The scent of Maine (hint: it's not lobstah)

All this rain has me thinking of Maine...

Photo by Anne McClain for MCMC Fragrances

There are several specific places in the world that feel magical to me. New Zealand was one of the first places that spoiled me day after day with sheer amazement of the natural beauty that abounded everywhere. The Amalfi Coast of Italy made me squeal at every turn as we Vespa-ed around the gorgeous (and steep!) mountainous seaside. Cape Cod feels like home and nostalgia and happiness wrapped into neat summer packages. And the coast of Maine to me sings of relaxation, fresh air, and the sea.


My aunt owns a house near Boothbay Harbor, Maine, that is all at once beautiful, inspiring and creaky (it is over 100 years old, after all). The cheery blue ceiling of the huge wraparound porch beckons you to relax the moment you walk in. The back looks out onto the water, and the sounds of seagulls and lobstermen conjure up classic American novels and old whaling stories. I love it there.


We don't get up to Maine very often due to work, schedules, etc., but I just read about a possible new lifeline - it's a perfume called "Maine." It's made with sage, seaweed, beach plum and pine. I wonder if they were able to bottle the crisp sea air.

Originally spotted on A Cup of Jo.

Squeezing in the last drops of summer...

Oh, and while I'm still in "holding on to summer" mode, here are two more summery items that I'm loving and just had to share.

Because really, you can't go wrong with a big, beautiful bow:

...especially when paired with cute everyday shorts and beachy hair:

Photos from Le Blog de Betty, as spotted on Dress, Design & Decor.

Or, for an even more overtly sunny-day pastime, the iREV from Motothority would be an oh so chic way to spend a day on the water:

It seats up to 10 adults, comes with bevy and utensil holders for each person, has storage drawers, a built-in charcoal grill (with vent system - don't worry!), and a great, big umbrella for shading you on the float. And, most exciting to me, custom colors and decor are available, as well as optional accessories like bev buckets, a mattress or a sound system.


Wouldn't it be fun, stocked up with lovely goodies like Mrs. Lilien has cooked up below?

Now that would make for an amazing holiday weekend afternoon activity!

Feeling nautical

Folks. I AM BACK. :) I've missed you all! Fo reals. Did you all have nice Labor Day weekends? Ah, the last holiday weekend of the summer. When did it get to be September?? I feel like summer just started and now it will be over - officially - in 19 days! (Though Labor Day weekend really feels like the true end of summer.) Boo.

In the meantime, I'm grasping on to the last semblances of summer, which to me right now is feeling like a nautical tone - for the home, clothes and accoutrement. Here are some of the nautical items inspiring me right now:

Room by T. Keller Donovan (as seen in House Beautiful), via SHELTER

The above living room really started off this seafaring feeling for me. I don't like an overly "theme-y" room, but this one is done nicely and without getting too crab shanty. The striped rug, the tufted ottoman and the pseudo-leopard stripe pillows are killing me with goodness. (Also this room kind of looks like a much more chi-chi version of my own living room, so of course I'm in love.) ;)

Sheets from Land of Nod, as spotted on Design*Sponge

These sheets are totally nautical with a touch of French provencal - and would be perfect in any crisp guest room. Can't you just picture visiting the coast of Maine, sleeping in a white and blue room, with a lovely ceiling fan overhead and a seabreeze through the window? These would be the sheets I'd imagine gracing that bed. Ahhh....


Photos by Amanda Pratt, spotted on Full House

I would wear a stripey sweater every day if it wouldn't be just plain weird (and slightly dirty, no? or require tons of washing...). Oh yeah, and I'd happily float around all day on a lovely boat in Napoli, too, but that part may be a little less realistic than just rocking a sweater daily...


Illustrated print by Jon Contino, spotted on Soolip

I'm gaga for the look of the whale print above - the hand-written text is so beautiful (and done by a dude!).


Knot door stopper from Jayson Home & Garden

35 buckaroos for some seaside style in your house isn't half bad. I'd snap this up instantly if we had any doors that needed holding up (I don't think my bathroom door or the front door would work...).




From The Deep dinnerware from Anthropologie

I saw these dishes in person the other day and they are amazing. They're reasonably heavy-weight and the illustrations on them are gorg. They're a little pricey and maybe a bit much for everyday (the octopus tentacle handle on the teacup is both genius and creepy), but I still love 'em.

Sperry docksiders from J. Crew

I mean really. Who doesn't need a pair of gold docksiders in their closet? I know I sure do. (Also please note that I had an identical pair of these when I was in elementary school. They were fresh to death and I wore them allll the time. Such a trendsetter at 10. [haha])


Sammy the Seagull, by Wayne Pate, originally spotted on Design*Sponge

And finally, this fun guy was too cute not to include. We all need a little whimsy, especially when doing nautical, and this guy is pretty good. In fact, I would wear his outfit anytime.

So what do you think? Is this nautical route way too overdone these days? I'm not planning to run out and buy all of these accoutrement anytime soon (or any, likely), but I did love the breezy and clean feeling these pics gave me. Hope it helped you hang on to summer just a wee bit longer!

