Blogger's Favorites -- Emily and Jen from dullDiamond

image via dullDiamond

I'm just going to go ahead and get straight to the point on this one friends...

I have a (pretty massive) girl crush on Emily and Jen from dullDiamond.

I got a note a while back from them introducing me to their artful, wholly unique bracelets and necklaces and was pretty much immediately smitten with their aesthetic sensibility. Their blog, which chronicles their creative process and snippets of their lives in Minneapolis (one of my favorite cities), is one of daily reads. Truth be told, as I'm scrolling through their posts, I'm hoping to absorb some of their sort of irreverent coolness through osmosis... So I'm especially excited to get a deeper peek into their world this week.

Without further ado, herewith Emily and Jen's list. Enjoy and have a fantastic weekend!



HANDMADE SHOES // we recently visited the studio of ina grau (you need to see this! it's a preview of the line they'll be launching later this fall) but even before that we were crazy for both the idea and practice of shoe making. Jen had a pair made for her 3 years ago- a man traced her foot on leather, went into a new york city basement, and emerged with a pair of shoes a few days later. amazing. we can't wait to own a pair from both ina grau and beatrice velenzuela- we're seriously saving our pennies- too bad we're not the same size, but I don't think either of us could share anyway. (photos from: Beatrice Valenzuela and Ina Grau)




COLORED TAPE \\ emily is a big letter writer. she'll send a thank you note for little things and big, but regardless of the content, the exterior is always fancied up with a colorful tape job. a little bit of color on everything forever is just the right thing for every occasion. its how we wrap up our dullDiamond orders and its how we decorate for birthdays. its kind of the all encompassing adornment tool.



MINNEAPOLIS \\ this is were we live, not by chance but by choice. it's a relatively small place but it seems to have everything we need. a little bit of spring, summer, fall, and winter, ok, it's a little heavy on the winter, but there's a whole lot of sun in every season. a great city for raising kids- actually, no child lives more than 6 blocks from a park (that was the mandate!), lakes and rivers, the best restaurants and cafes, co-ops and community gardens for everyone. the people are bright. the city is beautiful. we can afford our modest lives in style. life is good. come visit. (photo via: flickr)



A GOOD MESS // how else do you say it? we're savoring the messes of everyday (because at this point raising littles (emily has a 2 and 4 yr old and jen has a 2 yr old = all boys), its sort of a must). the best part is to look at a mess and to understand the project that was behind the mess or the project that's in store, the visual connections and the human behind it.



DETAILS \\ we're a little obsessed with details. we feel that way about the jewelry we make, the way we cook, arrange our homes, choose our clothes, and manage all the little things in our days. joy is in the little things and knowing when to let the rest go. its the hidden neon thread used to stitch a shirt. its the bead we use to finish off one of our pieces. a little treat. every inch considered and purposeful, but the very opposite of fussy.



PLANTS IN EVERY CORNER // i'm sure it has something to do with the long winters here, or maybe it's just because a plant makes a whole room seem alive, but we're obsessed with having them everywhere (especially in the shower). Emily has a killer collection of succulents and jen's new house (she just moved in a month ago) has a bathroom filled with skylights which needs to become a jungle pronto: pretty sure about that. MORE PLANT HOARDING!




OBJECTS/WEARS MADE FROM NATURAL FIBERS \\ cotton, wool, leather, or linen- that's kinda it for us. we're a bit picky when it comes to the way a natural fibers feel, wear, and look. jen has slowly been unknowingly converting everyone close to her- first her husband who came to her dripping in polyester and now emily. really, try it out, there is no going back. which is a bummer when you find an amazing bizarre patterned sweater and then feel it and ugh, its acrylic. (speaking of amazing patterns- we're crazy for Annie Larson's knit goodness, we've been in this studio touched that yarn and can tell you- it feels as good as it looks) (photos from: ALL KnitWear and from dullDiamond)



HAND DYING EVERYTHING // our boys are always sporting some colorful something- and most of it came to us looking pretty run of the mill. it's just the right way to get more colors onto boys who need to wear far more than just navy. jen's son had an all out fit the other day when the "PINK SHIRT" was not clean and available. luckily he found an acceptable alternative once he dug into his drawer. phew.

Featured Sponsor Post -- Nahla Giveaway

Ever since posting about my beauty routine earlier this year, I've been in the process of reevaluating the things I use on my skin each day and have felt compelled to try and replace some of my conventional mainstays with organic alternatives. This is something I've been really passionate about (more on that later), so I'm excited to have the organic beauty line Nahla as a Simple Lovely sponsor.

Founded in 2001 by Santa Cruz native, Nicole Maust, Nahla products are handmade in small batches with artisanal processes that take weeks to complete. Using the purest, organic ingredients sourced from small farms and cooperatives, Nahla products are always 100% free of parabens, phthalates, synthetics and petrochemicals.

And, they're offering up a little "pick your pair" giveaway for one of my readers... Just visit the Nahala site and leave a comment by Wednesday, October 5th at midnight CST about the two products you'd most like to try. I'll announce a winner next Thursday, October 6th.

Good luck!

{Drop me a line for more information about becoming a Simple Lovely sponsor...}

An Outfit Deconstructed... Guest Edition (Caitlin of Sacramento Street)

Caitlin with her fab Clare Vivier clutch...

My friend Caitlin and I were recently chatting via e-mail about our respective sartorial ruts...In matters of dressing, we were both feeling decidedly uninspired. So we thought it would be fun to do a bit of an "outfit swap*" on each other's blogs. While we share a similar aesthetic sensibility (let's just say we both love lots of the same things, i.e. Clare Vivier's genius bags), we have our own twist on putting things together. For example, she's a master at the layering and I am, well...not.

So without further ado, Caitlin's outfit...deconstructed. Enjoy!

*you can take a peek at my outfit over on Sacramento Street.






I've been a huge fan of Joslyn's outfit deconstructed posts. They always give me inspiration to look inside my own closet to see what I have that can help me achieve her stylish looks. A few short weeks ago, Joslyn and I were talking about a little sartorial rut we were in. Sometimes you peer into your closet and get absolutely no inspiration, so we decided to inspire each other by swapping posts. Let's be honest, San Francisco didn't get much of a summer this year and I think we're all hoping for a few more warm days to grace us this October (fingers crossed). So I've been layering all summer long - sweater, scarves and coats have been my go-to's over the past few months (sad I know!).

I consider myself a pro at layering - let's face it, when you live in a city where fog can start rolling in at any point you have to be prepared with warm cozy layers. So I'm bringing you one of my favorite layered outfits from this summer. My current job is pretty casual - jeans are worn every single day and heels always make me look too fancy, so this look is just right. Let me tell you about this James Perse basic - it's been my favorite thing all summer - I've worn it with shorts when it's warm, or with a turtleneck when it’s freezing. Paired with my J.Crew gingham button-up, my skinny jeans that you can find me wearing all weekend long, these suede booties (that are the perfect heel height for walking the San Francisco hills), and of course no outfit is complete without a piece of jewelry. This necklace by Joslyn herself is getting compliments up the wazoo! The art of layering takes a while to achieve, but once you do, you will never want to dress any other way - especially in SF! Are you looking forward to bundling up and layering your favorite pieces this fall? If so, share the ones you’re most excited about!

The Details:
Funnel Neck Shirt -- James Perse
Gingham Button-up -- J. Crew
Skinny Jeans -- J Brand
Necklace -- Joslyn and her girlies
Clutch -- Clare Vivier
Booties -- Madewell

Loving...

Jennifer's gorgeous new pieces... That dress above is on my wish list for fall -- so ethereal and lovely!




Mr. Kilty -- pretty much the exact shop I would open if I ever opened a shop... Perfection.


The beautiful wooden spoons from Attia... (Thanks Vynsie!)


Kismet tile... a bit out of my comfort zone, but just really, really awesome! (photo via Laure)


Geeta's fantastic necklaces for her Language line...


The magical, artful pop-up books in the latest Little Fashion Gallery magazine...

Some Scenes From The Weekend...

I feel like I've (finally) sussed out the formula for a restorative weekend. Of course, as with most things that seem to take me forever to decode, most of these discoveries fall into the "totally obvious" category, but given my tendency to come out of the weekend feeling frazzled of late, they feel somehow revolutionary to me.

Here goes:

One part sharing a meal with inspiring friends + one part spending as much time as possible outside + one totally and completely lazy morning...

That's pretty much how the weekend played out, and friends, it was all sorts of goodness.

It's true that on any given weekend we might have the good fortune of partaking in one of the above activities...but there's something about the trifecta of inspiring conversation, an abundance of fresh air and at least one wide-open, coffee-fueled morning that seems to net the maximum restorative powers.

I also think there's something to the fact that all three of those things tend to be the antithesis of our super harried, totally structured work weeks spent (sadly) largely indoors. I think it's probably this feeling of "departure from the norm" that makes the weekend the re-charge period that it's supposed to be... At least that's what I'm going with!













