TIME FLIES!

Guys, where has this week gone? Matter of fact, where has this summer gone?!! I can't believe we leave for Italy next week! And two days after we get back, in mid-September, is my Mom's 60th travel-themed birthday party. So much fun to be had, so little time!

To get ready for all the fun times ahead I have been working my crafty magic behind the scenes (in between bouts of mad dissertation work. I hope to be able to share more details and instructions for these projects after the party, but until then here are some fun sneak peaks.

above | I painted these tiny wooden airplanes pretty colors to decorate the birthday cake. I am planning devil's food chocolate with white buttercream frosting; these planes will be attached to wires and inserted into the cake to look like they are buzzing around it. Cool, right? planes bought here





above | I had these vintage-style postcards made up with a custom cancelation stamp on the back. I hope to have guests write notes on the back and then, after the party, bind them into a keepsake guest book. postcards bought here




above | Using my favorite yellow crepe paper rolls, I made these cute sunshiney garlands to hang as a backdrop for the food table. Love them! crepe paper from here



above | Last, but not least, I have spent the better part of this week putting together these favors—pocket-sized Moleskine notebooks stamped to look like passports. I can't wait to show you the step by step of these puppies; there are lots of fun details customized for the party, including the little security stickers on the back. What do you think? I hope the guests like them!Anything I am missing? If you have more clever travel-themed ideas for the party, lay them on me in the comments. Thanks! And happy weekend!
p.s. I posted all of these photos to my Instagram account this morning. If you like what you see, head on over here and follow me! 

PETER SMART IS A DESIGN GENIUS
























If only everything you interact with in your daily life were designed by someone as thoughtful and clever as Peter Smart. Shower curtains would always stay in the tub, keeping your floor perfectly dry. Coffee makers wouldn't have infernally finicky on/off switches, leaving you woefully brew-less in the morning. Tax forms might actually be legible, allowing you to submit these important legal documents without worrying that an errant '1' might make you look like you are trying to claim 11 imaginary dependents.

Why am I so confident in the skills of designer Peter Smart? Well, he recently traveled all over the world to try to solve 50 Problems in 50 Days simply using the power of design. My favorite proposed project to come out of the challenge is by far his reworking of traditional boarding passes for air travel. Instead of the infernally ill-shaped horizontal pass, Smart came up with a vertical format that incorporates things you actually want and need to know—such as your gate, travel time and destination weather—through sans serif fonts and a simple bold layout. The proposed pass even folds to precisely fit inside your passport, with just the cliff notes version of your travel info sticking out of the top. Brilliant!

So listen up, TSA and airlines world wide! Let's institute some productive, passenger-focused legislation and get this design in the works, chop chop!

Read more about Smart's proposal here.




AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT




My friend Sheryl pointed me towards something amazing yesterday: Air New Zealand's creative (and totally hilarious) safety videos. Wouldn't you be much happier listening to that boring stewardess speech over and over if Richard Simmons were actually delivering it (in sparkly spandex of course!)?





But it turns out Air New Zealand has not stopped there. It seems they have hired a suave charismatic spokesperson (or should I say spokespuppet?) too, named Rico. Here he is laying down a track with Snoop Dogg. Yes, that Snoop Dogg. Who is wearing an All Blacks jersey, so he must be a true Kiwi right?

See much more of Rico's funny escapades at the Air New Zealand YouTube channel here.


(And while these are not jokes, I thought they were an appropriately zany way to kick off April. Happy April Fool's Day!)