Thursday, April 30, 2015

Things We Heart: Royal Baby Edition

It's no secret that we're huge fans of the royal family...we heart Will and Kate!! We can't believe our favorite Duke and Duchess just celebrated their fourth anniversary...wow! And with the newest addition to the royal family due any day now, we're dedicated our "things we heart" for May to the royal baby!!
1. Royally Inspired Paper: When designing, we get inspiration from everywhere! From flowers we see on our way to work, to a uniquely shaped bench...our sources of inspiration are endless! So it's only natural that we're inspired by our favorite Duke and Duchess, too! In honor of Will and Kate's anniversary, we're sharing what we think would have been the perfect wedding program for the royal wedding! Printed in neutral thermography, the tri-fold program was wrapped in a champagne colored belly band. Which of course featured a regal crown!
In celebration of the newest member of the royal family, we also had to share this baby boy birth announcement we did last month. Colored in beautiful French blue and white, this regal announcement featured gingham and a monogram fit for a little prince! Baby Henry's monogram was topped with a crown, the perfect finishing touch!
2. Royal English Breakfast Tea: The Chicago weather hasn't quite gotten the memo that it's spring yet, and the days are still a little chilly. So we've been warming ourselves with "tea time" every afternoon. Lately we've been sipping on Starbucks' delicious English Breakfast Tea...a British classic. It's a time-honored tradition that makes us feel majestic with every cup...and who doesn't love that?! Now all we need is a good scone, and it will be a proper British tea time. For tips on how to throw yourself a proper Brit approved tea time, read Aspiring Kennedy's blog post!

3. The Royal We: For all you Duchess of Cambridge fans out there, we've found your next good read! The Royal We, written by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (more commonly known as the girls of Go Fug Yourself), remixes the love story of Will and Kate as that of Prince Nicholas and an American girl named Bex. Bex moves to the U.K. to study abroad at Oxford, and finds herself living down the hall from the future kind of England (which is basically every girl's dream). The book follows their royal love story through the ups and downs of fortune, fame, and family. Nick and Bex's story was hard to put down, and was a delight from cover to cover! If you're a fan of Will and Kate or just love a good love story (with a royal twist), The Royal We is a must read!
4. Burberry Quilted Jacket: Is there a brand that's more quintessentially British than Burberry? We don't think so. As the winter chill still holds onto Chicago weather, there is nothing we'd like more than a quilted Burberry jacket to keep us warm...and fabulously British. Check out some of our fashionable quilted picks below!
 We wouldn't mind sporting a Kate Middleton inspired wool trench from Burberry either...so fab!!
5. The Royals: E!'s first scripted show is our new guilty pleasure! It has everything you could want in a fictional show about the royal family: romance, drama, lots of diamonds, and of course, Elizabeth Hurley as the queen! While the show takes loose inspiration of the royal family, we love the addition of Princess Eleanor. She is a free spirit who isn't afraid to say exactly what is on her mind. There's also an American girl who catches the eye of the crown prince, which is delightful. If you haven't started watching yet, there's still time to get caught up! And believe us, once you watch one episode, you won't be able to stop! The Royal's airs Sunday nights on E! at 10/9 central.
Cheerio!

Xo,

Nico and Lala

A Slice of Swank...The Blog by Nico and LaLa

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Big Rig Birthday Party

There's just something about big rig trucks that boys (of all ages) love! So when Brooks turned four, we helped his mom design a fabulous party all around them! For Brooks' party invitations, we stuck with bold primary colors of red, white, and blue, and paired it with fun stripes. Our favorite part of his invitation was the monogrammed truck we created for the bottom of his invitation, so fun! Check out party pics from Brooks' big rig birthday!!
Brooks' mom got trucker hats made with his birthday monogram!! SUCH a cute and fun touch!
Yes, Brooks' had a real live big rig visit his birthday party! So cool!
The birthday boy in his trucker hat sitting on his big rig!
We always have fun celebrating with Brooks!! Thanks again to his mom for including us in his birthday festivities!

