Please excuse my absence! I'm cobbling together a whole new site launching very soon.

Clockwise from left: J.W. Anderson for Topshop / Need Supply / Orly Genger by Jaclyn Mayer / Stila / Minx / Nars / Madewell / Bao Bao by Issey Miyake / Damir Doma

I came across Emily Miranda's jewelry line via Grey Area, a NYC showroom with a fantastic webshop. Cobbling together works fit for a more regal Little Mermaid, her latest collection is all about seafaring accessory GOLD.

Food, fashion, cats, and literature--these are some of my greatest loves in life. Swirl them together and you have Eatable of Many Orders, a Japanese fashion label that takes its name from Kenji Miyazawa's short story, "Restaurant of Many Orders" about a cat who seeks vengeance on hunters. Wishing to inspire buyers to dig deeper and question the provenance of the clothing, Eatable of Many Orders presents their collection as you would food and its list of ingredients. They state that they would like to introduce products in such a way as to provoke the question, "What's in it?" Colorful, ladylike, well-crafted, and interesting, even their accessories leave you wanting to know more.

Artisanal Ansatz is a French design duo interested in surrealism and ballpoint pens. They painstakingly recreate graphic paper grids that are adorned with simple-lined images of everyone from Woody Allen and Rene Magritte to David Bowie and Serge Gainsbourg. (And one cannot forget Snoop!) Get 'em in their online shop or over at Colette.

Errant clouds often give way to Oscar Peterson sounds while golden sunsets pair nicely with balcony rosé and the latest issue of Lula. It's easy to write sweet nothings and/or impassioned scribblings in a faded Shakespeare notebook with a pencil that smells of 1960s Beverly Hills pink. And though I can't seem to shake the afternoon coffee, it's no bother when cooled by a side of green apples slathered in whipped peanut butter from Canada. Summer reading? The Paris Review with a dash of mini Tolstoy.

Former Dior Homme designer and accomplished photographer Hedi Slimane is taking over at Yves Saint Laurent, and this is THRILLING for a variety of reasons... 1) per WWD, he wants to restore "the house to its truth, purity and essence--and take it into a new era," soooo 2) we can probably expect masterful tailoring, dramatic shoulders, and modernity, 3) or can we? there's no telling what the man will do come September and holy lord that's exciting, and also 4) in all probability there will be some rock and roll thrown up in there as evidenced by Hedi's Rock Diary.

What else can we expect? A name change. YSL will hitherto be known as Saint Laurent Paris echoing the house's original 1966 moniker, Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. I don't know why everyone's freaking out about this. Change is good! But here's a look at the past, which was pretty stellar too...

Sometimes I would like to cut the cord on all that is electronic, say goodbye to noisy buses out the window, and avoid urban aggression both literal and metaphorical. Who doesn't long to escape the rapidity of modern life sometimes just to live in Casa Azul for a time learning how to make mole?