Watercolour Polka-Dots And Cherry Blossom Branches: A Pox On White Walls!

10 June 2013, 14:34

My office is in disarray. Next week, the roof is going to be ripped right off and systematically replaced.

There are no coincidences: I’m going through my Saturn return, and I feel like I’m prying the roof off everything in my life. I’m fossicking through the attic and getting my hands dirty in the basement, so it all makes sense. I’m deep into the process of figuring out all the pieces and how they fit.

So in addition to taking stock of my spiritual and mental life, it seems natural that such a huge part of my physical life — my office, where I spend 90% of my time — is being uprooted too.

As much as I am dreading packing up the contents of this room, I’m choosing to see it as a positive thing, and an opportunity to give the room a complete makeover. No huge surprise, then, that I’ve been daydreaming about my new digs!

I’ve wanted to romp with rolls of wallpaper for the longest time, but since we rent, permanent wallpaper is out of the question. Thankfully these days there are trillions of options for temporary wallpaper, and really cool stuff, too. When I stumbled upon Spoonflower last week, I was instantly smitten… And now I just can’t choose! At only $60 a roll, they are majorly affordable, and so damn cute!

I have a major case of wallpaper madness. It’s like space madness, but more vertical.

Here are some of my favourite designs… And some imaginary babes that might have bought ‘em, stuck ‘em up, and made them a part of their home!

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Left: La Dolce Vita. Intent on nurturing her inner coquette, when she’s at home she wears hand-dyed vintage slips and gold slippers. She creates floral mandalas on the floor and chants all the time.

Right: Pois D’Aquarelle. Too many episodes of America’s Next Top Model later, she decided the two things her apartment absolutely needed were a runway and a mirror ball. She practices her fiercest walk every morning, and smizes for an invisible audience.

Left: Watercolor Dots Magenta. This girl’s house is full of brightly-coloured kitchen appliances… Not that she knows how to use them. She paints every fingernail a different colour, and practices throwing M&Ms in the air before catching them in her mouth.

Right: Winter Magnolia. She likes to lie on her chaise longue in a fluffy white petticoat and eat marshmallow fluff right out of the jar. Whenever it rains, she makes a point to turn off anything with a screen, and just engage with the real world for a change.

Left: Cousin Oiseau Rose. She bought this wallpaper while under the influence, and squints at it every morning. After her first coffee of the day, however, she’s able to enjoy it a little more, and laughs at how insanely bright it is.

Right: Sac Poupée Russe V Rose. She gives tarot readings at her kitchen table, and draped velvet and tulle between the corners of her ceiling, giving it the feel of a mystical circus tent. She never wears shoes and ties strings of bells around her ankles, so people can always hear her coming.

Left: Peacock Pattern Dots Pink. When she went wallpaper shopping, her boyfriend told her this one creeped him out: that it looked more like spying eyes than peacock feathers. They broke up a week later, and she ordered a roll immediately. When she walks past the wall in the mornings, she lets her fingers dance along the pattern, and smiles.

Right: Branches. She hung an immense mosquito net around her bed and wished she would never have to leave it. By way of compromise, she decided to conduct all business from bed: writing emails, eating her meals, and taking guests, too.

Left: Love Letters Pink. Every Friday night, she glued glitter to her eyelids and prowled the city, looking for girls to bat her long lashes at. When she was successful, she would make them French toast the next morning and kiss their elbows, but never tell them her real name.

Right: Wide Red And Pink Chevron. She glues cat-shaped decals onto her fingernails and purrs when she answers the door. She installed a photobooth in her house so that everyone who visited could be documented… Even impatient Fedex dudes and shy delivery boys.

Left: Dictionary Page With Birds On Wire. She reads dictionaries for fun, and tries to use a new word every day. She wonders if people might think her implacable, cantankerous or impudent. Well, maybe they would if they had her vocabulary.

Right: Watercolour White Doilies. Even though she had travelled far and wide, met the Dalai Lama and obtained her Master’s degree, her favourite thing to do was close her eyes, hold out her arms and spin in circles.

Left: J’adore Paris. She had never left Idaho but filled her home with any- and everything Paris: her bookcase was littered with books by Anais Nin and Henry Miller and Flaubert and teeny tiny statuettes of the Eiffel Tower, she bought herself macarons once a week and practised her conversational Français with the owner of her local bakery.

Right: Feather Chevron Turquoise. She wished she could live her whole life horizontal, floating. Would it be possible to fill her entire studio apartment with mattresses and cushions? She hoped one day she would date a magician and learn to levitate.

Left: Peonies Ink. Her fingernails are caked with pastels, her wrists flecked with watercolours. She keeps pencils, bulldog clips and paintbrushes stashed in her unbrushed curls. She is always making delightful messes: when she bakes bread, she showers the kitchen with flour; when she eats, vinegar flicks from the edges of her salad, and she grins.

Right: Medium Navy Chevron. The wall beside her front door is covered in mirrors of all different shapes and sizes. Sometimes she spends an hour dancing in front of them, chewing bubblegum, applying and reapplying bright pink lip gloss, and listening to Lil Wayne.

Left: Blueming Flowers. She grows flowers on every shelf, every windowsill, and in every nook and cranny of her home. She crushes lavender flowers and stuffs them inside her pillowcase, she sprinkles rose petals in her bath, and grows lemons for gin and tonics in a pot beside the couch.

Right: Madame Fancypantaloons’ Instant Library Bindings. A bookworm since birth, she always has a stack of storybooks beside her. She goes through phases, but right now, she’s obsessed with reading about grisly crimes. She replaces the dust jackets with self-help titles so as not to upset her mother when she comes to visit.

Left: Love Letter. She had taken to wearing red lipstick every day, even when she wasn’t planning on leaving the house. It made her feel better about life, and gave her a sense of power and fortitude.

Right: Watercolor Chevron. It makes her eyes hurt… But she loves it.

Are you as obsessed with these as I am?! Honestly, how are you ever supposed to choose one design?! Impossible! (Although, if you have a STRONG FEELING about one I must stick to my wall, feel free to let me know about it!)

Oh, another amazing thing about Spoonflower is that if you have your own designs you’d like to make a reality, they offer that service, too! And if you’re not quite ready to commit to a roll of wallpaper, you can purchase the designs as giftwrap. Genius!

Pretty cool. And P.S., I was not paid to say this. I just think it is the best idea ever!

Much love from this mind spinning with options,

Title image from Tim Walker. You should buy his book, too!

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Can A Number Determine Your Fate? What Numerology Can Tell You About Your Life Purpose

7 June 2013, 13:49

It’s a stormy, rainy day here in New York City, so it feels like the perfect time to talk about numerology! I just read an interview with Marilyn Manson (what else is new?!) where he was talking about it, and it inspired me to look it up again. I haven’t researched numerology in ages, but consider yourself warned: it’s easy to get lost in the subject!

If you’d like to do a little numerology on yourself, it’s simple. To find out your number, all you do is add up the numbers of your birthday. For example, my birthday is the 13th of September 1983. So I do this…

1 + 3 + 9 + 1 + 9 + 8 + 3 = 34

Once you have that final number, you add them together (so 3 + 4) to get your life path number (in my case, 7). If you get a double-digit number, just keep adding them together until you get a single digit number. The only exception is if you come up with 11 or 22, since 11 and 22 are life path numbers all on their own.

3 + 4 = 7

Your life path number can be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 or 22.

But what does it all mean?! Allow me to enlighten you!

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Ones — as the name might suggest — believe that they are at the top of the heap. They know what they want, and they go after it with a single-minded vision and sense of purpose. They are great at getting what they want out of people, but one of their greatest lessons to learn is that other people don’t really enjoy that!

Ones are extremely creative and individualistic. They often resent authority, and will very rarely seek out — or follow! — advice. The One type believes that if you want something done properly, you should do it yourself… And they’re often right. They are so determined and efficient that they can achieve what looks impossible to anyone else.

Ones make tremendous leaders, as their strong will and passion can help them inspire a team of people to go anywhere they want. If they can learn to be compassionate and sensitive to the needs of others, they will be hugely respected, too.

You can read more about the One here.

Twos are the very definition of the wallflower. They’re sweet, kind and easygoing, but they often fade into the background… And failing to speak their mind or act on their impulses can fill their life with regret.

Twos make fantastic friends and parents. They are very comforting and nurturing, always ready with a cup of tea and an available ear! They’re exceptionally understanding, will listen for hours, and always keep secrets.

They can, however, be low on ambition and self-confidence. Their insecurities keep them quiet, and they don’t give themselves a chance to see what they’re really made of.

Twos are great in a group situation, as they are eager to chip in and do what needs to be done, but their shyness often leads to them being underestimated. Take a risk, speak up, and show people how great you can be!

You can read more about the Two here.

Three is the number of charisma and popularity. You can often see them holding court at a party, or chatting up a storm beside the water-cooler. They make people laugh, and always liven up a room. If you know a Three, there’s never a dull moment. They can get along with anyone, and they love to sell, teach and entertain.

Of course, there is a downside to their extremely engaging and persuasive nature! Threes can often find themselves desperately bidding for attention, and they must guard against beoming egotistical or narcissistic. They are such good salespeople that they sometimes find themselves caught up in a scam or a con.

Threes are almost always more sensitive on the inside than they would appear on the outside, and sometimes they waste their energy by working on too many things at once. The lesson for Three is to deepen relationships, develop a rich inner life, and see beyond the surface!

You can read more about the Three here.

Four is the perfect picture of responsibility and “work now, play later”. They like to follow rules and do everything by the book, and they keep their goals in mind at all times. Their motto could be “slow and steady wins the race”.

They always put money away for a rainy day, and are extremely disciplined when it comes to work and finances. They are known for their strong ethics and conservative nature.

While others may look at them and think the Four is putting life on hold, the Four has the last laugh when they’re able to retire early in the lap of luxury! However, it wouldn’t kill the Four to take time to enjoy life in the moment. Don’t be rigid, don’t get stuck!

You can read more about the Four here.

Five loves to live on the fringes. They’re the ultimate outsider, often with a taste for bizarre art and strange music. The Five loves to research and learn about “unacceptable” things: cults, clairvoyancy, alternative medicine, the occult, etc. They’re also very adventurous, lively and love to hear other people’s opinions. They are the definition of open-minded.

Fives make money and new friends with ease. They are always on the move, and hate being tied down: they’re always seeking out new and exciting things. They loathe rules and tradition.

The other side of Five is that sometimes their weirdness comes from a need to rebel, and they can spend too much time trying to shock others. They can be irritable, messy and they are almost always late!

You can read more about the Five here.

Six is one of the most positive numbers within numerology. Not given to extremes, the Six is well-balanced, happy and optimistic. They can be a little conventional, preferring routine, old friends and the tried-and-true, but they’re not boring or uptight.

Six personalities love peace and equilibrium. They just want everyone to get along! They will always step in to try to moderate disagreements, and are great negotiators.

You can trust a Six to do the right thing, and they are often very successful. Of course, since the good things in life come to them so easily, they can get a little self-absorbed, and take their blessings for granted. They are also prone to worrying… Remember to count your blessings, little Six!

You can read more about the Six here.

Seven is a magical number, and as such, Sevens are extremely psychic, and often drawn to the esoteric. They crave deeper knowledge, and are often lost in a book or their own thoughts. For this reason, they’re sometimes seen as aloof, weird or strange. They’re not: they just need more time to themselves than most.

Sevens are quick-witted and wise, and often think so far ahead that they are somewhat out-of-step with the current time. They often feel that they have a higher purpose and are very motivated.

However, Sevens can be morbid, antisocial and introverted. The challenge for a Seven is to learn to articulate their thoughts, speak out, and let their inner light shine. When they do, they can help, uplift, inspire and teach others.

You can read more about the Seven here.

Eight personalities are go-getters, and can achieve incredible things. They are extremely focussed on the material world, and can accumulate immense wealth. Maybach, anyone?

