Merry Christmas

tres New York: coffee

This is me. This is probably you. All I want when I'm out of my house to start an early day is my coffee.  Large?  Yes please!  Really, it is the only thing that gets us through our mornings.  A simple pleasure that can bring a little redemption to whatever task you have to do or wherever you have to go first thing in the morning. 

Soaking in the sun.

Rainy Day

Why I love Resort.

 I love Resort Collections!  I'm not fully sure why, perhaps because their intended reason for being is whimsical: they come to us in the middle of winter supposing that we are going somewhere fabulous.  Designers these days tend to mute the concept slightly to make resort sell-able to all (even to us New York working girls who can't always get away to a fabulous destination in January). 

Nevertheless, I always am enchanted by Resort because there is a supposed ease of wear in it that does not always come out in the almighty Spring and Fall presentations, and it is coupled with a fanciful notion that we, Resort.

More to follow.....

An old but fun one!

For Friday

 As I was working last Friday, I walked past a mirror and stopped, thought about my weekend and said, "wooooo!", with a tilted head.  This illustration is what I saw in that mirror (sans the cute outfit).

Not that I hate working and not that I party-it-up on the weekend, rather, I get excited about the weekend because it feels like freedom, space to be creative.  We have to get excited about something and it seems my free creative time is what I get excited about...shocking, I know (said sarcastically).

Happy Friday! Happy Creative Time!

Sketch; for your Sunny, January, Tuesday

Sunday, Sketch Day

I fell in love with this street shot of Edie Campbell on the Jak & Jil tumbler.  She looks so chic and mysterious...I kind of had to draw her....

Baby, It's Cold Outside....

During my first winter in New York, a very fashionable friend told me that she could not wear a puffer, “they are just too ugly”.  I watched this girl put on three layers of cashmere sweaters under her cute wool coat.  Maybe it’s because of this advice that I don’t seem to own a down coat and have become the queen bee of layering.  But probably not, I probably don’t own one for two other reasons: one, I have never wanted a down coat and I don’t buy things I need, I buy things I want (not a great strategy, but it kind of works for me, most of the time); secondly,  I like to LAYER! 

My layering has gotten a little extreme.  People love the way I look but laugh when they realize how many pieces I have on.  When the temperature is below 40, any given outing for me will have countless layers... a flannel shirt, wool sweater, leather jacket, down vest, jeans, short socks, tall socks, boots, gloves, maybe two hats.

When layering, each piece can be transformed into something else. By wearing multiple pieces, the variables are widened and more options arise.  How pieces are put together can make winter dressing about more than just pure functionality, it can make it about style and creativity.

New Sight for the New Year

Happy New Year!  It’s here.  I am always so thankful when it comes around, not because it erases the past year, nor because it is a chance to start over- honestly, every day is a chance to start over (every day is fresh with no mistakes in it)- I think I love the change of year, because it always brings me into new sight. 

The change of year makes me take inventory of the past year, see the value in it, itemize the successes, the lessons, compare where I thought I would be last year at this time to where I am today.  When I do this, I see growth and I see the opportunity for more growth - which is the exciting and fresh part!

I’m not a big resolution person - as I said above, every day you can change your life.  What I am big on, is understanding what this year will mean for your personal journey in life; if you understand that, you make the minor changes along the way that people often categorize as resolutions (running more often, seeing more movies, making time for friends, writing, etc.).  I don’t like resolutions, if at some point you stop going to the gym because your life gets busy, your resolution becomes a failure.  We have to be adaptable because we can never be certain what life will throw at us.  What we can control in the next year and in our life, is the kind of person we want to develop into.

Put on fresh glasses! (I actually found a steal on my new Balenciaga’s, so I think this metaphor was meant to be).  What kind of a year is it for you?  Who do you see yourself as?  Let's make positive life choices and be gentle on ourselves in the small things, and let's grow on the greater whole.

Merry Christmas Everyone

My Shoes...

These are shoes that I designed and I'd love to actually have this Fall!  I designed them to go with a Swedish Folk inspired collection.  I'm sure you can see a bit of the folksiness in the design.

Hello Fall

Just a "hello" to Fall, my favorite season. 

MY SUMMER FRAGRANCE

OYEDO by diptyque 34 boulevard st germaine, parise

Why is a fragrance inspiring a drawing and a post?  Maybe because a scent can be meaningful.  A scent that fits your person, speaks of who you are, and the spirit you're in.  For me, summer is captured in dyptique's OYEDO. This fragrance is unexpected with its lightness, sweetness, spice, citrus, and bit of woodsy greenness.  The fragrance has a sense of whimsy. Completely delightful - it reminds me of candy...that I want to wear.

SUMMER RULE

"...be careful, be careless, be careful, be what you want to be."

-Carl Sandburg. Little Girl, Be Careful What You Say

As I feel summer settling in, these words ring true to me - I hear them as my motto for enjoying the summer.  Have fun.  Be a little careful.  Live the way you want to live.

JUST A WHITE SHIRT

 

It was a magazine shot that inspired this drawing.  I didn't know what about it I found inspiring when I first drew it, I only knew that I was drawn to it.  A conversation with a wonderful girl-friend, who shares a similar sensibility of girly-ness and love of pretty, revealed to me why we love it.  We love it because it depicts what our free selves want to feel and be like: simple, pure, and lovely.