Have you ever...

... been faced with a decision that could change your life? And you're not sure if that change is for the better or for the worse?

I hate those decisions, just for the record.

Memorial Day Weekend!

Plans for my weekend at Tablerock Lake:

get tan

drive the Regal

drink a Landshark (or 12)

grill a hot dog on the pontoon

catch up on Glee (if the Internet cooperates)

sit outside by the fire

teach Maverick to swim (unlikely, but he has all summer)

read some of my Flannery O'Connor

And then on Monday, I'm heading home to pack for the big move next week!

Have a nice long weekend everyone!

Red Hot

Saw this Roberto Cavalli dress on Dress Design and Decor tthis morning. Isn't it fab? So perfect to look put together and yet stay cool in the STL summer heat.

Oh yeah, and her hair is perfect too.

Comic Icons

I don't like comics that much, but if I knew someone who did, I would buy them one of these Micheal Myers prints for their birthday. Yep, I'm that nice.

Check out the full collection. Thanks for the tip, Design Work Life.

For the Walls

Thanks Design Work Life for reminding me to take a second look at the Right Brain Terrain's shop. I just love their prints...

Thinking of buying one for the new apartment... but which one?

Thanks Mashable

Not only did they give me this guy to look at, but did you know Mashable offers ten free downloads every Monday? How did I miss this?

Today, they featured Sean Hayes (no, not that Sean Hayes) and his song 'Garden.' It is so pretty and reminds me of sleeping in on weekend mornings with the windows open... love.


#musicmonday

The End

Two sides. One black. One white.

RIP LOST. You will be missed.

Smokey

Beach Bum

These are all from LIFE Magazine in the 1940s and 50s. Aren't they just perfect? Ugh, get me to a beach ASAP.

Photos From My Vintage Vogue

I Want One

Um, hi. How cute/creepy how these little sloths? They look like little sleepy aliens. Inspiration for a lazy evening, no?

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

Thanks for sharing, Door Sixteen

The Candidate

Told Ya So

Told ya wallpaper was cool! Check out these designs from from Taylor Kincaid of Watermark Wallcoverings.

Not bad, ey?

Inspiration from Design Sponge

Stripe-ed

Is it pronounced 'striped' or 'stripe-ed'? 

Not important, just a little debate some friends and I had a while back. Anyway, you all know about my love for all things nautical, so of course I would love sailor-inspired stripes like these. When I saw these images on Dress Design and Decor, I couldn't help but repost, and go searching for some stripes of my own at the Gap. 

The Numbers

Pink Lady

It's official. I love pink lady apples. They are the perfect afternoon snack!

Becoming a Foodie. Slowly but Surely

I used to post more about food but haven't in a loooong time. Maybe it is because I'm about to move into my own place, but I've been looking at more food blogs recently (you all already know about my obsession with design blogs, and I already have some wish lists for my first grocery store trips... see posts here and here and here).

Anyway, here are two recipes that sound just delightful and I can't wait to try them out in my new kitchen...

Shrimp, Feta, and Fresh Herb Mac and Cheese (note: let's be honest, I wil probably replace the shrimp with chicken or bacon...)

1 lb. pasta shapes {I used whole wheat fusilli}
1 lb. frozen cooked shrimp (31-40 ct.), thawed and cut in half (if desired)
10 oz. feta cheese, crumbled and divided
Zest of 1 lemon, divided (or lemon juice...)
½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped, divided
5 tbsp. butter, divided
4 tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
2 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
8 oz. Gruyere cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta until al dente according to the package directions. Drain well; set aside.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400˚ F. In a small bowl, combine a handful of the feta, a pinch of the lemon zest, the panko, 2 teaspoons of the parsley and 1 tablespoon of the butter, melted. Toss with a fork to combine; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the flour to form a paste. Cook 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly, until light golden brown. Whisk in the milk. Continue to heat the mixture, stirring frequently, until it bubbles and thickens, about 5 minutes. As soon as the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the remaining feta, Gruyere, remaining parsley, remaining lemon zest, dill, salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the pasta, add the shrimp; toss well to coat.

Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased 2½ or 3-quart baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumb-feta mixture evenly over the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbling. Remove from the oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

From Mrs Harding Cooks

Roasted Asparagus with Toasted Breadcrumbs

2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cleaned
Olive oil
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Lemon wedges, to serve

Preheat a broiler to high.

In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs with the butter, lemon zest, garlic and chili. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Stir to combined well so that all the breadcrumbs get slicked and spiced.

