Colorful Adventurer

Hello May. 6 Things.

First of All I want to thank all of you who come to my blog and read, it is exciting to see that people I probably do not know read this. I hope you enjoy it! And feel free to comment or send me an email if you wish to.

Okay, back to the post.

Instead of a wishlist filled with products I am tempted to buy, or tempted to make anyone else buy, I wanted to share something a little different. My May wishlist. Not things that I want to buy, but things I would like to accomplish by the end of May.

One. Creative Project: Put a PDF portfolio together, a nice one. And update my resume for potential future job searches.

Two. Spending Freeze, for real. Keep within a realistic budget. So my wishlists will probably be filled with things I enjoy rather then things I have been stalking on the internet to buy. I want a new savings goal and reevaluating my loan payments. Something that is keeping my head in check; This video:

Three. Running, get up to 4 miles comfortably. I also want to before the end of this month figure out if I can sign up (money wise) for the Komen 5K here in Buffalo.

Four. Explore at least one new place. Can be anywhere.

Six. Stick to my diet and exercise routine, hopefully reach my 160 mark. This might be a little bit of a stretch, but we will see. If I am closer to 163, I’d be happy. Ultimate Goal is to reach my goal by my birthday in September. My more short-term goal is to fit into my size 8 thrifted dress I got for a June wedding.

April Design Project: Eye Design Logo.

So I wanted to do a photo story, but that did not work out and with one day to go, I realized I actually wanted to put effort into it. I got a little sidetracked this month with taking outfit photos, working out more, buying a letterpress, and working on freelance work outside of work.

However this is something I can share with you all. It is not freelance work, it is something I chose to do, therefore it fits in my design projects for me. This is for a contest for work. I have no idea if I will win, but hey at least I got to use some of my work hours to actually create something creative for work. That felt pretty good. I am fairly happy with this design, I have no ides what they are looking for. Marketing people are so insane and hard to read.

So I figured it would be fun to show my process from beginning to end on this project. I did it at my own pace and had a little under a month to complete it, so it was just on the back-burner until I made a final decision yesterday.

My Process:

Final:

I am a little nervous to share my logo ideas with my co-workers since they have never really seen my design work before. I hope I can live up to the “girl who actually went to school for Graphic Design” standards that I might be put up to. If I win great! If I don’t, well at least I like it.

Inside Thoughts on Goal Reaching

This post will be a little more personal than most, not that I do not try to share personal experiences on my blog. However I wanted to focus a little on not reaching goals, but also being okay with that. My last weigh in of the month and I am 3lbs behind my goal weight (at 168 which means in this last week I lost almost 2 lbs which is good). I thought I could do it. I am a little sad that I did not achieve my goal considering I did so well the first three months of the year. But, hopefully if all goes well for next month, I will reach that goal and exceed it, hit that 30 lbs mark. Also hopefully get really close to hitting my 160 goal. Maybe if things come to it, I might just have to sign up for a gym so I can bust my ass there. I mean no offense to anyone out there who does this, I love the outdoors but I don’t want to be the awkward guy at the park with my kettle balls, or in my case, 5 lb hand weights.

Also in the case of my spending goal, I totally, 100% fell off that train hard, and possibly hit my head oh I don’t know quite a bit. It is not that I do not have the money, but it is also a lot of other factors going into it. Like the huge feeling of guilt because I am relying on other people to help me out when in fact I do not really need it. Or that I am way in student loan debt, yet for some reason I want to buy another dress. I feel like reading other style blogs got me in a little trouble over the past few months because I have been so inspired, I just had to buy things I saw. Like I said I had the money, but it is not like I love clothing. I am really into expressing my style. I love getting compliments about how people love my dresses. But I do hate the comments along the lines of: “God girl how many pairs of shoes do you own??” It just really makes me feel insecure at this point. It makes me want to get rid of all my shoes and just have two pairs.

Sometimes my student loan debt and my living situation make me feel like I cannot enjoy a day at the zoo, or do anything. Because any extra bit of money I make should 100% go to my loans. Don’t get me wrong I pay extra on each of my four loans a month, well 3 of them because the one I need to call every month, which I will start doing in May. But I pay anywhere from $10-$100 more a month on my loans. They already are almost 1/2 of my income per month. I also reached my savings goal as well over the past month or so. But I need to save more if I want to get a new computer, or camera, or just want to continue having good habits. Sometimes I am afraid I will get myself into some major credit card debt, but I know I won’t. The debt I have in my student loans is enough for me to never ever want any other kind of debt. Except for maybe a house. It has even put off my goals for wanting a masters degree. (Which now thinking of it maybe I should save for that) But sometimes I do get discouraged, people say oh put more money towards your loans you can pay them off… yeah fucking right, I will not be able to pay my loans off in a year, it will take me the full amount of time, maybe a month less.

