Geeking out on Business Cards

June 21, 2013April 11, 2017 ~ Lydia ~ 3 Comments

Today I finally got business cards at work. I’m SO excited!

As I’ve hinted at several times before, when I graduated college I took a job in Arizona and was absolutely miserable in the position. Six months later, I packed up and moved back to Dallas to redirect my career to advertising. After a stint at Starbucks, I was able to secure an unpaid internship and convinced them to hire me full time a few months later. I’ve changed titles and responsibilities a lot since starting (we’re a small agency and all wear many hats), so the investment in ordering me business cards seemed fruitless.

A year later, I’m a full on Marketing Specialist – a title that’s going to be sticking around. And a full on business card holder! Hell to the yes. I assume I have to lavish in this excitement now for I fear the excitement of having my name all professional looking will diminish with age…

So now, in my typical over excitement for the small things, I just have to find the perfect business card holder ASAP. Because where am I supposed to keep these little lovelies? I’ve been stalking Etsy for a little bit this morning and I’m so torn. I want something handsome and classy that I’ll still like in 5 years. When I want to invest in something long term I almost always buy something that’s as neutral as possible. Hence, my addiction to leather goods and the color white. But maybe I should go for something with a little color? These are the trials and tribulations of my Friday.. tough right? 😉

What do you guys think? Which should I get!

White On

June 21, 2013April 11, 2017 ~ Sarah ~ 3 Comments

I’m pretty confident not having a white blazer is the only thing standing between me and ultimate career / life domination.

This could also have something to do with my relatively few years in the working world or my still in-progress definition of “success”…but still.

For me, clothing not only says a lot about how I feel, but it also sets the tone for how I want to feel each day. And I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to not feel completely put together and sophisticated while wearing a white blazer.

When I visualize a productive, stress-free day at the office (ha) or a sunny patio brunch with my favorite people, a chic white blazer is definitely a component. Its versatility is such a bonus, too. Since I now spend the majority of my weeks in Antartica a freezing office and am lucky to work in a place that values trendy and professional outfits, I tend to look more for items fit for agency life and beyond. A tailored white blazer that can be dressed up or down for the office, a client meeting, brunch, date night and parties over shorts, dresses, jeans and more? Get in my closet.

Shopping for a home

June 12, 2013April 11, 2017 ~ Sarah ~ 4 Comments

Breaking news around Finding Tiffany’s, I’ve just been self-nominated for the Bad Blogger Award! All joking aside, the combination of being slammed at work and not yet having internet in the new home is that blogging time & capabilities have been hard to come by lately…BUT I have missed you all terribly, which is why I’ve taken to blogging on a Wednesday even though it’s not my usual posting day.

Right now I have so many blog posts hanging out in my head, it’s hard to pick where to begin! See my brain works like cooking popcorn (you heard me), in that thoughts and ideas are constantly popping up, pinging around, seeming quite exciting at the moment of ideation and building up fast. For now, though, let’s start with where I’ve been spending a lot of my time as of late…Target.

Like many of the masses, I both love and fear Target. Between their commitment to supporting small business, launching an organic grocery line, Simply Balanced, and having just plain cute stuff, my addiction is with good reason. A typical trip involves going in for a 5×8 picture frame and leaving with over $100 worth of shoes, a DVD, tank tops and another adorable set of kitchen cups (true story). How do they do it??

To accommodate my lacking budget I’ve managed to avoid going completely, but I just couldn’t withstand my house’s cries to be decorated any longer. Between hours perusing Target’s never-fail stock along with a little Ikea and Pinteresting, I’ve come up with these mood boards…

Bedroom

Bedroom Inspiration Mood Board Target

Living Room

Living Room Inspiration Mood Board

With one Target spree down and an Ikea trip on the books, I’m feeling a little bit closer to making these dream rooms a reality!

Read me..No really.

May 31, 2013April 11, 2017 ~ Lydia ~ 2 Comments

I, Lydia, have a problem.

