Boo your neighbors

...Not for leaving their trash on the curb two days early - for Halloween!

I love this cute Halloween neighborhood tradition of "booing your neighbors" (from the ever-brilliant Kristin of Blonde Designs). This seems like a tradition that would be super simple and easy to do. And no pressure - you only have to do it for two neighbors - they in turn do it for two other neighbors. Fun!

Here's how quick this would be:

Step 1: print out the awesome printable labels from BD here.


Step 2: Fill two bags full of inexpensive Halloween treats.


Step 3: Include the fun "boo" poem explaining the deal (the poem is also included in the printables here).

Step 4: Put the "boo" ghost sign (below) on on your neighbor's door (see top photo) and leave one of the treat bags.

You've just booed your neighbor!

Further instructions and printable templates available here. All photos from Blonde Designs.

Have a great weekend!

Doves, it's been grand, but I'm off for a girls' weekend in New York. We're truly taking advantage of the Columbus Day hoiday and staying through Monday, so we'll have an entire extra morning in the city. Woohoo! I doubt we'll actually be riding bikes around town like this adorable girl, but it seemed like such a fun (and fashionable, in this pic!) way to flit about the city that I couldn't not include it.

If we're lucky, we'll see fall in full force like this:


Though I'd even settle for moody evenings like this:

Either way, I know I'll have a great time with friends, running around the city, eating, shopping, and talk, talk, talking. Oh and did I mention eating? Can't wait!

Hope you have a great weekend. Since we're staying in the city an extra day, I'll see you back here Tuesday!

xoxo, r.

Photo credits: 1- Topaz Page-Green on her bicycle (photo by Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times); 2- via 6th Street Design School; 3- by Jamie of From Me To You.

Happy first day of Autumn!

Photo via mary ruffle

I can't believe summer is officially over! Gone are the days of bathing suits and flip-flops, in with scarves and boots. I'm sad to see the sunny, warm days go, but hoping for a lovely fall filled with football, parties and friends.

Hellooo, Autumn!

An afternoon with two pretty ladies

People. I am shirking afternoon posts today. I'm sorry, but I have very important business - I'm hanging with a lovely gal pal and this adorable face:

Can you blame me for skipping out a bit early? :)

Hanging pretty

I'm totally about to out myself here.

No, no, I'm not about to tell you all about some secret lovechild or a trashy tattoo or even an obsession with crap TV (okay, that last one was true). No, really I'm kicking myself for sharing this amazing find because I was planning to buy it for all my friends who are getting married in the near future (ahem, first up: Sara and Dan) and now they'll all know about this. Boo. Oh well, they'll still like it, right? (Or maybe someone will buy one for me some day...)

What I'm blathering on about is this adorable custom wedding dress hanger:

For only 25 dinero, you can have a custom hanger made with the couples' names (joined with a plus, ampersand or heart), a word or phrase, or the bride's new name. Wouldn't this be the cutest shower or day-of gift? And 25 bucks isn't too shabby for something custom.

Plus, I'm loving the photo opps:

The hangers are available to buy from Lila Frances on Etsy here (originally spotted via Sweet Nothings). I'm also thinking these would be really sweet for the birth of a baby, especially since she makes them in smaller hanger sizes for only $15 (here). Cuteness!

Being "Euro"

Very Euro car, at merci in Paris; photo by simple + pretty.

My friend Sara, who is now engaged (yay! let's all wish Sara & Dan congrats for the big news), was complaining about the lack of posting (I know, I know, I'm still coming back soon, I promise!) here on sea*life*style.

She then kindly suggested maybe I was just being "Euro" about it - you know, taking off the entire month of August, as Europeans do. Yeah, that's it. That's what I'm doing.

With that being said, I'll be back soon - when "holiday" is over. (European holidays wrap up by Sept. 1, but I'll be back after the American Labor Day holiday.)

Hope to see you then!

xo,
r.

Have a great (sunny, busy) weekend!

Photos via 1- Me Oh My and 2- Bryan Sheffield on flickr

Hello, girls and boys! I'll be honest, this post is coming to you from my iPhone because, well, it's Friday and it is bea-youu-tiful out. It's a big weekend - we're celebrating a friend's birthday tonight, then I'm off to Phila for a bachelorette party and Sunday is Father's Day for everyone. Yikes, busy busy! Fingers crossed this gorgeous weather continues, and here's wishing you a great weekend!

See you Monday!
xo, r

Birthday shout-outs

Remember when it was this chick's birthday? Well, today it's her "man-flesh"'s turn, so I wanted to wish him a happy birthday...with my ever-famous, embarrassing photo montage.

Let's start with when I first met Dan. He appears to be approximately 12 years old (and maybe albino) in this photo, but I assure you he was indeed non-albino and a college freshman:


Fast-forward to 10 years later (eek!) and here is, all growns up:

So nautical.

Here we are showcasing our respective geekier sides at a 3D showing of Avatar (I forced them all to stop outside the theater [even though it was 1:30am!] to document this):


And finally, here is the birthday boy with his twin girlfriend.

Happy birthday, Dan!

Today also happens to be my friend Eric's birthday. Whew, big day. Let's all wish him a happy birthday too, shall we? Roll the footage, Jeeves!

Eric and his lovely wife Andrea:


Try not to stare too hard at my uvula.


And I couldn't let Eric get through a momentous occasion without an embarrassing photo like this:

Niiice. E-rock, just for the record, I left out the ones of you doing yoga on this ball. You can thank me later.

Well, there it is. The tour de Dan and Eric. Happy birthday, boys! Hope you each have wonderful b-days and welcome to old(ish) age!

Chocolate pudding cups

Oh my goodness, what a good idea. Chocolate pudding (and scads of fun toppings), housed in a "cup" made from chocolate. Yummm.

This doesn't seem terribly difficult to do, and you could either fancy them up for a grown-up dinner party with friends, or make them fun, messy and purely delicious with kids.

All you do is dip balloons in warmed chocolate...


Let them dry on a baking sheet (you can stick them in the fridge to speed it up)...


...Then *pop!* the balloons and the cups are ready:


Fill with gooey goodness...


...And enjoy!


I want to make these, like, yesterday. I'd fill mine with chocolate pudding, whipped cream (CoolWhip, not the real stuff [what? I like it better!]), oreo or brownie crumbles, and sprinkles on top (rainbow, not brown, of course!). Mmm mmm mmm. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Thanks to Bakerella for the great photos and inspiration (check out the full blog post here for more pics and details). And let me know if you make these... (if so, I'll be over straight away!)

A mish-mash.

Okay, enough whining. You didn't comment on the curtains wholeheartedly. Whatevs. I'm over it and back to posting some schtuff for now. I'm still on the run with work, errands, friends, etc. so today you're getting another mashed-up post. Sorrry. But I loved all this stuff, and didn't have time to do separate, full posts on each, so consider this a "top hits" for today. Hope you likey. (If not, well, fine.) :)

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We just bought tickets for another Vampire Weekend show (they're coming back to MD in Sept. - woohoo!) and this time it's an outdoor show, so we got lawn tickets. I'm thinking I may need this blanket for the occasion:


Cool, right? I'm not hugely patriotic, but the slightly off colors make it just cool enough (and not something a dude with a mullet would bust out on a cold day at a NASCAR race...right?). Available for 68 bucks at Urban Outfitters. Spotted on Design Crush.

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Next up, an awesome poster and an even better blog post about said poster:

And here's Abbey's awesome write-up, from Abbey Goes Design Scouting (hope she doesn't mind I'm including it here - she wrote it, I had nothing to do with it - I just wanted to share because I liked her description):

Whenever there was a particularly pink beautiful sunset my mother used to say “Red at night, sailor’s delight but red in the morning, sailor take warning” meaning of course, that a pink sunset indicated that the next day would be clear. I always loved the way ’sailor’s delight’ sounded and would say it over and over in my head. When I saw this sweet poster I was immediately brought back to childhood and running around in the pinky dusk of a Vermont summer night.

The poster is only $30 at Brainstorm Print and Design.

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Finally, the most awesome way to wake up every day. I'm going to have to give this a try, though I think standing on the sink like that would result in me smacking my head on the ceiling or falling off the sink altogether (or both, which is highly likely with me since I am very klutzy). This kid is awesome - a mini Tony Robbins. I picture this to be Sara McKelvey's future child (watch out, Dan).


Oh, come on, it's only 50 seconds. Go check it out (if you can't see the embedded video): here.

Check out the full blog post on Daily Bits of Beauty for more "How to Have an Awesome Day" tips.

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Aaaand, that's it for now.

Have a good Thursday, peeps!

I'm out.

x, r.

To my friend Sara the napper:

You can thank me later.

Cocoon chair available here. Spotted here.

Hello. on paper.

The cuteness! If I am ever fancy-pants-y enough to have personal calling cards, I want these ones that Erin Jang created, which were printed by the awesome Studio on Fire.

I'll take 250 with my info on them, please.

Spotted on Black Eiffel.

That's bananas (pudding)!

It is annoying that someone as gorgeous and fashion-forward as Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere would also be so talented in the kitchen. :) She recently documented a perfect summer-y dessert recipe she made the other day, and I nearly drooled right onto my keyboard.

Have you ever been to Magnolia Bakery in NYC? Their cupcakes are what's made them famous, but B and I both agree (shocking, since I have a major sweet tooth and he's more of a salt guy) that their banana pudding is the best thing they have to offer. It's a perfect sweet treat, without being too over-the-top sucrose-y.

