by Claire Star
So, I was happy to stumble upon Eventide Collective, a website where sixteen photographers sell their gorgeous prints. Here are a few of my favorites…
Tags: by Claire, Art, Design, Home, Photography, Travel
by Claire StarIf I had an unlimited budget for art, without a doubt I’d choose a couple large photos to use as the focal point of a room. I love photos of beautiful places in nature, or scenes from my favorite cities. When I travel, I’m always hoping that some of my photos will turn out well enough that I’ll want to enlarge them and put them out for display. So, I was happy to stumble upon Eventide Collective, a website where sixteen photographers sell their gorgeous prints. Here are a few of my favorites… The best part? The prints start at $50! Which would you choose? (See more here!)
Tags: by Claire, Art, Design, Home, Photography, Travel
0 Comments
by Claire StarThis month has been overwhelming for a number of reasons: I’m adjusting to both a new school and a new job, and midterms arrived sooner than I’d expected. In an effort to keep myself calm (some days more successfully than others), I’ve been thinking a lot about Edinburgh, one of my favorite cities. The two months that I lived there were some of my happiest to date, thanks in large part to the wonderful people I met and the ample time spent exploring the beautiful city. Through long, explorative walks every afternoon, I was soon able to find my way around (and give fellow tourists directions) and discovered some incredible places.
As I continue adjusting to my new school, I hope to find a similar sense of peace and contentment in an unfamiliar setting as I did in Edinburgh. I’ll leave you for today with pictures of Arthur’s Seat, a beautiful and expansive natural landscape in the heart of Scotland’s capital. I hope you find the photos as comforting as I do. // Photography by Claire Star Tags: by Claire, Edinburgh, Meditation, Photography, Travel by Claire StarI’ve been feeling harried and overextended lately, as I rush from school to work or from dinner to my desk to continue studying. I catch myself believing that I don’t have time for the things that I enjoy, things such as a conversation with a classmate, a phone call to my best friends, a yoga class on Monday nights, or the latest episode of The Good Wife. I catch myself believing that I won’t have time to read my fun book until the arrival of winter break, or that I should give up all hope that Nicole and I will have our French girl Skype session, consisting of a required uniform of striped shirts and set menu of French pastries and good coffee. I catch myself believing that all the crunchy fall leaves will long be raked away by the time I have a chance to walk through them. I’m well aware that these believes are not conducive to happiness, nor does they lend to positive thinking. I know that if I continue in this vein, I will get stuck somewhere dark. I’ve been there before; I have no desire to go back. So, I’m choosing to embrace the time spent doing the things that I find enjoyable. I’m going to change the labels I apply to my actions so that they better reflect how I want to feel. I will no longer reprimand myself for the ten minutes each day spent reading my favorite blog, Cup of Jo, and instead appreciate the happiness I derive from the experience. I’ll accept the mornings where I slept later than planned, acknowledging that my body must have needed the extra rest. I acknowledge that this will be a gradual process. I accept that after my twenty (albeit short) years of living one way, I will not wake up tomorrow a completely changed person. That would be wonderful, but perhaps not realistic. And I want to observe the change as it happens, as I believe that it will remind me why I started in the first place. Inspired by the post “Save It For a Rainy Day” on Erin Boyle’s blog Reading My Tea Leaves, I’m choosing to embrace the time I spend doing the things that I find enjoyable. I’ll commit myself to taking the time to do at least one thing—strictly for the fun of it—each day. As of now, the list of things that makes me happy includes: - planning trips, either real or hypothetical (as evidenced here and here) - taking aimless walks with my dog, Freddie - finding the best coffee in Seattle - listening to music by Brandi Carlile - eating ice cream - browsing Pinterest - writing this blog with Nicole - taking pictures If I’m struggling, I’ll visualize the times and places that I was happiest, such as when I took the photos in this post, and remember the message conveyed on the Scottish Museum of Modern Art’s building, below. I’m curious: how do you prioritize the things that make you happiest?
Note: This post was inspired by the post “Save It For a Rainy Day” on Erin Boyle’s blog Reading My Tea Leaves. I highly encourage you to take a few minutes and read the post; I found those couple hundred words to be as equally valuable as the twenty-plus hours of reading I did this week for my classes. // Photos by Claire Star. Title borrowed Sheryl Crow's song by the same name. Tags: by Claire, Happiness, Life by Nicole Jordan
I enjoy listening to jazz music, whether for keeping me company while cooking or reading, or to help me focus while studying and writing essays. Claire and I even used to listen to jazz on bus rides to and from Manhattan from our former college, finding that it was relaxing while staring out the window and preparing ourselves for another week of lectures and readings. The varying tempos and emotions conveyed by jazz musicians translates to an endless selection of artists or songs to listen to, no matter the mood or task at hand. When I want something soothing, I listen to Antonio Carlo Jobim; when I want something more upbeat, I like Dizzy Gillespie and Sydney Bechet.
