goin' to press

My lovely friend Jennan, also the writer and editor for the Cohen Design Centers' blog Go Design Go (this is also where I work. hello, small world!), has been collaborating with some bloggers in the industry to feature their blogs in a segment on "social media spotlights." so here it is: something about me somewhere else beside on this little name-sake blog of mine. A special spotlight moment. I'm tickled pink. thanks, Jennan, xo.

Here's to a happy week  ♥

yesterday

via

Last night I had a really special dream.  Like all dreams, I don't remember exactly what happened....why my mind put on this particularly whimsical show.  I've been told that unless you tell your dream aloud the moment you wake up- actually speak about the sequence of events- it's seemingly impossible to remember a dream.  I didn't speak of this one (it didn't seem nice to wake my boyfriend up at 3 am to gab), so its play-by-play is forever lost, but it left me with this feeling, this blur of images that I can't kick.  It might sound silly but my dream was about youth.  My life back in high school.  How I felt driving around in my car with my best friend.  What was important to me then.  Less baggage....though it's beautiful "baggage" that I have now....I was lighter.  Because that's what I was suppose to be.  Then.

So, the scene: my modestly charming little Main Street in Niantic was under the spell of a gorgeous, heavy breath of fog. It was gray, and pink, and it swiveled in the air.  It surrounded me in my car (which was a convertible...in my dreams! pun intended) and I breathed it in and felt it.  It was like a drug, this harmless, mind-blowing high.  I could cry thinking about it.  How right it felt.  And in this completely glamorized and simplified embodiment of my youth, I was just driving straight down the road with my friend.  We weren't talking, we were driving so slowly and we felt so close.  I felt more like a spirit, an aura, than I did a human body.  

There have been so many loses and changes in the past year of my life.  I'm only harping on this because of its relativity to my dream.  But, as this younger, spirit-like version of myself I knew that nothing could touch me.  Or change me.  I could keep driving, gliding.  It felt like the kind of invincibility that you want to bottle up and sprinkle all over the world.  The kind that let you live with no fear, and without the experience of knowing what it was like to fear fear itself.

I guess I am just more careful now.  I've been exposed.  Which is funny, because I've never rebelled in the classic sense.  I've always been...safe, one for comfort.  But I learned to live as wildly as I knew how within the confines of my safety net.  But not so many years later, though so many moments later, I've become careful (more careful than safe, if you will) because of the external experiences of the world that have finally hit close to home.  I am no longer "safe" by choice, but careful by circumstance.  And dontcha know, that's how it goes. Geez, could I  get anymore intense right now?

What I am trying to say (in fewer words): I had a dream last night in which I tasted the most ultimate feeling of youth (again, glamorized and all psychedelically affected like a dream). And well, I just hadn't thought about that for a while.  About how I felt then and how I feel now.  It was partly a tease, partly a beautiful reality check.  Maybe I had this dream to remind me of a time that once was, and what will always be a part of me (have I mentioned I have a certain resistance toward change?!). But certainly a time that is not now, and that now, despite the uncertainties and the hardships I've endured as I've matured, is just another time and place in my life that I need to be.  And that one day this particular time in my life may seem like a breeze, but I won't know that until I'm there.  For now I am here.  And you are here.

via

(and "we are all together").

holy chic

For the sake of my poor, poor wallet, I wish j.crew didn’t have to send me an email with their new spring lookbook. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.  It’s downhill for my (our) finances, but uphill for my (our) spirits!  Hello, spring. Hello, chic. 

lamp love

Kelly Wearstler

domino magazine via

Kelly Wearstler

Say it ain’t so, but I think, I think, I have yet to mention my infinite love for lamps. No?  Well, I guess there is no time like the present to declare my weakness in the interior design world.  The Lamp.  I love everything about lamps: their shapes, their sizes, the importance of their presence in a room, the fact that they provide light (oh course this is a “duh” factor, but I’m also thinkin’ along the metaphorical line), their accessibility (which can often but certainly not always = affordability, as opposed to dropping some big cash on a sofa), their history, and their very nature that allows an unending room of inspiration for designers to keep reinventing the wheel.  And lets not forget the power of “good lighting.” Check out some of my good ol’ favorites below…bronze beauties that top off these whimsical spaces.   Lesson: we ♥ gold + pink (and Kelly Wearstler).

