P.S.

Today on the bus I sat right next to the heater and it was one of the loveliest bus rides yet. I almost didn't get off. :)

Bookshelves

I came across a collection of pictures of books and bookshelves by book lovers never go to bed alone. It made me very excited to have lots of bookshelves filled with books in my home someday. For now my bookshelf consists of stacks of books underneath my bed, but I did finally find interesting bookends at Unique the other day and my book displays will start soon. Maybe in 2010? Which is NEXT WEEK. My how time flies.

In the meantime, while I do laundry and clean up my clothes (which have EXPLODED all over my room since my roommate is gone) and pack, enjoy these favorites from my initial browse of the book lovers blog...






via The Casual Optimist

I love my new camera!

I sold my big camera and bought a cute little one which I am SO excited to take pictures with! Look how cute it is...


Here are some pictures I took just last night...

Anniversary!

Here's to one year of love. :)

Retrospective...

This was Pantone's color of the year last year... I love this color! But that might be obvious from my rainboots... or my favorite yellow flats... or, or, or...

Moment Jars

This Moment Jars site is really neat. (It sort of hits my love for projects like Post Secret.) The premise is that you save a moment by writing it down and putting it in a glass jar. The site displays people's 'moments' and you can even add your own. Cool. (I'm so sentimental...)

via swiss miss

Plant Allometry

Working for a university press can mean you work on some strange books. Books that seem outlandish. Books that seem like they'd have an audience of none (or three). Books where you wonder how in the world they could do enough research to write a whole volume. And often I find myself picking up my next project and thinking, "What the heck? Plant Allometry?"

Yes, today I did come across that title. I had no idea what allometry even meant, so I looked it up. I thought maybe I would even appreciate the book more after learning what it was about. I wouldn't just think, "Pshh, some boring biology book..."



So yes, I still think it's some boring biology book. Sigh. Good thing I like art.

(thanks dictionary.com)

It's a boy!

Beluga mommy Puiji gave birth to a 162 pound baby boy today at the Shedd Aquarium. BABY BELUGA! He's pretty cute.

photo and information from an article in the Chicago Tribune.

Real Life Photoshop

via The Donut Project

I'm Yours

This is waaay too cute.

Friday!

fridayfridayfridayfridayfridayfridayfriday!!

I win!

I won a gift card to a paper/print store by commenting on the How design blog! Yayy!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Minion.

Ooooh no.

An excerpt from a Chicago Tribune article on today's weather. Arrgh.

The Eddie Aikau

Yesterday was an historic day in Hawaii Nei. Actually in the world. Every year the surf swells on the North Shore and every year should conditions be met, the Eddie Aikau big wave surf contest is held at Waimea Bay. "Conditions" though, are very difficult to meet. The waves must be in the 40 foot range all day. Only eight times in its 25 year history has the contest been held. So yesterday, in the year of its 25th anniversary, Waimea Bay boasted 35-50 foot waves and 20,000+ spectators while surfers caught some of the biggest waves in the world. Californian Greg Long capped his contest win with a perfect score, surfing a wave of 50 feet. The photos are evidence of just how epic a day this was.

Check out the full article on The Honolulu Advertiser for more details. All photos are from there.

Tiniest Apartment Ever.

Check out this article in the New York Post. This couple, with their two cats, lives in a 175 square foot apartment in Manhattan. Can you imagine? The article is really interesting, especially where they describe their habits which allow them to live so small. While I wouldn't be able to live in it, it's interesting to think about getting rid of the excess stuff I don't really need.

In any event, that 175 square feet of air cost $150,000.

Color of the Year

Pantone named Turquoise the color of the year for 2010. I love turquoise! It's definitely in my top three.

via How

Clocks & Such.

Check out these clocks by Fluid Forms. You can enter a zip code and they will create a clock based on the streets and landmarks of your neighborhood/town/city. Cool huh?

I found this on the Incredible Things blog, which I just discovered today, which is pretty cool. So you should check it out, too.

