Friday Finds

photo by yours truly from June of 2010

This week's Friday Finds are an eclectic collection of things I have stumbled across during brief periods of web-perusing within my busy week. I am excited to say that this week brought the final version of Kaira and Tom's wedding invites, and I hope to be able to share a new post about them at the beginning of next week (with Kaira's permission, of course!)  In addition to that, I am planning on getting some more of my art photographed this weekend to add to my web gallery.  I am anticipating nice, relaxing days in order to catch up on some sleep since I will be out of town next weekend with friends for the Wine on the Lake festival in Erie, PA.  Enjoy the Friday Finds and have a great weekend!

• The wide open space in the background of this print by maechevrette on ETSY reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting.  Also, the colors in this piece are so great. 
• I spent more than an hour this week trying to beat my high score on this game over at I Love Typography. Normally, I am not a game person, but a game about fonts? Yes, please!  What is your highest score?
• Speaking of fonts, this website is helpful because it identifies fonts used in branding within the real world:  Fonts in Use.  Did you know that 15 of the 20 most common brands use Helvetica?
• This bag on Endless makes me super excited for summer to get here. Do you know about Endless?  You should. 
• Adorable St. Patrick's Day photo collage on Erin Ever After- one of my new blog faves!  Loving the mini Guinness.  Also on Erin Ever After: sigh.
• I am such a fan of this springtime post on Scrapblog. Which image is your favorite?  Here's mine.
• Hubs got the new HTC Thunderbolt yesterday.  Its really awesome.  I mean out-of-control fast, and even more awesome.  I definitely am jealous, and the huge nerd in me definitely recommends that you go buy one, then download this, this, this and this.

fonts and fridays,

Friday Finds: Color Palette

[via]

While browsing ETSY's photography section, I came across this beautiful photo that I'd love to purchase for my dining room.  This fall, it became necessary for me to repaint our entire house, and I decided on a really nice neutral brown for our dining room, with bold raspberry and wine accents.  I think that a print of this photo would look wonderful in that room, and I hope to be able to make that happen some day.  Check out the full ETSY shop here.

Bokeh City Lights

I was searching for an interesting new wallpaper for my phone and I began thinking about what kind of photography I have been drawn to lately.  I always like to have a wallpaper that is colorful, without being too overwhelming so that I am still able to easily navigate through my home screens.  I began by searching 'abstract backgrounds' which eventually lead me to thinking about cities at night, and how a well-composed and well-exposed photo of a city becomes a piece of artwork almost instantly.  Add the 'bokeh' photography technique into the mix, and well, I'm sold.

For those of you who might not know, bokeh is a Japanese term that refers to a style of photography in which a composition is created out of unfocused points of light. 'Bokeh is not how far something is out-of-focus, bokeh is the character of whatever blur is there.' [via]  Bokeh photography can be shot at any time of day, but personally I am partial to the photos taken at night.  Just check out the results from my Google search 'bokeh city lights,' below.  There is just something so surreal and romantic about all of these photos.  Plus, who couldn't love the vivid color schemes?

source

Colors and creativity,

Vacation Tease

My new in-laws left yesterday for a 4 day trip to Las Vegas. I may or may not have been stalking the weather there, and I may or may not know that its supposed to be 70 degrees and mostly sunny all week long.

And then there's Pittsburgh...Whomp, whomp, whomp.

19, still????????

So bear with me while I get a little nostalgic and relive last summer's trip to Las Vegas (our mini-moon, turned honeymoon) through photos:

We stayed at the beautiful Monte Carlo Resort and Casino which is right in the middle of the strip.  I would absolutely recommend staying here to anyone planning a vacation, because not only is it within a reasonable walking distance to the other hotels and attractions, it also has a Starbucks downstairs and caffeine is essential in order to make it through the day after a night out in Vegas.  We ended up booking the trip last-minute (a hurricane cancelled our other plans) so we got an amazing deal on a suite in the VIP section of the Monte Carlo- Hotel 32.  (Think: private elevator, free food, concierge, the works.)

It was my goal to see as many of the hotels as possible, and I think that we did a pretty good job:

Paris: I had my first meal in Vegas at Mon Ami Gabi.  This picture was taken from my seat- yes, I wanted to sit outside.  Not really aware of just how hot that your first time in 106 degree desert heat feels when you are sitting in the sun, exhausted, jet-lagged and trying to eat.

Bellagio: Botanical gardens, check. Perusing high-end retailers. Check, drool... left empty-handed.  Well, not completely empty-handed... I did buy ice cream from Jean-Philippe Chocolates. Double drool. Do not miss this place when you are in Vegas!!!  Even if you do not like chocolate, the fountains and beautiful gourmet cakes are worth the trip.  It is a small store, but a visual spectacle none-the-less.

Caesars:  Did Caesar really live here?  Do you know if this hotel is pager-friendly? Buncha payphones?  Business. The list goes on... I pretty much just went there because I was not thinking when I packed, and only brought 3+ inch heels to walk around in. Thus, I found myself in the shoppes at Caesar's, spending way too much money on the most comfortable and stylish sandals that I could find.  Word to the wise, pack cute, casual and versatile shoes for the daytime. Do nooooooot think for a second that you can walk around in heels.  Las Vegas is a lot bigger than it looks like in the movies.

