what are you doing this weekend?

happy friday, loves! aren't these photos lovely? they're by anna aden, via the lovely luphia, and i can't stop staring at them--for me, they're the epitome of summer.

anyway, what are you all up to this weekend? i don't really have any concrete plans, but last sunday night i ended up listening to live music at a little place by the beach with a good friend, so maybe there'll be a repeat of that. i also managed to clean out my closet this week--no small feat--so i imagine i'll be taking a trip to goodwill and maybe doing a little thrifting at some of sarasota's great consignment shops. throw in lots of friend time, as usual, and it sounds like a great weekend to me!

have a fantastic few days and i'll see you back here on monday! xoxo, thanks for always being so wonderful.

gorgeous details...

...by angel sanchez. seriously, i'm swooning. love.

those summer nights.

last night i went out for sangria with some friends. i had red, my friend m. had white and our other friend, a., had a loaded corona. then i met up with my other friends k., c. and t. for greek salads at our favorite greek restaurant. salads and sangria--can you ask for anything more perfect on a hot summer night?

what's your favorite beat-the-heat strategy? xo!

{ photo: mbmayorka }

loving: butterfly-themed wedding.

i have a giant soft spot in my heart for butterflies (ask me about my undergrad thesis sometime), so i was immediately smitten with laura and ben's beautiful butterfly-themed wedding. how pretty are these photos?

{ via martha stewart weddings }

summer lovin'.

good morning! love these beautiful, beachy photos by camilla akrans for italian elle, via oh joy!

how were your weekends, my lovelies? summer always makes me want to read more, so i devoured the book julie & julia, which made me even more excited about the movie, and am thinking a reread might be necessary. don't you love books that make you want to do that? xo!

what are you doing this weekend?

happy, happy, happy friday, my loves! don't you love the image above? i so agree with the message, too.

anyway, we've officially made it to the weekend and i couldn't be happier. what are your plans?

i'm going to have sushi and see the ugly truth with my friend t. tonight, possibly making a trip to ikea on saturday and laying around in the air conditioning doing yoga, reading magazines and finishing julie & julia. catch you back here on monday--have a wonderful summer weekend.


{ allie coate via black*eiffel }

before sunset.

last night i went to the beach to watch the sunset and take some photos. the sun doesn't dip below the horizon until about 8:30 p.m. here, so i got to the beach around 8, spread out my towel, dug my toes into the sand and laid back to enjoy the view. after moping around this week with a pulled shoulder muscle (followed by a stiff neck due to holding myself oddly) and spending, like, 12 hours in front of my computer yesterday, the cool breeze, bathwater-temperature ocean and the gorgeous sunset were exactly what i needed. i love sarasota.

vive la france.

i love-love-love this parisian girl's look from head to those sweet blue shoes and would like to dress like this every day, please.

bathroom chic.

art in the bathroom? i say yes. et toi?

{ photo by laure }

a little pop of color.

a little cheer for you on tuesday morning, via the incredibly inspiring nie nie. (tuesdays are my mondays, for some reason, which means i usually need extra cheer. and extra coffee.) i love that there appear to be little notes attached to the balloons.

she & him.

ok, full disclosure: i totally have a girl crush on zooey deschanel. not only is she pretty and seemingly pretty smart, too, but the girl has killer style and i would like to go shopping in her closet, please. plus, 500 days of summer looks awesome and, c'mon, who doesn't love almost famous?

so i was really happy to discover that her first album with songwriter m. ward, volume one, is quite good. you should take a listen--and who knows? maybe you'll end up downloading a few tracks. (my faves so far? "sentimental heart" and "sweet darlin'," which she co-wrote with jason schwartzman.) enjoy!

{ zooey in white via {this is glamorous} }

pomp and circumstance?

doesn't this movie look cute? i heart alexis bledel (and totally watch gilmore girls reruns on abc family every day) and i feel like this is a film i can totally relate to, having just gone through the whole post-grad thing a few years ago, myself. between this, 500 days of summer, the hangover, away we go, funny people and the ugly truth, it's shaping up to be a really good movie-going summer, don't you think?

what are you doing this weekend?

what are you up to this weekend, lovelies? i am catching up with one of my favorite people, who has finally returned to srq after a month-long vacay in connecticut; hopefully hitting up the farmer's market; arranging and organizing all the new stuff i've acquired for my apartment (more on that next week); and maybe whipping up some sort of baked good.

and you? xoxo

{ photo: orangette }

loving: handmade leather journals.

gillian, or g., of the fabulous blog ticklish from a distance, is the owner of a lovely business called dewdrop, inc. the dewdrop shop is filled with pretty, unique jewelry, prints, stationery and other trinkets, all of which i'd be happy to call my own. g.'s leatherbound journals are especially lovely: hand-stitched with silkscreened covers, each journal is made to order and seriously gorgeous. click here to visit the dewdrop shop and here to read g.'s blog.

{ images: dewdrop, inc. }

p.s.: more pretty.

easy-peasy summer dressing, by the fabulous garance.

my sweet song.

happy thursday, friendsies! how have your weeks been so far? mine has been good--very busy, but good. and things are finally calming down tonight: i have a stack of fresh magazines to read and a movie to watch. yay.

anyway, i just wanted to share this pretty, summery image with you. i don't have a lot to say today, but i feel happy and peaceful and i hope you do, too. xoxo

p.s. i've added a couple of new things to the blog's sidebar--you can now follow me on twitter and by using google friend connect, if you'd like. just a few housekeeping notes for you.

