Hot On A Dime

Just a quick note...

2009-11-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

It's still a work in progress as I teach myself how to master Wordpress, but I am now going to be updating over at my new blog. I made the choice to switch over so that I could control the layout more, and make it easier on all of your pretty little eyes ;)

So bear with me, and thank you... see you there!

Until then, xoxo

So very appropriate

2009-11-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

This morning it is super rainy in Portland in that way that we crave as natives here in the city. So gorgeous to watch out the window, and this website is the perfect fit for the day of online browsing. With a great soundtrack and great photos of some of the best trench coats out right now, you can't help but fall in love. Burberry, you've done it again...

Visit Art of the Trench over at Burberry now for some great photos by The Sartorialist himself, some greta rainy day tunes, and some incredible style.

Happy Drooling ;)

TGIF!

2009-11-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

I am hoping to get some of my posts up today from NYC, as I was MIA this whole last week due to a little adventure I was on! I promise to update soon as I took lots of pics this time (and I'm out sick again today). In the meantime, a little fun from over at the Nylon Mag blog.

Halloween Memories 2009

2009-11-02T14:03:00.001-08:00

This year I had some pretty good memories from Halloween. Here are some of the highlights from 2009:

Going out as Don & Betty Draper for an evening. And boy, does Darrin make a good Don ;)

Walking up to the bar to see a girl raving about her proposal that had just taken place. I sure hope she remembers it...

My fake chest tattoo.

"Marking" my man as they would say on Mad Men.

The great costume swap of 2009.

And one very excited tele-tubby!

Halloween!

2009-11-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

So my glorious prior roomies threw a great party on Friday night that they decorated so adorable, had to share! They though of every last detail from the witches' brew, to Bloody Mary in lipstick on the bathroom mirror. Pretty fun!

Our adorable hostesses (Robin Hood & the sexy clown!)

The handmade bat trail leading through the house!

Bats were hidden everywhere!

Cute pumpkins under the counters even!

Very cute decorating though, even entering through a forest of streamers! One of the many reasons I love having crafty, creative friends! What a fun night it was as well, gt us ready to go for real Halloween the next night for sure!

[black & White photos courtesy of Miss Emily]

My love for Red Jackets...

2009-10-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

Saw this incredible image over on The Satorialist. I love red coats like this (as you may have noticed by now), and hope that some of the photos from our shoot with my red coat come back good! I've been obsessed with the red coat & dark hair look since I first saw the movie Love Actually. I don't know if it's just her accent, but what a great look!

Photoshoot

2009-10-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

As some of you have seen me blog before, we are big fans of our friends over at Honeysuckle Photography. Maggie went to school with us, and has an incredible design eye as a photographer. She photographed one of my dearest girlfriends weddings, and has done quite a few other friends of ours as well. If you haven't checked them out yet, you're missing out!

So Maggie asked Darrin and I if we would be interested in doing a shoot for fun. We thought it sounded like a great idea, and spent the afternoon running around Portland in some of our favorite neighborhoods being goofballs. She posted a few of her first photos on her blog here, and will be posting more soon when she gets done editing. I can't wait to see how the color turns out in some of the ones she took, but hasn't posted yet! More to come...

Upcoming Project

2009-10-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

I started a new house project yesterday & Darrin decided to get in on the fun... Caught him in the act ;)

Apparently I need to shop in NYC

2009-10-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

I know I have over-posted a bit about my trip & findings... but bear with me. I am fully convinced of the shopping power of NYC. Many things that have been on my list of wants/NEEDS ;) were found there and far cuter/more affordable than expected! A fruitful trip none-the-less!

Long-time list that has been fulfilled:

Cute red winter coat: Every since watching Love Actually years ago, I decided I needed a cute red coat too. I have never found one in the right cut, or the right price range (weird how those two things avoid each other)... until now! Thank you Uniqlo, my new favorite shopping destination!

Opaque Orange Tights: Needed crucially for Beaver games, and even more so now that I have Oregon State Alumni functions to attend occasionally. Who knew I'd have to fly across the country in order to not by them in the Halloween section? Thanks once more Uniqlo!

