cheer up charlie...

i am not normally one to post any bummer moments up in here. keep it chipper and cheerful, but i definitely have no good, very bad days. this week was plagued with series of unfortunate events...nothin' major, just the kind of things that make you gnash your teeth and want to pull out your hair. things of the technical variety(computer screens cracking, iphone screens shattering) all the way to the down-right scary(accidentally getting on the freeway when your contacts are the wrong prescription and it's almost dark). silly stuff that just adds up, you know? anway, i am starting a "cheer up charlie" bank of feel-good things that seem to do the trick. here is what is working for me now...

{sources ☞ doyle & doyle/1st dibs, martha stewart, kissssssssing blog, katie evans blog, tinsel trading}
1. loving on my beagles. having pets is such a cure-all, especially when you have a lovey dovey duo.
2. flea marketing and drooling over heirloom engagement rings. part of me wants to collect them one day and wear them all stacked up on one finger. kinda weird but also kind of romantic, no?
3. cupcakes, tried and true. still a fan even though they're considered passé.
4. talking on the phone with my girlfriends or sisters or parents. my friends and family are pretty awesome :)
5. smooching eddie. i love my sweet man.
6. champagne and shiny stuff. never fails to boost my mood.

also, blogs like this one help a lot too!

what works for you?

fresh faced...

i am so excited to see a truly lovely beauty blog on the scene! i don't have an extensive "daily beauty routine". i just tend to rotate a few trusty red lipsticks, and i've been wearing anti-wrinkle creams since i was 17. maybe into the gloss will coax me into unearthing my false lashes and glitter... i know it's there somewhere...

flea market style...

one of my favorite simple pleasures is drinking hot chocolate and perusing the new monthlies at casa magazines, a local business i am always happy to support! by luck and by happenstance i stumbled upon a new insta-favorite... flea market style. hello little magazine, where have you been all my life???

the entire magazine is devoted to upcycling vintage finds and new uses for old things.

also included are snippets of history and care tips and tricks for your careworn treasures.

great. now i want to collect rose paintings. thank god i have gone on a total shopping hiatus( ahem, my husband had to reign in my wild junkin' addiction).

really wonderful glimpses into folks' homes. i fell in love with joe apodaca and jermonne swendell. their ironstone collection of dishes and pitchers... ummm, yes please! i'll have what they're having...

and anyone who has ever had the pleasure of visiting red chair antiques will love the glimpse into miss jocie sinauer's home( which was also featured on design sponge)! i emptied my pockets there when i visited this summer. impeccable, impeccable taste. if there was a train i could take to visit there every weekend, i would hop on it instantly!

selvedge, country living, and martha stewart are my staples, and now i will have to add this to the list! i find it incredibly encouraging to see new magazines popping up in this abysmal time in the editorial world. while i'm still mourning the loss of domino and blueprint, this little brightness gives me hope for the future. one day magazines will flourish again... fingers crossed.

and i will show you mine...

today i am grateful for...

indulgences. last night i unabashedly cheered my lil' heart out watching the UGA football game in a soho sports bar with my husband and friends. i introduced my coworkers to the genius that is "party in the USA" by miley cyrus (and a few other current top 40 chart toppers). and i shared cheesecake ice cream with eddie. in bed. while i drew some cheeky pin up gals.

i am a huge fan of guilty pleasures. in fact, i kind of swear by them. things i (not so) secretly love...

*biting my nails.

*being an obnoxious sports fan, mainly football and soccer.

*espousing worthless pop culture trivia.

*bad dancing, such as droppin' it like it's hot... probably the worst offense of them all.

*taking cabs, whenever i can "justify" it.

*making my own ice cream sundaes, in the pint carton, and eating the whole thing.

*eating a cupcake in one whole bite.

*drinking prosecco and cleaning the apartment.

*wearing granny panties, and not in an american apparel, ironically sexy way. the kind you buy in a pack at a discount department store. white cotton and high-waisted to the navel.

*reading self-improvement books and children's books. you will probably never find me on the train reading palahniuk or bukowski.

*staying up til the wee hours to watch netflix's watch instantly t.v. section.

phew. i feel better. i tend to surprise people with these certain guilty pleasures of mine. i know it's not very fashionable to reveal such shamefulness, but this is me. so what are y'alls? it's only fair to show me yours, since i showed you mine...

good things...

today i am grateful for...

my mother sending our wedding quilt squares to us. now i need to tackle embroidering the messages.

organizing my books...

and organizing his : )

clustering my twine collection. and using it to tie up our recyclables.

cheering up my sink. this lovely lady suggests finding ways to make you mundane chores more enjoyable. in fact, i like all of her tips on living beautifully. her books are my new guilty pleasure.

flea marketing with chelsea cook and mollie little. i brought home fresh cilantro, lavender, peaches, kale, cosmos and blackberries. i devoured a lobster roll. we drank stumptown coffee for the first time. i slurped down a peach and lavender popsicle. chelsea introduced me to a rosehip bush. i acquired frilly linens to masquerade as a table cloth and a bathmat. i ran into an old high school classmate (go cats). i left with a very full belly, happy heart, and heavy arms (weighed down with all my spoils). life is pretty sweet and i am very grateful for every moment.

give me my sin again and again...

i think i need to make it a goal of mine to befriend someone with a movie theater to play this once a week. we missed the first twenty minutes and arrived just in time to hear "kissing you". and the fish tank scene. and the elevator scene. oh the elevator scene... 

thank you john gardner and lauren weinerth for coming with me. it was so worth the three hours in commute, to and from, just to see it. and with two of my favorite people. 

did my heart love til now...

i need some folks to see this with me this saturday. 3:45 p.m. at lincoln center. i saw this 9 times in theater when it came out in november of 96. i've always been a touch obsessive. this movie inspired my catholic art collecting. fueled my love for claire danes and leonardo dicaprio. and was the first movie i ever saw with my husband. we were with a huge group of people and every girl in the audience gasped when the screen zoomed in on romeo for the first time.

another fun fact...the song i walked down the aisle to was the instrumental version of "kissing you". it is also the song my husband played when he proposed to me...as he was quoting the scene where romeo first speaks to juliet at the capulet's party. swoon.

july rain..

simple gratitudes for a perfectly gloomy summer morning. waking up to the sound of rain against your window. actually being able to see outside of your window. the last lower east side dungeon had no windows to the outside world. just alleys and bar patios.

i am grateful for:

pale purple hydrangeas from a generous neighbor who didn't mind letting a few droopy blooms go to a new home.

a rain smattered window.

a pitcher of water spiked with lemon slices. tastes like summer.

black coffee in a cup and saucer. should be tea on such a grey morning, but i am ferociously addicted to coffee in the early hours.

my handsome man sleeping deeply. his cute feet peeking from the covers.

rain check...

oh another rainy day in new york. my this is the coldest june i have ever experienced. not that i'm complaining, after all- i hate the heat!

today i am grateful for...

1. breakfast with the lovely kristi schiffman and cafe gitane. re-living the fun and festivities of maddy's wedding.

2. the marked down chambray shirts and a new pair of dusty rose lace-ups scored at eleven. the shirt truly was a score, i had been eyeing it for a few months with hopes of a summer sale...

3. eddie and i testing out the laundry room in our basement. so long wash & fold laundromats, hello clean sheets and unmentionables!

4. coffee at the national, my favorite coffee shop on rivington. finished reading ghosty men and made a serious dent in a thousand ways to please a husband.

5. washing a sinkful of glasses, mugs, bottles, and vases. long overdue and a quick job!

6. watching guilty pleasure television shows with eddie... real housewives of new jersey...so shameful.

*here's to rainy days...where you can be both decently productive and impossibly lazy at the same time!