Design: Mariners Opening Day Shirt

I love baseball. There's nothing like Opening Day at the Mariners :). My former Mariners husband, Ichiro and I got a divorce when I started having an affair with Hyphen. In honor of my new Mariners husband, I made designed an Opening Day Shirt.

This is the front:

This is the back:

This is me on Opening Day!

New Freebie 5

1. Ryan Rowland-Smith (aka Hypen), Seattle Mariners Starting Pitch
2. Matthew Morrison
3. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
4. Jason Bateman
5. Nathan Fillion, recently of Castle fame but better known for Firefly

The Finale of the Worldwide Phenomenon! HP Deathly Hallows Trailer

It's finally here and done with major steeze. Chills every time, "because I have something worth living for." CANNOT wait. I think I'll need to see it twice :).

Inspiration: Postage Stamps

I'm working on a project featuring postage stamps and desperately need some inspiration. I'll be coming back for more and more to feel that "aha!" of inspiration.

c. These are copyrighted and property of United States Postal Serivce (USPS). All rights reserved.

Featured Outfit: Anna's Wedding

My awesome parents were in town this weekend (for my bday!) and when my awesome dad left on Sunday my awesome mom and I went shopping. As tradition dictates we went to Pacific Place to hit all of the normal stops: Club Monaco, Twist, and Barnes and Noble.

I was really shopping when I found something. It's always when you not looking, right? For the last month or so I had been looking for a dress to wear to Anna's, my former-roommate-now-engaged-and-living-in-SF, wedding next month with absolutely no luck.

We're Club Monaco for my mom and we spot a gorgeous silk sheath that looks conservative, a nice straight boat neck line, from the front but look at the back:

Oh, la, la! I wasn't sure if the Deona dress would look good on but I slipped it over my head and fell in love. As did my mom and the salesgirl. The best part?

It was on sale and they took a generous extra 20% off because of a small stain they couldn't remove in store. A steal at $79.20. Jumpy Claps!

Then we went shoe shopping and I thought these will be perfection:

My mom decided that I needed to go with nude in order to not detract from the dress. I decided on the round toe as opposed to a more strappy version because:

a) I'm girly but not in that over-the-top-way

b) I didn't want bridesmaidy shoes

c) I wanted the shoes to not call any attention on themselves, focus all on the dress- gotta show off just one thing at a time!

c) the shoes were comfortable

d) they made my feet look small

e) I can definitely wear them to work or out for the night

f) they're patent leather (great to have in the rain) and

g) they match the gorgeous bag I want to wear (I'll update with a photo later)

Le sigh! I have the perfect outfit to wear. I love it when that happens.

Style: Complementing Not Matching

I'm not a matchy, matchy person. I like it when an outfit or design components (well in my opinion an outfit IS a compilation of design components) complement but don't match identically. Which is way this adorable pair of earrings caught my eye:

See not it's two cats or a pair of mice but a cat and mouse (via Anthro)! Also, I'm a sucker for design that is quirky and funny- so I obvs. need to buy these asap.

Inspiration: Sky Photos

I love taking pictures and can be entertained by this hobby of mine for HOURS. Especially with my neato iPhone app- Hipstamatic.

These filtered sky photos really get me in the mood for dreaming. . . .

All taken by yours truly!

No Plans on Saturday? Go to the Show of Awesome!

My parents are in town from San Diego so I won't be awesome and attend the Show of Awesome but you should go!

The Show of Awesome is an event down in Portland, OR featuring the crafty, creative, and truly brilliant designers of homemade crafts. Put on with the support of the great Crafty Wonderful; it's an awesome event! My awesome creative peeps Slide Sideways and Camp Smartypants will both be there. Stop by and say hi for me! Pick up some cool crafty finds, too.

Hopefully one year I'll be there, too :). 

Featured Earrings: Textured Metals

Last night I took a 4 hour textured metal earring workshop at Seattle's Pratt Fine Arts Center in the Central District.

