I Have Shopped (Just a Little...)

So it occurs to me that I never really gave you a recap of my August spending hiatus, and since I’m about to tell you what I have purchased over the past few weeks, it seemed fitting to first tell you how my period of “non-purchasing” went…yes?

There was something especially fruitful about taking a 30-day shopping “time-out” right before a time of year when I traditionally want to re-think my wardrobe completely. The hiatus afforded me a chance to really evaluate my closet and put some serious thought into what I would buy for the cooler months. I also used this time when nothing new (well almost nothing new, alas it was not a perfect hiatus) was coming into the house (or in this case, the closet) to do a ruthless clothing purge…ideally in the manner of all those “how to clean out your closet” dictates in the magazines..

I followed all the rules and made the requisite “keep”, “toss”, “donate” and “mend’ piles…and let’s just say I tossed/donated a lot. I also took two pairs of heels to the cobbler for a little freshening up, had two handbags repaired and managed to find a slim black blazer with the tags still on it (!) lurking amidst the detritus in my closet. I should note here that “slim black blazer” happened to be on my fall shopping list, so major score.

Once the purge mission was accomplished, I made a list of what I wanted to buy to “fill in the gaps”. I put a lot of thought into this list friends, as my budget was small, so I wanted to be very intentional and get things I could wear with what I already had, and most important, that I would want to wear to death. In other words, the basics.

Topping my list were the skinny black pants I’ve mentioned ad nauseum. I had a very specific idea about what I wanted to accomplish with these pants (which was basically to shamelessly copy this outfit, oh and this one too)...the trick was finding the right pair. I was also looking for a new pair of slightly funky shoes that I could wear to dress up jeans and t-shirts for the weekend and a new taupe cardigan, as the one I’d been wearing for the past year was ratty and threadbare and apparently an embarrassment to Audrey (her words).

Last on the list was a super-functional, utilitarian tote (despite the fact that I have a closet full of perfectly acceptable bags...I know, I know).

The good news is I stuck largely to my list...I tend to get distracted by shiny objects and go off the reservation when shopping. My only “slip-ups” were a couple of Tucker for Target dresses that I literally tackled another shopper for, a striped sweater from UO (man what is it with the stripes?) and that necklace I’m sporting in these photos (totally didn’t need it, but spotted it on my friend Sara and was obsessed).

Ok there may have been a couple more necklaces but I'm not saying for sure.

So without further ado, here’s what I got -- all also featured in the pics above...

• Black Slim Cropped Pants – Gap
• Black “Slummy Tee Dress” – Alternative Apparel
• Black Blazer – Banana Republic
• Taupe Cardigan – J. Crew
• Necklace – Forever 21
• Shoes – Max Studio
• Bag – J. Crew "Jericho"

So do tell…what’s your fall shopping strategy, what are you guys buying this year?

Alter Egos...

Despite my deep and abiding love for all things earthy/modern, incense scented, Big Sur-esque, hippie/bohemian/artsy, I have this secret fondness for, wait for it…preppy.

Now let me just say there’s nothing about me that’s preppy. There's not even a little bit of hot pink and kelly green lurking in my psyche... my childhood was all Northern California, wheat germ and Steely Dan. But I tend to think as a general rule that our alter egos are a little bit of a revolt against our upbringing, resulting (in this case) in my tendency to get all swoony over old Volvos and tennis and boarding school.

So those images above by Partners & Spade for Boast are kind of a perfect mind-meld of my reality and my alter ego…a sort of boho preppy if you will (not unlike The Royal Tenenbaums, which, it should be noted, is my favorite movie of all time.)

I mean seriously, what’s cooler than a heavily bearded tennis player?

Awesome.

Loving...

The perfect cut (and print) on this SERA blouse...

The quiet, lovely photographs on little dailys...that image above makes me incredibly happy.

The light in these insanely beautiful rooms (via remodelistia)...

Jeana's second "closet visit" (this time it's the genius handbag designer clare vivier...) I know Jeana's series was on my list last week, but I can't help it friends, it's just that good.

This decidedly grown-up cupcake liner and beeswax candle from brook farm general store*...

*speaking of brook farm general store, I just ordered a hamman hand towel for our guest bathroom from them, and it is perfection + the packaging was almost as pretty and special as the actual towel.

Chanel's khaki nail polishes (via things i like), but especially khaki brun. Love.

IKEA's sculptural pepper mill -- it's like a little work of art. I love it when everyday things feel special and unique.

