The norm

It's been nuts the past two weeks! Brooklyn Boy and I have taken on a handful of new projects that have hijacked every ounce of our free time. All fun projects but geez these full time jobs sometimes feel in the way. Even as I write that I feel a pinch to be more thankful. Anyways, I want to tell you more about what's going on - easiest intro is to give you a mini iPhone pic round up! Starting from the top: Raw space we are styling; street Merch in Brooklyn; a living room restyle, 2 windows we are styling for one of our projects and my tomato plant! They are starting to grow!!! I'm psyched. And that's all for today! I type this while prepping for a shoot for work i.e. gotta go!!

Insta-art

I'm working with a client good friend right now who is trying to get that 'finished' look for her newlywed apartment in Tribeca. She and her husband have great taste and have already covered off on all the big purchases. So the bones are there, which is often the hardest part. 

A big focus of mine will the bare walls! Finding frames and art and well, just about anything, to cover your walls can be daunting.  Recently, I used $5 wallpaper samples and large frames from Pottery Barn in this apartment  to fill the large wall behind a clients sofa. Easy solution right? 

Well this morning, I was roaming around the Mark & Graham site, wondering what Brooklyn Boy would think about adding more monograms to our life, and stumbled upon a few sets of darling paper placemates (set of 50) for under $20. Then I thought, these are too cute to just be placemats, what if I framed them? Wow, my train of thought is mind blowing . . . not. 

I would buy a set of placemats and 3 - 10 frames to create some serious repetition on a major wall. These are my picks:

Crab Paper / Lee Gallery Frame 

Gold Chevron / Gilt Oversized Frame

The framing will always be more expensive then wallpaper, placemats and wrapping paper, but you can also find thriftier options at places like IKEA and Target! 

Anthropologie $20 and Under Round Up

This past weekend, my friend ,LeighAnn, and I had three of our close friends from college come for a visit. We split time between the Upper East Side and Brooklyn and hit up Jacob's Pickles, Levaine, Shake Shack (twice), Peasant, Westville, Peoples Pop and even good ole' 7Eleven for some $1 iced coffees and Lite Sprite Slurpies. Oh did I mention that we ate well while they were in town? Or that I'm still full? 

Thankfully, we did tons of walking to counteract the serious amounts of deliciousness. On Sunday, we stopped by the Anthropologie in Chelsea Market. I hadn't been in a while and was delighted at all the affordable home items! I love a lot of the clothes at Anthropologie, but they can be so expensive! Their House & Home items, on the other hand, can be more affordable! And I think a lot of what they carry can bring in interesting personality and texture. So, I did a round up of my favorite finds for under $20 - take a look . . .

Candle. Ice Cream Scoop. Vase (that I bought two of this weekend). Book letters.

Rope candleholders. Water bottles. 

Napkins. Tumbler. Ice Cream Scoop. Tape Dispenser. Placemat. Ring Holder.

diy herb & plant labels

In our current Park Slope apartment, we have something glorious and green and rare. 

A backyard! We share it with our upstairs neighbors, who we love, and try to be outside as much as we can. Our neighbors even left the massive wood herb planter / garden thing over to me so I could start an herb garden!!! So excited, I tell you.

On a particularly beautiful day a month ago,  I walked up to our local 'catch all' store (you know the ones that have plants, paint, shower curtains, ceiling fans, elmers glue, white t-shirts, etc.) and picked out a bunch of herbs! They were all two bucks! I took home cilantro, sage, oregano, green onions, tomatoes and jalapeno! 

Now, my little garden is just thriving (no thanks to me!) completely because of the crazy amounts of sun and rain we've had over the past few weeks. I'm on the hunt for cute herb label ideas and came across these at Terrain - 

I'm using these as inspiration for creating simple diy herb labels and challenging myself to only using $5 on this little project! Between wooden spoons and chalkboard paint I already have, I think I just may be able to stay within budget on this one. I'll keep you posted! 

how to throw a mani/pedi party

I don't know about you, but this spring and summer have been filled with weddings!  One of my absolute favorite pre wedding events that I've both attended, thrown and had thrown for me is a Mani/Pedi Party. It's an easy way to 'gift' the bride and her bridesmaids with a little sprucing up right before the wedding.

I wanted to do a little something for Brooklyn Boy's sister, who's wedding we were just in Tulsa for, and decided the 'Nail Party' was just the thing. This way, I didn't have to worry about hosting at someone's house or expensive venue, the 'entertainment' was getting our nails done (who doesn't love that!) and the salon we used was totally open to drinks and snacks. Done. 

Here are my tips and learnings for pulling off your own Mani Pedi Party!

1. Pick a place - Duh. Also, ask the manager about a group discount for all the party goers! 

2. Send out invites - I went down a very simple route for these invitations - I designed something online, screengrabed it and embedded it into an email to all the girls. As much as I LOVE printed invites, this was not the time for involved invitations and costly paper. It's important to know when ease + peace of mind should prevail! 

3. Decor - I roamed the aisles Target when I was in Dallas and got SO much cute Spritz Party stuff - and on sale! Couldn't believe it. Total - I spent about $20 at Target on wrapping paper (to cover the table), plates, napkins, cups, and cut paper streamers.

Look at some of these cute options!  

I just grabbed whatever was cute and colorful. No need for a formal theme. 

4. Party Favors - I'm a copy cat. Hey, there's no reason to reinvent the wheel! My sisters Nail Party was the last I had attended and we were gifted brightly colored flip flops with big bows on them. Simple, cute and affordable, especially if you catch Old Navy on $1 Flip flop day. Ours were 2 for $5 flip flops at Old Navy

 

Tied a big ole' bow and stacked them in a large basket, making them easy to transport too! 

 5. Sparklers & Snacks - What's more appropriate for an all girls shin dig then Mimosas and donut hole kabobs! I didn't want to deal with cutlery, so all of our snacks were finger friendly. 

This was a perfect little opportunity to try out Trader Joe's champagne and sparkling lemonade (non-alcoholic). Was totally pleased with the lovely bottles and the great taste!  And did I mention how cheap TJ's was?? 

Figured we should have something healthy, so I brought lots of fruit to munch on as well.

There you have it - an easy and fairly effortless party, thanks to Trader Joe's, Target and Old Navy!