Garance Doré

I'm completely addicted to Garance Doré's French fashion blog.  Her photos and illustrations  make me ache with longing. Ah, to be chic and  carefree in Paris.  Today I stumbled upon another treat:  a video (here) of Garance giving an interview outside the Paris ready-to-wear shows.  She's so funny and charming.  

Thursday Favorites

Hello everyone! I wanted to share with you some of my favorite images for this chily Thursday evening. I'm especially fond of the girls in tulle. (Top right, Kate Moss)  I love the ballet, but I can't dance. Alas.

(Photo credits: here.)

Beauty

Who is more beautiful... Monica Bellucci ?

Or Angelina Jolie?

They're both beautiful.  At the moment, though, I'm fascinated by Italian actress Bellucci.

She was mesmerizing in Malèna. (Reminds me to rent it again on Netflix.) 

What do you think?

My NYC Moleskine

I like to take a Moleskine city book with me everywhere I travel. This is my NYC book, which has made several trips with me to Manhattan.  I love staying at the Bryant Park Hotel (when I can afford it). There's a carousel in the park across the street that is magical. And the outdoor library cafe is heaven on a sunny spring day. A few doors up, there's a fantastic store packed with magazines from around the world. And down the street, there's a FedEX store to ship them home (along with all the laundry.)

I'm always searching for great thrift stores and flea markets. Chelsea has the best. Housing Works is beyond wonderful (and proceeds go to assisting people with AIDS.) I bought a gorgeous pair of Prada platform ankle boots there for a song.

I can never go to NYC without stopping in Barneys (and then walking a couple blocks up the street to Nello cafe). Then I catch a cab to Henri Bendel. I usually buy a Bendel doll to bring home to my daughter.  Pressed into my Moleskine is NYT writer Alex Kuczynski's Critical Shopper column on Henri Bendel's remake.  (I adore everything Alex writes.) She quotes Emile Zola's "Ladies' Paradise," which is like mind candy.  "At the far end of the hall, around one of the small cast-iron columns which supported the glass roof, material was streaming down like a bubbling sheet of water. Women pale with desire were leaning over as if to look at themselves. Faced with this wild cataract, they all remained standing there, filled with the secret fear of being caught in the overflow of all this luxury and with an irresistible desire to throw themselves in and be lost." Ah. Bliss. (By the way, the top photo of the NYC girl with the red bag is from The Sartorialist. I love all her contrasting patterns, plus the faux fur.)

I keep a card for the East Village Korean restaurant, Dok Suni on 1st Ave. in the back pocket of the book. The food is so delicious. And I have sentimental reasons for liking this restaurant: It's where I interviewed the sweet, amazing author Josh Swiller.

I also keep a little essay by David Hellerstein on the elegant way New Yorkers walk:  "New Yorkers walk sleekly, rapidly as surgeons on rounds. They dodge and shift, adjusting shoulders and briefcases to allow one another to pass with a minute precision...Each person is on an urgent mission, each must take the shortest path to their train or office or shrink; they cannot yield, but none collide. It is the essence of New York's grace." 

Indeed.

PS:  Hellerstein's essay is from "City Secrets: New York City."

What's your favorite place in NYC?

Botanical Prints

A modern twist on an old favorite:  Master printmaker Lindsay Ryan's contemporary botanicals on Etsy are so very pretty.  I'm especially fond of the thistle one. 

Tuesday Collage

Good morning! Here are some more of the beautiful things that caught my eye on We Heart It.  Favorites: the full moon (did you see it last night?!); blue china; Venice; antique books with jeweled bookmarks; a seed pod shaped like a heart; rainy weather.  xoxo

(Photos, credits and more lovely things on my I Heart It page!)

Lolitas.se

From Lolitas.se, the absolutely charming Swedish blogger.  I LOVE the moving profile pic on her site. Wonderfully original!

Silhouettes, Part Deux

Continuing with my obsession du jour -- silhouettes -- I was thrilled to find these beautiful papercuts by San Francisco artist Tina Tarnoff on Etsy.  

She says: "I like the female shape and I like the sense of movement, and I use that a lot in my papercut art. I think what attracts me to papercut is very much the sense of building something, a sense of sculpting, the clean cut aspect of it and the immediate result. " 

She blogs too!

On This Rainy Morning

I'm still savoring Jen's Simply Breakfast blog, even though she finished her project there on Jan. 1. I love going back through her old posts....

