Oh, the Digital Age

This is a modern take on what Jesus' birth would've looked like if it were 2010.

Merry Christmas EVE!!!

Seasons

I love the way that seasons change things. They take something familiar and breathe another quite familiar life into it. We know it gets hot every summer but for some reason the heat that starts to show up around May always comes at such a pleasant surprise. The most simple and common example of this is to look at a tree and see it's change over the course of a year.

The other day I found these pictures of Amsterdam in the winter and quickly rifled through my very similar pictures to find the ones that I took of the same city this summer. Isn't it great how so many things in life that are predictable and routine can be turned into such producers of joy?

O, Hey--

In case you guys didn't know, Christmas is 4 days away. Um....when did that happen? I should've known better. Christmas always seems to creep up on me, but nothing like this year. This is the least Christmasy Christmas feeling week of my life! And not for lack of trying. At home, the house is decked out with every bit of decoration. At work, 103.5 is constantly playing it's holiday tunes. And as a matter of fact, even the weather has cooperated in making this winter actually feel like winter! I think what's throwing me off is the fact that Christmas is on a Saturday. Who does that? Saturday? Really?

I feel like I'm more prepared for New Years than Christmas. Odd. And maybe that's because my New Years has a weird connotation attached to it-- departure. First of all, our over 5 year tradition of spending the evening with the Page family is being broken and Dress Brigade won't be happening on New Years day because I'm leaving! But don't fret, not all hope is lost; Mom, Kaitlin and I will be enjoying popovers and quiche in the warmth of a big fluffy bed as we watch the Rose Parade. Some traditions can't be broken.

Today, I will focus on getting the Christmas juice to flow within me. Correction: Today, I will focus on getting the Egg Nog to flow within me. Better, right? Yeah. That's Christmas.

J.CREW

Nothing makes me happier at Christmas than seeing the J.Crew ads. Their campaigns are always the perfect combination of festive and chic and evoke the holiday cheer that lives inside my fashion self. Pairing my military jacket with a sequin vest? Why didn't I think of that?!

Wish List

I want this so bad. That way, I can finally use this that I already got for Christmas.

Seeester

I can't wait for Kaitlin to get home this weekend. Even though she's been living at school for the last two years and I've been somewhat of an only child here at home for a substantial amount of time, I've been really really missing her since I got home from school. As we've both gotten older, the petty fights have gotten fewer and farther between and we're able to just enjoy each other so much more. It makes being around each other simply more fun. Kaitlin has such a great sense of humor, awesome style and copious amounts of wisdom that I can glean so much from.

So hurry up and get here, you little pipsqueak! Making fun of mom and dad is just not the same without you.

When all else fails...

...cook. Today didn't turn quite out as planned and I found myself starting to crawl into the Self Pity Den. Few things can get me to stop, turn around and crawl out of that deceitfully cozy place and one of those things is to cook. And with the kitchen to myself and no energy/desire to run to the grocery store to go marketing, it's best to stick with what you know. And I know pasta. There's nothing quite like a big bowl of spaghetti and home-made marinara sauce packed full of garlic and herbs to get you thinking positively about the coming week.

Who's up for seconds!?

I Miss My Bike...

Do What You Love

Lately, I have found a lot of extra time on my hands to do things that I normally don't have the means or the time to do at school. Things like baking and sewing and reading. When I first came home from school, the plan for this break was to find a job and work part-time to earn a little extra cash. Well, long story short, that didn't really work out. At first, I felt slightly guilty about being able to lounge around and fill my time with things that I find so fun and fulfilling. I felt like I should be doing more things constructive with my time and having less fun with the time off that I have (funny how I link constructive and "need-to-do" things with the idea of not being fun). But then it hit me that I have been given this time for a reason. And in tandem with that, I have been given these interests and talents for a reason and maybe I should be combining these gifts to produce things that not only are fun for me to do and make in the process, but also challenging me as an artist. I had never realized that I could do things that I enjoyed doing while still being productive. Crazaaayyy.

