My Vibe My Life

Every once in a while when I need some refreshing (and totally off the wall) design inspiration, I check out Kelly Wearstler's blog My Vibe My Life. I love her flair for the bold, the bright and the unexpected pieces and the way she weaves a lot of her own sketches and paintings into her interiors - and now her clothing line. There is one post on her warehouse (yes...WAREHOUSE) of archived furniture and objects that she has been collecting over the years. Can you imagine just getting to stroll through that place to see all the amazing items in person. She is definitely someone you seem to either love or hate...not a lot of in between with her because of her in your face approach. I love it...BUT I also couldn't live in it...it's a little too much for me. But she never fails to give me some idea of color or pattern combinations or direction that I wouldn't have thought of before.

Just Act Naturally

Sorry. Lots of videos lately. This is Parker Posey...I LOVE her, she never seems to age either, it's crazy.

Annie Hall

No idea where this came from today...but I love this.

ZZ Ward

I have a Sirius radio trial in my car for a couple months and am learning about all these new artists that I might not have come across otherwise. One of my recent favorites is ZZ Ward...love her funky sound and attitude. So cool that she can do both soft soulful songs and then bust out some funky groovy dirty sound too. Would love to see her live in a small venue somewhere...bet that she would blow the doors off a joint...

Make Your Own Opportunity

Was reading A Cup of Jo this morning and saw a link to this job posting for Penquin Press. And what caught my eye was not only the creative way they went about drumming up applicants but also the way someone got their attention for a job. Matthew Young sent in the (above) mocked up book he designed as a way to get in the door and tell them they should hire him to design their book covers. And they did. And now he does. Love it.

Free Ride

THIS is an amazing story my brother sent me this morning. When you talk about winning the lottery and what you would do with your money, this is a new item on my list. To send deserving kids to college and to be able to inspire and reinvigorate an entire community - - that is a beautiful thing. I hope there are lots more stories like this out there.

Emerson Fry

The speed at which this clothing company, Emerson Fry, has grown is astounding. Formerly EmersonMade, the company is made up of a husband and wife team on the East Coast who began by making sweet wearable fabric flowers. You can see articles/interviews on them here, here and here. They were a huge success and they began to add more and more to the line and now it's a FULL ON clothing and accessory line. If you follow them at all, you will quickly become enamored of their lifestyle and their country home by the water - they run a certified organic working farm! And very seriously jealous. The clothing line looks exactly like all the photos of Emerson in clothes that she has collected over the years and she has such a specific and relevant point of view - I absolutely love her preppy with a sense of humor/edge style. The gold boots in the Fall 2012 collection make me drool all over myself and I am anxious to find out their price to see if they fit in the budget or not. The jackets and the heels are also swoon worthy and I am just so impressed with all they have put together in two years - such a young company and such a huge impressive line!

Ira and Tavi

Talk about your odd couple. Tavi is the 16 year old creator of the online magazine Rookie and Ira Glass is the host of the amazing radio show This American Life. They became friends when Ira's wife became Rookie's story editor and Ira has become a mentor to Tavi...without pretending to understand at all the life of a 16 year old girl.

"I can only imagine how weird it would be for your wife to come home and say she's going to start working for a 15-year-old, then look up this kid online and see photos of what looks like an 80-year-old granny wearing bag-lady layers."

I love these two together and I love that there is a role model for young girls out there that embraces the weird, the wonderful and the intelligent.

"By the time Rookie launched last September, she was already famous, thanks to the personal blog she started at age 11. The fashion world was smitten with her oddball dressing and dyed-grey hair; here was a prepubescent wunderkind who looked a bit like Miss Havisham."

Learn more about Tavi then and who she is now (watch the videos) at 16. You should learn more about her because she is a badass. In the best way possible. Wish I had a little more of her confidence in owning your own style and voice when I was her age.

Great Idea!

Saw this today on Style Me Pretty and have filed it away for a future party - it is too good and too easy not to "borrow" the idea. The idea of the guest having to interact with the invite to read what it says is very clever - and so easy to get printed on a balloon! It doesn't need much to go with it either - just a sweet colorful card to attach it to, add confetti and you have an impressive invite!

Gorgeous Banners!

Head over heels for these banners with gold accents from etsy seller michie may...I am eying that C'est La Vie one for my bedroom. Although my husband miiiiight object to all the sparkle and girlyness. These would make the best accessories for baby showers, bridal parties, babies rooms...I can think of a million different uses!

