When you’re nonchalantly checking your email, the last question you’d expect to see is, “Hey, do you have any elf shoes?” But back in January, I was faced with that very question. The natural assumption would be to write it off as a creepy fetish inquiry and delete it immediately…except that this email was from my friend Anna who just happens to be a senior designer at Simon & Schuster in New York. Anna designs book covers for a living and runs one of my favorite blogs on the planet, Door Sixteen. She was working on the cover for Rev Jen’s new book, Elf Girl (formerly Elf Like Me) and needed a cover shot. Of course, I was up for the job.

Joey and I immediately got to work shooting the cover ideas (well, sort of…Anna had to help us track down elf shoes first). Anna gave us some great direction and we then tried as many variations as possible; I know from experience that when I’m pulling selects for a job, it’s best to have ample options to work with.

We shot the images in our all white dining room, stomped through rainy, muddy parks, stood under bridges and visited the industrial area of S.E. Portland (cobblestones galore) to get the combination of images we wanted. These are a few of my favorite unused photos:

Anna came up with some truly stunning options that summed up the premise of the book perfectly and besides being a fantastic designer, she’s an all-around awesome person. We’ve known each other for a decade now (online and off) and it’s easy to be friends with someone who shares a passion for graphic design, a love of Michael Jackson and is as excited about home decor as I am. Thanks Anna for the amazing opportunity!

Elf Girl Cover Design & Direction: Anna at Simon & Schuster. Photography: Joey Maas. Model & Concepting: Nubby Twiglet.

This is the last in a series of three sets of photos I shot with Lydia Hudgens back in September. What I love about these sets is that although they were all shot within three days of one another, they are so incredibly different. There was the punk rock back-to-school look in The Bowery with Amelia Arsenic, the early morning East Village stoop loitering with Gala and now, this.

You’re probably wondering about the mouse ears. Gala and I have been to Disneyland twice together and I’ve been to Disney Wold four times on my own (and I never plan on growing up) so I’ll wear mouse ears any change I get. Sequined ears paired with more sequins? Why not! A group was gathered on the sidewalk for church as we walked by at 9:30 in the morning and literally stopped what they were doing and started singing the Mickey Mouse Club song to us…ears cheer everyone up!

These photos were shot in a very special place; a private garden that Gala & I had our birthday in two years ago. This is a quiet, magical refuge in the middle of the East Village and feels straight out of a fairytale.

I Wore:

Gryphon Sequin Dress, Tokio 7
Ears, Disneyland
Belt, Vintage
Tights, H&M
Wedges, Camilla Skovgaard
Nail Polish, Pop Nail Glam in Yellow

Gala Wore:

White irridescent mouse ears
Vintage turquoise beaded dress
Vintage bed jacket
Rings by Dyrberg/Kern
Betsey Johnson starburst Pollys

With all the sequins, it was only natural to finish up with a Michael Jackson-inspired dance-off.

After this shoot wrapped, I grabbed my bags, said goodbye to Gala, Hank & Dolly and headed towards the subway….back to Wall Street, then JFK, then home. It was a long day but so worth it. Thanks once again to Lydia Hudgens for the wonderful shoot!

On September 16th, my last morning in New York, I woke up bright and early to catch a cab over to Gala’s apartment in the East Village. We had a shoot with Lydia Hudgens booked for 8 a.m. (this meant that the streets were very empty) and when I showed up five minutes early, in true Virgo fashion, they were both ready to roll.

I really wanted to get some photos in my special birthday dress, a vintage Marimekko number that I’d worn to my party a few days earlier. I paired it with a Kate Spade newspaper clutch that I’d spotted in Gala’s office (the print is of a vintage New York paper!) I’d really like to find one of my own and I know that a number of brands have produced these in the past; do you have any suggestions?

My streamlined look was balanced out by Gala’s punch of pink and yes, a petticoat. Needless to say, we were slightly overdressed compared to the locals.

