Illuminating Kate

The Indy Monthly Intern Diaries: Part 1

Last week, I told you all about the summer project that us interns put together for Jeff Smulyan here. Now I am giddy to give you a little glimpse into a day in the life of an Indianapolis Monthly intern!

Well, things are escalating pretty quickly. Up we go to the 2nd floor!

The office of artists. Inspirational and beautiful.

Welcome to my home for the summer.

Desk views: the $1 sunflower from last week's Original Farmer's Market, a Starbs splurge, and lots of magazines and post-it-notes. My saviors.

Oh hey, Alex! Us art interns... we like to design stuff. 

Oh deer, I really love our little space.

Thank you, Alpha Gamma Delta, for making this world a much smaller and wonderful place.

It is fun to share this internship with a fellow squirrel girl.

Sometimes you gotta grab a beer from the bar who you are designing an ad for during your lunch break...

And sometimes, a marg after work is just what the doctor ordered. Cheers to new friends!

I mean you gotta celebrate when each month's issue is fresh hot off the press!

There is even a place for the not-so-fresh issues. If you wander up to the 3rd floor, you can find these dusty old issues. It is amazing how my perspective has changed when I look at a shelf full of magazines. Month after month. Year after year. So much time and creativity.

Truly breathtaking.

Yikes. I had to go pretty far back to get to the 90's. 

May 1994. My birth month.

Working in the Emmis building on Monument Circle has it's perks. Plenty of sunlight for window plants and plenty of stuff to look at from above. It seems as though there is always cool stuff going on!

We use the hashtag, #onthecircle to share pics of everyday activities outside our office windows.

And we call this area IKEA. (Hence the white modern table from Ikea.)

Ikea is home to monday morning meetings, birthday celebrations, and lots and lots of free food.

Speaking of food, those tables down there are my favorite lunch spot.

Talk about lunch with a view!

I absolutely love the atmosphere that Indy Monthly and Emmis Communications gives it's employees. On top of the incredible views and fresh air, there is always ping pong to get the creative juices flowing.

Emmis Communications has provided me with the perfect summer internship. They really know how to treat their employees well.

Thanks, Mr. Smulyan, for this afternoon snack.

The key lime Nicey Treat was to die for. (Side note, y'all should have seen the ice cream train of people running out of cubicles and offices throughout the building when the email notification about "ice cream in the lobby" was sent out. It was a hoot.)

This summer I have experienced my city in ways that I never have before. I am really blessed.

"Be passionate about what you do and compassionate about how you do it."

This commandment will stick with me forever.

Thank you, Emmis Communications, for an amazing 3 months. And to think this is just the beginning.

I'll never forget my time here. The people I have met, the difficulties I have faced, obstacles I have overcome, experiences I have learned, and fun times I have had.

 I can't wait to share more on Part 2 of The Indy Monthly Intern Diaries. The art directors at Indy Monthly have been wonderful mentors to me as an artist and designer. Tune in next week specifically for more behind the things I have designed for the magazine.

Only 3 more full days and I already have all the feels. It will be really hard to say goodbye, but also exciting for the opportunities that this place has molded me for.

love,

 

Sailing back in time

 

Once upon a time, 27 sorority sisters took an adventure to Freeport, Bahamas... and they had all the fun. Let me take you back in time, friends... to relive a week of salty air, spontaneous excursions, fruity drinks, and sweet sweet sunshine.

18 hours in a car + 4 hours on a ferry + 20 minutes in a taxi = priceless travel memories.

Hour 12.

4 hours to go! This is us taking a celebratory selfie as we boarded the boat after one hot second in *Frat* Laudy.

My first passport stamp. My first steps on international soil. My first vacay without Mom 'n Dad. *Aww.* 

Well rested after 24 hours of travel on our first morning on the island. Let the party begin!

But enough of the partying, we made it a priority to have lots of adventure.

One day we went "boozing and cruising" with new friends from the University of Tennessee's sailing team. All 15 of them took all 27 of us on a private island excursion in their two HUGE catamarans. Fo free.

It was pretty much epic.

Okay so it seemed like a good idea at the time but I definitely waited until I got back safely to tell my parents about this trip I took in the middle of the ocean with people I had just met. 

We went snorkeling and explored the mini island that we anchored nearby. I saw a ginormous stingray gliding next to me, a hot pink starfish bigger than my head, and schools of tropical fish. This was my favorite day because of the spontaneous adventure that it was!

