0 Beautiful wedding dress

Stunning, right? A thousand years from now, when I get married, I want the dress to look just like this.

via 100 Layer Cake

2 Bonjour

Exciting news: I booked my flight to France today! I leave in late September and stay until May, teaching English at a primary school in Bergerac. The best parts? 1. I get six weeks of vacation throughout the school year. And New Year's in Europe? Couldn't be more excited. 2. I only work 15 hours a week. 3. One of my best friends in the whole world will be in France, too, and has the same vacations as me.

And as if The Sartorialist knew how excited I'm getting, he's been in Paris, posting pictures from fashion shows and the city's more fashionable inhabitants. Can this please me be, on a street in France, in three months?

0 Rachel Comey shoes: Acquired

Well, kind of. Rachel Comey designed shoes exclusively for Urban Outfitters and, after seeing my post coveting her shoes, my mommy bought these booties for me as an early birthday present. I can't wait to wear them with shirt-dresses and high-waisted skirts. Thanks mom!

0 Style Inspiration: Coco Before Chanel

I have to admit, I didn’t love Coco Before Chanel as much as I thought I would. It was depressing, really, and sort of made me feel like Coco Chanel lived kind of a sad life. Still, everything about this film was beautiful: the French countryside, Audrey Tatou, and of course, the costumes. It was interesting to see how Chanel’s clothing slowly became the classically feminine brand that it is: the tweed, the simple lines and the cuts that are somehow both androgynous and feminine. You could see how it had transformed from her own clothing, a lot of which was inspired by menswear.



I also noticed in one scene, when she’s in Normandy with her beau, that she totally created the little black dress. All the other women are wearing these frou frou ball gowns and big hats, and Coco’s wearing a simple, elegant black dress and is the prettiest woman in the room. You can see so much of her work in today’s fashion, and it would be almost impossible to create an inspiration board big enough to encompass it. Still, here are some pieces loosely inspired by Audrey Tautou's wardrobe in the film.



1. Anthropologie Herald's Trumpet Boudoir Set, $42
2. Cartier Women's Francaise Stainless Steel Watch, $3,075
3. Smythe Wool-Blend Equestrian Jacket, on sale for $486.50
4. J.Crew Solid Schuyler Dress, on sale for $79.99
5. Forever 21 Silk Bow Headband, $3.80
6. Gap, Nautical Tunic Top, on sale for $17.99
7. Chanel Vintage Double Chain Bag, $2,295
8. Steven by Steve Madden Mellin Shoe, $99

It was also good to brush up on my French while I watched this. The only problem was I felt like I didn’t know what was happening half the time because I was trying to figure out what they were saying rather than reading the subtitles. I guess I’d better start watching some more French movies…

0 Hamburgers!

I'm having so much fun writing my article on the Top Ten Places to Get a Burger in New York for DGuides. One spot that really intrigues me is Burger Joint, a tiny, hidden away restaurant in the Parker Meridien hotel. All they sell are burgers and beers, pretty much, and the place is literally hidden behind a curtain past the lobby of the hotel. There are no signs other than a tiny neon one of a burger - you just have to know it's there. Apparently, the burgers are kind of amazing, but you have to wait in line forever and fight tooth and nail to get a seat. And all for a place that's supposed to be a secret! I love New York.





P.S. If you're interested in reading what I've written so far for DGuides, you can see my work here.

P.P.S. Follow my blog with bloglovin

1 Rachel Comey

How did I just discover Rachel Comey? I'm in desperate need of a new pair of platform sandals or wedges (or both!) and her shoes are right up my alley. What can I say? I'm a sucker for neutrals. And I love that she makes clogs cool again. Unless I found a fabulous deal, there's no way I could afford them - but I can still scour online and swoon.



1. Dekalb Sandal, $345
2. Twisted Tress Clogs, $395
3. Williwaw Braided Clog, $385
4. Cage Sandal, on sale for a steal of $247 (is sarcasm detected through the internet?)

While searching, I stumbled upon this article on Rachel Comey in T. She seems kind of awesome. (Sample question: What's in your refrigerator? Answer: "Parsley, sourdough yeast, vinho verde, my grandmother’s pearls.")

0 Weekend pics and baking bits

I hpoe you all had a lovely Father's Day Weekend! My cousin's fiancée and their adorable son came over for play time on Friday. On Saturday I played pool and heard one of my favorite bands play, and Sunday was spent barbecuing with dad and family friends.


I also made Martha's Citrus Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies for dessert at our Father's Day BBQ. The cornmeal added some great texture to the cookie and the orange zest contributed a hint of citrus. Next time I probably will put in more zest than the recipe calls for (and maybe mix in some lemon zest - yum). They were very popular - and, as everyone said, small enough that you could consume three or four of them relatively guilt-free.

0 Style inspiration: Annie Hall

The other day, my friend told me my outfit reminded her of Annie Hall. To me this is the ultimate compliment: no woman has ever made menswear quite as cool as Diane Keaton did. And since I've been living in my local coffee shop in oversized oxfords, fake glasses and a fedora, I guess her comparison wasn't far off.






