When I spotted the amazingly steady hand of chalk lettering artist Dana Tanamachi on Besotted Blog, I just had to share it here.  I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more of Dana's beautiful work in the future.

Hrmmm....am I like 5 minutes (more like a month) late to the Westward Collection celebration party? For any people with a penchant for being tardy like myself, Kate Spade collaborated with Emily Current and Meritt Elliott (of Current/Elliott) to create a very cool Westward Collection featuring amazing handbags. Check it out!

Interior designer Kelly Wearstler is launching a brand spankin' new jewelry line just in time for fall. Expect to see industrial-strength materials mixed with architectural elements for a tough-meets-luxe look. She also added a few scarves in there for good measure....because why not, everyone loves scarves.

Rumor has it that summer is fading, and we need to start ushering boots and blazers into our daily wardrobe rotations. I am writing this rumor off as pure gossip right now however, because it is a toasty 103 degrees here in Austin. Really. For those of you who are in the mindset to start shopping for cold weather duds, I would suggest handing some of your hard earned cash over to Madewell. Their fall collection is seriously bitchin', and I am pretty smitten with these mix-and-match separates.

Yes, today is my 25th birthday! I've officially reached my mid-twenties, and I kind of feel like an old lady now. I can now add "renting a car" and "lowered car insurance rates" to the {boring} list of can do's once you are a quarter of a century old. Wow. But fret not, those trivial things won't stop the fam and I from living it up today. We are heading out to dinner tonight at some Italian eatery, and I feel so blessed to be celebrating in good company....just wishing all my LA pals were here too!

Want to also give a big birthday shout out to my awesome mom-in-law, Lolly...she turned another year young on the 21st! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOL!

As promised, here are some photos from our Boston to Austin road trip. We took off from CT and took a hell of a lot of highways to get to where we were going (95-78-278-81-40-30-35-1431). With some uber-trashy reading material (try not to judge..we were road weary) picked up in Tennessee, hilarious conversation, and enough embroidery floss to keep us entertained for hours, we basically jammed through the states as fast as we could, with one afternoon stop in Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore mansion. Holy cow was it a scorcher the day we visited there, but so glad we did....the grounds and gardens are stunning. After 2.5 days, husband and I made it to Austin. We are loving it here so far and hoping we find jobs soon...keeping those fingers crossed! In between job applications and freelance gigs, I aim to complete a very random and trivial task du jour: find out if it really is possible to fry an egg outside in this 100+ degree heat. 

This friendship bracelet tutorial from Purl Soho simply rocks. I made a few of these on our most recent road trip, but had no clue how to do the fancy schmancy diamond pattern. I feel so enlightened and colorful all in one fell swoop. Now go grab your craft box stuffed to the brim with embroidery floss (I can't be the only one that has one of these, can I?!) and head on over to Purl Soho to see Molly's awesome friendship bracelet how-to!

Well, little lambs.....we FINALLY made it to Austin. Husband is a rock star when it comes to driving long distances unlike my narcoleptic self...I seem to always zonk out when I am in a car for more than 2 hours. It's an odd quirk of mine I suppose. The road trip went off without a hitch, and we busted our little buns to get down here as soon as we could. We did, however, make one stop in Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore, which was stunning, opulent, and mind-boggling all at the same time. Will get some photos posted from our highway adventure soon!

To celebrate our first few days here in Austin, I chose to spotlight one of the city's very own letterpress and design shops, Vertallee Lettepress, for today's Etsy Finds. Their designs are all printed by hand on a Heidleberg Windmill, and focus on crisp, tactile impressions, vivid color schemes,  and simply beautiful typography. Marvel at their mad skills by oogling their stationary and invitations on Vertallee, and visit their shop on Etsy to see their latest creations.

 

Hello, dear TMT readers! Today I am thrilled to host a hair how-to and very special giveaway from the queen-of-beachy-waves, Sally Hershberger. Yes, I am talking about THE Sally Hershberger.....as in the lady behind the swoon-worthy tresses of Gwenyth, J.Lo and Kate Hudson.  The technique behind those covetable waves is Sally’s  “Prime- Roll- Clip- Go!” method…and trust me ladies, you can do it and it will look smashing!

Perhaps it's because avocado is one of my most favorite foods on the planet and they are ripe for the picking right now, but I couldn't resist sharing this creative list from Bon Appetit that goes above and beyond guac. I'm talking about avocado mac n' cheese, ice cream, marshmallows, ceviche, and smoothies (I can vouch for this one....it's seriously tasty). Head on over Bon Appetit to get the recipes, and let me know if you make any of them! I am a bit curious as to how an avo cake frosting would taste...

Using knotting techniques learned while traveling and living in South America, owner & artist Amira Mednick's super cool take on the trendy friendship bracelet (and beyond) has definitely made my summer wish list! Her Triple Chevron Fade Necklace is by far my fave.....have you ever seen anything like it?!