I have an addiction to buying books. I want all the books. More, I want more. Let me give you an example. As of my birthday I had 4 books in my pipeline. And then my office gave me a $20 giftcard to Amazon. So naturally I had to spend $25 to get the free shipping.. which means I bought two books. I now have SIX books to read. SIX. Now thank God I have a few trips coming up to knock a little reading out, but generally speaking I have a hard time reading for very long during the week without absolutely passing out. This means that I will likely be reading these books through December. This fact, however, will surely not deter me from continuing to purchase a book I want just as soon as I hear about it. Plus, Amazon makes it so easy to order a new book right away.

My defense is that buying a book is the best guilty pleasure there is. How mad can I logically be at myself for splurging on knowledge? Plus just look at how amazing these books are! Such a good mix of fun, educational, cultural and historical. The one I am reading now is the I Was Told There’d be Cake. It was a birthday present from fellow Tiffany’s blogger Sarah, and I’ve already laughed out loud a few times!

What’s up next?

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Mindy Kaling.

The Republic of Suffering Drew Gilpin Faust

How to Win Friends & Influence People in the Digital Age Dale Carnegie

Joseph Anton Salman Rushdie

The Favored Daughter Fawzia Koofi

So anyhoo, this is my endless Summer reading list, mostly aggregated from watching too much of The Daily Show and from friendly recommendations. What’s next on your reading list?

Birthday brunching

May 18, 2013April 11, 2017 ~ Sarah ~ Leave a comment

the common table brunch fruit plate birthday present i was told there would be cake by sloane crosley finding tiffany's lydia boyce

It’s a special day at Finding Tiffany’s…Lydia’s birthday! We celebrated with a perfect brunch at a new place for us, The Common Table. Covered patio, light breeze, friends, cheap mimosas and classic, well-plated entrees – that’s what I call a recipe for perfection. It’s actually amazing we haven’t been there before, as it turns out this affordably delicious patio and my go-to free parking for a night out in Uptown is one and the same (just don’t go stealing my spot now that I shared my secret!).

Now we’re off for birthday manicures. Sigh…don’t you just hate when celebrating someone’s birthday is such an imposition?

Eat good food. Om nom nom.

April 29, 2013April 10, 2017 ~ Lydia ~ 1 Comment

I’ve had quite the delicious weekend. It began with a birthday dinner on Friday, the boyfriend and parents meet and greet on Saturday, and an amazing brunch today. I was so terribly spoiled. Although I did a terrible job of taking any photos while I ate, I feel a need to divulge my #foodporn adventures nonetheless. I also had the added bonus of great company for each meal – see what I mean? So spoiled.

For the Friday birthday, we went to Lark on the Park.

We started with a few bottles of Prosecco before diving into our meals. I had the Wild Mushrooms House-made Pappardelle spinach, creme fraiche and Parmasan. It was so amazing. The pasta is homemade and thick. Lark also specializes in supporting local artist and has 6 huge chalkboards that feature selected artist. Every few months new artists and their work are selected, and the chalkboards are changed up. It has a very urban and modern feel to it, with relatively high prices to match. In fact, as an added bonus, the birthday girl had a piece of work up on the wall!

On Saturday the parents and the boyfriend went to Farnatchis.

Farnatchi’s is a family favorite. Whenever my parents are in downtown around dinner time, this is where they go. The place is small so there is usually just one or two fulltime waitstaff. My parents visited here so frequently that they got to know the waitress and she remembered their orders and name. The new waiter of the restaurant is also super friendly and good hearted. Which only adds to the positive experience. The food was heaven. I had the lemon chicken special and never looked back. The chicken was so tender and went delightfully well with the cabernet my parents brought. Not to mention, the family and the boyfriend got a long great- phew.

Sunday afternoon my amiga and I went to Odd Fellows in the Bishops Arts District.

