Final Friday

I have grown to love Cincinnati a lot in the past two years. There's so much to do outside of campus, especially in the summer. Working downtown at Landor last summer gave me an opportunity to explore Findlay Market, Sawyer Point, and Fountain Square which are now some of my favorite places. But even if it isn't warm, I can always count on Final Friday for something to do once a month. Final Friday is an event held on Main and Vine Streets in Over-the-Rhine (just north of downtown). Shops, galleries, restaurants, and bars stay open extra late to bring in end-of-the-month business. Most places have free drinks or snacks to encourage shopping.

Allie came over last night so we could do some bachelorette party research. Since she had never been to a Final Friday I thought it would be a great time to show her around. My apartment is just around the corner from OTR so we actually walked down. We picked up some vintage jewelry at a few shops and even scored beauty gift bags for making a purchase at Couture Couture Boutique. We also ran into Billy & Julie and my good friend Nate. Allie's fashion friends Olivia and Lindsey also met up with us after we checked out Japp's annex. Our final stop was at everyone's favorite outdoor bar, Neon's. It wasn't as warm as we would have liked, but the chill, dog-friendly atmosphere makes this a hot spot for hipsters and young creatives all over Cincinnati. One day I will play their jumbo Jenga and knock the log-sized pieces over on some innocent bystander's feet...

neon letterpressed card at Primary's
/ free cotton candy cupcakes

Adventures in Babysitting

While I'm at school, I have a part-time job babysitting for a local family. I got the job by setting up a profile on SitterCity, a safe babysitter's network. Kelly contacted me over a year and a half ago about her two boys and I stopped by for an interview. Obviously, things worked out because I now help out once a week. Although I am one of many babysitters that they use, I always feel like family when I come over. Kelly and John are so caring and always ask me about Adam or school. Sometimes they treat me to Coney Island or the Cincinnati Zoo so I can hangout with the boys more. Andrew is four and loves playing hide n' go seek or solving puzzles. Will is seven and since I have known him loves "army guys" and superheros. His latest kick is Indiana Jones and Lego Batman. I'm so thankful that I have such a flexible, fun job to help me get through college! This opportunity showed up at the right time in my life so I know it was God.

A few Fridays ago I ditched homework to go to the zoo with the boys. We saw the giraffes (Andrew's favorite) and the elephants (Will's favorite). The zoo also has a great passenger train that takes people around the park and over the pond. Of course the boys had to go so we waited in line with slushies.

 A & W riding a rhino / peacock glory
/ Andrew & me on the train

This past weekend I set up a fight between the good guy and bad guys with Andrew. He told me to make a fence so I lined up all the Lego, Playmobile, and GI Joe fences I could find. We then proceeded to blow each other up. The bad guys (me) won because Andrew lost interest and let a bomb blow up his camp.

fence between good and evil /
evil Dr. Clocks-a-Lot and his A-bomb

Kelly mentioned that her family wants to vacation in San Diego this summer. Conveniently, Adam is living in San Diego until August so I told her we could help them find a vacation home. She said that it might work out for me to go to San Diego with them to help with the boys and get a vacation! It would be a dream come true if I could visit Adam for a week and hangout with this awesome family.

In other babysitting news I watched Billy and Julie's baby, Henry, for an hour the other day. He is such a happy baby! He's the only four-month-old I know that really loves books and tries to turn the pages while I read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Henry also thinks he can walk because if I support him he moves his feet and expects me to march him across the floor. I hope I get to babysit him more.

Finally, Emily has a friend who is looking for a babysitter for her two-year-old daughter this summer. I haven't babysat a girl in a long time so I am really starting to hope that I will end up in Cincinnati this summer and can help them out.

I hope to have news about what I will be doing this summer by Thursday of next week...Stay tuned!

Gamefaced

Soccer has begun! Our second official game is tonight. My team is mostly comprised of people from the Navigators so that makes us awesome. Our pregame chants and pink tees also make us awesome.

As a thank you for being part of my team (this is my fourth year as an intramural captain) I always make my teammates shirts. This year I chose pink because I knew all the boys would love it (it was the only color that came in a quantity of eighteen). I only had time to paint the back of the tees but three years has given me a quite a bit of practice. If you want to make people believe you have awesome screen printing skills, follow these instructions:

1. Type up the numbers you want to use in your selected typeface in Word or InDesign. To save printer ink, outline all the numbers. If you are making soccer jerseys, the back numbers should be about eight inches tall and breast numbers around four.
2. Print out your numbers (with plenty of space between) on sticker paper. Staples carries an affordable brand.
3. Cut apart and remove the inside of each number.
4. Slide a piece of cardboard between the t-shirt before you begin.
5. Measure about six inches down the back of the shirt and center the sticker before you apply it.
6. Using a sponge brush, apply and let dry three coats of fabric paint. I like using white on dark colored tees.
7. Before the last coat is completely dry, remove the cardboard from the shirt so that it doesn't get stuck to the fabric.

 finished work / my lucky number

Color Cravings: Triple Tone Toes

American Eagle / Aldo / Endless / Nordstrom

I've been browsing sandals and dreaming of summer lately. I'm really on board with the tri-tone trend that's happening with shoes. It's a new take on color blocking. If you wear sandals like these, try limiting your outfit to one of the colors in your shoes or something more neutral. That way your shoes really make a statement.

