Laundry Day: I'm Real Gone Man

The rapture never happened...or did it?!?!?!

Here's what's up. I'm taking the week off from blogging. No posting, no commenting, no thinking about it. I'm sad to miss so many of your lovely posts, but I need a break to hang out with Joe and do up Chicago right. We're hitting up all of our old favorite haunts and appreciating the city that has been home for four years. Good eats at all our favorite places, local brews, outdoor concerts, lakeshore sunburns, wildly delayed buses, larger-than-life museums, and brunch from here to Sunday; suffice it to say I won't have much time to check the ol' blog. Have a lovely week, all, and I'll see you on the flip side!

Title song: Louis Armstrong, "Gone Fishin'"

clients galore....

Adorable Princess client. A special commission for the beautiful daughter of Irish Vintage China Hire company Pearl and Godiva. www.pearlandgodiva.com

One of our most stylish clients, Ciara rocking her unique Bonzie creation on the final fitting for her day out at the races!

My one and only niece in her bonzie ensemble for her Communion Day. ( More pics to follow)

One our pals and clients, Cliona rocking her bonzie silk bolero at her pals wedding, we think she looks the business!

Gorgeous Candi of www.thebohokitchen.com on her wedding day rocking her silk bonzie wrap.

To complete the month, Ciara ended up on the front cover of the Kilkenny Newspaper after wowing the spectators at Ladies Day!!! We love this girl!!!

Hi gals,

It's been a while since we popped into the blog to update you all on how things are going. We have had a really craze month including, 2 Awards Ceremonies, new shop clients, A Launch Party, A Ball, A meeting with the online editor of Elle Magazine Canada, A consultation with a very high profile VIP Bridal Client from Dublin ( more on that later) , a fabulous family communion celebration ( of course the whole family rocked bonzie designs), the "Signature Styles" US book arrived from California which we are featured in ( more on that exciting development later), lots of Ladies Day clients, a special Princess Dress commission from Vintage China company, Pearl and Godiva. Mother of the Brides, Brides, wedding guests and much more....... the short version : it's been a crazy busy month! Hence the tumbleweed bouncing around the blog.

We wanted to stop by and share a few photo's from our clients that we received this month to show you some of the fabulous ladies rocking our creations out and about. :)

Laundry Day: Out of Rhyme

TGIF, suckas! Here are a few pieces of my world this week. Have a phenomenal long weekend.

"It's a Girl" lollipops that I happily scarfed after visiting my friend and her unbelievably beautiful newborn (she has dimples!).

New, wonderful smelling face cream courtesy of Sibu beauty. I'm always on the hunt for moisturizer that's all natural and easy on my sensitive skin. I love this stuff!

Spring-colored stripes and fingernails to counteract the terrible un-springy weather.

Really looking forward to a weekend with this one!

Title song: Dusty Springfield, "Bits and Pieces"

That's Why I Hold

Dress: Industry * Sweater: thrifted * Boots: Rockport * Belt: Target

This is my favorite outfit. I'm not much of one for picking favorites, but if I were, this would be it. I've worn it once before (here, though because of my Flickr problem, you can't see the pictures...boo...but this might work), and it was my favorite then, too. There's just something totally lovely, trendy, flattering, and funky about it, and I can't help but fall head over heels for it. This outfit is definitely responsible for my recent need to layer sweaters over blouses (here - picture here...and here) this season. I'm glad I got to wear it one more time before it starts getting too warm for layered sweaters.

I kind of feel like this week has beaten the crap out of me. I've slowly, each day, gotten more and more exhausted, and I'm frustrated that I didn't get as much done yesterday as I'd hoped. I'm going to go ahead and blame it all on the weather, since that's the best scapegoat there is. It's been cold, and stormy, and dark, and I just can't seem to get a jump start on things. Hopefully the long weekend will remedy some of my slow-to-come spring blues.

