New York Texture

When I first saw these images, I found myself itching to reach out and touch them (I'm a terrible gallery-goer). French artist Daniel Castan adds resin to acrylic paint to make it dry quickly, so he has to work quickly. The result is these gorgeously textured paintings that mirror the pace of the city they capture. His site is in French, but it doesn't appear that he's showing these pieces in the US anytime soon, so we'll all just have to stare at our computer screens for a bit.

Via My Modern Met

Toms Ballet Flats!

Finally! Toms is making ballet flats! If you couldn't tell by my exclamation points, or my love for my new ballet flat tote yesterday, I'm a huge fan of ballet flats. If winter weather in NYC didn't stop me, I'd wear them year round.

 










































Do you wear Toms? Everyone says they're so comfortable!

Lovely Surprises

I've mentioned before that I don't always love surprises. But surprise presents for no reason at all are a totally different thing. On Sunday night at church, two friends brought me two presents and they were just too lovely not to tell you about.

   




















First, my friend Murph (who is an amazing baker) made these sweet cupcakes for friends and I was one of the lucky recipients. Had she simply handed me a cupcake I would have been pretty excited, but there's just something that feels extra special when someone goes to the extra effort of making something look pretty. Isn't that box great? (It's kind of like these.)

 
And then my friend Bethany handed me this lovely tote that caught my eye back in November when we went to Fifteen Eleven while we were in DC for Thanksgiving. I gushed and gushed about how cute it was, but bought some gold twine instead (just too much to choose from at that store!). Anyway, I absolutely love it, and my oh-so-thoughtful friends. They made a random Sunday night so cheery!

Weekend in Weather

This weekend I intentionally made very few plans, and gave myself plenty of time to do a whole lot of nothing. It was restful and refreshing. It was also, however, boring as far as photos are concerned. So, I leave you with Friday's weather, as seen from the office where I'm freelancing (hence the florescent lights visible in the window). It seemed like every time I turned around the weather had changed and the sky looked completely different and altogether breathtaking.

Blue Skies

Wouldn't this fun umbrella brighten a rainy day? I had a rainy, wet walk home from work last night and it would have been lovely to look up and see a blue sky, even if only inside my own umbrella. If it came in yellow, it would be my dream umbrella.

Happy weekend, friends! I hope your skies are blue.

New York Bucket List

Living in New York there's lots to see and do. But somehow, I end up going to the same places over and over. And while I love my favorite coffee shops, restaurants, and museums, there's lots of places I always mean to check out but forget about when I find myself with a few free hours. So, if you'll indulge me in recording my New York bucket list here (more posts to come!), I hope you'll find something interesting to check out too, whether you live here or are planning a visit.





The Empire State Building

I guess I should start with one of the big ones, that nearly every tourist who comes to Manhattan has done...The Empire State Building. After living here for five years, I still haven't been! I've always been deterred by the crowds, but I recently heard that the building stays open until 2 a.m. The idea of ending a fun night out with stunning views of the city (and the place where Annie & Sam met) sounds much better than the tourist-y outing I was envisioning! Definitely need to make this happen soon.





The Heather Garden, Fort Tryon Park

After going up to Fort Tryon Park to visit The Cloisters earlier this month, I wondered why I've never been up there before. The park feels like a little vacation from the city, and I'd love to see the Heather Garden in bloom.





Lady Mendl's Tea Salon

When I was in high school, my best girlfriends and I frequented our town's Victorian-style tea room for scones and endless pots of blackberry tea. Between those fun memories and a semester in London, I've always loved traditional afternoon tea. I've never had it here in New York and Lady Mendl's (in The Inn at Irving Place) looks like a quaint place to start&#151a little less intimidating than tea at The Plaza!

How about you? Are there places in your hometown you've never been, but you want to?

Image 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7

Winter Blues

I'd love nothing more than to be enveloped in a world of white, but since snow is not in the cards these days I'm finding myself drawn to winter-y blue imagery. There's something alternately calm and harsh about blue in winter, isn't there? So different from the brightness of summer.

Photo 1, 2, 3, 4