Paper Airplanes.

I saw this on Very Short List a few days ago and had to share.


Flying from Sam Fuller on Vimeo.

If you haven't signed up for Very Short List's daily emails, I highly recommend it.

Zooey's at It Again

Gigantic



I might like this...

How to Succeed in Blowing All Your Money at Target Without Really Trying.

Whoever's been redoing the Home section at Target deserves a drink (or ten) on me. I can't believe some of the things I'm seeing...sometimes while wandering the isles, I feel more like I'm at a custom design boutique, rather than a mass-market store frequented by wearers of the Texas tuxedo.


Target Finds - by waitforthesignal

(In case you can't tell, I've renewed my love affair with Polyvore.)

Has anyone else enjoyed the fruitful bounty that Target's been offering? I know my friend Laura fell in love with Orla Kiely's items designed specially for Target.

This is what I'm craving.

Bring on Summer, Bring on Color - by waitforthesignal

I need brighter colors in my house and on my body. And all those clothes need to be packed into one of those gorgeous suitcases from steamlineluggage.com and I need to zoom off somewhere:


Image from go-southafrica.com


Image from marrakech-info.com


Image from away.com

American Teen.

(Love the homage to The Breakfast Club in the second poster.)

I watched American Teen this weekend. With the exception of the random Sims-style video game-looking effects interspersed throughout the film, I really, really liked it.


My appreciation for this documentary about high school seniors in Indiana was mainly due to Hannah Bailey (the dark-haired girl). She is a little bit eccentric and a lot hilarious. She's also so open and honest...when she shares things with the camera, you can't help but notice that she's so desperate to live life to the fullest while still carrying with her all the fears and confusion that being 17-18 brings.

One example of her wry humor is when she's explaining to the camera how strange it is that a very popular guy from school (Mitch Reinholt, who is so attractive it's ridiculous) likes her. She says, "This is just...unbelieveable. There are just so many girls who would give their left boob to go on a date with him."

Here is the trailer...she actually says the line in this:


Also, please watch all of Hannah's blogs in the "Bonus Features" section. She rocks. The end.

Dreaming.

I wish I could spend my days in eternal summer...in a country house tucked into the woods, with early morning walks alone with my musings before the summer's heat fills the day. And when it gets hot, I could retreat to the shade with piles of books about the Mitford sisters and Bloomsbury. And in the evenings, without the temptation of TV reruns, I could stay up late doing projects or sitting in a cool bath, navel-gazing. I would ride the horse in the next field over and buy my food at the market. I would pick the raspberries that grow on the garden gate and snip rosemary with scissors. I would lay on white sheets, bleached by the sun and dream the dreams of a person with no regrets, or fears, or hopes--besides waking up with another day of the same as the day before.

Garance Doré

She is a fantastic French illustrator and photographer and I can't get some of the images from her blog (in English) out of my mind, so I thought I'd share.

Balmain top, Lanvin trousers, Balenciaga shoes. This woman looks so effortless.


Also, this is the perfect response to Restalyn, Botox, collagen, face lifts and everything else that women try to do to prevent aging.


Despite their age differences, these women look classic and chic. While I'm young, I want to embrace the effortless look (that still requires taking some risks) that the young woman has and when I get older, I want to age gracefully, as the woman in gray has.

Tudors-related.

I am not normally one to post celebrity heartthrob items (or else this blog would be filled to the brim with items about Ryan Gosling, which is just plain embarrasing), but when I saw the commercial below, I had to share it. The commercial features Henry Cavill, who plays Charles Brandon in The Tudors.

The commerial so classy, and, well, just plain hot. The marketing companies for "Axe" "Tag" and other three-letter generic body sprays that smell like floor polish, should take notes. Commercials where hot girls turn into animals willing to rip off their clothes from a mere whiff of a scent that smells more like toilet cleaner than a men's fragrance is only going to attract pimply 14-year-old boys and 20-something guys with the maturity of 14-year-old boys.

After seeing this commercial, however, I am considering purchasing several bottles. Maybe I'll just buy stock in the company. Quality advertising works, people. Put a really attractive guy in a nice-fitting suit in a sweet sportscar with a gorgeous girl and show all sorts of hints of seduction and every man who watches will want to buy the cologne to be that guy, and every girl will buy the cologne to attempt to turn her boyfriend into that guy. This commercial ran in England...I wonder how Dunhill Black's sales were right before Valentine's Day...

Wu Hoo, The Prequel

Even though Fashion Week has gotten me excited about Fall trends, I can't help but think about Spring fashion, since Spring is just around the corner. In the spirit of Wu, I thought I'd share some of my favorites from Jason Wu's Spring collection:










I especially love the white, sleeveless dress with the orange/coral floral details.

Wu Hoo!

I was just over at Style.com looking at some shows from over the weekend, and I really loved Jason Wu's romantic, feminine silhouettes and his fall color palate. Sigh...

Lake Lure

Lake Lure, originally uploaded by TeecNosPos.

I'll be spending the weekend at this glorious lake in NC. I hope that everyone has a glorious and magical (and romantic, if you are big on the Valentine's Day thing) weekend!

You Melt My Heart

Even though Chandler and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day, if we were staying in town this weekend, I would make him this:

Moelleux au Chocolat… A French classic that literally melts in your mouth!!! This dessert is usually made in individual ramekins, but see the serving ideas below for other possibilities.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients (4 people):

6 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate (or use your favorite 70% dark chocolate bar)
6 oz. Butter (diced, room temperature)
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Flour
Butter for Ramekins

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 350°F
1. Melt chocolate on low flame in a bain-marie (double boiler). When melted, take of flame, and…
2. Stir in diced butter, until it melts.
3. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar, until it starts to whiten.
4. Stir in melted chocolate and then the flour.
5. Butter 4 individual ramekins, and pour in chocolate batter.
6. Cook for about 10 minutes.
7. Tip ramekins upside down onto dessert plates and serve.
Voilà!

Tips:

You can definitely prepare your chocolate lave cake recipe ahead of time, and then bake 10 minutes before serving. I always do it this way!

In terms of buttering the ramekins: butter the bottoms first, and then butter the sides, wiping from the bottom up to the top. It helps the chocolate to rise even more.

In terms of baking time… well, it depends on how runny you want it! I like it with a super-liquid-oozing center -- so do my guests! For this, you want the top to be cooked through, but the center to be liquid. You can check with a toothpick after 10 minutes of baking.
If you don't like liquid-center chocolate desserts, just cook for a little longer, and you will have an incredibly moist chocolate cake. So, either way, you can't go wrong!

Serving Ideas:

You can, if you want, serve your chocolate lava cake recipe with a Crème Anglaise (English Cream) or a Coulis aux Framboises (Raspberry Sauce). Personally, I always serve it as is (no sauce). And honestly, everyone FALLS IN LOVE with this dessert!!! How could they not?!!!

Recipe from FamousFrenchDesserts.com

In these:

(Le Creuset heart-shaped ramekins)

After all, what says Valentine's Day better than hearts and ooey, gooey chocolate?

It's Cocktail Time!

I have the horrible habit of biting my nails/cuticles. It's not even a nervous habit. I just constantly bite/pick at them. Gross, I know.

I am trying very hard to resist temptation and have thought up a great reward for myself:

A NEW, FANCY, SHINY COCKTAIL RING!

Here are some of my picks:

Bright party ring by Banana Republic



Cluster ring by J. Crew:



Carved Lucite Ring by Forever21



Arty Dots ring by Yves St. Laurent



Flower Ring by Juicy Couture


With rings this gorgeous, I'll never want to bite my nails again!

Organizing Clippings?

I am absolutely mortified with the state of my magazines/magazine clippings. I'd like to be someone who doesn't hold onto entire magazines unless they fall into the following categories:

* They are an issue of domino magazine
* They are an entirely perfect issue from cover to cover (i.e. September 2008's Vogue with Keira Knightley on the cover)

I've realized that among the many magazines I've hoarded, few of them fall into the above categories. Until now, if I have managed to go through a magazine to find all the inspirational photos, I've ripped them out and shoved them into an accordion folder while making myself empty promises about when I'm going to actually make a system of all of those pages.

