J'adore: Caliente pumps

via JCrew

Desperate for these JCrew Ava pumps.  How long til you're here, Spring?

Flawless finish

via Serendipitous Romance

Love, love this article of a father writing to his daughter from the makeup aisle via The Huffington Post: "When you have a daughter, you start to realize she's just as strong as everyone else in the house -- a force to be reckoned with, a soul on fire with the same life and gifts and passions as any man. But sitting in this store aisle, you also begin to realize most people won't see her that way. They'll see her as a pretty face and a body to enjoy. And they'll tell her she has to look a certain way to have any worth or influence."

This is my favourite:

"Naked. The world wants you to take your clothes off. Please keep them on. But take your gloves off. Pull no punches. Say what is in your heart. Be vulnerable. Embrace risk. Love a world that barely knows what it means to love itself. Do so nakedly. Openly. With abandon."

Not to mention the concept of infallible grace.  So good.

myPod: all messed up

Now I'm all messed up via YouTube

Got introduced to Tegan and Sara last year in a fit of musical education.  Love, love the soulful pop synth that is their album, Heartthrob.  Currently on my playlist?  Now I'm all messed up - take a listen above.  

Wanderlust: 20 places in the world you must see

Swiss Alps in Autumn; photo: Robin Halioua via Airows

Feeling restless?  I am.  For some world wandering inspiration you MUST check out this beautiful list from Airows of 20 places that will make you want to run around the globe.

My top 5? (Aside from the Swiss Alps, above - ok, and basically the whole list.)

Antarctica.  I can't handle the cold but I'm going, going, going. Photo: Jim Raycroft

Canyon Waves in Arizona.  Photo: Greg Mote

Falling off cliffsides in France.  Photo: Tim Geers

Stunning transparent waters in Portugal. Photo: Agostinho Fernandes

And, last but not least - the Stairway to Heaven which hopefully I'll get to do with my loves, Lucy, Anna and LG in April.  Aloha, Hawaii.  Photo: Mark Payton

For the boys

Thanks Airows via Vanity Fair

Sit. Feast on your life.

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life. 

Derek Walcott

Fancy a weekend away?

Mulberry Clipper Leather Holdall

Wallace and Barnes Duffel

WANT Les Essentiels De La Vie Canvas and Leather Holdall

Montague Leather Weekender

I love a men's weekender bag - super sexy slung over the shoulder of a well-kept man.  Christmas had me searching for one as a gift, and I found the perfect one at JCrew - soft, well-worn leather - the Montague leather weekender from J.Crew.  Even better in person.

Quiet minds

Dear reader, I have been remiss in the second half of 2013.  Far too caught up in the rif raf of day to day.  NYC has almost gotten the best of me.  I'm not much for resolutions but, what for 2014?  A quiet mind and a healthy body.  And a return to beauty.  Back on the blog.  

Meet me in the field

via Serendipitous Romance

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing

and rightdoing there is a field.

I'll meet you there.

-- Rumi

Do not be afraid.

via Serendipitous Romance

Do not be afraid of your difficulties.  Do not wish you could be in other circumstances than you are. For when you have made the best of an adversity, it becomes the stepping stone to a splendid opportunity.

- H.P. Blavatsky

Woollahra streets

via SP

Heavily missing these Woollahra streets this month.  I love this time of year in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and that gorgeous purple - vibrant and lilac all at the same time.  Thanks SP, for making me thoroughly homesick.

Attachment drops away

via Arianna

Feeling philosophical  but this one means a lot to me at the moment.  In so many different ways.  

Grace

via Arianna

Rumi is my favourite.  This quote makes me think of a beautiful set of lines from a song in Little Women (which my friend Elise appeared in a few years back in Sydney): 

"Some things are meant to be, the tide turning endlessly,
the way it takes hold of me, no matter what I do..."   

Tell me.

via Serendipitous Romance

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver, The Summer Day.

(Thanks Tick Tock for this one.)

Sailing

Even if you think the seas are calm, those waves can rise up any time.  Still, as my favourite meditation man Kabat Zinn says, "you can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf."    

J'adore: thinking about coats

via J.Crew

Collection Ratti tile coat.  How else am I supposed to curb the pangs of jealousy that are going to emanate from me as I view glorious photos of summer (already started) from my beautiful Sydney-ites over the next few months?  Why, get on board with Fall Fashion, obvi.

My heart dances

via Arianna

It's so rare to add another quote to my list of favourites.  But when one hits you, it does.  And Rumi tends to be pretty high on the list.  It's an incredibly powerful time when you have presence of soul and a dancing heart.  It's been a while and it's good to be here.  New York, I love you.  

NYFW: StyleList and NMRKT Runway Show

via me

Loved seeing one of my favourite best dressed men at the StyleList and NMRKT runway show last night, DJ Brendan Fallis (and his super stylin' GF Hannah B).  More on my favourite looks from the night to come.

Breathe it in

via Places to See in Your Lifetime

Feeling a little fuzzy this weekend, but this image is so vivid you can almost breathe in that lavender and inhale away all the madness.  You know I love me some deep purple.

Reminders to meditate

"Don’t let your mind get weary and confused. Your will be still, don’t try. Don’t let your heart get heavy, child; inside you, there’s a strength that lies. Don’t let your soul get lonely, child; it’s only time, it will go by. Don’t look for love in faces, places; it’s in you, that’s where you’ll find kindness. Be here now, here now. Be here now, here now. Don’t lose your faith in me and I will try not to lose faith in you. Don’t put your trust in walls, ‘cause walls will only crush you when they fall. Be here now, here now. Be here now, here now."▼

--  Be Here Now // Ray LaMontagne