I’m so happy to introduce the newest man in my life, Darwin:

Do NOT let this Steelers shirt fool you. He’ll have Packers gear in no time if I have anything to say about it.

We picked him up from a great shelter in our area called the North Shore Animal League. I highly recommend it if you’re in the area and looking to adopt a dog. We think he’s about 10 weeks old {which would mean he was born on Lucy’s birthday!} and is a lab/border collie mix.

Needless to say, our hearts are stolen. Now we just have to get past the cuteness and raise him right–the vet thinks he will be between 40 and 70 lbs full-grown.

More puppy posts here and here.

Have a wonderful weekend,

-J

My wonderful roommate showed me this fantastic website U-Konserve. They make awesome reusable products that would (in the long run) save you loads of money. From full sets of lunch kits, totes to super cute little food kozies, everything would be very simple to reuse. My roommate purchased the resuable produce bags, which not only are good for the environment, but they also keep your produce fresher longer. If you have little ones they also have great lunch kits for them as well. I have been trying to bring my lunch to work instead of just getting takeout and with these adorable kits I would want to bring my own.

-Lucy

I like to think of myself as a nerd. I loved school, I love reading and I definitely love learning. When you work in publishing however, the return on the investment of a masters degree is minute at best so I’m not going to be waltzing into a classroom any time soon to get an education fix … definitely something that’s a little heartbreaking to think about. That is, until I learned about the Alt Channel.

The Alt Design Summit is a yearly conference for those who are obsessed with “lifestyle, food and fashion blogs, fantastic images, smart ideas and great design inside and outside — all wrapped up with a social media bow.” These folks come together for a few days, share ideas and meet other bloggers. They’ve got a variety of panels on all things web and blogging related. Needless to say, I’d love to check it out.

For those who’ve missed the summit or don’t know if they’d be afforded the chance to go, the wonderful people at Alt have created the Alt Summit Channel–a variety of interactive online courses held weekly and taught by a variety of experts in the industry. Some of our most favorite bloggers like Jordan of Oh Happy Day and Melanie of You Are My Fave have spoken at the conference and Melanie will be holding a few online classes a month.

They limit class sizes to 100 people and registration for each class is $15, but I’m thinking it’ll be money well spent. My inner nerd is thrilled with the possibilities of attending classes that actually rock from the comfort of my couch.

P.S. Check out this awesome list of blogs to follow from the Alt website.

P.P.S.  Cool Alt picture seen above is from here.

P.P.P.S. I know my post this week haven’t been in true ILIN fashion so I’d like to extend my apologies if you’re a little bored {although I sincerely hope you aren’t!}. We’ll be back to your regularly scheduled programming shortly.

-J

Ahh… simple, wonderful basics. The refreshing layout of The Supply Room makes shopping online rather simple. With everything in one place you hover over the image to see an item’s name and its cost. You can shop by categories, but I rather like making little outfits in my mind and pairing up whatever is near each other on the page. I would love a section of my closet from here.

-Lucy

Last week, we received a little award from a fellow blogger called the Liebster.

I’d never heard of such a thing, but it’s a wonderful way to spread some love around the web to blogs with small audiences. Michelle, the wonderful blogger who honored us with this award, also discovered that liebster is a German word meaning “sweetheart, beloved person, darling or liked very much” … I can definitely get on board with this thing.

When you’re awarded the Liebster there are some rules to follow, including:

• Awarding five other blogs that you read and enjoy to give the Liebster award to. They should ideally have fewer than 200 followers {a few of the ones we picked have over 200 but no more than 1,000 followers. I think. It’s hard to tell}.
• Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them–see above, thanks Michelle!
• Post the award on your blog.
• List the bloggers you gave the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.
• Share 5 random facts about yourself.

I love, I need would like to award Liebsters–and include fun shots from their blogs–to the following bloggers in no particular order:

• rosenbklyn by Sarah Rosenberg
• Miss Moss by Diana
• Matt Alberts Photography by Matt Alberts
• Inspire; to breathe by Suzanne
• lucky enough by Lizzy {a friend of Lucy’s!}

rosenbklyn

Miss Moss

Matt Alberts Photography

Inspire; to breathe

lucky enough

Thank you for having such wonderful, fresh and fun content folks! We’re happy to read you and support small blogs.

Now, a few fun facts about Lucy and me:

• We drove a 1995 Buick Regal–complete with fake rag-top–named Gertrude until she died in our garage this winter. One year, there was an ice cream sandwich in the back seat that wasn’t found, and mysteriously never melted, for at least four months.
• We both interned at Us Weekly magazine in New York.
• Even though we’ve been predominately on the East Coast for years, I was born in Arkansas and Lucy was born in Michigan.
• Our mom sells drugs and our dad sells booze–no joke. Our mom’s a pharmaceutical sales rep and our dad works in the liquor industry.
• We both hate roses and love mint chocolate chip ice cream. The green kind with the chocolate shavings.

-J

A magnetic make-up board from Laura. I think that this is truly a fabulous idea, especially the brushes. I have loads of eyeshadows stored away that I never use. I do think before I tackle this one I’m going to have to go through my old makeup and add some new editions. I also think this could be a clever idea for spices in a pantry or just general organization, too.

I loooove this idea from A Beautiful Mess. The letters are put onto an old canvas (she used a paint-by-the-numbers canvas) and then the whole piece is painted white. Then, you peel off the letters and voila… your letters stand out with whatever background was behind it. This seems a little bit hard to me, but one of those projects that once you start it’ll all be okay. I’m just so torn on what to write now!

These enamel-painted vases would be an awesome edition to my little vase collection on the cheap. Dollar store vases? I’m into it. Another great DIY from the same place as above. You should really check out A Beautiful Mess, that blog is just fantastic fantastic.

Ummm… hi. If I was to see these in a shop I would easily buy six of them. I love that the girls from Honestly WTF (great name) posted this bracelet DIY because it is wonderful. I remember when I was younger at camp making loads of friendship bracelets, but these are actually wearable. Get prepared, Jess… some are coming your way.

-Lucy

How perfect would each and every one of these items from Branch be for a movie night? A little wine + candles +  popcorn in cute bowls + a snuggly blanket. Sounds just about perfect to me.

Off Pitcher + Cup, $246

Italian Carafe + Wine Glasses, $178-$378

Arroyo Candle Blocks, $26-$38

Striped Wool Blanket, $180-$348

Coconut Lacquerware Bowls, $14.40

P.S. Branch is a pretty cool company with a smart focus on sustainable design. Check out some more information about them here.

-J

Swooning intensely over Odette jewelry. Sometimes statement pieces are just perfect, like the ones Jess wrote about earlier this week, but for everyday wear I normally stick to simple pieces. Everyday I wear a plain silver bangle, my silver Claddagh ring  and a watch. However, I would love to add one of these pictured above to my usual jewelry routine.

-Lucy