I am now at the point where I really, really need to start organizing this stuff before I start becoming one of those people who lines all the walls in her home with magazines, old newspapers and junk mail from six years ago and breeding cats by the dozen. See what a slippery slope this is?

I need help, though. Does anyone have a good system? I'm thinking a cool binder like this:


from SeeJaneWork.com

I figured I could use those fancy clear plastic thingies and I could make sections for "fashion" "home decor" "food/recipes" "how-to" and "cool haircuts."

Is there anything I'm missing? Anything more efficient? If I come up with a cool, functional system, I'll share it here.

Saucy Secretary!

I had lofty goals, this weekend, of stripping and repainting the entryway secretary and the dining room table. Due to the fantastic weather and a halt in handywork for a walk on the beach, only one of the two pieces is finished (to be honest, I haven't even started on the table).

Before:


During:


After:


I think it's an improvement. I'm going to buy new drawer knobs like these:


I think those will spice up my secretary a little more.

Yay, bedding!

My mom bought me some Euro pillows from Pottery Barn a while back, and it's taken me forever to find a set of Euro shams that I love, until now:



From CB2.

I just checked my order tracking and they should be sitting in front of my door now.

I'm so excited...for $7.95, I think I found a great deal, and I think the pattern is simple enough to mix and match with my cream bamboo sheets from Target and my green Dwell Studio (from eBay) duvet cover.

Also...Books.

In the wake of domino's demise, I took a little stop by Amazon.com and picked up:



I've already learned that my dining room table (which I still haven't painted white, but maybe this weekend...) is in the Swedish style.


According to the book: Based on the 18th-century design inspired by French neoclassicism, this style is typically light and often casual in feel. Painted finishes give the look an unpretentious quality.

Who knew? And it looks like domino has given me the thumbs-up to slap a coat of paint on the table. Whew!

I also purchased another book I've been eyeing for a while:



It's basically part quirky fact, part fiction, and emulates antique travel guides. Inside are reviews of hotels that don't exist and lots of French phrases you'd probably never need to use, such as:

"I'd like to buy this book, but there's a mouth holding it shut."
"J'aimerais acheter ce livre mais il y a une bouche qui le tient fermé."

"Do you have a ladder so I can reach your airmail clerk suspended from the ceiling?"
"Avez-vous une échelle ainsi je pourrai atteindre votre employé de la poste aérienne qui est suspendu du plafond?"

Essentially, this book is better suited for armchair travel than an actual guidebook, but I love these kinds of things. Nick Bantock, author of the Griffin & Sabine books, contributed to this book as well. His books always manage to merge art and literature in a magical way.

I want to get the one on Italy next:


I LOVE BOOKS.

I Wish.

This morning, when I woke up and checked the weather it said: "22 degrees, feels like 11 degrees." In Charleston? NO THANKS!

It's days like today where I want to be the girl in the above commercial for Miss Dior Cherie, directed by the great Sofia Coppola. I want to be a pretty girl, with pretty hair, a pretty dress and pretty apartment, riding her pretty bike around pretty Paris while she eats pretty treats and sprays herself with pretty perfume.

Pretty.

Grown-up Playland.

Images from ApartmentTherapy.com.

I've always loved the English-style backyard...they call it a back garden, and that's exactly what it is...a mixture of green space, lots of blooming plants and a bit of patio space made from bricks or pavers.

I also dream about having a lofty, romantic tent from RajTentClub.com.

Exterior:


Interior:


What a perfect place to read, nap and dream during the spring and early summer!

I'd decorate it with things like this:


Moroccan Tent Decor - by waitforthesignal on Polyvore.com

Ohhhh, domino...

Every interior design blog on earth has commented on the news that domino magazine is folding. I won't get into it too much, but I AM DEVASTATED.

It seems like every time I start to love a magazine it shuts down:







I now need a replacement magazine or two to keep me inspired in the world of interiors. I got Dwell magazine in the past and I liked it, but their aesthetic is far more modern than I'm in to. I'm still willing to consider it, though...

Here's some of my possible replacement ideas:







I need to know if any of these would be a decent replacement for domino, and opinions of these, in general. For example, I've heard that Elle Decor can be too "decorated" so I need to know the downsides of these other mags as well.