I was super excited this morning when I saw an email from Ellie of Mint, the amazing design blog! Afternoon Delight was listed as one of her favorite blogs this month! I started this blog as a creative outlet, a place to be candid, sometimes silly and always inspired. I’m thrilled to see readership growing and I always appreciate the kind emails and thoughtful comments.


If you’d like to subscribe to Afternoon Delight, click on the rss icon in the upper right corner of your browsers web address bar. Or click on this link: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/katearends/DcwI and click “Subscribe Now”.

Have a wonderful Monday.

xo

I made this card for our flowers girls a few weeks ago.I thought it turned out pretty cute!

The majority of these went out the middle of this week. We still have a handful more to put together but I couldn’t resist putting them up.

Here are some printing specs for those of you who have shown interest:

QUANTITY PRODUCED
200

This is such a cute idea. Mrs. Lilien is run by the designer Kelly Lilien. She pieces together gorgeous eye candy to create lifestlye themes and then playfully names each. I just love this quote from her blog: ” Mrs. Lilien styling house applauds luxury, swears by playful sophistication, adores visual drama and delights in the good life – because it’s just better!”

I totally agree Mrs. Lilien!

Here are a few of my favorite looks: Mrs. Sailor’s Delight, Mrs. Kitchen and Mrs. Beach Regency

Check out my wedding planning progress this month over at Clover & Bee!

A really cute way to store your jewelry- complete with how-to directions: here.

there is nothing more attractive on a man than a good sense of humor. that and a fitted flannel shirt. i don’t know what it is exactly, it makes me weak at the knees!

nick’s clearly capitalizing on my weaknesses, he picked up a few cozy shirts and one HOT jacket for christmas. they put a big smile on my face.

images via J. Crew

I love this all denim outfit from J.Crew and I especially swoon over those gorgeous leather shoes. There is something so masculine about wearing visibly worn denim. The fit and detail (rolled jeans!) make this rugged outfit a perfect match for relaxing in this rustic vintage interior.

from nasomatto. via the dieline

I love small spaces and this tiny studio apartment from sweden is no exception. I especially love the contrast of the shiny navy kitchen against the white washed woodwork.

via mustard and sage via desire to inspire

My beach cruiser was impounded last summer when I left it over night outside my office. Sad for my sparkly purple Huffy but exciting for me because I get a new bike!

Right now I am really liking these classic beauties from Electra Bicycle Company.

In the words of Rachel Zoe: I die.

These dresses are SO ROMANTIC, I really think you could wear anyone of these as a wedding dress and forget all about that white dress.

Stunning.

via my new favorite wedding blog Green Wedding Shoes

Getting these ready to go out in the mail! I’ll be writing about these in more detail over at Clover & Bee. Here’s just a little taste of letterpress yumminess.

…oh how I’d love to put you on display.

Sometimes I come across an outfit that I just know would be perfect for lunch at my favorite bistro, a weekend at a cabin or a trip to the beach. And because I’m on a budget these days and can’t quite afford a new outfit for every little occasion, I’ll supplement my shopping addiction by pairing outfits with the perfect space every week. The fun part of this weekly column is I’ll be doing mens clothing as well! I love menswear about as much as I love a good pair of heels and I’m excited to share my favorite looks with you.

This weeks Wear This is a classic chevron dress by Alice and Olivia that would be perfect Over Here at a weekend getaway to a posh tropical hotel.

Here is a tumblr blog dedicated to the beauties.

Artist Sophie Blackhall illustrates Missed Connections posted to Craigslist. There’s something so heartbreaking and romantic about the thought of “what could have been”.

However…the reality is that most missed connections make me feel awkward, creepy and embarrassed while I read them. I’d love to see someone capture the light hearted cynical side of a missed connection…

i’m crazy about the sophisticated yet whimsical styling of  this shoot.  i’m in love with the confetti, flowers and shoes!!

well folks, my poor little hard drive failed today. luckily i have two different places i keep my computer backed up, so hopefully the recovery goes well.  with that i leave you a laugh. this is a hysterical posting to craigslist my friend sara found.

It’s me! Every girl ever.

---

Date: 2007-11-07, 10:38AM EST

---

Knock knock

Oh hi, how’s it going? It’s me! Every girl ever. I’m really looking forward to this date. I’m not nearly as attractive as you remember me being because when we met the bar was dark and you were drunk. Come on in.

Let’s start off with the unavoidable tour of my incredibly typical post-college-girl apartment.

You’ll notice that I went ahead and purchased everything that Ikea and Pier 1 have ever produced. There’s my decorative birdcage over there even though I don’t have a bird, and there’s my gay wicker basket with bamboo poles in it. I don’t know what the hell that’s thing’s all about, but I bought it.

Hey check it out, I have more candles in here than a Roman Catholic Church. Doesn’t it smell like Hazelnut!? If I were to light all of my candles at once you could see my apartment from space! I fucking love candles!

Come on into the living room.

Oh, I see you met my cat there. That’s “Freddy Paws Jr.” Why don’t you pet him and act like you like cats even though you hate cats? There you go. Oh, he took a little swing at your eye there huh? Yeah, he’ll do that. Hey, let’s check out the kitchen.

Hey look at my refrigerator. There are pictures all over it! Look at all these pictures of me and my equally vacuous friends from college! We were so crazy! You can tell we’re really good friends because our faces are all pressed up against each other like that.

And check it out, we’re holding up alcoholic beverages to the camera in every single picture. That’s to prove that we were partying. College was so fun! But of course I don’t talk to any of these girls anymore because now they’re all bitches.

Let’s go back into the hallway!

Hey, before we leave I’m going to go in the bathroom for ten minutes for some mysterious reason. Why don’t you sit awkwardly in my big, stupid, round papizan chair over there while you wait for me. It’s like you’re sitting in a hug! Be right back…

Sorry that took a half an hour, I don’t know what the hell I was doing in there. Let’s go!

Wow! Thanks for opening my car door for me! I’m totally going to blow that meaningless gesture out of proportion and delude myself into thinking that you’re a really good guy because that’s what I want to believe.

Well, here we are at the restaurant. No thanks waiter, I don’t need to see a menu, just bring me some expensive things. Hey I know, while we wait, I’ll tell you all about my unspeakably boring job. I hate my boss. He’s a jerk! I might get another job. Maybe something in pharmaceutical sales.

Now let’s talk about my family. I love my family. I want you to love my family. I want my family to love you. I want you to make love to my family! I want you to go golfing with my semi-retarded brother Travis. That would be so God damned cute!

Wow! I can’t believe I ordered all this food! I have no intention of eating any of it. No thanks waiter, we don’t need a box. Just throw it out.

Hey, I’ve got an idea, let’s go to a bar and have an after dinner drink! It’ll be great, it will be just like how we’re drinking here, only it will be louder and we’ll have to stand up. Come on!

See, isn’t this better? Oh hey, what a coincidence. Look over there! It’s a group of my friends that I knew was going to be here. Let’s go over there so that they can judge you!

Hey, I have to go to the bathroom for a half an hour again for some reason. You can stay here and talk to my unbelievably hideous friend Christine! Christine’s so ugly she scares kids! Talk to her! She has a job and a family that she wants to talk to you about too. Be right back.

I’m back! Sorry I was gone for three hours, there was a line. I want to go home now.

Well here we are at my door again. This was really fun for me and not you. You should pretend like we’re going to do it again sometime! Maybe I’ll see you at Target a few months from now and we can avoid eye contact because you never called me. Here, have this awkward goodnight kiss that’s as empty as my soul. Good night!

photo source here.

My new favorite online store: Labour and Wait. Fortunately for my check book, they only deliver within the UK.

A perfect grilled cheese sandwich tops my list of guilty pleasures. What makes it even more sinful is eating the gooey sandwiches at odd hours. Like after a night at the bar, or for breakfast

Anyway, we’re beginning to think about the food we’ll be serving at our wedding and I just LOVE this idea I saw at Cup of Jo! A sophisticated way to get the perfect bite of grilled cheese and tomato soup. We’ll just need enough for people to have 2nds, 3rds and 4ths….

(Joanna is right about the Dijon mustard too! I always dip my sandwich into a big pool of the stuff.)

One of my favorite things about our apartment is watching the sunrise in the morning.

Nick got a Droid for Christmas and he was using it to search for something about old movies last night. We couldn’t stop laughing at what Google thought he might be searching for.

Really?! I’ll be wearing that red dress this spring.

A professor once told me:  “Your parents will never understand what you do for a living. I’m 55 and my mother STILL doesn’t understand what I do.”

This isn’t uncommon. But luckily my parents have a pretty good understanding. I know a lot of people don’t. I found this piece on Design Crush and I thought it helped explain exactly what designers are trained to do. So next time I piss you off, remember that I’m meant to be loved, not understood. (hardy har har.)

