Southern Nomad

Fashion: Atelier De L'Armee

Atelier de l'Armée has released a perfectly rustic Fall 2012 Lookbook. Their handcrafted and one of a kind bags transport you to an era of simplicity and canvas tents. Is it just me of does the lookbook make you think of Hemingway?

Even though the collection focuses on men, I could see myself carrying their bags. I like the idea of infusing a little raw simplicity into every day city life.

"For the love of the old, the worn, the rusted, the faded, the stained and the patched.

Atelier de l'Armée is a company that offers an environment where beautiful collectable items are brought together and presented for a reintroduction to the world.

Our collection consists of two things. 

Our heritage clothing is a carefully selected mix of rare handpicked second hand items  and most are collectables. Some have been customized, other have been adjusted, but most are untouched. All are denim related or inspired by vintage workwear and military clothes.

Our bags are all hand crafted from nothing but recycled materials in our small workshop in Amsterdam. These, mostly, military materials have retained their strength and aged beautifully over time. Since they were designed to survive a war they can surely handle the concrete jungle of modern day society in their new forms. 

In general we can say that all items that pass through our hands will leave us as pieces of art. You will either wear or carry our products with pride or frame them on your wall like a new painting. "

 

Fashion: All The Little Details

All the little details are what make this outfit so perfect.

source: the sartorialist

Bonjour! Couleur: Moss

This may or may not be the launch of a new color series..

I know we are in the midst of summer summer, at least we keep telling ourselves this in Seattle, but I have a mild obsession with moss. Whenever I catch sight of moss, I feel immediately as though I am in the midst of a magical story. Perhaps this is because we always seemed to be searching for moss on our spontaneous family roadtrips (see: previous post). I'm curious does moss evoke this kind of reaction from anyone else? 

Sarah Klassen: Maison Française F/M 2012, Eric D'Hérouville

Artist: Anna Garforth

DIY Moss Frame via OnceWed

Moss dress by Little Duckling (2012)

Moss Aquamarine Ring, Jamie Joseph

Style Me Pretty, Christine Chang

Mini Moss Terrarium Placeholder

West Elm Featured Feather Painting by Marisa Redondo - River Luna

Little Blue Deer

Photographer: Jose Villa

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Love is the beauty of the soul. - Saint Augustine

The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. - John Muir

Beauty. I stumbled upon these photos today and thought they were absolutely beautiful! I love every detail of this shoot, definitely not "typical" wedding snaps. Congrats! OnceWed and Jose Villa for capturing such incredible beauty. You have inspired me!

Photo Credit: Jose Villa/OnceWed

A Nostalgic Beach Picnic

"We have only this moment sparkling in our hand like a star and melting like a snowflake." - Sir Francis Bacon

The countdown to my upcoming move has begun in earnest and I am trying to savor each moment I have in Seattle (if I could capture them in bottles I would..). This past friday my family through a birthday/going away party in the form of "A Nostalgic Beach Picnic" and I wanted to share with you all some of my favorite photos and memories from the evening.

The Invite:

Dapper Gents and Dashing Ladies you are invited to A Nostalgic Beach Picnic hosted by the Swaty family to wish Esther Maria a happy birthday and bon voyage! 

At the height of summer, we will be making our way to the water’s edge in West Seattle, for a magical evening. What better way to celebrate dreams coming true than with good friends and great food. We encourage guests to bring banjos, harmonicas, castanats, tubas, accordians, and guitars for merrymaking. If you find yourself lacking, childhood has proven pots, pans, and spoons will do just as sufficiently.

A Few Details:
Guests are requested to bring their coziest beach blankets. 
The party is at Lincoln Park

Dress and Comportment: Now, look here, proper attire is requested. 
For dressing inspiration take a cue from Coco Chanel at the beach or Coney Island in the 20’s – straw hats, bow ties, cravats, suspenders, and lots of linen. Be creative on a dime, because we know many of us are working hard to make our dreams come true.

