Just wanted to say hello on this busy Monday with a gorgeous image by PinkFlor. Stay tuned to meet one our newest LAMA designers later this week! Happy Monday!

The week before last I had the good fortune to attend Altitude Design Summit in Salt Lake City. If you follow all the wonderful design blogs I do, I’m sure you have read all of the gushing, unrestrained loving, and endless Alt praising by now. Some of you may be thinking, “Really? Was it really that amazing? Maybe if you’re a blogging rock star it was. What about everyone else?” To those that wonder, my answer is an emphatic YES! Yes, it really was that incredible. So I thought (finally) I would share my own Alt story:

First, I would like to thank twitter. Without twitter, I may not have heard of this wonderful event before it was too late. So thank you twitter. You are SO not a waste of time. As soon as my curiosity was peaked by all the Alt tweets, I clicked over to the Alt site, read the homepage, checked out the list of speakers and was sold. Three days in gorgeous Salt Lake City with my blogging heros? Where do I sign?! The next best thing that happened was receiving an IM from my good friend Ben Silbermann which read,”i was thinking about going to that conference you twittered about.” From there, we bought our plane tickets, booked a hotel and headed over (grateful that I had a travel buddy to keep me company and calm… I think I may have social anxiety disorder and a definite flying phobia).

It didn’t take long for my fears and anxiety to start melting away. Right off the bat I got to listen to Nicole Balch of Making it Lovely, Allison Czarnecki of Petit Elefant, Jaime Derringer of Design Milk and Karey Mackin of Mackin Ink speak about their favorite design sites. Something about the way they spoke about their own love and admiration for other blogs and bloggers (some they knew personally, others they did not) made me realize some important things. These women are just like me! They admire the work of others and sometimes wish they had so and so’s great eye or writing style or photoshop abilities. They don’t have superhuman powers or large teams of people working for them. They do what they do because they love it and they do it at the highest level possible for them.

Lesson 1: You don’t have to have superhuman powers to excel at what you do. Passion will get you far.

That night began with some speed networking and ended with a glamourous opening party that included delicious food (I should say delicious looking, I was too nervous to eat), live music, and an open bar (dangerous!) I arrived to the speed networking session at the same time as Jean Aw from NotCot. In fact, we chatted a bit about how we were both very unsure of what we were supposed to do there. I decided to play it cool (like I didn’t know that it was Jean Aw from NotCot) even though I was thinking, “omg! I’m talking to Jean Aw from NotCot!” I know, I’m such a dork. The opening party was tons of fun! I got to meet the people that would  become my “Alt clique” for the remainder of the time: Mackenzi Farquer (Site Design NYC), Sara Jensen (Lost Bird Found), Aaron De Simone (I Heart Media Inc.), Mat “with one T” Thorne (who was there to speak on behalf of Blurb but is also a very talented artist), and of course my travel buddy Ben (Pinterest). With them, I was able to courageously approach Joy from Oh! Joy (Aaron was so red) and eventually make my way over to Maxwell of Apartment Therapy (who, btw, I had a a big Alt crush on). It’s comforting to know that he probably doesn’t remember the slightly tipsy little Latina girl that was stumbling over her words and staring way too wide-eyed at him. Maxwell, if you ever read this, will you consider my apartment for your next Apartment Therapy book? It’s worth a shot, right?

Lesson 2: Everyone has someone that makes them nervous. Generally, most people are actually quite approachable. Trust in your friends to get you through the uncomfortable times.

The remainder of the time was a huge blur of excitement and inspiration. Keynote breakfast with Grace (Design Sponge), Heather (Dooce), Jean (NotCot), and Maxwell (Apartment Therapy)… inspiring! Panel after panel listening to my blogging heros talk about how they do it… inspiring! Lunch with DJ Earworm… inspiring! Wait, this is starting to sound like that Priceless Mastercard campaign. Maybe because I actually got to hang out in the Alt Lounge having casual conversation about the time I lived in Berlin with Jeroen Bours, genius marketer and creator of the “Priceless” campaign! And yes, chatting about Europe in a beautiful room with Jeroen Bours… PRICELESS!! Did I mention I stopped in the doorway on my way out to chat (again) with Jean Aw and she actually remembered a post I had contributed to NotCot? Priceless! (geeking out again)

Lesson 3: Opening yourself up to inspiration can help you do things you never imagined you would and sometimes, you can even inspire yourself.

