in medias res

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2010-04-28T22:16:00.001-04:00

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yellow house

2010-04-19T08:15:00.001-04:00

Haven't had time much for posts while I've been blogging here. But this is a little detail from our neighborhood.

delicious dessert

2010-03-07T21:51:00.002-05:00

We had a great dinner with some neighborhood friends on Friday. I whipped up this chocolate-nutella-strawberry tart with graham cracker crust based on two different recipes from epicurious.com. It was delish!

out my window, right now

2010-02-10T07:20:00.002-05:00

Doing some early morning website work, and wishing I could work from home today. About to head out and brave the "blizzard" in a few...

ballerina pup

2010-01-28T22:48:00.003-05:00

My very dear friend Jenna gave birth to her first baby girl back in the fall. I made this little dog for her daughter Sarah. It looks a bit more like a lamb than a puppy, but I can't get enough of the tutu.

it's been a while...

2010-01-12T06:44:00.003-05:00

For the first time since I started this blog, I've seriously neglected it. But it's time to get things rolling again. And it wasn't without good reason...

Since the end of the summer we've not only traveled to three weddings, spent holidays with family and rung in the New Year with friends, but also had a major career change each (yes again!) which have been keeping us insanely busy. We'd declared 2009 the year that we finally relaxed for a minute. Best laid plans...

Most of my free time has been going to a not-so-tiny project I started called realhoneymoons.com. The photo above was take while we sat at our table at Wedding Crashers in Brooklyn this weekend. Very hopeful that several good things will grow from that day.

moleskine planning

2009-08-13T20:24:00.002-04:00

I've gotten a lot of responses on facebook, flickr and the blog about the baby dragon and whether or not there's a pattern. I'm at the point where I dream these guys up, sketch a bit in my Moleskine notebook, and then get to it. There's lots of figuring it out as I do it. But this time, the result is pretty close to the original sketch... minus the nails, which got nixed.

tiny baby dragon

2009-07-24T07:38:00.003-04:00

Life has been overwhelmingly busy lately... with our anniversary, 30th birthdays for me and several friends, as well as a new top secret project taking up lots of time. So I've been dedicating the few free moments to fun things like outdoor movies and happy hour drinks rather than my camera and blog. But I did finish and give this baby dragon and matching blanket to two of my favorite parents-to-be. She was a hit!

mailed out to the baby girls

2009-05-20T08:22:00.002-04:00

I've been making a bunch of these hats for friends who were expecting. Three little girls (one due to arrive any day) will be receiving these in the mail, including our new niece Rose, who gets the rose-topped version.

blue hippo

2009-04-26T09:37:00.001-04:00

This little guy was a gift to my friends' new son Elias, who made a long journey from Ethiopia to be with his family.

why we love our neighborhood: reason 27

2009-04-24T08:44:00.000-04:00

Cherry blossom trees in Hamilton Park.

ready for dinner

2009-04-15T08:19:00.000-04:00

This shot was followed by veggie lasagna.

hard to give away

2009-03-04T06:34:00.004-05:00

I love the making and giving of handmade gifts. But every once in a while, there's one that's tough to say good-bye to. This little elephant was designed to match the baby blanket I crocheted for a great friend's shower. During a recent fabulous Girls' Weekend with my two former college roomies, I got to give it to her adorable, now four-month old son. But I'm going to miss it sitting on my desk... he's definitely a favorite. Another shot here.

fast runner

2009-03-03T17:26:00.002-05:00

Since our table is in the same general area as the couch, I made this runner with the same fabric from the new pillows. It took no time at all to sew up two sides, making it reversible. Top stitching in a shiny blue tread finished the edges nicely.

dressing up the couch

2009-02-24T08:06:00.003-05:00

I finally got finished the throw pillows for our new couch, with the fabric I bought from Etsy. After a delay caused by needing longer zippers (it's so nice to live so close to Manhattan's garment district... anything you might ever need is there) and then another delay of trying to remember how to sew in a zipper, they're completed and on the couch.

