Working Away.

Good morning! (Or is it afternoon already? This day is going by too fast.) I'm up to my nose in work at the moment, but I'll be back tomorrow with a normal post. In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful, productive day!

I'm working from home this afternoon, but I wish I were still at the cozy rental house my family stayed at this summer in Martha's Vineyard (pictured above). I can't imagine a lovelier place to work!

Photo by Max Wanger.

The Curiosity Shoppe.

Whimsy and whatnot from an all-time favorite, the Curiosity Shoppe. I've had my eye on those long-handled tasting spoons for months, but if I had to choose just one item from this list? It'd have to be the do-it-yourself clothing label. Brilliant!

From top to bottom: Compendium of Games, $16; SF Public Library In Its Own Words, $20; Long Handled Tasting Spoon Set, $38; House Pillow in mint, $120; "The Best," $16.

Rad Rex.

These hand-painted kimonos by Abraxas Rex are out-of-this-world exquisite. One of each, please. 

Have a happy weekend! (Oh, and a quick question: I'm currently in the process of putting together a folder of great Tumblr feeds. If you have any favorites, please share!)

Found via Pennyweight. Middle photo via Grey Area, top and bottom via Abraxas Rex.

Good Mornings.

If everyone had a bedside statement hand-embroidered by Isabel Marques on his or her nightstand, I do believe the world would be a much happier place. 

Purchase one of your own, here. (Custom statements are available, too.)

Making Mallows.

What's not to love about a marshmallow? Light as air, white as snow, perfect in a cup of hot chocolate on a cold afternoon. This weekend, holed up in my apartment on a snowy Saturday, I attempted to make a batch from scratch for a post on the cooking and crafting blog, Thursdays. Judging from Monday's cookie worship here on sho & tell, I must have dessert on the brain these days - but what's new, really? 

Read more - and see the recipe - on the Thursdays blog, here.  

A Peach and a Party.

I've fallen in love with artist Charlotte Trounce's take on two of my favorite things: Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach,"

and birthday parties. I can't think of anything more magical than one attended by dinosaurs. (This illustration was created for the wonderful children's magazine, Anorak.)

Also, just for fun:

Visit Charlotte's website, here, and Tumblr, here.

Sweet 17.

Teenage baker Elissa's blog, 17 and Baking, was introduced to me recently by a friend well-versed in all things dessert; this weekend, I spent several hours sifting through its mouth-watering archives. Number one on my list of recipes to try? These chocolate lavender sandwich cookies, inspired by Pepperidge Farms's ever-popular Milanos. See the full post with recipe, here.

Photos via 17 and Baking. 

Loving Lizzy.

London illustrator Lizzy Stewart keeps an online diary that's sweet, sincere, and so much fun to read. Though I haven't had a diary since high school, (it's since been put through the shredder - it was that embarrassing), I would love to start a project like this. Oh, and that last entry, about the trials of working from home? Story of my life this week.

 

Read more, here, and visit Lizzy's website, here. Have a lovely weekend!

Paws, Pets, and Proust.

Three things that made me look, and made me laugh: a shaggy pair of children's slippers by Baby Cricket, complete with claws,

witty words from Proust, reproduced by Maira Kalman,

and Mental Floss's amusing index of John Lennon's many cats, including Elvis, Jesus, Major, Minor, and...Alice. 

Enjoy!

Middle photo: Kyle Durrie via Moveable Type. Bottom photo: "John Lennon and Yoko Ono with Cat," by Ethan Russell.

Instant Comfort.

Kim Welling's Instant Comfort Pocket Boxes are brilliant, aren't they? I first spotted them months ago on You Are My Fave, and have been a fan ever since - which is why I was thrilled to receive one of my very own for Christmas this year. (Turns out, this is a wonderful and unexpected perk of having a Pinterest account - I found quite a few of my pins under the tree.)  

I recently checked in on Kim's Etsy shop, and was delighted to discover a special series of Valentine's Day boxes, pictured below. The first one, in particular, warms my heart. 

