when it rains, it pours

You know how they always say, "When it rains, it pours!" and you always think, "Shoot! How do they always know!?" Because they are always right. Things come in waves and we are just little people standing on the shore. The good comes rushing in and knocks you to the ground and the bad sucks everything out from under you including the sand under your feet. Either way...you find yourself falling down. 

At Verily we just wrapped up our first full issue and started work on our second! The first magazines came back from the printer today and let's just say the whole team was in a dreamy state of pride for what we had accomplished. We are very excited to share the first issue with you - I am particularly excited to show off some of the hard work I have been toiling away on. I couldn't have done it with out some serious help - my graphic designer Loren, my design intern Haruka and a handful of other seriously talented photographers and designers helped put the visual side of the magazine together. I am so thankful to them and happy with what we came up with!

While starting in on the second issue I have also decided to take on another exciting side project. I have been turning down a lot of freelance projects lately to focus on Verily full time but a project came along that I just couldn't say no to. It's one of those projects that you just know you want to be part of because it is fun and happy and makes you feel good about yourself - hence the romantic, girly yet very bold moodboard above. I can't wait to share more about it but for now here is a visual sneak peek of what it will feel like.

On top of the excitement going on at Verily (we are talking dinner parties and editorial shoots galore!) and this new fun project, we have even more excitement coming our way! Big changes are on the horizon for the Riley family and we couldn't be more thrilled. Can't wait to share that news with you either! But let's just say for now, I am that awkward kid on the beach, with goggles on bigger than my head, just laughing as each new wave comes and grinds me into the sand. And I keep on taking wave after wave with a smile. Because when it rains it really does pour!

Caught my eye

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Have you seen the blog Montreal Bobo yet? These sisters are making some pretty cool stuff and I love their blog. I got a cute little package in the mail the other day... needless to say my camera is looking a whole lot prettier these days with that blue camera strap on it! And as someone who spent many, many... many of her college days in a ceramic studio I appreciate these simple moon plates with imperfect edges quite a bit. They are beautiful! Just thought I would share this gem of a shop with y'all. Perhaps you can find a last minute mother's day present here. (and yes, that's right, I've only lived in Texas for 6 months and I already say y'all... actually whenever I talk to anyone with any sort of accent I sort of adopt it. It's really annoying to me, I'm always worried the person I'm talking to is going to think I am mocking them, but I'm not, I just can't help myself! The other day I answered the phone and immediately started speaking with the heaviest southern accent upon hearing the woman's voice on the other end... I about dropped out of my chair I was so embarassed.) 

Need Read Greed

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We are starting this week off with the need read greed series. This week we are taking a look at what Kylie from The Flybird blog needs, reads and greeds. I met Kylie while going to school in Hawaii... she is a one of three identical triplets. Her, and her husband Spencer, are an unstoppable creative team. If you like pretty pictures with lots of adventure take a look at their blog! It is full of inspirational images! Together Spencer and Kylie travel, run a photography and production company and do lots of humanitarian work. 

Thank you so much for being on the blog today Kylie! Can't wait to meet up with you and Spencer again someday soon!! 

Spilled Milk

I've been invited to be part of a fun little photography project. Spilled Milk- is a collaborative photography blog. 18 mothers from around the world are prompted by a weekly theme reflecting some aspect of parenthood and the complexity and beauty that comes with raising our kids. I love looking at these beautiful pictures and thinking about how wonderful and exciting it really is to be a mom. 

Some days are hard. Sometimes the screaming and the crying make me want to scream and cry myself. If you have ever had days like this too (and if you never have, well, then I don't think you are human) read this blog post. It made me chuckle out loud to myself. I especially like the part when this parent talks about wanting to hold anyone under water who says, "enjoy every moment! it goes by so fast!" I hope it makes you laugh too... Because we have all heard someone say that. And we are trying to enjoy every moment, we really are! But some days are just plain hard! Because that's what being a mom is. Making a sacrifice for someone you love more than life. 

