Coveting...

This weeks 'Coveting...' post is entirely unattainable... but a girl can dream right?

Dress: "ZigZag Dress" (228.00) Anthropologie.com

Wedges: "Camellia Espadrilles" (368.00) Anthropologie.com

Ring: "Jellybeans Ring" (98.00) Anthropologie.com

Clutch: "Leather Tassel Detail Clutch" (80.00) Topshop.com

I basically covet everything on the Anthropologie website

but basically everything is waaaaay out of my price range!

Where would you shop if you had unlimited funds?

Daily Style...

This weather is reflecting my mood...

Oxford Shirt: Hand-me-down from Adria (Free!)

Dress: Forever 21 (19.00)

Belt: Urban Outfitters Bargain Basement (9.99)

Tights: TjMaxx (3.00)

Shoes: Urban Outfitters Bargain Basement (19.99)

I'm having a pretty crummy afternoon, among other things I had my "Coveting" post all set, but alas my other computer froze solid! Agh! To console myself, I'm planning on drinking some coffee and reworking some stuff in my closet. On a side note, I'm realizing that this blog is actually forcing me to explore my closet, which is good since I've banned myself from shopping!

What do you do to make a bad day good again?

(I like to watch girly movies, drink hot drinks, rearrange the furniture, and cuddle with my cats)

Daily Style...

Today brought more rain...

Jacket: J.Crew Outlet (24.00)

Shirt: H&M (24.90)

Necklace: H&M (9.90)

Jeans: H&M (34.00)

Flats: TJMaxx (7.00)

Zephyr is my guest model today, he lives for the spotlight

(and by spotlight, I mean a good sunbeam to nap in)

Art Notes...

I'm seeing this on Saturday and I'm so excited!

The Red Ceiling, 1973 by William Eggleston

For those of you in the Washington D.C. area, I highly suggest you visit the Corcoran Gallery of Art to view the William Eggleston retrospective William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961–2008. Eggleston, the father of fine art color photography as we know it, created controversy in the early seventies for showing vivid images of common, everyday objects. The photography world, which up until that point had been dominated by black and white, has not been the same since.

To learn more about the exhibition: Go Here

To read and listen to NPR's story on Eggleston: Go Here

Daily Style...

It was so beautiful out today!

Dress: Calvin Klein via TjMaxx (49.99)

Shoes: Zara (sale 19.99)

Necklace: Forever 21 (5.99)

I finally had a chance to wear this dress! I bought it over two months ago, but the weather has been so miserable I haven't had a chance to wear it. Well, today was absolutely beautiful! The green stripes remind me of a peppermint, and the fabric is so light and airy it flutters when I walk! 

Over the Weekend...

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! My boyfriend Chris and I travelled to Maine to celebrate the July 4th holiday with friends and family. Here are some highlights:

Portland was incredibly foggy, first we travelled to Long Island via ferry boat:

Coming up to Little Diamond Island:

Each residential island has their own parade, this is Little Diamond's. They all met us at

the dock, this festivity always makes me homesick for the weirdness of Maine. What I love about this is that

there are so many strange costumes- Alice & the White Rabbit, Princess Leia, a puppy dressed as an angel:

The fog started to break up as we approached Long Island:

Getting Closer:

The green tunnel to the beach:

Looking for sea-glass:

Chris was covertly taking pictures of me:

So many steps:

We had seafood chowder (chowdah) at a pub and did some people watching:

My favorite mascot was all dressed up for the holiday:

We later travelled to Brunswick to watch the fireworks from our friend's beach cottage:

The handmade boat:

I hope you all have a happy and safe Fourth of July! Chris and I are headed up to Portland, Maine bright and early tomorrow morning to spend some time with friends and family. There is a ferry ride involved, of which I am extremely excited about. Fourth of July is my favorite holiday! See you Monday!

Image Source

Here's a little John Wayne to get you through the weekend!

Daily Style...

While taking my morning pictures, I missed the downpour by minutes! It was just so incredibly dark this morning, I had to lighten these images considerably so you can sort of tell that the tights are striped. Somehow purple has weaseled its way into my wardrobe, I never really wore it until recently.

Dress: Yard Sale (1.00)

Belt: Urban Outfitters bargain basement (9.99)

Tights: Urban Outfitters bargain basement (3.99)

Shoes: Urban Outfitters (28.00)

I added the ruffle collar myself. It's just trim from JoAnne's Fabric.

The fog was beautiful this morning, and really lasted all day. 

The rain has turned my mildly green town into a wild jungle, the greenery has gone completely mad and grown out of control. No one has mowed their lawn in weeks. It's all well and good, but my plants need some sunlight!

