Weekend . Shopping

Lots of cute new things in the store just in time for the weekend!

Thursday . Morning . Links

Check this out! A 64 square foot house!!

This look is stunning.

William Shatner turns Sarah Palin's speech into poetry.

Take a look-see at this fabulous designer's house over at The City Sage.

I suspect that Aubrey was the cutest little kid in pictures ever. Floaties and a raft?! Love it!

Brooke wants rompers and I couldn't agree more!!

Brianne always finds the coolest things!

Photos: Margot Austin via The City Sage

Before . and . After {Front Porch}

I was going to wait to show the before and after pics of the enclosed front porch until I found the last piece of furniture (a chair) that will go out there, but I'm picky, and I have no idea when I might find it, so...

...the before...




Notice the "abstract" pattern on the floor in "lovely" colors, accented by lime green and bright yellow on the walls. While it was certainly a unique color combination, we decided that we might go with something slightly different:




(that's our grapevine just outside the window in this last photo! It climbs all of the way up the side of our house!)

You also have to imagine the cozy chair that will eventually live in this space, but I don't think that it's turned out too bad thus far!! You can peek at the Before and After {Bedroom} if you missed the post last week!

UPDATE: Here's the porch with said cozy chair:

Backyard . Bill

I love browsing style sites -- Lookbook, The Sartorialist, Garance Dore, Altamira -- anything where you can see how real people dress. (Though, I'm pretty sure there's a fine line between real people/fashion business people on a few of the above mentioned). Street style is one of the best ways to get inspiration for pulling together an outfit.

My newest favorite place to peek about is Backyard Bill. The photos are über gorgeous, the fashion fun and wearable...





...and in some photos, the men are, well, quite attractive:



This guy also seems to have a thing for Roxy Music (there are short.teeny.little interviews with each person being photographed), which I have to say could only be outdone by an obsession with Billy Idol.

Funny . Games

This morning I've spent a good deal of my time reading. "Reading what?" is probably what you're wondering to yourself. The newspaper? A smashingly good novel? Blogs?

All good guesses, but no. I've been reading the product reviews on Amazon.com. Specifically for The Mountain Men's Three Wolf Short-Sleeve Tee.



With 150+ reviews, this popular product has garnered such praises as:

"This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women."

"This is an awesome shirt, but I have a complaint. Why is there no pickup truck (anything pre 1980 would be great) with a camper shell on it and Elvis behind the wheel holding a revolver in the background by the wolves?? That would improve the shirt and make it even more powerful and popular. Give me the KING."

But if the reviews of the wolf shirt are not enough to keep you laughing for the rest of the day, feel free to jump over to the 1000+ reviews of Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon.

Garden . State

One of my favorite things about the street that we've moved onto is the way that people keep their yards. Many of the houses near us have front yards that have been turned into gardens -- they're filled to the brim with all sorts of pretty flowering perennials.



We've just dug up a rather mangy hedgerow in our own front yard, and planted a few perennials in its place: daisies, donkeytail spurge, moss thyme, bees balm, purple butterfly bush...I'm off to find a few more today!! Of course, it won't be until next summer that our plants are a bit more lush, but it's something to look forward to!!

Love . This

Source: The Minneapoline

A . Diamond . in . the . Rough

I'm not sure if diamonds are a girl's best friend, but... Diamonds = Best Friend/Love/Fabulousness. Unfortunately, diamonds almost always = really high price tag + mass produced styles. Thankfully, there's ETSY. Now I'm not saying diamond jewelry on ETSY is cheap (because it isn't), but the pieces that you find there are handmade with care, and you won't find anything like it at the jewelry store in your local mall.

I'm particularly smitten with a slew of "rough looking" and delicate rings that can found -- they're all statement pieces, but also simple and chic enough that you could easily wear one (or a few) every day.




1. Three-stone ring by McFarland Designs
2. Raw Circle Solitaire by SingleB: Beautiful
3. Parnassia Ring by Pearl Everlasting
4. Petite Diamond Ring by Kate Szabone
5. Diamond Seed Stacking Ring by Blanca Monrós Gómez
6. Natural-Colored Silver Diamond Ring by One Stone New York
7. Earth Jewel by Souly Yours
8. Stackable Diamond Ring by Saara Reidsema Designs

A couple of these gems aren't actually diamonds, but you'd never know just by looking, and they were too pretty not to include!!

New . Listings

Lots of new vintage goodies -- like the dress above! -- are in the Pretty Little World Store now!

