Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Once again, an adorable dress and a beautiful photo shoot from Kathleen Dougherty's blog, Grosgrain. Definitely one you must check out!

Warmth of the Sun

I am ready to get going with summer already. It's a funny thing actually. Every fall I am just itching to start sporting autumn wear like tights, with sweaters and boots. Likewise, nearing the end of every Spring I start craving the smell of the ocean, mixed with Popsicles and the smell of cheap plastic flip flops burning on the hot tarmac. That all feels like summer to me. And I have decided that it's about time for summer already. I am ready to go! I got my swimsuits out of the closet, I got plenty of the spf 45 that my pale as paper skin requires, and I am geared up for a summer of fun! Last summer I was married and most of my free time was spent planning and preparing for that. This year, the boy and I want to go all out and just have some good old fashion summer fun! I miss my face freckles and I am determined to get them back this year.

All this talk of summer and I cannot help but think of Jena Ardell's "Summer Love" photography. The exposure of these images is just what I want my own summer to look like. I want to buy a beach cruiser bike just like that one! Check out her store and I am sure you can find plenty of prints perfect for your future beach house. Her work has been making the round on all the blogs from {frolic} to decor8 because it is simply toooooo cute!

{All Photos by Jena Ardell}

A change was made uptown....

The boy and I enjoyed a myriad of concerts last weekend, both in town and at Coachella, and I am willing to risk sounding cheesy and admit that it was slightly life changing for me. I sort of realized that I am able to do more, to be more; I am still young and damn it, I know how to have fun!

So anyway, last Thursday I took the boy to see Bruce Springsteen at the LA Sports Arena for his birthday. It was spectacular and I find that I am pretty much obsessed with Mr. Springsteen now. He put on an amazing show, and since the boy and I were already major fans of Born to Run, this only enhanced our opinion of Bruce and his music. I have been singing his songs ever since.

The very next day, we made our pilgrimage to Coachella with a few friends and saw Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Morissey, MIA, Jenny Lewis, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Friendly Fires, Lyke Li, Antony and the Johnsons, The Killers and The Cure, along with several other bands whose names elude me at the moment. It was a most memorable and inspiring. This was the first time we did all three days at Coachella, and while I am not sure I would do it again, it was definitely a wonderful experience, peppered with over-priced junk food and lots and lots of beer! I don't even want to think of what we spent on dozens of cups of Heiniken Light!

I suppose I could give you a run down of all these bands and who I liked best and all of that. Paul McCartney, while I felt was great to see, was also a rather boring performer. Jenny Lewis on the other hand is such a good performer and so damn cute I want to be her best friend, it makes me like her music more. MIA was awesome. I don't care if she is loud and bratty and clearly doesn't care-- that's what I expect of her. That's what I want from her shows. Morissey was what I dreamed he would be, the Cure was disappointing, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were so high energy it gave me a sugar rush feeling. But all in all, the weekend was made special because of the people I was with and the energy that seeing live music creates. It was just fun. Even seeing bands that I wasn't that into was fun. Braving the heat, strolling barefoot through the grass while the sounds of six different bands bend into one, that's what I will remember overall. That and the extreme feeling of exhaustion I felt as the boy and I raced back to LA on Monday at 5 in the morning so that he could get to work on time! Poor thing, but so rock and roll!

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Over the Rainbow

Over the weekend I suffered a nasty bump to the head that led me to the ER. My head still hurts and I find it amazingly annoying that I am not just back to normal. However, the head injury lead me to thinking about one of my favorite movies, The Wizard of OZ. I actually don't own the dvd, so I haven't seen it in ages, but it's one of those films that I know by heart. Dorothy gets hit in the head and thus is transported to the wonderful land of OZ. I didn't go anywhere but the UCLA medical center.