As I’m currently in the midst of midterms, I thought I would share one of my favorite Spotify jazz playlists, which you can listen to for free by simply clicking on the playlist below. (Let us know if you like it, we can put together more playlists in the future!)
// Photos via bloglovin, One Sweet Song, flickr, Jazz First Books, American in Paris, Fall 2010, Jazz Italia, Jackson Fine Art
Tags: by Nicole, Culture, Listen by Claire StarBrowsing through Pinterest can be overwhelming at times. Too many fussy outfits, curated collections of knick-knacks, and overly staged homes can leave me feeling frustrated rather than inspired. Yet when I shift my focus and remember that Pinterest is intended to be a source of inspiration for my life, rather than a textbook needing to be perfectly replicated, I find much more enjoyment in looking through the scores of beautiful (and, yes, occasionally photoshopped) images. Houseplants are one interior design idea that I’ve been drawn to lately, and thankfully they’re easy to execute and adapt to any taste. Greenery comes at all price points and sizes and can be rearranged many times over to suit changing preferences. You can use houseplants sparingly or abundantly and play with heights, sizes, or species. (As flexible as plants are, however, be sure to consider the amount of light each plant needs to thrive and place them accordingly. You can also write the watering schedule on your calendar, if need be, if you tend to forget like I do!) Here’s some inspiration for every room of the house: // Images via Frøken Overspringshandling, Alice Gao, Design*Sponge, Taylor Sterling Loves, Smile and Wave, Nicole Gerulat, Apartment Therapy, Home Edit, and Cup of Jo.
Tags: by Claire, Design, Garden, Home by Claire StarBefore I watched Kings of Pastry, I would never have thought it possible to find watching pastry chefs create sugar sculptures would equate to the suspense and awe, excitement of a professional sporting event. Oh, how I was wrong!
Kings of Pastry (available on Netflix) follows chef Jacquy Pfeiffer as he prepares for the competition of a lifetime: the Les Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, a red, white, and blue collar signifying mastery of fine pastries. The award ceremony is such a prestigious affair that even the French president attends and the preparation for the competition, which is held every four years, is reminiscent of athletes dedicating their lives to winning an Olympic gold medal. This documentary is one of those films that never gets old. The first time I rented it, I watched it two nights in a row. Kings of Pastry was also the first movie Nicole and I watched together, only a few days after we met. When each of us brought cookies to share (mine were gingersnaps mailed cross country by my mom; Nicole’s were Fairway coffee chocolate chip), I think we realized our friendship was meant to be. Have you ever watched a movie and loved it so intensely that you wanted to watch it again and again? Nicole and I plan to share a roundup of some of our other favorites soon! // Photos via NPR, Living Room Theaters, and Honolulu Pulse. Tags: by Claire, Food, Watch by Claire StarWhen I was a kid, my parents both worked part time and alternated days where they’d take care of my younger brother and me. One day a week, my brother had preschool while I didn’t, so my dad and I had the day to ourselves for adventuring. “No Plans Mondays” were born. Many Mondays, my dad and I would walk up to the corner store and I got to pick out whatever juice box I wanted (and my dad would get an apple - he really likes apples). For some reason, I remember the juice box selection process and bus ride being equally exciting as the Children’s Museum destination. Clearly, my dad is awesome for being able to make busses and juice as great as the Children’s Museum. Other Mondays, my dad and I would do some baking. Our favorite recipe was (and continues to be) cranberry pumpkin muffins. If I’m remembering correctly, we watched Arthur while they were in the oven, but Arthur-watching was by no means something strictly relegated to No Plans Mondays itineraries. We watched Arthur most days of my childhood and my dad even claimed to watch the show when my brother and I were napping. (To this day, I’m still not certain whether he was pulling my leg about that, because he does genuinely like Arthur… He does not, however, enjoy Teletubbies.) More than fifteen years later, I still consider No Plans Mondays to be one of my favorite parts of my childhood. And I still really like spending time with my dad. So today, in honor of No Plans Mondays and my dad being great, I’d like to share our favorite recipe for Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins, adapted from Jane Brody’s Good Food Gourmet (published 1990 by Norton).
by Nicole JordanNot so long ago, Claire talked about the uniform that the two of us have seemed to engender. Classic stripes, neutral colors, black skinny jeans, etc… But what she didn’t touch on too much was where, or shall I say who, we get our inspiration from. Of course, Claire and I look to each other for inspiration, and even criticism for our personal style, but we also keep in mind famous individuals who became known for they way they presented themselves through fashion.
One of my personal favorites is the French singer and actress, Juliette Gréco. Dressed in black, slightly oversized suit pants, she embodied a perfect “borrowed from the boy’s” look. Actually, she did borrow from the boys. When she had next to no money at the start of her career, her male friends often passed along their old suit pants that were too small for them. I’ve always admired how Gréco managed to look effortlessly chic in anything she wore, whether it was a cuffed pair of men’s pants or a little black dress. |
by Claire Star &
|