A new transition purse: I needed a purse that was sturdy this time (sorry old purse, your fake leather started to flake off & I got dirty looks walking into Miu Miu) and that was a neutral tone, without being dull and boring. H&M to the rescue with my new bag. With a flat bottom it never falls over & dumps. Has an easy-access external pocket with zipper, as well as a main top zipper for riding the train, etc.! Trust me the photo doesn't do it justice!

Japanese Masking Tape: As you saw in the last post... the super fun masking tape I hadn't been able to track down!

I finally found it!

2009-10-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

So after much obsession and online searching, I had given up on ever finding (let alone seeing in person) the super fun colorful Japanese masking tape that everyone had been raving about online. I saw it on all of my favorite blogs, the Design Within Reach website (albeit sold out), etc. yet nowhere could I track it down. After completely forgetting about it, I walked into the MoMa store in NYC and look at what was sitting on the shelf starring me right in the face!!!

Good eats.

2009-09-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

One of the things I loved about NYC, was the quality of design when it came to restaurants, and bars. Whether it was the "speak-easy" bar we went to one night where you literally had to have someone know the bartender to get down there, or the fun breakfast spot we wandered in on, it was all fun, and delicious. I loved how thought out the design of the collateral and the spaces were as well, but maybe they were just my style... browns, oranges, simple type.... and nice industrial spaces. Can't wait to take the boyfriend back fro a few of these!

The Mercer kitchen was a beautiful space under the sidewalks in SoHo... As you can see in the pic below you can see the shoppers walking above. Very cool vibe.

Even the presentation of their shrimp cocktail was beautiful!

Delicatessen was a great breakfast spot. We found it on a side street after getting of the train, and it ended up being a greta place for people watching and a light, surprisingly inexpensive breakfast. Another cool vibe, they even had a giant room downstairs to hang out & work/study. Very hip.

Public School Visit

2009-09-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

And no, not the kind where you talk about your profession ;)

I was in NYC for work this past week, and a coworker had to run an errand before heading out to dinner. It was his friends' studio, so I figured why not? Turns out it was a clothing line I have followed for a bit after discovering online. They work in a collaborative studio that is a shared space with a few other designers, an ad firm, etc. Needless to say I was excited to see how designers that I aspire to function in the city (and how fun it looked!).... someday... ;)

A sneak peek at their studio...

I love the details they use. As you can see here. Check them out at their site. They also have a great blog.

With subtle military influence, I like that it is more about the craft on the garments. Very cool pieces. It's so hard to find men's clothing that is well considered anymore. They were a brand I was watching for this reason, and to have the chance to see behind the scenes...? Made me want to move to New York that much more...

NYC is the place to be!

2009-09-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

Whether it was street art, the guy selling bubble-guns on the street, or the people I met, NYC was a great experience. Next time I hope to hit those things I had on my to do list, yet missed, but until next time, I'm still exhausted!

NYC!

2009-09-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

I'm headed to NYC for the first time on Tuesday morning. A little sad not to be taking along my New York buddy... but maybe he'll surprise me & get to come through work as well! I'll keep my fingers crossed :) He sent me this link with a slew of gorgeous old photos earlier (including this one)... I can't wait!

"An anti-functional accumulation of atavistic monuments engaged in a process of continuous poetic reproduction."

Habit

2009-09-10T14:57:00.000-07:00

So apparently I have a habit of taking pictures of shoes... well my feet i guess. It's a weird habit I've had since I was little, and can't explain why. Maybe I like the fact that it's a physical representation of where I've been, maybe it's because I think in color palettes (and I swear some of these shots are my favorite palettes), or maybe because I love shoes... who knows!

I stumbled across a few of these while sorting photos awhile back, and started a folder... wow how many it turned out I had when all was said & done! And that's just the photos in roughly the last year!

Some were accidents & I just thought they were kind of fun...

Others reflections in dressing rooms...

Even Darrin makes appearances!

Sometimes my shoes add to the environment I think.

Sometimes I think I was just bored waiting for someone.

There's something about reflections...