I Wore:

Leather Jacket, Rick Owens
Vintage Marimekko dress, Etsy
Headband, Forever 21
Tights, H&M
Wedges, Camilla Skovgaard
Kate Spade Newspaper clutch, borrowed from Gala
Nail Polish, Pop Nail Glam in Yellow

Gala Wore:

Vintage pink bowler hat

218W Perfecto leather jacket by Schott

Diamond necklace (a wedding gift from my mother — I haven’t taken it off since)

Angora heart sweater from ASOS

Betsey Johnson belt

Vintage pink crinoline (I also wore this under my wedding dress!)

Betsey Johnson over-the-knee socks

Matiko Ai For Ai boots (so comfortable, & I love the suede/patent leather/perforated leather combo!)

It just seemed appropriate to try jumping. In five inch wedges. At 9 AM.

Once the shoot ended, we weren’t quite done. There was one more outfit change still in store…but you’ll have to wait a little longer for that one. Thank you to Lydia Hudgens for shooting the photos! We had such an awesome time!

For the last few years, Gala and I have been combining our birthday parties into one big celebration since they’re just a day apart. In the past, we’ve done everything from open-invite picnics in Central Park to private garden parties outfitted with a disco ball and skull goblets. This year though, we wanted to try something different. Gala wouldn’t be arriving home from New Zealand until September 12th and I know how un-fun it is to plan a party and gather favors when you’re jetlagged! So, I asked around and a bar called Bedlam kept coming up. And upon further research it became clear that this place was beyond perfect…because it very much resembled my living room. What better venue to have your party in than a place that feels like a home away from home? The taxidermy and patterned wallpaper both evoke a Portland-esque feel and it seemed low-key enough that we could focus on what mattered most: spending time with our friends.

I’d picked out a special dress for the festivities (it was my 30th birthday, after all) and the vintage op-art Marimekko number was found on Etsy. It arrived just in time but unfortunately, it was a little big. Since I didn’t have time to get it altered, I cinched the waist with a thin black patent belt. Gala on the other hand found the most gorgeous burgundy strapless dress at Betsey Johnson that fit her perfectly. I liked that it was outside of her normal style and everyone I knew was raving about how great she looked all night. Sadly, all the joint photos we took in front of the moose head turned out too blurry to share but we made up for that by having a photo shoot with Lydia a few days later.

We each had a great showing and spent the night catching up with friends from all over. When we were introducing our friends and their accompanying professions, we realized that most of them were pros in more than one area and started simply labeling them geniuses. It’s true, we are surrounded by a pretty creative group that collectively inspires us from coast to coast.

Once the party began to wind down, we agreed that this was our favorite version yet: it was simple, inexpensive, allowed our friends to mingle and there wasn’t the pressure of planning (or cleaning up afterwards) that we normally feel.

Thanks to everyone who came out to Bedlam, sent birthday wishes and joined Gala and in ringing in another year!

I’ve always loved Amelia Arsenic’s style but it’s been nearly impossible to meet up in the last two years. She’s based in London, I’m in Portland and though we both travel all the time, we never seem to be in the same place at once! When we found out that we’d both be in New York at the same time in September, I arranged a shoot with photographer Lydia Hudgens.

The real fun was in scouting a location. I asked Bianca for some recommendations and she immediately mentioned the corner of Bowery and Spring. I distinctly remembered the spot from past trips as being a great graffiti mecca and after some googling, I was astounded. Get this: The building previously housed Germania Bank which was built in 1898 and is now the home of a photographer and his wife and daughter. Yes, one family shares this building featuring 72 rooms! He purchased the building for a mere $102,000.00 over 40 years ago (no, that’s not a typo) and has lived there ever since. Amazing! Read more about the building’s history here.

We spent Tuesday afternoon shooting around the edges of Soho and though we hadn’t coordinated what we’d be wearing, I loved the contrast of the green in Amelia’s hair paired with my red accents. What I’ve realized is that sometimes the best shoots aren’t overly planned.

