I'm Loving...

Crazy cool street style from around the world. These ladies are just oozing a fabulousness that I cannot take my eyes off of. 

lucy laucht

hanneli

helena

karla

I don't know how those fashion girls pull off some of their amazing looks, but it always seems to work. I just appreciate the inspiration to be a bit more daring in my own day-to-day wear!

IN A FRESH + BLUESY MOOD...

Something about summer always inspires a mix of high contrast whites with worn woods and saturated blues...

The next best thing to lounging by the pool or spending a day at the ocean?  Bringing the colors and textures of both into the home with a sophisticated twist.

*spaces via sixxdesign and lonny

SWEET STONEWARE

I may enjoy setting glamorous tabletops when it comes to large parties, but for my everyday affairs, I love dinnerware with a warm, homey feeling that's a little earthen and worn - like these sweet delights from May Luk ceramics...

I honestly couldn't choose if you asked for my favorite, but I'm loving the idea of sipping soup on cold winter days from those 'saucy' and 'hot' bowls or serving little canapes from the Victorian inspired mini dishes. What occasion would you use them for?

Wedding Wednesday {I Still Do!}

I'm so excited to be back at Wedding Wednesdays - with my archives of wedding inspiration files and my love for wedding design details I just couldn't walk away from it all.

And I had a post all queued up to relaunch Wedding Wednesdays today - until I spotted the Vera Wang Spring/Summer 2011 collection. After that, I couldn't think of anything but tulle, layers, draping and that dusty amethyst!

images via vogue australia spotted on simply seductive

But I figure there's no better way to kick start planning for your I-do's (real or imagined!) than with classic bridal couture. Can you renew your vows after only 2 months - and get away with wearing Vera?!

PIN IT FORWARD

I'm sure many of you who frequently blog-hop have already heard of the Pin It Forward blogger collaboration put together in by Victoria at sfgirlbybay and the new (and addicting!) Pintrest site. If you haven't... get ready for hours of browsing through the tons of inspirational photos already posted!

So, what's this project all about? So glad you asked. Ten groups of bloggers. 30 days. And, every one of us posting our Pintrest boards on the topic of "What home means to me." An interesting question given my nomadic nature, so I have to say that mine is a bit abstract...

That's just a sneak peek of what I have up so far (I'm sure I'll be adding to it!) but to see all the picks, just click on over to my Pintrest! And that whole pinning it forward part? That means I'll happily direct you tomorrow's blogger - the marion house book! (A very sweet little blogspot if I do say so myself). Enjoy the inspiration, and for the full list of participating bloggers to click through, go right here.

ROOMS FROM THE RUNWAY: MALENE BERGER

It has been quite some time since I've felt so inclined to put together a little Rooms from the Runway post, but when I saw Malene Berger's latest collection, I knew it was perfect summer to fall inspiration for some beautiful rooms (new + old) that I've been wanting to post!

I absolutely love the boho-glam vibe found in Malene's designs and have lately been drawn to initiating this style in my own space with the addition of Indienne prints and a few more layers of ethnic patterns while still keeping things fresh and uncluttered ... with  just a touch of glamour of course!

*rooms via lisa fine, house beautiful, elle decor, mark lund, and lonny

Tasty Tuesday {Dining}

For me, where you eat is just as important as what you eat. We've (attempted!) to ban couch eating at our house. And now that it's summer I'd love to have every single meal al fresco if I could. 

I'd be just as happy with a light and airy sunroom. A fun and funky dining space would also do just fine.  

images via automatism, moodboard, dress design decor, & rebecca june

I would just like to put as much thought into where I sit to dine as to what's on my plate! 

THE DOMINO ARCHIVES REVIVED!

Guess who's back, darlings?? No, not the beloved magazine itself, but the Domino photo archives are slowly but surely returning to us at brides.com!

So far just a handful of stories have been re-posted, but there are more to come...and the large scale photos have me giddy with joy! Thank you Conde Nast for finally making a smart move on that one! And for those of you looking for a larger Domino fix, don't forget my flickr group, The Domino Magazine Files, which has tons of scans and photos from the original archives.