Here are some essentials for you Annie Hall wannabes who are living in 2010 rather than 1977.



1. Forever 21 Chic Wool Cloche, $13.80
2. Linea Pelle Dylan Medium Tote, $415
3. Banana Republic English Plaid Silk Tie, $59.50
4. Girl Props Geek Chic Round Lens Glasses, $9.99
5. Vince Boyfriend-fit Cotton Chinos, $198
6. Levi's 501 Cutoffs, $50
7. Elizabeth and James James II Sleeveless Jacket, $158
8. J. Crew Thomas Mason Fabric Tuxedo Shirt, $150
9. Seychelles Bismuth Oxford Bootie, $120

And just in case you wanted to see it...my Annie Hall outfit:



Have a great weekend!

P.S. If you haven't seen the movie, you must!

0 Life these days

0 A Chelsea morning

Although I'm only 20 miles from NYC, and my mom lived there for many years, she and I like to play tourist. Yesterday we went to Chelsea, one of our favorite neighborhoods. It was a gorgeous day, so first we ate breakfast at Pastis and sat outside and people-watched (I especially liked eavesdropping on the French-speaking waitresses). Then we walked across the High Line, which was once an elevated railroad track and is in the process of being converted into a walkway that will run from Chelsea to the Javits Center. We finished the day at Chelsea Market, where we bought Fat Witch Brownies and I tried on clothes at Anthropologie that, once again, I couldn't afford.

0 Rad swimsuit

I seriously want this. Of course it's from Anthropolgie: queen of all things feminine and beautiful and totally out of my price range.



(Found on one of my faves, Absolutely Not Martha.)

0 Yellow buttermilk cupcakes

Yesterday I made Martha Stewart's yellow buttermilk cupcakes with vanilla-buttercream frosting for my little cousins' birthdays. It was the first recipe I tried out of my Martha Stewart Cupcake Book and it certainly did not fail me. I love the way the buttermilk gives this classic vanilla cupcake a subtle kick. Plus, they were easy to make, and huge crowd-pleaser.

2 Current read: Atonement

I picked up Atonement by Ian McEwan during my bout at the library last week and now I'm having trouble putting it down (except when I have to...to go to work...overrated). The writing is mind-bogglingly beautiful and so easy to get wrapped up in. I find it's rare to find a book that's both profound but not too dense (you know what I mean?). I'm sure you've all seen the movie so you know how heartbreaking and inventive the story is. What I like about the book which you don't get in the movie is that the narrator is a close third person and the chapters rotate between different characters' perspectives. The story makes so much more sense this way, and you especially can understand Briony a whole lot better; in the movie she's pretty much a wretched little girl, but in the book, she's...complicated.

"It wasn't only wickedness and scheming that made people unhappy, it was confusion and misunderstanding; above all, it was the failure to grasp the simple truth that other people are as real as you."
I also think it's time to me to admit it: I like Keira Knightley. I feel like if you're a girl, you're supposed to hate her or something, but I think she's a fabulous actress. And no one else could have turned the green dress into the phenomenon that it became.


Really, though, can someone buy me this dress?

2 Bergerac, France

I just learned where I will be calling my new home for a year: Bergerac, France, which is a commune in the Dordogne region of France. Dordogne is between the Loire Valley and the Pyrénées, and there are more than 1500 castles in the region! Bergerac has about 30,000 inhabitants and 21 square miles to its name, but it seems to be a big tourist destination (especially among Brits - there are tons of direct Ryan Air flights to different cities in England). Within the town are caves, bastides, castles, vineyards, and a harbor (the Dordogne river runs through it). Cyrano de Bergerac gets his name from the town, and there's a statue of him in the town's center. Apparently Bergerac also has some of the best wine in the Bordeaux region - lucky me. (The departments in France are a bit confusing, so I'm technically in the Bordeaux department even though I'm about an hour and a half from the city of Bordeaux).

I'll be teaching primary school kids - I start Oct. 11 and finish April 30, and have 5 weeks of paid vacation in between. Needless to say, I can't wait.


[That will be me, the red square]

0 Libraries

Libraries might be some of the only sacred places we have left. My local library was renovated while I was away and today was my first time inside. It was 93 degrees today so I sat in the stacks getting lost in poetry. I've been finding it harder recently to get myself to sit down and just relax. Now that I have Internet all the time again, I don't think to read a book or just stop going going going. So today felt like a cool breath of fresh air.

Pablo Neruda is my favorite. I took out a thousand-page anthology of his poems - many with multiple translations (I wish I knew Spanish purely so I could read his work - and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's, for that matter - the way it's supposed to be read).

Oh girl among the roses, oh crush of doves,
oh fortress of fishes and rosebushes,
your soul is a bottle filled with thirsty salt
and your skin, a bell filled with grapes.

Unfortunately I have only fingernails to give you,
or eyelashes, or melted pianos,
or dreams that come spurting from my heart,
dusty dreams that run like black horsemen,
dreams filled with velocities and misfortunes.

from "Ode with a Lament"
photo via we heart it