i love it all.

a tally of two cities.

i miss my sister terribly. i wish i was in france with her: indulging in cheese, wine, lavender, shopping, the sea...hmmm.

as i was longing for the parisian life, i clicked on a fabulous parisian blog: paris vs. new york. the blogger is a graphic artist & ever so creatively couples the clichés of nyc & paris together. the ideas behind the colors & layouts are brilliant! you must visit to website to fully enjoy.

la décoration

la décoration

le chanteur

le temple

le journal

le taxi

le café

thank you, swiss miss*.

color pallet.

i'm decorating my new apartment & getting quite carried away with colors... how could i not be with these awesome rooms as inspiration?

...thank you, solid frog.

buddy holly.

i wish this was real life.

nobody's perfect.

... for real.

*thank you, most beautiful darling.

table top letter press

i'm ready to go out & buy all the supplies needed to create my own letter press. with the help of ready made's 13 step by step instructions, anyone can execute this project. i can't wait to get started!!!

... by the way, if you have a project you're proud of, why not post it on ready made's blog? just become a member & share your creations with others. if you don't already subscribe to the magazine, i suggest you do pronto. i love this magazine for many reasons. it never fails to inspire!

it was the third of september.

happy september 3rd!

satsuma.

hello, satsuma letterpress!

travel itch.

so, i moved to texas last week. i'm jobless & bed-less but i'm surrounded by friends & handsome, southern gentlemen. however, i can't help but scratch my travel itch. ever since i left japan, i've wanted to do nothing but travel, travel, travel. speaking of scratching & traveling... how awesome is this scratch map? i'm seriously considering buying this for my new apartment (which i'm moving into next week - eeek!).

if you had this map, which countries would you have scratched away?

*thank you, a cup of jo.

in ruins.

fol chen is so great!

whitelines paper.

do you remember my apartment wall in japan? the one i covered with ticket stubs, post cards, drawings from students, letters from home, etc... ? well, when i moved back to the states i decided to keep my favorite things from that wall & use them in a memorable way. last weekend i bought a whitelines® paper notebook (a must have) & covered it with my favorite keepsakes from my japanese apartment wall. every time i use this notebook it brings back happy memories of my amazing time in japan. i love it!

shore weekend.

i'm going to the shore & i can't wait to:

*drive the turnpike with my bestest friend

*smell the ocean

*eat everything bagels from my favorite bakery

*hear horrible new jersey accents

*swim!

have a wonderful weekend everyone.

book jackets.

check out the wonderful work by leanne shapton.

*thank you, wit + delight.

tourists vs. new yorkers.

this is hilarious! improv everywhere decided to create two different lanes on a 5th avenue sidewalk.

* thank you, a cup of jo.

giving up the gun.

this just made my night.

missing you.

its only been a week since i left japan & i already miss it terribly!

here are the things i miss the most:

fuji san.

engRish.

the food (are you surprised?).

my precious students.

trees, moss & bamboo.

beer (& kuni...).

the people.

so long, farewell.

so, this is my last week teaching in japan & therefore, a week of constant sobbing. i am absolutely heart broken to part ways with my precious students & say goodbye to their mommies. a while ago, i decided to make all my students farewell cards with our picture & a personalized note inside. i figured this was a perfect goodbye/good job present, & also a great way for them to remember me... forever!