No one can touch the Eight when they’re pursuing their passions. But there’s a cost: they often abandon their personal life and relationships, and refuse to take responsibility for what is going on internally.

The Eight’s need for recognition can lead them astray, and they are sometimes seen as selfish and thoughtless. Their moral compass can be off, too. The challenge for an Eight is to create a spiritual life, stay connected to the real world, and learn compassion.

You can read more about the Eight here.

Nine people are true humanitarians. They are motivated by their urge to help and serve the world, but can be flighty. It’s often said that Nines could do anything they wanted, if only they could figure out what that was!

They have a strong sense of social justice, and will often fight for the rights of others. They are compassionate and generous to a fault, and inspire others to do better. They are very romantic, too.

Nines are exuberant and enthusiastic, and can fall quickly in and out of love with people, projects and passions. For this reason, people sometimes view them as flaky… And their compulsion to help others in addition to shaky personal goals can get them labelled as meddlesome and bossy. The challenge for a Nine is to pick a project, focus on it, and see it through to completion! When they are able to commit, they can be hugely effective at promoting social change.

You can read more about the Nine here.

Eleven operates on a higher plane than the rest of us mere mortals! They are guided by their sense of truth and justice, and they are motivated to make the world a better place.

Elevens are extremely emotional, sensitive, idealistic and intuitive. They’re not great in business, because rational thinking isn’t their greatest strength, but they are very good-natured and cooperative.

Sometimes their obsession with fairness can drive others a little nuts. They are inclined to be dreamers rather than doers, but if they can harness their energy, their incredibly clear sense of purpose and ethics, and their intelligent and focussed mind can allow them to achieve wonderful things.

You can read more about the Eleven here.

Twenty-two takes all the best parts of the preceding numbers: the energy of One, the sweetness of Two, the brilliance of Three, the work ethic of Four, the adventurous nature of Five, the reliability of Six, the psychic mind of Seven, the worldliness of Eight, the humanitarian nature of Nine, and the vision of Eleven. Being a Twenty-two is extremely fortunate, and — of course — they can use all of these skills to their advantage within life.

It’s said that Twenty-twos are “Grand Builders”, here for a larger purpose, and can use their unconventional thinking to make massively positive changes to the world.

On the flip-side, a Twenty-two can also be seduced by all of the negative aspects of the preceding numbers, so ultimately it is up to them as to whether they channel the higher or lower aspects of their personality. Some Twenty-twos distrust others, and use their personality to control and manipulate others.

In the case of a Twenty-two, just like the nursery rhyme, it’s clear that when they are good, they are very very good… And when they are bad, they are horrid!

You can read more about the Twenty-two here.

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Do you see yourself in your number? I’d love to hear how accurate you think numerology is… Holler at me on Facebook!

Big love from this Seven,

Title image by Liz Ham.

See more: magic

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Things I Love Thursday: The Happiest Vampire!

6 June 2013, 13:23

The weather was so unbelievable over the weekend that we were barely in the house. On Sunday we went to the Met to check out the Punk exhibit. It seems crazy when I type it, but Mike and I had never been there together. The reason it’s so wild is that my husband studied at SVA, and he knows so much about art! As we walked from room to room, he pointed out his favourite things, telling me what made them brilliant and what he loved about them. It was totally illuminating, since when I look at art, I know what I like, but I don’t know what I’m looking at. It was fantastic to learn a little more about the subject!

Afterwards, we walked across the road to Café Sabarsky, a little restaurant tucked inside the Neue Galerie, where I ate one of the best pretzels of my life along with an insane iced chocolate and crepes filled with apricot confiture. Yum. Best cheat day ever.

Now that it’s summer, I’m back to my old habits: namely, taking extremely long walks and documenting everything I see. Yesterday I was walking home thinking about how lucky New Yorkers are to live in this magnificent city: full of art and life, strange characters and beautiful light. I’m so grateful to be here!

