Loving: Ruche Fall Look Book

Happy mid weekday to you!!  Phew, this week has flown by, hasn't it for you too? Today I'm crushing on the Ruche Professional Fall Wardrobe look book.  Since I work in a photo studio jeans and tees are a staple in my wardrobe.  But lately however I've been dressing things up by wearing skirts and dresses.  Below is one of my fav work wear outfits. I can't wait to transition some of my summer staples into the fall. Pairing my skirts and dresses with tights and boots, I'll be able to extend there mileage for sure!  What pieces do you own that you're planning on wearing into the Fall season?

Photo by Zoe Tyler.  Waiting to take the train home after a hard days work!

Photographer: Andy Barnes

After pouring over the latest Jayson Home & Garden fall catalog I just had to find out who the photographer behind the gorgeous interiors and stills are.  Andy Barnes, a local Chicago based photographer is the creator behind the images.  Aren't they dark and beautiful!?  I love the abandon
looking spaces they chose to shoot there vintage inspired furniture collections.  If you want to see more of him brilliant work you should check out his website too.  You'll be glad you did :)

New Feature: Free Design Downloads!

Happy Monday to you all!  I hope your weekend was filled with lots of enjoyment and laughter.  I have exciting news to share with you!  I'm re-introducing my free design downloads link for anyone to download and use for there crafty/blog/design needs.  They were created in photoshop in a 8x10 page layout and are ready to print out at home or to be cut and pasted into your blog/website.  The two downloads that are available for download are fun labels and tags. I used the tags with ribbon as a design detail in my last post just to give you an idea. Let me know if you have any questions about how to use them, I'm happy to help.  You can find the link button on the right side of my blog under the Free Design Downloads button.  Please be sure to include a link to your blog or website if you do decide to use them in a digital format.  If not, I'd love to see how you use them in real life! Send me a snapshot or link to your blog post. Happy designing!

 

Photography & Designs: EV Photo Chic

Friday Fancies: Weddings

My Style Foodie friend invited me to partake in Cornflake Dreams Friday Fancies theme for the week.  And little did I know that it would be about a subject I've been dreaming about for the past few months.... weddings!!  I've always seen myself having a wedding close to home so I could invite all my
closest friends and family.  And so I could plan and really have my hands in all the DIY details I have in mind for my special day.  I've been collecting these images on my gmail photos link and I'm sorry to say that I don't have links to share for them but I got most of them by scrolling through sites like Grey Likes weddings, 100 Layer Cake, and Style Me Pretty- all really great places to find wedding inspiration galore!  Be sure to check out the other Friday Fancies entries too!  Happy Weekend to you :)

Post Details:  Ric Rak provided by Pugly Pixel, white tags with red ribbon by me.

Toot Toot!

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I never officially (and I'm all about official) shared with you my labor of love for the past year!  The quaint & comfy coach house Joe and I call home.  It was photographed by the awesome Apartment Therapy editor Jason Loper last month.  Today I share with you a few of my favorite photos from the shoot.  But you can check out the full post including all the juicy resource details here.  Our home is a continual work in progress, in fact I was writing a list today on my morning commute of decor details I'd like to complete before the summers over.  Mostly because it involves painting and leaving the windows open for long periods for things to dry.  The details of that I'll leave for another day.  For now we are enjoying all the work we put into the place by having a few impromptu bbq's, chill'n with the neighbors with cocktails, and just enjoying summer in the city. Oh and did I mention we signed another year on the lease?  I truly take comfort in the fact that we can nest another year in a space I feel we have made our own.  What's on your decor to do list before the summers end?

 Photography: Jason Loper

Summer Comforts

What I love most about the summer months is enjoying all that comfort food can only bring as the temps stay high.  This summer Joe's been in the kitchen a lot cooking up the yummiest of comforts for his food portfolio!  And the best part is that after all the food styling and photos have been taken, we get to enjoy the ones that didn't make the cut.   How about indulging in a little comfort yourself today?

Styling & Photography: Joe Bankmann

Monday Thoughts

A beautiful and inspiring quote to jumpstart your Monday!  Check out the rest of Pretty Zoo's quote series.  They're amazing and eye catching to boot!  This was true for me for the last 2 weeks.  For those of you who don't know I work as a commercial photographer for a photo studio.  And the last several weeks (because our in house photo stylist's) were on vacation my bosses gave me the opportunity to style several environment shots for one of our newest and busiest clients. I worked with one of our most talented and easy going photographers, which helped to make the weeks go by even smoother . I had so much fun styling these shoots and did them with surprising ease and confidence.  With the help and encouragement from another fellow friend, these past few weeks have really made me consider other career options besides photography.  For the past (almost) 6 years commercial photography has been my safe comfortable cushion.  In other words my safety.  I don't know if it's because I am approaching my 30th birthday at the end of this year but I've been feeling more and more like I need a change of pace and I find myself seeking new challenges that my day to day work no longer offers me.  I'm not at all ungrateful for anything that this safety has given me over the past few years but I'll soon be ready to make a leap and do something that's scary and new and exciting. 

There's still time....

I've been spotting quite a few fall posts invading the sunny summer blogland air.  I don't know about you, but I'm holding on to the very last bloom of summer.  I can't get enough of the heat and warm breezes.  If you feel like summer has come and gone and you feel like you have yet to partake in summertime fun, here are a few things that are awaiting your company. 

 

Like these DIY picnic invites found over at Eat Drink Chic. Something so sweet and simple to hand out to your closet friends.  Joe and I have been enjoying picnics at our local park nearby and at Ravinia this past weekend.

Create a celebratory pinata!  I thought this would be fun to make and not just numbers too! Drop by Oh Happy Day to get the full DIY scoop!

And last but not least take a popcicle break and sit back and enjoy the dog days that only summer can bring. Find the complete recipes over at Chez Beepers blog.  What is still on your to do list this summer?

Summer Loving and Happenings

  Hello blogland!  I bet your wondering where I've been for so long?!  I've been throughly delighting and basking in the warm summer air.  I really can't get enough of it.  I've been spending time with my loves in my life, doing away with cable television, devouring one library book after another, packing picnics to view movies in the park, experiencing my first country music concert, camping and hiking through Starved Rock,  taking neighborly strolls to the local dog park, keeping my cool with frozen treats, joining my brave sis for Sunday morning long runs along the lakefront (she's training for the Chicago Marathon). And last but not least,  I've been working tirelessly on our place and was super excited to have our home featured on Apartment Therapy last month too!  It was fun working towards getting our place to feel more lived in (with the help of countless DIY's) as well as adding a jolt of color happiness on the surrounding kitchen walls. Joe and I loved how everything came together and we just renewed our lease for a second year!!  Yay :) We are here to stay!!  How's your summer been?  I hope you've been getting the most out of it and enjoying as many experiences as well as creating new memories along the way.

  Below and above are a few snapshots of our flourishing succulent garden display in our front bay window.  These babies are thriving like you wouldn't believe!  And with so little effort on my part, once a week watering is all they need!  I highly recommend all variety of succulents for the green thumb impaired :)  I found mine at my local Home Depot, all under $6 a piece.  And the wood containers I found at a local Goodwill store for a $1 each! I covered some books with brown craft paper and splurged on some fun wrapping paper from the Container Store to give the display some height and pops of color.

Keep the Summer loving coming.....

Photos by EV Photography