2010 10 01 archive

The Girl: She works two jobs to afford Brooklyn rent, but she wouldn’t live anywhere else. Her favorite things are weekday concerts, sweet potato fries, menswear, and Prospect Park in the fall.
Her Room: Her ground floor studio is filled to the brim with pattern and color, family hand-me-downs and vintage second-hand purchases. She looks at her night stand and smiles, remembering sleepovers at grandma’s when she was a little kid.

One of my favorite recurring moments in life is when Nate enters my office, takes over my keyboard, and states confidently: “I have a song for you.” When it turns out that I do in fact love the song, I typically add it to my playlist, listen to it on a constant loop for several months, and there it will stay until I get sick of it.



A more recent addition to my playlist are several songs by the band Mumford and Sons, my favorite of which is Little Lion Man. This is the tune Nate came to me with, and I was immediately captivated by the song’s bold sound; the perfect pluck pluck pluck of the string instruments combines with the lead singer’s rough voice to make this a bit of rock/bit of folk musical combo. Adding to the quality of the music is the beautiful art direction of the video itself. Of course, it helps that the four scruffy-bearded musicians look like they fell out of the movie Newsies. Helloooo vests. But the lighting, the setting, the angles, the dramatic motions of their playing make each and every frame a carefully thought-out photograph. See below.

Very apropos for today’s apocalyptic weather in the Chicagoland area. It’s never good waking up to “severe rain, tornado warnings, and the strongest wind gusts we’ve had in 70 years.” So glad I had my yellow wellies to take the dogs out in this morning. The dogs weren’t as content, however.

1. Tory Burch Jacquard | 2. Sperry® Top-sider | 3. Chooka Plaid | 4. Burberry Shimmer Check | 5. Aigle® Equibelle | 6. Ralph Lauren Tartan | 7. Target Ditsy Dot

1. Lands End | 2. Hunter | 3. Mod Baltic | 4. Bella Pagoda | 5. Kate Spade

I had the pleasure of meeting designer Grant K. Gibson when I was in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Grant was named one of Elle Decor’s up-and-coming designers in their 2010 A-List issue, and after a quick glance at his apartment, it’s easy to see why. How one takes a San Francisco rental unit and turns it into what resembles a luxurious English country estate is beyond me. His carefully curated and perfectly paired furnishings make this new designer look like a seasoned vet.

I had the pleasure of meeting photographer Trent Bailey when I was in New York last month as he shot two of the events I attended. Now I am completely addicted to his photo blog where he shares sneak peaks of recent wedding and engagement shoots, side projects, and some fun stopwatch videos. Case in point, I loved this charming post he did of two of his friends romping around the big city. Their laughter and style makes me want to go back and visit NYC. Stat.

BEFORE: Nate and I bought this table on Craigslist three years ago for a mere $45. I loved it then. I hate it now. The overall size and shape – especially with the lower shelf (not shown here) – is perfect for our needs, but the finish was too red and it just didn’t go with all of the white and espresso wood throughout the rest of our apartment. So, I called up my gal Bailey to borrow her electric sander (which I am now convinced I need to invest in), ran to Home Depot for some white paint, and got to work.

1. Kate Spade dress | 2. Elva Fields necklace | 3. Kate Spade bracelet | 4. Diane von Furnstenburg flats | 5. Hunter Wellington boots

Cashmere classics from two of my favorites stores.

THE CHALLENGE:

You have $200. Which do you buy?

sweater | throw

This weekend was round two of Rue in the City, West Coast style. The five of us – Caitlin, Anne, Crystal, Bri, and I – reunited in the Bay Area for photo shoots, another launch party, and of course, to have some fun!