love.

over the weekend I stumbled into an amazing little thrift store with piles and piles of old forgotten photographs. I fell in love with this picture and could hardly believe my luck when I turned it over and found the equally touching inscription on the back.

I've had a rough couple days and almost feel like this photograph was planted for me - makes my heart melt every time I look at it and gives me hope that one day I'll have what they have.

the rendering that took 20 hours..

..and still didn't come out correctly!! That is definitely fuzzy gray carpeting where my awesome hardwood floors should be!!

But all in all, I guess it's not so bad for my first rendering in Revit!! And I'm just glad my laptop could actually handle it.. I was getting nervous around hour 17!

4.16.11

Virginia Tech.



The amazing crowd that braved the bitter cold and vicious wind to honor 32 lives.

My sweet brother cooked me a feast for breakfast Saturday morning! And he's not changing a light bulb in the next picture - we were hunting Easter eggs that my mama planted all over his apartment! Just for the record, I won by a landslide.

sleep pretty darling..

This Saturday marks 4 years. Hard, hard, hard to believe.

I still miss my Rossmo and it still feels like just yesterday we were eating chocolate croissants and trying to decipher our music theory notes together.

But I'm looking forward to being back on the VT campus this weekend and running the 3.2 for 32 run again. It's an amazing feeling to see everyone come together like that each year.. gotta love that Hokie spirit!!



neVer forgeT.

friends and donuts.. what more do you need?

I had so much fun last night catching up with the girls.. and finally trying a hot and ready Krispie Kreme!! Brought home a hat for Lucas, but the leftover donuts didn't quite make it that far!!

I'll never settle for Dunkin's again.

cupcake mission

My little cousin and a friend came into the city today JUST for some Georgetown cupcakes.. that's a 2-hour ride here and then an hour and a half wait just to get into the shop!! That's some serious dedication.

And definitely worth it.. a dozen cupcakes each and lots of laughs :] Can't wait to see her again!



I tore into mine before I even had time to get a picture!! The Cherry Blossom cupcake is my favorite so far.. loaded with cherries!!

wish list.

Someone buy me this Alen Lewis print, please!! :] Hint hint, Lucas.

can't get enough blossoms!

cherry blossoms

I experienced my first food cart.. $6 hot dogs, yikes!

at the Tidal Basin.. blossoms at their peak!

I hate McDonald's with a passion, but I had a lapse of judgment the other night and ended up in their drive-thru with Lucas. I had actually heard of their shamrock shake, so I talked Lucas into getting one to split. Leave it to McDonald's to make a florescent green, lime-flavored shake (apparently really fake mint flavoring becomes lime). I actually really liked it! Ha..

lost it.

This is how we recover from a long, busy week/weekend.

warning: may be too cute for some audiences

Skunk had a birthday this week, so my parents took him to the spa for some grooming and pampering! And he was such a good birthday boy that his stylist sent him home with a bag full of treats and a birthday monkey! Happy 3rd birthday, Skunky Monkey.

Skunk's very first bath.. only a few months old! He's deathly afraid of the water.. his whole body still locks up when we get him near a tub!

Makes me miss having a puppy of my own!! Lucas is definitely not a dog guy, though, and we could never agree on a breed anyway. I need a hypoallergenic dog and Lucas will only settle for a Pomeranian. Yeah.

But if we could find one anything like this guy, I might cave:

to my pumpkin.

Two years ago today we met for the very first time and went walking down the Huckleberry Trail together in Blacksburg. I thought you looked pretty tough with your shaved head.. but that you seemed much shorter in person (sorry!). But we clicked right away and talked like we were already close friends. You were even a gentleman and drove me the whole minute and a half back to where my car was parked!

Who knew that two years later, we'd be engaged and living in DC together! I would never have made this move without you and I'm so thankful for a man who encourages me to push my limits, keeps me laughing, is patient when I have the mean reds, and makes this country girl feel safe in the [sometimes scary] big city!

Love you, Pumpkin.
-Your cupcake

why yes, we do wash our dishes in the bathtub.

Our kitchen sink is broken and we've been playing phone-tag with our maintenance man all week.

