under ground beauty

as most londoners do, i spend an inordinate amount of time waiting around in tube tunnels brimming with people & pushing & impatience. but today i happened into a station which was quiet, filled with something close to a stillness--like a scene from a western with newspaper-tumbleweeds. this bought me a few more minutes to actually see something. usually the walls of the tube are plastered with advertisements or videos. but this station's signs were in-between states of the previous and the to-be: exquisite, ripped down. a little haunting. a little beautiful.

tonight we are off to see this at the screen on the green. Z may have reserved us a couch. and a bottle of wine.

all kinds of awesome, i think you're

hard to believe, but this is my 200th post!! wildness. i've been living here now for over six months, writing about london's bustling-darks & travel & other randomnesses. it's been a good way to help me organize, to origami my world into words, to attempt a different way of recording experiences. it's been a fizzing way to connect, to web-together, to stitch across both short-distances & across oceanscapes--both to old friends & to new people. and so i wanted to offer a super super thanks, to everyone. you really are all sorts of awesome. & i hope you'll keep reading & returning & commenting & being the cool cats that you are.
new readers, don't by shy. say hello!

[via cardboardlove & ffffound!}

saltwater : oceansky

Z & i have been talking about traveling out of london-lands for a brief getaway. so i'm dreaming of oceanscapes & saltwater-skies again. being an east-coaster from cities which tend to spend more time snowglobed than green, i don't really own a bathing suit (& definitely don't have one here). so, i'm keeping my eyes peeled. i'd love something retro & playful like these beauties from anthro (or something of the tank & bottoms sort, i'm a little shy). but i also need something that is a bit less of an investment--because let's face it, next year we'll likely be back in the chill & freeze. anyone know good places in london for affordable swimwear?!

bowled over

due to logging some serious hours in front of the computer (it's never a good sign when a grant application lists the average completion time at 12 hours!) i'm having a real urge to get out of the flat and do something silly. like get my bowl on. complete with hotdogs/hamburgs, pints, & maybe some bad music thrown into the mix. have any of you londoners gone to all star lanes? is it cheesed-up in a good way? or filled with birthday parties where it's inappropriate to be a little ridiculous? because seriously folks, i could use some neon lights at the end of these endless paperwork tunnels.

linked together

this chain-linked ring from elizabeth street is the perfect mix of hardcore & delicate. it would make a great everyday, unexpected wedding, or simple engagement ring. because not everyone wants to rock a rock.

{via castor & pollux}

help your shelf to a crocodile

i don't know why, but this morning these crocodiles are making me grin. there's something to be said for a well-crafted wooden toy. i mean, just check out that description--such intricacy, thought & detail! it's worth taking a look around at the rest of shelf too--they offer a sweet selection of small goods & prints. perfect for a gifting. Z & i plan to visit the brick & mortar soon (it's near an infamous warehouse-size vintage clothing store, yikes!). here's hoping a few of these snappers are hanging around (i swear, i only want to hold one).

{via happycavalier}

celebratory naps

i received news that my manuscript is a finalist in a prestigious book contest. i won't know any more until may (!) but i am honored just to be considered (& it won't hurt the old cv either). in mini-celebration we had light-filled mango-orange mimosas & there was a little low-key jumping around. but since we both have another round of big deadlines due this week, and such long days ahead of us, we've decided to put off a more wild celebrating until this coming weekend. after making this decision, we took a serious nap. good news + nap = pretty awesome afternoon.

{via timwalker, unknown}

wouldn't you love to be polkadotted?

these tights are a killer way to get through the blues of the last bits of winter.

{via katespade}

london sundays, scenes from the city

scenes or see-ings from the city this weekend: ancient bones in great halls, the breakfast club, bright busts, wrinkly latex & ribbons, sugar-sparks, stunning greens.

cheeky underground announcements

these made my morning. rock on for transport humor! (i wish some people would heed the makeup advice--eyelash curlers on the tube make me nervous).

{via tubediary}

poketo papercuts!

oh hell yeah. jayme mcgowan has wallets up on poketo. and an interview. go check it out. immediately. because, for the record, poketo wallets are the bomb. (i may have this cute little betsy walton one in my handbag right now).

{via prettyprettypaper}

love aquatica

i gifted this card to Z on our wedding day before we walked up the aisle. and now, hearts&anchors is offering a full-sized print version. rock on! is there anything better than diving bells & fishes & hearts?

deadlines/sneaking

the first wave of crushing deadlines have been met!! this morning i am heading off to brick lane & spitalfields for a mini-reward & a little research (i've started a new series of pieces which are london-based, making most jaunts out & about justifiable as work-related. i am a sneaky rabbit). don't you love the sort of sexy-stealthy feel of a laced-mask?

