svitska

2012-01-10T22:15:00.000-06:00

Not to brag, but I have some pretty babely (not to mention unbelievably smart and talented) gal pals. On more than one occasion, we have been mistaken for a touring band.

And now, after seeing these photos from the amazing Darcy DuBose, I can see why: It must just be that we dress in complimentary tones, and we're always spaced equidistant from one another.

2011-10-22T13:40:00.000-05:00

Life has been busy lately, so I'm rejoicing in a slow weekend. Long jog, big brunch, lazy reading.

It's so infrequent that I get to enjoy the early afternoon sunlight in my home. There's really not much better. I love this pretty, bright Brooklyn studio/apartment (via Miss Moss).

2011-09-27T15:21:00.000-05:00

Buildings by Ana Serrano.

2011-09-26T12:44:00.001-05:00

Pretty photos of Morocco by Vic. I'd like to hop on a plane as soon as possible, please.

2011-09-25T12:48:00.000-05:00

Oh, Mara Hoffman. You're killing me. (via Honestly... WTF.)

2011-09-24T13:38:00.000-05:00

I snagged a Wiksten tank top + dress sewing pattern this morning; I guess that means it's time to drag out my machine and get to practicing.

2011-09-10T09:43:00.001-05:00

Things I'd like to buy & read: Kinfolk, Interwoven, Baker's Notes.

2011-09-09T14:35:00.001-05:00

Dream:

Reality:

These photos by Johann Darcel (via Miss Moss) are making me painfully aware of the relative absence of water in my 2011-summertime-fun.

And the ones of Bastrop post-wildfire (from TPWD) are just breaking my heart.

2011-08-28T11:57:00.000-05:00

Vacation on Isla Mujeres was exactly what I needed. We ate well, we drank cold beer, we fished and swam with whale sharks and visited a turtle farm. We explored every inch of the little island and fell in love with it.

2011-08-22T08:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we painted Bradley's studio, and then I packed for family vacation. Until about 7 PM last night, we thought we would be spending the next week on a sailboat in the Bahamas, but circumstances changed - so it looks like I'll be in Mexico until Saturday. When life gives you lemons...

2011-08-18T22:51:00.000-05:00

A handful of silly portraits of a boyfriend and friends who are boys. I still have a lot of scanning to do of negatives from the past year... Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to get started up again!

2011-08-18T12:01:00.001-05:00

Ethereal symmetry from the Rodarte for Opening Ceremony Lookbook.

2011-08-15T16:46:00.001-05:00

Diptychs of Pakistan, during the flood and one year later. From Newsweek.

2011-08-12T11:46:00.000-05:00

Autochrome images of pretty American ladies, taken in the 20s and 30s. From National Geographic, via here.

2011-07-21T23:13:00.001-05:00

Nothing spectacular; just a few snapshots from trips I took and of things I saw this spring.

Lately:

2011-07-08T17:43:00.000-05:00

Took a trip to Marfa/Balmorhea for the long holiday weekend. Had a really magical time with Hope, as usual.

This week went by so quickly; we're driving to Houston in the morning to clean up our new house and drop off our first load of boxes. My head and my pinterest are filling to the brim with decorating inspiration!

Fridays:

2011-06-17T13:59:00.000-05:00

I know that everyone loves Fridays, but really -- they're awesome. My office closes at noon on Friday, so I usually meet Bradley out for lunch or throw together something fresh for myself at home (below), and then spend the rest of the afternoon volunteering or running errands and doing chores that I don't want to ruin my weekend with. And sometimes I just curl up on the couch or sit in my little lawn chair in our little yard and read. That's what's on my agenda for today.

Proud Mary:

2011-06-16T17:32:00.001-05:00

Just got a pair of these sandals in from Proud Mary today! They're so simple and sweet and perfect for summer. It's an added bonus that 10% of the proceeds go to a charity.

Also on my wish-list: one of these pretty pattered bags, and a stack of those pillows to decorate our new house, come August.

9-eyes:

2011-06-10T14:54:00.004-05:00

I feel like "Best Shots from Google's Camera" posts are everywhere these days, but 9-eyes definitely has the best curation I've seen. And I can't help but enjoy this invasion of private moments (see my previous Google Maps post here).

My weekend:

2011-06-04T11:16:00.001-05:00

Add sweatpants, a book, girly movies, and open-faced avocado + english muffin sandwiches, and this is what my weekend looks like so far.

[image from here]

Short Hair:

2011-04-25T21:36:00.001-05:00

Always feeling the urge to cut my hair ever-shorter, especially after seeing this style... not to mention those clothes!

From Jesse Kamm, via Jeana Sohn.

