*Subtitle: How I Thankfully Managed to Not Turn my Building's Rooftop Patio Pink

A few months ago I wrote a story on different ways to hunt for secondhand decor finds with a few local experts, which turned me on to the powers of Craigslist. (Not that I hadn't ever used Craigslist before, but I've always found it to be lots and lots of hard-to-search junk, with just a few small treasures.) I also was turned on to the powers of the headboard as a design focus, and put my two new interests together to locate an old-timey brass headboard from a nice guy in Northeast for $40. Score!

It sat, upside-down, in my (very small) hallway for months and months, while I attempted to figure out how exactly I would find the space to spraypaint it, since I -- and just about everyone I know -- live in a small apartment with nonexistent yardage. When Sunday arrived, clear and fairly windless, I decided I'd take my chances and attempt the task in a (very hidden) corner of my roof deck.

Several coats of primer, followed by a healthy spray down of hot pink paint, followed my an emergency trip to Home Depot for more hot pink paint, followed by some rampant googling when I decided I might've inhaled too much spray paint for my own good, and ... voila! I now have a glossy hot pink metal headboard. I love it, although incorporating such a statement piece really changes the dynamic of the bedroom decor, and now I feel like I have to rearrange everything else to give the room more balance. Sigh.

Commander Robot offered his seal of approval... although based on his glassy expression, I suspect he's been sniffing some of the paint fumes...

Love, Love, Love: It's Almost Friday! Edition

1. Longtime readers know that it is basically a given that I will gush over the work of midcentury architectural photographer Julius Shulman (above, below) every few months. (A. May. Zing.) I was practically kicking myself for very nearly missing the local E Street Cinema run of the new documentary on Shulman's work, VIsual Acoustics. (I managed to snag tix to the very final screening tonight. Phew.) It's also playing in select theaters around the country, which hopefully will save a few of you some, er, panicked ticket-buying.



2. Carine & co. at Paris Vogue featured the awesome paint-splattered Groove Move Swatch watch ($55) in their latest issue, sending me into an immediate fervent search to track it down. Which I did. Whee.


3. One of the very best books that's come across my desk recently is Walker Lamond's Rules for my Unborn Son, based off his adorably inspiring blog of the same name. (I also did a q&a with him over here, if that is something that would interest you.) I love the book's thoroughly vintagey look, not to mention Walker's clever rules for a well-lived, well-mannered life. Such as: "Unless you served, no fatigues" and "Don't sabotage the family portrait. Smile please." Highly recommended for all your holiday gift-giving needs.


4. You could say I have a, um, serious fixation on faux fur jackets. (Every time I head to the thrift store lately, I seem to return with one. Or four.) They're just so perfectly retro-glam over little dresses or the fallback jean/tee combo. If you're not a thrifter, this Urban Outfitters option (above) pretty much does the vintagey trick.


5. Currently at the top of my Christmas list: jammie onesies! What are YOU asking Santa for?

Tweeeeeed Riiiiiiiide: The Recap

Oh, there is little I love more than a reason to get all dressed up in fanciful get-ups on a weekend afternoon. (See also: this past Halloween, Santacon.) So when some fashionable folk in D.C. announced the first ever D.C. Tweed Ride {the latest in a series of Tweed Rides — aka people who get dressed up in their dandy finest and ride across the city on bicycles having a merry olde time — happening around the country}, it was all but guaranteed that I would go. Or, at least, that I would go to the after-party at Marvin. (Well, I don't have a bike. Or much athletic endurance.) Instead, I took along my camera and a tiny straw hat to the sunny post-ride shindig and it was all just about as fun as it could possibly be. I offer as proof:























Evidence of the tiny straw hat. {Ebay search for doll's hat!}


More snaps up on the FW blog. See you next year!

Aw, shucks. {blushing furiously}

We were e-mailing around this interesting Financial Times article on the rise of fashion bloggers (yea, fashion bloggers!) before we'd even got to the end of the piece. Which, when we finally did, we saw this:

An expert’s guide to the best fashion blogs: Six stand-out style blogs by Harriet Quick

...Fashion is Spinach: Named after the 1938 book by Elizabeth Hawes, Ms Spinach is a professional blogger for the Washington Post but her own site is full of light-hearted glimpses into the fashion world, from the collection of an new designer to a snap of US Vogue‘s Sally Singer, lying on her sofa. Mixes a friendly tone with semi-insider culture....

Um, to be on a shortlist with The Cut (our veryveryfavorite fashion blog), Threadbanger, A Continuous Lean, Disney Roller Girl and Facehunter (plus a nod to Garance as well), is sort of huge for us, and the fact that the list was picked by Harriet Quick, UK Vogue fashion features director, is just the icing on the virtual cake.

I do believe this calls for a celebratory afternoon trip to Value Village!

{Photo: The hyped-up blogger front row at D&G this year, via WWD.}

All I want for Christmas...

Audrey had a little fawn (little fawn, little fawn!). And everywhere that Audrey went, the fawn was sure to go. But seriously. I guess when you were as huge as Ms. Hepburn, people just let you take your pet deer everywhere. His name was Ip, short for Pippin.

{Turns out this has been on like every blog ever in the past year, but I couldn't resist. I found it via Bleubird. Oh, you're not reading Bleubird? Why on earth not?}

Today I am feeling...

...Nostalgic: I've really been loving the retro, ladylike vibe at Club Monaco this season, but even more so now that I see their fall lookbook cover (above, top) riffs on one of my favorite vintage photographs by midcentury shutterbug Nina Leen.