Gifts: Words are treasured. If you are considering a gift, cash for the adventure would help Esther comply with her luggage allowance and warm her belly with something other than Ramen in New York City.

Though there will be no fireflies to catch, memories are sure to abound…

The Menu:

Olive, apricot, and more, amazing breads from the Columbia City Bakery.

Selection of meats and cheeses

Bruschetta

Pasta Salad

Caprese Salad

Green Salad

Savory Cream Puffs with bacon and herbs

Dessert

Madeleines – dark chocolate with chips & lemon zest

German Apple Cake

Cream Puffs

Drink Bar: Guests created their own with fresh fruits, lemon balm, grenadine & lime syrups

Oh, Braden! 

Katrina and Meg.. darling roomies.

Creative friends infuse my life with beauty and depth!! You should check out their photography/blogs/art: Cami, Anthea and Morgan.

Samara dear, seriously I don't think you could be any cuter!

Obviously they are up to no good :)

Sally girl you are about to be a big sister and I know you will do a marvelous job. Smooches!

I ordered these guys for decor... Just kidding, but they did make themselves quite at home along with an errant dog who came through trying to steal the meat and madeleines...

A little shout out to Stephen, a maestro party thrower himself, who made sure that the tea lights stayed lit throughout the course of the evening.. thank you :)

I will close this post with a photo of Erin. Isn't she just a beauty?

This was quite the evening to remember, and I am so thankful to everyone who attended and my family for throwing such a lovely party. You all made me feel incredibly special. I will hide the memories of this evening and your kinds words in my heart. This truly was the best Bon Voyage/Birthday a girl could hope for! 

Ps- There were far too many photos to post.. Keep an eye on the Southern Nomad FB page and I promise to post an album or two in the next couple of days.

Vintage Travel: Louis Vuitton Express

What is it about train travel that is just so intriguing and magical? Perhaps, growing up reading Agatha Christie, the Railway Children, The Boxcar Children and The Mandie Collection has something to do with it... as of recent that childhood memories have come flooding back with the help of The Polar Express and the Harry Potter movies.

“You know, I do believe in magic. I was born and raised in a magic time, in a magic town, among magicians. Oh, most everybody else didn’t realize we lived in that web of magic, connected by silver filaments of chance and circumstance. But I knew it all along. When I was twelve years old, the world was my magic lantern, and by its green spirit glow I saw the past, the present and into the future. You probably did too; you just don’t recall it. See, this is my opinion: we all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls... Because the people doing the telling were afraid of our wildness and youth, and because the magic we knew made them ashamed and sad of what they’d allowed to wither in themselves.

After you go so far away from it, though, you can’t really get it back. You can have seconds of it. Just seconds of knowing and remembering. When people get weepy at movies, it’s because in that dark theater the golden pool of magic is touched, just briefly. Then they come out into the hard sun of logic and reason again and it dries up, and they’re left feeling a little heartsad and not knowing why. When a song stirs a memory, when motes of dust turning in a shaft of light takes your attention from the world, when you listen to a train passing on a track at night in the distance and wonder where it might be going, you step beyond who you are and where you are. For the briefest of instants, you have stepped into the magic realm." - Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon

I have such fond memories of riding the train in Europe as a kid.. I will have to dig out a photo to post for you all. Sadly, the use of the railway system in the US has been on the decline over the years reminding me of how Bradbury writes about the summer of the last trolley ride. I can't begin to tell you how happy it makes my heart to see that vintage travel and trains are popping up everywhere these days... 

Our first stop, Louis Vuitton, keep topping themselves in regards to creative and wonder infused marketing. In their most recent campaign, Louis Vuitton Express, they tap into the beautiful nostalgia of vintage train travel. The campaign the result of a match made in heaven showcasing the creative partnership between Louis Vuitton and photographer extraordinare Todd Selby of The Selby. 

