Magpie Mini-Break

So sorry for the lapse of silence over the past few days!  Many of you have asked where I’ve been and the answer is far from exciting.  (No big news here.)  After flying back from a far-too-short weekend getaway to FL (sigh), I’ve been absolutely slammed at work and chaotically busy with an unexpected visit from my baby sister and preparations for Mr. Magpie’s birthday, which is coming up this weekend.  So I’m on a self-proclaimed “magpie mini-break” until the beginning of next week.

{image from little girl, big city}

In the meantime, I’ll share what’s on my mind these days:

1.  Book wormery. I’ve been embarrassingly book-shy for the past year or so.  I attribute this lit-less-ness to the completion of my M.A. in literature, an intense two-year period that saw me reading a book or more a week while in-term.  (I wrote my thesis on Ezra Pound’s “The Cantos,” which is a sprawling 500-page mass of high modernist poetry.  I think back and wonder why I undertook such an unmanageable expanse of text as the primary focus of my studies — something more self-contained would have been more satisfying.)  Afterward, I felt as though some of my “for pleasure” reading made for an unexpectedly heavy experience, as I’d taken to over-analyzing everything and considering every spot of prose through a variety of largely un-useful critical constructs.  It’s taken me awhile to shift gears and to just enjoy.  And so I was delighted to see myself whipping through “Reading Lolita in Teheran,” which is absolutely fantastic.  It’s sharp and sophisticated, but also approachable.  At any rate, I want to be reading.  Right.now.

{image from that kind of woman}

2.  New duds. I’d been on a shopping hiatus for some time but thanks to a little Christmas spending money and the graciousness of my lovely parents, I was able to indulge a bit over the past month, snapping up a new blush-tone blazer (mine — pictured on the right — cost only $34 at H&M, while the Stella McCartney variation at left costs $1,545):

I wear mine over ivory/white blouses and lace-accented tops, skinny jeans, and printed flats, accenting with my new Malene Berger statement necklace (a surprise from Mr. Magpie!):

I also recently snagged a striped camel-and-black cotton dress that I’ve been wearing with black opaque tights and oversized earrings/necklace for casual weekend-wear.  It’s startlingly similar to this Stella McCartney style, which has been all.over.the.place:

I also snapped up a kill.er. Loeffler Randall faux-fur military-style topper (very Olivia Palermo.  Die.) that is currently en route to my apartment (and then straight onto my body):

I’ll be wearing mine with my black J. Brand skinnies and some serious heel-age, like my ultimate score of the month: a pair of pristine black lace Louboutin slingbacks that I found in my size (impossible) and scuff-free (even more impossible) at a consignment shop.  Had to buy.  Never been happier.

3.  Celebrations. I know, we just finished up the merriment of holiday season, but Mr. Magpie and I have been in a curiously festive mood the past few days, ordering Indian delivery and drinking champagne to watch the Golden Globes (we enjoyed a delicious bottle of Sofia Coppola’s Blanc de Blancs, which is what we drank while honeymooning at the Francis Ford Coppola-owned Turtle Inn resort in Belize) and then downing some raw oysters from Black Salt on Monday evening.

With Mr. Magpie’s birthday this weekend, looks like the festivities will just keep on coming…which makes me excited for opportunities to dress up and hit the town.  (Mr. Magpie is a bow-tie devotee, so he’ll likely be spotted in a celebratory variation this weekend.)

{image from cherryblossomgirl}

4.  Interiors. Just wanted to give you a sneak peek into our recently re-decorated bedroom:

Haha — yeah, right.  I clearly stole these images from LonnyMag’s new site offering: a gallery of exquisitely well-appointed interiors, searchable by room.  Absolutely adore little “nook” shots like these:

{all images from LonnyMag}

Someday…

5.  Being a domestic goddess. How Nigella of me.  But seriously — I’ve always loved baking, and I’m feeling re-inspired.  I recently made these chocolate-caramel bars topped with fleur-de-sel (Santa gave me a stack of fancy salts in my stocking), and they turned out deliciously.

On to the next — I’m thinking of trying my hand at coconut madeleines.  My sister give me a madeleine pan for Christmas a year or two ago, and it’s just waiting for its debut.

6.  Fresh-cut flowers. I always try to keep at least one bouquet of fresh blooms in the house, but now I’m dying for the first spring buds.  (So woefully far away.)

{image from encore une minute}

7.  Trashy TV. Anyone else thrilled with the array of wretched, indulgent trash currently in season?  From Jersey Shore to the return of Gossip Girl this upcoming Monday, I’m happy.

{image from keep calm}

8.  Chance of snow. I don’t know what it is, but I still entertain a gleeful, childlike excitement upon hearing of snowy weather forecasts.  Time to snuggle in with Mr. Magpie, our instant Netflix queue, and some popcorn.   (I don’t mess around with the microwave stuff anymore — I recently discovered the ease and scrumptiousness of using old-school popping corn and popping myself, on the stovetop, when I received this Williams-Sonoma sampler as a gift.  I use olive oil and season with lots of salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Yum.)

{image from encore une minute}

9.  Scrabble. I’m a dork.  I love Scrabble.  And I’ve been on a shocking losing streak lately, which is completely unnerving.  (Did I mention that I’m also uber-competitive?  When I enrolled in a fitness boot camp last summer, I even annoyed myself.  I’m that girl who always needs to be just a little faster than the rest.  It’s a bad trait, and it means that I’m something of a sore loser.  Or so Mr. Magpie contends.)

{image from absolutely beautiful things}

PS: The words on this board are pathetic.  Again, I’m annoyingly competitive.

10.  Rosie the Riveter style. My next full post will be on classic Americana styles, which I’ve seen all over the place this season, but especially on the runways featuring the S/S ’11 collections of Derek Lam, Celine, and Stella McCartney.  Gingham, pop of red, classic denim — love.it.all.

{image from emerson made}

Until next week!

ADDENDUM: Though no posts will go up for the next few days, please fly on by to check out my {magpie covets} section, which will be continue to feature off-the-cuff inspiration that comes my way.  And CHECK.IT.OUT: talented fashion illustrator Inslee Haynes has done a couple Magpie-inspired sketches!  Ooh.la.la.!