minty fresh

I'm obsessed with this guy's mint pea coat, logged by NYMag.com's The Cut in Milan.  Given the pastels dotting street style looks at the Fall 2012 RTW shows--at least in London and Milan--I hope J.Crew or somebody makes me a wool car coat in this exact shade with those exact buttons and that exact collar for fall.  Leave it to an Italian man, not even walking in a show, to catch my eye.

nymag.com

I must have mint on my mind.  A few weeks ago I tried David Lebovitz's ice cream recipe using fresh leaves and 'twas delish.  (Is it me or is the warm, creamy soup better than the frozen version of itself?  Kind of like brownie batter and cookie dough.)

Mine.

a stylish reason to pour yourself a drink

I recently purchased four sets of some delightfully colorful Kate Spade Prize Ball coasters.  One for me, one each for three lucky friends to be determined.  Might as well stock up.

Then I found these preppy canine coasters from Rifle Paper Co.  They're practically begging (pun intended) to be scooped up (partly intended).

I was lucky enough to receive Rifle's pale pink telephone message pad for Valentine's Day.  It makes me feel fancy and would be the perfect thing to track RSVPs for my excuse-to-use-these-cool-new-coasters party.

road trip soundtrack

Last weekend I discovered that the perfect song for driving the country roads back from Charlottesville is First Aid Kit's "Emmylou". 

For two reasons other than it being a really great song that undulates with the hills of the road.  One:  I love Emmylou Harris, specifically for her album with Mark Knopfler, which I had the pleasure of seeing them perform in concert and consistently listen to during car rides (and their song "This Is Us" was the last song played at our wedding reception.  It's the perfect last dance, if you ask me).  Two:  I'm indebted to these sisters because I actually heard their Fleet Foxes cover before I'd ever heard the Fleet Foxes.

Flippin' Swedes, teaching us how to be cool all the time.

happy valentine's day

Wee little sugar cookies, sprinkled and lemon glazed and packed in a turquoise Fortnum & Mason tin.  They made the perfect book club contribution a few weeks ago and if I weren't so lazy I'd make a gingerbread version today.

if I had a little lamb

I don't consider myself to be much of an animal person but a BABY animal person, yes.  A certain someone promised to get me a puppy sometime in the next ten years and the prospect makes me squeal like a baby pig with excitement.

Photographer Sharon Montrose feeds the dream with her beautiful, crisp studio images of giraffe, pig, tiger, and monkey pups (technical term), available on 20x200 (whose redesign is a little annoying, to be honest).  I received her baby lamb photo as a present last year.

I love him, his earnest innocence, and the very slightly blurred wisp of his tail.  If lambs stayed small forever, I might actually skip the puppy, but I'll take what I can get.

ikat, you kat

As we're all well aware, ikat is hot, hot, hot.  The tribal effect lends an element of authenticity and an aged patina to new-world spaces and the limitless colors and patterns makes each piece seem unique.  I especially love these high-gloss, neon silk pillow covers from Material Recovery.  This ikat is steroidal.