We’re less than a week away from this wedding thing, so I think we’ll be taking some time off from our blogging duties. Don’t worry though, we’ll be back and yes, we’ll show you some wedding photos. For now we’re busy finishing up a plethora of craft projects for the wedding, both large and small. Wish us luck!
{ Black Mountain }
While looking for a new photo print for our bedroom that was both large and affordable, I came across this crazy cool Mountains poster by one Debbie Carlos. I just had to have it, and how (!), so I messaged Debbie to make sure I could get it quickly. I’m about as patient as a spoiled kid on Christmas Eve. I also wanted it as part of a mini apartment facelift before our first wedding guest arrived. But mostly, I just wanted it now! Debbie turned out to be very accommodating. So sweet, in fact, that I thought, “Gee. I bet she’s a lovely, interesting person, and I sure would love to learn more about her and feature her gorgeous work on our blog.” So that’s what I did! Debbie kindly agreed to participate in our Maker’s Remarks series and has answered a few questions about her work, her life, and her inner crab.
{ Lake }
Your photos seem to express a love of nature. How do you find things to shoot despite living in a big city?
I don’t often take pictures of the city itself, choosing to focus more on the home and the quiet surprising/beautiful moments that happen sometimes. But Chicago is great in terms of greenery. There are tons of parks and preserves within the city limits that I often shoot in. I also tend to take the most photographs when I’m traveling.
{ Woods }
Do you have any current or upcoming creative projects that you’re excited about?
I’m collaborating on a project with my brother, who is an amazing graphic designer based out of Minneapolis. He designed the award winning catalog for Yves Klein’s traveling exhibition and is senior designer at the Walker Art Center so you know this is going to be good! We are finalizing the design and about to go into production. It should be making its debut at this year’s Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago!
What’s your spirit animal?
{ Blue Egg }
You also have a food blog! Can you share one of your favorite recipes with us?
Since it is summer, I feel like I must share with you the recipe for Watermelon Shake! Its a take on a Mexican Agua Fresca but its name is a shout out to my Filipino background (we call our blended fruit drinks shakes even though there is no dairy in them).
Watermelon Shake
Watermelon, cubed
Cold Water
Lime juice
Sweetener (Sugar, Agave Syrup, Honey, Splenda etc)
Salt
Use about a 4:1 ratio of watermelon to water. Pulse in a blender and taste. If its too watery, add more watermelon or add water if mixture seems too stiff. Add a small pinch of salt and season with lime juice and sweetener to taste.
* to make this a little boozy add some tequila
{ Gradient / Jade }
And you make jewelry? How do you balance all of your creative drives?
I feel like I always need to have a project going on. I think if I sit still for too long or if nothing is on the horizon, I get really anxious. I also think its really great and healthy to change it up a bit every once in awhile. If I get tired of working on photos, I know I can go and work on some jewelry. If I get tired of both, maybe I can go into the kitchen and have a cooking project. There are a lot of things that I’d like to be able to do that just don’t happen and thats ok and sometimes it does get overwhelming but I kind of wing it based on mood. Its always good to have something going on.
{ New Outfits by Gillian Wilson } { Untitled by Jennilee Marigomen }
A few things to note here. First, see that awesome glass? We picked up four of these for a dollar each at Deals, and these things are super sturdy. If you are in need of some fancy-pants pint glasses, run to your nearest Deals and buy ‘em up. Second, within the glass is the Añejo Highball from Dale DeGroff, which just so happens to be one of the cocktails we’ll have at our upcoming wedding. We decided to keep the bar fairly small (since we’ll have a lot of beer) and have a suggested cocktail for each major spirit. The other consideration was that I wanted all of the suggested cocktails to be really straightforward. No shaking, no straining, just stirring. Got to keep people moving and put cocktail novices at ease. If you can measure liquids, you can stir up our cocktails. So just what is in this Añejo Highball, you ask?
Añejo Highball
Start with a half glass of ice
add:
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
1/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz orange liqueur (Cointreau)
1.5 oz aged rum (El Dorado 5yr)
fill with ginger ale
stir and enjoy with a slice or two of lime!
{ The Sleepwalker by Rebecca Finch } { Untitled by Francisca Pageo }
Hello dearies! I’m terribly sorry we were pretty quiet last week–we hope you didn’t miss us too much. We’re now less than two weeks out from Wedstock 2011 (aka our wedding), so we’re keeping busy as little bumblebees. In order to prevent pimples and mood swings, I’m trying to keep stress to an absolute minimum. Therefore, we’ve had to let this here blogy-blog fall by the wayside a bit. I’ll try to keep a regular posting schedule this week, with Pretty Pairs and one or two written posts. Next week, though… you may be on your own. I’m not a machine, ya know! Sheesh. I gotta get my beauty rest! Hopefully, however, we’ll return with a full recap and pictures galore. Would you like that?
{ Untitled by Lisa Smit } { Untitled by Irina Schmitz }
{ Untitled by Fetie } { Untitled by inserirefloppino }
{ Tiger Moth by Small Adventure } { Collage by Catherine Soto }
I have yet another year under my belt folks. I am now a quarter of a century old! This past weekend was filled to the bubbly brim with celebratin’ and happy relaxin’, and think I’ve found the perfect recipe for the happiest of birthdays.
{ 1 } No birthday is complete without friends. Friends who come to your pizza party. Friends who visit from out of town. Friends who send you beautiful presents. Friends who help make you look really popular by wishing you a happy B-day on your Facebook wall. And you gotta let those friends you know you appreciate them and wanna stay in touch. So get yourself a set of cutesy notecards for saying, “Hey! I’m glad YOU were born, too.”
{ 2 } Speaking of friends who send beautiful gifts, I got this jazzy zippered bag and it’s keeping me stylish AND hella organized! And I hear I’ve got another bestie gift on the way. OH MUH GUH I CAN’T WAIT GIMME PRESENTZZZZZ! Thanks, Megs & Gracie, for feeding this prezzie monster.
{ 3 } If you can, take a day off for your birthday. Srsly. AND, be sure to get yourself a fiance who’s into mixology so he/she can keep you slightly liquored up for the duration of your four day weekend. Drink at least three fancy cocktails a day, everyday, until you have to go back to work. But you can ONLY drink them in champagne saucers! It’s decadent. Obvs.
{ 4 } I’m over purses. They’re big and heavy and expensive and they’re not great for carrying your lunch to work AND your books/planner AND your normal purse-ities. Now, I’m all about the tote. I realize I haven’t happened upon any great discovery here. I’m not gonna be like, “Hey, have you heard about this crazy new-fangled contrapta-ma-jaction called a TOTE BAG?!?!” No. You know what a tote bag is. And I should hope you also understand its greatness. My tote of choice these days? My free Poetry tote from Brian! And you can rock one, too, if you subscribe to Poetry magazine.
{ 5 } First on the birthday wish-list? A Swatch. I gotta look fresh!
{ 6 } I’ve been wanting one of these printer’s drawer jewelry organizers for a while now. There’s a family member who might have a regular printer’s drawer with my name on it, and I might have to get a little crafty with a few hooks and a little paint. I’ll guess we’ll all just have to wait and see…
{ 7 } I don’t care who you are or where you’re from, but I know one thing about you. Even if you don’t know it yourself. You love brunch. How do I know this? EVERYBODY loves brunch. Everybody loves waking up a little late, throwing on their sunglasses and pulling back their unwashed hair to roll out to their favorite little cafe for a mimosa and some fresh grubbins. I am no exception. After a weekend of birthday bashin’ and fun-having, the festivities were complete with a little crab benedict at Longman & Eagle.
