Happy Labor Day!

Have a good one. Wear your whites and keep wearin' 'em after Monday, rebel readers!

Awkward Clinton

So, I've been on a work-related retreat in San Antonio for the past few days. It was way more fun than I could have ever expected and I'm looking forward to the rest of the program, which lasts until May 2009.

Being in San Antonio made me excited to visit on my own terms. I lived there my first year in college and didn't start appreciating the city until I left. It's such a neat, laid back town and I hope I'll have a reason to live there again.

On our way out of the city, we ate at the famed Mi Tierra Mexican restaurant where I found this gigantic, strange oil painting of President Bill Clinton jogging in a Mi Tierra t-shirt. You can't tell from the photograph, but it's at least eight feet tall. Enjoy.

Monosaccharide Overload

Unfortunately, I think I'm going to develop diabetes. This past weekend was filled with SUGAR!

1. margarita cupcakes and raspberry sorbet from Jon's Mother's birthday
2. chocolate flan from The Chocolate Bar(also of West Alabama fame)
3. crème brûlée from Whole Foods
4. peach cobbler from Hermann Memorial Hospital (Mommy got her appendix out, is doing A-OK)

All I can think about right now is that I want fish and veggies for dinner, no dessert. Give me bland bland nutrients please! Note the hugeness of the chocolate cakes from The Chocolate Bar-- that is an 8x10 sheet of paper to the right of the cakes.

Parking in The Numbers

When was the last time you saw a parking garage that wasn't an eyesore for your city? This Stockholm garage is a reminder that not all necessary evils have to be ugly.

Each floor has a distinct numeric pattern for those of us who are scatterbrained and spend 20 minutes finding their car. That would be me, thanks. I mean, who could resist the sexy patterns the light will kiss upon your car?

West Alabama Ice House

What better way to beat the heat than to drink a cold beer in Montrose and watch the people go by. West Alabama Ice House is a Houston original that's stuck around for more than 80 years. We hear on Friday nights there's live music and free hot dogs. Speaking of dogs, I met a cute little 10-week old puppy named Boo. See the little guy in the background? The sprinkler-fans were heaven, the people were friendly and the neighborhood is a dream. I have very loose plans to move down the street from this joint.

Remembering the Dorm....

I found this OLD picture of a college dorm on shorpy.com. It's from 1911. Not too much different from my Texas State University Arnold Hall dorm circa May 2005.


I was packing my things up to return home for the summer and I took this picture thinking, "I might want to remember this for some reason.."

It wasn't to remember how much space I didn't have. If you look closely you can see that I'm on instant messenger-- Does anyone use that anymore? I find it ironic that my room is decorated with Eiffel Towers and I'm going to Paris (for the first time) in nine days. I'm hoping to visit a fabulous flea market and bring home some authentic Parisian decor to replace the fake fake fake stuff that I've gotten rid of over the past few years.



And here's a picture of a beautiful, modern dorm from Swathmore College:

We've Made it to the Future

I found this 1956 image of the future from Plan59.com, a website with a bank of retro images. A quick evaluation of what they got right:
-flat screen TV panel
-iChat
-bio-engineered fruit (can we give this one back?)
-natural light makes people HAPPY.

Click on the image above to get full size.

If this kitchen was materialized for today, it might look like this mid-century modern space...

Wow for Love.

So part of me being a creepster is reading stranger's blogs. If it's good, it's good. One of my favorite stranger-blogs is Ginny Branch's My Favorite Color Is Shiny.

She's a ridiculously positive, sweet and happy girl living out her dreams in New York City. Her recent post about how a couple of friends can uplift a young lady with cancer with just a few connections and lots of love was truly inspiring. Read it for yourself.

click here <3

Foodie Weekend

This weekend was absolutely delightful. Looking back on the highlights.. many of them involved food. To balance it out, there was some lots soccer for Jon and a little bit of power-walking for myself.


I got to use these neat little egg fry rings from Williams-Sanoma. Work like a charm and perfect for an English muffin.


We went into Chinatown last night for dumplings at Lai Lai Dumpling House with Jon's dad, Scott and our friend Ms. Brown. Ms. Brown suggested the place, it was awesome and CHEAP. I can't wait to go back and show it off to visitors.

Afterward we headed next door to an Asian bakery and found pretty little breads and pastries... I LOVE the stamped pastry the most. I didn't get any because they were stuffed with meat and I was already full from the dumpling dinner. The pastel breads look like they're straight out of Seussville and the purple ones look like mold and probably taste like heaven. I ended up buying super-thin vanilla tea cookies with sesame seeds. When I got home I crushed them over mint chocolate chip ice cream and gorged.

Trend Truths...

A guy in a ripped white V-neck T-shirt is stretched out on the leather couch in the corner, his face lit by the pale glow from his MacBook. For an aspiring scenester like the boy in the flannel shirt, standing out from the crowd is going to be a struggle.

