Happy {Haunting} Weekend

I hope everyone has a Halloween weekend filled with more treats than tricks!

images via anna lilja, dust jacket attic, brooklyn limestone, ruven afanador

Just be sure to watch out for what goes bump in the night!

Update: Thanks so much to everyone who entered to win the Wiley Valentine card giveaway. It makes me so happy to see that the love of traditional snail-mail is still alive and well. All card markers take heart!

And, the winner of the Wiley Valentine card grab bag is: Clare Howell of Eyes Wide Open. Congrats Clare! Email apt34blog {at} gmail {dot} com with your full address and we will send you your prize.

Happy Halloween luvies!

Tag It and Bag It

I love the little details in life. A well-placed stack of magazines, a throw tossed over a chair just so, or the perfect ribbon to top off a well-wrapped package make all the difference in the world.

I think the holidays must be on my mind because great gift tags are catching my eye today.

Like these sweet little numbers from Faded Plains would be great to mark a birthday or anniversary.

I would love to tie these gorgeous zinc cards from Un Esprit en Plus on a fall buffet as food labels. 

Adding a personal note never looked so good than with custom card from Duet Letterpress that attach with a mini-clothespin!

But of course a picture is worth a thousand words as these tags by Sara Norris illustrate so beautifully. 

spotted on simple song and simply grove

Hope you're able to enjoy some fun details today!

Wedding Wednesday {Giveaway}

To celebrate the completion of a major wedding planning milestone - sending out our save the date announcements, we have a great giveaway for you - a grab bag of amazing greeting cards by Wiley Valentine.

Wiley Valentine creates wedding invitations, stationary, note cards and all things us paper addicts adore. They are generously offering Apt#34 readers a card grab bag that includes flat and letterpress greetings and their environmentally friendly seed cards.

This is a card lover's dream prize people!

To enter, visit Wiley Valentine, peruse their lovely cards and then leave a comment here letting us know which one is your fave. A winner will be chosen at random at noon on Friday, Oct. 30 and notified via email.

Bonus: If you follow Apt#34 on twitter and tweet (or retweet) this giveaway you'll get an extra five entires.

In the meantime head to Wiley Valentine's blog for great wedding inspiration here. 

Good luck!

Wedding Wednesday {Paper}

On Saturday we hit the six month mark until the wedding! Proper wedding etiquette will tell you that destination weddings call for save the date announcements to be sent out at least 6 months in advance. 

Luckily, I love all things related to wedding invitations so I had a blast coming up with ideas and now that they've been sent I get to share the final product with you.

We came up with the idea of using vintage Mexican postcards . Fun, right? But hard to find. Thank gawd for Amazon and replicas!

I'm thrilled to announce that we decided to work with the uberfabulous Brown Sugar Design for our wedding invitations (more on their amazing work in the weeks to come!). 

Brown Sugar gave us the brilliant idea of having a custom stamp made to simplify the save the date process even more. I couldn't be happier with the final product.

The finishing touch was to put each postcard in a brown envelope tied up with string - it reminded me of old airmail packages and gives the recipients something to open.

The announcements should be hitting mailboxes as I type this post so I guess there's no backing out now. ;) 

In celebration of my love of all things paper I'll be featuring an amazing giveaway later today. Be sure to check back - you won't want to miss it!

In the meantime, be sure to check out Brown Sugar Design for more paper inspiration!

A Night On the Town

In prepping for a near and dear's birthday celebration tomorrow evening, I'm working on the answer to every girl's favorite eternal question. What do I wear?

In recessionary times, it often makes the most economic sense to take some basics out of your closet and reinvent them with an accessory or two.

For example, take staples like a simple tank, slacks, blazer and booties, all in a neutral shade... 

look by apiece apart via unruly things

And add some dazzle with a brilliantly jeweled cuff and feathered bag. Suddenly, you're the belle of the ball. 

I'm sure the birthday girl won't mind.

Perfectly Composed

When I'm feeling a little less than put together I find solace in a fabulously styled inspiration space. 

images via pia ulin, anna lilja and sharyn cairns

Even if it's the smallest of corners, a well-placed pillow, the just-right light and a few of favorite baubles can make all the difference in the world. 

I hope you find a lovely corner to curl up in sometime today.

Monday Work Wear

I'm in a bit of denial that another weekend has come and gone so, if it's alright with you, I think I'll drag a little weekend casual into Monday.

looks via plaisirs simples, stylesightings, stockholm streetstyle and streethearts

Dress a t-shirt, chuck taylors or flat boots up just right and they're totally office friendly.

Happy Monday!

Happy {Pretty} Weekend

Ahhh, Friday is finally here. Did that seem to take awhile for anyone else?

I've got quite an itinerary set for this weekend with football games, family visits, and planning for a certain BFF's birthday!

photo via russian elle

It should all be lovely. Here are some other pretty things you might have missed this week.

A pretty perspective

Gorgeous boots

A lovely picnic

Pretty in pink

More pretty in pink

Pretty grey

Till Monday luvies!

Lost and Found

I recently posted these fabulous shoes.

I believe I found the girl who was lucky enough to be wearing them.

pics via stockholmstreetstyle and garance dore

Equally stunning, don't you think.

Sitting Pretty

If you gotta work, then you might as well make it look good. If my office and desktop were this lovely, I could gladly work 24/7.

photo 1 randi brookman, photo 2 lara casey

Need more inspiration to get you through the week - check out plenty of lust worthy office spaces here.

Happy almost Friday!

Grrrrr

Why isn't it Friday yet?!

photo by Michelangelo di Battista via {bits of beauty}

I'm just sayin'....

The Perfect Table

I realize I posted about our wedding tabletop inspiration last week but then I spotted the most amazing wedding dinner set-up that I just couldn't resist sharing.

I mean, get a load of that tent!

via erin ever after and green wedding shoes

Even though we're going to have a much smaller gathering and be on the beach, do you think I could replicate it? Did you see the chandeliers!

Of course, I'd change a few colors and make a tweak or two but I think this look is total perfection. Let the swooning begin.

Wedding Wednesday {Honeymooning}

As we've embarked on the wedding planning, the man and I have been advised, and wisely so, to actually go on a full fledged honeymoon trip because those well-intentioned promises of getting to it "someday" or "when we can really afford it" always seem to slip down the priority ladder.

So after much hemming and hawing we've begun to make our honeymoon destination decisions and the first place on the list (with more to come) is...Venice!

all images via dustjacket attic

I can't think of anything more romantic than strolling arm-in-arm past the canals, sipping cappuccino all morning and vino all afternoon, doing little else than watching the gondolas float past. 

After all, Italy is the epicenter of la dolce vita. Not a bad way to begin a life of marital bliss!

PS. all travel recommendations welcome - so you Italy aficionados, please comment!

Two Lines to Love

The fall collections from Juliette Hogan and Dace make me feel like I'm the strong female lead in a novel set in the English countryside.

via simple song and simply photo

These powerfully feminine looks have me actually considering ditching my daily uniform of jeans, jeans and more jeans.

Olive It

There is nothing better than gorgeous simplicity, which the Scandinavians have in spades and Oliver Furniture is no exception.

via fee-amore

Yes, I'll move right in, thank you for asking.