So I even after having an awesome weekend, I spent some time going over my student loans and learning some of the hard cold facts. Like I will most likely be paying on then until I am 40, not 30. Also, I did learn I am paying way more than I need to a month so that makes me feel like I am doing something well.

Relaxed Polka

Another outfit post! So I went to the zoo and wore this there. I wanted something fun but also relaxed, note the shoes. I knew I would be walking all day, and well I was. I really wanted to get some pictures at the zoo, and I did just not of my outfit. There is a polar bear there, Luna, who they are trying to raise money to keep them there. Right now all the Zoo’s bears are gone because they need to renovate the very old habitats for them. Never the less, it was a fun day, and we got to see an elephant dance. I noticed when I was watching the elephant dance that I wore one of my favorite rings without thinking, my elephant ring. It looks like he is hugging your finger.

So more on this outfit, I love this dress, but I must say watch out if you wear a bag with it. It loves to ride up like crazy. I am fairly certain I was flashing some people my slip while at the zoo. Oh well.

I absolutely love the bag as well, I coveted it forever on Modcloth, and finally when it came back after it being completely sold out, I snagged the last one. I do not use it as much as I should, but on a day out in the zoo, or anywhere I want to take my camera, it is perfect for it. I also love how colorful it is.

I also bought these shoes recently at the outlets during a trip. They are super comfy and somewhat stylish. I feel as I do more with my style, my eye has got better and I know what will work and what does not. I also do not buy as much impulse as I did just because it was on sale. I have learned that lesson from a few odd pieces I have in my closet, unfortunately.

Dress - Lace Affair / Shoes - Sorrel / Bag (old) - Ring - Modcloth / Jacket - Forever21

A Dedicated Post to Kayla

Don’t worry Kayla isn’t dead, she is one of my sisters. She is also a twin, not my twin. I am the odd ball out in my family. She is by far the biggest fan of my blog and actually looks forward to reading this… that sort of makes me giggle. But anyway I am so glad she enjoys it, and I love that this blog is a good outlet to share my life with my distant family.

So I thought it would be fun to have a dedicated post for her daschund (aka little poop & weinersnitchel) But really his name is Oliver. I wanted to share some photos of him and her, and also share some themed products of my window shopping.

First the Products! (Disclaimer: Kayla I am sorry if this makes you spend any money you did not want to)

One   Two   Three   Four   Five   Six

Now For Oliver!

And one nice picture of Kayla and Oliver! (isn’t he a camera whore?) haha.

Diet Confessions: Progress

Remember that plateau? and all of that crappy weather? Well if not I do, and so does my weight.

My progress since end of March: lost .2 lbs. That sucks. But I did hit 5%, whatever that means. So unfortunately my 165 goal, unless I somehow pull it out of my ass magically, most likely will not be hit this month! Ugh a bummer.

Well I did some investigating as to why I was hitting this damn plateau. I was dreading it, I knew it was coming. I knew 100% it would happen right around hitting 170. Why? Not completely sure but just a hunch. Combination of losing a point to eat, eating more/less healthy, and not exercising like I would have liked to has resulted in this crappy no weight loss month basically.

So this week, as I said at the beginning I was not going to let my fitness escape me. And I have not.

Sunday: Walked for 2 hours
Monday: Walked 45 mins, Ran 2 miles
Tuesday: Walked 45 mins, Ran 2 miles, 200 Sit Ups, and some arm work
Wednesday: Walked 45 mins, Some Pilates and Arm workouts, 200 Sit Ups
Thursday: Walked 45 mins, Ran 1 mile, Arm workouts
Friday Plan: Walk 45 mins, Run 2 miles, 200 sit ups
Saturday Plan: Walk 2-3 hours (at zoo), Run 2 miles, Nike Training Workout

Photo Archives: Baltimore Museum of Industry 2013

Sorry for the lateness of this post, I wanted to make sure I did not rush picking out the right pictures to share.

