it's official...

you may have seen this dress at anthropologie in the spring. 

perhaps you passed on it the first time around because, 

well, there's a quite a bit of pink.

{that was my experience upon first blush.}

it was only after i saw a woman pick it up

raise the hanger above her eye level

and pull the corner out to reveal the full skirt a bit more

that a few fabulous things were exposed to me:

1. pockets.

as a person who never knows what to do with her hands

{put on hips? sassy. cross arms? bored. flailing/talking with them? hey, i'm italian.}

i appreciate dresses and skirts with pockets.

even had them put in my wedding dress.

2. cats.

not only do i like the idea of a dress with cats 

represented in watercolor painting fashion...

these look like my two cats, jermaine {mae mae} and tito.

 mae mae is a tortie. tito is an orange tiger.

here's a close up since they look like blobs in the above photo.

so i bought it.

by way of my actions
i feel like it's official. i'm a crazy old cat lady.

i only thought twice about buying it for about one second

and then i questioned myself for questioning it.

now, who am i to judge the woman

wearing a mock turtleneck sweatshirt 

adorned with a screen printed persian?

granted, this is a lovely dress

as opposed to an ill fitting sweat suit...

and i get tons of compliments

when i wear it

{i don't point out the cats anymore...

most people just think it's real summery and don't notice the cats}

but to be frank

i bought it because of the cats.

I'M A CAT LADY!

she likes to purr.

braids and whiskers go nicely don't you think?

come closer and she'll tell you more.

little sketch from valistika.

for sale at society 6.

sure do love me some home

never is a better step taken than the one through my front door.

after a super lovely trip to manhattan 

{and long island for a wedding}

i'm so happy to be home.

delighted to see my basil and tomatoes still alive.

and my hydrangea blooming.

netflix {true blood!!!} in the mail stack.

not to mention two wagging tails 

and two purring suitcase-squatters.

and with all the heat we're having

i won't be grumpy about staying indoors 

to shoot some recent treasures

for the shop.

good start

our first day in manhattan pretty much revolved around food.
you see, i love food.
for me, trips to NY are planned around eating and museums.
i really don't reserve much time for shopping
because it's too much of a time-suck
when there are just so many other things to experience.
so, with that in mind,
it's easy to see we got off to a good start...

first stop: momofuku ssam bar for pork buns and other amazing delights.

like fried artichokes with pistachio goodness and sunchokes.

and corned beef terrine with fried egg sauce and tea brined egg salad. 

second stop: magnolia bakery for red velvet cupcakes and iced coffee.

now we're going to have some wine and chocolates on our roof top patio. 

and rest our feetsies.

what a lovely day of popping around town and eating.

blowed up.

you can almost feel the shock wave pummel your chest.

destructive photos from sarah pickering.

they make me tense up in anticipation, and i like that.

reminds me of this series by ujin lee.

destroyed at today and tomorrow.

drop a jabba.

this is just brilliantly done.

pew pew.

robe me the right way

if it wasn't from my traipsing around the house

fresh out of bed

and right after a shower

i probably wouldn't need a robe.

but it's part of my morning ritual.

get up. put on robe. pee.

kiss on the cats.

watch the house ewok do downward dog and wag for me.

have an inner debate about playing hookie.

put on a pot of coffee.

brush teeth. shower. 

slather on lotion. 

put robe back on.

blah. blah. blah.

the robe i have right now is great.

it's really plush and smurfy blue with big ol' polka dots.

too much for summer.

but i can't very well prance around

in my unmentionables with my goods

{and bads} hanging out.

so, i decided to do a little robe round-up

to help narrow down the selection.

here are a few of my faves:

chalk stripe robe via anthropologie

this is simple and lovely. i like the 3/4 sleeves because 

i'm less likely to dunk them in my breakfast.

cotton & bamboo terry from l.l.bean

there's something about a straight-up traditional terry robe that i'm attracted to.
plus, when i sho do appreciate the absorbent qualities post shower.

english rose from topshop

pretty! look at the close up of the pattern.

the only debate i'm having with this one is the sleeve length.

not fully on board with short sleeves yet because 

i fear some drafty action...but i'm loving the look.

hamam robe via anthropologie

this one is super gorge too. again loving the 3/4 sleeves. 

but is this too pretty for my scrappy morning activities? 

or should i take this  route for a

bit o'dignity in the morning whilst cleaning up

cat barf ?

decisions.decisions.decisions.

what do you guys think of these?

do you have a fave?

does anyone even wear a robe besides me?

should i just granny up and get a moo moo?

p.s. i left out approximately 85% of the cat and dog kissing from my morning ritual. 

they are just really excited when we get up. 

virtually impossible to resist.

unembarrassing.

this solar camera strap is too simple and cool.

powerful enough to keep your camera battery free.

plus it looks way cooler than the 70s weave on most straps.

designed by weng jie.

someone put it into production... please

and then give me one. thanks.

hung at gizmodo.

highly contagious.

i'm completely enraptured with the world cup...

you?

there's been a lot of interesting looks

as i jump up and down in my cube at 9 am.

this gallery from boston captures a lot of that emotion.

absolutely incredible imagery.

i love the varying personalities of the crowd shots.

the germans totally look like they're at a quidditch match...

a really small town

similar to my cats, i seem to be attracted to tiny bits of awesome.

like this small town of glazed dwellings from the oak leaves.

