Yoga to the People

Today, I started off the day with a session of Hot Bikram Yoga. The room is generally set to 106 degrees and the class consists of 90 minutes worth of stretching, compression and relaxing poses. The heat helps muscles to loosen, allowing for a deeper stretch and release of tension. It is an intense experience but what I love about it is, no matter what is going on in my life, when I am in that room, I am thinking of nothing but the present.

Since getting back to NYC, it seems the pressure is higher than before and its been taking a toll on me. However, I've been striving for balance, eating healthy, and trying to relax, remotivate and rejuvenate myself. Treating myself to hot yoga once a week gives me something to look forward to, something to take me away from the work that threatens to overtake me. The sun is shining today, and I have a new outlook. Namaste.

Through the Backyards

Through the Backyards of Our Neighbors

Au Revoir Simone

Baby tell me please
Is this a dream
Spending the night with you
Beneath the cherry trees
Just make a wish and everything comes true

Out the windows of my bedroom
Through the backyards of our neighbors
But I didn't leave you waiting
There was endless concentration

Then the moon swept down to greet us
It was warm and made of flowers
Into vines that barely reached us
Climbing higher than forever

Baby help me please
In knowing this
'Cause showing never tells
Was it just a breeze
Was it a kiss
Breathless exquisite chills

The Human Condition

HOME is truly where the heart is, and whether I like it or not, my heart is still in Kansas City. Due to that fact, it will be with a heavy heart that I return to my LIFE in New York at the end of the week. I suppose I should be thankful that I have loving friends and family in Kansas City, other friends strewn across the US, recently-made friends to return to in New York and the prospect for more to come. As my network keeps growing, with it my heart strings keep reaching and I just have to remind myself that it is all part of the human condition.

Capricorn Cabal

Birthdays are infinitely more fun when they are shared with friends. I feel very fortunate that some of my best friends also have January birthdays and we have been celebrating together for the past few years. I feel even more fortuitous that although my friends have been scattered across the country, we all joined together again for this birthday blowout! Taking it back to the old school, we went roller skating! It was the bees knees but the best part was being with good friends.

After roller skating, we all headed over to Craig's house for the after-party. Joey and I decorated with streamers and balloons before we went skating, and it really helped the ambiance. At first the party was quite mellow since everyone was exhausted from skating, but soon the drinks starting flowing and the chaos ensued.

Below I caught Joey (left) and Monica (right) in a candid moment. Monica lives in Portland, OR and her wonderful fiance surprised her with a plane ticket to see us birthday girls. We were all so happy to be united again. I would like to include a thank you to Joey for the use of some of her photos from the night.

Kansas City

I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come

I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come

They got a crazy way of loving there

And I'm gonna get me some.

I'll be standing on the corner

On the corner of Twelfth Street and Vine

I'm gonna be standing on the corner

On the corner of Twelfth Street and Vine

With my Kansas City baby

And a bottle of Kansas City wine.

Well I might take a train

I might take a plane, but if I have to walk

I'm gonna get there just the same

I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come

They got a crazy way of loving there

And I'm gonna get me some.

I'm gonna pack my clothes

Leave at the break of dawn

I'm gonna pack my clothes

Everybody will be sleeping

Nobody will know where I've gone

Cause if I stay in town

I know I'm gonna die.

Gotta find a friendly city

And that's the reason why,

I'm going to Kansas City

Kansas City here I come

They got a crazy way of loving there

And I'm gonna get me some.

Time flies no matter where I am these days. I've been enjoying my white winter vacation in Kansas City. My days have been full of friends, family, food, wine, music and art and I am not quite ready to get back to the fast pace of New York. It has been a near constant snow storm here, keeping this snow bunny indoors most of the time.  

 

While seeking warmth indoors, I have also been experimenting with watercolors. I find them quite difficult because the artwork must be carefully planned yet appear effortless. I've been gathering inspirational images and learning watercolor techniques that have helped my process. Below is a plan for a painting that was done in Photoshop. Hopefully, I will soon have some actual watercolor paintings to show.

Finale!!

The semester is finally done! Breathe. Rest. Relax. The last few weeks were especially hectic. Since we had several final projects due the last week, I devised a strategy to work on one project at a time and check it off the list, in order to entirely focus on my term garment at the end. I actually had projects done a week in advance. My friend, Anna, called me "the most productive procrastinator" she knew. But it worked! 

Since I was so focused on school, the fact that Christmas was right around the corner was completely lost on me. However, we got our first snow in New York and it was magical! Now it seems a lot more like Christmas. It started off as a little dusting of flakes and then it turned into SNOW as indicated in the photos below. 

The culmination: Term Garment. I started off dreading this project. I'm generally not extremely interested in evening gowns so I wasn't too excited to make one. The one thing that had me interested was my idea to do a side cowl in a stripe fabric. When I saw this fabric, it was so unique that I was instantly drawn to it. My original sketch seemed a lot more elegant but the fabric transformed the dress into something completely different. Some people do elegant, some do sexy... I suppose I do edgy. In the end, I am really proud of myself for making a garment from start to finish, without instructions and with proper finishing techniques. Merry Christmas and Happy Term Garment!

Ciao Bella

I almost can't believe that the semester is coming to a close. The cliche saying, "It seems like it was just yesterday..." is so fitting right now. I've never learned so many things in such a short amount of time and I've never felt more fulfilled in my life. However, the pace was a little too "break-neck" for me so I am looking forward to a little down time over the holiday break, but I know myself and I can't stand to be static for long. I am already looking forward to next semester, spending the majority of my time doing Fashion Illustration and honing my art skills. I am going to experiment with watercolor and pen over the break and I get giddy just thinking about it. I am also looking forward to next Fall as well, since it is very likely that I will be studying Knitwear in Milan for the year. That leads me to the project that I am featuring today. My inspiration was the Marni Design House, based in Italy. Marni collections feature sophisticated colors and prints done to perfection. The silhouettes are uncommon, sometimes feminine and I love their styling. So, for my Computer project I did my version of Marni, with a theme centered around Italy. I've gotten much better at Photoshop and we used Illustrator to make the flats, which is exciting but there's so much more to learn. I also created the plaids and the print, using Photoshop. Hope you like! Ciao!