Pauline Darley

Last summer while in Paris, I had a photo shoot with the immensely adorable and talented Pauline Darley. Recently I popped over to Pauline's website and am really enjoying all of her new work. She has been doing a lot of photos for Miss Pandora who is a French red-headed beauty and the shots are stunning. I can't wait to see more... Be sure to stop by Miss Pandora & Pauline Darley's website for some more French eye candy.




(All photos by Pauline Darley)

Mama, Is It Summer Yet?

I just received the most lovely book in the mail by the talented Nikki McClure. Like her previously illustrated book, All in a Day (which I mentioned here) her artwork is phenomenal! This new book entitled "Mama, Is It Summer Yet?" she not only illustrated, but wrote as well. Along with her artistic skill of hand-cut illustrations, I am charmed by her heartwarming words that ring really close to home because almost every single day our daughter asks, "is it Summer yet?"

Katherine Sandoz

While in Savannah, I came across the paintings of Katherine Sandoz and fell in love with her abstract landscapes. They are gorgeous!

Francis and the Lights

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a lovely Spring. Here is a song that I am really digging called "Darling, It's Alright" by Francis and the Lights. The lead singer can really dance and their eclectic sound across numerous songs is refreshing. If you want to see more dancing and a bit of what seems to me a Prince influence, you should check out the clip below too, both music videos are directed by Jake Schreier, I love the use of light in both clips. Tell me what you think. You can get them on itunes here.



(via cliptip)

Connect the Dots...

Love this Connect the Dots Letterpress Thank You post card. (Thanks Hans)

Franck Malthiery

Inspired by the work of photographer Franck Malthiery today...

Seesaw Designs

I loved seeing Seesaw's space today up on their blog and I am happy to see them getting such wonderful well deserved press! Isn't their office gorgeous? I really like what they've done with the place just since last year ... remember when Angela shared photos with us before? It is very well done, and you've got to see their tape wall here -- it is too cool.



(photos from Seesaw)

Planting Herbs

Dang... V and I must be getting our domestic on today, because along with cooking up a storm in the kitchen, we decided to plant our herbs on the deck. It is nice to break for a fun day of complete domesticity sometimes. She often will call them weeds but is now starting to learn their names with the accompanying signs. By the way, aren't those signs cool? I scoured all over the web looking for something like them last year, and came up with nothing. My lovely friend Stephanie surprised me with them for my birthday this year and yep, she picked them up in France -- so big bummer, but I don't have a source for you.



If you have never done herbs before, I would highly recommend it. They run about the same price to buy the starts as they do to buy fresh recipe ready ones in the grocery store and they usually yield much more. If you live in a small space you can plant them on your deck like us, or in a garden plot, and fresh herbs make a load of difference in a recipe. I am not the biggest green thumb (still learning) but for the last three years I haven't killed any of our herbs yet, they are super easy. Each year I pick a different variety, and this year I decided to focus practically upon the herbs that we really use most in the kitchen.

Do you grow herbs? What are your favorites to grow?

(photos by blackeiffel)

Best Blueberry Streusel Muffins

This morning my little sous chef helped me make some delicious Blueberry Streusel Muffins, and she is proud to say she was in charge of the streusel. I clipped the recipe from The Best of America's Test Kitchen Magazine from 2008 and tried it for the first time today, and they turned out excellent! I have yet to make a recipe from The Best of America's Test Kitchen that doesn't turn out well. I enjoy how they explain the scientific process along with their recipes of why they make specific alterations. To download the Blueberry Streusel Muffin recipe click here.

Recently, recipes I am trying come from all different sources. What is your favorite place to go to find great recipes? Online... blogs... cookbooks? I'd love to hear about them.

On a side note, I came across this recipe explanation for a Cobb Salad that looks delicious.

(photo by blackeiffel)

9 By Design

I caught my first episode of Nine by Design last night (it was actually episode 2, I still need to catch up with episode 1 and the rest) and I was impressed and also laughing my head off at the same time. The über cool couple and their kids are interesting to watch, and their home ... A-mazing. With a house full of kids, I especially love that it has an indoor basketball court. See more of this house and other projects on the Sixx Design website. Have you seen any of the episodes -- what do you think?




(all photos from Sixx Design)

May 18th

I can't believe it -- today marks 9 years for us. It has flown by fast with many great times and adventures along the way. Happy Anniversary my Love.

Obsessive Consumption

When I received the book "Obsessive Consumption" in the mail I found myself sitting quietly for quite some time flipping through it. Kate Bingaman-Burt did a wonderful job of drawing things that she purchased everyday for three years, and it really made me think.

It is powerful to ponder about how little daily choices (not only in the consumption category, but other areas as well) add up to a much greater whole and in many ways define and shape who we are. It can be tricky at times and we are far from perfect, but in the past few years we have become much more conscious about our daily choices, and it has been empowering.

Have you changed the way you consume lately?

See more about the book here.

Beach House

My brother gave me the album "Teen Dream" by Beach House a few weeks ago, and I got a chance to pop it in and enjoy it all weekend, it's really great stuff. The whole album is very nice, but I especially like the song Zebra. Unfortunately they don't have a music video for it yet, but you can hear the song below and also over at their myspace page. Happy Music Monday!