So this one is probably the most recent photo adventure I am sharing. For our three year anniversary we went to, you guessed it, the Baltimore Museum of Industry.  I will let the pictures talk, but seriously if you are ever in the area, and have any sort of love for older things or history, GO.

The Linotype Machine! I felt like I was meeting a celebrity, and yes I did get a photo with this handsome piece of work.

Window Shopping

I do quite a bit of online window shopping. Plus a few of these I have been really wanting something like for a while, like the trench for example. I will get one someday. But on to the window shopping.

One. Mata Traders Rust Dress. There is something about this dress I really like, maybe the color, or patter, or even just the make of it. I feel like this could be a dress  I could easily try to make myself. So this may end up on my DIY Clothing Board on Pinterest. I usually am not a fan of dresses with no structure as I feel only skinny people can pull them off, but I have a lot of belts.

Two & Five. Ah Etsy, the place where magical things happen and you find awesome things. Someone knows how to get to my heart, I love my camera necklaces I own, but this is a twin lens reflex one! I almost jumped for joy and bought it as soon as I saw it, but I held off, a little bit and then bought it haha. The other necklace I find very elegant, and I have really been into that sage shade of green for a while. I would love to buy this to wear to a wedding, which I may.

Three & Six. Lace, what more is there to say. I feel like a white lace dress could be a staple dress with the right accessories. And the see through lace top could be a great layering piece in the summer.

Four. The trench, in a shorter form. I am on a mission to find the perfect one for me. I know it is out there, and trenches aren’t going away. I went to a thrift store to find one, and there were plenty, but they were super long, and sort of creepy. And with my standing tall at 5’ 2.5”, I was bound to swim in it.

Six and Seven. Forest Print Dresses. I have been wanting something like this for a while. I love florals, but something about forest print really intrigues me. Girly, but toned down. I am really loving seven over six, but they are both pretty cool in my book.

This Weeks Goals

My goal for this week is to not let my fitness pass me by. Finally a week might be in store that is 50s+ all week. Which means I can run without feeling like I am dying. I also have nothing to do during the evenings minus some freelance work I need to finish up (Which I will show once they are good to show). So exercise evenings here I come! I ran two miles yesterday with the boyfriend, and this morning I finished up a logo I was working on for a coffee shop. Here is a sneak peak.

I also have some mosaics in my future. I plan to get something done hopefully soon. They will both be Baltimore themed since I am currently sick of my surroundings. These are some references I am using for my project.

Also side note, we all have our pasts that bring up love of things we may be a little ashamed of now. I cannot say I am ashamed but I will mark it as a guilty pleasure. Thank you Record Store Day 2013 for releasing Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory on vinyl. And a special thanks to my sister who was able to pick it up in Baltimore for me. I can say I am not a huge fan of their new stuff, but I cannot deny an album I listened to everyday in my teen years on my CD discman.

I know, I know, I suck at posting outfits, and everyone loves my animal photos. I mean I know I would opt to look at animals all day over myself. I think the only person who would object would be my boyfriend. BUT, if he found the right pet, then nope not even him. I am not doing away with the outfit photos but I need to plan them better and not be so damn busy with things called freelance and life. The stuff I do outside of my job. So most likely if I get lucky this week, I will share another outfit. I was busy with going to a wedding this weekend. Five hour drive to and from so hopefully that kind of makes up for the lack outfit this week.

So today, I will talk about music, because music is a huge part of my life. It used to be a bigger part back when I was in high school. In college I sort of lost touch with the music world. But now I am back on a music kick, and sharing the love through vinyl. Plus it was just record store day this past weekend. And after months of living up here, I finally made it to the Syracuse Soundgarden. (I must say I like the Baltimore one more).

I will keep this simple with two things. What I am listening to now that is new, and what I have recently revived from my high school days. I do not want to lose touch with my old music loving self.

From the old, I have been listening to Muse - Absolution, and the Strokes - 12:51.

From today I have been getting into Of Monsters of Men and the Lumineers.

To see what I listen to Click Here via Spotify

On that list you can see into my music world, and see some of the mentioned above artists.

SPCA Photography

Well, maybe I will do my fitness Fridays every other Friday. This Friday would have not been very positive to say the least. However I did run 1.5 miles with pretty much no problem on Wednesday.

Anyway this week was a light week at the SPCA, lots of animals being adopted so I only have three to share.

