In the holiday mood: Etsy lovelies

Hope you had a fantastic weekend! I had a delicious Friendsgiving (btw, using Kahlua instead of marsala wine makes tiramisu extra-yum!) and browsed Etsy lovelies to welcome the giving season -- here's just a few lovelies to get you in the holiday mood! :)

~ Have a lovely Monday and week ahead! ~

{Red silk rose dress}

{Brown Larch bag}

{Silk cocktail dress}

{Soft orange leather bag}

{Peach champagne diamond ring}

A Midnight Turkey {+quiz}

I once co-hosted a Friendsgiving, to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, with my urban NYC tribe.

To paraphrase a friend, we drew on one another's cooking skills to round out (and heck, overstuff) the meal. The turkey was served at midnight, but it didn't matter - the city never sleeps!

To see our Midnight Turkey recipe, just head on over here. :)

Meantime, I've been tagged by Ginta at Hunting and Gathering and Hitomi Neko to answer the I Love Your Blog quiz! Thank you! Ginta has a lovely way of mixing terrific 2nd-hand finds with current pieces to create something utterly new. Hitomi says she's a blogging newbie, but I've already enjoyed her film reviews. :) Here goes...

1. Why did you create the blog? I may have mentioned this before, but because of my nomadic life, it was a way to feel more connected to faraway family & friends.

2. What kind of blogs do you follow? I love blogs by people who have a passion or just good fun writing about their joys!

3. Favorite makeup brand? I'm not terribly loyal, I'll try anything that sounds promising. :)

Jason Wu's Spring 2011 collection

4. Favorite clothing brand? My latest kick is Jason Wu. So classic and feminine.

5. Your indispensable makeup product? Burt's Bees lip balm.

6. Your favorite color? For clothes, lilacs, dusky roses and rich browns. For interiors, bright colours (one of my last apartments was completely in primary colours!) or soothing neutrals.

7. Your perfume? These days, very occasionally, Kiehl's musk. Before that, girly Flor (and I'm not that girly, even!).

8. Your favorite film? Most recently, the French film Lady Chatterley - not at all rubbishy, more like a sensitive love story with the exquisite Marina Hands as leading lady.

Verona, Italia

9. What country would you like to visit and why? I'm dying to return to Italy, and always wanted to visit an old friend in Norway (I owe her several trips!)

10. Make the last question and answer to yourself: What invention would help your life? Something that instantly transports me to any part of the world! And anything that makes me look like I get 8 hours of sleep & workout 2 hours everyday!;) XO

(Images via Channel4, newbatteri, Travel Holiday, Fragrantica, and Destination360.)

Tea for two

I'm not usually into too-cutesy kitchen stuff, but I might have to make an exception for these Tea for Two sets, from Japan-based Shinzi Katoh Design.

I love the cheery feel and how little cupboard space they take up - perfect for city apartments! (Like the tiiiiny one we had in Central London:)).

(All images and products via Shinzi Katoh Design.)

Pretty edibles

Romanesco (still remembering the romanesco I had recently)

"Bright Lights" Swiss chard

Even the truffle pasta at Crudus, which so inspired Jason Wu...

He put it on the runway! This cream chiffon "truffle" skirt is from Wu's Spring '11 collection. :)

P.S. Took my computer to the computer doctor for a MAJOR checkup - at loong last, I can follow people with Google Friend Connect! (And I think my own GFC finally works.) Yippee! :)

(Images via: 1-Knock Knock Organics; 2-All-American Selections; 3,4-Jason Wu.)

Play with your food

What better time than pumpkin-carving season for food art? :)

by Saxton Freymann, from Play With Your Food

I'd love an Anna the Red bento box!

Carl Warner's foodscapes

Kevin Van Aelst

And pumpkins of course!

P.S. Many apologies to anyone I've been trying to follow (or trying to follow me) - I've had major problems with Blogger for ages! I have a new appointment with the computer doctor & hope everything works OK soon.

(Images via 1; 2; 3; 4; pumpkins - 5a/5b/5c/5d.)

London love

Thank you everyone for being so sweet about our job news - though I'm feeling guilty for calling London winters "un-fun"! There's so much to love in London...let us count thy ways...

