#56

Fall is here.

I went on a helicopter tour of Ann Arbor last week! It was my first time flying in a helicopter, and it was great. Though I must admit that I did get a little queasy halfway through the tour. My seatmate made an observation: Ann Arbor has a lot of trees. It just hit me that we should have played “I Spy” while we were up there.

Links you should visit today:

1) Sandra Juto. A photo blog.

2) Ruthi Auda. She does the store displays at the Anthropologie in Newport Beach. I want her job.

rambling #52 @ 1:01am

SORRY FOR THE HIATUS! My life has been consumed by classes, work, baking, the Michiganensian Yearbook, and attending mass meetings for student organizations that I’m interested in joining this school year. I just had an interview with the Michigan Advertising & Marketing Club last week and heard back from them a few hours ago. I’m in! I’ll be working with the Creative Development Team to design posters, flyers, and other promotional materials. There’s a mass meeting for the U-M student chapter of AIGA Monday evening, and @sara_bee and I are going. I am super excited about this mass meeting! Also, I shot my first Michigan football game for the Michiganensian this month! I’m not that into football, but I had a blast taking photos.

I hosted a tea party at my co-op Saturday afternoon. I baked for 8 hours straight Friday night, went to bed at 5am Saturday morning, and got up a few hours later to finish baking! My housemates and I baked snickerdoodles, raspberry buttermilk cake, cheesecake-swirled brownies, plum kuchen, oatmeal chocochip cookies, chocolate covered peanut butter balls, zucchini bread, banana bread, blondies, cheese straws…there was  A TON of stuff. It was all pretty delicious. Photos courtesy of @amandajeaners.

Classes are coming along. I’ve fallen behind in my readings and doubt that I’ll ever catch up. I just want to run away and work for @MarthaStewart.

Over the past two days, I’ve come across some amazing design blogs. Read about a couple below!

The list:

1) A Field Journal. Can you believe that this blog belongs to UNIVERSITY STUDENT!? Her name’s Livy, and I simply don’t understand how she can keep up with classes and do everything on here. It’s amazing.

Livy threw a small birthday party for her housemate's 21st. The food, setting, and decor are absolutely gorgeous.

2) Inchmark. I came across this blog while I was fantasizing about working for @MarthaStewart. This blog belongs to a former employee of @MarthaStewart. I swear, I found this out AFTER I started reading the blog.

The bag below was stenciled using freezer paper! I’m so going to give it a try.

A very nice hand-stenciled bag.

rambling #51 @ 8:14pm

In my room. Currently listening to Regina Spektor.

Classes started on Tuesday. It was a pretty hectic week, and I am very glad that it’s the weekend. Though I do have quite a few readings to get through before Monday.

I dropped an Art class, Linguistics class, and Cultural Anthropology class after attending the first day because they weren’t what I expected them to be. I did add an Intro to Buddhism class, but that’s because I dropped Cultural Anthropolgy and needed a humanities class for distribution credit. I’m taking 13 credits instead of the usual 16, and let me tell you, it feels GREAT.

Anthony Bourdain, Frank Warren, and David Sedaris are coming to speak to the Michigan Theatre as part of a speaker series! Kevin Smith is coming too, but I really have no interest in Kevin Smith. I bought subscriber tickets earlier this week, guaranteeing myself a seat to see all three speakers. General tickets will go on sale to the public closer to the event date. I am PUMPED. I am huge fans of David Sedaris and Frank Warren and have just recently started watching Anthony Bourdain’s show No Reservations.

My trip to New York City was pretty great. I visited Pratt and Parsons. I really liked Pratt and thought Parsons was okay. I plan on applying to both in addition to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

I saw a great deal of Manhattan during my six days there. I stayed on W. 34th St. (a very touristy part of the city) and was in walking distance to practically everything–Times Square, Bryant Park, the huge Macy’s, Fifth Avenue. I also took the subway (which is really clean, by the way) down to SoHo and up to Central Park. SoHo was very overwhelming, and Central Park was gorgeous. It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be. I walked to Hell’s Kitchen, and ran into a past roommate! It’s such a small world.

I brought my camera, but I didn’t take any photos. It would have slowed me down.