I even like to mix it up sometimes ;)

Love Graffiti

2009-08-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

Most people know that I am obsessed with Love Graffiti. While perusing the interwebs this morning I found this great artist on HypeBeast. I hate re-posting other people's stuff, but this was too good to pass up. Check out the stuff Steve Powers has been doing. I wish I had the time to get out & do this stuff! This is part of his "Love Letters" Project.

[Images via HypeBeast]

The day I accidentally became a dog-sitter.

2009-08-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

So anyone who knows anything about me knows I LOVE dogs. Beyond love... and I want one so bad, but have been holding off until our situation to bring a little pup into our lives (as painful as that has been). I grew up with dogs at all times, and have been missing that companionship for a long time now.

So when we were at Barista last weekend we were sitting at the outside table right by the door, which happened to be near the pole that apparently is frequented by dog owners as a tie-up place. As one girl was struggle to tie up her dog, I offered to hold him if she was just going inside & coming right back out... Meet Kodiak the Bernese Mountain Dog/Newfoundland Mix... 10 month old "puppy" too ;)

Shortly after Kodiak & his owner left, up walks another dog owner with the same dilemma. So after talking to him he decided to tie his poodle Astro up next to us. We quickly bonded as well.

He looked and felt like a sheep, it was awesome! Super tight curls for fur...

He looks like cookies & cream, I loved it!

Needless to say, it was a fun afternoon and I got some good doggie-time which is always nice... only problem is now I want a Kodiak of my own! At least my birthday is coming up soon ;)

Finally a reason to buy one...

2009-08-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

So I have been resisting the super trendy "bottles for hikers that no hikers use" water bottles... well maybe until now. Looks like you can take a bottle and personalize it with photos, type, or basically any fairly small .jpg file. Kind of fun. I like the personalization factor without the stickers (I HATE STICKERS ON STUFF). But none-the-less, if anything fun to play with for sure! Click on images for larger views...

Check it out here: http://www.cafepress.com/designer/sigg/?src=hph2
They even show how it looks in your lifestyle (how dare you assume I have a Mac and use metal rulers and nice fine tip sketch pens....)

Blind Faith

2009-08-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Blind Faith is all you have... but all you need... Here goes nothin'...

(No idea where the image is from... sorry!)

Romance hasn't died quite yet ladies...

2009-08-06T10:06:00.000-07:00

One of the many little things I find on a daily basis from the boyfriend. This time on my work computer in the dashboard (tucked in with God knows how many random stickies of quotes I have on there)...

No idea how long it's been there but I definitely melted when I saw it... No better time either as it was a super frustrating day at work yesterday when I found it... I love him.

Photo booth Exhibit

2009-08-03T09:38:00.001-07:00

My aunt Teri tipped me off on a great exhibit currently going here in Portland. We all know how much I love Photo booths, and the blog post over at PoppyTalk really has me curious on this. A few images below from their posting on the website, and it looks to already be going out at Ampersand out on Alberta. Too bad I missed the opening at Last Thursday, I was RIGHT there! Oh well...

Count me in!

More info:

http://www.ampersandvintage.com/Ampersand_Vintage/Home.html

Happy Birthday Darrin!

2009-07-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

[PHOTO VIA IHASAHOTDOG.COM]

It's the boyfriend's birthday today, and I'm excited! We are headed out to Moloko on Mississippi for drink after work, then to Last Thursday. Should be fun as long as it cools down a little!

On any note... Happy Birthday Darrin, I'm excited that I get to spend it with you!

Melting...

2009-07-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

The city of Portland is going through a heat wave... and luckily it looks as though it might just let up here soon. This shot is from my car on Tuesday after work... even the AC was hot! Yowza! And today I have to go play in a softball game at 5, and the batting spot looks directly into the sun.... ouch.

What summer should be made of:

2009-07-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

We had a BBQ out at Barden's house for the 4th of July, and this week has reminded me of all the summery treats we had that should come back into our lives.

Some of my favorites:

Chickens that like to play.

Spur of the moment drink concoctions involving fruit straight from the vine.

BBQ grilled peaches.

Virginia's AMAZING salad.

My boyfriend who makes hearts out of EVERYTHING (one of his finest qualities in my eyes).

Always thinking in Palettes...

