enJOY it

may book report.

May 27, 2015
sheets are old from anthropologie

Lots of books this month!

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight | this was interesting. It's a book about a girl who supposedly commits sucide but the mom doesn't really believe it and she pieces together the story of what happened through emails and texts from the few months before her daughter died. It's told through the mom's eyes right after the incident and the daughters right before. Interesting, though not my favorite of the month.

Broken Harbor by Tana French | another thriller that I couldn't put down. I was excited about after reading The Likeness in April. I liked this one a lot and was surprised to find out whodonit at the end.

The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty | not my favorite by this author (and I have read most of her books). It's an easy simple read – but I felt like it wasn't that believeable. I don't know.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel | this is my favorite book of 2015 so far. It's an "end of the world" story but actually tells how it all ends. You get to see what civilization crumbling actually looks like and then what's left of it which (to me) was a more interesting take than so many books who just tell the "post-crumble" story. What I really loved about this book is that it wasn't a love story. You're not watching to young adult characters find their way together in a brave new world (which I've done too many times). Instead, you're watching very different characters (of various ages) learn how to survive in a way that felt interesting and inspiring. I really enjoyed this.

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson | this book is a true story about the events surrounding the World's Fair in Chicago in the late 1800s. It tells the story of getting the event together while simultaneously telling the story of Dr Holmes, a violent serial killer from the same time. It's a documentary and seriously interesting but it took me a really long time to get through and I ended up skimming the end. I think I wasn't in the right mood for it.

We are Called to Rise by Laura McBride | I'd heard really good things about this book. I wasn't disappointed – it was well told and the characters wove together beautifully – but it didn't grab me the way I wanted it to. I'd recommend it though.

Whew. Big month and judging by the stack of books on my nightstand June is going to be even bigger. What are you reading right now?

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this is the last week of the podcast until July. I'm taking June off to regroup. It's just me this episode answering (or directing you to the answers!) questions about blogging and small business. Subscribe or stream here!

Other posts you might enjoy:
E&e in May.

May 26, 2015

I will be documenting Ellerie's second year by photographing some mama and baby favorites each month.

This is what Elise and Ellerie are doing in May 2015.

WEARING : a new ring from Paul | saltwater sandals

READING : We Are Called to Rise | Peek a who?

LOVING : the Radio Lab Podcast | any and all balls

WORKING : on GTWB shipping | on her flashcards

EATING : watermelon | watermelon

See all these posts here.
father’s day gift idea.

May 25, 2015

Buying gifts for guys is so hard. Buying gifts for Paul used to be impossible. But I have had one go-to for the past few years. Coffee. Anniversary? Coffee. Birthday? Coffee. Christmas? Coffee. Father's Day? Coffee.

And so, I thought I'd pass on a recommendation…

Coffee! More specifically, a coffee subscription!

I got connected with Pony Brand Coffee through Jolby & Friends who did the GTWB design. They were like "hey, Elise, you share a lot of photos on Instagram of coffee, I wonder if you'd want to get in touch with Pony, one of our other clients?"

I took one look at the website (which is beautiful!) and thought, YES! (I also thought, Paul will be very happy that my "connections" are finally paying off.)

I love how Pony does their subscription service. First you can request a sampler set which is four ounces of four different types of beans/roasts to see what sort of flavor profile you prefer. Then, once you've tested and found what you like, you can specify that flavor when you sign up for a subscription.

It's a perfect gift for someone who is just getting into coffee or for someone who knows what they like but are interested in trying new varietals. We've been getting the Sweet & Juicy flavor for the past three months and love it.

AND, given that it's Memorial Day I wanted to mention that I think this would be the perfect present for someone who is deployed. I wish I had known about coffee subscriptions when Paul was in Afghanistan and Spain. He was just getting obsessed with good coffee then and this (getting a monthly delivery of something exciting) would have been a great way to keep the time moving right along. I asked Pony if they deliver to APO addresses and they do (but sadly, not international yet).

