because everyone needs an orange velvet blazer.

when one comes up on a take-an-additional-40%-off-sale-prices sale, you buy it.

besides, we could all use a little kick in the class when it comes to our wardrobe, couldn't we?

most certainly.

i'm still leaning toward the iphone.

i'm going three days strong here.

iphone or bust.

and not just because of this case, but it doesn't help my ever-falling heart.

society 6. home of too many beautiful things.

for some reason...

 ... i considered it so necessary to buy 1,740 yards  of bakers twine this weekend. that's almost a mile, people. 5,220 feet.

it all started with a friday morning phone call from a friend... asking me to swing by the restaurant supply store and grab a spool of red + white baker's twine.

... the same kind of twine that survived the great wedding of 2010.

and a handful of baby showers.

and every birthday present wrapping and christmas treat packaging and gift giving opportunity in the last two years.

so i bought it.

and was promptly re-paid. 

good planning, it seemed, as we stare straight ahead at a month of gift giving and package wrapping. 

but then we got looking.... 

$13.99 for string {it's STRING!} is beyond ridiculous... but totally the going rate for colored STRING these days.

until the magic fingers found this etsy site - where string is half as much as anyone else's STRING.

we especially like this deal.. the deal for the girl{s} who can't decide and have to have it all.

brown. light brown. green. light green. blue. dark blue. black. red. pink. yellow. orange.

i think that will do, don't you?

but wait.

then we found this other site.... with solid color STRING.

solid!

anyone can get their hands on striped STRING.... but who has solid colored STRING?

in all of these awesome colors!

for $1.35 a piece?!

irresistible.

and then some. there are 32 colors.  all of them equally delicious.

so i had her create me a custom listing for all of it.

two of them! one for me, one for my string lover's anonymous friend.

and by the end of the week, i had over $100 worth of STRING in my cart. 

very reminiscent of my days as a ribbon-gone-wild girl.

excess, anyone?

george gina + lucy.

if there's any two visitors who love shopping in slc as much as i do, it's andi and my mom.

it really streamlines the itinerary of our day when we like to shop at the same places... like hip + humble.

stop my beating heart... they started carrying george gina and lucy bags. 

 

the nicest woman in the world - h+h owner suzette said she has taken this bag all across the world and it's stood the test of time better than anything she's ever used before.

{that's saying a lot coming from a well traveled woman, i suppose}

now.... i know we're not all wow'd by the same things... 

like the fact that the hardware is made by same people who do prada

or

celebrities can be spotted carrying gg+l bags all over

or

tales of women stopping suzette on the streets of nyc + italy to ask about her awesome bag...

but! i'd hope the female nation could unite together and respect a bag that has good pockets.

AND THIS BAG HAS GOOD POCKETS.

i took the test, right there in the store... i emptied it of its paper filler and silica packets and inspected every stitch and zipper for perfection. it belongs on my body.  one hundred percent.

coming from the girl who's at the brunt of the joke every time we're in the parking lot - because i practically have to dump my bag upside down, looking for the keys - my co-workers should be happy to know there's a perfect pocket on the top of the bag, just for keys. 

this bag will be mine.

i spy with my little eye...

a design*sponge book.

tomorrow is the book signing and craft event.

you know i appreciate a good craft - especially when taught by the queen bee of all crafters, grace.

i flipped through a few pages of the book today at lunch and i can't wait to get home a bookmark it all over with all the projects on my infinite to-do/wish list.

opening the book smelled like the last day of school in high school when i stood in line to pick up my yearbook.  the pages are crisp and clean and i could gobble it up.

boots i wouldn't mind owning.

brass tackle boots  |   herringbone boots

 

workwear riding boot  |  camper boot

 miz moo emmy |  miz moo otis

frye melissa boot  |  portia knee high
 

hibiscus flat  |  miz moo bloom

  kent boot  |  aldo patela

permit ankle  |  imply boot

p.s. if it was acceptable for me to love one more pair of miz moo, it would be be the kellen boot. but i wouldn't want to go overboard or anything...........

kitchen things.

i bought a whisk today...

but not before carrying it around anthropologie for a half hour.

you know, searching the denim stash, smelling the candles, getting lost in long sleeve striped tees... with a whisk in my pocket.

i'm a sucker for a good whisk.

i think i get it from my dad. or my mom. both? bennions always had a collection of good whisks in the kitchen gadget drawer growing up.

