summer in the city

My sister is visiting! We and our parents spent the afternoon in the city, which looked like this...


















The carriage lights up at night! It reminds me of Cinderella.












My book finds.


And my mom bought me these darling sunnies from The Souq.


I'm rather in love with them!
I hope everyone's having a lovely weekend. :)
OH, and I want to give lots of hugs and thank-yous to Gabbie for mentioning me in her recent Lovely Links post! I'm so flattered! Be sure to check out her fabulous blog and all the others featured. ♥

mike bailey-gates and unicorn/dreams

(one, two)






(one, two)

I like dreams because without them there wouldn't be much of anything to live for.
They are movies of your life that play on your eyelids when you sleep.
- Mike Bailey-Gates

I came across these gorgeous shots by Mike Bailey-Gates in Unicorn/Dream Magazine, a new and incredibly lovely online magazine. If you haven't heard of it, you should read the first issue! It's full of photography, poetry, art, fashion and interviews, all dreamy and inspiring. Also, they're trying to reach 100 Facebook fans by the end of the week and they just need a few more to succeed so go like them already!

And do check out Mike Bailey-Gates on Flickr for more beautiful photography. (:

miu miu by kris atomic

Aren't these Miu Miu drawings by Kris Atomic just darling? I'm smitten. (I still love the patterns from that collection. I don't think they'll ever grow old to me.) Also check out Kris's blog, tumblr and flickr - especially the illustrations set! So much cuteness.

smoke gets in your eyes

Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who left comments and followed me over the weekend! I can't tell you how excited and surprised I was to see that. When I post comments on other blogs it's because I like that blog and want to support the writer; I think the posts are so interesting, I genuinely have so much fun reading other blogs. So I never expect people to wander over here at all, nevermind leaving comments and following! So thank you (:

Okay, now I have two things to share. I found a darling video from bellatv on how to get the milkmaid braid look, similar to Robin Tunney in my last post. Check it out:



I tried it, but my hair is so thick that it just kind of looked like a big mess on top of my head. But I think it might work well if I do a bunch of little braids rather than two big ones. So I'm going to try that soon! If anybody tries the style in that video do let me know how it works for you.

And now, some pretty pictures from last night's Mad Men premiere (spoiler alert?). This show! I've missed it so much. And I thought the premiere was just fantastic.






I love Peggy's look this season. She seems so confident and happy.




This scene was so cute!




I'm rather obsessed with this color on Joanie.




I'm not the world's biggest Betty fan, but I love how her outfits are always so colorful...


...see?




And now I'm off to prepare for my sister to visit this week! So excited. Happy Monday!

pretty little bird and weekend wishes

I was flipping through the latest issue of InStyle this morning and saw the most beautiful spread of photographs from Robin Tunney's home in LA! Unfortunately I couldn't find any pictures besides this one online - maybe I'll scan them myself someday - but that's okay because this was one of my favorites. I love her vintage dress and her cute little smile and her hair! I've always wanted to do that with my hair, but never really knew how. I do a makeshift version when I get up in the mornings, just twisting the sides round and pinning them, but I always end up putting the back into a ponytail because I don't know what else to do with it. Maybe I'll make that a project for the weekend? Does anyone happen to know of any video tutorials, etc? I'd also like to reorganize my tags on the blog over the weekend! They've gotten so out of control.

My evening has been consumed with reading other lovely blogs and watching Pride and Prejudice (2005) for the zillionth time. Such a fun way to spend my Friday night. (: Hope you all have a lovely weekend, whatever your plans are!

it's delightful, it's delicious, it's delovely

Today there was a heat advisory outside so I did what everyone should do: I stayed in, painted my nails, listened to Peggy Lee radio and "window shopped" online!


Knitted Stripe Jumper; TopShop.


Knitted Heart Cardigan; TopShop.


Crinkle Lace Tunic; TopShop.


Marguerite Hat and Aubrey Ring; ModCloth.


Nail Polish in Office; American Apparel.

Clearly I'm still in my monochromatic stage. There's something so chic about greyscale clothing! I can't help myself. American Apparel's nail polish in Office is my dream shade of the moment, but I don't have anything quite close to it so I made my own with a minty green glaze over a basic white and topped with Essie's fabulous matte top coat.

Now I think I'll finish beating the heat with some ice cream. It's only appropriate, right? :)

pan, who and what art thou?

(image by libellule)
Barnes & Noble has a wonderful new promotion: every week they're offering different classic titles in ebook format for free download on their website. I've already downloaded Peter Pan, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, The Secret Garden and Grimm's Fairy Tales. I'm so excited!

The books can be read on the free ereader for your PC, iPad, etc. or you can read them on your nook if you have one (which I do, and I would recommend it to anyone). I'm something of a romantic when it comes to books so I would say that classics should be bought in volumes like the above, but when they're offered as ebooks for free? I'm all over it. (:

on the sunny side of the street

Some black eyeliner and red lipstick cure the Monday blues. Glam it up!
(Yes, I've been playing with my camera's burst setting again. Also, pardon the frizz. Ick.)