04.03.09
Posted in Main, Mind Wanderings at 1:20 pm by carrie
There’s nothing like moving to test your patience and immune system. This last week we’ve been moving all of our possessions into a pod and into a smaller apartment that we are going to live in for 6 months. During this circus, N and I had a cold. Not a huge deal, but just when you need your lungs most… they aren’t too happy.
In the process, we have been researching real estate and found a lovely townhome that we want to call our own (And watching every episode of Property Virgins and My First Place on HGTV!!). So, we purchased one… but it’s not finished yet. The fun part is… we got to pick the flooring, cabinets, where all the computer cables run and in the meantime, I can pick out back splash tile and paint color to my heart’s content! So fun.
I went to Border’s yesterday and purchased some wonderful magazines and met a few other fellow bloggers… that was inspiration to get back on the blogwagon. (I *heart* puns, remember?).
So, here’s to a creative gorgeous spring weekend… hope you all feel inspired to enjoy and create!
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03.07.09
Posted in Art Journal, Main, Mind Wanderings at 11:56 pm by carrie
I saw these two Top Pot lemon donuts sitting in a case at the local Borders bookstore’s coffee shop. They were so bright and cheerful. They had to come home with me. I told the barista I was going to take pictures of them and to please put them in a box. He seemed concerned.
After a brief photo shoot…
They were consumed with joy. Very lemony and fresh. We recommend them.
Ring in Spring with a donut ;)
Also, I would call this art journal #39 & #40 since the donuts were placed in front of my 2 recent art journal entries :)
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02.14.09
Posted in Art Journal, Main, Mind Wanderings, Sharing the Handmade Love at 11:35 pm by carrie
Ain’t that the truth :)
And the matching bag on etsy…
And a lovely “steamy” Valentine’s day story!
Cary Starbucks brews up ‘burning’ love
Starbucks wedding
Posted: Today at 2:30 p.m.
Wral news
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Cary, N.C. — It was love at first scald when a woman spilled hot coffee on a man at a Starbucks restaurant in Cary. One Valentine’s Day later, the accident-prone customers tied the knot in the same store.
Laura Strain came to the Starbucks, at 1217 Kildaire Farm Road, in March 2008 to treat herself to her first cup of coffee from the chain. Instead, she ended up spilling the coffee on a stranger, Allan Tortorice.
“He’s wearing my coffee, and I’m having a fit, because I was very concerned that hurt somebody, first of all,” Strain said. “He was all dressed up, and it (coffee) was everywhere. His jacket was open on his shirt, and he was sort of holding it so it didn’t burn him.”
The accidental encounter, though, started a romance between the two.
Strain gave her phone number to Tortorice, so he could contact her about dry cleaning and medical bills. Instead, Tortorice asked her out to dinner, and the romance steamed up from there.
“It’s what they call burning love,” Strain said.
On Feb. 14, a pastor married Strain and Tortorice at the same Starbucks store.
The bride wore a knee-length, white and pink dress and a hot pink shawl – for Valentine’s Day.
About 25 guests attended. Meanwhile, the store stayed open, customers ordered double mocha lattes, and the scent of brewing Colombian coffee filled the air.
That was a lot of puns… we do the drive-thru at that Starbucks all the time. Love it! Sweet story, too. In order to completely exhaust all puns, they should have changed his name to Joe.
Happy Heart Day! We celebrated with ice cream sundaes :)
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01.30.09
Posted in Main, Mind Wanderings at 12:30 pm by carrie
Those of you with ice makers attached to your refrigerator… Is your ice maker LOUD?
At 1:00 am, 3:00 am and 5:20 am every night, our ice maker makes a loud THUD followed by an insanely loud BOOM which makes me jump every time. It sounds like a bowling ball being dropped from the second story. Well, at least I think it does.
We might have to be an ice-free family soon.
:)
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01.26.09
Posted in Interior Design, Main, Mind Wanderings at 2:01 am by carrie
My usual definitive sense of style is hiding from me. I used to think I was locked into a shabby-chic-beach-cottage-vintage-kitsch vortex but as of recently I’m gravitating towards more modern and sleek furniture with scary elements of the 60’s and 70’s oozing out. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching the Brady Bunch before bedtime? I think this started with my collection of acrylic grapes. My grandmother, Bobby, had them all over their lake house and I used to sit in the corner and fondle them when I was a kid. A week ago we had a two year old in our living room who was just as fascinated with the drift wood laden acrylic balls and I told her father, “Yep, in about 25 years she’ll be looking for these on Ebay… just like I did. We now have a new fan”. I need to point out, these handmade gems go for at least twenty bucks at thrift stores now. Ugh. Are we all products of our grandmothers’ taste? ;) And like many of you 30-somethings, I’d naturally pick up a magazine from the 60’s and fall in love with every over-the-top representation of pattern, color and gelatin product.
House and Garden, May 1965
I like the modern twist on the 60’s that we’re seeing a lot of these days. Very similar, but taken down a few notches. The moment I stepped into the Viceroy Hotel in Palm Springs, I wanted to live there. The trifecta of yellow, black and white was unusually comforting in my little blue/green-centric head. They call the style “a modern interpretation of the Hollywood Regency style”. Love it. (And ohmigosh you can buy chic hotel interior stuff from the Viceroy and other hotels on Kor Hotel Group’s website! Only $300 for three rolls of wallpaper!)
And take a look at the similar style at the Santa Monica Viceroy location (below)… too cool.
And all the color in design these days… the deep blue hues, rich pooling draperies… so neat… this calls for a montage.
