And, here it is...

I may or may not have ever mentioned before that I took on my college yearbook as one of my independent studies, senior year of college.  LONG, long story short, my blood, sweat and tears went into this - ok...maybe not those three things but A LOT of me did go into this book.  It isn't perfect, some didn't come out as I had hoped, but you live and learn (Ya know - some pixelated images...distorted photos...eh).  Also, being that the creation of the book from beginning to print took 2 years...some of the earlier designs I didn't care for as much near the end.  For the most part though - I was excited to have physically, in print, something I created 90% of in my hands.....and for hundreds of students I graduated with to also have it.  We had the book printed by Jostens and attended one of their yearbook cover conventions where one of their designers created our cover from our ideas (which is why, even though it isn't terrible, I wouldn't have chose that particular font for the cover, nor aligned it how they did in particular - but I'm over it  :)  I was excited for the black, matte, linen cover with full-color, gloss images that we (somehow?) got them to approve in the budget! Also, this was the first all-color book for the university AND was the LAST yearbook the university approved in their budget!  All in all, I think it looks great!  Most of the photography was from my Professor/Photographer Joseph Sharp.  I also had some help from a fellow student/friend/designer/editor Kimberly Sing.  Here are some bits and pieces from the book for you to check out.  (If you are a pictured here and do not want to be, let me know and I will take it down).

Cali.

Just saw this commercial for the "Visit California" campaign and I though it was pretty creative.  They throw you off guard by talking about misconceptions of California and then in the next frame...well you just need to watch it yourself :)  I thought it was fun, showed great scenes...and if I didn't already want to visit California someday, it would make me want to!

Visit California - Misconceptions:

Here is another video called "Find Yourself Here" from their campaign. I think is a clever play on words.

Gold and Silver, Gold and Silver

Gold Coin and Silver Dollar Revlon nail polishes are my new favorites!!  Here they are paired with silver earrings similar to ones I have and adore as well as an awesome gold ring I want something just like!

Breakfast at Tiffany's

I finally got around to seeing Breakfast at Tiffany's the other weekend. It is such a fun movie. Audrey Hepburn is GORGEOUS and they had some awesome fashions in this movie. Here are a few of my favorites:

Channeling Summer

This is an inspiration board I have put together as I dream of summer ;)  I have both of these nail polish colors and I LOVE them.

1. New York Color - Spring Street
2. Revlon - Ocean
3. Fish Necklace
4. Gold Gladiators
5. Starfish Ring

European Glory

It is no secret that I want to get to Europe someday...and hopefully someday in the next few years!? I obviously want to go to Paris since I have studied French and I also want to get to Rome since, come-on, I am Italian! Hopefully this dream will become a reality sooner than later! I came across this photographer Irene Suchocki recently. She is from Montreal but has many photographs - droolworthy photographs of European Cities. Here are a few of my absolute favorites: (excuse me as I melt...)

Kate Ryan

Long story, short - I have been trying to re-learn/remember the French language lately.  I took 3 years of French in school, but haven't had any in 4 years...so a lot has been forgotten.  There are a few songs by Belgian singer/songwriter Kate Ryan that I have liked for a while now, "Desenchantee" and "Libertine".  The other day I was looking for more French music to listen to (listening to it has also helped me remember more vocabulary), and I came across this song, "L.I.L.Y.".  I don't like her English songs as much as the ones in french, but I noticed in the opening scene of this video that it was taped in the Propellor Island City Lodge room I posted about before!

 

Whats your fortune?

As a follow-up to my post "Fortune Cookie?", here is an AWESOME Fortune Cookie Coin Purse I found the other day.  The price isn't as awesome but they are still super-cute!

No Kid Hungry

I saw an ad recently for the organization "No Kid Hungry" and I really thought that their logo was great.  The graphic is a silhouette of a bitten apple and then cut out to the core are the faces of two children.  It perfectly ties in the meaning of the campaign to make "no kid hungry".