I Wore:

Vintage plaid skirt, Etsy
Sonia Rykiel for H&M Sweater, Ebay
Bow Headband, Forever 21
Tights, H&M
Avant Garde Necklace, Plastique (Etsy)
Patent Wedges, Cheap Monday
Bag, Miu Miu
Nail Polish, Pop Nail Glam in Yellow.

Thank you to Amelia for posing with me and to Lydia for doing such a great job. And FYI, Lydia is now based in New York so if you’d like to shoot with her, get in touch!

The Arrival.

I left for New York last Friday night and arrived Saturday morning, just in time for Bianca’s birthday party. But right away, I knew that things wouldn’t be the same this year. After all, it was September 10th, the eve of the ten year anniversary of September 11th. I’m used to visiting New York at this time every year but security was at an all-time high. As I made my way to Bianca’s apartment on Wall Street, barricades were everywhere. My Supershuttle van was even pulled over and searched. Even though it was inconvenient, I was secretly relieved, knowing that the city was doing everything it could to keep us safe.

Once I was settled in, I wandered around the Financial District and discovered my new favorite coffee shop, Financier Patisserie. Great coffee and pastries with a French theme and immaculate branding immediately won me over.

Onward we marched to designer discount mecca Century 21 where I tried on everything avant garde and bizarre that I could dig up (just for fun). WTF are these, Rick Owens?!!

The Jungle Juice Saga.

When I’d heard that Bianca had invited a grand total of 50 people to her apartment birthday party and was concocting a special jungle juice elixir complete with whipped cream flavored vodka, I knew it was going to be unparalleled. Friends flowed in, beverages were poured into red plastic cups, a full-on dance party ensued and speakers were blown. This party did not disappoint.

When the clock struck midnight, it was time to go dancing. Of course, midnight also meant that it was officially 9/11 and the city streets were barricaded everywhere our cab turned. We zigzagged down different paths until we got through and made our way into a club full of people. Nobody wanted to give into fear and I admired that.

Birthday Aftermath And An Anniversary.

The next morning, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I woke up to faint sounds of the National Anthem drifting in from St. Paul’s Chapel, just down the street from the site of the World Trade Center. As we walked towards Stone Street for breakfast, layers of security had the area covered but we finally got through the crowd of various uniforms. It was a somber day.

Monday in Midtown.

As soon as Monday morning hit, I headed towards Midtown for meetings and stopped to admire Grand Central Station and the Empire State Building in the process.

Hello, Soho.

With some free time on Monday afternoon, I strolled through Soho and stopped at a few of my favorite places including Dean & Deluca and Le Pain Quotidien. I love Le Pain so much that I visited it three separate times during my stay, including an awesome lunch with Anna of D16 (where we discussed graphic design and Michael Jackson in great detail).

Oh, Amelia!

It had been two years since I’d seen Amelia Arsenic but she happened to be visiting from London. On Tuesday, we commemorated the occasion than with a photo shoot with Lydia Hudgens around the edges of Soho.

On Top At Le Bain.

Once the clock struck 11, Bianca and I were on our way out the door towards On Top at Le Bain, a party that takes place every Tuesday on the rooftop of The Standard. I wore my sequined mouse ears a dress with peaked shoulders and red patent wedges while Bianca wore a white wig and matching dress.

Club kids reminiscent of those from 90s ruled the floor. Perhaps best of all, the center of the club featured not only a disco ball but also a jacuzzi and swing (!!!) We moved through the capacity crowd on the grass-covered rooftop, eating crepes and looking out over the Manhattan skyline.

Turning 30 Isn’t Scary When You’re Surrounded By Friends.

On Wednesday, Joey arrived just in time for my 30th birthday. Every year, Gala and I throw a joint party since our birthdays are just a day apart (hers is the 13th and mine is the 14th). We wanted to keep the party simple and low-key and chose to have it at a great bar called Bedlam. Friends from Los Angeles, London and more showed up and we shared a shopping bag full of cupcakes. Gala looked beautiful in a Betsey Johnson dress (of course) and I wore a vintage Marimekko number. Out of all the parties we’ve thrown together, we agreed hands-down that this was our favorite. But trust me, there are too many photos and details to do it justice here! So, I’m saving it all for another post. Stay tuned!

