Today is my birthday!  Honestly, I could really care less (although I appreciate all of the well wishes – thank you!). For me, the most special way to celebrate is to spend time with my family. And, this year, I got the most special birthday gift of all. For the next thirty days, Ryan has time off from work. He changed jobs and employers (hence the sudden move to New York) and is required to take a “garden leave.” This means that I have thirty straight days of “family” time during which Ryan doesn’t have to travel and we can spend time enjoying our last several weeks of fun in Chicago before we leave.

This morning Ryan started his garden leave by taking Maddie to swim lessons! Here is a list of 10 things that I hope to do with my family (or just Ryan) over the next thirty days:

1) Attend a couple of Chicago Cubs games.

2) Teach Maddie how to swim at our favorite pool.

3) Stop by Hubby’s Dog House for lunch and play at Oz Park.

4) Enjoy an outdoor summer concert at Ravinia.

5) Visit the Chicago Children’s Museum.

6) Have one last dinner at Avec.

7) Walk the lakefront path from Diversey to Oak Street Beach.

8) Enjoy ”Fannie’s killer fried egg sandwich” one last time at m.henry.

9) Visit and picnic at the Lincoln Park Zoo again.

10) Schedule lots of play dates with family and friends.

Fortunately, I am also able to squeeze in some personal and business activities into the next thirty days, starting with a trip to New York for the National Stationery Show next week!  And, I can design and wrap up many late summer and early fall weddings before we move to New York without having to worry about a babysitter’s schedule.

These next thirty days are going to be so fun, but also bittersweet as we say prepare to say goodbye to our hometown. I plan to carry my camera around with me most days to make sure we can show Maddie all of our favorite special places in Chicago. I am sure that you will see photos from places on my “top 10″ list.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Posting may be a little light next week while I am at the National Stationery Show, but I promise to take a lot of photos for your viewing pleasure!

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Metallic gold seems to be everywhere these days and fashionistas, bloggers and brides can’t seem to get enough of the trend. I personally have been printing gold foil letterpress invitations on a regular basis for the past eight months. My creative assistant Jess thought it would be fun to take the trend one step further, so she compiled some glittering gold pieces for your viewing pleasure. Any of these pieces would make a classically styled outfit pop, don’t you think? Although the Anya Hindmarch clutch is to die for, I think the J. Crew Flats may be a better fit for my mama lifestyle. What is your favorite?

1. Anya Hindmarch Clutch // 2. Marcia Moran Earrings  // 3. Cole Haan Belt

4.  Butter Nail Polish // 5. J. Crew Flat // 6. Kate Spade iPad Sleeve

7. J. Crew Sandal // 8. River Island Sunglasses // 9. BareMinerals Eye Color

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I was born and raised in the Chicago area and have lived here for 34 years. All of our immediate family lives here. We have season tickets to the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bulls games. We could direct you where to eat or drink in any neighborhood north of the South Loop. I’ve mastered the bus and the el system. And, I know all of the secrets to navigating O’Hare airport. It seems so strange that in a couple of months I will be saying goodbye to this city and all of our family and friends. But, I know that I will always be a Chicagoan living in New York.

Our home will go on the market this week. This makes me very sad because we bought it less than a year ago and completed extensive renovations in it. So, if you are looking for a 3 bedroom, 2.1 bath duplex penthouse off of the Southport corridor, we have one waiting for you. You can contact my agent.

I’ve been working out the details of our move while keeping Kimberly FitzSimons Letterpress in mind. All of my current clients’ orders will absolutely not be affected. However, I will be taking on limited orders for the second half of 2013. As a result, all letterpress wedding samples in my shop are complimentary. But, I will not be taking every project that comes my way, so please contact me as soon as possible if you are planning to order stationery for a wedding in 2013.

I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you! If you live in the southern Westchester area just north of New York City, I would love to connect with you. This is where we will hopefully land late spring or summer.

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I hope you had a great weekend! I had a wonderful Mother’s Day. As you become a mom, you start caring less about your own birthday and focus on your family and your kids’ celebrations. But, one of those days that will always be special is Mother’s Day. Maddie helped draw me this delightful card and helped pick up some flowers for me with her daddy.

Ryan and I were so fortunate to see both of our moms yesterday. Maddie is so lucky to have two of the most loving and caring “nanas” in the world. Thank you, Nana B and Nana Fitz for all you do for us.

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Happy Friday! I am excited for my second Mother’s Day this weekend! Sunday brunch and visits with both of Maddie’s grandmas is on the itinerary. I am headed out the door to work on a fun project with the talented Jess Lively, but before I go here are some of the posts I saved on Bloglovin’ this week:

1: I love getting an inside view into artists’ creative processes, and this illustration pictorial by Kelly Smith (aka Birdy & Me) is no exception. (via A Pair and A Spare)

2: If I lived alone, I would want my apartment to look this pretty, clean and feminine. (via Escapade Blog)

3: Beach reads for smart girls. Enough said. (via Nasty Gal Blog)

4: This easy DIY fabric hanger would be so sweet under a newborn outfit as a thoughtful gift. (via Ruche blog)

5: A list of 8 of Chicago’s hot moms caught my eye. Love it, ladies. (via Refinery 29)

6: I’m crushing on this jacket by Lovers and Friends. (via 9 to 5 chic)

7: This frozen yogurt recipe for toddlers is so smart (and easy)! (via Cup of Jo)

8: A good reminder of things you should do before hitting “publish” on those blog posts. (via This Chicks Got Style)

9: Quite possibly the most perfect feminine cocktail for Mother’s Day. (Honestly Yum via Joy the Baker)

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I had a little extra room on a recent press run so I added these simple but fun letterpress correspondence notes. They are printed in navy ink on double thick Lettra.