2009-07-28T11:10:00.001-07:00

Not sure why, but I have always thought in color palettes... kind of weird, but I just figure that's a good sign that the color route was the right one for me once I found it. Very regularly I will lay down, stare into space, etc. and find a gorgeous vignette of color in the wild.

My most recent discovery was the roof/moldings in Urban Grind by our place. Loving the tones of brown with the electric green. Funny thing Is I had just chosen a fairly similar palette for my portfolio I just finished!

Where I wish I was...

2009-07-24T15:32:00.000-07:00

Word is it's pretty hot out there, and I'll soon find out when I finally take off from work! It's summer Fridays here at work and I missed the big inner-tube run a bunch of folks headed off to about three hours ago (lots of changes in our line today I wasn't expecting. I am anticipating finding a place to keep out of the heat and maybe have a refreshment any minute now...

Gotta love Darrin's cooling system to "chill" our white wine we took out to the Sandy River last time!

More pics!

2009-07-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

So I was super busy and probably absent-minded a little too during the actual wedding and somehow only got shots of the set up! Here are a few of my favorites that Miss Wendy and Miss Emily snapped though ;)

Darrin's menus. I caught him sharpening the sidewalk chalk he was given on a tree trunk for a better tip... oh Darrin... ;)

Andrea and Matt blowing bubbles (everyone forgot t o blow them after the ceremony so we put them to good use during the reception!)

The cutest little girl came over to blow bubbles with Courtney when she saw all of us doing it! She's going to be such a great mom!

Alisa designed all of the wine labels herself to give the "menu" to guests at the bar. All of the table numbers were wine labels designed by her as well!

The canoe race was on! Brian was a great navigator, I was just along for the ride clearly... Great photo skills by Emily!

Morgan & the guys returning... she looks pleased to see solid ground, but fabulous as ever!

Bridal party after math... this scene was found in the bottom of the shower in the restroom... needless to say there are bridesmaids somewhere barefoot and happy!

Our bride breaking it down in the breakdance circle!

Us girls on the dance floor. It truly was an incredible night and everything was gorgeous. Congratulations once and again Mr. & Mrs. Jones. I look forward to what's to come!

Alisa's Wedding

2009-07-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

So it finally happened!

I couldn't have expected anything more perfect for Alisa & Jared and everything turned out gorgeous. SHe was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen! Here are a few photos that our super talented friends Maggie & Josh have released on their site as a sneak peek! Check out their site and their incredible photos here.

Alisa's Bachelorette!

2009-07-16T12:37:00.000-07:00

So this past Saturday I got the honor of hosting one of my dear friends' bachelorette parties at our new place. It was the real first debut of our new diggs and I couldn't wait as I felt it was very fitting of the Sex & the City theme! We made fun fruity drinks, dressed our finest, brought out the cute shoes and had no lack of pink and sparkle!

The giant shoe we put outside so that guests could find the front door on our building. Unfortunately it was stolen before the bride even arrived... but served it's purpose for the first few guests!

The adorable martini cookies Sara made!

No lack of sparkle here ladies... Even found giant fake diamonds in clear & pink in the floral section of JoAnns!

Champagne Glasses awaiting party guests (and a delicious champagne, peach, raspberry mixture!)

The Bride-to-be's glass

The whole group before we hit the town! (crouching because we had to set a timer after knocking on neighbor doors to no avail!)

Our bride on our way out to the club

Even Big & Carrie were invited ;)

Our Raspberry Lemonade concoction we came up with... it was a huge hit as you can see! We went through 4 pitchers of it!

The aftermath when we returned home form dancing at 2:30am. One lone cookie, and a whole lot of glitter that is still all over our place. Let's just say between the copious amounts of glitter and having to fish a fake diamond out of our garbage disposal two days later... we'll see if Darrin let's me take over our place again for a while...

And thanks Em for all of the great documentation, we all know I was running around like crazy and of course didn't take any photos!

Hilarious.

2009-07-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

So I love many things in this world, two of which being fashion and diagrams. When I saw this saw this great write-up on how to get shot by the Satorialist (via A Cup of Joe). Super cute... and oh so true!

Crazy week!

