FRIDAY FAVORITES

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1) salted chocolate caramel lollipops
2) green and blue interiors
3) adorable parcel post style wrapping
4) the perfect fall outfit

HAPPY WEEKEND!

FAVORITE THINGS SERIES // EVERYDAY MUSINGS

ms. olivia rae james, food and travel editor of Southern Flourish Magazine and author of lovely blog Everyday Musings lives in charleston, sc and spends her time making dainty cake stands, traveling to and from far-away destinations such as provence and skye, reading and studying poetry, and taking beautiful photographs of it all along the way. below is oliva's list of favorite things. check them out  to learn a little more about this special lady!
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all photos by olivia rae
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1. Favorite Film? It's a tie between That Thing You Do and Garden State. I grew up watching That Thing You Do on repeat. I can recite every word and it still makes me laugh every time. Faye is my role model. I fell in love with Garden State as a wistful 16-year-old and I've never fallen out of love with it.
2. Go-to-libation?  WINE! And Prosecco.

3. What's on the blog roll?  Amy Merrick of An Apple a Day is a goddess. I can't get enough of her dreamy stories and photos. I also love Joy the Baker. Reading her blog always results in me A) giggling and B) baking something yummy.

4. Favorite day of the year? Christmas Eve. My mom throws a big, beautiful, party with all of our friends and family. It always feels so special and cozy.

5. Favorite destination?  My family's little beach cottage on the coast of North Carolina. It feels more like home than any home I've ever had.

6. What album are you listening to right now?  I can't get enough of Beirut's new album "The Rip Tide."

7. Smell you can't live without?  I really like the smell of sunscreen, but I could probably live without it. Also, lavender.

8. Favorite Book?  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's a heart-wrenching, hilarious, poignant book that left a lasting impression on me.

9. Favorite Food?  I think I could live on strawberries and/or truffle fries and/or caramel salted ice cream. And I can't leave out cheese...

10. Fashion favorites? Touches of lace, cropped sweaters, anything cream colored, boyish jackets, simple lines, high-waists, nude flats.

11. Favorite person? All the people in my life are pretty great. I'm a lucky girl.
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Thank you so much for stopping by, Olivia! 
check out other favorite things series posts from oh joy, emmadime, & size too small here! 

CURRENTLY COVETING // FALL WISH LIST

1. Dress / 2. Necklace / 3.Towel / 4. Hairbands / 5. Book / 6. Heels

ON BIRTHDAYS // TURNING 30

Despite the fact that I crossed into a new decade this week, this blogpost is more of a thank you than a run-down. Thank goodness for friends who know you; who know that purple was your favorite color when you were 6 and nothing has changed, friends that know that you're never too old to have unicorn balloons at your birthday party, friends that know your favorite meal includes champagne with lemon and basil, moules frites and crouque madames, friends who know that you're a true wilderness girl at heart and who make s'mores with you around a campfire for birthday dessert, friends who hang streamers from your chair and make you a glitter crown to adorn your 30-year-old-head, friends who each give a toast in your honor and remind everyone how they met you, for friends who blindfold you and take you to the rollerskating rink where everyone you know waits for you to get there and yells surprise and skates the night away with you in celebration, for friends who secretly go to your house and grab your very favorite roller skates so you can wear your own on the rink, and for friends who I simply could not live without. I feel like luckiest girl on the planet.

Here's to another year filled with magic. A better one. A great one.

MIXTAPE MONDAY // AN ODE TO AUTUMN

photo via here

As Los Angeles slowly (I mean it, it's slow as molasses!) slides into Fall, here are the tunes on repeat on my own personal jukebox. For some reason, Fall music fits into the same category for me as early-Sunday-morning-before-the -california-haze-has-burned-off music. I guess those are the sort of things one must compare while living in Los Angeles. Have a great Monday and a terrific week everyone. And hopefully a new music mix will add a bit of joy to your day. Enjoy!

