High Line

Are you there Spring? It's me, Alexandra. Please come soon, and when you do, take me to New York so I can sit on a bench on the High Line and people watch all day long? Pretty please? Thank you.

With nearly a foot (or more) of snow expected tonight in beautiful Northeast Ohio, I wish more than ever that I could be relaxing in the October sun on the High Line in New York. If you haven't been to this amazing public park, built recently on a 1.45 mile-long elevated track on Manhattan's West Side, you're certainly missing out. I somehow neglected to mention it in my ode to free New York events, but lately it's all I can think about.

(photos by me, Oct. '09)

Shop update!

Thanks to a little help from the Gilmore Girls, a cherry limeade from Sonic and a napping boyfriend, I got tons of shop updates up last night... Check out the shop for some neat salt + pepper shakers,  more letterpress goodies and much more!

New logo

So the site's been up for all of two months now, and I've already decided to change the 'logo'. Such is the life of a graphic designer... Check it out, I hope you like :)

Spike Press

Some seriously cool posters from Spike Press... Of course my favorite (Vampire Weekend) is sold out. Arrrgh.

Streepness

Anyone who knows me knows that I am, shall we say, obsessed, with a certain award-winning actress. I made it my project in the summer of 2006 to watch every single one of her movies (and appearances, stage-performances, etc.) and I was hooked pretty much from the beginning. I could go on and on about how and why I love the incomparable Streep, but this article in the New York Times does a good job of elaborating. A.O. Scott may have gotten the byline but I feel like I've conceived much of this article in my mind, over the past few years. Enjoy.

I take too many pictures of my cat(s), part 2

(Gray = Mozart. Tortoise Shell = Fizzy aka Le Fizz Monster aka FizzGerald)

Spangle Magazine

I am so incredibly thankful to Brian, editor of Spangle Magazine for this wonderful article on Blue Carrot Shop today! Sales have been increasing, and more people are seeing the site, which makes me super happy. Looks like I'm going to have to do some treasure-hunting for shop items this weekend, something I don't think I'll ever mind :)

All I need...

Received this amazing letterpress poster from RockandTumble Press today (to gift to my man), and they included this "all I need" print in the package for absolute freesies. I love free things, and I love cool free things even more. My man promptly gifted it back to me, which I'm definitely ok with.

You need this stuff.

Shop updates are posted (yay!). Click your way over to the shop for these super cute silkscreened pouches, more letterpress goodies and other wonderful delights.

Mmm. Donut Project.

My friends over at the Donut Project blog gave the shop a very kind shout-out today, and I'm so very thankful! If you haven't already, check out the blog for a daily dose of all things design... Also, read about why it's called the "Donut Project", and keep in mind that I did one of those projects. And hated every minute of it.

(Amazing poster by my good friend Carli Dottore. It has nothing to do with the Donut Project blog; I just can't help but think of it every time I think of donuts, which is often.)

Shop update!

I've been working diligently (ok, mostly) to bring you some great new shop updates. As I mentioned before, some handmade Blue Carrot goodies are ready, as well as some more letterpress and vintage treasures. I've got tons of photos to edit and descriptions to write, as soon as this pesky day job is over... Some good stuff to come :)

!!!!!

Ultra-nice, cool, all-around super duper blogger Grace Bonney of design*sponge just mentioned Blue Carrot Shop on twitter and it totally made my day :D THANK YOU!

[follow Blue Carrot Shop]

[and I am, thanks to design*sponge!]

Yes.

This needs to be in my kitchen. Right now.

Never too latte.

I found these letterpressed beauties on Etsy yesterday, and although too late for Valentine's day gifts, it's never too late to buy goodies for someone you love. I hope my man likes the heart one, because it's on its way...

(find the donut one here)

My boo.

Got these Hero Design Valentines from my man yesterday... They are way too cute to write on, so they're going directly to my wall where they will make me very happy all year-round.

Pouches and purses and gingham oh my!

Collaborating with master sewer/crafter Amy Hawk on some handmade items for the shop. I will be sure to let you know when they're up for sale, but she sent me a sneak peek last night and I definitely like what I'm seeing... (side note: I fucking love gingham.)

Adorable.

Lately, it seems as if I can't get enough of prints with adorable fruits/veggies on them, as I bought these a couple weeks ago and today I found these in the Etsy shop of insanely talented illustrator Allison Cole. I should probably stop looking at the links people send to me, but seriously. Look at them.

John's Pizzeria, NYC

We discovered John's Pizzeria quite by accident, and I'm eternally grateful that we did. Their pizza is the best I've ever had (in New York or elsewhere) and I crave it almost constantly. The original location (on Bleeker) is super cool, with names and art carved into nearly every surface and they don't sell individual slices, which is fine because eating an entire John's pizza is not in any way a bad thing.

Want. Can't have.

I was told about this incredibly amazing Arcade Fire poster from Burlesque Design, and went on their site only to find that it (and several other equally amazing prints) were sold out. Arrgh. Of course they are, they're wonderful.

Frustrate yourself with other sold out delights here.

Winter Wonderlands

NYTimes.com has a great feature today with tons of reader-submitted photos of the winter wonderlands being made all over the US... Check out the beautiful scenes here.

(Holden Caulfield famously wondered what became of the Central Park ducks in the winter... I guess they just stay put...)