Then this reminded me of a video that I watched recently about doing things that you love. A web series by The Panic Room called (very obviously) "Do What You Love" follows around women in creative careers and looks at how they live their lives doing things that make them happy. My favorite was this one on Rifle Paper Co. I am super jealous of the things this company can do with stationary. Everything they do is just magical.

Do What You Love- Anna from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

So, here's to not feeling guilty about loving the gifts God gave you!

Lazy Daisy

I know what I want to blog about, but my fingers just can seem to make their way across the keyboard to type all...those...words.

Later.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Anyone who has ever ridden in my car knows that I love country music. My iPod is stocked with everything from Shania to Strait, Reba to Rascal and Cash to Carrie. Don't be fooled by my California childhood. I know all the words to all the songs and am totally OK with all the heat I've taken from friends over the years who might call this music "cheesy." Pish posh, people. Say what you want, but when Whiskey Lullaby comes on the shuffle, I am not above shedding a single tear to it's sweet, sweet melodies.

Besides loving the music, I love the culture of country music and the way it's so different from every other genre. Things like it's support of other artist's successes, it's blatant religious themes and it's conservative patriotism are all reasons why country is my favorite! And one of the only times that all these amazing ingredients come together as one to create the world's most perfect storms are country music awards shows.

I look forward to the CMA's, the ACM's, the CMT's and everything in between all year long because no other awards shows have so much glitter, good music and legitimately funny jokes.

A brand spankin' new award show this year was the CMT's Artist of the Year Special where CMT (the Country equivalent of MTV) honored this years biggest acts including The Zac Brown Band, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum. They got awards presented by country legends and mentors. But the best part of the show was the preformances. Carrie and Jason (I refer to them on first name basis because in my delusional world, I know that we'd all be such good friends) each preformed some of their biggest hits themselves. Obviously awesome, but nothing to write home about (you can watch those here and here). Meanwhile, the rest of the honorees had other artist either cover their songs or play with them.

Maroon 5 covered Taylor Swift's "Mine" and love her or hate her (I happen to love her, she can do no wrong in my eyes) she's what's hot right now in country music. It was fine. I like the original better, but their rendition was a completely different take on it. PS- how cute are Swifty and Gyllenhaal together?

Zac Brown Band played their new single "Colder Weather" which is a song that I already love just on it's own, but with a special guest, Amos Lee it got about 87 times better. ZBB is one of my favorite new artists and every time I hear them perform, I am more and more convinced that they will be around for a long time.

The final great performance was Lady Antebellum's huge hit of the year "Need You Now" covered by the amazing Adele and Darius Rucker (Darius, you will always be Hootie to me). When they first said that they'd be singing together, I didn't quite know how well I would like their voices together, but I ended up really liking it! The embedding code isn't quite working, so if you want to watch it (and I highly recommend you do) click..........here.

All of this to say, after watching the show, I had warm fuzzy feelings in my belly and I wanted to eat a little bit of Chicken Fried on my Big Green Tractor and have Jesus Take the Wheel as I Run to You. Ahhh, yes. Today was the Best Day.

(PS- While I was watching, I saw a commercial for "Letters for Lyrics" which is an awesome program being put on by Ram Trucks and The Zac Brown Band to support our troops. If you click here and write a letter to a soldier, not only do they get great Christmas support from us at home, but they also get a free copy of ZBB's new CD. It takes literally 1 minute just to write up to 700 characters. It's a pretty win win deal, if you ask me.)

UM.

I want to make and wear this. Every day.

12

It honestly baffles me that it is already December. I say this every year, but I feel like it become more and more true: The year has flown by.

Too, it never ceases to amaze me how much of a difference a year can make. At any given point, I sometimes like to think about where I was or what I would be doing on that exact day a year ago from then and more often than not, huge strides and changes have happened since.

Take last year for example. Alright. December 1, 2009. Let's think...I was a student at OCMC, in the middle of college applications, and starting to delve into the wonders of my senior project. I would have just gotten back from a very successful trip to SCAD with my mama and college anxiety had taken ahold of my life more than ever. Our house was for sale...but not really for sale and I got up at 6:30 EVERY. DAY. Eeek. On top of all of this, I was a blonde! O how times have changed.

