Stubborn Summer

It looks as though some June Gloom is settling in early on us this weekend. So I guess the trend of lying in flower beds, gardening, sitting in parks and eating ice cream is taking a little hiatus. Oh well, I'm seeing St. Vincent tomorrow, so it actually might be the perfect weather for that (as well as dark lipstick, vintage dresses, tights & boots, wine and reading indoors).

Hm, which of my new lipsticks to choose? If only there were someone to help me decide (not one of the Boy K's strong points).

day in by AestheticBent featuring Loeffler Randall boots

Happy weekend!

Listening to St. Vincent, of course!

New Art to Drool Over

New illustrator to love! I found Eliza Frye today and I cannot stop looking at her stuff. There is a defiant, slightly naughty feel, but her work also displays a great deal of fun and style.





I can't stop! Okay, just one more. This one is my favorite:


She also has some amazing comics that I will be reading shortly.

Listening to Iron and Wine.

I would like to be under a tree

had a bit of a wine-soaked night last night. and a very busy day today. i wish this were my view right now. ah.

Hey, Tuesday, where did you come from?

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It was a great holiday weekend filled with a lot of picnicking, park-dwelling, an amazing super-secret Jens Lekman show, graduation parties, a little gardening, some photography, a laundromat party, and reading in cafes. Pretty close to perfect. Now, back to life (the other, less fun side of life).

Summer is stepping right on in.

Feeling nostalgic for Oregon summers full of running around in forests and picking berries by the bucketful. Mmm.↑

This (holiday!) weekend marks the official beginning of summer (okay, so it's not technically until 21 June, but it's already here in our hearts and minds, right?).

One of summer's little pleasures I'm looking forward to? Reading under my new parasol in the yard, eating summer berries until I'm stuffed. Life can be so delicious.

Better make a trip to the market.

So, the boy K puts his arm around me as we are walking yesterday and says, "I like life." And he really does, which helps to remind me (who gets too caught up in the mess in my head sometimes) that I really like it too. Love.

Listening to Caledonia.

Fashion is better when it makes you feel special.

I haven't done a fashion post in awhile. I did find some awesome vintage dresses last weekend and I adore them for their unique one-of-a-kind quality. I occassionally go in for mass-produced clothes (I get a sort of happy headrush when I walk into the bright, colorful cotton world of American Apparel, and I fully intend to clean out Topshop while I'm in London). But I absolutely love finding new, smaller designers and only wish I had a bigger budget. One (among many) thing I miss about Portland was the accessiblity to local or less-well-known designers and occassionally finding great steals. I love the attention to detail and the quality one gets from clothing that isn't mass produced. Clothing really can make you feel special, and special clothing is a joy to wear. All that said just to say I found Heidi Merrick, and I am in LOVE with her designs.






She has a blog too.

Listening to El Perro del Mar.

More Places to ♥ Photography

Oh life. Busy, busy life. short little posts lately until I a)am less busy and b)get my new laptop.

I love this photo. It makes me miss my sister. And carefree summers. ♥

Photo found on this crazily addictive Flickr photostream: Superbomba, via this awesome blog: Krisatomic.

Listening to Fanfarlo.

Lovely Weekend, Busy Week

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Beautiful things from this weekend:
1. the view of the trees and the sky from a swingset in the park.
2. ice cream sandwiches from the ice cream man.
3. planting a flower garden in a porcelain bathtub in my yard.
4. finding amazing treasures while yard saling with K.
5. the surprise gathering of friends in the backyard around the fire pit.
6. randomly deciding to go to a movie without knowing what was playing or the showtimes.

It was a really lovely weekend.

Listening to Charlie Parker.

A smaller version of an already small cake.

Friday!

I have a lot of plans, but I am going to make a list and scale them back a little so that I will really get some things done. I don't have any social obligations (whew) and there are no good shows, so I'm going to take this opportunity to relax! I'm entertaining the idea of a fire in the yard tonight, but I'll see.

