daydreaming of barcelona

Posted by kait / January 31, 2012

I am daydreaming of Barcelona. I just applied to attend a conference there this spring and I have my fingers crossed extra tight that I’ll get approved for travel funding. I was first intrigued when my sweetheart of a friend went there for a music festival a couple of years ago. Every one of her photos looked magical and lovely. The second time I wanted to know more was when Marbella left her heart in Barcelona. It is a truly beautiful city and I can’t wait to visit it one day – hopefully sooner than later.

Do you have any Barcelona stories? x

images // 2 // 3

mod life

Posted by kait / January 31, 2012

So nice to just throw on a dress and some opaque tights and be ready to go. ‘Tis the mod life, right?

sundance recap

Posted by kait / January 30, 2012

After finally getting a good night’s sleep, Kate and I were up and off for the rest of our weekends. Dropping me off at the delightful Les Madeleines Cafe to meet up with the Big Cartel peeps, Kate continued her journey to another day of important Outdoor Retailer meetings. Au revoir to my lovely roommate!

Big Cartel was having an informal breakfast at the aforementioned cafe on the Saturday morning and I was lucky to be a part of it – thanks to my big win the day – I won a store for life from them! So exciting. Anyways, it was so great to spend some time with Anna and the crew and learn a bit more about Big Cartel and the possibilities for my future online store.

Before I knew it – it was time to head to Park City to meet up with Amy and the rest of the Sundance posse. Just my luck, that day the snow started it up and there was accidents and backed-up traffic all the way to Park City. I was one of the last ones in the shuttle to be dropped off and the blizzard was in full effect. I was hanging out at the condo for one hour and it snowed one whole foot! Insane!

When I finally met up with everyone we headed to the Spin Magazine Lounge at BingBar and caught a couple rappers doing their thing on stage there. Didn’t catch their names but it was pretty decent. A quick dinner and we were off to the screening of Wrong featuring Amy’s friend Charley – otherwise known as Neil on Community. The film was quirky and weird and funny. The director was pompous and odd and ridiculous throughout the Q & A. So, we just KNEW we had to go to the afterparty! It was at a local pizza joint and I have to say the best part was watching my favourite MadTV girl Arden Myrin dance the night away to the sweet sounds of the handsome .

We got back to the condo at around 3am with plans to wake again at 8am to attend a panel session with Spike Lee about his new film and to get photos done at the Acura Lounge. The panel was interesting and I was left feeling like I wish I was sticking around to see his film. Only the next day I read reviews in line that it was terribly horrible. Phew, that was a close one!

Suddenly, it was time to head back to the condo to catch my shuttle and head to the airport. Home again after an incredibly inspiring five days. Thanks to everyone I spent time with and helped make it the most wonderful time! xo

alt summit recap: the best things come in the form of bloggers pt 2

Posted by kait / January 28, 2012

After s short night’s sleep (its near impossibly to snooze when your mind is jam-packed full of ideas, reflections, and thoughts) it was back up the Grand America for some round table discussions. So informative and interesting and a great networking experience.

The first panel of the day included two of my absolute top favourite bloggers! It was all about growing your readership and featured Jordan Ferney from Oh Happy Day! and Nicole Balch from Making it Lovely. The other two panelists are also fantastic – Kelly Beall from Design Crush and Maggie Mason of Mighty Girl. It was great to hear concrete and feasible ways to grow the readership of your blog and see the results of all that hard work.

The second keynote session of the summit was incredible. Can I just say that the quality of the speakers at Alt Summit is a bit mind-blowing? Honestly, I was awestruck. Anyways, let me tell you that was our lunchtime speaker – yes, Ben Silbermann – the creator of Pinterest. His keynote was so inspiring and to hear about everything worked out for him in terms of the website and getting through tough times was just….perfect. Thank you Ben for creating something that brings me new inspiration everyday, makes sharing ideas exciting and beautiful, and promotes a community of sorts. In love with the story of Pinterest, really.

