travelogue. aix-en-provence. france.

along our drive from arles to cassis, france in provence we took a pit stop in aix-en-provence. the day we stopped we knew there was going to be a little antique and craft market as well as a food market. so we were so excited to stop for a couple of hours and see the colorful spices, olives and tapenades. we bought a lot of food for the rest of the car ride and basically ate our way to cassis. 

aix-en-provence is known for being a university town with many teaching and research institutes. loved the young vibe from all the students. aix-en-provence is also the birthplace of paul cezanne where he lived and painted.

nate to the rescue

i received the may 2012 house beautiful magazine in the mail the other day and loved how cutie pie, sweetheart, fabulous midwest decorator, nate berkus, redesigned this home office for a couple in a brooklyn brownstone. he did the makeover in one day. to see the before pictures you can go here. that glass chandelier, mirror from the 1920's and round coffee table are my favorites from the room. i love how nate creates such personality in a room by adding accessories and details from travels. also love the organic leather, shag pillows, zebra print stools and the velvet couch. i really see a huge comfortable navy blue velvet couch in my future. 

what's your favorite thing about this room?

to see more pictures from this house beautiful room go here. 

photos by björn wallander for house beautiful.

congratulations to matt + briana

my brother, matt, and his beautiful, stylish, smart and fun briana got married last friday, april 27th in newport, rhode island. i am so happy for them. they really do bring out the best in each other. they radiated love and fun the entire weekend and thus, helped the guests to have a most epic time.

the wedding ceremony was held outside right on the ocean at belle mer in newport. there was a magical blue sky with lots of wind blowing from the heavens on friday. i was my brother's 'best woman' so i stood beside my bro and got to see briana's face during the entire ceremony. she was glowing. her face was lit up with rays of sunshine and she was beaming from the inside out. 

and talk about a spiritual moment. with the wind blowing. standing right by the sea. blue sky above. surrounded by family and friends. and thoughtful words exchanged between a couple that were so in love you could feel it in the air. it really was a special ceremony. being outside during this wedding has to be one of my all time happiest moments in my life. i want to bottle up that feeling. my relative from germany said he even saw a pair of seagulls flying overhead when they were exchanging their vows. wow!

my brother has a huge heart and at the end of the ceremony i saw a tear run down his cheek. he felt it too!

so cheers to matt and briana!i love you so much!

photo from snap! photography.
if you are getting married  you should really think about having these professional photographers snap your special day. check out their website and blog here.

rovensky park on a foggy saturday

hope you had a wonderful weekend! rovensky park off of bellevue avenue in newport, ri is where we frolicked on saturday. the fog was still gently hovering over newport and the sun was filtering through in some spots. it made for a romantic trip to the park. the girls love that park. they can run around for hours and feel free.  josh is a landscape architect and loves checking out the trees at different stages of blooming. and i love feeling like a kid playing tag and hide-in-seek. it's a happy place for us.

i like

some eye candy as we head into the weekend. hope your weekend is as lovely as you are. cheers!

image sources:

1. scarf from printed village via what do i wear?

2. image via style for living.

3. those ornamental grasses are fabulous. design from blasen landscape architects via remodelista. photo by marion brenner.

4. 'frame light' in brass by julian mayor. 

5. amalia stripes pillow from anthropologie. that fringe rocks!

6. abstract painting by sally king benedict. check out more of her beautiful work here.

98 days until the london summer olympics

do you get as jazzed as i do about the summer olympics? all the stories about the athletes, their backgrounds, and how they got to this awesome point in their lives is so interesting to me. my favorite thing to watch are the sprints. i ran the 100 meter dash, 200 meter and 4 X 100 meter relay in high school so i get butterflies in my stomach when i see the athletes line up at the starting blocks. and not to mention it's in london this year. it's going to be so much fun to see will and kate and london all decked out.

during the last olympics i was on bed rest in the hospital waiting for karoline and rory to be born. it couldn't have been a better time because i just sat on my nest and watched the olympics all day long for 2 weeks straight. all the nurses and doctors would come down to my room to get the results. ha! 


these beautifully simplistic graphics are by alan clarke graphics. they were proposals designed to work with the transport for london branding. here is the actual 2012 olympic logo. 


images from alan clarke graphics.
 

spring break

it's the girls spring break from school this week. it turns out that we didn't need to travel to the south to experience flip flops, riding around with the windows wide open, licking ice cream cones while wearing barely anything. it was 80 degrees yesterday (a good thing unless you have allergies and you feel like you are in a fog and your brain is working at 50%).

so the girls and i took a little field trip to sachuest point national wildlife refuge. we searched tidepools and lifted up seaweed to look for animals (my dad would be so proud). we found the tiniest crab i ever did see. the girls threw rocks in the water and i took lots of pictures. they were brave and i am happy that they aren't phased by climbing on the rocks and touching the sea creatures. they are getting older and more independent. and i couldn't be happier.

girls weekend in new york city

i'm really lucky. in 12 days i'm getting a sister. her name is briana and she is marrying my brother matt. i'm so happy for them. but i'm a little selfish in the fact that i will be able to call a really stylish, caring, energetic, confident and smart person (oh, and she knows how to haggle like a champ); my sister.

this weekend four women celebrated briana with a trip to new york city before she gets married. lots of girl time. walking. laughing. shopping, drinking wine. dancing. getting design inspiration from art galleries, furniture stores and boutiques. on saturday we walked around for 9 hours straight. of course there were a lot of stops for lattes, green juice, cookies the size of our head, french food and new york pizza. 

this was fun, this girls weekend. i think all women deserve a weekend like this. escaping and indulging in the good stuff. and then returning to their lives feeling refreshed, inspired and content. 

used book store finds

used book stores are one of my favorite indulgences. if i'm able to escape the everyday grind, a consignment store, used book store or antique shop are high up on my list of things to do. these are some recent finds from d kelley fine used books in newport, rhode island. i could spend hours in that shop. the thrill of the hunt makes me feel tingly all over. ha.

room service modern furniture

some clean and modern furniture designs from room service. i love mixing antiques and flea market finds with modern furniture. it's all about ecletic mix.

see more furniture at room service's website.

newport folk festival 2012

i am buying my tickets today for the 2012 newport folk festival. we have never been because the girls have been too young, but this is the year! ben sollee, who i posted about here is performing along with some other stellar acts. after having kids i have to admit that i don't keep a close watch on music. npr and black eiffel's music mondays are my link to new musicians. so i am excited to hear some new music in an outdoor atmosphere right by the ocean this summer. 

photo by ryan mastro.

more info. about the newport folk festival.

inspiring interiors

hope you enjoy these stylish and sophisticated interiors. i love rooms that have one or more things that you wouldn't expect. that interesting feature is what makes them so special. something that screams that the designer or home owner doesn't follow the rules. someone that is different. someone that you would like to meet. at least that's how i feel about people that have a different perspective. the weirder it is, the more i like it. 

photo sources:

one, two, three, four, five, six.

easter's past

some scenes from easters in the past at our home. bunnies, and eggs, and bonnets oh my! what are you doing for easter this year? do you have any traditions or do you change it up every year? i would love to hear how your family celebrates...