The fact that this fireplace (again via my beloved remodelista) makes me love my (exact same and somewhat decoratively vexing) 70's stone fireplace a little bit more...

Scenes from The Weekend...

The "great room switch" pretty much consumed our weekend, and friends, it was hard work. It's amazing how much stuff (and dust) surfaces when you're moving things around. I used an entire box of swiffers over two days and packed four giant bags for the Goodwill. Where was this stuff lurking before?? It's perplexing.

The rooms are almost done...the "lounge green" is on the walls, the furniture, books, closets and dressers have been switched out, and all that's left is putting in the "magic touches". Audrey's space is pretty sparse right now, we need to sprinkle a little whimsy in there, and then I'll do a full room tour for you guys.

In the meantime, a few sneak peeks...

In other weekend news, we experienced a few "firsts" over the past couple of days. There was Millie's first sushi (which she totally dug), our first fall weather on Sunday (cool and blissful) and our first bike ride since early summer (prompted by that blissful weather).

Our friends Julie and Tim came to dinner Saturday bearing a big pot of their famous bolognese sauce, and I sincerely believe it magically shepherded in the long-awaited cool snap... After the pasta, we had chocolate mousse cake (which they also brought*) and then lit sparklers on the patio.

It was good stuff.

*yes, we made take-and-bake pizzas for our friends last weekend and this weekend our friends brought all the food. Sad, I know...

Some Favorite "Unplugged" Moments...

To kick off an unplugged weekend (I'll be in the thick of the girl's big bedroom switcharoo 2010), I thought I'd share a few scenes that remind me just how nice it is to be away from the computer...even if just for a couple of days.

Have a splendid weekend friends.

Timelessness (+ A Question for You...)

I’m a little bit blown away by these wedding photos (spotted here). In fact they might be some of the loveliest wedding photos I’ve seen... so intimate and classic and completely timeless.

And (not unlike that house from yesterday) these images feel somehow untouched by trends. There is nary a paper flower or paper lantern or photobooth or fake mustache in sight. While I’m not against any of those things in theory (if you've been here before, then you know of my immense love affair with the paper lantern), when it comes to weddings, nothing delights me more than seeing something that feels like it will still look just as beautiful and relevant in 25 years.


all (beautiful) images by blue window creative...

Ok now ready for a little tangent?

When I saw these photos (and then read this post), I instantly wanted to shut my computer and well…go sniff a book.

It somehow struck me that the images felt rooted in the real-world -- in travel and museums and books and nature. Despite finding the images online, they felt somehow disconnected to the online world, and all of the sudden I had this burning desire to take a little break from the endless ping of the blackberry and the blogs and the ever-present imagery and rest my brain (and my eyes).

Is it strange that a few wedding photos can do that??

And so with this in mind I wanted to ask you guys, what’s rocking your world from the real-world right now?

What are you reading? What are you listening to? What’s the most fantastic art you’ve laid eyes on, the most inspiring movie you’ve seen of late? (I know movies aren’t exactly the “real-world” but they’re not “online” either.)

I’m feeling an unplug coming on and am in need a good list. Do share…

A Happy House and A Good Reminder (for me)

That image above, what with the teepee and the massive, awesome record collection, completely made my day when it showed up in my inbox earlier this week (thank you Lisa). Then I came across the rest of the house and had a moment of pure "house bliss".

This place makes me so happy. I love how natural and sort of undecorated (and even a little bit modest) it feels...not self-conscious or dripping in trends. I love the open spaces and amazing windows and how they mixed the chunky, earthy elements (the credenza and those beams) with little pops of femininity and opulence (the pink paintings and that gilded gold frame).

And truth be told, I needed a little shot of happy, because I've been, well...awfully salty of late.

I'm generally an optimistic gal. I’m upbeat, (sometimes even annoyingly so)…I don’t really have a “dark side” to speak of. So this bout of disgruntlement is throwing me a bit.

As a general rule I think there are things you’re always allowed to be a little bit disgruntled about, say, a week of consecutive hundred-degree days, bad service on airlines, the oil spill, people who text while driving… but (up until now) I have stuck pretty firmly to the belief that life is too short to be snarky and frustrated about little things.

And this friends is what’s throwing me…I’m (to use a completely overused phrase) sweating the small stuff and griping (incessantly) about the things I either can’t control or shouldn’t care about in the first place. For example, last night I found myself laying in bed wide-awake at 3:00 am, agonizing over the fact that I picked “eggshell” instead of “flat” paint for Audrey’s room, and all week I’ve been rehashing in my mind an old grievance that should be long forgotten.

