CK. yes, I mean CK.

Calvin Klein is going to Remake Cher’s Slinky Clueless Dress!

"You know... the one she wears when she goes out with Christian, and she comes down the stairs looking slutty, and her father says, "What are you wearing?" And she says, "A dress." And he says, "Says who?" And she answers, "Calvin Klein." Anyway, the owner of L.A. Boutique Confederacy asked Calvin Klein director Francisco Costa to re-create the dress for her store, and he did. Buy yours online tomorrow in white or red for the bargain-basement price of $915."

Not that I am going to drop the dough for this, but this makes me very, very happy. Now all you need to do is spray some Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers and don a scrunchie on your wrist to complete the tubular ensemble. Like totally.

{seen here.}

stamp act.

Please file this under, "Now why didn't I think of this?" Genius idea. Chic, organic, original prints that can be reproduced basically, anytime, anywhere, on anything. This project is on my docket... I mean, get in line. :)

Oh Martha... you never cease to amaze. {On that note, we really do tend forget she spent some quality, hard core time in jail, right? Its amazing what a good dose of PR & beautiful , visual aesthetic distraction will to the memory, ehh?}

xoxo.

Bar Carts.

Over the past couple of months, I have been keeping my eyes peeled for a tea carts / bar carts when I pop in estate sales or browse on craigslist. In the meantime, I had seen these bar cart "round ups" on Elle Decor & Design Sponge and it got me even more excited, however their price tags, did not. Even for a used cart, they ranged anywhere from $75 - $200, and in my opinion, just wasn't worth it, so I semi- gave up. I have been wanting to finish out our dining room furniture in the near future with a new serving buffet (like this one or this one this one), maybe for Christmas, so I thought: heck, I'll just wait and put the cash towards that.

Well, in swoops my awesome mom. She seems to always be keeping an eye out for me... and she called Saturday morning & said she had found a bar cart at an estate sale down the street from her and wondered if I'd be interested. I said, "ehhh, how much?" In the background, the estate lady then responded, $2!! So my mom bought it for me there right on the spot... awesome. All it needed was some new screws with caps & a can of metal spray paint. All in all, I think the cart was $8.00. Pretty sweet deal... may not be the swankiest bar cart you've ever seen, but it gets the job done! Thanks Mamasita! (pics taken on iphone... not the greatest of clarity)
before:

after:

Thursday needs some love.

I mean, this might be sensory overload. It is to me... however, how beautiful are these images? I needed a Friday's eve afternoon pick-me up... from the bed, to the floral, to the loobies, all the way the stripes & jewels... sigh.

images from here.

PMS lovin.

Anyone want to know Fall 2010's PMS colors? We've been playing with these hues for a while... Man on man, I love the world of Pantones... and fashion. Colors become so specific, so precise. love it. Check it out here.

SB & LA

I can't wait! Spending time with my sister in law in Santa Barbara, {oh, man, I can't wait to see all the spanish tile & beautiful homes} then trucking back down to LA for my cousin's wedding. Wish I wasn't going solo & Ry could be there, but I'm excited to spend time with family, eat good food, play on the beach, visit some wineries, and do some shopping. Wish me luck, I'm hitting the California highways solo. eek.

lovely weekend = boring post.

You know those weekends with no or very minimal agenda? They are few & far between, but undoubtedly the absolute, positive, over-the-top BEST when they come around.

We went estate sale-ing, cooked yummy- fresh meals, worked in the yard, hit up Sonic, watched home videos of dear friends in their wee years, finished touching up (finally) some kitchen drawers, did some rearranging/nesting of our home, went to the ballet with fun chums, spray painted/ re-worked some home decor goodies that needed a face lift, purged a closet, tried multiple variations of souffles, swam with Senga, tested some new recipes on the agenda, drank Sangria, did some uninterrupted design web surfing/perusal for work & personal application one morn with coffee in hand, sewed, helped my bro shop for & decorate his new place, enjoyed sweet time at church & with the little nuggets in bitty church, and caught up on my novels. {It is a mistake to read two at once, never again will I commit to this.}

I tried this new chicken marinade that was super yummy & had to share with y'all. DELISH Chicken Marinade:
1/2 cup olive oil
2/3 cup beer
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/5 cup worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp chopped garlic

Cover 6-8 chicken breast for for 1-2 hours... then pop on the grill. {I halfed the recipe.} from here.

