July 4, 2008 The 4th with a kid.

Wish I was a kid still.

July 4, 2008 Grace’s Love List - 7/4

• I’m not much of a gamer but I do occasionally enjoy playing an online flash game. Poiser, a physics puzzle game, is one that I’ve been playing. I love the look - everything hand drawn and on grid paper. Reminds me of all the doodling I used to do in physics class.
• How do you hide an elephant? Great question and the answers offered from this Worth1000.com challenge will leave you highly amused.
• I need to pull out my Silhouette soon and create something. I might even try this idea I found decorating cakes using paper cutouts. Fun, stylish, and totally girly - just like me.

• The web designer in me is tickled with this icon watch from &Design. I am thoroughly enjoying this 8-bit inspired design. Ca-ute!
• I don’t know what it is about these stainless steel concrete rings from Escape Design, but they highly appeal to me. I like the sleek look, but I love the fact that it’s so elemental. I wonder how heavy it is. Maybe I need to order one to see.
• Are you a member of the Behance Network? I am. I find constant inspiration on the site, most recently from these sketch designs from Linzie Hunter. Her lettering sketchbooks are fun to browse through as are her other designs. Cool, cool, wicked cool.

BEING LAZY THIS WEEKEND
That’s my sole priority. Nothing but creating and cleaning then creating some more.

Happy 4th to everyone!

June 27, 2008 Grace’s Love List - 6/27

• These snow globes from Walter Martin are pretty rad. Some disturbing, some surreal, some super sweet - all of them very, very cool.
• I’ve never really been a video game player, but I did dabble when I was a kid. My favorites have always been and always will be the classic 64-bit games. Which is why I enjoy these designs by RETROnoob so much. Old school video games in their real life environments. Can you imagine? Reminds me of the Pontiac SpyHunter commercial I blogged about earlier this year.
• Did you know you can personalize M & M’s? I never did! I thought this was only available for corporations, but never realized individuals can have it done, too. What a great idea. When would I do this, I wonder? The possibilities are endless.

• Saw this magnetic white eraseboard on Flickr. Great idea. I’ve had a fetish recently about blackboards (see here), so maybe now I should start considering eraseboards. Rust-Oleum has a Dry Erase paint you can use to create something like this. A great idea for a kid’s room or an office, I think.
• This guy. Is hot. Fell in love with him in Becoming Jane and now I can’t wait to see him in Wanted. The movie looks awesome, but I really am going to go see it especially to watch him. Time which will be well spent, I say.
• Hallelujah! God bless Firefox 3. Everyone please move away from Internet Explorer if you haven’t done so yet and install Firefox 3. Aside from its many new and improved upon features, the single line item I am falling all over for is the fact that Firefox 3 (unlike previous versions) now has the ability to to render color profiles true. What does this mean? It means you’ll be able to see your photos in Firefox exactly how you see them in Photoshop, which most browsers have been unable to do (except just recently Safari). You do, however, need to turn this feature on in Firefox 3 because the default installation has this feature turned off. But go over and read this post on dria.org to see how to do this. I did and it was really, really easy. And now I see my photos and everyone else’s exactly how they’re meant to be seen.

OFF TO VEGAS THIS WEEKEND
My friends and I are having a girlfriend weekend getaway to Vegas, baby! I need to take it easy because my ribs still need some TLC, but I’m planning on documenting the entire trip with my trusty Nikon D300 (which I just bought the other day). Seriously, I need to stop treating myself.

Cheers!

June 24, 2008 On my mind.

It’s now 1:25am and I’m wide awake thinking about my wedding dress. Now, mind you, I’m not even close to getting married. Not even close. And I’ve never been the kind of girly-girl whose planned out her wedding since she was five. Nope, not me.

But right now, right this minute, I have the picture in my head what my perfect wedding dress would be. Finally. I thought I’ve been missing the girl gene. Glad to know it’s still in me. Somewhere.

Now I think I should stop thinking about my future wedding. Because I’ll end up thinking about my future husband and that’s a whole different kind of headache.

G’night.

June 20, 2008 Grace’s Love List - 6/20

Happy Happiest Day of the Year! On with the Love List.