J’adore… Obsessively treasure-hunting (especially on Bonadrag... Too many gems to ignore!) Giggling with my husband at the Met Enchanted evenings with Veronica Varlow Planning holidays, because it’s my favourite thing ever Seeing Rabbit read at St Mark’s Bookshop — she was dressed like Jerry Hall and made all the men in the audience nervous Finding new mixtapes to play over and over and over again Writing memoir-style vignettes Buying new notebooks (can’t help myself) Counting down the days until I’m reunited with Shauna and Kat! Being super-in-love with my husband (#summerlovin #hadmeablast) Teasing my hair every day Working out with resistance bands and being almost unable to walk downstairs for two days afterwards GREEK ISLANDS! Waking up at 6am: yeah, it sucks, but you feel great 10 minutes afterwards! Filming interviews New Illamasqua lipstick (in Atomic — glorious) Walking 40 blocks in perfect weather Strolling down unfamiliar streets and seeing everything with new eyes Buying candles Exploring art at the HOWL festival (see below!) Marilyn Manson marathons…

“The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made. And the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination.” (John H. Schaar)

Smooch-o-rama,

See more: things i love thursday

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Pissed Off And Purposeful: Why Radical Self Love Incurred My Wrath This Morning

5 June 2013, 15:08

This morning, I woke up at 6am and hopped in the shower to get ready for Jonathan Fields. He was interviewing me for his Good Life Project, and after a green juice and an iced soy mocha, I was raring to go.

I love doing in-person interviews because they are so much more real than anything text-based. With an email inteview, I can go back and rework and refine my answers until they sound like perfect little soundbites; in-person you have no such opportunity. Whatever comes out of your mouth is what will be heard, for better or for worse.

Jonathan is a sweetheart. We were laughing and having a great time perched on our matching chairs. And then Jonathan asked me about radical self love: where did the idea come from, and how has it evolved?

And I just couldn’t stop myself. As I explained it, a feeling of deep-seated anger swelled up inside me.

“As happy as I am to have stumbled upon something that women need,” I started, “It makes me really SAD. It hurts my heart to know that self-love is so desperately missing from our lives that we have to go out and educate ourselves about it; that we have to LEARN to love ourselves.” I took a breath. “Why are we not taught this in schools? It’s a fucking travesty that we’re taught sex ed but nothing about how to take care of or nourish ourselves. It’s so wrong. It makes me so angry.”

(I’m paraphrasing, of course. Rage makes me a little incoherent.)

I was surprised by my reaction. After all, I’ve been talking about radical self love for years, and not just online: I’ve spoken at venues as wide-ranging as Carnegie Mellon University and high schools in New Zealand. Often, I talk about the statistics: the number of women who stay in abusive relationships, or the percentage of women who believe they’re beautiful (4%).

But this morning, I was reawakened by my own anger and sense of conviction.

“The truth will set you free, but first, it will piss you off.” (Gloria Steinem)

After all this time, I still can’t believe that self-love is something we’re expected to somehow magically discover for ourselves. It makes me crazy with rage and frustration. The number of women I’ve met who have never had an orgasm, who prioritise their looks above everything else, or who see women as enemies rather than allies, is a crying shame.

The thought of it makes me froth with seething and sorrow, but it also fills me to the brim with vast hope. I don’t plan on having children, but maybe you’ll tell your daughter about something I wrote. Maybe your own experiences with body image will inspire you to teach your niece to love herself more. The thought that the next generation of women could be strides ahead of us in this arena softens the edges of my sometimes stormy soul.

I don’t have all the answers, but radical self love — in all its guises, from style to spirituality, and lovers to life choices — is my cause. It’s my mission. For as long as I live, I want to show women that they have options; that pursuing their passions should be the rule, not the exception. I want to keep telling you about the things I’ve discovered that have helped me.

If you’re grappling with feeling not-good-enough, struggling with your body and suffering from a lack of self-love, I would always recommend traditional therapy or counselling. But therapy alone is probably not going to solve all your problems. Growing into ourselves and learning to become comfortable with who we are is an ongoing process, one which requires a lot of energy and attention.

