design

Surf’s Up… on the Interwebz

Hello readers! Or should I say aloha? As the temperatures stay well below my comfort zone and my first instinct is to hibernate under my covers for days, I have been using an alternative method of escapism to bring blue skys and sunshine into my life. While living vicariously through the internet 100% of the time can make me feel like a bit of a twitchy-eyed goblin creature, in small doses the internet can be quite the mood booster. So, here are some of my happiest discoveries from these past few weeks:

1. An epic pep talk from an unexpected source

2. A beautiful song for a grey day

3. My new favorite website for design inspiration

oh_beautiful_beer

4. A postcard that speaks volumes

Source: imgfave.com via Madeline on Pinterest

5. Planning meals for the newest addition to my kitchen

The best part about the start of a new month is the opportunity to hit life’s refresh button and get back on track — I have always preferred starting something at the beginning of a new week or month — February will be all about getting back to balance. I miss little habits that seem to have fallen through the cracks so far — carrying my camera around with me 24/7, baking for the hell of it, weekend render-vous in DC and seeing my family that lives here. So, with this post, I want to raise a virtual glass to the little steps. To the reminders and the efforts that come out of them that keep me moving forward. It’s hard to see the progress when life goes whizzing by you, sometimes you just have to stop, turn around and look at how far you’ve come. Then keep moving. That’s my plan at least.

A wish of sweet dreams to all of my night owl friends and a good morning to all of my early risers. More adventures to come.

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

… Otherwise known as a shameless excuse for me to take as many photos as possible with my new Nikon lens which I received this morning!

Photo Credit: Madeline Beard
A bicycle ring from my big brother

Photo Credit: Madeline Beard
Vintage crystal perfume bottles

Photo Credit: Madeline Beard
Derek Lam leopard print slippers from the Neiman Marcus for Target collection

Photo Credit: Madeline Beard
Not a Christmas present, just one of my very favorite prints hanging in my room

Photo Credit: Madeline Beard
Prabal Gurung wool cape from the Neiman Marcus for Target collection

Photo Credit: Madeline Beard
A couple fabulous design books

Photo Credit: Madeline Beard
Voluspa candles

Hoping everyone is having a very happy holiday! I am so thankful for life’s gifts, both the material and intangible. Looking forward to sharing more photos from this beautiful new lens on SLB soon!

Odds + Ends

I woke up this morning in the mood for some color and a little pattern matching. I love mixing and matching subtle details with bolder pieces — my checked grey and white oxford, hot pink and orange sweater and thin leopard belt felt like the perfect marriage of color and pattern. Paired with faux suede shorts and perforated leather flats, the outfit falls somewhere between quirky and classic. Here is the resulting look:

I don’t know what it is with my tendency to pick photos of myself where I’m not looking directly at the camera — I think in the case of these shots, my eyes were a bit sleepy. You guys can just start calling me “Maddie: the Eyeless Wonder”, maybe I can make it my trademark?

I also wanted to post the revised version of the website I wrote about a couple weeks ago. Long story short, my Experience Design professor decided that we needed to spend more time on our sites to refine the designs and work on the coding end. Here is the new site I created, I would love to get some feedback on it. I will probably try to revisit the site in a couple of weeks to fine tune some elements/improve readability, but for now I am pretty sick of looking at it, which usually happens with most projects I really delve into. Tonight I hope to bake something new, a beloved past time which has fallen by the wayside since school started. Looking forward to sharing this adventure with you guys tomorrow, so stay tuned!