2009-07-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

So I have been MIA this week & I apologize! Work has been nuts, we still don' t have internet at the house (although somehow Darrin's computer picks up wireless from the restaurant downstairs but mine doesn't), I'm working on my portfolio for an upcoming interview and I'm prepping for one of my favorite girls' Bachelorette party this Saturday! Busy busy, eh? All fun stuff though... just leaves little time for blogging/breathing ;)

I promise I'll be back soon though, and with the fun things I've been up to! This weekend we spent a lot of time getting things from our very long list of stuff we need for the house. Luckily it involved a brunch at Bread & Ink out on Hawthorne on the way (my fav!). It was also our first weekend to take the street car down to the farmer's market & stock our fridge. And Darrin got me this fun little basket to use each week (he enough bought a bunch of the market tokens that we can keep in the pocket in case we don't have cash!) This little basket however has been a lifesaver: foam handle-grip, flat stable bottom, side supports come out to make it collapsable.

Love it!

Just What I was Looking For!

2009-07-01T18:23:00.001-07:00

I found a great new blog (who I now follow on Twitter) called Miss Bargainista. Fun freebies on her site, and no... not the ones that drive you crazy with form after form, only to get something you don't even need. Also, no credit cards involved!

So... if you have some time to kill... check it out!

http://missbargainista.blogspot.com/

My New Obsession

2009-06-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

So I recently stumbled upon this Portland blog by following both of the contributors (photographer Lisa Warninger and blogger/stylist Chelsea Fuss) on Twitter. I had yet to find a style-savvy blog that really captured the unique street-style going on here in Portland. These ladies have a real eye for it and I am so excited to see the blog grow and be filled up! Check them out at urbanweeds.

Busy Weekend

2009-06-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend was crazy with the move happening. My parents came up to help with their trailer (and take Darrin's bed back with them) so that helped a lot. All the big stuff is moved, just need to get all of the smaller stuff in carloads now.

Hoping to get the place spiffed up enough to have a few friends over for First Thursday here in Portland, but we'll see. It has a ways to go! A great surprise though was that Saturday night after a day full of moving & stress the girls came by to do a champagne toast in our new place with us! SO great and I'm glad they got to see it already :)

And yes... One of my first priorities is already underway... sun tea in the window sill!

Our new place!

2009-06-26T08:33:00.001-07:00

Our first night in our new place was fun. We checked in, got our keys, etc. then went to dinner at our favorite Italian place that's now in our neighborhood! Then we came back home & made our tiny little makeshift bed & talked about planning it out... Another cool thing is that since we live a block away form the art school, we drove by this morning to find easels outside with free signs! SO I now have a new easel as well as a new place! :)

You can see our blanket + pillow bed over in our sleeping alcove!

Darrin enjoying one of our giant windows! They look out over the Brewery blocks towards the rivers. Great views of the bridges, city lights and even Mt. Hood!

I think I could get used to waking up to this every morning as well... with a little furniture soon of course, but that is what this weekend is for! :)

Some of the fun sites...

2009-06-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

The sights that were my favorite in LA were the random things we passed that I hadn't seen anywhere else...

Whether a giant donut...

... or these car washes all had these great giant letters on them, but all in different colors/ typefaces. All only roughly a block or two form the next, but we passed a ton on our way out to USC.

This was by far my favorite reoccurring trend in LA. There were tons of these great old theaters that had been reclaimed and converted into second-lives for them. This particular one I was able to get a snapshot of out the car window had been converted into a place for church. Really incredible alternate uses for these beautiful old buildings, you'll see another example of a later stop on our trip in a future post...

LA!

2009-06-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

So I have been a little MIA lately as I had been down in LA for the past 4 days. I chaperoned 9 high school kids down there as their "reward" trip for winning in the NPCE program I volunteer with. It's the Nike Product Creation Experience and is designed to mentor and expose the kids to how the production of a shoe happens (and all of the jobs/roles within that process). Lots of fun stuff happened in LA but I am still processing photos to get them up here...

A sneak peek though involves roller-skating, Sony pictures, art schools, Pete Carroll, and lots of shopping with teenage girls ;)

... hold tight, they're coming!

Thursday!

2009-06-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Thursday we officially get our keys to our new place!

