scenes from the 'shire

 I was lucky to spend a long, lazy holiday weekend in the White Mountains of New Hampshire 

visiting my good friend Julia.

 

We made some fun campfires, 

and delicious meals,  

 

and went to some of my favorite local places.

Mount Washington Hotel

We got to enjoy the last blooms of lavender season, 

and the lupines. 

It was a great sunny break from the city.

Country Living Cottages in NYC

Country Living Magazine recently installed some lovely country cottages in lower Manhattan for their House of the Year event. They are proof that good things come in small packages, as they were all very small (but well designed) spaces.

shower invitation

Merideth and Trey are a great couple welcoming a little baby boy into the world very soon! They wanted a sophisticated but fun invitation for their brunch shower this summer.

And some fun goody bag tags (with bakery thread) too!

surprise baby shower invitation

Here are the invitations I did for my friend Emily's Shower. The big event was a lot of fun, we can't wait to meet the new baby. I think its a girl, but I'll have to wait and see!

sympathy card

baby shower card

For this baby shower, here is a card I designed for my friend Emily.

For her wedding back in 2007 I designed two little birds for her invitation. Here is a tag that went on their wine bottle favors. It's fun to see these two birds moving through life together...

Heart of Gold Campaign

As promised in this sneak peek, here is the Heart of Gold Campaign I designed for the 

Genesis Fund. Customers at participating Boston area gas stations could purchase these 

$1 or $5 hearts to make a donation. 

These promotional materials for around the store provided more visuals 

and information to encourage customers to donate. 

This was a fun project to design and even better, it's for a great cause! 

How can a designer as for more?

pies and thighs....

One of my favorite NYC indulgences is the chicken biscuit sandwich at Pies 'n' Thighs in Williamsburg. The fried chicken is smothered in hot sauce on a buttered buttermilk biscuit. That's a whole lot of butter. Simply put, it's awesome.

Their design is really fun and nostalgic, and makes me feel like I stopped into some local joint on a Southern roadtrip. 

They have an extensive pie menu... key lime is my favorite.

Sides like mac 'n cheese and grits make the meal complete!

designing away...

I've been so busy with a variety of design projects recently, and I can't wait to post them all here!
But I'm not too busy however to appreciate all the amazing design around me,
including Frank Gehry's newest addition to the Manhattan skyline on Spruce Street.

mother's day card

paper flower for mother's day

time for peonies...

I don't know what it is about peonies that makes them so special, maybe because they are only available for a few weeks in May. They certainly are beautiful!

a flower for karene

Karene Faul was a tremendous teacher and artist. I am lucky to have known her and even 

luckier to have been one of her students. 

As part of a memorial, an installation wall has been constructed outside of her office 

where students, present and past, can leave a piece of art.

I'm sure it will soon be overflowing with art and sentiments as Karene touched so many lives.