I’m so excited that my day has finally arrived for the Blog It Forward mashup! Victoria put so much work into organizing everything and making it all just so that I hope you’re following along. In case you missed it, here’s the full schedule of posts and blog links. I did a little of this and a little of that and before I knew it I had an entire alphabet’s worth of photography before my eyes that had me ooh-ing and aah-ing. So without further ado and any attempt at witty banter, here’s my photographic index of inspiration.
Only one post today because I’m feeling under the weather with a sore throat and achy ears. I’m hoping to crawl into bed for some R&R sooner than later, but here are a few tidbits to help get you through the weekend! Psst… don’t forget, you have until Monday at 9am CST to enter the evie s. giveaway!
+ Mrs. Lilien has started a Mrs. horoscope series, pop over to check out Mrs. Aquarius
I get really excited to highlight locals and that’s definitely the case with evie s. Evie is smack-dab right here in Oklahoma City and creates some of the most beautiful things. (Not to mention has a great blog!) Recently she’s branched out into pillows and this week is giving away a Sky and Land pillow to one of you. It’s sure to brighten up a dark corner as we trudge through these last days of winter.
To Enter, Tell Me: 1. What’s the first activity you’re planning for when the weather warms up? 2. Your email address. 3. Do it all before Monday, February 22nd at 9am CST.
Please leave only one comment. Those who do not leave a valid email address will be disqualified. Winner will be selected randomly and contacted Monday, February 22nd.
What started months ago as a collaboration between Caroline and I of all things awesome in Oklahoma City has finally come to fruition in the form of the Oklahoma City Guide! Hop on over to Design*Sponge to see it in all it’s glory. (And if we forgot something you love let us know!)
How do you plan on spending your weekend? Tonight I’ll be going to a local benefit, Raising Haiti 2.0. If you’re in Oklahoma you should plan on stopping by, all proceeds are headed straight to Haiti.
+ A little birdie told me about these sweet valentines for you to download
I’m really looking forward to joining in on the Blog It Forward mashup that Victoria of sfgirlbybay dreamed up over the weekend! Here’s the nitty gritty details of it all…
• We’re going to share a connected stream of blogger posts on ‘what inspires us the most’ on our individual blogs, but link back and forward to the other blogs participating, a bit like a chain letter (but, hopefully a lot less annoying!).
• Ez from creature comforts has graciously created this lovely badge to add to your blog if you are participating.
• Feel free to repost this on your own blog and tweet about it, then link back to this sfgirlbybay.com post URL or a link to Victoria’s email info, so people can get the details, how to participate, the theme, and how to contact her. We’re giving everyone a due date to sign-up via an email to Victoria by end of this week, Friday, February 5th.
• Victoria will then make a list of bloggers who want to participate (perhaps alphabetically) and post it on Monday, February 8th, and everyone will see when their post is due, and the order of the mashup. Then we will post one day at a time, starting with hers and moving on to the next blog, and then the next — you get the idea.
• Victoria will post the first mashup on Wednesday, February 10th and from there link to the next blog and that blogger will post on Thursday, February 11th. Then she’ll link back to Victoria and then to the next blog on the list who will post on Friday, February 12th and link back to her (we’ll skip weekends since they are slow) and so on and so forth.
• Again, if interested in joining in, drop Victoria an email and she’ll send you detailed instructions. So, are you in or are you out?
I’m taking an Ice Day today. That’s right, ice, not snow. Equally beautiful but significantly more dangerous. (And unfortunately, no bike riding!) Everyone in the Oklahoma/Texas area stay safe and I’ll see you all tomorrow!
Alt is turning out even better than I imagined, if that’s even possible
The early bird panel yesterday – How to Find the Best Design Sites – with Nicole Balch of Making it Lovely, Allison Czarnecki of Petit Elefant, Jaime Derringer of Design Milk and Karey Mackin of Mackin Ink was wonderful. And hanging out with all of these women (and a few guys, too!) that are my own personal design crushes has been nothing short of empowering.
This morning I had my own moment of celebrity awe while listening to the keynote breakfast – Why Design? – with Heather Armstrong of Dooce, Jean Aw of NotCot, Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge and Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan of Apartment Therapy. I even got to sit about 2.5 feet away from Heather’s husband, the infamous Jon.
My own panel – Designer vs. Design Blogger – was during the first breakout session. I got to speak with an amazing group of women, too. Joy Cho of Oh Joy!, Jaime Derringer of Design Milk and Rachel Jones of Black Eiffel. It was thrilling to hear about how the others balance their lives and how design impacts both areas of their lives. And as a surprise to even myself, I wasn’t even a bit nervous.
Next I’ll be hitting up Build Your Brandand Your Business with Emily Goligoski of The SanFranista, Victoria Smith of SFGirlbyBay, Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl and Sarah Jane Wright of Sarah Jane Designs to hear about how they started out and turned a nothing business into a big something. After that is the Keynote Lunch with artists Erik Natzke and DJ Earworm. Then the last breakout session (I’m still undecided), the closing session and the Blurb Meetup and Happy Hour. Whew.
They have us running non-stop, but I wouldn’t change it for a thing. If you weren’t able to make it out to Salt Lake City this year plan on signing up for Alt 2011 for sure!
I must really, really love design because I’ve been up since 3:45 this morning. My journey to Alt began in Oklahoma City at 6:30 and after a swift connection in Denver, I arrived in beautiful Salt Lake City around 10:30.
As I wait in the SLC airport’s Starbucks for Greedy Girl to arrive (the silly thing booked a different connecting flight out of Denver than me) I’ve made a few observations:
There’s an oddly disproportionate number of attractive people here.
This is the best music I’ve ever heard played at an airport Starbucks, and I’ve been to my share. It sounds like they’re sharing my iTunes.
I haven’t seen any celebrities making their way to Sundance. Yet. But I have seen a few too many people trying too hard to look like a celebrity.
I should have packed more shoes. I forgot the ones I wanted to wear Saturday night.
So as you can see, so far so good! After checking into the hotel I’m off to the early bird lecture, How to Find the Best Design Sites. Then tonight it’s off to Speed Networking and the Hollywood Opening Social. If you’re not already, follow me on Twitter for more updates throughout the day!
