much love monday.

i like to use monday as a way to reflect on the previous week, to start anew, and to send a little love into the world.  won't you join me?    

today i am grateful for:

a weekend getaway to wisconsin with c for our anniversary.

pictures worth a thousand words:

 {anniversary flowers from c}

{a silly gift for c: he gives me flowers, i give him tiebreaker coins}

 {a funny (and potentially accurate) card from a good friend}

 {our weekend getaway destination}

 {the house on the rock is an incredibly bizarre place (we went for its prominence in the neil gaiman book american gods), 

and it's also home to the world's largest carousel}

this week's blog love:

• makeunder my life killed it with another inspirational post on the good and real career.
• am a fan of fairy tales are true's new "what my 20s are teaching me" series (and megan of across the pond's great answers!).
• two great posts from a glimpse of glamour: a flower installation in a mental health facility and gorgeous paper clothes.
• mixtapes & cupcakes convinced me to press play on auntie mame in my netflix queue, such a fun classic.
• obsessed with this outfit sequins & stripes recreated this week - it even popped up in my spring style post.

here's to another grateful and love-filled week.  

xo. di.
    
*images by me

friday free for all: pale yellow.

the friday free for all, focusing on a new pop of color each week.

happy weekend!  

xo. di. 

*image 1,2,3,4,5,6

spring colors.

let's get some color on this blog and in our closets!  some favorite looks for spring below.

xo. di.

*image 1,2,3,4,5,6,7

lillian bassman.

i came to know lillian bassman’s beautiful photography just recently.  or really, i had seen the images before, but now know with whom the credit belongs.  as a fashion photographer for both Junior Bazaar and Harper’s Bazaar from the 1940s through 1960s, she became known for the high contrasts between light and dark (almost all of her work is in black & white), the graininess of the finished photos, and the geometric placement and camera angles of the subjects.     

i cannot believe that by the 1970s, lillian’s photography was considered out of vogue.  preposterous.  how can these classic looks be out of style?!  i blame disco.  when she turned away from fashion photography, she threw out 40 years of negatives and prints.  a forgotten bag filled with hundreds of images was thankfully found over 20 years later.  before the end of her long life (she passed away in february of this year at the age of 94), her work was once again appreciated and continues to be today, including by me, obviously!

xo. di.

*images via the ny times & lillian bassman's facebook page

sparrow nest.

would like to introduce you all to another of my favorite etsy shops today: sparrow nest script.  filled with cards and journals with cute sayings and the prettiest script.  some may even seem a bit familiar!

so cheerful and fun.  you know i'm going to make this my own.  and just for a spot of whimsy readers, the lovely emily of sparrow nest is offering FREE SHIPPING with the code WHIMSY12 at checkout, now through may 15. 

xo. di.

p.s. a  thanks to ashley for reminding me of my love for this shop a few months ago. 
*all images via sparrow nest script

much love monday.

i like to use monday as a way to reflect on the previous week, to start anew, and to send a little love into the world.  won't you join me?    

today i am grateful for:

strep throat (who gets that after elementary school?!) took me out for most of last week.  finally starting to feel human again.   

pictures worth a thousand words:

 {this little vignette above our bookcase came together almost accidentally over a few months.  i'm liking it.}

 {took advantage of ksny's friends & family on an already on-sale bag = MAJOR steal!}

 {after reading martha's may issue, c and i have tentative plans to visit louisville in the fall}

{been keeping some favorite bottles for months, years.  realized: if i take a picture of each and put in an album, 

i don't have to keep these around any longer!}

this week's blog love:

• a much needed lesson: how to avoid nail polish bubbles by the beauty department.
• jess of makeunder my life has everyone thinking about this equation.  and this follow-up.
• made by girl is inspired by don + megan drapers' mint + gold apartment doors.
• loved this shop talk with frieda&nellie on the glitter guide.
• centsational girl has 5 tips on how to style better photos.

here's to another grateful and love-filled week.  

xo. di.
    
