what seems to be the officer, problem

Long hours at work, means slower blog updates. I keep meaning to update but something always gets in the way - such is life. Anyway, as for updates we went to a masquerade ball for valentines day. It was in an old Victorian clubhouse in lower Manhattan complete with a live french swing band, formal attire, and models walking around in 1920's lingerie fashions. See pictures below (shout out to Victoria for lending me the mask)

Other then that I have been busy busy burning and cutting myself at work while constructing the interiors. A new blog post will happen Monday with the completed project but here is a sneak peak of my lovely assistant for the day Elizabeth doing some hot gluing on "Edwards" ears.

This weekend we drove home to good ol' Akron to spend some time with friends and family. I surprised my mother and father at Whiteys and had some very hearty food at my old work place. This was a much needed weekend full of fireplaces, pleasantries, and relaxing. All to boost my spirits and inspiration back up for a fresh day of work on Monday! Can't wait to get some Swensons before I leave. Here is a picture of us soaking up the warmth from the fire and me sporting my vintage fur I bought at the brooklyn flea market a couple weeks ago. 

Indochine display

Sorry for the long gap between blog posts - its been very busy at work as we are totally revamping the store. About two weeks ago we had a lot of staff come in at 5 am to move fixtures and tables so that the new merchandise would be able to be in a space that better represented the lifestyle of each piece. I also took down some large display to make room for new creations! At anthropologie we map out the store each season based on very in depth "concepts" that eventually translate to each portion of the store having its own unique personality. These concepts are usually based off of a unique stylish individual that can be easily relatable to every woman.  For example our front of store home merchandise concept is called "Indochine". Indochine is a very East meets West spice market vibe that uses natural elements that are altered in order to tell an exotic yet sophisticated story.  To accomplish this my visual manager and I search for inspirational photos, order materials, alter them, and build display for the interior of the store so that the customer feels that they have stepped into a different world. My job is hard work every day - I can't remember the last time I wasn't on a ladder for at least an hour every day but its really rewarding both creatively and physically (ya...I now have arm muscle? I didn't even know that could happen to me). Check out a few in progress photos of what I'm building on the floor. This arch is build from twine, metal conduit, tape, and hand painted bamboo

This is an in progress wall that I'm building in "olive" - a kitchen concept that emphasizes mediterranean coastal living. The tiles are cut from 8' x 4' plywood that I have painted a rustic white wash then painted. They are nailed to the wall and I will be grouting them tomorrow!

2014 Bucket list for the collective us

2014 Bucket list

• Road trip out west and back in approximately 10 days.
• Go to Boston
• Go to a yankees game 
• See a broadway show
• Poach an egg
• Go rock climbing
• Bake a REAL cake from scratch
• Go fishing
• Shoot guns at the firing range
• Ride in a hot air balloon
• Take a picture in every state that I visit
• Top of the empire state building
• Keep up with NYC specific events
• Become a "regular" somewhere
• Purchase some NYC keepsakes/art

I'll update you as we accomplish these things in 2014. On another note I was able to spend some quality time in Harlem and the Lower East Side this week with old and new friends. "The Shrine" in Harlem was definitely one of the coolest places I've visited in the city thus far. Listening to Reggae and Jazz in an establishment that was so appreciative of music was a great experience. Its been quite the up and down with weather here. It was so nice to have a little slice of home visit New Yahk. Luckily this weekend was pretty tolerable so we were able to walk around union square and look at some hilariously disturbing photographs from a book called "Orchard Beach - the bronx riviera. You can see some of the photographs here: http://waynelawrenceonline.com/#/orchard-beach---the-bronx-riviera/WL06 (just scroll to the right). Here are some pictures I took of the view outside my window after the latest blizzard.

and a nice beverage to enjoy while warm inside...

2 posts in one day! - display pictures

Here are the final pictures of the displays I put up for Spring time at Anthropologie. I had put them on facebook forgetting that some people who read this blog don't have a facebook so my apologies, and here ya go!

Home made sushi!

Well so far this weekend has been full of relaxing and cooking...what else is new. BUT we did something a little different today - made sushi! We did our usual grocery shopping at trader joes but picked up a couple different things like jasmine rice, soy sauce and cucumber along with our usual spinach and avocado. I already had some carrots, mushrooms, seasonings, mayo, and cream cheese at home so all we had to find was a bamboo mat, some seaweed, and some sushi grade fish. We checked out a local japanese market and fishery for that and it was all done by 10AM so we got home before all the crazies of NYC had time to annoy me. I cooked the rice as soon as we got home so it had time to cool down and cut up all the veggies/laid everything out while listening to Rock City Church streaming through my record player. It was a really nice experience. Mike and I had watched videos on how to properly make sushi online last night so after 1 or 2 rolls with too much rice, I dare say we did a pretty good job. See for yourself.

We garnished some of them with 2 different kinds of aoli that we made from different assortments of mayo, paprika, garlic, celery seeds, and thyme. I definitely will be doing this again. We got a little adventurous towards the end by putting the rice on the outside with some celery seeds - yeah we're THAT crazy.

parking lots

things I miss from home, other than family and friends blah blah blah:

- fire places
- parking lots
- Non-inflated rent prices
- The "acknowledgment nod"
- The proper use of the car horn
- pothole-less streets
- being able to cook without setting off an over sensitive fire alarm

There are plenty of great things about living here - mainly all of them are in Manhattan. I think we'll be moving to brooklyn or manhattan after this lease is up. Although I REALLY like our apartment - we've been making it quite the nest. Want to see some more pictures of furniture and food?!?! well keep looking then....

This is the kitchen island, rug, and floor lamp that are the newest additions to the kitchen. The impact is huge. The kitchen no longer looks like a hospital waiting room and we have counter space to actually cook things instead of trying to use the one foot of counter space that was previously available. 

So I've fallen in love with this pizza recipe even though it sets off our fire alarm because of the excessive amount of herbed olive oil that drip off of it and smokes. Fresh Ingredients and cold beers on a friday night. Sounds good when there is a snow storm and you don't want to venture out into the world.

Also I've been baking! Anyone that knows the Skunta's knows that no baking occurs in our house - even rolls that you just "warm up" in the oven will be burned upon entry to the Skuntarosa. Anyway these are some scones with berries in them. Apparently they "aren't as good as panera" but I am enjoying spending the time in the kitchen after a hard days work. Actually thats where I'm heading right now...Mike is riding the subway home from his first week of work in Manhattan and we will be making mozzarella and spinach stuffed chicken. Let the drooling commence.

Long Island loves Billy Joel

So just about 15 times a week I hear Billie Joel mentioned in L.I. or NYC. whether it's his songs on the radio, his residency at Madison Square Garden, or stories about him driving right into someone's teacher's house in the 80's. It seems like this town just can't get enough Billie Joel, and I'm okay with that. Speaking of music there are some great shows I'm looking forward to this month - Columbus's own Saint Seneca and Jon Lampley are coming to play at venues in Brooklyn and I am going to see the elusive Neutral Milk Hotel whom I've been dying to hear play for a very long time.

In other news, my new spring window displays are 95% done! I'm going to make you all wait till they are 100% done to see my final pictures BUT I will share my sketches with you. This was my original idea for our "Up above" inspiration for Spring 2014.  Hot air balloons were a key part of the inspiration but I really wanted to push the "up above" theme even more by adding a bird cage element which I thought really added to the narrative of the window. The white script and edwardians designs on the corner of the window would have been painted directly on the glass and all other elements are composed of different gauge wire, canvas, cardboard, and of course - paint.

 Unfortunately since this is my first window where I've had time to prepare, some of the higher ups thought it might be a good idea to do a window that was a little less difficult and more like the prototype they sent out so I could get a better grasp of everything that goes into making a window. Hopefully through the next few windows I create I can show off my skill set and have more freedom on my following windows. I'll just have to show them what I'm capable of! Anyway this was the final sketch that was approved.

It was a difficult window to create since most of my time, measurements, materials, and effort was focused on my original sketch until about 3 weeks ago, but it's done and I'm very happy with the results. The staff as well as customers seem to like it as well. I've actually created 2 windows (a main/apparel window and a home product window.) Here is a sneak peak of both!