Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister!

Happy 21st Birthday Marissa!
Wish we were there to help celebrate! xoxo!

photos taken in the summer of 2007 in Biloxi, Mississippi where Marissa is currently stationed at Keesler AFB.

Antler Mag

Yes, I prefer to hold a magazine in my hand. Yes, I want to touch the pretty paper and cut things out of it. But I also understand why we shouldn't always have this luxury all the time (and the environment is a cause I can get behind!).

It's true that designers have a responsibility & when your options are: 1. an expensive, beautifully perfect bound book that can only reach a small audience because of the small run or geography or 2. NO wasted paper or ink or energy (on the press at least) making a beautiful book that reaches audiences immediately all over the world. WOW. It's kind of a no-brainer! Take a break this friday afternoon and enjoy Antler.

LOVE-ly

Too busy to think this morning but my talented friend (& our wedding photographer), Hillary just posted this new photo on her blog. I'm trying to use it to help focus my energy!

*photo by the fabulous, Hillary Anne Photography.

Family Tree Illustration

Staying in the vein of vintage photos, I did this collage-style illustration for an editorial last month. The article was about teaching kids about family history & helping them to create their own family tree.

*photographed by Paul Johnson

vintage photo inspiration

I found myself being whisked away to a simpler time thing morning while flipping though the (rad!) vintage photographs over at the Shorpy Photo Archive. love the beards (above)!

pretties!

I did a little off-beat wedding dress hunting for my sister online this weekend. But what if I want one of these pretties for myself!!!

dresses by Sarah Seven & on etsy & her beautiful blog.

Lisa Hannigan

After the previous post I stumbled upon Lisa Hannigan's new video. *sigh

My heart breaks for a few reasons right now:

1. I wish I was in Austin for SXSW & Flatstock. This has been painful for me all week.
2. Lisa Hannigan is playing 2 show at SXSW, today. right now even...
*I saw her play once, in Dallas at the now extinct Gyspy Tea Room with Damien Rice. She sat on the floor crosslegged and swayed while she sang. It was really beautiful! This was probably 6 years ago and one of my favorite shows to date!
3. The pop up books in the video remind me of 2 MORE of my favorite things... Robert Sabuda's paper arts and Craig Thompson's graphic novels.

First Aid Kit

I never get tired of watching this & it seems perfect for a snowy first day of spring! (yes, it's snowing!)

I love the Fleet Foxes but dare I say that these dolls sing Tiger Mountain Peasant Song maybe better than the Fleet Foxes... dare I say...

More from First Aid Kit here.

fruitful urges.

I'm pining to start a little garden. Studio apartment + 4th floor walk up = no garden in my near future. But maybe a little indoor rosemary to join my jade plant would be a good start.

*I shamefully can't remember where I found the above image. If you know, please tell me so I can amend my blogging faux pas!

Speaking of glass bottles... have you seen YAVAglass on etsy? Thanks to Peonies I'm obsessed! Some are funky, some are lovely but I think I need them all!

Emerald City

Sometimes I look out of my window in wonder. It's always sort of surreal and never gets old.

*and no photo ever does it justice!

for the love of Irish Beer!

I think I've mentioned that we shop at the Co-op... and I love to bake. I picked up a Guinness Bread mix as a little surprise for J. I made it this weekend. It's dense. Almost ridiculously so. It's a fun idea but I can't say that I recommend it.

*OH, and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Personally, I'm only about 1/16th Irish, but I married a McNamara! Cheers!

Harry Potter Type!

Harry Potter type spotted on the facade of a building in the West Village.

I will be the first to admit that I love Harry Potter. My sisters and I often say things to each other like, "Why don't you just 'Harry Potter' that sh**!" Meaning, "use your magic powers to [fill in any impossible, annoying or time consuming task here]."

*did you see these Harry Potter redesigns? via my design voice. Personally, I love them!

p.s. Have I ever mentioned that J teaches at Hogwarts? more on that later...

Illustrations // Natural Solutions

I did some little watercolor illustrations for an article in the magazine I work for. The title of the article was Natural Solutions and it was about using non-toxic cleaners in your home. The illustrations ended up getting cut but I thought I would share a few of them here.



Things that are often over looked but have serious germ killing power and scouring abilities like raw lemons, vinegar, baking soda, club soda, salt, etc... Besides being highly effective, these house hold items are also a-dime-a-dozen where a bottle of cleanser could cost $5+ and be harmful to pets & kids. (click here for some specifics.)

Procrastinating with Poladroid!

I may not be on the twitter bandwagon but I can't pretend not to love this! I've heard the buzz for awhile now and resisted it for a time... secretly knowing that it would just be a matter of time before I crossed over.

My Polaroid is in Mississippi at J's parent's house (I think?) left from the wedding... What's your excuse?




*the best part? All of my poorly lit, out of focus photos are suddenly fabulous instead of crap!

branches & a trip down memory lane!

I love blooming branches in the spring! I see them as the gate-keepers of warmer weather, better moods & summer adventures of the near future.

My High School was surrounded by budding trees. When I was a sophomore I went on a band trip to NYC for spring break (the only time I came here before moving here!) and when we got back the trees surrounding the school had blossomed! Every year since then I anxiously anticipate the budding trees. The only ones I've seen so far are cut branches in shops but I can see the little buds starting to grow.

snow day.

It's still a work day for me but nothing's better than Nutella & Ethiopian coffee for a snow day breakfast!

*J left for school at 6:25am only to get to the bus and find out that school had been canceled! yay for being stuck inside working!!!

Happy Hour! *tax edition

Hello friends and fellow freelancers!

I know it's been awhile since I did a Happy Hour post. But it's back & hopefully with some helpful hints on taxes (especially for freelancers!)

1. Did you move? Moving expenses can be written off. Remember this thing? Yeah, like that.

2. Did you change jobs? Have to fly somewhere for an interview? Take a cab? That can be written off.

3. Do not try to write off things like FedEx packages that your cleint reimbursed you for. (We call that cheating.)

4. Printer ink, toner, paper... tracing paper, wireless mouse... write it off!

5. If you're freelancing (hopefully you already know this) put approximatly 30% of your income aside to pay in taxes. It's also good to pay taxes quarterly so you stay on top of your finances and it's not such a blow when you do pay them.

6. Meet a client for coffee or dinner? Write it off! (If it is indeed a business meeting.)

7. Keep business expenses seperate from personal ones by opening seperate accounts. It just keeps things organized.

8. At a photoshoot and can't leave for lunch, order food and write it off.

9. Wireless internet for the home office? My research has shown that this is debatable, but you can certainly write part of it, if not all of it.

10. Books & magazines for knowledge, research, inspiration? Yep, write those off too!

11. Marketing materials. Did you pay someone to build your website? business cards? Write those off!

12. I hate receipts and I've NEVER kept up with them. Until about 7 months ago. Now I have a notebook just for business expenses that I tape them into as soon as I get home. If the receipt isn't specific enough I just write a quick note, "padded envelopes for sending CDs." It takes a few seconds and will save hours of frustrations later. (That's the goal at least!)

I'll stop there and leave you with a few links that have helped me so far:

the IRS

June Walker

Freelancers Union

the Anti 9 to 5 Guide, and here

Beyond the Rhetoric

Freelance Switch

*NOTE: I am NOT a tax expert - nor am I pretending to be. I am simply sharing some of what I am learning & hope it can help some of you. AND if I have posted misinformation please let me know and I will amend it straight away!