I love holiday traditions. I love Christmas lights, I love Christmas music, Christmas cookies, silly gift exchanges and Ugly Sweater Parties. One of my all-time favorite holiday traditions, however, is the fact that every single year I update my address book and write out 30 or so Christmas cards, and every single year I forget to mail all but maybe four of them.

Maybe it’s because I dislike the post office (especially this time of year), but maybe it’s just because things get a little frantic during the holidays.

Either way, I’ve decided that despite my tendency to forget about Christmas cards even after I’ve already written and addressed them, I’m going to try again this year. However, and this might be the game-changer, this year I’ve discovered a website called Overnight Prints (more widely known for their business card printing), and not only do they offer cute and customizable holiday cards (with photos!), but they provide a shipping service as well. Once your card is created, you can upload a mailing list, pay for postage with your order, and have Overnight Prints take care of mailing your cards for you.

Want to check this out? They’re provided one lucky reader of Jamie’s blog with a $25.00 gift card code so that you can check them out for yourselves. You can order your own holiday cards, new business cards, post cards, address labels, or a myriad of other customizable office supplies.

Enter the Giveaway…

Simple! Just leave a comment here letting us know what your favorite holiday tradition is, and you’ll be entered to win. The winner will be chosen at random at the end of next week (Friday, December 9 at 11:59 PT) and will be notified via email.

… or save 10-60% with a special promo code!

If don’t have the patience for entering contests and just want to get on with a killer discount already, we’ve got a promo code for you as well. Simply do your shopping, then enter the code DONIREE at checkout, and save upwards of 60% off your order (depends on what you’re buying, but the discount varies between 10-60%). Surely you’re in the market for some of these things, right? Right.

Happy Christmas Card-Sending! Or business card designing! Or address label printing!

[Photo credit]

The fine print: big, big thanks to the folks at OvernightPrints who’ve provided the gift card for one lucky reader here, as well as for Jamie and myself so we could check out their goodness as well. Stationary for everyone!

Take it away, Doni!

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For those of you who’ve read Jamie’s blog for any length of time know a few things:

• she’s super into Etsy
• she’s from Chicago
• she’s got excellent taste

Me, on the other hand… I’ve always been a little home decor impaired. Meaning, I have a handful of great pictures and framed goodies that deserve a special place on a wall somewhere, but I can never quite figure out how to make it work. Nothing I’ve acquired really has a theme, and I think that’s what makes it so tough to figure out where to put things.

Over the past few months, I’ve acquired two pieces that I especially love – and they’re both reminiscent of my hometown of Minneapolis, MN. As I started paying attention to the things that catch my eye, I’ve noticed that artwork that visually reflects and/or represents a geographical area always gets my attention.

I received this one as a birthday present this year (thanks, Nicole!):

And I found this one from from lindenleaf on Etsy:

There are all kinds of ways of using a place you love to decorate your apartment, especially places known for a lot of landmarks. I’d advocate decorating with your own photos of your favorite landmarks, places, and scenery, but when that’s not an option, these Etsy shops fill in quite nicely:

Transit systems:

[Chicago | NYC]

Landmarks

Portland, Oregon is nicknamed Bridgetown because there are SO many bridges here. The city sits right on the Willamette (rhymes with “dammit”) River, and is divided in the middle into an east and west side. The bridges are a big part of this city, and they’re gorgeous. I love this print that celebrates all of them:

[Etsy shop]

Vinyls/Decals

Decals are a great way to add character to your walls and space without putting holes in the walls. Check out this Chicago skyline from urbandecal:

What’s your favorite city, and does your home decor reflect that at all? 

Doniree Walker is a freelance writer/blogger based in Portland, Oregon. Her clients include UMoveFree, a service helping renters find Trophy Club, TX apartments. She spends her free time frequenting Portland’s farmers’ markets, training for her first 5K, and daydreaming about the places she plans to travel. She blogs at doniree.com and nomadicfoodie.com, and you can follow her on Twitter @doniree.