*images by me

friday free for all: black & white.

the friday free for all, focusing on a new pop of color each week.

have a wonderful weekend! 

xo. di.

*image 1,2,3,4,5,6

book corner.

i would very much like a quiet corner in the world to read the afternoon away. 

“we don’t read novels to have an experience like life.  heck, we’re living lives, complete with all the incompleteness.  

we turn to fiction to have an author assure us that it means something.”
- Orson Scott Card

did any of you read ender's game by orson scott card in your younger days?  i picked it up for a reread after recommending it to c a couple of months ago, and we are now both engrossed in the rest of the series (which i never continued after the first read for some bizarre reason).  don't be afraid of the ender series' science fiction ties - the books are beautiful and deeply-moving.  they stay with you in the way good books tend to do.   

xo. di. 

*image 1,2,3,4

kate in couture.

i don't know if i've mentioned before, but i am not much of a kate moss fan.  her personal life has not exactly been, how shall we say, upstanding.  but i must give credit where credit is due: she takes a fierce photograph.  and, more importantly, she seems to have her life back on track right now. 

xo. di.

*kate moss in couture for vogue, images via tom & lorenzo

my week with marilyn.

between watching a weekly show swirling around the life of marilyn monroe (smash) and renting my week with marilyn a couple of weeks ago, i have lots of marilyn in my life right now.  she's a woman i don't know that much about - in the world of hollywood idols, i’ve always aspired to be, say, audrey and grace over elizabeth taylor or marilyn.  not that i don’t appreciate the latter two, but i can’t identify with them in the same way (remember mad men's "are you a marilyn or a jackie" playtex bra ad campaign from season 2?  my answer is jackie, no hesitation).  i think i’m too reserved (polite way of saying uptight?!  ha!  don’t answer that).

i’d actually never seen marilyn in a movie until this past weekend.  i spent sunday afternoon doing laundry and watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  and now that i think about it, that title has nothing to do with what was a rather silly movie, not that i  didn’t sort of enjoy it.  marilyn has an interesting charisma on screen.  she draws you in in spite of yourself.  you don’t want to like her character, but you’re not rooting against her either.  i loved how that charisma was portrayed in My Week with Marilyn (btw michelle williams kills it in this role.  superb performance.), and how that contrasts to (if accurate) her behavior off-screen.  i’m still not a marilyn fangirl, but i appreciate the aura around her and her legacy better now.

do you have suggestions for other marilyn movies i ought to see?  Some Like It Hot?  The Seven Year Itch?  i’m willing to continue my marilyn education, just point me in the right direction.

xo. di.

*image 1,2

much love monday.

i like to use monday as a way to reflect on the previous week, to start anew, and to send a little love into the world.  won't you join me?    

today i am grateful for:

little productive victories and new experiences.

pictures worth a thousand words:

 {saturday spent at chicago's comic con with c, a very interesting new experience :)}

 {love the enthusiasm of the cosplayers at comic con}

 {pretty little ranunculus}

 {testing recipes for sister's shower}

 {on the street where you livvvve}

this week's blog love:

• marta writes knocks it out of the park once again with 5 tips for finding your voice & letting loose.
• the diy sock bun on the wedding chicks.  have any of you tried this yet?  i need to asap.
• inspired design shares a parisian wedding that has my heart aflutter.
• a collection of beautiful libraries over on literary inklings (including my most favorite - can you guess which one?!).
• 33 shades of green shows off the beauty of holland, michigan tulips.
• heart of light's year of no decisions plan has got me thinkin'.

here's to another grateful and love-filled week.  

xo. di.
    
*images by me

shopbop winner.

i completely fell behind on choosing and notifying the winner of my shopbop giveaway, my apologies! 

congratulations to alice of alice's ramblings who said, "I would get the BB Dakota Harmony dress!"  i will contact you shortly, alice.   

thanks to all for entering!

xo. di.

friday free for all: red.

the friday free for all, focusing on a new pop of color each week.

have a great weekend!

xo. di.

*image 1&2,3,4,5,6