"Trends aren't transmitted hierarchically, as they used to be," explains Martin Raymond, co-founder of The Future Laboratory, a trend forecasting company. "They're now transmitted laterally and collaboratively via the internet. You once had a series of gatekeepers in the adoption of a trend: the innovator, the early adopter, the late adopter, the early mainstream, the late mainstream, and finally the conservative. But now it goes straight from the innovator to the mainstream."

Read the full article about the global hipster here.

Papercraft Monkey

Ummm.. cute. Made this little papercraft monkey yesterday. More here..The sad seal and racing bunnies are pretty adoreable too. I wanted to make all of them but I decided it wouldn't be the best use of company time or any free time for a 23-year old. Can't stop me on a rainy day.

Batmania Forever

These pictures are getting me revved up to see The Dark Knight again. I saw it at Alamo Drafthouse in Houston--which is always a pleasure--but I've heard it's amazing on IMAX. Fashion magazines seem to be under the influence of Batman:






1. February 2008 Harper's Bazaar
2. August 2008 Vogue
3. August 2008 Fashion 156
4. September 2008 Kate Moss Interview
5. August 2008 El Tiempo Celeste

Keepin' up with them Hipster Kids

I've been chronically depressed about the fact that I've been lacking cool music over the past year. I simply haven't had the time or resources. I used be so on top of that game, but when INTERPOL--the organization, not the band-- shut down OiNK, a little piece of my heart went down with it.

I'm not going to run around the city with a string tied around my overly-parted, assymetrical bangs, but I miss knowing what the effin' deal is when it comes to great music.

Then, today I remembered that I could stream KTSW (the award-Winning Texas State Radio Station) on iTunes. I've already heard old favorites such as TV on the Radio and Islands. Of course, there are many, many bands that are sparkling new to me. Salvation! Excitement! I'm going to be cool again.

P.S. If you have any music you'd think I'd like, let me know..

Just Awesome

I was so pleased to find a profile in HARPER'S BAZAAR of the Ronson family as the Royal Tenenbaum Family. I LOVE slash ADORE all things Wes Anderson and I think this pictorial is quite fitting and clever.

Mark Ronson is a handsome producer, Charlotte, a great designer and Samantha, a famous girlfriend....?? womp womp. Okay, they could have put anyone in the Tenenbaum's shoes and I would have been smitten, but this was done well. They did a good job capturing the Royal Tenenbaum feel with the deadpan stares, vintage wallpaper (is it not amazing?) and preppy attire.

Preppy Convulsion

How classic were the opening ceremony uniforms? I'm sure everyone was sweating out of their ears, but they looked great.

I hate to say that I ignored the past few summer Olympics, and now that I'm getting into them, I'm working 8-5. Thank goodness for Tivo!

Jon and I tell ourselves we're going to start swimming for exercise. I'm a sucker for those athlete profiles/montages they show before the races. I've been inspired by Dara Torres, the 40-year-old Olympian and single mother of a young child. I mean seriously, what's my excuse?

woot woot! Cien.

Today's My 100th Post. I didn't think I'd make it this far, so thanks for anyone who's been reading, commenting and supporting.I'm still not exactly sure what my blog is about?




Cameron got back last night. We orgianlly thought he was getting back today, so it was a great surprise! He was a little thicker and tanner--good signs of a great vacation.

The above picture is him in Lagos, Portugal enjoying a pensive moment on the beach. The other was his beloved towel which he named Perrito and didn't even bring back to the States!?

Impatient!!

It's a Thursday that feels like a Wednesday that wants to be a Friday. I have lots of things to look forward to this weekend:

1. Brother Cam Cam returns from his six week stint in Lagos, Portugal and Dublin, Ireland.
2. Jon graduates and moves back to Sugar Land!
3. Graduation party will have not Uno, but Dos Tres Leches cakes--impresionante!

Stain Me Pretty Pretty

Here's another Why Didn't I Think of That? idea: decorative stamps on the bottom of a coffee mug to produce pretty stains on your papers, desk, books, etc. These were found at Thorsten Van Elten.

Moto Belly

Spotted: A Deliciously bare belly in the wind.
I feel so lucky to have survived taking this shot with my camera phone while driving on an overpass.

True Type

Good Typography is Invisible/
Bad Typography is Everywhere

I know Chelsey Dyer will appreciate this, if she hasn't seen it already. Hi!
Found via Craig Ward.

gah!!

I'm hungry and grouchy. Don't they go hand in hand?? This morning I found ants swimming in my cereal, so I threw out a brand new box of cereal and had to skip breakfast. I feel like there's ants crawling in my throat! Sigh.

Looks like I need to bust out cinnamon, talcum powder, vinegar, mint and pepper. (These were the "green" remedies I found to get rid of ants) or was it vampires???

It's tha First of tha Month

This month I chose a very simple desktop wallpaper calendar from Smashing Magazine's diverse collection. I needed a break from the seizure inducing colors from July. Enjoy!

P.S. Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit.