FLORA

I've been lucky enough to visit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden three times in the last month and a half, and each time I've found something new to fill me with awe. In the photos above, it was cherry blossoms and magnolias, gardenias in the Tropical Room, and an enormous patch of vibrant blue grape hyacinths. Last week, it was a swath of bluebells under a cool canopy of trees, the most bluebells I have ever seen in my life. It was incredible, like something out of my pastoral British countryside dreams! I forgot my camera like a fool, but fortunately I was there with Eva from Bows & Bandits for another little project that I'm excited to share with you soon :n )

PICK YOUR POSEY

Somehow in the last few months, we ended up with two bottles of St. Germain in the house. Which is fantastic, because St. Germain tastes and smells like delicious flowers, which is exactly what it's made of. I've been known to drink it with nothing but soda, but ever since a bartender flat out refused to serve it to me that way (Too sweet?? Maybe for you, sir...) I've been trying to come up with something extra creative to do with it. After having a lychee mojito the other night, and finding fresh lychee at my local Over-Priced Fruit Store, I came up with this little doozy. Might make a nice addition to your weekend? If you can find time between Dark & Stormies that is...

Pick Your Posey
Juice of half a lime (which is enough for two drinks)
Fresh mint leaves
1 lychee fruit
1 Part St. Germain
1 Part Vodka
Seltzer/sparkling water

Juice the lime half and split the liquid equally between two smallish tumblers. Muddle a couple mint leaves and one pitted lychee fruit in the bottom of each. Add one part vodka and one part St. Germain (size of the "parts" depends on taste, the glass is usually about 1/3 full when I'm done with this step.) Top it off with seltzer. Add ice cubes and garnish with a lime slice.

I don't have any "fancy" tools like a real muddler or a cocktail shaker, but if you do you can probably find a way to incorporate them to positive effect. Enjoy responsibly, preferable in a reclined/semi-nude position.

A VERY MERRY UN-BIRTHDAY

Mociun Turquoise Triangle Necklace from Domahoka


Lost in Translation Soundtrack on vinyl picture disk by toykohanna on flickr


Vintage Earthen Display Orb from Nest & Forage on Etsy


Fungi Crop Top by Leah Goren


Patti Smith 1969-1976 by Judy Linn

My birthday isn't actually for another solid month. But since Alex leaves soon and will be away when it finally rolls around (and will miss his as well a week later) we're going to celebrate a little on Friday instead. He's already pitched in to give me what I wanted the very most (plane tickets home for two weeks this summer) so I'm refusing to let him get me anything else...except flowers, maybe. But if there had been any change leftover from those (INSANELY effing expensive) tickets, I certainly wouldn't have said no to any one of these pretty things.

WOLVERINE PRIDE

I wish I had photo from my trip to share already...but in the meantime, these are some shots from a roll I got back just before we left. Purple and gold might just be one of my least favorite color combinations (they were also the official colors of my highschool, coincidence?), but this day it felt like they were following me: curtains on 6th St., flowers in the cooler at Sunny's Busy Florist, and my reading material on my lap in a little park somewhere in Alphabet City. Do you ever have days like those, when certain colors seem to pop out at you non-stop?

HEAVEN by KAILA C. NILES

Though I've yet to have the privilege of meeting her in person, Kaila C. Niles (the C stands for Chanel, ya heard) is someone whose taste and style I've admired from afar through the magic of the internet for a good long while now. Kaila is an amazing, Oakland, CA-based artist whose interest in textile dying and design clicks completely with my love of tie dye and shibori. A few of her gorgeous pieces, all created from reused vintage and second-hand garments, have just become available on Mother's Daughter (one of the best curated and styled online vintage shops I know of!) Pretty, soft, abstract, and perfect for summer--I honestly want EVERY LAST THING.

BACK

Back home and well on my way into the post-vacation-doldrums. It feels so strange not to have to get up and get on the road again, planning the next route, where to stop for lunch, pulling off to admire the vistas and huddle back into the car once more. It felt good to see the City loom up on the skyline yesterday evening...but now I just want to keep going. As usual.

MAINE LAND

This week, Alex and I will be driving up to Maine for a looong awaited mini-vacation. We'll be staying in Bar Harbor for two nights and Portland for one. Since my only real experience with the area up until this point has been through cats, Lobster rolls, and books about blueberry picking, I would love to hear if you guys have any suggestions as to what we should see/where we should shop/what we should eat (!!) We'll be hiking around Acadia National Park and hopefully be hitting up at least one lobster pound--but are there any great secondhand stores, cozy cafes, or historic light houses we can't miss? And that goes for anywhere along the route up north too, we'll be passing through Boston and a bit of New Hampshire as well. Thanks in advance for any advice! And yep, I'll be taking photos like crazy :n D

(photo found via the LIFE Archives)

CORNELL EDWARDS, 1932-2011

I took this photo back in March, on the first truly warm day of the year. This little place, The Flower Stall, has been my favorite shop in the City since I discovered it a handful of months ago. Directly to the left of the frame, the owner Mr. Cornell Edwards was leaning in the doorway, watching me with warm curiosity as I snapped this shot and went on my way.

Today, I wish more than anything that I had shifted my view the few centimeters it would have taken to capture the man himself. As I was passing by on my way from the post office, hoping to catch a glimpse of Mr. Edward's sweet old cat, I noticed that the doors were shut tight. A cluster of dried flowers and a memorial sign in the window confirmed my fears: barely three weeks after I took this photo, Cornell Edwards passed away.

I wish I had taken the time to speak properly with this kind old gentleman, whom people describe as a true bastion of the neighborhood. Mr. Edwards opened his shop in 1967 and had been there ever since, in the beautiful old tenement building shared with Stock Vintage. My heart aches with regret that I didn't unearth this treasure years ago, but I know I will take the greatest care of the little cactus I bought there. It is my very favorite. Thank you Mr. Edwards! I'll never forget you or your "world green with plant life right on 13th Street." And while we're remembering Mr. Edwards, take a moment to read his memory of a long ago Mother's Day, and understand why he'll be missed.


Edited to add: this amazing photo of Mr. Edwards by John Galayda, found via One Horse Town.

THE SHRIMP

Another gorgeous set of photos found on Youthquakers, this time from a spread in Vogue UK (October 15th, 1972) by David Bailey featuring Jean Shrimpton. I love all the pea soup green going on here, those walls are amazing! And I'll admit, though I've always been a bit more of a Twiggy/Penelope Tree girl myself, the Shrimp really had it going on...

MAUDE LOVES HAROLD

In an effort to raise a bit of dough towards a little trip Alex and I are planning soon, I finally got around to updating my Etsy shop, Maude Loves Harold Vintage! I hope to list a few more things this coming week as well, so if you don't see anything that strikes your fancy, be sure to check back :n )

P.S. A big thanks to Hannah and Francesca who already snapped up a couple things!