Love 'n Stuff

My Friday will be entirely devoted to watching the Future King and Queen of England get hitched. I have every intention of waking up at 4am (5am at the latest) to catch the arrival of the wedding guests before the ceremony and then later in the afternoon we're having a Wedding Party (complete with proper attire, wedding cake, scones, and g&ts, naturally) to watch the full production all over again. 

Charles and Diana's wedding was airing over the weekend and I learned that some of the guests arrived up to three hours prior to the ceremony, and although Westminster Abbey's capacity is far less than St. Paul's Cathedral (1900 guests compared with 3500 guests), thereby not requiring as much time to be ushered into the Cathedral (I wonder if there are call times printed on the invites?!), I'm guessing they will still arrive a few hours prior to the ceremony. Hence the early wake up; I don't want to miss anything. 

I know of so many people who are over-the-moon excited about this wedding, myself included. Maybe because we weren't around or were too young to watch the last Royal Wedding in 1981. 

Wedding tchotchkes and fun bridal literature in honour of tomorrow's events:

image via polyvore

images via abebooks.com

Dolly Parton singing He's Going to Marry Me

The Lost (And Found) Photographs of Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier (1926-2009) was a nanny and amateur street photographer whose photographs never saw the light of day during her lifetime. They were discovered by real estate agent John Maloof in 2007 when he bought a suitcase of old negatives at an auction, and he later bought the rest of them when they, too, surfaced at auction, around 100,000 negatives in total. She died shortly after this discovery, without ever knowing what an impact her images would have on people in the art world. Her work shows a lot of the glamour and grit of New York, Chicago, and elsewhere that she went on her travels (throughout parts of Europe and Africa). 

Her former charges have divulged as much as is known about Maier, describing her as reclusive and eccentric, but I love how they also describe her as a kind of Mary Poppins figure, because she would take them on these wild adventures but was probably somewhat proper from her French upbringing.

Self-Portraits:

On the Streets of New York City:

And Chicago:

And Canada: 

all images from http://www.vivianmaier.com/

C is For Colour

The sartorial colour spectrum is exploding all over with rich saturated hues for spring and fall 2011. Sometimes in subtle bursts, other times in a blatant show of feather ruffling - unexpected monochromatic looks and all-over colour blocking.

In the stores:

zara lookbook

j.crew rtw fall 2011 (via style.com)

On the street:

images sources: fuchsia pant suit, green bag, neon and camel, orange trousers,  green on green, pink hat 

Lil' Peeps

I came across this recipe for Peeps S'mores earlier in the week, and it just looked so nostalgically tasty that it prompted a further search for Peeps related fun. And that was when I discovered Peeps Art. It seems that people take this very seriously. Here were some of my favourites:

[ also really good - Make your own Peeps by Twig and Thistle 

and Peeps sushi (and other recipes) from Serious Eats]

Mary Peepins and M.C. Escher's RelativiPeep (source)

The Last Supper (source)

Marilyn Monroe (source)

Red and Gold (At Louis Vuitton)

A magical thing happened on this cold and rainy day in Paris. 

This is a story in pictures of two sweet old ladies and their umbrellas:

Aren't they just lovely? 

Moroccan Inspired Dinner

chicken tagine from bon appetit (source)

spice bazaar (source)

moroccan tiles (source)

Yesterday afternoon I met up with a friend at the market with a vague notion of making a chicken tagine for dinner. After filling our basket, picking up a couple of bottles of white, and running into a few friends along the way, we hurried home to feed our crew.

A couple of vodka martinis (us) and a sweet mural of marker sketches (her 4 yr old) later, this is what we came up with after briefly consulting several related recipes:

Chicken Tagine

1 package (6 pieces) boneless skinless chicken thighs
3 shallots, chopped
1/2 large fennel bulb, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup pitted green olives, chopped
3-4 tbsp cilantro
small bunch of basil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

served with couscous

(served four and a half people generously*)

The best part about this was that we were able to improvise the dish using what was on hand, cooking first the shallots and fennel, adding the chicken, then the liquid and spices, allowing everything to simmer for about 20-25 minutes before adding the olives and cilantro. 30-40 minutes tops including prep. This was a quick (but really tasty) version of what can be a big production - a traditional tagine is slowly simmered over low temperatures for a few hours. Even her 4 year-old was raving about it, so that says something (although the kid counts olives and couscous amongst her fav foods, so we knew it would get good reviews). Also, you can play around with flavours and spices, depending on mood or availability. Epicurious had some good recipes with spice options.


*four adults and one child

Tuesday With Rufus

Rufus Wainwright is music royalty here in Canada (son of folk music singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, brother of Martha Wainwright - he and his partner now have their first child, a baby girl born by Leonard Cohen's daughter, talk about musical lineage...).

Music to get you through the day:

Hideaways

Remember building forts when you were younger? We used to tear the living room apart to get all the good cushions to pile up in our bedroom to make a giant cave with our sheets and quilts. A teepee is like having a less chaotic version of a fort; a perfect spot for reading, having a tea party, or an afternoon nap.

cavernous teepee (source)

bill & fanny's backyard teepee via the selby (source)

sandbox teepee (source)

vine-covered teepee, Fullerton Arboretum (source)

Domestic Construction (source)

Wedding Toppers

The Royal Wedding is a mere two weeks away, and as excited as I am to see what the wedding party is dressed in, there will be an entire Cathedral filled with guests on parade. Knowing the British penchant for wearing hats to important events (and that milliner Philip Treacy has been asked to create headwear for the Royal Family on the day), it's almost a given that there will be lots of these in attendance:

Princess Beatrice (source)

Princess Eugenie (source)

Zara Phillips (source)

Natalia Vodianova (source)