• Love this Lady de Lacy bracelet. I’m a bracelet-wearing kind of girl and I enjoy the design of this one because it provides the right balance of ‘girly-girly + Wonder Woman-esque’ qualities I’m looking for in all my jewelry. Truly lovely. And I bet it repels bullets, too.
• Here’s a gallery that’s quite interesting: the Meaningful Life of Famous Logos. I’m constantly inspired by what I see around me and appreciate that otherwise normal things can being something more. That’s what a logo should be able to do. And seeing these famous ones in their otherwise normal settings gives me pause of the good kind.
• I love type design and Wordle fulfills my need to be able to define myself artistically. Type in anything you want - I used words that I felt described me - and the site will generate a graphic representation of those words. I can’t get enough of this stuff. For those of you who are web designers, the image generated from Wordle will make a great splah page, I think.

• Imagination, imagination, imagination. This chick’s got tons of it and her imagination has taken her futher than she ever dreamed. I spent some of my time yesterday reading her commencement address delivered to this year’s Harvard graduating class - “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination”. Very inspiring.
• Can an ice cream scoop be any sexier? I say no. This ice cream scoop by Cusipro is hot, hot, hot! I’ve always just used a regular dinner spoon to scoop out my ice cream. This sexy scoop may have me changing my ways.
• Oh, Anne. Anne with an ‘e’. You are my hero. Always have been, always will be. When I saw this felted Anne Shirley doll, I knew I had to share it on this Love List. Love her freckles and her “carrot” hair. So adorable!

DOWN BUT NOT OUT
I’ve sustained a body injury. Groan. But that’s not going to keep me down. I’m keeping company with my books this weekend. And my laptop. And the television I have in my room. As long as I have those three, I’ll be sane.

Have a great weekend!

June 19, 2008 I come cheap.

Need proof? I got it right here.

June 13, 2008 Grace’s Love List - 6/13

Happy Friday the 13th! Bwahahahaha…

• There’s something to be said about a group of people sharing with others those things they consider interesting. I love visiting FFFFound. FFFFound allows anyone to share photos they find on the internet, effectively creating an image bookmarking site. It’s amazing the things I’ve seen and I’m sure you’ll find something that interests you.
• When I started to create the new design for this blog, I searched the internet for resources to help me out. And I found this: The Designer’s Toolbox. It’s an online site offering free print tools and guides on a variety of products - envelopes, paper, html coding. Nicely done. Maybe you’ll find this site useful for your own designs.
• We are all sinners, don’t deny it. I certainly can’t. So I’m sure I should find a glass in this collection that should appeal to me. The 7 Deadly Glasses is a collection that offers a glass design to reflect each of the seven deadly sins. So cool.

• If you’re looking for unique, then maybe this postcard is for you. Work out your biceps, triceps, and forearms by carving a love message into this Wooden Postcard. The recipient will appreciate the effort, I guarantee it.
• Interesting. I follow the school of thought that if you write something down, it will matter. But maybe I should rethink that. These Melting Words give me food for thought.
• Now I’m not even in the frame of mind to start dating, but I wouldn’t mind getting one of these USB Mixed Tapes. Such a simple and brilliant way to keep romance going in this cynical, gadget-filled world

IPHONE + EMAIL = BAD, BAD, BAD
I didn’t realize that I had my iPhone configured to receive email in a way that it removes the copy of said email off the server. Great. I have about a week’s backlog of email I didn’t even realize I had. I reset my iPhone last week, and forgot to change my email settings back to how I had them originally. So my email was downloading every 30 mins without me even realizing it. Groan. Two steps forward, one step back. Such is the way of a techy.

CLOSET RE-ORGANIZING
That’s my project this week. I had installed slat French doors to my closet just recently. They add a touch of elegance to my room. And now all I want to do is decorate the begeezus out of it, LOL.

So more photos, more fun, and more projects to share on the weekend. Until then, cheers!

June 9, 2008 Grace in Chicago.

I’m finally just now sharing photos that I took on my trip to Chicago this past Memorial Day weekend. I went to help Joy photograph a wedding (and I’ll be sharing those photos in a post later this week). The wedding was fun, but I had a great time just trekking around downtown Chicago and visiting with Joy’s family.

I took a red-eye flight so I actually got into Chicago Midway early the next morning. On the way to Joy’s house, I caught this Illinois sunrise.

