Though our Seattle trip this week was a tad on the stressful side, I feel refreshed and re-energized to get things done and even managed to catch up a bit on the internet yesterday, so here’s a little Friday Bits! Thank you so much for the comments about the new shop and necklaces, it means so much. See you Sunday? It’s a big update so if you forget and think you’ve missed out, chances are you haven’t, so check back.

1. MCMC Love perfume + an Odette arrow ring for $99 = an awesome combination and deal.
2. This is kind of random, but recently I purchased a pair of Madewell widelegger jeans on sale in their Glendale store for $20 (originally $130!). They are so ridiculously comfortable and are the perfect wide leg/flare. I had them hemmed for $9, so all together a sweet deal. They’re also on sale on their website for a bit more (still a good deal) so I thought I’d pass this gem of knowledge on. Two things I love about them are that they are a bit snug in the thighs for a more flattering fit, and the denim is super soft and light, so they don’t feel really heavy to walk in.
3. The LA Food Swap sounds so genius. I’ve been intrigued since Natalie mentioned it before the holidays. You bring your homemade, homegrown, and foraged creations and swap them with other local people. Thinking about doing it with some friends though I have no idea what I should swap! I do make a mean hummus…
4. A lot of people asked me if I’d share where we went when we were in Seattle for recommendations, but I have to admit that whenever we go the goal is not to explore new things as it’s always a family trip, and this one was even more so because it was such a short trip. I didn’t even get to see any of my friends besides Andrea. But! I did go to Local 360 for the first time and it was fantastic. Delicious comfort food in a cozy rustic setting with big wooden booths, homemade cola and dim lighting – I was really impressed and would recommend it. The mac and cheese! Dang.

Have a great weekend!

It’s been such a crazy week with work stuff that this is a slim Friday Bits, but first Will and I wanted to thank you all for the comments on his post! You guys are amazing. We’re excited to get back to our lives.

Some internet goodness this week:

1. Rachel’s homemade habanero tequila given out at Christmas gifts, complete with a custom bottle label. Her homemaking/hostess/craft skills and attention to awesome detail astounds me sometimes. Damn, girl.

2. I don’t care if it’s going to be blogged about so many times this week you claw your eyes out or the fact that maybe it’s a little played out to be obsessed with Wes Anderson these days, his films fill me top to bottom with happiness and light (and a little darkness, but the good kind) and his new film Moonrise Kingdom looks absolutely terrific.

3. I think birds are beautiful, but have never been one to want to own one, but Anja’s ridiculously adorable and beautiful parrotlet is killing me. What a sweet little face!

4. Dream: learning about food and photography in a class with Nikole in Italy at Squam. “we’ll be adventuring around the nearby town and countryside and stopping in at markets and bakeries along the way. and then coming back to the villa and baking/cooking with what we find. plus, we’ll be styling and photographing it too!” Yep.

Alright, have a great weekend!

Well, it’s been an interesting first week of 2012. I got a lot of interesting and mostly positive feedback on being less personal on this blog, and I think that slowly pulling back will be an strange transition for me at first. On Wednesday we didn’t get good or bad news at Will’s appointment, but more waiting, and I promise to keep you in the loop as soon as we hear at least on that because we owe you for your kindness and prayers.

Also, thank you for the amazing feedback on the Covers album! My brother and I are floored by the response. Many of you requested a link to download the songs and I updated the post with one.

Now, let’s look at the blog world this week and get back into the swing of Friday Bits:

1. There were so many fantastic year-end posts this week, reflecting on 2011 and the year ahead. My favorites were from Hila: “This year, I will / stop saying yes / when I really mean no, / and stop saying no / when I’m too afraid to say yes.” Amy: “I felt at ease. I felt at home. I felt understood and appreciated. I felt alone sometimes, but didn’t mind.” Vic: “This year I met people who’ve changed the way I see the world. I’ve taken chances, I’ve lost and won.” And Erin’s non-goals, which I think are such a fantastic idea: “It’s my way of praising the good habits I’ve formed over a lifetime, or maybe just over the past few weeks.” (photo by Vic)

2. How to make a better grilled cheese. I have got to try the mayo trick. Sorry to those of you on cleanses right now (pretty much everyone I know).

3. Lots of great new blogs cropping up in the new year from people I love. City Country City from Anne Parker of Summer Goals, The Bindle Sack from Andrea of Gotta Girl Crush/Andrea Inspired, and Singular Possessive from Rena Tom, which I mentioned on Wednesday. (photo by Anne)

4. Laure’s amazing home tour on The Brick House made me seethe with jealousy, which made me realize that jealousy over people and places on the internet should probably be one of my new year’s resolutions. Ha.

5. One of my favorite photographers Parker Fitzgerald has a newish blog that you should definitely follow, so that you can not seethe with jealousy over his talent but simply marvel at it.

6. Mallory, aka The Queen of Round-ups, has an excellent round-up of ceramics and pottery. A friend recently said that ceramics are the new knitting. Yep. (cup by Ralph Nuara)

Have a great weekend, friends!

Well, not a true Friday Bits, but one of sorts. I have a lot of random things to blog about lately that aren’t cohesive.

Definitely check out the latest Makers Project feature, with the always wonderful Lily Stockman, where you get to sort of see what she looks like (bangin’, of course). It’s such a treat.

Thank you for all the nice comments about the beads I’ve been making! You pumped me up to make more and I think you possibly talked me into selling some of the necklaces in the next shop update.

In other news, I totally did not notice that the wedding I shot a few months ago was up on 100 Layer Cake until people started emailing me about weddings. So awesome, I’m honored and it’s fun to hear Lesley’s background story on the wedding.

Anyway, have a great weekend, friends! Will and I are working on a special post to thank everyone for all your support lately, so don’t think I’ve forgotten about you guys.

