keeping the focus

I've said it time and again. I'm terrrrrible at keeping up with this blog. Sorry folks! Having a full time job and being a real person in a real city has proven to be a little hectic to start, but I'm quickly getting the hang of it. New apartment, new "roommate" (hi honey), new workplace, new clients, new habits.

We moved in at the end of July and immediately bought all the essentials. Here I am, sitting here, telling you that we purchased all this random stuff the week we moved in just to fill the voids of the space we had here. This is the only thing I tell people who are moving/just moved to avoid doing. "You'll end up with a bunch of sh*t you don't even like," I would say. But here I am.

the opposite of our house.

The place was bigger than we thought it would be and with an absence of WINDOWS on the walls (basement living to the fullest), I began to panic a little. We bought mainly kitchen essentials because cooking is like totally our thing. We bought bookshelves because someone has a lot of books, and that someone is not the girl writing this blog. We bought the cheapest coffee table we could. We swooped in and got the hand-me-down-and-free dining table and chairs from his old house. We have yet to do anything with said dining table and chairs besides put a lot of junk on it. BUT... we bought a small rug for under my lovely couch, both of which I actually love. Those can stay for awhile.

My bedding mixed with Jeff's mattress was like heaven on earth the first night we got to sleep in the apartment. Other than that, the bedroom is bare. BARE, Y'ALL. I am having a mini crisis just trying to figure out what to do with it, so I resorted to Pinterest (per usual). Just to remind myself that did have a general look/feel of this place in mind when we found it and moved in. Sometimes this process needs to happen before things get really weird and you end up with some red paper lamp.

I bought one last year at this stage. It's currently behind me.

a post that makes no sense

Oh hey there, blog. It's been so long. I'm sorry it's taken [yet another] snowy day to bring us back together for the first time since Halloween.

This post is about getting your shit together and doing what you want to do in life. Accomplish what you want to accomplish! Don't let your day job get in the way of what you really strive to achieve. Hell, maybe even try to combine your goals into your day job, if possible. I know it's possible for me. Some people, however, those financial consultants that really dream of being golf pros, maybe this isn't as attainable.

But if you're working at a boutique small business that is already basically a design firm/store in itself, why not try to merge your graphic design talents in there as well? Shake things up a bit. Everyone will benefit from a rebranding strategy. You will get to do graphics work, and the business will look better. Win win, right?

Maybe. Let's explore.

First, a sketch. One that reminds me to keep sketching, because I can. This is one of a series of 30 from a garden at school. It was the bomb. I have vowed to sketch one page per day. Maybe this will help me determine my priorities.

blogging is hard

Between working about 30-35 hours a week in the store, and countless hours outside the store working on evolved and freelance work, blogging is hard. I love making graphics for posts and getting a good one all together and presentable. Getting home from a long day of dealing with pretty terrible strangers really takes it out of you - and on that note, I think everyone at some point in their lives should have to work retail for at least a month to see how terrible some people can be. It'll make you a better stranger to others, trust me. I am rarely rude to anybody.

What's that one quote? You can tell a lot by a person by how they treat others who can do nothing for them? I think so. That quote is my ish.

Mild Obsession: Inspiration Wall

Slowly setting up [yet another] new desk in the house. I swear I've moved this desk around at least 3 times since moving back home, and it never fails to inspire me for one week and then it becomes just ... a place to throw things. I found that my bedroom is actually the room with the most light, and probably the room with the least amount of spiders. Therefore... office.

I have a bajilli window panels left from when I had six in the 803 apartment and think they make a cute backdrop for all my prints. By the end of the year I hope to have this wall filled with prints and cute things, inspiring images and the like. I already have my favorite editorial shot of Julia Roberts from a 2010 Elle spread framed and up.

Buying a new duvet (originally $120, bought for $20, perks of working at a retail store and catching all the final sales as they go!) really makes the room finally seem more home-y and cozy. And looks adorbs with my clearance sheets from Target last year, just saying.

I think the only full-price thing I've bought from West Elm since working there is a pillow. Yolo.

