January picks

People & Things I like/love/adore/admire:

Hanna Müller's drawings


Apc's ss '09 boots


Sofia Coppola


red lipstick


the beginning of a new year


santogold - L.E.S. artistes

this photograph

planning future travels

collecting books

nina ricci dresses

happy new year everyone!

Now it's November

First of all, thanks again for your wonderful comments and suggestions! Reading them always brings a smile to my face! To answer the most asked question: the trousers are from H&M, hence the pretty pricetag.
Also, someone asked me about the fur jacket. Well, I can assure you that it's a faux one. I am disgusted by real fur and would never wear it.

Obviously, I felt like writing a post today, but I didn't really have a clue of what it should be about. So I figured I'd just start by sharing some new purchases with you (however boring that might be).
Thursday I went to a thriftstore and there I found these pretty camera's. Eventhough I already own a polaroid sx 70 camera, this one came with an external flash, so I couldn't possibly pass it up!
As I was so happy with my subscription to Vogue Paris, I decided to subscribe to Jalouse as well. There's just something about French magazines that appeals to me (you know, the certain je ne sais qoui factor ;)). And they're amazingly cheap, even when you take in the pretty high shipping rates. I already mentioned my new dvdbox in my last post and then there's Bulgakov's the Master and Margarita. It's such an amazing book, but unfortunately, I never got the chance, or took the time, to finish it. I'm sure that now it's waiting in my bookcase, that will happen soon though.

No explanation needed:

1. #13, 2. Real Big Swing, 3. aoi_yu_dandelion_008.jpg, 4. Untitled, 5. LastLeti, 6. nice hat, 7. Cold City - Paranoia, 8. untitled, 9. Untitled

A while ago some of you asked me about my paper cranes, well here they are:

Last but not least, I was wondering, is there something else you want to see on this blog? Or perhaps something you'd like to see more of? Is there a topic you would like me to dedicate a post to? I'd love to hear some of your thoughts as inspiration seems to be running a bit low these days.

Hope you have a happy sunday!!

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup...

First of all thank you so much for all your comments! I wasn't at all expecting so much enthousiasm. It might sound a bit silly but it really brought a smile to my face!

Now I actually have a hard time figuring out how to start this post, however stupid that may sound. So I'm just going to start with something random like some new things I acquired over these last three weeks

I'm so happy with the shoes, I've been looking for a creme/black coloured pair of flats for ages and was pretty disappointed about the fact that french sole never seems to update it's online stock. Luckily I came across these from Zara. My friend bought them a while back but unfortunately the were slightly too big for her feet. Not so much for mine though and she agreed to letting me adopt them.

With the purchase of those flats I've completed my summer wishlist and I'd like to think that I'm finally done reorganising my wardrobe at this point. All I need for the upcoming season are some boots and a coat, but there's still plenty of time for that. I'm, obviously, still dying for these Isabel Marant booties but I haven't got a clue for how much they retail which makes it quite hard to decide whether or not I should get them. So if anyone knows, please let me know ;)

***

I meant to post about the following a while back but for some reason I never did. When I saw this post at the knight cat's blog I felt immensely inspired to create something similar. So I went to Ikea, bought some frames, printed some of my flickr favourites and put them up on my wall. It's still under construction, I need to buy a couple more frames, but I think it already looks quite decent, especially with the polaroids.

Talking about flickr, I've been spending an insane amount of time browsing through that website lately

so here are some fresh favourites:

1. fly, 2. memories, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Los lunes al sol, 6. in the kitchen with..., 7. Untitled, 8. ., 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. lily of the valley, 12. the sky moves faster at this time of year, 13. Untitled, 14. Untitled, 15. ik door oona, 16. storyteller, 17. lovely afra, 18. ghost, 19. Kristin, 20. Untitled, 21. blur_simo, 22. Untitled, 23. (said with warm gusts of irony): it seems a gosh-darn shame, 24. reading in bed, 25. Untitled

***

Before I forget, I still want to do a book review before the end of this month. I just don't know which book to choose. So I was thinking that it might be a good idea to ask you which book you would like to see more of this time?

