Do it. xox

Ribs

Absolutely obsessed with Lorde. Her whole album is amazing but Ribs gets me. xox

Lace me

Please. Wool + Lace = best combo around. xox

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

I have been gone. Again; for what seems like a long time. I have spent the last few weeks/months, living in the outside world. Living; I have been living and laughing and crying. I have also been scared and elated and everything in between. I had a pretty bad health scare, one that left me reeling and thinking about my priorities. What is important in your life? My immediate goal has always been to be happy. And now, more than ever, this is what I am attempting to do: to fill my life with things/people that make me absolutely and incandescently happy. Why settle for less? Glad to be back. xox

True that. xox

Pondering

Joffe Constantin, 1945

About love and relationships. Especially about the place that these take in our lives. I feel more and more grounded in my expectations. And that's not a bad thing. I think that women need to get off their high horses and realize that there is no fairytale. All there is is life, and imperfect situations. No one is ever going to meet completely your expectations. But that doesn't mean that you should necessarily lower your standards to meet theirs. I think respecting ourselves is something we too oft forget. I had a conservation with a male coworker this week, who in these circumstances, can only be referred to as Yoda. We were talking about the male-female dynamics when he said something absolutely mind-blowing:"You know what's the problem with women, Aude? It's that when they meet a man, they put their whole life on hold for him. And their immediate goal becomes to get serious and start a family. But what about THEM? They should never forget that they should grow too, on a personal level. Otherwise, that's a major repellent." Think about it. xox

So good

Emerson Fry has done it again. Best styling around, hands down. Too bad the prices make me want to turn all Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Well done. xox

P.S. Them boots, though. Sigh.

Tell me i'm here

 

Loving (or re-loving, I can't remember) the work of photographer Ja Tecson. xox

Édimbourg, mon amour

I'm back from Scotland, my heart and eyes full of wander and gratitude. A funny thing happens in life: it's when you least expect it that you are most blown away by the beauty of things. Scotland is superb. Its people are warm and kind, its vistas are breathtaking and wild. Edinburgh is stunning and displays an absolute paradox between the old and the new. But it's the Highlands that really take the cake. I've never, in my life, have had the privilege of seeing a night sky like this. As I watched the milky ways unfold in front of my eyes, I started crying.  So much beauty. If you ever have the chance to go, do it. It's a beauty of a place. xox

Tout simplement

xox

On it

My dog this afternoon, next to my father's house. Hard to believe that this isn't the sea. I feel incredible grateful for having had this as my playground. Truly my most favorite spot in the world. xox

P.S. I'm on that insta-thing. Follow me!

A little love

 This would be ideal. This is what I dream of. But, as it happens in life, your expectations and reality collide. And, as I am starting to realize, this, is nothing without that, below. In fact, I would go as far as to say that without self-love, no other love can grow. So nurture the love you have for yourself. For it is truly the longest love you will most likely know. xox

xox

All grown-up

Forever my youth idol, Miss Katie Holmes. How sexy does she look? I have been a Joey Potter for most of my life, but as I approach my thirties (big, big gasp), I feel more womanly. I want to be sexier, more self-assured. I want to leave the awkwardness and the doubts behind. I want to own up to who I am and show it to the world. I want to speak my mind without fearing the consequences. I want to be unapologetic. Yes. xox

Great Scott!

In one week, I will be in the Scottish Highlands. How crazy is that? xox

Time stood still

Time has been both still and spinning around me lately. I have held it in the palm of my hands and I have seen it pass through my fingers. Where does the time go? What do you do with your time? I have been both sick and have met someone new these past two weeks. By being ill, I have been forced to slow down, something I despise. By meeting someone, I have been swirling in every which direction. I have been opening up some of my time to allow for our time to coincide. But sometimes, it seems like we are giving time like it's a cheap commodity. It isn't. Plan your time well. Don't give it all away. Keep some for you. Give some to others. But never undervalue what it's worth. And never take it for granted. xox

"Something happened. She had a particular quality. She didn't seem to be a "date" but an equal. She knew where she stood, and I found that attractive.You never get anywhere with a woman you can't talk intelligently with. " Roger Ebert

P.S. Rober Ebert wrote a wonderful love letter to his wife, Chaz. A beautiful read. xox

The salt trail

The Salt Trail // TRAILER from The Salt Trail on Vimeo.


Dreamy, dreamy film coming to your screens soon. xox

Mangata

 

Edvard Munch, Moonlight. Untranslatable words: Mangata. xox

This insatiable desire

For love. It's here. I feel it in my bones. I'm ready for it. Once, I wasn't. Now, I am. And like a cruel thief, who takes without asking, love evades me. It ignites a spark, only to let it die without promise or the hope to be renewed again. How many times can one reignite it? How long before the cover of disappointment takes the oxygen out of it forever? Je ne sais pas. I'm pretty sure I never knew. Yet, I feel it in my bones. Love, it's coming. I think, I hope. xox

