Vacation

Picture of the Day] 50s Prime Diner rootbeer floats. The waitress warned us to drink them fast. My brother didn't fast enough apparently. I added a caption.

Mood] Sticky

Weather] Sticky

Currently] In my room

Quote of the Day] "Realism...has no more to do with reality than anything else."

We went to both restaurants in Hollywood Studios. It was great. There was the Sci-Fi Theatre Diner in which we sat in faux cars and the whole place was set up like an old drive-in theatre playing clips of sci-fi movies (they were all pretty much like trailers) Then there was the 50s Prime Time Diner which focused on playing clips from old shows and the setting looked like a kitchen with polka dots and old appliances and everything! (You can tell in the pic)

OH MY GOD HUMIDITY. That has been the absolute worst part of the vacation. The best part has been everything else. Ha ha ha. I got a tan and also have been enjoying the water a lot. Mostly it's been wading around, not actually swimming, plus the water here is very warm (not at all like Lake Michigan in Chicago!). We also went to Blizzard Beach which is a water park in Disney. I haven't been to a water park in a long time. IT was great. :D I went on the single slider that was like 120' tall, no joke. It was freaky. The worst part was that sliding to a stop gave me a REALLY BAD wedgie. X.x

I am pretty satisfied with my bathing suit choice. I was debating between a great number of combinations, but I finally chose the bright spunky set (I matched myself. You can kinda tell they don't belong together because the styles don't match in some ways because of the diff ties. Ha ha ha.) I was thinking of getting just a plain black halter top, but the green is good and I put it to good use in Orlando and a beach trip just before school started. I know the best spot for hanging out on the beach (no people and lots of cold water!!! Ha ha ha ha). I packed a nice picnic for boy and me. It was very pleasant.

Bye bye summer,
~Jaye

Yikes! Graduate School

Link of the Day] Hong Kong University : http://www.asa.hku.hk/admissions/tpg/prospectus/2011/faculties_arch_intro.html

Mood] Ready to be finished

Weather] Overcast with scattered thunderstorms. Feels like 98

Currently] In the basement

Quote of the Day] "The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work."

There are a lot of things that I have to do. I always talk about how much I have to do and what's next. It seems never-ending. I know I should have a positive outlook on things, but it's hard sometimes when you just feel like everyday it's one thing after another. A lot of people think, "Just keep pushing on. Persevere! You will be rewarded!" and I typically believe that too, but it's gotten so blah lately it's been hard. I just want to live right now. Go travel the world and take some time off! Enjoy my 20s. I'm not saying I don't enjoy them on a day to day basis. I have a good life. I have a great family and terrific friends. I've been blessed to be able to go to college, work, and more. I just want to see the world. Heh.

I am starting to look at grad schools. I have a few in mind for Landscape Architecture. Hong Kong University, maybe one in Japan, Leeds University in England and maybe the Netherlands. Who knows!!!

Life's crazy!
~Jaye

Etsy - Pillow Madness

Pictures of the Day] Pictures of my latest Etsy merchandise!

Mood] Cheery

Weather] Overcast with scattered showers. High 81

Currently] In my apartment

Quote of the Day] "Nothing ever goes away."

Working in Rhino is a jerk. Sometimes it's really difficult to get done what I need to get done in it because I'm just not used to the software. I have been trying hard to learn how to use it this semester, which, by the way, is nearly over, but it's still hard. I think as a 3d modeling software it is one of the better ones and once I learn it I think I will be quicker with it, but just right now it's soooo frustrating. So what do I do when I get frustrated? I work on etsy! Whooo! The store is getting up to speed quickly and I've just got a few more things to iron out before we open, but I thought I might start off with a couple pillows and see how they sell. ^-^ If they become a hot commodity I will have to crank out more!

The toast pillow with butter is called "Butter Me Up!", the raincloud called "Happy Rainy Day" and the PB & J called, "I Have Expectations." The toast and rain ones are 14" x 14" and the last is 16" x 16". I think they're pretty reasonable sizes and meant to really be just cute throw pillows. They are made of pre-formed pillows and fleece. I hand-stitch the details and then sew together the body with the machine. ^-^ I hope that they will sell well!!!

Well back to modeling I suppose...One more week? T.T
~Jaye

Summer Discover IIT Day 2011

Pictures of the Day] Summer Discover IIT Day!

Mood] Cheery

Weather] Sunny

Currently] Exhausted

Quote of the Day] "To win without risk is to triumph without glory."

Soooo busy! Waking up 'early' and getting to work was a challenge, but it was not too bad. Hee hee.