I have to say, some of the best experiences I had at Alt took place during the downtime. The little moments in between chatting with some of the most interesting people I have ever met, the dinner I had with my Alt clique, the evening I spent sitting in the lobby with my new friends listening to an awesome string quartet playing Kids by MGMT, and the conversations in the hotel’s Gibson Girl Lounge. I got to share a cab to the airport with Joy from Oh! Joy and laugh THE ENTIRE way home with Victoria of sfgirlbybay (I think we were high on Alt) and my amazing friend Ben whose energy and brilliance inspires me everyday. Ben, btw, won the ultimate grand prize of the weekend… drumroll… a trip back to Salt Lake City! Awesome.

Lesson 4: Always enjoy the little moments in between. They’re the BEST!

Thank you to all the hard-working, kind and generous people that made Altitude Design Summit possible. This experience was exactly what I needed to finally make some big decisions and commitments to my own business, LAMA. My newfound motivation has enabled me to make some enormous progress since I have been back to work. I have finally made the decision to take LAMA in a new and amazing direction (details to come at another time).

I can’t wait to go back to Alt next year!

Lesson 5: If you think it might be worth doing, DO IT.

** all photos taken from the Altitude Design Summit flickr page Next year I’ll bring a camera! **

Adorable video sent over by the lovely Sara Jensen. (Btw, check out this awesome project Sara was a part of on Design Sponge today here. OMG! I just realized that I’m going to be that girl that everyone buys llama paraphernalia for. Good thing I love it all!

I was recently introduced by the incredible Sara Jensen of Lost Bird Found to the most stunning blog belonging to Riley, an incredibly talented textile designer, ceramicist, and photographer. Roe is full of Riley’s gorgeous photography which has the most tactile quality to it. I just want to reach out and grab her work. I especially LOVE her gorgeous photography from Peru. It really takes me back to my own time in South America, walking around the Andes trying to snap shots of the gorgeous Alpaca. Oh, to be there again…

Check out this MUST see blog here.

A HUGE thank you to Oh Joy! for the wonderful mention on your blog today. I couldn’t be more excited about this! Check out the post here.

Check out the travel accessories featured here at LAMA!

Like many of you, I have been feeling completely devastated by the recent events in Haiti. The reports and coverage of the earthquake have been so heartbreaking. It has been so inspiring, however, to hear the stories of people like you and me who rise to the occasion and do their best to help out when others need it. I was so excited to hear that the lovely Jenn over at Indie Fixx has decided to start a silent auction over on her blog.

Jenn will be auctioning off some gorgeous merchandise generously donated by indie crafters, artists, and designers. 100% of the proceeds from Indie Fixx’s silent auction will go to the Red Cross International Response Fund. It’s for a great cause so head over to Indie Fixx and bid bid BID!

A sweet and lovely gift created by my dear friend and graphic designer Hijiri K Shepherd. This is definitely going up in my office as a constant reminder. :)

How much do I LOVE that she used Friend in a Nut to stage this shot?! Awesome! Thank you Hijiri!!

Happy 2010 everyone! It’s so great to be back and slowly (but surely) getting into the swing of things again. I hope Santa brought everyone exactly what they wanted for Christmas… a big high five to Santa if that something happened to be from LAMA! I hope everything was delivered on-time. We certainly did our best this year and it seemed to go pretty smoothly. Yay for experience!

This year I had no idea what I wanted for Christmas. I generally have a big list with price ranges, favorites and links/directions to everything. This year I can honestly say that there was very little I felt I needed and even less I actually wanted. I think I was just overly tired and feeling like nothing could possibly top a little rest and relaxation. To my delight, despite my request for nothing, my friends and family came through in a BIG way. It was so touching to know that my loved ones know me so well and were able to get me the best gifts I never knew I wanted. One of those amazing gifts came from my very own family and was a collective effort between my big brothers and my parents. Here’s what they got me:

Entitled “We Are All Kings” by Los Angeles based artist Amanda Visell, this print spoke to me in a very obvious way. I actually teared up a little when I opened it. It’s so amazing to know how proud and supportive my family is of what I do and what I love. It’s something I will keep in mind as I enter into a new year with LAMA.

Thank you to all of our wonderful customers for making 2009 a great year! A big thank you to all the amazing bloggers out there who have been so kind and have written so many beautiful things about LAMA. I can’t wait to show everyone this year what LAMA has cooking.

Need to have your gift wrapped? Just ask! We would love to make your special purchase look like the gorgeous gift it is. Want to send a special message along with it? Yup! We’ll do that too! Happy Holidays!