Stolen scooter

Friends, my scooter was stolen today (while we weren't home) from in front of our condo building - despite the three locks that were intertwined through the brakes/front wheel and attached to the metal railing of our building's front stairs. I've filed a police report but there are no guarantees that they'll ever find it; scooters are a hot item (especially in the summertime) and very easy to lift/hotwire (although I had hoped all those locks were a deterrent). Who knew they'd be able to take the scooter - locks, cover, helmet and all - in one fell swoop in broad daylight?

I've sent out a tweet about it to the webiverse and asked others to retweet (this is that tweet), just to get the info out and around town. Another scooter similar to mine was stolen from our neighborhood (one court over) last night and the police found it this evening. Some people a few neighborhoods away saw some guys trying to hotwire a scooter, thought it seemed odd and called the cops, so they were able to retrieve it safe and sound.

I'm kind of hoping to luck into a similar scenario if I get the word out around Annapolis and people know to look out for my impossible-to-miss, custom-painted baby blue scooter, but I don't think I'm that lucky of a person. I'm not sure they'll ever find mine. I don't know whether to resign to the fact that it's likely gone forever in case that's the truth or to hold out hope that they'll find it. I don't want to jinx myself or get my hopes up... I'm just sad in general right now (and out a ride to work - since parking downtown is prohibitively expensive, vs. parking your scooter in your office for free).

Sorry to be such a debbie-downer, but I wanted to share A) what's going on and B) why I might not get posts in today (working, searching, kickball semi-finals, checking in with police, etc.). If you could send good juju my way it'd be much appreciated. Thanks all.

Have a great (Memorial Day) weekend!

Photo via Habitually Chic

It's been raining here since last night, but I just checked the weather and it's supposed to hit 91 degrees on Monday. Looks like it'll be a true, summery Memorial Day. With the weather and that milestone holiday, that means summer is officially upon us! I don't know how we skipped right from chilly and cold to sunny and hot, but I'm not complaining - I love summer!

Here's wishing you all a fabulous weekend and an awesome long holiday weekend.

See you back here Tuesday! (Wahoo!)

xo, r.

Madewell is finally online!

People of the interwebs: you've definitely heard of Madewell, right? Right?

I thought everyone had, but then my friend Sara stumbled upon it a few months ago (she never listens to me - I knew about it the day it opened - bah humbug!) and she was super excited to find J. Crew's less preppy, more bohemian little sister in our town.

For those of you who don't have a Madewell nearby (since there are only 11 in the country so far), you're in luck. Their stuff is finally available online - here. Wut!

There's a line by Alexa Chung (current hipster it girl), a denim bar and an inspirational "looks we love" section. Too bad there's not a "sale" section anywhere on the site....Boo hoo.


Oh by the way, I needed this skirt, like, yesterday:

And did I tell you they do a good scarf?

Go check out their website if you're looking for something fun to get you through this holiday weekend Friday. Go!
(And I'll be back here shortly with another post before the weekend is officially here...)

123, you & me (vintage aluminum numbers & letters)

Three, two, one - it's almost Memorial Day weekend - woohoo! And yet these numbers aren't just a countdown to the holiday weekend (aka the official start of summer - yesss!), they're actually really cool stand-up vintage aluminum numbers.

There are letters too:

These are obviously being shown with a wedding in mind, but I think they could be cool for lots of things. How about on your desk, or one letter for each guest at a dinner party, or even on the wall above a coat hook to delineate your kids' belongings?

For some reason the font choice is so appealing to me. I especially love the ampersand:

Sets of these vintage numbers or letters are available to buy on Etsy (just use the links to the left). Can you think of some other cool uses for these? Or are you too busy counting down to Memorial Day? ;)

Originally spotted on d. Sharp Journal.

Night driving / still sleeping

Peeps. Since I didn't get in until 3am last night (no, I wasn't partying it up; I was doing this) and didn't get to bed until even later, I am currently trying to catch up on some much-needed sleep before I have to run off to work. I will hopefully be able to post something later this evening, but for now, I am either napping or working. So tired. (It was worth it though.)