* for the love of light - Jenifer Altman
* the principles of uncertainty - Maira Kalman
* this is for you - Rob Ryan

***

Last but not least, last week I finally got to watch Juno and I think I fell in love with that movie. Ellen Page is such a brilliant actress and Michael Cera, gosh is he adorable or what? If you haven't seen it yet, you totally should, it's well worth it!

Well that's all for now, take care and see you soon!

The Principles of Uncertainty

Recently I ordered Maira Kalman's book "the Principles of Uncertainty" which is a collection of her illustrated columns for NY Times Select. I first noticed this book on Book By It's Cover and her beautiful illustrations immediately caught my eye. When I later spotted her book at the American Book Center I was a bit hesitant to pay 40 euro's but luckily I was able to order it at bol.com for a little more than half that price.

I would also like to mention that I won't be posting anything these next few days, I'm experiencing some sort of a family emergency as my grandfather has fallen terribly ill with no chance of recovery and I have a hard time focusing on other things at the moment. But please do check back after the weekend. Hope you have a good one!

Shake it, shake it, shake it like a polaroid picture

Not only did I receive a copy of "for the love of light" today, I also got to pick up my polaroid cassettes at the post office! It's a bit unfortunate that they had to be picked up this afternoon because otherwise I would have been able to take my polaroid camera with me to Amsterdam yesterday. Nevertheless, I'm thrilled with their arrival! I obviously had to try them out and what would be more appropriate than to take a snapshot of the book dedicated to polaroid photographs? Cheesy and brilliant at once, right ;) Unfortunately my scanner is staying with my sister for the summer on hostile territory, so this photograph of a photograph will have to do (until I've found the courage to enter my sisters domain that is) Here it is, not completely finished developing, but you get the idea:

Amsterdam was once again terrific. The weather was surprisingly nice and my friend and I walked around the city until our legs hurt. We suited ourselves with some delicious food aka french fries, strawberry creamcake and sandwiches. That obviously helped a lot. Unexpectedly I was even able to stick to my aforementioned wardrobe plan as all I bought was this black AA sweater for fall. I also meant to take some decent photographs but the light was blah so the photographs I díd take turned out horribly. C'est tout pour ajourd'hui, have a nice weekend!

ps. you might have already heard my new blog song, (unless you immediately turned down the volume to stop the 'horrible' sound from entering your ears) it's pretty brilliant right? I never expected Scarlett to have such a nice singing voice!

Book of the Month - July

I've been wanting to add something different and new to this blog for quite some time now and this morning I came up with a luminous idea. I feel that something like a monthly book review, not in words but in photographs, would be the perfect addition. Hopefully this will encourage me to invest in some beautiful books (which is one of my mid-year resolutions) and I hope you will enjoy looking at these books as well!
I was thinking that my latest acquisition would be a nice one to start with.

Lina Scheynius - "01"

More info can be found here: http://www.linascheynius.com/book.html

I like you

The wonderful 'Mila' from Loveology tagged me and now I have to name 6 things I currently like and tag some other people to do the same.

Well, here they are:
1. Baking cupcakes. Even without baking skills it can be done, and they taste like heaven!

2. Art books. Illustrations, photography, paper art, Impressionism, fashion, my wishlist goes on and on.

3. Watching Travel Channel. I've been a Globe Trekker addict for years and years and it's a nice surrogate for summer holiday as I won't be traveling anywhere myself. At least not any time soon.

4. Daft Punk's Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger dance routine. It's genius and silly at the same time and I would love to learn it myself.

5. Rummaging around my room. Cleaning out my closet, sorting through my bookcase, create some order in my deskdrawers, rearrange the furniture, it's all good.

6. Short suede ankle boots. I'm in love with these APC ones but am equally enamoured by the original ones from Isabel Marant. If only I could find a similar pair for this winter!

I tag: Heloïse j. , Laurel, Jillian, Joie de Vivre and Joanne!

Book of Dreams

When I came across Lina Scheynius' new book I immediately knew I had to have it. After all, I am a huge huge huge fan of her work! The way she is able to turn every single one of her photographs into a dreamy little masterpiece is unlike anything I've ever come across in the world of photography. If you're not familiar with her incredible talent yet, have a look at http://www.linascheynius.com/ and see for yourself!

