Feeling Like Spring

Every now and then, when I get bored with what I'm wearing, I flip through The Sartorialist from a year or so ago to see if I find anything that tickles me.

Today I was sick of looking at coats so I checked out some of the images from April and May of 2007 and 2008.

If it was Spring, I would like to be wearing something like this...
super adorable yellow dress and sandals.

Or this:

Or even this:
Also, this was apparently a student from Yale, just going to show that not all students wear hoodies all the time.

I always find that autumn clothes are my favorite, but spring is the one I am most eager for when it starts to roll around because I usually get sick of winter clothes sometime in late January/February.

All photos by The Sartorialist, naturally.

Burn, baby, burn...

I love candles. I'm kind of obsessed with them actually- they just seem to make my house feel warmer and more cozy, which I desperately need on cold January days like today.

This is one of my more recent purchases...
The Indonesian Teak pillar (the larger one, $10) is from World Market- an amazing store that you should go to right now if you've never been. I haven't even burnt this guy yet and my entire living room smells like spicy wood, it is that strong. This is also a good candle for men, being not flowery or frilly and, you know, wood. It has been officially boyfriend-approved.

On the girlier front, I recently purchased this candle

Please excuse the shoddy picture- VS's website refuses to yield one and I have no digital camera.

from Victoria's Secret during the semiannual sale. The scent is Sweet Craving and it is absolutely addicting to me, with lots of vanilla and sugary sweetness. Basically, it smells like cake, but spicier. I can't find it online anymore because it is being discontinued- but its original (ridiculous) price of $28 has been dropped to $4.99, a great deal for such a large candle. I was tempted to not tell you all because I have this plan to go into every VS in the country and buy out their entire stock but seeing as I don't have that much money (or space, or matches), my nice side came out and I decided to share.

And these

are the candles I would buy if I had a million dollars (or, you know, $595). This Jo Malone candle trousseau contains 10 candles including such goodies as Pomegranate Noir and Wild Fig & Cassis, both of which sound kind of amazing. Plus, Jo Malone promises that this will add a "sense of refinement to the home". Now come on, who couldn't use a little more refinement?

So if any one of you wins the lottery, now you know what to get me. :)

Anybody else got candle recs?

Quote of the Day

Today I was fiddling around in the blogworld and found this...

Le Love

Such simple and sweet words to live by, no? And yet, when you think about it, not always an easy thing to do.

Because we still have a lot of work to do...

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore-
and then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

~Langston Hughes, 1951

Quote of the Day

"Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."

~Louisa May Alcott

When the weather outside is frightful...

It seems everybody is just about sick of winter already. Yesterday Joanna over at Smitten brought up her winter crankiness, and Cavewoman over at Blogdorf Goodman wrote a post on Ohio Winter Blues that I can SO relate to. It is freezing, gray, and wet outside all.freaking.day. There is nothing charming about downtown Columbus in the winter and whoever came up with the term "wintry mix" needs to be shot.

But in the name of not letting the weather dictate my mood, here are a few of the things I do to pick myself up when it's crappy outside.

Heater Blankets- seriously, get one. Don't leave it on all the time, you don't want to burn your place down. But these things are super for when it's frigid outside and you don't want to crank the heat up too much because, you know, gas prices suck.

Cinnamon pancakes- I love cinnamon. I love pancakes. Put them together and it's like heaven. Just dump a boatload of sugar into some pancake batter and make as usual. Or, you know, sprinkle it on if you're not a cinnamon loving freak like me. Add chopped apples if that floats your boat.

Hot chocolate- is a cold weather classic. I top mine off with, you guessed it, cinnamon.

Colorful clothes- I try to wear as little solid black in winter as possible. Because it makes me look like death.

Gigantic fuzzy socks- look ridiculous, but are insanely comfortable when it's way too cold outside (and inside). Put some lotion on under the socks to combat the mid-winter flakie foot syndrome.

Anything that smells like lemon- because lemon has been shown to help with mood, albeit temporarily. I especially love CO Bigelow Lemon Body Cream because it's made with real lemon oil (so it smells authentic) and no artificial fragrance.

Redecorating my desk area.

Quote of the Day

"If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain.
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain."
~Emily Dickinson

Well said, so I really have nothing more to add.