I love my friends.
Birthday weekend (yes, it was a whole weekend) was amazing! It started off with a sweet lunch and cake and flowers with my office on Friday. Then Eric created the most beautiful spread of wine, cheese, and desserts for a party on Saturday night. I chose a dense, flourless chocolate cake with peanut butter icing; he baked it perfectly. You’d think a cake like that would be the centerpiece, but there was a whole display of bread and butter radishes. Three different varieties. With bread. And butter. And four different kinds of salt. I could eat radishes all day and all night, they make me so happy!
Sunday was
for coffee, farmers market, dumplings and bubble tea for lunch, and then a
drive to an adorable old schoolhouse where we spent the night. When I say “old”
I mean 150 years old. That’s way old! Eric cooked up what we had found at the
farmers market that morning while I cozied up in front of the fireplace with a
glass of champagne and The New Yorker. Is there a better way to spend a rainy birthday? No, no there's not.
We spent
Monday exploring Charlottesville, VA. Two coffee shops, two vintage stores, one
yarn store, three used book stores, and a delicious sushi dinner later, and I
can confidently say that this was one of the best weekends and best birthdays
ever.
What a perfect way to kick off a year in which I want to accomplish so so so much!
Thirty
Things to do While I’m Thirty
1:: Take
one photo every day 2::Crochet pretty cowls 3::Alpahbet swap 4::Eat breakfast
with Eric on weekdays 5::sew pretty headbands 6:: read 50 books more
7::Cherry Blossom 10-miler 8::Put stuff in my etsy shop 9::Sell at at least one
craft fair 10::Photo shoot at Palace of Wonders 11::New Yorker covers project
12::Sew a skirt 13::NYC inspiration trip 14::Paint recipe art 15::(Re-)Learn
calligraphy 16::Become more comfortable with Illustrator 17::Make at least one
batch of macarons 18::Attend some combination of 5 yoga and/or dance classes
19::Send a letter or card once a week 20::Find vintage typewriter, suitcases,
record player, polaroid, and/or sewing machine 21::Print & frame 4 photos
each month 22::Make 6 mix CDs 23::Blog at least 10 times per month 24::Learn 5
new bookbinding methods 25::Seriously consider a new tattoo 26::Read and use
The Printmaker’s Bible 27::Learn how to roast a chicken the way Eric does it
28::Collect printing blocks and type 29::Make notecards to keep on hand
30::Send holiday cards
On Sunday
I’ll turn 30. I’m really looking forward to it. My twenties were great and I’m
satisfied with where they’ll be leaving me.
I am not
without plans for the year. When a few of my friends turned 30 earlier this
year, I made them each a 30 Things to Do While I’m 30 book. Last week I put one
together for myself. I still have a few spaces left to reach 30 and I’m taking
these last few days to make sure I’m not forgetting something. I’ll share the list once it’s
final…probably on Sunday.
DC
Rollergirls Craft Fair & Holiday Bash
December
12, 8pm-11pm
McFaddens
(2401 Pennsylvania Ave., NW)
I’m putting
finishing touches on stuff for the craft fair tonight. I spent the day printing
on Wednesday and came up with these prints. I love what they mean to me. I’m
always trying to create something new to show my love to friends and family or
make my little world more beautiful. Eric does the same with food. So I thought
up these coordinating prints. I can’t wait to frame them!
I’ve also
been working on some new birthday cards. Mostly, I’ve just loved printing with my
two wood type alphabets lately and wanted to make beautiful words with them.
I’m doing
my first craft fair this weekend in DC. If you’re in the area, please stop by the
DC Rollergirls Holiday Bash at McFadden’s on Saturday night and say hello. In
preparation I’ve been printing lots of new cards. Here’s a peek at what I’ll
have on my table. I love the way mixing these two wood types looks on the
beautiful Arturo paper. I've put a few of each of these cards in the shop if you want to grab one before the craft show!
I hope you
all had a nice weekend. We got to celebrate Eric’s birthday. So fun! Eric spent all day on Saturday building a bench - for real. He's never done anything like that before, and it was perfect! I stayed
up super late on Saturday night (Sunday morning, actually) baking his requested
brownie cake with mocha ganache. And got up way early on Sunday to prepare our
home for almost 20 guests. Four of whom were held up by Eric's fabulous bench. That’s the biggest party we’ve hosted in our home in
a long time. And it was so great to be able to do that again. We served
biscuits and gravy and apple muffins, all from scratch, with the aforementioned
time-intensive cake for dessert (also from scratch). Friends and neighbors and classmates joined us.
Today,
Eric took the day off to come to my swearing in ceremony. We got dressed up,
went to the courthouse, and followed up the ceremony with a stop at one of our
favorite coffee shops before a long walk home. I started packaging things for
this weekend’s craft fair and then we went out for mussels (for the second day
in a row). Now I’m back at craft fair prep, probably until the wee hours of the
morning.
We got our
kitchen up and running this weekend. There were lots of warm delicious smells
wafting around the new house. Eric cooked a pork shoulder in the crockpot on
Thursday and a saag paneer (with fresh cheese) on Sunday while I worked on some handmade gifts. I am a lucky woman!
We also got the washer and dryer up and running: Eric is a lucky man. He has
piles and piles of clean socks now :)
Did you
have a relaxing weekend?
You know how I feel about orange and blue, but lately I've been loving a blue-green combination. Actually that color duo may have been the reason the cupcake scrapshop kit made me so unbelievably happy! This new card is one way I've manged to get these two hues together lately. 
These A2-size cards have stamped flowers falling along the bottom of the front. And there's a happy birthday message stamped and embossed onto a green background - also accented with the stamped flowers. The inside is blank for a personal bithday greeting. 
Soon to be available in the Etsy shop!
Cupcakes are everywhere! And now I've got some cupcake cards to show off. 
These 4 bar white cards have a cut out sliver and pink cupcake on the front - topped off with a bright red cherry! The front of the card is stamped with the greeting "Eat Sweets" and the
inside of the card reads "happy birthday" in red ink. 
Available soon in the Etsy shop.
Who knew orange could be so pretty? I love being pleasantly surprised!
A friend asked me to design birthday cards she could send to her clients on their birthdays. I used her company's colors (orange and gray) to create the cards. The result was so pretty that I think similar cards will become part of my regular Etsy offerings.
They're 3.5" x 5" poppy colored cards with a strip of green and blue patterned paper down the side. The front features a stamped gift image and the simple greeting "happy birthday." I think I'll leave the inside blank, though for my friend's clients the inside of the cards will feature a message on a cement colored text block. Enjoy!
I designed these with upcoming birthdays in mind. 
This is a soft white 3.5 x 4.75 card with rounded corners and cutout polka dots. Behind the cutouts I placed some pretty patterned paper and then stamped a dragonfly on the front. The inside says "happy birthday" and is off-white.
Now available in the Etsy shop!
These greetings are sure to make someone's special day bubbly! These soft white foldover cards are adorned with a unique design of cutout polka dot stickers in three different shades of blue on a green strip.
A special sparkly happy birthday greeting on the front. Inside is blank.
Each card comes with a soft white A6 envelope and is individually wrapped in a plastic sleeve
