Hotel inspiration

I recently stayed at the W Hotel in Chicago. I am not going to lie - it was as surprising as it was luxurious. I walked in on a Saturday afternoon, and the lobby/bar/lounge had two disco balls spinning from the ceiling and a bass thumping. (Yes, I did just use the word thumping...) I felt like I entered a nightclub rather than a 4-star hotel. Turns out it was cocktail hour for the three different weddings taking place that day.

Low and behold, that is not the point of this post... The point is what I found upon entering my room. A backlit sign with the quote I have come to love:

"Life isn't about finding yourself.

Life is about creating yourself."-George Bernard Shaw

As a 23-year-old more than a year out of college, who works from home (albeit I love my job) and is constantly thinking about the next step in life - only to come up with a million different options - this quotation hit home. When I consider all the things I love to read about, spend my time on, discuss with others, waste a weekend doing... the list is so diverse and disparate, I have a difficult time boiling "what I want to do with my life" down to one job title. But if there is ONE COMMON THREAD that eclipses all others, it is my love for design.

Aesthetics are important to me. I am always taking note of my surroundings, appreciating the ingenuity and the idiosyncrasies that make things, people, and places beautiful, while often conceptualizing (sometimes secretly, sometimes verbally) how it could be made better. Most prominently, I do it in my own life! I began working from home six months ago, and my desktop has undergone countless changes - I am incessantly rearranging and adding new elements to my workspace. I think the amount of time I sit at this desk (40+ hours a week) leaves me restless and always in want of change.

For example, when I first set it up...

To how it is now...

Note: The awesome but significantly larger computer meant less space to display photos/art. But I didn't let that stand in my way, and I rearranged. And thanks to a certain someone, I now have my new, gorgeous Alicia Bock (aliciabock.com) print "Flirt" to stare at every day. And it conveniently coincides with the color of my lamp. How serendipitous!

Anyway... this blog is for me to have fun sharing the things I love and look for in life.

Or you could just call it eye candy.

That being said, enjoy!