I haven’t gone thrifting in a while. Maybe I can go this weekend!

The list:

1) The Michigan Daily. The Michigan Daily launched is redesigned website last week! It looks great. It’s still getting tweaked. PS. I designed the blog headers.

2) PrintMag. While in Manhattan last week, I spent some time in Borders reading Print Mag. There was a great article about Target and design. Find it online here. I’ve never read Print Mag before and I like it so much that I’ve subscribed to it. I can’t wait to get my first issue in the mail.

Yesterday, Bob Mankoff, a cartoonist at The New Yorker, spoke at the Michigan Theatre as part of the Penny W. Stamps Lecture series put on by U-M’s School of Art and Design. A friend of mine in the art school told me about the series earlier this summer, and I plan on going to every single one. A designer from Pentagram Design Studios is coming to speak within the next couple of months.

I thought Bob Mankoff was pretty funny.

rambling #50 @ 3:57pm

In my room. Currently listening to nothing.

I leave for New York in two days! I am so excited! I spent all last night doing laundry and packing–I didn’t go to bed until 4am! And I got up extra early to do some last minute errands. I’m really dragging right now.

I made raspberry scones today with some leftover raspberries from a berry picking adventure. @sara_bee, @jasminezoo, and @Steph_Steinberg I went berry picking this past Sunday at Makielski Berry Farm in Ypsilanti. It was about a 15 minute drive, and we had a great time. Except for the bees. They were everywhere.

After berry picking, we met up with @LaraZade and went canoeing and kayaking down the Huron River! It was a ton of fun, but VERY tiring. We canoed and kayaked for 2 hours, about 3.7 miles! That may not seem like much distance to some people, but my arms were very sore after. @Steph_Steinberg and I kayaked together and we ran into trees and bushes that line the shores of the river quite a few times. I almost lost my glasses one time because of tree branches.

After canoeing, we all went back to my co-op, made raspberry almond scones (@sara_bee found this recipe, and we substituted the blueberries with raspberries), and had a tea party. It was a great day.

One of the scones I made with leftover raspberries from a raspberry picking adventure. This is my second helping. Nom nom nom.

I updated my links/resources yesterday. Check out some of my favorite blogs and websites to the left, under “Some Favorites.”

1) decor8. An amazing blog by Holly Becker. I discovered it yesterday and have been reading it ever since. I went to bed at 4am this morning because I was reading this blog while I was packing!

“As a writer and interior design consultant, I created decor8 to catalog beautiful finds and to inspire others.” -Holly Becker

There are some great resources on here for organizing, decorating, painting, art projects, the list goes on.

In one post, Holly Becker blogs about Coral von Zumwalt Photography. I love this photo; I love seeing people's inspiration walls/boards. Photo: Coral von Zumwalt

2) seesaw. I found the link for decor8 blog on this site!

“Seesaw is a graphic design & letterpress studio. This is where we share all of the things that inspire us on a daily basis.”

They post on a wide range of things: art, architecture, industrial design, information design.

Very clever design. And think about how green it is! Not too much waste, the packaging for it is probably simple and clean, and you can ship and transport a ton at one time.

rambling #49 @ 8:47pm

In my room. Currently listening to Regina Spektor.

I put zucchini bread in the oven about half an hour ago and it should be ready to come out in about 15 minutes. I got the recipe from marthastewart.com. It’s the second time I’m using this recipe, and I’m hoping it turns out as good as it did the first time!

I started moving into my new room, room #9, yesterday! It’s just down the hall from room #6, the room that I’m staying in now–thank goodness I don’t have to go up any steps. I had room#6 all to myself for the past few months and am rooming with someone in room#9. Her name’s Christina. I haven’t met Christina yet, but we’ve exchanged e-mails.

Read about my moving adventure below:

Monday, August 25th, 2009:

5:00pm: Get home from work to find that #9 is locked. I had spent the previous day cleaning and moving furniture around. I had pushed a dresser out into the hallway because I didn’t want one and notice that the dresser is gone. The desk hutch that I had put out in the hallway was gone too. Maybe the maintenance guys moved them to the basement?

