Soon

It makes me sad when my school and work schedule are so overbearing that I can't post anything new to my blog. Hopefully, after Thursday I will be able too. I think every week I claim "next week I will be in the clear" from my hectic school schedule. But, the week never comes!

XOXO rooms XOXO

Since February is the month of sappy looooooove, I thought I would showcase a few of my favorite picks for feminine and romantic rooms.  Oh la la!

But, the ultimate sign of love and affection is in this closest right?!  Mariah Carey is oh so lucky.  

Snatched: Valentine e-cards!

I took blogger A Cup of Jo's advice and looked at the darling Valentine e-cards posted (today) at Kate Spade. These cute little creations are totally free and they can be sent for any reason, not just V-day.  I already sent two to my boyfriend. Aww... won't he be excited to get little love notes at work :). Just passing on the love!

Another reason to love Kate Spade.  

Test day

I have never been one to take test day as a day to sport bed head and sweats. I am the exact opposite. I see test day as a opportunity to get all ready and sport what you got. I wake up on time, shower, eat breakfast, straighten, pull together clothes that scream "you're smart" and go off to my tests. Rolling into a classroom well presented gives me a confidence for my exams. I look around and see the endless supply of Ugg slippers, beanies, and flannel pants and that feeds my ego.  Then the scantron will look at me and be like "Wow, this girl has it together. Its obvious she will ace me." The harsh judging of my peers is not for the intent of cruelty, it is not about them, but for me, with the purpose of selfish affirmation.  Isn't it crazy the tactics we use to build ourselves up?  Little pre-game routines or waking up on time for once?  I say do whatever it takes to perform your best.  You can even judge me for being well groomed instead of using that time to study!

Yellow, Blue, Red.

Primary colors have been my latest obsession.  And I am not alone.  The latest issues of Architectural Digest and Domino had photo galleries of them,  Designers from the Spring 2009 Fashion Shows showcased them, and lastly the one in my budget-  J. Crew's Spring Lookbook.  I am so excited for the yellows, blues, and reds!

Here are my two favorite primary color rooms from AD:

Not to mention the yellow room has my long-time favorite home accessory blue and white china.  Ahhh... I'm in Heaven.

Domino: Doesn't hurt to throw in Zoey with some blue and yellow on either. 

These two dresses (Givenchy and Armani) are amazing:

But, my favorite runway look was from Christian Dior!  Seriously, how beautiful are these dresses!  Maybe my fascination with them has something to do for my love of blue and white china too?

The finds from J. Crew- how badly I want to splurge my paycheck on those glasses!

Other odds and ends:

Designer, Albert Sultan has new vintage furniture company, Sultan Chic.  Here is a stunning room.

This jacket I can wear on my way home to this bright lil number.  

Two Italian buildings (Florence and Sorrento) I captured while visiting.  The yellow church is the center of the coastal town.  

Primary colors can even be included in weddings.  


These two rings by Olivia Clare Designs, which happens to by my very talents cousin's business.

Finally, I will leave you with my Jenga heart.  

So, did I persuade you to love it all with me?  

Congratulations is in order

for Tiger and his wife on the arrival of their second child, Charlie Axel Woods.  I wonder in naming him if they tried to think of something that could sound good if he turns golf prodigy? 

Yes please.

Though not an actual picture of my bed, this is a very close model right now.  And this is where I want to stay all day.   

Actually, change that to this bedroom (domino). I think I could relax quite comfortably here. I love the girliness of it all.  


Then, all day I would listen to City and Colour, Coeur de Pirate, Rosi Golan and Greg Laswell.

I love this necklace.

But, I forgot where I found it.  Must have been on Etsy.

Daily

I have started to read blogs closer than some people read the daily newspaper. It has become routine- wake up, shower, crawl back into bed and read what the world has posted, be late for class. I can't get enough of people's opinions or creations- Interiors, exteriors, clothing, photography, weddings, prints, polka-dots, style, vintage, Paris, ravings, singing, etc. I should start sharing more cool finds in blogs.

I'll start by these two cool pictures thanks to i.anton's flickr stream:

What was once just "peeing in a cup"

Yesterday, this came in the mail:I was so excited to see a package on the table (like most people) that I rushed to open it.  To my surprise I got a urine sample kit!  Sent to me by a company called Litholink and ordered by my urologist.  Litholink, I found out is a company who sends pee collection kits in the mail.  I collect all my pee for 48-60 hours then mail it back to them to analyze.  They are looking for any metabolic reasons my body could be producing kidney stones like some produce hiccups. Pretty novel idea- makes me wish I would have thought of it (hmm... maybe not).  And soon FedEx will have gallons of my urine on their hands- hope it doesn't leak! 

