Even though I’m stuck inside playing a neverending game of Tetris with my possessions, it just got triumphantly sunny and warm after a few too many days of early-onset May Gray. And since I’m packing up for a few months away, I kind of feel like I’m going to camp. And that means one thing: Summer is here!

For the next few days I’ll be live-blogging the Art Center conference over at Core77. The theme is Serious Play and last night’s opening was pretty seriously fun. Should be a good time; as you can see from this illustration Jeff Decoster drew of me at the last Art Center conference, I just kick back, relax, and type 1456 words a minute for twelve hours at a time until my fingernails pop off.

While you’re at Core77, check out “La Tour Awful: The Truth Is Rendered” a piece I wrote about that Eiffel Tower proposal that got everyone buzzing a few months ago.

Okay, back to raking my bloody fingers over the keyboard.

As part of his ongoing series on the New York Times blog Campaign Stops, Steve Heller asked me and three other design industry folk to comment on the merchandise sold by the presidential candidates. In “From Mousepads to Piggy Banks,” Steve also talks to Julie Lasky, my editor at ID, Allan Chochinov, my editor at Core77, and Karrie Jacobs, who is not my editor anywhere but who wrote the awesome book The Perfect $100,000 House: A Trip Across America and Back in Pursuit of a Place to Call Home.

Steve has pulled together a nice analysis of the online stores and I love hearing from my fellow design mavens. I am also extremely excited about seeing myself referred to as ‘Ms. Walker.’ But as always, I am probably most entertained by the post’s comments. For example:

Can we stick to matters of substance? The candidates are running for the presidency, not for a contract to run the airport souvenir shop.

A very good point. As is this:

I wonder who made this paraphernalia. Was it all made in USA? Is any candidate selling sweatshop products?

And my favorite:

Hillary is also selling pander and lies.

Begin in Hollywood. Ditch your car and spend a year-and-a-half walking pretty much everywhere. Change up your career, start a new blog, and have a sudden urge to write a book. Keep walking. Hear that Chronicle Books is starting up a new series of walking tour books. The new City Walks guides will focus on walks with architectural destinations, starting with New York. Walk around Los Angeles and think about walking around New York. Write a proposal, send it off, cross fingers. While walking (how ironic), receive a call. It’s a lovely editor offering the gig! Prevent jaw from hitting concrete. Run, don’t walk, all the way home. Turn to friends who will have great advice about their favorite architectural walks in New York. Begin research, buy new sneakers, pack. Sublet a place in the city, preferably in Brooklyn (any leads appreciated). Arrive at the end of May. Stay through mid-July. Spend the summer walking the streets of New York City. Hope to see some of you there.

As you may remember, some time ago I traveled to a faraway land to eat beef donuts, blow glass, relive some childhood textile fantasies and take a lovely unexpected holiday in Scotland on the way home. I also attended an exceptional wedding, which you can now read all about in the May issue of ID.

What began as a summer speaker series held at the studio of celebrated Finnish architect Alvar Aalto evolved into a collaboration among an all-star cast of designers—Dai Fujiwara from Issey Miyake, the Bouroullec brothers, Hella Jongerius, Louise Campbell, Ilkka Suppanen, Miguel Fluxá and Jaime Hayón of Camper—which they decided should take the symbolic form of a wedding. But then it became more than symbolic, when Ulla-Maaria Mutanen and Jyri Engeström, a Finnish couple who now live in San Francisco with their baby Eliel, were tipped that there was a wedding in need of a bride and groom by their friend Laura Sarvilinna. Laura, along with Päivi Jantunen, are exceptional publicists for Helsinki’s finest designers (as well as my very gracious hostesses during my visit).

You can read the entire article including some gorgeous photos of the very lucky couple, and then be sure to check out the wedding’s website for more information about the couple and the designers, appropriately named It’s a Beautiful Day.

Oh, and Bridezillas, eat your heart out: Ulla-Maaria told me she never once picked up a wedding magazine.