MOVING in the Virtual WORLD!

I have moved!! Please follow me! Change your links, update your google reader, and come along!! I outgrew the storage and capabilities of my blogger site. Oh, what bittersweet feelings!! So long...blogger!

MY NEW "VIRTUAL" HOME

@ www.jewels-blog.com

put your game-face ON!

WELCOME to game day at Jordan-Hare Stadium:

with 87,000 (give or take a few) fans in the stands cheering hard,

the band playing,

the team ready,

the coaches on the sidelines,

the action began!

and luckily, in the end, we were all smiles because we had a VICTORY over Ole Miss!!

Today was a wonderful Saturday! The weather was slightly overcast, but on the positive side...the cloudy sky makes for great photographs!! I lugged my camera with me the whole game, but it was worth it. Afterall, you never know what your might see...

Looks like these guys are in dyer need for some CUPS!! Whacha think?? I am sure that one of those cups contains some little H1N1 germs!

Back home after the game, and we made the yummy chocolate chip cookie pie with ice cream (picked up from Chik-fil-a) that I shared a little while back. It is super easy, and even more SUPER YUMMY!! No but really CLICK HERE because when you see the pictures again of the pie, you too will launch out of the front of your computer screen, and run to the kitchen!

Let's Celebrate!

Today was a special day, we celebrated my Grandma's 79th birthday (shhh...don't tell that I told). It was such a a treat to get to spend the afternoon with her and her closest friends. The funniest thing is they were ALL Alpha Gams at Auburn together back in the day. They are all the sweetest ladies, full of life with LOTS of funny stories to share. We lit the candles, ate a "girlie" chicken salad lunch, sang Happy Birthday, and celebrated! I could of sat around all afternoon amongst their company. There is just nothing like your girlfriends, even when you are almost in your eighties!

I am off to bake a yummy dessert for tailgate tomorrow! Fun weekend ahead with lots to want to share soon!! Happy Friday!

magical shoes

This is adorable! Do you all remember as kids how you loved walking on the tops your dad's BIG feet? Finnish designers (Aamu Song and Johan Olin) of "Company" designed dance shoes for "the father and the daughter".

Precious.

order product: info@com-pa-ny.com

-Price: 95 euros

-only avaliable in red

"completely smitten" unveiled

Here it goes...get comfy, this is a long one!

This past weekend, I took a late night flight from Birmingham to LaGuardia. Got there, and first things first...dinner. I was hungry, but that is not a problem in NYC because restaurants are abundant. We went to Warren 77 , and I had the grilled cheese soldiers with tomato soup . Maybe I chose this because grilled cheeses remind me of summer lunches by the pool at the country club. Dinner=bedtime so that I could be rejuvenated for a BIG day on Friday!

The sun rises, and I got up and had breakfast with a friend at:

Breakfast was followed by a meeting at the Architectural League NY. Their mission is the advance the art of architecture. They also have a tangent organization/project Urban Omnibus that strives to create conversation about design and NYC. I met with one of the directors of the project to talk about their mission, work, and website design. They do lots of interesting interdisciplinary work, and offer lots of opportunities for young designers. Following the meeting, I was walking back to Stan's apartment in Tribeca and passed by this storefront,

and the bright green sign really caught my eye, plus the fact that it said "yoga". FUN! I went in. Next thing I know, I got a free first time class at Yogaworks. So I signed up, got a mat, and for the next hour I did a yoga/pilates class in the most uniquely designed space I have ever seen. It was full of sleek detail, and awesome finishes! 

My mom and sister were up in the city too. They were going to a Broadway show, so I ventured over to Jersey to see Stan's new office building. The office just moved from Lower Manhattan to Jersey, but it is just a PATH ride away. It was well worth the visit to see 30 Hudson , a LEED Platinum building designed by Argentine architect Cesar Pelli.

The view across the Hudson of Lower Manhattan is beautiful, the lights at just after sunset are stunning. Sorry I do not have a picture to share, but they are on my other camera which my sister has borrowed. Not only was the view from the ground breathtaking, but the view from the interior was amazing as well. As far as the design of the building, green practices were definitely followed. It as funny, right when we walked in, and I saw the LEED plaque on the wall I told Stan, "wow that is pretty cool, and at least all the hours you spend at work will now not be detrimental to your well-being." He laughed, not understanding that in fact unsustainable buildings can be harmful to our health. Not this one, the building materials promote employee health. Sustainably-harvested wood (sycamore) flanks the walls of the interior, all paints and carpet contain low levels of VOCs, and most all of the building materials are of high-recycled content. It was really fun to go up and explore the building {after clearing some pretty heavy security}

After my design fix, a bunch of Auburn people, that live in the city, met up at Freeman's for dinner. The best way to describe this East Village restaurant is an old southern hunting lodge with an urban twist. Can you picture that, I do not have a picture so close your eyes and use your imagination. The food was delicious, and I hear they have a super weekend brunch too. Anybody been?

The day was lots of fun, I must also mention that I was throughly entertained by live advertisements at Bloomingdales,

baskets of produce, flowers, and pumpkins at Dean and Deluca ,

and how easy things, {relatively speaking}like disposing of dead landscaping, gets done in a BIG city

With that Friday comes to a close. Sun goes down, sun comes back up. It's Saturday.

Saturday morning Mom, Andrea, and I go to Balthazar's for breakfast. The coffee was super good, and the food was yummy as well. The restaurant is renowned for it's rather exceptional design. The building is a converted leather wholesaler warehouse space. The space is, for lack of a better adjective, amazing! Then the best part yet, we met up with...

a sweet friend of mine, Ashley! She hung out with us all morning. It was a blast. Her and I had good catch up "talk" time. Her presence always makes, with out a doubt, for a fun time! As you can tell we were intrigued by the Nespresso bar.  The "N" in the espresso is Nestle discrete way of letting the consumer know that they are in fact the parent company.

After all of us girls parted our ways, I met up with Stan, and we headed on the train to Princeton to see our friends Ben and Karen. I was completely bursting out of my skin with excitement because YES IT IS FALL AND THE LEAVES ARE CHANGING! Let me show you why this so excites me:

Yeap, completely smitten by the fiery color of fall on Princeton’s campus. Leaving me in total awe of God’s amazing creation, and the fact that He does not overlook the beauty in one single detail.

The campus is in a neo-gothic collegiate style of architecture, full of character at every level.

Except for maybe the architecture school building:

Not one detail overlooked in terms of materiality, from the gutters

to the authentic slate roofs

All I can say is wow!

Not only did we tour through the main campus, but Ben drove us around town as well. We saw the seminary part of campus which he attends, the location of where Washington crossed the Delaware, the home that Eistein spent his last years, and even some local favorites. Local favorites like, the “WaWa” Grocery {which Ben informed us had a great chip selection} and the campus eating clubs {equivalent to the south’s sorority/fraternity scene}.

Before I get to lost in the all the fun things we did, I must share with you one precious memory that flooded my head when we drove across the canal. All I could think about was my precious Mom, and the childhood stories she shared with me of her early years growing up in Bucks County, PA and "The Canal”, yes you read it right Mom, “The Canal”. New Jersey on one side, Pennsylvania on the other. Mom has the most precious stories of how exciting it was, come wintertime when the canal would freeze over. Not only did her backyard become a huge skating rink, but her New Jersey friends were no longer a 45 minute drive away, but a hop, skip, and 50 yard skate away. This was so special to me to see in real life the canal that brought my sweet Mom so much excitement as a child. The canal is not only beautiful; it is flanked by old tug paths that have become running/walking/biking trails. What a truly amazing way to exercise amidst God’s beauty!

Back on track now, Princeton by night took us four to dinner at Mezzaluna, right off Nassau Street, the main drag through downtown Princeton. The food was delicious. I had a fusili pasta in a basil-tomato sauce, finished with fresh mozzarella and eggplant. To follow that up, we enjoyed organic ice-cream from The Bent Spoon . It was so good, words do not exactly do it justice, and I am not even an ice cream type of girl! After that we managed to catch a little bit of the AU vs. LSU game before heading to Ben and Karen's home right near downtown.

Sunday morning, we woke up to the smell of yummy french-pressed coffee. And we even persuaded Karen to falunt her talent for us, and play a little Bach on her harp. Yea play the harp, easy right? She is super talented, even has professional, graduate training, and one is one of the top harpist. I do not know if you have ever watched anyone (up close and personal) play the harp before, but it is the most graceful thing to watch. The way she was moving her arms/hands was like watching a ballerina dance. {beautiful metaphor!} And all that music makes you hungry right? So off to the LONG line at PJ's Pancake House, a famous Sunday breakfast spot in the heart of it all.

Following that STICKY breakfast, a walk through downtown. The weather forecast, crisp and cool! The only thing missing was the smell of pumpkin spice cake {but I took care of that tonight, I BAKED pumpkin spice cake!}. Time flew way to quickly, and we zipped out of town to catch our 1:45 train back to the city. Unfortunately we were a little slowed down by a huge collegiate rowing event.

Back in the city, Mom and Andrea left earlier than me for a flight to Atlanta, so Stan and I spent the afternoon walking around Tribeca. We even stumbled upon an open house for a 3 bedroom apartment. Yes, Yes, Yes we went right on in. It was sleek and BEAUTIFUL! European granite, Miele appliances, wood floors, herringbone pattern tile embedded among white marble bathroom floors, German designed double hinged/triple pane windows, double height ceilings, desginer fixtures, and a sensational natural light! A perfect ending to a NYC visit because I was then quickly swift away in the rather poorly designed interior of an ordinary yellow taxi cab to LaGuardia, and as for tonight...I'm off to bed.

the colors of fall

I have lots of things to share with you, but right now I am a little behind at "life", and still completely smitten by the beauty of FALL that made me smile all weekend!

headed north!

I am doing something this weekend (which starts today for me). It involves me and something about this:

and last but not least, a little bag stuffed full of way to much for a few days, but reflects my indecisve nature when it comes to packing.

oria kiely bag @ Flight 001 via kaboodle

simplicity

There is so much beauty in simplicity, and this wedding invitation embodies that for sure. I wish I was on the guest list to this one! Bummer!

via Vince Printers

déjà vu

A weekend of pretty flowers, cocktail dresses, fun dates, yummy food, dancing, and lots of pictures made for a fun-filled weekend visit to Auburn last week.

Sparkly clutches, cell phones, and cameras in hand

These girls got all dolled up

met their dates, put on their corsages

and headed out for a "lantern lit" dinner on the town before dancing the night away at their High School junior homecoming!!

Dwellings

Book Cover, originally uploaded by youngjf4.

I am sad to admit, but I rarely have time to sit down and enjoy the books and magazines that I have at home. Ideally I would like to spend hours of my day with my nose stuck in the pags of lots and lots of inspiring images, articles, and text. However, these days are few and far between. Yes, to my dismay, my schedule is usually overtaken my task that somehow seem to take priority over "fun" and "enjoyable" tasks. Just this weekend, while talking to my Mom, she said to me as she was flipping through a design magazine from April 2009, "I think this is the first time I have even looked at this magazine. It came in the mail, yet, quickly found a nice place to collect dust beneath the coffee table." Yeap, it is true! Last night, I decided to flip through a book I'd bought on sale at Anthropologie a while back. By the looks of it, I think the pages had never been flipped. The book: Dwellings: Living with Great Style, a collaborative book between well-known designers James Huniford and Stephen Sills. The express every aspect of style, show lots of pictures, and full of stunning design ideas!! Their techiniques literally touch on all the details!

"Capturing their unmatched understanding of atmosphere,
color, and a room's sensuality, this innovatively
designed book will serve as both inspiration
and a reference tool for creating a beautiful home."

Just saying, but this book is a great addition to your library collection!! Think Christmas is soon, or maybe you can score the $30 on sale for $7.95 like me!

*image via dwellingshome.com

It's Official

...I just registered for my last semester of Architecture EVER!! The 5 year professional program flew by, and I am kind of shocked that it is almost over!! One word, bittersweet.

sure to make you smile!

Wanna join me for a date here:

Bocado, "a westside morsel" in Atlanta, just opened. Bocado in Spanish means "mouthful". It looks so tasty! Yes, I throughly explored the menu, and I already know what I would order. Do you do that when you are going to a new place? I always love restaurants that have online menus. As odd as it might sound I love to "pre-experience" the restaurant virtually. Maybe this is just a reflection of my indecisive nature, especially when it comes to deciding what to order.

reduce REUSE recycle

We recycle hard core at our studio in Birmingham. It absolutely blows my mind how much trash is created by the 16 of us that work in the studio space. It is mind boggling. When we recycle, it ends up being a lot more recycling bags to dispose of than actually bags of trash. So, yes, we are eliminating all of that from going into our landfills. Wow, we  really are such a wasteful society. Seeing it pile up from more than one person, really puts it into perspective. Everytime I put a plastic water bottle or can in the trash I really do feel guilty now. My challenge to all of you is start recycling at home. Do not go out and buy plastic tubs or big new bins at Wal-Mart to organize your recycling. Be creative about it, let your designer side take hold of you, and think about the middle "R" in RRR: REUSE. 

Here are some "reuse" ideas for a creative solution to organizing all that mess. Let this be a little inspiration to make recycling fun. Add a creative + functional accessory to your home! 

1. Red Barn Mercantile, via 1st dibs : industrial stacking

2. Blue Ocean Traders : vintage industrial bins

3. Elements of Style blog : bins

4. Hudson Goods : vintage wire baskets

It's Official

...yeap,

it is "officially" fall around here (just waiting for it to get a little cooler)

the leaves are changing

It is fall here in Birmingham, and I love it!! This weekend was especially lots of fun! My friend Elizabeth was here all weekend for a wedding, and I enjoyed every minute of her company when we wasn't at one of the million wedding festivities leading up to the actual ceremony. We enjoyed being outside, and breathing in fresh air! We walked, talked, slept, and all the other wonderful things that come along with a relaxing weekend.

Saturday morning we enjoyed coffee + bagels at Crestline Bagel. We talked about the new Beth Moore study on Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman. The study explores Esther's courage, and parallels that to today's women in the modern world. Here is a sample session if you'd like to explore.

After that we headed to the Birminham Botanical Gardens for the Antiques in the Garden event that has been taking place all weekend. It was lots of FUN. There were dealers there from all over the nation.

There were lots of things I really liked. Lots of flow blue, majolica, two "BEAUTY"FUL 18th c. knife boxes, oriental rugs, and the list goes on and on. But this chair (one of a pair) in particular I thought was so pretty I snapped a picture.

For a more festive taste of what the event was like....

A local Birmingham landscape company created this citrus/fruit arrangement. I talked to one of the men who worked on putting it together, he assured me that it was A LOT (yes, with emphasis) harder to put together than it looked. He did not have to convience me of that, things are always more difficult than they might appear when it comes to any realm of design.

We ended the visit with a walk over the to Japanese Gardens area at the botanical garden. For now all you get is a glimpse! It is definitely worth a trip of your own if you are in the area. Besides, who does not want to be outside when the weather is so darn amazing out!! I knew I didn't have an October birthday for nothing...I LOVE FALL!

P.S. WAR EAGLE!!!!!!! I was at a wedding last night, so I did not get to watch the game, but believe me I knew the moment we won!!