Bumper Sticker Inspiration

"Practice Random Acts of Kindness & Senseless Acts of Beauty"





senseless acts of beauty......
I love that

Day of Hearts

Happy Valentine's Day all! I suppose a post is in order.

Look at these love birds.

Yet another print from Etsy... because I am obsessed.


You know what I think is the most romantic thing in the world is? (Besides my 2 giant red velvet heart-shaped pillows with lace & bead trim that my football boyfriend had his mother help him make for me one Valentine's Day... swooooooon). Well besides that, I would have to say old people in love. I think a 50th anniversary is the most romantic thing of all time. I spent a good amount of time today trying to find a picture to capture the mood, but non would do it justice. I think about this everytime I see a 80 year old man make his wife laugh, or even that they still care enough to hold each other's hands while walking down the street. I love that. I hope I will have that. I hope that other people will have that. I hope that that is still possible in today's world. I hope.


Love
<3

Pretty Pretty Jewelry

I just came across some gorgeous pieces of art / jewelry that I love, and since I've been MIA from this site for awhile, I've decided to induldge you all today.


First we have these super awesome mermaid earings! I love love love them. I think they are super fun, yet totally wearable. Who knew? sea people as accessories!

This is a beauuuuuuuuutiful necklace. I'm not much into the bling blig of diamonds and pearls and stones, I am very much a costume jewelry whore. I think this is prettier than any 38K diamond choker, pendant, whatever. Its so elegant and tasteful. I get nervous whenever I watch a wedding on a (reality) TV show, because the brides always ruin their perfectly-amazing dresses with pounds of diamonds hanging off thier limbs, and well that look is just not for me. So when I first saw this piece, I instantly thought "that is perfect for a wedding dress!" Now that I have the necklace, who needs the husband?

This is called "Circling the Globe". I love what it stands for. Its like a good luck charm almost. Here's to a life full of stories, travel, and unfamiliar places that become home.

I think this sophisticated necklace is just dead sexy. Plus I tend to usually wear black, and I feel that this piece would just make my outfit go POW! So watch out now.

I like earings. I also like turquoise a lot. And I like swirly prints. SWIRLY PRINT TURQUOISE EARRINGS? you're kiddin me!

I think this necklace is different. I don't know what I would wear it with, but I love it.

Bird Brooch! So vintage, so elegant, so brooch-y. I would wear a brooch if it looked this cool.



Last but not least, the perfect piece of jewelry. It pretty much somes me up. It's a chain necklace with a heart charm and a fleur de lis charm. The fleur de lis, or lilly, is a symbol for a lot of things, but the first place I learned about it was in Florence, Italy. So for me, this symbol will always stand for Florence, and my time there, and the love I fell into with that city. Perfectly understated, yet painfully meaningful. This necklace represents it all.






All these handcrafted gorgeous wearable-art pieces can be found here:
http://www.luxedeluxe.etsy.com/

In motion! A video! A VIDEO OF BALLS!!!

Here is a link to a youtube video of the balls being released (refer to post below).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2jnQOhsNu0&feature=related

NOTE: I am posting this on a computer with no sound so I do not know what the audio is like on the video. I actually suggest watching it on mute because I feel like the real everyday sound may take away from it's aesthetic. Maybe play some classical music while you watch. Or maybe to some circus music. Either way I love the man throwing the balls up in the air over his head. He was having a good day.

"Even when they protest, Italians can't help but create something beautiful"

Stunt leaves famed Spanish Steps filled with thousands of multicolored balls

http://www.klewtv.com/news/national/13836217.html

oh my god this is amazing.

ROME (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of brightly colored balls went cascading down Rome's famed Spanish Steps on Wednesday in the latest stunt orchestrated by the man who dyed the waters of the Trevi Fountain red.TV cameras caught organizer Graziano Cecchini and several others emptying bags full of red, green, yellow and blue balls down the 18th-century steps.The balls bounced down the steps, filling the boat-shaped Barcaccia fountain in the piazza below in a spectacle that stunned passers-by, who snapped photos and scooped up the balls as souvenirs.Officials were forced to briefly cordon off the popular tourist spot. Police detained Cecchini and three others, Italian news reports said.


Cecchini, interviewed at the scene, told Italian TV newscast TG5 that he uses "art - if we want to call it art - to stress our malaise."He said half a million balls were deployed.


Street cleaners later shoveled the balls into garbage trucks and hosed down the stairs to remove strays.Following his Trevi Fountain stunt in October, Cecchini was placed under investigation for possible damage to historical or artistic buildings.




This is from Wikipedia (aka GOD):
On January 16th, 2008, Graziano Cecchini, an anarchic artist, covered the steps with hundreds of thousands of multicolored plastic balls. He claimed that it was done to make the world notice the situation of the Karen people in Burma.


