You guys. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am about an upcoming project that’s been in the works for a few months now. And while I’ll remain hush hush on most of it, I can tell you that it has to do with food. And being a foodie and all – I jumped on the chance to be a part of this. The brand words for this particular project are understated luxury, epicurean, LA-centric, and fresh. We actually had two moodboards going for this project, but finally settled on this one. The other board was a little less “young” in feeling, which was ultimately the deciding factor. Young(ish) it is! And that chick in the upper left corner … she rocks. That was just a side note by the way.

I’m very excited to share with you all a recent ( as in yesterday ) project launch for Emily Scott of Em the Gem. I have absolutely adored working with this lady to come up with the perfect brand for her business. You can check out our initial moodboard right here – and notice how influential the top left image actually became. Such a beautiful palette! The overall aesthetic is very fresh, classic, & simple.

Pictured above is a little snippet from her pricing guide, which is chalk full of beautiful imagery. I’ll have to share more screenshots from that once I get around to updating my portfolio ( hopefully soon!! ) with new projects. And below are a few shots of her new portfolio / blog / website, which was coded by the lovely Zoe Rooney. Personally, my favorite is the landing page … which has a unique layout with interesting positioning. I had such a BLAST working on this one. Seriously. You can see it in its entirety right here. And finally – in the works – are her business cards, which I hope to share with you all very very soon after printing! Cheers to your new brand launch, Em.

I’ve been asked a few times what wordpress plugins I use + love, so I thought I’d do a little round-up post. Please note that these are subjective and there are usually several kinds of plugins for any given need out there! My suggestion would be to do your research and test em’ out to see what you like best. So without further ado, here are some sweet plugins :

PINTEREST PIN IT BUTTON Nowadays, it’s trendy to have an image hover that allows your readers to “pin” images straight to their boards. There are a TON of options out there for this, but I’ve been most successful with this plugin. The reason I love it is because a separate pinterest box pops up that doesn’t interfere with your actual site. Beware of some plugins that actually take visitors away from your site.

COMMENT REPLY I personally use WordPress’ native “reply to comments” feature in my theme, but if yours doesn’t have that enabled and you don’t know how to do so – I would suggest using a simple plugin like this one or this one. These work straight out of the box and send an email to anyone who has received a reply to their comment. I think having something like this enabled is KEY for communication within your blog. I absolutely love replying to comments on my end and the discussions that ensues!

CONTACT FORM Since my early days, I’ve been an avid Contact Form 7 user. I know there are literally hundreds of forms you can install + use, but this is what I’ve loved so far. It’ll take a bit of CSS knowledge to get your forms looking pretty, but it’s not too scary is you do a little google searching for help.

BACKUP YOUR SITE Again, there are so many options out there for backing up your wordpress website. I peronsally use the WordPree Backup to Dropbox plugin, because it literally drops my files right into DP, which is nice + simple. You can schedule these routine backups and sit back + relax knowing that your site is covered.

GALLERIES One of my hands down favorite wordpress galleries is the Nivo Slider. While I don’t use it on any of my websites, I’ve played around with it for a few of my clients. It’s easy to use with a variety of options, which makes for a very versatile plugin.

ETC. Because there are a handfull of plugins I use that aren’t entirely interesting to talk about, I’m going to throw them into this last category here. Please click around + explore the following as they are all useful in their own way : Limit Login Attempts, Google XML Sitemaps, Askimet, and All in One SEO Pack.

Enjoy these! And make sure to share your own favorite plugins below in the comments. I know there must be some goodies out there that I’ve never even heard of. Let’s discuss!

Our trip to France is only two weeks and one day away, which blows my mind. Like I’ve mentioned before, I’ve actually never been to Europe before. Michael has, but that was awhile ago. We’ve been working ultra fast to get everything ready before we go. Making reservations, researching logistical details, buying tickets + nicer travel bags — etc. etc. All of you who have sent emails and given suggestions so far have been such a blessing! I’m not sure I could have wrapped my head around everything in such a short period of time.

So with that said, I thought I would ask one more little thing from you guys on the off hand chance you had some thoughts you’d like to share. And that little thing is all about where to eat without dropping a ton of money everywhere. We plan on getting lost + walking around lots, so location doesn’t really matter. But just in case you’re curious, we will be spending four nights near Bastille and three in Montmartre. Again, thanks for all your help so far!

I’m excited to share a special moodboard with you guys today!! My new designer Maddy Nye started working with me at the beginning of this month, so I thought I would share one of HER moodboards created for a client project with you guys. This brand will be hip + spirited while maintaining a simple approach. Can’t wait to share more!