A Little Gratitude Goes A Long Way

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ”

~Melodie Beattie


In honor of Thanksgiving here is a quick list of 10 things I'm grateful for:

*My sweet pup Liberty
*My family of friends
*Mumford and Sons
*Vintage stores to get lost in
*Amazon-it just makes shopping so easy!
*Gluten Free products that are far easier to find than last year
*Trees, Trees, and more Trees!
*Flickr
*My beautiful apartment- it's my sanctuary
*Discount sites like Groupon and Living Social


What are you most thankful for??

Vintage Glamourous Spirit-Loretta Young

The lovely Loretta Young was born Gretchen Michaela Young in Salt Lake City, Utah. This German beauty was famous for her big, beautiful doe eyes and an affair with a married Clark Gable that resulted in a love child. Although it was thirty years later until that truth came out. Scandalous! In her later years she married fashion designer Jean Louis who was famous for designing Rita Hayworth's "Gilda" gowns and the sparkly dress Marilyn Monroe wore when she sang Happy Birthday to JFK.

2057-1565c, originally uploaded by AliceJapan ლ(╹◡╹ლ).

5000-0095, originally uploaded by AliceJapan ლ(╹◡╹ლ).

2057-1567c, originally uploaded by AliceJapan ლ(╹◡╹ლ).

7000-3936, originally uploaded by AliceJapan ლ(╹◡╹ლ).

The Muse of Marchesa

Marchesa Luisa Casati influenced legions of artists, designers, and writers during her life and continues to inspire a whole new generation today. Georgina Chapman, head designer for Marchesa, has given the ultimate tribute to this decadent lady by naming her clothing line after her. The Marchesa lived a life of excess that eventually took it's toll by placing her in debt to the tune of 25 million. But her persona has outlived her and she has achieved the one thing she seemed to be seeking the most: immortality.

Although she appeared to be raven haired in black and white photos from her day, she was actually a carrot colored red head, as you can tell from the portrait below, one of many she had commissioned.



This photo was reenacted by Georgina for a photoshoot that she did in homage to the Marchesa:



Georgina Chapman as Marchesa Luisa Casati:



{All images via Flickr}

A Good Dose of Enchantment.

Last month I was enchanted by the story of a Parisian flat that had been untouched for 70 years via a link over at A Cup of Jo. All sorts of antiques, artifacts, love letters and paintings were discovered. But I was most enchanted by the lady in pink below that was found in the flat. It's actually the grandmother of the lady who owned the flat, Marthe de Florian, who was a French actress and muse to artist Giovanni Boldini. Boldini had never exhibited this painting and no one really knew of it's existence, it just sat in that apartment in France for decades collecting dust. Unreal. Since being discovered it was sold at auction for 2.1 million euros and is now his most valuable piece!





























After googling his other paintings, I was in love. I can't believe I'd never heard of this man before now. His paintings are mostly portraits and they have such movement in them. The women in his paintings seem like they've just twirled their way onto his canvas. He also captures their stunning dresses and the layers of tulle and chiffon they most certainly were wearing.

Fashion Fact: The painting of the lady in black at the bottom of this post is Marchesa Luisa Casati, who is the inspiration and namesake for the clothing line Marchesa. I'll be posting more about her tomorrow...

Glamourous Spirit: Florence Welch

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Pink on Pinterest

I went to see Florence + The Machine this weekend and let me tell you...that girl knows how to put on a show!! She dances, drums and flows across the stage with such fiery grace that I was in awe the entire time. If you have a chance to see her in concert, take it! You can thank me later. I'm inspired by her flowy, sheer 70's style...a mix of David Bowie and Janis Joplin.

Here's what she has to say about her music: “I want my music to sound like throwing yourself out of a tree, or off a tall building, or as if you’re being sucked down into the ocean and you can’t breathe, It’s something overwhelming and all-encompassing that fills you up, and you’re either going to explode with it, or you’re just going to disappear.”

Check out her mesmerizing performance of "Dog Days Are Over" @ the VMA's this year at the *bottom* of this post. You'll see why I'm in such awe...

2010 MTV Video Music Awards - More VMA Video

Believe in your own Individuality.

“Learn to limit yourself; to content yourself with some definite work; dare to be what you are and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not; and to believe in your own individuality.”

-Henri-Frederic Amiel (1821-1881);


This quote arrived in my inbox today from The Foundation for a Better Life. They send me a quote everyday and today this one hit the nail on the head for me. It most eloquently says what I've been feeling for awhile now. I've been struggling with what direction to go with my life. It's mostly the career path that has been baffling me the most, there are so many things I'm interested in and it's hard to narrow it down. And then there is the fear. Fear that I won't make the right choice, fear that I won't make enough money, fear that I won't be happy with the choice I make. It just goes on and on and on. This is why there is something to be said for limits. We live in a time where we are told about our unlimited potential and while that is very true, it is also very overwhelming. At least for me, being as indecisive as I am, having too many choices just means I have that many more opportunities to be indecisive. So I end up not choosing at all, which in irony is still a choice. But one that I'm not willing to make anymore. So I am learning to distill what I want to bring to this world. To narrow it down. To get really clear. To limit myself lovingly and do what comes naturally. I hope you come along.

{Image via Flickr}

Visual Mood Monday

{All images via Flickr}