mine!

new chairs: shaker simplicity and a compact footprint for my cozy kitchen.  i have been admiring these elsewhere for a while, so imagine how happy i was to finally identify them and find them on sale.  click and purchase, thank you very much!

petit déjeuner

one of the things i like best about the weekend is having the time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and a cup (or two!) of milky french press coffee.  i am not a morning person, and during the week it's always a rush to get out the door.  even if my weekend mornings sometimes technically don't begin until early afternoon, i always make the most of my weekend breakfast ritual.

it may not be croissants, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and café crème in the jardin des tuileries, but it makes me happy nonetheless.

happy monday!

off the cuff

these cuff bracelets have a real wonder woman vibe that i love.  now that it's october (how did that happen?) and halloween is just around the corner, i did a little hunting for the costume-y cuff and found some more i'd happily wear year round.

this one is named the wonder woman cuff.

as is this one.

not all of my choices are so literal.  this dolce & gabbana crystal star cuff is both super heroine-friendly and witchy woman glam.

 























should you be feeling a little bit rock-and-roll, this dannijo option is all hard edges and texture.

image credits via links, above

let there be light

after months of deliberating, style-number confusion, online research, a major haircut (bangs forced me to reconsider when i'd all but made up my mind), and a subsequent wave of indecisiveness, i finally decided on these, my desperately-needed new pair of sunglasses.  and i couldn't be happier!  they're a modern take on the iconic originals and remind me of the pair i 'borrowed' from my father when i was in high school.

let's play dress up

image courtesy kate spade

image courtesy diane von furstenberg

image courtesy kate spade

image courtesy bloomingdale's

i'm feeling frivolous today, inspired by the ever delightful kate spade.  perhaps i have new york fashion week on my mind.  or, maybe i'm just a night owl who loves a good read.

 

(incidentally, as beautiful as that lamé ferretti dress is, i'd really like to see the night owl bag paired with this little bit of genius.)

highest happiness

there is something so calming about manual labor.  i was reminded of this on sunday when i helped my cousin and her fiance paint their new place and scrub the remnants of wallpaper adhesive from the walls.  perhaps it's simply exhaustion or a contact high from all of the industrial solvents, but it was nonetheless satisfying.  when it was suggested that the former owner might have thought she was living in a doll house, based on the intense pink, purple, and blue paint choices (i won't even mention the hideous floral wallpaper), and that perhaps she dressed her cats up in doll clothes and threw tea parties for them, i also remembered that, no matter what work you're doing, it helps to be surrounded by fun and funny people.

snapshots

what an incredibly restful long weekend this was!  and, just what i needed.  i think things at work are finally settling down and the busyness is becoming manageable.  in fact, my office closed early on friday and, for the first time in weeks, i didn't stay late!  better yet, i left on time, fit in a little stop at the mall with a friend, and was home, purchases in tow, by 4:30.  

for the most part, the rest of my weekend was spent quietly at home, sleeping in, creating pretty vignettes around the house, playing with my camera (i hadn't done that in ages!), Skyping with family, snacking on fresh peaches, finishing one book, beginning another, and watching movies from the comfort of my couch.  in fact, a friend visited yesterday and upon sitting down declared, "no wonder you didn't want to go out this weekend."  i'm telling you, it was perfect.

by the way, in case it's not obvious from the photo above, the book i finished is Mao's Last Dancer, the inspiring autobiography of Li Cunxin who, though born into utter poverty in communist china, became one of the best ballet dancers in the world.  to say he endured hardships along the way is to understate the harsh realities of mao's cultural revolution, to say nothing of the discipline required of anyone who seriously undertakes a career in the ballet.  if you need to be uplifted, if you need encouragement along your way to a goal, if you're struggling with your sense of commitment, read this book.  it will remind you what determination, resilience, passion, and the human heart can achieve. then, see the movie.  Li Cunxin was involved in its development, so it's true to the story, beautifully acted, and the dancing...ah, the dancing.  the pirouettes alone make it worth watching, but i assure you, there's so much more to the story of this incredible man. 

on that note, i promise not to grumble too much at the gym tomorrow and to appreciate that i have enough food to eat.