I will leave you with this in the meantime:

Last night, driving home at 3am on my scooter, I was actually able to notice all the smells throughout town. During the day I never get this sensation, and I certainly don't get to breathe it in that way when driving in the car (even if the windows are down).

Luckily, this ain't no NYC, so the smells weren't too bad - it was really more the smell of the bay breeze, a neighbor's plants and flowers, or trees in different parts of town. It was so nice to absorb the slightly chilly air as I zipped home, alone on the road and with no headlights in sight.

However, I did smell one particularly heinous tree - I believe some call it, ahem, a "semen tree"? My friend Jess thinks it's a ginkgo tree. Whatever it is, it's nasty. Luckily, not much farther downtown, the smell of azaleas, magnolias and even roses wafted up as I zoomed by. I love the oncoming spring/summer.

Photo 1 via coco + kelley; photo 2 by Kentaroo Tryman for Johner Images.

Be back soon! xoxo, sleepy girl.

Late-night SATC2

Well, I saw it. I'm not going to say anything more about it - good or bad - basically because I'm not slick enough to not give anything away if I do. :) But I saw it and I was excited and I wanted to share.

What I can tell you is that we went to the 12:01am show, since we thought it'd be kinda fun. It was totally fun, but I guess I didn't realize how loooong the movie is - with previews, we didn't walk out until 3am. (I just got home.) Yawwwwn, I am tired.

Just thought I'd share - woohoo, first to see it! ;) I'm off to bed now. Good night! (Or should I say good morning?)

Apple for teacher

I don't have kids and I've been out of school for quite some time now, but I do have a mom who is a teacher, so I've seen a bad teacher gift or two (or 20) in my day. With schools ending for the summer in a few weeks here, I know a lot of ladies in town have been looking for good and unique (not another smelly candle!) teacher gifts (this is what you get when you hang out at Paper Source a lot).

I will tell you that my mom always loves Starbucks or Barnes & Noble gift cards, but if you're looking to make something handmade, here are two amazing ideas made by some creative chicks (not me) that will put you safely in the good-gift category.

Numero uno - the cutest customized hand soaps ever:

With all the random strains of cold/flues/diseases floating around kids and classrooms, teachers are always washing their hands (at least I hope they are!), so Jill Means of Legacy Digital Design capitalized on a practical idea and made something super-pretty out of it.

Basically, she took boring (and not cute) Softsoap - which she actually got on sale at Target for 1 dollar a bottle - took off the label, and added in a custom one with her kids' silhouettes (mwaahahaha, I snuck them in again!) and a thank you. Click here for the full instructions and a free downloadable template if you want to do this yourself.

Originally spotted on Design Mom.

Numero dos - a fun soda and snack pack:

Simply Seleta took on a similar idea - finding something a teacher will actually use and making it really pretty - and came up with these great "goody packs" (as she called them) in varying colors based on the kids and/or teacher.

These packs included color-coordinated vintage-y soda, straws, sugar-free gum, chocolates, microwave popcorn (great quick teacher snack), and of course the pretty label. If you're interested in doing this yourself, here's the full how-to and downloadable template for the label.

Originally spotted on Party Perfect.

I hope these two great ideas by two cool ladies sparked your inspiration and hopefully spared you from giving another picture frame/smelly candle teacher-gift combo. :)

The addiction continues: more silhouettes

I just can't stop myself. I know I said I would stop talking about them - I've tried to quit and failed over and over in fact (gulp - one, two, three, four, five times over) - evidently I just can't stop yapping about how much I love silhouettes.

Enter Rachel from Benign Objects, the latest artist/crafty lady to fuel my obsession. Her newest offering is taking your portraits and turning them into amazing custom pattern silhouettes. You choose the custom colors, patterns, details, etc. for your silhouette and Rachel makes the most beautiful creation. See?:



That gallery wall of silhouettes, including one of the family dog, is so stinkin' cute. I especially love the combination of colors and patterns. I have silhouettes in my house and I have a gallery wall, but I so want to combine them now! Le sigh, the obsession continues...

Originally spotted on Paper Crave.

Want more silhouette madness? Parts une, deux, trois and quatre for ya (and a bonus!).

