Weekly what:nots...

How was your week? Ours flew by. I am very much looking forward to the weekend, and next week off for spring break. We were due to mind Coco over the hols, but alas she escaped (again) last night. Better at school than at our place I say! Anyhoo here's what:nots for the week - a bit of a mixed bag...

Simple black and white photography from Yu Tsai.

Great colours and combinations in Warwick Freeman's 'Colour Slide' jewellery exhibition.

Pretty porcelain bowls from ArtMind.

Love this look from Vera Wang resort 2010. And love the shoes!

An oh-so-lovely 'orchid pochette' from Maloles.

And what has to be the sweetest clip - Kiki and Coco in Paris (via Simple Lovely). Click here to watch it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Images from Yu Tsai, Bowen Galleries, Artmind, Vera Wang, Maloles, and Stephanie Rausser.

A few good books...

Finding the time to read often feels like such a luxury. One of my 2010 resolutions was to "make time to read more", and happily I'm slowly working my way through the pile by my bed. Some recent favourites include:

A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal. Simply and beautifully told this is Buergenthal's account of the childhood years he endured in concentration camps. At times heart-breaking, it is an uplifting tale of survival against the odds. And it has an insightful and thought-provoking epilogue.

Bombay Smiles by Jaume Sanllorente

An inspiring tale of how the author came to travel to India on holiday (not his first choice of destination), and went on to rescue an orphanage in the Dhavari slum.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Set in 1960's Mississippi, this is the story of three women who come together determined to start a movement to change a town. I've just started it and it's looking promising.

e Squared: a novel by Matt Beaumont. Like it's sequel e (published in 2000), e Squared is an increasingly outrageous series of emails and texts that follows the lives of a rambunctious London ad agency. It is hilarious!

I still have a few more in the pile, including these two. Has anyone read either of them?

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, and The Boy who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba.

I'd love to know what you are reading? Are you a one genre reader, or do you like to mix it up? I confess I like to mix it up and enjoy a good chick-lit novel as much as a more serious tome.

Images from Amazon.

Frilly pins....

Loving Anthro's frilly spring pins.

Image from Anthropologie.

Chic & elegant...

Lovely contrasts from Stella McCartney Fall 2010. Super chic and simple daywear, coupled with utterly elegant organza and embroidery evening wear.

Images from Style.com.

A few tees...

I'm loving Aubin & Wills perfectly casual, loose tees.

Images from Aubin & Wills.

Time is...

Time is

too slow for those who wait,

too swift for those who fear,

too long for those who grieve,

too short for those who rejoice.

But for those who love,

time is an eternity.

A little poem by Henry Van Dyke for a Tuesday evening.

Tuesday already...

How'd that happen?! How was your weekend? Ours was loads of fun. This week is feeling a tad frantic, why exactly I'm not sure. R arrives home this evening - yippee. The boys have the class recital of The Sound of Music tomorrow, and then it's full speed towards Friday and spring break. I hope you're having a lovely week so far. Just rushing off to go riding, but promise I'll be back later with a few tid-bits.

Photo by me (what I plan to do with hundreds of dried hydrangea flowers I am not sure).

Weekly what:nots...

Hello, and a belated Happy Friday. Thank you for all your kind comments, and for the New York tips! I feel humbled (and quite delighted) that you take the time to visit Elsa May and I love reading your comments. Did you have a good week? Ours went by in a bit of a blur. Two highlights were horse riding here, and seeing the boy's class rehearse their production of The Sound of Music. Oooh and we had a teeny tiny bit of snow earlier in the week! Do you have weekend plans? We're planning to do nothing-much-at-all, a perfect weekend. Here's what:nots for this week - I hope you like them.

Soft blues from Marie Claire Italia.

Pretty paper hearts from the pages and pages of loveliness that is It's Mary Ruffle (via Contented Me).

How many hand-drawn giraffes would you like? One, two or 102? Jason Polan let's you choose. Hop on over to Jason's website, he has several nifty projects including the covetable MoMA Book. (Thanks to Lisa who featured Jason's work).

Speaking of covetable books, Jennifer Causey's book Simply Paris is simply wonderful.

Timeless ballerina flats from Mi Piaci.

Toast's hammam towels - so versatile and such a great blue.

A pretty little vintage tin by Hindsvik. I'm trying very hard to leave it where it is.

And my new food obsession - Sahale snacks - scrumptious-ness in a pack.

Have a fun weekend!

Images from Marie Claire Italia, It's Mary Ruffle, Jason Polan, Jennifer Causey, Mi Piaci, Toast, Hindsvik, and Sahale Snacks.

