Lazy Hurricane Sandy Monday

Lazy Hurricane Sandy Monday.  Can't get to work, and while the power is still on, I figure I'd post some fun interactive graphics websites before I start my Hurricane to-do list of  "manicure, read my Justin Timberlake/Jessica Biel wedding issue of People, nap, and eat junk food".  All have been brought to you by: How About Orange


kern me: rely on your knowledge of common fonts to fix the kerning issues...its more fun when you battle against someone who cares about typography as much as you do


fontstruct: build and download your own fonts

color: try to match the color perfectly...harder than you think


scribbler tool: create cool hipster art in seconds


nicole's classes: I'm always looking for tutorials to broaden my photoshop/illustratot/inDesign/etc. knowledge...and she has a bunch of free ones!

Lazy Sunday, Lazy Sunday

I haven't posted in almost 4 months, AHHHH!!!  And I come back to a complete redesign of Blogspot!  Hopefully I can get the hang of this...

Anyway, my summer has been filled with weddings, traveling, beaches, wineries, camping, tubing (and freezing) down the Delaware river, fresh delicious foods & bbq's, and seeing lots and LOTS of friends!  (Very happy about the amount/quality of friends we've been able to see lately!)  Exhausting, but I really can't complain as we're living the good life!

Now that summer is coming to an end :( and the fall depression will start to set in, I am finally experiencing my first "Lazy" Sunday since about May.

On the agenda:
1.) New fall clothes
2.) NOT having all of these bug bites to scratch constantly.  My legs are COVERED!
3.) Football season!  Just drafted my Fantasy Football team yesterday
4.) Still scouring condos in Hoboken and hopefully purchasing one so I can finally stop commuting 4 hours a day.
5.) Breaking out ye old crock pot
6.) Finally finishing all the photo editing of all the fun we've been having this summer.  I am MONTHS behind!

Here's a small glimpse of the summer.


My brother's "When Life Gives You Lemons Party" in DC, complete with summer cocktails, TONS of delicious BBQ, visiting with some old college friends, roof-top-deckery, and drawing pictures with my niece.


My gorgeous 2 year old niece (and dad)...growing up so fast


She wanted a green house with yellow shutters, and 4 dogs and a dog house, with palm trees, by the beach...very demanding for a 2 year old


Summer birthdays at the beach!


Friends from faraway places


And of course, LOTS of eating!

Summer Polish Lineup

With the addition of my blues, "I Need a Refresh-Mint/Menthe Fraiche" (longest name EVER.) and "Brisk Blue", I have FINALLY completed my summer nail polish lineup!  The only thing I love more than bright colors, is wearing bright colors...every...day.  Now I just have to master the art of painting my right hand with my left hand.  I guess I have all summer for that.  (Like I'm really going to stop the bright colors at summer...I think not!)


Here's the colors (from left to right)


1.) Revlon 705 - Gray Suade
2.) Jersey Girl - Wild Thing*
3.) Revlon 570 - Vixen
4.) Revlon 210 - Electric Pink
5.) Jersey Girl - Beach Baby*
6.) Revlon 410 - Tangerine
7.) Revlon 560 - Zealous
8.) Wet n Wild Megalast - I Need a Refresh-Mint/Menthe Fraiche
9.) Sally Hanson Insta-Dry 430 - Brisk Blue


*Matt Colors

Car-Buying-Decision-Making Process

We've been having a never-ending "Car-Buying-Decision-Making Process of 2011/2012/Possibly 2013"...Partially because cohabitant (aka: boyfriend) and I are not seeing eye-to-eye on what we want in a car, and partially because we can't decide on which lifestyle we want to gravitate toward, aka: SUV or Sedan. We both agree that it needs to be reliable, decent on gas mileage, and sexy, yet we have different takes on what makes a car "sexy" design-wise.

I want sleek and stylish, with an unnecessary yearning to have a small SUV and not too many frills. Think: new VW Jetta, BMW 328i, Audi A4, Infiniti, and now I'm just getting carried away with cars I can never justify buying. I spent around $7,000 on my first car, a 1997 Toyota Celica and I still drive it today. Regardless of the lack of air conditioner, and cramped interior for passengers, it still drives perfectly!

He wants an innovative design with all the bells and whistles, aka: clown car....Okay, so he doesn't really want a clown car, but only cars that appear HIDEOUS/Tacky to me! Think: Mini Cooper Countryman, or any Mini for that matter, Smart Cars, Hybrids. (I really can't disagree with the Hybrids, but the massing of them turns me off.)

This is one of the times when we are at a disadvantage because of our design knowledge, so I made him this graphic to help persuade him to see it my way! Thinking he would be mad at me for my unrelenting hatred of the Countryman, he actually found it quite comical!

Me Too Line Up

Can you tell I like "Me Too" Shoes!?

These are the most comfortable, durable, cute shoes I own. I've had the pink leather flats and camel suede wedges since college...almost 4 years ago!

