Guess who's back?!

So apparently I needed an entire month and a half to recover from the shock kick-assness of turning 30. The truth is my absence from around these parts was a combination of traveling, lack of inspiration, taking over as president for our Arizona/Southern Nevada alumni group and searching for a new place of residence. So there's been plenty of fun ish transpiring. 

I'm most stoked about peacing the eff out of the townhouse and moving into our gorgeous HOUSE. Yes, a real grown-up house with a pool!!!! More on that radness tomorrow.

In the meantime, I figured what better way to come back than with a complete blog revamp. I really loved the previous layout, but it was definitely time to freshen up my little corner of the Internet. Practicing on my own blog helps me learn coding and try out ideas for clients while refining my own style. Hopefully you like. 

Check out more of my work in my studio portfolio.

8,766 hours and counting

They say time flies when you're having fun, and it couldn't be truer. It's hard to believe, but a year (8,766 hours to be exact) ago today I set up shop in my little corner of the Internet. And what an adventure it's been. 

I've learned a lot about myself thanks to blogging and couldn't imagine life without it. I started Turn Up The Rad to get back into writing and in the process fell in love with graphic and interior design and connected with amazing people near and far.

In the coming year, I look forward to bringing you more Color Crush, Fashion to Furnishings, In Rotation, Five for Friday, 50 States and Design Crush. If there's anything you want to see around these parts, please let me know.

And as always, thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your comments, emails and encouraging words. They really do make a difference.

In honor of the bloggy turning one (and because I have the worst time keeping a fun secret), stay tuned for a big reveal in the coming weeks.

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Call it a comeback

The past two and a half weeks have been quite the whirlwind adventure hence my absence from the blogosphere.

After an amazing week in New York, I extended my vacation and spent last week in Washington with my family. This week, my friend and former coworker is in town and we're heading to Sedona for a few days. Then, on Friday, my college's baseball team comes to town for a weekend series at Arizona State.

I didn't intend to step away for so long, but the mini-break has helped me refocus. As much as I love blogging, I sometimes have trouble separating living life from posting. Does anyone else find it difficult to strike the balance between blogging and realizing not everything has to be documented?

I promise we'll return to the regularly scheduled programming next week. I can't wait to share the images and stories from my time in New York, Boston (yay for East Coast day trips), Washington and Arizona.

Me + Coug flag + Central Park = DREAM COME TRUE.

Five for Friday: Back to our regularly scheduled programming

"We shouldn't have left you. Without a dope beat to step to."

What better way to return to the blogosphere than with some Timbaland lyrics?! I apologize for my sparse posting during the past few weeks. But I'm finally back in Phoenix after a fun, yet tiring, three-week adventure that took me to Washington, Texas, New Mexico and back to Arizona.

I have a lot of fun stuff to share, but until then, I'm delving back into posting with a new "Five for Friday."

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1. Kicking it courtside:

OK. So it's more like hanging out in the mid-level seats, but the fiance's work has season tickets to the Phoenix Suns, and tonight we get to partake. Even though the Suns aren't doing that great, it's still a free NBA game.

2.Catching up:

This weekend's focus is on spending time with the fiance. I missed him terribly during my vacation, and we haven't really had any "just us" time. And the even better part? It's supposed to be in the mid-70s. We both could use some sun to help us get over that little bit of sickness from the holidays. 

3. Vacancy:

The day (Monday) I got back into town, the fiance and I had three of our California friends stay with us for the BCS title game. They left Wednesday and because there's never a dull moment around these parts, we welcome fellow Cougs and World travelers Sarah and Spanky to Phoenix on Saturday. Check out their amazing blog chronically their global adventures. 

4. No more FedEx store?:

One of the things on my Christmas list was a printer. And thanks to my Mom, the fiance and I are hoping to purchase one this weekend with the cash she gave us.

5. Photo overload:

I have about 400 images from vacation to sift through, organize and edit. Wish me luck.

I'm alive

Sorry I've been MIA lately. I'm still in Washington and finally feeling better. I got super sick last Sunday and pretty much lost the entire week of vacation in the homeland. Let's just say I didn't anticipate ringing in 2011 with my new friends Vicks VapoRub, Ricola cough drops, Mucinex, orange juice and a giant Kleenex box. But it was nice to be taken care of by my Mama.

I promise to be a better blogger after next week. It's been difficult to post considering I felt like I was hit by a truck and consumed by coughing. I have some great photos from the trip I'll share later.

The next stop on my winter vacation is Texas. I am flying from Seattle to San Antonio on Thursday and spending two days there with my former coworker. We're then road-tripping back to Phoenix and another friend from Fresno is flying in and the two of them are staying with the fiance and I. My former coworker is covering the national title game, while the fiance, our other friend and I will be taking in the atmosphere at Westgate.

If anyone knows of some cool spots in San Antonio or along the way back to Phoenix, I'm all ears. Hope your holidays were fabulous and 2011 has treated you well so far.

Today I got to babysit my nephew for the first time. This is what I saw when I went to check on him during his "nap."

Oh, HTML ... Why do you hate me?

Those were my thoughts most of yesterday and a good portion of today as I fumbled through giving the blog a makeover. Nothing against the standard template, but I'm more of a bells and whistles kind of girl.

I'm pleased with what I've accomplished, considering my HTML skills are way rusty [Myspace you were good for something other than stalking back in the day].

I'll probably change her look quite often just to practice and try different outfits as I, hopefully, improve on my Web design knowledge. Making the blog pretty also gives me the creative outlet I used to have in newspaper page design. :(

But for now, I'm sticking with what I have.
 

Here are the headers I created/modified before settling on the one at the top of the page. It's clear I have a sick obsession with the chevron/zigzag pattern. It's so stylish, though.

I was a little nervous revealing the blog before I got the design how I wanted, but I figure you'll understand I'm not super HTML chick ... YET!

Hello, old friend. Remember me?

Well, it's good to be back. And by back I mean putting the pen to the paper [the keyboard to the screen] again. I stepped away from writing as I pursued and fell in love with the visual and editing sides of journalism. But as kindred spirits often do, I've reunited with my old friend, this time via a blog. I've wanted to start one for some time as I've been captivated by a slew of online interior decorating sites. Further motivating this new adventure is Facebook's ever-changing landscape. As much as it keeps me updated on people, the new profile format and looser grip on security are cause for concern. I'll still post on Facebook, but "Turn Up The Rad" will give me another outlet that, hopefully, will allow me to rediscover my passion for writing, sharpen my HTML skills and keep those non-Facebookers informed on what's happening in my life.

So what can you expect to find in my little corner of the blogosphere? A whole lot of rad ish. Topics will include, but are not limited to: music, the interior design of the townhouse, sports, current events, homesickness, pictures, my travels, discovering Phoenix, more pictures ... probably of my cat, and whatever else I think you should know about.

Contemplating the football team's Rose Bowl appearance next season at the top of Camelback Mountain. GO COUGS!