Brooklyn Bride holiday card swap

inspireDC took a break from holidaywork, holidayparties, holidaywrapping & holidaypacking and spent a few creative hours making cards for the Brooklyn Bride Holiday card swap.

here's a peek at the packages. and here's to hoping the kind folks at the good 'ole u.s. postal service aren't too tired to count the stamps and pass these puppies through to inspireDC's fellow card swappers.

vintage letter note cards on the inside...

lots of stamps on the outside!

DQ hot fudge

inspireDC is going back to her michigan roots and spreading Dairy Queen hot fudge around the nation's capitol!

the saying goes, 'tis far better to give than to receive. inspireDC would like to add to that " 'tis far more fun to wrap than to unwrap."

anthro love

dear anthropologie,
can inspireDC please just move in??

photos taken at georgetown anthropologie

decking the halls...

inspireDC getting inspired

thanksgiving week

inspireDC is loving this start to thanksgiving week in DC, in the window at Pulp on 14th... 

firetruck notecards

putting these sweet hand stamped, vintage-inspired notecards in the mail to south carolina in the am for a 1 year old birthday fete coming up.  inspireDC finds little boy so much harder to create for than little girl.  then DCcharlie reminded her that every boy loves a firetruck.  hope the charleston-ites are pleased!  

red pepper soup

inspireDC couldn't bear to see the big, beautiful roasted red peppers left over at work sit in the fridge untouched. so even though it was late, and even though inspireDC doesn't really know how to cook (yet), she took to the stove top afterhours in a loose attempt at red pepper soup. here's how it went down.

so pretty. like too pretty to eat.
not as pretty. but getting very tasty...

e voila!

tasty indeed.

inspireDC had a few heirloom tomatos from eastern market this weekend that were too pretty to resist and too pretty to eat, all at the same time. so into the pot went some olive oil heated, garlic, 3/4 of a leftover red onion, the heirlooms and a few baby cherry tomatos that made their way into the leftover bag with the red peppers. she let it all cook together, then put it into the blender. and today: sweet red pepper soup for lunch. something from not much.

yah!

Pelosi Unveils House Health Care Bill

leftovers

inspireDC thinks one of the best things about hosting a brunch party is the bleary-eyed leftovers for breakfast the next morning. and dishing on the night before, of course.

shower prep

inspireDC is of the mind that planning a party is even better than attending a party (but please don't stop the invites). so getting ready for her saturday shower for the special bride to be is keeping her busy and inspired. a peek at the prep for tomorrow's fete.

no party is complete without pretty paper goodies

the stash, ready to be set out

inspireDC knew her $2 pitcher would come in handy
the perfect color for the pretty purple hydrangea

ok, back to rain dancing.

cali wedding/vacay planning

inspireDC is all about bff biz's labor day weekend wedding in cali. here are the invites inspireDC and the bride created (along with the wordsmithy groom, too) for the rusticly-chic barn wedding on the central coast (you know, cali's last great beach towns!).

now that the wedding invites are sealed and delivered, its on to the par-tay planning. yah! here are the shower invites that went out last week.

now inspireDC is dreaming about decorating the barn, thinking of some twiggy ideas for place cards, and planning the fun shower in august. oh, and drooling over the fish tacos we'll be eating on the central coast.

thanks to biz and nathan for the fun project! and for giving me a good reason to finally buy that monterey font. which inspireDC is now obsessed with. as you can see.

farm fresh eggs

inspireDC went north for independence day inspiration, with a country vacay to northern michigan. and while there she found the most wonderful farm fresh eggs you've ever tasted. pulling over at a sign reading "fresh eggs $1.50/dozen" (handpainted, of course), inspireDC and the uncle knocked on the farmer's door and for the next 30 mins found themselves trapsing through his backyard picking the eggs from under the chickens. talk about farm fresh! along the way we learned how they love to eat watermelon (seriously - who knew??) and how different breeds lay different colored eggs.

to all my urban chicken farming friends: like you, kristina (who's unique voice on the issue of urban chicken farming made inspireDC a convert to the concept), and high school pal gretchen in seattle, who is designing a mobile/green roof chicken coop for next spring with her landscape architect huz (please, oh please, start a blog to show us the progress): there were even the peskiest little naughty chickens who stray from the nests and lay eggs in odd places, like under a life jacket in the garage and behind a pile of 2x4s and inside of a tire. which made inspireDC think those country chickens would probably love your urban oasises. free range indeed.

cozy!see those eggs right under there - 30 mins later in the pan (below)

getting some fresh air outside the coop

look. how. yellow! and look how pretty they are, all different shapes and colors. almost too pretty to eat. almost.