In the foreground on the ottoman: large faux-leather tray from Target, vanilla candle from Bath and Body Works, the very sadly now-defunct Domino Magazine and great coasters featuring buses of Buenos Aires through the decades purchased on the honeymoon.

french toast cake

2009-02-18T08:57:00.002-05:00

Last week we had some friends over for a little mid-week dinner party, so I decided to make Elena's Cinnamon Swirl Cake which turned out quite tasty. I did wish that I'd made the middle layer of brown sugar, chocolate chips and walnuts a little higher up. Still, the taste was great, and sour cream made it very moist. But I'm pretty sure her beautifully illustrated recipe looked even better.

the makings of a cake

2009-02-17T17:35:00.002-05:00

Finished cake coming soon.

valentine scones

2009-02-14T09:14:00.001-05:00

Followed by a game of Yahtzee and Coraline in 3D with some friends.

warm and cozy

2009-02-13T18:12:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite things about the days I get to work from home is wandering around in slippers all afternoon. Countless mugs of tea and KEXP turned up loud makes for good days too.

cuteface

2009-02-02T00:04:00.000-05:00

Baby Nate: the outtakes

new little man

2009-01-28T08:31:00.001-05:00

Our good friends Matt and Emma had a beautiful little boy just after Christmas. I worked with the parents-to-be before his arrival to design a birth announcement for their family and friends. We even did a photo shoot with handsome little Nate a week after he was born.

quiet, still morning

2009-01-23T11:44:00.003-05:00

Today I'm attending services for my former boss and friend Rich, who passed away much earlier than he should have. Rich was a great, funny guy. And he always considered you part of the family, even if you didn't work for him anymore. He loved to tell me over and over that Lou Reed went to Syracuse. I once sat one table away from Lou in a Manhattan restaurant and couldn't wait to get home to email Rich about the sighting.

He became the owner of Matty, the pup I once rescued. Just a couple weeks ago, he sent me an email saying, "He's a great dog ... I think of you often when I think of what a great friend he is to me."

Others who've worked with him have said sweet things about him here and here. He will be missed.

a beautiful day

2009-01-20T08:51:00.000-05:00

tiny hats for tiny heads

2009-01-18T10:26:00.001-05:00

I can barely keep up with the rate of reproduction of my friends. Baby hat in the works.

my hero

2009-01-15T08:51:00.000-05:00

Last night, we met some friends for happy hour drinks in Chelsea, and then decided to splurge on a taxi on the way home from the PATH train because it was freezing. As I took the change from the driver, climbed out of the cab and shut the door, I realized my wallet had fallen out onto the seat. I chased after the cab with no luck. Not only did Tim run the mile back to the taxi queue with me, but he remembered the car number, found it waiting in the line and dove in to rescue my wallet. If that's not love, I don't know what is.

in the meantime, in between time

2009-01-13T17:43:00.003-05:00

I've had lots of requests for photos of our new house. It's still a bit of a work in progress. But here are a few close-ups of some favorite things.

2009

2009-01-12T20:39:00.001-05:00

(number of bottles > number of people) X dancing till 3:30 am = good new years party

party preparations

2008-12-31T15:28:00.007-05:00

While in Syracuse for Christmas, we picked up two Dundee Craft Packs, which are awesome samplers of fine upstate beers. And if there's one thing I love, it's sampling. But now I'm also obsessed with the new label designs. This morning Tim walked into the kitchen while I was shooting photos and said, "Are you art directing our fridge?"

Turns out the company released the new vintage-feel packaging this summer, along with a pretty cool new site that lets you find your beer style. We always drank Honey Brown in college, since it was cheap and on tap in every bar. But it's hard to find HoBro in the NYC area. I find it a little sweet now. I guess, according to the Dundee site, I'm more of an Pale Ale girl now. Tim is to thank for that.

So we're stocked up and ready to go for New Years tonight with The Crew in JC.

a glimpse of what's to come

2008-12-07T08:39:00.002-05:00

We are finally getting the new place into livable shape. Almost everything's unpacked, the last of the furniture has been ordered and I can now start the decorating. One of my first projects is going to be throw pillows for the couch. I've been a fan of Amy Butler's fabrics for years and always wanted a reason to buy some. So I has a custom order made through FabricWorm's Etsy shop. She was lovely to correspond with and packaged everything up into a cute little bundle, tied with twine, and a handwritten thank you attached. Now to dig out the sewing machine...

sending good thoughts

2008-11-26T20:22:00.004-05:00

Sending good thoughts out to Mumbai. How terrible that these attacks occurred, especially on the eve of the day when our whole country gives thanks for family, friends and safety. Above is a shot of the Taj Hotel, which is now plastered all over the news in flames. It's from my wonderful, joyous trip to India almost four years ago, where I felt like a part of the family.

come sail away

2008-11-23T11:06:00.004-05:00

Who knew that for $25 a pop you could take a glorious, byob, sunset sailboat cruise through New York Harbor?! We did it recently for Tara's 30th and had a fantastic voyage. The light was amazing and I harassed everyone with the camera the whole time. I did take a few moments to enjoy the cheese-and-crakers and hot toddies though. Best wishes to the birthday girl.

on deck

2008-11-17T22:55:00.003-05:00

Finally getting around to uploading many, many photos take over the past weeks. More to come.

chilling by the pool

2008-11-12T09:04:00.000-05:00

VOTE!

2008-11-04T11:52:00.001-05:00

our house, in the middle of j.c.

2008-10-21T08:06:00.006-04:00

Welcome to the craziest month of our lives. Ever.

Our biggest move have been a literal move, to Jersey City. We bought a cute little two bedroom condo, pictured above when it was still under construction. We were very sad to leave Brooklyn, and the place may end up worth peanuts on the dollar six months after we signed the papers, but we're thrilled to be home owners and plan to stay put for quite a while. It's a completely gutted and refurbished space in a 100-year-old row house in a great historic neighborhood.

I'm now on Day 21 of waiting for news on The Ledger's buyout. The complete lack of information (or even a plan) is driving everyone there completely insane. But I've got a thrilling new gig on the horizon, lots more on that very soon.

Still packed in a box somewhere is the USB cord for my camera, so no new photos at the moment. But I'll be shooting a lot when we finally get to relax ... in Aruba next week. Phew.

yellow

2008-09-23T08:47:00.003-04:00

Polite reminder to self: in the future, don't schedule a move and a career change for the same time. Seriously.

yarny dessert

2008-09-11T08:20:00.001-04:00

Last night, I crocheted this cupcake.

stitched with love

2008-09-08T08:38:00.002-04:00

As a way to combat all the things that have been stressing me out lately, I've been crocheting a ton. I just sent this blanket down to North Carolina for the baby shower of a very good friend who's expecting her first baby, a boy. This zig zag stitch was the last one my Grandma ever taught me, and I think it's definitely my favorite. Details are here and here.

and at the end there was dessert... of course

2008-09-06T10:26:00.002-04:00

For the last part of our brunch, I made this peach and almond cream tart with the fresh fruit above. I think it came out pretty well, and again there was none left. The finished tart looked like this.

going fast

2008-09-05T07:51:00.002-04:00

The Pièce de résistance of course was the quiche. Again we used the produce from Adam's CSA. This one had red and orange bell pepper, white string beans and fresh eggs. And it was gone in a flash.

summer salad

2008-09-04T07:51:00.004-04:00

Fresh mixed greens, cucumber, cranberries, walnuts, feta, raspberry vinaigrette ... I'm realizing now how covered in flower the counter is in every shot.

cheese and herb scones

2008-09-03T07:19:00.004-04:00

In addition to bagels from the place in our neighborhood (the best I've ever had) I made these same scones again... they came out dryer this time, but still quite tasty. I used sharp cheddar, fresh thyme and sage. Everyone raved about them, and yet there were a few left over for breakfast the next morning.

heirloom caprese

2008-09-02T07:56:00.004-04:00

Our inspiration for the brunch menu came from two tasty sources. The first was the herbs my dad grew in his garden. The second was the amazing produce our friend Adam let us have from his CSA while he was out of town this weekend ... I walked right across the street and came back with two big bags of fruit, veggies and fresh eggs.

It was fun to create the dishes around what we'd been given. I knew right away what to do with the big bunch of heirloom tomatoes. Esposito's, my favorite neighborhood source for fresh mozzarella is closed for summer vacation, so I had to try another small Italian grocery story. I sliced up an orange, a red and a green tomato. Added in Dad's basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. I could have eaten the entire plate myself.

monday + brunch = monch!

2008-09-01T22:54:00.002-04:00

We hosted a little brunch at our place today... we spent over four hours cleaning and cooking deliciousness from scratch. You can mark it down as a success when your friends are still at "brunch" at 5 p.m.

bruschetta is better

2008-08-30T18:47:00.002-04:00

Bruschetta is definitely good when it's really fresh ... better when it's made with tomatoes, basil and oregano from your dad's garden ... and best of all when prepared for an impromptu Sunday afternoon cocktail party with friends. Yum.

cape clouds

2008-08-23T08:16:00.008-04:00

This shot came out surprisingly well considering it was take through the window of a moving car. There way no time to stop since 30 seconds later we were in a crazy hail storm with ice cubes falling from the sky. The clouds reminded me of Eli's photos of Montauk. Perhaps there was a monster lurking up there too.

dinnertime on the cape

2008-08-21T07:41:00.003-04:00

Cheap pasta, sauce from a jar, a simple salad and homemade garlic bread. Good company makes it all taste even better.

time out

2008-08-20T08:45:00.001-04:00

I took a much-needed break up in Cape Cod this weekend. It was full of friends and good times. Everything else with the condo and the job is still up in the air, but at least there was ice cream, sand, dance parties and boxed wine. Oh, and a much-needed haircut, too. (Photos evidence here!)

honeymoon highlights: the virgin

2008-08-05T07:55:00.004-04:00

Estatua de la Virgen Maria on cerro San Cristobal, standing 22m high.

As for my recent stress, it's had a few major causes:
1. We made an offer on a condo in Jersey City. After negotiating prices with the seller for two days, someone else swooped in and outbid us. Back to shopping...
2. On the VERY SAME DAY, the newspaper where I work (and love to work) announced some major shakeups which could result in anything from unemployment, a handsome buyout offer, job reassignment, and/or the sale of the paper itself.

Hail Mary, we could use some grace right about now.

holy crap

2008-07-31T11:48:00.000-04:00

that about sums up my day. more to follow soon...

honeymoon highlights: vain hotel

2008-07-30T08:42:00.002-04:00

Our first stay was in the Vain Hotel (pronounced "Bahn" in Spanish). I loved every detail about this place... especially the bathtub that was out on the terrace. Above is the common lounge, which was so nice to relax in after sightseeing all day.

honeymoon highlights: chilean andes

2008-07-29T08:23:00.002-04:00

Valle Nevado resort in Chile: The skiing/snowboarding was awesome. The views were incredible. The people were friendly. The food was mediocre, but we didn't care.

honeymoon highlights: first day

2008-07-28T07:16:00.003-04:00

A three hour delay at JFK airport turned the flight into a 14 hour journey. We were so happy to finally arrive. This shot was one of the first I took, as we wondered through the Palermo Soho neighborhood around our hotel. Only a few minutes later I said, "I'm exhausted... we need a nap."

honeymoon highlights: la boca

2008-07-27T08:01:00.005-04:00

I shot over 1,000 photos on the trip, but the ones from La Boca, a neighborhood in Buenos Aires, are definitely some of the most fun.

Just like our hood in Brooklyn, La Boca has a huge Italian influence. It's definitely not the safest of neighborhoods -- we had warnings from both the guidebook and our taxi driver not to leave this one little area. That results in a tourist trap full of tables selling cheap crap and restaurants with over-priced food. So we mostly just shot the photos, bought a scarf for Tim and left.

On Caminito, the main pedestrian street, the buildings are painted bright colors. The tradition is left over from a time when people would decorate their homes with left-over boat paint. The sun came out just in time to make the colors really pop.

honeymoon highlights: finally!

2008-07-26T15:44:00.002-04:00

A month later, I finally uploaded our honeymoon photos. I think I needed a little sabbatical from all things wedding. Likewise, thank you notes are now well underway.

It was actually a family BBQ tomorrow that made me start editing these. There would be hell to pay if I showed up without photos, so I just sent about 50 of them to the CVS 1-hour printing site online. Got a first-timers' code so it cost me a grand total of 38 cents. Picking them up tonight.

I took this shot of us kissing in the Puerto Madero area after we'd just finished a sushi lunch, accompanied by a bottle of white wine, cheese cake and a chocolate/berry concoction. Needless to say, we were happy honeymooners right then.

gooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaal!

2008-07-21T08:40:00.003-04:00

Spent Saturday out at the Meadowlands watching the Red Bulls tie with LA Galaxy. Beckham was booed and cheered in equal parts by the crowd.

a wednesday evening on the island of brooklyn

2008-07-16T19:48:00.003-04:00

Some of our crew spent last Wednesday night at the outdoor Feist show in Prospect Park. Well, actually, we spent the evening outside of the show, as we always do. It's much less crowded, got more room for bocce and wine is (sort of) permissible. It did pour on us for a while, but we waited it out, huddled on umbrellas.

This shot is from my cameraphone and somehow the low resolution, low light and rain make it a perfect pointillist homage to Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

the professional

2008-07-10T23:49:00.005-04:00

Last week we got the proof book from Mary, the photographer we hired to shoot our wedding. We're thrilled with the outcome and everyone we've shown it to has raved about her. I'm posting two of her images here.

I was a little nervous about choosing a photographer. I knew I was going to be really picky and I'd been terrified by those all-black-and-white-except-for-the-pink-bouquet shots I've seen around. Yikes. And don't even get me started on wedding photographers who scream and shout at the bride and groom the whole day.

I knew I wanted someone who'd shoot gorgeous images and capture moments in a photojournalism style with a minimal presence. That was Mary exactly. I thought it'd be hard to find the right person, but I saw her portfolio on TheKnot.com, had one chat on the phone and never looked at anyone else.

Today she posted a slideshow of highlights of our day. Take a peek and leave her a glowing review!

just married

2008-07-01T00:04:00.006-04:00

Phew! It's over and we're officially married. We survived and the day was about as perfect as we could have asked for. Hot and sticky, but only 30 seconds of raindrops (for good luck.) All of our favorite people, both friends and family. Lots of beer and dancing. A campfire and 'smores around midnight. And at the end of the day, I thought, I had so much fun today.

We're eagerly awaiting the proofs from the professional photographer, but in the meantime, Tim's very talented cousin Dan posted these on Flickr. And lots more wedding and honeymoon images to come. Taking a moment to relax and enjoy first.

bacheloretiquette

2008-06-05T07:23:00.003-04:00

So I clearly fell short on EDIM, but trying to do that and plan a wedding was just too much, so something had to give. We're up in Syracuse now, for two days of errands, setting up, acquiring the proper legal documents and welcoming family. I've been wide awake since 6:30, well before my normal waking hours. Excited and stressed all at the same time. I tried my dress on yesterday and it's fitting a lot looser than it ever has... worrying about every single detail will do that to you...

This will probably be my last post before the "I do" and luna de miel. Had to add a shot from my bachelorette party a few weeks ago. These friends are so good to me... we had a crazy night of dancing on chairs in a restaurant, hijacking a limo, hanging with celebs (okay, just spotting them), dancing till 3-something a.m., and more things not appropriate to share with the internets.