{Berkeley Square}
The sweet pockets of green

"I've got nasty habits. I take tea at 3." -- Mick Jagger

Afternoon tea!

Karen Millen dresses

View from Waterloo Bridge

Seeing this when you step out the front door

Those street styles

{Chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall}
These guys

{Recent Grace Kelly fashion exhibit}

The amazing V&A, always

(Images via 1; 2; 3; Millen - 4a/4b/4c/4d; 5; 6; street styles - 7a/7b/7c, 8a/8b/8c; chefs - 9a/9b; 10.)

Karen Millen's minimalist luxe

Thanks for all your fun(ny) comments yesterday! Here's a positive London post (to atone :)). Ever since British Boy wanted to get me a dress from Karen Millen in Covent Garden (3-month anniversary gift), I've had a Millen soft spot.:) Everything's so minimalist-luxe this season.

P.S. The dress ploy must've worked, it'll be 5 years for us. ;)
P.P.S. Millen's suede over-the-knee boots get all the press attention, but I also like the below shoe (and dress)...

{Flower peep toe}

{Jewel hand-sewn bead dress}

(All images via Karen Millen.)

Vintage fashion as art

{House of Lanvin, silk & chenille, 1957, London V&A, via}

Hope you had a nice, long (US) holiday weekend! To ease the post-holiday transition, here's some lovely art for you, from 2 favorite museums: London's V&A (Victoria & Albert) and NYC's Met. :)

{Click images to open, click open image to enlarge}

{Givenchy evening gown, silk, 1955, London's V&A, via}

{The gown's sumptuous silk-thread embroidery, via}

Givenchy called this gown Les Muguets (Lilies of the Valley) and it came with long evening gloves. Very Audrey Hepburn, of course.

{Givenchy, ostrich feathers, 1967, London V&A, via}

I sometimes wish people still wore great hats regularly (not just at British weddings, big horse races and such).

{Quant mini-dress, wool & jersey, 1967, London V&A, via}

Without Mary Quant, London in the '60s might not've been so Swingin'. This went with dense tights & a big-brimmed beret or hat (think Twiggy :)).

{McQueen, mille-feuille-like silk organza, 2003, NYC's Met, via}

Couldn't resist non-vintage Alexander McQueen's "Oyster Dress."

{Lanvin evening dress, silk, 1931, NYC's Met, via}

This sweet, soft dress could easily be worn today.

{Lanvin "Roseraie" dress, silk, 1923, NYC's Met, via}

Lanvin painstakingly manipulated ribbon to create every rosette.

{Dior, silk organza & embroidery, 1953, NYC's Met, via}

Dior gone to a garden party -- the pattern is of teeny hand-stitched French knots.

~ Wishing you a great week ahead! ~

P.S. Yes, I have a weakness for Lanvin -- seeing vintage Lanvin up-close is an experience I'd highly recommend to any lover of design, fashion, art or just beautiful craftsmanship!

Liberty of London

{Liberty of London, Brit chic}

My first trip to iconic Liberty of London was right at closing time & I'm glad there wasn't time to shop - it would've been too tempting! For starters, the place is dramatically designed to look like an old ship...it's almost like stepping into a soaring film set...

{Carriage bag, with "Hera" print created 1876}

The nice security guard let us in after some cajoling & even played tour-guide. And, oh, the fun of Liberty's signature, vivid prints & print-suffused goodies...

{Louis Vuitton Liberty print fabric necklace...}

{MAC Liberty of London cosmetics packaging...}

{Liberty "Ianthe" print embossed clutch...}

What's not to love?

And I couldn't resist...Liberty for all! This Liberty for Target bike (seen stateside at Target, of course) is design for the masses, in the best sense. Riding this would make me smile goofily. :)

For a great intro to a great shop way back when, I owe it to my lovely significant other for sweetly talking his way past the guard, and to the guard for being kind - pointing out details, letting us browse - even though we weren't supposed to be there.

(Images via DesignSquared, BagExchange, poetic & chic, Makeup & Beauty Blog, Vogue UK, and the bicyclette).