living the dream.

Since being laid off, I've heard more times than I can count that I should stop and enjoy my recession. But that still seems a bit weird to me, despite doing just that this weekend. That said, I am starting to see "my recession" as an opportunity to try new things.


When I started this blog three years ago, I did it with the thought that I might try and sell some of the things I love making. At first, I was shy and a little afraid to put myself out there. Then, when I did know what I finally wanted to put out there I got busy with ad-making. So, now it only seems fitting that this forced break from the ad world would propel me to get off my booty and do what I've been dreaming of for ages.

So, it is with much joy and a wee bit of nervousness that I'm now selling my handmade goods on Etsy. For now, I've put two postcard packs in there, but have plans to update it further in a few weeks time. The packs come in two varieties: "The Bee's Knees" pack and the "Missing Thee" pack. Each contains three hand drawn postcards by yours truly. For a more extensive look, visit the shoppling.


And, if you like what you see, please drop me a line or pick up a pack. I'd love to know.

xx.
Salina

oh unemployment.

Yes. I'm unemployed.
Its a new thing, but perhaps it will drive me to be more creative in other ways, that's what I'm hoping nonetheless.
The days are spent at home, not spending money, working on my portfolio and sending out copious amounts of emails inquiring for new writing gigs.
But, being at home has its perks as well, like umm...making banana bread in the middle of the day, just cause you can - and well those rotten bananas had something to do with it as well.

Anyways, I've made two loaves in the past 4 days, and the latest (and actually the greatest) loaf just was delivered over to my most beloved art director, whom I'm now separated from. She has been beyond gracious and has let me borrow her computer for the past week, has sent me countless pick me up text messages, resized files, and of course hand-delivered a radio spot that was almost long lost. Bernadette is amazing and truly the best any (unemployed or otherwise) girl could ask for.


So if the recession has you down, bake something! It surely made me happy today.

foto friday

On a walk in Williamsburg, taken on the last day of 2008. Williamsburg is increasingly becoming one of those places, I don't mind that much, especially when I see things like this.

tune Tuesday: The Submarines

Today I find myself listening to The Submarines, basically on repeat. This Los Angeles based duo are hardly new to the music scene, hell Apple played their song “You me and Bourgeoisie” to deahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifth, but they are lovely nonetheless. My favorite song of theirs is Submarine Symphonika by far. There are so many sweet sentiments in that song that will make your heart full even if it feels like its running on empty. And, while The Submarines are beautiful musically, I think their best feature are their delicate and poignant lyrics. I can’t sing their praises enough so I’ll point you to this crappy YouTube video instead.
*picture from the depths of google images*

missing home.

As I start back to work this morning I am finding myself thinking about all the laughs I had with my family in Ohio and Michigan over the holidays. When it comes to the holidays I guess its true what they say: nothing beats home. Urm, especially if home has wacked out newspapers that can’t get the facts right.


Fly over country, you prove your love yet again.

FD ought nine.

Dear 2009, it’s nice to meet you…I really hope that you’ll be one of my favorite years. And because you seem so promising, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Now that the pleasantries are over, I’m totally dumbfounded that I only managed to post a mere 28 times last year. I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog and what it means to me. A couple of years ago it meant everything to me, it was a place for me to escape, share and grow. And I think the lack of me writing here has taken its toll on me, creatively speaking. I wrote here about my lack of writing for myself and how that really hasn’t been good for me. Now, I know if anyone is reading this (does anyone read here anymore? If you do comment!) they don’t want to hear me lament my woes or hear promises that may or may not be kept so I’ll simply say that I plan on writing and sharing here more often and hope that you’ll check in.

That said, here I am bright-eyed and cheery for 2009:

And I’m sporting some of my favorite things to wear:
New short hair cut a la Miss Mia Farrow
Jumper H&M
Mustard tights from Uniqlo
Black knee highs from Gap
Green Brooklyn t-shirt from Brooklyn Industries
Cardigan of awesome proportions from Thakoon for Target (score!)
Black mary janes (not pictured)

Hope you and your New Year are looking sweet.

xx

a handmade birthday for Einav.