The view from my roof

When the fog rolls in to Beverly, it comes in so thick off the ocean that you can see it rolling over the rooftops and down the street. Today was no different, we were enveloped in a thick mist. Maybe this means it's warming up?

Blog of the Week...

Is anyone else super excited for the Where the Wild Things Are movie? If you love the book- and anticipate the movie- as much as I do, you must check out Corey Godbey's blog Terrible Yellow Eyes! Godbey (himself an illustrator), invites guest illustrators to create work inspired by Maurice Sendak's famous children's book, and then posts the illustrations on his blog.

One of my favorites from last week:

Where the Wild Things Are by Ana Galvañ

See more of Ana's beautiful work on her blog

If you would like to watch the movie trailer (which makes me tear up every time!)

GO HERE

Corey Godbey also has a blog that features his own illustrations: Late Night Rains

Daily Style (yesterday)...

I've been lucky with my picture taking lately.

We had thundershowers later in the day.

Dress: Vintage (20.00?)

Belt: Urban Outfitters Bargain Basement (9.99)

Shoes: Tag Sale (1.00)

Necklace: Forever 21 (5.90)

A close up of my necklace and fabric pattern. I love this dress because it looks like an abstract drawing.

Forever 21 has had some great necklaces lately.

And lastly, I left my building in a rush to get to work yesterday, but had to run back for my camera when I saw this:

Our landlords put out all of the waste bins every Tuesday night, and apparently, our garbage-men were feeling especially sassy early Wednesday morning.

Coveting...

T-Shirt: Elizabeth and James (90.00) chickdowntown.com

Shorts: American Eagle (39.50) ae.com

Umbrella: Totes (16.99) target.com

Bracelets: Forever 21 (4.80) forever21.com

Boots: Hunter Original (115.00) zappos.com

Socks: Target (5.99) target.com

Puppy: Google Images

If there was ever a year where it was acceptable to drop $115 on a pair of rain-boots, this is the year! I have been lusting after Hunter boots for a few months now, and even considered splurging on a pair back in March, but I figured that as soon as I bought them the rain would stop. I should have bought them just to make the rain stop! We got some thunder and lightening today, which I always find exciting. Growing up in back-woods Maine, we used to have some intense thunderstorms- losing power all the time (once for 14 days!)- and it's just not the same on the coast.

Daily Style...

Dress: Thrifted and re-constructed by me (1.00)

Belt: Thrift gift from my mom

Shoes: Steve Madden (19.00 sale)

Ring: Forever 21 (3.50)

I came home to a surprise dinner of pasta and sangria today. It was the perfect thing to brighten up a gloomy afternoon. We are now watching one of my favorite movies, the Bird Cage! The sunny South Beach scenes are making me swoon for summery weather. I have high hopes for July!

What's your favorite "Summertime" movie?

(I love Wet, Hot, American Summer...it always makes me nostalgic for camp!)

Art Notes...

Surf Land

The Peabody Essex Museum is a hidden gem tucked away on the winding streets of historical Salem, MA. The Museum boasts an extensive Asian Art collection, including the Yin Yu Tang House, an entire Chinese house that was transported piece-by-piece from China to America and reconstructed on the Museum grounds- it is estimated that the house is between 175 to 200 years old!

While the Yin Yu Tang is one of the major draws of the Institution, I frequent the Peabody Essex (which is only about 15 minutes from my flat) for it's rotating photography exhibitions. The most recent exhibition 'SurfLand: Photographs by Joni Sternbach' does not disappoint. Sternbach utilizes traditional tintype photography techniques to capture portraits and seascapes of East and West Coast surfers. The subjects of her portraits run the gamut from young to old, fit to overweight, famous to everyday; but all of that is stripped away in her images, what the audience sees is a simple portrait of a surfer, accompanied by a tag stating their name and location. It is a beautiful exhibition and I left wanting to learn the tintype technique myself. The exhibition will be up through October 4, if you are planning on being in the North Shore area I highly recommend viewing this exhibition.

Ed, Joni Sternbach, 8 x 10 inches, tintype.

Image Link

Daily Style...

Today has definitely been a Monday: started with an early morning trip to the dentist and ended with a rain storm. This is one of my favorite outfits though...

White Collared Shirt: J.Crew Outlet (15.00)

Striped Boatneck Sweater: J.Crew Outlet (10.00)

Jeans: H&M (39.90)

Flats: TJMaxx (7.00?)