Leilani Bishop

I was excited to see Leilani Bishop featured on The Glow today...she is a gorgeous model who, born and raised in Hawaii, has now created three fragrances based on her life there. They are single note scents - Lilac, Orange Blossom and Pikake, all very traditional Hawaiian flowers. I have been to Hawaii only a handful of times when I was little so I can't say I can identify with those particular scents but living in Southern California you definitely get to know the sexy lush smell of Jasmine on hot summer nights, I always breathe in extra deep when we pass some on our nightly walks. We recently tried to grow some next to our house because it is such a beautiful smell but the plants don't seem to like us very much...perhaps I will just have to buy a bottle from Leilani and carry the scent with me wherever I go. The bottles themselves are just as amazing - meant to evoke beautiful antiques, they are roller-ball bottles that makes the perfume easy to apply and always ready for travel. I am definitely intrigued, are you?

Rodin Travel Kit

Couldn't help it. I've been dying to try Linda Rodin's cult classic face oil but I can never manage to pony up the 150 bucks for it when I am not even sure it works for me. You hear so much about it's creation and it's luxurious effects that it makes me nuts not to be able to try it. So when the chance came to sample ALL her creations PLUS score a sleek hot pink travel bag at the same time, I didn't even hesitate. Right now there is a limited edition pack containing miniature face, body and hair oils, a vial of perfume and a packet of hand cream available for 60 bucks.  (It's out on the site but still available at Amazon...)Yes, it's probably still a lot of money but it's a lot more budget friendly and I get to satisfy my curiosity. It could be crap for my skin for all I know but the combination of the packaging, the purity of how it came together and how it seems to be an industry secret make me want to know all about it anyway....sucker.

Rib and Hull

Absolute perfection at Rib and Hull - - I want that brown leather tote bag so much my face hurts. No fuss no prissy details, just pure, simple, handcrafted beauty.

My Beauty Obessions

Some beauty products I am personally obsessed with that I thought were worth sharing. I am defintitely a product junkie, like lots of you, but as I get older, I have found the items that work for me and that I love and tend to stick with them. Hope you enjoy!

1. Love this EOS lip balm...feels good to hold in your hand and apply, makes your lips super soft and tingly and is quite easy to find in your purse.

2. Smashbox O Glow...This gel blush comes out clear and the theory is that it turns the perfect shade for you when applied to your cheeks...not sure about all the science behind that but I have used this for years since getting it as a sample. It is the perfect, been walking outside in the crisp fresh air and making out with my boyfriend glow, is super easy to apply, hard to mess it up and it lasts for a really long time since you only need a little bit.

3. This goes everywhere with me in my purse in the warm months. And the cold months. And all the months in between. A couple sprays of Caudalie Beauty Elixir before putting on your makeup or in the middle of the day when you feel a little gritty...it's immediately cool and refreshing and you can practically feel your pores tightening and it smells bright and fresh and natural

4. My sister in law turned me on to Urban Decay's Half-Baked eye shadow. It's a bronzy/gold shade that has just the right amount of shimmer in it to work for both night and day. I love that it makes any eye color brighterand more intense and the quickest way to feel like you got a little done up without really doing anything at all.

5. This Mountain Ocean Skin Trip been a staple of my beauty routine since I was sixteen...soooo A LOT of years, ahem. It's super light, crazy moisturizing, made of natural ingredients and basically smells like heaven.  A gentle coconut scent that makes me close my eyes and sniff in deep every single time I apply it. I love it. It's such a part of me that I had an ex-boyfriend call me up years later to tell me that he had walked through a crowd and smelled that same mellow coconut scent and thought of me. I love the idea that you can be remembered that way. I also tend to slather it on my baby...hope he likes coconuts...

6. Speaking of signature scents, this is another product that has been a part of my life for years. Having never really been much a perfumy perfume person, something about the soft scent of baby powder calms me and I can't get enough. It's Bulgari Petit des Mamans - perfume for babies. I don't know who the hell is putting perfume on their babies but I buy this by the bucketful. My husband knows he can always make me happy by buying this as a gift because I am perpetually afraid of it being discontinued, cause seriously - perfume for babies? But for reals - heaven.

7. My best friends and I are OBSESSED with perfecting the cat eye and mastering liquid liner. I WANT to be the girl that rocks the fierce bold swipes of black but in reality I just wear a little line with just a teeny flick up at the ends. This Stila liquid eyeliner is perfect for the quick little swipe that you can literally just flick into a point at the end. It's easy for not so steady hands and for rookies in the eyeliner department - so perfect for me.

8. Just order this Swedish Dream Sea Salt soap online and am one hundred percent in love. It has a very clean fresh scent but the draw here is the little nuggets of sea salt hidden inside. They make for a very invigorating scrub down that will wake you up in the morning and make your skin sing. You feel super clean and glowing when you are done with this, I promise you.

9. This is a new one in my routine, the lady I see for facials gave me a sample bottle of Eminence Coconut Milk Cleanser to take on vacation and I immediately went back to her and bought the real deal. First off it smells divine (mildly coconut, yes there is a theme here...) and it gets ALL the gunk off your face, is gentle on sensitive skin and makes your face feel so refreshed and clean. And the small size bottle is actually the perfect size to throw in your bag for days away from home.

Essie Weingerten

Lately I have been thinking a lot about my career and where I want to go with it - seems like it has reached a plateau and it's time to shake it up a little. So when I come across stories of people who so naturally fell into the jobs they love - or created jobs AROUND the things they loved to do, it's very inspirational and makes me look harder at what it is I would really like to be doing. This morning I saw this post on Essie Weingarten on Into The Gloss, the name behind the nail polish line we all know and love, Essie. She grew up a huge tomboy whose favorite thing to do, ironically, was go to the beauty salon with her mom and get her nails done, and when she saw that there was such a void in that industry, she went for it and created her own line of products known for the fabulous colors and catchy names (I love when you have conversations with your girls friends that revolve around "Is that Blushing Bride? No, this is Pillow Talk and have you seen the new Pilates Hottie? And you all know exactly what the other is talking about). Essie's job clearly brings her much joy and makes you question, if you could drop what you are doing, what would be your dream career scenario? Or do you already live the dream? OR is you dream career to not have a career at all?

New Fall Dolce Vita

Dolce Vita can always be counted on to show up with some beautiful boots for fall. Not that my ankle boot collection needs any new members but these few choices are really calling my name - especially those first ones in black, the Joust Boot. I tend to lean towards brown boots, so much so that it's a little silly when you peek in my closet because at first glance it's like 7 or 8 versions of the same ankle boot, but I promise you they all have very different personalities. Which one of these are your favorite?

I Hate My Purse

I actually LOVE my purses. And clutches and totes. I wish I could afford to buy lots more fabulous purses but I stick to a pretty regular rotation of three that I love, a tote bag, an amazing leather purse/diaper bag and a beautiful fake leather hobo bag. They are all in lovely condition and I take care of them and treat them well...on the outside. The inside is a whole nother sad story. I pretend that the inside matches the outside. That the interior of my purses look like those posts that women do where they show the contents of their bag and it's like a lip balm, a cute notebook and matching pen, a coin purse, a key fob from their travels in India, a hand stitched leather wallet, a fancy phone and a designer scarf for bad hair days. In reality it's like a tornado went off in there, scattering the contents and leaving a trail through old bills, crumpled receipts, baby toys, hair bands, sunglasses, loose change, forgotten about chapsticks, a random raisin or two, wet naps and the odd stick of gum. That's why I love this excerpt from Nora Ephron's book "I Feel Bad About My Neck". "I Hate My Purse" made me laugh out loud.

"I hate my purse. I absolutely hate it. If you're one of those women who think there's something great about purses, don't even bother reading this because there will be nothing here for you. This is for women who hate their purses, who are bad at purses, who understand that their purses are reflections of negligent housekeeping, hopeless organization, chronic inability to throw anything away, and an ongoing failure to handle the obligations of a demanding and difficult accessory (the obligation, for example, that it should in some way match what you're wearing). This is for women whose purses are a morass of loose Tic Tacs, solitary Advils, lipsticks without tops, ChapSticks of unknown vintage, little bits of tobacco even though there has been no smoking going on for at last ten years, tampons that have come loose from their wrappings, English coins from a trip to London last October, boarding passes from long-forgotten airplane trips, hotel keys from God-knows-what hotel, leaky ballpoint pens, Kleenexes that either have or have not been used but there's no way to be sure one way or another, scratched eyeglasses, an old tea bag, several crumpled personal checks that have come loose from the checkbook and are covered with smudge marks, and an unprotected toothbrush that looks as if it has been used to polish silver..."

Lovely Ikea Hack

 

Odds are you own at least one piece of furniture from IKEA...or if you are like me you own several because it's cheap and you have no money...I've tried to spiff the items up with new hardware or fresh paint because the items are usually so plain you've got to try and make them your own in some way. There is a whole mess of people who have documented their IKEA"hacks" and some of them are so easy and simple and yet completely transform the furniture - this is one of my favorites, although it might be mostly because of the color of the paint they chose to use. I have this same piece that I painted a sage green and after seeing this post, I realize I really need to step up my game when it comes to this kind of customization! It's not that they did SO MUCH to change the table, it's that they did it so WELL. Check it out step by step at the Sweet Beast blog.

