The Road Trip + Reunion

Amos fist pumping to a 90s hip hop song. #roadtrippin

As you may have noticed by my last few posts -- I was all over the place during end of April and mid parts of May. I will sum up all the feelings like so: I was having the scary--scary--scary realization that Amos and I were going to be in charge of a home. What?!!! Don't get me wrong, both he and I were flipping out over the idea of living in a house together; moreover, we were pretty excited that we were going to be able to decorate our own place. A dream come true for two lost goofballs in this world.

I also knew that deep down that we'd both dive into the home projects, construction filled days, watch fixer upper television programs, and subscribe to Architecture magazines in order to make it all work out. This also meant we would have to put travel and creative work aside to focus on the house. So, being the Y-generation folks that we are, we decided to deal with this anxiety by traveling before pitching a tent in Los Angeles, so to speak. You've seen all the images from my trip, and it was wonderful. I got to see my cousin in Istanbul, visit my dance friends in Paris, and even skipped around Canterbury for a couple of days. As for Amos, he also did his own "alone trip" via the highway in the states. He began his adventure at a friend's wedding in Oakland, then went through Eureka to Portland, up to Seattle and Vancouver. He road tripped it all the way to Chicago to meet up with me. My man is pretty hard core. 

California/Oregon border

Seattle

Portland

Voodoo donut, Portland

Astoria / "The Goonies" jail :) #wearenerds

Amos and his giant omelette #foodchallenges

Yes, he finished. See the fork and cup for reference on size!

So we met up in Chicago, Illinois for the wedding of yet another beautiful friend. Ms. Shae! And it was a wonderful ceremony. During this road trip we also managed to stop by Maryland and Kentucky before going to New York for a video job that was waiting for me. 

Needless to say, it was a full 2nd half of May with Amos. We went cross country, worked in New York for a few days, and picked up some wonderful home decorative ideas along the way. Including a cute plant from Iowa that I named Carl.  Thanks for seeing us Francisco, Katy and Josh! We loved seeing you during our road adventures. And we loved picking up concepts from your own homes, and seeing how some of them can function for us in California.

As for inspiration, my oh my. You need only see the lush lands of middle America to grow an appreciation for trees. You need only open your eyes to see the patters of water on your windshield to know that art is everywhere. You need only pass by a fortune teller's window in New York to know, you're future is something you would much rather leave to chance, rather than have it all set up for you. You only need to visit bakeries in Pella to appreciate the rich history of this countries immigrants (Dutch ancestry in that part of the world), and the wonderful traditions they bring with them. #yummybreads

This reunion and road trip experience created ripples of ideas in our brains for la casa. Bright colors, bold choices, grand entrances and NO FEAR!

This is Carl, from Iowa.