In fact, it was such a lovely and luxurious day that I almost forgot about the diet we lived off of for the entire week. Hotdogs, white bread, cheese, and rum. Delicious!

This is a pic I took of my meal for dinner one night. Gourmet stuff right here, folks.

We didn't care though. It was a sacrifice we happily made in order to take a spring break trip on a college budget. 

Happy "family dinners" with the roomies in Room 11 for that week.

We did get lucky a few nights and found beach BBQ's down from our place, too. Cheap and good food with an unbeatable view!

We knew we were going to enjoy our food when there was rum included in the price of dinner. Score!

Yum.

Followed by a bonfire on the beach. Perfection.

I'm really glad that we did things like this during our short time in the Bahamas. Local fish-frys, playing dominos with locals, beach BBQ's and bonfires, etc. I even got those ridiculous beads in my hair.

"Lady want your hair braided?" Yeah, it really sounded like a great idea after a few drinks!

I was able to de-stress in the middle of school projects, soak up the sun, and appreciate everything in life. It was the perfect getaway with my gals.

Most days, some of us got up early to watch the morning sunrise. And it took my breath away every time.

And then we would spend the rest of the day lounging by the pools and the beach :-)

So cheers to the stories better left untold..

Cheers to a fun week with forever friends...

And cheers to the beautiful Bahamas, for giving us friends a lot to be thankful for!

Friday Night Lights

 Help! I am addicted to Friday Night Lights and it is taking over my life.

Maybe it is my fascination with small towns.

Maybe it is the football fever.

Maybe it is Coach Taylor's life advice.

Maybe it is Tim Riggins.

Okay, so it is all of that. But really, Tim Riggins in a wet t-shirt. C'mon. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In between binge watching episodes and the reality of my real-life responsibilities, I have been inspired by some quotes from characters on the show.

"Clear eyes, full hearts, CAN'T LOSE!" - Coach Taylor and the team

"Texas Forever." - Tim Riggins and Jason Street

"Don't just stand by and watch it happen." - Coach Taylor

"Right here, right now, God has placed you to-do what you do best- go all the way." - Coach Taylor

It may sound cheesy or sound like another excuse to keep sitting around watching Netflix all day, but I really feel like I was meant to watch this show at this exact point in my life. Honestly, I have gained a lot of wisdom and courage that I needed to hear from life lessons learned on this series.

I'm feelin' unstoppable.

It's time to give myself the love I want, the career I want, and the life I want.

There are no boundaries.

 

xo,

Tunes of Summer

 School is quickly approaching but I thought it would be fun to share a few favorite jams that are on the top of my playlist this summer...

♡

# 10. "Beachin' " - Jake Owens

# 9. "Sangria" - Blake Shelton

# 8. "Amen" - Zac Brown Band

# 7. "Ride" - Chase Rice (feat. Macy Maloy)

# 6. "Twenty-Somethings" - Judah and the Lion

# 5."Mine" - Phoebe Ryan

# 4. "Loving You Is Easy" - Ben Rector (can't wait to go see him live with my bestie in September with Judah and the Lion!)

# 3. "Heartbreak Dreamer" - Matt Kearney

# 2. "Summer Jam" - Jake Owen (feat. Florida Georgia Line)

# 1. "Speakers" - Sam Hunt (I'm mildly obsessed with this song.. it's usually on replay during my entire commute to and from work).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh, and this is a behind-the-scenes photo of me blogging about these songs in my fake Birkenstocks.

ily, Target :-)

It's so amazing how music can inspire an idea in your head or keep you going on a bad day. I am thankful for these amazingly talented artists who have been bringing me all the joy this summer.

What kind of music do y'all like listening to?

xoxo

#trendingindy

I am very excited to share about my amazing internship this summer!

I have been given the wonderful opportunity to be an art intern at Indianapolis Monthly Magazine.

 Collecting art for monthly calendars, designing many advertisements and event signage, assisting behind-the-scene photo-shoots, and interviewing and writing for featured stories are a few of my "descriptions."

There are so many cool things that I have learned and grown from during this experience. One of the coolest things was meeting with Jeff Smulyan, CEO of Emmis Communications, which owns Indianapolis Monthly.

I don't know who's phone it ended up on, but I don't have the pic that we took with him.

I know, lame.

Anyway, here's some of the gang! (minus Jeff) on the day we had a luncheon presentation with him.