 

 i was searching for this, but apparently, it's only on sale online.

$14.95, y'all.

my apron love is almost worthy of the extra walk-in closet...

p.s. i have really good knives, but these komachi knives are on sale at costco {but not online?} for $29.99 and i die for them.

plate wall update.

it's a permanent work in progress... the plates will eventually crawl all the way up to the ceiling, but right now it's at that i'm-growing-my-hair-out awkward stage where it doesn't really look right, but you know there's a good thing coming.

i collect them slowly, picking them up from the back sales room at anthropologie, mostly.

i have a strict $3.95 price limit and i probably find a plate worthy to bring home once a month.

i hang them with picture frame wire and putty epoxy.

its dry in five minutes and i nail it on the wall in the next most obvious spot.

i'll put a good dent in it in another six months....

this post is not for you.

... unless, of course you're in the market for my birthday present.

this isn't self-promotion, this is pure defense.

there are 389732862170 people who say i'm hard to shop for.

i hear it every year, and all year long. i get it, kind of.

except i'm such a lover of stuff... you can't really go wrong.

here's a sampling.

all $30 and under, of course. since 30 is my favorite number these days.

there were at least thirty more things i found in just a 20 minute whiz through the interweb.

peacock print  |  flame red opaques  |  lady in waiting plate  |  clothesline candle  |  decorate book  |  cute tape  |  polka dot tights  |  pansy vase  |  miette cookbook

p.s. you can never, under any circumstance, go wrong with latte bowls. in pigment.

bestie jen and i are implementing a $20 christmas this year just to prove {probably to ourselves more than anyone} it can be done. wait for it....... 

it's been ten years since i've worn white socks.

i wore my first socks of the season the other day.

there's a chance no one will appreciate this except robin - a lover of fall, currently residing in florida, where there's no such thing as the fall/winter season, so she sports flip flops every day. {mustberough}

but i did it. i wore socks. for the first time since..... earlier this year. 

i sure don't like doing laundry, but i doooo love getting to the bottom of my laundry pile and finding 348932748 mismatched socks that need pairing.

it must be the compulsive everything-has-its-place tendency in me.

a coupla thoughts on socks:

1. i never, ever, never wear white socks. 

2. my socks never match my wardrobe, but they definitely can't be white. and probably not even cream. i feel like a 12 year old boy in ill-fitting church clothes in white socks.

3.  i never, ever, never lose socks to the dryer bin. the sock-eater that eats your socks knows to stay away from my socks. 

4.i prefer men's socks. j.crew men's socks if we're getting particular. {shop the outlet or factory online for the cheapies.}

5.  there's no better feeling than a freshly pulled up sock around your calf. so satisfying.

 here are some of my favs:

 

j.crew, urban outfitter, anthropologie, target, ruche, & sahalie

things i saw at anthropologie that had me doing somersaults.

there's a common theme among my finds...

and the things i post here on the blog.

it's called "greater than $150"

it's a curse.

life would be easier and happier with infinite financial backing, i'm sure of it. 

i'm working on an under $30 gift guide... you know, just in case.

but this time, it's just an all out wish list of things like $68 t-shirts.

nbd.

helping hands |  a summer maxi

madras pajama |  plaid bermudas

color block knit | striped tee i

striped tee ii |  striped tee iii

rows cardi | flamingo skirt  

so, i have a thing for stripes. that's nothing new. 

but i also learned that if i want to be a gyspy for halloween, i should start with this piece:

which is really too bad.... because i want to love it so much.

so so much.