Wherefore Art Thou Swoonette?

OK, so I have definitely been significantly missing from the blogosphere recently... for which I wanted to apologize. As you all know my creative inspirations tend to come in spurts. I can go great lengths of time with none, or I can have 20 different ideas come at me all at once! Right now my inspirations are lacking. However, I wanted to let you know where I am using them... and it's on a whole new blog redesign!! I've decided it's finally time to switch over to Wordpress (and to check out all of the glorious things it has to offer). So I've been a busy little bee attempting to code up a snazzy new look for Swoonette over there! It's not ready, nor will it be for probably a bit longer, but I did make a good chunk of progress this weekend. And so in honor of the new design, and this gorgeous sunny weather, I thought I would share with you the pretty picture that is inspiring the new Swoonette look!

Photo taken from The Sweetest Occasion. I saw this featured wedding, and knew right away that these cheery colors were the way I needed to go!

Oh And P.S.

I have totally failed to mention that the "Blog it Forward" mashup starts TOMORROW!! Be sure to check out the schedule, and be prepared for plenty of inspiring posts! Since there is a total of 300 (yup 300!) bloggers participating in this crazy adventure it will be kicking off on 10 different blogs (Creature Comforts, Design for Mankind, Heart Fish, Hula Seventy, ink on my fingers, oh, hello friend, the paper pony, Poppytalk, sfgirlbybay and Smile and Wave). My post will be coming to you on Monday the 15th, and you should also be sure to check out my friend Elizabeth's post (of Beer Barn fame!) when it hits on Wednesday the 24th... it will be featured on her new craftalicious blog Button & Bean!


And p.s. sorry for all the link madness in this post! I just needed to make sure everyone got credit where credit was due!

Do Brides Have More Fun?

I'm currently convinced that brides have more fun... well more design fun that is! I could be completely wrong about this, having never actually been a bride I don't really know. However, my stints as a bridesmaid did allow me to get my feet wet in the world of wedding planning, and I must say the design lover in me enjoyed every minute of it! It seems like every time I turn around these days there is a new wedding magazine or blog popping onto the scene, and of course all are filled with countless pieces of design inspiration to share. And while I am nowhere near becoming a bride (I'd have to find that special Mr. Someone first!), I can't help but drool over all the amazing pictures that fill these blogs and magazines. Even though these things are being written with brides and weddings in mind, they are still able to provide plenty of design inspirations that can be applied anywhere. So instead of thinking bridal when I look at these things, I instead think how can I translate the ideas and design elements into something that can work for my everyday life, whether it be in fashion, in my house, or something else all together. So be sure to check out some of the blogs and magazines listed below for some beautiful bits of design inspiration... and on the upside, you'll get to leave all the stress of wedding planning to someone else! Hope you enjoy! All photos are from their associated websites.


The Cool New Kid On The Block:
Nonpareil is a brand spanking new e-zine that is already garnering lots of love and attention in the blogosphere, and even though they only have one issue under their belt, they have already outdone themselves with beautiful imagery and plenty of inexpensive DIY projects!

The Tried And True Elegant Standby:

Martha Stewart Weddings is pretty much any bride's bible. This magazine is filled with a little of this and a little of that, but it packs a whole lot of wow and glamour. And with an equally fabulous website, now anyone can have a little touch of Martha on their special day!

        

The Cult Classic:

Style Me Pretty is an absolutely phenomenal blog, filled with endless awe inspiring photography, and oodles of real weddings. While most posts "feature" a specific vendor, the focus is always on the absolutely stunning pieces that come together to make a truly personal, special, and lovely day.

                  

The Unattainable Crush:

Utterly Engaged is like that high-school crush you admired from afar: simply stunning, can do no wrong, and absolutely perfect! This e-zine is filled to the brim with the most amazing styling ever seen, and since it covers all different aspects of planning a wedding there is truly something for everyone. 

                  

  

The Sophisticated Girl Next Door:

100 Layer Cake is a lovely blog bursting with beauty and style, and with plenty of DIY tutorials and mood boards, there is plenty of eye candy to inspire your every whim and fancy. 

        

Honorable Mentions: Merci New York, Snippet & Ink, and The Sweetest Occasion.

Blog Mashup

Ugh... sigh... hmph. So unfortunately the babysitting job that I had set up for this week fell through at the last moment, as the family decided to cancel, and have some friend watch their children instead. Again, ugh... sigh... hmph. With that said, I do get to bring you the details of the special blog project (the one I hinted at on Friday) all that much earlier!

Before I give you the details though, let me quickly give you the back story as to how this project was born (this is my favorite part!). I happened to be cruising through Twitter-land when I stumbled upon sfgirlbybay's brainstorming session on how to spread the blog love. She and some friends of hers were throwing ideas back and forth on how to incorporate each other's blogs in a new and fresh way. Immediately thoughts of music mashups and crossover TV shows popped into my head. I mustered up 140 characters of courage, and replied to her tweet for help with this:  "a sort of blog mashup! Or like when TV shows collide, you could start a post on one blog, only to have it end on another..." Somehow this was immediately responded to, people clapped, and the "Blog it Forward" mashup was born. It all happened rather fast (thanks social media!), and now I can't wait to read all the posts that will be gracing the blogosphere in the upcoming months. 

And now for the actual "Blog it Forward" mashup details! Be sure to check out sfgirlbybay's post, because she is the amazing lady in charge of this huge project (not to mention she has graciously taken on all the organizing). But basically, if you blog, you are more than welcome to join the mashup! We are all going to be writing about what inspires us, so no matter what type of blog you have the theme will remain consistent. Should you choose to join, just be sure to email Victoria at sfgirlbybay no later then Friday of this week. After that just sit back and take it all in!

Stay Tuned

So I'm not quite sure where exactly this day has gone, and I truly need to go be more productive, because quite honestly the only "real" things I've accomplished thus far have been: showering, moving my car to a new space and back again for street cleaning, and successfully securing a temporary babysitting job for Monday-Thursday of next week. However, I wanted to quickly introduce you all to a fun new project that's brewing out in blog land. The lovely Victoria over at sfgirlbybay is organizing this whole BIG event, and she'll be kicking off the project on her blog sometime in February. It will be a way for ANY and ALL bloggers to come together and really embrace each other, and the blogging community (so my fellow blogger friends, if the fancy strikes you once you hear the details, be sure to sign up)! I am SUPER EXCITED about this project, so be sure to check back next week when I'll reveal to you all the real details! In the meantime I will leave you with this AMAZING mashup by DJ Earworm (which may or may not be a small clue to the new blog project)!

United State of Pop 2009 Mashup - "Blame it on the Pop," and be sure to check out the original from 2007, it's my personal fave! 

2010 Goals

In a way January 1st is like a get out of jail free card. It offers us the opportunity to put behind us anything that we were unhappy with in the past year, and start over with a clean slate, and a fresh outlook. So even though I enjoy the idea of making New Year's resolutions, I am absolutely AWFUL at keeping them. But I am determined to make this year a great one, and so I decided to try something a little different. I made lists... and lots of them! I am hoping that by putting my goals down in writing that I can make a better effort at holding myself to them. I also figure that these lists can serve as nagging reminders in a couple of months when I decide to conveniently "forget" my resolutions. I won't bore you all with every single one of my resolutions (surprisingly there were A LOT!), but I have really been enjoying all of the picture resolution lists that so many wonderful bloggers have been posting over the last few days, that I thought I would make one too!

List number one is a list of goals I hope I can accomplish for this blog. While I blog purely for my own enjoyment, I do tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to the creative endeavors that I take on, and there are just some things about this blog that are irking me! Plus I would really like to attempt to switch over to Wordpress at some point (not that you have been anything but kind to me Blogger, but I need a change!). 

List number two is a life list, or a bucket list. I toyed around with this idea last year but never actually went through with it. I guess I felt like people would laugh at me for making this type of list, and that they would laugh at my ideas when I attempted to accomplish them. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is a list for ME, and it doesn't matter what other people think. These are MY dreams, no matter how small or ridiculous! 


My third list is my New Year's resolution list and it contains lifestyle changes and goals that I hope to accomplish in 2010. Some of the goals are insanely small and easily doable (like make a chicken soup), while others are going to require a LOT of effort on my part, and be a bit trickier to accomplish. But, I am going to think positive and really try to push myself to do these things, because in the end it will be worth it! 