Freckles and thigh tires

I have freckles. But not like these:

Photo via Full House

I wish. She is gorgeous.

I do, however, have upper thigh tires like these (without the perfectly balanced buxom-ness elsewhere though):

Photo via Mary Ruffle

She's beautiful though. I was very happy to see that even a beauty icon like Marilyn had a little junk in her trunk and some cellulite/thigh pockets like me. This will be a little inspiration for me before our upcoming beach trip in August. Maybe I'll be as self-confident as she by then. (ha)

Are you a freckle fan? No need to ask if you're a Marilyn fan - everyone is (even doubters like me).

Pretty, pretty paper & stamps: Unruly Things invites

I can only see the outer portion of these invites by Unruly Things, but I can already tell the whole wedding invitation suite must be drool-worthy. The slightly rustic kraft-paper color of the envelopes is perfectly offset by the more formal, yet totally gorgeous calligraphy and the amazing collection of colorful, vintage stamps. I wish I were getting one of these in my mailbox!

Invites by Unruly Things, calligraphy by Kathryn Murray, stamps from various eBay sellers. So cool.

Goodbye, Lost

Woah, did you see the Lost finale??

It's two days later and I'm still not sure what I think. Maybe hated it? Maybe liked it? Still churning thoughts and formulating an opinion, I guess...

Either way, our Tuesday nights just got a whole lot freer. Maybe B and I will take up crocheting. Or (Bay) snorkeling. Maybe rocket science. Jeesh, we should probably just use the time to work out and cook healthy dinners. (snore.)

Did you love it? Hate it? Will you miss it?

A first birfffday

Good Monday morning, y'all! I've been away for a short bit. Didja miss me?

I didn't get to say this last week when the day passed, but sea*life*style just had its 1st birthday. Happy little birthday to you, bloggy!

I can't believe it's been a year. Whew!

It was kind of a rough time for that milestone to occur (being that my two jobs have made me a sporadic poster at best) so I didn't mention the b-day at the time, but I wanted to at least acknowledge it now and give a quick thank you to those of you who have been reading thus far. I hope you're still enjoying, and do please feel free to comment with suggestions (or gripes) at any time - I love hearing from you all!

And with that being said, I'm tucking into a nice big slice of delicious cake while I write some new posts for you all to read.

Hope to see you back here soon!

xo, r.

Beautiful photos by Jamie from From Me To You.

A mish-mash.

Okay, enough whining. You didn't comment on the curtains wholeheartedly. Whatevs. I'm over it and back to posting some schtuff for now. I'm still on the run with work, errands, friends, etc. so today you're getting another mashed-up post. Sorrry. But I loved all this stuff, and didn't have time to do separate, full posts on each, so consider this a "top hits" for today. Hope you likey. (If not, well, fine.) :)

--

We just bought tickets for another Vampire Weekend show (they're coming back to MD in Sept. - woohoo!) and this time it's an outdoor show, so we got lawn tickets. I'm thinking I may need this blanket for the occasion:


Cool, right? I'm not hugely patriotic, but the slightly off colors make it just cool enough (and not something a dude with a mullet would bust out on a cold day at a NASCAR race...right?). Available for 68 bucks at Urban Outfitters. Spotted on Design Crush.

--

Next up, an awesome poster and an even better blog post about said poster:

And here's Abbey's awesome write-up, from Abbey Goes Design Scouting (hope she doesn't mind I'm including it here - she wrote it, I had nothing to do with it - I just wanted to share because I liked her description):

Whenever there was a particularly pink beautiful sunset my mother used to say “Red at night, sailor’s delight but red in the morning, sailor take warning” meaning of course, that a pink sunset indicated that the next day would be clear. I always loved the way ’sailor’s delight’ sounded and would say it over and over in my head. When I saw this sweet poster I was immediately brought back to childhood and running around in the pinky dusk of a Vermont summer night.

The poster is only $30 at Brainstorm Print and Design.

--

Finally, the most awesome way to wake up every day. I'm going to have to give this a try, though I think standing on the sink like that would result in me smacking my head on the ceiling or falling off the sink altogether (or both, which is highly likely with me since I am very klutzy). This kid is awesome - a mini Tony Robbins. I picture this to be Sara McKelvey's future child (watch out, Dan).


