Color Crush

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Pops of purple. I am in love with pops of purple. I feel like it is a hard color to successfully pull off in a room at times but I absolutely adore all these examples above. It seems to pair well with more rustic elements.

I was bummed to miss Friday Favorites yesterday but we were having some puppy issues. You may be aware by now that Jackson's favorite pass time is getting into food that makes him sick. He ate a whole loaf of bread last week. At first I was mad because it was Dave's Killer Bread which is like 5 dollars a loaf, but it has been a downward spiral since. It made his skin go kind of crazy and he's been really itchy. In fear of him having really bad hot spots we had to get him a cone yesterday and he's been pretty sad. I feel so bad for him but can't help laughing every once in a while. He just looks so goofy and is completely unaware of how large it is when he's walking around. Hopefully it will help him learn his lesson and he'll slow down on being a little food thief.

We got him a Comfy Cone so at least he can still cuddle on the couch and enjoy being lazy.

Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend!

Home Sweet Home

We're home! I apologize for my absence yesterday, I got home and took a very long nap and watched a lot of Twin Peaks. Going on trips is always great but complete relaxation (aka being a lazy bum) is a necessary evil when on break. Today Nick and I strolled around town for a bit. We started at the food carts on Hawthorne. Pyro Pizza is one of my all time favorites and I highly recommend it if you're in the area. After lunch we went across the street to Lounge Lizard which just made me want to have a house so I could fill it with all the lovely things I found there. We ended our adventure by going to Open Space for some coffee. It's a cute little cafe by our apartment that I need to go to more often. $2 bottomless coffee? Talk about new homework/study spot.

Also I've been doing a lot of work redesigning Icon's retail blog since we're officially launching it as Velvet Empire in April. Go check it out!

It's getting increasingly rainy out so I think for the rest of the day I'm going to cuddle on the couch with Jackson and catch up on oh so many e-mails. Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Kitty Love

For those of you who don't know him yet, this is our cat Dexter. He has the spirit of a grumpy old man but is also very cuddly. We were having a moment so I figured I'd click into photo booth and save it forever. I promise I am not crushing him.

Bend has been amazing and we're heading home tomorrow early in the morn. As much fun as we've had here I can't wait to cuddle up with this little dude and puppy Jackson. I also can't wait to share a little peek into our ventures with you guys! See you then!

Time for a little VACA

Making a fresh batch of puppy food for Jackson for while we're gone! 

We're gearing up to head to Bend for a couple of days! Our amazing friend Tiffany who I go to school with was able to watch Jackson last minute after many failed attempts of trying to get our usual prospects to. Add that to the list of why I am glad I am too young to be a real mom. It's stressful!

We love Bend and are so excited to go back. It's so beautiful and peaceful. Nick and I went about a year ago and had an amazing time. These are some of my favorite pictures.

 We did not partake in the brew part of the"brews and canoes" tour. We figured it would not aid in our already bad canoeing skills! I just thought this was a cool picture!

I will be sure to take lots of pictures this time around too! We are going with our friends Tessa and Russell this time which is going to be super awesome!

In other news we shot our Kickstarter video yesterday for the funding to launch the retail side of Icon into it's own entity called Velvet Empire. We are all so excited! Our morning before shooting consisted of us sending lots of goofy pictures to each other with different outfits on as we tried to decide what to wear. I've decided to share this one with you because I think it is particularly goofy and it is also the outfit we chose for me to wear.

My favorite new jacket. A mom purchase from Nordstrom Rack. <3 you mom!

 Have a great week everybody!

Hey...over here!

Hey friends! I'm over at Rouge & Whimsy today talking about my must-haves for spring! Go check it out!!

Also I hope you all are having beautiful weather wherever you are! It is GORGEOUS in Portland right now!

Guess who...

is done with finals? THIS GIRL! It's amazing. I took a final today that was 40% of my grade and I think I did really well (I studied A LOT) so I'm feeling pretty good right now. Nick and I have been spending the last couple of hours napping, walking around taking pictures, and enjoying the quiet of a cute little coffee shop by our place. This is the life. I cannot wait until I graduate and can be an adult. I think sometimes people forget as a college student you're forced into a lot of different roles. For me I'm the adult-with two jobs, the student-taking 5 classes, and the kid- who tries to have somewhat of a social life. Not to mention a girlfriend and a mommy to two furry little guys that like to get into trouble and eat things that make them sick (Jackson ate two whole avocados two nights ago, pit and all, not fun). 

I'm not complaining! I feel very fortunate and wouldn't have it any other way. I am just saying it's a lot and I really cherish my time off, when all I have to worry about is my job and my personal life. Everyone says the real world is tough but I think I am much more cut out for that. 

I am also cut out for having time to do a little guilt free online-stalking. Not people, but stores. I visit my favorite stores online and add anything and everything I like to the cart. Then I look at how much hypothetical money I've spent (which usually ranges anywhere from 300 to 1000), laugh, and then move on to something else. Do you do this too? Retail therapy for the poor. I really see no harm in it.

Lately I've been obsessing over button ups and I just discovered Madewell (yes, I live under a rock). From plaid, to denim, to plain old cotton, I want them all. They are really the perfect article of clothing. Dress them up, dress them down, they are amazing.

I also very much feel like I need this backpack, even though I have probably 4 or 5 backpacks at this point. I mean come on, it's super awesome right?

At $85 dollars she's a little out of my price range but ya never know. Santa is always watching. Huh Santa?

Anyways if you're still reading you get a gold star and are in the running for being my new best friend. Hope you all had a fabulous week and I look forward to being able to have time to hang out with you more often while there's no school!

