Mountainscape

This gorgeous photograph was taken this past weekend by my fiancé Patrick, 

who went on a last-minute road trip from Paris to Gryon, Switzerland.  This was taken with long exposure in the middle of the night...how incredible are those stars among the mountains?

Beach Glam

Photo by Uli Rose

Vogue Italia, maggio 1974

via Elle France

French Vogue, photo by Patrick Demarchelier

1991

via Harper's Bazaar

via Coco + Kelley

Summer has officially begun.  Let the sun shine...

Memorial Day

Been a while since I've had the chance to post, and although I've been dying to share the photos I've been taking here in Maine, I forgot the cord to put them on my computer.  So here's a taste from my cell phone camera..pretty gorge, right?  This is the beach right in front of where I'm staying, where I got to frolic in tide pools all morning.  

And this right here is my very first lobster.  I got to go to the lobster pound and pick up 18 of these guys, and I must say this particular guy was pretty tasty, although arguably not worth the effort of dismembering.

Maine

I'm off to Maine for a couple of weeks, and pretty excited to explore that part of the country.  

More updates soon!

The cowgirl in me wants to see this:

Camping in Style

Camper by VLVT 

1. Jansport Heritage Ski & Hike backpack
2. Bass Monica boots in chestnut
3. Fall Foliage Mismatch socks from New High Mart
4. Outdoors Coffee Pot
5. All-Weather Birder's Journal
6. Fjallraven Greenland Jacket

bees, continued.

Beeswax candles

 

Les Nereides Bee ring

Beekeeper's Bible

Honeybees

I love these photos from LIFE magazine of beautiful beekeepers, you can see more here.  What an incredible process it is to collect honey from these tiny creature's homes.

Loving Neutrals by VLVT 

1. Etoile Isabel Marant Ida one-shouldered top

2. Malene Birger Beyana draped cotton skirt

3. Rachel Comey Altruist Blouse

4. James Lock & co. Shalloak Hat

5. Les Prairies de Paris Slip-on Jimmy Cliff heel 

6. Les Prairies de Paris L'Hussnolove Python tote

The Library

Writer Duncan Fallowell beautifully describes his library and the importance 

his books hold for him in The Library by Sergey Stefanovic.

Saturday Morning Double Feature: Before Sunrise & Before Sunset

Thank you Netflix insant-watch for making my Saturday morning so good.

Friday!

  

This was our jam on the latest road trip...and now it's my solo Friday night dance song.

Dream Collective Jewelry

check it out here.

Kate Moss + Mario Testino

 

= gorgeous 

From Vogue Brasil May 2011

home.

I'm back, baby.

Final weekend in Paris

My last weekend in Paris was spent happily in Liancourt-Rautigny, about 40 min North by train from Paris, visiting one of Patrick's relatives.  She inherited this 17th century chateau about 10 years ago, and turned part of it into a gallery space to showcase some incredible art.

She also had a visiting artist staying with her, a Polish mystic named Miranda (right) who was fascinating to talk to.

Just some of the book art displayed there, the one below made using folded newspaper and metal.

The space was breathtaking, but what was most special about the trip were the stories that Patrick's aunt had about Patrick's Grandfather, who himself had lived at the chateau.  

Patrick's Grandfather as a young man.

 ...and in front of the chateau with Patrick's uncle when he was little.

The whole weekend was magical - lots of wine, sunny skies, and good stories in a French castle...what more can you ask for?  Pinch me.    

Happy Mama's Day

I love this photo of my mom because it is proof that she had become a California girl, 

'cause I don't think a sheer linen dress and a shell necklace would have sufficed for an Indiana Christmas.  Cheers to you, Mama!

Google Street View

These photographs, chosen and compiled by artist Jon Rafman, were all taken by none other than the panoptic Google-mobile for Google Street View.  He's found some incredibly real, unbelievable and at-times hilarious moments in street view photos, and I would highly suggest looking at them here.

The world captured by Google appears to be more truthful and more transparent because of the weight accorded to external reality, the perception of a neutral, unbiased recording, and even the vastness of the project. At the same time, I acknowledge that this way of photographing creates a cultural text like any other, a structured and structuring space whose codes and meaning the artist and the curator of the images can assist in constructing or deciphering.

-Jon Rafman

May days

This being my last week in Paris, Patrick and I have been spending a lot of time hanging out with his extended family and friends he's made here, which amounts to many home-cooked meals in Parisian apartments with good wine and good company.  I finally got to meet Patrick's aunt and uncle who live in an incredible apartment on the Ile de la Cité, which has been passed down to them from generation to generation.  It is filled with old books (Patrick's uncle was a book publisher) and old paintings (the above portrait is of Patrick's great-great aunt, who lived in that very apartment).  Here are the views from their living room:

Not too bad, right?  Then yesterday we went to Versailles, which both of us had been to when we were kids, but wanted to see it together.  The castle itself was so packed with tourists, that I sat down and protested the tour, but once we went out to the gardens I cheered up again.

   

We spent six hours walking the garden of Versailles, stopping often to lay down and read in the grass.

We finished the day at Marie Antoinette's Estate that is near the castle, but which she used as her little rural oasis.  It is incredibly picturesque, filled with farm animals and vegetable gardens, and was my absolute favorite part of Versailles.

Henry

I miss my dog.

portraiture

Sadness, 1864

Inspiration from the Musee D'Orsay today - I got to see an incredible collection of Julia Margaret Cameron's photographs as a part of their Pre-Raphaelite painting/photography exhibit.  She captured portraits, especially of women, like no one had before her and has surely inspired many contemporary female photographers.  She was given a camera as a gift by her daughter at the age of 48, thus beginning her 11-year career as an artist on the Isle of Wight until moving to Sri Lanka where she got sick and died suddenly in 1879.

Ophelia Study No. 2, 1867

Beatrice, 1866