for pedro.

Our dear friend Mckay* has been working on this project for the past year. 

They have raised nearly a third of the funding needed in just 24 hours; I have no doubt they'll exceed their financial goal. If you'd like to be a part of the giving, go here. Just $1.15 buys a chicken! I feel so excited for this man's life and how greatly it will be changed by the goodness and generosity of others. Get on board if you can!

*fun fact: Mckay played the guitar as I walked down the aisle! We love him dearly.

. . .

summertime hello.

A few fun things from around the web!

1. What it costs to eat at every 3-star Michelin restaurant in the world.

2. Genius Picnic Bag on my wish list. 

3. Consider this yet another reason I dream of being gal pals with Kristen Wiig. 

4. Can't wait to visit the giants in Mariposa Grove with my parents this weekend!

5. Grown men reenact conversations with a toddler. 

6. Rent in SF is actually the worst. 

7. Lowland Hum plays at the Garage. Their album Native Air will be available two weeks from today. I already have it and man is it good.

8. I will be playing on this beach in Costa Rica with my handsome husband love in just 2 weeks! 

Hope everyone is having a full and happy summer : )

. . .

life lately in the form of links.

A peek of Alison and Jacob's beautiful wedding

We were backstage at this amazing show!

Celebrated our company launching in NYC with a cruise on bay

Went to Tulipmania - SF people, you should check it out

We took a day trip to this wonderful place last weekend

Made valentines with my work family ps i love my job

and I want this lamp (imagined and created in SF!)

Lastly, I'd like to congratulate Lee and Hannah who adopted a puppy today. 

Ollie, your auntie beth loves you already.

hang out with me on instagram if you'd like!

. . .

going to the chapel.

We are boarding a plane first thing tomorrow morning to head east for Jacob & Alison's wedding. I've been looking forward to this January weekend for months and am so excited it's finally here! Three days filled with celebration, dear friends, thankfulness, toasts, wild dancing, and seeing one of my favorite friends enter into a most beautiful blessing with her Jacob. It's going to be a wonderful weekend. Here we go!

photo by Sarah Der Photography

(PS - remember when Alison asked me to be her bridesmaid?)

. . .

lowland hum.

Remember Daniel and Lauren from this post back in June? 

Well, they are up to something new and wonderful:

Please consider gifting them a donation of any size to help with the costs of recording their first joint album. They are two of my dearest friends and I am truly very excited for their new music. I've heard sneak peeks and I'm telling you, it's wonderful. They are magnificent together in marriage and music. 

Visit their KickStarter Page to learn more or donate. 

(And have a look at the awesome/creative/hilarious rewards for their backers on the right side of the page.) 

. . .

this thanksgiving.

I loved Thanksgiving this year. We fit 10 people in our little apartment and had quite the feast together. No one at our gathering was from San Francisco, so we were all away from our families and normal traditions. Spending the day in each other's company was wonderful and fun, plus I thoroughly enjoy throwing a little party. Everyone pitched in and brought awesome food. During dinner, people were spread about our apartment - some at the table, some on the sofa, and a few troopers even ate in camping chairs. The meal was superb and after we ate, everyone sat around the living room and talked for hours. Thankfully, the wonderful Carly Mask took some beautiful photos of the evening. Have a look if you'd like!

Cool Things About Our Thanksgiving:

1. My cousin Nick, who I've spent pretty much every Thanksgiving with for my whole life, actually moved to SF this year too. He joined our festivities and while our families ate together back in NC, we spent the day together 3,000 miles away. Life is funny.
2. These friends can cook. Oh my goodness the food was insanely good.
3. A few of our guests were Belgian and this marked their first Thanksgiving ever! Describing the historical conception of Thanksgiving and how it relates to our modern traditions is kind of hard. They had a good time nonetheless. Of all the new foods, they liked the green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole best. 

4. I am so thankful that we have friends to spend a Thanksgiving with. Hallelujah.

. . .

a tree, a tree!

Pertinent background information: we don't really have a tree this year. We have a small apartment, no car, and all of our christmas ornaments and decorations are back in NC. So we decided to forego a normal tree for this year and I created a makeshift 2D one, which is basically a paper tree on the wall with some decorations taped on. It's actually pretty pitiful. I'll share pictures of that one later. 

So last night, when Al and Carly came for dinner and brought us a real little tree, I was very excited. I literally hugged it. We decorated it with a single strand of lights and exactly 4 ornaments, all hung with paper clips. They brought us a pretty mistletoe arrangement too, which that sweet Carly put together herself. Their Christmas additions to our apartment have made it feel so much more cheery. I'm really thankful for those two.

I love my little tree so much that I've been moving it from room to room based on wherever I'm hanging out. The perks of having a teeny tree!

. . .

for lauren.