The afternoon was equally inspiring. I sat in on the seminar about Building a Personal Brand. I was curious about how to successfully do such a thing. The speakers were stunning: Camille Styles, Cassandra Lavelle, Hunter Sebresos, and Jasmine Star. Oh, Jasmine Star. That girl kept me laughing until I was crying with her incredible wit and “keeping it real” nature. I hardly took a single note during this session – how could I when all I could do was be mesmerized by these perfectly “branded” panelists?! It was interesting to see how they branded themselves over the years and worked on developing their signature look for their websites. I will definitely take some pointers for these ladies – experts they are, indeed.

The last seminar for the entire Summit was a keynote called Designing Your Life by the one, the only, Gretchen Rubin. Yes, that Gretchen Rubin – of The Happiness Project. Someone who is famous for learning how to be happy everyday doing what she loves. I’ve read her blog several times but definitely need to pick up a copy of the book. She was such an eloquent speaker – full of beautiful wisdom and ways to make your life full of happiness – easy ways to do this in fact. I look forward to learning more from Gretchen in the future – her genuine and authentic energy has got me hooked.

The Mini Parties!

After picking up adorable gifts for Byron and my family at the best toy store in the world, Jou Jou, I settled in at a fancy desk in the halls of the Grand America and caught up on emails until Kate arrived from her conference. We quickly got ready and went up to the six mini parties that were being held as a final farewell to this year’s summit.

Check out what was planned for the evening:

– Spend a Night in Paris with The Girls With Glasses and Pinhole Press
– Ring in the Chinese New Year with the Kirtsy girls and HP Wall Art
– Enjoy a Vintage Wine + Truffle Tasting with Victoria of A Subtle Revelry and Blurb
– Pull a rabbit out of your hat at a Night of Magic with Shift
– Snap a few shots in the Sparkly Smilebooth with Melanie of You Are My Fave, Danyelle of Dandee Designs, Susan of Freshly Picked and Method
– Join both Janine of Uppercase and Squarespace for a night of interactive fun and some great takeaways with Handmade by You
– Transport yourself to A Summer Afternoon with Wilsonart
– Act like a ski bunny in a Cozy Lodge with Rue La La

We had so much fun in all of the photobooths, making beaded necklaces, and drinking delicious cocktails. What a fun evening!
After escaping the madness of the Mini Parties, Kate, Phoebe and I loaded up ourselves with all our gift bags and decided to hit up the nearby Whole Foods. I LOVE Whole Foods. It is my favourite grocery store in the world – except for maybe Trader Joes. Actually, I think they are pretty much tied for first place. Anyways, so I was in my grocery store mecca with their aisles and aisles of gluten-free goodness. I bought yummy granola and gluten-free wasabi peas & rice crackers and sushi for a late-night dinner. It was great – the three of us pushing around our three carts full of swag and fun groceries. And then we realized we somehow had to get back to our hotels. Luckily, Phoebe had made friends with a cabbie in town and he drove us home for $10! What a difference from the $40 cab ride I had the night before. Ah well, tis life sometimes, right?!

We settled in and went through the purging process of decided swag to bring home with us and what not to. Kate also attended the Outdoor Retailer expo at the same time so she also had tons of baseball caps, slippers, and toques that she had to figure out how to fit into her suitcases. What a whirlwind.

More on my breakfast with the Big Cartel people and heading off to the winter wonderland of Park City for Sundance Film Fest later. Now tell me all about your ALT experience.

alt summit recap: how to fall in even more love with the internet pt 1

Posted by kait / January 27, 2012

What an incredible journey last week was. Three days at Altitude Design Summit and 24hrs at Sundance Film Festival.

Its funny, quite often I am such a details person that other times I don’t pay attention to details at all. That is how I ended up at the wrong Marriott Hotel upon my arrival to Salt Lake City. That is also how I ended up at the Market Street Grill and not the Market Street Broiler the same night for the Wednesday Hosted By Dinner. I made it there thankfully and was greeted by a table of wonderful people. It turned out that our dinner was hosted by and Erica from DailyBuzzLuxe and they welcomed everyone with gift bags of lovely products – all completely luxe of course. I’m still smitten with my Sugar Lip Treatment. Mmm! I was lucky to sit with some fabulous women at the dinner including the inspiring and strong Mara, the adorable and fun , and the wonderful designer Regan. Headed back to the hotel afterwards and waited for my roomie Kate to arrive after a super long day of travel.