Toss the asparagus with enough olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Spread onto a roasting pan and grill (broil), turning once, until bright green and tender, and beginning to brown here and there, around 4-5 minutes depending on the size of the spears. Remove from the oven and set aside on a serving dish, drizzle with a little extra olive oil, if you'd like.

If you can, turn the broiler down to low.

In the same pan, spread the breadcrumbs and toast under the broiler, turning often, until golden. Around 2-3 minutes. Stir the Parmesan and parsley into the crumbs and serve over the asparagus. Pass lemon wedges alongside, for extra zip.

Serves 4.

From Seven Spoons

Alive

It's one of my favorite books of all time. My sophomore year in high school, my English teacher gave us a choice between two books- Alive.... and something else (is that sad that I can't even remember what it was?). She warned us that Alive was a true story, about a group of rugby players that crashed in the Andes Mountains in the 1970s.... and it was pretty graphic. After spending years reading survivor stories like Lord of the Flies and Hatchet, I'm not really sure what intrigued me enough to want to read this book (after all, it's not like my favorite plane crash survivors of Oceanic 815 had even come about yet...), but I did.

Their story is one of struggle, of faith. It is truly heartbreaking. I've never seen the movie (starring Ethan Hawke), I'm not even sure if I still own my copy of the book. I read it once, and that's all it took.

And then this morning, I came across this documentary of the incident- Stranded: I've Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains. Blame it on the end of Lost, but I have a renewed interest in the story. Perhaps I'll even go home and look for that old copy of the book and reread it again. I know one thing, I'll be renting this documentary very soon...

Looocke

Not your momma's wallpaper...

Isn't this pretty?
Wallpaper is cool again (in my opinion). It is no longer those hideous floral prints or sports collages we saw in the 80s and 90s... now, these designs are cool. For more cool prints (under $100) like the one pictured here check out this post from Design Sponge.

Tonight: What They Died For

Tonight is the last episode before the finale.... yikes.

The Beginning of the End.

It's FINALE week for LOST. And to celebrate/mourn, everyday I will be featuring a different LOST print from Mattson Creative. (Yes, I know, I should feature these on Addicted to Television, since it is in fact TV related... but it is also design related. So there.)

To all you crazies who don't 'get' Foursquare:

It is no secret that I love Foursquare. And my stance on it is that same as it is with most social media-

If you don't get it, or if you think it's stupid, then you're not doing it right. 


Seriously. Foursquare isn't about just getting badges and mayorships or stalking your friends. You can leave tips at places you love; when you go to a new place, you can check the tips to find out what is good there; you learn about new places just by seeing your 'friends' check in there; oh, and it is a great way to remember where you went last night... you know, when that is necessary (we've all been there).

And guess what? It doesn't have to be stalkerish. You can make it so your checkins don't show up. Anywhere. You can make it so you have no 'friends.' It can totally just be for personal use if you want it to be that way. (But that is kind of lame, in my opinion).

Anyway, I'm just sick of people making fun of it. Or making fun of me for using it. That's just rude.

Oh, and I'm sick of this guy who wrote the AdAge article How Location-Based Social Networking Gets Creepy. Basically, he creates a location for his son's school and when he gets dethroned, his jealousy gets the best of him and he does a little research on the guy....

"Turns out the new mayor, from what I could see, was a real Foursquare pro. He'd amassed more than 40 badges -- awards Foursquare gives out for certain behaviors, and in this case those awards included:

• Crunked -- 4+ stops in one night

• Player Please -- Look at you checking in with 3 members of the opposite sex

• Animal House -- Off the Wagon Appreciates Your Business, COLLEGE!

• Douchebag -- Doublepop that collar son

• Hookup -- Two different hotels? This is Austin, not the Jersey Shore! (though you made The Situation proud)

Along with a variety of other Austin, Texas-specific badges. This guy was definitely a Foursquare playa. He also earned the Super Mayor badge as well, for holding down 10 or more of these mayorships simultaneously.

And of those 10, almost all of them were in Austin -- the only Bay Area ones (along with my son's school) were "Underwater and ON THE MOON" and Firefly Restaurant.

Oh, and his profile picture was not one to inspire confidence in a couple of suddenly suspicious dads. Who was this crazy, bar- and bed-hopping guy from Austin? Why was he mayor of OUR school?"

He proceeded to look the guy up on Twitter and call him out, implying that he was some sort of pedophile or something. Ummm... inappropriate?