Its my good friend Einav’s 24th birthday today! In celebration there was breakfast before work, complete with tea and coffee and lingering chatter. There also happened to be handmade gifts given for one of my favorites on her day.

A newly knitted beret


And a portrait of her best and oldest friend, Super.


Rar. Happy birthday dear!!

a good sit.

This weekend I ventured back to Ohio. It’s a place I like to call home, some call it the Midwest or Middle America, but recently that part of the country has been giving a new nickname which I adore: Fly over Country. Very fitting if you ask me.

Anyways, I spent the weekend fluttering between Ohio, Michigan and Indiana visiting old friends. The whole weekend was littered with new vocabulary words, many of which are too X-rated to share on a site that my parents read (Hi Mom!), but by far my favorite was “A good sit”. While driving in Fort Wayne, Indiana (also affectionately known as Fort Fun) in my friends Hummer (also known as the king of gas sucking), we ventured down a sunny road that was playing host to random guests like a corner flower shop (located not on a corner), a Marco’s pizza, abandoned city tennis courts, a few beat up houses and a vitamin/wedding invitation and notary store (yes, those are the offerings of one store).

Outside of that last store we feasted our eyes upon one very interesting fellow who was having a good sit on the parking lot wall. Now, I’m new to the term “good sit”, but there is no other term in the English language that could describe what this man was doing. Wearing a wife beater and old jeans that were equally beat up, his legs were spread as far as the eye could see. His stare was as empty as a blank check and he looked as though he had most definitely had one too many McRib sandwiches (which are now available for a limited time in Fort Fun). He wasn’t planning on going anywhere or thinking about anything (ok, except for a McRib sandwich) for as long as the Wedding Invitation/Notary/Vitamin store could tolerate his residency.

So yes, lets welcome my new favorite phrase to my lexicon: A good sit. Thanks for the term Brad!

And yes, my friends and I had to re-enact the scene, cause you know Mr. Good Sit wasn’t sitting there when we drove by again or else I would’ve hopped out and taken a picture of the real mccoy.


Dear Fly Over Country, I still love you.

weekend update.

A quick note, this weekend couldn't have been better.

Time spent with good weather, great company and the presence of the best SNL skit I've seen since Seth Rogan's "I said We!".

Its official Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are best together, and I hate that YouTube takes down snl skits faster than I can say awesome.


Monday, its official you and your week have a lot to live up to - best get crackin.

twin birthday wishes.

Seven years ago today, two of the brightest, happiest bits of people in the world were born, my little cousins, Samantha and Sophia.

This year, while I was unable to attend their birthday party festivities over the weekend or be there while they blow out their candles this evening, I did send them a little birthday surprise in the mail.

Because I’m a believer in treating twins as individuals they each received their own packages in the mail. And inside they each found a homemade scarf in their favorite color, a mysterious Kid Robot toy (I love that you don’t know what you’re buying – I surely hope they didn’t get the same one!) and a package of postcards to practice their writing skills – again coordinated to their color preferences.


I hope that they both enjoy their day to the fullest and enjoy all the fun and silliness that a 7th birthday brings.

Much love my sweets.

illustration inspiration.

Because I’ve been trying my hand at design a bit more these days I’ve been turning to magazines and books for inspiration and awe. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love but, I did.

His name is Siggi Eggertsson and he’s an awesome Icelandic designer who is a mere 24 years old and his work makes my eyes want to throw a dance party.

And I simply adore his quote here:

More eye candy from the magazine (I wish I could remember the name it!) and his site:






p.s. props for my way rad Art Director, Bernadette, r for always turning me in the right direction when it comes to all things design.

A “laborious” weekend.

Ahh the last weekend of the summer has passed and I am much too sad for summer to slip away. A weekend spent in the company of good friends and good weather reminded me how blissful the summer really can be.