*story via shelterpop

Tasty Tuesdays {Because You Are What You Eat!}

I talk about a lot of different things I love here - fashion, style, design, decor, travel...but one passion I've yet to delve into is...food! I am an out and proud foodie and take this love very very seriously. 

It's gotten to the point where I just had to share some of my favorite eats with you. So I give you a new Apartment 34 feature ~ Tasty Tuesdays! Since talking about food could easily overtake everything here, I knew I had to limit it to just one day a week (at least to start!). 

To kick it all off, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite honeymoon meals.

I judge most things by the number of good meals I had, so I made a point to make sure we ate very well throughout our honeymoon travels. Whether it was old Amsterdam cheese, apfelkuchen and beers by the city's canals, or lovely lunches of polenta with squid ink sauce paired with an excellent Valpolicella in Venice we made sure to savor each and every morsel.

1) tortellini in Borghetto 2) traditional Dutch seafood in a modern way at Spelt 3) Venetian cicheri 4) beet risotto at Spelt 5) polenta with black ink sauce 6) Dutch breakfast  at Gartine 7) dessert on the Amsterdam canal 8) black ink spaghetti 9) pumpkin tortellini with amaretti

We tried to sample the local speciality of each city we visited. It ranged from fantastic handmade tortellini outside of Verona, to a beautiful beet risotto (in Amsterdam no less and it was divine!). Feel lucky I didn't take pictures of every gelateria we sampled because those posts would dominate Tasty Tuesdays for weeks.

Now back at home, I'm still hankering for those amazing dinners. I highly recommend my italian speaking readers check out La Cucina, a stunning italian cooking magazine. Every recipe makes me drool all over my keyboard.

Sunday-Supers, the Brooklyn-based cooking school on which I have the biggest foodie crush, also recently held an all italian dinner with delicious recipes. You can check it out here.

Bon appetito luvies!

*Mrs. E 

And the Winner Is...

My dears, apologies for the day getting away from me! I've left you hanging about our giveaway - terribly sorry for the delay. 

Without further ado, the lucky winner is....

chewing the cud towel photo by elizabeth messina via kiss the groom

(by random.org selection) Stephanie! Congratulations! Stephanie, email apt34 {at} gmail {dot} com to claim your prize! 

Thanks again to Apartment 34 sponsor Wendy Mink Jewelry for the generous giveaway. 

MONDAY MORNING MUSINGS...

My head always seems a little bit clearer on Mondays after productive weekends... and I can't help but feel like this quote is resonating very true for me these days...

Whenever I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by a fully scheduled calendar or a very long to-do list I remind myself how lucky I am to have amazing friends, a creative job and wonderful family to fill my busy days. So, my dears, here's to another Monday and another very packed week... I hope you find some time to breathe in a little sunshine to get you through it!

*photography by guy aroch and via lonny magazine

Gettin' Gussied Up

Well my dears, I hinted at a big announcement for Apartment #34 last week. A lot has been happening in my world of late, but little of it has been in blog world. The big announcement is....that is all about to change!

After more than 2 years and nearly 900 posts, I think it's high time I pretty this place up a bit!

image by anna aden via flickr

In the coming days and weeks you're going to see changes in a variety of things here including a subtle facelift for Apartment #34, long overdue updates to links, new weekly features (Tasty Tuesdays anyone?!) and new sponsors. 

My most exciting endeavor is a little something I'm calling Apartment#34creative. While planning my wedding and reception, I caught the creative services bug something fierce and so now I'm hoping to take all I learned and help others create the special occasion of their dreams! 

This is all in the beginning stages, but I was just too excited to wait to tell you. Things are going to take awhile to set, so keep checking back and let me know if you enjoy what you see or have ideas or suggestions. 

And if you have a party you need help to plan it's not too early! Feel free to email me now apt34 {at} gmail {dot} com. I aim to make Apartment #34 your go-to destination for all things style. I hope you'll like it!

Cheers, 

Mrs. E

PS. The winner of the Wendy Mink giveaway will be announced at 4:00 pm this afternoon - so enter now!

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