My quest for concocting the perfect banana bread recipe continued... I think I am getting closer... my problem could be I never follow directions. :) As a rule of thumb, I always double vanilla, or tweak cinnamon amounts, etc... but when I do follow directions, the goodies never seem special or over the top, it seems like something is always missing... so right now, my journey is working on combining many multiple recipes and playing with levels. We'll see... I'll keep you posted. :)

Happy Monday!

prett-ify your recipes.

We have established awhile ago that I :

a) am a dork.

b) love to flag & tear things.

c) am anally organized.

d) like pretty things, and...

e) love to eat.

So therefore, when I tear out really delicious looking recipes from a magazine, they don't bother me because they are on pretty shiny paper, usually accompanied by a beautiful image of the dish, I then file it in a plastic sleeve, and I'm done.

Recently, my love of food blogs, such as Catherine's Fish & Veggies, Ashlea's Little Kitchen that Could, Pioneer Woman, & Smitten Kitchen, {just to name a few} constantly have me electronically cutting & pasting the yummy looking recipes into a word document or emailing them to myself because I want to save & try all their delicious concoctions.... and in the end, the cut & paste text turns out, well, not so pretty.

So... to solve this personal issue, I designed a little electronic 5 x 7 recipe card, laid out the image in the background of word doc., & added text boxes, so now all you have to do is cut & paste your recipe into the card text boxes, print, cut, & file in your recipe index box. I created the template with two recipe cards for either double deliciousness or the recipe's overflow. I uploaded it here for your your own downloading & printing purposes. Just save it & next time you visit those ladies' blogs & find something scrumptious... just cut & paste it into this template & give your recipe box the respect & pampering it deserves. :)

phew.... I can sleep well now. Enjoy!

more J.O.

I know, you're thinking, "More Jackie O? Really, Melanie?" But how can you resist... she really is that intriguing & chic. She was so ahead of her time... and everything she donned suited her figure & the occasion perfectly. She had such an impeccable sense of her own personal style... and it never looked like she attempted to try too hard. I could look at images of her for hours... {see here & here for more.}

Check out this write up from Habitually Chic:

Ron Galella was the original stalkerazzi and his most famous prey was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He tormented her and even followed her to Capri. She obtained a restraining order against him. The New York Post at the time called it "the most co-dependent celeb-pap(arazzi) relationship ever." Without Ron Galella, we wouldn't have any of these most iconic images of Jackie O.

What's even amazing is that Ron Galella is still making headlines. HBO will air a documentary about the photographer this Monday, June 7th at 9:00pm entitled Smash His Camera which will also have an accompanying exhibition at Clic Gallery on Broome Street. "Smash His Camera" is apparently what Jackie said to her secret service agent after Ron got a little too close for comfort after a bike ride to through the Park with John Junior. So glad they smashed it after he got some good photos!

O my, its Friday... happy day!

bike it. {part 2}

Sooo, I bit the bullet.

I got this cutie, new mint green cruiser bike: Her name is Nellie.

I got a great deal on this little puppy... plus, I had a gift card {from my sweet husband} that I decided to use it on.

Cross my heart, this was not an impulsive purchase... I have been looking at cruiser bikes now for about a year & half. {It is ironic I posted about bikes yesterday, obviously, it was on the brain.}

I was more excited than a kid on Christmas morning to take her home: I pumped up her tires, affixed her new basket, adjusted the reflectors, oiled her up...only to ride down the drive way about 2 ft. and have the chain fall off. {major bummer.} Did you know you can find out how to do ANYTHING on the internet? Its pretty baffling... I looked up how to fix this dilemma, got out our wrench, drive sockets, and screw drivers, took off the back wheel, fixed the slipped chain & realigned it on the bearing. I had grease all over me, but I was pretty proud of myself. :)

Now, I am just excited to get to take her for a spin tonight... I need to return my brary books... she's jut the ticket. :) I'm pretty pumped.

Happy Happy Friday's eve people!

bike it.

This is my dream bike... I imagine riding to the groc. to pick up some dinner or hauling it to sonic for a dc+vanilla Route 44. I think I would add a tiny bell & wicker basket... maybe even put my name on it Alexandria font white vinyl. Wanna know why I love this bike so much? Welp, bc I got to design all the features it at Republic Bike... They have some pretty sweet rides. Check it out: the sky is the limit! Now all I need to stumble across is an extra $400... {I realize this sounds like I am being paid to endorse their product... nope, I just love their concept THAT much... wishful thinking, I guess.} Happy hump day!