Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign.

If you haven't realized by now, I'm mildly obsessed with letters, fonts, type, type faces, typography, hand lettering, serifs, san serifs, and on and on and on. So in honor of one of my great loves, I decided to go hunting for some fabulous images of signs featuring, what else, letters!

(Hope you all have a great weekend! I'll be busy with galleries, baseball games, and antique fairs. Expect some good pics next week!)

(Click on the image below to go to my flickr favorites or scroll down to see some of my favorite favorites.)




from Metropol 21.


from eyetwist.


from Mark Spurgeon.


from the dra.


from happyshooter.


from Ms. Atomic.


from Bleuet14.

Make It Work.

While I'm extraordinarily thankful that Project Runway (especially Tim Gunn) is coming back for another season, the network shift has me a bit apprehensive that advertising will go from commercials like this:

to this:

Nothing against Lifetime, but I really hope our commercial breaks don't feel like we are tuning into One Life to Live. I prefer my television viewing without a side of menstruation (but with a side of fabulous).

An Exercise in Restraint.

At the crack of dawn on Sunday (yes, Sunday) morning, Emily B. and I will brave the crowds and the chilly, foggy air in hopes of finding design nirvana at the Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire. We will most likely be those girls walking around in a hungover, baggy-eyed haze, wearing pajama pants, baseball caps and unkempt hair, looking like we rolled out of bed 0.5 seconds ago and slurping coffee like its our life fuel. If the pics below are any indication of what we'll find, I'll also be the girl with an armful of vintage letters, signs and kitsch, a gigantic smile and a numismatically void wallet.

Photo credits (all images from flickr):
(1) from agrasshopper; (2) from itakeupicture; (3) from theswirtproject; (4) from at:sflily; (5) from Kristin; (6) from An Luc.

Chump Change.

The Dimitri Medium Python Hobo by Celine. A bargain at $4,200.

Images from NET-A-PORTER.COM.

If I ever see someone walking down the street carrying this bag, I will probably start to cry. Tears will be shed for the exquisite craftsmanship, the decadence of the python and the smoldering chic-ness of its color. But I'll also be sobbing due to the ridiculousness of the fact that someone could and would pay as much for a purse as we did for our rent...for the past 3 months.

Mind Your P's and Q's.

My sister has studied Spanish forever (which equates to like 9 years when you are only 24 years old). She has had to take every Spanish language, literature and linguistics class under the sun. And now she loves learning more about words and their origins. She once spent the good part of an hour explaining how the word for star has become a part of tons of other words since stars have always been something to which man has looked (it was much more interesting then I'm making it sound, I swear).

Now I, on the other hand, love letters and more importantly, the fonts that make up letters (like LOVE letters). When I'm doing a design project, I could spend hours combing through thousands of fonts just to find the perfect typeface. I'm a very visual person, such a blessing and a curse, so this search usually involves me looking for a precise G with the proper amount of flourish and grandiosity that I've imagined in my head.

I also have a major predilection towards fonts that look hand lettered, but not in the 21st century, graffiti, handwritten sort of way. I like my fonts to look imperfect like hand painted window signs or wood block prints. So, I went to my favorite free font resource, www.dafont.com (a great find thanks to Emily B.), to pull up some examples of my preferred fonts. Although all of these images were designed as a mere showcase of how the font can be used, I'm totally tempted to blow them up and frame them in my house. Perhaps I'll make a hall of letters. I swoon.

Cacavia01.


Today.


Cancan de Bois.


Vive la Rivoluzione.


HVD Bodedo.


Lietz Lindau Hamburg.


Kasikorn.

From Sweden with Love.

Last week, the Contemporist had a great post about the Creators Inn in Stockholm, Sweden. The hotel offers free accommodations for visiting artists, musicians, designers, writers, and other creative folk. And if all that creative energy running through the hotel isn't enough to get one's artistic juices flowing, check out the minimal yet warm space (I'm drooling over the console and the map wall art).

One of my favorite parts of the design is the work/desk area. I've been struggling to figure out a way to turn a long closet we have into a functioning workspace and I think I found my starting point. I love the long counter top for all my crafting crap and the cork board wall to hang all the cards, posters, paper scraps and photographs I collect along the way. I'll definitely need to add some shelves and drawers, but I've finally been inspired (and might add a hint of this). Phew. Now I just need to clean out that god forsaken junk ridden hellhole also known as our closet.

The Creators in is set to open on August 1, 2009, which might work with our schedule for our next trip to Stockholm (sometime between August 1 and never). My closet, well, now that's a whole other story.

Can We Say Neurotic?

Last week, before my world was shrouded by gloom (yes, I'm using melodrama and artistic license), the husband and I spent a lovely evening in the Mission enjoying margaritas and Mexican food at Puerto Alegre and then headed over to Candystore Collective to check out a new show by Laura Berger.

I met Laura at the Renegade Craft Fair (you might remember me mentioning her here). Emily and I adored her illustrations...I think we spent 45 minutes trying to narrow down which ones we would buy. And she was incredibly sweet to boot. Since she mentioned she was from out of town, I figured I should stop by her show. I'm so glad I did. Whereas Renegade highlighted a lot of her prints, this show also highlighted a lot of her paintings (by the way, I want the painting in the third photo real bad).