...Inspired: Years ago, when I was a just a young'un editor at a certain New York fashion magazine, I worked for awhile with a friendly, fun guy named Fran who soon after had a terrible diving accident that left him paralyzed. We didn't know each other well, but I always hoped that he ended up okay. And now, he has an amazing story and an incredible cult-favorite skincare line. (With really beautiful packaging to boot!) I'm in awe. {Photo via Paper's Beautiful People List.)


...Greedy: Because I really, really, reallllly want one or two (or five) of Iacoli & McAllister's mini-pedestals, even though I already have plenty of cake stands and absolutely no use for any more. They're just. So. Pretty!


...Giddy: Um, can I just pause for a minute and say I am a huge Glee-head, and I kind of had a small, happy heart attack when they sang "Defying Gravity" last night (although it did not help that we had to wait two extra weeks for the episode to air, no thanks to the World Series... grumble...) I just saw Wicked again in NYC a few weeks ago; it's my veryvery favorite...


...Giggly: Have I mentioned that Regretsy might be the best website of all time? It has made me laugh so hard, I've cried. (For example: this mermaid hair clip...) Go forth and giggle.

Things I Heart: Iris, Phillip, Sally, Winona, bikes!

It occurs to me that rather than wrap up the, oh, seven or eight half-finished blog posts sitting in open windows on my computer at the moment, I ought to just simplify it all down to the things I'm loving/inspired by/excited about this week. Brevity is not my strong point, but here goes...

1. We start with: Above, the amazing Iris Apfel in what must be the Best Fur Muff Ever. (On a related note, it is so. hard! to find good vintage muffs on eBay/etsy, but I snagged a pretty reasonable one late last season and cannot wait until it stops being, oh, a balmy 60 degrees already so I can sport it about town.)

(In other related news: Psst... Bostonians! Iris Apfel's wardrobe retrospective is now at the Peabody Essex Museum. Go and drool on behalf of all of us who haven't seen it yet.)


2. I am thoroughly obsessed with the sparkly ingenuity of many of Phillip Lim's holiday pieces. (It's nice online, but I recommend you get up close to the awesomeness {locally, a big chunk of it is at Muleh}. Worth the trip, even if you can only adore from arm's length, because oh-my-goodness Mr. Lim, your prices are getting astronomical.)


3. Last week, a small crowd of very lucky Washingtonians saw an exclusive fashion presentation (her first in years!) by Isabel Toledo here at the Swiss Residence. It was awe-inspiring, and Isabel's thoroughly jaw-dropping designs were only eclipsed by the fact that, while waiting in the valet line, I did a double-take and realized that Vogue's Sally Singer was standing there waiting next to me. She is basically my Personal Fashion Writer Icon. (And yes, after I did a small giddy dance in my head, I introduced myself and we had a very nice chat, rather than risk a lifetime — or at least a few days — of kicking myself in the skinny pant-clad shins.)

That's Sally above in a recent rare glimpse of her colorful, slightly madcap Chelsea Hotel apartment that she shares with her husband, the writer Joseph O'Neill, and their sons.


4. I have been thoroughly remiss in only just now mentioning the new book Closet Confidential by Winona Dimeo-Ediger, aka Daddy Likey, aka funniest blogger ever and the person who taught me what a "chocha" was (um, mom, maybe don't click that...). It often boggles my mind the number of insanely creative and amazingly talented people hiding out all over the Internet, and Winona has delivered a lovely, funny, smart style book that I've been relishing since it fell into my hands a few weeks ago.

(A fun aside: Winona asked me to contribute a potential cover blurb quote thingy months and months ago, and imagine my surprise to get the book see it front and center on the back cover! My name in print! It never gets old.)


5. Oh why oh why don't I have a proper vintagey bike suitable for riding in this Sunday's first ever Washington, DC Tweed Ride? I've been feeling somewhat under the weather this week, but it would take a hefty bout of H1N1 to keep me (and my camera, and perhaps my ruffle-necked, floor length petticoated dress — oooh, and maybe even the muff?) away.

Photos (and more outfit inspiration) from this recap of a San Fran Tweed.

6. Oooooh. This was fun. Maybe I'll do it every week.

We Interrupt Our Regular Posting for Prabal Gurung

While poking around for something else entirely on the Interwebs, I came across this photo of Prabal Gurung's upcoming spring collection. And now, Prabal Gurung's spring collection (more here) has moved to the top of my fashion wishlist (sorry, Chanel maxi flap bag — you're now at number two).

Totally Smitten: Keel's Simple Diary

Every attempt I've ever made at keeping a diary has been abandoned within days. It just always seemed so much more interesting to write about other stuff than the minutiae of my day. Despite that, I'm loving my new Keel's Simple Diary (discovered via Lola is Beauty). It asks the questions; you fill in your answers. A sample page is below...

Just taking a moment to contemplate whether my day was a schnitzel, baloney or a catastrophe (and why) adds a nice, entertaining perspective to an otherwise busy week.

(And for the record, my day — heck, the whole weekend — has been a schnitzel, thank you very much.)

Pigs Flying, and Other Fun

Who'd ever thought we'd see the day where I'd wax on and on about Ann Taylor? And yet! That peter-pan collared sweater (above, left) and tweedy cropped jacket with the huge collar (above, right) got me more excited than anything I've seen all week. (And I've seen a lot of things, because I just got back from NYC. Where, despite all my best attempts, I did not find a *single thing* worth buying. I did, however, wear hot pink spandex and go marching in the Village Halloween parade.)