i've come to realize

that flowers are a fast and cheap way to brighten up a day. and you know what? pictures of flowers work (almost as) well too...pretty flowers picture from here found here.

riding boots.

they are proving impossible to find. granted, i am exceedingly picky. but what is going on?!!

here are the requirements:

- the boot must come up to my knee. this means around 16-17.5 inches. i have longish legs.

- the heel can't be too high. i can deal with a few inches. but i have an inherent aversion to anything above 3 inches on a boot. i don't like the feeling that i look like a hooker. or a giant.

- i don't like slouchy. i'm looking for streamlined.



where are these puppies?

other people's homes.

it's not really a secret how much i looooooove looking at other people's well designed and carefully edited homes. whenever i see an "open house" sign in my neighborhood, i jump at the chance to take a tour. it's not that i want to see the private lives of others...it's related to what i mentioned before - the peak into what other people consider beautiful. that is where the thrill is for me. this past weekend there was an open house sign on spruce street, near where i live. of course i went. not only was the place gorgeous (original crown moldings, multiple fireplaces, gorgeous details,) but the current owner had an amazing eye, deftly mixing classic art work with witty pieces, all the while with his own quirky personality shining through. walking home from my tour, i couldn't help but think of all the choices that the owner had made, and then think of my own decorating dilemmas. other people's beautiful homes inspire me to make my choices carefully and thoughtfully.

i think it was william morris who said "have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

what a wonderful motto.

*pictures aren't of the beautiful home i saw this weekend. pictures are from this delightful blog.

collections...

i am an enormous fan of collecting. the collections have to be important to me of course - they must mean something to me, speak to my soul. while i sometimes admire the clean simplicity of modern design, there is something intimately familiar and reassuring about a long held, lovingly tended-to collection.

Jeffrey Moss's collection of photographs in his living and bedrooms are perfect examples of this. Over numerous years, Moss has collected photos of stangers from all over the world, carefully posted them to create this stylishly inviting and deliciously homey atmosphere. Read more about his collection here.

cloth

great textiles always make me dreamy. to me, they are little windows into the souls of cultures and societies. what better way to understand what people deem beautiful than to look at the materials which which they surround themselves.

i recently got on a turkish hammam towel kick (thanks to the wonderful sale over at one king's lane - check it out here, i could actually afford some) .

of course that started me dreaming about other types of cloth, which led me to the beautiful online store l'aviva home. their assortment of textiles leaves me drooling. that indigo, those aguayos.

find more beauty here.

maybe it's my connection to india, where mountains of tiffins are carted through the streets of mumbai and correctly delivered to their respective owners at noontime (here's a great little snippet). maybe it's my love of storage and the sheer delight of utility. or maybe it's the appeal of bright colors.

maybe it's all the above.

i am feeling these cheerfully nerdy colored tiffins. available here.

everything about this

makes me pee in my pants. i can't get enough of that lavender. and that rug. and those hatboxes. i am delighted.

screw neutrals.

more of herve pierre's new york home here.