Midsummer Night's Dream

Today is the longest day of the year! Also known as Summer Solace. This is suppose to be the most magical day of the year where Ferries come out to play and love is in the air. This day is celebrated around the world.

When I was in Sweden I noticed that Summer Solace is more important then Christmas. They get two weeks off of work to celebrate this time of year where as for Christmas they only get off two days. The festival is called "Midsommar", houses are decorated inside and out with wreaths and flower garlands. Swedes then dance around the decorated midsummer pole while listening to traditional folk songs known to all. In Sweden, as in many other countries, the magic of Midsummer includes bonfires, and divining the future, especially one's future spouse!

Today is so popular that Shakespeare penned a rollicking play around the antics of humans and mythical creatures called, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Some folklore says that evil spirits were said to lurk about on the magical night of the summer solstice. St. John’s wort, an aromatic ancient herb that smells like balsam was used to ward off witches and evil spirits. The flowers of St.John's Wort were fashioned into circlets and worn on the head. Farmers wreathed livestock with circles of St. John’s Wort. Bouquets of the herb were placed in the home, on the doorstep and over the door to prevent evil from entering the home. Also, bonfires are said to ward away evil spirits and welcome in the new season.

To me I think its the magic in the air that I find most fascinating and the fact that love is also in the air;)

Les Robes Geographiques

How cool are these dresses made out of maps entitled "Les Robes Geographiques" by Elisabeth Lecourt. I would love to have one if they were only made of fabric.

http://www.elisabethlecourt.com/

Get a life - and live it!

I read an article today on a blog called New World Astrology that I would like everyone to read. It's about shedding excess baggage and moving on in your life.
I seem to love this new age stuff and the cycles of the moon and the planetary alignments. It seems that it really may have an effect on peoples lives weather they want to believe it or not. The article is quite thought provoking and my make you think about your own life so be prepared to do that. It also may have a positive effect on how you think about love, life, and how you perceive these things. Give it a read.
http://newworldastrology.blogspot.com/2008/06/lighten-your-load-or-lose-it-full-moon.html

BBC Radio 1

When I lived in the UK I used to listen to the Chris Moyles Show every morning when I woke up. Since I have moved back to Canada I have taken up listening to it on the BBC Radio 1 website while I work. I think it reminds me of the days I used to ride the Tube and hang out with Big Ben. I really enjoy the British humour and the way the Brits speak and tell it as it is. As we all know the Brits get up a few hours before us so they tape the show and make it available to listen to later in the day. The show is quite funny and it seems the Brits always discover music before us. Give it a listen I think you might like it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chrismoyles/

Grandpa's Pocket Watch Necklace

I just love this necklace! I will be getting it when I go to Urban Outfitters in NYC! I will never be late again;)

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/index.jsp

Tease

Tease: 50 Inspired T-Shirt Transformations by Superstars of Art, Craft & Design by Sarah Sockit

This book is tres inspiring! It uses regular old or new T-shirts to create one of a kind style. There are 50 easy to follow patterns by 50 different designers. One being Fashion designer and stylist for Sex and the City, Patricia Field.

I will be sewing a few things fron this book, one being a skirt made from you guessed it an old XL Tshirt I got at Frencys! I will post it when it is finished. I hope to start it this week.

Quit Smoking With Yoga

I really want my Mom to quit smoking so... from time to time I may post some quit smoking articles for everyone to read:) I think Yoga would be a great way to help quit smoking! Enjoy!

If you are resolved to quit smoking, then yoga is perhaps the best way to begin your venture. Pranayama or breathing exercises are recommended to deal with this addiction. It is often due to stress and anxiety that one wants to smoke. By changing your breathing pattern, you can relieve yourself from anxiety and stress. Pranayama calms your mind and harmonises the functioning of your body mind and soul. Ultimately it reduces your craving to smoke cigarettes. Nadishodhi Pranayama is a very effective yoga breathing exercise.

Sit cross legged or in any comfortable position by keeping your spine straight. Close your eyes and relax your whole body.

