The Grand Adventures of Rylan and Chelsea

what would you say?

2009-04-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

rylan and i went to charleston yesterday and on the way home, throughout many topics of conversation, we talked about something that i cannot stop thinking about.

i had a friend from college who told me a very interesting story. his mom was in line at the grocery store behind paul mccartney, or sir paul, if you please. my first and only question was "what did she say to him?" his response was "nothing. what do you say to a beatle?" well, what indeed?! of course this got me thinking, what would i say if i ever had the fortune to meet him?

a little back story for you: in my opinion, my dad is the greatest man on this planet. he's just a stand up kind of guy, and the older i get the more i appreciate him and grow more and more grateful for having him as my dad. i did not however start getting along with him until i was a freshman in college. he would drive down every thursday afternoon of my freshman year and pick me up and bring me home. then on monday mornings he would drive me back to tucson and drop me off. and we repeated this routine for an entire year. on the 2 hour drive (yes, for normal people it only takes an hour and a half to get from tucson to phx, but my dad drives like a sissy) my dad would pick random cd's out of his collection and put them in the 6 cd changer. i never got to pick, which i didn't mind, cause my dad's got pretty rad taste in music. we always always always listened to the beatles. and he would tell me stories about when he was in high school or boot camp or Vietnam. the only thing in my whole life that we have constantly agreed on is the awesomeness that is the Beatles. the first time i ever saw my dad cry was when i gave him the Anthology for christmas one year.

so really, how could you say in a simple, coherent sentence, how music sir paul's music has influenced my life? i guess you could just say "thank you" but in my opinion thats too understated, and you are talking to a living legend. i thought about "my dad and i really like your music" but that sounds lame too. there's not a right or wrong answer here, it's just interesting to think about. i of course should never be allowed to meet him because besides peeing on myself, i wouldn't make any sense. words would come pouring out of my mouth in nonsense and it would be better if i could just be speechless, but i can't.

p.s. it's also the only music rylan and i can agree on. i know he knew who they were, but i'm going to take full credit for his love of the beatles. he's going to disagree with me on that one.

round two...

2009-03-26T17:46:00.001-07:00

of eating better! here goes nothing.

this only needs to last until kristyn's wedding. i don't want to lose weight (i don't have weight to lose, i'm a skeleton) but i want to be healthy. i see the women i work with, and they look haggard and they aren't even 50 (i say this with all the love in my heart, they're great women on the inside!) granted they've all smoked their entire lives and i've never had one, but i'm tired of feeling tired all the time. i can feel the changes in my body from eating PDs every day and not getting as much exercise as i used to. i never really even exercised, but running around campus all day, or even running around the theatre, chasing 15 year olds, was better than the nothing that i'm doing now!

so here's the changes i'm going to try to stick to:

- i bought a blender and i've found some awesome recipes for super healthy smoothies.

- i'm going to take the dog for a 1 mile walk at least twice a week.

- do more yoga.

it's little stuff, but i just need a little kick in the butt to be more active (dancing around my kitchen only does so much).

so here goes healthy kick #2!

oh, and about the smoothies: i bought almond milk, bananas, strawberries, peaches, honey, and whey protein. i made one tonight. whoa, so good!

another culinary adventure. and v-day

2009-02-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

i surprised rylan with a trip to chipotle for valentines day! anyone who knows rylan, knows that its a huge deal. the closest one is in jacksonville, fl which is about 2.5 hours south of us. i didn't tell him where we were going, i just plugged it into the GPS and away we went. as the address popped up, his only response was "the last place i would've ever guessed is jacksonville". he was pleasantly surprised, and very well fed. that made it so much easier to drag him to j.crew (hey, it's my valentines day too!) the rest of jax was kind of a bust, but at least we ate like royalty!

he bought me mama mia. his only remark was "nothing says i love you like buying you a movie i hate". ain't he romantic?! i, on the other hand, bought him a kevin smith dvd and an awesome shirt from threadless with movie spoilers on it. but i didn't have a smart ass comment to go along with it.

i made chicken wrapped in bacon. the way into his heart is to wrap food in bacon. words cannot express how totally delicious it was. and theres this cheese sauce to go with it. outstanding! and i made another gooey butter cake. i've determined that i can make anything as long as all i have to do is mix stuff and then throw it in the oven.

a little bit about our adventures in the kitchen lately.

2009-01-31T14:48:00.000-08:00

i'm home alone this evening, so i decided to bake. jamie (one of my awesome bosses) talks about his mama's million dollar pie, so i thought i'd at least look at the recipe. well it looked pretty easy and tasty! i had to go buy a 9x13 pan which i am assured i will use again in the future (quite debatable). so far i have chopped pecans and made homemade whipped cream! all i can say is i'll never buy cool whip again. that stuff is good y'all! i just got the crust out of the oven and it's cooling. so far, so good.

the other night i baked chicken. you think "okay, no big deal" but for a girl who can only boil water, it was kind of a challenge. i wasn't aware you had to cover it in foil. it came out pretty dry but rylan seemed to love it. and then i tackled giada's lemon pasta. holy cow thats so good! i was quite pleased with myself.

rylan made awesome chicken parmesan the other night. and when i say awesome, that word doesnt even begin to describe how good it was! i've been begging him to make it again, but alas, he is quite content with hamburgers and tacos.

although im not always a fan of sweets, since i tend to crave salty foods when i'm hungry, i do prefer baking desserts over making dinner. my mother has been so proud of me lately that she offered to buy me a food processor. now what the heck am i supposed to do with that?! i really want a mixer. a pretty red kitchenaid one. it would look so awesome on my kitchen counter!

eating well... well, maybe.

2009-01-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

so i'm sitting here watching oprah talk about living her best life and i'm getting all inspired and stuff. i take notes! i write down what we should not be eating and what kind of vitamins we should be taking. that dr. oz knows his shit, y'all! i start looking into getting a juicer and the benefits of drinking green tea vs. rooibos (red) tea. i make a healthy shopping list consisting of walnuts and blueberries and salmon and multivitamins (make sure its got iron in it!)

and then rylan comes home from school and says he wants to go get burgers for dinner.

well there goes that idea out the window! maybe i'll start the healthy thing tomorrow... but i'm still thinking i want a juicer! that stupid infomercial gets me every time!

our new years was a quiet one. we're not big party people (i'm sure you've figured that out by now) so we spent a nice quiet evening on the couch in our jammies with champagne. so heres my soapbox about new years resolutions: why do you have to give stuff up for new years?! you have 365 days a year to kick your dirty habits. january first is just one of many days when you can start anew. so i'm going to try to do more! i'm going to embrace my vices and then some. like, instead of lose weight, i'm saying eat more dessert! HA! i realize i sound like a total hypocrite after going on my oprah health kick, i have no excuse :)

we went ice skating on new years day. well, okay, I went ice skating. rylan crawled along the wall and then sat down the rest of the time. i hadnt ice skated since high school. i had a blast. i wasnt good but neither was anyone else. it was nice to get out with friends and do something totally different. and the best part: they played hangin' tough! we walked over to five guys burgers afterwards and had yummy yummy burgers!

fa ra ra ra ra...

2008-12-25T20:36:00.001-08:00

we had a warm and wonderful christmas! but i'll start at the beginning...

3 days before xmas, a small jewelry sized box showed up under my tree... hmmmm

christmas eve started pretty early for us. i volunteered us to wrap presents at the mall for habitat for humanity. wrapping presents is one of my favorite things about the holidays, so i thought this would be perfect for us, plus they were short handed of volunteers on xmas eve and we didn't have anything else to do. we got home and rylan started talking about our yearly tradition of opening one present on on xmas eve. so i picked one out for him and then (being a typical girl) grabbed the small box. i opened it up, and he had bought me tickets to see twilight at 7:30. now i know im totally geeking myself out by admitting this, but i loved those movie tickets more than i wouldve loved jewelry! hahaha (oh and by the way, for inquiring minds, rylans early gift was the dark knight on bluray). i made pot roast for dinner! it was awesome, if i do say so myself. i guess i can add that to my list of things i can make.

we got up early this morning to open gifts. we made out like bandits, considering we didn't really know what to ask for. rylans parents bought us a 32 inch flat screen high def tv (awesome!). rylan got me an ipod dock with speakers for the kitchen. blaine and ginger got us gift cards to 3 different hamburger restaurants around town, as did nicki and jim. andrea got me a "wicked" puzzle! we got books and clothing. excellent! excellent! nicki and jim adopted us for the second christmas in a row. we headed over there around 10:3o am. we ate good food, enjoyed wonderful company, and played wii bowling until my arm almost fell off! i'll admit it didn't feel like christmas without our own parents, but they are the best second family we could ever dream up! oh and to get back to my first statement about warm, it was 79 and sunny in good ol' Savannah today. if we didn't have plans with the hansens, we'dve been at the beach!

hope everyone had a very merry christmas!

2008-12-09T14:18:00.001-08:00

dear santa,

all i want for christmas is a new job.

xoxo chels

okay so the tree is up, and i'm waiting for one more package to come from a mysterious place that rylan cannot know about (yet!)... after i wrap that, i'm all set for christmas, with 2 weeks to spare! i think thats a record for me.

i love this time of year. in my opinion there is nothing more beautiful than christmas lights. even the ugliest house looks nice with some lights up. okay thats a lie, some people go overboard and get tacky! those inflatable things that people put in their front yards are heinous. my parents neighbor in phoenix has the worst yard! i think you can actually see it from space, and thats not a good thing. we've noticed a lack of outdoor christmas lights in the sav. people are really big on wreaths and bowes, but not lights.

thanksgiving and so forth...

2008-12-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

the tuesday before thanksgiving, rylan and i left for nashville around 8am. armed with some maps, printed directions courtesy of google maps, and an awesome GPS (thanks nicki and jim!) we were almost positive we would not possibly be able to get lost. and we only made one wrong turn in the middle of atlanta! the drive was uneventful and the dog sat quietly in the backseat the whole time. we made it to nashville by 3:30. aunt jen and uncle tim took us on a beautiful hike to stretch our legs. we got to the top of the hill right at sunset, it was incredible. i now know the meaning of "purple mountains majesty." at this point, after being there for about two hours, lola had become best friends with their dog, moby (he's a poodle mixed with that bishon-frizzy kind of dog). aunt jen made a delicious london broil for dinner, and then my cousin emalie and i went to see twilight (for the second time). fantastic movie.

wednesday morning i could not sleep in, i was seriously up by 7:15. so i curled up on the couch and read a book until everyone else got up around 8. mom and dad got to nashville (from paducah, ky) around 10:30. my aunt mary jean and uncle kevin (from atlanta, ga) got there around 1:30. uncle tim went to pick up aunt kathy (from cleveland, oh) and my cousin tommy (hartford, ct) at the airport. my aunts started cooking right away and rylan and i kept getting volunteered to load and unload the dishwasher, as well as peel potatoes and onions and apples and anything else that could've been sliced or diced. that evening, all 12 of us headed to buc di beppo for a big ol' family dinner! **side note: we all got together not only for thanksgiving, but because it was my aunts 50th birthday, and she is technically the baby of the family** after dinner we headed back to the house for some birthday cake that my mom made! delicious. then we played cranium, which was hilarious.

thanksgiving day was pretty mellow. rylan and i spent the morning avoiding the kitchen, but somehow we still got volunteered for the same jobs as the previous evening. i would just like it to be stated for the record that i do not enjoy cooking. but since im a huge fan of eating, i guess i had to do my fair share. it was beautiful and warm and sunny out so we all grabbed whatever lawn chair we could find, pulled them into a semi circle in the middle of the backyard, and we all worked on our tans for a while. it was gorgeous, we dubbed it "the nashville beach." the meal was fantastic (it was all the peeling i did, i swear it was!) and i couldnt have asked for a better family than mine to spend thanksgiving with! after dinner we played apples to apples.

friday everyone slept in. we all avoided "black friday" shopping. the women of the family went to the spa for a refreshing morning of facials! i think i might have to do that more often! as we were pulling out of the parking lot, alison krauss (country singer, sings with the grand ole opry and her band "alison krauss and the union station") was pulling in. no one else in my family listens to country, so i silently flipped out from the back seat. that evening we played rock band with my cousin philip. he is 16, cutest boy alive (zac efron hair) but im pretty sure hanging out with his lame-0 cousin (that'd be me!) was not on his list of things to be doing on a friday night, but he humored me well, he even let me sing! poor child.

saturday mom, dad, rylan and i went to cracker barrel for brunch and then went to downtown nashville. i'm assuming this is common knowledge by now, but in case you don't know, i live for country music. we passed by the ryman auditorium and went to the country music hall of fame! they had an awesome exhibit about hank williams and the williams family legacy. i must admit, im not a huge hank jr fan (bocefus, who gives their child that kind of a nickname!?) but it was very interesting to read their story... i can now understand why people think country singers are so redneck. thank hank for that! then we walked down broadway, which is home to a ton of honky tonk bars and record stores. i was totally in my element (minus the bars). we went into the wild horse saloon and my dad and i shared a beer. that evening we went to the mellow mushroom for pizza with my parents, aunt jen and uncle tim, and emalie and philip.

sunday we went to paducah, kentucky for the day to visit pop. im absolutely convinced that he is the cutest old man ever. my cousin jarrod brought over his 2 year old daughter annsley. rylan was totally smitten with her, and vice versa. they flirted! it was so cute. i also got to see my uncle dave, who i hadn't seen in years. we made a trip to walmart while we were there, cause there is really nothing else to do in paducah, trust me on this. stopped over to see aunt carol and uncle gene for a few minutes. she just had major back surgery, but she looked like she was recovering very well!

monday we were supposed to head back to savannah but i just couldnt bring myself to leave yet. so we stayed an extra day in nashville. we found a jcrew (hallelujah) and then we went to the opryland hotel. it's right next to the new grand ole opry. it also snowed. i like snow about as much as i like cooking (if you've been paying attention, you know thats now a good thing). my mom made yummmmmy enchiladas for dinner and we had a nice quiet evening.

yesterday we drove home. besides the phone call from my mom telling rylan they found jack white's house, nothing exciting happened. i finished a whole book in one car ride (im a dork!).

i was so not ready to be back at work today. one week away from those old bitches was definetley not enough. they are still fighting about the same stuff... it gets old so fast. BUT i came home to clean laundry and christmas decorations!! i love when rylan is off from school :) our house looks beautiful, so here's the secret: live with an art student! it's only dec 3, so i got at least 22 more days of beautiful christmas lights!!!!!

2008-11-17T17:39:00.000-08:00

we havent been up to much lately. rylan is currently in the middle of finals week at SCAD! bring on winter break, i want my house back! i know i say this every quarter, but he really did more homework in this quarter than i did in 4 years.

we are heading to nashville, tn in a week for a long thanksgiving weekend. i'm an only child and very rarely did we have a large thanksgiving, so this is a real treat for me! my parents are coming from AZ, and in total 12 of us are going to be enjoying thanksgiving together!! it is my aunt's 50th birthday so we have a long weekend of festivities planned! we're going bowling (i'm protesting for a bumper lane!), a girls day at the spa, and go kart racing. also, since nashville is music city u.s.a i think a trip downtown to my mecca (the ryman auditorium, aka the grand ol' opry) is quite necessary. i only slightly LOVE country music, so this is my town! but in my familys defense of why they don't want to go, i make them go every time i come... and im the only one who even remotely cares for country music.

okay well me and my dorky giddy self are going to enjoy "heroes" and the warmth of the heater!

and to totally confirm my nerdiness, that book that i read a few months ago, well it's coming out as a movie on friday, and im so impatiently excited its embarrassing! i may be an adult (technically) but i am for sure not a grown up! i make peter pan SO proud :)

oh thank goodness!

2008-11-05T16:21:00.001-08:00

i love this picture.

i won't get political, but i for one am ready for this change, i think this country needs it.

but don't even get me started on prop 102 (az) or 8 (h8 in cali)...

i voted!

2008-11-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

i'm a georgia voter, y'all!

i had every intention of getting up early and waiting in line with everyone else to vote, but then i overslept. i grabbed my ipod and cell phone and had a book in the car that i stuck in my purse. i was fully prepared for a looooong line. well, i was in and out of there in 15 minutes.

and now i think im going to go take advantage of the free stuff!