Twin Peaks

Anyone? Anyone else love this show? All the girls at the shop have loved Twin Peaks for some time and when I started working there I didn't want to give in right away because, well, I'm a little stubborn. The other night Kirsten and I had an impromptu girls night and she insisted we watch the pilot. Ever since I've been hooked. I'm currently watching the first episode of the second season. 

With being in the midst of all my finals it's nice to have something to that makes all these long hours of work a little less awful. Plus it makes me infinitely happy that it was filmed right by where I grew up. 

If you feel like getting sucked into a short but amazing series it's your lucky day because it's on Netflix instant watch. Happy Tuesday!

Whoa!

...100!

Did you see? I hit 100 followers today! I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you guys, I love blogging and it really means a lot to me that I can share that with all of you.

With hitting the triple digits I wanted to share a collection with you guys that I think is amazing! I stumbled across it a while ago on pinterest and it feels appropriate to share today. It's called One Hundred, spanning from 00 to 99, and you guys can go check out the full images here. They're all really beautiful!

I hope you all had a great start to your week! Besides the big one hundred I had an amazing day at school, which I'll talk more about tomorrow. See ya then!

All Business

I was trying to be very serious but I always end up cracking a little smile.

Our friends are coming into town today, woohoo! They'll be here soon so I only have a second to stop by and say hello and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Be sure to wear green or else. You all know the drill.

I regards to my mixing patterns version of Friday Favorites yesterday I wanted to share a sneak peak of my What We Wear post over on the Icon Blog. I thought you would appreciate seeing my spin on it.

Hope you guys have a fantastic weekend. Next week is finals and then I get a break from school! Holy moly so excited.

Friday Favorites

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I cannot stop my current love for mixing patterns- it is taking over. I particularly love mixing florals or more organic prints with a stripe, polka dot, or more geometric print. It can get pretty scary but when it's done right I think it can still look very clean and sophisticated while letting you have that touch of playfulness!

I've been mixing patterns all week and it's amazing, if you haven't tried it yet I definitely reccomend it!

My First Giveaway!

As many of you may know by now I have my long time dream job of working at a tattoo shop. However I don't work with the tattoo side as much as I do PR and "web wizardry" for our growing retail section. Part of my wizardry is that I also write Icon The Blog. I'm very passionate about my job, I have the most amazing and supportive boss in the world who continues to put such a large amount of blind faith in me that sometimes it freaks me out, but in a really good way. Our retail section consists of only local products (art, jewelry, paper goods, apparel, fragrance, science kits, and some home goods) and we're really proud of the selection we've curated.

For my giveaway with Chalk White Arrow, I paired together a necklace and ring set from the lovely Brehan Todd. Brehan is the reason our retail section is where it's at today, her jewelry is the foundation that got us going. Her jewelry is so beautiful, and what's also great about it is that she is completely dedicated to sustainable design and repurposing vintage pieces and making them into stunning and modern works of art.

To enter this giveaway you must first follow woodgrainandgold.blogspot.com as well as shopicon.blogspot.com via google friend connect . Then you just need to head on over to Chalk White Arrow and leave a comment saying you follow on this giveaway post and BOOM you're in the running for some amazing handmade jewelry! I wish you all the best of luck and thank you for being a part of my first ever giveaway!

Emerald City

our view of Lana Del Rey...pretty good right?

Allison and her boyfriend Nate. They've been together for three years and this weekend I finally got to meet him!

The Ballard Locks

Red Velvet Cupcake and some good ol' Stumptown

The listening booths at Easy Street out of order?! Tragedy.  

Best cover band ever. The Dudley Manlove.

My mom got me socks! I miss her so much. 

I had an AMAZING time in Seattle. So much fun with Allison and some much needed Mama time. After a great day of going to all our favorite spots we went to The Triple Door for dinner and to see The Dudley Manlove. Let me tell you, if you ever have the chance to see them, you should. They are a cover band for special events and weddings but they are so much fun. At the end of the show everyone was dancing and singing along to Don't Stop Believing by Journey. Seriously guys, best night ever alert, it was epic.

The bad news with all this running around, and most likely a weak immune system from just being sick, I'm pretty sure I have a mild case of the flu. Finals are next week so any kind of sick feelings are scary. I just don't understand why I've been so prone to getting sick lately, it's pretty out of the ordinary for me. Healthy thoughts. Healthy thoughts!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow, I'm doing a giveaway on Chalk White Arrow that you guys will definitely want to be a part of!

Psssttt

REAL QUICK I wanted to let you guys know we're doing our first giveaway on the other blog I write for the retail side of the tattoo shop I work at! I like you all a lot and want you to be able to qualify. Head on over HERE and check it out. To qualify you need to be a follower and then comment on the post telling us you follow. We're picking the winner at the end of the day today! Good luck!!

Friday Favorites:

{Photos are all used for entertainment purposes only, I do not own the rights to any of these photos. If a photo is yours claim it in the comments bellow and I will link your photo}

I'm starting to get really frustrated with trying to source pictures from pinterest. With its increasing popularity I feel like more people are pinning pictures from Tumblr or We Heart It, both of which rarely ever have proper sources. If you want to try to find something above search honeycomb on pinterest and all of these beautiful images will come up in said search. Anyways...

I have always been in love with honeycomb. It's so beautiful! I'm excited to see it popping up more and more in the design world, and I'm thinking I'm going to use some sort of honeycomb application (maybe those amazing hexagon shelves) in our bedroom because I think harmonizes masculinity and femininity perfectly! 

Soon I will be off to Seattle! I am sooooooooooo excited to spend some time with my mama! And I can't wait to see Allison! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend as well, see you next week!