desk du jour

{david netto via desire to inspire}

a ghost chair, a pouf, and a topiary all in one space means i'm a guaranteed fan. i also love the mirrors behind the desk and the built-in shelving to the right.

on an unrelated note, my post about our weekend in switzerland is up on my study abroad blog if you care to check it out. (hang gliding video included!)

on another unrelated note, i just added an "on the daily" feature to the right side of my blog where you can check out some of my favorite blogs. i read an embarrassing number of blogs and thought it was time to share the love! let me know if i'm missing one of your favorites :) i'll be adding to the list often as i find more blogs i love! i'd love for you to take a moment (or an hour...) to click over to some of my daily reads and i hope you find one or two new favorites of your own!

{david netto via desire to inspire}

a ghost chair, a pouf, and a topiary all in one space means i'm a guaranteed fan. i also love the mirrors behind the desk and the built-in shelving to the right.

on an unrelated note, my post about our weekend in switzerland is up on my study abroad blog if you care to check it out. (hang gliding video included!)

on another unrelated note, i just added an "on the daily" feature to the right side of my blog where you can check out some of my favorite blogs. i read an embarrassing number of blogs and thought it was time to share the love! let me know if i'm missing one of your favorites :) i'll be adding to the list often as i find more blogs i love! i'd love for you to take a moment (or an hour...) to click over to some of my daily reads and i hope you find one or two new favorites of your own!

neutral territory

{pieces via life in a venti cup}

i think it's only appropriate to preface our weekend trip to switzerland with a few of my favorite neutral spaces. i am quite certain that our whirlwind trip, which is to include hang gliding in the swiss alps, will be anything but neutral, but it seems only fair to honor the country's historically unbiased stance with a hearty helping of simple and pretty.

rug: good. chairs: great. worn metal table (look close!): sheer brilliance.

i spy with my little eye... one of my favorite materials, lucite.

i love the range of seating options here: leather wingback, white sofas, modern occasional chair. the antler chandelier is a perfect finishing touch and i love the wire pendants too. wow, is there anything i don't love about his portfolio?

{above three rooms, gunkelman flesher via desire to inspire}

{marie claire maison}

i'm not sure what that little wooden cubby is for but, thanks to the exposed brick and the cool light fixture, i think we can agree to let it slide.

{via plush palate}

i would love to cozy up with a good book on one of these chaises longues.

{leibowitz and mclachlan via desire to inspire}

pendant lamps for freeing up space on your bedside table = genius.

{via design*sponge}

i love the hexagonal floor tiles in this otherwise ordinary bathroom.

{via i suwannee}

like the gallery walls, like the hat on the bust, like the funky silhouette of the chairs, like it all.

{canadian house & home via slumber designs}

white walls, dark floors, and a whole lot of pretty in between.

before we leave, i wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your lovely comments and emails this week. your creativity and kindness never cease to amaze me. i'll be catching up on my blog reading when i return from my weekend away so i'll be returning the favor soon enough! thank you again and have yourselves a fantastic weekend!

{pieces via life in a venti cup}

i think it's only appropriate to preface our weekend trip to switzerland with a few of my favorite neutral spaces. i am quite certain that our whirlwind trip, which is to include hang gliding in the swiss alps, will be anything but neutral, but it seems only fair to honor the country's historically unbiased stance with a hearty helping of simple and pretty.

rug: good. chairs: great. worn metal table (look close!): sheer brilliance.

i spy with my little eye... one of my favorite materials, lucite.

i love the range of seating options here: leather wingback, white sofas, modern occasional chair. the antler chandelier is a perfect finishing touch and i love the wire pendants too. wow, is there anything i don't love about his portfolio?

{above three rooms, gunkelman flesher via desire to inspire}

{marie claire maison}

i'm not sure what that little wooden cubby is for but, thanks to the exposed brick and the cool light fixture, i think we can agree to let it slide.

{via plush palate}

i would love to cozy up with a good book on one of these chaises longues.

{leibowitz and mclachlan via desire to inspire}

pendant lamps for freeing up space on your bedside table = genius.

{via design*sponge}

i love the hexagonal floor tiles in this otherwise ordinary bathroom.

{via i suwannee}

like the gallery walls, like the hat on the bust, like the funky silhouette of the chairs, like it all.

