#106 Oh My Shoes!

Anyone out there wear a size 8.5 or 9 and need some cute gently worn shoes?  Come to my place immediately!

This may not come as a surprise, but I have too many shoes.  Waaaaaay tooooo many.  There are so many that they've been mentioned in articles by my roommate in our college newspaper, been the test of boys I'm dating to see if they are freaked out by how many there are, the cause of injury when the door organizer has come crashing down, etc.  I have trouble getting rid of them because, heck, they are just too darn cute!  But currently I'm running in purge mode, and they must go.  I probably have at least 10 variations of black heels.  And let's be honest, with all the schlepping I do around the city, they've been in hibernation for a while and aren't likely to come out for a while.

If I had fewer pairs of shoes, I could organize them very cutely in a little ottoman with the extra cute ones having a special spot on a wall of honor!  And for my Southern friends--if we had known about this in college and sold them on campus we would have made a small fortune: the flip flop hanger.  

show off cute shoes!

via Martha

keep the pairs together!

via deliciously organized

...and a pair for the road

by ruthie davis

#104 Changes To Live By

I had a lovely design conference via iphone with my friend Heather.  We discussed something that we both struggle with every now and again when we are itching for a change but feel bad leaving our old loves behind...old design loves, that is.  We get attached to designs or things we think represent what we like.  But they represent what were are like at a certain moment.  A year or three later we all have changed and things that were once amazing are just kinda eh or not that important anymore.  Here's to living life in the present, and that "Present" for my friend Heather include an adorable robin's egg blue table with red chairs.  Because the more I think about it, why not just go ahead and paint the chairs red!  Too much?  Maybe I'm getting carried away...  Some color inspiration:

 bathing beauty, the red sunglasses top it off

via anthropologie

monotone robin's egg blue kitchen 

 photo via martha

bright poppies

photo via citrus & orange

Even Degas knew a good color combo when he saw one

photo via {this is glamorous}

#101 New Best Friends

Who knew hot pink paired so well with dark moody purples & grays.

via design sponge

jil sanders wedges via Mrs H

#99 Here's To You, Laura!

Sometimes we all need a little encouragement and support.  

Today, Laura needs some...and here it is:

To the studious you:

photo via J. Crew

To the fun you:

photo via coco+kelley

To the beautiful you:

 photo via  pinterest

"Life is short. Live it the way that will make you happy." -Tina Su

#97 A New Thing

My sister will often call me up and say, "Rissy, I wrote a new poem!"  And most of them are too good not to share with the rest of the world.  She is a bit shy about them, though, so, I suggested doing a piece every now & then featuring one of her poems.  This is one she wrote after I told her about a revelation I had with a friend that everywhere makes people want to kiss-- crowded museums, funerals, public restrooms... just everywhere.  My sister's poem makes me think, maybe it's not the place, after all.  People just want to kiss all the time. 

photo via ohjoy!

It Doesn’t Matter Where

by Brianna K.

A gas station, old

paint chipping from pumps,

plastic covered food,

buzzing cooler for drinks

at a bar, on a block

of a New York street,

smoky air, loud drunks,

sad drunks, some not drunk at all

under neon sign

for a subway station,

rumble of approaching train,

bongos beat for change

from pockets of rushing people

catching the doors

revolving into a museum

of art lined walls,

sculptures magnificent and simple,

the gas station is framed on canvas

and they stare, seemingly mesmerized,

comfortable, in love as lip caresses lip

and they slip into each other

and they’re kissing in all these places.

#86 Wax On, Wax Off

It started like this:

Then I measured, I cut (well, I got my friend to do most of the cutting because I was scared of cutting my finger off), I sanded, I clamped, I drilled, I screwed, I unscrewed(oops!), I screwed again, I sanded some more, I waxed, I buffed, & I waxed and buffed again, and this is what I got in the end:

A table and matching bench that didn't break the bank... but almost broke my back.

