go go go!

Photo by: Chris Nelius

this light is about to go green; the times they are a changin' a little around here...

inspired by: Henri Matisse.

via Justina Blakeney Photo by: Fiona Galbraith

on my recent trip to Europe, I went to the Matisse museum in Nice, France with this first image in mind. I knew this great artist's studio housed a gigantic philodendron because I had admired this black and white version on pinterest. it feels almost as if I willed one to still be there went I went to his now studio turned museum- honestly, I got shivers, it was almost eerie. when I got home, I was inspired to show off my green goddess (which I once thought of as large...but not really by comparison!) in this post for JB Est 1979. it just goes to show how easy it is to be inspired by your travels and then incorporate something from that trip into your own home. 

happy CANADA day!!!

here's to our home and native land; sunshine and family wheelbarrow races. i wish i could be there for the fireworks!

Found.

All photos: Nat Geo Found

STOP what you're doing and listen up! National Geographic have a MUST SEE tumblr full of archived images that i only just discovered today. set yourself aside some serious time to take in this magic- wow.wow.wow. 

my best friend's wedding; Tuscany.

All photos by: Aljosa Videtic your man for European destination wedding images; he captures all the candid moments.

one of my best friend's got engaged and then turned this super special, romantic Tuscan wedding around in less than 3 months! we had to take a funicular (so The Grand Budapest Hotel) up to Certaldo Alto an old medieval walled village just above Certaldo, near San Gimignano in Tuscany, Italy for the ceremony. the setting really could not have been more magical if you had 3 years to plan your wedding! highlights for me were seeing and laughing with old friends, learning how to make ravioli and tiramisu (which we made for the wedding dinner) and my stone fox bestie serenading her new husband on the ukelele at the end of the night- i sobbed! do only fools rush in? for a girl who only knew that she wanted purple hydrangeas, she came up with one pretty party- you have GOT to check out the photos to believe it. i promise, you won't help falling in love...

inspired by: Sia - Chandelier.

i don't feel like i have the right foundation to get into the political arguments that might stem from this video (despite having a background in art history & theory); i just want keep it simple and say that this has .moved.me.

this girl is so gloriously unselfconscious, it makes me wish i had something to focus on so wholeheartedly and with such passion (even for just 3 minutes and 52 seconds). she is incredible. my favourite bit is sitting at the little table- i could watch it on repeat.

for goodness' sakura!

this is now the third year in a row that i have enjoyed cherry blossom (sakura) season in japan via instagram and it is so beautiful, it kind of hurts. this time of year is always bittersweet, because as much as i am in total awe of the spectacular blooms i see vicariously through others' lenses, i wish to be in tokyo so badly. i'm a firm believer in 'if you want something, you should be doing it' (though i know too well, this is often easier said than done)…yet, another end of march has passed and i did not spend it in japan. i vow right now that this time next year (unless there is some unforeseen circumstance, like i am giving birth or something…?!) i WILL be in tokyo for a sakura spring. yes!

all images via here

making connections: game of thrones.

i just love making little discoveries with images on the internet or with photos i may have taken and somewhere down the track connecting them to memories i've had or noticing that i was subconsciously inspired by something i had seen earlier. this latest unearthing is oh so exciting and one of the best examples of the small thrill of happenstance in my recent history. ready?! when we were in Morocco in late 2012, we went on a trip into the Sahara desert and one of our first stops was to the Aït Benhaddou Kasbah (castle). there was a set being built in front of it at the time and i've only just realised after watching the last episode of Game of Thrones series 3 two days ago (just in time for the first instalment of season 4) that they were building the gate that all of Khaleesi's freed slaves walk through in the final epic moments of that last episode. ahhh!  i was so excited to have figured this out!

*i remember arriving here and my eyes welling up a bit. i felt so overwhelmed about how far away from home we'ed come (that everything is new, safe/unsafe feeling) and looking onto this gigantic real life sand castle, that didn't seem real at all. and there were freakin' camels in the distance and donkeys inside the kasbah. it was a very raw, very special moment.

 

the inside was filled with room upon room of discarded objects that were left in the castle by previous owners, all covered in desert dust.

getting my Khaleesi on; checking out the view.

home sweet home.

i am just settling into this Canadian winter wonderland…and it already feels like i won't be here for long enough!

 

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