Turns out, the guys was a Dad of a kid at the school. Oops.

Okay, let's be clear here sir. It isn't Foursquare that is creepy. It's you. You got jealous. You looked this guy up. You jumped to conclusions. You are the creep.

Did you ever just think he liked Foursqaure a lot and checked in at a bunch of places, earning those mayorships? As for the badges..

• he could have gotten the Crunked just by going to four places in one day (even though the language says 'night', it is for a whole day, which is totally normal)
• he could have gotten the Player Please just by checking in with a group of friends (believe it or not, it is normal and socially acceptable to have 3 or more friends that are members of the opposite sex...)
• the Animal House badge is for checking in at three locations with a 'frat boy' or 'college' tag. Ummm this could be pretty much any bar, college building, library.... not that big of a deal. 
• and the Douchebag badge is for checking in anywhere that has been tagged with 'douchebag'. Chances are, this was the same place that was tagged as 'frat boy' and college'. 
• as for the Hookup badge, maybe he works for hotels. Maybe he was travelling. Maybe he was just checking them out. Maybe a million possibilities....

Jumping to a conclusion that a person might be a pedophile based on their Foursquare badges is just ridiculous.

Come Sail Away

Maybe it was my recent visit to All Along Press, or maybe it is my love of all things nautical thanks to a certain sorority, but I absolutely love these nautical letterpress finds from Design Work Life, don't you?

An ode to my aviators

A few weeks ago, someone stepped on my absolute favorite pair of aviators. I was heartbroken. I have been wearing the same pair of $5.80 Forever 21 Aviators for the last three years, every summer stopping in to pick up at least three pair. I was down to my last two- one, lost in the streets of Soulard on Mardi Gras, and now the other, smashed.

I went to Forever 21's website but, to my dismay, my sunnies were no where to be found. I knew it was probably time to move on, but the idea of finding a new pair seemed impossible. It's not like this is my first time trying to look beyond Forever. I've tried on 'av's' everywhere I see them- Target, gas stations, outlet malls, department stores- but they never seem right.

My babies had the perfect shape, the perfect fit, and the perfect gold/brinze tints to match my tan face and blondish summer hair. That isn't something yu can easily replace, believe me.

Anyway, I had all but given up the search (guess my classic black wayfarers and new/old bug-eyed rosy glasses I stole from my Grandma's basement would have to do...), when the most amazing thing happened.

There, on the most unorganized sunglass rack in the world, right in the middle of South County's Forever 21, was one last pair of my beloved aviators!

I got them, duh, along with another pair with slightly square-er lenses that also look, in my opinion, pretty awesome on me.

Here are some pictures of me in my aviators to celebrate this glorious day!

Maps

I love these maps by These Are Things. Wouldn't they look so good hanging in the front room of my new apartment? I am, after all, calling it 'my classy space.'

Inspired by the post at Design Sponge

I heart STL

"We're not going to get those people to live here for our mountains or our oceans or great lakes. Our weather can suck. But if the arts and culture scene is vital, people will want to be here.

We're blessed with a great university (and a couple of very good ones), a world-class symphony orchestra and opera company, fabulous layers of architecture from antique to cutting edge, a vital network of free art museums, zoos, theatre and nature preserves. We have one of the greatest public library systems in the country. We have Chuck Berry playing live every week in the Loop, and hip hop and blues and jazz and bluegrass and old time music and ragtime and funk. We have one of the world's greatest pieces of design rising 630 feet as our city's welcome mat.

The arts are so pervasive and ubiquitous here that we natives stop seeing them; they become part of the furniture. That's too bad. We St. Louisans sometimes become immune to how special this city is."

From TOKY's interview by The St. Louis Egotist

Proof

Proof that a smile goes a long way. I know it's Monday, but cheer up people.

Both images from The Sartorialist

Tennies

I want I want I want

Via Dress Design and Decor

Ideal Afternoon... or Morning

From Dress Design and Decor

Apartment soul mate

OMG friends. I have found the perfect apartment inspiration via Tiny-Ass Apartment.

Couches and rugs that don't really match but still look cool together (and replace that cat with my dog instead...); A chair as a bedstand (I plan on using one as a purse, coat, keys holder at the front door too); Dog bowls in the kitchen; Wall covered in photos and paintings and other cool stuff that doesn't line up too perfectly; And a big ass bookshelf




Sorry that this blog has taken a sudden turn towards interior design, but you're just going to have to deal.

Sorry that was rude. Please keep reading my blog. :)