#80 Places Set

One long table coming up!  This weekend I'm planning on building a dining table.  I found a sweet website, where the writer, Ana White, builds furniture and shares plans that you can build yourself, from the easiest to more advanced.  It gave me the courage to make something useful and not have to spend a million dollars on it.  With a few table building helpers and a tool donor, hopefully it will be a success! Then, whenever you come to visit me, I will have a cute little table set up like so to welcome you...

 

photo via design*sponge

photo via style me pretty

photo via design*sponge

#72 How to Do Everything & Nothing At the Same Time

It always seems like the more you get done, the more you have to do.  It's a never-ending cycle.  Work is crazy.  Moving is crazy.  Putting in an air conditioner too small for the window it needs to go in is crazy.  Finding simple white curtains is one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do.   Making friends with very nosy and judgmental new neighbors, also difficult.  Putting together the new bed was child's play in comparison.  As they say, "when it rains, it pours."

It doesn't just pour craziness and difficulty though, I've also have so many great friends, family, and neighbors who have lent a hand to help me overcome the crippling anxiety that is bound to set in when you have taken on more responsibility than you are accustomed to or can handle on your own.  I'm grateful for all my friends that helped me move, paint & put together furniture.  I'm so thankful for my friends & family, & complete strangers that distracted me from my worries, reminded me to eat, encouraged me, let me live in their homes when I didn't have one & put a smile on my face.  I'm grateful that there are still honest people in this world, like the movers that returned the lost box containing all my jewelry.  

Thanks everyone!!!!  Here's to hoping all my boxes and suitcases are emptied & put away soon...

violet may bag via {thisisglamorous}

"...Treat the feeling of overwhelming anxiety as our friend, for it is an emotional indicator letting us know that we need to slow down, and to readjust our center of focus on something else that makes us feel better.  

It is also a reminder that life doesn’t have to feel bad, that we have choices, and that we can design our day and especially our experiences.  

And no matter how rough our day was today, or yesterday may have been, every morning is a new beginning, a new chance for you to rewrite the story of your life..."   -Tina Su of Think Simple Now

#70 A Fourth of Fun

The Fourth marked the first unbearable day of summer heat in New York City... and summer fun!  I woke up craving peaches, fireworks, friends, air conditioning and rolling down grassy hills.  At the end of the day, I'd satisfied all my cravings and then some.  Each detail etched into my memory.  The awful slimy feeling of sucking up a weird gummy thing the dude put in my peach smoothie.  Laying in the grass with eyes closed watching the bright spots of sunlight wavering just beyond my lids as it filters through the trees.  Sweating and picking Mexican corn out of my teeth while watching the sunset and relaxing with friends.  The sound of distant fireworks & counting how many seconds they're delayed to calculate the distance (proof I'm a total math nerd).  Last, but not least, riding the G train like a pro and remembering how I thought I would never see the day that the G would somehow enrich my life.   Life is funny like that.

photo via AL.com

Craving the site of the peachy water tower along the drive to Auburn & picking up fresh peaches and home-made butter pecan peach ice cream for a snack...

photo via persimmonandpink

A reminder to myself to stop complaining and find the beauty in each day.

#63 School's Out!

I'm FREE!  Freeeeeeeeeeee!  Even though I'm no longer in school myself, I moonlight as a tutor and let me tell you-- SCHOOL IS OUT.  It's summer time, finally!  Stressful finals are over and done with... life is good.  I'm yearning for a huge slumber party, like the ones you'd have on Friday nights with all your best friends present to make memories...and fools of yourselves.  

photo by Tim Macpherson

photo via Triflin Dictionary

photo via Triflin Dictionary

#39 Photography... Feat. the iPhone

Today I'm featuring a few of my friends' photos they took with their phones.  I'm always amazed at how a little phone can get the job done.

via Diane Penacerrada's iPhone in Paris:

via Sloan Flournoy's iPhone in Georgia:

via Marie-T Franke's iPhone at Coney Island & on the Subway:

via Christophe Jammet's droid in the NYC harbor:

via my iPhone in Chinatown, NYC: