3 great back-to-school notebooks for design lovers

I have a serious notebook-purchasing problem. Unlike all the unread books on my shelves though, most of the notebooks I own are filled.

Obviously one of my favorite parts of going back to school was always buying new school supplies, including beautiful notebooks. I've been out of school for a few years but if I were shopping for fresh notebooks to take to class hopefully to make them a little more enjoyable, here are three I'd have definitely already purchased (you can never have too many): 

1. Esme Winter lined notebooks, $31 for the pair

2. Woodgrain Eco Notebooks from Poketo, $13.50 each in light and dark

3. Kate Spade Saturday notebooks, on sale for $14 each. I love the middle one.

Where do you buy your notebooks for back to school, work or journaling?

+ more beautiful notebooks

+ one of my favorite book clutches from the Kate Spade collection

Book Cover Potential XVI: Constellations Geometric Collages by Chad Wys

I started pinning these amazing collages I discovered on Design Milk, but then I realized I was really just pinning all of them because I couldn't pick a favorite and wanted everyone to see them.

It hit me they'd make great book cover images.

Plus, creator Chad Wys is Illinois-based and I'm feeling a little homesick.

You can see more over on Design Milk and on Wys' site (be careful, it is a black hole of beautiful things).

+ more lovely images with book cover potential
+ 3 non-traditional wooden bookshelves

Lego Library and Librarians

I think I'm a little late to this totally amazing party but blogger Mr. Library Dude (Joe Hardenbrook) built a library out of Legos.

I love Legos. A lot. My brother and I used to tell our parents we would LOVE to share a Christmas gift so we could get the big, awesome boxes. Of course, we built them within a half hour of opening them on Christmas morning and then never touched them again. If this Lego library was a real kit that had been around when I was 8, I definitely would have put it on my Christmas list.

Plus, there's even a children's section:

Also check out these Lego librarians. I am loving it.

And
+ miniature libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago
+ one of my favorite quotes about libraries

WMC Fest: Kern and Burn

This past weekend I volunteered as a photographer at WMC Fest 4. Last year, Weapons of Mass Creation motivated me to quit my job, leading me to a new life and career all the way across the country in Seattle. Needless to say, I headed to Cleveland last Thursday with pretty high expectations.

My expectations pretty much got thrown out the window before the end of the Friday night meet and greet.

This year was different, at least for me. It seemed more honest, more raw, more "hey, sometimes freelancing is hard and here's why. AND here's why we still do it and enjoy it." What I absolutely love about WMC is the intense community it creates. It's a space where it is safe to be that honest and open. A space to collaborate and share. A space to be inspired. (Cheesiness over now, I promise.)

So in the next week or so I'll be sharing a handful of posts about things I learned there, books I learned about and more.

Starting with Kern and Burn.

Tim Hoover and Jessica Karle Heltzel spoke on Saturday morning about their collaborative side project Kern and Burn. They created a book full of wonderful conversations with 30 leading designers. Kern and Burn: Conversations with Design Entrepreneurs is also just beautiful.

The book is completely two-toned and full of illustrations you'll be tempted to rip out and paste on the wall above your desk.

Tim and Jessica say about the designers they interviewed,

Our hope is that you can learn from them — not to follow in their footsteps, but to chart your own course in parallel, one that allows you to thrive, add value to the world and love what you do.

I meant to grab a copy of the book at the fest but time seriously just seemed to speed by and I only made it out of the gallery with a single purchase (I'm sure my wallet is pleased). Kern and Burn: Conversations with Design Entrepreneurs is available in both print ($30) and ebook ($15) form from their website.

And a small plea, don't buy this book on Amazon. For all their hard work, Tim and Jessica won't see enough cash back. Plus, their website is better looking than your Amazon shopping cart.

And a bonus lesson I took away from their talk:

A job is defined by others, versus a project, which is self-defined. Which means I need to start thinking of my work as a series of projects instead of one big job that seems suffocating. It also means I get to set the goals and the timeline. 

See also:
+ a few interviews with book cover designers
+ over a year later, I finally have one of these beautiful Storybook Posters framed on the wall above my desk. Peter & Wendy are keeping me motivated.

Breaking Bad reimagined as a Penguin Classic

I'm a serious Breaking Bad addict, bitch. So I obviously very much love this:

I found this on Tumblr (Thank you, Aaron) but after much Googling, still couldn't figure out the creator. If you know who made this beautiful thing, comment and let me know!

ps. this is how I feel when artists don't get the credit they deserve:

Books in Anthropologie's Kitchen Goods

I just got back to Seattle after a wonderful weekend in Cleveland at WMC Fest. I have a few posts planned about what I learned and some wonderful book-related things I discovered and some amazing people I met. But first, something pretty.

I have a lot of travel plans in my near future, which means all my dollars are being saved for flights and meals and silly souvenirs. Which I'm very happy about but it also means a serious spending freeze in all other aspects of my life.

Which also means I should just be browsing Anthropologie.com on a Tuesday afternoon, where I found these book-related goods.

coasters / placemats / table runners

I really have no need for any of these items right now but I had to share them.

Where is the line of having too many book-related goods? Does it exist? Do we care?

+ beautiful books sold at Anthropologie
+ my most favorite, natural bookends

New October titles from Harper Collins: Drink, Focus

I received another batch of books to review from Harper yesterday. Seriously, what is better than having the doorbell ring and opening your front door to find that books have arrived for you in the mail? Nothing. Not a thing.