Cabin Fever Camera Experiments

Boy who I live with...and kinda like...just a little...;) okay, a lot, decided to jump on the DSLR train a few weeks ago. I've had a Canon EOS XSi since graduating from grad school in 2009...and he has slowly been monopolizing it. When he realized that he wanted to do video (which the XSi does not have), the "Great-Camera-Selection-Saga-of-2012" began! As he was secretly researching behind my back after I was asleep, I was only consulted for the final selection which came down to a Canon EOS 7D or 5D....with the final rose being awarded to the 7D! (Sorry for the bad Bachelor reference, but I couldn't resist.) Anyway, back to the saga...after many trips to all of the local camera stores in our area resulting in testing, purchasing, returning, and exchanging various equipment...I can now say that we are the proud commandants of an army of lenses, (including a macro lens which is my favorite) tripods, filters, bags, flashes (okay, only 1 flash), chargers, memory cards, batteries, etc, etc, etc. I am glad that he stuck with a Canon so we can share just about all of the new stuff he added to our camera artillery. Bonus for me!)

We have been setting up still-life's in our house and trying to get out of the house as much as possible to take pictures and learn about all of our new stuff. I've had my camera for 3 years and honestly haven't learned ANY of the technical aspects of it. I've always taken my photos based on "feel", not technical knowledge, so now is my chance to learn. Here are a few snaps:

Shot with my new Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro...still trying to get the hang of focusing a Macro lens

Princeton Boat House at Night, shot with Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Canon EF 17-35mm f/2.8L or Sigma Lens

Macro lens STRIKES again! I love the watercolor vibe of this photo.

And lastly, boy who I love, setting the scene!

Dry-Erase your Entire House!

Dry erase paint...giving me visions of drawing on EVERY surface of my house!



I know there is chalkboard paint, but I can't stand chalk dust and the way it dries up my hands...If this dry-erase paint from IdeaPaint.com really does work, I will definitely have to put this into my mental file of things I have to do when I am finally not renting. It looks like it only comes in white right now, so they'll have time to develop it in colors by the time I can afford a house. Now all I need is some odorless dry erase markers, so future home will not smell like a toxic wasteland.

Sh*t Archies Say

I know there have been a lot of "Sh*t __People___ Say" videos going around lately, but this seriously is the best one!...if you're an architecture major at least. I've seriously watched it about 10 times just to relive the memories of the studio. Ahhhh, the nostalgia. Most of my very best friends today were made in the many long nights in studio bonding over late night Wendy's runs or naps in the hammock lounge...and of course some architecture here and there.

8,000 Crayons

I have a confession to make...I am addicted to Pinterest. I have seen about 1,428 projects that I want to do and about 2,186 things I want to cook/bake. One of the coolest things I have seen is the crayon art. Finally a cool way to get rid of the 8,000 crayons I've collected since I was 3. Yes, 8,000. It looked easy enough to make, so I tried it out last weekend, adding my own little twist. Here's the result...

Isn't it cool? And it only took 5 minutes!

Wine and Pantones

Over the weekend, we took a mini-trip where we explored a few quaint towns on the Delaware River. We stayed overnight at the rustic Indian Rock Inn in Upper Black Eddy, PA, which is right on the river and has been open since 1812!

(Indian Rock Inn)

We wanted to walk along the canal after we left, but alas, the 18* temperature confined us to merely watching the canal as we drove by en route to our next destination, Alba Vineyards, where we picked up our annual supply of wine.

(Alba Vineyards)

We explored downtown Frenchtown, NJ where I visited one of my favorite stores Modern Love which has a collection of modern and vintage trinkets, apparel, and in this case typewriters. We found these awesome Pantone Postcards! Hum-z has been looking for the perfect "thank-you" cards for all of the Christmas gifts we received this year, and these were right up his alley, being a graphic designer and all. I am going to have so much trouble parting with them, since I just want to plaster my wall with all of them. But hey, now I have 100 more reasons to send snail-mail. Who doesn't love snail-mail?

Pantone EXPLOOOOOSION!

Christmas Cookie Bake Fest 2011

Now that the holidays (and excuses for massive over-eating) are behind us, I can finally get back "on track", aka, a track. I didn't make a concrete New Years Resolution, except to be better...at everything...ie: design, my job, learning, cooking, being healthy(er), cleaning, friendship, exploring, blog-posting, impromptu dance-partying, etc.

But, I can't let 2011 go without sharing my cookie baking experience. This is the 2nd year that I have had cookie-bake-fest, which entails me locking myself in my kitchen for 48 hours, and of course making a huge floury, cookie doughy, confectioners sugary mess! It was great, until I had to clean it up. Special thanks to Martha Stewart for her sugar cookie and royal icing recipe.

Look at all those trees!

The setup. Of course I moved into the living room for decorating so I wouldn't miss Sunday football!

127 Cookies Later!

How much is that Paint Can in the Window?

Passed by this store window outside of Anthropologie the other day. Interesting use of paint cans.