It got me thinking about the film and it's vibrant look. It's beautiful to watch. There has been so much written about the film classic and it's been parodied so many times that I think it's easy to forget just how entertaining and interesting the whole thing really is...I mean there was a year of my life where all I wanted to be was "Dorothy Gail from Kansas." (Give me a break I was three years old!) Beyond it being such an epic film, it's also got the lure of all the rumors and all the problems on set, people hanging themselves in background shots, multiple castings due to injuries, etc. It manages to be something of a cult film as well as a popular classic and for that alone I love it. But throw in the political allegory of the plot and you really can't deny that it is a damn clever story. And in a way, it's always got a relevance to the way we perceive our political leaders as these all powerful beings, when really, they are just scared little men hiding behind a curtain.

I have been searching the interweb for images of the film and stumbled upon Annie Leibovitz's take on the classic, featuring Kiera Knightly as Dorothy (photos below). I think they are very cool and simply had to share them. It makes me want to be Dorothy for next Halloween. Although all the adult costumes I can find for Dorothy are all slutty from "Leggs Avenue" or whatever the skanky costume brand is called. Why are Halloween costumes for women always on the slutty side? Anyway, that's an issue for another day. I am off to see the Wizard!

{maison 140}

Happy Friday chickadees! Today the boy's brother and sister-in-law get into town from England and we are going to pick them up later tonight. They are staying at a little boutique type hotel just a few blocks from our Beverly Hills home called Maison 140. The boy and I took a peek into the lobby the other afternoon and I was intriqued with the interior design. All black red and white, with a parisian meets aisan theme going on. Really strange combo, but it seemed to really work. It did have a very dark, almost "haunted hollywood" feel to it too. Very cool. Hopefully they'll like it and we'll go for a drink or three at the hotel bar. I want to take some pictures of the trendy decor, but until then, here are a few web-found samples. You get the idea.

Free Printable Tags!!!

Lately my coworker, Brittany, and I have been talking about how much cute packaging enhances a gift. We agree that it adds a personal touch and shows that, whatever the gift may be, you really did put some time and effort into making it especially unique in it's presentation. Even the generic gift card becomes more exciting if it's packaged in a clever and pretty way.

So, with that in mind, I have been playing with the possibility of making adorable tags that add a dash of personal flair, without requiring a whole lot of time or effort. Just something to quickly tie on when you need them. Here's what I have come up with so far:




I used to have a dress that was those colors and was so sad when I finally had to donate it (it wasn't getting enough use to warrant taking up space in my closet.) I think they are sweet and summery, without being too bright or flashy. Download your own set of sweet tags here and enjoy!

{set the table}

I got a bunch of beautiful things for my kitchen, along with lovely tabletop items such as plates and stemware, as wedding gifts...to be used when I finally have a kitchen and a table fit for guests to eat at. So I have no business at looking at more stemware, plates and glasses but it's awfully hard to resist and there is no harm in just looking right? I love all these items from Anthropologie. In my perfect world, they'd be affordable and I'd be considered practical for buying them. (sigh). I especially like how these have a vintage feel, and the gold with the pink and blue-- adorable!











Additionally, I am not much of a cook. I could really do with a cookbook or two that provides it's readers with simple tasty recipes. If it happens to have a cover like this one that would be cute enough to display, well, that's even more my style!

{and God created Brigitte Bardot}

Last night the boy and i watched~

starring brigette bardot. Since I am in a French phase, we have netflixed a whole bunch of French classics, and this was by far my favorite. I actually had a calendar of old film posters and the one featured to the right was I think July. I had never seen miss bardot in a film before and now I understand why she was such a sex symbol throughout the 60's and 70's! She is quite the vixen, but i absolutely loved it. I loved how she kept taking her shoes off, going barefoot whenever possible. I loved her wild hair, and her c'est la vie attitude. I lovd loved loved the fashion and the overall look of the film. So late 50's!
I am thus obsessed with brigette's style. And her pouty expressions, why can I not pull that off? She one of those sparkling actresses that just kind of oozes sex-appeal, but still maintains a sort of naive girlish charm. So cool.

Here's some shots from the film along with a rare photo of a young Brigette before she discovered peroxide!