Reasons to like Monday

As much as I don't look forward to Monday, here are my reasons to talk myself into waking up anyway:

1. New episodes of my favorite podcast, This American Life.
2. Catching up on the news / emails.
3. Picking out something to wear. (This can also go on the reasons Mondays are terrible list. It just depends on how easy it is to accomplish.)
4. Monday evenings are usually very relaxing. Therefore, Monday morning = relaxing night is coming.

How's that for some positivity and optimism?
Monday Monday Monday.

Winter is here

This one's pretty.

via Casual Optimist

I Shot the Serif

via The Donut Project

Love this.

A Penguin Classic designed by Coralie Bickford Smith. My favorite from an impeccably designed series.

Judge a Book by its Cover

Amazon is hosting the Best Book Covers of 2009 contest. Unfortunately I didn't see any from our press, but there are still some great ones up there. Check it out and vote for your favorites.

I want to do this.

via The Moment

On a lighter note: I'm a reteller

"If a friend is someone who laughs at our stories, then a good friend is one who enjoys them even the second time around."

This New York Times article talks about studies that show people often remember where they heard something but not to whom they told it. Hence the retelling. Hence the need for good friends.

Apparently I'm not the only one who can't remember to whom I told a story. I'm so relieved. Also, note that a good friend will enjoy my stories a second time around... hint hint.

Why?

Why? Why is the world so messed up? It's frustrating to read articles like this one from the New York Times. We think that we've come a long way from our racist past with slavery (which we have), but it's still hard to get a job merely because of your skin color. Sometimes, the world sucks. I wish I could fix it.

November 30th...

As Thanksgiving falls behind us and Christmas looms ahead, I'd like to reflect on what I'm thankful for this year, since there is oh-so-much that God has provided. I'm thankful for a great job that I enjoy and a great work environment. With real unemployment around 17%, I am so very grateful to have gotten a job - and it's a job that is perfect for me! I'm thankful for a loving, vibrant, and fun (and growing!) community in the city. I'm thankful for roommates who I enjoy living with and a wonderful apartment. I'm thankful to have found a new church home with equally friendly and loving new friends. I'm thankful for my family who I get to see very often even though we live thousands of miles apart. I'm thankful for my wonderful boyfriend who makes life deeper, richer, and fun(ner). I'm thankful for this fantastic book on typography my boss recommended to me (Bringhurst/Elements of Typography) <- I am a nerd. Finally, I'm thankful for my boots. The rainboots. And the other ones. Right now I'm really excited about them.

So happy thankful weekend and happy Christmas season!

desk of my desire...

I love this desk! Maybe it's the minimalist in me. Maybe it's the organizationalist. Maybe it's the "I-just-started-this-job-and-already-my-files-are-busting" in me. Or maybe I just love beautiful things. But I love this desk from egg collective.

Worsts...

Today was cold/gloomy. I was tired/grumpy. Also, I knocked someone else's glass bottled drink out of the fridge and spilled 2/3 of it's sugary goodness all over the work kitchen floor. FAIL.

Let's make light of this. Here are some funny worsts.


Clients from... down there.

My Very Worst Date

My Very Worst Roommate

And thank goodness we can laugh at the bad things that happen!

The 90's

P.S. You know you're a 90's kid if...

P.P.S. I LOVED my jellies.

Multi-tasking / Cityscapes

First of all, let it be known that managing an umbrella (in the rain, in a wind tunnel of sorts) and holding a travel mug full of coffee and your breakfast toast while trying to not miss the bus is challenging. I will have to remember this for the next time it rains. Which could be tomorrow.



Check out artist Stephen Wiltshire who draws cityscapes with amazing detail. It's amazing work! [via The Donut Project]

Color

David just sent me this link with some amazing photos. I'd like to print some of these out for framing and display...

It's a New Look.

For 2009.
Oops, it's almost 2010 and I haven't written a thing in a year. But at least it's pretty now, right?
And yes, I do own a pair of yellow rainboots and yes, they are one of my favorite things.