Now, I know I had promised a post on Friday about Laura's show, but let's just say I didn't want to seem too eager. Chris and I talked to Laura for probably 20 minutes Thursday night and both really, really liked her. Long story short, we told her if she needed to she could crash on our couch while in town. Then that night, I proceeded to friend her on Facebook and link to her blog on my blog. I woke up the next morning, analyzed the evening and become increasingly nervous that she would either think we were swingers or that I was going to go single white female on her. Hence the delay. So Laura, seriously, we just both thought you were really nice and talented! Really. Wow, I'm so glad I get to announce my neuroses to the whole world :)

Anyway, here are some examples of Laura's prints and paintings. Don't you just adore her use of color? Be sure to check out her etsy page. If you are in SF, the show runs through September at Candystore Collective's new gallery space.

A Big Pile of Blah.

Today, I'm feeling completely uninspired, unmotivated, unfocused and uninteresting. This malaise is lingering a bit longer than is comfortable. Despite the sunny and warm weather of recent days, I spent most of my weekend alone...inside...on the couch...doing nothing.

It's funny writing a blog because you are able to present your most interesting and dressed up self to the world. There's no fear of someone catching you without makeup in a ponytail, hoodie, fat jeans and flip flops. I can pretend I'm always dressed to the nines in pretty shoes with perfect hair in an incredibly stylish city. The problem arises when there is a major disconnect between what I feel and what I want to portray.

So, today is a no make up, giant zit on forehead, frizzy hair, no plans to leave the couch, sweatpants, eating ice cream out of the carton kind of day. And it feels lately like I'm having more days like this than not. It's frustrating that, in the midst of this despair, there's not a quick fix. While medication helps over the long haul, it's not the immediate gratification of taking an ibuprofen to cure your headache in 30 minutes or less.

What's worse is that I feel like I have no reason to be this down. I have a good job, a great husband, a nice home, amazing friends, good health, a supportive family, etc. Feeling guilty about your self pity never seems to help the situation. On a day like this, I'm so thankful for my husband who, even though he has never experienced a day of depression, is always sympathetic even when it's not the easiest thing to be. On second thought, I'm also thankful for the leftovers in my fridge at home! At least sitting inside all day did give me time to make some incredibly yummy food. I guess there's always a bright side after all.

Fresh Fig Tart with Rosemary Cornmeal Crust and Lemon Marscapone Cream...not to brag, but I think mine is prettier than the pic on Epicurious. On a more serious note, you should make this now. It's amazing.

Loosely Inspired by the Miami Dolphins.

I was reading this post on Sunday Suppers and realized that I forgot how much I love the whole turquoise/orange combo. I know I'm a few years late to the party on this one, but it's still gorgeous, right? I mean, if it works for nature (sunsets at the beach, fall leaves in a stream, sunburned bodies in a swimming pool and patina on copper), it works for me. So, I went through a few thousands photographs on flickr to come up with some of my favorite images of aqua and naranja. I also sort of took advantage of sfgirlbybay's phenomenal taste and perused her flickr favorites to come up with a lot of these images.

(Click on the image below to go to my flickr favorites or scroll down to see some of my favorite favorites.)

from gold_soundz.


from Scarlet Pimp.


from mollybethmorris.


from Ben.


from Brian Hathcock.


from girlhula.


from finelylnc.


from Robert Loeber.


from junkstar.

Look on the Bright Side.

If you haven't checked out The Bright Side Project, you definitely should. According to its website, the project has a simple goal:

The Bright Side Project is here to bring you sunshine every day with themed, daily giveaways. We hope to inspire you to stop for a second and remember life is (still) beautiful and there is goodness in the world.

Each day, the good peeps at BSP feature a giveaway that they think will bring a smile and joy to your life. And all you have to do to win is answer the question at the end of the post. The contributor of the giveaway then picks the winner. It's that simple.

Today's giveaway is Branché Charmeuse Pillow Case...say hello to silky hair and smooth skin each morning.

Listless.

I talk about going to the farmer's market a lot, but I rarely ever go. Partly, it's because something comes up...I can't get out of work, I oversleep, I get lazy. But I'm also not very good at food shopping without a list. I always have a fear that I'll buy something like squash blossoms and won't be able to find a recipe in the 4,057,693,217 recipes that are currently online (FYI...there were 14,200 google results for squash blossom recipes).

This time, I'm planning ahead. And I have a list. Because that's what I do...I plan and make lists (Don't judge me. I've been like this all my life). I found two recipes using seasonal ingredients (zucchini and figs) that I can't wait to make for dinner Sunday night. And once I step beyond that fear threshold into the farmer's market, who knows what exciting stuff I'll leave with? I might spontaneously buy heirloom tomatoes...or peaches. Crazy, right?

Courgette Carbonara via Serious Eats. © David Loftus via Jamie Oliver.


Fresh Fig Tart with Rosemary Cornmeal Crust and Lemon Marscapone Cream via Epicurious.com.

Now, who doesn't love a carbonara? I'm honestly drooling right now (I'm also starving). I'm all about baked fruit desserts lately and since this one does not require baking powder, I should be good. I'm excited to think about all the fabulous fruit toppings to use in lieu of figs...what wouldn't work with a rosemary cornmeal crust and lemon marscapone cream? And, as the usual, I'm sure I'll post pics of my (fingers crossed) successful meal later.