1. Breakin' the Chains of Love | Fitz & the Tantrums
2. How Come you Never go There | Feist
3. You're the one That I Want | Angus & Julia Stone (cover)
4. I Can't Make you Love me | Bon Iver (cover)
5. Crop Comes in | Chatham County Line
6. Take it all | Adele
7. Murdered in the City | Avett Brothers
8. Sydney (I'll Come Running) | Brett Dennen

FRIDAY FAVORITES

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1) a sweet autumn kiss
2) vodka root beer floats
3) a darling table setting idea
4) i'd only like to send letters using these envelopes please!

FAVORITE THINGS SERIES // HOORAY

hey there and welcome back to the favorite things series! today was are featuring the lovely alli michelle of Hooray blog which honors celebrating creative living! alli hails from ann harbor, michigan where she lives with her husband and two cute cats. hooray is a constant inspiration source of mine, especially for hip party planning tips and easy everyday living guides. learn about some of alli's favorite things below!
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1. Favorite Film?   It's hard to pick just one, but here are a few: The Painted Veil, Serendipity, Mamma Mia (for the location/styling), and 90s movies in general.  
2. Go-to-libation? We never have a girl's night without some sangria!
3. What's on the blog roll?  Elephantine, size too small, oh happy day, and about a bazillion others.

4. Favorite day of the year? The day my husband arrived home safely from his first deployment overseas - nothing compares to that feeling.
5. Favorite destination?   I've always imagined it would be London (which I've wanted to travel to since I was a kid), but I also love Black Lake up north here in Michigan where our family vacations every summer.
6. What album are you listening to right now?  Nothing Left To Lose, by Mat Kearney. He is a brilliant musician, and you can't skip a single track on his album(s).  
7. Smell you can't live without?  Lemons.
8. Favorite Book?  Pride & Prejudice. I rarely read a book more than once but I never get tired of Austen.

9. Favorite Food? Italian food has my heart because I love pasta and bread more than one should. I'm also easily bribed by cheesecake.

10. Fashion favorites? J. Crew, Target (because I'm cheap), or Boden (for quality pieces, but mostly because I love to look at their catalog).

11. Favorite person? My sweet husband, who must be the most patient man in the world.

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Thank you so much for stopping by, Alli! 
check out other favorite things series posts from oh joy, emmadime, & size too small here! 

PINTERST SNAPSHOT

Here are some of my favorite pinterest finds from this week:

+ black and white perfection
+ an italian greyhound cocktail with rosemary sugar
+ the perfect ring
+ this sweet saying
+ healthy chocolate chip cookies sweetened only with bananas
+ a fall-inspired centerpiece

ON SPARKLERS

When I was a child, there was nothing in the world more enchanting to me than sparklers. To a little pig-tailed girl, a stick that you lit on fire and watched as colorful sparks shot out into the midnight sky was pure magic. On a recent trip to New Hampshire, I stumbled upon a small road-side shack that sold sparkler packages for 10 cents. How could I not indulge? I packed my bags full and took them back to Brooklyn. On my final night in the city, my friends gathered in my apartment for a farewell soiree. We started the evening with games and drinking and ended it with sparklers on the balcony. All in all a perfect evening, all thanks to a little bit of summer magic.

p.s. i was busy hosting, so these delightful photos above were taken my dearest best friend. thanks lily!

PINK PUNCH

i'm not usually a pink-kinda-gal, but i'm really digging on a splash of it here and there these days!

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

FRIDAY FAVORITES

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1) i love every single one of these pink soda cans and wish they had them in the united states!
2) this lip color is to die for.
3) swoon worthy paris apartment decor.
4) i need to make these champagne popsicles asap.

RECIPE // BANANA MILKSHAKE

You guys, confession time: I have a serious addiction to ice cream. It's my favorite food. My perfect idea of a meal is a hot fudge sundae with a cherry on top. So. Not. Good. For. You. No matter how many ways I try to justify it, I feel better and look better without having ice great at all. Sigh. So what's a girl to do? I've recently discovered a no-ice-cream-involved-but tastes-exactly-like-ice-cream-banana milkshake!  It tastes like ice cream. It looks like ice cream. But there is no ice cream involved and guess what? It's even good for you. Here is my recipe below. Try it. Enjoy it. And let me know if you like it too!

