Things that charm me today.

* Asian plum white tea...I'm addicted
* Another adorable illustrated Missed Connection
* Printable vintage ephemera
* MGMT's "Kids" covered on ukuleles.
* "I love you more than all the stars" decal...makes me want a chalkboard wall, too.
* These blue wingtips...I love vintage-looking men's footwear
* Today's "Writer's Almanac" was perfect. Wesley McNair's poem "Waving Goodbye" was sad and gorgeous--the end, especially:

Yet in that moment
before she and all the others and we ourselves
turn back to our disparate lives, how
extraordinary it is that we make this small flag
with our hands to show the closeness we wish for
in spite of what pulls us apart again
and again: the porch light snapping off,
the car picking its way down the road through the dark.

On safari.

So when I saw that a place is actually offering a 1920s safari expedition (Cottars Safari Experience), I nearly lost my mind. I've already rambled on about my obsession with Out of Africa, but this...

Oh, Africa.

Also, it was Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen's birthday last week, so here are some of my favorite quotes from her:

“Who tells a finer tale than any of us. Silence does.”

“The entire being of a woman is a secret which should be kept.”

“When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself.”

“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.”  

Looking back.

Joan at Charleston Daily Photo posted a vintage postcard of the Market a while back and it made me wonder what things in my neck of the woods looked like way back when. The closest landmark is obviously Hampton Park:

How dreamy! I wish I knew what year it was from.

The Greatest Kate.

Two great scenes from Philadelphia Story, side by side.

Eugenio Recuenco

I'm kind of beyond words today, so instead I'm offering the images of Eugenio Recuenco:

Lush, cinematic, striking.

A certain mood.

I've had this image of Cate Blanchett in my inspiration folder for a while...I can't remember where it's from, but something--or everything--about this picture invokes such a reaction. I don't know if it's the color scheme, her outfit, or her almost classical pose, but I can't stop looking at it.

Friday!

jónsi - sinking friendships (live) from Jónsi on Vimeo.

I have to say...eating frozen raspberries on the back porch while watching the pup play and catching up with my internetz time is not the worst way to start a weekend. I anticipate some time in the sun at the farmers market or beach (or both), hanging out on a patio or rooftop with friends, painting my toes some obnoxious color and wearing my new shoes, listening to music and enjoying every second of now through Sunday night.

Share your weekend plans/hopes, if you feel so inclined!

Music to my ears.

One short, sweet day till Friday. That's music to my ears.

On the topic of music, have you heard Broken Social Scene's new album, Forgiveness Rock Record? If not, you can stream the whole thing at NPR before it's release on May 4.

And if you like what you hear, you can download "World Sick" by clicking below:

Dream Jobs.

The blog world has been all a-flutter as of late with the news of Jenna Lyons' appearance on Oprah today. Jenna is the creative director for J. Crew and the force that gave a huge makeover to the brand's reputation and brought it to the height of cool. Also, I should say that besides being obsessed with this woman's career, I am also wildly in love with her Brooklyn brownstone. (You have to take a peek if you don't know what I'm talking about. Her closet alone is worth committing crimes for.)

I can't find an embeddable video yet, but click here to get a glimpse of a day in the life of Jenna Lyons.

Hey, Jenna, let's trade!

And while on the topic of all things Jenna, here are some of her shopping tips:


Did you hear that? She's obsessed with white shirts and blazers. I think we are meant to be friends.

Romantic and mysterious.

A romantic and mysterious Missed Connection.

A breathtaking lapse of time.

Stomacher - Untitled/Dark Divider from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

Time-lapse photography in a new light.

Feeling Knotty.

118, originally uploaded by astefany90.

Is it bad that the main reason I'm trying to grow out my hair is so that I can tie it up in a cute topknot?

Things are warming up...

"...the sailors leave in the morning; I'll be waiting for you all night. The ship sets off in the morning; I'll be waiting for you alright..."