Luciano Lozano

I am always finding amazing inspiration in other artists online but forget to post them here...I like to think that this blog is a little more than just posts about clothes I like or the people that wear them well. I came across Luciano Lozano's today whose work looks like a throwback to the 50s and 60s...very simple and clean and whimsical. The books he has illustrated remind me of one of my very favorite illustrators  who does the "This is..." series, Miroslav Sasek, can't get enough of that retro quirky style.

The Plant

I had never heard of a "vertical farm" before reading this article, but the idea is amazing. Inside what was once a meat-packing plant in Chicago, exists a tilapia fish farm, beer and Kombucha tea breweries, a mushroom garden as well as a host of independent bakers and caterer. The farm is meant to be "net-zero waste"...the grains left over from the beer brewing go to feed the tilapia, the waste from the tilapia is used to feed the mushroom garden or for fertilizing the hydroponic plants, the plants clean the water for the fish...the knee bones connected to the thigh bone...Eventually the building hopes to go off the gird entirely and open up to more tenants by 2016. The goal is to emulate nature where there is no waste and EVERYTHING is reused...I think this is incredibly interesting and admirable and am glad to have learned about something new today. Check out more about The Plant in great detail here.

Smilebooth

If you can afford it, Smilebooth is the most fun ever to be able to have at your event. It's a digital photo "booth" that prints out three shots right there at the party and also uploads them to a site where you can view the entire parties photos and purchase ones you like. They provide props that match the party and different backgrounds - we were at a yacht club hence the attire. This is me and my posse of little girls that I love (although it looks like I am the creepy old lady who is trying to be part of the fun!)...we danced to One Direction and Bieber and Beyonce like it was our job and it was hard to keep up! Granted I was enjoying the house specialty of mini mai tais so that may have had something to do with it...

Missing Friends

“Although I cannot see your face

As you flip these poems awhile,
Somewhere from some far-off place
I hear you laughing--and I smile.”

- Shel Silverstein

Are all your bestest friends close to you? A lot of my close friends and family live somewhere else and while I love where I live I find I am always missing them, sometimes terribly. This quote makes me laugh, because while my friends are far away, there is always something I come across on a daily basis - a pair of shoes, a video, a doodle on the sidewalk or a person in a window, a perfume smell or a nail polish color, a commercial on tv, a shirt someone walked by in or a song I heard - that makes me think of them. And I can picture their reaction or hear them laughing or I file it away to tell them about later...so while I am so sad to not have my closest friends close, I am grateful to have them in my life and to have so much shared between us that they are always on my mind and keeping me company in one way or another.

Bring on the Fall Wardrobes!

This is the dreamiest fall lineup of clothes from Maison Scotch...while I am obsessed with summer weather and bleached out salty hair, I think in my heart this is the kind of clothes I am most comfortable in...chunky soft knits, a palette of greys and creams and browns, skinny jeans, messy ponytails, thick winged eyeliner, scuffed up ankle boots, giant scarves, hints of leather. There are subtle shades of prep school girls in there - the good girl at the front of the glass as well as the bad ass smoking cigarettes cutting class out behind the gym. These are looks from both the lookbook and the fall collection - what's your favorite look? It's hard to just pick one...

Rag and Bone Shoes on Gilt

Saw these Rag and Bone flats on sale (but SOLD OUT aarrrgh) on Gilt this morning and fell a little in love. Most of my shoes are either high top converse or ankle boots but I do have a couple pairs of flats - I just like them to be distinctive and have some character, not just a plain slip on shoe. These definitely fall into that category...have a interesting look but are still simple enough to be really versatile and add the right amount of edge to an outfit.

Speaking of Gilt - are you a frequent shopper? I somehow can't manage to take my vitamins everyday and yet, like clockwork, I check into the website at 9 every morning when all the new sales go up (granted, I am already sitting in front of it so it's not like it a stretch...). It's literally a part of my morning routine like a cup of tea or brushing my teeth. I don't buy a ton of stuff but I HAVE to always check what's there just in case because there can be such great deals - the kids deals are the best on things like toys and blankets...and always deals on things like towels and couch pillows and I am pretty sure my sister in law has used it to find some good travel discounts!

Coriumi

These leather and suede clutches and iPad sleeves from etsy seller Coriumi are beautiful - I am obsessed with that geometric iPad case with the leather tab and I don't even own one to put in there. And I'm really digging the red/pink suede clutch with the white splatters...and very reasonable prices for little leather goods!