More info and a video of the book's content can be found here.

L is for Light

Because of this post by one of my favourite fellow bloggers I learned about the most wonderful book! It's called 'for the love of light: a tribute to the art of polaroid' and it features a vast amount of beautiful polaroid photographs taken by 25 different photographers.

I'm quite the fan of some of these photographers (I've actually already written about a couple of them) and if it wasn't for those unreasonable import charges I'd be ordering the book right away. But right now it would turn out a little bit too expensive for my taste. Hopefully amazon will soon decide to start selling this little gem as well!

For those of you who don't fear the tax man or live somewhere where these charges do not apply, you can order the book here: http://www.fortheloveoflight.com/

Wreck this Journal

I've always been an admirer of Keri Smith's work and today I decided to order her newest book called 'wreck this journal'. The purpose of this journal? Well here it is:

"This book was created for anyone who has ever had trouble starting/keeping or finishing a journal/sketchbook. By forcing ourselves to wreck it on purpose, the “journal as an object” loses it’s preciousness, and allows us the feeling of completion. This book was created for every person who has looked at other artist’s journals and said, “I wish I could do that. I’ve started dozens of them but didn’t stick with it.” or, “But the journal itself is so beautiful, I don’t want to wreck it with my ideas/handwriting/drawings.” Or, “I feel pressured to write something good.”
In this book good does not exist. The goal is to fill it up, to shift your perception of the blank page and the journal itself into a place for experimentation. Into a place where you just get stuff out onto the page. A place to start working against your better judgment. To do those things you were taught to never do (make a mess, destroy, fold down pages, write in books, play with dirt). This book IS the place.
Each page of Wreck This Journal is filled with prompts telling you how to systematically ‘destroy’ the entire book."

more info at www.wreckthisjournal.com

April first.

In June teNeues will release a book about Tim Walker. It will be filled with a vast amount of wonderful photographs he has taken throughout his career. Tim Walker is one of my favourite photographers so I'm obviously very excited about this book. Apparently Stern has also published a book with some of his work, so I'll try to hunt that one down first, eventhough it seems to be currently unavailable. Talking about books, friday I'll be visiting this huge bookfestival I might have talked about before. I have an enormous wishlist, I'd especially love to get my hands on some photography and art books there.

***

I haven't bought a decent pair of shoes in a long time (and yes, long time is quite relative), so I reckoned it was time for some new footwear. I was actually looking for a nice pair of black gladiator sandals but since those seem to be virtually untraceable, I decided I could just as well look for shoes equally as cool. When I came across this pretty pair on asos.com I figured they would qualify for the job and ordered them right away.

***

I'm going to end this post with one of my favourite songs ever, enjoy!

Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

But there was this one boy, Richard Kinsella. He didnt stick to the point too much and they were always yelling "Digression!" at him. It was terrible, because in the first place, he was a very nervous guy - I mean he was a very nervous guy - and his lips were always shaking whenever it was his time to make a speech, and you could hardly hear him if you were sitting way in the back of the room. When his lips sort of quit shaking a little bit, though, I liked his speeches better than anybody else's. He practically flunked the course, though, too. He got a D plus because they kept yelling "Digression!" at him all the time. For instance, he made this speech about this farm his father bought in Vermont. They kept yelling "Digression!" at him the whole time he was making it, and this teacher, Mr. Vinson, gave him an F on it because he hadn't told what kind of animals and vegetables and stuff grew on the farm and all. What he did was, Richard Kinsella, he'd start telling you all about that stuff - then all of a sudden he'd start telling you about this letter his mother got from his uncle, and how his uncle got polio and all when he was forty-two years old, and how he wouldn't let anybody come to see him in the hospital because he didn't want anybody to see him with a brace on. It didnt'have too much to do with the farm - I admit it- but it was nice.

This must be my favourite part of the whole book. Don't know why, but whenever I think of Catcher in the Rye, this part always comes to mind. It reminds me of those moments when you're talking to someone and all of a sudden you realise that you have no idea what the hell it is that you are talking about or how you came to think of the subject you're discussing, because it is completely different from the subject you started the conversation with. I think that those conversations actually are the best conversations there are.