This weekend brings weather in the 80s, my college roomie in town, Blue Angels flying in formation overhead...it makes me think of summer, and it makes me look forward to:

* hot days and warm nights
* double margaritas in mason jars
* the smell of sunscreen and freckled shoulders
* sailing around Charleston at sunset
* late night/early morning dance parties
* rose gelato in tiny cups
* little sundresses and even littler bikinis
* vintage Ray-Bans
* sun-streaked hair in topknots
* huge containers of farmers' market lemonade
* swimming in saltwater and naps on the beach

Happy (almost) Weekend!

Well, hello boys!

*Zuriick's men's shoe line (the ones above are only $37.50!)
* GQ's slideshow: "The 25 Best Vintage Stores in America"
*All-American craftsmanship: vintage-style skinny ties from The Hill-Side

Hearts and curlicues.

Writer's Block.

I feel like my blog has not been the most thrilling thing lately. It's all: "Here's what I bought. Here's this song I like. Watch this trailer." The thing is, I'm trying very hard to fight from making this blog sound like my middle school diary or my high school/college Live Journal (a caveat for the curious: a lot of it is really, really cheesy...even for me). The fact is, I'm spending more and more time living in my head and not in the real world. I wake up to music and fall asleep to music because lyrics ("Stars, hide your fires. Please hear my desires and I won't give them up to you this time around") and beats make my heart race and my cheeks flush and a girl needs a little bit of that in her life, you know? If this blog were a diary, it would be all hearts and curlicues in the margin and we don't need that, do we? 

Instead of me complaining about blog content, let's just dance to Billie Holiday instead:

A cure for Mondays.

* Listen to good music.
* Buy a pair of completely unnecessary shoes.
* Have a chocolate milkshake for dinner.

A need? No. But I really, really wanted them.

See? All better.

I listen to this song over and over.

Stttttttripes.

Great. Urban Outfitters has just sent me the most tempting email ever, about the new stripes they're carrying. How do I say no to stripes? HOW?!?!

Rogue Brogue.

I've been looking for the perfect brogue or oxford-type shoe for a while and on my shopping trips, I've seen a lot of shoes I've liked but never purchased them because of one single thought, "I could find something just like this at Goodwill."

Sure enough, on my Goodwill visit with Aleigh, I stumbled upon these great little leather brogues from G.H. Bass & Co. I think they were $3.99.



Forgot to include them in my last thrifting post!

J. Crew: Fall 2010

Something to look forward to...

See the full collection at Style.com.

Jeunet's Latest!

Jeunet's latest film, Micmacs, has a trailer! (Also the website is quirky and fun.)





Some clips:

Goodwill Hunting

This weekend, on my short trip to Charlotte, I met up with Aleigh, who has a seriously awesome job doing all sorts of social media and communications work for Goodwill of Southern Piedmont. Since I was in town, we decided to go, where else? Goodwill! While shopping, I stumbled upon the find of the century:

Yessssssssss!

I've been searching for a vintage globe (complete with USSR AND Yugoslavia!) for ages --seriously, read this post-- so when I saw the mother of all globes, with a sweet stand, for a whopping $7.99, I realized that this was nothing short of a miracle. This find completely overshadows the Marc Jacobs heels and amazing vintage blazers I also scored.

Also, last weekend, when the BFF was in town, we stopped by G-dubs and I got a few sweet things I forgot to share:

I am a sucker for vintage bags with cool clasps and closures.

Vintage suede Ralph Lauren spectator pumps.

A small glass pitcher with silver handle--perfect for summertime mojitos. (And the mirror behind it is actually a GW find, too.)

Man I love a good thrift score.

Easter weekend.

I am making my trek back to North Carolina today. Apparently I now only come home for major holidays, and even this trip is being made with some reluctance. I always feel like I missing out on things when I leave Charleston. I can't complain too much, though. I haven't seen my family in over three months and gosh my golly do I love them. I've stored up a bunch of This American Life episodes and maybe when I stop to fill up my gas tank, I'll run the car through the automated car wash just to watch Maya lose her mind.



* You can stream Jonsi's album, Go, on NPR.
* These Venn diagrams make me laugh.
* A baby giraffe! (Is it weird that all baby animals somehow remind me of Maya?)

Happy Easter! Happy Passover!