.

oh wow wednesday

the back of this dress is oh so sexy.
(via .v)

Hugh Stewart is a crazy photographer.
(love her eyes)

(love her boots)
Hugh Stewart

(love her dress)
Hugh Stewart

who wouldn't love a peaceful bedroom from IKEA?


love this chest from IKEA's Hemnes collection.
kind of a modern take on the antique dressers in my mom's house!
very cool fabrics from IKEA.
perhaps I should put some of my designs on fabric?

Rescue Me has got to be my new favorite show.
Season 5 is running now, but hulu is catching me up!

amazing photo of Ellsbury getting tagged at home...
he was out, but we still beat the Angels. GO SOX.
(photo via mlb.com)

I read this Dorothy Parker quote today and giggled:

I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table,
After four I'm under my host...

~

peace, baby.

a poster done for a layout class.
(it makes me happy)

pre happy valentines

Found some great wall decals via Abbey Goes Design Scouting.

How fun would these be in small apartments / nurseries?

Found here on Small Time Art.