Greatest Hits: Britney Spears

These days in Hollywood, when you hear the name "Britney," it's 99.9% likely that it's regarding something she wore (or didn't wear), one of her personalities, her latest stint in rehab or a slew of bad parenting allegations. But let's pretend (close your eyes if you have to) for a sec that the girl behind the mic isn't that trailor-trash, bi-polar-drama-magnet celeb the papparazzi can't seem to get enough of, cause Brit can sell a record.

I'm saying it now-- I like Britney Spears' music. It's catchy, upbeat, and on a sunny, warm day like today, I like to roll my windows down and blare it so that everyone else can hear too (no need to thank me). Now don't think that just because I'm a fan of her music that I'll give her the parent-of- the-year award or anything-- cause we all know that's CRAZ. But underneath those pantyless fishnets is a girl who's music I can't get enough of.

I think we're all in agreement that Brit isn't going to be making a comeback anytime soon in this lifetime, so I'll jam to her tunes while I can. Here (in no paricular order) are a few of my faves:

1. You Drive me Crazy
2. Oops! ...I did it again
3. Gimme More
4. Piece of Me
5. Baby one more time
6. I'm a slave 4 U
   
7. Toxic
   
   

saturday night sleepover: success!

Oh, to be 13 again! The sleepover I had for 5 of my nieces couldn't have gone better--they had such a great time. Every bag of potato chips and candy I bought were inhaled. They polished 3 large pizzas. We played games, danced, got manicures, and watched tons of girly movies. I came to the conclusion that, the Hannah Montana "obsession" is a mere understatement-- and something I wouldn't be able to understand with just one sleepover.
The girls were awesome though, and it brought me back to my teenage memories of secret crushes, note passing, first kisses and endless phone conversations discussing "do you really think he likes me?" Those were the days...
I'm so glad they had a great time. As promised, here's a snapshot of my young and carefree nieces!

Here here to Friday!

::All raise their toasting glasses::

I've got a pretty full schedule this weekend! I'll spare the boring details (like tackling 8 loads of the smelly, overflowing laundry in our closet) and jump straight to the highlight: A Saturday night slumber party for 5 of my nieces. That's right, a night full of pizza and tooth-rotting candy, teeny-bopper movies, glitter manicures, and all that is Hannah Montana (see exhibit A). Speaking of the latter, I'm not exactly sure what encompasses the HM "obsession," but I'm willing to bet I will find out everything I never wanted to know about this cutie Nickelodeon-inspired character.

exhibit A: Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana

Have a truly blissful weekend! If you think of me, say a little prayer for my sanity, and be sure to check back-- I'll post a few pics of all the slumber party fun!

5 things I need want right this second.

At any given time I have a list of things I have my eye on. My list changes all the time, and dang it, my wallet can't seem to keep up. (This is where my nasty spending habit comes to play.) Nevertheless, here are my top 5 must-haves this week:

1. I'm loving this sleeper sofa from Crate and Barrel right now. We are going to be furnishing our basement soon, and I love the idea of a sofa that doubles for sleeping space.

2. This one isn't so practical to purchase anytime soon, but I've had my eyes on it for a long time. What's cool about this Chimo fireplace from Lekker Home is that its clean burning fuel is organic (made from goods like potatoes, wheat, and other veggies) making it enviornmentally friendly. Bonus: it mounts directly to any wall.

3. A new pair of jeans just in time for spring. Adriano Goldschmeid is one of my favorite jean designers-- these jeans last forever and I love that they are manufactured in California.

4. I've been dying for a new camera like this Digital SLR by Cannon. I'm really into photography, and want to learn more. Until I can afford it, I'll continue faking my photographic skill by being a whiz at photoshop. =)

5. Alas, my obsession for decorating has brought me to another home item must-have. I absolutely adore this outdoor patio set from Heal's. I frequent the website of this European furniture company often, but only for inspiration because they don't ship to the U.S. (I imagine if they did, shipping would be outrageous.) That fact doesn't distract me from loving their amazing furniture design and quality-- and I'm on the hunt to find something very similar to theirs.

Love thy neighbor...

If you reside in a residential neighborhood like most of the American population, you have probably observed things that your neighbors do from time to time, yes? If you haven't- or you just aren't the "people watcher" type, I would highly recommend doing so. Hear me out on this one: your neighbors watch you, so why not watch them? By watch I don't mean spy. So if you were digging out your binoculars, please refrain for a sec.

I've noticed a few things just by being observant, and when you live 10 feet from your neighbor on either side, you notice lots of tacky, odd, and downright weird people. Here's a look at some of your typical protoype neighbors, found in almost any neighborhood.

1. The tacky yard artist. No matter what type of neighborhood you live in, there's bound to be one of these. She is the woman with the ceramic geese with flowers planted in them. She may have fake deer prancing in her yard. Or, she might be the one who untastefully decorates to the hills for every. single. holiday.


2. The "weird" house. As long as you've lived in your neighborhood, this is the house that has had numerous mysterious tenants live there. They occupy the house for a short time, and (pouf!) vanish in the night. In my neighborhood, this particular house has seen an occupant that had Hummers on 24" rims and a convertible Mustang with with a Burberry top. The wife liked to threaten bashing her husband's car in with a baseball bat, to which the cops would show up and wake everyone who wasn't already awake by all the hootin' and hollerin'. They didn't last-- but to no avail, the current tenant likes to grab the Sunday paper in no more than a t-shirt and white undies. At noon. She then takes a quick scope around to make sure she is invisible. Newsflash: everyone saw you.


