Laughter and Cake

My dinner party last night was one of the best I've had. There was a group of 8 of us. Eating tacos, drinking margaritas, singing happy birthday and the best of all, laughing. I even lost my voice a little from laughing so much. 

Friends really do mean the world to me, and I'm so thankful for mine.

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Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream

I love ice cream. A lot. (That might even be an understatement) And for years, I've seen jeni's spendid ice cream all over the web. Every time I read about one of her seasonal flavors or the black coffee flavor, my mouth just fills with saliva. I'm dying down here in GA! (It doesn't hurt that it's been an average of 95 degrees the past few weeks.) When I heard Jeni opened a location in Nashville, I'm now itching for an excuse to trek up there and get myself some of her splendid ice cream. Anyone want to join me?

Plus, it doesn't hurt that her branding is so colorful and quirky. 

(photos 1-3 via, photo 4 via)

Anyone every tried it? Have a flavor recommendation?

WHOA. Major chalk love.

Are these not fantastic? I am in awe of these free handed chalk illustrations by Dana Tanamachi. Lettering in general is beautiful, but when it's done with chalk? Oh my heart be still. 

(via Twig & Thistle)

Tina, you fat lard, come get some DINNER!

Letterpress, hot pink edges & a glasses-wearing llama = mind-blowing business cards.

(via)

I'm dreaming of Vermont.

My next Fall vacation should be at this Vermont farmhouse. All those colors...and isn't the bathroom dreamy?

Oh Hi

I am dying to order a handful of these and hang them in my "foyer". Any way to make my guests feel more welcome. (:

(All images + products from Oh hi shop.)

I'm strangely madly in love with the 'hi' and the 'ampersand'.

Design rules to live by...

I got this in my latest How Magazine and am itching to frame it and hang in my apartment.

(image via Design Crush)

Girls Weekend!

I have been friends with Laura since the 8th grade. She's recently moved back into town and we had a girls night at my apt. We watched "The Social Network", made a yummy dinner and then attempted to make our own version of the girl scout samoa cookie. (They looked absolutely nothing like the picture and truthfully, they weren't very good. I think we'll settle for just buying the box next time. :)  In the midst of all that we had time for laughs, singing along with Bruno Mars and of course (like every good sleep over) talking about boys. The following day we discovered Yeah! Burger. (I fell in love with all the design there. Fantastic.)

That night I went out for my friend Nikki's birthday. We ate at Twist. Yumm-o.

Paul Rand

Pretty colors and lovely inspiration by Paul Rand.

It's almost the weekend!!

(image via Lox Papers)

Adorable.

How adorable are these kids?! The last one made me laugh out loud, so I couldn't resist...

(via Design Love Fest & Behance)

Design Your Own Alphabet

If you can't already tell, I'm a big fan of Design*Sponge. I'm also a big fan of typography. I just love all the different letters, shapes and size, decorative and classic. They all blow mind. (As does Jessica Hische. The type Queen.)

So as you can imagine, I'm super excited about the new contest that Design*Sponge launched yesterday.


Design your own alphabet!

If you win, you get $500 worth of Veer goodies!

Plumen

Remember my Mason Jar chandelier that I posted? Well, here's another awesome lighting alternative. No shades, just bulbs. And it's still beautiful.

(Buy the bulbs here. Images via)

Colorful Bottles

(Photos via Seesaw)

Aren't these bottles so beautiful? I love the way the light just shines through. The roommate and I have started a collection of mismatched bottles. They're sitting atop our kitchen cabinets. Purple, turquoise, an old milk bottle... They're beautiful. 

Flour Pot Bakery

I guess today is font day for me since this is my second post about type. Sarah Nicely did a lovely job with the identity system for Flour Pot Bakery. I want to take my little civic down to Gainesville, Florida and get a baguette to go. 

Ampersand

I'm such a nerd about type and design. I would love to have this print hanging in my office.

(image via Marc Johns)

Wines

I'm a sucker for a good wine label. The unique ones always catch my eye. These wine bottles from Swanson Vinyards definitely did the trick. You can even mix & match the labels to make your own case. Aren't they fantastic? 

(image via Oh Joy Eats)

Snail mail

Andrew Bush photographed a beautiful collection of vintage and new envelopes. Wouldn't you just love to open your mailbox and be in awe of the packaging before you even get to the inside?

(Via Another Something)

Freelancing

Isn't it everyone's dream to be able to be their own boss? I can't decide if I would enjoy it or despise it, but then I think about how I wouldn't have to be chained to a desk all day, how I could paint in the middle of the afternoon or maybe even do some yoga. Then that gets me thinking, why the heck would I not want to freelance and paint for the rest of my life? I think I found just the ticket...

Joy Cho (who we all know and love) with the help of her friend Meg, has written a book. Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business.

I think this is going on my want list.

Not Your Grandma's Wallpaper

Wallpaper is really making a big comeback! I'm so excited about the great wallpaper out there recently. It's not all old grandma florals and circa 1960's. Design*Sponge has come up with 50 great resources to find fantastic wallpaper.

(One of my favorites is Joy Cho's wallpaper for Hygge&West)

Also, Barb wrote about how to decorate furniture with wallpaper. What a great idea!