In addition to the many descriptions that I take on at the Monthly, it is a summer tradition for the art interns (there are 3 of us) and the editorial interns (there are 7 of them) to collaborate on a special project to present to the famous Mr. Smulyan. We chose to do something that reveals our skills that we use everyday. In addition, it was created to be about our experience in the publication branch of Emmis. 

As a team and as young student interns, we dreamed up "20 Things To-Do for 20-somethings in Indy"; a simple guide of top 20 things to do that were on our "bucket list" for others our age around our city. 

Back/Front: 

Inside Spread:

Trying to please 9 opinions and combining art with editorial started out a little chaotic, however, with a little bit of patience and a few extra hours outside of the office, I would say we hit the ball right out of the park.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

There were a lot of important things from this specific experience that I would like to point out.

1. Our boss told us we "kicked ass." 

2. Group projects will never go away. Ever.

3. Indy is full of really fun things to do when you are in your 20's!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you will notice, one of the ideas behind this project was to create a hashtag movement that takes our idea to the next level. When you are out and about doing ALL 20 of these things (because we totally know you are going to ACTUALLY do them)... you can post pics with a hashtag! 

 

#TRENDINGINDY

 

So here you go. Your local Indy Monthly interns coming at you live with Part 1 of our adventures from "20 Things To-Do for 20-somethings in Indy".

Strolling through the Original Farmer's Market during a hump-day lunch break. The clouds were doin' their thang up in the sky that day.

Oh, hi, adorable Nicey food truck!! (A sunflower because one dollar...)

I got the homemade watermelon pop. Basically summer on a stick.

 We decided to cross a few other things off our list right over on Mass Ave. that day, too.

Here's us drooling while looking at the beautiful display outside Silver in the City...

Try not to smile when you see that sunflower. One dollar well spent :-)

We spotted some really cute air plants inside Global Gifts. Hint hint, mom for the apartment ;-)

And thus concludes our jam-packed lunch break adventure. Its amazing what all you can find around you in just an hour! 

I challenge you to go out and get our hashtag trending!!! You just might have all of the fun. And surely, you can tell that I adore my internship. You can bet that I still I have lots more to share! 

Peace. Love. Indy.

Growing Up

It is hard to describe my transition from being a summer nanny for 2 littles to a summer design intern for a city magazine. There has been a lot of growing up with many glimpses into the "real world" (only one year away). But, to my surprise, the real world is actually really really cool. 

I have learned that in the "real world", you can:

...enjoy the early morning light on your daily commute to work.

...buy all of the pink moscato and drink it with your forever friends after a long week's project.

...hang out at the bars!

...(did I mention alcohol yet?)

...start collecting furniture for your very first apartment!

And in the real world, you can always rely on your family and God ♡ (some things never change).

So yeah, these are just my thoughts about life as a college girl about to enter her senior year of college. I'm feeling all of the feels and not looking forward to the end of an era but I'm also feeling inspired to start up a career of doing what I LOVE.

So hi, world. I'm comin' for ya really soon :-)

 

s m i l e s ,

Confessions of an avid doodler

So... we haven't talked on here since the fall. I'm sorry. Let's pick up like old friends and pretend like we are on the same page. Speaking of pages, today I want to share a peak out of some pages from notebooks past and present.

♡

I can't believe it is already two weeks into my second semester as a junior at Purdue University! Classes are in full swing and I couldn't help but laugh at my note taking abilities. Oh gosh. 

 If only exam questions consisted of drawing overly curvy patterns. *sigh*

So there you have it. A glimpse into my daydreams during entomolgy and anthropology. This girl can't help but draw a lil doodle to make the time go by.  It really does get those creative juices flowin'. 

 

let's chat again soon,

Solong, summer

It has been a little over one month since I have been away at school. What.

Confessions of a Target lover: I think I made about 8 trips to this place before I officially got everything I needed for this year. Yup. I am my mother's daughter.

It also took a while to get myself organized. 

This month has been packed full with so much "stuff" that I have been meaning to share....

The launching of all of (Beta Xi Chapter) Alpha Gamma Delta's promo shirts for recruitment season was a blast.  These sisters of mine are smart problem solvers. Givers. Makers. Squirrels. Funny prankers. #Blessed. Purposeful. Risk takers. Colorful. Study buddies. Intramural athletes. Cozy hangouts. Late night craziness...

...and that's AGD in a nutshell ♡

Go Gam!