I'm so excited I can't even say. We've been talking a lot about how we are going to paint walls with giant type, find old broken neon signs, make cool work tables out of doors, etc for the new place. If living there is half as exciting as talking about living there I will be a happy little panda!

Puppies!

2009-06-15T12:11:00.001-07:00

So Sunday was Alisa's Bridal shower... which was super fun in general. Fun to see the grove girls, and catch up on what they've been up to, and it's always fun to see her in her element. Another fun part of it was that it was at Kelsey's house (which is ADORABLE) and that they just had a litter of lab puppies about 8 weeks ago. Needless to say I was in trouble! Below are a few pictures I took that were sent directly to the boyfriend in my subtle puppy conversation we have been having, but how could you not?!

One of every flavor!

My favorite little buddy! (Who conveniently was still up for grabs!)

They were all tuckered out after the barrage of Bridal Shower attendees snuggled them to death!

The boyfriends response to my photo slideshow via email...

Em's present

2009-06-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

So I made a "Twilight Series" Book cover for Em for her birthday. I made it to fit the last book so far snugly, just a little room in case the next one gets bigger. I found this fabric at Bolt over on Alberta. They have the best selection of printed fabrics I've found for simple projects like this. Also not having to brave the giant craftstore/warehouse helps!

Loved the big button though, felt very Emily, and included a tiny sparrow charm inside since that's the symbol that represents all of my groups of close girls to me (as seen in my tattoo). Overall I think it turned out ok, although there are already things I'd change!

Happy Birthday Em!

2009-06-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

A quick Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people in the whole world! Happy Birthday my dear Emily! Can't wait to see you on Saturday to celebrate! Enjoy your special day!

I felt like we would wear these if we could.... they would be fun bowling!

(Photos via PartyPerfect)

Big News!

2009-06-10T09:43:00.001-07:00

So it's official! Today Darrin and I will sign the papers to get our loft together! It's a great little place down on the edge of the Pearl, just in enough that we can walk everywhere, but still be in a cool older/industrial building and not a high rise.

I can't wait to move into it, but am really going to miss my girlies... :( It's been an incredible time living with two of my favorite girls so it'll be super sad to close this chapter, but also very exciting to open the next. We officially get keys on the 25th of June, so I'm starting to really get excited, and also a little nervous!

Don't you just love that brick wall?!

Exciting news!

2009-06-08T01:02:00.000-07:00

So lots of exciting news coming up, but the first of which is that I have made the decision to move in with my lovely boyfriend! We will be looking for a place together that we can start out as our very own. I'm incredibly excited about it + the fun times ahead... :)

More details to come in the near future!

I would love...

2009-06-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

... to get a cute present like this! I love the big balloon! Why is it always the simplest things that are the best?!

(via Party Perfect)

Waiting Game...

2009-06-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Also some big news possibly on the horizon. Waiting to hear back before I share as to not jinx the chances. A lot of big things are happening right now & big changes... exciting but scary too!

Stay Tuned...

Pixie Dogs!

2009-06-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yet another funny little Pixie dog I took for a walk. If you ever get the chance in Portland it's a greta thing to volunteer with. It's called The Pixie Project and they usually have dogs down at the DogStar in the Pearl. You literally get to take these sweet little dogs for walks while getting to know them in the Pearl. These dogs always go like hot-cakes though, so if you fall in love with one, snatch it up! I learned my lesson ;)

This was the little cutie I had last Friday. I got off work for summer hours and snuck down to walk her!

She had a mohawk!

Darrin Demands bag

2009-06-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

So this weekend Darrin realized he had left his favorite little carry-all bag at my place & needed something to carry sunglasses, wallet, sketchbook, etc in to go up to the park. SO he turns to me & goes, "Just make me one really quick?" To which I scoffed for a brief moment, then asked for an old t-shirt. Turns out I had stumbled upon a revisit to a project I had wanted to do a long time ago & never got the chance... as well as a boy with a wealth of materials for my project. Old concert shirt bags. I am always left with all of these great shirts I can't wear/don't fit that I love, so why not re-purpose them into something that I can use all the time?

