Working Girl Wednesday (4 Things)

It's 12:54 a.m. I am mostly awake, one eye is half shut as I try to find images, fonts, words, layouts. Putting shapes and colors together at 1 in the morning seems so much more difficult than it is at 10 a.m. But sometimes this is life.

Life is a toddler spilling coffee and drawing on her dresses with a green Sharpie marker.
Life is a forgotten tea kettle steaming and dishes to wash.
Life is a chatty Time Warner Cable man and an hour wasted of productive work time. (Aside, I don't know why so many strangers talk to me about so many random things. But that's a whole other blog.)

Not long ago I hung up a several hour long video chat call with two of my bests. I love them, I do. I wish they were sitting on my couch right now. But, at the moment, all I can hear is someone's music outside, and a revving engine, and I realize I am most definitely not living in the country anymore. So, I'm taking a break from Photoshop and Illustrator, and moving over to where it's just words.

1. I just want some fresh flowers in this apartment. And maybe a cool autumn breeze. Or just some just-out-of-the-oven baked apple pie. I want the kitchen to stop smelling like an old building. I also can't wait until I can turn off fans for good, and throw on an over-sized sweatshirt with some old jeans and knee socks. Yeah. I'm looking forward to that.

2. It's likely in a couple weeks, I'll be camping with friends. Let's just take a moment and reflect on how freaking awesome that previous sentence is.

3. My daughter turns three in two months. THREE. Y'all. That's not a baby. That's almost not toddler. That's a bonafide kid. I know three years isn't much, but to think of how much has changed since she was swept up into my arms. Wow. Unmerited favor, that's what she is.

4. The following links are inspiring me this week. Enjoy.

Music — Dylan LeBlanc's Pauper's Field. I know this came out last year, but I've been listening to the whole album lately instead of selections of it, and the whole thing is good. My favorites are "If the Creek Don't Rise," "5th Avenue Bar" and "Emma Hartley".

Design — I love this string of retro-inspired (or simply retro) ads from Smashing Magazine. The article was out in 2008, but I still think some of the concepts, and the colors, work so well today.

Photography — I love finding and meeting new photographer friends. Check out Margaret Jacobsen's work in Portland. I wish I could fly us up there just for a little session. She recently did a photoshoot for  Elise from Hey, Sweet Pea as well. Super cute!

Pinterest — I've been staring at my inspiration board on Pinterest. Guess what? It's working. I feel inspired. Back to work I go.