a chic coupling

what do you think of blake's braided updo? i think it's so beautiful and chic, and i love how it's undone and polished in the same instant. here are instructions...

this look reminds me of another of my recent obsessions and you wouldn't normally make the association. a new colleague of mine has introduced me to the wonderfulness of these pencils, and i'm a total devotee now. she sticks them in her pulled-back hair. it's so effortless and bookish seeming - i wish i could do it without seeming like i'm single-white-femaling her, which i would be...

oh yeah, and she tops the pencils with these old schoolerasers. well maybe i'll get my own old school eraser like this pretty white one which i've often admired as i stock up on office supplies each time i get bored of my highlighter and post-it selections. 

...although i don't think these erasers would look as chic in my hair, even with the chicest of braids.