This was an old shirt of Darrin's for the band Cursive. It actually didn't turn out that bad for being a quick little project that was a bit rushed & un-planned!

Finished Bag...

He even wanted to model it for me ever-so-sweetly when it was finished.

He wanted to work on his project too without taking it off...

One of the fun things I love about us working together are the little things like this. His shoe print & my footprint in the sawdust on the living room floor :)

Some fun shoes!

2009-06-01T15:42:00.001-07:00

So some of my favorite shoes I worked on while in the Women's category at work were the Troupes. They are a dance shoe built for female B-girls and had a fun, dunk feel to them. The high-top was always fun to color and a few of my favorites I worked on finally hit the market! Check them out!

(Keep in mind these are the employee prices, not the actual retail prices I screenshot)

(Click on any of the images for a larger view)

A little late to post...

2009-06-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

So I was working on this project last weekend (as in the one with Memorial Day), but hadn't had a chance to get my photos off of my camera yet! So this was just a little project I had been wanting to do for awhile, so got crafty & attacked it.

I have been loving some of the ruffle stuff I've seen online, but loved the idea of making it more geometric. So I took a great linen I found & chopped it up for a fun addition to a little $7 target tank top. Didn't take long at all, and was incredibly easy. I ended up doing two layers of the ruffle in the end because the original layer just didn't have enough depth for me... :)

It felt incredible to bust out my sewing machine finally! Happy Memorial Day!

Date Night

2009-05-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

So on Friday Darrin & I went out for a double-date with one of his friends from school. It was fun to see them catch up, and his fiancé was very sweet as well. We caught Two Lovers over at Living Room Theatre, then dessert & drinks at Clyde (my fav!). If you haven't tried the Salt + Pepper cocktail there, try it, it's incredible + Portland Monthly just wrote about it in their recent issue. On our way back to the car at the end of the night I grabbed Darrin & pulled him into the lobby of the Ace Hotel downtown where they have an Old-timey photo booth!

Great ending to a great night. We had a nice relaxing weekend too with the extra day for the holiday! Lots of BBQ's & sunshine, which was just what the doctor ordered after last week! It's going to be an interesting week of changes around work this week, but it should be exciting!

Sad days at work...

2009-05-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

So with some sad stuff going on at work in the past few days... I haven't been up to anything super fun or smily. Feels like this economic crisis has really gotten bad. We lost some amazing designers from our company yesterday & lots of tears were shed. It truly is a scary time, even if you already have a job.

I felt like it was oddly appropriate that when the lay-offs started happening around our place my peonies that are in my bouquet for the weekend started shedding petals. But it wasn't just a few petals, but MASSIVE amounts! Everyone stops by my desk to make comments, and the crazy thing is I have been cleaning them up a few times a day!

Pixie Dogs, Bubble Machines, Chickens & Flowers!

2009-05-19T13:51:00.001-07:00

We started off Sunday by walking Trixie, one of the dogs down at the Pixie Project in the Pearl. She was super sweet & we had a blast! Looks like she already has a home lined up too! Darrin said that even if we tried to adopt one we wouldn't be able to... I bet I could find one ;)

On Saturday we went over to Barden's house in SE for a BBQ for Mike's birthday. They had a chicken coop, a bee hive, a bubble machine AND bocce ball! Crazy right?

The Bubble Machine at the BBQ!

Bocce Ball in full force.

Homemade Ice Cream sandwiches with espresso mixed into the cookie dough!

Darrin wanted to build a bouquet for me to take in to my desk together. So we picked out all of the flowers I loved & they arranged it for us!

All in all, it was a great weekend to keep us busy & take our minds off of all of the craziness going on at work right now. I just can't wait for it to be this weekend. This week is really creeping by slowly & I just need it to be over!!!

Old-Timey Photo Booths...

2009-05-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

...Yet another of my odd obsessions. These were a fun time had by all at friends Justin + Izzy's birthday!

I've got great friends! ;)

It's Friday!

