au revoir!

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Taiwan with my family (to see more family) for 12 days...it's been over 9 years since the last time I've visited - so I'm eager to see how everyone has changed. My favorite activities while I'm there have always been eating the amazing food from the night markets, seeing all of the colorful scooters everywhere and of course, the shopping (I will be buying many, many pairs of shoes). While I probably won't be blogging much during the trip, I have set a few posts to go live while I'm gone...so check back from time to time! See you in 2 weeks!

(Photo by quincy sparks)

daily drop cap

ust how lovely are these illustrative initials created by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische? Her project, The Daily Drop Cap, features a new decorated initial cap every day - and the amazing part is they are free for everyone to use in the blog world! I have to admit...her letter 'J' is my absolute favorite, which is why I chose to begin this post with the word 'just'. Aren't I so clever? :) Find your own initial here.

wire hangers

Personalized wire hangers for the little boy/girl in your life...aren't they just the cutest?! I can totally picture a tiny button-up shirt or dress hanging from one of these...

el oh vee ee

A lovely quote for a Monday...have you ever had one of those moments when you're with someone and you just realize how happy you are to be with him/her? Yea, I had about 23 of those this past weekend (oh how I love him :) ). Have a wonderful day!

(Borrowed from One Long Road)

fall weekend

Ok, I lied. My absolute hands-down favorite part of the trip was Central Park. All the red, yellow and orange leaves...it was so breathtaking, I couldn't get enough. So here are a few more photos for you because I miss it already. Hope you have a fabulous fall weekend xoxo.

P.S. Kyle's favorite part was the broadway play...I am crossing my fingers that someday he will like musicals just as much!

new york recap

Kyle and I had such a wonderful time in New York - it would be too hard for us to pick a favorite sight we saw or activity we did...as we loved everything about the city. We just soaked it all in :)

Some of the highlights included:
* Sunny & cool fall weather the entire time we were there (yay for boots and hats!) *

* 2 words: Central Park. 3 more words: best. park. ever *
* Walking up and down the streets lined with gorgeous brownstones *
* Food, food and more food*
* Kyle surprising me for my birthday with dinner and a broadway play at Times Square (thanks babe!) *

* Exploring the High Line and the American Museum of Natural History*
* And finally...eating brunch at Pastis in the meatpacking district (um hello, Carrie and Aleksandr Petrovsky ate here in one of the SATC episodes!!! Yes, I'm a nerd ok?) *

But as much fun as we had, it does feel good to be home. Thanks so much for letting me share my photos with you!

airplane reading

Before I left for my NY trip, I made a pact with myself that I would finish an entire book during the airplane ride (there and back). So I grabbed the top one off my stack of 6 "I-really-want-to-read-you-but-I-haven't-had-time-yet" books that I had on my desk and took it with me...and wow I am so happy I did!

'Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant' is a collection of short essays written by a diverse set of writers that poses the question: what do you eat when you have to dine alone? I think I giggled the entire flight while reading this book...some of the things people eat are just so strange! Probably the weirdest thing I've ever eaten was spaghetti sauce on saltine crackers, but to me that's not that outrageous (think mini pizzas minus the cheese). What do you eat when you are by yourself?

blanca monrós gómez jewelry

One of the main reasons for our trip was so that we could meet Blanca (the jeweler who made my engagement ring) and pick out our wedding bands! Her style is so simple and organic that I just knew we had to work with her again...not to mention she uses recycled gold in all of her pieces, making it more environmentally friendly which is a huge plus. Kyle and I went straight to her little house in Brooklyn right after we landed...where I then proceeded to become overly giddy with excitement from trying all of the sample rings on. While they were all so lovely, we ended up choosing rings that are very similar to the first picture above (and I couldn't be happier). Blanca is such an incredibly sweet person and so easy to work with, I'd definitely recommend her to anyone :)

P.S. She is also on etsy, check out her shop here.

happy monday

Hello! I am back from our mini vacation in New York...am still a little tired and with sore legs and feet that I can barely move, but boy was my belly sure happy. One thing I did notice while riding the subway and walking around the city was the abundance of Ugg boots everywhere - I mean what's not to love*, they are super comfortable and keep your feet oh-so-warm-and-toasty...but for some reason I always thought they were just a fad. Apparently not!

*I don't actually own real Uggs, but rather inexpensive Target imitation knock-offs which I still love. Maybe it's time for me to finally invest in a pair though?

(Photo by weheartit)

new york weekend

The boy and I are headed to New York City tomorrow for a quick mini-vacation...and to celebrate my birthday! We plan on seeing some friends, visiting museums, riding the subway (LOVE public transportation) and eating lots of pizza. Don't worry, I'll be sure to take lots of pictures for my many future blog entries :) Have a great rest of the week!

(Photo by Irene)

enamored pencil set

Show someone you love them by giving them one of these 'enamored ' no. 2 pencils by paperpastries...too cute, don't you think? I'm also loving the 'know-it-all' set...how very clever!

(Borrowed from double takes)

halloween recap!

Just a few snapshots from this past weekend...we saw our movie (so wonderful) and carved our first pumpkin together! It is a lot harder than it looks so I had to do a lot of "supervising" vs. actual carving...we were going for the Mr. Pringles look, can you tell? :)

And Hallie didn't really like her costume very much but she did get several compliments from the neighborhood kids for being such an adorable hot dog!
Have a wonderful Monday. xo

happy halloween

Yay for Halloween! I always love an excuse to eat candy...maybe a little too much as I've already eaten half the bag that I was going to give the trick-or-treaters tomorrow (time for another grocery trip run). Are you doing anything fun this weekend? I'm so excited because Kyle and I are finally going to go see Where the Wild Things Are. I've heard that it's amazing but a little spooky, so I can't wait...have a good one!

P.S. Aren't those costumes the cutest things you've ever seen? :)

(Photos by tappit)

paris pastry

Loving this adorable little film by Susan Hochbaum...oh how I miss those French pastries...

(Borrowed from happyladyeats)