Super Natural Every Day Book Signing!

Last night Chris and I, along with our two good friends, had the pleasure of attending a book signing for Heidi Swanson's new book, Super Natural Every Day, at the Spare Room.

Spare Room, managed by Lara Ferroni and Clare Barboza, is the most charming food photography and event studio I have ever been to. The first thing I noticed about the space was the light. It oozed into the room through large windows at one end and then bounced around the white walls, exposed brick, and antique wood flooring...the room simply glowed! 

Events hosted by people who's work I admire make me altogether nervous, so while I was enjoying the space and the treats, I quickly become anxious about talking to Heidi, Lara, or anyone for that matter! It's extremely out of character for me to feel nervous about talking to people, but thankfully both Heidi and Lara were sweet and gracious about meeting us. I'm hoping I can get into a food photography and styling workshop at Spare Room this summer! How great would that be?

Earlier this week I thought it would be fun to make bookmarks to take to the signing - seemed fitting, no?

Of course the bookmark I wanted to give Heidi got wedged into her book and she had to yank it out! Isn't that just the way things go sometimes? I walked away feeling a bit foolish, but then we just laughed about it.

In the end, the event was spectacular, the people were lovely, and I was thrilled to have to opportunity to visit a space like Spare Room! Now it's time to choose which recipe from the book to make first...

Welcome to the new Lavender Honey website!

Welcome to the new Lavender Honey website! I'm so glad you're here. Let's chat about the website concept and take a tour! 

In my eyes, Lavender Honey is a place where I'm free to develop my own voice, whether that voice be written, photographed, knit, sewn, or eaten. Above all, however, I want Lavender Honey to be fun and lighthearted with a bit of whimsy. My hope is that those ideas were translated into the design effectively - simple, clean, and fun!

The other driving factor in the design was content navigation. I wanted you, the reader, to be able to browse images, recipes, and tutorials with ease and enjoyment. That way, once I post a project, it doesn't eventually disappear into the blogging abyss. 

For example, in the sidebar to your right there are what I called "Project Galleries." Each contains images of projects, recipes, and photography both unpublished and previously published on Lavender Honey.

After clicking on one of the project galleries, you will see a thumbnail list of image galleries.

Then you will be able to select a gallery to view, in the case I selected the "patchwork apron."

From there, you can view the images full size as well as go back to the original post, should you be interested in reading more.

I love huge images and these images are as large as possible. 

Aside from "Project Galleries" you'll find search features as well as Recipe and Tutorial indices. Also, there is a "Say Hello" section with RSS and social network links!

Aren't those icons cute? I had a blast creating them and this entire website. Okay, enough talk - go click around and have fun!

P.S. A HUGE thanks to my Love, Christopher, for his help! I can't code without him. 

image{s} of the week

Would you like to explore our garden with me this morning? It's a lovely day and the garden is sure to dazzle and delight!

We can enjoy its flowers...

 

its varying textures...

and the vibrancy of its tulips.

Thanks for stopping by and have a relaxing weekend!

Oh, I almost forgot, I'll see you tomorrow with a brand spankin' new website :) 

note: images taken by me with a Canon Rebel XTi

WedWed - Wedding Wednesday {16}

I'm finally starting to realize that part of working hard is disciplining yourself to know when take a breather.

I need a little breather today. It hit me last night while cooking dinner: As I put the last of dinner in the oven, I glanced out the window and noticed the light was fantastic. I had been waiting for good light to photograph our fabulously orange tulips in the backyard, so I ran out to the shed for my camera without even taking off my apron. While I was in the shed getting my camera, I remembered that I needed the power adaptor for the downstairs laptop (it's absurd the amount of technology we have in our house). I grabbed the adaptor, shoved it in the pocket of my apron, and hurried out the door to capture images of the tulips with my camera in hand.

After around ten minutes I worried that dinner was burning so I ran inside nearly tripping myself over the power cord hanging from my pocket. I checked on our dinner and guessed that it had about 5 more minutes before it was done. Relieved, I then removed the cord from my pocket, placed it on the counter and stood in front of the oven looking through the images I had just taken. I was happy I had beat the clock, but wasn't happy with how the images looked. I reasoned that I had no choice but to take more with my extra now 4.5 minutes until dinner was ready. The light would be gone soon, I thought, so I ran outside again.

That's about when the clarity came. Was I nuts? I clearly needed to slow down. This sort of behavior was/is becoming a habit.

I opted to read a book about art and lay with the Gata for 30 minutes this afternoon in lieu of wedding planning. Two hours of a breather and a less than thrilling WedWed post is better than breaking your leg because you fell down the stairs while tripping over a computer cord shoved in the pocket of your apron. Who wants to walk down the aisle with their leg in a cast anyhow?

image{s} of the week

Workmare

The new Lavender Honey website launches in just over one week and I'm pretty pumped to share this little screenshot teaser image with you this morning!

You may be wondering, however, why I chose to title this image "Workmare" if I'm so excited. Good observation...

Workmares are problem solving dreams about projects that I've been working long hours on or that have permeated my every thought. I drift off to sleep with the argument/problem/project swirling in my brain, trying to resolve it. Inevitably, I wake up suddenly in the middle of the night believing that I've either found the perfect solution or screwed the whole thing up entirely. This doesn't sound so bad, except when the cycle repeats itself throughout the night and I never actually get any rest. Besides, I rarely ever remember my "brilliant" solutions in the morning even if I attempt to write them on the paper I keep on my nightstand for just that reason (remember the monster under the bed?).

Last night I had workmares about the LH website design all. night. long! Can you say "6 shot iced Venti americano no water?" Kidding, I would never drink that, I just overheard some guy order one of those at a Starbucks in Scottsdale and thought it was the most badass sounding coffee ever.

A couple guys I met last week use the code word "parachute" when one has talked their way into a corner and needs to get out. I think this is one of those situations.

Parachute.