Festival of Colors:

2011-04-21T15:25:00.000-05:00

Probably old news, but these photographs are really brightening up my afternoon. From the Big Picture.

Olle Olsson-Hagalund:

2011-04-08T17:15:00.001-05:00

Got sucked in by Bukowskis last night and came across some simple, vibrant paintings by Olle Olsson-Hagalund.

Jetsetter:

2011-04-07T11:36:00.000-05:00

They always know exactly where I want to be.

Stars:

2011-04-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

These pretty photographs from Toast remind me of a summer trip I took with my parents as a child -- a sort of National Parks of the West tour in our camper. At one stop (maybe Bryce Canyon?), we pulled into our site in the late afternoon and my sisters and I played around on the boulders, looking for snakes, until dusk. I recall the colors and the stars looking just like this.

Tinted:

2011-03-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

I've had these tinted photographs from Square America saved on my computer for ages. I love the defined shadows and their goofy poses.

Tom Edwards:

2011-03-30T19:22:00.002-05:00

I came across Tom Edwards' landscape collages a couple of months ago, and I looked up the rest of the series today. Apparently I'm still way into collages.

Hartwood:

2011-03-30T17:55:00.001-05:00

Add this to my ever-growing list of dream jobs: owning and running a restaurant in Mexico. Hartwood restaurant in Tulum, on The Selby.

Today, I'd like to be:

2011-03-29T16:58:00.003-05:00

... gallivanting around Cannes.

(Lexi in Cannes by Drew Innis)

Glamping:

2011-03-23T12:42:00.001-05:00

Luxury camp sites on Canopy & Stars (found via Toast). Like El Cosmico, but in the UK! And such a great concept!

Springtime:

2011-03-10T12:45:00.002-06:00

I've been so busy working and training that springtime really snuck up, with its buds and gorgeous weather and onslaught of out-of-town trips -- Llano last weekend, Pleasure Island this weekend (likely the first of many), and NYC the following. I'm anxious to plan even more! Ideas?

Another Russian photo -- I can't get enough! -- from here, via here.

Svpply:

2011-03-01T21:19:00.000-06:00

I made a Svpply account several days ago, and I am quickly filling it up with beautiful, lust-worthy items for my self and my home that are far beyond my price range.

Today, I'd like to be:

2011-02-27T11:33:00.001-06:00

... browsing at a flea market in the sun, like this babe in Gemma Booth's photos. But today isn't very sunny, and Bradley and I haven't found a great flea market in or around Austin -- any suggestions?

Meanwhile:

2011-02-17T13:37:00.004-06:00

I love Wendy MacNaughton's comic, Meanwhile, on The Rumpus. Here are a few really nice outtakes from a post about the Dolphin Club:

Félix Vallotton:

2011-02-16T21:44:00.001-06:00

Félix Vallotton's paintings just seem to keep popping up in my life lately (most recently on Miss Moss, via Darcy) -- and I can't get them out of my head. Those colors! Those patterns!

Channeling warmth:

2011-02-09T10:22:00.000-06:00

The roads are icy, the wind chill is below freezing, and the heater at my office is malfunctioning. I'm channeling the warmth of these images from the Toast Early Spring 2011 catalog.

Pretty prints:

2011-02-08T23:00:00.002-06:00

Aloe Tank & Camel Scarf

Hard drive cleaning:

2011-01-25T22:51:00.001-06:00

I just found these two photos lurking in a random folder -- sisters and I at Old Settler's last spring. Can't wait for springtime.

It would be nice to live on this houseboat:

2011-01-15T16:27:00.001-06:00

Article here. More photos here.

Another wish list, for springtime:

2011-01-15T10:50:00.000-06:00

This is about the time of the season that I recognize -- Oh, right, I guess I don't really like winter very much after all. I'm sleepy, I'm stir-crazy, I'm chilled to the bone, and all I want to do is warm up in the sunshine.

Thus, my springtime wish list:

Turkish towels, turquoise earrings, and canvas wedges -- to wear with sundresses and bare legs.

Ghana bolga baskets:

2010-12-06T22:27:00.001-06:00

I want every. single. one.

See 'em all here.