Maybe, like me, you will have revolutionary breakthroughs using EFT. You might find solace in reflexology and Crossfit, or soothe your soul with meditation. Yoga could be the right way to reconnect with your body, while CBT might help you plow through your limiting beliefs.

There is no golden ticket. It’s likely that you will stumble upon a combination of techniques which teach you how to make sense of your emotions. Hopefully this will allow you to enjoy life, rather than perpetually feeling like a passenger on a runaway roller-coaster.

Whatever method(s) you use, just know that you are not alone. We are all wrestling with sadness, confusion, loneliness and apathy. We all feel overwhelmed and under-appreciated. We all have pieces of our psyche that are fractured and poking through the skin.

We hope that one day we’ll wake up and the fog will lift, but the reality is that we have to learn how to generate our own light.

I am evolving too. I have come a long way since I started on my transformation in 2006, and I am so thankful for that! My life isn’t perfect, but I can say that I am happy; that I am delighted more often than I am despondent; that I don’t want for much.

As one of my dearest friends said to me recently, “What more can you want from life? To be perfectly happy where you are.”

I love you, and I hope you love you, too,

See more: the playgirls guide to radical self love

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These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things: May 2013

4 June 2013, 14:13

June arrived this weekend with a hiss and a roar, and I’m excited to see what it’s going to surprise us with!

Pretty much all I can think about right now is my upcoming trip to the Greek Islands with Shauna and Kat! We decided that the Cyclades sounded like the perfect location in which to kiss my twenties goodbye and saddle up for my thirties. Nothing makes a big birthday less terrifying than being surrounded by blue skies, turquoise seas and plenty of myths and legends. We’ve been booking flights and hotels, and my mind is all awhirl with Grecian daydreams…

Okay, okay, I’m getting distracted. Here were my favourite things about May, from beauty to clothes to music!

The biggest beauty change I’ve made this month is that I’ve stopped using shampoo and conditioner, and have replaced them with a baking soda/water mix, and apple cider vinegar/water mix. The main reason for doing this is that my hair is very fine and prone to oiliness, which means that if I want to look presentable, I really have to wash my hair every day. (Dry shampoo only does so much, and the results never look as good as I want them to.)

At our very first Blogcademy, Liz — who has gorgeous hair — told me she hadn’t washed her hair in months, and it really got me thinkin’. The more I researched it, the more sense it seemed to make… So I took the plunge.

Here is what I do: in a little bottle, I mix 5oz of water with a tablespoon of baking powder. I shake it up, then sit on the side of my tub, tilt my head back and pour it over my hair. I use my hairbrush to brush it through, then let it sit for about five minutes. Once I get in the shower, I rinse it out, and then spritz my hair with a mixture that is half water and half apple cider vinegar. I brush that through, too, and rinse it out. That’s it! Pretty simple!

My hair is looking great (if I do say so myself) and the best part is that I’m not washing it as much. I can leave it a couple of days and it looks fine. If the roots look a little greasy, I use No Drought, and it gives me a few extra hours of wear. I’ve heard that the longer you go using the ol’ baking soda/ACV route, the better your hair looks, so I’m excited to see what happens over the next month or so! I will, of course, keep you posted!

Other than that, my current beauty obsessions include using St. Tropez Instant Glow Face Lotion every day, and mixing two or three lipsticks to create custom colours. You know, Jean Godfrey-June says that if you mix any two lipsticks, the resulting colour will be perfect. I don’t know how accurate that is, but I’m enjoying experimenting!

On Friday night, as the rest of the city was going out to party, drink and stumble over cobblestones, I was in a studio illuminated by chandeliers. I sat with 30 other women, learning secrets from Veronica Varlow, who was draped in vintage slips and a cream flower crown. Rose petals were scattered, candles were lit and, with a red blindfold knotted behind my head, a woman I’d never met fed me strawberries… I scribbled notes in my purple Moleskine and danced with my eyes closed.

I was 100% out of my comfort zone and it was magnificent.

