Porch Love

One of my biggest regrets while living in New York was not taking the time to travel around and visit all the cities that were so close to me: DC, Philadelphia, all of New England. They were all just a train ride away and yet–with the exception of going to Atlantic City–I never made it out of NYC proper. Of all the places on the East coast I wanted to visit, Boston was always at the top of my list. It wasn’t until two years after moving back to Portland that I made it out to that amazing city. As some of you may know, my brother is going to law school in Boston and our family took a trip out there for Thanksgiving to visit. It was all around a great trip and there were so many amazing things to see, but one thing I really took away with me was the amazing porches these New Englanders have! One night we decided to walk to the house where JFK grew up. As we were walking down the street, the porches these beautiful houses had were so wonderful and looked cozy–even on a chilly November night. I remember my mom and I talking about how great it would be to update their porch in a similar style.

It’s a Grey Area

I love Design*Sponge. I really do. I think they have such creative ideas and I love the articles they come up with. They’re so unique and really can get those juices flowing when I’m feeling uninspired. One of my favorite d*s segments is ‘before & after’. Talk about creativity! The people featured can come up with the greatest stuff and make it seem–for the most part–like I can do it too!

So I was excited to head to the site to check out the latest installments. They had one featured today about a guy who upgraded his daughters nursery. For the first time ever, this before and after gave me a little sick feeling in my stomach. Maybe it’s just me being an over-sensitive designer.. who knows. Maybe you all can help me decide!

There’s No Place Like Home

I’ll admit it: I’m obsessed with interior design. I love seeing how designers mix and match textures, colors and patterns and I strive to make my home beautiful and serene. At this point in my life, I’m living in a studio apartment which means all of the design elements in my home have to be temporary. However, I dream of someday owning a home–a little fixer-upper that I can use to create my own oasis. I have looked through a lot (a lot) of design magazines, blogs and books and have mentally dog-eared all the inspiring places and have been designing my ‘dream home’ in my mind. However, until yesterday I have never seen any home as close to my vision as actress Keri Russell‘s Brooklyn brownstone featured in Elle Decor.

Good Hair

I’ve been on a documentary kick lately. I love taking a peek inside someone else’s life and seeing what it’s like to live like they do. There are so many things out there that I am completely unaware of, but I like to try to enlighten myself to different ways of life as much as I can. Whether that’s through traveling to a different country, a different city, reading a blog or just popping in a DVD, there are all kinds of ways we can become more aware of others which will, in turn, make us more accepting of others–something I struggle with on a daily basis.

So, after I heard about Good Hair–a Chris Rock documentary about the lengths black women go to get the ‘perfect’ hair–I immediately put it on my Nexfix queue and eagerly awaited that little red envelope in my mail box. It came in over the weekend, but last night was the first chance I had to actually watch it. I was planning on posting about something different today, but after watching the film, I decided that I wanted to share my thoughts on it with all of you.

This Is My Anthem

I don’t know about you, but I am a sucker for a catchy song. Add some Chris Martin, a good healthy dose of kick drum and a sprinkle of synthesizer and you’ve got yourself a recipe for ‘Kellie’s Summer Anthem’. Three years ago, said anthem was most certainly ‘Viva la Vida’. After recently organizing my iPod, I realized I had listened to that track over 200 times– that’s 14 hours of unadulterated Coldplay action. Now, after downloading their newest single, I have a feeling that ‘Every Teardrop is a Waterfall’ will certainly make it’s way up the ‘most played’ ranks. If this weekend is any indication (a friend and I listened to it on repeat for a good portion of a 3 hour drive to central Oregon) it’s off to a great start.

Necklaces on Display

I have some really pretty jewelry, but as much as I want to, I just don’t wear it all that often. Before, my necklaces were in a box getting tangled and collecting dust, but after this little project I did one evening, they are on display as a functional wall hanging. I’ll admit, a jewelry organizer is not a new concept, but I saw a DIY version on one of my favorite blogs and decided to try it out! Unfortunately, I didn’t take any before and after pictures, but I think you’ll be able to imagine what this drawer looked like sitting on the shelf of at the thrift.

Strangled by Cords?

After looking at a recent cable bill, I realized I was paying over $170 for a service I could (mostly) get for free online! So I said adios to my cable provider, which also meant getting rid of the internet that was bundled along with it. Now, I can live without cable (I think), but I can not live without the internet. So I did some research into providers in my area and found one who was running a promotion–$14.99 a month! Needless to say, I ordered it right away.

My modem was scheduled to arrive yesterday and my little heart skipped a beat when I heard the knock of the UPS person at my door. I opened the package and could smell the newness of it. Carefully unpacking everything, I got started installing the internet. I was thrilled that this modem had built in wireless, making my Netgear router I’ve had for years obsolete. After plugging everything in and getting online, I felt great–that is, until I looked at the nest of cords behind my nightstand. The picture above is not my actual mess of cords, but is identical in magnitude and complexity, and no matter how hard I tried I could never get those cords to look organzied. Enter bluelounge.

The Ballerina Project

If I could be any type of dancer, I think I would be a ballerina. Not only does the name alone evoke images of poise and grace, but the fluid movements and beautiful costumes make being a ballerina any little (or big) girl’s dream. Alas, I have been cursed with flat feet and just the right mix of laziness and inflexibility making this wanna be ballerina sitting in the auditorium seats during the annual production of The Nutcracker.

Themes

Since I’ve been spending a lot of time looking for the perfect theme to use on my blog, I thought I’d do a quick post on a group of designers who have some of the best out there (coming from my very limited, very short time in the blogging world). They’re called WooThemes and you can check theme out here.

Hello World

So here it is.. my first blog post! I’ve been thinking about starting a blog for a while now and for some reason, today seemed like a great day to do it!

In it’s infant stages, this blog is going to be a mix up of everything that is me: music, art, design, branding, decorating, crafts, fitness, nutrition and more! Maybe once I really get into the swing of things, I’ll focus more on one thing, but for now, you’ll get a peek inside me and see the things I love most.

Stay tuned!

Kellie