A Very Merry Merry

Hello friends!!! I just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Christmas. It is so hard to believe that another year is wrapping up. I spent a majority of my day getting my behind kicked by Just Dance 2 (although I do think that those couple years of high school cheerleading came in handy on a couple moves) and putting myself in a semi food coma.

Image via

Take it Mariah

OK all I am finally starting to get into the swing of things around here thanks to Ms. Mariah Carey, HOORAY!!!

This is my all time favorite holiday song, well this and Alvin and the Chipmunks of course, hehehe.

Branding *Santa*

There is not really much to say about this take on *Santa* as a brand, developed by the Quietroom other than it is pretty brilliant!! I found it especially entertaining as we are currently in a rebranding process at my 9-5, and as a design student (yes I am currently a student after many many years off, I had to grow up before I figured out what I wanted to do, always backwards) branding as a whole is constantly being drilled into my brain.

These are just a few of my favorites...

I highly suggest that you check out the entire pdf here. Ho Ho Ho!!!

MIA: Holiday Spirit.

I am beyond thrilled to be wrapping up this past week because let me just tell you all it was a doozy. I find myself simply not in the spirit of the season, which is sort of bumming me out. I usually am all ready to go this time of year and enjoy the baking, decorating and wrapping of gifts, but for some reason last week took me right out of the Christmas spirit. OK to be fair it wasn't the entire week that did me in, it was Friday that I am holding solely responsible for my Bah Humbugness. (That's a word right?)

In one day I got some personal news that I didn't plan on, my husband's car decided to break down and apparently some lovely stranger thought that it would be nice to steal our ATM info and help themselves to some of our money, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

I do realize that things could be worse, trust me I know, but we always seem to be the type of people that when it rains it pours and the fact that all this went down in one day = not so fun. But I am slowly pulling myself out of my funk that made me want to hide in bed all weekend with some bad 80's movies (Money Pit, anyone). We are lucky enough to have a great bank who has assured me we will be getting a refund sometime this week of the money that was stolen, a greater mechanic who is honest and great at what he does and will hopefully tell us some good news tomorrow like it will not cost more than what the car is worth to fix it, and wonderful friends who have truly become our extended family.

So it will be my goal this week to pick myself up by the bootstraps and slap a smile on my face. I will do my best to have a Griswold Q Family Christmas. I am also going to make myself buckle down and spend some more time on the ole blog as I feel it has become a bit humdrum around these parts. I truly appreciate those of you who have continued to stop by and say hello and I promise things will pick up around here once again. And a super big Thanks for playing the part of my therapist and reading this rambling post.

A Diary and A Dress.

The Diary: F. Scott Fitzgerald The Beautiful and Damned
The Dress: Milly Liana Metallic Lace Shift Dress

A perfect pairing for the holiday season, wouldn't you agree? I am not sure which one of these two I think is more lovely, so either one will do.

It's the Weekend (Almost)!!

It's Friday, can I get a "HECK YEA"!?! I thought we should kick off the weekend with a little Anna Karina greatness. So get up and dance off those stresses that have been building up this week and let's all sing some Roller Girl and be euro fab.

Anna from Citi Gent on Vimeo.

And just in case you are feeling super inspired and want to get Ms. Karina's look:

You're gonna need:
1.) Some choice mascara and eyeliner from Dior. I LOVE THESE!!
2.) Some striped socks.
3.) A great pair of round frames.
4.) A button down oxford.

Color of 2011: Honeysuckle

I was so excited to check my inbox this morning and see that Pantone released their pick for color of the year!! (Not sure which part of that sentence makes me more geeky.) They are calling it Honeysuckle and I think it is oh so pretty!!

Pantone takes most of the guesswork out of how to incorporate the color into fashion, interior and design by giving some great insight including the correct color formula and colors that will complement this bright hue. The fashion illustrations that were included also caught my eye, this Badgley Mischka one in particular. I could just see myself lounging around the house watching Glee and sipping on a Diet Coke all the while looking fab in my designer gown, ok maybe not but a girl can daydream right?