Can't get enough coffee!? See how we use the Chemex here and check out our cold brew coffee method here!

please note : I was not paid to write this post, but the Pony guys are becoming friends and I wanted to support them and share a brand we love.
weekend links / 65.

May 23, 2015

I had about four seconds to look at the Internet this week, but it was worth it for this…

this post from Emily Henderson made me laugh out loud.

Ali's going to get me back into scrapbooking with her week in the life kit.

was excited to see Amy Poehler on the cover of my Fast Company this month.

just picked up this book for E. It's so simple but SO cute.

bring your daughter to work day.

and this… on "balance."

tracking and building habits.

what a colorful instagram feed.

in a few months Ellerie will LOVE this.

one for happy hour.

the coolest thing I have ever seen in a house.

short and sweet interview from me on …FOCUS.

…have a good one!
around here.

May 22, 2015
Around here, life is all about getting GET TO WORK BOOK packaged up as best I can and sending them out the door. It's like an adventure that I don't have to leave my house to go on (and I have the fitbit steps to prove it). But progress is being made. On Monday, I had eight pallets of books and packaging material in my garage. Today I have just 4.5. (Slow progress is still progress.)

It's so good to get them out into the world (remember if you have any customer service issues at all, the best & fastest way to get a response is to email me – elise@gettoworkbook.com) and see them arriving in your Instagram feeds. You USING the books is the whole point and it's so great that that will be happening soon.

I've realized this project (the 2015-2016 GTWB) has five phases.
1. design (this took 5 months)
2. production of the prototype (about 1 month)
3. pre-order hype (1.5 months)
4. packing and shipping out pre-order (2 weeks)
5. purchase hype and overall promotion (2 months)
When I'm drowning (in email, in packing material, in books, in hours of endless work) I remember I'm almost done with phase four. We've come so far already. And all of this, every photo, email, book, box and shipping notification is a learning experience so I can make the next round a bit better. And the round after that better still. It's a process.

And in the meantime, this is what I look like right now.

But reinforcements arrive this weekend! I have my parents coming down to help out with Ellerie, help me get the rest of the orders out the door and then give me some time to put my life back together and start … phase five.

Thanks for hanging in there! Thank you so much for your kind support and help getting this brand launched.

…see more behind the scenes and updates here.
may : currently.

May 20, 2015

working on getting at GET TO WORK BOOK pre-orders out the door. This is my greatest organizational undertaking by far and the only thing that's making it work is pure focus. Eyes on today, Elise, not tomorrow.

wishing I could push pause on everything else (email, blog, laundry, having to think about dinner) while I am tearing through this.

remembering that technically I CAN do all of that (you always have a choice).

realizing this is quickly turning into a pep-talk so I better snap out of it. (Welcome to my brain right now.)

ordering new books for Ellerie! Can't wait to inject some fresh blood into our library.

savoring backyard tomatoes.

looking forward to a doctor's appointment tomorrow! Can't wait to hear how the little one is doing. (16 weeks today!!)

wearing the denim vest almost everyday and loving it.

debuting my summer capsule wardrobe next week (although I'm already wearing it).

celebrating HALF A MILLION podcast downloads. This is crazy. I would for sure be popping champagne right now, but pregnancy and GTWB shipping means I'm popping bubble wrap instead. Thanks for listening!

loving seeing my friends become Mamas.

marveling that Ellerie is 23 months old today! I'll have a TWO YEAR OLD in 30 days and I'm so thrilled about it.

publicly thanking my mail lady. She's the best and doesn't complain about my 100+ packages going out the door each day.

needing to drink way more water. WAY MORE.

telling everyone I know to read this book.

appreciating every minute Ellerie lets me sleep.

knowing that when it rains it pours but I have the best umbrella.

wishing you a great Wednesday!