A Favorites Collage

Hello everyone. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I wanted to share with you a quick cut-out collage I put together of some of my favorite images from We Heart It, the new photo sharing site. I can't decide which one I like the best. They're all so lovely: Pink tulle, white tulle, an old record player, Marilyn Monroe, a carnival ride, a blue typewriter, red shoes.... Bliss. I have everything I need.

(Photo credits: the links and more details are on my I Heart It page. This website breaks down a lot, so be patient!)

Have a happy Monday.

xoxo

French Blogs!

Alas, the tea party is over.  It's raining again. I spent some time this evening reading my favorite blogs in Australia before moving over to France. At the moment, my most visited French decor + photo blog is Gris-bleu, created by the incomparable Phillippe, a graphic artist and photographer. (See above)  It's like falling into a Marie Antoinette fantasy land. He has fantastic taste (and blog links!) Also recommended: Ciel d'Orage, La Mule de Pape and Les Jardins de Kahlan.  

Update: I've started a "Blogs Abroad" category to list some of the wonderful blogs overseas. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

xo

Saturday Tea, Anyone?

The sun is finally out, a short reprieve before a new storm. I thought I would celebrate by having tea in the garden this afternoon. (Which inspired the above post.) I love Los Angeles after a rainstorm. You can see from the mountains, to the ocean, to the islands. Beautiful. I'm trying to decide whether to make blooming jasmine tea (bought at the Tea Palace in Notting Hill) or Earl Gray (from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.)

(Photo credits: Liquid Sky Arts, Corrie Bond, Mary Ruffle, Antony Chammond, Cha Cha Havana.)

Silhouettes

I'm crazy about black and white silhouettes. Country Living recently did a fantastic slideshow, including some of the images above, on its website. (The chair silhouettes in the second photo are my favorite.)

PS: I couldn't resist ordering one of Lucky Me Beads's silhouette pendants on Etsy last week. 

ALSO! Check out artist Tina Tarnoff's charming silhouettes on Etsy!

Friday

Wishing everyone a very lovely weekend!  xoxo

(Photo by Rodney Smith via Absolutely Beautiful Things.)

What's In Your Filofax?

I realize this is probably complete decadence, but I've managed to collect seven Filofaxes over the years. I've tried -- lots of times -- to give them up for Palm Pilots and other electronic devices, but I can't.  I use my pink Filofax as an address book, my red one for recipes, and so on. 

My green one is my portable inspiration file.  The contents:  

An old NYT magazine Domains profile of the late John Mortimer (He drank Champagne every morning for breakfast, which I applaud); Lists of interesting words; Various magazine photos; A picture of my husband (featured in an LA Times ad long ago); An Equinox schedule; Megan Stack's fantastic LA Times profile of Vivian Edde; A gorgeous snippet from Michael Cunningham's book, "The Hours;" Harry Eyres' "Autumn and Essences" column from the FT; And finally, a picture of JLo (and butt) to inspire me to go to the gym. (I hate the gym.)

What's in your Filofax?

Rain, at last

It's raining in Los Angeles, which makes me very happy.  My plans for the evening are very basic. The highlights:  Make dinner (something from Trader Joes), take a long bubble bath in my clawfoot tub and curl up with a book. I just started Ian McEwan's "On Chesil Beach." I usually wait until books come out in paperback because it's easier to write in the margins and underline beautiful passages. (Plus I always feel bad about marking up hardbacks.)  I thought "Atonement" was brilliant, so I'm interested to see how this new one compares!

(Photo by +Lyn)

Coffee Break

Good morning, Loves. I'm rushing this morning to finish my column for tomorrow's paper. But I wanted to share with you another amazing photo by Petrina Tinslay. I find her photographs beautiful and comforting. By the way, I'm working on a very special post for you for later today!  xoxo

Evening Toast

It's evening and I finally have a chance to relax. I've been continuing to flip through the Toast catalogues online. I spotted this picture. I love this look: Boots with black tights and a print skirt. I also love how the scarf matches the jacket. What do you think?

Tea (and Toast) Break

I adore these images from Toast, the UK version of Anthropologie. (The catalogues are awe inspiring -- and online.)  The robe in the top photo is gorgeous and I love the staircase... And now I'm off for my real tea break. 

Love Note, Found