5:03pm: Run around my co-op looking for Amanda so I can get into room #9. Find her in the basement computer lab with her boyfriend, Evan, talking about groceries.

5:05pm: Unlock room #9 and find that the desk hutch is sitting comfortably on my desk. There are also three dressers in the room. Three. I had pushed mine out into the hallway and left one in the room for Christina. Where did the third one come from?

5:10pm: Pushed two dressers out into the hallway. I probably pulled a muscle in the process.

5:23pm: Ask Evan and Amanda to help me move a table from the basement to room #9. It’s really hard walking up the stairs backwards carrying a table.

5:30: Talk to Amanda about how horrible our vacuums are. The one on the 1st and 2nd floors don’t work. Amanda says that the one on the third floor works.

5:32pm: Lug the third floor vacuum down to room #9. It works! Spend the next few hours cleaning.

6:17pm: As I’m cleaning the radiator, I find some cheese melted to it. Cheese.

6:40pm: Pick up a piece of cardboard from the closet floor and see a spider on it.  Run downstairs with the cardboard and spider and let the spider loose on the front porch. Hopefully he doesn’t find his way back in.

7:00pm: Vacuum. There are a lot of feathers on the carpet. Was there a pillow fight in here?

7:08pm: Wipe down the walls, windows, and closets and realize that I’m inhaling the cleaner. Ah!

8:00pm: Take a break. Go on to marthastewart.com and look up recipes for blondies. Go on to smittenkitchen.com and look up recipes for blondies. Decide to make the blondies from marthastewart.com.

8:30pm: Slowly start moving things from room #6 to room #9. I didn’t realize I have so much stuff.

9:21pm: Start baking!

10:02pm: Slide the blondies into the oven and clean the kitchen while they’re baking.

10:33pm: The blondies are done! Enjoy them with Amanda and @bcbodnar, another housemate. Talk about the history of the co-op, drugs, and skunks.

11:30pm: Return to room #6 and look up recipes for carrot cake.

12:07pm: Bed.

I hope to finish moving everything into room #9 by tonight, but I’m dead tired, so we’ll see.

The list:

1) Human Resources. “Human Resources is a source of creative visual and aural inspiration” (from Human Resources). They have some pretty nifty stuff on here and also post links to people’s portfolios and websites.

Wishing my room were big enough to accommodate these.

Wondering how the shelves are arranged in the "L," "A," and "N" pieces.

2) Dazed Digital. I got this link from Human Resources! It kind of reminds me of NYMag.com, which I adore. Dazed Digital seems to have more content, and I’ve practically glued myself to their Arts & Culture section.

3) Style Bubble. I got this link from Dazed Digital! It’s like that 6-degrees of separation thing–every website is connected to one another through links to one another. The author of this blog,  Susie Bubble, is a contributor to Dazed Digital (more evidence of the 6-degrees of separation phenomenon). She lives in London, so I’m sure she has an awesome accent. Jealous.

Anywho, Susie blogs about fashion and her life. Her life is a lot more interesting than mine, but then again, my life’s pretty average. She describes her blog as “a record of observations, experiences, and thoughts about my very specific view of fashion.”

Here is Susie selling some things at a flea market. She's trying to clear out her closet. Picture courtesy of Style Bubble and Fred Butler's blog.

rambling #48 @ 9:36pm

In my room.

Currently listening to Regina Spektor.

I just found out that Regina Spektor will be in Ann Arbor on September 15th!  She’s performing at the Michigan Theatre. My housemate, @bcbodnar, is going to the concert, and I’m still debating whether or not to buy a ticket. I checked online, and the only seats left are pretty crappy.

PostSecret is going to be at the Michigan Theatre on December 4th! I can’t wait. I tried to buy tickets online, but it doesn’t look like they’re available for purchase yet. If I can’t get tickets to this event, I’ll be very upset.

I’m going to New York August 31st-September 7th! I am SUPER PUMPED. I’m taking a train out there. It’ll be my first time on a train, and I think it’s going to be fun.

I’ve scheduled campus visits of Parsons and Pratt. I’m excited for both campus visits, but am really looking forward to visiting Pratt.