Recovering from the 4th / slow start

Do you ever feel like this after a long holiday weekend?

Photo via quite cheeky.

I do. We had a great holiday weekend, filled with gorgeous weather, lots of time out on the water, a festive 4th of July fireworks show (both downtown and an unsolicited show in our parking lot), tons of food, friends and some downtime for B (I had to work while everyone else was off - boohoo). And even though the weekend was great - and I loved having everyone around for the additional day off - I'm still moving kind of slowly this morning. If only there was one. more. day. off.... ;)

Nonetheless, I'm getting back into the swing of things and will be back in a bit. Check back!

Happy 4th of July weekend!

I'm hard at work trying to wrap things up before the holiday weekend (which, I will unfortunately be working during as well...), but I hope you're already out there enjoying this gorgeous day. B and I have some great plans coming up this weekend, including lots of eating outside on the water, boating, hosting a friend (the very guy that introduced us, in fact), and some good-old fashioned fireworks watching. I hope you have some awesome plans too and happy 4th of July!

Photos from Martha, via Ritzy Bee

Be back after the 5th!

Birthday shout-outs

Remember when it was this chick's birthday? Well, today it's her "man-flesh"'s turn, so I wanted to wish him a happy birthday...with my ever-famous, embarrassing photo montage.

Let's start with when I first met Dan. He appears to be approximately 12 years old (and maybe albino) in this photo, but I assure you he was indeed non-albino and a college freshman:


Fast-forward to 10 years later (eek!) and here is, all growns up:

So nautical.

Here we are showcasing our respective geekier sides at a 3D showing of Avatar (I forced them all to stop outside the theater [even though it was 1:30am!] to document this):


And finally, here is the birthday boy with his twin girlfriend.

Happy birthday, Dan!

Today also happens to be my friend Eric's birthday. Whew, big day. Let's all wish him a happy birthday too, shall we? Roll the footage, Jeeves!

Eric and his lovely wife Andrea:


Try not to stare too hard at my uvula.


And I couldn't let Eric get through a momentous occasion without an embarrassing photo like this:

Niiice. E-rock, just for the record, I left out the ones of you doing yoga on this ball. You can thank me later.

Well, there it is. The tour de Dan and Eric. Happy birthday, boys! Hope you each have wonderful b-days and welcome to old(ish) age!

Regatta watching

Photo via Mary Ruffle

This morning is sunny and beautiful. I'm wishing I were out on the water, sailing and enjoying that full-on summer is here. In the meantime, this photo will have to do. Isn't this snap of Jackie O and JFK watching the sailing boat races dreamy? They really were American royalty.

Be back soon for more, in the meantime, hope you're either outside or at least able to peek out the window and enjoy some of this sunshine!

Have a great (summery!) weekend!

Photo by Pia Ulin, via Design is Mine

I am jetting off to a baseball game - the O's vs. the Red Sox at Camden Yards (go Sox!) - so I'm closing up shop a bit early today. I hope you're all heading out soon too and getting on with enjoying the weekend ASAP. It's gonna be another hot one, which (hopefully) means sailing, drinks by the water, maybe jumping off some docks, and generally relaxing (let's just pretend I'm not working this weekend too - boo).

Hope you have a great one and see you back here Monday! xo, r.

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.) :)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Aaaand, that's it for now.

Have a good Thursday, peeps!

I'm out.

x, r.

Schoolgirl classic gets hot (this is not porn)

Confession: I own Sperry docksiders. Wait, of course I do - I live in Annapolis and I sail. Nothing to be ashamed of re: this footwear choice (second only to flip-flops, of course). But the classic boat shoe just got a lot hotter thanks to Sebago's partnership with CoolCats. Behold:

I'm pretty sure I need these. Like, yesterday, just in time for spring weekends and no socks.

More info here; spotted here.

Good day sunshine

It is so stinkin' beautiful out! I heard it was supposed to rain today, but I guess the iPhone weather app was off - but I am juuuust fine with that. This sun is amazing! Seriously though, where was spring? I think there was one spring day and now we've vaulted straight into summer - it's 82 degrees today! I'm fine with that but just wondering...

I cannot wait to get on a boat. I am slightly less excited about getting in a bathing suit (blerg), but if I looked like the chick in the photo below, I'd be happy to rock one all day. On a separate note, isn't her headband awesome?

Hope you have a great sunshine-y day and have a chance to get out on the water or just outside. See you tomorrow!

Photo 1 via Oh Hello!; photo 2 by Carter Smith (model Anja Rubik), via Fairy Tale Diaries.

Dreaming of getaways

With my return to work, I think my brain is already in vacation overdrive. I've been dreaming of exotic locales and awe-inspiring trips to take for days now. Luckily for me, the blogosphere provides plenty of inspiration. Here are three interesting idylls that have caught my eye lately:

1.

