Old Friend, New Friend

Rob won Christmas this year by a landslide. I gave him a casual watch for everyday use. He gave me a digital SLR.

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Before the coming of the Christmas Camera (1 day B.C.C., if you will) I was still glowing with satisfaction over my Panasonic Lumix with the Leica lens. Pre-Lumix, my life was a medieval abyss of disposable Kodak Funsavers. I relied on pillaging photos from friends' Picasa albums to update my Facebook account and fill my iPhoto Library. And this was 2006 (3 B.C.C). So the Lumix was quite a renaissance.

Panasonic Lumix, shot by Canon EOS Rebel T1i

But then I opened up my Christmas present this year and became an instant snob, forgetting all the lessons I've learned and friends I've made during the Funsaver years.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i, shot by the Panasonic Lumix

Golden Birthday Spoils

My birthday on Wednesday. This was a big birthday -- the golden birthday -- 28 years on the 28th. I've waited a long time for this one and it didn't disappoint.

If there's one thing that I've learned from my experience of having birthdays over the years, it's that you need to set expectations high and be vocal about them. For example: I've never been happy simply with a single birthday, so I usually enforce a birthmonth celebration. This sandwiches the actual day with 15 more days on either side to exercise tyranny and partake of gluttonous pursuits.

This year, for the golden birthday, I was very clear that I expected all gifts to come in the form of gold. The real nutty part is that Rob actually takes them seriously and I received some pretty amazing earrings.


But the list of loot doesn't stop there...

I still receive birthday money from my grandmothers and I'm not above accepting it and spending it immediately. I'm on the search for some black boots (a search that deserves its own post), but then I got distracted by Amazon -- the black hole of shopping -- and never returned. I did score a ton of amazing books though to add to the library that we have no room to accommodate. The wine they're serving in the breakroom this afternoon may have something to do with it.


Graphic Design, Referenced
from UnderConsideration

The UnderConsideration online network includes, Brand New and FPO: For Print Only, both of which I read regularly. So I figured it was low-risk to invest in one of their books without paging through beforehand. This reference is 400-pages (so you know you're getting your monies-worth per page) cataloging basic principles, sought-after resources, influential designers, iconic work...

This book was recently profiled on grain edit. And it is now mine. All mine.

Images from grain edit

The Sartorialist
by Scott Schuman

I use The Sartorialist blog as a motivational tool. It gets me out of the jeans, long-sleeve tee, and Converse sneaker rut that I'm prone to fall into. His eye for beauty is so enviable -- he finds it everywhere and unexpectedly. He reminds me to pay attention.

Paperback version cover

There's a hardcover deluxe version, but it's quite expensive. As much as I appreciate the craft of beautiful book design, I was really buying it for the photographs.

His girlfriend, Garance Dore, who keeps a blog that I value for similar reasons, hinted at coming out with a book of her own at some point in this interview my friend Amie did with her for shopbop (Super-cool name drop! Oui!). I'll support.



Penguin Classics
designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith

When my brother, Mike, was in town this past weekend, we hit up the bookshops. Both of us could spend an entire afternoon paging through books, revising our to-read lists and commenting on book design. We disagree a lot, but we certainly agreed that the new clothbound Penguin Classics were super sweet. I snatched up Wuthering Heights that day.

The first set of ten already released

I bought a few more of the first set on Amazon. They're selling for amazingly cheap price of $13.60, so I couldn't resist when I added the extra inducement of wine in the afternoon.

The second set -- I don't know when this is coming out

And thus ends the tale of a very spoiled and happy birthday.

From Miss to Ms!

The title 'Ms.' is noncommital. It inhabits the bland middle ground between Miss and Mrs. that is very unclear. Are you a divorcee, widow, or just really hate bras? Who's to know which? And whatever the case, it implies a learned cynicism or a world-weariness that I'm fortunate not to possess at the present.

I've started to brainstorm a friendlier version that says 'I'm keeping my maiden name but I also like my bra and heels.' 'Ms!' is as far as my wits have taken me.

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I am now officially a Ms! and very happy to be so. Besides the obvious bonus of being married to my favorite gentleman, I also don't have to plan a godforsaken wedding again. To be clear, I loved our wedding and was overwhelmed with warm fuzziness, but the week preceding the day was a circle of hell I would rather not reenter.

