carolie

iceocolypse

2011-02-04T12:26:00.001-08:00

icy 079, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

houston was iced over this morning and so was our deck. so my sister and i went ice skating! haha

showers & engagements

2010-12-06T21:21:00.001-08:00

shower engagement 013, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

oy vey! i feel like literally everyone around me is either getting engaged, married, or having a baby. these things don't normally bother me, but i feel like i'm being bombarded with where i'm supposed to be in life! i'm just now getting settled in my amazing newish job and even though i know i'm nowhere near ready for any of that, i do feel like i finally have time to maybe focus on a relationship. it's weird and a little stressful. i'm happy for my friends though, they deserve all of these amazing things.

kitchen renovation

2010-12-06T08:59:00.001-08:00

kitchen reno 026, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

about two weeks ago a pipe burst in our kitchen ceiling. since then our kitchen has been a mess. hence the unusual thanksgiving. this was last week. now we have a ceiling, new lighting, the wallpaper is gone (which was sad cause i loved it) and the floor is being ripped up on thursday and replaced. so hopefully by next weekend... or at least christmas we'll have our fancy new kitchen back!

thanksgiving

2010-11-29T09:51:00.001-08:00

10 thanksgiving 030, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

we had a very unusual thanksgiving this year. no turkey, no "real" dinner, just a big delicious breakfast, and meats cheese and crackers for dinner. my sister has been wanting to make fruity pebbles treats for months now and we finally did. it was a fun day and some how we were still stuffed all day. we got a lot done though, tree up, house decorated, trip to walmart and target on black friday! still to come christmas lights on the house! i'm still deciding between bigger colorful lights, or all white icicle lights. it all depends on if i can find the lights i like for cheap!

good times

2010-08-26T19:07:00.001-07:00

Arc de Triomphe at HCP!, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

we're having a party/exhibition at work and this is my little project. i made the arc de triomphe and brought my bike in from home for a little tour de france picture spot. haha! i have to say i'm so happy doing what i'm doing now, even though i'm not making very much money.

reality check

2010-07-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

i'm late... but this movie, amazing, lovely, cute, funny, and freaking heartbreaking, crushed my poor little dreamer, tv/movie idealizing heart. i'm gonna pull it together though... and figure out what i need to be happy (not just who!) okay, enough sappyness... i'm going to the beach! :)

sewing

2010-07-30T11:26:00.001-07:00

bicycle 015, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

i've been taking apart/altering tops and dresses for a while now but only hand sewing them back together. for my birthday this year my mom bought me a sewing machine! this is my basket of things to be fixed/made... and it's been there since march! well, august will be the month of sewing... once i figure out how to work the machine! i set up my sewing station and unpacked everything. i'm just waiting on my sister to come help me figure it out! i'm excited for the pretty skirts and dresses i have planned!

hello

2010-07-29T18:03:00.001-07:00

driving 062, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

hello world, i miss you!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T12:44:00.001-07:00

mommark1, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

Happy Mother's Day to all the awesome moms! Hope everyone has a relaxing day! that's my goal for my mom at least!

tomatoes

2010-05-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

garden 0420001, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

just thought i'd share the progress from my garden. above are my tomatoes, regular and cherry. on the big ones i've had a problem with end blossom rot, but i watered with epsom salts and they're doing better. my wax beans are growing as well and are almost ready. i think that's the most exciting thing for me, i'll soon have a whole bunch of vegetables that i grew and can cook for my family! i've only been consistently gardening for three years and this is the first year i'll have substantial crops! the tomatoes taste amazing too! not to mention my spinach finally sprouted. it doesn't look that great, but hopefully it'll get better.

cherry tomatoes

2010-04-15T20:39:00.001-07:00

hmmph 085, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

my cherry tomatoes are starting to pop! i haven't had the best luck with tomatoes in the past, but i think this is my year! haha. i started some yellow wax beans and spinach in the ground as well this year. the beans have already sprung up but the spinach hasn't. otherwise, the garden is coming along nicely and so is the house. almost all the major work is done and all that's really left is cleaning up! now if only the house across the street would turn down their music all would be great!

oxfords

2010-04-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

oxfords 013, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

i've been obsessed with finding an awesome pair of oxfords ever since that olsenboye commercial came out. i would've just bought theirs, but they had a weird braid at the front. we had a work function this week and my coworker and i decided to split and go shopping. we went to urban outfitters and i scoured for some oxfords. she found these, the last pair, almost in my size. they were soo cute, especially on me (that never happens!) so, i bought them anyways because i figured i could deal with a little toe cramping. i put them on the next morning and they were worse! depressed, i kept them on all day trying to break them in. if i get to go to the other urbn and can find a better size then they might end up going to my sister. i am finally starting to walk normal in them so maybe it'll all work out. poor toes!

Baggu Backpack

2010-04-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

there's a new bag at Baggu! a back pack this time, made of recycled canvas. this would be sooo perfect for camping. we're hoping to go some time soon so this new bag came out at the perfect time. my mom love back packs too, because they're easier for her back, but i don't always let her because most are so ugly. this however would be perfect, especially with all of baggu's awesome colors.

I'm also thinking of getting their duck bag (haha cute name!) for my day to day. it'd be perfect for carrying my big camera around with me!

6-bee

2010-04-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

i've been a long time fan of jimmy fallon. ever since he started hosting weekend update with tina fey. what i love most about him are his songs. he came out with a cd a long time ago and i was all over that! (idiot boyfriend held a special place in my heart) when he got the chance to host late night i was so excited! everyone was doubtful of him but i believed, especially when he slow jammed the news!

so last night was the best show i've ever seen. jimmy likes to do parodies, 7th floor west (the city), late (lost), and now 6-bee (glee)! if you like glee you might like it. if you like parks and recreation (it's amazing and the best) you'll die from laughter. if you love jimmy, parks and recreation, and glee, you'll explode. so... caution! haha!

if you liked this, check out the battle of the weekend update hosts with jimmy and tina vs. amy and seth playing charades. i for one couldn't stop laughing.

easter

2010-04-08T20:47:00.001-07:00

easter 051, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

i gave up meat for lent this year. i've been trying to eat less and less meat for about two years, so it wasn't that bad. i did start craving prosciutto the last two weeks. for easter my mom and i made an awesome paella. we used shrimp, chicken, mussels, and crawfish. it was a very delicious way to ease into meat.

so, that break i was excited about never actually came. it's scheduled for may, but we'll see if i can actually stick with it. actually, i've had some more free time lately but it's mostly spent fixing up the house again. we have family coming to visit in the next few weeks and all of those little tasks that we put off really need to get done. so far I've finished the front yard, my bedroom, bathroom and the spare room. we just need to declutter the kitchen, the back yard, and my mom's room. i'm sad the back yard has gotten so out of sorts. all that work getting it to look cute! it shouldn't be that hard though, it's not as bad as before i started working on it.

busy busy

2009-12-12T09:18:00.001-08:00

new lens 045, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

i can't wait until january 15th. that's when i'll finally have some free time! I managed to get all of the decorations up inside AND outside! all that's left to do is some more shopping. i had some extra plastic ornaments left over that didn't go with our tree that well, so i strung them on some wire, bunched them up and hung them on the wall. i think it's amazing if i do say so myself. i even bought another box of ornaments (that were way on sale) to make another one for the entry way. Plus! i got a new, amazing lens for my camera. well technically it's for christmas, but i needed it for an event today. ooops!

studying by coloring

2009-10-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

so my goal for this next leg of my life is to go to graduate school. i've been debating with the idea for far too long and i need to get back into the swing of things. just one thing. i have absolutely no motivation to study. i have a hard time studying when i get home because i'm tired from my job, internship, life, etc. so one day my bff took me to this awesome store and i stumbled upon this gem. a coloring book... that helps you study! genius! i flipped through it and it was actually pretty informative. it was like $30 in the store so i did some research and found a bunch on amazon. i bought a physiology one and microbiology one all for under $30. honestly it hasn't made me study any more than my GRE books but it's only been four days and the weekend is here. as long as nothing major happens this weekend i forsee a lot of coloring!

caterpillar

2009-09-16T16:15:00.001-07:00

caterpillar 007, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

i woke up this morning and found this little monster occupying the space where my tomato plant's leaves use to be. i started the three tomato plants from seeds and they had just recently sprouted up and were about to fruit. well... probably not anymore. oh well my zucchini and squash are growing like crazy so as long as this guy doesn't get a hold of them i'll have something to show for this year!

i haven't had the time or energy to blog... for quite some time now. but i think i finally have a schedule i'm used to that can fit photography and blogging. it might also have something to do with that slight slight change in our weather. fall always seems to inspire me!