So far the most fun parts of this whole wedding thing have been these girls-only rituals: dress shopping with my mom and Jen, assembling invitations, getting "showered" with love, and partying like obnoxious rock stars. I'm sure there's lots more good times to come in the next few days.

Cross your fingers for good weather!

miami from the ground up

2008-05-16T08:23:00.001-04:00

I was pretty obsessed with the art deco whilst there last November.

shower the people you love with love

2008-05-12T23:57:00.004-04:00

This weekend my mom and my best friend threw me the most lovely shower. Just a simple affair at my parents' house with a handful of female relatives and girlfriends. We played silly games, talked about weddings and babies, I opened so many overwhelmingly generous gifts. And oh the food... my mom did it almost entirely vegetarian in my honor... we had tea sandwiches, veggie lasagna, quiche, fruit, salads and many other finger foods. Everything was delicious. And we finished it off with tea and tiramisu. She knows what I like...

something old, something new

2008-05-11T16:10:00.001-04:00

This will be the newest thing I wear on my wedding day... If I can get it finished in time, that is. It's a half-completed shawl that I'm knitting. I'm going to try to get it done on time. And if not, I'll just go without.

bride-to-be

2008-05-09T09:39:00.001-04:00

Tim keeps asking what my dress looks like, and it gets bigger and more ridiculous with each description. Now it's to the point where I describe the poof starting at my neck and flowing out from there into a giant white pyramid. He was laughing out loud while watching me draw this the other night in Illustrator. Our laughter is good at this stressful moment. It makes me stop thinking about the murder/suicide I've contemplated several times this month. Just kidding! Sort of.

sky blue sky

2008-05-08T07:48:00.003-04:00

Shot from the front of the Staten Island ferry a few weeks ago. Made with this frame.

letterypressy and stampy

2008-05-07T21:05:00.006-04:00

I'm just too beat tonight to do anything other than sit on the couch and have a glass of red wine. You need those nights once in a while...

But I wanted to give a little shout out to the blog Melissa's Smitten which featured my rubber stamp from our wedding invitations. I've gotten such nice feedback from our guests about the invites I designed, and it's nice to see that other people out there like them too. Being mentioned in the same breath as Martha isn't too shabby either.

I really tried to carry the design throughout all the wedding stuff, like our website, and the rubber stamps helped make the paper pieces come together.

Be sure to check out Melissa's Smitten Invitations site, chock full of gorgeous letterpress stationery (her love birds are adorable.) I absolutely love the look and feel of letterpress, thanks mostly to my fellow designer and BFF Jenna who is quite the connoisseur. If I wasn't such a tightwad/control freak I might have had someone letterpress our things. And I'd probably hire Megan or Blogorelli to do the trick.

waiting travelers

2008-05-06T09:46:00.003-04:00

I don't love the quality of this image (a little grainy and definitely not the best focus) but I just love the image. Took this back in November, while we waited for our delayed flight to Miami in Newark Airport. Tim sat patiently reading a magazine while these British biddies complained about everything.

Tim left for San Fran this morning for work, so it seemed an appropriate choice.

cooling off

2008-05-05T07:44:00.002-04:00

Made these yesterday morning to take to brunch. They came out perfectly spongy and quite most. Oh, and they were banana nut.

shooting the...

2008-05-04T20:58:00.004-04:00

Had the most lovely and relaxing Sunday... after a house-warming brunch at Kate's, I strolled home through the street fair on Court St. and ran into Adam. Tim joined us later at our favorite bar, Abilene, for beers in the open air. A great respite before another busy week.

maxed out

2008-05-03T19:18:00.003-04:00

It's been an insane week for me... going into work early and staying late almost everyday... I'm part of a huge special project in addition to all my regular work... plus wedding planning on top of all that. So I've got zero creative energy today. But I figured I'd post what I've been working on.