2008-10-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

rylan and i had a pretty exciting day today! so im not going to tell you about it...

nah, just playin', here goes:

rylan met me at work, which is always a nice surprise! there is a new honey shop on broughton street that i've been dying to check out, and apparently they were giving away

free ice cream (holla!) so we decided to walk over there to see what was going on. well we walk in and there is a camera crew but we just assume they are there filming the store cause it's new. so we're meandering around and all of a sudden SAMANTHA BROWN walks past. well i'm not a very cool person when it comes to celebrities (ask the deen's- i'm ridiculous!) so i scream "oh my god, i love your show. i watch you every day" and turn three shades of bright red! she smiles and says thanks and keeps walking. y'all don't understand, the travel channel is the only cable channel we get, so she and anthony bourdain are gods in our house. i'm obsessed with her. i want to be her when i grow up. so ridiculous. so anywho, we call everyone we know. and then we walk by the store one more time. and she's still there. so we walk down the street a few blocks to our favorite burger place. then we walk past the store again, and oh wait, she's still there! we're total creepers!

okay, moving on from our stalker ways...

the sons played softball tonight! i'm not going to say they won, cause they didnt. but i can't say the lost, cause they didnt. the other team never showed up! the sons are just that good, everyone's afraid to play them! but it was super cold and the wind was blowing but i got a jersey. i'm #13 and it says "chels" across the back! i'm going to wear it all the time!!

okay well im off work tomorrow and hsm3 comes out! yes i am 24 years old going on 13. i swear i did not request the day off just for the movie coming out. i don't think that far in advance.

overcome with excitement

2008-10-22T16:58:00.001-07:00

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2008-10-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

so our week in phoenix was pretty exciting. i'm so over weddings, if i don't have to go to another one until may, i'll be perfectly happy.

i got in on tuesday and went straight to serranos for the best mexican food ever. then went to get pedicures with the fam. got to see all my cousins and their "others" which was a wonderful surprise! headed home and mom made chicken and dumplings! delicious.

wednesday mom and i got up early and went to target to get daniel and tamra their wedding gift. then hung out with chelsa the rest of the day. we went to lunch at zpizza and then i made her drive me to the mall. while heading out we ran into beau! he invited us to happy hour, so along we went! then chelsa and my mom, dad, pop, and i all went to margaritaville for dinner! it seems quite odd to me to have a beach themed restaurant in the middle of the desert, but whatever. we had margaritas and cheeseburgers in paradise (with heinz 57).

thursday we spent the whole day setting up for the rehearsal dinner. everything looked beautiful. my mom has a real knack for that kind of stuff. all in all, everyone remained on their best behaviour, which is saying a lot for redneck kentucky folk! rylan arrived in the great state around 11pm.

friday morning i got a haircut and rylan bought himself a dress shirt for the wedding. got to the wedding about an hour early, so we tracked down the boys in the bar! the wedding was beautiful and the rehearsal was a blast. my drunken cousins took over the dance floor. very entertaining. danced with pop, danced with rylan. and no wedding is complete without the macarena, the electric slide and of course the chicken dance. my mother requested them, go figure. i was lucky enough to remain seated for two outta three of those! my cousins (probably flyin' high, if you catch my drift) did the chicken dance, so how could i not?! oh i love my stupid family!

saturday was spent relaxin, and then of course another trip to the mall! had dinner at guedo's, which is second best mexican food in az! went to see "sex drive" with chelsa. way funnier than i expected.

sunday mom had some friends from church over to say hello. it was so nice to see everyone. then we went to my cousins house in gilbert to say goodbye to the family.

yesterday was eventful. we got the airport at 10:30 for our 12:40 flight. well, apparently the 9:30 flight to dallas was 3 hours late. that meant that our flight was going to be at least an hour late which would mean we miss our connecting flight to savannah. we would have to sleep in the dallas airport, which is fun for no one. rylan got our name on the standby list for the (now scheduled) 12:40 flight and we thankfully got on... but our luggage did not. so we made it to dallas with 40 minutes to spare! we knew the bags wouldnt make it, but we would rather have had the luggage spend the night in the dallas airport than us! the dog welcomed us home with lots of kisses. we also returned to cold weather! it's fall y'all. i would love to take shower, but the hairdryer is in the luggage. in dallas. so im seriously debating the showering thing right now. did i mention its really cold?!

2008-10-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

so i've come to the conclusion that rylan and i are quitters. we bought the wii and played it for a solid week. then we didn't touch it for a month. then we got the wii fit and were athletic for about a week and half. i can safely say that thing hasn't been touched in two weeks. and now we don't want to use it cause it's going to yell at us for not using it in a while...

in awesome news: bobby deen knows my name without my nametag being on! he says "good morning chels" and i think i turn red everytime. my life is complete. and rylan and i saw paula and her hubby at target the other day. just another day in slow-vannah.

we're getting ready to make our (short) triumphant return to the great state of arizona within the week! i leave tuesday and rylan follows on thursday. my mom is my social director (she always has been, nothing changes even from 3000 miles away). it's a good thing im not a more popular girl and only have 2 friends in az. i get in on tuesday at noon and pretty much hit the ground running. the rehearsal dinner is on thursday and the wedding is on friday. on sunday she wants to have a get together at the house for the church folk since she ain't dragging me there. needless to say i think i've overpacked!

the urban outfitters opened in savannah today. it's a pretty big deal. so we walked around there today and went into the pd store to get mom her requested cookbooks (personalized, nonetheless) and got lunch at wild wings cafe. it's sweater weather down here this week, so i felt like i had to go walk around downtown! i love autumn! we're heading to the hansens for dinner.

we've been watching veronica mars on dvd. i don't know how i couldve missed such a show on tv. it's so great. right up my alley. so, this is my shameless plug for a great show if you're ever looking for something to rent at good ol' blockbuster!

One Year, Continued

2008-09-12T21:47:00.001-07:00

And a couple days later, I am back to work on my birthday week post. So without further interruption, away we go. So we got back to the house after our River Street excursion and tucked in for the night. That is, not before a few games of Wii bowling with the whole family. Turns out, my dad is like a Wii bowling pro and actually currently holds the record on our system. But tired and bowled out, we took to the Living room to try and get some sleep. As in the morning we would be off to see the sights the South has to offer.
I believe we left the house around 9 or 10 and made our way to the fine city of Charleston. Becca had graciously offered to watch Lola and this would be the first time she, the dog, would spend time with another dog. As mentioned before, we were on our way to Charleston, and with a quick Mcbreakfast we were well on our way there. Upon arriving we went down King Street and did a little (I mean very little, much to Chelsea's discontent) shopping. She traded in her Mighty Mouse (defective) and picked up a copy of Office. We showed my parents what we loved about Charleston. As we are the kind of people that can just chill and walk around. My parents, however, are not so much like that. They need a place to go. The place we needed up at was in front of a huge mansion. Actually the third largest house on the east coast to be exact. And they called it the Calhoun mansion. Now I know Chelsea already mentioned this place, and to say it is huge is an understatement. I think the house itself was like 25,000 sq ft. Hell, I may have that number all wrong, but I do say the fish was THIS big. What? Every square foot of the house is covered with some sort of artifact that was worth a quite deal of money. The things that hold your drapes - made of gold. The ceiling - painted by Tiffany Co. Paintings, statues, crystal, animal heads from exotic animals. Everything in the world was in this house. I bet the frozen remains of Bigfoot will end up there soon. Straight from the Georgian forests. Yeah, so to sum up our afternoon in Charleston (in case I forgot something): King St., Market Street, Fountain on the pier, Chelsea get splashed with water, Rainbow Row, Battery Point, Calhoun Mansion...and there we are. Upon exiting the house, we were all but starving. It was about 3 I think, hot, and we hadn't eaten all day. We made our way back down to Market Street and found a place that reminded me of a box of chocolates. That is to say we ate at Bubba Gumps. I remember eating at a Bubba Gumps in Kona and hating it. My second attempt was a full 180. Not a seafood person, I ordered fried chicken breast with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob (yum). Chelsea got some fish and chips made from Mahi Mahi with the dreaded Malt Vinegar (bane of my existence right there). My dad got this shrimp basket that was like 5 or 6 different types of shrimp (as in cooked differently). I can't remember what my mom ordered, but it had to be non-seafood related. I think we were all overly pleased with our meals. After switch we went and checked into our hotel. And having such a late lunch, we weren't really hungry the rest of the night. We headed back down to Market street to cruise the town but most of the shops were closing up for the night. Tired, we headed back to the hotel and just hung out watching free cable (yay marathon of Entourage).
Waking up in Charelston, we headed to get breakfast at dunkin donuts. Now, I haven't been in a dunkin donuts since like Elementary school. And back in my day, they weren't the fancy establishment they are today. Back then they served donuts, and coffee. Now they have an assortment of meals, including bagels, and breakfast sandwiches. I think my mind was blown just a bit at that realization. I had a strawberry frosted air donut with sprinkles x2 cause I rock. While being in donut nirvana I completely lost track with what anyone else ordered, not that anyone cares. We ate breakfast then headed to Patriot's Point (An area in Charleston that houses the U.S.S. Yorktown, some smaller ships, a sub, and a tour of Fort Sumter. Our grand idea was to tour the Yorktown and Sumter. Now I will say, (and Chelsea will beg to differ) that the Yorktown was interesting. But after countless hours on that ship I don't think I need anymore exploring of naval vessels for quite some time. Because, it is boring. After a while your vision becomes blurred. Everything turned a neutral grey tone. You long for just a taste of what Teavanna might have to offer you. And what used to be where someone actually stood and worked day in and day out and even fought wars, has been reduced to an information booth for stupid tourists to get informed on what happened during World War II. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy myself for a bit (case in point the picture of me in the gun turret) But a couple hours is enough. For lunch, we got the "authentic navy fare" in which you can eat in the mess hall and get a hot meal for $2 more then a hot dog. The biggest perk for this meal was the mess hall, unlike the rest of the ship, was air conditioned. My meal was meatballs with rice, vegetables, and a salad. The mess hall reminded me of some weird church pot luck with those semi-plastic tablecloths. Faintly in the background, music from the 20s can be heard over the PA. Yes, I ate every last bite of my meal, and then went after my crew mates meals as they set aside some pieces. As for the Fort, it was interesting. It is actually one of the biggest things I remember from History Class. I remembered it was the first shot of the civil war and no one died in the battle there, except for a horse. Its kind of weird what you remember from school - who says you can't tell the difference between a Doric and Ionic column? Whatever. We left Charleston and were on our way back to Savannah. Teavanna-less and tired.

Side Note - While in Charleston, we were sent shocking images of our dog, yes our dog, made to dress up in little dresses and prance around. Poor, poor dog. She did however get to play with many of her kind and did quite well.

Back on track - We got back to Savannah and decided to grab a bite to eat at Vinnie's. Ah how I love pizza, but after waiting for about an hour to be seated and then what seemed like another hour for our food. We ended up eating around 9 and Chelsea and I agree, it wasn't the best Vinnie's we've had. We were disappointed. The next day, We sort of just lugged around. My birthday was just a day away and we were taking it easy until our dolphin cruise the next day. I chose this idea, because really, I just wanted to get on the ocean in a boat. It sounds like fun to me. But when my birthday arrived, our tour got rained out and being labor day, everything was closed. We ended up renting a movie and watching it at home. We rented Vantage Point, and while the same scene over and over got a little redundant, the movie was surprisingly good. For dinner, I chose Bistro Savannah. It was delicious. I had the steak. Chelsea ordered vegetable risotto. My dad had some sort of fish. And my mom had the steak also. I loved it, actually I could go for it right now, if I had the money, and it were still open. So while not the perfect birthday, I don't think it was half bad. I had my mom and dad, my beautiful girlfriend, and a spoiled rotten dog. Oh and of course one blog. 25 years. a quarter of a century...I have more to talk about, I know. I mean, I didn't even talk about Deedee's awesome birthday card she sent me. Completely custom made with a paper cheeseburger sans bacon. I mean come on. Did I mention she used real sesame seeds to top the bun. It was quite a surprise, thank you. And since it is 1:47 am here in Sav-town, and now September 13th, Happy Birthday Deedee. Maybe you will be 25 years old someday too Deedee.

Now, unless you want to hear more about how I ate a bacon cheeseburger or watched Rome the T.V. series, I am going to bed. I have a girl, who is already quite asleep. A dog, with an unnaturally loud snoring habit. And a cool (that gets even colder as the night wears on) breeze coming from my a.c. unit. Happy birthday blog. Happy Birthday Deedee, Happy Birthday to my brother, Happy 24.5 birthday Andrea, Happy 24.5 Birthday Chelsea. I bid you all good night and sweet dreams.

One Year

2008-09-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

So its been over a year since we started this blog, a year since we moved to Savannah, a year on our grand adventure. And while I haven't posted in a while, I see that Chelsea has posted up a few things - to make sure all you readers out there aren't too bored. I suppose for this post I must reiterate some things that Chelsea mentioned, and perhaps somethings that were left unsaid. In true form, it will probably be as long as a book, so get a drink and perhaps some breakfast because here it goes.
So yes, Chelsea bought me a Wii for my birthday. And I am under the firm belief that it is one of the best game systems ever made. It is so simple to use, yet fun at the same time. The best part of it all, is it gets you off the couch and (heaven forbid) actually moving. Oh the interactivity. Our first night with the Wii was spent on the ever popular Wii Sports. To my surprise, Chelsea actually got in on the gaming action and she is damn good. We played quite a few rousing rounds of bowling that first night - and I say I was not the winner. Granted I rock at the baseball and boxing. But she does throw a mean virtual bowling ball. And did I mention how awesome a girlfriend she is for buying me such a wonderful gift? Awesome, indeed. One second, it's my turn to bowl...
As far as work goes, I've been working hard on trying to complete the website for indulge catering. At this moment its still got a bit to go, but is looking pretty good. I set up the hosting plan and domain so its live - but let's call it a beta version until it's finished. It's also using a new Google Analytic code, not quite sure what that entails quite yet but I guess I'll have to wait and see. Anyway, you can check it out over at http://www.indulgesavannah.com I won't go into the boring details of the design or anything - most of it you've seen before in previous entries. Just basically an extension of the pre-existing theme. So I guess I will move forward, and in this case would be backward in time to my birthday and all the fun we had.
Jump back to August 28th and please welcome my parents to Savannah, GA. They decided to come visit me for my birthday. They got in about 4pm, which gave us enough time to set their stuff down at the house and then run down to River Street to grab a bite to eat. Always a good choice, we decided to take my parents to Tubby's Tankhouse. Chelsea met us downtown as she was getting her hair done and wouldn't be able to meet us for a while. So while waiting for Chelsea, my parents and I cruised the shops along River Street, poking our heads into the candy stores to get our own Praline samples. This is at which my dad exclaimed that he had never tried a Praline before (even though he has probably tried them 3 or 4 times - losing his mind I fear). As far as our dinner goes, I feel my parents weren't impressed. My mom, not a seafood fan, ordered a steak and found it bland. My dad ordered fried shrimp and ate em up but would find better shrimp before the trip was through. We left River Street, and headed back to the house to which an excited dog waited to see her Grandparents. At this point I am going to have to cut myself off, as my bed is calling me. I will try and finish this little number tomorrow. Until then, happy adventuring.

playing catch up

2008-09-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

let's see... we've had a busy few weeks, so bear with me.

i bought rylan a wii for his birthday. thats been fun. i think he loves it.

his parents came out for a week. we went to charleston, sc for a night. shopped on king street for a while and walked around city market. walked over to battery pointe, which has some of the most beautiful homes i've ever seen. toured calhoun house, which the guide said was used in "the notebook", but since i'm a total expert on that film, i beg to differ! i didn't argue with her, but she's wrong. had dinner at bubba gumps. the next day we went to fort sumter and the u.s.s. yorktown. that boat was really boring. sorry, but it's true. ugh. the fort was cool. we headed back to savannah for rylan's birthday. we were supposed to go on a dolphin cruise, but due to bad weather it got cancelled. went to bistro savannah for dinner and it was delicious! took a day trip to st. augustine. the architecture in that city is absolutely gorgeous.

we spent yesterday at the beach. always a great day, except coming home we brought half the sand with us.

okay, i think we're all caught up now.

life's full of tough choices, isnt it?

