skating down the mountain, skyline in our rear view mirror.

Wednesday

open your eyes


I found the mother load; the bank of banks, gleaming with fat shadows and thin outlines.
Geometry galore.
PS. Extra credit for anyone who can decipher these twisted treasure maps of color.








These beauties were all under the some classic green 3 river trusses, although this particular spot is a stretch of concrete and steel snaking out from Mt. Washington.








Honestly, I wasn't even that surprised to fall on some of the most colorful and well done paint jobs I've ever seen, even in Pittsburgh.  The main WOW-factor to the whole ordeal was how I meandered my way downtown, failed to thumb a ride across the Liberty Bridge, found out I could walk along the top side instead, monkeyed my way down the hill to the tracks and struck gold.  Due to a time pinch to my internship meeting (the primary reason I was in Station Square/Southside/Liberty Bridge region in the first place), I only managed to snap a few pics of some work that had my smile a mile wide and my eyes tickled by the rich shades of color and immaculate detail these masked street art crusaders pull off.  Before I arrived at the hive I couldn't help but notice the variety of marked walls once hidden behind greenery and now fully exposed with only naked twigs blocking their messages.








It's a sublime experience moving towards a hillside and slowly discovering the small patches of color squeezed on crumbling walls and ancient foundations.  Pittsburgh is brimming with these creative explosions.
 I bid you farewell with an image of one of my personal favorites-the "Absent Minded Family."  Seems this crew has been at it for a few years now and there's something powerful, clever and downright cool about their massive "AM" bombs.  Digging this one, specifically, for its rotation and aqua marine chroma.
So keep your eyes peeled next time you go basically anywhere.  There are cities buried underneath our cities, Anthony Green laments.  Where will you find the colorful traces left behind?...
-Shane

Monday

pretending.

anthro top, h&m skirt (on sale), modcloth headband (free gift w/ order), necklace gift from shane's grandma!, alex & ani feather bracelet (below), flower bracelet gift from shane's mum (below), minnetonka moccasin booties via little's shoes
Welp, it's Monday. I've had Mondays off work lately, which could mean an action-packed enjoyment of this 58 degree weather, but sadly (depending on how you look at it) mine has consisted mainly of naps and the final book of the Hunger Games. Could be worse.


Here are some photos from the end of last week, while I was on my boho kick that I hope never comes to an end. As you can see, this faraway field in which Bree and I ran and ran for miles and could never be found...is actually just the lawn outside the office, which is more than you can say for most offices, so I'm not complaining. But if you want to mentally block out the semi-trucks and Buicks and act like I'm in rural California, that's A-ok with me!


Hope your Monday has been Marvelous!


-christen

Photos taken by Bree Crum.

Friday

bring your inner child to work day.

On Wednesday, my fellow scribes and I decided to parade to work 2 hours early to get ahead of the game, which means that on Wednesday, I got dressed in a total oblivion. This is what I came up with. I felt very...peaceful...wearing it, and while I feared I would be so peaceful as drift back to sleep at my desk, it ended up manifesting itself in creative brain power, which was quite welcome and felt extremely good!
american apparel crop top, american apparel harem pants, minnetonka booties via little's shoes, uo feather earring, f21 necklace, cookie lee brown bracelet, rainbow bracelet gift from shane. target sweater in a ball on the ground =P
Like my pinky ring? It's a recently rediscovered gift from long ago, though I can't remember who from, and was meant to be a toe ring. But until it's time for toes to be exposed, I shall channel my inner Dr. Evil ;)

-christen


Photos taken by Julie O'Boyle of Orchid Grey.

Wednesday

a tragic tale.