So here I am, day one, sentenced to house arrest just in case I might have to pee.  I am a constant pee-er too.  I once thought I had diabetes because I heard a symptom of the disease was peeing over 12 times a day.  I checked it out with my doctor and found I did not have diabetes, but rather drinking 4-5 nalgene bottles of water a day will make you go to the bathroom a lot.  Writing this makes me even have to tinkle a little. Tomorrow will be the real test because I have to work from 10-4 p.m.  I am either going to hold my bladder for six hours or drive home (about 4 mins.) to use the loo.  

My biggest question, in a number of questions, is why do the orange containers have a white pull-top on them?  Just in case you want to keep it and use it as a water bottle?

I'm STRESSED!

I am about ready to pull out my hair!  Three quizzes, a paper and 4 mid-terms in two weeks is enough to drive a person crazy- and it has.  I just hope I can hold my head above water for a week and a half more... without digging myself in a hole with bad grades.

Great Weekend!

This weekend was wonderful.  To celebrate my 22nd birthday Chris took me to dinner at Saucebox in the Pearl.  But before I could go I had to find something new to wear.  Like the amazing shopping companion he is, I drug him to any place I could think of that might have the perfect little dress.  I finally ended up going back to Urban Outfitters and getting the first one I tried on- typical of me.  Back to the evening- Everything was incredible from the wine selection to the red lantern and dragon sushi.  After dinner we walked in the freezing cold to a martini bar where I tried my first chocolate martini.  Then we finished the night off with dessert.  And I have to say my boyfriend looked rather dashing :-) 

Long lost airport romance

I wish the airport could be the way it use to be.  Dropping someone off meant waiting with them until they boarded the plane.  Waving and watching the plane take off as you feel you already miss them.  Picking someone up meant anticipating seeing their face as strangers exit the jetways until finally it is them.  These "olden day" traditions of airport exchanges seem so romantic- as seen in movies.  I wish it could still be this way.  

Happy Inauguration Day!

How funny is it that iTunes released a 49 song compilation for President Obama titled "Songs About Obama?"  Pretty comical, yet cute.  

Or, that there is a website full of tips of party ideas and themes to hold on inauguration night?

Or, that there is a beer glass with this imprinting on it?

Tonight I am working a banquet event hosted by the country club.  It is a dinner and dancing in celebration of the inauguration.  I think it will be fun.  Except for the setup... damn napkin folding :)  I love parties, especially if they are in support of something as cheery as change and optimism (or should I say hope?).  

It is just cool to see everyone coming together.  I am very sentimental.  

Finally, I wonder how many times they will show Oprah crying?  Haha.  I mean, come on, you had to have noticed during his acceptance speech that the camera flashed to her emotional state every two minutes.  But, go Oprah, I cried too!

Cheap Date Night

There has to be something said for cheap date nights.  Even though nothing seems cheap right now.  Maybe its the casualness?  Or the spontaneity? But, eating homemade nachos, drinking cheap Cristalino champagne (that took us forever to decide on at Freddy's), and seeing My Bloody Valentine 3-D a bit giddy on Saturday was so fun.  I love seeing scary movies (even if that wasn't a good one) with my boyfriend.  I react to everything- the dramatic music, blood, a startle, a scream- and he enjoys watching me freak out and holds my hand tighter.  :) Love that.

Start the Fire

Upon searching for my next editorial to critique for my writing class, I stumbled onto this little number by New York Time's Opinion Columnist Roger Cohen.  He introduces the piece by saying "With apologies to Billy Joel, who’s more of a chronologist, and in tribute to a president, Barack Hussein Obama, representing a new post-cold-war generation of 21st-century Americans."  The column is less of a column, but more of a statement in my opinion.  It provoked a lot of thought in me and maybe it will do so in you.  But, it left me thinking, what is he really trying to say here?  How is this a tribute?  What do you think?  

We Didn’t Start the Fire

Bill Clinton, Tina Fey, capitalist China, O.J.,
Asia rising, Facebook, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ugg boots, Seinfeld
West Bank, Gaza City, Tupac Amaru Shakur

Mohamed Atta, W.M.D., Harry Potter, Reality TV
Tom Cruise, American Beauty, MP3, Oprah Winfrey

Schwarzenegger, YouTube, America’s got organic food
Armstrong, blogosphere, Monica Lewinsky

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Vlad Putin, Medvedev, Assad, Posh-and-Becks
The West Wing, Y2K, massacre in Falluja

Britney Spears, Spike Lee, Kurt Cobain, Sarkozy
Mia Hamm, Heath Ledger, Viagra, Napster

Lindsay Lohan, skinny jeans, Boston’s got a winning team
Lehman Brothers, A.I.G., subprime, Ponzi scheme

Rwanda, Darfur, Bosnia, and a billion poor,
Tehran, Hezbollah, trouble with the jihadis

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

New Orleans, Bolaño, Sarah Palin no-go
TiVo, Hu Jintao, and the vegan-eco crowd

Tony Blair, Paris Hilton, Princess Di, Bin Laden
Pyongyang, the renditions gang, Roger Clemens in a cloud

ACT UP, Infinite Jest, O.J. Part Two, Johnny Depp
iPhones, Federer, Who Let the Dogs Out?

