off to new york

[The evolution of New York City's skyline]

I'm off to New York for a childhood friend's wedding, sadly without Partner-in-Crime. Looking forward to a lovely reunion with family friends at the ceremony, along with visits with high school and college friends. Plus, I am going to see The Book of Mormon.

I'm also thrilled to be joining editor Victoria and the wonderful photographer Emily Anderson to shoot a stunning Home Tour for Rue Magazine to be published in our upcoming second Anniversary Issue (out on September 12!)

My last visit to New York was a quick trip just before moving to Berkeley, never enough time in this wonderful, overwhelming city.

Image via Tier1dc. Originally found via SwissMiss. 

international rue launch

The newest Rue has launched, and this issue is all about travel! I had a blast writing for this issue and day dreaming about trips to take someday. Chloe from MiH Jeans (pg 24) was a delight and I actually got to speak with her over the phone while she was in Turkey, but Belgian photographer An's home in Malaysia (pg 118) was my favorite because her home is so clearly a reflection of her love and passions.

Take your own mini-trip with 144 pages of around the world inspiration!

stuck in cheyenne

The most memorable part of my trip west was an impromptu, forced furlough in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Well, that is not entirely accurate as the most memorable part of the trip may have been when driving I-80 in Nebraska (which takes an entire day) and our passenger mirror sheared off its base. At 70 miles an hour. This left us unable to merge or turn right without fear of crushing a car beneath us, but it was the subsequent engine trouble and inability to drive over 40 miles an hour that lead to a day in the small capitol city of Wyoming. After the stress of getting a new vehicle were over and we were guaranteed to be able to continue the next day, I was able to enjoy the town and took these photos.

Cheyenne is a small town, despite being the capitol of the state, and is proud to be the Gateway to the Frontier, which definitely comes through. The downtown area hosts a frontier museum, a local theater, some galleries, bars and a few thrift shops (those adventures here.)

weekend review: eclectic weekend in the bay area

[ragazza. potato pizza. also try the chicken with polenta]

[bellydancing in the haight]

[taxidermy jewelry. the skulls are too much for even me]

[chinatown]

[the Pub Albany. tobacconist and pub of sorts]
Side story: the Pub wasn't crowded but all the tables were full. We ended up sitting at one whose patron had gone outside for a smoke, the cigarettes being a main draw of the place. When the middle aged man returned, he immediately reminded me of one of my design professors, Jack, and, in fact, his name was Jack. After discussing cameras and photography, I told him I was from Virginia. Turns out, he is from Williamsburg and while he is not a professor, his wife is an architecture prof. We exchanged tips for places to visit in Richmond while he tried to persuade me to move to San Francisco and inspired wanderlust in both my partner-in-crime and I with his tales of living overseas.

[vintage window shopping]

[graffiti]

[memorials in a book shop window]

[oh, just a pirate shop]

[fried chicken skins and ramen soup at Ippuku]

[you can take me out of the South but I'm still ordering chicken and waffles. 900 Grayson]

year of the rabbit

This weekend in San Francisco I went to the Chinese New Year Parade. This year is the year of the rabbit (and since I'm turning 24, I'm a year of the rabbit, or a rabbit, or however it is described.) My favorite part was the numerous groups of schoolchildren dressed as bunnies. I kept referring to them as bunny-children. It was a bit of a gloomy, rainy day so the crowd was pretty low and we eventually headed out early due to frozen toes, but saw most of the parade.

Here are some favorite shots, taken on a borrowed camera that I now covet (taking donations...)

quick pic: up up and away

[San Francisco]

I'm gone for an extra-long weekend in California. Here's to hoping the weather isn't too rainy!

trailor park hotel

I love old trailers. I love turning things into something unexpected, breathing new life into old objects. This trailer is part of a set that make up the El Cosmico hotel/motel/campsite. I've stayed at a trailor park motel. It looked nothing like this.



I'm having trouble uploading pictures but check out more images here.

Originally found on the amazing HonestlyWTF here.

waiting at the train station

I love trains.
I wish we still had bustling train travel with ladies carrying hat boxes and dining cars with white table clothes.

Sadly, nowadays trains are almost as expensive as planes and never run on time. Which means that when waiting for my little sister to arrive I had a lot of time to wait around. So I took pictures.

My new favorite necklace.
Made from a vintage necklace, pin and tassel from another vintage necklace.