New Obsession

Having the job I currently have, it only gives me spurts of 'alone time' throughout the day. During these random hours I like to relax and peruse the internet for new sites, magazines, blogs etc.

I mentioned a few days ago, Le Love Image blog, and if you've been on it you would have noticed the great photograph in the header. It was taken by Todd Selby who has his own website and displays not only the photographs he's taken of chefs, authors, designers, actors, musicians, and much more, but also includes mini interviews and paintings (mostly of the people he interviewed).

His photos are intensely coloured very casual. Bringing you into these strangers' homes you get to see them in their own space. Are they messy, what kind of design aesthetic do they have, is it cluttered or decorated minimally? I didn't recognize many of the people he has on the site but enjoyed his photographs regardless.

That's Erin Wasson (model), she has a collection of those masks

Sarah Miss Colette (France)

Sofia (stylist) & Thibault (author) (France)

Embrace the milkiness

So I've always been pretty fair skinned...I tan well, because of my olive complexion, but come winter time I always transform into a milky-white paleness. When I was younger, being tanned was 'the' thing to be and resorting to radiation was not my idea of fun (I will admit I did it once, and only once...and it all went terribly wrong!) nor did I find it appetizing to be sprayed with a hose where water would not come out but some kind of a paste that not only made you look orange but would wipe off too!

As the years have gone by I've definitely embraced my fair skin, and although its not as fair as others, its still on the milky side. Mind you, I cannot wait for beach weather, but this year I'm planning ahead with cute umbrellas, sunglasses, hats and putting on some strong SPF! I do not want to have skin that looks like cracked leather when I'm older.

Mary-Kate Olsen is in the newest issue of Interview magazine and although I haven't read the entire article, I have read a smidgen...and obviously enjoyed it. Plus, the photos above, pretty amazing. Photographed by Craig McDean, styled by Karl Templer and makeup by Yuna Park/Streeters. Plus, the top photo, dress: Balenciaga...pretty insane! Love her!

I am in need!

I find myself in dire need of inspiration lately. Be it for dressing myself in the morning or doing my hair, to even just getting crafty. I have no problem looking it up on the web, I seem to find that extremely easy, but then when it comes to actually the physical action of doing it, I just can't!

Maybe it's that I always want something I can't have/want to DO something that I can't...for example, I'm dying to decorate a new apartment...also known as, I want to have my own apartment again and be able to decorate it the way I see fit. And that's just one example, I'm also dying to cook and bake stuff, but being where I am I don't have all the necessary supplies or even ingredients...and it's not that I'm being cheap, but this place is way too expensive and I don't plan on spending money I don't have in order to do it! May be I should just accumulate ideas for when I will be able to do it?

Record the Day is pretty fantastic. With a mishmash of fashion and interior design to toys, food and even horoscopes, the author puts the images into a collage and then photographs them. As she says, this way its easier to keep her daily inspirations organized in one place where they're easy to find and have a date and everything.

Some of my favourites from a while back:

I really want to make this soup

Not only are the headpieces great but the wispy hair underneath and the makeup!
*Check out the top on the bottom row, 2nd from the right, the whole look has me in awe.

A collage of a collage

That kitchen is the epitome of 'organized chaos' and the teacups on the right??
I heart!

hiatus

i know this hiatus has been extremely unnecessary since when I first started this blog I was beyond excited. I am determined to keep it up from now on...gotta get outta my rut, and stop being such a lazy ass...luckily I have found some amazing other blogs that I have become addicted to and would like to add to my side panel....too many to name off right now because, surprise, surprise, I'm feeling lazy but I will name a few:

Le Love Image
Olsens Anonymous
Led Smoking Image
Le Fashion

They are all done by one person I think...and are all fantastic, mostly of images.

More tomorrow, I promise....and definitely more substantial.

Rapuncium and Shelley Duvall…

Rampion: ORIGIN late 16th century: from a variant of Medieval Latin rapuncium: compare with German Rapunzel ‘corn salad’ (courtesy of my lovely toolbar dictionary/thesaurus)

Anyways, they’re also known as radishes…but what does that have to do with Shelley Duvall? Everything! I’ve been thinking about these movies lately that my mom used to get for me from the library, Faerie Tale Theatre, film adaptations of the Brother’s Grimm Faerie Tales…and always featuring Shelley Duvall.