I am eternally in awe of Veronica. She lives her life with intention. When she looks at you, her eyes eat you up; when she talks, she carefully plucks each word from the air; when she walks, her hips sway and her hands undulate. Just like all of my other favourite people, she inspires me to be better. She inspires me to live in a more resplendent and mythical way; to reconnect with my femininity and innate sense of magic; to weave my own legends and woo my most fanciful fantasies.

Any experience with Veronica is an enchanting one, and her classes are a wonderful excuse to be near her and soak up her energy.

Being around Veronica just makes me feel good, which is why seeing her, learning from her, and taking part in a ritual she created, topped my list for the month.

No huge surprises here, but I am still obsessed with 8tracks. There’s just something refreshing about not knowing what song is going to be next. My picks for the month are An Extremely Long Early 2000’s Playlist (certainly appropriate for any #throwbackthursday action!), RnB March Mix and up all night. They’ve all been getting a lot of play in my headphones.

After watching a Rachel Zoe Project marathon while I was laid-up in bed for the first half of the month, I got really into dark nails. I ended up with a dark grey gel manicure, with grey glitter thumbs. I just can’t go without a bit of sparkle… And I always maintain that since you see your thumbs all the time, especially when you’re on your phone, they are the two nails which require the most love and attention!

I went to Sakura yesterday for a brand new mani/pedi, and this time I went for navy blue: solid fingers and glitter thumbs. I am definitely having a navy blue moment… Must be all those photos of the Greek Islands I keep staring at!

Our couch is absolutely on its last legs. It’s so on its last legs that I’m actually embarrassed to tell you about how we “fix” it, so I won’t. Let’s just say, it needs to go. (We found it on the street a couple of years ago, so we’re definitely due a new one.) The urgency for this is beginning to increase because Kat is probably going to be snoozing on it for a couple of days after we get back from Minneapolis… And she can’t sleep on the floor!

The real issue is that we need a little couch — 80” max — and I’m really picky, so most of the ones I like ship within 4 weeks minimum. Hmmmm. Also, the ones I really like are too big or too spendy (hello Jonathan Adler. Dribble). I am kinda hemming and hawing over the Tyler, the Parker in blue (but maybe it’s ugly? I’m so undecided), the Crescent Heights in blue (but it’s 5” too long, ARGH), the Avec Peacock (great colour), and the Chester in ink blue velvet (my favourite, at least my favourite that will also fit the space!). Oh, I don’t know. I guess all I want in life is a navy blue velvet sofa. Is that too much for a girl to ask?!

Anyway, if you have any ideas, please let me know… For both my sake and Kat’s!

I think quote of the month came from our friend’s wife: “What’s this hashtagging thing? Is it something you do on your phone? Do I need to start?”

As always, I’m reading several books at once: Red Hot and Holy: A Heretic’s Love Story by Sera Beak, Passionate Marriage: Keeping Love and Intimacy Alive in Committed Relationships by David Schnarch (recommended in a blog post by Charlie Glickman), and Reveal: A Sacred Manual for Getting Spiritually Naked by Meggan Watterson. I’ve been making the effort to avoid television in the evenings (unless there’s something I really want to see) and reading instead. It’s a simple shift but a major one, and it’s incredibly satisfying to work my way through so many books so quickly.

My friend Mystic Medusa also released an e-book called Astro Compatibility: What Your Friends Won’t Tell You, Your Sun Sign Will. She sent me a copy and I laughed like mad. Oh, the truthiness!

Virgo’s partner: I am so bitter and yet feel so lost and alienated from you. I really want you to…

Virgo: That’s interesting. I was just reading this incredible magazine article about modern marriage by that author, you know, who also wrote the piece on the Sufi religion and…

Virgos are not often romantic in the cliched flowers, scent, and chocolates sense. They think that sort of behavior is more suited to guilty adulterers and the like. Virgo prefers thoughtful small gestures like remembering the book someone was reading so they can ask how it was, leaving the toilet pristine and refraining from nitpicking if their partner is on the phone…

What a lolfest. I love it, it’s one of her best books yet. You should snap it up!

