effortlessly chic

check out this amazing jana caftan from tory burch...it's $297.50, down from $595.

caftans are just beyond gorgeous, aren't they? they evoke such a specific type of glamour.

these are both great deals too, considering you can wear them all summer - to the beach, to lunch, errands, around the house...they're both oscar de la renta, and they're $174 (above) and $178 (below).

i love the festive summer vibe of this lilly pulitzer caftan which, as lilly always does, screams palm beach in the loveliest way.

i think the nicest thing about caftans is that they appear effortless and without too much fuss and thought...and i think we can all agree that that is true elegance and glamour.

could you see wearing a caftan?

some honey living you might have missed:

are you in love with ikat?
if glam is your style, then you will love this celeb's office
take a look at this example of simple bridal elegance
loving all this inexpensive summer chic

all images from linked sites

island blues

i spent a good part of this past weekend watching house hunters international. for some reason, every time i turned on the tv, there it was. in the past, i've always been depressed by the often tiny, cramped, not-pretty-at-all flats they've shown on hh international, but these editions were about vacation homes, and they were just beautiful, especially the ones in bali.

i've had these pictures in my files for a little while now and not surprisingly, they all happen to be from brilliant blue blogger erin from house of turquoise. her marvelous curation of all things lovely and blue is just always such a treat. if you're not already a fan, become one.

so i realized this morning as i looked through these images that they really all belong together. the only two that actually are from the same place are the outdoor ones.


i love the punches of islandy turquoise they all share, and the feel was right in sync with what i loved so much on HH.

isn't the painting of the window frames here ingenious? i feel the same way about the shutters above. i just love the vibrancy.

thoughts?

all images courtesy of house of turquoise

yellow punch

amazing, right? well, you know my feelings about yellow at the moment, and neon yellow? all the better. i'm totally inspired by this...irreverent, yet classic. so much so that i have purchased neon yellow paint and done started to paint an old mirror frame (as in, mitchell has been painting). hoping to finish it next weekend and have photos to share! any projects on tap for you?

images courtesy of in my house

character profiles

i am so charmed by west elm's collaboration with photo collage artist mike miller. have you seen it? using vintage photographs, this antique dealer and artist reverses the images to create amazing looking silhouettes that i just can not get enough of. you can tell they're from old photos, can't you? they possess a certain timeless feeling that's so authentic, and i think they'd be an incredible grounding force in any room.

my favorite has to be the one above, called simply "friends." i love how you really get a sense of their closeness - their body language makes them really look like friends, doesn't it? i feel like i'm looking at pictures of my grandmother in her nursing days...so nostalgic and lovely. and the cream cutout against the beige background, the graphic black frame - i really think it's masterfully simple.



i could see the "girl" print in a little girl's room, perhaps surrounded by some family photos and some of her very own artwork, and for some reason, i see the "three men" piece fitting in perfectly on a bookshelf or alongside a music library.

i think the way i'd like these best is as a single piece, rather than a collage of them, but that's purely a matter of personal preference, and the pieces are so dynamic (and affordable at $19, $29 and $79) that the possibilities are pretty endless, especially when combined with the artwork you already have.

the collection also includes three pillow covers, if that's more your bag, and they're also fairly priced between $29 and $34. to my mind, these are the modern yin to the nostalgic yang of the framed pieces.

LOVE.

all images from west elm

tiny treasures...plug it in

okay, so i had to do an emergency tiny treasure post because today is the very last day for $5 wallflowers at bath and body works (online and in-store). the starter sets and the refills are $5 each, marked down from $12.50.

last time i bought garbage bags, i accidentally got the "odor-shield" kind, which smell outrageously disgusting, and i literally got depressed every time i walked into the kitchen and smelled them (i have a sickly good sense of smell). eventually, i broke down and just bought a fresh box, even though i felt bad about wasting. i just can not deal with bad smelling things. can you relate? my point is this: scents are powerful, and can affect our moods in serious ways, don't you agree? and since tiny treasures is all about bringing happiness and luxury into our lives for $5 or less, nothing could be more perfect or appropriate than this.

moving on...i always love things like this in a small space like a bathroom or closet because you get the most bang for your buck...and at only $5, that's a lot of bang for not a lot of bucks. and although TT is very much about indulging yourself when you can, it's not a bad idea to stock up now on stocking stuffers or office gifts, right? in the long run, it's your treasure anyway when you don't have to run around doing last minute shopping.

my personal favorites of the scents available in wallflowers are coconut lime verbena (you might remember my obsession from last summer), lavender vanilla (another perennial obsession of mine), and warm vanilla sugar, especially for the cooler months, which are admittedly hard to think about at this hot, sticky moment.

and i'm totally swinging by to smell eucalyptus spearmint! find your local store here.

some honey living you might have missed:

catch up on tiny treasures ($5 luxuries to give yourself)
my coconut obsession from last summer
if you looooove the smell of lavender...
and if you love the smell of eucalyptus

photo from womans day

watch out

i realize you might have had it with my incessant bracelet discussions, but i just borderline stalked a woman on the street because of the perfect bracelet-style watch she was wearing, so the info can't go wasted. how great is this watch bracelet from lederer? it comes in nine colors - the stalkee was wearing it in bone and it looked very chic. i love that it would be right at home with any number of bangles. there, i said it.