Photography

2009-09-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

i started a new internship last week at our photography museum. at first i was kind of disappointed with it because it wasn't exactly what i expected. Today however, was different. it was amazing. we had an artist talk and even though it was open to the public and i would've been able to go even if i hadn't applied to be an intern, i never would've experienced it the way i did today. since i had been around these artists all this week and got to know them as people first, i gained a different perspective. i have a feeling this internship is going to allow me to gain so much more experience than i expected!

shower curtain

2009-08-08T08:43:00.001-07:00

shower curtain 001, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

i'd just like to say how much i love my french dictionary shower curtain. i wish i had put it up sooner!

new orleans

2009-06-25T17:13:00.001-07:00

new orleans 121, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

i hate that i'm so busy i can't write! well quickly, i went to new orleans on tuesday and it was hotter than houston! i loved it though. we stayed in the french quarter and the french market was lovely. there was this lady selling these plants. my cousin bought a huge aloe plant and i bought some plumeria. i wish i could have bought some more! i haven't planted it yet, but after this weekend i should have more free time. plus we've had a mini drought but it finally rained today! it was glorious!

kitchen

2009-06-07T18:00:00.001-07:00

camping 09 013, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

so almost done with the kitchen! backsplash went up today. my mom did the most of it and i cut all the edges. now we have to put up the vent, and get new knobs. we might repaint, but i don't have as much free time as i used to. i'm excited it's finally getting done! i still have lots to do though. the floor in my mom's bedroom is waiting to be painted and i have a little project for the back yard. i'm going to fix up my old wicker stool and paint it red! haha then i'll have a nice little place on the deck for laying out and relaxing when i get home!

thursday

2009-05-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

yesterday was a big day for me. i got a new phone (that took this pic) and new job, one right after the other. haha. plus a tomato is ready!

memorial day

2009-05-22T22:14:00.001-07:00

Picture 153, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

weee! off to go camping at the lake! hope everyone has a great memorial day weekend!

folded illustrations

2009-05-18T23:41:00.000-07:00

how amazing are Simon Schubert's folded illustrations of interiors? they blow my mind. i made something the other day by folding paper (albeit thick paper) and it almost drove me crazy. can you imagine if you messed up right at the end. agh! the details are crazy and the mirrors! really cool way of creating art. i love the dimensions he gives to the paper. amazing! it reminds me of this photograph... or lithograph i can't remember. it was folded to create several images. i'll look through my old notes and books and try to find it because right now i can't remember for the life of me.

via apartment therapy

ideas

2009-05-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

i'm in charge of redoing my mother's bedroom so i've been bookmarking inspiring pictures. the color scheme is kind of weird because i'm trying not to buy anything new for the room. she has a bright red bed spread, a black desk and bookshelves, dark brown bed frame and dresser (that i loveee) and a light brown amoire. the biggest decision right now is the floor and i'm stumped. all i know is no carpet!
i like the gold. i think it would look really nice with the red and the wood. i wouldn't paint the walls pink, but i've been thinking of pink as another main color.i like the grey. and i want either a really big piece of art (which i'll make) for above the bed, or a wide mirror.i love the red mirror. that's the color of her bed cover.i love the pink curtains. i'm afraid they might end up looking tacky or too girly. but maybe!i'm going to make this lamp! i don't know how yet, but there's a part of our old gazeebo that i think i can make into it. i haven't tried anything yet, but in my head it works!

mushrooms

2009-05-03T18:03:00.000-07:00

what happens when you get crazy amounts of rain and not a lot of sunshine?extra large colorful mushrooms! haha we have lots all over the place, most i've seen before, but not these yellow ones.

rain rain rain!

2009-04-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

this is my newest succulent that i bought just in time for it to experience a terrential downpour! yesterday it rained like we've never seen it before and as a result our street started flooding. it normally floods a little bit and goes down pretty quickly, but this was different. i was awake at 3 and noticed the water rising quickly so i went to move our cars off of the street. after i was done moving the cars the water was up to the top of the sidewalk! luckily, we didn't have any damage to the cars, but my plants were totally drowning!

Brent for dancing with the stars

2009-04-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

oh i forgot to mention this! my high school buddy Brent Borbon is in the running to become a new professional dancer on dancing with the stars! if everyone could go to abc.com, sign up, and vote for him six times that would be amazing! if he makes it to next weeks show i'll put up the phone number too. he's an amazing dancer and seriously the nicest guy i know.

Ruche

2009-04-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

i discovered this cute little online boutique, Ruche, today while looking at creature comforts. Ruche is moderately priced (perfect for me!!) and has a vintage flair. they also have a section of eco friendly clothing that i love.
this is perfect for my new beige/tan obsession, plus it's made with 100% organic cotton! found just in time for earthday! they've got more than just clothes. these adorable canvas peep toes are only $22.99! i love finding new places to shop for clothes. go and take a look at Ruche!

what the what

2009-04-21T00:52:00.000-07:00

marc by marc jacobs' new summer swim line is beyond adorable! i seriously have not wanted a bathing suit and cover up more! i sooo wish i could afford these for the camping trip we're taking memorial day weekend. not to mention the hundreds of trips i'd take to the beach/pool to justify paying for a marc jacobs bathing suit. haha.

via Piperline

... okay so i checked out the prices over at shopstyle and they aren't as bad as i was expecting. but still too much for my cheap butt!

tan and black

2009-04-13T15:06:00.000-07:00

i've seen this color combo all over lately and have been debating with myself whether it'd look as chic on me as it does on everyone else. my outfits always tend to come out a little bit more disheveled than i'd like. i'm going to go pick up this cardigan from new york and company and see if i can pull it off. maybe with a white tank top and a black skirt?

flowers

2009-04-10T14:32:00.001-07:00

flowers 003, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

home depot's garden center has been my second home the past few weeks! i haven't gone too crazy with the plants, but i'm getting better at knowing what's right for our yard. this year in the garden i've been adding more flowers. i love all the bright pops of colors. my seedlings are coming along nicely and i can't wait for them to bloom! i constructed a bench for all of my pots since i ran out of room in the backyard. i made it out of out of our old gazeebo and a broken table. i'm so glad i fixed up the back yard last year, it's been nice just enjoying the backyard this year, and grilling with the fam!

lemon mint pesto pasta

2009-03-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

i've been a way a while now! last week was the birthday week/spring break/rodeo time so it's been a little busy. i actually tried a juice cleanse this week and as a result have been craving some healthy but yummy food. so i went combing through my cookbooks (one of which i'll write more about later!) and saw a recipe for lemon mint pesto. this was perfect because our mint is growing like crazy and i have a couple lemons left over from the cleanse. we had some whole wheat thin spagetti so i made some of that to go with it. i wanted some more veggies and protein so i found some frozen broccoli in the freezer and some pine nuts in the fridge. all put together it was so light and summery! perfect considering the sun just came out from behind all of the rain clouds. ever heard that saying march either comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion or the reverse? yeah well march is definitely going out like a lion around here!