And, today at work we were randomly given free mini cupcakes, and how can that not brighten your day? They had red velvet too, which are my favorite. I tried to take a picture with my phone, but it died mid-picture. I did find this photo, however, which looks essentially the same.
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I believe everyone's Friday should have a free cupcake in it.

Listening to Kath Bloom.

The Commons

I am going to the swap meet soon, and I hope to find some old photographs. I found these today on Flickr's The Commons, and I hope I am lucky enough to find some as great as these to bring home.








It is so much fun to make up stories about the subjects of old photos. For instance, the first two may have had a doomed love affair because she was too afraid to buck tradition and her small town while he wanted a life of adventure and music. (But the Flickr caption claims she was a survivor of the Titanic and was pregnant at the time. She lost her husband too. So her story is already pretty interesting...)

Listening to Dark Night of the Soul via NPR's Exclusive First Listen. I cannot wait until this album comes out.

Cheering Up

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Feeling better today. I've stopped worrying so much, the sky is getting blue again, there is a very happy-making development on the laptop front, and I'm going to start getting my yard in shape this weekend. A friend of mine is going to help me design the space, and I'm hoping to make it a relaxing and beautiful haven.
We are going to plant wildflowers,
↑ Find me some garden chairs,
↑ Create a magical lighting scheme,
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Eventaully I want to find a good canopy

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But the very best item we plan to add to the yard this summer:
I cannot wait.

Personal issues, schmersonal issues.

So, I've been busy, the sky has been grey, I've been battling some stuff, I've been generally stressed and down, I haven't been taking photos and I haven't solved the dead laptop issue yet. I need to breathe and and reconfigure (I'd say reboot, but wouldn't that just be sadly ironic).

I saw this image, and it made me feel a little better. I've seen it a lot of places, but couldn't track down the original source.

It really is true, and something the Universe likes to remind me all the time (at least, it reminds me to not get too attached to "things" by plotting to ruin/have them stolen). Gah, negativity today FTL :(.

Listening to Bonnie Prince Billy.

Laptop Graveyard :(

I think it's time to start spending more time with my typewriter. In fact, maybe I'll get a new one and begin my book (which I've been outlining for a few weeks) on it. I love typewriters for their many aesthetic qualities, but also because they are simple, make an enticing and magical sound, and when you are done, there is physical evidence you can hold in your hands rather than digital words on a screen.
Plus, you can drink beverages around them without worry↑
They are portable↑↑
They're pretty compact and can fit in small spaces (plus they look good amongst a bit of clutter, which is a plus for my apartment)
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They need little upkeep, and the accessories come in lovely collectable tins↑

But--and most importantly--their insides wont fry and make a horrible sputter noise/burning odor and leave you bewildered and frantic, pleading with a dark screen,"come back, please come back!" as a laptop will do. Yes, my laptop has gone and died. So there will be little from me in the way of new photos until I figure it out, which makes me very sad indeed. I am going to look on the bright side and say it's time to devote more time to non digital life--such as reading books, using my typewriter, and exploring with my film cameras. But I'm still really sad (I haven't even begun to think about the possibility that I have lost all my photos from the past few years). And of course, just as I was putting serious thought into an external hard drive. Tears.

Listening to Zoe Boekbinder.

little birds, lots of links.

Today I adore these darling bird illustrations by little doodles' Kate Wilson. They are pretty and charming and fun.






How cute is this one? (Okay, I may be biased because my name is Lily and because I DO love hotel jam...anything in miniature, really, even those tiny Tobasco bottles make me smile).


I also really like her fashion illustrations:






And, one more thing to gush about, how awesome is her "beach grafitti" (her fun term).

Anyhow, check it all out on her blog, on which I also found these two wonderful links: Yum Brella bowls via Rocket St. George and Beyond the Valley.

On top of all that, she's got another blog as well. Whew. So much to look at today!

Listening to Radio Moscow.