Lauren has been my friend for 5 years. When we became instant pals week one of college, she was a spunky, messy-headed, creative, and ambitious individual. And though she absolutely is still all those lovable things (she recently wore a tiger costume to med school, for instance), she has grown by leaps and bounds in these years I've known her. She's less agitated by stress. More comfortable with confrontation. She has grown in wisdom and in the (legitimately difficult) art of letting things go. It really is remarkable to think of all the ways she's become more herself since I've known her. Seeing her life filled with more grace, humor, and honesty makes me happy. That girl is alive. Even from 3,000 miles away, she is a thoughtful and faithful friend and I'm happy to count her among my closest comrades. 

Happy Birthday Lauren. 2013 is gonna be your year.

. . .

Pocket Clothing: 10 Questions & a Special Discount!

Readers of finnfolk, I am pleased to introduce Pocket Clothing.

This Tennessee based clothing company takes cozy staples and customizes them with awesome pockets made from upcycled fabrics. They sew each pocket with love themselves and have everything from tanks and totes to hoodies and onesies for little ones. You choose your clothing, pick your pocket, and it's as easy as that! I have one of their henleys and love it (see below). Their top-notch clothes are starting to make their way into boutiques (and people's hearts, obviously). Best of all, they are really great people!

The stately gentlemen pictured above are founders and pocketeers, 

Luke Rutherford and Evan Story. Get to know them below!

________________________________

1. Describe your company in a sentence.
Luke: Limited quantities of fabric meets unlimited opportunity for joy.
Evan: Life's better with a pocket.

2. Where are you based / Where do you make your products?
Luke: We are in Knoxville, TN, and everything is handmade there. Locally owned, locally sewn baby!

Evan: Our base of operations in a wonderful place called the Pocket Lab located in a secret locaiton in Knoxville. We spent many hours in the lab experimenting on new creations and planning out next adventures.

3. Where do you find your awesome fabrics?
Luke: We get our fabrics everywhere! Currently, we've gathered pockets from Tennesssee, South Carolina, Virginia, New York, California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Colarado and we're constantly searching. Our fabrics come from thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales, your grandmothers attic (those are the  hardest to get) - anything goes. Going on fabric hunts is something I enjoy the most about working on Pocket Clothing.

We use the conecpt of upcylcing these fabrics by giving them value once again as pockets on our shirts. Some fabrics can make 50 pockets, and some could only make 2, giving it the limited edition aspect to get one while it's still in stock. I would say that's the biggest appeal to our product - you could be one of only a few, if not the only one with the exact shirt and pocket combination in the UNIVERSE!

4. How was the concept for Pocket Clothing born?

Evan: The concept was born out of many late night talks from mega bed - a fusion of three queen sized beds into one large mega bed. We both wanted to create things other people would want.
Luke: One day after class, I showed up to the house with a 80s neon wallet from a thrift store - pretty normal. That lead to a conversation about the idea of creating apparel that people would enjoy as much as we would. Most likely we were watching an episode of Boy Meets World, which would have only benefited to our creativity. Once we started making shirts, we got some great feedback and knew others would want in on the pocket mayhem.

5. The company is now over a year old. Any big takeaways or important lessons learned from your first year of business?
Evan: The biggest part of doing big things is executing. Finishing. We have so many ideas all the time, but actually doing something with them is the challenge. Finishing the small things leads to finishing big things. Also. Starting our own company was the coolest thing we've ever done! I recommend this to everyone.

6. What's your favorite part about being an entrepreneur?
Luke: I love that we are able to create something that people seem to enjoy and want to be a part of. We said from the beginning that if we just saw a couple of people wearing our shirts on campus then it would be a success. It never gets old for us to see someone wearing a shirt, or to see a picture on Instagram of someone who just recieved their order and are pumped about their Pocket. It's the most encouraging aspect. That's probably what I love the most, seeing people wear our shirts because they like them. Insert smiley emoticon. 

7. If there was one celebrity you could pick to wear your clothes, who would it be? (Cartoons and fictional characters obviously fair game).
Evan: Dallas Clayton is first choice. He is a children's book author turned super hero.
Luke: I'm currently watching a show about BigFoot, so I would have to say, BigFoot. I would make him wear a cardigan.

8. Who is the one celebrity you would never want to wear your clothes? (Same rules apply).
Evan: I would never let Nickleback wear it.
Luke: The guy who created Myspace.

9. What's the next frontier for Pocket Clothing? Please say footie pajamas.
Luke: I can't say exactly what's next, but all I'll say is that no (real) animals will be harmed in the process.

10. Anything you want to say to finnfolk readers?
Evan: Sew hard or go home!
Luke: Don't let cursive handwriting die!

____________________________________________

This is my henley, which I wear all the time. It's their Unisex Baby Thermal Long Sleeve Henley in Asphalt with a Partly Cloudy pocket. It also matches my favorite pillow. 

