valentimes!

Working in a bakery in February, surrounded by pink buttercream and little red sugar cherubs, you have a lot of time to think about Valentine's Day but no time to actually celebrate it. Or at least not in a romantic capacity with your valentine (especially when he works nights!) Lucky for me I have two valentines to choose from--Felix gets more excited about this kind of thing anyway. Decorating cookies probably wasn't the wisest way to celebrate, given amount of confection we've received for the holiday, but Felix was also just gifted these new heart-shaped cookie cutters, and I didn't know what else to do! Anyway, he loved it! I like doing these baking projects with him start to finish so he can see the process: we made the dough on wednesday; cut out and baked the cookies on thursday; and mixed royal icing for decorating on friday! He takes his duties very seriously, and always wants to do everything himself. 

It all came together for a jolly valentines day tea party. Felix wore his halloween kitty ears, to be festive, and we invited a new friend over for cookies, a cuppa, and tarot cards. She even brought us a balloon! Magic! Seriously, having people over for tea is the only way I even know how to interact socially anymore. I never go out, and I never even want to! It's the best! 

yes, please

The first thing to finally catch my eye this entire #NYFW, these three opening looks from The Row fall ready-to-wear collection:  

Those witchy twins knew the vortex was coming.  Or they've put a hex upon us all!

images via style.com

no more chametz

According to the wikipedia article on Pesach--or Passover for the gentiles out there, myself included--"observant Jews spend the weeks before... in a flurry of thorough housecleaning." But I'm here to tell you from personal experience that, although there are over sixty nights to go, cleaning is thoroughly underway for the Hassids of Squirrel Hill. In case you don't already know every little thing about it, the whole point is to remove all of the Chametz, or leavened food, from one's possession--that is to say, home, car, office, handbags, clothing, and so on, before Pesach begins. And I mean, all of it. Every single crumb! Now, for those inclined to low-carb/gluten-free lifestyles, this may not seem such a daunting task. But say you have a two year old? Keeping in mind that every cheerio, every crumb of every graham cracker, in every tote bag, high chair and car seat, anything made with one of five forbidden grains, yeast, and water Must Be Removed from your possession by April 14th for fear of kareth (spiritual excision), you can understand why people commence this ritual cleansing so early. Though Halakha has no inherent value in my eyes, my professional affiliation with the local chabad community has got me swept up in the so-called 'flurry' of this tradition; I have no intention of eschewing leavened foods, yet I've latched on to the metaphor of removing "every last crumb" from my home in the course of my spring cleaning. It will, of course, be much easier, when my shiny new hoover arrives in the mail--I never thought I'd be so excited about a vacuum cleaner!

Best Valentimes ever!

be my fauvalentine

I was into hearts and candy pinks this time last year, working in the bakery. But as my focus has switched from pastry to interiors, the kind of romance I'm feeling this valentines day season is more domestic; cheerful yet subdued. Something very like the mood Henri Matisse captured in various still-lifes and portraits during his Fauvist period. Those warm chalky pinks, electric blues, deep greens. It's cozy and relaxed, but with an air of luxury and decadence thanks to the carved furniture and rich textiles, the rooms filled with plants flowers. This is what I'm working towards in my own home. I've already taken the first step, painting my dining room pink. 

 

moptop

Felix won't let me cut his hair for the life of him. The longer it gets, the more he starts to remind me of  something. Or should I say, someones...

You could paste him right in there! It got me thinking about this album, which is great. I love baby Beatles! And I always have! For me, anything from Please Please Me to Help! is like musical chicken soup, or mashed potatoes, or whatever comfort food you like. So I don't know why it didn't occur to me to play some until now, considering how insufferably mopey I've been these past few weeks. I'm just trying to get it together upinhere. Felix and I had a pretty good time listening to this and flopping around in my bedroom this afternoon while he watched me reorganize my sock drawer (more on that later). I even taught him how to do the twist!

omgshoes

speaking of shopping, and fashion, and everything...

Oh, you like my new shoes? What's that you ask? Is that a $495 pair of Jenni Kayne suded D'orsay flats, as seen recently on the likes of such stylish celebrities as Beyoncé, Jessica Alba, and Leandra Medine?

No, but they might as well be! Pretty excited about all of the new-very-favorite items I've acquired on mega-sale recently. Too bad it'll be at least another six weeks until it's warm enough to wear these. And who knows when it will be dry enough!

summer lovin'

Winter time fun is great if you're up for it, but cold weather is still the worst and I still hate it. It seems like simply ages until summer will arrive! When it does, I hope it looks just like this. Maybe you remember, but I loved this collection when I first saw it back in September, and the corresponding ad campaign is one of my favorites so far this year (my vogue finally arrived after all). Lou Doillon is almost as cool as her sister (I don't care much about Julia Stegner) and she looks great here, lounging around in some of my favorite pieces from the collection.  O, to be french and barefoot in a field at sunset! That white dress is the perfect thing. You can buy if for me with our tax return if you want to, Chase! Valentimes?