5 Wedding Design Sites Even a Non-Bride Will Love

Bride or not, we all know that some of the yummiest design sites out there are created for people planning to tie the knot. Take a look at some of the web's chic-est wedding-related sites, as curated by design maven Leah (whom I would declare my love for via custom letterpress on thick, expensive card stock ANY day).

After a few years' worth of incessant wedding chatter from numerous recently married coworkers (as soon as one was done, another went and got engaged and the cycle began again), the word "wedding" tends to trigger my gag reflex. But somehow, I'm still a sucker for wedding magazines and some of the never-ending supply of wedding blogs. I mean, really a wedding is just a big ole party, right? Granted it's one that people go insane over. And yet somehow all those little details that drive people nuts make me go "oooh" and "aaah" and give me lots of good ideas for my own non-wedding projects. Here's a few of my favorite sources:

1. Martha Stewart Weddings magazine The blog is great, but it's the magazine that I really love. It's so freakin' gorgeous, it almost makes me sick.

2. Style Me Pretty The end-all and be-all of wedding sites. This blog/site features tons of real weddings, crafts, inspiration boards, resources and lots and lots and lots of pretty pictures.

3. Snippet and Ink Kathryn's inspiration boards are what made me return to this site in the beginning. They're a dime a dozen these days, but her boards are thoughtfully curated with creative color combinations and insightful moods. They're my favorite part of the site, but she's got lots of other great features too.

4. head vs. heart Graphic designer Courtney Dolloff showcases tons of great invitation designs and lots of other insightful inspiration from a designer's perspective. Her "Invitation du Jour" feature keeps me coming back to see all the creative, eccentric and beautiful invites people are creating.

5. Nonpareil Magazine If you're the crafty type, this is the site for you. It's an online magazine as well as a blog and features truly terrific how-tos for incredible creations that will definitely impress.

Images linked to their sources

Today's Pick: Farmer's Egg Crate

— Fresh. —

MAKE A DASH FOR IT:

Visit Anthropologie.com

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Image linked to its source

Fresh Food in the City

Say hello to Lauren! She's been nice enough to guest today, and I have to tell you: if Lauren tells you something about good food, you need to listen up. She's pretty much one of the best cooks around (last time I was at her place up up uptown, she made duck). (DUCK!) Show her some love, won't you?

Living in NYC, you have access to just about anything your little heart desires. And when it comes to food, you have your pick of cuisine, anytime, night or day. But when it comes to produce, sometimes you are stuck picking up your bananas from a fruit stand on the street, and you have NO idea where they came from. Sometimes it is hard to be particular about your produce in this city of sometimes-too-many options.

Entrance, CSA. For those of you who don't know what a CSA is, it stands for Community Supported Agriculture. And to quote the wonderful site JustFood.org: "When you become a member of a CSA, you’re purchasing a 'share' of vegetables from a regional farmer. Weekly or bi-weekly, from June until October or November, your farmer will deliver that share of produce to a convenient drop-off location in your neighborhood."

Although I don't live in Amy's awesome borough of Brooklyn, I do live in the awesome Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights. My best friend, Christy, lives about a block from me, and we split our weekly vegetable CSA share. Here is a Tuesday evening in the life of Lauren and Christy with a CSA:



Picking up our veggies:  Our drop-off location is in the beautiful Fort Tryon Park at the New Leaf Cafe (an awesome fresh food restaurant, by the way).  A short walk into this park on a Tuesday night after work is kind of a treat in itself.



But then we see the board for today and sneak a peak at the beautiful produce we have in store.



Look at our booty! (I mean our vegetable booty, of course.) Usually, we just split it between us; but tonight, we are cooking a meal together with some of our new fresh ingredients.

RECIPE
Pan-Grilled Tomato and Chicken Tacos

Step 1: Cut up the tomatoes (we decided to use three types: beefsteak, yellow juliet tomatoes, and a zebra tomato)--oh and a little wine always helps...

Step 2: Add a little olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat, and then add chopped tomatoes, cook for about 10-12 minutes until reduced





Step 3: Cut up chicken into one-inch cubes, dice a yellow onion, 2 cloves garlic, a chili pepper, chives, and cilantro

Step 4: in a large skillet, add olive oil over medium high heat, then add onion and garlic and let simmer for 3 minutes

Step 5: Once onion has softened, add chicken and chili pepper and stir until chicken is cooked through.



Step 6: Add tomatoes, chives, and cilantro and stir for another minute then remove from heat



Step 7: Serve chicken mixture in a warm tortilla with cheese and sour cream



Step 8: ENJOY!



Visit JustFood.org to find your local CSA.

7 Amazing Collections

While I am out, I've commissioned (as in "I'll be buying you a drink for this, lady") my girl Leah (remember her?) to put together a few lists for All Things Good n' Graphic Design-y. That is because Leah is not only an unbelievable designer, she's also the kind of person who always knows who is designing/creating the best blogs out there (we even had a "Bookmark Swap" one night--and believe me, her fab finds far outweighed mine). She's the ultimate blog guru, and I am so happy she's helping out over the next two weeks. Here's her first crazy-cool compilation.

I've always admired people who have these cool, curated collections of things ... like Amy's playbills, and "A"s and ticket stubs. I just think it's such a fun way to remember things or events or people. The closest I get to collecting anything is my unstable piles of magazines, but my roommate would say that's "clutter," not cherished items. The web seems to enable this tendency even more so, as evidenced by numerous tumblrs and blogs all dedicated to very specific things. Here are some of my favorites:

 

1. Jules Vernacular

I have no idea what most of the words say in this French collection of signage, but it makes you appreciate all the beautiful lettering out there in the world.

 

2. Things Organized Neatly

Somehow this one feeds both the hoarder and the OCD organizing freak.

3. A Collection A Day

These pretty images make me not want to throw anything away.

4. Letterheady

An eclectic collection of old letterheads, many from famous people.

5. The Ampersand

The ampersand is perhaps the most beautiful thing on the keyboard if you ask me ... apparently this curator agrees.

6. Project Thirty-Three

Super-cool collection of vintage record jackets that showcase colorful shapes in all their glory.

And last but not least, my personal favorite:

7. Daily Drop Cap

I have my homepage set to this site featuring a new illustrated letter (almost) every day, courtesy of she's-so-freaking-awesome-I-wish-I-was-her illustrator Jessica Hische.