50 & 50

have you heard about 50 and 50? i'm officially over the moon for this state mottos project being heralded as "a kind of designer's atla". this curated art project is the brainchild of brooklyn designer dan cassaro and his attempt at constructing a "handsome new way of looking at our country". i can dig that idea. even more so, i'm digging the project itself. 50 of america's BEST designers have been called upon to illustrate their state motto and the results will get you all sorts of giddy. my favorites are posted below including my beloved oregon which, unfortunately is one of the few states with no print for sale yet. boo.

p.s. happy friday. hope to see you at the kris orlowski show tonight.

WA state motto = "alki" a chinook word meaning "by and by" or "hope for the future"

virginia

my blessed adopted home state of TX

sweet, sweet home. best motto EVER.

the empire state

the indian lover in me is natch drawn to nevada's print

that's what she said? thanks new mexico

new hampshire knows what's up

"if you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you"

MI even snuck the hand in there (so where on the mitten are you from?)

the mile high state

beloved arkansas

minnesota

the fourth

puh-raise the Lord for friends who take pity on you and let you bandwagon their 4th of july festivities. enter: aaron jones - who invited myself and other pretty people to his aunt and uncle's gorgeous home on mercer island. his lovely family not only let me parade around in a freedom-kini but allowed my little black child to frolic around the property and even managed to convince me that the girl cousin with two black eyes was actually a gold medal cage fighter. unaccustomed to being openly lied to by someone i just met, i fell for it hook line and sinker. only after repeating the story to my freshly-met soul sister, noelle, did i realize how ludicrous it sounded and realize the error of my ways. i digress.

it was the perfect day - open water, red/white/blue in abundance, good friends, nitrogen-riddled meat in a bun and my dog sporting a sexy american kerchief. i got to satiate my need for speed on a jet ski with kramer, aaron and andria. big ups to kramer for teaching me how to sail over yacht wakes and making my legs feel like tonya harding just took a pipe to them. now, two days later, i'm still walking like the tin man. L-7 weenie right hurr. all in all, it was my 2nd best weekend of the year (i honestly do keep track of these things) and i was the happiest i've been in a long time. like, shit-eating-grin-plastered-on-my-face happy. like constantly screaming in kramer's ear while jet skiing, "I'M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOWWWWW!!!" happy. life just doesn't get much better than this...

trusty steeds

my cute friends at the dockside fireworks show

sunset on lake washington

candidate for my future home

most favorite thing in the world: fireworksssss

davy bean sleeping through the fireworks with uncle kramer

completely unrelated to my fourth of july, but hysterical nonetheless...dad put mom to work on america's birthday mowing fields. thank God the man learned how to send picture messages because he sends me the occasional show stopper that just kills me.

independence

getting more than a little excited about one of my most favorite holidays. can you tell?

brought to you by the loverly andria lindquist

all other images via weheartit