the theme is...

all is love

What are your favourite love songs? You know those sweet songs that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside for around three and a half minutes - but aren't so schmaltzy that you want to vomit. Some of mine are Sea of Love (Paul Phillips & The Twilights), the end part of I'm Sticking With You (The Velvet Underground), I'm a Believer (The Monkees), Somethin' Stupid (Frank & Nancy Sinatra), Turn Your Lights Down Low (Bob Marley), I Want To Hold Your Hand (The Beatles), Try A Little Tenderness (Otis Redding) - and many more that I can't think of right now. Go on, tell me yours!

you're funny

When I lived in Sydney, I met this guy James. He is, without a doubt, the funniest person I have ever met. Ever. He writes like a (sordid) dream.

He just started writing for The Vine, who I used be a fashion correspondent for. I suggest you read it. Not my work, that is pretty crap. His, however, is cynical, obtuse (in a good way), occasionally offensive and always clever, always wonderful.

You can read it here.

I'm not sure why I used this picture to accompany this. It's not relevant. But, what else could I include?

we love jordan and jordan loves...

Zoe and I have known the delightful Jordan Rondel for a while now. But, when she turned up at my house with a mouthwatering blueberry and almond cake the other day, I got to see a side of her I didn't know existed - this girl can cook. We like how her confections are pretty (of course), and we're suckers for sweet things - but best of all, the cakes she makes under the moniker The Caker are handmade, and honest and organic - there's no room for cookie-cutter (sorry, very punny) products here. Here are Jordan's ten favourite things right now.

1. Baking

I love baking so much that I've started my own business called 'The Caker'. It's brand new and still in the development stage but I'm hoping that it will become a success. I will be creating a 'cake of the week' which you can order from me via my website.

2. New romance and sweet nothings

“It was so good to hear your voice again, I miss you so much and can't wait till Saturday.”

There is nothing sweeter than sweet nothings.

3. Getting out of the city

A day trip to Tawharanui with a picnic, the sea and sun is perfection.

4. White t-shirts

All I want to wear this summer is a soft white t-shirt with a pair of shorts. I got this beautiful fine cotton one from Scotties Boutique and have already worn it to death.

5. Coco's Cantina

This new restaurant on K' Rd is so cool and the two sisters that run it are the loveliest people you will ever meet. The food is supremely delicious and the place has a really good, relaxed vibe.

6. Fantastic Mr Fox

I love every film that Wes Anderson has done, but this one is particularly good. It's really a piece of art with its great dialogue and stop-motion animation.

7. Lisianthus flowers

So pale and pretty and perfect as bedroom flowers.

8. Japanese Lime Green tea

I drink this a pot of this green tea infused with lime peel and daisies everyday.

9. Robert Trathen bird photographs

I recently bought this huge Morepork photograph and put it in our hallway. The big yellow eyes are an interesting welcome into my home. Robert, the artist, is a photographer by trade and has done a whole series of beautiful native bird photographs which all have so much personality.

10. Karen Walker's new collection 'The Village'

I'm really looking forward to the new season of Karen Walker. It's very clean, girly and nautical inspired and it'll be in store (where Jordan works when she's not whipping up cakes and studying!) in February.

candy land

I love Karl, but to be honest I've never really been into the whole Chanel thing. But I do very much love these dresses that remind me of candyfloss and the huge pastel hair bows, from the couture show in Paris yesterday.
photos: style.com

line up

I'm a bit late to the party with this one, but I just had to post this sartorially inspiring shoot from W magazine, shot by Craig McDean. It's like an explosion of everything I want to wear right now - I especially love the pastels and wide brimmed hats.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

The New Yorker on The xx:

“The xx are, in the purest sense, a modern band: their music could not exist without the machines that make the noises and the machines that record them.”

Thankyou to Marcus for sending us his beautiful new video for The xx - can't wait to see them play at Laneway Festival next week.

high maintenance

Zoe & I spent Friday having (matching) pedicures and wine at Lucy & the Powder Room in the Department Store, drinking Pimms and looking at magazines. Heavenly...

ms. hill

"Showing off your ass 'cause you're thinking it's a trend,
Girlfriend, let me break it down for you again,
You know I only say it 'cause I'm truly genuine,
Don't be a hard rock when you really are a gem."

I saw Lauryn Hill perform this song and more at the Raggamuffin festival last night. AMAZING! The music video is pretty great too.

magic

second photo: prada / other photos from weheartit

wear your love like heaven

shut your mouth

The French diplomat Charles Talleyrand once remarked: “When a diplomat says ‘Yes’, he means ‘Maybe’; when he says ‘Maybe’, he means ‘No’; and if he say ‘No’, he’s no diplomat at all.”

Kate Moss once remarked: "Never complain, never explain."

The first thing to pop up on my Google Reader this morning was this discussion about silence and the enigmatic on the School of Life, a subject that always intrigues me.

To paraphrase the article, “what can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence," or at least according to philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Wittgenstein’s logical purity obliged him to confront the stark conclusion that the alternative to clarity is silence. Wittgenstein saw what we miss when we hanker after the simplicity we think clarity will bring – that it will also oblige us to leave many things unsaid.

The business of life is, however, rarely clear. The clarity of logic and mathematics are distant for lived life (Wittgenstein himself saw that the fact they couldn’t be wrong made them true only in a rather dull and uninteresting way). The business of life is work and play, love and hope, disappointment and despair. These are not about fixed cold facts. They are unfolding negotiations with others and the stuff of life.

This is why we should acknowledge the diplomat’s art. Diplomacy keeps conversations going and never abandons us to Wittgenstein’s cold, logical silence. Conversations heal wound, repair friendships, save love, negotiate treaties and establish peace. If this demands using words skilfully as well as clearly it is a skill worth cultivate. Silence can give us none of these.

I personally like to keep my mouth firmly and securely shut, at least about the important things. But, this makes me think that it's not the best idea. For a writer, I'm extremely inarticulate in my personal life, although I do have an awful lot of unsent letters. Thoughts?

jarhead

Tea Jars on Sill by Julia Stoltz found on my new favourite blog.

Naoko Ito

I have a strange fascination with jars of late. I think it's because of my newfound domesticity that has recently involved a foray into jam and lemon curd making.

street rider

It's so sunny and warm in Auckland today - all I want to do is go outside and ride a bike in the sunshine. Wearing Pendleton Meets Opening Ceremony would be pretty rad too.

just kids

If you've followed this blog for a while, you'll know just how fond I am of Patti Smith. I'm so excited to read her new book, Just Kids. It chronicles her friendship with the incredible photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe.

“Just Kids” captures a moment when Ms. Smith and Mapplethorpe were young, inseparable, perfectly bohemian and completely unknown, to the point in which a touristy couple in Washington Square Park spied them in the early autumn of 1967 and argued about whether they were worth a snapshot. The woman thought they looked like artists. The man disagreed, saying dismissively, “They’re just kids.” – from this article in the New York Times.

“We gathered our colored pencils and sheets of paper and drew like wild, feral children into the night, until, exhausted, we fell into bed.” They sound like Hansel and Gretel, living in a state of shared delight, blissfully unaware of what awaited on the path ahead."

all good

What Would I Want? Sky // Animal Collective