Meredith's Bachelorette

One of my best friends Meredith got married this year!  To celebrate, I planned her bachelorette party in New York City and, of course, designed an invitation to spread the word.

Address Label

I wanted fun but also needed to include a fair amount of information.  I did a double-sided invitation, with the back mirroring the front.  Of course, I had to have a fun envelope as well!  I did a label that wrapped around a navy envelope.  The whole package came together and looked quite crisp.  Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of these before I sent them out, so these are picture files of the designs.

I also designed some coordinating paper pieces for the weekend events.  I made stickers for cups that we used during the spa party and lingerie shower and chevron printed napkin rings around a navy paper napkin for dinner.  We went paper and disposable for the weekend.  Apparently, people in New York don't cook very much and have limited supplies on hands!  I guess it is true-- the oven is better for shoe storage than cooking.

click on any image to enlarge

Birth Announcements

While Anna was my first client, Anne has been my most patient and trusting client.  She asked me to do the birth announcements for her precious baby Anne Harrison.  Little did I know as I was designing these that they were for my sweet goddaughter. 

Anne and Anne Harrison have been my guinea pigs for numerous Tallulah and Vidalia projects!  More glimpses into those in another post.

Weekend Recap

One of my 30 before 30 to-dos is to start accessorizing my outfits more.  I have lots to work with but needed some guidance.  One call to Cookie and help was on the way-- it nice when one of your best friends is a stylist!  We made a bartering agreement (she styles me, I help her with her blog... my end of the barter is still in progress) and scheduled a weekend. 

Neil and Cooke came down from NYC for the weekend.  The girls enjoyed queso, tortillas and margs at Cactus on Friday night (energizing for the next day), and we got to work on Saturday.  It was surprisingly exhausting but fun and quite enlightening.  It went something like this-- first we purged the items that needed to go, then she came up with outfits based on the remaining items in my closet and left me with a shopping list.


Cooke and me (in one of my new outfits-- had forgotten about that fab necklace)

After a successful day, we celebrated with a delicious meal and cocktails on our rooftop patio.

Cooke and Neil

I made Foster's Market's Mediterranean Dip and Hummus for appetizers.  Both are delicious but very garlicky-- great for me!

Candy, Cookie & Sticky

Stick & Eric

Our Feast and Grill Master!

 

We had a delicious meal thanks to Sticky and Andy.  Andy tried out a new marinade for the grilled chicken and beef kabobs, and it's definitely going into our summer rotation.  He also grilled a mix of vegetables-- tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, zucchini and squash.  Sticky made delicious couscous salad with veggies and feta and brought homemade pita bread.  The pita bread was amazing-- so flavorful. 

Greek Marinade

Adapted from Webster's Real Grilling (Andy's favorite grilling cookbook)

1 lemon, zest and juice

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbs finely chopped fresh oregano

2 Tbs finely chopped fresh dill

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Makes enough marinade for 16oz of meat.  Andy used this primarily for the chicken but also put a little on the beef.  It was divine!

30 Before 30

I decided to make one of the ubiquitous 30 Before 30 lists.  I figured why not?  I love lists, I do great with a deadline and turning 30 is a pretty big deadline (and one I can't push back!).  Finally getting this blog going was in part due to my 30 Before 30 list.  I realized that a few of the items on my list would benefit from having a blog-- maybe not so much flossing (#2) but having a blog will encourage me to work on my photography (#12) and is a step in getting T&V up and running (#6).

1. Photo Albums - Catch up on old photo albums.  I haven't printed pictures since college.  I want to get my photos organized and into albums... think I'm going to do digital photo books (probably on blurb.com) as opposed to printing pictures and putting them in a book.  More compact this way.
2. Flossing - I need to become a flosser-- apparently this is important. 
3. Herb Garden - Start an herb garden and keep it alive!
4. Marine Parade - Try to go see the Marine Parade.  Think this one is going to have to be replaced as there are no more reservations for 2011!
5. Pizza - Perfect pizza at home from scratch (this is not going to be a fun process...)
6. Tallulah & Vidalia - Get T&V up and running. I think starting the blog helps with this one!
7. 5 a Day - Easily incorporate 5 fruits and veggies into my daily diet.  This is probably easy for most but considering I could live off of any combo of cheese and carbs, not so easy for me.
8. Random Acts of Thoughtfulness - I used to be much better about this.  Now I just think of things and never follow through.  Time to change.
9. Get (and stay!) Organized - Financially, craft supplies, kitchen, closet.  I definitely believe that everything should have a place and everything should be in that place, so I need to find a place for everything (or get rid of it).
10. Time Capsules - Start a tradition of a yearly time capsule with mementos from the year.
11. (private)
12. Photography - Practice, practice, practice
13. Baked Alaska - Make a baked Alaska!  Why?  No real reason... I just want to.
14. Stop Procrastinating - Self explanatory.
15. Wines - Start and maintain a like and dislikes list.
16. (private)
17. Hair Stylist - Find a hair stylist in DC that I love.  It's hard when the bar is set so high by Stephanie in Dallas, but I think it's time to find someone to supplement in DC.
18. Segways - Finally do that segway tour of DC!
19. Accessorize - Clean out my closet and organize so I can easily accessorize each day.
20. Bike to Mt. Vernon - Going to have to work up to this one.  Andy, this involves you too!
21. New Recipes - Make a new recipe from one of my cookbooks each week.
22. Sewing - Take a class or read a book and practice.
23. Birthdays - SEND BIRTHDAY CARDS!!!
24. Reach out to family more frequently
25. CPA - Get licensed!!!
26. House Hunting - Start checking off the tasks of what must get done before we can start actually looking at houses and buy one!
27. Constantly Question Myself - "Is this really what I want to be doing?"  If the answer is no, then CHANGE IT!  (this applies to a lot of things... daily activities like when I'm sucked into Facebook and don't want to be and more life long ones)
28. A Thought a Day Journal - Start and maintain. 
29. Scan Pics - Finish scanning pictures. 
30. Develop skin care routine

Holiday Cards

This is the piece that started it all!  Anna wanted something different for her 2010 holiday card and was brave enough to trust me to design them!  We decided to use pictures of the girls taken at Atlas, our farm, and to keep the design simple to let the photos shine.  One of the many things I love is things that come in pretty packages-- I think presentation is everything!  So I designed the envelopes to coordinate with the cards.  

Hello Blog World!

Approximately 5 years after spontaneously leaving the blog world, I'm back!  This time I'm a little more focused with my vision for the blog-- sharing my Tallulah and Vidalia projects and my love of crafting, cooking, decorating and entertaining, but truly I see this as a way to keep my family and friends in the loop. 

So who are Tallulah and Vidalia?  Originally, they were the names of two towns off I-20 in Louisiana, between Texas and our farm in Mississippi.  Now, it's the name of my studio.  After driving by that exit sign numerous times as a little girl, my sweet cousin Anna always said she wanted to name her daughters Tallulah and Vidalia.  While those names didn't make the cut, they've been family favorites ever since. Anna was the one who encouraged me to follow my passion for crafts, graphics and paper when she asked me to do her holiday card, so it's only fitting that my blog and studio's name originated with a story from her childhood.