Anyway having this new steady income is awesome, but it also means I’m playing catch up right now with my finances. Trying to get things in order, slowly start adding new clothes into my wardrobe, existing bills, new bills, getting a budget together, getting quotes on life insurance rates and helping out my family. Lots of responsibility and not much of it is fun.

(When did we grow up and how do we make it fucking stop?)

But after my most recent pay day, I decided I needed to treat myself to some fun stuff because I DESERVE IT GOD DAMN IT. And it’s all awesome so I’m going to be braggy for a sec.

Those of you who follow me on twitter probably have seen me obsess about this new site called Fab. You know Gilt and Rue La La and all their pretty designer stuff that I love because of the super sales? Well, Fab is similar with its killer sales, but everything they feature all has one thing in common– great design. There hasn’t be one sale so far that I haven’t wanted to get something. I’m super in love and seriously can not get it enough. Last week, they had a year’s subscription to Dwell for $12 and I was probably too excited about it.

Today’s sale was Out of Print tees. These tees are all printed with iconic book covers. I’ve had their site bookmarked for the longest, but when I saw them pop up on Fab today, I HAD to get some. It also helped that I had some credits from being a “founding member”. I ended up getting two and I’m in love. I got The Great Gatsby and 1984 tees.

There is also Pride and Prejudice, Nancy Drew, Atlas Shrugged, Catcher in the Rye, Fahrenheit 451 and more available in this weekend’s sale. They are also only $18 a pop and the sale is for another 2.5 days. Don’t miss out! Here’s an invite if you need it: CLICK CLICK.

Next up was something I’ve been wanting since I saw this Marauders shirt that Kim shared on Facebook. I immediately wanted it (and still do), but I saw the Death Eater version and I couldn’t resist. Bellatrix is one of my favorite Harry Potter characters because she is HBIC so I knew I had to represent. Yeah, I nerd the hell out over Harry Potter. SO WHAT.

I lovelovelove it and can’t wait until it gets here. The design is similar to one I already have, but all the names are of fashion designers. Here’s a photo of that one. No, I’m not purposely looking away from the camera or some ridiculous shit. There were 532 people there that night so I was looking over at someone who was talking or something. Whatever, that shirt is rad.

I also treated myself to a manicure and pedicure (OPI’s Boris and Natasha!) and got some new makeup since my sister taught me how to stop looking like a hot mess and do my makeup correctly. I mean, I’m 27. It’s about time I get my shit together and learn how to put on makeup, right? I was in desperate need for some primer so I got Smashbox Photo Finish, a new foundation brush and some Benetint lip stain. The lip stain is perfection by the way. A hint of color, but not too much because I can’t pull off a very red lip. Highly recommend it!

And that, my friends, is what you call retail therapy.

]]> http://jamie-ann.com/2011/07/09/retail-therapy-2/feed/ 16 http://jamie-ann.com/2011/06/14/a-new-job-and-other-things/ http://jamie-ann.com/2011/06/14/a-new-job-and-other-things/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2011 03:11:24 +0000 admin http://jamie-ann.com/?p=2804

Last week I started a new job as social media coordinator for a company here in Chicago. Yay! New job! I had a couple options in front of me, but really feel this was the route to go. So far it’s been really great; I have a new boss I feel I’ll learn a lot from and who expects a lot from me, some great co-workers and there is just lots of potential all over the place.

Right now I’m working on adjusting to a new routine, learning all about my new company and basically just getting settled in a whole new environment. It’s a big change when you compare it to my work in the past few years. There are definitely challenges and I feel this job is really going to push me on a different level that I have been before, but I have to say I’m pretty excited about all of it. Even the new job nerves that have been hanging around lately. Hopefully those will be gone soon though!

