j. crew fall.

loving j. crew's fall collection. periwinkle and fuschia pants, trench coats, bright orange-red hues -- all mixed with neutrals. thanks jenna lyons and marissa webb for never letting us down.

all images via refinery 29

orange fizz.

as soon as i saw this photo from matchbook magazine over at oh joy i fell in love with that nail color. obsessed, i tell you!

chanel - orange fizz.

weekend recap - snow in march.

i thought i would share a few photos from this past weekend. my girlfriend and myself had a hankering to do some antiquing and the random springtime blizzard was not going to stop us. we headed down to cherokee street for the afternoon. i found some fantastic antique jewelry for only $15! i'm thinking i might need to open an etsy shop one of these days and share some of my finds.

after scoring the perfect wooden crate for the back of my bike complete with a hinged lid, (pictures to come) we decided we needed to perk up with something warm. we popped in the mud house and had some delicious espresso. seriously the best americano i have had in a long time and the brunch menu looked amazing, i can't wait to go back. i can vouch for their baked goods - only crumbs left on both of our plates.

friday night i was introduced to sanctuaria's cocktail club! have you heard about it? once a member you can order from their "members only" list of cocktails. there's 150 cocktails on this list, so to make it slightly more manageable the bar equips you with your own mead compostion notebook to keep track of which ones you have tried and take notes. i've already devised my own rating system based on taste and presentation :) turns out the notebooks are also great for playing elementary games such as M.A.S.H. and the dot game - not that i did this... membership also includes discounts on their events, including cocktails by candlelight (exactly what it sounds like). sanctuaria is a tapas bar in the grove district.

rainy weekend.

happy friday!

it's been a good week, but boy have i been anxious for this weekend. the forecast is rain all weekend long, but that won't stop the fun. i plan on having a relaxing friday night with yoga and a big glass of red wine. saturday i have two birthday parties and finally get to catch up with some friends i have not seen in weeks! wee! what do you have going on this weekend?

links i've been lovin':

romance novel couple portraits.

if i had an extra 180 bones, THIS is what i would spend it on.

sweet valley high. all grown up.

the fate of unicorns.

moses' first haircut. meep.

photo via bardot in blue.

david kramer.

ever since i returned from NYC and saw david kramer's work for the second time it's been on my mind. i love the vintage advertising imagery and the use of text in his work. not to mention, he's not afraid to use color. see more work and find out more about kramer on his blog, toothless alcoholic.

images via kramer's blog: toothless alcoholic.

Toro Y Moi

this song. on repeat. all day.

tuckered out.

gorgeous prints + silk blouses = city squirrel's dream spring uniform

i think the tagline should be: "just add skinny jeans."

loving tucker's spring line.

images via shopbop.

pimp my ride.

with the unseasonably warm weather here in st. louis this past weekend, i spent some time on sunday getting my bike tuned up and ready for some early spring rides.

right now i have a red milk crate strapped on the back of my bike (i know - totally hipster...at least it's not a fixie) for trips to the farmers market and yoga in the park. i have been thinking about alternatives for the clunky red crate. i had idea of just strapping a regular wicker basket on the back and low and behold, design*sponge did a feature on beg bicycles today.


i am thinking a diy project inspired by beg bicycles products. just find a basket or wooden crate at a thrift or antique store and attach them with bungee cords. i love both looks of the wooden crate or the wicker basket on the bikes. how cute would it be to find a vintage crate that had some lettering or labels still on them. looks like this girl just found a weekend project.

images via beg bicycles

new york (pt. 2)

a few more nyc highlights:

one more the high line pic on a gorgeous spring day.

gallery hopping in chelsea. contemporary art galore - complete with live goats.

drinks and searching for the elusive shamrock shake with my yoga friend.

window shopping on bleecker ending with the cupcake mecca - magnolia bakery.

i met one of my favorite bloggers, mrs. lilien, in the hotel elevator. i dorkily requested a picture :)

jeff koons dog vases at the gagosian store on madison ave.

the ultimate NYC hangover cure between visiting museums.

spring brights.

this spring i am loving bright neon ballet flats for a pop of color. paired with skinny jeans for weekends and cropped black pants for the workdays. oh, and an equally bright pedicure.

ballet flats (clockwise): j. crew, kate spade, chinese laundry, tory burch

snowy. march. monday.

went to bed last night to the soothing sound of "wintry mix" falling from the skies and woke up this morning to full blown snow. in march. what the heck? but it was actually quite beautiful to see it fall and cover the trees. and i am pulling out my warm winter sweaters for--what i swear--to be the last time this season.

see that little green plant in the lower left-hand corner? yep, my chives came back. :) i had scrambled eggs saturday & sunday morning with yummy cheese and fresh chives. if this snow kills my chives, mother nature has it coming.

some links of things i have been lovin' lately:

we get it, suri.

new rifle paper co. spring products

mike posner has done it again!

real life up! from national geographic.

heavenly.

i have fallen hard for jo malone.

the english pear and freesia is a little slice of heaven. it has the glorious properties of any great perfume -- the moment you spray this on you instantly feel glamorous and more put-together.

scenes from new york (pt. 1)

here is just a small glimpse of some of the fun stuff we did while in the big apple...

lunch at the park restaurant under high line park. gorgeous interiors and an extremely stylish bathroom.

explored high line park on a sunny day.

the high line park is an elevated train track from the 1930s that has been abandoned and turned into now a public park. they have great wide walkways flanked with natural grasses and plants with remnants of the train tracks mixed in. the park commissioned several artists to do permanent installation pieces including the beautiful spencer finch piece seen above with the windows.

and enough artwork to make my eyes go cross-eyed. this is a scene of the armory show from above. so much beautiful artwork in one place is so overwhelming! add five more artfairs in 4 days and you officially have stendhal syndrome.

more pictures to come...

signs of spring.

i am back from a phenomenal trip to new york filled with sunshine, friends, museum hopping, book stores, fancy cocktails, new friends, park strolling, hot dog carts, taxi drives and enough art to make me go cross-eyed.

after a fulfilling and exhausting trip, i was welcomed home to a little sign of spring in my front yard. two little crocuses had bloomed as if to say glad to have you back.

more about the NYC trip to come :)

bright lights. long nights.

i'm up in new york for a few days checking out the armory show and all the other art fairs. we arrived this afternoon and spent the afternoon wandering up and down madison ave and circling central park. i was dying to pop in and try on a dress when i passed by the herve leger boutique. and the jonathan adler store? too cute with the huge squirrels flanking either side of the door!

we had dinner at a great gastro chic restaurant near our hotel, the national. on my on-going quest to find the best IPA, i tried a new one -- speakeasy, big daddy IPA out of san francisco. the beer was fantastic. great with my meal and the hops didn't overpower the food.

i'm really excited to be meeting lots of new people, trying great restaurants and most of all, seeing some really fabulous old friends.

images via 20x200, the national, the armory show