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This week on ELISE GETS CRAFTY, I am chatting with Jacki Carr about goal-setting! Subscribe or stream here. EDIT! If you downloaded the episode before 7:40 AM PST on Wednesday, you might have noticed it's a repeat episode! So sorry about that. Please redownload .. it's be edited to the correct file.
the adult friendly portion of our trip to maui.

May 19, 2015

Last week I shared photos from our family trip to Maui. We arrived on a Saturday and left on Saturday. In the middle – late Tuesday morning to Thursday morning, Paul and I got away to Wailea to celebrate our five year anniversary. We were very lucky to be traveling with both sets of Grandparents, so Ellerie had a lot of folks to love on her while we were gone.

We decided early last year to go all out for this trip and so to find our hotel I google searched “fanciest Maui hotel.” I have no idea if the Andaz Resort where we stayed really is the fanciest but their website made it look the best so we booked (well actually… we forgot to book. Yes. We were the freak-shows that arrived, put on the complimentary leis and drank the complimentary lavender lemonade during check-in only to realize despite the fact that I had spent hours pouring over the website I HAD NEVER ACTUALLY BOOKED OUR STAY).

Thankfully they had room because once I’d seen that entry way in real life, I was committed to at least setting up camp in lobby.

The first day we were there I got a massage (it was my mother’s day gift) and the spa was amazing. If I hadn’t been pregnant I could have really taken advantage of the sauna and whirlpool, steam room but as it was, I sat in a comfy robe in a room that smelled great and read my book for an hour (which felt like all the worldly luxuries combined).

The rooms themselves were beautiful. I didn’t get great photos but the bathroom set up was so beautiful and smartly designed. It made me want to re-do our bathrooms at home (which we WILL NOT be doing).

Paul and I are the most low-key vacationers. We always have been and since having Ellerie have gotten even worse (better?). We really just like to sit. Eat good food. Drink good coffee. Go for walks. And most importantly, do the NY Times crossword. Talk about a luxury. Getting to take an hour playing with word clues while sipping coffee? This is my dream life. Also Eggs Benedict forever and ever.

We walked a lot – about 45 minutes both mornings after breakfast – and there was a great (crowded!) trail that went for miles down the beach. We just hung out by the pool on Wednesday (which was the only full day we spent there).

Other than one trip off-site to check out Monkeypod which we had heard great things about (and it was delicious! Get their non-alcoholic made in house Ginger Beer!) we stayed at the Andaz for dinner.

We ate at both restaurants on-site for our dinners. Of the two, Morimoto Maui was the winner. I didn’t take photos of the food because I was too busy eating it, but we found that it worked great to just split everything so we could taste the most stuff.

It was such a special, important, relaxing and revitalizing two days. We were grateful for the chance to spend it together. I would highly recommend the Andaz, especially as a honeymoon trip. There were tons of pregnant ladies there (I think it’s a popular babymoon destination too!) but if you’re being really strict about the no-shellfish, no raw fish rules, it might not be ideal. Anniversary trip though, good idea. Paul and I have already planned to return for our 10 year. And this time I will for sure make the reservations.

Clothing sources I have links for … my swimsuit (similar), hat, sunglasses. The dress in the top photo is from Nordstrom last spring. That super colorful dress is Anthro last fall. My white dress in the last photo is from Madewell clearance last summer.
let’s talk fabric mixing.

May 18, 2015

My favorite craft to-do list item in the history of making stuff is pulling patterned fabrics together for quilts. Seriously. DREAM JOB. When I retire (which is never) I am going to just sit on some sort of throne and pull fabrics together. That's it. (And hold my grandbabies.)

I enjoy this part so much that I am currently making two quilts. One for a baby girl and one for a baby boy while we wait to find out the gender of our next kiddo. I stuck with the "stereotypical" gender colors because that was what I wanted to do. When we find out in June what we're having, I'll keep one quilt and pass the second off to one of my five girlfriends that will also be welcoming a baby this fall.

