Charleston, you make me happy

But wine doesn't hurt either...

My first 2010 Christmas decoration!

First, tiniest, sweetest...the perfect holiday trifecta.

Merry Christmas to moi!

It's beginning to look a lot like amateur hour

Good news for Bella Swan, I suppose

Not to get all Mr. Wizard over here, but I came back to my office space today after a week working from home and my roses from December 1 are looking almost as alive as they did 14 days ago: the same roses that died after 5 days in my cozy apartment. Maybe vampires have it right after all!

The good, the great and the really expensive from NYC this weekend

The good:
-Art Nouveau typography on one of my old stomping ground streets. I suppose I was always too focused on Paper Presentation to ever look up.
-Apartment 48 and their innovative sign-hanging techniques. If only there was a little bird perched on that branch...

The great:
-Italian cookies (as always) and miniature black and whites!
-The BUST magazine craft fair that my friend and I stumbled into, and the best. company. name. ever.

The really expensive:
-$18 Baked Alaska at DBGB... ironically a similar hue as the $1.00 rainbow cookie from Brooklyn. Daniel Boulud, I'm onto your inspiration.

A great trip and amazingly warmer than the Southern weather that I returned home to.

Feeling really cool today at work.

I mean, literally. It's 60 degrees. For anyone I'm doing work for today, know that I'm REALLY putting my heart into it. Otherwise, I would be sitting at home in my 72 degree apartment.

Week 2: well worth my subscription

I love supporting my local vendors

Especially ones who share my taste in seafood.

F as in Friday! D as in Donut!

What a better way to teach your children to read than with the happiest fod on earth? Thank you, Jen and Finn for making my morning just that much better.

The best minds think alike (aka: I love my friends)

When I opened my mail tonight there was not a single bill to be found, which was reason alone to celebrate.

But even better was that I got a cut-out from T-Magazine (of an article with some serious Raleigh love) from not only ONE friend but TWO! On the same day! If I knew that Mike wasn't going make fun of me, I would have cried a little bit just now.

Why monsieur, did you lose your moustache?

Found on the streets of Raleigh this afternoon and looking strangely familiar to me...

KLP Designs Headquarters

I swear it looks less creepy in person.

My first 2010 Christmas decoration!

First, tiniest, sweetest...the perfect holiday trifecta.

Goodbye Thanksgiving holiday

Thanksgiving just got a whole lot Juicier

Delray Beach, Florida: Juicy Couture's new bakery dedicated to cupcakes... and a soon-to be rebuttal to their "everyone looks good in terry cloth sweatpants" mantra.

Hello old friend. I've missed you in my life.

Ho, Ho, Hello there Snapfish

I've recently started designing cards & invitations for Snapfish so I visit the site regularly to check on my little design-babies. And today I felt like a parent who's kid made Honor Roll: one of my cards was chosen as their front page note card design!

Love is...

...having someone who will go along with your sometimes crazy interior design ideas.

My favorite house: November 20, 2010

A decade of "maybe"

I just got my anniversary issue of Lucky magazine and boy I feel old. Like, I remember that I was already OUT OF COLLEGE marking interview outfits with those little tabs.

OK who am I kidding, I never did that because (duh) I chose advertising as a career specifically so that I wouldn't HAVE to ever wear an interview outfit. Like my great mentor Angela Bower, who proved that client presentations were just as effective in sequined prom dresses, I was left to putting Lucky's intriguing new sticky tabs on high heels I'd never be able to buy, let alone manage in on the streets of NY, and shopping streets of cities I'd only dream to walk.

But ten years later and living in a car culture that allows me to finally wear heels (occasionally), I'm happy to see that I've achieved something that your editors deem Lucky-worthy.

Drumroll please for #90, #91, #93, & #95. Sigh, macaroons and (literally) stuffed animals, Who's the Boss? For today, I'd like to say that I am.

Going Postal

A brief time out on the generally enthusiastic tone that I like to take on this blog. Because I just have to vent, if not to myself alone (who understands my agony since I have posted about the post office how many times?!) about the experience that I just had.

Not that anything actually HAPPENED, but that's the point. I've been to the New Bern Post Office 8 times in the past 4 days. That's right, 8 times. Not only that, I've had meaningful (ie: 10 minute plus) visits with the postal employees, of which there are TWO. So when I walked into the Post Office today and met with the same man that I talked to on Friday, Monday and yesterday, did I MAYBE expect a smile of recognition?

Maybe.

What's black and white and happy all over?

