To Ida Street We Go

Today is a momentous day. Magical Simplicity is growing up :) We're heading to a new space, with a new name, to celebrate a new stage & talk about the same things. I'm actually heading there now!

Ida Street is a real place. I moved there just after my 24th birthday. Do you remember? In my tiny studio apartment I started learning a lot. Like what the tool box is for. & that I actually love photography. & that personal style is everything, but that sweatpants are a girl's best friend. It was on Ida Street that I started growing up. & on Ida Street I started growing out of this space.

It's okay! Magical Simplicity is coming with me. I'm stuffing it (& all my old posts) into this beautiful leather tote. So, from now on... visit me HERE. Let's continue our adventure. Let's talk about the things that happen on Ida Street. Xoxo, a million times.  I'll see you all there.

Photography: Mintwood Photo Co.

ANNIE'S SIX FAVORITE POSTS OF 2014

Wow. I'm heading to the Dollar Store to look for glasses that say 2015. What on earth?! (& side note: don't you miss the days of the two double zero thousands? They made for such great glasses!) But before we all dawn our sparkles & cheers our way into the New Year, I wanted to share my top six favorite posts out of the almost 100(!) that made 2014.

In Fashion...

1.) The Rolling Stones Tee: I got more & more comfortable with every fashion post posted in 2014. From the first one way back in May (here) to the Rolling Stones Tee just last week, each one was more & more fun. This was one of my most recents, & a particular favorite :)

2.) The Beanie! One thing I love about blogging is that it challenges me to try new trends. The beanie/pom hat was one of those. I just love the way it looks! & this post also got featured on Midwest Dressed, another reason it makes my favorites list.

In Cincinnati...
Now, I truly, truly loved every single place I visited in Cincinnati this year. Every small business & Cincinnati original. You can read about each & every one of them HERE. But, for the sake of keeping my list....

3.) [Greater] Cincinnati's Carabello Coffee & their coffee for a cause is just such a Cincinnati gem. I can't wait to see how they grow & prosper in the new year!

In collaboration...

4.) Styling with Cincinnati's Curate Boutique: The cutest little boutique asked me to collaborate in 2014. I modeled some of Curate Boutique's winter line for the Holiday Look Book & had a blast running around town with a professional photographer & these stunning clothes!

In life...

5.) The Importance of Treating Yourself: I love this post for two reasons: the sentiment, of course. It is very important to treat yourself & acknowledge your own accomplishments. (If you don't believe in yourself, who will, right?) The second reason I love it are these awesome pictures! This was the first time that Natalie & I played around with the settings on our new DSLR cameras & it was such a fun shoot :D

In DIY...

6.) Small Space Living: Building a Corner Coffee Bar. Last but not least, in DIY, the corner-coffee bar. Five months later, I still use this coffee bar every single day. It's the perfect place to set up for a morning of work & occasional people watching from the window.

& that is that! Thanks to each & every one of you for one truly amazing year. xoxo & stay tuned for 2015, we're kicking it off with a bang ;)

LATELY....

We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we WISH you a Merry Christmas.. & a Happy New Year! Hi guys! I've been a little mia. I had my very last trip of 2014 last week in Baltimore Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday. The rest of the week I celebrated Christmas with some of my nearest & dearest friends. Here's a little look into my world lately.. I wish you all a Holiday so lucky as mine. xo Annie

^^^ All those many, many times I say I am traveling - these are the goones I am with. We had our company Christmas party on Friday. It was so fun to kick it outside of the office with the people I spend so much time with.

^^^ I am THRILLED to announce 2015 will bring with it the marriage of one of my best friends. Morgan (center) & her college sweet heart Ben (not pictured) are tying the knot next fall. I'm in the wedding (yayyyyyyyyyyyy!) (first one!!) & this weekend we toasted to the happy couple. Random note: I can't even tell you how many of this exact same picture we have from our high school years. 

^^^ The great cookie bake of 2014! This is the first year my friend Kate (who recently  re-debuted on this blog as "my friend who was as obsessed with Gossip Girl as I am & ate rolos & drank cheap wine with me after our long, hard days of interning" (I jest. I realize now the internship was the perfect amount of long & hard. I was dramatic in my youth)) invited me to her family's cookie bake. Basically, there were like 400 cookies in her garage at the end & I brought a bunch of them home. Heaven. Random note: see that picture above? It's an upside down ginger bread man! Isn't that genius??

