~ Lace Race ~

Photos  collected from here and here.

~ Let's Run Away With Ourselves ~

Images from here. 

~ Indoor Fireworks: Manish Arora Fall '10 ~

Stomping tulip flappers explode into sparkly rainbows of pleats, puffed sleeves and plunging necklines {sigh}.

Fall '11 is just as spectacular:

Photos from here and here}. 

~ Beating the Blues: Sunday with Pete ~

This weekend has seemed much longer than recent ones, thanks to getting my Friday off and staying busy with all sorts of things. I also had no idea how much I'd missed the sun and blue sky until it finally came out! It was about time.

I've got Alex to thank for broadening my love of Mr. Townshend, and this is one of my favorites that I can put on repeat just about anytime {and oh-so-appropriate for how I feel about days like today}. 

Here's to Sunday.

~ It's The Thought That Counts: To Alexander ~

My man Alex has never been a very zealous receiver of occasion-specific gifts. He gets bashful, squirms in his seat and attempts to refuse said gift, as though he doesn't deserve it or couldn't possibly accept it. And this happens every time since ever, since the first holiday gift I placed in front of him. As someone who loves nothing more than to begift loved ones, this quirk baffled and frustrated me for quite some time. However, after four + years with the guy, I've think I've finally begun to accept this eccentricity as something that will never change.

And thus my own style of gift giving must.

So these days I surprise him with gifts on non-holiday occasions. I've also worked out a new birthday gift plan for Alex, whose birthday is today. He has happily agreed to spend the day together doing fun things that don't involve lavish displays, guessing, unwrapping or guilty feelings of any kind whatsoever. Hah!

And as far as material gifts go, I've decided that my gifts will be virtual this year. Since I have no money and he has no patience for gifts, this arrangement should work out just fine, indeed.

So Happy Birthday, Honey. I hope you enjoy guiltlessly ogling these gifts as much as I did imagining them for you.

#1. A pair of custom designed wooden specatacles that will fit the strange bump on your nose.

#2. A weekend getaway to this place {I'll figure out where it is before I get tickets, obviously}.

#3. A little tree that will continuously bear flavorful limes for your favorite mixed drinks.

#4. Your very own reading chair, stocked to the brim with exciting new materials.

#5. A boy min pin to balance the gender gap in our household. He shall be named Monty, of course.

#6. A large print of this image {an amalgam of 2001 A Space Oddyssey scenes} for your office.

#7. A month-long supply of chocolate-coated tuxedo rabbit Peeps.

#8. An advance, private screening of Hanna {with 30 minutes of incredible trailers beforehand} at Living Room Theaters {hummus plate/beer/Haribo included}

#9. A bike to ride around St. Johns, to work, and with your brother on occasion {and I'll pick you up anytime you want a ride home, no questions asked}.

#10. My expert help in the re-negotiation of contracts for Mad Men {allowing filming to commence sooner, and thus our viewing enjoyment}.



xoxo H

~ Sweeter than Fiction: Jillian Tamaki ~

Jillian is a Canadian/Brooklynite illustrator/author/comic artist.

And she apparently is also a genius of embroidery. 

After embroidering a quilt in her spare time and blogging/joking that she'd only consider doing real work for Penguin Book covers, she has been asked to do just that. Commissioned to design and embroider the covers of three classics by Penguin Books, her brilliant work will be in stores this fall. 

Visit her website here and her blog here... thanks for introducing me, Kelty!