lemon mint pesto
2 cups loosely packed fresh mint leaves
2 large garlic cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp lemon-pepper
~2 tbsp evoo
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

put garlic in the food processor and process until chopped. add mint leave, salt and lemon pepper and process until finely chopped. add the lemon juice and pulse to combine. while the processor is going add about 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil until pesto becomes smooth. put in the fridge to let the flavors combine while everything else is cooking.

broccoli with lemon
if using fresh broccoli get a pan and put the broccoli in, and add water about a fourth way up the pan. cover and cook until tender. or however you usually cook your broccoli or veggies.
i used frozen and i just microwaved them according to the directions.

either way you do it when you are done add about a tbsp of lemon juice.

whole wheat pasta
cook the pasta according to the directions. salt the water before you add the pasta though!

toasted pine nuts
put the pine nuts in a pan and heat on the stove. keep an eye on them and keep them moving, because once they start to brown they go quickly.

when pasta is done, drain it and put it in a big bowl and add half of the pesto toss to combine. add the broccoli, the pine nuts, the rest of the pesto, and mix well. taste and check it, i added some more lemon juice add some salt or pepper if you feel the need. a little Parmesan cheese if you want and voila!from Vegan Italian by Donna Klein

mirrors

2009-03-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

about a year ago we finished renovating the house but there was one area that never got finished. the vent above the stove was never put in because the duct(?) had holes and needed to be replaced. we also needed another outlet because our old microwave was connected to the oven so the outlet is down behind the stove. well, around that time, our handy man stopped calling and we just never bothered to do anything about it (mainly due to my fear of the attic.) so, today i saw this post on apartment therapy about a mirrored back splash. since we had the combo thing going on there was no linoleum behind the stove. we've been thinking of different ideas for the back splash; stick-on tiles, try and find the matching linoleum, or stainless steel. i didn't really like any of those and the mirror idea is the first one i've really liked. see, our house has a lot of mirrors so it's kind of an obvious choice. what's not expected is me suggesting them. my grandmother was obsessed with putting up walls of mirrors 'to open up the space.' so natch my mother adopted the same idea, resulting in three walls of full mirrors. the result of growing up in two houses filled with mirrors is two children terrified of mirrors. i've learned to live with them now and even have four mirrors in my room (though two of them are for balancing/feng shui purposes.) my sister's fear is still bad and i still can't look at them at night but, i've realized they're kind of a necessity. especially when you have unruly hair, and a fashion sense that is growing but sometimes questionable. it might be kind of weird watching yourself cook, but it's supposed to be good feng shui and the kitchen could use a little brightneing. plus we have some left over mirror from the last wall that was put up so it'd be free. if we end up doing it (and putting the vent up ourselves) i'll report back.

the hills returns

2009-02-23T16:16:00.000-08:00

my life will soon have meaning again! the hills returns in march, around my birthday i hope. i know it's not everyone's cup of tea but i'm addicted and this preview got me so excited!!
via la times

spring planting

2009-02-23T12:52:00.000-08:00

spring is pretty much here in houston and i'm taking full advantage of it. i've already planted some spinach, tomatoes and a bunch of flowers. i'm most excited about all of the poppies i'll hopefully soon have! haha most of the things i've planted are from seeds and it's the first time i've started from seeds other than my sunflowers. hopefully it all works out. now i just need to find a place to put everything. our backyard is pretty tiny and i'm running out of ideas. i don't want to put a bunch of tables and stands because one of our dogs is blind and doesn't need more stuff to run into. oh well i'm off to home depot because i still haven't planted the lemon and orange tress so maybe i'll think of something there. but watch me end up with like five more plants instead! hah.

p.s. dang i missed my one year mark! oh well happy one year blog! haha

i can't wait

2009-02-15T11:40:00.000-08:00

Alexander McQueen's new line for target arrives soon (well soon if you're in ny a little longer for everyone else.) i WILL have that blue dress! haha
image from whowhatwear.

movies

2009-02-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

there have been some really great movies out lately. i've got so many i want to see but i hardly ever go to the movies! i just went to see coraline in 3d last night and it was amazing, but it was the first time i'd been to a movie in a really long time! (it's getting really expensive!) so as soon as milk and all the others come out on dvd i'll be sure to put them on my blockbuster list. the one i've been dying to see most though, is revolutionary road. i bought the book but i want to watch the movie first so i'm not annoyed by any differences. but that little book is mocking me and driving me nuts! and then the new york times posted these photos of the great performers for the oscars this year and this photo is so amazing. i love kate winslet she's so classicly beautiful. ugh i really need to see the movie! there's a slide show here of all of paolo pellegrin's photographs of the oscar noms. they're all amazingly candid and not to mention beautiful.

dreams

2009-01-21T14:14:00.001-08:00

i've been having this reoccuring dream. i leave houston for new york, for like a month to see if i can hack it there. in this dream i have an apartment, that magically leases month to month. it's very small but cute. what's been bothering me is that while reading some blogs, i catch myself decorating that apartment. in my head it's one room, with the bedroom above the kitchen area, via some stairs. i don't even know if they have rooms like that but that's how i see it. so today, i was imagining putting curtains up to block off the bedroom from the rest of the apartment. i asked myself to they make tension rods that long? that's when i realized i was decorating an imaginary apartment in my head. what does that even mean?? haha i'm surely crazy, but now i feel like hunting down this apartment and going for it. moving and taking a crazy chance. anyways i think this was the post that started my little daydream today. seeing that platform with the bed at the top made me think of my dream apartment.

brownies

2009-01-20T05:59:00.000-08:00

yesterday after dinner, i realized that i had some left over chocolate from christmas. craving dessert i figured i could either make chocolate chip cookies again, or make some brownies from scratch. i usually just use box mixes for brownies cause i'm not that big of fan of chocolate so they all taste the same to me. i had one brownie recipe i wanted to try but it was a bit too fancy shcmancy and it was getting late, so i decided to go look for a new one. i typed brownies into google and nothing came up that caught my eye. so i decided to check my favorite food blog orangette and of course she had one that sounded perfect. but it's hard not to be swayed by her lovely writing and gorgeous photos. let me tell you this recipe is amazing. it's my favorite thing i've ever made, i'm sure that'll change soon but for now sigh, it's soo good. i'll never use a box mix again that's for sure. check it out at orangette, and check out her blog. lately she's been a bit psychic by posting recipes for my favorite foods and things i've been secretly craving, and i love it! around christmas time, i had been craving christmas butter cookies because my mom usually buys them for us and lo and behold i find a crazy simple recipe for them. it's seriously one of my favorite blogs and it's what got me started reading and writing blogs.oh and i'm sooo ordering this for the next time i make these, which should be soon because everyone is begging for more! the edges are always always the best!

Happy Inauguration day! ... i think brownies would be a perfect snack for tonight! haha

lemon tree

2009-01-08T20:52:00.001-08:00

day10, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

i have a new meyer lemon tree! i'm excited to wait like two years for it to fruit. haha i need to find a pot for it still, because there's no room in our yard for me to plant it. i got an orange tree too because they were 9 dollars each at the garden center's 75 percent off sale. i've always wanted a fruit tree so i'm pretty excited!

i used my grandpa's minolta srt 101 to take this picture. i've only used it a couple times and haven't been that happy with my pictures. but i'm getting use to it and actually got ten good shots out of it this time. that's a lot compared to last time when i only got like three. i really should take a formal photography class so it won't take me as long to figure out the appropriate settings. i still haven't figured out what settings are my favorite, but i have decided the pictures turn out better on overcast days rather than sunny days.

bracelet love

2009-01-06T18:16:00.000-08:00

i'm kind of obsessed with this bracelet. it's made by Katherine Sturgis and it's not too expensive, but it's a little more than i'd pay for jewelery. so i've been thinking i can recreate it for cheap. i have a little fake diamond tennis bracelet and i just need some (p)leather and silk thread from hobby lobby and voila! (hopefully.) i'm going to print out this picture and take it shopping with me and see how it goes. if it works out i'll post a picture!