So today, I'm planning to cozy up in my office with a mug of tea and the radiators churning. I'm going to tackle that do-to list, again, and hope that I can make more progress on it than I did yesterday. I have a little gathering to go to tonight, and then I'll officially start transitioning into weekend mode. Ready? In 3...2...1...

Title song: Mumford & Sons, "After the Storm"

It's a Place I Never Been

Shirt: Old Navy * Jeans: Gap * Blazer: Target * Boots: Steve Madden * Morgan necklace: Tree & Kimball

This new blazer is certainly making the rounds. I wore it in yesterday's post, in a casual but work-appropriate ensemble, and I couldn't help but throw it on again over the weekend while Joe and I scoured the woods for morels. It's hard for me to find tailored suit-style clothes that actually fit my frame, and I spent the better part of the day a few weeks ago scouring every shop in town for a blazer that fit the bill (and me!). I finally ended up at Target to stock up on facewash and toilet paper (glamorous, I know), and stumbled across this $20 blazer. It's a versatile color, that I know I'll wear a lot, and it's machine washable, which means I had no qualms about digging through the muddy spring dirt while wearing it. I'm sold.

I love that this outfit was so easy. Maybe it's because of how busy things have been this spring, but I'm finding it exhausting to have to think about what I'm going to wear. Putting much effort into anything is tough these days, so I'm extra appreciative of pieces like this blazer that add so much to an ensemble with such minimal effort on my part.

This outfit is sort of a perfect example of my easy casual weekend wear. I always have been, and always will be, a weekend jeans wearer, and my most comfortable weekend outfit usually incorporates some combination of denim and stripes. So this pretty much fits the bill, with a bit of flair from the blazer and my favorite, and now perfectly worn-in, Steve Madden boots. And of course, I'm positively smitten with this necklace. I'm seriously just constantly finding more and more ways to incorporate it into my outfits.

I'm hoping to be mega productive today, both at and after work. It's a particularly dark and stormy day, so I should have no trouble convincing myself to stay indoors and get things done. Sometimes a day of task-doing is just the ticket, and I'm already looking forward to my leftover pizza and cold pomegranate wheat beer that I'll enjoy while I tackle my list of to-dos.

Title song: Townes Van Zandt, "Blaze's Blues"

But I Feel You Could

T-shirt: Old Navy * Skirt: Target * Boots: UO * Braid necklace: Noble Town Vintage * Serpentine Necklace: Tree & Kimball

I almost used "The Long and Winding Road" as my title song today, because I love the little path snaking out behind me in these pictures. I think it's one of Paul McCartney's best songs (though there are a lot of contenders for that position), and I just think it is so achingly beautiful. But ever since Joe gave me Paul Simon's new CD for my birthday last month, I've had a few of my favorite Paul Simon songs cycling through my head. And since the soles of these new booties from Urban Outfitters are delightfully light and rubbery, I couldn't resist using "Gumboots" for the title instead. (Whew! Yep, that's usually how the title song selection process works, if you're interested. A random combination of little cues that eventually lead to a song that may or may not have any direct relationship to the actual post.)

Speaking of long and winding paths, I have just adored watching the woods by Joe's house transform into greenery during these past few weeks. All of a sudden, the trees have burst into bloom, the ground covering has emerged, wild and verdant, and wildflowers, both native and invasive, have appeared out of nowhere to color the woods. And as green as it looks now, I know how much more lush and vibrant its going to get in the next few weeks. I adore it.

I also have to tell you how smitten I was/am with this outfit. Somehow, despite being encased entirely in jersey, I felt much more like an elegant lady than a pajama-clad gal. I think this outfit is a great example of how the details, and tiny touches, can make a world of difference. Once I added the necklaces, knotted the skirt (thank you Emily for the rad idea!), and tossed on these fabulous boots, my springtime Snuggie transformed into a pretty classy getup. It's the little things...