Especially when there are really strange forwarding messages on the packaging. Like this:

Anyway, I had completely forgotten what books I had requested and was pleasantly surprised to find these inside:

I'm heading to WMC Fest this weekend and taking Drink with me, as well as another Harper book that I got halfway through and then almost lost in the mess of moving, Do Cool Shit. I think Focus will be the perfect read for when I get home from the festival.

Plus,
+ one of my favorite books I've reviewed
+ about my move, in case you missed it.

The View From Saturday: My Favorite YA Book

There are always things we run to for comfort when we're feeling uneasy. For me, that's a very old sweatshirt, my You've Got Mail DVD and my worn copy of The View From Saturday.

In true To Be Shelved style, I was drawn to this gem by it's cover. I remember being at the book fair (remember those? Best days of the school year.) and thinking the cover looked very adult and choosing it from the shelf, not really caring about the content inside.

Some things really never change.

Last night I read halfway through the story of Noah, Nadia, Ethan and Julian before falling asleep with the book open next to me on the bed. When I first read the story of The Souls, I remember being so surprised and excited with each new connection that emerged between them. Now, it's like walking an old path. You know what's coming up next but instead of being dull, it's satisfying to see it all play out like you're expecting.

Powell's also posted a gif today from You've Got Mail on their Tumblr and it was just the perfect thing to see when I was writing this post. The quote from it goes:

When you read a book as a child, it becomes part of your identity, in a way that no other reading in your life does. 

I think I'll finish the rest of the book today.

I'll always love Corduroy, Ramona, Paddington and Babar as well. What books are like this for you?

Three non-traditional wooden bookshelves

Since I moved across the country with literally zero furniture, I've been stalking craigslist for bookshelves I could possibly fall in love with.

This morning I saw two on my Feedly though that have me thinking of taking a different route.

I love this collapsible bookshelf from Stephanie Hornig's Set collection. As someone who doesn't seem to stay in one space for too long, the functionality is pretty appealing. Plus, it looks awesome. (Found via Core77)

Since I'm renting, I probably wouldn't take this DIY route that requires putting a lot of holes in the wall... but it looks nice! Maybe there's some way I could meet this concept in the middle. (Found via Creature Comforts, DIY shelving tutorial from Almost Makes Perfect)

And since I'm finally going to be buying a bike soon, I've been thinking often about this Mikili Bike Rack. I probably wouldn't actually use it for my bike (dirt, etc.) but it is too perfect not to consider.

Basically I'm trying to avoid buying, once again, a bookshelf from the IKEA Expedit collection. They are perfect for records but not so much for books AND are incredibly heavy/not worth moving anywhere.

Help? Where did you find the perfect bookshelf for your home?

Plus
+ These super-fun bookshape shelves
+ Built-in, back-lit shelves I would die to have in a home I owned

Favorite New Baby Books

During my journey home on Monday, I found the nicest little children's book store, complete with cafe and story time. Of course, I can't leave a bookstore empty handed so I picked out two books for my friend Taylor, who has her second baby on the way.

Her daughter Lucy is one and a half and just too beautiful. I've loved spoiling her with fun things. Now Lucy has a baby sister on the way which means she gets to be a big sister, which is maybe my favorite role on this earth. I loved when my little brother was born and even tried to name him after my Cabbage Patch doll (my parents went a different route unfortunately). 

When I saw these books at Mockingbird, I was flooded with nostalgia for the days when I felt like such an older, wiser, child than my baby brother. When it was my responsibility to teach him the ways of the world and make sure he was safe from harm. 

Of course, I still feel that way now that we're both in our twenties. 

So I'm sending these two books to Taylor and Donovan to read to Lucy (spoiler alert). I'm so excited for the journey she's about to begin as a big sister. 

P.S. - This was my first reaction to being a big sister: 

+ 

more children's books

and the video you must watch whenever the topic of children's books comes up

Seattle: My New City

So I moved to Seattle.

Heather and I packed up a rental SUV on Wednesday and drove from Chicago to St. Paul to Billings to Yellowstone to Missoula to Spokane to Seattle {see road trip pics} and arrived at my new home on Saturday.

We, obviously, used the America the Beautiful pack from Field Notes to document our adventures. Including an elk encounter.

This is the current state of my bedroom. I'm sleeping on an air mattress until my mom visits this weekend to help me buy and assemble furniture, and I don't have any bookshelves or a desk to assemble or arrange, but of course I've already unpacked my records and record player.

I had to return my rental car this morning and since I have yet to figure out Orca (the best name for a public transit system. Ever.) I walked back to my apartment from Avis. I live just north of Green Lake and have a feeling I'll be doing most of my reading there. Plus, I found the perfect childrens book store and already feel like I'm best of friends with the woman who helped me out. I'll post later on my purchases.

& why I moved: I quit my job to start a career as a full-time freelance designer. I chose Seattle because a family I love moved back here after a few years in Chicago (where I met them) and I'm going to be working with them again part-time. Plus some family of my own, and mountains and whales. I'm really looking forward to being able to spend more time on To Be Shelved, and ooohhhaiku, as part of this big change. I think I'm going to bring back a few of my favorite series from months past and return to doing interviews with designers.

So. Do you have a favorite bookstore or reading spot in Seattle? Please share.