I am SUPER lucky that we live very close to a HUGE quilt shop with the largest fabric selection I have ever seen in real life. It's my favorite place to go. But, I still enjoy pulling fabrics from larger box stores (like Jo-anns) and have also pulled fabrics together online (either through smaller fabric shops on etsy or fabric.com). If you don't have a fabric shop near you (be sure to check yelp and make sure!) then I would suggest checking out this post about online fabric resources from Emily Henderson. It's more difficult to pull fabrics together based on little swatches online, but it can be done! And as you'll see from my "rules" below, matching colors exactly isn't the most important part in all of this.

Insert obvious disclaimer here : these rules are my rules and this post is in response to all the questions I get on IG about how I mix fabrics. This is what I follow when I am pairing fabrics based solely on my taste. You might hate my taste and think these rules are garbage. That's totally okay. I can't pick fabric for your taste but I can do my best to articulate what works for me. ALSO, I have talked about this topic before in blog posts and in my quilt ecourse. I did not go back and read those posts so it's very possible there is some overlap here.

Ready? Let's roll.

Know your likes. Without this rule the rest are crap. You have to know what you like. How do you learn this? By living. By paying attention to patterns and colors and getting comfortable eliminating the stuff you don't like. When I go into my local shop 90% of the fabric in there isn't my taste. That doesn't make it bad! It just means that I am closer to narrowing down and finding what I really like and want to use for my next project. Whenever you're going to work on something, it's good to LIKE every fabric that you pick. HOWEVER, it is NOT important to LOVE every fabric you've chosen.

I think this is actually a really common mistake. You pick 12 fabrics that you LOVE and then find that they don't really work together. This is because we each tend to love the same sort of stuff. To make the pairing work though, you need more variety. A good mix of some complicated and some simple patterns. If you like really BOLD & GRAPHIC patterns and you try to mix 12 together there is no where for your eye to rest. You gotta toss some calmer fabrics in there that you just like, not love. Make sense?

My one suggestion for getting around this should you find yourself in a situation where you want to make a quilt that is all LOVE fabrics is to mix in white (or another neutral). If you make something like the pattern above, you can use a ton of bold prints because you have the white in there for a breather.

(learn how to make this triangle quilt here.)

Stick with a 2-3 color palette for the entire project. Of course you can use 100 colors. But I have found that things tend to come together a bit better when the palette is a bit smaller. Pink and orange. Blue and green. Teal, peach, coral. Whatever. Keep it small and tight (but you can have varying shades). (I consider gray and white calm enough to toss in there too.)

Pay close attention to light vs. dark. Ideally you want about a 50/50 mix of more saturated colors and lighter colors even if they are in the same family. When I say "light and dark" I mean when you squint your eyes does it appear mostly dark or mostly light?

Look for both small and larger scale patterns. I'd say this mix is about 70/30 (70% small, 30% big.) I tend to favor small patterns because from afar they can sort of look neutral but up close they provide an extra bit of detail. It's also key to PLAY with scale. You can totally have three different types of polka dots if they are varied in size. Using the same shape a few times is actually a fun way to pull something together while still looking interesting.

Ground the mix with basics. For me, adding a few stripes, florals and polka dots is always nice. These are basic patterns that obviously have their moments but are not really "trendy" in the same way that chevron might be. These fabrics are also fairly easy to find and you can get them in your colors without too much trouble. (For example, search etsy for "yellow polka dot fabric")

photo by Tara Whitney

Add in the whimsy. I like to throw in one or two patterns that make you look twice. For Ellerie's quilt (above) this was the little ducks. For the quilt I'm working on now it's the sweet rabbits. Animals are perfect for this job. So are arty/strange flowers. I love to look for something that appears hand-drawn or sketched rather than something that looks just like the real animal but that's just me.

Keep each fabric pattern to just 2 or 3 colors. I mentioned that I like the entire quilt to be a limited palette but I think it's equally important that each fabric has just a few colors to the pattern as well for simplicity. It's also much trickier to "match" various fabrics with tons of colors.