Me: Defined. [Through Graphics]

Today I had a little fun with my Pinterest boards. I rearranged them a few weeks ago to be cohesive and organized, but today I went a step further and created a moodboard for my definition of SCB board in general. Quite frankly I think it's precious, which is pretty much what I expected as an outcome... Bazinga.

Rambling: Going Against the Grain

When you're my age and spent an extra two years in college trying to work your way toward a degree that you believe was the right one for you, it's easy to feel the pressures of your other, slightly successful friends. They have a two-year head start on the real world over you, and 99% of them have 9-5's; full time jobs with salaries and benefits. Chances are high they all hate their jobs, bosses, and coworkers, but love the money they make and the things they can spend it on. They're able to live in the city, or just outside of it, where all the other young professionals reside. Living college years all over again, except with more responsibility and more money. You see the same people everywhere, and no one wants to be in a relationship. Everyone wants to sleep with everyone.

This is where I get confused. 

Mild Obsession: Mt. Washington Spa Goods

My sister's wedding took place in the most extravagant hotel in all the land. I swear, this resort is basically the mountain version of a cruise. Omni's Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, NH is a bajilli-square-foot hotel in practically the middle of nowhere. Everyone should go here in their lifetime. I may go here for my honeymoon, who knows. One thing I took back with me from the wedding was my bridesmaids gift, these spa things. Probably the greatest smelling shampoo, conditioner, and body wash ever. I could smell my hair all day. When these run out, so will my patience for cheap Suave brands.

Rambling: Finding a Job.

It is no surprise by now that finding a job out of college is one of the worst experiences one can go through. It tests your wit, your ego, your confidence, and your abilities to be fake nice. I love getting feedback, and I love improving myself. Most of my interviews have taught me a lot about myself and how to present myself at future interviews. But sometimes, I just have to rant. This is one of those times.

Rambling: Designing This Blog

I am a designer.

I design everything at least 10 times before settling on even a base idea/concept. It's what we do -- we need options. We need inspiration.

The countless times I have redesigned this blog usually end the same way. I like it for a week or two, then I start to hate it. I criticize myself for how childish it is and for not challenging myself enough. Yes, I'm that girl. I'm my harshest critic.

My shift at work ended today at 3, and ever since I got home around 4 (hello northern Virginia traffic), I've made coffee, ate a lot of food, and redesigned this blog from top to bottom. The only thing that hasn't changed is the layout.

The single pink bar in the header ITSELF has been changed at least 20-30 times, trying to match the perfect shade of pink in the picture of the peonies over there -> it's that serious.

I'm a perfectionist. I have this knack for knowing when something is right or wrong. My stomach knows when something isn't right. Similar to when I was telling my ex-boyfriend about my new boyfriend and getting a pit in my stomach, thinking that my current boyfriend was about to end it. He ended it the next day.

My gut knows everything.

So, this blog is still in progress. With time I will have a concept, and a look to match it. Maybe even an improved writing style. Right now I just think I sound like a depressed sarcastic girl with no joy in her life. Seriously though, I do!

I'm not all about that, yo.

See you soon, pwp.

Mawiage, Mawiage.

It was an incredible week/weekend and so much fun was had by all! My sister wed the LOHL (love of her life, duh) Marc at the most ridiculously beautiful resort in New Hampshire. Here are just some instagrams from my point of view as Maid of Honor.

Don't Let It

I need to stop letting things get to my mind and snowball out of control into some crazy imaginative scenario. Oh, you're going to your art show? Don't you mean you're going out to drink with your bros and hit on girls in hopes they'll come home with you straight from the strip club you're obviously going to?

See what I mean? Art show. He had an art show.

La Vie En Rose: DC Metro Area

I've lived here my whole life. You'd think that by now, I'd have a pretty good grasp on the area geographically and physically... Nope. Not me. Since I practically spent the last 6 years of my life (that is now one-fourth of my life) in a small rural college town in the mountains, I'm pretty lost. Therefore, everything I find is pretty damn amazing to my virgin[ian] eyes. Here's a mini ode to some of my favorite sites in Northern VA / DC.

1. M Street shops in Georgetown // 2. King Street metro station // 3. Nationals Park // 4&5. Residential Georgetown (aka, rich people!)