monika jagaciak {by horst diekgerdes}

via lace and tea

new year, new me.

Way back when on the 1st of the year (1/1/10!) I meant to compile a list of all the stuff I really really really want to do this year and post a blog about it. Obviously that didn't happen. Hey - better late than never!

1. Cook. Ahem... as in learn to cook. Especially brussel sprouts.(This recipe looks AMAZING!)

2. Buy Flowers. No occasion or reason, just because. They may be a tad bit expensive, but everything about them is totally worth it.

3. Eat more greens. Yeah, yeah, yeah - that's what they all say. But no really.

4. Run. Run, run, and run some more. If I'm actually going to achieve that half-marathon in May (no judgement please) then I need to whip myself into serious shape, and fast.

5. Appreciate. Friends, family, dogs, cats, books, music, trees, old bicycles, old people, old cars (LOVE 'EM), even my outdated cell phone. Gotta love it.

6. Get a job. Graduation equals adulthood and adulthood equals financial stability and financial stability equals find something you love and be good at it and earn a paycheck. So yeah, that's a toughie.

These are all scribbled in a black notebook somewhere but now that I've shared them with cyberspace maybe they will be more likely to come to fruition. Here's to achieving goals, kids.

listen and love.

Two sisters Klara & Johanna Söderberg from Sweden have stolen my heart...and ears! Can't stop listening to First Aid Kit...how beautiful is this video in the forest?

postcards from Paris.

white cotton + eyelet lace + curls = perfection

irrelevent envy.

(via apt34)

(via piewacket)

(via waldemarandmax)

(via facehunter)

(via AnotherMag)

Lloyd Dobler, where are you?

bright blogs.

(via feaverish)

...etc.

bluebird vintage

sea of shoes

lisa...etc.

desire to inspire

(via katy gromball)

adore.

I just discovered the most amazing jewelry on etsy. All of the necklaces are handmade and described by the woman who makes them as "Unique, Whimsical and Imaginative". I need the typewriter one asap! Check it out here.

(via greedygirl)

These remind me of a pair of bronze-cast baby shoes my grandmother always had sitting on a shelf in her living room.

For some reason I really want them.

Also, I love this girl's hair.

p.s. I'm trying out a new font. Love/Hate?

(via bluebird vintage)

Juan Patino Photography

Photographs taken by the extremely talented Juan Patino during our winter trip to Paris 2009.

Patino isn't just any other photographer. A good camera can allow just about anyone to take a decent photo, but it takes someone with an appreciation for the individual, the integrity of the moment, and the importance of perception to capture the true essence of an object in a picture. I have watched Juan take thousands of photos and he never wastes time on something he doesn't find intriguing. He finds luminosity and sensuality in the most innocent subjects, and possesses the skills to frame the object of his attention in its most beautiful state. I've been lucky enough to have been his subject him many times, and I am always startled by the difference between what I expected the photo to look like and what he captured on his camera. His eye is tremendously sophisticated and notably unique.

Food Inc.

I recently watched Food Inc. and am now obsessed with eating raw, whole foods in an attempt to avoid the processed foods produced by the American food industry. Blah, blah, blah...I'll try not to bore you. In order to spare myself of looking like a crazed reformed carnivore preaching my holy gospel let me just stop and instead urge you to see the movie. Michael Pollan is interviewed and I just discovered he has written several books on the subject, which I am now dying to read.

Two favorites this year: Anne Klein brown patent ankle pumps and Elyse Allen swarovski-crystaled merino wool fingerless gloves.

Time is of the essence.

(via yvanrodic)

“Maybe that's what life is...a wink of the eye and winking stars.”

I'm reading On The Road by Jack Kerouac and I 've been walking around with a pen in hand because I keep finding brilliant sentences to underline in the story. He has a gift for putting words together in beautiful ways.

Devastation in Haiti.

(via photomorel)

I woke up this morning to check my email and read about the earthquake in Haiti. The New York Times blog described it as a 7.0 earthquake that shook and shattered the capital city Port-au-Prince into heaps of rubble and dust in a matter of hours that left possibly thousands dead. People are wounded, dead, crying, screaming in the streets, as buildings and homes collapse around them. Everyone has been left powerless and hurt. The chaos there at this time is unimaginable, but based on accounts from people using their phones to access twitter accounts and blogs, photos and video have surfaced on the web from those caught up in this horrifying natural disaster. One Twitter account in particular, Photomorel, has posted devastating images that everyone must see, because they depict the gruesome and ravaged state of Haiti.

At a time when we feel we as Americans are suffering, this appears as a harsh wake up call to the reality that "everyone is fighting a great battle" and it is a human RIGHT to take action to help others.

Please visit OxfamAmerica.org or Partners in Health to find out how you can help.