2008-08-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

ok im going to be very honest here: i cannot make a decision to save my life. its not that i can't make them, i just don't like to. i hate picking whats for dinner, or what movie to rent. here's the funny situation: i tried on a dress at the gap. i thought about it for two days. i emailed my mother a picture of it. she said it was cute. i went and bought it. then at 11:30pm i decided i wanted to return it. i brought it to work with me. showed it to all my "moms" and they liked it. they even told me what shoes i should wear with it and offered to lend me accessories. i get home, and try it on again. now i'm going to return it and wear a dress i already own. seriously. does anyone else have this problem?

im (re)watching grey's anatomy season 1. thank god im not a surgeon. i could never ever make those kinds of decisions. haha. well okay, i could make one decision: mcdreamy!

2008-08-15T18:47:00.000-07:00

i feel like i should buy a lottery ticket today or something. its friday, and i really wasn't in the mood to work today (thats normal for me, but seriously, who really ever wants to work?!) i go in at 3 and everything is going alright. it's pretty slow, but for a friday night thats normal... well around 6pm someone comes in and tells us there's a huge fire down the street at the financial square, so naturally i run outside to look and the guy from the restaurant next door says his lights are flickering. not a good sign. about 15 minutes later our lights start flickering. then the power goes out. our computer run on battery for about 3 minutes and then we crashed. so by 7pm i was off and walking to meet rylan, away from all the chaos. most of downtown savannah is without power at this very moment.

so rylan and i went and got sushi. we went to blockbuster to check out what movies are out. whole lotta nothin! so now we're sitting around at home like all the cool kids do on a friday night!

we had a wonderful evening with blaine and ginger last night. they made us grapefruit margaritas and enchiladas and homemade guacamole. us two kids from the az couldnt have been more well fed!

A week of everything

2008-08-13T20:33:00.001-07:00

So its about 11:30, and after a couple hours of Olympic watching, I have retreated to my computer to pen this new entry. The last couple weeks have been quite busy on the design front. Logging forty hours last week and expected to log another forty this week, I have been programming my heart out while Chelsea is working at Paula's shop. I will drop her off in the morning then come home and work till I am pulling my hair out in frustration. Sometimes flash can be a fidgety program, and well just doesn't work the way you want. The last I penned was that I was working on the menu book for Indulge, but since then I have had to put that on hold to work on there website. While both are scheduled to be completed at the same time, Becca wanted to get the website done first. So I was off, and I have to admit I am quite sick of this design. Each piece that I create must stay within the same vein of style as the last but hopefully be a little fresh and different. It is a little taxing to say the least, especially after working on the same design for the past year really (maybe not that long).
It becomes even more frustrating for me myself, when you try to get acknowledgment of a job well done, and well most of the hardest stuff that was completed is unseen in a website - it is code, hidden behind the pictures, making them do what they do. Its sort of hard to explain that even though you see one picture, there are so many other things going on in the background. Its already calling up your next move, before you make it. Its actually quite amazing. I am also glad that I never became a programmer. Not only do I not like the 3am/late-night work sessions that I used to pull, I don't see the satisfaction. I love when someone else thinks my work is good. Well I'll settle for an ok(well maybe not, it better be the best - damnit, I didn't get a proper ed-ja-ma-cation for nothing. - Woot! "In the Heights") But really the only way I can tell if I'm any good at this thing they call design, is if someone else tells me. Because personally, like the cliche artist, I am my worst critic. Looking at earlier work, I will start analyzing, then comes criticizing, which leads to hating it. Hell, I think I already hate this post (stupid post). I have run off on a tangent that I have no idea where it leads, nor where it ends. What am I doing? Where is this going?

So in other news, this week has been quite exciting for us. Its a week packed full of events. Monday: (I totally made a boom sound effect when I typed the colon, just for the record. So you should read it as such.) Becca brought her dog Greer over to meet Lola. Now we have stated before that Lola, not very fond of dogs. But she did awesome. They played around, and even though she drooled like crazy, she didn't attack anything. Greer is just mellow and I don't even think knew Lola was there. I believe Monday night we got together with Andrea and Dave and video chatted online for a bit. It was hilarious and after some technical difficulties we got it working and was actually quite fun. Tuesday: Paige came to Savannah! So after her internship in New York, Paige and her boyfriend Blake came to Savannah. The Indulge crew got together at Carlitos for a fiesta. At which time I found out they had $1 taco Tuesday (you heard me right friends, 1 taco = 1 dollar, amazing.) But wait there's more! You can get a Margarita for $2! I order three tacos, Chelsea got her usual bean burrito, Blake threw down 6 tacos. Damn they were good. I could probably live off of tacos and bacon cheeseburgers. It wouldn't be a long life mind you - considering the health factors involved, but it would be great. From the taco shop, Chelsea and I walked down Broughton to Leopold's and got ourselves some ice cream. It was just amazing outside. But as we were walking the rain ceased for the night and we just enjoyed a cool stroll downtown. When it rains around here, the temperature literally drops 20 degrees. You are left with light jacket weather and windows rolled down, listening to tunes. On our way home we saw Sam from The Format chilling outside Marshall House smoking a cigarette. How cool is that!? If you don't know of The Format, go check them out! They are from Arizona. Wednesday: We just chilled around the house and watched Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2 of Rome. Damn I can't believe they killed Caesar! I mean I know it was going to happen, but still, I thought he was awesome. And for whats to come and we are excited for: Thursday: We are going to dinner at Blaine and Ginger's house. They just got their house repainted a deep blue and it looks really cool. Hopefully, the trim will be complete now and we will be able to see the finished house. Not to mention, catch up with Patches and Vincent (the coolest cat around, that gives headbutts). Saturday: I believe we are going on a double-date with Martha and Andrew to go see Batman! Which for all accounts should be grand as well. Martha and Andrew are very nice and cool, plus it's Batman! You can never go wrong with Batman! POW! Sunday: Nancy, from Chelsea's work has invited us to go on her boat, so I believe we are going to take her up on the offer. I will probably need a life-vest for this one. Anything happens, I'm a goner people. Not sure if I can doggie-paddle my way back to shore. Michael Phelps I am not.

showin off..

2008-08-04T08:03:00.001-07:00

so im addicted to the photobooth program. like ridiculously addicted!

how silly is this?! i love it. i sent a whole bunch to my mother, who was totally not impressed. and definitely didnt think it was as funny as me either. oh well!

im still in need of a few lessons. its taking a wee bit of getting used to. im so used to a PC (we've had them since i was in third grade) but gosh this thing is so cool. thank god i had rylan, cause the only decision i really had to make was "white or black" and "nano ipod or itouch"

ok back to more silly pictures!

A trip to the town of Charles

2008-08-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

We were day trippers today...Our adventure took us up the I-95 to the I-17 to Charleston to see what we could see. It took us a bit of time to park but we were able to find a spot right on King St. And for those out of the know, King St. is the hub of Charleston shopping. It has all the big name stores including the one previously mentioned by Chelsea in her last post. We walked the streets and while a bit warm, a cool breeze made it a wonderful day. Upon arriving into the fair city, we were both quite hungry. We decided to walk around King St. until we found a place we thought sounded delicious. We passed by J. Crew in search of food as Chelsea eyed the window clothes, but my hunger prevailed and we trekked on. We were originally going to eat at a restaurant we recalled from our previous journey, but alas it was closed. Their sign had mentioned 'The Best Gyro' or something of the sort. So we were lost to find someplace new. We were walking down to the Mellow Mushroom when I spotted a different place. Not sure what it was all about we went over and took a look. It turned out it was a little cafe that named all their menu items after movies. It sounded decent so we ate there. I had the 'Good Burger' (Was that an actual movie or just from that TV show All That? Chelsea got breakfast with the 'Oridinary People.' Translating that comes out to a Bacon Cheeseburger (surprise, surprise) and Eggs, Bacon, and Toast. The place also shows movies while you eat and August Rush was playing. Having already seen that movie we stayed downstairs and ate our meals in peace. Happy and full we traveled down King St. back to the J. Crew. Along the way we found that since our last journey, an Apple store opened on King St. - so already this trip was better for me with the geek shopping. Chelsea went into J. Crew but found nothing that interested her. WAIT. SHE FOUND NOTHING THAT INTERESTED HER. SHE LEFT WITH NO BAG IN TOW. Record this day. Oh, by this point we had already been hatching another plan of sorts...But more about that later! (Dramatic Pause placed here)

And we continue...Having no bags and still quite a bit of day left, we walked down to Market Street to mingle the vendors and well, just walk. It was good to be out and just vacationing without any real vacation. We didn't have any place to go or anything to do, just chill and enjoy the town. Passing through Market Street, we landed upon the water. There is a huge fountain here, and children were having the grandest time playing in it. Hell, even some adults were out in their suits jumping through the fountain. I suppose its the big hang out spot. You can see said fountain in our earlier pictures of Charleston. This area is like a mini pier also, but no real shopping involved. Just some fishing, benches, and swing chairs. We threw our bodies down in a swing chair and just relaxed for about twenty minutes. Taking in the view of the river and enjoying the breeze...good times. When we got up we decided to put our plan into motion. But first we were parched and needed a cool drink to soothe my palette.

On our food search earlier in the day we came across a tea shoppe that sold premium tea. We went in in search of a cool drink of ice tea. I have to say this place was awesome. Just a whole bunch of different tea flavors. Chelsea picked an orange flavored tea that was sweetened with German Rock Sugar (whatever that means). I went with gunpowder green tea. Once we chose our tea they had this contraption that brewed it for us and then strained it right into our iced cup (crazy awesome). We went to the back of the store where they have a little zen garden to sit and drink your tea. This is where we called Chelsea's dad and explained the plan. He was all for the idea and now we were both excited. We were planning on doing this, but not for a while. But I think today was probably the best day to go through with it. So we walked down to the big white buidling and waited in line...

Oh I forgot to mention that earlier in the day while we were walking back to the tea place. We found this really cool alley called Philadelphia Alley. It was very calm and shady.

Ok back to the story at hand. We were waiting in line and I have to say the people there were probably the nicest people we have ever met. After a short wait we were in and being helped by a very kind man. He took us through all the paperwork. Chatted us up a bit and called Chelsea a Sundevil to which she rejected and said she was a Wildcat. It was quick. It was easy. And then we were done. So after the last few years of Chelsea putting up with a broke down computer, she got a new one. And dude, she got a Mac. This past weekend was tax-free weekend on select purchases in South Carolina and Georgia. One of those purchases would be a computer. So not only did she not get taxed, she got a student discount, a free printer, and a free iPod. And wouldn't you know, being the coolest, most awesomeness girlfriend ever, she threw me a bone and gave me the new iPod (how's that for badass, Taylor?). So while she didn't pick up anything at J. Crew, we did do quite a bit of damage in the new Apple Store. And lugging around all this equipment sort of ended our trip to Charleston (Because once you get a thing like a Mac, you want to go home and play with it).

For the rest of the night Chelsea sat on the couch and played with Photobooth - making crazy pictures on her webcam. While I updated and played with my iPod (Go Go App Store!). So all in all, it was a great trip - relaxing. We got to do what we wanted which was nothing at all really (except for maybe Chelsea's J. Crew adventure). And we ended up with something extra. I can't wait to go back there at the end of the month. BUt until then, I say good night.

day tripping

2008-08-03T06:18:00.000-07:00

we're taking a day trip to charleston! i'm in love with this city ALMOST as much as i'm in love with the sav. they are just beautiful and well preserved and well... there's a jcrew! haha

ok, everyone wish us safe travels (it's not far- kind of like driving to tucson)

chels

p.s. i spent 13 hours reading yesterday. i had the worst headache EVER and i didn't even finish the darned book. i got close though! 550, and there's 758 pages total. i'll finish tonight or tomorrow. ok, pulling out the big nerd card here with a random question: does anyone else hate finishing good books? it just makes me sad almost, ya know? i find myself procrastinating when i get close to the end of a book. my bookcase is filled with books i couldn't finish. im such a lame-o!! haha

A long post about well everything in my mind at this very moment

2008-07-30T18:43:00.000-07:00

So its been a while since I last penned a blog entry on here. I suppose I can relay my adventures of the last couple weeks - well what I can remember anyway. I guess I can start off by saying I finished my Creative Copywriting class. I really enjoyed the class and learned alot. If anyone is a SCAD student check out Art Novak's classes - good advertising teacher. I posted one of my projects earlier for the Spaldeen ball which I think turned out pretty well. I suppose I should post the completed comp for my final project. It was actually an ad campaign that we split between my partner and I. Our job was to settle on a local organization and create a poster, billboard, tv spot, and radio spot that solved a need they had. Our organization was the Savannah St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee. And for those of you that don't know but are keeping track - Savannah has a huge St. Patrick's day parade (like 3rd largest in the country). Therefore, we need our own committee to plan it. The need that we were solving was just to get people to come to the parade. But as a team we decided to not focus on the drunken bash and the people that idea attracts, but to focus on the other people. We chose a stance that was more focused on the history of the parade, a parade that has been part of the city for over 150 years. So all of our projects revolved around that idea. My completed comp for the poster:

for anyone that actually cares, the entire poster is done in photoshop. I took a couple pictures of some bricks outside my house...duped them a bunch and then found a picture of some clovers. The copy is original (hence a copywriting class). And logo is pulled from their website (don't bother with that, not very good). You might have to download it to get a decent view at the copy, for some reason I thought there used to be a full size display button in picasa. Well thats that. Hope you like it.

So that ended my class and I am back on the summer vacation. Which so far has entailed a boat load of work (heh boat load). I have been working with another designer, Brei Smith on a digital booklet/menu for Indulge Catering. She works with me and Indulge and is good designer and friend (check out her site: www.breismith.com). Basically my plan is to hand the menu out to different people instead of an actual menu. We can save money on printing menus and only make CDs for the people we want to give it to. I am using the CD holder template I created that fits on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper (love it) as the carrying case for it. And for those that saw the original designs for menu stuff you the style. One cool note about this is we actually had a professional photographer come in and shoot pictures for us. It took up a good bit of a day but I think we got some wonderful stuff to work with (always nice to have some good shots). Anyways everyone can check out a work in progress of the book at: Book

It might take a while to load because this is meant for a disc and not the web. The pictures are not processed for the web. I am using the book turn flash thing I have to create it then exporting as an exe in flash. Pretty cool stuff. Anyways you get the idea. Oh btw I would like to thank Dave for letting me host some test stuff on his site - if I haven't plugged his site enough check his site out at: Dave's Site and support his film Meet Dave with Eddie Murphy (skip the movie and just wait till the credits to see Dave's name woot!) I think that's rather awesome - having your name in the credits of a big screen. Alright where was I. Besides the menu I have been creating other stuff for Indulge also - menu cards, business cards, box lunch labels, and pretty much everything under the sun. Hopefully when I am through it will make a good corporate identity portfolio piece. I will try and post more stuff as I get it done for them.

While doing that I have also been working the catering gigs also. Tomorrow we have a 12 hour day of catering. I am bummed because Chelsea has the day off and I am working the entire time. It seems like this last week we have had opposite schedules. Although yesterday we were able to hang out and go down to Jalapenos (yum and awesome) then watch Lost Boys 2 - as she previously mentioned. Cut the review short on it, it was cheesy and felt like a made for video movie (cause it was). I suppose this weekend we will probably be doing some mall shopping considering the tax free weekend). Not that I particularly like the mall, I do enjoy hanging out with my girl. I digg her. I mean seriously, this blog wouldn't be so grand without her. Her book comes out this weekend (its like her equivalent to Harry Potter for you Harry Potter fans) and I hope its everything she hoped for. Just like Dark Knight was everything I hoped for. Yay for Dark Knight - go see it, now!

