A CRAFTY HALLOWEEN: DIY IDEAS

My family have never been particularly big on Halloween, especially the spooky-scary side of things. But the amount of clever, chic and downright fun DIY Halloween projects that are making the blog rounds this year may have me singing a different tune. Full of bright colors and googly eyes, it seems that these projects are pushing for a sillier version of All Hallows Eve than previously possible. Count me a fan!Here are a few of my favorite projects to help you have the most happy-goofy holiday yet.ONE | funny felt eyes from oh joyTWO | monster candy buckets from tell love and partyTHREE | pastel pun-kins from studio diyFOUR | polka pumpkins from design love festFIVE | fluffer nutter cookie pops from bakers royaleSIX | spooky spiked shirley cocktails from almost makes perfectSEVEN | a googly eyes party from oh happy dayEIGHT | ghost emoji balloons from aww, sam
Any projects I missed? Let me know in the comments! And Happy Halloween!

RANDOM THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY, VOLUME TWO

As I near the home stretch with my dissertation, my brain increasingly feels like swiss cheese—completely full of holes. It is perhaps only fitting that I give you another 'Random Things' post, if only to accurately represent my chaotic state of mind. . . 

ONE > How fabulous are these colorful playing cards? Who knew poker could be so pretty . . . 

TWO > I rotate my desktop background regularly and am always looking for new (and free!) patterns to upload. DesignLoveFest's regular column is the best source for these and I totally fell in love with her recent post featuring this palm print by Kate Worsum.

THREE > Candy on a stick? Yes, please!

FOUR > I can't decide if one piece bathing suits are all purposefully designed to be unflattering or if they don't just work on me, but the raving reviews and pretty colors of this JCrew number have me tempted to try again . . . 

FIVE > These brightly colored beauties in Naples have me dreaming of revisiting my trip to Italy and heading down south instead. 

SIX > I collect typewriters. Have I told you that? Well I do. It's a hard hobby to keep up in my cramped NYC apartment, but oh baby this yellow number is calling my name!

ONE DAD'S EDIBLE TYPOGRAPHY LESSONS

Oh man, I am pretty sure Tommy Perez just won the cool dad of the year award. Turns out he is teaching his two year old daughter, Zöe, about the alphabet (and design! and food!) by shaping her snacks into letters in various beautiful styles—script, sans serif, capitalized, lowercase and more—and then photographing her adorable little hand as she samples the results.The series is called from A to Zöeand shows off Perez's impressive styling and graphic design skills. He posts his images on Instagram and I highly recommend you follow along. In the meantime, you can learn more about Perez, his daughter, and the whole series at Fast Co. here.

OM NOM NOM

Totally random, but I love this print by Aled Lewis (who I have written about before here).  Om Nom Nom Nom!
Check out more of his funny work here.

30 FOR 30: A MAD COOKIE BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR THE AGES

Last weekend I threw a 30th birthday party. For myself. It was reasonably epic, thanks in large part to the wonderful turn out (thanks, friends!) and the super fun theme: chocolate chip cookies! And not just any chocolate chip cookies—the party was a 'March Madness' style bracket to determine the best chocolate chip cookies in New York City from among 30 contenders (get it? 30 for 30!). (I was inspired by this lovely lady.)

I ate so many cookies that I had a stomach ache for several hours afterwards. Now if that isn't the sign of a good party, I don't know what is!

In planning the fete I took the opportunity to put together a bunch of fun crafty decorations that I thought you might enjoy. After all, now that I have put the idea in your head you are totally going to go out and throw your own cookie party, right?

Click through the link to see some more photos of the fun!

SHAKE SHACK'S RETRO CHIC GRAPHIC IDENTITY

A couple months ago the beloved NYC burger spot, Shake Shack, went public on the stock market. Having in recent years expanded to cities across the country, indeed across the world, Shake Shack is looking to be our era's foodie version of McDonalds. In honor of their growing global recognition, Fast Co. Design did a very cool blogpost about the details behind the retro icons, friendly fonts and neon colors used in the business's unique graphic identity. Turns out the impressive Paula Scher of Pentagram originally planned this singular identity to match the restaurant's original location—a modernist metal shed in New York's Madison Square Park—and has been surprised to see how well the look has translated to countless other locations across the globe. Even though Shake Shack opened over a decade ago (in 2004), the identity still looks as fresh as ever—a sure sign of a job well done.Needless to say, the article is worth a read, as it provides some fascinating insights into the 'look' of a brand that seems to have every detail down pat and has always struck me as the perfect combination of sophistication and silliness.Read all about it here, and learn more about Paula Scher here.

