Love Him

....and him!

Nagi Sakai

Aside from making beautiful photographs, Nagi Sakai seems to always have a great stylist.  I particularly love the styling in these images.  They remind me of Free People, which is probably why I am drawn to them.  The location is also great and a perfect setting for the clothing. It really ads a lot of warmth to the photographs.

© Nagi Sakai

This last image is my favorite.  The ensemble is just wonderfully put together and I love the color scale. It's very sophisticated but still adventurous. 

Bicycles everywhere!

I was browsing the Lush Lee blog this morning and came across this image that was originally seen on New York Daily News.  It's been a while since I've seen a really different and inspiring photograph that wasn't fashion related. This was an advertisement for a bicycle shop in Altlandsberg, Germany.  There were 120 bikes mounted on this wall! I wonder how long that took....  The whole this is just very aesthetically pleasing and definitely gets some ideas flowing.  

Pretty Things

I met a woman named Stacey today who has the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen.  After walking by them nearly 50 times, I decided to go photograph them today because they were looking particularly beautiful. Stacey informed me that she has to water them every day to keep them looking this way, which is apparently really rough on the electricity bill.  I guess it's worth it since they look so good, I've never seen anything like it.  These cover her fence that lines her driveway, all the way down.  She planted them from a seed 3 months ago and they already look like this! She can't even park in her driveway anymore because they have completely taken over. 

Anyway, I thought they were definitely worth sharing with everyone. Have a good Monday!

© Sarah Welch Photography

Jean Shrimpton

I was looking at 60s hair-dos for halloween ideas last night and came across this wonderful Richard Avedon photograph of Jean Shrimpton.

© Richard Avedon

I had to do a little research to find out that this was from the September 1965 issue of Harper's Bazaar.

Very mod, I love it.  I can't help but wonder what they have used to make her hair do that....

Here are a few David Bailey photographs of her. Ah, I would have loved the 60's. 

© David Bailey

Mario Testino - V Magazine

Since I can never find the files on the actual V Magazine website, I have snagged these images from Frou Frou Fashionista yet again:

Can we just discuss the lovely hair colors we have going on here?

© Mario Testino via V Magazine

Mario Testino always makes beautiful photographs but what I am really loving about this shoot are the all the fun hair colors.  I like the modern aspect it brings to these confused pin-up ish/victorian era style images. 

Likewise, Lady Gaga has a similar tone going on these days (though a little less colorful) and I'm really wondering how one achieves this? Especially in her case... it's grey, silver, blonde, pink and purple all at the same time.

Does anyone else see this?  It's a little more obvious in the Vanity Fair spread, which I also can't find, so here are the images individually:

© Nick Knight via Vanity Fair the 5th Annual Style Issue

Whatever plastic-esque material they used in the last image photographed beautifully! The shape it's making is a great compliment to the boots.  I also love the title of this particular image: "The Exploding Plastic Inevitable"

Enjoy!

Life in a Peanut Shell

I was searching for new baking ideas the other day and stumbled across this blog Life in a Peanut Shell: Confessions of Confections, which has some amazing looking recipes on it.  What really caught my eye were these mini cheesecakes that incorporate Sonoma and Thin Mint girl scout cookies.  Not only does that sound delicious but look how adorable they are!

Below is the cheesecake recipe she uses and I'm still trying to figure out how one would incorporate the cookies and still manage to make them look amazing.... As soon as I attempt this recipe myself and depending on how it turns out, I will have more information on how to make these wonderful looking treats! As for now, have a wonderful Saturday!

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

CRUST:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

CHEESECAKE
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

I Miss France

I was looking through old posts on my tumblr today and came across some photos I took in France last summer.  It really made me miss it and want to go back, particularly to Paris.  This is a shot of the hotel I stayed at near the Arc de Triomphe.  Would you believe this is a Best Western? Can someone please tell me why they don't look like this in the States?  What I loved most about France was their taste level.  All the architecture, interior designs and landscaping seemed so well thought out and visually satisfying. I just really enjoyed the romantic nature of the city... it was just like you see in the movies for me. I was in a dream the whole time I was there and I'd like to go back to that place at some point. Happy Friday!