It’s been a while, Friday Bits, but here’s a few things that caught my eye this week!

1. A drive through the Cotswolds at sunrise. I met Siubhan when I was in London and have been obsessed with her lovely blog ever since.
2. I’m super excited that Michael Pollan’s book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual has been re-released as an illustrated guide by none other than my hero Maira Kahlman. It looks fantastic.
3. Ebony always keeps me in the loop on awesome washi tape stuff in Japan. This mt tape installation is no exception.
4. Speaking of awesome books, Brian W. Ferry (another awesome person I met in London, I had no idea this post had a theme today) just released his first photography book, Quality Of Life, which is no doubt amazing if it’s at all as inspiring as his blog is.

Have a great weekend, friends.

Just a small Friday Bits today as this fundraiser is keeping me quite busy this week. Sending out the second batch today, a third tomorrow, and hopefully the rest of the paper (back ordered, my luck) comes early next week and I can ship the rest! Nothing feels more satisfying than taking a giant stack of packages to the post office, I tell you.

1. These Forget Me Not Scarves are so great.
2. Have you ever wondered what an Ira Glass sex tape would be like? (don’t worry, there’s no NSFW imagery)
3. Somehow I missed back in August that Mondo Boys have a new amazing Weird Summer mix, Desert Island. It’s been the most perfect soundtrack to this little heatwave we’re having.
4. A beautiful handmade porcelain bangle by Erin Lightfoot. via Danica

Have a wonderful weekend, friends. I’m looking forward to cooler temps (cooler = perhaps dipping below 80 a little? ugh) and drinks with friends.

I’m not quite ready yet to respond to my previous post and your wonderful, unbelievable support until I have more things to share, probably next week. So for now we carry on with life as normal. Some goodness on the web this week, a great distraction.

1. Pistachio pumpkin bread with honey butter and sea salt. Do I need to describe why that sounds so delicious? I can’t remember how I stumbled across this, probably Pinterest, where I fear to tread lately.
2. These tiny Twin Peaks dioramas by boxartig are pretty much incredible. via TeenAngster.
3. Baggu leather!
4. File under: replicate this exact trip, please. via Lena
5. A vintage camera ordered from Japan containing a roll of previously undeveloped film from the 1940′s. What a magical discovery.
6. I just love this simple, lovely post from Jennifer titled “Morning Light“. I think you know why.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends.

I thought Friday Bits could use a little facelift because the tiny photos were starting to bother me. If I’m only going to share fun finds once a week, why not share ‘em big?

This week was a roller coaster of emotions, but we dragged our sorry asses out of the apartment and went to a show (Twin Shadow, it was kind of a meh show) and celebrated a friend’s birthday over tropical drinks, so it ended up being not too shabby of a week. We’re looking forward to the weekend because Will’s dad is in town and we’re excited to see him.

Let’s get down to business:

1. I know Meg already previously mentioned the awesomeness of Rookie in her guest post, but this week held two gems I have to share: Miranda July’s story about her first foray into activism, and Tavi’s excellent interview with Aubrey Plaza.
2. My family is not one to pass around recipes or even bake/cook things that well, but my grandma’s candied walnuts are a little treasure of mine. Heidi’s Brown Sugar Rosemary Walnuts sound like a more sophisticated version that need to be in my mouth right now.
3. Ceila shared this incredible LA house tour on AT and I can’t get out of my mind! The patterns! The colors! Everything about it is perfection.
4. I’m sure you’ve already seen this, but Miss Moss has the most incredible guest post on Etsy, mood boards categorized by hue. It’s visual candy, I tell you.
5. I can tell Brian is going to really bum me out about not having a true Fall here in LA with his Autumn-focused posts. I think it’s one of the biggest things I miss about NYC! October is the best month of all time there.
6. Juka makes the most beautiful leashes for dogs (and the occasional awesome cat? come on Wendy, get it together) in her shop, Blink, that are hand-dyed and use classic sailor knots. She also makes these really nice brass pet tags cut into interesting shapes and lovely ceramic bottles. Definitely worth checking out.

Oof, what a week! That’s all I have to say about that. Bring on the weekend! (Even though I will still be working the whole time. But at least clients don’t bug you as much on the weekends! Positive thinking, people.) PS. Did you know there are still TWO NECKLACES still available in the shop? I had to close down the shop before they sold when we went to NYC and re-opened it apparently a bit too quietly. Buy them, people.

1. Ilana Kohn’s F/W line is out now! It’s seriously stunning, her line just gets better and better each collection. I had the pleasure of meeting Ilana when I was in New York, and recently designed her a new website! Love this lady. I wear her Kate dress constantly.
2. I love Sally England’s modern macramé. I saw one in a store recently and was excited to see them on Unruly Things to find out who made them.
3. Fabric & Handle’s new handcrafted backpacks are fantastic. I like the Fran best.
4. Feeling sorry for yourself? Megs Senk can help with that. Her new site, Don’t Feel Sorry For Yourself, pulls together all the goodness from around the web (like a giant Friday Bits!) every month and is guaranteed to cure whatever ails you.
5. These chalkboard tags by Kate’s Papergoods are super cool.
6. My buddy Samantha Hahn is having a solo show in NYC that opens next Thursday the 22nd at Gallery Hanahou and you should definitely check it out. She did some blogger portraits, including me (pictured!), that are so awesome. You can request (from Samantha or the gallery) a pre-show catalog to get first dibs on a selection of her beautiful pieces. Wish I could be there.

Have a lovely weekend, friends!

Because I’m out own town, for today’s Friday Bits I thought I’d have the lovely ladies behind the awesome blog (and magazine!) Got A Girl Crush, Andrea and Meg, share with us their picks for the week. Take it away, ladies!