here's to the new year...

On a short walk in the snow the other night {emphasis on short}, Ryan and I started talking about our favorite memories from 2009. When I look back on the year, without fail, all of my favorites were times without plan, agenda, or schedule... trips, specific days, or even seasons that we were able to just follow where they unknowingly led.... lazy days in the pool, road trips, nights on the couch, impromptu walks, and specifically one of my favorite nights on our trip up north east...

One night in Washington, DC, all the museums had closed; there are a few monuments we wanted to catch, but besides that, we were clueless. Ironically, that night, there happened to be a local vendor food market set up on a side street, so we wandered through and purchased, cheeses, breads, meats, fruits, crackers, breads, and homemade baked goods. We ran into a wine store, grabbed a bottle and some plastic cups, and made our way over to the "mall" area, made a little picnic by the Washington Monument, chatted, and watched the sunset. We, then, slowly meandered over to the Lincoln monument where we got to juts sit and soak it up... finally making our way over to the Vietnam monument and White House. It was pretty much perfect.

Nights like that make me wish life just went more slowly, more unplanned, more free... where we could just float along where ever the Lord might lead... seeing things and meeting people along the way... the way life was meant to be...

Here's to 2010: unplanned, unscheduled, and as a follower of the plan that we cannot control... but only be along on for the ride.

thoughts for the day.

Merry (late) Christmas! xoxo, the Fraziers

Hope you all had a magical Christmas... ours was quick and jam packed with both of our huge families, but so wonderful & relaxing! I feel like I have been MIA in the blogosphere...
Some of you asked how we did your Christmas cards this year, so I thought I would share! They were relatively easy, and they just took a bit assemble.

I designed them as 5 x 7 postcards, so I still had to pay regular postage, since the limitation is 4 x 6. (whoops!) (+ $.04 for the envelope that stuck out.)

I got the 5 x 7 document printed at Thomas Reprographics on an ivory, textured card stock. We do a lot of business with TR, and they always do a stellar job, so I try to give them all my personal jobs, as well. They printed 2 sided 5 x 7 postcards & the 2 x 3.5 insert cards.

I ordered my envelopes from envelopemall.com. They are always fast, efficient, & cost effective.

Finally, I used Walmart.com to order our prints through. I know, I know.. Walmart is not the greatest quality, but they are always inexpensive & quick. They will also drop ship to our local Neighborhood Walmart, so they are good enough for me.
Ryan was a HUGE help & we just used Super 77 spray adhesive (which, I swear by) to mount the stuffed envelopes and the photo to the postcard. Then all we had left to do was stamp those suckers and address them!

How crazy is it that 2010 is already knocking at our door... tis the season!

FB, I'm impressed.

Today, I stumbled across this print blog & became obsessed... I then saw these images produced by Facebook {of all companies?} and was blown away:

Apparently, Facebook, as a holiday gift to some of its top advertising clients, typically gives money to donate to a charity of their choice. This year, they decided to do an art poster and I am in L.O.V.E.! Facebook's in- house Communication Design Team got to work, and pretty much blew everyone away.

From the monochromatic graphics, to the logo, to the foil & rubber stamping, then to the letter pressing... {sigh.} Oh, and then there's the silk screened wooden token representing a donation to a school of their choice...

How refreshing for an online company to use such beautiful vehicles in print for the holidays... moreover with such rich textures and mediums.

Facebook, who knew you had it in you...?

read more here at FPO.

i know, another food post.

We went for a little Holiday D. team lunch to the new Maple & Motor today... the burgers were excellent, and if we had not have been at work, one of their beers on tap would have washed down the beer-battered onion rings and cheese fries just perfectly. I love the 50's diner feel, with stainless steel, deep, dark wood, and bright vinyl. Moreover, I love that they maintained the integrity of the architecture... it is fast paced, greasy, loud, and fabulous.

The kicker : whoopie pies for dessert. I fainted at the counter.

I would definitely, highly, absolutely recommend. enjoy.

Maple & Motor Burgers & Beer
4810 Maple Ave, at Clara St; Oak Lawn; 214.522.4400

soup.

New York mag recently published Fifty of the City's Tastiest Soups.

This article makes me:

A) Want to throw on a peacoat & Uggs, and hop on the nearest plane to beloved NY.

B) Make this ingenious list for the Dallas area.

C) Holdup the Chefs at these restaurants by gunpoint & demand for them to divulge the ingredients of these recipes.

read here.

{via here.}

pizza thursdays.

Fact: Ryan and I have Pizza ate least once a week, most of the time, twice.

Wine & Pizza Thursdays has become out tradition of sorts... Thursdays are such a tempting taste of the weekend, and pizza just happens to make the day a tad bit sweeter. {I gather its not the healthiest of habits, but you gotta do what you gotta do.} I can't wait to carry on the tradition when we have kids... it just seems like a fun, scrumptious little kick start to the weekend.... thin crust. lots of gooey mozzarella & Colby jack cheese. roasted garlic marinara. purple onion. peperoni. Parmesan. hot pepper. oregano. basil. pepperocini. parsley. minced garlic. pineapple. bell pepper. mmmm mmmm. {Our pizza stone is gaining oodles of character as the weeks progress...}

Last night we got to share our pizza tradish with some best freinds... It was a nice sneak peek into what life will hopefully look like 30+ years down the road, hopefully with little nuggets running around, bellies full & pizza sauce smeared all over their little faces.