Pretty . Little . Flowers

Tweed Rose Bouquet by Allen Company Inc
Fleur Blanche et Violette by Marco La Grenouille
Purple Iris Watercolor by Cry of the Wolf
Lilac Flower Small Studs by Sumiko

Le . Sigh...{sequins}

The part of me that has never grown up is the part attracted to shiny.sparkly.pretty things. I'm a sucker for sequin dresses -- I don't really have a place to wear many of them to, but I'd buy every single one if I could...especially this one:



Antik Batik dress available at ShopBop

Thursday . Morning . Links

{Everyday Beautiful}...Ms. Jenn has just posted a lovely new installment of her pretty series, Everyday Beautiful.

Ideeli's Free People sale starts at 11am EST!! Get there early for cute pieces at great prices! Not a member yet? Visit their main page for a WSJ invite code!

Oh deer! These vintage brass deer are too.too cute!

Check out these cute wedding pics at A Cup of Jo

...and speaking of weddings, this vintage wedding dress is adorned with a lovely oversized bow.

Remember that pretty grey bag from last Tuesday? Morelle is offering 20% all bags in her store through July 31st!!

Good Grace has a gorgeous.gorgeous floral dress for only $10!!

Happy Thursday morning everyone!

Pic: (Bits of Beauty}

Ruby

Could ruby lips look any more glamorous than this?



Pic: I Know What You Wore Last Season

Summer . Porch

I'm currently looking for a last chair to round out my enclosed front porch, and this photo from Dreamhouse is the perfect inspiration:



What are your favorite sources for great summer furniture?

Before . and . After {Bedroom}

I only have had time for this one post today (I stepped on a rusty fence post in our backyard, and had to use my morning/afternoon to go get a tetanus booster), but I'm really excited about it!! (The blog post that is, not so much the shot.)

I've finally got the first before & after pictures of the new house!! It's just one room today -- the bedroom -- but it's actually a complete room, accessories and all!

So, the before:

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The before isn't hideous or anything. There are nice features -- pretty wood floors, and great natural light -- but the room is a smidge vanilla; bland wall color, unattractive trim color, and icky shades.

So now after a smidge of paint, and a lot of looking for the right pieces, the after:








It's different than I had pictured originally, but exactly what I had hoped for!

Bed: Ikea
Grey Sheets: Kohls
Green Velvet Comforter: Ikea, Astrakan
Nightstands: Pier I
Lamps & Shades: Pier I
Antique Hand-Tinted Photograph
Vases and Flowers: Our local market
Wall color: Winter Flannel

Fashion . Lust {the bad kind}

It's photos like this...



...that get me into trouble. Chanel does this thing with cashmere and tulle that's somehow irresistible. When I first saw this photo...



...in 2002, I snatched up the phone and dialed Chanel as fast as I could. A snotty SA informed me that if the wait list for the cardigan wasn't already full, it would cost $1800.00. As I was a grad student on a small stipend, I pouted as my hopes of owning that pretty little cardigan were dashed.

Four years later, B. and I were in Toronto for a long weekend. B. wanted to go record shopping, and I wanted to go shopping.shopping, so I had to pick just a few from a list of designer consignment stores that I wanted to go to. As we pulled up to the very first one, what was it that was hanging in the window?

MY Chanel cardigan!! $300 CAD later...



...it came home with me!

So the moral of the story is: Quickly turn the page if you suspect it's filled with puddles of Chanel cashmere goodness.

Fendi . Fall . 2009

I'm smitten with the Fendi fall ad campaign that features Jessica Stam -- the smoke, the lux fashion -- love it!







Pics: Fashionology

Art . Fair

(apologies for a lack of posting...my computer has recently decided that it only wants to connect to the internet sporadically, and for no more than five minutes at a time.)

This past Friday I went to the Ann Arbor Art Festival, something that completely takes over the town every summer. The art fair is set up so that you wander through the closed-off streets of downtown, and some of the prettiest parts of the UofM campus:




...hundreds of artisans set up to sell paintings, photographs, jewelry, and all manner of other lovely things:




We also had lunch at my favorite vegetarian restaurant, Seva, and I tried their Goat Cheese and Roasted Pepper Wrap...



...which was so tasty!! Toward the end of the day, we also saw possibly the cutest little dogs ever:



We didn't end up buying much (the original photograph that I wanted was $2200, and the installation that my mother wanted was $8500...boo), but it was a pretty day with perfect weather and tons of cool stuff to see!!