Steven Alan Fall 2011

I really think these new looks from Steven Alan for the fall are gorgeous. But then, I'm also biased towards fall fashion anyways.

-XO

Madewell for Spring!

Spring isn't quite warm enough for shorts (at least in San Francisco!) and that really makes me happy because I'm not a warm weather person. I don't like showing lots of skin and I definitely don't like being sunburned when I do. What I do like in warmer weather is sandals and rolled-up jeans. A button-up shirt over a tank top never fails and Madewell has lots of cute things for spring up! Last year I spent forever trying to find these Birkenstock sandals for cheaper (grr why are you so pricey!) but failed, so at some point this summer I may be inclined to purchase these. And the other thing I love about spring is all the colors! I feel like bright-colored shirts in the spring are like all the flowers blooming. All in all, I'm loving this cool spring weather we've been having and out of all my favorite things to do in the spring, I can't wait to go on a picnic!

-XO

Aurora after the Dawn

Sleeping Beauty is my favorite Disney film. It started when I was a kid and completely biased towards blonde characters (Cinderella had orange-y, brown hair and Snow White had black hair, and Ariel had red hair, so the obvious choice was Aurora). Of course I still loved all of the Disney films, but blondie was my favorite.

Now I have other reasons for loving that film that are different than the color of her hair. The design of the characters, and layouts were helmed by an incredibly young art director who had never worked in films before, and he captured the old Medieval tapestries and paintings perfectly with their lack of perspective but beautiful shapes.

Aurora's style is simple and lovely when she first appears in the film, as opposed to the ridiculous princess-dress the Fairies make for her (although the blue is definitely the better color over pink version - blech!). So this is a tribute to Briar-Rose's true style and the most genuine to her character.

The dirndl style dress that she wears with the flowing brown shawl/scarf tells a lot more about her personality than the regal gown she's forced to wear when she returns to the castle to marry Prince Philip. I don't really like wearing dresses, but the thought of dancing around without heels in a simple dress, on moss near a stream is kinda, sorta, awesome.

Dear Creatures for the Dress

Need Supply Co for the Scarf

Tano Jewelry for the Headband

-XO

That New Spring Look

Thinking of spring since it's finally here; I'm feeling a bit like my mom back in the 70s. I love photos of her with her tall wedges (she was already 5'10") and wide-legged jeans. She almost always had an earthy-toned sweater to match as well. Plus, I absolutely love Out of Print, and any excuse to show some book love.

-XO

Outfit Inspiration in Pink

I saw this girl the other day walking through the financial district during work hours and while most of the women are pretty dull and business casual looking, this girl stood out because she was wearing colors most women shudder to wear too much of in an outfit. But the light-pink, wool coat with the light pink puffy scarf paired perfectly with her platinum-blonde lockes and wide-legged pants.

Something to think about in the world of color.

-XO

PS! - There are large purple spots on here because I was drinking wine while sketching this at a cafe with my boyfriend and he said something hilarious as I was putting my glass down and... well... oops!

Japan...

I'm sure most of you already know about the earthquake and tsunami that have devastated Japan; 8.9 is the largest quake in the country's history.

I was going to make this blogpost yesterday with cute things from a Japanese store, and then the earthquake and tsunami hit late last night (California time). So I'm uploading these still to help keep people aware of the devastation in Japan.

Likely upwards of 1000 people have perished in the disaster and if you feel like contributing to aid Japan, please go to any of these relief fund sites:

American National Red Cross

GlobalGiving Foundation

Save the Children Inc

Ox-Fam America Inc

Americares Foundation

International Medical Corps

Shelter Box USA

-XO

Eat on Wood

Or knock on it - however your superstitions work!

Cute placemats from Design Public.

-XO

Scarves should never be this expensive.

I'm on the hunt for the perfect spring scarf. I know in my head what I'm looking for, but can't seem to visual-to-text find it online. This is one of the closest I could find to what I'm searching for, but alas, it is ridiculously expensive! I refuse to pay $80 for a mass-produced scarf. Even if it is super awesome. Sorry, Diesel. :(

-XO

Smack Dab in the Middle

One of my favorite shops online is Need Supply Co. They always have interesting jewelry and shoes and random clothes. Things like this ring, aptly called an Eyemond. I think all these pieces are nice and wintery and even for a San Francisco winter.