In the past, more than one customer has come into the store with several decorating elements very seriously wanting to know the decorating style they are trying to achieve. “Is this French Country, English Country or Farmhouse?” Ohmigosh. I have no idea. Toile curtains, blue walls, ocean elements and white wood and you live in a 1930’s California ranch house bungalow. Ummmm… Catalina French?? I dunno! Makes me so nervous to put a label on such things. But it’s all sorts of entertaining.
With that said, would you say the above is this Rococo modern with elements of Victorian, Georgian and a twist of Minimalist chic? ;) In my house we call this “eclectic”… I was quoted in the local paper as saying my store was a baby nursery meets Fantasyland at Disneyland meets… was it…. a Tim Burton film? Wow. How very out of touch of me :)
So, I will continue to obsess on design… and hope to evolve with it :) Or, with my incredibly short attention span, I’ll be onto the history of sod tomorrow. Never can tell.
Hope your weekend was splendiferic!
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09.07.08
Posted in Art Journal, Main, Mind Wanderings at 10:53 pm by carrie
More Swirls… Very fun… love to see the colors mix and dance with each other.
Paint, pen, charcoal, pastel or… pudding… to paper… once a day, whatever it is, even if it’s a duplicated or simple design. Yay :)
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09.05.08
Posted in Art Journal, Main, Mind Wanderings at 3:15 pm by carrie
I love these flowers. It reminds me of the sunflowers I used to draw over and over and over in high school… I even put them on my posters as I was running for a Senior Representative in student council. I should find one of those posters… cah-lassic lalapalooza/snapple/organic seattle feeling :)
So, the message I’m trying to give myself here is again, to use more color. And in my line drawings, I’m trying to practice that really popular screen printing look. The shape blobs of color go down with lines on top to define the style a little more. You can’t go into Starbucks without seeing something like that. I have a book on vintage wrapping paper… a lot of it looks like the flowers up top. I love it :)
So, after 5 months of letting my hair grow like a weed, I broke down and went to a great little salon in downtown Cary. At first, I thought the name was the Space and Hair Museum… I heard the recommendation wrong. It’s really called the Hair and Face Lounge. I think I will go to a salon based on the name now… there’s something so telling of someone who will be creative with the name… as long as it’s creative and not too obvious… just MHO.
Anywho, I sat down in a bright red boxy retro chair with tons of padding, and Toni worked magic on my roots that were now 5 inches long. I have to admit, I’ve been missing my fantastic hair guru, Michele (If you are still in La Crescenta, GO TO HER… she ROCKS), back in LA, so I was a bit hesitant, but Toni did a great job, and she is so sweet :) The salon is a converted house, with bright turquoise, pink and orange walls… with funky mannequins and wigs everywhere. It’s like Shag meets the 60’s… and a hint of Love American Style. Oh, and they have a sweet little mascot dog running around named Cooter. Ah, the Dukes of Hazard…
So, no word from Hurricane Hanna… our can and bottle openers are on the ready though! Come on, give us an excuse ;)
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07.28.08
Posted in Main, Mind Wanderings at 2:46 pm by carrie
I’ve heard about what people can do with old schools… there’s been some buzz about abandoned elementary schools in Kansas and other parts of the country. I’ve read of people completely restoring them into totally different sorts of living spaces. I thought… how cool, but I’m not moving to Kansas.
I didn’t know there was one in my backyard. (It’s only 3.8 miles from Scott and Alicia… hey guys, want to spend the next 7 years cleaning chalkboard erasers and grading science projects?? hehe)
Behold… for $325,000 you can buy a 46,000 square foot school…
From above…
Neat!
Look at what Mike and Brian McMenamin did in Portland to this old school from 1912…
The Kennedy School has been a center of lively activity for the Northeast Portland neighborhood since opening in 1915. Over the years, thousands of kids have congregated here to decipher the three Rs, eat macaroni and cheese on Mondays, and climb hand over hand up the gym rope to ring the bell.
It was a sad day indeed when at the end of the 1974-75 school year, school officials, faced with declining enrollment throughout the district, closed Kennedy, declaring it too old and crumbling to repair.
Mike and Brian McMenamin presented just one of several proposals for reviving the condemned property. Other ideas ranged from a retirement home to an indoor soccer facility. After receiving the approval of the city and the support of the neighborhood, McMenamins launched its renovation in the spring of 1997, infusing the 80 -year-old structure with new life. In particular, a river of artwork was created from the stories of generations of Kennedy’s students and teachers.
On October 22, 1997, the original principal’s bell was rung on the front steps at 7 a.m. sharp to herald the old school’s new beginning as McMenamins Kennedy School. Offering a unique and fun lodging, dining and meeting experience, Kennedy remains a lively gathering spot for neighbors and newcomers alike.
The front of the school
One of the bedrooms (note the chalkboard headboard!)
The Theatre
One of their courtyards
The pool!!
The Detention Bar
The Gym… for events and square dancing
The Honor’s Bar (hehe)
One of their restaurants
Check out their
website…you can totally get lost in its awesomeness. I guess the “school” even has its own
microbrew beer that’s famous in the area! Oh, and they are green! I’ve never been to Portland, but here’s another reason to go visit! How cool and totally charming is that?!? :)
I’ve currently been passively looking at real estate that could fit my needs for a little shop. Still have some research to gather, but I’ll share that all with you soon. Obviously, 46,000 square feet is a lot of floorspace to fill… and I don’t have that many jars of bath salts, but wow… how fun is it to dream? That’s what makes like fun, anyway… dreaming (or plotting, in my case) about what you could do!!
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