On Sunday, I met my friends Annie,

Erin and Brad

in Union Square where they picked me up in a rental car for a road trip out to the Hamptons. Erin and Brad are notorious for planning trips and I am eternally grateful for this weekend’s beach organizing efforts. We drove the hour and half out to the end of Long Island, listening to tunes and playing around with my camera.

Once we got near the beach we stopped at Tully’s seafood stand to meet up with our friends Tom, Andrew and Diana for a delicious lunch of fried seafood happiness, which sadly I devoured before I thought to snap a pic.

After our bellies were full we loaded back into the car for the 5 minute trip to the beach.

And once we were on the beach we lounged in the delightful sun and played in the seaweed-dense surf.

There was lots of football-playing, snacking on fruit and applying copious amounts of SPF 50.
And then, there was a trip to Tom’s uncles house were we feasted our eyes upon the beautiful view
and feasted literally on oysters. Annie and I even learned how to open up those tricky little numbers that taste so much like summer.

Then there was dinner full of even more seafood and beers and laughter, before we headed back to our little island we call home.

As you can see it really was a laborious weekend. Le sigh, I’m sad its over.
Fall, you have a lot to live up to.

running, mapped.

Once upon a time, about a year and a half ago, I was a runner. I even mustered up enough confidence in my ability to call myself a runner from time to time. But it is only when I wasn’t running that I managed to refer to myself as a former runner, quite frequently. In all actuality I’ve always been a pretty pathetic excuse for a runner: during my first 5K, I was actually passed by a geriatric women in the last half mile of the race, on my second 5K a double amputee passed me in the last tenth of a mile…
Basically, you could say I was never too strong of a runner.

Recently, I would even go so far as to say, I’m not even a runner. I think a solid 8 months out of the running shoes would strip anyone of their title.

Well, that all changed about 2 weeks ago...I'm still rubbish at running but I’m back in my shoes. I’ve been running at least 5 days a week and it isn’t pretty. It’s about the ugliest I’ve been in a long, long time. I’ll spare the photographic evidence, but trust me its bad. But, its so bad that its almost good…as in I’m feeling better and starting to look forward to my time on the trail or treadmill.

So, because I’m pretty much the raddest in terms of running, I thought I’d share my secret weapon for outdoor runs, mapmyrun.com The site uses Google Maps and points out your mile markers. The site basically took the best parts of a tech-geek and paired them up with a jock for an ultimate work out experience…its genius.

Check it out yourself, right here.

And hopefully you’ll run by something as pretty as that picture above…I wish I took it while I was on a run, but alas I was off to a friend’s birthday party at The Frying Pan on the Hudson.

family mannerisms.

It’s said that we become our parents. And at my tender age of 26, I am already noticing small signs of her habits moving into my mannerisms. Sometimes it’s just the way I’m sitting or squinting at something, or hold my hands that reminds me of her. It weirds me out a bit, but at the same time I realize that these mannerisms are probably things she subtly picked up on from my Omi and perhaps my Omi picked them up from her Mom, my Oma, and down the line it does. As odd as that thought may be, it makes me feel closer to home, even though I’m far away.

reflective.

As the summer is drawing to an end I find myself in a reflective mood quite often. I’ve been taking my bike over to Prospect Park, finding a bench and losing myself in the creases of my journal as often as humanly possible.

After more riding around on the perfectly cute bike, I like to trek over to the farmers market and picking out the perfect purple grapes to snack on.

And then, I toss in my favorite new Kid Robot friend into the bowl to keep the grapes company. You do that too, right?

the back half of the summer: a catch up.

writing.


writing.


at my first tv shoot with my art director, Bernadette.


and more writing.


catching up with old friends.


at Bastille day.


walks in my new neighborhood.




being silly with the boys at work.


going to Red Hook with my Einav.



photo walks in Red Hook.



more photo walks in my own 'hood.


photo walks in Manhattan.


seeing the best blockbuster of the summer.





brunching.





settling in.





conquering fears.



spending time with family.


visiting the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

mobius band (not the german math kind).

