ON Dollars For Doggies LAST DAY TO ENTER!

UPDATE: I am now officially OVER my $1,000 goal!!! Which only proves to me that you all are insane, and insanely generous. My heart is so full, and you've made my birthday amazing.

If you donated already and haven't entered the giveaway, please do so! You've got through the end of today, May 20th. If you don't know how to use rafflecopter, email me or comment and I'll help!

Donations are able to be accepted through midnight tonight and a winner will be announced tomorrow! THANK YOU!! xo

Last year, for my birthday, I asked friends & family to donate to an animal rescue instead of buying me any presents. The result? $600 and my best birthday yet. This year, I'm sweetening the deal with an amazing GIVEAWAY and by reaching out to the incredibly supportive blog community to see if we can beat last year's total for two amazing dog rescues. Without further ado, I present to you...

With these kindhearted bloggers...

Ten Feet Off Beale / Katilda / Head Over Heels 

Let Me See You Sparkle / Of Corgis & Cocktails / Bubby & Bean

Heather Hearts / Walking In Memphis In High Heels

And these generous businesses...

Ziva Mind / Viesso

All to benefit two incredible rescues:

Second Chance Rescue NYC / Dogs Without Borders

Here's what you'll be entered to WIN:

a dog print from Bubby & Bean // gorgeous teal triangle earrings from Katilda

beautiful lavender earrings from Walkin' In Memphis In High Heels // custom hoop art from Ten Feet Off Beale

$25 Sephora gift card from Heather Hearts // $25 Starbucks gift card from KerryingOn (that's me!)

custom blog header and social media icons designed by Of Corgis & Cocktails

$25 Etsy shop credit from Let Me See You Sparkle

$20 Etsy shop credit from Head Over Heels

the stunning Muuto Flow Jug, generously donated by Viesso

and.. a FULL Scholarship to ZivaMind, generously offered by Ziva Meditation!

To Enter, please make sure you complete your donation here.

The minimum donation requirement is $1 but if you can give more,

the dogs and rescue folks would surely appreciate it :)

The giveaway will run through the end of the day (11:59 pm EST) of May 20th, 2013.

THANK YOU so much to the generous bloggers and companies for their support,

and Thank YOU for donating & Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ON a little print for you

Hello lovelies! I wanted to make myself a little printable but halfway through, I realized it was for you, too. I'm so inspired by text, fonts, words, sayings, quotes, the way words are strung together in specific combinations and how just one word being different can change everything. Mm, delicious! Words are a huge reason I'm an actor. I love telling stories.

I don't exactly have any idea what I'm doing when it comes to making things like this.. but I don't particularly see that as a reason to not try. This seems to be my modus operandi lately: think of something I want to do, teach myself how to do it, check it off the list, next item. I'm fascinated by design and fancy this my next thing to tackle. So here we are, the result of finding a quote I liked, seeing it in my mind as a print, and then creating it. Bam! So tell me: what can you try today that you want to do, but don't "know how to do"? Leave it in the comments, please&thankyou.

Email me if you want me to send you this image! xo

EDIT: My perfectionist mother has informed me that in my excitement over creating this, I added in an incorrect apostrophe in my first version. The grammatically correct print is now up :)

On The Renegade Craft Fair (Holiday Style)

This past weekend, one of my all time bff's & I went to the Renegade Craft Fair.

For those who don't know, this fair is like Etsy.. but in person. Etsy sellers bring their goods and sell in person. Will wonders ever cease? Aside from this glorious land of Etsy, it was Nicole's first visit to Williamsburg! As a devoted fan of le 'burg, I was ever so delighted to bring her there.

After the fair, we strolled a few feet and found ourselves in the middle of Smorgasburg.

Yes, it's true, after rows and rows of Etsy sellers.. we ended up in food heaven.

Unfortunately, I have no photos of this part of the day as my hands were, ahem, full.

(That vegan truffle shot up there? That same place made me an amazing vegan grilledcheese.)

Also, how gorgeous are those bowls from Fisheye Brooklyn? The most gorgeous ever, I know.

Nic went home with a couple of those and one or two other items. I shall show you what I purchased in another post. Suspense! No, not really. Just need to take pictures of them first ;)

I love things like this. I get all giddy and jump up and down a lot and practice restraint in not buying every single thing that I see. Which is really hard, if I do say so myself.

Have you ever been to the Renegade Craft Fair? Are you going in another city?

xo

On the Renegade Craft Fair

One of my favorite summertime traditions is going to the 

Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn.

And by 'favorite', I mean I get super excited. Like, full on nerding out happens.

Just picture it.. endless rows of Etsy shops right there in front of you.

No longer is there a barrier of the internets between you and the incredible handmade goodness but instead, you can see it all before your very eyes. See? Nerding out.

This year the Brooklyn location moved from McCarren Park to Williamsburg.

That's right: Etsy AND dreamy hipster boys all in the same place. Heaven? Yep.

the kick-ass marketing of Queens Metal

 here's what i came home with:

a beautiful cross-stitch pillow from chez sucre chez

as a firm believer in Love and in wearing a tiara, this pillow and i were fate.

i am pretty much obsessed with her shop and have been drooling over the song lyric cross-stitches for a long time now. she ever has make-your-own versions and will do custom orders. think: wedding gifts, baby gifts, bff gifts, random tuesday gifts.. she's got it covered.

and my new favorite bag from buluchu

every where i go people keep asking me where i got this bag!

seems to be a big hit across the board and.. it is totally vegan!

(in case you're interested, take note that the key was an addition i added 

after spying it at the same shop. leave it to me to customize a homemade bag.)

one of the best things about Etsy, and craft fairs in general, is seeing all of the ways people have created to support themselves. running individual businesses, sometimes in addition to their day jobs, for the sake of their passion and to bring in a little extra cash. pretty inspiring.

i'll think of you fondly until next year, renegade craft fair ;)