Garden Party

I'm crushing on just about everything in the summer Anthropologie catalogue—I've never felt such a desire to sit outside and drink lemon water (or lemon verbena lemonade, anyone?) while wearing something light and feminine. Now that I'm done with class and have no excuses for rolling out of bed, throwing on a tee and dark jeans and calling it a day, I swear I'm going to put in more effort. I'm a sucker for this bracelet and that pleated top.

How perfect are the navy pleats for an appropriate (but not too obvious) Fourth of July ensemble? Plus, you can wear a style like that anywhere, from a casual barbeque to late-afternoon drinks with friends.

[photo cred to anthropologie.com]

Flora and Fauna

Now that I'm graduating in less than a week, I'm trying to find reasons to look forward to leaving Chicago. Number one? New York has hills and my house there is surrounded by beautiful green forest. Number two is that it's impossible to find a deli in Chicago—as someone who adores sandwiches, I find this vaguely offensive. Number three: New York doesn't usually have 40-degree drops in temperature overnight. Although I don't actually mind if it's a drop from 95-degrees..

How was your weekend?


[photo cred to 1, 2, 3 & 4, all via love and some verses]

Summer Sun

I'm done with college! What should I do first? Dance around my room? Play outside in the rain? Burn my heaps and heaps of flashcards because the English language has a long and complicated history that I now have memorized? (Although here's a brief summary of the English language: first, the Celtics were invaded by Germanic and Romanic tribes. Then they were invaded by the Vikings, after which they were invaded by the Normans. Thus, the English language came about through a series of shoddy defense tactics).

But secretly, I love(d) school. Tell me, how's the real world?


[photo cred here]

Stepping Out

Always a good idea for finals week: Hugging a puppy. Dark pink nails. Throwing the windows open. Fresh air. Taking two minutes to ignore the gnawing thoughts of exams, graduation and everything afterwards.

Complete denial has been my tactic du jour.

"Senior bonfire? I wasn't invited. I'm a freshman."

or

"I was held back. That still happens in college."

[photo cred to 1 and 2]

Say Yes...

...to people-watching and breakfast al fresco.

Yes to the sound of crickets after dark.

Yes to summer getaways via The Coveteur.

Yes to Grace Bonney's response to the NYTimes article on online mags.

Yes to Pinterest...

...because I don't know how I blogged without it.

Yes to Ashley's gorgeous bridal collaboration.

Yes to June weekends!

[photo cred here]

Raspberry Red

How genius is the idea to stuff tart raspberries with chocolate chips? You get antioxidants and a fix for your sweet tooth, all for far less calories than inhaling one of the Truffle Pig chocolate bars that I adore. I love you, Truffle Pig, but my little denim shorts do not.

[photo cred, clockwise from left, to 1; 2 and 3 via Cognac and Coffee]

Oh Manolo

Heartbreaking: finding this gorgeous pair of Manolo Blahniks at the Barneys spring sale... 

and still not being able to afford them.

[photo cred to The Coveteur]