In 2010 I ... rocked Friday the 13th at First Ave.

Thirteen is actually my lucky number. Screen-printed on my favorite t-shirt, 13 is a number I prefer ... as much as anyone can prefer a number, I suppose. So while I've never gone so far as to celebrate Friday the 13th, I don't mind it either. And this year was notably fun as Jess and I headed off to dinner at The Depot followed by the Rogue Valley CD release show with openers Total Babe and Communist Daughter.

I can't say enough good things about the downright delicious Guinness Cheese Soup at The Depot, and while I didn't grab any snaps there will likely be some surfacing soon, as Mpls. St. Paul Magazine just happened to have a photog on site shooting for the mag. We also discovered that Depot is the perfect place to band stalk pre-show - multiple members of all three bands made appearances while we enjoyed numerous bacon dishes (me: grilled cheese w/bacon, J: inside-out burger stuffed with cheese and bacon).

The show was really enjoyable, too. I had yet to see Total Babe live and the lead singer is just so sweet and likable, Communist Daughter sounded great (significantly better than their show at Music & Movies in Loring Park a few weeks earlier) and Rogue Valley played until almost 1 a.m.

As the first night of a music-filled weekend, the show was a great lead-in to the Pizza Luce block party which consumed my entire Saturday with an awesome line-up including Caroline Smith (been dying to see them outdoors all summer!), Dessa, and Lookbook.

A pretty fantastic musical two days! Thankfully there's no shortage of block parties in Minneapolis - let the countdown to the Red Stag Block Party (next weekend) begin.

In 2010 I ... went for wedding invite Round 2

When it rains, it pours. And apparently this year's pour comes in the form of not just babies, but also weddings. After wrapping up Lisa & Jason's invites, I got right back to work finishing invites for my coworker Beth's commitment ceremony. Like L, B had a very precise handle on how she wanted these to look, so designing them was pretty much a cinch. This set, however, required an electronic save-the-date, pre-party invite, ceremony invite, custom mailing labels and thank you notes.

Electronic save-the-date sent via email (saves trees and $$!)

White (A6) cards adhered to black (A7) cards from Paper Source

With black envelope for ceremony invite (scored cheeeap online)

B mixed it up by using a bright green envelope to match the large ampersand for the pre-party invites (photo pending), and will be adding a green ribbon to the ceremony invites (100 yards scored for about $2 on eBay!).

To add even more flare, we're working through the finishing touches on a wrap-around mailing label, where B will hand-address the label:

Paper mock-up of area to hand-address invitations

Mock-up of wrap-around

Mock-up of mailing label return address area

These types of labels are a snap. And as one complete piece, they're easy to assemble and keep the envelope from looking cluttered, especially with the addition of a stamp.

Last up for B was a thank you note template, which she'll be able to easily print at home, likely again on the white A6 note card used for the invite. This logo mirroring the invites will adorn the top:
With that, B's wedding paper products are a wrap! Now I'm on the hunt for the next project to keep the creativity flowing ... perhaps one of the 15 things on my growing to-do list?