When we put our names on the list, they told us it would be an hour. But a girl at one of the galleries assured us it was going to be well worth our wait. She wasn’t kidding. First off, this place is adorable. My roommate and Sarah have both raved about this place, so my expectations were high and were easily met if not exceeded! I had the eggs benedict. Oh. My. God. Luckily it was 2 PM and the only thing that was in my stomach was a 9 AM banana, so I had no problem fitting that whole plate into my tum tum (not that this is ever a problem for me if we’re being honest). The food was so amazing, that I enjoyed a fantastic food coma upon my return to my bed.

Now I am fully aware this doesn’t exactly go along with my dedication to the diet. But don’t you worry, I made up for my binges on my other meals and work outs. Who can turn down amazing food? Not this girl.

Liebster Award

April 20, 2013April 11, 2017 ~ Finding Tiffany's ~ 4 Comments

Leah and Jane of smartassy nominated us yesterday for the Liebster Award. As a fellow blog duo we’re quite fans of their work and honored by the nomination! Because seriously, their posts are relatable, brutally honest and usually pret-tay hilarious.

(Flexible) Rules of the Liebster Award:

– Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you.

– Answer the 5 questions from the nominator, list 5 random facts about yourself, nominate 5 blogs who you feel deserve to be noticed, and create 5 questions for your nominees. (Blogs should have 200 followers or less. Let the blogger know you have nominated them.)

– Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.

Questions

1. What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?

Lydia: Honestly I think I embarrass myself all the time but don’t notice nor care. Furthermore, I am confident I have just blocked out all my middle school years. But I did recently have a heavy blushing stint at work. Ya see, I had this one horrible photo taken of me at a club/bar in Sevilla, Spain while on a recent vacation. I’m clearly having a blast dancing in my red lipstick with a bunch of male friends around. Somehow this managed to live on my Facebook for enough time that my coworkers saw it. When I arrived back to work full caffeinated after my long flight, I discovered the photo framed (in a cute frame, I might add) and placed on my desk. So embarrassing! They all think it is hiiiilarious. Somehow though, the picture seems to have disappeared in my drawer…RIP. 😉

Sarah: Oh dear. A side effect of being both awkward and clumsy is that I embarrass myself regularly. I came to terms with this long ago, so now it’s usually just something to laugh about and rather hard to pick just one most embarrassing moment… I mean, there was the time my ex-boyfriend of almost an entire year saw me a year later in Walgreens, and I didn’t recognize him for a good full minute into the conversation. Or the time when I had to run through basically a monsoon to get to a ceremony I was hosting…and then proceeded to announce the awards in a now see-through skirt and bright red underwear. But truly, these are all topped by the fact that I had a xanga. I put all my far-too-personal teenage angst online for the world to see (aka my one loyal reader, my youth pastor) and nearly melted into the floor the day I reread it in college. My best friend reread it with me and likes to quote it from time to time just to rub it in. It has since been deleted, but there is absolutely no way I’ll be sharing my username with you…just in case.

2. Would you take the position of president/prime minister of your country if it were offered to you?

Lydia: Oh absolutely not. I’m quite stubborn but also super indecisive. I feel like I’m the right combination to be totally manipulated like The Sultan from Aladdin. Just awaiting a Jafar. Furthermore, I tend to want people to like me.

Sarah: While the traveling and perks like knowing Beyonce would be sweet, it seems like far too much stress than it’s worth. I also have a tendency to feel an unreasonable amount of responsibility to everyone followed by sickening guilt when I can’t live up to my own unrealistic expectations. This would likely be a recipe for disaster with the whole country counting on me, political parties vying for contrasting outcomes and all in a time of so much international relations instability.

3. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

Lydia: This one was hard! I think the thing I most like about myself is my open mind. It’s not something I’ve always possessed but cultivated over time. I will try most anything once (maybe I’m a little pickier when it comes to food though) and am open to learn about other’s opinions and lifestyles. It’s also enabled me to see other’s perspectives and engage in great discussions where I learn a lot and can often change my opinion on something.