So lovely readers what do you think of this color pick, will you be adding it to your life in 2011?

Fashion illustration by Badgley Mischka via Pantone

Women We Love: Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow photographed by Mario Testino.

A Diary and A Dress

The Diary: An Apology For Idlers

The Dress: ModCloth Art Room Flirtation Dress

Women We Love.

Kate Winslet photographed by the amazing Mario Testino.

A Diary and A Dress

The Diary: The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson

The Dress: Alice + Olivia

Happy Friday with Gwyneth and Glee.

Are you all as ready for the weekend as I am? It hit me yesterday that Turkey Day is a mere 14 days away, DID YOU HEAR ME 14!!! I feel the stress level rising as that means Christmas is around the corner and I have not prepared a darn thing.

I have been really trying to better manage my stress levels and one thing that I try and do everyday is pick out a song turn it on as loud as I can, bearing in mind that my neighbors may not enjoy my eclectic taste in music, and dance around and sing my little heart out. It is surprisingly fun and a great way to shake of the junk that usually happens in our day to day.

I came across this preview of next weeks Glee on the Entertainment Weekly site  (yep I am a Gleek) with Gwyneth Paltrow and it was the perfect song to relieve the stress for my day, plus I could listen to it around Punky without feeling guilty.  I have the Cee-Lo version and while it is a catchy tune I am not sure it is appropriate.

So I thought I would share it with you all. So turn it up, get out of your chair and lets dance and sing together, it's Friday after all.YAHOO!!!

Taking Flight {Daily Photo}

I had trouble deciding which image I wanted to share with you all for my Daily Photo project (which is back up and running) so I thought I would share them all. 

It is not very often we get clouds like these in sunny Southern California so I had to take a few shots at a view point that I pass by everyday on my way home. I had some models show up as well, props to the seagulls for once! 

I think the first one is my favorite simply because I was able to include the ocean, what do you all think?

Women We Love.

For my beautiful Mom, thank you for being the inspiration behind this post. I love you.

Photo: Mark Shaw

A Diary and A Dress

The Diary: The Wind Up Bird Chronicle

The Dress: Anthropologie Stylist's Eye Dress

On a side note I am also starting to think I have a minor obsession with alliteration as I feel all my blog titles need to have a some sort of repetition of sounds or letters (I warned you all I was a teeny tiny bit OCD). So in keeping with the tradition tomorrow will be Women and Words Wednesday or maybe Women We Love Wednesday. It's still a work in progress.

Afternoon Addiction.

I recently acquired a small afternoon addiction ...gingerbread latte and chocolate chip cookie.
I will say that I do share the cookie with Punky, but the coffee is all mine.

Martha Stewart + iPad + Cookies = YES PLEASE!!

Like I need another reason to buy the iPad.

Martha Makes Cookies is a application developed by the domestic genius herself and probably as close as most of us will ever get to having Martha over for a cookie party. The screenshots alone make me want to break out the sprinkles and cookie sheets. Not only does it come equipped with tons of great recipes but there are also some handy planning tools and videos that will make it seem like the cookies practically baked themselves, maybe.

I definitely think this is another reason to add the iPad to my Christmas wish list.

Designer Envy: Lulu de Kwiatkowski

I finally had a chance to flip through my favorite online publication: Lonny Magazine. Lonny quickly became my favorite interior mag after my beloved Domino had to close its doors, I still get weepy thinking about it.

Anyway back to the new issue of Lonny. I fell in LOVE with the home of textile designer Lulu de Kwiatkowski. I mean seriously look at how fab and light this home feels.

The colors, furniture and personality come through perfectly and I am now convinced that we could pull off a white couch, my husband is still not on board with the idea. We have an ongoing couch battle in our home at the moment as anyone who comes over knows, but I am of the mind set that slow and steady wins the race and his resistance is weakening. It has only taken 2 years.

