Yes, that’s right… you are looking at the first EVER Lately Lily themed Birthday Party! I know… we are kind of over the moon about it. Here is the story of how it all came to be….

A couple weeks ago Micah’s friend told us her daughter, Chloe, wanted to have her 8th birthday party to be all about Lately Lily and get this… Chloe and all of her friends have written a song and choreographed “The Lately Lily Show” which they regularly perform on the school playground! Could this be real, we thought? Our hopes have always been that Lately Lily would connect with young girls, so when we saw just how much these girls were inspired by Lily, our hearts skipped a beat.  

We just HAD to make this party extra special for Chloe and all of her friends so we packed up all of the props from our “Paris for a Day” photo shoot and dropped them off at Chloe’s house along with some posters and tees for all of the girls. Chloe’s mom created the most amazing notebooks for all of the girls with each of their initials painted on the front… just like Lily’s notebook! This just might have been one of my favorite things ever! On top of that, they made some pretty darn cool felt bows and had a donut tower made to look like the Eiffel Tower! If you follow us, then you KNOW how much we heart donuts. Here is a little message from Kelli, Chloe’s mom…

“I believe they are the perfect age to appreciate the story behind Lately Lily and all the fun travels and adventures she encounters. They were truly in a land of imagination!”

Thank you Chloe, Savannah, Lily, Sadie, Frankie and Kylie… You girls rock! And big thanks to Kelli for taking all of these great photos! 

♥ Erin

Which way would you go? Bright or subtle?

I had read about the eclectic Marais quarter before we left and I knew we had to spend some time there. This morning we hopped on the Metro and headed across the Seine to the Le Marais. We got off at St. Paul and the moment we looked around we knew this place was special. It felt quaint, but big at the same time and everywhere we looked there were narrow, winding cobblestone streets. We quickly decided to just wander these streets to see what we could find. One of the first areas we stumbled upon was the Jewish district… which we both fell in love with immediately! The store fronts were all meticulously kept, the bakeries and delis had delicious breads in the window and the butcheries all looked family owned. We found ourselves on this little backstreet that had beautiful graffiti and there were school children gathered around listening to their teacher talk about the meaning of the street art… fascinating!

Next up, the Louvre! We walked through a passage way and peeked in the windows to see just how massive the interior of the Museum was… it was beautiful and overwhelming at the same time! We kept walking until we popped out of an archway and landed smack dab in the middle of the courtyard right in front of the pyramid that holds the entrance. We sat down at one of the water features to relax a bit after walking a bagillion miles. The people watching was so great and the view was unreal… so we just sat, sketched and took in the scene. We never did make it inside… next time.

I couldn’t wait to get to the Tuileries and hang out among the trees, flowers and statues so we kept on moving until we ran right into them. First stop… the ice cream cart … and it might have been some of the best I have had! Plus I will never forget the impeccably dressed little girl in the red coat waiting patiently for her treat. Hmmm, how do I get my girls to do that I wondered?

We found a big water pond that was surrounded by lounge chairs… SCORE! We plopped down and I immediately felt like I was in heaven! The sun was shining, people were enjoying the day, Micah was sketching and I was people watching… apparently my specialty on this trip.

♥ Erin

Which way would you go? Edgy or fun?

Lily herself went through quite a journey to become the girl we know and love over here. When Erin and I first got together to compare notes on where we wanted this idea to go, her rough name was “Hayley Daily”… talk about a road not traveled! A few days later, the concept came into focus as following the life of a girl through the eyes of her busy parents. So, they were letting people know what she was up to “lately”. The name hit me! Lately Lily!

This first image is the first time I typed that name into an image, little doodly nondescript characters for decoration. The tagline was from an early idea that also influenced the brand concept…  Do you ever wish the big moments in a kids life could last a little longer? Like, I could easily hug a three year old for at least ten years, you know what I mean? But then, the conversations with a 4-year-old are worth a decade or so themselves. When those moments hit, I don’t them to end.

Translating the loose sketches to a “finished” official Lily got off to a rough start… Initial digital versions were very stiff and not welcoming. However, her little bow and the pattern of her hair came into focus right away. Her face softened constantly with each version, eyes opening wider and nose rounding.

The process was helped along by pages of sketches of Lily living her little life. With each drawing, her personality came to the surface until finally a certain revision just jumped off the page. She had strawberry blond hair, and blue eyes, but the shape of her face and nose suddenly clicked… she was a real kid. She was Lily!

For contrast reasons, the final Lily was given fire engine red hair with bold black eyes (so people could imagine her with whatever eye color they might prefer). As a tribute to the great picture books of our youth that inspired the brand, as many elements of her as possible were defined by brushwork rather than digital lines. Her final eyes and eyelashes are entirely painted in ink washes.

Thousands of people have fallen in love with that wide-eyed face since, but I’ll always be grateful for the privilege of being the first to make Lily’s acquaintance, little by little. Here’s to many more days with the Traveling Girl, no end in sight.

♥ Micah

I woke up pretty early and had breakfast in the teeny tiny hotel restaurant. I ordered a cafe au lait and they brought me my very own coffee pot with a side of warmed milk… I could get used to this! As I drank my gallon of coffee and ate my croissant with jam I spread out my maps all over the table and plotted our day’s adventures! Micah and I met up in the lobby and were off to our first stop… the darling little cobble stone street Rue Cler in the 7th Arrondissement. As soon as we turned the corner onto this little street we could tell it was a gem. Lots of people walking, talking, shopping and eating. Boulangeries, butchers, fromage stores, fish vendors, flower stores and little farmers markets lined the street. Rue Cler is known for its cafes so we couldn’t resist stopping off at the well known Cafe du Marche to have some beverages… more cafe au lait for me and hot chocolate for Micah. We were giddy with excitement for this little street… Micah couldn’t help but sketch and I was fully content people watching. There were lots people doing their daily food shopping (impeccably dressed mind you), children leaving school on their scooters (again, impeccably dressed), neighbors chatting with each other and people coming and going on their Velib public bicycles. Side note… The Velib public bike system in Paris is amazing… you can pick up a bike on one side of town and ride it to another, park it in the Velib bike racks and leave! Genius!

After consuming way too much coffee and hot chocolate, we were off to see the Eiffel Tower. When we got there, we decided to take the stairs to the midpoint of the tower. Whew! It turned out to be a bit farther up then we anticipated, but it was well worth it! Facts about the construction of the Tower lined the stairs so it was super interesting as we huffed and puffed our way up… plus the interior views of the tower on the way up are priceless! Once we got to the midpoint, we squeezed onto the elevator and headed to the top. All I can say is… WOW! The views from the top are just spectacular! I loved seeing just how angular the city looks from above. As we walked around the tower I noticed they served Champaign… let’s just say I was a little excited. I ordered a (way overpriced) glass and toasted with myself because Micah doesn’t partake in those types of beverages. On our way down, we stopped off to grab a souvenir Eiffel Tower for our kids… which my daughter is completely obsessed with. It sits atop her book shelf and every night before bed she asks when I’m going to take her to “Paris, France to see the Eiffel Tower”. I just love those kinds of questions! Soon love, soon…

♥ Erin

 Lately Lily Tee

This season’s “French Bow” tee is one of our favorites! We really wanted to use a particular fashion technique, known as trompe l’oeil, in this season’s line. In fashion, this technique refers to something which appears to have detailing, such as a bow, but is actually just drawn on. The trompe l’oeil concept was born in Paris, so it seemed perfect to add this tee into this season’s line!