great minds = twice the flowers

i was walking around our neighborhood recently and picked up some beautiful dahlias to fill our $7 water bottles (courtesy of tivoli--more on that later) and cute mini succulents...unbeknownst to me, chris was ALSO out buying flowers, so when i got home these colorful gerbera daisies were waiting for me! great minds! now our kitchen has a happy little corner and i can't wait to add more plants to our collection. (thanks mom for adopting all the plants we had to leave behind :)

paper bicycle daily pattern: winter

i had so much fun designing this atari-inspired knitted print for the winter theme on paper bicycle this week!

if you remember my fair isle monster hat it's actually pretty easy to knit your own designs into simple knitting projects. (sadly, there is no easy way to shorten the amount of hours it takes to FINISH said knitting project though...)

you've got mail

i'm on the home stretch of all our thank you cards and had to post a picture--i love how they turned out! i bought solid red cards and envelopes for a fun pop of [danish] color and chris had the smart and simple idea to use white tape to create the flag design. GENIUS!

ps. i LOVE receiving mail too...pen pals, anyone? *wink*

that's what friends [and family!] are for

the flipside to the excitement of moving to another country is how much you end up missing family, friends and everything familiar. it's been really hard being so far away from everyone but luckily i have wonderful people in my life who send me nice long email replies, chat with me on skype and thoughtfully send me packages of things i miss like double stuf oreos and my slippers. for my favorite people i've been making colorful friendship bracelets and will be sending them in the mail soon...hope they love their little gift and think of me when they wear them :)

my inspiration and tutorial link came from this post on [dandee] showcasing her fun craft camp invitation. i LOVE the original parent trap and her invitation is just adorable!

pops of neon

it's been very gray lately here with on and off showers, so it brightened my day to see this post by a creative mint so wonderfully styled with happy pops of neon. i love my japanese patterned washi tape and try to use it on everything. (what a great idea to use it to mark an event over multiple days on a calendar...and hers is hand-drawn too, LOVE)

make sure to visit the blog a creative mint to see more inspiring photos. (you can even sort by color if you like :)

happy [august] day!

there are so many wonderful people in my life born in the month of august (including my cute cousin trân and my lovely aunt tata quân!) but wanting to wish a happiest of birthdays to my dad today! you deserve a fabulous milestone of a birthday and i hope milo bothers you just a LITTLE bit less to play since it's your special day ;) i miss you and love you so much!!!

[image from pinterest ...i figured it was a manly cupcake]

paper bicycle daily pattern: abstract

it has been surprisingly difficult to find cute stationery here in copenhagen--my recent notebook quest was actually solved by finding a muji section at a department store in malmö. (yes, i do own A LOT of cute blank notebooks but sadly they are currently in the ship container sailing the seven seas)

for one of paper bicycle's daily pattern this week (topic: abstract) i did a pattern in fun colorways i wish i could find on a notebook...if only i had my screenprinting supplies (again, sailing the ocean blue) or knew where a printer was around here, my dreams could come true.

malmö, sweden

last weekend we went to malmö, sweden for a little day trip since it's only a short train ride away. it was such a beautiful and clean city, and everyone was really friendly! the prices are slightly lower than denmark so we were able to pick up a few things for the apartment and do research for future shopping. we had nice sunny weather towards the end of the day and enjoyed a lovely dinner outside.

BONUS...we even saw chris' twin (fifth photo ;)

remember these?

this drawing posted on the kate spade blog is so cute! filed under #thingswelove...i totally agree, the juice was definitely the best part.

around the block

photo 1: view out our kitchen window of the buildings across our courtyards

photo 2: we can hear church bells from this church often

photo 3: cafes with outdoor seating on østerbrogade

photo 4: pedestrians, bikers and cars co-exist in copenhagen with separated paths ;)

photo 5: street view of our apartment building

photo 6: view of cute buildings lined up on østerbrogade

photo 7: DOESN'T THIS LOOK LIKE A MUSTACHE???

we are really lucky because we never visited our temporary apartment before moving here, but the neighborhood is fantastic! there are a lot of restaurants and cafes with outdoor seating and you can always see people walking and biking around. we are near multiple grocery stores and fresh produce stands so you can walk around the block to get food as you need, instead of stocking up and having things go bad.

the apartment is located in the østerbro district which is just north of downtown. we are 1 block off the main road østerbrogade where there are more restaurants, stores, movie theaters, and where you can easily catch a bus to get downtown or out to the suburbs.

i love all of the old danish buildings because they are usually only 4-5 stories tall and all lined up neatly in a row. they are often all different colors and look really cheerful and happy.

WE LIVE IN COPENHAGEN!!!!!

it still feels strange to admit we are here to stay...it sort of feels like we're just on vacation, but with more of our things than usual. i was REALLY sad to leave our family, friends and milo (insert lots of crying) and starting getting super nervous to move. however, with a cup half full, optimistic attitude, maybe we are really adaptable people and we'll just adjust super easily! it isn't at all frustrating we cannot find ziplock bags anywhere...! JUST KIDDING, i am actually super excited for our new adventures!

we flew in on a cloudy weekend, but luckily it never really rained. we went on an unexpected expedition to find pre-paid cell phones because there was construction at a train stop we needed to get to. after we switched trains multiple times (ok, we might have accidentally gone the wrong direction a couple times) waited for buses that never came or were full, we FINALLY made it to the "mall" to find out they closed already! so we went home and had delicious homemade spaghetti sauce (a la chris) with gigantic mushrooms, fresh bread, and relaxed like everyone does in the evenings here. it's actually really nice most places close by 6pm...it forces you to take it easy and hang out with loved ones once you get home from work. what an idea! ;)

happy august

though it might feel like this year is just flying by, summer is not over yet! despite the crazy heat, put on a cute summer dress and make sure to get out there and enjoy some sun and ice cream (or sorbet ;)

i collaborated last year with my friends sarah, maeve and kara on a 2011 calendar which was so much fun! we are slowly being separated (literally...i left, and now maeve has moved to new york) so it'll be even more fun to work on future projects together now that we don't get to see each other every day.

miss you lovely ladies, xo!!!