And then there are days like today. Conor and I took our shiny new bikes down to the lake for our first ride! We have been looking forward to getting bikes for some time now! Henry screamed and cried when we forced his Mickey Mouse helmet over his cute dumbo ears and buckled it under his squishy little chin. He somehow managed to get his legs up over his bike sit and kick me in the back during the entire ride. He cried and screamed in the car on the way to the farmers market. While at the market he ran away from us and hit small doggies in the face. We made one last stop at an estate sale on the way home and as Conor bargained for some new furniture I chased Henry all over the front lawn. Tired and out of breath I finally scooped him up kicking and screaming and started towards the house to tell Conor I couldn't take another second when an old man stopped me. I noticed that he had been watching me and as I got closer he said, "that was my favorite part of being a dad! and a grandpa! I loved chasing my kids and grandkids around.." Reliving his past as he watched me chase my crazy Henry around that lawn made this man smile bigger than the moon! It was as if I had taken him right back to the best days of his life. I could see it in his eyes. "My wife and I had 5 kids you know! and chasing them around like that was my favorite!" I said a few polite words and hurried along to find my husband. As we crossed the street to get into our car I saw him helping his cute little old wife down the stairs... no children with them, no grandkids at their heels. Just the two of them. I sat in the car and wept. 

Yes these days are hard! and they are long. And sometimes I'm pretty sure the best days of my life were in college when I was wild and free and everyone I lived with was over 21 - and I could sleep under the stars on the beach all night if I wanted to and not have to nurse anyone at 5:30 in the morning if I didn't want to! But when I think of all of this being history ... when I imagine Conor helping me down stairs because I am too old to do it myself, and all of our kids have kids of their own.. my heart aches for these long hard days! And I say a silent prayer that God will somehow make these days last forever. Now, writing this, I question my sanity a little. Because it is hard. But something inside me tells me I will be just like that old man someday. Yearning for the days that my babies were little. Wishing and willing to give up anything to go back to even the hardest day. 

Odd Fellows

This last Saturday was such a treat. Just a simple day spent with my family eating out, exploring our city, cleaning up our little house and meeting friends at the park. It's been quiet on the blog lately because the last month has not been such a treat. Well, not that it hasn't been sweet - it's just been chaotic and busy...

After accepting the art director position at Verily I quickly realized I had a lot to learn! and there is a lot more that goes in to directing a magazine than I previously thought! I've had to learn so much about communication. Working on a team with 5 other women forces you to learn everyone else's communication styles in order to work harmoniously together. It also forces you to be way more direct than you ever (EVER) wanted to be. I find myself writing 2 sentence emails with no punctuation and pushing send with out thinking twice about it. Before, in my freelance career, I used to vacillate over every word, every use of punctuation.. wondering if the recipient would get the wrong idea, wondering if they would think I was angry or not understand that I actually was angry but trying to be polite! ha! Now? I just write the damn thing and push send! No time for second guessing!

I've also had to learn how to manage people. I have a graphic designer who helps me layout the magazine and I just recently hired an intern to help me run the visual content on the Verily website (the website I've been re-designing for the past month, you'll see it soon!) I've never been anyone's boss or mentor before so this is a totally new ball game for me. I'm finding that I enjoy it a lot more than I thought I would. The girls I work with are incredible! But this is not to say that learning how to MANAGE has not been CA-RAZY!

Aside from my busy new job - Conor recently quit his job which moved us to Texas in the first place and accepted a new position at a new company. We are staying in Dallas which is good but him changing jobs was scary and hectic. In the end it turns out it is so much better for our family. Conor is so much happier at his new job and it makes all the difference in our home. We now have a nanny working for us 5 mornings a week (who by the way is the reason I can wake up in the morning, god bless her!) And all of this is why we are now able to spend Saturdays lazily brunching at places like Odd Fellows and exploring Dallas - a city that we have lived in for 6 months and until this past week I saw very little of. We weren't spending much time together because Conor's job forced him to work 24/7 and any free time he had to watch Henry I spent working on my freelance projects. I think we are glad those days are behind us.

I hope to be blogging more moving forward but I am finding that a lot of my energy is going in to staying organized for work and taking care of my two boys. I mean just take a look at that tired daddy (up above) and that happy lime munching baby and tell me you wouldn't want to skip everything else in life to hang out with them too!?  And then there is this gem of a photo (below) that I somehow snapped accidentally. I know it is blurry but it reminds me of something I would pull out of an old Polaroid land camera... the colors, the sun spots... that tiny little face peeking over his daddy's shoulder! It's everything. 

Fun Project

I recently had the opportunity to work on a fun project with Casey Leigh! She is incredibly sweet and was so much fun to work with! And talk about southern charm! Her slight southern accent is as beautiful as she is! Casey put together a Pinterest board (go here to find links to the images above) and I created this mood board as a jumping off point for her new branding and blog design. Once we got all of the branding elements and original art in place for her blog we brought Ana Degenaar on board to help us implement the design. I am convinced that Ana is the best BLOGGER designer in the entire world! (She is also just a great designer in general too!) If you are on blogger and you are looking for a new design go to her website right now! She sells beautifully thought out templates and does custom work as well! She is the best! 