As for the other things:

1) Katelin and I have been exchanging the most ridiculous emails and texts lately. They’ve been the highlight of my day every day because apparently we’re now making this an every day thing. #ovariesinsync

2) I am in desperate need of a haircut. My hair is stupidly long and you know that’s saying a lot coming from me. Someone slap me if I ever go this long between cuts again.

3) Today while walking back to the train station I saw a dude in a suit carrying a mounted wild boar’s head down the street. Everyone was all, no big deal, just a huge boar’s head going down Madison. It was kind of amazing.

4) My sleep schedule has had a rude awakening. No more night owl ways for this girl and that bums me out. I also need to work on this morning person thing so I don’t murder people on the train.

And lastly,

5) Mornings are dumb.

The Rapture – “Whoo! Alright! Yeah! Uh-huh!” from ben dickinson on Vimeo.

And then everyone was like NO, JAMIE. MORE LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD.

And I was all, WHATEVER, BRO. LET’S DANCE.

This silly little dog has been around for almost 3.5 years now. She’s as bossy as ever and still the cutest pup in the world. Edie has a million nicknames, but just to name a few: Edie Bee, Beedie, Bee, Pup, Angel, Sad Baby and Mamas. This dog follows me everywhere and hops up the second she hears me move even if she is asleep. Her ears are legit like radars.

She HATES when I leave and she is left alone. Even if I leave her with my dad, she still gives me the saddest eyes and makes me feel like an incredibly guilty mama. But the welcomes home are probably the best part of my day. I could walk to the corner store and be gone for five minutes and she freaks out like I’ve been gone for days.

The other day we went to Petsmart to grab some toys because she is a spoiled brat and everyone fawned all over her, as usual. Once she notices you’re coming to say hi, she makes this face that looks like  a snarl, but if you’re close enough you’d notice her fluffy butt wiggling all over the place. I swear if she had a tail, it would be going a hundred miles an hour. So when you meet Edie for the first time, I promise she isn’t being mean. Her “snarl” is actually a SMILE. The woman at the store just couldn’t get over the fact that Edie smiles when she is excited. It really is the cutest. One day I’ll try to catch it on camera because it is the funniest and most adorable thing ever.

But yeah, I have the prettiest puppy and she smiles. It’s okay to be a little jealous.

There are certain songs that really hit you though. The Geese of Beverly Road is my favorite by The National and probably one of my favorite songs of all time. It’s kind of hard to put into words why. It just kind of feels like everything.

Everything you feel. Everything you want. Everything you need. It makes you feel sad, hopeful and infinite all at the same time.

It’s a little bit magic.

Seriously, Nintendo and Brand About Town sure know the way to my heart.

After hopping on a flight, lots of snarking and some baby cuddles, we arrived in Seattle. A few of us knew each other and it turns out there was like a row of ladies behind me all headed for the summit as well. They didn’t realize it until we had landed and pulled up Twitter. Funny how that works out sometimes. We ran into a few more friends at the airport who had just landed as well and I finally got to meet Michelle. And by meet, I mean HUG ATTACK. Katelin also got one of those too because she is absolutely one of the best people ever.

cake pop toast, duh (photo courtesy of Rachel)

Once we all got settled in our hotel rooms, we had a cocktail party to attend. It was basically one big family reunion. While walking in, I kept getting stopped by people to say hi and then I finally made my way  over to to one my most favorite people in the world, Doni, to say hi. The bubbles were flowing and I probably had a few glasses too many, but sometimes in life, you just need champagne. It really was a great way to kick off the weekend — catching up with everyone, dancing and even some topology. We kept it going and ran across the street to a bar afterwards for some more hangs before turning in because we had an early morning.