Happy shopping!

Kendrasity

Resume Me

It has been a crazy two weeks. When I'm not running off to work, studio, or soccer practice I'm working on homework, a project, or spending precious time with my favorite people. Being gone the past few weekends has made my workload seem even bigger.

Since co-op interviews are coming up, my portfolio and resume have been constantly on my mind. I spent a lot of time refining my projects last quarter but my actual portfolio book was pretty disappointing. Since this is my last chance to get an internship through UC (not to mention that I now have access to all the senior jobs and a chance at a six month position) I have been feeling a lot of pressure to have an awesome book. Fortunately, I am working with one of my professors to unify my personal brand in Seminar. This includes my resume, portfolio, portfolio website, blog, and business cards. My ideas are still taking shape but I'm really excited to get my act together. It may be in a few months, but be prepared to see some changes 'round here.

In the meantime, I finished my resume and portfolio for interviews is almost done. We don't officially submit our work until Monday but I already have an interview with Apple! I met with them last quarter so I'm a little nervous that they won't think I have enough new work to show. But they are interested in taking three seniors so I'm very hopeful. I've also interviewed with CityBeat and Hyperquake and hope to hear back really soon...I could see myself working at all of these places!

 You can view my resume here.

Stay stress-free kids,

Kendranomo

Easter Weekend

This past weekend I went home to visit my family for Easter. Life has been really crazy but I thought I should try to spend some time with my dad and brothers since I won't see them until June. My dad took Mack and me to an Indian's game. We snacked on some ballpark dogs and got pictures with them...wait, what? Then by special request my dad took us to Malley's for Easter chocolate. It's my favorite candy place in Cleveland. On Sunday we had dinner with my grandparents. My grandma always makes a lamb cake but since she ran out of time this year she picked on up at the store. Not at tasty as hers but it looks adorable!

 packing issues / the Ketchup Dog / lamb cake

This weekend was a mini refresher before diving back into work. It was important to take a break and remember that my Redeemer lives and changed the world for me. Amen!

Kendra

Friday Favorites: Surprise Edition

It's Easter Weekend! I'm just so blown away right now at how the Lord has blessed me incredibly in New York and now back in Cincinnati. I'm very thankful for his sacrifice and provision. Here's a few small examples:

orange flavored ice / GoT, Season 1 /  F21 aqua & UO colbalt

One thing that's great about being on campus is the freebies. Spring is a key time to wander Main Street in between class because you never know when you'll get a free sno cone!

I'm convinced that Adam uses the guise of a surprise to torture me. He knows I love to be surprised but the suspense drives me crazy so he usual drops hints a few days ahead of time. Game of Thrones appeared on my doorstep yesterday after almost four days of agony. I can't wait to watch them but I've also heard they're pretty intense. Thanks dear!

I'm still crazy about dual nail colors and this week I'm sporting an aqua and cobalt version.

Well, I'm about to travel to Cleveland for some family time, Malley's Chocolate, and bestfriend reunions. Have a reflective and blessed weekend—I'll bring some chocolate back for you!

xo Kendra

Cross Country

So, two weeks later, I'm going to tell you about my road trip! I apologize for putting this off, school and small group have been the priority lately. But now it's storytime.

Background: Adam got a co-op job at Quartus in San Diego, California. He is on the opposite section of co-op than me, meaning I am in school when he works and vice versa. Rather than fly, Adam needed to drive all the way to San Diego so he could have his car to get to work. I really wanted to come with him so we could get some quality time together. We were careful to book separate rooms every night in order to be responsible after our ten weeks apart. I was a little stressed about spending money on gas, hotels, and food but Adam's company gave us a $0.50 stipend for every mile we drove so things worked out nicely. It was a great spring break!

April 17th: Adam and I left New York City for Cleveland bright and early to avoid the St. Patrick's Day traffic. We stopped at a cute diner in the Middle of Nowhere, New Jersey where I got poached eggs because it was my favorite brunch item in NYC. It took us about eight hours to get home but I was having so much fun being in a car for the first time in three months that I hardly noticed. We swapped my completely packed Focus for his completely packed Focus at my dad's house.

in a car at last!

April 18th: I felt bad leaving my family so soon but we had to skip out the door really early on Sunday in order to get to Des Moines before nightfall. This time the trip was eleven hours and we drove through all the states that look the same (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa). Nothing to write home about. We planned to go out to a fancy dinner but the weather was bad and I was pooped so we ordered Olive Garden ToGo and watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on cable. Okay by me!

from Ohio to Iowa

April 19th: From Des Moines we drove to Denver. This time, the ten hour drive was peaceful and relaxing because Colorado is BEAUTIFUL. I was obsessed with how the yellows, greens, and blues mixed together on the bluffs. We actually stayed in a hostel in Denver to save money. It was old and a little questionable so it became kind of a joke for the rest of the trip but there was nothing truly terrible about our stay there. There were bunks for six girls in my room but since I only had two roommates, things were really quiet. After an actual fancy dinner at the Embers Grill in downtown Denver, we hung out in the hostel lounge reading Catching Fire and playing TinyTower. We got really competitive about who had a taller tower during the trip but I haven't played it since.

Iowa to Colorado

April 20th: It only took six hours to get from Colorado to our next destination in Moab, Utah. Why go to Moab, you ask? Apparently, it is a travel hot spot if you love the great outdoors. Adam had been a few times before so he really wanted to show me what it was like. Utah is also beautiful, but in a desolate and abandoned way...I actually find it really hard to describe its alien beauty. I got to experience most of it through hiking, rather than driving, which was a welcome change of pace. Adam took me to a natural spring to fill our water bottles before our hike through Arches National Park. I was a little worried that I was going to get sick from drinking water from a random spring but Adam assured me it was safe. And I didn't die. The hike to the famed Delicate Arch was really long but we arrived in time to join the crowd waiting for the sunset. We got some good pizza and then drove out to a campsite to view the stars. It was way colder than I expected so we only gazed at the sky a short while. My dad and grandpa are astronomers so the night sky has a special place in my heart. We could see an arm of the Milky Way as well as billions of stars. There were so many that it was difficult ot point out the Big and Little Dippers to Adam.  After freezing, it was great to crash at the nicest Super 8 I have ever seen. I mean, I had two king beds to myself.

 Delicate Arch / posin' / green and orange stripes in the rocks

April 21st: It seemed to take a year but we dragged ourselves the final twelve hours to California. We ducked through Arizona for a little bit which was a crazier adventure than I was expecting. Our route took us through an incredibly steep ten-mile pass that cut through the sandstone cliffs. I was driving Adam's manual Focus while he read/slept. Good thing I had a summer of practice with his car before this trip or we would have been exploring the depths of the canyon next to the highway right now. We made a stop in Las Vegas to get hitched go shopping. No really, we just looked at running shoes and then moved on! As soon as we got to California we grabbed a burger at In-N-Out (I don't even like burgers and these blew my mind) and tried to figure out how to pay for gas. For some reason we had to use debit and pay at a box in the middle of the gas station plaza...it was weird. We showed up at Adam's new apartment at 11 pm pacific time (2 am Ohio time), saw that the pad was decked out, and crashed. And by crashed I mean ran to Walmart for a blow up mattress, inflated it, and then went to bed.

from Utah to California / In N' Out love

April 22nd: Adam treated me to brunch at Opera. I started to miss NYC a little bit when we had to order at the counter and then sat ourselves, but my crepes made up for it. We did a lot of unpacking, shopping, and organizing. Adam's birthday was the day before so we celebrated a day late at George's at the Cove in La Jolla Beach, a really nice shopping/restaurant area on the water. At the restaurant we really were seated on an open terrace overlooking the Pacific. It was only 50 out so they provided over-head heaters and and color-coordinated blankets. After dinner we strolled the beach and watched hundreds of seals curl up to sleep on the rocks below. The top off the night, we attended the midnight premiere of The Hunger Games with hundreds of eager fans. Since college I've always loved seeing greatly anticipated movies at midnight. Adam and I have started going together and It just makes the experience more exciting and memorable.

strawberry chocolate crepes / terrace view / sleeping seals

April 23rd: We intended to go to the beach and explore downtown thoroughly but the weather wasn't ideal. We poked around San Diego a little and got lunch at an Asian place that had really good Thai tea and coffee. Then I packed, and was a little bummed because I had to leave first thing in the morning.

April 24th-25th: Flew to Houston then Cleveland, drove to Cincinnati and attempted to unpack from all my travels. Life got started and I hit the ground running. Not quite sure if I beat the travel bug though...

aww my room in Cincinnati missed me

I'm glad I'm back in Cincinnati! If we haven't hung out yet we should soon :)
Kendrasity