When we got to her home, there was a rainbow waiting for us.

Precious Cadence let me sleep in her room during my stay. She left me a note of welcome.

I got a taste of what it’s like to be a mother of three young ones. Oy vey. Haha.

After being in the Chicago area for CHA the last three years, I finally had the opportunity to actually go into downtown and tour. Here are just a few flowers that lined Michigan Ave.

Of course I took a photo of the Apple store. Of course I did.

Tourist central: The Water Tower Place.

Joy with her Aunt who was kind enough to act as our guide. She was super fun.

Joy is laughing at me about something, but I forgot what about.

My craving for Thai food and sushi was satisfied. Yum.

And my fortune. I concur.

I didn’t get a chance to visit with other friends while in Chicago, but I hope I get a chance to when I visit again in July! What?! Yup, I’m coming back for more wedding fun. Yay, I can’t wait!

June 6, 2008 Grace’s Love List - 6/6

• I always enjoy visiting Google’s homepage when holidays or days of interest come around. And the Doodle 4 Google exhibit imagines the Google logo redesigned by kids. Interesting.
• Are you a camera nut? I am. And these lens bracelets from re:vision are especially sweet. Too pricey for me, but I can dream.
• What color personality are you? If you’re curious, play the Voice of Color game to discover what color personality you are. Me? I’m water beads and pop art.

• What is it with me and piles of paper? Little pieces of paper continue to fascinate me. And here’s a nice collection from Three Potato Four. I should start putting together my own piles of paper to send. Would anyone really want a piece of paper that used to be an old receipt? Hmmm…
• Yes! Make Magazine (sister mag to Craft Magazine) has come out with their much anticipated Maker’s Notebook. I finished with a degree in Genetics in college, so you can bet that I interned as a lab rat during my last years. And I remember filling out lab research books to list out my experiments and their results. The Maker’s Notebook reminds me of that. This notebook is perfect for designers.
• I am in love with Duffy. Downloaded Rockferry from iTunes and I’ve had it playing almost nonstop. She reminds me of a more mellow Amy Winehouse, with an age-old sound but more poppy. The album is great for rainy days, but also for sunny days - it’s that diverse. Golden. Sweet. Lovely.

SOAP OPERAS ARE FASCINATING
I’ve never really watched soap operas. They always seemed kinda silly to me. But since I’ve been home sick these last two days, I’ve done nothing but watch them. Oh, my. I don’t want to be addicted, but I think it’s too late.

So my family and I are celebrating my grandfather’s 95th birthday on Saturday. Woah. And it’s a baby celebration for my friend Lizz on Sunday. And in between I’ll be creating and taking photos and blog designing. Joy.

Have a great weekend!

June 5, 2008 Clean slate.

A new year. A new blog design. A new Grace. Here we go.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
I celebrated my birthday this past Sunday with the best people in the world: my family and friends. The party started early Saturday evening and we did a countdown to midnight. So much fun. I felt incredibly loved and so lucky with the people in my life. We had food cooked by my brother, an awesome guava cake, an ample supply of spirits, and Rock Band. I couldn’t have asked for more than that.

Here are a few pics from that night:

Archie, getting the party started.

Celebrating Melinda’s 30th birthday, which was the Thursday before.

With my roommates from college. We saw SATC the night before and continued the party.

Everyone playing Rock Band. It’s so freakin’ addictive.

I’m sure I’m saying something truly riveting…

The spirits. And there was more in the ice box in the garage. Oy.

And a game of Texas Hold’Em. I don’t play, but I love to watch.

Can you find birthday Grace?

A photo of just a few of the birthday cards I received. Love them all and I’m going to scrap them soon.

Thanks to my Dad for making sure I was a girl, to my Mom for doing most of the hard work, to my brother for being my hero, and to all my friends for keeping me theirs and loving me unconditionally.

CHANGES
So you like the new blog design? Goodness, there are still massive additions I need to make, but at least I got the foundation of this blog design down. There are a lot of pages that will remain under construction through the weekend, so I hope you come back to visit to see the changes.

HOME SICK
Ugh. I’ve got a head cold that I can’t shake off. So I’m sick in bed and messing around with my blog design. I need to finish a few designs tonight. Art therapy - there’s nothing quite like it.