I don’t plan on sleeping while I’m in New York. I’m putting together a list of things I want to do and places I want to visit: Central Park, Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Arts and Design, thrifting, Bryant Park, Union Square, NYU…basically, a lot of tour-isty stuff.

The list:

1) Angela Ficorelli. There’s some great stuff on here. She has a wonderful porfolio.

I really want to take a printmaking class in the Fall!

2) Lookbook.nu. @sara_bee and @jasminezoo love this site, and I do too! It’s a great place to get some fashion inspiration. I wish students in Ann Arbor would dress more like the people on this website!

I can't walk in heels. I'd wear this outfit with flats.

rambling #47 @10:16pm

In my room.

Currently exploring youtube.com.

It has been very hot and humid in Ann Arbor these past couple of days.

The last issue of the summer Daily was published today! I finished putting together the 2009 New Student Edition last Tuesday, and am very happy with how it turned out. I’ll post a link up to the 2009 NSE as soon as I can.

I mentioned in a previous blog post that I signed up to be a guinea pig at the dental school. I went in last Wednesday to see if I qualify for the research study (something about mouthwash and germs), and I do! And according to the dentist, I have good dentition! I’m going back to the dental school in a couple of days so that they can get a mouth swab. I’m not allowed to eat, drink, or brush my teeth before going in. Fortunately, my appointment is pretty early in the morning–I’ll just hop out of bed and go straight to the dental school.

Speaking about teeth, one of my worst fears is having my teeth fall out. I have dreams nightmares about it. It’s really scary.

On Thursday, @sara_bee, @LaraZade, and @jasminezoo and I went thrifting! We were able to visit Treasure Mart, PTO Thrift Store, and the Salvation Army. We had dinner at Cafe Japon (I’d never been there before), and it was pretty good. We didn’t have time to make it to Value World, but I’m sure we’ll hit it up soon. My thrift store finds include necklaces, scarves, and fabric (maybe I’ll reupholster something!). Pictures to come.

The list:

1) Rodarte for Target! Oh, Target. You’re amazing.

“Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the Pasadena, California based sisters, who took home this year’s CFDA award for womenswear, have designed a 55-piece holiday collection for Target’s GO International. The clothes hit shelves on December 20th and will be priced from $9.99 – $79.99,  a major discount considering the girls normally charge up to $21,000 for one of their highly covetable wears.” (from Fashion Indie)

2) On the Street | Endgame. Oh, Bill Cunningham. You’re amazing too.

“Bill Cunningham reports on how far men’s wear has come since the uptight gray flannel suit.” (from NYTimes.com)

3) Mourning the Death of Handwriting (thanks @digvelouria). I still handwrite thank you cards!

“I can’t remember how to write a capital Z in cursive.” (read Claire Suddath’s full story here)

rambling #45 @ 11:05pm

In my room.

Currently listening to The Beatles.

No national or international holidays today (according to Google Calendar).

@BCBodnar and I hosted a dinner for a few friends tonight.  It was a success! The food turned out pretty good (@BCBodnar and I made a completely vegetarian dinner: veggie pizza, arugula and romaine salad, potato salad, avocado dip, and blueberry cobbler with ice cream–YUM!), and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I hope we can host another one soon.

Not too long ago, @sara_bee tweeted about moo.com giving away a free pack of sample business cards. I filled out an order and got my sample pack a couple of days ago (I didn’t realize they had arrived at my co-op until this morning)! You get 10 sample cards, and you get to choose any 10 images for one side of the cards. I found all my images on sxc.hu, an AMAZING stock photo website. The upside: the business cards are free. The downside: there’s a moo.com mark on the bottom of each sample card. If you don’t want the mark, you can pay about $6 to have them removed. The cards are pretty cool.

My sample pack of cards from moo.com. My information's on the other side. I'll probably use them as bookmarks.

The paper dress that I’m making out of the U-M Student Directory is slowly coming along. I have the top mostly done–it just needs some trimming and assembling.

The list:

1) thisiswhyyourefat.com. The web address says it all.

"The Miles Dog: A hot dog covered with cheese, tomatoes, grilled onions, ketchup, guacamole, and several slices of bacon."