Architectural models:

2010-12-06T22:16:00.001-06:00

Seriously awesome. (from, via.)

xmas:

2010-12-01T18:53:00.003-06:00

my sweet grandmother has been begging me for almost a month to send her a christmas wish list with links. for some reason, this seemed a horrible chore -- for a reason outlined earlier, and because, even though i can easily window shop online for myself day in and day out, i find that actually settling on an item is really, really difficult. perhaps that has something to do with the limited amount of space i have to put things.

i finally jotted a couple of items down to send to her in an email, and realized that they all sort of go together in outfit form. i guess you can click for more info?

french toast:

2010-11-21T12:24:00.001-06:00

i'm so thankful for lazy weekend mornings. (photos from our stay in pontotoc.)

on my wish list:

2010-11-19T14:55:00.000-06:00

apc flats and brooks saddle.

me, today:

2010-11-09T15:48:00.000-06:00

i'm not sure exactly how it happened, but i became terrible at the internet. my google reader reached 1000+ months ago, my email inbox is in disarray, correspondence is past-due, i haven't updated blogger or tumblr, i rarely even stalk on facebook. i guess that my eyes are so tired of looking at the damned computer screen by the end of my six-hour workday that i just want to come home and put on my softest shirt and drink a hot cup of tea (see above) or a cold beer and do nothing. catching up on the weekend is out of the question, too, since there are always trips and festivals and bike rides and camp-outs and receptions and half-marathons (??) on my metaphorical plate.

all that to say, i'm sorry i've been absent, but i'm really not sorry. life is pretty good.

current favorite song:

2010-09-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

i can't stop listening.

russia in color:

2010-08-30T16:23:00.000-05:00

i'm sure that these have been circulating for a while, but i love these photos of early 20th century russia in color. especially the portraits.

upcoming:

2010-08-22T20:59:00.000-05:00

jónsi tour trailer from Jónsi on Vimeo.

got tickets to see jónsi in october with my baby sis. also sufjan stevens. can't wait.

breakfast:

2010-08-14T10:27:00.000-05:00

spoiling myself this morning with a delicious breakfast for one: grapefruit juice, homemade focaccia, and a fried egg with pesto.

how i spent my weekend:

2010-08-09T18:28:00.000-05:00

floating the river. also, bathing in same river.

loving:

2010-08-09T17:56:00.000-05:00

monét's new postcard sets, just listed in darcy's etsy shop, you're in maine... and not just because there are so many bits of my home and my person featured in the snapshots!

a great day:

2010-08-05T19:34:00.001-05:00

involving public transportation, the matisse as printmaker exhibit, and a dinner-in-the-making that smells delicious -- lemon butter shrimp pasta and an arugula salad with figs and walnuts. mmm.

road trip:

2010-08-04T12:36:00.002-05:00

some portraits.

calling all sugar daddies/mammas:

2010-07-27T10:42:00.001-05:00

i want this pretty rachel comey dress to wear to an upcoming hawaiian wedding!

lounging:

2010-07-22T11:35:00.002-05:00

i spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about where i'd like to be lounging. this chaise set from terrain looks so enticing... and expensive.

thankfully, i'm going to spend most of my weekend on a similar one in "pleasure town," reading and sunning and spending time with my little niece and nephew and crazy family.

sprouted kitchen:

2010-07-16T09:50:00.000-05:00

bradley and i have tried a few of the recipes over at sprouted kitchen and have yet to be disappointed. last night we made the summer corn soup with shrimp, with just a few tweaks (a little more lime and roasted poblano, a little less shrimp). it was so delicious that i made myself a second helping, which induced a sort of food-coma.

best enjoyed with a chilled glass of vinho verde and a documentary.

this room:

2010-07-14T12:56:00.001-05:00

look at this room! that ceiling! that light! it's perfect. more here.

i finally developed a few rolls of film. expect some photo posts in the coming days/weeks.

this rooftop:

2010-06-28T11:50:00.001-05:00

i'd like to be lounging, reading, and sipping a cocktail here (via miss moss).

moths are so cool:

2010-06-25T09:03:00.000-05:00

from national geographic, via mint.

two songs/videos:

2010-06-24T23:02:00.001-05:00

that will forever remind me of poison ivy (one outbreak, circa fifth grade, so bad that i had to spend the school week on my grandparents' couch, watching mtv music videos every time mawmaw left the room). also, shame.

cádiz:

2010-06-23T12:42:00.000-05:00

inspired by ensuite's post today, i google-mapped and daydreamed about the one place where i almost always want to be: cádiz, españa. oh, memories.

thursday still life:

2010-06-17T17:45:00.000-05:00

sipping a bellini, water coloring, and brewing: an atypical ending to a stressful, atypical day.

p.s. a GIGANTIC thanks to two of my favorite ladies for saving my life this afternoon.

for lunch:

2010-06-16T11:59:00.000-05:00

i'm having a peanut butter (crunchy), honey, and banana sandwich, cut into triangles (what am i, six years old?) and reading this article about sex, sports, drugs, and politics, which was cited on today's daily rumpus email. not necessarily the best or most appetizing combination of activities. do as i say, not as i do.

strange but satisfying:

2010-06-15T18:35:00.002-05:00

or, when a tuesday feels exactly like a saturday.

lately:

2010-06-12T11:03:00.001-05:00

i've been busy. not enough time to sleep, really, and even less time to keep up with things on the internet. however, i have managed to knock one item off of my to-do list: peach picking. we went last weekend, and it was lovely.

