frances loves san francisco!

happy weekends to everyone

yes it is thursday, but i am heading up to san francisco with mas as we speak. we are off to take a bread baking class and partake in some yummy yummy food. i will post pictures of our attempts at making who knows what, but other than that it will be pretty hush hush on the blog until monday.

and if anyone is up for a challenge, i think this might be the hit of many a superbowl party this weekend. we are toying with the idea of making it just so we can say that we did ... but ... well you can see why we might hesitate.

{photo by jenifer altman}

umm ...

i know dressing like a french woman has been spoken about to no end recently, but what about being a french woman? i am kind of seriously in love with this idea. and extra in love with it if it means that i can be her :


and on that note i am getting back into the language (there was a deal made with mas that makes me giggle every time i think of it) but it requires commanding the language that i scoffed at in high school ... so does any one have any recommendations for french language programs that one can participate in via their home?

{part of garance doré's une fille un style viewable here}

public art

i am a huge fan of public art ... but sadly haven't seen any in ages. our area isn't big on any kind of art that isn't sold in one of those cheesy tourist shops so it leaves me a serious case of wanting. earlier today i was going through our honeymoon pictures (which i cannot believe was three months ago) and found this lovely example of public art.


we were walking down a side street in reykjavik when all of a sudden out of nowhere you see glimmering sequins rustling in the wind and a pretty fantastic mural to boot. these sequin displays were all over the city hanging on random building walls. i wish i had more pictures but the majority of our city time was at the end of our trip and (oh god this is embarrassing) our camera ran out of batteries and we didn't have an adapter for our phones so we were on super limited photo power.

and on a side note ... poor iceland.

{the text in the picture reads : just look at how the mountains so very mighty be sharp as razor at the top they span the land and sea but don't forget that thought majestic spires, capped with snow ... from each and every single grain of sand is where they grow.}

hot pink always has a special place in my heart

{available here}

i seem to be short on words today

but not short on content. which i guess might be better anyway since the fun part is always the pictures.


i have the perfect spot for this print ... the. perfect. spot.

{grey sunglasses print by dallas shaw available as a limited edition at the shiny squirrel}

aren't they splendid?

{nesting dolls by handle and spout via simple lovely}

so i'm thinking they would make a nice little addition to my desk. one for staples, paperclips, and who knows what else.

file under : i want this now please

i find myself making wish lists a lot lately. i never tell anyone about them and never actually purchase any of the items on them but that doesn't take the fun out them. i guess i used to walk down to michigan ave (in chicago) with frances all of the time and stroll the stores, so in lieu of window shopping we now go on hikes and beach walks and i spend all of my free internet time looking at pretties and piling them up in some non-existent shopping bag. about once a week i head back to those shopping bags, or just click through the million open tabs in firefox, and say farewell. but while doing so this week i noticed an astounding similarity in my objects, and one that was ... well shocking to me. you see there is an absurd amount of red in these items. i own about two red things, maybe three so i am wondering ...

1.

2.

3.
4.

is it time for me to start incorporating a power color into my wardrobe? and if so what does that say about me? i might start to worry ... if i were actually in the market for any of the items above that is.

{1. ridiculous DOMA leather and knit jacket, 2. Ka Pow Wow red ruffle scarf, 3. DVF mala floral blouse, 4.Chapeau Claudette ufo mini felt hat}

font love

i was trolling dafont.com for what was apparently a long overdue session of downloading some pretty good goodness. i must admit that i don't really have an insane amount of use for the font above, but i still love it and free is free. and who knows maybe one day ...

{vtks flowers in our soul font available here}

love notes

by stephanie congdon barnes and available in her shop january 30th. i love the simple beauty of this valentine. it makes me smile.

kinda my thing?

{high rise undies by TwinSyndrome via etsy available here}

i don't know exactly how practical these are, but lets face it ... when are pretty under things EVER practical? i still want them.

oh.my.god. go go go!