^^^ I ended the weekend at a blogger clothing swap (keep your eyes tuned for something extra great coming from this group in 2015). We each brought the clothes from our closet that were headed for the donation bin & thought we'd check with each other before we sent them to Good Will. It was so fun to try on clothes & new styles & I came home with a gold mine.

AH what a phenomenal week. Only to be followed by an even better one. Christmas is my favorite <3 Sending you all love. xoxo 

NOVEMBER FAVES

I have a short list this month. Not because I don't have favorites, (oh contraire! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite Holidays!) (So much food!) but because I was too busy to write them down!

I did a lot of traveling this month: Atlanta, Baltimore, Baltimore & finished it off with just enough time to make it home for Thanksgiving.

I started experimenting with the tripod, & then decided it was way more fun to have photoshoot-marathons with Natalie instead.

Speaking of photo shoots, I had my second ever professional photo shoot (you remember my awkward first?) with CURATE BOUTIQUE for the Holiday Look Book! I had SO much fun being styled by Courtney PeGan & running around town in gorgeous clothes with Tamia at The Style Sample. I'm waiting on a few more photos from Corey Stevens Photography before I make a post for you guys! Oh what fun!!!!

We met up with the Cincinnati Style Crew for dinner a few times to work on our really exciting collaborative project for you guys. (You're really going to want to stay tuned on this one!) (It won't be long!!)

& I got to spend Thanksgiving with nearly the entire Butler side of the family. It was a truly fabulous month & now my favorite time of the year is just around the corner. I'll leave you with this Christmas tune to help get you in the spirit!
xoxo & thank you so, so much for reading!

OCTOBER FAVES

Travel, pumpkin, pictures! Travel! Pumpkin!! Pictures!!! That was October in a nutshell... or shall I say, an acorn (Get it? Because it's fall :D) But there was a little time for some faves, of course!

I visited a few pumpkin patch farms: here & here too. & then I explored ways to eat the amazing pumpkin all October! We tried super easy muffins, roasted seeds & 3 ingredient mousse. Did you recreate any of these?! How'd it go??

A glorious field of sunflowers. Swoon!!!!

My friend Rachel introduced me to Apple Cider + Champagne Mimosas at book club. Later Teddy introduced me to Bourbon Apple Cider. Both are absolutely to die for & a new favorite drink.

Also, while we're talking about foods.... this home made monte cristo. What?!? That's a Cooking with Katie creation ;D

Possibly my very  favorite thing about October was that a few dear friends asked me to take their engagement photos! Both Rachel + Casey & Megan + Sam chose amazing fall days & had the most perfect fall photo shoots. I adored running around the woods taking photos of people in love. It was literally & absolutely my favorite thing.

My grandmother turned eighty! & we had a wonderful little party to celebrate in Dayton. I got to see almost all my cousins & their children & had the most lovely visit right before I headed off to Minneapolis.

Obsessed with this. It popped up on my Walk the Moon Pandora station & I'm super in love. To be honest, I first thought the "Oh Hey!" line in "Oh Hey!  I can't believe I captured your heart." Was actually Ann-ayyy, (ya know, like a really lyrical way to say Annie). Regardless. I still love it & think you will too. 

Tonight is Halloween & we're having a little party after the trick or treaters retreat with their candies. I'm wearing some cat ears with a little face paint - what are you guys doing?? I can't wait to see the photos! Happy, happy, happy fall, darlings!!  

SEPTEMBER FAVES

Some really exciting things happened in September!

Early on I had my first professional photo shoot for a feature by Cincy Chic. It was super fun + you can read the full article here.

Keeping with my Cincy Chic week, I also attended a great Fashion Show downtown where I met a whole host of local fashion bloggers + got to talk shop with some of the coolest :) You can read more about what we did here (spoiler: those amazing teal heels bottom center played a part!) Also, I didn't tell you! We decided that it was a great idea to start a Facebook page so you lovely readers can follow the Cincy Style Bloggers all together! That link is here.

I started a cooking series with my sister + have never eaten so well in my life. We have a TON of fun recipes coming your way in the coming weeks (& have already posted a few: here & here!).