{canadian house & home via slumber designs}

white walls, dark floors, and a whole lot of pretty in between.

before we leave, i wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your lovely comments and emails this week. your creativity and kindness never cease to amaze me. i'll be catching up on my blog reading when i return from my weekend away so i'll be returning the favor soon enough! thank you again and have yourselves a fantastic weekend!

guess where i'm going!

friday is here! can you guess where i'm off to this weekend?

{lonely planet}

it's amsterdam! i have no idea what to expect (although the weather forecast is a little chilly) but i'm so excited! michael and i arrive tonight so we'll have two full days in the city before leaving on monday. have you ever been? what do we have to see? i hope you all have a happy weekend and i'll see you back here next week!

friday is here! can you guess where i'm off to this weekend?

{lonely planet}

it's amsterdam! i have no idea what to expect (although the weather forecast is a little chilly) but i'm so excited! michael and i arrive tonight so we'll have two full days in the city before leaving on monday. have you ever been? what do we have to see? i hope you all have a happy weekend and i'll see you back here next week!

it's the weekend!

i'm so happy this week is over! i might not have been looking forward to it quite as much as these girls (who write a hilarious blog about getting through the work week) but i'm pretty happy nonetheless. my boyfriend is coming to tours to meet my host family and join the bucknell group on an excursion to a nearby château. the language barrier could get interesting as my host family doesn't speak english but it'll be an excuse to wow michael with my french! i can't wait to show him around the city and introduce him to all the people and places that have made my stay here so delightful.

thank you for all your lovely comments this week — you have no idea how happy i am to hear from you! whatever this weekend has in store for you, i hope you have a great one and i will see you back here on monday!

{photography by kate powers}

i'm so happy this week is over! i might not have been looking forward to it quite as much as these girls (who write a hilarious blog about getting through the work week) but i'm pretty happy nonetheless. my boyfriend is coming to tours to meet my host family and join the bucknell group on an excursion to a nearby château. the language barrier could get interesting as my host family doesn't speak english but it'll be an excuse to wow michael with my french! i can't wait to show him around the city and introduce him to all the people and places that have made my stay here so delightful.

thank you for all your lovely comments this week — you have no idea how happy i am to hear from you! whatever this weekend has in store for you, i hope you have a great one and i will see you back here on monday!

{photography by kate powers}

pray for me...

hello, lovelies! before i return to blogging as usual on monday, i just wanted to pop in and let you know that i will be bungee jumping tomorrow morning outside of barcelona with my dad. this has long been on my list of things to do before i die but now that the moment has arrived i am absolutely positively terrified! talk about a leap of faith...

...something like this except much less dainty and instead of hopping through puddles we will be stepping off a bridge at 120 feet. same difference though, right? cross your fingers for me — i hope you enjoy an equally exciting weekend and i will see you all back here on monday!

hello, lovelies! before i return to blogging as usual on monday, i just wanted to pop in and let you know that i will be bungee jumping tomorrow morning outside of barcelona with my dad. this has long been on my list of things to do before i die but now that the moment has arrived i am absolutely positively terrified! talk about a leap of faith...

...something like this except much less dainty and instead of hopping through puddles we will be stepping off a bridge at 120 feet. same difference though, right? cross your fingers for me — i hope you enjoy an equally exciting weekend and i will see you all back here on monday!

bad blogger

a heartfelt apology from me to you for my absence from le blog. i spent a long weekend in paris with my boyfriend (check it out here)and leave tomorrow for four days in barcelona with my dad. i really do hate to be away for so long (though i love to return to all your comments and the new posts on other blogs, even if it takes me multiple hours to catch up!) but i hope you'll understand. in a perfect world, i would be rewarding you for your patience with a little jaunt to la durée on the champs-elysées so you could pick up some yum-yums:

and walk away with a trademark container of macaroons:

which (this is for you, jenny) look like this close up:

and have a crunchy exterior and a creamy interior as you can see here:

these richly flavored beauties will cost you a pretty penny (i paid 23 euros for 15 of them) but, you know, when in rome, er, paris... in response to your curiosity, our favorite flavors were vanilla, coffee, and rose petal. the raspberry was downright yucky and the chocolate was a little too rich for my liking, but the good ones were good. they don't travel particularly well but i've saved a few for my dad to try and i plan on cleaning out all the little crumbs and saving the packaging because it's just way too pretty to toss out. jenny, does that cover it?!

