love forever

Richard Haughton / Food Photography

We're having a heatwave in Philadelphia and I don't plan on using our oven again until September. These artful food photographs by Richard Haughton make me excited to eat my veggies!

Color Week Day 2/ Orange

It's Day 2 of Color Week! Orange is a tougher color for me than red. I love it but I tend to think that a little bit goes a long way. On one hand orange feel like summer to me: it sunny, warm and a little bit retro, like the juice Lily Pulitzer made before she became the doyenne of Palm Beach fashion. On the other, orange is the color of fall leaves, pumpkins and the flame of a campfire. One thing that's always been curious about orange is that there are shades that pretend to be red. More often than not, when people disagree on the shade of a color, it's "is it red-orange or orange-red?". It's all in the eye of the beholder.

styling and photos by Dietlind Wolf for Sweet Paul magazine


on left: Suno shoe from Spring 2013  on right: Confetti System photo with color palette by Color Collective


Acrylic painting by Ken Resen

This amazing chevron coat, the orange sherbert and the orange roofed-Howard Johnsons, all from the Far Away Places episode of Mad Men, via Tom and Lorenzo

Orange mixed with blue is one of my favorite color combos. I also love it with pink and yellow for a summertastic floral print.

on left: still from Moonrise Kingdom  on right: Clements Ribeiro Spring 2013


Just a liiitle bit of orange in the dining area of my last apartment photo by Jen Causey




Still Life with Apples, Peaches, Pears and Grapes by Paul Cezanne

I think orange...
looks like: a farm fresh egg yolk/Hermes boxes/fall in New England/ pumpkin patches/'60s shift dresses/ eating mangoes with abandon that year I lived in Brazil
smells like: citrus fruit/marigolds/saffron
tastes like: creamsicles/ orange marmalade/
feels: warm/happy/playful
sounds like: Stereolab/ Dent May


on left: Marni Spring 2013  on right: illustration by Ashley Goldberg


on left: Rose Smith in Prada by Emma Tempest for Vogue Russia   on right: weaving by Sheila Hicks

detail from Proenza Schouler show, photo by Tommy Ton

To Do This Summer:

That's number 1. Often I get to August and realize I have not set one foot in the sand. This is just not acceptable.
Some other things to do this summer:
2. Eat tomatoes from our garden.
3. Have a water balloon fight.
4. Try not to complain about the heat too much.
5. Eat lots of watermelon popcicles from the local bodega.
6. Wear espadrilles.

Loving {Forever}: Taking the Cake

Cake brings people together. It's a symbol of fun, celebration and the nostalgic sugar rush of chldhood birthday parties. We all have quite a few memorable cakes in our past.
On my fifth birthday, my mom made me a cake that looked just like a hamburger, with ketchup jam and sesame seeds on top of the big frosted cake bun. My grandmother Jane only made only onekind of cake: yellow with the richest chocolate frosting ever, perfect when washed down with the iciest glass of whole milk. After a bad college break-up, I spent a Christmas break making cake after cake after cake. It was the only thing that made me feel whole.
Cake makes people happy and it transcends trend. Cupcakes may be overdone but cake is eternal.


Cake painting by Martha Rich


Teal and white chevron cake from Once Wed by Sweet Sensations


Maple cake pedestal by Herriott Grace


Cake painting by Paul Ferney


Leah Rosenberg's Cake of a Painting and Painting of a Cake. Genius!


A cake alphabet!


photo by Amy Stevens


and last but not least, who else wants to make a rainbow cake?

Loving {Forever}: New Year's Glitz and Glam

I don't know what it is this year but getting dressed up is more fun than ever. There are few fun aspects of the aging process but one of them is that I care less and less about what other people think of my get-ups. Now the going out part: that's getting to be a little less fun, but who cares? Even if you're just hanging out with a couple of friends on New Year's Eve, give yourself a crazy manicure and stick a feather in your cap. It's a new year and this is not the time to play it safe.

So, why don't you...

...don a wild hat and some serious party lips. My two favorites are Funny Face and Schiap by Nars.

...wear a party dress with bedazzled kicks. Or make your own.


...tease your hair, pile on the sequins.
(image from Numero #129 by Sebastian Kim)

...throw some ballons in the air (or under your skirt).
(image by Sølve Sundsbø for Vogue China)

...be the hit of the party with the most ridiculously awesome cake ever.

...cover yourself in glitter from head to toe. I'm going to do my nails with this magical Holographic polish.


...bust out some Sophia minis. And drink them in the can! They're cuter that way.

...party like it's 1958.
(image from the Time Life archives)

...make your own confetti and streamers. Throw them everywhere!

And don't forget to kiss someone at midnight!