(image by Jason Nocito from their myspace page)

Inspired by Yellow...

Feeling the sunshine love today! Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Giraffe shelf
Hello
Rustic Yellow Tart
Dafodil Alphabet by Vladimir Koncar
Fendi Clutch

Savannah Favorites 2

Here are some of my favorite shops we popped by while in Savannah :



The Savannah Bee Company shop was very well laid out and a overall fun experience for everyone in our group. They have a fun honey tasting when you walk in, a place for kids to play, an informative film about bees and honey, and all types of honey goods! We picked up some Tupelo Honey which is more on the rare side, and we can't wait to try it.




On Broughton street a little further down is the Paris Market & Brocante, I could be lost in here for hours. It was full of paper goods, old letterpress letters and cases, art, furnishings and more. As I was checking out, I asked the french accented lady about the area, and she told me she loves Savannah because it is a very European feeling city, and there is little traffic. She also said that she loved how their store was a great mix of French antiques and modern goods, so true! It has to be one of the best French inspired stores I've been to in the states.



Another wonderful thing about Savannah is that it is home to SCAD, so there are a lot of artistic and creative people walking about. The SCAD shop was a fun one to peruse, full of student'swork from the college.




Not a shop, but all of us agreed and thanks to your recommendations that Zunzi's was our favorite place to catch a bite to eat for lunch. Everything we ordered was delicious! I am craving some of their hummus now.



We had a great time in Savannah and I can't wait to go back again someday to see and do more.

Savannah Favorites

Savannah was absolutely lovely! In the past I've learned while traveling that it is super beneficial to stay in a centrally located hotel when you know you will only be in a city a short time. Although it can be a splurge at times, you can save on the driving around hassle and tricky navigation in the end. We stayed at the AVIA in Savannah, a newer southern boutique-styled hotel and it was a wonderful experience, I would highly recommend it. It was a short walk to pretty much everything in the historic district. There are also tons of bed and breakfast hotels in the city if you ever want to do a romantic getaway.



There are beautiful historic squares (22 of them) all around, it is very well laid out -- a great walking city. I loved the large and dripping trees.



There is a wide variety of different architecture and historic buildings in the city which makes it diverse, charming, and full of history.




We had a pleasant walk along the waterfront walkway, V really enjoyed seeing the water and smelling the nearby flowers.

(all photos by blackeiffel)

Eloise Corr Danch

I love coming home to a good stack of mail, and the highlight of the opening event was this article in W magazine. I was charmed by the beautiful flowers in this article by Eloise Corr Danch. Wow! My May issue got mixed in my pile with my June issue, but nonetheless ... still gorgeous!

Don't you want to make some paper flowers now?



(Photography by Bruce Weber in May W magazine)

Hello!

Yay, we're back and we had a lovely time in Florida and Savannah. It was very nice to see family and watch my sister-in-law graduate with the great accomplishment of getting her Masters in Social Work.



I am excited to share some of my favorite spots. Savannah is stunning and instantly became one of my favorite U.S. cities, and we were only there for a day and half! It is very European feeling, full of charming beauty, and some of the friendliest people I've encountered in one city. Thank you so much for all of your recommendations.



(photos by blackeiffel -- to add to the state sign collection, thanks for stopping Mac, Kev, & Ray.)

Thank you Rachel Faucett

I want to express my thanks for guest blogger Rachel Faucett last week! Wasn't she wonderful?! Her eye for style and design is impeccable and I enjoyed every one of her posts as I hoped you did as well.



Do stop by Handmade Charlotte, I love so many things she shares like the recent post below of a Dutch playroom by Piet Hein Eek. Thanks again Rachel!!

Tasty Peanut Noodles

Once you have all the ingredients for this Szechuan Noodles dish by Ina Garten it is a real cinch to make. I often have most of the ingredients on hand, but sometimes I will make some alterations when I don't -- and it still turns out well (this time I cut the recipe in half and used whole wheat noodles). I love the sesame peanut flavoring and it is not overpowering, a great spring/summer dish.

(photo by blackeiffel)

Places in America

I'm dazzled by this print created exclusively for the Royal We by Oliver Jeffers. Each print comes with you pins so you can track the states you've been to and where you want to go... Perfect. Find them here for $120.

Lisa Rupp + Pingg

I hope that you all had an enjoyable weekend and paid special tribute to the lovely women in your life! May has slipped away from me, and even more so being on vacation. I love Lisa Rupp's complimentary downloadable calendar for May which you can download here.



I am also glad that Lisa has been designing templates for Pingg in the designer's series collection. Have you seen the many great options from artists and all types of designers, e-invites sure aren't what they used to be -- they are so much more appealing!

Easy Pieces by guest: Rachel Faucett

Here are a few fun accessories that I've been enjoying lately.

I love these woodland-themed pieces by Touch the Dutch (via aesthetic outburst)



Yellowgoat always inspires.



Minimal yet carefully detailed work by metalmade.



Big hugs to Rachel for letting me share this week–be safe traveling home from your well-deserved vacation!