"Deep Fried Captain Fluff: Deep fried Marshmallow Fluff and Cinnamon Toast Crunch."

2) Spotted: DC Summer Interns. Probably the most amusing blog I’ve read. Ever.

“This blog is dedicated to those DC residents who dread intern season. Interns swarm in like the Eighth Plague of Egypt (or the cicadas of 2004). Essential to the function of offices in DC, interns are willing to complete tasks that permanent staff are not and are eager to do so. For many interns, this blog will not apply. For those interns for whom it does apply, we hope that you use these anecdotes to change your behavior and, eventually, change the stigma attached to DC interns. *PLEASE NOTE: As with the viral nature of the Internet, many offices are concerned about anonymity and poor reflections upon them – please be assured that no office or individual will ever be singled out. This blog operates under complete anonymity and will never be of a libelous nature; it will never post any identifying information including, but not limited to: place of work or residence, name, or anything else that may identify an individual. We welcome you to submit any absurd intern stories you are bound to acquire. To the interns: please use this blog as a learning tool. Godspeed, my friends, and best of luck this summer.” (from http://dcinterns.blogspot.com/)

3) Target, Anna Sui, and Gossip Girl. Anna Sui is teaming up with the awesome Target to create a Gossip Girl-inspired line of clothes. There are a few dress/outfits each for Blair, Jenny, Vanessa, and Serena. I really like the Blair outfits.

Blair dress #1.

Blair dress #2 (possibly my favorite).

rambling #44 @ 5:22pm

In my room.

Currently listening to Amy MacDonald.

I’ve been on a thrifting frenzy this past week. I recently discovered that Ann Arbor has a Value World! I went there on Saturday and left with nine belts and two bags for $20. What a steal. I ended up going there yesterday, and left with yet another bag and scarf for about $20.

The list:

1) The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I read a ton of Roald Dahl books when I was a kid, but I never read Fantastic Mr. Fox. There’s a movie adaptation of the book coming out sometime in November I believe, and I’m super excited to see it. If I have time, I’ll try to read the book before the movie comes out.

The movie is a stop-animation production by Wes Anderson, and George Clooney voices Mr. Fox! Click here to see a trailer. Thanks to @CrossTheStreams for the heads up.

PS. I really want to see 500 Days of Summer.

2) manystuff.org. Check it out.

rambling #43 @ 9:24pm

Currently watching LOST with @BCBodnar

My housemate Bridget and I started watching LOST last week, and I can see why people are addicted to it.  We’re on Disc 6 of season one.

On Wednesday, I went to the Salvation Army and Treasure Mart in search of a briefcase like the one below. I think it’s so classy.

http://www.etsy.com/category/jewelry?page=19

But I couldn’t find one. Darn. I did find a crystal pendant and a pearl necklace at Treasure Mart though, and I only spent $10. Score!

I love Treasure Mart.

I am not giving up on the briefcase.

Yesterday, Bridget and I went to Fleetwood Diner.  Neither of us had been there before, and I think it was okay.  Here’s what happened:

Waitress: What kind of toast would you like?

Me: Um…french?

Waitress: White, wheat, or rye?

Yup. That really happened.

Bridget and I also went to Nakamura Co-op for a bit yesterday to celebrate my past roommate’s birthday. I hadn’t seen the birthday girl in ages, and it was really great to sit and catch up.

Early Sunday morning, Bridget and I are going to go to Afternoon Delight for breakfast (I think Bridget and I are going to hit up a good number of Ann Arbor restaurants this summer) and then we’re going to go to a Quaker service after that. There’s a Quaker/Friends House a few houses down from our co-op, and we think it’d be interesting to sit in on a service.

Today, I signed up to be a guinea pig at the Dental School. If I’m eligible for the study, I think I’ll be testing out some new mouthwash. I’ll get paid and a free teeth cleaning. Woot.

The list:

1) Lovely Package. A website similar to The Dieline. Loves it.

I love packaging design. This is what I want to do with my life.

2) Fleuron. Hmm. I can’t remember if I already blogged about this site.  Fleuron is a “journal of typography and design,” and there’s some pretty neat work on here.

By Isabelle Vaverka (visit her at http://isabellevaverka.net/)