I think that her philosophy is spot on and her tips for unleashing your inner creativity are now printed and hanging up in my home office. I have already found myself practicing her idea of doodling more, I hope to share these with you as soon as I can figure out why the heck my scanner does not want to be friends with Oliver (yes that is the name of our Mac and yes I believe in naming your electronics).

Details:
Images courtesy of Lonny Magazine

Movie Poster Love

Here are a few facts about me: I love a good horror movie, I love graphic design and I love movie posters.

Moxy Creative House recently redesigned 10 movie posters that are available for purchase. My horror movie nerd self was immediately drawn to their interpretation of The Shining, of course. If scary movies aren't your thing they also covered Top Gun, Dumb and Dumber ( hilarious) and Wall Street among others.

P.S. Those twins still give me the heebie jeebie's. 

Apples Apples Everywhere

A couple weekends ago we had a break in the rain and decided to head over to Julian to do some old fashioned apple picking.  I had never been to Julian or picked apples so it was a new experience all the way round. There really is a difference in fruit fresh off a tree vs. what you can get at the local grocery store chain.

Hope everyone is ready for a great week!!!

A Diary and A Dress

I am a sucker for a great book and or book cover and a great dress. In my honest opinion I probably have too many of one and not enough of the other. I thought it would be fun to find a dress inspired by a book cover so taa-daa.

To Kill A Mockingbird was the first serious book I remember reading in 9th grade English and it has been a favorite ever since.  If your not familiar with the book or you need a quick review check out this one over at Spiral Style. It was featured as the Latest Book Club Selection and she gives a great synopsis as well as a couple other options if you would like to join in on the 50th Anniversary Celebration of this classic by Harper Lee.

Details:
Dress: Anthropologie Mullany Dress
Diary: To Kill A Mockingbird

It must be fall.

I am officially in the mood for fall, which has always been one of my favorite seasons. I can always tell when the holidays are near because I begin to have the urge to bake, craft, and use lots of glitter. We have been waiting for the rain to subside so that we can decorate for Halloween, I guess that's what I get for putting it off last week. Punky's costume is nearly complete we only have a few more accessories to make and that is on the list for this weekend.

I am finally get the hang of the new Mac and I am officially in love with it. I can't get over the fact that I don't have nine thousand cords to trip over and try to wrangle into some sort of neat configuration. I wonder if the Mac people are a little OCD as well?!?! Everything is slowly moving over and getting organized which makes my heart sing because that means I will be back to posting like normal again, HOORAY!!!

About time.

Hi everyone!! Sorry for the lack of posting but I seem to be the victim of Murphy's Law lately. You know the old idea that if things can go wrong then they will.

In the past week I have had a sick Punky at home who was generous enough to share the love with me, a husband who is in the midst of a crazy work schedule, a few deadlines of my own and a computer who finally broke up with me and trust me when I tell you it was a ugly break up.

But the sun is peeking through, things are returning to normal and our new computer arrived last night. We are officially a Mac household and I am so excited!! Although I must admit I was slightly disappointed that Justin Long did not appear out of the box with some witty banter about how much easier my life was going to be now that we converted.

I should be back to normal posting schedule soon and much love to everyone who has stuck around through the unforeseen silence.

I found the above print on Etsy and it is now on my ever growing must buy list.  It is a great example of how something can feel both retro and modern at the same time. Doesn't it reminds you of a vintage surf logo? Check it out for yourself over at LollieLandDelights.

Rainy day fun.

A fun new polyvore set to go along with the rainy weather we are currently in the midst of. I wish I would have purchased this top last spring when I first saw it,  but I kept questioning if I was too old to wear a cupcake sweater, hmmm.

1.) American Eagle Skinny Jeans
2.) Top Shop Knitted Cupcake Jumper
3.) Faliero Sarti Fringed Scarf
4.) Kate Spade Bangle Bracelet
5.) Current Starbucks fave...Pumpkin spice latte. YUMMY!!
6.) Hunter Women's Rain Boots
7.) Rebecca Minkoff Nikki

Cloudy with a Chance of Pancakes.