SUCCESS! I think I have found my new summer scent, and I couldn’t be more excited! It is (drumroll) 25:43 by Lush Cosmetics, and ever since I bought it, I can’t stop sniffing myself.

It reminds me of my favourite scent from Lush, the now-discontinued Absolution massage bar, which was very heavy on tonka bean, and is one of my favourite aromas.

In fact, I love 25:43 even more now that I did a little research on tonka bean. Grown in Brazil, Venezuela and other parts of South America, it’s a bean with a mystical history. Ceremonial magicians believe that crushed tonka beans brewed to make tea may help to cure the soul, relieve symptoms of depression and confusion, chase away negative thoughts and boost the immune system. Carrying or wearing the scent of tonka beans helps build courage and draw money to you. It’s also said that holding the bean in one hand, while whispering a wish, leads to its fulfillment!

Sounds pretty perfect to me!

It was a good month for movies: we munched popcorn in the darkness while watching The Great Gatsby, Iron Man 3 and Star Trek: Into Darkness. Mike loved Star Trek the most, and thought Gatsby was a tad ridiculous. I enjoyed all three equally for different reasons, and although Gatsby was not my favourite Luhrmann film, the art direction was exquisite, I loved the soundtrack, and it was an orgiastic feast for the eyes.

Behind The Candelabra was just as fantastic as I’d hoped, and I finally watched the rest of the admittedly terrible Pretty Wild late one night, in preparation for The Bling Ring (I’m going to a preview next week and I can’t wait!). I also re-watched Death Becomes Her, one of my favourite movies as a child. Man, add that to The Addams Family and it’s no wonder I am a barely-reformed goth girl, huh? Isabella Rossellini and Anjelica Huston both clearly made a lasting impression on me!

I’m starting to dress in more of a “uniform” these days, which sounds boring, but is anything but. The advantage of doing this is that it opens you up to make the most of the styles that you know work for you.

My summer uniform so far consists of maxi- and skater dresses, crop tops and racerback tanks with maxi- and circle skirts. At Victoria’s Secret Pink, I stocked up on sequinned tanks — they truly go with everything — and rainbow lace bralettes for wearing underneath them. I went a little insane at American Apparel too, and bought what I think is the perfect skirt in three fabrics: white leather, black suede and black denim. My trick? Buy a size larger than usual… Unless you want your bum cheeks hanging out!

I’m obsessed with this oversized safety-pin necklace which I bought for $14 and is perfect. I’ve been layering amethyst and rose quartz bracelets with spiked silver bangles and LOVE cuffs. I always end up going mad on arm candy in summer…

My next crusade is for a couple of pairs of sane summer shoes. It’s always a terrible quest to try to find something which meets my holy trifecta of requirements: comfortable, durable (I do a lot of walking, at least two miles a day) and cute. I dread the very thought! I will probably end up buying Hasbeens — they’re fantastic — and another pair of Nike Frees. I’ve been wearing mine non-stop, simply because they’re insanely comfortable and casual enough to go with everything. I might go for all black errrrr’ything next…

This wasn’t my most prolific month, since I was in bed with a fever for two weeks, feeling like curdled death. I did what I could, though! Here were some of my favourite pieces from May…

I compiled a mixtape of non-bullshit love songs, for those of us who are in love but don’t want to get all Celine Dion on it!
Shauna, Kat and I announced that we’re comin’ to Texas, baby... And scheduled another Melbourne class for those eager Aussies!
There were more photos from the Los Angeles and Portland Blogcademy classes than you could shake a stick at!
To celebrate Beltane, I collected 20 ways to celebrate spring. Did you do any of them?
When I was in Portland, I fell in love just a little bit. Here are my top 5 things to do in the City of Roses!
I kicked off my new column, Magical Thinking, with some gentle guidance on how a walk can change your reality.
Hashtag travel porn: I’m obsessed with the Greek Islands.
My silliest column idea yet has got to be Oh, Marilyn!
And in yet another new column, Behind The Fuchsia Curtain, I talk about making the leap from corporate corpse to blogger babe.

What a month!

Love and milkshakes,

Title image of waves in Okinawa.

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