movin' on up!

i can't count how many times i have praised stairs here (actually, i probably could, but am not going to).  i love them.  LOVE them.  just love how they look and function - so cool.

earlier today, my sister-in-law sent a listing for her mother's childhood home which is on sale in north dakota (link here, if you're interested).  and this house has. amazing. stairs.

how nice are they?  such a lavish and beautiful entrance.  love it.

ironically, apartment therapy posted today about STAIRS.  funny!  small world.  and they explain what is needed to pass code for most stairs. so interesting.  here is a cool staircase that i liked from today's article (found here).

books make you look smarter

i don't listen to the radio much, but i've started to a bit in the mornings before going to work and recently there was a question of the day that i found chuckleable. it was something like "70% of people have this to make them look smarter." many people guessed glasses or pocket protector or things like that. the answer was books. its true that i used to give books to my brothers so that they would look well-read (even if it was just a jason bourne story). not sure they fully appreciated it, but i DID.  :)

in honor of books and reading and being smart, here are some cool libraries in people's homes that are enviable.

more where those came from here.

also, figured i would show you my small little collection. this is me at my desk with my books on one side and dvds/cds on the other - those make you look smaht, right??

next steps... job-wise

so i am in a bit of a transition lately... new home, new job (soon!), new health adventures, etc. just lots going on!  one of the things i've been thinking about career-wise, is how can i be more creative? AND... MAYBE... how can i work from home??  i'd love to be able to make a living doing crafts or blogging or something like that, but i just can't envision it just yet... maybe we'll get there.  we'll see.  in the meantime, these craft rooms are EN-VI-ABLE. even if you aren't in to crafts, don't they just seem cool??

from here. below are my favorites.

i LOVE the bright, colorful, disorganized organization of amy sedaris' craft room.

if i can't have a full room to myself, i do enjoy this hidden organized closet.

if i COULD have my own ROOM, i would love this version.  this might be the best.

but then again, i do love me some paper and this room is quite nice.

what do you think? want to pay me to blog??

painting as gifts - for kc

I want to get back to painting. I have a few things coming up for which I need to give some paintings, so I thought I would post about some paintings I created for friends.

First up, a Dixit card turned painting.

Dixit is this fun German-style board / card game that I have played many times with my friends.  The game has includes these beautifully designed cards that are a bit wacky. They are specific, but not at all specific at the same time. The card below inspired me for a painting for my friends.

I liked the ballerina and the record, so I started the painting leaving room for those items.

I wanted to finish the background first because I knew the ballerina and painting would be "on top" of everything else.

I liked the "stand" portion of the first card, but I decided to change it to be a painting on a painting. The painting I painted is a black and white version of a photograph my friends, kc, took on their travels. The train was red - it was a direct copy of a picture they had.  Finally, I made everything happen in space - hence the stars.

It's quite a big piece - perhaps too big. But I kind of like it.

new beginnings!

in honor of a (partial) furniture delivery to my new place last weekend, i am excited to re-launch the art ramblings! so excited!  i've got lots of fun postings and pictures coming up, so stayed tuned!

in the meantime, history:

left my 900 sq ft, yellow-kitchen apartment on january 15 and moved back to my old apartment. i am the only person living here this time, although, i have a lot of visitors. i'm loving it.  i was really torn on the decision to move or not, but now i am so happy that i have moved. the ONLY thing i don't love is the commute - i'm 15 minutes further away from everything. so thats not ideal.  it actually impacts things more than you may think: i have to leave so much earlier for things like work, MOVIES, just to see friends. AND its not just the 15 minutes that i have to leave earlier - now i am dependent on public transport, so i usually have to leave MUCH more before than i'd like.  for example, i went to see a movie on saturday at 5:30. in my old place, i would have left at 5:15 and walked 10 minutes. now, because i had to rely on the bus, i left at 4:40, just happened to catch the bus immediately, and was at the movie theater at a little after 5. so nearly a half hour early. however, if i hadn't caught that bus, i would've been waiting until the 5:15 bus, which would've gotten me there after the start of the movie. it's not a huge deal, first world problems, i get it, but it's annoying nonetheless to me.

ok, so back to my new old place - eeeee! i'm enjoying decorating. and one of the main things i have left is my living room. i am still waiting for a couch delivery - was supposed to come last weekend, they told me 2 days before my delivery that it was damaged during shipping, and so they are making me a whole new couch. i only partially buy this excuse, but whatever. in any case, i got my entertainment stand and my desk chair. the desk chair is making a HUGE difference. like, massive. i was sitting on an exercise ball and ... not ideal. my feet never stayed in place (i don't wear shoes indoors) so i was constantly leaning against the desk. but now my chair! i LOVE it!

ok, and now... for the piece de resistance. the entertainment stand.  here is a before picture:

yes, that's a 50" tv on a wine fridge. a wine fridge that, no less, has a broken indoor glass. that's a story for another time.

and now...

what do you think? its a REALLY beautiful piece. its hard to be able to tell from far away, but it looks so nice. i'm so pleased.

paris hotels - how fun!

paris is basically everywhere (i look) for decor and fun stuff.  its wild.  i'm constantly bumping in to things online about paris.  maybe its a sign i should move there. or maybe its just because i love it so much, it sticks out.  ha. so there is this hotel in paris where you can pay what you want. cool idea. i dont imagine i would ever stay there since i have friends in paris with whom i would stay, BUT its cool to get the word out AND i love the decor.

here is the hotel: Tour d'Auvergne, a three-star hotel in the city's Opera district, which is an amazing location!

and here are some cool rooms:

and more stairs!

its true, i love the stair.  many in a row is preferable.  stairs.

so this website has a list of 17 awesome staircases around the world.  here are some of my favorites - i've never seen ANY of these in person - MUST. GO.