Productive Weekend

By Melanie

source: designerplanet.org

What are you up to this weekend? Depending on the California weather, I'm hoping for some beach time unless it's overcast. Maybe even kayaking.

I always feel like I need to squeeze in so much. I'm always looking for that balance between fun and crossing off my "to do's" on my never ending "to do" list. What about you? Do you save weekends for pure fun or productivity?

Happy Friday!

Picturesque Palm Springs and and a very cool hotel

By Melanie

Palm Springs is the perfect weekend vacay for those that live in Southern California. It takes less than two hours to drive to this desert oasis. I went for a weekend with some friends back in May. It was actually for my bachlorette party! We stayed at the ACE Hotel & Swim Club.

Ace is so unique. At first glance it looks like a small lodge maybe even a renovated motel. But once you're inside you realize that it has so much style and presence. Ace is such a hip, cool hotel. I really liked the vibe and the decor is amazing.

Here we are becoming part of the signage!

Beautiful blue skies against the mountain back drop. Gorgeous!

http://www.wallpaper.com/

I love the decor dangling from the ceiling in the lobby.

http://www.treehugger.com/

They even have beach cruisers that the guests can ride into town on. Unfortunatley, we didn't have enough time during this visit to ride them. We spent most of the day by the pool.

He we are lounging pool side.

The pool was filled with a stylish, hipster crowd. Mostly singles, a few young families and people with their dogs. We even saw a bride and groom on their way to get married! The pool had a fun, relaxed atmosphere. They even had a DJ playing.


In addition to their retro decor, the design on all their signage and promo materials is pretty creative.

http://www.linleeloves.blogspot.com/

http://www.highsnobiety.com/

I love the clean and fresh design, fun colors and cool fonts.

http://wwwblog.acehotel.com/

I can't wait to go back! Maybe it will be soon since we're having such "unsummer" like weather here in the OC (it barely reaches past 70 degrees by the beach where I am). I need some sunshine!

Style and the Unexpected Career Girl

By Melanie

I'm hooked on the MTV show The City. I'll admit it! I've been a loyal viewer since season 1. Last week was the season finale. And it was so good. I love the drama, the city, the fashion and the story lines, especially Olivia Palermo's story.

source: moodboard.typepad.com

Olivia without a doubt has the best style! She always looks so polished and put together whether she is dressed up for work, out on the town or having casual day. I love her fabulous shoes, designer threads and of course her new chocolate hair color!

source: http://www.talkingmakeup.com/

When the show first started although Olivia had fierce fashion sense, her attitude and her work ethic left a lot to be desired. She seemed to care less about impressing at work and more interested in sabotaging Whitney's clothing line.

But as the season unfolded her aloof behavior dissolved and she really stepped up her career game. Olivia definitely made a few mistakes but she also possessed a handful of great career girl moves, especially since she now secured herself the official position of the Elle.com girl!

source: http://www.hillstocity.wordpress.com/

Olivia's good career moves: Career-minded fashionista.

1. Do what you love. She is obviously a fashion maven and a talented stylist. The jewelry and clothing she pulls for the Elle shoots are amazing!

2. Know your audience. During Olivia's speech to the Japanese Elle audience she spoke about how she thought Japanese women have a great sense of style, that that they incorporate trends while still keeping true to their individual style. This was a crowd pleaser and it seemed sincere.

source: http://www.ultrastyle.com/

3. Take well-calculated risks that show how you're an asset. When Olivia asked to travel to Japan Elle for work her plan could have gone terribly wrong. But it ended up an amazing career move. She really made things happened and delivered results. Japan Elle loved her and this really showed Joe, her boss, she was valuable. Work it girl!

source: mtv.com

4. Be Confident, self-assured and have a positive attitude. Even though Erin (pr director) was happy to point out Olivia's faults, she never let it shake her up. You should always be open to constructive criticism but also be confident in yourself and your abilities. Olivia always remained cool, calm and confident.

source: yournextshoes.com

5. Form strategic alliances. You can't go it alone in life. A support system is needed if you're going to be successful. Although she made a huge mistake by making Erin her enemy, she did make an effort to get on Joe's good side. She knows how to network and make great contacts in and out of the office.

source: http://www.guestofaguest.com/

6. Look the part. When you look good you feel good. When in doubt, always were a cute outfit :)

source: http://www.crazylotus.blogspot.com/

Who knew that one could learn business savvy from this fashion star. Peep toe pumps and business - love it!