found on hey susy

knitta

2009-01-03T19:18:00.001-08:00

i've been away for a while so a lot of ideas have been piling up in my head. this holiday season was especially busy. i'm glad it's over so i can get back to my normal schedule. hopefully 2009 turns out a lot better than 2008, or at least has more in store for me than 2008 did.

my sister is a stage manager and that means i go to a lot of plays. lately she's been working for this little company that has their plays at different locations. so i've been able to see parts of houston i'd never seen before. most recently their play was at a place called diverseworks. it's an awesome space that houses different forms of art. next to their stage was an art gallery and there was a lot of other space for all sorts of things. i only saw the art gallery and the stage but i was really impressed and plan to go back because the area is so photogenic haha. anyways the reason i'm writing about this is because while i was outside waiting for my sister i noticed something on the railing.

gate of heaven (1), originally uploaded by caroliebee.

it was knitting! i was so excited because i've heard of knitta through a couple blogs and even seen some in austin, but i hadn't in houston (odd cause i'm not sure, but i think it may have started in houston.) sadly, no one i was with knew what i was talking about so the excitement only lasted a second. haha. i think it's such a cool form of performance art. it's like a sweet spin on street tagging! i can't knit so i don't know how long something like this takes but i'm sure it took a while. i just wanted to show that it was appreciated and put a smile on my face. it's nice when art evokes emotions, that's the kind of stuff i'm passionate about. i know when i start to ask questions and think about the hows and whys of art that i'm really into it. i really miss being around art, and it was nice to have a day totally surrounded by it.

christmas-y

2008-12-11T21:44:00.000-08:00

holy geez that's awesome! way cooler than my christmas wreath! i haven't started decorating yet because everything is so hard to get at. we really should organize all of our holiday things better! hopefully everything will get done this weekend cause it already feels like christmas outside! it snowed last night for the third time (that i remember) since i was born! this snow was different though, it was coming down like crazy with really big flakes!
eek it was so awesome. i love when it snows it makes everyone so happy! it's always so unexpected but they've come up with a theory that whenever we have a hurricane that comes close to us or hits us it snows the following december. i think it should've snowed more to outweigh the suckyness of the last hurricane though. haha

wreath found on apartment therapy

dresses

2008-11-28T00:21:00.000-08:00

if i could have any dress to wear for christmas it'd be from Church and State. they're so cute and exactly my style! if only i lived in new york... or chicago or portland haha. gah i'd love the model's hair as well!! i love these two way more than any dress i've seen in the stores. i've been dress shopping soo much lately and have yet to find anything! i need something before christmas because i've got a party and a graduation to go to. hopefully i'll see something new while i'm wading through the crowds tomorrow (i'm totally brave!) maybe i'll just be boring and get this Tommy Hilfiger sweater dress if they have it at my macys.

wallpaper

2008-11-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

i've been thinking a lot about wallpaper lately. i think it all started with the top design finale. i fell in love with Ondine's living room wall. it's gorgeous. i'm not sure what i'd wallpaper, but i know i'd only do one wall... or room. i even like the idea of hanging a framed chunk of wallpaper.

Ondine's living room on the top design finale.

alan the gallant wallpaper. the first one is an example of framed wallpaper, i have a really big empty frame that i haven't thought of what to do with that would be perfect. or it could be a placeholder for whenever i get inspired to paint something for it.

julia rothman wallpaper

Jocelyn Warner wallpaper this one and the one above i think are graphic enough to frame.

my favorite picture haha. i like the wallpaper and i've seen it a lot of places i just don't know where it's from. i think i'd wallpaper one of the entry way walls, the one that goes upstairs. it'd seem like a nice hello welcome to my house. haha.

baggu bags

2008-11-18T21:34:00.001-08:00

i haven't heard a lot about the eco friendly movement lately. i think it's been lost among all of the big events recently. but it's still a big issue to me and i just realized i hadn't talked about one of the things i've changed for the environment. i bought these baggu bags at the begining of the year. it was one of the first things i found from looking at blogs. they're so amazing and i can't believe i haven't talked about these sooner. they're a bit expensive but in my opinion totally worth it. so much so i ordered some more a couple of months ago. they're easily the best thing i've bought this year. they hold an incredible amount and fold up tiny tiny. i took a couple with me to New York and they were so useful! i love that they're crazy colorful and i actually get compliments on them haha! i save so many plastic bags because they don't put just one thing in one bag with these. the thing i do need to work on is making sure the bagger doesn't start bagging all of my things before i get them out!

if anyone is looking for some durable shopping bags check these out. they even have a new kind that fold up even smaller than these! i just checked out their website again before posting this and found they've expanded to produce bags and lots of other cool things. plus i just realized that my friends love them and they would make really cool christmas gifts!

protest

2008-11-13T07:03:00.000-08:00

on saturday, november 15th there will be a nation wide protest of california's proposition 8. this website has a list of protest locations in every state. i'll be attending mine with my sister and bestfriend at our city hall. it seems i've felt a little empowered after this presidential election, and seeing my vote actually count (at least in my county. haha) but i think everyone should be able to love and express their love the same so i'm taking action. and it feels good! this quote from reclaiming miss havisham really inspired me as well.

"First they came for the
socialists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the
trade unionists,
and I did not speak out
because I was not
a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left
to speak for me."

-Martin Niemöller

http://jointheimpact.com/ for more information about the cause.
image from http://www.against8.blogspot.com/

berry tripping

2008-11-07T22:41:00.001-08:00

berry tripping 071, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

my friends and i went to this event tonight at the social (cutest place ever!!) in the heights and ate some freaky berries. they're called miracle berries and they're really rare. you're supposed to eat the berry and then after 15 minutes anything thing you eat tastes different. lemon tastes like lemonade, salt and vinegar chips taste like bbq chips and fruit tastes extra sweet. it didn't really work that well for me, the chips tasted really sweet and so did the fruit but everything else was just milder, or more bitter. i don't think it was worth 35 dollars but it was still cool. especially cause we got to go to the social and i fell in love. afterwords we went to this cute tea place called te house of tea. a lot people started showing up and started to tango. we kinda got run out but it was so cute! haha anyways there's another berry tripping event on the 23rd if you wanna check it out.

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T16:36:00.001-07:00

i've been baking cupcakes all day for my sister's halloween party but i'm taking a breather so i thought i'd say happy halloween! here's a picture of my crappy pumpkin! one of the branches broke.. it looks a little better when it's lit up. have fun tonight!

brief

2008-10-30T01:11:00.000-07:00

i'm going to be busy for the next couple of days, so i figured i'd post some of my fave interior pictures that i like staring at.
well this is just a new one i saw and liked the couch.. haha.
for anyone who watches Top Design definitely check out Eddie Ross's blog! according to the bravo poll tonight he's seriously missunderstood. so go understand him, he's amazing! i need to remember to take pictures of my pumpkin (they're not nearly as chic as his simple ones!) aaand all of the halloween fun i'll be having. haha! DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!! i did today and there were so many people!

from desire to inspire, apartment therapy, decor8 and shi(f)t.

heart

2008-10-22T14:17:00.001-07:00

i showed my sister this picture i posted a while ago. her and her roomates got inspired and wanted to create one of their own. so they've been slowly gathering pictures. they finally finished the other day and this is their version!oh and this is totally my inspiration for decluttering my desk.
found on desire to inspire.

change

2008-10-20T00:28:00.001-07:00

room 043, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

i honestly hate change. especially because when i make a decision that causes something to change i can never sleep because my brain won't stop working. well, i've decided to make a big change in my life, so of course i can't sleep. it's not even a change really, it's me going back to what i originally was going to do. so it shouldn't even count, but my brain doesn't listen. it has to go over and over what i need to do, it's almost enough to make me change my mind. but lets hope i don't, because (at least right now) i really do think this is whats best and what i really really want.

at least this morning was peaceful. the light was so great in my room and i just knew the weather was going to be gorgeous. a great day to go to the texas renaissance festival. (a must do if you're in houston from oct-nov)

shopping

2008-10-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

i've been obsessed with this dark tan colored leather for a while now. and i've been looking for some boots, because well i don't have any, and a purse. i'm pretty picky about it because the color has to be right and i can't spend that much. well, i bought this purse last week and now i'm determined to find some boots. (it's soo soft!) i went to dsw and saw these amaaazing Frye boots (that i can't find anywhere online!) but they're way out of my price range. the other day i saw on for me, for you that Nine West is having a decent sale so i checked it out. i imediately saw these shoes. i love that style and have been looking for a pair like them plus, that color is amazing. so now i'm trying to decide whether i want those or wait and find a pair of boots i love more. but the sale price is really tempting! so i might just get these for now and keep looking for the perfect pair of boots. maybe now i'll look for some grey or black boots.

ack!

