Modern and Gothic

I was looking through Dwell's "Ideas" page online when this beautiful gothic church/bookstore caught my eye. The bookstore sits inside a gothic cathedral in Barcelona and was recently remodeled by Spanish architect Pilar Libano. La Formiga D'Or, as its called, manages to "seamlessly blend modern design with a Gothic cathedral." They kept the feeling in the bookstore consistent with the church by using oiled old-growth wood and wrought iron for the furniture and accents. But my favorite part: the collection of rosaries on the wall!

Coyuchi Baby

Disclaimer: I do not have a baby. I am not pregnant. In fact, I'm not even married (yet--2.5 months to go!). But I've been thinking about babies and baby things since I had the biological ability to make them. So I suppose its not that surprising that I just bought the "George" baby bedding from Coyuchi, makers of organic linens. Not that surprising, but still crazy. The embroidered jungle animal babies were just more than I could resist--plus there was a flash sale for 50% off! I can't wait for the linens to arrive....and in the meantime I've been browsing Coyuchi's more grown-up organic cotton offerings, which are equally lovely.

Travels in Montreal

For the 4th of July weekend we took our first ever trip to Montreal, and were blown away. Its Europe meets America in the best way possible. The city is filled with great food, old world architecture, bikes and parks. We loved it! Soon I'll share a little review on places to stay. If you ever have an opportunity to visit, don't miss it! It really is one of the gems of North American cities.

Clockwise from top left: Olive & Gourmando, corner market, Basilica du Notre Dame, and my Isaac Mizrahi shoes kickin' it in Parc Le Fontaine.

Textile

I love these worldly home accents from Textile.  All are handmade by artisans in their respective places of origin. I'm thinking about heading to Chiapas, Bolivia and Turkey just so I can stock pile.

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.

Great Brights

There are some really fun handbags from Asos and Zara right now. Here's a few of my favorites. They actually all look really good together....would it be weird to carry 4 handbags?

two-tone bowler/ leather portfolio/ buckled messenger/ wrist clutch

Molino de Aceite

I just found my new dream home: this 12th century oil mill in Extremadura, Spain. The mill, which operated through the 1960's but has been abandoned since then, was restored by architect Ricardo Elizondo. Following restoration the interior was decorated by three sisters from the design studio Laminter. I'm very impressed by their work--it can't be easy to make an ancient stone building feel homey, but I think they've done it.

Travelling in Style

Kyle and I are doing a lot of traveling this year. Our next stop is Austin, TX (its my hometown but I only get to visit once a year), then after that we visit Montreal in July, and for our honeymoon in October we'll head to Spain. In honor of all this traveling, here is my little three step guide to having a great trip: 

1. Pack your camera and a good wide-angle lens into camera bag organizer
2. Insert camera bag organizer into purse
3. Take great photos

Isn't that easy?

Italy photo via feel the current

Etsy Faves

Sharing some of my favorite Etsy jewelers. I wish I could buy it all (and make my own, too!).

mixed crystal ring/ apatite beads/ turqoise earrings/ diamond ring