Throw in a solid. Even though I primarily mix patterns, I like to add in a solid or two to pull everything together. Often I pick this solid based on the color that seems to be "missing" from the rest of the patterns. (Like for example if I had 5 teal patterns but only 3 coral, I could add a solid coral and that would really balance things out.) When possible, I like to find solids that have a tiny bit of texture or interest to them.

Do a squint test. When you stand back from your fabrics and blur your eyes, do they make sense together? Whenever I do this I inevitably find a pattern that doesn't fit with the rest and I toss it out. This is sort of like the "gut check" test. Does your gut say it's good to go? Does your squinting say it looks cohesive? It probably is.

Forget matching. I've never been big on finding the "exact shade of pink" to keep things consistent. It's hard to do and not really necessary (to me) when the other nine rules have been followed. Instead I focus on finding complimentary pinks or lighter shades of the same pink and that seems to work well. If the exact matching is KEY for you then you can go through the same brand which might help but I encourage you to get outside the box a bit and see what you think!

Ignore everything I just said. The best way to make a quilt?!? Do exactly what you want to do with exactly what you want to use.

HOORAY! Go forth and buy quarter yardage!
weekend links / 64.

May 16, 2015

I love the Internet and since I was away for awhile here is a (slightly) longer list of links to cool stuff…

stunning food photography.

we LOVE Palm Springs and I LOVED (and nodded right along to) Elsie's travel guide.

this is really cool, Adobe.

beautiful (handmade!) sandals.

when love is a relay.

packing for long trips with just a carry-on.

I hope In-N-Out adopts this business model soon.

I found these stories so interesting. I for sure fell into the "ignorance is bliss" category.

higher pay does not equal more happiness.

excuse me while I dream about gardens.

new quilt inspiration.

I could look inside other peoples' notebooks all day.

if Wild didn't make you want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, this will.

these simple tees always draw compliments and they're on sale. size up for slouchy, perfect fit.

the crossroads of "should" and "must".

and from me… GET TO WORK BOOK™ is starting to ship next week! Now's the time to order and follow the organized madness on Instagram.
tidying = life changing?

May 13, 2015

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

If you've been here awhile you may or may not know that I am ALL ABOUT THE TIDYING. Actually the more I think about it, the more you may not know that. So here's the deal…ready?

I hate clutter.

I mean, no one LOVES clutter. No one openly thinks, "yes, more clutter please, on every surface with extra piles, thank you." But some people tolerate it better than I do. This blog has seen me through many life stages… college, moving across the country to live with my boyfriend, getting married, sending my husband off on two deployments, moving our belongings by myself twice, buying a house, setting up a house, having a kid and now preparing to have a second kid.

A lot has changed during that time. (Thank God.) But one thing that hasn't changed is every step of the way I have loved getting rid of stuff.

And yet. Despite the many moves and despite the fact that I'm decently ruthless about getting rid of crap, it still accumulates or (more likely) it still sits because we now have the space. This past year though, between capsule wardrobe and revamping my office to fit my new work lifestyle and hobbies I have made a decent dent.

So I was very interested to read Marie Kondo's book and make the final uphill climb to full tidiness (I realize saying that makes me sound insane). It finally popped in my library queue and I read through it over a few days, skimming parts and detail reading others. Let's get one thing out of the way first…this is a SUPER extreme method. I uttered the phrase "OCD, much?" a few times. But I actually think much of it is realistic and helpful (if you're in a place where you want to go through your stuff. If not you'll be stressed out of your mind).

I had a lot of "eye-opening" moments but probably my favorite was the question (and I'm paraphrasing) "do you want your home to be a place of rest or a storage unit?" AHHHHHH! Not a storage unit. I don't want to live in a storage unit. I don't even want to own a storage unit.

Kondo has a very specific method and order that she recommends following to clear out your home. I paid close attention and actually wrote down all the things she suggests to go through, but they I attacked them in a totally different order based on what I had time for. It took me parts of three days to go through the entire house and then another few hours to do the garage. (We've only lived here two years so it's not crazy.)

