Friday, April 29, 2011

picture perfect



did you wake up to watch the royal wedding this morning? it seems to be the only thing anyone has been talking about ever since the engagement five months ago, and now here it is! i'm in the process of moving to the west coast, so here in arizona the wedding coverage started at 1am. i have to say, i have a huge soft spot for the whole thing and was up watching it all. 

the whole wedding was spot on perfection. harry was funny, william was nervous (and he blushed after the second kiss on the balcony which was possibly the most endearing thing EVER), pippa was the best maid of honor, and kate radiated with such love and beauty it was nothing short of magnificent. 

and, bonjour! THE DRESS. 


nothing but the best. and now the links to the dress of princess grace kelly are erupting everywhere. kate certainly modernized the look and owned the moment like no one else. 

it was magic. and i want nothing else than the absolute best for them. i hope that fifty years from now they look at each other the same way they did today. after all, that's all any couple could ask for. 



(photos: here, here, and here)

Saturday, April 23, 2011

have a wild weekend...



happy saturday! just wanted to share with you a regular afternoon at the zoo. i feel like it will give you some laughs for the weekend. and who doesn't need a laugh or two (especially at my expense!)
so this weekend...

...enjoy the view...


...ponder on life...

...have an attitude...

...and above all, share it with the people you love!

(now wasn't that funnny?)

enjoy the weekend!

Friday, April 22, 2011

'ello lovely...


how fabulous is this mario testino photo shoot? kate winslet steals my number one favorite actress alive right now (my favorite of all time is audrey hepburn, in case you were wondering). such a great combination of fierceness and contentment. see seems at peace with herself and her life. something i can strive for, that's for certain. 

ahhh, strong women. 
you may now swoon now. 

see her in this month's british vogue (available at booksellers). 

got any favorite cover girls these days?


(all photos found by mario testino and found across the web here, here, and here)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

two faves



i just really couldn't decide what song to post today. i've been hanging out a lot with my mom and she is a huge country music fan and these are two of my favorites. 

the first, "who are you when i'm not looking", i love because i think it's so true. the mystery of a person lies in their quirks and things you don't know right away. discovery is part of any relationship. what are some of your favorite quirks about yourself?

the second by sara evans is such a good post-break up song. we've all been there and done that, and this song just resonates with me. a little fun fact is that it's sung by a woman who is married and has like eight kids. is it weird i'm fascinated by break up songs and i haven't recently ended any relationship?

so which one is your favorite? (or have i gone a little too country for you?)

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

right now


i'm sitting on the floor of my living room (because of the downsizing due to the move our furniture is long gone) kinda sweaty from packing and moving dreaming of decking myself out in this lovely outfit. i can imagine myself on the streets of paris, walking to some quintessentially french cafe. love, love, love

isn't it just wonderful that spring has brought upon some glamorous ladylike outfits? i just feel like jackie o. would be so proud. 

(found the website through cup of jo)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

little bit o' happiness


ok, so i know i'm giving you an up close and personal view of a wallet, BUT i just bought this wonderful hobo wallet (i just LOVE hobo, such a great product) and am so freakin' stoked about it!
now it may sound silly, but i actually bought it to take with me to mali. i know, kinda frivolous, but it's part birthday present, part fun, part practical. i thought all the sections and the zipper area would work to hold american dollars and malian currency without much hassle. plus i don't need all the card holders of an american wallet (i just don't think i'll need a banana republic credit card, or that tropical smoothie gift card...those will stay safely in the us, in my old hobo) plus, a very wise friend of mine recommended that i take something glamorous with me. she knows me too well and thought that since i'm such a girly girl and will miss the nail polish and makeup of the west, i should bring something that would remind me of all that. i think this wallet may do the trick, hopefully without attracting too much attention. who knows, maybe it will stay in my suitcase and i'll use some sort of money belt, but for the time being, i think it's a total keeper.

what do you think? what frivolous thing do you pack on your adventures?


