Link Love

Ah, Sunday. If you're on the East Coast/around NYC, chances are you're having a morning like me…or, if you're not, you should be. Today's one of our warmer days in a while, but with rain all day. Since I had a fairly quiet night after dinner with a friend last night, I was in bed pretty early and woke up early to the sound of rain outside. I've spent the last hour or so reading (I just finished Orange is the New Black and started Gone Girl—I'm late on the latter, I know) and enjoying coffee from bed. 

I know that sounds really glamourous, but I promise it doesn't look nearly so pretty in my room right now as it does in the photos we use for inspiration. Still, the picture in my head likes to think I'm being very cool and glamorous. I even have a chill-music playlist going in the background. 

Unfortunately, it's not a long weekend for me, but I've made the most of my time off anyway. Friday found me exhausted from a stressful and long work week (I'm also looking to hire an assistant—must be NYC based, details here), accompanied by the start of a cold, so I've kept it pretty chill, only venturing out for a movie and dinner with a friend and to hit up my dry cleaner. I devoted a big chunk of my day yesterday to cleaning up around my (still new-ish) room, and most all my belongings are now in here short of some stacks of papers I can never seem to shake and the items waiting to be put away in the standing closet I've yet to order. So, today is going to be devoted to making progress on those next steps—I'm ordering a few little things (a new wastebasket, a clothing hamper) from West Elm and Manhattan & Brooklyn bound later this afternoon to check out some furniture options with a friend. 

There are a lot of other little things that jumped on my radar over the last few weeks, though, and I wanted to share several of them with you below in case you missed them, or in case you saw them—because I'd love to hear your thoughts!

• Have you heard of the 30-day minimalism challenge? Some of the things on it are just not feasible for me, but I'm making an effort to incorporate many of them into my daily life in some way. 
• I'm always looking to spend less time on my phone, too, and found this article particularly interesting. I've freed up some space on my phone to download the app they recommend and am interested to see my results after a week!
• 2015 is the year of getting my financial sh*t together (more on that in another post to come), so I was anxious to read through this article over on refinery29.
• I've long enjoyed Joan Didion's writing and have thought in recent years I need to read a lot more of it, but I found this piece on why loving her is a trap over on The Cut to be pretty honest and, quite frankly, it made sense! 
• A more light-hearted read…we have ice skating to thank for the splendor of Fifth Avenue over the last century!
• Hallie put a unique spin on the article making its way around the web on how we fall in love, based on a study from a while back. 
• Speaking of, here's the link to the article ICYMI. I found it particularly fascinating to re-read after watching the first two parts of Richard Linklater's trilogy with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy this weekend, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, which focus on two people and how they fall for each other, simply while (mostly) just talking. If you need something to do on this rainy day, I highly recommend renting them, both of which are available on iTunes. 

And, lastly, a few things on my more materialistic radar:

• I use my Google calendars to track most of my schedule, but this Smythson planner is just too pretty for me to pass up. Doesn't hurt to have a backup! 
• I picked up Loeffler Randall's Fenton boot (finally) this week and have worn them every day since. 
• They're way outside my budget right now, but how beautiful are these (majorly discounted) gold oxfords from Simone Rocha?!
• Speaking of outside my budget, I've also been eyeing this 10 Crosby coat all season. Any further drop in price and I'll likely pull the trigger! 
• Two of my favorite pairs of Tibi boots are on major discount as well right now, shop them here and here. 
• I've decided I need a leather bucket bag this season—I'm between this one or this one. Opinions welcome! 
• I keep browsing Madewell's cozy sale section, and they have an extra 30% off all styles with code AHHH til Tuesday! 

*all images via pinterest

Link Love

Weeks and weeks of links have been piling up around me (figuratively speaking), so I thought I'd make some attempts to get organized and share a few with you today after a rather slow weekend. I kicked it off with a sick day on Friday after I started getting headaches last week, which I attributed to trying to cut back on my sugar intake, but by Thursday night it became apparent I was actually ill. I'm slightly impressed it's taken me this long, as I didn't catch a single nasty cold all winter *pauses to knock on wood*. I've never taken a sick day in all my adult life (let's be honest, college doesn't count), so it was hard to remember that I needed to slow down and rest...until I passed out for several hours Friday afternoon. Here's hoping the mixed up sleep from daylight saving time gets cancelled out by the extra sleep I got this weekend.