3. The "unexplained" neighbor. This one leaves you scratching your head. You question why they do the things they do. They are the ones who leave their Christmas lights dangling from their roof up year-round, but don't even bother to turn them on at Christmas time. They are the ones who, lay nice, new green sod on only half of their front yard, and proceed to let the rest of their yard grow new species of weeds. They are also the ones who let 5 days worth of newspapers accumulate on their driveway and finally pick them up after they've driven over them all week. I've got one word (two syllables) for this unexplained type: LAZY.

4. The "cool" neighbors. Why aren't there more of these? They are the ones who insist you drink a cold brew with them as soon as you pull into the driveway after a long day. They observe odd neighbor behavior too, and love to fill you in on the juicy stuff you missed while you were on vacation. They bring you cookies, and invite you to gatherings. Our only "cool" neighbor pondered moving (they have since changed their minds) and I told him that if he was serious, the potential buyer would need to set up an interview with us before signing a contract to make sure they fit the type of neighbor we were looking for.

Your neighborhood, whether rich or poor, has these types of neighbors in some fashion or another, I promise you! All you have to do is open your front door and observe.

Car washes. I REALLY don't like them.

Did that little groundhog (Phil, right?) see his shadow this year? I'm ready for this winter to end. The snow and ice is all fun and games until Christmas-- and then it's not funny to me anymore.

The winter can wreak havoc on a lot of things; not only does it make my skin pasty and my hair electric, it leaves my car filthy from all the sand and de-ice mix. And since getting out and handwashing my car during the winter months is out of the question, I found myself at the neighborhood car wash today. (You might be wondering why this deserves a blog entry, but keep reading). People have fears. Normal people fear spiders, heights, flying, etc., but I am not normal. I fear car washes. As I am pulling up to pay for the price of a clean car, I can barely stick my credit card into the slot because my hands are horribly shaking. The gate opens, and as I pull foward; I realize there's no turning back. I literally freak out as I'm going through one of these things. It's not that I'm clausterphobic. It's the fact that I'm stuck in my car for 90 seconds with huge brushes that look like octopi slapping their ugly little tentacles on my car. And those tentacles are powerful enough to actually shake and make my car rumble. Did I mention there's zero visibility while you're in these car washes? The light at the end of the tunnel can't come quickly enough, and as the car wash spits you out, you realize that you are centimeters from someone elses bumper (who proceeds to sit in neutral while you're blantanly honking for them to move). It's all very traumatic, really. Have you been through one? They're scary, right?

Another week has come to an end!

Here we are on a Sunday evening with the weekend coming to a close, and I'm thinking I didn't accomplish much this weekend. Aside from making some delicious homemade guacamole and chocolate chip cookies, I think it's safe to say I was pretty lazy. Ususally, I've got my weekends planned out by Thursday with laundry catch-up or some sort of home improvement project!
One of my many obsessions right now is getting my house beautifully decorated, thanks to the Nest. I get such great inspiration from the girls on the Decorating and Renovating board! I'm trying to get a few rooms in our house finished up, and today, my husband gave me the OK to start a guest bathroom redo! Here's what I'm thinking for the guest bathroom:

Even though our bathroom is no where NEAR this size, I love the soothing blue-green hues.


I would also like to change all the builder-basic hardware in the bathroom from brass to silver, similar to this fixture from Restoration Hardware.

To see my current house progress, click here, and let me know what you think!

Bringing bad design to justice...

If you stay tuned for long, you'll quickly realize that I love good design. Ads, logos, branding-- good design is what makes me tick. It's in my blood, and if I ever get shot, I'd probably bleed in Pantone color 225 (that's hot pink, for those who are'nt hip to color charts). Anywhoo, my passion for graphic design hasn't always been so passionate. In college, it was more of a love-hate relationship, thanks to a nazi teacher I had for 3 painful years. I'd like to compare her to an onion-- because when she opens her mouth, the tears start pouring, and there's no stopping it. I would'nt dream of going to her class without putting ample time into what was about to be critiqued- and even then, 5 times out of 10, she'd shred your stuff. In a paper shredder. If it was really bad, she would take a lighter to your work, and let it burn in the trash can. (ok, that one is a stretch.)
I've been out of college for over a year now, but I was painfully reminded of her today when I stumbled upon these halarious stickers from design-police.org. Had she known about these, she could have saved herself alot of energy (and that bursted vain on her forehead) dealing with design students. Here's a few of my favorites:

























Maybe I will sent her some for Christmas this year. Or, maybe I'll send them with a monetary alumni contribution to the art and design school.

I'm being published!

I am so excited as I have learned that an ad I designed will be gracing page 3 of not one, but TWO major trade publications in March! I'm a little nervous at the same time-- anyone who has ever gotten something printed knows how different things can look when printed on different mediums and across different platforms. I will be sure to hit newstands in a couple of weeks and buy a several copies of each magazine!

Not your mom's blog.

Here's my attempt to keep a running journal of the thoughts and adventures of my exciting life (and it's exciting...mind you). Not since the days of wide-leg Jnco jeans, dad's flannel shirts and Nike hightops have I recorded such a thing- and even then, it was written in my locked Lisa Frank Diary with keys hidden where no one would ever find. So here we are, in the early days of 2008 writing my first blog entry. Perhaps my blog will be an outlet for my daily thoughts on design, or my vents about morons I encounter. Perhaps it will give me the satisfaction of feeling like I have my own column, until that day comes when I get discovered and become a famous copywriter.
I have absolutely no idea the direction this blog will go. These days, everyone has a blog; your cousin, your mom, your mom's parakeet... you get my drift. This isn't one of them, so keep tuning in. I'm a newly married girl and I'll be sure to provide good insight with an occasional peeksie into my life with my fabulous husband. And if you find this blog isn't for you, your mom probably has one that might strike your fancy, no?