Kelly Wearstler for SFERRA.

Thanks to trusty Daily Candy, I was informed that Kelly Wearstler has a line of home products coming out through SFERRA at the end of April.

Her products are a bit out of my price range (the pillow below is $595), don't expect to see them in my house anytime soon, but, hey, a girl can dream!

Here are some of my faves:

Ribbon Pillow


Diamond Throw


Thistle Table Linens


All images from KellyWearstlerForSFERRA.com

And while I'm thinking about it, I still need Kelly's latest book (not for long...she has a yet-untitled book coming out this year):

Image from HarperCollins.com

And don't even get me started on her outfits. No...I just need to share:




I love the frizzed-out hair with the sequined beret on top. She can do anything she wants.

Oh, and did I mention that she's from Myrtle Beach and she used to be in Playboy (according to Wikipedia, she was Playmate of the Month in September 1994)?

"The Thing Is..."

"The Thing Is"

to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you've held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
when grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you again.

~Ellen Bass

Just When You Feel Down and Out...

...you see something like this:


This was shot for Vanity Fair's April 2009 "Comedy's New Legends" feature.

The photo is obviously spoofing the infamous Tom Ford/Kiera Knightley/Scarlett Johansson Vanity Fair cover from a few years ago:


I think we can all agree which is the more provocative cover (the top, totally).

Back to This Song, Again.

Feist, "I Feel It All"



This song is so empowering. Feist perfectly captures all the conflicting feelings of a broken heart. When you hear this song, you know you aren't alone in your feelings.It's the kind of song that makes you feel like, when things feel like they are about to start spinning out of control, you know there's this chance...this hope...that you're going to pull through it. You can sit there with your pain or you can own it, embrace it as your own, and then learn to rise above it.

Amen, Feist. Amen.

Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss was born on this day in 1904. He was a pretty much rockin' kind of guy. When he was a political cartoonist he called attention to the beginning of the Holocaust and spoke out against discrimination against Jews and African Americans.

Most importantly (in my opinion) introduced poetry to kids...I had to look up his poetic style, and apparently he wrote mostly in anapestic tetrameter which was a meter used by many English literaries. Anyone who encourages children to read is a hero in my book. He also considered himself "subversive as hell" because he would include subtle themes like environmentalism, anti-consumerism/materialism and racial equality in his books and what themes are more important for children to learn than these, in this day and age?

Here are some awesome Dr. Seuss quotes by which to remember him:

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.”

"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way.”

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

Even though many are out of children's books, it's amazing how many are still applicable in adult life.

I also love Google's shout-out to him today:

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.