And this dog, probably mt favorite pit bull I have ever met. I hope she gets a good home.

Archives: Italy 2010.

Lately, I have somehow stumbled into European magazines, books, blogs, and even shops. Something about being from Europe to me as an American makes me think, wow that’s pretty cool. But then I really think about it and people from there that is there home, America is like vacation to them, if they come here. I am pretty sure more of us Americans to go Europe on holiday. So you’ve guessed it this week’s archive post is from my one and only trip so far across seas. I went to Italy, Rome, Naples, and Pompeii to be exact, on a 10 day Study Abroad trip. It was wonderful, for the most part. I did pretty much almost get car sick. But besides that I hope and plan to go back some day with my boyfriend to enjoy it together. We may go on a bicycle tour, they sound pretty fun.

These are some of my favorites from the trip, enjoy!

Book Love

Recently I bought quite a few books (you can see my growing library here), I have been a on a book kick. So if you are into house decor, maps, making books, or letterpress, maybe you’ll find a book to enjoy.

One. Young House Love, they have a blog and I love it. I found this book on a table at my sister’s boyfriends house, which is gorgeous. I am pretty sure I mentioned this book before, but it is so awesome it is worth a second mention. If you are interested in sprucing up your place with small projects, this is the book to get.

Two. On the Map, by Simon Garfield. I started reading this book last week and even though it is non-fiction. I see myself reading it entirely and enjoying it. If you have ever been interested in maps, cartography, or just want your mind blown as to how maps vary, I suggest this book.

Three. I found this book at the Book Arts Center where I took my letterpress classes. I have been wanting to get more into binding for a while, and this book has some basic stitches in it used to bound. This book was not as awesome as I was expecting. But if you are serious about making and actually publishing your own book, this may be a book to pick up.

Four. This book was shown to me by a friend at the Book Arts Center since she knew I was buying the little guy. (the press in my post this past weekend) This book may be a little out of date, but the useful information in it is timeless. It may also be a little ugly too, but hey not everyone has the same style of design. So if you are into letterpress like me, this is a useful book.

Design Project: Building a Damn Website. Sometime in 2013.

I have taken one class (heavily Flash based… you know what that means), and have created 5 websites during my time in college. 5 websites, what a remarkable number. However I am not proud of any of them to be honest. I told myself 2013 I am making myself more web literate, damnit!

This is what I have been paying attention to to help:

Don’t Fear the Internet, a free online resource

Codeacademy, a free online resource

A New Book: HTML & CSS

In addition to my old books: HTML, XHTML & CSS, Web Designers Idea Book, and possibly some Dreamweaver Guide.

As you can see my goal is clear to learn HTML and CSS, which I know the very minimal basics of, but I need to feel comfortable with it. That is where building a website comes into play. I need to push myself to do it. So, what website am I going to build? Good question, that is what has been holding me back, what website would I build? I think I may start with a more interactive portfolio, and integrate and design my blog as well. Right now I use edited templates, but I want to start from scratch. Take better pictures, and hand code.

Step 1: I am starting with this Video

Step 2: Complete HTML Codeacademy w/ supplemental book

Step 3: Complete CSS Codeacademy w/ supplemental book

Step 4: Complete PHP Codeacademy.

Step 5: Figure out Project to complete.

Step 6: Keep doing it. Branch into Javascript, Ruby (for apps).

This has been in my drafts for a long time, but it is a project I want to complete and will. This blog will be my test dummy basically. So over the next few weeks like I keep threatening, you will see a whole new Colorful Adventurer.

Extra: Bicycle Outfit

So luckily today was a great day and instead of going for a run I went for a long walk with my boyfriend and he took some pictures of my outfit for me. This dress is probably my favorite dress I own basically because it has a bicycle print all over it and I don’t completely feel like a child when I wear it. Meaning I can wear it to work and not feel like I am 12, I am already the youngest person in my department, I do not need to look any younger.

I like this picture the best, I think I am looking pretty good weight wise, at least in this photo haha.

So even though it still looks like fall in the park I have been taking my pictures, spring is starting to show through. I was also very excited that I could have bare legs today without getting any goosebumps.

I really hope this good weather is here to stay in WNY, but we will see. I do not have much faith in consistent weather anymore.

Dress - Maurices / Shoes - Ebay / Jacket(old) - JCPenny / Belt from another dress / Headband - Urban Outfitters / Necklace (similar) - Etsy