© Sarah Welch Photography

Brett Manning

I've been really neglecting this blog lately but I recently came across another interesting artist I thought I'd mention named Brett Manning. I think her work is very fresh and exciting to look at.  I love the feminine aspect of it and how collectively textured everything is. I wonder if all of these are real people....hmmm.  Anyway, I'm getting really tired so I'll leave you to these. Sweet dreams!

© Brett Manning

Chris Russell: Thought this was worth blogging about

I stumbled across artist Christopher Russell today while browsing the Free People blog... Then I went to his website and this is what I found.....

I love seeing someone's art for the first time, especially when it's really amazing and inspiring.  His use of color is just so pleasing to my eyes. These remind me of how much I love the mountains and wish I was in Colorado... and also of how sad I am that my Telluride trip was suddenly canceled :(

Anyway, hope you enjoy these as much as I do.  I keep debating on which one is my favorite. I'm thinking purple.......

Tim Walker Rules

So this is one of my favorite fashion photographs ever by Tim Walker.  The lighting is absolutely gorgeous, the location is to die for and couldn't be more perfect for photographing that dress!! Where can I find a staircase like this? Gah, will someone please find me a lavish and vintage inspired location, a beautiful dress and a fabulous model like this? Look at the texture in the train!

Here is another one of my favorites.....

It's so simple but very creative! It's like a cross between an installation and a photograph. I love how he stages everything.  One day maybe my dreams will come true and I will have access to a super awesome giant glove too. It's no surprise to me that he was an assistant to Richard Avedon at one point... talk about someone who could teach you a thing or two about fashion photography.

And a few more for you to enjoy.....

What a great idea to illuminate dresses and display them as lights. Genius!

© Tim Walker

Ellen Von Unwerth

I woke up pretty early again this morning, only to find some lovely Ellen Von Unwerth photography that has recently been posted on Frou Frou Fashionista's blogspot. I LOVE her work, it is so inspiring to me. She photographs beautiful women in lingerie very tastefully.  What I love most about her work is that you can tell it is done by a woman.  No offense to male photographers, a lot of you do a wonderful job too but I think she sees women the way they want to be seen, very sexy but still classy. If you can manage to make a woman look innocent and sweet while wearing dangerously sexy lingerie, you have done it right in my book! Of course, this is all opinion but I'm allowed to have one right?!

Enjoy!

© Ellen Von Unwerth featured in VS Magazine

Courtesy of Frou Frou Fashionista

Time do do some youtube yoga! For any of you who are interested, this is the video I follow most of the time because I think this girl Sadie Nardini is awesome.

I want this chair!

So, I really shouldn't be spending my money on furniture right now, especially a chair.... but if they still have this in the store, I have to get it! This is from Room Service Vintage.  I bought a couch that I am completely in love with from here a couple years ago and I have been looking for a chair I think would compliment it.  This shape is really hard to find and I don't know if I can pass it up! Hey, at least I can photograph it right?

Ok, so I just realized the link to the UO dress gives an error.  Here, try this.

Sometimes UO has some awesome things... that are unfortunately not affordable at all.

....like this Wink Smocked Silk Tie-Waist Dress

Where did this come from? It's so flirty... and feminine... and wonderful! I would love have it in my closet. Ugh maybe one day.

Have I mentioned that I have a huge shopping problem? I went to Free People today and bought this. It looks completely different on me though. They have it layered over something but that isn't necessary for me because I'm really short :)

Anyway, I haven't really been good about keeping up with this blog.  I've been in Virginia/Maryland the last 6 days and forgot my computer charger at home. It was frustrating at first because I was supposed to be productive while I was away but it ended up being kinda nice despite that.