Without a doubt she had quite an influence on me as a kid...even more so when I watched the Rapunzel one, but please do not forget the 1980 version of the Popeye film she did with Robin Williams either, the spitting image of what you would imagine Olive Oyl to look like in real life.

Moving on, hopefully you know the story of Rapunzel, and I won’t give anything away, but at one point before Rapunzel is born, her mother (played by Ms Duvall) has a craving for radishes…I went so far as to beg my mother to buy me radishes so that I could eat them like her!! Needless to say they stayed in the fridge a long time and I got in trouble. But they were way too spicy for me!

So anyway, she kicks ass in this one, and in all the other episodes of FFT (because it was originally made for Showtime). Jeff Bridges co-stars in Rapunzel as the father and young prince, but he isn’t the only well-known celebrity to make an appearance on FFT, Liza Minnelli, Susan Sarandon, the late Christopher Reeve, Jeff Goldblum Billy Crystal, Matthew Broderick, Gregory Hines, Robin Williams, and Mick Jagger have also joined in the cast. Production lasted about 5 years on the Faerie Tale Theatre, from 1982 to 1987, and was directed by not only Tim Burton (obviously) but also Francis Ford Coppola.

...and the lived happily ever after.

Youtube is great because even though the movie has to be cut into 3 parts, you can still pretty much watch the whole movie…but I found it on Amazon…so guess what’ll be at the top of my birthday wish list this year?

(Unfortunately, the person who posted it requested to not allow anyone to embed it...)

What's the first thing that comes to mind?

The people from Crush + Lovely asked 50 strangers on the streets of New York, Brooklyn, and London (so far) the same question and told them to, for the most part, say the first thing that came to mind. A lot of them really did blurt out the first thing they thought of, while others took some time to think about it, and then there were those people who came up with the most random answers that although are so out there, are pretty damn amazing!



Fifty People, One Question: Brooklyn from Crush + Lovely on Vimeo.


An example, is this girl above....with the blue turban, her response is one of the oddest but I'd have to say its my favourite....and really would be cool! But I already know what my answer is and where I would want to wake up...and it's not where I am right now!

The videos are posted on Crush + Lovely's Vimeo page. There are 3 videos posted, and 2 are the same question asked miles away from one another. Take a gander at the other video as well...it kind of gets you thinking.

So it's weekend...am I gonna be a mole again

Ummmm, yeah probably. The family I work for is leaving in a few hours to go to their country house, and although I think that it might do me some good to join them, I'm staying here in the city. Sure, I spend WAY too much time on the internet while I'm in the city....but I spend WAY too much time thinking about stupid shit when I'm in the country! Plus I have a 'fancy gym' pass that I want to use...maybe get a facial in the meantime....but truly, I mostly wanna chill out at home, walk around in my underwear, and sleep as long as possible without hearing little kids screaming and crying early in the morning.

I think I'm also going to take advantage of my alone time to organize some of my random stuff here and maybe even spend some money and go shopping! I haven't gone in so long (due to the fact that Barcelona is so effing expensive) and there are so many sales going on how can I not?!

And lastly, with my obvious addiction to the Web and all it has to offer I'll be skimming through more and more blogs and trying to organize my Bookmarks menu....one site I recently found that I really enjoy is Dripbook...not only do they feature photographs, but paintings, collages, hair styling and much more...

Well, bon weekend!

Qué, quoi, what, huh??

This day has been somewhat of a let down...no, I take that back, it sucked!
For some reason my mind will not stop, since last night I have been tossing and turning, physically and mentally. I woke up this morning from a super weird dream, went over it in my head, and the rest is history, from there I started to remember things that I had put out of my mind for the time being and began to stress.
Mind you, this is nothing new at all. I am very used to the over-active, over-analytical imagination of mine that likes to turn things over and over like an old El Salvadorian woman making pupusas...or if that doesn't make sense, which for some of you it probably won't....think of a step ladder, not a fireman's ladder, very long, lots of steps.
My imagination can sometimes get the better of me and become child-like...then crazy...then pathetic even...what's with that? Is it because I'm a chick? or because I'm in my 20s? or just because that's the way I am?
Sometimes I'm good at getting out of my head and pushing it far, far away...but today not so successful. I've just been a major crustball, luckily, my mood lightened up a little when some funny school kids wouldn't stop waving at me while I was on the eliptical at the gym...I mean, I could have found it annoying, but for some reason I didn't, first they seemed to be making fun of me and didn't notice that I had seen them, so I waved. Since they saw I didn't get peeved they waved back and kept waving, even when they left. Now, my mood hasn't improved 100% but I can say that it's around 43% better...which to me is a considerable improvment since I was swearing (in my head) at randoms on the street or on the bus! (A woman pushed me when I had the right of way)

Sometimes when I'm angry or sad and need to laugh I watch this video...it's not for everyone and it doesn't really make any sense at all, but whatever!

