would you be interested in munching on some pastries- some of the puffy variety? AND sipping on some bubbly?

bet you didn’t have to think about that for too long.

lucky for us baltimoreans, the brand new bakery, puffs and pastries will open its doors for a special tasting tomorrow night at 8 p.m. (friday, sept. 5).

yum yum yum!

830 west 36th street (the avenue in hampden)

the images on the smitten kitchen blog are A M A Z I N G.

that’s it. i will diligently and patiently practice the art of how to take the perfect photo. my first step was to read the advice of the photographer herself right here. i’ve denied this for a long time, but i do believe the second step is to save up for a great camera. what do you think? i currently take all of my photos with an easy-to-use canon powershot (the kind of digital camera that will fit in your clutch) and quite frankly, that is just not cutting it.

gosh, smitten kitchen’s photos are lovely. . .

slowly, but surely, new pieces will be added to the shops.  right now, you will be able to find the pretty in pink earrings and branch earrings here and here.

hmm, i suppose i can see how twitter can be very helpful in such a case as this- short and sweet blips of info.

but i’m taking a stand- i’m saying NO to twitter!!  how can one person maintain all of this technology?  blog, etsy shop(s), webshops, website, myspace, facebook, flickr, linkedin, twitter. . . ahhhhhhh!

okay, so i’m having a computer-overload meltdown over here.  time for an iced coffee and some good old-fashion work at the jewelry bench, eh?

from cute overload:

adorable pillows currently on the front page of etsy

from myimaginaryboyfriend 

oh, the insomnia!

the good news is that it has led me to a new favorite blog: obsessive consumption

and my internet journey also led me to these shoes. how gorgeous are they?!

and get this- the indigo booties are on SERIOUS sale!! alas, there are none left in my size. and that is a very good thing because, even on sale, they are simply our of my budget today. sigh. . . let’s sit back and admire these beauties shall we?

next up in the summer in the city salon series:

for additional information, please download this .pdf here

(have you seen rob walkers’ interview at the washington city paper/crafty bastards blog? - excellent read

indoors at the venetian, las vegas

rachel from red prairie press is having a scarf giveaway contest!

go here to find out how to win!

i have one of these (the one in the upper left corner) and wear it ALL the time-  spring, summer, fall and winter.  one of my favorite things about my scarf is that i can throw it in the washer and dryer without worrying about shrinkage- sure beats that scratchy wool scarf!

i hope everyone had a relaxing and labor free labor day. i know i did. now it’s back to work! today i will be shipping out orders and catching up on administrative goodness. (which may or may not include catching up on the hundreds of perez hilton posts i missed. . . )

i had so much fun in vegas that i didn’t even have time to whip out my camera and take any pictures! seriously! anything from my camera should be up on my flickr page by the end of the week. all i can say is i LOVED pool and hope to be able to show again in february. the pool staff, retailers, and exhibitors were all such wonderful and supportive folks. i felt so at home and inspired.

we were able to have dinner one night (at a ceaser’s palace restaurant) with our friends at campfire (also first time exhibitors). i love these promos that the boys made:

each handprinted bag contains a sticker, business card, and postcard with wholesale info.

and here is a shot of the awesome booth signage that pool provided- staff is super detail-oriented! i really wish i could have taken this home with me some how

and to view a list of our stockists, you can always click here. (or on the link up on the top of the webpage) this is what it looks like now:

i like to think of this page as my own little garden to tend and grow if you live in one of these cities, please stop by and show some love to these locally owned small businesses. xoxo

back in baltimore. it’s 1:30 p.m. and i’m so sleepyyyy. i’m currently sipping locally roasted bluebird coffee from my mug that reads “crabby until i get my coffee”.

while i probably could have used one more day of vacation in vegas, there’s really just no place like home. i just wanted to check in to say that i miss you, blog! and i’ll be back in a little bit with tidbits of information like. . . the rebirth of some favorite pieces from last season! (like this one)

yippie!

we made it here safe and sound. all of our display materials (which only took up two rubbermaid bins) also arrived intact (big sigh of relief from me). in a few hours, we are headed over to the convention center to set up our booth. we are having a blast here on the vegas strip. if you like to people watch, this is the place for you. we did alot of people watching last night while strolling up and down the strip. we also saw the fountains at the bellagio, the gondolas at the venitian and we played some craps and slots. right now, my favorite part of the trip is our hotel room (see below). more pictures to come later. xoxo!!

as scheduled, we are all set for vegas! 9:30 a.m. and everything is packed and ready to go for tomorrow. we will spend today shipping out the rest of our orders and then we’re off! any orders placed between today and thursday, august 28 will not ship until we return on friday the 29th. (and can you believe that it will then be labor day weekend?!) talk to you soon. have a FANTASTIC weekend! xoxo

friday at the park

from the phillips de pury & company site:

“Phillips de Pury & Company Presents “Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels”, the First Auction of Historic Hip Hop Jewelry, Pioneering a New Collecting Category.  Includes Iconic Cultural Artifacts Worn by Some of the 20th Century’s Most Influential Musical Artists Including 50 Cent, Biz Markie, MC Lyte, Missy Elliot, Notorious B.I.G., P. Diddy, Pharrell Williams, Slick Rick and Tupac Shakur.  A Portion of Proceeds to Benefit Russell Simmons’ Rush Community Affairs.”

auction to take place october 1 @ 8pm 450 W. 15th St, new york 20021

i would love to see these pieces in person.  i wonder what it takes to get into an event like this . . .