The Summer Goals book I mentioned on Friday is available for purchase online now! I ordered mine and cannot wait to get my hands on it after previewing it online. So many lovely photos that make me a bit regretful for not doing more fun stuff this summer. Luckily there’s still time and I live in the land of eternal summer.

photos by Jeff Luker and Anne Parker

Thank you Anne and Christie for inviting me to be a part of this wonderful project!

A certain chubby cat I know was a bit upset that she hasn’t had a lot of blog appearances lately. Especially with some other cat being featured yesterday. The nerve.

goofball from karmaticoma on Vimeo.

A weekend trip home to Washington to see the family. A short trip, but the perfect amount of family time right before the breaking point of needing alone time! There was a lot of meat eating, boat riding, tubing, sun basking (such a beautiful weekend), margarita drinking, and relaxing going on. At one point I didn’t know what the hell to do with myself there was so much relaxing! I had the most beautiful flight in during sunset, I was glued to the window. Is there anything more beautiful than flying into the Seattle airport on a clear day? I think not.

1. So excited to see my old friend Erika Spring of Au Revoir Simone in Dossier looking lovely as a blonde these days. You can snatch up her new single for a a cool $1.50 while patiently awaiting for the release of her new album.
2. There’s some serious fig fever in the blog world lately, and Heather’s Sweet & Savory Fig Prosciutto Torte combines some flavors I hadn’t considered combining previously. Sounds pretty easy to make, too!
3. Have you heard? The top-notch blog Got A Girl Crush just released a magazine! It does not disappoint, my friends.
4. This promo for Australia’s Summadayze music festival is pure color fun.
5. Chih Chen’s recent photos of Nepal have me in awe.
6. I’ll post more about this project when it’s officially released, but the rad blog Summer Goals made an even radder book featuring summery photos from tons of talented people. I have a few photos in the book along with cool ladies like Anabela, Amy, and Alyson to name a few. The book launch is this Saturday in Portland, so you should go if you’re in the area!

So this evening I’m hopping on a plane to fly home to Seattle for a quick visit for my grandpa’s birthday! It was supposed to be a surprise, but you can’t keep secrets in my family for a second, I swear. Then I fly home Monday and Will and I leave on Tuesday to go visit Will’s family in Phoenix for the rest of the week. So Bits Of My Weekend will come late Monday or early Tuesday, and I’ll be working while we’re in Phoenix so a few blog posts will definitely be happening. I’m mentally preparing myself for the extreme heat, but excited that everyone we’re staying with has a pool and (duh) plentiful air conditioning. I’m bringing a film camera (this guy, perhaps?) to get some desert action in. Have a wonderful weekend!

I know I said we’d let a weekly music post slide this week, but I just got an email that Charlotte Gainsbourg will release her new album Stage Whisper on November 7th. A new music video is out for the first single, “Terrible Angels”, and it’s pretty badass. I love the army of Charlottes!

Sometimes freelancing makes me incredibly grumpy because having to manage so many different little projects and clients who have such incredibly different ways of communicating can make my head spin. Going from being an in house designer for essentially one client to having many clients is proving to be a tough switch for me some days. I’m still getting used to the transition. But the plus side is that when that happens I can stop and take a break to go grab lunch and a homemade oreo with people like Jessica, or stop and release some stress by baking some coconut bread – perfect with a runny egg on top. Or I stop and do the dishes, or vacuum. Then I get back to it, feeling (hopefully) recharged. It doesn’t always work, and I have to make up for lost time, but having that option is good for the way my brain works. It helps remind me why I’m doing this and why I made the switch.

I’m not feeling inspired this week for a weekly music post! We’ll just let it slide this week. Though commenter Lena did share this lovely song with me if you do need a little music break.

I would much rather be a morning person than someone who stays up late.

There’s nothing better than waking up to the sunrise, the light spilling glittering gold all over the apartment.

I wake up to the hum of the freeway in the distance, the squeal of bus breaks, the ocean-ebb of cars rolling down our street.

The kettle is heated, the curtains drawn, the windows propped open for a California breeze that feels magical.

Everything feels new and possible in the morning. The potential is huge, the slate blank. The start, fresh as can be.

click on the photos for more details on flickr!
favorite breakfast joint | old cars in a row | sculpture outside the brewery lofts | a crew I definitely wouldn’t qualify for | burning my mouth off at Jitlada Thai in Hollywood | Sunset on Sunset | attempting Thai Coconut Mango salad | trying to zen out in Griffith Park | picnic in the grass | taco night

A weekend of stuffing myself with food, trying new things, going new places, and actually taking time off from working. Not completely, but enough that it felt like a real weekend. It’s been a while since I had one of those! I fall more in love with LA and its vast land of things to do and discover every day. And this ridiculously perfect warm during the day, cool at night weather lately? Bliss.

Some favorites from around the web this week:

1. An awesome look at the magazine collection of James Hyman – a DJ, presenter, and managing director who began his career at MTV Europe in 1988. He’s collected over 1 million of them! via Freunde von Freunden.
2. I Shop, You Buy, Rena Tom’s excellent idea to find cool things while on her vacation in Asia and make little collections of them to sell (I bet they’ll be fantastic). I love her thoughts on creatives diversifying their income stream, something I think a lot about lately.
3. Beautiful napkins by Knife In The Water. via Simple Lovely.
4. Pendleton’s Portland Collection looks amazing. That dress!
5. Everything about The City Scout by Studio Sweet Studio is cool. “Your favorite designers recommending a bunch of crap about a city you probably don’t live in.” via Andrea
6. I’m not a huge app user, but my friend Ian shared this cool new app called Weave with me. It helps you track your craft business – your projects, tasks, income, and expenses. I’m not the most organized person in the world so I’m going to download it this weekend and give it a whirl. Has anyone else used it?

I worked my butt off this week so I could actually have a real weekend the next two days, now that Will doesn’t work either of them. A picnic in the park and some gallery hopping is on the to-do list. I will probably sneak some work in there too… I can’t help myself, I actually enjoy some of the projects I’m working on so much that I look forward to working on them! What a concept. I know that’s not always possible, so I’m savoring the moment.

Also, thank you all so much for your kind response to the blog redesign! I’m so excited that you like it as much as I do. I forgot to give props to my bff Andrea for looking over the design and logo and giving me some fantastic feedback. It’s only right that one of the original co-founders of this blog and an amazing designer should have some say in it! Thanks, lady.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I keep spacing on sharing these with you guys, but Will and I made these awesome (if I do say so myself) business cards for him recently. His idea, my execution. If the design doesn’t ring a bell, it’s inspired by Wile E. Coyote’s business card. It’s fun to watch the look on someone’s face turn into a big grin when they’re handed one of these cards. Mission accomplished.

In related news, Will just finished up his job in Venice (too grueling of a commute for the pay), so if anyone hears of any art-related jobs in LA, like art handling, gallery jobs, teaching (he has his MFA), or hell, galleries in need of showing the coolest spaceman short film ever that we’re shopping around right now for an opening, let myself, or Will know. We’re both at home now at the same time, and who knows when the honeymoon period of inspiring each other will wear off and we kill each other! Kidding, it’s been awesome. We’re also currently collaborating on something awesome that I can’t wait to share. Have you ever collaborated with your significant other? It’s not for everyone, but when it works, it works like magic.