I don't think we ever mentioned what we did on 4th of July (yeah I have alot of catching up to do) - hopefully this isn't too long. On the 3rd of July we headed over to Blaine and Ginger's house for a party they had. They picked up some great outside furniture for World Market and really made a great outdoor living area. Blaine was at the grill and I downed a few burgers and hotdogs (my favorite, if you couldn't guess.) They had a keg for the beer drinkers and wine for the wine drinkers. The party was mostly SCAD workers but we got to hang out with all the Hansens and just have a good time. We hadn't seen Nicky and Jim for a while so it, well it was awesome. Of course the party couldn't be complete without a hand selected 4th of July themed ipod play list courtesy of Blaine. To top the night off, fireworks were shot off from the park just a block away. So really we celebrated our 4th on the 3rd - thanks to Blaine and Ginger and their great party hosting skills.

Oh also, Richard's site finally went live last month. I had completed his site uh before I left for Savannah and its finally up and live (slow slow man). Richard's site. He was looking for a simple and clean site. His style is mostly modern so I tried to stay in that vein. I made all the animations moved fairly fast and didn't have any extras. Almost a bare essential type of site. It is also very easy for him to edit, so when he actually gets his pictures processed, he can put them straight to the web. This gallery programming is basically what I have been working on since my first site with The Metal Garden. The scripting has been beefed up to help with people that have no idea how to program a website. I have tried making it as easy as possible. Its the stuff you don't see on the site, the backbone that has changed really. Its actually funny because Jon from the Metal Garden has contacted me to hopefully redo his site. Sort of a full circle in web design for me. I have always wanted to redo the site because being my first site, its not very good. The Metal Garden. Check it out for yourself.

So yeah, I can't remember what else I was going to talk about. Not that this post isn't already long enough. I mean I even threw shout outs to pretty much everyone. Well not everyone. Andrea and Taylor! What Up, we miss you! Deedee, congrats on finally getting a computer. Anyone else I fail to mention, sorry - maybe in the next book, right after when Dumbledore dies (sorry to ruin it for you)! Good night.

how awesome is GA?!

2008-07-29T19:10:00.001-07:00

well let me tell ya just how rad this new state of mine is.

for the whole weekend (july 31- aug 3) there is no sales tax. yeah, i know, that sounds lame, but think of all the random money we spend every day because of tax. the odd couple bucks here and there, BUT it has to add up eventually! well this weekend, im taking myself shopping. and if i had any friends in this state, i'd take them too! haha

my mom swears its cause of back to school shopping. i don't really care why they are doing this, i just think its super awesome!! so im buying myself some sperry topsiders. they are boat shoes, and im pretty sure im not getting a boat anytime soon, but everyone around here wears them and they look spiffy... and im a local now! so it makes perfect sense to me :)

on a side note, we just watched "lost boys 2: the tribe". i had high hopes for this film, really, i did. i loved the first one when i was a kid (and thats saying a lot cause i am a big chicken about scary movies). this one was totally predictable. not one thing happened that was surprising or unexpected. the main bad guy is exactly who you think it's going to be (no, not rory's grampa). it was just pathetic. BUT the corey's were both in it, so really im not going to complain. but im also not going to recommend it.

on another side note, we've been watching "rome" which is really good. those romans sure are horny! haha

-chels

An ad filled with Frustration

2008-07-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

So two weeks ago I started my Creative Copywriting class. And after a bit of success on my first ad, We are on our second assignment. The class is all about the actual writing rather then the creation of the ad. So for the first assignment we didn't take it to completion. However this assignment he asked us to go a bit further and finish the ad. He gave us the product, the Spalding Hi-Bounce Ball. After a bit of research, we found it that its this famous ball that was discontinued in 1979 (that popular huh?) and has just recently been reintroduced. The main game this ball is used in is stick ball. I personally decided to center my ad around this sport and also the nostalgia of the ball. I started off coming off with headlines and was all over the place. The first one I really came up with was "The Original Urban Playground." - based off stick ball being played in big cities like New York. Then I started thinking about how this ball was popular in the 50s and 60s and moved to the popular cars of that day. I looked at old car ads and basically absorbed everything they had. I came across one ad that had the headline, "Straight out of Tomorrow." Which I thought was a great headline, so I took it and applied it to the ball which resulted in "Straight out of yesterday." I feel it worked. And compared to some of my other ideas felt well, right. I sort of had this vision for the ad as a picture of the downtown streets of a city. I really like the visual of stick ball in the city. I ran with that idea and a bit of copy about the history and came up with the comp of the ad.
As far as the frustration goes, it was all in the printing of the ad. For some reason, my printer decided to go crazy and actually rip my prints up. Then as I was trying to fix it, it ran out of ink. One printer down I moved on to Chelsea's printer, which in turn was also out of ink. So I was off to Walgreen's for a refill, and 45 minutes later I am told that the color cartridge cannot be refilled. So finally I am off to Wal-mart to buy a new color cartridge and to my luck, they only have the two cartridge package in stock, meaning I have to buy a black cartridge also. But it is printed out, on the semi-gloss side of my photo paper because it wasn't taking the black on the gloss side. But nonetheless, its done and not too shabby. Its bed time for me, so aidos and peace out.

BTW, this entry was written totally on the fly here so mistakes, grammar, and boring parts are left well enough alone.

Something I've been playing with as of late...

2008-06-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

How do you represent the hardest thing a person can possibly represent, themselves? The problem is, I want to make myself a website that is sort of a collection of my own work...weather it be because I want to use as a resume site, personal site, or something else entirely (I think I just want a piece of real estate in this world with my name on it, virtual or not.) I have tried many designs over the past what I would say nine years if you included the ones thought up with Taylor..All of them were scrapped save one which ended up as the idea for Dave's site ( www.davidgroseclose.com ) And again I am plagued with the question of how I should represent myself. I have to say that I am sort of digging my logo, which was on here before and can be seen in the SCAD work folder. So this summer I have been playing around with yet another idea. I am not going to show you the entire thing, just a little sample of it. A few details on the site is that it would be completely done in Flash, inspired by Rauschenberg (probably way off on spelling of that), and consist of the idea, "me, in some form." The following image is just a clip (scrap, piece, fragment) from the final still of the opening keyframe. Again this, like the others, would probably hit the cutting room floor...But I figure hell, might as well share what has been floating around my brain.

hate to admit it...

2008-06-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

but, here goes...

i just watched "camp rock". and i kind of liked it.

it wasn't hsm, but it couldve been a hellofalot worse! haha

anywho, speaking of disney (it's a stretch, but you see where i'm comin from) im going this weekend! i'm called it a "girls weekend"- me and my gay husband steven are meeting there! AH! i havent seen him in three years and ive missed him so much. we don't keep in touch as often as i'd like, but i have a feeling we'll pick up right where we left off.

funny story for those who don't know- the first time i met him we were on the dynamic bus heading back to the college program apartments after our first day of "traditions class" at disney university. he offered me a disney fruit snack pack, and i totally thought he was hitting on me (i have terrible gaydar, ask anyone). i ended up pretty much living at his apartment.

words cannot express how excited i am to see my long lost husband! it's been far too long.

oh, and i got my car fixed. the check engine light had been on for about 8 months, and my dad pretty much grounded me until i got it fixed. seriously, he grounded me. someone needs to explain to ME how i let myself get grounded by a dude who's 3000 miles away from me. obviously he won, since $300 later, my car is fine, and i'm "allowed" to go now. i would've gone anyways, i might have just commit grand theft auto (is that even the term, or just a game?) and taken rylan's car. but no felonies were commited and im going to disneyworld!

adios.

2008-06-17T04:53:00.001-07:00

growing up, some of my favorite movies were "blue hawaii", "south pacific", and "beach blanket bingo" so naturally i felt like i would be the ultimate beach bum when i was older. but let us not forget that i was born and raised in a desert, and spent 23 years of my life in said desert. i feel like a fraud admitting this, but i, chelsea parks, am not a good beach person.

well thats not true, but yesterday was just not my favorite day at the beach. it was hot, there were bugs, and god help me there was a crying baby about 20 feet from us who would not shut up. we only spent about an hour there, then we went to get some really good pizza.

then we went to sam's club and got a membership. we're card carrying members of adult society now! so i went a little nuts and bought an iTouch. if i could figure it out, i guess technically i could be updating this from that, but well, im not. haha

2008-06-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

more news from our kitchen. we bought an ice cream maker! we've made peach ice cream (which was more like soup... but still yummy) and vanilla. that turned out much better than our first attempt. we bought a ben and jerry's ice cream recipe book, so hopefully deliciousness will ensue!

tonight we have steak. it's been a very long time since we've had it, due to lack of funding on the grocery front, but my god it was so good. even the dog benefitted from this- her bowl was overflowing with the scraps.

and now there's orangecicles in the freezer!

Things are abound to happen

2008-05-31T19:34:00.000-07:00

Now every once and a while we get people that either visit us or do something for us that is well out of our ordinary routine. For these such occasions we try and come up with a little thank you. So I suppose this is the result of what happens when someone visits us (hint hint Taylor and Andrea)! A couple days ago we had the pleasure of having Chelsea's dad's cousin come into town. It was great to have them here as we hadn't seen anyone in a while and well they were a blast to visit with. They took us out to dinner at Tubby's on River street. We left the house around seven and figured we would get home around ten or so. Well we ended up visiting with them until about midnight. We were just hanging out on a nice cool night in the restaurant. It was a day in between my finals so I didn't have much to worry about. It was such a delight to have them here. So we made a little thank you card. This isn't the first one I've made. I made a charcoal sketch of Mickey Mouse for Nicki and Jim (Avid Disney fans - and btw the sketch was awesome!). They are basically like second parents to us out here, and they never had to be. I also made a thank you card for just hanging out with Blaine and Ginger - at a time when we definitely needed a friend to hang out with. The thing that is different about this one is Chelsea and I both made it. A little burned out from work I devised a plan to get Chelsea to do her favorite thing...become a tourist in her own town. I handed her the camera and told her to take pictures of everything she wanted...and from there I would make something with it. This got us out of the house on a Friday afternoon and we just walked around downtown (a wonderful sight to see I must say). You can just meander and not have a care in the world. This is a picture down Drayton street I believe, and when I saw it I just immediately imagined text filling in that bright white sky. Really, with the architecture in Savannah, you don't have to do much with it. I dig it.

On a side note, in the post earlier this evening about cafepress, I found a better website. So the shirts are there now too and you can select what type of shirt you want it on. You can also select different colors, its pretty awesome. so check it out! Rylan's Zazzle Page Oh and make sure to promote the hell out of me :) thanks

Design Solution: Lloyd

2008-05-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

So thought I would throw down another quote shirt for the hell of it. This time it's from 'Say Anything...' Unfortunately, I didn't know this but on a basic account for Cafepress you can only have one of each type of product, so I couldn't put this on a V-neck. I am kind of disappointed by this realization, but such is life. The upgraded account is like six dollars a month...something I don't really feel like paying for especially if I know that the products aren't going to be sold that much. I wish they worked a little like deviantart in which you paid a one time fee for your prints account. They are still getting money from their cut of the print. Maybe if people digg em I can put like a different one up each month, I dunno. I suppose I digress a little. The shirt font is meant to look like the new logo design for the movie...I wasn't to keen on using the old one as it was a cheesy script font. The pen is actually two different pens put together through scanning and Photoshop. The ink was made from me printing out the text and then actually going in and scribbling on the paper. Scanned and changed the color to blue (it was black) and then put it all together for the finished piece...easy as pie. Check it out, tank top, at Cafepress!

Design Solution: A Beginning of Something

2008-05-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

I have long been expressing interest in the idea of my own t-shirt design company. Now the following has nothing really to do with anything about realizing that dream. This is more about making something else entirely. I have had this idea for a website, in which I will probably not get into the entire details of the idea as I don't want to give it away and hell you never know, I might actually make it someday. But let's just say the idea centered around that of chick flicks. It is kind of an interesting place for me, as a guy, to find myself thinking about. But alas, I have, thus a couple things have resulted from it. I had this idea of T-shirts that comprised basically of simple images and quotes from movies. Every good movie has the perfect quote that gets repeated around water holes across the globe - "You breed raptors here?" - "This is Sparta!" - "Let's Call it Steve!" - "I gave him a break." - "Here we are, Sunset and Camden!" - "Goonies never say die." - "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next!" - etc. Some people may not know what all of those are from, but you get the picture. My idea is not exactly unique as their are tons of shirts out there like this, I am but one of many. Since they are kind of spare time kind of things, I am using Cafepress as the people to print them. It makes them a little more expensive, but I don't have to worry about inventory or anything like that. These are kind of extra things for fun, and you'll probably see a few more on here. This one is from the Notebook, and a great line from the movie, "If you're a bird, I'm a bird." It is a line that Chelsea absolutely loves and well goes with the whole chick flick thing mentioned above. As for creation of the piece...the birds were hand drawn using pencil, just a quick sketch. Then they were inked and scanned in. I fixed up the lines just a bit, moved some stuff around to make them work together. I only drew one bird and dup'd it for the other. The color was added in photoshop - sort of going for a watercolor look. the overall feel was to be quaint and simple. So the birds are sort of sketchy and the type was to be a bit elegant - definitely a serif font. I messed with all the font fixings to make it flow together until I got a bit of something I liked (that sentence was awesome). Well go check it out over at Cafepress! If you love it and just have to have it, you can buy it too (hawking my designs for a couple extra bucks, lol)! Really though its just something to do for Chelsea and for fun. Thanks

tonight, we dine in... our kitchen!

2008-05-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

so for those of you who know rylan and i, you know we don't cook. or bake. or spend much time in a kitchen. but god knows we can eat like world class champions. well i'm proud to tell you that tonight, we baked. in true southern tradition, we made paula deen's key lime pie with meringue on top. let me start at the beginnin' fo' y'all...

we were looking through our cookbooks (yes, i know. it doesnt make sense why two people who don't cook have cookbooks, but they look good sitting on the shelf in the kitchen!) trying to find something to cook for dinner. it's usually useless for us to do this, and just makes us crave something from a restaurant... well we still didn't find anything for dinner BUT one of my coworkers had been talking about some icing or cake frosting thing all day, so i started looking through the dessert sections. rylan's not a big fan of key lime pie, but i loooove it. well for whatever reason he thought he might like it if i made it (i know, right? how sweet. i guess...) after one trip to publix and several phone calls to my mom (domestic goddess) we felt comfortable in our decision to attempt the impossible.

ok, long story short, i baked the pie. we had to remake the meringue, cause that was freaking hard, but i opened up the oven door, and im not too humble to admit that marie calendar herself couldn't have made a more beautiful pie! and did i mention that it was edible?! cause it's so good and im excited for breakfast (or perhaps a late night snack).

i can now officially make four things:
1. macaroni and cheese (yes, from a blue box)
2. cupcakes (funfetti)
3. peppermint bark
4. key lime pie

paying the bills doesn't make me a real adult, but apparently baking pie does...

2008-05-16T05:11:00.000-07:00

i just have to take a moment away from all the design chat to say how excited i am about california's decision to overturn the ban on same sex marriage! it disgusts me to think that people believe it is okay to take away a person's right to marry based on their sexual preference. this is such a step in the right direction! yay california! two states down, only 48 more to go!

I believe that someday we’ll look back on this and not allowing gays to marry will seem as absurd as not allowing women to vote.- Ellen DeGeneres

ok rylan. im done now (getting off my soap box)... go back to your design talk...

p.s. if anyone knows a good way to get rid of roaches, we need to talk asap.