I guess each ball "represented a lie told by a politician."


Take it as a politics, take it as rebellion, take it as a day full of color for tourists. I LOVE THIS! Its a statement. Its causing a stir in peoples' days. Its in your face. Its not violence. Its not at the stake of others. Its a big, wonderful, colorful mess. For some it has much deeper meaning & for others its a bit of fun.


& we all know the Carabinieri had a grand old time trying to organize the clean up!




Here are some pictures from the article:

Oceanchild

Beach gypsy, Oceanchild, FISH... anyway you put it I am love with the ocean. Obsessed. & so here are my favorite bodies of water. Enjoy.


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I met these two beaches this summer on a cruise to Bermuda. The first one is Warwick Long Bay & the second one is Horseshoe Beach. These places are what I think of when I think of the beach. Or paradise for that matter. Turquoise waters that I used to see only in pictures and think the color was a digital effect.

Those oceans really do exist.

Beautiful green & blue, and clear straight down. Little coves to go snorkeling in & lots to see through the scuba mask. Not many waves, but the calming effect made up for it. Pink sand for miles. We woke up before the sunrise & headed out on a bus to the first beach. For a good 4 hours, we were the only people on that beach. The whole beach - to ourselves. THIS BEAUTIFUL BEACH & we had the run of it. I liked that. Then we moved our way over to Horseshoe & I swam in the water for 6 hours. 6 hours straight. With NO getting out of the water. Every time I was about to get out to go lounge on the sand, I would look at the open ocean of pure vast greatness & I couldn't bring myself to leave. I could live in that water

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This is Marina Piccolo on the small Island of Capri (right off of Naples / Sorrento) (Sorry about the horrible caption on the picture - google images did not produce much for this beach :-( ). This beach is what I think of when I think of the sea. Rocks, waves, no sand. Running into the water after being completely away from it for almost 2 months was amazing.

I was in the Mediterranean.

You will see those 3 giant rocks in the back in any postcard or painting of Capri. And there we were, spending the day swimming among them. The last day on our weekend trip we stayed in Sorrento. I can't find a picture of where we went swimming because I don't know the name of it. We found it completely by accident and it was amazing. There was a cove with a floor sparkling with sea glass. It was a quick mid-afternoon haven to the noisy busy city. That was what I would call a perfect vacation at sea.

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This is Nantasket Beach in Hull, MA. Every time I think of the ocean, I think of this place. Usually unforgivingly cold, rip-roaring, wave-crashing, wild ocean. There is no better day than a day spend before a storm getting bashed around and beat up by the giant waves. It's okay though, because your beach towel & the sand are waiting for you when your muscles can't move anymore, your sick from all the salt water you just inhaled through your nose & mouth, & your face hurts from laughing too much.

I make it a point to open my car windows when driving into Hull and say outloud "smell that ocean", because that smell, my god that smell. It hits you & its familiar, & its your childhood, & all the same, it's the unknown.

Strawberry Lyrics

This may have taken first place as my favorite love song ever - Pushing Laid by James into second. This is Strawberry by Paul Baribeau. He has a myspace - www.myspace.com/Paul Baribeau , now go fall in love.


To say that you are cute,
Would be like saying a strawberry is sweet,
'Cause a strawberry has secret flavors that are sharp, and tart, and red, and deep,
And i would love to find you growing wild out by the woods,
i would make a basket with the front of my t-shirt,
and take home as many of you as I could,


And to say that you are pretty,
Would be like saying that the ocean is blue,
Cause the ocean is full of all kinds of colors,
and I see all kinds of things when I look at you,
and I want to explore you
With my tenni shoes off
Standing ankle deep in a tide pool,
with my khaki pants rolled up,


And to say that you are funny would be like saying that the night sky is black,
Cause the night sky is filled with stars and comets and planets that no one has seen yet,
And i want to look at you,
Lying down on my front lawn,
I'll try to take you all in at once, but you just go on and on and on

Red Flowers

This reminds me of the Maroon 5 song Sunday Morning when at the end he sings "There's a flower in her hair"...... I am also more than slightly obsessed with red hair. and with Adam Levine.

Thank you Annette

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carambatack

One day aspire to....

I am in love with these photo prints. I hope one day to be able to take one picture that is as amazing, capturing, and color-perfect as these are. Until then I will just have to buy a few to captivate my apartment decor.



Thank you Thea Coughlin Photography



Find more heaven at the following clicks:
http://www.theacoughlin.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28302905@N00/
http://www.monarch.etsy.com/

Day One

So the main purpose of this "blog" is just to house things that I am visually attracted to design wise. To hopefully organize them & view them all in one area. I can't promise that sometimes I won't get the urge to write full nonsense entries about the disenchanted occurances of my day, but whatever because no one else will be here to read them!