have you ever seen flowering tea? it's the prettiest thing! though i think i've seen pictures, i first saw it in person at a business lunch here, and it was a sight to behold...simple, whimsical and other-worldly. i bought a pouch of the magical little balls at this tea shop in woodstock over the weekend.
the instructions say to let each ball steep in hot water for 5 minutes and then watch the beauty take shape. i can't wait to try them!
i'm having a zigzag moment, majorly. since i'm dreaming of moving to a new place, it opens up all kinds of thoughts about new things...new colors, new patterns, new ways of mixing said colors and patterns...here are some of my favorite chevron/ziggy items right now.
there's the zig zag printed rug in so many fun colors, and it's so reasonably priced. i love the idea of the black and white one in a kitchen or entryway, and the serene light blue one would be perfect in a bedroom that dabbles in grays, whites and blues.
and then the zigzag duvet ... i love the gray version to be mixed with lots of white pillows and textiles, or the idea of the amazing saffron color in pillowcases against an otherwise solid or monochromatic bed.
and how about the ziggy chair? i love the thought of the navy one used in an otherwise preppy, nautical style room.
and then i die for this amazing print for a pair of x-benches or an awesome chair. does ballard designs not kill it?
and of course there can't be a complete conversation of zigzag without talking about missoni...have you seen the missoni for bugaboo stroller? check it.
have you seen flex watches? i love them! they don't ship until feb 1st but what a nice spot of brightness in the cold winter to look forward to! they're fun and playful, sporty and sleek. and they support good causes - eleven of them!
the watches (only $30 each) come in eleven colors and each supports a different cause - gray is for imerman angels, red is for mariners outreach, blue, which is my favorite, is for nika water. oooh and i love the black too. i love all of them, really. especially this light blue one. i guess i'd be a good candidate for the ten pack. the ten pack would be a great way to save $5 per for next year's holiday gifts or bridesmaids gifts.or for oneself. there's always that too...
they also sell just the bands for $15, so you could opt for the white or gray watch (silver face) and then get a few different color bands that would work with those faces. the possibilities are pretty much endless.
are you being hosted this weekend? hostess gifts can be both easy to shop for and hard...on one hand, there are several quick, easy wins. a bottle of wine, a bunch of beautiful flowers, or a nicely presented plant can't go wrong and i'm a big fan of all those options. but then there are the times you want to go a little different. for times like that, i love the idea i saw on my baking addiction of giving homemade vanilla sea salt.
first, i think it's beyond lovely to give something you made, and what's different about this is that it's not a batch of brownies or a cake that's eaten and then over that day, one and done. this is more of a slow burn - something that can be kept in the pantry of the recipient and used many different ways over many weeks and months, and each time they taste it and discover a new use for the salty and sweet treat, they'll think of you and the lovely hosts they were on the night they got it from you. i love that!
if you're not fancy with a crafting tool that makes perfect labels, which is like a different language to me, i think a plain paper tag (even one neatly cut from a grocery bag) with a hand-scrawled "vanilla sea salt" is kind of more charming. and this way, there's no mistaking who made it...from your kitchen to theirs.
there are so many videos constantly being emailed around and so much tv to watch on every screen that we're all on overload from time to time, right? add to that the fact that i work in television and am married to a television lover, i am often on MEDIA OVERLOAD. but there are certain videos that i still watch from time to time just because they make me feel good, and i wanted to share them with you this morning.
do you remember this awesome wedding entrance? i still get chills because it's just so fun and thinking about the amount of effort all their friends put in to learn it and step outside their comfort zone to actually do it. obsessed. plus it's a great song.
then there's this michael buble video that i just find contagious. first of all, i just love him so much. the song is so catchy, the video is so kitchy, and the horns...love those horns. and all the paper confetti reminds me of the paper confetti moments at my own wedding and at my sister's. priceless.
and you've seen the honey badger video right? omg. if you haven't, you're going to need to go somewhere where curses are okay, and watch it immediately.
oh, and one other music video. have you heard of lenka? i love this song of hers and the video is cute and quirky too. this is totally one of those songs that just makes me smile and tap my feet in a way that reminds me of my grandpa and makes me smile even bigger.
as lenka says, just enjoy the show! see you tomorrow.
i'm always a big fan of having a special drink when people arrive at a wedding or another special event. at my sister's wedding, sparkling water with fresh raspberries punctuated the rosy, blushy hues of the day. at my own wedding, we offered guests water and sparkling apple and pear ciders to signify the fall season.
at a bridal shower i planned at work a couple years ago, chocolate was the theme so i did cups of chocolate and plain milk but made them look more special with bright pink straws, all tilted matchingly to the side. yeah, matchingly. made it up.
so...these wildflower ice cubes are begging to be tried, particularly at a spring party like a bridal shower or wedding, don't you think? they actually seem pretty doable based on martha's instructions, and you could employ the same method with any number of things...fresh herbs like mint to put in a mojito or a long island iced tea, or berries to put in a fruitier cocktail. love. this. idea.
do you own an item that you just love so much you irrationally want another one? that's how i feel about the ikat scarf i got from h&m last year. i just DIE for it, over and over again, every time i look at it. when i'm not wearing it, i have it draped on my desk chair or over the side of the couch in my living room. the color story in it - blues, orange, pink, mustard...oh my god. i just can't.
what good would having a second one do me? none. it doesn't even make sense. i just love it that much. although....now that i'm giving it some thought, if i had an extra one, i could use it to reupholster the antique bench i rescued from a junk pile...
the isla layered necklace from sarah chloe is, i think, my very favorite incarnation of the initials-on-a-pendant look i've seen. i have to admit it's partially because you don't have to choose what metal tone to go with (white, yellow, rose) and can instead use any combination of them you'd like. i think a rose and yellow combo would be pretty if you only needed two charms, and then who knows, maybe you'd have a white one to add later on!
do you love? i feel like sarah chloe is pretty much one-stop-shopping for all monogrammed and personalized jewelry. there's pretty much nothing in that realm that i've wanted (initial pendants, monogram pendants, even old-school nameplates in all different typefaces!) that they don't kill it on.
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.
i'm all aflutter with dreams of a white kitchen (with touches of blue). these dreams aren't new to me, just renewed because we're talking about moving so possibility is in the air. i'm already set on white dishes, but here are some of the white kitchen accents i think would be cheerful, even on a frozen day like today.
i love all the stoneware and ceramic egg crates i've seen so often recently, but my personal favorite is the one from anthropologie since it holds a full dozen. if i got this one or this one, though they're pretty, i'd still have a half empty carton of eggs each time i bought them until i got through the first six. not pretty.
i also really love the berry boxes because they're sweet looking and they just look so much like the real thing, even with the little puckers and dents and bends in the basket. even though i prefer them in white for my fantasy kitchen, you can see all the lovely little details in the green one here. aren't they lovely?
and even white can have whimsy with little pieces of art like these owl measuring cups.
i guess the nicest thing about these moments of white is that i might not be able to (read: will definitely not) have a dream white kitchen like this or this, but i can get some of these little accents and feel like i'm living a little piece of that wonderfully white dream.
if i were allowed only one passion in life, it would be details. to me, no detail is too small to observe, improve or enjoy. the beauty of details isn't about perfection as much as it's about learning what you like and using it to create pleasure for yourself and the people in your life. most of life is not in our control, so i firmly believe in making the things that are the best they can be.
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