pretty . little . artchitecture

When I was little, for a brief period, I wanted to be an architect. Unfortunately my drawing skills stop somewhere near "advanced stick figure" and so my design hopes were dashed.

So rather than becoming an architect myself, I'm happy to read about/look at interesting architecture (no drawing skill required).

A friend introduced me to the designs of two very unusual "architects" (artists/architects/poets) - Arakawa and Madeline Gins. Right off of the bat I'll say that some of what they've written to explain their architectual designs is more than a bit pompous. But if you can get past that, the raw ideas are amazing.

What they're attempting to do with architecture is difficult to explain in a tiny blog post, but the gist of it is that if we can rid ourselves of any preconceived ideas (about everything) through living in spaces that defy all ideas about how a "house" should be, we can live forever. Etc.

This sounds a little crazy until you see some of what they've built:



To read more, check out their website at: Reversible Destiny

"what becomes of the broken-hearted? they buy shoes."

Well, it's finally that wonderful time of year when nearly all of the the SS 08 accessories collections go on sale! So while even the sale prices for some of these pretty little things might not be cheap, doesn't every girl deserve a shiny new pair once a year?


Top, from left: Missoni, Chloe, Oscar de la Renta, Alberta Ferretti
Bottom, from left: Chloe, Chloe, Miu Miu, Fendi

All from Net-a-Porter

runway . review

The speed at which the fashion world moves amazes me. It's not even technically the start of summer here, and yet designers are currently debuting their Resort 2009 collections.

I'm also a tad surprised at the designer whose collection I've found the most impressive so far: Michael Kors. I'm usually not a fan of Kors' collections. Not because the clothes aren't beautiful or well-made, they just aren't me. They always feel a bit "old" and the one word that constantly comes to mind is "khaki."

Yet his Resort 09 looks are youthful, pretty, easy to wear, and absolutely the girliest, most colorful pieces:

unconventional . wedding

After getting engaged over the past Christmas holiday, people seem to imagine that I could now only ever possibly think about wedding things. With the exception of a few close friends, the first question out of everyone's mouth is: so, how is the wedding planning coming?

This is always followed by looks of disappointment as I tell them that, "I haven't really thought about it yet."

I was, quite simply, not born with "the wedding gene." Thinking about table settings, menus, guest lists, etc. - doesn't really interest me. It's a bit off-putting that all women are expected to have certain ideas/plans when it comes to weddings, and people are actually disappointed - even sorry?? - when we don't.

I would much rather scoop up a handful (four, at the most) of close friends, go someplace warm and islandy for a week, have a great time, and at some point during that week, get married.

So for my somewhat unconventional wedding, I've scoped out a few unconventional wedding dress ideas...

Dolce & Gabbana:


Roberto Cavalli:


Chanel:

hello . kitty

Yesterday I drove upstate to visit my dearest friend Jessie and her four month old daughter, Berlin (quite easily the cutest baby ever). When I got there she gave me the loveliest reusable bag - so lovely and adorable that I giggled like a little girl when I saw it!





The bag comes from Blue Q who has an array of charming products, including more designs of this reusable shopper:

"Happy Camper"

"Make Friends"

Going green and helping out the planet has never been this chic!

The proof?

On my way home last night I had to stop and pick up a few things from the grocery store, and had my new lovely "Adopt a Kitty" shopper to tote them around! When I was leaving the checkout, the group of girls in the lane next to me were staring not at my Louis Vuitton Cabas Alto - they were ALL making jealous eyes at my kitty shopper!!

pretty . little . weekend

My day today:

*woke up late, 10am
*started laundry
*had coffee
*read news, blogs, etc.
*went to the gym
*ran important errand - looking for a cute new suitcase for summer travel (apparently no one makes reasonably priced cute suitcases anymore)
*went to the grocery store
*took photos for new items to list in the shop
*read the sartorialist and fell in love with:


(trying to figure out how I might be able to get the DF to adopt a similar style - minus that scarf, of course)


(while I'm not so into this girl's Ray Bans, I just can't get over how fabulously girly and pretty her Fendi dress and Chloe shoes are!)


(the dress is even on sale at Net-a-Porter; it's still $2,000, but hey...)

How I'll finish my day:

*make/eat dinner (not sure what yet...)
*watch more episodes of season 1 of Lost on dvd (it's not exactly a good show, but once you start, you have to keep watching!)