Serge Lutens

Oops!  I almost forgot my favorites.  How insanely gorgeous are these bottles from Serge Lutens?

I know, right?

more denim

Oh, Amsterdam. Why do you bait me so? 

Still, the perfect anywhere summer look, I think.

from Garence Dore, spotted here.

Claridge + King

My husband and I have had several conversations about my sleep wear.  Mind you, in nearly seven years of marriage, we have never had conversation about his sleep wear, but mine is a source of hot debate.  We have different priorities, you might say.  I like my sleepwear to be conducive to sleeping.  He sees this as a minor point.  We have found few items that we can happily agree upon in this genre.

That's why I am all about the concept behind the company Claridge + King.  This shop is made up of only six core pieces: a shirt, tunic, tank, palazzo pant, undershirt & boxers.  Each are basic menswear items that have been redesigned as the quintessential women's lounge wear.  I have always been a fan of menswear set into feminine terms not to mention how anything designed for a man seems infinitely more comfy than the anything designed for a woman.  And the clincher is - there are few things more alluring to a man then a woman that is dressed subtly sexy.  At least I can say this for my man.  So you can keep your frilly nighties.   I'll take the button-down, please.  Oh, and the tunic and longer tank.  And I'll probably need the boxers and palazzo pants, as well. 

Now this is evening wear that we can both could get excited about.

Curb - the natural media company

The first time that I came across something like this was in Canada.  I remember looking at a hillside that ran alongside the roadway and seeing a Coca-Cola ad created entirely from shrubs.  That was several years ago but I was reminded of it a couple of months ago while at Disney World.  At Epcot there were ads on the grounds made entirely from flowers.  I was struck by how fantastic this idea is.  Let's face it - advertising isn't going anywhere soon.  But at the very least can't we require something more of advertisers.  Rather than allowing them carte blanche to ruin every landscape & surface imaginable - why does we insist that they better the view?  When you consider the staggering amount spent on advertisements each year, does it make sense that the money not only inform but also contribute?  

I spent a little time researching this idea and came across a company called Curb.  Curb is the world's first natural media company.  They offer a large number of media solutions with only the use of natural elements. Take a look at some of their concepts:

Low grow - ingenious ways of re-creating brands and adverts using high quality shrubs, plants, turf and natural elements such as wood and natural stone to create brand logos in almost any color you can imagine. These are built to last indefinitely and can be displayed in an indoor environment for up to 8 weeks.

Crop ads:

Mow Ad:

Rake ad:

Compost art - Our experts can literally carve or recreate any message, brand, logo or even building using natural Compost.  And before you ask, all of the natural compost they use is manure free, so there is never a need to stand up-wind of the brilliant natural displays!

Solar art - This incredible natural media is created using nothing but the power of the sun's rays, a magnifying glass and the skill of their artist who is able to burn the most intricate patterns, portraits and logos into wood.

Wood carving - Our wood carving expert can literally re-create any message, artwork or logo from wood. At Curb we don't usually like to blow our own whistle but our wood carving expert is the royal wood carver, so rest assured the quality and detail we can deliver is quite literally sensational. Our expert has decades of wood carving experience and has done pieces for everyone from HRH Prince William to the Emperor of Japan. Whatever you want done in wood, from small displays to huge wood poster billboards Curb can carve them to perfection!

Snow tagging:

Sand carving:

Sea tagging:

Clean advertising - Clean advertising is a beautifully simple and highly targeted natural media which works by literally cleaning your advert in any high footfall urban location. Also known as reverse graffiti, clean graffiti and street advertising, we use specialist equipment and laser cut stencils to selectively clean the dirt away from pavements and walls. The resultant clean advert is created by the stark contrast between the original colour of the dirty surface and the as new clean color.  Clean advertising lasts for anywhere from 2 to 20 weeks dependant on the location and we use nothing but filtered rainwater to clean the advertisement into dirty surfaces.

learn more about Curb's offerings here.

Le Labo fragrances

Great packaging and concepts by Le Labo - custom blended fragrances.  Each bottled is created, named & numbered to your specifications. 

muse

The above photos pretty perfectly sum up the look that I'm going for this spring.

Perfection.

Oh, and my eyesight immediately got worse after finding these.  I think I need them.

{images from shopbop, pipeline}

Audrey Hepburn

“I believe laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing; kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles.”

- Audrey Hepburn

{spotted here.}

la porte rouge

I am head over heels for the new to me blog, la porte rouge.  It is a joy to get to see the world through Nadia's eyes (and lens) as she takes such pleasure in simple things.  Here is a little snippet from just this week...