Halle Berry, cloned Dolly, and another Kennedy
Jon Stewart, American Psycho, tsunami, Danger Mouse

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Sedaris, Unabomber, Girls Gone Wild, Nasrallah
Jay-Z, Shanghai, shock and awe in Baghdad

Amy Winehouse, Imus, gases of the greenhouse
Kelly Ripa, Maureen Dowd, Ted Williams gone mad

Outsourcing, Mumbai, so many didn’t have to die
David Blaine, human rights, and Napoleon Dynamite

Mandela, Madonna’s ex, abstinence, safe sex
Rabin blown away, what else do I have to say?

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

BlackBerry, global mall, Hillary Clinton standing tall
Tiger Woods, Barry Bonds, MySpace, The Corrections

Rushdie, Starbucks, Channel Tunnel, Spurlock
American Idol, Black Hawk Down, Miracle on the Hudson

Sopranos, Cougars, Da Vinci Code, life on Mars
Saddam hung, Mugabe, traumatic stress, mission creep

Social networks, match.com, iChat, Amazon,
Terror cells, endless war, I can’t take it anymore

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Hawaii, Kenya, Kansas and Jakarta
Harvard, finding God, social work, Axelrod

Red state, blue state, unity can no longer wait,
A time to reap, a time to sow, we will close Guantánamo

Iowa, Yes We Can, McCain was just an also-ran
I Have a Dream, Bush out, a black man in the White House

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire ...

Spring Break!

Yay! I think we are doing another Spring Break in Florida! I'm so excited to get some sun, hang out with my friends and relax!  Definitely something to look forward too.

Getting over my Photo Booth Phobia

When I worked at Apple showing people the features of Photo Booth was definitely one of my least favorite activities.  Kids and teens especially would come in asking to be shown the application as a way to pose in amusement for hours.  I on the other hand I hated it.  I avoided at all costs to be in the frame- partially due to the lighting in the store and partially due to my occasional fear of having my picture taken.  But, tonight as boredom set in, I conquered my fear and took my first Photo Booth picture.  Here they are.  I should title them: Christine and Her Homework Escape.

Having the Marble, Being the Sculptor

We have all heard of the couple who broke up because one or both of them needed to be single to find themselves.  In the past I have understood this as a valid reason.  In fact, I heavily avoided any relationship involvement for a number of years with the intent to "find myself."  I lived on my own, attempted to find my own faith, took up independent hobbies, worked to support myself, and reflected often.  Wasn't this the proper criteria to discover myself?  Seemed like that is what external sources like magazines and movies were telling me.  I am glad I did all these things, but none of them really helped me in my journey.  I don't want to sound like finding myself is a means to an end.  I fully understand we evolve with age and discovering yourself is a gift we get to keep opening for the rest of our lives.  But, there is a point where you start to uncover who you are, what you are good at, and what you want for your life.  And mine didn't come alone.  Although, I will say in contrast I am not speaking for everyone when I write this.  Other, more dependent people, might need their own time to figure our their identities.  But, for me, my identity was found the opposing way, since I had always been this "do-it-yourself" type.  It wasn't until I was in a healthy, committed relationship (I smile saying this) that I gained perspective, understanding and confidence in my life.  My ability to trust someone as much as I trust myself was a huge step for me.  I no longer have to go about things alone.  I can reveal my insecurities, fears and stresses to someone more supportive than I could ever treat myself.  It has always been one of my weaknesses to be too hard on myself, so it is so comforting to have an opinion I value as much as my own to believe in me.  Through these months I have learned just as much about myself as I have about my boyfriend.  This process has helped me become comfortable and balanced in who I am, learn what I want to do and believe in myself to achieve these things.  I am happy.  As I said before, having a partnership is not beneficial for everyone in adopting satisfaction in their lives.  Some need to be alone to internally reflect and gain a voice for themselves.  But, as I will conclude, don't think you HAVE to be alone.  Some of us need to let the RIGHT ones in to really learn about ourselves.  

I am in love with this quote on love.

To love somebody is not just a strong feeling- it is a decision, it is a judgement, it is a promise. If love were a feeling, there would be no basis for the promise to love each other forever. A feeling comes and it may go. The desire to love is not itself love. Love is as love does. Love is an act of will- namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.

I highlighted this quote while reading The Velveteen Principles.