Summer

After a long weekend full of tons of family and friend-time, beaches, picnics, and ice cream, it's hard to come back to work. But work we must, and luckily for me, I've got lots of fun projects going on. Even better, finished copies of our Fall 2011 books are starting to show up in the office! While no one wants fall to come too quickly, at least there will be plenty of great books to keep us company when cold weather returns.

I hope everyone is enjoying summer!

Chicago!

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Chicago for the HOW Design Conference. What an amazing, exhausting and inspiring experience! It was a huge conference, with a couple thousand designers in attendance. There were over 30 speakers, including Gael Towey, Chief Creative Director of Martha Stewart Living magazine and her husband Steven Doyle, who designed the Martha Stewart Living logo (he carved the letters by hand, I should add, which is amazing!). I could go on for paragraphs about all of the great design work I saw, and the inspiring sessions that I attended, but instead I will leave you with a few photos.

Summer Reading

Growing up, summer reading could sometimes seem like a pain (well, not to me, but then I was an admitted reading geek). But I know plenty of classmates who grumbled about having "homework" over the summer when there were so many other fun things to do.

Now that I'm an adult, though, summer reading seems like the definition of fun! It would be such a luxury to sit down for some uninterrupted reading time without worrying about how many other things I should be doing. For me, there's nothing more relaxing than sitting down with a good book in the sunroom or backyard (bonus points if you get to relax and read in or near a body of water!). Since summer finally seems to be underway, it's time to take advantage of your own summer reading list. Whether you're re-reading an old favorite or finally digging into that new novel you've been putting off, we want to know: what are you reading this summer?

Happy National Pink Day!

Today is a very important day. It is a day to celebrate the color pink. (Ok, maybe it's not that important, but it is fun.) I have a soft spot for pink, and I always will. I grew up in a girly household and now have two girls of my own, so I have no problem celebrating the beauty of pink (As you can see by the picture of my oldest daughter's bedroom. Yes, it's really that bright.) So today of all days, take a moment and embrace the power of pink.

Happy Father's Day to Our Favorite Dads

My dad is one of the most avid readers I know, but I rarely saw him read more than the newspaper and an occasional magazine while growing up. Now that I'm grown, I realize that long work days at his auto body shop left little time to relax with a novel.

Once he retired, it became clear that he loved a good book. He'll read mysteries, biographies, historical fiction, military histories, and even romance novels. As long as the story is juicy, he doesn't care if he was the intended audience. Best of all, his post-retirement passion made it a lot easier for his nine kids to shop for him. There is a good chance his to-read list will be full after Sunday.

Happy Father's Day to dads everywhere, including our own Captone Fiction fathers.