Friday, April 15, 2011

random day in april

The day started out just lovely. I got to wear my brand new elephant TOMS! who doesn't love them? i thought that was going to be the highlight to my day of errands with the madre. little did i know we would have a spontaneous lunch date with my sister.

let me set up the scene: so, we are chillin' with our sandwiches. and the radio playing throughout the restaurant is like soft rock from the eighties. we hum along to some of the songs, but then magic happens. my sister, without missing a beat totally sings along to cher "if i could turn back time." from start to finish.

i know. i know. i was rolling. i think i might have been an inch away from falling off my chair. thus, it had to be documented...




personal favorite


she is so wonderful. i think this needs to be repeated, with gusto, and often. 

have a wonderful weekend lovelies! i hope you have as much fun as i had on a random day in april. 

oh, and here's cher...

Thursday, April 14, 2011

blushing bride

when reese witherspoon decided on a blush pink monique lhuillier gown, i must say that at first i wasn't really sure. i mean it's been a long time since i decked myself out in pink. but these pictures (from people magazine) made me totally rethink the pink. that bodice and neckline! swoon mania. 

and of course, now pink gowns are becoming a hit across all of bridal's top designers. here are two of my favorites from instyle's feature...
Vera Wang, mermaid organza 

Elle Saab, butterfly sleeve

i must say, at this point, i'm a total believer. 

what do you think? could you pull off the pink?

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

eye candy


oh the beautiful people! i don't know about you, but i love dark, plastic eyewear. maybe it's because i've been in the same pair of dark green specs for six years, but nonetheless, this trend is something i'm going to hang on to. and thanks to the brains behind the new warby parker, these chic eyeglasses can easily be yours. at just $95 a pair, it's fashion for everyone. and beyond that (here's something i totally adore) for every pair of glasses that are sold, one pair of glasses are donated. did you know that one billion people don't have access to glasses? already warby parker has donated 30,000 pairs! 

i have to say, i love my trusty green glasses, but i am in the market for sunglasses. while the site doesn't offer sunnies quite yet, i can buy the frames and get the lenses separate. i'm super stoked.

check them out! and rock the glasses proudly!

(pics: here, here)


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

tuesday tunage





these three songs became the soundtrack of my past weekend. i really love them all, though the last one may be a personal favorite. 

what do you think? 

(thanks savoy for helping me cultivate a 1061 approved music taste :)

Monday, April 11, 2011

the way we were...

the weekend started with rooting on some old wahoos at uva springfest's vermonster. it was intense.

us cavs, we take our ice cream seriously

ruffin hall, the studio art building. aka where i became me...

this is my favorite! the sculpture hallway. where one of my best friends and i became BFFS

MAS. artichoke and goat cheese and the best bread like ever. 

i managed eating everything on my plate just fine

savoy. the sister i chose to have. 

we may have had winter weather in april, but no one told the daffodils. 

chris, becks, me. the eye of the storm. they keep me sane and laughing. we are definitely a force of nature. 

coffee tastes better in charlottesville. 

me and savoy. 

oh charlottesville, how i will miss you!

i spent the past weekend in charlottesville visiting some old friends before i went to california (and then mali). it was bittersweet. wonderful to be back where so much good happened, sad to see it all so different (either the place or me...that is a whole other conversation). i only spent the night, but it was simply lovely. my friends were overtly good to me. 

(1-2) savoy and i started out at uva's springfest. yes, i went to springfest after i graduated, but c'est la vie. one of her roomies was taking part in the vermonster and we went to cheer her team on. we got wrapped up in all the free food and music. who doesn't love fresh friend chicken and doughnuts?

(3-4) in typical r2m (though at the moment it was just r/m) fashion, we spent friday evening at the art quad admiring the fifth year fellows studio art end of the year show. it was truly a great exhibition and totally reminded me of all the time i spent over there as an art history major with friends in all over the art department. 

(5-7) late night at one of our favorite belmont spots. mas is perfection each and every time. 

