tap & tapas

one of the organizations that is close to my heart is groove with me. i had the pleasure of working with them on the program for their winter spectacular at the apollo theater, and i am so glad to know these fabulous ladies and be a part of their cause.

from their site: Groove With Me, Inc. is a youth development organization using free dance classes and performance opportunities as a tool to instill in young women the leadership, pride, spirit of cooperation, creativity, joy and discipline needed to confront the adversity in their daily lives and throughout their future development. The program seeks to decrease teen pregnancy, truancy, crime, violence, prostitution, substance abuse and gang related activity by nurturing youth, building self-confidence, offering positive choices, and providing a safe place to go.

i mean, come on. how cool is that?! the organization is run by abby rosin (founder) and meredith sherman (program director). all classes are taught by volunteers, and all shoes and clothing is donated. wow.

i had the honor of attending last week's tap & tapas event. the event featured a number of fabulous "celebrity" chefs here in NYC, doing tasting stations ranging from the amuse-bouche to the dessert and coffee. i haven't eaten that well since anna was born! additionally, their girls gave performances -- and one lucky teen tapper performed with savion glover. again, everything was donated -- the food, the waitstaff, the flowers... everything. all proceeds from the event tickets went directly to the girls, not to mention the outpouring of donations given at the event itself. i would say it was a very successful night.

thanks again to abby and meredith for including me! i hope this is a long relationship. =)

getting ready (this photo reminds me of a degas painting)

Harold Dieterle and his team from Perilla

yep, that's THE tom colicchio from craft (and top chef, of course!), with abby rosin. i did have to introduce myself. couldn't help it. =)

april bloomfield of the spotted pig

"eggs" from le bernardin. mmmm....

savion glover dances with an advanced tapper.

the kids with the chefs after their photo op.

end of the night, and nothing but smiles.

all photos courtesy Ron Holtz Photography. copyright 2009.

follow me on twitter!

yes, i've finally joined the world of twitter. and now that i have my laptop back (it was a little sick), i can actually update it!

so follow me at twitter.com/nicstudio. and you can check out my latest tweets on the right side of the blog.

tailgating your engagement?

what a fun idea!

carly from myrecipes.com just sent this my way... if you're looking for a fun way to celebrate your engagement, or maybe even for a rehearsal dinner, why not tailgate? even if you're not a sports fan, like me, everyone enjoys a tailgating party!

the couple gave out koozies as favors (pictured above), which were appropriate. it would also be fun to design your own jersey for the event, no? oooh, ideas are coming!

there are recipes listed on the article as well.

hope everyone has a great weekend! see you next week.

custom jewelry

from andrea lucille's gavernie collection.

new motherhood brings new opportunities. since i am going to groups to meet other moms/babies and to chat about our shared woes, i get to meet interesting new women. andrea lucille shin is just one of those women.

andrea is a brooklynite like me, with an adorable newborn baby girl. in one of our group sessions, i mentioned that i was back to work and that i worked for myself. andrea and i talked about this later, and i found out that this woman is an artist in her own right, designing custom jewelry and jewelry lines out of her office in manhattan. when i had the opportunity to check out her stuff, i was blown away.

andrea's work is that of luxury, surprise, and a hefty dose of "wow." her jewelry is spectacular in its unique qualities. you can tell that this is not your run-of-the-mill piece when you see one.

from andrea lucille's modern hammer collection.

if you are looking for something amazing for your wedding day, or just something amazing, go to andrea lucille designs. you won't be disappointed.

PRESS ALERT: My work in WellWed Hamptons

the stationery i did for kaitlin and will's wedding in east hampton this past fall was featured in wellwed hamptons magazine. they covered kaitlin and will's lovely affair from top to bottom, and i was lucky enough to work with with this fabulous couple and my fave event coordinator and friend, lyndsey hamilton.

check out the pages posted here, and pick up a copy to get the whole story.

photography by christian oth studios.

