Navy Friday

Happy Friday! See you Monday!

* Photograph enhanced by photoshop with a little help and humor from Dooce.

Janine King Designs

This has been a long time coming, since I got my new laptop in May, but I finally bought a laptop sleeve for it. My problem had been that the options available through mass markets were so boring. I mean there's nothing wrong with this Neoprene case, but it's just so... generic.


Luckily, I discovered Janine King Designs on Etsy and I found exactly what I was looking for. Beautifully made laptop sleeves in a plethora of fabric options. And the one I ordered just arrived in the mail today.

I absolutely love it! I didn't have to settle and it's handmade. All it takes is a little extra searching.

Hanging out with Mar

My best friend since high school came to visit me today and she came bearing wonderful gifts! Margaret brought me her pre-read stack of weekly glossies: US Weekly and People Style Watch. Can't wait to catch up on what's going on with Jon and Kate this week.


And she brought delicious cookies made by her mom. Pizzelles and chocolate and coconut bars... yum. Thanks Mrs. A!


Margaret also brought me copies of the latest Ben Folds albums. Way to Normal and University A Cappella. Both amazing.

Finally she introduced me to Sporcle. An incredible time-waster website that has any and all types of trivia quizzes you can imagine. Warning: only go to this website if you can dedicate a good portion of your time. It is instantly addicting. Quizzes include "Can you name the artists listed in VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's?":
and "Can you name these Corporate Logos":

It was one of those golden summer days like back in high school, where all we needed was a pile of magazines, fabulous music and some cookies. I totally miss those times. Thanks for bringing me back Mar, and thanks for being my bff!

New cards on Etsy

Hi all, sorry I've been MIA... I've been working on some new products for my Etsy store. Here are some of the cards that I made today:


When I was engaged, I wished there had been more cute cards available to ask my friends to be my bridesmaids. So I created these simple cards that help make the occasion more memorable. Each card can be personalized and is hand calligraphed. It is blank inside so you can write your own sentiments to your best friends.

Navy Friday

The other day I twittered how the best part of my day is looking down from my desk to see my pup look up at me with adoring eyes. I'm a total cheese ball but I couldn't resist showing you what it looks like. Have a great weekend everyone! See you Monday!

Adam Lippes

I love Adam Lippes clothes. His designs are sophisticated and classic. Usually they're out of my price range but he has great deals on sale. Here are some of my favorites:

Viscose Tissue Hooded Wrap, was $245 now $69

Linen Tweed Deep Vee Dress, was $345 now $99

Check out his website and support your fellow Cornellian!

Busy Bee

Sorry for the lack of posts today... I've been busy working on my etsy orders. See you tomorrow!

I'll take this one, please.

It was a dreary day in Connecticut so what better way to spend my time than searching through Cape Cod real estate websites looking for beach houses that I can't afford. And I think I found my dream summer cottage. The perfect two bedroom, one bath in Wellfleet. Oh what the heck, it's only $1,999,000... I'll take it.

Classic Love Bookmarks

I'm excited to show you one of the design projects that I've been working on. Last month I posted about the Library Card Shower Invitations that I made for my friend, Michaela's cousin. Soon after Michaela approached me with the concept of making bookmarks as the favor for the shower, keeping with the library/book theme. She came up with the brilliant idea of incorporating Maria and Russ (the bride and groom) into a list of classic literary couples. I'm really happy with the way the design turned out and I think they will be cherished as a unique keepsake.

Each bookmark started off with 2x6" Kraft paper bookmarks found at Michaels.


I added a second layer of Amy Butler cardstock to create a pretty border.

Then I printed the design out on adhesive paper and mounted it over the patterned cardstock.


The back of the bookmark says "Storybook Romance" and has the date of their wedding.



The "tassel" is Kate's Paperie grosgrain ribbon in silver. (Although in person it's a pretty blue.)

Packaged with a sweet bow.

Navy Friday

The other day the hubby, Navy and I went for a leisurely stroll through Ridgefield, CT.

We started off at a lively pace.

And walked down stone wall and tree-lined streets.

We looked at all the pretty mansions,

and stopped to smell the flowers.

Hope you get to stop and smell the flowers with your sweeties this weekend. See you Monday!

Why do you build me up, Buttercup

I'm having a cupcake craving right now. A Buttercup Bakeshop cupcake craving. When I used to work in NYC we'd get cupcakes for co-workers birthdays. Which pretty much turned out to be cupcakes once a week. There have been many debates- and I've certainly sampled my way through almost all of of New York's cupcakes shops- but my favorite remains Buttercup. I love their devil dog and red velvet cupcakes. Mmm.

Photo from gsanjose's flickr photostream.

You can get your cupcake fix at one of Buttercup's two locations:

972 2nd Avenue
(between 51st and 52nd)
New York, NY 10022

141 West 72nd Street
(between Amsterdam and Columbus)
New York, NY 10023

A Little Hut

Have you ever visited A Little Hut? Patricia Zapata creates beautiful stationery and paper goods. She works magic with paper cut outs and her designs are modern and simple yet very chic. I'm loving her new stationery line:

Gift Tags $7.50 for a set of 3

Crossroads Stationery $12.50 for a set of 4

Weave tea light covers $17.00 for a set of 4

She has a wonderful blog that you can visit here. (And she has some great posts reviewing the Cricut Expressions machine. I always wondered about it after seeing the infomercials.) You'll be inspired by Patricia's exquisite designs.

All photos by Patricia Zapata

Stationery for Mom

Tomorrow I'm going to visit my good friend Shannon and her newborn baby, Reese (short for Therese). As a little gift I thought I'd make her some "mommy" stationery for her to use if she needs to write a note to the daycare or to another mom.

I started off by designing the stationery in InDesign. It says "From Reese's Mom" with a flourish at the bottom.

To keep it simple I printed it on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock paper and quartered it.

I rounded the corners with a corner punch. It's one of the easiest ways to make your stationery look more finished.

I love rounded corners!

Next, I cut a Cherrios box to the same size as the stationery and covered it with damask patterned paper.


This is the cardboard backing to protect the stationery and to keep the paper from bending.

Here it is all packaged up with a pretty bow. Congrats Shannon and John... can't wait to meet the lil' one!

Anthro Inspiration

I love shopping at Anthropologie... who doesn't?! But usually I go to get inspirational ideas for decorating. Right now I'm loving their mason jars filled with random objects by color. I'd love to have a window sill filled with pretty jars catching the light.