a heartfelt apology from me to you for my absence from le blog. i spent a long weekend in paris with my boyfriend (check it out here)and leave tomorrow for four days in barcelona with my dad. i really do hate to be away for so long (though i love to return to all your comments and the new posts on other blogs, even if it takes me multiple hours to catch up!) but i hope you'll understand. in a perfect world, i would be rewarding you for your patience with a little jaunt to la durée on the champs-elysées so you could pick up some yum-yums:

and walk away with a trademark container of macaroons:

which (this is for you, jenny) look like this close up:

and have a crunchy exterior and a creamy interior as you can see here:

these richly flavored beauties will cost you a pretty penny (i paid 23 euros for 15 of them) but, you know, when in rome, er, paris... in response to your curiosity, our favorite flavors were vanilla, coffee, and rose petal. the raspberry was downright yucky and the chocolate was a little too rich for my liking, but the good ones were good. they don't travel particularly well but i've saved a few for my dad to try and i plan on cleaning out all the little crumbs and saving the packaging because it's just way too pretty to toss out. jenny, does that cover it?!

bring it on

forecast: cold and wet.

schoolwork: two assignments, two papers, and two presentations.

upcoming weekend: paris!

the knowledge that i will be spending an extended valentine's day weekend in paris with my boyfriend is about the only thing getting me through this week. that and the promise of a little caffeine to get me through...

because after all the work is finished, there is this:

and this:

and this:

ok, perhaps not so photoshopped, but a very pretty paris nonetheless. what are your valentine's day plans?

forecast: cold and wet.

schoolwork: two assignments, two papers, and two presentations.

upcoming weekend: paris!

the knowledge that i will be spending an extended valentine's day weekend in paris with my boyfriend is about the only thing getting me through this week. that and the promise of a little caffeine to get me through...

because after all the work is finished, there is this:

and this:

and this:

ok, perhaps not so photoshopped, but a very pretty paris nonetheless. what are your valentine's day plans?

no rest for the weary

today i survived the longest bicycle ride of my life. in 39 degree weather and with the wind against us the entire way (i am in no way dramatizing the experience) we biked 30 kilometers — 18 miles — to the "nearby" villandry château. and, though in the midst of the biking i never thought i would say this, it was worth it. so, so, so worth it. these gardens were among the most beautiful things i have ever seen. thus although these pictures are not particularly related to design, i just have to share with you a few of the more beautiful moments of my big adventure.

this trip made me realize my love of moats. how awesome is this? turquoise water, limestone architecture, and perfect green gardens meant i was in heaven.

a tree-lined reflecting pool beyond the balustrade. take me back (but preferably not by bike!).

these intricate low box hedges remind me of the queen of hearts scene in alice in wonderland. (anyone else?) topiaries everywhere, heart-shaped hedges in time for valentine's day... somehow the 18 miles were worth it.

no time to sit and reminisce, however. i'm off to blois and chenonceau (with a stop at a local chocolaterie!) with the bucknell group bright and early tomorrow morning. and so after a seemingly endless bike ride, it's back on the bus (not the one above, as much as i wish it were!) for me... wishing all of you an equally adventurous (though perhaps not as exhausting!) weekend wherever you may be! i'll be back monday with more desks du jour and plenty of other pretty things. à bientôt!

today i survived the longest bicycle ride of my life. in 39 degree weather and with the wind against us the entire way (i am in no way dramatizing the experience) we biked 30 kilometers — 18 miles — to the "nearby" villandry château. and, though in the midst of the biking i never thought i would say this, it was worth it. so, so, so worth it. these gardens were among the most beautiful things i have ever seen. thus although these pictures are not particularly related to design, i just have to share with you a few of the more beautiful moments of my big adventure.

this trip made me realize my love of moats. how awesome is this? turquoise water, limestone architecture, and perfect green gardens meant i was in heaven.

a tree-lined reflecting pool beyond the balustrade. take me back (but preferably not by bike!).