Oh, come on, it's only 50 seconds. Go check it out (if you can't see the embedded video): here.

Check out the full blog post on Daily Bits of Beauty for more "How to Have an Awesome Day" tips.

--

Aaaand, that's it for now.

Have a good Thursday, peeps!

I'm out.

x, r.

Bummer.

Really? Not a one comment? Are the curtains that bad? Or have you all stopped stopping by now that my posts are more sporadic? I do feel badly that I'm less consistent with my three-a-day posts now that I'm working double-time, but I miss y'all! Come on back! Pretty please? :)

Photo from Fairy Tale Diaries.

Help needed: curtain call

The last time I asked for help from you all regarding home decor (remember my shell question?), I got some hard answers. Namely, don't waste my money on a giant shell if I didn't need it. And you all were so right. (I haven't bought either of the giant shell options, btw.)

Well, readers, I need your help again! This time the question pertains to my windows. I'm realllly not a curtain person - we've never had them, we don't really need them (top-floor condo, baby!), and I just don't really know how to pick them - plus we're renters.

Anyway, our living room has been feeling a little bland to me lately, and I thought some fun curtains would be a good way to bring in some color and pattern without too much effort (and without bringing in any more throw pillows - I'm still banned by B).

I saw these Augustine panels at Crate and Barrel the other day and loved the colors. The palette would work well with our current furniture and accessories, but I'm not sure if they're too flower-y/grandma-ish. Plus, I've never had curtains, so this just weirds me out a bit in general.

What do you think?

I love the close-up view:


And here's a very, very close-up view to show you the pretty palette:


But I'm just not sure about the look when zoomed out:

Does it get a bit more granny chic? Because that's not the look I'm going for - at all.

So, peeps, whaddya think? Please comment with any thoughts - naughty, nice or otherwise - I really do want your feedback!

Thanks in advance! :)
xo, r.

Texture, cobbled together

I'll be honest, I'm struggling a bit today. I'm in a fine mood, but I just have so much to get done that I don't feel very creative or inspired. Could be this gray weather and a very busy schedule. But, I promised to blog it out, so here are three things that caught my eye today - plus I happened to notice a commonality: texture. So hope you enjoy this pieced-together post. ;)

3 variations on pretty texture:

1.

This Vera Wang gown is absolutely amazing in an over-the-top frou-frou sort of way, no? I really hate full-length gloves (in black especially) normally, but these just add to the drama. Gorgeous.

Spotted on This is Glamorous.

2.

These are infant mattresses. Yes. So very cool. The Pebble mattress by Nook costs a gazillion dollars, but supposedly they have "a unique air layer that fosters oxygen flow inside the mattress .... superior softness of all-natural eucalyptus fibers [and a] unique pebbled surface that promotes air circulation." Luxury for your baby. Sheesh, even my mattress isn't this nice.

Spotted on Swiss Miss.

3.

Isn't this door mat adorbs? Simple, classic, but kinda fun (and very nautical, obviously). Best part? It's only 19 bucks from Pottery Barn. Wut.

Spotted on Armelle.

So there you have it: three textured sussies from me, for you, today. Enjoy!

Elementary chic: Mara Hoffman Spring 2010

The Spring 2010 collection from Mara Hoffman is everything you learned in kindergarten at its best: primary and pastel colors, geometric shapes, and lines, lines, lines (both in the prints and in the cuts). I am totally in love with these bright, geometric prints dresses.

And lest ye be concerned that MH can only do geometrics, here's a gorg floral that I also loved:

So, in the words of my ever-mature brother, in yo face (if you thought MH was limited...). :)

Originally spotted here.

A sticker for our gas-guzzlin' friends...

This post is dedicated to my sweet, kind, tree-hugger (but not dirty-hippie) boyfriend, B. ;)

B, I know you're going to want some of these to post around town:

What is it?

Let's zoom in a bit:

Yup, it's a magnet - wait for a quiet moment and slap that baby on your neighborhood's biggest gas-guzzler - et voila! Guerrilla eco-campaign!

