How Sweet It Is

no-bake coconut cream (goat cheese) cheesecake

 

white chocolate lavender vanilla popcorn

 

white pizza dip

 

Everyone has a secret favorite site, I don’t care who you are. Blogger or not, sometimes you don’t want to spill the beans on where all of the good stuff comes from. Well, in the case of food blogs I’m spilling. This site is just too good not to, the kind where I pin nine out of ten recipes posted.

Meet How Sweet It Is.

I’ve been following this blog for a few years, and just now realized the girl behind it all – Jessica – lives in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. And a new layer of love is added just like that. Jessica’s recipes are beyond good, they’re smart. And I think what sets them apart is the tweaking of one or two ingredients, like adding goat cheese to cheesecake or lavender to popcorn (see both above). I also love the way she looks at food through her camera lens as, really nice shots that make you start drooling on your keyboard just a little. Like I am now.

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Cupcakes and Cashmere

One of my very favorite parts of being a blogger is getting to befriend incredible people I’d otherwise never have the chance to know, and Emily Schuman of the wildly popular lifestyle blog Cupcakes and Cashmere is no exception. She just released her first book – Cupcakes and Cashmere: How to Create your Own Signature Style, Entertain with Ease and Spruce up your Space – that’s based on her blog, and I knew it was just going to be full of great tips. Wednesday night I settled into bed thinking I’d peruse the photos and dive in later… only to read the entire thing cover to cover. It’s no wonder since it has the same easy style as Emily’ blog posts. My favorite takeaway is an important one, that you don’t have to have a bazillion dollars to lead a stylish life. It’s all about high and low end items and knowing when to scrimp and when to splurge!

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Pen + Ink

I have five tattoos, did you know that? I also have about five more that I want. Pen & Ink is a blog about tattoos and the stories behind them. Every one has a tale, kinda like scars. Pen & Ink tells them through line drawings and beautiful hand-lettering. If you’re inked and have a hankering, you can even submit yours and it just might show up on the site.

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Happy Weekend

01/ Paper + thread garland that’s perfect for every party!
02/ Loving these vintage knitting needle bracelets.
03/ How to DIY a hanging daybed, the easy way.
04/ Radiators that double as art.
05/ Genius photographic specimens.
06/ Reconfigured sheets of music.
07/ This homemade marshmallow crème has me drooling.
08/ I’d love to make a lap or ten around this rainbow panorama!
09/ Love this gentleman’s journal! (Thanks, Erin!)
10/ Cheeky urban plant tags.

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I Am a Food Blog

It’s been awhile since I gave props to a foodie blog, but when I came across i am a food blog last weekend it caught my eye. Not only was the photography fantastic and the recipes delicious looking, but the past few posts have each featured a logo of sorts. And that put me over the edge. I hope this site continues down the same road, I’m really interested in what’s to come!

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Happy Weekend



PHOTO: Greg Easton

01/ A font with 16 different sets of a numbers? A graphic designer’s dream come true.

02/ Love these half-dipped frames spotted at Gap Kids. Looks like an easy DIY to me!

03/ Beautifully decorated lightbulbs from Van Eijk + Van der Lubbe.

04/ Guest Checks. A blog for art created on the ubiquitous check.

05/ So excited for Rifle Paper Co.’s new fabric line!

06/ Super cool glass logs cast from real wood.

07/ Quirky DIY Jonathan Adler-inspired face vases.

08/ Colorful Edward Gorey-esque illustrations from Daniel Danger.

09/ A little bit gaga over this blog of curated collections!

10/ A fantastic bevy of paper flower projects.

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Salvaged Grace

 

Aside from my newest role in life as caregiver, I’m also still designing. Last fall I took on a project for the lovely Erin of Salvaged Grace. We’d become friends over Twitter and she was ready for a new logo to go along with her upcoming site redesign. I knew we’d be a good match when she mentioned wanting a type-only mark, my very favorites to design. Here’s what was decided upon ultimately and I couldn’t be happier with it, it’s the perfect mix of fun and lighthearted with vintage. Just what Salvaged Grace is all about.

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An Autumn Blogger Party in NYC

A few weeks ago I got to spend a Saturday afternoon with some lovely NYC bloggers, all thanks to Amy of Old Sweet Song and Natalie of The SoHo who put together a fall-themed soiree.

Amy and Natalie were the perfect hostesses, there was more wine than we could ever hope to drink. As there should be!

Each of us was asked to bring a fall-themed dessert. Since I’m currently living in a sublet with none of my usual kitchen gadgetry (not even a hand mixer!) I opted to go kitschy with a Rice Krispies Cake with caramel apple candy corn. Lovely, no?

Susan of House of Brinson brought, literally, pounds of homemade and hand-wrapped gingerbread caramels. And on top of that she packaged us each up a little bag of our own to take home.

My mom makes this every Christmas, we call it Cracker Candy and oh my God. I dare you to eat just one piece. You already lost.

This was the most inventive in my eyes, pear and apple wrapped “mini pies” with pumpkin cream cheese dip. I’m so lucky there were only two left once I got around to trying them!

We tried as many different sweets as we wanted (or until we got high on sugar), Natalie’s caramel sea salt brownies were my vote for best. A perfectly fudgey brownie with crunchy caramel edges, heavenly.

And yes, we totally voted for favorite – there was even a prize! This anise and pine nut pie was the winner.

However, the ladies were sweet enough to put together goodie bags for all of us to leave with. So much good stuff.

An afternoon well spent, indeed. Thanks so much to Amy and Natalie for putting it all together!

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