standing still

I've got a whole lot to say, but I'm having a hard time sorting it all out.  For now, this easy, 
breezy song will have to do....

ps. I couldn't have have stumbled upon a photograph any better suited for my mood than this 
one. I don't even really look like this cool chick....but today, I sure feel like whatever she's feeling.

more, more, more!

The new collection from eco-conscious clothing line Bodkin makes my heart go pitter patter.  These are exactly all the shapes, colors (ok, black and white!), fabrics, fits and EVERYTHING that I want to wear this summer into spring, and right now!  But I've got to watch it with that wishful thinking....

'we are all meant to shine'

O u r  D e e p e s t  F e a r

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine.

We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Mariane Williamson

My mom shared this with me a while back. I don't remember if I appreciated then it as much as I have this morning.

mint, please

As evident in my last few posts, it seems like I should be changing the name of my blog to “Color Crazy” (or something exponentially more creative).  But whenever I feel myself drifting off at my desk, or need, actually need, to activate the right side of my brain so I can feel inspired, all it takes is the thought of a color.  I feel myself absorbing the neurological, sentimental and emotional effects that a brilliant color evokes.  Lately, and largely as a response to the being the new anti-winter spokeswoman, I’ve been swooning over all things blue and green and everything in between.  The mint chain of consciousness below started when I put on my best kept secret (well, not so much a secret because I am constantly pulling it out of my bag and applying as directed to my lips) = C.O. Bigelow’s Mentha Lip Shine.  I’ve always attributed the healthiest of my addictions to the effectiveness and delicious taste of the best lip balm EVER (yes, it actually freshens your breath, too!).  But being on this color-kick, I gotta wonder….maybe I’m addicted to its minty hue, too…..

retro wallcovering

kenneth jay lane necklace

my addiction

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Photo of the 2011 West Indies Bluewater Swim Series

we ♥ black + white

The best, the trustiest, the chicest : the marriage of black and white. It NEVER gets old.

images gathered from me (my new linens!!), where the sidewalk begins, National Geographic , Remodelista

catchin' the cold

Good morning! Even after a (wonderful) weekend full of friends, sleep and the end of my birthday festivities, is it me or was it super hard getting out of bed this morning?  Maybe because it was a whopping 6 degrees when I checked the weather this morning (translation, it feels like -8) or perhaps because the comfort of warm sheets and drawn curtains sounds so much nicer than pavement and subways.  Even this winter-born baby is having a hard time with these piercing temperatures! Deep sigh.  Thank goodness Mother Nature threw me a bone this morning when I came upon these A M A Z I N G photographs of Antarctic icebergs.  Somehow I missed the memo about discovery of these beautiful icebergs, first spotted by Norwegian sailor Oyvind Tangen almost three years ago.  Now this is a package I can take the cold in…..from a distance, of course….and in an artistic form. Phenomenal.  Breathtaking.  Sublime.  This, I get.  The relentless monster outside my front door….well, that friendship might take a while.  

images gathered  here.

birthday love

It's nearly 2 o'clock on my birthday and I am already overwhelmed with SO MUCH LOVE. My day started with a midnight call from my mom ♥ (that's also her artistic make-shift bday sign she left for me in my apt when she was visiting last week), a sweet wake-up call from my boyfriend, a beautiful breakfast from my wonderful work friends (who gifted me a rad bracelet from jcrew), my first ever flower delivery from my man, cookies from the restaurant next door, a lot of love from the book, and some really sweet calls from some pretty sweet people.  I’ll stop before I become borderline annoying, but really, something feels really special about this birthday.  Thank you. 

the small stuff

I can't seem to kick all of these fascinating finds, tunes and ideas out of my head....but then again, why should I? Be it a kind gesture, beautiful water glasses, or finding a really, really good deal, it's the small stuff that makes us smile.

(1) Concept Stores

merci, paris

(2) Short, thin wine/water/juice glasses. Found them in paris (actually, at store above) and I can proudly say that they bring joy to my life (if joy = a smile) every time I drink from them.

glasses

(3) These dreamy beachscape prints by Massimo Vitali.  They're so special and will probably have their own separate post very soon.

Massimo Vatali

(4) Pajamas!! I think there is a 4 minute time span from the moment  I walk in the door at night until my clothes are hung and my pajamas on are. Spending as much time in them as I do, I am willing to spend a little more money on luxurious ones. I mean c'mon, who doesn't like to be comfortable? And all the better if you're looking good while doing so....

j.crew sleep shirtdress

j. crew silk tap shorts

(5) Kiehls’ Crème de Corps....is the creme de la creme. The best, I repeat THE BEST body lotion for all seasons.  Strong enough for winter-affected skin and silky enough for bare summer legs.  And I’ve been dying for this limited edition with Jeff Koon’s art sprawled so beautifully over the medium and large size lotions. Big Smile!  Once you go Kiehls, you will never go back, I promise. 

Creme de Corps

waves of transformation

Hello everyone! Hope your weekend was a happy one. As January 19th (my birthday!) grows closer and closer, my mind naturally seeps into a super reflective place.  I guess it tends to do that often, but something about the turning of the new year and turning a year older all within less than a month really sets this happy/sad/meditative/inquisitive/introspective state of mind off. It's also been a crazy year, full of change, loss, growth, new jobs, new friends, losing touch with friends, growing closer with others—all  which have contributed to my rosy-colored glasses losing their tint and simultaneously coming into focus.  I don’t mean to sound so grave, but man life seems to get more complicated as we get older! And geez, look at me, I’m only 24!  I’m learning to live with this chaos and actually feel quite peaceful at my core….it’s just all of the other stuff that throws me off (insert partial sarcasm).  But, ah, so it goes…..

Anyway, skimming through my piecey mental list of where I was at this time last year and where I am now (and all of the in between), I noticed a common thread, or should I call it common distraction, that may have kept me back from being a better version of myself.  Like every 2/2 people, I am often extremely effected by change.  I even fear it sometimes.  Ya know, I’m not even 100% positive at this moment of what I wanted to change in the past year, but sometimes when I have one of those rare moments of total, I mean TOTAL peace, I’m like “oh yeah, this makes sense.”  But the change—taking the leap—is what scares the hell out of me.  Sounds all too familiar, right?  After hearing Julia Roberts say these words on the big screen after reading them a few months back in Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love,” I was reminded of how poignant and just plain comforting her observation and advice was. 

"A friend took me to the most amazing place the other day. It's called the Augusteum. Octavian Augustus built it to house his remains. When the barbarians came they trashed it a long with everything else. The great Augustus, Rome's first true great emperor. How could he have imagined that Rome, the whole world as far as he was concerned, would be in ruins. It's one of the quietest, loneliest places in Rome. The city has grown up around it over the centuries. It feels like a precious wound, a heartbreak you won't let go of because it hurts too good. We all want things to stay the same. Settle for living in misery because we're afraid of change, of things crumbling to ruins. Then I looked at around to this place, at the chaos it has endured - the way it has been adapted, burned, pillaged and found a way to build itself back up again. And I was reassured, maybe my life hasn't been so chaotic, it's just the world that is, and the real trap is getting attached to any of it. Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation."

Note to self: replace use of the word change with word transformation. Doesn’t that sound so much better?  And it makes it a lot easier to accept the  truth that "we're always transforming, everyday."  Here's to transforming whatever you need to transform in your life, and to accepting the transformations we inevitably have no control over....baby steps. Always baby steps. Cin cin!