may flowers.

may is here! i'm so ready to say goodbye to rainy april and say hello to beautiful may flowers. i love may flowers; they have a way of brightening my day & and making me smile. what do you think of catherine's wedding bouquet? i thought it was lovely. although it looked simple, each flower in her bouquet were quite symbolic. did you know it is a royal tradition to place the bouquet on the grave of the unknown soldier at westminster abbey? how cool is that.

sharing the love via npr.

as i was reading the latest news from egypt, i couldn't help but click on npr's e-day card selections. these are so creative & clever. my favorite is the bob boilen card (probably because all songs considered is the best). so: click, save & send! & have a great weekend!

a tally of two cities.

i miss my sister terribly. i wish i was in france with her: indulging in cheese, wine, lavender, shopping, the sea...hmmm.

as i was longing for the parisian life, i clicked on a fabulous parisian blog: paris vs. new york. the blogger is a graphic artist & ever so creatively couples the clichés of nyc & paris together. the ideas behind the colors & layouts are brilliant! you must visit to website to fully enjoy.

la décoration

la décoration

le chanteur

le temple

le journal

le taxi

le café

thank you, swiss miss*.

color pallet.

i'm decorating my new apartment & getting quite carried away with colors... how could i not be with these awesome rooms as inspiration?

...thank you, solid frog.

nobody's perfect.

... for real.

*thank you, most beautiful darling.

table top letter press

i'm ready to go out & buy all the supplies needed to create my own letter press. with the help of ready made's 13 step by step instructions, anyone can execute this project. i can't wait to get started!!!

... by the way, if you have a project you're proud of, why not post it on ready made's blog? just become a member & share your creations with others. if you don't already subscribe to the magazine, i suggest you do pronto. i love this magazine for many reasons. it never fails to inspire!

travel itch.

so, i moved to texas last week. i'm jobless & bed-less but i'm surrounded by friends & handsome, southern gentlemen. however, i can't help but scratch my travel itch. ever since i left japan, i've wanted to do nothing but travel, travel, travel. speaking of scratching & traveling... how awesome is this scratch map? i'm seriously considering buying this for my new apartment (which i'm moving into next week - eeek!).

if you had this map, which countries would you have scratched away?

*thank you, a cup of jo.

whitelines paper.

do you remember my apartment wall in japan? the one i covered with ticket stubs, post cards, drawings from students, letters from home, etc... ? well, when i moved back to the states i decided to keep my favorite things from that wall & use them in a memorable way. last weekend i bought a whitelines® paper notebook (a must have) & covered it with my favorite keepsakes from my japanese apartment wall. every time i use this notebook it brings back happy memories of my amazing time in japan. i love it!

book jackets.

check out the wonderful work by leanne shapton.

*thank you, wit + delight.

please enjoy.

how wonderful is this redundant clock?

*thank you, debonaire.

eye candy.

caitlin mcgauley can turn anything into a bright & beautiful masterpiece. she's a watercolor painter from nyc who works for one of my favorite websites, daily candy (you should subscribe). watch a video of her profile here & read more about this talented lady here.

007.

i've been in a james bond mood all day. i'm not sure why--maybe its because of the vodka martini i had last night or maybe its because i can't get over how good looking sean connery was. anyways, i stumbled on penguin uk's re-release of the classic ian fleming james bond novels. these book covers are so retro & i love the typography!