West of Memphis

 I have a thing for injustice. It stirs in me a kind of rage that scares me. But more than that, it knocks the air out of my lung. Two questions haunt me: 1) how can people let this happen, and let it get this far; 2) how can the victims - the wrongfully accused, the innocents - accept it and not let the sheer weight of it all destroy them. One of my favorite movie is Shawshank Redemption. I love it because I cannot fathom the fortitude Andy Dufresne displays; the calmness, the quiet strenght that can be misconstrude for resignation; and then taking the ultimate revenge-claiming his own freedom, and by doing so, destroying the very people who so unjustly erected a prison around him. Last night, I watched West of Memphis, the 2012 documentary from Amy Berg about the infamous case of the West Memphis three. I have spoken about them in here before; how their cause struck me to my core. In 1993, three teenagers were arrested and sentenced for the murder of three 8-year old boys in small town Arkansas. The teenagers were handpicked by the police on grounds that the murder was part of a satanic ritual. All were sentenced to life in prison; the said leader of the pack, Damien Echols, was sentenced to die. He was 18 at the time. To say the investigation and trial were shady is an understatement; no physical evidence tying the teens to the crime scene, no eye witness. Just three outcasts, and whole bunch of assumptions- and lies. How this came to be, how the American justice system came to charge these young men is flabbergasting in itself. But what's even more imcomprehensible, is that as the years passed and new evidence came forward exonerating them, no one from the original trial, be it the judge or the prosecutor or the state's attorney general came forward and said: we fucked up. It took nearly 20 years and a plethora of courage, patience and outside help from a handful of supporters to help shed light on this aberration. This is what West of Memphis wants to document: the injustice, the supporters, the detractors and the one, possible true suspect. I couldn't sleep very well last night; in fact, i'm still very much haunted by it. The movie is long, nearly 2:30. But it's one of the best exemple of humanity I ever did see: how man is a proud creature, too proud to own up to his mistake; how rage can make people do the unimaginable; how despite it all, some people will not give up and will do the right thing; how love, love can blossom in such circomstances. And it gives me hope. Little known fact about the case: then 16-year Jason Baldwin, one of the accused, was asked to strike a deal: if he told the court that Damien Echols was the leader of the cult and had orchestrated the whole thing, his sentence would be reduced - he could even be freed. His answer: "I cannot do this because that would be a lie. And my mama raised me better than that". And so rather than throw his friend under a bus to save his own life, J. Baldwin would spend the next 18 years in a prison cell for a crime he didn't commit. And just like that, your faith in humanity can be restored. xox

“Stop waiting for the perfect moment. It will never arrive. There are no perfect moments sweetheart. We choose our moments and I want you to start choosing yours and start choosing now. Time will not wait for you and I don’t want you to miss out on your life because you’ve been patiently waiting on the sidelines thinking you have to stay there. You don’t have to sit this life out, your life out. You have a whole field in front of you for you to discover and run around in. It is there for you, let your feet press down on the earth and then start running, start discovering, and never stop.” Acoustic Imagery

Where

This is where I will be going, in less than a month. Visiting my sister in the Scottish Highlands. Sometimes, the stars align to create amazing opportunities. Take them. No regrets. Just lots of gratitude. xox

P.S. This is a traditional Scottish folk song sung by British musician Isobel Anderson. If this isn't one of the most beautiful things you have ever heard, then... then...re-evaluate your life. 

Marine

Really into navy for Fall. A little less gloomy than black, a whole lot more regal. xox

The calm before the storm

"I am happy. I think I really am. But then I get sad. And sometimes it overwhelms me how sad I can get." 


This perfectly sums up how I feel. I am happy and content with my life, I truly am. But sometimes, a wave so powerful, so sudden washes over me. And I damn nearly drown each time. And this makes me rethink and question my life constantly. Am I truly happy? Are we ever truly elated? Maybe this is what life is: a calm sea with the occasional super storm. And if there were no storm, maybe our placid waters would seem incredible boring, don't you think? xox

Wild romance

Inside and out, front to back, back to front, love your loves. xox

Le temps retrouvé

Cy Twombly, unknown artist. Both lovely. xox

“I love the person I’ve become, because I fought to become her.” Kaci Diane

Simple

Loving the simple looks of Harper & Hayley's blogger Sara Donaldson. So easy yet so chic. xox

London town

London on my mind. Saw this beautiful flower shop in Notting Hill. So pretty. xox

Fire

So much beauty in nature. Grateful to be able to realize it. xox

Oh Mark!

Rekindling my crush on Mark Whalberg. Been listening to the Italian Job and a lot of Good Vibrations, obviously. xox

"After all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Forever never

Have you seen Celeste and Jesse Forever? If you're 28 and single and are wondering where your life is going, please do. I was really moved by it. It will never win Best Picture but it's very relatable and in a world where indie more often than not means obscure, that's a big bonus. You feel for Celeste: she's an overachiever and wants more for her life. You also feel for Jesse: he's a dreamer and he deserves to be with someone who believes in him rather than try to change him. You feel for both of them: they used to love each other-they still do- but they simply don't work. They're 30 and confused and the perfect life they thought would be theirs is slowly slipping away. It's painful and it's beautiful. Worth a watch. xox

Winged

So perfect for Fall. Ditch the black for navy blue. Or do both. So chic! xox

This life

Is beautiful. You might not realize it today, you may not feel like it is everyday. But through the good and bad, you are here. To live through moments like the one above. Friends. A lake. Good food. Peace. Perfection. xox

Perfection is not the way. Necessary reminder each day. xox

Beauty is everywhere

Or in my case, in my backyard. How lucky am I to live in a place like this? Pure happiness. xox