Advent Calendar Envy

Creative and reusable ways to count down the Advent: 

scrapwood and mini boxes make for a beautiful advent tree via Summersville

a muted palette using muslin spice bags for 24 tiny treasures via the marion house book

i would keep this wooden shelf up year-round via anthology

iron-on transfers via oh happy day

Easy Holiday DIY

Inspiration (via pinterest):

Needed:

chandelier
ornaments
ribbon
scissors
(and a sturdy chair or step ladder)

Industrial Desk Lamps Revisited

I'm still without the industrial desk lamp that I've been coveting for a while now. I keep discovering new versions so that I'm flip flopping back and forth between the traditional sleek polished aluminum and a softer more modernist take that varies the materials - but I'm also not one to buy online without seeing it in person first (especially when the price tags are often really high) and I haven't seen any in store that I like, so right now I'll have to be content with internet perusing. 

This one is such a nice twist on the polished aluminum, like a grown-up version of a classic design. (It's from Laura Ashley of all places!) After I came across it I noticed there are quite a few out there that use a similar combination of natural wood and metal. 

Image sources:

1. Coby lamp from Laura Ashley as pictured in Livingetc (December 2011)

2. Desk lamp from Cox and Cox

3. Excel desk lamp from Roll & Hill

4. Albury desk lamp from Rowen & Wren

5. Roving Rays lamp from anthropologie (it's now on sale!)

Favourite Things - Holiday Gifts

"Home Made" Cookie Stamp

Sweet Indulgence tea collection from David's Tea

Copco Enamel Sauce Pan with Wooden Handle

Aphrodite USB hub

Glitter iPhone case from J.Crew

baggu leather bag

Glen Clyde Fairisle Socks

Hand-knit skinny scarf from anthropologie

Pendleton Lumberman Blanket with Harness

My Father's Daughter, by Gwyneth Paltrow

image sources: 

1. Fred Flare 

2. David's Tea

3. Etsy

4. Fred Flare

5. J. Crew

6. Baggu

7. End Clothing

8. Anthropologie

9. Madewell

10. Amazon

Paperless Post

Paperless Post is an online source for sending unique, clever, and impeccably designed e-cards. 

My best friend is getting married in July, so when I saw their link on refinery29 I was curious to see what their bridal shower and bachelorette party designs were like. I got a little sidetracked...

Waiting for Bonlook

I've been wearing glasses for nearly twenty years. Twenty long years hiding behind frames. Eleven of them spent in ill-fitting 90s wire frames; the last nine in plastic - first a deep purple, then a funky mossy green (oops, then an off year where I decided wire frames were cool again), then to tortoise shell.

Today I'm antsy because there's a Fedex truck out there (as of 3:38am) with my new glasses on it. The frames are "midnight blue" plastic and extremely flattering on my small face - but I haven't technically tried them on. Bonlook has a virtual feature where your computer's camera supplies them with your live image so that you can see what you would look like wearing them. That me looks great in them. Anxious.

1. My new glasses
2. The glasses I was truly tempted to get, and that sort of reminded me of how I looked in ill-fitting 90s wire frames, only much cooler because they're tortoise shell and turquoise

Eames: The Architect and the Painter

A new documentary comes out this week on Ray and Charles Eames, the dynamic couple who heralded a new modernism in America, and who are perhaps best known for their famous Eames chairs. I'm intrigued, especially as the narrator (provided by James Franco) refers to the Eames' Office in Venice Beach as the Google of its day.

images via the style file

Oliver Jeffers x Digby & Iona

Oliver Jeffers has his hands in just about everything - first and foremost an artist, he has been taking the literary world by storm ever since he debuted the first of his (now numerous) illustrated picture books back in 2004. Now some of his most popular characters and icons have been made into a jewelry line by Brooklyn-based jeweler Aaron Ruff under his jewelry label Digby & Iona.

penguin ring ($180). heart in a bottle necklace ($220). boy necklace ($220). 

The End of Autumn

Even though it's hardly the end of autumn, it really feels like the weather is shifting gears again, and with Remembrance Day coming up this weekend (and American Black Friday looming) it signals another big shift towards the Holiday Season. 

So before the outdoor Christmas lights come out on Saturday (they're LED and they look like tiny crystal PINE CONES!), here is my ode to autumn:

pumpkins in and around Salem, Boston and Union Square Market in New York City

and a tiny pumpkin for a ginger-haired wee one:

Sweet Tooth

Be forewarned: this post is not for the weak of will and may induce serious cravings. The days are getting shorter and colder, so naturally I've been gravitating to the kitchen, mostly to make soups and breads, but ever since my Thanksgiving pumpkin custard tart triumph I've had the urge to bake. 

I've been salivating over these desserts and waiting for just the right occasions to make them for a while now ... and am still waiting, because were I to make them on a whim (like I've nearly done several times over the last two weeks), they would sit on my counter and taunt me until consumed. Especially that pumpkin s'more cake. Unreal. 

For real, though, I may just start at the bottom of this page with the apple hand pies (hand pies!) and work my way up. Or I may just surrender after the pies and make these beauties, which I've been lusting after for a while: homemade twix bars. Enjoy...

pumpkin s'more cake 

from dessert for breakfast

dark chocolate salted caramel tart 

from sweetapolita

harvest cake with vanilla cream 

from roost

lemon raspberry breakfast rolls

from joy the baker

cheddar apple hand pies 

from dessert for breakfast

oh but there's more... double chocolate caramel pecan brownies, my no-fail go-to chocolate fudge, no-bake peanut butter tart, s'more pie, and homemade oreos