Don't be fooled by my smile in this picture. It was amusing at first and there were lots of giggles.. but washing dishes in the tub gets old real fast - believe me!!

color theory color schmeory

Phew!! Finished all my desaturation charts and monotone interior!! Check em out!

these take absolutely forever to paint.. soo relieved to have all mine done for the semester!

it was a struggle to keep myself from mixing in other colors, but we weren't even allowed to desaturate the color we selected for our monotone scheme!

Next up, analogous interiors!! Actually looking forward to this one.. and being able to use multiple colors!

catch up

I finally got a day off to stay home in my pj's and catch up on all my homework that's been piling up on me!! And it's crucial that I get most of it done today, too, because I'll be vacationing this weekend (yay!) and next week my little brother is coming to DC for the first time!!

I was chatting with a friend last night about how pulling all-nighters just doesn't seem to work as well now that we're in grad school. I guess we're too old for that now! But one day this week, she woke up at 6:30 and was able to get so much done - and could actually focus, too! I was determined to be as productive as possible today, so I climbed out of bed at 7:15 this morning.. not quite 6:30.. but we're taking baby steps, ok! And it really did make a difference - I had time to make a really great breakfast, answer some work emails, and clean up the apartment a little before tackling my assignments!

herbal tea with oatmeal, almond butter, homemade granola, and strawberry slices! yum!

the wreckage on my drafting table just before I took a break for lunch

I have a tendency to procrastinate, so typically once I finally start an assignment, I panic and worry that I'm not going to get it done in time.. which just makes focusing that much more difficult!! But getting so much done in the morning actually gives me a lot of momentum and energy for the rest of the day, so this is great! Back to work!!

lungs

Can I just say how much I love Florence Welch? Like I want to wake up some morning and just BE her.

This past week, I caught a case of the mean reds and fell into an artistic rut.. I moped around for days until tonight, when I finally turned off Netflix and turned on some Florence + the Machine. I swear, her voice is like caffeine. It's so soulful and powerful. I can't help but sing.. or yell.. along to her songs [when Lucas isn't around].. makes me feel like I can do anything!

And this video.. not only is the song amazing, but the images are completely inspiring:



Love. It.

virginia tech love

I finally got my Etsy print in the mail yesterday! A friend sent me the link to this and I just couldn't resist!! My fiance and I met at Tech, so this print was perfect and I just had to get my hands on a copy for our apartment!! Can't wait to find a frame for it :]

Thanks, Art Shark!

home, where my thoughts escape..

I got to spend a few days with my parents over the holiday weekend. As always, it went by way too quickly.. but it was amazing while it lasted. We got hit with some serious springtimey weather, so I took advantage and spent each afternoon in the grass with my book and my puppy!

I love that no matter how long I've been gone, Skunk is always so happy to see me :]

Apparently he's become a goat-herder.

He's so sneaky! As you can see.. always snatching things! But he's so much fun to play with; and after the last few weeks, I really needed some time to just.. play!

I did some exploring, too.. and found all sorts of beautiful birds' nests. I'm always amazed at the intricate detail of those things. I found an abandoned egg, too, but skunk ate it.

thou are my love and i am thine, i drew thee to my valentine!

After a painful 5 and a half hours of Color Theory, I was finally able to come home and spend the evening with my Valentine! I was literally falling through the doorway, dropping my markers and gouache, when I saw the beautiful pink flowers he had gotten me!! Definitely the pick-me-up I needed!!

If that wasn't enough, next to the flowers was a little box with these super cute earrings hiding inside!! Cupcakes because, well, he calls me his "cupcake".. I know, I KNOW.. but I love it! :]

And no Valentine's Day would be complete without the chocolate, so here are the Oreo Truffles I made for my guy.. though, it's been a struggle not to eat them all myself!!

I just love this day of the year! Nothing ever seems quite as bad on Valentine's.. not even 5.5 hour classes!

Happy Valentine's Day, Pumpkin.

jackpot.

For Color Theory this semester, we're required to get some design markers to experiment with, so I asked Daddy if I could borrow just a couple of his..

.. and this is what I got in the mail today!! Thanks, Dad!!

spring feva.

I've been in desperate need of some springtime color! Day after day of cold and gray skies can really bring a girl down! So with a trip to Harris Teeter and a few fun vintage bottles, I've got myself a windowsill garden to cheer me up!