Living in a new city means I know NOTHING. Add to this fact that this new city is New York City and I really know NOTHING! So this year I hope to really enjoy my new home, and explore the marvelous city around me. However, since I am a driver by nature, and not a bona fide subway taker, I am hoping to throw in a healthy dose of road-tripping (long or short, I'm not particular). Basically it would be wonderful if this year could just be one fabulous never ending adventure!

Oh music how I have missed you! For me music is like a comforting blanket. It has the capability to envelop me and keep me in the moment, or help me move past it if the case may be. Whatever my mood is I can always find a song to help me, either by putting me at ease or by setting me free. This past year I fell off the music scene, and I actually think my spirit sort of suffered a little bit because of this. I've missed going to concerts, making mix CD's, and finding new music to enjoy, so this year I hope to get back in the groove (hehehe... no pun intended). 

Yup, I AM that girl... the annoying one who hits the snooze button ten times before actually attempting to get out of bed. What can I say though, I like to sleep, and dreaming is one of my favorite pastimes. However, I seriously need to work on going to bed and getting up at more reasonable hours, in addition I need to get my snooze button habit under control.

All photos from Veer

I am an expert at lounging. I always have been, and I probably always will be, but I think I really need to tone it down just a smidge this year. My life is not exactly made any better by hanging out in my sweats (or pj's) and being a huge waste of space all day. 


For all of you out in blog land I wish you a very happy new year, and the best of luck in following through with any resolutions you may have made. Hopefully 2010 can be a year filled with enormous amounts of wonderful things! 

Sad Sad (Computer) News

Although Swoonette has only just begun, it is with sad news that I must say that this blog is already on a bit of a break. Over Thanksgiving, while we were all enjoying some yummy food and wonderful company, my computer decided to take a vacation of its own... and unfortunately it has decided NOT to come back! I was hoping that my computer's issues were minor, however, after visiting the friendly peeps over at the SoHo Apple store I'm afraid that it is more of a major disaster. So while I mourn the loss of my computer golden child, and do some research on what my next technological move will be, the posts here at Swoonette may be a little bit haphazard. Luckily I have my old trusty iBook to work off of until I decide what to do next, but unfortunately slow and steady doesn't necessarily win the race when it comes to blogging! So blog land if you can just bear with me for a little bit of time, I promise that once I get my computer woes figured out, that I will be back to bringing you some beautiful design inspirations!

"Save The Tureky"

Unlike any other holiday, Thanksgiving always seems to bring about only happy memories for me. I can think back to amazing moments spent with friends and family, and there are plenty of inside jokes ("Save The Tureky" is just one of them!) and entertaining moments from Thanksgivings past to fill my day with joy. When I was growing up Thanksgiving held an extra special place in my heart though, because not only did I get one fabulous Thanksgiving with my family, but I also got another amazing Thanksgiving with my school! 

Long before my school grew to what it is now, we had one very special holiday tradition that us students looked forward to all year... our Thanksgiving feast! The preparations always started weeks before the actual holiday. Giddily all of us students crafted ourselves a special placemat (a highlight to the school year), and came up with the Turkey Day menu (each classroom was responsible for cooking at least one item). The few days before the feast were spent with all of us cleaning, chopping, and cooking. Come time for the day of our actual celebration, we would come to school all dressed up, and grinning from ear to ear. Goodies were exchanged with the other classrooms, so that everyone had a little of this and a little of that to feast upon, and then we would sit down to eat. This tradition, while painstakingly labor intensive for the teachers, was something so meaningful for us students. There was a huge sense of community and independence that was created by not only being able to cook our own food from scratch, but from also getting the opportunity to share these yummy treats with our fellow schoolmates. I wish that this tradition still lived on for the students that are there today, but I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to partake in it for so many years. Thanksgiving is all about sharing our blessings (even if they are small) with one another, no matter how different we all are. I'm not sure that I ever would have learned the true meaning of Thanksgiving without this tradition, and for that I am forever grateful. I learned about Thanksgiving in the best way possible, by experiencing it. 


So to all of you out there in blog land, I want to wish you a very very happy Thanksgiving. May your day be filled with loving family and friends (and some yummy food too of course!).