This post makes me a bit glum. Well, it makes me extremely gleeful mostly, but then the nostalgia takes over, and...you'll see. Sigh. Today, we feature the short-lived two weeks during which were gloating, smothering, and oh-so-proud parents to an 8-week old kitten named...actually, he went by many, many names. We brought him home in a Brisk box, so he was initially named Brisk (of course), but quickly became mainly Kitty (usually pronounced adoringly like keee-teee, though sometimes sternly like KITTY!, and at other times inserted into various jingles). 
Soon, his Brisk box was replaced with this cute wooden crate, generously provided by my roommate at the time. But the crate could at times be quite the handful, as his litter box was simply a shoebox with a hole in the side, and when taking Kitty and these 'belongings' places (because other than when I was in class, he was simply never left alone) without a helping hand, he quickly figured out how difficult of a task I was presented with, and often curious as to what was over the edge of his crate, tried to crawl out! 
 And thus, the [adorable] blanket-wrapping method of transportation became very handy. 
But it wasn't all parenting all the time with Kitty...sometimes we gently partied with him...

And as thanks for all the good times, he kindly warmed my pillow.
 When we weren't busy, Shane and I just gazed at his practically unfathomable cuteness. He was very popular, and admittedly, we got a bit jealous of all his people friends.
But before long, we had to say goodbye to our perfect baby, which certainly involved many tears, but also warmed hearts, because his new loving parent (one of my favorite friends) was perfectly smitten, just like we were! Then Matty informed us that Kitty is actually a 'she'...but that's beside the point. He moved to New Orleans and is keeping busy being the greatest kitty ever to live. Hi, Kitty, hi, Matty! We love and miss you both!!


Do you have any sweet kitten stories you'd like to share?


<3 shane & christen

Tuesday

what i got.

Yesterday, I got...
A pretty plant that's for my room.
thrifted gap shirt, j.crew green cords, target watch
A delicious snack. 
A cold.

A new 'do?
Sassy with the sun.


Did you get anything cool?


:) christen

Monday

sailing back.

Having irresponsibly neglected to post for almost a week, we hath returned, and while I'm definitely gleeful to get back into my 'blogger's groove,' I must admit I'm at a bit of a loss for words. I always have these dazzling daydreams during which I plan weekend outfits and envision extravagant nature scenes to display them in, but I tend to be unshowered and odd to look at over the weekend, so I'm offering myself up to your imagination to figure out what you might be missing =P
vintage dress, h&m thigh highs, modcloth buckle flats, h&m earrings, h&m bracelet, picken fashion dictionary borrowed from aire!
These photos are from a few weeks ago, and while I've been eager to show off my new (well, now not-so-new) vintage sailorette dress, I was hesitant to sizzle your eyes with too many lava-red tints. Now would be the time to slip on some shades if you so choose. Back to the dress - this looks like something my mum would've put me in as a kid, and I would've despised. But now I can't get enough of the style...isn't it funny how that happens?!
Stay tuned this week - I promise we won't disappear into the misty non-blogosphere like we did last week =D

-christen

Photos by Bree Crum.

Wednesday

v-day.

This Valentine's Day, rather than going the discreet route of adding a red or pink touch to my outfit, or the chic route of pink- and red-colorblocking, I went for the full-out, big, fat, in-your-face cheesy heart. And at no point did I regret that decision. :)
But while I did embrace the day through my outfit, it was later confirmed that Shane and I are too big of goofballs to get our act together for a classic V-day date. And I say (type?) this with a smile on my face, because, despite about 45 minutes of driving that should've only been 20, switching restaurant destinations uncountable times at 10pm, and nearly passing out of starvation, we managed to keep laughing at ourselves and have THE perfect meal at a too-big table and under blinding spotlights, in the corner of the Harris Grill (why didn't we choose this resto in the first place? yum!). It was truly lovely :)
modcloth 'frocktober dress', modcloth tights, modcloth boots...in the modcloth pittsburgh office's lobby. haha! decorations by emily m.
I seriously have a photo of me in this pose from EVERY shoot. Why, why, why?! I figured this would be the occasion to stop pretending I'm not a diva and share one, anyways :)

What unexpected glee did yesterday bring you? 

-christen

Photos taken by Julie O'Boyle of Orchid Grey.

