on windows + tacosOh, aren’t you lucky, you get a late night Saturday post because I already finished up all the images for a post I was supposed to do Thursday! Procrastination, thy name is Kate. Sorry not sorry.

Today was the first Saturday I didn’t have to work in oh, I don’t know, EVER, because I quit my most interesting job and am now free, free, free! I spent it in Geneva and Oak Brook with a friend shopping and enjoying not pulling my hair out at entitled people clamoring for a table or drunk guys clamoring for my number. I’m telling you, I feel so good.

If you’re ever in the area, you should really check out Bien Trucha (best Mexican food I’ve ever tasted), Cocoon, and The Paper Merchant. I struck gold at all three today, and then my wonderful Mother surprised me withmy favorite pie from Hoosier Mama Pie Company (not in Geneva, but if you are a sucker for banana cream you need to find a way to eat this. Not joking. Need.)

It was all so relaxing and so crafty and reminded me of The Renegade Craft Fair where I not only discovered Hoosier Mama for the first time but also the work of Jose Guizar, whose newest project, The Windows of New York, has got me enchanted. He walks around New York taking pictures of windows and then digitalizes them absolutely brilliantly. I need to find where I can get prints of these.

Go take a look at the rest of his work and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Guys.

I'm done! A month (let that settle in for a sec...okay good), a month without school. Oh my stars and stripes. I'm stoked.

Started my break off right by making Christmas cookies today. I made classic decorated sugar cookies (you have to, right?) and the beautiful snowballs in the first picture (which are as good as they look, I promise!). After the Daniel Fast, baking was even sweeter than usual. Do yourself a favor and make em, there are many benefits. Such as making people love you more. And gaining five pounds to keep you warm during the harsh winter (kidding). Plus also they just taste good. And go and check out these adorable videos. Totally random, but so cute. Love break.

Now if only this April rain will turn to snow...

1  |  2  |  3  |  4

Well, friends, it's the final countdown. I'm looking into the eye of the tiger while riding on chariots of fire and hoping that I am the champion. I've got the power, I will rock you, It's my life, and I feel good. I will survive! I believe I can fly! Remember the Name! And any other inspirational musical classics you want to throw in there.


One down, one to go. I've got these finals in the  bag.


1 |  2  |  3  |  4

Today was great.

For the first time in what seems like ages I finally finished all my work. All of it! This would probably mean more to you if you knew all that was on my plate, but take my word for it. It was a lot. I worked this morning, had a great lunch with two good friends, wrote an entire paper (about cities in children’s literature! Classic), walloped people in Words With Friends, ran to Jewel, watched Tangled, got a fantastic babysitting job for friends tomorrow, found a driver for the ministry I oversee at school, answered emails…it doesn’t seem like much, but it was perfect. It’s the little things, you know?

And I found Sasha Prood’s beautiful portfolio! I’m kind of sorta really obsessed with watercolors, and these are great. Wow. Scroll through, okay? I’ll take a print or two and charge it please (I wrote about Eloise today, alright? Cut me some slack)

Oh, Thursdays. You’re the absolute best.

Yes.

Well, folks, it’s one of those days.

In which I’m completely swamped, not very creative, and more than a little harried. So, lucky you, you get a completely random post of things that are interesting me today! You can officially count yourself among the highly privileged. The only place to go from here is mega privileged, and I don’t know if you’re ready for that yet.

Depends on how I’m feeling tomorrow…

So, without further ado, I give you: Stuff I Like Today. By Kate. (Sorry, not creative today)

Well, there’s this. And we heard about this in chapel and it’s actually really interesting. A little bird tells me I’m getting these for Christmas. And I found a lot of food blogs over break that are (not) helping me get through my Daniel Fast (which is over on Monday!!), but maybe you’ll enjoy them! And look at these patterns from Danielle Kroll. They are fabulous. And very colorful (always a plus). Then, of course, we have this. And this. And I’m listening to them and her and them. Okay, that should get you through.

Have a splendid Wednesday!

Happy Tuesday!

I know, I know…two days in a row? Guys. I’m on a roll. I wish I could say that my new found commitment (okay, okay, two days doesn’t really translate to commitment but roll with me here) came from my love of blogging or sharing pretty things but, in all honesty, I have a six page paper due Friday about the history of atomic structure and it’s kind of killing me. This is a nice break. I appreciate valence electrons as much as the next person, but come on. Six pages??