2008-10-12T13:46:00.001-07:00

sunday 015, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

my desk is so cluttered! it makes me not want to do anything because i'd have to put everything away first. it's filled with a ton of different projects! halloween costume parts, recipes and things for the cupcakes i'm making, an empty portfolio waiting to be finished, a new smoke detector (daaaaanger! do the smoke detector,) canvases for painting that don't have a home yet, picture frames that need filling, and a bunch of odd things that need to be put where they belong. it was messier last weekend but i couldn't live with it so i thinned it out. now i want to de clutter my whole room. i was looking at some photos on apartment therapy and they were so simple and clean. i want that again. i think i've overdecorated and i need to free up my walls. before we redid my room there was stuff covering all of the walls and i don't want that to happen again. it's gonna hurt taking things down cause i love all of them but they'll have a home one day. my brain feels cluttered too so i think it'd help with that. they're doing another cure over at apartment therapy so maybe i'll join in. i just need to sit down and go through everything... but maybe i'll do it tomorrow. haha. hmm maybe this will inspire me to get to work!

11 things

2008-10-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

i can't sleep so i'm stealing from julie. haha

1.Clothes Shop...i love target, old navy, gap, and basically anywhere i can find clothes i like that aren't expensive. haha

2 Furniture Shop...Ikea or target cause i'm cheap but i love antiques!

3 Sweet...hmm carrot cake is my absolute fave! but i like lots of things except i don't really like chocolate.

4 Favorite Cities...houston and new york (hopefully i can add more to this list soon!)

5 Drink...water lately but when i need a soda i drink dr. pepper

6 Music...uhh i have so many faves but the short list is rilo kiley, the decemberists, deathcab, kelly clarkson, tegan and sara, lily allen(and all of the uk singers,) modest mouse, and santogold

7. TV Series...this is a long list too. but i can narrow this down a little easier, pushing daisies, the office, how i met your mother, the hills, chuck, and all of bravo haha

8 Film...amelie, 50 first dates, mermaids, the royal tenenbaums, hot fuzz, disturbia

9. Workout....yoga (free from the tv)

10. Pastries...palmiers, they're the easiest to make too!

11 Coffee...blech, i hate coffee!

this is halloween!

2008-10-09T15:57:00.001-07:00

halloween decor 001, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

so i waited a week and then i couldn't wait anymore. i put most of the halloween decorations up. the weather was so nice i couldn't help myself. now it feels so much like fall. i got the decorations out of the garage, but since i was going to the grocery store i figured i'd hit up the dollar stores and see if there were any good things i could use. i found more tombstones to go with the sad little one i already had to make a little graveyard. i also found the wreath i made last year. it's based off of this picture of a wreath i found a couple of years ago. now i get to go to the new target that just opened up a few streets away from me! i need to get more purple lights and then i'll be done!

oh and i made some pumpkin cookies! (i left out the oats and all of the other things) they're delicious and i'm trying not to eat them all! i also made some pumpkin cream cheese spread for my bagels and butternut squash pasta! i think i've gone a little fall crazy.

fall decorations

2008-10-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

i almost went crazy yesterday because i had nothing to do. the day before i cleaned the house and the only thing left that i wanted to do was decorate the house for fall/halloween. it wasn't even october yet so i felt silly being all early with my decorations. usually i'm the one who's laughing at my friends cause they want to decorate the house for christmas in november! haha. i decided maybe i'd just look online and see if something inspired me so i could write it down and do it later. looking at martha's website and pottery barn i couldn't wait any longer. so i ran around the house looking for things that screamed fall. at first all i found was some candles. i arranged them together but that was so boring cause it's what we always do. then i found some branches in the garage that my mom kept from our old willow tree. so i switched out some vases and created thisthe leaf candle holder is from target. before i found the branches i gave up and went there looking for decorations. i didn't really like anything but i got the leaf candle holder and some skull tapered candles for the entry way. for the bottom i used dead cat grass that i had just cut(haha) and some little pine cones i found.
at the pottery barn site they had a lot of ceramics with fall fruit, so i found a ceramic sugar dish (i think) and put some dried fruits i found in it in the entry way.now i just need to find the wreath i made last year (and hope it hasn't fallen apart) and then i'm done with decorating till it gets a little closer to halloween. i'm gonna steal ideas from martha, and hopefully not go too crazy!
oh and i baked some blueberry muffins (this blog is soo inspiring and makes me completely jealous of her photography and decorating skills. seriously soo jealous!) they look like cupcakes, but at least they're yummy! haha.

recipes

2008-09-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

i made muffins this morning, pear and ginger muffins from the nytimes. i was looking at The Kitchn last night and found a bunch of pear recipes and remembered i had an oldish one. so this morning when i woke up i went straight to work. and even improvised! i didn't have any sour cream so i drained some vanilla yogurt that my roommate had and used that instead. i also crushed up some almonds and put in some almond extract. they turned out delicious even though i just noticed i made two mistakes haha. i used baking soda instead of powder and left the pears chunky instead of dicing them finely. i think it's probably better chunky anyways. haha.
so, i've been baking a lot. this whole year i've been out of school actually. as soon as the new stove was put in i've been in the kitchen. that's what i spend most of my time doing. i think i like it so much because it's like being in the lab. you have to be precise, prepared, and observe everything. my friends have noticed i like baking and they always ask me to make them things. it's no problem it's just i don't have any recipes memorized yet, and we're not usually home when the requests come. so i go home get the recipe and then go shopping. my sister suggested i make a little book of recipes and carry it with me all the time. i actually liked the idea and found a mini moleskine memo book. it's like an expanding folder or wallet, and i can put 3x5 index cards in it.
it's organized by category and alphabetized with in that, cakes/cupcakes/muffins, desserts, bread, vegetarian meals, nonvegetarian meals. i've already run out of dessert cards so i'm gonna have to buy more before i find more recipes i like. right now i've only got the ingredients listed on them since i've got all the recipes at home but i'm debating putting the directions on too. it's just going to take longer than it did to make this so i'm not looking forward to it. so, since i've got so many recipes i figured i'd share them here when i make them. i'll start with a few favorites that i've got pictures of, so i know they're good, and then i'll get to the new ones.

VOTE!

2008-09-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

when i was first able to vote i did so as often as i could but then i experienced jury duty. i had a horrible experience that was mostly my fault but it was still traumatizing. since then i hadn't been as interested in voting and i figured it'd help avoid jury duty. well, it didn't and i'm over it. so, i've been paying attention, educating myself (i need to more on the local peeps,) and getting ready to excercise my right to vote. i've especially been enjoying all of the great designs for the election i've been seeing. below are some pretty awesome posters. AIGA invited voters to create non partisan posters to encourage people to vote. i gotta say, they're working on me! haha. great design is soo persuasive. seen at SeeSaw Designs.