I had no idea of all of the great/challenging/memorable things in store for me. When I think about life that way, it makes everyday so much more exciting. I cannot even imagine what God has planned for in this coming year.

Early Bird

It's been nearly a week since I've been home. There are so many things that I love about being here. Some big things that I knew I'd been missing like my family and my shower and my car and then some that are small that have only hit me very slowly. Things like how comfortable the chairs in the study are. Or how I like to hop from rock to rock when I crossover from the driveway to the front door. Or certain shirts that I didn't bring to SCAD that were just folded waiting for me to slip them on and wear them for a couple days straight. One that I noticed just today is how much I've missed slightly cold and softly quiet mornings. In Savannah, I'm either up and at 'em getting to class or getting up right after I wake up and getting homework or errands done, but I love the way that the morning seems to lazily unfold when I'm home. I wake up fairly early so, I allow myself to lounge like a lazy bum for a bit because even when I do, I justify it by reminding myself that I'm still getting up earlier than 90% of my friends who would gladly hit the snooze button until noon or later. I like the feeling of cozy that only exists for a short while right in between the feeling of sleepy and the feeling of alert.

So, here I sit at 9:13, feeling quite alert but content with the 15 minutes of cozy I felt about a half an hour ago. We will meet again tomorrow, Cozy. Right now I need to get on with the day and jumpstart the feeling of productivity.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thankful for my family.

Thankful for my home.

Thankful for relationships I've been blessed with-- new and old.

Thankful for safety.

Thankful for opportunity.

Thankful for yummy food.

Thankful for knowledge, growth and forgiveness.

Thankful for love.

Thankful for creativity.

Thankful for adventure.

Thankful for the feeling of belonging.

Thankful for crunchy leaves.

Thankful for memories.

Thankful for goals.

Thankful for so many things.

Thankful for you.

And So It begins

Today marks the first leg of the long but thrilling adventure home. Today, myself, the lovely Frances Russell and the ambiguous Jake Green will start the drive to Dallas, Texas by traveling 10 hours to Summit, Mississippi and spending the night at dear Jake's grandparents house. Then tomorrow, it's early to rise as we hit the road for another 7 hours to end up in the big D. I can't wait to be in Dallas and to see in person all the cool things Texas has to offer that I've been hearing about for what feels like years! Lots of food. Lots and lots of food. And of course other things. Then on Tuesday, which coincidentally is also Frances birthday, I will be boarding a flight home to our fair California back into the loving arms that I miss so much!

So here's to really getting know people on road trips. Sleepy eyes, beware. We're in this for the long haul.

Mobile Upload

I really liked being able to share the pics the other day of things I taken pictures of with my phone, so I think I am going to make that a regular occurrence. Here are a couple from the last week or so of the quarter.

Starting us off, we have this lovely photo from my design class. I love this class. I think my teacher knew how burnt out on school most of us were and wanted us to just forget about all the rules and projects and grades and junk that were consuming us and just focus on how fun art can be. So she brought in finger paint and big rolls of freezer paper with our only restriction being that it had to do something with seasons. It was great. Even though nothing in the class was masterpiece status, it didn't matter. Just a great reminder of why I'm here. Good news.

Ummm....have I mentioned the fact that we are OBSESSED with the show Felicity. No, not Felicity the American girl doll. Felicity the WB drama from the 90s. It, along with knitting, has consumed us and leaves us wanted more with every episode. This picture was moments after season 2 arrived in my mailbox and quickly moved into my hot little hands. Last nights episode left us wanting more after Felicity made an impulse decision to cut off all of her beautiful locks and decided to switch from a Pre-Med major to Art. On top of that, her heart is still broken from her recent break ups with both Noel, her intellectually endearing RA, and Ben, her hunky high school crush! Who will she choose!? I can't believe I have to wait 6 whole weeks to see what happens next. Team Noel.

Ok, people. If any of you ever make it across the country to visit me in this fair state, we will most definitely be taking a trip to the beach on Tybee Island. And while we are there, we will most definitely be taking a trip to the Breakfast Club, a local breakfast/lunch spot with people as salty as the food they serve. This little guy that I'm holding up is their signature breakfast burrito (sooo good) and a little bit left of the Black Bear Burger. Things like this can never be described well enough, but this is literally the largest burger I have EVER SEEN. Folks, this box is simply the leftovers....of food that was split by THREE people. Largest food baby ever.

