handmade :: bertie's closet

I have been on the hunt for a laptop sleeve for a little over a month now... J actually just reminded me that it needed to be done soon once he saw my Macbook just hanging out in my tote with no protection. After a couple brief stints at Target checking out their selection, I realized that I needed to check etsy. I came across Bertie's Closet which has a huge selection and ones made with such adorable fabrics.

After seeing some of these, I really can't imagine ever considering a solid colored one from a brick and mortar store... really, those don't even hold a candle to these!

I am absolutely in love with this one with the elephants of course. 

I honestly don't know how I'd ever decide... but I will come to a decision soon enough {and will of course let you all know of my decision!}

Bertie's Closet has cases for any ole laptop, as well as Macbook Air, iPads, netbooks and Kindle's. Tell me which are your favorites... you just may help me chose for myself!

handmade :: bertie's closet

I have been on the hunt for a laptop sleeve for a little over a month now... J actually just reminded me that it needed to be done soon once he saw my Macbook just hanging out in my tote with no protection. After a couple brief stints at Target checking out their selection, I realized that I needed to check etsy. I came across Bertie's Closet which has a huge selection and ones made with such adorable fabrics.

After seeing some of these, I really can't imagine ever considering a solid colored one from a brick and mortar store... really, those don't even hold a candle to these!

I am absolutely in love with this one with the elephants of course. 

I honestly don't know how I'd ever decide... but I will come to a decision soon enough {and will of course let you all know of my decision!}

Bertie's Closet has cases for any ole laptop, as well as Macbook Air, iPads, netbooks and Kindle's. Tell me which are your favorites... you just may help me chose for myself!

1154 Lill Studio

In honor of my time in Chicago, I wanted to share with y'all one of my favorite Chicago shops. It's 1154 Lill Studio and they make custom handbags that are simply amazing. I have yet to own one of these wonderful bags, but I have spent countless hours online designing them. The choices of fabrics and patterns feel endless...

They have diaper bags for the mama's out there...

And something a little more fancy for big night's out...

They even have Christmas stockings now!

All these bags can be found at 1154 Lill's online studio. They were designed by me, feel free to steal my ideas. ;) I'm sure that even if you aren't in the market for a new custom bag, you will have no problem spending quite a bit of time on the site.

1154 Lill Studio

In honor of my time in Chicago, I wanted to share with y'all one of my favorite Chicago shops. It's 1154 Lill Studio and they make custom handbags that are simply amazing. I have yet to own one of these wonderful bags, but I have spent countless hours online designing them. The choices of fabrics and patterns feel endless...

They have diaper bags for the mama's out there...

And something a little more fancy for big night's out...

They even have Christmas stockings now!

All these bags can be found at 1154 Lill's online studio. They were designed by me, feel free to steal my ideas. ;) I'm sure that even if you aren't in the market for a new custom bag, you will have no problem spending quite a bit of time on the site.

five stripes

I have a real soft spot for anything striped. Stripes are so simple and yet they add so much to anything they are on. You can imagine my excitement when I stumbled across an entire store of stripped things... Five Stripes. They have everything striped you can think of... bags, placemats, candles, even reading glasses.

I'm not a fan of red generally {I use to be, I have no idea what happened!}, but red stripes are a different story altogether. I love red stripes. That is all.

Who says laundry baskets need to be plastic ugly things? I would love to have a bunch of these around the house. It would make dirty clothes look a little less... dirty.

And the reading glasses... I love the reading glasses. It makes me wish that I needed them instead of real glasses.  I also have my eye on this doormat and this amazing stackable lunchbox. Stop on over to Five Stripes and let me know some of your favorites!




PS - I usually make images like this have transparent backgrounds in Gimp, but since I've been working on my Mac it just hasn't been working. Anyone use Gimp+Mac to do this and want to give me some advice? I'm getting bummed over here!

five stripes

I have a real soft spot for anything striped. Stripes are so simple and yet they add so much to anything they are on. You can imagine my excitement when I stumbled across an entire store of stripped things... Five Stripes. They have everything striped you can think of... bags, placemats, candles, even reading glasses.

I'm not a fan of red generally {I use to be, I have no idea what happened!}, but red stripes are a different story altogether. I love red stripes. That is all.

Who says laundry baskets need to be plastic ugly things? I would love to have a bunch of these around the house. It would make dirty clothes look a little less... dirty.

And the reading glasses... I love the reading glasses. It makes me wish that I needed them instead of real glasses.  I also have my eye on this doormat and this amazing stackable lunchbox. Stop on over to Five Stripes and let me know some of your favorites!




PS - I usually make images like this have transparent backgrounds in Gimp, but since I've been working on my Mac it just hasn't been working. Anyone use Gimp+Mac to do this and want to give me some advice? I'm getting bummed over here!

Couch to 5k Week 4 Wrap Up

Since the beginning of this training, my biggest short term goal was to get to the end of week four. So many friends have said that around three or four is when they quit, so I was determined to start week five. Well, here I am! Done with week four and week five has been started! Now of course my goal is to just keep going... I'm getting more excited about the 5k on Thanksgiving everyday, but still shocked that I'm actually doing this. I've decided that now I will start updating you with my pace too... keep in mind that my 5k pace from October 1st was 13:15.

Day One

It had been quite a few days since my last run, so I was a little nervous starting out a new week this way. It surprisingly went very well. I had to cut out about 30 seconds of running at one point and boy did this run hurt, but I felt so accomplished and great after the fact. At one point I felt as if I had pushed a little too hard, but that extra push is what keeps me going. Pace: 13:19 (so close to that race pace!)

