Inspired By...

...a playful print that I wouldn't mind staring at everyday. This is definitely getting ordered and framed somewhere in my apartment.

Available at Society 6

...sweet graphic notecards with the cutest of details of your favorite city, whatever city that might be.

Available by Hello Lucky

...just the loveliest little kid's room I ever did see. Nicole and I would have died to live in such a room when we were girls. Those lamps! That sweet chair! Swoon.

Photograph by Julien Fernandez

...DIY embroidered cards (I'm on a bit of a card kick lately, if you haven't noticed) that I've already tried my hand out and found they're not that hard to make! I may start embroidering everything from here on out...

Photo & DIY by Liz Stanley

...rockstar-worthy wallpaper. I mean, you can never go wrong with gold dots. Now, which room can I convince F this would work best in...?

Available at Bartsch

Image credits: Wake by Phil Jones via Apartment Therapy | Greeting cards by Hello Lucky via Poppytalk | Lovely little child's room by Julien Fernandez pinned by Julie | DIY embroidered cards by Say Yes to Hoboken | Gold dot wallpaper by Bartsch via Decor8 

Inspired By...

...a cheeky play on prettily packaged furniture.

Design by Rossana Orlandi for TAF, photo by Joakim Bergström

...a perfect, colorful bunch of my favorite flowers (and in my favorite city)

Photo by Chasing Heartbeats

...unbelievably beautiful and intricate papercut messages for your wall!

Design by Annie Vought

...a peppy chair with an even peppier name that would feel right at home in my multicolored living room.

Design by John Lewis

...a birthday card that kicks all other birthday cards' asses

 

Design by Amy Ferguson for Jack Cards

...charming seat decorations fit for a queen (or bride). I will have to keep this in mind when I become queen of the world... (yes, world domination is part of my 10-year-plan :)

Photo by Joy Marie Photography, Design by Amy Kaneko Events

Image credits: Soft parcels designed by Rossana Orlandi, photo by Joakim Bergströmor for TAF via Emmas Design Blog | Ranunculus by Chasing Heartbeats | Papercut artwork by Annie Vought via Design*Sponge |  Mr. Bright chair by John Lewis via Bright.Bazaar | Awesomer card by Amy Ferguson for Jack Cards via Old Sweet Song | Floral chair by Joy Marie Photography, design by Amy Kaneko Events via Style Me Pretty

Inspiration to Action: Handwritten Letters

I've always liked writing things by hand--letters, little notes, papers. Even in college (which wasn't that long ago), I always hand wrote all my papers and essays. Only later, for the final draft, did I type them up. It was way more time consuming, of course, and way messier, to do so, but for some reason my thoughts just flow more easily when I hand write.

But I've fallen out of the habit lately (like, probably, most of the world has). So when I saw this lovely print on Pinterest the other week, I had a wee bit of a (somewhat guilty) aha moment.

I should write more handwritten letters! Why haven't I been doing so for so long? And so I've decided to. I dug out all the hand-letter-writing materials I could find in my shelves yesterday (which was a lot) and decided to start writing letters this week. (So if I have your address, get ready for some old school snail mail!)

P.S. My handwritten letter materials: Multi-language Thank You notes from Target | "Table for Two" maternity card by Speckles and Weeds | Seasonal note cards by Yours Is the Earth | Beautiful beautiful beautiful printed stationary picked up in Florence, Italy years ago | Ridiculously hilarious cat stationary (that I mostly send to my mother, the crazy-cat-lady-to-be) by Stuff on My Cat

Image credits: Handwritten Letters from Mary Kate's flickr via Catherine's pinterest | Stationary supplies by Natalie

Valentine's Day Craftiness

So I got all sorts of crafty this weekend for Valentine's Day. It's not like I'm not a huge Valentine's Day person or anything (although I did have fun making heart-shaped meatballs with Nicole last V-Day). It's more that an excuse to deck out the apartment in hearts and bake til my own heart is content is reason enough to celebrate in my book. (Also, I was feeling a little bummed out the week before and making pretty and sugary things seemed the perfect way to pull myself out of that funk. While blasting cheerfully ridiculous music, which I usually don't do--I'm more of a TV-in-the-background-person--but which did wonders for bringing up my spirits. Who knew.)

I started with cupcakes. I haven't made cupcakes in I-don't-know-how-long (I may have mentioned that I'm more of a cookie girl, right?), but I felt like they'd be perfectly festive and cheesy (which is what V-Day is, really, all about). Also I became completely smitten with this Lemon, Peach & Blueberry recipe from Patisserie Natalie (not only because her name is awesome) and just had to make it.

And then top them off with candy hearts because, come on, how could I not. (My favorite is the one that says "Tweet Me." You know, for the real romantic.)

I also, obviously, wanted to deck out the apartment in hearts, so, taking a cue from this tutorial, made my own little paint chip heart garlands. (If I had had a heart-shaped hole punch, this would have been much easier. But I'm not fancy like that. Yet.) Here's my pretty self-explanatory how-to in pictures. I reused the awesome glitter string and clothespins from Nicole's advent calendar because it's just too pretty (and sparkly) not to keep up, then drew my hearts, cut them out, and pinned away.

 
And what's V-Day without candy, stuffed creatures, a fabulous card (but of course), and goofy gifts? I'm a big fan of sprucing up wrapping paper or making it personal in some way, so for these I took the leftover stuffing paper from our new coffee tables (it seems a shame to just throw that much paper out), doodled little shapes and love notes all over, and wrapped each gift individually. Then I stuffed them all into a box, doodled some more hearts on that, and it was ready to go.

Happy V-Day, everyone!

All photos by Natalie

Inspired By...

 ...lovely inspiration for rooms with high ceilings (I find ours so intimidating to decorate correctly). Although I could never survive with so much white and so few colors, the placement of those hanging lamps is absolutely divine.

Photo by Yellows Photography

...fun and quick-to-whip-up little watercolor gift tags, perfect for future care packages.

 Photo and DIY by Sodapop Design

...feminine flower arrangements to bring some color to these gray winter days.

Top photo and styling by Amy Merrick | Bottom photo by paper antler, styling by somewhere splendid 

...some stylish bike lovers in one of my all-time favorite cities. (If only I could remember more from my Finnish classes to fully appreciate the text!)

Photo by Krista Keltanen

...gold-rimmed glasses that would look perfect on my future bar cart.

Photo by Nicole Gerulat, styling by Enjoy Events Co.

...a coffee table to trump all others. Who wants to commission a really awesome birthday present for me...?

Designed by Lisa Finster

Image credits: Living room by Yellows Photography, pinned by Jennifer | Gift tags by Sodapop Design | Red flowers by Amy Merrick via Hey Look | Pink flowers by paper antler, styled by somewhere splendid via Cake. | Helsinki tweed run by Krista Keltanen | Wine glasses by Nicole Gerulat, styled by Enjoy Events Co. | Book table by Lisa Finster via Refinery 29

A Balcony Herb Garden

As part of my home redecorating plan for this year, I'm determined to grow--and to keep alive--my own little balcony garden. And since it's hardly winter here in Miami (we had our week of "cold" and now we're back to beach temperatures), I started this week. I was inspired to start by these charming seasonal notecards I just ordered from Yours Is the Earth.

Each card features original illustrations of seasonal fruits and vegetables--corn and watermelon for summer, leeks and radishes for winter, etc. etc. The drawings are so simple and sweet and the accompanying calligraphy is just gorgeous! While they came as a set of 12 notecards, my intention is to frame one of each season and hang them in the kitchen for a little daily cooking and garden inspiration.

I'd love to attempt growing my own seasonal fruits and vegetables, but I think it's probably best to start small. So I took a trip to my local nursery and picked out some easy, familiar herbs--thyme, mint, and cilantro. (I was also supposed to get parsley, but apparently picked up a second cilantro plant instead. For a Mexican food lover like me, that's really not a bad thing.) Then I headed home and replanted (after asking the nursery man very detailed instructions on how to do this, which he laughed at me about and said, "It's easy." To which I said, "But I don't want to kill them!". I think I amused him.).

It's about one week later and so far, the little guys are all thriving! In fact, the cilantro's getting big enough that I think I'm going to harvest my first batch today to whip up some guacamole. If all goes well, basil, some pretty flowers, and at least one large colorful plant will be added to the mix so I can finally have the green balcony of my dreams!

Notecards available at Yours Is the Earth's Etsy shop. All photos by Natalie.

My Weekend in Pictures

A fitting accessory for a Berlin bear to hold

Some sunshine at last!