Venetian:  Nothing more to say than: 'I WILL ride one of those darn gondolas someday!'


Planet Hollywood:  The only place we gambled.  I was bummed because I spent $3 on blackjack and lost two.  Needless to say, I did not go to Vegas to lose significant amounts of money.  Spend? Obviously.  Lose? No way.  We also saw Holly Madison's Peepshow that night.  For the record: it is not at all what you are thinking.  Planet Hollywood is definitely tailored towards the hip, younger crowd- and that is exactly what her show appeals to.  It was a fun experience, and I really had a great time exploring one of the newer resort/casinos.  I expected PH to be super cheesy, but it was not at all.

In a word, going to Las Vegas after one of the most hectic periods (read: wedding) of my life was amazing. On the second day, we rented a cabana and spent the entire day lounging by the pool in the Nevada summer sun.  Although we could have easily been sight seeing and doing a ton of other vacation-related things, that 'day off' is what I will remember most about our trip.  Relaxing with my new husband.  Enjoying a kind of heat that I had never felt before.  Seeing a palm tree in person for only the 4th time in my 25 years.  In a way, I became thankful that the other vacation we had planned didn't work out the way we had expected. I think that J and I both found that Las Vegas is a place that we'd love to visit again.

view of the Monte Carlo's pool from our private cabana for the day

Have you ever gone on a trip that was more interesting and exciting than you expected?  Have you been to Las Vegas?  What was your experience like?


Hotels and hot temperatures,

Take me away.

from the plane on the way to Vegas- September 2010

Lately I've been having vacation dreams.  Lots of them.  These are not your typical, run-of-the mill, 'just driving a few hours to visit family' vacation dreams. (Frankly, that's not a vacation any which way you look at it.)  These are serious vacation dreams.  Over the weekend, I was standing on an isolated beach in the Caribbean with perfect white sands and my toes just reaching the warm, sapphire water.   There was not a single person around for miles and miles. A bunch of silly non-realistic things happened in the dream right after that- it was a dream after all- however, I woke up feeling like I had literally just been to the Caribbean.  That is one place that I have never been, so this dream in particular really stood out for me.

I told J about it that morning and how I got woken up by the salt truck driving on our street (reality, bummer), but tried to hurry up and fall back asleep because that was just before I found out what our hotel room looked like in the dream.  Seeing how hotel rooms are decorated in new locations is often just as exciting for me as the location itself.  Note:  "Our hotel room" yes, my dreams would not let me go on a beach vacation alone, because that- my friends, would be a nightmare in my book.  WAY too much silence and alone time for my liking.  Anyone else with me on that?

Unusual Sky

It seems as though weather in the wintertime changes by the minute. We had a beautiful sunny day in Pittsburgh yesterday, but overnight, a nasty ice storm.  As the weather began to change in the afternoon, I snapped a few pictures of the unusual sky that I noticed while driving home from work.

Our house sits at the top of a hill overlooking the main road in our area, and a very large set of neighborhoods. We are surrounded by huge, old pine and walnut trees which tend to block most sunsets that we would be able to see otherwise.  Every now and then the sky gets colorful when the sun is still relatively high over the horizon.  Yesterday was one of those days.

Enjoy!

Snowed In. (Sort of...)

old doors have quite a bit of character, wouldn't you say?

I have been sick and home from work for the past few days (bummer).  Although I have not moved too far from my couch or bed, I was able to take a few minutes to enjoy, at least, looking at the snow that we got in Pittsburgh over the past few days.  Somehow, staring out the window became way more interesting than hearing the same news stories over and over again on daytime TV. Although every once in a while, its nice to have time to rest, I am definitely thankful that my days do not consist of TLC and Lifetime (not that they ever, ever will!) In the few hours that I was awake while trying to recover from this nasty fever/flu, I managed to successfully creep myself out over the many noises this fifty sixty-one year old house makes when the wind blows.  I swear to you that I have never heard some of the nosies before- but they are just the wind, ok? Ok. Regardless of the creepy noises, a midwinter snowstorm is always welcome, especially when you aren't able to go anywhere.  Tomorrow hopefully it will be back to the grind for this girl, sans my three-day 100 degree + temperature.

Pink-Soled Heels

I LOVE pink.  When J and I got married, my shoes had pink bottoms(!).  I designed them myself, and they were, in fact, one of my favorite parts of the entire day.  Our photog forgot to take a picture of our rings that day, so this is a little number that I put together to make up for that fact. The next time I have white roses, I'll take another "should have been taken" ring picture. Thank you Nina and Diamond Design Jewelers for giving us the freedom to create and choose such beautiful things. This picture means a lot to me because- in a very personal way- it embodies many of the challenges we met while planning our big day. Sigh.  More on that another time perhaps?

p.s. 4.25 inch heel for NINE HOURS straight!