Cactus

2008-09-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

i figured i'd show my favorite plant. it's the first plant i've bought for myself that hasn't died! haha. really. i've bought tons over the years but they all failed. i think it's due to the fact that they were in the front yard and nothing lives in the front yard except bushes, vines, and our magnolia tree. and the fact that i actually take care of it. well, there's not really much to taking care of it but i do love it! haha. i bought my cactus in may after seeing it in ikea of all places. i came home with five plants (two succulents, three cacti) and re potted all of them. the two at the bottom are ones i bought for my sister and the one cactus in the back is my favorite. aww it was so cute! haha.
so, it grew really well and fast. eventually it got too big to share a pot so i moved it into it's own.five months later he's still growing and looking good. i just noticed he's branching out again! I'm excited to see it grow really tall, but i know that's a while away. i can wait though! he's survived three hurricanes so far (well, one rain storm, one nothing, and one spent safely inside) and hopefully he'll survive for a long, long time.

back to normal

2008-09-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

we're slowly getting back to normal here in houston. it's kinda hard to do when we have a curfew and a lot of people still don't have power. but it's starting to feel like fall and that helps cause it's my favorite time of year. the pumpkins are ready to be carved and the stores are filled with costumes! a couple weeks ago i saw this cute idea of updating the classic storybook characters over at Creature Comforts. the first one she did caught my eye cause it was little red riding hood. I've been trying to be red riding hood for halloween for like two years but our plans always fall through. others were inspired too, so they sent her their updates! i'm so in love with this idea, and i was inspired to actually create one of the outfits they put together. Dorothy's outfit was updated by Meghan to a blue and white plaid shirt, dark blue jeans, blue headband, and red shoes. i noticed that i had most of those things and decided to actually put it together! all i needed was the plaid shirt so i went to gap and found one. so today as we visit all the musuems for free thanks to Ike i'll be an updated version of Dorothy! haha. i'm even debating braiding my hair like dorothy. the next look i really like and want to create is down the rabbit hole and the snow white look.
kinda simple. this is what i wore, with the sleeves on the tshirt rolled up.

hurricane ike

2008-09-15T13:50:00.001-07:00

ike 078, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

ike hit us on friday night and it was crazy. i'd never been through a storm that bad, at least not that i remember. and we weren't even on the bad side! before the storm hit it was amazing to see what was happening in galveston. the water was up to the seawall and the piers were starting to wash away. not to mention crazy people walking the seawall, one in a teddy bear costume, taking pictures. we're very lucky that we only lost power for 24 hours because those 24 hours were miserable. i can't imagine how those people are surviving even with a "cool" front coming in. we finally got our water back last night and i was so excited to take a shower.
our damage was similar to others around us, a few down trees, limbs, shingles, and fences. that's our fence in the neighbor's yard in the first picture and the other side of our fence in the second. but oh galveston looks bad. i'm anxious to see what the beach will look like now and how much will be left. and we've finally have been getting images of crystal beach and the west end and it just looks destroyed. luckily a lot of people got out and those that didn't seem to be okay and have learned their lesson.
Houston amazingly had their act together this time and had learned a lot from rita. the evacuation went so much smoother and traffic was only in two spots and it lasted for a few hours not days like rita. i'm sure rita is the reason why so many people didn't evacuate this time. i know my sister who was so freaked out that we needed to leave for rita was adamant that she wasn't even leaving her apartment this time. she still doesn't have power but luckily she's okay.
i've always been the skeptical person dealing with hurricanes. but now if we ever get one stronger than a three, i'm out. it takes a toll on you worrying the whole night about everyone and everything. and the aftermath is almost worse than the actual storm, especially in houston.

oh no!

2008-09-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

disaster! our lawn guy went a little weedwacker happy on my succulents!! i walked outside yesterday to water the flowers and two of them had been hacked up!
it's kinda hard to see the destruction in the picture... but it's there.
My favorite :(hopefully they'll be ok. they aren't "dead" yet... just chopped up. i'm gonna have to talk to him or put up a fence or something!
oh well... at least my sunflower is happy!

new plants

2008-09-04T20:55:00.001-07:00

new plants 008, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

my sunflowers are blooming! it happened so fast i can't wait for more to bloom! i have a lot of gardening i need to get done. while i was gone my mint died so i bought and planted some more herbs. i need to move my crepe myrtle and and i have some ideas for updating the planter it's going in. i'm gonna get some stencils and see if i can some how make it into a bird bath too. haha i'm working out the details to see if it's possible. when i go to home depot to find supplies for the planter i'm going to look for more succulents for the entry way. the ones i planted a while ago are doing good so time for more!

i <3 houston

2008-09-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

i'm so glad to be home and finally back to my normal routine. new york definitely made me realize how much i love houston. i enjoyed the ease and convenience of new york living but i missed houston's light and openness. i already knew i could never leave houston for good. i've known that since high school when i couldn't even bare applying to colleges out of houston. but now it's been solidified that i'm forever a houston girl.
i did love new york though! it was amazing to see all of the things i'd studied and adored for years. the museums were definitely my favorite part. the met was overwhelming but filled with so much of my favorite art. and moma, oh my. i could live there.
Eva Hesse! and Eugene Atget!
and the garden was filled with so many bertoria chairs. ugh love. i really do want to go back. but maybe when it's cold and i can wear all of the coats i only get to wear for a couple days in houston.

home

2008-09-01T14:14:00.001-07:00

NYC 531, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

New York was an amazing experience. i'm still a little jet lagged so i'll write more about my trip later. plus i still need to gather my thoughts! haha

NYC

2008-08-24T00:03:00.000-07:00

on wednesday i'm headed to new york for the first time with my sister and a friend. i'm extremely excited and also scared like crazy. i'll be sure to document every moment though!

memorial park

2008-08-23T23:27:00.000-07:00

i'm waiting for the basketball game to start and i'm extremely bored so i figured i'd post something since i haven't in a while. recently, my friend and i have been trying to go around town to practice our photography. we've been meaning to get out to memorial park to see what it's like for a while. well, we braved the rain last weekend and found an oasis! i had no idea that memorial park was such a big retreat from the normal urban scene of houston. we drove around in awe finding a bunch of tennis courts that we plan to take full advantage of, a pool with a huge slide!, and a great place to run. we decided we wanted to find the arboretum and nature center. we found it and took off on some trails. it was so great to discover a whole different(beautiful!) part of houston. here's a couple pictures i took on the trail. more on my flickr.

ten things that make me happy

2008-08-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

ok so i saw a bunch of blogs doing this and i wanted in! haha.

1. Brain Age 2!
Um yeah I'm addicted. I feel so smart when i smash my records haha!

2. Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm
this is really my main addiction, i have one everywhere.

3. Sony DSC-L1 Camera
yeah i have a DSLR but seriously i love this camera. it takes the best pictures with ease and it's so small. it's starting to break again and i think i'm going to have to say goodbye this time :(

4. Apple 30 gig Black ipod
and all the music contained with in. if i lost this my life would be incomplete. combine this with the suduko on Brain Age 2 and you have one of my favorite things to do.

5. Pushing Daisies
and Anna Friel's style. the minute this show started i fell in love. it's one of my favorite shows ever and it's only been one season. just thinking about it coming back makes me all giddy!

6. Matrix Hydratherapie Conditioning Balm
after searching for years for something that would actually tame my hair i found it. it's amazing and it's the only conditioner that i've see actual results from after the first wash. (well, second but this one smells better.)

7. My favorite shoes from Target
i love wearing these, every time i look down i smile! haha

8. Tomatoes
i used to hate them so much. now i can't not have at least one in the fridge.

9. MFAH
my favorite museum ever. i could walk around there for hours.

10. The University of Houston
i love my school, and houston in general. i miss being there everyday. every time they're in the news i say "go coogs!" in my head haha.

flickr 888

2008-08-08T18:52:00.001-07:00

888 120, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

today i participated in flickr 888 which is a photo pool with pictures from people's day. i found out that they did something like this a while ago from someone's blog and i was sad i missed it. so i made sure to have my camera at my side today! this is the picture i used for my day, but i took a bunch of pictures throughout. check out my flickr and see what i did today haha! it would've been more interesting if me and my sister had woken up earlier so we could've gone shopping in montrose.