Close your right nostril with your right thumb. Inhale and exhale 5 times through your left nostril. Take deep breaths while breathing.

Close your left nostril with your ring finger. Now take deep inhalation and exhalation 5 times through the right nostril.

As you breathe in and out, be aware of each breath.

Make sure that you do not produce any sound while taking breaths. Repeat this exercise at least five times.

I got this from http://www.drgranny.com/yoga/?p=91
For more information go to:
http://fitness.families.com/blog/why-yoga-might-help-you-quit-smoking
http://smoking.ygoy.com/quit-smoking-through-yoga/
http://www.start-meditation-stop-smoking.com/SixTips_for_Quitting_Smoking.html

The art of Reading Tea Leaves

Last weekend I stumbled upon this at a yard sale. A tea reading cup. When I first saw it I had no idea what it was I just enjoyed the writing on the side and the pictures on the inside. It is a china cup that says Perchance this cup will show it thee. Would'st thy fortune like to see?

So I of course had to research this on the Internet when I got home. The art of reading tea leaves is referred to as Tasseography (or Tasseomancy) and is a divination or fortune-telling method. The person reading the tea looks for patterns left by the tea that is at the bottom after the person getting their fortune read is finished drinking their cup of tea.

Symbols can be many things including people, animals, and inanimate objects, etc. Two or more symbols grouped together may link to the same message, theme. The closer the symbol to the top of the cup, the sooner the event will happen. The thicker the symbol, the stronger the impact on the person's life. Most symbols can be read in both a positive or negative context. This is up to the person doing the reading and always subjective. The best way to interpret a symbol is to view it, then use your psychic abilities to make an interpretation.

It looks like a lot of fun! I will be trying it soon!

Sally Jane Vintage

Everyday I read only a few blogs. This one is likely my all time favourite. Sally Jane Vintage! She gives great inspirations for clothing, decorating and more. She has recently posted an entry on this book called Flea Market Style which I had to run out and get, I luckily found it at the library as well as another book called Found Style. Anyways, they inspired me to go to many Flea Markets and Yard Sales on the weekend where I got some pretty cool things! I will post later in the week.

I just love that room divider that is made from vintage silk scarfs.

http://sallyjanevintage.blogspot.com/

Heart

As you all know I am in love with all things Paris. I found this lovely Eiffel Tower lamp and I had to share it with you.

http://www.target.com/Eiffel-Tower-Table-Lamp/dp/B000Z4WS56/ref=bxgy_cc_img_a_3071041/601-6501268-9943355

Coral Me Wild!

My friend Tess and I had a conversation recently about nail polish and their names. Wouldn't it be a great job to come up with those names such as "Coral Me Wild" "Yoga-ta Get this Blue!" "An Affair In Red Square" to name a few. Also, Tess who always has great style introduced me to this new shade that is very bright and bold and will brighten up your most rainy day.

Feng Shui Fashon

A guy at work sometimes sends me these Fung Shui tips he gets emailed daily. So I thought I would check out the site.
http://www.astrology.com/

In the Fung Shui section there is a bit called Fashion Files and this is one of the articles I found refreshing.

I encourage to to check it out from time to time!

When we're looking for the perfect something to wear to the perfect event, we all consider fashion and fitness. But often the one thing we don’t consider is the single thing that can make the biggest impact: color! And, at this time of year, when the sun is shining high in the sky, birds are singing and green grass is growing, we have a yearning to wear big, bold, bright colors to complement the spring in our step and the rebirth that we instinctively feel going on all around us.

Strong colors, either alone or in combination, will not only buoy our own spirits but will help to lift others as well. When you see someone wearing the same old coffee or gray or (gulp) monotone black day after day, and then one morning they step out of their rut and wear something seasonal and just va-va-voom -- it's like a parade marching through the office!