these intricate low box hedges remind me of the queen of hearts scene in alice in wonderland. (anyone else?) topiaries everywhere, heart-shaped hedges in time for valentine's day... somehow the 18 miles were worth it.

no time to sit and reminisce, however. i'm off to blois and chenonceau (with a stop at a local chocolaterie!) with the bucknell group bright and early tomorrow morning. and so after a seemingly endless bike ride, it's back on the bus (not the one above, as much as i wish it were!) for me... wishing all of you an equally adventurous (though perhaps not as exhausting!) weekend wherever you may be! i'll be back monday with more desks du jour and plenty of other pretty things. à bientôt!

the weekend already?

this week definitely slipped out from under me! i'll be spending the weekend touring one of the loire valley's celebrated châteaux and the home of the late great leonardo da vinci. i thought i'd sign off with some light and bright vignettes to contrast the rainy weather we've been having in tours (although i did spot a rainbow today!).

aren't they pretty? they've got me daydreaming of spring flowers and sunshine bigtime. i'll be back on monday with my first daily feature — it's going to be a good one! have a lovely weekend everyone!

this week definitely slipped out from under me! i'll be spending the weekend touring one of the loire valley's celebrated châteaux and the home of the late great leonardo da vinci. i thought i'd sign off with some light and bright vignettes to contrast the rainy weather we've been having in tours (although i did spot a rainbow today!).

aren't they pretty? they've got me daydreaming of spring flowers and sunshine bigtime. i'll be back on monday with my first daily feature — it's going to be a good one! have a lovely weekend everyone!

back to the grind

but only after a very lovely weekend.

see more here.

but only after a very lovely weekend.

see more here.

Thank God It's Friday!

i've just finished our two weeks of intensive french at the language institute! this is real cause for celebration around here, so i'm packing my bags and heading for london! i'm off to see a pretty special someone and i couldn't be more excited. i hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

(pretty picture by corrie bond)

i've just finished our two weeks of intensive french at the language institute! this is real cause for celebration around here, so i'm packing my bags and heading for london! i'm off to see a pretty special someone and i couldn't be more excited. i hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

(pretty picture by corrie bond)

paris teaser

see more photos of my weekend on my other blog.

see more photos of my weekend on my other blog.

happy weekend!

i have survived my first week of classes at the language institute and so it's off to paris for the weekend. i hope you all have a very happy weekend wherever you may be and thank you for reading my little blog — your comments and views make my day.

i have survived my first week of classes at the language institute and so it's off to paris for the weekend. i hope you all have a very happy weekend wherever you may be and thank you for reading my little blog — your comments and views make my day.

too good to be true (but i'll take it!)

unwinding from a very happy and not too chilly day in france. classes sorted out, long weekends due to lack of friday classes, new friends, a friendly professor, skype up and running, a jaunt to paris this weekend, seeing my boyfriend the weekend after... provided the weather stays above 40 degrees, i will be one happy américaine-en-france.

unwinding from a very happy and not too chilly day in france. classes sorted out, long weekends due to lack of friday classes, new friends, a friendly professor, skype up and running, a jaunt to paris this weekend, seeing my boyfriend the weekend after... provided the weather stays above 40 degrees, i will be one happy américaine-en-france.

i'm here!

i arrived in paris yesterday and settled into my host family's home in tours last night. the family is very nice and i've done the bulk of my unpacking (i immediately regret the decision to pack my body weight in clothes and shoes). currently missing my family and dreaming of american closets with a place for everything and everything in its place:

i arrived in paris yesterday and settled into my host family's home in tours last night. the family is very nice and i've done the bulk of my unpacking (i immediately regret the decision to pack my body weight in clothes and shoes). currently missing my family and dreaming of american closets with a place for everything and everything in its place:

do pardon the delay

but i was on vacation! that's right, i joined the leagues of trite new englanders who pack their bags and head for warmer climes for the holiday vacation. we went to puerto rico and it was glorious.

we stayed here:

woke up to this:

did yoga here:

and did lots and lots of this:

but i was on vacation! that's right, i joined the leagues of trite new englanders who pack their bags and head for warmer climes for the holiday vacation. we went to puerto rico and it was glorious.

we stayed here:

woke up to this:

did yoga here:

and did lots and lots of this: