Petit souvenir de Paris

{this picture accompanied the little note}

What a joy it is to find pretty words in your inbox:

Un petit mot Danielle, pour te redire notre joie de t'avoir retrouvée comme tu étais partie, aussi jolie et gentille, gaie et souriante... et en plus heureuse... ça sautait aux yeux !

Bravo à vous deux pour votre bonheur communicatif. nous vous embrassons affectueusement.

Do you remember?

The first year when you were stricken with adolescent self-loathing?

{I've been having a lot of conversations with parents who have children around this age.}
{My pitiful, petulant stage started when I was about 10. I was an early bloomer.}

Sixeart Gives Graffiti Style a Museum Quality

"Graffiti is a tree with many roots and many branches, but there is only one trunk: It always happens on a wall in the street. It can never be moved into a gallery. So I can still be a graffiti artist because I still go out and paint on walls, but I also do paintings."
Sixeart

from WSJ.

The Rules for Being Human by Cherie Carter-Scott

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a fulltime informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error, experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately “works.”
4. A lesson is repeated until learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive there are lessons to be learned.
6. “There” is no better than “here.” When your “there” has become a “here” you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here.”
7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie inside you. The answer to life’s questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10. This will often be forgotten, only to be remembered again.

This is what I needed to read today.
{From Oh Leoluca}

Nominate me, yo.

So, my little tiny blog was suggested for a Blog of Note by a very kind reader :) , and if you like me (and you like me!), please vote!

Product Ideas (this is the link)

Color in my space.

{Photo: Apartment Therapy}

On Monday, Erin challenged me to find one image that best describes my design style, and I finally found the perfect image (a whopping 3 days later, sorry Er).

I am attracted to bright colors, mismatched prints, florals, and monochromatic looks, so when I came across this bedroom on Apartment Therapy, there was no question that this was THE image.

The mix of patterns might make some people a little crazy (stripes and florals, what?), but I enjoy the chaos of mixing prints, patterns, and textures. I'm borderline obsessed with the lipstick red and turquoise color scheme, and those of you who read my blog know that I'm obsessed with big, puffy flowers.

I like the idea of coming home to something bright and cheery (I once painted a room Pepto-Bismol pink) and a little manic after a long hard day. It would be impossible to be sad in this room, no?

So tell me dear reader(s), what rooms/designs make you happy?

Friday inspiration.

{Via Oh Joy! via TiaraMia}

This is what I wish life could be like every day!

More wedding dresses.

I really like these dresses from Vera Wang's Spring 2010 bridal collection. These dresses have a lot of froth and whimsy, but they also have enough pizazz to save them from being too "bride-y".
The dress at the top is my favorite.

See more styles here.

$10 necklaces!

{Images from sbarao's Etsy shop}

Joanna posted about these necklaces, and I'm in love. All the way from Paris, FR {which, if you don't know by now, is one of my favorite places in the world}, these necklaces are created from French vintage wallpaper and satin ribbon. The feather necklaces are made from crocheted organic cotton and a single feather. Simple but pretty!

color + photo

I love Sandra Juto's photographs.
{I also like the varying shades of purple in the first photo...wedding colors?}
smosch.com

A romantic who likes to pretend she is a cynic.

{Dress by Natural Bridals}

Er, that would be me.

Cynicism doesn't suit me. Snark does, sometimes, but today, I'm happy. Happy like a little girl who gets all the best Easter candy.

Date is set. Place is set.

And I couldn't be more pleased.

Lovely morning.

What makes for a lovely morning:

Sunshine peeking through the blinds.

Sweet, hot chai.

Downward dogs.

Waking up next to your best friend in the world.

everybody likes sandwiches

I really wish I could stop reading this blog. Mostly because I cannot handle the hunger pangs that come along with reading it.

Today's recipe? Strawberry muffins topped with cinnamon sugar. I die, I die.

{I mean, seriously. Look at those things.}

strawberry muffins topped with cinnamon sugar
(recipe adapted from Eggs on Sunday)
2 c all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1 t ground cinnamon
2/3 c sugar
zest of 1 orange
2 eggs
1 c yogurt
1 t vanilla
6 T unsalted butter, melted
1 c diced strawberries (frozen is fine)
cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease muffin tins or use paper liners. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together. In a small bowl, mix together the zest and sugar with your hands until fragrant.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and zest until fragrant. Add in the eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla and beat until creamy. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until a batter forms. Do not over mix. Gently fold in the strawberries until evenly distributed.

3. Add batter to prepared muffin tins, filling each cup to 3/4 full. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake for about 20 minutes or until cake tester comes clean and the tops are lightly golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Excuse me while I go gnaw on my fingernails and pretend that that satisfies me.

Bday gifts.

John, if you're not sick of buying me stuff, here are three things that would make EXCELLENT birthday presents:
{Skirt and dress from Frances May. Shoes from Frye.}

Sunny day.

{PC: Amsale, Saipua, Lovely Morning}

Over the past few weeks, I've become completely obsessed with all things bridal. I'm talking the kind of obsessed that verges on {ok, fine, is} completely unhealthy. I was never the little girl to fantasize about my wedding, and now I can't stop thinking about how I want ranunculus everywhere and rainbow bridesmaid dresses and candy jars and a wedding like this one.

Katie and Ben's gorgeous Great Gatsby inspired wedding.

{Photos: Katie's Color Board from 100 Layer Cake; Save the date cards by Lucky Luxe}

I'm going to brag on behalf of John's lovely sister Katie who is getting married on September 12, 2009. Her wonderful design aesthetic got her on True & Wesson's blog!

"Katie loves the romanticism and elegance of the Great Gatsby, and the flair and sophistication of French fashion and European style, combined with the modern elegance and whimsy of the Art Deco movement, all of which have been sources of inspiration as we are starting to design this incredible affair."

I cannot wait for this wedding. It's going to be so beautiful.

One more song for the day.

{To make you smile. And perhaps to be inspired.}

Skinny Love

I love this song.

This girl...

Has THE BEST HAIR in the world.
{and incredible style to boot!}
{PC: Cleo}

Thinking about picking up maybe the preppiest, most frustrating sport in the history of the earth.

I do it for love.

{Am I crazy?}