OK so I know that is not exactly how the story goes but it sounds pretty good to me. Currently we are experiencing some extreme weather changes here in my neck of the woods. You may recall this time last week I was dreaming of wearing this and now it is cold and rainy and I am thinking maybe I should have unpacked my sweaters.

I don't know about you but chilly weather makes me want to head into the kitchen and cook up treats. I was thinking we should have something super fun and cozy for dinner, something like PANCAKES, who doesn't love breakfast for dinner, right?! So I headed over to Google to see if I could find a new recipe that looked yummy and exciting to try and look what I found...

Eek!! How awesome are these? Jim is a dad "just trying to make some cool pancakes for his daughter", or so he says, but I think these are much more than just some cool pancakes. I am now left with some serious pancake envy and my once awesome purse shape pancake mold from Williams Sonoma looks a bit sad.

And just in case you feel truly inspired and want to try out some pancake art of your own he has some great how to videos over on you tube, the one below is for the turtle shaped pancake. Or you can check him out at Jim's Pancakes.



Details:
Images courtesy of Jim's Pancakes.

Sunday at the movies

Hi everyone I am back with another great movie palette that I hope you will enjoy. This weekend I watched Barefoot in the Park starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. This movie was released in 1967 and was filmed in New York.

The set design itself is very minimal as the story centers on a newlywed couple who are moving into their first apartment, however the outdoor locations that were shot around New York are lovely, including of course Central Park.

Redford's conservative character, Paul, can be seen wearing lots of blues and greys while Fonda's free spirited Corrie is often in brighter golds, oranges and a great pink dress that I am in love with. I also really like the grey color of the walls that can be seen in their apartment, we are currently trying to find the perfect grey for our bedroom and it is a process.

OK time to head into the trenches and get ready for another week, see you all later.

Details:

Movie stills courtesy of Barefoot In The Park

Pigeon courtesy of Kate Spade via Polyvore

Spiral bound notebook courtesy of yours truly

Introducing Phoebe...

Hi everyone, hope you had a wonderful past few days and are ready to enjoy the weekend. I have been having some computer problems the past few days which can I just tell you is no fun and I have missed you all, but no worries cause I'm back!!

I thought maybe you all would like to start the weekend off with a picture of my very sweet, but very mischievous pup Phoebe.

We rescued Phoebe a couple years ago from a local shelter and she has been a member of the family ever since. She is always there when you need a cuddle or perhaps share a turkey sandwich.  Also the fact that she somewhat resembles a muppet,  in particular Fozzie Bear, makes it very hard to resist the urge to squeeze her whenever possible. Don't forget to give your pet an extra squeeze this weekend and if you are in need of one you can come by and love on mine.

Waka Waka Waka.  

Details:

I created the award ribbon decal from this lovely tutorial over at Pugly Pixel Blog. I created the heart in illustrator and added my own title using Learning Curve Dash font.

In the midst of a heat wave...

An outfit inspired by the heat wave we are currently experiencing in sunny southern California..

1. J.Crew - Silk Chiffon Taryn Dress
2. Kate Spade - Folley Beach Bag
3. Kate Spade - Metropolitan Pearls Bracelet
4. Alkemie + Sea Turtle Ring
5. J. Crew - Leather Capri Sandals

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the day filled with a cool breeze and ice tea!!!

P.S. I would like to thank Margie over at Latebloomerbuds for being so sweet and allowing me to grace her lovely blog in her column featuring new bloggers. She made me feel just like this...

Thanks Margie, you're the best!! XOXO

Why I love Target

I have been in love with Target since I can remember, well actually we have more of a love/hate relationship. I can't seem to walk out of there with at a minimum 10 things that I don't need. I blame their brilliant marketing strategy and the fact that they have had some major designers come aboard...Zac Posen, Liberty of London, Anna Sui just to name a few.

Anyway I have been a bit obsessed with dishes lately, so imagine my delight when I came across these...

Discovery Bone China place setting

on the Target website. Once again Target, you have shown me that you can provide a girl with everything her heart desires!!