Real Simple Weddings 2009

while i was on leave, i had the pleasure of reading through the latest issue of realsimple weddings. what a lovely publication! if you are planning a wedding, this would be top of my list of resources for up-to-date information, ideas, and imagery. the real weddings that they show are absolutely inspirational -- the photography telling most of the story.

of course, i was most interested in what the editors had to say about invitations and stationery. i was very happy to see quite a bit in there about different invitation styles/options (my invites would likely fall in their "whimsical" category) which is not a common sight in most wedding publications. sure, you may get to see a random quirky invite here and there, but to actually break down the different styles available is a rarity. i think it gives new ideas to brides inundated with formal and classic stationery photos. also check out their thoughts on wording, etiquette, and eco-friendly options.

another favorite is the chart of flowers, -- extremely useful for the majority of brides that don't know a dahlia from a ranunculus -- the palette picker, and the gorgeous cakes pictured.

the magazine is practical, well laid out, and a very simple reference guide. just what one would expect from realsimple.

i'm back! well, almost...

hey out there in blog-land! i wanted to tell you all that i'm coming back to work -- in a limited fashion in the beginning, but i'm transitioning back in starting this week. so if you have a job that you would like me to work on, just let me know!

i'm in the process of updating my websites and 2009 pricing. in the meantime, 2008 prices are still valid, so get in while the gettin's good!

in the meantime, i leave you with a photo of my adorable little girl, who will be hard to leave...

introducing the new little designer, anna jae

our beautiful daughter, anna jae block, was born on january 13, 2009. 12 days late and much drama coming into the world, but she was quite worth it.

i will be back to work in mid-march, and will update this blog from time to time until then. but for now, enjoy the photos. and if you are interested in our new family life, feel free to check out our baby blog, growing block.

happy birthday to me....

hello out there in reader-land! just wanted to pop in today and wish myself a happy 30th birthday. ha! yes, i'm not doing much today, so i thought i'd wish myself a happy happy. =)

still no baby. i'm officially 5 days overdue. but i can't wait to update this blog with photos of the new little member of the nic family.

i hope everyone out there had a glorious holiday season. and happy new year to all of you!!

great choice for disposable dinnerware

hi all!! i'm technically on maternity leave, but there's no baby just yet. so i'm spending time getting my home ready for the holidays, since our family members will be here for both christmas eve and christmas day this year. it's our first holiday hosting, and of course it will also be a tricky one since i'm not exactly physically capable of being the consummate hostess.

so we got some of those disposable plates that look like real dinnerware. have you seen these? they're very cool, since you can still have a dressed up table without having to wash the dishes. and frankly, that's necessary, since we don't have a dishwasher.

however, there are two snags in this plan. first, we didn't get soup bowls to match, which is an issue since we have a pasta course to deal with. second, as these plates are plastic, they are not exactly the most ecologically sound. and while i'm far from a perfect "green" hostess, i do regret having to throw away so many plastic dishes.

in my research today for soup bowls, i came across these disposable dishes by verterra. while not the cheapest, they are definitely the coolest! they are organic and compostable, and are made from collected leaves! how amazing is that? to top it all off, they are quite lovely and would suit a modern or classic home perfectly.

while it's too late to order these for the holidays, i do love that the option exists. and for our next party, we'll definitely go this route.

100 Habits -- Cover is out!

some of you might remember that my work will be in a book in the spring. 100 habits of successful freelance designers, published by rockport publishers. well, in checking online today, i noticed that the cover is on the site! how exciting!

don't forget to pre-order the book for may!

happy post thanksgiving...

hey everyone. hope you all had a great thanksgiving!

ours was great -- we spend our time with dave's family for this particular holiday, and we had a lovely weekend.

unfortunately, monday wasn't so great. to make a long story short, i had a stomach flu which led to dehydration, which lead to contractions, which led to me being on an IV in the hospital. everything's fine now, and i'm starting to feel better, but i'm sort of forced to "relax" now. ugh. LOL... i hate that idea.

anyway, just wanted to let you guys out there know that i'm still alive, the baby is still inside, but that i'm going to continue my intermittent posting. i'm sorry! as soon as i can come back on here full time, i will.