"i had a wonderful saturday with k. we walked all over boston. went to quincy market and filled our bags with gorgeous vegetables. we sat on a park bench on the common, we talked to strangers and sipped coffees. we went from loving each other to being in love again and when we returned home the sky was blushing."

and a few more of her achingly beautiful & dreamlike photographs:

girl crush

I was intrigued by this post over at Simple Lovely.  What is it that sets our admiration on particular female celebrities.  Of course there are the aspects of admiring their work or loving their look.  Those are definitely true. But for me, there is something about these women that makes me think, we could be friends.  Maybe that sounds silly or maybe you can relate.  Any girl crushes out there?

Cathy Waterman

Seven years ago this week, Sean & I became engaged to be married.  He gave me the most beautiful ring.  A ring that we had gone together many, many times to look at.  I ring that we had chosen together.  My favorite ring.  

So...I've lost it.  The ring.  Yes, I've lost the ring.  People lose things, ya know? Just because it was a symbol of our undying and eternal bond doesn't mean the thing can't be misplaced.  

Rings are just so small.  And slippery.

Anyways - if the man should ever decide to invest for a second time (and this is a seriously big "if") I've realized I'm way over the whole solitaire thing.  And I'm very nearly over diamonds.  Is that sacrilege?  These beauties seem more in keeping with my more mature marital outlook - whatever that means.  

These are all by Cathy Waterman and they're all available here.  In case anyone is looking.

seeing red

Nothing visually effects me like the color red.  

(And I suppose, shoes.)

{images found here}

Orla Kiely for Target

Just wanted to add my "yippee!" about Orla Kiely's imminent arrival at a Target near you (and me!)  I am so loving this umbrella of hers. Wouldn't it be perfect with my standard issue military rain boots that I got from our local Army surplus store?  A bit of the Wellie look without the price.

thank you, Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth, a great American painter, died this morning after 91 years of life.  He is the man responsible responsible for the painting that I chose as my banner for this blog.  Though this painting, Christina's World, may be the one that he will be most remembered for, he leaves behind a large body of exquisite work.  After reading these quotes by Wyeth, I was struck by how they, nearly as much as his work, are telling of the man behind the brush.

"I don't paint these hills around Chadds Ford because they're better than the hills somewhere else. It's that I was born here, lived here — things have a meaning for me."

"I do an awful lot of thinking and dreaming about things in the past and the future — the timelessness of the rocks and the hills — all the people who have existed there. I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure in the landscape — the loneliness of it — the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn't show."

"I think anything like that — which is contemplative, silent, shows a person alone — 

people always feel is sad. Is it because we've lost the art of being alone?"

I feel grateful for your perspective, Mr. Wyeth.  For showing us another form of beauty. 

Thank you.

Frye Boots - family heirlooms

Some people leave their daughters jewelry.  Should my daughters be blessed with size seven and a half feet, I will be leaving them boots. Not just any boots, mind you.  Frye boots.  Frye Company is the oldest continually operating shoe company in America, since 1863. These people know what they are doing.  Not only do they make beautiful footwear of exceptional quality, but they also have figured out a way to have an almost universal appeal.  

My Frye obsession began a few years back, and since then I have noted their boots in places such as Sundance and Garnet Hill, and then over Christmas I spotted some Frye's in Urban Outfitters. That's an enormous range.  I can't help wishing that they weren't quite so popular.  But since the secrets out, I may as well publicly add myself to their list of admirers.

They ain't cheap, but they will last through your lifetime and well on into your daughters'. 

i love this braid

My husband is surprisingly good at doing hair.  His adorable sister, Sara, is always calling him before she goes out to say - "Could I run by and have you do my hair real quick?"  It's an astonishing, random talent.  Yet, when I asked him if he could give me the braid in this photo, he tried...he really did.  But it was not his best work.  He said that the tricky part is that the bottom portion is french braided while the top side is just a regular braid.  

Try, try again, I say.

He may just have to work on it 'til he gets it right. 

{image from Ali Loves' Flickr via Oh Happy Day!}

Brooke, a bride

I have a dear friend, Brooke, who I got to know and love during our time together in Morocco.  I also got to watch her relationship with a great man, Justin, begin and grow in that time. On January 2nd, these two were married in Nashville.  It breaks my heart that we weren't able to be there.  I have been living vicariously through their lovely photographs and I just had to share some of them here. 

 

Congratulations, you two.   

God is sharing His beauty with the world, through your lives entwined. 

{Brooke & Justin's excellent photographer was Michael Howard, you can find him here}

so this is what E.'s lunch ended up looking like...

Do I have to say 'just kidding'?

I have this dear friend, Mindy, who is like a white Japanese person.  Not only is she fluent in the language (she teaches it) but she adores nearly all things Japanese.  I remember her telling me how the Japanese are very big into making a beautiful presentation.  It really doesn't matter what the item is, they want the delivery to exhibit beauty. Bento boxes are such a great example.  The way that the Japanese serve their meals, even a 'sack lunch' is mind-blowing. Though I will never (nor could ever) take it to this level, I think there is great inspiration here. Finding beauty in the basics. 

{all images found via the sushi queen}