The Perfect Summer Sandals

I've lucked out with cute sandals this summer at a reasonable price- however, the challenge has been finding some cute, basic brown sandals without breaking the bank. After playing internet for far too long, I came across these adorable sandals from Target! I ordered them tonight and can't wait for them to get here. I hope they are equally as cute in real life!

Playing Mom

Today was a crazy day- I worked all day while the boys were at school. I dropped them off on the way to work and picke them up on the way home. I then came home to find a broken freezer and a mess- oh how fun it is that these things happen. But- I've lined up a repair man for Friday, lets just hope he gets here when he says he will so I can make it to work on time. Im very worn out and beyond exhausted but nothing makes me grin wider than Mosby's adorable high pitch shrill when he calls my name- "DOUGASSS!". Its pretty cute. Thank goodness for the little things!

Anthropologie Gets Me Every Time

I don't think there has ever been a time I have gotten the Anthropologie catalog in the mail and not drooled over each page. Their summer catalog had me both drooling and longing for Goshen Pass.

I want to be here, in this beautiful river- Can't wait for a weekend at Goshen!

I sigh when I look at this picture, this is beautiful, straight out of a fantasy. But, for some reason this reminds me of my friend Nate Winston's dock- and many wonderful memories, of course.

*Special thanks to Rachel Cothran for already scanning these pages and posting about them on her Project Beltway Blog- which you should absolutely check out- its amazing!

Goodbye Holiday Weekend, Hello Babysitting

I had a really amazing weekend after long rough week. I got to spend time with Evan and many close friends, it was such a treat! Tonight, at around 8:45, I started my week long, overnight babysitting for Jeb and Mosby- I will be with them until late Sunday evening. I have babysat overnight for both of the boys before for 3 nights, and then for Mosby alone for 8 nights- so, I do have some experience under my belt with this family and others. However, I am nervous about Jeb being away from his parents for 7 days. Jeb is 5 and much more attached to his parents than Mosby. Don't get me wrong, Mosby adores his parents, but he's also the most easy going child I've ever encountered.

So I've been here for 45 minutes already and am getting a little nervous about the week. The boys had a neighbor babysit for them all day until I could get here, since I already had plans and couldn't make it here until 9ish. When I arrived, Jeb came downstairs (even though he was supposed to be in bed)- I walked him upstairs and he repeatedly asked me why I was here and when I am leaving- uh oh. The poor kid has 6 more days with me... He then proceeded to complain about a fly in his room- now we all know that its pretty impossible to catch flies unless your some sort of fly whisperer or something, so I killed it- which then yielded the "you shouldn't kill bugs" lecture from Jeb. sheesh. I'm sure he's having a little separation anxiety and that he will be better tomorrow. I am a bit nervous for the week, but I know I will survive. Please, get ready for many wonderful stories about these sweet boys!

Trevor Mikula

Even though this blog is really about my life, I try to point it towards art as often as possible. I woke up really early this morning and have been playing some serious internet (Evan and I's term for surfing the web) and revisite Trevor Mikula's website. Trevor is a family friend who I had the priviledge of spending some time with him last summer during my internship at HA Gallery in Nashville, Tennesse. I met Trevor several years ago and since the first time I have lai eyes on his work I have been obsessed. He's incredible- he paints fun, whimsical pictures using a palette knife and has the most amazing sense of color. The thick impasto of his paintings is also very effective. I often look at Trevor's work for inspiration. I have written a paper on him and his work and chose him as an artist that I would base a piece off of for one of my assignments. Needles to say, young, amazing, and has quite the career ahead of him. You should absolutely check him out!

A lot of Trevor's earlier work were these amazing landscape paintings- they are similar in style to his newer work but more about landscape its self. The above picture is a piece I created for an assignment in which we had to relate to an artist and his or her concept. This absolutely is not one of my favorite pieces or even a piece I am very proud of... But, I really love the idea the Trevor creates an 2-D environment in which the viewer can get lost. Here, an ideal environment within my ideal environment- home and the mountains. I would love to try to do a similar project to this again, however with a different approach (we were required to used glass for the assignment) and use a better color palette.

Fun Night Out!

My best friend Chelsea came down for the night last night and we had an awesome time! We had a delicious dinner at Edo's Squid and had to finish it off with some yummy Bev's homemade ice cream. We later headed to a Pendleton concert which was a blast! It was so grat to hang out with everyone!

Mark as a competetive eater?

