rock paper scissors

feeling the love

valentine's day is right around the corner.  but wait. don't get all "corporate holiday blah blah blah" on me!  valentine's day is GREAT because it's a day to show everyone, not just a boyfriend or girlfriend, how much you love and appreciate them.  call me overly cheery, but i love this holiday...and not just because of all the confectionery treats (what can i say, i'm a sucker for a good conversation heart).  despite the moving madness, we have secured a very formidable valentine's day card collection that you really must stop in to snatch up.  while we have the always direct "i love you" and sweet heart cards, we've also picked up the less lovey-dovey cat with antlers and red roaring monster cards from our new friends at yellow owl workshop.  i mean, just because you love someone doesn't mean you have to be a sap about it.  

IN OTHER NEWS:  one thing we ARE totally sappy about is our four-legged friends.  we just cannot keep a straight face around a good (or bad) pup.  especially one who needs a home.  we got word the other day from a dear friend about some black lab/mix puppies that were found in a box (!!) in the middle of the road (what is wrong with people?!).  our hearts are breaking for these sweeties, and we're desperately trying to find them happy, loving homes.  so...if you need a valentine this year, and want a four-legged friend in your life, let us know and we'll put you in touch with the pups' foster dad. 

NFT: chicago (rps style)

this past weekend i went to chicago with some college friends to run a half marathon. having never been to the windy city, i spent the weeks prior asking around for things to do. deep dish, wrigley field, i got the usual schpeel. when i asked my friend dan at mudhouse if he had any recommendations, without missing a beat he named this fabulous coffee joint i had to check out. nevermind that i don't drink coffee and dan has known this about me for years. it struck me as interesting that people in niche industries like to check out their compadres when visiting other cities. and i'm no different. the only thing i really truly HAD TO DO in chicago was check out a stationery store i've been hearing about called greer.

trekking a couple miles through the rain, greer did not disappoint. and on that especially gloomy day, greer proved to be a warm and welcoming refuge from the rain. the sales people were polite yet kept their distance allowing me to wander and discover all the treats and treasures beautifully displayed. it made me smile to see that greer carried many of the same vendors that we do here at rps (chicago locals la familia green and snow and graham and rps favorite set! editions among them). it was also fun to turn the tables a bit and experience a stationery store as a customer rather than a sales person. i scored some fabulous russell + hazel binders on sale (!) and discovered some new card companies that i'm clamoring to get here. who doesn't need a card with chuck norris telling you that you kick ass?!

while there were two more days to my weekend in the windy city (and that pesky half marathon), my trip felt complete upon leaving greer. i came, i saw, i purchased. good day, indeed.

I love what I do

Today I received a letter from one of our manufacturers, The Smead Manufacturing Company. We carry their line of MO products which are addictive for those of us that get that special little thrill out of organizing our papers and life. The letter was one of those "We've spun off our European division, blah, blah, blah" but I read the whole thing any way. And the treat I received was in the very last sentence of the very last paragraph: "As always, thank you for your support of Smead and for working with us to help keep the world just a little better organized". ". . . TO KEEP THE WORLD JUST A LITTLE BETTER ORGANIZED." GOD I love what I do! I mean, how freakin' exciting is that? It made my little Virgo heart skip a beat. I had to share. Thanks for reading. Now go file something.
Love,

Amy

watch your fingers!

birthday lunches are a contact sport around here, and kathryn's birthday proved no different. after being surprised with the coveted michael ruh vase that had mysteriously been "sold" a couple weeks prior to her birthday, we all dug in to the bday lunch of choice: wayside chicken. holy smokes. what happened next cannot be accounted for because we all blacked out the food was so good. after coming to, we topped off the celebration with a fabulous pie from breadworks and some haagen dazs (because you can't have one without the other). the rest of the day was a little blurry and we apologize for any poor customer service...we blame the collective food coma we were all in.

the before, during, and after.

celebrating summer in belmont

Happy to say that the 1st Annual Belmont Avenue Block Party was a huge success. Ten households came together to create an evening of grilled meats, covered side dishes, kegs, a kiddie pool, one gut busting slip and slide and a once a year opportunity to ride a tricycle in the street. For the adults it was a great excuse to roll out of the house and enjoy a beer with neighbors while someone else watched your kid. For the kids it was an evening to be free and play in a way that's matched by few other evenings in the year. I mean, how often can you draw with chalk on and in the middle of Belmont Avenue?

What does any of this have to do with rock paper scissors? At first blush, not much. But when you think about what we do and why we do it, well the photo below pretty is a good clue. We help get the party started. Cheers to summer and cheers to your party.

PS My neighbor and dear friend Julia Williams took the photo. I love it! It reminds me of a modern day version of an Old Master's work. The level of detail and the number of scenes within the frame delight me.

Working with great clients

So Kathryn just spent the better part of Friday and all of Thursday, working on the next round of proofs for the St Anne's-Belfield Auction invitation. And let me just say that usually working for a committee is a really scary thing. But the STAB moms are on their game! They know what they want, respond quickly, are detail-oriented and have a great attitude which makes the design process so much more rewarding for us.

The theme of their event is "Illuminating Our Future" which had us a little, oh, worried because we weren't sure of where to take this. That and the fact that they wanted to work in a tree because that had to do with their decorating scheme. We were flumoxed. But we came up with a concept (two heads are better than one); Kathryn created some great images; I had an envelope brainstorm at 1:00 a.m. after mister got his midnight bottle; and the end result is going to be really sharp! And it looks as if Kathryn's hard work on that snow day puts us ahead of schedule.

They came to us because they really liked the invitaiton that we did for the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA Four-Legged Fete this past Fall (yes flattery does get you everywhere). But when you get to work with the images like this, how can you go wrong?

So thanks Moms of STAB for making this a great experience for us and for the offer of the full page ad in the program. We're so appreciative!