And then as if by fate, just as I was busy writing a complaint filled e-mail to a buddy yesterday, griping about pretty much everything under the sun, I came across that image above via mary ruffle (but then again her tumblr is pretty much chock full of goodness) and thought yes, exactly. Totally obvious and simple, but most important things usually are.

So I'm going with it, trying to let it go, doing some yoga stretches, breathing, drinking (just kidding...sort of). We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I'll just stare at the pictures of that house above some more.

Loving...

Ruffles...(again) in the form of this totally fab "dress" that I'd wear over those perfect skinny black pants I'm currently hunting for. Via Thistle and Clover + loving their blog too...

The Autumn Small Magazine...all of it. But Jen's Polaroids are especially fantastic, yes?

The roll-out of all the gorgeous 2011 letterpress calendars...totally digging seesaw's lovely gold metallic number.

Jeana's peek into the insanely chic Heather Taylor's closet. Genius.

This perfect little initial stamp. I'm thinking one of these + some heavy cream card stock = my new personalized stationary...

Rennes + Ilana hand-dyed Sker tote...love that canvas. (As my friend Julie would say) Love, love, love it.

This matte black J.Crew necklace...lovely cousin Erin and I spotted it while on a shopping trip Sunday afternoon (yes, I bought a few things...more on that later), and I have to say it is insanely cool in person. The photo online doesn't do it justice.

Elizabeth's perfect "up" poster...

Scenes from The (mellow) Weekend...

jonathan cross' fantastic pottery at the succulent show...

I’m happy to report that our weekend was a pretty chill enterprise, determined largely by the fact that we had (wait for it)… lots of free time. We filled the hours with such sublime activities as watching tivo'd episodes of Project Runway (me) and making an indoor fort out of a giant cardboard box we happened to find in our possession (the girlies)...

Good times.

And when we did have activities on the agenda, we made a concerted effort to keep it simple by, say, serving a big stack of "take and bake" pizzas to the two families we hosted for dinner on Friday…(Or maybe I’m just trying to make myself feel better about not actually cooking for our guests.)

In other (but equally laid back) activities, we also made a quick trip to Ft. Worth on Saturday afternoon for the succulent show and a walk through the dreamy, misty atrium at the botanic gardens. Amazing how insanely pretty a leaf can be.

Hope your weekend was great!

Blogger's Favorites -- Caroline of Greedy Girl

That girl up there isn't (the fantastically funny and lovely) Caroline... no it's a super chic girl that Caroline spotted on the street, photographed and then effortlessly recreated her outfit (below). And ever since spotting that particular post on Greedy Girl way back in April, I've been working on replicating that exact. same. outfit. for myself, which has resulted in an obsession with finding the perfect skinny (but not too skinny) black pants.

So thanks for that Caroline ;-)

Here's how the lovely and witty Caroline of the essential Greedy Girl describes herself:

"greedy girl is a catalog of inspiring finds from around the world and web. the greedy girl behind the blog is a newspaper designer in oklahoma city with a spending problem."

The only thing I love more that someone who can find killer stuff on a regular basis (the kind of stuff you never seem to find on your own) is someone that willingly admits how much they love to shop.

(I especially respect that given my love/guilt relationship with buying that inspires spending hiatuses and all sorts of other craziness...but I digress.)

But Caroline doesn't just find killer stuff, she also writes witty things about the stuff she finds -- a combo that makes her blog one of my very favorites. So I'm happy that she's agreed to share her favorites with us this week.

So without further ado, herewith Caroline's list. Enjoy and have a splendid weekend.

fortune cookies. i'm not a particularly superstitious person, but i take fortune cookies very seriously. i have rules. the fortunes can never be thrown away. that is bad luck. and fortunes must be read before taking a first bite of the cookie. otherwise, that is bad luck, too. (photo here)

typography. handsome typography. plain and simple. (photo here)

quiet time. can you blame me?

my dog's smile. nothing melts my heart faster than luke's toothy grin.

postcards. love buying them, sending them, receiving them, collecting them. (photo here)

museums. (and, even better, museum gift shops.) in an ideal world, i'd have all the time (days) in the world to get through a museum. i always regret not spending more time in them. (photo here)

glitter, sequins, feathers, lace and other ridiculous girlie things. just can't help myself. (photo here)