Office Art

I have currently been in my office (at the agency) for over a year and a half and haven't done much to make the space "mine" besides a succulent and a framed photo of Nate and I.

I had my eye on this Balloon Ride art print from Rifle Paper Co for a while.

It's bright and happy but I just never pulled the trigger. I've also been in love with the World is Your Oyster print for EVER but I felt like if I ever decided to purchase it, I'd want to keep it at home and not bring it in to the office.

I needed to find something that I chose specifically for my office.

I had the opportunity of picking some prints from my best friend Minted.

Sushi by Katie Craig caught my eye while I was searching for a print for my home last year. I ended up going with another one of her prints though because I was having a purple obsession at the time. I decided this was the perfect opportunity to go for Sushi. It's colorful, bright and full of pep! I LOVE the color palette and my little succulent is in a color blocked pot that is aqua and white. Perfect.

I was able to squeeze another small print into my budget and I thought I'd get a companion for Sushi. Sushi has a lot going on {in a good way of course} so I needing something a little simpler both in design and color. I thought foil would be a nice accent.

Here are my three options:

A // Sushi + Hugs and Kisses Heart by Hooray Creative

B // Sushi + Magnifique by Maribou Design

C // Sushi + Criss Cross by Annie Clark

I like each combo for different reasons. I like the rose gold (A) with the peachy coral tones. I like the gold foil (B) with the palette too. I like the simplicity of the letters with the complexity of the painting. In C, I like the mix of colors and shapes.

Decisions, decisions. What do you think??

Mount Washington Engagement Sesh

It's finally starting to warm up here in Pittsburgh but I still have snowy goodies to post!

Nate and I shot these love birds...or as they would call themselves, love "minks" (it's their pet name...don't ask) late January. We didn't intentionally plan for a snow shoot but it just happened that way. This is Victoria and Tony...the friends that I made the care package for!

V + T have a really cool story. 

Here it is in a nutshell: They went to high school together and were in the same graduating class but didn't know each other. Fast forward a decade, they connect at their 10-year reunion. Tony is living in Oklahoma at the time and Victoria is in Pittsburgh. Sparks fly. Tony travels to Pittsburgh, they have their first date and ride the incline up to Mount Washington (hence the location of their engagement shoot). Tony moves to Pittsburgh. They date. He proposes. She says yes. They start planning their Pittsburgh wedding. Tony gets job offer in Austin, Texas. They move to Texas. 

So they are now down south and enjoying the warm sunny weather along with cactuses and food trucks galore!

They will be traveling back to Pittsburgh to tie the knot in October!

October 17th to be exact which is Nate and I's wedding anniversary! 

(It will be 7 years this year!)

Oh and how adorable is their little pup, Tiki?

She only ended up in a couple of shots because we had her tucked in our coats to keep her warm!

Shipping Love to Austin, TX

You guys, I think I uncovered a passion of mine. Making curated boxes!

I had so much fun putting this care package together for my friends Victoria and Tony who just moved from Pittsburgh (here!) to Austin, TX.

I wanted to give them a gift to celebrate Tony's new job and their new home but I didn't want to make them lug anything else with them on their already jam packed journey so my husband suggested sending a care package once they got there. I loved the idea and I thought it would be super fun for them to get an unexpected package at their new address!

I picked up that box at Target during the Valentine's Day season. It was a pretty pink and had a gold metallic heart on the lid. I added a little personal touch by adding "V+T" in gold glitter letters.

This box seriously became such a labor of love. I was almost sad when I finally shipped it because it had become my fun little project that I worked on every chance I got. I loved finding special pieces that I knew would mean 

so much to them.

I am high lighting some of the contents below.

1 // Heart Shaped Marshmallows Candle from Candelles. It was a special edition scent for Valentine's Day. The label art was illustrated by Jessica Garvin from the Little Baby Garvin blog. This candle smelled like Rice Krispie Treats!! I bought one for myself and refuse to burn it down. I put it away to try to save it for a little while longer!

2 // Sienna Mercato Pint Glass - Tony collects pint glasses and one of the last times we saw him before he left was at one of our favorite restaurants in Pittsburgh. It's like a 3 in 1 kind of place. There is a meatball joint on the first floor, a pizza place on the second floor and beer garden on the rooftop. Tony had mentioned that he needed to get a glass before he left but never did. I was so excited to go back and eat meatballs get him one!

3 // "Cookie Dough Mug Muff" - Since I started my Paleo journey at the beginning of the year (which hasn't been going so well as of late), this has become one of my favorite snacks when I need something sweet! It takes almost no effort and seriously is ready in less than two minutes! I packed up two little bags of the dry ingredients for them! Here is the recipe!

4 // Gold Foil Pennsylvania Print from Minted - This was obviously something to remind them of "home." I knew that the gold foil would be right up Victoria's alley...and I was right.

5 // Cactus Salt & Pepper Shakers from Target - These are probably one of my favorite items in the box. They were just put on the shelves in the store and I don't see them on the website yet. V + T have been binging on cute little cactuses and succulents now that they're in the land of plenty! Target also had little succulent salt & pepper shakers that were equally adorable!

6 // Galvanized Letter H - This is for Victoria's soon-to-be new last name! Her and Tony are getting married in October (on my wedding anniversary!) This was just a cute little thing for them to put in their house as they gear up to becoming newly weds! Oh and I got it at Michael's!

7 // Framed Photo of the Two of Us - Believe it or not, that picture frame has like 90 6 coats of hot pink spray paint on it. It was the one thing hold up my delivery for days! It's an Ikea from but I wanted to add some pizazz! Yes, you see some Rifle Paper Co. florals in the background. I cut up one of my old Rifle calendar's and then placed a photo of us over top. The photo was from my big 3-0 party last year (we're wearing party hats!) and you probably can't read it but it says "Good friends are like the stars, you don't always see them but you know that they are always there." - I thought it was appropriate for our new "long distance relationship!"

8 // A Bag of Unopened Pistachios - I know, I know...what??? Yes, you read it correctly. I collected a bunch of pistachios that I couldn't open and sent them all the way to Texas. When Victoria and I worked together, I would bring pistachios for a snack and would get easily frustrated with all of the ones that I couldn't open so I'd give them to her and she'd work her little fingers in there get those bad boys open. This was the PERFECT thing to put in the box to make it super personal and fun. In Victoria's words, "The pistachios put it over the top!"

There were some other little trinkets scattered throughout the box too but these were my favs.

So there you have it! The key to making a care package is to be thoughtful and personal. Think of inside jokes and things that would just make some one's day and of course anything pretty!

Love and miss you, Victoria and Tony!