gone camping

{ one: red, white, and blue outfit inspiration via Cold Splinters | two, three, five and seven: packing list and tent inspiration via Future Mountains |  four: source unknown | six: via Darling Dexter | eight, nine, and ten: DIY camping stool via Design*Sponge | eleven: via . . . etc | twelve and thirteen: East Tennessee via Google }

Road tripping down to see Collin's family in Tennessee for their annual Fourth of July camping and music extravaganza.

Vanessa Bruno

Fashion/music video/ghost story hybrids from Vanessa Bruno featuring Lou Doillon and Jessica Joffe.

Windy City Live

{ one, two, and three: what I wore on the WCL segment | four: (from L to R) Miriam Cecilia, Elizabeth of Eskell, Christina of 

C / F A N, Lara Miller, and me | five: SS11 photo by Caleb Condit | six and seven: the jewelry that was paired with my look }

Kelly Ryan O'Brien, blogger and style maven extraordinaire, brought together a group of some of my favorite local ladies for a fashion segment yesterday on Windy City Live. The other designers and I all sported looks from our current collections and donned jewelry by Jules. I wore the Racer Back Tank in a vintage striped cotton fabric, the Convertible Maxi Skirt in off-white hemp silk, and the Brass and Silk Belt tied as a headband. I also got to wear this necklace, bracelet, and a gorgeous pair of pyrite earrings from Jules. It was such an enjoyable morning and reminded me of one of the many reasons I love designing in Chicago: this wonderful community of talented (and cool, and nice, and fun) designers. Click here to watch the clip.

wow

{ embroidered portraits by Daniel Kornrumpf via A Cup of Jo }

I am completely blown away by these hand-embroidered thread and linen portraits.

ombre wedding theme

{ one and two: ombre napkin how-to via This is Glamorous | three: Tina Steele Lindsey painting and Lava Flow cocktail via Joy Thigpen |  four, five, and six: ombre dyed escort cards via Neither Snow | seven and eight: Maria Lucia Hohan dresses via The Cherry Blossom Girl }

I love the look of a bridal party wearing varying shades of similar colors and each maid in a different style dress. Wouldn't dresses such as these MLH beauties in a pale color palette of nudes, blushes, and champagnes look fabulous alongside these hand-dyed napkins, signature cocktails, or place cards?

mudroom space

{ via Design*Sponge }

What a charming place to leave your boots after a few hours in the garden.

stripes

{ one: Jessica de Ruiter, one of our favorite style icons, via Garance Doré | two: via The Sartorialist | three: a pile of striped cottons in the studio | four: hemp and organic cotton indigo stripe pieces from the EB SS11 collection photographed by Caleb Condit | five and six: by Louise Bourgeois | seven: via Pinterest | eight: via Pinterest | nine and ten: vintage cotton stripe maxi dress from the EB SS11 collection photographed by Caleb Condit }

I am constantly on the look out for the perfect stripe. This season, I am on a bit of a blue and white kick and am finding myself drawn to fabrics that have a hint of something nautical. Over the years, I have collected yards and yards of stripes ranging from classics men's shirting cottons to silk blends to special vintage pieces of fabric. With the appearance of a few different stripes in our Spring Summer 2011 collection, I think this is the perfect time to break out our ever-growing stockpile and make some fun one-of-a-kind summer dresses. Any suggestions or requests?

velvette at subterranean

My sister Natalie is playing a show at Subterranean this Friday night with her band Velvette. If you are in Chicago and looking for something fun to do, stop by and check it out.

bright and bold

{ one: custom bridesmaid dresses for Kate and Ben's wedding | two: paper garland photo by Rachel Thurston }

women in fields

{ one: Louisa Walking Away by Annabel Mehran | two: Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth } 

the head and the heart

Iron and Wine played at Millennium Park's New Music Mondays the other night and I rode down there to meet a group of friends and family and watch the show. The Head and the Heart, a band from Seattle on Sub Pop Records, kicked off the totally packed free concert with their enchanting set. They ended with this song. It gave me goosebumps.

a bridal shower

{ photos by Caleb Condit, final detail photo by EB }

My friend Rosie is getting married later this month and a few weeks ago her bridal party and I hosted a shower for her and her fiancé James at my house in Bucktown. For the decor, we kept things simple with kraft paper details and white, lavender, and green toned flowers in vintage milk bottles, mason jars, and bud vases. Abra Berens, a chef known for her farm-to-table approach to cooking, came in from her farm in Northern Michigan to cater the celebration. She prepared the most delicious selection of gourmet finger foods. Figs with crème fraiche and candied walnuts, home roast beef with horseradish cream and pickled beets on sourdough, and lavender lemonade were just a few of our many favorites from her menu. Kelcey from Fox & Obel was in charge of desserts and made apple tarts, a variety of chocolate and espresso cake bites, and more. Yum! Sticking with the lavender theme from the invitations (which we designed and printed at home on Luxe Cream paper from Paper Source), we gave homemade lavender salt scrub in small glass jars as favors for the guests. A big thank you to my co-hosts, to Abra and Kelcey for their culinary expertise, to Caleb for his beautiful documentation of the afternoon, and to all the lovely ladies who made it out for the occasion.

P.S. In case anybody is curious, Rosie is wearing a custom, one-of-a-kind EB piece that she commissioned for the shower. It is a fitted organic cotton pencil skirt with hand sewn layers of bias-cut silk organza. I am wearing the Lewis Dress made out of a woven cotton that I bought at a fabric store in Montana a couple summers ago.