Sounds just delightful...

ink.

Interesting little project conducted by Matt Robinson. I am obsessed & intrigued with any and all typography and the art there of, so this experiment just happened to strike my fancy and pose very useful for my daily work endeavors. {although, I am not the one purchasing the ink... I am trying to ethically & economically be more aware and attune to my 'footprint.'}

Project:

"A selection of the most commonly used typefaces were compared for how economical they are with the amount of ink which they use at the same point size. Large scale renditions of the typefaces were drawn out with ballpoint pens, allowing the remaining ink levels to display the ink efficiency of each typeface." {see image above.}

read more here.

{via here.}

hope.

We hope & we pray for the Chandlers.

Encouragement on Matt & Hope versus Desire: here.

Please pray for the Chandlers and our church.

We trust in hope.

cheer.

Just a heads up, iTunes is offering a FREE Holiday Sampler Selection... and it is legit. They are featuring artists such as Sarah McLachlan , Lady Antebellum , Mannheim Steamroller , Charlotte Church , Weezer , and Aretha Franklin... go get it & enjoy. I just had to spread the cheer...

underground.

Check out this beautiful underground home in a small Swiss Village. I can't get over the texture and lighting.... and the architectural lines and shapes. {sigh} The natural, muted pallet makes the space feel so earthy & raw, however it still somehow maintains a sophisticated, homey sense. I am so impressed. How great would that be to walk out, sipping your coffee, grab some firewood, sit on the perch to catch a quick view, and slip back inside for a spell to sit by the hearth & read? {double sigh.}

Read more here.

{via here.}

paparazzi.

I snuck in these pics over the past week while they were catching some Zzzz's together. They are my best friends, pretty much my favorite, and the perfect way to end my day. I feel pretty blessed.

Cutie how-to on homemade gift bows... the map one is by far my favorite. Such a perfect, chic detail for all you little recessionistas out there.

{via how about orange.}

NY 2010.

How perfect are these for a New Years party? I found them on UO a couple of weeks ago, and then soon discovered them all over the blogosphere. {I guess I am obviously not the only stalker of their web goodies.} Fabulous, simple designs with such a festive sensibility... I can't get enough. Confetti System partnered with Urban for this fabulous line... and all I have to say is "thank you. thank you. thank you."

goodies.

Sweet, thoughtful friends started off the holiday cheer just perfectly & dropped off these beautiful little ditties... I stole the last pics from her blog, but the cookies were received were just as pretty! Thank you L & S... they were just devine.

"extra, extra, read all about it..."

The December issue of Lonny Magazine is out! Yipppeee... it is just oozing with fabulous design & inspiration.

Christmas time.

Its Christmas time at the Fraziers! This is my favorite time of year... no matter where you go, everywhere just feels cozier and more inviting... even work. Even still, all I want to do is rush home and start a fire, turn on the tree, and just be. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

{excuse the yellow photos, Ry needs to teach me the white balance on our camera apparently.}

K.S.

Oh Kate, you did good this season... real good. I want it all.

fav. blog.

Imagine my delight when one of my favorite blogs, STYLE/swoon, featured a really, really special, near & dear project to my heart on her blog. A lot of my team's blood, sweat, & tears went into this. She is the owner of the Dallas based design firm, Swoon, who's responsible for the event planning & some interior of the Winspear & Wyly, among many others. So proud! :)

Check it out here.

DIY.

I saw some book page wreaths in one of the recent Pottery Barn catalogues and thought, "humph, I am not paying that much for that, " so I put glue gun to paper and figured out how to do it myself. I took pics a long the way to share. Enjoy! I spent $0.00... and I while I know that there is "no such thing as a free lunch," (thank you BU macro economics) I think I can at least chalk it up to a pretty thrifty Christmas decoration.

Supplies:
- Cardboard Scraps (I cut up a corrugated cardboard box from Sam's)
- Paperback novel (Grabbed an unneeded one off the bookshelf)
- Brown craft paint
- Glue gun & glue sticks
- Small strip of ribbon

1. Get together all your supplies... find a book with "yellowed pages" to create a vintage feel.
2. Using a stiff paintbrush, I applied the brown paint to the edges of the book. I simply squirted some paint onto brush and painted it on the edges of the book. Set aside to dry.

3. Instead of buying a wreath, I just cut up some scraps of cardboard and glued them together in a square wreath shape. (It worked just as well.)

4. After the pages were dry, I cut a page out of the book and you can either fan or roll it. Remember to roll the paper and not actually fold or crease it. Only fold the bottom of each page up after fanning, created a tab to glue on. Make sure that the painted edges are facing up and you only glue on the tab.

5) To fill in the wreath, you'll simply roll a page, apply glue to the ends, and just stick it to the cardboard. After covering the whole wreath, you will want to add some filler pages for the sparse areas. The filler pages don't necessarily need to touch the cardboard; they can stick to the pages already glued to the wreath, if need be. Use the filler pages to fill in holes & add some height and visual interest to your wreath. I also cut the pages at different lengths to create dimension, as well.

8. After I was finished filling in, I flipped my wreath over and glued some red ribbon on the back to serve as a hanger.

9. Hang in desired location... here she is, my free, thrifty, recessionista wreath...

{and this was the look I received from Senga as I destructively tore the novel apart... she's a bit confused that I can do this and she can't.}

Enjoy!