Sarah: Hmm…This was a hard one at first, but I actually landed on two qualities. I like that despite being a bit of a perfectionist and a huge fan of planners and to do lists, I’m actually pretty easy going. I’m not one for drama and generally flexible when it comes to settling on food, activities, etc. The second is that I’m loyal to a fault…this might be partially related to that sense of responsibility I mentioned. I have friendships that are decades old and will try to do whatever I can for my friends.

4. What (if any) movie always makes you cry?

Lydia: Pretty much any movie where an animal is injured or killed brings a tear to my eye. But my go-to movie for when I’m looking for a good cry is always A Walk to Remember.

Sarah: I swear, before I read Lydia’s answer, A Walk to Remember was totally my choice, too. Every time. I also cried for an hour after the first time I saw Pearl Harbor (I went through quite the Josh Hartnett phase). It’s also worth mentioning I will cry at literally any sentimental or sad moment in any movie or tv show, especially if that show is Grey’s Anatomy.

5. Why did you start your blog?

The heart of the blog is to share the good, the bad and the “oh to be 20-something” digressions on our path to achieve our goals and dreams, to remind us to live intentionally and to constantly seek out new inspiration. We hope, in turn, to inspire others to do the same. After months of noncommittal, whimsical brainstorms, it took several bottles of Prosecco and almost a full season of Pretty Liars commercial breaks before the blog came to fruition. It didn’t hurt that we are both devoted blog readers and always on the lookout for new creative outlets of our own. And on sixth day Finding Tiffany’s was born. On the seventh day we rested… with more Prosecco.

Facts

Sarah used to want to be Amish. She still thinks they are quite cool, but not so sure she could live without her hair dryer…or cell phone.
Lydia talks really really unhumanly fast. She blames it on being from the East Coast, but even east coasters think it’s a little ridiculous.
Sarah will only drink hot drinks through straws. No straw = no coffee, tea, etc.
Lydia pronounced the phrase “hand me downs” wrong until the age of 17, because her mom thought it was just too cute that she said “handy downs” to correct her.
Sarah and Lydia got locked in a mall once. Visions of camping out, raiding the food court and playing games a la The OC flashed through their minds, followed quickly by terror and a sudden onset of growing claustrophobia. Luckily a security guard was kind enough to find and escort them to their car.

Blog Nominees

Since it took us SO long into the Liebster nominating process to A. notice we had been nominated and B. actually get together to compile this post, it’s been hard to find blogs that haven’t already been nominated! It turns out that many of our go-to blogs are also beloved by many others, which is a great thing. Here’s some of the other blogs we love (sorry if there are any repeat nominations!):

Your Questions: What’s Your…

Number one place you’ve always wanted to visit?
Absolute dream job (regardless of any practicality, your education / experience, etc.)?
Best book you’ve read recently?
Happiest memory?
Celebrity crush?

Inspiration: Gwyneth Paltrow

April 18, 2013April 10, 2017 ~ Sarah ~ 3 Comments

I can’t say I’ve given much thought to Gwyneth Paltrow in the past aside from the occasional movie, red carpet dress or snicker at her daughter’s name (Apple). But all that started to change when I read about her new cookbook, It’s All Good, on one of my favorite blogs, A Piece of Toast. Celebrating all the reasons they love Gwyneth is a fond pastime for their blog, and I have to say, I’m starting to get it. I love that she’s family-focused, seemingly very genuine and follows her heart in pursuing a variety of interests instead of pigeonholing herself or letting others do so.

True, her cookbooks have come with some criticism. The Huffington Post likened the cookbook to flipping through a J. Crew catalogue (um, why is that ever a bad thing?). Others have made fun of some recipes’ obvious or simple nature. But you know, that’s exactly why I like it. Pouring through the pages as the type of cook who has youtube-d “how to cut broccoli” and “how to cut eggplant” in the past couple months alone, I find the way she describes the book, organizes the recipes and details them quite helpful. Does she have a “recipe” for how to hard boil an egg? Yes. But I’ve seriously had some bad egg boiling experiences in the past so I welcome the break down! She also has a great section about stocking your pantry, which taught me a lot about different types of food and their uses / combinations.

