To continue my obsession a bit more today…

March 29, 2013 / Erin May / 1 Comment

Zooey Deschanel is the unofficial poster child for hip and quirky twenty-something white girls, who have shaggy bangs and tattoos of fruit on their ankles and a closet full of brightly colored, vintage cardigans.

As a follow up to Today’s Post, I started doing research on what glasses Zooey wears (found here!) and in the process came across the quotation above from this article, entitled “How Zooey Deschanel [almost] ruined my sex life”. Now, I’m not saying I have a tattoo of a fruit on my ankle (I really don’t, I swear grandma!) but this description is eerily spot-on.

Now if I could only decide if that’s a good thing, or a bad thing….

I’m obsessed. And kind of a poser.

March 29, 2013March 28, 2013 / Erin May / 1 Comment

Because I’ve already mentioned how much I love Zooey Deschanel, I’ll just go ahead and share this and let you imagine my glee at this whole exchange:

“Land of the books.” I just died.

Add this to the fact that I’ve now had two people in the last month tell me my style reminds me of “that funny ukelele girl” and I’m pretty much in heaven.

Here’s to quirky girls with bangs and glasses!

Quick thought.

March 28, 2013March 28, 2013 / Erin May / Leave a comment

Quick thought.

“I think I accidentally dressed like a picnic today.” Yep. That’s something I actually said.

Thank you to all the rulebreakers.

March 28, 2013March 27, 2013 / Erin May / 1 Comment

Thanks to this post from The Fox is Black, I’ve suddenly found myself incredibly inspired in reading the Top 10 Things we should be informed about in life.

One of my favorite things about this was the progression from:

1. Realize that nobody cares, and if they do, you shouldn’t care that they care.

to turning it on its head to:

2. Some rulebreakers will break rule number one. Occasionally, people in your life will defy the odds and actually care about you.

and then, as if that weren’t enough:

3. Spend your life with the rulebreakers. Marry them. Befriend them. Work with them.

I know there are a thousand reasons that I may get stressed or a little gloomy. We all do- life is hard sometimes. It’s too easy to get caught up in your own issues and lose sight of what is real.

When I step back and am able to think about it with greater perspective, I am just so grateful. I’m lucky! Lucky for the friends who make me laugh until my ribs hurt. Lucky for the family that is quick to pull me into a big bear hug. Lucky for my coworkers and clients who support me and give me judgement-free reign to challenge myself creatively. Lucky for the guy who notices an eyelash on my nose and then grossly wipes it off after licking his thumb. And lucky for this little budding community I’ve found online- you all have added so much to my life over the years!

I guess I just feel lucky to have so many rulebreakers in my life. Thank you.

Word of the Day: Rigor

March 27, 2013March 26, 2013 / Erin May / 1 Comment

Today’s word of the day came from some conversations this weekend regarding different philosophies in teaching. Being a layperson I can’t exactly remember the context of it, but I do remember thinking, “huh. I like that word.” To me, it meant holding oneself up to a certain standard, not letting yourself off the hook, and pushing the limits of your own abilities, though it may be difficult. The definition might sound the opposite of that- it may even sound pretty negative! But I liken it to the type of workout that is brutal- your body aches, it hurts just to get through, but you enjoy it all the same.

That word is rigor. It’s most colloquially used in the adjective “rigorous.”

Rigor;

strictness, severity, or harshness, as in dealing with people.
the full or extreme severity of laws, rules, etc
severity of living conditions; hardship; austerity: the rigor of wartime existence.
a severe or harsh act, circumstance, etc.
scrupulous or inflexible accuracy or adherence: the logical rigor of mathematics.

The thesaurus likens this word to “inflexible,” “stringent” and “cruel,” which don’t exactly seem to align with the definition provided, so you can understand my confusion.

Definition via thefreedictionary.com. Illustration by me.

Manic Monday

March 25, 2013March 24, 2013 / Erin May / 1 Comment

Hello and Happy Monday! I’ve just come home from a wonderful trip to Seattle, visiting friends and eating much too much amazing food. Here are some favorite pictures from the weekend:

View from the hotel in daylight. At the center of downtown!

Love these colors and the style of this hand-lettered type in Columbia City.

Colorful fruits and veggies with vintage font choices. Designer’s dream.

I actually got sunburnt this weekend.

City at sunset from the Alki neighborhood.

Beautiful city at night.

This is something I keep coming back to in my professional life and my personal triumphs- the greatest achievements are a result of taking a leap. Fearless living- do what you are afraid to do from Lifehack.
I love this apartment in Brooklyn from Remodelista. The idea of documenting your space to conserve the memories you associate with them is something I’ve been actively doing in my current living space- I know 50 years from now, these pictures will bring a smile to my face!
In that vein, I am also in love with this simple idea for making cute push pins– I want to continue to push the way I’m organizing myself and my workspace. I also love the idea of these accordian bookbinding techniques!
Spring fever is most definitely upon me, and this quote via the lovely Lisa is so perfect an explanation.
My wonderful roommate introduced me to the hand-lettering project of Lisa Congdon this weekend, and I love the look of the quotations she illustrates, but her choice in quotable authors is my favorite. Especially this one.
Nerd Alert! Did you know that Hulu is streaming every Star Trek episode ever made from now until April 1st? If you don’t hear from me for a few days, you know where I’ll be.