A wonderfully silly book...

Have you read Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein? Full of silly goodness (or gilly soodness) it's an all time favourite with the boys. Here's a little taste of what's inside -

Runny's Rig Bomance

Runny had a firlgriend,

Her name was Sunny Bue.

He called her nots of licknames,

Like "Kitchy-Itchy-Koo."

Sometimes he called her "Boney-Hun"

And sometimes "Dovey Lear,"

But he only called her "Peety-Swie"

When no one else could hear.

Image from Amazon.

Pretty much perfect...

I could easily live in these two outfits from Loft - day in day out, quite easily..

Images from Loft.

Dan Barber's TED talk...

A humorous and well researched TED talk from Dan Barber on how to "keep fish on the menu".

Monday, Monday...

How was your weekend? Ours was fun, we baked cinnamon swirl and jam drop cookies, enjoyed Portland's lovely spring weather and pottered about. I also spent loads of time researching and panicking about where.to.stay.in.New York - yikes! Today is a gloriously sunny spring day, with blossom and magnolia trees bursting forth so I'm off to enjoy some sunshine. Happy Monday!

Photo by me.

New York, New York...

Yippee - we are off to New York at the end of this month! I know I mentioned this below but stellar news of this sort deserves it own post - don't you think? And I am getting just a little bit panicky about where.to.stay! Ideally we'd

like to rent an apartment or a condo - more space than a hotel and better with kids, but a great hotel would be good as well. Soooo if anyone has any recommendations I'd love to hear from you. And it goes with out saying recommendations of where to go, where to eat, where to shop, are just as welcome. Hmmm.... I wonder what's going

to happen with the spending hiatus?

Image from New York Public Library.

Weekly what:nots...

Did you happen to see Thursday pass by? One minute it was there, and then it was gone... Anyhoo how was your week? Ours was nicely busy, and definitely a huge improvement on last week. But our super exciting news is (drum roll) we are off to New York for four or so days at the end of the month! I am seriously beyond excited! I've not been for about 10 years - yikes. So I am calling on you all for recommendations of what to do, where to go, and so on - and if anyone has where to stay suggestions I'd love to hear them! Yippeee. Right time to settle into this week's what:nots...

Lovely photography by Deborah Jaffe.

A perfect 'Paris' shopper from Article 22 (via Lonny).

Pretty peonies captured by the incredibly talented Kari Herer. You can purchase Kari's prints here.

Michael Aiello's bird mono prints are created with his fingers, hands and finger nails. If you're in Portland hop on over to Artemesia and view them in real life - they are lovely. I must warn you though, Artemesia is a treasure trove of plants, terrariums, tiny seahorses, and all kinds of wonderful things - you won't leave empty handed!

The nifty-est invention since...well the paper clip. The paper paper clip, made from sustainable wood pulp, 100% biodegradable, and very sturdy, these little fellows can hold up to 20 sheets of paper.

And to end with a rather pretty 'flutter sleeve dress' by the gorgeous Erica Tanov. Not to mention the model's cute hair cut!

Have a lovely weekend!

Images from Deborah Jaffe, Article 22, Kari Herer, Michael Aiello, Heliotrope, and Erica Tanov.

This looks interesting...

Enlighten Up! is a documentary where filmmaker Kate Churchill sets out to show how yoga can transform anyone. She chooses a skeptical journalist, Nick Rosen, to be her guinea pig. Kate immerses Nick in yoga, and follows him around the world as he examines the good, the bad and the ugly of yoga. The two encounter celebrity yogis, true believers, kooks and world-renowned gurus. As the movie progresses, tension between Nick and Kate runs high. His spiritual progress lags and her plan appears to crumble. But ultimately, what they find is not what they were looking for.

Image from here.

Two totes...

Loving these two totes from Celine! If you pop over here you can zoom in - the leather is super-duper buttery soft.

Image from Celine.

Monday, Monday...

Hello Monday! Thank you all so much for your lovely comments and wishes, my weekend was a massive improvement on my Friday. I've just about kicked my cold away - hooray - and our wee apartment is festooned with flowers. R organised an-across-the-Pacific-Ocean delivery of parrot tulips, lilies, hyacinths, heather, and freesias for our anniversary. The scent is wonderful, I feel like I'm living in a florist shop! I also managed to stop procrastinating and ticked lots off my to do list - thank you to the lovely Anna for your kind words and encouragement! I hope you all have a great Monday, and thanks so much for visiting :)