I LOVE BRACELETS, OKAY?

a white washed rest

isn't this just the most restful bedroom in the world? it's from one of my favorite blogs, house of turquoise.

i am so loving all the white-washed shades in the room - the mix of cream and white, the palest of pale blue pillows on the windowseat, the wonderfully bleached beams on the ceiling. and the view just beyond the window - the sea air waiting just outside for when your inside rest time is done.

take me there. you too?

some honey living you might have missed:
masterful use of white in design
beach houses to dream of
do you love afternoon naps?

the magic kingdom

have you heard this one? a few years ago, while searching for pictures for their wedding, an engaged couple discovered that their paths had crossed as children at disney world. in the foreground of this picture is donna and her brothers, and in the background is alex in a stroller being pushed by his dad.

at the time, alex's family lived in canada, and donna's in florida. they wouldn't meet until many years later when they found themselves falling in love at work.

it reminds me of this michael buble song i'm in love with that i posted a few months ago. it feels so good to watch this video, just go for it again. it makes me smile in a can't-stop-smiling way.

the universe works in funny ways - don't you just never stop being amazed?

photo from mouse info

all in the wrist, part 2

whatever you think of jill zarin's behavior on this season of RHONYC, i think we could probably all agree on one thing - her bracelets on the reunion show were freaking awesome. apparently, they generated lots of chatter, and she shared the wealth.

the large cuff in the center is by rodrigo otazu, and was also seen in sex and the city 2. i'm dying.

this total dream of a cuff is accompanied by four roberta chiarella sparle 24/7 bangles (only $28 each!) in the emerald/gold color combo, and then also by a perfectly chunky, sparkly swarovski bracelet that is from india, and apparently can't be gotten here.

it seems to be true about the large gold one, sadly, because i can't find it and i've devoted all the time i'm willing to devote. i did find some other options that would work. the best prices (under 20 GBP!) are from the uk company called what's about town, and they make a devilishly sparkly one and a really great looking hammered matte gold option as well.

i also found these other options, all from nordstrom, that could be used to a similar affect as both the rodrigo otazu cuff and the unfindable gold sparkly bangle. the roberta chiarella bangles are the best price around, considering how great they look for under $30 each.

is it weird that i could look at jewelry all day? the fun part is not just shopping for new, but also thinking about what you already have (or what your mom or grandmother or sister already has) and considering new ways to mix and match with other items you've never paired them with before. and if you are in the market to buy something new, it's fun to see how it works in different combinations with your existing collection.

for some honey living you might have missed:

so many bracelets, so little time
do you love stacking rings like i do?
some particularly beautiful watches
a conversation with jen rosenthal, jewelry concierge
see my SheFinds post on the perfect "diamond" studs

all photos from linked sites - email me for direct shopping links

MIA

tell me you wouldn't want to live in this miami penthouse.







i dare you.

dining room photo from architectural digest, all others from house of turquoise - interiors by jennifer post

i-kat believe it

i am so lucky to have learned so many lessons from my grandmother over the years and i often hear her famous one-liners in my head, on command in fitting situations. they include "let her mother worry about it" when i'm concerning myself with something i needn't, "you're a symphony in pink" and other color-relevant exclamations and "can't miss you" when taking in a particularly colorful ensemble - mine or someone else's.

but i have to say one of the most valuable lessons she's taught me is that you really don't know how you'll like something until you try it - in most cases, this thought was imparted when me or molly would lament having to try on a dress we thought was painfully ugly, only to be told "you never know until you try it," and she was often right. someone once it was on, that dress would look different, and it was true...we never would have known without trying. (poor us, having our grandmother drag us shopping to buy us things - the spoils of youth).

so i love it when my adult life reinforces childhood lessons like that, and it happened most recently last week when i was perusing the great eddie ross's blog, always a source of inspiration and amazement. what first caught my eye was that he seemed to have been inspired by the same beautiful quadrille ikat fabric featured in this month's house beautiful (albeit earlier) that i was.

eddie used several images, piece by piece, to show the components of a tablescape he was designing and as i scrolled down looking at each one, i wasn't hopeful about the end result. though i liked some of his inspiration photos, there were others i didn't like, and the way i imagined they'd look together wasn't good.





and then...




IN LOVE.

and funnily enough, up until about a month ago, i didn't get the whole ikat trend at all and rather disliked it. now i'm craving it everywhere.

so it's true...you just don't know, you CAN'T know, until you try.

some honey living you might have missed
-a great eddie ross idea
-pink and orange color story
-a life lesson best learned in the kitchen

all photos from eddie ross

nothing old about it

good morning friends. i feel it's my civic duty to share with you some of the loveliness that is old navy right now.

first order of business...floral print sarongs. i am obsessed with the yellow one above. i think it would be summer perfection with this lightweight coral hoodie on top, don't you?

truly, i love all the colorways the sarong comes in, but that yellow...it just has my number (see here for yellow obsession).

and they are downright nailing the lightweight scarf situation - love the metallic thread and pom pom details!









and look at this update on the crossbody tote style - you can control the strap length with the cute bow -- major improvement!




every single item above...under $20. LOVE.

all images from old navy