Say Goodbye With A Dance Party!

On my last night in New York, I was tired. Well, that’s an understatement. Exhausted is more like it. Everyone hit the bars and clubs but me but I was determined to not be a total downer.

When Bianca and her husband Yaniv arrived home at 2 am, we turned the living room into a dance floor and shimmied the night away. It started out innocently enough when I realized that the Absolut Citron bottle matched my new neon sweater and quickly escalated into sliding around in a Viking helmet and sequin dress. Bianca and Yaniv stuck with the sombreros (no, I didn’t ask where their hat collection came from!)

Best living room dance party EVER. The only downside was that it ended at 3:30 and I had a 6:30 am wake-up call for a shoot with Gala. Oops.

One Last Collaboration.

On Friday morning, I pulled myself together, grabbed my bag of outfits and caught a cab to Gala’s place bright and early. We had a joint shoot booked with Lydia and I wanted to make the most of it. We hit the East Village streets dressed in mouse ears and sequins to the delight of churchgoers and school children. What a morning! After the shoot, I arrived back on Wall Street, packed my bags and headed home with Joey once again. The week of nonstop fun and magical encounters had come to an end. This New York trip was everything I could have hoped for…and then some. Until next time!

I don’t have anything remarkable to share about 9/11 and in a way, that’s a relief since almost all the stories attached to that date are incredibly tragic. I’d had just booked my ticket for my first ever trip to New York a few short weeks before September 11, 2001. I remember waking up at my dad’s house and turning on the TV around 6 am Pacific Time as I was getting ready for work. I was half-asleep and couldn’t quite believe what I was witnessing as I watched a plane fly directly into a building. I’d never been to New York but everyone knew what the World Trade Center was. On the West Coast, we all went to work as usual but even though we weren’t in New York, we knew that things had changed forever.

I was scared to go to New York in the weeks that followed but my ticket was non-refundable. I showed up the day before Halloween in 2001 and on my last day in the city, I took a cab to Ground Zero to see it with my own eyes. And, a month and a half after 9/11 had happened, I remember seeing gates still down over shuttered businesses with entrances coated in a thick ash. There were handwritten signs everywhere and everyone was still in a complete state of shock.

I woke up on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 this morning, a mere four blocks from the World Trade Center and could hear faint sounds of the national anthem and church bells ringing out. Looking back, I’m glad that I made that trip. In close to 15 visits that have followed in those last ten years, I’ve made some of my best friends in this city. New Yorkers are a strong and resilient bunch.

Last month in New York, I came across these MAC Makeup posters that were pasted up around the city for Fashion Week. MAC has always been pretty hip and the use of this ampersand is no exception. You can view all of The Typofiles on Flickr here.

Last month, I headed over to the Lower East Side for the last ever Ruff Club which was mobbed by the coolest kids in town. At around 2 am, the sea of kids (mostly swathed in layers of black avant garde clothing) parted when a mysterious pink truck complete with hearts and unicorns on its side pulled up.

What was this vision of pink and why was it there? I walked up and peeked inside to see an assortment of toys, candy from around the world and a mind blowing selection of gourmet ice creams. Heaven on wheels.

Now her dream is a successful business venture with Heartschallenger visiting events and parties worldwide. And, New Yorkers with a sweet tooth, you’re now in luck because Heartschallenger trucks can be found daily in Soho and Nolita! To keep up on the current locations and events, follow Heartschallenger on Twitter.

On September 14th, I caught a cab to the West Village for a meeting that I had been excitedly anticipating for months. Jordan Crane, a Creative Director at the legendary agency Wolff Olins had agreed to let me interview him for my blog. As I made my way into their New York headquarters on Varrick Street, I was immediately drawn to the simplicity of their workspace. Modern and white-walled, the office projects a feeling of accessibility and utilitarianism.