(8) downtown charlottesville farmer's market. is there any other way to spend saturday morning? i bought from my favorite bakery. yum-o!

(9-11) friends at mudhouse downtown. coffee and conversation is the epitome of my college experience. 

(12) april flowers. change is in the air along with the incoming warmth of spring...

listen to barbara sing it

Saturday, April 9, 2011

THE HAIR


ok, so a couple of things: (1) don't choose to take your own picture at 1am without makeup. like ever. (2) does my hand look larger than it should? (3) why yes, my nails and my shirt do basically match. don't ever doubt it!

not to state the obvious but i got my haircut! i wanted to put it up because i've been getting a lot of questions about it. better (promise!) pictures to come! 

thanks so much barrie...you did a wonderful job and i don't know what i'll do without your magic!

happy weekend!

Monday, April 4, 2011

new hair, new me


don't you just love a little audrey? i think i could live my life according to audrey and do just fine. but in the meantime, i just may do my hair according to her and see where that gets me. 

with my move to mali coming within the eight week mark, i'm freaking out about the things i would...what i'm going to wear, how i can talk my parents into buying me as many pairs of TOMS as possible, fashionable luggage, hair, and hygiene. (and sadly, my concerns are in that order.) since it is most likely i am going to have to take bucket baths, long hair is not an option. who wants to deal with that nonsense! thus, i am getting all my courage up, going to my dear friend and hair stylist and asking for this audrey hairstyle from her lovely movie sabrina. i may not have those cheekbones, but i am going to give it a try.

what do you think? can i pull it off? would you have the guts to go this short?

Friday, April 1, 2011

twenty-seven months


so you remember how i said there has been some heavy thinking going on lately? well i thought it was about time i filled everyone in (and my apologies for keeping this under wraps)

it's not usually the thing here to digress too far from the world of fashion and travel, but i do love sharing my life with the world so here we go...

when i was in high school i was an international relations nerd for lack of a better word. i was in model UN all four years. i petitioned my school to offer comparative government. yeah, i was that girl. i was a save the world type.  and shocker (!) not much has changed.

seventeen months ago i started the application to join the peace corps. i learned about it through high school government classes, and it's kinda stuck. throughout the period there have been periods where i was sure nothing would come of it all, times when i really wondered if it was right for me, if i could even really do it. but then it would boil down to the point where i can't imagine my life without it. so i went through all the forms, the interviews, the doctors appointments (and more appointments, and more...). until now. 

i.got.in.

and now i have my country assignment. 

i leave june 1 2011. i'm going to be a education/literacy volunteer. in mali. 

MALI.

like the country in west africa. a muslim, french-speaking, african country. 

pale white me. in africa. for real. probably no running water, probably no electricity. probably no internet or cell phone. 

talk about a change. i think this can classify as a radical readjustment. 

i think i may be insane enough to find this the right thing to do. in fact i know i did because i accepted on monday and it's totally official. 

there are moments when i think i've lost all my marbles. i don't know if i can do this. if i can get on that airplane and travel around the world and learn to speak the language, learn to be Malian. there are moments when i know, to my very core, that this is exactly what i should be doing. i sticking to that. i believe that this is going to make me the person i am meant to be. 

so between now and june there will be a ton of preparations, shopping, learning about the Malian culture, working on my language lessons. and then there is of course learning about outdoor equipment (something i  know nothing about...who knew there were all these kinds of sleeping bags and short wave radios and all this other jargon! it's a whole new world!). 

on top of all that. as if that were not enough on its own. my dad is being transferred to san diego, CA. so because i need to have somewhere to keep my belongings, and i want to spend as much time as possible with my parents, i will be, first, moving to california. 

seriously. are you following all this?

here's the short of it all: mid april--to california. june--to mali. 

i'm trying to breathe. 

if you have any thoughts...on what to wear, what to bring, what to research...in mali or CA...pass them along!

more fashion to come as well...linen, linen and more linen..soooo goooodddd!

(map)

happy friday everyone! thanks for reading!