Monthly Faves : August

• Want to see where I live? I was seriously *just* planning on doing a photo tour of my beloved Oak Park, but until I get around to it, check out the lovely Nicole's photos.
• Secret fantasy: I want to open a restaurant just so I can design the identity for it. My favorite menu from the gallery is for La Condesa restaurant; I swoon over that hand-drawn type.
• Sarah Von answered the question on every non-professional bloggers mind... Dear Pro Blogger, How do you make money?
• I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear someone else admit {hilariously} that making friends as an adult is pretty much THE WORST. {Sidenote, I'd totally be friends with them.}
• Here's another post that made me think, "Phew, I'm not alone, and I'm not crazy."-- Someone with a case of the "IsThisIt?" Blues.
• This is an older post, but I feel like it was written specifically for me: "Gym-Going for the Awkward Woman."
• Book-nerds, this one is for you: Better Book Titles.
• A slideshow of newly married couples from day one of marriage equality in New York = Happy heart.


• Nut milk looks much prettier than it sounds... Nut milk. *Snicker.* Just try and say it without giggling. {Giggling aside, I only use almond milk instead of cow milk now, so I'm way excited to know it's ridiculously easy to make myself.}
• Is it egotistical to link to my own post in my Monthly Faves? I say no, because I still love these EAT + LEARN + MOVE videos. {They also make me super annoyed because I discovered my DSLR doesn't shoot video, booURNS.}
• Food blogger Jennifer Perillo lost her husband suddenly and unexpectedly. She asked readers to make her husband's favorite dessert-- peanut butter pie-- and share it with those we love. This video response is beautiful and touching. 


• Fun fact about me: I have a soft-spot for Muppets; Husband and I even had our first dance at our wedding to "Rainbow Connection." So classic Muppets' songs covered by indie and alternative artists is pretty much a dream come true.
• New Florence + The Machine track! Her voice gives me goosebumps, every time.


• Proof that people are brilliant: Single-serving Nutella Mug Cake. I'm seriously thinking about making a Pinterest board just for recipes with Nutella.
• This DIY for concrete planters makes the process look so easy and the result is edgy and modern. Somehow I think it would be much trickier in reality, but I'd still like to try.
• Duh, I wish I would have thought of this: Washi tape magnets!
• This will likely be categorized as Old News to y'all, but it's new to me and I think it's super fun: Printstagr.am, who will make stickers, minibooks and prints of your Instagram photos. {Side note: I need an iPhone, BAD.}
• Sometimes I just can't stomach paying $12-15 per class to go to yoga, so I was happy to learn about My Yoga Online, which has yoga videos available for $10/month. Must explore this further.
• Kimberly Wilson's Creative + Conscious Business ecourse looks pretty fab. Too bad I spent the money to take Indie Biz again; I would have definitely done this instead!

Monthly Faves is a series featuring my favorite links and bits around the interwebs.

Well Said : Steve Jobs

 Taking the Scenic Route by AlexWijnen on Etsy ($35)

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

~ Steve Jobs

PS- Lots more inspiring quotes from Mr. Jobs here.

Weekending.

 Tree-gazing... technically, a terrible photo, 

but I kind of love the abstractness :)

- Enjoying a three-day weekend after an incredibly stressful week
- Reveling in my absolute favorite weather, all weekend long-- low 70's, breezy, zero humidity and some sun {so sorry to all those on the East Coast who suffered through Irene!
- Bike rides with the husband {and failing to locate the neighborhood cafe despite knowing where it is when I'm driving my car}
- Walks through the park while Mister played disc golf
- Sitting on a bench and feeling the gorgeous cool breeze
- Stopping by the farmers market for farm-fresh eggs
- Indulging in ice cream cones
- Recipes made this weekend included pizza, homemade tomato soup and baked oatmeal {phenomenal}
- Getting this book from the library... I am GEEKING OUT
- Cleaning the bedroom of all non-essentials {piles of stuff, books, etc.} to make it more of a special, romantic place
- I had previously been lamenting how sad it is to have our local Borders {and all the others} go out of business--because a bookstore closing is always sad... Well, apparently my threshold for sadness ends at 50-70% off all books. I can't resist a deal.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Foodie Friday : Dinner Parties

Dinner Table Setting by Niina C

The little dip in temperatures the last week or two has me daydreaming of autumn days and--I'm going to hate myself in a few months for saying this--long winter evenings. As someone who withers in the heat of summer,  I can become somewhat anti-social if too many get-togethers and social activities take place outdoors under the hot sun.

So when the temperature starts to drop, I immediately start thinking about the wonderful and cozy dinner parties I could throw for a good group of friends. Food is hands down my favorite way to get people together. I've been brainstorming ideas like crazy, and thought I'd share some of the dinner party concepts I've come up with. I hope to rally some friends together for at least a few of these over the fall and winter months. The designer in me is also super excited to drum up some sweet invitations to accompany these gatherings!