Design Concept/Solution: Brain Noodles Site

2008-05-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

So for the past month or so I've been working quite diligently on a freelance project for Brain Noodles LLC. I designed their original site about a year ago with the focus of the site to just create a little buzz about Brain Noodles. It had nothing to do with a shopping cart or building this content-rich site. It was almost like an ad for this new craft product. Well fast forward one year and I find myself basically redoing the site. This was an exciting opportunity because while since doing the site a year ago I have learned a lot and I feel I have improved. I do say though, that between school, catering, freelancing, and art director at A5, my life has been rather hectic (Thank you Chelsea for your patience that is probably tested everyday). But I really do feel this as a great and exciting project. As the designer for the site I am trying my hardest to make sure that this site gets exposure as much as possible. I really want it to grow, as success for them, is success for me. A lot of my spare time has been research for this site and just trying to improve whatever I can. So I hope a little inkling of that determination shows through in this rather quirky site. So I guess let me get to the actual design stuff of the site.
The first design of the site consisted of a flash page that told a little bit about what Brain Noodles were, some suggestions on what to do, etc. - nothing too serious. About a month ago, I was contacted with some changes to the site and after some discussion we put into motion a change from the flash page to a HTML based site. This was to conform better to the search engines and also make visitor navigation easier. So the visitor navigation was changed to the one seen today on the left side of the screen. I tried to keep the mood light and fun - a theme carried over from the old design. The front page was to feature just a few important things on the site..including things you can make with Brain Noodles, store locator and their new products. From there we went through creating a teachers page, rebuilding the shopping page to use more of a inventory based system. An arts and crafts page (still sort of working on this as I'm writing this). A store locator for all the places you can find Brain Noodles. Plus creating countless graphics and changes to copy. I feel the site is starting to become 'beefed up.' I'm hoping this is only the beginning. While I'm slowly improving the site, I'm hoping the idea will really take off so we can get some user interaction. The main focus I want to build is what you can do with the noodles - and my goal is to get customers to show us. These are the ones with the creativity and the ideas. Painters use paint, I use the computer - someone out there is bound to use Brain Noodles. well thats all I got, be a pal and take a minute and check out the site, tell some friends that might like this sort of thing, Hell I don't even do crafts and I am excited about it! Anyways without further delay...the site: http://www.brainnoodle.net

Design Solution: SCAD Fashion Show Food Cone

2008-05-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

At Indulge, we have the opportunity to cater the big fashion show this year at SCAD. This is a big event for around three hundred people and we want to stand out in everything we do. One of the plans is to serve one of the offered foods in a cone, so people can carry it around easily. We have done this before for other events, and while the cone seems strange at first, it works pretty well. For the Fashion show, I was put in charge of designing a unique cone that complemented the show.
Immediately I was brought back to my design-one class over at Pima and a project we had to do in which we found real objects and then cut them out to create a color wheel. I just happened to do my project using only fashion objects. The original project turned out quite well and I think is actually Chelsea's favorite piece that I have done (she has the original). The cone having a round shape would be a perfect application to implement this previous project. And therefore I began converting my previous design into a new design. A few changes happened while designing the cone. Being a smaller space I had to cramp the colors together more and I decided to make the girl more pronounced (actually the girl was not part of the original project due to assignment constraints, but I always had her in the photoshop file). I added a gray border on the top and bottom to balance the piece. Before, I felt the color circles were just floating off the page. These borders anchor them in their own confined space. It also allowed me to put SCAD and a beautiful quote from Mark Twain on there. Its great being able to ride the coat-tails of genius. Overall, I think the finished product is a pretty attractive cone. While it is probably the smallest part of the event, I suppose if one person takes notice, I've done my job.

Design Solution: PATHS Splash Page

2008-05-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

PATHS is a client we have for A5 and this project is actually a carry-over from the older A5 group...Since I joined, the agency has basically flipped staff with all new people. This is the one project that was left-over from them. Since it was a project already in progress, most of the look and theme for this ad campaign was already set. Just a little back ground, PATHS is an organization that promotes Teen Pregnancy Awareness and Education. One of the goals for this project is not to cast negative emotions toward teen pregnancy, but more so to make kids think before they choose. My job on this project has been to create a splash page for their website. Now most, if not all of the art was created by other people within A5, and I am not taking credit for it or the photography - we have some pretty good photographers I would say.

My goal was to make a site that relayed the same information that we have presented in billboard and poster form.

Stay within the style and theme that had already been created

Create a page that resizes and fits to anyone's monitor for better viewing

Easy addition, re-organization, and deletion of images.

So I created a flash page that basically is two frames...The first one sets up the variables and actually has no images on it. The second one contains the striped background, the content and the white bar at the bottom. Each transition is the same stripes that are then tinted using action script. By adding another movieclip you can easily add another scene to the rotation. When the movie first loads, it checks the size of the window and sizes everything in the movie accordingly. Each scene has its own variables that allow it to tint the lines and background, as well as change its size and position. I would say it works quite well. Anyways, I hope everyone likes the splash page. It was interesting to work with such a different theme. I mean most of my experience has been with package design, toys, etc. This was definitely more advertising based and it was cool to have a change of pace.

PATHS Splash Page

Design Solution: Inspire Tray

2008-04-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

So I might have briefly mentioned this project in an earlier post. Basically SCAD has an event tomorrow called Inspire that features some big people in the design business that are here to speak and whatever. We are providing food for the after party and it is going to be themed as a dance club. So they are hosting it down at the River Club and turning on the blue lights (never seen them on before). But other then that it should be pretty dark. We came up with this idea to make glowing trays. Not really knowing what to do, I sort of came up with a theory on how to do them. This is a result of that theory.

I have to say they turned out rather well. In the light they look a little beat up but that is not entirely my fault. Someone else cut the plexi-glass and let's just say did less then a bang up job. But in lowlight situations these things are awesome. They give off just enough glow to be an attention getter without blinding the server. The design on the top is an abstract design I came up with. Sort of wanted to stick with a tech theme. Anyways, yeah. Be sure to check out more pictures in the SCAD Work Gallery

Ball and Bugs

2008-04-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

So its been a bit since the last post, and I have to say it is not because I have forgotten. It has just one hell of a crazy time. The past couple weeks have been filled with work, school, work, work, oh and work. And maybe a few times of play in there for good measure. Let's see shall we begin? Alright here we go...

So for the last few weeks, Chelsea and I have been attending The Lady and Sons Company Softball games to cheer on the team. It is basically an excuse for us to get out of the house and enjoy some softball. We cheer for the losing team, as it is always the Lady and Sons. Never really having a lick of practice it is pretty funny to watch them play. Hell, they try though. The first game Jamie and Bobby (Paula's sons) played and so I got to meet them and such. When we are out there at the field I have to say it is a battlefield. Not on the field per say but in the stands. Our enemy, the sand gnats that come with warmer weather and their affinity for swarming and biting. Now in Tucson, we had gnats but never to this degree. I means its like a million of them. We try every type of insect repellent to heed off their attacks but to no avail. But we suck it up and try not to let them bother us. They are usually a good excuse to complain about rather then seeing the team lose by another 10 points. Good times, Bugs and Ball.

Two weeks ago, I was hired as the Art Director for A-5, a student run ad agency here at SCAD. We basically have meeting every Friday and go over our upcoming projects and work on current projects. Right now, we are working for a poster campaign for a organization called PATHS. Not really sure what that stands for but they deal with educating people about teen pregnancy. My role will be to create a web splash page for the roll-out of marketing material we are creating for May. It is pretty cool stuff, and has been well received in all the right places. This should be an exciting opportunity to get some more experience. Especially since I haven't really done advertising work before, sort of like a new field for me. This should keep me busy while I attend SCAD anyway.

SCAD is going pretty good, I've been calling this my 'boring' quarter. These are basically my filler classes until I start going into my major classes. Right now I am taking Speech and Public Speaking, Math, and 20th Century Art. Speech class is rather interesting as I am not one to get up and speak (when asked to make a statement I tend to whisper). But nonetheless, I must do what is asked of me. Actually, it was funny because Becca, from catering, actually said I was a pretty extroverted person (wha?!?) Quite the opposite I would say. We have given two speeches thus far and whenever I reach the podium to deliver my words, I usually forget half of them. Luckily, I prepare about 50 times beforehand (much to Chelsea's dismay) so I am able to recover a bit and finish it up without anyone noticing what I missed. So far I've gotten a 50/50 and a 99/100 on the two speeches. The one good thing about this schedule is I have found that I have little homework (compared to the multiple drawing projects of the last couple quarters). This has given me time to focus on professional things like A-5, SCAD Catering, and some Freelance. But more on that later...

Last Friday was the opening game for Savannah's minor league team, the Sand Gnats - seriously they are called the Sand Gnats. Having been prepared from our softball experiences, Chelsea and I loaded up on insect repellent. Two different brands coated our bodies before we left the house. Knowing that it would be busy, we called Blaine and Ginger to see if we could park at their house as we thought they would be out of town. To our surprise, they were in town and also going to the game. So to our fortune, we joined them. We got to the field and I had to get a hot dog because its sort of a requirement at any ball game. We also got a soda to split, which broke my rule of no drinking soda (but hey it was a special occasion). I think it had been a couple weeks since I last had a soda so I was doing pretty good. I am hooked on the green tea though (Go Twinnings!) I am back to my rule again so that is good. As for the night, We mostly just hung out with Blaine and Ginger - the game wasn't that great and we lost. Earlier that night, I had finished about three projects for catering marketing and was waiting on receiving information from a client for freelance so I was able to relax and just enjoy the game. No worry about work. And also at the field, no bugs (except for the ones playing) so we have yet to test if our deadly repellent combo works or not. Good times, Bugs and Ball.

Like I mentioned earlier, I have been doing a lot of work for SCAD catering - marketing and events. For the past couple weeks I actually didn't really have a weekend. I had been working events for most of the day. A while back was SCAD day and probably one of the busiest days for us. What made it worse is we had another event that day and people started bailing out as they had prior engagements. By the end of the day the team was just three of us - running around downtown trying to get everything in order. After a 12 hour shift it was over and I was beat. It was the end of three days straight of working on different events. Tiring stuff. I have also been working on some marketing stuff for them. This Friday is a speaking event called Inspire, its a collection of speakers from around the country that are leading professionals in the realms of design, interactive design, advertising, etc. We are doing a after party thing for them and so we decided to create custom (and light up serving trays) I created a design and we are going to try printing on a translucent material that light will be projected through to create this glowing tray. I have no idea if it will work but in theory it sounds awesome. I created that the other day and should finish them up in the next day or two. I have also created a few other things as far as marketing goes and soon I shall start on their web page. So it looks like I will be kept busy with things they will need. I am enjoying doing this stuff and I know some of you have seen a bit of my concepts so I can only promise that their will be more to come later (mostly in that same style).

As far as my 3rd and final job goes, that is freelance and it is a beast of a job. In the last weekend I have created basically a whole new website for a client, that includes a product database and online store. I am still trying to iron out the details of it but it has mostly consumed my free time as of late. Can't really go into much detail right now, but I'll probably share the inner workings when I am finished. Until then my friend, good night

furniture!

2008-04-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

we finally have a couch! and after taking two naps on it already and laying on it all day, i'd have to say it's the most comfortable couch in the world! and to make it that much more awesome, the first movie that i watched while laying on it was HSM (i swear i'm 24, not 15).
yes, the couch is in fact two different colors. my mom dyed the bottom of the slip cover, but didn't have time to dye the cushions. i'll get around to it eventually, but i think it looks kind of cool just the way it is!

we spent a few hours at the beach on sunday with my friend maggie and her friend from CO. i didn't think we were out there that long, but my god are we sunburned. im a freakin lobster! and rylan's legs are so burned he walks like an 87 year old man.

not much else is going on at the moment. my aunt and uncle from ATL are coming down next week for a few days with their grand-daughter who i havent seen since she was itty bitty. apparently she looks like she could be my kid or something, even though we're not related (technically she's a step- third cousin, or something like that...) ok, tata

Design Concept: A5 Graffiti

2008-04-10T19:49:00.001-07:00

This is a concept for a marketing campaign I am trying to put together for A5.

Problem: To brand and create interest for A5 so that it appeals to the student body of Savannah College of Art and Design.

Concept: Create a 'guerrilla' marketing campaign to brand A5 as an edgy graphic design agency that students can connect with. My purpose is to make it feel like an underground group of 'rogue' designers. Second purpose is to state that you can gain experience while expressing your ideas and using your talents.

Phase 1: Sticker

Its purpose is just place the idea of A5 into people's mind. These will be handed out around campus. It would be a clear sticker with black or red design. The Graffiti look provides an edgy look to the otherwise clean logo. This would be the first part of a bigger campaign. Hopefully, people will keep these or use them to help spread the idea of A5. This is just a rough sketch of it and I am going to bring it up among the team - so hopefully they will like it. I am digging the way this turned out though. It was cool getting input from Chelsea, Taylor, and Andrea on this. Made some small changes and hopefully they will like it.

socializin'

2008-04-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

so yesterday rylan and i took the dog for what we thought would be a really uneventful walk around the block. we take her to the park down the street and let her run around for a bit, then we see another dog coming, so we put her back on the leash and head back down the street (away from said pup). see, our dog, she's just unfriendly. im sure its our fault, but we blame the humane society! when we went to see her at the pound (love at first sight!) she was in the cage with this horrible dog who tried to bite her every time she tried to come to the front of the cage so we could see her. we also think she's a doggy rape victim, since the only time she gets really hostile with other dogs is when the go to smell her lady bits. anyways, i digress... so we get to the end of our block and turn around to see the guy and his dog right behind us. we explain that she's not a nice puppy, but he doesn't listen. and his dog is big, but this doesn't stop little lola- oh no, this girls got a lot of fight in her (she gets that from me!). so the dog goes to smell her hoo-ha and she snaps at the dog. the guy just laughs and says they're playing (brain dead idiot) then lola starts foaming at the mouth, cause that's what she does when she's nervous. he will not leave us alone. well that dog starts to lose interest and starts to chew on pinecones. and then guy proceeds to tell us that we really need to socialize our dog and watch "the dog whisperer."
we get home from our short walk and the neighbors (who we've never met) ask rylan to come help them move an entertainment center. they all have ankle biters, which is fine, but they were standing around talking about them afterwards, and obviously rylan and i have nothing to contribute to this conversation, but we can't just leave... turns out one of our neighbors husbands is a pastry chef from the netherlands! kind of cool.
anyways... thats my story, and im stickin to it.
-chels

Easter Sunday

2008-04-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Our plans for Easter Sunday were set in advance and included us to arrive at the Hansen's house for brunch in the morning. The Hansen's are a wonderful family that have included us as their own kids, to which I could never thank them enough. They were our adopted family on Christmas when our own families were a thousand miles away. They are the nicest people and a sort of comfort blanket to us when we feel like we are alone in this Southern town. And as I am not really one for the whole thank you card idea - I tried to think of someway to just say thanks for everything they have done for us. So the night before I did what any artist would do, I drew them a picture. The Hansen's are avid Disney fans (more so then Chelsea and I, by far) and actually have a Mickey room which houses their collection of Disney art. I decided to take a crack at drawing that old mouse. It is to note that this is the second time I have attempted to recreate the wonderful international icon - the first being as a small drawing for Chelsea, back when we first met. That piece however was a lot easier for me as it was built entirely on the computer. This drawing, was to be done by hand. So with my brown charcoal (thanks Taylor for the wonderful Christmas present) I went about the task of drawing my interpretation of the Disney legend. It actually didn't turn out half bad - As in at least it could be recognized as the character. It was definitely a quick sketch and only about an hour from start to completion (with mounting). I would say my skill for the physical mediums has seemed to jump a bit toward the better (yay, money isn't being wasted on my education). For what seemed like the first time, I seemed to have control over the medium instead of daunted by it. Even when creating the drawing for my art classes, I always felt that there was something missing, something just beyond the drawing that I had yet to capture. Perhaps, it was the simplicity of the mouse, but the lines just seemed to appear as I tried to draw. Now, I am not saying I successfully replicated an exact reproduction of said mouse, but I feel like I did a pretty good job. It sort of takes me back to another sketch I did for Chelsea back when we first starting dating. It was a small pen sketch of a bear. Now this little drawing was nothing more than an inch tall and yet still, was my favorite drawing I have ever done. When I gave it to her, it was pouring that day - so much so that the streets near her dorm were flooded. While trying to rush from my car, I dropped the small picture into the flooded streets. Frantic, I quickly snatched it from the water, soaked with rain. Yet still the picture survived and dried to almost original quality. Perhaps it is the idea behind the picture rather then the art itself that is held dear - but it is funny how such small works have such fondness. I digress, he small token of my appreciation had been completed and was ready to be presented to our 'Georgia family'.
We arrived at the Hansen's and let me tell you that Nicki knows how to throw an event. While there was only eight people there, they made enough food for an army. The gift was well accepted and placed within their Mickey shrine room. Felt kind of good to be among past and present master of Disney art. And then we feasted. I am almost embarrassed to say that I probably had four helpings of the delicious food that was on display (why do I always seem to gain about fifteen pounds when the parents come to visit?). But man was it good - they must have thought me a poor starving college kid, my diet consisting of ramen and rice (that is until one sees my gut and says, nope that boy hasn't missed a meal in quite some time). It was a great time eating and just hanging out. My kind of day.
Easter also happened to be Ginger's birthday (Nicki and Jim's daughter-in-law, for those trying to keep track and also good friends). Ginger was the person who convinced me to come to SCAD and finish my degree (with help from Chelsea of course). Her and Blaine were to be flying back on Easter from Germany where they were on business for SCAD. So to celebrate her birthday it was planned that we would all have dinner at a restaurant called 'Cha Bella.' Before they arrived we drove over to their house and decorated the front door with a banner to say Happy Birthday (little welcome home present).
The restaurant was an interesting place. The decorations were sort of this hip look and we were informed that everything was organic (flashbacks of Casbah in Tucson - but those thoughts were quickly forgotten). This place was a high-end italian (i guess?) restaurant. I ended up ordering some pasta that had portobello mushrooms, fontina cheese sauce, and black truffles. I have to say it was pretty damn good. The night was spent chatting, hearing of Germany, opening presents, drinking wine, eating, and just having a lovely time. The next day would be my first day of school and this night seemed to cap off a wonderful Spring Break. It was great to be around family and friends (two things we never get to see enough of). Spring Break was now over. Yet almost seems weird to have such a night. We were adults - no longer the same people we were a few years prior. No longer at some Denny's at two in the morning ordering a bacon cheeseburger and seasoned fries. I just ordered something with black truffles on it! Seriously what is that? While some of our friends are back in Tucson, know in our hearts we wish you were here (so get your asses here already - did i mention the beach?). We had traveled to two new cities and had already made promises to visit them again. we had ate, laughed, and ate some more - it was time to get back, get back to the everyday, back to school. It was a short week that seemed to pass by in a second. But as a memory, it will last forever.

