glass castle

an afternoon spent in ikea resulted in just two purchases, well three if you count the plate of swedish meatballs ben treated me to mid-way through our trip. a crystal star-shaped dish and a mauve scalloped bowl. a pretty way to display nail polish and lip gloss, no?

see also: mor and mor to sweetly store makeup brushes

twenty six

at 11:52 we were finally finished cooking my pre-birthday dinner. we often eat late meals. tonight's menu featured my favorite at-home dish: bacon, cheddar [heart-shaped] waffles. ben used his gallon jug of maple syrup he bought on our last trip to vermont, i used aunt jemima. even after living in vermont for four years of college, i still couldn't develop a taste for the real thing. the heart wants what the heart wants. at 11:59 i ran from the table into ben's bedroom. i didn't want the stroke of midnight to happen in front of a plate of half-eaten breakfast food. he followed me with a butter lane cupcake with a green candle lit on top. i made my wish, and ben was anxious to give me my present. he said he had been for days. i read the sweet, sweet card and became overwhelmingly excited when my gift was in the form of a toy airplane. we're taking a euro trip! from mid-september into october. we'll be staying with his family in germany and will then drive around switzerland, italy and austria. 

ben woke up at seven. he had a photo shoot in the city. i was to spend the afternoon with wonderful friends and we'd meet for dinner at talde. his roommate sam had to work as well. alone in the apartment, i got out of bed around 11. i walked to the bathroom to brush my teeth. mid-brush, i heard a noise from the living room: a record was playing. the room felt warm and peaceful. it has nice light in the morning that heats up the space. so i poured myself coffee and enjoyed the tunes of andrew bird. it's a semi-automatic player, the arm will move when a user presses play. i figured there must be an alarm incorporated of some sort. no alarm, said ben. that never happened before, said sam.

strange but no explanation needed. it felt good. especially on the start of a birthday morning. 

summer sunset

shades of periwinkle, salmon and gold faded into one another on august 7, seen from prospect park. it was my favorite sunset of the summer. the colors morphed into a dark night sky as we listened to m. ward. we sat on my beach blanket and ate french fries.

pretty simple

one day of candy-colored hair using supplies from the art store? sign me up. several beauty blogs have been posting how-tos lately, and i just had to give this a try. its simplicity (and washability) intrigued me. ever since i saw ms. charlotte free rock her pink tresses last year at fashion week, i've been dye-ing (lame!) to try out this look. i just didn't want to commit. 

i headed over to the art store for the goods: soft pastels, i used sennelier. turquoise and magenta. i came home and colored in varying strands of my ballerina bun. that is all, it was that easy. i read that it works best if you're going to wear your hair up, as the pastels may make their way down on to clothing. darker hair? make sure to wet it first to capture the pigment. but if you're a blonde, do not add water. it would actually create a dye. unless that's what you're going for. it's rather chic, no? 

and as promised, it washed out the next day.

burlington

the (typical, of my peers) work/life balance in vermont couldn't be any more different than the (typical, of my peers) work/life balance in manhattan. my life back in new york was becoming increasingly off-kilter, so it felt good to slow things down for the week and sit for endless hours on floral fabric blankets by lake champlain. even our barefoot walks on the quiet, broken-pavement sidewalks seemed worlds away. we woke up late, drank strong coffee, ate local food and hula-hooped. this trip was, as i imagined it would be, good for the soul.

vermont until sunday

au revoir. ben and i are off to vermont for the week to visit annie in burlington. 

violet

maybe i've been in new york too long, and am wildly in need of a vacation (true, and i leave for vermont tomorrow), but i've been totally lagging on noticing the lovely little occurrences that used to be so apparent. i'm beyond excited/desperate to spend some time in the green mountain state for a few days. anyway, i know it takes effort and it's easy to let things slide, so to kick things off, i tried to be more aware this weekend. this is what i came up with: 

mary brought me back an amethyst from charleston. i am so grateful and it made me ridiculously happy. when i went to cannes, i brought her back a blue seashell. i am pleased that we exchange treasure. mary gets it.

there is a stamp store a block away from my apartment. during annie's last visit to the city, we stopped in and she bought a swimming lady. i have a rose, which i did not buy from this store but i so appreciate having my own stamp. 

this was a painting that was on my street near a garbage can. it looks like a flying pig. i liked it, but not enough to hang in my apartment and nothing is worth the risk of bedbugs. i liked it enough to add to my blog tonight.

ali's homemade macarons for jenna's welcome-to-new-york party were divine. truly, they've rivaled any macaron i've ever had. and i am no amateur. they were baked with love.

here are the clothes that i am taking to vermont. i spent half of sunday packing for this trip. i am an ace packer, and i weirdly think it is adds into the fun of going away...

...but figuring out what makeup to bring is a different story. especially when i will probably go without for most of the trip. it is vermont, after all. essentials only. this is what i've decided on. it all looks pretty, no?

there you have it. a slew of things that were lovely. 

summer blues

last weekend seemed to be tinted blue. it was the combination of the summer sky with the icy shade of nars polish that has continuously been on my nails for the past few months. it was the blue floral top that i wore for days in a row because i didn't think to bring a change of clothes, mixed with my favorite guerlain by emilio pucci terracotta gloss in porto azzurro and that slushie from the bodega that i wanted to get after the park but forgot about until now. le sigh, these summer blues were anything but sad.