My One Word Resolution

With everyone talking about resolutions for this coming New Year it’s hard not to think about it. I don’t recall ever making any in the past and think of them as a bit corny and not something I want to live the next year based off of. I’ve always had an issue with boundaries and conforming to anything…even if I’m the one making the rules. Inspiration and love have ruled my life and neither seem to show up when I expect them to. Taking that into consideration, resolutions seem like a box I don’t want to be contained within. This year I think my view on the subject has changed a bit.

While at a small Christmas dinner this year I met someone who, when asked about her resolution, answered the question intriguingly. Her response was something called the one-word resolution and went on to illuminate us with a delightful explanation. She quoted a conversation she had regarding this revolution in resolutions and described this one word as a guide through the coming year. A touchstone of sorts to build on the person you’d like to be in the New Year. Resolutions always seem to center around something one has to do instead of what one wants to become. I love the idea of the one-word resolution because of this and after thinking about it for a few days I’ve decided on my word.

The word I’m using already means a lot to me so this alone has me excited about 2010. I want to use this word to push my art and intellect further. By moving across the country and residing in a new area of the world I want to see and experience more than I ever have. I find myself on mountains, in forests and experiencing cities I never thought I’d see. The world is such a beautiful place and the city I now live in, along with its surrounding areas, just asks to be explored. With that in mind, I chose EXPLORE as my one-word resolution because I want to grow here and fall in love with my new home. I really want 2010 to be a year I’ll look back on confidently and I think EXPLORE is an ideal start!

First Christmas in Seattle

In preparing for our move to Seattle I didn't know what to expect with it being so close to the holidays. We knew we'd miss our families and the annual celebrations we shared with them. I wasn't prepared to celebrate at all until a dear friend of Jon's invited us to a "misfit's dinner" he was hosting. A savoury dinner it ended up being and we met some new people. After our tiny dinner party we dropped the pup off at home and stumbled around the Seattle Center taking pictures of the holiday lights before they dissappeared. Have a look!

Grandma's Dumplings

Having spent our first holiday away from home I decided we needed a little taste of childhood. With southern cooking masters on both sides of our families I figured I do our Grandmothers proud with an adventure into Chicken & Dumplings. I’m of the opinion that it was a success and plan to visit southern cooking more often. A basic recipe, sure, but a yummy one! Here are a few shots of my adventure into home cooking!

Finally settling in...

A little over two weeks in Seattle and I'm finally getting a chance to blog. Don't get me wrong, I still haven't touched the office so I'm stealing the boyfriend's laptop for a few. There are still boxes scattered throughout the hallways and bedrooms but they're becoming fewer and I really am starting to feel at home.

The trip went really well despite our certainty that something was bound to go wrong (we both have pretty crappy luck). To our delight we made it without any mishaps and all of my plants are alive and well! Yay!!

I'll make sure to post pictures of the new place plus I hope to get out with a camera or two soon and snap some shots of this pretty city we moved into!

HELLO SEATTLE!!

Packing, Replanting & Organizing OH MY!

Moving day is this week and I'm getting soooo excited! We signed our lease today and Jon faxed all our info to the new landlord while I spent this afternoon replanting my leafy friends into larger and more move-safe pots. My avocado trees are still small babies so I'm worried about them, but I think my small trees, succulents and tropical plants should be alright. I hope they will be at least!

Although its kind of crazy living in this cramped little city of boxes, it's nice getting everything packed and organized. I just have my kitchen and closet to tackle before Wednesday when the truck will be here so I actually feel like it's real for once. I'm sure it'll feel more than real once we have to drive that huge moving truck all the way across the country :/

rip Irving Penn

Road Trip!

Next Wednesday/Thursday we pack up everything we own in a moving truck, hook the car to the back and make our way, Oregon Trail-like, across the country. It's been several nerve wracking months in the making but we finally have a home to go to and we've scaled down enough to make this move tolerable. We'll need a serious trip to Ikea and the area thrift stores once we make it but this is finally doable. I plan on shooting the entire trip, taking video and keeping a journal so I'll add more to this as we go/once we get there.

I can't describe how excited I am to move to this beautiful city, but I'd be lying if I said I won't miss Atlanta. A fun town with some super-fun people plus it's growing beautifully. Can't wait to visit in the future to see it continue to progress, but I definitely feel Seattle will bring more to my life in the next few years!

elk!

driving home from Gatlinburg was full of sogginess and rain but we did get to see these guys.

Seattle

It seems like forever since my last blogpost!

Anyway, I've had a busy month...

We spent a week in Seattle,WA sightseeing and visiting with friends. We also decided Seattle is the city we'd LOVE to live. With that, we're moving there the first week of October. I'm not looking forward to a week in a moving truck with my car-sick pup or hundreds of miles of desert, but I think the reward in the end is more than worth it. I'm so SO excited to live on the coast again(I'm originally from Naples, FL) and the culture there seems more my style. After eleven years of "southern hospitality" I've had my share!

Also, I've included a link to my Flickr set of Seattle pictures I took while there. Click on this blog title and enjoy!!

pre-wine

my parents, being the supreme gardeners they are, have decided to start up a tiny little vineyard. aren't they pretty?! i can't wait to see how the wine turns out <3

hello kitty house?

This resort in Taiwan takes it to the next level with an entire house dedicated to the icon everyone loves to hate.

Dad

Once upon a tragedy
Sixteen years this day
A shard of my spirit crushed
Turned back into stardust

Watching you pass on
Leaving this world behind
Tears another hole in me
Each moment your memory comes to mind

Reminded of your love
Your determination and devotion
A pirate with an obsession
How you adored the ocean

Early morning trips through the bays
Waking up the sun with nets full of bait
A genius in ways unheard of today
Reaching your brilliance a little too late

Little girl
My daddy’s life going slack
Weak heart and diseases wreaking havoc
I tried to bring you back

Failing the life I held so dear
You were gone
My heart went missing
Then nothing was clear

Confusion rules my life
To this very day
I’ll never understand
But I’ll still love you in every way

-Chrissy

Alice!!!

the new Alice adaptation from the lovely Tim Burton looks AMAZING!! i'm so excited to see it now <3

clown shoes

i watched my boss's kids for a few hours the other day and Calder was fascinated with my sneakers. he just learned to walk so he got his way :D

one plus one equals three

fantabulously brilliant!

Beckmans School of Design showcase

This year, the final-year students in Product Design at Beckmans College of Design have created an alternative meeting place in Greenhouse at the Stockholm Furniture Fair.
The students have created a space to inspire informal gatherings of people, in the same way as you would meet spontaneously about town - sitting at the edge of a monument, on a front porch or a flight of stairs. The furniture in the showcase are based on indivdual briefs to create a specific type of furniture. In contrast to what is usually the case in Greenhouse, where many prototypes are for view only, the students have encouraged the visitors to interact with the furniture and the space. As a a bonus this year, the third-year students have collaborated with the second-year Advertising and Graphic Design students in creating a catalogue and a film.

holga film

Holga cameras are so much fun to use. i recently found some medium format film i shot on my Holga toy camera so i scanned it in to post on flickr. have a look!

cameravan :)

this guy is awesome!

cards from this week

made Mother's Day cards and a birthday card this week from card stock, ribbon and some threaded paper :D

puppy Jazz

The Myth of Happily Ever After

i've blogged before about how stunning and amazing rebekka's work is, and her latest gallery series is most definitely another lovely gift from this talented Icelandic visual artist.

photoshop spheres

got bored and made these with help from the youtube tutorial below. it was really easy and makes them look clean and simple. try it out!! it only takes about 5 minutes :D

portfolio

my hard drive crashed shortly after graduation so i never got a chance to put these images up. after doing my best to crack it i pulled these off.

mom portraits

on a walk through her garden yesterday she let me snap some shots of her <3

garden friends <3

he was all about the azaleas this afternoon :D

a weekend in Destin, FL

Some friends of ours decided to rent a condo on the beach for spring break and asked us to join them. We had a lot of fun playing on the beach and it was sooooo nice to be away from the city! As a Florida native I can't believe I hadn't been to the beach in over 2 years!! CRAZY!!! If you'd like to see the rest from our trip visit my flickr album.

On the Set!

how fun are miniature memory-inducing television and movie sets?! it looks like this artist took a shrink-ray to these sets and made some photo magic! check out the rest of his handy-work here!!

aiden & abigale

more from this set: here!

diy Curtain

I was in desperate need of a curtain for my kitchen. I was going to buy some fabric but decided to check out what my Mom had stashed away at her house. After rummaging through her sewing room I discovered some cute remnants including this one! All hand-sewn because I have no sewing machine. It took be about 2 hours to make and hang, so not bad for free!

diy card

Making this card was fun and I really like how it turned out! I used embroidery thread and some paper from Sam Flax to make the cupcake and envelope. The actual card is just some cute card stock glued together.

Baby D's debut!

more here!

This week in CUPCAKE art!

So much thought goes into these little treats! I can't believe how intricate some of these bakers get. I need more patience ;)

Michael Wolf

I came across this artist's 100x100 series and absolutely LOVED it. Definitely take the time to look through it if you have a chance. His obviously observant art is breathtaking in a grimy yet beautiful way.

Some SERIOUS Camera Porn!

Every gadget-lover wants to see the inside of a DSLR, so here ya go! This guy was lucky enough to see it in person.

My Poor Bones

I went rummaging through my Mother's workshop tonight and came home with the x-ray taken for my left arm. I decided at age 14 to fall off a trampoline and destroy my left radius and ulna. Trampolines suck.

My Portrait Website

In an effort to spend as little as possible on a website and since I'm pretty terrible at HTML and Flash; well, maybe not terrible but I have zero patience when dealing with Dreamweaver and Flash programs for some reason. I was determined to find a website devoted to creating personal sites for cheap when I stumbled on Wix.com. Sure, it has it's quirks but for FREE it's an excellent site for someone that want to throw up a decent flash site in under an hour. I spent this morning updating my completely out of date website and came up with something simple and functional that I actually like. So, check it out if you have some time :D

www.ChrissyMayPhotography.com

Cupcakes!

Cupcakes are SO cute to me. I love coming up with new ideas for cupcake recipes and decorations. I'm constantly browsing websites for cupcake ideas so I thought I'd share some I came across this week because they are exceptionally adorable.

Jon's Birthday Gift

Since the economy is crap and we're living proof of it I decided to take the shopping out of birthdays this year. My first attempt is my boyfriend Jon and thankfully he's as big a nerd as I am so I figured he wouldn't be hard to please. He likes anything odd or silly so I attempted an alien/monster crochet project and a hand-made card. He seemed to really like them so SUCCESS! Now for the rest of my family I have until June to come up with ideas for their gifts. Wish me luck!

Apartment Therepy

I absolutely love this site!! Being a recent grad living in a tiny Atlanta apartment leaves me searching for space-saving and low-cost solutions to my little pad. Apartment Therapy has great ideas from all over that are usually brilliant!

This week they featured room makeovers for around $300.00 that turned out surprisingly well! Here are some after shots, but you can go here for the entire article.