Charleston Love

New York City? Energetic, trendy. Chicago? Never boring, cold. Charleston? Perfect in every way. I recently returned home from the wonderful state of South Carolina. Every time I pass South of the Border (which I often do), I feel a sense of relief that I'm returning to a place of inspiration and enlightenment. From the remote island of Edisto to the cobble stone streets of Charleston, I discover a whirlwind of beauty.

As I was meandering down King St. and East Bay St. yesterday, I peeked into two very different, but interesting shops. Down on the newly revitalized end of King St. houses a small store front with beautifully made furniture, home decor and letterpress. As you walk in a orange blossom soy candle hits ones nostrils and you instantly feel as though you have wandered into the lovely owner's home rather than her store, Lesesne. It is beautifully decorated and she literally says, "Make yourself at home". Walking through the store, one thing really stood out to me. Designer gift wrap. Yes, at $4.00 a sheet it is a bit ridiculous, but Snow and Graham have beautiful stuff. I purchased two sheets of yellow flowered paper and plan to mount it in large frames to change up my decor in my house. The leftover will be converted into napkin holders for an outside event (I am clinging to the last days of summer)!

The second shop I fell upon was Baked. Apparently, this is a very hip spot with a sister location in New York. It is a fresh look on bakeries. Where cupcakes are almost passe and Starbucks are anything but boring, Baked has your traditional coffees and lattes and offers an incredible array of treats. Most notably, the marshmallow concoctions! They also have a collection of greeting cards by Hello!Lucky. My favorite says the heading "I wanna take you out" with a whole bunch of Chinese take out boxes. Absolutely adorable and original.

Letterpress and cards are one of my favorite things. There is nothing like receiving a card from a loved one or sending a card to a friend. I personally stick love notes or cards in my boyfriend's mailbox. While men may not REALLY appreciate the card, he knows I'm thinking about him. . . and that (I hope) he appreciates.

Keep it sunny!

A Sunny Start

Photo courtesy of Courtney Ryan

on the lovely http://flightofthethorups.blogspot.com/

My name is Samantha and here are the humble beginnings of my design blog. The name of the blog comes from my event planning background. I have planned events on pretty much every day and hour of the year. Monday (check), midnight (check), Sunday evening (check), 7 AM (check). You name the date, time, holiday...I've pretty much done it. But the best parties are always on the luxurious, relaxing Saturday. From a classy Sonoma Valley wedding to a Southern outdoor BBQ, there is nothing better than the fabulous day scrunched in between the hectic Fridays and lazy Sundays that is Saturday. And what goes better with Saturday than sun. So away we go with Samantha's Sunny Saturdays...

Idea for the day: Shoes --- A friend of mine just designed a pair of her very own shoes at Nike ID. Although they were stuck in Qing Dao, China for a few weeks, they are pretty slick. At a wedding I recently attended, my attention was drawn to the dual colored Chuck Taylors all the groomsmen wore. For some reason, they had the word "NEATO" embroidered on the side. While I'm not quite sure why they decided to get that particular slogan, it shows personality.

In events, the bottom line is what will make this different from any other wedding. For a wedding, I think having your very own Nike's would be a great indication of who you are...maybe flip flops on a sunny Chicago beach (yes, there are beaches in Chicago and, yes, I was able to enjoy them over fourth of July) or coveted Christian Loubotins or Manolos.

Bottom Line: Shoes are a glimpse into a person's soul (or sole)...who do you want to be?