Some scenes of the girlies enjoying a safari party on Saturday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hermès in Dallas. My dear friend Cristy works there and invited us to the event... I have to say it was pretty fantastic!

Some Random Bits on a Friday...

Just a few things to take us into the weekend...

First up, I posted a few photos of my amazingly talented friends Alica and Adam Rico's house over on tinyDallas today. It's definitely worth a peek!


Next, after last weekend's malaise, I keep coming back to this quote I spotted on Pinterest, and I think it's officially my new mantra. Now the key is figuring out what falls into the "anything" category-- in another words I need to prioritize my time and decide what not to do -- always the tricky part, yes?



And finally, I just had to share how much I'm digging watching the girlies together of late. Sure they bicker, sometimes they even partake in epic "throw-downs" (I reason this is an essential part of learning how communicate and work out differences, right?, right?) but mostly they are besties. It's just a really lovely thing to watch them play and plan and create, all heads together and partners in crime. It's blissing me out big time.

Ok that's it friends...Have a splendid weekend! I'll be back Monday with tales from my (hopefully more laid back) one.

An Outfit Deconstructed... (Recently Acquired Edition)

If you happen to be keeping up with the things I've acquired this year over on Operation Simplicity, you know that this Ace and Jig v-neck tee is a recent purchase. I'm historically bad about buying something and then letting it hang in my closet a looong time before I actually wear it. It's not a good thing, as I think it indicates that I tend to buy things I'm on the fence about...that I have to marinate on a bit if you will.

My (unscientific) theory is if you buy something you truly love, you want to wear it stat... And in the case of this top, that's what I did. I bought it when Christine and I were setting up for the pop-up shop a couple of weeks ago, and then I wore it that very night to some FNO events. Oh and I've worn it twice since then, so I'm feeling pretty sartorially virtuous on this one.

I love it when that happens.





The Details:

• Top -- Ace and Jig
• Jeans -- Banana Republic
• Necklace -- Vintage
• Handbag -- Derek Lam
• Shoes -- Old Navy

To Birk Or Not To Birk...

image via clare vivier

image via dullDiamond

While I may not *need* "gold" flatware, it could be argued (and it often is by my husband) that I actually do need (in the true sense of the word) to own some practical shoes. Apparently wedges are not "practical" footwear. Who knew?

Friends, I like some height with my shoe. I do... It just is what it is. I am not a fan of flats (on me), and until last summer, when a sudden urge to exercise necessitated the purchase of some kicks, I didn't own a pair of tennis shoes. (I never, ever wear those tennis shoes though, I'm not gonna lie.)

But all of the sudden, I am seriously considering (wait for it) a pair of black Gizeh Birkenstock sandals.

The Gizehs first entered my subconscious when I was in NYC last month and spotted a supremely chic girl in a long black skirt and a simple tank sporting them. She looked awesome. Then I noticed a few shots of them popping up over on Emily and Jen's fantastic blog for their jewelry line dullDiamond. And finally there were the photos over on Clare's blog of that v. cool girl in the Tucker dress (with the sweet red bike) rocking a pair.

Now I'm a bit obsessed... And to add to the allure, they seem to be on sale everywhere right now, as apparently the rest of the country considers these "summer shoes". Ha! Clearly they do not live in Texas ;-)

So whattya think? Yay or Nay on the Birks?

Loving...

Laure's lovely photo of a perfect little snack moment... and the gold flatware. "Gold" flatware is at the tippy top of my wish list. If I weren't trying to be super diligent about purchases right now, I would snap-up this set in a heartbeat. I am very, very tempted friends.


Ilana Kohn's FW11 Collection (especially the Samet dress) -- it's been oft-blogged (and pinned), but I had to include nonetheless, as it's just really, really good!


More loveliness from the Alice Water's anniversary dinners via The Selby... This space with the simple white tablecloth and the pretty natural flowers and the wood and the light is just dreamy.


Annie Costello Brown's amazing jewelry (via the lovely Heather)


Wise words in Barbara Hill's Marfa abode (via Molly Ruth)


George Nakashima's home and studio... If hubby had a blog this one would be on his "loving" list too, just sayin'. (Photo by Paul Soulellis via Lena Corwin.)


Claire Nereim's "Winter Fruit" print...(but I'm a huge fan of pretty much anything Claire does!)


" Grown-up" art in a kid's space...Love it. (via Lonny)