The next day we were to head to Nintendo headquarters for a day of fun. First, I just need to mention how incredibly rad this building was. It was super green, even the roof. No, seriously, the roof was legit green. There was grass on it. And all the conference rooms were named after different Nintendo things, levels and characters. My favorite was probably “another castle”. Hah.

my shiny new Nintendo 3DS and the game I picked up

We were welcomed, able to ask some questions and then were told we’d all get a shiny Nintendo 3DS of our own at the end of the day. But before we could get our hot little hands on our own, we got to play a whole bunch of games like Street Fighter and Kid Icarus and talk with the people who worked at Nintendo. I was expecting the Nintendo 3DS to be cool, but I wasn’t really expecting to be blown away by it. And no, I’m not just saying that because they invited me out there. It was seriously one of the coolest things ever. The 3D effects were seriously impressive and the augmented reality games were straight up ridiculous. I can’t wait to see what games come out, I’m hoping for a MarioKart soon myself.

That night we had another small cocktail hour and then were shuttled off to our restaurants of choice. I chose The Purple Cafe and it did not disappoint one bit. I realllllly wanted to bring our server home with me. He was adorable and I wanted us to be BFFs. Then they brought out cheese plates and I ordered lobster mac and cheese and I died. Like, dead. It was so rich and delicious. Plus, my surrounding dinner dates were fantastic company and conversation.

Once we all got back to the hotel, we said goodbye to those we wouldn’t see at breakfast and then I took some pictures of my favorite ladies hanging out in a fake forest. There are also a bunch more pictures floating around, so make sure you check those out. I was having way too much fun to remember to pull out my camera and trying to avoid the camera myself because I’m just not a fan of having my picture taken. Too awkward for life, guys.

Doni, Lacey, Michelle, Jenn and Katelin (photo belongs to Katelin)

And THAT is what you call a whirlwind of a weekend. I came home to Mad Men season four and puppy cuddles and I couldn’t be happier. I’m super thankful for all of my friends, Nintendo and the new people I met on this trip. Thank you all for an amazing weekend!

Let’s do it all again soon, ladies.

DISCLOSURE: This weekend adventure was provided by Brand About Town and Nintendo because I am a bad ass brand enthusiast. All thoughts and opinions are my own though, so back up off me, FTC.

I mentioned it on twitter and it appears I’m not alone, but I don’t think this is a bad thing at all. I think neutral solids are a great basis for a wardrobe. It’s basically a blank canvas to decorate as I see fit, so that’s what I do.

For awhile I did this with shoes. A few years back, I collected sneakers. I had stacks of Nikes in my closet – Dunks, Air Force Ones and Air Maxes. There were some Vans in there too and a pair of really obnoxious Ice Creams. Lots of bright colors and all super cute. Most of those have made their way to a better place, but I still have a pair of burgundy, pink and grey Dunks that are probably my favorite shoes ever. They are kind of beat to hell, but I still wear them all the time.

After that came Etsy. I think everyone knows Etsy is kind of a problem for me because I’m legit obsessed. So obsessed that I even started a whole blog of adorable things to share with everyone because I just couldn’t keep them to myself. And that’s not even all the good stuff. I keep the REALLY good stuff to myself because I don’t want anyone else to buy it before me. Yeah, I’m a brat. I know.

Anyway, the discovery of Etsy was game changing for me. Not only are they pretty and unique things, but they are pretty, unique things from someone who puts a bit of themselves into the product. I love being able to support indie designers who truly love what they are doing. Plus, I get something amazing that anyone just can’t walk into a store and buy. Best of both worlds, no?

With that, here are some pops of color from my favorite site that I think could add a little something to wardrobe full of basics like mine.

bow, necklace, ring & scarf

I actually have two of those bows in red that I bought from my gorgeous mama friend, Morgan, and I’ve been obsessing over that scarf for a very long time. Maybe when I have some extra cash, it will be a birthday present for myself since it’s this weekend and I deserve something pretty.

Also, I’ve decided to close doors on Oh How Lovely Shops. I barely can update this blog, let alone two. The archives will stay up though and I’ll be keeping all my pretty finds here because there really is just too much stuff out there to not share.

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