Remembering to Enjoy November 2013

This is one of my favorite times of year, but all too often I find myself succumbing to the whirlwind crush of work before Thanksgiving (also between Thanksgiving and Christmas) and forgetting to enjoy the things I love about this season. It can be difficult to carve out time when faced with a never-ending laundry list of to-do items, but in the past few weeks I’ve tried to do something each day to (in my own way) celebrate this time of year. It’s been small things, like taking the time to light a few candles when I get home, sitting with a hot cup of tea and a holiday related magazine for a few minutes (mostly salivating over Thanksgiving meal recipes), buying some fall-inspired flowers, and this past weekend making my first pumpkin date bread (recipe via Williams-Sonoma).

Dogear Press Projects: Invitations for a Train-Inspired Second Birthday Party

A few weeks ago we celebrated my nephew Bryan’s second birthday. Given Bryan’s love of trains, my sister-in-law Jess planned a fun train-inspired birthday party for her little man (you can see photos of the festivities over at The Eagle’s Nest).

I was excited when Jess asked if I would design an invitation for the birthday party, and thought I’d share some of the design process here. Below is the invitation that Jess and her husband Scott ultimately decided on.

You can see the first three options that I sent to Jess after the jump.

Dogear Press Projects: Minted’s Baby Shower Challenge

Another Minted contest... and this time I’m actually posting within the correct voting window. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have been particularly inspired to enter a baby shower challenge, but now so many of my friends have had children that imagining the details of a fun baby shower doesn’t seem so foreign to me. I was able to complete one entry for the On the Way! Baby Shower Challenge and thought it would be fun to think about some décor elements to go along with my invite. I especially love the DIY painted cups! Click here to vote (it should be open later this afternoon and runs through October 21st).

Image sources top to bottom: (1), (2), and (3).

Dogear Press Projects: Minted’s Save the Date Challenge

* Update: Sorry for the misinformation... unfortunately voting closed on September 30th! Hopefully you'll still get some enjoyment from looking through some of the designs.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to enter the Minted Challenges – a crazy work schedule meant that one deadline after another slipped by. I was getting a bit sad about the lack of design time in my life, so I was happy to be able to enter Minted’s recent “Don’t Forget! Save the Date Challenge.” Sometimes I can over think a design, so this time around I forced myself to just go ahead and pull the trigger on a few different ideas I came up with. Below are two of my favorite entries... If you’re so inclined, you can vote here (FYI, you will need to have a Minted account) – there are some really lovely designs in the challenge.

Discovered | Polux Fleuriste

Yesterday I answered a summons for jury duty. Overall, I can’t complain too much about the experience. I spent most of the day sitting in various rooms, and so fortunately was able to get a fair amount of work done during the waiting process. A particular plus was our unexpectedly long lunch break, during which my hunt for Blue Bottle Coffee Tribeca led me to a beautiful market called All Good Things. Nestled right next to the Blue Bottle kiosk was an absolutely gorgeous floral shop called Polux Fleuriste. One of the partners who runs Polux Fleuriste was working on an absolutely stunning (and HUGE) arrangement, and while waiting for my latte I happily took in their collection of cut flowers (lovely lavender hydrangeas and some truly stunning white dahlias especially caught my eye – below are my iPhone snaps).

And here are some additional pictures of the space and work of Polux Fleuriste (all images via their Facebook page).

A Quiet Life Weekend...

Well, I’ve managed to kick off September with a cold, which suffice it to say is no fun. I’ve been drinking lots of hot tea and soups, and am hoping to beat this cold over the weekend. I’m planning on many more hot drinks, some magazine reading (high on my list are the monstrous September Vogue and Kinfolk Volume 9), and maybe some movie watching. I’ve also been getting back into some creative work (looking forward to sharing the design process for my nephew’s 2nd birthday in the next few weeks), and might try my hand at a few designs for the current Minted “Save the Date” contest.

Instagram photo by @silverspies

Wishing you a happy weekend!

Getaway: The Graham & Co. in Phoenicia, NY

My husband and I didn’t do much in terms of a summer vacation, so I’ve been thinking about planning a long weekend getaway for the fall. The Graham & Co. in Phoenicia, NY popped up on my radar a few months ago, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since. The town is located in the Catskills, and some autumnal hiking, biking, sitting around a cozy fire, or taking in an outdoor movie sounds like a perfect getaway for us right now. Add the amazing design aesthetic and styling (love their bath goods packaging...), and I can’t think of a better place to spend a few days. Hopefully I’ll be revisiting The Graham & Co. on the blog with my own photos...

All images below via The Graham & Co. website, photograpy by Poul Ober.