____________________________

The Pocket Clothing team is generously offering 3 finnfolk readers 25% off their entire order!! This is literally their best deal to date. Be one of the first 3 to place an order and use the code finnfolk at checkout for the discount. 

PLEASE NOTE: the space to enter the code will appear after you enter
 payment information. After 3 people use the code, it will be gone.

UPDATE: all 3 coupons have been used! 


I hope this deal gets some of you amped. I kind of want to cheat and use it myself. 
Thank you Pocket Clothing!


. . .

( You can connect with Pocket Clothing by signing up for their Newsletter on the lower right side of their website. Also check them out Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest. They are lots of fun, you won't regret it! )

4 things.

1. We were yesterday's Sunday Edition on Snippet and Ink! 

2. Our friends at The Pocket Clothing are offering 20% off today with the code ROBOTISMYMIDDLENAME. You should check them out, I love their stuff. As a little hint, you'll all be getting to know them more later this week. Wink.

3. Thanksgiving was a great success. We had 10 people in our one bedroom apartment with a proper feast. Photos to come soon.

4. These baby foxes!

. . .

camping for food.

We are at another First 100 Chick-fil-A Campout today, racking up free food. This time, we're with a big group of people and it's so much fun! We have our own little tent city and the weather is chilly but sunny, perfect for being outside all day. The boys are playing the most intense game of 4 square I've ever seen, literally. That's Finn on the bottom, I'm not even sure how he even got like that. 

And I'm thoroughly enjoying myself because:

a) I like the people we're hanging out with. Everyone in the group is from North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, or Texas and it's just fun to be around people from the south. Living out here, it's a rare occurrence. 
b) I'm using my ultra-cute new Little Mermaid pouch (shout out to my mom). 
c) I packed lots of snacks.
d) I love tents. They're basically forts for adults.

A year's worth of free Chick-fil-A shall be ours tomorrow morning! We just have to weather the cold night ahead, which should be a breeze (I've got wool socks galore). It's a good day! 

. . .

throwback thursday: folklore heroes get down.

This is the fifth week of Throwback Thursdays, a series intended to share old photos and stories I love. This week, I'm keeping it short with a share from Halloween 2008.

Paul Bunyan and Davy Crockett get down.

Not pictured is Caroline who completed our trio as Babe the Blue Ox. I like this photo because Paul Bunyan and Davy Crockett would probably not have danced in a basement with Cleopatra & Hulk at 1 am. College Halloweens were a blast with Lauren and Caroline & our costumes got more creative/weirder each year. I'll have to do a post sometime sharing more photos of past costumes. There are some good ones in there.

We spent last night at Al & Carly's cozy apartment in Noe. We ate homemade chili and made our own version of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory's apple pie apples, which were delicious. Halloween is fun!

. . .

this week.

( A little mix of photos from my week )

1. Found this little elephant finger puppet mixed in with my craft stuff. What a cutie!
2. I really want to buy these handsome man boots for Finn.

3. Twinkle lights are up.
4. And pumpkins are out. Everything feels cozy.
5. This pretty jar was a gift from Nicole. Finn & I began using it to collect small and funny memories we might otherwise forget. For example "today our drunken neighbor was stuck in the elevator and was yelling "let me out, let me out". And when his wife let him out, he told her she had a big mouth". Some are funny, some are nice, and we'll read them at New Years. I like to watch it fill up.
6. Anniversary sweetness from our friend Fe. There were two cupcakes but, well, you know.
7. We are a mirror writing family.
8. Best of all, my husband is home.

Have a great weekend everybody! 

. . .

throwback thursday: the famous float.

This is the fourth installment of Throwback Thursdays, a new thing I'm trying out as a way to share old photos and stories I love. Here are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd posts if you haven't been reading along.

In the summer of 2008 some friends and I took a trip to Wilmington, NC for a beach weekend. Upon arriving, we realized we were without beach toys so Nick and Nate went to the store to pick something up. 

They returned with this:

And it was so awesome that we were featured in the local newspaper!

The article was entitled "Records remain intact, but sweltering heat sticks around".

Temperatures that weekend were  around 107ºF (42ºC for my Belgian readers) and we resultantly spent a ton of time in the ocean."The worm" made it so much fun! Floating over the waves became a challenging game of balancing on top, which was much harder than it sounds. We are all enthusiastic competitors. Thank you Nick for picking out such an awesome float. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't all be so famous right now. 

. . .

awesome texts.

