AE Holiday Wrap Up

The adventures never end here at AE. After an amazingly successful 2010, we decided to shut down our headquarters for two weeks in celebration of Christmas and the welcoming of 2011. So, we each took off on different trips around the country.

To clarify for those of you who don't know us very well, AE Planning + Design is comprised of four very different, creative and lovely women (and so humble too). Alison is the big picture maker, Kelsey is the creative head, Alyssa is the details editor and Lindsay is the all around ninja. We all assume many different roles on a daily basis, but what makes us work as such a great team is the fact that we each play off each others' strengths, so all of our projects end up being a very collaborative effort. We work really hard, but we also take our free time very seriously and the holidays were no exception, as we covered a total of 13,825 miles of American soil between the four of us.

Alison spent week one in Aspen, skiing with her friends and soaking up the fresh snow and mountain sunshine. Then, she flew off to Connecticut to be with her family and bake cookies with her adorable niece Phoebe. A couple of snow storms later, she was able to get back to SF for New Year's Eve with friends.




Kelsey and her husband Mike went on a road trip to Portland for Christmas before heading up to Seattle to ring in the New Year. They spent a lot of time relaxing with friends and got to meet their friend's sweet little infant baby for the first time.




Alyssa spent the full two weeks in New Orleans, eating too much, dancing to too much loud music, and riding her yellow cruiser bike every second she could get. She also got to spend some time with her family and her adorable little toddler cousin Maxwell, with whom she is quite obsessed.




Lindsay spent her holidays in Arizona with family, bouncing from town to town, totaling out at sleeping in five different towns in the short week she was there. She also made it a point to not only support, but encourage her younger sister's obsession with Harry Potter.




All in all, we really enjoyed the time off and made it back to SF feeling refreshed, inspired and ready to tackle 2011. Yahoooo! A new year, a new astrological sign, a new east coast office... may the list forever go on.

Holiday Inspiration Spotlight: Ikea

In the usual holiday madness, it's so easy to break out the old twinkle lights and matching green and red christmas globes for the plastic tree. But, this year, we encourage you to think beyond the traditions and create new ones! Make it modern, keep it simple and may the holidays feel fresh and clean. No one wants to look at the same thing year after year, so switch it up with a new palette. My new favorite place to get interior inspiration is the Ikea Blog, Livet Hemma. We use Ikea all the time as an event resource because their items are really affordable and great if you need a few splashes of something new. So, it should come as no surprise that their holiday inspired post made my inspiration board for the next month. Take a look at this great shoot and let us know what you think!