I’ve been listening to Mobius band a lot lately. I’m not even sure how I got their cd, I think it one of those iTunes mysteries – you know the kind where you’re searching through your list of artists and you come across a name you’ve never heard of and out of curiosity you take a listen. Well, that very thing happened to me earlier in the month and I’m totally smitten with the band. Turns out I have their LOVE WILL REIGN SUPREME (and yes, it’s in all caps like that in my iTunes) album and it’s all kinds of ethereal and delicate. I’ve had friends tell me that I don’t listen to male artists enough and I’d like to point out that this is simply not true. I just need the right lyrics, a wicked beat and a hunky voice to keep my ears interested. And when talking Mobius, I’d say they are an out and out triple threat in my book. Their cover of Daniel Johnston’s song ‘True Love Will Find You in the End’ has recently received a 5 star rating in my iTunes, which is given out vary rarely. And, if that doesn’t convince you to check them out, I’m not sure what will. Head over to their myspace and prepare to be impressed.

in the 'burbs.

I was in the ‘burbs last weekend with my friend Einav visiting my Aunt. I always have a good time there and I noticed a few things on this visit…

In the ‘burbs things are quieter.

In the ‘burbs things seem slower.




In the burbs things taste better.



In the ‘burbs things are windier.


In the ‘burbs, people get missed.

Being a city girl and all, I'd say the ‘burbs are a great place to visit, but nothings says home like Brooklyn...

big news.

It is with burning cheeks and a stomach full of happy butterflies that I’m happy to announce that my little brother is engaged!

After 2 years of dating, Tyler popped the big question to Sarah after a lovely afternoon of horseback riding and picnicing (cute, no?) They're as cute as a button together – don’tcha think?

We think so.
Congrats and hugs and smooches to you both.
Sarah, welcome to the family!!!!

at work fun.

This is me and Freddy.
He wishes he had my headphones.
This is obvious but, Work=Awesome.

Deathcab in my Brooklyn.

Deathcab for Cutie. A band that can be described as one of the quintessential bands of my early 20’s (I’m allowed to say that now cause I’m in my ‘late’ 20s) played at McCarren park pool yesterday. My friend Nancy and I were supposed to go together, but alas some of her closest friends are moving away to Portland so she was at a farewell dinner. So instead of Nancy and I swooning in a pool for an evening listening to Ben Gibbard- it became my music twin, Ethel, and I along with our great friends humidity and the impending storm.

To be completely honest, I don’t remember the set list…kinda embarrassing but trust me that it was a good show. The type of ‘good’ where I laid out in the dried up pool soaking up the sun’s last rays, chattering away with my bff having a good time and Deathcab provided the perfect soundtrack. But alas, I was unable to enjoy all of Deathcab’s brilliance as the show was cut short by about a half hour due to high winds and dark lurking clouds. But seeing as I already know one person who’s been hit by lightning (hello Travis!), it was better safe than sorry to skedaddle. As soon as the show ended I felt like I was in that scene from The Wizard of Oz where the twister is coming - people were edgy and frantic to make it out of the pool and into a subway/bar before the rain. Ethel and I were a mere 3 blocks away from the L when the sky dumped its load on us and by the time we got to the subway platform it looked as if we’d showered with our clothes on. And so the two of us, laughed at our reflections in the subway windows and parted ways.

It’s gonna be a brilliant summer for sure. I feel it.

*photo cred: brooklyn vegan (my camera was totally dead, le sigh)

my {new york} birthday.

