pattern pals - travel

In honor of my recent plane ticket purchasing bonanza, this week's pattern theme is travel. Listen, I had big plans to really interpret this in a very out-of-the-box way, but then I drew some planes, and found this color palette, and just couldn't resist. Truth be told, I'm still learning the ins and outs of creating a pattern that translates well in repetition, but I'm trying to place a ripping-my-hair-out limit on time spent on these little after-work experiments. Bear with me.
Above is the repeat square, and below is the original drawing I did.  And, as usual, be sure to take a peek at Emma's pattern over at her blog!

think pretty

Last weekend, the always amazing Kate Miss orchestrated a little get together with some of our lady friends to take some new, updated portraits. It was also the best excuse I've had lately to eat frozen cookie dough with a spoon.

Kate has a well-articulated post here about hangups, but it bears repeating - it's fascinating and eye opening to see the reactions of such a beautiful group of women view their own photograph. Why do we let these little negative ideas about our body/face/hair stick inflate until they are the only thing we see when we look at ourselves? As a lady who constantly checks that my hair is in place and my lipstick is fresh, it was a nice change to settle in and goof off in front of the camera... and of course, some of the best portraits were candid. At any rate, thanks to the direction of Laura and Erin and the photog skills of Kate, I ended up with some new shots of my mug, and I think we all enjoyed an afternoon where we felt pretty.

horizons

I was chatting with a friend in Minnesota the other day, and when I asked how she was doing, she just said "well, you know....February." Truer words never spoken. These last days of winter can really feel like a grind, even in LA. I've found myself wishing for longer days, patio drinks, and cutoffs, and I can feel the extra work my brain is doing to stay creative.
We've had a lot of excitement around here lately, with friends in town and Scott beginning his new job, and that's certainly helped to keep my head in the game. Well, that, and the 80 degree beach day that Los Angeles whipped out over the weekend (nicely played). But it's still hard. We're adjusting to a new schedule, feeling a little sleep deprived from an earlier wake-up call, trying to remember what it's like to have dinner together again every night (verdict: nice). I've found I need to remind myself to enjoy these shorter, quiet days before life gets wild again in just a few weeks. Tickets have been purchased for my spring travel plans - three months, three cities - and if I really concentrate, I can visualize bare legs and porch beers. Almost there.

pattern pals - love versus ugh

Valentine's day, am I right? Ugh. In honor of this fine, faux-holiday that keeps my fine company in business, I've whipped up not one, but TWO patterns, for the cynic and the schoolgirl in all of us. Take your pick - a pepto-pink ugh to pay tribute to what I'm sure is your favorite exclamation, or a cool blue-gray version of the l-word. Above, you can see the patterns applied, but please feel free to grab the repeating squares below for your own use (with a link back here, please). Be sure to check out Emma's amazing pattern as well - oooo lala, it's le French (I don't know French).
xoxo's, babes. Go kiss someone or whatever.

projectile

A little outtake for you on this Valentine's week of some fun type that popped out of my tablet. I'm in that creative stage of newfunthings that should be a really good time, but in actuality I have a lot of raw material that I need to sort of sculpt into something finished and fantastic, and frankly, it's hard. We've had a stressful couple of weeks of flu, cold, car wrecks and taxes, and so it felt good to finish something, even if it is a quicky (and a little juvenile, but we all know that's never stopped me before).
p.s. - speaking of type (and, really, the whole reason I ended up drawing some today) check out daily dishonesty - TOO REAL.

bright spot

FASHION FILM from Matthew Frost on Vimeo.
(video via It's Nice That)
Scott started my workday this morning by sending over this amazing vortex of indie-lady facepalm action, starring Lizzy Caplan (who, between Mean Girls and Party Down, occupies a special place in my little cynical heart). Watch it, point and laugh, and try to be self-aware enough to think to yourself "je ne ferais jamais cela..."