Our photographer, Erin Hansen did an amazing job at capturing the warm fuzzy parts of the wedding and making us look better than we do in real life. Here are some people shots:

The Lady and her Gent are photographed

We had our engagement photo session with our photographer, Erin Hanson, on Saturday and she just posted some shots on her blog. We had so much fun! And I was brave enough to wear the feathers, despite getting scathing comments from my brother and Rob beforehand ('It's like you have roadkill on your head,' 'What the hell is that,' etc). Whatever guys; don't question my flair.

One of the favs

Sassiness with the heal kick

Water was cold, cold, cold

Just, you know, dancing in the bay like we always do

Love this one. Rob looks handsome.

I thought Erin was great and I'm so excited to have her take our wedding day pictures.

Bonus: we made the homepage of her site!

She's a lady

I was hunting around for an outfit for our engagement shots next weekend and I found her. I'm undecided on the whole feathered headband though. I love the feathered hair accessory trend, but I also envision myself wondering what the hell I was thinking in a few years. It will probably depend on how I'm feeling that evening -- if I'm in the mood to damn timelessness, then she will be worn and that bird will not have lost its feathers in vain.

Classy dress

4" heels will make me only 2" shorter than Rob

A bird is naked somewhere

This outfit also calls for some red lipstick, but I'll have to feel out my level of bravery for that as well.

I asked Rob what he was wearing and his answer was more or less "a shirt, maybe some pants..." This means that I get to call the shots and tailor his outfit to mine. We're ordinarily not a couple that coordinates outfits to events and such, but I'm going to wield the hand of art director in this scenario.

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We were in San Francisco last weekend. I always leave that city feeling so inspired and motivated. Once I get more caught up at work, I have some cool stuff to show from the weekend.

Photographs and soap

I found Anna Williams via 100 Layer Cake, one of my favorite wedding-related blogs. She has such beautiful work.

from her France series

I love that staircase, from her People series

from her Interiors series, also on Marthastewart.com

Upon closer examination, I also recognized some of her interior shots from Martha's* Home Tours. I don't think she shot this one, but I really love the Country Cottage one.

But back to 100 Layer Cake. I admire their style and ideas a lot. They have this simple recipe to make your own soap as favors. I want to try the lavender oatmeal this weekend. I'll take pictures if I'm successful. I have some pretty brown bakers' twine that I've been wanting to use.

photos via 100 Layer Cake

Cute awkwardness

I was hunting around Etsy for some Valentine's gift ideas and ran across these by Sharon Montrose:




I thought these were pretty cute in an awkward sort of way. She makes the animals look super dorky, which makes me laugh.

For similar reasons, Fuck You, Penguin is one of my favorite blogs. It has headlines such as "What conceited meercats really want to do is direct" and "This cat's world is about to be destroyed." If you're willing to help fight the good fight against heart explosions due to cuteness, there's a tipline.

Holiday sabbatical

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I spent two wonderful weeks up in Wisconsin. With limited internet access and cell phone reception, I was cut-off from everything. Instead I had plenty of time to romp outdoors.

I love the cold and snow. And I especially love being by Lake Michigan this time of year -- it's so brutal and unforgiving -- I feel at the mercy of the elements and the mini Christopher McCandless in me digs that... But I'll be so over my romantic view of winter by March and wanting to wear springish things and go skip in a manicured park or something... but for now, these photos from my break seem very nice indeed.

Icy treetops on a grey, grey day

my snowshoes

my brother bundled up

Cana Island Lighthouse

Ditto

Grrrrrr!

Photographer, check

Rob and I have clearly defined roles in the planning process. His territory is music and booze and mine is any and all pertaining to aesthetics. The whole finding a photographer thing was quite an ordeal for me and if the search is indicative of how the rest of my decisions are going to go, I need to chill out. Wait until I get to invites...more on that later.

Ugh. There is a ton of talent out there, but I felt like I spent a whole lot of time wading through portfolios full of super tacky Photoshop effects and spot coloring. Double-ugh: the 45-degree tilt of the camera to make the shots look spontaneous.

My mom finally came across Erin Jean Photography in my tiny hometown. Excellent! She's really talented and SO nice -- chock-full of Midwestern charm. So we officially have a photographer. Take that, Knot Checklist.

Below are a few of my favorites from her blog:

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