born free

Thanks to the Arbor Wiki I spent my birthday getting free things all over my hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. My two favorites, above, were 6 bagels from the world famous Zingerman's and a MIMOSA flavored cupcake from Cake Noveau.

home advantage

I take a long awaited trip to Michigan on Thursday, and I can't wait! I love my house - I love the strange colors (green! red!) and the one little bathroom, and my blue carpeted bedroom - those three windows in the front are MINE. Even my tattoo came out of my love for my house. It has been my house ever since I was born, and I will always love it.

waiting line

I want to do the portrait in photos that alli did, but I need time to plug in my hard drive and really sift through my old stuff. So until then, a few things. (p.s. this is hello emma's 200th post, i think?)



I am 100% obsessed with Rifle Paper Co, a fab stationary & print company run by wife Anna Bond and husband Nathan Bond. Anna designs, Nathan manages, I drool. The colors used really make me want to stop writing this blog post and draw more, but alas - I will not. I do plan on buying things from them and adding Anna to my list of most favorite artists.



My other most recent favorite artist is Sofia Arnold, a fellow midwestern (holla atcha, wisconsin!) artist whose sketches and silkscreens make me die on the inside, they're so lovely! As a person who loves making tiny little marks on paper, I find her mark-making enviable.



I'm also going to TRY to start putting more things into my shop. It's more of a "here is a goal, now make the art." rather than a "i will make so much money from this endeavor."

i want my mtv

I am not a person who buys cds all the time and goes to concerts a lot - but I do still like music. It's mostly been what's on my ipod, though, so new musical discoveries are scarce. But recently I've been liking a few new things, would you like to hear them?

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Heaven Can Wait from Charlotte Gainsbourg on Vimeo.

Mayer Hawthorne - Just Ain't Gonna Work Out from Stones Throw on Vimeo.

God Help The Girl / God Help The Girl from God Help The Girl on Vimeo.

label maker

I am researching wine labels for a birthday wine, and it is FUN. That is all. (click pictures for the source)

color by number

I don't use colored pencils in my usual work, but if I had 500 GORGEOUS colored pencils like these ones from Social Designer, I might have to. Like it's (just a little) less cool "of the month club" brothers, with 500 Pencils you get a set of 25 colored pencils once a month for 20 months, leaving you with the most complete spectrum of pencils I've ever seen.

There are also FOUR DIFFERENT display cases that make the pencils lust-worthy decorations, too. I'd go for the "Aurora" myself, but they all look good. Also, they have some real sweet names like Tragedy, Rhett Butler, and Golden Festival Screen.

Okay, I'll stop salivating now.

julep, plum pudding, and toucan

christmas-time is here

Yesterday it snowed even more, too. Tonight we will watch White Christmas... and I'm thinkin' it'll be cookie baking time soon.

banner print

If I had a yacht, that is what I would name it.

music

"I don't care much about music. What I like is sounds." -dizzy gillespie

for illustration friday's music. also digging Dana's, Carmen's & Sandra's.

wishful thinking

I recently joined mint.com and proceeded to freak out about how I'm spending my money (stop going out to eat! try to drive less! you can get about five coffees a month!), so instead of shopping like I want to, I'll wait till next month and save up for presents.

But there are two new favorite things that I can celebrate in the meantime. And thus, welcome to my little blog's newest feature:





Who doesn't love a good pair of wooly socks? After discovering a great second hand store in St. Paul called Practical Goods, I am now the happy owner of this oatmeal colored pair. They are perfect for keeping my tootsies warm whilst sleeping, or wearing with my boots & some leggings to work.

We also recently acquired this new, better looking coffee table. The old one (beautiful as it was) we got by a dumpster (1) wasn't in the best condition and (2) was a lighter colored "wood" than the rest of our furniture. So out it went, and in came the NEW TABLE. After stripping the inserts of their original, terrible blue faux-mosaic contact paper, Bryan spray painted them white and they look FAB. Now I just have to never spill anything ever again.

What little new acquisitions are you celebrating?

give 'em the boot

Ever since those boots that I wanted so badly disappeared from the Victoria's Secret website (double damn! why didn't i buy them when i had the chance?) I've got a new boot obsession: sweater cuff boots. Mid to no heel, lace up, with an extra dose of cozy.

I saw a pair at my new fave place focusing on "second hand items" made from "natural materials", Practical Goods, but like all other pairs I find, they're too small.

exhibit a:





From RockyMountainRetro, an absolutely fabulous etsy seller who responded quickly to my woes about the size of the boot and questions about its maker.

exhibit b:




These sportos aren't exactly what I want, but I love sportos so much that they stay.

exhibit c:



As RockyMountainVintage smartly pointed out, I could just buy a boot like this sweetie here from DSW and wear the right sock underneath - perhaps cuffing OVER the boot? I did see a very similar pair Rewind Vintage in my size....

wild thing

album art

After a quick jaunt to Pittsburgh, I drove back with my family to Michigan on Sunday. After being obsessed with the aforementioned blog below, I decided to go about raiding the 'rents photo albums for submissions. BUT A WEIRD THING HAPPENED: Once I got these pictures onto my computer, I no longer wanted to just send them to a (totally sweet) website. I wanted to use them for.... well... something. I don't know what, but I've got an art project that needs to happen. It's been nice to be inspired by something new, as for the past few YEARS the only things I've been able to do are cute girls or pieces about ghosts.

So, here. A random selection of photos:

parental discretion

While I get my camera back from Angie and madly prepare self for the Art Sale & going to Pittsburgh, please enjoy My Parents Were Awesome (I find the 70s photos the most enticing for some reason. But they're all cute.)








p.s. that blog has inspired me to find more old pictures of my parents & family! Perhaps even to be posted here?

99

a sweet, simple, & short video shot this year during a class at my alma mater. thanks, mcad flickr!

pattern of behavior

How is it that I always get the best co-workers? This time around, it's a wonderful woman who tips me off on great estate sales (we even went together once and I got a fab vintage bathing suit that will probably end up in the shop next summer) and listens to me gush about the mini pies that I plan on making (inspired, of course, by kate miss's little guys). A few days ago I complained about my lack of thermos to take lots of yummy peppermint tea to the studio, and the next day this thermos set complete with plaid carrier and huge plastic sandwich tin came to work with the aforementioned coworker! Oh joy! My plaid obsession is on overkill.

So here's the thank you note I made for her, in the spirit of me posting more art and less boring things:

window shopping

During the winter of my tray obsession (I now have THREE TRAYS because of this obsession. Who needs three trays?!) I stumbled upon Three Potato Four, which lead to the acquisition of that adorable little tray above. But oh, Three Potato Four is good for so much more than trays..




I'm currently lusting over the Hovis English Bread Tins and Little Red Riding Key Hook (SO CUTE).


Internet window shopping is just so satisfying for me. I think I'll be doing it most of the morning, along with some coffe and my favorite lounge-y iTunes radio station, Martini in The Morning.

lack of enthusiasm

oh blog, i am sorry. you have fallen to the wayside while my life hurls countless crazy things my way. illness? check. interviews and big projects? check and check. crazy hours at work? checkaroo. I've been wishing I could document outfits, as I kind of miss wardrobe remix... but right now I'm not even wearing anything interesting, or wearing it at a time of day when the flash would not be entirely necessary.

And art? well, art will be made soon, hopefully some to share.

until then, these random photos taken at random intervals of downtime are pretty much all I got.

photo finish

on friday I attended a lovely wedding with katie, bill, and ben. It was too. much. fun. Please, everyone getting married, get a photobooth for your wedding. Everyone will think you're awesome.

Twin Cities residents: The Traveling Photobooth seems to be the photobooth of choice - used at such places as ROCK THE GARDEN and THAT WEDDING I WENT TO ON FRIDAY.

I also think Smile Booth would be rockin, too.

fall into place

Recently I decided to become a seasonal tourist. In other words, do all the typical things you're supposed to do in any given season. I already drink gin & tonics in the summer and whiskey gingers in the winter, so why not go all out? Food, clothing, activities, all of them WILL GET DONE this year. What's on my fall docket?



Food-wise, I'm all about the spices, apples, and pumpkins. I've never baked a pumpkin pie before, and my mom has a pretty killer recipe that I'm totally going to snag. For all of you not related to my mom, Martha's got a few good recipes. I'm also pretty set on drinking apple cider, making mulled cider, eating apples, and going to an apple orchard.

Before it snows. This may prove to be difficult, but hopefully Minnesota will be good to me.



The chill of fall means two things to me: tons of blankets and TEA TEA TEA (and hot coffee in the mornings). I have the perfect blanket right now - polar fleece on one side, fuzzy lamb-like fleece on the other. IT IS SO COMFY. but I do like this plaid one from Pendleton... it's called the LUMBERMAN BLANKET!! As far as tea goes, I can never have enough cute mugs, and I desperately need a new tea kettle.



With all these blankets and tea and apples, I will probably need to curl up and read a few books. Right now I'm working my way through Stiff, but next up I'd like to read some books that are good on the inside AND the outside - like Cheerful Money (getting tons of write ups) or The Mysterious Benedict Society... the first book, that is. THE ONE THAT CARSON ELLIS ILLUSTRATED. She is my hero, guys.

Also, I'm still obsessed with these ugly/cute boots. I CANNOT TELL IF THEY ARE UGLY OR CUTE PLEASE HELP.

shop around

in case you haven't seen it yet, alli and i have updated the shop with plenty of items for the coming school year - like a sweet jumper and a monogrammed cardigan, and more will be on their way!

Whenever we do these big updates, I always get to shopping for myself... today I'm yearning for bib necklaces.



cookoorikoo's is so lovely and charming, but there are TONS of them on etsy that I cannot help but squeal over. THAT ONE, oh, no! THIS ONE! OR THIS ONE?! Want plz.