Before you guys give me any credit for this, let me just say in big bold letters THIS IS NOT MY PROJECT. THIS WAS DONE BY FRANCES RUSSELL. She pulled out all the stops for her design final on repetition and by taking these cools pictures of all of us and then pasting them on to a giant mounting board. Can you spot who's who? If not, from left to right, we've got Jordan, Ellie, Haley, Me, and Spencer. So cool.

And finally, here are my recent purchases at the Turner House convenient store. Nothing more needs to be said. It's finals week. Don't judge.

A Perfect Goodbye

This video is simply one other reason why I am obsessed with Frances Russell. During this quarter, I have learned to love so many things about all the friends I've made here, and one that sticks out is Frances' shall we say... imaginative dancing. It never fails to make me laugh so hard that I cry and so last night I asked her to capture it on film.

Dancing Queen from julia patton on Vimeo.

Amazing, right? This seriously doesn't even do it justice. Some things you just need to see in person.

Hrmph...

So, it has been brought to my attention that the "bomb" in my last post may in fact be an ornament. Which, context wise, makes way more sense. But now my metaphor makes even less sense than before. Shoot.

THE DAY HAS COME.

Ok- so sometimes (and by sometimes, I mean once) people (and by people, I mean Kaitlin) ask me where I get the images that post along with my blog entries. And I wish I could say that I found them somewhere on this far off secret bloggers club folder hidden beneath the tree of souls in Pandora, but typically, I just collect them over time from websites or blogs I follow and then save them for safe keeping until I needed.

Anyway- all this to say that I found this picture from the Grinch MONTHS ago and have wanted to use it so badly all this time, but I had n0thing to really relate it too. But, alas. It is here. Ok- so, basically, I am the little girl.....and I feel like I'm getting sick....and I don't want to get sick because there is so much to do.....and the bomb symbolism for being sick.....and I'm holding the bomb.....so, it's like I'm holding a metaphoric bomb in my hands.....and it's about to go off....which is like a metaphor it being bad that I'm getting sick when I have so much to do.....so......um......get it?

Alright, not the world's greatest connection. But I really really wanted to use it. So I may have just found any excuse to.

Fine. I guess I'll just go take some emergen-c.

I Declare.

Today I declared my major. It's official. Fashion major. Writing minor. I have been thinking about this for what feels like forever and it was so much less exciting than I thought it would be. Simply fill out a paper and you're on your way. O, but don't forget to grab a piece of candy on your way out. Have a nice day!

I wanted bells and whistles and fireworks and the whole fashion department to applaud me as I walked out of the room and burst through the doors to the outside and into the Post Major Declared World. Or at least I wanted a Michael Scott moment-- like the episode where he simply "declared" bankruptcy thinking it changed something.

Well, at least my roomies applauded when I came back in the dorm. That's gotta count for something.

We Mean Business

Here I sit, on this sunny Thursday afternoon, with a delicious snack of pita and hummus to my right and my current crocheting project (a sort of peacock colored beret) to my left. I feel as light as a feather now that this week is done. It was a doozy. With English papers, drawing finals and a design project all building this past week, I've made it over the finals hump and its all down hill from here. By the time I clocked into my bed late last night, I had gone a whopping 3 days with a cumulative 12 hours of sleep. Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, "Wait one second. The other day on this very same blog, I read of a promise to plan and not procrastinate and yet, here I am and it seems that she did just what she vowed not to!" No, no, friends. There was planning. There was lots and lots of planning. And lots of non procrastination going on all up in herrr. But the Finals Monster is a crafty one. He throws balls of fire and large citrus soaked spears at you while you are trying to climb the mountain of school. But I made it out the other side alive enough to tell the story of my success.

I am thrilled that this weekend requires very little of me and I'll be able to enjoy the splendors of a Savannah autumn for the last time this year. Perhaps a little bikey bike, a little foodey food, and a lot of sleepy sleep. But I cannot rest until this darn beret is done-- even if it means I must finish this whole container of hummus in the process.

