So Romantic (and Joey makes a break)

Is this not the best-looking ensemble (and best-dressed, to boot) that you've seen in a while? It's the cast of the upcoming movie, The Romantics, and they're all clothed in allll J. Crew. Yep. Hot and well-dressed. Bitches. (jk)

Best part? It looks like Katie Holmes might have temporarily evaded the "clutches of crazy" (lookin' at you, T-Cruisey). Doesn't she look much more normal here? I almost see a slight sparkle of "Joey Potter" in her again. Case in point - she actually looks like she's having fun in this pic:

Photo via Just Jared

And here she looks just adorable:


This cast could not be more cute. Here are the ladies:

(Though not sure why the other star - Anna Paquin - was missing from this shoot - maybe because she was filming True Blood?)

And here are the boys:


Anyway, back to Joey Potter. I'm glad Tom let her out of her cage. Or that mountain where the aliens are trapped. She looks happy here:

And she appears to be consuming a sugary cupcake here. I'm not sure if that's allowed...

She probably had to get E-metered immediately afterward.

I keed, I keed. :)

I'm sure T.C. has a sense of humor as well. Just check this out for evidence.

Regardless, the movie itself looks cute. I doubt we'll see it in the theater (I pride myself in being a nice girlfriend who does not drag her boyfriend to chick flicks...though I do drag him to break-dancing movies [Step Up 1 & 2, what?]), but I will def be RedBox-ing it eventually.

Welcome back, Kotter Potter!

Dreaming of: backyard hangouts

I've been thinking about summertime and all the good things that come with it for a while now (ignore the sky-high temps, sticky humidity and frizzy hair, and instead think about outdoor concerts, beach trips and summer farmers' markets). Summer is now officially in full swing - hot hot hot during the day - but the nights have still been relatively cool and perfect for lounging outside, making me go from thinking about the coming summer to dreaming of a proper backyard to hang out in during starry summer evenings and mellow summer weekends.

Wouldn't any of these three backyard room be the perfect place to hang out?:

Designed by Mary McGee, spotted on SHELTER.

Love the idea of a having seagrass or sisal rug outdoors and underfoot, paired with crisp whites and awesome pillows (don't they look totally lounge-worthy?).

This next one is drool-inducing too:

Photo from Living Etc. magazine, spotted on Design Mom.

This is actually the backyard of Jenna Lyons (Creative Director at J. Crew) - and it's in New York - who has that kind of outdoor space in the city?? It's basically an urban oasis. I die for the staircase and the lovely cherry blossom tree.

And finally, some built-in entertainment:

Photo from Country Living magazine, of the backyard of West Elm Creative Director Alex Bates' Fire Island home.

I don't really play chess, but I might make an exception in this gorgeous setting.

Ah, someday... a girl can dream... (maybe they'll have invented mini outdoor AC units by then too...)

Not too crabby

May I remind you:
"Crab cakes and football! That's what Maryland does!"
(It's from Wedding Crashers, people.)

Summer is upon us and the time is ripe for both outdoor sports and delicious Maryland blue crab. But if you don't live in Maryland or don't eat crab, you can at least wear one:

I seriously love this belt from J. Crew - it's Maryland to the core, plus if you didn't have a bottle opener around, this puppy could come in handy. Too bad it's a men's belt (hopefully it wouldn't fit me...) or I'd snap it up. It's only 58 buckaroos - I wonder if I could coerce B into wearing something this preppy?

I'm totally into how this guy styled his, all off-t0-the-side and jaunty:

Photo from 13th and Wolf

Of course you can't miss the pink shirt and madras tie he paired it with. That's preppy to the nth degree, another thing Maryland does. Yikes. Sweet belt either way you cut it though...

J. Crew belt originally spotted on Beach Bungalow 8.

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...)

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.

A love letter to tights

Now that spring is coming, bare legs will be back. I'm going to miss my fall and winter tights. :(


Photo by Ellen von Unwerth, as seen on dress design decor


Photo by Corrie Bond, as seen on delight by design

When I was a kid, I thought of tights as scratchy, confining tubes of death...maybe because they came out of a plastic L'egg. Last year I recently rediscovered tights and my world changed. Skirts all year round? No problem! No worries of cottage cheese peeking out? Hurray! Not receiving comments about my palest-legs-ever? Bonus!