Gwyneth (after this many nights reading her book we’re on a first name basis) is…

Inspiring me to learn more about food, nutrition and cooking.
Inspiring me to continue living a healthy life starting with what food I put inside me.
Inspiring me to look for more opportunities to love on people through food and hospitality.

Inspirations from Patti Smith

April 12, 2013January 2, 2017 ~ Lydia ~ Leave a comment

I’m not really sure how to say this without sounding cocky, so I’m just not going to worry about it. Just know, I do include a little humble pie in my daily diet. But, ya’ll, I am killing it this week. My effort to get back to reading trade articles flourished and I have already sparked something i my brain and have started the seemingly never ending search to find a good news site that I can check into in the mornings to hopefully start wrapping my head around what’s happening in our government and around the world. I’ve kept up my workout routine, my calorie counting and remembered that I can fully function with 5 hours of sleep a night – but no less (learned that one today when I went to bed at 2 AM and when my usual 5:30 AM alarm went off, I wasn’t having it.) I even have a hair appointment scheduled for this weekend – bye bye roots! Someone should pat me on the back.

What really put the coffee beans in my pot this week was words from Patti Smith. I’ve listened to this video a minimum of 3 times a day this week. And that is not including when I force other people to listen to it and I listen while I watch their faces for a reaction. I just love everything she says. I can’t even add to her points, there’s no more explanation than what she’s already said. I love her laid back approach to life. It’s just like – hey, life is rough. Yeah. But it’s beautiful too. So be a good person, work hard on something you’re passionate about, be clean, healthy and smart and soak up all those beautiful moments. The concepts of work hard at something you like, keep your name clean, be a good person, take the good with the bad and my all-time favorite just ride with it is what I’m all about. Patti’s here to remind us to roll with the punches. Let’s hop on this roller coaster, ya’ll.

Knock knock.. you there right side?

April 9, 2013January 2, 2017 ~ Lydia ~ Leave a comment

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It’s been 6 days since my return to the real world and things are just now starting to get back into a normal routine. Since I opted to go relax at a lakehouse this weekend and therefore postponing the necessary post trip “getting my shit together” for another few days, I am only now settling in to real life. My laundry is done, my cold is gone, I no longer feel like a zombie and the song “I can see clearly now” is playing in my head. Perhaps a weekend of hiking, hammock-ing, and tanning by the pool with my boyfriend, my dog and a few friends was just what the doctor ordered. And that brings me to tonight. Tonight is the first night that I can actually relax. On my own. In my pj’s Well, almost.

The only thing still on vacation is the right side of my brain. My left side is totally here making list, putting in maintenance requests, ordering new credit cards and IDs and establishing new budgets. But that damn right side is still over in Paris – or maybe it was stolen with my wallet in Sevilla? I am having the hardest time at work this last week coming up with an original idea. Pre-Europe Lydia loved brainstorming. I loved utilizing things I’ve read and compiling them to form one new amazing concept. Everything is taking me just a little longer since I must set aside time for staring at a blank screen wondering how I used to form sentences. It’s more than writer’s block. It’s a creative block.

Which brings me to my goal for the week. To get inspired. This entails sifting through the 100+ unread newsletters I have from a multitude of amazing idea-inspiring sites like PSFK, Fast Company (Design, Exist and Create.. I’m an addict), Colossal, Big Think and the threads going in one of the many LinkedIn groups I stalk. I am not exactly expecting that I’ll walk into my office by Friday morning with a glowing light behind me and my head full of all-knowing knowledge (but that wouldn’t totally suck), but I am looking for a little spark. Like the lightning that comes down in War of Worlds to send a little driver into the ready and waiting machine that is my mind. That’s all I want. Juuuust a liiiiittle lightning.

Am I also subtly suggesting that you might also be interested in those aforementioned websites? You betchya. They’re awesome. Hop on my let’s-get-inspired bandwagon, flood those inboxes and let’s get those gears moving.

All, I have no idea where that War of Worlds reference came from. Do you see my problem?