{the difference is that i won't hockey-shot them under closet doors}

up up and way cool

love the gainy vintage texture mixed with simple graphics
on these concert posters by conception studios. 

the overlapping circles remind me of the old tv network graphics
that aired before special programs. 

uplifting, yes?

via grain edit

amateur hour

man alive. the shelves are overflowing. the boxes are tucked, stacked, whatever. tons of inventory. things i once drooled over almost forgotten now {GASP!} because they are so deep in the inventory abyss.
with a small window of opportunity to get some good natural light
it seems like there will never be enough time in the world to shoot it all.
sound familiar? maybe it's just me. evs.
but, since my basement looks dangerously close
to the opening shot of a hoarders episode,
this is constantly on my mind.
my time is limited because
1) all things shop must come second to my day job
{insert debbie downer sound here} and
2) our house is my arch nemesis
when it comes to the kind of light i need for crisp photography.
we're covered in windows but, for the majority of the day,
they're almost all completely shaded.

wah wah and boo hiss.

i've been looking at a gazillion options.
maybe a fancier camera will to the trick?
maybe using studio lights with filters will look like natty light?
using white-board reflectors?
i mean...i've been on tons of photo shoots and have seen some magical results
by way of fancy equipment. i must need fancy equipment!
then, after reading pioneer woman's what the heck series ,
i thought it may behoove me to learn a little more
about my camera and the adjustable settings.
I'M A JERK for not doing this sooner. i know. i know. embarrassing.
especially after going to great lengths
like picking up a cheap kids tent from ikea for parts
to craft up some freestanding light filters
{bonus points: my dog happened to poop in the tent}
and moving a trillion things around in the house so i could clip lights on to things.
ARGH.

so, after messing with the exposure compensation,

i had ah-ha and doh moments simultaneously.

i grabbed a few items from the vintage stash and headed into our office.

it was about 7pm and the room gets southern exposure.

it was pretty dark in there but i tried anyway and these are the results.

ok-these are not the best shots in america. i know this.

BUT if i get out the ol' tripod and try this in the afternoon...i might be on to something.

hey- a small win is still a win!

between friday and monday...

in this order...

the fuzzies stared scared after a bit of lightning.

if you also have a scaredy-cat dog you may want to try these drops. 

they are the only thing that will calm the bitches during storms.

got a super lovely package from dear oly.

there were about a gazillion awesome trinkets and paper goods in this little package.

honestly though, she had me at awesome stamps.

why don't we have cat and tiger stamps here?

we have anxiety drops for dogs but can't get an illustrated cat stamp in the mix?

{not fair}

don't make me start collecting japanese cat stamps...

i forgot about this chair behind the garage for about two years.

needless to say the canvas was trashed. ripped even.

i saved it with some fabric originally intended for man aprons.

aaaand those are still on the to-do list.

which, at this point, seems like a to-don't list.

c'est la vie.

anyway, this chair is needed specifically for morning time reading in the yard.

our big ol' loungers are in shade city until afternoon.

boo.

i made this crustless gruyere, ham, and spinach quiche last night.

it smelled like a miracle.

and it looked like a real doozie of a quiche.

all poofy. yes.it.did.

but, when i subbed in lower fat options for the cream

i didn't consider that i needed some of that fat

for it to set properly.

suspected that was the source of liquid in the dish bottom.

nothing a little slow and low cooking can't remedy.

end result: it tastes super delicious.

pinky swear

over the past five years or so

i've pretty much shunned pink.

before that {we're talking like 2000}

i had some pink pumas

and other pink thangs.

in fact, i remember buying those shoes

at the puma store in soho and thinking 

i was going to be way super cool at home

with exclusive pink shoes. 

proud days, my friends.

proud days.

the pink i've been stumbling upon

now-a-days

brings on a wave of nostalgia that is much more refreshing
to say the least.

and i'm totally digging it.

it's so different than the guilt-by-diva-association pink 

of more recent days {think baby phat...},

it reminds me more of

the light pink esprit pants 

i wore to my first concert,

{new edition, thank you very much}

my first polo shirt {i scooped a ton of ice cream to pay for...},

my ballet slippers,
michael jackson's shirt and sunset in the billy jean video,

and the skinny tie my date wore 

to the middle school dance.

here's a sampling of these nostalgic pinks

i'm referring to.

all from the uber talented nikole herriott of forty-sixth at grace .

simply put

i'm reconsidering pink.

 

loving the way she has captured these pinks.

making me feel good about them again...

if you don't already know about nikole's shop...

she makes and sells hand turned and carved

wooden goods all made from 100% salvaged wood.

absolutely beautiful.

ab.so.lute.ly. beau.ti.ful.

corny & carny

took a stroll outside my office building at lunch 

in search of a hiding place where i could read.

found a carnival along the river instead.

they had corndogs.

my favorite.

the food vendors and a few rides are open

but they're still setting up for the most part.

behind the scenes carnival action

is awesome.

reminds me of the jerk.

one of my all time favorite movies.

anyway, i snapped some photos

with my shakeit app.

'twas fun.
 ahhhh. summer in the d.
who else is ready for the weekend?