(thanks to bailey for the photo.)

ackghhh:

2010-05-20T21:55:00.001-05:00

too cute not to post. thanks to dz for bringing these baby sloths to my attention; i squeal with joy every time i watch this video.

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

i love everything about this:

2010-05-18T17:10:00.002-05:00

via the sartorialist.

hateful god:

2010-05-10T15:37:00.000-05:00

have y'all read bradley's tumblr? aside from his maddening proclivity for posting soft focus karate portraits, he has some pretty cool stuff on there -- including, most recently, a summer playlist jam-thing, which is damned good. check it out.

swimmin' holes:

2010-05-08T23:14:00.000-05:00

i have discovered that one of the benefits of underemployment is the freedom skip off to some body of water every time the temperature reaches ninety or so. bradley and i went to hamilton pool for the first time this week and, although this photo does little to demonstrate the scale or the beauty or the refreshingly cold water, the place is amazing -- amazing and basically not visitable on the weekends. also, i left with a sunburned rear end.

serious loft envy:

2010-05-04T18:49:00.000-05:00

so many beautiful colors and patterns in caitlin mociun's sneak peek on design sponge. giving me the itch to rearrange.

i love these cuties:

2010-04-28T11:59:00.001-05:00

animal illustrations by lev tokmakov, via a journey round my skull.

i turned twenty-four:

2010-04-27T22:49:00.000-05:00

and, for no logical reason, the number terrifies me. in order to (hopefully) alleviate some of the anxiety i feel about life-rushing-by-me-too-quickly and not-taking-advantage-of-my-relative-youth-and-leisure-time, i have compiled a list of twenty-four things to do before i turn twenty-five:

fill up a notebook with words
volunteer somewhere
finish writing unfinished essays
finish reading unfinished books
canoe on town lake
leave the country
use more film
find "my scent"
pay special visits to each of my grandparents
hike
pick peaches
practice french
speak spanish
spend a saturday morning at the farmers market
get out my sewing machine and finish some of those oft-dreamed-up-but-never-accomplished projects
keep up with my 5-year diary
wake up earlier
drive out west
keep up with a podcast
do something daring (karaoke? cliff-jumping?)
read more nonfiction
grow something from seed (successfully)
improve my vocabulary
walk and bike more

bedside still life:

2010-04-26T23:13:00.000-05:00

2010-04-26T19:47:00.000-05:00

one good consequence of an iced coffee at 6:45 p.m.: the eradication of my long-neglected mending pile.

vladimir nabokov:

2010-04-23T13:52:00.001-05:00

sartorially smart AND preternaturally talented. seriously, brilliant is an embarrassing understatement.

i'm currently absorbed in the gift. yesterday, while working a crossword, "a course for some polyglots to be" was one of the clues; a few hours later, i read this on page 126 of the novel: "--he was no polyglot." today, nabokov is featured on nerd boyfriend.

wtf:

2010-04-22T18:57:00.000-05:00

why didn't anyone tell me that yann tiersen was playing in austin last night? and at the mohawk, no less! i almost flew all the way to mexico city to see him a few years ago. i am kicking myself now. ugh.

celeb look-alikes:

2010-04-20T14:53:00.001-05:00

when i was in high school, i sometimes got kirsten dunst and cameron diaz. recently, on those celebrity look-alike websites, i end up with results like these, which are really funny and slightly embarrassing. but at OSMF this weekend, i was twice told that i looked like a young laura dern, and a few times compared to a young meryl streep. i don't really see it myself, but i just did some research, and i certainly don't mind the comparisons.

double-like:

2010-04-19T16:18:00.004-05:00

i've been listening to edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros quite a bit lately. their music puts me in a good mood. favorites: "40 day dream" and "home."

i just came across these photos of the two babes in the band at coachella:

they're so adorable! now i double-like them.

i'm a lucky girl:

2010-04-14T20:05:00.002-05:00

evidence:

i've been unbearably grumpy this afternoon, and bradley is preparing homemade pizza for dinner while i drink wine and catch up on the internets. sweet boy.

update: OH! and he's baking a loaf of banana bread!

embarrassingly into collages lately:

2010-04-10T13:48:00.001-05:00

inga birgisdóttir

anthony zinonos

want:

2010-04-10T09:46:00.001-05:00

necklaces from the vamoose.

vintage blouse from clever nettle.

browsing:

2010-04-07T11:18:00.000-05:00

lots of affordable prints, like this one by ricardo vazquez, at the urban outfitters print shop.

sensations:

2010-03-30T10:38:00.000-05:00

warm sun, tinkling wind chimes and chirping birds, the sweet scent of french toast from the open door to the kitchen. just what i need.

hello, pollen:

2010-03-27T18:20:00.000-05:00

today probably wasn't the best day for me to open up all of our windows and leave the house. i've returned to a thin layer of pollen coating everything here.

however, it was a perfect day for an early-morning interview, brunch with bradley, and a drive to giddings for pizza and ice cream and catch-up with bailey. the air is warm, the wildflowers are in bloom, and i'm pretty happy to be.

tomorrow, we're heading out to the hill country for a house-sitting gig. i'm considering it a vacation, an opportunity to clear my head and get some things done in quiet; looking forward to lots of reading, applying for jobs (round 2), long walks, cooking, sleeping with kitties, and (hopefully) a dip or two in the river.

all of this will be followed by easter weekend at the beach with my family. looks like i'm getting a spring break (of sorts) after all.

read this:

2010-03-11T08:38:00.000-06:00

joanna newsom, the changeling

wish i was wearing:

2010-03-06T12:12:00.000-06:00

rachel comey s/s 2010. i'm so ready for warm weather.

a nice sensation:

2010-03-04T20:18:00.000-06:00

today was my first day of work. this evening, i biked down the street to waterloo icehouse to visit bradley and drink a cold shiner bock; there i was, relaxing and reading a book from the library, when i came across this passage:

There is a secret bond between slowness and memory, between speed and forgetting. Consider this utterly commonplace situation: a man is walking down the street. At a certain moment, he tries to recall something, but the recollection escapes him. Automatically, he slows down. Meanwhile, a person who wants to forget a disagreeable incident he has just lived through starts unconsciously to speed up his pace, as if he were trying to distance himself from a thing still too close to him in time.

In existential mathematics, that experience takes the form of two basic equations: the degree of slowness is directly proportional to the intensity of memory; the degree of speed is directly proportional to the intensity of forgetting.

as i unconsciously dog-eared the page, i was surprised at how smoothly and easily it bent under my index finger; the words must have similarly struck at least a half-dozen readers before me.

so i made a tumblr:

2010-03-02T11:53:00.000-06:00

and it was probably an unwise decision, but i come across so many beautiful, inspiring things every day, and weheartit.com is so finicky and slow to process the images that i "heart," so tumblr seems to be a decent and more aesthetically pleasing alternative for compiling them.

check it out here if you're interested.

(photograph by anna verlet, via we love you so.)

the fall:

2010-02-28T16:07:00.000-06:00

ah, i completely forgot how stunning this movie was. cosmic dust reminded me.

afternoon at the park:

2010-02-28T15:15:00.001-06:00

sunny and sixty-something on the last day of february.

another kitty:

2010-02-26T11:51:00.000-06:00

this one with painted fur. via lauren dycus, who else?

not a bad day:

2010-02-25T20:45:00.002-06:00

big brunch, bicycle ride, moderately successful job interview, book store, short nap, frittata & hot toddy & olympics.

double stripes:

2010-02-22T19:44:00.000-06:00

citrus suede jazz shoes:

2010-02-22T13:53:00.000-06:00

want. can't have.

kitties & succulents:

2010-02-21T21:20:00.000-06:00

is there any cuter combination? honestly? i think not.

love these collages (and others) from stephen eichhorn, via mint.

bewilderment:

2010-02-16T16:03:00.000-06:00

there are times when one is in the middle of a task -- say, reading a book, or brushing one's teeth -- and inexplicably finds oneself with a large and slightly painful under-the-fingernail splinter, but with no recollection of when it got there, or how, as there is no entry wound in sight.

edmund dulac's illustrations:

2010-02-15T11:33:00.001-06:00

inspiration for the toast spring/summer collection. i'm absolutely enamored of these shapes and colors and patterns.

on abridgment:

2010-02-12T10:37:00.001-06:00

i am currently reading an abridged version of les misérables. i like that the careful selection of omissions means that everything included in this version of the text is very intentional. nothing superfluous. i don't like that i will never know how the "short-winded, pot bellied Basque whom we have already mentioned" was initially introduced to the reader. he sounds like my kind of guy.

saturday morning, around the house:

2010-02-06T13:14:00.000-06:00