At the Utter Inn in Sweden, it's just you (and perhaps one other person, preferably someone you like a lot) in a typical Swedish red house. This red house floats one kilometre out on Lake Malaren (where you're brought by boat). You can have dinner delivered to you by boat, or use their inflatable canoe to visit a nearby uninhabited island. You can also swim and just relax in general. And oh yes, and the sleeping quarters are below the water level, so you fall asleep with fishes swimming around you and eying you suspiciously. Kinda weird, kinda cool.
Spotted on mix tape.

2.

Villa Else is not too far from Utter Inn - it's located in Denmark in the middle of Søllerød Nature Reserve and facing beautiful forests. This bungalow is so cozy and cute:



Photos by Stuart McIntyre. Spotted on Walking Around.

3.


Perhaps the swankiest of all. The entire page was in Spanish (or Portugese?) so I don't have too much info on this house, other than that it was photographed by Romulo Fialdini. Sorry. Pretty, though, no?
Spotted on Aubrey Road.

Ahh, to get away. A girl can dream... Until then, I'm excited for today - it's supposed to be 82 degrees! Hello, summer! (Wait, where did spring go?...)

P.s. If you think sleeping in a treehouse would be more your style, check this out! And don't forget about the possibility of swimming on the edge of a waterfall - yikes!

Bright, bright, sunshiny day

Photo from The Sartorialist

It's amazing to see what a difference a little sunshine makes, and oh was this weekend sunny. On Sunday as we walked downtown for lunch, our little city was like a whole new place. Not only was it shiny and bright instead of the constant gray we've been having, but there were people walking dogs, kids riding bikes, runners, sailors, and boats everywhere. B and I grabbed sandwiches to go (turkey and bacon for him, brie and apples for me, mmm) and sat outside watching the people go by. It was still a bit chilly at 51 degrees, but I could do with that over gray and 40s any day.

It's supposed to keep up this week and I can't wait! Hope you're having a bright, sunshiny day, even though it's Monday...

A-sea

As seen on Mary Ruffle

Lovely.

And here are two little sea-worthy things I saw and liked recently, especially since they're nautical without being too over the top (as in a giant plastic crab, crappy ship replica or mound of buoys on your wall):

Saipua's ubiquitous go-to-hostess-gift: seaweed soap - made with nori seaweed, crushed sea salt, and rosemary - with the prettiest packaging to boot.


This chair is wicked good. Love how the knot totally makes what is an otherwise classic (and slightly boring?) chair into something so good. 214K chair by Thonet, as seen on Oh Joy.

The Exquisite Book Project

This incredible illustration was done by co-founder and head designer of Hello Lucky, Eunice Moyle, for an upcoming book called The Exquisite Book Project.

Designer Julia Rothman conceived of this experimental project, which is a collaboration of 100 illustrators, designers, comic artists and contemporary fine artists. Each artist will contribute one page to the book, but the interesting part is this: the artists have been given no more information than the previous artist’s illustration. Meaning the book could go anywhere and in a million different ways.

"The first artist will be given a few words to inspire their drawing. Each of the following artists will see only the page that immediately precedes their own. Each artist will use images (and optionally, words) to create their continuation to the story, and the inspiration for the next artist in line. ... Each artist must have a horizon line in their image that starts on the left side of the page and ends on the right. Where the horizon line of the first artist’s page ends, is where it begins for the next artist."

Which means that other than the continuation line, the "story" is free to go anywhere, and in any direction and art style. How cool is that?

Some of the contributors include Dave Eggers (who knew he could draw too? jeesh! what can't he do?) and Jen Corace (who I've featured here), among 98 others.

I will be checking this out when it comes out in fall 2010 for sure. The concept is so unique!

Originally seen here.

Soak in a sub tub on a snowy day

I'm sure you must be entirely sick of hearing me say this by now, but it snowed here last night. Again. I think just the fact that we live in Maryland - not Alaska, not Vermont - keeps me so surprised each time we get dumped with the cold white stuff. This is at least our fifth snow this season!

Anyway, I hope all this frosty precipitation didn't mess up your morning commute. On a chilly day like today, all I can seem to think of is cuddling up in bed, or sitting by a fireplace drinking hot tea, or taking a really warm shower. Wow, that all sounded so old-lady-ish, didn't it?

While this bathtub fits in nicely with the aforementioned winter hibernation tactics, there's nothing elderly about it. In fact, it would be great for kids. I mean, who wouldn't want a porthole in their bathtub?:

The Porthole Bathtub by Water Monopoly, as seen on Beach Bungalow 8

As described on their website: "The porthole bath is an original French double ended bath with two portholes cut into the side. It makes a wonderful piece for children's bathrooms, or it can be used to create a bathroom with a nautical theme. The bath can also be supplied without portholes, and has a variety of different feet available."

But why wouldn't you want fun portholes?

(Oh wait, unless you don't want someone to walk in and get a lovely view of your saddlebags all splayed out. Ew. Why do I think of these things?? Let's keep this tub for the kids only for now, I suppose.)

I think this cute blue tub is the only thing this ideal bathroom is missing.