I wish I had more to write about today. When I took these pictures, I had in my mind a long, lovely, eloquent post to add to them. It would have been epic. But I've been spending most of my brainpower pondering a few rather large thoughts/ideas/plans/etc., and seem to be incapable of translating those musings into words. I do hope to be sharing them with you all at some point, though. They are thoughts, and trains of thought, that have been laying dormant in my little brain for quite a long time, and I've been happy to revisit them, and put some real mental effort into things that have been de-prioritized for many years. So if I'm a bit short on words around here for awhile, just know that all that brainpower is indeed going to good use. :)

I have a wonderful, busy week ahead of me. I'm visiting a friend's newborn this evening, and I can't wait to coo over her tiny baby-ness. Then Joe will be in Chicago over the weekend, and I'm already making a list of a million things we can do together during the holiday weekend. Joe will actually be out of the country for a large part of the summer, so I'm really looking forward to getting a few weekends together before he goes. Most of the things on my mental list involve revisiting many of our old haunts from when we both lived in the city; our favorite breakfast joint, the Field Museum, Millennium Park, Revolution Brewery, and much more. I can't wait.

Title song: Paul Simon, "Gumboots"

In Our Little Hideaway Beneath the Waves

Dress: UO * Blazer: Target * Boots: Steve Madden * Belt: thrifted * Necklace: Noble Town Vintage

Would it be lame to tell you all that I'm actually sore this morning, after having spent much of yesterday pulling weeds in our garden? It was about the least strenuous activity I could have done, and yet my poor shoulders are just aching. But it's a very accomplished kind of ache, since we managed to pull all of the weeds in our 20'x25' plot, thinned the beets, carrots, and swiss chard, and planted eight new tomato plants and four baby basils. I also fought, and won, an epic battle with some thistles (at one point I had dug almost two feet down in an effort to find and pull the roots...it was kind of ridiculous). So I feel a bit justified in my aches and pains.

This weekend was just lovely overall, though it went by super fast. I wasn't able to get out of Chicago until a bit later on Friday, and combined with the heavier traffic and infuriating construction, I didn't get to Joe's until much later than usual, which made the start of the weekend feel quite delayed. Joe will be coming to Chicago this weekend, and while I'm thrilled to see him I'm really much more excited about the prospect of not having to drive for a weekend. I don't mind the long-distance thing, for the most part, but between construction, summery storms, and heavy weekend traffic, I'm starting to wear thin on the whole thing.

We had a lovely day on Saturday, though. After getting loads done at my favorite coffeeshop, we went home, made a delicious salad (with roasted beets, goat cheese, and perfectly-ripe pears) and watched Benny and Joon. I'm looking forward to having more evenings together, and more weekends that don't end with me leaving.

How did you spend your weekend? For you state-siders, do you have any big plans for the upcoming holiday weekend?

Title song: The Beatles, "Octopus's Garden"

Laundry Day: Now the Fungi They Are Bloom

Half-free morels!

I've been taking a lot of pictures over the weekends lately, of Joe and my escapades in the woods, kitchen, and community garden, so I'll probably be doing weekly posts like this quite often to share them. These are all from this past weekend, when we went on our morel-hunting excursion.

Happy Friday! I hope your weekend is filled with tasty dinners, lazy mornings, toasted bagels, silly movies, long walks, and cold beers. I know mine will be. :)

Top to bottom, mushroom hunting: the first half-free morels we found, artfully placed on a log; the half-free in its natural habitat, before we plucked it for our eating pleasure; a basket full of delicious; the tiny, but powerful, morchella

Top to bottom, the simple, but delicious steps to making morels with linguine: saute mushrooms with shallots in butter; add a half cup of white wine and reduce; toss with al dente linguine and top with parmesan cheese (just a bit!) and flat-leaf parsley; ENJOY.

Top to bottom, mid-May scenes of our community garden plot: tiny onions sprouting everywhere; tufts of carrots; mini-bunches of red swiss chard

Title song: Incubus, "Psychopsilocybin"