It's never too soon for fall...

I think I'm in love!

even more in love! shoes...pants!!

check out the ruching that continues past the hips and curves under the two side pleats!

I mean, yeah I don't want it to come back too soon...since Spring and Summer are still a far off wonderland, BUT with what I've seen for some Pre-Fall 2009 collections...I have to admit that can't wait for fall.

Nicolas Ghesquière, for example, has designed some gorgeous pieces for Balenciaga, blending classic pieces with more modern cuts and neutral colours. Silk, fur, flannel, jersey...and that's just a few.

Photo #2 I have to say is by far my favourite, though the ' MC Hammer'-type pants are a little hard to wear, I think this cut could be flattering. The crotch isn't too low ( I have a pair of cotton ones that look like I pooped my pants!) and they sit nicely on the hips. One unfortunate problem could occur with women who aren't 5'11'' and that's that the pants will be too long and the scrunching at the ankle could become a little excessive...back to the positive side? The shoes! Flawless lace-up loafer style wedges that elongate the leg even more with the same shade of grey as the pants. The dusty rose pink fur (hopefully faux) bolero goes perfectly with the soft grey of the outfit.

Wow, I feel like a lazy-ass!

This is Eleanor Hardwick, a young photographer from Oxford, England. Now 16 years old, she started taking photos at the ripe age of 12 and a few years later began to get offers from galleries as well as magazines to not only interview her, but also to have her photograph for them. A lot of her work has also already been seen in some magazines like Dazed & Confused and the Independent. Experimenting with different lighting and environments her work ranges from an array of self portraits, to underwater, to props that tell a story...I especially like these two! But it is hard to have a favourite!

Check out her website and flickr site to get a closer work at some of her previous and new stuff.

I almost feel petty for being so jealous of her, but how can you not be. She's extremely young, seems to love what she does, and has an insane amount of talent!

Awaiting the warm weather

I came across brand SOPHOMORE a while back and pretty much fell in love with not only the clothes but the models (who are super cute), and the photography.  Even though the following photos are for last year's Spring collection...I'm really anticipating the warm weather and wearing shorts again...PLUS what's in store for SOPHOMORE's 2009 collection.

Based in New York City and run by Chrissie Miller and Madeleine von Froomer, SOPHOMORE's contemporary 'sportswear' looks super easy to wear and it's safe to say I want everything in their Spring 2008 Lookbook...if its still around when I get back to North America!

The photographer, Cass Bird shot not only all the photos for the SOPHOMORE site but has also shot celebrities like Milla Jovovich and Carmen Hawk (designers of Jovovich Hawk), M.I.A., and Penelope Cruz.  Check out his site for a closer look at his style.

Where have I been?

I was recently perusing a bunch of blogs, you know, when you start at one and just keep jumping from one site to another blog, to then another site? Well I came upon the blog of a friend of a friend (I think) and they then had a link to this YouTube clip:





This clip is long, I know, but throughout the whole 10 minutes and 57 seconds I was completely enraptured with not only how gorgeous Diane Lane was (and still is) but also by how fantastic this movie looks! True, the acting might be meh but it was the 80's...

Has anyone else not seen this...or am I the only one??

Longest holidays of my life

So here is a recap on all the things we did while we were away in the country...it seems as if everyday we did something different, even with a lot of shitty weather. What's nice about the shitty weather, is the fact that we had a fireplace and made use of it as much as possible.

Day 1 lunch: Rabbit
Day 2: Girona, touching the lion's bum for good luckDay 3: market ride in Casavells

Day 4: Perpignan, France, I had to do the merry-go-round

I got crafty while we were away and made New Year's hats

Day 5: New Year's Day at the beach (not hot, but not cold)

Day 6: the mountains...so the girls could see snow for the 1st time

Day 7: village explorations; Picasso bought his wife a castle in the village so she could bring her lovers

Day 8: Costa Brava, look how clear the water is!!!

After someone recently told me I should edit out the unnecessary photos, I thought these would suffice for a glimpse into my extra long holidays.
Hope you enjoyed!