Xo,

Nico and Lala

A Slice of Swank...The Blog by Nico and LaLa

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Birthday

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their week! We've had a crazy couple of weeks in our studio...so many (really good) wedding invitations going out the door. We wanted to take a momentary break in the craziness of weddings to share this sweet first birthday paying homage to one of our iconic songs from our childhood...Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star! When Grace's mom came to us with the idea to base her first birthday around it, we thought it was so creative and so cute! Her invitations and party goods were oh-so-sweet. Lots of pink, gold, and of course a monogrammed moon and some twinkly stars! Check out Grace's girly first birthday below!
pink and gold birthday
Twinkle, twinkle little star
We're so behind at sharing sweet Grace's first birthday, that we actually just helped with Grace's second birthday...can you believe it! This year Grace went for a watercolor Easter bunny birthday. Her invites were SO CUTE! We can't wait to see party pics!

To see more of Grace's first birthday, check out her mom's post over on her blog lifestyle and food Plum Pie! While there, be sure to check out some of the delicious goodies Brooke has made including roasted banana + dark chocolate bread, chipotle pimento cheese, and blood orange margaritas!

Xo,

Nico and Lala

Ps. Anyone score some #LillyForTarget before it sold out?! Three of us were lucky enough to walk away with some swag, but we were sad a few items that didn't make it into our closets (thinking about your Giraffe print dress and pineapple sandals).

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Thing We Heart: April 2015

Happy April, y'all! Help us ring in April in the sweetest way, with things we heart!
Lilly for Target
1. Lilly for Target: This amazing collaboration was a "thing we heart" back in February, but they just released the look book this week...and it is GOOD! The dresses, the scarves, the shoes and home decor...swoon! We've already cleared our schedules for April 19th (the date the collection hits stores) and are creating shopping carts in our heads. In addition to all this amazing Lilly news...we just found out Lilly is coming to Chicago this summer! We are going to be one fabulously dressed office this summer!
 This romper will be in frequent rotation in our summer wardrobes!!
Pink and Green
 Afternoons by the pool? Don't mind if we do!

Pink pineapple chevron bikini & floral button down? That's the ultimate print combo!

2. Believe: The new single off of Mumford & Sons new CD (which is set to be released May 4th) is a must listen! If you haven't listened to their newest song, log onto Spotify and take a listen!! This song is heavily repeated in our office, so we can only imagine how much we're going to play their new CD!

3. Starbucks Cold BrewOkay, okay we admit it…we’re something of Starbucks addicts. Hot and cold alike, we love our Starbucks coffee! Earlier this week, the company released their cold brew…and we’re in love! We think it gives our old standby of iced coffee a run for its money! Both in taste AND it has a higher caffeine content...total bonus for these busy ladies!!

4. Southern Charm: Southern Charm is back for its second season, and is better than ever! This show combines two of the things we love the most: Bravo TV and the South! Set in Charleston, this Bravo hit follows a group of friends living in Charleston. Think lots of fabulous Southern fashion (we can't get enough of Cameran's outfits...every single episode) combined with one fun group of friends, and you've got our favorite show!! Another reason why we love this show so much: Lala grew up with Shep on Hilton Head, which keep us tuning in every week!! Catch Southern Charm every Monday 9/8 central on Bravo!

5. Destination Wedding Invitations: At N&L, we always think outside the box when it comes to creating original wedding invitations. But this week, we were all about thinking inside the box...because we did some fabulous destination wedding invitations quite literally in a box! These fabulous navy and turquoise invitations (for a Harbour Island wedding) were presented inside of a turquoise stationery box. The box had a custom sticker on the front, adorned with a palm tree and the couple's wedding date. The wedding invitation itself was printed in letterpress, and was wrapped with a palm leaf bellyband. Our favorite part of the entire ensemble was the starfish adhered to the bellyband...so neat! Check out pictures of the gorgeous Harbour Island wedding invitations below!
Tropical Wedding Invitation
Island Wedding Invitation
Unfamiliar with Harbour Island? This quaint island in the Bahamas is known for its pink sandy beaches, crystal clear water, and brightly colored architecture. Just our kind of place!
Harbour Island
Can we live here?! Hello, little pink house!
 N&L took a day trip to Harbour Island while in the Bahamas, and took these pics of the island!! So tropical and pretty!
Happy Easter!!

Xo,

Nico and Lala

A Slice of Swank...The Blog by Nico and LaLa