I got to spend time as Cousin-Aunt Annie (one of my favorite things).
I obsessed over this song + listened to it on repeat for an entire two days. (Seriously. So magical, right?)

At the very end of the month my sister came into to town from San Francisco & we got to take a trip to Blooms & Berries for a walk through the Sunflower Fields (post coming tomorrow!). It was seriously cool.

I also Beer Fest-ed in Fountain Square & then Oktober Fest-ed the next weekend (I'm a true Irish-German at heart). I traveled a whole bunch & saw a lot of fun cities: Detroit, DC + Dallas to be exact. Also, this list. You know me, always trying to single handedly determine the best brunch spots in the city. Cincinnati Refined did some nice research to consider.

It's officially fall + I am officially loving it. Cheers with an apple cider + champagne mimosa (my friend at Book Club taught me about this drink. It's to die for.) Love you, guys! Xo Annie

JUMP(ING) INTO A NEW SERIES

I have exciting news! Over the weekend my sister agreed to help me with a couple of food posts for Magical Simplicity. This is Katie :)

I'm not a natural cook (in fact, my only claim to fame is the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie -- top secret recipe coming to Magical Simplicity ToMoRrOW!) (EDIT: here it is!). But, I am a great learner. + my sister, well she's the best chef I know. So I'm here today to tell you that I can't wait for the jump into a new feature for you guys. Together we can learn how to cook!

Now I'm going to take one second to gush about my sister(s). If you have sisters, you know. Sisterhood is a bond unlike any other. Fight all day (sisters are notorious for stealing clothes) but when it gets down to it.. who is always at your side?

I have three sisters (+ one awesome brother). You may remember when I last declared my love for them HERE. We are all absolutely, positively opposite of one another. (For example, Katie can cook. My speciality is eating.) But I also don't know of any four people who are a better compliment to my personality. (Same example applies.)

So, if you have a sister (or a brother), first tell me how awesome she is in the comments below. + then shoot her a text. Tell her you love her. + maybe convince her to pose for some jumping photos. It's way harder than it looks :)

Can't wait to introduce you to Magical Simplicity's food series this week! Come back + see us!

Wearing: [Annie] Shirt: Stripe Sleeve T via JCrew | Pants: City Crepe - Soft Pant via New York + Co. | Shoes: Gladiators via DSW. [Katie] Skirt: Bobeau Maxi via Nordstrom | Shirt: Basic Tee via JCrew | Photography: Jackie Butler.

AUGUST FAVES

What I loved about August was it's spontaneity. Spontaneous movies in the park. Spontaneous trips to New York. Spontaneity is what keeps life fun + boy does that describe August. Can you believe it's time for another month of Faves!? Well, let's round 'em up, shall we?!

Sam Adams Brew + View! In an attempted trip to Newport Kroger for the ingredients of a home made dinner we happened past this food trucked, brew fested, movie under the stars in Eden Park! We reserved our free tickets right away & abandoned the thought of a boring dinner for something magical. It was perfectly spontaneous & delicious & hilarious (Wedding Crashers). I just love Cincinnati.

You know what other city I love? New York! As you know, in August I took an unexpected trip to the East Coast to visit my little sister. I had never been to New York but seriously am in love. It was amazing. You can read all about it HERE.

Freshman year of college a crush introduced me to Vampire Weekend. The crush didn't last but my love for these tunes did. I've been listening to a lot of music to try & stay in the zone at work. This one stuck out among the thousands. I love the beat to the "baby, baby, baby.." at 43 seconds. It's hard to explain.. so take a listen :)

At the end of August we caravanned up to Detroit, Michigan -- my Papa's hometown. We had a second commemorative service for him with about 100 people that didn't have enough notice to make it to the first. Spending time + continuing to heal with my extended family was magical.

+ I made it back just in time to watch the WEBN Labor Day Fireworks from my friend's ninth floor balcony. We were eye level to the greatest light show The Queen City witnesses. How lucky am I?!

There were so many adventures this month! We've found new breakfast places, furniture warehouses & Flea Markets. I took Ultimate Air Shuttle to New York City. I laughed + lived  + wined + dined. August was one heck of a month but to sum it up in one word, I'd have to say LOVE.