Gobble Gobble


It snowed. Sure it's late November now, but it finally snowed.

I am flooded with nostalgia. The past few weeks have been full of new experiences and  inspiring moments. I went to MASS MoCA - the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art - the other weekend with some friends and one of our professors 'chaperoned' us. Except what I didn't know was that he had work exhibited at the museum, and he knew most of the artists who had exhibitions and was able to describe the thought process behind such contemporary art. One of my favorite exhibits was the collective work of Sol LeWitt. He produces huge paintings by writing a set of instructions for someone else to follow, and the end product are these monolithic wall paintings that are just fantastic to experience.

I have also asked my grandparents if they would be willing to fly me out to visit them during my spring break next year. So guess who is going to Phoenix in March! I'm so excited to see them, and to be able to visit Amy. But, part of the reason I had wanted to visit them was also to visit one of my friends who goes to school in San Diego, and I'll be spending a few days with her too. It's going to be an amazing spring break.

I spent the Thanksgiving Holiday in New York City. It's so kitschy to be there for the holiday but it's also one of those once-in-a-lifetime thing so I tried to experience as much as I could. The Macy's Day Parade, Black Friday on 5th ave, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the holiday market in Union Square which is basically a street fair dedicated to Christmas. (File under: things I am definitely okay with.) My friends and I did a contemporary take on the traditional Thanksgiving meal by making turkey burgers and fixing them up with stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce - which is actually kind of delicious. I'm thankful to have found friends to share the holiday with.

Side note: hibiscus margarita.

Second side note: I vehemently despise Tuxedo, New York. But that's another story. 

The Weekend Came



What a week it has been! Unnecessarily stressful, really.
Over the course of it I have run into some things online that I have been saving and decided to share.

I actually made the image above... Couldn't be possible without this guy and his processing software!

Make your own bagels

Interesting recipe... one pan pasta

And finish off the meal with a chocolate chip cookie kahlua milkshake

While we are discussing alcohol, check out these diagrams explaining wine

This dog is more fashionable than you are

8-Bit Architects make me laugh

How to take photos at parties

After trying an earl grey cookie at the wine bar I want to try and make some...

Thinking about the holidays already? Love Star Wars? You want these

The perfect night alone


Enjoy and have a great weekend!



Saturday.



I woke up at 8:00 am, wide awake, and feeling hungry. Upon getting up and realizing that we didn't have any breakfast food because we haven't gone grocery shopping in approximately three weeks, I immediately showered and decided to make the most of my morning.

Fall has hit upstate New York at full force; brisk winds and piles of leaves galore. So I bundled up and walked downtown, where I got breakfast and coffee at The Daily Grind, one of the handful of awesome coffee shops that are around here. After my egg, bacon and cheese on a croissant I walked over to the hardware store and picked up some electrical tape for my Halloween costume (which was not worn on Halloween, but on Saturday night to the annual architecture party: Creepy Crawl.) I meandered over to the farmers market where I got a giant head of butter lettuce for $3, some cherry tomatoes, and locally made peanut butter that is infused with maple and honey. I ran another errand, and headed back to my apartment.

The entire time I was by myself, but it was one of those mornings that was perfect for being alone. I was able to collect my thoughts and smiled to myself as I walked up the somewhat treacherous hill home.

And then the Halloween party. I went as a Mondrian painting, which I had been planning out for a while now. I used electric tape and duct tape on a pair of white pants and a white tee shirt to mimic his aesthetic, and continued the look up my face just for flair. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to end the week-long celebration of turning 21.


Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween!

Twenty One.

I had what was probably the most low key twenty first birthday of any college student ever and I loved every minute of it. I was thrown a "surprise" birthday party that involved the coolest cake ever that my mom set up for me, and all of my closest friends were there. Halloween + Birthday = Amazing cake. It included black and white stripes that reminded me of beetlejuice, eyeballs all over, and a wine glass covered in gore. Chocolate cake, of course. Delicious.

And to celebrate my new ability to go out to bars, at midnight on the 31st some of my closest friends took me out to one of the iconic bars in our area to celebrate, The Ruck. Then on my birthday I wanted to go to this wine bar called The Confectionery to celebrate because I had heard some great things about it. In the end most of my best architecture friends were there celebrating with me, and as a birthday treat the waiter gave me the most expensive glass of wine on the menu for the cheapest priced one. There was conversation, cheese tasting, and wine drinking that made my night. After that, one of our friends made us sushi while I was served glass after glass of bourbon, and it was truly an enjoyable night.

So thank you guys, all of you, for making my birthday a wonderful one.

In addition, since a year has gone by, consequentially so have another year of goals. In the past year I have achieved a few of my 21 before 21, so I decided to do 21 before 22, because it's one less and I would really like to check everything off this year.

21 Before 22

- Develop a work-out schedule
- Become LEED Accredited
- Have one vegetarian meal a month
- Read/Watch the Game of Throne serires
- Submit an entry for a design competition 
- Travel somewhere new (Canada?)
- Read Subculture
- Go to a winery
- Draw more
- Learn how to use sketch-up and AutoCAD
- Have my grandma show me how to crochet a blanket
- Get an architecture internship
- Go to the Seattle Public Library 
- Take a yoga class
- Run a half marathon
- Grow a mustache
- Go to Beth's Cafe & get a 12 egg omelet
- Go paddle boarding
- Start regularly recording my outfits
- Use and develop at least 1 disposable camera
- Get my motorcycle drivers licence

© An Integral Design. Design by Fearne.