While I was off on my Euro adventures I managed to turn another year older and thus I am 26. A But, alas I was unable to celebrate my day of birth with my New York family so this past Sunday I had a picnic in Prospect park. It was nothing short of awesome. All the usual suspects were in attendance as well as some old friends that I hadn't seen a while. We showed the heat who was boss- we played whiffle ball and grilled up buffalo burgers, hot dogs and sausages, and stuffed our faces full of all sorts of goodness throughout the day...including the most amazing chocolate cake I've ever had. Let it be said for the record, I despise chocolate - were are arch enemies its gross to me on a high level - that said my dear sweet friend Annie brought a chocolate cake unaware of the rocky relationship chocolate and I have. I was so over come with gratitude that she thought of me, bought me a cake and schlepped all the way out to Brooklyn for a day in the heat I *had* to eat some - and much to my surprise it was pretty good. So let it be known throughout the land that while chocolate and I are never going to be bff's we apparently are reconciling our differences on a case by case basis.

Don't Annie and I look cute sharing a piece of the chocolate "happiness"??

Note: special thanks to Peter for documenting this monumental moment in history.

not dead.

So, I've decided that I'm going to start blogging again.

Here's a short synopsis of things that have happened in my universe since March::::
-left the freelance gig for a full -time stint
-met an awesome art director at work and I'm actually HAPPY to go to work everyday
-moved out of the East Village
-moved to Brooklyn to be in my very own studio
-love living alone - it could be the best thing since sliced bread
-bought a really pretty bike
-went to Europe for the first time and fell in love (more on that later)
-turned 26
-and Obama clinched the nomination - thank god. And this could be the best political picture I've EVER seen.


To say that it's going to be a good summer is the understatement of the year.

It's good to be back.

xx

more video news.

I got an email from my adorable friend and former co-worker Jen today letting me know that she found an article on The Teenagers randomly on MTV this morning. But wait for it - as she continued reading the article there I was gracing the bottom of the article. She about died when she saw my face staring back at her in the wee hours of this morning and I about died when I jumped to the link and saw myself there too. Le sigh. If only I could do another music video, I'd love it.

Check the article on MTV. Or read the highlights below.





p.s. I'm totally flabbergasted and blushing that the folks at MTV called me adorable.
p.p.s. The photo of me is totally part of my 365 collection.

tune Tuesday Teenagers.

Remember when you were a teenager and your life revolved around friends, crushes, passing notes, riding in cars and music? Yes music. It was the soundtrack for my awkward years, my figuring out how to kiss boys years and the years where I made 3 of the best friends a girl could ever have.

While I am beyond thankful that high school is over (aren’t we all?!), I jumped on the chance to be a part of The Teenager’s video shoot, Love No. It is the band’s first single for their new album, Reality Check (which is being released in the US today, fyi). I never thought my face would grace the Youtube pages or hell, even MTV but it is and what a fun experience.

The shoot all took place in one warehouse out in Greenpoint and was shot all in one day in February. I arrived and took up the ranks of extras beside 7 18-22 year olds – I felt slightly old, but was pretty amazed at how different I must be from my 18 year old self. The day was great, there was mad roller skating, eating of pizza, hanging out with the band’s 3 French boys and listening to good tunes. All in all, a delightful experience.

While I’ll always adore Love No for the memories I have shooting the video, my favorite song on their album by far is Homecoming. The relationship dynamics the lead singer Quentin croons about are *so typical of how men and women view relationships – as in completely differently. Love it. Love them. And yes, I am biased. Check out their album and definitely check out my skating skillz below.

birds in the bed.

For the past couple of nights I’ve been cozying up with two little birds that I am totally smitten over.

I call this one Blau (that’s German for blue).


And this little one, Violett (take a gander on that one).


After embroidering a couple of cases for my Mom this past Christmas, I thought it was only right that I welcome spring with some yellow cases and little birds. Spring, I can’t wait for you to get here – just a few more days.

foto Friday.

I made my Youtube debut this week. More on that on Tuesday.

foto Friday.

May I introduce you to my favorite ladybugs in the world? Yes, they are without spots but I love them nonetheless. I made these dears a while ago, like maybe 2 years ago. They sit upon my dresser and pretty up the space from time to time. I just photographed them for an update to my portfolio - apparently its important to show you're creative in other outlets aside from advertising, who knew?

I'm counting down until the weekend gets here. I do hope it arrives safely!

tune Tuesday: the {Swedish} revival edition.

Tune Tuesday-one of my guilty little pleasures on the Interwebs are my Tune Tuesday postings…and they’re BACK!

Little by little I’m taking back this space as I figure out how to fit FD back into my life. I’m determined to make it work.

So, where were we? Oh yes, tune Tuesday, the Welcome Back Edition. I’ve chosen one of my new favorite artists, the Swedish darling, Sally Shapiro. Her album, Disco Romance, came out back in 2006, but for us Americans it didn’t hit our shores until this past October. Her sound is nothing short of disco with strong 80s beats mixed throughout. My favorite track on the album would be ‘Time to Let Go’, the beat is clearly down tempo in comparison to the remainder of the album but is set against the sweetest lyrics that it is hard to not fall for the track. A sampling of the lyrics:
I close my eyes
Even though i'm in love
I'm cold as ice
I feel it's time to let go

You sent me a letter
Without no reply
I wish i would be better
But i'm too shy

Being a shy girl, is so hard these days, especially when its time to let go. But the best way would be to skip ahead to “Anorak Christmas”, where you’ll find the most swoon worthy lyrics that any music-loving girl would trip over:

The weekend's over and I feel the strangest way because
I can't remember my own name but I do remember yours
There are no words in any language for feelings just like this
Will I end up by myself or in the perfect kiss

Please don't go
I love you so
I want to kiss you
I need to kiss you

So after falling head over heels for a whole album worth of toe-tapping delights and lyrics worthy of The Smiths, I read that Sally Shapiro doesn’t even exist. Sally is nothing more than an English pseudonym for some fabulous Swedish girl and her writing team. And to truly make this find tragic, she does not perform live – EVAR. Just my luck. So I guess I’ll be waiting with baited breathe that there will be another album full of happy-sad lyrics and beats that make my heart want to dance in step with them.

I bid you adieu with another Sally gem, 'Hold me So Tight'.

foto Friday.

I've really been missing photography. When I was doing my photo of the day project, my camera and I became really good friends and it seems as though it just sits in my bag most days now. It's lonely, and that makes me sad. Solution: Foto Friday, a weekly installment.

This photo hails from my trip to Philly a few weeks ago with Einav. I took it with her camera 'cause mine was tuckered out. I love the contrast between the white and red on the plate and the gray and dirt streaks on the brick. Makes me miss that blistery Saturday.

Happy weekend!

photoshooting. yes, that's a verb now.

Einav and I are always working on portfolio pieces. In our spare time we’re either talking about an ad project that’s currently in process, was done previously, or we plan on doing.

This past weekend we finally had all the elements in place to do a photoshoot for a project we’ve been talking about for umm… yah close to year. But whatever!! We had loads to organize to do this shoot: models, photographer, locations, and lets not forget the freeing of schedules.

So we got up uber early on Saturday and headed off to Long Island City, Queens to meet my friend Jay to bring this campaign to life.

The locations we used were amazing, nothing short of spectacular and visually arresting. I’ll share the final product here once its all done. In the meantime, here are some out-takes from the locations, and goofiness that ensued.

This is one of the buildings we used for the shoot. It’s completely covered in graffiti and it’s beautimus.

I loved the way this artist wrote his/her C.

Found this little creature on the building that I fell in love with. Lets call him Red, cause he is.

We used this Renaissance man in one of our shots, I think he’s quite dashing in a 1754 sorta way.

This posse of frowns were also used.


Einav and Jay did a bunch of test shots in front of the building.

While they were doing that I was mischievous and climbed the building. Einav documented.

We also went to Governors Island, Einav and I hadn’t been there. Turns out its kinda boring but we did meet a nice seagull.

All in all, my vote is for more photoshoots. Please and thank you.