A Picture A Day

Last week I showed you the original sketches for the Brunch With My Baby blog header, logo, and site buttons design. This is one of the first times that I was able to not only design the header but also all of the pieces to go with it, and I absolutely loved it,

If you are a mom in the NYC area check out this blog. It has fabulous resources, great advice, and of course awesome family friendly restaurants!

Christine and Alexis, the lovely creators and moms of Brunch with my Baby, were fabulous to work with and I hope they love their new header! Thank you so much for selecting me for this project and I wish you much success!

xo

Long Weekend Packing List Help

Between He and She Perfect Packing, Spring Break Packing Guide, and Two Twenty One Packing List

I'd love to know; are you a good packer, a bad one, are you like me and basically bring your entire closet, shower, and makeup collection?

In honor of the Memorial Day weekend ahead, and the fact that I'm the worlds worst packer and am headed to Denver for a wedding, I wanted to do a post on packing advice and resources. When I first started doing research I had 15+ web pages open, I was looking for apps that worked, and I was reading tons of advice. Below are my favorite resources:

• Shabby Apple has a 12 piece packing list including 6 tops, 4 bottoms, and 2 dresses. I'm not sure how much it applies to my three day trip but it's still more helpful then my "pack the entire closet" plan. Shabby Apples' List

• Between He and She has an awesome packing list. Basically breaks packing down into basics, colors, shoes, and accessories. Between He and She Perfect Packing

• Sunglass Warehouse Blog breaks their packing list down by type of event. I really liked this version as well. It covers any event you might have on a trip minus a formal occasion. That being said, their list is geared toward spring break so you probably wouldn't have a formal event then. Spring Break Packing Guide

• Through a Pinterest search I stumbled upon the blog Wendy's Lookbook and found her post Up in the Air to be fabulous. She discusses how she packes what seems to be an incredible amount of things into her suitcase (including shoe boxes!) and gives ways to pack clothing to prevent wrinkling. My favorite advice was to pack delicate items in between two sheets of tissue paper and then roll it up like sushi.  Wendy's Lookbook: Up in the Air packing list/Advice

• Two Twenty One has a downloadable checklist that was created for a blog conference but can be easily updated for any type of trip and includes things I always forget such as phone and ipad chargers. The checklist is at the bottom of the post.  Two Twenty One Packing List

• And since your guys might need some help packing too Esquire has a great packing essentials guide. Esquires Vacation Packing List

What do you think? Do you have a perfect packing method you could share? Also I kept looking for packing aps but couldn't find one I liked. Any suggestions for a great packing ap?

A Picture A Day

I first showed you a sneak peak of this illustration here. It was more just to show you the use of a different medium and the fun I had with watercolor, but I wanted to give you another little sneak peak of the original sketches. The final doesn't look like any one of these but more a combination of the three and I'm so happy with it. This has been such a fun project to work on and I can't wait to show you the final header on Jane's site. 

Currently Reading, Cookbook Review

Purchase It's All Good Here

I don't know about you, but I love cookbooks. Especially beautiful ones. They are like delicious coffee table books to me. And if they encourage healthy eating even better!

When I receive or purchase a new cookbook I read it cover to cover, like it's a regular book. I mark pages with recipes that sound delicious and I want to try, and just love them.

The above cookbook, It's All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen is fabulous. I know this book has a lot of controvery. Some poeple don't like it because they think she is a movie star and what does she know about cooking. Others don't like it because they just don't like her. Well, I like Gwyneth Paltrow. I think she is beautiful and honest and when I read about this cookbook I had to get it. The book came about because she was having some medical issues, including panic attacks, that were a result of diet. Gwyneth Paltrow worked with her doctor to learn about which foods were good, which were bad, and then developed recipes that encourage healthy eating, but even more importantly made her feel better.

What I like most about this book is that she makes these heathly recipes that are packed with flavor and you don't feel like you are being deprived. You are eating truely healthy and delicious meals.

This upcoming week I'm planning to do a detox week. In the book recipes labeled Elemination Diet can be used as part of the detox week. She lays out a weekly plan for you in the back of the book which I used as a guideline and then modified it for what I think is realistic for the week but also if I really wanted to try a recipe that was part of the Elimination Diet I added it and removed one from the list. This is what the menu I created looks like:

Morning: The Best Green Juice
Morning Snack: soaked almonds, kale chips, or an apple with almond butter
Lunch: Lees Chopped Vietnamese salad with grilled salmon and lemon vinaigrette, or Almond and Spinach miso with brown rice
Afternoon Drink: Pumpkin Pie Shake
Dinner: 1. Flounder, asparagus, and salsa verde
             2. BBQ Chicken Spanish Style with roasted Asparagus
             3. Turkey meatballs and spinach with miso almond sauce
             4. Tai style chicken burgers with carrots with black sesame and ginger
             5. Cauliflower and chickpeas with mustard and grilled salmon and lemon vinaigrette

Doesn't that all sound delicious!? I think I might actually enjoy the detox week!

Has anyone else used this cookbook? What did you think?

A Picture A Day

I have a listing in my etsy shop for Bridal Fashion Illustrations. To me it's a fun and unique way to remember that special day, and the most beautiful dress a girl will ever wear.

Above is a peak at the lovely Mara, a bride who recently purchased the listing. She wanted to show her pretty blue shoes and the dress she wore on her special day!

Congratulations on your marriage Mara! Hope you love your fashion illustration!

A Picture A Day

I have been working with the lovely Christine on her, and her business partners, blog header, logo, social media icons, and site buttons. It's been so much fun working with her on the Brunch with my Baby website illustrations. I feel so lucky to get to be part of this great project and can't wait to tell you more about it... so while I can't show you the final just yet, I was to excited not to show you the original sketches.

Designer Inspired Spring Fashion

credits starting with left outfit. Emerson Fry Pockets Blouse in Blush, Emerson Fry Skinny Straights, Emerson Fry VHeel Slingback. Right image/Look for Less: Loft Fluid Henley Blouse, Loft Classic Frame Sunglasses, 6pm Michael Michael Kors belt, Loft Modern Crop White Jeans, 6pm Nine West Blooming Slingback.

See the outfit on the left. That's my Emerson Fry Inspiration. Emerson Fry is one of my favorite designers right now. Their looks are simple, chic, classic, and even a little sexy. What better combination right?

Well since I can't afford for my entire wardrobe to be right out of Emerson Fry's lookbook I started to look around for similar pieces that will allow me to feel that same chic / classic vibe but for a fraction of the price.

I looked at some of my other go-to / favorite places and found pieces that are very similar for much much less... I started at Loft and found the majority of the outfit there; the henley in almost the exact buttery pink blush color and straight leg white jean crop pants! And since I was saving so much money I also peaked at their sunglasses and found a pair similar to the Emerson Fry photo there too. With the outfit almost complete I checked out another one of my favorite online discount sites, 6pm, and finished the outfit off with the shoes and belt.

What do you think? Can you picture the pieces on the right looking similar to the ones on the left when put together?