up & away : the palm springs edition

it's friday, i'm in love!!!

as you are reading this i am either on my way to 

or basking in the fabulous heat of palm springs!

it is my bachelorette party weekend #1

{yep, i'm a lucky girl & get 2!}

i flew into lax thursday night with a friend from seattle

and drove down to palm springs friday morning with my bestie {who lives in la}

it will be a small group - 4 total...but it will be an AMAZING weekend

& just what i need!

a getaway with sunshine, girl time, pool lounging, hot & sunny weather, margaritas & mexican food

...could it get any better.

nope. definitely not.

what i'll be wearing on the road and as my arrival into the desert ensemble

yes, i realize palm springs isn't a nautical destination...however, once i found those adorable little hot pants, 

i had to throw together a fabulous retro nautical themed ensemble!

i also have some more palm springs inspired swimsuits ;) 

a night out of dinner & dancing is in order...

once i spotted this gorgeous tequila sunrise number, 

i knew it was the perfect dress for the occasion!!!

what are you up to for the weekend?

any fun plans?

i will see you all on tuesday & can't wait to recap the trip!

XO

brynn

meet the artist : amy sia

hello, lovelies :)

today, i have a little artist spotlight feature for you today!!!

i got to catch up with amy sia for a little q&a 

and am featuring some of my absolute favorite pieces.

as most of you know,

i kind of have a thing for color! yep, no surprise there ;)

well, that is what i just love so much about amy's work...

her use of color is so powerful and just so gorgeous.

i can't help but be immediately drawn towards it!

let' get to know a little bit about amy...

aren't her prints just to die for??!! 

my absolute favorite is the one on the first page - electric haze...

gah! i'm in love!!!

you want to know what the coolest thing is?

amy offers her works in stretched canvas, framed prints, iphone cases & ipad skins...

and now, she is even offering made to order silk scarves...

seriously?! i am just in love ;)  i could easily take one of each!

you should definitely pop by amy's shops and take a gander:

here for prints & such

here for scarves

thank you so much, amy, for taking a moment to let us all get to know you 

and allowing me to feature your gorgeous works here on the blog!

have a lovely day!

XO

brynn

color collective : orange & lavender

{ *adjust to satisfy your sweet tooth...i like less sweet, so 1tsp. was perfect for 2 cocktails }

{ **adjust to satisfy your boozy tooth ;) }

i am taking today's color palette quite literally...

this beautiful, yet unexpected color twist of orange & lavender 

was recommended by becca 

& for some reason, the first thing that popped into my head 

was a refreshing summer cocktail made of this combo.

i think i will be enjoying many of these this summer...

al fresco {on my imaginary deck}, while soaking up the sun

& reading a good book :)

make sure to check out the other lovely posts of all who link up!

& if you are curious to participate, i would love to have you :)

feel free to shoot me an e-mail {chartreuseandatwist@gmail.com} for more details!

next week, we are getting patriotic* & going for the red, white & blue!!!

can you believe that it is nearly the 4th of July?! yikes!

*if you are outside of the us, feel free to still participate in this color combo,

or choose any palette you would like!

have a lovely day!

XO 

brynn

summing it up

wishing you all a happy, happy weekend!!!

i hope that you have an amazing one!

cheers :)

xo

brynn

what goes into a gift{wrapping}

i am a firm believer that what goes into the gift wrapping 

is equally important as what is inside the package.

this pretty package was given to my dear friend, leah...

bride to be :)

she gets married this friday!!!

congratulations, leah!!!

i could not be happier to see you so, so happy :)

{she's got that bridal glow!}

and another note...

THANK YOU all so, so, soooooooooooo much

for your lovely, lovely comments on our invitations that i posted yesterday!

it meant so much to hear you all say such sweet things :) :)

you are all so awesome and i am so happy to have you in my life!

have a lovely day!

XO

brynn

WEDnesday : the invites are revealed!!!

oh, my loves!!!

do i have a GOODIE for you today :)

yes, you read that post title correctly!

i am actually revealing our wedding invitations today!!!

i just got these mailed out last monday and am WAY to excited

to wait any longer to share them with you all!

my dear, great friend tarah is the genius behind the beautiful pieces of art

that became my wedding invitations :)

i gave her small bits of inspiration and she ran an infinite amount of miles with it!

tarah worked incredibly hard on these invites...

she screen printed her little heart out, hand designed the fonts,

sketched the gorgeous orange botanical drawing,

stripped dye out of the sheer overlays to hand watercolor them to the shades of her liking,

& made custom envelopes.

i just kept approving things & saying: 'yes, i love it!'...

oh, i also sewed the invitation pieces together & the little fabric tassels to the envelopes.

& i must give thanks to my dear friend, katie, who cut all of the little fabric strips for the tassels!

in the end, it was a beautifully combined effort of incredible talent & countless hours!

& it was ALL so worth it!!!

let's first meet tarah :)

she is seriously one of the coolest, wittiest, crazy-talented people i know!

i am honored to have her as my friend & 

partner in crime in these creative bits & pieces of my wedding!

and without further adieu...

the invites :)

 {starting to put all of the pieces together!}

 {little armies of fun!}

 {first the nuptials, then we party!!! 

~ this part is watercolored & screen printed on the backside of the invite}

{post cards for rsvps & our own little "business cards"} 

 {the outer packaging had to be just as fun as what was inside!}

{all images are copyright of me & tarah kovach... 

please contact me for permission before featuring elsewhere. thank you!}

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...perfection :) 

i am just the happiest girl alive right now!!!

thank you tarah for making these more special than i ever could have imagined!

psst! tarah has a blog, too! you can check it out here :)

oh! one more thing... have you heard of zazzle?

the stamps you see are custom through zazzle... 

just upload your desired image, choose stamp size & denomination & voila!

easy peasy...your stamps are quickly processed & delivered!

i highly recommend this site if you are in need of custom stamps!

have a fantastic day, everyone!

