Two Years of Westervin!

{ Beeswax Birthday Candles from Mile-End Soap & Candle Supply }

Have you heard?! Westervin is 2 years old. That’s quite a feat, if we may say so! What’s that? You don’t have a present? Well, that’s ok. Turns out you can wish us well by completing a little reader survey. It’ll help us get a better idea of what you like about Westervin, so we can be even better friends this year. Read the rest of this entry »

Doing Stuff

As we mentioned last week, we’re trying to refocus our efforts here at Westervin, and we hope to make things a bit more interesting for everyone who bothers to read. In short, we’re going to be doing more stuff. Now, “more stuff” is always pretty exciting, but it can also be kind of hard. We’ll be trying to make this “stuff” ourselves and hopefully get better at it. One of our problems is we both tend to give up a bit too quickly, but this time we’re hoping to push through it.

I think that by using the “30 Steps to Mastery” published on Ben Casnoha’s site as a kind of guiding principle or mantra, we just might be able to stay on track:

1. Start
2. Keep going.
3. You think you’re starting to get the hang of it.
4. You see someone else’s work and feel undeniable misery.
5. Keep going.
6. Keep going.
7. You feel like maybe, possibly, you kinda got it now.
8. You don’t.
9. Keep going.
10. You ask for someone else’s opinion–their response is standoffish, though polite.
11. Depression.
12. Keep going.
13. Keep going.
14. You ask someone else’s opinion–their response is favorable.
15. They have no idea what they’re talking about.
16. Keep going.
17. You feel semi-kinda favorable and maybe even a little proud of what you can do now.
18. Self-loathing chastisement.
19. Depression
20. Keep going.
21. You ask someone else’s opinion–they respond quite favorably.
22. They’re still wrong.
23. Depression.
24. Keep going though you can’t possibly imagine why.
25. Become restless.
26. Receive some measure of praise from a trustworthy opinion.
27. They’re still fucking wrong (Right?)
28. Keep going just because there’s nothing else to do.
29. Mastery arrives, you mistake it for a gust of wind.
30. Keep. Fucking. Going.

Take the Chill Off

We’ve been spending a lot of time indoors to beat the cold and to work on wedding projects, as well as “just for fun” stuffz. Like rearranging the bedroom, embroidering things (see above), and designing a new Westervin logo. This weekend, we are venturing out of the apartment (braving the subzero temperatures!) to meet with our caterers and try out the menu for the wedding. Sarah’s also got her first dress fitting. We’re pretty excited, and we’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.

In other Westervin news, Sarah is trying to take a hat-making class, and if she is able to get in, I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about it (please cross your fingers). While she’s busy at class, I’m hoping to buckle down and finally give Westervin the redesign that it desperately needs. Hopefully you’ll be seeing some of the changes soon!

Also, check out those sleek new glasses. We finally made it out to Lab Rabbit Optics, and Sarah picked out a new pair of specs AND a pair of vintage shades. I’ll be back soon to pick out a new pair for myself!

The Best of Westervin 2010

A Friggin’ Awesome  Logo (You’re So Jealous!)

Momma’s back, kiddos! Now that my application to grad school has been submitted, I can focus on what really matters: you, my little babies. Now, you may have noticed by the title of today’s earlier post that change is in the air (in addition to the smell of fresh laundry, since I get MLK day off, but I’m sure you can’t smell that). Our readers’ favorite series Daily Pretties is now called A Pretty Pair. You see, Westervin is a year older, and we’re thinking it’s time to mature a little. Just a little. Don’t worry. I hope you like the new name, but if not… don’t tell me. We’ve also got a few new columns to debut, which guide Westervin’s focus more toward art and fine craft. We’re hoping to improve the content you know and love (don’t deny it) by making it a little more thoughtful, a little more meaningful, a little more inspirational. We hope to create content that celebrates a lighthearted, lovingly handmade life.

But before we move forward, we’d like to take a look back! Below are a couple of our favorite and most popular posts from 2010.

Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Birthday, Westervin!

{ one hundred thirty three by Hannah Greene }

The Westervin blog is one year old! Can you believe it? We gave birth to this little idea of a silly blog around this time last year, and my how our little creation has grown in 12 months! My how our lives have changed in 12 months! An engagement, a new job, a new apartment, and our crazy kitty child, Fitzgerald. Happy as clams, we are.

How will we celebrate? Chocolate cake, of course! Lots of chocolate cake. And a little trip to see our bestest best friends in the whole universe. And probably some champagne, if I have anything to say about it. But don’t worry–we haven’t forgotten about you, our faithful reader. We probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, all of you, with your sweet comments and encouraging feedback. We’ve even got a little present for you. You’ll have to wait until Monday, though. But I’ll give you a hint… it rhymes with Clog Piveaway.

And . . . We’re Back!

I know what you’re thinking: Why have you abandoned us? Well, fear not. We’ve just been doing a bit of traveling and well-wishing, but we are, indeed, back. Plus we have some exciting news, Sarah and I have settled on a venue for our wedding, plus we’ve narrowed it down to a few dates in 2011!

What does this mean for you? Well, because we’ve bumped up our wedding date by just about a year, things will probably be a bit different on the Westervin blog. While we will still be bringing you a sampling of our esoteric interests, hobbies, collections, pretties, et al., expect to find a bit more wedding stuff. I mean, this isn’t a wedding blog, it’s a blog about what interests us, and right now, that’s weddings (well, our wedding in particular). Also, since we are going to have to plan this thing, we’ll probably be unable to commit to multiple posts each day as we have been doing, however, we’d like to experiment with some longer posts that’ll wallop you with content.

So, the point is we’re back, better, and ready to roll. Trust us, we never stopped thinking of you while we were away.