-XO

Jim Henson is My Hero

Few people do I admire more than Jim Henson. The creativity from that man's mind seemed endless.

He also seemed to have a simple style that was all about suits or all about long-sleeve shirts. Which, combined with the fact that he was super skinny, makes me think he was probably just trying to keep himself warm all the time! Aww Jim... cold hands, warm heart.

-XO

Zoom In, Zoom Out

Created by Charles and Ray Eames. Yes, that Eames.

-XO

Sweet, sweet scents...

This last weekend I took a short drive down with my boyfriend, his brother and his brother's roommate, and our friend Adam to Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is one of my favorite places to visit even though I have only been there twice now. There's a store in downtown SC called Stripe. It has the most amazing selection of fashion, accessories, furniture and just, well, lots of random stuff! Being on a mini road-trip with four boys though had me a little worried that I wouldn't be able to convince them to let me stop there. Fortunately they're all amazing guys who aren't afraid of stopping for a little bit of shopping in a cool town, so I managed to pop in for about 15 minutes and look through as much as I could to buy and take back with me to San Francisco.

Aside from the gorgeous and soft, black leather wallet-purse I picked up and a re-supply of delicious key-lime pie lip balm, I got a cute little birthday card from Rifle Paper Co., one of my favorite little card shops. On the glass counter near the register, I also found the most sweet and not too girlie perfume called "Blossom" from 88 Orange. It smelled like gardenias and orange blossoms and all manner of flowers. If I wasn't still finishing up my citrus-y bottle of Clinique's Happy, I would have snatched it up right there. The $56 was just a little much for me if I already had something at home that compensated for it. But mark my words - when I'm done with Happy, I'm moving on to Blossom.

-XO

Blockheads...

Vinyl toys (if they're done right!) can be the cutest and most artistic things around. It seems weird though that the industry of vinyl toy making is filled with 75% crappy looking figures. I think the medium just isn't utilized as well as it could be since it's sort of a fringe art style.

When I was home in Washington for the holidays with my boyfriend and some friends, we ended up going to my favorite store in Spokane, Boo Radley's. It's filled with tons of cute little vinyl, metal, vintage, and independent seller toys, plus art books and comics and T-shirts and bags and candy and as an extra-extra bonus, they're always playing good music.

We ended up looking at some of the little vinyl toys and ended up getting one of these cute little guys (we got the Pegaphant or something, I forget it's real name - half elephant, half pegasus!) from the Tic Toc Apocalypse series by Amanda Visell.

I want more. Too bad they're sold out online!

-XO

Candy Striper

Okay, so maybe this isn't a real Candy Striper dress, but I think it's pretty cute! I'm not sure if vertical stripes look good on everyone, but I'd like to think anyone could pull off this cute retro look from Fossil.

-XO

On the 16th day of December to carry all your gifts...

Girlie and boyish bags from Alternative Apparel.... I really like the idea of the girlie one, because I absolutely hate having to think about my bag while I'm walking - i.e. - carrying it on my shoulder or elbow.

-XO

On the 15th day of December...

...Awesome art by Dreamworks storyboard artist Rad Sechrist.

I love, love, love how he converts his line art to colors. You'd almost never guess he had lines in the first place.

-XO

On the 14th day of December...

Some shit-kickers. I love this design, and I hate calf-high boots right now, because every other girl that I see on the street is wearing brown calf-high boots like it's going out of style (which it is). I have big eyes set on these shorter boots because let's face it, they're way more freaking awesome.

-XO

On the ninth day of December...

...A weird orange little box... and I threw it back because it was creepy. But this animation by Kevin Perry is amazing!

-XO

The Arctic Circle from Kevin Parry on Vimeo.

On the sixth day of December an ancient god gave to me...

...these freaking awesome, winged sandals! Though I think I would only be able to get away with them on holidays, I would love to wear these all the time. Oh Vivienne Westwood, you're so awesome.

-XO

On the third day of December:

...a pretty little, town print!

From Kate Pugsley's Etsy shop!

-XO