Good Day.

I have enjoyed today.

Woke up at a reasonable time (NOT 5 am.) and went down to the mall.

Picked up some yarn to crochet a scarf for one of my school friends, Kelsey. She has decided to send me a song every day this summer to make sure she stays in touch which is cheesy and cute and I love it. I also went to a clothing exchange store, and got rid of some old clothes - and they gave me $28 for it! So of course I bought a ridiculously inexpensive Ralph Lauren button up for $14 (see picture above.) I then spent another bit of that money for two new books at a thrift store. So essentially I got paid to buy stuff today. Perfection.

The weather was awesome today so I went lap swimming at our outdoor pool before it opened to beat the rush. I can do this because I am also the assistant manager, assistant swim coach, and head lifeguard at this pool. I'm working on my speedo tan line.

Made myself a delicious grilled turkey and avocado sandwich for lunch, then went back to the pool. (Going back was the only part of the day that I would have liked to avoided since I went to clean out the pool filters which were gross. I'll spare the details.)

Then I went and printed out some pictures to send to some friends who just graduated from RPI (and I hope I will see them again someday) and while I was at the store I saw a bunch of Seattle post cards. Its funny to think that other people can get so excited about coming here. I mean, YES, this place is awesome. But I still find it amusing.

Had awesome homemade hamburgers and finished it off with a milkshake I made for myself. Going to watch The Lady in Black soon, we'll see how Daniel Radcliffe does outside of the Harry Potter world. Below are some of my adventures I've had so far since I've been home, documented with instagram. (Follow me at anintegraldesign if you'd like)

Have a good Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

Snapshots of Seattle

Just some shots of the Space Needle, EMP, and other things in the Seattle Center

This is what you have to look forwards to, those of you who are coming to Seattle this summer.

I'm working on the details right now. (Well, not RIGHT now, but like, today.)

Have a good week and enjoy nice weather if you have it.

If not, I understand. It just keeps raining here.

My orange shoelaces get lots of strange looks.

Arrived home from school two days ago and too much has happened since.

I just want to sit around, drink some coffee and read a book or something easy like that. But that would be rather uncharacteristic of me, so of course I spend my first day back going on a run, going out for pho with best friend Kristy, going downtown (pictures to come), going swimming, going out to dinner, and then ending the day cleaning my room and getting rid of unnecessary belongings.

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My head doesn't understand why I'm not trying to learn something, or solve some obscure architectural dilemma, my body hasn't gotten used to the 3 hour time change yet, and the rest of me wants to have all my new found collegiate friends here with me.

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I'm starting my unreasonably early a.m. lifeguard shift as well as my assistant coaching gig this week, so I'll be able to figure out a schedule. That will put me in the right mindset for productivity. Right now my family is mourning the loss of our two cats - one went missing a month ago and the other one got hit by a car today. First time our family hasn't had a cat in over twenty years. My friends want me to go bowling tonight, but I just want to sit around and bake strawberry upside down cakes.

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I managed to get sun burnt this morning, and now my face hurts. If you actually read this disorganized jumble of thoughts I applaud you and you deserve a baked good.

Just An Observation

I don't understand how people can just "do nothing."

(To explain my current thought process here's a quick little anecdote: Today I went over to an upperclassman's apartment to make dinner with. Since we were making pulled pork, we had to wait 4 hours for it to cook. In the period of time the two friends I have that live there played a computer game, and watched a hockey game, respectively. I consider video games to be one of the most pointless things that somebody can do, and yes at times sports can be entertaining, but for 4 hours?)

I need to be doing something, at almost any given time. I have this innate tendency to keep myself busy, and I wouldn't like it any other way. If I'm not running around like a madman trying to fit everything in, I'm not being me. So when people "get bored" or have "nothing to do" I just quite nearly implode.

So I consider this quote.

"Time you enjoyed wasting, was not wasted time."

Of course there are times where I just sit and talk with friends, or something along those lines. I'm not technically doing anything. And here is where my sociology class kicks in; although I don't enjoy spending countless hours playing a video game or watching a sports team play, other people do. Does this mean that it is not wasted time? I have some trouble completely believing in this quote for this reason; just because you enjoy playing video games, can you play for 48 hours straight while you neglected other tasks (because lets be honest over the course of 48 hours you really should have something else you should be doing) and still consider that time not wasted?