I am going to be honest in that I have never browsed their "Fine China" category (yes they do have a fine china section) but these are just so pretty and at $39.99 a place setting I just may have to break down and get them.

Plus they would make my Apple Jacks look much more sophisticated.

Sunday afternoon at the movies

Hi all!! Hard to believe Sunday afternoon is already upon us, is anyone else looking to see where their weekend went to?

I revisited one of my all time favorite flicks this weekend. I am a sucker for a great movie set, gorgeous costumes and color combinations that leave me wanting more. Another thing I love to do is make color palettes. I began doing this about a year ago when I had a design composition professor who was big on having us all present the color palettes for our projects before we began. I have continued this practice and love to refer back to different palettes when I am need of some inspiration for upcoming projects, parties, or just because color makes me happy.

I decided that these two things should meet and become friends and become my first regular column here on 365. Introducing... "Color Palette Movie Sunday". Every week I will share with you an inspiration board and color story of some great films that I leave me feeling inspired and renewed.

I love Sofia Coppola's version of Marie Antoinette, it is a lovely film that is full of color, music, costumes and gorgeous sets, it was filmed in Versailles for goodness sake. I really enjoy all the colors that she incorporated into her vision and they all complement one another beautifully. If you watch the special features of the dvd, like I do, she speaks about how she was inspired by colors of French Macaroon cookies, as well as 80's rock, and tried to stay away from some of the darker colors that are often seen in period films.

I hope these colors inspire you to do something lovely, bright and fun (and if they do send me a link I would love to see how they inspired you!)

Still trying to determine what movie will be featured next , any suggestions??

Well I am off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday afternoon I hear some John Denver calling my name.

Inspiration has arrived!!!

I have finally finished my inspiration blogging board for the BYW class, hooray. I have never created a mood board before and must admit I am hooked. I have always enjoyed working on collages so this was right up my alley.

A few of my favorite details include:

- A small illustration from my sketchbook based on a vintage vogue pattern I have stashed in a drawer.

- Stitching on paper, I have always loved the way this looks and try to use whenever possible.

- Some buttons that belonged to my great grandmother, I have quite a few glass bottles of these gems.

- A fabulous card from Paper Source, it makes me laugh every time I see it. 

The idea of this blog has progressed from just posting an iPhone picture everyday to something more and I couldn't be more excited about all the possibilities. I have enjoyed finding inspiration all around me and in the great community that I have been introduced to through blogging. I can't wait to continue along this adventure with all of you. 

Stay tuned...

Tasty Thursday.

Happy Fall Everyone!!! Hard to believe the holiday season is quickly approaching and the lazy days of summer are behind us. Nothing says fall to me like some good old fashioned comfort food so I decided to make some mac n cheese for dinner this evening. I am usually a blue box kind of girl but tonight I felt in a gourmet kind of mood. It came out great and even the Mr. came back for seconds.

I included the recipe below if the mood should happen to strike you as well. If you have a great comfort food go to recipe I would love to hear about it so don't be shy and drop me a line. Remember sharing is caring.

Mac N Cheese (not from a box)

This recipe feed my family of three with enough for left overs, adjust accordingly.

Step 1 (gather these goodies):

-  Coarse salt

-  1/2 pound macaroni

-  3 large eggs

-  12 ounces of evaporated milk

-  1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

-  1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

-  1 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar

-  1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

-  1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

Step 2:

Preheat oven to 475. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the macaroni for 6 minutes. It will be a bit undercooked but don't worry. Drain macaroni and set aside.

Step 3:

In a large mixing bowl whisk together eggs and evaporated milk. Once combined add in 1/2 tsp. salt, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and cheeses. Mix well and add macaroni. Mix together then transfer to an 8 inch baking dish. Gently spread macaroni mixture so it is evenly spread.

Step 4:

Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until sauce is bubbling. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Step 5:

DIG IN!!!

Cup full of flowers.

I was feeling in a bit of a funk today, mostly because the things on my to do list did not involve anything that I felt like to doing. On my second trip to Starbucks (yes you read that correctly) I decided to get some flowers and see if that would help brighten my day. 