Every time we have an Open House I love chalking up the sidewalks It's super fun. Though it was incredibly hot today. UGH. Overall the day was just..HOT. @.@ Tours. Sweaty. Gross!!! I suppose I should detail some of the day. Welcome session starts off with a bit of light breakfast and then a greeting from our heads of office. We did a short round of introductions, staff, counselors and students. We break up into tours or "explore your major sessions". The explore your major sessions are very helpful for students to get a better idea of what the university has to offer. A professor leads the discussion, giving a lecture that details the progression of the major, what to expect in your first year as a student of the major, and much more! It's a great time to figure out if the major is exactly what you are looking for. We break for some delicious lunch (This time around chicken tenders, three typcs of sandwiches, pasta salad, and brownies for dessert!). Then reverse! We flip for financial aid sessions and another round of tours/explore your major. At the end of the day, the Idea Shop is an optional tour for students and parents to indulge in! We get to show off our awesome center for invention, learning, and innovation. Writeable walls, tons of modeling machines, and a full set of mac computers.

That's a lot of work! Hee hee.

What a day! Thanks for making it out if you did and hope to see you next time if you didn't.
~Jaye

Etsy Etsy Etsy

Pictures of the Day] Etsy! Our store and profile pages, respectively. (etsy.com/shop/freakincutedesigns & etsy.com/people/freakincutedesigns)

Mood] High-strung

Weather] Sunny, High 82

Currently] At the front desk

Quote of the Day] "Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get them, get them right, or they will get you wrong."

A technology update! So my sister and I have been working diligently to open our store on Etsy. For those of you who don't know what Etsy is, it is a heavenly world of home-made crafts/goods. People sell all kinds of stuff like jewelry, accessories, art (sculptures, prints, paintings, mixed media), home decor items, children's toys, and even home-made baked goods or jar mixes! It's CRAZY. For those of you who have been keeping up with my blog in the past you may remember my notoriously cute fleece pillows! I will be pumping out more of those in the hopes that I can sell some there, along with glass pebble magnets! My sister will be producing reversible aprons and prints so our store will be a little eclectic, but I think it'll work well. The goal is to open by the 2nd week in August! :D

So the technology bit. >.> Right. The Etsy interface is a little difficult to work with at first. Things are sectioned off and seem to be unrelated to their navigation bar title but after a while you get used to tabbing along. The only thing that I can say right now that is a negative is that you have the option of putting your store on "Vacation Mode" and this allows the customers to receive a notification for when you will be returning etc..., but the only problem is if you want to draft up some listings, you have to turn this Vacation Mode OFF before you can, even though you won't be listing the items yet officially/publicly! It's a little annoying, but it's not too bad. I just worry that people will be popping by and be like, "Why is this store open but nothing is for sale?" Oh well.

Pictures of some of items to come very soon! ^-^ I'm going to be going home this weekend to start producing some pillows, so we'll see how it goes! If you want to see some pics already, I have them loaded onto Facebook!

Like our page at: http://www.facebook.com/freakin.cute.designs
Or join the group at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/237245002960312?ap=1

Ready to rock!
~Jaye

Taste of Chicago 2011 - Picture Diary of Food

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Can you match what's what?

• a. mustard fried catfish
• b. beignet
• c. sweet potato fries
• d. mango kafir
• e. jerk wings
• f. irish egg roll
• g. sauteed goat meat and fried plantains
• h. toasted ravioli
  

The Taste of Chicago

Pictures of the Day] Look for next entry! To learn more: http://explorechicago.org/city/en/supporting_narrative/events___special_events/special_events/park_district/Taste_of_Chicago.html

Mood] Pretty good

Weather] Sunny, High 78!

Currently] In the cube

Quote of the Day] "Computers can figure out all kinds of problems, except the things in the world that just don't add up."

So every year the Taste of Chicago comes and it is pretty much the happiest time next to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Why is so much of our culture circled around food? It's awesome, it's fun, it's social, it's delicious. I don't know, but whatever the reason, each year the streets are blocked off and Grant park is packed with tons of people enjoying roughly sixty vendors! There are free items to be had and lots of exciting concerts/shows at the Patrillo Band Shell.

My personal favourites always include: the bbq turkey leg, fried plantain and sauteed goat meat, original rainbow waffle cone, pierogi with all the dressings, and sweet potato fries. This year there are a few new vendours though and I am psyched to check them out! I really want to try the jerk chicken wings or lambchops. (for the full listing of stalls: http://explorechicago.org/city/en/supporting_narrative/events___special_events/special_events/park_district/Taste_of_Chicago/taste_of_chicago_2011.html) Tickets are 12 for 8 dollars. The turkey leg costs 12 and if you buy the tickets ahead of time at a grocery store like Dominicks, then it's cheaper.

I think there's an awesome variety of dessert and main courses. They keep it pretty balanced and some stalls serve both. I am going to go again this week!

ZOMFG TURKEY LEG,
~Jaye