inspireDC is heading north again tonight for the big family reunion (with cousin Dani Rose, hooray!) and has another appointment (urban term for stopping by a country farm) at the farm at 4:00 on thursday for 4 dozen fresh ones!

father's day dessert

inspireDC's pretty little father's day dessert (if she does say so herself). but she self promotes to inspire you to make it too - sers so v v simple. like 10 mins/4 ingredients simple. and it has cake in it but you don't even have to bake - how v genius.

ingredients:
angel food cake
big, 'ole fresh strawberries
no fat cool whip (old school baby!)
no fat vanilla yogurt

mix equal parts cool whip & yogurt
slice cake lengthwise into three parts
place one layer cake down, then put pretty strawberries around edge
smooth on some of the topping from above
repeat twice
see: easy.

paper goodies

if you will please allow inspireDC a personal moment of self promotion, here are some paper goodies she's been working on to keep the creative juices flowin'.

sweet invites for a sweet bride-to-be. stamped and in the mail (phew!).

a good idea by a savvy bride - personalized note cards as thank you gifts for shower hostesses.
(inspireDC got a good buzz making these gifts)

stay tuned for more paper goodies in the coming days. inspireDC has a big wedding invite project underway. which has to be out the door by thurs. nervous.

dupont farmers market

oh dupont farmers market, how inspireDC loves you so.

peonies, mint & beets = sunday morning religion

if inspireDC ever learns to cook, she swears you will be the reason why (and you, grammie).

enjoy the view

inspireDC is finding it hard to be a daily blogger! and some days, hard to find time to find inspiration to share (um, isn't this the point of this blog, you say??). but file this under: gotta find it when you can. inspireDC is tied to her desk. so she turned around and snapped a pic behind her, where she would like to be sitting right now, thinking of pretty things.

she hopes you take a moment to enjoy the view...

$20 bucks, whole lotta inspiration

inspireDC thinks you should hurry, hurry, hurry before time runs out and rush over to the DC Design House in georgetown, which closes may 10.

20 bucks to see some really, really lovely rooms and some fun new ideas. like the embroidery edging around the doorways in the entry hall.

inspireDC doesn't want to give away all of the secrets in this gem, but every night since she went she's been dreaming of the little girl's room on the second floor, designed by marjory segal (who apparently doesn't have a website but if she did inspireDC would def be lovin on it).

there are no pics to show bc you have to go see the house for yourself. afterall, if you could just point & clickety click and see the house, children's hospital would make no moolah on the house and trust inspireDC: its worth more than 20 beans.

when you go, you'll feel like you're standing in the pages of elle decor, right here in dc. and who doesn't want that? so here's a sweet image from elle decor to get you in the mood.

Capitol, Monday

the halls of power never looked so good

abe deserves peonies

U.S. Capitol

these flowers make inspireDC want to call that wall paint color "peony."

Ranuculas

told ya so.

inspireDC is darn right inspired to make a pretty arrangement every sunday morning when she sees lynn vale's buckets-o-flowers at the palisades farmer's market. thanks to lynn for letting inspireDC swoop in at the last minute, in the rain, to grab a few of these pretty blooms this morning, er, afternoon. and for saving inspireDC a super lot of time by handing her 5 prefect stems. because inspireDC has been known to spend a whole lot of time agonizing over which flowers to choose, as if she doesn't have any other cares in the whole wide world...

She Said YES!

a perfectly perfect saturday morning wedding dress hunting with besties in old town alexandria. a place inspireDC doesn't go often enough, by the way, seeing as it's wayyy across the river. but just because this blog is called inspireDC, she should really not exclude such lovely places like old town. so she's going to go more. she's going to do it.

how ever to find a dress to match a ring so pretty?

walked by a sweet flower shop with two ladies making the prettiest arrangements with lemons and inspireDC is just very sorry she doesn't know the name because inspiration runneth over in there for inspireDC and her gal pals

(note to inspireDC: reason to go back)

what could possibly complete such a sweet block, what with the pretty dress shop and the full-o-inspiration flower shop? a sweet shop!

inspireDC didn't even need a sweet tho. she just drooled over the glass canisters.

sweets at The Sugar Cube, on N. Lee in Alexandria, owned by SISTERS

which made inspireDC daydream about working in a pretty shop with her very own sis...

one regret of the day: inspireDC didn't buy a few of the red-tipped yellow ranuculas at said flower shop to put into a sweet little vase with a dark pink peony. ranuculas: inspireDC is coming to find you tomorrow because she can't go another day without you in her house. love ya, mean it. think of you all. the. time.

Think Spring

here are a few things that make inspireDC think spring in washington.
(also read as: all things inspireDC would like to be doing but won't be doing this weekend).