358 : paper source

I love love love Paper Source. I feel like a kid in a candy store whenever I go there. Walking in there makes me want to make stuff. So when I needed to go to pick up some paper for a certain someone's birthday, I was more than a little excited. It took calling 4 stores to find the one place that had it in stock, and it was almost 35 miles to get there, but seriously, so worth it.

244 : my new car

After a crazy long day of car shopping, negotiating, nervousness and signatures galore, I finally left the lot in this beauty. A big thanks to my Dad & Betsy who went through and helped me during this journey. I absolutely love her.

216 : iphone

After months of waiting, calling the Apple Store everyday, standing in line for an hour (yes, I'm one of those people), and the incredibly nice Apple guy who helped me (thanks Seamus!) I finally got my new phone.

I've also come to the realization that lately whenever I get super excited about something, in my head, I do the happy dance Katherine Heigl does in The Ugly Truth. And then another realization occurs: I'm such a dork. But at this moment, I'm one happy dork, and that's all that matters.

214 : symbol ice

The type dork in me is in love with this ice cube tray. With various punctuation and symbols, I can't think of a better way to cool down a drink. Boring old ice cubes? Not for this designer. They're officially on my wish list.

Update: UPS came today (8/19). The bf got them for me! So sweet.

200 : dogeared

Dogeared is most noted for their "Make a Wish" jewelry collection. The basic idea is simple: When you put the necklace on, you make a wish. You then leave the necklace on until it "wears off" (ie breaks) and then it's said that your wish will come true. With charms of things like hummingbirds, skulls, scissors and hearts, it's really hard not to find one you fall in love with.

I'm more of a "Reminder" collection kinda girl. No "wearing off" with these. The tiny little charms are held with either a gold dipped or sterling chain, instead of the silk string from the "Make a Wish" collection. Making them tiny little inspirations of good things to come. These two are my favorites :)

173 : antique/thrift stores

I'm on a vintage kick lately. I've always loved me a good vintage object over a new one anyway. There's something about all that history and pride that went into it, not to mention the majority of the items, were of much better quality.

I love the hunt of finding that perfect thing. The one I keep looking at because I can't believe it's actually mine. If I didn't have work to do, I'd be driving up to LA right now. And luckily the boy is the perfect antique/thirft-store hunting buddy. Surprised? I was too.

Current obsessions: letters from old signage, original fruit crate labels, wooden type, vintage fabrics.

167 : anthro promos

It's already been established that I heart Anthropologie. I can hardly pass by without taking a quick dip in to indulge my senses. But there is something else that makes Anthropologie dear and near to my heart...their birthday promotions.

Sure, many places ask for your birth date. And they may even send you a crappily designed postcard wishing you birthday bliss and offering a discount, but Anthropologie goes further. Last year, I received this in the mail...

Photo from fishfoodblog.com

An adorable little fabric pouch with string and buttons, holding a card, which of course, offered a discount.

And this year, this little beauty was in my mailbox.

How cute is that? The "candle" is actually a necklace. Way to think out of the postcard birthday box, Anthro!

164 : borders

I love books. New, vintage, doesn't matter. I love them all. When I feel the book itch, I either head across the street to the PV Library book sale, or Borders (which is conveniently also across the street). The Torrance and El Segundo Borders seem to have the best selection of design books (without having to trek up to Hennesey and Ingalls in Santa Monica), and they're open super late, so when the need strikes, I can drag the bf with me :)

122 : target

Do we really need an explanation here? Didn't think so.

Hands down one of the best places ever.

Who knew that a place that was so uncool when we were young, would do a complete 180 and become so hip. From the limited edition designer jewelry and clothing, to their commercials, there's really nothing we don't like about this place.

116 : surprises

I've been a bit obsessed with scouring Etsy lately. My objects of desire: vintage ampersands. In the past few weeks I've found a variety of new additions: a plaster one from the 40's that was originally used to spell out movie titles, old wooden and metal letterpress blocks, an oxidized stencil from the 40s, and today I received my latest...a zinc ampersand that was originally part of some sort of signage.

When I opened the envelope, I saw a little bag of goodies in addition to my purchase.

This amazing package was full of all this:

From old playing cards, to dictionary pages and a torn music sheet...there's even a page from a ledger from April 1920. Forget the ampersand (just for a minute, of course) this is what brought the smile to my face.

She even put in my initials. Someone else who gets that it's all in the details.

 You can get your own package of goodies by visiting her store on Etsy, Panache Paper Goods.

 Thanks, Debra. You made my day.

111 : ikea

Today we took a trip to Ikea to get some stuff for the bf's new pad. Being there reminded me just how much I love that place, and just how long it's been since the Ikea overload we experienced when we first got our office. I can't even tell you the number of times we went there in a matter of a few weeks. We would need more than one hand to count the trips, that I know for sure. We'd buy something, bring it to the office, realize it's too big, then go back and return it for a smaller one. With our bookshelves, we thought there was no way we could fit two in the office, so we returned one. The next day realizing we really did need two, we went back and re-purchased it. Dorks, I know.

We even put everything together ourselves, and I'm very proud to say that two and a half years later, everything is still in one piece.

109 : etsy

If you love handmade items (art, jewelry, soaps, clothing, etc) or things vintage, you must check out etsy.com. It's full of independent "shops" were anyone can sell their handmade or vintage goods. A friend even sent us a delish sampler box from Whimsy & Spice that she found on the site. Yum.

I've found some amazing things there myself...and check it daily, in order to grow my current obsession of collecting ampersands.

It truly is addicting once you start browsing through. You won't find many of these items at your local store, and it's nice to know you're helping other small business owners in the process.

One day I may even revive my old jewelry making skills and set up shop on etsy. We'll see.

105 : unique LA

We had a blast today. Where were we? At the....

The Unique LA show had an amazing group of vendors from in and around LA. The booths were filled with anything from art, to jewelry, to clothing/accessories, to gourmet eats, to books/stationery items and more. It was a visual overload. SO much to see! With the complimentary totes in hand we tackled each and every one of the over 300 vendors and by the time we were through we were both happy and dizzy from the swirl of visuals everywhere. Some of the graphic design highlights of the day were the unique business cards including one from a fashion designer printed on khaki fabric and another printed on corrugated cardboard.

We even picked up some fun stuff while we were there. One of the first purchases was a bottle of hand lotion from further soap, whose products are made using the glycerin from biofuel. Eco-friendly and the sent of the products is amazing. From Klean Spa, we picked up a Yuzu scented spray (Jen) and Pomegranate-Fig lotion (Monique). And can't forget the gourmet eats...from Ococoa we picked up gourmet chocolate and then famished from all the walking we stopped off midway at the "cafe" section of the show. There we sat down to a pastrami sandwich and caprese sandwich from fresser's. As we headed back on the last course of the show, we spotted a popsicle cart. From popshop, we grabbed an avocado/vanilla popsicle (Jen) and a lychee popsicle (Monique) for the rest of the journey. We even had a happy ending and ran into one of our old school friends Traci as we were heading out. :)

What a great day.