Jump on over to Casey's blog to see her new blog design! It is definitely minimalistic and clean which is what we were going for! I am so excited about how it turned out and can't wait to work with these lovely ladies again in the future!

Need Read Greed

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Today's Need Read Greed is by Promise Tangeman. I kinda think Promise is a big deal! I have been following her as a designer for a while now and I love her clean, crisp design asthetic. She somehow manages to make designing look so simple and easy - which is a true sign of a great graphic designer. I also love her personal style - she is definielty not affraid to be herself! Promise is the brains behind SiteHouse Designs which is a truly great option for any small business owner or creative professional as far as creating and hosting a website. If you are in the market you should check it out. You won't be sorry! Thanks Promise for being part of Need Read Greed!

P.S. Thanks for all of the encouraging words about the new job at Verily! It is exciting to say the least! Also we have had over 100 applicants already for the graphic design position! If you applied thank you so much! We are thrilled at all of the amazing talent pouring in! If you haven't applied yet and want to, please do. It's not too late. 

A bit of news

Things have been a little quiet here on the blog lately because I recently accepted a full time position working with Verily Magazine as their new art director! Needless to say this was a big decision! For the past few years I have had so much freedom being a freelancer - that is one thing I am going to miss, being able to walk away for a month if I want to. But, opportunities like this don't come along everyday. It is the perfect fit for our family and an answer to some of our prayers. I am so excited to jump in to this new team of women who I already love and admire. And to be able to do what I love? from home? while being a mom?! It almost seems too good to be true. 

ALSO! I need to find a couple of people to work with! Verily is allowing me to hire a visual team to work with! Crazy right?! I am looking for a graphic designer to help create layouts for each issue as well as design graphics and images for the magazine. I am also looking for a web design intern to help us keep the visual content on the website cohesive and well designed. The web design intern will be responsible for creating round-ups, and other relevant design layouts for online content. If you are interested in either position please apply! I can't wait to get to know you and work with you on the Verily visual team! 

Apply for job positions here - Graphic Designer  /   Web Design Intern

*I have already had a lot of these questions so I am going to answer them right here:

You can work remotely but I will need you to be available to tune in to morning meetings over the phone often and be outrageously organized in order to meet quick deadlines that always seem to accompany editorial layout design. The graphic design position is paid (please see listing for details). The web intern position is for a student seeking college credit or recent graduate looking for real world work experience. 

Chelsea Scanlan Photography

I recently had the chance to work with photorapher Chelsea Scanlan. I met Chelsea while still living in Hawaii and really loved her style and photography. I've watched her grow over the years and her stuff is just getting better and better and BETTER! Together we came up with the mood board above to really map out her style. Then we dove in to designing logos, banners, social media buttons, business cards and her blog. It was such an honor to work with her and I have loved every project we have done together. 

Chelsea has a very minimalistic style and approuch that is refreshing and inspiring all at the same time. We kept her business cards pretty simple with just black typography and then her name blind embossed in the middle. (Cards printed by Type A Press). Her photography is beautiful, joyful and just amazing! And we wanted her branding and blog design to just let the photography do all of the talking.

(all photos by Chelsea Scanlan)

Her approuch to blogging is also very simple and minimalistic. She wanted to have a space that was really clean and organized and allowed her to show her most recent work. I am so happy with how her site and branding turned out and I love visiting her blog and seeing the beautiful images she is creating! I seriously wish I still lived in Hawaii, for a lot of reasons, but one of them is defenitly because I wish I could have our family pictures taken by this talented lady!

Going Camping

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So I have a confession - I am a huge nerd and made a secret pin board on Pinterest for what I want my life to look like. HA! I guess I am so immersed in visual inspiration all day and a lot of it is so beautiful and glamorous that sometimes I forget what my personal style is, or what really matters to me. I wanted to see if any pattern or personal style emerged if I made a board of only the things that I wanted MY life to look like. I ended up with a lot of pictures of girls with messy hair and houses minimally decorated in mid century furniture and bright rugs (and here I was thinking I wanted my house all black and white? what?! because that is a popular trend right now and I got distracted by it) And then, of course, there are a lot of pictures of the great outdoors and people enjoying it. SO! We are going camping this weekend. Because, I need a break and I've got to get away from the computer and just be me. Messy and silly.

PS My birthday is coming up this week and I plan on taking a whole lot of me time to enjoy the outdoors and not wash my hair and maybe buy a new bright rug or two (or three). 

PSS this post totally reminded me of one of a favorite blog series called THIS GIRL by The house that lars built. If you have'nt seen it before go check it out. It's a fun one.