{image via weheartit}

migraine

sometimes, having headaches is sort of like having your brain tight-bunched in your skull like crumpled-paper. today is one of those days. i'm trying to imagine things which feel like release-- my migraine floating up to the ceiling, bobbing around up there and out of my head.

{image via luphia via yvette}

sparkling love

many many people have written inquiring about where Z & i found our sparkling-love cake topper. so i thought i'd share a link for the curious ones. for the record, we didn't really do a wedding cake--Z's sister & my sister baked my childhood favorite, orange crush cake, for Z & i to cut, & then we served whoopie pies out of vintage apple crates as our actual dessert. they were such a huge hit that people were sneaking them into their hangbags & suitcoat pockets for later!
(sad to say, the cost of the sparklers seems to have gone up since last year. yow.)

sweet relief

phew! despite many postal service issues over the past few months (for instance: something mailed in september arriving in november) the little swapletted package i sent actually arrived in nyc! fantastical! thanks amanda for stitching a bunch of us together through paper & handmades & postal services (such good things to combine). and thanks again to elissa for the lovelies.

(p.s. despite so much ironing, i couldn't get rid of those silly embroidery hoop lines. how does one make these disappear?!)

wedding dress alternatives, vintage modern

this blue dress with its cowl, secret gold & cream back, & tulle underlayers would make a fantastic & unexpected wedding dress. i love lorick for its kickback to fifties style with a modern twist (& a little more breathing room). because really, a wedding should be a fabulous party, not a formal inconvenience. & who doesn't need an excuse to browse the lorick site?!

{via stylecaster & lorick}

vintage film reels

while putting together some words for a wedding-graduate post, Z & i've been thinking about small details which made having a completely diy day work. here's one of them. since our wedding was silent-film/1920s themed (as a result of ithaca's history & the venue's significance) we tried to add in bits of old-timey decor where we could. there were thrifted cameras, a delineascope, a few film projectors, player-piano reels, vintage suitcases & apple crates (most of which we owned or our friends lent us). but one of the most useful pieces at the wedding were a set of old metal film reels we scored on ebay. we used these as a way to display different wines in giant ice buckets--the slots ensured various kinds were rotating in & out as new bottles were added & kept the wine from tipping over once opened. i would highly recommend, even for a non-film themed wedding. and, post-party they make a great wine-rack. in the end, a few small details like these kept our bartender-less bar running smoothly.

(on a funny public park wedding note: when a random teenager snuck in & grabbed a few bottles of wine, Z's brother ran after him in a fit of heroic-ness. though the wine wasn't recovered there were no more scavengers. plus it was hilarious. be forewarned. there will be crashers).

hand-painted spring

today is a balmy 40 degrees. & i'm planning on taking a stroll down regent's canal to clear my head. slightly warmer temperatures, coupled with our flat being filled up with sunday's market flowers, leaves me hayfevering, wishing wholeheartedly for spring. this hand-painted blouse by modaspia is dreamy in an updated fifties-print sort of way & is perfect for the warm weather that is sure to come.

{via readymade}

waking up is hard to do

this morning feels a little like going to the dentist. another one of my deadlines is tomorrow. so today will be jam-packed with decisions & re-workings & of course, the procrastinating post or three!

(the poet lucille clifton passed away this weekend. her poems are such indelible languages, such intricacy, worlds. please check some of her work out here).

{image via carabaas}

oh valentine: a shake of hearts & feathers

the truth about abstaining from opening my valentine-ing--it wasn't about waiting until the holiday so much as attempting to save it as a prize for the end of my deadlines. no such luck. coming home from a long day, i needed the kick-ass feeling of ripping into that perfect brown paper. & inside my box of light? a shake of hearts & feathers! there was a wondrous hand-painted bird-valentine in the shades of spring-fevers. inside of this sweetness, a nod to my new embroidering endeavors. there was a honey-ing bee-hived candle & delicious smelling soap (both of which Z & i used immediately). there was the perfect zing of red eye-letted trim, for which there will be future lovelinesses. there were paper hearts covered in secretive diagrams & languages & a glass heart for hanging out in the sun. there was the bright feathers of a bird nesting amidst confetti (which is now nesting on my desk). and oh! last but not least, there was the perfect poetry-notebook (so difficult to find): pocketable, unlined, & constructed from a postal package receipt from March 24, 1915! how could my swaplet know so well?! it's so exactly-what-i-needed it will hurt to fill up its pages too fast. sigh. (though my valentiner was quite secretive, i now know it was the wondrous elissa! thanks for the perfect heart-filled mail! i was a lucky swaplet).