Day Two

This run didn't go as well, but still it wasn't a total failure. It was a windy day and I had forgotten that wind actually does matter! Not to mention that I hadn't earn well that day and literally did not have even a sip of water all day long. This run taught me that my training shouldn't only happen during my runs. I need to eat well, and drink water far more often. The run may have been rough, but ultimately, I again only cut out around 30 seconds of running and felt pretty good about it in the end. Pace: 13:32

Day Three

My third run this week was an a beautiful fall Saturday when I would have much rather stayed curled up on the couch. Well, I continued to feel that way throughout the entire run. When I was feeling good, I was feeling really good. When I was feeling rough, I was really feeling rough. I walked more than I did on days one and two but again, I really hadn't been eating well. Pace: 13:44

-----------------------

Thanks again for following my training! Week five should be interesting... I have two days of longer intervals, then day three is my first "long" run! I have no idea how well I will do on a 20 minute run, but we will see! I'm learning to just trust the program. If I have to walk when it says to run, so be it, but ultimately if I stick with the program, good things will happen!

an october sort of city

Chicago is an October sort of city, even in the spring.

Nelson Algren

I'm in Chicago this week for a training with work. I love this city in the fall so I relish this chance to come back. I won't get much time to actually enjoy my time here, but I will see what I can do.

This beautiful painting is for sale over here at Art de Joie.

Couch to 5k Week 4 Wrap Up

Since the beginning of this training, my biggest short term goal was to get to the end of week four. So many friends have said that around three or four is when they quit, so I was determined to start week five. Well, here I am! Done with week four and week five has been started! Now of course my goal is to just keep going... I'm getting more excited about the 5k on Thanksgiving everyday, but still shocked that I'm actually doing this. I've decided that now I will start updating you with my pace too... keep in mind that my 5k pace from October 1st was 13:15.

Day One

It had been quite a few days since my last run, so I was a little nervous starting out a new week this way. It surprisingly went very well. I had to cut out about 30 seconds of running at one point and boy did this run hurt, but I felt so accomplished and great after the fact. At one point I felt as if I had pushed a little too hard, but that extra push is what keeps me going. Pace: 13:19 (so close to that race pace!)

Day Two

This run didn't go as well, but still it wasn't a total failure. It was a windy day and I had forgotten that wind actually does matter! Not to mention that I hadn't earn well that day and literally did not have even a sip of water all day long. This run taught me that my training shouldn't only happen during my runs. I need to eat well, and drink water far more often. The run may have been rough, but ultimately, I again only cut out around 30 seconds of running and felt pretty good about it in the end. Pace: 13:32

Day Three

My third run this week was an a beautiful fall Saturday when I would have much rather stayed curled up on the couch. Well, I continued to feel that way throughout the entire run. When I was feeling good, I was feeling really good. When I was feeling rough, I was really feeling rough. I walked more than I did on days one and two but again, I really hadn't been eating well. Pace: 13:44

-----------------------

Thanks again for following my training! Week five should be interesting... I have two days of longer intervals, then day three is my first "long" run! I have no idea how well I will do on a 20 minute run, but we will see! I'm learning to just trust the program. If I have to walk when it says to run, so be it, but ultimately if I stick with the program, good things will happen!

an october sort of city

Chicago is an October sort of city, even in the spring.

Nelson Algren

I'm in Chicago this week for a training with work. I love this city in the fall so I relish this chance to come back. I won't get much time to actually enjoy my time here, but I will see what I can do.

This beautiful painting is for sale over here at Art de Joie.

guest post {the sweetest petunia}

Friends - you can find me over at The Sweetest Petunia today guest posting for Jacky who is still basking in newlywed bliss.  I'm sharing some of my love for the color brown with everyone. Jacky is a big fan of color so I thought I'd share one of my favorites which I used in my very own wedding!

Pop on over and say hello. And be sure to wish Jacky the best as she starts her life as Mrs!

guest post {the sweetest petunia}

Friends - you can find me over at The Sweetest Petunia today guest posting for Jacky who is still basking in newlywed bliss.  I'm sharing some of my love for the color brown with everyone. Jacky is a big fan of color so I thought I'd share one of my favorites which I used in my very own wedding!

Pop on over and say hello. And be sure to wish Jacky the best as she starts her life as Mrs!

spoonflower

As I feel I am constantly sewing and creating new things, I have a big soft spot for fun, creative fabrics. Spoonflower takes it a step further and has created an easy way to upload and print your own custom fabrics.

Now, that said, it doesn't come cheap. But for a special project, splurging on some custom fabric (or even from their shop of already-designed fabrics) may be just the right thing.

Some of these fabrics truly make my heart skip a beat... I can only imagine all of the projects that I could do with them.

I'm always in the market for some good Christmas fabric (it's hard to sift through the cheesy ones typically at JoAnn's...) and I of course love any fabric covered in adorable elephants...

Definitely have a look around and let me know if you are as smitten with it as I am. They even have deals for designing your own fabric and receiving commission for selling it. Truly, a brilliant little company. They are from Carolina, so it's completely understandable.

spoonflower

As I feel I am constantly sewing and creating new things, I have a big soft spot for fun, creative fabrics. Spoonflower takes it a step further and has created an easy way to upload and print your own custom fabrics.

Now, that said, it doesn't come cheap. But for a special project, splurging on some custom fabric (or even from their shop of already-designed fabrics) may be just the right thing.

Some of these fabrics truly make my heart skip a beat... I can only imagine all of the projects that I could do with them.

I'm always in the market for some good Christmas fabric (it's hard to sift through the cheesy ones typically at JoAnn's...) and I of course love any fabric covered in adorable elephants...

Definitely have a look around and let me know if you are as smitten with it as I am. They even have deals for designing your own fabric and receiving commission for selling it. Truly, a brilliant little company. They are from Carolina, so it's completely understandable.