My friend Mark works for CBS here in Richmond. Being a young employee, he gets roped into doing silly things rather frequently. A few weeks ago he had to pose as a hacker for a video clip and yesterday, he had to participate in a funnel cake eating contest against a professional eater- who happens to be two times the size of Mark. I crack up every time I watch it- probably because I know him and its just really awkward. I can't seem to post the video but here's the link- you should absolutely watch it! (you'll have to copy and paste it in the address bar)


http://www.wtvr.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=3789132&at1=Entertainment&h1=Eric Badlands Booker - Competitive Eater

Gardening!

Today at 2:00, I picked up my little sister Cache (with Big Brothers Big Sisters) to hang out. We decided to do a little gardening. Since I don't have a yard, we planted flowers in front of Evan's house. Today probably wasn't the best day to do it, as it is VERY humid and the sun was beating down on us. Even though we were quite sticky after, it was a really fun experience! We pulled a lot of weeds, found many gross bugs that Cache caught and put in her "bug home" (those bug cages we all used to have), put new soil down, and planted the flowers! Cache and I agreed that we're going to maintain the garden all summer, adding new flowers, weeding and such. It should be fun! Here are a few pictures of the start of our garden...

So Long, Farewell

I'm back in Richmond and happy to be here, although it was tough to drive away with dry eyes from my home at 523 Jackson Avenue yesterday. Its done. Yesterday at 11:00 a.m., my mom closed on both our old and new houses. There's nothing to do from here on out other than be positive. The new house isn't ideal, but I know it will be home shortly. I am returning home in 2 weeks for my brother William's high school graduation and am anxious to see the changes my mom will have already made. I spent the 3 days I was home helping my mom pick out new light fixtures, faucets, mirrors, furniture, etc. While it was sad and tough, it was also fun since I love interior decorating. Our contractor is coming Monday morning to make a few changes, such as adding crown molding and building bookshelves- I know he will do a wonderful job! Before I left home I took some pictures. I'm not saying that 523 Jackson Ave is a masterpiece, so no judging- but it is perfect to me.

The front of the house from the street.

The front porch.

The flowers were so pretty I couldn't help but take pictures of them!

The backyard.

And for a few pictures of the interior, which have this cheesy border because my mom e-mailed them to me, oh well!

The living room.

More living room.

The dining room.

The dining room from another angle.

The kitchen.

The kitchen again, with the mural painted by Karla Kirkland (my mom's best friend from high school)

The side room/ family room.

The side room/family room from another angle.

And for the new house...

Home for a few days...

I'm home in beautiful Lexington, Virginia for a few days... I'll be back in Richmond tomorrow evening and will resume posting on Saturday.

Great Book

I just finished reading "Girls in Trucks" by Katie Crouch and loved it! It takes you through Sarah Waters' struggle to find love and happiness, and the extremes she takes in attempts to achieve it. This book is both hilarious and heart-wrenching and successfully captures the behind the scenes live of a debutante from Charleston, South Carolina. This book is an easy, fun read that I was able to relate to as I grew up in a relatively Southern town. Add it to your list of books to read!

Feeling Nostalgic

I'm finding myself feeling quite nostalgic this week. I'm excited to head home on Wednesday, since the last time I was there and saw my family was early February- far too long, especially since we only live 2 hours apart. Regardless, it will be nice to get back home and breathe the mountain air. There's nothing like getting off the interstate and rolling down the windows and taking a deep breath. This trip will be an interesting one. I'm curious to see what I uncover as I go through all of my stuff- especially the boxes under my bed in which I kept "important memories" all throughout high school. I'm sure there will be some good laughs.

I'm also really looking forward to seeing my grandparents, two of the most amazing people. They're so wonderful and unbelievably hilarious (without intending to be). Earlier this semester in my textiles class, I was given the assignment of Macro/Micro. It was really difficult for me to come up with something, but I kept coming back to my grandparents. After much brainstorming, my piece came to be about how something or someone (in this case, my grandparents) is just another being in the world, but to an individual, that something or someone is so much more- they are everything. Before my grandparents moved to Kentucky, they lived in Clifton Forge, VA, a tiny town about 30 minutes away from Lexington. Every Tuesday and Thursday they would pick me up to spend the night with them. I always looked forward to visits with them. Before I could even talk, I knew the interstate exit, exit 35. As my Grandpa has told me hundreds of times, "I would get off the exit and you would start clapping your hands and kicking your feet". I still get just as excited about seeing them.

For this piece, I embroidered a portion of their house, The Lucy Celina, now known as The Firmstone Manor a bed and breakfast that they have since sold (and it has changed drastically) with the exit sign in front of the house. I realize that this piece probably won't hold much meaning for others, but it is very special to me.