Don't get me wrong - spring is my favorite and I love a good short - but I am going to mourn my season of not worrying about self-tanner, shaving or cellulite.

Goodbye, tights, it was great while it lasted. See you next fall.

(Who am I kidding? Winter will be here for another two months. I wore tights and a skirt on Saturday. I still have plenty of time. But I keep seeing catalogs with bare-legged girls in Milan. Damn you, J. Crew!)

GapKids and Stella-ella-ella

Did you know Stella McCartney has a line for GapKids? An uber-designer doing mainstream, mid-market kids' clothes? I guess it was bound to happen...I mean, Target basically pioneered that movement with their designers' series, so why not hit the kids market too (and also take a shot at Crew Cuts from J. Crew while they're at it)?

I have to say, I really wanted to hate the line. It seems really overindulgent to offer $78 cashmere sweaters to kids who probably don't care and will likely drip ketchup on said sweater post haste. But, before I could get too judge-y, I realized I actually like the stuff!

With that being said, here are some pics of the collection for your perusal:


The cute animals help, of course.


Love the boots.


People - grown women - are clamoring over this jacket and wondering if they can fit it. It's been sold out for weeks. Stella, I'd say you're doing okay.

And my fave look (because how could you not love a frothy tutu?):


Pretty good, Stella. Daddy Paul will be proud. To see more photos and shop the collection, go here.

Four eyes

Remember how I mentioned I scratched my eye last week? I went back for a follow-up appointment - my eye is all healed, thank you for asking! - and also got an eye exam. It'd been a while since my last check-up...as in 5+ years...and it turns out that, while I still have 20/20 vision, my right eye is slightly astigmatic. Sooo, the doctor said I am totally fine without glasses, but if I want to get a pair for task-oriented work, it might be easier on that eye and would help with headaches, etc. That was a total surprise. I've always had better than perfect vision, but I guess this is what happens when you get oldish. I might hold out to get a pair (I'm afraid if I get some now, my eyes will become totally reliant, plus I could use some better health insurance first...), but I am tempted by the photos I keep seeing in magazines and online of models looking totally cute in glasses. I'm not sure how this look will work on me, but it could be kind of fun to have glasses. What do you think of these options?








Photos from: J. Crew, Rockstar Diaries, Oliver Peoples via Design is Mine, Garance Dore, J. Crew, Design is Mine, Garance Dore, J. Crew.

Wedding dances

Surprise! I scheduled this one before I left as a quick bit for you all. Hope you enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow or Wednesday...

I know everyone's seen the recent trend of funny first wedding dances, but I recently saw this video on A Cup of Jo and knew I had to share. I laughed for a solid five minutes. It's not the first dance at the reception, it's the entrance at the church. How funny would it be if you were sitting in the pews at this wedding, waiting for a traditional entrance and you got this? Check it out:



And in case you forgot the first wedding dance video that started this all off, here's the original (I think) that spurred all the others funny wedding dances (and it's still my fave - plus you gotta love the bride's J. Crew dress too):



So funny! Sarah, I know your wedding is in two months, but any chance you want to plan an entrance or first dance like these? :)

Fall-ing for J. Crew (again)

I know I just posted about Jenna Lyons from J. Crew, plus said I wasn't ready for fall clothes yet (it's been muggy and hot here all week), but then I saw this:


From the J. Crew fall preview, via simplesong

I think that very well may be the perfect blazer (loving the plaid lining showing at the slim, rolled up cuffs) and the fluttery top works perfectly against the more masculine quality of the coat. Also, where can I find a sweet pink typewriter like that? I am still enjoying my tanks and summer dresses in this heat, but maybe I am ready for a bit of fall after all (as long as it looks like this!).

Lyons (and tigers) and dog skirts?

I feel like I've been posting too many home-centric things lately, so I wanted to put up something more fashion focused. I started looking around for some inspiration, but kept seeing either a lot of the same old, same old or sweaters and fall stuff - and with it being 90 degrees out, who can think about anything other than tanks, shorts or dresses (which I have been living in all summer)?