{ image: alexa }

taking flight.

amy ruppel is one of my favorite artists; i love her pretty paintings and am seriously itching to get my paws on one. so i was really happy to discover that amy has done a series of state bird prints--one for every state in the u.s.--and that they're really lovely and bright and cheerful, with details that are unique to each state. when my shopping ban is lifted, i'll definitely be ordering a florida (mockingbird) print--i think the color scheme would be perfect in my bedroom. a 5x7 print is $25, an 8x10 print is $40, and you can click right here to shop.

{ images by amy ruppel }

eliza + axel.

the other day, i came across these pretty, ethereal t-shirts from etsy seller eliza + axel and i just had to share them with you. i've put myself on a shopping ban after going a little crazy recently (more on that soon, but forever 21 and its mass-produced-but-cheap-and-cute goodies is going to be the death of me, i think), but once that ban is lifted, i'm definitely going to be purchasing an eliza + axel tee. aren't they summer-perfect?

{ images: eliza + axel }

gorgeous gateaus.

speaking of food, nikole (from one of my favorite blogs, forty-sixth at grace), makes such beautiful cakes, doesn't she?

julie & julia.

i absolutely can't wait for this movie. i adore nora ephron, the director (you've got mail is one of my most favorite movies EVER), and i think amy adams and meryl streep are incredible talents. they both look extra delightful in this movie, don't they?

plus, it's about cooking and it comes out on my birthday (august 7). what more can you ask for?

mind your own business.

one of the things i miss most about working in an office is having business cards. my last job was my first one out of college, which meant that when i finally got a set of business cards, they were also a first. i gave one to every member of my family, from my mother to my godfather, and when i was laid off, i remember feeling sad and strange the first time someone asked me for a card and i had to say that i didn't have one.

anyway, now that it looks like i'll be freelancing/consulting for awhile, i've decided it's high time for me to get my own set of business cards. flickr partner moo will create a 50-pack of business cards for you for $21.99 using a flickr photo of your choice. as someone who desperately wants pretty business cards but who doesn't have a whole lot of money to spend on them right now, this seems like a perfect option--and since i'm based in sarasota, i could use a pretty image of the beach or bayfront for my card.

{ image: jewelry designer abigail percy's moo business cards. so pretty! }

up, up and away.

i thought we could kick off this monday morning with some pretty balloons--a nice idea, don't you think? how were your weekends?

p.s. guess what? i went to a party at a local furniture shop on friday night, and guess who was in attendance? eames demetrios, grandson of charles and ray eames(!!) and head of the eames office in california. SO COOL!

what are you doing this weekend?

what are you doing this weekend, my dears? tonight i'm going to a party at a local shop, and for the rest of the weekend i'm doing some projects around the house (i'll show them to you soon), relaxing and spending time with friends--especially one who just lost her dog, poor thing.

tell me your plans, and i'll see you back here on monday! have a wonderful, pure few days. xoxo

neck couture.

dalia koss is a sarasota-based jewelry designer who makes beautiful, handcrafted necklaces. i can totally see pairing one of these with a very simple little black dress or a black tank and pants. lovely and unique, don't you think? click here to see more of dalia's work, or if you're in sarasota, her shop is located on pretty st. armands circle.

the devil wears prada?

as someone who used to work full-time at a magazine--and who still does a fair amount of freelance writing for one--i'm super excited about the release of the september issue, a documentary about vogue editrix anna wintour and her preparation for the magazine's september 2008 issue. it looks so interesting.

{ via otis and frank, via a cup of jo }

pretty in purple.

more loveliness: i would really like a set of these violet-colored glass bottles. please and thank you.

{ image by holly's talented husband }

wednesday morning eye candy.

a friend of mine took this picture on a recent visit to st. augustine and i swiped it to show you. i love peacocks; isn't this one gorgeous? it almost doesn't look real...

good advertising.

i love this with an intense burning passion: urban orchard, via all the mountains. be sure to click the link to watch the commercial.

flora and fauna.

one thing that i feel like i'm missing out on by living in an apartment is the ability to have a garden. sure, i can--and do--have fresh flowers in vases in my kitchen, and i'm definitely a fan of sweet little succulents, but since i don't have a yard, anything more than that is pretty unrealistic.

still, i like to daydream about leisurely strolling through my future garden (in my head, it's very much like the secret garden) and sitting among the flowers with a book and my ipod, so when i saw this genius bike-as-planter idea i immediately filed it away in my "to-do-when-i--actually-own-a-house-with-yard" file. pretty snazzy, yes?

do you all garden? i've decided that i am going to start a little herb garden on my lanai--there's something so appealing about the idea of being able to grow my own basil, sage, etc. for cooking. yum!

{ photo by the lovely nicole }

what are you doing this weekend? + happy fourth of july!

when i was a little girl, my parents, brother and i would pile into my dad's jeep and head off on an 18-hour drive from our house in florida to my grandparents' house in scranton, pennsylvania, every year around this time. and every year, my brother and i would get the biggest kick out of the south carolina tourist trap south of the border--to the point where every time we saw a south of the border sign--and there were many--we'd sing, "south of the border, make a ruuuuuuunnn to the border!" really, it's a miracle our parents didn't kill us. (patrick and i, of course, thought our song was hysterical.)

anyway, sometimes we'd stop at south of the border to buy fireworks, and one of my favorite memories is setting off those fireworks on the fourth of july. so imagine my happiness when i came across this picture of the giant, um, sculpture that welcomes visitors to south of the border--it brought back all those amusing memories.

what are you doing for the fourth of july? i hope you all get the chance to spend time with family and set off some fireworks this weekend. me, i'll be here in sarasota, hanging out with friends and hopefully watching some fireworks explode over the water. it's been a bit of a rough week--i haven't quite felt like myself--so i think a happy holiday weekend is just what the doctor ordered.

happy fourth, my lovelies! xoxo

more etsy love.

love these pretty, affordable pieces from santoki vintage on etsy.

p.s. how is it july 2 already?!