Things I'm Loving: July 2014
Soooo I don't know about you guys, but I feel like July didn't even exist? This past month was more about "X number of weeks until the wedding!" I've definitely had some trouble sleeping with all of this anticipation leading up to it (now with only about two weeks to go! Yikes!), and even had a few wedding nightmares, including one where I was my own bridesmaid. (???) In the dream I was of course trying to figure out how I would walk down the aisle while also being a bridesmaid. These are the things I worry about apparently. This time next month I will be a married woman and also someone who can say they've been to Paris. That's crazy! Otherwise I guess things will be about the same, perhaps less crazy, but I'll be wearing another ring on my left hand and perfecting my new signature. Honestly, I'm a little worried about that. How many times am I going to sign "Lenton" instead of "Cornelius?" I'm guessing it's probably like writing the wrong year on a check but way more intense. Hopefully I make it through. But anyway, here are some fun things from this month:
GIVING BACK
Print Fundraiser! - So as you probably know, I'm an "artist." At least that's what my bachelor of fine arts tells me; it always feels a little weird to call myself an artist even though I went to art school. My point is - I went to a fantastic school, Moore College of Art & Design, which also happens to be the only all-female visual arts school in the world. An all-girl's school might sound like it could be catty and stifling, but it was honestly one of the most wonderful and unique communities I've ever been a part of. The only reason I actually ended up at Moore was because I received one of their most prestigious scholarships, the Visionary Woman Scholarship. While I still ended up borrowing a lot of money, I can't imagine the kind of financial coffin I would be in right now if I hadn't received that scholarship, which awarded me $16,000 each year I attended, covering roughly half of my cost of attendance. Had I not received that, I would not have gone to Moore - that gift made my #1 choice a possibility, and for that I am forever grateful. As you can imagine, I would love to give back to this program that gave me so much, but my current situation - what with the upcoming wedding and aforementioned college loans - doesn't leave a ton of extra cash lying around. I thought it would be fun to use my art to give back to the program that helped it become what it is today. So from now until the awards dinner (September 23rd), I will donate 50% of my profits from my Etsy shop to the Visionary Woman Fund. If you've been thinking about purchasing one of my prints, I urge you to please do it now. It's for an amazing cause, and I would love you forever.
READING
Roam and Golightly - My friend Laura is currently traveling around Europe for the summer (yes, we can all hate her a little bit), but she is also keeping up with a gorgeous blog at the same time! She is a lovely writer, first of all, but even though she claims to be an amateur photographer, her blog is splattered with some pretty sweet photos. She has already made her way from Italy over to France, so be sure to go back through her older posts if you want to read about her travels there. She's come up with some fun and interesting ways to talk about her journey - recent favorites of mine include: Dear Pistacchio Gelato: A Love Letter, Seven Steps Toward La Bella Vita (In the "Real World"), and Elements to a Parisian Picnic. I'm interested to see where she takes this blog when she returns to the states.
LISTENING
Spilled Milk - This is one of my new favorite podcasts. Remember last month when I talked about reading Delancey? Well the author of the book, Molly Wizenberg, is the host of this podcast along with fellow food writer Matthew Amster-Burton. It's a shorter one, with each episode being only about 20 minutes long. They focus on a theme each time, whether it be oatmeal, rice, apples, or "gushing candies." Sometimes they taste a whole bunch of versions of something (like dark chocolate), or they wax poetic on a certain ingredient and then they each make something with it, talk about it, make jokes about it, etc. It's a lot of fun. It's super light-hearted, and one of the best things about this show is their chemistry on air, and when they crack themselves up with some really terrible jokes.
Prints of my illustrations (and other products with my work on them) are available in my Society6 shop.