Ok. Starting: now. I've got the ipod blasting the new Swifty and I am in the zone.

...Before I go, it just dawned on me... all this work just to get home and eat a little turkey? ...I guess I must really like you guys.

Spencer

Spencer from julia patton on Vimeo.

Coming in third for our Getting to Know You blog interviews is Spencer Malinski. Hmm....what do I even say about Spencer? Should I talk about her love for all things edible and the lengths she'll go to get free candy? Her serious addiction to shopping and the hold new clothes has taken on her life? Or her hilarious sense of humor that makes me laugh every single day no matter how hard I try to be in a bad mood? These, among a handful of other reasons, are why I decided to to the video interviews in the first place. Explaining the characters and personalities I've met since being here just does not do them any justice. Beginning to scratch the surface on these girl's personalities can only truly be done through the art of film (such as these moving pieces that I have so carefully thrown-- I mean crafted together).

Enjoy the video and give me your thoughts on dear old, Spencer.

Mobile Upload

I typically don't take a lot of pictures with my phone. Not only because the quality is not very good, but usually, when I think an event is worth photographing, I take my regular camera. But sometimes, when you least expect it, a moment comes up that you weren't prepared for and the only means for documenting it is, in fact, the camera phone. Lately this has been happening a lot. And I think the more I use it, the more I remember it and therefore, use it again. And because all of you readers are just so special to me, sometimes I even think to myself "Hmmm.....maybe I'll upload this to the blog." But, of course, I never do. Today, though, I thought it'd be a good idea so share a few of the photos and explain their meaning.

Ok-- let's start with this one. Last night, after attending the movies at our favorite cineplex, Sea Turtle Cinemas, we were on our way out when we spotted huge trash bags full of leftover popcorn. I had never thought about what they do with all the extra popcorn and when I saw it sitting there, it all became so obvious. We were meant to find it. To Take it back to the dorm. And pull some type of prank with it. Thank you, Sea Turtle Cinemas, for once again adding more than just a film to my movie-going experience.

Also yesterday, I took my first trip to Outdoor World (think Cabella's and REI's love child.) I was lured in by the fact that Frances and Spencer promised a HUGE fish tank. While browsing the store, we spotted a full on camp set-up. Whether or not to try out their cots and camping chairs was an easy decision. How can you pass the opportunity to pet a taxidermied raccoon? You can't.

PS- their cots were definitely more comfortable than the beds at the dorms. Just Saying.

Recently we took a trip to Michaels. Our current knitting/crocheting dreams took over our minds and souls as we were drawn like moths to a flame to the corner of the store where we indulged in the finest yarns the venue had to offer. I had to take this picture because I thought it was so hilarious that although we still can't even call ourselves beginner knitters, we justified every purchase with a future goal or project in mind.

Granted, this basket is full of two peoples stuff AND we did narrow it down a lot by the time we hit checkout.

This week was also the International Food Festival just across from our dorm where international students from SCAD had the opportunity to make food from their homelands (over 20 different countries were represented). It was awesome. I loved trying all the different foods and some of the participants were even wearing traditional clothes from home. Take this and add on live music from an awesome Jamaican Band and you've got a happy Julia.

This had to be one of the most pathetic moments I've seen since being in Savannah. Ok- let me preface this by saying my English class can get just a little dry. But this was just sad. The other day during a lecture, OVER HALF of the class fell asleep right in front of my professor. And as you can probably tell from the picture, we are in a regular sized class-- not a lecture hall where the nappers can blend in with the crowd. I felt so bad for my professor. He's the sweetest little old man, but I just had to sneak a picture. I counted a grand total of 17/30 students fall asleep. Shame, shame.

Finally, we have dear old Spencer dawning a creepy jack-o-lantern mask that my mommy sent me in a recent care package. I kind of have a slight phobia of masks, but she thought it was the coolest thing ever, so I let her have it. Thanks for the entertainment, mom.

Well, there you have it. A few silly moments from the last week here at SCAD. I'll try to post about one of these mobile uploads once a week.

Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away

Rain is the perfect weather for this coming weekend. I for see a lot of studying. And tea. And knitting!

Finals are Upon Us

I cannot believe that there are only 2 weeks left of this quarter! 10 weeks has flown by and I find myself winding down in preparation to head home and enjoy the holidays. But before I am home free, there are a few more hoops to jump through to get the shiny gold coin rewards that lie ahead.
To avoid final frustration, I've made a plan. I've scheduled it all out to the last detail so that these last few weeks will be smooth rather than scary. All nighters and procrastination are far too cliche for this college gal.

Claire

Claire from julia patton on Vimeo.

Here we go with Part II of the Julia's Friend's Series. Up next we have Claire Barnhardt. Not only do I share a room with this pint sized bottle of sunshine, but we are also the closest thing I know to a life commitment: bunk mates. Being bunk mates with someone is no joke. There are serious responsibilities that come with sleeping on top of someone. For example, over the last few months, I've come to realize that nothing (NOTHING) wakes Claire up once she's hit the hay. I've also learned that if I don't see her walking around the room but there is absolutely no movement below me, it means that she is catching up on either Vampire Diaries or Dexter and that I shouldn't disturb her. And in turn, she has a few jobs too. It is her responsibility to catch me if/when I am ever to fall off my bed. So, Claire, be ready for that day. Besides being solely in charge of monitoring my sleeping habits, Claire is by far the happiest person I know. Her relaxed personality is not only great to live with, but also quite nice to be around when things get stressful and hairy around here. So here you go. Behold: Claire Barnhardt.

PS- After I saved this and compressed it to put online, something happened to ALL of my affects and add-ons and now they don't work. So the humor in this one is a bit more subtle, but in my opinion, just as good.

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone is planning on having a great Halloween! Most students at SCAD are taking advantage of the fact that Halloween is on a Sunday this year and partying it up all weekend. Here in room 154, we are using this Halloween as an opportunity to be more fiscally responsible: Instead of wasting time and money at crazy parties and on skanky costumes, we've decided the far better approach is to pool said money and spend it tomorrow at CVS when all the candy goes on sale.
Let the gluttony begin!

News:

Hey, remember that time that I posted this???
Well, today I did something about it. I'm now a brunette. And I'm loving it. I was soooo in need of a change it and it just took me a couple of weeks to actually do something about it.
It was also a big day for Frances who also took the plunge and cut off about 7 inches of her hair AND got bangs. Big change.
So now we are both adjusting to our new looks by looking at ourselves in the mirror waaaay too much and curiously running our fingers through our hair all the time.
About 3 weeks ago, we took some random iMac photobooth pics, so today we made those our before and took some new ones for our after. I know they are in black and white, which sort of defeats the point of showing you my new color, but I promise I'll post some when i actually take one that isn't totally awkward of me by myself.
So, obviously the one on the left is the before and the one on the right is the after. If you click on the picture, it gets bigger.
Thoughts?

Knitting up a Storm

So, it all started a few weeks ago when we were watching one of my favorite movies, September Issue (a documentary about Vogue Magazine). The people in the movie were shooting an editorial about texture and one of the looks was a great fur coat and this amazingly oversized red scarf. I saw the scarf. I loved the scarf. I needed the scarf. And I thought to myself "Hey, I could totally make that." Now the fire has been lit.

I've known how to knit for a few years, but now...now I'm obsessed. I want to be able to knit anything-- everything I see. How cool would it be if I could make huge chunky sweaters and cool scarves whenever I want. Luckily, Frances and Spencer have picked up their needles too so i'm not a lone soldier in this. And there's also this great yarn store just a few blocks away called Wild Fibre. We visited a few weeks ago and it made me literally want to switch to a fibers major right on the spot. Their shop is filled with big piles of raw yarn. Everything from Alpaca, linen, yak and even the milk fiber that I learned about in my class last year.

So, it has begun. The knitting fiesta. All day. Every day. And we're going to keep going until we get good. Real good. So be ready for awesome Christmas gifts.



...Probably not this year. But definitely next year.