I suppose that I was raised under the precedent that there is always something to be done, somewhere, for something. My mom told me that "only boring people get bored." Of course I didn't want to be boring, because who likes boring people?

I find things to. Productive things. I see no productivity in certain activities. I suppose my perspective on productivity follows an economic model, which in a broad sense has regards "of or involved in the creation of goods and services to produce wealth or value." The best example I can think of is when I'm picking weeds, I like to see that I have, in fact, made a difference in the landscape. Does that make sense? It's the fact that something of value has occurred, positively affecting my or somebody else's life.

 This has largely been a random, ranting post in which I try and understand social things.

Hot Hot Heat.

It's supposed to be 90 degrees tomorrow so I started thinking about my wardrobe, and the fact that I don't own any good summer clothing. I put together a 'wishlist' of clothing and accessories that I would love to have for the summer. This list includes:

... A Chambray button-up

... A Button-down shirt in essential summer plaid

... Broken-in chino shorts

... A Slub jersey polo

... A pair of flip-flops

... A new pair of go-to sneakers

... Some Real boat shoes

... A pair of nice sunglasses

.... A nice watch

.... What might be the most nautical belt ever

... And a duffel bag to go everywhere with.

I would be completely satisfied owning only these article this summer. On a side note, I have been looking for an all-purpose bag for a while and this canvas one seems to be perfect for all occasions. I plan on doing a bit of traveling this summer and as of now I don't have a bag that I can just shove things in and leave!

For all those female readers, you too should consider some of these items! A chambray shirt is perfect for summer weather, breathable and versatile. I didn't particularly care for boat shoes until I got to the east coast and realized that my feet need to be sockless, and they cannot continue to wear boots. And find something nautical; stripes are easy, as well as the theme of anchors, and the rough texture of rope.

Prepare yourself for summer and all of it's activities; it is coming faster than you realize!

Easter & Instagram

Happy Easter, and Passover for all of you who celebrate either. A few of my friends and I were invited to our friends home for the weekend and had a great time. On Easter we went out for brunch at their family's Country Club (fancy, right?) and enjoyed a good meal.

On a completely unrelated note, Instagram is now available for Android! This means I will be taking way too many pictures from my phone and editing them on instagram. Although it's become rather cliche to do, I really like how the pictures turn out. That is why I took all of these pictures seen above.

Only 5 more weeks of school! 

#Menswear?



If you've been following this blog for a while, you would know that originally this was a collaborative style blog between myself and my good friend Briana. And from that I learned that it is very hard to do a collab style blog when you're working with somebody with a different choice in style. So we went our separate ways and now I'm here.

Anecdote aside, I would to get back into style blogging. (Although being a college student I am not in the completely proper setting, a.k.a. I apologize for the fact that these are all taken in my dorm.)

Thursday                                                   Tuesday                                               Wednesday          

Most days it is just a variation of this, one might even call it my personal uniform.

Tuesday I only have Sociology so I dress comfortably:
•Button up Grey Checker Shirt, J.Crew • Maroon V-neck sweater, J.Crew •  Vest, Banana Republic •Levi 511 Jeans • Grey boat shoe boots, Urban Outfitter •

Wednesday I had a Midterm critique for my Studio, so this is me "dressing up":
• Denim Button up, L.L. Bean (thrifted)• Grey V-neck sweater, H&M • Black Peacoat, Vans (thrifted) • Maroon Corduroy 511's, Levi's • Maroon/Black saddle shoes, Florsheim (thrifted) • chambray bowtie, American Apparel •

Thursday I just had physics and then studio later that day, watching more presentations.
• Plaid flannel button up, Pendelton (thrifted) • Jacket, Virgin Poet Society/UO • Levi 511 Jeans • Clarks Desert Boots •

These three outfits I wore last week, and you can start to see how I like to dress. Usually a button up, a rather neutral palate, and dark outerwear.

I do realize that the majority of my followers are female, but I would like to get back into style blogging, even as haphazardly as this post appears to be. Obviously I am not that pleased to be taking pictures with my camera on auto-timer in my dorm, but what do my readers think of this?

Comments and suggestions are especially appreciated.