BOOKSHELF: DECORATE

I was so excited to learn last year that blogger Holly Becker and lifestyle writer, Joanna Copestick were releasing a decor book in April. I was even more excited when I got my copy of Decorate and saw how gorgeous it is!

My fabulous intern Mackenzie can vouch: As I thumbed through the book for the first time, the first sentence out of my mouth was, "How on earth did they find so many beautiful homes?! Each and every one of them is stunning!"

I've since had the chance to curl up with Decorate and am even more impressed after diving in. Not only are the images big, gorgeous, and inspirational, there are tons of fun and easy to implement decorating tips and ideas.

This is one of those books that not only looks pretty on a coffee table, but actually gets used as a reference over and over again! Have you had a chance to check it out, too?

P.S. Visit Bloesem tomorrow for more on Decorate!

*all images via Decorate

SOFT SPACES

Life has been hectic around here - in a good way! - both personally and professionally and today I'm finally catching my breathe with a cleared calendar and a day in front of the computer.

It's busy days like these that I remember why I prefer neutrals to vibrant color. There's something wonderful about coming home to a soft space, no? No matter how hard I try to inject color into my home, I always fall back to warm beiges, delicate taupes, soothing grays, and healthy doses of white.

How about you? Do you prefer color to come from the vibrant life you lead or from the within the walls of your personal space?

*images via mi casa revista

DADDY'S GIRL

The bond between a father and a daughter is a beautiful, special thing. And I'm so blessed to be able to call this great man my Dad.

He's the one who took me to Europe when I was eleven years old and said "I wanted the first man to take you to Paris to be someone who would love you always and no matter what."

He's the one who didn't bat an eye when I told my parents I was moving to Italy and said, "you dream the dream and we'll help you get there."

He's the one who I could turn to when I missed someone so much it hurt, put me on a plane the next day and said, "you need to see him in person to figure this out."

He's the one who started the tradition of our father/daughter dates when I was a little girl and said, "I want you to see the respect with which a man should treat you."

He's the one who let me dream as big as I desired, travel as far as I wanted, soar as high as I dared, and said, "the world is your oyster. You can be anything you want to be."

Happy Father's day, Dad. I love you!

SNAPSHOT: SCOTT A. WOODWARD

When I tweeted the other day that I was looking for a photographer in Asia, a very kind follower emailed me a link to Singapore based Scott A. Woodward's site. And the rest is history...I'm in love! Haven't laid eyes on such a stunning portfolio in ages.

For more breathtaking images, I highly recommend poking around on Scott's site. He can say so much with just a single image.

DOUBLE TAKE

I'd never wear this, but there's something I love about it. Perhaps it's the way it reminds me of Bailey's bathroom...with all that whimsy and fun!

*fashion: unknown; interiors: Emily Anderson for Rue Magazine

RUE'S TUMBLING...AND PINNING TOO!

Yesterday, we launched the Rue Tumblr and I'm so excited to share it with you!

Last week, the very kind people at Tumblr made themselves available to me for a tutorial and walked me through all the amazing features and benefits of their platform. It basically cuts down the "blog to post" time, which this busy girl loves. Since it's intended more for visuals and less for text, I'm thinking it might be my personal solution for this blog too. Who knows, next time you head to Plush Palate, you might find a Tumblr instead!

And, we also launched the Rue Pinterest yesterday too. Are you guys already on Pinterest? If not, beware, it's addictive! Finally a way to save and store all your images in one amazing place. We uploaded the entire Rue Photo Gallery onto our Pinterest account, so we hope you'll now have an easier time finding (and repinning!) your favorite images from the pages of Rue.

Hope you enjoy both!

COVER LOVE

In my humble opinion, Esquire has the best covers on the newsstand, bar none. The copy-free background, poignant portraits, and out of the box thinking make them irresistible to me.

Which mag has your favorite covers?