"Coming just in time to celebrate the brand’s 20th anniversary in China, on July 21 Louis Vuitton will open its first-ever mainland China “Maison” at Shanghai’s Plaza 66, two days after the “Louis Vuitton Express” (currently about to leave Moscow) rolls into the city. " - Jing Daily

Louis Vuitton Express ties into the brilliant Louis Vuitton Paris Fashion Week show which took place in May. Invitations guests received prior to the show, in the form of luggage tags were the only clue of what was to come:

Following the Paris Fashion Week and Louis Vuitton Express is the Fall 2012 Ad Campaign photographed by Steven Meisel which will transport audiences back to a time of luxurious and enchanting travel:

I know for the majority of us that Louis Vuitton is not in our price range and perhaps not even our style, but I think that their level of incredible creativity should inspire all of us... Keep an eye open for more vintage train travel posts that will be coming soon!

 louis vuitton ad/ tracks/ train 

Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise.

source: honey pie living

The Frosting Of Life

Yesterday, despite Seattle's ominous clouds, turned out to be a lovely day. In honor of my birthday Elisa and my mom brought me an incredible bouquet of flowers. The flowers transported me from what had begun to feel like a nominal day straight into the most magical of stories. I just kept staring at the peonies wondering how they could have known... For the last couple of weeks I had been looking at peonies on blogs, pinterest, and instagram wishing to have some of my own...

As the day went on, I received phone calls from Germany, Indiana, and Oklahoma (homes to some very amazing women in my life!). I kept thinking how much those women had invested into my life, and how I would not be the same person without their love. 

After work Anna whisked me off to dinner at Poquitos. Ahh.. their smothered torta makes my mouth water just remembering it. Next, we made our way over to Arabica Lounge.. it was closed but Stephen and Jojo graciously re-opened and snuck our little party in to celebrate. How often is it that the owners of a cafe re-open just for you on your birthday? The entire experience made me feel like I was in Europe.

Jojo surprised me with an incredible cake!! It had a typewriter on top which completely made me freak out (yes, I am pretty sure there was some squealing involved). He said the typewriter was because I am a blogger, boy!, he sure does know how to make a person feel special. 

You may be wondering why would I end up at Arabica Lounge on my birthday, especially since I seem to be there every other day of the week. There is no doubt it's because Arabica Lounge has become a sort of second home for me. The ambience, food, and community never cease to inspire me! 

"You cannot be fully yourself until you are deeply connected with other brilliant people." - Scoutie Girl 

My family presented me with a fantastic Daphne Guinness style fool's gold ring for my birthday. In the accompanying card my mom wrote about how the ring will serve as a reminder for me in New York to seek true gold and not be distracted by fool's gold. Those words are now indelibly written on my heart.

Jojo played some of the fantastic Moonrise Kingdom soundtrack for us (with Jacob singing along) and I was appalled to realize that somehow I had managed to become one of the last people to the movie! That was a situation that had to be remedied. 

Moonrise Kingdom upon review is hard to put into words. It was hilarious, beautiful, and sweetly nostalgic. My sisters had never seen a Wes Anderson movie before, so watching and listening to them was almost as entertaining as seeing the movie itself. They were completely caught off guard by Wes Anderson's style and humor. Just imagine Anna busting out in complete belly laughter at all of the wrong times....

Seeing the movie I was filled with memories of my own childhood adventures...Have you seen it? If so, what were some of your favorite scenes?

top photo by: OLIVER SCHWARZWALD 

moonrise kingdom photos: unknown 

all other photos: me

Loving the Moments

Recently, I have realized I am living the kind of moments that make the most beautiful stories. I am someone whose imagination and love of life has always been fueled by magical tales. Growing up I always longed to have a best friend living next door so we could explore the wild paths that no doubt led to "far off places" mainly the yards of other neighbors. I dreamt of finding my own secret cottage like Mandy and decorating it with only the most beautiful of treasures. My childhood was filled with re-inacting what I loved. As my mom sewed till the wee hours creating luxurious handcrafted and glass beaded christening gowns and Easter outfits, I could be found dressing up my barbies with silk remnants. As I grew older my baby sister Elisa became my doll. We still have a couple of photos I took after having posed her in a vintage wedding dress with dried flowers and a cat, positioned just perfectly on the train of the dress...