Ring: Forever 21 (3.50)

Specs: Urban Outfitters (9.00)

This weekend was nice, if a little sad. I said goodbye to another one of my good friends, Justin. He moved back to upstate New York on Saturday. We headed to the beach one last time on Friday, where we read comics and met a cat:

The last thing I expect to meet on the beach is a cat. He was quite friendly though and after some time, a group of children came and got him and brought him home to one of the houses that line the cove.
I'm listening to SWAY right now, which is one of my friends bands. They are excellent and I highly recommend visiting their MySpace, however it is really just making me nostalgic and a little sad. I can't wait until I can visit all of them out in Northampton soon for Papergirl!

Papergirl Project Northampton...

Something coming up that I am excited to participate in:

To read more about Papergirl, visit the website:

http://www.papergirl-berlin.de/

If you are an artist or know a group of artists, I encourage you to organize a Papergirl of your own.

More. Later.

Ok, Ok, Ok...

Alright, upon arrival home from work, I've decided to do a 'What I Wore' post. It's not super exciting but I do feel rather pretty and breezy. It's actually quite warm today, however it is looking stormier and stormier by the minute!

Necklace: Self made from one of C's old t-shirts

Dress: J.Crew Outlet (24.99)

Shoes: Forever 21 (28.00)

I've also decided to grow my fringe out. I've had all kinds of fringe styles over the past seven years, from side swept to doll-baby, and I feel as if it's time. I've been wearing it in this little braid lately. It works for now. I have a feeling though, that as soon as Autumn rolls around, I'll cut it again...

And lastly, I thought I'd share some pictures of my disobedient kitties- Zebediah and Zephyr- caught snooping. They know they are not allowed to roam my closet, but do so anyways. I think they like my dresses...

I snuck up on him...

Have a great weekend!

What I WISH I Was Wearing...

This post was inspired by our visit to Sweet Cupcakes the other day. The decor was so simple and cute. Black and white flourish wallpaper with hints of pink, mod white tables and chairs, and bell jars full of bright candy adorned the walls, while bright little cakes peeked out from the counter display. I wish Beverly had a shop like this! We do have The Cupcake Cafe on Rantoul Street, but it really lacks the charm that I experienced at Sweet. I'm also posting this- rather than a 'What I Wore' post- because I've really lacked inspiration this week. The weather has been weird, and I'm just not feelin' it!

Dress: 'Layer Cake Dress' (69.99) ModCloth.com

Shoes: 'Seychelles Cutout Heel' (98.00) UrbanOutfitters.com

Sunglasses: 'Rhinestone Heart Sunglasses' (5.80) Forever21.com

Headwrap: 'Flowerbunch Head Wrap' (24.00) UrbanOutfitters.com

Kitten: Source

Cupcake: Source

I'm looking forward to a low key weekend. I have some craft/ sewing time planned, and will probably also get out and take some pictures if the weather isn't too bad. I hear there are thunderstorms in our future! I love a good thunderstorm!

What is your favorite rainy day activity?

Virginia Road Trip & Father's Day...

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I headed down to Virginia with my Brother and Cousin this past weekend to visit with my Dad, who's ship is docked in Norfolk. My Father is a Chief Engineer Merchant Marine, and this was the first time I've actually seen where he works. The whole experience was very "Life Aquatic", except my Dad is not bent on seeking revenge from a shark. The ship is very 70's and I really liked all of the dials and signs, some of which were in other languages.We stayed on the ship which is about 5 stories high and 750 feet long. I definitely have a new appreciation of what my Father does for a living.

It took about 13 hours of driving to get there, we only stopped a couple of times on the way down. We got there on Friday night and on Saturday we headed to Virginia Beach. It was 102 degrees! Definitely different weather than what we're used to up North! Sunday (fathers day) we dropped the boys off at Busch Gardens to make themselves sick on roller-coasters and my Step-Mom, Dad, Captain D, and I headed to Colonial Williamsburg. Sunday was cooler (about 85) so it was the perfect weather for walking around outside. We stopped at a winery on the way back before retrieving John and T.J. and then headed to dinner. Monday was pretty low key, just hung out until it was time to go to the airport. Unfortunately the weather was so miserable in Boston that our flight was delayed by two hours. Then it was back to the foggy, cold, rainy North.

Everyone calls my Father "Chief", which I really like.

T.J. on the bow:

Pretty much the only decent picture of me from the trip, at the Williamsburg Winery:

On a plank, five stories up, walking between ships:

At the winery:

Williamsburg hats:

Hand-blown bell jars:

"The Governors Mansion":

Sunset over Norfolk:

Sunny skies!:

This room reminded me of "The Life Aquatic" very much:

Beautiful weather!

This is self explanatory:

I think this was a race:

Cranes:

More cranes:

The ship:

John makes an excellent Crab Face:

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge:

Also self explanatory:

At a New Jersey rest stop viewing birds:

John also likes to view birds at New Jersey rest stops:

The George Washington bridge:

driving up to the GW: