unexpected findings

Between unexpected friends in the city, meeting new friends, finding amazing books and taking far to many cab rides, last week had many fantastic twists and turns. Two exciting friends to see were Hunter and Erin Riley. They were in town for the ING NYC Marathon last Sunday and stayed for some work as well as some fun. Being a West sider I was near the finish line watching and although the siblings finished together, I only saw Hunter. We concluded it was because Erin was standing east of Hunter.

After a very successful business meeting last Thursday I ventured to Brooklyn to meet up with a group of fellow Arkansans as well a Panamanian and Honduran. One of whom is "Juan in a million."

Clearly we decided to take a new photo for Rhea Drug Store since our parents work together. I haven't seen Hunter in a long time and since Erin has been living in China, er, I mean Japan for the past two years, it was a fantastic pharmacy reunion. P.S. we expect to see this picture on Marilyn's side of the printer when we are all home for Thanksgiving.

Since Hunter had to split early that evening due to an early meeting Friday morning, Erin became my unexpected house guest. When I know people are coming, my apartment is pretty much spotless, but on the account that I have four trash bags of clothes for Goodwill and my mothers ginormous Christmas present, together taking up a minimum of ten square feet, it was quite a cozy evening to say the least. Thankfully Erin only compared my apartment to a "slightly larger dorm room" once, I let it slide and she was allowed to stay.

Friday we made our way to The Strand. Basically the best book store south of 14th street. After grabbing every book we liked in sight and then realized we didn't have unlimited funds we settled on few classics and a couple eye turning art books. My favorite book purchase... a first edition, mint condition 1937 copy of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

Clearly I was excited... but not as speechless as I was when we went to the third floor. If I ever track down a first edition or even a great condition early copy of my favorite book in the world, Catcher and the Rye, I wouldn't think twice about maxing out my credit card. Hopefully, whenever I find it maxing out anything will not be the case. Friday, finding this very early edition was up there with priceless. This particular edition is well known for the full back cover photo of J.D. Salinger. This would have been an immediate, no-questions-asked, purchase but the jacket had a very unfortunate tear in the top right corner. The back, being in very good quality was hard to put down, but the cover was a deal breaker.

Needless to say my three purchases were the following. A first edition copy of Of Mice and Men, a copy of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, which was only issued to the members of The Heritage Club in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1967. The third book is Lyn Davies' A is for Ox. Along our 36 hour adventure, we found great public art. From graffiti owls to hand-painted brownstone doors, Erin and I took pictures accordingly. 

With these images I'll leave you with a quote we found along the way:

"All the lives we could live, all the people we will never know, never will be, they are everywhere. That is what the world is."

-Aleksander Herman, The Lazarus Project

frequently asked questions

Over the past few years I have been asked several questions countless times. Whereas these questions will inevitably continue to come, I'm going to start here...

The number one most asked question (besides: who are you dating) --

1. When are you going to move back to Arkansas?
I don't know where I'll be in 10 years much less tomorrow, but as long as I have the opportunity to continue living and working in Manhattan, then I'm staying settled. Whatever is in God's plan is where I'll be. Until further notice, I'm stayin' on the island.

2. You subscribe to more magazines than anyone else I know. Do you read each one? 
Sort of. Some magazines I get for recipes, some for fashion, home design, stories, etc. Most of the magazines I subscribe to are for design inspiration. From financial to fashion, all magazines have different niche design elements that are relevant to my industry. Therefore it is justifiable.

3. What do you do with your magazines? 

Most of the time, I tab, tear, and file. This past post "if you ever call me a hoarder..." explains that process. I clearly don't file an entire magazine. GQ and Esquire, Dwell and Domino (which is no longer in print), for example, I cannot bring myself to tear up any of them. I have all 2009-2011 issues of the first three are all in my apartment. Issues prior are in plastic and dressers in a storage unit in Arkansas. Please note, I do not have a storage unit for magazines. The unit was purchased to house the overflowing furniture from my college apartment and house. This is turn makes it a convenient location to house my magazine surplus. 

I also roll extra/left over magazine pages like this for future DIY projects. Image borrowed from Recyclart

4. What do you do? 

I am a freelance graphic and web designer. I have several clients within in the city as well as others scattered around the country, including Kansas City and Atlanta. I recently gained a new client in Manhattan who I will be working on several projects with. So to clear up any confusion, I WORK.