What a Girl Wants

By Melanie

I really want a pink Apple laptop. Functional AND pretty!

source: http://www.computersavenue.com/

Apple doesn't make one? What? Don't they know there is a market out there for pink (haven't they seen how well Victoria's Secret capitalizes on "PINK" :)

Well, maybe that's just not their thing. Too trendy maybe or just not cool. I get it. Well, good thing that there are companies out there that will customize it "pink" for you. Yay for girly girls!

I like the pink but maybe it's too pink. I think I like this white and pink a little bit more. It's more sophisticated and subtle. I love how aesthetically it's so clean and sleek.

source: http://www.laptopsarea.com/

Do you like it or is it too much pink?

The Invitation

By Melanie

I designed my own wedding invitation. Since I've been taking graphic design classes and I love to design I decided it would be best to create my own.

Since we were having a destination wedding on the beach in Riviera Maya, Mexico, I wanted a beach themed wedding.

My colors were light blue, fuchsia and tan. I decided to incorporate a photo from our engagement photo shoot session into the invitation.




I learned so much designing my own wedding invite. Not only from a design perspective (type of design and look, font selection, spacing, paper selection, printing, etc.) but also about all of the details that wedding invites entail specifically word choice and what is included in a wedding invite suite. So many rules. It was quite fun but pretty time consuming. But now I'm a pro and I definitely would love to design more in the future (not my own of course!).

The final product.



I added a raffia bow on the invite to give it an extra beachy feel.

(Please don't mind that I blurred out all the personal details)

Above are the RSVP and travel coordination information cards. For eco-friendly purposes, convenience and fun, I set up a wedding website for the guests to RSVP. I used www.mywedding.com. I customized it a lot and I think it turned out really nice. It was perfect for a destination wedding because it gave the guests a lot of information as well as created a story about us as a couple.

Envelopes.

I never realized how particular an envelope needs to be. For weddings, it's very important to utilize high quality paper and envelopes that have lining. I chose a tan color and I added a pretty shimmer tan bow around the outside of the inside envelope which contained the invitation. For the outside envelope, I added a stamp enclosure of a shell. I think it gave it a really nice touch.

Doesn't that look so cute?

Lastly, I added a wedding stamp of two wedding rings.

An important last detail is to make sure you get the wedding invitations hand stamped at the post office. You don't want all your hard work to be ruined by it arriving dirty and covered in post office markings.

The invitation is the first glimpse into the type of wedding you are having and a representation of you as a couple. I can't stress enough how important presentation is to your wedding. Sure, I am the first to say that you definitely don't need to follow all the rules (we didn't during our ceremony and reception) but make sure it looks beautiful starting with the invite.

My So Called Life.....pretty good

By Melaniesource: cosmogirl.com

This week has been interesting. I say interesting because it contained both good and bad occurances, depending on which way you look at it and view life.

Bad - for the Clevelanders - LeBron James says adios to Cleveland and leaves a city in tears. The Cleve loved LeBron. Even though I'm not into sports, it's my hometown so I have to represent :)

Good and Bad - Whitney from The City toughens up but looses a friend....maybe?

Both good and bad -Disappointing situation occurs. Although it may be good in the future.


Good -Maybe some new opportunities on the horizon.

Good -I stumbled upon a new blog called Modite. A great career, lifestyle and inspiration blog.

Good - I made some rockin' lasagna the other day with my new yellow baking dish.

I think this weekend will be GOOD! Cuz why the heck not, right?

A New Look

By Melanie

I just repainted my bathroom a taupe color and I love it! Now I'm looking for new bathroom accessories.

I found the cutest bath towels at amybutlerdesign.com. I've always loved Amy Butler's designs and I'm so excited to find that she has towels now.



I love the bright colors and pretty shapes.

source: amybutlerdesigns.com

These will really make the room look so stylish.

Celebrate!

By Melanie


source: maireclaire.com

What are your plans for the 4th? I went to a bbq yesterday and today I have plans to bike to the parade on my beach cruiser and go to the beach. I live in a beach town so it gets pretty busy here.

Happy 4th of July!

What You Can Learn From Facebook

By Melanie

My friend posted this on her Facebook page recently. Isn't is awesome?

Except for the line about about art (because creating art is cool) I love this!

When life gets serious or challenging I always remember to lighten up and enjoy the journey.

Happy Friday!