I could have made earrings that look like these (via Anthro):

Instead I made these:

Much more my style! All you need is L-O-V-E :).

Cute Trailer: The Switch

It's a shock to me that I want to see a Jen Anniston movie because a) she makes some not so great movies as of late b)the not so great movies are not so great romcoms (the worst kind) and c) she plays Rachel Green over and over again.

But it's not a shock to me that I want to see it because a) Jason Bateman is a freebie 5 b) Jeff Goldblum is kind of amazing and his sarcasm in the trailer is outstanding c) the kid is really cute d) Juliette Lewis! (I wonder if her and Anniston ever talked about the Pitt onset) and e) when J.Anniston's on the ball with her comic timing it is really enjoyable to watch. Look more reasons to watch than not!

Check it yourself:



I love the chemistry between J.Bateman and the adorable little boy; it's just too freakin' cute.

Release Date for King of Anything!

As I wrote before, I'm just a little obsessed with Sara Bareilles' first released single off of her new album, Kaleidoscope Heart, King of Anything.

I listen to it at work via YouTube and have been caught dancing to it in my office chair :). So, I was super excited to find out yesterday via her twitter that I can buy it on iTunes on Tuesday!!!

Jumpy Claps!!!

It'll be on repeat over and over again. It's the *new* love song except it's about leading your own life which is exactly what I've been trying to do lately.

Inspiration: GOOP's Hot Pink Prada Dress

I love clothes. I love to shop.

But these days, I hate shopping. I'll go to all of the usual stops (Anthro, Nordies, H&M, Zara) and hate everything I try on. It's the same thing over and over again. Whether it's the *new* one shoulder dress or the bandage dress popularized by Herve Leger or another strapless, so I don't feel much like shopping these days. It makes me want to scream, "I WANT a different silhouette!! WHY is EVERYTHING so short? WHAT happened to interesting styles?"

So it's nice to feel inspired :). Especially if it's fodder to put away in the back of my mind for the day that I design and make clothes.

With that introduction, I present GOOP's gorgeous and unique hot pink Prada:

It looks great from the front and the profile image demonstrates how an unusual silhouette can truly make a statement yet not overly dramatic:

I don't think this dress is for everyone or that anyone could pull it off. Yes, Gwyneth does a terrific job wearing the dress and not having it wear her. So maybe the masses or the "minivan" majority (a Lainey Gossip original and defined by Anne Helen Petersen) won't love it but it's so refreshing to see something so different.

I just LOVE that it's somewhere between Judy Jetson and Mrs. Betty Draper. Inspiration, indeed!

Inspiration: Transformational Leadership

I think that one of the toughest jobs in the world is to be a great manager and/or boss. 

I am fascinated with leadership and what factors define a great manager and/or boss. In my work experience only a few managers were great and most of them were not. When I stumbled upon this article via twitter its title, "Four Things Employees Need From Leaders", got my attention and its content gave me a lot to think about.

I hadn't heard the term "transformational leadership" or "transactional leadership" before but just their names gave me a very clear picture of each models' definition. Transformational read to me that it is a way of transforming behavior and thoughts via leadership and transactional was based on transaction; money. 

Not only did these terms give me a different perspective on my past and current work experience but so did the Big Four. 

The Four Things by Dr. Cleve Stevens

1. The Need to Love and be Loved: Employees and employer/manager/boss/leader need to have a  reciprocal relationship full of  "focused concern and action directed at another exclusively for that person's good." I would agree that it's beneficial to employees to show that you care about them. 

2. The Need to Grow: Stevens' argument is that there are only two directions one can go: decay due to stasis or grow and expand. I would rather grow than decay.

3. The Need to Contribute: People like to contribute because it makes them feel like they belong. Contributing to the whole means belonging to the company.

4. The Need for Meaning: "We are meaning-seeking creatures. If our lives lack a clear sense of meaning, if we are engaged in some larger purpose, we will not be fully satisfied, regardless of whatever else we may have." 'Nuf said.