I'm back, so to speak. Just a little post about my recent favorites.



My new jacket by Chloé




I bought this dress in SF. i comes with a nice simple white belt.



This photograph courtesy of Bowerbird.



My new night gown.

Summer is almost over and I'm completely excited about it. Although summer is a great time to have fun, fall is when I feel I am at my best. So I know this is fall 2009, but I'm still very much in love with Built By Wendy's fall collection of 08'. it's what i'm going to model my fall to winter around.



Wishlist: Jean Paul Gaultier Toggle Coat



that's it for now.

XO,
Nicole

New Hair + New Hutch

from the best antique store in the world.



i got some bangz.



...and a new "entertainment unit". and yes, i'm watching golden girls.

My trip to San Francisco/Grizzly Bear/Wilco is in less than a week and I cannot wait. I'm planning on going to museums, wearing sundresses and drinking plenty of my new obsession, coca cola zero. i've had 3 today and although not the best idea, it sure did taste good.

Best,
Nicole

Daisies + Postcards

I'm a grandpa today! i bought this shirt at my work (surprise surprise) for around 8 bones and since it makes me a bit of a gramps, i ran with it.




ugh, i had to sharpen this into the stratosphere because i have yet to buy a tripod. maybe for my birthday?

----Daisies





i made that button because of my obsession. it's gettin bad.

----photobooth





I received this book of postcards from a friend a looong while ago, but i've never mailed one yet! i'm not sure why, since they're the cutest things ever. i think i have a trouble with parting with them. my favorite is the girl in the middle of the last picture.

goodnight!
nicole

Paint + Heidi

One thing I've done since i've been absent is paint my bathroom! When I was around 15, I decided to paint it this flourescent green color. bad idea, especially with the black and white checkerboard tile.

but check this out:




Sorry all of these paint colors seem different now that i post them, but the most true representation is probably the first one. It's so much better walking in there now! you aren't blinded by a flash of green AND the windows don't look like monsters eyes from outside at night. all I need now are some white hand towels with rose embroidery on them and a new jewelry box. I think it's about time I hit up Etsy.

----Books

I've recently become acquainted with a used book store right down the street from my house called, "Camelot". I'm pretty sure I've never been there before and I was really missing out. They not only sell new books you could find in your local mega-bookstore, but also gems like this one below:


You have no idea how long I've been looking for a decent copy of "Heidi" that isn't a paperback from Amazon. The spines a little worse for the wear, but for 5 dollars I'm not complaining. I'm just glad that I finally have a copy to call my own.



I've been watching an insane amount of....well, anything related to Amy Sedaris, really. "Strangers with Candy", Letterman/Ferguson/Kimmel interviews. Anyway, I've heard some great things about her book, "I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence", so I decided to go pick it up. it's full of amazing recipes(I hear the cupcakes are really good) hospitality advice as well as crafting ideas. The fact that she's hilarious,amazing(and so on and so forth...)is just an added bonus.

----Clothes
My work continues to amaze me. I don't even feel the need to shop anywhere else, which is absolutely wonderful. It sure saves me a ton of money(the romper was 10 bucks, the bag 9)
Recent Buys:



I'm planning on wearing this romper a lot this summer, especially on my trip to San Francisco in less than a month. I wore it on memorial day and it's surprisingly comfortable. usually rompers have an extreme wedgie factor and by hour 2 you're already over it. Sad, but true.



Tell me....Why is Etienne Aigner so amazing? every dang time I come across one of her bags, I have to buy it. I've already bought two the last couple of weeks. oh and her shoes are really great,too. I purposely don't ebay/etsy the name because I know I'd spend too much money.

That's all! have a good thursday!
Nicole

Laptops + Engagements

It's been a while since I've last posted, but not from lack of enthusiasm! the charger for my laptop finally bit the dust, so now I'm forced to update from another computer that's not so easy to access. I promise that once i get my new charger in the mail, I'll never let my laptop go unappreciated!

so it goes...

----The Engagement Party

Andrea and Dave, the lovely bride and manly groom(I don't think he'd want me calling him "lovely") had a very elegant, pretty engagement party this last saturday. I managed to get a few shots of the layout, but since I'm not so good at planning ahead, i forgot to take a good portion of photos for this website. sorry! but regardless, i took a few pics.