Last night, my time with Meg was better than any story I could imagine. She met me after work and we climbed the hill that is Olive trying to decide where we would go for dinner. I recommended we stop by Arabica Lounge for a drink and go from there. Jojo and Jacob were there and immediately infused our time with the special quality only they can give it. Jojo whipped us up perfect drinks then we all talked and dreamed about projects and life. How often can you walk into a cafe and immediately feel so at home, so free to be yourself, so encouraged to give of who you are?

"I'm impossible to forget, but I'm hard to remember." - Elizabethtown

Next, Meg and I ambled through lovely Capitol Hill neighborhoods towards our dinner spot. Olivar is a quaint little restaurant with a distinct European feel highlighted by box hedges and a heavy wood door. We ordered a meal of moroccan olives and bread, sea bass with fettucine and a prosciutto, arugula, and parmesan flatbread. Olivar provided delicious food and the perfect cozy atmosphere to talk about dreams, fears, loves, and the stories that we see all around us...

"Creativity is the residue of time wasted." - Albert Einstein

Making our way back to downtown to catch our buses, we passed an incredibly well dressed gent that I had stopped early in the week to ask about his satchel. We laughed, what were the odds? Before leaving Capitoll Hill a couple of moments were spent soaking in the beauty that is The Biltmore. I looked at the roses, the ivy, and into the open windows of another world...

"I have to see a thing a thousand times before I see it once." - Thomas Wolfe

As the evening drew to a bittersweet end I was asking my mom why I have discovered all of these amazing people and places just as I will be leaving Seattle. My mom said that "it is best when you leave somewhere loving it versus running from it".

Weekend: Adventures - Part 2

This is the story of how I was supposed to go to the zoo with a group of friends, but we ended up in Canada.

Saturday morning, I awoke to rain followed by a flurry of texts saying we should ditch the zoo for a road trip. For those of you who know me, you know I really like having a plan for the day. I typically spend a week prepping for any trip by mapping out the destination, tracking down all of the hot spots for eating and shopping, and top it all off by creating the perfect playlist.When we (Adam,Morgan, Michael, Anna, and I) arrived at the park & ride asking each other "So how do we get to Canada?" I knew this trip was going to be an adventure.

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." - G.K. Chesterton

A couple of hours later we were at the border, everyone was antsy and on the verge of reverting to the childhood "Are we almost there?". As we approached Canada we were scrambling to jot down the rest of the directions (from the iPhone). The only challenge with this, was the fact that all we knew about our destination was we were shooting for Granville. Whether Granville was a street, part of town, etc, we didn't have the slightest idea. After a few wrong turns and directions from a gas station clerk, Granville was spotted! We found inexpensive street parking only to realize we didn't have Canadian currency. Digging through pockets, purses, and seats we were able to scrounge up enough American change to pay. Whew! By this point coffee was definitely in order.

After coffee and dessert the crew decided to burn off some energy. Chasing pigeons was the obvious choice... I was a wee bit mortified.

Anna and Morgan graciously allowed me to snap a few shots..Ahh.. a little more my style... Birds I can do without...

Next, we wandered Gastown... taking in the "scene" and looking desperately for a cozy place to eat since we were hungry and it had started to drizzle.

After searching high and low for good eats we ducked into Steamworks Brewing Co.. At our table we were delighted to find the brewery "hit the spot". The downstairs was toasty and full of people enjoying life! We were seated right next to the open kitchen which kept us very entertained, at one point a cook even broke out singing. As if all of that were not enough there was even a  "Hemingway Daiquiri" on the menu. 

All in all I would say this was a pretty grand unexpected adventure. Even the playlist turned out ok as we took turns listening to Johnny Cash, Emeli Sande, and Johnny Swim to name a few..

I will treasure the memories of this trip for some time to come!

When was the last time that you went on a spontaneous trip?

Ps- Thanks Morgan for snapping the action photo :)

Source: Oh Darling Let's Be Adventurers (unknown)