Cozy touches to brighten up our home

My favorite morning routine

Baked goodies

Laundry chaos

 

Fabulous presents from sister

 

Finished pieces of a baby present

- It was a stay-at-home kinda weekend and I made the most of it by baking up some delicious American treats: banana bread (Micha hates it so I get it all to myself!) and chocolate chip cookies. I sent half the cookies home with our friend Stefan and the other half I brought to work, since I had already gorged myself on dough. That and I like to suck up to my coworkers every now and then  in order to stay on their good side.

- I don't often miss having a dryer, but when the hamper starts overflowing and we have to do three loads of laundry in a row and then run out of space to hang it up to dry (which, in the winter, takes about 2.5 days), then yeah, I really start to miss the convenience of fluffy, warm, fresh-from-the-dryer laundry... (but look sister, the eyesore ladder got put to use!)

- I honestly cannot pick my favorite of that set of coasters sister sent. They are all! so! AMAZING!!

- So those little knitted squares? They're for a group present that a bunch of us are making for our expecting friends (Germans love to do group presents and surprises for weddings so at this one we went to last year, the MOH whipped up this cute everybody-knit-a-square-for-it blanket plan since the bride was preggo - such a great idea!). I had actually finished knitting the squares about a week after the wedding but then forgot to ever send them to the MOH (oopsie poodles!). So we finally got around to it this weekend (we were supposed to send a picture of ourselves with our squares, too. I generously allowed Micha to pretend take credit for one.). I can't wait to see the finished blanket for their little girl!

- Lastly, I'm jealous of everyone who has Martin Luther King Day off today while I do not. Le sigh...

Oh, and absolutely huge exciting news coming up later today!

Inspired By the New Year...and...

As 2011 is (way too quickly!) drawing to a close, I'm sure we're all thinking about the same things: what we did in 2011, and what we want to do better in 2012. I'm not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions, mostly because I find them hard to remember (what was it I said I'd do this year...? I always think come mid-spring) and even harder to follow through with. But I do like the idea of looking at the new year as a clean slate, with new goals to set and new adventures to take on. That being said, my last post of the year (eek!) is inspired by the new year--the party, the sparkles, and the plans for the future.

...deliciously creative cocktails with rims that I pretty much want to put on every glass I use in 2012. No, really. White chocolate and edible glitter goes well with water, right?

 Photos and recipe by Fashionably Bombed

...such. cute. greeting cards. that could, quite frankly, work for any occasion. Or no occasion at all. Just thinking of somebody? High-five! Just wanna say you're awesome? Fist bump! And the best part is, you can buy a set or DIY them. If you're on my "you're awesome" list, get ready for lots of paper high-fives in 2012.

Available by Alessandra Mondolfi

...quite possibly the most colorful plate of veggies I've ever seen. In this upcoming year, one of my goals is to cook more and learn to cook better. If I can create anything even remotely as beautiful as this, I'll be cooking everyday.

Photo and recipe by Béatrice Peltre

...another whimsical paint chip project that would be such an awesome background for a party photobooth (or such an awesome statement on my hallway wall! What, too much?). In 2012, I'm definitely flexing my DIY muscles more. And adding a lot more color to the apartment.

Photo by Peter Combe

...a home bar setup that I'm dying to recreate. I was recently rearranging our own makeshift bar area (oh how I long for a vintage-inspired bar cart instead of a standard white shelving unit...) and while searching for inspiration came across this image. I'm smitten. And not only because the awesome map is of my hometown.

Photo by Bethany Nauert

...a clever (and simple!) way to dress up my baked goods. I love love love baking, and finding fun new ways to make my cookies prettier always brings a giant smile to my face. And makes me want to bake a lot more.

Photo by Kirsten Strecker

...lovely words from a lovely lady. Because sometimes we all need to take a step back and look at what's really important. Especially when it's written so prettily.

Via Defining Classy

And now, I'm off. To get some sun (gotta love the Miami weather), start preparing for a giant Italian New Year's Day feast, and make mountains of 2012 To Do lists. I hope your 2011 was filled with wonder and love and I'm wishing you all the best in 2012. We'll see you then!

Image credits: Sparkle-tini by Fashionably Bombed | Hand Gesture greeting cards by Alessandra Mondolfi via ManMade DIY | Roasted Root Vegetables by La Tartine Gourmande pinned by Selina | Pink Interference paint strip art by Peter Combe via You Are My Fave | Home bar setup of Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere via Apartment Therapy | Stamped cookies via Country Living pinned by Selina | Audrey Hepburn quote via Defining Classy pinned by Sydney