Adam Dedman

2008-08-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

Creature Comforts posted a great artist today Adam Dedman. i checked him out because the painting she posted caught my eye.

i love prints with sayings that make you go aww. haha. i usually don't like prints with sayings, well, except this one cause i say it all the time.

for like ever (what! i just found this bag, how cute!) anyways back to Adam. checking out his flickr he has incredibly detailed line drawings with a great sense of humor. not only is he amazing with line drawings, he's also so inspiring with his photography. he's only got a handful up but they're lovely portraits. so classic with the contrast of dark and light in the first three. the rest have this beautiful vintage color because they're shot through the viewfinder of his camera. eee i love finding new artists to love, admire, and also inspire me.

passion flower

2008-08-03T21:04:00.001-07:00

butterflies 007, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

oh how i hated you when my mom brought you home. yeah, your flowers are intricate but i thought they were weird and i just wanted a plant with cute little pink flowers. then you spread. like crazy. took over our magnolia tree, and all of our bushes. finally, we had to cut you back to fix the house and you subsided. just a few bunches of you remained and you refused to flower. then, all of a sudden i saw monarch butterflies hanging around outside. that's when my museum training kicked in! you're their host plant of course. now we have tons of tiny caterpillars (and one huge one!) eating you up. i gotta say passion flower, i kinda miss your invasiveness and weird flowers. i wish you would invade again and take over this new weed that likes to throw berries at my car. it doesn't make butterflies like you do. to sum things up, thanks for being there passion flower and making my day better with baby caterpillars, pretty butterflies and weird flowers.

dream kitchen

2008-08-03T19:49:00.001-07:00

july 012, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

holy geez. i did a double take when i saw this set up at ikea in round rock, tx. it's beautiful and cozy, and i want it. i always figured i'd want white cabinets but these are so much warmer. plus we have white right now and they're not really white anymore. sigh. i passed this twice cause i couldn't decide if i needed to take a picture of it. i hope there's a set up like this one in houston so i can go and bask in the beauty.

Growth!

2008-07-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

succulents

2008-07-12T00:22:00.000-07:00

hopefully, after tomorrow my entry way will look like a toned down version of this!

... with rocks!
(from apartment therapy)

jsyk, it really bugs that in the about me section, the words don't end at the bottom of the picture(which is all resized :/) and that bothersome little in just hangs there all willy nilly!

oh and i really really need a job... haha.

june

2008-07-06T01:40:00.000-07:00

so i've been away from the blog for about a month now. i've been busy with fixing up the house again. this time i did the back yard, and we painted the room next to me. the yard took the most time because, um it was kind of a waste land.

that's the before, well the real before didn't have the table and the hanging plants.
so it's not all the way done but it's a lot better. the (3/4ish) after...

i still have to finish taking the grass out of the brick at the back, and plant my sunflower seeds in the bed you can't see. eventually the crepe myrtle is going in the big pot, and hopefully an avocado tree will magically sprout by the swing chair. (although the ants i saw yesterday have me doubting that.)

we even bought an umbrella (we originally had a gazebo but we had to take it down cause of the hurricane and have since lost the screws.)

the room got painted this awesome hotpinkyred color. it may sound crazy but it's 1000 times better than the neon yellow it was.

inspired

2008-07-03T07:03:00.000-07:00

inspired by thiscame this
i didn't have much to work with, so it's not great. but i had two bunches that broke off my plant and they weren't dead yet... so voila!

(first pic from apartment therapy sanfran)

hmmph

2008-05-21T03:58:00.000-07:00

my brain is mumbly and jumbly. i need it to stop being that way so i can sleep.

in awe.

2008-05-12T00:38:00.000-07:00

so many questions, i can't even begin to start. this is one of the coolest things i've seen in a long time, if ever. i'd love to be able to see the broken down stages in person. i'm just really shocked right now at how amazingly creative this is. my mind is kind of blown.
(found on my love for you is a stampede of horses)

houndstooth

2008-05-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

if i had that bedspread, i'd be a happy camper. and maybe those shoes, if they were closed toe.

hills rant

2008-04-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

ok i know i shouldn't be as.. in to this 'hills' situation as i am, but i can't help it. i relate to lauren's drama with both heidi and audrina. so ok i'm convinced heidi has the most amazing pr person, because they've got both the la and the ny times writing stories bashing lc and calling heidi a freaking 'feminist hero!' the nerve! so all of these people have problems with lc for being petty and holding this 'uncalledfor' grudge against heidi. what the hell. did they forget what she did. what her boyfriend did and she supported. if they forgot heidi and spencer don't mind reminding them. if my BEST friend did this to me i'd never talk to her again let alone narrate her life on the hit tv show i helped her get on. i don't see how people are against lauren on this.

if i was lauren when they were at the club with heidi i would've gotten out of there just as soon as she did. why would you want to sit there and listen to this plastic whore talk to your roommate about how they used to be great friends and she doesn't understand why you would have a problem with them being friend. try a little harder heidi! oh and you left out the part about how you made audrina cry for not letting her into your bday for getting flowers from your creep boyfriend!

with audrina, justin is skeezy (and hot but whatever) and the fact that lauren had the balls to speak up about it is honorable. i definately didn't. being in a situation like that, you've got this view that the people in the relation ship don't. you get to see people change, and sometimes it's for the better, but when it's not it's not something you don't want to be around. they say oh you don't see how great it is, but when all i can see is how crappy it is it make me think the good could never make up for it.

oh, and this is just ridiculous!

p.s. i wish my front braid looked as cute as lauren's. i think my head isn't the right shape.. haha

a few changes

2008-04-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

weee ikea!

symmetry makes me happy.

2008-04-15T22:08:00.001-07:00

cute huh?

bathroom

2008-04-13T17:04:00.001-07:00

If i had my own bathroom (which will hopefully be soon) this is what it would look like.

well, with my french shower curtain, a different towel, and a mirror of course. everything else can stay... except maybe that corner cabinet. (found on desire to inspire.)

grateful

2008-04-09T02:36:00.000-07:00

i'm grateful for my photography teacher's method of teaching. he had us all keep a journal and that was our major grade for the semester. having a journal be the major grade in a class was new to me and forced my personal opinions to come out in my writing. before this class my writing was strictly impersonal. i was not a noun used and me would never enter word while i was writing. that's the way we were taught in high school. sure it gave me the tools to always be able to write a complete essay on any subject but, i was never able to achieve a voice in my writing. it's probably because the focus was never anything creative or fictional. always something analytical so we could prepare for our ap tests. by spending a year writing in a completely different style than i ever had i was able to find my voice (i think at least) and get comfortable with actually having a voice.

i've never been one to speak out on a subject. you wouldn't see me raise my hand in class, or take on an issue i believe in against someone else who didn't. that year i was able to put down all of my opinions on all of the topics we discussed in class. i was able to figure out what i actually believed in and be sure in my opinions. this was probably because there was only one person who was going to read my thoughts and after a year i probably wouldn't see him again. since this class i've opened up and have learned to speak out in support of issues i believe in. really i've gotten into two heated discussions about the primary and global warming that i would've totally avoided before. i've also been able to keep up my voice in my writing. the next semester i kept that style in my american art class, and it payed off. my professor enjoyed reading my opinions and questions. her acknowledgement of them lead to my increased involvement in class discussions and discussions with her. she and my photography professor are the only college profs i would still keep in touch with.

thinking about this, i completely hated writing in high school. i was sure i would not want to be a history or english major in college because that would force me to do something i hated. luckily i only had a choice between art history and theatre for performing arts and i found this odd love for art history. otherwise i think i'd still hate writing. and the weird thing is in third grade i went through a phase where i wanted to be a writer. i actually wrote a book! (it was closely based off of a bunch of goosebumps, so it wasn't much) to think i went from that to hating writing, it makes me wonder if it was worth being able to write an essay on anything. i really wouldn't give that up knowing how hard it is for my other friends who weren't in ap classes to compose even a simple essay. but if i hadn't found a passion for art, and photography, i wouldn't have regained the type of writing i actually enjoy and want to do.

although i still haven't become comfortable exposing my writing to the world. there's only one person who has read my photography journals and most of my other papers. and i haven't told anyone at all about this blog. so i still have some things to overcome.

