In Honor of Design Necklace in Action

Remember how I loved this necklace and couldn't decide whether or not to buy it? Well, A helped me pull the trigger and I ordered it. And it arrived super fast (which reminds me I need to leave some feedback on her Etsy shop), and I love it! I also just loved the way that photo was styled so much...

that I'm trying to recreate the pieces in my own wardrobe.

But in the meantime, I had a coworker take some quick (kinda dorky) shots of me modeling my new accessory so I could share it. Here it is in action:

("worky" with my cardigan on...)

(and... well, whatever.)

So glad I decided to buy this. It's great. And actually really versatile. I feel like it'll be just as fun when I dress up a casual jeans look with it as it was with worky-attire.

I definitely recommend Anna's shop. A graphic designer and jewelry designer by trade, she has a really great collection of accessories for sale - all of which is really just lovely, simple, and fun. Not to mention beyond reasonable. I'll be purchasing again. She has an eye for the little details that bring it all together. She has a great blog, which is how I discovered her shop.

So happy I did!

Pergamondo Necklace

Really loving this striking necklace by Greek (Etsy) artist Pergamondo.

(via ( Indie ) Pretty Projects)

More beautiful things here. I promise I'll get off Etsy for a bit.

Choose the Extraordinary

Maybe because today started off wonky (I forgot my shoes, and am now stuck in giant clunky rain boots until the stores open...), but I needed to hit my own refresh button. This worked:

(Marc Johns via WO AND WÉ)

Matthew Heller on Brown Button

Super excited to see this in my Reader this morning. Already one of my favorite blogs, Kimberlee at Brown Button has just the loveliest spirit that comes through in her writing, her aesthetic, and her post topics and inspirations. Recently she commented on the new e-mag, TradHome, and particularly on a feature depicting a beautiful children's playroom designed by Jeff Andrews. In the original launch of the magazine, the artist of the painting in the playroom had been mis-identified. Fortunately for them, I noticed. And why did I notice, because the artist happens to be my incredibly talented, amazingly wonderful, kind and awesome cousin, artist Matthew Heller. So when I saw that Kimberlee admired his work, I had to tell her. My worry was realized -- if they didn't correct the link and reference in the article, not only would that be a giant discredit to the artist and his work, but it would also be a huge disservice to hopeful admirers and potential collectors of his work, because if they couldn't click the link to his website, they'd Google the wrong name and then, well, you get it.

Anyway, I'm so glad Kimberlee found her way to his real name and real site. Because, leaving aside that he's family and I already love him so, his creative gene is beyond the normal, even the exceptional. In each of his artistic phases and series over time, I've truly been captivated and awestruck by his gift. His use of typography and reference, colors, space... each piece takes my breath away. Here are some of my (many... get ready) favorites from various series (not just the totally rad Homage to Music series):

(obsessed with these houses since I first ever saw them...)

(My mother used this image for one of her book covers... I love everything about it.)

(I was visiting once when this was in-progress... just remembered when I saw it again on the site. 1999.)

 

(these Tree Huggers are possibly at the very top of my favorites list... I love the punch of these colors on the black)

(my husband and his mom danced to this at our wedding. oh, Chicago.)

(magical collaboration)

(all images by Matthew Heller, via MatthewHeller.com)

love.

Blogger-forced Hiatus

Not risking posting until the blogger issues have been resolved (and my posts from yesterday have been restored! {frowny face})

Hold tight... I have a good bunch in the queue (or at least I think so!)

Happy Friday in the meantime (this was a black-cloud week, I think!)

Bad Day

I know that hardly anyone's reading this still, but even if it's just to make myself feel better, I have to explain the silence today. I had a rough day... crashed my computer at work yesterday, which may or may not have had something to do with my borderline obsessive blogging/Google Reader reading/Pinterest pinning/etc. In my defense, I'm an editor. I don't have many (any?) ongoing projects. If I am waiting on something to come in for editing, I have nothing to do. I have to entertain myself! Anyway, I didn't get my computer back until the end of the day today, and due to my absence from the work world for those hours, I did, in fact, have work to do. So far, my work ID still gets me into and out of the office, so in spite of legitimately killing a computer, I'm still employed! (yay! sort of...)

But in the meantime, I also have lots of ideas. So lots of post are a-comin'!

(even if I'm just writing to myself!)

Salad Yum

I just had the most delicious salad for lunch. Really, I just had a great lunch experience... met up with one of the coolest ladies in my life, KB, and talked books, gossip, life, soul-searching. All good things. I always feel so refreshed after seeing her. Need to do it more. Anyway, we were both wooed by the same salad. You'll have to forgive the blurry iPhone image - I was hasty in my photography:

Very simple, and very surely will be recreated for dinner later this week, and likely many a potluck situation. Arugula, sliced red onion, Mandarin orange segments, dried cherries, Israeli cous cous. It actually was intended to be served with grilled marinated chicken, but both K and I opted to go veg for lunch. Tossed lightly in a citrus vinaigrette. Truly delicious. And filling. I feel there is no hope for dinner tonight... it won't hold up. I promise I'll try to remember to take a better framed/better staged/better photographed shot when I attempt a recreation.

Yum.