I hope everyone is enjoying these first few days of 2010. I rang in the new year with the swagger of my former college self: at a house party in a t-shirt, playing flippy cup and taking jell-o shots. The party was followed by a big pub crawl on January 1st in downtown St. Paul. To top off the big New Years celebration, one of my besties is now engaged to the most outstanding guy! A great start to a new decade.

All in all, I was particularly excited to greet 2010, a year that will bring big changes in my life. The beginning of the year is the time I hit my “restart” button. I like to take the week between Christmas and New Years to reflect on the year past and prepare for the challenges in the year ahead. But I’ve never been one to set resolutions. I tend to avoid the hype and disappointment that comes with them. Plus I have a deeply rooted distaste for those who interrupt my gym schedule the first few weeks of January with their half-hearted “get in shape” resolutions.

But this year is different. I thought about all the change that is going to happen in 2010. All of the celebrating and planning and growing. Then one of my girlfriends pointed out that in 9 months, I’d be Mrs. Kate Gabriel. For the first time it really hit me: this is the year I am merging my life with another person’s life, and I’d like to keep him around for a lifetime. That’s a whole lotta pressure to be someone who is likable. If there is any year to evaluate who I’ve been and how I could improve, it’s this one.

Over the holidays I spent time catching up on Jen’s new blog For My Entertainment. In one of her first posts she recapped the progress on her 2009 resolutions with brutal honesty (one of her best traits). It made the whole resolution thing make sense to me. There is no point in doing it if you’re not going to be honest with your progress. So I’m going to take her lead and do the same.

Alright. I now present to you, my three lofty 2010 resolutions. I hope those of you who read this and see me daily, weekly or monthly, hold me to them.

#1: Learn when to say “C’est la vie”.

Life is full of inconveniences and disappointments. And unfortunately I tend to spend a lot of time and energy obsessing over pointless things. Example: The bus is over 20 minutes late while it is -10 degrees outside and I am starving. My blood boils. I’m huffing in disgust as I board the bus. Example 2: I’m late for work. I curse whatever caused my tardiness (usually myself) and I’m in a bad mood until lunch. Example 3:  Someone is driving slow in the left lane. Rage. Seriously, I needed to get a grip. It’s just not worth the mental energy to get upset over something that small. I might as well use the time I spend getting pissed off thinking about something productive or positive. And who am I to think I can harass the bus driver who is giving me a ride home. I’m done with it. C’est la vie. (By the way- I’ve had five successful days as a carefree individual! Yeeee!)

#2: Take it easy with all the technology.

Confession: I’ve realized that I’m not as good at multitasking as I claim to be. I work quickly and I do many things at once. On a typical day I run a bazillion programs at once, flipping between projects, google reader, email, checking my calender and following Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. All while listening to a podcast. Luckily for me, I took a bit of an unexpected technology break last week. My mind was clearer. I was in a better mood. I was sleeping better. I was completing tasks faster and I had more energy. It felt SO GOOD.

Now that I’m back to the real world, I’ve decided that I’m saving my Google Reader for lunch and afterwork entertainment. Same goes for the Facebook. Emails get checked 4 times a day. Done and Done.

#3: Make physical and mental health a #1 priority

It is no secret that I attend the gym religiously. I also take my food choices seriously and try to eat as clean as possible. But I’ve struggled to find a healthy balance between the two for many years. 2009 was a huge milestone for me. I took on the task of learning how to cook to help understand what food will give me the physical and mental energy I need to be healthy and strong. I focused on things that I could eat, not on things that were bad for me. This approach has worked well for me and I feel like I have a good foundation for continuing to make positive changes. To keep improving, I have 4 specific goals to accomplish:

1. Eliminate (almost) all processed foods. We eat very few as it is, but we could do better. I like to bake bread, so I’m going to start with making a loaf of bread every week, along with making homemade granola for breakfast.
2. Take a yoga class once a week. I’m always amazed how good I feel after I complete a class.

3. Drink water. All the time. More tea, less coffee.

4. Take it easy on the boozing. I’m not saying I’ll stop drinking, but I’d like to take a break from heavy beers (I’ll miss you, my Guinness) and stick to wine and clear spirits.

2010 is looking bright. Now, back to my regular blogging schedule! I’ve got a lot of great stuff to share…coming up soon.

image via the forever bright and sunny kate spade