Two and a half years ago I left New York for Raleigh, carrying a nostalgia for all things sweet, 2 1/2" round and buttercream-topped. My best friend and I would march across town (a feat that we would seldom brave even for a new bar) to sample our favorite cupcake flavors at Sugar Sweet Sunshine. I took my mother, sister, first dates & long-distance visitors there yearly without fail. And while they still ARE the best cupcakes I've found in NYC, the Cupcake Shoppe Bakery in Raleigh (and most specifically the Oreo Cookie Monster cupcake) proved a wonderful newcomer to my list of faves.

Unlike Bright Eyes, I will never have any Land Locked Blues

Water or no water nearby, I can now get my fix whenever I need it...

Bad Kerning, Blowing Rock-style

Sassyfras is anything BUT sassy looking here...

Walk away from the stamps, Karen

A by-product of designing wedding invitations is the almost OCD-ness I get when thinking about the stamp that will go ON the invitation.

Does it fit the design 'concept'?
How does the stamp size influence the appropriated address space?
Does it color-coordinate?
And most importantly, why is the only non-Forever stamp that is always in stock at the post office the freakin' BART SIMPSON stamp?

So many times this decision is out of my control, as I really can't demand that my clients (other than your wedding, Paola) use only the stamp that I recommend. But thanks to my new find, the USA Philatelic, I can both change my stamp-obsession status from "Crazy" to "Enthusiast" as well as have a hands-on guide for my clients. I know they'll be so happy to hear about it.

Back in MY day, we walked two miles to school in the snow AND used plain metal compasses

Seriously teens: Antibacterial? Padded? Pink?

(well, Pink might be OK by me)

It looks like the Market is officially over.

Greetings from the furniture market

I just had a client tell me that my shoes looked like Mozart's. And since he was a GENIUS, I will definitely take that as a compliment. Now, where's my piano?!

Miniature photo gallery, part two

Now just to wait until some New Yorkers come through here and see if they recognize where each photo was from! Mmmm I'd love a Montaco right about now.

The storm before the calm, part two

Last market I went around High Point and took photos for my friends of what the furniture market looks like before it actually starts. This time, I did a retrospective in my spare bedroom.

Caboodle doppleganger spotted, Aisle 4!

I'd accept this friend request.

From Our Shop, an online shop full of lovely British gems.  http://www.ourworkshop-shop.co.uk/

Out with the old (literally), and in with the new

So, the furniture market is next week. Already! I've got my newest photoshoot ready for the showroom gallery and am now just left with a few last-minute (yet very important) market prep steps.

Like waterproofing my new Market Shoes, using last April's price lists as a backdrop.

Sssssssssssnap bracelet love

On a recent trip to a tourist shop in the Outer Banks, I fondly recalled my love of snap bracelets. What I'm curious about, though, is whether snap bracelets are back in fashion or whether the store's inventory is actually from the 1980s (along with the shark teeth, hermit crabs and tie-dyed visors I also saw).

He knows me, he really knows me!

My fiancé Mike went to Chicago for the weekend and came back with gifts that were SO me, that I can't help but smile.

Sometimes I feel like I may have OCD

Or at the very least, an affinity for order. But I may be loving how our market invitations look all ready for mailing even more than they do on their own.

Moses, watch out.

I have just snuck a look at the Ten Commandments of my alternate career path.

PS. Did everyone know that postage is going up again in January? Better stock up on Forever stamps now...

Thanks mom. I mean, Hamlin's.

 

Just a little guilt trip life lesson to start my Thursday morning. Though not as creatively worded as last week's thought of the day.

A brief time-out as a wedding invitation designer

And a time-in for some serious empathy for my past, present and future brides-to-be.

I have to admit that I really never thought about the stress of planning a wedding and all it's nitty gritty ...especially since I'm usually on the receiving end of "we want 200 invitations, and make them ecru", but after spending last night at a wedding show (full of potential harpists, caterers and the odd bag piper) I have a newfound respect for people who can make solid plans in regards to weddings (as well as the fonts that will represent them), as I couldn't even answer (or fake) the date of my own wedding-to-be to the attendance-taker.

I hope this grey area doesn't extend to my food...

...but I notice that Kroger takes a very PC approach as to not stir up aisle-fighting common in the Harris Teeter across town.

Thank you, Hamlin Drugs, for that sweet (and somewhat creepy) sentiment you left me with this morning

Scoring... and SCORE!

There are so many reasons that I love the minutae that wedding-program production consists of. And today, it was for a chance to see Elizabeth and Kovacs go DOWN.

Today, I'd like to do a duo of donut