(Inside A Black Apple)

Birthday Stars

Two of my most favorite birthday presents this year (thanks, mama & Josiah!) were two of a kind, so I had to snap a photo of them together!

A beautiful glass-glitter Starlette Sparkler made by Sweet Sue (special nickname: toots), and Tocca "Stella" perfume, which I had been not-so-secretly wishing for!

They're now easily two of the loveliest things in my dressing room. There are more star-themed items in there to rival them, but I think these are the nicest!

The perfume just kills me. I haven't fallen in love with a bottled scent like this probably since my teenager days of enrapturement with "Ralph Lauren: Romance".

And I can't wait to wear my glittering silver star on some special upcoming occasion.

Or, you know, maybe just out to coffee.

Recently Pleased By:

1.) The above checked scarf/peter pan collar niceness.
The photo is from this Etsy shop (it's a product photo from one of their listings - sometimes the simple item hanging on the wall photographs just knock my socks off.)

2.) These Tin Can candles (I got the Sweet Olive Blossom). I soaked the label off and its sweetness as an object is matched only by the lovely scent.

3.) My new grey suede Coclico oxfords, bought to replace a pair of completely worn-down favorite grey shoes. These are so beautifully made, were snagged on really good sale, and have little cornflower-blue laces! J'taime!

4.) The discovery that Spoonflower is now offering cotton voile! I can't wait for my swatches to get here. If it's nice, airy Summer dresses with custom prints could be in my future.

5.) Paging through Matchbook Magazine (via the SJV blog) - an online magazine with a sensibility that I see popping up in lots of places: classic prepster meets vintage sweetheart (lots of JCrew, Kate Spade, sailor tees, red lipstick). I'm very impressed by this issue, which features interviews with Rifle Paper Co. and Marais shoes, among other indie all-stars. The whole thing is really sweet, ambitious, and very thoughtfully composed. A+!

6.) I almost forgot - my new spectacles!!!

Little Things: A Golden Jackalope

Here is my tiny new friend I mentioned a few posts back.

He's just so neat...I'm still amazed that he was out there somewhere, waiting for Josiah to find him in his Christmas shopping travels. I think a new jackalope-themed painting should be on the list in my next series.

Also, on the oh-my-goodness-what-can-I-do front, Hillary and Stephen Colbert (two excellent advisors) both mentioned this neat, easy way to contribute to the Red Cross Haitian Relief efforts: you can text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross. Or, if you, like me, are never quite sure that you've used the text messaging feature correctly, you can donate here.

Happy weekend to you!

Candy Canes + Snoop Dogg

Just a little post today, to let you know that there are Candy Cane Train prints in the shop.

Also, as several of my friends informed me last week, I am now only one degree removed from  Snoop Dogg. I never thought I'd be able to say that, so I'll cross that off my "To Do in 2008" list. I especially like it when M.S. asks for a vocabulary list to "get along in life these days".  I know that people have very mixed feelings about Martha, but I find her persona by turns peculiar, a "buttoned-up" sort of adorable and very funny (intentionally and...otherwise).

*

Oh! I've gotten a few emails about this, so I thought I would let you know that I've changed around the comments section to utilize the moderation tool. All this means is that your comments will be visible a few hours after you post them (depending on how quick on the draw I am with my email-checking).