Ah! I almost forgot! Rather than buying each other fancy shmancy gifts for special occasions, Shane and I usually just make each other fancy shmancy cards (although the gifts have been creeping their way in, too, lately). Here's a little peek at what we came up with this time!
here is the paper cutout card I made for shane. under the black lights in his room, it looked like the heart was beating!!!
here is just a part of the awesomely sweet one he made for me! the rest of it is for my eyes only =P 

Tuesday

:)

We hope your day is full of something special! For us, that is our freedom, our Spirithoods (hehe), and each other. Today and all days, we encourage you to find beauty in everything you encounter!
susan slaverio
Love,


Christen & Shane

Thursday

extra sweet.

So, Valentine's Day is right around the corner, isn't it? I'm one of those on-the-fencers about the holiday, but overall I think it's a good reason to act extra sweet - special someone or not - and that way the day can only be good and not depressing. You create your own attitude on Valentine's Day, just like any other, so for those out there who need the encouragement, stay positive! You are beautiful!
Another thing that's been sweetening up a bit with the upcoming holiday are my outfits! Actually, that's completely not true. There was nothing cutesy or childlike about my outfit in yesterday's post, nor the one before that...or the one before that. Okay, so maybe it's just this little getup that had my heart feeling especially aflame! It has enough color in it to make up for the days missed over the past week! Usually colorbursts are something I try to avoid, but it always has a way of sneaking up on me and I can't say I mind it too much when it does. I suppose I'm an on-the-fencer about more things than I thought!
target blouse, j.crew cardi (mum's), modcloth skirt, modcloth heels
Have you been planning ahead for a romantic or fun Valentine's Day celebration? Or wearing especially pretty clothes in anticipation?!

-christen


Photos taken by Julie O'Boyle of Orchid Grey.

Wednesday

hippie stuff.

These photos are another small segment of Monday's outing. I just quickly threw on these clothes (a chambray shirt is the ultimate go-to that I have to do some serious convincing of myself to not wear it again on most days), and while you often see me in girlish skirts and blouses, this is my faaaavorite way to dress. Earth tones, pop of color, tree-climb-capable. How could you go wrong? 
j.crew chambray shirt, h&m olive jeans (super duper sale), target scarf, j.crew boots, martin & osa bracelet, raw food world bottle
So, for Christmas, I asked for a blue glass bottle. I know that the mere existence of blue glass annoys some people endlessly, because of the 'wholer than thou' hippie mantra that mainly comes along with it (plus, mine has 'Divine Harmony' etched into it, which can't help the cause), but I just think they look cool. And I think I may have heard it has some sort of health benefits because of the way the sun does something to the...something. Hey, there are many things worth researching, and a few worth telling yourself, "it's definitely healthier" and just going with it! Who's with me?
I may not be able to make my mind up about my style, but one thing I can definitively say is that I'm down with hippie stuff. If any of you folks out there would like to experience divine harmony at its finest, give me a buzz and come drink up (water, that is)!

-christen

Photos taken by Kenny Clifton. 

Tuesday

featuring:

In lieu of a post yesterday, I took a small adventure with two of the finest gentlemen in my life: my magnificent Mr., Shane, and my fashionable, five-star friend, Kenneth! Not a day goes by that KJ doesn't look mighty suave, so here I've documented an afternoon of that sophisticated style for your viewing pleasure!
j.crew plaid shirt, j.crew v-neck sweater, j.crew chinos, high cotton bow tie, vintage ll bean hunting boots, ray-ban shades, burberry watch
Our journeys first took us to this spot, which you may recognize from a past post (it's one of my favorites), then to various neighborhoods around Pittsburgh to photograph 'green' buildings for Shane's internship with the Green Building Alliance. We also climbed around on some massive art structures in the city and snagged some hot diggity dogs from Frankie's Extra long (chili/cheese & mustard/kraut..mmm!). The afternoon was quite lovely - almost as Kenny's Amurr'can bow tie. I'd say he represents our country quite exceptionally, yes?

-christen