a quick seattle run-down

This is pretty much a quick run-down of everything we shoved into our mouths & gullets and where we laid of heads while in Seattle. Our mission was to vacation on the cheap and I think we managed quite nicely.

Sleep
First off, we got a great deal off Priceline and stayed at the Silver Cloud Stadium hotel. It had a rooftop pool & hot tub and the rooms were super clean, cozy, luxurious and comfortable. The only downside was the location which was too far from everything (but we did make use of their awesome free shuttle) and our Sunday morning wake-up call (that we had requested the night before) didn't arrive. Luckily, we woke up with the help of the ipod docking clock radio.

Coffee
Our first coffee run was in Freemont at Cafe Vita. It was nice enough to sit outside. I had an iced Americano and Cornelius had drip coffee. Delicious. Our next cafe sit down was in Capitol Hill at Victrola Coffee. We were instantly smitten with the painted signage and the airy open space inside was lovely. Again, I had an iced Americano while C had a latte. Yum!

Beer
We loved the Elysian Brewing Co. in Capitol Hill. I've been there before, but it was lovely being back. Their beers are wonderful. I stuck with IPAs (they make a fantastic floral Jasmine IPA and a very hoppy Immortal IPA) while C went with the porters and also tried their seasonal pepper-spiced Poivre white beer. Delicious! The only bummer was when we tried to visit the Elsyian Fields close to our hotel Sunday night. Despite their website saying they were open, sadly, they were closed. We weeped openly.

Eats
Señor Moose. Oh my! Fresh, authentic and delicious. I was warned by Brandon to order limes and add salt. I did just that. Perfect.

Cafe Besalu. Rich, buttery European-style bakery but better than anything I've had in Europe. It's that good. I had the ginger biscuit and an almond croissant. Yum! If I could have a ginger biscuit delivered to my desk every morning I would want for nothing.

Dick's. High marks for my first rootbeer float of the season. Not bad at $1.90. Cornelius also shared fries and a burger. Dicks, it's cheap, it's tasty and it's a Seattle institution.

The 5-Point Cafe. This is not a cafe. This is a dirty dive bar. They're open 24 hrs and some might find it sketchy. I find it endearing. I've been here before late at night, but this time we decided to go for breakfast. Cornelius ordered the famous chicken friend steak & eggs and I had to quit my breakfast mid-way just to help him eat it since it was so gigantic and so freakin' delicious. Best chicken fried steak ever. Obviously, this is not the place to eat if you are looking to eat healthy.

Top Pot Donuts. Donuts. What more can I say? They were sweet and tasty, but I like Lee's Donuts in Vancouver way better. However, the box they packaged up our donuts in? Too cute!!

a crafty weekend approaches!

What a week! Everything is going by so quickly. So here's a few things I forgot to mention last week....mainly that we gifted these totally rad cupcakes to Got Craft? for being so great. They are made by the totally awesome Lyndsay at CocoCake. So pretty! And tasty (since we got to try one too!)

And speaking of Got Craft? their big spring craft sale is this Sunday! I'll be there and I hope to see a lot of you stopping by my table! You can go to the website or check out Scout Magazine for more details. Get there early as the first 30 people get totally rocking swag bags! And that postcard above, designed by me! I love how it turned out (although the colours look a little wonky in the morning light).

pretty magnets

A little while ago I entered a blog contest for these beautiful magnets at Sharon Montrose. I love her photography and I felt so lucky to have won. Instead of putting them on our over-crowded-with-magnet-refrigerator, we decided to keep them on the magnet board in our office. I love them. Thank you Sharon!! See her etsy shop for more beautiful things.

design props

Oh boy, it's nice to be recognized for the work that I do! I was super stoked to see my email newsletter for the Beautiful Project showcased on the Campaign Monitor email gallery.

" This design does all the right things. From the clear permission reminder at the top, something you know we love to see, to the sassy tone of the writing. There is a nice balance of images to text but what grabbed our attention this time was the creative cropping of the images, which immediately piques the interest to what the rest of the product looks like, but the email also works fine with the images off. Overall a nice, clean, fun design. "

I designed, coded and wrote the whole thing so it's nice to get a shout out for my email design skills and my "sassy" tone. Hooray!

wanted

My husband brought home this sweet little hairy succulent today from Wanted. He's bought stuff from there before and keeps telling me that it's my kind of store. It's close by and I always end up walking by it but have never stopped in. That will change very soon, I'm sure.

calling all vancouver craft-addicts!

The Got Craft fair is coming up on Sunday May 3rd!!! I'll be there along with a ton of other fabulous local crafters, so make sure you stop by and say hello. Get more craft fair information on their brand spanking new website (logo & website designed by yours truly).

And in other news, the lovely Got Craft people are bringing to town the documentary, Handmade Nation! The screening will be at the Ridge Theater in July but you can buy your tickets now.

everyone needs a pick-me-up

This afternoon has been devoted to working on my taxes. Unlike our neighbours to the South, we've got a few more weeks left to get our taxes done. I spent today compiling receipts for The Beautiful Project and adding them to my spreadsheet before they can be handed off to our accountant. But I've finished the crafty portion of things - all PayPal fees, Etsy fees, postage, supplies, printing costs, etc, etc, etc, have been calculated. Tomorrow I'll work with my husband to get our other business stuff gathered. Phew!

So I felt like a needed a creative break, so I quickly drew up some waves and fishes and threw up a new sign for my U Pick deal: 6 cards for $20. Cute? I think so. Let's hope it catches a few nibbles.

must have been a busy week!

I can't believe that I have ignored this blog for a whole week. Work has been keeping me busy lately and when I have any spare bit of time, I'm scoring and folding cards in preparation for Got Craft in May. Also, Cornelius and I have been seriously at work redesigning our website. It's been a half-assed "coming soon" page for over a year and we now have a design finalized and are working on content. Ugh, so much work!! Why is it so much harder designing for yourself?? Regardless, today I'm off to the local print shop I deal with to get more birthday calendars printed up.

But, enough about work...above is a print that I love from The Cloudy Collection which is available for $35 + free shipping in the US & Canada...and that's for 7 prints!! Amazing. It is my birthday coming up....

we love colors

Excuse the blurry photo but I probably couldn't contain the excitedness of my turquoise gams. A couple of weeks ago, I ordered 3 pairs of tights from WeLoveColors.com and I'm so happy I did. First off, the selection of colours are amazing and they don't have that weird shine that most tights have that I really, really hate. They are matte and the fit is nice too. I'll definitely be ordering from them again.

super cute new note card set!

Hippity-hop! I've got a brand new note card set available in shop. 4 different illustrated cards. I think they are simply adorable and very sweet. I got these printed up a while ago but waited on them before adding them to the shop. I'm completely smitten. I hope you are too! Who doesn't like a cute girl in bunny ears....right??

apple green

Right now I'm all about apple green. I spotted this messenger style bag on etsy and I love it. I'm looking for another large bag with a long shoulder strap and this might be it!

But look at these summer shoes!! I think they're pretty cute and they are made by a transplanted Montrealer living in Uruguay (via Poppytalk).

And then there's this apple green skirt that I've literally drooled over for 4 years now. I should just do the damn thing and buy it!