home is whenever i'm with you

this week has been hard. dark. busy. the city swallowing me a little in its bustle & dust. in its mad-dash in post offices. its water bills & broken heaters (again). let's face it: deadlines are heavy-making. stress-filled. craze-inducing. i'm more than glad that this week of balled-up nerves is over (even if deadlines aren't over yet). tomorrow there will be photography exhibits. snowless cities. umbrellas & soup. & sunday there will be flowers. but in the meantime, on this drizzling, car-whooshing friday, i am glad for all this wildness. the struggle to make it across the waves, away from all things safe & expected. i am glad for the poetics of being here. and Z: home is whenever i'm with you.

do what you leica

as a sort of mini-valentine-ing, Z surprised me with a camera case he found for a steal on ebay. while i love having my camera on me at all times in london, i tend to be super bad & just chuck it in my pocket (the case we have is a leftover from an old camera of my dad's & is super bulky). now, i have a safe & easy way to snap and & go even if i don't want to bring a handbag. plus, as suggested in a recent lucky mag, there's also the option of carrying the leica case sans camera as a chic mini-purse. rock on!

(p.s. i have been so good about not opening my swapletted valentine since it arrived, trying to wait until sunday, but it's killing me. so, i think i will have to just dig in a day or two early!)

an apple a day

wouldn't this make a lovely place to stash those earrings & rings you wear more often? or maybe some paperclips & tiny office supplies? truthfully, i really need a place to keep my bobby pins so they're not always finding their way into the floorboard cracks or trailed out the front door.

{via modishvintage}

particle-ing one's self

it's amazing how in order to get serious work done on one thing, so much else seems to slip off, move just-out-of-reach, blur at the edges, trail behind you. i feel some days like i am particle-ing. but i'm close to these deadlines being met! & i apologize to everyone who has emailed about the wedding & things. i will respond so very soon.

{image via thelastdisco}

leaning polaroids

this is an inventive way to display a bunch of polaroids in lieu of an album. it would make a great room divider & fantastic conversation piece! on a smaller scale, it's a rocktastic idea for displaying photos at a celebration. it would also be super cool to do a large scale scan & print of polaroids in a series like this. maybe Z & i will try something similar with the hundreds of shots we currently have jammed into polaroid sleeves.

{erineverafter via youaremyfave}

anniversaries of

today is the anniversary of my niece being born! my first niece. the niece that made me an aunt. & that made me less scared of the fragile-amazingness of littles. and changed me, the way that tiny ones who you are connected to change you. & it kills me that i'm not there to see her in her punky ruffled dress, eating cake, & throwing her head around laughing. the ocean is folded in waves between us, but i am thinking of her. & wishing her great first cakes & another year of tall wonders. and sending love love love, to connect the small map-dots which represent the distance between us. happy first year Zoe!!!

the queen of card hearts, or the opposite of a shark

embroidery + vintage playing cards + striped baker's twine = one sweetly-kick-ass garland (& not just for a valentine-ing!). i super appreciate the intricacy & construction of these--as i've been learning, embroidering paper is a hell of a lot harder than embroidering fabric (you can't see where you are coming up through, and once there is a hole, it's there for good). plus, everyone knows a garland can brighten up anything, especially the cold cave of a white-walled flat.

{images via themissingthread}

bicycles built for two-timing

for the record, it's not a bad idea to invest in vintage/antique furnitures while living in a teeny town of gorges & greenery (& buckets of snow). if you've got patience & a good eye, prices can be unbeatable. but here's a funny story involving our favorite antique place in ithaca and a rather big blog: there was once a sensational bicycle built-for-two in our ithaca antiquery and Z & i wanted it very much. we wandered around the store a hundred times, kept glancing at it coyly, scheming how we could bend our budget to buy it. but we were good. we left without purchasing, thinking we'd think a bit before taking the plunge (food or bicycles is never a good debate). in other words--we hemmed. and when we returned? it was gone. the antique mall had helped a couple dismantle it into a compact car to take to nyc. we were heartache-y, but this is sometimes for the best when your pennies can't really come out of the jar just yet, even if it is the most amazing bicycle and it looks just like the rusted-dysfunctional one that you had as a child.

then, a few weeks later, we saw a too-similar bike up over here--a couple was riding it around joanna goddard's neighborhood & she left them a note. wouldn't you know--they said it came from an antique mall in ithaca! oh, how painful to see it again being ridden by hot new yorkers!! but also quite small-world funny. in the end, as you can see, we found a mint-condition green schwinn which Z's parents gifted us as a wedding present. we road that puppy around the winding streets of ithaca like champs (& then completely forgot to bring it to our wedding--we had loved the idea of our guests riding around the park). this afternoon, amidst the first sunshine in days, i am daydreaming of our built-for-two awaiting us at home & being glad i haven't seen anyone attempting one on the traffic-ed streets of london!