XO

brynn

color collective : shades of summer

{all photos are copyright of me}

hello, lovelies :)

with summer officially just a day away,

i asked everyone to bring their ideal summer palette

 to the drawing board for this week's color collective link up party...

these punchy citrus hues 

just scream summer to me!

i can't help but dream of...

fresh squeezed citrus juices

fruity popsicles

lots of bright, fun colors to wear!

grilled peaches

long summer nights ending with a perfect sunset

if you could choose any colors that remind you most of summer,

what would they be?

i can't wait to see what everyone chooses!!!

make sure to check out the posts below of everyone who links up!

have a bright & cheery day :)

happy {almost} summer solstice!!!

XO

brynn

p.s. i host the color collective link up party each tuesday. if you are interested in participating

& want more details, feel free to shoot me an e-mail! {chartreuseandatwist@gmail.com}

next week we will be exploring orange & lavender...so excited about this one!

pssssst! that last image is a teeny, tiny sneak peek of my wedding invitations!!!

take note : the great gatsby, sangria & an apple a day

hello, loves!

how was your weekend?

what did you do??!!

i had a very nice weekend...

got out of work @ noon on friday,

had a girls lunch al fresco...got a little sun!

saturday was filled with the solstice parade

{photos to come later this week}

and a fabulous dinner party that our friend james hosted...

many of the photos featured today are from that evening.

delicious food, fantastic company & the perfect host 

made it a very special evening :)

sunday was a take it easy kind of day...

just worked on some wedding projects

and watched lots of movies while doing so!

happy monday, all!

XO

brynn 

won't you be my neighbor : tour de fremont {part 2}

hello, lovelies!!!

happy friday :)

in case you missed yesterday's post, i gave a little intro to my neighborhood...

fremont : the center of the universe. 

i thought it would be fun to give you all a little tour :)

today, let's explore a little further into this quirky lil' hood of mine!

initially, this was a 2 part series...but i realized that it is technically going to include a part 3.

this weekend is the annual summer solstice festival that is held right here in fremont.

it involves a really awesome parade with incredible costumes and floats {all man-powered}

...and even a naked bike ride {with body paints, but still!!!}...no joke!

so, it will be important for me to report back on all of the festivities next week ;)

okay, so on with the tour...

fremont has some of the quirkiest landmarks around...

'the rocket' is definitely THE original landmark of fremont...it is a real cold war rocket fuselage from 1950. you can read more about it here :)

we also have the troll...made famous by 90s movies, like 10 things i hate about you.

this is probably my favorite landmark in all of seattle...it is just so cool! 

read more about the troll here

one very interesting landmark that i didn't capture here is the statue of lenin... 

very interesting, indeed ;)

that is the short of it ;) 

my little artsy, funky neighborhood.

i can't help but love it!

won't you come and be my neighbor??!!

or at the least, feel free to visit me anytime ;)

i absolutely thrive on real-life tours!!!

have a lovely weekend!

any fun plans?!

XO

brynn

tour de fremont : the intro

hello loves!!!

happy almost friday :)

you know...i have been telling you all that i want to give you a little tour of my 'hood.

well, today is the day we begin!

i love my neighborhood oh so much...

.just outside of the city, but still a quick bike ride away.

.full of culture, quirks & flavor.

.perfect variety of entertainment within walking distance.

can a girl ask for more?!

let me introduce you to fremont : aka the center of the universe

{part one of a short, 2 part series}

{all images are copyright of me}

intrigued??!!

pop back over tomorrow & we'll complete this short 2 part series...

we'll dive into my favorite watering hole, where to eat, where to shop,

landmarks & the endearing quirks of the hood ;)

have a happy thursday!

XO

brynn

sunday brunch

{all photos are copyright of me}

i recently hosted a little sunday bagel & mimosa brunch and thought i would share some photos :)

set the tone:
pretty, feminine & simple...
it ended up feeling a little french to me :)
- milk glass -
- pretty glassware -
- sweet peas -
- a pretty table runner -
{with all of my wedding milk glass sitting around, i thought why not use it?!}

la nourriture:
keep it easy, but fun with variety
- montreal style wood fired bagels -
for savory lovers...
- lox w/ plain cream cheese, topped w/ cilantro -
for sweet lovers...
- honey almond cream cheese topped w/ sliced strawberries -
for the indecisive {me!}...
have both on 2 bagel halves!

les boissons:
pink mimosas...
- rosé champagne -
- fresh squeezed grapefruit juice -

et voila!
a perfectly pretty & tasty yet simple brunch :)

santé!

XO
brynn

color collective : purple & green

{all photos are copyright of me}

i have to say...this is a combo that i would not really wear or mix in my home...
they are so lovely, but just aren't "me" colors,
but i must thank becca for inspiring me to explore the palette further {she chose today's combo!}
in my exploration, i found that when pulling these colors straight from the earth,
they are quite extraordinary!

since i couldn't really pull objects from my home or closet,
i took a little nature walk around my neighborhood
and these are some of the pretty purple & green moments that i captured :)
{except for the cabbage heads, which i took at a farmer's market a couple of years ago}

so soothing...can't you just smell the lavender in that last image?!
i was tempted to pick it & use it in a bath!

for more color inspiration,
be sure to check out the lovely ladies who are linking up below :)

have a lovely day!

XO
brynn