Above is the cover of the Explore Montclair guide that I'm co-designing. Our paper teamed up with a hyper-local blog to produce this special section. It's getting a fair amount of attention at the exploding newsroom, on Baristanet itself, and even from the likes of Jeff Jarvis.

Looking forward to wrapping this up next week. Should make for a nice finished piece. Sometimes the most insane weeks are also the most productive.

vintage postcard

2008-05-02T07:58:00.000-04:00

I want to use Everyday in May to experiment with the free textures and frames available on Flickr.

I've been inspired by seeing this kind of shots from the lovely GatoProspero.

And I love what Whitney at UGC did with this one.

The frame above is from NinianLif and makes the photo feel like a musty, dog-eared old postcard.

reflection

2008-05-01T07:08:00.003-04:00

Again, May is the busiest month ever and I don't really have time, but I'm going to try to do Elena's Everyday in May. Even if it's just finally editing stuff I've shot in the past year, like the image above from Miami.

take-off scones

2008-04-27T22:11:00.002-04:00

The other weekend I watched a Barefoot Contessa episode where she made cheddar and dill scones. I had neither of those ingredients at the time, so I improvised and made rosemary and thyme scones with havarti and parmesan cheese. Quite good.

in loving memory

2008-04-23T20:16:00.001-04:00

In memory of my Grandma. She was a mother, a grandmother, a sister, a friend, a wife, a widow, a neighbor, an aunt, a cook, a crocheter, a sewer, a baker, a catholic, a lunch lady, a volunteer, a gardener, a candy-lover, a traveler, a get-up-and-do-er. And she will be missed.

big sky country

2008-04-07T23:51:00.001-04:00

with a little help from my friends

2008-04-02T22:04:00.001-04:00

Much love to Jaxx, Bexx and Laura who helped with the assembling, stuffing, and stamping of invitations. They're in the mail! Phew...

damask rubber stamping

2008-03-30T10:39:00.004-04:00

I made the design for our wedding invitations by tracing parts of a few different damask wallpaper samples and piecing them together to create an original pattern. To create a cohesive system, I used the whole patten or just isolated parts on each piece of the stationery. I also had this great rubber stamp made to ink up things I couldn't print on the inkjet printer, like the back of the response card envelopes.

for little hands

2008-03-24T20:44:00.004-04:00

I made this ring bearer pillow over the weekend for our nephew Zach to carry. The cloth is actually cloth napkins from Pier One, which I'm using for the centerpieces. The ribbon is also from the centerpieces, which I bought at M&J Trimming, and the button is a left-over from sock monkey eyes.

on the internets

2008-03-12T09:05:00.004-04:00

Some recent web exposure: On the left, I was approached by priceless.com to buy some of my truffle photos for use on their site. You can see it here. It's not a bad gig when your credit card company starts sending you money. And on the right, Chris Roush of Talking Biz News posted one of my recent covers of the Ledger's Biz section.

a tough client

2008-03-06T08:35:00.003-05:00

I forced myself to do a ton of mock-ups for our wedding website. All of the designs were based off the print system I'm using for the paper stationery. I'm pretty happy with the winning choice.

leap year

2008-02-29T08:53:00.002-05:00

Yup, taking the big leap into married life this year. I've hardly been shooting or posting lately, as all my free time has been going to planning, researching, shopping, ordering and, most fun of all, designing. Invitations will be going out in about a month, so I've been trying to print and cut a bit at a time. I'll post some photos of the finished product before they're dropped in the mail.

chin up, cheer up

2008-02-17T17:56:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine lost her beloved dog this week. Clearly she was in need of homemade chocolate chip cookies. I used some leftover Pottery Barn ribbon and new Chinese food containers for the presentation.

fake model brooklyn

2008-02-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

Tilt-shift on the Gowanus Canal. Is it real?

brooklyn, winter afternoon

2008-01-15T08:09:00.000-05:00

miami muscle

2008-01-01T23:43:00.001-05:00

truffle shuffle

2007-12-26T19:49:00.000-05:00

I had been planning for a while to make some hand-made candies for my mom and Grandma for Christmas. After some research, I cobbled together my own recipe based on ones I found here, here and here. I added Bailey's for some extra deliciousness. Poor Tim traipsed all over Manhattan to find me a melon baller, which ended up not working as expected, so I rolled each truffle by hand. Messy but effective.

