Friday Finds

the view of the slopes from one of the second floor bedrooms

This week was spent recovering from the awesome ski trip that I went on last weekend with 10 of my close friends. Having the opportunity to get away for the weekend was so refreshing.  As it turned out, it also was not anything that I had expected! The eleven of us rented a 'cabin' at a small-ish ski resort, Peek'n Peak, in western New York state.  Imagine my surprise when we got there to find it fully decked out with 5 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 fireplaces and a beautiful finished basement. I felt a little silly when I arrived considering that I had advised the group to pack their own toilet paper.  We definitely were not 'roughing it' by any means like I had anticipated.  Some members of our group even spent the day Saturday at the resort spa getting massages and lounging in the indoor/outdoor hot tub.  Not bad!

I, however, spent 6 hours of my Saturday with skis attached to my feet, sliding around the mountain like it was my first day with new legs. Needless to say, on my first break from skiing, I was more than jealous of my friends that were safely stationed at the bottom of the mountain lounging in that hot tub.  It was only my second time skiing, and I felt rather foolish the whole day because the majority of my friends were not beginner-level skiers like I was.  Memories of being stuck in the 'guppy' group during swim lessons at camp when I was young immediately flooded back into my head. Luckily, with more practice, I began to feel more comfortable with the unfamiliar motions, and I was (slowly) able to move around a little better. At the end of the day, it felt good that I at least attempted an activity that I only had done once before. For me, overcoming the fear of not being good at something in front of a group of friends is an accomplishment in itself.  Have you learned how to do something new this winter?  How did it go?

Now, for your entertainment, a collection of my favorite things found on the web this week:

1.  I absolutely love the idea of these "Wedding by the Numbers" wedding invitations from the Minted website. I wish that I would have thought of a way to incorporate that into our wedding!  Minted is my favorite site for invitations, personal stationery and thank you cards.  If you aren't familiar, definitely check it out!
2. I'm sure many of you know about The Pioneer Woman by now, but I just love visiting her site because it makes me feel like I can cook anything!  I found these Pineapple Chicken Quesadillas to be especially appealing.
3. These cropped jeans from The Limited make me so excited for peeptoes and springtime!  On a related note, these peeptoes from JS by Jessica Simpson make me excited for those cropped jeans.  Weird how that works?
4. Love this pink Kate Spade window display, it makes me sooo (x10) excited to travel to NYC this summer. {via}
5. The whimsy of this new font from Fenotype: Pepita Script really appeals to me. I hope to be able to use it on a project in the future. For me, its a little too informal for a wedding invite, but would work great on a bridal/baby shower or party invitation.  Oh, the possibilities!
6. Urban Scartlet's shop makes me want to craft all.day.long.
7. These tiny initial necklaces on ETSY would be a great personalized birthday gift for anyone. Perfectly understated and so stylish.
8. This amazing find for only $50.00 from Ikea is soon going to become my craft table!

Oh, Kate Spade.

During a mental break today I happened to stumble across the sale section of the Kate Spade website.  Being a girl on a budget, I usually don't tease myself with anything else BUT the sale section, and today I came across this gorgeous little gem.  At $147 for the large size, its quite a deal (more than 50% off).  I am certain that I could fit my whole life in that bag. I absolutely love the feminine floral pattern and the gorgeous neutral gold color. As much as I would love, love, love to be able to talk myself into buying this, or anything on her website, I must learn to be frugal so that someday when I am older and wiser I will be able to afford one or more of Ms. Spade's gorgeous creations. In the meantime, I drool.

Update:  My wonderful hubby had this, a single red rose, and a stuffed monkey (my fave!) waiting for me when I got home yesterday as my Valentine's Day present! His first words? "I read your blog." I am lucky :)

les fetes quinn, sigh. 

NY Wedding Invitations

Last night I began working on a custom-designed wedding invitation suite for my long time friend Kaira of Kair-ied Away.  She and her fiancée have an amazing sense of style, and they are doing so many unique things with their wedding (that is just a few short months away in Brooklyn, NY- yay!).  From a design perspective, I am really excited to have this opportunity to work with them, because the concept is so different from any wedding invitation that I have done before.  I am so proud of Kaira for taking chances, and making sure that the wedding reflects their personalities.  I won't share a single detail about her amazing idea until I get to show her the finished product, so in the meantime, take a sneak peek at the fun color palette that I'm using, and then head over to her blog to see some other reflections of Kaira's fabulous personal style!