Anyway, I did notice that there are a slew of articles about Jenna Lyons (J. Crew's Creative Director) out there recently:


The first photo of her is pretty expected, but what the heck is going on in this second one (from the August 2009 Town & Country magazine)? I'll be completely honest: if Gwyneth were wearing this, I'd probably think it was the most amazing outfit ever. And I do think Jenna is working it. That blazer is to die for. But nonetheless, what is that skirt made out of?? It looks like a brown shag bathmat rolled up, or the beloved-but-deceased family pet reused for a leg cover. Jennaaaa, come on. Millions of women want to be you and are emulating your every move. Why not throw on an actual J. Crew skirt, which I'm sure you have scads of (and get for free)?

J. Crew in Greece (alternately titled "Gingers scare me")

How insanely lovely are these images from J. Crew's Spring 2009 catalog? I know they're old hat now since they've been around for a season or so, but I just happened upon them again and was reminded of how ethereal and pretty they are. I mean, put basically anything by the seaside of the Greek Isles and it's bound to be picturesque, but the pastels and styling here are to die for.

Also, I'm just going to say it - and don't kill me. Wait: before I put it out there, I need to lead off with the information that two of my best friend are natural redheads. So what I'm going to say is that gingers (redheads with pale skin and often freckles) freak me out. Big time. It's possibly because I am somewhat akin to a ginger - I do have my fair share of freckles (though I am in no way a ginger!) - but something about redheads really give me the heebie-jeebies. Maybe I am equating gingers as a whole too closely with the kid from Problem Child:

In an attempt not to sound like a total prig, I can tell you that a recent podcast of How Stuff Works stated that redheads have a lower pain tolerance than others and require more anesthesia. They also went on to say that being a redhead is actually a genetic mutation of the MC1R gene. So I am not just a jerk - I am scientifically backed up here. :) (I keed, I keed, of course I don't really hate gingers, I'm just mildly weirded out.)

However, this is not meant to be a redhead-bashing post (and I'm working on loving my redheaded co-population). And, the (very long-winded) reason I even got on this subject is to say that the redheaded model that J. Crew used in the Greece photo shoot (above in the yellow dress) is so lovely that I may very well change my mind about gingers altogether. Or at least in this one case (and for my two redhead friends of course) for now. I did a bunch of searching and couldn't figure out who this model is, but if anyone knows, let me know. I want to send her an email to thank her for helping me with redhead-aversion therapy. Hopefully I'll come 'round soon enough.

If you are a redhead/ginger, please don't send me hate mail. I am sure you are very beautiful (or handsome). Please feel free to comment, though, and make me feel stupid for being a jerk on this topic.

Have a great weekend!

I heard it's supposed to be a typical Maryland summer here this weekend - balmy, sticky and hot! So what better way to spend the weekend than by the water. Hope everyone has a great weekend and stays cool. See you Monday!

Photo from J. Crew's Summer 2008 catalog (an oldie but goodie).

Row, row, row your boat

How gorgeous are these hand-crafted row boats from Stewart River Boatworks? They kind of remind me of the below image from J. Crew's 2008 holiday catalog, which has basically been burned in my brain ever since I got the catalog in the mail last year (it's so pretty! they don't even seem cold! is that an iceberg behind them??).



I'll take a white one, please. (Do the dapper gentleman and gorg cashmere sweater come included?)

Fresh colors, part deux (plus inspiration board)

Remember the color palette I posted yesterday?

I've turned it into an inspiration board (it's just below - be patient...).

The original colors (as shown above) were turquoise, sand, coral and fresh lime, with turquoise and lime being the main colors, sand (and white) as the anchor colors/base, and pops of coral as accents.

What do you think?



Photos from:
Top row, from left: invitations from Ceci New York; Round Island, MI lighthouse via Style Me Pretty; drinks from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 2: ties from Martha Stewart Weddings; hibiscus mint drinks from Martha Stewart; pearl cake from Beach Dwelling via Snippet & Ink; beaded ring from Kuoting; wedding sign image from Veer; jewelry from Martha Stewart Weddings; photo booth save-the-date from Bird and Banner
Row 3: drink from (shoot! - I can't remember - anyone?); beach flags from The Knot; dress from J. Crew; invitations from Tear Drop Weddings

Have a great weekend!

I'm off to do a zillion things this weekend but hope everyone has a great one! Get outside, ride a scooter, blow bubbles, or just do nothing at all (and relax). See you Monday!

Photo from J. Crew's Crewcuts catalog.