Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Etsy Love

Once upon a time several years ago, I heard about this really cool website called Etsy. So, I went on not knowing what to expect and I quickly became totally overwhelmed and clicked right out of there. I'm a girl who avoids department stores like the plague because there are just too many things so stumbling upon Etsy without a thought in my head of what I was looking for was simply too much for me to handle.

Fast forward to the wonderful days of wedding planning. I started seeing items from Etsy sellers listed on blogs and message boards and I slowly crept back in. This time, I had a purpose and things to look for -- veils and fascinators and clutches and cake toppers and every form of wedding accoutrement. With this foray, I found a ton of great stuff, including our amazing custom cake topper from melabo.

After the wedding was over, once again I found myself a little adrift in Etsy world. Well, clearly, I found my way to the purses as evidenced in this post. Although, to be fair, I had a little bit of a headstart on the purse section since I bought clutches for my bridesmaids from a couple Etsy sellers.

Now, I'm starting to look at fun things with which to decorate our huge new apartment. In our NYC apartment, Christian and I had a huge picture wall with tons of photos that we'd taken of ourselves, our friends and our travels. In our new place, we'll have even more wall space and I really want to mix in photographs by other people along with our work. I've already fallen in love with the work of curioush (seriously must have this and just about everything else in her store) and triinity (how adorable would this be in the kitchen or dining room?).

I know I've only scratched a tiny, tiny bit of the surface of artwork available on Etsy and I can't wait to find even more gorgeous stuff.

Do you have a favorite seller on Etsy? Or something you're always searching for on the site? How much do you love those polaroids?

Monday, March 22, 2010

Waiting, uncertainty...

And a Guinness chocolate shake from Amy's Ice Cream. Most delicious thing ever. I just polished one off while waiting for my flight at the Austin Airport.

Now, on to the less delicious things that are going on right now.

There are few things in life that I am worse at than (patiently) waiting and facing uncertainty.

I am very much a Type A, loves to be in control person. So, waiting for that moment when uncertainty becomes a certainty is well beyond my typical comfort zone.

Today, I had final interviews for the job of my dreams in Austin. First, I had to wait for 3 weeks between the first round of interviews and today. I barely made it through that will all my hair in tact and I'm only exaggerating a little bit. Now, I'll be waiting until (hopefully only) Thursday to hear whether or not I've got the job. I know 3 days shouldn't seem like a long time but right now I'm really wondering if I can continue putting one foot in front of the other while I'm plagued by this uncertainty.

I'm trying to learn that uncertainty isn't a bad thing. It's a good thing. It means there are possibilities. It means different things can happen. It means things can change.

That's all well in good in my head. Sometimes. But, really, all I want to know is whether I can continue decorating our new apartment in my mind with all sorts of adorable things or if the only thing that will be in there is some ramen.

How do you cope with uncertainty?

Oh, I forgot, there is one certainty from today. If I have too many more of those shakes from Amy's I'm definitely going to need to buy some new pants :)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Things I'm Currently Coveting

I really want some new clothes. Really want. Forgive me for repeating myself. I know you've heard this all before :)

I'm hoping that after the move, once we're a little settled and the apartment is furnished enough to live in that I will get to finally go on a shopping spree. It's been too long.

In addition to new clothes and shoes, I also really want a new purse. Do I need new clothes and shoes? Yeah. Do I need a new purse? No way! I have so many already. But, they are my weakness. Okay, I'll be honest, ONE of my weaknesses.

Here are some beauties I would love to bring home.
Bisbee satchel from J Crew


I'm torn between the regular and mini truffle from Etsy seller Morelle. I'm also torn on what color to get but, since this isn't happening for at least a little while, for now, I'm digging the yellow. Nice and springy.

Finally, I think the Foliage Unfolded bag from Anthropologie just screams lounging around South Congress on a Saturday. Don't you? And that's what I plan on doing a lot of soon so I'm gonna need a bag to carry. Right? Right.

People I'll Miss: Our Fantastic NYC Friends

Saturday night, Christian and I hosted a little going away party for ourselves and it was a ton of fun. We had yummy appetizers, good booze (including some Tito's Vodka), and a sparkling clean apartment. The weather, on the other hand, was ridiculous. Some people couldn't even make it to our apartment because of all the power outages and downed trees. But, most people did, and it meant so much to us to have so many people we love come out to say good bye.

It showed me that the main thing I will most miss when we leave NYC are the amazing friends I've made here.

Unfortunately, I'm not always the best friend over long distances. I love face-to-face interactions and loathe talking on the phone. But, hopefully, I can turn over a new leaf this year and become better because I really don't want to lose all these wonderful people who help destress me, make me laugh and just improve my life.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Things I'll Miss: Salt

Photo by Jimmy Ryan

I can't say enough good things about Salt. Not just the greatest spice ever but also an amazing restaurant in SoHo.

It's the first place Christian got drunk and said we should start dating (I declined and made him work for it for a couple more months).

We've had dozens of romantic dinners and yummy brunches there.

And, maybe most importantly, it's where we held our wedding reception dinner.

Recently, we went for our final dinner there while we're still living in the city. The cauliflower soup (my absolute favorite) was supremely delicious and I realized just how much I'm going to miss it. When we leave the restaurant, we are always stuffed to the brim because everything from the bread to the dessert to the wine is so good that we just can't stop eating. Even when we know we should!
I will miss Salt. I will miss the food. I will miss all the friendly people there who have become like friends to us. And I will miss getting to visit the place where so much happiness has occurred whenever I want.
The good thing is they gave us a great new cookbook and it has the recipe for that delicious cauliflower soup. Can't wait until Christian makes it!