I honestly did not know what to expect on the first day of Alt Summit. The quality of the sessions and keynote speakers were absolutely incredible. I was blown away by everything they said and I still have not completely absorbed it all.

First up was Site Design Do’s & Don’ts featuring my amazing friend Alyssa Yuhas. She is a local designer, blogger, and magazine maker – so pretty much one of the most creatively awesome people I’ve ever met. I couldn’t miss her talk as I knew it would be full of meaningful advice on how to make your site look beautiful and worthy of plenty of reads. Alyssa shared the panel with three other women: Arianne Foulks, Christine Castro Hughes, Laurie Smithwick. It was the perfect moment when they started getting into all of the nitty gritty of site design and I realized I was here, at Alt Summit, and I was going to learn SO much over the next 48 hours.

Building Relationships with Sponsors and Ad Networks was brought to you by Erin Loechner, Danielle Wiley, Meg Keene, and Sarah Stringfellow. I have always been so curious about ad networks and how to create a really effective ad program so this session run by the best in the business was super helpful in learning how to navigate the world of advertising and sponsors. “Pitch it. Pitch it good.” – Erin Loechner was pretty much by favourite slide of the presentation. Learning how to pitch to maximize your brand is so essential to getting people to trust you and what you stand for. Pitch it good.

After a fun lunch where I sat with my roomie, the welikewelove girls and their online friends (I love those moments when people meet in real life) we focused our attention to the stage where a mind-blowing amount of talent sat. The keynote session was called The Relationship Between Traditional & New Media. Okay, get ready for this line-up: Pilar Guzman editor-in-chief of Martha Stewart Living, Deborah Needleman of the Wall Street Journal Magazine, & Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan the founder of Apartment Therapy. All moderated by Gabrielle Blair aka DesignMom – one of the most adorable and genuine people I have ever met (not to mention also one of the people who created Alt Summit). I totally agreed with their point that while so many publications are moving to a digital format to keep up with the world of tablets and smart phones, when it comes down to it all – there was a room of over 500 people who LOVE tactile items. There will always be books and hopefully there will always be magazines.

The Keynote Session swerved perfectly to my next session From Blog to Book which I think was another favourite hour of the conference. Panelists included Amy Butler, Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge (!!!), Julia Rothman, Kate Woodrow of Chronicle Books (her taste is incredible) and Lia Ronnen – Grace Booney’s publisher. Talk about some amazing women all on one panel. I sat on the edge of my seat for the entire session and learned so much about the process of pitching a book idea all the way to touring and the promotion and marketing of the book itself.

The next panel, Kickstarting Your Next Project, was a bit more freeflow in terms of its structure as it showcased bloggers from all sorts of backgrounds and specialties. Anne Sage, Lisa Congdon, Liz Stanley, and Rena Tom were the panelists for this last session of the day. It was great to see all of their methods for getting started on their next project. Rena had the best visuals for how she tackles her dreams and projects – I totally identified with her way of thinking. Of course, Say Yes to Hoboken’s Liz was adorable and full of great ideas too. Lisa Congdon is ever inspiring – seriously, talk about dream career, right?! And Anne Sage getting all sweet and emotional at the end pretty much just summed up how everyone who does what they love feels about it all. Thank you ladies for that inspiring talk.

Before I knew it, it was time to get pretty for the Winter Wonderland Dinner en Blanc bash. It was both stunningly beautiful, eerily old-fashioned and surreal all at the same time. To see a room full of creamy tulle skirts and sparkles was overwhelming and wonderful. My new friend Elizabeth Aubrey of The Whole Pretty sums up the experience around the dinner table perfectly. I had a really great time getting to know E.A., Kristin, Meredith, and Brooke better throughout the night in our fancy frocks. Love this photobooth by Moss & Isaac!

When my feet couldn’t stand to STAND any longer, this cinderella headed back to my hotel in cab where the driver asked if I had gotten married that night. Only thing was missing though – the groom. Obviously, he had a long day too.