My pocket box - which features a handsome little rabbit declaring, "Wishes will come true!" - sits on a shelf beside my desk. And you know what? Looking at it really does bring me instant comfort.

Shop more at Kim's Little Monsters.

Portraits.

The last week of my long visit home, I spent an afternoon taking portraits with Lou Mora, the talented photographer I blogged about this past summer. Lou and his wife, Sarah, are some of my favorite people, so it was such a pleasure, and so much fun, to do this. Now that I'm back in New York (where, as I write, tiny snowflakes drift lazily past my window), I look at these pictures and can't help but think, "Wow. I look so warm." See more, here. Thank you so much, Lou!

Visit Lou's website, here, and blog, here.

True Love.

Tiffany & Co.'s "True Love In Pictures" features Instagram shots by blogging superstars (and real-life couple) Garance Dore and Scott Schuman. Check out the gallery, here, and let the countdown to Valentine's Day begin...

Have a wonderful weekend!

Top photo by Garance Dore, bottom photo by the Sartorialist.

Peek-a-Boo.

George has always been my favorite Beatle, but this photograph, by Linda McCartney, definitely wins Paul some points.

I've been meaning to take a look at Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs for ages now. Has anyone checked it out?

Photo by Linda McCartney, via Wilma Hathaway.

Itsy Bitsy Etsy.

Tiny wonders found on Etsy: a brick-red tin train, a clay city perfect for shelves or sills, a hand-drawn Harold and Maude brooch, and a ladder made from a page of an antique constellation book. You can still see the stars, if you look closely.

See more at everyeskimo, The Oak Leaves, Hello Mountains, and Brooke Schmidt's Etsy page.

Teen Territory.

I love these descriptions of teenage bedrooms, posted this fall on the Commune design blog. My own would be far too embarrassing to share, but I wholeheartedly admire the honesty of whoever offered this confession: "If I had to describe it in one sentence, it was Miami Vice meets the interior of a van." Priceless.

A big thank you to 101 Cookbooks for sharing.

Style Icons.

This year, I celebrated two Christmases: one on December 25th, as always, and another this past Friday, when Margaux decided to clean out her closet. As you can imagine, this was a very exciting day, and I now have an extra suitcase - stuffed to the gills - to bring back with me to New York later this week. 

When it comes to clothing, I say, the quirkier the better. A few of my fashion favorites: the Rolling Stones. Eva Fontanelli. Iris Apfel. (Did you see her interview on Into the Gloss earlier this month? I loved her opening line: "Getting older ain't for sissies, I'll tell you.")

Who are your style icons? Anyone with especially oddball taste that I should know about?

Rolling Stones photo by Pete Smith; Eva Fontanelli portraits by the Sartorialist;  Iris Apfel photo by Chester Higgins Jr. for the New York Times.

LOL.

Start your weekend off with a laugh. Click here, here, and here.

See you Monday.

Image credit unknown. (But I'd love to find out!)

Au Coin De Ma Rue.

Barbara Iweins does what I wish I had the courage to do: talk to strangers on the street. My Brooklyn neighborhood is host - and home - to a vibrant, and often very stylish, cast of characters. The fact that I live next to a bar whose patrons seem to have stepped off the pages of the Sartorialist only adds to the excellent people-watching. 

I find myself wondering all the time who these people are and where they came from. But the thought of actually asking has never crossed my mind. On her popular blog, Au Coin De Ma Rue, ("at the corner of my street" in French), Barbara does just that.

I'm so inspired after paging through Barbara's archives that I'm thinking of adding another New Year's resolution to my list: talk to strangers. What do you think?

All phtotos by Barbara Iweins for Au Coin De Ma Rue.

Colette Bream.

A golden wand, star-shaped pillows, a bird in boots - products from Colette Bream are the stuff toddler dreams are made of (though I'd happily wear that pom-pom party hat myself any day). 

See more at Colette Bream, here.