Note: As an obvious food-lover, I've geared my suggestions towards those who like to cook-- No buckets of supermarket potato salad allowed here! I make no apologies for that, but hopefully there are a few options for those who might not be as culinary inclined.

Also useful: This post from The Kitchn has some great thoughts on potluck dinners. Definitely read the comments for various opinions on dinner party etiquette. Apparently, potlucks are controversial to some who feel it's tacky to ask guests to bring dishes to a party you're throwing. These people need to learn that sharing is caring, sheesh. Not to mention cost-effective for everyone.

Anyways.

Dinner Party Ideas

- Iron Chef: Pick a secret ingredient, and reveal it to guests in your dinner invitation  or shortly before the party date. Assign people to different courses, with the only requirement being that you have to incorporate the secret ingredient into the dish or beverage. Vote for your favorite use at the end of the evening. (Ingredient suggestions: oranges; basil; a type of liquor; chocolate; etc.)
- Breakfast for Dinner: Pretty self explanatory :)
- Childhood Revisited: Have guests bring their favorite dish from their youth, but with a grown-up twist. Think lobster mac-n-cheese, sangria "fruit punch," etc. Fancy-pants up those old favorites.
- Small Plate Sampler: Set up a spread of small eats, nibbles and finger foods-- the kinds of thing you can eat with one hand and carry a wine glass in the other.
- Pizza Party: Make your own pizzas from a spread of possible toppings. This works great for outdoor parties if you grill the pizza, or opt for oven baked pizzas in cooler weather. Taco, chili, sandwiches or burger parties are other good "assemble it yourself" entrees.
- Globetrotter: For the adventurous crowd, ask each person to bring a dish from a certain region of the world. Feature various dishes from one specific country, or have a United Nations-type of party with cuisines from all over the world.
- Rainbow Brite: Assign dinner guests to create a dish of a specific color. This can make for quite the impressive table spread if you arrange the items on your buffet table according to the color spectrum.
- Newbies: Ask everyone to make something that they've never made before.
- Cook-Off: Pick a dish that people think they make the best, and put them head to head (think: chili, soup, pizza, etc.) Just don't have everyone bring a pot of chili if you only have 10 guests coming over. It's better to have 2-3 people battle it out, and let other people just eat or bring some kind of side dish-- or at least be prepared to provide tuperware for guests to take leftovers home.
- Secret Chef: Play a game of "who made what" and guess the chef behind all the dishes at the potluck.
- Copycat: Have each guest bring a dish their version of a dish that they love from a restaurant. Lots of copycat recipes can be found online, but guests can also feel free to take their own creative stab at recreating a beloved restaurant dish.
- Cooking Class: If you and/or some of your friends are particularly adept in the kitchen, turn your party into an educational experience and teach a cooking lesson.
- Dinner and a Movie: Pair your next movie viewing party with a corresponding dinner. Think Southern food with "Fried Green Tomatoes" or crepes and cafe au laits with "Amelie."
- After Dinner Desserts: Think about hosting a dessert-only party, which is especially good for those of us on a budget. It can be as simple as a top-your-own ice cream spread, a full-on dessert buffet, or a dessert-version of any one of the above suggestions.

Have you ever hosted a unique dinner party? Are there any party themes you could think to add to my list?

Summer Reading Pledge : Book Reviews.

We're down to the home stretch friends! This is our last week for the Summer Reading Pledge. On September first, I'll be offering up a little giveaway to conclude the Pledge and to thank you all for joining in and playing along.

So far this summer I've read (and reviewed):
1. Bossypants
2. Catching Fire
3. EnLIGHTened

To wrap up my reviews, I also read Finding Your Own North Star by Martha Beck, Get Lucky by Katherine Center, Add More ~Ing to Your Life by Gabrielle Bernstein and half of Life Support: Three Nurses on the Front Lines by Suzanne Gordon. Here are my mini-reviews...

Finding Your Own North Star: I'm one who likes to keep my books in pristine condition, but for this book, I broke out the pens and started underlining. There are so many worthwhile gems of wisdom and insightful exercises that are perfect for anyone who is looking for a more authentic direction in life. Not that that's me. Ahem. Seriously though, I found myself tempted to keep this book on my lap while I was at work to sneak some reading in throughout the day. It will be a great book to return to regularly.

Get Lucky: This is the requisite "chick lit" book for the summer. I was a quite fan of Katherine Center's book, The Bright Side of Disaster, so I picked up her newest book. It was a quick read, but not nearly as good as BSOD. It was a little too predicable, and the final scenes were just too far fetched and unrelateable for my liking. I'd definitely recommend BSOD over this one.

Add More ~Ing to Your Life: So, can you tell that I really like personal development books? (PS- I abhor the term "self help." "Personal development" seems much more positive to me). I had checked this book out from the library in the past, and it hadn't grabbed me, but I gave it a second try recently since I kept seeing Gabrielle pop up online quite often. Honestly, it didn't really stick with me. I felt Gabrielle's concept of the ~Ing equation was a little repetitive when it was applied to every chapter in the book, but I did gain some insights about myself through reading it. I like how she tied physical movement to a positive quality (ex. doing yoga when you are working on stretching your boundaries) and it's made me look at my physical activity a little differently.

Life Support: Three Nurses on the Front Line: For some reason, I really like reading about nurses. Part of me has always been interested in the profession (at least in a curious sense, if not a practical sense), so I have found myself reading profiles of nurses on more than one occasion. This book follows three different nurses and looks at the challenges of their job in the current medical environment and the difficulties in their working relationships with doctors. Although I'm not finished, I've found it very informative and interesting to read.

I hope you all get in some last-minute reading this week! Stay tuned for the Summer Reading Pledge giveaway next week!

Learn + Eat + Move

If I boiled my life down to its essence, I'm pretty sure you would find these three things (or at least the hopes that these three things will be there, always): learning, eating, and traveling. Give me my favorite husband-shaped travel companion by my side, and I wouldn't need much more to be fulfilled.

These gorgeously filmed and edited videos from three guys who traveled the world together for 44 days have led me to conclude that all future travels of mine must be accompanied by a video camera... A video like this would be better than any souvenir you could buy.

Cue wanderlust:


LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

And now I must go trawling for travel deals on Kayak. Or at least do some wanderlusty daydreaming...

Listed // Best Sensations

List 02 // Best Sensations
{of the PG-rating variety, of course}

The last two mornings in Chicagoland have been gloriously fall-like in temperature and lack of humidity, which has me dreaming of all sorts of coziness to come, and got me thinking about the things that bring me that perfect "aaaaah" feeling.

01. Wrapping my hands around a hot mug of tea.
02. The crispness of the air on the first sweatshirt day of fall.
03. Laying on my back in the grass.
04. Feeling the breeze from a ceiling fan (or, even better, an open window) as I fall asleep.
05. T-shirt sheets on a pillow top mattress.
06. Bear hugs from my guy.
07. Goosebumps prompted by a piece of music or film.
08. Cool showers on hot days and hot showers on cool days.
09. Savasana at the end of class.

What stirs your senses?

How to Stay Creative

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Is there anything you'd add to the list? {I'd say "take walks" and "connect with nature."} How do you stay creative?

Summer Reading Pledge : Bookmarks

How's the summer reading coming along, everyone? It's been a while since I posted my progress but I've been checking lots of books off my list. I've completed my goal of five books, which I'll post reviews for soon, so I'd like to get two more read before the end of summer. And just a reminder, the Summer Reading Pledge ends on September 1st, and I'll be doing a drawing for an Amazon gift card!

For now, I have a set of downloadable bookmarks for you. I picked out two lovely quote related to reading for the front side, and a space to list either books you've read for the pledge or books you'd like to read in the future. I designed them so that you just print, cut them out, fold them in half and hold them together with a bit of glue or tape. You can also put some cardboard in between the halves to reinforce it a little bit. Download a JPEG of the bookmarks here.

Enjoy, and keep on reading! :)

Listed // Simple Pleasures

As a compulsive list maker, I decided I wanted to document some of my favorite lists on the blog, particularly those that would bring a smile to my face on those less-than-sunshiny days.

List 01 // Simple Pleasures

01. The smell of the air right before it rains.
02. Fresh, warm chocolate chip cookies.
03. Downloading new fonts.
04. Slices of lemon in my water.
05. The stillness of the world when I wake up early.
06. Stove-top popcorn.
07. The smell of fresh-cut grass.
08. Lazy Sundays.
09. Cuddling during thunderstorms.

What simple thing is bringing you pleasure lately?

Well Said : Ira Glass

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”


Love him.

Tuesday Tunes // Tennis

Ever since watching {and re-watching} Olivia's video of her beach house--included in my Monthly Faves for July--I haven't been able to shake off the sound of the band Tennis that she used in the video. All of their tracks seem just perfect for days spent lounging in the sun, sipping lemonade and frolicking in salty sea water. It's a little bit fluffy and saccharine, like cotton candy for your ears. Last summer's soundtrack was Best Coast, but I have the feeling that the memories of this summer will surely be accompanied by Tennis.

I'd love to know, what bands sound like summer to you?

Caitidid Designs Etsy Shop Announces : The Doors are Open!

I'm happy to announce that the Caitidid Designs Etsy shop is (finally) up and running! Currently, I have my first line of wedding invitations designs up for sale that feature a variety of clean, bold graphics and stylish typography. This is just the beginning of my shop-- I have plans to offer paper goods for other events and purposes soon (such as birth announcements, children's birthday invitations and accessories, personal stationery, etc.), as well as another line of wedding invitations that will play around with innovative uses of color, patterns and textures. And, as always, I'm quite available for custom graphic design services--anything from print design to Etsy or blog banner designs!

So, if you are in the midst of wedding planning, or have a friend or family member getting hitched, I'd love for you to check out my shop! Thanks, friends :)