holiday card/invitation time!

yay! i love this time of year. i just finished designing my first holiday party invitation of the season, and i can't wait to do my own holiday cards.

enjoy!

crib bedding, custom made!

so exciting! we got in our crib today, and i didn't waste any time dressing it in the bedding that i had custom made. etsy seller swellbystephanie made us a crib skirt and crib blanket from the gray inger fabric from ikea, which i had picked up myself and shipped to her. stephanie then put the items in a registry listing in her etsy shop, and it was purchased for my shower last weekend.

custom crib bedding was the right way to go for us. we spent forever looking for a skirt and blanket that would be gender neutral and right for the room, but that we could also purchase a la carte. unfortunately, most crib bedding comes in a set, and we didn't want the bumpers in the sets. so after talking to stephanie, dave and i picked out the fabric and decided it was perfect for us. it looks amazing on the crib and in the space.


thanks so much for this stephanie!

since the room is both an office and a nursery, i thought i'd show off the rest of the room. enjoy!

a look inside the office/nursery from the living room.

when you open the door, you see my work space directly in front of you. we got a new desk from target to fit in the smaller space, and i scored a great chair that i'm totally in love with. the area rug is made up from floor tiles from FLOR. it worked out perfectly.

if you turn to your right, you'll see the baby's chest of drawers in front of you. the curtains are on both the windows and the closet, since there wasn't enough space to constantly open/close a door. all the curtains and the chest are from ikea.

putting together the items on top of the chest has been fun! the lamp was mine in the space already, and has a fun drawn city scene on it. the piggy bank is from aunt loren, the growth chart is from aunt carrie. the dark basket on the left is filled with books, all of which are from the syracuse girls. and the basket on the right has our froggy and duckie sock puppets in it (thank you uncle howie and aunt helene!) as well as a couple of other fun items from the shower.

sorry...

ok, i know, i've been apologizing a lot lately. i'm sorry i haven't been here! things here get increasingly busy as i try to fit in all my work before going on leave, not to mention all the baby-readying i'm doing. but i swear i'm not ignoring you guys! i'll be back next week with more goodies.

thanks for understanding!

hot paper

a good friend of mine tipped me off to walnut wallpaper today. and i just thought the patterns were so interesting, fun, and refreshing. just the right touch of whimsy with the elegance.

my favorite? the whales above!

happy election day!

my main and first duty today is to vote. i hope you will all join me in casting your vote in this historic and unprecedented election.

happy halloween!

happy halloween everyone! hope you're all having a great evening.



frank n. stein sculpture from etsy seller crescent hill designs.

tagged!

grrr... she got me! erin at adventures in letterpress tagged me... so here we go.

Favorite Artist/Designer: good god... can you just say one? picasso, michelangelo, sebastian kruger, herb lubalin...

stones guitarist suite by sebastian kruger. © sebastian kruger, 2008. all rights reserved.

I love to create using: oil paint, brushes, and a piece of wood to paint on. heaven.

What inspires me: people, my husband, new york city, traveling

Favorite medium besides my own: collage. love it, but can't do it.

Most inspirational city: a tie for me -- florence, italy and fes, morocco

Ideal weekend off: going away with dave, alone, drinking wine and eating great food. sigh... wine... LOL

Favorite color: orange (no surprise there)

Favorite musician: depends on the day. but ben folds is up there.

Favorite movie: of all time? when harry met sally.

Favorite song: ::shrug:: there is no favorite. a good song is a good song.

Favorite song lyric: fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-laaaaaaa...

If I could have any other job it would be: forensic psychologist. i have a strange thing for the psychology of dangerous minds. would explain why another favorite movie is silence of the lambs.

I wish: i had enough energy to do everything i want to do in life.

Who I'm tagging next: lyndsey hamilton of LHEverything

happy birthday dave!

i love this card, and i wish i had seen it in time for my wonderful husband's birthday...

happy birthday dave! i hope it's everything you want it to be.

card from etsy seller letterary press.