Lesley Arfin Rules.

If you haven’t read “Dear Diary” by Lesley Arfin you better do yourself a favor and get to it. I would let you borrow it but I’m too obsessed with it and would probably hunt you down if I didn’t get it back in 2 days. I read the entire book in one day and it’s seriously the greatest read of all time. It’s right up there with Ulysses. I bought and read “Dear Diary” when it first came out but I think about it all the time and I think I might pick it up again before the summer ends. It’s beautiful and heart wrenching and hilarious and nostalgic all at the same time and reminds me of my carefree youth. After I read the book I emailed Lesley Arfin and told her how totally inspired I was by “Dear Diary” AND SHE WROTE ME BACK! Who does that? Awesome people like her, that’s who. The other day Ronda told me L. Arfin had a blog and I about died because I was completely unaware. Of course I raced home after my 30th birthday bbq and immediately found it and became obsessed all over again with the wonderful Lesley Arfin. Does that sound creepy? Anyhow, check out cafe’ con lesley.

Dressing the Part

I’ve always found people’s choice of “style icons” interesting. I’ve never really thought too much about who I would consider an icon until I saw Liz Goldwyn, granddaughter of film mogul Samuel Goldwyn, at the Santa Monica Vintage Expo. I’ve admired her way of dressing for quite some time, and actually seeing her in person was not disappointing, thankfully. She has a sort of gracefulness in her look and how she carries herself, and an inimitable style that is both trying and effortless. You will never see her in jeans or without some amazing accessory (she designs jewelry, too). She exudes glamour and is not your typical beauty; she surpasses typical and uses what she has to reflect her style. I imagine her to have a specific dress waiting for a perfect occasion. While most people would say those born into wealth have easier access to acquiring a perfect wardrobe, it’s important to point out that there’s also easier access to acquiring a tasteless wardrobe. I’ve seen plenty of people in this city who fit the latter.

Images from Style.com

It Was Worth It

I think one of my first posts mentioned my countless magazines and the endless process of trying to discard of them properly. I use the word “properly” because my magazine collection is something I take seriously, and going through hundreds of them is no small feat. However! The process is almost complete and I must say it was worth lugging hundreds, if not thousands of pounds all over Houston and Los Angeles. I cannot even begin to describe the images I’ve found, or the excitement I’ve encountered upon their discovery. I’ve forgotten about so many, and they took me back to my days of buying Vogue when I really should have used my last $4 to buy Ramen Noodles. I love me some Ramen, but I love fashion more. It’s moments like this that make me understand why I do love it so much when I’m hating it the most. It’s fickle, it’s competitive, it can be somewhat lame; but it’s my first love and don’tcha know nothing can ever replace that.

Images below are from W Magazine 2005

If looks could kill, we’d all be dead.

Naughty meets Haughty

Just roaming the streets in full regalia

Best Friends Forever.

Books I Want

The past couple of weeks I’ve been going through my old W Magazines and Harper’s Bazaar Magazines looking for images I want to keep. My bookshelves have been begging me to rid them of some weight (and my hubby has, too) so I figured it was a good time to collect tear sheets and recycle the rest of my fashion bibles. This whole process got me thinking about books and about how many titles I’ve been wanting. I don’t think my collection of books will ever surpass my magazine collection, but who knows. Here are some titles I’m lusting after.

Bay Garnett rules.

I have never read anything by Salman Rushdie, so this would be my first.

I love magazines, too!

A classic, or so they say.

I’ve flipped through this and it’s heaven.

To go along with the rest of my Taschen collection.

My dear friend Cassi told me about this book. I want to find inspiration in EVERYTHING.

It’s What’s Inside That Counts

The kind of lifestyle I aspire to lead entails living in a home that is filled with history and memories. I want a home that is full of character from mine and my husband’s lives and our friends and family. A combination of old and new, elegant and distraught, effortlessly put together and put together with effort. I want a home for lounging and entertaining, dancing and meditating, and a home where music can be played at all hours of the day. I found the following photos from an interior design blog–http://www.desiretoinspire.blogspot.com/ and they were taken by photographer Sean Myers. The home in the photos is so incredibly perfect with its quirky decoration and unpolished style. I imagine that whoever lives there has a vast collection of vintage clothes and jewelry. They are purveyors of fine antiquities and art but they will never flaunt their taste. Every little thing in the house has a story behind it. That’s the kind of home I want to make. I’d like to think we’re on our way, and I’ll keep thinking that way.

Save the Bees

I’ve never been stung by a bee. I should knock on wood to keep it that way. Growing up in Texas and spending summers swimming in my grandparents pool, there were HUGE bees everywhere. I’m talking gigantic bumble bees that looked like they could bite your head off, or inject enough poison to kill you. I was terrified of them and of their fellow stingers, the wasps. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate all critters big and small, even if they do bite. I’m one of those girls that can watch Planet Earth and Blue Planet everyday and still continue to marvel at what exists on earth. Today I stumbled upon photos from an exhibition going on in NYC titled “A New Hive” and was completely mesmerized by what I saw. The exhibition, set up like a cabinet of curiosities, made me want to redecorate my apartment. And, when I read about the exhibition I was even more impressed. “A New Hive” is a New York City non-profit arts organization that was created to help save honeybees. According to the organization, “honeybees have mysteriously gone missing from their hives all over the world. As of Spring of 2008 nearly a third of U.S. 2.4 million bee colonies have been lost — tens of billions of bees, according to an estimate from the Apiary Inspectors of America. Beekeepers report entire hives abandoned by adult bees who uncharacteristically leftbehind food and bee larvae, the young that develop inside the hive.” The scientific community has named the phenomenon “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD).

When I read this I felt so uneducated, but I also felt proud that I stumbled upon something so interesting. You don’t often see people take an issue and turn it into something creative to educate, entertain, and inspire. What I thought was going to be an “Interiors” post turned out to be even more. These photos were taken from http://www.refinery29.com/ and http://www.anewhive.blogspot.com/. Check out the “A New Hive” blog to learn more. And don’t forget to save the bees.