i want to go to there

Remember what I said about that polar vortex? About how hell is not actually hot, but very, very cold and about how we’ve had six months of winter and about how I’m beginning to think that I have chosen to willingly live in Narnia (always winter, never Christmas!) under the dark spell of a very evil sorceress who has banished the sun from ever gracing our flat prairie land with her rays of joy and hope?

No? Oh. Well. It’s true.

And it’s actually starting to make me a little delusional. I think to myself, hey, maybe if I dress like it’s spring, I’ll trick the weather into thinking it’s supposed to be warm and maybe spring will finally come! Well, joke’s on me. I traipsed out today in espadrilles and a light rain jacket. I am an eternal optimist.

And now I have frostbite.

Here is where I would rather be:

It is called Orchard Keepers. It is in Australia. I don’t think it’s ever cold there.

Seriously, this place looks like paradise. You bring ten of your closest friends and stay in a beautiful, sprawling farm cottage-mansion hybrid amongst acres and acres of orchards and gardens.

 

You pick whatever you want. From their gardens. And then you cook with it in the most beautiful kitchen bathed in sunlight.

It’s got a guest house. And Uchino Japanese bath towels (I don’t even know what those are and I want one). And it’s decorated with “socialite linen” and “treasured objects.” I love treasured objects. I want to vacation in a place with treasured objects.

Ok, sure, I’m being a little dramatic. It’s the vortex. But seriously. I will stay here one day. I will be warm again. And when that day comes, I will cry from joy on the sun on my face as I dance through the orchards and relish every decorative treasured object that graces the nooks and crannies of the most beautiful vacation ever.

round three

Long time, no see, friends!

What’s that, you say? You thought you’d never hear from the likes of me again?

Not so fast. You’re not getting off the hook that easy. After a (very eventful) six month hiatus, I finally had a chance to breathe last week (read: I was on spring break) and this little blog sent out its siren call and I just couldn’t refuse.

Guys. It’s been a full six months.

I have a lot of projects in the works (mostly because I am a bridesmaid in two weddings right now and the DIY is coming on hot and heavy), but before I get back into the swing of things, I’m going to catch y’all up Instagram style. Because I’m sure you’re curious about what I’ve been up to since August (ha. I’m under no delusions. But I want to have a chronicle so you get what you get and please don’t pitch a fit).

So. Without further ado!

In the past six months I…

…went back to Washington, D.C. for a semester long internship at a very awesome think tank

…watched my favorite team (go Hawks!) play in my favorite city

…went to Baked and Wired in Georgetown every Saturday for dirty chai lattes (swoon)

…got dressed up a lot and posed by monuments (it never gets old)

…took a weekend trip home to see my friends and family

…spent a great weekend in D.C. with my best friend who came to visit

…watched Davide Martello play an impromptu concert on the National Mall

…went to the National Gallery almost every weekend

…visited Annapolis with my family over Thanksgiving

…feasted on Maryland crabs and fell head over heels

…came home and got to work on a bajillion calligraphy projects

…celebrated Christmas in Dallas with my family

…came back to Chicago and was greeted by a polar. vortex. That is actually a thing (seriously, it has been the WORST winter ever. We’ve broken every record for snow fall and low temperatures. Hell is not warm my friends. It is very, very cold).

…holed up indoors and watched movies on movies on movies

…ventured out to Chicago and discovered hipster heaven by way of the Heritage Bicycles General Store and Coffee Company

…watched my best friend get engaged on Navy Pier

…traveled to the West Coast for the first to speak at fundraising events for my school and explored Seattle and San Francisco

…ate my first In N Out burger and scratched another item off my bucket list

…reluctantly came back to hell Chicago and did a lot of cross country skiing

…travelled back to DC for the National Prayer Breakfast and met some amazing international leaders

…was asked by the sidewalk if I was okay during a really hard week and was reminded again of God’s faithfulness

…was also asked to be a bridesmaid in my two best friends’ weddings! (so. excited.)

…travelled to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with ten of the best ladies on the planet for the most relaxing Spring Break in History…

…where I did yoga on the dock every morning and generally enjoyed paradise

And there you have it, folks. I’ve seen so many places, met so many new people, and am looking forward to some incredible opportunities coming in the near future. And now that one of the craziest portions of my life-to-date is over, I’m ready to get back to blogging (sporadically, because this is me we’re talking about).

I can’t wait to see what’s in store next. See you real soon, friends!

line lust: tuckernuck

I was bored at work today (wait, you didn’t read that…okay, good, carry on) and became an pinterest maven for fifteen minutes. Being unwaveringly drawn to navy and stripes (I know what I like, okay??), I naturally clicked on this dress and promptly realized I hadn’t checked out Tuckernuck for a good long while.

Boy, am I glad I did. They are one of my all-time favorite online shops around. Everything is so tastefully designed, incredibly classy, and so bright. All of my favorite preppy looks can be traced back to these silhouettes and palettes in one way or another. I’m in love (and my wallet is in serious trouble. Serious.)

Now all I want to do is buy nautical stripes, make myself a mint julep, and lounge on a Nantucket beach as the sun goes down.

If only. Since I'm landlocked and stuck in an office, these picks are my way to vicariously live through my better, Cape Cod alter-ego. Who is outfitted entirely in high class prep. I love her.

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Go check out Tuckernuck. Your wardrobe will thank you.

Okay, I'm doubly bad. 1) I promised this on Friday. 2) These pins are all from my word board. But I found a lot of great hand lettered images the last few days and they're really inspiring me to go and illustrate my own, which I may or may not upload myself ;)

Also inspiring me is our wonderful new Frank Sinatra CD, and Wild Bluebell from the ever-classy Jo Malone (which I may or may not have waiting for me under the tree!), and the new John Grisham TV show coming out January 8th from NBC! Oh, happy, happy, happy day (it's true, I love him. I'm re-reading The Firm to get ready)!

Have a splendid Monday and go bake some cookies if you haven't already! You only have six days till Christmas!

*PS--Just checked my stats...1200 pageviews? Really? Wow and I haven't even done much. Y'all are too good to me.

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 Here's what I did today: wrote a children's book proposal.


Here's what I really just can't do anymore today: write.


Here's what inspired me that you should look at: the work of Dadu Shin.


Here's what I'll do tomorrow: give you some pretty Pinterest pictures.


Okay that's about 50 words too many. Bye, friends!

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...

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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.


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Well, kids, we did it. Made it to Friday (slash I made it a week of blogging, surprise surprise). I think we deserve pats on the back. These things are tough, you know. Living. Breathing. Blogging. It’s almost more than anyone should be asked to handle!

My weekend is going to be full of Michigan! I’m driving up tomorrow to watch the guy’s basketball team whip Calvin, where one of my good friends transferred to play this year. It’ll be quite entertaining to watch him play his old team…especially since our boys are doing awesome this season! We’re staying Saturday night at Ginny’s (one of my best best friends) house, and coming back Sunday in time to get me to work. The daily grind, I tell you. Gotta bring home the bacon somehow.

In the spirit of fall lingering here in Wheaton, my Friday Pinterest picks are sort of a last tribute to my favorite season. I’m guessing that by this time next week winter will have reared its ugly head. Fall, you’ve been lovely. Till next year.

Have a great weekend! See you back on Monday.

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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.

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!

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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!

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.

I’m a sucker for typography, as you may have noticed. I’ve always been such a fan of graphic design, my bookmarks folder is full to the brim with poster design, typography resources, graphic design tutorials, designers—I’m borderline obsessed.

And now, I just learned that my school is offering typography classes starting next semester! I’m absolutely stoked. Our art department isn’t widely known for graphic design, but the department is finally growing. Yes.

So, to celebrate this news, please enjoy this fantastic project I just stumbled upon this week. Branding 10,000 Lakes is just that—they’re literally branding the 10,000 Lakes of Minnesota. And they are beautiful. I’m obsessed! My grandparents live in Minnesota, and I've been to a few of these before. While the lakes themselves might not be the most incredible places on earth, the branding? They might be some of the best I've seen. Go look at them all, they’re worth a second look.

Weirrrd day.

Roommate passed out, went to the hospital, and came back all in one day. Dropped one huge class and added a smaller one. Good encounter, better reaction. Moms and groceries. First student government meeting. Printer breakdown. Cereal?

Sorry, that was pretty much entirely for my own benefit. I don’t want to leave you hanging, though, so here are some links purely for your own benefit:

1) My favorite cookies from our caf (which was just ranked #1 in the country)

2) My city + typography? Yes please.

3) Oh. My. Gosh. Brilliant! Might have to feature these in a post.

4) The Art of the Menu? Oh, yes.

5) I have to have something about typography.

6) Fun with glitter.

7) My favorite colors on one of my favorite blogs.

8) Lovely lady, indeed.

9) And, picture cred, check out Penfield USA’s fall/winter lookbook. Yes.

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.

Operation pack-my-life-into-boxes-take-2 is in full swing. It’s a little more depressing than last year, since it’s kind of settling in that this is my last summer in my hometown until I graduate from college, maybe even after that. Growing up is weird, there are more things for me to have to figure out every year. Good thing I take everything in stride (oh, my confidence is astounding [read: idiotic]). Bring it.

In other news, I am getting absolutely whipped by the Bar Method. I learned about it on a blog about a month ago and decided to give the DVD a try…oh man. Not only am I literally unable to lower myself into any chair, climb stairs, or laugh, but I also give my entire household a laugh. In case you haven’t had a good chuckle today (I hear they’re as good as apples, in some cases), I’ll give you a mental picture of this hilarity:

Picture a 6’2” girl in front of a TV, in a basement with ceilings only 3 inches above her head. Instead of weights, she is lowering and raising huge bottles of Pellegrino while squeezing an old volleyball in between her legs. She is also trying to simultaneously hinge her arms while balancing on her toes (it should be noted that her center of balance is nearly nonexistent, so she’s shaking like a leaf). Finally, it’s hard for her to concentrate on all of this while engaging her abs and remembering to breathe, so, due to lack of oxygen, her face is nearly purple. She falls into the couch and whimpers in pain.

You’re welcome.

And in case you’re wondering about the pictures (funny how absolutely nothing about my posts ever has to do with my pictures…), they’re from the most amazing stationary company I’ve ever encountered. It’s probably a good Scout’s Honor, Co. doesn’t have an online store, yet (though apparently the elves are working on it?), because I think I’d buy them out. Their blog is almost as equally incredible, though, because they have the (coveted) ability to find amazing vintage paper. Incredible. If I could pick a dream job, this would be it. Yes.

pinterest faves: celebration

I’m done.

And it feels so good. Packed up my desk, bounced out the elevator, celebrated at a fantastic dinner with old friends. I think I can actually wrap my mind around the impending mayhem that is packing-up-my-life-plus-that-guy’s-to-go-back-to-school-week because of this simple thought: I SURVIVED BEING A WORKING GIRL! 

So, in celebration, enjoy some of my favorite Pinterest finds from this week (hmm I’m sensing a theme…). Because right now, my life is as close to the definition of party as you can get. Yes.

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