Just before I made them, I also saw that Tracy at Shutterbean, my newest favorite site, had made some as well, and I borrowed the candy cane idea from her. I also dipped mine in cocoa powder, chopped white chocolate (food processor worked perfectly to turn it into tiny bits), chopped bittersweet chocolate (same stuff I used to make the ganache centers) and chopped toasted almonds.

I presented them in small Chinese food containers lined with waxed paper and tied with red and silver ribbons. The platter of extras I put out at Christmas dinner was wiped clean pretty quickly, making me think they tasted as good as they looked.

happy holidays

2007-12-24T00:06:00.000-05:00

surprises and celebrations

2007-12-19T09:56:00.000-05:00

I threw a surprise graduation party for Tim at Union Hall this weekend. I couldn't be prouder that he finished his Masters program and it was so much fun to celebrate with friends, even if he kinda knew something was up. We also got to be tourists for the weekend with his family who came into town for the ceremony. The complete set is here. Congrats to you, Catts!

outside the ica

2007-12-13T08:57:00.001-05:00

Outside the ICA

weekend in boston

2007-12-12T09:18:00.000-05:00

We spent an awesome long weekend in Boston ... design exhibit at the ICA ... wandering the city with Tito ... beers at Kingston Station ... sushi with Tito, Mark and Christi ... the coolest bathroom sink any of us have seen ... Anna's birthday party complete with pinata and Darren ... Sophia that cat at the Roslindale B+B (aka Mark + Christi's apartment) ... more design exhibits, in the form of Blogorelli's rad typewriter collection ... homemade brunch with the best brown bread ... Paper Sourcing with Jenna, a true expert ... finally making it to Wagamama for a big bowl of nostalgia ... pizza and more beers in front of Jenna and Steve's fireplace, with Hazel the pup ... then taking the train home, so much nicer than the bus. Thanks friends!

opulence

2007-12-04T09:26:00.000-05:00

the head chef

2007-12-01T11:33:00.000-05:00

I really like this shot of my mom on Thanksgiving before the big meal. Notice the open window in the background... the only time I ever remember it being warm enough to have them open at the end of November in Jersey!

This is the house that I grew up in, but the kitchen got redone after I moved out. I remember it more like this.

new baby, new blanket

2007-11-30T00:39:00.000-05:00

I started crocheting this blanket back in May, and hardly worked on it all summer. But as soon as the weather got cooler, I picked it back up and finished it just in time for our new nephew, Samuel James. Congrats to Tim's sister and her growing family.

neon not on

2007-11-26T23:03:00.001-05:00

employed boy

2007-11-20T23:16:00.001-05:00

Hats off and champagne corks popped for Tim. He found out this morning that he got the job he's been hoping for since last spring. Woot!

(Photo is from the lobby of the Delano Hotel in Miami.)

veggie sushi

2007-11-06T21:01:00.000-05:00

When Jen gave us this awesome sushi set we decide to try making it ourselves. The rolls came out surprisingly well. We made all veggie versions, of course. The avocado and peanut was my favorite. Asparagus and cucumber were lovely too.

halloween greetings

2007-10-30T08:13:00.000-04:00

shadow dancers

2007-10-25T09:13:00.001-04:00

I spotted the long, dark shadows as someone walked past this half wall on the roof and asked everyone to strike a pose. I wish the shadows themselves were a bit sharper, but I love that I'm in there and you can even see the detail of the camera strap hanging down.

rooftop carvers

2007-10-21T22:19:00.000-04:00

Spent a lovely Sunday first helping at Jer's charity booksale and then carving pumpkins on the Rivington rooftop.

river view

2007-10-08T00:40:00.000-04:00