This is the first flower arrangement I have ever put together and I definitely feel I need a bit more practice. I love using things other than vases on the rare occasion that I bring flowers home and this little tea cup from Anthropologie was just the right size. I see more flower buying in my future because these served their purpose and made me smile. 

What little things help to brighten your day?

Hello Lucky...

I would like to introduce you to my new little friend Lucky. I picked her up in a small shop in Chinatown this weekend during our getaway to San Francisco. I have been searching for the perfect Lucky Cat to bring home for the past couple of years and I have left many shops in Los Angeles, San Diego and even as far as Honolulu disappointed and wondering if she even existed. Often times I would see a version that was almost right and for a minute I would think maybe I should just settle, but I would leave empty handed more determined than ever.  Imagine my surprise when I walked into one of the tiniest shops that was stocked full of air soft pistols and swords and spotted her hiding in the corner. She has the sweetest face is made of porcelain and her paw moves, PERFECTION!! She will be my reminder that you should never settle for less than what you have your heart set on.

My very own Punky.

I am fairly certain that I have my very own Punky Brewster, you remember her right?!?! She was the spunky, headstrong, fearless girl, who dressed in  her own mismatched colorful and unique way on that show from the 80's. I wanted to be her friend when I was little, dress like her, be brave and funny like her.

Well I got the next best thing I get to be Punky's mom!! My Punky is everything that I thought was so cool about the original Punky, including the unique fashion, and when I say unique I mean UNIQUE.

As she has grown and become her own person with her own ideas of what looks good together I have had to bite my tongue and allow her to express herself, and it is hard with a capital H. Often times she comes down the stairs in her latest colorful and mismatched outfit and I want so badly to send her back upstairs to change and maybe remove some of the 50 rainbow rubber bands she likes to wear as bracelets, but I don't because I get it, I grew up in the 90's you know the decade that brought us 3 pairs of socks, LA Gear high tops, and acid wash jeans. Plus she wears a uniform all day so she should be allowed to express herself creatively while at home.

This brings us to the shoes that she is wearing in the photo and just received, my lovely cousin, Mrs. B wanted to get Punky something that she could make herself and so they sat down and Punky was able to design her very own converse. There were many versions, and I admit I cringed at many of them and I may have tried to persuade her a tiny bit, but in the end she ended up with a pair of shoes that are uniquely her. They are multi cheetah print, with a purple tongue, and a second lady bug tongue, they have red and black X's and O's lining the inside and her name stitched in green along the back. She loves them and truth be told I can't help but smile when I see her wearing them with such pride.

And just in case you want to channel your own inner Punky and design your own converse, remember don't be afraid to use a lot of color.

Sneak Peak.

I have slowly been gathering items for a inspiration board that I am working on for my Blogging Your Way class, the goal is to have it reflect what you would like your blog to be. I have never created a "mood board" and finding images has not been the problem it has been editing them down. I will post the entire board once I have completed it.

On a side note who knew I was such a fan of orange?!?!

Planting Project.

After picking up the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens I felt inspired to take on a small backyard clean up over the next few weeks to see if I could turn it into an area that we all look forward to spending time in. Currently I avoid it at all costs since it has become a storage area for surfboards, wetsuits and all the other equipment that we have accumulated since our daughter began surfing this summer.

I do have a few challenges to overcome:

1.We are busy, like most people, so maintaining a somewhat nice outdoor area falls very low on the to do

   list.

2.We have the worlds messiest dogs. Don't get me wrong I love them to death but well behaved they are

   not.

3. We are renters with a small town home backyard in Southern California which translates to not much

    room and very little we can change, therefore we do not want to spend a lot of money on a space that    

    we will eventually have to leave.

My solution is to try a container garden to add some life as well as a general clean up and organization of the entire area. Today felt like a good day to begin and I was feeling inspired so I headed to our local nursery, magazine in hand, with the goal of picking up some hardy yet pretty plants that hopefully my two beasts would not turn into their evening salad. Thirty minutes later, after a short detour through the fruit trees and gorgeous Japanese maples, I left with 3 plants, some potting soil and a medium sized terracotta container.