1. A poignant observation from the wonderful Caitlin 

(we were casually discussing cute forest mammals):

2. This one is from Caroline. I enjoy reading the sign 

as it was without the additions. Ah, the south:

3. For this one, I highjacked my mom's phone and was messaging Lee as if I 

was our mom. His final insult/closing remark made me laugh so hard:

. . .

throwback thursdays / my poetry slam.

This is my first go with Throwback Thursdays, a new thing I'd like to try out as a way to share old photos and stories with all you lovely people. Let's give it a whirl and see if it's fun.

In the months leading up to our wedding, I lived in a house with 9 outrageously fun females. Among these people were Caroline, Lauren, Alison, Margaret, and Madi who you can get to know in other posts (click their name!). Our place was in Chapel Hill on McCauley St. and you could literally hear the antics in that house from a 3 block distance. Even though the shenanigans would sometimes wake you up, it was big fun. 

One evening a few weeks before our wedding, I returned home to the wonderful surprise of a poetry-reading night being held in my honor, hosted by aforementioned ultra-cool roommates. Our house was decorated beautifully, everybody looked fabulous, and there was a whole spread of desserts and goodies in the kitchen with flowers and sweet cards from the girls too (inside one, a gift card for a massage - SCORE).

After having me change into something more poetry-reading-esque, the recitations began! Everyone had a selection, some chosen from favorite poets and others handwritten just for the night. Whether sweet and sincere or comedic and outright ridiculous, they all loved on me well and my face hurt from smiling by the end of the night. If there was one thing McCauley excelled at, it was throwing amazing themed-parties. Isn't this a great idea for a shower? It stands as one of my favorite wedding season memories.

How gorgeous are all these people? It still makes me feel so loved to remember that night - it was so much fun. McCauley women, thank you for sending me off to marriage-land with so much creativity and fun. I love you still.

(Madi - not pictured, still loved)

(Photos by Margaret Rich, thx bb)

. . .

lauren + joseph.

My friends Lauren and Joseph were married this past weekend on a plantation settled in the hills of the North Carolina / Virginia border. The venue (Willow Oaks Plantation) was gorgeous and the whole event had a relaxed and fun spirit of joy, much like Lauren and Joseph themselves. They are really great people.

I enjoyed myself immensely - close friends, an amazing feast for dinner, wild dancing, plus I was happily barefoot for 85% of the evening. It was such a fun time! But most of all, I loved the part where they said yes to each other. Where they became each other's family for always. That's really the most awesome part after all.

. . .

(Thank you Margaret Rich for sharing photos and your evening with me)

sailor songs.

On the first Saturday night of every month, you can sing sailor songs and drink hot cider aboard a three-mast tall ship from the 1880s. Awesome, right? The evening is called "Chantey Sing" and is hosted on the Balclutha at the Hyde Street Pier. For several great reasons (a) cider, b) a rad ship, c) singing history-rich awesome songs, d) it's free), we were excited to check it out. So the first Saturday of this month, we went and convinced our SF friends to join. We all met for dinner first at Bodega Bistro and to get us in the spirit, I brought pirate and shark tattoos for everyone to wear. We applied them at the dinner table, dunking napkins in our glasses of water. Everyone was tatted up and looking great by the time we left the restaurant.

Carly is a classy pirate.

Jess, Finn, Bashir, Al, Me, and Carly is behind the camera. These are our best friends here!

We arrived to Hyde St. Pier not knowing what to expect as the vague online description only read, "8 pm to midnight, wear warm clothing and bring a mug for hot cider". 

Photo compliments of Mrs. Carly Mask.

Carly also took this great picture of Ghiradelli Square from the boat. Everything looked so pretty all lit up.

Behold the Balclutha! 

What We Envisioned:

I think we all imagined some version of a rowdy pirate celebration where everyone, huddled together on the upper deck, would be clinging mugs and swaying together, singing jolly tunes that would be projected for everyone to see. I feel that Pirates of the Caribbean and Muppet Treasure Island can be held responsible for my inaccurate expectations.

What Actually Happened:

In reality, the event was held below deck in a seated semi-circle formation that had the somber feel of a clandestine church service. There was no projection of lyrics and no handouts, which made singing along difficult for us. By the time we caught on to the chorus, the song had ended. Most people knew the words and some participants even led songs! We were very out of place. Laughter resulted in glares from the regulars and I didn't get to cling glasses with a single stranger. Also, the cider was not free flowing out of busted barrels (again with the slightly unrealistic expectations) but served only once by a grouchy lady. 

We tried to hide in the back. 

Of course, we still had a really fun night together. After 6 or 7 songs were sung to which none of us knew the lyrics, we quietly exited and went to a different part of the boat where we could talk and laugh sans glares. We must have sat there for 2 hours sharing funny stories from childhood. I'm thankful for the friends we've made here, they have the x-factor we love in people which is the ability to make weird things fun.

. . .