{jose villa photos found thanks to nole at oh so beautiful paper}

just do it ... click here to see more of this wedding. the bride wore christian siriano ... i love it.

awwwwwww

i saw this picture this morning and my insides turned to goo. found here.

jamie oliver / jme

so do you know who i am speaking of when i say jamie oliver? i am guessing you do, but just in case you don't click over here to see a bit more. the too cute brit who is a mastermind in the kitchen has come out with a line of home goods that extends ever so slightly past the kitchen (as in maybe to the dining room). anyway you must check out the packaging ... it is AMAZING. i just love it. and the striped table cloths aren't too bad either.

it is friday and i have nothing on the agenda for the whole weekend

in case you are in the same boat here are a few things i found this week but didn't happen to post about. enjoy.

{frances and i went on a hike this morning. it was kinda rainy, my glasses spotted up almost entirely and my shoes are still caked in mud. but it was certainly beautiful to see the fog in the hills}

some pretty exciting news about a loved one we all thought we lost.

a postcard that i kind of want, right now.

a fancy and oh so sweet wedding invite.

a recycled wedding dress.

and finally a recipe we tried the other night and might i say that it worked out quite well. (and if you promise to keep it a secret i will tell you that i substituted regular chorizo with soy chorizo and hot damn was it good ... and kinda nice for the vegetarian contingent)

clearing the air with some pretty pretty dresses

so my man tom over at that hosting company i hate so much failed to accomplish much, however a lovely lady by the name of frances (it was just meant to be) has fixed cevd.com up real nice and good. or at least that is what i am told. my computer is still holding a grudge by my phone is not so i am back on track for receiving emails - can i get a hip hip hooray?

anywho that is hardly the story at this point ... um hello pretty pretty dresses by a crush of mine, erin featherston. i would rock any one of these pretty much anywhere. oh and if you do just a wee bit of exploring you will find LOTS of zooey d. goodness.

{thanks for the heads up fashionbride}

the internet (or uhum hosting companies) are fickle fickle beings

{from l'medivierto's photostream}

so cevd.com and everything related to it (including email) is currently resting ... or in deep rem sleep, i'm not really sure. what i am sure of is that i absolutely cannot receive email at the moment so ... if you need to find me you can do that by emailing me at :

aninvitationstudio[at]gmail[dot]com

i have someone talking to a supervisor and getting back to me ... that is never good. and on that note, does anyone have a hosting company that they actually like? this isn't my first issue with these oafs, but i am certainly hoping it is my last.

i guess the good news is that the lack of email leaves me plenty of time to scour the internets that are actually working ... there goes my friday ").

baddies and myself

why yes please, i mean i wish i could. a trip is always in the works but never quite on the horizon. boo being so. far. away. but at least there is a bunch of art out there that i can plaster our walls with so that we might remember the good times that were had. and maybe one day we will finally make it back, and for about two weeks so we can cram in all of the restaurants we sorely miss.

{poster by the little friends available here. oh and maybe scroll down a wee bit in the shop to see the boston terrier print ... oh how i WISH that wasn't sold out.}

oops.

{i wish i could take pictures like this, sigh. lovely print by alicia bock}

a little bird dropped me a line yesterday and mentioned that they were having an impossible time trying to post comments to the blog. i am hoping this wasn't a wide-spread problem but if it was please let me apologize. i have reverted back to the regular non-embedded in my post posting option so HOPEFULLY that will clear things up. if anyone has any problems from here on out i would so very much love an email so i might be able to start harassing (in the nicest way possible that is) those blogger people.

and the bride carried cotton

i can't think of anything i love more at the moment. from new york magazine.


well, except for maybe this dress.

the fastest week that has ever been ... or at least one of

i have oodles of things to do today so i am keeping the posting to a minimum. i hope everyone enjoys their thursday.

sweets for my sweet

tonight is kinda a big night, lost is back on after what seems like decades.

you see mas and i have this slightly obsessive note to our personalities and it REALLY shines when it comes to tv shows. though we prefer to watch them on dvd and in giant chunks of time, we are going to bend and watch it live. you see we are completely caught up with lost and mas has a horrific and completely reasonable fear that things will be said during the rest of the work week that have something to do with the show, so we have no other choice but to sit ourselves down in front of that damn tv and watch ... commercials and all (oh how i miss you tivo).