Movie Review: I am Legend

2008-03-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

Alright so I know Chelsea threw down with her own take on this movie (awesome) but I figured it was only right to hear my side of the story. Now there are some things I would say I agree with her on and some things I might talk a little more about.
First off, I would say that I rather enjoyed this movie. I have never read the book (although after a bit of post-viewing research, sounds pretty cool) and thought the movie was pretty well constructed. To summarize, a deadly virus has killed 90% of the human population, 1% are immune to it, and the other 9% are turned into what are known as dark seekers (vampires essentially) that feast on the immune people. It has been three years since the virus spread and Will Smith's character is the last human on earth. I felt the whole notion of the modern vampire was well conceived and actually very real. The idea that we ourselves mutated due to a virus was quite interesting. It brings what is normally 'legend' or 'fable' to a level of the very real life. The movie gives a horrifying realistic sense that this could possibly happen and for that you are overwhelmed with depression (as Chelsea pointed out) as to what has become of the human race. Most scenes build up a slowly burning tension that tightens your nerves and makes you lean toward the edge of your seat. It's very thought out story and carefully planned shots make the movie a wonderful thriller for 2007.
As far as the monsters go, I felt they were rather lacking. I don't know what it is but a reliance on CG effects has seemed to hinder this movie. I am all for digital effects but seriously make them look realistic. Each time they appeared on screen I felt like I was instantly transported to 1990s and the release of the Mummy (Again I know Chelsea mentioned this - but I feel its worth noting as we both said it during the movie). SPOILER DEAD AHEAD (Argh!):
Also the arrival of Anna (I think thats her name) seemed a little rushed and unnecessary. She just seemed like a pointless character and only around to continue the story. The ending seemed a little cheesey and a little too mainstream. From what I read about the book's ending, that was a far better tale. The whole idea of being a legend is sort of warped into a whole new meaning that the movie never really hits on. Of course I am probably only commenting on this because I read about the book's ending and such. It is a good thriller movie, though depressing.

movie review: i am legend

2008-03-31T09:16:00.000-07:00

rylan will probably add his own review to this, but let me just take a moment and give a very girly review of this movie.
DEPRESSING...
and im not going to give anything away by telling you that this man lives all alone in NYC with just his dog. yes, that sounds ideal, and at moments he makes it look kind of fun, but he gets so crazy lonely that he talks to mannicans (and even tries to hit on one- weirdo!). it was just totally depressing and SPOILER ALERT (don't continue reading)

the only thing i cared about in this entire movie was the dog. so of course you know it's gonna die. it gets turned into a vampire dog while trying to save big will- and then he has to kill the dog himself. and i hate unanswered questions. can someone please explain to me why will smith is immune?! PLEASE!

overall i dont really recommend it. it's sad and a total downer and there isn't really a redeeming ending. and the vampires are weird looking and reminded me more of "the mummy". so there's the girly opinion of a stupid boy movie!

More to do about the Atlanta thing

2008-03-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

A little more about Atlanta...
So after Coke World, we rushed ourselves over to the Aquarium to swim with the fishes. I have to say it was a pretty neat place. They have multiple areas of interest that is filled with various types of sea creatures. The decoration around the tanks makes you feel like you are undersea along with them as sea-life swims over your head. Chelsea would have to say the Sea Otters were her favorite, as they always are. I would have to say I lean toward the jellyfish - there is something about the way they peacefully float in a sea of blue. It was definitely a fun place.
For dinner that night we drove down to the local Chipotle. Now this is a big deal as we haven't had Chipotle since our leaving of the AZ. It was a main staple of our college diets and it was good to have it once more. It was delicious. Chelsea's uncle didn't seem to happy about the place as he couldn't understand why we had to drive through the city to find a fast food restaurant - when a Mexican restaurant was just down the street. I think it was more about the idea of Chipotle then the actual food. It is food and a place that we have good memories associated with. Memories of Arizona and of friends. And they do make a mighty fine burrito.
The next day we were set to head back to Savannah. It was a short time in Atlanta but probably won't be the last. It was very nice meeting her aunt and uncle and it was time to say good bye. We left their house and before leaving town stopped at Ikea (another piece of home for the home) to pick up some supplies. Our plan was to order a couch, in which we are in desperate need. Unfortunately upon arriving we found delivery to be over six hundred dollars (almost double the price of the couch). So we skipped that idea and would later order one online (still waiting on it). We did pick up some other things while we were there however.
After Ikea we planned to check out the Atlanta Art Museum as we weren't due back into Savannah until late in the evening. And after getting a little lost and then finding our way again we made it to the white building that is the High Museum. The exterior reminded me somewhat of the Getty Museum. Inside, we went straight to a Louvre traveling exhibition that I was keen on checking out. For some reason I have this obsession with Paris. I have never been, but have always wanted to travel there. That is probably why I chose to take French in high school, while Spanish would have probably been the better choice. There is just something about it - I just like the idea of Paris I suppose. And in Atlanta, I was able to see some stuff that normally would have resided in Paris. It was like I was actually there (except not really). But how the hell am I supposed to know, I let my mind pretend for a few hours. It would have helped my illusion if the museum people all spoke French, instead they stuck to English (probably ate Freedom Fries also). It was a great way to end our traveling while on Spring Break. I put my Art History classes to work and was able to see some of the art we actually studied. It was quite funny to happen upon a piece in the Museum that was actually quite smaller then I originally thought. In the art book it was just represented through a picture and therefore I guessed the size around a foot tall (next time I need to pay attention to the bi-line for the work in which it indicates the size.) Apparently, the actual piece was an inch tall to my surprise. And I have to say studying art in a book can't even compare to seeing it in person. While looking at the real thing you almost get a sense of its history by the very presence of the object. You realize that this piece has survived thousands of years and will outlast me or you. You see the fine details and how the artist was able to construct the work. You see every inch of it, an idea that no book could ever be able to grasp. I hope to return to the High Museum when they change their Louvre exhibit so I might visit my faux Paris once again. Until then Atlanta, until then.

Back in the ATL

2008-03-29T06:58:00.001-07:00

Ok so I am trying to wrap up our Spring break adventures and time keeps on passing into nothingness and I can't see to write fast enough. This adventure will someday end in a passage about Easter and the last day of Spring Break. But for now I am on our trip to Atlanta or as I've heard it been called, the ATL.
The day was March 19th when we packed our bags yet again and begun our journey to a new and unfamiliar place. Paige from my work had agreed to watch the dog for us - so we wouldn't have to worry about her for the trip. The drive would be around 5 hours as we trekked West into the country. I decided to pass the time reading My Boring Ass Life. This may have been a bad idea as the road was bumpy and the words were jumpy and i suffered a headache. But really, I had nothing else to do. The scenery upon this trip is pretty much like everything around here, a dense forest as far as any eye could see. Sometimes it would break for fields, but those weren't much to look at either. I do remember though at one point I fell asleep and when I awoke, Atlanta had arrived.
We made our way through the city and to Chelsea's aunt's house. This is where Chelsea and I would be staying for the duration of this trip. Her parents decided to crash at a hotel - lucky... It was gracious for her aunt to offer their home to us however. I had never met her before and it was nice for them to agree to take us in. As we arrived she had made ribs for us and we chowed down. The next morning was scheduled for us to check out Coca-Cola World - a place my dad has only heard of in legends (He is a big collector of Coke material and merchandise). Before the night ended and after Chelsea's parents had left I was quickly sat down and questioned on my intentions with their niece. Including me avoiding the question of marriage from yet another source - awkward...
We arrived downtown in Atlanta and I felt it should have been bigger. I don't know what I was expecting but perhaps taller buildings downtown - or more of them. I guess I was looking for a New York or Los Angeles, but like Phoenix, Atlanta just spreads out rather then grows tall. Coke World was pretty much straight in the downtown area and actually right next to the Atlanta Aquarium (we had tickets for it at the conclusion of our Coca-Cola adventures). All I would have to say is my dad would love this place. It has an unbelievable collection of stuff that can't really be described. My favorite part was probably the intro movie which was a mockumentry and continues the story of what happens when you put a quarter into a coke machine (you may have seen these commercials). This intro movie lifts up and enters you into a world of Coca-cola goodness. You get to see how a Coke is made, take pictures with the lovable polar bear (did you know polar bears are the most dangerous mammals in the animal kingdom -kevin smith per Batman producer), check out some Andy Warhol sketches, and drink as much coke and coke products as your heart desires. The last piece of the tour is the tasting room. Here you can taste various products that coke makes from around the world. They have everything imaginable and things you can't even believe is a drink. Upon leaving this area I felt sick from the sugar and of course in a Disney-esque style, The tour ends with them dropping you off in a gift shop. They had some really neat stuff here and I was able to pick up some stuff for my dad which I think he will like. Another cool thing was they were playing the Format - kinda strange on this side of the states! Almost felt like the AZ again.

Old Writings of Times Past and Stories Lost

2008-03-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

“What are you doing boy?” the girl asked in a most inquisitive way.

The boy replied, paying no attention, “I’m counting the rocks, I’ve put into a circle there.” His gray little pebbles lined up in a sad sort of ring.

“But why?” the girl asked in a matter fact sort of way.

“Because that’s all I have left to do since my friend went away.” The boy said with a little sniffle.

“Your friend? Where did he run off to, boy?” Her curiosity was blooming like a spring flower.

“My mum said he went over the hill, and past the woods, to the acres where only hounds may find.” The boy’s voice was crackling with desperation and sadness.

“A dog? Your friend that is?”

“Yeah, but he left now, to leave me to my counting and my rocks.”

“All alone?”

“It’s all I have.”

“Well that just won’t do. Boy, I will be your friend.”

“You will?” His voice was filling with anticipation.

“Yes, I will. We will be the best of friends, traveling on unknown adventures through dangerous places. The two of us, you’ll see. A most magnificent team we will be.”

The two children’s eyes seemed to be filled with stories and pictures of journeys to be fulfilled. Wondrous daydreaming never to be grasped by anyone else; it was a magical world for two. A most magnificent team they would be.

Movie Review: No Reservations

2008-03-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

So we picked this one up on the Blockbuster pass and thought we would give it a whirl. I have to say I enjoyed the film although a little predictable at times, it's story kept my interest. What seemed interesting to me is that the story carried in very serious undertone with the death of the young girl's mother and her hard acceptance of this coming to pass. It almost seemed to weigh down the movie a bit and even perhaps give it a little depth rather then a straight romantic comedy. I only found it hard after the scene would switch to happy times again and the transition seemed a bit abrupt to me. It was almost trying to dance in two genres (drama and comedy) without ever fully becoming one. Not to say that anything is wrong with that - but I suppose it surprised me a little. On another note, Aaron Eckhart is a wonderful actor that is often overlooked in many of his roles and does a great job in this one. The movie is a decent renter and was rather funny that the special features included a couple Food Network episodes.

Book Review: My Boring Ass Life

2008-03-25T19:02:00.001-07:00

Now something like this doesn't come along every day...a book review from yours truly. But since Spring Break allowed me to actually read some pages I feel that it is necessary to write even more words about the words I have read to help explain what I just might have thought about said words. What I'm meaning to say is I think I like talking to myself and here is a book review:

My Boring Ass Life details the daily life of the writer/director Kevin Smith as he wrote down his life in a blog and then published said blog entries. Each entry is a day in the life that can be as mundane as anyone's life to the high-life of a great and wonderful movie star. Stemming from a message board question of what Kevin Smith actually does all day, the writer proceeded to log his life. While his daily bathroom rituals may have dragged on a bit, I found Smith's humorous anecdotes and touching stories of friends and family, a great and interesting read. A fan of his film work, and especially the film Evening with Kevin Smith, I found this book an extension of the film that took you above and beyond the quick stories from college gatherings. His knack for crafting a story keeps you intrigued and laughing.

A little help from my friends...

