Old Sweet Song

If the Shoe Fits

amyferg — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:27:22 +0000

These are my newest shoe acquisition. No, your eyes do not deceive you: these are in fact the hottest shoes that ever existed. I never knew I needed hot pink, suede, platform wedges but now I can’t imagine my world without them. And the best part is they are even more awesome in person. I picked these babies up at Aldo and I have to tell you they are oddly but perfectly comfortable. There are few things better than a sexy pair of shoes, don’t you agree?
p.s. I’m not one to miss an opportunity to use a Sixteen Candles reference. That’s just the kind of gal I am.

Dear Pretty People

amyferg — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:37:18 +0000

I Love the Shit Out of You Print by Emily McDowell. For sale HERE.

Now, I’m not one to curse. Just kidding, I totally have the unapologetic mouth of a sailor. But the truth is I do. I do love the shit out of you people. And I’m going to try and figure out what direction I want to take this lil’ blog. You know, see what tricks I have up my sleeve. I do so hope you’ll come along with me while I figure things out. Because this blog is my baby and y’all are so kind to listen to my crazy ramblings and ridiculous attempts at humor and I appreciate it so darn much. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now that I’ve showered you with the appropriate amount of love and sweetness, will you do something for me? Will you make sure we are appropriately connected through all the various social media channels? I wouldn’t want you to be without a dose of Amy when you need it. And all you have to do is click the cute lil’ banners I made. So with that, let’s go have a fabulous weekend shall we?

Blogger Crush: Erica of F’d in Park Slope & Design Blahg

amyferg — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:26:12 +0000

I’ve always said I much prefer an opinionated, even snarky gal to a boring, sweet and nice one. I’m a sucker for ladies who aren’t afraid to share their perspectives in a loud and sassy way. And I love a fellow potty mouth. Enter Erica. She’s a fellow New Yorker and the genius behind two stellar blogs. The first is F’d in Park Slope which both celebrates and pokes fun of the neighborhood everyone loves to hate (Erica is a proud Park Sloper). And she’s also behind Design Blahg, an approachable design blog with a wicked sense of humor. I love this woman. She makes me laugh and if you can make me laugh, I am yours for life. So, there you have it Erica, I’m yours. And I’m available for wine drinking and shit talking anytime.

Organizational Therapy

amyferg — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:12:24 +0000

So, Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project was one of the keynote speakers at Alt Summit. I haven’t read the book, but the basic premise is that Gretchen spent a year of her life trying to be happy. Gretchen has plenty to say on the topic of happiness and her blog is worth a read through. She says one of her “greatest realizations about happiness is that outer order contributes to inner calm.” I find that when I walk in to a clean(ish) apartment I do feel a sense of calm and warmth. And when my place is messy and disheveled it makes me feel lazy and irritated. So, in an effort to find some inner calm this weekend, I cleared off and decluttered my dresser (which was admittedly getting pretty scary). I still own way too many earrings and bracelets. But it looks good and it feels even better.

p.s. I give it one week. Maybe two.
p.p.s. Need some encouragement to de-clutter your own life? Check out Gretchen’s Eleven Myths of De-Cluttering

Living near History

amyferg — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:10:40 +0000

I’ve mentioned that my aunt is a brilliant and dedicated archivist of any and all family memories. This includes paperwork, keepsakes, photos, even recipes. She scans everything and sends it to us on discs. For someone who has a love affair with all things vintagey and papery this is like hitting the lottery. One thing that has always stood out to me is this telegram. Dorothy was my grandmother (though we called her Dottie) and “baby girl” is the aunt I mentioned. I geek out over the old type designs and the creases and the aging that comes with the territory. There’s something nice about having an actual piece of paper to mark these big life occasions. Now it would just be a text or worse, a facebook update. (I just threw up).

One thing of note: the telegram was sent to 128 West 13th Street. Well, that’s right in my neighborhood. A five minute stroll over and I was right in front. Kind of perfect.

An act of Kind(ness)

amyferg — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:15:33 +0000

I’m not a huge power bar/granola bar kind of girl but I love me some Kind Bars. Have you tried one? They have them at Starbuck’s by the register which is where I usually fall prey to their delicious, wholesome power. If I’ve skipped lunch or am especially peckish this is the perfect thing to keep my spirits up and my growling tummy at bay. They’re really just a mix of nuts and dried fruits all stuck together with some type of sticky sweetener. No biggie, and at three-ish bucks a pop I figured I’d better attempt my own before I go broke.