 Kate's Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter To Die For Milkshake 

Ingredients

 2 Frozen Bananas 
1 Tbs of all natural Peanut Butter 
1 Tbs of organic Cocoa Powder 
1 cup of Skim Milk

Throw ingredients in a blender. Blend on high speed. Watch perfection created. Pour into frosty glass. Use a straw. ENJOY!

 ** For all you vegans out there - you can substitute almond milk for regular milk and almond butter for peanut butter and the shake still tastes just as good.

Love this.

INSPIRED BY // AN OUTDOOR SPACE

This photo is getting my little green thumb in gear. I have this wonderful lovely outdoor patio attached to my house that I shamelessly have done nothing with this past year. I think I was focusing so much time and energy on the inside I forgot about the out! I love this photo (found here) so much and it really inspires me to create a cozy outdoor space for entertaining and even for reading the paper outside with coffee on the weekends. Today I spent the morning bringing all my old furniture outside and sifting through boxes of un-used goodies in the garage to decorate. Next step up: plants and veggies? Eeek. I'm nervous as I do NOT have a green thumb.  I'm going to do some good plant research and give it the old college try. Any recommendations on what to grow and what not to grow would be insanely helpful! Cheers!

THE WEEKEND

an electric corner | diet coke in a glass bottle | a production of Rent in la habra | fence decorations in los feliz | pho cafe | glass bottle collection | old-fashioned candy | tomato-mozz-basil sandwich | zucchini bread from broome street general store 

I had a friend from new york city in town this weekend so there was a lot of go-go-go-discover-go-go-go! I wanted to show her all my favorite restaurants and all my favorite other secret Los Angeles gems as well.  We ate at the best sushi you'll ever have in your life, R23, in downtown, L.A., went for this really beautiful hike in Malibu, checked out Contagion at the vintage Vista Theater, had some margaritas and celebrated a friend's birthday at El Chavo in Silverlake, checked out the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, hauled in to La Habra to see one of my actor's performances of Rent (I'm addicted, I admit it!) and finished the weekend of with a delicious burger from Umami (have you been there yet? If not ... go...NOW!)

I feel like I got a lot accomplished as far as sight-seeing goes but now it's back to the grind of the work week. I hope everyone had a great weekend. It's supposed to be 20 degrees cooler than last week in L.A. Maybe fall is coming our way after all.

FRIDAY FALL EYE CANDY

a railroad track nature walk. the perfect simple fall outfit. navy blue tights = one heck of a fall.

images via here & here

MUSIC // CHATHAM COUNTY LINE

last night i put on my cowgirl boots and wrangled up the north carolina kids to see the bluegrass band, chatham county line.  these four dapper gentlemen hail from raleigh, north carolina. they have their state-flag hanging behind them on stage  while they play just in case anyone dares to forget it. they sing into an old-fashioned microphone, they play the banjo, the guitar, the cello and the violin, and they sound like they are seeping out of a record player.  i was standing in a dirty dive bar in echo park, but i felt like i was on a porch in the backwoods of north carolina on a rocking chair with a bourbon in my hand. we danced danced danced and i was taught the flat-footed shuffle and it was the most magical ole' country evening i've had in a long long time.

songs you must listen to: birmingham jail, the carolinian, chip of a star

THE WEEKEND

the most beautiful l.a. sunset | labor day dinner party | a friend's living room display | orange squash from the garden | my staple breakfast of late | chocolate chip cookies with sea salt | homemade mint lemonade | scout's mugshot | my latest favorite cup of coffee | falling stars on the ceiling | mocha chip gelato

There was a lot of eating this past weekend if you can't tell from the pictures. It's funny to think about labor day because even though it's been years since its meant back to school for me, I still get that excited/nervous/anxious feeling in my stomach that a new season is starting and therefore a new adventure. I'm crossing my fingers and spitting in my hat that this 95-degree L.A. weather will burn off soon. I want the leaves to change. I want to wear tights and boots and sweaters. I want to start making things that involve pumpkin and have a reason to arrange an apple picking adventure. (can you tell I'm a yankee!?) Here's to fall, everyone! May it come quickly for all.