It's recommended that you tackle categories, not rooms which is brilliant. I went through all the bathroom toiletries at once. All of the books in the house at once. All of the cleaning supplies at once. This helped me find duplicates and stay in the zone. When I was done, all of our cleaning supplies were stored in one place in the garage. All of our medicines were stored on the top shelf in the kitchen. (Ellerie still had toy baskets in three rooms.)

The biggest areas of our house that needed going through were the kitchen and my closet (yes, again, ugh).

Our kitchen is good-sized which means we have been able to store a lot of stuff that we never use and don't need. I got rid of things like the punch bowl we registered for (because I thought I'd be throwing a lot of parties?), a toaster oven that's sat on the bottom shelf for two years and coffee grinder that we upgraded from last year. I rearranged like a crazy person and moved around the pantry shelves to create a flow that makes sense for how we eat and cook. I cleared off the counter tops almost completely. It took forever but made a wonderful difference.

And then the closet. You'll remember I'm three seasons into a capsule wardrobe, which means I wear a small collection of 30-40 pieces each season. I have been storing my "not in season" clothing in big plastic bins in my closet which, according to Kondo, is a bad idea. I thought this through and… I agree.

The clothing in the bins is not being treated great. It comes out rumpled and smelling a bit stale. It bums me out to open the bins, much less wear the clothing. So everything came out. And everything got sorted. I held up each item and tried on a few, asking over and over the recommended question "Does this bring me joy?" Not "did I pay a lot for this?" Not "do I wish I wore this more?" Not "will I wear this again?" Not "can I live without this?" But "DOES THIS BRING ME JOY?"

It's a different question than I have ever asked and it's an interesting one because it disregards all the other crap. It doesn't ask if you have happy memories or if in six months you'll be sad you tossed it. It doesn't ask if you already have four white t-shirts. It just asks if you feel a rush of happiness when you look at it or touch it. That question helped me be the most ruthless yet. (I sent some of my clothing to ThredUp and donated some to Goodwill.)

So now, on the right side of my closet I still have my capsule clothing (which is about to switch to a summer/2nd trimester maternity friendly capsule) and then on the left, I have everything that made the JOYFUL cut. In my dresser drawers I have a drawer of capsule bottoms and then a drawer of everything else. Plus a drawer for undergarments. (My socks are still balled up.)

The biggest cut though was to my toiletries. I have maybe 30 pieces of hair/makeup/skincare products now…total (including nail polish and lipstick). (I'll have to do an updated post on my favorite skincare products.) It wasn't that I was using more than that, it's just that I was storing them. I had, for example, the three eye shadows that were mixed onto my eyelids at my wedding … and haven't been used since. No joy there. It did it's job and now we can move on.

Anyway.

After the big clean out, I was in the kitchen fixing a snack, humming to myself and I was overwhelmed with a feeling of peace.

"I've had this feeling before…" I thought. I remember vividly this exact peaceful feeling that but I couldn't remember WHEN. And then in clicked…

When I was 18, I moved into my college dorm room. It was a nice big room with light blonde wood furniture. I unpacked my clothes, books and bedding. I hung my beloved mementos. I turned the room into "my space." My first, very own (shared with sweet roommate) space. I sat down on my bed and felt at peace.

Everything in that dorm room I loved. I had taken only my favorite things from my childhood home. I had stocked up on "college essentials" at Target. I had packed and unpacked them with great care. I had carefully decided where in the room they would fit best. And now we were here. In this space that was ready for the next adventure.

THAT. That was feeling. That's what I have finally created again (12 years and four homes later) in our San Diego home. Not everything we own is perfect. But everything we own is loved. Everything was chosen. Everything that remains is here because it brings us joy. It's got a place. We have a space.

Ready for the next adventure.

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This week on ELISE GETS CRAFTY, I am chatting with Megan Auman about a unique way to curate a customer lifestyle brand for your small business using Pinterest. Subscribe or stream here.