Experiencing my first official typography class. Oh, 100 sketches due tomorrow? Okay. The art nerd in me loves it. My current project is to design and develop a 60-page book from cover to cover using two assigned alphabetical letters. Mine are F and S.

These two letters are quite a battle between masculinity and femininity. My professor was right when he said that we would soon become intimate with these letters. That sounds so weird... but it's so true.

Relaxing doing homework on our renovated porch.

Being there for the moment when my brother joined Purdue's Greek community as he got a bid from Phi Delta Theta, our great-grandfather's and Neil Armstrong's fraternity.

...and running into him everywhere on campus! Like at the gym. Omg, hai.

Visits from my sweet pups. (Thanks mom, dad, and griffy for making this possible.)

Spending all my free-time dressing up for three weekends in a row for Formal Sorority Recruitment. 

And in the end, we proudly welcomed 38 new members to join us in sisterhood. (Oh, and by the way... those cute signs didn't just grow off a tree. There was a whole lotta elbow grease and love that we put into them. Crafting when I should have been studying. That's pretty typical for my sisters and I.)

That same night I became a "mother" to this beautiful new sister of mine.

Dancing the night away with forever friends.

Those fun-filled late nights make early morning classes hard, however, I get to watch the sunrise over my beautiful campus day in and day out. I am so proud to be a Boilermaker. 

And just like that, my desk got messier, pumpkins showed up everywhere, i broke out the good ol' combat boots, things got hectic, junior year in full swing, and summer had completely vanished before my eyes...

*sigh*

Anything You Can Imagine is Real

So much love squeezed into these past few weeks...

I really love to teach these 2 about art. We do lots of artsy things together. I was thrilled to show them the Indianapolis Museum of Art. There are so many things to explore there. And it is free. SWEET.

*Quick panic* "Nooo... get the nose off the glass!" This was a great time to have a pep-talk about not touching the paintings before we went all the way inside. 

 That's better. 

The 100 acres surrounding the museum grounds are full of fun art sculptures and interactive displays. Those are some funky bones! (These are the same bones that were in the recent movie, The Fault In Our Stars.) 

Funky socks n' shoes on the funky bones. Ooooh.

And then it was time to tear it up on the b-ball court.

Brock was in awe of this part of the acres. Cool action shot.

Brock and Lily phone home.

We even dared to explore the great unknown.

Creeeepy lily silhouette.

I think this tree trunk swing set is one of the newest additions to the acres. So cool.

Can you tell we had fun taking pictures?

What a fun day.

On other days, you could find us spreading compliments and doing acts of kindness across our city...

At the local library... get your free printables from Whimsy Studios here!

♡

Free bag of popcorn at a redbox machine.

Goodie bag for Mr. Mailman.

And surprising mom and dad at work with cards, balloons, and cookies.

We even paid for the person in front of us at Steak 'n Shake. But sadly, no pics were taken.  Doing acts of kindness with them was definitely a very rewarding experience. 

♡

Some other memorable things we did was bowling on rainy days. There are so many coupons for it! And my bro Griffy and his BFF, Cam, loved to join in for fun stuff, too. It was nice to spend a lot of time with them this summer.

Mini put-put on bright sunny days.

Brock may or may not have fallen in the course's mini pond that day. Of course he was embarassed as yelps and giggles overwhelmed the area. I just said, "No biggie, don't worry about it!" That's my motto for just about everything. Even when lollipops get stuck to my hair or a giant can of soda is spilled in my car. Just don't sweat it. Let's clean it up and forget it ever happened. :)

On another gorgeous day, we rode our bikes to our favorite ice cream place in carmel... Bub's. YUM. (We make for a pretty cool bike gang if you ask me.)

Hard earned snack.

Trips to the craft store. A little kid nearby saw Brock and Lily hanging out behind these boas and yelled to his mom, "Look mom, humans!" I don't know why I thought it was so funny. Haha

We picked up these plain hats at that store and headed over to my house at Whimsy Studios. A fun blank canvas. Lily turned hers into a thinking cap. Clever girl.

It was a Colts "bleed blue" hat for Brock. GO COLTS!

They sure do love to paint. So the next day we did some mid-morning ice cube painting. It melts into watercolor before your eyes!

Wow. Mind=Blown. How have I never thought of this before? 

One day when Brock was at a friend's house, me and Lily attempted to make our own henna. It was pretty much a fail. But we had fun doing it to eachother! I guess a packet of kool-aid, some dye, and warm water doesn't really stain your skin as much as the internet said it would! Came off in the shower. Bummer.

