Acne Autumn/Winter 2011

As usual, I'm totally in love with Acne's latest line. Polka dot skirts, wide leg pants, silk blouses and dresses.....but when will it all come to the outlet??

Rainbow Love

Over the weekend New York became the 6th state in the US to legalize gay marriage. I was lucky enough to be in downtown Albany when the bill was passed and experience the jubilation in the streets. What an amazing step forward for gay rights. Congratulations, New York!!

Photo from Brooklyn Bride

Gone Sailing

Loving this high waisted sailboat skirt and the endless possibilities for pairing. A dainty bow blouse tucked in and red maryjanes? Or a loose yellow tank and waist belt? So many options!

Moroccan Oasis

The desert is harsh, but with an oasis like this, how can you resist? This vacation rental is officially in my top 5 coolest hotels list.

Jean Claude Elena

Slowly but surely ramping things back up here! I have to apologize for the sporadic posts, but I've at last been settled long enough to put some semi-decent blog posts together. Although I usually focus on fashion/design/food, I wanted to switch it up a bit and highlight some amazing scents from my favorite perfumer, Jean-Claude Elena. He's currently the house perfumer for Hermes, and he keeps knocking it out of the park with one amazing perfume after another. Light, fleeting (ie low sillage) scents are his trademark, so even if you're not a huge perfume fan you might love his. By far my favorite right now is Rose Ikebana, which is a light, fresh, earthy version of rose. Jardin Sur le Nil is another great standby with slightly citrusy notes. And for evenings I love Osmanthe Yunnan, which has notes of black tea. JCE's latest in the Jardin collection is Un Jardin Sur le Toit, which I have yet to try and I'd love to get my hands on. Anyone else given it a whiff?

Back on Board

 Its been a hectic couple of weeks--2 weeks of business travel, starting to move into a new apartment, and getting ready for a new job. With all that activity the blog has taken a backseat, but I'll be getting back into it soon with more recipes and photos to come. The photos above are a couple of my favorites from our recent trip to Austin, TX. They remind me of what is quintessentially Austin for me--sun, swimming, and friends. For more photos, check out our new flickr photostream (hopefully the link works, I'm new to this!).

Coming Back

Just returned from Austin last night, and now I'm making a steady descent back into the regular world. The whole time I was there I felt like these photos--free, warm, happy. It's home for me and there is no where else in the world like it. Which is why, as Kyle says, we'll "claw our way back" if we have to.