All I can say is – going into Alt Summit with no expectations except to learn lots – I came out of the first day feeling SO inspired and excited. Tomorrow I will share my thoughts on day two of the conference. x

reflect

Posted by kait / January 26, 2012

Just checking in to say I am still here! Full recap of my amazing week at Alt Summit and weekend at Sundance coming soon. Letting it all wash over me – what an incredibly inspiring time. xo

my must-haves for alt summit!

Posted by kait / January 17, 2012

This round-up of bloggers’ must-haves for Alt Summit has been so much fun, that I couldn’t resist putting together my own list of must-haves for the conference. I absolutely can’t wait – only 1 day away. I’ll be the one in the stripes!

These Black Suede Pumps with Gold Metal Bow from Locale have got to be my new favourite go-to shoe. So comfy and they look great with everything from skinny jeans to a cocktail dress!

The main event is obviously the Winter Wonderland Party on Thursday night – I tracked down this classically styled frock for the event, aptly called the Audrey Dress.

Loving the stripe mania with the Gap’s spring line right now. Picked up some great tees and socks for daytime staples.

A vintage coral skirt pulls everything together with some sparkly shoes.

Society6 is a major obsession and Dawn Gardner‘s prints and products are stunning. I recently picked up this beautiful case for my iphone. In love!

Can’t wait to see y’all there in Salt Lake City! Don’t forget to bring tights, gloves, and toques! c

alt summit blogger must-haves: Caryl Lyons from Hey Caryl

Posted by kait / January 16, 2012

Meet Caryl Lyons from Danville, CA San Francisco Bay Area. She blogs over at Hey Caryl and works as a Creative Director and Managing Partner at Roar Events Group, a full service Event Marketing Agency.

Here are Caryl’s must-haves for ALT! See you all tomorrow!

– AND I JUST ORDERED THE CANON 7D. IT COMES ON THE 10th. SO EXCITED. I CAN’T WAIT TO TEST IT OUT AT ALT. She is a beauty!

IPAD2 – IS A MUST HAVE. I’LL EVEN BE ABLE TO INSTAGRAM.

IPAD2 STYLUS – I DISCOVERED THIS OVER THE HOLIDAYS AND IS JUST THE MOST AMAZING INVENTION. DRAW PICTURES, WRITE NOTES. I DON’T EVEN NEED TO BRING A NOTEPAD.

IPHONE WRISTLET – WHO NEEDS A WALLET…EVERYTHING IMPORTANT WILL BE WITH ME.

LEOPARD FREE PEOPLE SCARF – IT JUST MIGHT GET A LITTLE CHILLY LISTENING TO ALL THE FABULOUS SPEAKERS. THIS SCARF GOES EVERYWHERE WITH ME.

CHANEL ROUGE COCO SHINE LIPSTICK – GREAT MOISTURE FOR THE LIPS ON THOSE COLD DAYS.

FRIENDS WILL ALWAYS CALL ME AND ASK ME WHERE CAN I FIND THIS OR THAT. THE DAY I DECIDED TO START THE BLOG – 3 FRIENDS HAD CALLED ME WITHIN 20 MINUTES OF EACH OTHER ASKING WHERE THEY COULD FIND THINGS. I THOUGHT TO MYSELF – I SHOULD START A BLOG ABOUT ALL THE CRAZY QUESTIONS FRIENDS ASK ME. IT’S NOW TURNED INTO “MY LOVES.” I LOVE TO ENTERTAIN, TRAVEL, CRAFT AND CHANGE UP MY HOUSE.

I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO CONNECTING WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE WITH VARING INTERESTS. THE CREATIVE JUICES WILL BE FLOWING.

I’M SUPER EXCITED TO MEET CAMILLE STYLES, GRACE BONNEY, EZ PUDEWA, GRETCHEN RUBIN (I DIDN’T REALIZE SHE WAS GOING TO BE THERE WHEN I BOUGHT HER BOOK – THE HAPPINESS PROJECT), BRI EMERY (I WANT TO TAKE HER BLOGSHOP CLASS SO BAD). OK, I’M SUPER EXCITED TO MEET ALL OF THEM.

alt summit bloggers must-haves: jordan shutt of shiny paper blog

Posted by kait / January 16, 2012

Meet of Shiny Paper Blog from Bountiful, Utah! Here are her absolute must-haves for the upcoming Alt Summit next week!