I forshadow some real henna, in the near future though.... ;-)

A manicure date with my little cousin Megan who is about the same age as Lily. 

They had me go crazy on the nails. LOVE.

When painting nails poolside, popsicles are definitely a must. 

Even Brock gets into the whole crazy art. Body art was a total hit. I just used regular face paint sticks and they loved it!

You can never have too much paint!

More relaxing pool days. Sometimes when we are trying to take a break from the sun, we like to play the game, B.S. (Bologna Sandwhich), with their Disney waterproof cards.

Oh, and our egg crate garden started sprouting! No flowers have been seen yet. It's probably because my thumb is the color purple.... the farthest from green.

 Tree fort picnic movie days. Thank goodness no spiders were ever witnessed inside of there.

We watched a classic. Honey I Shrunk The Kids. I love that scene.

So relaxing and enchanting.

We called that place our little bungalow.

That tree just has the perfect branches! So many uses. Like this paper airplane target poster. 

We found a really cool vintage store that had cheap Pokemon cards. Um score.

More homemade sidewalk chalk fun. We went through so much cornstarch this summer. LOL.

Oh, no i spy raindrops! Nothing worse than a raincloud hovering over your freshly painted driveway!! 

Hurry, take the pic before little mermaid washes back out at sea!

Homemade pizza play-doh! Regular play-doh recipe but add garlic spices and it smells like pizza doh. 

The pizza parlor was so busy filling orders.

I wish glitter and pretty flowers were real pizza toppings! It was that day, though. ;-)

Homemade lava. SoOoOoOo cool.

Who knew oil, water, food coloring, and alka-selzer was all it takes to make a homemade lava lamp! 

 Speaking of easy DIY projects.... mug brownies are so good! But making individual portions really shows you how much sugar and crap are in these delicious treats. Yikes. But still Yums.

And then the final countdown really started.

Ice cream for lunch anyone?

We made a lot of memories at the State Fair.

Those rides are so sketchy. I yelled for my mommy the whole time. They laughed at me. It was fun.

They loved every second. Don't you just want to be BFF's with those smiley faces??

They won a fish!

They couldn't wait to take it home to be friends with their frog who they named after me. Katie the Frog. Ahhh. SO. CUTE.

And they finally got their real hennas, or "hannas" as Brock likes to call it. 

They went to school the next day and I got to greet them off the bus.The last afternoon together was spent decorating cookies, sipping on pretty drinks, and reminiscing on all the fun times we had this summer and summers before.

♡

Brock gave me one of the cookies he made. Mmmm. I think there was more sugar on top than actual cookie. What a SWEET afternoon!

SO much love for these kids. Time spent with them is so special to me. Can't wait to see them again when I am back in town next. Maybe when I'm older and have kids, Lily could babysit them just like I did with her. 

Until then, I hope they always remember to use their imaginations. Anything you can imagine is real. Stay being a kid as long as you can, guys!! 

Because there will come a day when you have to get an internship and a real job... *Sigh.* It's time to open a new chapter for me.

Love Always,

Katie

Life in the ♡land

I have lived in landlocked Indiana my whole entire life. Here, we are known for our corn. woo.

My family doesn't farm but we have cornfields all over town. They are beautiful in the summer and come in handy for photoshoots with friends.

Indiana's state fair is the bomb. Something to look forward to every year.

We took the state fair train this year. A very fun ride.

All aboard.

 Let's eat!! 

Yummy corn on the cob. Dunked in butter. Not mad.

Eating your way through the state fair grounds is the normal thing to do. Snack so hard.

Of course it's always kind of a guilty feeling eating a corndog right outside the live pig barn. Oink oink.

So fun.

Well aren't you just precious.

She let me love on her. Sweet lady. 

Mid-day I found a henna tattoo booth. I found myself taking pictures and staring down at my hand the rest of the afternoon. I want to learn how to do it.

At the state fair, you can get pretty much anything fried on a stick with extra sugar on top. 

Just walk those calories off as you go.

It was the year of the red velvet fried oreos. Pretty good. 

Hi baby chic. Welcome to this crazy crazy world.

 Mommy and Daddy with their baby chics. hehe. 

And when the sun starts to go down. Everything illuminates the sky. Absolutely gorgeous. 

The heartland is the place to be. 

♡,