image via IHP Flickr

Whitney and I are off to my hometown of Chicago. If our blog is lacking posts over the next few days, you know why. We plan to still post while we’re gone – but we may take the weekend to enjoy family, friends and food. Have a great week!

This woven tie from J Crew is great. Love, love, love the tiny bulldogs! I think maybe we need to get one of these for Jonathan…

We meet with our accountant today, so money is on the brain! No one actually enjoys balancing their checkbook (especially during unpredictable economic times like these!) but I think if I had a super-cool ledger like these I’d be a little more enthusiastic about it.

Cash Money Ledger by the lovely ladies at Orange Beautiful, available at their Supermarket shop here.

TAF constantly puts out some great projects. I thought this staircase was a great idea – I love the sculpture-like feel with it still being functional. I’m also always a sucker for woodgrain, and this takes great advantage of the textures found in the wood. Though, I’m not sure I would want to attempt down these in the middle of the night. And given Whitney’s general clumsiness (even on flat ground) I don’t know that this would ever be a safe idea for her.

Be sure to check out some of their other cool projects.

Yes, we know – it’s the brides big day – it’s all about her and all eyes should be upon her glowing beauty. But, we guys put a lot of effort into looking good for our wedding day as well. Many times it is all for naught as we really are in the shadow of our beautiful brides (as it should be!).

This month though, Junebug Weddings has given a nice little nod to mens’ fashions on their wedding day. In Junebug’s lastest fashion report it’s “all about the boys” – they focus on men’s fashions and style. It’s nice to see a little attention on the all the guys who find their inner Cary Grant on one of the most important days of their lives!

top photo by John and Joseph Photography

bottom photo by Positive Light Photography

I have been seriously into zebra print these days, and I’m coveting this area rug from West Elm…I love the darker one, but the light one is on sale right now!

We ran across this image (a familiar setting for those who use Photoshop) a week or so ago and thought it was a great idea – but then today I saw that this was an actual photo shoot using real items and not just a created image.

The creators, Bates 141, an Asian Pacific design firm, posted their process and photos from their shoot at a flickr site. We thought it was a neat experiment and concept – and so much fun to be able to see their process. Check it out!

Here’s a small peek at some super-chic save the dates we created last month for a Hawaii wedding. We’re in the middle of working with this couple on their invites, and I promise the invitations will be gorgeous too!

I love how clean and beautiful the save the dates turned out – they were offset printed in two rich colors on a heavy double-thick textured paper. The envelopes were deep bronze with the address in white.

I came across this today on sfgirlbythebay and it is so darn precious I have to share.

Eli, no! is an unpublished children’s book by Katie Kirk. It’s so sweet and charming – view the illustrations in full here. (shown below are just a few – there’s more!) This story is so charming it brought me to tears! (Of course, I have a soft spot in my heart for good-yet-sometimes-bad dogs…)

It’s no secret how much I love Target. I ADORE Target. So it should be no surprise that’s I’m coveting several of their winter items – specifically their coats. I bought this coat (great color, eh?) last week, although it really serves no purpose other than looking FABULOUS. Now to find some really great boots…