Emily made it herself (using this recipe) and it looks like it turned out amazingly:

Mmmmm. I also love that instead of using regular Nilla Wafers, she went for the mini versions, so you could fit one cookie per spoonful. I am clamoring to try this. More photos and info here.

Emily, won't you come over to my house and braid my hair like yours and make this recipe for me? :)

Have a great weekend!

Did I really just read that there is a chance of snow today?? I thought we'd been over this, weather - it's spring now - act like it! Jeesh. Fine fine, if this is just March's way of finishing up the lion part, and you're about to go out like a lamb, I guess I can deal for one more weekend...


Photo from Mary Ruffle

In the meantime, I'll be opening windows (after the snow, I suppose), enjoying the sunshine if it peeks out for a bit, and having a good weekend. We're going to a friend's 30th birthday fiesta (margarita! ay yi yi!) and then back in time for baseball for B - if it doesn't get rained out, that is. Either way, I'm excited for another weekend and some fun hanging out with friends.

Monday will be here soon; enjoy yourself in the meantime (and hope to see you back here Monday!).

You can ring my (taco) bell

St. Patty's Day festivities for us last night included meeting up at a friend's house (where some of the crew ate homemade corned beef...ick), heading downtown to the bars, seeing a couch set on fire in the middle of Main Street (no idea where it came from or why it was there...), 16 of us heading to another bar, and then a few of us heading back to a friend's house. On the walk back to his house, we were discussing the strange fact that I've never eaten anything from Taco Bell. After years of watching friends eat "the Bell" and immediately being sick, I never felt the need to jump in.

But what better night than St. Patrick's to give it a go for the first time, right? You know, because the Irish and Mexicans are so tight. Why not...

Emily and Jessica kindly agreed to make the trek with me while the boys walked back to our friend's place.

Our first viewing...


That's me, peeking out from the back, as we eagerly awaited our order:


Alex, our "dining concierge" for the evening, endorsed our order:


The goods:

I think we ordered about eight combos.

My first taste of Fourthmeal. I chose a chalupa. Wise decision?


Jess receives a call from the boys to pick up some food for them too:


Our second time through the drive-thru. Alex was not as enthusiastic this time:


Finally on our way back home:


This is what an amazing opera singer gets at Taco Bell (pintos and cheese):


Don't pinch me, I was wearing green under all those layers.

All in all, a delicious experience. I'm not going to try and replicate it again anytime soon (my stomach is still making weird sounds), but I'm glad I knocked that one off my to-do list. :)Happy St. Pat's Day, y'all!

Have a great (rainy) weekend!

Photo via Absolutely Beautiful Things

I am running out the door with a million things to do before this evening sneaks up on me. We have a busy, busy (rainy) weekend, starting with the second-ever Annapolis Wino Club tonight - for which I need to bring some tasty treats (and haven't even thought of what to do yet!). Tomorrow we head up to Phila for a friend's birthday party at a country western bar; yes, you read that right - and we're trying to squeeze in a pit stop to the Erin Express on the way. Yikes.

Don't forget to set your clocks forward tonight before you go to sleep - Sunday is Daylight Savings! I'm shuddering to think of losing that hour of sleep, but at least it means an extra hour of sunlight for the days. Hurray!

(Oh and don't forget the unveiling of the new Liberty of London line at Target this weekend! If I wasn't going to be running around PA, I'd be there at door's open on Sunday!)

See you back here Monday, when hopefully this rain will be gone and the days will be longer and bright?

Even cowgirls get the (fashion) blues

First zebras, now horses. I guess all this sunshine's getting to me...

But no, this post isn't really about horses. It's about cowgirls. Or more importantly, what is the appropriate attire to wear to a surprise birthday held at a western bar? (Assuming that I'm playing the role of "cowgirl" for the evening.) Yessiree, this western bar is complete with country line dancing, a mechanical bull and what's sure to be a dazzling array of mullets. Can't wait. {sigh}

I always look to Kate Moss for inspiration. What do you think about this get-up?

Photo via dress design decor

Very glamorous with the diamonds, long hair and leo, no? Hmm, it'd be nice and sleek for riding the bull, but I might get chilly.

Perhaps I should go a more traditional route?:

Photo via Daddy Likey

But where are this cowgirl's pants?!

Maybe glam is the way to go. Hermes certainly likes their cowgirls fancified:

Uhhh, yeaaah, I don't think the bar will be quite that fancy.

How about this other look from Hermes?:

Photos via Delight By Design

Yeh, maybe not. That's a little too Matrix/trained hit killer/cowgirl for me.

Well, if all else fails, I could just throw on these puppies and all will be right in the (country western) world:

Back at the Ranch custom boots, via I Am A Greedy Girl

Unnnh, perhaps I have some more thinking/shopping to do....

What do you think? Any suggestions on cowgirl attire without looking like a tranny rodeo clown? ;)