Pawley's

This weekend was exactly what I needed. Lot's of sleep, a new place to adventure and a break from the SCafe. I had so much fun seeing Spencer's home town, Pawley's Island and getting to hangout with some of her friends was such a blast.

After a late night drive after class, we got to the Malinski's and I could not have been more in love with their house. Maybe it was the fact that I've been living in one room for too long, but it felt like I had stepped into the perfect Anthropologie model home. The pictures totally don't do it justice.

The next day Spencer and her best friend, Anna, showed us all the great sights of Pawley's. The scenery is so vastly different than what I'm used to in California, but the best way to describe it is that everything just looks like a huge, prettier back bay. Minus the giant dredgers.

Then we went to Currents, Mrs. Malinski's home store and it all made sense why there house was amazing. The store was 5x better! Frances, who, if you watched the video you'd know she's an interior design major and after walking around that store for about 15 minutes, she had a terribly sad look on her face. When I asked her what was wrong, she said she was "homesick for her future" and wanted it to be here now so she could have a store as awesome as currents.

We spent the rest of the day at an abandoned castle called Atalaya, previously lived in by two sculptors until the 1950's when it was taken over by the state. Ok, yeah- we took tons of pictures of each other trying to be modelesque and yeah, we all hammed it up when the camera was on us, but come on, people...let's just be honest and say that the whole point of the whole day was to get a great new Facebook profile picture.

Saturday was more mellowly spent. We ran a few errands with Spencer before she had to work and got some studying done at Barnes and Noble, but as a final hurrah to our lovely weekend, we finished it off with a little excursion to Conway, a town about 45 minutes away from Pawley's to explore (and take more pictures) with a few of Spencer's friends and her little sister. Unfortunately Spencer couldn't make it because she was too busy modeling in a bridal show. Tough life.
Conway was so cool. After a pretty blase drive, we went over a bridge and ascended down into a town that looked straight out of Runaway Bride. Adorable brick buildings, Quaint little white churches and Autumn colored leaves knocked me out and I thought to myself "This is America."

We walked along the train tracks and found an abandoned train car and drove around the town for a bit before we headed back to Pawley's to be stuffed with homemade jumbolaya courtesy of Mr. Malinski. This weekend was all I could have asked for and more and my only complaints are the 5 extra mosquito bites that came home with me.

Thank you, Malinski's!!!

Food and Lounging in South Carolina

Hopefully by now you have all gotten to know Frances by watching the video. Turns out people think Frances is pretty cool and liked the video, so stay tuned for the rest of the videos that I'll be editing this weekend while I'm in the Beautiful Pawleys Island, South Carolina (home of the great Spencer Malinski).
I have been looking forward to this weekend all week since we decided I'd tag along on her journey home. As much as I'm loving SCAD, I was getting a bit of cabin fever and a weekend getaway could not have sounded more perfect. Right now I am posting to you from a beautifully sunny room sitting on a real bed that isn't 7 feet off the floor. I'm so excited to see what SC has to offer. Today has already been amazing. We've already come across armadillo road kill (pictures to come), a Piggly Wiggly, alligators swimming next to our car as we drove along the coast and an awesome abandoned castle (yes, I said castle). And that was all just this afternoon! Anywho, right now we are resting before heading out to sushi for dinner. So, adios, friends. Hope you had a great Friday and enjoy your weekend.

Frances Russell

As I mentioned earlier, I am going to be posting interviews with my friends here at SCAD. Today marks the first. It was so much fun sitting down with my main gals and hearing their responses to questions (that I usually already knew their answer to). My first victim is Frances Russell. I don't want to give too much of an introduction because the video speaks for itself, but let me just say that I have loved getting to know her since coming to SCAD. After spending my birthday AND a roadtrip to Jacksonville with her and a few other girls all in one weekend, I knew we were kindred spirits. Frances has a great sense of humor and a natural likability to her that makes it easy to be around her 24/7. And I can say that with 100% confidence because I actually did spend a whole week with her and her roomie, Jordan, in my room after their room was attacked by bed bugs. I'm going to stop my self now so you can enjoy the video, but before I go please, PLEASE, PLEASE check out her blog, The Mute Turnip. You will not be disappointed. Without further ado, I give you.....Frances.

Untitled from julia patton on Vimeo.

(Like the honey video, this video is quite lengthy. Stick it out. And comment on it. Because I worked hard.)

Get Excited.

Coming to a blog near you very very soon, video interviews of all my main peeps here at SCAD....and by all my main peeps, I mean all 4 of my friends. You will get a glimpse into each of their lives as I ask in depth questions that will make them question everything they thought they knew about themselves.

Playing House

So, lately, one of the major things on my list has been starting to look for off campus housing for next year. My experience in the dorms has been better than most and not as bad as some and I wouldn't say that I'm absolutely hating it. Other than the constant bass beat coming from our delightful neighbor, the bed bugs, the cockroaches, the rats and the laxative sprayed food (all stories for another day), I've been asbsolutely loving it. Most students at SCAD only live on campus for the first year and needless to say, I cannot wait to have my own place to call home with a kitchen and just a few more feet of breathing room. Not to mention the fact that I could potentially save up to about $5,000 a year by living off campus. Finding a place has been harder than I expected, though. There have been a few good prospects lately, but they have all fallen through, which has been so disappointing. The other day I heard about Tumbleweed Houses. Owner and creator, Jay Shafer has been living in one of the homes he also designs and sells for over a decade and you can purchase one of his tiny houses (they range from one bedrooms at 65 square feet to three bedrooms at 854 square feet) and most of them are literally on wheels. you can also puchase the plans and build one yourself for as little as $10,000. I've already spent an inordinate amount of time on his website and am seriously considering just taking up a bit of space on the edge of town to plop down and stay awhile. And why not when the houses are so adorable as well as amazingly thought out. It could work.

A Great Day

(If you click the picture, it gets bigger)
Yesterday was great. First I slept in, which has been happening more and more here and I kind of like it. Then I went to the Telfair Museum for my drawing class which I was kind of dreading because I wanted to be free of classes for the day and enjoy the beautiful weather, but it ended up being great. The museum has an awesome exhibit right now of these great silver and gold tipped drawings. They were so intricate and lifelike. If I didn't know any better, I would have sworn they were photographs. After, I went out to lunch with Claire and feasted on a delicious Shrimp quesadilla. But the real fun started after we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in the park. In the afternoon, we went to Forsyth and did homework while we watched autumn unfold before our eyes. A cool breeze was blowing the brown leaves around the field and a pee-wee football team was practicing. There was a little festival (we still don't know what it was for) down the field sponsored by a local radio station. Tunes were playing, pictures were taken, and laughter ensued. Once we realized we were pretty much in the center of football practice, we moved to The Bean, my new favorite coffee shop (and by coffee, I mean tea). They have a Rose Mint tea that I'm starting to get slightly addicted to. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy a perfect fall day. It was totally what I needed. Today was great too. Although most of the things that I mentioned the other day have yet to be resolved, it's ok. They will figure themselves out in time. God has a plan greater than I could ever imagine. For now, I will enjoy afternoons with friends and tea.

What a Week.

I feel guilty for slightly neglecting my blog this week-- especially after posting such a morose message late on Saturday night. That was much more dramatic than how I usually like to express myself, but it fit the day and mood. Typically, I like to handle things with a much more realistic and healthy approach to whats going on, but I needed a little melodrama at the moment. On top of which, being realistic isn't always the most fun. I deserve a little theatrics in my life every once in a while, right?
Anyway, there has been soooo much going on the past few days. At the beginning of the week, I figured the most stressful thing was going to be the fact that I was entering the perfect storm that is midterms, but as the week took shape, so many other factors came into play that I wasn't expecting. And although I would love to fill you in on everything right now, most of everything is still quite up in the air so I think I'll wait until things are a bit more figured to give a full update so I can most successfully compute and communicate my thoughts. But for people who are dangerously curious, I'll give you a few teasers to chew on until all details are revealed. Keywords: Living off campus. Car shopping. Holiday work. Summer Internship. Hopefully I can keep all the balls in the air for a few more days until I can figure them each out one by one.

That's all you get.