VIVA ITALIA! THE ITALIAN GRAND TOUR, PART THREE

I am back in action today with the next stop on our Italian Grand Tour: Venice! It's a city of romance, of crumbling buildings and rising waters, of Renaissance masterpieces and seafood specialities. We had a lovely time getting lost in Venice's labyrinthine walkways and sneaking peaks of its chaotic canals. While not our favorite place in Italy (I know, heresy!) it was spectacular to immerse ourselves in a place so steeped with history that every scratch on that wall seems like a relic from a lost era. Museums, churches, and a bit of shopping—we did it all. I am including a bunch of photos below that speak for themselves. If you have any questions about our itinerary leave it in the comments! 

Of course the city looks just as beautiful in color as it does in black and white . . . 

All in all a lovely way to spend a couple days! Here are a few of my favorite experiences/insider tips if you are headed there soon.

favorite church (exterior): Santa Maria della Salute, set on a plaza facing the grand canal!

favorite church (interior): Saint Mark's mosaics are not to be missed.

best way to get in a gondola: take a traghetto, a commuter gondola that ferries you from one side of the grand canal to the other for only 2 euro; there are six or seven crossing points open at any time, so to maximize the ride take one of the routes that cut diagonally across the canal.

best museum (for historic art): A tie between the Venice Guggenheim (now a must see stop for modern art lovers or people wanting a great canal-side resting spot) and the spectacularly chic space of the new Punta della Dogana museum of contemporary art (bonus! it's next to Santa Maria della Salute!).

best museum (for contemporary art): The Gallerie dell'Accademia is in a totally dilapidated building, but has some breathtaking altarpieces and Renaissance paintings (see photo of coffered room above).

best evening activity: Besides getting lost in a new neighborhood, I highly recommend heading to Piazza San Marco and listening to the black tie bands play in front of the swanky bars. It's sounds cheesy but there is something magical about hearing a jazz piano solo while staring at the twinkly lights of a world famous palace and church. (Don't believe me? Check out this video.)

best place for a romantic dinner: A tiny place with super friendly staff that's been winning acclaim for twenty years now, Osterie delle Testiere is wonderful. Get seafood and dessert. You won't regret it.

That's all! Next stop Cinque Terre, to be posted later this week.

VIVA ITALIA! THE ITALIAN GRAND TOUR, PART ONE

As you know, the hubby and I just got back from a glorious two week vacation in Northern Italy. It was the hubby's first time there so, of course, I had to give him the grand tour. We stopped in seven different places in 14 days; it was awesome!Since I took so many lovely photos and had such a good time, I thought I might share a bit of our itinerary with you in an ongoing series here on the blog. Hope you like it! We flew into Milan and hopped in a rental car headed straight for Lake Como. We stayed in the adorable town of Varenna, right in the middle of the lake surrounded by mountains and within spitting distance of Bellagio and Menaggio across the water. Basically, this place is paradise! 

We stayed in this incredible hotel built into the side of the mountain that was only accessible by—wait for it—funicular! 

The views, not surprisingly, were out of this world! The video above was shot from the balcony of our hotel room . . . so yeah . . . we lucked out. :)

We spent a lot of time checking out the other towns on the lake, zooming around in an awesome rental boat. There were so many gorgeous mansions, brightly colored harbors and jagged green mountains to see and bobbing by them on the water felt like a particularly special viewpoint.

The combination of sun, billowy clouds, sparkling water and silhouetted mountains made for a potent photographic cocktail and I couldn't stop snapping pictures of it all (I mean, could you resist this view?).

There was, most certainly, lots of lots of tasty meals (it is Italy!). Most were spent in lakeside cafes, sipping mineral water and lounging under sun-dappled umbrellas. See what I mean about paradise? 

I have to say that Varenna was the perfect kick off to our Italian grand tour. Only the first adventure of many, though, and I can't wait to share all the rest with you in the coming weeks. Stayed tuned!

TINY PROMOTIONAL FOR A TINY CAN

This ad campaign packs a big punch in a tiny package! Created by Ogivly & Mather Berlin, these itty bitty news kiosks have been scaled down to match the size of Coca Cola's new mini can. I love the delight on people's faces as they encounter the person working behind this impossibly small newsstand and am not surprised to hear that these kiosks sold an average of 380 mini cans per day, or 278 percent more than a normal Coke vending machine. Who wouldn't want to buy something from such a cute set up?

The whole project is meant to be an embodiment of the campaign motto: "It's the little things that make us happy." I agree wholeheartedly!

Learn more about the project here and here.


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