Pumpkin Carving Skills, 2007

For a fun assignment in my design department at Ohio State, we had to carve a pumpkin with an object that we were studying (i.e. logo design) and I chose the ever iconic Starbucks logo. What do you think? Pretty good, huh? It's fun to look at it now, but this took hours...

Dinner with the Family

I grew up in an Italian family, which can only mean two things: We love to eat, and we love to cook. Especially pasta! When I was visiting home a few weeks ago, we had quite the homemade feast. My parents, my new brother Nathan and I made homemade angel-hair noodles and homemade sauce from tomatoes. Here is a little digital tour through the process of noodle and sauce making from our kitchen to yours...

Nathan reads a recipe out of our huge Italian cookbook

We add the ingredients to make the dough

We flatten sections of dough through a press

The flattened dough hangs on a pasta rack

We send the dough through the other side of the pasta machine, which cuts the sheets of dough into long angel-hair noodles

The noodles are waiting to be dropped into the boiling pot

MEANWHILE

Blanched tomatoes are peeled, seeds removed, and they are set to boil on the stove

The sauce is run through our food mill in order to make it smooth

And because that already wasn't enough work, my mom decided to bake the most delicious chocolate chip cookies you will ever eat

Bon Appetit!

Autumn in Ohio!

You know I love Halloween, but I had to get it from somewhere. Here are some photos I snapped when I was visiting my parents two weeks ago. My mother's Autumnal decorations have been out since the beginning of September! 

How gorgeous is this arrangement of fake dried leaves and cranberries that we made while I was home? 

Halloween Cards!

How cute are these Halloween cards from littletoad on Etsy? Answer: so cute. You get five cards and envelopes for around $10-13.00

This one even says "word to your mummy" 

Do you have the time?

I don't wear a watch, thanks to my handy-dandy cellular phone that is constantly glued to my hand at all times. But I recently heard that many young Americans are no longer able to tell time, and that shocked me! They even have plenty of watches with digital faces to make life easier for people. If you ask me, life is easy enough as it is, and this has me motivated to use a watch rather than use my cell. 

A little online shopping made me realize I would definitely start wearing a watch if I had this one from Coach! 

It's October 1st!

So that means I am planning at least one Halloween themed post every day this month! I have already started decorating my apartment, but I have decided to post a few spooky DIY Halloween decoration ideas here for you, all of which I found on Martha Stewart's Halloween Central!

They are all super easy to do, with minimal supplies, but have a big effect on a space!

Try them if you dare! 

What will they think of next?

There are just too many creative people in this world. Look how amazing these bags are!

Things like this make me proud to say I am a graphic designer. 

As seen on The Dieline

WELCOME WEEK 2009

Here are some images from the 2009 Welcome Week campaign. I designed the t-shirts, logos, books and posters for this week, and I have found some great photos online so those non-ohio state readers can check it out!

Piper-Heidsieck + Christian Louboutin

How much do I love the combination of the most glamourous champagne with the most stylish shoe designer? These are the Louboutin/Piper-Heidsieck gift packages I found on the Dieline. They were designed to commemorate the two starting a campaign together. I want a glass shoe, but only if I can drink champagne out of it...

I need Designer Opinions here

I know some of my design loving pals out there read The Dieline, so I am asking for an opinion on this...interesting package design for banana juice!

I can't decide if I love it, it's clever, or it simply freaks me out! Thoughts? 

Miuccia Prada

While reading The Cut this morning for my daily dose of fashion news and snarky comments and I found an article on Miuccia Prada's collection, and how much she loves the Lady Gaga movement of only wearing underpants, or underoos, as I like to call them. And while that's all well and good, I found it more important to highlight the beauty of the shirts they are wearing, and the styling of the models. Who doesn't love a glittery top with a cherry red lip for a little evening drama? Very hot. 

Serious Bling for Coach

I am feeling much better, and that is due in large part to how gorgeous these pieces of jewelry from Coach are! They are all works of art! Of course I can't afford them, but they are great to look at! 

Hiatus

I haven't been feeling very Jenna Sais Quois lately. 

I hope I will be back soon, and happier than ever. 

Let There Be Light

I am not sure why this idea never occurred to me before this moment. But it is the Organizing Tip of the Day over at Martha Stewart. A flashlight on your fuse box... since basically any time you are dealing with the fuse box, there is a power outage. 

Go Martha!

Moss Green Cabinets

I saw this image as a before and after on Design*Sponge this morning. 

It made me think of these images from Nienie's kitchen. 

I love the idea of painting cabinets instead of being stuck with ugly wood ones you hate...but I never thought of moss green before. It seems very cozy, yet modern. And surprisingly gender neutral as well.