Remember this the next time you're readying to face the day. How you feel about yourself is definitely mirrored in the choice of the color, and your choice of clothing reflects the state of your chi at that moment as well. Now, on the couture contraire, if you're feeling a bit under the proverbial weather and can’t muster a multi-colored designer outfit, this doesn’t mean you have to roll in rocket gray. Never let them see you sweat -- and try not to let them see you shrouded in subdued energies! At least pull on a brightly colored sweater to shake off the blues.

Remember, the next time you need a lift, open the closet, bring out the brightest hue you can find and raise your spirits. Orange will bring that boost immediately, as will a touch of red or kelly green. Bright golds and yellows -- the color of emperors, kings and most spring flowers -- will grow your money and your mood. Take stock of the colors that comprise your wardrobe and then watch your values soar!

Let's Talk About Sex

As we all know the Sex and the City film came out last week. In the film there is a bit about Carrie having a fashion spread in the annual "Age Issue" of Vogue. So to my surprise when I went to grab my June issue of Vogue who should be on the cover but SJP and there is an article about the film with some of her photos from the actual film photo shoot with Vogue. The article is titled "rebel romance" and there are various pictures of "Carrie and Big" throughout Manhattan on their "Honeymoon". The photography is breathtaking! If you get a chance to pick it up you should.

This is one of "Carrie and Big" in the New York City Library.

This is a link to the article online: http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/051308/page2.html

As for SJP, she has appeared on two other Vogue covers I thought I would share with you.

Enjoy!

New Moon in Gemini

We are what we think

All that we are arises with our thoughts.

With our thoughts we make the world.

Speak or act with a pure mind

And happiness will follow you

As your shadow, unshakeable.
How can a troubled mind understand the way?

Your worst enemy cannot harm you

as much as your own thoughts unguarded.
But once mastered,

No one can help you as much,

Not even your father or your mother.
Buddha

New Moon in Gemini Tuesday, June 3, 12:23 pm PDT, 3:23 pm EDT

The New Moon in Gemini seeds a multitude of ideas and opens new channels of communication. Yet with its ruling planet Mercury stuck in reverse until the 19th, avoid information overload to maintain a semblance of intellectual order. Vivacious Venus joins the New Moon, adding beauty and social skills, enlivening relationships and artistic impulses. A supportive sextile from Mars in dramatic Leo adds a playful tone favorable for flirting, empowering creativity and enriching self-expression.

A little note about Yves Saint Laurent

With the sad news of a fashon icon passing I thought I would write a bit about this amazing guy.

First a bit of history. Saint Laurent left home at the age of 17 to work for the French designer Christian Dior. Following Dior's death in 1957, Yves, at the age of 21, was put in charge of the effort of saving the Dior house from financial ruin. Sortly after that in 1960, he was conscripted into the French Army. His service was short-lived however, and he was transferred into a French mental hospital suffering from stress, where he underwent psychiatric treatment, including electroshock therapy, for a nervous breakdown. In 1962, in the wake of his nervous breakdown, Saint Laurent was released from Dior and started his own label, YSL, financed by his companion, Pierre Bergé.

'YSL' is perhaps most famous for "Le Smoking" tuxedo jacket, see-through blouses, peasant blouses, bolero jackets, pantsuits and smocks. By feminising the basic shapes of the male wardrobe, YSL set new standards for world fashion. He not only adapted the male tuxedo for women, but also safari jackets, pea jackets and flying suits.

His 1971 radical ‘40s’ collection shocked critics, as did the advertising campaign for the first YSL men’s fragrance, ‘Pour Homme’ which featured Yves himself posing nude.

Since his retirement, Saint Laurent become increasingly reclusive and spend much of his time at his house in Marrakech, Morocco.

He will be sadly missed as he is the last of the great of a generation that included Christian Dior and Coco Chanel and made Paris the fashion capital of the world, with the Rive Gauche, or Left Bank, as its elegant headquarters.

"I've known fear and terrible solitude," he said. "Tranquilizers and drugs, those phony friends. The prison of depression and hospitals. I've emerged from all this, dazzled but sober."