life is busy and oh so good.

well, my goodness, it's been several weeks! i have been so busy, life is so good right now.  hopefully this week i will find the time to sit down and write about all the exciting things that have been happening! family visits, vacations - all that end of summer craziness.  until then, here's a photo from my last few weeks...

(life wondering: can you fall in love with a city the way you fall in love with a person? because i think it's happened to me.)

life lately.

it's been a pretty busy week - but when is life not busy? anyways, i'm taking a little time today to refocus by reading a book and eating some delicious cherries. and then i'll spend the rest of the weekend preparing for this final presentation... but a girl's gotta take a few minutes to relax every now and then right? that's what i'm telling myself ;)

some photos i've taken with my phone this past week...

 

this little used book shop was quite the little discovery. i was early to an appointment and have passed this place countless times - and my now be my favorite used and old bookstore of all time. the place is crammed with books in every place imaginable and they play good music. check it out. duttenhofer's books in clifton. 

 

ok, so this donut place - Holtmans - is a Cincinnati classic. if you live in Cincinnati and say you've never had Holtmans before i don't know if i believe you. and if i do believe you i also feel very sorry for you because they're delicious and amazing and sometimes i even feel like they're life-changing (but thats mainly when the sugar is kicking in). also, my favorite of theirs is the bacon maple. sounds a bit crazy, but they're my favorite. and i've maybe had six in the last twenty-four hours. i said maybe....

 

 

bellevue park. (7/28)

today i went on an impromptu adventure with a great friend. we were meeting for coffee and decided to go enjoy it at a local park, which i had actually never been to! and to make it even better, she brought homemade brownies. sometimes i look at my friends and wonder how i got so darn lucky with all the best ones.
anyways, it was a lovely view and a perfect place to hang out for a couple hours. bellevue hill park - if you're in cincinnati you should check it out sometime.

a taste of over-the-rhine. (7/26)

today was a great day. i'm not really sure how else to describe it, or what else i could add, because today was one of those simply good days. this afternoon i went to the taste of over-the-rhine at washington park with some good friends and there were lots of vendors, kids playing in fountains, window shopping, music, laughing, and quite possibly the sweetest, most delicious lemonade i've ever had. so all in all, pretty great. on top of that, we also got to explore music hall a little bit, and we found out that they offer great discounted student tickets! i am now totally pumped about some of their shows this fall. after we left we met up with a bunch more friends from the navigators, a campus ministry, for dinner at mecklenburg gardens which was delicious and lots of fun. and to top it all off we hit up graeters, the cincinnati classic for some tasty ice cream. great day, and i'm thoroughly exhausted. here are a few pictures from washington park!

 

we wanted to take a picture together with our tasty lemonade :)

i think one of my favorite things about today was just seeing so many people enjoying themselves and the city. cincinnati is pretty cool.

and they're pretty cool. thankful to have friends to enjoy this beautiful city with.

 

also, as you may have noticed that most of my pictures are also featuring music hall, i fell in love with this building. it's getting pretty serious, we might even put a label on it. i'll let you know how that goes. as for now, i highly recommend you go check it out, whether that be seeing a show, convincing a nice doorman to let you in to explore when you have no tickets, or simply sitting in the park allowing yourself to be amazed at how beautiful it all is.

a little reminder.

baking urges.

this past week was a pretty busy week, with finals and classes wrapping up.  unfortunately (or luckily, depending on how i look at it) i still have a week left of studio, and it's a rush to finish my camp design.  i had been working my camp last week and i just hit that point where i knew i was done for the night, because i got the urge to bake. the urge to bake cookies, specifically. luckily for me, and a few friends who got a late night delivery of cookies, they were delicious and hit that spot the way only homemade cookies can.

 

i think they look yummy even through a not so good phone photo, but i may be biased (snickerdoodles are my favorite after all).
between the cookies and taking my last final, i'd say last week was pretty successful.
in case you're interested in the recipe i used, you can find it here.

taking the leap.

well hello there.
i guess as this is my very first post, i should introduce myself.
my name is lauren, and i am a student currently in architecture school.
some favorites of mine: german soccer, october, people, and his grace.
the reason behind this little blog is pretty simple, i just want to be more aware of all the little joys i experience every day.  it's so easy for me to focus on the future, and to make grand plans of exciting days to come, yet i discovered recently how rare it is for me to just simply admire the beauty in today. so that's what this will be. a place i can share the things i feel make the everyday beautiful.


also, this is a little something i've been telling myself lately. to be brave with the little moments.