2009-05-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

I couldn't be more excited that it's almost 4 on a Friday! I've got Girl's Night planned tonight with some of my favorite ladies, and it's beautiful outside! Starting off at Oba with the best Prickly Pear Margaritas a girl could ask for, then out + about after that! After a stressful week & an even more stressful one ahead I need a little R+R ;)

And maybe hopefully I can go visit with some puppies again this weekend, even if it isn't at PetsMart where they have the adoptable puppies maybe I can get down to DogStar & walk a Pixie dog! Here's the little cutie I saw a few weekends ago at the shelter set up at PetsMart... oh how I wish I could have taken him home!

I'm hoping too get off to a giant start with my dress I'm designing for Alisa's wedding this weekend too... so I'll update with photos soon!

Fun Adventures

2009-05-13T19:22:00.001-07:00

So this weekend the boyfriend + I had all Sunday together. We got up early for a client meeting he had down at Urban Grind, then took off into the city. We went down to DogStar + walked a Pixie Project dog (most fun ever!) then we stopped by Cargo in the Pearl because I've always walked by + have never gone in. talk about a lot of fun random stuff!

Some fun glass wear + lamps at Cargo.

The Teriyaki Beef at Ohana is the best. Always opt for Mac Salad instead of rice ;)

These chairs at Cargo are all made completely from tires. They don't appear to use any glue or solvents either. Super cool + surprisingly comfy!

Paper Tuxedo anyone?

I was quite tempted to buy the paper cellphone + glasses... I would have been the coolest kid by the water-cooler.

Giant Cargo elevator... reminded me of the ones you see in old lofts in NYC on movies!

fell in love with these stools... $78 a piece but nice quality... I just need a loft to put them in first!

Some super great metal letters. Unfortunately there was slim-pickin's for letters. All you could spell anymore was WIG OUT as you see here. Very creative people before us ;)

All in all it was a great end to the weekend, just wish Monday would have been the weekend too! At least we are over halfway to the weekend already though! Where did this week go? I know I'm excited for the sunny forecast for the weekend either way... 85 on Sunday?! That's Sauvie Island sun bathing weather ;)

Balloons...

2009-05-12T10:50:00.001-07:00

What is it that I love so much about Balloons?! I really want to find one of the giant round ones to run around Portland & take photos with one day when it's nice out...!

The little things in life...

2009-05-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

I'm unusually excited this morning + can't stop thinking about this picture I took awhile back. Random, but I love it. Do you ever stop + go back because you saw a snapshot as you were walking + wanted another look? I almost got hit by a Prius pulling into a parking spot on Sunday because I started walking backwards to get a re-glimpse of a reflection in a store window & I couldn't hear it pulling in behind me! They're so damn quiet!

Other little things I love on days like this:

_The blinding reflection of the sun on the rain drenched ground (feels so fresh!)

_Coming up with an idea that my boss loves so much she shares it with others

_The feeling I get after conquering my spin + sculpt class

_Coming in to work to find a coffee on my desk from my super sweet boyfriend

_The feeling of walking across a room in high heels

_Knowing my new fashion books just shipped out + are on their way!

Enjoy the sunny day if you are in Portland! <3

An On-going Project

2009-05-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

So as you will learn throughout the course of this blog, the boyfriend is a huge type nerd. So the other day when we were at Paper Source up on 23rd (I was there buying their divine ribbons they carry made of recycle french parachutes) he found these foam letters, which he discovered was a Helvetica knockoff.

Darrin + Helvetica + Lovey-Dovey Street Art = Fun times!

Starting...

2009-05-10T11:09:00.001-07:00

So I'm finally taking a real stab at this. I've been wanting to start a blog for a long time to chronicle all of the fun and amazing things that have been happening lately, but I've just been so busy I haven't sat down & done it yet!

So here it goes... I'm finally starting & I'm excited!

Today is Mother's Day & the day after my parents 30th wedding anniversary. I can't believe they've been married that long, it kind of renews your faith in love again! I didn't make it back down to Grants Pass for the weekend, but instead Darrin & I have a day of adventures together planned. We are currently down at Urban Grind, then headed out to Ohana for the first time in months. I have been craving their Teriyaki Beef & Mac Salad something fierce lately & we finally get to go!

It's also nice & sunny outside here in Portland today (even though the forecast is saying rain the rest of the upcoming week) so we plan to get outside & enjoy it! Have a great weekend!