I will be posting weekly updates on our backyard clean up as well as adding a new container every week. Stay tuned and if you have any planting tips, container gardening ideas, or general advice on how to keep your dogs from eating your plants please share!!!

The plants from top to bottom are: Soft Rush, Coleus Kong Rose and Island Brocade Sedge

Take Me Away...

Today I spent the day dreaming of future vacations, blog possibilities and math homework. Reality always has a way of sneaking into my wishful thoughts. 

Glad that we have a mini get away planned for this weekend. I love planning trips nearly as much as I love going on them, I am a type A personality what can I say.  

Safe!!

Today we headed out to Angels Stadium to take in Kid Appreciation Day. Although I have two exams this week to study for, laundry to catch up on and the general Sunday to do list I decided to chuck all that responsibility and spend some quality time with my husband and lovely daughter. I will be paying for it tonight but I wouldn't have missed today for anything.

What I really enjoy about this particular ballpark is that it is clean, family friendly and relatively affordable. They also have great food selections with everything from old fashioned hot dogs and peanuts, to Ruby's Diner and CPK.

Bonus: After the game they let kids 12 and under run the bases!!! It was the first time I have ever been onto any type of professional sports field and I couldn't get over what a cool opportunity it was to walk out and see all the kids run around the bases with huge smiles on their faces.

Photo property of/taken by Angela Quintanar. Taken on the field behind home plate at Angels Stadium.

Dreaming of Fall...

I wandered into one of my favorite stores today...Anthropologie and I left with dreams of cozy fires places, warm cider and falling leaves. Then I left and remembered that I live in Southern California.

I love the visual aspect of not only the stores themselves but also their catalogues. The photos, the location sets, the visual displays and the CLOTHES. It is all great eye candy and I could spend hours taking it all in. Their home furnishing displays entice me with visions of vintage styled couches filled with gorgeous colorful pillows and no dog hair, alas a girl can dream.

What stores do you find your inspiration from?

Photo taken by Angela Quintanar. All rights reserved.

Singing and Dancing.

Photo taken by Angela Quintanar.

Have you ever been in the car belting out a song that you have sung a million times? You know that song that you have in your ipod and when it comes on you smile, turn it up and sing really loud (and then there's a guy in a Honda next to you staring at you like he has never seen someone sing with such enthusiasm, I saw you to Honda guy) cause you LOVE that song. Well there I was singing one of those songs and then I started  listening to words, I mean really listening and I was suddenly struck by how lovely they were:

Love sings

When it transcends the bad things

Have a heart and try me

Cause without love I won't survive...

The purpose of this blog (in addition to keeping track of all the pretty things I come across including random photos of Don Draper) is/was to challenge myself to find the small things in the day to day that we often don't notice. By forcing myself to capture those things, whether they be thoughts or moments, with an image I have found myself paying attention to everything. Inspiration can come from anywhere, even at 8:00 AM on your Friday commute to work.

Finally I would like to share the video below with you, I first came across it on dooce. It made me smile, dance and put me in a "Nobody puts Baby in the corner," kind of mood. Enjoy and until tomorrow...



(The song I was referring to above was Love Hurts by Incubus.)

Yes, PLEASE

Mad Men photo courtesy of AMC, all other additions/photo courtesy and property of yours truly

Don Draper + evening cocktails = Need I say more...

P.S. I thought I would try something a little different with my daily photo just for kicks (see I put it way up there in the corner), also don't mind me if I move things around a bit over the next few weeks. I am trying to get the hang of things around here and come up with a layout I am happy with. Feel free to leave me any suggestions.

Thank you and Good Night!!

I Heart Paperclips.

Hustle, originally uploaded by Angela Q..

Today was one of those days. You know the type that is filled with emails, phone calls, more emails, project deadlines, and then you realize hey wait a minute where did that headache come from?!?!

And finally when it is over and finished you realize how much a girl can love paperclips.