Brown riding boots are a must-have for me, so comfy for all the wandering about.

Gotta have a to match those boots!

In the winter I honestly cannot live without this stuff, it’s perfect for the bitter winters we have here in Utah!

As sequins are big this year, this sequin sweater I will probably live in.

Lets be honest, I’m too cheap to buy coffee everday, so these will be awesome!

I’m sure everyone will have a scarf on their list, but it makes sense! It’s something that will never go out of style and looks good with everything!

I started my blog as an outlet for writing and to talk a little about my family (I just got married last year). I’m still trying to figure out where I’m taking it and hopefully Alt Summit will give me some ideas! I really want to focus more on writing and lifestyle, and learn to take better photos. There is so much to blogging I never would have guessed that when I started doing it.

What are you looking forward to most at Alt Summit this year? The photoshop class (I really need work in that area) and meeting other bloggers to gain inspiration! I’ve lived in Utah all my life and this will be my first time attending anything like this, I’m so glad it was so close so I could afford to go!

Any bloggers you are most excited about meeting and learning from? I have been obsessed with Bri Emery for as long as I can remember, I cannot wait to hear her speak!

alt summit blogger must-haves: katie from modern eve

Posted by kait / January 16, 2012

Meet the gorgeous of Modern Eve. She’s from Dallas, Texas and divides her time working in business development for The Matchbox Studio, a full service branding and design firm and her blog Modern Eve. Like most of us, she likely she spends her evenings glued to the computer creating beautiful bits of inspiration to share. Thanks for being a part of this series, Katie! Can’t wait to party in SLC! x

1. Cute notebooks and colorful pens to take great notes. I love Maybooks (ALT Sponsor) and Le Pens.

2. My iPad (with my cute new iPad cover from Elaine Turner), so that I don’t fall behind on my e-mails, blog reading and Pinterest inspiration.

3. A fabulous white frock for Thursday night’s Winter Wonderland party. I bought this dress last Fall with no plan for it. I just fell in love. I am so excited for it to make it’s debut at Alt.

4. Swanky shoes. I am not 100% sure what I am wearing every day yet, but I do know what shoes I am bringing. Is six pairs too many?

5. Cute pajamas. I am so lucky to share my hotel room with the three fabulous ladies, Mica from Maybooks, Melissa from I Still Love You and Nikki from The Salty Pineapple. Having roomies it going to be great. Not only will I have people to pal around with, but it’s a great excuse to buy fun sleepwear, like these fun pajama pants from Plum Pretty Sugar Loungarie.

6. My business cards, designed by my co-worker at The Matchbox Studios. Bringing a lot of these and hope to receive a lot in return.

Modern Eve is a lifestyle blog that provides an inside look into my life as a modern wife living in Dallas, TX. Regular posts feature original content related to fashion, party planning, home decor and travel. I started my blog over 4 years ago after falling in love with reading blog related to wedding planning and home decorating. I wanted a place that I could catalog things I loved and inspired me. Over the years Modern Eve has evolved a lot. Today it’s more than a catalog (now we have Pinterest for that!) it’s a place that I can create, promote brands I love, collaborate with and support other women and hopefully inspire others toward creativity and living a beauty-filled life. It’s been an exciting journey and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

What are you looking forward to most at Alt Summit this year?

Meeting all of these likeminded woman that inspire me. I have already felt the sense of community and collaboration; and the conference hasn’t even started yet! I am looking forward to making some new lifelong friends.

Any bloggers you are most excited about meeting and learning from?

Truly there are so many. But I think I am most excited about meeting Victoria from SF Girl by Bay. She was the first blog I starting following. Her amazing apartment, thrift finds and great styling kept me awake at night and I read and re-read all of her posts. In a way she’s the reason I starting blogging. I can’t wait to meet her and say, “Thank you”.