They had these wonderful tissue paper balls hanging from everywhere in the backyard and side patio ( I managed to snag a couple on my way out,too. Although, I don't really have a place to put them in my room and they are quite large. doesn't matter, I'll figure something out!)

Here's another shot of them over the pool. I absolutely love Andrea's backyard. we would swim in the summer and you can't see it, but there are flowers(white roses i believe) over the awning and the last time we were swimming,they were falling into the water and band of horses was playing... you can imagine how pretty all of this was. ahhh,memories.

party favors with cookies that read,"Dave" and "Andrea".

It was a very nice day. I'm going to add more to this pretty soon, including some video messages to my pal Amara whose currently overseas in London town, but honestly I'm having trouble figuring out how to upload videos onto this blog from a mac. Can anyone help me out? I'm just super PC.

Love,

Nicole

Shoes + House

I don't have much to say today except for:
1) These shoes are THE best for summer. I just wish I had a boat...and a lake...and a summer home to go along with them.




2) tonight is the season finale of "House". AH!

3)


4)Today i went to the park and read my new oscar wilde book from the swapmeet. it was such a nice day, even though the lake dried up(stupid california water-shortage)it's definitely something i'm going to do more during summer. but seriously, i need to stop drinking malts everyday,though. it's getting ridiculous!

Books + Lanterns

----OC Swapmeet
today i had my first saturday off in ages. i decided to take this opportunity to go explore the orange county swapmeet with my buddy Arin. Sadly, it didn't have a ton to offer but there was a nice little section of new and used books that i pounced on!
here's one of my favorites that i got:



here's a wonderful love poem that Hearst wrote about Davies:

oh, the night is blue and the stars are bright
like the eyes of the girl of whom I write
and the day is a glimmer of golden light
like the locks of the girl of whom I write
and the skies are soft and the clouds are white
like the limbs of the girl of whom I write
but no beauty of earth is so fair a sight
as the girl who lies by my side at night

what a weird courtship it was, as she was 16 and he was 58 when they first started dating. she seemed to lead the most glamorous, full life.I just can't imagine being friends with norma shearer and clark gable.

----Miss Dior
Last christmas, I made the decision to switch perfumes from my tried and true "Miss Dior Cherie" to Marc Jacob's "Daisy". I like Daisy, but turns out I don't adore it as much as Miss Dior. when i find this out is of course when i run out of it..until! swapmeet '09 trip prevailed! AND it was only 40 bucks!



----Murufest

Yesterday was the 5th annual Murufest,which is a festival that my friend Michelle Murufas and her younger brother Paul thought up that has grown to epic proportions. 6 amazing bands played and we even managed to get "We Love Long Beach" and "The Ice Cream Man" to show up to BBQ and give out free ice cream! I went to the 99 cent store in search of some lanterns for it and found the best ones ever. the bulbs inside even twinkle! look!



I now use them above my desk and they add a little zazz i think. haha.

----Griffith Observatory

i managed to get pictures from my trip to the griffith observatory in LA with my dads side of the family. these are my siblings!



with my dad being a photographer and all,you'd think he'd remember to take his camera to family events? nope, never.he always leaves it at home...and coincidently on the most beautiful day ever! we badgered him until he opted for a little disposable camera. i absolutely love how they came out, too. i love the graininess and how happy we all were. i miss them a lot.

summers almost here + buying spree!

First off:


OK. this was a complete and total accident. I was only trying to dye it a slightly darker shade, and this is what happened! It had me freaking out for quite a bit, but i'm starting to enjoy it. It's a nice change of pace, as my mother pointed out. haha.

Secondly:
I bought movies!!





Something probably a lot of people don't know about me is that I'm absolutely obsessed with old movies.When I was 10 years old,my stepmom had 2 giant boxes of old movies on VHS and I used to plop myself down and watch film after film.This has always been a favorite of mine, since Katharine Hepburn is just wonderful and the set design is amazing. Built in bookcases? diamond wood inlay? anyone?



Kinda funny coming after 2 classic old films, but I adore this movie.I can totally imagine myself dressing like Ellen Pompeo's character,all 70's in the North East. Plus,Old Jakes in it! and when I say "Old Jake" I mean pre-reese-and-being-buff Jake.One more thing: the soundtrack is soooo good.The title alone should suggest this.The Rolling Stones,hellooo!

Lastly:



i saw this gorgeous picture on the sartorialist and it made me super excited for summer. I'm ready for warm weather, road trips and the like.

It's time to start preparing for work. Have a good day!

this is my new hair! my wonderful hair-stylist friend Rachel cut it for me last night after a nasty bout of split ends. yuck! my hair grows really fast and it's so easy to let it get to that point. You know those Garnier(i think) commercials where the girls can tie there hair in a knot? that's what I want to be able to do! anywho, now it's super silky and I can't stop touching it.

this is something I haven't posted a picture of yet, but here it is. I did it quite a while back but I've been busy with this other project i'm working on.
I've been toying with the idea of doing a whole series of them, including a pair of them as an engagement present! One of my best friends Andrea is marrying a pretty great guy named Dave this time next year.


I was thinking about doing a post strictly about andrea and her amazing personal style, as well as her INSANELY amazing room+sitting room. it's in the works.

Anyway that's all for now. I have to start getting ready for work! tomorrow: crafting party at Marleigh's house. heyo!

-Nicole

I am having the most horrible case of procrastination when it comes to my etsy. i've set it all up, but have yet to post anything on it. i blame it on work,school,etc. but really it's just me being too lazy to go get my tape measurer. oh, me! I think this week may be the week that i finally get the ball rolling.

I have a good number of buttons and soon-to-be-completed plaques(like the cap'n on the left) so i'm feeling pretty good about quantity, albeit a little afeared that they aren't going to live up to the glorious things I find on Etsy. I also haven't shown this blog to any of my friends. It feels silly writing to myself and posting these things to no one, but once I have a good thing going, I'll let everyone in on it.

MOVING ON!

My newest project has been really amazing and different from what i'm used to doing. I've started working with my friends Rachel and Brettto make a collection of painting/poster type things to promote there band, the Sweet Happy Band.

i'll post a picture and about it once i actually take a picture of it. haha. i really wish i had a nice new camera instead of this little one. i guess i have a nice one, but it's really only for when i do wedding photography and not easily accessible. sigh.

ALSO! i absolutely, positively cannot wait for June. my schedule goes as follows:

June 12th: Neko Case @ The Greek Theatre
June 19th: Grizzly Bear @ The Wiltern
June 20th: Leave for San Francisco
June 21st: Grizzly Bear @ The Fillmore
June 22nd: Return home :(
June 23rd: Wilco @ The Wiltern
June 25th: "Found" party

i'm so very excited to be seeing all of my favorite bands jam-packed into one week! if only neil young was worked into there somehow, i could die happy. I also learned that next summer i'm going to Italy! i've never traveled outside of the states, so this should be a treat. I foresee some great things on the horizon :)

have a good day!

Air Force 1

it has been one helluva day. This bad boy flew over my house earlier. the walls were rumbling, so i first thought, "oh no it's the earthquake that's supposed to swallow california!" but then i ran outside and saw this zooming past me. I knew he was in the area(in fact, he was doing a town hall meeting across the street from my school) but it's incredible that i had the opportunity to be in such close proximity. Imagine being able to fly like the prez, too. you're over one house headed to LAX in a jet and then 20 minutes later you're flying past the same house in an army helicopter! that is koo koo bananas right there.

anyway, i'm STRUGGLING with this new project i'm working on. pictures later.

reconfiguring some things

I'm proud to present my new cork board! I cut out my favorite little japanese girls from Fruits and stuck them up for inspiration. I only wish I have the nerve to wear all black all the time. I also have wedding & luncheon invites, postcards, reminders, pictures of friends and family, etc. ya know, your standard cork board. I painted it though so it would match the furniture in my room.
















and this is my wonderful little bedroom corner.
it is my favorite place. that's the stuffed elephant andrea made for me for my birthday. I got some new pillows from IKEA, too.









i'm just excited everything is all clean!

Diane

I've decided that I needed to create a blog to document pictures of all my latest creations, purchases and adventures! I mean, I've had blogs before, but never one like how I hope this will be. also, a few girls have some glorious photo journals and I would love to be apart of it.

so! with that being said, we'll see how this goes.



I am perpetually in awe of Diane Keaton. I love her style, personality, everything. It's inspiring to me that she never compromised her fashion sense or gave into the "lady-like" stereotypes of an actress. Even so, she looks like a real woman without being too fussy and done up. It's just a natural perfection.