We all want to be J. Law's best friend, but it looks like the role is already filled—by one funny lady named Laura Simpson, who blogged about her Oscar experience.

Hallie wrote a great post that reminded me of a lesson Hilary taught us at Pepperologie last spring—it's okay to live your life in seasons!

My new-found sneaker kick has me dying to get these open work ones for spring/summer.

I'm not quite ready to let winter go without snagging this coat on super-sale, though.

Sorry, sugar addiction, I'm not kicking you anytime soon—thanks to this gooey cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing recipe!

Poncho is my new favorite tech-find; they text you one to two times a day (when you get up and when you leave work) with weather and transit updates. Side of sass, included!

My next apartment will absolutely have a slab table.

Winter has given me cabin fever and the plethora of vacation pics on my instagram feed hasn't helped—and neither has this list of amazing beaches around the world.

Victoria wrote an amazing post on how to use Todoist. I'm planning to download it this week to get organized!

I'm a bit of a nut for random facts about the old days of NYC, and a friend knew how to pique my interest by sending me this link to subway-naming history!

I desperately need some new sandals for summer and I think I've found the first pair I'm going to get.

Speaking of, how cute are the evil-eye sandals at Loeffler Randall right now?

Longing to go to Australia & stay in this beautiful rental house.

*image via

Home of the Week: Cozy Neutrals + French Flair

There's something about a neutral palette that's really been tugging at me lately. Maybe it's the idea of a fresh start, and the opportunity to change the details often without having to repaint (...although I do love a good coat of paint).

Architect Carlos Aparicio filled his Florida home with unique items and hard to find antiques that still give a modern vibe (read up about all the amazing detail here!). Enough with words, though; I'd rather let this beautiful home speak for itself.

all images via

Happy Wednesday!

xx

Home of the Week: Vibrant Color, Flatiron District

**I'm setting a new goal, to bring you one home, place, room, etc. that I really love, each week. What better day than Wednesday? It is the middle of the week & we could all use a boost from a gorgeous space to get us to Friday!**

This week's home comes from Drake Design Associates; a beautiful, colorful space in the Flatiron District of NYC. If I haven't made it clear yet, there is a huge chunk of my personality that adores rich, bright colors. My winter coat is vibrantly yellow, and when combined with my long and very blonde hair I may as well be wearing a strobe around my neck in the winter, especially in this city of dark clothes and dark hair. There are other parts of my personality devoted to modern lines, clean spaces and that ever-lovable French-country-chic. They'll manifest later, don't you worry. 

I've been extremely attracted to the oft-underrated color purple lately (royalty, anyone?), especially that bright jewel-tone it can take on (as spotted on this magnificent turquoise couch in SoHo last weekend). The beauty in these rooms comes from their bold use of unusual colors, graphic patterns and clean lines.

Lastly, as every good design junkie knows, it's all about the details...and does it get any better than having a Chuck Close hanging in your apartment??

The pops of teal really pull everything together for me (that, and the yellow bedroom!). Getting my head out of the clouds now, and filing this home away as inspiration for later. 

xx

Black + Brown + White + Gold

I've been itching to re-do some aspects of my current apartment (with roommate approval!) for quite a while; I'm kind of held up while we figure out whether we're going to stay in the same apartment much longer, but in the meantime I'm constantly searching for inspiration. I love the living room of this home in Coquitlam, British Columbia designed by Angela Robinson. The mix of textures with modern, minimalistic design makes the room feel cozy and inviting. I am especially in love with the set of gold paintings above the couch. I think they'd be pretty easy to replicate on some level!

The browns & blacks in the rooms ground the eye, while the gold adds an exciting, slightly glamourous pop.

images via Angela Robinson

Doesn't the white rug make you want to curl your toes into it? I'd spread out in front of the fire with a cozy throw & good book in the winter.

xx