dining in color

When I was little I had this set of books about famous artists that featured these little cartoons about them. In the book about Van Gogh, it talked about how when he was struggling to make ends meet, he would buy paint instead of food. The corresponding cartoon showed a starving and glassy-eyed Van Gogh, licking his lips and picking out paint colors like lemon yellow, cherry red, egg shell, you get the idea. To this day its the only comic in the entire series that I remember. Ever since Ive paid a lot attention to both the names given to different colors, and to the color of a meal. But what about the table itself? These beautiful pain-chip table runners, combined with these three DIYs, are all great ways to color coordinate your dining experience and would make for quite a jolly dinner party: 

You could choose just one color, or do the whole rainbow--even match it to the menu! But the next party you threw would have to be all white... 

images from here, here, here, & here. 

food+fashion

and yet another culinary/sartorial (actually, in this case, both) blog post series Ill be following: Food + Fashion. Back in February well-known blogger Diana Moss (aka Miss Moss) put a spin on her popular art/fashion mashups, instead pairing pictures of street fashion with pictures of food, thus successfully combining my two favorite subjects to see pictures about into one neatly packaged post. Bon Apetit magazine liked it so much that they asked her to do a weekly column of said mashups, wherein the posts are linked to recipes of the food featured in the pairings.  

Its difficult for me to articulate just why I like the idea of this so much, but I know that I do. I think the concept vaguely reminds me of something from my childhood, but I cant quite remember what. Im also curious as to her process--do you think she finds the outfits first and then tries to find the dishes to match them? Or is it the other way around? Either way, I like it! 

babe alert: STREET STYLE BEFORE STREET STYLE

For those of us who enjoy photos of iconic babes being stylish, street style before street style is quite a good series by Oyster, in which lovely ladies from decades past (namely, the seventies) are featured being generally glamorous and oh so beautiful. Its interesting to think how quickly weve gotten used to street style as a thing. These days, shots of celebs and unknowns alike are all over the internet to the point that (with some exceptions) you almost dont care about any of it. But looking at this series, you get the impression that, back in the seventies, it took a little something special in order to earn the attention of the paparazzi--just ask the likes of Françoise Hardy, Bianca Jagger, and especially Jane Birkin (my fav of all time).

See what I mean?

felix walks!

check it out! babyboy can walk! ten months only!

what a star!

dot-co-dot-you-kay

Were here in England finally! I know its been a while; believe it or not, settling oneself in to a new country is sort of time-consuming. But were here and basically unpacked and on the internet and everything, so I think blog-wise, things are about to return to normal. We just had a jolly weekend around the house here in Essex, and spent the afternoon yesterday visiting my grandad in Sussex. Soon we will plan a day trip to London, before Olympicmania takes over the town. I cant wait!

Plus, did you notice? Im a .co.uk now!! What?!

ps: loving this 1925 poster by Mary Koop for the Underground Electric Railway Company, available from the London Transport Museum shop

I really do wish I was a mermaid!

You know that thing of when youve always been in to something, and then all of the sudden its popular, and youre not sure whether to be upset because now everyone likes the same thing that you do even though you liked it first (and maybe youre also confused as to why thats a bad thing), or to be happy because now the thing you like has become more available and therefor easier to attain and enjoy? Thats how I feel about this years mermaid trend. Because, I really do wish I was a mermaid. And since the closest Ill ever get is dressing like one, Ive decided Im glad of the trend. Nothing that Ive seen so far has captured it more perfectly, fashion-wise, than this most beautiful dreamy sexy spread by Luis Monterio, Sumer Verma, and Umeed Mistry, featured in Vogue Indias May 2012 issue. I could stare at this forever and ever. I want it to be my whole life. I know Ive said that before, but this time I really mean it. The colors are everything Im dreaming of right now. And how crazy is that Alexander McQueen gown?!?!?

images via VO

wildfox girl

well I guess Im an idiot because I didnt even know wildfox made a kids line until I saw this shoot. While I do indeed Love Wildfox, my problem is that it tends toward the sportier, more casual, dare I say more childlike end of the spectrum, and sometimes (all times but summer, basically) thats a bit of a problem for me; but obviously, thats not a problem when it comes to kids clothes. Apart from the clothing, the styling, and the photography, what I like the most about this lookbook is that the little lady modeling reminds me of my now-long-lost BFF ivy. I can even see her wearing some of these outfits. 

I wish we were together! Ivy I miss you!!!!!! 

Also, that rollerskating outfit is perfect and I wish it could be the only thing I wore forever. 

images via sweet bird of youth