5. Why don't you add links to ideas or pictures in your blog? 

I do. Unless I take the pictures my self. Any purple link or comment under a picture that says something to the effect of "image borrowed from..." is a link to that image/project/blog or web site mentioned. As seen below above image. 

Feel free to request any more questions. Hope a few things were answered. Thanks for reading! 

snowtober

Snowtober is correct. As if I needed an excuse to stay in my pj's, drink hot tea, watch football and eat scones on this snowy October Saturday. 

Yes. It is still October. Have I mentioned, I love cold weather? It's my favorite time of year! 

this will make you like halloween

I might lose readers by admitting this, but I really am not a big fan of halloween. There is something about wearing a costume in the city while taking public transportation. But I am a fan of Halloween treats and I don't mean mini Snickers or 3 Musketeers. Hello Betty Crocker!

Image borrowed from Cute Hoots

And these adorable chocolate dipped marshmallows that were on Live! With Regis and Kelly this morning.

Image borrowed from Live! With Regis and Kelly

if only i had more space

I would immediately commission furniture designer and maker, Anthony Hartley, to create a custom sideboard similar to the one featured in his first furniture collection. Very much a modern, colorful, one-of-a-kind, hand crafted piece of furniture. I'm adding this to my dream apartment/house decor list. 

The fabulosity of Anthony Hartley was brought to my attention by 

Living Etc. magazine's blog. 

Another storage solution (and more fitting for my pocketbook) is this awesome recycled file cabinet. It reminds me of teachers mailboxes from high school. From my post yesterday, this thrifty find would be a great way to store my "magazine mountain." Isn't this a creative trash to treasure idea? 

Pictures and project idea borrowed from the quippy blog, Crap I've Made. 

if you ever called me a hoarder...

According to dictionary.com --
Hoard
noun
1.  a supply or accumulation that is hidden or carefully guarded for preservation, future use, etc.
verb (used with object)
2. to accumulate for preservation, future, use, etc., in a hiddenor carefully guarded place.

Then by definition, I could sort of be considered a hoarder, but only in one sense --- preservation. The picture to the left is only a quarter, maybe a fifth of the magazines I have in my apartment. Not to mention I have 2 years worth of Esquire and GQ in a storage unit in Arkansas.


I know I have mentioned this ordeal countless times, but I've started to get a hold of things. For several of my subscriptions, as I read them I tab my favorite layouts, typography, or product images. Then  after about six months I go through each and cut out, yes, cut not tear, the tabbed pages of each magazine and carefully put them into plastic page covers which assemble into large black binders.

Between covers, feature stories, mastheads, unique department pages, and the rest of each magazine, at least I am able to slim down the mass somewhat? Currently, I have tagged, cut, and filed two years worth of Women's Health, Runner's World, Allure, Southern Living, Women's Day, Outside, Details, Better Homes & Garden and Redbook. I like to think I've at least made a dent in my vast collection of publications. (Please note I do recycle all unused pages).

Magazines that will not be cut up, filed, or recycled --- any magazine that includes my photos and/or designs, GQ, Esquire, old issues of Domino and Dwell. All in all, I could be considered a hoarder of magazines, but for probable cause... it is my industry, my livelihood, my passion. That is justification for keeping some magazines, right?  Other than that I have to figure out what to do with the multiple fashion magazines I have. Mostly, I read fashion magazines for pleasure but am occasionally surprised by the designs. So, should I just suck it up and cut up the massive stack of fashion magazines in my apartment? File them and recycle the rest?

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

small gesture, big impact

When I moved to New York 28 months ago, my mother threw an impromptu "going away" shindig. It was very nice and I received several precious gifts from close family and friends. One of which, I keep on my bathroom counter and look at multiple times a day. Not only is it a beautiful hand blown glass heart by James Hayes, but with it came the perfect message. 

"Follow your heart but never forget where home is --"

This token of love reminds me daily that while I am following my dreams, home is always within reach. As I embark on another trip home for two out of town weddings, I found this picture on my computer and remembered I have been wanting to post this picture for some time now, but I think today is perfect.

I can't help but smile each time I see this treasure. Thanks Ms. Cindy!