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My favorite poster by Decoder Ring
I went over to Chapel Hill last night and met up with Angie to see The Hold Steady at Cat’s Cradle. Before the show we stopped in at Southern Rail for a drink and a bite- so similar to pre-shows in DC, where we would go to Saint Ex before heading to 9:30 Club (even our bartender used to work at Saint Ex). I was so excited that Southern Rail decided to continue the tater tot tradition started by Bar Pilar (Saint Ex, Bar Pilar and Southern Rail are a group of restaurant/bars all started by the same man; two are in DC one is in CH) – we used to have dinner at Pilar at least once a week in DC, that is until it’s menu switched entirely over to tapas. It was sad, but now I can once again order the tater tots I know and love!
By the way, it was an awesome show, lasting almost two hours! My hearing is still not back up to 100%…
Since I moved back to the Triangle, I’ve accumulated a long list of new restaurants to try that weren’t around during my Chapel Hill college days. This area is up and coming in the eatery department, with several restaurants jumping on the locally grown bandwagon. I’ve been happy to see all three cities (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill) featured in recent Bon Appetit write-ups and learn about all the great new places that are popping up to accompany Chapel Hill institutions like Crook’s Corner, Elaine’s and Lantern. So when I read about Raleigh’s barbeque restaurant The Pit in the July edition of Bon Appetit, I knew I had to try it!
from Bon Appetit, July 2008
It’s my long awaited return to the District. I haven’t been back since I moved and I’m DYING to see all my friends, go to Ikea, have a bloody mary at Logan Tavern, get my haircut (haven’t had the strength to cut the Bang ties yet), take public transportation, go to West Elm, ride in a cab, eat at Falafel Shop, take a jello shot at Millie & Al’s, dance at Chief Ike’s, and walk around a city that I have missed since the second I left.
Finally, FINALLY, I’ve started that poster collection I’ve been talking about. I decided to go with a couple prints from Methane Studios- I discovered the shop during my search for letterpress and silkscreen work and I love the variety of their work- great prices too! I decided to go with a Cat Power print that I thought would add nice accent color to the black and white decor of one of my rooms. I also chose an Iron and Wine print because I love the colors and composition of the piece.
One of the reasons I’ve held off on the posters is the expense of framing, but once I searched for frame shops online, I found an awesome, cheap (but great quality) shop! It’s called American Frame- they will cut your frame the exact size you need, there are tons of frame colors to choose from, and you can get plexiglass, mat board and foam backing cut to size. The only catch is that you have to put the frame together yourself, but it took me 10 minutes to put both frames together- it was seriously dummy-proof. I highly recommend this store- I got my posters and everything I needed for framing for just over $100- it usually costs more than that just to get a piece framed. Ok, enough of my American Frame love fest.
So I know how user-antagonistic my current portfolio site is, so I’m planning on revamping it in the near future. I want to take my time this time though, and do it right- since it’s already my second attempt. I met with a few people at work today to go through the steps of actually planning- instead of just jumping right into the design. I need to make sure that it’s functional and easy to get around to allow the full potential of my portfolio to shine through. One suggestion I got from the meeting was to poll people on their favorite websites and what they liked about them, from a usability standpoint. I got a ton of good responses. And then came one from my friend Juan:
Hey Lauren,
I just wanted to send you a link to one of my favorite websites. I
think it’s a good model for other websites to go by.
Juan
My response: Juan, I think you have been riding the L2 bus waaaay too many times. I’m giving you so much side eye, my eyes are closed.