Kate Spade Valentines

I am not an enormous fan of this holiday, but I came across these cute Kate Spade Valentines!  Here are 3 of my favorites:

Super-cool scarves!

I stumbled across these scarves by Green Eyed Monster the other day and fell in LOVE... They cost anywhere from $60- $95 which is OUTrageous in my personal opinion.  When I initially see things like this I often consider whether it is something I can make myself.  While sifting on www.Craftgawker.com I came across THIS TUTORIAL how to make a very similarly styled scarf.  I definitely plan to try it out myself, but here are the Green Eyed Monster scarves:

Pistachio Crusted Pork Tenderloin

The other weekend I bought a Black and Decker 2-in-1 Food Processor and Blender with a gift card I received for Christmas for Macy*s!  I was so excited to use it, but didn't know what to make!  I had pork tenderloin in my fridge and pistachios in my cabinet - so VOILA - Pistachio Crusted Pork Tenderloin.  Bonus was that I could chop the pistachios with my new food processor!  This is my adapted RecipeQuick Pistachio Crusted Roasted Pork Tenderloin recipe:

Ingredients
3/4 cup shelled pistachios
1 lb pork tenderloin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pistachios in a food processor and blend until finely chopped. Season pork with salt and pepper. Place pistachios in a shallow baking dish. Roll the pork in the pistachios to coat, pressing lightly to adhere. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add pork and cook, turning frequently, until pistachios are lightly browned. Transfer pork to a tinfoil lined baking sheet. Add the cream and wrap the pistachio covered pork loin in tinfoil. Bake pork about 45 minutes until cooked through. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes before slicing and serving with pan sauce.

This recipe was also made as my "new recipe of the month" which was a part of my list of 11 resolutions for 2011. I have never made this kind of pork before, but I was very pleased and WILL be making it again. It was so juicy, the cream kept it moist while baking and it mixed so well with the nutty flavor of the pistachios!
Here are photos from the proccess!

Purr.

While flipping through Magazines at B&N the other day I came across an ad for Katy Perry's new perfume "Purr".  I'm not going to lie that the pink and purple as well as the cheetah print absolutely caught my attention.  I am definitely not one for buying "celebrity perfumes" but I give them credit for a nice job advertising.  Purple IS my favorite color and the cat bottle is cute but I don't think the (awesome) cat suit that Katy is wearing goes as well with the more geometric bottle. I was expecting something more curvy and possibly cheetah-like, but the bottle is sexy - especially with the glowing "crystal" eyes.  I think the cat mask she has on her head ties the cat bottle in well.  The use of the huge yarn ball was clever too!  As for the type treatments in this ad - I always have likes the way Katy Perry's name is branded. I think the name "Purr" is designed perfectly how I would expect a sexy cat-like brand to be.  The "Earn My Affection" content at the bottom appropriately ties in the "cat" theme, and although it works - the cliche "perfume-ad" font is used for this text.  All together I think its a successful and hot ad!  ...Now, where can I get myself that costume ;)

 

Fruit Present?

Hmmm do you prefer some 3107's, 4011's or 4032's....ok enough of the dorky produce PLU humor.  I saw these over on Dieline the other day, the designers are Happy F&B. I thought they were a pretty creative wrapping for gifts. I especially love that the opposite side of the paper reflects what the inside of the various fruits look like AND the stickers designed like true fruit stickers are awesome too!

Crocheted Hat.

This is the hat I crocheted the other day for my friends' 9 month old baby girl! I made her a hat similar in blue and green tones with a yarn poof on the top for Christmas.  I used both single and double crochet stitches and changed my needle size throughout the process.  I used THIS  YouTube video to learn the stitches for the basic crocheted hat.  Then I double crocheted the flaps and added braided bunches of yarn to each side for decoration. The circle is also adorned with an eggplant purple button.  Crocheted hats are so versatile, they can be crocheted into many different sizes with different types of yarn to suit just about anyone!

lace cocktail dresses

Just a few lace cocktail dresses I fancy ;)

1. White Dess
2. Silver Dress
3. Black Dress