But I digress (wait…can you digress if you don’t really have a point?). Here’s what I’m actually in love with today: these reading glasses. So last month, I started getting some serious headaches. Serious enough that they went on for a week and a half without letting up, made me fail a quiz, and pretty much wouldn’t let me do anything but sit and stare at the ceiling for hours at a time (which is so much less fun than I used to think it sounded). The doctor prescribed me some very strong pills (read: medicinal club drugs) that pretty much kept them under control, enough that I wasn’t failing quizzes anymore.

But.

The entire time my mom kept saying, “Kate, should we get your eyes checked?” “Sooo, I think you might need reading glasses…” “Kate. Glasses?” And the entire time I just keep saying, “Mom. Reading glasses are for old women. Enough.”

So on Friday we were in Anthropologie. And I see these babies. They are cute. They are green. They channel that cute old man from Up. They do wonderful things to my already very blue eyes. I put them on, glance at a book in my hands and…OH. Sweet relief.

Turns out Mother really does know best.

P.S. Kate Mathis just put up some holiday still life photos, and they are fabulous. The most wonderful time of the year, indeed. Yes.

Oh hey, Fall.

The weather here right now? Prime. We only get about 4 weeks of really good fall weather around here (then it just gets so cold you want to get as far south as possible. It’s kind of depressing, if you think about it too hard), so I’m trying to spend as much time as I can outside this weekend.

On the docket is ultimate house parties, an actual house party, Renegade Craft Fair Chicago, movie in Grant Park, and fam dinner at my house. Good weekend? Great weekend.

And, obviously, the Pintrest picks this week are celebrating early fall. Have a fantastic weekend!

1  |  2  |  3  |  4

Sorry about my lack of posts this week, still trying to recover from the craziness of this weekend! Recap for y’all:

1) Went home with my roommate, where we slept in late, watched ridiculous movies, and made dinner for friends (including somewhat magic tacos and a great asparagus tart)

2) Packed a picnic and trekked to Ravinia for the Jack’s Mannequin/Guster concert, which was fantastic. Those bands are so. good. live. And then…

3) Drove to Chicago after the concert to friends who were staying in the Topaz Suite at the Peninsula Hotel…definitely the highlight of the weekend. Yes!

4) Recruited students for one of my favorite ministries of all time, which I have the privilege of coordinating for our school this year. It’s a ton of work, but so worth it.

5) Got my graphic design on and created collateral for a fundraising night at Chick fil A for our class council. I love being on student gov (running theme here: overcommitment?) ;)

So, recovered (but still a little tired), I’m back for another week. Enjoy these awesome photographs from Kris Atomic while I try to remember to sleep (disclaimer: though I might complain, I love being busy. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t know what it is, but I’m always 156.789% more effective if my schedule is a little overloaded, it’s been scientifically calculated. Like I said before…I’m pretty convinced that I’m some combination of an underachieving overachiever. Makes for an interesting life.)

Happy Wednesday, guys!

Happy (long) weekend!

On my docket this weekend is…

1) Going to the first soccer game of the season! Let’s go, boys!

2) Going home with my roommate for a girls’ weekend with my sister

3) Making inordinate amounts of cookies and watching irresponsible numbers of chick flicks

4) Going here for an awesome outdoor concert by Jack’s Mannequin and Guster

5) Editing a screenplay for class films later this year

I hope your long weekends are fabulous! See you on Tuesday.

This week’s Pinterest faves:

1  |  2  |  3  |  4

Thursdays are my favorites.

Mostly because I don’t have class today, which means plenty of time to do my homework, finish my laundry (read: start my laundry), watch a great speaker in chapel, and go to turbokick tonight (which, sidebar, might be my new second favorite workout [to the Bar Method, of course]).

And so, in honor of a carefree day, I give you this hilarious Paper Survival Guide by Linus. I mean, where else are we going to find out how to get us through the most practical of situations in our lives so creatively…like how not to be forgetful (1)? Or how to engage in a philosophical discussion (2)? Or how to be a renaissance man (3)? Or how to avoid jumping the shark (4)? He even tells us how to celebrate the coming of spring, how to sail the seven seas, and how to look good during the ice age, all using papercuts! Yes.

Let’s play a game, shall we?

It’s called, What’s Kate Doing This Weekend? I’ll give you one guess.

…

…

…

Well look at you! Bravo. You think square dance? You think right.