(i can't believe i wrote three posts in the same time frame again... i have a problem haha)

wandering

2008-04-09T02:15:00.000-07:00

my mind wanders so much at night. i go off on wild tangents and it's hard to trace my way back to my original thought. i wish (not really) that my brain was connected to a computer and all my thoughts were laid out for me to come back to in the morning and decipher. then i could edit and arrange them in a way that made sense. also they wouldn't be, as they usually are, lost forever.

thoughts

2008-04-08T23:43:00.000-07:00

i felt like blogging last night but i didn't. i decided it was better to keep my thoughts in my head and try falling asleep before 1. it didn't happen so that was a waste. i remembered that i wanted to write about going away to different places for long periods of time. i was reminded by a survey my sister did and wrote "i like to pretend i know french." that was something i was going to say last night. i was thinking i wish i could get over my fear of leaving home for more than a week. i'm pretty sure i've never been away longer than that if even. if i could get over that fear i'd go to ny or washington or chicago and get my art history degree. i'd even go to france (that's where my pretend knowledge of french would come in handy) and study art history there. oh art history, how i wish there was a future for you and me together here! for now though, i'll just hope to visit ny and france for short whiles at a time.

not to go off on a tangent, but i really hate how all of my double spaces after periods are automatically changed. i don't care if that's not a rule anymore! it was instilled in my brain and that will forever be the way i type. it just looks too smushed to me. i don't like it at all. can you tell i'm not a fan of change?

on to another random thought, i am in love with the work of Yellena. i found her etsy shop on some other blog that i can't remember right now. my favorite piece of hers is Allusion. it's so amazingly detailed! next month i'm gonna buy the print (i've spent a lot already this month) and hang it with my Robert Frank photographs. honestly, every time i look at this piece i notice some new extraordinary element. the layering is so thoughtful that i can't imagine how long this took to come together.

my love for you is a stampede of horses posted an interview with a really inspiring artist, Kime Buzzelli. i was reading it and felt the urge to pull out my sketch book. her pieces are interesting and i love her explanation of what goes through her head before she sits down to work on a piece. my brain is not even that creative. i'm always itching to draw or paint and can never seem to get the random images in my head to fit cohesively together. but that's why i'm not an artist.

i enjoy hearing artist's explanations of their work and their thought processes, because before i knew about their thoughts the only explanations i had to go on were my own. only my own efforts at creating art were my guide at why brush strokes were placed in certain places and why the layout of a photograph was the way it was. so to hear actual artist's take on their art lets me compare my own experiences and also better understand their own. however, both explanations help me realize just how much work goes into every piece of art.

i've written a lot and it's extremely random, but hopefully i got all of the things i wanted to write about last night. if not i'm sure there'll be another scatterbrained post tomorrow.

oh and p.s. the hills was less fake this week (well minus the heidi/audrina drama) and i'm excited to hopefully see kelly cutrone bitch someone out! i'm sure this has to happen eventually. and stephanie is so hit or miss with her hair. curled bangs, way not cute. random band around your head, oddly really cute.

genius-ness

2008-03-26T17:28:00.000-07:00

Just cause i like things in three's i'll add this last post for today. so, i finally took the plunge and took my camera apart by myself. and it was a success! i was so proud of myself, and totally told everyone about my accomplishment. haha. i have to give credit where credit is due though. if i hadn't come across Fabbri's blog about opening up my camera i would still be without. if anyone else has a sony DSC-L1, it's probably gonna break soon so you should bookmark that page and save yourself $122 dollars (sony's base charge for repairs) + shipping!

Oh and was it just me or was the hills extra fake this week. such a let down. well the whole ruining her dress made me well up. i would have been BAWLING like crazy. haha. and don't even get me started on Speidi. Lo needs to save this show asap!

danni's apt

2008-03-26T17:25:00.001-07:00

danni's apt 016, originally uploaded by caroliebee.

Last week i helped my sister finish decorating (mostly clean) her room and apartment. Her room turned out really great and colorful. she's way more adventurous with color than i am. so i guess you can tell from the photo she loves yellow and the wizard of oz. she's a stage manager at sanjac and has a lot of theatre posters and props. (the big OZ on the floor) and it doesn't help that i tend to buy her everything yellow or OZ/theatre-y. She bought these bright blue curtains to layer with her yellow curtains. they didn't work out the way she wanted them originally and they were a little longer, so we left them on the ends and the yellow in the middle. it turned out amazing! in the daytime it's so colorful and bright! it's really pretty.

after we ate we worked on the living/nook/dining room. she's got these three great areas and we changed them around to be a drinking/game area, tv watching hanging out area, and a sitting room. My fave is the sitting room, it's so cozy. i need to go back so i can take pictures of how it all turned out, and see their new couch. if i didn't love my room so much i'd be overly jealous. haha.

Totally finished

2008-03-26T16:52:00.001-07:00

So after almost a year of redoing the house, we're pretty much done. there's still the vent over the oven and some other stuff that needs doing, but nothing necessary. I finished my room last week. it's been pretty complete for a while but it hasn't seemed right to me. i bought a painting from 20x200 and framed some of my favorite Robert Frank photos i found in Vanity Fair. that was a nice surprise. the doors on my closet still need to go back on but i'm not even totally sure if that's gonna happen. oh and maybe fix the crookedness of the shelf i put up by myself. hahah. But anyways that's it. I think by putting up those three pictures i finished the decorating of my room. and i freaking love it. It's exactly what i've always wanted, actually it's even better than that. If you go through all my sketch books you'll see a very basic, badly drawn version of that photo. It's been soo long and i'm so happy it's finally perfect. although a white Bertoia chair would go nicely... haha.

cameras

2008-02-24T03:59:00.000-08:00

my camera is broken. it has been since december. but sony ho'd me so the only(cheap) way i can get it working again is to do it myself. scary! haha but it's ok because just outside my room sits my birthday present. well, i'm not supposed to know that i guess but i accidentally opened it haha. so if i mess up my wonderful camera for good, i'll have my d40 soon enough. i sooo wish i could just open it now! there's only like 23 more days to go! i've already missed sooo many photo ops. one just an hour ago! my cat was all high on catnip and being a goof and he decided to sit neatly in the recycle box. it was cute. ugh, i can't wait for my birthday!

blogs!

2008-02-20T23:43:00.000-08:00

ok so the reason i chose blogger was that recently, this is the site i visit the most. ever since i graduated my life has been consumed with the redecoration, and updating of our house. so the part i chose to focus most on was the decorating. and my biggest source of inspiration over the past year has been the many design blogs i've found. it started with decor8, my favorite and most inspirational, and grew to about 20 others.

This picture is my favorite out of all that i've seen! (found on decor8, from domino i think) i hope to have one of those Bertoia chairs for my room soon. but that's if i can convince everyone that they're actually not as uncomfortable as they look. if not i'll just move my butterfly chair in and i think that will complete the redecoration of my room.
so just cause i can, i'm going to post a few more images that have inspired me over the months.

first post!

2008-02-20T23:26:00.000-08:00

Ok, so i needed somewhere different and new to post. i have lots of things to say, but i'm not sure if how many people i want reading these things. well, of the people i know personally at least. so i think my first post is gonna be the new hills preview! hahah! i can't wait!!!