A peek back at August

So back in July I wrote something about “seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.” It turns out that I was pretty wrong, albeit in a relatively good way. Work remained extraordinarily busy for far longer than I anticipated, but my free time was filled with other (fun) things. Some highlights: a visit from my sister and her boyfriend, my sister-in-law’s birthday outing, celebrating four wonderful years of being married to my husband, and finally, heading north to Toronto, Canada for a dear friend’s beautiful wedding. Here are a few iPhone snaps of some August moments: places discovered, a mini home project (my washi tape just wasn’t cutting it in terms of holding up our Alice Gao Instagram calendar), and favorite August flowers.

Hope that you are enjoying these last days of summer...

Wish I were... {playing tennis}

Image source

Missing summer tennis...

Wish I were... {reading}

Image source

Would love to really dig into my ever growing list of “to read” books. And am especially itching to get back into some fiction... Any recommendations?

Wishing you a happy (and hopefully less hot) weekend!

Wish I were... {drawing}

 Image source

I took out my drawing pencils the other day to try my hand at some letter sketching (thanks to a challenge from The League of Moveable Type). It made me remember how much I love drawing, and the art classes I took during college and also during my time in Philly. One of my former teachers told me that I should try to draw for just a little while (even 15 minutes) every day. Right now I would settle for once every week!

Wish I were... {at Lake Cushman, Washington}

Photo by @withhearts

Another Everlane Instagram discovery for you today. I love the refreshing, peaceful feel of this photo (by @withhearts). With the awful heat wave blanketing New York City this week, spending some time on Lake Cushman sounds pretty appealing.

Wish I were... {in Cala de San Vicente, Spain}

Photo by @dtpphoto

I checked one major project off my work list yesterday, and while it’s not all clear yet, I feel relieved to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I've been missing the blog, so while I don't quite have the time for more involved posts, I thought I would share a few "wish I were" items until things really calm down. 

It’s full on summer in the city, and I find myself dreaming of many an escape. The image above is of Cala de San Vicente, Spain (Instagram shot by @dtpphoto, found via Everlane).

Wishing You a Happy Fourth of July!

Saturday fireworks, Princeton Reunions 2013

It’s been painfully quiet on the blog lately. I’m hoping that work will calm down in the next few weeks and I’ll be able to find some more time to spend here. In the meantime, wishing you all a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!

Discovering VSCO Grid

I first discovered VSCO Cam right before our trip last year to Korea and Hong Kong.  I became a fan right away, and loved editing our travel photos using the app.  Recently, VSCO launched a new and improved version of the VSCO Cam app, and I have to say that it’s flat out amazing.  I love the new interface, and while I’m still learning the ropes, I can honestly say it really feels like a huge jump forward from what was already a fantastic program.

In addition to the new app, VSCO is also in the process of launching VSCO Grid, a beautiful, minimalist way to showcase VSCO Cam-edited photos.  I have been addicted to creating my VSCO Grid (dogearpress.vsco.co – also included on the sidebar of the blog), but more than that, I’ve really been enjoying discovering other people’s stunning work.  Below are a few images and links to their corresponding VSCO Grids that I’ve come across in the past few days.  You can also go to the VSCO Journal, and see their VSCO Grid related posts by clicking here.

sfawnd.vsco.co

teppotirkkonen.vsco.co

joel.vsco.co

benjhaisch.vsco.co

ijsthee.vsco.co

thewessy.vsco.co

Floral Stylings: Picture Perfect Peonies

I know that I did a peony post not too long ago, but I hope you’ll indulge me in another.  I just can’t seem to get enough of these beautiful flowers!  This past weekend I went to my 10th college reunion (which was wonderful), and came home the lucky owner of a bunch of absolutely exquisite pink peonies (courtesy of a very generous brunch hostess).  They are simply perfection, and it makes me so happy to see the gorgeous blooms when I come home.  I’m starting with one digital SLR photo of the peonies from my previous post, and then the rest are of the stunning bouquet that I brought home on Sunday.

Going Back

I’m heading to my 10th (!) college reunion... It promises to be a wonderful (if blazingly hot) weekend of catching up with friends and reminiscing about our undergraduate days.  I love that in so many ways the campus still feels like home.

Wishing you a great weekend!

Snaps: Memorial Day Weekend in North Carolina

My husband and I spent this past Memorial Day weekend in North Carolina, celebrating the marriage of one of his cousins.  Some highlights: the stunning Sarah P Duke Gardens & the lovely Duke University campus, food! (Foster’s, North Carolina BBQ, Pizzeria Toro), and of course, the absolutely beautiful wedding at Shady Wagon Farm.  Below are a few iPhone photos of our weekend away.  Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

First Peonies of the Season

This past weekend I went home for Mother’s Day weekend and discovered my parents’ peony bush.  The peonies weren’t open yet, but I can imagine how stunning the flowers will look once they are in full bloom.  Seeing the peony buds reminded me that I absolutely did not want to miss out on peony season this year (unlike the past two years), so I snapped up a few post-Mother’s Day stems from a nearby bodega.

PS: I discovered that the “chin chin cherie” flowers from this previous post are called Star of Bethlehem.