Other than that I’ve got a full weekend of ministry training, compartitive politics, and modern literature. And an awesome dinner at my house, care of my mother (who just happens to be the best cook in pretty much the whole world).

Have a lovely weekend, y'all! Yee Haw!

1  |  2  |  3  |  4  

So I’m still trying to settle my thoughts about school, so I decided that, due to the raininess of Chicago right now, you all could use a laugh. So this is a story that happened in the elevator at work over the summer. Oh, elevator awkwardness. Nice.

I’m waiting on the first floor for the elevator to take me to the 10^th floor. This tall guy comes along and goes:

Tall Guy: DAYYYYUM!

Kate: Shoots him a wide-eyed look of confusion

TG: How tall are you??

K: Um. 6’2”?

TG: DAYYYYYUM!

(We enter the elevator. It is silent for 2 floors)

TG: I’m sorry, I just gotta say something.

K: *silence*

TG: I’m sure all those short guys are totally scared of you but. For us tall guys? DAYYYUMMM! There is NOTHIN more attractive than a tall woman!

K: Uhhhh…thanks…?    

TG: Damn.

(We FINALLY get to his floor. As the doors close)

TG: Wow.

Later I told my dad, and he told me the guy had been in prison recently. So I really know how to get em, huh?

Nice.

I hope your Tuesdays are fantastic! Classes start tomorrow, and I am definitely not ready. Where can a girl get a good notebook round these parts?

And in other news, go check out Three Potato Four. Their vintage flea market finds are so clutch. If I had a house, I’m telling you…

It’s so good to be back.

I feel so full. Being surrounded by my girls, midnight food runs, cart races in Target, birthday parties, Chicago trips, BigSibs, laser bowling, jam sesh, apartment room, drag racing…and it’s only been two days. Do I seriously have to graduate someday?

I promise I’ll calm down enough tomorrow to actually comment on something meaningful, but I can’t concentrate enough right now to settle my thoughts. So enjoy these incredibly comfy-looking and amazing shirts from Local Knit (This is atually kinda awesome, they go around to local businesses on the East Coast and create t-shirts for them, so when you buy a shirt you’re kind of buying a slice of community at the same time). Life? It’s lookin pretty good right now.

Here’s what I hate: stupid cliches. Today, it's namely the "on this day in history nothing happened" type deal. I mean come on.

So while it's true that nothing really happened today (I literally didn’t change out of my pajamas), on this day in history, things happened.

Like:

Genghis Khan dies, 1227

Roanoke Colony deserted, 1590

Woman suffrage amendment ratified, 1920

James Meredith, the first African American to attend college, graduates from Ole Miss, 1963

Director Roman Polanski born, 1933

Lolita is published, 1958

Even though I was confined to my room packing all day, I can rest assured that in some other space/time continuum, people are gagging over the the scandalous escapades of Humbert Humbert for the first time.

(Oh, and Bagatelles and Co.? Very, very cool. I will take five in various sizes and hues, charge it please (Yes, I do like to channel Eloise from time to time. Gotta love pop culture.))

Here’s to tomorrow being more exciting! Ciao.

thursday, thy name is random

I apologize in advance for the randomness of this post. Maybe all the links will compensate for lack of structure*?

THURSDAY GOODNESS.

1) Drinking inordinate amounts of hot chocolate at the office

2) Cleaning my desk space in anticipation for MY LAST DAY OF WORK

3) Having our first family dinner together since May (everyone is finally home!) and enjoying some typical dinner conversation:

D (referring to a risqué hick carving he and mom saw in Wisconsin): You don’t know that they were naked.

Me: Yeah, you don’t even know they were carved.

D: You’re right! The tree could have grown like that!

4) Drooling (literally. It’s disgusting.) over the fantastic work in letters of Jon Contino and learning that my school is going to be offering typography classes next semester (I don’t know how to contain my excitement about this one! How could life possibly get better after taking typography??)

5) I’ll tell you how. A catalog came to my house today and gave me a snapshot into my future that might just be the pinnacle of all things great. Someday, in the far future, when I have a baby, he will be dressed in this costume on Halloween. And my life will finally reach its greatness apex. Come to mama.

And because this post has been random enough already, I might as well throw in a few random links. On random words, because we need to be consistent here. Go to town.

*Who am I kidding? They’re adding to the mania. I’ll be better tomorrow.