So I did. I used this recipe from enlightened cooking. I made mine with almonds, pistachios, figs and cherries, but as the recipe points out, you could do any mix of things (which gets the mind a’racing, no?). I used brown rice syrup as my bonding agent and it was perfect, just sweet enough. There was one little mishap in that there just wasn’t enough stuff to fill the pan, so I quickly made some extra nut/dried fruit/brown rice syrup mixture and threw it in to fill up the pan a bit more.

These were delicious and as good as the buy-able ones. I think you should definitely make these. Okay? Okay.

Lackluster Co.

amyferg — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:03:10 +0000

I just love old things. Sorry, but I do. And I just stumbled onto this lovely little etsy shop and I kind of wanted to buy outtheir entire stock. Here’s a few highlights. And I know what you’re thinking so don’t even say it. I just HAVE to purchase that A drum don’t I? IT would be a crime not to buy that beauty.

Aaaaand with that I will wish you a happy weekend full of fun. I’ve got my usual hodge podge of socializing on the docket: a date, a brunch, a coffee. You know. Enjoy your respective weekends my pals and I’ll see you back here on Monday.

And the nominees are…

amyferg — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:06:50 +0000

I’m kind of an Oscar nerd. I’ll openly admit that. And every year I say I am going to see all of the best picture nominees but I usually get distracted (oh! something shiny!) or just lose steam. But, I am ever the optimist, and I think this could be the year! The way I see it I have already seen three of the nominated movies (not the check marks below), and two are easily watchable at home via iTunes (Midnight in Paris and Tree of Life) so that leaves four that I’d have to go to the theater and see (The Artist, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Hugo and War Horse). I think I can do it, I really do! I’m feeling it this year. Which of the nominees have you seen? And don’t forget to keep an eye out for The Second Annual Old Sweet Song Oscar Pool which I’ll be organizing in a few weeks. That way we can all geek out over the Academy Awards together.

More than meets the eye(liner)

amyferg — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:40:02 +0000

File this under things I want: sexy, throw-back, ultra thick black eyeliner à la Adele. And while we’re at it I’ll take her messy hot “I probably just got laid” hair and that amazing voice as well. Whatever, she’s just awesome and I kind of want to marry her.

Do y’all ever rock the cat eyes? I do a modified version for the every day but I think I need to attempt the real deal. Here’s a tutorial from the hairpin and one from cupcakes and cashmere. Maybe I’ll bust it out for my date this Friday. What do you think?

Simon Emmett for Rolling Stone

It’s In The Cards

amyferg — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:19:42 +0000

Business cards are a huge part of Alt Summit. You pretty much trade them with every person you meet, even if you only talk for like 11 seconds. By the end of the week you end up with a huge stack of cards from all the various folks you crossed paths with. It’s ridiculously fun to go back through and pick the cards that really struck your fancy. And here are mine from this year:

1. handmade charlotte (totally handmade and with no contact information) 2. SALT + PINE (printed on wood!) 3. Chris Gardner/Curbly + ManMadeDIY (charming and fun type design) 4. You Are My Fave (the info is stamped onto an envelope full of confetti, just awesome) 5. Alyssa/We Like We Love (you can’t tell but the lettering is metallic gold and the sides are neon pink)

And that brings us to my lil’ business card. Last year I hand stamped them in a frenzied and panicked rush and they actually turned out pretty good. But this year I wanted something a little more professional but still simple and fun. I designed the logo and worked with Julie at Bumblebee Press in Atlanta (who also did my sister’s save the dates that I designed). She does amazing letterpress work and I couldn’t be happier with how these turned out. Thing is, I’m actually not that great at giving out my card. I need to get better at the whole self promotion thing which is something that Alt always reminds me. And since I have a ton left maybe I’ll practice by handing them out to random strangers on the subway. Or perhaps hire a plane to drop them over Manhattan. Just spitballin’ here.

-Here’s my hand stamped business cards from last year.
-And my sister’s letterpress save the date that I designed.