second storie} i heart handmade

Please join us (and Pistachio Press) for i heart handmade this Friday, February 1! second storie is Rochester's answer to a growing movement towards a new approach to art + craft. This unique craft event comes just in time for Valentine's Day!

With letterpress, pottery, jewelry, fabric and much more, we bring our passion for hand-making to those who have a passion for the handmade. second storie} i heart handmade is sure to be a warm evening full of live local music, warm drinks and fine art & craft. This craft fair will truly be one of a kind.

second storie} i heart handmade
Spot Coffee
Rochester, NY
Friday, February 1, 2008
6-10 pm
live music
admission is free

www.secondstorie.net
http://www.myspace.com/secondstorie
http://www.firstfridayrochester.org


{awesome poster image by Marlene Heuer}

Belted

Why are there so many great spring dresses? And why aren't they sold in my price range? I'm totally in love with these pieces!

I don't usually like belted dresses, but these two by Lela Rose are amazing. The length is perfect for me and the patterns is just great!

And who couldn't like these Badgley Mischka dresses {yellow and patterned!}.

Sweater...dress?

I never thought that sweater-dresses would make a comeback, but they have! Check out this great H&M dress...I love the buttons and the jacket it's paired with is too cute!

Need to start playing the lotto

Oh, beautiful yellow dress, why do you have to be $350? This would be perfect for my trip to Italy this summer, light, silky, patterned, yellow. What more could a girl want?


Hmmm, not sure that I could pull off this little black dress, but I would love to try!


{yellow dress is from Tibi, black dress is from Burberry Prorsum}

Continue to give

For me the last few months flew by and I can't believe it's almost February! But, that doesn't mean that we should forget about the holiday spirit of generosity. I recently discovered an amazing challenge that is being offered by Six Degrees (yes, Kevin Bacon!). The four US charities that have the most unique donors through the America's Giving Challenge will receive $50,000 for their cause (in addition to the pledges).

A Place to Bark is one of the charities that has a shot at this amazing opportunity. Please check out Bernie Berlin's blog to learn more about her animal rescue. In addition to running the dog rescue full-time, Bernie is a mixed media artist. In order to win the grant they need to have the most amount of donors, not necessarily the amount of money donated. Each $10 (unique) donation give the rescue a shot at winning $50,000. The challenge ends on January 31.

You know my soft spot for dogs...let's help make a difference!

New Obsession

Remember my ring obsession from last month? Well, I've moved onto dresses! I love gray right now {and we all know how much I also love pattern}, so this beauty is perfect for me. It's for sale at Olio United...I wish I could visit Portland and try it on.

Hello new garage!

I haven't been the only busy person around here. Jake finally managed to clean out the garage {with Lindsay's help, of course}. We haven't been able to fit a car inside the garage for almost a year, and Jake could never find his tools when he needed them since they were spread out over the floor.

I took this after they had already been cleaning for three hours, so you can imaging how bad it was!

Now all of the tools are organized and he has clean space on his work table.

And we can fit a car in here!

Hello new office!

I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last post...bad blogger! Well, I haven't been sitting around, I've been working my butt off on this new organizing kick. Here are a few pics of my newly organized office {before and after}.

My desk was such a disaster even the drawers were overflowing. Now I have clean drawers and these cute new shelves {complete with Julia Rothman mug for pencils and my Matryoshka dolls from Sara}.


My sewing area is much better now. I couldn't even get to my sewing machine before!


And my favorite part is the closet. Lindsay talked me into making this closet "business only" and we moved all of my crafting supplies to the closet in the spare room. I love all of the little boxes. They're all labeled and filled with inventory, so no more searching for a pack of cards to send out!

Welcome 2008!

I hope everyone had a great time last night! I was lucky to have a very low-key night...dinner with a few friends and then board games are Luke's. It was the perfect way to start the new year and is the beginning of what I hope will be a very peaceful and productive year. I'm not making any resolutions, although I am going to have some life goals in the next few months.

Goal #1 is to get organized and live a {mostly} clutter-free life. I'm inspired by Organize Magazine, which I just found! In honor of this new goal I spent part of today cleaning my office closet and desk, filing stationery, and making a list of organizational things to buy. I'll be posting before and after pictures to keep myself motivated. Speaking of organizing, I just found out about Bloglines {thanks Shanna!} and created an account with all of the blogs I read daily...woo hoo!

Goal #2 is to complete half-finished projects around the house. Jake and I started remodeling our bathroom about two years ago and have been 90% finished for two years! Today we started patching drywall, which lead to another list of supplies that need to be purchased! By the end of the week I'd like to have finished patching, nail in floorboards, and paint the trim. Personal zen, here I come :)


{image from Organize Magazine}