and what better to accompany a couple of sloths on a couch for an hour or so than a recipe referred to as monster cookies? um, yes please. the ingredient list makes my mouth water and i am thinking that i might replace the m&ms with chocolate covered sunflower seeds which practically has me running out the door to pick up the few things that i don't have in my pantry so i might be able to indulge before the end of the work day. but i will wait ... for a little bit at least.

so thank you city sage my next work out is for you ").

mcq for target

i can't say that i enjoy all of the pieces, but there are a few that i will keep my eyes open for. that is assuming that the crap targets around here decide to start carrying some of these designer collaborations again. boo local target ... boo.

{more of the collection here}

nimble

i have ALWAYS been a fan of any kind of paper cut designs, but when i came across kinsey and nimble i just about died. her cards are just so beautiful. available in her etsy shop ... really you should check these out now if you haven't already.

{pictures from kinsey, goodness originally found over at design*sponge}

loving ...

these polaroids from chelsea over at {frolic!}

" )

it is still the weekend for me

mas has the day off so i am taking it as well. this weekend has been more than wonderful already (hello fantastic mid 70's, sunny and clear weather, sailing, and then a dinner of fresh pasta with friends) but we are going to finish it up with a nice hike and maybe a few more episodes of the wire. have a lovely day and i will be back to the regular posting tomorrow.

oh and one more thing

you should probably watch this.

hooray for holidays

{i think i want to start buying myself a yellow dress every year for my birthday. this one courtesy of sofie dillon ... designer unkown to me}

that is it lads and ladies, i am off for the long weekend. but not without first leaving you with a few things to occupy a few spare moments. be safe and enjoy the warmer weather that i hear is coming to those oh so cold locales (i'm sorry chicago).

my favorite things i didn't have time to blog about this week :

. a most amazing use of space in hong kong

. lunchbox notes

. a most clever use of type

. the wedding that kinda makes me want to have another

. my new favorite blog

new in the shop

so earlier this week i mentioned my new idea involving invitations and etsy and today i have another announcement. well not so much an announcement but just a passing on of information. i have a couple of new items hanging out in the etsy shop that i wanted to share.


the first letterpress thank you notes - woohoo! and the second ... a valentines day card. so swing by if you have some time and check out the goods.

i can't get enough ...

of this font. it is just what a girl like me dreams of. found on see saw's blog from here.

kinda granny, kinda great

i have a thing for cardigans. always have. i remember the first day of freshman, sophomore, junior and senior year (of high school mind you) were all spent in a new soft and sometimes snazzy cardigan. i still have a couple of these cardigans (though i tossed the tank tops that went with them making them "sweater sets" ... because apparently i had some pretty poor teenager fashion sense). anyway this cardigan might very well fall to the fate of those sleevless sweaters in a few years, but right now i don't care. i still like it.

{ecote patchwork cardi from urban outfitters}

engrave your book

for all of you moleskin fanatics out there, and i don't doubt that there are many : engrave your book now has a series of wonderful leather covers for that little sidekick of yours. apparently there was some nasty business going on when they were engraving the moleskins themselves so instead of giving up completely this portland (again!) based company decided to go in another direction. leather covers that can be used over and over and over again.

{found over at sub-studio}

my favorite of the covers is this one designed by dan funderburgh. but as with everything else that is awesome in this world you can customize your book cover. hmmm ...

little iccle ... yes please

i first saw these over at thoughtful day. needless to say i fell in love. i don't have a penchant for stuffed animals, i mean i used to but that is no longer the case. however ... i think i would feel differently if it meant i could have a few of these guys to scatter across bookshelves and various other places. abigail brown you always find a way to warm my heart.

{little iccle's availble in abigail's etsy shop}

have you heard?!?!?!

orla kiely is coming to a target near you! i. can't. wait. read all about it right here.

{thanks sfgirlbybay for info and pics}