White Lace

Today I wore the second half of my vintage white lace outfit - the sweetly angelic dress. (You may remember this jacket from last weekend.) 

Tried Maybelline's "coral crush" on my lips to add a bit of color to a black and white ensemble. 

{dress - downtown antique (GB), jacket - old Express, belt - old J. Crew, shoes - old Target}

I saw the cherry blossom girl wearing this similar white lace dress a few weeks ago, at a Chanel (SS 2011) show no less, and it reminded me of my own. Kind of amazing!

{her dress - Marc by Marc Jacobs, shoes - Miu Miu}

A couple of stunners from that show. 

{taken by cherry blossom girl}

Costume Fun - Day 1

Yesterday was our first costume party. We hurried off to the harvest festival at church and rocked till we dropped. This year we had 2 super heroes and a wild elephant join our ranks. Captain America flexes his well toned bod above while a once vicious elephant (recently tamed) shows a bit of annoyance due to a restricted & sweaty head. 

Spiderman forgot his mask at home, which unveiled his secret identity to the masses; anonymity a thing of the past. Now what Spiderman? At least you didn't have to deal with a similar case of elephant's  sweaty head. 

Fighting off a giant black widow spider (spiderman was dueling with an jack o lantern gone rogue). 

A very typical face from Monty. It says, "Just one more."

A game for Elliot.

Racing around the gym. 

Monty taking on Superman in potato sack races. 

Starting to get very tired now.

 A challenge ....

to each their own ...

can't remember who one. 

Room Additions

 {image from kenziepoo}

Love this guitar pillow for Monty and those angel wing pillows are kind of awesome too (ah mom - think you could make us some?). I'm really in the mood to stir things up a bit in the big boy bedroom, starting by getting rid of the bunk bed and adding a couple of single beds. I have some sweet ideas for the room and can't wait to put all of my ideas on an inspiration board and get started. I'd love to begin with these beds from Ikea ...

Though this bed may be a good option too (also from Ikea).

And their bunk beds are pretty impressive! Or perhaps it's just the way they put this room together.

I just need to get over there and take a look at what they have. It's out of control expensive to ship! Also love these acrylic dining chairs for the dining table (would love them in a clear acrylic). So much easier to clean!

 {found at young house love}

It would be great paired with this wooden table, don't you think? World Market has some beautiful dining table options, several of which would be great.

Or this one. And the bench option is perfect too. I suppose I've determined from today's internet snooping, that I really need to truck on over to Chicago and visit Ikea. Anyone want to come along?

And finally, this tree branch turned mobile makes me smile. I always love any whimsy suspended from the ceiling and this one would be easy to create at home. Parker's nursery had a great stripey wall that the huz and I worked very hard on (in our previous home). I'd love to try it again ... in the boy's room perhaps or maybe even in the entryway. I've always felt that the stark white wall that greets you is just a bit blah. And though the Swedish design blogs inspire me so much in all their pale white with just a few pops of color glory, I think I'm just a color loving girl and will always tend to lean in that direction. Anthro wallpaper covering the entry wall would also be spectacular! Gosh, there's not a room in my home that feels "finished". Likely never will ...

Sweet Trinkets

I decided to grab my camera again today and photograph a few new pretties at home. It begins with Chanel Mademoiselle, the most beautiful fragrance of all, and not at all new but rather close to depletion yet still pretty enough to add to the glitzy mix. Closest I'll ever come to Chanel.

This magnificent little number was a mere $3.50! It's as lovely on as it is off. 

{American Eagle Outfitters, flower hair pin - J. Crew}

I've had these tiny perfume jars since I lived in South Africa (at least 18 years - is that possible?!). They're quite irresistible. The necklace is an amazing find from a nearby boutique.

Definitely a statement piece in exotic gold and amber - bohemian beautiful.

{Besselli (GB)}

The vintage mirrored tray was a treasure found within the boxes of discards in my mother's basement. So perfect for displaying those extra special jewels, only enhanced as their reflections shimmer back and forth.

Dilly Dally Day

Elliot and I spent some time in the kitchen this afternoon, not doing anything particularly useful, just snacking and chatting. Though I think it was a splendid use of our time, there were moments when the howling winds and gloomy skies caused us to crawl in bored circles around the living room; not too productive. Eventually I hauled out the ingredients sure to cheer me up, making apple cider for 1, buttered cinnamon-walnut toast for 2 (see said cinnamon on corner of toddler's mouth below), and painting my nails a vivacious red. 

Essie's "Wild Thing" & "Shine On"

{I'm an awful manicurist, but I'm modeling it all the same}

An exciting discovery! - 

Essie nail polish happens to be my top favorite brand. I think it was the gorgeous colors at J. Crew (over the spring) that had me hooked (those corals!), but the $8.50 price tag kept my Essie purchases to only 2 over the past year - a ballet pink and a perfect khaki/tan. But today I discovered the best kept polish secret ever and right in my mall. (Drumroll ....) Aerie, a tiny lounge/underwear store belonging to American Eagle, sells Essie polish too and when you buy one you get the second free! Now that's much better. In fact, this deal is the same for all their makeup and it's really lovely. Made by the Mac cosmetics company, another brand I looove, and the colors are all deeply gorgeous and subtly shimmery + also buy one get one free! (And according to the sales person, it's even eco-friendly). So grab your sister (do-si-do) and split the cost of some new festive colors for the holiday season. 

{And a thank you to the wonderful comments I've received from a few of you this week, shared moments of how you too are feeling more excited about dressing up! And when you tell me you're a "slave to my blog" .... well ... that's just wonderful!)

Inspiration Wednesday

Quirky candied apples

 Lots of yummy images to inspire you today. Food, fashion, home decor ... all perfectly scrumptious. 

{images via everything fab, coco + kelley, this is glamorous}

Creamy lovelies making a statement

A fancifully glamorous table

Chocolate sundae chic

A grandly green velvet couch

Warm in fur and ruffles

I'll take it all!

What Michael Kors wants you to wear this fall

What to wear in Paris

Rainy Afternoons

My Monty looking oh-so handsome in his (dirty) skinny jeans. Funny story - the boys spent the night at the grand parents home a couple of nights ago and I had packed their clothes for school the next day, sending them with matching black skinny jeans and striped t's (in different colors). Well, my dad was responsible for dressing them on Monday morning and managed to have the almost 6 year old and the 3 year old dress in their siblings clothing, if you can believe it! So Monty had on Parker's clothes and Parker, Monty's. So funny! How did this really happen? Amidst much madness I assume.

 Little E sporting his designer diaper dropped off by his Ouma (well an entire package which happened to be on sale). They're by Cynthia Rowley, just like my fur vest from the weekend. Haha!

My little men worked on fancifying a pair of turkeys yesterday. And here are their final products. Can you guess each gobbler's Van Gogh?

Hope your week is off to a great start!