2008-03-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

Alright so for Chelsea's birthday I decided that I would get her the Blockbuster Online Rental Pass. This allows us unlimited rentals of movies - two at a time. Now, us, being the biggest of movie buffs went through and added as many movies as we could think of in an hour. But we need help. I am calling out for a little help and suggestion. I'm looking for anyone's suggestions on what to rent. I know that we have seen thousands of movies and we will probably have already seen a lot of the ones anyone suggests, but I want to hear them. So just reply to this plea and let's see what we can come up with!

a traveling we shall go

2008-03-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

March 13th marked the last day of winter quarter for me and my SCAD classmates, and I finished it off with a small breakfast of Krispy Kremes that my professor had brought in for the class. It would be the last day of my Drawing II class and I am pretty sure the last hand drawing class I will have while attending the college. I will miss these classes a lot as I feel that I have improved tremendously and enjoyed working on these drawings. It was interesting to step away from the computer and what I would say my comfort zone and be able to delve into something new and unique. Attending SCAD has allowed me to really explore mediums that I never really tried before such as charcoal, pastel, or ink. I must say that the boring Survey classes (Art History) have also opened my eyes to the whole foundation that modern art is based from. It not only gave me inspiration but also knowledge that I have no doubt will make me a better designer in the future. Perhaps it is just the idea that I can think of a piece in a different way and appreciate the idea behind it. Whatever the case may be, I would say I enjoyed the last quarter. But now, on to Spring Break!
March 13th also marked the birthday of my wonderful and lovely girlfriend, Chelsea. Now it was already predetermined that we would be heading to Charleston for a couple days and leaving right after my class ended. But to help make this day feel special for her, I decorated the house with a streamer and pre-purchased a cheesecake (her favorite). I had hidden these things before hand so she didn't find them (vegetable drawer in the fridge came in handy here...for the first time). Anyways, I think she enjoyed the little surprise. But that surprise was overshadowed by the fact that in less then three hours we would be in Charleston and inside a J. Crew (her favorite store). For this, she was beyond excited, to say the least. The birthday present I got her had yet to arrive via mail so I had to tell her about it. Of course once I mentioned the name Kathryn Reichert and coupled it with necklace she was happy with my choice. So once the car was packed up, we were off!
My impression of Charleston is like a bigger Savannah. The similarity in building style and area makes you feel almost right at home but as if that home had grown up and expanded. Of course, upon getting into Charleston we made a b-line to King st. and the shopping that it has to offer. Chelsea of course ran to J. Crew - at which we spent a good amount of time at. She picked up a few things (naturally) and we headed down the street to Jestine's - a local place we were told we just had to eat at. Apparently, it has been written up in many magazines and featured by Rachel Ray and Food Network. I would say it was good food - I had a chicken sandwich. The rest of the day was an exploration of Charleston that was capped off with a nice walk around the Battery to see the ocean and the beautiful homes that bordered it. Being a desert boy, I would say the east coast is spoiled at the magnificent views the ocean and nature presents to them. I am just amazed that I am actually living in such a place.
Our 2nd day in Charleston was to be had at the Magnolia Plantation. This was an actual southern plantation that was still being run by the ancestors of the original owner (11th generation I believe). Upon entering the place, my first reaction is that of surprise. It is not as I thought a plantation would be. Perhaps I have a misguided conception of the way they should look - Tara Plantation anyone? This place was 500 acres of swamp. As we drove down the main driveway, we passed by the murky green waters that held creatures of the unknown beneath its surface. As the swamp opened up to a clearing, we were greeted by a field and a beautiful white southern home. It was an interesting place and had many areas that could be explored using a tram, boat or just walking. The house itself was surrounded by romantic and therefore wild gardens that were said to have over 10,000 plantings. It was a wonderful sight of trees, plants, flowers and nature in general. It reminded me of younger days when I would explore the wild desert, my head filled with imagination (a sort of nature trail that was near my house). The plantation was also home to many forms of wildlife including and to which we saw many sightings of alligators, birds, and turtles. It was definitely an interesting place and while leaving quite tired I think we all enjoyed our time there (Chelsea probably could have spent some more time on King St.)
We left the plantation in the afternoon and headed back down to the middle of historic Charleston where we found the marketplace. This is a collection of stores and vendors that basically sell all the stuff tourist are just dying to buy. I would say the equivalent to River St here in Savannah. The marketplace consisted of three or four blocks of pure selling of goods and also contained our dinner - at the Crab House. After a wonderful dinner (a bit cold as we ate outside and later had to be moved indoors), we cruised the streets a bit more before retiring for the night. Chelsea's parents would be heading further north in the morning and we would be traveling back to Savannah for a couple days. But not before we would head back down to King St and visit the shops and explore the downtown just a bit more. One of my favorite moments of this trip happened on this day actually. We had a lovely time sitting in a quiet little park and sharing a strawberry Italian ice that was purchased from a street vendor we just happened to come upon. It was nice just to sit down and relax without commitments on a place to be or go. Peace.

The Bitch is Back

2008-03-24T18:55:00.000-07:00

So after a long (with quite an emphasis on long) absence, I have decided to put life to paper, or screen in this case and add another entry to our blog of adventures. Perhaps my absence is due to the fact that I have had two very successful and with that busy quarters at SCAD in which I found little time to twiddle my thumbs and therefore write down my travels. Let us pay no attention to the two months of time off given for winter break. While it is nearly impossible for me to remember everything that has happened, I will sum it up as a great 6 months of Savannah living. We have settled into our house and Savannah in general. While we have had hard times, they were often followed by many good times as well. It is too far behind me now to remember any specific moments (although chili night at Blaine and Ginger's comes to mind) I must say this last week has been a wonderful and eventful Spring Break.
As the quarter came to a close we were met in Savannah by Chelsea's parents for travelings around the low country with many eventful days and nights. March is considered "Birthday Month" for the Parks family as all of their births are within about a week of each other. On March 12th, they arrived at Savannah's airport (our first time being out there and were quite surprised at how nice it looked). On another note, The parking garage used sensors above each parking spot so the garage could actually tell you where an available spot could be found. I am easily entertained. This date would be a day before Chelsea's birthday and two days before her dad's. It was also the day that Elton John decided he would perform for one night only in Savannah, GA. As a surprise, we just happened to secure four tickets to said concert for the fan-boy and father of Chelsea, Mr. Clyde Parks. It was already going to be a good night as Chelsea and I were probably more excited to spring this perfectly planned gift on the unsuspecting victim. Our plan was to pick them up, find a restaurant and slyly put a specially designed note inside a card to show him what we were doing that night.
After picking them up from the airport we headed downtown to find a parking spot and get our grub. But what we soon discovered is that most of the restaurants were either busy or closed and actually ended up eating at the sub shop Lenny's downtown for a quick bite. Inside, the none-the-wiser Clyde order a Philly Cheese steak that the 'chef' was prepared to make especially to Clyde's instructions. Now while we were scarfing down our subs (quickly, not to miss the concert) the chef was carefully preparing the best cheese steak in Savannah. We felt it was time to show him the prize. Chelsea slid the card across the table. He carefully opened the card and read it front and back, actually skipping over the small note that said of the concert. He then noticed it, but without his glasses on, had no idea what to make of it. Chelsea then slid over the concert tickets. Clyde unfolded the paper and carefully read it. His eyes began to grow as big as quarters and we knew that he figured out the plan. From that point on, a grin from ear-to-ear never left his face. our plan was a success.
We rushed over to the arena as the show was to begin. As we reached the steps we found an unruly crowd of concert-goers all trying to get to their Elton viewing stations. And just as the first notes of that piano began to play, we were sitting comfortably only about twenty seats from the stage and seeing a rock legend in the flesh. Now I can't say that I am the greatest of Elton's fans and nor can I say I know all or most of his songs, but there is something about seeing a man that you know is a legend. I imagine it is a lot like seeing greatness like the Beatles or Elvis - people that are timeless. Actually, Elton could sum it up in his own lyrics - the candle faded long ago, but the legend never will. Like the greats before him, Elton has achieved that status and will remain. And there I was, sitting, watching, listening. I can say it gives you goosebumps.
The man of rock legend played for nearly three hours. Only resting to thank his adoring fans and taking a sip of water. His fingers dashing back and forth over the ivory keys in a speed I could never fathom. Jumbo screens would focus in on his piano and with that I was mesmerized by the sheer ability he had to control the notes that emitted from the beast. Like stated before, three hours I was completely enthralled with the stage presence this small British man presented. Looking over at Clyde, I could see that he too was in the same enthrallment. That same ear-to-ear grin expressed on his face. With ears ringing and faces smiling we left March the 12th and marked it down as a great night. A night I saw a legend.

2007-11-16T17:24:00.000-08:00

in honor of rylan's first day of winter break, we went to the beach... kind of. we drove to hilton head and found the disney resort! (yes, we know, we're obsessed and slightly neurotic about it). may i just add that it was FREEZING! and by freezing i mean maybe 60 degrees. but we are children of the desert and that was just way too cold for us. and apparently everyone else, cause no one was there.

anyways, we had a good time walking around, freezing our little tooshies off.

we were feeling a bit homesick, so we found a really good mexican food place for lunch. and lucky rylan, it was right next to the j.crew outlet mall!! i just couldn't keep him out of there. but this is why i love outlet malls (especially j.crew). i found a dress that i wanted last year, originally $189.00. on sale for $40. merry christmas to me!!

tomorrow we have to go buy a turkey. rylan's parents are coming to monday so we're starting to clean. okay not really, but im off monday and they don't get here until 8pm. plenty of time!

long time, no blog.

2007-11-02T19:03:00.001-07:00

i'm sure everyone has been waiting with baited (bated?) breathe for this next post! cause our lives in savannah have everyone on the edge of their seats!

i've been working at the paula deen store for about a month now. love it very much! it's very fast paced- reminds me of disney. and i love the lack of stress, it's much easier than being a manager at AMC (not that it didn't have it's perks, but man was that hard!) the people i work with are great... but no, i have not met the wonderful mrs. paula deen. i have met her sons (so cute!), her husband, her aunt, and her nephew (he's my boss, i see him every day, he doesnt count-ha!).

rylan is constantly busy with school. boy does he work way harder than i ever did when i was in college! seriously, he's done more homework in this first quarter than i think i ever did in my 4.5 years at the u of a.

we're settling into "slow-vannah" life pretty well. it's very comforting having the hansens so close, i dont think words will ever express how thankful we are for letting us adopt them as parents (and that goes for B and G as well!).

the dog has discovered squirrels, as well as the neighborhood cats and the dog who lives across the back alley. she's tried eating a few acorns, which never goes well for her, but she avoids all bugs at any cost.

we went to disneyworld last weekend to visit my parents, and boy did she do a number on the house while we were gone. she shredded the carpet under our bedroom door, she peed all over the guest bed and the rug in the hallway, and she scratched up the front and back door something fierce. but in all fairness, it was our fault. B and G offered to come and check on her several times each day, and in my heart of hearts, i knew that wouldn't be enough. it embarrasses me to think of all the shit (literally) they had to clean up. anywho...

we bought a lawnmower today! we raked up 13 trash bags of leaves and grass. our yard looks beautiful again! i'm quite proud of us. we done good!

-chels

Does anyone even read this?

2007-09-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

I guess I still have catching up to do...That's probably how it will always be, right off the cold presses from yesterday...and in this case a while ago. I think I will summarize a bit more to perhaps speed up my drawing on about my adventures. This is actually code for, 'I don't quite remember a lot of stuff anymore.' Most of my remembering is coming from pictures anyway; a sort of rediscovering what you already knew...or something along those lines. Anyways I see my rambling has continued, am I finished? Is anyone even there? Is this thing on? Are you ready? Here we go...

September 3rd - We all decided to go to the beach. It was actually a date that was postponed from my birthday. The high tide was in and came in even further before we left. My clothes along with some other stuff got wet and I was forced to wear my swimsuit all day. On that note, I will say that I went actually in the ocean and swam alongside Chelsea and her mom. That's big news there because I am not a water kind of guy, but when in Rome....For lunch we went to Uncle Bubba's Oyster House and I got chicken. Uncle Bubba is Paula Deen's brother. the food was good, the service was very slow and the atmosphere was I guess I would say weird. We were supposed to go to a pizza place called Basil's but it was closed due to Labor Day. For dinner, Chelsea and I made dinner for our families and had our first home cooked meal in our house. Trying to think of anything else...I got nothing.

September 4th - All the pictures say is we went to the Pirate House. Chelsea has informed me that we went to J Christopher's for breakfast with Nicky. Delicious. The Pirate House is the oldest building in Savannah and is a cheesy restaurant that has a talking robotic pirate in the front. I am not lying about the robot pirate. For some reason that reminds me of whaler's on the moon that carry harpoons...moving on. They also have a Jack Sparrow guy walking around and bothering innocent tables. The actor was fun at first then just annoying toward the end of the meal. It was interesting and well interesting.

September 5th - My parents left this day and I was quite sad. I will miss them. As for us, we went to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. Chelsea will claim it was quite boring, I will say it was interesting. And some of the stuff they had there was just plain cool. Engines from planes, huge World War 2 banners, and bears oh my! (no bears, sorry) Chelsea will still say it was the most boring thing in the world. Oh they had the tail wing of a B-52 just sitting there - all I have to say is massive. Yeah, cool stuff like that, I think Chelsea's dad enjoyed it also. For dinner we drove over to Basil's for dinner and had some pizza. They also had an awesome bruschetta that I can't remember exactly everything (or anything) about it so I'll leave it at that. We finished the night off with a nice walk on the beach with the sunset behind us.

September 6th - Ok for lunch, we went to Mrs. Wilkes boarding house. This place does it right...they serve you boarding house style with different parties sitting at the same dinging room table. You have a full feast (about 50 different dishes, no joke) sitting in front of you to choose from and you can have all of them and in good portion. Damn it was awesome. Let's just say we left with our stomachs quite full (more full then a trip to Red Lobster, Dan). Nicky met us there for lunch and then bailed afterwards to go home and do some stuff. This left us on the streets of Savannah to have a tour of the Mercer House. This is the house in the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The house is beautiful and is basically a museum of old European and English art. The movie explains why and I have no pictures because they wouldn't let us. For dinner, Nickey and Jim invited us over for dinner for chicken salad. We left there house late and after many stories and conversations.

September 7th - We were woken up to get ready for a breakfast on Tybee. This would be our third time at the beach since we arrived in Savannah. We went to the beach with Nicky and Chelsea's parents first and collected seashells and enjoyed our time. Walking around a bit gave us a hunger we just couldn't ignore and we settled on The Breakfast Club for lunch. In true Rylan fashion, I had a bacon cheeseburger. I think I have a picture of this one and will add it when I get a chance (if it's already there, feast your eyes on that bad boy). The food was very good and put on our 'come back again' list (more of a mental list then anything really). For dinner, it was Jim's birthday and we went to Pearl's (spelling not quite sure). Blaine and Ginger joined us and it was great to see them. This is the place that has the donut tasting hush puppies. It was a good day in my book. Oh, Happy Birthday Jim!

September 8th - A boring day of orientation and waiting for another meeting to begin. It was getting close to school and I was also getting excited to start. On another note, while I was in a meeting, Chelsea was going to go back home and pick me up later. Well, we didn't realize that I had the car keys and she was stuck by herself for two and a half hours. She was not too happy. I don't think there was any other highlights of this day that I can remember.

September 9th - This is the day Chelsea's parents left and I would say a conclusion to what would be the prelude to our adventure. The family was gone and we were in Savannah alone with the dog. We did a bit of yard work (we are so grown up). And that's all I got. It had been exciting doing everything up until this point. The next day would be my first day of school...I guess it's time to go back to school to prove to my parents that I'm not a fool. It's time to step back, hold my breath, close my eyes and jump. I hope I don't fall.

P.S. From the looks of my posts it seems like I live my life through food. I am just writing these things because they are food to write home about. It is like discovering an entirely new treasure of opportunities. Later on I won't be mentioning about how we cooked chicken and rice or mac n' cheese because well, if you want that experience, go pick up a blue box at the grocery store. While you can't taste the food I ordered, that's too bad. I enjoyed it. Good Eats.

A Short History of Time Passed, Part 2

2007-09-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

September 1st, 2007 Continued...
I left off back at us at home and finished with our day of exploring. That night my parents had made reservations at a restaurant on River Street called Boar's Head. It was a delightful meal and we got to view the river from our table. I order a green drink to enjoy my birthday party and had a steak with mashed potatoes because its delicious. My parents picked me up a card that has a dog on it. For my birthday Chelsea bought me a messenger bag from Fossil. I love it and it has been really handy around school. Not to mention I look damn hip. Oh yeah, thanks Deedee for the birthday call and Taylor and Andrea!

September 2nd, 2007
It rained...We unpacked some more...and then at night it cleared and we went on a ghost tour. Our tour guide was this crazy lady that had a hellish cackle of a laugh. The ride itself was kind of fun, they take you around downtown and tell a few stories of Savannah's 'other' residents. My suggestion is to read, yes, read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and you get most if not all of these stories (at least I'm told from a pretty good source, i.e. Chelsea) Not to mention I hear its a mighty fine book. One thing the ghost tour offered, besides the comical guide(with insanely bad jokes, which only she and me seemed to laugh at), is they took us inside a real haunted house. The Sorrell-Weed house has been on many TV shows for its haunted nature and also has a very...interesting tour guide as well. This lady, the one that toured us around the house, must have been a has-been, never made it to the big screen but always dreamed, actress. Her speech about the house was as we say, a little too dramatic. She was quite a laugh and fun to listen to. The ghost tour was a present to me from Chelsea's parents and was a very fun night. This passage does have a very unforunte ending however....but more about that later...
....
..
MURDER! (inside joke here and relates to the tour lady)

A Short History of Time Passed

2007-09-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

Alright, everyone will have to bear with me on this one. There are a lot of days to cover and I will most likely forget a lot of it. It's been a while since we've had internet and I have been able to sit down and actually write something. I will try and put something down...