I am terrible at sending short notes to friends and family, so I’m going to start using these to keep in touch. They will soon be available in the shop, too.

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Last week, I headed to my 16-week pregnancy checkup. I arrived at the doctor’s office at 7:45am only to find out that my appointment was at 2:45pm. Luckily, they were able to squeeze me in after a two hour wait. I was a little tired and frustrated after the ordeal, but while I walked through the hallway at the doctor’s office I spotted this beauty (excuse the iPhone blur):

I designed and printed this letterpress baby announcement last year for my dear friends’ daughter, Maddie. (She just happens to have the same name as my little one.) It was one of the last projects that I printed in my old studio on my Vandercook SP-15. This project meant a lot to me and when I saw it in the doctor’s office hanging among all of the other baby announcements, it brightened up my day immediately.

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make us the happiest.

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Up until yesterday, I’ve been storing old cards and announcements in shoe boxes in my office closet. I finally found an hour to sort through the boxes, select my favorite cards, and organize them into a swatch-type book that I could easily flip through for inspiration or for fun.

I purchased these 2″ metal rings that served as a perfect holder for my cards. I used a hole punch (mine is a multi-use eyelet and snap punch, but any old hole punch will work) to punch a small hole in the upper corner of each card and then added the cards to the ring.

I also added some envelopes to the book because I’ve received some really gorgeous envelope designs over the past couple of years. And, I am not always good at saving addresses, so keeping them on the ring until they make my contact list is helpful.

This card swatch book could also be used to hold postcards from family vacations, school photos and memorabilia, ticket stubs and more. I’m thinking of starting to collect tickets and special items for Maddie to complement her baby book.

I hope you have a great start to the week!

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I am headed to New York again today for a super quick trip. (I am not even bringing a suitcase…) I’m not a great flyer, but hopefully the winds will be calm and I’ll be able to catch some shut eye. Before I go, I’d love to share some of the beautiful products, ideas and photos that have inspired me this week:

1) Have you seen the new USPS Vintage Seed Packet Stamps? Just gorgeous! (via TheDieline.com)

2) I love coconut and this SnoBall Cake Roll is not only pretty, but looks like it wouldn’t disappoint in the taste department. (via Sprinkle Bakes)

3) The new Fitzgerald Suite at The Plaza Hotel was designed by The Great Gatsby movie set designer (Catherine Martin) and furnished by Restoration Hardware. (via The Decorista)

4) I love the idea of using mini matchbooks as a decoration. (via Made By Girl)

5) Love this quote. (via Note to Self)

6) This color palette in this Char-Bea by Ashley G. bedding at Urban Outfitters caught my eye. (via Design Sponge)

7) A charming post about the thank you note. (via Garance Dore)

8) One of my favorite food bloggers, La Tartine Gourmande, is launching a new cookbook. Her latest post with the news includes stunning photos that have me dreaming of travel and yearning to cook.

9) I’m a girly-girl and love reading about other’s beauty routines. Who What Wear clues us in on Ginnifer Goodwin’s go-to makeup staples.

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I am fortunate enough to run my business from my home in a spare bedroom that I converted to an office. However, I recently ran out of space to store all of my paper, samples, envelopes, and packaging supplies. At the beginning year, I started storing samples in my dining room armoire and in my bedroom closet! I was literally stacking leftover invitations in any place I could find that was dust free and away from my toddler’s grasp. I hate throwing old invitations away because I love using them for samples for my future clients.

The other day I finally reached a breaking point. I needed to organize all of this paper! It was taking me too long to find the samples I wanted and the piles and piles of invitation suites just looked like a mess!

When I have an organization project idea in my head, I cannot rest until it is complete. So, I got to work right away. Maddie and I drove straight to Target one morning and I hunted for the perfect stationery storage bins. I found and bought a few of these Sterilite clip top boxes in different sizes and decided to try them out.

My goal was to organize each past client invitation order in a storage box. Each invitation order or product can have from 2-6 pieces on average and I often have varying quantities on hand, so having three different sizes was really helpful! In the small box, for example, I was able to fit a decent quantity of invitations, reply cards, and reception cards.

I was so happy with these boxes for this project that I ordered four dozen of them online! It took me an entire day to sort through all of my inventory and divide samples up into the boxes.

I still have to store my product in three different places, but it is all nicely organized! This bookshelf contains many of my go-to samples and sits close to my desk.

This is one of many organization projects that I hope to tackle this year! I will eventually be designing a new office space when the baby comes along, so this was a nice head start. If any of you other stationers have organization tips or tricks, I would love to hear them!

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