Magnet by Topos Graphics and Sarah Riegelmann; available to buy here.

Originally spotted here.

Bon matin & bon thoughts

Goooood morning, poppets! Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? I did, but I'm pretty exhausted - who knew working seven days a week for several weeks in a row could be so utterly draining? (Wait, I did - that's why I've never done it before. Blerrgg. ;) )

Anyway, I did get to enjoy the beautiful weather on Saturday and am hoping to see a glimpse of it again this morning before the rain is supposed to roll back in. In the meantime, though, why don't we take a second to skim through these awesome thoughts from some wise guys (literally, wise men)?




Top quote by Ghandi (a wise man indeed), found here. Bottom quote unknown, but found here.

I have a bunch more coming today, so check back in a bit. Hope you have a good Monday!

Have a great weekend!

Be Optimistic cards by Keep Calm Gallery, £6.50

Well, I was only just getting started again, but now it's the weekend, so it's time to bid you adieu until Monday morn. I can't wait to get back here and share some of the new things I've come across this past week, but haven't had time to write up.

Here's hoping you all have a lovely weekend - I'm feeling optimistic that the rain will hold off until Monday - and see you back here soon (at least I hope you'll come back!).

xo, r.

Chic chambray

Do you go through phases with fashion where sometimes you feel really inspired and are totally into shopping and dressing well, and then other times you could literally live in the same pair of sweatpants for 14 days in a row? Well I am currently on day 12 if that gives you any indication of my current state of fashion...

I just wasn't feeling the summer trends I've been seeing (I am so over 80s, granny boots, rockabilly and gladiators!), but I think I can get on board with this:

Photo from Marie Claire France, June 2010, via The City Sage


Photo of Emily wearing J. Crew's chambray shirt from Cupcakes and Cashmere

Normally I'd say a denim shirt might veer a bit too closely to the ever-terrifying Canadian tuxedo look for me, but when paired with these short, short, super-hot skirts, I'm loving the look. Especially photo number 1. (Let's be honest, model wins over real girl any day, even if the "real girl" is super-stylin' Emily. and I hope I don't get hate mail for saying that about models...it's true though...sadly...)

I think the denim chambray shirt might be just the thing for this spring, and I could dress it up (hello, hot skirt shown above) or dress it down. And I promise I won't wear it with my sweatpants... I hope.

Color and print gets plussed

Maybe it's the spring weather coming (welllll, the idea of it at least, since we've had a ton of cold and rain recently - but anyway...) or maybe it's all the 9 by Design I've been watching, but I am so in love with color and print in interiors - specifically on walls/couches - lately.

Exhibits A-D:

Photo from Elle Decor, via Caitlin Creer Interiors

Um, could this giant print be any cooler? Also the patterned rug in grayish-blue makes me pretty happy. And the printed wallpaper in lovely lime-y yellow just happens to fit right in with my other three exhibits (below)...


Photo from Domino (RIP), via Caitlin Wilson Design-Style Files

I never knew I could be so into saturated, bright color, but this photo is totally doing it for me. The couch - wow. And the wall color is pretty amazing as well. A bright yellow pillow on its own? No thank you. In this room? Heck yes. It all works together so well. Love.


Photo of Christina and Chris Cuomo's living room (decorated by Emma Jane Pilkington and shot by Roger Davies) from in Elle Decor, via Habitually Chic

And what might be the coolest sofa/chaise/settee/loveseat (what do you call this thing??) ever, I am absolutely head over heels for this navy ikat thing, especially when paired with the little pop of pink and the addition of silver. Genius. I want this. It has a bit of a touch of the Target ikat chair I've been eying up forever, no? (Though I'm sure the pricetags are not at all in the same realm.)


Photo from Oh Happy Day

Last but not least, perhaps the least colorful, yet still peppy and patterned, is Jordan's living room. The setee - which happens to be from Nate Berkus for HSN - too cute, especially with the Jonathan Adler lemon pillow on it. This room is another good example of a print couch with an oversize print.

So what do you think? Is a patterned sofa too crazy for your taste? Or are you lapping up all that color come spring? Do tell...

And happy Friday, by the way! :)