August 30th, 2007
This day could best be described as 'cleaning day'. The house it seemed had not been lived in for a while and there was dust and dirt everywhere. Chelsea's parents picked up some cleaning supplies and we were able to start the cleaning process. But before any of that could take place, on Chelsea and I's part, we had to go downtown to get our water turned on. The water department was on Broughton, a street that I would called the most modern on the downtown area. This is the place that the department stores of an earlier time would be. Now it is chic clothing shops, the SCAD theater, and the SCAD library. The water building seemed to be a recycled building also. It must have been a savings and loan at one time or something. There was this huge vault with holes above it that looked like they housed a sign of some sort. Anyways, after the water department, we thought we would head down and say hello to Ginger. We had not seen her or Blaine so a nice hello would have been nice. After a not so brief but not so long walk, we reached Poetter Hall, a SCAD building that houses admissions and also the graphic design department. It used to be an old armory building and then later SCAD's first main campus, and now it was what was mentioned. Well this is where Ginger works. After her assistant tracked her down, we got to say our hellos and she directed to Blaine's building to say hello to him. So we trekked on to Blaine's building, which was on our way back to the car. We said hello to him and then headed back to the car. But not before a stop at Parker's a gas station and little market downtown for drinks and supplies for the crew back home (Chelsea's parents). We returned home for cleaning duty...
At night we met up with Jim and Nicky for a nice dinner on River Street at a place called Tubby's. I would best describe it as a seafood bar and grill. They were still able to get me a hamburger which was actually quite good. Damn I love hamburgers. Tubby's is located on River street and is basically the tourist area of town. It parallels the river and is filled with shops and knick knacks for anyone and everyone. It is also a great place to find street performers and artists. We weren't living in the house yet due to the fact that our stuff was to be delivered tomorrow. Instead, we have a clean and empty new house. On a side note I have to say how enthralled I am with the downtown area. It has to be the perfect mix of old buildings and even older oak trees. As you drive through the city the roads are covered by the branches of these gigantic monsters of nature.
It is almost as if someone carved a hole through a forest just so you could drive through. It is a very vast contrast from the flat lands of Tucson. So green and immersed in everyday life, the trees and plant life almost seem like buildings themselves. Sky scrappers reaching up and blocking out the sun. The next day would be move in day and were we ever excited to get our stuff and stop staying in hotels.

August 31st, 2007
The clouds hung over our house waiting to bring an onslaught of rain down upon us. And yet for the time it took us to unload everything, the rain ceased. It was quite amazing actually. We were able to get everything in and out of the front yard before it became soaked. My parents were to arrive this night and we were already getting everything together and making our house a home. Busy bees creating our furniture and putting things away, although I think there is a couple boxes around still to this day. It was definitely a work day. There is nothing more to describe this day. Moving in was the main concern and putting everything in its place. My parents arrived and we ordered pizza from down the street. It was a place Chelsea had found on her way to get supplies and whatnots (official term for anythings and everythings). It was tasty pizza and was labeled New Jersey style - whatever that means. The guy didn't sound like he was from New Jersey but I suppose I won't hold that against him. I ate it with pleasure anyways. Oh by the way, this day marked the first time we were able to actually sleep in our new house. Yay, for my own bed! I think Lola was relieved to have our big bed also. She has been a little nervious coming into a new home. We have had to leave her a couple times and she actually scratched up the door. My parents were able to fix it and has since been pretty good about being home alone.

September 1st, 2007
Since it was my birthday, the plan was to hit up the beach...that is until a hurricane of a storm hit Savannah and canceled our fun. We then changed our plans to walking around downtown. We started at the Information center and then walked around. It was neat to see all the different buildings; very different from the suburbs back home. We ate at B&D Burgers (downtown location this time) for lunch and I had a burger known as the 'City Market'. I have become a big fan of this place since they make a tasty burger and have curly fries. This burger had five different cheeses on it: cheddar, american, swiss, provolone, and mozzarella. This is definitely my kind of place. Deedee you need to try this place, oh and Dan too. After lunch Chelsea's mom stopped over at Leopold's Ice Cream for a cone. The rest of us were all still pretty full and passed. After lunch we headed back to the car and then home for some more unpacking. The desks, entertainment center, and kitchen table were all pretty much in place by this time and the little stuff was making its way out of boxes. For my birthday, Chelsea's dad picked me up an electric drill and I used that thing for quite a bit of assembly. That is definitly a useful tool (and makes you feel really manly too). I think around this point we realized we needed more Dezinno photography pictures hanging up and I called the boss to see if I could get a hook up. I am hoping I still can. I have to say we are big fans of his work. His 'Tucson Inn' picture is the first thing we see next to our front door when we enter or leave. It is a constant reminder of our homes. As well as the beautiful coasters that Deedee designed. It is great to have wonderful friends that design and make such wonderful pieces of art. I have to say how crazy the condensation on cups is here. At one point I watched Chelsea's cup start wiggling around because it was floating on the condensation. It was actually quite funny. well more updates later...till then

A Short Journey to Savannah - Day Four

2007-08-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

The fourth day of our journey could best be described as a race to the finish. We were sick of driving and wanted very much to be in what would soon be called 'our town.' We left Montgomery with the truck rumblin' and ramblin'. I didn't quite feel well so Chelsea took the wheel and we were located about an hour outside of Georgia. It didn't take long before we crossed that state line and Georgia was on our mind. Along our way we stopped at a peach orchard where Chelsea's mom picked up some peach ice cream and I of course tried a bacon cheeseburger. Just past the orchard was a big accident in which a logging truck lost his logs. They had tumbled all over the road and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere for about thirty minutes. I was fearing of the truck dying but it did ok. On the road, I contacted the landlords and we arranged for us to get the keys to our new house! We were both excited to finally get to see it.

Around four, we reached our town. We headed to the house and got to see it. It is quite nice and I am excited to be able to start moving in. Right now it is an empty palette to start throwing stuff in. We meet our landlords and they seemed quite nice. I think we both got very lucky on our rental property. We did have our first visitor also today. On the right side of the house and outside we saw a huge spider. It had a two foot long web extending from the side of our house to a huge oak tree on the side of our yard. It is disgusting. As for the house, Chelsea is absolutely in love with it. I am happy she is happy, but right now the house is not quite like a home. I know it will get there when we get settled.
After a bit of checking out the house and meeting the neighbor, we left the house for dinner. The neighbor is a man best described as a hater of t-shirts but should invest in one. He sits on his porch and watches the day go by. Nice enough and good to have around to keep an eye on the neighborhood.

For dinner we met up with Nicki and Jim for a burger at B & D Burger. It was great because they were able to let us bring the dog. It was also great to meet up with the Hansens before they left for Greenbay on Friday. And I can never past down a good burger joint. I would have to say that this is a recommendation on my part. They have about 15 different types of burgers to soothe any one's choice of toppings. Even Chelsea's dad got a rendition of what we called a 'pizza burger' that he used to create when he was younger. While I am not as adventurous and there was no cheesy bacon cheeseburger they were able to get me a bacon cheeseburger, my favorite. Chelsea also pointed out to me that they have a kid's meal area that doubles as the starving student section for cheaper meals for the hungry students everywhere. We went to bed on quite a full stomach. Good night and well eats.

A Short Journey to Savannah - Day Three

2007-08-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

After loading all our stuff back in the truck, we left Shrieveport and were off to different lands. The dialect had definitely changed around here. As DeeDee might say its a little bit like hillbilly. I knew we were in the right direction. The Ice Tea had changed also. Fearful of this new drink I have stayed far away from it. The liquid sugar concoction they try to pass off as ice tea is a ploy of some sort...I'm sure of it. We were to drive until the people of the land spoke something different. This drive was alot better then the drab and boring Texas. We would refer to the rest of the trip as, 'at least we aren't in Texas' part. No offense to those Texans out there, I'm just saying. We were trying to make it to Columbus, GA. The drive had different ideas.

We stopped just over the Mississippi for a rest and I got to see the grand river first hand. I think I have seen it before, but I can't remember. The welcome center was by far the best one I've ever seen and even offered us free soda. I passed on the offer but it was still cool. Around this point my truck decided it was beginning to have enough of this trip. I would consider its demeanor as a low rumble and uncomfortable shake, unnatural for any american made automobile - or any car for that matter. It was not wanting anymore of this long drive and I wanted it to cross three more states. This rumble however was only to be had at low speeds and on the highway it performed like a throughbred, that is if it were a horse. It would be a concern for the rest of the trip if we possibly would not make it. Our only choice would be to press on and just hope. Mississippi also greeted us with a strong rainstorm that slowed us down a bit. It was a little frightening for moments when visibility became zero on the highway. After our little set back we ended our day in Montgomery, AL. We were about an hour off our mark but we were tired and I was worried. Chelsea and I were able to pick up some Carraba's for dinner which was very tasty and calmed my nerves a bit. This is probably the night I was unnerved the most and I didn't get much sleep. Until the next day, good night.

A Short Journey to Savannah - Day Two

2007-08-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Our morning began with yawns and half opened eye lids. I would have to say that it wasn't the most pleasant of sleeping arrangements and I think Chelsea would agree with me. The Culpeppers have four kids, two girls and two boys. For sleeping arrangements, Chelsea and I got to sleep on the girl's two twin beds. The dog, she had her little travel bed, the bigger one is on its way to Savannah with the pod people. Even though they were small, the Culpeppers were quite nice to allow us to use their house for the night and I thank them. I don't know them as much as Chelsea and her parents do, and its great to have help along the way, they took me in with kindness and welcome. A quick stop at the golden arches and then we were off - to the most farmland I have ever seen. I question if this is the dreaded drive made infamous by stories of the Texas landscape. I later found out that it was. We are close to Weatherford, TX and that means lunch and everyone knows how I feel about that. Until next time...

I would have to say lunch was quite tasty. We stopped at a wonderful BBQ place and I was able to get a delicious pulled pork sandwich. A small highlight on the dull drive of Texas. I am trying to tell you of some great story that happened along the way, but really there is nothing. Texas is big...that's all I got. We ended day two in Shreveport, LA. We stayed at La Quinta and I have to say I am impressed with their hotel chain. For dinner, we ventured out to find some dinner, but we weren't all that hungry. Chelsea's parents had dined at a catfish restaurant down the street which they enjoyed. We went out walking trying to find something...if anything that catches our fancy. We came across a restaurant called "Becca's" that offered a variety of different menu items. Such entrees included: catfish, craw fish, frog legs, or fried gator. Not my cup of tea. As Chelsea says, "Welcome to the South!"
We walked back to the room with no dinner and not really minding it. We were able to get some internet in the room and the adventure outdoors stopped after that. Good night in the bayou.

A Short Journey to Savannah - Day One, Part 2

2007-08-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

So my post got cut off last time so let me finish it...

The end of day one concluded with our final stop in Odessa, TX. We stopped at the Culpeppers house, a family friend and Chelsea's old neighbors. They allowed us to stay with them for the night. Lola again had the excitement in which she didn't play friendly with their dog. Let's just say that Lola has no idea of size and she has no concern of it. Snapping at a rottweiler shows that she can take on any adversary. It could have been the Persian army but she doesn't care. After being separated and confined to the upstairs, little girl's room, Lola was to go to sleep. The Culpeppers house was pretty nice and out in the middle of Texas. It was kind of creepy that they lived on Sleepy Hollow Dr. I kept lookout for the horseman but alas he was nowhere to be found on this sleepy Texas night. By the time we got there, Chelsea and I were worn out and ready for bed. It was the end of day one and we had driven through three states. Our sights would be set on crossing the great expanse of Texas. But until then, we slept.

A Short Journey to Savannah - Day One

2007-08-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

A day starts all a buzz as we take to the road and head out to the rest of our lives. I'd say we are the worst at goodbyes, but we tried our best. It's hard leaving everything you've had behind. I think my mom took it the worst. A weak point in our usual strong demeanor. In the parking lot of Burger King, we leave Tucson behind and set sail for Savannah. Chelsea's parents are on lead and for the next four days a yellow VW bug is our main view. While we all wish that our travels are without incident and over as fast as possible; nothing ever goes as planned. Although I have to say that seeing the Arizona landscape is quite fascinating. We drive past downtown Tucson and next time I visit, I-10 better be complete. I know it won't, but here's to wishful thinking. Goodbye Tucson - Hello never never land.

Although most of the drive is without character, I did enjoy the drive through Texas Canyon. Ironically, it's in Arizona, but the smooth and unique rocks look beautiful among the nothingness of a vast, and endless highway. Lola has been quite a good puppy. Always the perfect passenger on any trip. She did have a little excitement of her own. Perhaps it was Lordsburg or maybe somewhere else. I am writing from memory so its kind of a blur. Well at one of our stops, Lola found out the annoyance of stepping in gum. She was alright though, no harm done. Personally, I think it gave her a snack for the rest of the day. But that dog is a mess to be made.

The Last Siesta Under These Stars

2007-08-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

It is unbelieveable to say that tonight is my last night as a resident of Tucson, AZ. So many years living in this blazing valley and yet they all seem to have past by in a blur. I suppose I am not really good at goodbyes. The rooms are empty and my voice is the only thing echoing off my empty walls. Not really my walls anymore...I was really just borrowing them until someone else came along. Its still hard to say goodbye. Last look at the view, for a while anyway. I believe in my heart I will see everyone again and I know if I don't it, it won't be by my accord. I've learned I've made alot of great friends and now I suppose its time to make some more. Tomorrow morning we leave and I will be driving four days across country with no such experience on my back. I say so long, Tucson. I found my map to the Georgia coast and even if I come home empty handed; I will still my stories, battle scars, and memories. Like the Ataris say, 'Life is only as good as the memories we make.' Its time now to capture these moments in a grain of sand and remember for our lives. I say thank you for all the fiestas and siestas, the food and the drinks, the friends and the family, and the blur in between. I am excited for my school days and projects. It's time to find out what its like to be grown up, though hopefully never act too grown up. The road is calling my name and my blooding is boiling with excitement. But I never want to say goodbye. It's getting late and I know my days ahead of me so I guess I'll say good night.

A prelude to a grand adventure

2007-08-21T22:08:00.000-07:00

Movie to see: Stand by Me

Place to eat: Friday's

After the long waiting game of many months, the time is frighteningly close. Everything is packed up and already on its way to Georgia. I can't thank our friends and family enough. It was a day of sweat dripping and guns blazing. Andrea helped us all day moving and we used her 'guns' in full force. Of course Taylor may have lifted a box or two for good measure. And without our parent's help, I don't think we could ever make it. We packed up so much stuff in one day that I can't even believe it, looking back at it. Great friends and good family are very hard to come by and we are both thankful for having it all.

I have to say that personally, this is a little overwhelming, leaving that is. I have never left Arizona before and I have to say that it is hard leaving everything you leave behind. Not specific stuff, but people. I never really thought that I have left a mark on anyone or anything. I knew it would be hard leaving family (haven't done that yet, so still dreading it) and I figured it would be hard leaving Taylor and Andrea (basically family without the blood connection so they kind of have to miss us). But I guess I've always thought I have been someone in the background, just letting things pass me by. And I think in the past week I have seen that a lot of people care about me and Chelsea and really want us to go far. And it has also made me realize that I really care for these people also. Work has been, well, work until it's time to say goodbye and you find out that those people you have shared your life with won't be there the next day. These are people that I have shared countless laughs, joys, hundred of lunches, and even troubles with. They have helped me grow and in return I hope I have shared some secrets also. I can never thank Richard, Judith, Kerrie, DeeDee, Mary, Dan, Jenna, Megann, Dennis, King Leonidas, Robert, Roland, Ben, and Laura (if I missed anyone, I blame the cheesy bacon cheese burger for all faults, but you know I thank you too) enough for the knowledge they have brought to me as a person and designer. I want to thank everyone for just, well, a wonderful time. Everyone has given us just a grand farewell and makes me want to make you proud. I have created this blog as a conduit to our lives as we try and explore whatever we can. I really want to have fun and share what we find. Now I just have to convince Chelsea to help me post on here too! I want to invite everyone to share in our experiences and keep in touch. You might have a movie review here or a food critic there because that's what I do. And also don't be surprised if I just cut to some obscure movie quote - "I'm a wild, and rabid squirrel!"