{Porch Style: Mood & Inspiration}

I have a spacious balcony attached to the front of my second-floor apartment in Minneapolis, but I haven't taken advantage of it often enough since I've yet to put any energy into making the space my own. Today I did some brainstorming. Here's the inspiration.

To Start:

Plow and Hearth $39.95

    Dot & Bo $44.99

World Market $19.99

Dot & Bo $24.99

 Ikea Panel Curtain $14.99

World Market $149.99

Urban Outfitters $229

Anthropologie $88

Anthropologie $118

  

{Asymmetric}

I've had the same-ish hairstyle since 2007, so I thought it was time for a change. I did some quick Google image searches and intuitively gravitated toward an asymmetrical bob. I showed my stylist at the Fox Den (They keep a dog on premise!) these pictures and told her what I liked about each. Then, she delivered, and I haven't been this pleased with my hair in a long time. I often hear people say they feel like a new person after a big haircut. For me, as is the case with most of my successful style choices, I don't feel like a new person; typically, I just feel like the best version of myself.

End result: Happiness & Me (And the cat)

{Wish List: Summer Whites}

Since white doesn't wash out my skin tone the way that black does, it's my go-to color when trying to achieve a crisp, simple, classic look, especially in the summer. We won't discuss the fact that every white piece in my wardrobe has at least one stain on it, typically of the red wine variety and typically which I ignore and expect you to ignore too, thanks.

Here's the wish list, taken mostly from Modcloth:

  

{Style by Star Sign: Aries Man}

The RAM (His)

"There's not a trace of cunning wile in the ram, and he'll remain this way throughout his lifetime; forever believing with all his heart, always falling down and getting up again to try once more. Any doubts he collects along the way are immediately displaced by the next person who's kind to him, just as the baby forgets the pain of the safety pin that accidentally stuck in his leg the next time someone sprinkles the powder. The ram can make believe from here to tomorrow, and spin fabulous dreams, but he can't lie worth a tinker. What you see before you is what he is." 

--Linda Goodman

I was married to a ram for 8 years. My maternal grandfather, who I adored and revered, was a ram. I have tons of male ram friends. In fact, I'm drawn to the male ram like a moth is drawn to light. I think I can spot a ram, if I had to, from a mile away.

I'd define Aries style as simple, basic, and polished--but not as polished as, say, a male Libran, and not as simple, as, say, a male Taurean. There will always be a slight edge with the male ram, an edge that many other star signs aren't going to have ... and aren't going to be able to pull off. The colors I associate with Aries style are black, red, and white. Here are some good examples:

...and here's a street-style Ram (my lovely ex Jaco):

OK, guys, do you think this is total bullshit, or is there any grain of truth to my vast generalizations based on star signs? You tell me.

{Muted Gold}

I love gold & mustard, especially when they're on the verge of neutral, and especially for spring.

Items: Free People (dress), Modcloth (swim), Irregular Choice (shoes), Free People (dress), Modcloth (shoes)

{Black & White}

There are many ways to destroy each other, but we make our choice. 

It’s the slowest way, which studies the destruction step by step as it occurs and shrouds it in cloud. 

We are naked in bed, for instance, when one of us says, I am your favorite and you are my favorite, so our shadows will always run from each other. 

We prefer to drape our undoing in tender nonsense.

I hang velvet curtains over your eyelids, and you pull the weeds from my tongue.

One thing is certain: We are both so practiced at playing the victim that even a chrysanthemum could slice through our skin. 

{Love & Pain}

Celine: You know what? Reality and love are almost contradictory for me.

Celine: It's funny... Every single of my ex-es... they're now married! Men go out with me, we break up, and then they get married! And later they call me to thank me for teaching them what love is, and... that I taught them to care and respect women!

Jesse: I think I'm one of those guys.

Celine: You know, I want to kill them! Why didn't they ask me to marry them? I would have said "No!", but at least they could have asked!!! But it's my fault, I know that it's my fault, because... I never felt it was the right man. Never! But what does it mean the right man? The love of your life? The concept is absurd. The idea that we can only be complete with another person is... EVIL! Right?!

Jesse: Can I talk?

Celine: You know, I guess I've been heart broken too many times, and then I recovered. So now, you know, from the start, I make no effort. Because I know it's not going to work out, I know it's not going to work out...

Jesse: You can't do that. You can't do that. You can't live your life trying to avoid pain.

--Before Sunset