Wolff Olins was founded in London in 1965 by designer Michael Wolff and advertising executive Wally Olins and is responsible for many of the most recognizable branding efforts around the world. One of the company’s first assignments was developing the brand that became Apple Corps, the Beatles’ record label. You may also recognize the work that they recently did for up&up, Target’s new private label brand. They also created the NYC branding campaign and the London 2012 Olympics logo.

In preparation for our meeting, I had written up a set questions for Jordan to answer (many of which were based on your suggestions). What I immediately liked about Jordan is that even at his level, he is extremely approachable and candid. We began our meeting by talking about how he got his start in the design industry and amazingly enough, his initial answer was, “It just happened.”

Jordan has always been into art and screen printing and often, friends would ask him to design posters for shows. He carved out his path as a designer along the way without a master plan in mind. Instead, he crisscrossed the country, working at a multitude of agencies in big cities and making connections along the way.

I was really curious about Jordan’s opinion about going to school for design since many of us have wondered if it is really necessary. Though he knows many successful self-taught designers, Jordan relayed the sound advice that if you can afford college, you should go for it. A chance to be educated and to better ourselves should never be turned down if the opportunity arises.

As designers, isn’t the ultimate goal to change the world in some way with our designs? Jordan feels that the most rewarding part of working at an agency as well-known as Wolff Olins is knowing what you design matters. When you think about it, seeing the NYC logo zoom past you on the side of a cab or walking into Target and picking a product off the shelf that you designed the packaging for must feel pretty surreal.

I asked Jordan what the biggest pitfall he sees new designers make and was surprised by his answer. He said that they’re too quick to turn on a computer to solve a problem and turning to technology isn’t always the immediate solution. There are so many other ways to do so and we need to learn to work with our hands, to take walks, to flip through books and magazines and to take a fresh approach to problem solving.

With the abundance of software and information that designers now encounter, I (along with many of you) often contemplate whether it’s valuable to be a jack of all trades versus specializing in a particular area. Jordan’s answer once again was very simple yet poignant: “There’s no point in going to work every day if you’re not happy.” When you think about it, if you loathe coding or branding or packaging design, why would you force yourself to go through the motions? Not only does this mindset make you unhappy but it affects everyone around you.

Working in an agency setting can be intense and stressful when you’re up against deadlines and the last thing you want to encounter is a grumpy, dissatisfied coworker. What you choose to learn should be completely dependent on you as a person. Passion shows. Don’t go through the process just to please those around you. Make yourself happy first and the positive mindset will trickle down.

Many of you wondered what qualities an agency looks for in new hires. Jordan looks for people with a sense of excitement, a passion for exploration and a great personality. There’s a balance between having the best portfolio and skill set versus being a likable person. In Jordan’s eyes, “Great designers that are great people” are ideal candidates.

Finally, I wanted to dig a little deeper into Jordan’s story. With the amount of talented designers in the world, it’s not easy to reach the level of a creative director at a top agency. I wanted to know what steps he took over the years to get to where he is. There was no simple answer but rather a unique combination of ingredients that brought him to his current position.

First and foremost, it was a process of making friends and networking within the agencies he worked at. Jordan worked all over the country and in 1999, he made a website for a deejay. A lady who saw it gave him a call and they became fast friends. She then ended up working alongside him at various agencies. Over the next few years, Jordan built a solid portfolio and began freelancing at Wolff Olins. After a few months, he was hired as a senior designer and began his ascent to the creative director position.

Having the chance to interview Jordan was amazing because there are so many questions that we have as designers; very rarely do we get to go straight to the top and get them answered.

When I was still in school, working at an agency felt so far out of reach. The established agencies in New York seemed like a lifetime away; I imagined them as being completely untouchable. Now that I’ve seen the inside of Wolff Olins and met some of their employees, everything feels much more accessible. When you think about it, nobody sets limits on what we can do but ourselves.

The biggest lesson I took away from our meeting is that is doesn’t matter where you start out as a designer. It’s up to you to carve your own path and to build a career that is satisfying. You are the only person that can make yourself happy. And, shouldn’t that be your goal at the end of the day?